Asian
Thanks to Whole Foods this craveworthy paring can bed kept on hand in your freezer for
one of those inevitable meals on a whim that you can whip up in no time.
Once cooked these tuna burgers are plump, juicy, and flavor sum and more so when topped with a heady wasabi mayo and tucked into these lightly toasted soft pretzel buns.
No recipe required other than a few preparation tips that follow.
Plan ahead and thaw out the tuna burgers and buns to room temperature.
Wasabi mayo:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise            Â
- 1 generous tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 0r 2 teaspoons wasabi paste (available in tubes)
- a meager splash of soy sauce
Stir all the ingredients together in a small bowl, cover, and refrigerate.
Lightly toast the sliced soft pretzel buns, interior sides up, and set aside.
Sparingly glaze a non stick pan or grill pan with oil. Set the pan over medium low heat. Add the tuna burgers and cook for about 2 minutes. Flip the burger and continue cooking for another 2 minutes. Flip once again and press the tops lightly. When the tops feels just firm the burgers are done.
Spread a little wasabi mayo on the bottom halves of the buns and place the burgers on top. Top the burgers with a generous dollop of wasabi mayo, add the tops of the buns and serve.
Suggested: Serve the tuna burgers with a crisp seasonal salad dressed simply with olive oil and vinegar and seasoned with salt and pepper.
This is a lovely quick meal that you will find yourself returning to again and again!
Yam Som O in is a spicy Thai pomelo salad. Pomelo is a large tropical grapefruit like citrus fruit native to South East Asia. The salad includes shrimp, toasted coconut, shallots, peanuts, tossed together with a spicy chili-coconut lime dressing.
While I love the traditional Thai yam som o (click here) the conundrum is finding pomelo if you do not live in the tropics. That said I have found ruby red grapefruit to be an ideal stand in for the pomelo in an equally zesty Yam Som O.
The recipe that follows otherwise adheres to the traditional ingredients of this salad which will require gathering together some Thai ingredients that you may not have on hand as well as preparing a roasted Thai chili paste which I promise will fill l your kitsch with a “breathtaking†aroma of an authentic Thai kitchen. This chilli paste can be prepared in advance and refrigerated.
Thai roasted chili paste
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 3 tablespoons minced shallots
- 3 tablespoons minced garlic
- 3 tablespoons dried red bird’s eye chills, seeds removed and finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon shrimp paste
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons palm sugar or light brown sugar
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a small saute pan set over medium heat. When hot add the shallots. Saute until wilted. Add the garlic and saute until the shallots and-garlic are golden. Then Add the chills and saute until softened.
Transfer the contents of the pan to mortar, or small processor and set the pan aside. Add the shrimp paste, fish sauce, and sugar and pound or process the mixture until emulsified.
Add dd the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan. When the oil is hot add the chili mixture and saute for several minutes until reduced to a paste like consistency.
Allow the mixture to cool and then transfer it to a jar. Bets used while fresh, or refrigerate for up to a month or so.
The dressing may also be prepared ahead and refrigerated.
Dressing
- ½ cup coconut milk
- 2 teaspoons palm sugar (or light brown sugar)
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons roasted chili paste
Pour the coconut milk into a small sauce pan and bring to a low boil. Add the palm sugar and swirl the pan until dissolved. Add the fish sauce and lime juice and swirl to combine. Then add the roasted chili paste and stir until it is incorporated. Reduce he heat to a low simmer and cook for10 minutes. Set aside to cool and then store in a jar with lid and refrigerate.
Thai Yam Som Oo salad   Serves two
- 2 cups precooked and de veined small shrimp that has been well chilled
- 2 tablespoons shallots tht have been thinly sliced lengthwise
- 2 tablespoons garlic that hat has bee thinly sliced lengthwise
- 4 tablespoons toasted shredded coconut
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh red chills
- 2 cups fresh ruby red grapefruit sections
- 2 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts
- 2 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves
- 2 iceberg lettuce cups for lining the individual serving bowls
Place the chilled shrimp in a non reactive salad bawl. Scatter the sliced shallots and sliced garlic over the shrimp. Scatter three quarters of the toasted coconut and chopped fresh red chilies over the contents of the bowl. Pour some dressing over all and toss, adding more dressing as needed until the salad is evenly dressed.
