Edamame In Japan, edamame are traditionally boiled in heavily salted water and eaten straight from the pod. It’s a healthy snack often ordered with a beer in Izakayas (Japanese pubs), like the local version of potato chips or beer nuts. They’re easy to gussy up by stir-frying them with spices and seasonings. This crave-worthy Spicy Edamame recipe is redolent of pungent crispy garlic and has a well-balanced heat thanks to the addition of both black pepper and chili peppers....
If you’ve been looking through my recipes, you may have noticed that I use weight measurements. I know most people in the US use volumetric measurements like cups and tablespoons, but using a kitchen scale is better AND easier. Here’s why: The Importance ofPrecision A recipe is like a formula for scientists or sheet music for musicians; it shows you how to recreate a dish as the person who made the recipe intended....
Bàng Bàng Jī, Bang Bang Chicken, or Banbanji? Bàng Bàng Jī (棒棒鸡, literally “Stick Stick Chicken”), is a salad of sorts with either shredded or thinly sliced chicken breast dressed with the tongue-tingling and spicy málà balance of Sichuan pepper and chili oil. The name has a couple of origin myths that all have to do with beating chicken meat with a stick. In one incarnation it is said that the name Bang Bang Chicken is an onomatopoeia for the sound made when you beat the boiled chicken to shred it into evenly-sized pieces....
Bacon aside, there are few things I love more than fried chicken. What can possibly be more soul satisfying than a moist, flavorful piece of chicken encased in a thick, crunchy crust? Not much, I say. Yet despite my affinity for fried chicken, the crispy skinned allure of Colonel Sander’s Original Recipe overruns my better judgement a few times a year. Every time I step foot into a KFC to sate my hankering, I feel a twinge of hypocrisy, and yet I’m at the mercy of the fast food fryer....
It’s been a while since I’ve done an installment of my fixing Chinese-American cuisine series. My goal with this series isn’t to return these dishes to their Chinese roots, but to celebrate the uniqueness of Chinese-American food, a cuisine that forked with the immigrants who brought it over, adapting to local tastes and ingredients. Broccoli Beef originates from a Chinese dish called _Gai Lan Chao Niu Rou _ (芥兰炒牛肉) or Chinese Broccoli Fried Beef, but since early immigrants could not find Gai Lan in the US, American broccoli became an easy substitute....
Korokke (コロッケ) Cheap yet satisfying, Korokke is both literally and figuratively a meat and potatoes dish that’s long been a staple of Japanese home cooking. Growing up, my mom used to make her version of these potato croquettes with ground beef, onions, and canned corn, and the smell of the meat and onions always drew me out of my room to give the filling a taste. I’ve used a few culinary techniques I’ve learned over my years in the kitchen to make the filling velvety smooth and creamy with enough flavor to be eaten with a side of rice or shredded cabbage , or stuffed into a roll to make a Korokke Sando....
It’s been a while since I’ve updated a Chinese-American classic and given a recent request I received for this dish, I decided it was high time I give it a go. The basic process is the same as my orange chicken recipe , but I’ve substituted honey for the marmalade and used salt instead of soy sauce for the marinade to keep the color lighter. Lemon and black pepper are one of my favorite flavor combinations, so I couldn’t resist adding a generous grind of the fragrant spice into the marinade for both flavor and heat....
I’ve been back from Barcelona for less than a week, and I already miss it terribly. Everything from the meandering back alleys steeped in history, to the azure blue sky welcomed me with open arms, and then held me tight when it was time to leave. Despite my poor grasp of Spanish and even worse comprehension of Catalan, the people were patient and always there to help. These factors made for a good trip, but the thing that left me fantasizing about quitting my job and staying was the food....
While most people picture a vermilion hue and fiery heat when the word “kimchi” is thrown out, did you know that kimchi used to be “white” before chili peppers were introduced to Asia from the New World by the Portuguese in the 1600th century? Making kimchi was historically a way for people to preserve vegetables for the long harsh Korean winter, before the advent of modern refrigeration. With the introduction of chili peppers, it didn’t take long before people figured out that the capsaicin in peppers had an antimicrobial effect aiding in preservation, while adding a little spice to the bleak winter days....
As with many of my culinary discoveries, this Sweet Potato Poutine was inspired by an event that left me feeling deprived and hungry. That’s when my keen curiosity and sense of adventure peaks, and I set out to find a way to quench my yearnings with new ideas and dishes. A number of years ago, I ran off to Montréal over Thanksgiving. My family was’t too happy about this, but I ended up being equally disappointed because I found myself in a place that had celebrated Thanksgiving a month earlier....
