Tag Archives: Thai

The Saga of Takuan-Zuke, Part 3: The untimely end.

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Well, the takuan-zuke experiment was stinky and interesting, but ultimately a failure due to inadequate storage environments.  I was going to store them outside in the cold where it would have been more consistent of temperature, but opted not to because I thought the smell of fermenting daikon would offend my neighbors.  So I kept it inside…where it was too warm…and surprise, surprise– they grew moldy friends.

At first it was just white mold on the top of the daikon greens on the top of the crock, which I’ve heard is generally harmless, so I skimmed that off and kept it going.  But then when I was ready to take them out, the top layer of rice bran had blue and white mold.  Not being able to tell whether or not that kind of mold was poisonous (because I’m not a scientist with a microscope!), I just had to err on the side of caution and ditch it all.

Sad.

Very, very sad.

But that isn’t to say that I didn’t try a couple tiny slices from some of the daikon that were farthest away from the mold.  Ultimately, they were too salty.  This is probably because I kept adding salt to the top of the crock in an (obviously unsuccessful) attempt to ward off the mold.  However, they did turn that odd yellow color and taste like rice bran.

So, the moral of the story is…if you’re going to make takuan-zuke, store them somewhere cold while they ferment, like a cellar.  I also wouldn’t weight it quite as much as I did (I had a lot of pressure squishing the whole thing down) because my daikon got sort of compacted and dry and had a weird texture.  Otherwise you’re just going to waste a lot of daikon. Well, at least the whole experiment probably cost me less than five bucks since I grew the daikon. The thought of those beautiful daikon going to waste just makes me sigh. At least I can grow more and it cost me less than five bucks.

But I don’t like to end on a sad note, so here’s a picture of some orange juice I made with oranges I got for free from someone’s tree prunings!:

Thanks, random lady down the street for trimming your tree and then telling me which of the oranges on the pile of branches were tastier.  You rock.

I haven’t posted any recipes or anything lately. I guess I’ve been somewhat lazy.  I did make some larb gai and recommend this recipe highly if you’re looking for some Thai.  This week it’s back to being primarily vegetarian, though, so maybe you’ll see more recipes.  I’m thinking lentil soup?

The Spice of Life

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I suspect until December, you’re going to keep hearing about how busy my life is.  Rest assured I have been cooking delicious things and not just subsisting off of only instant  ramen.  The garden is still going, with peppers and carrots and herbs currently and beets and daikon in the works.  However, my slow cooker has become one of my best friends.  I can throw stuff in there and leave it alone while I study and have delicious food for the week.

One of my favorite recipes I made recently in the slow cooker was slow cooker lasagne.  Here’s the original recipe.  I’ll admit, I did use jarred spaghetti sauce because I was short on time.  However, I mixed zucchini, poblano peppers, mushrooms, onions, garlic, and fresh basil into the ricotta mixture and that made it quite tasty and special.  Easy as pie, except that it’s sort of hard to fit lasagne noodles into an oval shaped slow cooker.

Another favorite recipe I tried was lentil meatballs . I substituted laughing cow cheese for ricotta and add a ton more fresh herbs, but they came out fantastic and were freezable in individual ziplocs for whenever I heated up jarred sauce.

I’ll admit that on the part time vegetarian front as of late, I’ve been a little slackery.  Making the kind of vegetarian food I like takes time, which can be lacking.  I’ll keep trying, though, because there are too many reasons and benefits to not at least reduce my meat consumption.

Along that line, I recently discovered a brand of Thai curry paste that doesn’t contain shrimp paste (like most curry pastes do): Amoy-D. My only beef with it is that I always have to add sugar to the curry because the curry paste itself is more savory than the ones I’m used to.  Today I made panang curry with fried tofu, butternut squash, apples and mango.  This time the fruit helped sweeten it up so I didn’t need to add sugar.

Curry is so versatile…you can put just about anything in it really, sort of like fried rice.  Why fried tofu? Because frying gives it a better texture and allows it to soak up more sauce/curry/whatever.

I made a big batch for my lunches for this week, because that’s what I do nowadays…make huge batches of something tasty and force myself to eat it for 3-5 days.

