Persimmon Salad with Mozzarella and Jamón Ibérico

Persimmon is in season now! I fell in love with persimmon during my visit to Japan many years ago. It was during fall/winter months, perfect time to enjoy persimmon. To make it even better, all the persimmons I had when in Japan were from Michelin-starred restaurants, so one can imagine the quality and sweetness of the fruit were superb. 

I became a persimmon fan ever since, and must have my share of top-notch persimmon when the weather becomes chilly, when the fall months begin. Persimmon is great by itself, but do you know that you can also turn it into a dish? Similar to stone fruits, persimmon can be a great ingredient in salad.

Persimmon salad with mozzarella and jamón Ibérico - 

Ingredients?

• 1 persimmon (sweeter the better)
• 125 grams solid weight mozzarella ball
• 20 grams jamón Ibérico
• Some extra virgin olive oil
• Some salt
• Some fleur de sel or salt flakes (optional)
• Some black pepper

 

How?

I got an imported Japanese persimmon at the grocery store. A bit pricey but I only eat like no more than three persimmons per year, a little indulgence seems fair. 

Peel and slice the persimmon to irregular chunks. Mix that with some salt, cracked black pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. Scatter the persimmon onto a serving plate.

Drain the liquid from the mozzarella ball package. Tear the cheese with your hand and scatter onto the serving plate.

Do the same for jamón Ibérico, arrange the ham among the persimmon and mozzarella.

Crack more black pepper on top and sprinkle some fleur de sel or high quality salt flakes. Of course you can use regular salt but I think bigger salt crystals can better help drawing out the sweetness from the persimmon.

Also drizzle a bit more extra virgin olive oil as a finishing touch.

It's really important to use the sweetest persimmon you can find for this salad recipe, especially I didn't use any additional sugary ingredients here. Only sweeter persimmon carry equal power to the salt we used and the umami-packed jamón Ibérico.

I can imagine adding a few pieces of mint leaves in the salad works too, but I'll leave that to you. The herbal note form the extra virgin olive oil is enough for my liking. 

Other salad recipes:

• Salsa salad with roasted chicken and baby greens
• Cucumber and mint salad
• Pear and Danish blue cheese salad with red wine vinaigrette 

Bottle Gourd and Carrot Pancake 瓠瓜煎餅

Not sure about other countries but in Taiwan, bottle gourd usually comes in two color styles, one with homogeneous light green color all around, and the other intertwined with darker and lighter green patterns.

Usually I would prefer the fancier-looking bottle gourd, but the smallest one I could find at the market was the other kind, so I just went for it. To make the pancake, we'll only need about 1/3 of the medium sized bottle gourd, so try to source the smaller variety if you get to choose.

Bottle gourd and carrot pancake 瓠瓜煎餅 - 

Ingredients?

• 2 cups bottle gourd strips 
• 1 cup carrot strips
• 1 tablespoon dried shrimps
• 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine 
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper powder
• Some salt
• 2 tablespoons preferred cooking oil

How?

Peel and cut the bottle gourd to strips. We'll need about 2 cups total and that is about 1/3 of a medium sized bottle gourd.

Transfer the bottle gourd strips to a bowl and add 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Give the strips a gentle rub in order to evenly blend with the salt. Let it sit for 10 minutes, the salt will start drawing out some moisture.

Once ready, drain and squeeze but not break the bottle gourd strips. Perhaps use a paper towel to wipe-off excess liquid.

Use 2 tablespoons of Chinese rice wine to soak the dried shrimps. Once softened, drain and finely chop the shrimps.

Peel and julienne the carrot. We will need about 1 cup of carrot strips, and that's about half of a medium carrot. Beat two eggs in a separate bowl.

Combine prepped bottle gourd strips with carrot strips and chopped dried shrimps in a big bowl. Also add two beaten eggs, 1/2 cup of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of white pepper powder. Give it a gentle mix till evenly blended.

You might have to adjust the consistency either by using more flour or perhaps add one more beaten egg in order to get a gooey batter in the end.

Non-stick pan will make the job easier, otherwise make sure to heat up other type of pan before searing the batter.

So drizzle two tablespoons of preferred cooking oil to the pan and switch to medium heat. Wait till the surface turns hot then pour in the batter. Flatten out the batter as soon as it hits the pan then stop moving it.

Wait till the bottom has been set and maybe even a bit golden browned. Flip and sear the other side till slightly colored.

