Category Archives: recipes

Turnip Cakes: An exercise in humility

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Think of this post as my way of sharing with all of you my humanity, because  despite appearances, I am not perfect.  In fact, I too have my weaknesses, namely: how the hell to properly cook lo bak go (turnip cakes).  I didn’t really document this process very well (or at all since I wasn’t initially intending to post this) because  this was only my second attempt at making this old Cantonese standby and I knew there was a possibility of me mucking it up grandly. So, why you might ask, am I writing this?  Well, basically I just wanted to share with you this awesome video that I watched to guide me on my lo bak go making.   The woman on the video is my new cooking hero because she makes it look so easy, she’s no nonsense and she reminds me of relatives in Hong Kong.  It got me thinking that maybe the best way for me to learn and brush up on a different language (Cantonese in this case) is to watch cooking videos in that language. I found this video through another cooking blog called Apron’s Delight whose turnip cake recipe I used in conjunction with another recipe from cookbook author Grace Young.

Basically, lo bak go are like potato pancakes but instead of potatoes you use grated daikon radish  and you throw in a bunch of savory ingredients like Chinese sausage, dried shrimp and shitake mushrooms.  The tricky part – at least for me – is binding that all together with the right proportion of rice flour, cornstarch and liquid and steaming the mixture so it sets into a solid mass.

My lo bak go ended up tasting pretty good – really, how can something with a bunch of sausage in it taste bad? And while it did set (as opposed to the first time I cooked this) it was a little more dense and pasty.   It didn’t have quite the same light and resilient texture and consistency of the lo bak go I’m used to getting when I go to yum cha (literally drinking tea) – also known as dim sum. [Semantic distinction: yum cha is the act of going to eat the small dishes known as dim sum. Just dropping some Cantonese knowledge, folks.]  Take a look at my lo bak go and compare it to the photos in the links above and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Lo bak go with a healthy does of sriracha. I like them kind of flat and crispy.

There are any number of reason’s why mine didn’t turn as I had hoped.  Perhaps I steamed it for too long (being a little paranoid that it would not set and remain sludge-like as my first lo bak go was, I steamed it for about half an hour longer than recommended).  Maybe I used too much rice flour and or not enough liquid.  It could be that my wok was too small or the lid was not airtight enough to accommodate the casserole dish I used to cook the turnip cake.  I will have to tweak and adjust the next time I cook this – if I ever get a two pound daikon from the CSA.  I guess the moral to the story is not everything you cook will always turn out as great as you hope.  But, if you fry it and smother it in sriricha it’ll probably be pretty good.

[UPDATE]

So, not being able to live with my imperfection, I did a little fiddling last night and I believe I greatly improved the lo bak go.  Basically, I steamed it more.  I transferred it into a more manageable round container and in turn, put that container in a pot whose lid fit snugly on top to trap all the steam.  I steamed it for another hour. I think that did the trick.  The lo bak go reset nicely. The texture is less sludge-like and chalky and more smooth and pudding like.  I think the flour needed to cook longer in an enclosed steamy environment in order to fully meld with the liquid and set.  So, for future reference, don’t use a wok with an ill fitting lid to steam.  Use a proper steamer that closes tightly and locks in that steam.  One step closer to perfection.  Easy.

 

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An’s Bun Thit Nuong (Cha Gio)

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For those of you who aren’t fluent in Vietnamese bun thit nuong cha gio translates to vermicelli rice noodles with grilled pork and fried spring rolls. Okay, I’m going to come clean.  I actually didn’t know the full Vietnamese name for this dish or more precisely, how to pronounce it.  So,  I always referred to it as #6 or #8 on the menu.  But I’ve been a long time fan of this dish ever since I first tasted it at Khanh’s Garden, in San Jose when I was just a kid (a long, long time ago).  As I recall – the memories associated with food often being the sharpest and most vivid – this dish kind of rocked my world with it’s combination of textures, tastes and temperatures. The chewy, room temperature rice noodles serve as the foundation for the salty, charred pork and crispy, hot, deep-fried spring roll.  In addition, you have the accents of pickled carrots and daikon, cool cucumbers and aromatic mint and basi.  And it’s all brought together by the sweet, sour and spicy sauce that’s poured over everything. It’s basically an example of a perfect dish – or bowl. Ever since then, I’ve ordered bun thit nuong when I’ve wanted something comforting and reliably delicious and it’s often my gauge for measuring whether a Vietnamese restaurant is good or not.