At this point the salad may be refrigerated briefly while you prepare for serving.
Serving
Divide the salad into two individual serving bowls lined with iceberg lettuce. Tuck ruby red grapefruit sections into the salads generously. Spoon a little more dressing over the salads if needed. Sprinkle toasted peanuts and coconut over the salads. Add the remaining grapefruit on top of the salads and dust with a few pinches of peanuts a toasted coconut and garnish with fresh coriander leaves or zesty sprouts and serve.
Serve promptly.
This Asian rice based porridge is called either Jook or Congee depending where you might be in Asia or in Asian communities elseware. Congee is specifically identified as a Chines rice porridge from Guangdong province. Both are considered a breakfast porridge often encountered early in the morning simmering over red hot charcoal nestled in rustic clay hibachis. Jook’s aroma beckons as it wafts through the chilly morning air as the sun begins to rise.
What I am about to propose may not be quite as picturesque, but cooking J ook in an Instapot has its merits. The rice broth cooked under pressure delivers a silky soft porridge saturated with the flavor of ginger and the scent of kaffir lime in just 15 minutes. Of course you can cook this recipe on the stove top as well with about aone hour cooking time.
In either case, carry on with a quick saute of the mushrooms along with shallots and garlic that are then added to the porridge and you have a comforting bowl of Jook to begin your day!
Gingery Jook with Mushrooms
- Â 1 quirt home made chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 inch finger of fresh ginger root, peeled and divided into thirds
- 3 fresh or frozen kaffir lime leaves
- ½ cup jasmine rice, unwashed
Place the ingredients in the Instapot, or stock pot for stove top cooking. Lock the Instipot lid into place. Press Pressure cook., and set timer for 15 minutes.
For stove top cooking, set the pot over medium low heat with a lid on. Stir occasionally to avoid scorching, and cook at a low simmer for 50 minutes to an hour. Ideally the rice should be translucent and just barely holding its shape.
Meanwhile you can prepare the mushrooms.
Ingredients:
- 8 white mushrooms, well cleaned, stems remove and discarded
- 8mushroom caps, thinly slicedÂ
- 3 tablespoons minced shallots
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- pinch of sea salt
- t twist of fresh ground white pepper
- 1\4 cup white wine (Chinese cooking wine, or sake)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
Heat the oil in a large skillet set over medium low heat. Add the shallots and saute until translucent. Add the garlic and saute 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and saute until they soften and begin to color. Add a little wine and continue sauteing until the e pan is nearly dry. Add the remaining wine and contuse sauteing. Season with salt and pepper and continue sauteing until the mushrooms are just starting to brown. When the skillet is nearly dry remove from the heat and set aside.
When the Instapot has finished, best to allow the pressure lower for 10 minutes and then you can carefully unlock the lid. Fish out the ginger and the kaffir lime leaves and discard.
Remove the container with the rice from the Instapot, placing it on a towel on your work surface.
For a very smooth Jook, use an immersion blender, or blender, and puree until the rice and stock are emulsified, smooth, and creamy. Otherwise you can skip the blending for a heartier texture.
transfer the sauteed mushrooms to t the Jook and stir to combine. Add the soy sauce, lemon juice and stir to combine.
Serving:
Jook is traditionally served with an array of condiments and garnishes.
That said, I recommend thinly sliced spring onions, coriander (cilantro) leaves, and gomasio (recipe here) lightly sprinkled over the surface.
                      Jook’s subtlety is its allure!
