Chinese Sticky Rice Stuffed Mini Pumpkins

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This is a great way to use all those cute mini pumpkins you bought as fall decorations and turn them into a fun fusion side dish. I know you’re gonna ditch them for Christmas decor soon anyway so you might as well fill them with savory satisfying sticky rice, sweet Chinese sausage (lap cheong), and umami-rich salted egg yolks.

If you’ve had the lotus leaf bundles filled with sticky rice at dim sum places, that is lo mai gai. Gai means chicken. This recipe is inspired by the dim sum classics but with a couple of differences: there’s no chicken to fiddle with, so the recipe is a lot more foolproof, and instead of wrapping the rice mixture in lotus leaves and steaming the bundles to give the glutinous rice its addictive, sticky texture, the rice is stuffed into raw mini pumpkins! As the pumpkins roast in the oven, the rice gets treated to a cozy steamy environment that gets the same job done. (Note that you will still need a bamboo steamer setup for the first round of cooking the rice.)

I just winged it when I made the rice mixture for these, but I have attempted to capture the necessary info below for you to replicate this idea yourself. This dish is super flexible, and the great thing about making it at home is that you can adjust it to your own tastes! I, for one, am always bummed that there’s only like one little piece of sausage and not enough salted egg yolk when I order lo mai gai, so I included way more here.

Some notes about the ingredients:

• sticky rice: This is an Asian short-grain rice that is often labeled glutinous rice. (It does not contain gluten!). It’s quite firm and starchy so you’ll want to soak it overnight and wash it thoroughly before using.

• lap cheong: This is Chinese cured sausage with a slight sweetness and visible fatty bits. I like the brand Kam Yen Jan.

• dried shiitake mushrooms: You will need to soak these for a few minutes before they can be sliced.

• salted egg yolks: I buy these ready-made in a vacuum-sealed pouch at the Asian supermarket.

• mini pumpkins: All roasted pumpkins are safe to eat! But they definitely vary in texture and flavor. Play around with what you have and make note of what you liked best for next year! If using pumpkins that you’ve had lying around since fall began, be sure to check that they are still unblemished and un-moldy.

Please note that measurements below are estimates. Taste along the way and adjust to your preferences!

Awkwardly Vague instructions for Chinese Sticky Rice Stuffed Mini Pumpkins

Ingredients

1 cup glutinous rice
1–2 tbsp shaoxing wine, or to taste
1–2 tbsp light soy sauce, or to taste
1/8 tsp white pepper
1 tsp kecap manis (optional)
1 large dried shiitake mushroom
2 Chinese sausages (lap cheong), cut on a bias into 1/8-inch slices
about 4–5 salted egg yolks
1–2 scallions, chopped, whites and greens separated
2 water chestnuts, thinly sliced (optional)
about 4–5 mini pumpkins, gutted and seeded
neutral oil (like peanut or avocado)
kosher salt
thyme, for garnish (optional)

Procedure

The night before, leave the glutinous rice to soak in regular water. The next day, transfer the rice to a fine mesh colander and rinse, using your hand to agitate the rice, until the water that comes out is noticeably less starchy.

Get your bamboo steamer setup ready. Pour rice into the middle of a large sheet of parchment paper. Double up the paper if needed. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of shaoxing wine over the rice. Fold up all the sides around the rice to form a bundle that you can place in the bamboo steamer. Steam rice for 20 minutes.

While the rice is steaming, soak the shiitake mushroom in boiling water for 10 minutes, or until soft. Discard tough stem and slice the cap thinly.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

When rice is cool enough to handle, transfer to a mixing bowl. Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce, white pepper, and kecap manis. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Add sausage, scallion whites, water chestnuts (if using); mix together.

Brush oil all over the pumpkin bases and lids and season flesh with kosher salt. Place on a foil-lined baking tray. Fill each pumpkin with rice mixture then push a salted egg yolk into the middle. Place matching pumpkin lids on top and bake pumpkins for 40 minutes or until tender.

Fluff up rice. Optionally, you could remove the egg yolk and crumble it on top. Garnish with remaining scallion greens and, optionally, thyme.

When enjoying, be sure to scoop the tender pumpkin flesh and eat it with the rice!

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Chili Garlic Eggplant Salad on Labneh

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Eggplants, aubergines, brinjals. I never understood why people don’t like them. I think people who say it’s a texture thing are eating ones that are not cooked properly. People who say they are bitter must be eating ones that aren’t fresh. When cooked properly and at the right time, eggplants—especially Chinese and Japanese eggplants—shouldn’t be anything but silky flavor sponges. And this recipe features these long eggplants in their very best form, with a completely melt-in-your-mouth texture and a rich, tangy, fragrant, and numbing spicy sauce that is absolutely addictive.

Chili garlic eggplant—as in, the stir-fry kind found on many Chinese restaurant menus in the US—used to be the thing I’d make to treat myself when my anti-eggplant spouse was out of town. He has since come around to admitting that he actually does enjoy eggplant, just not in the crappy eggplant parms he had during his Italian-American upbringing. So I get to have stir-fried chili garlic eggplant a lot more often nowadays. But this is not a recipe for that dish.

I just got back from London where I had dinner at Ottolenghi and every single dish we ordered came with some pool of creamy dippable/scoopable yumminess beneath or next to wonderful soft vegetables, whether it was yogurt, labneh, toum, or whipped feta. It was all so good, and fueled my obsession for serving absolutely everything on a pool of labneh, as if it wasn’t maxed out already (see: here, here, here). So when I got home, I was determined to make my own eggplant-on-labneh dish, but I wanted to put a Chinese spin on it. This is the recipe for that dish.

One thing I was determined to do with this recipe was make sure that the beautiful purple color of the eggplant was preserved and the eggplant did not turn brown when cooked. I was so happy that this cooked eggplant turned out a shade that almost exactly matched the purples I have going on in my garden. Here are some useful resources I came across when I was researching how to preserve the purple color of eggplants after cooking:

• https://noobcook.com/how-to-retain-the-beautiful-purple-of-eggplants-after-cooking/

• https://yingchen.life/2019/06/28/two-methods-to-keep-eggplant-from-turning-brown/

I ended up going with an oil blanching technique because I wanted the eggplants to be ultra silky soft but also have a hint of caramelization from the cooking.

So what does this dish taste like? This dish combines my homemade numbing chili oil + my usual Chinese cold appetizer dressing + silky eggplant + an herby salad + creamy labneh. It’s like the smashed cucumber salad you get at a Sichuan restaurant but with much gentler textures and kicked up a few notches of luxury. It might be the best eggplant dish I’ve ever had and it’s definitely the best I’ve ever made. Note that for experimentation purposes I used a medley of all sorts of herbs (mint, cilantro, Thai basil, Italian basil, arugula, nasturtium, lemon balm) to build out the salad component of this eggplant salad—so that’s what’s in the photos—but I found that the bites with the cilantro tasted far better than the others, so that’s what’s reflected in the written recipe below.

This recipe was adapted from Brandon Jew of Mister Jiu’s.

Awkwardly Vague instructions for Melt-in-your-Mouth Chili Garlic Eggplant Salad on Labneh

Ingredients

2 Chinese eggplants cut into long wedges
4 cups water
2 tbsp kosher salt
vegetable oil, for frying
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts divided
1 1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp chinkiang vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp homemade mala chili oil, plus more to taste
labneh
cilantro

Procedure

In a large bowl or rectangular tub, dissolve the salt in the water. Add eggplant, and place a plate or something on top to make sure it’s all fully submerged. Let brine for 1 hour.

In the meantime, combine the garlic and olive oil in a small pan and fry gently on medium low, stirring continuously. Once the garlic starts to turn golden, remove from heat and keep stirring to allow the residual heat to cook the garlic through. Then, drain off the oil into a separate bowl and set both aside.

Heat enough vegetable oil to deep fry the eggplant in a Dutch oven. In the meantime, pat the eggplant dry.

Dry off your brining bowl and use it to make the dressing. Whisk together the garlic-infused olive oil plus the white parts of the scallions, sugar, both vinegars, soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon of chili oil. Set aside.

On another burner/hob, get a dry wok ready on very high heat.

Oil blanch all the eggplant by adding it at once to the dutch oven. Once you start to see some browning on the edges, remove the eggplant and allow it to drain well. Then, add it to the super hot dry walk, cut side down. As you start to see caramelization occurring, remove the pieces of eggplant from the wok and add it to the dressing bowl.

After all the eggplant has been caramelized and blistered, toss it around in the dressing.

Coat your serving platter with a thin, swoopy layer of labneh. Add the eggplant. Drizzle on extra chili oil to taste. Then sprinkle on the fried garlic, sliced scallion greens, and lots of cilantro.

Recipe: Miso Garlic Butter Noodles with Lobster Tails

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For this recipe, I partnered with Danish Creamery and created a dish that feels completely luxurious and indulgent, yet is actually simple and quick to make. A wonderful, umami-rich miso butter with a sweet undertone is infused with lots and lots of garlic and this forms the sauce that coats every strand of noodle before the whole lot is topped with pan-seared lobster tails slathered in the extra miso garlic butter. It’s good for when you want to make a home cooked meal that feels special but you don’t actually want to spend that much time on it. 

This noodle recipe combines two amazing and easy Asian-American dishes: Vietnamese-American garlic noodles and Japanese-American miso butter pasta. I make a lot of fusion food because often when I think about what I feel like cooking, I think of two things I’m craving and then explore what it would be like to combine them. And when I realized how well these dishes would overlap, it was way too obviously meant to be to pass up. 

Garlic noodles were actually invented by a Vietnamese chef right here in San Francisco and it was one of the first dishes I had after moving in to the city over 10 years ago (though not at the original restaurant). At the time, I was still terrified of driving downtown and still not all that into Asian food; I was still in my phase of wanting to binge on all the Western foods I didn’t get to have very much of when I was growing up. But my new landlady at the time recommended a Vietnamese restaurant right in our neighborhood and I fell in love with their garlic noodles. I think that was really a turning point in my exploration of food—especially Asian x Western fusion food.

This dish doesn’t require a whole lot of ingredients so it’s important that the ones that are in it are good. Ultimately the foundation for the sauce here is butter, and I used Danish Creamery European Style Unsalted Butter, which is slow-churned in small batches for a velvety texture and rich flavor. This extra time and extra care make the butter so extra delicious. As I folded it in with the mellow, slightly sweet miso, I knew things were gonna be good! And then allowing that miso butter to melt slowly over low heat with lots and lots of chopped garlic to get it infused with that garlic flavor—absolutely dreamy!

Here are some notes about the short list of key ingredients you’ll need to make this dish:

• White Miso: White miso is the most mellow and mild of the types of miso you would find at a specialty foods store or Asian supermarket. It is made of fermented soybeans like other misos but also has rice and barley. It’s important to use the right miso here as the mellowness and sweetness of white miso is what you want to make that subtle but luxurious miso butter. I would not recommend substituting other types of miso, which may be too salty.

• Butter: This recipe utilizes Danish Creamery European Style Unsalted Butter and the starchy water from parboiling the noodles to create a very simple emulsified sauce for the noodles. Danish Creamery’s European Style butters contain 85% butterfat (which is more than most other European style butters) and that’s what helps make  the sauce for this recipe rich and dreamy.

• Garlic: This isn’t one of those recipes that just uses a couple cloves of garlic! When I say “garlic noodles” I mean it. This recipe uses a whole head of garlic—about 10–12 cloves—and gently infuses garlic flavor into the miso butter over low heat before the whole mixture is tossed with the noodles to coat them. Don’t worry about chopping them up super fine, I think being able to see the bits of chopped garlic is welcomed in this dish. 

