Albertitto's kitchen

Tres Leche Cake 周老師的三奶蛋糕

2012-01-27T23:05:00.001-05:00

This blog here by a home economics teacher (Mrs. Zhou) is one of my favorite blogs. She is extremely knowledgeable about all things related to cooking and baking, and she often goes through repeated experiments to figure out key steps that really make the difference. And she is so generous in sharing her findings and recipes. Here is her take on the Tres Leche Cake. It really is genius of her to pair coconut milk with (a variation of) dulce de leche. Her other ingenious idea is to bake the crispy buttery layer separately and sprinkle them on top of the cake right before eating, so they stay super crispy. This is an easy and delicious recipe!

Fruit and mousse cake roll

2011-09-04T13:36:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite Cantonese desserts - mango, pomelo, and tapioca "soup" (楊枝甘露)

2011-07-29T21:58:00.007-05:00

Most of my friends would agree that NYC is severely behind the West Coast in terms of its share of good authentic Chinese restaurants. There's nothing wrong with it -- there are simply more Asian immigrants on the West Coast. But one very obvious missing piece in NYC (well, let's mainly focus on Manhattan) is Hong Kong-nese dessert shops (糖水!). There used to be a Sweet and Tart on Mott St., but it closed a long time ago. There are several tea houses that serve Taiwanese bubble teas. But there aren't any places that serve the good old fashioned walnut soup, sesame soup, snow wood-ear soup with lotus seeds, etc. (Anyone please correct me if I am wrong. I would love to be corrected in this case!) And one of the newer desserts coming out of Hong Kong in the last decade (according to my friend Erica) is a soup made with mango, pomelo, tapioca, and milk/cream/coconut milk. This dessert is a perfect blend of sweet, tart, tanginess, and a mixture of tropical flavors. Since I couldn't buy it in NYC, I figured that I would just make it myself. Mangoes are in season now so this is a great time to make this dessert. Half of the mangoes should be pureed, which makes the soup nice and thick. Normally pomelo is used. It is very similar to grapefruit, but its pulp is a lot sturdier and breaks apart more cleanly. I didn't want to venture beyond my local bodega to get all the ingredients so I just substituted it with a red grapefruit. The rest is quite easy -- just mix the mango puree, mango chunks, grapefruit pulp pieces, coconut milk, and milk together. I save the tapioca in a separate container, otherwise it would suck up too much liquid if left mixed with the rest. When you're ready to eat, just spoon some tapioca and simple syrup into the soup mixture. It's a healthy and yummy Asian dessert that doesn't involve beans!

Approximate ratio:

2 ripe mangoes. Flesh removed. Half pureed, half cut into chunks
1 red grapefruit. All fibrous membrane removed. Pulp broken into thin clusters
1/2 to 1 cup coconut milk
2 cups milk
simple syrup (1 cup water with 1 cup sugar. heat until sugar dissolves. let cool)
50g tapioca. simmered in boiling water for 10 min. Then covered with no flame for another 20 min. Drain and mix with some syrup.
(adapted from an original recipe here)

Whole wheat sandwich bread (Pullman loaf)

2010-12-24T23:49:00.004-05:00

Perhaps it is related to my mild OCD, but there is something extremely satisfying for me to make perfectly square sandwich bread. I bought these loaf pans -- usually called Pullman Loaf pans -- from Amazon but have been too lazy to calculate the exact dough size and recipe for it until this weekend. It makes a nice 4"x4"x13" loaf. I have been baking bread off and on for the last year or so. So far the use of water roux starter (Tang-Zhong, 湯種) is by far the best way to make pillow-like soft bread that stay soft for days while using only a small amount of butter. This is a method very popular in Japan and Taiwan, and probably pacific Asia in general. It probably has something to do with the fact that very few traditional Western recipes feature doughs made with hot water, while many traditional Chinese recipes called for the use of hot water in dough making. (Actually the only Western recipe I can think of is Pate a Choux) The hot water gelatinizes the starch molecules in flour. The same amount of flour can absorb twice the amount of water at high temperature compared to room temperature. The texture of the dough also becomes more springy, or what is commonly called in Taiwan as "Q".

The recipe I used was found here. But I'll re-type it in English here.

Recipe: 湯種全麥麵包 whole wheat sandwich loaf with water roux starter

Makes 1 loaf of 4"x4"x13" Pullman loaf (2 lb mold)

Water roux starter:
Bread flour 22.5g
Water 112.5 g

Dough:
Water roux starter
Bread flour 262.5 g
Whole wheat flour 285 g
Salt 5g
Sugar 55 g
Milk powder 22.5 g
Rapid rise yeast 7.5 g
Cold water 250 g
Butter 35 g

1. Combine the ingredients for the water roux starter in a small pan. Mix well with a small whisk. Heat over low flame until the mixture reaches at least 65C. It will have a glue-like consistency. Cover with cling film touching the roux so it doesn't dry out. Cool to room temperature of colder. (It can be refrigerated overnight)
2. Please salt, sugar, cold water, and the roux on the bottom of a breadmaker pan. Place the other ingredients except the butter over the liquid. Mix for 3 minutes and knead for 30 minutes. The butter should be cut into small pieces and added to the dough about 7 minutes into the kneading. The dough may need more or less water depending on the flour.
3. Let the dough rise for 90 minutes. It is ready when it has doubled in size and an indentation made by a finger stays dented.
4. Divide the dough evenly into 5 pieces (about 200g each). Roll each into a ball and let them rest for at least 15 minutes under cling film.
5. Roll each piece into a rectangle. Roll up into a log. Rotate 90 degrees and repeat.
6. Oil the walls and the lid. Place the 5 dough logs evenly in the pan. Let it rise again until the dough is 90% from the top of the pan, about 30-40 minutes.
7. Heat the oven to 400F. Close the lid on the pan. Bake the bread in the middle of the oven for 40 minutes.
8. Un-mold the bread immediately out of the oven and cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing.

The rolling should be as even as possible. You can see the first 2 pieces from the left were highly uneven.

Before the last rise

After the last rise

Pretty nice interior texture. It is not too sparse in the center, which sometimes happens when the rolling of the dough is uneven.

Chinese pan fried stuffed buns 豬肉白菜餡餅

2010-06-23T22:03:00.005-05:00

I just came back from visiting my friend S and her family in San Francisco. She has a lovely live-in nanny/cook/cleaner from Shanghai and she cooked up many Chinese dishes over the 2 days when I was there. Pan fried stuffed buns were one of them. These are actually easier than regular steamed buns because no yeast rising is required. The dough is made with a lot of hot water, which makes the dough very pliable with very little gluten formed. I made the stuffing out of pork, scallions, and napa cabbage. This is definitely a good way to stretch a little ground pork into a meal and to sneak in a lot of vegetables for those meat lovers.

Hot dog buns or pigs in a blanket?

2010-03-29T21:00:00.006-05:00

These are such guilty pleasures. I know hot dogs are probably not the most healthy food on this planet, but they sure taste good. I think the Chinese bakers took the idea from pigs-in-a-blanket when they made up this bread. The dough is again the typical Chinese sweet dough, enriched with butter, milk powder, and eggs. The hot dog is cut up into little chunks. Come to think of it, corn dogs are another guilty pleasure of mine...I used half whole wheat pastry flour, and the hot dog was made by Applegate Farm from organic grass-fed beef that had no antibiotics and growth hormones, etc. So it is not THAT bad...

大家都吃過熱狗麵包吧? 雖然知道這熱量超高又超多添加物的複製產品對身體不好, 但是甜甜的麵糰配上它跟酸甜酸甜的番茄醬還真搭呢! 而且我這是在家製作的麵包, 用的是一半的全麥麵粉, 而熱狗也是標記完全以草為飼料, 無荷爾蒙, 無任何抗生素或生長激素的有機牛肉. 還稍微安心啦!

Making ham and cheese bread

2010-01-23T14:11:00.002-05:00

Everyone who grows up in Taiwan knows this style of bread -- golden brown on the outside, slightly sweet, soft, and incredibly tender on the inside. This is why I was a bit shocked when I first encountered European style bread with the hard crust and chewy interior. There are reasons to like both styles. But the Asian style bread is very popular and indeed versatile for many variations. It can be used to make savory treats like this one with ham and cheese. But more often it is used to encase red bean paste, sweet ground peanuts, and other sweet stuffings. There are quite a lot of different recipes for this dough, but the main ingredients always include flour, yeast, sugar, water, butter, and milk powder. Not sure why the milk powder, but it is a common ingredient in Asia. Many of the recipes call for "starters" or pre-ferment, which basically requires the making of some of the water and flour and yeast 1-2 hours in advance, before adding the rest for another cycle of mixing and proofing. I'm seriously too lazy to do that. From what I can gather, the use of pre-ferment makes better texture, the bread stays fresh for longer, and flavors might improve a little bit. Well, I wanted to just mix it all up and wait for the proofing in one swoop. So I basically substituted the recipe with the dough recipe for Challah bread (from the Best Recipe by Cooks Illustrated). It's got almost the same ingredients, and I just used milk to replace water. The result is not half bad!

starting ingredients: grated Gruyere cheese; black forest ham, proofed Challah dough

Rombo - roasted whole striped bass

2010-01-03T11:39:00.000-05:00

I had the dish "Rombo" when I was in Venice this year. It is a roasted whole turbot, with potatoes, tomatoes, and olives. It was so fresh, simple and delicious. My boss pointed me to this recipe after we returned to the US, and I made it for Christmas Eve. It is so easy and is a one-pan dish. I got a live striped bass from Chinatown so the fish was super fresh. The recipe is from Bon Appetit.

Plum-Wine Marinated Tomatoes

2009-08-13T06:53:00.006-05:00

This is a dish that I see in every blog post on famous sushi bars in Taiwan. It is usually served as an appetizer (using cherry or grape tomatoes) or as a dessert (using large tomatoes). The tomatoes are peeled and marinated for several days in a plum-infused wine syrup. I served it as a palate cleansing course at my summer party. I turned the marinade into a granita, and served the tomatoes on top of that. This is best when the tomatoes are at the peak production time during the summer.

Recipe: Plum-Wine Marinated Tomatoes (酒釀番茄, 漬番茄)

2 pints cherry tomatoes
6 Chinese preserved plums (話梅)
1 cup water
6-8 Tbsp of sugar (can be less if you prefer)
1 whole clove
1 Tbsp whole black peppercorn
1 cup of white wine or Rose (although some people use Cabernet)
Iced water bath

1. Lightly score the tomatoes at the bottom end with a paring knife. Take care to cut into the flesh as little as possible. The idea is just to pierce the skin about 1/2" long.
2. Blanch the tomatoes in small batches in boiling water for 30 seconds. Fish them out and plunge them into an ice water bath. Wait until cool and carefully remove all the skin
3. Place water, sugar, plums, clove, and peppercorns in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Turn off the flame and add the wine.
4. Use a tupperware, combine the tomatoes and the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 3 days before serving.

*To make the granita from the marinade
Strain out the spices and place the liquid in a baking pan (like a 8x13" casserole pan). Place in the freezer. Every 30 minutes take out the pan and scrape the frozen bits with a fork. After about 3-4 hours this should be fairly all frozen and scraped up into bits. Place in a tupperware and store in the freezer until ready to serve. This keeps only for about 1-2 days. The granita will start to clump to each other over time and become not as fluffy.

Skins are wrinkled after blanching and they crack along the side

After peeling

This is what the Chinese preserved plum looks like
(Source: http://blog.stnn.cc/sylh/Efp_Bl_1002095216.aspx)

Fried-steamed buns 水煎包/生煎包

2009-07-05T07:13:00.003-05:00

This is essentially the same bun as the steamed pork buns I made before. But the buns are smaller. What makes these a little better (I think) is that they are made just like potstickers and have a cripsy bottom. The uncooked buns are placed in a hot pan with oil. Then a slurry of water and flour is added to the pan. The pan is then covered to steam the buns. Toward the end of the cooking, the water is all evaportated and the leftover flour forms a nice brown crust on the bottom of the pan. I think this is somewhat of a Shanghainese specialty. I started the dough at around 9:30am. Then I started to put together the filling at 11:00. I finished cooking everything by 12:10. It actually didn't take too long.

Still raw uncooked buns

Buns cooking in the pan -- they should be covered but I lifted the lid just to take a picture.

White sesame seeds are sprinkled before the end

Success! All the buns should be linked together by this bottom crust

Recipe: Shanghainese pan-fried-steam buns 上海生煎包

Dough:
350 g all-purpose flour
7 g active dry yeast
187 g water
pinch of salt
1 tsp sugar

Filling:
2/3 lb ground pork
4 scallions minced
1 Tbsp grated ginger
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice wine
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp ground pepper (preferrably from szichuan peppercorn)

Others:
2 Tbsp oil
toasted sesame seeds
3 Tbsp flour
1.5 cup water

1. Place some of the water in a clean bowl with 1 tsp sugar. Stir to dissolve. Sprinkle the yeast over the top of the water. Stir gently to combine. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes until the yeast is bubbly and float to the top -- this shows that the yeast is indeed active.
2. Place all dry ingredients in a kitchen aid bowl with dough hook attachment. Scrape all the yeast mixture in the center. Operate the mixer at low to low-medium and slowly pour in the remaining water. Mix until the dough is in a ball and the bowl is clean. Hand knead the dough a little bit until smooth. Place in a bowl to rise for 2 hours. Cover with plastic wrap.
3. Meanwhile mix all the filling ingredients and stir clockwise continuously until the meat has absorbed all the liquid. Refrigerate until ready to make the buns.
4. Divide the dough into 18 portions and shape each into balls. Make sure to cover them with a wet towel. Wrap into buns (see here)
5. Heat a non-stick pan with 1 Tbsp of oil until fairly hot. Place half of the buns in the pan. Make a slurry with 1.5 tbsp flour and 3/4 cup water and pour into the pan. The water level should be halfway up the buns. The water should immediately start bubbling. cover the pan and turn the flame to low-medium. Steam for 6 minutes. Then turn the flame to medium-high and steam for another 2 minutes.
6. Lift the lid and sprinkle sesame seeds. Wait until all water has evaporated and the crust is nicely brown. Remove the buns with bottom crust, upside down in a plate.
7. Repeat with remaining buns.

Making Zong Zi 包粽子

2009-06-05T07:20:00.004-05:00

Zong Zi is a Chinese traditional food for the Duan Wu Festival, or commonly known as the Dragon Boat festival. It falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. The story behind these bamboo leave wrapped pastries goes as follows. In the Zhou dynasty, a well-respected prime minister, Qu Yuan, wrote a sincere and constructive criticism on the government, and presented it to the emperor. As with many incompetent predecesors before him (and many more to follow) in Chinese history, the empror fired him. In his dispair, he jumped into the river and killed himself. The people of Zhou made these zong zi with rice and various food fillings, and threw them into the river in the hopes that the river creatures would eat these zong zi instead of his body. I suppose the bamboo leaves act as a delivery system so the food is not instantly washed away. It is somewhat of a romantic story. But what's really important is that this is one of the time-honored traditions for family members to gather and make this once a year. Usuaully hundreds of zong zi are made, and they are given to neighbors and friends to share. Today, this tradition is quickly being forgotten by the new generations. In fact, my parents never made these, and never learned how. Some of my friends in Taiwan still were fortunate to have a mother or a grandma to make these every year. But I know of no one of my age who actually makes these at home. It is indeed much easier to buy these at the market. But it is really difficult find a tasty one with all the desirable fillings (with the right combinations) . So I thought this would be a perfect way to have a party!

Zong zi has many styles. The wrapping leaves are most often bamboo leaves, but any plant leaves, as long as they are non-toxic and can impart a pleasant fragrancem can be used. Different regions produce different shapes and inner contents of zong zi. The Hu Zhou (湖州) style is more elongated. The Cantonese version is more rectangular, and some can be made with lotus leaves to produce one as big as a serving plate! I set out to make Taiwanese zong zi. The northern Taiwanese zong zi uses no peanuts and fully cooked rice and fillings. The wrapped zong zi is therefore fully cooked and only need to be steamed to meld together the ingredients. Southern Taiwanese zong zi uses only raw or barely cooked rice. They need to be boiled to be fully cooked. This is trickier because uncooked rice is loose, and harder to wrap. Also if they are not wrapped tightly, rice will leak out during the cooking; if they are bound too tight, the center takes too long to cook.

I invited a few friends over to make these. After 1 or 2 we all got quite proficient at making zong zi. But we made quite small ones. It will take some practice to make bigger ones! I decided to make the southern style zong zi -- the rice has been stir fried with fried shallots, dried shrimp, five spice, and soy sauce; the filling includes chestnuts, peanuts, pork, and dried shiitake mushrooms that have been cooked and marinated with star anise, sugar, and soy sauce. Finally each zong zi has a quarter of a salty duck egg yolk. Yum!

Recipe: Southern Taiwanese Zong Zi

40 bamboo leaves
thin kitchen twine
600 g long grain glutinous rice
4 Tbsp of oil
2 Tbsp dried shrimp, rehydrated with rice wine
1/4 cup fried shallots
200 g pork boston butt or other fatty cuts
10 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated with cold water for 30 minutes
20 toasted and peeled small chestnuts
1 cup raw peanuts
5 salty duck egg yolks
salt, white pepper, star anise, five spice, soy sauce, sugar to taste

1. Soak the peanuts overnight. Drain the water and add soy sauce, water, sugar, salt, star anise, and simmer for at least 30 minutes until slightly cooked. Chop mushrooms into halves and add them to the peanuts. Also add chestnuts. Cook everything for another 30 minutes. Set aside and let them marinate overnight.
2. Soak the rice for 3 hours. Drain completely.
3. Chop the pork into bite size. Brown all side quickly and add soy sauce, sugar, salt, star anise, and rice wine to taste. Cook for 5 minutes and set aside.
4. Wash all bamboo leaves. Boil them and the kitchen twine for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
5. Drain the shrimp and mince. Heat oil in a wok and stir fry the shrimp and fried shallots until fragrant. Add the drained rice and stir until well coated. Add the liquid from the peanuts and pork mixture but no more than 2/3 cup. Stir fry until liquid has been well distributed and absorbed. Take out the rice and let cool.
6. Making zong zi (watch instructions here or here). Start with some rice, some peanuts. In the center cavity, add one chestnut, 1/4 of salty duck egg, 1/2 of mushroom, 1 or 2 pieces of pork, then cover with more rice and peanuts.
7. After all have been wrapped, boil them for 40 minutes. Check for doneness. Either eat right away or let them cool over a cooling rack completely before storing in the fridge or freezer.

