Happy Chinese Lunar/Dragon Year!
Supposedly this year is good for people with Chinese zodiac signs of rooster, monkey, sheep, and pig. Are you one of them? If you can't find your sign on the list, don't be sad, at least we still got some good food here to brighten up the day!
Shredded swordfish with sunny side up egg, served over steamed white rice -
Ingredients (for 1)?
1 piece of swordfish steak
1 egg
2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
1 tablespoon of mirin
1 teaspoon of sake (or any Asian cooking wine)
1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger
Some steamed white rice
Some toasted sesame seeds
Some dried seaweed flakes
Some chili oil
Some olive oil
How?
Mix the grated ginger, light soy sauce, sake, and mirin together -
Pour over the fish and let it marinate for at least 6 hours in the fridge,
Remember to flip over the fish half way through so the marinade can get absorbed by both sides -
Prepare the rice,
As for the fish, remove from fridge for about 10 minutes,
Steam it for 10 to 12 minutes depending on the thickness,
Transfer the marinade to a small pot,
Turn on the heat and reduce till slightly sticky in texture.
Once the fish is done, remove from heat and let it sit for about 5 minutes,
Use a fork to shred the fish to make it flaky.
Drizzle just a little bit of olive oil in a pan and turn to high heat,
Once hot, add in one egg and cook till the egg white is not runny anymore but the yolk remains gooey in texture.
Let's assemble the plate.
Scoop some steamed white rice,
Sprinkle the fish flakes around the edges, pour the egg to the center,
Sprinkle some sesame seeds and dried seaweed flakes on the swordfish,
Drizzle some reduced sauce and chili oil all over -
Look at that egg, especially the yolk balances out the spiciness from the chili oil,
Just one bite -
Mmmmm,
Who cares about dragon, monkey, sheep, or whatever,
As long as we get healthy and delicious food every day, it's all good.
Cindy's Rating: 8
"Indulgence"
That's right, I just wanna indulge myself with a very satisfying lunch today.
Spaghetti with creamy fava bean sauce and rosemary infused grilled shrimps -
Ingredients (2 to 3 portion)?
For the shrimps/marinade -
1 dozen shrimps
1 small sprig of rosemary
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper
For the fava bean sauce -
1 cup of fava beans
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
2 roasted garlic cloves
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper
Others -
2 to 3 portions of spaghetti
1 ripe tomato
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some Tabasco sauce - optional
1 small sprig of rosemary - garnish
How?
Peel and devein/butterfly the shrimps,
Take the needle shaped rosemary leaves and chop into tiny pieces,
Mix well with the shrimps,
Sprinkle some salt and pepper,
Also drizzle some olive oil just till the mixture can evenly coast the seafood,
Let it marinate in the fridge for at least few hours, I left it overnight -
Bring a big pot of water to a boil,
Add in a few pinches of salt to flavor the water,
Pour in the spaghetti and cook till al dente in texture,
Drain well and set aside for later use,
Remember to save some pasta water in case you need to dilute the creamy sauce later on.
To make the creamy fava bean sauce,
Bring a small pot of water to a boil, add about 1/2 teaspoon of salt,
Add in the fava beans and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or till softened,
Once done, drain well and transfer into a blender.
Peel 2 garlic cloves and roast them in the oven,
You can simply sear them with a pan instead to save some work,
Once done, transfer to the blender.
Add 1 cup of heavy whipping cream to the blender along with some salt and pepper to taste,
Blend till smooth, taste the mixture to see if more salt is needed,
It should be slightly on the salty side because the fava bean sauce will be our main seasoning for the spaghetti.
For the tomato, you can simply chop it into smaller cubes,
If a smoother bite is preferred,
Score the bottom and cook the whole tomato in boiling water for a little bit,
Quickly remove from water and transfer to a bowl full of icy cold water,
That way the skin can be removed easily -
Cut into smaller cubes,
Set aside for later use.
Use a grill pan to cook the shrimps,
About couple minutes on both sides, pan-sear the shrimps works also -
Drizzle some olive oil to a pan, turn to medium heat,
Pour in cooked pasta and the creamy fava bean sauce,
Mix well, it's up to you to add in seared shrimps or serve them separately,
If the mixture appears to dry, you can either add in some previously saved pasta water or more olive oil to dilute the sauce.
