Category: Cooking

Okay, here's an easy one. The Missus requested the "eggplant dish" from Okan, without the miso. It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't made this before. Having had some previous experience with simmering eggplant, I know they tend to disintergrate and get mushy quickly. So I turned to Shizuo Tsuji's classic book, Japanese Cooking: A Simple art. Even though this recipe is not from the book, I consider it a must for any Cooking Library. In the book, eggplants are scored lengthwise and fried in a pan before subjecting it to the simmering liquid.

This worked out better than expected. Scoring also helped the eggplant absorb the dashi. The Missus thought they were fantastic. The only problem now, is after making this, along with Gobo Salad  and Kabocha Nimono, the Missus no longer sees a need in visiting Okan! I'll have to figure something out…..

Nasu no Nimono (simmmered eggplant):

6-8 Japanese Eggplant
2 Tb Canola Oil
2 Cups Dashi
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce – This time I used Kikkoman whole bean
1/4 Cup mirin
2 Tb Sugar

1 – Chop off the stems of the eggplant, than cut fine slits about 1/4 inch apart along the length of the eggplant.
2 – Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add oil, turning saucepan to make sure it is evenly coated.
3 – Add eggplant and fry until the skins wilt. Remove the eggplant from pan when done.
4 – Heat dashi, soy sauce, and mirin in a pan over medium heat. Add egglpant nad bring to a boil, than lower heat to a mild simmer.
5 – Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes and taste broth. Adjust flavors and finish simmering for another 5 minutes.
6 – Remove from heat, cool, and place in the refrigerator overnight.
7 – Slice the eggplant into 2-3 large slices before serving, pour a few tablespoons of the broth over the eggplant as well.Serve warm or cool.

Man that broth is good……

Sometimes shopping can be dangerous….no I'm not referring to the aggressive older Asian women, who "shopping cart check", push past, or just plain run you over like a hard nosed version of Lorenzo Neal. I'm talking about when something calls to you.…..I'm sure it has happened to you.  On a recent shopping excursion to Zion Market, I was flagged down by some Oxtails.

"Hey stranger, going my way???"

Which I ended up purchasing. I had thought of making a nice Oxtail Soup….but this was vetoed by the Missus who said it was just too darn hot for soup. So what to make? In the end, I decided to throw together a Chinese influenced braised Oxtail dish. Taking ideas from various Chinese braising recipes, most notably Red Cooking.

It came out rather well, served with fragrant Jasmine Rice, and Pea Shoots quickly stir fried with garlic and salt using the Big Kahuna. Overall, it was very easy, pretty much just cooks itself over the course of 3-4 hours. Not as sweet as usual red cooked dishes, no use of dark soy either(I was out of Dark Soy), and of course the chilies take it in a totally different direction. Letting rest overnight is a key step.

Chinese Style Braised Oxtails

4-5 Lbs Oxtails
2/3 Cup Shao Xing Wine
2/3 Soy Sauce
3 Cups Water
4 Tb Dark Brown Sugar
1 Star Anise
1 2" piece of ginger crushed
4 Scallions – White part only chopped
5 cloves Garlic Roughly Chopped
2 Tb Soy Bean Paste
2 Pieces Dried Orange Peel
3 Tb Canola Oil
Salt and Black Pepper
2-3 Dried Chilies (optional)

1 – Season Oxtails with Salt and Pepper
2 – Heat oil in a Dutch Oven or Pot, and brown Oxtails.
3 – Once Oxtails are browned, remove from pot. Drain all but 2-3 Tb oil from pot.
4 – Add Dried Chilies(if you are using them). Once chilies are slighly blackened and fragrant, add garlic and scallion. Stir until soften and fragrant.
5 – Add Bean Paste and mix in briefly until fragrant.
6 – Add Soy Sauce, Shao Xing, Sugar, and Water. Mix until sugar dissolves. Bring liquid to a boil.
7 – Add star anise, ginger, and dried orange peel.
8 – Reduce heat to a low simmer and place Oxtails back into pot.
9 – Cover and simmer for 3-4 hours, turning Oxtails occaisionally.
10 – When Oxtails are very tender, remove from heat.
11 – Let cool, than refrigerate overnight.
12 – The next day, remove oxtails from braising liquid, and skim off fat as desired.
13 – Heat liquid, and strain.
14 – Place Oxtails back into braising liquid and heat.

Some other options – use the braising liquid to braise Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms, or you can thicken or reduce into a thick sauce, or just pour the liquid over rice and veggies like we did. I'm sure you can come up with many different combinations.

Enjoy some gelatinous-meaty fun!

By request; here's a really bad photo of the Bean Paste I used that I took in a rush this morning.

I hope you don't mind…..a recipe on a Monday. Here's one that I learned during the cooking class offered by Joy of Tamarind Restaurant in Luang Prabang. Sounds much like, Cambodian Fish Amok, but Mok Pa uses no coconut milk. There's also a recipe for this dish in the legendary cookbook,  Traditional Recipes of Laos a translation of the contents of 2 notebooks hand written by Phia Sing, the Royal Chef, who resided in the Royal Palace in Luang Prabang.  How this legacy of Royal Lao/Luang Prabang style cooking was saved, by the late Alan Davidson, the editor of the Oxford Companion to Food is, of itself, worth of many a post. Perhaps one day I'll take a stab at it. I did notice that items steamed in Banana Leaf is called "Mawk" in Traditional Recipes of Laos, while items "grilled" in Banana Leaves are called "Mok". Here, in deference to the cooking class I took, I'll call it "Mok".