Flounder fish balls (Quenelle, take 2)

2009-05-21T22:31:00.005-05:00

I tried to make French quenelle from the Gourmet cookbook a while ago, but they came out really unsatisfactory after a lot of work. The Chinese style fishballs we can buy from the market usually contain quite a bit of starch, some pork lard, and eggs. The texture is that of bounciness and "Q" -- a term we use in Taiwan to describe an elastic, toothsome crunch. I suppose this is the style from the south, i.e. Fu-zhou style (福州). But I have also heard that the Shanghainese style can be very different -- tender, fluffy, and fragile. This is what I wanted to achieve.

The recipes for typical quenelles or fish balls usually call for fish flesh, some starch, and egg white. The egg white provides albumin proteins that act as a binder to hold everything together. A common mistake of making fish balls is to process the meat for too long in a food processor. The ground mixture can become too hot from the blades and their proteins get "cooked" -- i.e. the proteins are fully denatured and set. If this happens, the fish balls will not be able to hold its shape. The egg white is added to ensure enough raw protein is present to perform this function. But I think the addition of egg white stiffens the fish balls. So when I made it, I only used fish and starch, but no egg whites. The result is really excellent.

Recipe: Fluffy and Tender Flounder Fish Balls 龍利魚丸

1 lb flounder filet with bones removed (weighed after bone removal)
2 Tbsp potato starch or tapioca starch
3 Tbsp Chinese cooking wine
3 Tbsp mirin
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground white pepper

1. Finely dice the fish filet. Place in a food processer and pulse to grind in small batches until just ground. Make sure the temperature does not rise during grinding.
2. Place the ground fish in a large bowl. Add the starch, salt and pepper and start to mix a wooden spoon clockwise. Mix until thin strands of fibers can be seen.
3. Add the liquids one tablespoon at a time. Mix clockwise after each edition until the liquid is fully absorbed. Place the mixture in the refrigerator.
4. Boil a large pot of water. Use two spoons to form ping-pong ball size meat balls and place them in the boiling water. When the fish ball float to the top, remove them with a slotted spoon. They are now cooked and can be placed in stews or soups.

Recipe: Fish ball noodle soup 魚丸羹麵

Fish Stock
Fried shallots
Chinese black vinegar
Dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in cold water for 30 min
Dried lily buds, soaked in colder water for 30 min
carrots, cut into thin match sticks
cooked meat balls
Salt and white pepper
Potato starch
Garlic, minced or through a garlic press
Cilantro, roughly chopped
Celery, roughly chopped
Chinese noodles

1. Slice the re-hydrated mushrooms into strips. Squeeze dry the lily buds
2. Bring the stock to a boil. Cook the mushrooms, carrots, and lily buds in the stock. Add fried shallots to taste. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and vinegar. Thicken slightly with potato starch.
3. Add the fish balls and simmer for another 5 minutes until everything is warmed through. Add the raw garlic to the soup at the end.
4. Meanwhile, start another pot of boiling water to cook the noodles.
5. Place in each bowl the noodles, top with the soup. Sprinkle cilantro and celery bits.

Making red bean Chinese New Year cake

2009-05-21T21:41:00.003-05:00

紅豆年糕

This is a must-have cake during Chinese New Years. I suppose most Chinese families were probably poor in the past and even eggs are considered luxuries. This might be why I hardly see any Chinese dessert recipes that contain eggs. Americans tend to turn their noses at desserts made with beans, rice, and other odd legume or grains. But these are common ingredients in Chinese diet that most people can afford. Rice is therefore made into a variety of products -- steamed as usual, fried into crispy cakes, long-cooked into congees, powderized and made into all sorts of pasties. Also, the Chinese medicinal thinking dictates that all that we eat influences our bodies. All foods are considered to have medicinal values. Certain foods are eaten during holidays and are very seasonal. Red beans, or azuki beans, are commonly used in desserts for the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans.

For the cake, one must first make the sweetened red beans. This should be distinguished from red bean paste. The former is not filtered. the beans are still mostly holding their shape, and their integrity is largely intact. The latter is passed through sieves to rid of the shells, and usually heated to get rid of the water, and lard/oil added.

Both recipes are from 阿芳的糕與粿

Sweetened red beans (makes about 3 and 1/2 cups)

600 g red beans
600 g light brown sugar
1 tsp salt

1. Place red beans, not washed, not soaked, in a bowl and add enough water to cover the beans. Bring to a boil. Discard the liquid and any floating beans. Drain the rest of beans completely.
2. Add 6 and 1/2 cups of water. Place into a rice cooker. Add 1 and 1/2 cups of water in the outer pot. Start the rice cooker. Wait 5 minutes after the switch is tripped. Use a chopstick to stir the beans a bit. Add another 1 cup of water to the outer pot. Cook again. Wait for 10 minutes after the switch is tripped. Check to ensure beans are cooked
3. Add sugar and salt. If there is excess water, place in a pot and cook over low/medium flame to evaporate the water until rather dry but not burned.
4. Place in a tupperware and let cool.

Red Bean Chinese New Year Cake

1 and 1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup water
300 g glutinous rice flour (水磨糯米粉)
1 and 1/2 cup sweetened red beans
parchment paper
1 tsp oil

1. Mix sugar and water well in a big bowl. Then add rice flour and the red beans until well incorporated.
2. Place a 6-inch mold in a steamed. Press the parchment paper into the mold. Pour into the papered mold the batter.
3. Steam over medium flame for 1 hour.
4. Check with a chopstick to make sure the middle of the cake is cooked. Uncooked batter is opaque while cooked cake is translucent.
5. Brush the top surface with oil. Let cool to room temperature and then refridgerate overnight to harden.
6. Slice into 1/2" inch slices. Coat with a beaten egg or any desired flour batter. Pan fry until the cake is soft and outer surface is brown. Serve immediately.

A perfect fit

2009-05-04T21:34:00.002-05:00

Isn't it nice when things just fit each other perfectly without any planning? I totally did not plan to fit this melon half into this glass bowl.

Turnip Cake

2009-05-03T14:58:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite items at Cantonese dim sum is the turnip cake. The cake itself has a lot of daikon, which is known here in the US as the Japanese turnip. In Chinese it is called Luo-Bo (蘿蔔). It is a very versatile vegetable. It can be eaten raw, pickled, stewed, steamed, and put into soups. Normally raw radishes have a pungent taste when raw, but turns into a mellow sweetness when cooked. I think daikons have been bred to rid of its pungent taste. It is crunchy and refreshing when it is served as thin strands of accompaniment to pieces of sashimi. But I think its character is best presented when it is cooked. (for example in Japanese oden and stews) Here, the cake is made with cooked daikon, its juice, and regular rice flour (not glutinous rice flour). The Taiwanese version adds mainly fried shallots, while the Cantonese version adds pieces of Chinese bacon. My dad makes a healthy vegetarian version with dried shiitake mushrooms and homemade dried and salted daikon. I like the bacon flavor and the shallot flavor so I added both. I also cut the daikon into large matchsticks because I think it actually reminds the eater "oh, I am eating daikons!" In fact, I cut 3/4 of the daikon into matchsticks, and I grated the rest of the daikon to have the best of both worlds. I didn't have any Chinese bacon so I just use some leftover ham instead. This is quite easy to make and cheap as well.

Luo-Bo Gao 蘿蔔糕 (Turnip Cake, or Daikon Cake)

1 or 2 large daikon (1-1.2 kg total, or 2.2-2.6 lb total)
1 cup water
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp white pepper
3 Tbsp oil
----
0.3 lb or 5 oz of ham diced
3 Tbsp fried shallots
4 cup water
300 g or 2/3 lb of rice flour (水磨粘米粉)
10 Tbsp corn starch

1. Peel the daikon. Chop about 3/4 of them into thick matchsticks (~2-3" long and 1/4" thick). Use the largest cheese grater and grate the rest into thin strips
2. Heat on medium-high flame in a very large non-stick wok the oil. Add the daikon, salt, and pepper. Stir fry for a while until the daikon releases its juice and is now simmering in the pan. Add the 1 cup of water and bring back to a boil. Cover, turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, mix the rice flour and corn starch in a large bowl. Add the 4 cups of water and mix well until no lumps remain. Mix in the ham and fried shallots. Set aside.
4. Oil an 9-inch spring form cake pan. Cut out a piece of parchment paper to cover the bottom of the pan.
5. At the end of 10-minute simmering, stir the rice flour mixture well and pour into the wok. Stirring and scraping constantly, continue to mix the content in the wok. Mix until the mixture is thickened and is now a gooey mess. Dump everything into the prepared cake pan.
6. Steam in a steamer on medium flame until done (about 40 minutes). Test with a chopstick in the center -- it should come out clean.
7. Let the cake cool completely before de-molding. Cut into thick slices and fry on both sides until crispy. Serve immediately.

Steamed cream cheese sponge cakes

2009-05-02T15:59:00.006-05:00

This year it felt as if we jumped from winter to summer, and now it's backtracked to spring. I wrote about a Japanese cookbook I bought last year. I have made at least half of all the dishes in the book. The dishes are light and perfect for Spring and Summer, and have been adapted well for home cooking -- quick, easy, and made with fairly common ingredients. Today I craved some sweets but didn't want to make anything heavy with lots of butter. This recipe jumped out and truly, it is one of the easiest cakes I have ever made. Oh did I mention this is made in a microwave oven? The product is a light and fluffy spongy cake -- actually quite similar to the Cantonese dim sum cakes (馬拉糕). The author also suggested serving it with peanut cream -- basically peanut butter with sugar and heavy cream -- a taste of this reminds me of many Asian sweets and pastries that incorporate peanuts. American peanut butter and its derivatives (like Reese's Peanut Butter Cup) are so heavy on the peanuts it's often overwhelming. This peanut cream has enough peanut butter to lend a pronounced peanut taste, but feels light and creamy enough to be a "sauce." It is quite good for this cake or other desserts. The cake itself is also amenable to many changes. I can easily think of using peach or almond flavors to substitute the white wine.

Steamed Cream Cheese Cakes (Adapted from Harumi's Japanese Cooking by Harumi Kurihara)

1/4 cup cream cheese
1/2 Tbsp white wine
1 Tbsp heavy cream
dash of vanilla extract
2 medium eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup all purpose flour

1. Prepare 4 ramekins by lining them with parchment paper. It is fine to have wrinkles. The edges of the paper can remain standing upwards.
2. Put cream cheese and wine in a bowl and microwave at medium for 20 seconds. Whisk until smooth and mix in the heavy cream and vanilla extract.
3. Use an electric mixture and whip the egg and sugar in another bowl until thick and forms a ribbon. Sprinkle into this mixture the baking powder and flour. Gently fold them in.
4. Fold in the cream cheese mixture.
5. Divide the mixture into the lined ramekins. Cover each ramekin loosely with cling wrap, which should be propped up by the parchment paper and doesn't touch the batter.
6. Microwave all 4 ramekins together on low for 5 minutes. Then microwave again on medium for 2-3 minutes. The cake should be springy when pressed on top. Or test with a toothpick in the center. Remove cakes from the paper and serve with toppings immediately or cooled.

Peanut cream (Adapted from Harumi's Japanese Cooking by Harumi Kurihara)
2 Tbsp powder sugar
6 Tbsp heavy cream
3 Tbsp peanut butter

1. Whisk sugar and cream until thickened
2. Whisk in the peanut butter until smooth.

Nectarine Mousse Cake

2009-04-11T22:28:00.003-05:00

There is an upcoming competition on desserts at work. So I am testing this recipe first before I make my entry. Let's hope I win because I actually think it turned out good enough -- a couple of things to improve, but mainly cosmetic issues. The cake is a classic French genoise -- no chemical (like baking powder) or biological (yeast) rising. The cake is purely risen based on the air bubbles beaten into the batter. It has just sugar, eggs, clarified butter, flour, vanilla extract, and pinch of salt. The final product has 2 layers of cake, with a nectarine mousse in between and on top, a peach glaze on the very top, and toasted cake crumbs on its sides. The recipe is adapted from the Gourmet Cookbook.

To make the nectarine mousse, first a nectarine puree must be made. Fresh chunks of nectarine is cooked with sugar and water, pureed , strained, and mixed with melted gelatin. the other part is whipped heavy cream (just slightly less beaten than the soft-peak stage)

This didn't show up very well in the picture. But the two combined to yield a beautiful pale orange-colored mousse.

Here the picture shows the 2 main cake layers, the trimming of the top of the cake to be made into crumbs, an imbibing syrup made with sugar, water, and peach schnapps, and the mousse.

Genoise really tastes better when imbibed, and it can REALLY soak up a lot of syrup. The cake layers were baked in a 9.5" pan. The assembly is done in a 10" pan, so that the mousse completely encases the cakes.

Here's a close-up after the first layer is completely covered with mousse, and the second layer is placed and imbibed. Then the rest of the mousse goes in, gets smoothed, and is refrigerated for 2 hours. A glaze is made with peach preserve, water, and gelatin. That gets poured onto the cold cake. After another hour of chilling, the cake is unmolded and cake crumbs pressed onto the sides. It is a very pretty cake.

Attending the Martha Stewart show taping

2009-04-02T07:22:00.005-05:00

I admit I am a big dork for wanting to do this -- I've been trying to see a taping session of the Martha Stewart show. Well, I finally went! Here are my impressions:

The line and the mob: Obviously most of these people are ardent fans and have traveled a long way to do this. But the line was so long and some of the conversations were just unbearable, especially from the types who are aspiring to be Real Housewives of New York City.
The set: it looked a lot warmer and nicer on TV. In real life, it just looked too bright and harsh, and in a way...dare I say it...tacky!
Martha: very business like. Her sole job during the taping was to show up, display the TV persona, make a TV-entertainment-worthy episode, and get back to her most important job -- founder and virtual CEO of her company.
Waiting area and the bathroom: these are so NOT up to Martha standards. Ugh.
Audience warmer Joey: I would hate to have his job, although he is quite talented in doing what he does. The ooo-ing and aaahhh-ing are purely made up -- audience was cued to make those noises. Even the Ask Martha segment was set up -- people's questions were screened and selected. Even the seating arrangement for all the audience members was highly coordinated to optimize their color scheme.

Overall, I felt it was very mechanical and purely a business of product promotion, whether it was a magazine, a book, or a chef's new restaurant. I don't know why I would have expected otherwise. But at least I can check it off my list now.

Cinnamon raisin swirl bread

2009-03-28T13:23:00.003-05:00

After the plain sandwich bread, I decided to attempt the cinnamon swirl bread. The dough is similar to the sandwich bread, with higher percentages of butter and sugar. The swirl pattern used to really fascinate me. I remember thinking to myself when I was eating a slice of the Pepperidge Farm cinnamon swirl bread "how did they get the swirl in there??" All it really takes is to roll out the dough, sprinkle cinnamon sugar, and roll it into a log again. The bread internal temperature reached 188F before I removed it from the oven. And I let the bread cool for a good 45 minutes before slicing -- supposedly the bread continues cooking after it's taken out of the oven. So if one slices into the bread immediately, it will not have finished cooking and the rest will cool down so fast that it also remains undercooked. This time the bread has a buttery soft texture without being gummy. I think next time I will add some toasted walnuts.

first the dough was shaped into an 8" wide rectangle.

It needs to be rolled to 8"x18" (I used a piece of kitchen twine to keep the length)

There was some uneven places in the dough and some cinnamon sugar lleaked out of the an area where the dough was stretched too thin.

Making Biscotti

2009-03-23T07:17:00.005-05:00

Biscotti is the plural form of biscotto. Bis- means twice, while -cotto means cooked or baked. These crispy cookies are baked twice to give them a super crispy texture and a dry state which allows them to be kept for weeks. This is one of the easiest cookies to make. The dough is made with creamed butter and sugar, eggs, flavoring and fillings (like nuts, raisins, etc), and then the dry ingredients (flour, salt, and baking powder). It's quite a sticky dough. So the only tricky part is forming them into two long and flat logs for the first baking -- well-floured hands are necessary to avoid sticking. After they are baked to fairly firm and starting to crack on top, they are cooled slightly and sliced. The sliced cookies are baked again on both sides to dry them out quickly. I followed the recipe from The Best Recipe that included almond extract, orange zest and toasted almonds. Yum!

Making an American Sandwich Loaf

2009-03-23T07:02:00.002-05:00

Contrary to the European breads, the American sandwich breads are much softer and less crusty. This is mainly due to the use of lower-gluten flour and the addition of fat in the forms of butter, oil, or milk. I'm sure everyone likes the complex flavored European breads, which tend to have longer fermentation times and better starting ferment -- basically leftover yeasty dough from decades of bread making. But to make a nice soft PB&J sandwich or an Asian style breakfast sandwich (ham + egg), the American sandwich bread really offers the best texture. This recipe is from The Best Recipe (from people who publish Cook's Illustrated) and is very easy and efficient. The dough is made with all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, milk, water, butter, and instant yeast. Isn't it magical that these amorphous ingredients can come together and become this beautiful looking piece of food?

After only ~40 minutes of fermenting, the dough was rolled to an 8"x8" square -- basically to the width of the load pan

Roll the dough up into a cylinder, tucking in all the seams and let it ferment for another 20 minutes

Doubled in size!

Then after 45 minutes of baking -- voila!

PS. some notes for myself -- if you look closely, the center of the bread was looser than the perimeter. This is because when I rolled the dough, I stretched the dough before I started rolling and only loosely rolled it toward the end, so there was more dough on the outside then the inside. Also I think I slightly underbaked it. So the center is a little bit gummy!

