Pomodori Ripieni di Riso / Italian Rice Stuffed Tomatoes

Have you ever heard of a super simple recipe using one whole tomato with rice cooker? Basically you just cook the rice using rice cooker as usual, but with an extra big tomato. Once done, break the softened tomatoes into the rice.

That recipe got quite popular in Asia back then, and that's how I can be double sure that tomato with rice makes a delicious combo. Which leads me to this Italian recipe, also tomato and rice, but with more actual or common cooking steps involved. Thanks to my previous understanding about tomato and rice, I know this Italian rice stuffed tomatoes would be a killer too.

Pomodori Ripieni di Riso / Italian Rice Stuffed Tomatoes -

Ingredients?

• 4 big or 5 medium tomatoes
• 4 fistful basmati rice
• 1 big potato
• 1 garlic clove
• Small bundle basil
• Small bundle parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• Some olive oil
• Some salt

How?

Use big tomatoes if possible, I can only find medium ones so I used five instead of four. Slice-off the top of the tomatoes, but not too thin because we're going to use them like a cap or a lid later.

Scoop out the inside, but not the pulp. I actually save most of the pulp and juice in a separate bowl and plan to utilize that in other dishes. Nothing goes to waste.

Roughly chop the inside meaty part and transfer to a mixing bowl. To that, also add 4 fistful of basmati rice. Usually it would be one fistful of rice for one big tomato, just remember that rice will puff up a little more during the cooking process.

Peel and finely chop one garlic clove, add that to the mixture. Also add 1 tablespoon of chopped basil, 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Give it a quick mix and rest for 30 minutes to one hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/180 degrees Celsius. Peel and slice the potato to wedges. Toss with 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon of dried rosemary, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Before stuffing the tomatoes, make sure to pour out any remaining liquid inside. Usually more juice will accumulate on the bottom as time goes by.

Scoop the rice mixture to the tomatoes. You can gently pressed down the stuffing but don't overdo it, otherwise the tomato will break after baking. Lay these stuffed tomatoes in a baking dish and cover with the "lid." 

Scatter seasoned potato wedges around these tomatoes. Sprinkle a little bit more salt all over, also drizzle some more olive oil on top. Into the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. You'll know it's ready when the lid part appears slightly charred.

Remove from the oven and garnish with some chopped parsley, basil, or both. Serve right away.

It's been confirmed once again, tomato and rice truly makes a delicious combo. Adding potato wedges throughout was a great idea too because they get to absorb the tomato juice leaking to the bottom, creating a fluffy yet also moist texture in the end.

Almost forgot, the juice saved earlier when scoop out the inside for the tomatoes, you can add that to stew, soup, or even substitute with some part of water when making the simple steamed rice.

One other "stuffed" recipe:

• Shiso and cheese stuffed tofu in Japanese seasonings

Less Oil Fried Cream Cheese Wontons

As much as I love fried food, making it at home can be quite a challenge. How so? First it's the smell and aftermath cleaning, then there's tremendous amount of oil involved. 

So to remedy the hard work after frying anything at home, I've decided to use half the amount of oil this time with deeper pot instead. But it only works for frying food that are thinner or flatter shaped. If I'm going to fry big meatballs or thicker cut of chicken, using less oil might not give you the best texture in the end.

Less oil fried cream cheese wontons - 

Ingredients (about 10 big or 20 medium small ones)?

• 10 big or 20 medium small wonton wrappers
• 200g cream cheese
• 1 string scallion
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• Some preferred frying oil
• Some powdered sugar (optional)

How?

Destem and chop the scallion. We only need one string here, not the entire stalk. The scallion is used for final decoration and a tiny bit aroma pop. Line a big plate with paper towel.

Have a medium bowl ready and mix in softened cream cheese. Also add in white section of the chopped scallion, 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, and 1/4 teaspoon of onion powder. Mix till evenly blended.

Have a wonton wrapping station ready. I like to have a small bowl of drinkable water, some paper towel standing by, and a plate for wontons.

Scoop the cream cheese filling to the center of wonton wrapper. About 1 tablespoon for big wonton wrapper, use smaller amount for small wrapper. Wet the edge of all four sides with drinkable water then fold and seal to triangular shaped wonton.

Repeat till all the cream cheese filling is gone. It's better to have leftover wonton wrappers than cream cheese filling. If only a few wrappers left, perhaps cut them into strips and fry in oil in the end. You'll have something crunchy for salad later on. Or just dust with powdered sugar and enjoy as a simple snack.

Once all the wontons are ready, pour in some oil to the pot and switch to medium to medium high heat. Only need to pour enough oil till about half inch high.

Wait till the temperature rises. You can test it out by dipping the edge of the wonton and see if it starts to sizzle. If so, the oil is ready and go ahead to transfer the wontons over.