• Noodles: I used fresh Chinese style enriched egg noodles to make this dish. These noodles come in the refrigerated section of Asian supermarkets and they only need to be parboiled very quickly in boiling water to rinse off the excess starch before they can be incorporated into a stir fried noodle dish like this. You could definitely also use spaghetti; in that case I recommend cooking it until about 1 minute short of al dente.

I got the idea to top my miso garlic butter noodles with lobster from a night market that pops up in the SF Bay Area; one of the stalls served up a split open lobster on garlic noodles but I don’t really understand how you’re supposed to eat it with no shell cracker and when you’re at an event where most people eat standing. So instead of getting it there, I created my own version that I could enjoy in the comfort of my own home. I opted to just use lobster tails because I thought they’d be much less intimidating than working with a whole lobster; I wanted this recipe to be genuinely easy in hopes that you’ll try it!

Some alternative versions:

At the core of this recipe is delicious and easy miso garlic butter noodles! Feel free to leave out the lobster entirely, and the result will be a plate of the most flavorsome dream for lovers of carbs and garlic. Just reduce the amounts for the butter, miso, and garlic to about 75% if you decide to serve just the noodles alone. 

You could also substitute shrimp in place of the lobster tails. Skip the step of parboiling the lobster and instead cook them in a hot pan on each side, just until they change color and start to curl. Follow the rest of the recipe as written, then add the shrimp after the noodles are coated in the sauce and give everything a few extra tosses.

How to Make Miso Garlic Butter Noodles with Lobster Tails

Ingredients

1 stick Danish Creamery European Style Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature
1/4 cup white miso paste
2 6–7 oz lobster tails, fresh or completely thawed
10–12 cloves garlic (about 1 head), roughly chopped
3 tbsp oyster sauce
8–10 oz fresh Chinese-style thin egg noodles
Thai basil, for garnish (optional)
2 tbsp tobiko, or other fish roe (optional)
4 lemon wedges, for serving (optional)

Procedure

In a small bowl, combine the butter and miso paste and mix together until smooth and homogenous. Set aside.

Use a sharp pair of kitchen shears to split each lobster tail lengthwise.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the lobster tail halves and boil for about 3 minutes or until shells are bright red and meat has started to firm (they should not yet be cooked through). Pull them out of the boiling water and carefully pat away excess water with paper towels. Set aside to continue to dry off.

Add noodles to the boiling water and parboil for 1 minute, or according to package instructions. Reserve about 3/4 cup of starchy water before draining the noodles. Rinse noodles thoroughly in cold water to remove excess starch and prevent overcooking. Set aside to drain thoroughly. 

Heat a large skillet or wok on medium heat. Add about a tablespoon of the miso butter mixture, swirl to coat the bottom of the pan, then add the lobster tails, cut side down. Sear for about 1 minute, or until lobster meat has some browning on the surface.  Turn off heat, flip tails over, cover, and allow the residual heat from the pan to cook the lobster tails through, about 1–2 minutes. Remove them from the pan. If there is charred residue inside the pan, safely wipe it off using tongs and a damp paper towel.

Add the remaining miso butter mixture into the pan and set heat on low. Once it starts to melt, add chopped garlic. Cook garlic on low heat, stirring constantly to allow it to infuse the butter, for about 5 minutes, or until the edges of the garlic start to turn golden. Turn up the heat to medium-high;  immediately add oyster sauce, stir to combine, then add noodles and about 1/4 cup of the reserved cooking water. Toss vigorously to combine, adding more water a little at a time if needed to help the sauce coat the noodles. Once sauce is distributed evenly, continue to stirfry until there is no longer excess water.

Use tongs to transfer noodles to a serving dish. Top with lobster tails, then scoop the remaining fried garlic mixture from the pan and spoon it on top of the lobster tails. If desired, garnish with Thai basil and scoop small mounds of tobiko over the lobster tails before enjoying immediately.

Thank you so much to Danish Creamery for sponsoring this recipe! Visit their website to learn more about their legacy of carefully-crafted Old World-quality butter made with milk from family farms since 1895.

Recipe: Mala Marinated Tomato Salad (with Burrata)

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This is this one of those recipes that is meant to help off-season tomatoes reach a higher potential but that would also be so good with ripe tomatoes in season. The background for this idea is really not all that complicated: I love the classic Sichuan mala smashed cucumber salad and I also love salads that revolve around tomatoes. So, why not use that same Sichuan-inspired, numbing-spicy dressing for tomatoes instead of cucumbers?

Sichuan cucumber salad is really the only raw Chinese salad I can think of. The cucumbers are typically smashed first, but lately I have been seeing a lot of recipes on the ‘gram where the cucumbers are cut in a special way to make a cool spiraled effect. The dressing typically leans on the classic Chinese vinegars (rice vinegar and black vinegar), garlic, and soy sauce; and my favorite versions are the ones that also include mala, or numbing-spicy, chili oil made with Sichuan pink peppercorns. It is crisp, cold, and refreshing. It appears as an appetizer on Chinese restaurant menus among other cold dishes like couple’s delight but I love making my own version at home as a side dish (I guess like Korean banchan) when I cook up a really heavy and hearty Asian meal of any sort. The tangy, tingly, crunchy cucumbers are a perfect balance to braised or grilled meats.

While cucumbers will always be a sidekick in my mind, tomatoes can definitely be a main character. In adapting my Sichuan-inspired salad dressing for tomatoes, what I ended up with was, I guess, a Chinese fusion version of a caprese salad. I ended up serving it with burrata and basil (yes, the crazy purple leaves you see are a type of basil called “wild magic”!), and Spouse and I thoroughly enjoyed it as a main course, spooning the tomatoes onto crusty bread. But you can definitely skip out on the burrata and herbs, and serve this marinated tomato salad as an appetizer or side dish.

This recipe involves three different stages of flavor building.

• Salting the tomatoes. This is a good practice regardless of the time of year, whenever raw tomatoes make an appearance because the salt really helps bring out the best flavor that your tomato has to offer. Because I tested this recipe when tomatoes were not yet in season, I used more salt than would be needed for really amazing tasting ripe tomatoes. Keep this in mind when you are at this stage of making the recipe. You can use whatever tomatoes you’d like; I recommend a medley of heirloom tomatoes and cherry tomatoes to keep things looking interesting. Just cut them into bite-sized chunks with plenty of open surface area to absorb all the flavors of the marinade.

• Marinating the tomatoes in the dressing. I like to allow the raw garlic and the tomatoes to sit for a bit in a more concentrated vinegar mixture so the garlic has the opportunity to pass on some of its punchy flavor to everything else in the mix.

• Adding the chili oil. This recipe uses my easy mala chili oil recipe, which you can find here; note that my recipe is a lot less salty than many commercial chili oils, so you may want to keep that in mind if you are opting to use a storebought one. This step is very much to-taste, depending on how tingly you want your tomato salad to be. I recommend adding a tablespoon at a time and tasting along the way. If you do opt to make the caprese-esque version shown in the photos, I recommend not going full-blast with the chili oil in the tomato mixture and reserving some to drizzle over the burrata as a finishing touch.

How I Make Mala Marinated Tomato Salad

Ingredients

2 lbs tomatoes, cut into bite-sized chunks*
1/2–3/4 tsp kosher salt
2–3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp Chinese black vinegar
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp fish sauce
2–4 tbsp mala chili oil
8 oz burrata (optional)
basil leaves (optional)

*If using cherry tomatoes, cut them in half so they can absorb the flavors from the dressing.

Procedure

In a large bowl, add tomatoes and salt and toss to combine.

In a separate small bowl, whisk together garlic, both vinegars, sugar, and fish sauce. If you are very impatient, microwave the mixture for 10 seconds to help dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar is dissolved, add the dressing to the tomatoes and mix gently but thoroughly to coat. Allow to marinate for at least 10 minutes. (I recommend 20–30 minutes for off-season tomatoes.)

Add chili oil to your taste and mix gently to combine.

For optional “caprese” version: Spoon tomatoes and some dressing into a serving dish. Tear burrata into large globs and distribute amongst the tomatoes. Drizzle additional chili oil over the burrata. Garnish with basil. Serve with toasts or crusty bread.

Recipe: Chicken Meatball Skewers with Craggy Crispy Potatoes & Spiced Ketchup

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Maybe this is a surprising tale to tell as a food blogger but my family does not have a bunch of family recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation. There is one cookbook that I remember my mom using, that she brought with her from Malaysia and we have a few tried and true recipes from there. And she also has her famous (among friends) curry puff recipe that I definitely need to get from her. For the most part, though, when I am feeling nostalgic for the food memories that make me feel connected to my family and my heritage, I have to try to recreate them from memory.

But, sometimes, as the great Ina Garten says, “storebought is fine”!

My parents are I are all about using store-bought pastes to recreate our favorite Malaysian dishes sometimes, and guess what? They turn out plenty delicious. A good prepared spice paste will have all the flavor complexity that requires time to develop and will save you the time and hassle of cleaning mortars and pestles and food processors.

Another great thing about a storebought spice paste is that it makes it easy to get creative. For example, I do have my own from-scratch chicken satay recipe but using a spice paste such as Asian Home Gourmet’s Marinade for Meat Satay allows me to easily incorporate those flavors of satay that are so nostalgic to me into other meals. This spice paste can be purchased at Millenniyum.com. (I am really lucky to have access to lots of great grocery stores near where I live, but if you have trouble finding the special Southeast Asian ingredients I use in a lot of my recipes, then Millenniyum is a great place to order them online. They carry a variety of products that I would consider to be iconic to stocking a Southeast Asian pantry.)

A lot of times when I am coming up with ideas for fusion dishes, what sparks the idea is looking at commonalities among foods from different cultures—I love encountering these connections because it further proves my belief that it is through food that people of different cultures can find the best channels of communication. There are many other cultures besides my own that have iconic versions of meat on a stick, and kofta kababs are another favorite example of mine. It may be spelled kofta, köfte, kefta or other variations, but throughout the Levant and Arabic cultures, there is some version of ground meat served molded around skewers—a meatball kebab.

I love that the ground meat mixture is such a wonderful carrier of flavor, so I thought creating a meatball version of chicken satay would be a great, texturally-new way to experience one of my favorite flavor combos. Since I was drawing inspiration from kofta kababs anyways, I decided to combine my chicken meatball satay with crispy potatoes, reminiscent of those Turkish fast casual stands all over Europe that pair shawarma and kebabs with fries. Since I didn’t need the whole packet of Asian Home Gourmet Marinade for Meat Satay in my marinade, I was also able to use some to amp up plain ol’ ketchup to make an incredible dipping condiment for my super crispy potatoes.

This latest culinary fusion of mine is made up of the following components:

• chicken meatball skewers: A cross between Southeast Asian chicken satay and Arab kofta kebabs; ground chicken is mixed with Asian Home Gourmet Marinade for Meat Satay and some binders to create a meatball mixture that is loaded with the flavor of chicken satay. This mixture is quite sticky if you use a 96% lean/4% fat ground chicken like I did; I recommend chilling it for a bit to get it to firm up more and continuously dipping your fingers into some water while you are molding the mixture around skewers, to prevent it from sticking to your hands. The slightly messy process will be well worth it when you end up with an incredibly tender meatball texture for your meat skewers. I cooked the meatball skewers in a pan with a large flat base that could easily accommodate the length of the skewers, rotating regularly with tongs to keep their shape. Satay and kebabs are both typically grilled, but I thought this pan fried method would help make this recipe more accessible, and something that could be made year round.

