Cooking at Home
Cooking at Home
My first official job as a cook was at a small restaurant in the suburbs of Washington DC called Addie’s. One of the dishes I will never forget cooking there was a simple bowl of mussels prepared with lots of garlic, shallot, tomato, butter, lemon, …
This mushroom tart recipe is great for entertaining guests. It can be served warm or at room temperature, and it can easily be reheated in the oven. The great thing about this recipe is that it uses store-bought puff pastry. Sure, you could try to …
If you have never tasted grilled beef heart, chances are you may be a bit apprehensive at first. Most organ meat typically has a flavor and texture that is quite different from typical beef muscle (steak). Some organs such as the liver may have a strong, irony flavor. Fortunately, one could easily be tricked into thinking they were eating a regular piece of grilled “steak” when they are served Anticuchos. I am personally guilty of serving anticuchos to friends without telling them it is beef heart. They are always surprised by how delicious it is.
“Anticuchos” are a Peruvian dish of marinated chunks of beef heart that are skewed and grilled, similar to shish kebabs. They are often served with some potatoes, maybe some corn, and a sauce or two to accompany. They are typically eaten as a snack or as an appetizer and can be found in restaurants and street carts throughout Peru. In this recipe I will show you how to make some grilled potatoes, as well as two delicous sauces/condiments to accompany the anticuchos.
Anticuchos are traditionally made with beef heart and if you can find some, I highly recommend you try it. If you cannot find beef heart, any other steak cut will work very well in this recipe. Ask your butcher if they have beef hearts available. They usually keep them frozen which is perfect. They are sometimes already cut into halves or quarters but I will explain how to process the heart if you get it whole.
Here is my take on a Mexican shrimp tostada. Chilled shrimp, avocado, tomato, and cucumber are dressed with a bright, cilantro-y dressing. The shrimp “salad” is then placed on a crispy tortilla and drizzled with a smoky chipotle mayonnaise. The result is a bright, spicy, …
In the heat of summer, few things are as delicious as an ice-cold, super-fresh ceviche. While I love traditional Peruvian ceviche, sometimes it’s nice to riff on the classics. As I am a huge fan of Thai flavors, I came up with this ceviche which …
I love simple dishes that require little effort and yield delicious results. This is most definitely one of those dishes. It is also a very simple way to prepare fish for folks who are not very confident in their fish-cooking ability. The basic technique is very simple but the key is to use high-quality ingredients. The fish should be as fresh as possible, with no off-odors. The tomatoes should be ripe and sweet and you should use fresh, vibrant garlic and basil. As long as the ingredients are of good quality, it will be very easy to yield great results.
While you could cook almost any fish in this manner, there are a few types of fish that work particularly well. I prefer to use white-fleshed, flaky fish. I also like to use fish that have soft, edible skin. The reason for this is because the gelatinous, fatty, skin helps to keep the fish moist as it cooks. I also love to eat fish skin, I don’t think it needs to be crispy to be delicious. If you hate fish skin, feel free to cook skinless fish fillets but just know that you are missing out on some flavor and moisture. Here are a few examples of fish that would work well, but feel free to use whatever you have on hand:
Sticking to the theme of simplicity and ease-of-making, I like to serve this dish with a simple side of potatoes that are roasted with peppers and onions. Everything is roasted together on a sheet tray and then the fish is spooned over the roasted potatoes with plenty of the stewed cherry tomatoes and their juices. You could also serve this dish with:
Hainanese chicken rice is one of my favorite “street” foods of all time. This dish is very popular in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. Each country has slight variations on the same dish (the accompanying sauces are what seem to vary the most), and they are …
When I was working at Gramercy Tavern, we would always have some version of roasted oysters on the menu. The exact preparation would change seasonally but the idea was always the same… super fresh oysters topped with a flavorful compound butter, roasted in our wood-fired …
Sai Ua, AKA northern Thai sausage, is a type of fresh sausage that is commonly found throughout the northern region of Thailand. It is made with pork and a large quantity of fresh aromatics such as lemongrass, galangal, garlic, and makrut lime leaf. The sausage is complex, herbal, rich, and extremely aromatic. This is a bit of a project, but the sausages keep very well in the freezer. Feel free to make a double batch!
