Category: Cooking

This classic Sichuan dish is usually made with Beef – Shui Zhu Niu Rou, the version made with fish Shui Zhu Yu is one of our favorite dishes at Ba Ren, which more appropriately calls these dishes "Boiled in Hot Sauce". Tonight I thought I'd try making it with lamb.

 

I was surprised how well it turned out…. not quite sure about the photos though. The Missus said they look like brains boiled in hot sauce! The recipe is loosely based on Fuchsia Dunlop's recipe in her fantastic cookbook, Land of Plenty which I've referenced many times over the years. If you have that recipe handy you'll notice more than a few differences. First, I really used water, not stock for this. I also bumped up all the spices, and used four different sources of chilies, including Korean Ground Red Chili and my home made chili oil. I also used tablespoons of freshly toasted and ground Sichuan Peppercorns instead of teaspoons. If you try this recipe out, you may want to increase it even more since I used Sichuan Peppercorns directly from Sichuan that had never been irradiated. Instead of numbing your tongue and lips, it'll numb your entire face. I also used finely minced garlic and a touch of grated ginger, which really helped the dish along.

What's really interesting about this dish is that it's built in layers using a single wok. First you use the chilies and most of the ground Sichuan Peppercorn to develop a chili-and-peppercorn infused oil.

 

You then remove the chilies and use the oil to very briefly stir fry your vegetables. Because I used two different veggies, I made this in two batches.

 

And layered one on top of the other in the bowl to be used for serving.

Next you build your "sauce", much like the way I do my Ma Po Tofu. Once you have your sauce boiling you add your meat, which has been marinating in Shaoxing wine, and mixed with a cornstarch mixture. You stir briefly with chopsticks to ensure the meat is separated. Once the meat is cooked you remove the meat from the now thickened sauce, and add that to the bowl. You then pour the sauce over everything. Chop the dried chilies, sprinkle them on top of everything along with more Sichuan Peppercorn….. and it's done.

 

In case you're thinking this was a long drawn out process, it was actually pretty quick. I even made another stir fried vegetable dish for dinner…… Oh, and it was more "Ma" (numbing) than "La" spicy, at least to me.

 
Shui Zhu Yang Rou – Water Boiled Lamb:

2/3 lb vegetables – mung bean sprouts, lettuce, napa cabbage, etc
2/3 lb Sliced Lamb
2 Tb Shaoxing Wine (Drinking Quality please)
10-15 Dried Red Chilies
3 Tb freshly toasted and ground Sichuan Peppercorn
3 cloves garlic finely minced
1 tsp grated ginger
3 Tb Peanut Oil
1/2 cup Canola Oil
1 tsp Ground Red Chilies
3 Tb home made chili oil
4-5 Tb Sichuan Chili Bean Paste aka Doubian Jian (make sure it's made from Broad Beans)
4 Tb Corn Starch combined with 4-5 Tb water to form a paste
2 tsp Dark Soy Sauce
2 tsp Premium Soy sauce
1 Tb white granulated sugar
2 cups water
salt to taste
Cilantro

– Prep and slice (if necessary) your vegetables
– Slice dried chilies in half and discard the seeds
– Combine the sliced lamb with Shaoxing Wine, mix well, and let marinate
– Add peanut oil to a medium hot wok. Add the dried chilies and 2 tablespoons of Sichuan Peppercorn to the wok.Stir Fry until the chilies start to brown, do not scald. Quickly remove the chilies.
– Add vegetables to the wok and stir fry quickly. Since I used two different items I did this twice. I added a touch of salt and the ground red chilies to the greens. Just briefly cook the vegetables, they should still be crunchy when removed from the wok to create the first layer(s) in your bowl.
– Add the canola oil (I used canola oil instead of peanut oil for this because peanut oil is so darn expensive nowadays) and turn up the heat.
– When the oil begins to shimmer add the Bean Paste, stir frying until it is fragrant.Add garlic, ginger, and mix quickly.
– Add water, soy sauces, and sugar.
– While the liquid is coming up to a boil. Combine the cornstarch mixture with the lamb and mix well.
– When the sauce is boiling, dip a chopstick into the sauce and taste. Adjust the flavor if necessary.
– Start adding the slices of meat to the sauce. As the sauce comes up to a boil use chopsticks to separate the slices of meat.
– Once the meat is cooked, use chopsticks or a slotted spoon to top the vegetables with the meat.
– Pour the bubbling sauce over everything
– Chop the red chilies, and sprinkle on top, drizzle on chili oil to taste along with the remaining tablespoon of Sichuan Pepper.

 

 

 

This year, the Missus wanted Oden (おでん) a hot pot/stew that usually features a variety of fish cakes. The recipe for the broth is quite simple, and is basically exactly as described in Shizuo Tsuji's Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art , one of my favorite cookbooks. Other than the fact I use only dashi (Tsuji uses a combination of chicken stock and dashi), I think the real difference, if any was all in the preparation and serving.

