Asian Food

Okay. So, maybe my trip to Malaysia was several months ago. I’m sure you all get it: I loved it there.

I swear, I didn’t want to write another Malaysia post.

(well…maybe I did. But for the sake of whatever sort of limited-loyal readership I have, I wanted to restrain myself)

Readers, this was the thought process:

- I have mere days left in Baghdad, and nothing significant, exciting or food-related will be occurring in that time. (Unless you count election results…eh? eh? anybody?)
- My journey back home will involve a 24-hour layover in an exciting new place that Kirstin has never been before! That means, I’ll make it up to all of you with a real post about something that I actually ate/saw/experienced recently.
- I couldn’t bear to just abandon the blog until the above-mentioned exciting post is crafted and published, so it was either a Malaysia post, or another vague (and boring) post about the direction my life is heading in.

But, I’ll leave the choice to you, the loyal reader, about whether to read on, about a misunderstanding of what a “park” is and how I managed to claw my way through a dense jungle with only a fluffy steamed bao to sustain my energy.

(One more thing, I’m starting to plan for my own bao-making adventure. Does anybody have good dough recipes or tips/techniques? Much appreciated! …okay, read on!)

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It’s not that hard to properly cook a steak, no matter what chefs on TV are telling me. If you can’t cook a steak, don’t call yourself a chef, period. I don’t have a problem with the flavor of meat, but when I was still a vegetarian (what happened? I got weak over an Indian chicken curry…) transforming mild tasting vegetables, legumes or grains into something delectable was the thing. Should probably be done on a daily basis. This is delicious.

Cauliflower and potatoes

• 1/2 cauliflour in mouth-sized pieces
• 5 medium waxy potatoes, skinned and chopped in mouth-sized pieces
• 1 onion, sliced thin
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 tsp of cumin
• 1/2 tsp of tumeric
• 1/2 tsp of coriander seeds
• 1 dried bird’s eye chili
• sea salt, pepper, vegetable oil or ghee, water

Heat 2 tbsp of oil to medium heat and add the onions. Saute for about 8 minutes, then add the ground spices, salt, about 100g of water and the potatoes. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes, then add the caulifour and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Add a little water if the mixture gets too dry. Season with additional salt and pepper. Serve with naan bread. Recipe follows shortly.

this is an easy meal come dinner-time.  marinade everything overnight.  start the rice cooker, cook up the chicken and serve with some broccoli! 

Teriyaki Delight

Family Fun magazine

Prep:  20 min

Chill:  4 hours-overnight

Yield:  4-8

• 1/4 C ketchup
• 1/4 C hoisin sauce
• 2 T soy sauce
• 2 T rice vinegar
• 2 tsp garlic
• 2 tsp ginger
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 4-8 chicken breasts
• steamed rice
• broccoli (oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, oregano, onion powder)

mix first 7 ingredients in gallon ziplock bag with chicken.  marinate at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.  take out 20 min before cooking.  cook chicken, discard marinade.  serve with rice and broccoli.

I love Indian food. Despite that, I can’t remember ever eating aloo parathas before. But when I saw some recipes floating around on some blogs about them, I really wanted to try them.

Basically these ones are bread that’s stuffed with potatoes. Very yummy. I consulted several blogs, but  this recipe from Vegan YumYum is the one I drew most of the inspiration from.

A few notes/changes I made

• I didn’t have the special flour so I mixed all purpose flour and spelt flour together (I wanted to mix whole wheat with all purpose flour but I didn’t even have whole wheat!). Never having had the real thing, I can’t attest to how “accurate” it tasted, but it tasted fine to me.
• I used chat masala because I couldn’t find garam masala and it was a hassle to go out to my Indian grocer to buy garam masala.
• I used cumin powder instead of cumin seeds because that’s what I had
• and I used chili powder instead of chili flakes because… I felt like it.
• I had a lot more filling per doughy ball thing. I liked having a lot of filling.

Despite my reservations, these were super easy to make and they tasted great. Will definitely do this again! ALSO I found some weirdish thing trying to be chutney in my fridge and I served it with the parathas. It was good, but next time I need to make chutney or find some realish chutney!

I used to buy Salad Rolls for lunch when I worked downtown (Portland) from one of my favorite food carts. They were fresh and inexpensive and the peanut sauce was addictive. And I didn’t have to wait in line since they were ready-made and I always had exact change. Sounds pretty rushed for the devoted “Slow Foodie” that I am. . . . but sometimes work called!

Now many years later, I’ve finally learned to make them. I held a private cooking class this weekend and was asked to teach an Asian-inspired menu. Salad rolls were the first thing that came to mind so that was our starter.

