Asian Cucumber Salad

Cucumber salad is a great no frills side dish for hot summer days. I think it goes best with spicy and saucy foods (like yesterday's garlic eggplant or a plate of ribs).

Today's recipe is borrowed from A Sweet Pea Chef, who added sesame seeds, grated ginger, and rice wine vinegar to spice up a typical cucumber salad. She has a ton of great photos and recipes on her site - you should totally check it out!

I opted to replace the rice wine vinegar for cider vinegar (simply because I have one and not the other. I'm a terrible Asian, don't judge. haha). They have very different flavors, so I used a bit less than she does. I also added a teaspoon of sesame oil but forgot to sprinkle the sesame seeds for the photo... but you get the idea.

Garlic Eggplant

Garlic Eggplant is one of my staple Chinese dishes. I order it when I try new Chinese take out joints and my family makes it often for dinner. I love the texture, the rich flavors, and the versatility - this dish can be made with or without meat for the vegetarians.

I prefer using Chinese eggplant, which is long, narrow, and has less seeds. The narrow shape helps the eggplant hold its texture better in the dish. When you chop the eggplant, slice in half lengthwise, then make half moon shapes. Or, "roll cut" to get wedges. You can substitute for Italian eggplant, which is your typical bulb shaped kind, which you would cube instead. Today I also added a zucchini because I had an extra guest coming and I had to beef up my dish in a snap!

Now, when you order it at a restaurant, they flash fry the eggplant first, then top it with sauce. This helps the eggplant retain its shape and bright purple color - bit obviously adds extra oil. My version is more of a vegetable stew, rather than a stir fry, so the ingredients all mush together. Its the looks vs calories debate. I choose to top with fresh herbs and plate creatively in lieu of frying.

Garlic Eggplant
Serves 4

3 Chinese eggplant, chopped into 1-1.5 inch wedges/semi circles
1 red pepper, chopped into 1 inch squares
2 plum tomatoes, diced
7 cloves garlic, chopped fine
4 thin coins ginger
1 pound ground pork (optional)
1 tsp tomato paste
1 large pinch red pepper flakes
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar (brown or white is fine)
1.5 tsp cornstarch (mix with water to make a slurry)
1 tablespoon oyster or hoisin sauce (optional. I substituted saamjang and more sugar today)
3 scallions, sliced fine
3 sprigs cilantro (optional)
Salt, pepper and cayenne to taste

1. Prep all ingredients as specified
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a saute pan or wok.
3. Saute the ginger, then garlic in the pan. Add the tomato paste and red chili flakes and the pork, if you're using it.
4. When the pork is mostly cooked, add the soy sauce, eggplant, red pepper, and tomatoes. If the pan is really dry when you add the eggplant, add 1/4 cup of water or cooking wine to help the eggplant start cooking. Cover.
5. Stir the eggplant ever 3-5 minutes. Add a teaspoon of salt (to taste). The eggplant will start to let out a lot of water and soften. Make a well in the pan and add the sugar and oyster sauce. Stir well to incorporate.
6. When the eggplant is thoroughly cooked (it should be mushy!) add the whites of the scallion. Create another well in the pan and stir in the cornstarch slurry a teaspoon at a time. Continue to add the slurry to "wet" spots in the pan until you achieve your desired sauciness.
7. Serve over rice and top with scallion greens and cilantro.

Korean Zucchini Pasta

My mother has recently become obsessed with our new local supermarket - H-Mart. Its a large Korean supermarket chain and we love exploring the different ingredients, sampling their innovative products, and bringing new things home to eat. (Our instant noodle collection has tripled.)

Today's dinner incorporates a new ingredient: Ssamjang. It is fermented soybean paste (like miso) mixed with a red pepper paste that is mildly spicy but carries a huge flavor punch (called gochujang, which would come in a red box.)

