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-

 

 

 

 

 

edamame

Edamame reminds me of summers in California.  It’s only fitting that I make this in the middle of winter weather hell.  When I was younger I would get excited at the thought of enjoying the slightly salty and nutty morsels. Actually, now that I think about it, I still get excited at the thought of enjoying the bright green snack. This comes partly from the enjoyment of the final product but mostly from it being a staple that was associated with my summer days of pretending to be a ninja fighting off dragons, a wizard using the pool as a giant cauldron, or a killer whale trainer.  It reminds me of warm summers in our backyard with the family as they drink beers and relatives visiting from out of country.  Edamame reminds me of happiness.

Preparing the edamame is a quick process.  You can usually find them frozen in most markets, but in the off chance that you are one of the lucky few, they may be available fresh and still attached to their branch.  The only thing that takes time is to get the water to a boil.  I have vivid memories from my childhood watching the edamame in the pot as the water’s rolling boil tumbles the pods in a violent dance to become tender.  You can enjoy this dish both hot, room temperature, or cold.  I would rather have it cold, especially if it is a dry summer day.

Once the edamame has finished cooking, I put it in an ice cold salt water bath.  It brings the temperature down quickly without losing the color, but more importantly it allows some of the salt water to seep into the beans.  This creates an end result of pods exploding with intense flavor as you bite into the pod.  Depending on how salty you like them, you can sprinkle and toss some kosher salt on the soybeans after you drain it.  I like adding more salt because of the slighty rough texture you get from the crystals on your tongue when you bite down on the pods.

I’ve recently been introduced to dressing the edamame with a little lime juice and hot sauce of your choice.  It’s a massive tastebud/toungue overload with the tickle of the slightly fuzzy pod shells, bite of the hot sauce, and the tart punch of the lime juice.  I’ve used shiracha and sambel olek.  Both are wonderful, but it’s all up to the person eating it.

~stuff

8 cups of water

2 cups of edamame, frozen

½ cup of salt, plus some for sprinkling

1 tsp hot sauce (optional)

¼ tsp lime juice (optional)

~steps

boil 4 cups water in a large pot on high

add ¼ cup of the salt to boiling water and dump edamame into pot

cook on high for 5 minutes or until the pods are cooked (there should be a slight cripness to the pod)

transfer pods to a bowl filled with ice cold salted water, using the remaining water and salt

soak edamame for 5 minutes until completely cool and drain

sprinkle salt, and if desired, hot sauce, and lime juice over edamame and toss

-serves 4-6 -

pesto lasagna

 

...pesto lasagna...

 

“That’s going to be too much, you won’t finish it.” My brother is pointing at the giant bag of spinach that I am grasping on with both arms and with wide eyes.

The younger brother mentality kicks in and I border line whine, “Nah, I’ll finish it. I can make a salad, put it in a wrap, stir fry it, or juice it.  See, this Costco bag is totally worth it.”

Fast forward two weeks and I have a giant bag full of spinach and…crap…it’s about to go bad.  And I’m talking brink of badness, where you open the fridge and you smell something.  It doesn’t smell bad or rank, but it smells like something is about to happen and it’s not happiness, that’s for sure.   So, in an attempt to not allow my brother an opportunity to sing an “I Told You So” dance, I try to make a dish that can use all the spinach and let as little go to waste as possible.

So before anyone figures it out, I break out the giant bag of spinach and start separating good leaves with not so happy leaves.  I end up with a large bowl and a half of green crisp spinach and I go to town with it.  I create a beautiful deep green pesto that is spicy with Italian basil, creamy with extra virgin olive oil, and nutty with toasted pistachios.  All of it comes together with a couple of handfuls of spinach.  Amazing…but…Doh, I still have a bunch of spinach left.  So I blanch the spinach to give me a deep green pile of folic acid beauty, mix it with some creamy ricotta, and nutty asiago and I now have a cheese filling.  And then it comes to me: let’s make some lasagna!

Now, this ain’t yo mama’s lasagna (especially because mine is Taiwanese and doesn’t know how to make lasagna).  This is not a traditional lasagna with tomato sauce and lots of fillings.  Instead this version is just a few ingredients: pesto, spinach, cheese, and onion.  Oh, and it’s wonderfully green.

