What's Cooking (Take Two!)

[Jenise]

Paul, I've never used that item nor even tasted it that I know of, though I might have when in China. (A lot of our meals were dictated by our tour company, but we escaped fairly often in order to find more authentic experiences including a Szechuan restaurant in Beijing. But of course, if we didn't know what we were eating it's a moot point.)

Anyway, where did you find this chile paste?

I just realized I reverted to the spelling of Szechuan I grew up with, though your way is more of what I see now.

Douban jiang provides the hotness for a lot of Sichuan dishes, including mapo dofu, dry-fried beef, fish-flavored eggplant, and twice-cooked pork. So I'm sure you had it in China. There are producers of douban jiang all over Sichuan and all over China, but in Sichuan the most traditional and highly regarded comes from the town of Pixian. The traditional recipe uses only broad beans, chiles, salt, and wheat flour. The version from Lee Kum Kee (under a different Latinization: toban jiang) is widely available in oriental markets in the US, and that's what I've been using up to now. But it's made with more soybeans than broad beans and has a bunch of additional ingredients such as garlic. The Pixian douban jiang is more aromatic, more intensely flavorful, and doesn't taste as processed as the Lee Kum Kee stuff.

You can buy it online from Posharp at this URL: http://www.posharpstore.com/en-us/bean-paste-doubanjiang-c121.aspx. Posharp is physically located in Quincy, MA, an hour away from me, and they operate a huge Chinese supermarket as well as the online store, so I just drove down there last week and loaded up my Chinese pantry.

-Paul W.

Spice shop in Chong Qing:

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That skinny black device in front of her is a noisy pile-driver sort of contraption for grinding (smashing?) peppers. You can see its handiwork out front, coarse and fine.

¡Tortillas de masa! The only equipment needed is a tortilla press ($14) and a bag of instant masa. I was surprised at how easy it was, actually. Crêpes are harder, heck, pancakes are harder in a way.

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It was part of a Mexican meal for my father-in-law. I made "chile colorado" which took a lot longer than stated but was richly flavored and not too spicy. Sadly, it's gorgeous on the plate but doesn't photograph well. On the side I made "arroz mexicano". Check the Spanish language recipe for weight measures, though I made it with Pomi chopped tomatoes, and it was too much tomato and not enough water.

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I've never tried making tortillas of any kind. Any tricks to it, Walt?

Mike, you are asking the wrong guy. That page I linked to on Instructables contains the sum total of my tortilla knowledge.

That said, it was easy. Measure water, instant masa, and mix. Adjust the water or masa so it doesn't stick or break, and cook on the nonstickiest cast iron you have. They cook fast, too, so it doesn't even take very long. Might even be fun to take car camping, even though the tortilla press weighs a ton. A freshly cooked tortilla sure is a thing of beauty.

Walt

[Jenise]

Spice shop in Chong Qing:

Best dried chiles I've ever bought came from Chongqing! That is, I bought them there. They were so fruity they were almost sweet; amazing flavor and fragrance.

[Jenise]

Having the Spohns down for lunch today. Will be serving:

open faced ancient grains bread (Scandinavian thin-sliced) with creamed goat cheese, radishes and micro basil
salad of escarole, shaved baby fennel, shaved green apple, walnuts and lemon vinaigrette
potato salad for potato purists--just russets, green onions, oil/salt and vinegar
deviled prime rib bones (long-roasted beef ribs slathered with Maille mustard, rolled in bread crumbs and herbs, and re-roasted until crispy)
fresh California bing cherries

Having the Spohns down for lunch today. Will be serving:

open faced ancient grains bread (Scandinavian thin-sliced) with creamed goat cheese, radishes and micro basil
salad of escarole, shaved baby fennel, shaved green apple, walnuts and lemon vinaigrette
potato salad for potato purists--just russets, green onions, oil/salt and vinegar
deviled prime rib bones (long-roasted beef ribs slathered with Maille mustard, rolled in bread crumbs and herbs, and re-roasted until crispy)
fresh California bing cherries

Nice work.

