eatingclub vancouver

Stir-fried Shredded Pork with Green Chiles and Cilantro

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 05:00:00 +0000

JS:
We had a stir-fried pork dish with peppers at a couple of restaurants around town. I like the flavours in the dish so much that I thought I'd replicate the dish at home. It's really a very simple, home-style dish.

The hardest part of the whole thing is deseeding the jalapeño peppers. Now, of course, one can just leave and cook with the seeds, but I'm afraid that would make it inedibly spicy for some of our family members.

TS:
(Pssst! I was surprised JS actually had the patience to deseed so many jalapeños. The labor-intensiveness of it all!)

JS:
I used pork tenderloin for this dish, and having tried it with pork shoulder, I must say I prefer the tenderloin. While the fattiness of the pork shoulder was welcome, the pork shoulder also added too much sweetness that threw off the flavour balance in the dish for me.

JS:
I marinate the pork tenderloin strips in a bit of Shaoxing wine and soy sauce. I didn't bother with the cornstarch as I'm a bit partial to the juices not being glazy or thick.

Once all the ingredients are prepped, it's a matter of stir-frying like crazy.

Of course, look at the size of our wok and the amount of ingredients that we have there, and it's a guarantee that I'm not going to get any sort of wok-hei. I can live with no wok-hei, though -- it's good enough although I admit the smokiness would add another dimension to the dish.

Cook aromatics, then pork strips. Add the jalapeño, salt, Shaoxing wine, Chinkiang vinegar, a dash of white pepper, and finally, the cilantro.

JS:
Throw in a generous amount of cilantro (stems are okay), towards the end, just to wilt it a bit, and it's quite a satisfying dish.

There's some heat from the jalapeños, but the heat is pushed to the background, letting that unique slightly bitter, slightly sweet, all vegetal-fruitiness, of the peppers shine.

eatingclub Chinese

Recipe
Stir-Fried Shredded Pork with Green Chiles and Cilantro

1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into thin strips
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine, for marinating pork
1 tbsp soy sauce, for marinating pork

1/2 lb jalapeño peppers, deseeded and cut into strips
1/2 inch ginger, cut into slivers
1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp Shaoxing wine, for stir-frying
salt to season
dash of white pepper
1 tsp Chinkiang vinegar

a handful or two of cilantro

Marinate pork with Shaoxing and soy sauce while you prep the other ingredients.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok. Add ginger and garlic until fragrant. Add pork strips. When pork strips are halfway cooked through, add jalapeño pepper strips. Add Shaoxing wine. Season with salt and pepper and add Chinkiang vinegar towards the end. Toss in cilantro.

Serve with plain white rice.

Minatamis na Saba (Philippine Boiled Saba Banana)

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 03:55:00 +0000

TS:
Some of you may remember the tragic failure of our previous boiled saba banana attempt.

What? Boiled saba banana? "What is that?", you ask.

Saba is a type of banana or plantain in the Philippines that is commonly eaten as a snack or dessert. Sometimes it's fried with sugar, or wrapped up in a wrapper and fried (see Turon (Philippine Banana Spring Roll)), or, simply boiled.

Boiling is something that tugs at our lazy heartstrings, so that's the way to go for us.

Market Manila: Saba or Cooking Bananas
Wikipedia: Banana-cue, Turon and Arroz a la Cubana

TS:
Ah yes, the tragic failure.

The previous time we attempted this, we bought burro bananas from the store, thinking that they could be saba. But, I think perhaps not.

FAIL! weird boiled burro bananas

TS:
As you can see, they turned a funky red color! That was too weird. Also, the banana itself wasn't sweet at all! Very disappointing.

real saba

TS:
This time, success was sure as someone had brought these saba all the way from the Philippines. What's more, someone else much more knowledgeable was also responsible for boiling them.

TS:
Oh! You keep them in their skins while boiling! That's useful to know. They were simmered over low heat for several hours. I'm thinking that one can't really overcook them.

Afterwards, they turn brown like so.

TS:
One can serve them in a light syrup (brown sugar melted in water). In fact, that is what Minatamis na Saba is.

But, making syrup means doing some work. So, I simply popped open a can of condensed milk. I love condensed milk anyway.

TS:
Although, even to my condensed milk-loving self, the boiled saba were very good eaten as is without adornment.

I guess this is actually just plain ol' nilagang saba (boiled saba), not minatamis.

TS:
Now, all we need is another good Samaritan from the Philippines to bring us more saba!

eatingclub banana
Boiled Saba (Burro Banana) with Condensed Milk
Caribbean "Fish n' (Banana) Chips"
Turon (Philippine Banana Spring Roll)
Minatamis na Saba (Philippine Boiled Saba Banana)

Cuttlefish Ink Pasta with Crab and Bell Peppers

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 05:10:00 +0000

TS:
It's time for another "we-have-to-use-these-things-up" dish.

TS:
We've had this cuttlefish ink pasta in the pantry for quite a while now. Actually, these were from the old house! We had bought these way, way back and used them for a party. We decided to "save" some for ourselves and never did find the right time to cook them.

TS:
The time is now!

TS:
In one hand, we had some cuttlefish ink pasta, and in another, some crabmeat (which I believe was bought to make our Supreme Lion's Head Meatballs with Crabmeat).

As is always the case, something simple and not fussy was the rule of the day.

TS:
While the water was boiling and the pasta was cooking, I proceeded to make the "sauce".

TS:
I chopped some garlic and chile peppers, diced some tomatoes and bell peppers, zested a lemon and chopped some parsley.

TS:
I started by sautéing the garlic and chile peppers in olive oil, then added the bell peppers. After a bit of cooking, the tomatoes went in, followed by the crabmeat.

TS:
The cooked cuttlefish ink pasta went in next, then some butter and the lemon zest. A squeeze of lemon juice, some parsley, and the dish was done.

Quick, light, and satisfying. Perfect for lazy summer days.

Recipe
Cuttlefish Ink Pasta with Crab and Bell Peppers

cuttlefish ink or squid ink pasta

cooked crabmeat

garlic, chopped
chile peppers, chopped
tomato, seeded and diced
bell peppers, seeded and diced

butter
lemon, zested and juiced
parsley, chopped

Adjust quantities to suit your needs and taste.

Bring water to a boil, making sure to add a generous amount of salt. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente (not overcooked). Drain. Reserve some of the cooking water.

In a sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and chile peppers and cook for a few seconds until fragrant. Add bell peppers and cook until softened slightly.

Add tomatoes. Do not cook tomatoes for too long to retain their fresh quality.

Add the crabmeat, then the cooked pasta. Add butter and toss well.

If pasta is too dry, add olive oil, or more butter, or some pasta water. Add lemon zest and some lemon juice. Toss well. Adjust seasoning of needed.

Add parsley last and serve.

Hong Kong-style Curry Beef Brisket (咖喱牛腩), 1st Attempt

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 03:27:00 +0000

TS:
HK-style Curry Beef Brisket is one of the dishes that we get "on the outside".

But, we were feeling a tad ambitious one day and decided to take on this project. Having made a Hong Kong-style curry with baby cuttlefish before, we thought we could successfully recreate the beef brisket version.

I believe we did the first thing right: we braised the beef brisket in a standard soy sauce, cinnamon, star anise, ginger mixture -- the usual Chinese suspects -- first.

TS:
There it is the next day. We proceeded to slice them into big chunks, then prepped the onions and bell peppers. We also chopped some garlic and made our curry powder and sesame oil paste, as per the recipe we used for our cuttlefish version.

TS:
We proceeded to cook the aromatics and the vegetables, then added the curry-sesame paste, as well as some of the braising liquid, some water, some evaporated milk, some turmeric, salt and sugar...

TS:
...but it doesn't really matter because our dish wasn't very HK Curry-ish at all!

It wasn't bad, but it really wasn't what I consider HK Curry. I'm thinking that perhaps I overdid the curry? Look at its odd color. I really don't know for sure, though. What is that magical mélange of curry and stuff that Cantonese cooks use?

The best I could do was to plate our dish the way we see them in HK-style cafés: the curry in a dish like so, and a mound of rice.

TS:
So, at least for now, we'll continue getting our HK curry on the outside, as there are numerous acceptable and more-than-acceptable places to get them. In fact, the version I like is available not more than 5 minutes away from home.

eatingclub Hong Kong/Cantonese
Chicken Chow Mein
Cantonese Braised Beef Brisket, Two Ways
Lobster Congee from a Lobster Feast
Chinese Roast Pork Belly
Gailan (Chinese Broccoli) with Oyster Sauce, Two Ways
Chinese Pork Bone Soup with Carrots and Water Chestnuts
Hong Kong-style Curry Cuttlefish
Dimsum Seafood Trio: Black Pearl Prawn Toast, Scallop in Nest, Jewelled Rice Cup
Hong Kong-style Singapore Noodles (星洲炒米)
Hong Kong-style Stir-fried Water Spinach with Shrimp Paste (蝦醬通菜)
Hong Kong-style Stir-fried Rice Noodle with Beef (乾炒牛河)
Sweet and Sour Pork
Hong Kong-style Curry Beef Brisket (咖喱牛腩), 1st Attempt

Sweet and Sour Pork

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 01:45:00 +0000

TS:
Ah, sweet and sour pork, that Cantonese delight!

The problem is that good sweet and sour pork is extremely hard to find. When one does though... dreamy look

We'd like to get it on the outside, but often, there would be problems with the pork (too lean, too fatty), problems with the batter (too thick), problems with the sauce (too thick, too gloopy, too sweet, not sour enough, too sour)... sigh

In our house, CSC is the resident sweet and sour pork expert. The reason? She actually follows the recipe and the way the dish is supposed to be made, instead of taking shortcuts. This dish is way too labor-intensive for me! =)

JS' "rogue" version of sweet and sour pork

TS:
Don't believe me? Here's how one does it. And yes, it was CSC who did the work below. These procedural pictures were taken two years ago, by the way. This is procrastination at its best.

TS:
First, the prep. If you look at the recipe below, there are mixtures #1, #2, and #3. One needs to mix these mixtures beforehand and have them ready before proceeding. Of course, CSC also cut up all the vegetables at this time.

TS:
There are multiple steps to prepare the pork component.

First, slicing the pork.
Second, tendering the pork with the blunt end of a cleaver.
Third, marinating the meat (with egg yolk!).
Fourth, dredging the marinated pork in cornstarch.
Fifth, frying the pork at medium heat to cook.
Sixth, frying the pork a second time over high heat to brown.