Orchid Show at the NY Botanical Garden

2009-03-21T19:22:00.003-05:00

The New York Botanical Garden is in the Bronx area, and is SUPER far from where I live. It took me a good 1.5 hours on the train and then 15 minutes of walking to get here. But the weather was gorgeous today, so I didn't mind the walking. The air was crisp and cool. The orchid show took place in the gigantic green house complex where a large number of tropical plants are kept. There are some interesting breeds of orchids, but overall I was somewhat disappointed by the variety on display. I thought there would have been more exotic species. Nevertheless there were many beautiful flowers to behold:

Fake Croissant

2009-03-18T21:59:00.001-05:00

These look like croissant but they are really just like dinner rolls. It's a rapid rise yeast dough with butter and baking powder added. They are better right after baking. They tend to dry out quickly after a day or two -- but they do not become crispy kind of dry; they dry from the inside out, still tender, but the crumbs are more saw-dust like. They are ok for a breakfast sandwich!

Obviously I need to practice rolling out dough into a square shape...these are in all very inconsistent sizes!!

which is why there are fat ones and skinny ones

Thank goodness they all bake at about the same rate, fat or slim!

Saturday night dinner

2009-03-14T20:52:00.002-05:00

This is what we had on Saturday night for dinner -- poached halibut with a sweet and sour sauce (改編版西湖醋魚), brussels sprouts in a tomato sauce (茄汁小包心菜), and steamed egg with toppings of diced mushroom and chicken in an oyster sauce (名為雞粒豆腐 -- 實際上是蒸蛋加蠔油雞粒香菇的澆頭). And as you can see, we are now eating multi-grain rice! Well, the reason for this post is to show off our new plates! We just got a new set of plates from Crate and Barrel. After much deliberation, I decided to just buy all white plates and bowls. But I made sure to mix in some rectangular and square dishes with the round ones. I opted for the fairly thick and sturdy types, rather than those super thin bone china plates. I don't think I will ever like using bone china for dinner because I will be too afraid to use them. Also I'd like to stick dirty dishes in the dishwasher. And of course, these are much much cheaper!

GMHC fund raising event "Savor"

2009-03-10T06:53:00.006-05:00

The GMHC is a non-profit organization that works on public policy issues such as prevention and care for HIV/AIDS. I was lucky enough to be Mike's date at a table that his firm bought for the night. The event was billed as a "foodie"night, featuring Ted Allen as the host, and four famous NYC chefs who were responsible for each of the 4 courses served.

First course by Anita Lo (Annisa): Ceviche of sea scallops with celery and green apple - I think this was a typo. It was julienned celery root in the middle, and decorated with a couple of celery leaves. Overall it was not very flavorful. There wasn't much of the sour and sweet and salty contrasts I was expecting. The scallops were barely ceviche because it was pretty much raw. It was also over-salted with this brown sea salt. I have to say, we were also disappointed by the restaurant Annisa's tasting menu a couple of years ago. I've also heard gripes about her other ventures (Rickshaw, The Dumpling Truck). What's up Anita?? I was so impressed when you were on the Martha Stewart show! Get your act together!

Second course by Anne Burrell (host of Secrets of a Restaurant Chef) - Duck confit with Asian pear and Belgian endive - This was pretty good. But who can really mess up duck confit. A smart choice as well -- this can be cooked days ahead (compared to any ceviche which has to be timed very precisely). The confit was moist, rich in duckily ducky fat, and benefited from additional sweetness of slivers of Asian pear. It paired well with the bitter greens Belgian endive and (I think) arugula.

Third course by Suvir Saran (Devi): Venison chops with warm potato salad with mustard-oil, cilantro and onions - the venison chop was fairly well cooked. but it was quite heavily spiced that I was overwhelmed by the hotness. The cilantro didn't come out very well in the potatoes. It was overall a little blah.

Fourth course by Pichet Ong (P*Ong): Chevre cheesecake, huckleberry walnut cookie crumbs - this was my favorite of the night. Pichet Ong sort of got his fame when he was with Jean Georges. With his new restaurant, he was said to be experimenting with the combination of savory and sweet components to great success. This was quite a lovely dessert -- I definitely wouldn't have thought of using goat cheese in a cheesecake. But it had such a lovely texture -- creamy but fluffy at the same time! The slight hint of savoriness in the goat cheese and a little salt from the walnut cookie crumb made the whole dish very interesting. If I had to pick on it, I thought the portion was rather too large. A rectangular narrow plate with just two pieces would have been pretty-looking and just the right amount.

Ted Allen was just like he is on TV -- except on speed or something! He was speaking so fast and sort of jumpy, laughing at his own jokes before we had a chance to laugh...umm. Sutton Foster from Shrek: The Musical performed a couple of songs. What a voice! She can belt, she can be tender, she can caress, and she can be cute. Oh and she can also do a little dance! (But do all broadway actresses train with the same voice teacher? How come they all sound kind of similar??) The night also featured silent and live auctions. Seriously, if anyone is looking for a good deal to buy vacation packages, please consider these fund raising events. Of the ones I've been to, I've never seen the price go beyond the listed value. A package including 2-night in Athens and 7-night luxury cruise around the Greek islands and Turkey was listed for $16,250 but sold for $7,000! Another trip listed for $55,000 sold for $10,000. Who knew rich people can be stingy. (I guess I've only been to auctions featuring the upper middle class hahaha! I'm sure the uber rich wouldn't bid on vacation packages)

A hidden isle of calmness - Hangawi

2009-03-03T20:16:00.004-05:00

Nuts and dumplings -- steamed dumplings stuffed with ground nuts and vegetables. The wrapper is typical tender Korean style (in contrast to the more elastic and chewy Chinese kind). Nothing to write home about.

Tofu clay pot in ginger sauce - tender tofu with fried skin around it in a well-seasoned and balanced ginger sauce. Served with multi-grain rice. Very good.

Vermicelli Genghis Khan - vermicelli with a variety of fresh vegetables and mushrooms in a extremely flavorful and full-bodied broth. Excellent.

Acorn noodle salad. Nice sweet and tangy sauce with crunchy vegetables, fruits, and chewy noodles. Still not sure what the acorn is supposed to taste like. Ok.

Kabocha pumpkin stone bowl rice. A twist on bimbibop. The rice is mixed with herbs, roasted vegetables and, of course, roasted kabocha squash. Very tasty!

Overall Hangawi offers a comfortable and peaceful dining environment. One is totally removed from the bustling world outside. The food is all vegetarian; however, they have big flavors and were made with care. The price is quite steep for what we got, but part of it must go toward the ambiance and service. Also the high price might turn some people away so that the restaurant is never full and noisy?

Hangawi
12 E. 32nd St. (btwn 5th and Madison)

Steamed five spice pork buns 五香肉包

2009-02-22T21:14:00.008-05:00

These are common street food in Taiwan and China. The northern Chinese are famous for their wheat-derived dishes (麵點), such as noodles, dumplings, scallion pancakes, etc. Steamed pork buns are very common on breakfast tables. The southerners later came up with their own more refined version -- Shanghainese soupy buns . The northern style (what I made here) uses pure yeast-risen dough. The result is these plump, fluffy, and big buns with a ton of filling. The southern version wants a smaller bun that has thin and stretchable skin while holding in meat juices. So the dough is modified with hot water (prevents a lot of gluten formation so it is more tender) before being fermented with a yeast starter dough. I think that will be a much tougher technique, especially the wrapping part -- the dough is so thin, and the whole thing is very tiny; any mistake will make the skin break and the juice leak out. So I am making these Northern style ones just to get the wrapping technique down. It is actually not as hard as I thought -- check out this cool youtube video. The trick is really first to roll the dough to a circular shape with the outer edges thinner then the center. This is really easier said than done. As one can see from my pictures below, the edges of my wrappers aren't very thin, and it made the wrapping much harder. I guess this will just have to take a lot more practice. But since this is the Northern style bun, it is quite forgiving in term of the rolling and wrapping technique. The end result was quite good even though this is my very first time making these.

The dough is turned with the left hand while the right hand constantly rolls the pin to thin out the edge

look at the whoppingly big filling! It has ground pork, scallions, grated ginger, five spice powder, ground white pepper, salt, sugar, and soy sauce

Starting to pinch the edges

Here you can see the edges of my dough was too thick

wrapping finished!

Just 12 minutes in the bamboo steaming tray and they are done

Chinese breakfast "cake" 發麵燒餅

2009-02-16T09:58:00.007-05:00

When I was visiting my parents last month, my dad showed me his newest hobbies -- making Chinese pastries! He has a bread maker, which makes the proofing of the yeast-risen dough much more controlled. I've been thinking about trying this myself for a while since I got back. It's not hard to buy this kind of pastries in Chinatown. But it is probably difficult to find a really tasty one that is not laden with weird food additives. Making this at home also gives me much more flexibility in the filling. I ended up making two kinds -- scallions, goose fat, white pepper, and sichuan pepper, and salt; black sesame paste, white sesame paste, sugar, and oil. The proofing of the dough turned out much better than I imagined. Without a bread maker, I was really worried about the temperature control. The conventional wisdom is to put the bowl in the oven with a pan of boiling water underneath. It works out fairly well. The yeast dough will generate heat as it is proofing. The ideal temperature for using active dry yeast in this kind of general yeast-risen dough is 26-28C (78.8F-82.4F) for 2 hours. That is a pretty narrow range. but I think the dough itself and the bowl is at a higher temperature. It just shouldn't lose heat too quickly. I had to refill the water pan several times to keep the oven temperature in this range. I also think I kneaded the dough a bit too much. The finished product is a little bit tougher than I would have liked. Other improvements would need to include -- rolling it to be a bit thicker for thicker layers so that each bite would be more chewy; also if I had made fewer but bigger pieces, there would have been more chewy dough; the filling can be decreased, especially the goose fat -- it got everywhere!

Basic recipe: 7 g active dry yeast, 350g all purpose flour, 182 g water, some sugar
Sprinke yeast into part of the water. After ten minutes make sure it bubbly and floated to the top (sign of active yeast). Add everything to kitchen aid and knead into a smooth dough. Place into the oven for proofing for 2 hours.
dough should be baked at 350F for 20-25 minutes

Dough after proofing for 2 hours -- note the indentation made with a finger stays depressed, a sign of successful proofing

Rolling the dough out and spread with the filling with choice. Then roll it up.

Glaze with egg wash and top of sesame seeds

Same thing but with scallions, goose fat, salt, white pepper, sichuan pepper

Ready for the oven!!

Valentine's Day dinner

2009-02-15T07:17:00.003-05:00

While most people are probably out celebrating this day in restaurants, it is usually a good idea to stay home. V-day special menus tend to be expensive and frankly, not very good. We just received the March 09 issue of the Martha Stewart magazine so we just made the quickie dinner of the month.

Spring Onion soup
Scallops with wilted spinach and arugula
Pasta with spring herbs (dill and tarragon)
Cherry and amaretti parfait

Cherry goes really well with almond flavor. I poached dried cherries in water, sugar, and a dash of amaretto. The cream part is a bit too rich (cream cheese + ricotta cheese). I think yogurt would have been better. I think in this meal the soup and the pasta are the highlights. The pasta is only flavored with lemon zest, juice, olive oil, and herbs. but the lemon flavor really brightens the dish, while the herbs make every bite like an interesting stroll in the a garden on a spring morning. The soup is a quick version of a mutated french onion soup -- rather than cooking for 45 minutes for caramelization, the onions are only cooked for 15 minutes; the beef and veal stock is replaced with chicken stock and water. In addition to the olive oil drizzled on top, as instructed by the recipe, we also added a bit of white truffle oil for a twist. Nothing to say about the scallops and wilted greens, except my kitchen will smell like a restaurant for days to come. All in all a satisfying, budget-conscious, and quiet Valentine's Day dinner.

Eggplant salad

2009-02-11T21:25:00.003-05:00

A very easy appetizer or side dish. Boil 2 Japanese eggplants for 8 minutes. Soak them in iced water for 5 minutes, then drain and lightly squeeze out excess water. Cut into sections and serve with a sauce made with: 1 Tbsp minced scallion, 1 Tbsp grated ginger, 1 Tbsp grated garlic, 1 Tbsp minced cilantro, 1 Tbsp Chinese black vinegar, 2 Tbsp thick soy sauce, 2 Tbsp ketchup, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1 Tbsp sesame oil, minced chili pepper to taste.

Debt Collection Agency

2009-02-11T06:45:00.003-05:00

I received a letter from a debt collection agency. It says I owe some $1000+ to someone some time in 2000. The company to whom I supposedly owe this money is listed. The funny thing is, I was nowhere near that city, not even the state, when the debt allegedly occurred. Now, being a generally good citizen and a well-raised Taiwanese boy, I thought I should dispute this in good faith and also to clear things up for everyone's benefit. But the letter goes one step further to scare me into complying with it -- it says that the agency will assume this debt is valid if I do not dispute it within 30 days. Now it is one of those rare times when you think to yourself, hey, it's not bad to have access to free attorney advice. I was told by my in-house lawyer that, no, they can't just assume such and such. They don't even have proof that I received the letter. His advice? Ignore it unless it shows up on my credit report.

Well, it doesn't. So I am ignoring it. But this action goes completely against what I instinctively would have done. Someone should sue this company. I could have been scammed into paying this if I was an 80-year old bat not knowing any better!!!

Lunch at the Pine Garden

2009-02-08T16:11:00.012-05:00

深深庭園松
朦朦煙雨朧
食養羹肴膳
啜茶山房中

 appetizing drink: Mulberry vinegar drink with pomegranate seeds 開胃飲品桑椹果醋與石榴子

appetizer - abalone with mashed mountain taro; homemade peanut tofu with mountain pearls; marinated eggplant 開胃菜 - 小鮑魚山芋; 花生豆腐配山粉圓; 漬茄子

Steamed egg custard with dried sea scallops and Japanese yam 干貝蒸蛋配山藥泥

Tofu-skin sushi with pickled anchovies 豆皮鯷魚壽司

appetizing drink: Rose petal vinegar drink with pomegranate seeds 開胃飲品玫瑰果醋與石榴子

sashimi assortment 刺身拼盤

appetizing drink: black date vinegar drink with pomegranate seeds 開胃飲品黑棗果醋

prawn with fried rice cake and cabbage 明蝦糕炸

Dried mullet roes and king oyster mushroom Taiwanese rice roll 烏魚子飯糰

Chicken soup with Lotus flower 蓮花雞湯

Fruit plate with passion fruit and strawberry juice 餐後水果配百香果草莓汁

Dessert - taro paste with pearl barley and long-yan and red date sauce 甜點 - 金箔芋泥配薏芢與桂圓紅棗醬

Lotus tea 蓮花茶

My mom and I visited a wonderful restaurant/tea house 食養山房 up on the Yang-Ming Mountain (陽明山). Taiwan is truly blessed with natural resources. The surrounding ocean offers fresh seafood, and the mountainous terrain and temperate climate provide excellent conditions for fruits, vegetables, and teas. This restaurant is situated on the mountain, in a pine tree garden (松園). When we visited the restaurant, the mountain was permeated by a misty rain and fog. It added another layer of tranquility to the atmosphere. The food is a cleaned up version of mainly Chinese and somewhat pan-Asian type of cooking - healthy but flavorful food with pleasant presentation. At US$30 per person, this is truly a great deal.

Making Macaron

2009-01-20T07:18:00.002-05:00

I swear, these are my favorite cookies. And no, I didn't start liking them after the Parisian crowd (then Japan, then Taiwan...) fell into a frenzy over these tiny little petit fours. I really cannot recall when I had them for the first time. But I just love the outrageous colors and the lovely textures -- crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. The high sugar content and egg whites make the inside not only chewy but also sticky. It is also interesting that almond meal/flour (basically ground up almonds) is used, so there are bits and pieces of chewable almond particles. Again, Y had the most perfect notes and recipe from Le Cordon Bleu. We made pistachio, lemon, chocolate, and raspberry. There is just one master recipe of the dough (beat up egg white + powdered sugar + almond flour). Then it can be divided into portions to be mixed with flavoring and coloring:

Type: what's in the dough what's in the filling
Pistachio: green coloring only pistachio paste+butter
Lemon: yellow coloring+lemon zest lemon zest+lemon juice+strained apricot jam
Chocolate: cocoa powder+red coloring chocolate ganache
Raspberry: red coloring raspberry jam

I think the most successful one is the lemon. The pistachio ones are a very close second. The pistachio paste is SO GOOD! It tastes somewhat like almond paste, but a lot smoother and just heavenly (lost for words...). I only rank it second to the lemon ones because the cookie part had just the coloring, while the lemon ones contains the zest, which has a very nice zing. The raspberry and chocolate ones are distant third and fourth. The recipe said that we're supposed to let the piped out dough rest for 15 minutes to an hour, but we were in a hurry to bake the chocolate ones. I think that is why they cracked. But it also may have something to do with the extra dry ingredient (cocoa powder). In any case, the chocolate cookie part does not have the right texture -- too much cripy part and not enough chewy part. The raspberry one is not bad, but all it takes is some decent raspberry jam.

Now I am dreaming about other possibilities...passion fruit, mango, coconut, grapefruit, blood orange, osmanthus flower, jasmine+green tea, sesame, rose, elderflower...

Making Pate

2009-01-19T11:51:00.005-05:00

When my friend Y called to ask me if I wanted to join in the sharing of a quarter pig purchase, I thought "why not?" Well, I took home all these random parts like kidney, liver, and heart. So it is only natural to make some pate out of the liver. I've never attempted it before so I was very excited, especially at the prospect of using caul fat! It is a beautiful piece of fatty membrane that surrounds the internal organs. It has a fractal pattern of the fatty deposits. In Chinese cooking it is sometimes used to wrap fish before steaming or frying, and sometimes used to wrap deep frying items. The idea is sort of like larding a piece of roast to keep it moist. The recipe is from NPR, although I substituted the chicken livers with pig liver. It taste pretty good!!

