Sorry for not posting more lately.  Aimee and I are getting married very soon, and that means that our lives are literally consumed by planning and work with little time to do other things we love….like cook and write here on TFD.  In any case, tonight was one night that I did find some time to get some cooking done, and after our dear friends Katie and Tyson hooked up the Momofuku cookbook for a wedding gift, I’ve hardly been able to put it down.  Seriously, if you’re into Asian-influenced, just plain old downright dirty awesome grub, get the Momofuku cookbook.  It’s righteous and one fo the best books on cooking I’ve seen in quite a while.

One thing I dig about it is how quirky the chef David Chang is in his recipes – his constant use of Grapeseed oil (or other neutral oil), the funky stories that you can tell have come out of his totally organic growth and rise to popularity.  He’s humble and a bit overwhelmed at the recognition he’s received, and from his book alone it’s partly because his food appears honest.

Honest, simple food is something that I typically look for in a chef and in a cookbook.  With Chang and Momofuku, even when they get a little nuts and use transglutaminate (AKA meat glue) it’s accompanied by a cool story from his own experiences, which makes it seem more approachable as an ingredient.

This recipe was the first I’ve tried from the book and comes from the ‘Noodle Bar’ section of the book – which is sectioned off between the different Momofuku restaurants all in NYC (Ssam Bar and Ko are the others, and both considered more high end I believe).  This is the fried chicken recipe, which jumped out to me as I read the book, because of the uniqueness of the recipe.  No breading, and tossed in a vinaigrette, but brined and steamed first, instead of pre-baked or just fried from raw. Here’s how we did it.  First the brine:

• 4-5 cups water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup salt

Now the Chicken itself:

• Sections of chicken, mostly dark meat – we used 6-8 thighs here, but you can use breasts too
• Garlic-ginger vinaigrette (recipe follows)
• Peanut oil for frying

For the vinaigrette:

• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic
• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped ginger
• 1/4 cup light sesame oil
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 4-5 slices of pickled jalapenos (or other picked peppers) – diced
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• Fresh ground black pepper

Making this recipe is somewhat simple, though the cooking process is rather unique.  The basic process is 1) brine 2) steam and 3) fry.

For the brining step, simply combine all of the brine ingredients in a large bowl and stir until all of the salt and sugar are disolved.  Add the chicken, cover and let brine for between 1-3 hours in the fridge.

Once it’s done, pull the chicken out of the brine and pat dry with some paper towels.  Prepare a steamer on your stovetop and when the water begins to boil, add the chicken and cover with a lid that’s barely ajar.  Let the chicken steam for around 20-30 minutes or until it’s fully cooked through.

Meanwhile, you can whip up the vinaigrette by combining all ingredients besides the oil, then whisk in the oil at the end to emulsify.

Once the chicken is done, remove it from the steamer and let it rest.  Chef Chang in the book says to let it rest for up to a day or two, but as I didn’t really have time for this, I let it rest for around an hour before frying, but I think the longer you can let this go, the better it will end up.

When you’re ready to fry the chicken, prepare a wok or pot with peanut oil and heat to 375 F.  Add the chicken and fry for around 7 minutes or until the chicken gets a nice golden brown color.  Once it’s done, remove to paper towel lined plate, then toss with some if the vinaigrette and serve.  Enjoy!

I recently found some awesome looking rhubarb at a roadside farm in Concord, MA near my sister Elise’s house.  I bought it with the thought that I didn’t just want to settle and make the standard ‘strawberry rhubarb’ desert that is delicious but oh so common.  ‘There has to me more uses for this stuff than just deserts’ I thought to myself.  So through the cookbooks I went for ideas and happened upon a Jamie Oliver recipe that combined the rhubarb in a Chinese sauce that went over pork and then got braised.  The pork is served over cold noodles with elements of a salad, in which I included watercress, cilantro, habanero, scallion and of course some of the reduced braising liquid.

If you aren’t familiar with rhubarb (as I wasn’t really) in its raw state, it’s very tart and a bit bitter, almost to the point of a lime flavor.