I don't know about you, but that seems like a lot of work to me. ;)

TS:
But, the results are worth it! Of course, this assumes that someone else is doing all this work.

TS:
Next, the garlic, onion and bell peppers are stir-fried and cooked. CSC didn't put pineapples in this version, but Mama, CSC and I all love the pineapple in sweet and sour pork, so subsequent versions have always had them.

The sauce is added and thickened, then the amazingly crispy and delicious deep-fried pork pieces are added. Everything is mixed together, and you have deliciousness for dinner!

TS:
Ah yes, JS made the rogue version of the dish just so we can photograph the dish in better lighting. Her dish is "rogue" because she didn't follow all the steps for making the dish... of course. ;)

eatingclub Hong Kong/Cantonese
Chicken Chow Mein
Cantonese Braised Beef Brisket, Two Ways
Lobster Congee from a Lobster Feast
Chinese Roast Pork Belly
Gailan (Chinese Broccoli) with Oyster Sauce, Two Ways
Chinese Pork Bone Soup with Carrots and Water Chestnuts
Hong Kong-style Curry Cuttlefish
Dimsum Seafood Trio: Black Pearl Prawn Toast, Scallop in Nest, Jewelled Rice Cup
Hong Kong-style Singapore Noodles (星洲炒米)
Hong Kong-style Stir-fried Water Spinach with Shrimp Paste (蝦醬通菜)
Hong Kong-style Stir-fried Rice Noodle with Beef (乾炒牛河)
Sweet and Sour Pork
Hong Kong-style Curry Beef Brisket (咖喱牛腩), 1st Attempt

Recipe
Sweet and Sour Pork
adapted from Pei Mei's recipe

Note:
Pei Mei's recipe calls for using a "pickled vegetable salad". We simply used bell peppers and onions as is, without pickling them first. We have also added pineapple chunks.

2/3 lb pork loin

#1
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon cornstarch

6 tablespoon cornstarch
6 cups oil (for frying)

1 small green bell pepper (or half pepper)
1 small red bell pepper (or half pepper)
1 small onion (or half onion)
pineapple chunks
1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic

#2
3 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons ketchup
1/3 teaspoon salt

#3
1 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoon water

Cut pork into slices 2/3-inch thick. Using blunt edge of cleaver, lightly pound slices to tenderize; cut meat into bite-size pieces; mix with mixture #1 and let sit for 20 minutes.

Before deep-frying meat, mix with the 6 tablespoons of cornstarch.

Heat oil for deep-frying. Deep-fry pork pieces over medium heat for 3 minutes. Remove pork pieces and set aside.

Reheat oil until very hot. Re-fry pork pieces for another 30 seconds. Remove and drain.

Prepare vegetables: remove seeds from bell peppers and cut into bite-size pieces. Chop onion into bite-size pieces. If using canned pineapple chunks, drain well.

Reheat pan and 3 tablespoons oil. Add chopped garlic briefly (a few seconds), then add onions and bell peppers. Stir-fry briefly to cook. Add pineapple chunks.

Add mixture #2 to the pan. When boiling, add mixture #3 to thicken. Add fried pork pieces and toss lightly to mix everything together.

Remove to serving platter and serve immediately with white rice.

Hot Dog Party: Oroshi, Terimayo, Chili Cheese, Pineapple Madras

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:55:00 +0000

JS:
We have been really, really lazy to cook for the past couple of months so not much to report from here, unfortunately.

We did have a hot dog party a couple of months ago, but we did make the job easier by buying -- well, hot dogs, of course, from the store.

We had three different types of dogs: all-beef frankfurters, bratwursts, and jalapeño cheese smokies. These are all standard issue dogs from any mainstream superstore.

I know, I know, I got my meat grinder already but I haven't opened the box yet. The grinder attachment and stuffer have been sharing space with my computer here on my desk.

The Fixin's
JS:
We did try to dress up the party by having different toppings for the dogs. It's mix and match to get the dog you want.

left: JS' Homemade Teriyaki Sauce; right: Teriyaki Mayo

left: Grated Daikon; right: Shredded Nori (Seaweed)

left: Green Onions; right: Sautéed Cabbage

left: Pineapple Madras Curry Mayo; right: Sautéed Onions

left: Chili; right: Grated Cheddar

TS:
We also had regular ol' condiments available, as well as lightly pickled Japanese cucumbers, just because Mama and CSC love them.

On the Grill

All-beef frankfurters, bratwursts, and jalapeño cheese smokies.

Look at Them Dogs!
TS:
Of course, everyone was free to mix-and-match toppings as they saw fit, but here are four dogs we made as "suggestions" to the guests. ;)

Chili Cheese Dog

All-beef Frank or Jalapeño Cheese Smokie + Chili + Sautéed Onions + Grated Cheddar

TS:
I am a chili cheese dog gal myself. Drool.

Terimayo

Any dog, brushed with teriyaki while grilling + Teriyaki Mayo + Nori (Seaweed)

TS:
What's a Vancouver hot dog party without ripping-off some Japadogs? ;)

(Yes, I know I could've shredded the nori more finely, but I was feeling lazy, as usual.)

Oroshi

Try a brat here (although all-beef frank is pictured).
Brat + Sautéed Cabbgae + Grated Daikon + Teriyaki + Green Onions

TS:
The other Japadog rip-off, except we added sautéed cabbage and used teriyaki sauce instead of their "special soy sauce" that was too, too salty.

Pineapple Madras

Brat + Pineapple Madras Curry Mayo + Sautéed Onions + Green Onions

TS:
Here we are trying to be creative. ;)

JS:
I certainly had fun mixin' and matchin' dogs. My father, not big fan of dogs, even said, "Wow, I never knew hot dogs could be a meal in itself."

Dogs featured on eatingclub vancouver
Aree's Dawg House (March 2008)
Grilled Brats à la Japadog
DougieDog (March 2010)
A Tale of Two Dogs: Grey's Papaya and Papaya King (New York, NY)
Hot Dog Party: Oroshi, Terimayo, Chili Cheese, Pineapple Madras

Golden Shrimp Torta (Philippine Shrimp Omelette)

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 23:45:00 +0000

TS:
For some reason or other, we had a defrosted bag of small shrimp in the fridge. They were too small to fill a starring role in any dish, so we had to think of some application for which they were suited.

TS:
After hemming and hawing for a while, we couldn't really think of anything, and just wanted something fast and easy, as well as comforting to eat. So finally, I thought, why not make our favorite Golden Egg Torta, but with shrimp instead of pork?

OK, then.

TS:
I chopped the shrimp into small pieces, then added it to some beaten eggs, along with green onions, soy sauce, sesame oil, black pepper, and some cornstarch.

TS:
They were cooked à la pancakes, and dinner was ready!

JS:
There's something about the combination of shrimp and eggs that just feels so right and tastes so good. Simple, delicious alchemy.

Yaya's Greatest Hits
Philippine-style Hamburger
Philippine Pork "BBQ"
Philippine Chicken "BBQ"
Golden Egg Torta

eatingclub vancouver Torta (Omelette)
Golden Egg Torta
Oyster Torta
Torta with Pork and Kecap Manis
Tortilla de Patatas (Spanish "Omelette")
Golden Shrimp Torta (Philippine Shrimp Omelette)

Some eggy eatingclub dishes
Piedmont Marinated Eggs
Golden Egg Torta
Oyster Torta
Tarragon-Carrot Deviled Eggs
Torta with Pork and Kecap Manis
Tortilla de Patatas (Spanish "Omelette")
Curried (Easter) Egg Salad
Torta (Mexican Sandwich)
Stir-fried Egg and Tomato
Taiwanese Stewed Eggs (滷蛋) with Stewed Minced Pork (魯肉 or 肉燥)
Longsilog (Longganisa + Sinangag + Itlog)
Hunanese Stir-fried Eggs with Green Peppers
Mr. Zheng's Soupy Tomatoes and Eggs with Tofu
Golden Shrimp Torta (Philippine Shrimp Omelette)

Recipe
Golden Shrimp Torta
Serves 4 as a main dish

6 eggs
1/4 kg small shrimp, chopped finely
1 to 2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil (up to 1 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 stalks green onion, chopped

Scramble the eggs. Add all the ingredients into the eggs and mix together. Heat oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Pour egg mixture into the pan and cook until the bottom half of the torta is cooked. Flip over.

The size of the torta is your choice. Make one big one or several small ones.

You may want to do a tester torta first, then adjust the seasoning (soy sauce, salt, black pepper, sesame oil) of the mixture according to taste.

Cook torta in batches until all the egg mixture is used up.

Serve with condiments such as ketchup, sweet chile sauce, etc., if you wish.

Eggplant Dandan Mian (擔擔麵)

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 02:05:00 +0000

JS:
There are so many versions of dandan mian as there are eaters of dandan mian that I'm not even claiming this to be a definitive version, even within the limited confines of our household.

First of all, there's eggplant in this dandan mian! How did that happen?

Well, I happen to have some eggplants around and I thought it would be a good way to use eggplants. The creaminess of mushed eggplants seem to be a natural fit in dandan mian.

This is a more a dry, sesame-y version of dandan mian, rather than a broth-y, more vinegar-y version.

JS:
Given that during this time we were trying -- in our delusion, still trying -- to eat within "healthy" guidelines, I thought that I could cut down on the amount of oils and sesame paste by using the creaminess of eggplants in its stead. I even bought whole wheat noodles to use in this dandan mian to push up its health-quotient.

Please note that I don't think our diet is particularly unhealthy. Our problem is we like to eat, and when we eat, we tend to have no self-control and eat to our hearts' desire. We like to eat different cuisines -- and some of these cuisines have not gone over to the "light" side of whole grains and lean meats.

I tried, oh yes, I tried, but gosh darn it, lean meats are just not as flavourful as those intermarbled with fat!

It's pork belly or bust in this household.

Whole grains? Well, as I have lamented before, sometimes whole grains just cannot be substituted for their white counterparts. I mean, there's got to be a reason why we've milled and sifted flour to be white. Doesn't it taste so much better as a pizza crust?

Forgive the circuitous route to the procedural portion of this eggplant dandan mian.

JS:
I started by adding garlic to a scant 2 tablespoons of chili oil and stir-frying the eggplant. Following Fuschia's recipe for a version of dandan mian, I thought I'd add some Tianjin preserved vegetables as well so I stir-fried that with the eggplant as well.

(You can use Sichuan preserved vegetables instead of Tianjin, if you have them.)

left: diced eggplant; right: Tianjin preserved vegetable

(We've used Tianjin Preserved Vegetable in Mama's Fish Head Soup. The post has a picture of the jar.)

