Shrimp Salad

The reason for my addiction

I’m about to admit something that I used to do which was pretty gross. I want to give a little preface first before I tell you. But be warned, either you will be nauseous or proud when you read it. But first the Joyce-ian digression.

Most of my food/technique discovery comes from having access to a full fridge (well, full of Japanese and Taiwanese goods) and a kitchen to myself after school. I mastered the egg drop technique, how to quickly chop scallions, melting cheese in the microwave [sort of], and making pancake from scratch. I also had the opportunity to try playing with ingridients. I figured out that fermented back beans don’t taste good in Kraft Mac and Cheese, rice vinegar is awesome when used in pan frying dumpling wrappers, and stir fried iceberg lettuce with garlic salt isn’t half bad. The best thing about having access to a fridge after school with no one around is exactly that, I got to do things that I would have been judged for by family members based on standards of ethics and health.

So, the thing that I have feared to admit is that I used to eat mayonnaise out of the jar. Gasp!

Mayonnaise is not a popular ingredient in Taiwan. It arrived in Asia through Japan by the military. Eventually it found its way through other Asian regions and now is an important part of a young Taiwanese boy’s discovery of a highly coloric condiment. I still remember how the habit started. Whenever we went to a Chinese seafood restaurant, we would sometimes get boiled abolone. As part of the dish, a small serving of mayonnaise would be provided as dip. I would always limit myself at the table. Well, my mom would always limit me. I later discovered that shrimp could also be dipped in this pillow-y and rich goodness. So, if shrimp was ever cooked at home, I would take out the jar of mayonnaise, which I convinced my parents was necessary to have in an American house hold, and put about a tablespoon of it on the shrimp (yes singular) and enjoy every moment of the fatty, smooth, emulsion. It was when I was spooning the stuff out of the jar and having a little taste after school that I knew I hit rock bottom. I was a ten year old junkie and my drug was mayonnaise.

I’m proud to say that I have quit cold turkey, and I no longer spoon any fatty substance in my mouth in large quantities. I do however keep some mayonnaise in my fridge in case of relapse and as a reminder of my junkie days. I now prefer the japanese version much better than the classic American styles. Instead of white vinegar as the main acid, rice or cider vinegar is used to add a slight sweetness. My favorite brand is Kewpie because it is mostly egg yolk which gives it a creamier texture and the vinegar is a blend of cider and malt which provides a subtle sweet flavor. It goes great with the natural sweetness of shrimp. Especially in this dish.

I love this salad. It allows me to cheat on my “no eating mayonnaise out of jar” rule. It also is a great blend with the tartness of the lemon juice, spice of the chili, and creaminess of the star of the dish: mayonnaise. You can use this base for any other salad (crab, scallop, chicken, tuna) but shrimp and mayonnaise is a combination that will always trigger great memories of my childhood. You can do this with day old shrimp. What I like to do sometimes is double the amount of shrimp I need to make sure I have enough for a salad the next day. So, I bought two pounds. Ok, maybe my problem is not just mayonnaise but also shrimp. Although, I think we established that already.

Whew, I’m glad I got that off my chest. I can now move on with my next 90 posts without fear that my dirty secret would come out. Enjoy.

~stuff

1 lb shrimp, cooked, shelled & cut into pieces
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium lemon, zest and 1/2 of the juice
1 tsp togorashi, more if you want it spicy
1/4 cup mayonnaise (I prefer Japanese style)
1 small shallot, minced
salt and pepper to taste

~steps
combine all ingredients in a bowl
serve in a toasted roll as a sandwich or over a bed of lettuce for a primal option

