sweet 'n' savory TWO

Jia's Dan Dan Mein

Dan Dan Mein ('mein' is how noddles is pronounced in Chinese) is a classic Chinese noodle dish originating in Szechuan province, which is known for bold and spicy flavors.  Dan Dan Mein is characterized by its sauce and meat topping.  Bob first had it in a local Chinese restaurant specializing in handmade noodles and asked me to make it at home.  

It took me a few tries to come up with the sauce that is just right with a flavor that is simple yet complex, spicy but not overly salty like the sauce served in most Chinese restaurants.  My other secret to the sauce - is to use my own special-blend sesame sauce instead of the store-bought sesame paste which has a bitter taste to it that can be unpleasant. 

The meat topping, on the contrary, didn't take me long to get it exactly how Bob likes it.  The addition of Chinese preserved vegetables addes interest to both taste and texture to the meat topping.  Bob likes the meat topping so much that he even eats it with chips as snack.  So here's my interpretation of the classic Chinese Dan Dan Mein, enjoy!!

<Dan Dan Mein for Four>

• Chinese noodles (dry, white), 16 oz
• Soy sauce, 4 TBS
• Chili oil, 3 TBS (or to taste)
• Jia's sesame sauce, 2 TBS
• Chinese black vinegar, 1 TBS
• Dan Dan Mein meat topping, 2 cup
• Green onion, 1, minced

1. Bring a big pot of water to a boil. 
2. Combine soy sauce, chili oil, sesame sauce, and vinegar and whisk to mix well.  Divide sauce in four bowls in which the noodles will be served.
3. Once water is boiling, add noodles to water and cook over high heat.  It should take only another 3 to 4 minutes after water reboils for the noodles to be cooked and reach desired texture - which is slightly softer than al dente without being mushy.  
4. As soon as the noodles are cooked, drain and divide equally into the four bowls with Dan Dan Mein sauce.
5. Top each bowl of noodles with half cup of prepared meat toppings (or more if desired) and some minced green onions.  Serve immediately and have the guests stir their bowl of noodles until well coated with sauce. 

Meat Topping for Dan Dan Mein

<Meat Topping)

• Cooking oil, 2 TBS
• Ground pork, 1 lb
• Chinese preserved vegetable, 1 cup (about 100 g)
• Green onions, 4, julienned
• Shaoxing wine, 3 TBS
• Spicy bean Sauce, 1 TBS
• Sweet bean Sauce, 1 TBS
• Soy sauce, 1 tsp
• Mirin, 2 TBS
• Salt, to taste (optional if salted shaoxing cooking wine is used)

1. Rinse Chinese preserved vegetables lightly with water to remove excessive saltiness but without washing the flavor off completely.  Drain and dice.  
2. Combine shaoxing wine, black bean sauce, sweet bean sauce, soy sauce and salt in a small bowl.
3. Add oil to pan and heat over high heat.  As soon as oil begins to smoke, add meat to pan and quickly stir-fry until ground pork begins to turn white in color and separates.  Add diced preserved vegetables and sauce mixture to pan.  Stir-fry until meat is completely cooked and evenly coated with sauce.
4. Sprinkle green onions over the meat and quickly stir-fry for another minute.  Serve immediately with cooked rice or noddles.

Below is a picture of the Chinese preserved vegetables I used.  It comes in a small package and can be found in most Asian grocery store.

Jia's Sesame Sauce

• Chinese sesame paste, 2 TBS
• Peanut butter, 1 TBS (creamy)
• Soy sauce, 1 tsp
• Mirin, 1 tsp
• Sesame oil, 1/2 tsp
• Hot water, 1/4 cup

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until well incorporated and the sauce is smooth.

Fish Taco - a feast wrapped in tortilla

After wanting to make fish tacos at home for a while, we've finally managed to get all the ingredients we need to make it this weekend.  Our version of fish tacos are made with beer-battered fried fish, fresh tomato salsa, honey-lime cabbage slaw and chipotle sour cream!  Crunchy fried fish topped with freshly made condiments that are refreshing and burst with flavors - this is as good as it gets!!

