Something with a Kick -- Spicy Stir-Fry --

Shrimp and Vegetable Stir-Fry It was such a humid weekend that my body craved spicy food. Yeah, spicy food WITH ice-cold beer. You know, something with a kick. I thought about making a Mexican dish once, but since I had so much cooked rice left, I went for a spicy stir-fry which goes well with both rice and beer. Sorry, I can't post a recipe here because I didn't measure anything... as usual. But let me list the seasonings I used. They were: dou ban jiang, soy sauce, sugar, sake, salt, pepper and a little vinegar. Yep, I made it really spicy and garlicky (I wasn't going to see anyone that night, so who cares?) and I loved it so much. Categories: Asian-inspired

Sweet Success after Sweet Failure

Chicken and Vegetable Stif-fry with a Secret Ingredient Seventeen days. It was obviously too long. I’m talking about my nashi (Asian pear) infused vodka. It has been seventeen days since I sank those pear segments in vodka. I should have checked it once in a while, but I just gave it a good rest in the dark in my small cupboard. In other words, I almost forgot about it. Besides, considering how long it took for my grape-infused vodka to be really flavorful, I thought I should give it 3 weeks or so. Wrong idea. I opened the jar today for the first time to check how it was doing, and I hated myself for waiting that long. The moment I smelled the vodka, I was almost shocked. It smelled sweet indeed, but not the kind of fruity sweetness that I had in mind. How should I describe it…? The smell reminded me of some kind of chocolate bonbons with real strong liquor in. No, I'm not saying that my vodka smelled like chocolate. You know the kind of bonbon that has a layer of coarse sugar or candy inside? The smell of my nashi infused vodka reminded me of that boozed-up coarse sugar! And it was so strong that it almost knocked me down. I strained the vodka and poured some in a glass to experiment. I added some ice and water to see if I can smell and taste the pears when it's thinned. Yes, I did, but not the way I wanted. It was not fruity at all. It was more like over-ripened pears that already lost its fragrance and is going bad pretty soon. Maybe it might taste OK if mixed with other drinks, but I had no idea what can be the right kind of drinks for that. Instead, an idea popped up in my mind. Can’t I use it for cooking? I heard about using vodka or bourbon for cooking chicken, so why not this infused vodka? So here is a Chinese-style dish I improvised: Chicken and veggie stir-fry with good amount of Asian- pear infused vodka! I marinated the chicken briefly in garlic, soy sauce and the vodka, then stir-fried it with minced garlic and ginger root and other vegetables. For seasoning, I used salt, pepper and about a teaspoonful Dou ban jiang (Chinese chili paste) dissolved in mirin, and at the end I added soy sauce and a good amount of my nashi- infused vodka! While I was stir-frying, I did smell the fruity nashi flavor a little. Maybe because the alcohol evaporated while being heated? Unfortunately I couldn’t detect the fruity flavor in the chicken when I ate it, but the dish turned out quite good. Honestly, I loved it. It was sweet, but the sweetness was a little different from what it usually is when used sugar and/or mirin only --- it was milder. Feeling good about this success, and feeling the urge to go out and eat lunch outside in gorgeous autumn weather, I packed my lunch and headed for a nearby park. Kinmokusei (orange osmanthus) was in full bloom there in the park. The weather is certainly cooling off around here. (This photo was taken last Thursday in the same park. The flowers looked just the same today.) It was a nice day after all, but I’ll be careful next time I infuse vodka with fruits and I'll definitely check it more often ;P

More Mizuna (Potherb Mustard) Dishes

Mizuna no Shiraae Another dish with mizuna (potherb mustard). If you are looking for a Japanese vegetarian recipe, this might do. It’s called shiraae (salad with tofu dressing), one of Japanese traditional salad dishes. This time I used potherb mustard, but it can be replaced with spinach or other greens. With some exceptions, the veggies used for shiraae are usually blanched briefly. Mizuna no Shiraae Ingredients (For 2 to 3 servings) 2 bunches…..potherb mustard (or spinach) 1/4 carrot A little bean sprouts 1/2 tofu (=150 to 170 g) 1 Tbsp….miso 1 Tbsp….sugar 1 Tbsp….soy sauce 1 Tbsp…white sesame seeds + a pinch optional: (1 Tbsp...dashi stock or a dash of instant dashi powder) (2 teasp...sake) * Amount of seasonings to be adjusted according to the type of tofu and vegetables used. If dashi is not available, it can be omitted. Drain tofu well. I usually wrap it with a kitchen paper, place something flat (like a plate) on top, put a small bowl filled with water on it and leave for about 10 minutes. If in a hurry, you can crush tofu, wrap with a kitchen paper and microwave for a few minutes. Cut carrot into apx. 1.5-inch-long thin strips. Blanch mizuna and the carrot briefly and cool in (ice) water. Drain well. Wash bean sprouts and drain. Cut mizuna and sprouts into apx. 1.5 inch long. Grind white sesame seeds with sesame grinder. (Either mortar-and-pestle or plastic sesame seed grinder is fine.) Mix ground sesame seeds, miso, sugar, soy sauce, (dashi & sake) and coarsely mashed tofu until well blended. (If no sesame grinder is available, microwave sesame seeds about 30 seconds, wrap with plastic wrap and roll a bottle or rolling pin over them. * Add the vegetables into the dressing and mix. Serve with a pinch of sesame seeds sprinkled on top. There are many shiraae recipes, but I usually start with 1 Tbsp of each seasonings, as in the recipe above, and make last-minute adjustments according to the taste of the vegetables used, or the type of tofu used (and how well it was drained), etc. Also tried mizuna stir-fry for lunch yesterday. Ingredients: mizuna, sausage and shiitake mushrooms. Seasonings: sesame oil, soy sauce, sake, salt and pepper. A dash of lemon at the end. Though the taste was just so-so, I loved the crispiness of mizuna VERY much. (Actually I overdid it a little.) I think I love this vegetable the best when it's stir-fried : ) * This idea was originally introduced in a TV-show.

Asparagus and Prawn Stir-Fry?

Here comes another retort pouch stuff... I stir-fried asparagus and prawns and mixed with this ready-made sauce. I don't know what you call this 上湯 sauce in English. Shang-tang? Anyway, the prawns were on sale today at a nearby supermarket. They didn't look very fresh, but tasted OK.

Stir-fried Bean Sprouts

Stir-fried Bean Sprouts This is my favorite dish that I often make before my pay day. In Japan, bean sprouts are SO cheap. Of course, that is not the only reason that I love this stir-fry dish. I just love the crunchiness of the bean sprouts. For dessert, I had a blueberry muffin that a friend of mine gave me yesterday. The blueberries in the muffin tasted so good. I wonder when I would be able to bake blueberry muffins with the blueberries from my balcony garden... Maybe this summer? Oh I can hardly wait!!