This dish brought with it a conversation (mostly with myself) about using local produce. My classes/menus (and my everyday cooking) are driven by the produce I buy at the farmers’ markets. All of a sudden I found myself wanting/needing basil, mint, and cilantro–none of which are at local farmers’ markets right now. I bit the bullet and bought these things at the grocery store. I actually buy cilantro at the grocery store occasionally without giving it much thought but not the basil and mint. I grow both, but the mint is barely peeking out of the ground at the moment and of course the basil is months away. Now I do buy oranges and bananas in the winter and plenty of other non-local staples but because of the plethora of wonderful veggies that do grow here year-round,  I’ve never really bought much produce out of season. I’m bemused and interested by my mental games and parameters I’ve somewhat unwittingly developed. More on this in a later post and I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the subject. . . .

My conclusion, post salad roll making and eating, is that a) I’ll plant more basil this year, and add cilantro to the mix (hoping it doesn’t bolt too fast) and b) I’ll occasionally  indulge in salad rolls out-of-season too. They were just so good and so light and fresh after months of heavier winter fare.

One of my early attempts – before I wised up and skipped the lettuce and just used herbs. Much tastier and easier to roll.

So, now to the recipe. I adapted recipes from Gourmet for both the rolls and the peanut sauce. I made enough changes that I’m posting my versions here’s, but here’s also the original in case you’re curious.

Herb Salad Spring Rolls – adapted from Gourmet

1 ounce bean-thread (cellophane) noodles

1 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar

eight 8-inch rounds rice paper plus additional in case some tear

1 green, cut into 2-inch julienne strips

1/4 cup finely shredded carrot

3 oz firm tofu, well-drained and cut into thin strips

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, washed well and spun dry

1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, washed well and spun dry

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, washed well and spun dry

Soaking Rice Paper

In a bowl soak noodles in very hot water to cover 15 minutes and drain well in a colander.  With scissors cut remaining noodles into 3 to 4-inch lengths and in a small bowl toss with vinegar and salt to taste.

In a shallow baking pan or cake pan soak 2 rounds rice paper in hot water to cover until very pliable, 45 seconds to 1 minute.

Lay a dry dish towel on a large, flat dinner plate. Carefully spread 1 soaked round on it and blot top with other half of  dish towel. Peel paper off and place on plate (it will stick to the towel if you leave it on the towel). Leave remaining round in water, and blot with dish towel. Arrange several basil leaves on bottom half of sheet, leaving a 1-inch border along edge. Top basil with about one-fourth of noodles, arranging them in a line across lettuce. Top noodles with one-fourth each of scallion, carrot, tofu, and cilantro and mint. Roll up filling tightly in rice paper, folding insides after first roll to completely enclose filling, and continue rolling.

Blot remaining soaked rice paper round on dish towel and blot other side then move to the plate. Wrap rice paper around spring roll in same manner. (Double wrapping covers any tears and makes roll more stable and easier to eat.) Wrap spring roll in rinsed and squeezed dish or paper towel and put in a resealable plastic bag. Make 3 more rolls with remaining ingredients in same manner. Rolls may be made 1 day ahead and chilled. Before serving, bring rolls to room temperature.

Halve rolls diagonally and serve with spicy peanut sauce.

Spicy Peanut Sauce  – adapted from Gourmet

3 garlic cloves, minced,

1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes, or to taste

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3 1/2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

2 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

3/4 cup water

2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice (to taste)

In a small saucepan cook garlic and red pepper flakes in oil over moderate heat, stirring, until garlic is golden. Whisk in remaining ingredients (except lime or lemon juice) and bring to a boil, whisking. Simmer sauce, whisking, until thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in lime or lemon juice. Sauce may be made 3 days ahead and chilled, covered.

Serve sauce warm or at room temperature.

I used to buy Salad Rolls for lunch when I worked downtown (Portland) from one of my favorite food carts. They were fresh and inexpensive and the peanut sauce was addictive. And I didn’t have to wait in line since they were ready-made and I always had exact change. Sounds pretty rushed for the devoted “Slow Foodie” that I am. . . . but sometimes work called!

Now many years later, I’ve finally learned to make them. I held a private cooking class this weekend and was asked to teach an Asian-inspired menu. Salad rolls were the first thing that came to mind so that was our starter.