As with many Japanese dishes; everything starts (and ends with) the Dashi. Instead of beginning the heating of the kombu right away; I'll actually first score 5-6" squares of wiped kombu, then soak in cold water overnight basically making Kombu Dashi. The next day I'll bring the liquid up to temp, heating to just the point where bubbles appear in the water, then I'll remove the kombu. The center part of the kombu should be soft…… you should be able to press your fingernail into the kombu. After the kelp has been removed, I'll increase the heat of the liquid until it just about reaches a boil, remove it from heat, then add the Katsuobushi (bonito flakes). I'll then very gently stir once; then wait until all the katsuobushi sinks to the bottom of the pot before straining through a cheesecloth.

Once I put together the broth, I'll place the longer cooking stewing items, like daikon, kombu, shiitake mushroom, and konnyaku into the broth to simmer. As for the other items, when I'm ready to serve the Oden, I'll ladle out the amount of broth and stewed items into a smaller pot; add in the Missus's favorite fish cakes and boiled eggs and bring to a simmer and heat through. Simmering fried fishcakes can give your broth a oily sheen, makes the cakes soggy and bland, and basically look quite unattractive. I'll pour boiling water over Abura-age (Fried tofu) to remove the excess oil, cut into triangles, and place into the bowl, along with some kamaboko. you'll notice that there's a scarcity of chikuwa (broiled fish cake)….. it seems that the Missus prefers more expensive stuff.

 

I also added a few items that the Missus enjoys like Satoimo (taro). The Missus also loves Inoki Mushrooms, but when added to a stew all the stalks break apart and go every which way. So this time, I soaked some Kanpyo (dried calabash shavings), and used them to tie the bundles of Inoki Mushroom together. Here's a pretty good list of items that you can add to your Oden. I'm just including the recipe for the broth.

 

Oden Broth:
8 Cups Ichiban Dashi
1/2 Cup neutral flavored soy sauce – Aloha or Yamasa
1/4 Cup Whole Bean Kikkoman (just using Kikkoman tends to overwhelm the other subtle flavors for me)
3/4 Cup Mirin
1 Tsp Sea Salt

– Bring the dashi to a simmer, add soy sauce and mirin. Simmer to burn off some of the alcohol
– Taste and adjust flavors. Add salt to taste.
– Add daikon, konnyaku, etc first. Remember that every ingredient will add its own flavor to the broth, that's the magic of the dish.

I'll usually serve this with hot mustard.

Consume on one of the coldest days of the year……..

There comes a time when you make something literally hundreds of times where it just kind of loses its spark. It seems that my Misoyaki Black Cod (aka Misoyaki Butterfish). I've added the Saikyo Yaki description for the sake of my buddy Akira, who keeps telling me that I should call it by its appropriate Japanese name Gindara Saikyo Yaki…… even though I use White Shiro Miso, finding most Saikyo Miso to be too sweet.

The Missus hadn't asked for my misoyaki in a while, so I decided to have some fun with it. Spice it up a bit, and this what I came up with.

 

This is a good recipe if you think that my original recipe is on the sweet side.

If anything, I think it sure looks pretty……

If you've ever read my post on Misoyaki Black Cod, you'll notice that I enjoy adding a bit of Aka (Red) Miso to add additional savory notes. This recipe is basically that basic recipe minus the Aka Miso, replaced with this:

 

Yes, Kochujang and garlic in place of Aka Miso. Not even close to traditional in any way. I've found that I like to use Sunchang Kochujang. I found the flavor of this Kochujang to be a bit more spicy, and not as sweet as other brands. Apparently, this Kochujang is made in the city of Sunchang, with sun dried peppers and sweet rice.

You can really tell the difference in look and smell. Take a look at the two:

 

Versus my more traditional version.

 

Instead of the usual three day marinade, the strong flavor of Kochujang means that I'd recommend making this after 1day, 2 days max. After that it gets exponentially more spicy. Also, remember to save maybe 1/3 cup of the marinade to use as a glaze before broiling. My usual way of making this is to start in a 400-425 degree heated toaster oven until almost cooked, then adding a layer of glaze and broiling to finish.

In the end, the Missus thought this was good, but really enjoyed the batch of my usual misoyaki, so next time it's back to the same 'ol same 'ol…… unless I find another new way of making this!