  • 1 cup of extra firm tofu cut into dice-sized cubes
  • 1-2 cups of vegetable or peanut oil for frying
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 1/4 cup panang curry paste (more or less, depending on your tastes)
  • 1 butternut squash, peeled with seeds removed and cut into large chunks (3″ or so)
  • 2 carrots, cut into half coins
  • 3 lime leaves (preferably kaffir, but if you have regular lime leaves it’s better than nothing)
  • 3 coins ginger or galangal
  • 2 small red peppers, cut into rings
  • 1 bunch green onions
  • 1 apple, cut into cubes
  • 1/2 cup frozen mango chunks (or fresh)
  • 1/2 cup frozen peas
  • 2/3 cup Thai basil leaves (substitute regular basil if you have to I guess)
  • 2/3 cup cilantro leaves

First, dry the tofu and cut it into the dice sized cubes.  Drying it is important!  This way it won’t splatter quite as much when you fry it.  If you want to be extra careful, you can squeeze as much water out of the tofu as possible and then dry it after you cut it into dice cubes too.

Heat the oil in a pot or wok until a drop of water added to the pan splatters.  Add tofu, stir constantly until tofu is golden brown and looks sort of like little sponges.  Remove and drain on paper towels.  Set aside.

Add the coconut milk to a good sized soup pot and add water to thin it to the consistency somewhere between paste and milk.  Heat on medium. Add the curry paste and blend it in with a spoon or spatula.

Add in the harder vegetables: butternut and carrot.  Also add the lime leaves and ginger coins.  If using non-kaffir lime leaves, smoosh them up a bit in your hands before adding to the pot to release more of the essential oils.

Let this simmer until the butternut squash starts to get a bit soft, then add the peppers, apple, green onion, mango, and peas.

Let this cook for a couple of minutes at a low simmer, until the butternut is cooked to where it is soft enough to be cut with a fork.  Then add in the herbs (basil, cilantro) at the last minute.  Turn off the heat and mix well.

It doesn’t look glamorous, but it tastes fantastic.

A thank you to whoever actually reads this blog.  May all your tasty dreams come true!

 

Kuri Squash Soup with Chestnuts

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One of my recent CSA deliveries included a red Kuri Squash.  The name inspired me to create a velvety squash soup with red curry and meaty chestnuts.  I started with my own broth, made from a mirepoix with oyster mushrooms and simmered with kaffir lime leaves and ginger.  (Note that the mirepoix & mushrooms method is a great way to make vegetarian soup broth in general.) The soup itself has the consistency of a vichyssoise or other creamy soup, with chestnuts adding some substance and is sort of Thai-French-American fusion…  I recommend serving each bowl with a bit of fresh cilantro.

Roasted chestnuts that are pre-shelled are often available at Japanese or Chinese grocery stores (like Nijiya or 99 Ranch) in vacuum sealed packages.  They’re pretty convenient and tasty!  One forenote…I’m not a big fan of Trader Joe’s red curry sauce (I didn’t have a chance to try it before this recipe), so if you make this I’d recommend using Thai red curry paste that comes in a tub.

The only reason I used the Trader Joe’s brand is because normally Thai curry paste is not vegetarian because it includes shrimp paste.  I now regret that decision…it would’ve been better with the sacrificed shrimp.  If I made it again, I might also add some sprigs of lemongrass to the both while simmering.

Curry Kuri Squash Soup with Chestnuts

Ingredients

  • 1 Kuri Squash (or other winter squash)
  • 1/2 yellow onion
  • 2 small carrots
  •  2 stalks celery
  • 1 cup oyster mushrooms (or other mushrooms)
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 2 kaffir lime leaves
  • 1 large coin fresh ginger
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 can light coconut milk
  • 1/2 bottle of Trader Joe’s red curry sauce (or a few tbsp red curry paste instead)
  • 1+ tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
  • 2 cups chopped roasted, shelled chestnuts
  • fresh cilantro for garnish

Cut the squash in half and roast it in a 350 degree oven for about an hour, or until easily poked with a fork and soft.

Dice celery, carrots, and onions into about 1/4″ cubes.

