From Suq to Shuk

Impromptu noodles with May

A few weeks ago I went to the Shuk with the intent purpose of stirring up some savoury and olfactory memories of Southeast Asia.  Having had a thoroughly European culinary education in terms of technique, I was somewhat hesitant to buy a wok.  After my trip to Asia, I realised that no mastery of Asian flavours could make up for the lack of Asian techniques.  The most tasty specific dish I ate the entire time I was in Southeast Asia was a stir-fried beef and noodles dish that I bought for a dollar on the streets of Phnom Penh.  I have yet to recreate that specific dish, but I've made a few variations.  With a good deal of vegetarian friends, the past 6 months has seen me omit meat from my dishes with far greater frequency than one would expect.  At first glance, I was some what perplexed by the Asian vegetables on offer at the shuk as they were not those to which I was accustomed.  Having just been to Cambodia and Vietnam, I felt more comfortable in using them.  The day that I made this particular dish, snow peas made their first appearance of the year in the Shuk.

So... I used my new noodle ladle/strainer in the preparation of my noodles.  Did all of my prep work ahead of time for I have learned that when it comes to stir-frying in a wok, there's no time to finish the prep once the cooking process has begun.  Originally only May was to come to dinner but she asked if her friend Dalit could join us and I happily acquiesced to her request.  I wanted to add a bit of meat to my meal with out polluting it for the lovely vegetarian May.  My solution was to buy a bit of smoked duck breast, which I then fried in its own fat like bacon and top the already plated stir-fry with such.  I have recently found a stable source of mico-herbs, including micro-Thai basil (rather strange since there's no large size Thai basil, but whatever).  The food and company were  both delightful.  Enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 large package of wheat noodles, boiled, strained and set aside

1 tbls peanut oil

2 stalks of lemon grass, bottom part only and well bruised

6 slender Thai eggplants, sliced into 1" discs

2 asian (small) shallots, minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3" galangal, peeled, crushed with the back of a knife then sliced thinly

1.5 tbls sugar

1.5 tbls fish sauce

1 tbls sweet Thai soy sauce

~1 lb of snow peas, cleaned

1/4 cointreau

1 bunch cilantro, washed and 1/4 of the stem chopped off

1 bunch of green garlic (asian chives/garlic chives), washed

50 grams sliced smoke duck breast

micro Thai basil and sriracha to garnish

Directions:

Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat.  Add the lemongrass and stir fry for 2 minutes.  Add the eggplant and stir fry for another 6 minutes.  Move to the side, add a little bit more oil and add the shallots, garlic and galangal to that open space.  Mix with the rest of the contents of the pan, add the sugar and mix in.  After 1 minute, add the fish sauce and allow to evaporate completely. Add the noodles, sweet Thai soy sauce and snow peas and stir fry for 2 minutes. Add the cointreau and allow to evaporate completely.  Turn off the heat and stir in the cilantro and green garlic.

In a sauté pan, heat the slices of smoked duck lying flat over medium heat.  When you've reached the appropriate crispiness, transfer to a plate lined with paper towel.

Plate noodles and top with crispy duck, micro Thai basil and sriracha to taste.  B'Teavon!

 

Birthday Standing Rib Roast

A bit over two weeks ago I turned 24.  Last year I made an incredibly elaborate meal for my birthday of roasted duck breast, foie gras, with all sorts of sauces and accompaniments.  This year, I decided to return to my favourite meal growing up: standing rib roast.  For most of my life, this meal came accompanied by mashed potatoes, gravy and an apple pie for dessert.  Having consumed far more mashed potatoes than is healthy two weeks earlier for Thanksgiving, and given the fact that my birthday fell on the last night of Hannukah, I decided to make latkes instead.  Rather than go through the extensive preparation that duck requires, a standing rib roast requires very little work.  Its one aspect that keeps me from preparing it with more frequency is its relatively high price.  For my birthday, I was permitted to treat myself.

My butcher cleaned the roast beautifully and gave me a few pieces of beef fat to leave atop the roast such that it would baste itself.  I covered it with a bit of salt and pepper and allowed the oven to do the rest.  Meanwhile, I prepared a mustard-peppercorn-cream sauce and got to work grating my potatoes.  I was joined by my roommate Tal and my good friend Leemor and we delved into our delectable affair.  If you're looking to have a special occasion on which you spend a bit more money, but don't want to go through too much work, this is an excellent choice.

Ingredients:

For the meat

1 4 rib standing rib roast (about 2.5k)

a few bits of beef fat

1 leek, white part only, sliced in half and bits pulled apart (optional)

3/4 cup duck stock (optional)

For the sauce

2 tbls of green peppercorns, soaked in water for 1.5 hours then strained

1 shallot, minced

1 cup of brandy (I used courvoisier)

2 tbls of dijon mustard

1 cup of 15% cream

S+P to taste

For the latkes

2 lbs of potatoes, peeled and grated (large gauge) into a bowl of water with the juice of 1 lemon

1 grated onion (optional)

2 eggs

all-purpose white flour (as much as needed)

S+P

lots of vegetable oil

Directions.

Pre-heat oven to max.  If you choose to use the leaks and ducks stock, place them in the bottom of a roast pan and then place the rack on top of them.  Cover the roast in salt and pepper, then place it atop the rack.  Place the pieces of fat atop the bones and then wrap the top of the bones tightly in tin foil.  Place the roast in the oven for 20 minutes, then lower the heat to 190C/375F.  Remove after 40-50 minutes, or once a thermometer reads 165F in the interior.  Transfer to a warmed platter, tent with tin-foil and allow to rest for 30 minutes.  Slice and serve.

