Tilapia, Indonesian Style and Pisang Goreng

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👨‍🍳 Cooking in the Time of COVID 👨‍🍳

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Part Two of Tilapia, Three Ways.

Full disclosure: this is Indonesian-ish, because it’s a complete and utter cheat which explains why it doesn’t even have a proper name. One of the key ingredients in the sauce is nasi goreng paste from a jar (heavens!), the intended use of which is to facilitate a quick ‘n’ easy version of Indonesian fried rice. Its ingredients are onions, dried chilies, shallots, garlic, salt, palm oil, sugar, tomato paste, vinegar, black pepper and turmeric and it’s actually a pretty good product; I added a touch of kecap manis (thick sweet soy sauce) for sweetness and depth and some chopped peanuts for a little crunch. Onions and bok choy unused in yesterday’s Tilapia in Black Bean Sauce with Ground Pork post were the veggies of record; that little blossom perched atop the rice is a slice from the stem end of the bok choy.


As long as I was doing “Indonesian style” cooking, I decided to make pisang goreng (deep fried bananas) for a treat. (Yes, more comfort food.) The batter called for rice flour (although other types are widely used too), baking powder (some versions call for baking soda as well), vanilla sugar (my own touch), and salt, and I sprinkled the finished product with flaked coconut and a spicy coconut bumbu condiment I had in the freezer.


The inner workings; crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside.
 
 
More tilapia elevation to come….
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes. ❤️
 
 

Tilapia in Black Bean Sauce with Ground Pork

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👨‍🍳 Cooking in the Time of COVID 👨‍🍳

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So I made a quick trip to the supermarket to grab whatever might be available and reasonably priced. (Sounds familiar these days, doesn’t it?) A large package of tilapia, far too much for a single meal but so persuasively priced, presented itself as a challenge.

I’ve said it before: tilapia is a widely available, bland tasting, poor excuse for fish. But I tend to think of it and other entry-level fish as an artist’s canvas: it’s essentially an uninteresting blank medium waiting to be turned into a masterpiece. Or in this case, dinner. So that makes it a good excuse for playing around with internationally influenced inventions where any richly flavorful fish would get lost in the sauce. Literally.

I decided to focus on Chinese, Indonesian, and Indian cuisines based primarily on whatever else looked fresh in the market and whatever seasonings and ingredients I had on hand. (Spices don’t keep forever and it’s always a good idea to try to use up what you have before it’s too late.)

So this is Part One of Tilapia, Three Ways.

First up, Chinese: Tilapia in Black Bean Sauce with Ground Pork. The vegetable components were onions and bok choy plus the usual ginger, garlic, scallion and chilies. The personality came from browning the ground pork followed by three different black bean sauces that had been keeping company in the fridge (still haven’t used them all up) plus chili sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce, chicken broth, and a pinch of sugar, all stir-fried together and poured over the sautéed tilapia fillets.

Since I’d left the fillets in one piece, I should have plated it better if I had been attending to the presentation instead of my appetite. Still, it was a decidedly tasty dish – no complaints.
 
 
More tilapia elevation to come….
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes. ❤️
 
 

Kung Pao in the Time of COVID

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👨‍🍳 Cooking in the Time of COVID 👨‍🍳

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As a hedge against renewed COVID angst and the current wave of Kafkaesque national politics, I’m cleaving to this course again for a little while, just until the omicron spike subsides. (Some say the graph is shaped like an ice pick but I can’t help seeing it as an inverted hypodermic needle.)

Because I ran out of Ben & Jerry’s but I did have chicken and crunchy peanuts on hand, Kung Pao will have to do for today’s comfort food.

In addition to those two ingredients, I added red bell peppers and scallions along with dried chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, garlic, ginger, and yibin yacai (preserved mustard greens) for the aromatic flavor burst component, and sugar, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, Zhenjiang vinegar, and Guizhou fermented black bean chili sauce to keep it together.

And apropos of keeping it together, I can’t help but wonder if it’s possible that between the red bell peppers and the green scallions, I was subconsciously trying to keep Christmas around a little longer.
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes. ❤️
 
 

Pongal

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Pongal, the holiday, is a four day long harvest festival occurring around mid-January (on the 14th this year) that is observed primarily in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu but like most spiritual anniversaries can’t really be confined to a specific geographical area, diasporas being what they are. One of the most important holidays celebrated by the Tamil community, it is characterized by social gatherings, time-honored rituals, prayers for health, happiness, and prosperity, and, of course, traditional foods. Bidding farewell to the winter solstice and marking the beginning of the sun god’s annual ascent in the zodiac, each day of the holiday features its own set of conventions. It is the second and principal day on which pongal, the dish, is prepared.

