jueves, 31 de octubre de 2013

Better "Instant" Ramen

Just because Ramen comes in packets doesn't mean it can't also be made delicious. Rather than use the seasoning packet (which has like tons of salt and animal goodies) in my "miso" ramen packets, I used actual miso and dried shiitake mushrooms for the broth. Cooking the noodles on low heat also lets the flavors seep in a bit better. Finally, some avocado to top, I know it sounds strange, but trust me it is delicious! This is just one idea as how to spruce up seemingly "plain" ramen, plus it's much faster than making the noodles from scratch ha ha.



Makes one or two servings

Ingredients:

Cooking oil, about 2 tablespoons
Garlic, 3 cloves, diced up finely
Onion, 1 small, sliced thinly
Chile peppers, deseeded, about 3
Cumin seeds, small sprinkle
Dried mushrooms (like shiitake), small handful
Miso paste, 1 to 2 teaspoons
Fueru wakame (dried seaweed), cut up into small bits, half a handful
Instant Ramen, 1 packet
Avocado, 1/2 (optional) to top
Black pepper, a sprinkle
Sesame seeds, a sprinkle

Place the oil, garlic, onion, chile peppers, and the cumin seeds in a medium pot. Turn the heat to medium and cook until the onions are soft but the garlic isn't browned. Add 1 cup of water.

With the heat still on add the dried mushrooms, the miso paste, and the wakame. Add enough water so it's enough to boil the noodles.

Once the mixture comes to a boil, add the instant ramen noodles. Allow the noodles to get soft, and then swish around with chopsticks or a spoon. Once the noodles are less crunchy, turn the heat down and cover the pot. Let this boil for about 5 minutes.

Pour all that goodness into a bowl, top with sliced avocado. Sprinkle pepper and sesame seeds to taste, and enjoy the wonderfulness!

sábado, 19 de octubre de 2013

Enchiladas rojas

Red enchiladas, what a wonderful delight. This is my basic recipe, everybody usually has their own, but this is one I now rely on constantly. Obviously, this might not be a recipe that's too good to try and make in Japan as the chiles are pretty much impossible to get... If you find this sauce is too spicy, just take out some of the chile de arbol and add more chile rojo. Also, use the same pot for all these steps without washing it out after each, to reserve every ounce of flavor. There's really no "right" way to make an enchilada sauce, so feel free to mix it up and get creative. Without further ado, some saucy spicy goodness:



Makes about 2.5 cups of sauce, enough to lightly sauce about 20 enchiladas, or 13~15 nicely sauced enchiladas.

Ingredients:

Onion, 1 medium, diced
Garlic, 4 cloves, chopped
Cooking oil
Dried herbs: Oregano, parsley, basil, cilantro; pinch of each
Black pepper, a few dashes

Dried chiles (all deseeded):



Chile rojo, about 7 medium, seeded (top of picture)
Chile de arbol, about 7 to 10, seeded; less if you don't want too spicy (bottom left of picture)
Chipotle (optional), 2 to 4, adds a subtle smoky flavor (bottom right of picture)

Flour, I use whole wheat but any is okay, about 1 tablespoon
Salt, a few dashes
Shredded cheese, preferably muenster, or any sort of white cheese
CORN tortillas, 10, 15, or 20 depending on sauce amount preference

In a medium pot, heat about 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Once hot, toss in half of the chopped onion (reserve the other half for the cheese later), the garlic, the dried herbs, and the black pepper. Fry on low heat until the onions and garlic become nice and toasty. Place this mixture in the blender, scraping everything out of the pot, but don't wash the pot.

Rinse the deseeded dried chiles to take off the tiny bits of dirt they usually have. You don't have to scrub too hard or anything, just be sure to rinse them off well. Be careful though, if you rinse or scrub too hard, the chiles will lose most of their flavor. Put the rinsed chiles in the same pot you fried the onion in.

Pour about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water in the pot. The chiles shouldn't be fully covered in water, just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan well. Turn up the heat. Once the water boils, turn the heat down and let the chiles boil simmer for about 5 minutes. They are ready when the chiles are soft. Basically, when you take the lid off and your house starts to smell like chile and you cough, they are ready ha ha ha.

