Author: Mariam

California Crab Rice Bowls

Posted on

If you’ve known me for more than five minutes, you know I absolutely lose it for Dungeness crab. I will prepare and eat it in all its permutations, and one of my favorites is this rice bowl, which is basically an elevated California roll in bowl format. It’s healthy and delicious, so eat to your heart’s content.

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups cold water, divided
  • 1 (5 by 3-inch) piece kombu
  • 1/4 cup loosely packed katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
  • 1/4 cup chopped peeled ginger plus 1 teaspoon grated peeled ginger, divided
  • 2 cups uncooked sushi rice, rinsed
  • 1/2 cup sake
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons salt
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1 garlic clove, grated
  • 2 cups Dungeness crab meat
  • 1 avocado, thinly sliced
  • 1 Persian or 1/2 English cucumber, seeded and diced
  • Smelt roe or tobiko, thinly sliced nori, and toasted sesame seeds, for serving
  1. Place 1 1/2 cups cold water and kombu in a small saucepan; heat over high until steaming. Remove from heat; sprinkle katsuobushi over broth, and steep 3 minutes. Strain dashi into a bowl; discard solids. (Alternatively, make 1 cup dashi using instant dashi granules.)
  2. Process remaining 1/2 cup water and chopped ginger in a blender until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour ginger water through a fine wire-mesh strainer; discard solids.
  3. Prepare a rice cooker: combine rinsed rice, 1 cup dashi, ginger water, sake, and salt, and cover. Cook rice according to rice cooker instructions and set aside, keeping rice warm.
  4. Meanwhile, bring brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, and grated ginger to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-low. Boil until sauce thickens to a syrup consistency, about 5 minutes. Let cool, and reserve.
  5. Divide rice among four serving bowls, and top with crab and avocado. Top evenly with cucumber, roe, nori, and sesame seeds, and serve immediately with sweet soy glaze.

Garlic Noodles with Dungeness Crab

Posted on

If you’ve spent time in San Francisco then you know the city’s garlic noodles are iconic. They’re on countless menus but the original lies with Thanh Long, a classic Vietnamese restaurant in the Sunset District, that I lived near to many moons ago.

This dish is a love letter to Thanh Long’s infamous noodles. It’s absolutely worth seeking out fresh Dungeness crab for the best flavor.

Ingredients:
  • 1 pound fresh wheat noodles or spaghetti pasta
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 onion, sliced
  • 8 ounces lump crabmeat, preferably Dungeness
  • 1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked or sweet paprika
  • Black pepper
  • 1 green onion, sliced, for serving
  1. Cook the noodles to al dente according to package directions. Drain and rinse well with cold water.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar, and 1 tablespoon water to blend. Set sauce aside.
  3. In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 tablespoon each of the olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add one-third of the garlic and cook, stirring, for about a minute. Add the onion and stir-fry until the garlic just begins to brown, about another minute. Add the crab, Cajun seasoning, paprika, and pepper to taste. Cook for another minute, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
  4. Return the skillet to medium heat and add the remaining 1 tablespoon each olive oil and butter. Add the remaining minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute or two. Add the sauce, let it warm up, then add the cooked noodles. Mix well to coat the noodles with the sauce, then add about 1/4 of the crab mixture and stir for another minute to warm through.
  5. Transfer the noodles to a serving platter and top with the remaining crab mixture, garnish with the green onions and pepper, and serve.

Chickpea Curry with Spinach “Puttu”

Posted on

I absolutely love puttu, the ubiquitious steamed ground rice dish that is popular in Sri Lanka and South India. I also cannot remotely figure out how to make puttu for the life of me. Enter couscous, a not-so-authentic shortcut that emulates that puttu feeling and satiates my cravings (oh, how I wish the Bay Area had more Sri Lankan and South Indian restaurants). Adapted from the Rambutan cookbook, this spinach-flecked puttu goes perfectly with fiery chickpea curry.

