Breakfast of Champions Asian Style: Kabocha Porridge with Sesame Oil Fried Eggs

I LOVE porridge, risotto, grits, anything in that comforting soupy realm is all good.  Growing up in a Taiwanese household, we didn't eat egg mcmuffins, waffles, or pancakes for breakfast.  We ate porridge.  It is so comforting to me to eat a warm bowl of porridge with some eggs or veggies on the side during the cold winter mornings.  Gives me the strength to face the day, well at least until lunch. ><

So this is my favorite winter time breakfast: a simple Kabocha Squash (Japanese winter squash) porridge with a side of pan fried eggs over medium.











There are two hidden ingredients that makes this meal so delish: sesame oil and white pepper.

Any self-respecting cook of Asian cuisine should have these two items in their pantry at all times.

Sesame oil has a very strong rich flavor that just resonnates "Asia" so be careful...a little goes a long way!

White pepper powder gives just enough heat and slight punch with almost a curry-like flavor as well.  It's warming and not as invasive or sharp as cracked black pepper.


TIP: get the white peppercorns instead of the powder.  Freshly cracked white peppercorns are so much more potent so you need a lot less than the packaged powder.








Quick note about the following recipes: all the ingredient measurements are just approximates to taste and preference.

Kabocha Porridge
1 cup of raw rice cooked in 3 cups of chicken stock (about 1 hour)
OR
1 cup of cooked (day old) rice cooked in 2 cups of chicken stock over medium low heat saucepan for about 10-15 minutes
* Cooking time is dependent on your preferred consistency of the porridge.  The longer you cook it, the more the rice breaks down in the porridge and the thicker it gets.

When the porridge is about 5 minutes to preferred consistency, cut  the Kabocha into 1 inch bite size pieces and drop into porridge to cook the remaining 5 minutes.
* To see if Kabocha is cooked through take a toothpick or chopstick and stick it through a piece of the squash.  If it goes through easily then it's done.

Pinch of salt and crack of white pepper to taste.

Fried Eggs in Sesame Oil
Add about a teaspoon of cooking oil and a half teaspoon of sesame oil to a nonstick pan over medium high heat.  When you see a little smoke coming off the pan and the oils move easily across the pan, crack 1 or 2 eggs into the pan.

Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and when you see a slight brown edge forming, flip the egg(s) over with a spatula.  Cook for another minute, turn off the heat, and remove eggs from the pan.  Sprinkle more salt to taste.

If you like egg yolks more runny then only cook the eggs for a 15-30 seconds after the flip.  The idea behind a good fried egg is to get that brown crisp edge.

Brussel Sprouts Braised with Soy Sauce

Brussel sprouts are a very new veggie to me. Before I came to the States few years ago, I was completely unfamiliar with these tiny cabbage looking "sprouts." Over the years I've learned to enjoy this nutrients-packed vegetable in different ways. The recipe I am showing today was created with my Asian instinct - soy sauce.

I wanted to use soy sauce because Brussel sprouts seem to me as more difficult to season, especially I like keep them in halves and enjoy the symmetrical patter on their cut sides. Plus, soy sauce goes well with everything. (Like cheese!)



Ingredients:

handful of Brussel sprouts. Stem and outer leaves removed and cleaned.
half tablespoon of oil
one tablespoon of soy sauce
one teaspoon of sugar
two tablespoon of water

Heat the pan with oil over medium heat. When oil is hot, stir in Brussel sprouts in the pan and coat all halves with oil. When the temperature in the pan returns high, add soy sauce and sugar and mix well. Add water and cover the pan with a lid for 3 minutes. Remove the lid and turn up the heat to make excess liquid evaporates.
Ready to serve!

Toasted pine nuts work great here too.

Taiwanese Burrito (aka Taiwanese Spring Rolls)

I know I've grossly neglected this blog to the point of abandonment, but I have returned with one of my favorite family dishes that can't be found in any restaurant in So Cal, at least to my knowledge and believe me, I've searched.  My family would make these Taiwanese burritos a few times a year during special occasions or family gatherings because it's really more fun to eat in a group with everyone taking turns at the ingredients bar.  All of us would try and see who can make the biggest burrito without breaking the delicate wrap, Grandpa is the champ!  It's super healthy and quite simple, but it does take a bit of work and knife skills.  Just like a burrito or lasagna, this is a dish that can be altered and you can make many different versions.  This is the basic veggie version, but feel free to add tofu, various meats, or other veggies to the mix.

Ingredients:

* Some of the Asian specific ingredients can be found at a specialty market, the ethnic section of your local market, or a 99 Ranch supermarket

Spring roll wrappers, don't need to be cooked, but they do dry out easily, so take them out of the packaging at the last minute and cover with a clean damp kitchen towel or wet paper towel.

Sweet chili sauce is the glue that holds the wrap together and tastes sweeter than spicy but adds just the right amount of tang and kick!

Egg &amp; Beancurd: This is where the work starts to happen, each item needs to be prepared and finely sliced.  Beat a couple eggs and poor it in a nonstick pan with a little cooking oil over medium heat.  Let the egg mixture cook on one side and become a sheet, similar to an omelette, flip it over carefully and let the other side cook.  Add salt and pepper remove from heat and slice into strips.  Now let's talk about beancurd.  What is it? It's an Asian product, specifically Chinese/Taiwanese and is basically a tofu cake made from soy beans.  I often use it as a meat substitute, it's a great source of protein with a mild flavor, and can be used in a variety of ways.  For this particular dish, you slice the beancurd into strips and blanche in boiling water for a few minutes, drain, and stir fry in a non stick pan with a little cooking oil, salt, and pepper.  

Pickled radish: very salty and you can buy already prepared, but I like to chop even finer and toast slightly in a pan.  One of my friends call them little crunchy flavor bombs!