-serves 4-

Spicy Sauteed Tendon with Garlic and Scallion

Spicy Tendon

I know Kung Fu.  Well, I know a few key basic moves.  Ok, I used to know Kung Fu.  It was part of a special extra curricular program that was part of my Chinese School when I was younger. Chinese school was a painful memory of my past.  While all my friends where enjoying two full days off from school, I had only one and a half days to play outside.  My Chinese school was from nine in the morning until noon. It was a short class, but it felt like a lifetime to a ten year old.  And, like my regular school, I wasn’t a very good student at all.  I would usually wake up early that Saturday around six or seven in the morning.  Run to the television and turn it on for Saturday morning cartoons, Saved By The Bell, and California Dreaming and attempt to finish a full week’s homework in between commercial breaks.  Once my parents woke up, I would then put the homework away and keep my textbook out to do last minute studying for a quiz (because I had finished my homework days in advanced) and then go to class.  During class I would listen real hard and answer in Mandarin, which is why I credit my ability to have basic conversations in Chinese but also why I lack reading and writing skills.   The redeeming factor on Saturdays was ending the day with my Kung Fu class.

Kung Fu class was fun.  I learned some fun sequences and felt like I could be the next Bruce Lee or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I didn’t get very far in my practice.  I had no idea as a kid that the art form required so much discipline and focus. But, you know what?  I got to yellow belt and I was satisfied. I just wanted the accessory.  It was something that I could show off to the world when my parents took me out for lunch and errands after school. I was a super hero. Well a beginner belt superhero.

One of the places I got to show off my “manly-ness” was at A&J restaurant.  Still one of my favorite restaurants of all time and I still get the same dishes every time I visit.  We went so often, to the point where the moment they saw a tiny Taiwanese boy running awkwardly in the parking lot with baggy Kung Fu clothes and a yellow sash, my order would already be in the kitchen.   A few minutes later, while my parent where still waiting for the rest of the order, I would have in front of me Zha Jiang Mian, pickled seaweed, and stir fried tendons.

It's not a sexy thing. But it tastes awesome.

I’ve been able to get both the seaweed and noodle dish in NYC to help curb my cravings. But, I have yet to find a place in the city to satisfy the tendon bug. The texture of this dish is hard to describe.  It’s a soft gelatinous chewy goodness, but has a subtle crispness fruity from the cooking processed.  Because the chili oil and scallion impart an intense citrus and floral fragrance, the flavor profile of the earthy garlic becomes a subtle nuttiness mixed with a hint of spice. Add the caramelizing of the soy sauce and you have a complex profile of flavors and textures in a dish that only has five simple ingredients.

The key thing with this dish is to use lots and lots of oil. You want the tendon to stir fry and not stick to the pan. Also, make sure your pan is screeching hot. Like, smoke alarm is going to go off hot. So make sure the house is well ventilated and you’re ready to deal with some chili oil smoke. There is a chance, if you don’t open a window, that you are creating some illegal bio-warfare.

Enjoy this dish.  It’s not exactly like the original, but maybe if I put on a Kung fu outfit and a yellow belt, it will almost be the same.

~stuff

2 tbs vegetable oil

2 chili pods (or you can use 2 tsp chili oil)

1½ lb beef tendon (boiled until soft), cut in 1 inch pieces

3 cloves of garlic, smashed

2 scallion stalks, 1 inch slices

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp rice wine

~steps

heat oil on high with chili pods until almost smoking

add all ingredients and stir fry for a few minutes, until fragrant

remove from heat and add salt to taste

-serves 4-

Easy Pork and Garlic Chive Stir Fry

...pork and chive stir fry...

It feels like spring came extremely early this year, which, as you know, means two things for me.  I will relentlessly talk about my love for the farmers market and you will be forced to listen with no escape like a slideshow of my family vacation.  And, I will tear down all the weeds (with itchy eyes and a runny nose) to pretend to make way for a patch of dirt with green sprouts and try to call it a garden.  Yay, spring!

