So yesterday, I made a delicious stirfry with chicken:
Tonight, I made a spicy shrimp with vegetables and noodles.
There are a number of things I like about these dishes and the preparation of them. The first is that it is making me fundamentally rethink how I eat. While I already eat a lot of vegetables and fruit, with these dishes, the meat tends to be a side show. It’s not the bulk of the meal, but just a small portion, so you have to really focus on getting it right so it that it was worth even bringing to the game.
The second thing I like is that there is a lot of prep time (I mean, not really a lot), and I get to sit there quietly with no distractions and clean the veg, finely cut the shallots and garlic, soak the noodles, lightly shred the daikon radish and carrot, make the sauce and let it sit, etc. Just you, the product, and a knife. Good quiet time.
The third thing I like is that many of the dishes really land squarely in my flavor profile- peppers, citrus, cilantro. Bright, hot, and green.
The last thing I like is that the dishes really portion well. Each recipe so far has provided a good dinner and lunch the next day.
I thawed a flank steak today, cut it in half, and am marinating half of it for tomorrow. I am going to try to make a Spicy Szechaun Beef served over riced cauliflower, with kimchi and roasted edamame.
zhena gogolia
Everything looks delicious.
H.E.Wolf
YUM. :)
JMG
Boy, that all looks good. Tonight Alice made a fish and oyster chowder with both of those ingredients taken from our freezer. Fennel was the main herb along with onion, potato, fish stock and some cream. We’re New Englanders, but the principle is the same. The titled ingredients aren’t necessarily the stars.
Starboard Tack
@John Cole
Do you use sugar snaps or snow peas?
Steeplejack
@John Cole:
Valued commenter Feathers added some more wok/Asian cooking resources in TaMara’s thread downstairs.
joel hanes
Always glad to see the blogfather feeling engaged.
ant
I like to make popcorn in my wok.
Another trick you should try is to take your beaten eggs, and add your soy sauce, and black pepper (msg), then add your rice right to that mixture, and stir it up and mix it, THEN fry up your fried rice.
I also use the wok for gringo stuff like deep frying, and the latest thing is making my sauce for home made au gratin potatoes.
it also works good for boiling up ramen noodles.
ETA: here is a fun place for recipes: https://highheelgourmet.com/
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I grew up with meat as the anchor of every meal, and I have the hardest time breaking out of that pattern. Soups and stir-fry are good ways to do it
Suzanne
Mr. Suzanne is the stir fry maker in my house. I love it. He doesn’t like cilantro, though. HERESY.
RSA
Looking forward to BJ Cooking on youtube.
Prep time is something I appreciate too. My favorite tools in the kitchen are knives, mainly a 9″ chef’s knife and a slightly shorter santoku knife. I like the heft of German knives, but that’s probably more just habit and familiarity than anything else.
VeniceRiley
@Suzanne: My fiancé cannot stand cilantro, celery, or tomato that isn’t a sauce. I foresee a future of making 2 dinners.
BruceFromOhio
->shivers->
I’ll be in my bunk.
BruceFromOhio
@Suzanne: You are … married to this guy?
Starboard Tack
@RSA:
I’ve got a full set of Henckels I’ve had for years but the one I use most is a sort of santoku I got from Sam’s Club. It’s a stamped food service knife, about 7″ blade, cost me $12 for two. I really like it over a chef knife profile. I think the santoku is an adaptation of the vegetable cleaver.
L85NJGT
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I find going to the grocery, and getting what I like (rather than a housemate) helps to increase fruit and veg consumption.
aliasofwestgate
@Suzanne: Is he one of the people for whom cilantro tastes like soap? Roomie and i both have that little quirk of genetics. It makes it so you can’t stand it on anything, at all. It overtakes the taste of whatever it’s used in, whether you like it or not.
Doc Sardonic
@Suzanne:
@VeniceRiley:
Could be that they have the same problem with cilantro I have, a small, almost trace amount adds a nice flavor. Once you go over that amount to me it tastes like you spiced the sauce with dish soap, so poached fish with lemon-butter sauce with cilantro becomes fish ala Dawn Dishwashing liquid, not only will it clean up an oil spill and the wildlife caught in it….It’s a spice and condiment. One of my favorites is my friends guacamole el lavavajillas.
