This isn’t a green salad, per se. This recipe came about one evening when I had an abundance of Persian cucumbers and not being quite sure what to do with them, I turned to Maangchi, my favorite Korean food blog. Gutjuli, or mixed green salad, is typically leafy, but I adapted it to be heavy on the cucumbers and light on the leaves. Either way, this dressing packs a punch and works well with nearly any fresh salad vegetable.
1. Slice cucumbers thinly and add to a large bowl along with the lettuce. Thinly slice the green onion and add it to the bowl.
2. Prepare the dressing by whisking together soy sauce, gochugaru, sugar, sesame seeds, and sesame oil. Mix the vegetables with the dressing and serve.
I’ve just returned from a trip to Tokyo and jet lag aside, it was everything my sushi-laden dreams are made of. I’m no early riser, but I even had sushi for breakfast one morning at Tsukiji fish market. The sushi was as good as I remembered it from my last trip a few years ago, and I’ve been craving it at home since I returned.
Thankfully, good sushi is within reach at home. For me, the toughest part is making the vinegared rice. I haven’t mastered it yet but I’ll keep trying until I get it right. It’s a great excuse to eat more sushi.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sushi rice
1 2/3 cups water
1 4-inch piece of kombu seaweed
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 to 15 toasted nori seaweed sheets
any assortment of the following filling ingredients: sliced sashimi-grade tuna, sliced sashimi-grade salmon, salmon roe, sea urchin, crab, barbecued eel, egg omelet, shiso leaves, takuan pickled daikon radish, sesame seeds, sliced cucumber, sliced avocado, green onions, soy-simmered shiitake mushrooms, umeboshi plums, soy-simmered kampyo gourd strips, cooked spinach
1. Make the vinegared rice: soak the kombu seaweed in the water for about one hour to make the stock. Wash the rice 30 minutes prior to cooking and drain on a sieve. Put the vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small pot and heat slightly until dissolved. This completes the vinegar dressing. Place the rice and stock into a rice cooker and cook according to cooker instructions. Transfer the rice to a large bowl and sprinkle with the vinegar dressing. Using a flat wooden spoon, toss the rice with horizontal cutting strokes while cooling the rice with a hand-fan. When tossing is completed, cover the rice with a clean cloth moistened with water.
2. Place a nori seaweed sheet on a maki-su bamboo mat. Put the vinegared rice lightly on the nori sheet and spread over the sheet, leaving 3/4-inch at the top and bottom uncovered.
3. Place filling ingredients of your choice horizontally on top of the rice.
4. Lift the edges of both the bamboo mat and nori sheet nearest you and bring over to meet the far edge of the sheet.
5. Gently but firmly press the bamboo mat around the roll to shape it. Push both ends of the rolls towards the center firmly a few times using a cloth or plastic wrap.
6. Cut in sixths or eighths crosswise. Clean the knife with water between cuttings. Serve with soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger.
Adas polo is comfort food. Simple to cook and customizable to taste, nearly every Iranian kid grew up with this lentil and rice dish. Like your adas polo sweet? Top with a sprinkling of fried raisins. Prefer it savory? Add extra fried onions. Craving a hit of tartness? Eat with a dollop of Middle Eastern yogurt.
This recipe comes courtesy of my mom, who always made me extra tahdig (the crispy rice at the bottom of the pot) to go with my adas polo. Now that’s love.
Ingredients:
3 cups basmati rice
1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
8 tablespoons oil
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
3 1/2 cups water
2 cups lentils
1/2 cup raisins
Iranian or Greek yogurt, to serve
1. Clean and wash 3 cups of rice 3 times in cold water.
2. In an electric rice cooker, combine 3 1/2 cups water, washed and drained rice, 1 tablespoon salt, and 4 tablespoons oil. Start the rice cooker. Cover and let cook for 15 minutes.
3. In the meantime, clean and wash lentils and boil in a pot of water and 1/2 teaspoon salt for 15 minutes over high heat. Drain.