 

Last year, I neglected my duties of weeding and let some of the weeds (which I thought where just plants) turn into small trees.  Yes.  This year, we had giant tree weeds.  I never knew that these things existed, but I have the 6-foot carcass in my backyard as proof.  In order to protect my integrity as a green thumb (*ahem*), I went to Target and bought a giant tree/bush scissor thingy (clearly a green thumb) and hacked away at all the weeds at my house.  It was a brutal image, with sticks, roots, and dirt flying in every direction.  In the end, it was a war zone but it was beautiful.  I was weed free and, as a bonus, there was faint aroma of garlic in the air.  It was amazing.  At first, I wasn’t sure what the smell was.  It was a familiar aroma and I couldn’t put my finger on it.  I finally realized it was the smell of Chinese chives.

 

It immediately brought me back to memories of my childhood.  My mom would cook it for dumplings and stir-fries and it would have an amazing gentle garlic flavor to it.  I started to get nostalgic and looked around for the sprouts of dark green leaves.  Turns out my neighbors had planted some of these chives a while back and they have began to grow into our part of the fence.  I ended up planting them in some pots that I had, and harvesting the leaves.  The best thing about these chives is that they are hearty.  So you can cut off the tops and in a few weeks, you’ll have some more leaves to enjoy.  And they’re easy to care for, so I can continue to pretend to be amazing with the green thumb.

 

For this recipe, I only needed 1/2 a pound of pork.  What my Mom and I do now is just buy a bunch of it, then slice it once we get home and then freeze them in individual sandwich bags.  This way they are proportioned out for when you need it.  Plus, the marinade for the pork was my Mom’s standard marinade that she used for all her sliced meats that she used for stir-fry.  It’s tasty and is a quick marinade.  You can use it with any sliced meat for any stir-fry.  I like the pork and chive combo here.  Use tofu as a substitute if you are a vegetarian or NOT on the primal diet.

 

Enjoy.

 

~stuff

½ lb pork (I used tenderloin), julienne

1 tbs soy sauce

½ tbs cooking rice wine

2 tsp rice flour or cornstarch

1 tsp garlic powder

½ tsp sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

1 bunches of Chinese garlic chives (about ½ lb), 1 inch slices

vegetable oil (if needed)

~steps

mix first seven items together in a small bowl and set aside for at least 15 minutes

heat a pan or wok on high until screaming hot and stir-fry the pork until cooked through (add oil if necessary)

add garlic chives and stir until cooked, a few minutes

-serves 4-

 

 

 

 

 

28 things to do with the Dragon

the dragon welcomes you

I do resolutions. Well, let me correct myself. I make resolutions. “Doing” a resolution would imply that I actually have completed and crossed off said resolution. So, although I don’t do resolutions, I enjoy making them [I know, it’s a conundrum]. Every year, while the rest of the world is joining a gym or starting a diet at the beginning of January, I am creating a list for lunar new year with new and old resolutions. It’s a private tradition I do every year where I make goals, plans, and dreams for the year. Some I reach, many I don’t. But I still love to do it. Something about sitting down and evaluating the past year, and then figuring what I want to do in the year to come is exciting for me. It feels like growth, new adventures and discovery, and I love that.

This year, I’ve decided to do something different and share my list with you all. I’ve been inspired to do this by one of my friends, who is an amazing writer and has a travel blog called Flip Flop Caravan. At the end of the year, she talks about her goals for the past year and the ones that she has crossed off. She calls it her life list. Her journey is amazing to read and her ability to meet so many of the things on her bucket list are inspiring. So, because of her work, I’m making a list of 28 things that I want to accomplish this year.

This post was a little difficult for me to write. I’m not a person who is comfortable to be public about things, which is strange for a blogger. This is especially the case with a list of resolutions. I usually write the list on some scrap of paper that I hide in my dresser drawer so I see it randomly throughout the year. No one has ever seen my lists. They usually range anywhere from something that has to do with a personality or private matter to cooking a dish or having a travel/food show. So clearly, some goals are lofty, some more realistic and some that only belong in my underwear drawer while others can be shouted from the top of the world. But they help me see the direction that I want to take my life for the year and how I have grown as a person in interest, profession, and personality.

I’ve rewritten the post different ways and different times. I’m not entirely sure I’m settling on this format, or even the way it looks. But the problem is, I will never be happy with this post because it will always be changing. But here it goes.