Ingredients:

For the chickpea curry:

  • 2 golf ball-sized pieces of tamarind, soaked in 1/2 cup warm water for 10 minutes
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil, divided
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 2 teaspoons fenugreek seeds
  • 20 curry leaves, divided
  • 2 14-ounce cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons Sri Lankan curry powder
  • 1/2 can coconut milk (about 3/4 cup)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons black mustard seeds

For the spinach puttu

  • 3/4 cup couscous
  • 3/4 cup boiling water
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1/2 pound spinach (or kale), finely chopped
  • 1 serrano chili, finely chopped
  • 1 red onion, divided: 1/2 finely diced and 1/2 thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 cup fresh grated coconut (frozen is fine)
  • 10 curry leaves
  • 2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 1/2 lime
  1. Make the chickpea curry: Squeeze the tamarind with your fingers, then discard the seeds and skin through a fine-mesh strainer, saving the tamarind water.
  2. Heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic, and fry until the onion is lightly browned. Add the fenugreek seeds and 10 curry leaves and fry, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes.
  3. Add the chickpeas, tamarind water, salt, and Sri Lankan curry powder. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer for 20-30 minutes with the lid partially covering the saucepan. Stir in the coconut milk and cook for 3 minutes to warm through. Plate in a serving bowl and set aside.
  4. In the meantime, make the temper: heat the remaining tablespoon coconut oil in a small frying pan over medium-high heat, add the remaining 10 curry leaves and black mustard seeds. After about 1 minute, when the curry leaves are crispy, pour the temper over the chickpea curry.
  5. Make the spinach puttu: Place the couscous and boiling water in a saucepan, sprinkle with salt to taste, stir, and tightly cover. Set aside for 12 minutes until couscous is tender. (Alternatively, cook couscous according to package directions.) Gently fluff couscous with a fork and set aside.
  6. In the meantime, add the oil to a saucepan over medium-high heat, and saute the spinach, serrano chili, onion, and a pinch of salt for 4 minutes, until the onion is softened. Remove from heat.
  7. Gently fold together the spinach mixture, couscous, sugar, and grated coconut and set aside.
  8. Put the curry leaves, 1/2 teaspoon salt, fenugreek seeds, and red onion in a small saucepan and cover with 1 1/2 inches water. Bring to a boil and after 2 minutes, add the coconut milk and stir until it is heated through. Remove from heat and just before serving, squeeze in the lime juice. To serve, pour the fenugreek mixture over the puttu and serve alongside the chickpea curry.

Ground Chicken Curry

Posted on

What if I told you this extremely unprofessionally plated curry is incredibly delicious and deserved some proper lighting and staging before I dove straight into it? Redolent with curry leaves and loads of earthy spices, this comforting ground chicken curry is perfect with basmati rice. You can serve it with yogurt and chutney too, or do like I do and serve it with tahdig and torshi for an Iranian-South Asian fusion situation.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 pinch asafetida powder
  • 2 serrano chiles
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 5 to 10 curry leaves
  • 1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves
  • 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 2 tablespoons minced ginger
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 cups chopped tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 2 pounds ground chicken
  • 5 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon garam masala
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the asafetida, serrano chiles, bay leaf, curry leaves, fenugreek, 1 teaspoon of the turmeric, and the onion. Saute until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add the ginger and garlic to the pot. Saute about 5 minutes, until they begin to brown, then add the tomatoes and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
  3. Transfer the onion and spice mixture to a food processor, reserving the pot. Add the yogurt to the food processor and pulse until a paste is formed, about 30 seconds. Set aside.
  4. Place the peas in the reserved pot over medium heat. Cook until they are thawed, about 1 minute. Add the ground chicken and 1 cup of water, stirring, then add the butter and cook until it is melted, about 5 minutes.
  5. Add the remaining teaspoon of turmeric, the Kashmiri chili powder, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, adding more salt to taste if needed. Stir in the yogurt paste. Cook, covered, for 10 minutes.
  6. Remove the pot from the heat, stir in the garam masala and cilantro, and serve with rice.

Sri Lankan Yellow Rice

Posted on

This super easy yellow rice goes well with almost anything but my favorite way to serve it is alongside vegetable or legume curries, especially roasted squash curry. Or simply top with with a fried egg, some sambol and a spoonful of yogurt, and you have yourself an easy and satisfying rice bowl.

Ingredients:
  • 1 heaping cup basmati rice
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 cardamom pods, lightly smashed in a mortar and pestle
  • 4 cloves
  • 10 black peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 10 curry leaves
  • 2-inch piece pandan leaf
  • 1 1/4 cups chicken stock
  • 3/4 cup coconut milk
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  1. Rinse and drain the rice and set aside. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion and fry for 5-7 minutes, until it is lightly golden brown. Add all the spices, the curry leaves, the pandan leaf, and the rice. Fry for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
  2. Add the chicken stock, coconut milk, and salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer, cover with a lid, and cook for 12 minutes, until the rice is tender. Remove from the heat, remove the whole spices from the rice, and serve.