Fried Porkchop sandwich

Fried Porkchop sandwich, originally uploaded by aznkey.

A quick marinade of soy, sugar, 5 spice, garlic powder and rice wine.
Lighty dusted with corn starch and fried. Sandwiched between some country style bread with mayo and arugula.

soba

soba, originally uploaded by aznkey.

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Scallop Fried Rice

Inspiration

Last night I was stuck wondering what to cook so I decided on the classic fried rice. However I made Thai fried rice the previous night and I hate making the same dish two days in a row or even within the same week. Sadden by the lack of creativity I started prepping for dinner when my roommate came into the kitchen with a pack of dried shiitake mushrooms his mom sent. While storing the mushroom with all my other Chinese dried goods I found inspiration. Staring at all the dried scallops I had reminded me of a special type of fried rice using only egg whites I had before.

Notes on fried Rice

Though I still have not mastered the art of making fried rice am getting a lot closer to restaurant quality. So what make the fried rice you get at restaurants better than the ones we make at home? Well besides the fact that the restaurant probably cheated with some MSG. I think the main difference lies within the stove used. When cooking fried rice you want to use very high heat to keep the rice dried and obtain what Chinese people call “essence of the wok”. Clearly restaurants have the advantage with their 25000 BTU burners. To compensate for the lack of fire power people often suggest using day old rice(more firm/dried). But this technique is not always practical when you want your fried rice right away. I find that cooking the rice with less water works just as well. The amount of water to use will varied depending on your rice so experiment. Rule of thumb to cooking rice is 1:1 water and rice. You want to use just enough water to barely cook the rice, it is ok a small portion on top looks half cooked.

Measurements
Makes enough for 2 people plus some leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

1 cup of steamed jasmine rice (I used lines in my rice cooker pot to measure the cup and filled water to a 1/16 inch above the 2 cup mark)
5 Dried scallops
½ cup of tender Gai lan (aka chinese kale) stem diced
Salt
A pinch Pepper (white might work better)
4 egg whites(important that there is no yolk. I forgot why but I think it drastically changes the flavor of the dish)
2 tbs of oil

1. Soak the scallop in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes to hydrate them.
2. Drain the them and place into a small bowl and steam for 15 minutes or until soft enough to break apart when poke with a spoon.
3. While the scallops are steaming start another pot of boiling water with some salt to blanch the gai lan. When the water is at a rolling boil add the stems and cook for 2-3 minutes or until soft. Strain and set aside
4. Remove the steamed scallops and break it up as much as possible and set aside.
5. In a large pan heat up the oil and had the scallop. Cook for a few minutes to crisp up the scallops and release some flavor in to the oil. Add the gai lan and push everything to a side of the pan. There should enough oil and space to cook the egg whites, add some more oil if needed. Add the egg whites and wait till it sets and break it up. Now add the rice and break it up as much as possible, if you cooked your rice right the grains should not stick. Add salt to taste.

Zuni Roast Chicken with Bread Salad.

Last weekend I finally got to try this awesome looking recipe that I found in the Zuni Café cookbook. Why is this recipe awesome you might ask? Zuni Café is one of San Francisco’s hot spot for dining and this chicken salad is their signature dish.

I wanted to do the dish justice so I did not skimp on any of the required ingredients. This meant another fun from to the specialty market. Hunting down all the special type of greens was quite the learning experience. The labels at the market did not help since they were not next to its corresponding produce. I would have never found the greens if I had not googled the pictures before hand. Salad fans should have no problem though.

I dare not post the recipe, but I think it should be safe to list the ingredients.

A whole chicken
Rosemary
Salt and pepper
Country style bread
Olive oil
White wine vinegar
Red wine vinegar
Dried currants
Water
Garlic
Scallion
Arugula
Frisee
Mustard Green

(I was stupid and misread the recipe. It only required only 1 of the three types of greens. So I had a blend of all three types.)

The dished turned out pretty well. The chicken came out of the oven with a very nice color and the skin was slightly crispy. The meat was very tender and juicy. However the breast part was a bit too salty, so I suggest lowered the amount of salt recommended. Or it could have been due to uneven distribution. I thought the salad was close to perfection though. The sweet currants did a nice job in controlling the pleasant bitter bite of the greens. The MPV of the salad was of course the toasted bread. The unequally dressed bread pieces provided nice crispy, chewy and soggy textures.

Left Overs

The bread salad still tastes great after being in the fridge for a few days. But the chicken…………. Taste even better the next day cold. Nothing beats gnawing on a large chicken leg for lunch in front of hungry college students. However I think, it tasted better the next day because I was eating a different part of the chicken. The legs did have less salt on them. I’ll update this the next time I make this.

Foie Gras Ban

Pine nuts, catfish and frogs are among the things I will not or can not eat. Now I can add Foie gras to the list. While surfing the web I came across an article on chef Charlie Trotter removing foie gras from his menu because of the cruel used to produce it. After a bit of research I found a lot of site supporting the ban of foie gras. The methods used to produced foie gras is not pretty. In order to obtain a large fat liver animals, ducks or geese, are forced feed 2 or 3 times a day. The force feeding is performed by sticking a 8-12inch metal or plastic pipe down the esophagus of the animal. The rapid increase in liver size causes the animal to become very ill and will most likely die if butchers did not intervene first. It turns out California has already pass a bill to ban sale and production of foie gras by 2012. Chicago just recently banned foie gras too, fining violators up to $500. Having never tried the cruel delicacy I doubt I will be missing it.

Garlic and black bean spare ribs with rice

Steam spare ribs or pai gwat is a classic dim sum item found in cantonese cuisine. Restaurants will sometimes serve Spare Rib Rice, which is pretty much the steam spare rib combine with rice and sweet soy. Here's my rendition of the dish.

Steamed Spareribs In Garlic and Black Bean Sauce

Ingredients
1 lb pork spareribs, cut crosswise into; 1-inch pieces
1 tb cornstarch
2 tb salted black beans
1 ts peeled, minced fresh ginger
1 tb minced garlic
1/4 ts salt
1 ts sugar
2 tb light soy sauce
1 tb rice wine
1 ts sesame oil
1 sm red or green chile pepper - sliced
1 green onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups of jasime rice cooked
5-6 shiitake mushrooms (optional)
Sweet Soy sauce

1. Wash and trim all excess fat from the ribs.
2. Shake of excess water from the ribs and coat with corn starch.
3. Soak black beans in water for 3 -5 mins to soften it and to remove some of the salt.
4. Drain the black beans and place into a small bowl. Smash the beans with a spoon. Combine all other ingredients and mix well. Pour over the ribs and mix.

Cooking the ribs- 2 methods
1. The traditional way of cooking the ribs if to steam it, 45 mins.
2. Since I don't have anything big enough to steam stuff in, I decided to cook it in the oven.
a. Take a large sheet of foil and fold up the edges. Pour the ribs into the foil and add 1/2 cup water.
b. Bring the edges of the foil together and fold the sides closed, making a enclosed pouch.
c. Bake at 390 for 40 mins.
d. While the ribs are baking, wash the rice and set aside. Start the rice cooker when there is a 20 mins left on the ribs. If you decide to add mushrooms add them to the rice cooker.
e. When the ribs are done carefully open up the fold package and spoon it over the rice. Do not poor all the sauce into the rice, it will be too salty. Add a few tablespoons of sweet soy and taste. Adjust the salt/sweetness balance with the rib dripping and sweet soy.