NotMax
First glance before eyes refocused after swiveling to look at the monitor read “stirfry” as “stiffy.”
:)
Oh, and you lost me at cilantro.
Starboard Tack
@NotMax:
And when you’re done fucking the chicken………
zhena gogolia
Chetan Murthy
@aliasofwestgate: https://www.britannica.com/story/why-does-cilantro-taste-like-soap-to-some-people#:~:text=Of%20course%20some%20of%20this,flavored%20aldehydes%20in%20cilantro%20leaves.
rikyrah
They both look delicious ??
kindness
Giving that new wok a workout. Nice lookin’ food too.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
I’m going to have to get myself one of those woks. Stir fry is so easy, and I seldom do it. Maybe a wok will inspire me.
sfinny
Is a wok a big improvement over copper or cast iron pans? With limited apartment space I haven’t bought a wok myself. But would love to hear thoughts on it.
NotMax
@Starboard Tack
“What’s all this about turfucken?”
"Oh."
“Never mind.”
Starboard Tack
@sfinny:
A wok is thin carbon steel so it heats quickly, unlike cast iron. It’s shape also concentrates the heat at the bottom so food cooks quickly. Stir fry often cooks the different ingredients separately and combines them at the end. Woks can also be used for steaming and deep frying. If you are short of space, it might be a little too specialized.
Chetan Murthy
@Starboard Tack: There are also cast-iron woks. For stir-fry, they’re really great. But they do take up space. Also, you need to ensure your stove can generate the heat, and if it’s electric, you might need to get a flat-bottomed wok.
You also have to learn to season a wok properly (though if you already know how to season a carbon steel saute pan, it’s about the same). I’ve been cooking with woks off-and-on for 30yr, and only now am learning how to properly season one. As in: right now I’m seasoning one in my oven.
Steeplejack
@Suzanne:
It could be genetic—that “tastes like soap” thing.
Starboard Tack
@Chetan Murthy:
I didn’t remember about cast iron woks. Not for the casual user, I wouldn’t think. I have a carbon steel wok that I don’t use because I have induction. I’ve thought about getting a flat bottom wok, but I’m doing well enough with my carbon steel skillets.
Chetan Murthy
@Starboard Tack: Ehh, my cast-iron woks are actually perfectly fine for cooking. I just didn’t season ’em right, so they”re sticky. I have a carbon steel wok, and it’s no better (again, b/c I didn’t season it right). I got mine at The Wok Shop in SF, and they’re pretty light, too.
Woks are -cheep-, too.
I have gas, and got a little trivet that holds the wok closer to the flame than a wok ring would.
NoraLenderbee
@L85NJGT:
Getting a housemate never did much for my diet.
Steeplejack
@RSA:
I like my Victorinox chef’s knife and paring knives, but a couple of years ago I got a Mercer nakiri (vegetable knife), and I find that I use it a lot. Got onto it after wondering what knife Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman) was using.
Starboard Tack
@Chetan Murthy:
I’m sure they cook fine. Just a bit heavy and awkward to store if you don’t have a lot of cupboard space, I would think.
Starboard Tack
@NoraLenderbee:
Eating a housemate, however, can be very nutritous.
“Donner Party, Table for One.”
Chetan Murthy
@Starboard Tack: If I had induction, I would hesitate to get a wok, too. Lucky for me, my 100+-year-old apartment comes with all-original equipment (*grin*).
Woks aren’t -light-, that’s for sure. Though, I don’t tend to do the fancy tricks with tipping the wok to throw food into the air — just use my wok shovel to move it around.
Benw
You’re in a really good space with your wok; sounds comfortable and happy
brendancalling
I am envious. My kitchen at the current apartment makes cooking a hellish experience—especially the high prep dishes.
CaseyL
Yes, cilantro tastes like soap to many of us. We aren’t trying to be edgy or contrarian. Cilantro ruins any dish it’s in, for us. I have been known to go through an entire plateful of food picking out those evil green things, before eating.
I asked someone once if they could describe what it’s supposed to taste like, so I could perhaps get an idea what I’m missing. They couldn’t.
TaMara (HFG)
@RSA: I just posted a strawberry bread recipe in the other thread if you wanted to expand your banana bread skills. :-)
TaMara (HFG)
@CaseyL: It is difficult to describe – but a good substitute is a 1/2 and 1/2 mixture of minced Italian parsley and basil.
