It was way too hot* to stand over a hot stove, but I had to use up some bok choy I got at the market LAST Saturday. This turned out really well, I'll definitely make it again. I added some red pepper flakes. Supposedly, this is from Mark Bittman, but I just got the recipe from some yahoo on the Google, so who knows. It seemed simple enough, so I decided to try it.
*Uh, relatively speaking. I'm fully aware that many of you currently gripped in a month long heat wave would laugh at me for this. It was about 77 inside,** but I didn't want to turn on the A/C because it's so nice and breezy out, and the house has been closed up tight for days due to rain every day. So it was too warm inside to be cooking comfortably, really. I swear. The irony is that the lower level of our bi-level is about 10 degrees cooler. When you're standing at the front door you can feel the cold radiating up as if from some sort of underground catacombs. Chris is down there watching TV bundled up in a blanket. If only the kitchen were downstairs. Hmmm....
**Yes, I'm bragging just a little bit about the summer being so nice here. Hey, we suffered through months of below zero temps for this glorious weather. Harper had to wear a coat all winter, and next year we'll have to try getting her to submit to the winter booties. I think we earned a pleasant summer, no?
Ingredients
1 T sesame oil
1 T garlic minced
1/2 large onion
2 t ground ginger
1 head bok choy
1 t stock,chicken,concentrated
1 c water
1 T soy sauce
Directions
1. Heat oil in wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add garlic and ginger and cook for 15 seconds.
3. Add onion and cook for another 30 seconds.
4. Add bok choy and cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes.
5. Add chicken stock concentrate dissolved in boiling water.
6. Cook over medium high heat til sauce is reduced and bok choy is tender, stirring frequently.
7. When liquid is almost gone, add soy sauce, toss, and turn off heat.
8. Salt and pepper to taste.
Showing posts with label Asian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asian. Show all posts
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Thai Chicken-Coconut Soup
Katie, I see your chicken barley soup, and raise you....Thai Chicken-Coconut Soup!
(from Epicurious.com)
They said it makes 4 servings, but I would estimate 5-6
Rice noodles (the recipe never actually says how much, but eyeball it and you can't go wrong)
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1–2 red Thai (or jalapeño) peppers, seeded and finely chopped (plus slices for garnish)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon grated lime zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon (or lime) juice
4 tablespoons Thai fish sauce, divided
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, sliced (3 cups)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 5 ounces each), cut into 2 1/2-inch-long by 1/4-inch-wide strips
1 cup light coconut milk
2 cups baby spinach
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro (plus sprigs for garnish)
Place noodles in a bowl; add enough warm water to cover and let sit until soft, about 15 minutes. Drain. Combine broth, pepper, garlic, ginger, lemon zest, lime zest, lemon juice and 3 tablespoon fish sauce in a large pot. Season with salt. Bring to a simmer, add noodles and cook 3 minutes more. Using tongs, transfer noodles to a bowl and cover with foil to keep warm. Add mushrooms to broth; season with salt, if desired; simmer 3 minutes more. Add chicken and coconut milk and simmer, stirring, until chicken is just cooked, about 3 minutes. Stir in spinach until it begins to wilt, about 1 minute. Add chopped cilantro and season with remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce. Using tongs, divide noodles among 4 bowls. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with sprigs of cilantro and slices of pepper.
Results:
I'm eating the results right now, and it is heavenly. Much like the other soup I did (Lemon Chicken Soup), this combines salty, citrusy, and creamy flavors. This one just has a little bit of a kick behind it with the ginger and hot peppers. This recipe is a little more labor-intensive then the others I usually use, expecially with the hokey-pokey, in-and-out of the pot with the noodles (necessary b/c rice noodles are fragile and will break up in the hot soup if left in for too long), but start-to-finish was still under 1& 1/2 hour. My changes: I ended up not finding anything but canned green chiles, instead of whole peppers, and I used the entire 4 oz can in this soup. Other variations: I used 2 cups of coconut milk (1 can) instead of 1 cup, and decreased the chicken broth by 1 cup. I also used low-sodium chicken broth. Between that and the fish sauce, I did not need to add any additional salt. I did add, however, additional ginger because you can never have enough ginger in my book. Finally, I saved 1 of the 2 cups of coconut milk until the very end because then you have a fresher taste to the milk.