JS:
I added some Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, Chinkiang vinegar, and water to the pan. I covered the pan and let the eggplants steam until they were soft and creamy.

JS:
Meanwhile, I roasted some Sichuan peppercorns in a separate pan to be ground in a mortar and pestle. I like my dandan mian with a more than generous sprinkle of ground Sichuan peppercorns.

TS:
That above are the whole wheat noodles. We simply boiled them until done.

Actually, I don't mind whole wheat noodles. I actually quite like them! But I guess, as mentioned before in our Brown Rice Bibimbap post, it depends on the application.

JS:
To make the second part of the sauce, simply mix soy sauce, chili oil, and sesame paste. As we were trying to cut down on the fat, we were a tad skimpy with the oil and the sesame paste. Rest assured that the recipe below reflects corrected amounts for maximum deliciousness.

I don't know what we were being so skimpy about, as it would have only an extra 120 calories per serving, according to TS' calculations.

JS:
After cooking the eggplants and boiling the noodles, the dandan mian is simply a matter of assembly.

TS:
Our whole wheat noodles went in first, followed by cucumber shreds, the eggplant, then the sesame sauce. Each bowl was finished with chili oil and ground Sichuan peppercorns.

Of course, it's up to you, but the more chili oil, the better. For the chili oil, use Sichuan Peppercorn Chili Oil, or Red Chile Oil (紅油), or a combination of both!

close-up of Sichuan peppercorn goodness

TS:
For a "healthy" version, this wasn't too bad at all. ;)

eatingclub Sichuan/Sichuan-inspired (Szechuan)
Red Chile Oil (紅油)
Sichuan Peppercorn Chili Oil
Spicy Sweet Sichuan Popcorn
Gong Bao ("Kung Pao") Chicken (宮保雞丁)
Eggplant Dandan Mian (擔擔麵)

Recipe
Eggplant Dan Dan Mian (擔擔麵)
Serves 4

2 tbsp chili oil
8 cups eggplants, diced (3 Asian eggplants)
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 tbsp Tianjin preserved vegetable, roughly chopped
(you can use the Sichuan preserved vegetables, if you have it)
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 tbsp Chinkiang vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup water

1 pound wheat noodles (white or whole wheat)

"Sauce"
6 tsp soy sauce
8 tbsp chili oil
6 tbsp sesame paste
roasted Sichuan peppercorns, ground

Garnish
chili oil
bean sprouts
shredded cucumber

For chili oil, make either Red Chile Oil (紅油) or Sichuan Peppercorn Chili Oil.

Heat chili oil in a wok. Add garlic. When garlic has released its fragrance, add eggplants. Add Tianjin preserved vegetables. Add Shaoxing wine, vinegar, soy sauce. Add water and cover. Cook until eggplants are soft.

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

While noodles are cooking, make the sauce. Mix soy sauce, chili oil, and sesame paste in a separate bowl and stir until the ingredients have blended together.

To serve, coat noodles with sauce, add eggplant mixture, add bean sprouts and/or shredded cucumbers, and top with more chili oil and ground Sichuan peppercorns as desired.

Mama's Philippine-style Fruit Salad

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 00:48:00 +0000

JS:
We usually end our Filipino-inspired gatherings with Mama's Philippine-style Fruit Salad. This is an extremely popular item among our guests.

"Hinahanap-hanap itong fruit salad."

My mother is always in charge of this dessert and I always know that she has finished making her fruit salad by the number of colanders out and near the sink. For a seemingly-simple recipe, my mother uses quite a lot of implements. Or actually, she just really likes using colanders. LOL.

canned condensed milk and canned thick cream

TS:
This really is super-simple to make; it's a matter of assembly. One needs only 3 items.

One, canned thick cream. Yes, canned cream.

Then, condensed milk. I heart condensed milk!

The third component, the fruit portion of this dish, is canned fruit cocktail. We prefer using canned "Fruit Cocktail", as opposed to "Fruit Salad", or "Tropical Fruit", or "Fruit Mix", or any other such things. Yes, there is a difference!

The USDA actually regulates "fruit cocktail", listing the correct percentages of which fruits go into canned "fruit cocktail".

Wikipedia: Fruit Cocktail

My mother also likes to supplement fruit cocktail with toddy palm. These also come canned. If they are whole, she slices them. If they come sliced, then she saves herself some work!

Image of Canned Toddy Palm Seed

I also like extra macapuno (meat from "mutant" coconuts) in fruit salad, but Mama doesn't like them for some reason, and thus, never adds them to her fruit salad.

Learn more about macapuno (mutant coconut) in our Lime Macapuno Bar post.

I supposed one can go wild and add other tropical fruits: jackfruit, rambutan, lychee, longan, mangoes...

But, fruit cocktail with toddy palm is my mother's classic combination.

TS:
To make Mama's Philippine-style Fruit Salad, simply open your cans of fruit cocktail and toddy palm and drain.

Hence, the colanders!

Although, I don't know why Mama has to dedicate one colander for the fruit cocktail and one for the toddy palm. Why not put both things in one colander?

If your toddy palm is whole, you may want to slice them first. If using other canned fruits, drain them as well.

Then, open your canned cream and your condensed milk, and mix everything together. This goes into the refrigerator until the end of dinner.

party-sized

JS:
Mama always makes this recipe enough for one platter for the party and a take-home box for one of our guests, much to everyone else's resentment.

"How come he always gets his own personal stash of fruit salad!?!"

TS:
Teehee.

There you go. That's the power of Mama's Philippine-style Fruit Salad: it causes building resentment among party guests. =)

Mama Dishes
Mama's Silkie Chicken ("Dyong Kwe")
Mama's Philippine-style Fruit Salad
Mama's Cilantro Beef Shin
Mama's Black Peppercorn Shortribs
Mama's Fish Head Soup
Mama's Giniling
Mama's Giniling, v4 and v5
Mama's Ampalaya (Bitter Melon)
Ma-Kut (Pork Bone) Soup

Recipe
Mama's Philippine-style Fruit Salad

1 big can fruit cocktail (1 can = 2.84L/100 fl. oz)
2 cans toddy palm/toddy palm seed (1 can = 560mL; net weight: 20oz/565g)
1/2 can condensed milk (1 can = 300mL)
1 can thick cream/sterilized cream (1 can = 170mL)

Note:
This is Mama's preferred combination of fruits and cream/milk. Feel free to adjust fruit levels, creaminess levels and sweetness levels according to your tastes.

Note:
This is half the amount Mama would prepare for a party.

Drain canned fruit cocktail and canned toddy palm well. If whole, slice toddy palm. If using other fruits, prep them: cut into pieces; drained canned fruits, etc.

Mix together drained fruits with condensed milk and cream. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours (make sure the dish is well-chilled). Mix/stir right before serving.

Twice-cooked Pork (回鍋肉)

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:03:00 +0000

JS:
On every Chinese restaurant menu, there is always a "twice-cooked pork" dish and there are many versions of twice-cooked pork (回鍋肉).

The seasonings might be a tad different, e.g. some may be spicier than others and some might have fermented black beans, but in its basic concept, the dish is cooked pork belly that is sliced thin (that's the first cooking) and then stir-fried in a wok with more ingredients, usually with cabbage (that's the second cooking).

This is a recipe that we've adapted from Kian of Red Cook.
(Kian's recipe here: Twice-Cooked Pork and Garlic Shoots)

TS:
You may remember our epic undertaking of making White Pork with Garlic Sauce, Two Ways (蒜泥白肉).

Those three pieces of pork belly yielded quite a lot, so there was enough to make this dish as well. We cooked the pork belly by simply simmering them in water. After letting them cool, I sliced them thinly.

sliced cooked pork belly

Hot Bean Paste (辣豆瓣醬) and Sweet Bean Paste (甜麵醬)

TS:
I know, I know, these bean pastes are confusing. They're all bean pastes! One's best bet is to copy out the Chinese and match that to the label. We used these two types for this dish. As a point of reference, the sweet bean paste is similar to hoisin sauce.

TS:
There's our pork belly, some green onions and chile peppers. Another essential ingredient is cabbage.

TS:
To start, I heated some oil, then added some garlic and the cabbage. I cooked the cabbage for a bit.

TS:
I then added the pork belly, sweet bean paste and hot bean paste. I also added some rice vinegar, sesame oil and a touch of soy sauce to balance out the sweetness. The green onions and chile peppers went in last.

TS:
The dish made for a really satisfying accompaniment to rice. I found it a tad sweet for me, so I would add more hot bean paste than sweet bean paste next time (reflected in the recipe below). I would also probably like some red chile oil in the dish as well.

Oooh, red chile oil (紅油). Drool.

JS:
This is a good dish to experiment with bean sauces, or a combination of bean sauces. I like mine with a hot, spicy broad bean sauce (郫县豆瓣酱) -- so that's also definitely another option the next time we try twice-cooked pork.
Wiki: Pixian Doubanjiang (郫县豆瓣酱)

Recipe
Twice-cooked Pork (回鍋肉)
adapted from Red Cook's Twice-cooked Pork and Garlic Shoots

400g cooked pork belly, sliced thin

2 Tablespoons chopped garlic
1 head cabbage, chopped into about the same size as the pork belly slices

1 Tablespoons sweet bean paste (甜麵醬)
2 Tablespoons hot bean paste (辣豆瓣醬)
1-2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
soy sauce
green onions, sliced
chile peppers (optional)

To cook pork belly, place in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer. Cook for 45 minutes to about an hour, until tender. Cool, then slice thinly.

In a wok or large sauté pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir for a few seconds, then add cabbage. Cook until the cabbage has softened slightly, a couple of minutes, or until they are almost to your desired doneness.

Add sliced pork belly, then the sweet and hot bean pastes. Stir and season with sesame oil, rice vinegar and soy sauce. Feel free to adjust the ratio of the bean pastes according to taste.

When the pork belly is heated through and the cabbage is your desired doneness, add the green onions and chile peppers.

Serve hot with white rice.

Philippine-style Chicken Salad Sandwich

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:18:00 +0000

JS:
Simple Philippine-style chicken salad today.

This was a merienda fixture in our school bags growing up.

Merienda is the meal between the big three meals (breakfast, merienda, lunch, merienda, and dinner). Sometimes we'd have merienda after dinner too, before going to sleep.

Good times.

JS:
Steam or boil chicken breast.
Allow to cool, then shred.
Add mayonnaise.
Add sweet pickle relish.
Mix it all up.
Season to taste.

It should be creamy and slightly sweet.

Serve chicken salad on pan de sal or toast.

