Tag: Recipe

Categories
Cooking Taiwan

Sesame and Peanut Butter Noodles and Spicy Cucumber Pickles

Last month, Tradition Kitchens invited me to do a cooking demonstration livestream. I shared my recipes for Taiwanese sesame and peanut butter noodles and spicy cucumber pickles. These are two of my most-requested recipes, and they are always a hit when I host dinner parties or bring them to potlucks.

Watch the video recording of the cooking livestream below and keep scrolling for the recipes for my Taiwanese sesame and peanut noodles and spicy cucumber pickles.

Sesame and Peanut Butter Noodles

My mom did most of the cooking growing up, but this is one of the few things that my dad would make consistently. There isn’t really an exact recipe for these noodles. They are highly versatile, and open to customization and experimentation. This dish is super quick. It only takes about the amount of time to boil water and cook noodles.  

We will start with the basic recipe, and then talk about variations. The portions below serve two people as a main dish. You could also skip the noodles altogether and use the sauce as a dressing for the vegetables or protein of your choice. 

  • 1 package (~10 ounces/~280 grams) noodles –  If you are shopping online, I like the fresh/frozen Kaedama Ramen noodles Sun Noodles or the dried organic ramen noodles from Hakubaku. If you have an Asian market near you, you can also look for  “oil noodles,” which work great for this too. And honestly, you can also just use spaghetti or any Italian-style noodle of your choice. If you go with the spaghetti, just add about a tablespoon of baking soda in the cooking water to give them a consistency that approximates ramen noodles, which contain alkali to give them a springy texture. 
  • 1 tablespoon each peanut butter and sesame paste. Look for an East Asian brand of sesame paste (suggested brand in the photo), which is made out of roasted sesame seeds, unlike Middle Eastern tahini, which uses raw sesame seeds. Tahini works in a pinch, but you might want to increase the amount of roasted sesame oil to compensate with that roasted sesame flavor. Also, feel free to play with the proportions or use all peanut butter or all sesame paste.
  • 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Or I sometimes use a mix of soy sauce and miso paste. 
  • 1 tablespoon of vinegar. A Taiwanese or Chinese-style black vinegar is traditional, but I use apple cider vinegar at home. Rice vinegar works well too. So does balsamic vinegar.
  • Roasted sesame oil to taste. Start with 1 teaspoon and add more if you like. A little of this stuff goes a long way. 
  • Spices: You can play with the aromatics to suit your taste, but here are some ideas to start.
    • 1 clove of garlic, minced
    • 1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger
    • Chili oil and/or a Sriracha-style hot sauce (to taste)
    • Freshly ground black pepper 
  • Sugar to taste. Start with about a teaspoon and adjust accordingly. Or substitute with a sweetener of your choice: agave, maple syrup, honey, etc. The sugar helps balance the flavors, but the sauce shouldn’t taste distinctly sweet. Also adjust accordingly if you are using Sriracha sauce (which has sugar in it) or if the brand of peanut butter you are using is sweetened.  
  • Warm water or stock to thin out the sauce. Start with a couple of tablespoons and go from there.  
  • Garnishes: Here are some starter ideas below. 
    • Chopped scallion
    • Chopped cilantro
    • Chopped roasted peanuts
    • Roasted sesame seeds
    • More chili oil and/or hot sauce. I recommend the Sze Daddy chili oil from 886, a Taiwanese restaurant in New York City. 
    • Sliced cucumber or some spicy pickled cucumber pickles! (recipe below)

Or you can really make this into a full meal by topping with the vegetables and/or proteins of your choice. In the version pictured above, I mixed in some fresh arugula, which is not at all traditional, but tasted great. 

Instructions:

  • Start boiling the water to cook the noodles. Meanwhile, make the sauce and prepare the garnishes.
  • Stir together all of the sauce ingredients. The sauce should be the consistency of a creamy salad dressing. 
  • Once the noodles are cooked according to the instructions, drain and mix in with the sauce. Add more water or stock if necessary. Then add desired garnishes and enjoy! 