By the by,
For those interesting in pairing this soup with a wine, might I suggest a brighter white wine, such as Yellow Tail's Pinot Grigio. It's strong enough to stand up for itself, but accents the ginger and citrus without overpowering just beautifully.
(from Epicurious.com)
They said it makes 4 servings, but I would estimate 5-6
Rice noodles (the recipe never actually says how much, but eyeball it and you can't go wrong)
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1–2 red Thai (or jalapeño) peppers, seeded and finely chopped (plus slices for garnish)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon grated lime zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon (or lime) juice
4 tablespoons Thai fish sauce, divided
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, sliced (3 cups)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 5 ounces each), cut into 2 1/2-inch-long by 1/4-inch-wide strips
1 cup light coconut milk
2 cups baby spinach
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro (plus sprigs for garnish)
Place noodles in a bowl; add enough warm water to cover and let sit until soft, about 15 minutes. Drain. Combine broth, pepper, garlic, ginger, lemon zest, lime zest, lemon juice and 3 tablespoon fish sauce in a large pot. Season with salt. Bring to a simmer, add noodles and cook 3 minutes more. Using tongs, transfer noodles to a bowl and cover with foil to keep warm. Add mushrooms to broth; season with salt, if desired; simmer 3 minutes more. Add chicken and coconut milk and simmer, stirring, until chicken is just cooked, about 3 minutes. Stir in spinach until it begins to wilt, about 1 minute. Add chopped cilantro and season with remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce. Using tongs, divide noodles among 4 bowls. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with sprigs of cilantro and slices of pepper.
Results:
I'm eating the results right now, and it is heavenly. Much like the other soup I did (Lemon Chicken Soup), this combines salty, citrusy, and creamy flavors. This one just has a little bit of a kick behind it with the ginger and hot peppers. This recipe is a little more labor-intensive then the others I usually use, expecially with the hokey-pokey, in-and-out of the pot with the noodles (necessary b/c rice noodles are fragile and will break up in the hot soup if left in for too long), but start-to-finish was still under 1& 1/2 hour. My changes: I ended up not finding anything but canned green chiles, instead of whole peppers, and I used the entire 4 oz can in this soup. Other variations: I used 2 cups of coconut milk (1 can) instead of 1 cup, and decreased the chicken broth by 1 cup. I also used low-sodium chicken broth. Between that and the fish sauce, I did not need to add any additional salt. I did add, however, additional ginger because you can never have enough ginger in my book. Finally, I saved 1 of the 2 cups of coconut milk until the very end because then you have a fresher taste to the milk.
By the by,
For those interesting in pairing this soup with a wine, might I suggest a brighter white wine, such as Yellow Tail's Pinot Grigio. It's strong enough to stand up for itself, but accents the ginger and citrus without overpowering just beautifully.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
sushi rolls!
Ian, Chris and I made sushi last night, technically "makizushi" which I think means sushi rolls, but who knows. I didn't pick up many transferable skills in Japan (for example, knowing how to say, "I would like a large draft beer," or "excuse me, where is this town's shinto shrine?" isn't very useful in America) but I would say that sushi is one of them.
I would print the directions here, but there are much better directions on the packet of roasted seaweed, along with diagrams. The brand we have here is Yamamoto Yama, although that's just written in very small print. It's a square-ish pack of dried seaweed, and it should have a picture of rolled sushi on the front. That's pretty much how I did all my shopping in Japan, by picture. It doesn't have directions for making sushi rice, so here's mine. This makes enough sushi for at least four hungry people, and for that amount I would get two packets of seaweed, 10 sheets each. You might not use it all, but better safe than sorry.