To assemble the plate,
Transfer the pasta onto the plate,
Place the shrimps around the spaghetti,
Scoop in some tomato cubes, this will freshen up the heavy creamy taste from the sauce,
Sprinkle some black pepper and drizzle some Tabasco sauce around the plate,
Finally, garnish with a fresh sprig of rosemary on top -
I think it's totally reasonable to treat myself a nice meal once a while,
Mmm...let me change my wording a bit, maybe few times a week muahahha!
Cindy's Rating: 8
Learn about "karasumi" here - click click!
High quality karasumi comes with hefty price tag,
The one I used above is only mediocre, you can tell by its color, especially after roasting. Very good ones will show vibrant orange color in the center after roasted till 50% doneness, and that's how you're supposed to enjoy it - not fully cooked through. The one above was too dry, which explains the dark and dull appearance.
So what to do with leftover karasumi? I've also got some leftover stir fry veggies with soy sauce in the fridge, maybe fried rice will do?
Ingredients (2 to 3 portion)?
1 1/2 cups of white rice
1/2 cup of multigrain rice
1 small pack of karasumi
1 cup of leftover veggie
2 garlic cloves
2 fresh chili pepper
2 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper
Some dried seaweed flakes
Some toasted black and white sesame seeds
How?
I used white rice and multigrain rice mixture for this recipe to add more nutritional value and a distinct nutty aroma, otherwise simply white rice is fine too.
Peel and finely chop the garlic,
Remove the chili stems and finely chop it,
As for the karasumi, cut into tiny pieces. Be careful, some tiny eggs might start flying everywhere, please proceed with caution.
Drizzle some olive oil in the pan, add in chopped garlic, chili pepper, salt, and pepper,
Easy on the salt since karasumi tends to be quite salty.
Turn to medium low heat and cook till the garlicky aroma comes out, about 1 minute,
The tip here is to use lower heat so you get to bring out the flavor without burning the garlic.
Add the karasumi bits, give it a quick stir,
Add in leftover vegetable, mine has some green veggies, corn, and sliced onion,
Bring up the heat a wee bit,
Mix well, let it cook for about 2 minutes.
Pour in cooked rice, make sure every grain is coated with all other ingredients,
Serve with some dried seaweed flakes and toasted black and white sesame seeds.
Since this wasn't top quality karasumi, I think it's a pretty good way to utilize the salty roe in fried rice. Better than putting it into waste yep?
Cindy's Rating: 7
Ground pork, braised belly, stewed knuckle,
That's all I've been eating these past few days, a true enemy of the piggy race.
Overwhelmed by all the meat and fatty skin, oh, not mentioning the thick layer of oil in between the tissues, now I'm yelling for mushrooms!!
Stir fry mushrooms with mentaiko, butter, and Japanese mayo -
Ingredients?
Small bundle of cinnamon cap mushroom/tea tree mushroom
Small bundle of enoki mushroom
1 to 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 tablespoon of Japanese mayonnaise
1 small sac of mentaiko
Tiny bit of sea salt
Some dried seaweed flakes
How?
Remove the mentaiko roe from the thin tissue layer -
Remove the stems from the mushrooms,
Thoroughly rinse under water, pat dry, and set aside for later use.
Add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of mayo to the pan,
Use 2 tablespoons of butter for larger portion of mushrooms,
Turn to medium high heat,
Add in the mushrooms and sprinkle some salt to bring out the moisture,
Cook till the mushrooms softened, about 2 minutes,
You might want to lower the heat a bit to prevent continuous boiling.
Mix in the mentaiko, combined well and cook for another 30 seconds,
Remove from heat and transfer onto a plate,
Sprinkle some dried seaweed flakes all over.
You can bake it instead of stir fry,
Just mix the butter, mayo, salt, and mentako together with preferred mushrooms,
I think about 400 degress Fahrenheits for 15 minutes should do the trick.
After devouring this plate of mushrooms,
I think it's time to get back on more pork goodies!
Cindy's Rating: 7