• craggy crispy potatoes: In place of french fries, I made these craggy crispy potatoes that are so incredibly addictive. First I boil baby potatoes in salted water until they are completely soft. When they are slightly cooled and totally dry, I rip them apart with my hands and that creates all kinds of irregular craggy surfaces, that when crisped up in a deep frying phase turns into all these wonderful crispy edges. Just look at how golden and delicious they look in the photos!

• spiced ketchup: Whisking together some regular ketchup with some of that Asian Home Gourmet Marinade for Meat Satay will transform it into a condiment that tastes so full of complex spices. It is perfect for those potatoes but you may just want to end up getting extra spice paste packets to make this for all your other favorite deep fried carb formats.

• other serving suggestions: I opted to serve my skewers and fried potatoes on top of naan and a big smear of yogurt, and finished things off with micro cilantro and cucumber ribbons. I completely recommend this combo, which further serves to bridge the gap between things served with satay and things served with kebabs. However, these are an optional finishing touch.

How to Make Chicken Meatball Skewers with Craggy Crispy Potatoes & Spiced Ketchup

(Makes about 12 skewers)

Ingredients

1 packet Asian Home Gourmet Marinade for Indonesian Meat Satay

Ingredients for Chicken Meatball Skewers

1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
1 lb ground chicken (96% lean/4% fat recommended)
2–3 tbsp cooking oil

Ingredients for Crispy Potatoes

1 lb baby yukon gold potatoes
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt, divided
2–4 cups vegetable oil (or high smoke point oil) for deep frying
2 tbsp ketchup

Ingredients for Serving (Optional)

flatbreads, such as naan
cucumbers, sliced
yogurt
cilantro or micro cilantro

Procedure

Combine breadcrumbs and egg and allow to sit for 2–3 minutes so breadcrumbs absorb egg and become soggy. Then, combine all meatball ingredients and 4 teaspoons of Asian Home Gourmet Marinade for Indonesian Meat Satay. Mix thoroughly until homogenous. Refrigerate meatball mixture to allow it to become more firm while preparing the potatoes.

In a medium pot, combine potatoes with 6 cups of water, or enough to completely cover the potatoes in 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil and add 1 teaspoon of salt. Continue boiling potatoes until they begin to crack, about 25–30 minutes. Drain completely and allow to cool.

Prepare the spiced ketchup by combining ketchup with the remaining Asian Home Gourmet Marinade left in the packet. Whisk until homogeneous. Set aside until ready for serving.

In a heavy pot, heat up enough frying oil to be deeper than the size of the largest potato. Prepare a small baking tray lined with paper towels. When boiled potatoes are cool enough to handle, gently break into large chunks with your hands to create irregular craggy pieces—halves for smaller potatoes and quarters for larger ones. When oil starts to shimmer, test it by adding a tiny piece of potato to the oil; if it bubbles vigorously, the oil is hot enough. Working in batches if necessary to not crowd the pot, deep fry potatoes until golden brown, about 3–5 minutes per batch. Remove from oil and drain on prepared paper towels. 

Once all potatoes are fried, remove paper towels and place fried potatoes directly on tray. Toss potatoes with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt to taste). Place potatoes in the oven and turn on to 175°F to keep warm while preparing the skewers.

Begin forming the meatball skewers by moistening hands with water to prevent sticking, then scoop about 1/4 cup of the chilled meatball mixture and mold into a long shape around a wooden skewer. Repeat with the remaining meatball mixture.

Use a skillet large enough for the skewers to lie flat or a flat griddle pan; heat on medium. Add enough cooking oil to thinly coat bottom of pan. Working in batches if needed, place prepared meatball skewers in heated pan and cook for 5–7 minutes, using tongs to rotate regularly to maintain the rounded shape. Add cooking oil as needed and repeat until all the meatball skewers are lightly browned on the outside and cooked through.

To make the serving suggestion shown in the photos, spread a thin layer of yogurt over flatbreads, then top with skewers and potatoes; garnish with cucumbers and micro cilantro. 

Serve the spiced ketchup on the side for dipping the potatoes.

Thank you so much to Millenniyum for sponsoring this Asian Home Gourmet recipe! Check them out on Instagram here or visit their website to purchase Southeast Asian pantry essentials.

Recipe: Lap Cheong and Scallion Stuffed Cheesy Bread

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I wanted to test this idea of stuffing focaccia with cheese for another project and I decided to try it out with one of my favorite ingredient combos. To be honest, I can’t think of an exact traditional dish that combines lap cheong (sweet Chinese sausage), scallions, and cheese but they do make me think of the smells of a Taiwanese bakery where you can find hot dog buns, scallion buns, and the like.

Lap cheong can be found at any Asian market. This low sodium option from Kam Yen Jan is my favorite one to get. The casing is very thin and I like to peel it off and crumble the sausage by hand for more organically shaped pieces, but you could also just slice it up. It is a fatty, slightly sweet, and intense savory flavor that tends to be used in moderation in Chinese dishes. But this recipe is not about moderation!

I shared a photo of this in my Instagram stories and got a lot of reactions to it, but I don’t think the photo is quite insta-worthy so I am just going to share the recipe here.

How to Make Lap Cheong & Scallion Stuffed Cheesy Bread

Ingredients

2/3 cup warm water*
1 tsp honey
1 1/2 tsp dry active yeast
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/8 cup olive oil plus extra for drizzling
1/4 tsp kosher salt
3 lap cheong (sweet Chinese sausages)
1 cup grated fontina cheese (or mozzarella or white cheddar)
1 bunch scallions, chopped

* I have found that hot water from my tap works well for blooming yeast.

Procedure

In the bowl of your stand mixer, gently combine water, honey, and yeast. Allow the yeast to “bloom” for 5–10 minutes in a warm place until there is a fine foam on top.

Fit your stand mixer with the dough hook. Set the mixer to low speed and gradually add 1 3/4 cups flour, then 1/8 cup olive oil and salt. Turn up the speed of the mixer to medium-low and allow the dough to be kneaded for 4 minutes. If the dough has not pulled away from the sides of the bowl, add an additional 1 tablespoon of flour. Continue to knead for 1–2 minutes. Dough should be sticky but you should be able to easily remove it from the dough hook.

Scrape the dough out of the bowl and form a ball. Generously coat the inside of the bowl with olive oil. Roll the ball of dough around in the olive oil until coated. Cover with a damp towel and place in a warm spot to proof for 60 minutes, or until it has doubled in size.

In the meantime, remove the casing from the lap cheong and crumble into small pieces. Cook on medium heat in a small skillet until just heated through. Drain away excess rendered fat.

When the dough has had its first rest, gently fold in three-quarters of the chopped scallions and divide the dough in half. Coat the inside of a 10-inch cast iron skillet with olive oil. Use your fingers to gently press down half of the dough into the skillet, forming an even layer. Press the other half of the dough onto a large plate, to roughly the same size as the skillet. Cover both halves and let rest for another 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, place a rack one-third from the top of your oven and preheat to 400°F.

Press the relaxed dough in the skillet so it fully covers the bottom. Sprinkle the sausage on top and then roughly two-thirds of the cheese spread in an even layer. Top with the other half of the dough and pinch to seal the edges together. Dimple the surface of the dough with your fingers, drizzle generously with olive oil, and top with the remaining cheese and scallions.

Bake for 25–28 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. For neater bread sticks, allow to cool slightly before slicing—or, if you don’t care about that and live for danger, cut immediately and enjoy the skin-scalding gooeyness.

Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo Ramen

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I grew up hardly knowing my own grandparents across the ocean, and it was just me, my parents, and my sister here in the States. But my parents' host mom—the woman who opened her home to them when they first arrived as immigrants—was from the Philippines and she continued to be a mother figure to my parents and a grandmother figure to me well after my parents got settled. I call her Lola, the Filipino term for a grandma. So even though I am not Filipino, I grew up eating lots of chicken adobo during visits to my Lola’s house.

I remember my Lola's version of chicken adobo being more tangy/vinegary and more brothy than other versions I've had at restaurants as an adult. There was something about that soy and vinegar sauce that was always so appetizing; the kind of thing that you have to reawaken your tastebuds when you don’t think you feel like eating. I felt I could drink it by the bowlful! Which is why I developed this fusion recipe where the chicken adobo braising liquid becomes the base for a noodle soup.

The key steps to making this recipe are:

• Browning the chicken. This renders out the excess fat from the chicken skin, giving you a glorious schmaltz that will be used later.

• Braising the chicken in a slow cooker. I opted to go the slow cooker route to keep the recipe low maintenance. The browned chicken thighs are given a chance to soak up the flavors from a braising liquid made up of soy sauce, vinegar, lots and lots of garlic, and black peppercorns.

• Making the broth. Blending together the strained braising liquid and all that soft garlic creates an emulsified broth that is rich and almost creamy. It has a much more concentrated flavor than a traditional soup ramen.

• Frying the garlic chips. That saved chicken fat goes into making the most delicious garnish of fried garlic chips, which in turn infuses the chicken fat with some of that garlic flavor.

• Frying the egg. Inspired by Filipino silog, I decided this ramen needs to get topped with a beautiful fried egg.

• Boiling the noodles and assembling the bowl. I chose to keep the thigh whole but you can also shred it up before serving if you don’t want the recipients to have to maneuver with the bone.

• Finally, that schmaltzy goodness from before gets drizzled over the whole bowl as a finishing touch at the end.

Click here to get the recipe on the Pete and Gerry’s site!

Thank you so much to Pete and Gerry’s for sponsoring this recipe!

Recipe: Lobster Bao with Ginger and Garlic Butter

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Here’s an easy recipe idea for if your Chinese New Year celebrations are on the smaller scale this year. I took the idea of combining lobster with melted butter from a Connecticut style lobster roll and put an Chinese-inspired twist to it by adding aromatics such as ginger, garlic, and scallions into the butter. I stuffed the fragrant lobster meat into steamed bao, which can be bought from an Asian grocery store and stashed in your freezer.

I think of lobster as a celebratory food. It is often a part of Chinese New Year menus and other celebratory banquets where expensive seafood is served as a sign of prosperity. It is also red, a lucky color in Chinese cuisine. As I was researching Lunar New Year foods and customs, though, I learned that some believe lobster to be unlucky for the new year because they can crawl backward. This was my first time learning such a contradiction among different cultures that celebrate this holiday and I thought it was super interesting that this contrast existed. If you plan to make this recipe as part of your own celebration, please do proceed with caution that some consider lobsters a lucky part of a Lunar New Year meal while others might consider it less auspicious.

Stuffed bao represent little purses and are also considered a lucky food in Chinese culture. Many of the foods with good symbolism for the new year are meant to represent something having to do with wealth and prosperity. The more luxurious the ingredients, the better to welcome in the new year, but I wanted my more modern recipe to be more accessible, too. I used precooked lobster and tobiko for the bao you see in the photos but you could certainly upgrade to more high end ingredients if you wish.

How to Make Lobster Bao with Ginger and Garlic Butter

Ingredients

8 oz pre-cooked lobster meat*
2 frozen storebought baos
1/4 cup salted butter
2 inches of ginger, peeled
2–3 cloves garlic, minced
white parts of 2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 tsp chives, chopped
2 tsp tobiko or caviar
yellow edible flowers, for garnish (optional)

*I used a thawed frozen pack of cooked knuckle and claw meat. Alternatively, you could blanch a couple of lobster tails, discard the shells, and chop the meat into chunks.