Tea Amai & Bake House

2009-01-03T15:10:00.004-05:00

The Cornell "ChemE Jury" group had a reunion again since John was in town. Too bad Joe is missing again this time. We first had brunch at Cafe Cluny in the West Village. The food was good, but the portion was a bit small. We continued our conversation at yet another tea place in the vicinity of East Village, Tea Amai & Bake House. The place is tiny with about only 6 tables. The back room has more of an "atmosphere" with low lighting, and little foot traffic. We had to sit in the front and endured the cold draft whenever someone walked in and out of the place. It's not really a tea house because it's pretty much a self-service place (order and take your own stuff to your table or to-go), although one can order pots of tea. The pastries are all asian influenced and are quite delectable -- they were all deliberately sweetened very lightly. We tried an assortment of cookies, a matcha chocolate cake, and their signature green tea cupcake. Overall a nice place to get tea and pastries, but not really all that ideal to sit for a long time.

My African Violet

2008-12-26T18:09:00.001-05:00

I have finally managed to make my African violet flower again! I tried so many things, but in the end it's the sun-bathing that did the trick!!!

2008 Christmas Dinner

2008-12-25T22:05:00.006-05:00

Menu:

Braised Goose with Veal, Pork, and Chestnut Sausage Stuffing
Brussel Sprouts and Chestnuts sauteed in goose fat
Potatoes Dauphinois
Taiwanese "Pudding Cake" (Creme Caramel on top of Chiffon Cake)

Night at the Boston Pops

2008-12-17T22:34:00.001-05:00

Beautiful night with the Boston Pops, Michael Bolton at the Symphony Hall

Michael Bolton and the Boston Pops

Five golden rings!

Podunk

2008-11-12T22:33:00.005-05:00

left: lady's black tea; upper right: our earl grey; upper left: apricot jam, whipped cream, strawberry jam; lower right: cute tea strainer

Upper right: cucumber sandwiches with cheese biscuits; middle: cookies, a yummy cupcake, and baby figs and berries; bottom: scones scones scones!!!! and cookies, cakes, and berries

I have been going to Cha-An for tea too many times. So my friends Charles, Iris, Damien and I went to Podunk instead. There are quite a few tea places in NYC to choose from (yelp search). This is not a high society ladies' luncheon type of gathering (do I EVER have that anyway??) so I just wanted to have a casual laid back atmosphere. The tea house is really small and cozy, with mismatched chairs and tables. The owner is a super nice lady who bakes pastries in the back and prepares everyone's tea in the front kitchen. Iris and I both had the "Old Friends' tea" set, which came with a large pot of earl grey and cucumber sandwiches, and a full plate of cookies, cakes, scones, and fruits. The scones are sooooo good -- the best ones I've had since I had high tea at the Park Lane Hotel in London last summer. They are accompanied by whipped cream (I think...it's definitely not as thick as clotted cream, but seems a bit fuller than my own whipped heavy cream...maybe double cream??) and apricot jam and strawberry jam. The strawberry jam is HEAVENLY!! We are definitely returning here soon. The place also does not accept gratuities, so that suits me, a cheapster, very well!

Podunk
231 E 5th St
New York, NY 10003
(212) 677-7722

P.S. What a coincidence that the NY Times wrote about Podunk (along with Cha-An, Tea Box, and Cendrillon) the day after we visited it.

spiced pumpkin custard tartlette

2008-11-12T22:28:00.004-05:00

I made these with silicone tartlette molds. They came out really easy -- partly because of the non-stick silicone, partly due to the high-butter tart dough. I still need to bake these differently next time. The custard puffs up way high in the oven and collapses during cooling. There has to be a better way to do this. Usually a waterbath is necessary to keep the custards at a low temperature. but I don't think the dough will cook as well in a waterbath. Maybe I will need to prebake the shells and then bake the custard in a waterbath.

Greetings from down under

2008-08-13T15:58:00.001-05:00

Check out the other photos here

Unacceptable wrap

2008-01-06T12:18:00.000-05:00

There are a gazillion lunch choices in the downtown area surrounding the Wall St. financial district. I usually go to the Water Cafe to get a Korean tofu soup. But on Friday I was really in the mood for a change, so I went to this long-time establishment on Front St., the Trinidad Roti truck. Apparently it has been there for more than 15 years. And my coworker Marlon always eats from there, and it usually smells quite good. Anyway, I ordered the oxtail roti wrap. And thank goodness I had the sense to be eating more neatly with a knife and a fork. Why? Lo and behold, as I cut into the wrap, my knife was stubbornly stuck halfway down cutting through the log --

BY A PIECE OF BONE!!!

And no, it was not a sliver piece of bone that was accidently left in the meat. All pieces of oxtail in the wrap were just still nicely still clinging onto their pieces of tail bones. Who puts bones in a freakin' wrap?? If I had bitten into the damn thing I would have broken my teeth. and not to mention that I spent $6.50 for a wrap containing only 4 pieces of oxtail, WITH MOSTLY BONES!!!!

This truck is now on my black list.
*still fuming*

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T00:22:00.000-05:00

Mike and I continued our little tradition of a 4-people dinner on New Year's eves -- we had our friends Charles and Damien over. And again we followed the traditional meal progression - soup course, seafood course, meat course, salad, and dessert.

Soup: Mushroom cream soup (from the Gourmet Cookbook)
Seafood: Soy-citrus scallops on a bed of soba noodle salad (from the Gourmet Cookbook)
Meat: Poached scallion and ginger chicken with white rice (from Kylie Kwong)
Salad: Jicama avocado and orange salad (from the Gourmet Cookbook)
Dessert: my friend Charles brought a cake from the famed Yeh's bakery in Flushing, NY

We had a 1998 vintage Dom Perignon Champagne
For the meat course, we had the red Burgundy; for the seafood course we had the Reisling.

Happy New Year!

Creepy candles

2007-12-27T16:57:00.000-05:00

Mike and I won these creepy candles from my friends Helen and Dan's holiday party Yankee's Swap. All credits to Helen who picked out these candles. Imagine a huge factory far away in...I dunno, China? that makes baby-powder-scented candles in miniature glass baby-strollers. All hail to globalization. If you don't know what these candles are for -- well, aren't you glad this blog is informative of such useful products? These are all-occasion candles. For weddings we have the couples candles (yes the melting headless white candles) -- they do come in three so you have 3 chances of using them at your weddingS. Then the baby stroller candle for the baby shower, of course. Champaign candle for all-purpose celebrations. And finally, a watchful virgin Mary candle for those of you repenting your dirty dirty sins!

Birthday cake

2007-12-26T16:23:00.000-05:00

We celebrated my friend Vivian's daughter's first birthday at a Flushing seafood restaurant. I was tasked with the cake. Not able to find a bakery that would take an advanced cake order, I just made one myself. Vivian specifically instructed no nuts or chocolate. But I think we both had the same kind of cake in mind. I think all Chinese/Taiwanese kids around my age (umm I won't reveal the actual number here) would recall this kind of birthday cakes from our childhood -- layers of light yellow sponge cake and snowy white whipped cream mixed with various fruit chunks. The cake is usually plainly frosted with the same kind of whipped cream, and topped with more fruits -- but what is common to all these cakes are slices of canned yellow peaches 水蜜桃! To this day, canned peaches are still a guilty pleasure of mine. When I was little, I always begged my mom to get a can of peaches if I tagged along with her to the western-style supermarket.

Other than the peaches, I still used fresh fruits -- fresh strawberries, kiwis, and d'Anjou pears. I only had a slight worry about the frosting -- unlike buttercream, which holds its shape incredibly well, whipped cream is not all that stable. Thankfully I found a recipe of stabilized whipped cream in the Joy of Cooking -- simply mix 1 Tbsp water with 1 tsp gelatin; let it dissolve into a clear mixture in a simmering waterbath; after it has cooled to room temp, mix it into 1 cup of heavy cream as it is being whipped. The sponge cake recipe is from Julia Child's book Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I made this recipe twice to have two thick layers. Two cups of heavy cream and ~3 cups of fruit chunks were enough to fill and frost the cake. I made a variation by adding lime zests to the yolk-sugar mixture.

Sponge Cake (1 layer) (from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child)

4 eggs, separated
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
pinch salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup cake flour, sifted

1. Cut out parchment paper to fit a 9" spring form pan. Butter the pan and parchment paper. With the paper stuck on the bottom of the pan, coat the pan and paper with flour. Turn the oven to 350F.
2. Beat egg yolks with 2/3 cup sugar and vanilla until pale yellow and ribbony.
3. In a separate bowl beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in 2 Tbsp sugar and salt. Beat until stiff peaks form
4. Sift 1/4 of all the flour and 1/4 of the beaten egg white into the yolk mixture. Fold until partially incorporated. Repeat with 1/3 of the remaining whites and flour until partially incorporated. Repeat again with 1/2 of the remaining whites and flour until partially incorporated.
5. Fold in the rest of the flour and whites and half of the melted butter until partially incorporated. Pour in the rest of the butter and fold to incorporate.
5. Pour batter into the pan and bake for 30-35 min until a cake tester from the cake center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 6 minutes. Remove the cake and cool completely on the rack.

Moroccan Lamb with Quinces

2007-12-25T15:58:00.001-05:00

Well I pulled off the 10-people dinner party rather successfully, I must say. The Christmas tree provided very nice lighting and ambiance. My friend Yvonne brought the most amazing cheese (Vacherin Mont d'Or, supposedly available only once a year from a specific Swiss region) that the guests continued to rave about a week later. Mike was, of course, in charge of the drinks. He managed to give so much booze out that everyone was drinking water by the end of the night. I was way too tired to bother taking pictures. But here's an old picture of the Moroccan Lamb dish with couscous exactly how they were served. The recipe was, you guessed it, from Martha's magazine. The addition of saffron gave the dish an exotic edge, and the lamb was cooked to falling off the bones. In my opinion, the shank was such an amazing cut because all the connected tissue becomes a soggy sticky mess that creates a great mouth feel. The high-pectin content in quinces thickened the sauce very nicely, and it is a welcomed change from the usual starch-based thickening agents (flour, corn starch, etc.). The pear-apple fragrance from the quinces complimented the lamb very well. Imagine, a good lamb stew without red wine or stock!

Recipe: Lamb and Quince Tagine

(from Martha Stewart Living, December 2007)

6 lamb shanks

2 Tbsp oil

2 medium onions thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves chopped

1.5 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp cayenne pepper

9 cups water

¼ cup honey

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

½ tsp saffron threads

4 quinces, ~2 lb, peeled and quartered

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

3 Tbsp sliced almonds toasted

season lamb shanks and brown all sides
Cook onions, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, and cayenne for ~4 min. Add lamb back and add enough water to cover. Add honey, 1/3 cup cilantro, and saffron. Bring to a boil and cover, simmer for 2 hours
Meanwhile, bring 4 cups of water with lemon juice to a boil. Add quinces and cover with parchment paper. Cook for ~40 min. Drain, remove seeds. Puree half of them.
Take out lamb and reduce liquid by about half, for 20 min. Skim fat. Add back in lamb, pureed quinces and whole quinces. Cook for another 20-25 minutes.
Serve by topping with cilantro and almonds.

My first Christmas tree!!!

2007-12-10T21:54:00.001-05:00

I had no idea Christmas trees are so expensive!! And I learned so much about having a tree -- it's not just the lights and ornaments. I learned about tree stand, tree skirt, and tree bags. I also learned of the different techniques of hanging tree lights to create different effects. I thought I was going to follow the directions and string the lights tightly on each and every single branch. But then I came to my senses. Now I just need a fireplace to go with my tree...

Pike quenelles with mushroom cream sauce

2007-12-08T19:58:00.000-05:00

I had planned to make this dish for my upcoming dinner party. The recipe came out of the Gourmet Cookbook, from which I have yet to make a bad dish; that is, until now. Quenelles are named such because of the shape -- any semi-solid food ingredients can be coaxed into a football shape with two large soup spoons. In this case the quenelles are made out of white fish paste, egg white, and heavy cream. I suppose this method came about when there were a lot of fish with too many bones. After the fish is ground up with egg white and then mixed with the heavy cream, the pasty mixture had to be forced through a fine sieve -- an undertaking that I soon realized would prevent me from ever attempting this dish for a dinner party, not to mention I would have had to double the recipe to accommodate the number of guests. The paste was so thick that it took A LONG TIME to get to the final fine paste. The obvious need was to get rid of the bones back when this recipe was devised -- but I started with boneless red snapper filet!

In any case the taste was not worth the effort. The quenelles simply tasted like Japanese fish cakes, not as airy/light as the recipe suggested. The sauce, however, was magnificent. And it really couldn't be simpler to make -- cook white wine with shallots and reduce; then add fish stock and further reduce; finally add heavy cream and mushrooms and reduce some more. At least I learned to make an easy seafood cream sauce out of this!

Martha vs. Rachel Ray

2007-11-08T22:49:00.000-05:00

I will take Martha over Rachel Ray on any day. I read this today. Apparently Rachel Ray's foray into the lifestyle media arena has generated some competitive spirits on both sides. Rachel has in fact hired the old publisher at Martha's Everyday Food magazine to do her own fast food publication. (just a side note, can it get even faster than 30 minutes? Like, what? 30 seconds?) The last line of the article is funny: In short, Martha doesn't think that Ray is a good thing, and Ray doesn't think Martha is delish.

I've got All Clad pans

2007-11-08T07:46:00.000-05:00

All Clad really has done a fantastic job advertising itself by sponsoring a countless cooking shows on TV. As long as I can remember, almost all the PBS cooking shows are sponsored by All Clad. And not to mention the Food Network ones -- that is, until the show host gets his/her own line of cookware. These pans do lend themselves nicely in front of TV cameras. They're shiny and modern looking. And now that I used them, I can confidently say they DO work better than my old cheap-brand pans. They do take shorter time to heat up, and there really isn't any hot spot! I know this because I was making caramel with the new sauce pan, and the caramel was made evenly and gradually. In the past, the sugar liquid would turn from colorless to amber on random spots on the bottom of the pan, and I would always have to swirl it frequently to keep it a homogeneous mixture. Not so with my new pans! The entire body of the sugar liquid turns yellow-ish and then amber in a uniform fashion. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

Oh, did I mention Mike bought them for me for my birthday? I contemplated for a while if we really needed them. After all, we have managed quite well with our old stuff. But recently I have created a new use for my induction cooker -- I used it on the outdoor patio to do high heat cooking. We have even semi-deep fried cod filets! The joy of seeing the clouds of smoke NOT in the house is indescribable (ok you can call me anal). So it was imperative for me to get more pans that work on the induction cooker (I only had one small pan that worked before). We almost got talked into buying Le Creuset, but my weak arms just wouldn't have it.

Kylie Kwong

2007-09-25T18:52:00.000-05:00

I was really happy to have found a new cooking show on TV that entertains and is also instructional. Actually, I found an entirely new channel (new to me anyway) -- Discovery Home. Kylie Kwong is a 4th generation Chinese Australian and is quite a famous chef over there. I like her show because her food always looks scrumptious and her cooking instructions clear, simple, and concise. I also like her because she bears an uncanny resemblance to my friend Yvonne. I think her show is the only Chinese food cooking show on TV at this moment since I haven't seen Yan Can Cook (annoying host, supposedly fake accent, and not very educational overall) for a while, and East Meets West has also disappeared (Ming is also slightly overbearing with his jock-ish manners; and the show is fusion style and poorly adaptable to home cooking). Kylie's food is mostly simplified Chinese recipes, with occasional fusion twists. But she just seems so approachable and pleasant. Each show is stylishly edited, with surprisingly small percentage of time spent in the kitchen.

The recipe I tried is her poached chicken with soy and ginger sauce. It is quite clever -- the chicken is poached for a very short amount of time on the stove, and left in the hot broth for over 3 hours off the flame. During this time the meat is gently cooked, but the highly seasoned broth, full of ginger, rice wine, and scallion flavors, slowly infuses all its goodness into the tender flesh. The overall time is about 4 hours from beginning to finish, but the active time probably amounts to no more than 20 minutes. It is indeed one of the best soy and ginger chicken I've tasted.

Mooncakes (Mid-Autumn Festival)

2007-09-03T19:39:00.000-05:00

The Mid-Autumn Festival this year is not until 9/25. But I have been itching to make mooncakes since I bought several mooncake molds in an antique market in Shanghai back in 2005. In my mind there are mainly two kinds of mooncakes -- the Cantonese kind and the SuZhou-style kind. A Cantonese mooncake has a very thin, tender, and buttery crust, and a very high filling-to-crust ratio. The other kind has the Chinese puff pastry style crust and is usually much smaller than the Cantonese kind. Well, according to Wikipedia, there is apparently a third kind popular in Taiwan, which uses shortbread-style dough for the crust. After much research into various recipes, I saw most of the Cantonese crusts require the use of lye water to treat the dough. I don't know...I have been brainwashed into thinking that using lye water is bad. The Chinese style puff pastry is something I have always wanted to try. But alas, I am not about to use shortening, and I was not able to find rendered leaf lard at the Grand Army Plaza Green Market this weekend. This leaves me with the shortbread-style crust. The filling was easy -- I just bought a can of Xiang Lian Rong (湘蓮蓉) -- Lotus seed paste, which came already mixed with sugar and peanut oil. Other than that, the only things I needed that are out of an ordinary American kitchen are the molds and some dried milk powder. The result is a mooncake with much crumblier crust. It is almost like a butter cookie, except even more enriched with the milk powder. As my pastry skills still leave much to be desired, I think the filling-to-crust ratio was a bit high. But Mike agrees that these cakes are perfect with a cup of a English tea! Now all we need is the beautiful full moon and a pleasant company!

