Pad Thai, the way I like

Everyone who loves Thai food knows pad thai. It is probably the most famous Thai dish. Every cook makes it his/her way but if there are rules then here they are. A good pad thai is supposed to have shrimp,  al dente noodles in sauce, and that sauce should excite the palate; it must be sweet, salty, sour, spicy. Pad thai textures must be firm and crunchy, which connotes freshness. Some cooks add dried shrimp, some add fresh shrimp, and some add both. Here is my version of pad thai, just the way I like it.

Pad Thai (makes 2 servings)

3 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons chopped shallots or onion
1/4 lb dried rice sticks (about 1/4 of a 454g package)
3/4 cup diced bean curd, preferably medium-soft
3 eggs, beaten
12 peeled, deveined fresh large shrimp, tails on
1/4 cup water

sauce
4 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce (available at Asian supermarkets)
4 tablespoons tamarind paste (available at Asian supermarkets)

condiments
1/4 cup chopped chilies
1 teaspoon ground chili powder
1/2 lb bean sprouts
1/2 cup shopped coriander
1/4 cup thinly diced scallions
1/2 cup coarsely chopped peanuts
1/2 lime cut into wedges

Soak noodles in warm water for at least one hour. Drain and set aside. In a wok, heat 2 tablespoons oil on high heat. Add noodles and stir fry for about 10 seconds to coat the noodles in oil. Add water until it sizzles. Continue turning the noodles until it changes from transparent to opaque. Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the wok on high heat. Sauté garlic and shallots/onions until fragrant. Add shrimp and cook until just pink on both sides. Add the sauce. When it starts to sizzle and reduce, add bean curd. Turn gently. Pour egg all over. When the edges start to set, pull the eggs from the outside towards the center. Continue turning until the shrimp and bean curd are coated and heated through, and eggs are set. Return the noodles to the wok and turn to combine.

If desired, heat the bean sprouts before serving. Bring about an inch of water to boil in a skillet. Turn off the heat. Put in the bean sprouts and stir. Heat for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, depending on your preference.  

Serve at once with the prepared condiments.

Bourbon Vanilla Bundt Cake

Asha had given Mom a bottle of Mexican vanilla extract. It had a warm scent that made me think of toast and coffee. I also had this recipe I wanted to try. Ardis came over when the cake came out of the oven. She suggested adding more bourbon to the cake while it was still warm. We cut it and ate it right away but the bourbon stayed at the top, not having had the time to percolate downward throughout the cake. The cake needed time to rest but we were too impatient to try it! Nuff said,  here is the recipe for Bourbon Vanilla Bundt Cake.

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Things to Do in Calgary When the Weather is Fine

Finding Calgary
Friday, July 23, 2010

View of downtown from SAIT

The Hall Glen helped build @ Stephen Av. Mall

Aurora around Calgary Tower

The transparent floor

What lies beneath

Koko MoN'Kye and the Family 

With a little help from Koko's friends @ Shanghai Classic

One of the things to do in Calgary is to see the downtown, but TD Square and the Devonian Gardens were under renovation. What's left? Some say, go to the Stephen Avenue Mall and the Calgary Tower. So that's what we did. Ardis lent us a pass to the Calgary Tower where we took a long elevator ride up to 525 something-or-other when the doors opened up at the observation deck. That evening we had a Chinese banquet.

Eats Scones and Leaves
Saturday, July 24, 2010

I made two types of scones, sweet and savory. I thought it a brilliant idea, if I say so myself,  to make the savory scones (background) with self-rising flour. They rose a giddy height of two inches. Dad bought crispy skin pork, ribs, and char siu (moo daeng, in Thai). We munched on this throughout the day, and I took a quick walk around the neighborhood with Ardis and AJ to settle the stomach. It was a sad day because we also said goodbye to Hugo, Lorraine, David, and Brian. They went back to Toronto. 



Where's the Salsa?
Sunday, July 25, 2010

Fine weather is a good excuse for a festival. On Sunday there was a Salsa Festival on 10th Avenue and Kensington Road, staid Calgary's Boho center. There was dancing-- salsa dancing, of course-- capoeira (Brazilian martial arts), music by the Beatles, and stalls selling clothing, hats, jewelry, and food. But the salsa was hard to find. Distributed free in 1 oz. cups, we got tiny tastes of salsa in flavors such as onion, mango, tomato, and beans and corn. Calgarians were cheerful about the non-Salsa Festival since it was the first hot day of summer in as many days. Everyone was out wearing skinny clothes and sunblock.