Procedure

Drain any excess liquid from the lobster meat and set meat aside.

Finely grate the ginger, then gently squeeze out the excess water. You do not need to wring out all the moisture; the ginger should feel like a damp clump.

Prepare the bao. Place them in a parchment paper lined steamer, and place the steamer over simmering water in a wok or pan. Steam until the bao are soft and fluffy and heated through, about 5 minutes. Shut off the heat.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan on medium-low heat. Add the ginger and the scallion whites and allow to fry gently, stirring continuously, until the aromatics just start to color. Add the garlic and turn down the heat to low; continue to stir, allowing the garlic to slowly cook and infuse the butter. When the garlic just starts to color, add the lobster meat. Toss together to coat the lobster in the butter then remove from the heat.

Stuff the lobster pieces equally in the bao and serve the extra butter on the side. Top the lobster with chives and fish roe (tobiko or caviar).

Optionally, decorate with some edible yellow flower petals to complete that lucky red and gold color combo before serving.

Recipe: Chicken and (Chinese) Dumplings

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Having grown up in a household where at least 4 different languages/dialects were randomly slung around, it is no wonder that I was linguistically confused throughout my childhood. My parents were young kids when Malaysia got its independence from the British, so the English I learned from them at home was the British English (with a Malaysian twist) they learned there, and there were always random words from Cantonese, Hokkien, and Bahasa Malaysia sprinkled in. So imagine my confusion as a child going to school for the first time in America; I thought  “airplane” and “aeroplane” were two different forms of aircrafts and I spent my childhood being a rather quiet kid because I was just so worried about saying the wrong words all the time. Fortunately, I eventually learned enough American English to earn a degree in it, and those days of me being quiet are long over!

Even so, these semantic quirks seemed to continue well into my adulthood. Back when I had a sad job as a textbook editor with no time to go out for lunch breaks, I bought some cans of chicken and dumplings to bring to the office. I guess the image on the can was not enough to inform me otherwise, and I excitedly pictured myself microwaving a nice cozy bowl of creamy American style soup (which I loved) loaded with the wontons from the dumpling soup of my childhood. Up until that point, the only dumplings I knew of were Asian dumplings. So boy was I surprised when out of the can plopped some lumps of solid dough in place of the meat-stuffed purses I imagined.

I grew to appreciate those strange (to me) dough globs bobbing in what I learned was a classic comfort food of the American South. But I always thought that my interpretation of chicken and (Chinese) dumplings needed to exist too! I love having partners like Filippo Berio who are willing to entertain my weird personal stories and support me in turning them into reality. Since we were already breaking away from the norm, I decided to use Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil to sauté my veggies and cook flour into a sort of roux-like base that gives this winter warmer its body and heartiness. Olive oils may be associated with Mediterranean cooking, but they can be used to create a variety of dishes from around the world; Filippo Berio offers a whole range of high quality olive oils with different properties and flavor profiles, depending on what type of cooking you are doing. I used their extra virgin olive oil because I knew it would bring a richness to the dish as well as a beautiful golden color; if my soup looks a little more glowy and inviting than the typical pale chicken and dumplings, that’s why!

Some notes about the ingredients:

• Boxed broth is absolutely fine for this recipe, but I encourage you to save up your produce scraps, chicken bones, and leftover Thanksgiving turkey carcass and make your own delicious no-waste broth! You can read about how to do that in my previous post with Filippo Berio right here.

• Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil is fruity and grassy and I love it for sautéing vegetables. Though this recipe does not involve making a traditional roux, sautéing the vegetables in this oil and then adding a little bit of flour to the mix is what helps give this soup body and adds to its complexity of flavor.

• I’m calling this recipe “chicken and dumplings” but in this case, the chicken is actually IN the dumplings! Ground chicken and mild leeks are the main ingredients in the dumpling filling. If you can find it, go for ground chicken thigh meat which is more moist. And be sure to only use the tender white and light green portions of the leek.

• I use shaoxing wine and soy sauce for this recipe, not just in the dumplings but to season the soup as well. It is a fusion dish, after all! If you do not have shaoxing wine, you can sub in dry sherry in a pinch.

• If you go to an Asian grocery store for your dumpling wrappers, you may be spoilt for choice. Since these dumplings are going to be boiled, most options will work for this recipe no problem. I usually get the ones that are for potstickers.

How to Make Chicken and (Chinese) Dumplings

Ingredients for the Dumplings

1/2 lb ground chicken
1 cup leeks (light tender parts only), finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 sprig (1–2 tsp) rosemary leaves , finely chopped
1 tbsp shaoxing wine
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp salt
18–20 round dumpling wrappers

Ingredients for Soup

1/3 cup Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 celery stalks, cut into 1/4-inch slices
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
2 tbsp AP flour
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
3 cups unsalted or low sodium chicken or turkey broth
1 tbsp shaoxing wine
1 tsp soy sauce
2 dried bay leaves
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
3/4 cup evaporated milk
fresh herbs (such as oregano, rosemary, or thyme), for garnish (optional)

Procedure

To make the dumplings, combine all of the listed dumpling ingredients (except the wrappers!) in a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Scoop about 1 tablespoon of filling into the middle of a wrapper. Dip a finger into water and paint a wet ring along the edges of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half to seal in the filling, taking care to press out air bubbles. If desired, bring the two sides of the semicircle together and overlap to form a loop, using water to help stick the dough together; or, fold to your desired dumpling shape. Place on a tray lined with parchment paper. Repeat until all the filling is secured into dumplings. Refrigerate dumplings until ready to use.

Add Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil to a soup pot on medium-high heat. Add onion and when it starts to sizzle, sauté until it begins to turn translucent. Add carrots and celery and sauté for 1 minute, then add garlic and salt. Sauté until the garlic begins to color and carrots and celery start to soften, about 4–5 minutes. Sprinkle flour and pepper into the pot and cook, stirring, until the flour at the bottom of the pot begins to turn golden, about 2 minutes. 

Gradually stir in the broth, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to scrape up the flour and make sure it incorporates with the broth without clumping. Stir in shaoxing wine, soy sauce, bay leaves, and dried oregano. When the soup begins to bubble, turn heat to the lowest setting and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until carrots are almost the desired tenderness. 

Add peas and evaporated milk. Stir together and season with salt to taste. Turn up heat to high and gently add the dumplings, making sure they are fully submerged in the liquid. Allow the dumplings to cook through, about 4–5 minutes.

Spoon into bowls, making sure everyone gets enough of all the goodies, especially the dumplings. Optionally, garnish with fresh herbs before serving.

Thank you so much to Filippo Berio for sponsoring this recipe! Visit their website to learn more about their authentic olive oils, made to the highest quality standard of excellence and craftsmanship.

A Festive Champagne Brunch Done My Way

As the weather is finally starting to cool over here in San Francisco and we’ve finally started to get some much-needed rain, it finally feels right for me to shift my creative brain towards thinking about the festive season. It’s at this time of year that my mind is pulled to two extremes—I either want to be cozied up at home, warming my house with the smell of things baking in the oven and simmering on the stove, or traveling off to snowy places with charming town squares illuminated with holiday lights. Now that I’ve started busting out the fall-scented candles, I’m daydreaming about styling big platters of food and finding excuses to invite friends over for bubbly (but also about the prospect of actually getting to travel to someplace festive for the holidays this year). I am not big on family gatherings, but I do love so much the opportunity to celebrate small things with the people who are dear to me, and while that’s something we should do all year round, there is something about crisp cool air and gloomy skies that makes me crave that togetherness in my home.

For this blog post, I got to partner with Champagne Taittinger; founded in 1734, they are one of the last remaining family-owned and operated champagne houses. I am sharing an idea for a festive brunch idea to pair with Taittinger’s Les Folies de la Marquetterie, a wine that was created to be a tribute to autumn and those feelings of being at home. It mirrors a fall palette in its golden color and has delicate bubbles that remind me of the twinkling lights of the European Christmas markets in my daydreams. To me, it tastes very bright at first and then has a finish that is kind of oaky; in the tasting notes, it says it is “full-bodied and fruity on the palate with golden peach flavors leading to a finish with light woody notes”. It is a full flavored and complex champagne, so they recommend that it be paired with something robust like roasted meats.

I paired Taittinger’s Les Folies de la Marquetterie with Cantonese roast duck from a local restaurant and homemade waffles with scallions and lap cheong (sweet Chinese sausage) in the batter. The combination of duck and waffles was inspired by a brunch restaurant in London that I visited during Christmastime in 2019, so when I think of a festive brunch, I think of this combination! I thought it would be fun to style them together on this big vintage platter that I recently found on one of my antiquing hunts and I filled it out with slices of cara cara oranges, fresh jujubes, and lots of fresh herbs.

When you think of champagne pairings, you probably do not think of Cantonese roast meats. However, I recently came across this article on Food52 about why champagne goes with Chinese takeout. The article goes into how the two are perfect for one another because the bubbles of champagne allow you to better savor foods that are greasy by cleansing the tongue with every sip and its acidity provides balance when you are eating foods that are savory-sweet. So, although a Cantonese roast duck was probably not top of mind when roasts were noted as the recommended food pairing for Les Folies de la Marquetterie, I saw an opportunity to present a food from my childhood and my culture in a different light. And what I learned from that article was totally true! The succulent duck tasted sooo delicious with the champagne; taking a sip of it in between bites made each bite feel as if I was tasting the yummiest duck for the first time. 

I think most Westerners do not see Cantonese roast duck as a delicacy because of its typical presentation—I am talking about the ones you see hanging in the windows of bakeries in Chinatown or in the hot deli of Asian supermarkets—but for me, it is very much a special occasion food. If you go to one of these at Chinese New Year, they will be absolutely packed with uncles and aunties trying to order their siu ngap (roast duck) and siu yuk (roasted pork belly with crackling skin). Getting a roast duck was always a special treat when I was young, and I loved everything about it from savoring the fattiest parts of the skin that the rest of my family didn’t want to the soup my parents would make by simmering the bones with pickled mustard greens afterwards. Now that I am grown and living in an area with so many local shops that sell them, I can get a roast duck whenever I want and I can make whatever sides I want—even waffles!—but it will always feel like a special occasion when I bring one home.

I was thrilled that Taittinger was willing to give me the opportunity to share this idea of pairing Chinese roast duck with their beautiful champagne. As you may know if you’ve read the captions of many of my Chinese food posts on my Instagram, I have been actively trying to present the foods of my culture in a way that showcases its complexity and deliciousness, as well as its worth. For too many too often, Chinese food is only known as cheap and ugly, despite its rich history and the sheer volume of possibilities it brings to the palate with all of its regional nuances. I am always so grateful to work with a brand that supports my efforts to rewrite the narrative of Chinese food in America and it means so much to me that Taittinger allowed me to showcase their special festive offering alongside a nostalgic dish. I am so proud to work with a brand that has such a rich heritage and prestige of its own, yet is still so open to diverse ideas. 

Truth be told, I am not an expert when it comes to sparkling wines and their pairings, but duck is prominent in French cuisine just as it is in Chinese cuisine, and both cultures have iconic ways of preparing it that are absolutely delicious. So to me, sharing the duck dish that I grew up with as a pairing with this lovely champagne made lots of sense. No one would question pairing champagne with duck confit or duck à l'orange so this meal is my Chinese-American spin on that. If you are like me and colder days put you in the mood for celebrating things big or small, I hope you will consider making one of Taittinger’s champagnes a part of your celebration, and I hope that this post inspires you to think outside of the typical pairings to bring along a dish that is special to you.

