About two years ago, when I was in the midst of recipe-testing for my cookbook, I was looking for ideas for cold appetizers for lunch or dinner. I was doing a lot of stir-frying at the time and just wanted something quick with Asian flavors that I could just toss together. The result was this Asian-stye peanut butter carrot salad, inspired by a classic French dish.
This appetizer was inspired by the carottes râpées I had bookmarked from David Lebovitz a while back. Unlike American salads, this one is not ashamed to feature its one key ingredient without any other vegetables to share in the spotlight. Here, the carrot shreds are bigger, and instead of parsley, olive oil, and lemon, I modified the sauce for my cold sesame noodles to have the carrots coated with a slightly tangy peanut butter sauce.
But the spirit of the salad is still the same. You can eat them as a proper dinner appetizer or have them as a late night snack. You can use a fork when others are watching, or, when alone, just swipe them out of the bowl with your hands.
Read MoreHappy 2013!
I just came back from a nice long trip to Boston to visit family for the holidays. I have to admit: it's been very nice to take a break from blogging for a short while. Having been a blogger for so long (5 years!), I sometimes have a lot of trouble separating it from daily life. It's not like having a 9-5 job, where you can mostly leave your work at the office. Weeknights? Why not stay up until midnight working on a post? Weekends? Perfect time for recipe-testing!
In the past year or so I've gotten much better about setting aside time just for relaxation. I now leave at least an hour before bed for reading or something similarly relaxing, instead of just going straight for editing photos to hitting the pillow. Saturdays have become unplug days (well, mostly...checking email on the phone doesn't count, right?)
Needless to say, my habits could get better. And that's one resolution for 2013, to be more efficient with work so that I have enough leisure time to recharge my batteries.
Read MoreDecember has flown by, hasn't it? This month has been crazy busy for everyone I know. For me, my month has been filled with activities surrounding the release of my cookbook, including interviews and a book release party. It's hard to remember that sometimes we need to sit back and take a breather.
But I am looking forward to Christmas. These bacon parmesan brussels sprouts have been a holiday staple in my home for the past 3 years. Think about it. Bacon. Parmesan. Brussels Sprouts.
It's a little decadent, yes. But isn't December the time for celebrating and treating yourself (and the lucky ones who have Christmas dinner with you?)
Basically, you crisp up the bacon in a pan, then sauté the brussels sprouts and shallots and garlic in bacon drippings, which gives them a great smoky flavor. Then you layer the brussels sprouts with Parmesan and bake the casserole dish in the oven until the brussels sprouts and golden and the cheese is nice and melty.
Read MoreIsn't this soup festive-looking? I first made red lentil and okra soup in the winter of 2009 after buying some gorgeous okra pods from a farmer's market. I sautéed them with onions and added both to the bubbling pot of soup close to the end of cooking. Not only is the soup hearty and filling, it's also colorful enough to beat the cold weather blues.
As a Chinese-born, New England-bred gal, I first tried okra at the ripe old age of 21. I was aprehensive, having heard okra derided as a bitter, gooey freak-of-a-vegetable (mosty by non-Southerners). Then I tried the Creole okra gumbo and fried okra at the magnificent Magnolia's in Cambridge, MA. What were these okra-haters thinking? These things are addictive!
(I came to the conclusion that the people who despise okra are the same who despise bitter melon. A microscopic bit of bitterness never killed anyone; it just makes the flavor spectrum more interesting.)
Granted, okra isn't just used in Southern Creole-inspired food. Indian, Middle Eastern, Caribbbean, and North African cuisines also incorporate okra in plenty of thick stews. As much as I like fried okra, gumbo and bhindi masala are hearty dishes that make the best use of okra's snappy texture and slightly bitter flavor.
Read MoreThis beer-braised chicken with Sriracha is my Asian take on a French classic, coq à la bière. In Alsace, chicken and onions gets braised in a nutty brown ale until meltingly tender; I decided to apply the same cooking methods for this dish. Adding Sriracha hot sauce, hoisin sauce, and sesame oil enhances the mild sweetness and nuttiness of the braising liquid. This is perfect hearty dish for cold winter nights!
One of the first dinners I made in my first Park Slope apartment two years ago was this beer-braised chicken. It was November, and unseasonably frigid weather and cold gusts of wind outside made I crave something meaty, hearty, and comforting. Spiciness was a bonus.
Inspired both by coq à la bière and a Martin Yan recipe for beer-braised duck, I wanted to make a braised chicken with brown ale and Sriracha. I needed a robust sort of beer to withstand the Sriracha that will go in my sauce, so I stopped in Biercraft on 5th Ave., a little wonderland of craft beers. The guy behind the counter recommended Avery Brewing Co.'s Ellie's Brown Ale, which has a lot of nuttiness, sweetness, and chocolate malt character. And, he added, it won't become bitter when boiled down like some other brown ales. Turns out, it's also great for sipping while you prepare the chicken.
Read MoreI first made this Vietnamese Clay Pot chicken during my first winter in Beijing in 2008. The temperatures were consistently brutally low (think Northern Vermont in January) and the heating in my rental apartment was way less than adequate. I wanted a hearty meaty dish that would also warm up the apartment while it cooked on the stove.