I would recommend to sear the first side longer, so that once you flip the pancake, you don't have to sear the other side as long. That way you'll have a prettier brighter color side to plate on top.

So once both sides are cooked, transfer the pancake to a big serving plate. You can prepare some chili sauce on the side to eat along with. My personal favorite is chopped fresh red chilies in soy sauce.

Since only 1/3 of the bottle gourd was used, the other 2/3 was cut into strips and used in other thick soup dish. Nothing goes to waste.

The same idea for carrot. I chopped up the remaining 1/2 carrot and used in stir-fry dish with ground pork. 

Extended reading:

• Bitter gourd stir-fry with salted black beans

Egg Scallion and Shio Kombu Onigiri 蔥蛋塩昆布日式飯糰

Perhaps similar to a chicken wrap, onigiri is like Japanese's version of a quick simple meal or a snack on the go. However, fast and easy doesn't mean the onigiri must be boring and bland. Instead, we're going to use some of the super-matching ingredients to bring out that extra aroma, making some hella satisfying rice balls.

Egg scallion and shio kombu onigiri 蔥蛋塩昆布日式飯糰 - 

Ingredients (about 3 rice balls)?

• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons shio kombu 塩昆布
• 1 1/2 cups cooked short grain white rice
• 1 big dried nori sheet
• 2 strings scallion
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Some sesame oil
• Some salt

How?

Precook the rice. Once ready, fluff the rice and wait till some steam has been escaped. Oil a big mixing bowl to prevent sticking, I used sesame oil here.

Beat one egg with tiny pinch of salt. Drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil to a pan and switch to medium heat.

Once warm enough, pour in the beaten egg and start scramble the eggs to smaller pieces. Scoop out to oiled big mixing bowl that we prepped earlier.

Destem and chop the scallion. Add that to the bowl too together with about 1 1/2 cups of cooked rice. Also add 2 tablespoons of shio kombu and 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil. Fluff while mixing these ingredients gently till evenly blended.

Trim the nori sheet to rectangular pieces, or you can use the snack-pack, the nori sheets inside usually come as rectangular shaped.

Divide the rice mixture to 2 or 3 equal portions. Roll and shape each portion to a ball. Remember to use some force so the rice can stick together, but not too hard and break the rice. Wrap the rice ball with nori sheet and serve immediately.

I had to take pictures, which takes time, otherwise it's best to enjoy the onigiri as soon as it's been wrapped with nori sheet. The nori sheet turns soft basically in the blink of an eye. But even with soggy nori sheet after some pictures, I still enjoyed this onigiri flavor combo, just love that salty touch from the shio kombu. 

Other onigiri recipes:

• Tuna and sesame oil rice balls
• Hijiki and inari age onigiri 羊栖菜豆皮飯糰

Kuku Paka Coconut Chicken Curry - A Type of Curry That Can Be Easily Recreated at Home

When cooking curry, we often think about many exotic spices, perhaps lots of grinding and searing the aromatics to begin with. The long list of preparation can be daunting, but not this kuku papa curry recipe.

Kuku paka is a type of coconut chicken recipe with African, Indian, and Arabic influences. Of course you can elaborate on the spices, but generally speaking the key ingredients involved are far less compared to Indian curry. You can also use store-bought coconut milk and tomato purée to finish the job. So when working on homemade curry, kuku paka can be one simpler variety to begin with.

Kuku paka coconut chicken curry - 

Ingredients (about 4 to 6 servings)?

• 4 boneless skin-on chicken legs 
• 1 medium small onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 chunk ginger
• 270ml coconut milk
• 500ml tomato purée
• 1 lemon
• 1 small bundle cilantro
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Some salt
• Some black pepper
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 2 teaspoons turmeric powder
• 2 teaspoons coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• Some basmati or quinoa basmati rice (optional)

How?

Pat dry the chicken with paper towel. Sprinkle some salt and black pepper on both sides.

Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a big pot and switch to medium heat. Wait till the temperature rises a little then transfer the chicken over skin side down. Sear till the skin on the bottom turns golden.

Flip and sear the meaty side, also sear till slightly golden. Scoop out and set aside for later use.

Peel and dice the onion. Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Scrape the skin off then finely chop the ginger, we will need about 2 teaspoons chopped ginger in the end. Chop the cilantro.