My resolutions for the Year of the Dragon:

1. Be able to do Parshvottanasana “intense side stretch”
2. Make Zhong Zi (Taiwanese Tamales)
3. Travel to Taiwan
4. Complete the Run4Kelly
5. Star in a travel show/cooking show
6. Start a successful sake program at work
7. Write 54 posts
8. Make pizza from scratch
9. Make kimchee
10. Learn to shuck an oyster
11. Snorkel in Australia or Hawaii
12. Build a garden on the roof
13. Buy a plant and keep it alive
14. Build a home bar
15. Visit a winery
16. Read and understand a Chinese version of Doraemon
17. Make Fu Qi Fei Pian
18. Make white sugar cake
19. Create a video post for www.brb-eating.com
20. Make Taiwanese sausage
21. Visit the food network offices
22. Try Durian
23. Host a dumpling making party
24. Buy a new tv
25. Enjoy a bottle of rare wine
26. Eat a meal at ABC Kitchen
27. Send 6 postcards from 6 different places
28. Take a knife skills class

Spinach Pasta with Mushroom and Parmesan

Creamy, gooey, mushroom cheese sauce

Second lunch became a constant meal in my life growing up. It all started when I was around eight or nine years old and continued on through out high school. It was my version of a security blanket and my opportunity to try to create new dishes. The process of my second lunch was always like clockwork and I could set my watch to it. I would leave for school in the morning with five dollars from my dad for lunch that day. I would then spend two of those five dollars on a bottle of diet soda and a bag of chips. This became my lunch for six years. And yes, I pocketed the three dollars everyday. By around 2 o’clock, I would start dreaming of my second lunch. A grumble in my stomach would dictate the flavors that I was fantasizing about. I’d spend the next couple of hours trying to remember what was in the house for me to cook; pork bones, chicken broth, noodles, shrimp, scallions. I was sure I was able to create something out of these dishes. I’d then go home and cook it, eat it, clean up the evidence, and be ready to have dinner with the family by 6:00 pm.

It was a fun process, and always full of challenges. I remember this one time I had a huge craving for cheese sauce. Primarily the Kraft Mac and Cheese sauce. Unfortunately, my parents had gone to Costco (then Price Club) without me and I couldn’t stock up on my arsenal of industrial size instant pastas and mayonnaise. I decided that I would attempt to make my own bright orange sauce. I had managed to score a pack of American Singles from a trip to our local grocery store. (I’m starting to realize that it sounds like I had to fight and connive in order to get food from my parents, but I want you all to know they where loving and amazing parents that didn’t withhold food from me. I promise.) So I figured I would cook a pack of Chinese noodles and then make the cheese sauce.

First step, I get some water boiling and then I cook the noodles. I watch the noodles swirl around in the water with excitement and anticipation. After a few minutes, with a pair of wooden chopsticks, I grab a strand of noodle out and taste. Yum, the Chinese version of “al dente”. Next comes the fun part, I drain the water, put in the milk and butter and tear up two individually wrapped squares. I start stirring with a determined look on my face because I needed to melt that cheese like my life depended on it. I ended up with a sore arm and a big knot of noodles with pieces of processed cheese sticking out. The milky sheen on the noodles did not make it look appetizing at all. Well, neither did the unmelted raw cheese.

So after dumping the noodles in the trash, I employed another strategy. What if I pre-melt the cheese first? So, while the water boils, I put the cheese in a microwave safe bowl [I learned that the metal rimmed porcelain bowls that my mom loved does not belong in the microwave the hard way] and put it on for one minute on high and walked away to watch power rangers. This was the standard time and power that I set all my food for when I was eight, primarily because I didn’t understand the machine. The noodles are ready shortly after an intense fight between the yellow ranger and the putty patrol, and I go check on the cheese. I was now holding in my hand a science project. Somehow I had discovered the concept of mutation and created a fusion of food and bowl. There was an attempt by me to try to clean the bowl with lots of scrubbing and soaking but I decided that it was better to put the whole thing out of its misery. I then gave up on the whole dish and made chicken noodle soup.