TS:
Make the chicken salad as creamy (mayo-y) and sweet (relish-y) as you want!

TS:
For "authenticity", we served ours in a pan de sal bun.

For "authenticity", our sandwich was squished into all sorts of weird shapes, reminiscent of their usual state as we pulled them out of our school bags during recess.

More eatingclub Philippine/Filipino food

Home-style Chinese Steamed Egg with Pork (家常蒸雞蛋)

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:25:00 +0000

JS:
A while back, my aunt and uncle from Toronto came to visit Vancouver with some friends, on their way to an Alaskan cruise. My mother asked if we can prepare a home-cooked meal for them one of the days they were here.

TS and I said yes -- but warned our mother that the meal is most likely going to be a very simple one. That was no problem, apparently, as by the end of their trip, my relatives were starting to suffer from restaurant food fatigue.

JS:
One of the surprise hits of that meal was this Home-style Chinese Steamed Egg (家常蒸雞蛋). In the Fujian/Hokkien dialect, called "tim-nung".

Our mother used to prepare steamed egg quite often back in the day, but for some reason, her steamed egg kept changing and changing and it was never the same taste from the first time to the next.

After a spate of inconsistent and unsatisfying steamed egg dishes, unsatisfying to herself, I guess, our mother probably got discouraged because she never made steamed egg again.

Which is a shame, because home-style steamed egg can be one of the most soul-satisfying dishes to eat.

TS:
As with home-style dishes, this was dead simple to make.

I started by pan-frying the ground pork. Well, pan-"frying" may not be the best word. Basically, I cooked the ground pork to release some of its liquid. I added the tiniest amount of Shaoxing wine and sesame oil to taste.

TS:
The cooked ground pork then goes into the steaming vessel. In the meantime, I beat some eggs, then added some chicken stock, chopped green onions, chopped tree ear mushrooms, and some Shaoxing wine and salt to taste.

If without tree ear mushrooms in the house, simply use shiitake, dried (reconstituted) or fresh.

TS:
That whole lot goes into the steaming vessel over the pork.

TS:
As per its name, the dish is then steamed until cooked. There's really no way to overcook this. We had some of these salted egg yolks, so I stuck them into the dish for garnish when the eggs were more or less cooked.

JS:
Such a homey dish is quite the pick-me-upper after a long day at work. Our cousins and guests at the get-together remarked, on more than one occasion, how eating this dish gave them such a warm, comforting, satisfying feeling.

Some eggy eatingclub dishes
Tarragon-Carrot Deviled Eggs
Golden Egg Torta
Hunanese Stir-fried Eggs with Green Peppers
Tortilla de Patatas (Spanish "Omelette")
Piedmont Marinated Eggs
Asparagus and Crab Egg Crêpes
Stir-fried Egg and Tomato
Oyster Torta
Torta with Pork and Kecap Manis
Curried (Easter) Egg Salad
Taiwanese Stewed Eggs (滷蛋) with Stewed Minced Pork (魯肉 or 肉燥)
Longsilog (Longganisa + Sinangag + Itlog)
Torta (Mexican Sandwich)
Mr. Zheng's Soupy Tomatoes and Eggs with Tofu
Nasi Lemak (Malaysian Coconut Rice Meal with Sambal)
Home-style Chinese Steamed Egg with Pork
Golden Shrimp Torta (Philippine Shrimp Omelette)

Recipe
Home-style Chinese Steamed Egg with Pork (家常蒸雞蛋)
Serves 8, or more if part of a multi-course meal

Note:
This is quite a large size of steamed egg. Feel free to halve the recipe.

3/4 pounds ground pork
Shaoxing wine, to taste
sesame oil, to taste

16 eggs
2 cups chicken stock
6 stalks green onions, chopped
1 cup soaked tree ear mushrooms, chopped
(substitution: chopped reconstituted dried shiitake mushrooms, or chopped fresh shiitakes)
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
salt

salted egg yolks, optional

Heat pan/skillet over medium heat. Add ground pork, Shaoxing wine and sesame oil, and cook until the ground pork is cooked through. Let cool and set aside.

In a bowl, beat eggs and mix in chicken stock, green onions, mushrooms, Shaoxing wine and salt. If using, chop salted egg yolks and add into the mixture. You may reserve some for garnish.

In a container safe for steaming, add the ground pork, then pour in the beaten egg mixture. Steam until cooked. If using salted egg yolks as garnish, simply add them when the steamed egg dish is more or less cooked, then steam for a little while longer to heat them through.

Serve with rice. If desired, serve soy sauce, Maggi seasoning, or kecap manis as condiments.

The Manila Machine Food Truck (Los Angeles, CA)

noreply@blogger.com (eatingclubvancouver_js) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 03:15:00 +0000

JS:
Just back from a quick trip down to LA last week. One of the highlights of the trip was a tasting menu from The Manila Machine.

The Manila Machine is LA's first Filipino food truck, run by one of our favourite bloggers, Marvin of Burnt Lumpia. They have been receiving great press from the local media and we couldn't be happier for Marvin.

Here's The Manila Machine story from Marvin's own mouth:
http://burntlumpia.typepad.com/burnt_lumpia/2010/06/heres-the-filipino-food.html

website: The Manila Machine

TS:
I must say, I love the name The Manila Machine! It's catchy, and for me, has a very Filipino flavor (probably because it reminds me of Burger Machine in the Philippines).

JS:
Although we were short of time, we knew we couldn't leave LA without sampling their food.

We looked at the truck's schedule, tried to find where they were going to be parking, mapped it out -- and it seemed like our schedule put us on divergent paths, nowhere near Manila Machine.

Darn!

Thankfully, quite serendipitously, we found out that there was a tasting event organized by Abby of The Pleasure Palate for Saturday, the day we leave, at 1pm. Since our plane for Vancouver doesn't leave until 6 in the evening, we figured we could swing by the tasting that day.

Given that we were already eating more than our body weight the past three days, we opted to share one person's portion between the two of us. It was more than enough food, though, as there were 9 courses/items on the tasting menu, including two desserts.

TS:
When we parked our rental car, we saw Nastassia bringing out a tray of calamansi juice. We were just in time!

TS:
For those who have never had had calamansi, it is quite different from lemons or limes. Its fragrance is intoxicating! I thought it was quite a nice touch bringing us the juice, seeing as it was a gajillion degrees out.

TS:
By the way, Nastassia is the other half (co-owner, that is) of The Manila Machine, and also a food blogger! (Nastassia's blog: Let Me Eat Cake)

There she is taking a picture of the attendees taking pictures of her and Marvin. =)

OK, enough chit-chat. On to the food!

Tapsilog (Tapa + Sinangag + Itlog)

JS:
First up was a breakfast item, tapsilog. Tapsilog is beef tapa with sinangag (garlic fried rice) and fried egg (itlog).

TS:
The -silog plate is infinitely variable. The Manila Machine also serves spamsilog and longsilog during their breakfast services.

(Here's our version of longsilog: longganisa + sinangag + itlog.)

TS:
Yolk-ooze.

JS:
The beef tapa here was nicely done, well-flavoured and tender. If you're used to the traditional tapa, which is usually pounded very thin and dry-ish, Marvin's version would be a pleasant surprise. I can take my tapa both ways, so I'm all good.

The only thing missing for me was some chili-infused vinegar to enjoy with the tapa and the egg.

Chicken Adobo & Lumpiang Shanghai

JS:
We got our second and third courses in one plate, the lumpiang shanghai and the chicken adobo. Marvin has mentioned that the most comments he receives are for the adobo and people have varying opinions about how chicken adobo should taste. The Manila Machine version is his take on the chicken adobo.

The lumpiang shanghai was good, very nicely rolled, nicely fried (not greasy at all) and filled with pork-y goodness. Marvin sure does know how to roll 'em.

Longganisa Slider

JS:
The next item we got was the longganisa slider.

The pan de sal (bread) was slightly sweet and squishy, which is how a slider bun should be. The longganisa (a type of sausage) was sweet and garlicky. This was topped with some arugula. There was also a slather of mango jam, which made the whole thing slightly too sweet for me. I could have used more garlic somewhere. They do have Sriracha available for use, so I probably will put a dollop of Sriracha next time I have the longganisa slider.

TS:
I really like the pan de sal they use. Unlike others I've seen, this had a yellow tint. It reminded me of the buns from Shake Shack.

Mango Popsicle

Magnolia Ice Milk Bar

JS:
We also got Magnolia Popsicles! I grabbed the mango flavour -- and man oh man, I had forgotten how good Philippine mangoes are and how different they taste from the mangoes available here. Le sigh.

JS:
I think the forgetting was a defense mechanism, since we could never get the same mangoes here.

TS:
Yeah! We're just stuck here with stores peddling those Hayden and/or Ataulfo mangoes.

Sisig

JS:
Sisig on rice was the next item.

While sisig is traditionally made using the meat from the pig's head/face, including (or especially!) the ears, snout, and any other meat there, Marvin uses only pork cheeks.

When questioned, he did say he prefers the entire pork face for the varying textures and flavours -- however, the question is whether or not most people would accept pork face or pork ear sisig.

TS:
Sisig is also usually in smaller pieces, much like Marvin's own version on Burnt Lumpia. But then again, really small pieces of meat may be more "unusual-looking" to most people, and may be harder to eat for people who use forks and not spoons!

(Note:
Place settings in the Philippines and Southeast Asia include a flat plate and a spoon and fork. The fork helps push the food onto the spoon, and the spoon is what makes it into the mouth. This is very efficient for rice-based meals. No rice grains falling through the tines of the fork!)

JS:
What sells is what sells: what people want is what people want. No use fighting it, so pork cheek sisig is it for now. Like the previous beef tapa, this was nicely seasoned and goes great with rice.

Spam Slider

JS:
Another slider they serve is the Spam and egg pan de sal slider.

Very good, albeit a tad messy, with the delicious oozy yolk dribbling down your arm. They serve this with banana ketchup, so there's that whole sweet-salty thing going on that's just irresistible.

TS:
Look how unassuming it looks at first glance. But take a bite, and there's an explosion of color... and even more yolk-ooze than ever!

JS:
An aside: Like a lot of kids in the Philippines, we grew up on Spam -- but detractors of Spam, please pan-fry the Spam first! Of course, Spam will be gross if you just eat it straight from the can with all those jellied "juices." I usually like my Spam pan-fried until I get a nice crust on the outside.

TS:
A little Spam goes a long way, so I found there was too much Spam per bite. I would've liked a thinner slice, but of course, I think most people would protest if presented with a smaller piece of meat.

