Category: Pasta, Rice and Bread

Green Curry with Rice Noodles and Mussels

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This coconut curry is the kind of dish that tastes too good to be healthy. Brimming with greens and herbs, this meal in a bowl comes together in about half an hour. I love everything about this dish: the vibrant green, the creamy coconut, the salty mussels. Oh, and rice noodles. Gimme all the noodles.

Green coconut curry with mussels

Ingredients:

1 serrano chile, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 3-inch piece ginger, peeled and sliced
2 lemongrass stalks, bottom third only, tough outer layers removed, sliced
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1/2 14-ounce can coconut milk
2 cups cilantro leaves with tender stems
3 cups basil leaves, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons coconut oil
4 pounds mussels, scrubbed
8 ounces rice stick noodles
1/2 lime
Salt

1. Puree chile, ginger, lemongrass, garlic, fish sauce, brown sugar, and 3 cups water in a blender until smooth. Transfer curry to a bowl. Reserve blender (no need to clean).

2. Puree coconut milk, cilantro, 3 cups basil, and 1/4 cup cold water in blender until smooth; set herb puree aside.

3. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high. Add mussels, cover, and cook until mussels open, about 7 minutes. Uncover and transfer opened mussels to a bowl, reserving cooking liquid in saucepan. If any mussels are still closed, cover and cook a few minutes longer, then add to bowl with others; discard any mussels that don’t open.

4. Add curry base to saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

5. In the meantime, cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water.

6. Pour any accumulated mussel-cooking liquid into curry mixture and stir in herb puree; bring to a boil. Immediately remove from heat and add reserved mussels and squeeze in juice from lime. Taste and season with salt if needed. Serve warm in bowls and garnish with reserved basil leaves.

Miso Banana Bread

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Welcome to your new favorite banana bread recipe. Contrary to what you might be thinking, no, you can’t taste the miso in the final product here. Instead, it’s like someone took banana bread and amped up the taste, resulting in this deeply flavorful, showstopping treat. I’ve adapted this recipe from the original in Food & Wine, and my version is on regular rotation this days in casa yogurtsoda.

Miso banana bread

Ingredients:

5 overripe bananas
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup white miso
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Butter and flour a 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch metal loaf pan. In a bowl, using 
a fork, mash 4 of the bananas until chunky. In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

2. Using a mixer fitted with the paddle, mix the butter, sugar and miso at medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. At low speed, slowly add the buttermilk, then beat in 
the eggs 1 at a time until incorporated. Beat in the mashed bananas; the batter will look curdled. Add the dry ingredients and mix until blended. Scrape into the prepared pan.

3. Slice the remaining banana lengthwise and arrange the halves on top of the batter side by side, cut side up. Bake for 
1 hour and 20 minutes. Let the bread cool for 30 minutes before turning out to cool completely.

Chicken Soup with Sticky Rice

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‘Tis the season for rainy days, for heavy coats, for wanting nothing more than to curl up with a bowl of warm soup and binge-watch Game of Thrones. Winter is coming, y’all.

My favorite thing about this time of year is cold-weather cooking; namely, soups! Especially this one: an easy-to-make but complex-tasting chicken soup redolent with Vietnamese flavors of fish sauce, cilantro, and chiles. Make sure you add enough chicken broth: as the soup cools and settles, the sticky rice will thicken the soup.

Vietnamese sticky rice and chicken soup

Ingredients:

3 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 5-inch piece dried kombu
1 3-inch piece ginger, peeled, crushed
4 star anise pods
1 2-inch cinnamon stick
3 cloves
6 cups chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup glutinous (sticky) rice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup thinly sliced white onion

1. Bring chicken, kombu, ginger, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, stock, and 2 cups water to a simmer in a large pot over moderate heat. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook until chicken is tender. Transfer chicken to a plate.

2. Strain broth through a fine-mesh sieve into another pot; discard solids. Return broth to large pot and add rice, fish sauce, and sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook until rice is very tender, about minutes. Shred chicken and return to pot; season soup with more fish sauce if needed.