Recipe: Simplified Mooncakes
(Adapted from "Chinese Snacks - Wei-Chuan Cooking Book" by Huang Su-Huei, 1976)

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk powder (I used Nestle Klim whole milk powder)
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
pinch of salt
1 lb lotus seed paste
1 egg yolk

1. In a kitchen aid mixer with the whisk attachment, mix eggs with powdered sugar on medium speed for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, sift first 3 ingredients together. Mix well.
3. Add melted butter to the egg-sugar mixture and incorporate well.
4. Switch the mixing tool to the paddle, and mix in the dry ingredients to the butter-egg-sugar mixture. Mix until even incorporated. Do not overmix! 5. Dump the dough onto a working surface and divide into 20 portions.
6. Divide lotus seed paste into 20 portions as well.

7. Press each dough portion into a flat disc and wrap it around one portion of the lotus seed paste. Slowly close it all the way around and form it into a ball.
8. Press it into a mold, and then bang the mold upside down on the working surface to unmold the pastry.

9. Put all pastries on a silpat (or parchment paper), and brush with egg wash (egg yolk mixed with a little water)
10. Bake at 400F for 25-30 minutes until the surfaces are golden brown. Let cool and serve.

Dinner with Charles

2007-08-21T18:52:00.001-05:00

I have finally freed myself from working on weekends. For some reason, I was so brainwashed during my graduate school days that I never escaped from my work during the weekends. But I am now slowly getting used to the fact that weekends are my own time and work should not interfere with it.

Charles was here this weekend. I made ginger carrot soup and avocado BLTs for us to take to the Prospect Park for a lunch picnic. We tried to play backgammon but the instructions were too complicated. Then for dinner we made salmon burgers, green beans with black sesame dressing, and Japanese congee. All these are recipes from "Harumi's Japanese Cooking." She is reportedly the Martha-like figure in Japan. And her recipes are really easy to follow at home. Best of all, more than half of the recipes are quite light, healthy, and perfect for the summer. I also learned to use my microwave as more than just a reheater for leftovers. I now have cooked chicken thighs (for chicken salads), green beans (in the picture), asparagus (I made up a salad with just olive oil, salt, pepper, and an undercooked poached egg), potatoes (for the salmon burger), and carrots (her carrots salad recipe). It is unbelievably easy and the kitchen remains cool and oil-free. Of course this cannot replace all wok-frying or steaming, but for making many summer salads this is a perfect way to blanch veggies.

Her salmon burgers are quite different and good. Chopped up salmon is mixed with plain mashed potato (no milk or anything), eggs, onions, and ground pork. The end result is a nice moist salmony patties with interesting texture (potato), juiciness (pork), and the liveliness of the fish. This is a smart way to use up scraps of salmon pieces if you end up buying too large of a fillet piece.

The green beans with sesame seeds is now one of my favorite veggie dishes. The only labor intensive part is that each green bean should be cut into bit-size pieces AND split open length-wise. This latter part is important because the outer surface of the green beans is too slippery to grab onto enough of the sesame sauce. And the dressing couldn't be easier -- soy sauce, powdered sugar, mirin, and crushed toasted black sesame seeds. Not a single drop of fat! So tasty, and so good for you too!

WImbledon

2007-07-02T14:19:00.001-05:00

It started as a dreary, rainy, and cold morning. I set out from Maze Hill at 6am, taking the train to the London Bridge; then I tranferred to another train to the Wimbledon station. Transferring yet again with 6 other passengers onto a shuttle bus, which let us out at the end of a very very long queue at around 7:45am. Supposedly the Brits love to queue. And they don't speak up when someone cuts in front of them because they have too much pride to make a scene. The queue was very orderly. I made friends with my neighbors in front and behind me, who kept my position in line while I got myself a bacon sandwich and some bad coffee (for 5 quids!). There are queue stewards who gave each person joining the queue a queuing card, providing the legitimacy of the queuing position.

It was good to have made friends with the ladies behind me, and the tennis gods must have been very kind to me. At about noon, the rain came pouring down, halting play on all the courts. Many people were going in and out of it, and we somehow managed to slip past the guards and entered the stadium! And once you are in, no one comes to check your ticket anymore. And I was lucky that the second seat I chose turned out to be empty all day. I saw Fernando Gonzales losing a long five-setters to Tipsarevic and I also saw Serena Williams!! And of course I got horribly sun burned without any sunscreen. If I didn't have dinner plans with my friend Sophie in London, I would have stayed to watch Roger Federer.

And before I had left the Wimbledon grounds, how could I have gone without having the famous strawberries and cream? It was lovely.

Light summer supper

2007-06-17T22:35:00.001-05:00

Red snapper fillets were smeared with dijon mustard and covered with parsley and tarragon. Baked for only about 18 minutes and it was done just right. The green beans were dressed with a lemon and honey vinaigrette and topped with toasted pine nuts. The standby couscous from the Barefoot Contessa book rounds off the meal nicely.

Sharpening knives the old fashion way

2007-06-11T07:09:00.001-05:00

On an early Saturday morning a series of "ding ding dong dong" sound slowly increased in volume. Could it have been an ice cream truck? M and I looked at each other confusingly as we peered outside the windows in search of that approaching truck. Oh no, it was most definitely not an ice cream truck. It was a tool sharpening truck! How romantic, I pronounced! I would have never thought I would encounter such a neighborhoodly existence in New York City. Sure, in Taiwan we always had vendors coming around to sell all sorts of stuff under the sun -- roasted chicken wrapped in clay; veggies and fruits; sweet tofu treats; clothes; screen and glass repair. But here in NYC? Uh-uh. In my excitement I rushed out of our apartment building wielding two chef's knives and watched the sharpening longingly, full of anticipation. The truck owner essentially ground off the old knife edges and created two new ones. Upon more honing at home with my home-sharpening tools, they were restored to their magnificent sharpness.

Knife sharpening truck. It is a good thing.

Ham, Ham, and More Ham

2007-05-03T06:40:00.000-05:00

This is a postmortem on the 11-lb Virginia Smithfield ham I bought for the Chinese New Year's dinner way way back in February...there is still more than half of it hacked into pieces in my freezer. In my humble attempt to finish it I made a modfied version of chicken cordon bleu (boned chicken legs wrapped around a piece of ham and cheese, then cooked in tomato sauce) I also made somewhat a casserole dish with this ham, zucchini, mushrooms, and a bechamel sauce...and after all the chinese soups I flavored with random pieces of ham, I decided to call a stop to it before Mike and I overdose on nitrates. In any case, we liked the ham, but only to use it to flavor stock or soups.

The Omnivore's Dilemma

2007-03-05T22:34:00.000-05:00

Whooo! I just finished reading this Michael Pollan's book, named one of the 10 best books in 2006 by the NY Times. And what an excellent read it was. Over the last few weeks I almost missed my subway stop more than a few times on my commute to work because I was too much immersed in learning all about the omnivore's dilemma -- that is, what a modern man is to eat everyday?

The concept was as simple as it can be -- what am I going to eat today? What is it that I am eating? Where did it come from? How did it find its way to my plate? The book was divided into three sections: industrial/corn; pastoral/grass; personal/forest. The author traces the footprints of all the food ingredients back to its fundamental roots. Then, in the end, armed with the knowledge of the what, where, and how of the food, he sat down and enjoyed (at least tried to enjoy) the meal.

But why?

Mr. Pollan made a strong case with this question: why wouldn't you want to know who makes your food? We worry about a trustworthy investment advisor, a dependable car mechanic, a knowledgeable real estate agent, and even just a plumber. We solicit personal recommendations and website reviews before we go out and select any of these people. Why do we care less about the people/operations behind what nourishes our bodies? There are many possible answers -- like our trust in the USDA and the FDA. But we simply can't deny that most of us are operating with a state of blissful ignorance.

The industrial chain of operations led Mr. Pollan back to a field of corn in Iowa. From there he made his way to chicken farms and cattle feedlots. Along the way he learned about the antibiotics necessary for huge crowds of animals confined to a small space; the fossil fuel necessary to make nitrogen fertilizers for the corn; the pH change in a corn-fed cattle's stomaches that fosters the growth of deadly E. coli strain. Then, he and his family enjoyed a $14 McDonald's meal in a car speeding down an interstate. He also visited a grass farm on which grass, trees, chickens, pigs, cows, and humans constitute a sustainable harmonious farming cycle. And then at last, his exhilarating experiences of hunting (wild boar!), foraging (morels, chanterelles, and abalone!), and gardening made a most fascinating read.

My little write-up of course cannot do justice to this book. But I would recommend everyone to read it. It doesn't matter what you believe in -- organic, vegan diet, Atkins diet, fast food, slow food, whatever -- because the book does not teach you what you eat. It simply allows you to eat with a conscious knowledge about this very primitive, innate, and unchangeable human behavior -- putting food in your mouth.

"Easy" Pizzas

2007-03-03T17:55:00.000-05:00

My innate Chinese cheapness usually compels me to cook every single night. But there are times I just can't come home with enough energy to make a meal. We have recently exhausted nearby takeout spots, so we tried the Olive Vine Cafe, a middle eastern place, for some falafel and pizzas. The falafel was bad -- lukewarm and too dense. But the pizzas were simple and good. They used pita bread as the crust, and all sorts of toppings. This is quite similar to Barefoot Contessa's tartines. I realized that it is the perfect way to use up leftover food. And I also began to feel ripped off for paying $9 for each pizza. Hence two nights later I made my own versions of the same thing.

The first one has onions, roasted red bell pepper, and leftover skirt steaks that was marinated in soy sauce, ginger, rice wine, and garlic. The second one is topped with fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and fresh pesto sauce. The last one is almost a breakfast pizza, with sauteed vidalia onions and bacon and boiled potatoes. The concept is so simple, but the execution is what prevents a homecook from making them often. Assembly of the pizzas was a piece of cake, but before that I had to:

1. Roast a bell pepper over open flame until charred all over; place it in a bag to steam; peel off all skin and chop it into strips;
2. Boil 2 small potatoes and cut them into slices;
3. Toast a handful of pine nuts; slowly cook slices of garlic in olive oil; blend nuts, garlic, oil, and basil with salt and pepper to make pesto;
4. Blanch slices of onions for the steak pizza;
5. Saute bacon and vidalia onion until slightly caramelized.

This is why restaurants trumps at making these dishes -- they can do all of these prep steps on a much larger scale and make it a more economical process. If I had to make 10 pizzas, I probably would have spent just 20-30 minutes more to accommodate the increase in volume. But boiling 2 potatoes!? Ugh, I certainly felt wasteful just turning on the gas for that.

Chinese New Year Eve's Dinner

2007-02-21T21:50:00.000-05:00

Until this year, I have been spending Chinese New Year in Taiwan for the last 6 or 7 years. The festivity in NYC of course can't compare to those in Asia, but I was not going to lower my standard to attend the Chinese New Year Spectacular just to reconnect with my roots. Plus, all Chinese holidays are about food anyway. As long as you have lots of good food, you're all set. So I just needed to have enough people to justify making a full table of dishes. Hence my friend Vicky and her husband Tim became the victims of Albertitto's first Chinese New Year Eve's dinner! Vicky and I grew up together. We are what people would call 青梅竹馬...well sort of...Our moms have been coworkers for a long time, and we played and bathed together many times when we were little. (There are more embarrassing stories that I won't tell here) In any case, it was lovely to reunite again with Vicky in a foreign land after so many years.

Tim and Vicky brought wine and a fruit tart. I made steamed cod with scallions, ginger, and soy sauce; vegetarian ten delights; three-layered pork with brown sauce; beef with pickled mustard greens;black chicken and Virginia Smithfield ham soup with winter bamboo shoots (清蒸鱈魚, 素十錦, 東坡扣肉, 酸菜牛肉絲, 火腿冬筍竹絲雞湯) And we made pork/cabbage dumplings together. Then we played two rounds of Mahjong until Mike just couldn't take it anymore. Surprisingly, Tim, a big old Kansas white boy, played Mahjong better than anyone around the table that night.

I think the best of the Chinese New Year's traditions is the mountains of leftovers. On Monday, which happened to be a holiday, I made rice congee and ate it with the leftover vegetarian ten delights. I was instantly transported back to my childhood days in Taiwan... waking up late everyday during the weeklong vacation after each Chinese New Year's Eve, and enjoying this dish over hot congee in the lazy afternoon, wearing my lounging clothes...I guess this is the true spirit of this holiday -- to enjoy the bountiful food earned after a year of hard work, and to revel in the comfort of knowing your family doesn't have to worry about being hungry. Then, there are enough other holidays sprinkled throughout the year so that another festival and another holiday good eat are always just around the corner, until you realize that yet another year has gone by.

Real Food

2007-02-02T17:48:00.000-05:00

This is a post I was working on months ago, which I just never finished. But since Michael Pollan just wrote a much more eloquent and timely NYT article on a similar subject, I felt I had no more to add this matter with my bad writing...

(Also, I have not had internet or cable TV at home for almost a week now...which sucks in a way, but I have found so much more time to do other things like reading, cleaning, organizing, etc.)

Nina Planck has written a pretty convincing book on food advices. You see, she doesn’t use the words “healthy,” “organic,” or “natural” to describe her food of choice. Her label is “Real Food.” The book revolves around a central theme – that humans for tens of thousands of years have been eating both vegetables and animals, both grown the way nature intends them to be. Cows should graze on grass and not eat animal products; milk should be drank raw and not pasteurized; the list goes on. She proposes that modern industrialized food is the culprit for heart diseases and cancer. Throughout the book many references are given to bolster her claims. Although I think some of these information sources seem a bit dubious, I must admit that deep down I whole heartedly agree with her philosophy. The most convincing sections of the book are her detailed description of how modern farms quickly and efficiently raise animals and produces. Perhaps the most relevant, or timely, bit of information is that grain-based diet dramatically lowers cows’ digestive systems’ pH levels, creating a favorable environment for the deadly E. coli O157:H7 strain – the now notorious infecting agent hiding in uncooked spinach that caused an outbreak in the US just a few months ago. Other interesting fact include:

1. Pasteurization of milk creates more oxidized cholesterol (bad for your circulation), destroys naturally occurring enzymes such as lactase, which would help the digestion of lactose.

2. The grain diet fed to milk cows increase the omega-6 fatty acids and decrease omega-3 in milk production

What's in your freezer?

2007-01-18T21:08:00.000-05:00

Freezers hold foods at -20C, extending the shelf-life of most ingredients by months. It is hard to imagine how people coped without it back then. The content of one's freezer speaks volumes about her eating habits, cooking styles, and really, the lifestyle. My aunt had a box freezer in her garage that kept bags after bags of microwavable hamburgers and hot pockets. There were also tons of juice concentrate and frozen vegetables. The content of my freezer changed quite a bit over the years. When I had a car and groceries stores were not within walking distance, I usually shopped on weekends and bought meat in bulk packages. I kept lots of frozen beef, pork, and chicken for use on any day of the week.

Now I don't have a car, and I pass by a supermarket everyday after work. I shop for food almost daily. This way the food is always fresh, and I avoid leaving old produce in the fridge and letting them go to waste. So presumably my freezer would have more room now. That is really not the case. Here are the main items:

Chicken stock: I have (at the current count) 11 tupperware containers full of homemade chicken stock. This I simply cannot live without. The standby roast chicken dinner cannot be served without a good gravy. The coal miner's wife's low budget dinner pasta alla carbonara also requires excellent stock.

Chicken bones: can't have the above without it.

Nuts and rice: Supposedly nuts stay fresh longer in the freezer. Rice at room temperature sometimes breeds rice bugs, which are yucky.

Ice cream maker: Yup, I got the cheap kind. The bowl must be frozen before use.

Starbucks Almond Fudge Coffee Ice Cream: this is constantly stocked in my freezer...

Frozen buns: I get these from Chinatown markets. These are quick, easy, and fairly nutritious breakfast food.

Peas: One of very few veggies that freeze well. In fact, freshly shelled peas' sugar content drops dramatically fast. Unless you plan to shell your own peas from farm fresh peapods, frozen baby peas are likely much more tender and sweeter than fresh ones.

Other odds and ends: over-ripe bananas -- when I collect 4 bananas I make a loaf of banana bread; vodka - uh, not mine; extra pie dough; shrimp shell and heads - leftover from peeling shrimp and are excellent in fish stocks.

What's in your freezer?

Thumbprint Cookies

2007-01-15T10:51:00.000-05:00

Pepperidge Farm makes a really good version of these buttery cookies. Arguably, these store-bought cookies do taste a little better...the cookie's nuttiness, sweetness, butteriness, and its texture have probably been engineered to the optimal settings. But making these yourself really isn't hard at all, and you know for sure what goes into these little delights.

Recipe: Thumbprint Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1.5 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 egg, separated
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp fruit preserve of choice (I used raspberry)

1. Heat oven to 350 F
2. Blend well butter, egg yolk, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl
3. Sift flour and salt into the bowl and blend everything together until just incorporated
4. Roll dough into small balls, about 1 teaspoon each
5. Beat egg white in a small bowl until it is a little more liquid and foamy
6. Roll each dough ball in the egg white and cover it with chopped nuts.
7. Place dough balls 1 inch apart on a baking sheet. Press each one down with your finger, making an indentation.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on a cooling rack.
9. Fill each cookie with fruit preserve when cool. Serve or store in an air tight container.

New Year's Eve Dinner

2007-01-01T13:53:00.000-05:00

I had plenty of time to prepare for the New Year's Dinner this year. The original idea was to have a classic 5-course French dinner -- soup, fish, meat, salad, and dessert. But we were too lazy to get oysters for the fish course. Plus, I don't know how likely the fish store frequented by us has fresh oysters on a Sunday of a New Year's holiday weekend. Charles joined us for dinner and brought flowers. Most recipes are from the Gourmet Cookbook, except the dessert was from the Epicurious website and the chestnut/apple puree from Jacques Pepin's Fast Food My Way book.

We started with French pea soup. Leeks were softened in butter, simmered with chicken stock, peas, and Boston lettuce, then pureed into a smooth emulsion. The soup was finished with a few drops of heavy cream and fresh croûtons (cubed french bread, drizzled with butter, roasted for 25 minutes).