Add the now soft chiles into the blender with the onions and garlic. Pour the water from the pot in as well. Blend. If the mixture is too thick, add small amounts of water and keep blending until the mixture is relatively smooth, but not watery. Blend for about 1 minute, until there are no more chunks.

In the same pot, heat up about 2 tablespoons of oil. Once it's hot, sprinkle the flour across the oil. Let this fry for about a minute or two, it'll become bubbly, but be sure not to burn. You can stir if needed. This flour will help the sauce bond better.

Once the flour and oil are toasty, add the sauce from the blender and stir. Lower the heat, and continue to stir. Watch it like a hawk, because the sauce will splatter everywhere as it heats if you don't stir it constantly. If the sauce still seems way too thick, add a bit of water to the blender, blend to get the left over bits of sauce out, and pour this into the pot.

Quick note: The sauce I make tends to be way thicker than anything that comes from a can, so don't try to make this recipe the consistency of that watery sauce you get in those cans, it'll just taste all wrong... In other words, a thick sauce is okay.

Keep stirring the mixture and add the salt, a few dashes should do. Let the sauce boil and cook as you continue to stir constantly for about 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off and set aside.

Assembly line time! First, mix the rest of the chopped onion with the shredded cheese. Now it's time to stack and cheese these beauties. This process is easier with more people, but you can also do it alone if need be.

Heat up the tortillas, either on the open flame of your stove, or on a comal or non-stick pan. When the tortilla is still hot, grab the edge of it with two fingers and dip one side into the sauce until most of it is covered, then flip it to the other side to cover the other side in sauce. Place on plate, sprinkle cheese. Be careful with the heat, I suppose if it's too difficult to do this with your hands, you could use a fork (but I've found that becomes way messier than just using your hands).

Repeat this dipping, sprinkling, and stacking process until you have the amount of tortillas desired on a plate. On the last tortilla, pour a spoon of sauce over the top and spread around to cover any non covered bits of tortillas, then add the final sprinkle of cheese.

A side of guacamole, beans, and rice go wonderfully with this dish. You can also plop sour cream on them if they are too spicy to tone them down a bit while still keeping them delicious. Enjoy the hell out of these enchiladas!

martes, 8 de octubre de 2013

Cooking with Love

No recipe in this post, except maybe a recipe for inspiration. I read an article/post on the NY times website and felt particularly inspired to delve into why I love cooking so much. When I cook, as you know, I rarely use any measurements. My family and experiences have taught me that, for me, measuring spoons and cups make recipes quite constrictive and can hinder my creativity.

Cooking for me is more than simply throwing ingredients together to feed oneself. It's an artform, a creative expression that I take very seriously, and one that I use to meditate, connect and reaffirm my roots as well as explore the wide world that is out there.

I use cooking much like I use language. It expresses who I am, my hopes and dreams. Every recipe made is a constant reminder that nothing lasts, but it is the intensity of the moment and the memories surrounding it that make all the difference. I like to keep my ingredients simple and readily available to as many people as possible. I like for my cooking to tell stories, to engage the senses and create experiences we can't get any other way.

I'm no gold star chef or anything, and as I grow, so does my cooking. I am in a constant state of learning and improving. As I explore the world, I connect through cooking. I gravitate towards open air markets and food shops. I browse everything, ask how things are used, create entire conversations and interactions around food, and then add my own twists to the dishes I make. I love the hustle and bustle around ingredients that we all need to nourish ourselves, that we all need to survive.

The article made me realize that I especially love to cook for others. It's not about trying to impress people, if that were the case, I'd probably use more salt in my cooking ha ha. For me, it's about allowing people to taste a part of me, to experience food in a similar fashion as me, to bring us closer together using more than just words, and to build deeper spiritual connections.

I hope that when people eat my dishes, they tie memories to them. I hope that I can be something like that grandma in the article I read. I hope that people can taste not only the time, effort, and detail I put into my cooking, but also the immense amount of love and patience that are key ingredients as well. In one of my favorite movies called "Como agua para chocolate," someone asks the main character how she makes her mole. Her response is, you have to make it with lots of love. It really is that simple.