I’m happy to say, I now know how to make cheese sauce. I also know how to add things to make it good. I’ve also come to terms with the fact that I don’t have the science degree to recreate the wonderfully orange sauce in my home kitchen. I am ok with that. In this recipe I used king oyster mushrooms, I like the texture…but you can use any type of mushrooms you want.

~stuff

1 cup sliced king oyster mushrooms

¼ cup milk

¼ cup half and half

1 tsp butter

¼ cup shallots, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp thyme

1 tbs flour

¼ cup chives, minced

fresh grated nutmeg

2 cups of grated cheese (I used parmasean and asiago)

~steps

sautee butter, garlic, and shallots until lightly brown

add the mushroom and thyme and cook until mushroom is cooked down, 2-3 minutes

sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir until the flour is fully cooked through and golden in color

pour in the milk and cream and bring the mixture to a low simmer

lower the heat and add the cheese, a few grates of nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste

before serving, add pasta water to thin out the sauce and mix with cooked pasta

-serves 4-

Taiwanese Braised Pig’s Feet

Whatever you want to call it. "Pig Feet" or "Trotters", either way it's awesome!

I’ve been in survival/no waste mode. Well, at least that’s what it seems like from my last four or five posts. Liver, lard, free seafood, and now the front (or back) feet of a pig; my blog is turning into an “I like ‘strange’ things/Foodie” or an “I am resourceful” blog. Today, I spend eight dollars on eight pounds of goodness.

My brother and I grew up on pig’s feet or as foodies like to call it: trotters. It was one of the many dishes that my mom knew that we thoroughly enjoyed and would put in her arsenal of dishes to cook to coax us home. She has been cooking this dish for years. I remember when she would cook this when I was young. It would be a Saturday or a Sunday and the whole house would fill up with the amazing aroma of pork, star anise, and soy sauce. As the day went on, the air in house would change as the stages of the cooking progressed. In the beginning of the day, you would get the aroma of rice wine as it steams in the air, then comes the savory smell of pork, finally you get the spice of licorice from the anise and then the nuttiness of soy sauce and caramelizing sugar. It immediately took me back to Taiwan and the smells of traditional cooking. It took me to dishes that never changed with fads, exotic ingredients, or Western impressions. It was how dishes where enjoyed by my parents, their parents, and their parents and how they have always stimulated the senses for generations.

I’ve been missing Taiwan a lot lately. Last November I had the amazing opportunity to go back to Taiwan for a few weeks. Since then I have dreamed of going back, more importantly dreamed of hosting a travel show highlighting the food of the island and the people who make and produce them. One of my favorite things to do in Taiwan is to eat the food and really see what it means for people to love cooking and be proud of the ingredients and the dishes from Taiwan. This is totally one of the dishes that I would highlight. Not only is it very Taiwanese, it’s completely simple in flavor, much like the islands philosophy on cooking.

I always thought, until now, that there was a bunch of ingredients in this dish. It seemed so complicated with all the flavors that fill my mouth, but turns out that it is super simple. Who knew that all you needed was pork, soy sauce, star anise, and sugar. My mom figured out that if you steam the feet half way through, you can get most of the grease out of the dish. I steamed it with rice wine, per my momma’s instruction. This way you get the wine to really permeate through the pork early on in the cooking process and give it a subtle flavor note that helps complicate a simple flavor profile. Plus it helps bring out the pork amazingly.

If you want true flavors or Taiwan as well as the real philosophy behind Taiwanese food, this is it. Enjoy, especially with rice.