Rhubarb is in a family of plants that doesn’t include any other popular vegetable really, but lots of flowering plants.  Interestingly, the leaves of the rhubarb plant are poisonous, while the stalks are edible (so if you are growing rhubarb, don’t eat the leaves!  The plant itself is indigenous to Asia, but grows well in most all temperate climates (and any climate really), and is easy to grow.

This dish worked with the tartness of the rhubarb, but also combines many other flavor profiles into the super savory pork (the word umami came to mind).  I’ll start with the sauce and go from there – you can make this ahead of time if you want, and would probably be better.  Keep in mind that the pork has to cook for at least 90 minutes, but would be better left in for at least 2.5 hours.

Here’s the sauce for ya:

• 4 medium thin stalks of rhubarb (or 2 think stalks) – chopped into 1 inch segments
• 1 piece of ginger about the size of a silver dollar – peeled and chopped roughly
• 5 cloves garlic – peeled

• 4 Tbsp. Honey
• 4 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. Chinese 5-spice powder
• 2 medium Jalapeno peppers – seeded and chopped
• 1 small stalk lemongrass – end removed, halved and chopped finely

Here’s the ingredients you’ll need for the rest of the dish:

• 2-3 lb. piece of pork shoulder – cubed into 1-2 inch cubes (can also use pork belly here)
• 10 oz. Udon noodles
• 3-4 scallions
• 1 habanero pepper (or red jalapeno for milder flavor) – seeded and THINLY chopped
• 1 small bunch watercress – around a cup
• 1 small bunch cilantro – around a cup as well
• 1-2 limes

To make the sauce: toss all of the ingredients into the food processor (it’s fairly necessary for this) and blend for a couple minutes until the mixture becomes the consistency of thick salsa.  It will certainly smell strongly.

Preheat your oven to 350 F.  Now for the pork, the main event of this dish.  You want to use a sharp knife first of all.  Remove any bones out of the pork and cube it into 1-2 inch pieces.  Place the pork pieces into a roasting pan or dutch oven and dump the sauce all over the pork along with about a cup of water and mix all together.  Cover with a lid or tin foil and put the pan in the oven for around 1.5 hours, taking out and stirring the pieces every 30 minutes.  You can let this go for longer if you want (I recommend it!)

Next, start a pan of boiling water.  Taste the pork after it’s been cooking for a while, it should be really tender, but not totally falling apart.

When it’s to your liking, remove the pork from the sauce and set aside.  Get a pan going over medium high heat and add a bit of vegetable oil.  Put the pork in the pan and brown until it’s crispy.  When the water is boiling, salt it and add the noodles and stir a little.  You should also add the pan with the sauce still in it to a burner and reduce until it’s about the consistency of ketchup.

Chop up the rest of the vegetables listed in the ingredient list above.  Once the pork is nice and crispy and the noodles are done, strain them and get some plates or bowls out.  To assemble, add some noodles to the plate, then the pork and top with the sauce (about 2-3 Tbsp. per plate, but you can estimate of course).  Finish with the scallion, watercress, peppers, cilantro on top and serve with a half a lime to squeeze on top.  Enjoy!

I used to make these noodles at a market I worked at in Brookline, MA after graduating from school a few years ago.  They’re perhaps the perfect accompaniment to a roll of sushi, but of course are also great with some fish or protein of your choice.  I decided to refresh my memory on the recipe prior to making the dish and discovered that one of the best recipes I found was in the Barefoot Contessa cookbook, which my Sis Elise gave us a while back.

While I don’t always like what the ‘Contessa’ is up to, I do like this recipe, especially some of the elements she uses in her sauce for the noodles.  It emphasizes Tahini and peanut butter, which really add a great creaminess to the dish.  Liking my Szechuan noodles a little on the spicy side, I also added in a bit more Sriracha to the sauce, which really helped with the overall seasoning of the dish.

