Seven Sad Samurai

(Geoff takes a bite.)
"This is the best Japanese curry I've ever had."
(Second bite.  Puts down fork.)
"It might be the best dinner you made since we moved to Texas."
(Picks fork up again.)
"People would pay for this."
(Doesn't say anything else until his plate is clean.)

I tried my first Japanese curry in May at a second-floor restaurant in LA over the karaoke room we were about to occupy for five straight hours.  If you haven't had it, this curry shares very little with its Indian cousin.  The basis is a nice, dark roux that gets sweetness from a grated apple and spice from garam masala.  I started with this basic recipe from serious eats and added edamame and more carrots for some vegetables.  This would certainly be a satisfying vegetarian meal, but I have a serious weakness for pork tonkatsu.  It's just boneless pork cutlets dredged in flour, egg, and panko bread crumbs before lightly pan frying.  It's fantastic with this sauce, but just about anything would be.

The meal was served alongside Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, just the sort of cultural touchstone that I've felt left out on.  And I'll continue to.  I didn't want to admit this, but I turned it off less than an hour in.  It was just a bunch of people being mean to old Japanese men and I wasn't in the mood for three hours of crying.  I would be a terrible movie critic, but life is too short!  So my recommendation?  Make this curry, pull up some youtube videos, and karaoke at home.  You may even want to start with the Bare Naked Ladies, who probably didn't really watch Seven Samurai either.

Bun with Pork Belly

Those of you who are Facebook friends of mine may have heard me mention the little boy who came to our house to trick-or-treat and asked if we were having hot dogs for dinner.  I said yes, rather than try and explain what pork belly is to a four year old.  The inspiration for me to make my own bun (the Vietnamese noodle "salad") came from a dinner we had in California. I mentioned at the time that "I had the bun with char-grilled pork and the pork was basically bacon" and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since.

I bought a 2 pound pork belly (it shrinks a lot when you cook it) from our local heritage pork purveyor.  Fair warning: it comes with the skin on.  Also, some hair.  But this, my friends, is the omnivore's dilemma.  I forged ahead with an overnight brine and braise with Ming Tsai's recipe. After it came out of the oven and it had cooled a bit, I cut off the skin and (are you still with me?) sliced the meat as thinly as possible.  To crisp up the meat and render the remaining fat, I tossed the strips into a hot skillet.

This is more of a salad than you usually get with lots of lettuce, cucumbers, and whatever else you might want.  Whatever you include, you should top it with vermicelli noodles and positively drench it in this fish sauce (nuoc mam cham).  I got this recipe from my brother and it is the perfect balance of sweet, sour, and pungent with a good bit of heat (the way I made it).  You can even use it to pickle some carrots and onions to add some color.  So the verdict?  The bun itself was pretty easy to make, but I'm going to leave pork belly to the pros.

Bibimbap (or the best fried rice you'll ever have)

I had never heard of bibimbap until a friend mentioned it on Facebook.  A few days later, I came across a version in my Cooking Light magazine.  It seemed like the universe was telling me to make it.  My internet research revealed that bibimbap is literally "mixed rice" in Korean and the ingredients vary.  It's essentially a deconstructed fried rice.  What really set this apart was the last of my pickled carrots and daikon from when I made banh mi and the runny yolk of the sunny-side up eggs, otherwise, use whatever you have left over in your fridge.  

If you don't have pickled vegetables (and really, why would you), you can pickle them quickly while you cook the rest of the ingredients.  Cooking each ingredient separately is a bit tedious, but can easily be done in the time it takes for the rice to cook.  I've never had bibimbap in a restaurant, but evidently you can get it in a heated rock bowl that makes the bottom layer of rice crispy and the whole thing hot enough that the raw egg can simply be cooked right on top.  I don't have a bowl carved from the very earth itself, so I simulated the results by frying the rice in a bit of oil and cooking the eggs sunny-side up.  It was the best fried rice I've ever had!