I have been waiting for an occasion to try this duck recipe for a while. This is a twist on the French classic Duck a l'orange. Instead of oranges, we have clementines. The duck is first slowly braised in a sugary broth in the oven to tenderize the meat. The duck is then fully chilled to firm up its integrity, while the broth is also cooled for degreasing. Meanwhile, clementine juice and peels are made into a sauce-to-be and a glaze for the duck skin. Finally, right before serving, the duck is quickly roasted at 500F to brown and crisp up the skin, and also to warm up the meat without sapping out all its juices. The pan drippings were deglazed with the cooking broth, then added to the sauce-to-be. The sauce was finished with Grand Marnier and corn starch. We served the duck with a silky apple and chestnut puree, which also contained some onion, chicken stock, and butter. We all loved this meat course!

Following the sweet meat course, the salad continued the trend with marinated roasted beets and fresh sliced Asian pears. The salad also had fragrant toasted almonds and tender mixed greens.

The dinner was capped with a caramelized upside-down pear tart, served with homemade vanilla ice cream. Yum!

Mogador Cake and Pear Charlotte

2006-12-29T00:34:00.000-05:00

My friend Yvonne took a summer course in French pastry at the famous French culinary institute Le Cordon Bleu Paris. And we got together to make some of the beautiful classic cakes -- Mogador cake and pear charlotte. A Mogador cake has a chocolate sponge cake bottom, imbibed (a culinary term I just learned, meaning saturated/soaked) with raspberry syrup, topped with a layer of raspberry jam, then a layer of chocolate mousse, and finally a glossy raspberry jam glaze. A pear charlotte is mainly a pear mousse cake, consisting of whipped cream, pureed poached pears, and dissolved gelatin and surrounded by freshly baked lady fingers. We made several mistakes and learned some interesting baking lessons. The Mogador cake came out tasting and looking great regardless of the errors. We were afraid the pear mousse was not going to solidify, so we reconstructed it into a multi-ramekin dessert. Important notes:

1. The sponge cake batter for the Mogador cake required first whisking eggs and sugar over a waterbath until ~120F, followed by more whisking at room temperature to double its volume and to cool. I made the mistake of tripling/quardrupling its volume (practically its volumizing capacity) while heating it to 120F. With the air bubbles already so warm and expanded, they failed to let the cake rise properly in the oven, and the top of it shrank miserably after cooling. Fortunately we only need about 3/4" of the cake, and the bottom part didn't shrink as much.

2. Perhaps also due to the overbeating, the cake was somewhat lumpy tasting. But imbibing pretty much took care of that. It also expanded the cake a little bit, making up a bit for the shrinking.

3. Jumbo eggs and large eggs do differ quite a bit, especially if the recipe uses more than 1 egg.

4. Valrhona chocolate costs ~$5.50 per 200 grams, which was well worth it.

5. Pear liqueur would have made a world's difference for the pear charlotte. No skimping next time.

Comfortable and relaxing dining environment

2006-12-28T17:27:00.000-05:00

This is one of many unique and fun restaurants in Taipei. Tables are low on the ground, and diners sit freely around it on cushions. The cuisine is Chinese dishes with a modern twist. But this place is also famous for traditional Chinese pastries. The price is pretty cheap -- around $10-$15 for a meal set, which includes some salad, small appetizers, the main dish, and dessert. What I like best is its relaxing environment, perfect for private conversations or group gatherings. Why couldn't there be more of this kind of places in New York?

Chef sizes

2006-12-08T11:08:00.000-05:00

I thought it would be fun to take a look at the celebrity TV cook show chefs. Oh, be warned, this is a gossipy entry with my personal opinions. Don’t take it too seriously :-)

In the last post I praised Giada De Laurentiis’ recipe. Her show Everyday Italian is a very entertaining show. Her techniques are sound (she went to culinary school) and she has a well-meaning approach to introducing each dish. And all the food looks very very tasty. But I just have one problem with her – she looks so pretty, and she is very skinny. I know I should not be one to judge, me being very thin on a very fat diet after all. But I just can’t help but suspect that she might have food issues. I wonder if she just doesn’t eat very much.

Another skinny chick is Sandra Lee, whose show is just god-awful. Crab bisque with canned crab meat? Chili made with boxed chili mix dumped into a crock pot? This woman is a hack! The name is terrible too – semi-homemade. Why not just call it Mostly Industrialized Crap Slapped Together? She must also have some eating issues. Watching her is like seeing a car crash that I can’t turn my head from. Yuck!

On the other side of the scale, you have Rachel Ray, who is becoming the hottest ticket in the mass media. She now even has her own magazine! I don’t like her show that much, because a lot of food simply takes more than 30 minutes to taste good. But with all of those 30-minute meals she ate, she has really ballooned up in the last year or so. Maybe she should cook them a little slower. I remember seeing her in some men’s magazine (don’t ask me why I even bothered flipping through such inane material), in which she was dressed somewhat revealingly while cooking. She still looked good then. Now, try as she might, with her haircuts, waist-accentuating jackets, or black tops, she can’t hide the fact that she is a bigger girl.

I don’t have as much problem with more hefty female chefs. Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) has probably the best show on Food Network, and she is one big huggable mama. Paula Deen’s new show is miserably produced, but I have liked her since I started watching her old show. She is also unapologetically downing butter and cream. Gale Gand looks so sweet and nice, oh, and plump. Even Nigella Lawson, whose concept of the show consists of selling sex appeal in addition to food, is a sexy mama with big curves. Lidia Bastianich cooks up the most wonderful family-style Italian food on the PBS, and she is one large well-endowed woman. The beloved Julia Child isn’t exactly thin either, though she was mighty tall.

I have less tolerance for fat male chefs. Maybe it’s just because I hate most of their shows. Anyone saw the old episode of Julia Child with Master Chefs in which Emeril was still a handsome young man with a waist and one chin? Tyler Florence used to be somewhat cute, but now he’s also chubby, probably from all the terrible food he had as the Applebee’s spokesperson (why? WHY?). Bobby Flay is developing a double chin too and please watch out for those moobs. The only chubby chef I like is Mario Batali. Isn’t he just adorable with his big belly above those comical shorts?

Fish Soup

2006-12-08T10:21:00.000-05:00

After several bizarre 70 degree December days, the Northeast finally settled back down to its normal chilly wintry self. It is so satisfying to listen to the wuthering winds and watching bare tree branches swaying to and fro, knowing that you are kept safe and warm within the nicely heated apartment. And you can spend the rest of the day curling up on the couch in your PJs, reading a book with a cup of hot cocoa in hand. But to make dinner you have to brave the freezing windchill to buy food! Don’t fret. Soup is the answer to a day like this, warming you from the inside out, even if the bitter cold has chilled into the bones.

Giada De Laurentiis on the Food Network made a wonderful Italian fish soup, not unlike the famous French Bouillabaisse. Following her recipe, we built the soup base with onions, fennel bulb, and tomato paste. Earlier, I simmered a fish stock with a piece of freezer-burned fish filet and a bag of shrimp shells from months ago. Like chicken stock, fish stock benefits from a mix of onions, carrots, celery, bay leaf, and thyme. A splash of white wine also helps extract the flavor. But it takes only less than an hour to make a fish stock, during which the house is filled with the wonderful seafood aroma – not the bad smelly kind, but a complex fragrance punctuated by celery and onion scents. The onion/fennel/tomato paste base is deglazed with some more wine, and allowed to amalgamate together with the strained fish stock and a can of chopped tomatoes. Another bay leaf at this point adds more nuance to the flavor.

After all ingredients have happily danced together for a good half hour, all there is to do is adding mussels, clams, scallops, shrimp, and chunks of fish, and cook until everything is just done. Paired with some crusty old bread and European high-fat butter, all we need now is a wood-burning fireplace and a sheepskin rug on which we can enjoy this wonderful soup, made from the essence of the sea…

Kitchen Myths

2006-12-02T13:21:00.000-05:00

There are many kitchen myths. Here are some:

- I am so sick of these cooking show hosts saying that by measuring oil (or spraying non-stick cooking spray) first before measuring honey or corn syrup, the greased surface of the cup or the spoon will make the honey/syrup come out completely non-stick. This is just simply not true, and can be easily experimented by anyone.

-when making blueberry cakes, toss the blueberries with some flour so that their coated surfaces will make them stay suspended in the batter while they bake. NOT TRUE! They will sink if they have a higher density than the batter because the flour coating easily incorporates into the batter anyway.

-A piece of steak nicely seared with a crust will seal in the moisture and become more juicy -- also not true. Honestly, who thought that a crust, which is merely made of proteins, carbohydrates, and fat, can form a water-tight barrier? The key to a juicy steak is to undercook it and let it rest before cutting. A brown crust adds flavor, not water. An experiment has been conducted by the folks at Cook's Illustrated and debunked this myth.

Tarragon

2006-11-29T19:24:00.000-05:00

Do you like the anise flavor? Many people frown upon hearing the word "anise." They are probably thinking about the licorice. As with many flavor molecules, a family of complex phenolic compounds is responsible for the anise-like flavor. There really are a lot of anise-flavored ingredients and processed foods and drinks: anise, star anise, fennel, fennel seeds, pernod, five spice powder. And then there's tarragon, or French tarragon. The other kind of tarragon -- Russian or wild tarragon -- does not taste the same and is not really used in cooking.

Tarragon has a wonderful mellow flavor. After cooking, its anisy character takes on a smoother feel. This dish is a salmon filet, braised and covered in a mixture of diced onions, carrots, and celery that have been cooked with butter and tarragon. The flavor is wonderful. Now we just need to perfect the timing for cooking salmon – it so often comes out on the dry side.

Lacquered Pork Shoulder (紅燒蹄膀)

2006-11-15T22:39:00.000-05:00

My friends John, Andrea, and Jess held a farewell party for our friend Alexis 2 weeks ago. This is not your traditional gather-around, look-at-pictures, and open-some-gifts type of farewell party. No. My gourmand friends turned their lovely apartment into a French bistro, open for one night only, serving 20 guests 6-course dinners. From the opening act asparagus quiche tartlets to the finale custard-filled profiteroles drizzled with chocolate, my friends created such a special evening. What I liked the most, however, was the entree -- a pork shoulder braised in a mustardy and aromatic broth. The meat was tender and flavorful, juicy with bits and pieces of pork fat. It was heavenly.

Pork is a stable item in Taiwan. Pigs can eat many sources of food and grow at a much faster pace than other domesticated animals. They are an economical protein source. The pigs in Taiwan are bred for pork fattiness and sweetness. The "black-hair" pig variety is especially a gourmet grocery item, treasured for its more intense flavor and sweetness.

Many people from Taiwan complain about the American pork, citing a strange odor (described as sour-like -- 酸騷味). Speculations abound -- some say the pigs here aren't castrated; some thought the pigs' blood isn't drained before slaughtering; some others think it's the feed. Whatever the cause is, my recommendation for cooking pork is to laden it with layers of aromatics and flavoring. I almost never cook or order a simply seared pork chop. Or, seek out those local pig farms with reputable names, such as the Flying Pigs Farm, or the Berkshire Meats.

Since having that pork shoulder entree 2 weeks ago, I just couldn't shake that out of my mind. I love the juicy meat that just falls apart after 2-3 hours of low simmering; the melt-in-your-mouth fat between the skin and the meat; and the broth that leached out gobs of gelatin from the pork and turns sticky on the lips. I know what I really crave is the lacquered pork shoulder my mom makes only on New Year's -- and not even every year! The skin holds its shape from an initial browning, and is tenderized by the long simmering. The sauce is based on soy sauce and brown sugar, scented with star anise and Chinese cinnamon. The meat is soaked in the sauce overnight for maximum flavor infusion via diffusion. Finally the sauce is reduced to a syrupy consistency. Constantly glazing the skin, turning it into a glistening piece of delicious jewel.

Recipe: Lacquered Pork Shoulder (紅燒蹄膀)

1 pork shoulder with bone and skin intact
3 star anise
1 3-inch piece of Chinese cinnamon
1 piece of ginger (about 1 inch), cut into slices
3 scallions, cut into 2-inch segments
4 Tbsp dark brown sugar
5 Tbsp naturally brewed soy sauce
2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
4 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup rice wine
water

1. Clean pork under cold water. Ensure all hair has been removed.
2. Thoroughly dry the pork. Place pork in a bowl and rub pork all over with dark soy sauce. Marinade for 1-2 hours. Let pork expose to air and let the sauce dry on the pork. Re-rub with dark soy sauce every 20 minutes.
3. Dry pork with a paper towel. Heat oil in a deep stock pot over medium heat. Brown pork on all sides until skin is golden brown.
4. Set pork aside. Remove excess oil until only ~ 1 Tbsp is left in the pot. Over medium-high heat, saute scallions and ginger until fragrant.
5. Deglaze the pan with rice wine. Add all remaining ingredients except water and bring to a boil.
6. Place pork in a heat-proof bowl. Pour the sauce over it. Add enough water to just covering the pork. Place this bowl into a steamer over boiling water and steam for 2.5-3 hours. Let cool and store in the fridge overnight.
7. Next day, skim off solidified fat on top of the sauce. Reheat the pork and the sauce on the stove over medium-low heat.
8. Baste the pork every now and then. Cook until sauce is reduced to a syrupy consistency.
9. Place pork on a platter over a bed of cooked baby bok choy or broccoli. Pour sauce over the entire dish and serve.

Thanksgiving came a little early

2006-11-02T23:09:00.000-05:00

I think everyone would agree that the best thing about Thanksgiving is not the Turkey or the pumpkin pie. It is the side dishes. The stuffing that soaks up all the turkey juice and fat; the sweet potatoes and winter squashes; and the maple glazed carrots. These make our tummies go umm-umm. So that kind of obsession compelled me to make a 3-dish dinner after a long day's work on a Friday night. Compared to my weeknight routine of 1-hour dinners (ok so Rachel Ray can make two 30-minute meals while I cook just one. But she sucks), this is actually more work!!!

Martha has been publishing 15 years of readers' favorites in all the magazine issues this year. And in this November issue, she reviewed our favorite holiday side dishes. I am really grateful for this, for I had been kicking myself for not saving a creamed spinach recipe from 2 years ago. So on this night, I savored the silky spinach yet again, for the 3rd time, mixed with sweet and crunchy pearl onions and smoky bacon. I also got tempted into making the mashed sweet potatoes with caramelized apples. The entree was our stand-by dinner -- broiled lamb shoulder steak marinated with parsley, rosemary, pepper, and garlic, served with a cucumber yogurt sauce. Believe it or not, I actually made all this within 2 hours, and this includes blanching and peeling >20 pearl onions; blanching and squeeze-drying spinach; roasting and scooping sweet potatoes. The result? I definitely don't regret making the creamed spinach. I can eat this every other day. I can do without the sweet potatoes. And like how everyone treats the turkey on Thanksgiving day, I only finished half of my lamb because I saved room for the side dishes and dessert.

Halibut with fresh polenta and pepper oil

2006-10-19T18:59:00.000-05:00

This is one of the best and easiest recipes from Jacques Pepin's book "Fast Food My Way." Halibut is poached in salted water. Fresh corn is shaved off the cob, pureed, and cooked in butter until thick and creamy. Red bell pepper is pureed with olive oil and cooked in a MICROWAVE! And that is basically it! It looks gorgeous, and it tastes fabulous!

Stuffed

2006-09-07T22:28:00.000-05:00

Why does food become more fabulous when it is stuffed? Starting with stuffed whole chickens and turkeys, stuffing evolved into a stand-alone dish on the Thanksgiving dinner table. There is the chicken cordon bleu, rolling cheese and ham inside a chicken scaloppini. A common buffet item is stuffed peppers – bell peppers filled with cooked rice and beans. Calzones are basically well-stuffed two-sided pizzas. At dim sum, you can order eggplant and bell peppers stuffed with shrimp paste. A classic Chinese dish uses hollowed-out daikon cylinders and stuffs them with re-hydrated scallops.

Even doughnuts get a makeover when stuffed with jelly. And who can resist the temptation of a custard-filled cream puff? The contrast of the crispy shell and the silky filling makes it a delectable item. ( I’m so happy to have Beard Papa in NYC!) If we expand our criteria a little bit, any dumplings or buns are also “stuffed.” This kind of stuffing takes care of “scrap” meat. Ground pork and chopped shrimp are typical ingredients in dim sum items. Sausages use up any cuts of meat, emulsify them with fat, and stuff them into casings.

I guess there are four reasons for stuffing. One is to make an interesting texture contrast, as in the case of cream puffs. Another one is to individualize food and make them into finger foods, like buns and hors d'oeuvres. Another is for economic reasons, saving meats that would otherwise be tossed away. The last reason I can think of is to make food interesting. But this is probably the most compelling reason. If you have access to Martha Stewart’s Hors d'oeuvres Handbook, look in its first chapter. The entire section is devoted to hundred of edible items that can be used as containers. Whether it is a cucumber cup for shrimp salad or a tart shell for creamy corn with eggs, they are gorgeous to look at and tasty to the palate. I picked reasons 3 and 4 (or rather, they picked me?) to make ground pork more interesting and to clean out the fridge a little bit. I mixed ground pork with chopped water chestnuts, minced scallions, mirin, chicken stock, salt, pepper, sherry, and freshly ground ginger. I stuffed medium-sized tomatoes and cucumber sections, using corn starch make the stuffing stick to the sides. Extra filling was made into small meatballs. These babies were pan fried on both sides and braised in chicken stock. The sauce had the fullness of chicken stock, richness of pork, sweetness of cucumber, sour notes of tomatoes, and the complexity from caramelization.

Two Lamb Meals 一羊兩吃

2006-08-26T20:21:00.000-05:00

Dinner leftovers usually just end up as my next-day lunch. I think it is not very appetizing to eat the same things for dinner two days in a row. With a little twist, however, leftovers can get a little beauty makeover. For example, I grilled several boneless chicken thighs marinated in a coconut milk-fish sauce-garlic-cilantro sauce for dinner one night. The leftover thighs ended up in an instant "ragu" in which I also added some cucumbers and canned tomatoes. I served this with plain omelets.