Variations: 

  • If you don’t like the taste of raw garlic and ginger, sauté them in a bit of oil before adding to the sauce. My partner also likes a version with caramelized onions.
  • If you don’t want to mess with fresh aromatics, I have used dried powdered garlic, ginger, and onions in a pinch and they taste good too. The dried powder is a lot less intense compared to the fresh aromatics.   
  • You can also play with some other spices. For example: add a bit of five spice powder, ground Szechuan peppercorns, or white pepper.
  • For more of a Southeast Asian flavor, leave out the sesame and increase the peanut butter amount, then add some curry powder and coconut milk to the sauce. Maybe a dash of fish sauce and a bit less soy sauce. And lime juice instead of vinegar. 
  • For more of a Japanese sesame cold noodle sauce, add more sesame and less peanut butter. You might need more water (or dashi stock) if you are serving the dish cold, so a squirt of Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise will help keep things creamy and emulsified. Leaving out the chili oil and substituting a squirt of mustard also takes this in a more Japanese direction.  

Spicy Cucumber Pickles

Variations of these spicy pickles are popular as an appetizer/side dish to help stimulate the appetite during the hot sticky weather that lasts for most of the year in Taiwan. They are also great as a side dish or topping for peanut sesame noodles. When I make these for parties, they usually don’t last very long.  

  • ~1 pound of Persian or Japanese cucumbers, cut into irregular chunks or lightly smashed/pulled apart (I demonstrate the technique in the video). This technique allows the marinade to permeate more quickly. Plus, it’s fun. 
  • ~1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • ~2 teaspoons sugar
  • ¼ cup apple cider or rice vinegar
  • ~2 teaspoons soy sauce 
  • ~1 tablespoon miso paste
  • 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper (or a mix of black pepper and Szechuan pepper)
  • A squirt of Sriracha sauce (optional)
  • A pinch of five spice powder (optional)
  • ~1 teaspoon roasted sesame oil
  • Chili oil to taste – start with a teaspoon and go from there. I like to use Sze Daddy from 886 or Lao Gan Ma, a Chinese brand. 
  • Roasted sesame seeds and cilantro (optional – for garnish)

Substitution: If you don’t want to mess with fresh garlic or find raw garlic too intense, just leave it out. There is already garlic cooked into the Sriracha.   

Instructions:

  • Breakdown the cucumbers into bite size pieces. Then toss with the salt and leave to drain in a colander or strainer for 15-30 minutes. 
  • In the meantime, mix together the rest of the ingredients to make the marinade. Adjust the seasoning according to your tastes. The marinade should taste intensely salty and sour. The flavor will mellow out when water is released from the cucumber. 
  • Gently press any additional water out of the cucumber, then mix with the marinade and transfer to a non-reactive container. 
  • Cover and refrigerate. Ideally, you give these a few hours to marinate or ideally overnight. They last about a week in the fridge, but they never last that long in my house. 
  • When ready to serve, garnish with some roasted sesame seeds and cilantro if you like.

Sometimes when I have leftover marinade, I’ll add some to my peanut sesame noodle sauce (adjusting other ingredients accordingly).

The marinade also works great as a sauce for boiled shredded chicken. Shred the chicken while it’s still warm, then pour over the marinade and serve at room temperature or slightly chilled. 

Categories
Cooking Japanese Recipe

Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken)

Karaage Japanese Fried Chicken

When I worked in Japan on the JET Programme, my adopted hometown of Nakatsu took pride in the local specialty of karaage (kah-rah-ah-gay), a kind of fried chicken. Locals told me that when Kentucky Fried Chicken, which is pretty popular across Japan, opened up in Nakatsu, it couldn’t stay in business because Nakatsu residents preferred karaage. Here’s my personal take on karaage:

Ingredients

This recipe serves 2 people as the main protein in a meal, or about 4 people as a shared appetizer.

  • 400 grams (14 ounces) of chicken, cut into roughly uniform chunks, about the size of a McNugget (I don’t know how else to describe it). In Nakatsu, skin-on chicken thigh is usually used, but I used boneless skinless chicken breast for the batch in the picture and they came out great.
  • King Arthur’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour, for dredging – the mix of tapioca, rice, and potato starch make for a light and crispy crust. Traditional recipes often call for katakuriko (Japanese potato starch)
  • Canola or vegetable oil for shallow-frying
  • 1 fresh lemon, lime, or kabosu

For the marinade:

  • 1 scallion, minced
  • 1-2 cloves of garlic, grated or pounded with a mortar and pestle
  • 2-3 cm (~inch) piece of peeled fresh ginger, grated or pounded
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon shichimi togarashi, Japanese mixed chili pepper powder – optional
  • 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce, Kikkoman organic is my go-to brand; Use tamari instead soy sauce and the whole recipe is gluten-free
  • 1/2 tablespoon sake, cooking sake or the cheap stuff is fine
  • 1 teaspoon mirin, I prefer the all-natural traditional method mirin from Eden Foods. The mirin is optional, you could substitute half a teaspoon of sugar instead.
  • 1/2 tablespoon Kewpie Mayonnaise, What is this mayonnaise madness you ask? It helps the marinade adhere to the chicken, helps keep the chicken moist (important if you are using breast), and adds a bit of sweetness and umami as well.