Thank you so much to Champagne Taittinger for sponsoring this post!

Mini Pickle Galettes

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I love how every culture seems to have its own version of pickles but today we are going to be talking about the “kosher” dill pickle. These are the sour pickles made with small cucumbers, and with garlic and dill added to a salt brine, and according to Wikipedia they are so called because they originate from Jewish pickle makers in New York City (but they are not always actually Kosher). I am a big fan of this type of pickle, and have yet to really encounter an application of them that I did not like. For example, when I first learned about pickleback shots, my mind was blown… You mean it’s socially acceptable to just straight up drink the pickle brine??? Please count me in.

And then I found out about pickle pizza from this video on YouTube. There is a place in New York that started making pickle pizzas and by that, I mean they are really going all in with pretty much just pickles and cheese as the toppings. It sounded so interesting to me, and it inspired me think about what else I could make to celebrate such a beloved food. Pizza is awesome, but wouldn’t it be fun to take this humblest of ingredients (which was borne entirely out of the necessity of food preservation) and really celebrate its complexity of flavor by putting it in something a little fancy? I decided to make mini galettes because they are like somewhere between a pizza and a fancy pastry, and they are so easy to make with some storebought pie dough.

The filling of these galettes has three major components:

• Sauce: a garlic-infused béchamel that helps to serve as a creamy bridge between the pastry and the pickles. I think I saw some recipes for pickle pizzas online that used ranch, and ranch is obviously amazing with pickles, but I wanted to do something a little unexpected. I thought it would be kinda twisted to go for a French mother sauce and use it in a thing so radical as a pastry full of pickles. I went really heavy on the sauce in these and it gave them an almost alfredo-y vibe that complimented the brininess of the pickles really well, since thick creamy fatty things and tart things balance each other out.

• Cheese: I just used good ol’ shredded skim mozzarella here, inspired by the pickle pizza. Please grate your own because it will melt more smoothly than the packaged stuff.

• Pickle slices: You could go as much or as little as you want here. I like to buy these individually wrapped pickles by Oh Snap and keep them stashed in my fridge because they are a manageable size and I can cut them up however I like. I probably used about 1.5 of these 3-ounce pickles for my three mini galettes.

The result was something so balanced between creamy and briny. It felt like something that could be served at a cute cafe or brunch place but at the same time harkened to weird fair food. Just as I had hoped, these turned out to be a playful celebration of contrasts and breaking expectations. If you are a pickle fan, I hope my rough “recipe” is enough to help you give them a go.

(For other easy galette recipes, you can check out this everything but the bagel galette with cold smoked salmon, this scallion galette that is sort of my twist on scallion pancakes, and my fresh strawberry galette.)

Awkwardly Vague instructions for Mini Pickle Galettes

Ingredients

4 tbsp salted butter
garlic, minced, to taste
2 tbsp AP flour
milk
freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
1 sheet ready-made pie dough, room temp
~ 1 1/2 cups dry skim mozzarella cheese, freshly grated
1–2 small dill pickles, thinly sliced
1 egg, beaten
everything seasoning (optional)
fresh dill, for garnish

Procedure

To make the sauce, combine butter and garlic in a small saucepan set on low heat. Allow the butter to slowly melt and for the garlic to cook gently and infuse. Once the garlic is fragrant, turn up the heat to medium-low. When it starts to bubble, whisk in flour. Cook, mixing continuously until there is a slightly golden paste. Whisk in milk, 1/4 cup at a time, until the sauce is thick but no longer paste-like (the consistency should be thicker than a traditional béchamel). Whisk in pepper then set aside.

Preheat oven to 450°F. On a floured surface, divide the pie crust evenly into 3 pieces. Shape each piece into a round disk and then roll out into a thin circle, about 6–7 inches in diameter. Place each on a piece of parchment paper.

Fill each piece of pie dough: Spread a generous amount of sauce in the middle of one piece, leaving a 3/4–1-inch empty border all the way around. Fill the middle with cheese, lay on a layer of pickle slices, add a light sprinkle of cheese on top, and then add more pickle slices if desired.

Brush the border with some beaten egg and fold small sections over the filling to form a galette-style crust. Brush the pleated crust thoroughly with egg wash, making sure to get it in all the folds and crannies. If using, sprinkle everything seasoning all over the crust. Repeat with the remaining 2 pieces of pie dough.

Slide parchment papers and galettes onto baking trays and bake for 20 minutes on the middle rack, rotating once halfway.

Top with fresh dill for garnish.

Recipe: Cheesy Curry Noodle Soup with No-Waste Broth

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For this recipe, I partnered with Filippo Berio to share an easy idea for how we can reduce food waste when cooking at home. Filippo Berio is committed to learning more about sustainability in production practices (including protection of olive trees, olive groves, enhancing olive biodiversity and enhancing production efficiency when creating oil) and they are also committed to helping cooks at home reduce waste in their own kitchens. 

The pandemic and last year’s lockdown definitely changed the way that I grocery shop but I feel very lucky and privileged to say that I was able to develop some positive new habits from it. One of the things I continue to do is hold on to my food scraps and use them to make a flavorful broth. I always saved the roasted chicken or duck carcasses to make into soup (something I learned from my parents, who would usually use them to make a Cantonese soup with pickled mustard greens) but now I also hold on to things like onion peels, bones, herb stems, and any tops and bottoms of veggies that I typically trim off. I keep adding them to a container in my freezer and because of my job, it really does not take long to accumulate enough to make a big pot of broth. The container fills up so quickly after a couple of big shoot days that it really makes me realize how wasteful I was when I wasn’t saving my scraps before; they truly still have so much flavor left in them that would have otherwise been discarded.

The food scraps broth that I made for this recipe works as a fantastic base for anything your heart desires for soup season, but one tip I will share with you is that stirring in one of Filippo Berio’s incredible pestos is an easy way to bring complex flavor to the broth and transform it into a unique soup. I don’t think a lot of people think to use pesto in soup, but there is a ramen place in the SF Bay Area that does it to make a great fusion ramen, and I’ve been so inspired from that to make various fusion-y noodle soups. 

This particular recipe is special because it is a fusion of my and my spouse’s cultures. One of the things that he and I bond over is our love for noodles—coming from an Italian American family, he grew up eating lots of pasta with tomato sauces and pestos while I grew up in my Malaysian Chinese family having stir-fried noodles and noodle soups such as wonton mee and curry laksa. This recipe is sort of like a curry laksa with an undercurrent of homestyle Italian cooking. I used Filippo Berio Grilled Vegetable Pesto in place of a Malaysian laksa paste to bring robust umami to the soup and because of the puréed grilled veggies and the Grana Padano cheese in it, the soup gets a satisfying creaminess that we Malaysians know as lemak, without the use of the traditional coconut milk found in curry laksa. The result is cheesy, spiced (but not that spicy, imo), and very slurp-worthy.

Making this fusion curry noodle soup can be broken down into three phases:

Making the broth: All those food scraps that have been accumulating in the freezer get another chance to give you their wonderful flavors by simmering into a lovely broth. I always make this when I have a roast duck or chicken carcass on hand but if you don’t have one, you can boost the umami by adding a handful of dried shiitake mushrooms. This recipe will yield more that you need to make the two servings of noodle soup described, and you can also prepare the broth in advance. Keep it in a jar in the fridge for a couple of days or reuse a ramen takeout container and freeze it for longer storage.

Transforming the broth into tasty curry soup: Whisking the broth together with Filippo Berio Grilled Vegetable Pesto immediately gives it homestyle Italian flavor and some creaminess. Then, adding curry powder, fish sauce, and sambal oelek brings in some Southeast Asian flavors to make it into a wonderful fusion soup. For the curry powder, I used an Indian curry powder recommended for chicken but even the generic curry powder in the spice section of a Western grocery store would work fine. 

Preparing the toppings: I used Filippo Berio Extra Light Olive Oil to fry some shallots and pan-sear some big shrimp to top my laksa-inspired curry noodle soup. There are so many variations of laksa in Malaysia and there’s no hard rule on what to put on top or even what noodles to use. In fact, many hawker stalls that serve laksa will have big vats of simmering broth and let you choose from a selection of noodles and toppings to add. Whatever you choose to top your cheesy curry noodle soup, Filippo Berio Extra Light Olive Oil is great for quickly pan-frying at high heat to crisp things up for good texture.

Curry laksa is all about cramming as many flavors as possible into a bowl of noodle soup and this fusion version is no exception!

How to Make Cheesy Curry Noodle Soup with No-Waste Broth

Ingredients for No-Waste Broth 

about 1 gallon of food scraps, such as vegetable ends, onion peels, and chicken bones
10 cups water

Ingredients for Soup

2 cups no-waste broth
1/2 cup Filippo Berio Grilled Vegetable Pesto
1 tbsp curry powder
2 tsp fish sauce
2 tbsp sambal oelek, or to taste

Ingredients for Noodle Bowl

1–2 tbsp Filippo Berio Extra Light Olive Oil
1 large shallot, thinly sliced*
6 shrimp, 13/15 sized, peeled and deveined*
1/4 tsp fine chili flakes
pinch of salt
12 oz cooked rice noodles
1–2 boiled eggs, peeled and halved
fresh herbs, such as cilantro and Vietnamese coriander
1–2 bird’s eye chilies, sliced (optional)
1 makrut or conventional lime, sliced into wedges (optional)

* Save these peels for the next batch of broth, or prep these ingredients in advance to use them in this one!

Procedure

To make the broth, combine the food scraps and the water in a stock pot and bring to a rapid boil. Reduce to a minimal simmer and continue to cook, uncovered, for 1 hour. Allow to cool slightly before using a fine sieve to remove the scraps, squeezing out as much liquid as possible before composting them. Cool and store the broth if making in advance, otherwise measure out the amount needed for the soup.

Combine all the soup ingredients in a small pot on low heat. Whisk together until fully incorporated and allow the soup to come to a simmer. Cover and keep warm while preparing the noodle bowls.

In a small skillet, combine 1 tablespoon oil and the shallots. Cook on low heat, stirring constantly, until the shallots are lightly browned and crisp. Place fried shallots on a paper towel to drain. 

In a small bowl, toss together shrimp, chili flakes, and salt. Use the same skillet for frying the shallots and add extra oil if needed. Heat the skillet on medium-high heat, then add the shrimp and cook for 1 minute on each side or until seared and cooked through.

Divide the noodles into two bowls. Pour over the hot soup, then top with shrimp, eggs, fried shallots, and fresh herbs. Serve with extra herbs, bird’s eye chilies, and lime wedges at the table, if desired.

Thank you so much to Filippo Berio for sponsoring this recipe! Visit their website to learn more about their authentic olive oils, made to the highest quality standard of excellence and craftsmanship.

Green Tomato and Chili Cheese Toast

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Green tomatoes are not easy to come by in my part of the country but I think they have such a great tart flavor. When I saw one in the pile of mixed tomatoes at the store, I snatched it up, but then it sat in my fridge for a while. It didn’t seem worth heating up a bunch of oil to make just one fried green tomato. I googled what else to do with a green tomato and saw lots of examples which pair pimento cheese with them. Apparently this combination is a common thing where fried green tomatoes are popular—I had no idea, but I can see why! They are delicious together!

What made things even more perfect is that I happened to have a cornmeal-crusted jalapeño and garlic loaf from my favorite local-ish bakery, Wild Flour Bread on hand. It was the perfect bread for this toast combo, but a nice slice of crusty sourdough or rye would taste amazing too.