It’s a simple dish with basic flavors, but everything melds really well together.  On top of the flavors, there are some awesome textures that are going on in this dish.  If you can’t finish the lasagna, that’s fine.  Just heat up the leftovers.  They’re still good.  Also, if you need to make this in advance, you can layer and build the lasagna and then refrigerate it until your ready to heat and serve.  Not to mention this thing is packed with spinach.  Like a lot of spinach.  Like a good Costco size bag full.  Awesome!

So, now you know what to do if you ever get stuck with a giant bag of spinach.  Sorry, don’t know what to do with the giant tub of mayo from Costco.

~stuff

10 uncooked lasagna sheets

1 cup packed Italian basil

2 cups packed fresh spinach [plus a handful for layering]

3 cloves of garlic, grated

1 cup toasted pistachios

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 cup spinach, blanched and chopped

1/4 cup onion, minced

2 cups mixed grated asiago and parmesan

4 provolone slices

1/2 cup grated mozzarella

salt and pepper to taste

~steps

preheat oven to 375°F

boil a large pot of salted water for lasagna pasta and cook according to package direction

pulse basil, fresh spinach, grated garlic, salt and toasted pistachio, in a food processor and slowly pour in oil while processor is on until everything is blended into a pesto.  Reserve on the side.

mix in a large bowl the ricotta, onion, spinach, salt, pepper, grated asiago, and parmesan until well combined.

arrange lasagna by starting with a layer of pasta, then 1/2 cheese mixture, a handful of fresh spinach, provolone slice, 1/3 of the pesto, and pasta

layer on top of the base with remaining cheese mixture, handful of spinach, mozzarella cheese, 1/3 of the pesto, and remaining pasta in an oven safe 8″ x 12″ casserole dish.

top with the remaining pesto, asiago, and parmesan.

bake in the oven covered for 15 minutes and then uncovered for remaining 10 minutes.

-serves 4-

soy braised daikon

 

...see all that umami deliciousness floating around in there...

I’m not the best person when it comes to explanations.  Ask most of my friends and family.  I tend to start to explain something, but then I start to trail off onto another tangent or I am vague enough to force my audience to be confused even more . Sometimes I’m both, which really infuriates my family and friends.  It’s usually the most obscure concepts that are the most confusing for me to explain.  Usually I understand it crystal clear, however putting it into words is usually difficult.  Umami is one of those concepts.

I love umami.  It’s a pretty amazing flavor. For folks who aren’t familiar with umami:  no, it is not a new concept and no, it is not Japanese for “delicious” as the Kikkoman commericial implies.  Umami has been classified as the fifth taste.  It is a taste that goes beyond the four tastes.  Now, I’m going to try my hardest to break it down for you in this post, but please bear with me if I lose you.  And if I do lose you, just go down to the recipe…it’s Kikkoman’s definition of “umami”, delicious.

So we have our four tastes that we all learned in grade school: sweet, salty, bitter, and sour.  Right?  All of them exists in almost every dish we eat now either on its own or in some sort of combination.  Now, there is a fifth taste that we were never taught as children and it is “umami”.  Essentially what umami is trying to describe is “savory”.  We all have been taught that if something is not sweet than it is savory.  However, this is not true.  If something is not sweet, then it just isn’t sweet.  Savory/umami is a layer of taste that is slight salty, with a tinge of bitterness and a lasting flavor in the back of the tongue.  All right, I lost you right?

Imagine you are about dine on some amazing beef stew.  The meat has been marrying and melting and infusing with the broth, root vegetables, onions, and herbs for almost the whole day. Now you sit down and take a huge whiff of the amazing warm meal you are about to partake in.  The first spoonful is put in your mouth and you chew the morsels and mix the flavors around in your mouth.  The sweetness of the vegetables is marrying well with the flavors of the herbs.  You swallow that first bite, regretfully wanting more.  You look down to scoop the next bite and the bowl of stew is gone.  Someone has taken it and you realize that the flavor is your mouth still exists and will not go away.  Unfortunately you want more because you can still taste a flavor on your tongue.  It’s not a distinct herb or vegetable taste.  But it’s something amazing.  That lingering taste that is in the back of your tongue and almost in your throat.  That is “umami”.