4. Hollow out the middle of the rice mound and add the lentils. Cover and continue cooking for 60 minutes longer, then unplug cooker and let stand for 10 minutes without uncovering it.
5. Meanwhile, in a skillet, brown the onion in remaining 4 tablespoons oil. Using a slotted spoon, remove onions and place on a serving plate. Reserve oil in skillet.
6. Reheat skillet with oil and brown raisins until slightly plump, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove raisins and place on another serving plate.
7. Remove rice cooker lid and place a large serving dish on top of the rice cooker mold. Grasp them together firmly and turn pot upside down to unmold tahdig and rice onto the dish. Cut into wedges and serve with onions, raisins, and yogurt.
I’ve been trying to cook with lamb more often lately. I’ve always loved lamb Iranian-style, but there’s so much more out there. To paraphrase Aladdin, a whole new world (of lamb), if you will.
This spicy lamb stir-fry is adapted from the Shun Lee Cookbook and is just what I’ve been looking for. A word of caution, however: make sure your wok is super hot, otherwise you’ll end up with a mushy mess instead of nicely-seared meat.
Ingredients:
1 pound boneless leg of lamb, trimmed
1 egg
3 tablespoons cornstarch
vegetable oil
1/2 cup canned bamboo shoots, sliced
3 tablespoons rice wine
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon hot bean paste
pinch of ground pepper
1 leek, white part only, trimmed and cut into thin 1 1/2-inch-long strips
5 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
4 green onions, trimmed and sliced diagonally into 1/2-inch pieces
1. Cut the lamb across the grain into 1/4-inch thick slices. Cut the slices into pieces about 2 inches long. Mix the lamb with the egg, 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch, and 1 tablespoon water in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Heat a large wok over high heat. Add enough oil to come about 1 inch up the sides of the wok. Once hot, add the lamb carefully so the pieces don’t splash or stick to each other and gently stir-fry until they turn light brown, about 1 minute. Add the bamboo shoots and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Using a spatula, transfer the lamb and bamboo shoots to a plate. Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the oil from the wok.
3. To make the sauce, mix the rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, hot bean paste, and white pepper in a small bowl and set it aside. Dissolve the remaining cornstarch in 2 tablespoons cold water in another small bowl and set it aside.
4. Return the wok with the oil to high heat. Add the leek and garlic and stir-fry until the garlic is fragrant, about 20 seconds. Return the lamb and bamboo shoots to the wok; then add the green onions and the rice wine mixture and stir-fry for 20 seconds. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir-fry until the lamb turns a dark brown and the sauce has evenly coated the meat and vegetables, about 30 seconds. Serve hot.
I first made this dish several years ago, adapted from a recipe in the now defunct Gourmet Magazine. Since then, it’s become my most-requested meat entree, and even though it takes a some work to pull off, it’s worth it. Make sure to serve this with plenty of steamed rice to soak up the sauce.
Ingredients:
2 bunches green onions
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded
salt and pepper
1 pound sirloin steak
2 square sheets of nori seaweed, torn into small pieces
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a small saucepan of boiling water, blanch the green onions for 2 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water. Set a rack on a baking sheet and arrange the shiitake mushroom caps on the rack, gill sides down. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
2. Season the steak with salt. In a food processor or spice grinder, coarsely grind the nori with the sesame seeds, red pepper and 1 teaspoon black pepper. Spread the nori mixture on a plate and dredge the steak in it.
3. In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil until shimmering. Add the steak and cook over high heat until the nori is toasted, about 4 minutes per side. Place the steak over the mushrooms and roast for about 15 minutes, until the meat is medium rare. Transfer the steak to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, quarter the mushroom caps. In a small bowl, whisk the soy sauce with the mirin, lemon juice and the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil.
5. Slice the steak 1/4 inch thick and arrange it on plates with the shiitake mushrooms and scallions. Drizzle the soy mixture over the steak and serve.