I apologize in advance; I'm sure if I worked a bit more at it, I could make this more photogenic. The version I made in Luang Prabang was more a bit more attractive. We basically ate what we made in class, everything was cooked on a charcoal brazier, called a Tao-Lo. I was amazed at how good this came out. When the Missus ate a version of this, She told me, "there's something here that tastes so familiar, but I can't place it". It was the dill. Phia Sing's recipes for Mawk doesn't include dill, but Tamarind's recipe does. I did enjoy the nice palate cleansing, refreshing flavor dill added to the dish.

Some other notes; the original recipe uses ground sticky rice powder, I've replaced it with corn starch. I've adjusted some of the other ingredients to my taste. One of the tricks to making banana leaves pliable is to run them over a flame, until they become "shiny". Don't burn, however……

One more key note that was emphasized during the class, "make everything to your taste"…..which is what I did, and so should you!

Mok Pa

2 Tb Corn Starch
3-4 Shallots chopped
3-4 Cloves Garlic
1-2 Thai Bird Chilies sliced into thirds
3 Kaffir Lime Leaves – the recipe doesn't indicate this, but I sliced the middle "stem" of the leaf off, and sliced in a very fine chiffonade)
1-2 Tb Sea Salt (to taste)
4 Tb Dill finely Chopped
2 Tb Thai Basil chopped (in Laos they call what we refer to as Thai Basil, Lao Basil, and Holy Basil is called Thai Basil – go figure)
2 Scallion, green parts only finely chopped
2-3 Tb Water
2 Tb Fish Sauce
3/4 Lb White Fish Filets Cut into slices…or cubed if you desire
4-8 Banana Leaf pieces, each about 8"x8"

1 – In a mortar combine 1TB salt, garlic, shallots, chilies, kaffir lime leaves, and pound into a paste.
2 – Add Dill, Basil, and Scallions, and incorporate into paste.
3 – Add 2 Tb fish sauce, and 2 Tb water, and mix into paste. Taste and adjust flavors.
4 – Add fish and combine with paste.
5 – Run banana leaves over a flame to make pliable.
6 – Divide up fish into 4 portions.
7 – You can either place 2 banana leaves over each other at right angles, place fish in the middle, and pour on some of the paste. OR if you're like me, and all thumbs, just fold the darn thing up, sealing well.
8 – Seal and secure with a toothpick.
9 – Steam for 20-30 minutes.

EAT!

Here's a wonderful post on Phia Sing from  Rambling Spoon.

Yes, the Missus is missing some of the dishes She had in Luang Prabang already, especially the Luang Prabang Salad, a local specialty. The Missus could not have a lunch (and sometimes dinner) without it. One of the key ingredients of the salad is Phak Nam, the local watercress. The watercress that we were served in Luang Prabang was young and tender, looking almost like Kaiware, Daikon Sprouts. The flavor was very mild, faintly peppery, slightly bitter(they enjoy bitter flavors), with some sweet overtones. But what the Missus enjoyed most about the salad was the dressing, which seemed to have a European-Lao pedigree, that used both fish sauce and egg yolks, and as with many Lao recipes, was put together using a mortar and pestle.

Here's a photo of the Missus's favorite version of the salad:

From Soucham Restaurant, She had this salad 3 times during our stay in Luang Prabang.

Upon our return, the Missus was craving the salad. Fortunately, I purchased a little pamphelet called; Tamarind's Little Book of Salads during our visit to Tamarind Restaurant. Even though the little booklet is only 14 pages long one of the recipes included is for Luang Prabang Salad. I've taken several liberties with the recipe; replacing the lime juice with lemon juice, we were sure that the version the Missus enjoyed the best was made with lemon juice, I used a combination of palm sugar and granulated sugar, and we couldn't find a nice tender watercress, though Nijiya will carry something similar once in a while; so I used a combination of tender pea shoots and Romain lettuce hearts. It didn't turn out too bad.

I made the dressing a bit thicker than what is served in Luang Prabang, and will probably thin it out next time I make this; per the Missus' request.

So without further ado:

Luang Prabang Salad

3 Large Hard Boiled Eggs (do not over cook)
1 Clove Garlic – roasted
1/2 – 1 1/2 Tsp Sea Salt (aka "A Lao pinch of salt")
1 Tb Canola Oil
2 Tb Water
2-3 Tb Lemon Juice
1 Tb Palm Sugar
1/2 Tsp Sugar
Fish Sauce to taste

2 Cups Romain Lettuce Hearts Chopped
1 Handful tender Pea Shoots, or even better, tender watercress
2 Scallions – Green parts only, sliced thin
3 Tb cilantro chopped fine
3 Tb mint chopped fine (optional)
Cherry Tomatoes
Cucumber

1 – Slice eggs in half lengthwise, remove yolks, and slice whites thinly.
2 – Place eggs yolks, garlic, palm sugar, and salt in a mortar and pound into a paste.
3 – Add oil, lemon juice, water, and fish sauce (if desired) and combine. Taste, and adjust flavors, and thin out with additional water if desired.
4 – Combine pea shoots, cilantro, and scallions.
5 – Place Romain lettuce in a layer in the middle of serving plate; mound pea shoot mixture on top of lettuce. Arrange cucumber slices and tomato on plate. 
6 – Pour dressing over salad before serving.

– To add a nice touch to the salad; top with crumbled pork rinds.

Enjoy……