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Tonkatsu Ramen has suddenly become a bit of a saturday ritual. So filling, so delicious. This time one of us ordered it without chili oil, exposing the hearty white stock. I always tell Myself, ‘next time I will order something else from the expanding menu,’ but it has yet to happen..
Ramen, Lovely Ramen
United Noodles is a bit of a back alley grocery store. Specializing in foods from nearly all corners of asia, they are one of the oldest asian grocers in the Twin Cities. Within this store is another store, a small deli. Called Uni Deli, this place has an extremely short menu, but that is okay, because one of the eight things listed for You to have served hot and delicious is Tonkatsu Ramen. Oh My, I had not been there in about a year and My taste buds have been blown away again. How do I forget to keep going back for more? If You go there and do not order tonkatsu, You are missing out. Order it spicy, simply the best.
Almond Chicken Curry
I’ve seen many recipes similar to this. It’s very close to more Thai styled peanut-based curries, found in many restaraunts here in America. Since I usually make that asian style curry with potatoes and spinach, the aging bak choy in My fridge turned out to be the perfect candidate to accompany this simple almond curry, which is seasoned with more of an Indian style. I ended up making a first attempt on a 4am cooking excursion. Frying up some bacon, to grease the pan and to have something to nibble on as I cooked, I rounded off the meal with a pack of strained ramen noodles. Don’t ask Me why I used two habanero peppers, it was some pretty fiery stuff, but it was quite delicious! I’ll be having future goes at this one for sure.. Prep and cooking took Me 45 minutes, including frying the bacon and greens separately, the curry it’s self should take an average home cook half an hour or so. When paired with veggies and rice, noodles, or bread, this recipe serves about 4 people.
Supplies Needed:
A Wok, or high sided Fry Pan, Blender, or something(magic bullet, mincer, large hammer?) to turn the nuts to sand sized particles or smaller, Knife and Cuttung Board.
Ingredients:
1.5 pounds of thinly sliced Chicken Thighs
1 Onion, chopped up as You like
30 Almonds, mashed, minced, or otherwise turned as close to a paste-like texture as possible
3 large Garlic Cloves, minced
Fresh Ginger, a piece about the diameter of a quarter, 2 to 3 inches long, minced
1-2 tbsp of Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Mild Chili Powder
1 tsp or so, Garam Masala spice blend
1 Bay Leaf
a pinch of Dried Terragon bits
half, to 1 cup of Water
a bit of Cooking Oil
To Cook:
Over medium heat, saute the bay leaf and garlic in a bit of cooking oil. Once the leaf starts to brown, add the ginger and chili powder. Stir for a few seconds and pour in the water. Adjust the burner to medium high, to high heat. Once this begins to boil, add the meat, onion, soy sauce, almond mash and half the masala blend, stirring frequently. When the meat is almost cooked through, add the remaining masala and the terragon. Cook until the liquids have become a nice thick sauce, discard the bay leaf, remove from heat and enjoy.
Notes:
If You cut the chicken into pieces more than a quarter inch thick, You will want to cook the meat half way before starting the above process. Slicing semi-frozen, boneless thighs makes it pretty easy to get nice thin slices.
If You do not have access to some Garam Masala, try adding 4 or so cloves and a 1-2 inch chunk of a cinnamon stick at the same time as the bay leaf. Removing them as the sauce starts to thicken.
If You so desred, You can soak the almonds in warm water for half an hour or more and peel the skin off of them. I just leave it on and toss the nuts into the food processor.. Also, if You are using chunks of almonds, You may want to soak them for a while before cooking, or at least put them in at the same time as the water, to soften them up a little.
A carrot or two adds a lot to this dish! Spinach, greens and broccoli match up quite nicely as well. Turmeric is also a great addition. Try a teaspoon of fresh lemon zest, or some minced lemongrass in place of the ginger. I find that a nice spicy chili, such as Thai Dragon, or Habanero, rounds this out very nicely. When adding such heat though, I admit to adding about a teaspoon of sugar, or 2 teaspoons of honey as well.
Marinated Pork with Peas
This is a particularly versatile flavor combination. Over the years, I have used it on cuts of pork from ribs, to tenderloin. I have also used it for marinating whole chickens prior to smoking them, as well as chicken stir fries and with veggie and shrimp dishes. It’s always a hit! The bitter punch of the time tested ginger/lemongrass match up, balanced by savory, salty and sweet elements, creates a lovely experience which is sure to satisfy the taste buds of all who consume it. Having done no research, I just assume this marinade was devised in China. It is pretty close to many common ‘bbq’ and ‘Sweet and Sour’ pork recipes found in south-east asia. I’m listing it as a stir-fry recipe, but the marinade is suited to nearly any cooking method one may choose. Eat this recipe with rice, or try serving it over a baked potato! Serves 4.