Once I learned how to make Sai Ua, I realized why this sausage is not very well known in the west. Many of the ingredients are very hard to find fresh. Fresh lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, and makrut lime leaves are essential to achieving the proper herbaceous, aromatic flavors. Any dried or powdered version of these ingredients will totally fail to achieve the right flavor. Luckily, many of these ingredients can be found fresh-frozen. The fresh-frozen variety of these ingredients work very well for making Sai Ua. Fresh lemongrass is becoming more common in western grocery stores. Frozen whole galangal and turmeric roots can be found in many Asian and Southeast Asian grocery stores. Makrut lime leaves (aka kaffir lime leaves, but that name is no longer politically correct) can also be found fresh or frozen in some Asian groceries.
The best versions of Sai Ua that I have tasted in Thailand all have a coarse, rustic texture that I find quite appealing. The pork is ground coarsely and the aromatics are often very coarsely chopped or pounded so that you can clearly see bits of lemongrass, lime leaf, galangal… in every bite you take. Sai Ua should not be perfectly emulsified and smooth as is common in many of the western styles of sausage. I find the easiest way to achieve this texture is to coarsely chop all of the aromatics and mix them with the cubes of pork before grinding. The pork and aromatics are then ground together using a coarse grinder die (approximately 7mm holes) before casing. Easy.
NOTE: I will not be going over “proper” sausage stuffing and linking technique. There are many good resources online to learn how to stuff a sausage.
This is my version of Hoi Tod – หอยทอด – AKA Thai crispy oyster pancake. If you are unfamiliar with this dish, think of it as somewhere between a savory pancake and an omelet. It is not unlike a Korean seafood pancake with the addition of …
I love dishes that are quick and easy to make, but deliver on flavor. I am much more likely to prepare them when I don’t feel like spending over an hour cooking dinner. This shrimp and crab spaghetti is light, yet satisfying and can easily …
This simple chilled soup is a great addition to any summertime meal. The gazpacho itself only takes about 15 minutes to prepare and the only cooking required is toasting a few almonds in the oven. Make sure to serve the gazpacho very cold and with plenty of diced peach, cucumber, and toasted almonds. The texture and crunch of the garnish really improves the eating experience of this chilled soup.
The gazpacho is easy to make. Cucumbers and peaches are blended with celery, garlic, stale bread, olive oil, water, vinegar and a touch of habanero pepper. The seeds and membranes of the habanero are removed so you are only left with a bit of heat but retain a touch of habanero flavor. You can also omit or substitute any other type of pepper you prefer. If you have access to any super-aromatic-yet-not-spicy peppers such as habanada, grenada, or aji dulce; feel free to use these and increase the quantity of pepper so that you maximize on their fruity flavor.
When summer comes around, it is good to have a few grilled vegetable side dishes in your repertoire that are easy to make and really deliver on flavor. This is one of those dishes. If you have never had grilled romaine lettuce, you should give …
Here on the east coast of the United States, soft shell crabs come into season in the summer months. Many cooks fry them until crispy and then serve them with a few simple garnishes. I love eating soft shell crabs this way, but preparing them …
Romano beans are long, flat beans that kind of look like flattened string beans. While you can cook them briefly so that they retain their natural crunch, I really like when they are cooked a bit longer…until they are soft and sweet. In this recipe we will give the beans a quick grill to impart a bit of charred flavor and then cook them in a garlicky tomato sauce until soft. If you do not have a grill, you can sear them in a very hot pan before braising. After a brief braise, the romano beans are finished with fresh basil and plenty of olive oil. This side dish/appetizer tastes better after it has cooled down a bit so feel free to prepare it ahead of time. This dish works great for a backyard barbecue as it is light, tasty, and very easy to make.