Fried Wings with Spicy Adobo Glaze

JS:
Our surprise item was fried spicy adobo chicken wings. I liked this as the adobo sauce was reduced to create quite a yummy sauce for the chicken. The wing itself was not greasy and there was no batter.

A sampling of the items on the menu. For the full menu, visit their website.

Turon (Fried Banana "Spring Roll")

JS:
Our first dessert item was turon. The turon was big! Inside was a mixture of banana and jackfruit and it was served with a drizzle of caramel sauce. The turon was perfectly rolled, very tight, very professional. The turon was delicious.

TS:
I'm a sucker for turon. And really, wow, Marvin is an expert roller of lumpia wrappers! They're so prettily-wrapped. =D

Ube Cupcake

TS:
The ube cupcake was quite conveniently packed in a to-go container. It's as if they read our minds! So, we took our cupcake and drove straight to the airport.

Well, not straight to the airport. JS and I stopped at the In-N-Out near the airport and bought a couple of cheeseburgers to take with us on the plane.

JS:
The ube cupcake didn't last until the flight. We each ate our halves while waiting to board. Quite yummy too. This whole cupcake thing is starting to grow on me.

More press! Marvin and Nastassia being interviewed during the tasting.

TS:
It was great meeting Marvin after following his blog for all this time. And it was great meeting Nastassia. Apparently, she had just visited Vancouver a few months ago!

JS:
Understandably, they're very busy with the new venture; it is like a newborn baby needing constant attention. It looks like they're off to a great start and we wish them all the best.

TS:
We will definitely head over to the Machine should we be in LA.

The Manila Machine
Los Angeles, CA
http://themanilamachine.com/
Visited in July 2010

Actual Hot Weather and Camera Death

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 06:30:00 +0000

dents and deformities

TS:
Well, the weather gods have punished me for complaining about the @^%$#!!@!$$# hot weather here in Vancouver.

I complained about 25-30 C (75-85 F) weather, so they subjected me to 30-35 C (86-95 F) heat!

That's right, JS and I were out gallavanting about in Los Angeles. Apparently, locals have told us that it had been hotter than usual the past week. Just my luck.

Another unfortunate incident: my camera finally died. It was pretty banged up already -- those dents and deformities pictured above existed long before death, but perhaps the heat was also too much for it to bear and it decided to end its misery.

Ah well, camera death is not something a little quickie trip to Costco can't fix.

I bought another point-and-shoot, the Panasonic Lumix FH20, for those who are curious. In an all's-well-that-ends-well turn of events, I think the camera was cheaper to buy in the US than in Canada. So there.

And that's what JS and I have been up to. Back to semi-regular posting soon.

Balsamic Strawberry Tart with Olive Oil Crust

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:20:00 +0000

TS:
It is too %#!@$@$ hot here to think straight right now.

I know, I know, you guys living in really hot places will laugh at me. But really, it is S.O. H.O.T.

It's a whopping 25 C to 30 C! (That's probably 75 F to 85 F.) Fine, you can laugh a little.

Hence, I don't seem to be physically able to write much. This will be a short one... well, "short" by eatingclub standards. ;)

Bimbo Strawberries

TS:
We had these bimbo-esque strawberries in the house, so they weren't very good for eating out of hand. Look at it! They were huge! They looked "pretty" enough, but they were tasteless.

So, I knew we had to do something with them. This is what I came up with.

TS:
I cooked together some butter, brown sugar, strawberries and balsamic vinegar.

TS:
I used this classical pairing of strawberries and balsamic vinegar as a tart filling. Since I had balsamic vinegar, I thought, why not make an olive oil tart crust!

TS:
I tried to do the easy way by having a press-in crust. Hmm, I don't know if I made it wrong, but it turned out that I didn't have enough dough to properly cover my tart pan. Oh well. The crust was just thin and patchy, but still edible.

TS:
I blind-baked the crust and simply filled it with the balsamic strawberry filling. The color wasn't that attractive because the balsamic vinegar turned everything brown. So, I decided to cover it up with whipped cream.

TS:
And there you go! I had the hardest time photographing this as well.

In any case, strawberries + caramel + balsamic = yummy. The olive oil crust was decidedly olive oil-y and worked quite well, I thought. The whipped cream didn't hold up well, though. It just drooped. But, that didn't affect the taste, so all was well.

Recipe
Balsamic Strawberry Tart with Olive Oil Crust
Makes 1 8 to 9-inch tart

Balsamic Strawberry Filling
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 to 1 pound strawberries, halved, sliced, or diced
lemon zest (optional)
cornstarch slurry (optional)

In a pan/skillet, heat butter and add the sugar and balsamic vinegar. Cook for a few minutes until slightly thickened and reduced. Add the strawberries and lemon zest (if using) and cook until strawberries are cooked through.

If you wish, add cornstarch slurry to thicken the filling and help it set. (Cornstarch slurry = cornstarch dissolved in cold water.)

While the filling is hot, add the cornstarch slurry, stirring, until mixture has thickened.

Olive Oil Press-In Tart Dough
tart dough recipe from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar (white or brown)
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons ice water

Process the flour, sugar and salt together in a food processor until combined. Drizzle the oil over the flour mixture and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse sand, about 12 pulses.

Add 2 tablespoons of the ice water and continue to process until large clumps of dough form and no powdery bits remain, about 5 seconds. If the dough doesn't clump, add the remaining tablespoon water and pulse to incorporate, about 4 pulses. Press the dough into a 9=inch tart pan.

Making the tart
Preheat oven to 350 F.

If dough is soft from working into the tart pan, place in refrigerator or freezer to firm up. Cover tart shell with parchment paper and add baking weights. Bake until crust is lightly golden. Let cool.

Pour in the balsamic strawberry filling into the tart shell and refrigerate to set. Top with whipped cream, if desired.

Asparagus and Crab Egg Crêpes

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0000

TS:
We happened to have crabmeat and asparagus in the house some time ago. These ingredients reminded me of Vietnamese Crab and Asparagus Soup (Sup Mang Tay Cua).

I took that as my inspiration to create this easy dish for Delicious Vietnam. (See info on this blogging event at the end of the post.)

TS:
What we had was actually the pasteurized crabmeat we used before for Crab Tostadas and our Supreme Lion's Head Meatballs with Crabmeat.

Vietnamese Crab and Asparagus Soup (Sup Mang Tay Cua) is an egg-drop soup: swirls of egg float about in the broth. For my egg component, I decided to make thin "crêpes" or omelettes.

But first, I cooked the asparagus by shallow-boiling/steaming them.

TS:
I peeled the tougher skin near the bottom of each asparagus stalk, then placed the asparagus in a pan of shallow water that I've let boil. I cooked them until they were crisp-tender.

Next up, the "crêpes".

I beat some eggs and seasoned with fish sauce. Then, I poured a little bit into the pan, just enough to form a thin coating.

TS:
I sprinkled a little bit of crab meat onto the crêpe, as well as some black pepper. The egg cooks through in no time. Then, the whole thing was rolled up with the asparagus inside.

My food-styling skills are zero to nil. Look at that plate!

TS:
That was it. Easy! I cut each roll into slices before serving.

TS:
Of course, one can even dispense with the rolling-up business to make this dish even easier. Just fold the egg over with the asparagus inside.

There's something about egg fried in oil that's, well, delicious. The crab gives it a touch of sweetness, the fish sauce and black pepper a savory kick, and the asparagus a nice verdant flavor.

Some eggy eatingclub dishes
Tarragon-Carrot Deviled Eggs
Golden Egg Torta
Hunanese Stir-fried Eggs with Green Peppers
Tortilla de Patatas (Spanish "Omelette")
Piedmont Marinated Eggs
Asparagus and Crab Egg Crêpes
Stir-fried Egg and Tomato
Oyster Torta
Torta with Pork and Kecap Manis
Curried (Easter) Egg Salad
Taiwanese Stewed Eggs (滷蛋) with Stewed Minced Pork (魯肉 or 肉燥)
Longsilog (Longganisa + Sinangag + Itlog)
Torta (Mexican Sandwich)
Mr. Zheng's Soupy Tomatoes and Eggs with Tofu
Nasi Lemak (Malaysian Coconut Rice Meal with Sambal)
Home-style Chinese Steamed Egg with Pork
Golden Shrimp Torta (Philippine Shrimp Omelette)

Recipe
Asparagus and Crab Egg Crêpes

asparagus
crabmeat
eggs
fish sauce
black pepper

Quantities are up to you.

Prep the asparagus: cut off the tough ends and peel off tough outer layer. Cook asparagus until crisp-tender. An easy way is by adding a shallow amount of water into a wide pan, then letting the water come to a boil. Place the asparagus into the pan until cooked to desired doneness. Set asparagus aside.

Beat a few eggs in a bowl and season with fish sauce and black pepper.

In a wide pan, heat oil over medium heat. Pour in a small amount of beaten eggs, just enough to make a thin layer coating the surface of the pan. Dot the egg "crêpe" with crabmeat. When cooked, slide onto a plate.

Repeat until beaten eggs are used up.

Assemble by placing a small bundle of cooked asparagus near the edge of an egg "crêpe". Then, roll the crêpe around the asparagus bundle. Serve whole or slice into pieces.

To make the soup, visit Wandering Chopsticks for her recipe:
Sup Mang Tay Cua

Vietnamese food at eatingclub vancouver
Squid with Black Pepper
Trout in Vietnamese Caramel Sauce
Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)
Vietnamese Salmon Steaks with Cucumber, Garlic and Ginger
Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup)
Vietnamese Chicken Cabbage Salad (Goi Ga Bap Cai) on Sesame Rice Cracker (Banh Trang Me)
Vietnamese Spring Roll (Cha Gio)
Asparagus and Crab Egg Crêpes

We are submitting this post to Delicious Vietnam, a blogging event founded by A Food Lover's Journey and Ravenous Couple.

For more information on this event, click here.

Entries can be submitted to Anne at buddhabelliespdx [at] gmail [dot] com by 7 pm pacific time July 11. The round-up will be hosted by Buddha's Bellies.

2010 Annual Summer BBQ Event at The Boulevard

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 22:45:00 +0000

Philippine-style Pork "BBQ"

TS:
When people mention that they're having a "BBQ", they are usually talking of throwing some hotdogs and hamburgers on the grill. We do not subscribe to the same school of thought.

Among our circle, a "barbeque" is centered around skewered Philippine Pork "BBQ" and Philippine Chicken "BBQ" with peanut sauce. If you're grilling something else, don't call it a barbeque!