Supplies Needed: Large Ziplock bag or Bowl for marinating, Wok or Large Fry Pan, Knife and Cutting Board
Ingredients:
1.5 pounds of pork tenderloin, or de-boned chops, sliced into thin strips
1 large onion, chopped to Your liking
Half a bag or more of frozen sugar snap peas
3 tbsp of fresh ginger root, minced
2 tbsp of garlic, minced
6 inches or so of fresh lemongrass, at least half an inch thick, cut into 2 or 3 pieces
4 tbsp of cooking sherry
2-3 tbsp of soy sauce
1-2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp of sugar
1 tbsp mild chili pepper powder
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Prep and Cooking:
Mix all but the peas and onion together in a resealable bag, or large mixing bowl. Let it sit for at least 20 minutes, allowing it to marinate over night will deliver the best flavor. Heat Your pan on high and put ALL the ingredients in. Stir fry until the meat and onion are cooked and the liquids thicken up into a sauce. Remove from heat, discard the lemongrass chunks and serve.
Notes:
Don’t worry if You can’t get high enough heat to thicken the sauce in the time it takes for the other ingredients to cook. Just soak it up with some rice or bread, or remove everything else from the pan and cook the sauce til it’s thickened then mix everything back together.
Hot chili sauce is a great replacement for ketchup in this recipe too.
Bacon, Spinach and Shrimp
I’ve been told, several times, that this is the best thing I have ever cooked.. . A couple of weeks ago, I had some friends over for some bbq chicken and fried rice. One of which hit Me up the next day, thanking Me for serving some “yummy stuff,” which inspired Her to want to make “some bomb @$# food, like that bacon, shrimp, spinach thing You use to do.” So here We are, one of an endless stream of recipes that I had completely forgotten. Having made something like it twice in the time since this conversation, I find Myself wondering how such a recipe could have fallen out of the regular rotation. Why am I not eating this all the time!?
This is in fact, pretty much the same flavor arrangement as ‘Manated Pork with Peas,’ which can be found by scrolling down through this blog. Less the pork and onion, adding bacon, spinach and shrimp! I told You it’s versatile! Although, many ingredient changes, also require a change in cooking method.. I must also point out, that I never measure when seasoning things. To Me, cooking something slightly different, every time You cook it, is a huge part of the joy and fun in that which We call food. Thus, all quantities listed in My recipes are guesstimations, but should provide a solid starting point.. Please do leave some commentary should You give this one a try.
Supplies Needed: A wok or large fry pan, cutting board and knife/you can get by with just a mincer, also a small sauce pan, like You would boil a single pack of ramen in…
Ingredients:
1 pound of shrimps, steamed or boiled lightly
one third of a pound of bacon, sliced or chopped however You like
a bag of spinach, at least enough to make salad for 4 people
Half a bag of frozen sugar snap peas, thawed
4 tbsp of fresh ginger root, minced
2 tbsp of garlic, minced
6 inches or so of fresh lemongrass, at least half an inch thick, cut into 2 or 3 pieces
1/4 cup of cooking sherry
1-2 tbsp of soy sauce
2-3 tbsp of ketcup(optional, but it adds a lot)
1 or so tbsp of sugar, just enough to take the edge off the sour/bitter ingrdients
1 tsp mild chili pepper powder
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Prep and Cooking:
Over low to medium heat, mix all but the peas, bacon, spinach and shrimp in the small sauce pot, stirring as often as possible, until it has thickened into a nice sauce. Remove from heat, toss the chunks of lemongrass and keep stirring until You are ready to add it to the rest of the ingredients. At the same time You begin cooking the sauce, fry the bacon on medium heat in a wok or sizable skillet, remove from the pan once cooked to Your liking. Then, toss the sugar snap peas and a fist-full of spinach into the bacon grease, stirring constantly, adding the spinach one fist-full at a time. Keep it up until You’ve used about three quarters of the spinach and remove from the pan. This should only take 30 seconds to a minute. Turn the burner to high heat and toss the shrimps into the remaining bacon grease, fry for 20 to 30 seconds, depending on size. Remove from the pan and turn off the burner, add the bacon and cooked veggies back into the pan, mixing vigorously. Now You can also add the sauce and remaining spinach, or plate the food and distribute them between each serving. Time to eat!
Notes:
The key to this dish is to privide spinach, in three textures, fully cooked, partially cooked and raw. Hence the process of adding it a bit at a time. Hoisin sauce was not part of the origianl recipe, srirachi works quite well as a replacement. I almost always make this with a nice spicy kick!
You can also mince the lemongrass, but it MUST be broken down very finely. You can also buy lemongrass in frozen, pre-minced form as well as puree’d in a tube. I would use 2 or so tablespons of such options instead of a fresh stalk.
To cook this all in one pan, start by frying the bacon and shrimp, as described above. Remove them and start making the sauce. Once it’s almost thickened up, add the peas and commense the spinach application process. Mix everything back into the pan and You are done.. You’ll have to have thawed the peas for this method, or the sauce will be runny, which is fine by Me. This is the lazy method, the flavors become more of a blur, but it’s still damn good.
July 9, 2013 ***UPDATE ***
Last night I made a variation of this recipe with bak choi instead of peas and spinach. It was delicious. I made the sauce in one pan and stir fried everything else in another, while the sauce thickened. The bak choi stems were a really nice texture and the light flavor helped temper the powerful chunky sauce. I simply fried them in the bacon grease and added the green, leafy parts and some green onions once the stems were just starting to soften. A truely great dinner.
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