Honey-lime Slaw

• Freshly squeezed lime juice, 2 TBS
• Honey, 2 TBS
• Green cabbage, 3 cups, thinly shredded
• Red onion, 1/4 cup, minced
• Jalapeños, 2 TBS, minced
• Cilantro, 1/4 cup, chopped
• Kosher salt, 1/2 tsp

1. Whisk lime juice and honey together and mix well.
2. Combine all the ingredients in a big bowl. Marinate for at least an hour before serving.

Fresh Tomato Salsa

• Tomatoes, 4 medium round, diced
• White onion, 1 small, minced
• Jalapeños, 1 large (or more if desirable), minced (stemmed & seeded)
• Cilantro, 1/2 cup, chopped
• Freshly squeezed lime juice, 2 TBS
• Garlic, 2 large cloves, minced
• Kosher salt, 1 tsp

1. Combine all ingridents in a big bowl and mix well.

Chipotle Sour Cream

• Sour cream, 1/2 cup
• Chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, 1 large (seeded), minced (plus some adobo sauce to taste if desirable)
• A splash of freshly squeezed lime juice to taste (optional)

1. Combine all the ingredients and mix well.

Beer Battered Fried Fish

• Rice flour, 1 cup
• Kosher salt, 2 tsp
• Black pepper, 1/2 tsp or to taste
• Beer, 1 cup (not dark)
• Fish fillets (cod or halibut), 1 lb, cut into 3- by 1-inch strips
• Vegetable oil for deep frying

1. Heat 2 inch oil in a deep pan or heavy pot over high heat until reaches 375°F.
2. In a bowl whisk beer, rice flour, salt & pepper together until mix well.
3. Dredge fish strips in batter to coat completely, letting excess drip off.  Fry fish in batches, turning once or twice, until golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels.  Serve warm.

Assemble fish tacos by filling each warm tortilla with 2 fish strips, then top with salsa, cabbage slaw, and Chipotle Sour Cream. 

 

Cinnamon Walnut Bread - two ways

I like raisin bread, especially for toast, but hubby is not a fan of raisin.

So I decided to make the Cinnamon Walnut bread into two different loaves - one with raisins, the other one with cinnamon sugar swirl, to satisfy both of us.

Instead of adding raisins to the dough before shaping it as Peter Reinhart suggested in the book, I sprinkled a layer of raisins over the surface of the rectangle dough after it is rolled out and before it is rolled up into a sandwich loaf. 

The end result looks just as lovely as the one with cinnamon sugar swirl.

The bread smells good and tastes even better - the nuttiness of walnut adds good contrast to the sweetness and tartness of the plump raisins.  And it is so easy to make!

This will now become my go-to recipe for raisin bread - adiós to the store-bought ones ...

Note:  My loaves were done baking after spending only 30 minutes in the 350 F convection oven.

Asian style grilled shrimp, corn and spinach salad

 

• Soy sauce, 1/4 cup
• Asian sesame oil, 2 TBS
• Fresh lime juice, 1/4 cup
• Honey, 1 TBS
• Grated fresh ginger, 1 tsp
• Green onion, 2, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• Olive oil, 1/2 cup
• Butter, melt, 1/2 cup
• Large shrimp, 1 LB, peeled and deveined
• Corn, 4 ears
• Baby spinach leaves, 6 oz., cleaned

1. Whisk the first 8 ingredients together and mix until well incorporated.  Save 1/4 cup of marinade for later. 
2. Add butter to the remaining marinade and microwave/cook until butter melt.  Mix well.  Add to shrimps and marinade in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, grill corns and apply about 2 TBS of the reserved marinade to corns generously as flavoring.
4. Add remaining 2 TBS of marinade to spinach as dressing and mix. 
5. Grill shrimps until cooked.  Serve warm with grilled corns and spinach salad.