JS:
Of course, our mileage varies, because in the American South, when they say "barbecue," they mean something else too and we'll be asked not to call our barbeques "barbecue"!

Talking amongst ourselves one day, we've come to a decision. We've decided to have two "big" parties per year, one summer and one winter.

We've already blogged about two of our New Year's Eve parties -- see NYE 2008 (Starry, Starry Night) and NYE 2009 (Spanish Menu) -- and this is our first-ever Summer Barbeque Event at The Boulevard (our pretentious name for our house).

Anyways, without further ado, the menu.

2010 Annual Summer BBQ Event
at The Boulevard

Specialty Beverages

CANTALOUPE MELON SLUSH
MANGO SLUSH
In keeping with the Philippine/Filipino theme, we had mango and cantaloupe flavors. The cantaloupe was fantastic!

~

Dinner

PHILIPPINE PORK BBQ SKEWERS
Instant hit!
This is the item everyone has been yearning for.
Click here for the post/recipe.

CHICKEN ADOBO
The classic flavours of Philippine adobo:
vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves and black peppercorns.
Click here for the post/recipe, as well as links to all our other adobos.

KARE-KARE (Philippine Oxtail Peanut Stew)
Oxtail and brisket pieces stewed together with eggplants and vegetables
in a rich achiote-tinted broth thickened with roasted rice powder and ground peanuts. Must be eaten with bagoong (shrimp paste)!
Click here for the post/recipe.

SARDINAS NA BANGUS
Milkfish (bangus) done "sardines-style":
confit’ed in olive oil, with garlic, peppers, olives and spices.
Click here for the post/recipe.

EMBUTIDO (Philippine Pork Roll)
A fiesta staple. Ground pork w/ peppers and raisins (and various others), stuffed with eggs and sausages.
Click here for the post/recipe.

INIHAW NA MAIS
Grilled corn on the cob.
Click here for the post/recipe.

GISING-GISING
Green beans cooked in coconut milk, flavoured with shrimp.
Click here for the post/recipe.

MANGGA ENSALADA
A composed salad: fresh mango, tomatoes, red onions, green onions, hard-boiled eggs and bagoong (shrimp paste).
Click here for the post/recipe.

WHITE RICE

~

After dinner...

BIBINGKA GALAPONG
A fragrant rice flour and coconut milk cake baked in banana leaves,
topped with butter, sugar and a golden cheese crust,
served with grated fresh coconut and salted duck eggs.
Click here for the post/recipe.

MAMA’S PHILIPPINE-STYLE FRUIT SALAD
A party favourite! Mixed fruits in a creamy, sweet “dressing”.
Click here for the post/recipe.

A great time was had by all! Thank you to everybody who attended!

And of course, thanks to CSC, The B, and The B's wife for helping out! It was such a pleasure for JS and I not to be the ones skewering 20 pounds of pork!

The Volume

a gigantormous pot (18 QT) purchased especially for making our big-batch kare-kare

TS:
Several people have remarked to us that we do seem to prepare quite the amount of food, even for our regular family meals. So, we thought it would be fun to share the quantities of the food we prepared for this BBQ event.

The day before, we had a head count of 37 people, plus 10 kids. Now, if that was really the number of guests that arrived, I can't say for sure.

The following items were prepped for the party:
20 pounds pork butt
18 pounds chicken thighs
10 pounds oxtail
5 pounds beef brisket
5 milkfish (bangus)
1.5 pounds shrimp
6 pounds ground pork
approx. 50 eggs (I lost count!)

Wait, there's more!

at least 10 heads of garlic
24 ears of corn
14 pounds tomatoes
5 pounds eggplant
6 pounds green beans
4 pounds Shanghai bok choy
approx. 8 cups of coconut milk
2 liters (2 quarts) extra virgin olive oil
and more...

I haven't even counted what we used to make the desserts, as well as other "incidental" ingredients like bell peppers, onions, other embutido ingredients, butter, sugar, cheese, etc.

After the event...

TS:
Cleanup of prep-related items was already done before the party. So, this mess was purely post-party, and after there had already been a few rounds of dishwashing!

You guys up there will have to wait until tomorrow to get clean. We are going to bed.

Paksiw na Lechon (Philippine Roast Pork simmered in Vinegar)

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:00:00 +0000

JS:
I think I'll call this version a "starter" paksiw na lechon. If you're not too keen on liver or liver sauce in your paksiw na lechon, then this is the recipe for you.

TS:
Let's backtrack a little bit. What is paksiw na lechon?

JS:
Paksiw na lechon is usually a stew done with leftover lechon (Philippine roast pork).

Most people I know look forward to this leftover stew more than the they look forward to the actual whole pig. Can't say I disagree, because, really, once the crispy skin is all eaten and done, what else is left?

leftover lechon

TS:
We ordered a whole roast pig for Boss #2's birthday party about a month ago. We had about 3 pounds of leftover lechon the next day.

Usually, people simply add bottled lechon sauce -- Mang Tomas is a popular brand -- to the pork pieces and cook them together. However, both JS and I are not a big fan of bottled lechon sauce. It just tastes overly-sweet and not much else to me.

In fact, the bottled variety tastes nothing like "real" lechon sauce, which is a blend of liver, vinegar and sugar, among other things.

See JS' Homemade Lechon Sauce here.

Someone was actually surprised to taste liver in JS' homemade lechon sauce during Starry, Starry Night (our Philippine/Filipino food feast), having always had Mang Tomas!

JS:
I wanted this version of paksiw to be fairly accessible and entry-level for all palates.

Hence, I made it sans the liver/liver sauce, not particularly sour, and not at all spicy. I opted for a sour-sweet-salty flavour profile, with garlicky, peppery undertones.

TS:
We could've snuck in a can of Philippine liver spread, like when we made Pork Asado (Pork with Tomato-Pineapple Sauce). But, since I'm not a big fan of liver myself, I didn't bring it up. ;)

JS:
This is our favourite genre of recipe, the dump-into-a-pot genre.

I started by sweating some onions in a pot, after which I dumped the pork pieces in, and then added all my other ingredients: garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, peppercorns, cloves, bay leaves and some water. I left it to simmer for about an hour or so.

JS:
Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Almost like an adobo, but not quite -- the sweetness of it (from the onions and the brown sugar) takes it beyond straight-up adobo.

Ah, so good with a bowl of plain, white rice.

JS:
I like to eat paksiw with a touch more acidity, so I drizzled some sinamak (chile-infused vinegar) on mine. The added heat from the chiles are a delicious bonus.

More eatingclub Philippine/Filipino food

Other Lechon Paksiws:
Burnt Lumpia: Leftover Lechon
Market Manila: Paksiw na Lechon
Panlasang Pinoy: Lechon Paksiw

Paksiw information from Wikipedia:

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Philippine_dishes

Recipe
"Starter" Paksiw na Lechon (Philippine Roast Pork simmered in Vinegar)

3 pounds cooked roast pork (lechon)
2 heads garlic 1 onion
1 1/4 cups vinegar (coconut, in this case)
3/4 cups soy sauce
2 cups water
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon black peppercorns, slightly crushed
4 cloves

Break up the cloves of garlic and smash/bruise to peel. Slice or chop the onion.

In a pot, sweat the onions in some oil. Then, add the roast pork/lechon and the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat for an hour or so, or until desired donesness./tenderness.

Serve over white rice.

Pastéli (Greek Sesame Snaps)

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:05:00 +0000

TS:
I wouldn't immediately think of these "sesame snaps" when Greek food is mentioned. In fact, I associate them with Chinese food!

Remember those items I've named "Peanutty Snacks" in Taiwan?

They were showcased in this post: Dan Shui 淡水, Taiwan (including food)

So, I was a little surprised when I saw these items while perusing Culinaria Greece.

It turns out that sesame is grown in the area around Thessaloniki. According to the book, the classic pastéli originated from that area, and is simply made by baking sesame seeds with honey.

TS:
In a surprising eatingclub twist, I actually made a smaller amount than the recipe in the book! ;)

TS:
This is really simple and easy. First, I toasted some sesame seeds on the stovetop. I then started heating equal amounts in weight of honey and sugar. When the honey-sugar mixture caramelized into a nice light golden color, I dumped the toasted seeds in there and mixed.

TS:
I then turned the mixture over onto a Silpat-lined sheet pan.

See! Such a small amount! We didn't have that many sesame seeds in the house is why.

The recipe called for using a well-oiled rolling pin to spread and smooth out the sesame-honey-caramel mixture into a sheet, but I figured that with such a small amount, I can get away with using a spatula. As you can see, my spreading left something to be desired.

The recipe also called for cutting the "snaps" at this stage, but I decided to do it after the snaps had hardened.

rustic-looking pastéli

TS:
Apparently, one can't really cut the snaps well after hardening. So, I simply broke them into pieces. I call it the rustic look. ;)

Perhaps the incredibly small amount of these pastéli had something to do with it, but they were extremely popular and were gone in a jiffy!

Well, I already knew they would be popular, as my mother loves sesame snaps. In fact, since we ran out so quickly, she bought some "sesame crèpes" from the store the very next day. ("Sesame crèpes" are similar, but are slightly chewy and yielding instead of crispy).

However, she was very disappointed to find that the package she bought already had that "stale nut" aroma and flavor. So, she has put in her request for more homemade snaps.

TS:
According to Culinaria Greece, other versions of pastéli now abound, made with other nuts such as almonds, peanuts, walnuts and hazelnuts, and in various combinations of nuts and sesame seeds. I'll definitely do a mixture for my next batch!

There you go, yet another entry to this month's Regional Recipes! (More details about this blog event below.)

eatingclub vancouver Greek
"Greek" Calamari
Simple Greek Meal
Caper Salad
Greek Meatball Soup (Giouvarlakia)
Marinated Feta
Greek Shrimp with Feta
Greek Ribs with Tzatziki
Mushroom Ragu Pastitsio
Spanakorizo (Greek Spinach Rice)
Zucchini Ribbons Salad with Anchovy Dressing
Souvlaki (Pork and Chicken)
Tomato Bread Salad, Greek-style
Grilled Fish Fillet on Oregano
Pastéli (Greek Sesame Snaps)

Recipe
Pastéli (Greek Sesame Snaps)
from Culinaria Greece: Greek Specialties

4 cups/500g sesame seeds
8 level tablespoons/250g honey
1 generous cup/250g sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spread the sesame seeds out on a baking sheet and roast in the oven until golden brown.

Heat the honey and sugar in a saucepan over a medium heat until the mixture caramelizes. Using a sugar thermometer, make sure the temperature of the mixture does not exceed 470 F (250 C). Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the toasted sesame seeds.