StringOnAStick
@Starboard Tack: Santoku knives are perfect for me; I much prefer their profile over a standard chef’s knife. Maybe because I’m kind of short so countertops tend to be too high, and the curve in the front of a santoku makes up for that.
Tim in SF
I listen to Audible.com books when I am in the kitchen or laundry room or walking the dogs. I get through a book a week that way.
Starboard Tack
After all this food talk, I need dinner. Too late to cook much. Got sidetracked by BJ. Bitter greens, bowl dressing, cheese plate and baguette sounds good.
NotMax
@CaseyL
It’s supposed to taste like soap. Some people are genetically blind to that innate unpalatibility.
;)
Starboard Tack
@TaMara (HFG):
That’s pretty good. The basil would make it a little sweeter than cilantro and the mixture could use a little astringency. I was thinking the flat leaf parsley and tarragon but that would be too much licorice taste.
Basta!
FlyingToaster
@CaseyL: Sharp, spicy Parsley is the nearest I can get to a cilantro description. I grow french and italian parsley in the patio pots; cilantro in a pot on the retaining wall out back.
Fortunately, I didn’t inherit the “soap taste” gene from my mom. My daughter eats cilantro (and parsley, and basil, and thyme) right out of the pots they grown in.
NoraLenderbee
@Starboard Tack: Yes, but they never wash the dishes afterward.
Benno
Oh, I disagree. I live in Pakistan right now and have two pans: a 10” cast iron and a large desi version of the wok called a karahi, which I use for stir-fry, deep frying, eggs, soups, stews, curries. I can even make cakes and bread in it..on the stovetop!
patrick II
There is a series on Netflix named “What She Put on the Table” about a twentieth-century lady who invented many Chinese recipes, including Kung Pao chicken and Cha Sa Bao, that I had always assumed were hundreds of years old.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
?
Grover Gardner
@Tim in SF: I love you. :-)
CaseyL
@TaMara (HFG):
@Starboard Tack:
Thank you! I do like parsley and basil; maybe I’ll try combining them sometime and see what it’s like (I’ll imagine “a little more astringency”). I also like the taste of licorice very much, both as a candy (which I can’t have anymore as it’s nearly impossible for me to ration myself) and as a spice, particularly in Thai food.
Starboard Tack
@CaseyL:
I think raw cranberries are pretty neutrally astringent.
I’m glad I came
But just the same
I must be going.
Just Some Fuckhead
I ordered a mess of bird chiles from the internet and froze them for use in stir-frys.
Chetan Murthy
@Just Some Fuckhead: They freeze well? If only I’d known!
Just Some Fuckhead
@Chetan Murthy: Yes. I cut the ends off and let them dry on the counter before freezing them.
mrmoshpotato
Yummo! And yummo! And the beef experiment also sounds yummo!
RandomMonster
White suburban early x-gen dork here: chinese food was my gateway to all flavors asian. Those cuisines have been my food passion my whole life, for all the reasons you just listed. It’s a wide, wide world, so…good explorations!
danielx
@aliasofwestgate:
I have found it to be okay in fresh made salsa, for reasons I am at a loss to explain. Maybe because the jalapenos cancel out the unpleasant part of cilantro – hey, it’s a theory!
Anything else? Cilantro = Ivory.
Yutsano
@Chetan Murthy: Yup. All peppers freeze beautifully. The only ones you need to work on first is bell peppers, and even then it’s not much. Otherwise putting chilis in the deep freeze is a great way to preserve them. They’ll be slightly mushy after they thaw but that just makes them easier to chop.
Chetan Murthy
@Yutsano: Six months without bird chilies could have been avoided. Oh, sigh. Well, soon enough I can visit the Asian grocery in person.
Anyway
@Benno:
I was on a serious karahi chicken kick for a while -so delicious.
Last few months I’ve been on an udon noodle roll – with veges or with chicken and teriyaki-style sauce.
NotMax
Being especially partial to hot ‘n’ spicy, I keep debating on ordering ghost pepper powder and/or flakes, except the prices strike me as way too high.
sab
@TaMara (HFG): Thanks. My husband has that cilantro tastes like soap thing, and leaving cilantro out makes a lot of recipes a bit boring for me.