My mom always cooked with umami before I think she knew what umami was.  She, like many Asian folks, used MSG to achieve that taste.  Not knowing what the affects where, it was sold as a flavor enhancer.  Essentially it created the umami flavor we where all looking for.  For our household, it always came naturally to the cooking process:  stir fry or braise, add salt, and then add MSG.  After my mom realized what the health dangers to MSG were, she stopped using MSG and the umami flavor disappeared.  Sometimes she would use dashi powder for vegetable stir fries, but that was it.  I miss those MSG induced comas and throat swelling days.  Only a small price for awesome flavor.

I’ve learned since then that cooking with some ingredients provides great umami flavor.  A small look into that list are things like shitake mushrooms, soy sauce, ripe tomatoes, fish, and beef.  The recipe that follows is the most umami filled thing that I have ever made.  Besides the ginger and the daikon, everything in this will create the umami flavor.  Enjoy it and savor the flavor and realize that you have always tasted the fifth taste.  It’s probably easier than me trying to explain it.

~stuff

6 1 inch pieces dried kombu

3 cups water (3¼  cup if using regular sodium soy sauce)

1/3 cup mirin

1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce (1/4 cup if regular sodium)

¼ cup bonito flakes

1 tsp grated ginger

3 whole dried shitake (don’t need to soak)

1 large daikon peeled and cut into 1 ½ to 2 inch coins

~steps

combine the first seven ingredients in a large sauce pan and bring to simmer on medium heat for 30 minutes.

remove all ginger and bonito flakes from the broth and discard

add daikon to the broth and cover and simmer on low until daikon is fork tender, about 30 minutes

-serves 4-6-

scallion pancakes

 

scallion pancakes

I love scallion pancakes.  I’ve come to realize that scallion pancakes are a common dish I order because it combines two of my favorite things: fried dough and scallions.  Well, more specifically:  chewy carbs and scallions.

This recipe comes from a really good family friends of ours, the Wu’s.  My parents met the Wu’s when they lived in Omaha, Nebraska.  They eventually moved to California and lived only a few blocks away from my house in Orange County.  The Wu’s owned a restaurant in good ol’ Omaha.  So when I was young, there was never any hesitation when I found out that we would be going to their house for dinner.  Now, I loved my Mom’s cooking growing up but when Mrs. Wu was cooking, I knew it was a feast that would match my Mom’s skills.  But this dish doesn’t come from Mrs. Wu.  This came from her always smiling, comb-overed husband Uncle Wu.   He first taught me during one of our fake family camping trips.

My parents and their friends, including Uncle Wu, would usually pack up the kids every year and do some sort of outdoor adventure somewhere.  Eventually this is what I thought camping was.  I soon realized that camping did not include ten course Chinese meals, four butane stoves, and all of Chinatown packed in various coolers.  But whatever it was, I loved it.  During these trips, I always found myself bored and needing to fill the time I would have spent watching Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, or Darkwing Duck. Eventually I would end up around the make shift kitchen at the picnic tables to see what I could play with.  One trip, to help quell my boredom, Uncle Wu graciously taught me the process to create his scallion pancake.  The secret? It’s all in the rolling of the dough.

 

pillows of scallion pancake coils

Now, this was no cutsey and nurturing Hallmark moment.  No, this was scallion bootcamp.  Picture a Chinese man yelling and screaming at an 8 year to roll dough bigger, thinner, and harder at a park bench in the middle of Yosemite.  I felt like I was in scallion pancake factory with bears and park rangers staring at me.  But, I’m thankful for it.  Something about this moment really made an impact on me.  It’s one of my earliest memories of cooking and probably one of the moments that really helped me realize that I could actually cook and not have to watch it on the screen.  Plus it’s scallions, the best thing in the world.

 

so thin you can read through it

Scallions are probably one of my favorite ingredients out there. I love that in this dish the scallion flavor is subtle, yet the main player.  It’s as if the onion flavor is a spring breeze carrying the fresh flower aroma through the air.  Wow, so poetic.

