Since it’s right up there in the tag line of this site I’d better get on with the Food idea behind this blog. Time to unleash my culinary acumen and make the world rethink its notions about cooking…But seriously, no need to worry as I don’t intend to stand on some foodie pedestal, trying to impress the fuck out of people with cool-as-heck recipes. I was a chef granted, but I don’t really give a shit about food to the point where I’m of the mind to try being another culinary prophet. As a matter of fact, beyond the people who invented bread or cookies I don’t think such prophets exist. I do hope the recipes I post will find favor, but my real goal is to eradicate the general mystique which people associate with cooking any more involved than boiling pasta. I’d like to strip the “art” of preparing food to its skeletal structure and offer up some ways of understanding food stuffs and why they do what they do when you do different things to them. 

I’ve got a book’s worth of recipes, tips and rants that I’d put together over the years. Since they’re little more than byte suckers on my hard drive I might as well unload them on this site. I am paying for the space on the server after all. I’ll try to organize the stuff but don’t count on too much rationality to it – nobody chooses their daily meals in a necessarily logical manner so the posts will just be there to find wherever. Perhaps you’ll find a little inspiration in a wonderfully arbitrary manner.

What do you say we start with ONIONS?

 

Soup 

Phớ Gá – Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

Serves 4 as a meal, up to 8 for starters 

10 cups light, clear chicken stock

2 inch piece of ginger, crushed

1 star anise pod* It’s really good in here, but optional

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce**

4 chicken breasts, boneless & skinless 

 

*Easy to find if you can find an Asian market. Or try high-end/specialty supermarkets like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s.

 

**Thai versions are dark and pungent and more common. Vietnamese fish sauce tends to be lighter but fishier. Either way, you may find your adjusting the amount next time you make this.

 

Gently simmer everything for about 30 minutes. Remove chicken breasts and cover lightly to cool.  Strain stock.

 

For the bowls –

 

1 lb. dry rice stick noodles (banh pho) soaked in warm water for 30 minutes,

       then drained. Or 2 lbs fresh banh pho (See end note)

1 onion, sliced paper-thin and soaked in cold water for 30 minutes, drained

4 scallions (green parts only) sliced diagonally

¼ cup sliced cilantro leaves

Cooled cooked chicken, sliced

Black pepper, fresh ground if you can

 

Garnishes –

 

2 cups fresh bean sprouts

2-3 small red chiles sliced (or have hot sauce handy)

2 limes, cut in wedges

1 small bunch fresh mint, leaves pulled off the stems

1 bunch fresh Thai Basil, leaves pulled off stems

1 small bunch fresh cilantro sprigs

1 cup Hoisin Sauce

 

Divide the bowl stuff among your bowls.  Bring Chicken Stock back to a boil then ladle over bowls.  Serve. Place garnishes on a big plate at table center and let everybody grab what they want to stir into their Phớ.  You can also give each person their own little garnish plate. If you give a crap, that is.

 End note – Rice sticks are the traditional Vietnamese noodle for this soup. For variety you could substitute Japanese somen or Chinese egg noodles. They make the soup a bit more chewy and filling.

 

 

Tom Yum Kung - Thai Hot & Sour Shrimp Soup

 

This recipe is going to be easiest if you get the actual Asian ingredients. Items like daikon, Chili-Tamarind paste or Tamarind concentrate, lemongrass, and lime leaves are available at Asian grocery stores, frequently in high-end grocers and online. But they’re also starting to show up more in mainstream supermarkets. If you’re stumped and have a Thai restaurant nearby go and ask the staff where to buy Thai/Asian ingredients. If you ask nice enough, they might even sell you what you need.

 

You can also substitute chicken for shrimp and have Tom Yum Kai.

 

10 cups chicken stock

1 bunch cilantro – stems only (save leaves)

5 cloves garlic, crushed

4-5 radishes, or 1 small daikon (Asian radish) – optional

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

 

Bring stock to a boil then simmer these ingredients together for thirty minutes. Strain or seive out the chunky stuff. In the meantime prep these ingredients:

 

1 stalk lemon grass, tough outer leaves and tip removed, cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces

10 fresh lime leaves, torn in half, or thinly slice off the peel of 1 lime and cut in strips.

2 tablespoons Chili-Tamarind Paste or 1 tablespoon Tamarind Concentrate plus 1/2

   teaspoon hot sauce

2 tablespoons Thai Fish sauce (nam pla)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 lb. medium shrimp or large shrimp

1/2 lb. mushrooms (oyster, shiitake, or button) sliced

5-6 fresh Thai chilesor small serrano chiles, stems removed and cut in half

Leafy cilantro sprigs

 

Put the lemon grass and lime leaves (or peel) into chicken stock and bring to a low boil. Stir in Chili-Tamarind, fish sauce, salt and lime juice and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Taste and add more salt if needed.

 

Add shrimp, mushrooms and cut chiles and simmer until shrimp are just cooked – about 1-2 more minutes. Serve immediately* in bowls with cilantro sprigs scattered over the soup.

 

*Shrimp that sits in hot soup too long gets tough & “dry”. If you want to make Tom Yum Kung ahead of time remove the shrimp as soon as they’re barely cooked, cool then add to the bowls when you’re ready to eat.

 

You probably won’t want to try eating the lemon grass and lime leaves unless on a dare. They tend to choke you. Go for the chiles!