Combine the shallot and brandy in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat.  Once simmering, add the peppercorns and cook until the shallots are soft.  If the brandy has evaporated before the shallots are soft, then add a bit of water until the shallots have reach the right consistency.  Add the mustard and cream, whisk well, and allow to simmer for another 5 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Completely strain the potatoes so that there is as little liquid in the bowl as possible.  Beat the eggs with salt and pepper in the bottom of a large bowl and add the potatoes, then mix well.  Dust with flour so that the top is just barely covered, then mix in.  If too liquid, add a bit more flour.  Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat and allow to heat through.  Add about enough oil to the pan so it comes about 1/8" up the sides.  Add a test latke to the pan, one serving spoon full, and form in the pan.  The first latke usually doesn't come out very well, so continue to prepare them in batches until the batter is done.  Transfer each batch to a plate lined with paper towel and leave in a warm oven until ready to serve.

B'Teavon!

The markets of Vietnam, part II

While the last post featured some fresh produce, the majority of the photos displayed were of dried goods.  This post will focus entirely on the fresh fruit and vegetables that we found in markets both in Saigon and in the Mekong Delta region.  With globalisation on the rise, more and more of the items that were formerly quite exotic are popping up all over the West.  The quality of the produce in Asia, however, is simply higher - the colours are brighter, the flavours and smells more intense.  We saw myriad varieties of bananas and lychees, green and orange papayas, clementines, green and yellow mangoes, yellow pomegranates, giant persimmons, huge mangosteen and some others that we couldn't even identify.  There was quite a few Western fruits and vegetables as well, that looked sort of strange amongst the exotic majority.  Every kind of herb you can imagine, they had it fresh.  Alas, I have no pictures of fabulous fresh peppercorns that were so ubiquitous throughout the region.  I found neither the opportunity nor the courage to taste durian, whether in its giant or medium-sized variety but there it was nonetheless.  What one could do if only one had access to a kitchen in this environment!

Green mangoes and lychees

Green and yellow mangoes, limes, watermelons, green clementines, bananas and guavasome more recognisable Western affair

some more western producetomatoes, parsely, cilantro, bok choy

beans, peas, asparagus, kohlrabi

it turns out everyone really wanted garlic for Christmas...

pineapple and some giant okra

prepared coconuts

can anyone identify this? some sort of giant lychee or weird durian?

longbeans, sprouts and micro greans

mangosteen!

clementines!

green mangoes!

giant persimmons!

yellow pomegranates!

another form lychee!

medium size durian!

green papaya!

rose apples! (I had never seem them either...)

papayas!

prepared papays!again, anyone got a clue?

let's go bananas!

ornamental grapes

The markets of Vietnam, part I

Ten days in Southeast Asia, many markets, and not a kitchen for my use in sight!  Alas I duly suffered the temptation to purchase (almost) every exotic item I found; with a maximum exertion of self-control, I settled on photographing the items instead.  While Southeast Asian cooking is quickly becoming ubiquitous in the many cosmopolitan centres of our planet, the average Western cook has never found most of these products so plentiful, fresh and fragrant as they are in their place of origin.  Even much of the produce that one would identify in Western, in its Eastern incarnation it comes in varieties both surprising and delightful (e.g. the mini-bananas, full of flavour are far more yellow beneath the skin).  Beyond the recognisable culprits are a plethora of products that are both exotic and somewhat frightening.  As a relatively new consumer of sea dwellers, the myriad forms of dried fish and seafood presented a true conundrum - what is it, and what the hell am I supposed to do with it?  The green papayas (one of my favourites) were at one stall sold in tandem with back of crumpled desiccated shrimp (not one of my favourites), which I suppose for locals is a completely logical combo.  

Vietnamese is particularly perplexing for the Western visitor for it is written in Latin letters, but no matter how hard you try, there's no chance that you'll identify even one word.  For that reason, I am somewhat limited in my ability to differentiate between the many types of dried goods for despite their labels, I have no idea what they are.  I, and most of my readers, can easily identify the cashews and peanuts in the crowd, but what the difference is between all of the large bags labeled "muc"... don't ask me.  Some kind of dried fish.  Maybe "muc" means dried. 

Vietnam has recently surpassed Brazil as the world's largest exporter of coffee.  A great many varieties of coffee are available in Vietnam's markets, including the famed "Weasel Coffee".  This sort of coffee is incredibly expensive as it is cultivated from the droppings of Weasels that eat fresh coffee berries in the night.  Weasels are mostly carnivores and only one species of weasel naturally gravitates toward the fresh berries to produce to the authentic "Weasel Coffee".  Other species of weasel have been co-opted into producing a less authentic version of the brew and that coffee can be acquired at a far lesser price.  Despite the unique opportunity to try one of the world's rare delicacies, I forewent that particular pleasure as my mind exerted undue disgust on my stomach at the prospect.  

I took several hundred pictures at the markets in Vietnam, as such I have a decided to split the topic into two posts of which this is to be the first.  Below are a sampling of everything we saw at the markets, especially the dried goods.  Tomorrow's post will be almost entirely fresh produce.  Enjoy.