Peanut powder: I'd choose to have this over peanut butter any day and its bascially the same ingredients just in a different texture.  Finely ground roasted peanuts tossed with sugar.  It's a must! Adds just the right amount of a little sweetness and it helps to absorb the moisture from the veggies so that the spring roll wrapper doesn't break as easily.

Celery, carrots, and cilantro: shredded and slices extra fine

Shredded cabbage, the main veggie.  I like to julianne everything myself with a knife, I like that texture better and each veggie can still hold it's own character.  If you shred it with a grater, I feel that everything becomes too mushy.

Snow peas: clean, trim, and definitely chop into strips by hand

Stir fry all the veggies together in a large wok or pan, the veggies will cook down so you might have to do separate batches

Instructions:

Pretty much all the ingredient prep is most of the work, after you finish prepping all the ingredients, lay it all out on the kitchen table with the wrappers and each person can build their own burrito.  There are some basic guidelines, always start with the dry ingredients and end with the sweet chili sauce.  This way the dry ingredients absorb all the veggie juices and the wrappers will break more easily when wet.  See how big you can build your burrito without it breaking, though if it does break, just eat with a fork, no need to panic =)  Here's how I do it, step by step...

Bite into that!

Sitr fried gobo root with beef

Gobo root, also known as burdock, is a common ingredient in many Asian cuisines. It is low in calorie and high in fiber, calcium and potassium. Gobo root stir fried with beef is a popular dish in Japanese izakaya. Compared to burger and fries, this is probably one of the healthiest beer food.

Ingredients:

1 gobo root (can be found in Asian market, Japanese market with the highest chance)
4 oz of beef, thinly sliced and cut into strips
1 tablespoon of white sesame seeds

Seasonings:

1 tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon of mirin
2 dried red chili
1 teaspoon of sesame oil

Marinade:

1 tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 teaspoon of potato starch

Steps:

1. mix beef with all the marinade ingredients
2. clean bogo roots with a piece of crumbled tin foil and rinse with water
3. toast sesame seeds on a flat pan till fragrant, remove and set aside
4. use a shredder to shred gobo roots into 2"-3" strips, keep the shredded gobo in cold salted water to avoid oxidation
5. heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan and cook beef till medium, remove and set aside
6. use the remaining oil to cook shredded gobo, add all seasonings except sesame oil
7. cook till gobo is soft, then add beef to the pan. add some water if the mixture needs moist
8. cook till beef is well done, mix in the sesame seeds and sesame oil before serving

Beef Stew

I'm not a chef or an expert on cooking by any means.  I am a homecook and I take my Asian roots with my American roots to mesh and create what is delicious to me.  With that said, this beef stew is another concoction that I created from the familiar flavors of my childhood without any formal training for a traditional authentic Chinese beef stew.  Although I would argue that this is authentic to me.

I saw this beautiful piece of beef shank suprisingly at our local downtown LA Ralphs supermarket.  Now, beef shank is tricky because being the leg of the cow, it has many tendons and needs to cook slowly for a long time to break down and tenderize otherwise it can be very tough and chewy.  Perfect for stew and incidentally its a cheaper cut of meat, which is always a plus!  

Ingredients (rough estimates):

1-2 Beef shanks

1 Package of seaweed

1 Package of Soy Bean Curd cubed

2 Carrots chopped

3 Red Jalepeno Chilis chopped

Rice Wine (Michiu)

Soy Sauce

3 Cloves of Garlic

3 Slices of Ginger

3 pieces of Star Anise

 Directions:

Cube the shank into one inch size pieces

 Throw all the ingredients in a pot with a generous splash of Michiu rice wine and about 2-3 tablespoons of soy sauce, then add water until the liquid just covers the ingredients.

Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and let simmer for about 45 - 60 minutes.  Enjoy the tender yumminess over rice or add some more water and cook some noodles in the mix for some beef noodle soup...mmmmmm....

Heart of Green

I LOVE avocados!  The natural creamy goodness, the subtle yet intoxicating flavor, and something about cutting open the rough unattractive outer shell to find such beautiful green flesh never ceases to amaze me.  The Chinese term for avocado literally translates to "butter fruit".  Avocados are nature's butter.  Give me a piece of toast with half an avocado sliced on top with a little salt and pepper and I'm content with life. =)

This Green Goddess Breakfast is my perfect way to start the day...

Ingredients:

1 Egg

1/2 Avocado

A few Basil leaves

1 piece of Toast

Salt and Pepper

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:

Toast a piece of bread in the toaster or oven.  Pan fry an egg gently in olive oil to medium doneness (cooked on both sides but the yolk is still slightly runny, salt and pepper).  Cut half an avocado into slices.  Arrange the toast on bottom, then add the egg, then the avocado slices, and lastly the washed and dried basil leaves.  Drizzle with a little more extra virgine olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Simple green goddess goodness

Soy Butter King Oyster Mushroom

Mushroom is one of my favorite veggies. Recently I find many Asian groceries carry very good quality king oyster mushroom at very affordable price. Some American supermarkets also carry them in the produce section. The flavor of this dish also makes it a great snack when having beer - izakaya style!

1 pack of king oyster mushroom
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of soy sauce (I use reduced sodium soy sauce for this dish, you can use regular soy sauce if desired)
1 teaspoon of butter

Cut mushroom lengthwise into same size pieces
Finely mince garlic cloves
Heat up vegetable oil in a pan and sweat minced garlic in low heat till fragrant but not brown
Add soy sauce in the pan and turn heat to medium
Add mushroom in the pan after soy sauce start boiling. (bubbles up in the pan)
Stir in butter and cook till mushroom become tender

The purpose of butter here is to add richness. Simply skip this step to make it a vegan dish.