Fearless Kitchen

Recipe: Spicy Cabbage “Genghis Khan”

Recipe Source: Cramer, Marc. Imperial Mongolian Cooking. Hippocrene Books, New York, 2003 p. 169

Okay, I will be the first one to admit that Genghis Khan did not actually consume this dish cooked this way. He would have had no access to things like hot peppers or bell peppers, for one thing, and I'm not sure that vegetables made up a large part of the diet of the extremely nomadic horde. It's a really tasty dish, though.

What's that? Did Fearless actually refer to a cabbage dish as being "tasty?" Yes, yes I did and I'll tell you why: because it was tasty. I've been trying to find tasty cabbage recipes and I'll admit that it's hard because I've always hated cabbage. The thing is, we joined a CSA group this year. Cabbages of various types grow quite well in New England and well, I've paid for them. These are Napa cabbages. They are not nearly as "whiffy" as the abhorred green/white cabbage or red cabbage. I had a couple of them lying around and needed to use them up. I also needed a dish to bring to a big camping event we attended up in Maine this year. I decided that even though this was not a medieval dish it would do quite well for the purpose and I was right.

I made a few changes as you might expect. I had two cabbages so I used two cabbages, but I didn't increase the other quantities by a whole lot. I decided that whatever the title, the original recipe was somewhat lacking in spice so I decided to add three jalapenos to the dish. I also added cumin to the five spice powder because I like it. The Napa cabbage was also a change, but I've already discussed that. This dish went over extremely well at the Saturday night dinner. I highly recommend this if you should find yourself in possession of cabbage.

Spicy Cabbage "Genghis Khan" (Serves 20; approx. $0.76/serving)

2 heads Napa cabbage, cleaned and diced

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

3 onions, diced

3 jalapeno peppers, diced

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil

12 ounces sliced mushrooms

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced

1 orange bell pepper, sliced

1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder

1 ½ teaspoons cumin

2/3 cup water

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon mushroom soy sauce

1 tablespoon Aleppo pepper or to taste

Equipment:

• Large bowl
• Large wok

1. Sprinkle the cabbage with the salt and let sit 40 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in the wok.
3. Add the onions and jalapenos. Sauté until the onions are transparent.
4. Add the remaining vegetables. Sauté until softened.
5. Add the cabbage. Sauté until just wilted.
6. Combine the water with the cornstarch and soy sauce. Add to the wok.
7. Cook until the sauce is thickened and serve.

Recipe: Spice Market Fish

Recipe Source: Yan, Martin. Martin Yan's China. Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2008 p. 150

I served this as our main course on New Year's Day. It's not what I intended to serve. What I intended to serve was a mushroom and pea pie, but I perhaps overcelebrated ever so slightly and did not feel up to pastry. I'd made this ahead and frozen it to serve later in the week, so I thawed it out and we enjoyed it. (The chili peppers also seemed to cure my hangover, but remember that I think chili peppers cure just about everything.)

I made a few changes to this dish. I added a habanero pepper for fun. Really. I said, "Let's add a habanero pepper, just for fun." And then I did. I also added a bell pepper to the sauce because I had bought extra for another recipe and wanted to use it up. More vegetables is never a bad thing, right? I doubled the garlic and used one regular tomato instead of 8 cherry tomatoes as directed. I also garnished with chopped fresh cilantro instead of whole sprigs.

Spice Market Fish (serves 4; approx. $3.02/serving)

1 ½ cups clam juice

¼ cup ketchup

2 tablespoons chili bean paste

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

10 garlic cloves, halved

1 teaspoon minced ginger

12 ounces basa fillet (any white fish fillet will do)

2 chopped scallions, divided

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 Serrano chili, thinly sliced

1 habanero chili, thinly sliced

1 tomato, chopped

1 orange bell pepper, chopped

4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Equipment:

• Large bowl
• Large wok

1. Combine the clam juice, ketchup, bean paste and vinegar in the bowl. Mix well.
2. Heat the oil in the wok and heat until hot.
3. Add the garlic and ginger. Sauté until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Be careful not to overcook the garlic as burned garlic is nasty.
4. Add the contents of the bowl and bring to a boil.
5. Add the fish and half the scallions. Return to a boil.
6. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook until the fish is cooked through. This should take about 5 minutes.
7. Add the sesame oil, chilies, tomato and bell pepper. Cook another 5 minutes.
8. Transfer to your serving bowl. Garnish with the cilantro and remaining scallion.
9. Serve.