Korean Zucchini Pasta
Serves 1

1/2 cup dry pasta (I used macaroni!)
1 zucchini cut into 1 cm cubes
1 small carrot cut into slices or cubes
2 cloves garlic sliced
1 coin ginger
1/2 red onion
1.5 tsp ssamjang
1 tsp ketchup
1 sprig of cilantro, minced
1 poached egg

1. Prepare pasta to directions. Make it al dente. Drain and allow to cool.
2. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan. When hot, cook the ginger, onion and garlic until fragrant.
3. Add the carrots, zucchini, ssamjang, and ketchup. Saute until zucchini is tender and flavors have incorporated.
4. Poach an egg.
5. Add the pasta into the saute pan and allow it to pick up the flavors on the bottom of the pan. 
6. Top with cilantro and serve in a bowl. Top with the poached egg. Mix vigorously and consume.

Mushroom Chicken Fajitas

My dear friend Steve loves mushrooms and avocados. In a dish that I hoped would please him, I combined the two for a hearty, flavorful, and fun meal. Its not hard - the toughest part is getting the fajita flavors just right, which requires a mix of every red spice you own.

Mushroom Chicken Fajitas
Serves 3, about 30-40 minutes

Filling:
3 large portabella mushrooms or one large tray button mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 large chicken breast, diced
1 red pepper, sliced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 small onion sliced
1 jalapeno, without ribs or seeds, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder
pinch red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1 generous squirt ketchup (for sugar)
pinch cayenne (taste it first!)
2 tsp cornstarch, mixed with 2 tsp water in a slurry

Toppings:
4 leaves romaine lettuce, sliced into thin ribbons
2 small plum tomatoes, diced
1/2 lime
1 avocado, diced or mashed
1/2 cup - 3/4 cup cheese (I used mozz but cheddar would be yum)
4 sprigs cilantro, minced stems, leaves roughly chopped

1. Prep all your ingredients as specified
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a saute pan or skillet. When hot and shimmery, add the garlic and onions. Add the chicken when fragrant.
3. Add all spices except the cornstarch.
4. When chicken is mostly cooked, add the red pepper. Wait another minute or two and add the mushrooms. You'll see lots of water collect from the veggies, which is normal -that's what the cornstarch is for.
5. Stir the cornstarch slurry to make sure its even. Create a well in your fajita filling - move the chicken and veggies away from the middle of the pan so you see all the water at the bottom. Add a few teaspoons  and mix thoroughly at a time, until water is absorbed into a thicker sauce and there is no more pooling.
6. Warm your tortillas (filling should be enough for 8-10 medium tortillas). 
7. Serve filling in the warmed tortillas, cover with desired toppings, and consume rapidamente!

Strawberry Cilantro Vinaigrette

Because I'm a single young adult, paying off exorbitant college loans while working ridiculous hours, I have opted for financial reasons to live in an apartment that cannot support air conditioning. It is my penance for choosing instead to eat socially and travelling three to five weeks of the year. Oh how I suffer so.

Therefore, it is preferable to eat meals that require little to no interaction with heated instruments. Tonight was a lovely garden salad, with pear, tomato, carrot, mozzarella, almonds and a hard boiled egg. Anyone can make a salad - toss fresh ingredients into bite sized pieces. The piece de resistance, however, is the dressing.

In lieu of pouring on processed salad dressing purchased from aisle 8, I tend to make my own. Why? Because I make my salad dressing fresh and unique to the salad of the day. It keeps the preservatives out and the novelty constant. And making dressing is surprisingly easy. The only equipment you need is a jar with a screw top lid. Add all ingredients, shake vigorously, and pour.


Strawberry Cilantro Vinaigrette
1.5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp strawberry jam or preserves
2 tsp cilantro leaves, minced finely
2 tsp olive oil
1 squirt mustard (probably 1/2 a tsp)

Add more jam, or honey for more sweetness. Add more vinegar for more of a bite.