Cook 3 cups of sushi rice according to the directions on the box/bag. (it should be sushi rice, but I think I've used short grain rice before.)
Place the cooked rice in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, mix 4 Tbls rice vinegar, 2 Tbls sugar, and 1 tsp salt.
Sprinkle over rice as someone else stirs the rice with a study mixing spoon or spatula until it's mixed thoroughly.
Wait until the rice is cool before rolling sushi.
Last night, we made california rolls with fake crab, avocado, cream cheese (we used too much cream cheese), and cucumbers. I've also made it with egg, and I love that. (scramble an egg with a touch of sugar and soy sauce, cook initially as you would an omelet, but fold it over several times, then cut into good sized strips for the sushi). I haven't ever tried raw fish. I think I'd have to be very brave to do that. Julienned carrots are good. I've seen tempura green beans, pumpkin, or asparagus in sushi restaurants, which is the only type of tempura I've ever liked. I think anything would be good, as long as it would taste good with soy sauce.
Chris was brainstorming on his ideal sushi roll, which included bacon as the filling, replacing the rice with grated cheese, and doing away with the seaweed in favor of pepperoni. The soy sauce would not be used with this roll.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
coconut rice
To give myself a small spring break during a very snowy Friday evening, I made coconut rice last night, and I think I may be in trouble. It was really really good.
Combine 3 cups light coconut milk (about 2 cans), 2 cups uncooked long-grain white rice and 2 bay leaves in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Let stand 5 min; discard bay leaves. Fluff with a fork, and stir in .5 teaspoon of salt (kosher if you have it).
I never before understood the fluffy rice thing; I like my rice clumpy and chewy. With this dish, though, I wanted to savor every individual grain it was so good. Let me know if you try it with brown rice!
The recipe had an accompanying dish called spicy tomato sauce. I liked what I made, but I had deviated so far from the recipe that I'm not sure I could really tell you what I did. Basically, you saute shallots (I used onions) and garlic lightly in peanut oil (I used canola), and then mix in Thai chiles (which I obviously skipped), brown sugar, lime juice, lime zest (which I didn't have) and tomatoes, and let that simmer for about 20 minutes. My rice wasn't done after its 20 minutes, so I kept both of them on the heat, but then I forgot about them because I was posting yesterday's posts. By the time I got back there, the rice was perfect and the spicy tomato sauce had reduced so much that it was sweeter than sun-ripened tomatoes. The tomatoes had almost completely disintegrated, the onion had gone way past caramelizing and somehow reverted to a simple sugar state... it was great with the rice, but I think that may have been a happy accident, never to be repeated.
Combine 3 cups light coconut milk (about 2 cans), 2 cups uncooked long-grain white rice and 2 bay leaves in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Let stand 5 min; discard bay leaves. Fluff with a fork, and stir in .5 teaspoon of salt (kosher if you have it).
I never before understood the fluffy rice thing; I like my rice clumpy and chewy. With this dish, though, I wanted to savor every individual grain it was so good. Let me know if you try it with brown rice!
The recipe had an accompanying dish called spicy tomato sauce. I liked what I made, but I had deviated so far from the recipe that I'm not sure I could really tell you what I did. Basically, you saute shallots (I used onions) and garlic lightly in peanut oil (I used canola), and then mix in Thai chiles (which I obviously skipped), brown sugar, lime juice, lime zest (which I didn't have) and tomatoes, and let that simmer for about 20 minutes. My rice wasn't done after its 20 minutes, so I kept both of them on the heat, but then I forgot about them because I was posting yesterday's posts. By the time I got back there, the rice was perfect and the spicy tomato sauce had reduced so much that it was sweeter than sun-ripened tomatoes. The tomatoes had almost completely disintegrated, the onion had gone way past caramelizing and somehow reverted to a simple sugar state... it was great with the rice, but I think that may have been a happy accident, never to be repeated.