J R in WV
@CaseyL: @sab: 
Just trim and dice your cilantro, and hold it until everything is done. Then serve the dish to those who don’t want cilantro. Then toss the rest of the dish with the prepped cilantro for the folks who like it! Easy peasey, every one’s happy now!
NotMax
Senior moment #[um, I forget].
Went to make a fresh loaf in the bread machine and two hours later realized I had included everything except the yeast.
Pressed the cancel button, added in the yeast and started the process over from the beginning. Whether or not that will salvage it is problematic.
sab
@NotMax: So how did it turn out?
I hate those senior moments. Being a nitwit, I have had them early on, since adolescence. Hopefully I have better coping skills than you congenital competents.
Can bread machines make flat bread?
I had a boyfriend once, who while distracted, answered the iron when the phone rang. Bad for his ear.
Amir Khalid
@sab:
Ouch.
columbusqueen
So I want to know when John is staging B & B weekends at his place for us jackals. He needs to feed us!
sab
@Amir Khalid: Yes!!
NotMax
@sab
Full machine process takes a little less than 3½ hours to complete. Fell into nap mode for a while and just now got up to check. Five minutes still to go on the timer.
Loaf, surprisingly, *looks* as it is normally supposed to. Besides the very delayed introduction of the yeast I also put in maybe ¼ teaspoon of water as (theoretical) compensation for what had cooked out during the first attempt.
Amir Khalid
@sab:
Was your boyfriend by any chance named Clouseau?
sab
@NotMax: Those breadmachines are amazing.
I (arrogantly say that I know how to make bread normally so I don’t need breadmachine) don’t use a bread machine but I am rethinking. Very forgiving, those bresd machines.
I am pretty good at bread. Stepkids not so much. Major failure at teaching or parenting that those girls don’t know. Otherwise good cooks.
sab
@Amir Khalid: Naw. Just some Swiss German name. My ancestors were Swiss French so Clouseau was an option. His were Swiss German so not.
In medical training they notice that 15 per cent of exhausted doctors do well while exhausted. Everybody else exhausted might as well be drunk.
So let us write of 85% ogf the population for all work.
I personally have a problem with that.
Let your entitled toddlers mind themselves while their awsome parents conquer the world.
Geminid
@sab: I heard of a guy who burnt both his ears that way. When asked how the second ear was burnt, he replied, “The idiot called me back!”
Pete Mack
Yes, stir fries are great. But I have been going a different way with shrimp lately: fancied up scampi (using the shrimp carapaces used to flavor the pasta.) And in grits with Cajun sausage, plenty of butter, and “holy trinity” aromatic base. I know that this one isn’t healthy. But I needed some comfort food.
Ha
@NotMax: I like to order from https://www.worldspice.com for my hot spices. It’s $9.00 / ounce for ghost pepper chili flakes which is more expensive than your example; but you can also buy ghost pepper chili pods for $9.00 / bag and each bag has about a dozen pods. Another really hot pepper from there is African Cayenne. I absolutely love this pepper, more than the ghost pepper.
Nancy
I like seeing your cooking posts again. Things really are turning around. And some crocus bloomed in my yard.
UncleEbeneezer
We got a Japanese donabe (rice cooker) and it has been a life saver. It cooks the perfect amount for two people and is fairly easy to use. I go to H-mart (Korean grocery store in Arcadia) and get some KBBQ marinades for pork, chicken etc., and we just grill meats or bake in oven, make some soy-garlic broccoli or spinach and it’s a yummy meal. Don’t forget sesame-oil and salt dipping sauce. Anyways, it’s become our go to meal.
Uncle Cosmo
Late last millennium when I occasionally passed through the PGH airport in transit from BWI to Lansing MI I noted an Oriental style fast-food carryout joint on the way to the puddle-jumpers with te charming name of Wok Don’t Run. Problem was connections so tight there frequently was no alternative to lumbering past with rolling carryon in tow. The couple of times I could wok & then stop to cadge a take-along meal it was pretty tasty. (Not sure if they’re still there – I kinda doubt it since even B.C. [Before COVID] longevity was typically not a feature of such enterprises. [Yes I tried Google but the search engine seems to be on strike at the moment.])