These lightly breaded herby shrimp are so versatile. Want an easy appetizer? Check. A main dish for a vaguely Mediterranean dinner? You got it. These broil fast, so pay attention.
Ingredients:
2 pounds shrimp, peeled
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon avocado oil
1 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Salt
Pepper
Put the olive and avocado oils in a large bowl and add the shrimp, mixing them to coat. Add the bread crumbs, garlic, and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Toss the shrimp to give them an even coating of bread crumbs. Cover and let marinate for at least one hour.
Thread the shrimp onto skewers, curling them as you do so that the tail is skewered in the middle. Arrange the skewered shrimp on a baking sheet fitted with a grill.
Preheat the broiler. Place the baking sheet with the shrimp about six inches from the broiler and cook for about 2 minutes on each side, until shrimp are cooked through.
It’s salmon season! Kind of. Okay, so there’s no salmon season in California this year (thanks, climate change), but you can use any wild salmon in this easy and comforting dish. Chopped water chestnuts add crunch to the filling, making these patties oh-so-easy to eat.
Ingredients:
1/2 pound skinless salmon fillets, cut into 1-inch pieces
For the marinade:
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine or dry sherry
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped water chestnuts
1 egg, lightly beaten
Cornstarch for dry-coating
3/4 cup panko
3 tablespoons avocado oil
Place salmon in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add marinade ingredients. Process until mixture is smooth. Remove the salmon mixture to a bowl. Add water chestnuts and mix well. Let stand for 10 minutes.
To make each patty, take 1/4 cup salmon mixture and shape into a patty. Dip patty in egg, drain briefly, then coat with panko.
Place a wide frying pan over medium heat until hot. Add oil, swirling to coat sides. Add patties and cook until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
These are my OG, been-making-them-since-I-was-thirteen, classic spring rolls. Adapted from the legend himself (Martin Yan, obv), this is the spring roll recipe I still find myself going back to. They’re a bit of work but oh-so-worth it. I recommend Menlo brand spring roll wrappers for the crunchiest exterior.
Ingredients:
Filling:
3 dried shiitake mushrooms
4 ounces dried bean thread noodles
1 carrot, shredded
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced napa cabbage
3 green onions, sliced
3/4 pound boneless chicken
Marinade:
2 tablespoons chicken broth
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon five-spice powder
1 tablespoon avocado oil
20 spring roll wrappers
Avocado oil for shallow-frying
Soak mushrooms in warm water to cover until softened, about 15 minutes; drain. Trim stems and thinly slice caps. Soak bean threads in warm water to cover until softened, about 15 minutes; drain. Cut bean thread noodles into 4-inch lengths. Combine mushrooms and bean thread noodles in a large bowl and add remaining filling ingredients; mix well.
Cut chicken into thin slices, about 2 inches long. Combine marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Add chicken and stir to coat. Let stand for 10 minutes.
Place a wok over high heat until hot. Add 1 tablespoon oil, swirling to coat sides. Add chicken and stir-fry for about 5 minutes or until cooked through. Remove the chicken mixture and add to the bowl with the filling and mix.
To make each spring roll, place a wrapper on work surface with one side facing you. Place 3 tablespoons filling in a band along base of wrapper. Fold bottom over filling, then fold in left and right sides. Tightly roll up to completely enclose filling.
Heat oil (enough to be 1-inch deep) in a wok or frying pan to medium-high. Shallow-fry spring rolls, a few at a time, and cook, turning carefully occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels.
This pasta screams summertime. Tossed in a light salsa rossa made with fresh tomatoes, this garlicky spaghetti is full of buttery eggplant, piquillo peppers, and loads of basil.
Ingredients:
For the salsa rossa:
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound tomatoes, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
Pinch of hot red pepper flakes
10 basil leaves, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
For the spaghetti:
2 medium eggplants, skins on, cut in 1-inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup olive oil, divided
4 cups diced fresh tomatoes
10 canned piquillo peppers
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 cup fresh basil leaves, cut into strips
Pinch of hot red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves or 1 tablespoon dried
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 pound spaghetti
Grated Parmesan cheese
Make the salsa rossa: Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add tomatoes, garlic, and red pepper flakes, and saute until tomatoes are soft. Stir in fresh basil, and add salt and pepper to taste. Puree or leave chunky.