 
Spicy Misoyaki Black Cod:

3/4 Cup White Shiro Miso
3-4 Tb Kochujang
2 cloves garlic finely grated
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Sake
1/4 Cup Mirin
1-2 Tsp Whole Bean Real Soy Sauce

Combine Mirin, Sake, Garlic, and Sugar in a small pot. Bring to a simmer stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, until all the alcohol burns off.
Remove from heat, and add Soy sauce to stop boiling.
Slowly add Miso and Kochujung mixing until sauce is creamy.
Do Not ever boil miso.
When sauce is cooled  marinate black cod completely coating the fish.
Marinate for at least 1 day, not more than 2.
If using a conventional oven, pre-heat at 450 and bake fish for 8-10 minutes.
When fish is almost cooked baste with some left over sauce if desired, then broil for an additional 2-3 minutes until well caramelized.

 

This was the purple cabbage dish we were served during the family dinner in Jinan. It really caught our attention, and it has become a pretty regular item at home. It is very simple, and can be put together in just a few minutes.

 

The dressing itself has basically five items, but everything comes through real well. The key item is using a good, pure sesame paste, which provides a wonderful savory – nutty flavor. The oil in the sesame paste also acts like an emulsifier. Chinese black vinegar and white sugar are the other two key components. The surprise is the addition of wasabi, which gives the dressing real zip. Everything is balanced out with some sea salt, and that's it.

I start with 3 tablespoons of well mixed sesame paste (remember to mix the sesame paste well, since the oil has usually separated in the bottle). I add an equal amount of white sugar, then 1/3 cup of Chinese Black Vinegar, and combine well. I taste and make adjustments to our taste(you may need to add sugar or vinegar), and suggest that you do the same. The "dressing" needs to be pourable. I then add some wasabi paste to taste, and finish up with sea salt. It's not the prettiest looking concoction.

I finely shred/slice half a head of purple cabbage. The Missus likes the cabbage sliced finely. In Jinan, the cabbage was blanched, but we've found that a fine slice does just fine.

I combine the cabbage with 3/4 of the dressing, mix well, and put in the fridge for 15-20 minutes, to let the flavors meld. After the short chill, I add about a handful of chopped cilantro leaves and 2-3 bunches of finely sliced scallions (green parts only). I mix, then adjust with more dressing if necessary and more salt. I add a sprinkle of sesame seed to top things off. This will keep for a day or two, (or maybe three) if refrigerated.

Easy, huh? I feel almost guilty doing an entire post on this, but it is quite good.

A couple of notes; I quarter the half of the cabbage I use and cut off the tough core. If you can't get good quality Chinese Black Vinegar, you can use Japanese Rice Vinegar, but cut the sugar in half before combining, then add more if necessary. We were told that finely julienned and blanched carrots are a good addition. I'm sure you can think of other good additions to this. We also had a version of this in Beijing, so stay tuned for that post.

Honestly…. I guess I'm just not able to grill up pretty looking food on weeknights. Probably because my objective is to get the food to the table in less than an hour, clean up, and then have some time to do a post….. But I gotta say, it ain't easy being green.

 And in fact, if you consider that I par boiled the potatoes the night before with the intent to throw them on the grill, perhaps this doesn't even qualify for one of my weeknight grilling posts.

The recipe itself, is based on what Rick Bayless calls his "chimichurri" in his latest book, Fiesta at Rick's. If you ever wanted a recipe for a gallon of Michelada, this is the book for you. In fact, I've kinda planted the seed in the minds of my friends….. just the fact that they are considering digging a pit in their Mom's backyard to do the recipe for a 30 pound lamb based on the recipe in the book…. well, you get the point. In his book, his "chimichurri" is used for a ceviche. I've posted on a more traditional Chimichurri before, but when Bayless mentioned that this was great on chicken; well, I had to just give it a try.

The actual sauce recipe didn't use any acid, which Rick Bayless added in later as part of his ceviche. And for the skin on, boneless chicken legs and the potatoes, I didn't use any acid. The recipe itself is a bit different from what's in the book, I usually use recipes as more of a guideline, and make adjustments for my taste preferences anyway. In this case, I cut down the flat leaf parsley, since I didn't care for an overwhelming chlorophyll taste. I also bumped up the garlic (of course) and the serrano chilies (of course again), and added a bunch of scallions to the whole mess for some additional punch. The sauce came out pretty thick, like a pesto, and smelled wonderful. And to tell you the truth, it isn't particularly spicy either……

 
So form the time I got my chimney starter going……

Spicy Cilantro-Garlic Sauce

16 cloves of garlic
5 serrano chilies
2 medium bunches cilantro, hard stems removed
1/2 of a small bunch flat leaf parsley, hard stem removed
1 bunch green onions
2/3 cup olive oil
2-3 Tb Sea Salt

– Roughly chop cilantro, parsley, serrano chilies, and green onions. (For less heat, remove the seeds and "veins" from the serranos before using)
– Place in a blender with garlic
– Slowly add olive oil while pulsing the blender.
– Scrape excess unblended ingredients off the sides of the blender, and then blend until fairly smooth.

This will make about two cups, more then enough for several uses.