Don't overcrowd the pot, make sure all the wontons have enough room without overlapping one another. Fry in batches if needed.

Once the bottom appears golden brown, flip to the other side and fry till golden brown again. Remove to the plate lined with paper towel. The paper towel will help absorbing excess oil.

When ready to serve, transfer the wontons to the serving plate and dust some powered sugar on top. Garnish with chopped scallion greens. 

Some prefer to serve the cream cheese wontons with sweet chili sauce. That works too, but I personally like the powered sugar for a gentle sweetness boost. It's like a slightly sweet yet savory snack in the end.

If somehow you can't finish all the fried wontons and you had to store them in the fridge, I would suggest simply eat the leftover without reheating the wontons. The wrappers actually stay crunchy even after storing in the fridge, no need to risk loosing that bite trying to bring up the temperature again. 

A very important end note, even though we already use less oil and deeper pot to fry the wontons, the occasional hot oil splashing might still occur. One way to prevent that is to really make sure no water drips into the hot oil.

Also when frying the wontons, some might start to puff up in the center. When that happens, don't move the wonton or don't even attempt to flip it because any extra movement might cause the wonton to break. And when wonton breaks, the fillings will be in direct contact with hot oil, that's when the serious oil splashing happens.

I had like a couple of wontons broke during the process, and all I can say is that I'm glad I use deeper pot to do the job. The tall side at least blocked half of the hot oil from landing on me.

Extended reading:

• Seared corn and seaweed fritters
• Salted seaweed flavored Chinese yam fries

Chinese Wood Ear Mushroom Salad / Cold Dressed Wood Ear

It's hard to translate Chinese dishes to English sometimes. So I was Googling the often used English name for this common Chinese cold dish, and "Chinese wood ear mushroom salad" was the one that popped out all the time.

Perhaps to westerners calling such dish salad makes sense? I was actually kind of in shock, because a "salad" to me should be something with more ingredients. At least not the simple looking wood ear dish I have here. Then I searched further, Din Tai Fung uses "cold dressed wood ear mushrooms," which sounds much more reasonable in my head. Unfortunately if I Google it using Din Tai Fung's version, basically nothing came up.

I guess for easy-searching purpose, I'll still have to put the title Chinese wood ear mushroom salad up there for now.

Chinese wood ear mushroom salad / cold dressed wood ear - 

Ingredients?

• 2 handful fresh wood ear
• 1 tablespoon goji berries
• 1 red chili
• Some cilantro
• Some young ginger
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce paste
• 1 tablespoon black vinegar
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

How?

Use small fresh wood ear if you can find it, it's called 雲耳 in Chinese. I used the dried version from China's Heilongjiang province instead. Just soak them in lukewarm water and the wood ear will puff up soon after.

Remember to rinse the wood ear a few times before the actual cooking process.

Fill a small pot with some water and add two slices of young ginger. Bring to a boil then add in wood ear. Bring to a boil again and cook for one minute. Drain and soak the wood ear in icy cold water. 

Once temperature completely drops, drain well and shake-off any remaining water. Also pick-out the ginger slices. Set the wood ear aside or store in the fridge while prepping the sauce.

To make the sauce, mix together 1 tablespoon of soy sauce paste, 1 tablespoon of black vinegar, 1 teaspoon of rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil, a pinch of scraped and julienned young ginger, and 1 tablespoon of goji berries.

Stir the sauce till evenly blended and almost all the sugar has been dissolved. Add in cold wood ear and mix till evenly blended again. Plate and garnish with some cilantro leaves.

The cilantro leaves here not just for decoration, we actually do that pop of aroma to brighten up this wood ear dish.

You can always adjust the seasonings according to your preference. Some like it sour and some prefer a sweeter taste. Some even add lemon juice for a light fruity acidity touch. 

Other recipes using wood ear:

• Vietnamese steamed egg meatloaf
• Pork strips wood ear and cilantro stir-fry

Cooking for One - Oyster and Shiso Peperoncino

Just realized that my cooking portion can be quite extreme. It's either big servings, like enough for five to six full meals at once, or just a tiny amount to sustain a light lunch for one.

That means most of the time I'll use up the entire pack of pasta at once, usually 500 grams. But this time around, since I only have 6 oysters in the fridge, it's either one serving takes all, or 5 to 6 servings and each get only one oyster. The later sounds a bit sad, so it's been decided. Let's have a well-fed recipe for single person only, all 6 oysters for the winner.

Oyster and shiso peperoncino - 

Ingredients (one serving)?

• 6 oysters
• 2 shiso leaves
• 100 grams pasta (I used linguine) 
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 dried red chili
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Some salt
• Some oyster cooking water

How?