But no mention of the wines!

Jeff, I got the idea from a book about famed Hollywood A-list celebrity restaurant Chasens. It described how 'in the know' patrons would come late and eat in the bar when the chef would give this treatment to the leftover roast prime rib bones on Friday and Saturday nights. So to replicate that kind of texture, I go the low and slow approach for well done but super tender. I sprinkled them with a mixture of salt, sage and pepper, then crowded them onto a baking sheet and roasted them under foil for two hours at 250. From there they can hold at room temp until it's time to slather them up and go for a final bake of about 30 minutes at 350.

[Jenise]

Having the Spohns down for lunch today. Will be serving:

open faced ancient grains bread (Scandinavian thin-sliced) with creamed goat cheese, radishes and micro basil
salad of escarole, shaved baby fennel, shaved green apple, walnuts and lemon vinaigrette
potato salad for potato purists--just russets, green onions, oil/salt and vinegar
deviled prime rib bones (long-roasted beef ribs slathered with Maille mustard, rolled in bread crumbs and herbs, and re-roasted until crispy)
fresh California bing cherries

Nice work.

But no mention of the wines!

I served an aged rose from Piedemont with the little radish guys, and an 02 Karl Lawrence 'Herb Lamb VY cab and a 1979 Ridge Santa Cruz Mountains cab with main course. Bill brought a 1997 Chave St. Joseph and an 05 Bunnell Syrah from Washington state. So we paired the two older wines for drinking first with the two green salads (I added a platter of cold asparagus with a tarragon sauce), then followed with the young wines, the ribs and the potato salad.

Jeff, I got the idea from a book about famed Hollywood A-list celebrity restaurant Chasens. It described how 'in the know' patrons would come late and eat in the bar when the chef would give this treatment to the leftover roast prime rib bones on Friday and Saturday nights. So to replicate that kind of texture, I go the low and slow approach for well done but super tender. I sprinkled them with a mixture of salt, sage and pepper, then crowded them onto a baking sheet and roasted them under foil for two hours at 250. From there they can hold at room temp until it's time to slather them up and go for a final bake of about 30 minutes at 350.

Jenise, your superpowers are showing.

[Jenise]

Earlier this morning, with no plan whatsoever except to eat something I got some Sicilian Chicken Sausages out of the freezer (a Trader Joe's favorite--great flavor and they're fresh, not precooked), and then I made the mistake of watching an episode of Cook's Country which had me salivating over some salt n' vinegar splat-type taters*. So now I want vinegar-y potatoes and it occurs to me that, for yucks, an Italian version of bangers and mash would be just heavenly. I have the rest of the day to figure out what that will mean.

*She boiled small red potatoes in heavily salted water--1 cup table salt to 2 quarts water--until tender. They were racked to drain and cool, then smashed, basted with malt vinegar, and baked on a baking sheet with a good amount of olive oil.

Yesterday was mildly overcast and barely hit 80 °, which is brutally cold for this time of year around here. Accordingly, I decided to make a nice beef stew to serve with splat potatoes and some mustard greens I picked up at the market. While looking at recipes, I came across one on Epicurious for "Mahogany" beef stew. This was a pretty basic stew - chuck, carrots, tomatoes - with the addition of a half cup of hoi sin sauce. I went ahead and cooked it up and it came out really nicely. The color really is mahogany, and there's a sweetness from the hoi sin that adds to the richness of the stew. Only criticism is that it could use something to sharpen it up a little. Maybe something sour, maybe something spicy. That will be for next time.