3. Divide soup among bowls and garnish with green onions, jalapeno, cilantro, and white onion.

Green Onion Pancakes

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This might be the first bread I learned to make. I was practically a baby Yogurtsoda, obsessed with PBS’ roster of cooking shows in the 1990s. Martin Yan’s Yan Can Cook was one of my favorites and these chewy green onion pancakes looked like an irresistible snack, so I learned how to cook them.

Rolling out the dough for this unleavened bread takes a bit of getting used to but once you get the hang of it, the rest is easy. The accompanying dipping sauce isn’t authentic, but it adds a deliciously savory layer of flavor to the final dish.

Green onion pancakes

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups warm water
1/4 cup cooking oil plus additional for pan-frying
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 cup plus 2 teaspoons chopped green onions
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce

1. Place flour in a bowl. Add water, stirring with a fork, until dough holds together. On a lightly floured board, knead dough until smooth and satiny, about 5 minutes. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.

2. Combine chicken broth, soy sauce, 2 teaspoons green onions, garlic, and chili garlic sauce in a bowl and set aside.

3. On a lightly floured board, roll dough into a cylinder, then cut into 12 portions. To make each pancake, roll a portion of dough to make an 8-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick; keep remaining dough covered to prevent drying. Brush with cooking oil. Sprinkle sesame oil, green onions, salt, and pepper on top. Roll dough into a cylinder and coil dough into a round patty; tuck end of dough underneath. Roll again to make an 8-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick.

4. Place a 10-inch frying pan over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil, swirling to coat sides. Add a pancake and cook until golden brown on each side, about 4 minutes total. Remove and drain on paper towels. Add more oil as needed and repeat with remaining pancakes.

5. Cut pancakes into wedges and serve with dipping sauce on the side.

Bibimbap

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Bibimbap! Fun to say, funner to eat. This colorful Korean rice bowl is endlessly adaptable. Keep the toppings vegetarian or add extra meat if you please. Go heavy on the seafood. Add your egg yolk raw. Or top it with a fried egg instead. The world is your oyster. (Ooh, how about oysters on bibimbap though? Can you do that?)

Bibimbap

Ingredients:

8 ounces ground beef or flank steak, cut into matchsticks
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons gochugaru
5 teaspoons sesame oil, plus more for serving
4 teaspoons sesame seeds
2 cups soybean sprouts
8 ounces spinach
2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
3 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
8 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
6 cups freshly cooked rice
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup gochujang
salt

1. Make the spicy soy seasoning: combine 1/4 cup soy sauce, green onions, 1 teaspoon garlic, sugar, gochugaru, 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, and 2 teaspoons sesame oil in a bowl. Heat 1 teaspoon vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and add the beef, stirring to break up into small pieces and until cooked through and slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

2. Combine the meat, remaining tablespoon soy sauce, honey, remaining tablespoon garlic, 2 teaspoons sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon sesame seeds in a large bowl. Set aside.

3. Clean the soybean sprouts and pick out any brownish roots. Put the sprouts in a saucepan, add 1/2 cup water, cover, and cook over high heat for 5 minutes. Drain and mix with a pinch of salt and 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil. Set aside.

4. Blanch the spinach in boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain and rinse under cold water. Drain again and squeeze out excess water. Coarsely chop the spinach and mix with a pinch of salt and 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil. Set aside.

5. Heat 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil in a skillet over high heat. Add the carrots and cook until slightly wilted, about 1 minute. Remove from the skillet and set aside.

6. Combine the zucchini and and pinch of salt in a bowl and let stand for a few minutes, then pat dry. Add the zucchini and saute until slightly wilted, about 1 minute. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil, remove from the skillet, and set aside.

7. Combine the cucumber and and pinch of salt in a bowl and let stand for a few minutes, then pat dry. Add the cucumber and saute until slightly wilted, about 1 minute. Remove from the skillet, and set aside.

8. Heat 1 teaspoon vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and add the mushrooms, stirring occasionally until softened, about 3 minutes. Remove and set aside.

9. To serve, divide the hot rice between 4 to 6 bowls and arrange the vegetables and beef on the rice. Top with egg yolks while the rice is still hot. Sprinkle the bibimbap with sesame seeds, drizzle with sesame oil to taste, and serve with gochujang and soy seasoning sauce on the side.