Grease a marble slab (or any other cool, smooth surface) with sunflower oil and tip the mixture onto it. Roll out thinly using a greased rolling pin. Cut small bars from the mixture and place on a wire tray to cool.

Wrap the bars individually in plastic wrap. They will keep for a long time in a tightly closed container.

eatingclub vancouver Regional Recipes posts
Greek Meatball Soup (Giouvarlakia)
Simmered Saba Mackerel with Daikon Radish (Saba Oroshi-ni)
Thai Fried Chicken
Roast Pork Belly with Puy Lentils
Beef "Ribbon" Kebab (Pasanda Kabab) with Cilantro Chutney
Canadian Onion Soup with Oka Cheese
Muffuletta
Börek with Beef Filling
Korean Pork Bulgogi (with Muu Namul, Kong Namul)
Lobster Congee from a Lobster Feast
Pork Jowl (Pork Cheeks) with Brown Sugar Rub
Beef Salpicao
Cuban Arroz con Salchichas (Yellow Rice with Vienna Sausages)
Cuban Pastelitos de Guayaba y Queso (Guava and Cheese Pastries)
Vietnamese Spring Roll (Cha Gio)
Grilled Fish Fillet on Oregano
Pastéli (Greek Sesame Snaps)

We're submitting this to Regional Recipes, a blogging event created by Darlene of Blazing Hot Wok that celebrates food from all over the world.

The torch has since been passed to Joanne of Eats Well with Others.

The region for this edition is Greece.

The round-up will be hosted at Regional Recipes and will be posted after July 1. Regional Recipes information

Grilled Fish Fillet on Oregano

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 22:00:00 +0000

JS:
With our recent culinary explorations into regional Chinese cuisine, it seems that other cuisines have fallen by the wayside.

It has been quite some time since we've cooked Greek, for instance, and for shame, for shame, too, because we really love the flavours of Greece.

For our entry into the Greek edition of Regional Recipes, we wanted to keep it quick and easy -- and very simple too. We wanted to have something that's quintessentially Greek.

TS:
In our pathetic garden, our oregano and marjoram plants are lush!

TS:
And remember our sage plant? Well, it has started flowering!

So, since we had so much oregano in the garden, we decided to grill some fish on a bed of oregano.

TS:
We used a grill pan because we were short on time, so waiting for the grill to heat up was not going to work. And, sorry again for using fish fillets! Of course, whole fish is the way to go, but we already had these fish fillets in the fridge and had to use them.

I simply placed several "sprigs" of oregano on the grill plan. When they were smoking, a placed my fish fillets on top.

TS:
I seasoned the fish with salt and the faintest touch of cayenne, as well as some roughly ground toasted fennel seeds.

TS:
As a final touch, I drizzled some extra virgin olive oil on top before serving.

TS:
I decided to use more fresh oregano, as well as sage because the purple flowers were so pretty, as decoration. =)

eatingclub vancouver Greek
"Greek" Calamari
Simple Greek Meal
Caper Salad
Greek Meatball Soup (Giouvarlakia)
Marinated Feta
Greek Shrimp with Feta
Greek Ribs with Tzatziki
Mushroom Ragu Pastitsio
Spanakorizo (Greek Spinach Rice)
Zucchini Ribbons Salad with Anchovy Dressing
Souvlaki (Pork and Chicken)
Tomato Bread Salad, Greek-style
Grilled Fish Fillet on Oregano
Pastéli (Greek Sesame Snaps)

eatingclub vancouver Regional Recipes posts
Greek Meatball Soup (Giouvarlakia)
Simmered Saba Mackerel with Daikon Radish (Saba Oroshi-ni)
Thai Fried Chicken
Roast Pork Belly with Puy Lentils
Beef "Ribbon" Kebab (Pasanda Kabab) with Cilantro Chutney
Canadian Onion Soup with Oka Cheese
Muffuletta
Börek with Beef Filling
Korean Pork Bulgogi (with Muu Namul, Kong Namul)
Lobster Congee from a Lobster Feast
Pork Jowl (Pork Cheeks) with Brown Sugar Rub
Beef Salpicao
Cuban Arroz con Salchichas (Yellow Rice with Vienna Sausages)
Cuban Pastelitos de Guayaba y Queso (Guava and Cheese Pastries)
Vietnamese Spring Roll (Cha Gio)
Grilled Fish Fillet on Oregano
Pastéli (Greek Sesame Snaps)

We're submitting this to Regional Recipes, a blogging event created by Darlene of Blazing Hot Wok that celebrates food from all over the world.

The torch has since been passed to Joanne of Eats Well with Others.

The region for this edition is Greece.

The round-up will be hosted at Regional Recipes and will be posted after July 1. Regional Recipes information

Zha Jiang Mian, aka "Chinese Spaghetti" (炸醬麵)

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:25:00 +0000

JS:
I've heard of zha jiang mian spoken of quite fondly: it is even considered by its eaters as one iconic dish, evoking the same warm, fuzzy feelings that "spaghetti" does for most people.

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zha_jiang_mian

For some reason, the vagaries of our lives never permitted our stomachs and zha jiang mian to cross. I'm racking my brain if I've ever had this dish at home and I'm coming up blank.

No, no, no. . . we didn't have a "Chinese Spaghetti" in our childhoods: we just had the regular ol' spaghetti. Okay, not so regular, because our version is somewhat different from spaghetti bolognese. We had ours with hotdogs -- but hey, that's another story for another day.

When I saw the Jessica's version of zha jiang mian on FoodMayhem, I thought it was time to give this Chinese spaghetti a try.

TS:
Literally translated, zha jiang mian means "fried sauce noodles". In this case, the sauces are composed of various "bean" sauces.

Here are the three we used. If making this dish, my advice would be to copy down the Chinese names (or print them out), as most of the time, all of these products would be vaguely labeled as "bean paste" in English. Very confusing indeed.

甜麵醬, translated this time as "Sweet Bean Paste"

豆瓣酱, translated this time as "Soy Bean Paste"

京都炸醬, translated as "Mandarin Jah-Jan Sauce"

TS:
I happened to find that jar of "Mandarin Jah-Jan Sauce" lying around. And hey, if it says that it is the sauce for Northern-style "Zha Jiang", then I definitely should throw it into the mix!

TS:
This is quite easy to make, even easier and faster than spaghetti sauce.

I cooked some green onions in oil, then added ground pork. After cooking the meat for a bit, the bean sauces and some water go in. Everything cooks for a bit more. I added a touch of sesame oil near the end for extra fragrance.

TS:
We didn't have any Chinese noodles in the house, so we used fettuccine.

This dish is usually served with raw cucumbers, so I made little cucumber curls. . . just for one bowl. For the blog! ;)

TS:
Of course, we didn't bother with the fancy plating for ourselves. We simply tossed the meat sauce with the noodles and served the dish family-style.

(And yes, I know that, once again, that below is a huge amount.)

big pot o' Chinese spaghetti

JS:
This was quite popular with the family.

The meat sauce was hearty, deeply and darkly savoury, but with enough of sweetness to balance it off.

In fact, I think this zha jiang mian was even more popular with some family members than what I have been calling in our house as the Chinese equivalent to ragu bolognese, namely, the Taiwanese Stewed Minced Pork sauce (魯肉飯 or 肉燥飯).

Our recipe for Taiwanese Stewed Minced Pork sauce (魯肉飯 or 肉燥飯)

Me? I'm quite undecided which Chinese "bolognese" I prefer. Following Solomon's infinite wisdom for my end of infinite gluttony, I suppose I would have to split my stomach into two.

Recipe
Zha Jiang Mian, aka "Chinese Spaghetti" (炸醬麵)
adapted from FoodMayhem's version: http://www.foodmayhem.com/2009/11/za-jiang-mein.html

This is quite a large amount, as we used 2 pounds of pasta. Please feel free to halve the recipe.

900 g (2 pounds) fettuccine, or Chinese wheat noodles

2 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 stalks green onion, chopped
3 pounds ground pork
1/2 cup sweet bean sauce/paste (甜麵醬)
1/3 cup soy bean sauce/paste (豆瓣酱)
1/3 cup Mandarin Jah-Jan sauce/paste (京都炸醬)
2/3 to 3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sesame oil

julienned raw cucumbers

Boil water for your noodles. When boiling, add your noodles and cook according to package directions.

For the sauce, heat oil in a pot over medium heat. Cook green onions until soft and fragrant.

Add the ground pork and when it is almost fully cooked through, add the three bean sauces and water. Stir occasionally and let cook, uncovered, until the mixture has thickened. Add sesame oil, and adjust seasoning (salt or sugar), if needed.

Serve over cooked noodles. Or, toss noodles and sauce together. Serve with julienned raw cucumbers, if desired.

Sloppy Joe Sandwich

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:00:00 +0000

JS:
There are certain foods that send me running to the hills just at the thought: unfortunately, the Sloppy Joe is one of them.

Now please don't flame me: this is a personal preference and, as with all personal preferences, yours or mine or Adam's, this does not have anything to do with anything. Some people can't seem to get this simple point.

In the past couple of weeks, we've started getting some hateful and angry comments on this blog -- at what, I have no idea. Some of them were incoherent. Does that mean this little blog of ours is finally growing up? ;)

Anyhoo, I have no love for ground meat that has been cooked with or mixed with ketchup. Don't ask me why or how that is: it is what it is.

CSC's family makes their egg torta with a ground pork filling mixed with ketchup: the thought alone sends shivers down my spine. Our version is such a nice golden one. ;)

I guess all of this just goes to show that I'm the wrong person to be writing the introduction to this Sloppy Joe Sandwich post.

Why did we even make Sloppy Joes? Well, I thought maybe I'd change my mind about Sloppy Joes. . . and our other family members like this whole meat-with-ketchup concept.

TS:
For this American thing, it's only fitting we turn to America's Test Kitchen. Specifically, the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.

Their version called for just onions and ground beef. In hindsight, I should've used a recipe that called for bell peppers as well, as I saw in one episode of Throwdown in Bobby Flay. (The challenger was Schnipper's Quality Kitchen.)

We already disclosed this dirty little Throwdown secret before, so no need for disparaging remarks this time. ;)

It's a good show to turn on when one is feeling sleepy; that way, one doesn't feel like she is missing out if she does fall asleep in the middle of an episode. Teehee.

TS:
To make the filling, I simply cooked some onions and garlic, then added chili powder, ground beef and brown sugar. When the beef was more or less cooked through, I added tomato purée, ketchup and a touch of Tabasco. (I didn't taste any heat, though.) Of course, I seasoned with salt and pepper to taste.