I topped off the otherwise Southern-inspired combo with a chili oil fried egg because I couldn’t resist bringing some extra spice to the toast. You can learn how I made this fried egg in more detail here.

How to Make Green Tomato & Chili Cheese Toast

Ingredients

1 slice of bread, toasted
1/2 green tomato, thinly sliced
~1/4 cup pimento cheese
1 chili oil fried egg
red pepper flakes, to taste
dill, for garnish

Procedure

Generously spread pimento cheese over the toast (I used the one from Trader Joe’s). Top with a few thin slices of green tomato, and then with the fried egg. Sprinkle red pepper flakes over everything and garnish with fresh dill and/or dill flowers.

For more toast inspiration, check out all the posts with the “toast post” tag here.

Recipe: Galbi Fajita Platter

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One of my best purchases during the pandemic was a Korean-style tabletop grill pan. I was missing that indoor dining experience of Korean barbeque and one of the things I tried to do regularly to make up for being unable to travel was do themed dinners at home, so being able to cook KBBQ definitely became a highlight. Unlike what we think of as a “grill” in the States, which usually involves flames coming up through a grate, cooking Korean barbeque at home can be done on a special nonstick pan that is contoured to allow excess rendered fat to slide away from the meat. But if you don’t have one of these special pans, you can also easily replicate the experience with a griddle or a nonstick pan.

The idea behind this platter was to combine two different dishes that involve lots of different ingredients being served separately at the table to then get wrapped together right before eating. I realized that Tex-Mex fajitas and Korean ssam have a lot of things in common.  Ssam means “wrapped” in Korean, and usually involves making little wraps at the table with a leafy veggie and a small piece of meat inside, often with garlic, peppers, and spicy ssamjang. Fajitas usually involve a mix of meat and peppers, with salsa on the side and tortillas for wrapping everything together. So, they both involve some kind of meat cut into small pieces, served with peppers and some kind of spicy sauce, all wrapped up in something flat by the eater in a sort of choose-your-own-adventure experience at the dining table. I decided to take components from both of these dishes to make a fusion fajita platter where everything can be cooked on my Korean grill pan.

I used Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil in three different ways to prepare this galbi fajita spread:

The marinade: In my opinion, good Korean BBQ is all about good quality meat and a great marinade! This bulgogi-inspired sweet-savory marinade is super easy to come together because everything gets thrown in a blender. I used Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the marinade because I thought its rich, almost fruity flavor would go better with the other fajita ingredients than the sesame oil typically used for ssam. 

Sautéed peppers and onions: For this fusion fajita platter, I used a mix of sweet and spicy peppers instead of just the usual bell peppers. Using Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil helped with getting a good sear on these veggies to bring out their natural flavors. In general, this is my go-to oil for sautéing because it has less saturated fat, and more monounsaturated fat (otherwise known as healthy fats) than many other cooking oils.

Gochujang crema: Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil brings such richness to condiments and dressings, so I used it to get the mouthfeel I was looking for with my gochujang crema. This mixture of Korean red pepper paste and crème fraîche is so tasty for fans of anything spicy and creamy, and I am definitely going to be using it on more than just tortillas.

You’ll see that I pulled accoutrements from both of the inspiration dishes—fajitas and ssam—to make up the platter, but this idea is super customizable to your taste. I used LA-style galbi for the meat because it’s very iconic to my personal experiences having Korean BBQ in California—it is flanken-cut short ribs typically cooked as strips and then cut with kitchen shears before eating. If you can’t find this, strips of steak or pork belly would also work great (if you adjust cooking times accordingly). You could also go the ssam route and use leafy greens as your wrap instead of tortillas for a more fresh, healthy option. That’s why I think of this as a choose-your-own-adventure meal!

How to Make a Galbi Fajita Platter

Ingredients for Galbi

1/2 apple*, peeled and cut into chunks
1/4 small red onion, cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic
3 tbsp mirin
5 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tbsp Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 – 1 1/4 lb LA-style (flanken cut) galbi

Ingredients for Gochujang Crema

1 tbsp gochujang
4 tsp crème fraîche
1/2 tsp Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 tsp honey

Ingredients for Fajita Platter

1 tbsp Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 small red onion, cut into 1/4” strips
1/2 lb peppers (mix of sweet and spicy), seeded and cut into 1/4” strips
2–4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
1 avocado, peeled and thinly sliced
1 lime, quartered
cilantro, for garnish
8–10 small tortillas, warmed
salt, to taste

* honeycrisp, pink lady, or fuji apple recommended

Procedure

To make the galbi marinade, combine the apple, onion, garlic, mirin, soy sauce, brown sugar, black pepper, and Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a blender and blend until liquified. Place the galbi in a large zip-top bag or shallow dish and pour the marinade over it. Make sure all galbi pieces are in contact with the marinade and seal. Place in the fridge and allow to marinade for at least 1 hour, overnight recommended.

To make the gochujang crema, whisk together the gochujang, crème fraîche, Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and honey until smooth. Set aside until ready to serve.

Heat a Korean-style indoor grill pan or stovetop griddle on medium-high. Add Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil, then onion and pepper strips. Salt to taste, and continue to cook, flipping occasionally, until edges begin to brown. Move to the edges of the grill pan where there is less heat. Add garlic slices and cook until slightly golden on each side, then move away from direct heat as well. 

Drain excess marinade from the galbi and place on the grill pan. Cook until slightly charred on one side, flip, and cook the other side (2–4 minutes per side). 

Transfer pepper and onion mixture to a serving platter, as well as garlic. If desired, use kitchen shears to cut galbi into smaller pieces and remove bone pieces. Arrange galbi on the serving platter and garnish with scallions. Add jalapeno slices, avocado, and lime. Garnish with cilantro. Serve alongside warmed tortillas and gochujang crema, and enjoy family style.

Thank you so much to Filippo Berio for sponsoring this recipe! Visit their website to learn more about their authentic Italian olive oils, made to the highest quality standard of excellence and craftsmanship.

Recipe: Cheesy Curry Biscuits with Miso Honey Butter

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Not long ago, the concept of fusion baking was completely unknown to me. In my mind, there were distinctly “Western” baked confections—mostly too sweet for my taste—like cookies, scones, danishes, and then there were Asian style baked goods that were soft, fluffy, considerably less sweet and sometimes even savory. I loved going to Taiwanese bakeries and grabbing my tray and tongs to reach for hot dog buns or ham and cheese pastries and would steer clear of Western cafe offerings like brownies and blueberry muffins. Then, one day I visited a popular local Asian-owned cafe called Home, and something in their pastry case caught my eye: a “Japanese curry scone”.

Upon tasting this scone, my life was changed, and that is not an exaggeration. You see, this was a few years ago, when I was just starting my instagram account, and I really had very little exposure to if Asian-American people or Asian flavors were receiving any sort of recognition in the States (outside of bubble tea). I was still at my sad (and microaggressively racist) tech job where I often worked 12–14 hour days, so I didn’t have a lot of time to pick up my head and see what else was going on around me. But on that day, I was peacefully making time for myself in a cafe that was cute and sold high-quality treats without being kawaii or gimmicky or exotic, and having this scone—a super savory pastry that perfectly married the flavors of Japanese curry and cheese, had nice bits of corn, and a strip of nori on top for an elegant look—and it truly opened my mind to new possibilities. Somehow this became a clear signal for me that Asian-Americans could share their flavors in baked goods and reclaim fusion foods, but also that they could run businesses and create spaces that paid tribute to Asian heritage without being tokenized or orientalized.

After some sleuthing, I learned that Home served pastries from Third Culture Bakery, which at the time was just getting traction as well, I think, but has since grown hugely in popularity for their mochi muffins and donuts with Asian-inspired flavors (all of which are absolutely delicious). Though I am thrilled for their success with these not-too-sweet sweet treats, I was pretty heartbroken when they stopped making their Japanese curry scone—the pastry that had changed my perception of Asian-American pastries forever.

I never forgot that joyful moment of first tasting Third Culture Bakery’s savory Japanese curry scone but since I can’t buy it from them anymore, this recipe is a loving tribute to that. I am not really into copycat recipes, so instead, this is an attempt to make something that is just in the spirit of the delicious flavor combination I experienced. I opted for biscuits instead of scones because I already know how to make biscuits anyway. (You can find my recipes for honey biscuits and cheddar scallion biscuits here).

I paired the biscuits with a miso honey butter because I wanted to continue to celebrate Japanese ingredients and you gotta serve biscuits with honey and/or butter. You should be able to split apart these biscuits without a knife due to their buttery layers, making perfect surfaces for slathering on that compound butter.

Some notes about special ingredients:

• Japanese curry powder: The flavor of these biscuits is meant to be similar to the flavor of curry that is served with katsu. There are lots of things out there that are generically labeled “curry powder” but the flavor of curry dishes varies so vastly from region to region. The one I used for this recipe is this S&B brand powder** which is a product of Japan. The amount of curry used in this recipe gives it a very obvious curry flavor without it being spicy or overwhelming. Fwiw, my white spouse taste-tester agreed it was the perfect amount. But feel free to dial back if you aren’t as accustomed to curry and want something more subtle.

• furikake: There are a lot of different types of furikake out there too, but I prefer to the basic one with nori, salt, and sesame seeds as the main components. This is the one** I always use. The furikake design I made on the biscuits is a tribute to the strip of nori that used to be on the Third Culture Bakery scones; I cut a little stencil out of parchment paper to achieve this effect.

To make these mini biscuits, I used a 3-inch cutter. It made such a satisfying *whoosh* sound as I was pressing it into the dough! But if you’d prefer, you can simply cut the dough up to make square biscuits. I opted to make them the same shape and about the same size as the source of inspiration; you can see what those beloved scones looked like in my ancient Instagram post right here.

How to Make Cheesy Curry Biscuits with Miso Honey Butter

(Makes about 14 biscuits)

Ingredients for Miso Honey Butter

4 tbsp salted butter, softened at room temp
1 tsp red miso
5 tsp honey

Ingredients for Biscuits

10 tbsp butter, frozen
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra bench flour
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp sugar
5 tsp Japanese curry powder
kosher salt
1 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/3 packed cup grated pepper jack cheese (~3 oz)
1/3 packed cup grated gruyere cheese (~3 oz)
2–3 scallions, chopped

Ingredients For biscuit topping

1 tbsp water
1 tbsp honey
furikake

Procedure

To make the miso honey butter, whisk together the softened butter, miso, and honey. Transfer to a serving dish and keep at room temperature.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, curry powder, and a pinch of salt in a large bowl and whisk together.

Use a box grater to grate in the frozen butter, tossing together with the dry ingredients as you go, to avoid clumps. Then toss the butter and dry ingredients together gently so each shaving of butter is separated and coated with the dry ingredients.

Stir up your Greek yogurt to be an even consistency. If it is super thick, add a teaspoon of water to thin it out.

In a small bowl, toss the cheese and scallions so they are evenly combined. Add these to the dough base and toss together until ingredients are evenly distributed. Create a well in the center. Pour yogurt in the well, then use a fork to slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the wet yogurt. Once all the yogurt is absorbed, use your hands to gather the dough together and fold it on itself a few times until it is a cohesive dough.

Preheat your oven to 425°F.

