I realize it’s been too long since my last post. You know how it goes—life gets super busy and the hobbies are put on the back burner. Normally, I wouldn’t feel too bad about it, but I’ve got a book sitting on my kitchen table that I promised to review. I’ve had it since, like, early June, and I can’t have it hanging on my conscience another day.

Now that I’m ready to say something about this book, I realize I don’t really know what goes into a book review. Is it as easy as saying whether I like the book (or not) and why (or why not)? I’m sure there’s more to it, but I’m just going to put my opinion out there and let you decide what to make of it.

Right. I should probably mention the name of the book...Cooking from the Heart: The Hmong Kitchen in America by Sami Scripter and Sheng Yang. And what did I think of it?

I like it! The book isn't filled with artistically arranged food shots (there are few, but most recipes aren't accompanied by a photo), but instead we get the author's personal story, comments about the food, and stories, poems and pictures that show us a little of Hmong-American life. I like that the recipes, while allowing Western alternatives for hard to find ingredients, don't lose their boldness. But the true reason I like this book is I feel a connection to the food; it feels so familiar to the Northerneastern-style Thai food I grew up eating. The nostalgia alone is enough for me to give it a fantabulous review. If you want more information about the book, the authors, Hmong food and recipes I encourage you to visit Cooking from the Heart.

The recipe I've decided to share is for a spicy bamboo salad. I chose it because it reminded me of the bamboo salad Mom used to make. As the author says, the flavors in this dish are bright and bold, and I would have to agree. The cilantro gives it a really nice freshness. If you're worried about the shrimp paste, there's no need. It complements the bamboo; I think you'll be surprised how well the flavors go together.

Spicy Bamboo Salad

• Thai chili peppers (to taste), grilled
• 1 large can shredded bamboo shoots, drained and rinsed well
• 2 cups Vietnamese cilantro (regular cilantro is fine), roughly chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tsp shrimp paste (kapi, Vietnamese-style or even anchovy paste is fine)
• fish sauce, to taste
• salt, to taste
• fresh lime juice, to taste (my own optional amendment)

Grilling small Thai chilies is challenging, so I recommend toasting them on a dry skillet until they start to brown.

In a large mortar, pound the garlic, chilies and cilantro until you get a uniform paste. Add the shrimp paste and incorporate well. Add the drained bamboo shoots and pound them lightly, turning with a spoon until they are uniformly coated with the spice paste. Be careful not to use too much force. You’re not trying to annihilate the bamboo shoots. Season with fish sauce, salt and lime juice (if using).

Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled. Goes well with simple, grilled meats or fish and rice.

Weekend Wokking Cilantro Round-up (Finally!)

Cilantro. My favorite herb/garnish/breath freshner.

It is without a doubt the best herb on the planet. Think I’m joking? I’m not. And neither are these guys. But rather than go on about how wonderful cilantro is, I’m just going to get to the submissions so you can experience the awesomeness for yourselves.

Aguadito de Pollo (Peruvian Chicken Soup) submitted by Wandering Chopsticks. Most soups are cold-weather food to me, but cilantro adds so much bright, fresh flavor, I bet this soup is perfect even on the warmest days. The vibrant green color even reminds me of warm weather!



Cilantro-coconut milk pasta submitted by Yasmeen of Health Nut. A twist on the typical creamy pasta sauce, using instead coconut milk and a generous dose of cilantro.





Thai prawn toasts with coriander submitted by Erbe in Cucina. This is one of my favorite snacks due to the taste and texture. Nothing beats the flavor of prawns and cilantro in a crispy yet chewy package.




Cilantro Horchata from the [eatingclub]vancouver. Okay, I find this intriguing. Horchata made with a cilantro infused simple syrup. Sounds different enough that I want to try it.




Strawberry cilantro salsa on grilled flank steak also submitted by [eatingclub]vancouver. First the cilantro horchata, now strawberries and cilantro. Is there nothing cilantro doesn’t go with?




Vietnamese Tofu Sandwich submitted by Pink Bites. Like Vietnamese summer rolls, but on a bun with a peanut butter-hoisin-mayo spread, fresh vegetables and a healthy sprinkling of cilantro leaves. Sounds like perfect summer food!




Grilled corn with spicy cilantro butter submitted by TastyCurryLeaf. Speaks for itself; simple but delicious.




Cilantro shrimp Chinese dumplings submitted by Javaholic. These dumplings were made from scratch, including the wrappers! FROM. SCRATCH. And there’s cilantro. Awesomeness.





Garlicky Pork Stir-fry submitted by me. Easy and family-friendly stir-fry flavored with a paste made of cilantro roots, white peppercorns, and garlic in a soy-based sauce.