This Vietnamese Clay Pot Chicken, or Vietnamese Caramelized Chicken, was the perfect thing to make. Despite the name, you don't actually need a traditional clay pot; it cooks very well in a Dutch oven or straight-sided skillet as well. This week I revisited and revised the recipe, making it more streamlined ; hopefully you'll like it even better than before!
Cold weather makes me long for piping hot dishes, like clay pot braises. Last night I decided to make clay pot caramelized chicken, and adapted a Vietnamese-style braise from Chef Charles Phan of San Francisco's The Slanted Door. One of the major changes I made was the amount of fish sauce. The original recipe called for 3 tablespoons, which I would not recommend to anyone hoping to keep a decent-smelling kitchen. (See Vietnamese Caramelized Pork.) I reduced the amount to 1 tablespoon, which is plenty for enhancing the flavors of the dish.
Read MoreWhat a crazy two weeks. Here in the Northeast, many areas are still recovering from Hurricane Sandy. and now we've been hit with a Nor'easter. Right now it's snowing and raining at the same time, which makes me want to just stay inside and make something extra-comforting, like chicken noodle soup.
I first experimented with making Sichuan-style chicken noodle soup 3 years ago. And it's no less of a favorite comfort food dish now.
Rather than the American version flavored with bay leaf and thyme, I decided to make a Sichuan-style broth with star anise, cinnamon, tangerine peel, and Sichuan pepper. (There will be a mild tingle from the peppercorn, to jazz things up.) The best part: you can shred leftover roast chicken, itself a cost-saver, and add it to the soup at the last minute. The simmering anise and cinnamon will make your kitchen smell wondering. And slurping the steamy chicken noodle soup will get you through these chilly wintry days.
Whenever I need a quick appetizer or side to go with an Asian main course, I turn to cucumbers.
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Instead of using dashi, the soup gets its flavor from the natural brininess of the clams and their juices, which, combined with sake, form the base.
Read MoreRed lentil and tofu curry has been one of my staple quick lunches since I was living in Beijing. Ren lentils aren't a common item in China, but I had found a package of organic lentils one day at a supermarket and decided to revive the oh-so-delicious dish that sustained me during my days as a penniless student.
For the past few years, I've made a big pot at least once a month. The firm pan-fried tofu mixed with the meltingly-tender lentils makes this the ideal dish for chilly weather.
Red lentils, despite the name, are actually pinkish-orange in color. They differ from green lentils in that they cook much quicker and become so soft they fall apart. The creamier consistency makes them perfect for curries. After some quick Googling I found a vegetarian recipe easy enough to fit into a hectic day.
If you only have 30 to 40 minutes or so to make a curry for lunch, this is a good bet. For a thicker consistency, use about 4 cups water instead of 5. I like to use cumin seeds because I can toast them and make a much more fragrant dish; however, if you don't like whole spices in your food you can always substitute ground cumin. I love eating this over rice, but you can also try dipping it with pita or crusty French or Italian bread.
Read MoreThere has been a lot baking around here for the past two weeks. And a lot of cookies laying around for consumption.
While it's always good to have cookies around your kitchen, the reason for all this baking has to do with an exciting new project — a Cookies from Around the World kit I'm developing with my friends at GrubKit. We're launching the kit soon, and it's going to feature ingredients to bake cookies from four countries around the world, both from traditional recipes and with inventive modern takes. It's like a world tour via dessert.
The recipe I'm developing is a Japanese green tea shortbread cookie. While shortbread is traditionally Scottish, in recent decades green tea-flavored shortbread cookies have become pretty widespread around Japan, sold in bakeries and pastry shops alongside green tea cakes and mousses. And it's quite an addictive little snack.
Read MoreI first made these honey soy chicken wings a few years ago when I was working long hours in San Francisco. I wanted a nice comforting dish that didn't involve standing in front of the stove for too long. And preferably something that could be reheated easily the next day. The result was these chicken wings, which take only 10 minutes of marinating time and 30 minutes in the oven. They are as delicious as they are easy, packed with flavor from the honey, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Try them out and let me know what you think!
I want to share a recipe that has always been dependable, through good days and bad. Whenever I get home late from work, and don't feel like doing much on the stove, I would marinate wings in a honey, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil mixture, then stick them in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Really, it can't be easier, and the flavor combination is tried-and-true. Sometimes I would add cayenne for a spicy kick.
Read MoreI first made these baked eggs with cumin and saffron when I lived in Shanghai a few years ago. I had recently become obsessed with cumin, after eating at many Muslim Chinese restaurants in Shanghai and Beijing that specialized in cumin lamb dishes. Of course, at home, I wanted to use cumin as much as possible, and worked the spice into this breakfast dish.
So here's a short, revised recipe, since I recently made this again and it was every bit as good as I remembered. The process is a piece of cake. You just sauté some shallots or onions in a pan, add the tomatoes, cumin, salt, and pepper, then transfer the mixture to ramekins. Then you crack an egg into each ramekin and sprinkle a bit of saffron on top. It looks really nice coming out of the oven with specks of bright red from the saffron and the egg still bubbling on top.
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