seasame oil

Learn About Sake with an Orange Chili OIl Cold Noodle Salad

23 Sep 2010
cold noodle salad with steak

I am going to try and cover a lot of ground today!

Not only do I have a recipe, Cold Orange Chili Oil Noodle Salad with Steak. Which you probably fully anticipated. But what you might not have expected is a guest post and primer on sake.

So let me take a moment and wind my way through all the events that led to noodles and sake landing on Sippity Sup. It all starts with La Fuji Mama. How many sentences begin that way? Rachael is a real life blog instigator, so I need to give a shout out to her. She recently taught a super fun sushi making class at my house. She called it Sushi 101 and you can read all about it HERE. Not only did we learn how to make temakizushi (a traditional hand roll in a cone shape) and maki sushi (sushi rolls), but we had a special guest that evening. His name is Kay Inoue and he is with Banzai Beverage, importers of premium (you guessed it!) sake.

I really enjoyed all the sakes I tasted that evening and Kay had so much interesting information that I just had to ask him to do a guest post.

Sippity Sup Continues »
Tags: | 6 Comments

Cold Orange Chili Oil Noodle Salad with Steak

Cold Orange Chili Oil Noodle and Beef Salad
By jgreghenry Published August 2, 2010
Prep time: 120
Yield:1 ()

Ingredients:

  • 2 usda choice or better filet mignon steaks, about 2 inches thick
  • 0.5 c plus 2 tablespoons soy sauce, separated
  • 1 T peanut oil
  • 1 t chili paste
  • 0 salt and pepper as needed
  • 4 whole baby bokchoy
  • 1 lb very thin asian noodles of your choice
  • 3 T chili-oil
  • 1 T asian fish-sauce
  • 1 T granulated sugar
  • 0.25 c rice vinegar
  • 1 T toasted-sesame oil
  • 0 zest from 1 orange
  • 8 oz fresh mung bean sprouts
  • 0.5 c coarsely shredded carrots
  • 1 bn scallions sliced into 1/2-inch lengths
  • 1 c loosely packed whole cilantro leaves
  • 0.5 c dry-roasted peanuts

Directions

Mix 1/2 cup soy sauce, peanut oil in a small bowl. Rub both sides of each steak with a bit of chili paste. Add the steaks to the soy mixture and let them marinate about 1 hour, turning occasionally. Heat the grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Remove the steaks from the soy mixture and generously season them. Cook for 3 minutes, rotate the steaks 1/4 turn to make nice crosshatch marks, and then cook another 2 minutes. Flip and cook another 3 to 4 minutes for medium-rare, or to your degree of desired doneness. Remove to a platter and let cool. Once cool they may be refrigerated overnight if needed. About an hour before serving, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Have a bowl of ice water handy. Drop the baby bok choy into the water and cook about 3 minutes. Use tongs and remove them to the ice bath to stop cooking. Remove them from the bath drain and refrigerate. Retain the boiling water and ice bath for the noodles. Drop the noodles into the boiling water and cook, stirring often to prevent sticking, until the noodles are al dente. About 2 minutes. Drain and then submerge them in the prepared ice water bath. Once cool drain well and refrigerate 1 hour. Discard boiling water and ice bath. In a large bowl whisk together chili oil, remaining 2 tablespoons soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, Asian fish sauce, pinch of salt, sugar, orange zest. Add the bean sprouts, shredded carrots, sliced scallions, cilantro leaves and cold noodles to the bowl. Toss to coat well. Cover the bowl and move it to the refrigerator to completely chill. When ready to serve, turn the whole bowl and its liquid onto a serving platter. Toss the peanuts over the noodles and top with the reserved steak slices; place the baby bok choy along side. Serve cold.

Notes:

serves 4 Source: inspired by Chef Adam Busby

International House of Pancakes! Scallion Pancakes (Cong You Bing)

07 Apr 2010
making scallion pancakes

Today’s international pancake is Chinese. Scallion Pancakes (Cong You Bing) are wonderfully chewy, flaky, and savory. It is one of my favorite Chinese take-out restaurant treats, and a must-have Dim Sum in my book. For these reasons I give these pancakes a Chinese provenance, though there is also a very similar Korean version called Pa Jun (Pajeon??). What the exact distinctions are I cannot say, but it may be minced scallion as opposed to strips of scallion.