Thanks to everyone who participated in the cilantro challenge! The next theme ingredient will be cheese! Wonderful, glorious cheese! Any kind of cheese you want! The host will be Yasmeen of Health Nut. Please send submissions to yasmeenhealthnut(at)gmail(dot)com by 11:59 PM, Sunday, August 2nd.

Got Oranges?

Oranges.

What the hell am I supposed to do with them? Peel and eat them? Drink the juice? Put the segments in a salad? Then I got a brilliant idea: make a syrup by reducing the juice! I’ve done this in the past with pineapple juice and balsamic vinegar. Concentrating the sugars really works wonders on these acidic liquids. They become zingy and potent, perfect for spiking stuff with.



There’s no recipe involved here. All you do is squeeze some oranges (in my case, about 8) and reduce the juice in a shallow pan (no cast iron!) until you get a nice, thin syrup. It will thicken a bit further upon cooling. Why not throw in some spices while it’s boiling down, like fresh ginger slices, star anise, cloves, and cinnamon, depending on how you’re planning to use the reduction? If you have leftovers, they can keep about a week in the fridge or freeze it for longer storage.

Start with 2 cups orange juice.

Get about 1/2 cup citrusy, syrupy goodness. See how it coats the side of the cup?

And how would you use this citrusy syrup? I like to use a couple of tablespoons to make a salad dressing. Or a little in a nice cocktail. Or in a pan sauce for something like pan-seared chicken or pork. Or in a sauce to brush over grilled meats. Or in a nice soy-based dipping sauce for spring rolls. You get the idea.

A couple of tablespoons of the orange reduction, a cube of cilantro-garlic puree from my freezer (or about 3 tbs chopped cilantro with 1 clove minced garlic), mustard and a little oil to bring to all together. Very nice salad dressing.

Here's my attempt at being fancy-schmancy. Pan-seared chicken on mixed greens and sweet potato cake dressed in cilantro-orange dressing.

This is my submission to Weekend Wokking, an event created by Wandering Chopsticks that spotlights a theme ingredient. This time it's the orange (if you hadn't guessed)! The host is Eating Club Vancouver. If you'd like to participate, there's still time! Send entries by Sunday, Feb 1 to email(at)eatingclubvancouver(dot)com.

Grow Your Own!

One of the things that gives me a great sense of satisfaction is eating the vegetables and herbs that we grow. My wish is to have enough space to grow a lot of the produce we eat, but it’s challenging living in a city and finding enough space to have a productive garden. Some people would laugh if they knew my vegetable garden is only 2’ wide by 8’ long. What’s the point with such a small space?? How about you? What are you growing? I want to know! Leave a comment with a link (to a post or your blog) so I can find you!

My garden. I know it looks like a random mess, but it's quite productive. This year I'm growing 3 or 4 varieties of tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, sugar snap peas, cilantro, mint, basil, oregano, strawberries.

As it turns out, you really don’t need that much space to produce a healthy bounty. The key is to be selective. Before I planted, I thought long and hard about what we like to eat and what would give the most yield for the space. Things like sugar snap peas, peppers, and tomatoes were naturally at the top of the list. Squash and cucumbers are also good bets. Still, 16 square feet just isn’t enough space, and until Hubby builds me a second vegetable bed, I also have to use containers.

Sonny wanted to grow strawberries this year. I've never grown them, so it will be interesting to see how many we get.

I've got 3 pepper plants going: 2 hot and 1 mini bell.

This is the reason I grow my own mint. Cherry mojitos!

Sugar snap peas are so easy to grow. They like cool weather so you can plant them in early spring. And they produce a ton of pods that are so sweet, you can eat them raw right off the vine. You can eat the young tendrils too! They're also supposed to be nitrogen-rich, putting nitrogen back into the soil.

Send positive thoughts for my dwarf nectarine tree. It seems to have come down with a case of leaf curl and the fruit might not be able to mature. I also have a dwarf cherry tree and Meyer lemon tree, but they have yet to bare any fruit.

I encourage everyone to grow something edible. Even if it's just herbs, it's still worthwhile. Fresh herbs are so easy to grow in containers. Every time you pluck the leaves, it encourages the plant to produce even more. You'll have basil for pesto or mint for mojitos all summer long!

The herb I use the most is cilantro. Sure, it's cheap enough to buy, but I want the roots as well and it's impossible to find cilantro with the roots. I use the roots to make Thai curry pastes and in stir-fries. I'll post a stir-fry using the roots soon. In the meantime here's a simple rice recipe using the leaves and stems. Cumin and lime (or lemon) juice give it a nice freshness. It's very versatile too; perfect with Mexican, Middle Eastern or Indian food.