So I put this meal together while my wife was at work (as is normal for her on Sundays) figuring to have it ready whenever she got home. 6:00 rolled around, she still wasn't home, and I was feeling pretty tired and just wanted to eat, relax, and go to bed. She got home at 6:30, came in the kitchen, and asked if I'd gotten her message. I said no, and she then told me that she had an abalone! One of the people she works with had just come back from a diving trip and dropped one off for us. The last thing that I (Mr. Crabby Pants, by that point) wanted to do was to extract, clean, pound, and fry an abalone. Nonetheless, you don't ignore a rare delicacy that someone just finished risking their life to get. So by somewhere around 8:30 PM, we had our panko-crusted abalone with our stew, our potatoes, and our greens. It was a good meal (this is the first time I can say I got the abalone right) and well worth it in the end.

Only criticism is that it could use something to sharpen it up a little. Maybe something sour, maybe something spicy. That will be for next time.

I'm with ya there. Hoisin on its own can be a bit cloying if it's the main flavor agent. I know it's probably not traditional, but I often cut it with a bit of oyster sauce for a salty, slightly briny accent. If I want sharp, I usually add a dash of Chinese black (aged) vinegar. Oh, and 5-spice powder pairs very well with it also, I think (that's my wife's favorite combo). Those are all just my personal preferences, though.

Oh man, scoring a fresh abalone! Sounds like you done it proud. And yeah: if you're lucky enough to get one, it's worth the effort. Good on ya!

I made ginger ice cream with cherries over the weekend, and yesterday I used the leftover cherries in a dish of baked chicken thighs with miso and cream. Pic and description here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/551831760568491766/

(Before you say anything: yes, I have to learn how to take pictures. Or stop taking pictures with a potato, at least. Trust me, the dish tasted better than it photographed.)

Looks good, Tom. I have never cooked with miso so it's interesting to me how you think about it? (flavor, texture, does it go thin or thick or burn, etc.)

Looks good, Tom. I have never cooked with miso so it's interesting to me how you think about it? (flavor, texture, does it go thin or thick or burn, etc.)

Hey Jeff -

I love cooking with miso. Love with the intensity of a new convert to a cause. I know everyone touts its umami boosting superpowers, and it has that alright, but there's so much more to miso than that one singular quality. It's got a terrific flavor that varies in intensity depending on the type, and it's a flavor that pairs very well with a myriad of other flavors. Having said that...I can't really describe the flavor if you've never had it. If you've had miso soup, though, you've at least caught it as it elevates the dashi broth into something earthy and rich, and that's a good description of what it does to many dishes.

The one problem I had initially - and still do, sometimes - was figuring out quantities. Miso is one of those ingredients that can easily overwhelm an entire dish, and when it does...blech! Still, and this is important, a lot depends on the cooking method and the type of miso, not just sheer quantity of miso. You really have to play around a bit and discover the variables for yourself, which, really, is half the fun

A couple of other things:

Miso is sold in different strengths. The darker they are, the stronger. Dip your toe in the water by getting "Shiro" miso first - it's the least assertive, although still very flavorful. Once you see what it does to various dishes, branch out and see how the other strengths react. (I always keep Shiro in my fridge, as it's the most versatile.)

If you get one of those plastic tubs, once you break the seal and spoon some off lay a damp paper towel on top of the remainder, then a layer of plastic wrap, then the tub lid. Moisture is your friend - like love, you need to imprison it if you want it to stay.

I have yet to burn miso, although I suppose it's possible. I mean, looking at the pic of that cherry-chicken dish you see the black ring around the edge of the dish where the smears have crusted. That's pretty typical. But in the actual foodstuffs themselves I've found miso to be pretty robust and forgiving. Granted, I haven't torture tested it in something like a high heat saute. But I've coated things with miso and broiled it off to good effect. You get a black char in spots, but the good kind of black char like a brick oven pizza crust that's savory muy delicioso. N'est-ce pas?

Oh, one other thing. As much as I like Japanese miso, I think I actually prefer Korean fermented bean paste ("doenjang") more in many recipes. If you can find that - how far are you from Korea Town? - I think you should give that a whirl also. Either way though, you can't lose. They're both great to cook with.

Looks good, Tom. I have never cooked with miso so it's interesting to me how you think about it? (flavor, texture, does it go thin or thick or burn, etc.)

