Caramelized Soy and Garlic Shrimp

I intensely dislike getting my hands dirty. 

Food that are meant to be eaten with hands, such as fried chicken, burgers, pizzas, etc., I eat with a knife and fork. In fact, while I suffered through 2 years of braces (a modern day torture device), I secretly relished the excuse it gave me to eat sans bare hands. I would say, "oh, I would eat this sandwich with my hands if I could... but you know, I gotta be careful with these braces. Yeah, dentist orders... so lame." Even now, although I've been braces-free for years, I still tell my dining companions I've been "conditioned" by braces to justify my eccentric eating habits. 

My strong preference against eating with hands started early. It was Play-doh that did me in. After a particularly robust arts and crafts session, I looked down at my fingers and saw the bits of doh stuck underneath my nails... And then there was that lingering noxious smell... Cringing just thinking about it. 

It affected me so much I remember skipping out on a fun class project in 4th grade. It was near Thanksgiving and my teacher surprised us with a recipe for Indian fried bread (not sure how authentic it is). I had no problem measuring out the precise amounts of flour, water and salt, but once we got to the mixing portion part of the program, I promptly batted my lashes at a nearby boy and asked him sweetly to help me out. 

Since then, I'm able to mix my own dough on my own, thank you very much. But, I jump at the chance whenever I could use a wooden spoon or another heaven-sent mixing instrument. During meals, I use my fork and knife whenever possible and I'm also particularly apt in using chopsticks to cut food down to size. 

Yet, there is one dish I'm willing to get my hands dirty for. Literally. Loosely translated to "Soy Sauce Shrimp Emperor," it's a homely Cantonese dish that is essentially plump shrimp, saute in their shells and glazed with a soy-garlic sauce (not unlike Kyo-chon's). My parents would make it whenever they saw a particularly fresh catch at the street market... which was quite often since we lived in Hong Kong. 

Since my parents were immune to my charm, they would set the plate piled high with glazed shrimp and start making their way through it—forcing me to fend for myself. Fearing the sauce would stain my fingers, I avoided the dish and opting to eat my rice plain instead. But the dish's fragrant garlic scent lured me in and I gingerly reached for one and I haven't looked back since. Yes, it's messy, but oh so finger-lickingly good. Salty, garlicky and with a just a hint of caramel, it is a fitting match for the free-swimming crustacean. 

Provided, the dish didn't cure me of my "condition," but I'd always make an exception to use my hands for the glazed shrimp. The best part is that it's incredibly easy to make. All you need is a few minutes, fresh shrimp, some light soy, black pepper, sugar and garlic. And if you like it tangy, a lemon. That's it. 

Just remember to wash your hands afterwards.

Caramelized Soy and Garlic Shrimp

1 pound shrimp (heads and shells intact)

2 tablespoon canola oil

3 cloves garlic

1/4 cup light soy

1 teaspoon sugar

Black Pepper

1 lemon

1 stalk of green onion

1. Go out and buy a pound of the freshest shrimp you can find with their heads and shell intact. I get mine from the neighborhood Hong Kong Supermarket. Soak them in cool salted water for 30 mins or so to let them clean themselves out since we won't be deveining them. Drain and dry them thoroughly. 

2. Heat a wok or a skillet over high heat till it's smoking hot. Then, add 2 tablespoons of neutral oil with a high smoking point (this is not the time for EVOO)—canola or vegetable oil work great. 

3. When you see the oil ripple, you're ready to add the shrimp. *Note, make sure the shrimp are dry, unless you enjoy 3rd degree burns. Spread them in a even layer and let them brown on one side, around 2 mins. 

4. In the meanwhile, grate 3 big cloves of garlic over the shrimp. I prefer grating over to chopping them since it saves time, plus it really crushes the garlic's membranes which in turn releases more flavor. Lift one shrimp and check for color, when it's golden brown, flip them all over.

5. Once they're all flipped, add a 1/4 cup of light soy. My go-to is Lee Kum Kee's "Seasoned Soy Sauce for Seafood" as it's is more delicate and nuanced than regular soy. Lately, I've also been experimenting with Kikkoman's "Ponzu Lime" after receiving a bottle through Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program. It's got a zesty flavor that goes particularly well with seafood. 

6. Next, add a teaspoon of sugar and start stirring. With the high heat and the addition of sugar, the soy will take on a nutty, caramelized taste that is unparalleled and thicken to a glaze that will coat the shrimp.

7. When the shrimp are cooked and glazed, turn off the heat and add a fresh grinding of black pepper to taste (I like it with a kick). Next, zest half of the lemon over and combine well. 

8. Serve with a wedge of lemon, a sprinkling of sliced green onions and enjoy!

The Elusive Burrata Spotted at Trader Joe's

My parents, like most of the previous generation, are very frugal.

