PAN SEARED TILAPIA WITH MISO AND GINGER GLAZE

This is one of my mystery basket type of dish. It's friday w/c means it's seafood day and i have a pack of Tilipia fillet thawing. In my ref i have some miso leftover from the soup my daughter made (Mushroom w/ Soba Noodles soup) and some sesame oil. In the pantry i have mirin and rice vinegar w/c are essential condiments for sushi, yes i thought of the sushi route but opted for a bbq or glaze kind of dish.

I have had this glaze before with chicken and shrimp, so there is no reason why it won't be good w/ fish.

The measurements are estimates. You will have to taste as you go, you know what i mean.

For this recipe i used 1 pack of Tilapia fillet w/c contains 6 medium sized fillet.

Make the Marinade/Glaze:

1/4 C miso paste
1/4 C mirin (rice wine)
2 T Kikkoman Soy Sauce
2 T rice vinegar
1/2 T freshly grated ginger
1 t sesame oil


Whisk together the above marinade in a glass container. Remember, taste and adjust the measurements.
Save some of the marinade for glaze, if you don't have enough you'll have to make more for the glaze.
Place the fillet in the marinade container making sure they are well coated. Keep in the ref to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Heat up a nonstick pan, coat w/ butter or olive oil.
Pan sear the Tilapia for few minutes on each side or until the fish turns white, this type of fish cooks fast.
Set them aside

Using the same pan, heat up the marinade you set aside as glaze. Baste them onto the cooked fish.

Serve w/ rice, w/ a squeeze of lemon.

BANH MI (ASIAN SANDWICH) MY VERSION

This is my take on my favorite Cambodian/Vietnamese Style sandwich. This is probably one of the reasons why i love their food. This brings back memories, i had the privilege to taste an authentic Cambodian "hoagie", really when i say authentic it is authentic. It was prepared by Cambodians and it was wrapped like how they'd do it ..wrapped w/ a phone book page. But i tell you, you'll forget the wrapper as soon as you bite into the sandwich. Hey, just like the fish and chips in England wrapped in a newspaper right?

I have had this recipe for a long time, i forgot the source. All i remembered is, i got this from an Asian cookbook. This recipe is Cambodian but this more of the Vietnamese(Banh Mi) which can be ordered at any Vietnamese Restaurants. Just like any other sandwiches there are a lot of variations as to what kind of meat you'd put into the sandwich.

Okay enough of that lets go to the recipe for the pork and the relish. The carrot and daikon relish is a must to make the sandwich. If you won't make the relish then you'll not know how the sandwich would taste and if you don't like daikon then just make carrots relish.

And oh, it has to be a Vietnamese baquette, okay that's going to be a stretch, i know that's not easy to find but this kind of bread is available at almost all Asian stores. You can actually use any kind of bread that is crunchy in the outside and soft in the inside.

First, make the Carrot and Daikon Relish

CARROT AND DAIKON RELISH

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups julienne daikon (1 medium daikon)
2 cups julienne carrot (2 large carrots)
½ cup white vinegar
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
1 teaspoon salt

Prodecure:

In a bowl, mix the teaspoon of salt, julienned daikon and carrots, squeeze all the liquid out from the daikon and carrot then set aside.
In a small bowl, mix vinegar, sugar, salt and water, stir until sugar is dissolved. Taste and adjust.
Pour the vinegar mix over the daikon and carrots. Mix well and keep chilled.
***The relish can last up to 2 weeks in the ref.
***This is delicious as a side dish for any grilled or fried dishes, as a relish for a sandwich, or for lettuce wraps and many other dishes.

Second, Grill the Pork

GRILLED HONEY PORK

INGREDIENTS:

1 ½ lbs. country style ribs pork (boneless) or boneless blade roast pork sliced thin.
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk green onion, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon honey
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Procedure:

In a blender or processor, puree garlic, green onion, soy sauce, oyster, salt, honey and black pepper.
Pour marinade into the pork meat, mix well and refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours.
Grill marinated pork in medium temperature, cook until meat is cooked and tender.
Serve as the meat in the sandwich w/ the daikon and carrot relish, with hot steamed rice, or lettuce wrap w/ the carrot and daikon relish

Now that the two main ingredients are done, it's assembly time.





