Tag: Asian

Spicy Tuna, Miso Eggplant, and Avocado Rice Bowls

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My local seafood market is theeee absolute best. They have everything local, and if they don’t have it, they’ll tell you how to get it. The last time I stopped at my the market, I picked up some pristine tuna and roe, and with eggplant in season, these rice bowls were a hit.

Ingredients:

8 cups cooked sushi rice, warmed
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided, plus more to taste
7 ounces sushi-grade tuna, cut into small cubes
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
2 tablespoons masago (Japanese salt-cured smelt roe)
2 tablespoons Kewpie mayonnaise
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon chili crisp or chili oil
1 avocado
1 10-ounce Japanese eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 tablespoons avocado oil
cooking spray
1/4 cup white miso

1. Prepare the rice: stir together rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt in a small bowl until salt is dissolved. Drizzle over rice; gently fold together. Set rice aside and keep warm.

2. Make the tuna: stir together tuna, green onions, masago, mayonnaise, soy sauce, lemon juice, chili crisp, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl, and set aside.

3. Peel and cut avocado into 1-inch cubes and lightly season with salt. Set aside.

4. Prepare the eggplant: preheat oven to 425F degrees. Toss together eggplant and oil in a medium bowl. Spread on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet coated in cooking spray. Bake until tender, about 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.

5. Meanwhile, place miso and sugar in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; gently stir in roasted eggplant.

6. Assemble rice bowls: place 2 cups rice in each bowl and top evenly with tuna, avocado, and eggplant.

Shiitake Mushroom and Five-Spice Tofu Bun Noodle Bowls

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Vietnamese-style bun is the quintessential warm weather dish: fresh, light, and full of greens. There’s a lot of chopping involved to make this noodle bowl, but you can save yourself some time by chopping everything ahead of time and assembling the bowls at the last minute.

Ingredients:

For the quick pickles:
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1 3/4 cups peeled and shredded daikon
1 2/3 cups peeled and shredded carrots

For the mushrooms:
3 garlic cloves
2 serrano chiles
2 inches ginger root, peeled
2 lemongrass stalks, trimmed
3 teaspoons coconut sugar
1/4 cup fish sauce
12 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and halved (or quartered if large)
7 ounces firm tofu, cubed
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
Juice of 1 lime
Salt
2 tablespoons avocado oil

For the noodle bowls:
8 ounces dried thin rice noodles
1 1/2 cups bean sprouts
1/2 cucumber, sliced
Handful each of mint and Thai basil leaves
1 small head lettuce, thinly sliced
3/4 cup roasted peanuts, crushed

1. Make the pickles: combine the sugar, salt, and vinegar with 1/2 cup water in a bowl, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add the vegetables and set aside for 2 hours. Drain and serve, or chill them for up to 2 weeks.

2. Make the mushrooms: finely chop the garlic, chiles, ginger, and lemongrass in a mini food processor. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the sugar and fish sauce. Remove half of this mixture to a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

3. To the original large bowl, add the mushrooms, tofu, and five-spice, gently mixing to coat. Leave for 20 minutes to 1 hour.

4. Meanwhile, add the rice vinegar and the juice of 1 lime to the small bowl of reserved sauce along with 1 tablespoon of warm water. Stir, taste, and adjust with more lime juice, salt, or sugar to taste. Cover and set aside.

5. Cook the rice noodles according to the package instructions and drain under cold water. Blanch the bean sprouts in a saucepan of boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain again.

6. Divide the bean sprouts, noodles, cucumber, herbs, lettuce, and pickles between 4 large serving bowls, and set aside.

7. Set a large frying pan over high heat and add the oil. Add the tofu and mushroom mixture (leaving the liquid behind the bowl). Cook for 4 to 5 minutes until well browned. Add the liquid and cook until liquid is reduced and mushrooms and tofu are glazed, about 2 or 3 minutes.

8. Divide the tofu and mushroom mixture between the serving bowls. Scatter with the crushed peanuts and serve with the dipping sauce alongside each bowl to add to noodles.