The word pongal means to boil or spill over and the seasonal milk plus newly harvested rice preparation does indeed overflow as it cooks, symbolizing the abundant harvest for which participants exuberantly give thanks. The dish manifests in two varieties: sweet (chakkara or sakkarai pongal) which calls for jaggery (unrefined cane sugar) along with raisins, cashews, and spices like cardamom, and savory (ven or khara pongal) which emphasizes an array of more potent spices and herbs.

A multitude of recipes is extant, of course, some saturated with copious ghee (usually the savory variants), some shot through with coconut (usually the sweet), but most of the recipes I’ve found call for the addition of moong dal (mung bean or green gram) to keep company with the rice, similar to North Indian dal khichdi. For today’s culinary adventure, I decided to prepare the savory version.

After toasting the dal, I cooked it together with rice in equal parts (again, recipes vary, often with more rice than dal) using more water than customary to achieve the proper cohesive consistency; they’re prepared sans seasoning – all of the distinctive ingredients are folded in afterwards.

One of the essentials of many world cuisines involves dry toasting spices to bring out their essence. In addition to employing that technique, Indian cuisine takes it one step further by making a tadka, tempering whole herbs and spices in oil to bloom their flavors beyond dry roasting and to flavor the oil as well; it’s the foundation of many Indian dishes and one I frequently use. In this case, ghee provided the lipid component (make sure it’s high quality and fresh) and my “distinctive ingredients” were cashew nuts, cumin seeds, cracked Tellicherry peppercorns for their citrusy notes, curry leaves, grated fresh ginger, green chilies, a pinch of hing (aka asafoetida) and turmeric.

Simply fold the tadka into the prepared rice and dal mixture, cook for another minute or two, et voilà. The texture of the dish should be a little like risotto, think porridge rather than discrete grains like biryani – after all, it’s comfort food; some recipes even call for mashing the rice a bit. It’s often served with coconut chutney (see photo) and sambar.

I confess to consuming it with greedy gusto since this particular combination of cashews, herbs and spices really resonates for me; of course, now I’m craving the sweet version too. Next time!
 
 
Happy Pongal!
 
 

Korean American Day

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Korean American Day commemorates the arrival of the first Korean immigrants to the United States on January 13, 1903 and honors the contributions the Korean American community has made to this country.

In recognition of the annual January 13th celebration, I offer some pix from Mokbar, the Korean restaurant at 212 Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn near Barclays Center. A bit of research reveals that Mokbar is still holding strong at that address and has two locations in Manhattan food courts as well, in Chelsea Market (75 9th Ave) and at the Hugh (601 Lexington Ave & 157 East 53rd St); you can order online from any of them.

Here’s a lookback at what we enjoyed at the Brooklyn venue in 2017 BC (Before COVID).

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From the jipbap (“set menu”), we couldn’t forgo the Jaeyook – crispy pork belly with caramelized kimchi and onions. Easy to see why.


Kalbi Mandu – dumplings filled with marinated beef, caramelized onion, and garlic chives.


Tteokkboki – brown butter rice cakes with bacon, minced pork, white kimchi, and poached egg.


A particularly delicious Ho’ Cake (Mokbar’s spin on hotteok, Korean sweet pancakes); these delights are filled with braised pork belly and served with a kimchi dipping sauce.


Mok Wings – crispy chicken wings with spicy gochujang.


Pajeon – Korean pancakes with charred scallion and garlic chives.

 
 

Egg Drop Soup

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And speaking of holiday leftovers….

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I usually use chicken broth when I make egg drop soup.

But the idea here was to use up all the leftover turkey with deference to glorified frugality beyond the ritual turkey salad sandwiches, turkey hash, turkey mole, turkey tetrazzini, turkey burritos, turkey pot pie (see last post) and an occasional treat for the cats, so the broth that went into this dish was made from leftover roasted turkey bones.

If only I had a leftover turkey egg to use in this…. 🙃
 
 

Turkey Pot Pie

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I’ve written about the procession of leftover Thanksgiving turkey dishes that parade through my kitchen annually, but I’ve never posted any proof. So if you don’t mind a few more Home Cookin’ pix, here, in reverse order of presentation, are some photos of this year’s Turkey Pot Pie. The lacy crispy bits are fried Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, aka frico.

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Plated: prettified with parmesan and peppered with parsley.


Preparatory probe plowing into pot pie prior to plating.


Preliminary portrait. Picture perfect – practically. 🤷
 
 
Clearly, I have too much time on my hands. 😉
 
 

Russian Orthodox Christmas

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I was having a conversation with a friend just the other day. “The holidays are over,” she sighed. “No more excuses to procrastinate.”