~stuff

8 lb pig feet, chopped into pieces (ask your butcher…unless you want to lose a finger)

1/2 cup cooking rice wine or dry sherry

3 cups of water

2 cups of soy sauce soy sauce

8 pods of star anise

3 dried salted plums (optional)

1/4 cup of brown sugar

~steps

steam pig feet with ¼ cup rice wine and 1 cup of water in a steamer for 30 to 45 minutes

remove excess grease, if necessary (this is depending on what kind of steamer you use.  I used a steamer that allowed it to drip into the water)

place pig feet in a large pot and add remaining ingredients except for sugar and turn on low, stirring often, for at least 3 hours

add sugar to the pot and stir on medium high temperature 30 minutes before serving to allow the sugar to caramelize

-serves 6-

 

 

 

Fool’s Noodles

Lard, chicharon, and noodles. Yum.

Lard is amazing. I had some hesitation writing this post. An almost border line abusive conversation happened between my artistic freedom self and my down to reality self about whether or not 1) lard/pork fat/bacon/pork belly is a food trend that is over, stale, or needs to die, 2) way too unhealthy to belong on a blog that talks (mostly) about healthy local foods, or 3) too similar to lard rice to post.

In the end, I realized that I made the dish, took the picture, and might as well write the post.

Are you familiar with this dish? It’s a traditional Taiwanese dish you find on the streets of Taiwan. The dish is rooted during a time when the low income and working class were conscious of their access to extravagance, like meat, and the respect towards their food by not wasting any of it. I never ordered it when I was in Taiwan, mainly because I was eating other things that I couldn’t get in the US. I finally tried this dish one lunch with my parents when I was in middle school.

Growing up, my parents made sure that we always had a stocked fridge. Every meal must always have vegetables, fish, meat, and soup. This also meant that we went grocery shopping every week, which became one of the best family memories growing up. The weekly Saturday schedule was always driving 30 minutes to Irvine or 45 minutes to Roland Heights, getting some delicious Chinese or Taiwanese food for lunch, and then grocery shopping. It’s where I learned about Chinese produce, cuts of meats, and more about the food from my community.

One of the places we frequented was a Taiwanese restaurant that had “sha gua” noodles. It’s translated to “fool’s noodles”. Mainly because a fool can make it. Lard, soy sauce, noodles, and scallions in a bowl. Easy. The flavor is something between butter and nutty soy. To be more specific, in as much vague descriptions as I can give, it’s like an earthy, briny, less gamey buttered noodles with bursts of freshness from the scallions. The scallions also add a green crunch which buries itself in the creaminess of the lard mixed with the al dente chew of the noodles. All in all, it’s a great snack or meal after a night of drinking.

Enjoy all it’s goodies.

~stuff

2 servings dried Chinese Noodles

1 tbs lard

1 tsp soy sauce

1/2 cup scallion, minced

chicharon or pork rinds, crumbled (optional)

~steps

cook noodles per packaged directions until al dente and drain

mix in rest of ingredients

season with salt or soy sauce to taste and sprinkle the Chicharron if you like

-serves 2-

Pan Seared Skate

-pan roasted skate with soy glaze-

Hurricane Irene hit New York City early Sunday morning.  To prepare, my roommate and housemates cleaned out the trash outside, weighed down our broken grill, moved all electrical things from the windows, and put up towels in areas we knew would leak.  My roommate and I were put in charge of buying the necessary items in case we lost power, gas, or water.  This was the best idea ever.

My roommate and I went to the local Chinese supermarket and came back with the most important things.  We came back with:

this is what my survival kit looks like

Haw Flakes, chocolate wafer sticks, sour cream and onion Pringles, dried pork, dried fish, dried beef, chili sauce, preserved bamboo, preserved vegetables, honey mustard pretzels, shrimp chips, rice crackers, sunflower seed, pig ear, chicken feet, salted duck, beef tendon, and a six pack of beer.  Red Cross, if you are hiring, my roommate and I are available for consulting.

In addition to all of this amazing first aid food stuff, I did also get some things from work because the restaurant had to shut down for the weekend.  This meant that the wonderful people in pastry gave me some equally wonderful zucchini muffins and the chefs gave me some awesome uncooked skate that wouldn’t survive the weekend.  I downed the muffins on my way home, but I pretended that there was no electricity so it didn’t feel premature to dive into them.  The skate however, was a conundrum.  I wasn’t really sure how I would prepare it. I’m not very familiar with skate mainly because the “Seafood Watch” list tells me not to buy it.  So, it’s exciting that I got my hands on skate.  This is especially because it comes from a vendor that I can trust and know gets seafood from fisherman that are sustainable and progressive.