Toast your baguette to make it warm, slather some mayonnaise (you can also mix a little of sambal olek or sriracha or anything hot and spicy to your mayo if you want a little kick).
Then the grilled pork and a generous amount of the relish and lastly some cilantro leaves.
I also added some jalapeno pickles to my sandwich. That's it!!!

ENJOY!!!

ANIME DINNER (TAKOYAKI AND ONIGIRI)

Yup, Anime dinner, foods that you commonly see in the anime shows. My daughter gave me this idea a long time ago but there was one dish that i could not make w/o the pan. I am glad that the Asian store is now selling this kind of grill, i believe it's because of the demand that's why they carry it now. I think a muffin pan can be a good substitute for the grill then bake it..hhmm i've got to experiment on that.

If you have kids, chances are you've heard of Anime and Manga or if you watch Japanese cartoon shows obviously you have an idea what anime is. http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vZW4ud2lraXBlZGlhLm9yZy93aWtpL0FuaW1l

Okay, just what is anime? It means animation in English. It originated in Japan, it's actually Japanese cartoons with incredible animation techniques while Manga is the comics version. Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Sailor Moon or Dragon Ball Z are just a few example of an anime. In these shows they have incorporated Japanese foods..ofcourse sushi being the common/popular food but they have introduced more Japanese dish.

We made two of the many dishes. The first one is Takoyaki w/c means Tako (Octopus) Yaki (Grill)- Octopus Balls/Dumplings. Japanese considers this fast foods because they are cooked or sold on the street.

The second one is my daughter's favorite Onigiri w/c means rice balls. This is actually a snack in Japan. But i personally find it too heavy to be a snack. It's traditionally filled with pickled plums, or fish. There are a lot of variations on what fillings you can put in the rice ball. My daughter used tuna with Japanese spicy Mayo and egg, we aren't sure if it's served w/ a dip but we like ours w/ wasabi and soysauce.

The Onigiri are fun and easy to make w/ your kids, so if you have kids that are into Anime this is a good start for kids to explore or "enhance" their taste. They are both delicious!!!!




Takoyaki Grill Pan (This is a Vietnamese version)

Ingredients for the Takoyaki :

Boiled octopus, dried shrimps,tempura crisp, dried seaweeds, dashi stock or fish stock or plain water, chopped green onions, flour, eggs and takoyaki sauce.

Tako (Baby Octopus)

Cooking Away

Almost done!

Takoyaki with bonito flakes(dried fish flakes)

Takoyaki w/o the bonito flakes (Takoyaki sauce, mayo, nori)

Onigiri (Made by my daughter)

Typical Onigiri shape Fillings made: Tuna with Japanase Spicy Mayo and Eggs

Wasabi and Kikkoman Soy sauce

ENJOY!!!

LILY BULB STIR FRY

I get enthused everytime i see blogs of new recipes, another version of a recipe i like or new ingredients. I get interested and sometimes find it a challenge if i can't get the ingredient or find any substitution. This "root bulb" is something new to me and i was on a mission to find this "veggie". Thanks to my friend Debbie for introducing this root/bulb.

As i mentioned before i get my Japanese ingredients and stuff at a small Japanese grocery/produce market near my place. I've seen lots of ingredients that looks "alien" to me and always wonder how they are cooked and the taste..lily root bulbs are one but didn't bother coz i had no clue. Another example are the burdocks but that's going to be another blog.

Okay..when i say i'm on a mission..i really mean it. I was disappointed to learn that they (Japanese stored) don't sell lily bulbs anymore, it wasn't selling. Since i couldn't find lily roots in my place, I thought i'd be able to find them in Chinatown Chicago...yeah we were there last weekend. As i was going through the aisle of a Chinese supermarket, taking pictures acting like a tourist , i came across these vacuumed pack white "thingy" that looked like the lily root Debbie blogged.

As you can see from the picture below it's only labeled in Chinese, so i had to asked the cashier who fortunalety speaks English. She said it's edible lily bulb, widely used in Asian countries esp. in Korea, China and Japan. She surprisingly is well versed w/ this lily bulb, and told me that there are an array of varieties for lily root/bulb. She then described these veggie exactly as what Debbie described in her blog...aside from it's nutritional and medicinal value, people like it becoz it's creamy, sweet and has this refreshing flavour.

Regrets, regrets..i bought only one package! what was i thinking? Actually i was still kind of apprehensive to buy a lot. So i ended up making just the stir fry for now ha!ha!. It was very good!!! something that we would love to have for dinner again...if only i can purchase them here. Oh well, guess it'll have to wait until we go back to Chitown.