I would recommend serving these noodles cold, meaning let them rest for a while and cool before serving – they’ll (obviously) be hot after they’re cooked.  Cold noodles in Korean cuisine were served as a sort of after course when I was in Seoul, almost as a sort of refreshing after thought to the protein and vegetables served prior.  These turned out really well, here’s how it went down:

For the Sauce (I’m estimating the amounts here…I recommend you put the sauce together, then adjust from there…:

• 3 cloves garlic – peeled
• 1/4 cup fresh ginger – peeled and chopped (fine dice if not using a food processor)
• 1/4 cup sesame oil
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. Sriracha sauce (adjust this to your own spice taste)
• 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter (sugar free kind preferred)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup sesame tahini
• Black pepper

Before you start, put on a pot of water to boil for the noodles.  If you’re using a food processor, just put all of the sauce ingredients above in the machine and combine until the sauce is smooth.  If you’re not using one, just chop the garlic and ginger finely and whisk the rest of the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

For the Rest of the dish:

• 1 medium sized head of broccoli, plus stems (broccoli stems are awesome) – rough chop (see pic)
• 1 red bell pepper – sliced lengthwise very thin
• 1 yellow or orange bell pepper - sliced lengthwise very thin
• 1 large carrot – shredded in a box grater
• 3 scallions – cut small on the bias
• 3 medium/large shallots – sliced thin in half
• 1 lb. (standard box) vermicelli or thin spaghetti
• few tsp. white wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. sugar (granulated)

My green bean story starts at a young age, when I was served your typical canned green beans that are mushy and flavorless.  This variety of serving green beans really killed them for me until a friend of mine introduced me to the wonders of seasoning green beans with Asian flavors and not just your typical butter and salt method.

There are certain vegetables that are just simply better with Asian flavors.  Nowadays, Szechuan Green Beans are a must for me in any Chinese Food order.  I actually consider the quality of a Chinese or Szechuan restaurant by its green beans (and broccoli of course).  They should be crispy, crunchy and spicy – a perfect accompaniment to your protein and starch.

The French are famous for serving ‘Haricots Verts’ alongside their protein, usually cooked in butter and befriended with some sort of nut or fruit.  Here’s a good example of a French interpretation from the folks at Epicurious.  Green Bean casseroles are also popular, especially in the Southern states, though being a northern Yank, I can’t say that I’ve ever tasted a good quality green bean casserole.

But I prefer my Haricots with a little kick in the ass.  So I scrapped the herb butter and nuts for some good old Sriracha and Thai Fish Sauce.  One of the best parts of this dish is that it takes about 5 minutes to cook.  It would also make a great snack at any point in the day.  Here’s my take:

Ingredients:

• A good amount of Green Beans – around 30 to 40 total
• 2 cloves Garlic – minced
• 1 Tbsp. Ginger – grated
• 1/3 cup Red Onion or Shallot – finely diced
• A few grape Tomatoes (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. Sesame Seeds (optional)
• Sesame Oil to almost coat pan
• 2-3 Tbsp. Hoisin Sauce (Chinese BBQ sauce, available in most supermarkets)
• 1-2 Tbsp. Sriracha (adjust if you like it milder or spicier)
• 1 tsp. Thai Fish Sauce
• 1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce

Prepare an ice bath and a small pot of boiling water.  Quickly blanch the green beans in the water (about 1 minute will do) and then plunge them into the ice bath.

In a separate pan over medium heat, add the sesame oil, then the onion and cook for a minute or so until the onion browns just a little.  Add in the garlic, ginger and then the green beans and cook a for a minute or two.  You should then add in the Sriracha sauce and the Soy Sauce and mix together to combine.  Add in the Hoisin, fish sauce and sesame seeds last and mix together.  The Hoisin will be ver thick (like molasses), so give it some time to let the heat break it down and incorporate it with the rest of the ingredients. The green beans should be cooked through but still a little crunchy before you serve – eat immediately and enjoy!

Makes about 3 servings

Some other good looking Green Bean recipes:

Simply Recipes: Green Beans with Almonds and Thyme
Seasonal Chef: Green Beans with Tomato and Jalapeno
RecipeZaar: Green Bean and Ham Soup