Remember to let the dough rest.  It builds the gluten and gives a chewier result.  Plus, if you don’t let the dough rest (and knead it like crazy) you won’t be able to really roll it very thin.  And if you don’t roll it thin, I will send Uncle Wu to yell at you as you roll out the pancakes, national park not included.

 

step 1... scallion snake

I just had a thought!  What if I mixed my top three favorite ingredients? Scallion pancake made with lard!  I think that’s a winner.

~stuff

2 1/2 cup all purpose flour + 3 cups on side

1 cup hot water

1 cup scallion, minced

1/4 cup dark sesame oil

1/4 cup kosher salt

vegetable oil to fry

~steps

mix 2 1/2 cups flour with 1 cup HOT water until it forms a dough

knead dough until smooth and add flour as necessary

cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the dough rest for about 30 minutes

knead a few more times till smooth

cut the dough into 4 equal parts

roll out one section until it is super thin [see image above]

drizzle the top of the rolled out dough with 1 tbs sesame oil, sprinkle with ¼ cup of the scallion, and sprinkle with some of the salt

roll the dough tightly into a long snake [see image above]

coil the “snake” into a dough bundle, think cinnamon roll [see pillows above]

flatten the coil into flat pancakes with a rolling pin

pan-fry the pancakes in a sauté pan or heavy skillet over medium-heat with vegetable oil until brown (2 minutes) and then flip and cook on the other side until golden brown(about 2 minutes)

-serves 4-

mango salsa

mango salsa

The first time I went to the emergency room was when I was about 10.  I woke up really late in the night with horrible cramps/stomach pains in my abdomen.  I was in major pain and ran to my parents’ room crying out for help.  I must of scared them, because they quickly picked me up and had me lie down in the back of the car as they drove quickly to the emergency room.  I don’t really remember much from the car drive, but I remember lying in the back crying in pain.  I even remember explaining to my parents that it felt like someone was playing ping-pong inside me. [I was picturing a tiny man that looked much like a tiny hamburgular wreaking havoc in my body…] The pain was in what I now know as my lower abdomen.  My mom was reaching back from the front passenger seat and clenching my hand really tight and my dad kept on assuring me that I will be alright and we where almost there.

I don’t remember much after that.  I don’t even remember getting to the emergency room.  The next thing I remember was a curtain surrounding me and I was on a bed in the ER.  There was a nurse taking my blood for tests and through out all the pain and fear, I do remember being proud of myself for not crying when the nurse took my blood.  I felt like a man.  Hey, the crying from the internal ping pong match doesn’t count as a marker of my manlihood or lack there of.  It comes from blood being drawn.  Give me a break, I was 10.

The doctor and my dad talked for a bit and then after what was about 15 minutes in my head, but in reality probably a couple of hours, I went home and had a huge plate of mangos.  Awesome.  Go to emergency room and dad preps you a big plate of mangos.  Turns out I didn’t have enough vitamin C in my system and the doctor told me to take eat some fruit and he will contact my parents with the results from the test.  I assume the results where good, because I never returned to the hospital.  However, I did learn a huge lesson.  Mangos are still good and full of vitamin c.

I always loved mangos.  They are tart and sweet at the same time with a refreshing creamy juiciness to add.  It’s amazing.  Growing up, I only ate it as a fruit on it’s own.  Sometimes it would be dried, but always just on it’s own.  I was never into sweet salsas so when I heard of mango salsa, I was hesitant.  I made some for the first time in DC when I bought some mangos that where quickly about to spoil.  I served it with a simple grilled fish, and was sold then and there.  I’ve since served it with all kinds of seafood.  My favorite is marinating salmon in the harissa/sriracha and tequila lime marinade. The sweetness balances really well with the lime and tequila/rum and cools the heat from the chili.  Perfect for the summer grill.

Come to think of it, my parents could have just poured me a glass of orange juice.  I’m glad that in all the panic and excitement, it slipped their mind.