So, it was with great pleasure that I visited An Nguyen Xuan at his pop up restaurant in Williamsburg, called Bep where he showed me how easy bun thit nuong is to prepare – provided you have all the main ingredients already prepped.   And once again it was confirmed to me how delicious it is to eat (or in my case, to inhale).  An is married to Janis, who’s a friend of Shefali (a.k.a. my wife) so while we’ve known about Bep for a while, it was only recently that I went to visit because I’m often too lazy to make the trek to Williamsburg (the G train just doesn’t cut it).  Man, laziness blows because after tasting An’s food, I can’t believe I’ve been missing out on tasting his food earlier and more regularly.  He’s a great cook – drawing on his Vietnamese roots, French heritage and experiences in the USA to create his own style of homey and delicious Vietnamese food.   Alright, enough reading.  Watch this video to get a sense of what I’m talking about and maybe you’ll learn how to make bun thit nuong cha gio – or at least know how to order it the next time you’re at Bep!

Bun Thit Nuong Cha Gio: the perfect bowl

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Dildar’s Bhindi (Indian Style Okra)

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Bhindi: stir-fried, spicy okra.

Here’s a little something extra from Dildar (aka Guru) whom you might remember from his delectable aloo tikki with tamarind chutney. This time (actually he cooked this at the same time as he cooked the other dishes – oh, the wonders of editing) he prepared bhindi (Indian style, stir-fried okra). It’s such a simple and delicious dish that I wonder why I haven’t attempted it before. Oh, yeah the main ingredient: okra.  I didn’t grow up eating it, my parents never cooked it and when I’d had it in the past, it had been prepared  in the Indian style or deep fried in the tradition of American Southern cooking. Okra is a tricky little vegetable because as you cook it, it tends to ooze a slimy liquid which wikipedia terms “mucilagenous” which might very well be my new favorite word.  It basically means “snotty” – not the most appetizing quality in a food.  But Dildar has a great tip for minimizing this.  Basically he… oh I guess you’ll just have to watch the video.

Bhindi Recipe:
Ingredients (quantities are approximate)
1 – 1 1/2 lbs of okra
2 medium yellow onions
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds
1/2 tsp chili pepper
1/2 tsp garam masala
lime juice (to taste)

And here’s how he does it…

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Dildar’s Aloo Tikki and Tamarind Chutney

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Beautiful aloo tikki with homemade yogurt and tamarind chutney

In the brief time I’ve known Dildar (aka Guru) and his wife Roompa, they have proven themselves to be not only witty and attractive (perfect date material – good thing they’re married to each other), but also gracious hosts and fantastic cooks. Together with Alka (also a fantastic cook), they are The Foodist Colony. Once a month or so, they cook for and host supper club during which they prepare a delicious multi-course meal (each course is served with a drink or cocktail of Dildar’s creation) for a select number of lucky guests . Now, I have yet to partake in one of these fabled meals, but I will soon. To tide me over, I was fortunate enough to invite myself over to Dildar and Roompa’s apartment to video and sample one of Dildar’s childhood favorites: aloo tikki served with tamarind chutney.

It’s tough being me. I know. But that’s why this blog exists – to share with all of you, the delicious things I get to eat. Count Dildar’s aloo tikki among them. And count yourselves lucky to be given his recipe and these oh so informative cooking videos. Please enjoy!

Dildar’s Aloo Tikki Recipe:
Ingredients
3 – 5 russet potatoes
2-3 red onions (diced)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper (white)
1 tsp ground coriander seeds (roasted)
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 egg (for egg wash
panko bread crumbs
canola oil (for frying)

Here’s how he does it:

Tamarind Chutney Recipe:
Ingredients
2 cups of water
3 tbsp of tamarind paste/ concentrate
1 tsp roasted ground cumin seeds
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 -1/2 tsp black salt
1/2 tsp pepper (white)
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp sugar

This is how he does it:

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Baguettes!

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I like projects. I like bread. I like bread projects. Case in point: baguettes. While the consumption of the venerated French style baguette couldn’t be easier – simply tear off a chunk, take it plain, slather it with butter or cheese, or dip it in some saucy sauce and then deposit in your mouth for mastication – the making of a good baguette is a bit more challenging.  But I like a good challenge so, a couple days ago I attempted to make baguettes following the recipe and instructions of Chad Robertson’s Tartine Bread book, a book for which I’ve developed rather deep emotional feelings.  I would say love would be an appropriate definition of those feelings.