So whether you call this Cong You Bing or Pa Jun this pan-fried bread is made from dough instead of batter and has a lot in common with Indian parathas (another one of my take-out favorites) and other simple flatbreads found in lots of cultures.

My version comes from one of my favorite blogs Big, Bold, Beautiful Food. It seems Ninette’s daughter has been making these tasty treats since she was quite young, so I figure it’s a recipe with all the kinks worked out. Which is just perfect in this instance because I have never attempted to make these before.

Sippity Sup Continues »
Tags: | 29 Comments

Scallion Pancake (Cong You Bing)

Scallion Pancake (Cong You Bing)
By jgreghenry Published April 7, 2010
Prep time: 90
Yield:1 ()

Ingredients:

  • 2 flour
  • 0.75 c boiling water
  • 0.25 t salt
  • 1 T vegetable oil, plus more for pan-frying
  • 0 seasame oil
  • 1 bn scallion, thinly sliced, green parts only
  • 0.5 c soy sauce
  • 0.25 c rice vinegar
  • 2 t toasted sesame oil
  • 0.5 t crumbled dried red chile
  • 1 t sugar

Directions

Stir together flour, salt, hot water, and 1 T vegetable oil. Transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead dough until soft and smooth, 10 minutes or until satiny smooth. If the dough won’t stay together, add water in small increments. If dough is too wet, slowly add flour. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes. If you're not ready to make the pancakes yet, you can put the dough in the fridge for up to a day or so. Roll dough into a 16-inch log on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 16 pieces. Roll each piece out into a 4-inch circle, keeping remaining pieces covered as you work. Brush with sesame oil; sprinkle with about 1 t scallions. Roll each piece into a tight cylinder; pinch ends to seal. Press to flatten. Wrap each cylinder around itself to form a spiral (seam side in); pinch end. Cover with plastic wrap; let stand 20 minutes (or up to 5 hours). Place spirals on a lightly floured surface. Flatten gently. Roll out to 4-inch circles. Let stand 20 minutes. Meanwhile, for dipping sauce, whisk together all ingredients. (Makes about 3/4 cup.) Heat 1 T vegetable oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook pancakes, 2 or 3 at a time, flipping once, until golden, 2 to 3 minutes per side (add oil as necessary). Drain on paper towels. Season with salt. (To keep warm, place in an oven heated to 200 degrees.) Cut into wedges, and serve with dipping sauce.

Notes:

makes 16 Source: Adapted from Martha Stewart and Big Bold Beautiful Food Blog

Garlic New Potatoes with Lemongrass and Mint

Garlic New Potatoes with Lemongrass and Mint
By jgreghenry Published September 16, 2009
Prep time: 5
Yield:1 ()

Ingredients:

  • 0.25 c sesame oil
  • 4 T finely minced lemongrass from the tender bottom part
  • 1 T ginger, peeled and grated
  • 2 lb new potatoes, carefully rinsed and cut in half
  • 20 clv garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
  • 0 salt and pepper
  • 1 c chicken broth
  • 2 c water
  • 0.25 t cayenne pepper
  • 0.5 t ground cumin
  • 0.5 t paprika
  • 3 limes, juice only
  • 1 c mint leaves in chiffonade

Directions

1/2 tsp sweet paprika juice of 3 limes 1 cup mint leaves in chiffonade Heat the sesame oil in a large saucepan set over medium-high heat. Add the lemongrass and ginger and cook a few seconds until you can smell them. Add the potatoes and garlic. Let them all cook for several minutes undisturbed. Your goal is to let one side of the potatoes and garlic get quite brown. Once you have achieved this stir the pan and continue cooking until the potatoes begin to soften, stirring once in a while. About 8-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Then carefully add all the stock and about half of the water. Be careful, oil and water may easily splatter and burn you. Add the cayenne, cumin and paprika, stirring to combine the ingredients. Cook until the potatoes are tender. You may need to add the additional water to achieve this. When ready to serve pour the limejuice over everything while the potatoes are still hot. They will absorb more lime flavor this way. Garnish with mint and enjoy.

Notes:

serves 6 You may substitute new potatoes for any small creamy potato.