Scallion Pancakes

A staple Chinese snack, often eaten at dim sum, is the green onion pancake, or scallion pancake. The origins of the humble pancake are rather uncertain, but the sweet and salty crunch make this an undeniable treat! The method is very similar to making parathas, which is an Indian style flatbread. Basically, the key to the bread is creating many layers to add air, dimension, and texture. With parathas, you would do this by rolling out a circle, coating the top in oil, then crimping the dough like a paper fan (before you unravel it). With the scallions, we roll the dough into a flat circle, add the sesame oil and scallions, then roll the circle together.

Thanks to the following blogs, who have great pictures and helped me formulate my recipe! Live2Cook, Tigers and Strawberries, and Appetite for China. I totally recommend visiting one or a few of them because they've photographed the rolling and folding process so you can do it too!


Scallion Pancakes makes 15 4-inch pancakes
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup HOT water
3 large scallions, chopped finely. Try to get scallions with much more green than white. Although the whites are useable, they do not impart as sweet a flavor as the green.
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sesame oil (or vegetable oil)
1 tbsp vegetable oil for frying

1. Mix the flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Add the hot water in slowly - a few tablespoons at a time. Mix slowly with a spatula (its hot water - using your hands is not a bright idea) until all water is incorporated and you have a ball of dough. 
2. Knead well until smooth (I had a lot of uneven flour). Cover with plastic wrap or a towel and allow to rest for one hour. Make sure you push the plastic wrap or towel right up to the dough so a skin doesn't form. The heat will allow the dough to rise and continue smoothing out.
3. When the dough is finished resting, cut off a ping pong sized ball of dough. Roll between your palms into a ball and place on your baking mat. Dab a drop of sesame oil onto the top of the ball and brush a little onto your rolling pin. Roll out the dough into a thin circle (about 4-5 inches).
4. Brush the top of the circle with sesame oil - just a mere layer, you don't need a lot.
5. Sprinkle scallions over the top into a thin layer.
6. Roll the circle up into a rope, then coil into a flat jelly roll, or cinnamon roll.
7. Flatten with your palm and brush the top of the coil with a tiny bit more sesame oil.
8. Roll the coil out into a 4 inch circle. It should not be thinker than 1/4th of an inch.
9. Place on plastic wrap or waxed paper, cover, and keep rolling!
10. To cook, heat 1 tbsp oil in a nonstick pan. When hot, reduce heat to medium, and place the pancakes in the pan, but make sure they aren't touching. Make sure to wiggle them a little so you're sure they don't stick.
11. When the edges become translucent, go ahead and flip them over. They should develop nice brown toasty spots on either side.
12. Serve with soy sauce mixed with a little bit of sriracha and sesame seeds! Or make a sandwich with egg in the middle. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Rice Pudding

I know, I know - its much too early in the year for pumpkin related foods! But if you know anything about me, I cannot resist pumpkin goodies! So it was quite serendipitous when this past weekend I enjoyed some pumpkin ice cream and came across this recipe from AllRecipes.com!

Obviously I adapted it - I didn't want to use the oven given the weather and I only had half a can of pumpkin left in the freezer. And I also have an undying hatred for raisins, so those are replaced by dried cranberries.

Pumpkin Rice Pudding  Serves 8
about an hour and a half

Pudding:
1 qt water
1 cup Arborio rice
4 cups milk (2% in my case)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1/3 sugar (to taste. I think I added a smidge more)
1 can pumpkin puree (not filling. And I used half a can because that's all I had!)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground clove

Topping:
1/2 cup minced dried cranberries
1/2 cup slivered almonds
cinnamon to dust

1. Boil the water. When its rolling, add the rice, reduce heat to medium low, and cook for 7 minutes - the rice should be cooked about 3/4th of the way through. Drain well.
2. Boil the milk on medium high heat. Add the vanilla, salt, and rice, then reduce the heat to medium low. Let the mixture simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring often. 
3. Add the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, clove, and ginger. Reduce heat to low. Continue to stir frequently. Simmer for another 30 min or until the mixture has reached the desired consistency. 
4. All pudding to cool and set before serving. Spoon into bowls and sprinkle cranberry almond mixture to top.