Since my first attempt at the Tartine country loaf, I’ve made several loaves and while I can’t say I’ve mastered the technique, I have become quite comfortable with it and I’ve gotten a feel for how flour, water, yeast (in the form of the natural leaven) and time interact to produce certain results.

Ah, the good ol' country loaf. It's like sitting in your favorite chair, comfortable and reliable. (spoiler alert: baguettes in the background)

Now here’s where baguettes are different.  In addition to using a natural leaven, Robertson’s baguette recipe also calls for the use of commercial yeast in the form of a poolish (basically a leaven made with packaged active dry yeast instead of natural sourdough starter).  I know that the whole point of instant yeast is to be active and spark that fermentation process , but my God, the dial on on this yeast went up to eleven (that’s a Spinal Tap allusion, for all you non-nerds).  As per Tartine instructions I made the poolish (1.5 gram of active drive yeast + 1oo grams of flour + 100 grams of water) the night before I planned on making the baguette dough.  But within an hour of mixing the poolish, it was already rising over the walls of the bowl.  To slow it down a bit, I stirred out the air bubbles and I put the poolish in the refrigerator overnight which seemed to do the trick.  But that yeasty hyperactivity reasserted itself when I made up the dough.  It was like dealing with a hyperactive kid who’s eaten a breakfast of Honey Smacks in Coca-cola.  The baguette dough rose like crazy through the initial fermentation and during the second rise, after shaping it into three separate baguettes, it continued to bubble with activity.  So instead of the neat, svelte baguettes which I was hoping for, I ended up with rather bloated baguettes like Italian loaves you find in the grocery store.  Nevertheless, they were texturally really good with a nice crust and a chewy and airy interior.

I won’t go into great detail as far as method goes, because as I’ve said before, the Tartine Bread book does a better job of describing it and you should get your hands on a copy.  But here is a basic recipe rundown:

Dough (for about 3 medium sized baguettes):
200 grams of natural leaven (2 tsp of starter + 100 g flour + 100 g of water, mixed the night before)
200 grams of poolish (mixed the night before)
250 grams of water
325 grams of all purpose flour
175 grams of bread flour
16 grams of salt

Following the basic country loaf process, I mixed the dough and let it go through a five hour bulk fermentation folding the dough on itself every half hour for the first two hours (for a total of about 4 turns). After five hours, I split the dough into three sections and gave each an initial shaping. After a half hour rest  on the work surface, I folded the three dough sections into elongated baguette shapes and placed them on a floured towel for the second rise of about three hours.

Baguettes in a blanket: after the second rise, my baguettes resembled fat lazy caterpillars.

Now here’s where it gets a little more complicated. Because the baguettes are so long, I couldn’t bake them in the dutch oven so as per Tartine’s instructions I baked them on a pizza stone. During the first 15-20 minutes of baking, it’s important to have a lot of steam and moisture in the oven because it allows for the expansion of the loaves and the formation of a more delicate crust. So again, following Tartine instructions I soaked a kitchen towel in water and put in on a cookie sheet on a rack underneath the pizza stone to produce steam. A brief tip on using this technique: make sure there’s enough water so your towel doesn’t dry out. Let’ just say I didn’t realize towels could burn  and get charred so quickly.

Shroud of Turin?

No, just a burned and charred towel.

After about 20 minutes I removed the cookie sheet and kitchen towel and let the baguettes bake for another 12-20 minutes.  And this was the result:

Baguettes afer baking: a little bloated but I'm happy that they weren't all flat.

Nice airy structure and crunchy crust. Not bad!

While the baguettes were not as tight as I would have liked them to be, I loved the airy structure and texture.  Flavor-wise, they were good – more like a sweet yeasty flavor as oppose to a sourdough tanginess.  Interestingly, when I dipped the bread into some chile verde that I had made, its porky, slightly acidic and smoky chili flavor brought out a lot of the complexity of the bread’s own flavor.  Toast made with slices of baguette spread with homemade jam was simply delightful.

Day old baguette toast with caramel de pommes (apple butter from France!) and homemade strawberry jam (from Michigan!)

Final verdict: Overall it was a success in that the baguettes didn’t flatten out and retained a nice structure.  Taste-wise, while good, I prefer a little bit more sourness so, next time I think I’ll use less poolish and more natural leaven.  Perhaps that will give me more control over the flavor and yield a less hyperactive rise so that the final shape will look not so much like an overweight caterpillar and more like a true baguette.

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