JS:
For the record, I couldn't bring myself to eat one. I did take a spoonful to taste the meat filling. I can taste the appeal but it's really not for me. At this point, it's probably not the flavours that I don't like, because as I said, I can taste the appeal. I just have an adverse gut reaction to it for some reason.

TS:
JS has some sort of mental hurdle she has to overcome herself.

For me, the sloppy joe sandwich was all right. Maybe it was still too ketchup-y. In my head, I had always assumed that the sloppy joe filling would be tomato sauce-based (as opposed to ketchup-based).

So, perhaps that's what I would do next time: more tomato sauce, less ketchup, add bell peppers.

That is, if there is a next time, with JS' aversion and all. But, the 3 kids(Bosses #1-3) loved it! And of course, CSC too, with her ketchup-love and all.

You gotta SQUISH the bun!

TS:
By the way, I liked the loosemeat sandwich better. I made the two sandwiches on the same day!

JS:
Anyways, I'm working myself up to this Sloppy Joe thing. Wish me luck.

Recipe
Sloppy Joes
from America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
Serves 4

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium olive, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon brown sugar
salt and pepper
1 cup tomato purée
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup water
Tabasco
4 hamburger buns

1. Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and chili powder and cook for 1 minute. Add the beef, brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon sat and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, breaking the meat into small pieces, until the meat is no longer pink, about 4 minutes.

2. Stir in the tomato purée, ketchup, and water. Cook until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with Tabasco and salt and pepper to taste. Spoon 1/2 cup of the meat mixture into each hamburger bun.

Gong Bao ("Kung Pao") Chicken (宮保雞丁)

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 21:10:00 +0000

JS:
It's chicken breast time again.

This time, due to the fortuitous event of having peanuts around, we decided to turn to Fuschia Dunlop and go with her version of Gong Bao chicken from Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking.

I started with cutting up the chicken breast pieces.

JS:
When TS saw what I had done, she tsk-ed tsk-ed me and decided to re-do my pieces. She said my pieces were too big! Okay, well, I was just trying to do it as quickly as I could.

I told her to take over then. :)

I'm sure everybody knows about this tactic by now: if you want to get out of doing things, just act incompetent -- and this is the key thing -- admit to the incompetence! Someone will take over for you.

TS:
As per the recipe, I marinated the chicken cubes in a mixture of light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, cornstarch and a touch of water. You know, the usual suspects.

TS:
Sichuan peppercorns (foreground) and dried chiles (background).

TS:
Just a quick prep of the ingredients: ginger, garlic and green onions. I even had to make my green onion pieces the same size as my chicken cubes!

I also mixed the sauce ingredients together: light and dark soy sauces, Chinkiang vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, cornstarch and just a touch of water.

Oh, we pan-roasted some peanuts as well. Mustn't forget the peanuts. Without them, what would the point! ;)

The dish came together very quickly after the initial prep.

Cook the Sichuan pepper and chiles in hot oil, then add marinaded chicken.

Add the ginger, garlic and green onions. Toss, toss, toss.

Add the sauce and roast peanuts, and it's done.

JS:
I think I like my Gong Bao chicken to be a tad more spicy but this has a nice balance of hot, salty, sour. Of course I loved the fried peanuts in this, although I concede that cashews might perhaps add a touch more sweetness to the flavour balance.

TS:
(No to cashews! Peanut-love all the way!)

eatingclub Sichuan/Sichuan-inspired (Szechuan)
Red Chile Oil (紅油)
Sichuan Peppercorn Chili Oil
Spicy Sweet Sichuan Popcorn
Gong Bao ("Kung Pao") Chicken (宮保雞丁)
Eggplant Dandan Mian (擔擔麵)

Recipe
Gong Bao (Kung Pao) Chicken with Peanuts (宮保雞丁)
from Fuchsia Dunlop's Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking

Serves 2 as a main dish with a simple stir-fried vegetable and rice, 4 as part of a Chinese meal with three other dishes

2 boneless chicken breasts, with or without skin (about 2/3 pound total)
3 cloves of garlic and an equivalent amount of ginger
5 scallions, white parts only
2 tablespoons peanut oil
a generous handful of dried red chiles (at least 20), preferably Sichuanese
1 teaspoon whole Sichuan pepper
2/3 cup roasted unsalted peanuts

For the marinade
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine or medium-dry sherry
1 1/2 teaspoons potato flour or 2 1/4 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon water

For the sauce
3 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon potato flour or 1 1/8 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
3 teaspoons Chinkiang vinegar or black Chinese vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon chicken stock or water

1. Cut the chicken as evenly as possible into 1/2-inch strips and then cut those into small cubes. Place in a small bowl and mix in the marinade ingredients.

2. Peel and thinly slice the garlic and ginger, and chop the scallions into chunks as long as their diameter (to match the chicken cubes). Snip the chiles in half or into 2-inch sections. Wearing rubber gloves, discard as many seeds as possible.

3. Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl -- if you dip your finger in, you can taste the sweet-sour base of the gong bao flavor.

4. Season the wok, then add 2 tablespoons of oil and heat over a high flame. When the oil is hot but not yet smoking, add the chiles and Sichuan pepper and stir-fry briefly until they are crisp and the oil is spicy and fragrant. Take care not to burn the spices (you can remove the wok from the heat if necessary to prevent overheating).

5. Quickly add the chicken and fry over a high flame, stirring constantly. As soon as the chicken cubes have separated, add the ginger, garlic, and scallions and continue to stir-fry for a few minutes until they are fragrant and the meat is cooked through (test one of the larger pieces to make sure).

6. Give the sauce a stir and add it to the wok, continuing to stir and toss. As soon as the sauce has become thick and shiny, add the peanuts, stir them in, and serve.

Stewed Eggplant Penne

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 01:15:00 +0000

JS:
A simple pasta dish for lazy days.

I start with some diced onions, garlic, and tomatoes, then add in chunks of eggplants, leave them to stew for a bit until the tomatoes and eggplants have broken down and form a kind of chunky sauce.

Add some cooked penne (which in this case was white penne, because, sorry, I just can't get past non-al dente whole wheat pasta), mix everything up, throw in some fresh basil and mint, grate some Parmigiano-Reggiano on top if you like -- and voilà!

As I said, a simple pasta dish for lazy days.

Recipe
Stewed Eggplant Penne

1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp red pepper flakes
4 Chinese eggplants, cut into chunks (you can use the equivalent number of large globe eggplants)
6-8 tomatoes, cut into chunks

1 lb penne
fresh basil
fresh mint

grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Heat 4 tbsp of olive oil and red pepper flakes in a pot. Add diced onions and sweat until fragrant. Add garlic cloves.

Add tomatoes and eggplants and stew until soft. Check for seasoning.

In a separate pot, boil water for pasta. Cook pasta as per package instructions or until al dente. Drain.

Combine pasta with eggplant sauce. Add fresh basil and mint.

Grate parmiggiano reggiano on top and enjoy.

Brown Rice Bibimbap (Korean Rice Bowl)

noreply@blogger.com (TS of eatingclub vancouver) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:13:00 +0000

clockwise from top: daikon, spinach, mushrooms, cabbage, carrots, zucchini
center: fried egg, gochujang and sesame seeds
not visible: brown rice

JS:
About three or so months ago, TS and I decided to embark on a fitness journey, resolving to exercise more and eat healthier.

While we have no problems following the exercise regimen -- well, okay, okay, mumbles and grumbles are an everyday occurence at a certain time of the day, but it is doable -- eating the food prescribed by these fitness plans is another matter.

TS:
We did try, making things such as souvlaki with lean pork and chicken, or a quinoa lentil apple salad.

JS:
Less than a week into the prescribed eating plans, we were already bucking under the pressure, defying the meal plans with potato chip binges, can't-fit-into-your-mouth Mexican Torta Sandwiches, as well as several pork belly dishes (here and here), including a deliciously decadent
Gua Bao 刮包 ("Taiwanese Burger", or Pork Belly Buns) of our own.

TS:
Don't forget the Korean Fried Chicken and chili hotdogs! =D

JS:
We try (or is it "tried") to eat healthier, cooking up a batch of brown rice sometimes instead of white.

But really, come on, I don't understand how one fitness maven can tell me that whole wheat pasta tastes no different than white. "Don't even tell your family it's whole wheat pasta in your spaghetti: they won't know!"

Well. Seems to me that it's wishful thinking to think that there's no difference, or that people can't taste the difference, especially between white rice and brown rice.

TS:
I actually like brown rice! But, it's not a substitute for white.

JS:
Simply put, a lot of food tastes better on white rice than brown. There's no denying it.

Sometimes, one can fudge it, as is the case with this brown rice bibimbap.

TS:
Unfortunately, we don't own any of those Korean stone bowls, so ours is just regular bibimbap as opposed to dolsot bibimbap.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibimbap

We were too lazy to cook up beef or some such thing, so we used all vegetables in our version.

But first, the gochujang (Korean red pepper paste).

TS:
There it is. Just buy one from the supermarket and you're good to go.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gochujang

Making the dish is simply a matter of cooking your different components/vegetables separately on the stove, seasoning with garlic, salt and sesame oil, and sometimes a touch of soy sauce.

I used various combinations of the above seasonings when cooking my vegetables.

TS:
I have there tons of zucchini, carrots and daikon, some cabbage, and leftover spinach and mushrooms.

TS:
Brown rice in the bottom (cooked using a rice cooker), then the vegetables in neat little piles.

I was too lazy too fiddle around with eggshells (separating the egg yolk from the white), so I simply fried a whole egg and placed that on top.

TS:
Of course, one mustn't forget the gochujang paste. I sprinkled a bit of sesame seeds on top as well.

To eat, mix, mix mix!

JS:
It seems like we've found an application for brown rice where it's allowed to shine as itself, not as a substitute for its whiter sibling.

That's the key it seems to incorporating brown rice into our diet. Don't tell me there's no difference between brown and white because there is -- tell me to embrace the difference, as in "Vive le difference!"

JS:
In this bibimbap, the slightly grassy, very nutty flavours of brown rice complement the seasoned vegetables perfectly. The gochujang paste ties everything together.

I loved the toothy brown rice, the slightly tender, still-crunchy vegetables, and the soft ooze of the egg yolk in every bite. I'm getting hungry.

TS:
Love. Love. Love.

JS:
Now, if I eat the more than two servings of this bibimbap, does that still qualify as healthy? ;)

For a more detailed guide to making bibimbap:
Tasty Meals at Home: Tasty Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap

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