Recipe: Turkey and Snow Pea Dumplings

Recipe Source: Smith, Fiona. Dim Sum. Ryland Peters & Small, London, 2001 p. 29

I made these to bring them to a New Year's Eve party. Unfortunately I completely forgot to actually bring them. That's okay. I saved them and enjoyed them on New Year's Day, and neither the Spouse nor I felt particularly guilty about hoarding them for ourselves. There was plenty of food at the party and these made a great part of our New Year's meal.

I made a few changes out of necessity. The first was the use of turkey. Our hostess, for a variety of reasons, needs to reduce the amount of fish she eats to 2 – 3 servings per week. The original recipe called for shrimp but I decided to use ground turkey to accommodate my friend's needs. Shrimp would have worked well, but might not have tolerated reheating so well. I used store-bought wonton wrappers for convenience. I like the Nasoya brand; I've always had good luck with their products. I used a dark soy in the filling instead of regular. I also added three garlic cloves because more garlic needs to be used in this world. They were intended to be served steamed, but to reheat them I pan-fried them in a little bit of olive oil and that worked well. If you pan-fry them, serve them with some soy sauce and you'll be happy.

Turkey and Snow Pea Dumplings (serves 4; approx. cost per serving not available)

8 ounces fresh snow peas, chopped

1 pound ground turkey

2" fresh ginger root, peeled and grated

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

1 tablespoon Shao Xing wine

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 egg white

1 package Nasoya wonton wrappers

Chives

If pan-frying

1 tablespoon olive oil

Soy sauce to serve

Equipment:

• Large bowl
• Steamer
• Small bowl of water
• Large skillet (if pan-frying)

1. Combine the first 8 ingredients in the bowl. Mix well.
2. To stuff the dumplings, place about 1 teaspoon filling in the center of the wrapper. Use water to moisten two (contiguous) sides of the dough, then fold the dough over and seal. Repeat until all the wrappers are used.
3. Steam 7 minutes.
4. You can either serve the dumplings now, or you can pan-fry them. If pan frying:
   1. Heat the olive oil in the frying pan.
   2. Add the dumplings and fry until browned and heated through.
   3. Serve with soy sauce on the side.

Recipe: Fish Balls in Soup

Recipe Source: Passmore, Jacki, Savoring China. Oxmoor House, Menlo Park, 2003 p. 50

There is a restaurant in my hometown, China Road. It is my favorite restaurant in the Syracuse area and certainly one of my top three restaurants in the whole entire world. I've had to become a little more careful about what I order there since I developed my pork allergy, but I can still find plenty of things on the menu that satisfy me. The last time I went to Syracuse was Christmas. I was already feeling quite ill when we left with a chest cold, and by the time we got there I'd developed a sinus problem as well. I thought a little soup would be just what the doctor would have ordered if I spoke to her, so instead of my usual vegetarian dumpling appetizer I ordered a small fish fillet soup.

The fish was exactly what I wanted and needed at the time. I mean exactly. I had in my head an idea of a light, flavorful soup with a certain amount of sourness and a certain amount of heat and they hit it right on the head. It was perfect. If I could freeze a moment in time as a "perfect moment," it would be while I was eating that soup. I have no idea how he does it, but everything I've ever ordered there has been just exactly what I wanted and needed.

This… well, this is not that soup. It is not even close. I am not the chef at China Road. It was, however, a very tasty soup that we both thoroughly enjoyed. I made a few changes to the recipe of course. I added a little white pepper and half a Serrano chile to the fish balls, mostly to spice things up a little. I used the other half Chile pepper with the vegetable mix at the end of the soup, to which I also added an orange bell pepper that I had left over from a previous recipe. (I really wanted to make the soup more substantial, since I was only serving it with brown rice on the side.) I substituted one regular tomato for the eight cherry tomatoes in that same mix. Finally, I used Lemony Vegetable Broth instead of fish stock.

