All of the soups I’ve had at restaurants use cornstarch as a thickener. While I don’t mind it, I didn’t want a big pot of gloppy soup so I omitted corn starch. It’s up to you!

I would recommend cooking pork on the frying pan, then deglazing the pan for extra flavor. Sorry to say that I actually ended up omitting a few ingredients that I didn’t have on hand (bamboo shoots, pork, white pepper).

I got this recipe from Kevin at Closet Cooking. Kevin makes delicious recipes with gorgeous photos and makes them all look so easy! I especially love that makes kimchi. Check out his blog for inspiration!

Chinese style hot and sour soup
Adapted from Closet Cooking

Makes 4 small servings

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken stock
6 dried tree ear mushrooms
6 dried black mushrooms
8 dried lily buds
1/2 cup of bamboo shoots
4 ounces of pork loin
4 tablespoons of light soy sauce
3 tablespoons of rice vinegar
2 tablespoons of Chinese black vinegar
2 tablespoons of water
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
1 tablespoon of chili sauce (to taste)
2 teaspoons of chili oil (to taste)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of black pepper (ground)
1 teaspoon of white pepper (ground)
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 package tofu (cut into small pieces)
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
4 green onions (sliced)

Directions:

1. Soak the tree ear and black mushrooms in boiling water until softened, about 20 minutes, and shred them.

2. Soak the lily buds in warm water until softened, about 20 minutes, and shred them.

3. Cover the bamboo shoots in water, bring to a boil, drain and shred.

4. Mix the vinegars, soy sauce, salt and sugar in a bowl.

5. Mix the cornstarch into the water in a bowl.

6. Heat oil in a large pan.

7. Add the pork, tree ear and black mushrooms, lily buds and bamboo shoots and saute for a minute. Add a cup of broth to the pan and deglaze.

8. In a large pot, add the broth and tofu and bring to a boil.

9. Add the vinegar mixture and the cornstarch(optional) and stir until it thickens.

10. Pour the eggs into the soup in a thin stream while stirring the soup.

11. Stir in the peppers, oils and chili sauce.

12. Serve garnished with green onions.

One time, I spent an hour boiling tomatoes and then slaving over the sauce. I ended up with a sauce that was so full of liquid that you could have poured it into a cup to drink. I tried adding flour to make it thicker (until it congealed in the fridge and grossed me out). Then the next time, I added cornstarch, which turned out even worse!!

I made a couple of changes to see if I can fare better this time. And luckily, I did. Instead of using a stainless steel pot, I used to a thick anodized saucepan, thanks to a generous gift from a friend (thanks R!). I also tried using canned tomatoes this time, mainly because I didn’t want to waste good tomatoes again like last time.

Speaking of tomatoes, there is a shortage of tomatoes due to bad weather in Florida. Fresh tomato prices are on the rise so a lot of restaurants are starting to feel the pinch. Chicken wing prices have also gone up but for some reason, it doesn’t make me as sad.

Recipe: Basic marinara sauce

Ingredients:

12.8 oz. can of stewed tomatoes
1 sweet onion, diced
2 tablespoons of fresh basil, chiffonade
1 tablespoon of dried oregano
3 cloves of garlic, minced
A sprinkle of red pepper flakes
Freshly grated cheese

Procedure:

1. In a saucepan, saute garlic over medium flame with a little bit of oil.

2. Add red pepper flakes, oregano, and tomatoes. Cook until onions are transluscent, about 5 minutes.

3. Add tomatoes.  Bring to a boil. Lowet heat and cover. Simmer until tomatoes can be easily crushed with a fork.

4. Cook sauce until sauce thickens, about 15 more minutes.

5. Serve over pasta.

If you have a good basic marinanra recipe, feel free to share them in the comments. I’d really like to know!

I recall going into a Thai restaurant with my friend S about 5 years ago. Like any other smart New Yorker, she looked up a Thai place in Manhattan. We ordered Pad Thai there and I distinctly remember being disgusted at our noodles! We both swear that the major ingredient was ketchup. Major fail!

Interestingly, when I asked her if she remembered the name of the place, she said it was Topaz. I was so surprised because they have such good noodle dishes now! I never would have imagined that a place could turn themselves around like that. It’s a good lesson in not banning a restaurant forever based on one experience.