Bibimbap
Serves 2


1 cup long grain rice
8 oz firm tofu
2 tbsp. ginger, minced
2 tbsp. garlic, minced
1/3 cup pickled vegetables
1/4 cup green onions
8 oz crimini mushrooms, sliced
6 cups kale, roughly chopped
4 eggs
3 tbsp. sesame oil
Sriracha, to taste 

1. Cook rice according to package directions.
2. Cook tofu, mushrooms, and kale individually with 2 tsp. of oil and 2 tsp each garlic and ginger. Season with soy sauce.
3. Fry cooked rice in 1 tbsp. of sesame oil and divide between serving dishes.  Assemble all toppings.
4. Cook four eggs sunny-side up until whites are just barely set and set on top of the rice.  Serve immediately.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Mandarin ducks have been used for centuries as the most traditional symbol of love in Feng Shui practice, so for Valentine's Day dinner, we ate duck.  It's like Feng Shui for your tummy, right?  Seriously, though, I've been wanting to make this crispy-skinned duck with Sichuan peppercorns and star anise since I saw it on the Cooking Chanel months ago.  It was the perfect special but week-night friendly dinner.

This was my first time cooking duck and I was surprised by how simple it was.  I scored the skin and then let it stand in the marinade for about half an hour.  Next time, I'd leave it for longer.  I seared the skin in a hot skillet and then finished it in the oven, leaving the duck a nice medium.  While it was in the oven, I mixed equal parts hoisin and orange juice with just a shot of soy sauce as a quick sauce instead of the fruitier version called for in the recipe.  It was delicious and quicker than cooking a chicken breast.  I don't know why I haven't made duck before!  As simple sides, I mashed some sweet potatoes with Chinese five spice powder and stir-fried green beans in sesame oil.

Although Geoff and I agreed to take a trip this year instead of exchanging gifts, I did make a small, sort of romantic present...mostly because I wanted something to put on the wall in our bedroom.  (So what I'm saying is I made a present for myself.)  Following these directions from See Kate Sew, I made a patchwork map of the U.S. with fabric scraps.  Rather than filling in all of the states, I only filled in the states we have visited together.  Over the coming years, we can work on filling in the rest.  I'm regretting not getting to Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Delaware while we lived in Pennsylvania.

After dinner, we had planned a quiet night in.  However, we ended up getting free tickets to see a local production of Rent at the Woodlawn Theater.  Although an rock opera about people dying from AIDS is not your typical Valentine's Day fare, the show was amazing with some really talented actors.  Having these sorts of shows is definitely one of the major benefits of having moved to San Antonio (75 degree days in the middle of February is another).  Now I'm ending my day listening to Geoff play guitar, something I never get tired of.  I hope you all had a Valentine's Day filled with love in every form it takes.

Happy (Chinese) New Year!

Chinese Lunar New Year was celebrated last Monday so I decided to have a few friends over this weekend to make siu mai, one of my favorite types of dim sum (along with sweet bean paste rolls).  For the siu mai, I used this recipe from Philadelphia chef Joseph Poon.

The siu mai filling is roughly equal amounts of ground pork and finely chopped shrimp with scallions and reconstituted shitake mushrooms.  I also added a bit of shredded carrots to make it pretty. I considered making my own wonton wrappers, but I'm just not that much of a glutton for punishment.  (I know, everyone has a line somewhere, mine is just a bit farther out than others.)

Once the filling was combined, I enlisted some assistance in stuffing the dumplings.  Four sets of hands made the work go quickly and I really enjoy the act of cooking with friends.

While the dumplings steamed, I made a quick dip from soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil.   In addition to the siu mai, I made some vegetarian longevity noodles (a traditional New Year dish) as well as some (certainly not traditional) Hoisin-glazed chicken wings.

All of the dishes came together relatively quickly and were really tasty.  Several people said it was the best home-made Chinese food they had every had and better than a lot of take-out too.  Quite a compliment!

Truly great guests both help make their own dinner and then wash the dishes - with ridiculous amounts of enthusiasm.  Special thanks to Clarissa for taking pictures!

Gung Bao Chicken

When I came across this recipe for Gung Bao Chicken at Leite's Culinaria, I got really excited.  I love Kung Pao chicken, but the restaurant version tends to be too heavy with gelatinous sauce and not hot enough.  Ick.  This recipe, however, is awesome.  It comes together quickly and is (relatively) light.

The heat in this recipe comes from a combination of hot peppers and Szechuan peppercorns and it is completely worth tracking down the Szechuan peppercorns.  I was surprised to find them very cheaply at my (slightly bourgeois) grocery store.  The heat that comes from the peppercorns isn't an upfront heat like you get from most chili peppers nor the nasal-clearing hit of wasabi, but just hangs around on the soft palette.  I can't explain it, but you really should try it.