Marinade for Jerk Chicken

Adapted from Jerk Chicken recipe from Epicurious

• Scallions, 3, chopped
• 4 large garlic cloves, chopped
• Small onion, 1, chopped (or shallots)
• Fresh habanero chile, 2, stemmed and seeded (more or less as you desire)
• Fresh lime juice, 1/4 cup
• Soy sauce, 2 TBS
• Olive oil, 3 TBS
• Kosher salt, 2 TBS
• Brown sugar, 1/4 cup packed
• Fresh thyme leaves, 1 TBS
• Ground allspice, 1 tsp
• Black pepper, 2 tsp
• Freshly grated nutmeg, 1/2 tsp
• Ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp
• 1 whole chicken, cut up, or 4 chicken quarters, cut up

1. Add all ingredients in a blender and blend until well incorporated.
2. Marinade chicken overnight in refrigerator.  Grill chicken parts until cooked.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Korean-style Marinade for Grilled Beef Short Ribs (kalbi kui)

• Soy Sauce, 1/2 cup
• Mirin, 1/4 cup
• Dark Brown Sugar, 1/4 cup
• Rice vinegar, 2 TBS
• Sesame oil, 2 TBS
• Minced garlic, 2 TBS
• Large green onion (or two small ones), julienned
• Ginger, minced, 1 TBS
• Dried chili pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp 
• Beef short ribs, 3 lbs

1. Whisk all ingredients but ribs until well incorporated.
2. Marinade beef short ribs overnight.  Grill until cooked.  Serve warm.

Lemony marinade for grilled seafood

• Freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1/4 cup
• Olive oil, 1/2 cup
• Fresh Oregano, julienned, 1 TBS
• Garlic, 4 cloves, minced
• Kosher salt, 1 tsp
• Black pepper, 1/4 tsp or to taste

1. Whisk all ingredients together until well incorporate.
2. Marinate squid in marinade for an hour.  Add shrimps to marinade 15 minutes before ready for grill. (Leaving shrimps in marinade too long may change their texture). 
3. Grill until ingredients are cooked.  Serve with lemon wedges.

Comfort me with a bowl of rice

Taiwanese Meat Sauce

• Ground pork, 1 LB
• Oil, 1 TBS
• Shallots, diced, 1 cup
• Garlic, 4 cloves, minced
• Soy Sauce, 1/4 cup
• Soy Sauce Paste, 1/4 cup
• Mirin, 2 TBS
• Rice wine, 2 TBS
• Five-spice powder, 1/2 tsp
• Water, 2 cup
• Hard boiled eggs, 6 to 8

1. Heat oil in a pan.  Add shallots to oil and saute until slightly brown.  Add garlic to pan and saute until fragrant.
2. Add pork to pan and saute until pork turns white.  Add soy sauce, soy sauce paste, mirin, rice wine to pork and saute for a minute.
3. Add water, five spice and eggs to pan.  Bring water to a boil and then simmer for an hour.
4. Serve with steamed rice and sauteed taiwanese picked mustard green.  Garnish with cilantro leaves.

Sauteed Taiwanese Pickled Mustard Green

• Taiwanese pickled mustard green, 12 oz
• Oil, 1 TBS
• Red chili peppers, sliced, 1 TBS
• Sugar, 1 tsp
• Sesame oil, 1/4 tsp

1. Rinse pickled mustard green until running water.  Drain water and cut into match-sized pieces.
2. Heat pan (without oil) and saute mustard green pieces in pan for about 5 minutes or until most moisture evaporates.
3. Remove mustard green from pan and set aside.  Heat oil in pan and add red chili peppers to pan and saute for a minute. 
4. Return mustard green to pan and saute with red chili peppers.  Add sugar and sesame oil to mustard green and saute until sugar melts.  Serve warm or at room temperature.