Adding a Little Bit of Spice to My Life

Contrary to what my husband thinks, I don't have everything in the kitchen. I don't have a lot of space in my kitchen, so I only have what I need. Spices is one of them. I loved buying the spices I use most often in bulk at Whole Foods - it was very economical. Sadly, they don't have them anymore...I've searched the location I originally got it from and others in the tri-state area. Where do I turn to now for trusted spices? Penzeys.


I discovered Penzeys when I was watching America's Test Kitchen. They did a taste test of cinnamon and had recommended that brand due to its quality and most of all its lovely fragrance that's different (but still familiar) than your regular supermarket brands. Penzeys has a small outpost in Grand Central in NYC. Thankfully, there's a store not far from me in Norwalk, CT! I prefer the store much better as you can treat your nose to a nice whiff or two to their endless jars of spice samples. I can spend hours doing that if my husband weren't there.

I did not get their ground cinnamon yet, but I did get a chance to experience the wonderful aroma of it. I was shocked at how fragrant it was! Their price is higher than the supermarket brands, but this is how I rationalize purchasing a higher quality product:

• it's not a huge purchase that you have to make often, so cost is rather negligible
• you may need to use less of their spices in recipes because they're rather potent (for example, they recommend doing so with their cumin because it's very strong...and it is)
• buy the larger size, which costs less per ounce
  
• it makes your ending product taste better, so isn't it worth it?
  

Instead of cinnamon, which I don't need at the moment but hopefully will in the future, I brought home some cumin, coriander, sweet paprika, ginger and thyme. They all smelled soooo good, and that made me very happy. :-)

Chinese Cooking Basics: Stuffed Fried Tofu

My mom's Stuffed Green Peppers is one of my favorite dishes. You can find versions of it (shrimped stuffed pepper or eggplant, or fish stuffed pepper or eggplant) when you have dim sum. Sometimes my mom would stuff soft fried tofu with the same mixture she uses for green peppers, and that's exactly what I did after cracking her recipe. Below is what it looks like prior to mixing it in sauce.


I bought some soft jumbo fried tofu from the Chinese supermarket, sliced them in half and applied the shrimp stuffing with a dinner knife on the cut side of the soft fried tofu. The cooking method is the same as the green pepper version, except for a shorter cooking time as the fried tofu is cooked already. The soft fried tofu adds a different texture to the stuffed green peppers. They can work as an appetizer or a dish for dinner. Yum!

A Week of Asian Cooking

I felt a need to get close to my roots, so I thought it would be nice to cook Chinese every (business) day one week. After all, I did vow to cook more Chinese food. Since I do not have an arsenal of Chinese recipes yet, I thought I would get by with cooking Asian cuisine.

• Monday - Ma Po Daofu (麻婆豆腐). This is a somewhat spicy Chinese dish (in particular, Sichuan) that is traditionally made with a spicy bean sauce (豆板醬), tofu and ground pork. I made some adjustments based on what I had in the fridge by using ground turkey instead of pork and adding diced eggplant.



• Tuesday - Chicken Adobo. I thought it was about time to pay tribute to my husband's heritage by making what can be considered the national dish of the Philippines. It is basically a rustic and easy dish made of chicken simmered in a combination of soy sauce and vinegar.



• Wednesday - Chicken Adobo. I cheated. I made a big batch of this and ate it over two nights. Truthfully, even with marinating the chicken before cooking, the dish always tastes better the following nights as the chicken has more of an opportunity to absorb the tasty sauce.
  
• Thursday - Seafood with Broccoli. While this may sound Chinese, it's actually Japanese (fusion, to be correct). I simply followed Nobu's recipe for Squid Pasta and substituted the squid with shrimp and scallops. Given that Nobu is known for its new-style Japanese cuisine (Peruvian + Japanese), the sauce has a rather unique taste thanks to a combination of butter, soy sauce and sake. Yes, butter with soy sauce!
• Friday - Fried Rice (炒飯). I made sure I cooked more rice than usual the night before so I would have enough to make fried rice the day after. I didn't have any left overs to toss in, but I certainly made good use of the tough broccoli stems in the fried rice.

There it is! I took a trip to China, Philippines, Japan and China all in 5 days. I hope this has inspired both me and you to keep closer to our roots via food.

An Almost Tuna Nicoise

When I think of salad most of the time, the image that comes to my head is a tossed salad...until I watched Ina Garten put together a beautiful platter of tuna nicoise. She grouped each ingredient freely on a plate, and together they make such an impact. It's similar to decorating - if you group objects in vignettes, they make a larger impact and look less like clutter. Anyways, I had most of the ingredients in my pantry and fridge, minus the olives and capers, so I thought I'd give it a try. It was a nice hearty lunch for two.