Use the same pot for the chicken, there should be some oil and chicken fat remain. Switch to medium heat and add in chopped onion. Stir and cook for couple minutes then add in the garlic and ginger. Cook till aromatic but not burning the garlic.

Add 2 teaspoons of cumin powder, 2 teaspoons of turmeric powder, 2 teaspoons of coriander powder, and 1 teaspoon of chili powder. Cook till aromatic, again but not burnt. This step will be fairly quick, should be done in less than one minute.

Pour in coconut milk and tomato purée. Mix and give it a taste test. I added one more teaspoon of salt here.

Transfer seared chicken legs back to the pot along with any remaining juice. Bring the whole thing to a light bubbling stage then adjust the heat to keep the pot at a light simmer. Cover with lid and cook for another 20 minutes.

I opened up the lid and scraped the bottom once a while, just to make sure nothing is burning or sticking to the pot. Towards the end, squeeze in juice of half lemon. Also add most of the chopped cilantro, especially the stem section. Mix and cook for couple more minutes.

The kuku paka is now ready. I prepped some quinoa basmati rice to eat along with the it. Remember to sprinkle some more chopped cilantro after plating.

The flavor is always better if bone-in chicken was used, but I'm just too lazy to deal with it. So to compromise, I used boneless but still skin-attached chicken instead. It's totally up to you, but I find my boneless version still quite yummy in the end.

One other note, the ingredients listed here will give you more curry sauce in the end. So if you want to use more chicken leg, maybe up to six chicken legs, there's no need to adjust the amount of seasonings whatsoever. 

 

Savoury Chinese Congee Using Jinhua Ham and Vegetables 金華火腿鹹味臘八粥

This congee meal showed up at the right time. The thing is that I'd like to plan ahead what I'm going to cook for the following weeks, and it was congee's turn when both Mister and I caught a cold.

Congee really helped in remedy some uncomfortable symptoms such as sore throat and lost of appetite. It provided some warmth while easy to eat. Also easy to prep for the person who cooks the meal, yes, that's me, one other sick person in the house. 

Savoury Chinese congee using Jinhua ham and vegetables 金華火腿鹹味臘八粥 - 

Ingredients (for 6 to 8 servings)?

• 150 grams boneless Jinhua ham pieces
• 1/2 medium small cabbage
• 1 medium carrot 
• 1 medium daikon radish
• 4 shiitake mushrooms
• 4 Chinese bean curd
• 3/4 cup peas
• 1 stalk garlic sprout
• 2 cups short grain white rice
• 12 cups water
• 2 to 3 tablespoons preferred cooking oil
• Some salt (optional)
• Some roasted peanuts (optional)

How?

Trim-off the very center tough area for the cabbage then chop the remaining section. Peel and cube the carrot. Peel and cube the daikon radish. Cube the Chinese bean curd. Destem and cube the shiitake mushrooms. Destem and slice diagonally for the garlic sprout.

Slice the Jinhua ham to strips.

Bring out a big pot and drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons of preferred cooking oil. I simply use olive oil for most of my cooking. Add in Jinhua ham strips and use medium heat to sear till aromatic.

Add in both the carrot and daikon radish cubes. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes, perhaps switch to medium low heat if needed.

Pour in 12 cups of water and bring the entire pot to a boil. Pour in 2 regular measuring cups of short grain white rice. Also add the cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, and bean curd.

Only add in peas here if using bigger tougher version of peas. The peas I'm using is small and very delicate, so I decided to add them towards the end of cooking instead. 

Bring the pot to a boil again then lower the heat to keep it at a light bubbling stage. Continue to cook for 20 to 30 minutes. Remember to stir once a while. Mine took about 25 minutes.

After that, if using tender peas, it's time to add the peas now. Also add in the garlic sprouts. Cook for 1 to 2 more minutes. Taste and adjust the flavor with salt if needed. Or perhaps add more liquid for a more soupy consistency.

Some people like to serve the congee with some crushed roasted peanuts. It surely will add another layer of aroma, but me and Mister were having a cold so the peanuts are out of the picture for our throats' sake. 

If you can't finish all the congee at once, just remember to add more liquid, maybe drinkable hot water or chicken stock when reheating. Otherwise the rice will keep soaking in the liquid and the congee will turn to risotto-like consistency instead.  

Extended reading:

• Soy milk zosui
• Tomato bamboo shoot and pork zosui 番茄竹筍豬肉雜炊
• Minced beef and vegetable congee 蔬菜牛肉粥