I ended up cooking it in a method that is very common with how my mom cooks fish fillets.  It’s simple and uses aromatics and ingredients that every Asian person should have at home.  All you need to do is pan fry the fish and then quickly create a sauce in the same pan.  Because the skate wings are so thin, you can make this dish in less than ten minutes.  If you don’t have access to sustainable skate, and if you don’t know then don’t get it, you can use some scallops.  The flavor profile is almost exactly the same.  Texture won’t be like fish, but it’s more about the flavor in this dish.

In case you where wondering, our building wasn’t damaged too much by the hurricane.  We had a little water in our basement and the second floor did not have power for the day, but we where lucky.  Now, make some scallops (or skate) and enjoy.

~stuff

2 lbs of skate wing, 4 fillets

salt and black pepper

2 tbs vegetable oil

¼ cup of ginger, julienne

2 medium scallions, sliced in 1 inch pieces

3 medium cloves of garlic, smashed

¼ cup soy sauce

2 tbs Chinese rice wine

1½ tbs sugar

~steps

sprinkle salt and pepper on skate

 

heat oil in a non-stick skillet on high until scorching hot

 

panfry skate on one side for 3-4 minutes until lightly brown and flip to finish cooking, for about another 2 minutes

 

remove cooked skate and return the pan to the heat

 

add garlic, ginger, and scallion to pan and stir fry until fragrant

 

mix the soy sauce, wine, and sugar in another bowl and add to the hot pan

 

stir until sauce is slightly reduced, 1 minute

 

pour sauce over fillet and serve

-serves 4-

Taiwanese Braised Liver

Taiwanese Braised Liver

One of the things that my parents have always taught me is to try everything. No matter how odd the aroma is or foreign the texture is, my mom and dad would always make me take a bite. I would usually begrudneonly nibble at the first bite and, realizing its pleasures, devour the whole thing  I appreciate that bit of parental wisdom and value it as one of the many life lessons that will always mold my politics and outlook in food. It’s allowed me to respect not only the cultures but also the resourcefulness of people. It’s also taught me that good parenting involves forcing your child to eat things and not have to tell them what, where, or why they are eating it. Come to think of it, I think I just unlocked the key perk of parenting.

 

One of the things that I have come to love because of my parents philosophy on food are offals.  My lack of interest in science helped me in the inability to identify parts of body, nor did I care when my parents told me the name of the protein in Taiwanese.  I just assumed it was a fungus, sea creature, or animal that only existed in Asian areas.  But because of my parent’s rule of don’t ask until you try it rule it didn’t matter when I did find out what I was eating.  Plus, biology was never a strong program in my public school, so I couldn’t even identify what I was eating if I tried.

 

This dish comes from my Aunt Mei, who lives in Chicago. She made this braised liver dish for me a couple of years ago while the family was together in California. It’s delicious. She used beef liver which has a stronger gamey flavor, but pairs amazingly well with the liquid it is cooked in.  The dish is braised in a flavorful combination of sweet, salty, nutty, earthy, and spicy. It’s a common cooking technique in Taiwanese cooking and you will see it with almost all proteins in the homes of Taiwanese aunties, mothers, and grandmother. The base will always consist of soy sauce, sugar, rice wine, ginger, and star anise. Other spices and ingredients may be added based on what each persons grandma uses.

 

I kept mine basic with just the standard stuff because it is what I have on hand. But when I first had this dish, my aunt wanted to use Chinese five spice. Just, about a teaspoon of it makes the flavors more alive if you have it.  I also used chicken liver. There is alot of preparation that comes with beef liver in terms of cleaning and making sure all impurities and liver spots are removed. With chicken, you just soak it in milk over night. This helps draw out all the impurities. It’s what Alton Brown taught me, so I listen. Also, chicken liver is more bite sized, so it is perfect for chopsticks.