~stuff

1 cup diced ripe mango, ¼ to ½ inch

¼ cup minced cilantro

¼ cup minced shallots

½ tsp salt

1 minced medium jalapeno or serrano chili pepper (seeded if you don’t want too spicy)

1 medium lime

~steps

mix all ingredients with the juice of the lime

set in refrigerator covered for at least 10 minutes

serve chilled or at room temperature

-serves 4-

cold somen salad

cold somen salad

It’s hot today – like “92 degree, humid, take off your sticky clothes, double shower” hot. It’s one of the downfalls of working from home and not in the luxury of a frigid over air conditioned office building.  I don’t have an air conditioning unit in my house.  It’s mainly out of laziness and economics.  Air conditioning units take up so much electricity that I could see my bill going up the roof.   Plus, it means I have to go down into the basement, search for my unit, and then lug the 1500 lb unit (ok, so I exaggerate) up the stairs and into my place.  Then, I would have to install the sucker.  So I opt to not do it.  Plus, last year I got really close to the point where the unit made it next to my bed right in front of the hole in the wall to install it.  But then I got lazy, so it became my nightstand until November when I replaced it with a real nightstand.  So, I’ve learned, out of necessity, the ways and methods to cook to stay cool and still be able to eat.  These usually are chilled foods.

When I was little, one of my meals that I would make once I got home from school was a cold somen salad.  There wasn’t much to it, I would just cook some somen, cool it off, and then throw in some soy sauce, sesame oil, and a little rice vinegar garnished with scallions.  It was on the rare days that I didn’t feel like hot noodle soup or kraft mac and cheese and the weather was just way too hot.  But that was really rare in Southern California.

I’ve learned about ingredients and flavor enhancement since my 8 and 9 year old adventures with the stove, that I’ve added a few more things than just the original 4 dishes.

Now, there is no real health benefit to this dish other than it being delicious.  You might get some from the wild sesame (perilla) seeds, but not much.  But in desperate times when the weather is 80 degrees at 7 in the morning and the humidity is starting to make the rug hairs curl, then you know healthy foods isn’t really necessary.  Plus, this should be served with a side salad to help balance out the meal and give you some nutrients.

The flavors really melt and ooze together so well on your tongue.  Not only do you get the refreshing coolness of the noodles on your tongue, but the oil, perilla seeds, and mirin just seems to coat your mouth in a layer of subtle nuttiness with a sudden rush of sweetness from the mirin and honey.  I use somen noodles because they cook real quickly, in about 5 minutes.  This makes it beautiful for hot days like this.  I don’t have to stand over a stove and boiling water for 10 minutes dying of heat exhaustion from the steam.  Also, because this dish is so simple, clean up is quick, which also means no need to have your hand in warm/hot water for a long time, trying to wash all the different pots and prep equipment.

I doubt from start to finish this dish taking longer than 5 minutes.  If it does, let’s have some private cooking lessons shall we?

~stuff

1 tsp toasted perilla or sesame seeds

1 stalk of scallion, minced

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

½ tsp honey

½ tsp mirin

1 bunch somen

shichimi togarashi, to garnish

~steps

boil salted water in a large pot.

combine toasted perilla or sesame seed and scallion in a mortar and pestle and grind until a paste forms and transfer to bowl.   This step is optional.

mix soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, and mirin with the scallion and seed mixture and let sit for a couple of minutes in refrigerator

add somen to pot of water and cook until tender/al dente.

blanch the somen by removing the noodles from the pot and putting them in ice cold water to completely cool

dress the noodles with soy mixture and top with a couple of dashes of shichimi togarashi

-serves 2 -

sugar snap peas and shrimp

a marriage of beauty: sugar snap peas and shrimp stir fry

I’m really lucky to not only live in the same city as my brother and sister in law.  But I also live in the same building as them.  This calls for shared meals, shared wine, and lots of conversations till late at night.  It’s an amazing set up, especially because I can take a break from cooking and have my brother and sister in law make some of their dishes that are important to them.  One of the dishes that “A” makes is a shrimp and snap pea dish.  It comes from her Grandmother, who I have had the privilege to meet many times and have and will constantly be schooled in a friendly game of Mahjong. [we have been known to play till 3 am with her going strong and me on my third red bull]  This dish is amazing and it contains one of my favorite vegetables out there; a vegetable of pure holy-ness: sugar snap peas.  Fitting that A’s grandmother would make a dish with a vegetable that is so much like her: sweet with a crisp wit.