Summer Rolls

I was inspired to make summer rolls by this recipe - watch the video on how to roll them, it's the cutest thing.  Although the shitake filling looked delicious, I can find them a bit overwhelming and I had some chicken thighs in the freezer that needed a purpose in life.

The thighs poached with bay leaves, peppercorns, a few star anise, a pinch of cinnamon, and lemon grass until just cooked through before being removed to cool.

The remaining broth deserved more than being dumped down the drain so I dropped the mung bean threads in to soften and take on some of the flavor.

Meanwhile, I prepped all the greens: lettuce, cucumber, sorrel, and mint.  These are the key to the summery flavor of the summer roll.

The real heart, however, is the dipping sauce.  Mine was the remaining broth (strained), soy sauce, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes to taste.

Shred the chicken and  pair all the fixings with the rice paper ready to be soaked in a large bowl of cool water and it's time to roll!

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is a dish I've tried before with mediocre results.  Previous versions have been heavy with lots of moisture-laden vegetables and a thick batter that resulted in dense pancake.  This version from Midge at Food 52 won the "Best Street Food" competition and  I couldn't agree more.  You could certainly add some more veggies - pretty much whatever is in your fridge.  We had it straight up with just cabbage and green onion, a lot more like a potato latke than a zucchini fritter.  The best part was the Sriracha mayo that I made with homemade mayo because I had some leftover egg yolks floating around my fridge.  Even if you think you don't like cabbage, give this a try.  It stays a bit crunchy in the middle while the cabbage on the edges become tender and sweet.  Not to mention, it takes about 20 minutes from fridge to table.

Pho Real

While enjoying our third meal of pho in Seattle in June, I said to my friend Laurel, "Why couldn't I make pho at home?"  To which she presciently replied "Well, making the consomme will take all day and is impossible to keep clear."  

I spent the vast majority of a Sunday simmering four pounds of beef bones and two pounds of ox tails with onions, star anise, cinnamon, and black pepper corns.  I strained it and refrigerated it overnight so that the fat would congeal.  The texture of the stock was fantastic thanks to all the collagen in the bones, but the taste.......well, there wasn't any.  Luckily, I had some Penzey's beef base in the fridge.  About a quarter cup saved the day.

Having rescued the stock, I turned to the (pre-soaked) cellophane noodles.  I thinly sliced the sirloin and arranged it over onion slivers over the noodles and then poured on the boiling broth. By the time it was cool enough to eat, the meat was just cooked through.  Topped with cilantro, basil, mung beans, lime juice, hoisin, and sriracha - it was a hot bowl of happy.

In the end, it was good, but no thanks to the recipe I used.  The stock took far too long and the sirloin was fine, but the star of the dish was the shredded ox tail I added in.  So here is what I would do next time:

Pho My Way
Serves 4-6

12 cups water
1/3 cup beef base (I like Penzey's)
2 yellow onions, divided
1 daikon radish
8 star anise pods
2 cinnamon sticks
2 tsp. cloves
6 large ox tails
12 oz mung bean threads (cellophane noodles)

Toppings:
bean sprouts
cilantro
basil
limes
hoisin sauce
sriracha

1. Day 1: Bring water to a simmer and whisk in beef base.  Add 1 quartered onion, roughly chopped daikon, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, and ox tails.  Simmer at least 4 hours or until marrow in ox tail is translucent.
2. Strain stock and reserve ox tails.  Shred oxtail meat (there will be lots of tendons, work around them - it's worth it).  Refrigerate meat and broth overnight.
3. Day 2: Skim fat from the broth and discard.  The broth will have gelled - this is a good thing.
4. Bring the broth back up to a simmer with the ox tail meat and a thinly sliced onion.  Check for salt.
5. While the broth is coming back to a boil, soak the noodles in warm water for 10-15 minutes.
6. Drain the noodles and divide among bowls.
7. Pour broth over the noodles and top as desired (I like it with everything).

Pad Thai Triumph

I have tried many, many pad thai recipes in my cooking career.  Several of them, I suppose, I should have known wouldn't work out from the get go.  Ketchup is a somewhat questionable Thai ingredient.  I can never seem to get the noodles the right texture, the tofu chunks are too large, the overall taste is bland and we add so much sriracha that I may as well have just boiled up some spaghetti.  So this time, I was determined to figure out why I couldn't make this dish at home.  There must be a secret ingredient.  It turns out there are two.