This English pea crostini is a great appetizer to serve when the weather starts getting warm in the spring and summer. It is also great for entertaining because almost everything can be made ahead of time (including the crispy bread) and assembled easily when guests …
Green papaya salad is a dish that originates in Laos and is an important dish in Thai cuisine. It is closely associated with the cooking of northeastern (Isan) Thailand but can be found all over the country. You can eat papaya salad at fancy restaurants, …
For a few weeks in early spring, ramps pop up in many parts of eastern North America. Ramps are a type of wild onion with a pungent, garlicky flavor. The leaves and bulbs are both edible and can be used in a number of different ways. Ramps resist cultivation, are only available to foragers for a limited time, and their appearance tends to mark the beginning of the spring produce cycle. For these reasons, chefs and food lovers tend to get VERY excited when ramps start hitting the markets. Because ramps are often over-foraged, I try to limit the number of times I prepare whole ramps in this way. It is more sustainable to only buy the green leaves from foragers who leave the bulbs in the ground so that the ramps can pop up again the following year.
While I love eating ramps, I am of the opinion that many chefs fail to prepare ramps in a way that truly celebrates their texture and flavor. I often see the ramps turned into a puree, or used to fill a pasta, or maybe 2 or 3 ramps are sauteed and artfully arranged on a plated entree of some sort. While these are all fine preparations and can be quite tasty, my favorite way to eat ramps is very simple. A big pile of them charred on a hot grill or a cast iron pan, seasoned simply with olive oil, salt, and a squeeze of lemon. This may be the purest way to enjoy them. The recipe I am showing you today is exactly that, but with a few added flavors and textures. The key is that you serve a generous quantity of ramps and that they are cooked and seasoned properly.
The combination of ramps, polenta, and honey was inspired by a dish I had at Via Carota in Manhattan a few years ago. If you haven’t been to Via Carota, I highly recommend it. My memory of the dish is a bit hazy but I remember a grilled polenta cake being served with a big pile of grilled ramps and drizzled with honey. It was absolutely delicious and I really loved how they were generous with the ramps. I’m not sure how they prepared their dish but this is my version with a few tweaks.
I decided to make a polenta cake flavored with parmesan, pecorino, thyme, and black pepper. Kind of cacio e pepe-ish. If you have never made a polenta cake, don’t worry, it’s really very simple and doesn’t take too much effort. If you can’t be bothered waiting a few hours for the polenta cake to set up in the freezer/fridge, you can most certainly make this dish with creamy polenta, just use more liquid when cooking the polenta.
In this recipe, I used a cast iron pan to sear the polenta cake and cook the ramps and chorizo together. If you wanted, you could also use a hot grill to cook the polenta and ramps. The chorizo would need to be crisped up separately in a pan, omitted, or switched out for another cured pork product that can be crisped on a grill such as bacon or prosciutto. Whatever cooking method you choose for the ramps, make sure that they are cooked quickly over high heat. If you leave the ramps cooking for too long, the leaves will start to dry out and become papery.
Papa a la Huancaina is a classic Peruvian appetizer. It is best described as a type of potato salad that is dressed in a sauce made with peppers, milk and queso fresco. The sauce is traditionally made with Peruvian aji amarillo (yellow hot peppers) and …
This is one of my go-to recipes whenever I have some really fresh fish on hand and don’t want to over-complicate things. It takes very little time to throw together and is super refreshing and delicious. The great thing about this recipe is how flexible …
Sticky rice with mango is one of the most well-known Thai snacks/sweets…and for good reason…it is absolutely delicious. When mangoes are in season and super sweet, you really can’t go wrong eating them this way. The sweet (and slightly salty) combination of mango, coconut, and sticky rice is pretty much perfect. Luckily, it is also very easy to make at home as long as you have the right ingredients.
Make sure you use ripe, sweet mangoes when making this dish. I like to use ataulfo mangoes as they are nice and sweet but you could use whatever variety is available to you. To check if a mango is ripe, give it a gentle squeeze. It should give in to gentle pressure. If a mango is very hard, it will typically not be very sweet. This dish also works very well with ripe durian instead of mango, if you can find it.
I like to use coconut cream instead of coconut milk to make mango sticky rice as it is thicker and richer. That being said, you can most definitely make this dish with regular coconut milk. I like to use Thai brands of coconut cream/milk such as Aroy-D and Chaokoh. Do not confuse “coconut cream” with “cream of coconut”. Cream of coconut is a completely different product that is already sweetened and will not work well in this recipe.