In the first picture, I grilled a butterflied leg of lamb, marinated in a herb yogurt sauce. The meat was sliced thin and served with a couscous salad (recipe from Ina Garten's book). The juice that accumulated around the meat during resting was the perfect sauce for it. The next night, I chopped up the rest of the lamb, and fried them up with a little oil, cumin, and black pepper. I also made a yogurt sauce by simply adding sliced cucumber, minced garlic and mint to greek yogurt. And voila, we had gyro and cousous. (Ok I know I just contradicted myself by eating the same couscous in two consecutive nights, but this couscous is soooo good!!)

We also made an appetizer to tie us over the hunger while grilling the lamb. It's just really good mazarella cheese, tomatoes, basil, and EVOO. Yum!

When I was making the gyro components, Mike made this cold cucumber and zuchinni soup from the Gourmet magazine. It tastes good, but I thought a little goes a long way. A small cup was more than enough.

During the day I also made a ginger and red plum granita from Martha's magazine. I really like the flavor, but Mike thinks it tastes like cough syrup. It's interesting that the flavor is nothing like a fresh plum. I think the skin, after cooking, contributed a very different flavor. And after the icy granita goes down the throat, the gingery hotness springs to life on the tongue. Very interesting!

Recipe: Curried Couscous (from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Cookbook)

Note: Don't be turned off by the long list of ingredients. This recipe is really really easy and simple.

1.5 cup couscous
1 Tbsp butter
1.5 cup boiling water
1/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp tumeric
1.5 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup minced fresh flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup dried currants
1/4 cup blanched sliced almonds
2 scallions thinly sliced
1/4 cup small-diced red onion

1. Melt butter in the boiling water. Pour over couscous and cover for 5 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork and set aside.
2. Mix yogurt, olive oil, vinegar, curry powder, tumeric, salt and pepper. (mixture may not look well emulsified, but that is ok) Pour this mixture into couscous and mix well with a fork.
3. Mix in all the remaining ingredients and serve a room temperature.

Iceberg Lettuce with Oyster Sauce 蠔油生菜

2006-08-19T13:08:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorite dishes at cantonese restaurants -- cooked iceberg lettuce with oyster sauce! It is super easy to make at home too. Boil a huge pot of salty water and blanch the iceberg lettuce for 30 seconds to a minute -- just enough to wilt the lettuce. Drain it. Toss a little bit and press down on them to squeeze out extra water. Saute some minced garlic in vegetable oil (I think lard would be better) in a small pan. Add a few tablespoons of oyster sauce, a tablespoon of soy sauce, and a tablespoon of sugar. Whisk to combine really well and let it thicken a little. Pour it over the cooked lettuce and serve!

Macerated Cling Peaches with Iced Chamomile Milk

2006-08-09T18:04:00.000-05:00

New York Times is getting really stingy with their online content. First they made all the good Op/Ed columns subscription only. Then they limited all the contents more than 7 days old also by subscription. I used to be able to get around this by using Google's "cache" page. Now that won't work anymore either. WTF? BBC is free all the way!

Anyway, the point is, I was going to hyperlink the recipe of this dessert to NYT's own article. Now since I can't do that I have to type it myself. I guess there isn't copyright issues with recipes. (You can chime in anytime Charles) because I see them reproduced all the time. I'm not making money from posting it, so it should be alright.

This dessert was of the cooling nature too. The iced milk doesn't linger and lather the tongue like ice cream. The chamomile is so fragrant. Its mintiness adds another cooling effect. I used fairly ripe peaches and I didn't use any additional sugar or lemon juice. I also skipped the brioche bread and the frothed milk part -- neh, too lazy. Oh, and we ate it all so before we took any picture, ha!

Note: The iced milk should be made right before serving. It starts to form large ice crystals if stored in the freezer for long.

Recipe: Macerated Cling Peaches with Iced Chamomile Milk

Ingredients

for the iced milk
4 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup loose chamomile blossoms
dash of vanilla extract
for the peaches
4 ripe cling peaches
sugar and fresh lemon juice, varying amount
for the assembly
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
12 slices of brioche bread

1. Combine milk, sugar, and chamomile in a small sauce pan. Heat until milk is steaming. Reduce heat to the lowest setting and keep steeping the mixture for 20 minutes.
2. Strain the mixture. Add vanilla and cool (in an iced water bath if in a hurry). Reserve 1/2 cup in the fridge and freeze the rest in an ice cream maker until fluffy and icy. Store in the freezer temporarily until time of serving.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Lightly score each peach on the bottom in a cross pattern. Blanch the peach for 1 minute and let cool in an ice water bath.
4. Peel peaches and remove the pits. Cut into 1/4 inch cubes. If peaches are not ripe enough, add some sugar and lemon juice to it. Let it sit in room temperature to macerate.
5. Cut brioche bread with a cookie cutter into rounds. Melt butter in a pan and lightly brown the bread on both sides.
6. On a plate, place two slices of bread. Top with generous amount of peach and a scoop of iced milk. Froth the reserved milk mixture and drizzle over the plate. Serve.

Re-written and adapted from NYT's Dining and Wine section; original recipe by: Anne Quatrano

A Light Chinese Summer Supper

2006-08-07T17:07:00.000-05:00

Left:Nine Veggie Delight; Far right: Shredded Chicken with Wide Mung Bean Noodles in Sesame Dressing; front: Poached Park with Garlic Sauce

One of my fondest memories of summer was my family’s afternoon naps when I was still in the elementary school. We lived in a small apartment, and it was expensive to have the AC on all the time. My parents would lay down a straw mat on the floor in the living room for the three of us to nap on. The afternoon golden sun rays trickled into the room through gaps between the vertical shades, making wobbly light and shadowy patterns. The warm afternoon breeze traveled through the back balcony, past the kitchen, kissed our faces, and then made the shades clap against each other gently as it exited the front balcony. The picture in my head makes me want to take a nap right now.

After the nap, my mom may start to prepare for dinner. It is hard for me to remember what we ate back then. But the dishes must have been cooling, for the summer heat in Taiwan was brutal. Though the food temperature was cool, the flavors were usually heavy, sometimes very spicy. I was told that Southeast Asian dishes used a lot of chili peppers because their spiciness stimulates one’s appetite, which usually wanes in the deadly heat. That might have some truth to it. But my hypothesis is that colder foods’ flavor and fragrance are less detectable (Try tasting ice cream, frozen and melted, and you’ll see the sweetness and flavor increase with temperature) and they require more heavy seasoning.

As fate would have it, Yvonne and I picked one of the hottest days to scout the Brooklyn Chinatown. What a wonderful idea – Chinatown’s signature smell was amplified by the stifling heat, and we felt like we could have gotten skin cancer after 5 minutes in the sun. In any case, the trip was fruitful (literally because Yvonne bought lots of lychees), and I bought all the ingredients for my little summer night supper. I made shredded chicken with wide mung bean noodles in sesame dressing (雞絲拉皮), poached pork with garlic sauce (蒜泥白肉), and 9-veggie delight (素什錦). The last dish really should require 10 different ingredients, but I chose to cook with only 9. All dishes were served at room temperature with white rice. We wrapped up the night analyzing Project Runway reruns and praising the AC over bowls of macerated cling peaches with iced chamomile milk.

Recipe: Nine Veggie Delight (素什錦)

A fistful of each following ingredient, all cut into juliennes: snow peas; bamboo shoots; dried shiitake mushrooms, hydrated and drained (save the liquid); carrots; celery; fried tofu puffs; dried yellow lily buds, hydrated and drained; wood ear (use fresh if possible; otherwise hydrate dry ones); bean sprouts (use soy bean sprouts if possible; otherwise use mung bean sprouts)

2 Tbsp oil
Salt and sugar

1. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a pan. Stir fry mushrooms until fragrant. Add ingredients that will take a while to cook like carrots, celery, bamboo shoots, wood ears. Season with salt and sugar. Take everything out onto a plate.
2. Heat the other Tbsp oil in a pan, stir fry the other ingredients and season well with salt and sugar. Add cooked vegetables from 1 and combine. Heat through, and add the mushroom soaking liquid if it gets too dry. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Note: The ingredients in this dish are not set in stone. Add, substract, or substitute as you wish. Just remember to use many kinds of vegetables and keep the seasoning simple -- no soy sauce or other heavy seasoning. Try to enjoy the natural taste of each ingredient. This dish is frequently made for true vegetarians in Taiwan, who likely are Buddhists. In that case, scallions, onions, and garlic are considered non-vegetarian and should be avoided. Ginger, however, is allowed, and is often counted as a tenth delight.

Recipe: Poached Pork with Garlic Sauce (蒜泥白肉)

1 lb pork butt shoulder
1/2 cup rice wine
some ginger and scallions
1 big clove of garlic, finely minced or through a garlic press
2 Tbsp thickened soy sauce
3 Tbsp chicken stock
2 tsp sugar
chili sauce and white pepper to taste

1. In a large pot combine ginger, scallions, and rice wine. Add enough water so that the pork can be almost covered if placed in the pot.
2. Bring the liquid to a boil without the pork. Add the pork after it's come to a boil and cover. Bring it down to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes. Test pork doneness by poking it with a paring knife -- if no red liquid comes out it is done.
3. Drain, and leave pork in cold water to cool.
4. Combine the rest of the ingredients.
5. Cut pork into thin slices. Drizzle sauce all over. Serve.

Recipe: Shredded Chicken with Wide Mung Bean Noodles with Sesame Dressing (雞絲拉皮)

4 chicken drumsticks
300 g or 2/3 lb or 11oz of wide mung bean noodles (or two bunches of dry wide mung bean threads usually used for winter hot pot -- sometimes called cellophane noodles)
1 cucumber
1 Tbsp Sesame Paste (or peanute butter, if desired)
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp rice vinegar
enough chicken stock to thin the sauce
salt to taste
2 tsp wasabi powder
1 Tbsp sesame oil

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Place chicken in the water. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain and cool in cold water.
2. Peel and seed cucumber. Cut it into julienne and spread on a plate.
3. If using the wide mung bean noodles (涼粉), toss them with a little sesame oil and place them on the cucumber julienne. If using dry wide mung brean threads, soak them in warm water for at least 20 minutes. Drain and boil them for a minute or two until cooked. Drain and cool with cold water. Cut into short segments and spread on top of the cucumber julienne.
4. Shred chicken (discard skin), and place on top of the noodle/bean thread.
5. Mix 1 Tbsp chicken stock with wasabi powder (or just use 1 Tbsp of wasabi paste). Add the rest of the ingredients. Add more stock to desired consistency. Season with salt to taste. Drizzle over the plate. Present it as is on the table.
6. Toss and mix well at the table.

New kitchen!

2006-08-03T19:08:00.000-05:00

Apartment hunting in a popular city is an agonizing experience. There are too many renters chasing after a trickling supply of vacant properties. Mike and I spent pretty much the entire month of June to find a place. I will spare you the details, but we pretty much went through all the possible worst scenarios: stood up by agents; incompetent agents who have no keys, no knowledge of the apartment, and no idea of the ADDRESS of the building; flaky agents who try to force bad properties down our throats; sleazy agent who reminds me of the devil's advocate; scary neighboods; freaky landlords; and bait-and-switch Craig's List ads. In the end, we did find the gem we looked for. The bitter process made the sweet ending ever so satisfying.

Honestly, I had little expectations for the kitchen during our search. When we went into an apartment, I paid attention to closet size, storage space, floor condition, layout, and lighting. Most landlords sacrifice the kitchen space to make room for the living area. This huge kitchen (by NYC standards) pleasantly surprised me. The long kitchen counter provides plenty of space for cookbooks, appliances, cooking utensils, and a dish rack in addition to room for food preparation. On top of all that, the large island allows two people to prepare food on the same surface simultaneously. Numerous cabinets and space beneath the island can accommodate all of our cookware, pantry items, and dinnerware. The ability to hide all the clutter in an organized manner makes me a happy boy. Now if only I can just get my double oven, proper exhaust hood, and plate warmer...

I don't want smoke in my kitchen

2006-07-31T09:11:00.000-05:00

Mike and I finally found and moved into a nice two-bedroom apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Two nice features are the HUGE kitchen and an outdoor deck. We have already grilled bratwursts and tuna steaks for dinner in our first 9 days in the new “crib.” We are using a countertop electric grill because legally we cannot have an open flame BBQ on a roof deck. Also we don’t want to burn down the building in case the burning ashes are blown onto the deck or something. The electric grill does get very hot. Of the many stupid things we bought from HSN and QVC, this is the only one that lived up to its value. I guess Wolfgang Puck did get it right. In our previous apartment we could have used it more often, but the smoke from indoor grilling is just so unbearable. Our unfortunate attempt at grilling salmon steaks left us in a weeklong fishy atmosphere. That’s when we said “No” to indoor grilling – at least not until we can install an industrial exhaust hood fan.

I really cannot understand how most American homes have open kitchens with exhaust hoods that just re-circulate the air (as opposed to exhausting it outside the house). It is true that many home style Chinese dishes are quick stir-fries, and such cooking leads to heavy smoking. I can remember from my childhood that the Taiwanese government was teaching the public about the hazard of inhaling such smoke. Housewives were the main high-risk population affected by this danger. Oils tend to have chemical reactions at high temperatures. If it is heated to start smoking, the temperature must be pretty hot. Such chemical reactions result in aromatic compounds generally viewed as hazardous or even carcinogenic. So the common advice is to either a) reduce cooking temperature; or b) use an effective exhaust fan. I know that many Chinese families in the US spend extra money to put in a true exhaust system in the kitchen, because such building plan is typically not included. But other styles of cooking like Italian or French also have high heat sautéing and pan frying. Putting aside the medical ramification of heated oil, the mere smell of grease and smoke alone should compel a homemaker to rethink the kitchen design. The smoke is really a fine cloud of tiny oil droplets, which deposit onto kitchen surfaces and seep into furniture fabrics. Of all the fabulous kitchen designs I have seen on HGTV and the Food Network, I have yet to catch any kitchen that paid attention to a good exhaust hood. Maybe in high end kitchens it is a given, but I just have not seen it.

There are many features in my dream kitchen. I want a 6-range stove, double oven, a plate warmer, drawers with lid organizer, and many more probably expensive installations. (Yes I am dreaming BIG!) But the number one thing will be a big exhaust hood that I hope will also be quiet and easy to clean.

Thoughts on Diffusion and Stews

2006-07-16T09:15:00.000-05:00

I am not sure if anyone has written on this subject. A quick search on google using "stew diffusion" came back with mostly unrelated stuff, so I thought I would give my perspective on it.

One of my favorite kinds of dishes is stews. It's a very general category, but I am referring to large chunks of meat and veggies simmered in a somewhat thickened and heavily flavored sauce. I like the Chinese style beef in brown sauce (紅燒牛肉), which is flavored with star anise, chinese cinnamon, ginger, scallions, szechuan peppercorns, and soy sauce. I claim to know nothing about Indian food, so I feel no shame in admitting that I like the Japanese curry one can make from a box of Vermont Curry. It is especially good if one uses pork spareribs cut into 1" pieces. And then, there's of course the all time classic Boeuf Bourguignonne, made incredibly rich by the wine, stock, aromatic herbs, and the buttery fonds.

All stews require long periods of cooking at simmering temperature. Accordly, this kind of cooking slowly disintegrate the connective tissues in the meat, rendering the tough gristles into melting and gooey gelatinous goodness. This gives the sauce body (a lot of it will make sauce/stock gel at low temperatures) and makes the meat taste juicy and tender. Notice that no grandma will ever tell you to cook a stew at high heat for a short period of time. This kind of kitchen wisdom is tried and true.

Modern needs for efficiency in the kitchen brought about the use of pressure cookers. At higher pressure, the muscle fibers break down much faster, and a similar effect is achieved in a short period of time. The taste, however, may still use a little catching up. You see, the long simmering time not only change the texture of the food. It also affords time for the flavors to develop and infuse the ingredients. Now I am going to jump into a more scientific mode. Imagine the aromatics and flavorings are all sorts of large molecules. For them to penetrate into a large piece of solid material, the only way is through diffusion. The rate of diffusion is directly correlated with the temperature, but it is also influenced by the tortuous path the molecues have to travel through. And that just takes time. Patience will reward in this case. Ever wonder why the potatoes in the curry taste so much better after it sat in the fridge overnight? Yup, now you know why :-)

Conquering Salad Dressing

2006-06-15T20:28:00.000-05:00

I don't believe that some people are born with natural talent. I do believe in inborn inclinations. You can't be a naturally born cook, but you can certainly be more inclined to learn cooking. I've always thought this was why I was the top of my class in my "Housewifery" class (yes, that's the official name on the English version of my junior high school transcript). Whether it was sewing or cooking, it just wasn't difficult for me to learn at all. Over the years I learned how to cream butter, knead a dough, make a roux, julienne carrots, emulsify mayonnaise, and of course roast a chicken. But there are still a few things I just could not get right. One of them is making a pie dough. No matter what I do, my pie dough always comes out on the dry side. Obviously I need to add more water (duh!) But I usually end up using double or triple the amount of water indicated in the recipe and the dough remains dry. It's very strange. I decided to put this off until I get a really big food processor.

The second thing I never made well is salad dressing. Julia Child made it look so easy -- some olive oil, some lemon juice, some vinegar, some mustard, salt and pepper, and voila! My salad dressing always comes out too tart or bland, probably because I just don't follow any recipe on the amount of each ingredient. This, unlike the pie dough, was absolutely maddening to me. Pie dough, ok, there's some chemical reaction going on with the gluten formation and all that butter had to stay cold, yadayada. Salad dressing, on the other hand, is just a mixture of liquids. There has got to be a ratio that isn't too hard to find. So finally after peeking at some online recipes, I put together a rather simple and tasty dressing! Before, my experimental dressings just sent dressed salad to the garbage bowl. It was finally quite a relief to hear Mike asking me "to make the miso dressing " week after week. This is now a stable recipe! It goes well with spring mix, arugula, and/or baby spinach.

Recipe: Miso Salad Dressing

2 tsp dark miso
2 Tbsp mirin
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
several drops roasted sesame oil

1. Blend all ingredients in a blender on high until the mixture is creamy and no lumps of miso is present.
2. Toss salad with dressing and serve!