This was such a fun learning experience, as I discovered a new ingredient: tamarind. I bought a block of it and made it into a paste, though you can buy it in powder form as well. It was quite easy to do- just add 4 cups of boiling water, then let it cool to room temperature. Then mix it in a large bowl to loosen the tough parts, then run the liquid through a colander. You will have a paste in the end, that resembles ketchup. You can save the rest for next time.

Recipe: Shrimp Pad Thai
Makes 3 generous servings

Ingredients:

8 oz. of dry rice stick noodles
1 cup of mung bean sprouts
1/2 pound of fresh shrimp, peeled and de-veined
1/2 bunch of Chinese chives, sliced into strips
3 stalks of scallions, sliced into strips
1/4 cup of ground peanuts
3 tablespoons of tamarind paste
2 long red peppers, sliced into strips
3 teaspoons of palm sugar
2 teaspoons of fish sauce
2 teaspoons of paprika
2 large eggs
3 cloves of minced garlic
1 finely chopped shallot
1 lime
Wok (preferred, but I don’t have one and it was fine)

 Procedure:

1. Place noodles in a bowl large enough to submerge the noodles completely. Place in lukewarm water for at least 45 minutes.

2. Make the sauce by combining tamarind, fish sauce, palm sugar and paprika in a small pot over a low flame. Taste and adjust seasonings, depending on your preferences. (I added about 1/2 cup of water). Turn off heat and set aside.

3. Heat up a wok (or pan) on really high heat with some oil. Saute garlic and shallots together. Add chives, red pepper and scallions.

4. Add noodles to the pan. Stir in sauce.

5. Add shrimp until cooked through. Add half of bean sprouts (optional).

6. Create a well on the side and add eggs. Add ground peanuts. Mix together gently.

7. Remove from heat. Serve with a lime wedge and more bean sprouts.

Notes:

Noodles: I only soaked mine for 15 minutes due to fear of mushy noodles and that was a bad idea since I ended up having to cook it in the pan for an additional 20 minutes, causing my other ingredients to dry out.

Space: Make sure you have enough room in your pan for everything. Mine was overcrowded and hard to get everything to cook evenly.

Chives: Recently, I learned that Chinese chives are an essential ingredient in a traditional Pad Thai dish. The chives got really rough and gross after being in the pan for a while. I prefer not to use it again.

Please take a moment to update your readers with my new RSS link!

If you don’t use one already, it’s a great way to read a bunch of different websites from one page, and get updates as they come. Google has a reader for free and it’s easy to use. Click here for details.

Thank you!

“I’m buying these because I hate them,” I said, as I bagged up a pound of Brussels sprouts at Wegman’s (aka best grocery store ever but not in NYC). “Not sure what I’m going to do with them but wish me luck!”

I’m not sure why I never had a taste for this small, cabbage-like vegetable. But I never liked them.

Not too long ago, while dining at Recette with Robyn, and there were 5 Brussels sprouts on my plate. I could only stomach 2 of them before giving the rest to her, since there is no point in wasting food.

So what made me give Brussels sprouts another chance?

I’m a firm believer in revisiting food that I didn’t like before. I’m not going to lie and tell you that after making this, that Brussels sprouts are all I want to eat from this point on for the rest of my life. However, I enjoyed the complex flavors and would be open to trying them again.

This recipe was brought to my attention by this post from Cooking of Joy, who used David Chang’s recipe. So Joy was inspired by David Chang, who inspired me by her inspiration. Would you look at that? So much inspiration all around!

Recipe: Roasted Brussels sprouts
Adapted from David Chang’s recipe, posted on Epicurious

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved lengthwise
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons of Asian fish sauce (preferably Tiparos brand)
2 tablespoons of sugar
1.5 tablespoons of canola oil 
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro stems
2 teaspoons of finely chopped mint (I used 1 teaspoon of mint extract)
1/2 of  garlic clove, minced

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in upper third.

2. Toss Brussels sprouts with oil, then arrange, cut sides down, in a 17- by 12-inch shallow baking pan. Roast, without turning, until outer leaves are tender and very dark brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Add butter and toss to coat.

3. Stir together all dressing ingredients until sugar has dissolved over very low heat.

4. Remove from oven. Put Brussels sprouts in a serving bowl, then toss with just enough dressing to coat.

It tasted good! I enjoyed the saltiness from the fish sauce, mixed with sweetness from the sugar, well as as hints of refreshing mint and cilantro buried beneath it all.

What is one vegetable that you don’t like? Maybe you can give it another shot! For example, I used to hate beets until I learned that you can roast them in the oven for an hour to produce the most sweetest vegetable I’ve ever tasted. Now you will hear me go on and on and on about how I’m a recent convert, especially when roasted beets are paired with goat cheese and walnuts (drool).