Dried shrimp and tamarind concentrate.  We ate pad thai three times this month and I can confidently say that this recipe from Nongkran Daks is the best I've ever tried. She lists the dried shrimp as optional, but I went ahead and included it  when I made the sauce.  But first, you have to pound them up into a nice, fluffy shimp powder.

I did tweak this recipe ever so slightly.  I have never, ever had success with soaking my noodles in cold water so I soaked them in warm water for about 20 minutes.  I also couldn't find preserved radish - I do wonder if kim chi might work?  I'm not sure.  And the biggest change I made was replacing the shrimp and pork with tofu.  I like my pad thai vegetarian.

I tried several ways of preparing tofu for pad thai and this is my favorite.  It takes some extra steps, but the texture is perfect.  First, freeze a block of extra firm tofu and then defrost.  The texture will have become crumbly, sort of like ground beef.  Drain as much of the moisture as possible and then cook in a hot pan with a bit of oil until browned.  Do this while cooking down the sauce to the consistency of molasses.  (The best thing about this recipe is that you can make the sauce and soak the noodles ahead of time and then throw the pad thai together in just a few minutes.)

Once the tofu is browned, add the drained noodles you have been soaking and a bit of water.  Keep adding water and cooking it in until the noodles are the texture you are looking for.  This is the step that I have missed in the passed and the way to get perfectly chewy - not crunchy - noodles.  I've made this with and without the egg and it is good either way.  Then you toss with the sauce, mung beans, and some peanuts.  The key to keeping the pad thai from being too soupy (a common problem with my previous attempts) is to use this concentrated sauce and work in small batches with a hot pan.  Enjoy!!!

Think you have a better pad thai recipe?  Please link to it in the comments - I'm always looking to improve!

Siu Pai Gwat (Sticky Ribs)

There are not words for how good these are.  I am usually pretty critical of the food that I cook and Geoff would choke down a charcoal briquette before saying anything bad about dinner.  So when he told me the ribs were delicious, I said thanks and ate some green beans before attacking the ribs. "Holy crap, you are right. These are AMAZING!"

And so easy to make following a recipe from one of my favorite blogs (and cookbooks) Chocolate and Zucchini. You need to plan ahead a bit to make the 5 ingredient marinade and give your ribs (from a locally raised, heritage pig if you like) 24 hours to soak in all the goodness.

About 2 hours before you are ready to eat, sprinkle ginger and green onions over the top and bake.  With 10 minutes left, drizzle on the honey.  That's it.

And they are so, so good.  I served them up with rice and green beans sauteed with sesame oil and a few spoonfuls of grapefruit jam.  The leftovers made delicious stirfry.

Banh Mi, Banh You

My grapefruit jam adventure left me with 8 empty canning jars and the options for filling them in late March were limited.  However, the farmer's market had plenty of carrots and daikon radishes so I opted for some Vietnamese Pickled Carrots and Radishes (called do chua) to make banh mi.

Making the pickle was a lot easier and quicker than the jam without the slow process of cooking down the juice and making sure it gels.  With my pickle knowhow, I'm looking forward to some triple dill, extra garlic pickles in the summer.  For now, however, we have these crunchy, sweet-tart matchsticks just begging to be made into banh mi.  There are myriad toppings for banh mi, but I knew I wanted to go with pork.  Failing to find any at the farmers market, I picked up a lean pork loin, sliced it ever to thinly, and cooked it up in a black pepper marinade.  I cannot recommend this marinade enough.  The fish sauce gives a complexity to the pork that had us picking at the leftovers all night.

I layered the pork on baguettes with sriracha mayo, cilantro, onions, cucumber, a splash of soy sauce and - of course - the pickled veggies!  This combination highlights the perfectly balanced flavors I think of when I think of great southeast Asian cooking -crunchy cucumber, rich salty pork, sweet carrots, pungent daikon and onion, spicy sriracha, and creamy mayo.  Overall, I was really happy with the resulting sandwich.  There are  few things I will remember for next time.  The baguette I picked up at the farmer's market was really chewy, which is usually wonderful, but in this case let to occasional structural failures as the sandwich fillings slipped out the back.

With three jars of pickled veggies left, we needed to be eating them on something other than banh mi. So they also topped tacos made with leftover sweet and spicy pork shoulder and avocado.  An unusual, but quite tasty, combo.