Instructions

Finely mince or pound the solid marinade ingredients in a mortar and pestle. Combine with all of the liquid marinade ingredients in a bowl and add the chicken pieces.

Coat the chicken with the marinade and let sit for 30 minutes.

Then dredge each piece of chicken in the all-purpose gluten-free flour. There is enough seasoning in the marinade itself, so there is no need to season the flour. Each piece of chicken should be lightly coated in flour.

Heat your oil in a cast iron or other sturdy pan. You only need enough oil for each chicken piece to be halfway submerged in oil. On my electric stove, I do this on medium heat. You will know when the oil is ready when you insert a wooden chopstick or skewer and it bubbles.

Fry three or four piece of chicken at a time until golden brown. Mine took about a minute and a half on each side. Be careful not to fry too many piece at a time, or you will cool down your oil too much.

Drain the chicken on a paper towel or cooling rack. Then serve with a squeeze of the lemon, lime, or kabosu. I also like to dip mine in some more Kewpie Mayo and a sprinkle of the shichimi togarashi.

To give you an idea of how serious Nakatsu is about karaage, here is a video (in Japanese) about how Nakatsu broke the Guinness World Record in 2019 for the largest serving of fried chicken made in a single day.

Categories
Cooking Cuisine Food Japan Spain

Spanish-Japanese Eggs

Today for brunch, I created a mash-up of two of my favorite egg dishes: Spanish tortilla, a thick omelet with potatoes, and Japanese tamagoyaki, a rolled omelet infused with a slightly sweet soy and dashi broth.

In place of regular potatoes, I use satsumaimo, a kind of Japanese sweet potato that is whiter and a bit firmer than American sweet potatoes. Of course, you can use whatever sweet potato you can find. I pre-cook the satsumaimo with a kind of delicate simmering technique called nimono before incorporating it into the omelet.

The recipe takes a bit of time to make from scratch, but the techniques are simple. I think it’s worth the effort and the perfect way to impress your family and friends with a fresh take on the usual weekend brunch fare.

DSC04947

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 piece of kombu
  • 3 thin slices of fresh ginger
  • 4-5 dried shiitake (mushrooms)
  • 1 handful of katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
  • 1 satsumaimo (Japanese sweet potato), substitute the American kind if you can’t find the Japanese kind
  • 1 clove of garlic, thinly sliced
  • sesame oil
  • 8 medium organic eggs
  • 1 scallion, thinly sliced
  • yuzukoshō (a kind of Japanese fermented green chili and citrus peel paste)
  • soy sauce
  • mirin (sweet rice wine) and sake
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • sesame seeds
  • red chili flakes/cayenne pepper
  • pimentón (Spanish smoked paprika)
  • brown sugar, salt and pepper

DSC04948

1. Make Broth

  • Rinse the shiitake, kombu, and ginger and place in a medium saucepan with about a liter of cold water.
  • Bring to a simmer, and cook gently for 30 minutes, uncovered.
  • Pick out the kombu and mushrooms and reserve. Leave in the ginger.
  • Bring to a boil and toss in the katsuobushi. Turn off heat, let cool for 10 minutes and strain. Discard katsuobushi and ginger.

  • Add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and sugar, 1 tablespoon each of mirin and sake. Add salt to taste. It should be salty and a bit sweet but not too overwhelming.

DSC04949

2. Prepare Satsumaimo

  • While the broth is simmering, cut the satsumaimo into 1/4 inch-thick half moons. Leave the skin on, but trim off any dried-out or dark bits.
  • Soak the satsumaimo slices in cold water until ready to use. This removes some of the extra starch and prevents oxidation, which turns the sweet potato brown.

  • Drain the satsumaimo slices from the cold water and simmer in the broth from the previous step for 15-20 minutes until soft but not falling apart. Remove satsumaimo from cooking liquid, reserving some of the broth.