This dish contains ginger, some fresh herbs that I had frozen from my CSA share, along with a hint of sesame oil. I found imitation crab legs in my freezer, so I threw them in there for color and protein. And if you did not know that topping off any dish with a well-cooked white and a slightly undercooked yolk equals a happenin’ party in your mouth – well, now you know. Looking at this picture makes me want to make this again tonight!

Recipe: Sesame ginger soba noodles
Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

2 single sized servings of soba noodles
4 sticks of imitation crab meat, cut in half
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2.5 teaspoons of sesame oil
7-8 pieces of fresh cilantro, chopped
7-8 pieces of fresh basil, chopped
Small knob of ginger, minced
Sprinkle of seasalt
Sprinkle of sesame seeds (for garnish)

Procedure:

1. Chop and prep all vegetables.

2. In a pan, saute ginger with olive oil over medium heat, until fragrant, about one minute. Add herbs, crab legs. Season with salt.

3. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add soba noodles. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat. Drain water. Toss noodles with sesame oil.

4. Fry 2 eggs over medium easy (or to your preference).

5. Toss all ingredients together. Top with egg and sesame seeds.

I made this delicious meal on the spot using some Thai basil, along with steamed Yu Choy vegetables as a side dish. I didn’t even realize how green my meal was until I took a photo. As we often eat with our eyes, it was not as aesthetically pleasing to look at, though it tasted really good.

Instead of a non-green colored produce for garnish, all I could find was a lonely walnut. So there it is. Maybe my meal would be more appropriate for St. Patrick’s Day? In any case, this would definitely fall under the category of “delicious weeknight meal in under 20 minutes.” (If you make the pesto in advance, even quicker!)

Recipe: Simple pesto pasta
Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

4 oz. of boxed pasta (linguine)
1 cup of fresh basil (I used Thai basil)
1/2 cup of walnuts
5 tablespoons of olive oil
1 heaping tablespoon of wild sesame seeds
4 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
Pinch of salt

Procedure:

1. Bring 3 cups of generously salted water to a boil.

2. In a food processor(let’s pretend I have one), puree basil, walnuts, sesame seeds, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and salt.

3. Add pasta to water. Cook for 4-5 minutes for al dente.

4. In a pan over low heat, cook the garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, for about 2 minutes, just long enough to bring out garlic flavors. Add pesto mixture and stir around. Turn off heat.

5. Drain pasta. Add pasta to a big bowl and toss with pesto sauce using tongs.

I recently came across this interesting article in the Huffington Post called Why My Food Is Always Gonna Look Better Than Yours. The author, Denise Vivaldo, states that her food pictures look so good that they “make vegans crave meat and forget about their animal friends.” Sounds great, right?

But if try to eat her food, “you will die of food poisoning.”

She points out that a lot of inedible ingredients are used to get the photos to look just right. After all, her goal is to get people to go out and buy the food she photographed! Fortunately for me, there is no shoe polish or glue in my kitchen, and I’m glad that I can eat the food afterwards!

This recipe is super delicious and easy to make. I love that the onions transformed from its raw, pungent state (gross) to forkfuls of sweet, buttery goodness in each bite. I threw in a handful of Thai basil while grilling the onions, which brought the flavors together amazingly well.

My sister, who hates onions, actually wanted to eat more! But too bad for her, I had already finished it by then (muhaha).

Recipe: Curry crusted salmon with grilled onions
Makes 2 small servings (or enough for 1 hungry person)

Ingredients:

1 pound of salmon steak (or fillet)
1 large red onion, cut into thin slices
2 tablespoons of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of curry powder
5 leaves of Thai basil, whole
2 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 slice of lemon
Fresh cracked pepper and sea salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of salmon. (I went a little overboard here, so salt sparingly).

2. Spread flour on a plate large enough for the salmon. Coat both sides of fish. Then sprinkle curry powder on each side.

3. On a screaming hot pan over high heat coated with olive oil, cook salmon. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove from pan and cover with foil.

4. In the same pan you just used for the fish, cook garlic, onions, and Thai basil over high heat for 2 minutes. Lower heat to medium and cook for about 10 minutes, until translucent and fragrant.

5. Plate onions over salmon and serve.

Continuing with my Thai meal from my last post, I’m going share a recipe for chicken satay with peanut dipping sauce. K did a great job putting the skewers on and grilling the chicken while I was running around making the entree . It made me happy that everyone seemed to enjoy the meal!