To make mango sticky rice you need to use the right rice. Unfortunately it can be often difficult to find and may be packaged using a few different names. I typically see it labeled as glutinous rice or sweet rice. This is not to be confused with Japanese glutinous or sweet rice, which is used for mochi. Your best bet is to buy sweet or glutinous rice that is grown in Thailand. If you attempt this method with the wrong rice, you will most likely be disappointed.
Steaming of the sticky rice is probably the most “difficult” part of making this dessert so I will provide some notes here:
Sticky rice needs to be washed and soaked before cooking. Washing helps to remove excess starch on the outside of the grains of rice and provides the correct texture for this dish. To wash the rice, place the rice into a mixing bowl and cover it with an inch or two of cool water. Use your fingertips to vigorously agitate the rice for 10 seconds or so. You will notice the water begin to get cloudy. Tip the bowl over into a sink so that most of the cloudy water is drained away but the rice remains in the bowl. Fill the bowl up with water again and repeat this process until the water is relatively clear, usually about 3 or 4 times. After washing, cover the rice with a few inches of cool water and allow the rice to sit at room temperature to soak for anywhere between 4 and 24 hours. Soaking is essential for hydrating the grains of rice and making sure they cook properly. Don’t soak your rice for more than 24 hours as it can start to ferment and go sour.
In many parts of Southeast Asia, sticky rice is traditionally cooked in a special bamboo basket. The rice is washed, soaked and cooked over a pot of boiling water. Most people I know don’t have space in their kitchens for a dedicated sticky rice steamer so I will show you how to steam the rice in a conventional stack-able steamer. You can also get creative with how you steam the rice. A colander set on top of a pot of boiling would also do the trick. Whatever method you use to steam the rice, make sure the rice does not come in direct contact with the boiling water. Also make sure to drain the sticky rice very well before placing in your steamer. Any excess water left in the rice will settle to the bottom of the rice and cause the bottom layer of rice to get gummy and overcooked.
When you are ready to cook the rice, Fill the bottom of your steamer with about 1 or 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil. Make sure you have enough water to avoid evaporation, but not so much that the boiling water is splashing up onto the rice. Drain the rice very well and place onto a dry steamer tray. Place the tray on the steamer and cover with a lid. Allow the rice to cook for about 15-20 minutes.The steamer should be producing a good bit of steam while cooking without being overly aggressive. After 15 minutes, carefully open the lid and use a fork to taste a bit of rice from the very center. If it is still crunchy or too toothsome, allow the rice to cook longer, checking every 5 minutes until finished.
The sticky rice is now ready to be mixed with the coconut sauce. Do not allow the sauce or the sticky rice to cool before mixing them together. The rice needs to be hot in order to absorb all the sauce.
There are a lot of really great Sichuan restaurants that have popped up here in Brooklyn Chinatown over the past few years. I eat at a few of them quite often. Many of these restaurants usually have a menu item that is often titled something …
Kung Pao Chicken is a classic Sichuan dish that is quite popular here in the US. That being said, the versions you often find here tend to lean on the sweeter side and often contain many additional ingredients such as bell peppers or carrots. While …
Soft roasted peppers, sweet confit garlic, creamy burrata, and lightly charred bread. This is a flavor combination that just works. It isn’t avant-garde, it isn’t pretentious, it’s just delicious. I like to make these crostini as an appetizer or a snack to start a dinner party. You can either pre-assemble the crostinis or just set out the bread, burrata, and pepper condiment so your guests can make their own.
The pepper condiment used in this recipe is quite versatile and will keep for 4 or 5 days in the refrigerator. I suggest making a double batch as you can easily use it throughout the week in different applications. Folded into pasta, on fried eggs for breakfast, straight onto some crackers…all great options. This recipe can be made with any crusty bread you have on hand and the burrata can easily be replaced with ricotta that has been seasoned with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper.