Fish Balls in Soup (serves 4; approx. $2.59/serving)

8 ounces white fish fillet, cubed (I used basa)

1 ½ tablespoons finely chopped scallions, white part only

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon rice wine

1 egg white

¼ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 Serrano Chile, halved

¼ teaspoon white pepper

1 tomato, chopped

6 cups Lemony Vegetable Broth

1 bunch fresh cilantro

1 chopped orange bell pepper

Equipment:

• Large bowl
• Two spoons
• Immersion blender
• Large saucepan

1. Finely chop half the Serrano Chile.
2. Add the half Chile to the bowl with the fish, scallions, ginger, water, rice wine, egg white, baking powder, salt and white pepper. Use the immersion blender to process to a paste.
3. Thinly slice the other half Serrano Chile.
4. Bring the broth to a boil in the saucepan.
5. Use the spoons to drop spoonfuls of the fish paste into the boiling broth.
6. Put the chopped vegetables, along with the cilantro and the sliced Chile pepper, in the serving bowl.
7. Pour the stock with the soup over the vegetables and serve.

Recipe: Fried Shrimp

Recipe Source: Mowe, Rosalind. Culinaria Southeast Asia. H. F. Ullmann, 2007 p. 78

Fried Shrimp doesn't sound like it should be a good make-ahead dish, does it? It sounds… greasy, somehow. It sounds like the kind of deep-fried monstrosity that you would only ever get on vacations near the beach, where you justify such excesses by saying, "It's vacation." This is not that kind of fried shrimp. This is the kind of fried shrimp that you can make well in advance, freeze, and re-heat when you actually need it.

It is a very simple dish. It is so simple that there wasn't much I needed to do to it. I increased the garlic and ginger. I added some green chilies to the beginning of the recipe and I increased the chilies at the end of the recipe. I also added the cilantro, because I thought it would go nicely with the heat of the chilies.

Fried Shrimp (serves 4; approx. $4.13/serving)

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

8 garlic cloves, crushed

2 ounces minced fresh ginger

3 Serrano chilies, finely chopped

1 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

2 red Serrano chilies, sliced

1 red jalapeno, sliced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

Equipment:

• Wok

1. Sprinkle the shrimp with the salt
2. Heat the oil in the wok.
3. Add the ginger, garlic and Serrano chilies. Sauté until the garlic just changes color.
4. Add the shrimp. Sauté until pink.
5. Add the water and soy sauce. Sauté until the shrimp are cooked to your liking.
6. Transfer to the serving dish. Sprinkle with the sliced chilies and cilantro.
7. Serve.

Recipe: Bok Choy Wraps

Recipe Source: Smith, Fiona. Dim Sum. Ryland Peters & Small, London, 2001 p. 39

I have to admit that I really, really hesitated before selecting this recipe for our Fourth of July party. When I sat down and looked at it the finished product seemed to essentially be stuffed cabbage, which was the particular bane of my existence as a child. Still, I needed a recipe that could be eaten as finger food, that tasted good, that involved a vegetable in some way, so this was the way to go. I was also trying to come up with something that was gluten-free, as my friend's daughter was recently diagnosed with celiac disease, but as it turns out hoisin sauce is not a gluten-free product. (It's probably just as well, since this toddler firmly declines to eat anything green anyway.)

I did make a few changes. I doubled the recipe because we were expecting a very full house. I used ground turkey in place of ground chicken because I strongly prefer turkey. I had apparently run out of five spice powder – who knew? – and so had to improvise. I increased the amount of ginger and garlic. While I used Serrano chilies for the green chilies, I did not increase the amount in keeping with the doubled recipe. We were having some guests who really don't tolerate heat well and I didn't want to churn out something they couldn't eat.

Bok Choy Wraps (makes about 48; approx. $0.97/ea)

1 cup basmati rice

2 pounds (approx.) bok choy leaves

24 ounces ground turkey (I like dark meat for ground turkey)

7 garlic cloves, crushed

3 ounces minced fresh ginger

2 Serrano chilies, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground fennel

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground coriander

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 6-oz cans water chestnuts, finely chopped (who are we kidding, I threw them into the mini-prep, but if you have the time to do it this way then go for it.)

Equipment:

• Steamer
• Large saucepan
• Medium saucepan
• Mixing bowl

1. Boil the rice in water 10 minutes, then drain.
2. Fill the large saucepan with water and bring to a boil.
3. Blanch the bok choy leaves, then refresh under cold water.
4. Combine the remaining ingredients in the bowl and mix well.
5. Put 1 tablespoon filling in the center of each leaf and roll up. Place the cylinders in the steamer basket, seam side down.
6. Steam over boiling water 10 minutes, then serve. This can be made ahead of time and re-heated.