And so as my love for others grows, adapts, matures, accepts, tries new things, goes with the flow, and essentially lives life to the fullest, so does my cooking. Never forget to put love into all of your creations, it's an essential ingredient no recipe can function well without.

Here's the link to the short article I read:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/02/dining/from-a-tortilla-the-feeling-of-a-warm-embrace.html?ref=dining&_r=1&

lunes, 7 de octubre de 2013

Pumpkin and Potato Cocunut Red Curry

I've always liked curry sauces and spices, and it's only been within the past year or so that I decided to make all my own curries and try my hand at these wonderful concoctions. I'm glad I did. This recipe is similar to the Green Curry I posted previously, but I made it differently in some key respects. Feel free to try my methods as well as others to develop your own special way of cooking, and to adjust for the flavors you like. One key difference in my cooking I think is the lack of super salty flavor. I've found that was the issue I had with most restaurant's otherwise amazing dishes. But since I make a ton of my own sauces and stuff now, overly salty flavors are not an issue for me anymore. Again, the lack of salt is my own personal preference, so if you like salt, I suggest you add a bit to any of the recipes you try on this blog ha ha. As always, use whatever veggies are in season and don't ever forget to visit your local Farmer's market. Nowadays, I rarely ever create recipes and cook with produce that is not in season. Fresh is key for me, and in season veggies taste loads different, not to mention the mass amounts of nutrients they contain. Also, you don't need the exact spices I've listed here except maybe the curry powder and garam masala, so feel free to use what you have readily available. Without further ado, hope you enjoy trying your hand at this smooth and tasty red curry.



Makes a medium sized pot's worth

Ingredients:

Step 1:

Fresh red peppers, cleaned and seeded, about a large handful's worth (less for less spicy)
Garlic, 5 cloves, chopped up liberally (will get blended anyway)
Ginger, chopped liberally, about 2 tablespoons worth
Red pepper powder(고춧가루), 1 to 2 teaspoons worth
Curry powder, 1 to 2 teaspoons worth (is a mix of ground coriander, turmeric, and cumin)
Garam masala, 1 teaspoon or less
Cumin seeds, 1/4 teaspoon
Whole anise seeds, 1/4 teaspoon
Cinnamon, a few sprinkles
Ground cloves, a few sprinkles
Dried herbs such as: oregano, cilantro, basil, parsley, a few sprinkles of each
Oil, for cooking (I prefer olive), 3 to 4 tablespoons

Further ingredients:

Coconut milk, 1 eight ounce can
Fresh green peppers, seeded and diced liberally, about a small handful
Onion, 2 small or 1 big, sliced into thin strips
1 medium to small pumpkin squash, skin cut off (or not), cut in cubes
Potatoes, unpeeled but washed thoroughly, 3 small or 2 medium, cut into cubes
Bay/Laurel leaves, 3 leaves

In the medium pot where the batch of curry will be made, place all the ingredients listed under step one, including the oil. Then turn on the heat to medium. Using a wooden spoon, mix the ingredients constantly as everything cooks making sure nothing sticks to the pan and that nothing burns. Cook like this for about 5 to 7 minutes or until everything is quite fragrant and the red chiles have a nice toast to them. Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let sit for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, shake the can of coconut milk, rinse the top, and then pour the coconut milk into a blender. Add the contents of the pot and blend until everything is smooth and there are no more chunks of anything, about 20 seconds or so. Don't rinse the pot used to cook the red chiles.

In the same pot, place the green peppers and the sliced onion. Add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of cooking oil and fry for a bit over medium heat. Be sure to move everything around constantly so the leftover spices don't burn onto the pan, lower the heat if necessary. Keep cooking until the onions are braised or are no longer too hard.

Add the curry sauce from the blender to the pot and stir. Then add the cubed pumpkin squash, the potatoes, and the laurel/bay leaves. Stir everything. You may need to add a bit more water, use the now empty coconut can to do so to get all the extra bits of coconut milk you may have missed. Add enough liquid to cover the pumpkin and potatoes and stir.