This dish brought with it a conversation (mostly with myself) about using local produce. My classes/menus (and my everyday cooking) are driven by the produce I buy at the farmers’ markets. All of a sudden I found myself wanting/needing basil, mint, and cilantro–none of which are at local farmers’ markets right now. I bit the bullet and bought these things at the grocery store. I actually buy cilantro at the grocery store occasionally without giving it much thought but not the basil and mint. I grow both, but the mint is barely peeking out of the ground at the moment and of course the basil is months away. Now I do buy oranges and bananas in the winter and plenty of other non-local staples but because of the plethora of wonderful veggies that do grow here year-round,  I’ve never really bought much produce out of season. I’m bemused and interested by my mental games and parameters I’ve somewhat unwittingly developed. More on this in a later post and I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the subject. . . .

My conclusion, post salad roll making and eating, is that a) I’ll plant more basil this year, and add cilantro to the mix (hoping it doesn’t bolt too fast) and b) I’ll occasionally  indulge in salad rolls out-of-season too. They were just so good and so light and fresh after months of heavier winter fare.

One of my early attempts – before I wised up and skipped the lettuce and just used herbs. Much tastier and easier to roll.

So, now to the recipe. I adapted recipes from Gourmet for both the rolls and the peanut sauce. I made enough changes that I’m posting my versions here’s, but here’s also the original in case you’re curious.

Herb Salad Spring Rolls – adapted from Gourmet

1 ounce bean-thread (cellophane) noodles

1 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar

eight 8-inch rounds rice paper plus additional in case some tear

1 green, cut into 2-inch julienne strips

1/4 cup finely shredded carrot

3 oz firm tofu, well-drained and cut into thin strips

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, washed well and spun dry

1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, washed well and spun dry

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, washed well and spun dry

Soaking Rice Paper

In a bowl soak noodles in very hot water to cover 15 minutes and drain well in a colander.  With scissors cut remaining noodles into 3 to 4-inch lengths and in a small bowl toss with vinegar and salt to taste.

In a shallow baking pan or cake pan soak 2 rounds rice paper in hot water to cover until very pliable, 45 seconds to 1 minute.

Lay a dry dish towel on a large, flat dinner plate. Carefully spread 1 soaked round on it and blot top with other half of  dish towel. Peel paper off and place on plate (it will stick to the towel if you leave it on the towel). Leave remaining round in water, and blot with dish towel. Arrange several basil leaves on bottom half of sheet, leaving a 1-inch border along edge. Top basil with about one-fourth of noodles, arranging them in a line across lettuce. Top noodles with one-fourth each of scallion, carrot, tofu, and cilantro and mint. Roll up filling tightly in rice paper, folding insides after first roll to completely enclose filling, and continue rolling.

Blot remaining soaked rice paper round on dish towel and blot other side then move to the plate. Wrap rice paper around spring roll in same manner. (Double wrapping covers any tears and makes roll more stable and easier to eat.) Wrap spring roll in rinsed and squeezed dish or paper towel and put in a resealable plastic bag. Make 3 more rolls with remaining ingredients in same manner. Rolls may be made 1 day ahead and chilled. Before serving, bring rolls to room temperature.

Halve rolls diagonally and serve with spicy peanut sauce.

Spicy Peanut Sauce  – adapted from Gourmet

3 garlic cloves, minced,

1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes, or to taste

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3 1/2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

2 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

3/4 cup water

2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice (to taste)

In a small saucepan cook garlic and red pepper flakes in oil over moderate heat, stirring, until garlic is golden. Whisk in remaining ingredients (except lime or lemon juice) and bring to a boil, whisking. Simmer sauce, whisking, until thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in lime or lemon juice. Sauce may be made 3 days ahead and chilled, covered.

Serve sauce warm or at room temperature.

It seems there’s a lack of places to go in Morgantown that serve any sort of ethnic food. Being relatively new here, and having come from a large city, it has been hard to adjust to the small selection of ethnic dining opportunities. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover China Wok a few months ago, and have been returning there ever since.

The food is perfect, if you’re looking for quick, inexpensive chinese food (which is usually my favorite kind of chinese). It’s certainly not fine dining, but the staff is friendly and the cooks know their stuff, and it’s clearly a family-run small business.

While all of the food is quite delicious, make sure to try some of the chef’s specials along with any classic chinese favorites. The General Tso’s chicken, Lemon Chicken, and Tangerine Beef are some of my personal favorites.

Dining-in is an option, but for the most part take-out seems to be the standard order for China Wok. Delivery is also available, and the drivers will take on all sorts of weather and road conditions if you’re not feeling up to driving in (we tested this during the February snow storm, and found that they would even muscle down roads completely covered in ice and snow, and trudge down snow-covered hills to get to the house). It’s a bit far away for the average college folk – out toward the mall – but definitely worth the drive out or the delivery charge.

Check out their menu on dubvmenus.com for more info and contact information.

Price: $ – $$

Rating: A