Recipes: May 2008 Archives

During the early days of the Edo period, Soba Noodles became a solid solution to a thiamine blight that was destroying the Japanese masses. During the same period Dutch beer halls sprung up like so much buckwheat and led to the advent of those light crispy lagers that suck everywhere but at an Izakaya...

This missile in the barrage of plates that we executed last weekend in the southernmost southland was requested by the Bride and Groom. Going along with our globetrotting lineup, we had to oblige a shout out to the highly aesthetic glory of Japanese Cuisine. Rather than fiddle with tofu or fake fish, we went the route of the Soba noodle salad; a simple but platonic filler of the belly and a dish whose historic rise in popularity mirrors that of our favorite beverage: Beer.

1 pack soba noodles (10-12 oz.)
1/2 bulb ginger
4 scallions
1 Tbs. black sesame seeds
1 Tbs. white sesame seeds
1-2 sheets Nori seaweed
1/2 tsp. smoked salt
4 japanese cucumbers

1/4 cup grape seed oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 Tbs. rice wine vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. cracked peppercorns

1. Make dressing: In a large bowl mix soy sauce, grape seed oil sesame oil, sugar and black peppercorns. Pulse with handheld mixer until smooth and creamy. Add 1 cup chopped green onion tips. Let sit at least 12 hours.

2. Bring a large pot of water with a dab of sesame oil to boil and add the noodles. As soon as water returns to boil, check noodles and add a cup more of a water to break the boil. Stir and watch. Let cook about 5-10 minutes, remove and rinse with cool water. Set Aside.

3. Cut vegetables: Japanese cucumbers into slim half moons, scallions into long bias cuts, peeled ginger into thin matchsticks.

4. Toast sesame seeds, colors can be mixed. If your seaweed is raw add it to the sesame seeds with a touch of sesame oil and smoked salt. (If it is already smoked or toasted, which is hard to find, add it at the end for garnish.)

5. Toss the cool noodles with some grape seed oil and sesame oil to keep from sticking. Gradually add the veggies and then the dressing, mixing with tongs. Finally add sesame seeds and sea weed, saving some for garnish.

Beverage: Hitachino Nest Beer White Ale
Soundtrack: Soh Daiko-Taiko Drum Ensemble

Maybe the marital feast we're catering next weekend, and feverishly planning for right now, has us pondering how food can bring people together. Or maybe it's the Spice Girls' "2 Become 1" on repeat. Whatever the reason, we loved giving Israeli couscous a Moroccan kick, because we needed a sauce with some heat that would slick the bloated caviar-like balls of wheat with some oily heat. We chose a mild harissa of assorted red chiles. We added toasted cumin seeds ourselves for the real kick and served it as a room temperature salad. The stuff also works under a tagine, or alongside grilled vegetables. Just make sure to let the stuff sit for an hour or two to let the flavors "marry." Har-har.

8 oz. Israeli couscous
1 Tbs. vegan margarine
1 large red bell pepper
2 shallots
1 scallion
1/8 cup flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup harissa (mildly spicy)
2 Tbs. olive oil
3 Tbs. whole cumin seeds
Salt and black pepper

1. Bring water in a medium-sized pot to a near-boil over high heat. Lightly salt the water, just a pinch of sea salt, and add margarine. Right before the water hits a rolling boil, add couscous and turn down to low heat. Gently stir once or twice to keep from sticking. Let cook for 5-8 minutes or until couscous balls are perfectly plump and not at all crunchy. Remove, drain and shock with cold water.

2. Finely dice your vegetables. Slice the red bell pepper into quarters length-wise and remove seeds. Then slice quarters into long thin slivers, turn and dice into confetti. Dice your peeled shallots into the same small shape. Wash, pat dry, and chop flat-leaf parsley like you would for tabouleh. Add all of this to a large mixing bowl, saving a couple pinches of parsley for garnish, and mix with the couscous.

3. Dress the couscous with your harissa sauce and some additional olive oil (adjust to get a slick and smooth consistency, depending on how thick your harissa is).

4. The clincher: in a small sauté pan, toast the cumin seeds for about 2 or 3 minutes or until fragrant and slightly more brown. Add the seeds to the mixture and stir well. Season to taste. Let sit for at least an hour to marry. Serve at a room temperature.

Beverage: Unibroue's Maudite
Soundtrack: Primal Scream's "Little Death"

We're back on the wedding catering warpath kiddies. Next weekend the Hot Knives crew is shipping down to San Diego for a marathon baking and grilling session for what will, hopefully, be an epic reception. The menu is done and most of the kinks are worked out, but we've been slow to post the recipes. Now, here comes the deluge. First up, possibly the greatest raw vegan edible we've concocted this year: a cold pad thai salad made not of fatty coconut flesh like some vegan "chefs" do, but out of all the veggie trappings that make pad thai krinkley and fun, dressed in a tamarind-coconut milk. We're still playing with the proportions, but you get the idea.

(Serves 4)

Coco-Tamarind Dressing
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 lemongrass stalk
5 kaffir lime leaves or the zest of two limes
1 Tamarind pod
2 tsp. rice wine vinegar
1 tsp. soy sauce
1/8 cup grapeseed oil

Raw Pad Thai
4 or 5 large carrots
1 quarter of a purple cabbage
4 radishes
1/2 cup bean sprouts
1/2 cup raw peanuts
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
4 scallions

1. In a small sauce pan, heat the coconut milk on medium heat. Beat the lemongrass against a hard clean surface until the outer laers start to split (this brings out more flavor int he infusion) and cut into manageable pieces. Place lemongrass into saucepan. Add kaffir lime. Let this heat until a rolling boil, then turn down to a simmer. Let cook for 15 minutes, then let cool.

2. Using your fingers,break open the tamarind pod and dig out each goop coated seed. Take a paring knife and carefully make an insicion that breaks through the goop membrane to the nut of the tamarind; then squeeze out the seed. Add tamarind pulp to the coconut milk mixture, blend or pulse together until smooth.

3. Combine the tamarind pulp, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar and chilled coconut milk in a blender or robot coupe and pulse until well combined. While blending, add the grapeseed oil in a steady stream to make an emulsion. Blend for an additional minute after all the oil is in the mixture and your sauce is done.

4. Roughly peel your carrots. Using a mandolin, or your vegetable peeler, slice carrots into thin ribbons. Collect in a large mixing bowl. Slice your purple cabbage in the same fashion. (Veggies should look like the garnish on a typical pad thai dish). Slice your radishes into pickle-sized chips. Add bean sprouts.

5. In a small sauté pan, toast your raw peanuts until slightly brown, about 5 minutes on medium heat. Let cool and chop roughly. Reserve 2 Tbs. for garnish and add rest to the salad.

6. Pluck individual cilantro leaves from their stem and add, as well as the scallions, roughly chopped.

7. Toss the pad thai with tongs, dress and stir until coated evenly. Chill in the fridge for at least one hour. Plate and dust with additional peanuts.

Beverage: Echigo Stout
Soundtrack: Acid Mother's Temple, "Interplanetary Love"