Recipe: Fish with Mushrooms

Recipe Source: Doeser, Linda. The Ultimate Chinese & Asian Cookbook. Anness Publishing, New York, 1999

I sometimes feel like I'm in a bit of a rut. I've got a couple hundred cookbooks lying around the house, but I often feel like I'm only using two or three of them. I've been making an effort lately to fix that. When I make my menu for the week I go through my cookbooks and I say, "Have I made something from this one recently?" and try to find something interesting in it. I can't say how well this is working. I still feel like I'm using the same three cookbooks, but the pile of recipes I still need to write up suggests otherwise. Anyway, I've had this cookbook (a gift from my parents) since I had my first apartment, longer ago than I care to contemplate. I don't think I've made anything from it since I started this blog, so I decided to go for it here.

I made a few changes, because I kind of felt I had to. I reduced the amount of oil. The recipe called itself a braised fish, but the amount of oil originally called for looked more like deep-frying to me! I also omitted the salt and egg white for frying the fish, since it wasn't going to be deep-fried. I increased the ginger, because I like ginger. I omitted the sugar because I don't care for it. I lacked rice wine or sherry and so I substituted a dry Marsala, which worked surprisingly well. (I can't speak to its authenticity but it tasted good.) The stock I used was Lemony Vegetable Broth. There were some procedural changes as well. The result was actually a pretty tasty dish, if I do say so myself. I was a little irritated by the way the fish fell apart, but ultimately it didn't affect the flavor.

Fish with Mushrooms (serves 4; approx. $3.69/serving)

1 pound lemon sole filets, very thinly sliced

2 tablespoons cornstarch

5 tablespoons olive oil

3 scallions, sliced

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

12 ounces white button mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons dry Marsala wine

1 tablespoon brandy

2/3 cup Lemony Vegetable Broth

Equipment:

• Large wok
• Slotted spoon

1. Dust the fish with the cornstarch. Toss well to coat.
2. Heat the oil in the wok.
3. Add the fish gently and cook about 1 minute. Remove with the slotted spoon.
4. Add the scallions, ginger and mushrooms. Cook 1 minute.
5. Add the soy sauce, wine, brandy and broth. Bring to a boil.
6. Return the fish to the wok. Cook about 1 minute.
7. Serve.

Recipe: Hand-Torn Cabbage

Recipe Source: Dunlop, Fuchsia.  Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook.  W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2006 p. 217

I've hated cabbage for as long as I can remember.  I know why I hate it: the smell while it's cooking.  (It also tends to be a little on the sweet side, which for a vegetable is kind of unforgivable with me.)  I just remember when I was a kid my grandmother would make cabbage for my mom, and the wonderful smells of her kitchen would be replaced by this stink from beyond the grave.  This is something that I need to work on, and I will freely acknowledge this.  I am well aware of the many nutritional benefits to cabbage, and I am well aware of the fact that it is cheap.  Sorry.  I still can't get past the smell.  I'm working up to it, though.  I'm trying to use more members of the cabbage family in an attempt to get closer to the real thing.

That's one of the changes I made here.  The original recipe called for green or Chinese cabbage.  I used bok choy, because I actually really like bok choy.  I also increased the number of red chiles (I've got them to spare) and used olive oil instead of peanut oil (and less of it).  Finally, instead of Chinkiang vinegar, which I don't have, I used a pomegranate balsamic vinegar.  I read somewhere once that balsamic vinegar can be used as a substitute for Chinkiang vinegar, although it's entirely possible that I'm misremembering the quote, and pomegranate balsamic was all that I had.  The result was a fairly delicious dish that we both wanted more of. 

Hand Torn Cabbage (serves 4; approx. cost per serving not available)

1 large head of bok choy

6 dried red chiles

1 pinch kosher salt

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

Equipment:

• Large wok or saute pan

1. Tear the bok choy into pieces with your hands. 
2. Crumble the chiles.
3. Heat the oil in the wok.  Add the greens and stir-fry until just tender. 
4. Push the greens to the side and add the chiles.  Allow the chiles to cook briefly before stirring back into the bok choy.  Add salt.
5. Transfer to your serving vessel and drizzle with vinegar.  Serve. 

