eG Foodblog: C. sapidus - Crabs, Borscht, and Fish Sauce

[C. sapidus]

BTW, C. -- those biscuits really do look fabulous!  Maybe I should refrigerate my shortening before cutting it into the flour and baking powder?  I've never been able to produce a flaky biscuit, ever. I do make decent drop biscuits, though.

Thanks, Sandy. I did refrigerate the shortening before cutting it into the flour. I have also read it helps to cut the biscuits with a sharp cutting implement before baking - I used a sharp chef's knife. Based on which side of the biscuits rose and which didn't, next time I might trim the sides, too, to see if it makes a difference. The cut edges definitely rose higher than the outer edges, which were smushed into shape with a board scraper.

[C. sapidus]

Ah, the traditional refrigerator shots – I was hoping Sandy and Alana would forget, but no such luck.

The main refrigerator compartment is a bit topsy-turvy. We moved things around to fit the ribs yesterday, and to fit the stock pot full of borscht today. The weather has been cooperative, so root vegetables, etc. are stored in a cooler outdoors. I use the bottom crisper drawers most frequently. The left crisper drawer holds vegetables – bell peppers, bok choy, long beans, Chinese leeks, etc. The right crisper drawer holds seasonings and aromatics – chilies, scallions, cilantro, basil - all of the good stuff. You can barely see bristly lemongrass stalks on the bottom right, just above the crisper.

The fridge door. The green beans are for the dogs. The amber bottle to the left of the half-and-half is root beer that Mrs. Crab and the boys made at home – we have a case or two more in the pantry, waiting for the yeast to get their act in gear and carbonate the root beer properly.

The freezer. Lots of home-made chicken and/or vegetable stock, bread, the grease jar, and a bottle of vodka. Ice cream is for the boys, mostly.

The freezer door. My favorite part is the top shelf, which holds key Asian ingredients like Thai “long chilies”, galangal, turmeric, and our stash of kaffir lime leaves. Our Russian friends grow a kaffir lime tree indoors, and they bring over armloads of kaffir lime branches whenever they visit.

We store ginger, scallions, and onions in a wicker basket on top of the fridge. Garlic has its own clay pot with air holes, also on top of the fridge. Tomatoes, limes, and avocados sit on the counter, and bunches of bananas hang from hooks on the drying rack. We also have a stand-up freezer in the basement, but it badly needs defrosting.

Oops, I forgot - we also have an under-counter dorm fridge. We use this fridge to store drinks - milk, Danimals, and beer, mostly. This frees up a lot of space in the main fridge. I will try to remember to take a picture.

Sigh.

[caroled]

Bruce it is so good to be reading your blog.Work has kept me busy and I am just now finding it and have now read it start to finish.

I have always found your evening meals to be drool-worthy and the cooking you have done so far this week is no exception.

As a GRITS girl, I must say that you have done us proud with the ham hocks and greens. I still have some left in the fridge that Rachel made me a few days ago the I am enjoying immensely.

I do have a suggestion for another way to cook them although I don't have an actual recipe for them.

When I lived in Alabama, we had a little chinese place in town that was the place to go for a meal out. The chef took the greens and did a chiffonade cutting across the greens so that there was a little piece of the stem in each strip.They were then stir fried along with finely chopped bacon,garlic , chopped onion,super thin matchsticks of carrot and then dressed with a little soy sauce and maybe some fish sauce... you get the idea. Cooking time was very short so that the greens (particularly the stem) retained a bit of their crunchiness.Sooo Gooood.. give that a try sometime. You have everything in your kitchen that you could possibly need to make them. Some nights on my way home from work I'd stop by and get just an order of green to go for my dinner.Man do I miss them

Looking forward to what's to come next!

[caroled]

Also, any points values that you could include in your blog would be great. I'm doing WW as well and am always looking for "real" food to enjoy (although I am fortunate in that my leader is not one of those that seems to push the pre-made proccessed food ideas on us) Thanks

[nakji]

Wow, your chicken and lemongrass looked great. I've never had it with coconut milk and curry here in the North. It's worth noting I have THE EXACT SAME BRAND of coconut milk sitting on my kitchen counter right now. Is it a small world, or what? I'm travelling down the coast in April, and I'm going to take copious notes about the differences in North/South cuisine - for the edification of myself and all eGulleteers.