Peel and slice the garlic clove. Slice the chili into rings if possible. Mine actually broke into tiny pieces instead. Roll up the shiso leaves and slice to thin strips.

Add some water to a medium large pot and bring to almost boiling temperature. Add in the oysters and cook till about 80% cooked through. Save some of that oyster-cooking water then scoop out the oysters. Don't discard the water, we'll continue to use that to cook the pasta.

So add more water so we'll have enough liquid to cook the pasta. Season with few pinches of salt. Bring to a boil then cook the pasta. We're fully utilizing the oyster-cooking water here and hopefully the pasta will be a bit more flavorful in the end.

Cook the pasta till almost al dente. Once ready, drain and set aside. Or if timing is right, drain and transfer to the pan with oil and aromatics.

About that pan, while cooking the pasta, bring out a pan and drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Use medium heat and add in the garlic and red chili. Sear till aromatic but not burn the garlic.

Pour in some oyster cooking water we saved earlier. I used about 1/3 cup. Swirl the pan to draw some air in. Let the oil and water boil a little till the they start to fuse together. The liquid will thicken a bit too, more so slightly creamy looking, that means emulsification has been achieved. 

Add in the pasta, and if you timed it right, the pasta will just about ready and you can drain and transfer that right to the pan. Continue to swirl the mixture and cook for about one more minute.

Transfer almost all the shiso to the pan. Mix till evenly blended then adjust with some salt. I used close to 1/2 teaspoon of salt here.

Lastly, add the oysters and give it a few tosses. 

Plate and garnish with the remaining shiso.

Some people prefer to remove the red chili seeds before cooking, but it doesn't really bother me as much. I simply shook off some seeds but careless about the seeds that prefer to stay.

By the way, since I've been cooking either the entire pack of pasta at once or just one single serving from time to time, I have to admit that cooking smaller portion is much easier to achieve that perfect emulsified consistency. 

That's why I tend to cook smaller amount when it comes to finer ingredients. As for hearty type of pasta recipes, like pasta bake or more Americanized pasta, I'll just use the whole pack. Different methods for different results. Both delicious per my opinion. 

Other pasta recipes:

• Paccheri with tuna in red bell pepper sauce (portion for two)
• Zucchini and squash pasta with parsley and mint sauce
• Creamy mussels and seaweed pasta

Mountain Yam, Shio Kombu, and Ground Chicken Patties 山藥塩昆布雞肉餅

Instagram gives me a lot of inspirations especially when it comes to cooking. One time I was scrolling through other people's cooking videos, and one caught my attention. The person used ground chicken mixed with corn and corn starch, perhaps other ingredients and sear into patties.  

I was like that could work! So I started imagining what would go well with ground chicken patties. Since ground chicken can be on the soft side, I figured adding mountain yam cubes should bring a slight crunch to the patties. Then I turned that idea into reality, and it has been tested and proven that this recipe works. Not only served as a side dish, also great as an otsumami, something that goes well with drinks (don't drink and drive).

Mountain yam, shio kombu, and ground chicken patties 山藥塩昆布雞肉餅 - 

Ingredients (about 8 medium patties)?

• 310 grams ground chicken
• 3/4 loosely packed cup peeled and cubed mountain yam
• 3/4 loosely packed cup shio kombu
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Some dried seaweed flakes

How?

Peel and cube the mountain yam. Transfer that to a larger mixing bowl.

Also add to the bowl, shio kombu, ground chicken, and corn starch. Mix till evenly blended. Note that the mixture is really sticky, so perhaps wear gloves or use spoons to do the job.

Take out a pan and drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Switch to medium heat and wait till the oil gets warm. Use a spoon and scoop the chicken mixture to the pan. The shape doesn't have to be perfect. In fact, it might look like a small mound instead.

Do not move the chicken in the beginning. Just let them sear till the bottom turns golden. Then it'll be ok to flip them or change sides and continue to sear till golden brown. 

Some mountain yam cubes will fall out of the patties, which is totally fine. Simply let the cubes sear on the side. Pick them out earlier to prevent burning and serve along the patties later on.

When ready, scoop out the chicken patties and transfer to serving plate. Dust with dried seaweed flakes before serving.

If you don't like it too oily, you can let the chicken patties rest on top of the paper towel lined on the plate first to absorb excess oil.

One very important thing, handling mountain yam might cause itchy hands for some people. That's the case for me too. You can wear a glove when peeling and cutting the mountain yam. I was too lazy and worked barehanded, just have to endure that itchy feeling for the next 10 minutes or so.

Other recipes using shio kombu 塩昆布:

• Sashimi grade tuna otsumami served with nori sheet
• Pan-fried chicken with shio kombu 香煎塩昆布雞腿肉
• Canned tuna cold dish with bean sprouts and shio kombu