I love cooking with miso because it has so much flavor, and 'deeper' than just soy sauce.

I don't claim to be an expert, but I've always found it to be very sensitive to heat. The health books will all tell you that it needs to be warmed up a bit to get the most health benefit from the enzymes, but that it shouldn't get too hot (boiling). Which is why for miso soup it gets whisked in at the very end.

I'm less worried about that than I am the flavor, and it changes a lot when cooked. (More so than soy sauce) So if I want the vibrant miso flavor I add it at the end (soups, beans, lentils - my common uses). If it cooks through the dish it can get very intense and savory, which may be desirable depending on what you want. But if it's one ingredient in a blend of seasonings it becomes much less distinctive. Which can be fine, although I'd often just go for soy sauce in those cases.

I don't claim to be an expert, but I've always found it to be very sensitive to heat. The health books will all tell you that it needs to be warmed up a bit to get the most health benefit from the enzymes, but that it shouldn't get too hot (boiling). Which is why for miso soup it gets whisked in at the very end.

I have to say that from my own experiences I don't find miso to be "sensitive" to heat. It's like any other ingredient: heat changes it. More if you use high heat for a long time, less if you don't. But you can really bash the hell out of it heat-wise without worrying about it breaking, or dissipating into flavorless ash, like some other things (cheese, eggs, etc.). It's a hoot, actually, seeing how the stuff morphs depending how you cook it. At least it is to me

I don't claim to be an expert, but I've always found it to be very sensitive to heat. The health books will all tell you that it needs to be warmed up a bit to get the most health benefit from the enzymes, but that it shouldn't get too hot (boiling). Which is why for miso soup it gets whisked in at the very end.

I have to say that from my own experiences I don't find miso to be "sensitive" to heat. It's like any other ingredient: heat changes it. More if you use high heat for a long time, less if you don't. But you can really bash the hell out of it heat-wise without worrying about it breaking, or dissipating into flavorless ash, like some other things (cheese, eggs, etc.). It's a hoot, actually, seeing how the stuff morphs depending how you cook it. At least it is to me

The aroma and flavor changes a lot more quickly than with soy sauce, fermented black beans, various chilis or chili sauces, or any number of other Asian ingredients where it is less crucial to decide when to add.

And I can't speak to the health/enzyme aspect, as I'm not that kind of scientist. But I thought it was pretty well established that it was more sensitive than other ingredients to heat on that front.

But sure, some preparations call for longer cooking than others.

The aroma and flavor changes a lot more quickly than with soy sauce, fermented black beans, various chilis or chili sauces, or any number of other Asian ingredients where it is less crucial to decide when to add.

And I can't speak to the health/enzyme aspect, as I'm not that kind of scientist. But I thought it was pretty well established that it was more sensitive than other ingredients to heat on that front.

But sure, some preparations call for longer cooking than others.

Wheeeee! More stuff to explore! Lol...although I almost always turn a deaf ear to any claims of health benefits when ingredients are being discussed. If it tastes good, who cares? As long as it's not your sole source of nutrients, of course. Otherwise I subscribe to Julia Child's dictum, "Everything in moderation, even moderation." Screw the nutrition pedants.

Thanks, Tom and Rahsaan. So, it's a seasoning, not something to be eaten like hummus. In that case, I'll have to find some appealing recipes and give it a whirl. (I'd start with recipes because there is some chance that the flavors are balanced, rather than my own experiementation which could be good or could be way out there.)

And I agree that the people who brought us the food pyramid have nothing in particular to brag about.

So, it's a seasoning, not something to be eaten like hummus.

Bingo. Yeah, if you mistook it for hummus you'd instantly hate hummus. It'd be like downing a salt lick in paste form.

I just remembered one of my favorite ways to have it uncooked, though: salad dressing. Thinned with orange juice, sesame oil, salad oil, rice vinegar, blah blah blah, it's quite nice - especially if you like that orange goop they put on salads in bento boxes, but don't like the goop factor so much.