“Don’t be so sure,” I countered. “Remember, you’re talking to the Equal Opportunity Celebrant.”

“Okay, so what’s up next?” she asked, grateful for the reprieve.

“Russian Orthodox Christmas.”

“Russians celebrate Christmas?”

“Indeed they do, every January 7. And it’s pretty cool, especially the ritual of flinging a spoonful of a very special Christmas treat up to the ceiling to see if it sticks.”

So I pointed her to a story that I had written long ago. Precisely the story I’m pointing you to right now. Read on….
 
 

Alternate Side of the Sweet

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If you read me regularly, you know that I didn’t orchestrate an over-the-top Thanksgiving feast this year; our annual gathering was an out-of-state potluck with each family member contributing some favorite side dishes. (I brought these two.)

But I missed my Dandy Brandied Candied Yams. (Actually, they’re sweet potatoes, but that’s a story for another day.) On a subsequent shopping trip, I tossed one in the basket, but upon contemplating the solitary and rather forlorn looking sweet potato back in my kitchen, I knew that I wasn’t going to go through the process of creating a mini version of the elaborate side dish for just myself. I also knew that I wasn’t really up for a plain roasted sweet potato, no matter how much butter I doused it with. I needed to come up with an alternate side for that sweet potato.

So I decided to experiment. (Mwah-ha-ha!) I performed a cursory inventory of the fridge and the pantry and hatched a scheme: Roast the root, mash the flesh and instead of brown sugar for sweetness and butter for creamy unctuousness (two of the many DBCY ingredients), I’d use eggnog.

Now wait – before you go “Ewww!” stay with me; this is how recipes are born. Upon testing, the theory proved reasonably solid although it needed some intensification. For texture, I added some butter-toasted pecan pieces and crystallized ginger (both of which I had on hand). But it still needed a bit more sweetness (I was surprised, too) plus a jolt of spice so I drizzled a thread of maple syrup over the nogified veggie mash and sprinkled a bit of cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg on top.

Trust me: if it hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t have taken the time to photograph it and write it up for future fine tuning. Reckless abandon to the rescue again!
 
 

Joyful Kwanzaa!

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Kwanzaa is the annual celebration of African-American heritage, unity, and culture; it begins on the day after Christmas and extends through January 1. The name Kwanzaa comes from the Swahili phrase “matunda ya kwanza” which means “first fruits” referencing the first fruits festivals in Southern Africa.

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of the many and varied cuisines in Africa and over the years it has been my pleasure to write about some delicious meals I’ve had the good fortune to experience at numerous African restaurants. Some of you know that I also enjoy cooking these cuisines at home; I make no claim to any expertise or authenticity in these West African dishes, but I was happy with the way they turned out so I’m sharing some here, virtually, with you.

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Groundnut Stew, also known as peanut stew, maafe, sauce d’arachide, and other handles depending upon its country of origin. This version started with a base of onions, canned tomatoes, and chilies, garlic and fresh ginger, then some chicken stock and spices including soumbala (ground néré seeds), with the addition of creamy natural peanut butter and ground peanuts, sweet potatoes and leafy greens. Pounded cocoyam (aka malanga) on the side.


Fish and Yam Soup. Fresh red snapper, stockfish, smoked bonga fish, dried prawns, crayfish powder, two kinds of yam, potato leaf, water leaf, and a fistful of spices. Fufu, plantain this time, at the ready.


Jollof Rice. A playful rivalry endures between Ghanaian and Nigerian recipes over this popular dish and I’m not getting in the middle of it! This one is closer to a Ghanaian version in that it uses jasmine rice as opposed to the long-grain rice found in Nigerian kitchens. There’s a base of tomatoes, onion, green peppers, ginger and garlic, and the seasoning I used this time (it’s not set in stone) contains Maggi cubes, Jamaican curry powder, star anise, smoked paprika, soumbala, pepper soup spice blend, and a touch of shito (hot pepper sauce) among others. That’s a green, yellow, and orange Scotch bonnet pepper in the corner and a smoked turkey tail on the side.


Palmnut Cream Stew. My rendition with chicken, smoked dried fish, squash, plantain, tomato and kale, fufu to make it complete.


Kelewele. Spicy, fried ripe plantains with a toss of peanuts for some crunch. Every country in West Africa has its own recipe, of course!


Thiakry. A sweet dessert made from millet. My spin on it contains swirls of baobab with peanut crème (which itself is the basis for another dessert called Ngalakh).
 
 
Joyful Kwanzaa!