Friday, March 7, 2008
miso dressing part 2
So, I tried the vinegar with the miso dressing (see here and here). I thought I'd replace one teaspoon of the soy sauce with one teaspoon of white vinegar. What I actually did was put in one TABLESPOON each of soy sauce and vinegar. So, I can't taste the vinegar, but it's still salty because I put in, oh, a thousand times too much soy sauce. I believe that my insides are actually pickling. It's not too sweet this time, though, I reduced the sugar by a third. I would say, this is the perfect sweetness.
Snowy day here in Bloomington for the (students') first day of spring break. I have to work next week, but that doesn't stop fellow full time staff from wishing me a happy spring break. It's nice to not have students around.
I'm trying to grow parsley and basil from seeds. We'll see how it goes. Each seed packet was only $1.07, so, what the hey?
Snowy day here in Bloomington for the (students') first day of spring break. I have to work next week, but that doesn't stop fellow full time staff from wishing me a happy spring break. It's nice to not have students around.
I'm trying to grow parsley and basil from seeds. We'll see how it goes. Each seed packet was only $1.07, so, what the hey?
Monday, February 25, 2008
miso alterations
I've been thinking around this miso salad dressing thing. the recipe calls for 3 Tbs of sugar, which is, I think, a hugely huge amount. I suggested reducing that to 2 Tbs. Part of the reason I said this was because it was so gritty with the sugar at first, but all that sugar did end up dissolving overnight. Regardless, that's still a lot of refined sugar for what is generally considered a healthy meal: salad.
I was reading this month's cooking light magazine and it was talking about balancing flavors, the four (now five) tastes on your tongue, which got me thinking, maybe the dressing has all that sugar to try to balance out the Salt of the miso and the soy sauce? The recipe calls for sugar, so that's Sweet. Miso and soy sauce aren't just Salty, they're also something new called Umami. I don't really understand Umami, but it's found in things like tomatoes, hard cheeses, mushrooms.... read the article if interested. Anyway, those are the three main flavors going on. I guess if you eat it with a lettuce like radicchio or endive or cabbage, that would give you Bitter (although it's unlikely I personally would ever eat those in a salad). And you do add vinegar to the dressing, but mirin is really more sweet than anything else; it's not your classic Sour.
So that got me thinking, the main problem here is the salad dressing is way Salty. What if we reduce the amount of the soy sauce, and add some "real" vinegar instead, like, I don't know, white wine vinegar. That might cut the salt enough to allow us to reduce the sugar without the dressing being nothing but salty and umami, whatever that is. I'll try it once I run out of this batch of dressing and keep you posted.
By the way, this article also explained that this is why you need to add some sugar to a vinaigrette that has more vinegar than oil, as these new low fat vinaigrettes have.
I was reading this month's cooking light magazine and it was talking about balancing flavors, the four (now five) tastes on your tongue, which got me thinking, maybe the dressing has all that sugar to try to balance out the Salt of the miso and the soy sauce? The recipe calls for sugar, so that's Sweet. Miso and soy sauce aren't just Salty, they're also something new called Umami. I don't really understand Umami, but it's found in things like tomatoes, hard cheeses, mushrooms.... read the article if interested. Anyway, those are the three main flavors going on. I guess if you eat it with a lettuce like radicchio or endive or cabbage, that would give you Bitter (although it's unlikely I personally would ever eat those in a salad). And you do add vinegar to the dressing, but mirin is really more sweet than anything else; it's not your classic Sour.
So that got me thinking, the main problem here is the salad dressing is way Salty. What if we reduce the amount of the soy sauce, and add some "real" vinegar instead, like, I don't know, white wine vinegar. That might cut the salt enough to allow us to reduce the sugar without the dressing being nothing but salty and umami, whatever that is. I'll try it once I run out of this batch of dressing and keep you posted.
