Archive for the 'Soups & Stews' Category

Chickpeas with spring greens (vegan)

Published
by
marc
on April 23, 2008
in Soups & Stews, Spring, Vegan, Vegetable and vegetarian
. 4 Comments

If I were ever to become a vegetarian, I’d have to move to the south of India. In an area that’s primarily vegetarian, the people have adapted the use of spices and aromatics to infuse even the most humble vegetables with loads of umami.

This is something I came up with last night based on a 5 year old memory of a dish I had at a Keralan restaurant once. If you’re looking for an authentic Chana Masala, you’ll have to look elsewhere. However if you want something light and fresh while savory and deeply satisfying, this is your dish. On one side, ingredients like the chickpeas, onions and spices add some savory heft to it, while the curry leaves, spring greens and lemon juice pull it back in the other direction.

Simple to cook and easy to clean up, the only problem you’ll have making this is that you’ll want to eat all of it!

2 tsp oil
10 curry leaves chopped
1 Tbs ginger minced
1 large clove of garlic minced
1 serrano or jalepeno pepper minced
1/4 onion diced
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ground coriander seed
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp turmeric
14 oz can whole tomatoes in juice
15 oz can of chickpeas drained and rinsed
2 medium swiss chard leaves roughly chopped
5-6 ramps roughly chopped

Lemon wedges for serving

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat until very hot. Add the curry leaves and ginger, frying until fragrant. Add the garlic, peppers, onions and spices and saute until the onions are tender.

Add the tomatoes by crushing them through your fingers along with the juice. If this is too messy for you, you can chop them, but i like the chunky texture of hand crushed tomatoes. Add the chickpeas then turn down the heat to simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

When most of the liquid is gone and what remains creates a nice thick sauce, add the chopped swiss chard, cover and cook for a few minutes until the chard is bright green and wilted. Add the ramps and cook for another minute or two.

Serve immediately with lemon wedges for squishing and some quinoa or Chapatis.

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Thai beef noodle soup

Published
by
marc
on April 13, 2008
in Asian, Beef and Soups & Stews
. 14 Comments

One of the things I miss most about the Bay Area, is the abundance of south-east Asian restaurants. Yes we have our share of Thai and Vietnamese places here with a small sprinkling of Malaysian, but they are passable at best, often laden with MSG and salt. The worst part is that they miss the the whole point of being “cheap asian food” by being expensive.

Being a noodle soup fanatic, I especially miss having good Pho and Kuai Tiao Neua (Thai beef noodle soup). Both the noodles and soup are light and refreshing, making a perfect 1 bowl meal on even the hottest summer day. Back in the Bay, there’s a Thai Buddhist temple off MLK in Berkeley that makes a $5 bowl of noodles on Sundays that is indistinguishable from something you’d get from a street vendor in Bangkok.

Rather than continue my futile search for a descent bowl of beef noodle soup in Manhattan, I decided to try making it myself. While I can’t vouch for its authenticity, eating this sent me back to a steamy Bangkok street, tuk-tuks and all.

Cinnamon stick, ginger, cilantro stems, garlic, peppercorns, star anise
Spices for the soup: cinnamon stick, ginger, cilantro stems & roots, garlic, peppercorns, star anise

for stock
2 lbs ox tail
10 C water
1 star anise
1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves garlic
1 knob of ginger sliced
small handful of cilantro roots/stems
1 yellow onion peeled and quartered
1 Tbs brown sugar (or more to taste)
2 Tbs fish sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
salt to taste

for bowl
8 oz rice “stick” noodles rehydrated in warm water
6 beef balls (I like to make my own, but you can buy them at an asian grocery)
1/4 sweet onion sliced thin
fried garlic chips & oil
Meicai (Hakka preserved vegetables) rehydrated and chopped.
1 jalepeno pepper sliced
cilantro leaves
lime wedges

First, boil a large pot of water; add the ox tail and boil for about 7 minutes. What you’re trying to do here is to get all the foamy floaty stuff out of the oxtail so your soup comes out nice and clear. Dump this out through a strainer discarding the water, rinse the pot then thoroughly clean each piece of oxtail.