DSC04951

3. Make Topping

  • While the satsumaimo is simmering in the broth, prepare the crunchy mushroom and kombu topping.
  • Thinly slice the kombu and shiitake reserved from the broth making.
  • Heat about a teaspoon of the sesame oil in a small saucepan. Add in the sliced kombu and shiitake along with the sliced garlic.
  • Season with a few pinches of red chili powder and/or cayenne, freshly grated black pepper and sugar. Add a small splash each of sake, mirin, and soy sauce.
  • Cook until liquid is absorbed and mixture looks dark and crunchy. Sprinkle on white sesame seeds.

DSC04954

4. Final Assembly

  • Whisk 1/4 teaspoon of yuzukoshō and the scallion in about 1/4 cup of the reserved simmering liquid. Beat in the eggs.
  • Heat a well-seasoned cast iron pan on a medium flame and coat with a thin layer of olive oil. Add the egg mixture, then add a layer of the satsumaimo slices. I had some extra sweet potato that I saved for another use. Then add the kombu and mushroom mixture on top.
  • Continue cooking on low heat until edges look slightly solid. Finish in the broiler (1-2 minutes). The eggs should still be a little runny in the center. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with pimentón, and serve. Enjoy!

DSC04956

Categories
Cuisine Food Recipe

Scallops, Swiss Chard, Shiitake, Macadamia Yuzukosho Dressing

scallops with warm chard shiitake salad

I improvised this Japanese-inspired scallop recipe for a weekend lunch last week with some super fresh local scallops I got from Fresh Direct. My mom sent me a huge box of oranges from Arizona, so you will see that I will be sneaking orange into my recipes this month. The recipe below serves two.

Ingredients
6 large dry sea scallops
Juice and zest of 2 oranges
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons of miso (use white miso or a mild brown miso)
1 handful of roasted macadamia nuts (I got these in Hawai’i when I was there last month)
1/2 teaspoon of yuzukoshō
1 scallion, chopped
1 dash of turmeric powder (optional, it gives the dressing a nice color and it’s good for you)
Olive Oil
1 bunch of rainbow Swiss chard, sliced into ribbons
1 handful of fresh shiitake, sliced
Butter
Salt & Pepper

Method
1. Wash the scallops, pat dry, and generously salt and pepper on both sides. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
2. Prepare the dressing in a blender using the following ingredients: citrus juice and zest, miso, macadamia nuts, yuzukoshō, scallion, and a glug of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Heat a pan and add a bit of olive oil. Sauté the shiitake until they start to take on some color. Then add the chard and stir until it starts to wilt. Turn off heat and set aside.
4. Sear the scallops in plenty of butter.
5. Divide the chard the shiitake mixture onto two plates. Top with 3 scallops each. Drizzle some of the dressing on top. Serve immediately.

Categories
Brazil Cooking Japan Japanese Recipe

Japanese-Brazilian Pepper Steak

This is my first foray into cooking here in Rio where I integrate Brazilian and Japanese influences.

Ingredients
Broccoli and cauliflower florets
Thin slice of alcatra (rumpsteak)
Olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 handful of sliced shiitake
1 garlic clove, minced
Tablespoon of soy sauce
Tablespoon of brandy
Tablespoon of red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons of French grain mustard
Dash of hot paprika
Hot sauce to taste
Freshly ground mixed pepper (black, white, pink, and green peppercorns) to taste – substitute black pepper if that is all you have
Salt to taste

Instructions
1. Boil broccoli and cauliflower florets in salted water until tender, set aside and keep warm. Reserve some of the water and set aside.

2. Season both sides of the alcatra with salt and pepper.

3. Heat a saucepan and coat generously with olive oil.

4. Sear the steak on both sides. Since the steak is thin, one minute per side is sufficient for medium rare.

5. Remove steak from saucepan and set aside.

6. Using the same pan and oil, add chopped onions, stir and scrape the meat bits to incorporate into the onion and oil mixture. Sauté until the onions wilt and begin to brown.

7. Add the garlic and shiitake and sauté until the mushrooms cook through. Then add the remaining seasonings. Dilute with some of the vegetable cooking water if the mixture gets too dry.

8. Cook the mixture until it reduces to a saucy consistency. If you want to be really fancy, you can whisk in a bit of cold butter, but that is optional.

9. Serve on a plate with the steak, vegetables and sauce on top.

10. Enjoy!