Recipe: Dry-Fried Glass Noodles

Recipe Source: Yan, Martin.  Martin Yan's China.  Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2008 p. 139

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but since the birth of the Fearless Baby I'm finding that I have a lot less time to spend in the kitchen.  This is oddly fine with me, because right now she brings new meaning to the term "bundle of joy," but I still feel bad.  I feel bad because we're eating out more often as a result, and that's no good.  I've therefore been trying to find recipes that can either be made well in advance or that cook up quickly, and so far it seems to be helping.  This recipe, despite the long ingredient list, is actually really simple to make.  It's a perfect weeknight meal. 

I did make a few changes, of course.  I reduced the amount of oil, simply to reduce the fat.  I also apparently no longer have chili bean paste in my inventory, so I had to use Thai red curry paste.  Yes, I know that's not the same thing.  It still tasted good.  In fact, it tasted so good that my husband was disappointed that there wasn't more. 

Dry-Fried Glass Noodles (serves 4; approx. $1.07/serving)

4 ounces brown rice vermicelli, soaked in warm water 10 minutes and drained

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

4 ounces ground turkey (other meats may be used, but I like turkey.)

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tablespoon minced ginger

1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste

3 dried red chiles

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 scallion, chopped

1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

1 serrano chile, sliced

Equipment:

• Large wok or saute pan

1. Cut the noodles into pieces, approximately 3", and set aside.
2. Combine the rice vinegar, 2 teaspoons soy sauce and corn starch in a bowl.  Mix well.
3. Add the meat and stir to coat.  Set aside and let stand 10 minutes.  (This should be enough time to prep your other ingredients.)
4. Heat a wok over high heat.  Add the olive oil and swirl to coat the sides.
5. Add the garlic, ginger, curry paste and dried chiles.  Cook until fragrant, stirring.
6. Add the meat.  Stir-fry until cooked.  This will vary depending on what kind of meat you use, but turkey cooks up pretty quickly.
7. Add the remaining soy sauce and noodles.  Stir-fry 2 - 4 minutes.
8. Add the sesame oil and scallion.  Remove from heat.
9. Turn out into your serving vessel.  Garnish with the sliced serrano and serve.

Recipe: Sesame Noodles

Recipe Source: Passmore, Jacki.  Savoring China.  Oxmoor House, Menlo Park, 2003 p. 192

I can't believe I haven't posted this before, because I know I've made this recipe.  Repeated searches through TypePad have convinced me, intellectually anyway, that I have not posted it, so I'm going ahead and posting it now.  In my heart, though, I have a sneaking suspicion that one of you is saying, "Less than two years and she's already recycling recipes?" 

Anyway, I made this dish so that there would be something high in carbohydrates when my husband got back from his big regional sports practice, but there was an ulterior motive as well.  As I've mentioned - repeatedly - neither our refrigerator nor our freezer holds much of anything.  This leaves me with periodic purges of both resources.  In a recent purge, I discovered two open containers of tahini.  They must go.... but tahini isn't cheap.  At the risk of boring everyone to death with tahini recipes, I really need to find ways to not waste this stuff.  I suspect that the sesame paste used in Chinese cooking is rather different from tahini, but that's missing the point. 

I made a few changes.  I substituted cashews for the peanuts in the original, to accommodate a food allergy.  The "vegetable oil" was olive oil, because that's my default cooking fat.  I also decided that I just couldn't bring myself to deep-fry the cashews in that much oil, and roasted them instead.  This is less authentic, but I don't much care at this point.  I just couldn't bring myself to do it. 

The result was a very tasty treat that perfectly satisfied both me and my husband. 

Sesame Noodles (serves 4; approx. $1.52/serving)

2 ounces toasted cashews

9 ounces fresh Chinese-style noodles

1/4 cup tahini

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons hot pepper sesame oil

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 cup hot water

1/2 cup chopped scallions

1 cayenne pepper, chopped

Equipment:

• Large saucepan
• Strainer
• Bowl

1. Chop the cashews finely and set aside.
2. Bring a large saucepan filled with salted water to a boil. 
3. Add the noodles and boil 3 - 4 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make the sauce.  Combine the next 6 ingredients in the bowl and mix as well as you can, whether that's with a whisk or a fork or whatever. 
5. Drain the noodles.  Put them in your serving bowl.
6. Add the sauce.  Toss well to coat.
7. Top with the cashews, scallions and cayenne.  Serve.