They save plastic bags from grocery trips to be later reuse as trash bags. When they visit fast food eateries, which are occurrences rarer than meteor showers, they would come back with a month's supply of napkins. My mom even repurposes used Fedex boxes into magazine holders—it's quite ingenious actually.

Sometimes, I can't help but cringe when shopping with my mom and she busts out her coupon file at checkout. Yet, I see their underlying value in cutting down on expenses whenever possible and the importance of saving for a rainy day. Especially this past year, when it seemed to be "rainy" for the majority of the year.

To a certain extent, I've appropriated their thinking in the way I dine out. My personal rule is to never order any item on the menu that I can create easily at home, cause chances are, I can do it much cheaper since I don't have a big overhead.

So, pastas are out, as are risottos. Pan roasted fish? Out. Steak? Double out. Fyi: The secret to a great steak is a cast iron pan heated till it's smoking hot, a high quality rib-eye, a sprinkling of sea salt and freshly ground pepper. That's it.

What I do like to order are: duck confit, gnocchi, pastries and other labor intensive dishes. Or, dishes with ingredients that are near impossible to find for the home cook such as quality foie gras, truffles or burrata cheese... wait, scratch the latter.

Burrata used to be a delicacy as I could only find it in Osteria Mozza. A creamy and delicate cheese with an immensely short shelf-life, it had to be shipped weekly from Italy to the restaurant, where they charge a premium for the convenience.

Although Mozza did a stellar job serving the burrata on toast with bacon, caramelized shallots and escarole, it's still tough to justify spending $15 for the privilege of those two tiny crostinis. So, imagine my surprise when I spied the elusive burrata in the cheese section of Trader Joe's. The accompanying price tag was even more astonishing: $5 for 2 weighty spheres of the delicate cheese. I hurried home with my acquisition and had one of most scrumptious appetizers to date. Note, TJ's burrata is and will never be as good of a quality than the ones found in Mozza, but even so, it's still pretty luscious.

Burrata with Lemon, Garlic, Lardons, and Basil

Serves 4

1 container of Trader Joe's burrata cheese

4 slices thick cut bacon

2 cloves garlic

1 lemon

2 sprigs of fresh basil

Pepper and sea salt to taste

Fruitiest olive oil you can find

Rustic country loaf

First, set out the container of burrata to rest in room temperature. Render 4 slices of thick-cut bacon in a skillet over medium heat. When the slices are thoroughly crispy, drain them briefly on paper towels. Grated one clove of garlic and spoon over a good teaspoon full of the scalding bacon grease to cook them slightly.

Next, pour out the flavorful fat till there was only a tablespoon left and turn the heat back on. When the oil is at the right temperature, lay down 2 slices of good Tuscan bread to grill on both sides. After they're golden brown, rub a split clove of garlic and repeat with 4 more slices.

For the final assembly, simply place a ball of burrata on a big plate. Zest a lemon over the cheese to your liking, then sprinkle on the crumbled bacon (2 slices per plate). Spoon some grated garlic over each portion and finish with a grinding of pepper, a sprinkling of fleur de sel (or any type of sea salt—I prefer sel gris), a drizzle of olive oil and a few basil leaves.

Serve with garlic crostinis and enjoy responsibly.

Bagna Cauda Mashed Potatoes

As my family's self-designated mashed potato enthusiast, I've been tinkering with countless recipes over the years. Garlic, crumbled bacon, herbs, cream cheese—I've tried them all.

Lately, I've been fascinated with Bagna Cauda (translated as "hot bath"). An Italian (Piedmontese to be specific) staple, it's a warm dip made with garlic, anchovies and olive oil and is eaten with bread and assorted vegetables. As I was preparing a fresh batch one evening, I thought to myself, "what if I put this in mashed potatoes?"

The rest, as they say, is history.

Bagna Cauda Mashed Potatoes

Serves 8

1 can chicken broth

9 Russet potatoes, peeled and quartered (about 3 1/2 pounds)

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

6 fillets of anchovy (packed in oil), minced

2 tablespoons anchovy oil from can (olive is fine as well)

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1 cup milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

Salt & pepper

1/2 teaspoon 21 Seasonings Salute mix from Trader Joe's (optional)

1/4 cup sliced green onion

Bring chicken broth, a can of water (use the can from the chicken broth to measure), and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil in a large saucepan. Add potatoes and cook, covered, over medium heat until fork tender, about 30 minutes. When done, remove potatoes from the heat. Drain and mash the potatoes.

Meanwhile, Heat oil in a small saucepan over low heat; add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add anchovies and sugar; cook until they dissolve into the garlic, about 2 minutes.