Stir frying is hands down the best way to cook a quick meal using the season’s freshest produce. I’ve been stir frying all summer long an I intend to carry on doing so with fall’s hardier produce bounty.
Stir frying is Asia’s gift for anyone who loves to kook and for all those they may be cooking for. A seasonal stir fry never fails to deliver a gorgeous healthy meal with complex flavors, textures, color, and aromas. A few helpful tips is all that’s required for success.
I’m sure you’ve seen the cooks in Chinese restaurants at their stations tossing ingredients in a big woks set over licking flames and clouds of aromatic smoke. All well and good, but you too can produce the same results in your very own kitchen sans the pyrotechnics!
Stir frying does requires Intense heat, but I’ve found that gas, electric, and induction heat all deliver the heat required if you are using a proper wok. An inexpensive carbon steel wok made in China or a domestic upgraded version is going to give you the best results. Carbon steel responds instantly to the heat source and the bigger the better because you are going to be throwing lots of vegetables and leafy greens into that fired up wok! The more hot surface space the better the results.
A trip to your local Asian market may also be required, but with the following list of basic ingredients on hand you will be set to go!
- soy sauce
- oyster sauce
- fish sauce
- Chinese cooking wine
- Chinese lap Chong dry sausage
- Thai basil
- Â jasmine rice
With fall’s arrival seize the moment and expand your produce choices including baby Brussels sprouts, squash, turnips, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbages, kale, mushrooms and anything else that strikes your fancy.
An Impromptu Fall Stir Fry
Successful Stir frying is all about preparation and organization. Arrange all of your ingredients and cooking utensils within reach before you begin and you are set to go!
As mentioned use a large carbon steel wok or if not a large heavy bottomed skillet.
Ingredients
- Two of the vegetables in this recipe quire some per-preparation as follows.I pint baby Brussels sprouts, trimmed and d steamed al dent, and set aside to used in the stir fry later.
- ½ Napa cabbage, core removed, thinly sliced, placed in a bowl wit water to cover, and refrigerated for at least 30 minutes and drained before stir frying.
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 links Lap Chong Chinese dry sausage, thinly sliced on the diagonal
- 2 small brown onions, peeled, halved, thinly sliced, and separated
- 2 carrots, peeled and cut into thin batons
- 6 red and yellow baby sweet bell peppers, trimmed, seeded, and cut into thin strips
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled, thinly sliced, and cut into thine strips
- 2 or 3 small fresh hot chiles, trimmed, seeded, and minced
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh ginger root cut into thin strips
- 2 large bunches Bok Choy, trimmed, leaves halved on the diagonal
- Â 1/3 cup Chinese rose cooking wine, or white wine
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce / more to taste
- soy sauce to taste
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- ½ cup chopped Thai basil leaves, or sweet basil
- juice from 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
- 1 teaspoon cold water
- Jasmine rice for serving
Place the wok directly over the heat source on medium high. Add the oil and swirl the wok. Add the sausage and stir fry while continuously tossing until the sausage begins to color around the edges. Add the onions and fry while tossing until the onions begin to wilt. Add the carrots and continue tossing until the carrots begin to wilt. Add the sweet peppers and then the garlic, chiles, and ginger and continue tossing.
Slowly add the Chinese cooking wine and toss vigorously until most of the wine has been absorbed.
Drain the cabbage and add to the wok and toss until it wilts. Then add the Bok Choy and toss continuously until the leaves are wilted. Then add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, and fish sauce while continuously tossing.
At tis point if the wok is nearly dry add a half cup of water and continue stir frying. Toss in the Thai basil and the steamed baby Brussels sprouts and continue tossing.
If you want to thicken the liquid in the pan, stir the cold water into the corn starch and stir. Then pour into the stir the stir and continue stir fry until the liquid thickens, about 3 minutes.
Finally stir in the lime juice and stir to combine just before serving.
Serve the stir fry with freshly steamed jasmine rice.
Leftovers , not to worry. Reheat in a saute pan or microwave!