A while back, long before I started blogging, my friend J gave me this cookbook called Kao’s Thai Cuisine for my birthday. It contains some really easy to follow and delicious recipes. I finally got to use a recipe from the book. Thanks again, J!

As I mentioned previously, this was also the first time I cooked with fresh lemongrass. It resembles a thicker version of scallions, but just bigger. The flavor is a mix between the citrus acidity of lemon and the oniony taste of shallots. Amazing! I definitely would love to explore cooking with  lemongrass some more. What are your favorite uses for lemongrass?

Recipe: Thai style chicken satay skewers
From Kao’s Thai Cuisine cookbook

Ingredients:

1 pound of boneless chicken (or beef)
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 stalk of fresh lemongrass
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon of seeded and finely chopped red chile peppers
1 tablespoon of curry powder
1 teaspoon of sugar or honey
1/2 teaspoon of fish sauce
15 skewers

Procedure:

1. Cut chicken into 2 inch strips.

2. In a food processor, combine oil, lemongrass, garlic, red chile peppers, curry powder, sugar and fish sauce. Blend until smooth.

3. Pour over chicken and marinate for at least 2 hours.

4. Thread chicken onto skewers and grill. Serve with dipping sauce.

Recipe: Peanut butter dipping sauce
From Kao’s Thai Cuisine cookbook

Ingredients:

1 cup of chunky peanut butter
1 cup of coconut milk
1/2 cup of milk (any kind)
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
3 tablespoons of dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons of tamarind paste
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
1 tablespoon of chopped lemongrass
1/2 teaspoon of curry powder
1/2 teaspoon of ground dried chile peppers
1 2 inch cinnamon stick
3 bay leaves
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced

Procedure:

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat and saute garlic, onion, chile peppers, kaffir lime leaves, curry powder and lemongrass for 2-3 minutes.

2. Stir in coconut milk, milk, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, tamarind paste, fish sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice and peanut butter. Mix well.

3. Reduce heat and cook, stirring frequently until sauce thickens, about 30 minutes. (Be very careful sauce does not stick to bottom of pan).

And now, you can make yourself a complete Thai meal – chicken satay, green papaya salad, for appetizers and green curry, red curry, or pad see ew for the entree. Making it at home is not only healthier, but much cheaper too. So, dear readers – what are you waiting for?

Last time I made green curry, I added too many bamboo shoots, causing the curry to be extra sour (gross). This time, I got rid of bamboo shoots altogether and focused on slow cooking a flavorful curry. I achieved this goal by slow cooking the curry for about 3 hours total. The end result was a thick, hearty, harmoniously flavored curry that I am super excited to share about!

I made this dish, along with some chicken satay and green papaya salad for a Thai themed meal for some friends. It was also my first time using fresh lemongrass. (More on chicken satay and lemongrass later.)

I refrained from making my own curry paste from scratch, just to make life easier! Just the other day, I read on Bittman’s site that he uses the canned version too.

Recipe: Red curry with prawns and Japanese eggplant
Makes 3-4 servings

Ingredients:

2 (13.5 oz) cans of coconut milk
3/4 pound of fresh prawns (peeled and deveined)
4 Japanese eggplant, diced (will use 2 at a time)
1 cup of Thai basil (half chiffonade, half whole)
8 tablespoons of fish sauce
1 (4 oz) can of MAESRI brand red curry paste
2 tablespoons of sugar
5 Kaffir lime leaves
1 stalk of lemongrass (cut in half, horizontally)
3 whole pieces of deseeded Jalapenos (optional)

Procedure:

1. In a large pot, saute half of the Japanese eggplants in oil (peanut oil, if possible) over high heat.

2. Once the eggplant pieces have crisped on the outside, add red curry paste. Cook on over medium heat for about 2 minutes. This step is very important, as it will awake the curry’s flavors.

3. Stir in kaffir lime leaves, along with chiffonade basil.

4. Add coconut milk, sugar, and fish sauce. Add lemongrass.

5. Lower heat to the lowest possible setting. Cover and let simmer for two hours (at least).

6. Bring curry to room temperature and refrigerate overnight. The curry should have thickened.

7. Add curry back to the pan. Add the remaining half of eggplant, as well as whole leaves of basil.

8. Cook on low heat for another 45 minutes. Add prawns last and cook for 10 minutes.