The peppers can be roasted on a gas stove, a very hot grill, or under the broiler in your oven. The trick is to apply intense, direct heat so that the pepper skins start to burn and char. I like to cook the peppers directly over the flame on my gas stove. As the peppers char, rotate them until the peppers are completely covered in a layer of charred skin. Be careful not to leave the peppers on the flame too long as you could start to burn into the flesh. If your burner allows it and it is safe to do so, you can also remove the cap of your burner and use the resulting jet of flame to roast the pepper. This makes it a little easier to evenly roast each pepper as the flame will be centered and surround the pepper as it cooks. You may need to use a lighter to ignite the gas as the electric starter will not work. The peppers can also be charred over a very hot grill or directly under a hot broiler.
When each pepper is finished charring on all sides, immediately place it into a heat-safe container and cover it tightly with foil. Once all of the peppers are in the container, keep them covered tightly for at least 15 minutes. The steam that builds up in the container will continue to cook and soften the peppers as well as loosen up the skins. After 15 minutes, open up the container and use a kitchen towel or some paper towels to rub off the charred skins. Don’t worry if some specks of charred skin are left behind, this will give a bit of flavor and character to the peppers. Do not be tempted to wash the peppers under running water, you would just be washing away that pleasant smokey flavor. The peppers are now ready to be seeded and cut.
If you have never had Chinese-style steamed eggs (or its Japanese counterpart, chawanmushi), it is best described as a savory egg custard. In this version, eggs are whisked together with stock and some seasonings and then steamed until a soft custard has formed. This custard …
Pad Ka Prao is one of my favorite one-dish meals. It is simple, quick to throw together, and absolutely delicious. Minced meat (usually chicken, but you could do this with almost any protein) is stir-fried with basil, garlic, chilies, and fish sauce. This salty, savory …
There are few things more delicious on a cold day than a pot of freshly steamed clams served with warm, crusty bread. As a matter of fact, steamed clams are great regardless of the weather. In the summer, I love eating them outside while enjoying a cold bottle of fresh white wine such as txakoli. This recipe is simple to throw together and will most certainly impress your friends and family.
The term littleneck simply refers to one specific size of Quahog clam (AKA hard clam). There are many sizes of Quahog clam including littleneck, middleneck, topneck, cherrystone, and chowder (from smallest to largest). For steamed clams, I would recommend using the smallest clams available to you. Larger clams are typically tougher.
Chorizo is a term that can also get a bit confusing. Broadly speaking, there are two main types of chorizo, fresh and dry-cured. Fresh chorizo is very popular in central and south America and as the name implies, it is sold fresh and then cooked by the consumer. The dry-cured variety is most popular in Spain and more closely resembles a salami. It is seasoned with lots of paprika, cured and dried for several months and can be served uncooked or cooked in many recipes. In this recipe, we will be using a Spanish dry-cured chorizo but you could easily substitute fresh chorizo or any other type of cured pork product such as soppressata, bacon, pancetta… The only thing I would avoid is the pre-cooked “fresh” chorizo that is often found at the supermarket. It is usually of low quality and does not work well in this recipe. If you purchase fresh chorizo, make sure it is uncooked.
Steamed clams can be prepared in countless different ways. Here are a few adjustments that you can make to this recipe in order to change it up a bit:
This is an impressive side dish that is easy to throw together and very customizable. Fresh squid is marinated in olive oil, garlic, and chili flake and then “grilled” in a very hot pan. The calamari is then tossed with beans, olive oil, lemon, parsley, …
If you have ever attempted making potato french fries at home, you probably know how difficult it can be to achieve a super crispy fry with a soft, fluffy center. I know many chefs who have spent countless hours going through multiple steps of soaking, …
This classic french dish is one of my favorites to prepare at home. Leeks are poached until meltingly tender, garnished with hard-boiled eggs, and then marinated in a mustardy, bright vinaigrette. This dish works very well as an appetizer or side dish and I love it as an accompaniment to steak-frites or a simple roasted chicken. The secret is to make sure you cook the leeks until they are super soft, sweet and tender. If the leeks are undercooked they can have a harsh onion flavor and the texture won’t have the same luxurious quality.
Making this dish is very simple. there are only 3 things you need to do… cook the leeks, boil and chop the eggs, and make the vinaigrette.