Tentsuyu (天つゆ) is a dipping sauce used for a category of battered and fried foods in Japan called tempura. The name is an abbreviation for tenpura tsuyu which literally means “tempura sauce” in Japanese. Tempura is a sophisticated subgenre of Japanese cuisine, and the best tempura restaurants offer counter seating with prices comparable to their sushi counterparts. With fresh vegetables and seafood lightly encrusted in a crisp, lacey batter, it’s an elegant food that calls for a delicate sauce....
When I think of the simple, comforting meals my mom used to make, Japanese fried rice or yakimeshi is near the top of the list. The name Yakimeshi literally means “fried rice” in Japanese, though in some regions, it’s also called Chahan . With fluffy eggs, savory ham, and a drizzle of soy sauce that caramelizes to perfection, this rice dish is savory, satisfying, and endlessly customizable. Fast, flavorful, and incredibly satisfying, this Japanese fried rice recipe is the perfect weekday lunch for a quick meal that doesn’t skimp on taste....
I know it may sound a bit weird at first as we usually associate olive oil with savory foods, but trust me, this Blueberry Olive Oil Cake is no weirder than sea salt caramels. It’s also a lot easier to make than cakes using butter as it integrates more readily into the batter. The finished cake is marvelously crisp around the edges and ultra-moist and tender on the inside....
I’m not a fudge fan. There… I came clean and said it… It’s like eating a huge lump of cloyingly-sweet chocolate flavored frosting. There is one type of fudge though that has a special place in my heart: hot fudge. I’m usually a minimalist when it comes to ice cream, but a good caramel or hot fudge over a bowl of plain vanilla ice cream is a sublime pleasure that words can’t describe....
Whenever I go to Chinatown to pick something up, I almost always have to stop at a place to pick up some crisp-skinned Chinese roast pork. This is often confused with the more well known dish Chinese bbq pork ( Char Siu ), which has the telltale red exterior from the sweet hoisin sauce glaze. The Other Chinese Roast Pork The Right Cut Delicious and Easy 📖 Recipe Comments The Other Chinese Roast Pork Both are good, but when faced with a choice, my vote goes to the simple roast pork, if for no other reason than the crispy, crackling skin....
While green papaya may seem a world apart from the tender orange tropical fruit we all know, green papayas aren’t a different species of papaya. They’re simply immature papayas that have not yet begun to ripen. When green, they have white flesh, a neutral flavor and crunchy carrot-like texture making them perfect for salads like this Som Tam (ส้มตำ) While green papaya is eaten in salads across Southeast Asia, each region has it’s own version....
With the weather up in the 80’s in Tokyo this week, it really feels like we’ve blown through spring and headed straight into summer. To reassure my senses that the withering heat of summer is still a few weeks off, I picked up some springy green tomatoes at the local vegetable stand for a Green Tomato Gratin. Whether it’s peaches, papaya or mangoes, I have a penchant for unripe fruit, and green tomatoes are no exception....
If you’ve been following along for any length of time, you probably know I’ve been working on concocting the perfect bowl of ramen for quite some time. With the soup improving with each batch I made, I was starting to feel like the store-bought noodles were the weak link holding the entire bowl of ramen back. It was time to tackle the noodles, but given the decade of trial-and-error it took to get the soup right, I figured I was in for another dozen years of experimentation before I’d turn out a decent batch of homemade ramen noodles....
Growing up in California, I never got the fuss over the Key Lime Pies that were so popular during the 80’s. Until, that is, I took a trip to the Florida Keys in the summer of 2009. It was there, at a nondescript shack along the Oversea Highway, that I had my first taste of a real Key Lime Pie. I was there for the fried conch, but the pie in the case is what drew my appetite and I was soon devouring my first slice of many delicious Key Lime Pies, as I ate my way around the Keys....
A great chef once told me that if a recipe isn’t working out, then take an ingredient out. The lesson being, that if you’re using fresh, wholesome ingredients, simple is almost always better. That’s why most of my cooking tends to be simple. But as with any rule, there are always exceptions. French pastries are delectable, yet require an enormous amount of effort. Whether it’s my laziness or my lack of experience in the pastry arts, I prefer buying pastries prepared for me by an expert, rather than do something crazy like tackle an opera cake myself....