By the way, this article also explained that this is why you need to add some sugar to a vinaigrette that has more vinegar than oil, as these new low fat vinaigrettes have.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Japanese Miso dressing
Suz and Brad came over two weekends ago to make sushi and miso soup. I had a TON of miso left over, so I found a recipe for miso dressing. It's the closest I've been able to find to that yummy dressing they give you at Japanese Steak Houses.
The recipe says it yields 1 cup, but I think it must yield more.
3/4 c Red Miso (aka akamiso)*
3 Tbls sugar
3 Tbls mirin (Japanese rice wine vinegar)
2 Tbls hot water
2 tps light soy sauce
1/4 tps sesame oil
1 Tbls toasted sesame seeds#
In a small bowl, combine miso and sugar. Add mirin, water, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Stir until well blended. Serve over iceberg lettuce and carrot slices. Toss to combine.
* there are different kinds of miso, and when they mean red, they mean red, not white or mild or other varieties. It's the brownist miso, and it's also the most flavorful. A little goes a long way! conveniently, the same miso used in miso soup!
# toasting sesame seeds makes them taste delicious, but it's dangerous. They take a really long time to start toasting, and then you have about 30 seconds before they burn. I put them in a (non-stick) skillet and put the heat on medium, tossing the pan and stirring the seeds every minute or so, and prepare the rest of the dressing right next to the stove where I can keep an eye on it. Once you start to smell toastyness and they start to turn brown. You can play chicken with the seeds if you want, and try to get them even more toasted, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Results: I think this recipe calls for WAY too much sugar. Next time I'm going to only put 2 Tbls in it. Also, it's really thick, so I add more water. And a little goes a loooong way. I wouldn't pour this dressing on your salad, I'd spoon it on a little at a time and toss it as you go. When I say "toss," I mean put it in a bowl with a lid or a plate on top and really shake it. This is definitely a shaken, not stirred salad dressing. That said, because the dressing is so complex and rich, I'm perfectly happy eating it with nothing but lettuce, which would be really boring with ordinary ranch or italian. I would definitly make this again! I had to buy the sesame oil to make it, and I think I'll enjoy putting that to use, too.
The recipe says it yields 1 cup, but I think it must yield more.
3/4 c Red Miso (aka akamiso)*
3 Tbls sugar
3 Tbls mirin (Japanese rice wine vinegar)
2 Tbls hot water
2 tps light soy sauce
1/4 tps sesame oil
1 Tbls toasted sesame seeds#
In a small bowl, combine miso and sugar. Add mirin, water, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Stir until well blended. Serve over iceberg lettuce and carrot slices. Toss to combine.
* there are different kinds of miso, and when they mean red, they mean red, not white or mild or other varieties. It's the brownist miso, and it's also the most flavorful. A little goes a long way! conveniently, the same miso used in miso soup!
# toasting sesame seeds makes them taste delicious, but it's dangerous. They take a really long time to start toasting, and then you have about 30 seconds before they burn. I put them in a (non-stick) skillet and put the heat on medium, tossing the pan and stirring the seeds every minute or so, and prepare the rest of the dressing right next to the stove where I can keep an eye on it. Once you start to smell toastyness and they start to turn brown. You can play chicken with the seeds if you want, and try to get them even more toasted, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Results: I think this recipe calls for WAY too much sugar. Next time I'm going to only put 2 Tbls in it. Also, it's really thick, so I add more water. And a little goes a loooong way. I wouldn't pour this dressing on your salad, I'd spoon it on a little at a time and toss it as you go. When I say "toss," I mean put it in a bowl with a lid or a plate on top and really shake it. This is definitely a shaken, not stirred salad dressing. That said, because the dressing is so complex and rich, I'm perfectly happy eating it with nothing but lettuce, which would be really boring with ordinary ranch or italian. I would definitly make this again! I had to buy the sesame oil to make it, and I think I'll enjoy putting that to use, too.
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