 

Serve this with a bowl of rice and some simple veggies stir fried with garlic and you have a meal.  Enjoy.

~stuff

1 lb chicken liver, rinsed

1 cup of milk

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp vegetable oil

5 coins ginger, about ¼ inch thick

4 medium garlic cloves, smashed

½ cup soy sauce

¼ cup rice wine

¼ cup sugar

5 pods of star anise

~steps

soak liver over night in milk and drain

 

heat  oils on high until slightly smoking

 

sauté ginger and garlic until fragrant

 

pour the soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, and star anise into pan and stir until well incorporated

 

lower heat to low and add liver, stirring every 15 minutes for about 1 hour, until liver is completely cooked through

 

-serves 4 as side dish-

 

Avocado Basil Panzanella

Avocado Basil Panzanella

Growing up, I always had breakfast. My parents, although both extremely busy, made sure that I had juice, bread or cereal, and a glass of milk before going to school. It was really important to them, so you would think that I have a habit to make sure that I eat breakfast now.

Something happened in college, laziness, that made this all change and now it’s a struggle now to get breakfast back into my system. I’ve come to realize that it’s mostly because of the time that I have to take to plan, prepare, and make breakfast that turns me off from wanting to do it. But it’s been way too long since I have consistently had breakfast for more than two days. I feel my body yelling at me every day for not having some form of nutrition in the beginning of the day.

So, I’ve decided to challenge myself, and possibly challenge some of my friends, to start our day with a more healthy habit.

Starting today, July 14^th, I will be making, eating, and enjoying breakfast for four weeks straight. No cold pizza or super unhealthy donuts, but healthy, balanced meals to hopefully get me in the habit of eating breakfast at least 5 days a week. To kick it off, I will have a play on a tartine I used to make while I lived in DC. It was super easy but it took a long time to prepare and also was expensive to make.

The Avacado Basil Tartine required super amazing fresh ingredients. Problem was, when I made it for one or two people, it was a waste of time, resources, and ingredients. I would have to buy a whole bunch of basil, a whole tomato, a whole avacado but only use a few slices and leaves from the ingredients. I’d end up at the end of the week with a half eaten tomato, a brown avacado, and a bunch of wilting basil.   It was another reason to hate breakfast. To make sure that it didn’t ruin the most important meal of the day, I decided to turn this into a panzanella, or bread salad. In this form, I was able to also prep all the ingredients earlier, mix everything quickly and then take it with me on my commute to work.

In case you where wondering what the flavor profile was like.  When you take your first bite you first get the intense crunch from the bread, light tartness from the tomato and vinegar, peppery freshness from the basil, earthiness from the fresh ground pepper and it all ties together with a creamy sweetness from the dressing and avocado.  Voila. Breakfast on the train that the next person will surely be jealous of.  Now, a muffin or donut from the vendor on the corner is still good, you won’t be craving it.  I promise.  Plus, make sure you bring some extra forks if you eat this at work, people will try to eat it.

From start to finish (with pre-toasted bread) you can mix this in minutes.  Make the dressing and toast the bread the night before, that way you can cut corners.

About the challenge?  Follow me on twitter @brbeating to find out what I had for breakfast that day.  If I miss a day, I give you permission to publicly berate me.

~stuff

2 cups of stale bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 tsp olive oil plus 2 tbs for dressing

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbs honey mustard

1 tsp cider vinegar

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1½  cup grape tomatoes, halved

1 medium avacado, cubed

1½  tbs fresh basil, chiffonade

salt to taste

~steps

preheat oven to 350°f

toss bread with 2 tsp olive oil and garlic powder and toast in oven until slightly toasted, about 7 min

whisk remaining oil, mustard, pepper, vinegar, and oil in a bowl and set aside

mix all ingredients together and season to taste

-serves 4-