Add the cleaned ox tail and 10 cups of fresh water into the pot along with the star anise, peppercorns, cinnamon, garlic, ginger, cilantro stems/roots, and onion. Bring it to a boil then lower the heat to low, cover and simmer for 3-4 hours (the longer you go, the more depth your soup will have).

While you’re waiting you can make some garlic chips by mandolining a few garlic cloves then adding them to a few tablespoons of hot oil over medium heat. Stir to ensure even browning then remove to a paper towel lined plate when they reach a nice golden brown.

When it’s done, pass the soup through a strainer into another pot skimming off any excess oil. Season with the fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar and salt. I tend to go light on the salt as some of the condiments I add have some salt in them, but if you’re not planning on adding anything later, feel free to give it a bit more salt. Pick the meat off the bones and set aside.

To serve, boil a large pot of water, add the rehydrated rice noodles, stirring until the water comes to a boil again (about 1 minute). Meanwhile, reheat the beef balls in the soup. When the noodles are done, strain them through colander and add to the bowls. Top the noodles with some of the ox tail meat, onions, garlic chips, a bit of the garlic oil and Meicai. Laddle the hot soup and beef balls over the noodles then serve with the rest of the condiments. I also like having a little bowl of Sriracha and hoisin sauce to dip the meat in.

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Shiso wrapped bass dumplings in dashi

Published
by
marc
on March 29, 2008
in Japanese, Seafood and Soups & Stews
. 3 Comments

Shiso wrapped bass dumplings in dashi

While dumplings can be a little labor intensive, they don’t have to be hard. Using whole pieces of marinated bass make this very simple to prepare and the results are definitely worth the effort. Since the fish is well marinated I go light on the salt in the broth and it makes for a light refreshing 1 bowl meal.

Shiso has a fresh flavor that compliments the bass nicely covering any fishiness (which it shouldn’t have if it’s fresh). You should be able to find it at any Japanese grocery, or if you don’t have one near by, try asking your local sushi restaurant as it’s commonly used as a garnish. If you still have no luck, you could try using something else such as mint, a little shredded ginger or a little lemon zest.

I served this with a bowl of quinoa (pronounced keen-wah), which is a healthy, gluten free alternative to rice. It’s somewhere between brown rice and cous cous and has a slightly poppy crunch similar to tobiko.

for dumplings
stripped bass or other white meat fish cut into 20 small pieces (1/4″ x 3/4″ x 1/2″)
Japanese marinade
10 green shiso leaves cut in half lengthwise
gyoza or wonton wrappers

for soup
3 cups dashi
1 Tbs mirin
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
2 shitake mushrooms
1 scallion sliced thin

Marinate the bass in the Japanese marinade for 15 minutes.

Combine the dashi, mirin, soy sauce, salt and mushrooms in a small saucepan and keep at a low simmer until ready to serve.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Wrapping the dumplingsShiso wrapped bass dumplings in dashiFill a small bowl with water. Wrap each piece of bass in a piece of shiso and then place it in the middle of a gyoza wrapper. Dip your fingers in the bowl of water and get the outer edge of half the wrapper wet. Fold the wrapper in half over the bass and seal the edges well while trying to make sure you don’t trap too much air. Repeat with the rest of the bass.

Place the dumplings in the boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes.

When the dumplings are done, add the scallions to the soup, plate the dumplings then pour the broth over the dumplings. Garnish with a little lemon zest.

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Red miso soup

Published
by
marc
on March 15, 2008
in Japanese and Soups & Stews
. 1 Comment

Red miso soup with mushrooms and fried tofu

Miso soup is a staple of the Japanese table eaten with meals from breakfast to dinner. Depending on the region of Japan you’re in, you might find yourself starring down at a steaming bowl of white miso soup with okra and taro, or a heady bowl of dark miso soup with deep fried tofu, bamboo and wild mushrooms. Growing up in California, I always looked forward to Saturday morning breakfasts because it meant my mom was making Japanese food for the two of us and western food for my sister and step-father.