Edible lily bulb (Chinese variety) but accdg. to the lady it taste the same as the Japanese kind.

They look like elephant garlic bulbs . Clean them and take out the blemishes. Slowly take off the petals.

They look gorgeous! I took a bite and they were indeed crispy, with a tinge of sweetness, they had a crunch like endives or thin slice of celery but a much sweeter and crunchy taste.

I still have streak o' lean in the freezer...so i opted to use them in lieu of bacon. Streak o' lean btw are just thin slices of porkbelly.

Slice them in bits and render out the fat.

Yummy!!! Save the fat/lard..they are good in moderation ofcourse.

I had no idea what veggies i was going to cook..these are the veggies i had in my ref, yellow, red, orange bell peppers, edame and scallions.

Saute garlic, onions, then add the rest of the veggies ofcourse including the lily petals seasoned w/ S&P. Stir fry no longer than 1 minute or they will lose their sweet flavour and the crisp. Mix soy sauce, oyster sauce, little of fish sauce (optional), slurry (mixture of cornstarch and water) as thickener. Pour into the veggie mix and stir until sauce thickens. Taste and adjust the flavor.

STIRY FRY LILY ROOT BULB

EDAMAME AS THE APPETIZER.

ENJOY!!!!

MANAKEESH "MIDDLE EASTERN PIZZA"

In the Middle East they serve and eat this for breakfast but for me it's anytime of the day. I make this at home using fresh baked pita w/c i buy from a middle eastern bakeshop. As you guys know i've been baking bread lately and thought of making pizza dough to make manakeesh. I think i prefer the thin crust pizza dough, i love the crisp as oppose to the chewyness of the pita, but really either way, FRESH pita bread or homemade pizza dough will work.

I made my pizza dough and divided them into 18 small balls. Then made free formed mini pizza.Make sure to crank up your oven temp to 500 DEGREES and have your pizza stone heated up.

ALL MY MEASUREMENTS ARE ESTIMATES. IT'LL ALL DEPEND ON HOW MANY CRUSTS YOU WILL MAKE.

Mix together 2 T Olive oil, 3 T Zatar, 1 T Sumac and 1 t Lemon juice. I know Zatar has sumac but i want to taste more sumac.

IF YOU MADE TOO MUCH MIXTURE USE THEM TO COAT ANYKIND OF FISH THEN BAKE..YUM!

ZATAR / ZAATAR/ ZA-ATAR - An herb mixture composed of savory, thyme, sumac, and sesame seeds. A prepared mixture of this herb mixture can be found at most Middle Eastern groceries






SUMAC/ SUMAK - A Middle Eastern spice that comes from the grated skin of a dark berry. It has a slightly acidic, astringent flavor. I also use this w/ my lentil soup, YUMMY!

The green powder is Zatar and the red is Sumac.

SAUCE TOPPING INGREDIENTS FOR MANAKEESH: Zatar, Sumac, Labna, Feta Cheese, Lemon

LABNA, LABNEH, LABNE - A Middle Eastern Yogurt cheese also called kefir cheese.


Make your own vegetable toppings. The Zatar/Sumac mixture will be your sauce toppings or if you can't really find or make your zatar make the yogurt as your sauce toppings.
Arrange them on your heated pizza stone and bake for 5 to 10 minutes.

I USED SPINACH, RED ONIONS, TOMATOES FOR MY VEGGIE TOPPINGS AND ADDED FETA CHEESE AND DOLLOP OF YOGURT OR MAKE SOME WITHOUT CHEESE BUT FOR THESE CRUSTS I SPREAD SOME LABNA FIRST THEN THE ZATAR MIXTURE

THESE ARE SOME OF THE MANAKEESH VARIATIONS I MADE.

MANAKEESH USING PITA BREAD. THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME TO MAKE THEM AT HOME, SO YOU'LL NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MY FIRST AND THE LATEST I MADE. i'M TALKING 2005 - 2009.

I DIDN'T MIX THE ZATAR AND THE SUMAC WITH THE OLIVE OIL. I DRIZZLED THEM W/ OLIVE OIL. IT WAS STILL DELICIOUS!!

I PRECOOKED MY VEGGIES BUT THEN AGAIN IT WAS STILL DELICIOUS!!! GO FIGURE