Cilantro Rice
Feeds 4 as a side dish

• 2 cups Basmati or other long grain rice, washed and drained
• 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth (water is also fine)
• Juice from 1 lime or lemon (about 3-4 tbs)
• 1 tsp cumin seed
• 1 large bunch cilantro (about 1/2 cup or more to taste), finely chopped and divided
• salt to taste, if using water

In a medium pot, heat a tablespoon or two of oil over medium-high heat. Add the cumin seeds and allow them to fry for 10 to 20 seconds. When they start to pop add the rice and half the chopped cilantro. Turn the rice in the oil to distribute the cumin seeds and cilantro. After about a minute, add the citrus juice and broth or water. (Alternatively, you could add the citrus in at the end when you fluff the rice for a more pronounced citrus flavor. ) Bring to a boil. Once it boils, cover and turn the heat down to low. Simmer until the water is absorbed, about 10 to 12 minutes. Turn off the heat, fluff the rice with a fork and allow to steep for an additional 10 minutes. Add the leftover cilantro, fluff again and serve.

I'm submitting this to Weekend Herb Blogging, which is being hosted by Paulchen's Foodblog this week.

Three-Flavors Fish

Here in the Portland area, we have a huge Asian supermarket called Uwajimaya. They offer an incredible variety of Japanese goods, as well as a decent selection of goods from other Asian countries. I’ve only been twice because it’s located in a suburb and I don’t get out that way very often. The times I did visit were quick trips to pick up specialty produce. They had a large enough selection, but half of their stock was wilted and just didn’t look that good.

Since I was in the neighborhood, I thought I’d just pop in to see if they had any good looking fish. This time I was pleasantly surprised. The produce still didn’t look spectacular, but the fish, meat and deli departments were very impressive. How I didn’t notice the live fish tanks before is baffling because they take up a large portion of the back wall. They had 4 or 5 different whole fish to choose from as well as filets of sushi-grade fish. In their tanks, there were mussels, clams, oysters, crab and lobster. I’ve yet to see a live crab at any other supermarket in Portland. Their meat department was very well stocked: pork belly, pork shank (with skin!), and kalbi cut beef short ribs. I noticed most of the meat was NW raised and natural, meaning no hormones or antibiotics. The deli department was my favorite part. No potato wedges or chicken strips to be found, thank goodness! There was roasted whole duck, dim sum, several different pickled vegetables and several different fish cakes. I was in paradise.

Many of you are probably rolling your eyes at my enthusiasm. The thing is, Portland really doesn’t have a big Asian population, so we don’t have an overabundance of retailers that cater to our preferences. I have a market for my everyday foods, but to have a place where I can go to get fresh, whole fish or kalbi-cut beef without having to special order is awesome. I left Uwajimaya with a whole tilapia, pork shank, a couple of different pickled vegetables, fresh turmeric, and fresh BBQ pork buns.

I was particularly excited about the fish because I’ve been wanting to make 3-flavors fish. You’re probably more familiar with it being called fried fish in chili-garlic sauce or something like that. The three flavor components are sweet, sour and salty, which are the result of (palm) sugar, tamarind or lime juice and fish sauce. Chilies are the bonus. This is one of my favorite “special occasions” dishes. Mom never made it, but her friend was a master at it and always brought it to special gatherings at their temple. I always thought it would be hard to make, but turns out it’s as easy as pie, and I mean that literally.

Now, I’m not one of those crazy purists that will berate someone if they deviate from the traditional. For this dish, that would mean deep-frying the entire fish then ladling the sauce over. If you can’t find a whole fish, use filets, preferably with skin. I’m not shy about deep-frying, but if you prefer, you can pan-fry the fish or even steam it (gasp!). Of course, steaming is the healthiest, but there’s going to be a little compromise in flavor and a lot in texture. However, the sauce is so flavorful, the end result will still turn out tasty. I promise.

3-Flavors Fish
serves 3 to 4

• 1 large whole white fish (pompano, red snapper, sea perch, tilapia, etc), cleaned and de-scaled
• flour for dusting
• salt and white pepper for seasoning
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• chilies, to taste, split lengthwise
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 bunch cilantro, including stems, finely chopped
• 5 tbs tamarind puree (see note)
• 3 tbs fish sauce
• 2-3 tbs sugar, to taste
• oil for deep-frying or pan-frying

Note: Tamarind puree can be bought ready made but I prefer to make it myself from the big, condensed blocks. The blocks keep in the fridge in a Ziploc bag for months. To make the puree, add 4 oz of the tamarind block to 1 cup boiling water and let it sit for about 10 minutes to loosen the tamarind. Use a fork to help loosen it and stir it around. You’ll get a thick mixture with tamarind membrane and pits. Strain the mixture, pushing down on the pulp to push as much of the liquid and pulp through the strainer. Discard the solids. The puree can be stored in an airtight container for a couple of days. It’s also good for use in cocktails in place of sweet and sour mix (add simple syrup to taste). Try it and you’ll see!