Chop the mushrooms roughly and add them to a pot with the 2 tbsp of butter.  Mix it all up well.  Sautee them until the mushrooms are nicely browned.

Add the mirepoix and 2 cloves of garlic to the pot and mix it up so it gets coated with the butter.  Continue sauteeing until the onions start becoming browned and caramelized.

Add the water and soy sauce and mix well.  Let it simmer for about 15 minutes.  If you just want a vegetarian stock, once the broth tastes flavorful enough to you, simply strain out the liquid and you have a very good vegetable broth.  For the squash soup, continue on…

Add the coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, and ginger coins.  Mix well and simmer for 15 minutes.  (I put a couple of tomatoes in with the broth just because…I don’t think it added anything special though.  Not sure why I added it.  But that explains that tomato you see floating there that isn’t included in the ingredients list…)

Strain off the liquid and dispose of the mirepoix/etc.

Time to get back to the squash…remove the seeds and scoop out the meat.

Add the squash to a blender along with the curry sauce and a bit of the broth you just strained.  Blend it up until smooth.

Return the broth to the pot and add the squash mixture.  Mix it all up well and let it simmer.  Add some cayenne powder.

Roughly chop up the chestnuts.  Add them to the soup.

Add the 2 tbsp of grated ginger.  Simmer the soup on a low heat for quite a while, stirring intermittently, until reduced as much as you’d like.

Serve with fresh cilantro, perhaps a wedge of lime.

 

Soup-er Rainy Day

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brightening up a rainy day

It’s been raining for almost a week nonstop here in central California, and pretty cold for this area to boot (low 40s in the day, low 30s at night).  I know I’m not going to get sympathy from anyone…well, anywhere *but* California…but it’s a great excuse to make soup.

I’d been craving tom kha gai, a Thai chicken-coconut soup. (I dunno why I’ve been on this Southeast Asian food kick lately, but I’ll probably blame having just finished reading A Cook’s Tour.)  The coconut milk, though, pretty much negates the healthy soup factor, so I opted for a regular ol’ chicken vegetable soup.  The chicken adds richness, the carrots and green onions sweetness, spinach an earthiness, and the lemon, kaffir lime, and galangal a tangyness.

~300 calories for the whole pot, and chock full of tons of vitamins: vitamin A, iron, potassium, vitamin C, and fiber.  Luckily this whole diet thing makes it pretty easy to write up recipes, since I sort of measure everything anyway.

Kestrel’s Thai Chicken Soup

Makes 1 serving as a meal, 2 servings as a side or starter.

If you do your prep first, the cooking will go super fast.

Ingredients

  • 1 skinless boneless chicken thigh (I prefer the thighs because they have more flavor & are cheaper), chopped into bite-sized pieces
  • Sea salt & freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
  • 1 can chicken broth (Swanson 100% natural is what I used)
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce (nước mắm)
  • a few kaffir lime leaves (anywhere between 1-3 is fine)
  • a few coins of galangal (I find it’s a bit sweeter and fruitier than ginger)
  • 1 sliced ring of lemon
  • 2 small carrots, sliced into coins
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh spinach, chopped roughly
  • 1/4 cup shelled soy beans/edamame (I bought preshelled frozen ones)
  • 2 green onions, sliced
  • 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped fresh cilantro/coriander leaves

Add the oil to the bottom of the pot and heat up.  Add chicken, salt, pepper.  Keep stirring until chicken is a little bit browned.

soup base

Add chicken stock, galangal, fish sauce, lime leaves, lemon ring.  Bring to a boil.

adding veggies

Turn down to a simmer.  Add carrots, then bring to a simmer again and add spinach, soybeans.  Bring to a boil.

simmer!

green onions & cilantro


Throw in green onions, cilantro, and turn off immediately so the cilantro and green onions don’t overcook and lose their brightness.  Stir, let cool for a minute, then enjoy.  Garnish bowl with a few sesame seeds if you want.

all done!

Pro tip: don’t try to eat the lemon ring, galangal, or kaffir lime leaves.  They’re all pretty tough and pungent.  You could probably take them out before serving if you wanted, or just eat around them like I do.