Add milk and heavy cream in garlic mixture and let simmer for 2 minutes. Then add salt and pepper to taste and spice if so desired. Pour the hot cream mixture over the mashed potatoes and mix well. Sprinkle green onions over and enjoy!

My Mom is an Ant

If I had to categorize my mom as either an ant or a grasshopper in terms of grocery shopping, she's definitely an ant. Whenever there's a sale at Ralphs or Hows, she would load up on protein for the week (more like a month). There's a neat system she runs each time too: she portions out the different meats and filed away the individual packets in their respective corners of the freezer, where they're ready to be defrosted and cooked for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

It's a highly proficient system and I've got to admit it's genius. Just yesterday, when I was hankering for fish, there it was, a sandwich biggie of Tilapia was waiting for me patiently in the lower shelf.

Using just ingredients from our pantry and backyard, I created a simple, yet filling lunch. Here's the recipe:

Cornmeal encrusted Tilapia filet with a caper garlic lime sauce and chickpea puree with roasted garlic

Tilapia Filet

1. Season Tilapia filet with S&P, then dredge in cornmeal

2. Pan fry in olive oil till crispy and cooked through (5 mins)

Chickpea Puree

1. Blend one can of chickpeas (drained) with S&P and olive oil. Mine was infused with mint, but extra virgin works great as well.

2. In a pan render out 2 Tb of chopped Salo (or bacon) till crispy.

3. Press 2 cloves of garlic in the pan and cook till soft

4. Add Salo and garlic with all the oil into the puree and mix well

Caper Garlic Lime Sauce

1. In the same pan that you fried the fish, add sliced garlic and capers

2. Add 1/4 cup of chicken broth, a squeeze of lime and cook till reduced

3. Turn off the heat before stirring in 1 Tb of butter to emulsify

To plate: add a healthy mount of puree on the plate, place filet on top, drizzle with the sauce and finish with lime zest and chiffonade basil.

Bon Appetit!

The Hulk (of the Cooking Variety)

"You're making me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

Whenever I'm having a particularly stressful day, the hulk inside of me wakes up. No, not the green, smash-happy one a la Bruce Banner, but rather of the mellower, cook-happy variety. Perhaps it's my natural defense. Whatever it is, I would go into my kitchen in a bout of concentrated trance and create till I'm exhausted, but happily full.

Usually, this happens a handful amount of times per month, but this past weekend was exceptionally taxing. So, instead of one cooking session, it became more of a series of little Hulk episodes. Here were the damages:

"Oliver Twist's Soup"
A soup made entirely out of pantry odds and ends.

Dice up some Salo (Russian cured pork fat), render it in a pan with onions and potatoes. Add chicken broth and simmer for 20 mins, thicken with potato flakes (my secret to a quick soup. Shh.), add seasonings and finish with heavy cream.

"BLT without the B or the L"

Slice filone bread and grill in cast iron pan with pork fat (Salo fits the bill). Then sear Roma tomato slices with cracked pepper and salt. Assemble sandwich with Prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, grilled tomatoes and basil. Et voila!

"Anchovies + Lemon"
My first encounter with the infamous anchovy... who would've thought they were so delicious? To me, they're the solid version of fish sauce.

Boil pasta in salted water and heat up oil with diced onions. Add diced tomatoes, capers, lemon zest and chopped anchovies and saute till fragrant. Toss in pasta with a little bit of the pasta water and finish with lemon juice, basil and butter.

"Leftovers from Trader Joe's"

Boil pasta in salted water and render Italian sausages. Saute eggplant strips with chopped anchovies in the rendered sausage grease (just trust me). Add frozen artichokes, garlic tomato sauce and pasta. Finish with basil, season and enjoy.

"Lemon Panna Cotta + Port Wine Berry Sauce"

Steep cream and milk with vanilla beans and lemon zest, add gelatin and chill in the fridge till set, which takes anywhere from 6 hrs to overnight. In a small saucepan, reduce down port with mixed berries, lemon juice and sugar. Blend till smooth and serve on top of the panna cotta. Garnish with lemon zest.

"Very Gouda Risotto"

Render Salo and add minced onions. Add Arborio rice and saute till golden brown. Add mushroom stock and cook till the rice is al dente. Add chopped haricot verts, bok choy and tiger shrimp. Finish with cream, pepper and grated smoked Gouda.

"Home in a Bowl"

Mixed ground pork shoulder with grated ginger, chopped bok choy, green onions, cilantro, Shitake and season to taste. Wrap and boil in water. Prepare soup by boiling chicken broth, chiffonade ginger, Shitake and bok choy. Add cooked wontons and finished with minced green onions and cilantro.

Until next time...