At the House on Edgevalley Close

Chicken Tonkatsu

 We do like to eat, and we do like to cook. So we spend quite a long time preparing, cooking, and eating food. Today's marathon started at 5:30 in the afternoon with the chicken tonkatsu, we proceeded to make a batch of shrimp fritters (we love these!), and warmed up some lo pet ban to snack on. We ended with fresh-baked ginger cookies and mango-peach smoothies. It was 11:00 by the time we finished licking the spoons clean!

I found this tonkatsu recipe on japanesefood.about.com. I don't know how authentic it is...it's probably a westernized version of a Japanese dish. In any case, I made my version with chicken, since I think cooking with pork is a chancy deal. Unless you use pork tenderloin, this meat is going to come out tough. So chicken it is. First, make the rice then make the tonkatsu sauce.

Tonkatsu Sauce

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup rice wine (I substituted rice vinegar)

2 tablespoons ginger (I used a 2 inch piece of ginger root, sliced in 1/4 inch rounds)

2 tablespoons garlic (I used 3 large garlic cloves)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup mirin (I substituted 1/4 cup white wine mixed with 1/4 teaspoon sugar)

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Adjust seasonings. Bring to a boil then simmer 25-30 minutes. While the sauce is simmering, cook the chicken and boil water for the broccoli. You'll have about 2 cups of tonkatsu sauce, more than enough. Refrigerate or freeze the leftovers.

Chicken Tonkatsu

8 chicken thighs, skinless and boneless, trimmed of fat

4 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless, trimmed of fat and tendon

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon white pepper

3/4 cup flour

2 eggs beaten

2 tablespoons water

1 1/2 cups Panko breadcrumbs

Canola oil for frying

Slit the chicken thighs on the thickest part or pound to 1/2 inch thickness. Slice the breasts in half horizontally at the thickest part. 

In a pie plate, combine salt, pepper, and flour. In another pie plate, beat two eggs with water. In a third pie plate, sprinkle the Panko crumbs. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Dredge each piece of chicken in the flour mixture, then the egg mixture, and finally in the Panko breadcrumbs. Place breaded cutlets on the prepared baking sheet. Heat oil in a large skillet until it shimmers. Reduce heat to medium-low. Fry cutlets 2-3 minutes on both sides until golden brown and cooked through. Drain well on paper towels. Set aside or keep in a warm oven. When ready to serve, slice each chicken piece into 1/2 inch slivers.

The Vegetable Side

4 cups fresh broccoli florets

1 sweet red bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips

3 carrots cut into thin rounds

1/2 large onion cut into 1/4 inch strips

3 cloves garlic sliced

1 tablespoon oil

salt and pepper to taste

Bring 4 cups of water to boil in a large pot. Cook the broccoli until it turns a bright green. Drain well. In a large skillet heat oil and stir-fry the carrots until they are shiny. Add about 2 tablespoons water, and stir-fry, about 3-5 minutes. Add the onions and garlic. Stir-fry until the onions and garlic become fragrant. Add the peppers for a minute. Add the cooked broccoli. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

To assemble, spoon rice into a deep bowl. Place the chicken slivers on one side and drizzle tonkatsu sauce on top. Put a generous spoonful of veggies next to the chicken.

 Ah, dessert! Mango-Peach Smoothie with Ginger Cookies

Jamaican-Hakka Chinese Lo Pet Ban (Daikon Radish Dumplings)

 Is that a rabbit covering the Lo Pet Ban?!

Lorraine has this recipe for these traditional Hakka dumplings. I helped her to make them and it took us about 6 hours from grating the daikon to steaming the little buns. In the village, she says, the women would get together to make these in a day. But the Hakka diaspora is gradually losing their culinary heritage as few women today have the time to make these delicious dumplings. This recipe is worth sharing if only to preserve something unique in the Jamaican-Hakka Chinese culture. Below this are pictures showing the step-by-step process for making Lo Pet Ban.

Filling:
6 lb daikon, washed, scraped with a potato peeler, and grated
1 cup dried shrimp, washed, picked over, and coarsely chopped
1 bunch scallion, diced finely.
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons black pepper
1/3-1/2 cup oil
***If desired, add a pound of cooked ground pork, or 1 cup of chopped fresh shrimp, or 1 cup soaked and chopped Chinese dried mushrooms, and/or 1 country pepper, seeded and chopped (scotch bonnet or habañero) 

Grate the daikon. Throw off the water that springs from the grated radish. Put half or one-third of grated daikon in a large dutch pot and add 1-2 cups water to cook it down. Reduce heat to medium and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. After 15-20 minutes, when the daikon is soft and translucent, remove to a colander and squeeze out 1 cup liquid with a potato masher or with your hands. Repeat with the remaining grated daikon.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet. Fry shrimp and scallion. Add meat or shrimp or mushrooms, if using. Add cooked and drained daikon. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add 1/3-1/2 cup oil to thoroughly coat the daikon mixture. Add country pepper, if using. Set aside in a colander to drain excess liquid. [Cook's note: do not worry if the filling is strong tasting, too spicy, and salty because the flavors will be absorbed by the wrapper on steaming.]

