Char Sui and Char Sui Bao

Our Daring Cooks’ December 2011 hostess is Sara from Belly Rumbles! Sara chose awesome Char Sui Bao as our challenge, where we made the buns, Char Sui, and filling from scratch – delicious! And I'm only a week late telling you about it.

Sara performed exhaustive research: testing marinades, grilling, searing and baking and baking char sui and then making several variations on buns: baked, steamed and vegetarian. You can see all of her work here. I used her alternative marinade without red food colouring or maltose and made the I-don't-want-to-go-to-the-store substitution of Sherry for Shaoxing Cooking Wine. As Sara said grilling gave the best result, I had my Dad work his magic on the pork with a result so beautiful that I was almost sad to dice it to create the filling for the buns.

The hardest part was figuring out how to steam buns without a bamboo steamer. Ultimately, I used a vegetable steamer insert in a large stock pot removing the lid as quickly as possible when steaming finished and drying it before replacing it over the next batch. This minimized condensation droplets hitting the buns and prevented unsightly blemishes. It also made me feel a bit like a magician!

This challenge took some time, but was surprisingly easy and my buns tasted just like the cheap, tasty, steamed buns I used to purchase in NYC's Chinatown. I highly recommend it; the recipes I used are below the photos and Sara's other variations can be found at the above link.

Hiyashi Soba and Tempura

First things first... Happy Valentine's Day! It may be manufactured holiday but I still enjoy it. There is nothing wrong with a reminder to say thank you and send "pink hearts" to those you love. Thank you to my friends, family and anyone who stumbles across this posts and reads it for your time and support. <3

The February 2011 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by Lisa of Blueberry Girl. She challenged Daring Cooks to make Hiyashi Soba and Tempura. She has various sources for her challenge including japanesefood.about.com, pinkbites.com, and itsybitsyfoodies.com. You can find her detailed notes on preparing the challenge foods and the provided recipes here.

Hiyashi Soba is a popular Japanese noodle salad that is served only during the summer. It is a flexible recipe - you can eat soba noodles just with dipping sauce and call it a day or serve up lots of veggies on the side to mix with the noodles and sauce. While I have made soba noodle dishes before, this was my first cold recipe and it was a pleasant change of pace that will be revisited.

I served the soba noodles with julienned cucumber, shitake mushroom slices (zapped for 30 seconds in the microwave), grated daikon and the spicy dipping sauce from the recipe Lisa provided. I especially loved the sauce's zingy flavor with the lightness of the cucumbers on the soba. As she says and, as I've learned the hard way, the most important thing with soba noodles is making sure they don't overcook and become a gelatinous clump. The big plate is snow pea shoots and mustard greens sauteed with sesame and veggie oil and some ginger. I found them a bit bitter so I'm not going to elaborate.

Instead of using the provided tempora recipe, I used the one listed on the back of my panko bread crumbs. The resulting tempora had a nice, crunchy breading that I was surprised to enjoy as I'm not a big fan of fried food, outside of corn dogs and funnel cakes. I preferred the sweet potato and broccoli to the squash and the decorative Sriracha was a fun way to spice up these bits. I don't think I will make tempora again as I find the cost of oil for deep frying somewhat prohibitive but at least I no longer feel the need to shun it. Thanks for a fun challenge, Lisa!

Panko Tempura

Vegetable Oil
1 package Panko Breadcrumbs (you won't use them all)
2 Tbsp Flour
1 Egg
2 Tbsp Water
Pinch Salt
1 yellow squash, cut into 1/3" slices
1 small sweet potato, cut into 1/3" slices
1 cup broccoli florets, separated into small bunches if necessary

1. Heat oil in a large pan to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. You should have 2 inches of oil present.
2. Place a wire rack on a baking sheet with a sheet of newspaper on top. Cover the newspaper with paper towels. 
2. Place panko breadcrumbs on a plate. Place 2 tablespoons of flour on a separate plate. Mix the egg with a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons of water in a bowl.
3. Evenly coat each vegetable slice lightly with flour. Dip into egg mixture. Then dredge in the panko breadcrumbs.
4. Cook the breaded vegetables 4-5 at a time for about 2 minutes each until golden and crispy. Flip once or twice as they cook to get more even coloration.
5. Remove to the wire rack to let the oil drain. A long handled wire skimmer works well for this process as it lets excess oil drain off. It also is good for fishing out extra breading between batches.

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Experiments with Nut Butter

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online. This was a unique and affordable challenge - two traits I always appreciate. Thank you Margie and Natashya for hostessing.

The required challenge specifically was to use nut butter in a savory preparation and the optional challenge was to use it in a sweet preparation. Having skipped all last month's challenges and moved relatively close to the amazing Sahadi's I decided to go all out and do something savory and something sweet.

Per their extensive research  "making nut butter is a simple process of pouring nuts in the food processor and grinding them until they become a paste or butter.The total time required depends on the fat and moisture content of the nuts; grinding time will vary from roughly 1 to 4 minutes (assuming a starting volume of 1 to 2 cups nuts). The yield of nut butter is about half the original volume of nuts." 

These instructions are probably true if you have a full size, high powered food processor but in my mini-prep processor getting to the Play-Doh stage was an act of sheer will that took much longer than 1 to 5 minutes. My cashew butter and pistachio butter both were halted at this stage as the machine was overheating. The results still were tasty but until I have a high powered processing device I plan to continue buying my nut butter rather than making it. 

I made a variation on the provided Asian Noodle Salad with Cashew Dressing recipe for my savory dish. I halved the amount of cashew dressing (I want to eat the rest of the cashew dough by itself!), skipped the red bell pepper, substituted soba noodles and added a bag of broccoli slaw from Trader Joe's and 3/4 cup of julienned carrots. The resulting salad was rich and was incredibly filling.