The leeks in this dish are often split lengthwise and poached in salted water. They are then cut into long sections and served as is. While this is a great, simple way to serve them, in this recipe we will be cutting the leeks into rounds for a slightly different presentation. Just be sure to rinse away any dirt or sand you come across while cutting the leeks into rounds.
If you are like me and you love fried calamari, you will also love this dish. Think of it as the meatier, more substantial version of fried calamari. If you are not familiar with cuttlefish, it is in the same class as squid and octopus. …
Stir-fried pea leaves with garlic is one of those dishes that I will almost always order from a Chinese restaurant menu. The dish is about as simple as it gets and needs very little explanation. Tender pea leaves are stir-fried over high heat with sliced …
Brandade de morue is one of my favorite things to eat with grilled bread. There are many variations of this dish but at its core, it is a spread made from salt cod, olive oil, and potato. The version that I like to make also includes garlic, a bit of milk, bay leaf, and thyme. All of these ingredients come together to make a warm garlicky potato spread that is infused with the flavors of salt cod and a generous quantity of olive oil. The spread is broiled until the top is golden and then served with some nicely grilled or toasted bread.
Salt cod is cod (AKA morue) that has been heavily salted and dried in order to preserve it. As a result, it needs to be soaked in a few changes of water for at least a day in order to reduce the salinity and soften up the fish. While this is very easy to do, it does mean that you have to plan ahead. The cod can soak for up to 3 days, but it will get less salty over time so you’ll need to adjust final seasoning depending on how long the cod has soaked.
While you can certainly try to make salt cod at home, I prefer to purchase it . Home-made salt cod will still taste delicious, but the flavor and texture of cod that has been salted and thoroughly dried out (the drying is the tricky part) is better in my opinion. Salt cod can be purchased in many forms…bone-in, skin-on, whole… but boneless, skinless fillet is the easiest to work with. You can buy whichever is available, just remember that you will need to remove the skin and bones if they are present.
After the cod has been soaked, making the brandade is simple. The cod and sliced potatoes are simmered (separately) in milk. When the potatoes are tender, they are removed from the milk and crushed. The cod is also removed from the milk and broken up into flakes. The fish and potatoes are mixed together and combined with a bit of the cooking milk, garlic, thyme, and plenty of olive oil. The mixture is then placed in a ramekin, pan, or baking dish and broiled until the top is bubbly and golden.
The nice thing about this dish is that the brandade can be made up to three days ahead of time. You can store the whipped potato mixture in the fridge and just pop it in the broiler when you are ready to serve. I like to use a relatively low, flat serving dish when broiling the brandade so that it warms quickly and has a good amount of browning top. You can serve the brandade with anything you like (crackers, crudite…etc.), but I really like it smeared on some slightly charred, grilled bread.
Thai-style roti is a very common street food found throughout Thailand. Vendors stretch and cook these flaky treats in alleys and markets all over the country. The crispy flatbreads are often filled with a variety of sweet or savory fillings, but are also eaten plain, …
When most Americans talk about egg salad, they are usually referring to that classic mixture of chopped hard-boiled eggs and mayonnaise that is often smeared between two slices of untoasted white bread. This is NOT that. In this egg salad, a couple of super-crispy fried …
Although braising is typically associated with long, slow cooking of tough cuts of meat, in the case of tofu it usually refers to briefly simmering chunks of tofu in a flavorful sauce. While there are countless braised tofu preparations out there, this is definitely one of my favorites. Everything comes together quickly so it makes a great weeknight dinner with some steamed rice and maybe some stir-fried greens.
Preparing this dish is quite simple. Soft tofu is coated in corn starch, pan-fried until a crust forms, and then simmered in a slightly sweet and sour sauce that contains ground pork, garlic, ginger, pickled chilies, soy sauce, and black vinegar. The sauce is more or less in the “fish-fragrant” flavor profile of Sichuan cuisine (no, it does not contain any fish) and therefore goes very well with other Sichuan dishes.
Pan-frying the tofu with a coating of starch gives the finished dish a really pleasant mouthfeel. The starch is initially crispy when it is fried but then it softens when simmered in the sauce. The result is tofu that is completely enveloped in a thin, soft skin that is quite a pleasure to eat. If you prefer more texture, you could coat the tofu in a thicker layer of corn starch by letting the tofu pieces sit in the corn starch for a few minutes before frying. The thicker layer of starch will stay crispy even after being simmered in the sauce.
