Thai bird chiles

Geoduck Fritters with a Sweet & Sour Chili Dipping Sauce

19 Apr 2011
Geoduck Fritters with a Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

Geoduck Fritter with Sweet Chili Sauce

Sure a geoduck is a clam, an ugly clam with (let’s face it) a very phallic looking trunk that it projects from its shell in search of food.

But did you know that a geoduck could also be a fritter? Of course just about anything can be a fritter. But a geoduck makes a particularly tasty fritter. Especially when that fritter is designed to compliment the geoduck’s best feature. Its very special texture.

But let me backtrack.

You may have seen some tweets and twitpics from a recent day in my kitchen. Three bloggers and I got together to help I Love Blue Sea get its message out about delicious sustainable seafood. We did this by making cooking videos featuring all sorts of the high-quality seafood I Love Blue Sea sells.

My cohorts were Show Food Chef, Sushi Day and La Fuji Mama– each one worthy of the title culinary star. The videos and the recipes we showcased will be available at I Love Blue Sea soon. So I can’t divulge too much information.

Sippity Sup Continues »
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Geoduck Fritters with Sweet Chili Sauce

Geoduck Fritters with Sweet Chili Sauce
By jgreghenry Published April 19, 2011
Prep time: 20
Yield:1 ()

Ingredients:

  • 6 T rice vinegar
  • 4 T water
  • 3 T sugar
  • 1 t garlic, peeled & minced
  • 0.5 t thai bird chile, seeded & minced (or more to taste)
  • 0.25 t salt
  • 3 c all-purpose flour
  • 4 t baking powder
  • 2 T orange mint, thai basil or regular mint
  • 1 T lemongrass, white tender parts only, minced
  • 1 T fresh ginger, minced
  • 0.5 t shichimi togarashi
  • 1 c clam juice
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1.5 c milk
  • 1 geoduck clam, cleaned, prepped and very thinly sliced
  • 0 oil as needed for frying
  • 0 kosher salt, to taste
  • 0 lemon wedges, to taste

Directions

Prepare the sweet chili sauce sauce: In a small saucepan, combine vinegar, water, sugar, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, minced bird's eye chili, and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, then simmer until liquid is reduced just slightly, about 5 minutes. Stir sauce from time to time. Remove from heat and allow to cool before use. Prepare the fryer: Use a deep-fryer filled with oil according to manufacturer specifications. Heat the oil to 350 degrees F. Alternately, fill a large stockpot 1/3 full with oil and heat it to 350 degrees F. Prepare the batter: Stack the orange mint leaves, then roll them cigar-style and slice crosswise into thin strips. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, orange mint strips (or substitute), lemongrass, ginger, shichimi togarashi, clam juice and eggs. Add the milk a few tablespoons at a time until thick cake batter consistency is achieved. Add the geoduck slices and stir to combine thoroughly. Gently drop tablespoons of fritter batter into oil and cook, turning over often until deep golden brown, about 3 minutes. Do not crowd the fryer. Work in batches. Remove with a wire strainer to a paper towel-lined plate. Season immediately with kosher salt and additional shichimi togarashi. Arrange fritters on a platter, garnish with a squeeze of lemon and more mint leaves. Serve with bowl of sweet chile sauce on the side for dipping.

Notes:

serves 8 or more

A Spicy Squid Salad Experience

12 Jan 2011
squid salad

Squid. Yum.

Spicy Squid Salad. Yum.

Marinated with lots of Asian flavors like shiitake mushrooms, sesame, chili, lime and ginger. Double, triple, quadruple yum.

Because with interesting ingredients like these you can’t really go too wrong; add an unusual wine pairing like Txomin Etxaniz Txakoli de Getaria from the Basque region of Spain and you’ve really got something going on.

But still I’ll admit when I say squid, some people crinkle their noses and say “no thank you”. If I called it calamari (and fried it) I’d probably win over a few of the nose crinklers. But calamari is a whole other way to go when it comes to squid.

My version today is more reminiscent of something you might find it Vietnam. There, squid salads of all sorts are quite common. They are often served as light snacks between meals, but in my world they make a great light lunch too.

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Spicy Squid Salad with Shiitake, Sesame & Lime

Spicy Squid Salad with Shiitake, Sesame & Lime
By jgreghenry Published January 12, 2011
Prep time: 150
Yield:1 ()

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb squid
  • 4 T sesame oil
  • 1 T chili oil
  • 1 thai bird chile, or more to taste, cut into thin rounds
  • 2 T asian fish sauce
  • 2 T rice vinegar
  • 1.5 oz dried shitake mushrooms
  • 4 oz canned, sliced bamboo shoots
  • 1 2-inch piece of ginger thinly sliced into rounds
  • 1 t sea salt
  • 2 t lime zest, plus more for garnish

Directions

Thoroughly clean the squid by removing the beak, all cartilage, and any remaining skin-like membranes. Most squid is sold pre-cleaned but it's best to check. Remove the body from the tentacle pieces but keep them whole. Set aside. Prepare an ice bath. Bring a medium-sized pan of water to a boil. Add the squid to the boiling water and turn off the heat. Cook about 30 seconds (no more than 1 minute depending on size) stirring the whole time to assure even cooking. The moment the squid turns opaque strain and plunge it into ice bath to stop cooking. In a medium bowl whisk together, sesame oil, chili, oil, thai bird chilis, Asian fish sauce, and rice vinegar. Add the reserved squid to the bowl, tossing to coat. Let the mixture marinate in the refrigerator at least 2 hours and up to overnight. Meanwhile, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Pour the water over the dried shiitake mushrooms. Let them soften about 1 hour, then drain and cut them crosswise into very thin strips, about 1/8-inch wide. Set aside. Cut the bamboo shoots into equally thin strips. Set aside. Peel and slice the ginger into 1/8-inch rounds, then cut them crosswise into very thin strips. Set aside. About 1/2 hour before serving drain the squid of it's marinade and cut it into bite-sized pieces. Add the reserved shiitake, bamboo shoots, and ginger to the bowl with the marinated squid. Toss with sesame seeds, salt and lime zest. Serve the salad on a platter with additional lime zest as garnish.

Notes:

serves 4

You Say Tomato, I say Watermelon: Gazpacho

06 Aug 2010
watermelon gazpacho with chili oil

Do you recall that episode of The Simpson’s when poor, clumsy Homer somehow manages to make the barbecue pit explode in a violent flash of flame? Naturally he’s freaked out because the only “summer food” he can wrap his brain around comes from the grill.

The look of sadness that crosses his face as he realizes his precious red meat burgers went up in flames is classically Homer! But, there are even bigger laughs ahead as little Lisa Simpson waltzes in carrying a great big bowl of something cold, red and soupy-looking– while merrily announcing: “Good news! You don’t have to eat meat! I’ve got enough gazpacho for everyone!”

Good laughs, I say. But little Lisa’s gazpacho imagination seems a bit limited. I think the soup she presents to the assorted gathering of Springfield’s oddball population is the rather generic Andalusian-style gazpacho. It is chock-full of tomatoes and cucumbers and is thoroughly associated these days with Spain.

Now I am not knocking Lisa’s gazpacho – I'm sure it's a wonderfully flavored, cold soup full of fresh healthy vegetables. I bet it tastes like a “chunky liquid salad”, just as it should.

But if we look at the roots and origins of gazpacho I think we'll find that originally gazpacho was neither Spanish nor made from tomatoes and cucumber.

Sippity Sup Continues »
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