sesame oil

Asian Spiced Sugar Snap Pea Salad with Lemon

Asian Spiced Sugar Snap Pea Salad with Lemon
By jgreghenry Published February 5, 2012
Prep time: 10
Yield:1 (Servings)

Ingredients:

  • 1 T rice vinegar
  • 2 t low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 t dark sesame oil
  • 1 t dark brown sugar
  • 1 t hot chile sauce (such as sriracha)
  • 8 oz sugar snap peas, strings removed, thinly sliced on the bias
  • 1 pn coarse sea salt, to taste
  • 1 pn shichimi-togarashi, or standard chile powder, to taste
  • 1 lemon, cut into 8 wedges

Directions

In a small jar mix the rice vinegar, soy sauce, dark sesame oil, brown sugar and hot chile sauce. Put on the lid and shake well. Place the sliced peas in a serving bowl, pour the dressing over them. Toss well. Season with salt and shichimi-togarashi, to taste. Serve with lemon wedges on the side for squeezing.

Have Some Respect for Sesame Marinated SPAM Sliders with Quail Eggs

10 Jul 2011
Sesame Marinated SPAM Sliders with Quail Eggs

I thought I’d have some fun today. With both my palate and my perceptions. Could I create something from nothing? Well what I mean to say is could I create something from a lot less than nothing? Could I make something creative and delicious using SPAM?

Sesame Marinated SPAM Sliders with Quail Egg and Gingered Mayonnaise

It's easy to snub SPAM, but why would you after tasting these little sliders. Marinated in a spicy blend of sesame, soy and chilis, you might be reminded of the Hawaiian snack food masubi. But these little sandwiches are topped with a warm, oozing quail egg and a dollop of gingered mayonnaise– making them something else altogether.

SPAM is not something I buy everyday. Well in fact this is the first time I ever bought SPAM. Not that I haven’t eaten SPAM before. I have eaten and I recall liking it. Of course that may have been 30 or more years ago.

Well as soon as I had that block shaped blue can in my hands some repressed SPAM memories came flooding back. SPAM chunks in mac-n-cheese. That’s what I immediately thought of. Obviously I was served SPAM and blue box macaroni as a child.

But it was the sound that surprised me the most, ker-lunk-click. That’s the sound the top makes when you use your thumb and forefinger and pry open the special pull-tab top that defines SPAM packaging. The sound was one thing– metallic and false. I began to feel like I was making a mistake because the next sensory perception was aroma. I was beginning to worry that my experiment into SPAM would end badly.

Sippity Sup Continues »
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Sesame Marinated Spam Sliders with Quail Egg and Gingered Mayonnaise

Spam sliders with quail eggs
By jgreghenry Published July 9, 2011
Prep time: 180
Yield:1 (Servings)

Ingredients:

  • 1 c soy sauce
  • 0.333333 c brown sugar
  • 6 clv garlic, minced
  • 3 T rice vinegar
  • 2 T sesame oil
  • 2 T sesame seeds, toasted
  • 2 t fresh ginger, grated
  • 1 Thai bird chili, minced
  • 0.25 c mayonnaise
  • 1 cn Spam
  • 0 cooking spray, as needed
  • 16 fresh quail eggs
  • 0 fine grained sea salt
  • 16 slider buns, toasted or grilled as you prefer
  • 16 slider sized pieces of crisp lettuce,

Directions

Prepare the marinade: In a medium sauce pan set over medium heat add the soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, rice vinegar, sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger and minced chili. Cook without boiling until the sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to come to room temperature.

Make the mayonnaise: Add 1 tablespoon of the cool marinade and the remaining 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger to the mayonnaise. Mix well, set aside covered and refrigerated until ready to use.

Prepare the Spam: Cut the Spam crosswise into 8 slices, keeping them together in a block and then cut them all in half clengthwise to form 16 nearly square pieces. Lay the pieces in a single layer in the bottom of a shallow dish. Pour the remaining cooled marinade over the slices and marinate 2 to 4 hours.

Drain the Spam slices, discard marinade. Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium high heat. Spray with a light coating of cooking spray. Brown the Spam slices on one side until nicely colored, about 3 minutes. Flip each piece and repeat the browning. Transfer to a tray, loosely covered with foil.

Fry the eggs: Using a fresh non-stick or cast iron skillet set over medium heat. Spray with a light coating of cooking spray. Carefully crack each quail egg onto the surface, gently frying the eggs with a few grains of salt on top, until the whites have set but the yolks are still runny 2 to 3 minutes. Work in batches if necessary.

Assemble the sliders: Lay the bottoms of the slider buns on a work surface in front of you. Spread a dollop of the gingered mayonaisse onto each. Top this with a piece of lettuce followed by the a Spam slice. Gently place a warm fried quail egg on top, taking care to keep the yolk intact. Add the top to the slider and serve.

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.

Sippity Sup Continues »
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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