Dumpling Skins:
454g (1 lb) rice flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups boiling water plus 2 tablespoons
24 parchment squares 4"x4"

In a large bowl, add the rice flour and 1 cup of the hot water. Stir with wooden chopsticks or a wooden spoon. Add the second up of hot water and stir to combine. Add the all purpose flour one tablespoon at a time and continue mixing. The texture should be soft, velvety, and elastic. While making dumplings, cover the dough with a wet paper towel.

Prepare steamer and bring water to a boil on high heat. 

Pinch off a 2 inch ball of dough. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to a 6" round. Fill, tamping down the filling with the back of a teaspoon, and leaving a 1 1/2 inch border. Fold up, making accordion pleats. Twist gently and pinch off the excess dough as close to the bun as possible. Return excess dough to the bowl to reuse. Place the bun, seam-side down on a parchment square and place in the steamer. Reduce heat to medium high. Steam buns for 1/2 hour. The dough will turn translucent when cooked. Lo pet ban can be stored frozen for up to 6 months. [Cook's note: what to do with leftover filling or dough. Eat the filling with steamed rice and fill the remaining dough with any chopped leftover meat and vegetables. Steam as usual.]

***

Six pounds grated daikon go...

 ...into the pot to cook down.

Kneading the dough for the dumpling skins

Rolling out the dough into a 6" circle

Filling the dumpling wrap. Tamp down filling with the back of a teaspoon.

Folding the dumpling closed with accordion pleats

Twist gently and pinch off the excess dough

 Place dumplings seam side down on a square of parchment. Put dumplings in steamer.

After half-an-hour steaming, the dumplings will look translucent.

 Koko Mo NK'ye and the Lo Pet Ban

Aunt Gloria's Jamaican Shrimp Fritters

The nicest thing about visiting Calgary is finding out what family foodies are cooking and eating! This recipe is full of shrimp and flavor. The egg, which is optional, adds additional leavening. The tomato helps keep the fritter moist. At my dad's request, my sister-in-law Lorraine made these fritters for a Calgary Stampede breakfast at home. Our guests requested her recipe because they loved these fritters so much. Lorraine uses very little measurements in her cooking but I like to be scientific so these amounts, except for the shrimp, are approximate.

3 lb. (6 cups) large frozen fresh shrimp, thawed, shelled, deveined, cut into 4 pieces each and sprinkled with 1 teaspoon salt (optional)
2 1/2 cups (or more) self-rising flour (omit salt or use very little if using self-rising flour)
1 egg (optional)
1 large tomato seeded and chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons black pepper (use less if preferred)
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup scallion, chopped finely  (about 1 bunch)
1  1/2 cup cilantro, chopped finely (about 1 1/2 bunches)
1-3 "country peppers" (scotch bonnet or habañero), seeded and chopped finely (discard seeds or use them if a hotter fritter is desired)
1 inch of oil in a heavy skillet for frying.

Combine dry ingredients: flour and black pepper. Add egg (if using) and 2 cups of the water. Whisk to combine. Use the back of a spoon to flatten any lumps.

The batter should be thick, not runny. There are two ways to test this. First, dip a spoon in the batter. If the batter mounds and doesn't spread, the batter is thick enough. The second way is the traditional method.  Lorraine dips a chopstick in the batter and pulls out the stick.  If batter runs off the chopstick, it needs more flour. If it drips in clumps, it's thick enough. Add a bit more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, if the batter is too thin. If the batter is too thick, add up to 1/2 cup more water.

Add shrimp, tomato, scallion, and cilantro. Combine. At this point, divide the batter if you want to make half a batch of mild fritters and the remainder spicy.

Add the chilies to half the batter and stir to combine.

Heat 1 inch of oil in a heavy skillet. Lorraine dips a wooden chopstick in the oil; if it sizzles then it is hot enough. Drop batter in rounded spoonfuls in hot oil. Fry until golden, about 2-3 minutes on each side. Drain well on paper toweling. Cool slightly. Serve warm as an appetizer or as a snack.

More than one more day

I've been reading Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking about mourning and grief after the sudden death of her husband. I came across this quote in the book from the film Robin and Marian (1976) when Marian tells Robin, "I love you more than even one more day." She speaks of an enduring love that lasts beyond time itself. Throughout the joys and upheavals, the one constant is connectedness and love's endurance. To me that expression of love and connectedness is in the kitchen, cooking and baking for one's family and friends. I hope you will join me on this culinary exploration, this adventure in the art from the heart.