You will be creating layers in the biscuits by doing three sets of letter folds; you will also want to keep everything as cold as you can, so work quickly with cold hands. Dust your work surface with flour and do so generously throughout the process as needed to prevent sticking. Shape the dough into a rectangle with your hands then roll it out until roughly 9” wide by 12” tall. Fold down the top third and then fold up the bottom third (like you would fold a letter). Rotate 90 degrees and repeat the shaping and folding. Rotate again then do the process one more time, so you have done 3 sets of letter folds total.

Roll out your dough to a little larger than 9” x 12” one more time. Using a floured 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut out 12 biscuits by pushing the cutter firmly through the dough and then lifting it straight up each time—you should hear a satisfying *whoosh* as the cutter goes through the dough—and do not twist the cutter. (I was able to fold the scraps gently together and make an additional 2 square biscuits. Alternatively, you could also just cut the slab of dough into 12 square biscuits if you choose.)

Place biscuits on a parchment-lined baking tray and freeze them for 10 minutes. Combine the water and honey in a small bowl, microwave for 10 seconds, and mix together to form a thin glaze. Brush the glaze on the tops of the biscuits, then sprinkle furikake on top.

Bake for 15–17 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden and starting to brown on their tops. They should feel structurally sound and not deflate when removed from the oven; if you notice them doing so, quickly put them back in the oven for a couple more minutes.

Serve the biscuits fresh from the oven alongside the miso honey butter.

Recipe: Spiced Garlic Shrimp Over Coconut Rice

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With international travel still being potentially a ways away, at the moment it seems like the most accessible tropical destination for those of us with U.S. passports is the beautiful state of Hawai’i. It feels like at any given time, someone I follow on Instagram is there and, of course, the thing I am most jealous about is the FOOD! The famous garlic shrimp trucks right along the water (the last one I visited in the before times was Geste Shrimp on Maui) are life changing, in my opinion! Still determined to travel virtually through food as much as I can right now, I whipped up a batch of my own version of those super buttery, garlic-loaded shrimp.

I have tried emulating those Hawaiian shrimp trucks before, but this time around, I decided to give it a slightly spicy, Southeast Asian-inspired twist. I seasoned the garlic butter with Spice Tribe’s Thai-inspired Long-Tail Sunset spice blend, which is made up of coconut, ginger, tamarind, Thai chili, coriander, cumin, and lemongrass. For a seasoned spicy-eater, I find this blend to taste more spiced than spicy from the chili, and overall there is a lovely tangy tropical flavor. It definitely gives the dish some nice flavor complexity, but with minimal extra effort. If you like spicy, garnishing the shrimp with fresh Thai chilies will more than make up for it!

You gotta have rice to capture all the extra butter and garlic, and since this tropical shrimp goes perfectly with my coconut rice, I went ahead and included it in this recipe. Coconut rice is the foundation of nasi lemak, the (unofficial) national dish of my parents’ home country of Malaysia, but I have found that it is so good with so many other things—pretty much anything with Southeast Asian flavors. (If you want a way to visually wow people with a super simple staple recipe, you can also learn how to make a blue version of my coconut rice using butterfly pea blossoms here.) I also opted to include cucumber as a suggested accompaniment to this recipe because it is a common accoutrement in nasi lemak. If you are wondering how I made those cucumber roses, I simply used a vegetable peeler to make thin cucumber “ribbons”, stacked 2–3 together, and rolled them up.

Some things to consider as you gather your ingredients:

• Shrimp: One thing that bothered me about the garlic shrimp I ate in Hawai’i is that the shells were left completely on. I’m cool to deal with the mess, but I always felt like that garlic infused butter was going to waste simply coating the part of the shrimp that would get peeled off. One of the advantages of making it at home is getting to prepare the shrimp the way you like it! I like buying a big bag of frozen “E-Z peel" shrimp from Costco to keep in my freezer; they come deveined, and are super easy to peel off the shell entirely or peel off everything but the tails like I did for these photos. These were 10/13 sized shrimp—they were massive and super plump! You may want to reduce the cook times if you are using much smaller shrimp; use your visual cues.

• Potato starch: You can definitely substitute with cornstarch if you don’t have potato starch. However, I find potato starch to fry up lighter and crisper when using it for a dredge like this. You can find it at Asian grocery stores, as it is common in Korean and Japanese cooking. Adding a thin crust to the shrimp makes a big difference in giving the butter and garlic something to cling to.

• Garlic: Yes, there is a lot of garlic going on here because that is the whole point of this dish! I still clearly remember the big puddle of melted butter and fried garlic at the bottom of my takeout container when I ate from that shrimp truck in Maui. This recipe is actually more on the conservative side, relatively speaking, and should give you just enough butter and fried garlic to generously coat the shrimp without any left over. But it’s definitely for garlic lovers only!

• Coconut milk: I find that the consistency of coconut milk varies drastically from brand to brand. You want something where you can thoroughly shake it to a homogeneous consistency in the can before opening. I find that Thai-based brands usually work well for this recipe. If you try shaking the can and you can’t hear or feel things mixing together, this means there is a big solidified glob of coconut fat stuck on one end that will be hard to fully integrate with the liquid without a blender; try to avoid these cans.

The intention is to serve the shrimp over a bed of the coconut rice, to capture the spirit of the Hawaiian plate lunch. However, it’s obviously also fun to serve it family style, where you and your dining companion can fight for the last shrimp!

How to Make Spiced Garlic Shrimp Over Coconut Rice

Ingredients For the Shrimp

1 1/2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined (10/13 size recommended)
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 tsp fine salt
2–3 tbsp high-smoke point oil
6 tbsp butter
18 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
2 1/2 tsp Spice Tribe Long-Tail Sunset blend
1/2 tsp fish sauce
cilantro leaves, for garnish
3–4 Thai chilies, sliced (optional)

Ingredients for the Rice

1 cup jasmine rice, washed and drained
1/2 cup Thai coconut milk, shaken before measuring
1 cup water
pinch of salt

For serving

lime wedges 
cucumber slices

Procedure

To make the coconut rice, mix the jasmine rice, coconut milk, water, and salt in the pot of a rice cooker and cook as normal. When rice is done cooking, immediately fold together gently, and then cover and let rest until serving.

Combine potato starch and salt in a shallow bowl. Pat shrimp dry and toss to coat thoroughly in the potato starch mixture. Dust off the excess potato starch.

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil on medium-high. Add shrimp in a single layer. Cook for 2 minutes, or until color becomes vibrant, then flip, add extra oil if needed, and cook for the same time on the other side. Turn off the heat and transfer shrimp out of the skillet.

To the same skillet with the heat off, add butter and garlic. Set heat on low and stir with a spatula as the butter melts. Keep stirring to evenly and gently fry the garlic and infuse the butter. When the butter is melted and becomes completely foamy, add the Spice Tribe Long-Tail Sunset blend. Keep cooking and stirring until the garlic becomes golden brown, about 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and add the fish sauce. Stir to combine, then add the shrimp and toss to coat.

Divide coconut rice onto plates and top with shrimp. Sprinkle cilantro leaves and Thai chilies (if using) over the shrimp. Serve with lime wedges and cucumber.

Thank you so much to Spice Tribe for sponsoring this recipe! Check them out on Instagram here or visit their website to purchase high quality spices and unique small-batch spice blends.

Recipe: Scallion and Cheese Galette

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Lately I have been really into binge-watching old seasons of Guy’s Grocery Games on Hulu. The general premise is that Guy Fieri gives contestants a theme for a dish they have to create, and then some sort of challenging constraint that they have to work within (“I want you to make me a 5-star dinner, but you have to incorporate popsicles!”); they then have 30 minutes to race through “Flavortown Market”—a fantasy grocery story that seems to have everything from gas station to luxury grocery items—to grab their ingredients and make their dish for a panel of judges. I like thinking about what I would make if I were given those challenges, and I think it helps keep the culinary creativity juices flowing in my brain. In one episode, I saw a contestant make a cheat version of scallion pancakes with a frozen pastry dough, and that stuck with me as a great hack. That idea planted the seed for this scallion galette.

After my success with my Everything But the Bagel galette, I once again found myself with an extra sheet of Trader Joe’s pie crust dough in my freezer and thought about how I could turn it into something inspired by Chinese scallion pancakes. I started to think about other pastries that utilize an excess of scallions as a major flavor component too, and my thoughts drifted to those scallion and cheese buns at the Taiwanese bakeries, as well as shaobing—flatbreads encrusted with sesame seeds; at Taiwanese breakfast places I see them stuffed with scallions, pork floss, and other flavorsome delights. So, this galette is my fusion-y take on combining all those things into a fun brunch pastry.

The ingredient list for this is super minimal and it is so easy to put together! You will need:

• a ready-to-go pie crust: I’m happy with the one from Trader Joe’s so that’s what I keep using. It comes pre-rolled into a nice circle that cracks and falls apart 100% of the time for me as I unroll it. But don’t worry—I squish it all together into a ball and roll it back out, and it still turns out light and flaky after baking.

• lots of chopped scallions: I used 4 full scallions to stuff inside the galette, but sprinkled some more fresh ones on after baking as well. Feel free to go big; I think their flavor becomes quite mild after baking.

• grated cheese: Use mozzarella if you want to call back to those Taiwanese buns from the bakery, but I used sharp white cheddar for a more complex flavor.

• sesame seeds: Really pack them onto the crust for those shaobing vibes!

I think that this galette is simple and elegant as-is, but it can also be topped with what you would typically like to stuff inside your shaobing or other Taiwanese breakfast treats! After pulling it out of the oven, I topped mine with pork floss and some Lao Gan Ma chili crisp** before slicing up and serving.

How to Make a Scallion & Cheese Galette

Ingredients

1 sheet ready-made pie dough, room temp
6 oz mozzarella or white cheddar, grated
4 scallions, chopped
1 egg, beaten
~ 3 tbsp sesame seeds

Toppings (optional)

pork floss
chili crisp

Procedure

Preheat oven to 450°F. On a floured surface, roll out the pie crust to a 14-inch circle. Transfer to a piece of parchment paper.

Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly in the middle, leaving an empty 1-inch border all the way around. Top with chopped scallions.

Brush the border with beaten egg and fold small sections over the filling to form a galette-style crust. Brush the pleated crust thoroughly with egg, making sure to get it in all the folds and crannies. Generously sprinkle sesame seeds all over the crust. Slide parchment paper onto an inverted baking tray and bake for 20 minutes on the middle rack, rotating once halfway.

If desired, top with pork floss and chili crisp before serving.

Spam & Egg Fried Rice Tofu Pouches

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Aromatic garlic and scallion fried rice, creamy soft scrambled eggs, and savory fried Spam are stuffed inside sweet marinated aburaage pouches for a unique way to eat Spam and egg fried rice.

Spam and egg fried rice is very nostalgic to me; I even have memories of eating it on Thanksgiving. To me, it’s a comfort dish to be shared with family. Spam is one of those foods that seemed completely normal to me in my childhood and it wasn’t until I was older and had more conversations about food with Westerners that I learned that it was looked down upon. But then after that, I found out that many other Asian Americans felt that same nostalgia for it too; able to finally find our pride for those things that we were shamed for as children, I found a community that touted their love for their humble childhood foods and gratitude for what frugal immigrant parents put on the table. They all loved and grew up with Spam and eggs with rice.

So, I developed this recipe to try to change people’s perceptions about Spam and egg fried rice. To try to convince them that Chinese American food is not always the stuff that gets scooped into those 2-item combo takeout boxes. That even luncheon meat from a can is a meaningful ingredient to many. That many of the tropes that make them think of “elevated” food are just about presentation, and that any food can be presented that way and be worth appreciation. It’s Spam and egg fried rice—but made fancy.