I used just your normal supermarket grade canned tuna but put in some nice, deliciously sweet and flavorful Campari tomatoes. Admittedly, my eggs were a tad undercooked, but the plate turned out beautiful. It also tasted great with my usual homemade vinaigrette. I imagine this would be a nice presentation for a party.

Chinese Cooking Basics: Ma Po Dofu

I was looking for new dumpling recipes one day and stumbled upon a recipe for Turkey-Stuffed Tofu Dumplings from Anita Lo. While I wasn't wowed by her restaurant, Annisa, when we were there over 5 years ago, I decided to give the recipe a try since it was an interesting adaptation of Ma Po Dofu (or Tofu), a spicy dish from the Sichuan Province of China.


I used this recipe twice - made it as is (tofu topped with meat) and as Ma Po Dofu with eggplant. Both turned out equally great even without the use of fermented black beans, which my husband forbid me to buy & store in our pantry due to its strong aroma. The recipe as it is definitely had a wow factor for my husband, and rightfully so as it required diligently putting the meat onto delicate tofu. With the traditional stir fry version, I made it heartier with eggplant - the key is to add the tofu last and toss lightly so it won't break. With both versions, I served them with Jasmine rice and Chinese greens.

This recipe is definitely a must have in your repertoire. Ma Po Dofu is an authentic dish with flavorful results.

Chicken Adobo

I thought after 10+ years of being together, it was about time I pay tribute to my husband's heritage by making what can be considered the national dish of the Philippines - Chicken Adobo. It is a delicious, rustic and very easy dish made of chicken simmered in a combination of soy sauce and vinegar. It's got a little bit of the salty, sweet and sour. Make a big pot of this, and it tastes even better the next day!


I've done a lot of research on which recipe to use...some marinated the chicken ahead of time, others strangely used Sprite, which I don't believe is authentic. What I found most recipes that claimed to be traditional used soy sauce, vinegar, black peppercorn, garlic, chicken and bay leaf. My father-in-law adds onions, which is what most Americanized versions use for added flavor.

The only Chicken Adobo I've ever had was made by my father-in-law, so I asked my husband how mine was compared to his, to which my husband responded "yours is really good, but it's different than my father's." The only reason ingredient-wise I can think of is the soy sauce...my father-in-law does not like plain sauce soy and thinks toyomansi, a soy sauce made sour with the addition of kalamansi juice made from Filipino limes, is superior. Perhaps the use of toyomansi adds a special kind of tang to the Chicken Adobo.

I don't claim to make the traditional version, just whatever is a close representation of it, convenient to me and is flavorful. This is what I used to make mine, without the use of toyomansi:

Chicken Adobo
Serves 4

6 chicken drumsticks
6 chicken thighs
1/2 C + 1 tbs white vinegar
1/2 C soy sauce
1/2 of a large onion, diced
3 bay leaf
3-4 garlic cloves, smashed
fresh ground pepper
oil

Marinate everything except for the onion for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator and rest at room temperature prior to cooking. In a large pot or wok over medium-high heat, add oil and saute onions until fragrant. Add the marinated chicken along with everything and bring to a boil. Lower to medium heat, cover and cook for about 30-40 minutes, tossing the mixture and skimming off the fat and impurities on the surface in between.

Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the sauce has thickened somewhat, about 20 minutes. If the sauce becomes too salty, add water. Serve with rice.


I made my Chicken Adobo in a wok for added flavor ("鍋氣") and served it with jasmine rice and Chinese greens. Every one has their own version of Chicken Adobo, so feel free to use this recipe and personalize it to make it your own!

Green Cleaning for Your Stainless Steel Sink

I've been scrubbing a lot lately to get our place in tip top shape for our housewarming, ten months after we closed on our new (and first) home. Needless to say, we've used a lot of elbow grease on this place since the prior owners were not the cleanest people. My last big job was the windows, and they're done (thank god). Now, it's the minor things like maintaining the cleanliness. Getting our stainless steel sink has been a once every 2-3 week job, and I haven't been happy with the results...until now.

Believe me, I've tried scrubbing with dish washing liquid and household cleaners, but wasn't quite satisfied with the dull finish. Thinking back, I should have tried green cleaning like we did for our tile grout, but now I realize that it was just so much easier to reach to the left for the dish washing liquid or under the sink for the household cleaner, as opposed to walk over to the pantry to grab the baking soda. All I did was sprinkle about a tablespoon of baking soda onto my already wet stainless steel sink, rub it in with a paper towel and rinse. I wish I have some before & after photos, but I was so impressed with the results, I only have the after photo.


The baking soda and water formed a paste that, when rubbed into the surface, gently took out any dirt and dark spots from the sink. I did this twice to make sure the sink was really clean. Our stainless steel sink now looks as shiny as the day we bought it! Now, if only I can get my hands to where they were before they got sandpaper-like from the endless cleaning...