Feb 17, 2010

Spinach and Shirasu (Small Fish)...How Should I Call This Dish??

I don't know if it's because I'm still suffering from my flu or what,
I was literally staring at my laptop for minutes trying to figure out a name for this dish,
Stew vegetables? Nah that doesn't sound right,
How about spinach and shirasu soup? It's not really a soup dish either...
Hmmmm maybe you can tell me afterwards!

 
Ingredients?

1 bundle of spinach (removed some of the tough stems for better texture)
1 small box of shirasu (about 1/3 cup)
3 garlic cloves (peeled, finely chopped)
4 chicken soup ice cubes (dashi works too)
1 tablespoon of corn starch
Olive oil
Some hot water
Some salt

How?

I usually get the corn starch thing ready first,
Just have a small bowl filled with corn starch, add some water,
This is for thickening the food later, just set aside first.

Meanwhile, have a pan ready,
Drizzle some olive oil, toss in chopped garlic, sprinkle some salt, and turn to high heat.

Before the garlic gets burned, toss in the spinach,
Give it a quick stir, cook till the leaves got wilted down,
Add the shirasu and chicken soup ice cubes.

**For the chicken soup ice cubes,
I usually make a gigantic pot of chicken soup and freeze some for later use,
It comes in handy, trust me, and it is way healthier than store-bought soup.
Just filter out the ingredients from the soup and pour into ice cube molds,
After the ice cubes are done, simply pop them out and store in a sealed container or Ziploc bag.
You can do the same for homemade spaghetti sauce!

Back to the recipe, I also add some hot water into the mixture,
Just till the water is a little bit over the ingredients,
Give it a quick taste, see if more salt are needed,
It really depends on how salty your chicken soup or dashi is, trust your own palate!
Bring to a boil then turn to medium high heat.

Now for the corn starch and water mixture, stir them well till no more lumps in the water,
Pour into the pan as you continue to stir the whole mixture,
This prevents large lumps forming, you don't want a blob of translucent jello there,
Voila, this simply and healthy dish is done!

So tell me, how about I name this recipe?
It's not a stew meal, and it's definitely too solid for soup,
My head starts hurting here...

By the way,
I'm thinking about launching a Chinese blog that'll be based in Taiwan,
Will keep you updated about the site!

Cindy's Rating: 8

4 comments:

  1. Ooh, haven't seen this combo before. How about this name (inspiration from restaurants): Spinach and Shirasu in Chicken Broth? Or "Supreme" Broth if you want to be fancy :).

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  2. To Eat Travel Eat~
    Mmm nice name! I was thinking so hard then I finally came up with something like: stir fry spinach and shirasu, finished with chicken broth and corn starch (such a longggg name!)

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  3. The name of the dish sounds very appropriate.

    Cool, you are starting a Chinese blog - I can't write very well but I do know how to read...errr...but in Taiwan, I thought they use non-simplified Mandarin characters...that will make it hard to read for me :O ...good luck on your launch!

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  4. To Tigerfish~
    Thank you so much! I'm still working on the site, basically it'll be the same as the english one I guess! Sneak peek here:
    http://www.wretch.cc/blog/cindylo326

    ReplyDelete