Cook covered over medium heat until the mixture boils. Be watchful of it as it can boil over very quickly and leave you with a big mess if not careful. Simply uncover and stir a bit if it looks like it's about to boil over. Once boiling, turn the heat to the lowest setting and allow everything to cook slowly. You may also want to pop the lid just a tad bit to avoid any over-boil spill. The curry is ready when the potatoes and pumpkin are nice and soft, probably about 15 to 20 minutes of low boiling. Happy eats!

jueves, 3 de octubre de 2013

Baba Ghanoush

Eggplants have been everywhere. I was getting sick of dicing them up and putting them into only curries or stir fries. Then I remembered the ever so delicious baba ghanoush, and low and behold, I realized that all the ingredients I needed I could get here. The roasted walnuts added a nice crunch and flavor. I love this dish, and although it's a bit time consuming, if done right, you will not be disappointed. The eggplant is supposed to be blended, but I like the bigger chunks so I used a fork to smash what I could and then cut up the other large pieces with a knife. Also, if you cannot find a paper bag to sweat the eggplant in, you can just put them in a clean plastic bag instead. Ideally, the eggplant should be baked or roasted for long periods of time, but the paper bag trick was something I read on the grand internet and seems to have worked just as well. That said, this dish is the stuff of my dreams, so delicious!



Makes about 3 to 4 nice sized servings [or 1 serving if you are really hungry like I was]

Ingredients:

Eggplant, 3 medium, or 2 large, cut in half lengthwise
Oil for cooking, like olive oil
Garlic, about 4 or 5 cloves, diced up
Cumin seeds, a small pinch
Onion, 1/2 of a medium one, diced up
Walnuts, about 1/4 cup's worth, chopped up finely
Lemon, 1/2 or 1 small lime
ねりごま(練り胡麻) sesame paste, which you can usually find next to the sesame seeds at your grocery store, or tahini paste (which is basically the same thing), about 1 to 2 tablespoons worth

Spices and dried herbs to taste, such as:
Curry powder, I used 1/2 teaspoon
Black pepper
Oregano
Basil

Sesame seeds, for garnish, about 1/2 teaspoon

Using a knife, poke a few wholes on the purple skin of each eggplant slice.

In a large fry pan, heat up some olive oil. Add the eggplant skin side up and let it fry. Be careful not to burn it too much, or to allow the eggplant to stick to the pan. Cover the pan to let the eggplant steam itself while frying it.

Flip the eggplant over to the skin side and again be sure not to let it stick to the pan. You want the eggplant to cook enough to where the inside is super moist and rather mushy. Remove from the heat and place all the eggplant in a paper bag and close. Let sit for 20 minutes or so to let the skin become soft.

Meanwhile, heat some more oil in the pan. Add the cumin seeds and the garlic. Fry this over medium heat for a bit, right before the garlic begins to toast. Then add the onions and allow the garlic to becomes a bit brown and crispy, but not burnt.

Remove the garlic and onions and any excess oil from the pan and put aside.

In the same fry pan, add the walnuts and turn the heat up to medium. Use a wooden spoon to constantly move the walnuts around. The walnuts will go from seemingly fresh to burnt VERY quickly, so watch them carefully and move them constantly. When a nice toast begins to develop, lower the heat and let them roast a bit while continuing to move them around with a wooden spoon or spatula. Be sure not to burn them, you want them roasted and fragrant, not burnt.

After letting the eggplant sit in the bag for 20 minutes, use a spoon to scoop out the insides of each eggplant slice into a large bowl. Once all the insides are scooped out, use a fork to smash it all up. If the insides are not mushy enough to mash up with a fork, simply cut up all the inside scooped out stuff on a cutting board using a knife (that's what I did). Cut it into very small pieces.

Add the desired spices to the bowl with the eggplant and mix. Add the lemon juice and the sesame paste to the bowl and mix. Add the onion and garlic mixture you had set aside, mix. Finally, add the roasted walnuts and mix everything well.

Place the mixture in a serving dish and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. You can use the baba ghanoush to spread on stuff, with chips, or just eat it plain while still hot. It tastes great cold too, so it's something you can add to a bento if you'd like. Now you've found something delicious to make with all that eggplant currently in season. Happy nom nom!