I loved the crunch of all the veggies in contrast to the soba noodles and shrimp's smoothness but the highlight is the thick dressing with its creamy, sharp flavor. Between it and the onions this is definitely a dish you'll want to brush your teeth after eating! That said I'm sure I'll make it again. It will be a quick meal to put together with pre-prepared nut butter. This recipe and the full challenge instructions can be found here.

My dessert was Pistachio Oatmeal Lace Cookie Towers with Honey Macerated Cherries. I alternated Katy at Sugarlaw's Oatmeal Lace Cookies and a Pistachio Nut Cream (made by mixing greek yogurt and the pistachio butter to taste) to create the towers and served cherries macerated in buckwheat honey on top and to the side. Katy's cookies are nutty, chewy, crispy and are the real star of the dessert. They are delicious on their own but the unsweetened filling is a pleasant contrast to the quite sweet cookies.

My only substitution to her recipe was using dark corn syrup as I had it on hand. Be sure to use parchment paper so they don't stick to the pan and watch the time as they brown quickly. Don't assemble this in advance the cookies disintegrate losing their pleasant contrast to an otherwise soft dessert. I'd be happy to eat this again too. Yum.

It looks similar to kiwi sorbet!

Gorgeous!

Mochi

I had two not-so-successful cooking ventures this weekend. Friday, I tried to poach an egg without paying enough attention. That foamy stuff on the pan? Apparently that is what happens to egg whites when you boil them. Oops. It was definitely cooked through - edible but not what I was going for at all.


Sunday I set about making mochi using this recipe that Vika sent me. Making the mochi itself was easy. I just had to mix together the three or four ingredients, cover, and microwave for 10 minutes. The hard part was handling it. If it gets cold or personally cool enough to touch, you aren't going to have any luck shaping it. It is mercilessly sticky. It is hard to flatten and several times once I managed to get it flat, I added the red bean paste (totally got a can of it instead of making it from scratch!) and shaped it only to have it break.

After the strawberry and halfway through the chocolate I had decided that it is totally worth the cost to buy mochi. As usual, I persevered and made the plain kind next. Somehow it seemed easier. Maybe maying mochi takes practice? It took roughly three hours for the results below. But hey, I had homeade neopolitan mochi that was very popular at the Potluck Club's Pan-Asian night.

Spicy Soba Noodles with Shitakes and Cabbage

I have been cooking and eating out. I just haven't felt inspired to write about it after work; I want to relax whenever I do get home. Everything is marked for writing a back entry. One day, perhaps, I will get to it. Our first snow was last night. It is finally here, the dreaded winter, but that does mean I can eat oatmeal and soup all the time!

Yesterday, for the first time in weeks, I made it to Union Square Greenmarket. I loooooove it, even when my fingers go numb from the cold air as I pick my vegetables. It has been a busy, social weekend. I also ended up not having to work today, which is divine.

Anyway, I bought everything to make Spicy Soba Noodles with Shitakes and Cabbage. The recipe is fairly simple and would have been quick, if I wasn't so OCD when chopping. I used Chinese Garlic-Chili paste as I wasn't in Korea-town. It turned out really well! I am looking forward to eating this all week and will definitely make it again. I will probably add a bit more chili paste next time. For amazing pictures and the recipe click the link above. Otherwise, as always, my picture is below.


One note... Shitake mushrooms do not last. If you make this plan to eat it within a day or two or bad things happen. :(

Jap Chae

I just attempted to make Jap Chae at home using this recipe. I was so excited to make the attempt as I adore having Jap Chae when I go out.

It wasn't exactly like the Jap Chae I've had at Mondoo Bar or Bonjoo, but it was pretty close for a home version and surprisingly easy. I think my excessive use of carrot shreds caused the dish to be more orange than usual. Come to think of it, maybe that explains the difference in flavor. That and the noodles, I went ALL OVER trying to find glass noodles. Where do restaurants get them?!

Anyway, given Shitake mushrooms short lifespan, I would pare down the recipe if you are cooking and consuming solo. Somehow I never remember that is an option. Sigh.

Simple Stir Fry, Plantains, & Beets

I learned a valuable lesson about going to the Green Market yesterday. I should be careful not to overbuy with our not-so-full-sized fridge. Luckily, only one of my two roommates is in town and the other one doesn't cook, so everything fits barely.

Today I was determined to cook the beets I purchased, paint my toenails, and do my laundry. I have accomplished everything! While the beets boiled, I cooked the plantains I accidentally purchased yesterday. I planned to throw them away, but Mom had a better idea, as usual.

She suggested that I slowly cook them in butter and sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar. I was hesitant to try cooking plantains as I thought you deep frying was necessary for them to taste good, but apparently that isn't the case. (Deep frying food kind of scares me as it just can't be healthy. Of course, sugar isn't healthy either and I'm not phased by that. Oh, how I love sugar!) Anyway, they turned out really well! Now with patience, I can make myself a sweet treat that on several occasions I have gone out of my way to order at restaurants.

Once the beets were drained and cool enough, I trimmed and peeled them prior to cutting. They turned out to have this great striped appearance, which I doubt you can see in this picture. Keeping things simple I just crumbled some goat cheese on top...a lazy version of a fancy salad I enjoy. After my unfortunately experience with a large, delicious beet salad's after effects last weekend, I am attributing any pink tinges to the beets NOT possible G.I. problems.

In spite of my belly full of plantains, I knew I needed a real dinner too, so I used sesame oil, garlic, and minced ginger to sauté some chicken, snow peas, summer squash, and zucchini to go with the beet salad. If this looks like a small portion of food for dinner just consider that I can't cook without snacking as I go (and by snacking I mean eating). It explains a lot.