This recipe has 4 components:

• marinated aburaage pouches: These are deep fried tofu that have soaked up a sweet marinade. I have been able to find them at Asian supermarkets. This is the one I usually get.

• fried rice: I kept this part really simple, seasoning with just a little soy sauce. white pepper, and salt, and adding just scallions and garlic as aromatics. I did not want to overwhelm the natural flavor of the eggs or have it be too salty when combined with the Spam.

• fried Spam cubes: The flavor bombs of the dish. Lately I have been getting the Lite kind, but use your favorite variety.

• soft scrambled eggs: I like to use the low and slow method, and gently push them into big curds for this recipe. I was genuinely impressed by the rich eggy flavor of Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs and definitely recommend their certified humane free range eggs for this recipe. These eggs will require no additional salt because they are naturally flavorsome on their own and have a nice creamy balance to the crisped salty Spam.

Click here to get the recipe on the Pete and Gerry’s site!

Thank you so much to Pete and Gerry’s for sponsoring this recipe!

Recipe: California Love Fried Chicken Bao

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Hot chicken bao is a concept that I’d been experimenting with for some time now. It started with me wanting to take the components of a Nashville hot chicken sandwich (from the likes of Howlin’ Ray’s, for example) and stuff them all into fluffy, Chinese style steamed buns for no other particular reason than that a fully loaded bao is one of the best food formats. While the most famous version is probably the pork belly gua bao that are popular in Taiwan, these “lotus leaf” bao have become a popular receptacle for all kinds of fillings and I’ve personally also developed a compulsion to stuff all my favorite food combinations inside them (e.g. pastrami sandwiches, Korean-style egg drop breakfast toasts, spicy KFC). For a while, though, I was trapped in the headspace of wanting to perfectly recreate the very best restaurant-quality Nashville hot chicken sandwich where the only thing different was the bun…and that’s when I hit a big block. After all, I haven’t even been to Nashville before! How could I capture such an iconic food when the only place I’ve ever had it was in California?

And that’s when I realized, I needed to make it my own. Make it less about imitating something that already existed and more about the flavor combination that I wanted to capture inside these little bao. What were the ingredients that made sense to me?

One day, while I was looking at Spice Tribe’s pretty California Love bottle, it somehow clicked that this spice blend was exactly what I needed for my backburnered fried chicken bao idea. I didn’t grow up eating a lot of cayenne-heavy Southern spice blends (cayenne is what gives Nashville hot chicken its spicy heat) but the California Love blend felt a lot more familiar to me—probably because it was based on Spice Tribe founder Trent’s own upbringing in California. Though I must still give huge credit to every Nashville hot chicken joint I’ve ever ordered a sandwich from (Howlin’ Ray’s and Starbird are my faves) for the inspiration, the recipe now feels very me.

I really wanted these bao to celebrate how the diverse population of California has had a huge impact on how I create in the kitchen. These are the pieces that you’ll be bringing together to make my California Love Fried Chicken Bao recipe:

• Lotus leaf bao: These can be found in the frozen section of an Asian supermarket. You want the ones that are folded, that you can stuff things into; I’ve seen them called “lotus leaf bao” but they probably won’t be labeled that in English. I keep them in my freezer until it is time to steam them and it does not take long in a bamboo steamer to transform them into fluffy pockets.

• Fried chicken: I used a very simple technique for battering and frying the chicken, similar to the way I make Chinese-American takeout dishes like sweet and sour pork. You are not going to get a really thick crunchy crust like you would with Southern fried chicken because I thought that would overwhelm the delicately soft texture of the steamed bao; instead, expect a light yet crisp exterior.

• The seasoning: The technique I used for applying seasoning to the chicken is taken directly from how Nashville hot chicken is made: a dry spice blend is mixed together and after frying the chicken, some of the hot oil is added to the spices; that seasoned oil paste is then brushed on to the fried chicken. However, instead of the cayenne-heavy seasoning used for Nashville hot chicken, I used Spice Tribe’s California Love all-purpose chile blend as the main component; I loved that it was a tribute to founder Trent’s own memories of growing up in California and cooking with his dad. The blend features California chilies and to me it celebrates the big presence of Mexican cuisine here. To that, I added Korean gochugaru for color and another chili component, but overall these are meant to be mild and approachable, not too spicy.

• Cabbage slaw: Here, I once again tapped into Chinese-American cuisine for inspiration—the dressing for this is based on a “Chinese chicken salad” that my dad was really into at a Cantonese-American restaurant we frequented when I was a kid.

• Sriracha mayo: A holy unity of practically every Asian-American kid’s two favorite condiments (sriracha + Japanese mayo) to form the ultimate sandwich spread.

• Pickles: Because you can’t have a good fried chicken sandwich without pickles.

These satisfying fried chicken bao have a little bit of everything—a little sweetness and just a hint of spiciness in the seasoning blend, a little crunch from the pickles and the chicken batter, creaminess from the mayo, sweet-sour tang from the slaw—all hugged together by those fluffy, pillowy bao.

How to Make California Love Fried Chicken Bao

For the Slaw

4 tsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp soy sauce
Pinch of kosher salt
1/2 small cabbage, finely shredded
1/8 red onion, thinly sliced

For the Chicken

3 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 – 2/3 cup cornstarch
oil for frying

For the Chicken Seasoning

1 1/2 tsp Spice Tribe California Love blend
2 tbsp gochugaru*
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup hot frying oil

To assemble

8 frozen lotus leaf bao
1/4 cup Japanese mayo
4 tsp Sriracha (or to taste)
Dill pickle chips

*Note: If you want to make these more spicy, substitute in cayenne powder, to your taste.

Procedure

To make the slaw, whisk together rice vinegar, honey, sesame oil, soy sauce, and salt. Toss together with the cabbage and onions until everything is coated. Store in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the bao. (Can be made up to 4 hours in advance.)

Cut chicken thighs crosswise into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Beat together egg and soy sauce. Combine chicken pieces with egg and soy sauce mixture until everything is coated and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, in a dutch oven, heat enough oil to submerge the chicken pieces.

Pour 1/2 cup cornstarch into a rimmed plate. Remove one of the chicken pieces and allow the excess liquid to drip off, then dredge the chicken in the cornstarch until completely coated. Set aside and repeat until all the chicken is coated in cornstarch, adding more cornstarch to the plate if needed.

The oil is hot enough when you insert a wooden chopstick or spoon into the oil and small bubbles appear. Working in batches and adjusting the heat as needed, deep fry the chicken until golden brown and cooked, about 5–8 minutes.  Let fried chicken drain on a rack or paper towels.

While chicken is draining, set up a bamboo steamer lined with parchment paper and place the frozen bao inside, using pieces of parchment paper to keep them from touching. Steam the bao over a wok with simmering water until soft, about 5 minutes. (Or, if you do not have a bamboo steamer, wrap them in damp paper towels and microwave in 30-second increments until soft.)

Transfer chicken to a large tray. Combine all the dry seasoning ingredients in a heat-safe bowl. Then, add the frying oil while it is still hot. Stir together then brush the seasoning mixture onto the chicken until fully covered.

In a small bowl, mix together the Japanese mayo and the sriracha. 

To assemble, spread some sriracha mayo on the inside of a bao, then stuff with slaw, 1–2 pieces of chicken, and pickle chips. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

Thank you so much to Spice Tribe for sponsoring this recipe! Check them out on Instagram here or visit their website to purchase high quality spices and unique small-batch spice blends.

Chicken Ramen with 40++ Cloves of Garlic

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Ramen broth is one of those things that I think is less about strictly following a recipe, and more about following your heart. And my heart led me to this idea for turning the French classic “chicken and 40 cloves of garlic” into a ramen. So, be warned that what follows is just a loose guideline moreso than a recipe.

Ina Garten’s Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic was the first (only?) French “fancy” dish that I made regularly when I started cooking in college. Is it even fancy? It feels more like countryside/provençal vibes to me in hindsight but it felt very luxurious then. Back then, I also skipped the cognac and used two-buck Chuck for the white wine, which honestly still sounds perfectly good to me now. While other college kids were eating Top Ramen, I was ditching class and learning how to cook by watching hours and hours of the Food Network, seduced by the soothingness of Ina Garten’s voice. So, this recipe is a tribute to that time in my life.

How I even came up with the idea to turn this French chicken and garlic dish into ramen in the first place was when I came across Mandy Lee’s Vampire Slayer Ramen recipe, but I think you will find that these renditions of ramen are quite different from one another.

This awkwardly vague recipe should guide you to a very subtle, creamy broth that is naturally sweet from the braised garlic and some satisfying fall-of-the-bone wings that provide bites of umami as you slurp. As is a common practice with these creamy broths, I tried a version with Asian style unsweetened soy milk but did not notice it making much impact in taste or texture, so I left it out below. I kept the seasoning quite minimal, adding just enough salt to make the other flavors known, but you may find that a little drizzle of soy sauce might make things more in line with the saltier restaurant ramens you are used to.

One more thing I need to tell you about this, though, is that I experienced some pretty rowdy stomach noises in the 24 hours that followed. The kind that made me google “does garlic make you gassy”. (Spoiler alert: It does.) In my opinion, a small price to pay to indulge in a garlic lover’s noodle bowl dream. But you have been warned.

How to Make Chicken Ramen with 40++ Cloves of Garlic

Ingredients for the broth

6–8 party wings, flats recommended
salt
butter
40–50 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/2 onion
shao xing wine
24 oz high-quality bone broth
thyme
miscellaneous food scraps
soy sauce, to taste

For the Bowl

2 servings of fresh ramen noodles
5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
neutral oil
2 ramen eggs, plus a few spoons of marinade*
other garnishes, such as black garlic, seaweed snacks, sliced scallions, pea shoots (optional)

*I have found this recipe very helpful for making ramen eggs.

Procedure

To make the broth: Season wings all over with salt. In a large dutch oven, heat a generous knob of butter. Add chicken wings and brown on each side, lowering the heat as needed to avoid burning too quickly. Remove browned wings and add garlic and onion. Cook until they begin to caramelize, then deglaze the pot with a splash of shao xing wine. Add bone broth, a few sprigs of thyme, and whatever food scraps you have around for making stock (such as onion skins, carrot peels, bones, skin, etc). Return the wings to the pot. Cover and simmer on low until the wings are tender, then remove the wings and set aside.

Continue simmering the broth as desired, until the garlic cloves are mushy and it tastes naturally sweet from the aromatics. Remove thyme stems and any inedible food scraps. Transfer the remaining contents of the pot into a blender and carefully blend until completely smooth. (Please exercise caution when blending hot liquids, and allow the liquid to cool a bit first if you have time.) Return broth to the pot and season to taste. Keep warm on low heat while preparing the rest of the ramen bowls.

To make the wings: Bring some of the marinade from the ramen eggs to a simmer in a small pan. Add the cooked chicken wings and cook in the marinade, flipping occasionally, until the wings look flavorfully glazed and most or all of the marinade has evaporated.

To make the fried garlic chips: Spread the thinly sliced garlic out evenly in a small pan and add enough oil to cover. Fry on medium low to low heat until the garlic starts to turn golden brown (watch carefully). Remove pieces as they brown and transfer to a paper towel. Reserve the garlic-infused oil when the frying is complete.

To assemble: Cook noodles and divide between 2 bowls. Top with wings and egg, then pour in the broth from the side. Garnish with garlic chips and any other toppings. Drizzle some garlic-infused oil over the top.