Start by heating the oil to fry the fish. Depending on whether you plan on deep-frying or pan-frying, it may take a few minutes.

In a bowl, mix the tamarind puree, fish sauce and sugar. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Set aside until needed. Stir before use to make sure the sugar is dissolved.

Before cooking the fish, score it a couple of times on each side. Season it well with salt and white pepper and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Dredge the fish in flour and shake off the excess. Fry the fish for about 10 to 12 minutes, flipping halfway through if the fish isn’t submerged. I didn’t flip my fish, even though it wasn’t completely submerged. I just continually ladled the oil over the top, old school style. When it’s crispy and done, drain on a rack set over a sheet pan. I don’t recommend draining on paper towels because the underside of the fish will get soggy.

I must admit, that thing looks a little creepy with its eye staring off into space.

In a saucepan or small frying pan over medium-high heat, add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of the oil used to fry the fish. Add the shallot and chilies and fry for about 1 minute. Add the garlic and the cilantro and fry for about 20 to 30 seconds (but don’t let the garlic burn). Add the tamarind mixture and stir until it thickens, about 1 minute. Taste one last time and adjust seasonings if necessary. Plate the fish and ladle a little of the sauce over the fish and serve the remaining sauce on the side. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Yummy Sweet Potato Cakes

Yesterday was supposed to be the last day of my clean-out-the-freezer challenge, but I had to work and we had a Christmas party to attend so today is the finale. Hooray!

Today’s freezer item was the black bean soup I made back in September. Before adding the chorizo, I took a portion to freeze. This time we had it just as it was, without chorizo, and it was still a hearty and delicious lunch.

Black bean soup with cumin

I’m supposed to start the pantry challenge today, but I’ve been thinking that it might be more relevant to do some posts about foods to bring to holiday potlucks. Besides, I don’t think I could handle it if I had to post something for another 7 days in a row. I give props to ya’ll that did it for the entire month of November.

Back to potluck foods…I was flipping through the latest issue of Saveur and was inspired by a recipe for latkes. Instead of using regular potatoes and chives, I thought it would be interesting to use sweet potatoes and cilantro. I was surprised at how delicious they were. I'm not a big potato eater, but I will definitely be making these again soon. When you bite into the cakes, the outsides are crispy and the insides are soft, like a good hash brown. The cilantro gives them a fresh taste. And they are a very good potluck food: very transportable and can be served at room temp.

Sweet potato cakes with cilantro and chili-sour cream sauce

Sweet potato pancakes
makes about 25 appetizer-sized cakes

• 2 ½ pounds sweet potatoes, grated
• 1 onion, grated
• 3 tbs fine plain bread crumbs or finely ground plain cracker crumbs
• ½ to 1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 tsp salt
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• oil for frying

Combine the grated sweet potatoes and onion in a large bowl. Using a cheese cloth or very clean kitchen towel, squeeze as much of the liquid out as humanly possible (it’s more effective if you work in small batches). Reserve the liquid in a medium-sized bowl.

When you have squeezed out all the liquid from the sweet potatoes, set them aside until needed. Let the liquid sit for about 10 minutes to allow the starch to settle then carefully pour off the liquid.

To the bowl with the sweet potatoes and onion, add the bread crumbs, cilantro, eggs, salt, pepper and reserved starch. Mix well.

The mixture will appear dry, but don't worry, the cakes won't fall apart when you cook them.

When forming the cakes, don’t make them too thick, maybe about 1/4 to 1/2 inch. Fry the cakes in a skillet in about ¼ inch of oil over medium heat. You may have to play with the heat to keep the cakes from browning too quickly, otherwise the inside will be raw (if you find the cakes aren’t cooked through, throw them into a 350º oven for about 10 minutes or until they’re done). Drain on paper towels or on a rack placed above a cookie sheet.

Unless you've got all day, you may want to bust out more than one frying pan.

These sweet potato cakes are good on their own or with a dollop of sour cream. If you want a little more spice, trying combining 2 tbs sour cream with 1 tbs mayo, a tsp chili-garlic sauce, a squeeze of lime and a little salt to taste.