Sugar snap peas are in season.  I’m officially squealing like a schoolgirl as I type this.  I love these delicious, crisp, mangetout [a fancy French name meaning “eat all”- like snap peas and snow peas].  I’ve seen them constantly in the giant Costco veggie platters before.  I actually think that was my first experience with them.  They are just so unbelievably addictive, cooked or raw.  I’m actually chomping away at these raw snap peas as I type this, not giving a care in the world that I’m slowly depleting my stash for both the cooking, photo, and recipe development for this post.  I must stop chomping.

Sugar snap peas are my favorite of all the pea families.  Well, actually, that’s a pretty heavy statement.  I think my experience with peas growing up has primarily been with frozen peas, peas in fried rice, canned peas, and then sugar snap peas.  Now that I typed that all out, it’s no wonder I really love sugar snap peas.  It’s like the over achieving kid in class who always has his hand up in a sea of students who don’t care.  You can’t help but notice it.  Now that it’s pea season, I may have to add it to my list next time I go to the farmer’s market.  Right now is the perfect time to get the peas.  They are usually planted early in spring because they are hearty plants that can survive frost, so by mid June/ early summer you get to enjoy these scrumptious vegetables.

This dish is simple, easy, and fresh.  It’s so hot and humid in the summer that I rarely want to cook anything that requires standing over a hot stove for a long time.  So a stir fry is probably the best thing in the summer.  Plus the quick cooking over high heat keeps a crisp freshness in the sweet peas, which just scream summer sun [the peas-well I guess the cooking method too].  The sweetness of the shrimp marries well with the sweetness of the peas and the garlic and wine act as the officiant between the two.  You can serve this at room temperature or straight from the wok.  Both are way delicious.  Now, off to the market to buy more snap peas to replenish my stash.

~stuff

1 tbs canola oil

2 medium cloves of garlic, sliced

½ lb shrimp, shelled with head on [head is optional.  I like the extra shrimp flavor]

2 cups of sugar snap peas, stems and tough string running on the top from stem to tip removed

1 tsp salt

5 tsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

~steps

heat oil on high in a wok or large skillet until extremely hot and the surface of the oil looks to be moving

add garlic and shrimp and stir until translucent, about 2 minutes

add peas, wine, and salt and stir until peas are slightly cooked. about another 2 minutes

-serves 4-

asparagus and cucumber salad with mint soy dressing

 

asparagus and cucumber salad

 

It’s hard to have dinner parties in New York City.  Unless you live in Manhattan (and really an accessible location on the island) and have a big space in the city, it’s hard to host something.  Especially because there are the folks who refuse to leave their borough – ahem, BK- and then there are folks that just have access to great and affordable food without having to cook – raising the roof to Queens…wait…is that too 2 thousand and 1?- It’s really hard to have the energy or motivation to do a house party. (yes Erika, that was the worst grammatically written sentence that could have ever been composed on this blog).   But in the rare time that myself, or some friends choose to have a house party I jump on the opportunity.  The thrill of creating a dish that will last a long train ride or the excitement of what I’m going to feast on gets me excited.

A couple of months ago it was a buddy of mine’s birthday.  He hosted a small house party at his place and his roommates cooked for him.  It was exciting because: 1) I haven’t seen them all for a while and it was due time that I did.  2) I heard that there was going to be coconut crab, and after extensive googling I was intrigued and scared at the same time as to how one got a coconut crab and what it would taste like. [Note to everyone:  it wasn’t actually a coconut crab but more so the dish name cooked with blue crab.  From the google images, the blue crab was probably the tastier choice.] and 3) I needed to check out their place, and might as well make the trip to the Bronx

It was really delicious, the crab curry/soup, but what really got my attention was this salad that was made by the chef of the evening and my friend: Abby.  It was a cucumber asparagus mint salad with a soy cilantro dressing.  Perfect for the summer, or spring and great as a lunch or side for anything.  I devoured it, Abby was telling me the story of where the dressing came from, but I must admit-I was too busy shoveling my face with the crisp, refreshing, tangy, savory dish before me.  Maybe she could post a comment about the origination of the dressing if she reads this.

The dressing can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for up to a week.  It gets stronger each day, so maybe add some water to help dilute it to taste.  Also, the proportions are for you to play with.  As long as you make sure there is balance, it will taste deliciously complex.