I only like the right kind of breast

2006-05-21T20:31:00.000-05:00

Don't get the wrong idea. I meant a piece of nice duck breast, cooked to medium rare for that juicy gamy taste. When I used to buy duck breasts in Boston, I went to Super 88 for frozen, vacuum packed breasts imported from France. Each pack has a pair of breasts from one duck, measuring about 6"x8", and about 1/2" thick. These days I can buy spend almost the same amount of money to buy a whole fresh duck from the NYC Chinatown!

But when Mike and I made our duck dish, we were too lazy to go all the way to Chinatown and to do the boning for the duck. We went to a decent grocery market and bought two pieces of vacuum packed duck breasts. These were individually packed, and each pack has only one breast. Each one is much bigger though, almost the size of a very large chicken breast. They were much thicker too, almost an inch thick!

We sauted the breasts skin side down to render the fat, and cooked them on both sides. We also made Mike's favorite "duck sauce" to go with them. For veggies, I simply cooked onions and cherry tomatoes until they become saucy, and added cauliflower florets until cooked through. Everything in this dinner was wonderful, except for the duck breasts! At the medium-rare stage, they were still rather tough and chewy. After some research, we found that these days American duck breasts are commonly available, and they are typically taken from ducks used to produce foie gras. These breasts are simply much bigger and tougher then the ones from roasting ducks. So, next time we will drag our lazy bums down to Chinatown to buy cheap ducks and cut out the breasts ourselves.

Recipe: Mike's Duck Sauce

1 12oz jar Damson Plum Preserves
1/2 cup Amaretto (di Saronno)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp grated orange peel
2 Tbsp orange juice
pinch ground cloves

Whisk all ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer over low heat until slightly thickened, and serve!

Food photos

2006-05-20T22:58:00.000-05:00

Good food photos entice us. They sort of let us fantasize about the food regardless of whether we have the chance to sample it. To this day I still have difficulty buying any cookbook without fancy photos. But I have been reading a bit more about taking good food photos, and I am starting to look at them with a pair of more skeptical eyes. Typically, professional food photos are taken with at least three people -- the chef, the food stylist, and the photographer. Since the finished product only has to look good, its taste or smell doesn't have to be perfect. So during the shoot, the dish may be brushed generously with oil to brighten its sheen; a piece of cake or pie can have its filling "supplemented" to look for sumptuous; even the heat of the dish can be faked with dry ice "steam." Then there's also lots of post-image processing to enhance the color contrast and balance.

The book "Digital Food Photography" by Lou Manna is a great guidebook. Obviously this guy is great at doing this. Browsing through his portfolio on his website you'll be quite impressed. I especially like his photos of the artfully plated dishes, like #22 in his portfolio #1. I don't really like his photos of bar food like fries and burgers. To me the lighting there is too bright and the food looks a little fake. After learning a bit more about creating these tasty eye candies, and browsing through so many pages of great examples, I was disappointed to find myself losing appetite. I guess there is such a thing as sensory overload. And of course, learning the truth about these photos ruins the fantasy. After all, having the food in my mouth is always gonna be better than just looking at it (and drooling).

Another kind of food guide

2006-05-15T20:38:00.000-05:00

It just occurred to me tonight that another kind of food guide could be in great demand.

After flipping through the pages of the Zagat Survey, I was getting suspicious at its 25-point review system. According to its introduction, point 0-9 means a "poor" restaurant. But I couldn't find even one restaurant that was rated below 10. What is the point of the 25-point scale if points 0-9 are skipped? We might as well just go with a 0-15 scale. I guess the Zagat Survey will receive threats and blackmails if it makes public those who well deserve 0-9 points. Its purpose is to tell diners where the good eats are. Its current system is a win-win situation for itself and the restaurants it recommends. But there is real value in publishing a list of bad restaurants. Seriously, I wouldn't mind doing that. It serves two purposes. One, it helps fellow diners avoid bad food. Secondly, it serves as a wake-up call to those restaurants to make improvements. But of course, I don't want to get death letters. So I'll just wait for someone else to do it. Anyone?

P.S. Momofuku's ramen was not worth the rave in New York Times, though its pork buns were pretty decent.

Restaurant report -- Bouley

2006-05-03T22:01:00.000-05:00

Mike and I went out on Sunday night for a really big splurge. We decided to dine at Bouley, a French restaurant owned by David Bouley. Many may argue that it is one of the finest dining destinations in NYC. David Bouley studied under some of the most revered French culinary stars like Paul Bocuse and Joel Robuchon. Strangely many online sources warned us about having to make a reservation like a month in advance. We went on OpenTable.com and made a reservation 6 hours before our 8pm dinner. That's not exactly difficult I suppose.

The meal was really good. Both of us ordered the tasting menu (within which there are about 2-3 choices for each course). We started with chef's canape -- cubes of mozzarella cheese in cucumber gelee, topped with tomato sorbet and pesto mousse. This classic combination of flavors got a clever makeover. The added texture and temperature contrasts made it a great conversation piece, and it teased us about the coming courses. The rest of the menu reflects the spring season. The colors were bright and the flavors were light. My seafood medley of scallop, squid, and shrimp were cooked to perfection. (And each was executed separately with different cooking methods to best present each ingredient) A piece of salmon, whose skin is infused with citrus notes, was cooked to medium-rare and still tender and juicy. My Maine day lobster was succulent with sweet juices, and it came with buttery baby bok choy. My dessert was a Valrhona chocolate souffle with a molten center. Except for the fact that the souffle disrupted the lightness theme, the food was really perfect. (I should have ordered the lemon meringue that Mike had, which was heavenly)

But I can't help but feel being treated like a cash cow. The service had nothing wrong. It just felt mechanical. The head waiter came at the right moments to check with us. Each dish was presented with a monologue of its long list of ingredients. And everything was just served a nanosecond faster than being on time -- leading me to think that the entire tasting menu was mass prepared in the kitchen.

Egg Custard King Cafe

2006-02-28T19:04:00.000-05:00

clockwise from the right: original, egg white, Portuguese, banana, almond, strawberry. Middle: Honeydew

Egg custard tart is one of my favorite items at dim sum. I've always been fond of eggy desserts like creme caramel, creme brulee, flan. It's especially good when it is fresh out of the oven -- hence dim sum is a great place to get it. It's not always easy to get it so freshly made at bakeries.

The concept is quite easy. An egg and milk based custard is baked into a tart shell. There are about three different tart shells. One is a puff pastry, with layers of thin and crispy crusts. Another is made like the sweet tart dough (Pate Sucree), which is crumbly and sweeter. A third kind of dough is more like a pie dough (Pate Brisee), not sweet, and the sides are braided. The filling contains mainly eggs, milk, flavoring, and sugar. Yolks contribute creaminess and richness. The albumin in egg white and proteins in milk help the custard set (solidify). There is always a risk of overheating a custard and curdling it. Adding starch like cornstarch or flour can insure against curdling, but the smooth consistency of a custard can be greatly diminished by it.

My favorite tart dough for egg tarts is puff pastry. I like its crispy texture contrasting against the custard. Portuguese egg tart is unique in its puff pastry dough and caramelized top. They were supposed to have originated from Macao, and were later widely distributed by KFC in Asia. They attracted huge popularity for a short period of time in Taiwan. For a while every block in Taipei had at least 2 vendors for Portuguese egg tarts. Its oversaturation soon lost the ever-changing appetite of the Taiwanese people, and most vendors soon closed their doors.

After passing by it several times and hearing about it from Erica, I finally visited this little cafe. Egg Custard King Cafe (蛋塔王) in Chinatown is a small pastry/drinks shop in a basement space that used to be occupied by Sweet n' Tart. There are other pastries, but their specialty of course is their egg tarts. I bought every flavor to try (well, except their swallow's nest 燕窩 flavor... WTF??) and I really just like their original flavor. It's eggy and on the sweeter side to my liking. All of their tarts have the same puff pastry shell. The banana flavor is bad, using the very common (and odd) banana flavoring. Honeydew and strawberry flavors are not pronounced, and tasted really weird with the eggs. The almond flavor was nice, but the texture of the custard is very gooey, and kind of sticks to the tongue -- not very pleasant. It probably has some starch in it. The egg white tart is pretty good actually, but I prefer to have the yolk in there.

If you don't eat the tarts right away, you can still store them in the fridge for a few days. Just pop them into a 350F oven for 10-15 minutes before enjoying them. Don't microwave them, as the crust gets soggy, and the uneven microwave heating may explode the custard.

Egg Custard King Cafe
76 Mott Street
New York, NY 10013
(212)226-8208

Chikalicious!

2006-02-23T09:12:00.000-05:00

My friend Ada and I also went to a dessert bar last Friday. It's called Chikalicious, but chicken is not on the menu. Apparently, it's a name made with the chef's name (Chika) and the word delicious. For $12, you are served an amuse (like an dessert appetizer), the actual dessert (which you get to pick), and some petit fours. Our amuse was honey parfait in a pear soup. This was good, since I really love pear. But the other table got the same parfait with cranberry soup. I thought it would be better with cranberry since the tartness would cut into the honey sweetness. My dessert was almond cake, toasted almond ice cream, and apricots cooked in amaretto. I guess I have been using almond extract for too long. I had forgotten the real almond essence is derived from the variety of bitter almonds, which really has a discernable taste from just almond extract. Ada had a molten chocolate tart served with pink peppercorn ice cream. Mmmmm, so good!!! And in the picture we were served the petit fours -- coconut coated marshmellow in the background, truffles made with some liqueuor aged for 8 years; and this cuter than cute little thing decorated with a piece of candied lime piece.

The place was tiny, with ~8-10 bar stools and 3 tables. Sitting at the bar would give you a nice view of the crew working. We were lucky that we went at ~3, because after I came back and did some internet search, I found this place to be extremely popular and often with long lines at night. I guess rent would be too expensive for a bigger place, and their insistence on quality must also be a factor too. Ada and I both thought it's a more refined version of finale.

Chikalicious -- it's delicious and pleasing to the eye!
203 East 10th Street, New York, NY 10003
212-995-9511

Downhill alert!

2006-02-19T23:39:00.000-05:00

So I have officially begun my adventures into the NYC Chinatown. When it comes to choosing ethnic restaurants, there isn't any source that is truly reliable. I have long given up on Citysearch, a website that seemed to have been sold to the other side. Zagat usually isn't very helpful, and can be outdated due to its long delay between its reviewing and publication times. Michelin, useless to say, is more geared towards fine cuisine. Chowhound is a pretty up-to-date and honest (though very subjective) information pool. But with the mind-boggling number of restaurants in NYC, the chance of finding current information on one particular small place is pretty slim. In Taiwan, going out to eat with this lack of information is often called "watching out for landmines (踩地雷)." The landmines refer to those restaurants with bad food that cannot be easily detected by a casual passerby.

Anyway, the downhill alert is not for a new place. I went to Joe Shanghai (鹿鳴春) for crab soupy buns and wonton soup with my friend Ada. Both were very bad dishes. I may have been spoiled by the soupy buns at Ding-Tai-Fung (鼎泰豐), a Taiwanese restaurant chain that arguably produces one of the finest soupy buns in the world. But still, I do not rememeber Joe Shanghai's soupy buns to be this terrible -- the soup was greasy with no obvious crab flavor; the buns too large; the wrapper too tough on the teeth but too elastic to hold its shape. The look and the taste of them were really bad. The wonton soup was also disappointing. The pork filling didn't seem to have been properly prepared -- it was too dry. And the soup was much just a colored MSG solution. Now, I don't have strong feelings against MSG. I think it can be used cleverly to bring up the flavors that are already in the dishes. But to use it as the main flavoring agent is every bit against the principles of cooking.

I tried Golden Bridge (金橋, 50 Bowery) for dim sum today with Mike. There was no wait at 2pm on a Sunday. We ordered Ju-Pu tea, chrysanthemum with Pu-Erh (菊普), which was decent. The food selection wasn't great, but we didn't go out of our way to chase down carts. Overall the fillings of most dumplings were good, especially the scallop dumpling and Chao-Chou Fen-Guo, but the dumpling wrappers were too thick. The turnip cake used too much rice flour and tasted pasty. Beef short ribs was pretty good. I will keep trying different dim sum places. Now if I can just find a decent Taiwanese breakfast place in Chinatown I would be really happy. Flushing is a crushingly long 40-min subway ride away, which is just way too much time for two empty stomachs on a weekend morning.

Dinner with Albert#2

2006-02-09T02:18:00.000-05:00

Albert#2 is also from Taiwan. We met when he was a visiting scientist in my lab at MIT. Now he is back in Taiwan, he and his wife played host and treated me to this Shanghainese restaurant (紅豆食府). We had a really good time. The food was very good, except they all got cold really quickly. The portions were little, so we got to sample many things. The service was really thoughtful and timely without being intrusive.

Dessert: "Too-soft-hearted" (left, 心太軟) and red bean pancake (right, 豆沙鍋餅). The dish on the left is dried jujube, a kind of red date, stuffed with chinese rice cake, cooked in a syrup flavored with osmanthus flower (桂花).

2006-02-09T02:17:00.000-05:00

Stir fried rice cake with blue crab (青蟹)

2006-02-09T02:13:00.000-05:00

Daikon puff cakes (蘿蔔酥餅): shredded daikon is cooked with scallions and Chinese ham, and then wrapped in Chinese puff pastry. The puff pastry is cut against its "grain" and opened up to create the surface pattern.

2006-02-09T02:11:00.000-05:00

Pork rib stewed with rock sugar; soupy buns with Chinese okra and shrimp

2006-02-09T02:09:00.000-05:00

My favorite: Lacquered pork (東坡肉). Pork belly stewed with scallions, spices, rice wine, soy sauce, and sugar

2006-02-09T02:06:00.000-05:00

Marinated brocolli stem; bamboo shoots stewed in sweet soy sauce and oil; stir fried river shrimp (served with Zhen-Jiang vinegar)

Nan-men Market

2006-02-09T01:42:00.000-05:00

Nan-men Market is arguably one of the best managed traditional market in Taipei. Most traditional markets have no organization whatsoever. Anyone can rent a stall and sell anything. You can buy shoes and skirts right next door to a pork butchershop. But in this setting you establish a relationship with the vendors. In supermarkets most items are mass produced and packaged, and the quality may not be as fresh. In Nan-men Market, produce and raw meat/poutry/seafood are exclusively sold in the basement, while the street level sells freshly prepared dishes, candies, dried goods, and dumplings, cakes, pastries, etc. Seafood is very fresh here. Live fish can be bought here. Clams are kept alive in shallow pans with flowing water. Peas just shelled from the pods can be easily found. No wonder I miss my mom's dishes -- anything made out of these excellent ingredients can't be bad.

When I lived in Taiwan, every Sunday morning ritual was to go to Nan-men Market and buy freshly prepared dishes for Sunday lunch. Our destination is called Yi4-Chang2-Yu4-Fang1 (憶長御坊), now made extremely famous by all the media coverage and celebrity endorsements. We have been coming here for over 15 years. Even though I show my face there only fewer than once every year, the "aunties" still recognize me and would always pack us extra dishes for free. I love this place!

2006-02-06T02:20:00.000-05:00

Tofu "flower" in gingery syrup with boba/pearl seeded with red beans

2006-02-06T02:19:00.000-05:00

Crabs galore!

2006-02-06T02:17:00.000-05:00

KeeLung Temple Entrance (night market)

KeeLung Temple Entrance dinner (night market)

2006-02-06T02:10:00.000-05:00

I always try to hit at least one night market when I come back to Taiwan. Its atmosphere can only be experienced, and is not for the faint hearted. I would not say it is a pleasant experience. Most night markets are packed with crowds with barely enough room to walk. The air is thick with smoke from all kinds of food stalls: grilled squid + buttered crabs + eggy sponge cakes + candied sweet potatoes + fried pork chops, etc. A socks vendor can be situated right next to a oyster pancake cart; a sushi stall neighbors a sandwich shop. Besides the stalls on the two sides of the walkway, vendors with push carts (usually without legal licenses) randomly dot along the path. Occasionally you need to jump out of their ways if the cops decide on an unannounced raid. Pleasant or not, it's a cultural phenomenon not to be missed, especially if you are in the mood for sampling Taiwanese street food.

My friend Joe lives in KeeLung, a city about 20-30 minutes north of Taipei. It's got one of the most famous night market in Taiwan, called "Temple Entrance." This market centers around the city god temple entrance, hence the name. Over the years it was better organized by the city and each vendor now has his/her own stall and proper license. My dinner started with a skewer of cherry tomatoes and dates covered in caramelized sugar. Then we waited for 10 minutes for the famous "nutritional sandwich." The vendor's plague claims it is the true original "nutritional sandwich" shop. The laughable part of the plaque says its sandwiches can benefit your health and extend your life. Let's see what was in my sandwich -- fried doughnut-style bread, with cucumber, tomato, sausage slices, and marinated duck eggs -- mostly egg yolks -- topped with a flavored mayonnaise. Sounds more like a heart attack waiting to happen. It was tasty though. We then sat down for an oyster pancake -- a quintessential Taiwanese street food -- made with small oysters, scrambled eggs, some veggies, and a translucent gooey kind of dough.

Time for a cooling drink. I haven't had "love jade" for a long time. This is supposedly only found in Taiwan. The official name for this plant is called Ficus pumila L. var. awkeotsang（Makino）Corner, a kind of berry bush. The seeds of the fruit are wrapped in a cheesecloth and "washed" in water to release its juices and oils. The resulting liquid spontaneously solidifies into a pale yellow gel with a slight tangy flavor. These days it is diffcult to find true "love jade" because large scale production of this drink is limited by the traditional method. Most commericalized "love jade" is simply some mixture of agar agar, carrageenan, or gelatin with coloring and flavoring.

I also ordered tofu "flower" for dessert. It came with a gingery syrup and seeded boba/pearls. Red beans are planted inside each boba/pearl. Very interesting. We also had sweet potatoes candied in syrup and served with ground peanut. We were really full by now!