Make the spaghetti: Place the eggplant in a colander, sprinkle with salt, and let rest for one hour.
Pat eggplant dry. In a large skillet, heat 1/2 cup oil on high. Add one layer of eggplant and cook until crispy on one side. Do not stir. Turn to crisp the other side. Eggplant will shrink and crisp. Repeat until all the eggplant is crispy.
In a wide pot, heat 1/4 cup olive oil, add diced tomatoes and peppers, and cook on high, stirring, for about 3 minutes. Lower heat, add garlic, and cook for 2 more minutes. Add eggplant and salsa rossa, and cook, stirring gently. Add basil, red pepper flakes, oregano, and parsley.
In a large pot, bring salted water to boil and cook spaghetti until al dente. Drain, reserving 2 cups cooking water. Add pasta to sauce and cook over high heat 2 to 3 minutes, adding a little pasta water if needed. Serve with grated Parmesan.
I’ll be real with you: the first time I made this nasi lemak I told myself I wouldn’t make it again. It took too long to make! Too many components. But then I took a coconuty, eggy, cucumbery, peanuty bite, and uh, I guess this one’s a keeper. Crunchy, crispy, savory, and sweet, this Malaysian classic has it all.
Ingredients:
3 1/2 ounces dried bird chiles or dried chiles de arbol 1 cup avocado oil 1/2 cup peanuts 2 1/2 cups small dried anchovies 2 shallots, halved 3 garlic cloves 2 Holland chiles (or similar red chile), stems removed, halved lengthwise 4 teaspoons sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons tamarind paste 2 cups jasmine rice 1 teaspoon salt 3 pandan leaves 1/2 cup coconut milk 4 eggs 2 Persian cucumbers or 1/2 English cucumber, cut in half lengthwise, thinly sliced crosswise Soy sauce, for serving
1. Chop dried chiles into 1/2-inch pieces, discarding the seeds that fall out. Place in a small bowl and pour in boiling water to cover. Let sit 30 minutes to soften, then drain.
2. Meanwhile, bring oil and peanuts to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook, adjusting heat as needed, until peanuts are golden brown, 6–8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer nuts to paper towels to drain; set aside for serving. Immediately add anchovies to oil and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2 minutes. Transfer to paper towels; let cool. Set ¼ cup oil aside.
3. Pulse shallots, garlic, and 1/4 cup fried anchovies (save remaining anchovies for serving) in a food processor until a smooth paste forms. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add dried and Holland chiles to food processor (no need to clean) and pulse until very smooth and no visible pieces of dried chile remain. Transfer chile puree to a small bowl.
4. Heat reserved oil in a medium skillet over medium-high until shimmering. Add shallot mixture and cook, stirring, until slightly darkened in color and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Mix in chile puree and cook, stirring often, until it starts to stick to bottom of skillet, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Add sugar, tamarind concentrate, and 1/4 cup water and cook, stirring often, until sambal is much darker in color and thickened, 25–35 minutes.(Sambal ikan bilis can be made 1 week ahead. Let cool; cover and chill.)
5. Make the rice: place rinsed/cleaned rice in a medium saucepan and cover with 2½ cups cold water; stir in salt. Gather pandan leaves together and tie into a knot; add to pan. Bring rice to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cover pan and reduce heat to low; cook 18 minutes. Remove lid and stir in coconut milk. Cover, remove from heat, and let sit 5 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Lower eggs into water. Cook 10 minutes, then transfer to a bowl of ice water and let cool. Peel eggs and cut in half lengthwise.
7. Combine sambal ikan bilis, reserved fried peanuts, and reserved fried anchovies in a medium bowl and toss to evenly coat. Scoop a generous ½ cup sambal mixture into a 12-oz. bowl. Top with 1½ cups rice and pack into bowl with a rubber spatula to compress. The bowl should be filled to the rim. Place a slightly larger bowl upside down over bowl of rice. Invert so larger bowl is now on the bottom; lift off smaller bowl. You should have a dome of rice and anchovy mixture nestled in the center of the larger bowl. Arrange 8 cucumber slices around rice dome, overlapping slightly to make a semicircle. Add 2 egg halves to side of rice with no cucumber slices; season yolks lightly with soy sauce. Repeat with remaining rice, sambal mixture, cucumbers, and eggs to make 3 more bowls.