As I mentioned in my last post, the dashi (stock) that you use to make miso soup is what makes or breaks the soup. There’s a recipe below for the dashi, or you can opt to use one of the 2 kinds of instant dashi.

I vary the ingredients based on what I have in my fridge, but you can put just about any veggie into this soup from carrots, to potatoes, to cabbage to bean sprouts.

For Dashi
2 C water
10 niboshi with heads removed
1 3″ long piece of dried konbu

For Soup
1 Tbs + 1 Tsp red miso paste
1 Tsp Mirin
Handful of Nameko mushrooms (or Enoki)
2″ x 2″ piece of Abura Age (deep fried tofu) cut into small squares
1 scallion sliced thin

mitsuba (optional garnish)

For the dashi, simmer the ingredients over low heat for 10-15 minutes. If you have a teaball, or disposable tea bags, I like putting the niboshi in one so they’re easier to retrieve when the stock is done. Make sure it does not boil as this could make the soup cloudy or bitter. Taste it… it should be deep, slightly smoky and full of umami. Now just fetch all the floaties and your done with the dashi (you might need to run it through a strainer).

To make the soup, put the miso and mirin in a bowl and add some dashi to help disolve the miso. Put this mixture into the pot and bring it to a light simmer. Make sure it does not boil as this will make the miso separate.

Add the Aburaage (pronounced Abura-a-ge the middle “a” sounds like the “a” in “amish” and the “ge” sounds like the “ga” in “Gary”) and mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Sprinkle the scallions in at the very end just before you serve the soup.

Once it’s in the bowls you can add some Mitsuba. It’s a bit hard to find (you’ll have to go to a japanese grocery store), and there isn’t really a suitable replacement, but it adds a wonderful cedar aroma to the soup that carries you away to a misty evergreen forest.

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Chipotle turkey chili with pickled jalepenos

Published
by
marc
on March 9, 2008
in Mexican, Party, Soups & Stews and Winter
. 0 Comments

Chipotle turkey chili with pickled jalepenos

It used to be that the word “chili” would conjure up images of brown chunky mush that looked (and smelled) like something you would feed a furry four legged companion. The only thing that would make the chili of my memories remotely edible was to douse it with loads of cheese, sour cream, onions, and salsa.

Recently I was contemplating the contents of my pantry and given barren shelf with a lone can of smoked chipotle chilis and cannellini beans (aka white kidney beans) staring back at me, I decided I’d throw old notions of chili out the window. What I came up with was a fresher alternative that still captures the spicy warming essence of what good chili should be.

As in keeping with this blog’s name, I encourage you to take liberties on the ingredients and come up with your own perfect chili. Some ideas include replacing the turkey with crumbled extra firm tofu, using different spices, and serving it with different things. The picture above illustrates what I did with the chili on day 2.

Chili
2 tbs - good olive oil
1 - medium onion diced
1 - celery stalk diced
1 - jalepeno, seeds removed and minced
3 - garlic cloves minced
1 tbs - minced ginger

1 - bay leaf
1 tbs - ground cumin
1 tbs - ground coriander
1 tsp - cinnamon
1 tsp - chili powder

1 lbs - ground turkey

2 - chipotle chiles (canned in adobo sauce) diced
2 tbs - Adobo sauce from the chipotle chiles
3 cups - low sodium chicken stock

1 16 oz can - cannellini beans drained and rinsed

Pickled Jalepenos
2 - Jalepeno peppers sliced thin
1/4 tsp - salt
pinch of sugar
2 tbs - white vinegar

In a medium saucepan, saute the first set of ingredients in the olive
oil over medium heat until soft and starting to caramelize. Add the
spices and cook for another minute until fragrant.

Add the ground chicken, turn up the heat and break up into small
chunks until cooked through.

Add the chili’s, reserved adobo sauce and chicken stock and bring to a
boil. Turn down the heat, add the beans and simmer for 20 minutes.

Serve with pickled jalepenos and toasted bread rubbed with a clove of
raw garlic.

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