Hawaiian Butter Mochi

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I’ve been making this Hawaiian butter mochi since I was a teenager. Adapted from a decades-old recipe from the now-defunct (endless sob) Gourmet Magazine, it’s the best (and easiset) butter mochi I’ve had to this day. Go ahead, try it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. 

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups (1 pound) mochiko (sweet rice flour)
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 (14 oz) cans coconut milk
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350F degrees.
  2. Whisk together mochiko, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together coconut milk, eggs, butter, and vanilla in another bowl. Add coconut mixture to flour mixture, whisking until batter is combined.
  3. Pour batter into an ungreased 13- by 9-inch baking pan, smoothing top, and bake until top is golden and cake begins to pull away from sides of pan, about 1 1/2 hours. Cook cake completely in pan on a rack, about 2 hours. Cut mochi into 24 squares before serving.

Dry-Fried Shrimp and Green Beans

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This classic shrimp and green bean stir-fry has a surprise ingredient: pickled ginger. Tossed with a healthy dose of garlic and fish sauce and served with rice, it’s hard to stop eating this easy entree.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound peeled and deveined raw large shrimp, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons avocado oil, divided
12 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces  
1/4 teaspoon salt  
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions  
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce  
1 1/2 tablespoons yellow pickled ginger, minced
3/4 teaspoon sugar

1. Heat a wok over high and add 1 tablespoon oil. Add beans, and sprinkle with salt; reduce heat to medium so that beans are barely sizzling. Cook, making quick scooping motions with a spatula, constantly stir-frying the beans until they just begin to blister and brown in spots and are almost tender, 3 to 6 minutes. Transfer beans to a plate.

2. Increase heat under wok to high, and swirl in remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Add garlic; cook, stir-frying constantly, until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add chopped shrimp, and break up any clumps using a spatula; cook, stir-frying constantly, until shrimp are just cooked through, about 2 minutes. Return beans to wok, and add green onions, fish sauce, pickled ginger, and sugar; cook, stir-frying constantly, about 1 minute.

Chicken Meatball Tantanmen

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It’s ramen season! Shio ramen, shoyu ramen, Hokkaido-style ramen, I don’t care. Gimme all the ramen.

I made this spicy chicken meatball tantanmen ramen in my donabe, adapted from my Donabe cookbook. It’s a bit of effort but the results are well worth it. Make sure to seek out fresh ramen noodles for this recipe, as they’ll stay springy in the hot broth.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground chicken or turkey
1 egg
1 tablespoon katakuriko (potato starch)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 plus 1 tablespoon sake
4 teaspoons finely grated peeled ginger
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 clove garlic, finely grated
4-5 green onions, minced (white part only) plus 1 green onion minced, for serving
1 teaspoon tobanjan (fermented chili bean paste)
3 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons miso (I used red miso)
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
5 leaves green or napa cabbage, cut into 1-inch pieces
7 ounces medium or firm tofu, cut into large cubes
1/4 cup tahini
3 ounces enoki mushrooms, trimmed and pulled apart
5 ounces mung bean sprouts
1 or 2 packages fresh ramen noodles, cooked, drained, and set aside
Ground toasted white sesame seeds, for serving
Chili crisp or la-yu (chili oil), for serving
Kurozu (Japanese black vinegar), or rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar, for serving

1. Make the meatballs: combine chicken, egg, potato starch, salt, pepper, 1 tablespoon sake, and 2 teaspoons ginger in a bowl and knead until combined and smooth. Set aside.

2. Heat the sesame oil in a donabe and saute the garlic, 2 teaspoons ginger, and half of the green onions over medium heat until aromatic, about 2 minutes. Push them to one side and add the tobanjan on the open side. Stir the tobanjan until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup sake and chicken stock. Whisk in the miso and add the soy sauce. Cover and bring to a simmer.

3. Add the cabbage and tofu to the broth. Form the chicken mixture into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and drop them into the broth. Cover and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through, about 5 minutes, then stir in the sesame paste. Add the mushrooms and bean sprouts and cook for 2 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining green onions and some ground sesame seeds and turn off the heat.

4. Assemble the cooked ramen noodles in individual bowls and carefully ladle the meatballs and broth mixture into the bowls. Add some chili crisp and vinegar to taste.