~stuff

1 bunch asparagus, 1 inch slices

1 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced into 1 inch spears

1/4 cup cilantro, minced

1 medium shallot, minced

1/4 cup scallion, minced

2 tbs fresh mint, minced

3 tbs fish sauce

1 tbs soy sauce

2½ tbs agave syrup or sugar

1 thai chili, minced (optional)

~steps

boil water in a large pot

mix scallions, mint, soy sauce, fish sauce, chili, and agave syrup or sugar in a bowl; let rest

cook asparagus for 2 – 3 minutes until slightly crisp and submerge in ice water till completely chilled

mix all asparagus, shallots, cucumber, and cilantro in a large bowl and pour on dressing to taste

serve slightly chilled or at room temperature

-serves 6 -

rustic shiitake and asparagus tartine

browned shiitake and asparagus tartine

Something about the spring makes me think of brunch.  I think it’s the sudden renewal and excitement of energy I get when I see 45 degrees and sunny weather.  It’s just calling to me to go into the city, get to a trendy and over priced boutique restaurant, and get plastered with mimosas and bloody marys.  All whilst enjoying a nice plate of something so delicious that it transcends just breakfast or only lunch.  But, no, it’s hearty and it’s called brunch!  Those clever linguistic geniuses.  And yes, I am aware that my high school English tutor is now following me on this blog.  Which means she is choking on her tea in dismay of how uncouth my writing has become or she is hiding her head in shame at the many errors that continue to exist in my writing due to lack of spending some extra time to proof read.  But hello Erika.  Now, back to the joy I call brunch.

I’ve never been a big fan of breakfast foods.  They’re usually too greasy, heavy, and American for me.  I’m not going to lie though.  A nice big plate of eggs, home fries, toast, bacon, and corned beef hash does serve its benefits and I bow down to it often.  Especially after bowing down to my toilet some mornings.  But usually I don’t crave it.  However, somehow brunch always makes things more exciting for me.  I think I have ingrained in my head that breakfast can only be what you get at the diner, Coco’s, or IHOP.  But I’m trying to grow from that.  Plus, I think brunch is just more fun to say and it makes me think of the warm days and, as you know, another thing that makes me excited and think of warm days is also going to the farmers market.  Everything in this dish, in fact, came from the Union Square market.

A great time to go to the market is in the “in between” time of the season.  You get all the late bloomers of the last season mixed in with the early bloomers of the new season.  Sometimes it’s exciting to see what comes out of it.  This time we had some shiitake (who knew it was two “i”)  mushrooms that where cultivated from someone’s farm upstate, some early asparagus grown in a green house, and tomatoes from a hot house.  Add some shallots, butter, and eggs from another vendor.  Then a sourdough baguette from the baker and I have my components for my breakfast.  I love it!

This dish is perfect for two in the morning…if you know what I mean.  You can easily make all the components in advance; bring it to room temperature and fry an egg on top.  Out and back in bed in like 15 minutes.

~stuff

8 asparagus spears

4 thick slices of crusty bread

1 cup of fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed

¼ cup of cherry tomatoes, quartered

4 fresh eggs (optional)

¼ cup shallots, minced

1 tbs garlic, grated or minced

2½ tbs olive oil

4 tsp salt

5 tsp black pepper, ground

1 tbs butter

~steps

preheat oven to 415˚f

toss asparagus with 1/2 tsp salt,  1 tbs oil, 1 tsp pepper, and garlic

roast for about 10 minutes until charred and tender, and remove

caramelize shallots in butter and 1 tbs of oil in a wide pan on medium high heat

brown shiitake mushrooms in the pan, making sure not to crowd the pan to allow space for the mushrooms to get a nice color

season with 1 tsp salt and pepper and remove mushrooms, reserving oil and shallots in pan

toss tomatoes in pan to fully cook and warm throughout

toast slices of bread in toaster oven or broil until brown and drizzle with ½ tbs olive oil

fry egg in the same pan used for the mushrooms and tomatoes, can skip if for vegan

compose sandwich with a layer of mushroom, asparagus, egg, and top with tomatoes and sprinkle of salt and pepper.

-serves 2-