For the chicken pieces, I put about 1 1/2 tablespoons of sauce on one side and lightly rubbed over the chicken. I then turned the chicken over and did the same. I put the chicken in the fridge for about 15 minutes to marinate, and prepped my potatoes. I had sliced two russet potatoes into 3/4 inch slices the night before and parboiled. I rinsed well, to remove excess starch, made sure they were nice and dry, and put them in the fridge. I took them out right before I got my charcoal started. I seasoned with sea salt and fresh ground pepper, rubbed with extra virgin olive oil, and split into two groups. Right before grilling, I tossed one group with red wine vinegar. The other group was grilled on one side, and after turning, I brushed on some of the sauce on the grilled side of the potato. After turning I repeated with the other side, making sure to grill the potatoes, without burning them. Of course I was grilling up the chicken as well.

It turned out to be pretty good.

 
Regular readers may recall that the Missus doesn't eat chicken anymore, so I also grilled up some eggplant, zucchini, and red peppers.

 
Toasted some ciabatta bread rubbed with garlic oil on the grill. I mixed about 1/2 cup of the sauce with a few squeezes of lime to add some acid, which the Missus used as a spread for sandwiches, which She loved. In fact, She had a couple of days worth of sandwiches.

A couple of days later, I repeated the sauce with lime, added a touch more salt, and a few turns of black pepper, and made a salad dressing.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, green leaf lettuce, a few sprigs of cilantro, and pepinos, made for a nice salad.

I'm always happy to find these recipes that can be used for multiple purposes……. it makes life so easy. 

We grilled the last two evenings, so I figured I'd do one last weeknight grilling post. We've been enjoying weeknight grilling…. it's all about timing, and objective is to get everything to the table in less than an hour. I've already done a post on skirt steak, so I hope you don't mind another. On Monday, I picked up some skirt steak and a ciabatta on the way home…….. I thought I'd do the simple grilled skirt steak, but when I got home I decided something else.

I was inspired by something I had in Xi'an……

They call it Rou Jia Mo…… you can call it a sandwich if you want to…….

 
Basically heavily seasoned meat stuffed in bread. And Xi'an being the end of the Silk Road, you can bet this was wonderfully cumin, salt, and chili heavy.

I was also itching to use the very potent five spice from QingDao that Fifth Aunt sent home with us. It's the same five spice that she uses in her own home made sausage. First I got the hardwood charcoal going in my chimney starter. This was basically a retread of my Cumin Lamb and Grilled Cumin and Sichuan Peppercorn Lamb Chop recipes. And you all know how much I love cumin lamb.   

I marinated the skirt steak in shaosing, premium soy sauce, premium dark soy sauce, five spice (just a pinch, a little of this goes a long way) and cumin. I was out of sweet bean paste, so I used some sambal olek to add some zip.

I sliced three cloves of garlic lengthwise and sauteed them over medium-low heat until soft. I added sliced green bell pepper and sliced onion. I was going for a bit of color, and wanted the natural sugars to develop. I didn't want it too sweet, but I added some shaosing, sea salt, cumin(of course), and a dash of premium soy sauce.I'd use this as the veg for my sandwich. Figuring that this was going to be pretty strong flavorwise, and perhaps teetering on the salty side, I decided to grill some tomatoes along with the meat to add a bit of "acid" to the dish. Once everything was ready to go I seasoned the skirt steak with more ground cumin, ground Sichuan Peppercorns, sea salt, and ground chili.

Grilled medium rare, stacked on the bread toasted on the grill, all finished off with scallions and cilantro.

 
Maybe if this was a weekend I could talk the Missus into making Dan Bing…. but heck this was a weeknight.

This evening I thought I'd want something a bit lighter. I stopped by Seisel's with nothing in mind, and ended up leaving with just a couple of Veal Bratwursts……. and weeknight grilling on my mind. I picked up some local asparagus from the fruit stand, went home, got my charcoal started…. and came up with this.

I tried to use stuff we had on hand. While prepping the vegetables, I simmered the Brats in Killian's Red…. because there was a bottle in the fridge. The eggplant was coated in olive oil, oregano, and salted. The tomatoes in oil I had leftover from making garlic confit and oregano. Same oil for the asparagus, along with sea salt, and finely ground black pepper.

I grilled the vegetables…. the asparagus were thin so I didn't have to peel them. We still had ciabatta left so I sliced it, grilled it slightly with the garlic oil, and spread a little Boursin I had in the fridge.

I got my vegetable peeler and shaved some leftover imported parmigiano reggiano, and I had dinner. Funny thing the brats was my least favorite part of the meal. And it was done pretty quickly…..

I realize that these really aren't recipes per se, so thanks for hanging in there and reading. But it was fun grilling over charcoal and getting the table in less then an hour. I'm going to continue doing stuff like this over the summer and fall, but I'll get back to writing out regular recipes in the future.