I like to use soft tofu for this recipe because I think the texture really lends itself to the flavor of the sauce. That being said, you could use any type of tofu you prefer and it will be equally delicious. Soft tofu requires you to be a bit more careful when flipping or stirring the tofu as it can break easily. Medium and firm tofus will be a bit easier to work with.
When it comes to the pork, I like to hand chop a fattier cut like shoulder or belly. I prefer the rustic, coarse texture that you achieve by hand chopping but you could also use store-bought ground pork in a pinch.. If you have a helpful butcher, they may be able to coarsely grind some pork for you … if you ask nicely.
I usually use a Thai brand of pickled red bird chili for this recipe but you could use any other spicy pickled chili for this dish. Just try to avoid overly sweet pickled chilies if possible.
Goes well with:
Anyone who grew up near the Chesapeake bay knows how important blue crabs are to the culinary heritage of the region. There are countless ways of preparing them, but the Baltimore-style (or Maryland-style) crab cake is one of the most delicious preparations. While they can …
Whenever I see this dish on a menu at a Thai restaurant, chances are that I will order it. It is one of my favorite whole fish preparations and luckily, it is also one of the simplest to make at home. This dish can almost be viewed as two dishes in one…a fish and a soup. There are only two things to cook for this recipe, the steamed fish and the broth, and they can both come together in under 30 minutes. If steaming whole fish sounds intimidating, don’t be discouraged. Steaming is definitely the easiest way to cook a whole fish…WAY easier than grilling or frying.
This dish is traditionally made with barramundi but you can use any firm, white-fleshed fish. I used red snapper today, but the same recipe will work with striped bass, black bass, branzino…etc. When you are shopping for fish, ask your fishmonger to remove the fins, scales, and viscera for you. This will make preparation much simpler.
There are countless ways to steam a whole fish, but using a stacking metal or bamboo steamer is by far the easiest way. Most home steamers, however, are not wide enough to hold a whole fish. Don’t worry, there is a solution to this problem. Cut the fish in half! I almost always cut my fish in half and steam the two halves side by side (or on separate “levels” of the steamer). After steaming, the two halves can be put back together on the plate. With a little strategic garnishing, the cut can be easily hidden and no one will know you steamed the fish in two pieces.
In terms of how to cook the fish, the method is quite simple. The unseasoned fish is put on a plate along with some cilantro and bruised lemongrass. The plate is then placed in the hot steamer until the fish is cooked through. In case you were wondering, the broth will take care of seasoning the fish.
The cooking time really depends on the size and shape of the fish but most fish will take around 10-15 minutes. The easiest way to check if your fish is done is to use a fork. Try to move some of the meat near the thickest part of the fish, if the meat easily pulls away from the bones in the center of the fish, the fish is done. Occasionally the bottom fillets (the ones in direct contact with the plate) will take a bit longer to cook. Be sure to check that those fillets are cooked before removing the fish from the steamer. When the fish is finished cooking, place it on to your serving plate and top with your piping hot broth.
The broth is what makes this preparation really special. It is salty, sour, spicy, garlicky, and aromatic. One of the highlights of eating this dish is drinking spoonfuls of the broth between bites of fish and rice. Making it is surprisingly easy. Chopped garlic, chilies, and cilantro are put in a pot with chicken stock, sugar, fish sauce, and some bruised lemongrass. Everything is brought to a simmer until the sugar dissolves and voila! The broth is done.
In restaurants, you will often see this dish served on a fish-shaped metal plate that is set over a few pieces of live charcoal. This keeps the broth at a nice simmer while you eat your fish. If you don’t have one of these set-ups, don’t worry, just make sure you warm up your serving plate. Don’t forget to serve this dish with freshly steamed jasmine rice.
Making fried sweet plantains, AKA “maduros”, is so easy that it feels strange to even write a recipe. As long as you have very ripe plantains, this dish can be put together in under 10 minutes. Here I serve them with a little bit of …