Note: don't throw the eggplant skins away, eat them! They are delicious. What I did was in a tortilla (or I guess you could use naan or pita if available) I placed the skins, topped them with the baba ghanoush, the guacamole, the Pico de gallo, and some leftover beans I had to make a makeshift taco. In other words, you can restuff the skins with the baba ghanoush for some more wonderful eggplant flavor.

Pico de gallo

As mentioned before, nice little spicy peppers are in season here. They're being sold by the bagloads and so I'm finding many ways to make these delicious beauties part of my everyday meals. Pico de gallo is something I really enjoy and love to just slop on just about everything. It's a pretty simple salsa, and the flavors come from the freshness of the ingredients. Instead of the traditional jalapeños I'm used to using, I used the tiny little peppers I've been buying. They are quite a pain in the ass to cut and seed, but they are quite spicy and delicious, so well worth it in the end. If your hands are extremely sensitive to the chile burn, I suggest wearing gloves, or at least being very careful to touch the inside of the chiles as little as possible. I added some fried diced garlic I had left over as well, yum! I made mine in the jar I would be keeping it in for ease, but you could just as easily put everything in a bowl, mix, and then jar it.



Makes about 1/2 cup of salsa, so adjust portions accordingly for larger batches

Ingredients:

Tomato, 1 small
Onion, 1/2 of a large one, diced up.
Fried garlic, diced and fried in oil, about 1/2 tablespoon [optional]
Chile peppers, seeded and diced, about 3 tablespoons worth, more or less depending on your spice preference
Lemon, 1/2 or a small lime, squeeze the juice out into the jar
Black pepper, to taste, mine was about 1 teaspoon
Salt, very small dash (my preference)
Fresh cilantro if available [I didn't put in this batch because I cannot find, I don't like putting parsley in Pico de gallo, but I guess you could as a substitute)

Basically, add all the ingredients to a jar, cover, then shake it up until everything is integrated well and you have your salsa. What I did was add each ingredient to the jar as I finished chopping it up. When I was done, I added the lemon juice, the pepper, and a tiny amount of salt and shook. Easy, fast, delicious :)

Serve with tortilla chips (ha ha ha, as if I'd find that on this island), a more realistic idea is just with some sort of crispy potato chip. Or you could mix it into rice, etc. I get creative with my salsas because of the lack of tortilla chips here.

Note: a restaurant I used to frequent back in the U.S. would add diced strawberries or pineapple to their Pico de gallo. I've done it before, and trust me, it was delicious! So if you want to see if you like the taste, by all means, branch out and expand those taste buds!

Good Old Guacamole

Guacamole. Fantastic for just about everything. Most people have their own recipe, but the ingredients are basic. So feel free to adapt as you like. I usually make guacamole with fresh jalapeños, but since those are very hard to come by here, I use the fresh variety of peppers that are currently in season and I can get at my farmer's coop thingy. Because you know, I love fresh spicy food. I made a bit of a twist and added some diced garlic that I fried up as well.



Makes about 10 or so servings if used as dip

Ingredients:

Garlic, 4 or 5 cloves, diced into small pieces
Oil for cooking, about a tablespoon (I use olive)
Avocadoes, 3 medium and ripe
Spices and dried herbs, such as pepper, dash of salt, oregano, basil
Tomato, 1/2 of a large one, or 1 small tomato
Onion, 1/2 of a small one, diced
Fresh spicy peppers, seeded and diced up, to taste [optional I suppose]
Lemon or lime, 1/2 of a lemon or 1 lime
Fresh herbs, if you're lucky enough to find some in Japan... [not included in my batch, but so desired :( ]

In a fry pan, heat the oil a bit. Add the garlic and fry it up until the garlic becomes crispy and fragrant, but not burnt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, scoop out all the avocado. Use a knife to cut it up a bit inside the bowl. Using a fork (or a masher if you have one), mash up the avocado until it becomes a smooth mixture.

Add the pepper, salt, and any other spices and dried herbs you like.

Add the tomato, and mix everything well. Add the onion, mix well. Pour the garlic and the remaining small amount of oil from the pan into the mix as well. Add the peppers, mix, then squeeze the lemon and add the juice, mix. Add fresh herbs [if any], mix well.

Enjoy! You can put this stuff on sandwiches, eat it with rice, chips, snacks, etc.