Have we started a Vietnamese home cooking thread yet? We need to do that. I've made a date to do a cooking exchange with one of my co-workers - she wants to learn how to make banana bread, after I brought some into the staff room. It's such a healthy and great cuisine - and points-friendly, too!

Thanks for letting us in to see your cooking and your life.

[C. sapidus]

Nakji: Thank you! I look forward to learning the differences between northern and southern Vietnamese food. Please remember to bring your camera on the trip. Mai Pham (Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table) seems have more recipes from southern Vietnam, but Andrea Nguyen’s family lived in the north as well as the south. I haven't finished reading through Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, but the recipes seem to reflect influences from both regions.

Guppymo started a Vietnamese Food thread (clickety), and posted an amazing array of home-cooked Vietnamese meals. I would love to reactivate that thread – perhaps we can start posting there when we cook Vietnamese food?

Edit: forgot "to".

Edited January 17, 2007 by C. sapidus (log)

[C. sapidus]

As a GRITS girl, I must say that you have done us proud with the ham hocks and greens. I still have some left in the fridge that Rachel made  me a few days ago the I am enjoying  immensely.

caroled: Thanks! You are the amazing baker and mapo tofu maker, correct?

I do have a suggestion for another way to cook them although I don't have an actual recipe for them. 

  When I lived in Alabama, we had a little chinese place in town that was the place to go for a meal out. The chef took the greens and did a chiffonade  cutting across the greens so that there was a little piece of the stem in each strip.They were then stir fried along with finely chopped bacon,garlic , chopped onion,super thin matchsticks of carrot and then dressed with a little soy sauce and maybe some fish sauce... you get the idea.  Cooking time was very short so that the greens (particularly the stem) retained a bit of their crunchiness.Sooo Gooood..  give that a try sometime. You have everything in your kitchen that you could possibly need to make them.  Some nights on my way home from work I'd stop by and get just an order of green to go for my dinner.Man do I miss them

Awesome - that sounds right up my alley! <runs off to add collard greens and bacon to next week's shopping list>

[Kouign Aman]

Oh my. You have my fridge. Your freezer is so empty and organized. Oh my. Is that the egg rack you are using to hold small jars in the door?

All the food looks so good.

I've got lemongrass on my nursery shopping list. I have the pot, the site, just need the plant. My one experience cooking with it suggested its like bay leaves - simmer in and then remove. You handled it quite differently from that. When you chopped it fine and cooked it, did it get tender or stay very fibrous/chewy? Do you peel many layers off the stalk before chopping?

[Basilgirl]

Holy crap, those biscuits are a thing of beauty! I live in Northern Virginia - send me some???? It looks like you rolled them out nice and thick - was the butter frozen? Is that how they came out so flaky?

Thank you, Basilgirl! The butter and shortening were refrigerator temperature before mixing with the dry ingredients. I also used heavy cream, on the theory that the more detrimental an ingredient is to your health, the better it will be when baked.

Beginner's luck, methinks.

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Don't tell us this is the first time you've ever made biscuits!!!! I'm loving this blog. And now I'm so ashamed to admit that I've given up on homemade biscuits and now use whack-a-roll, frozen Pillsbury, or Bisquick.

[C. sapidus]

Holy crap, those biscuits are a thing of beauty! I live in Northern Virginia - send me some???? It looks like you rolled them out nice and thick - was the butter frozen? Is that how they came out so flaky?

Thank you, Basilgirl! The butter and shortening were refrigerator temperature before mixing with the dry ingredients. I also used heavy cream, on the theory that the more detrimental an ingredient is to your health, the better it will be when baked.

Beginner's luck, methinks.

←

Don't tell us this is the first time you've ever made biscuits!!!! I'm loving this blog. And now I'm so ashamed to admit that I've given up on homemade biscuits and now use whack-a-roll, frozen Pillsbury, or Bisquick.

Third time making biscuits, but Ann_T and others were very helpful when I posted my first-time tale of woe.

[C. sapidus]

Oh my. You have my fridge. Your freezer is so empty and organized. Oh my.  Is that the egg rack you are using to hold small jars in the door?

That's funny - the fridge came with the house. I dunno about the egg rack - the indentations are more jar-shaped than egg-shaped. I'm way too lazy to take eggs out of a perfectly good container and carefully put them somewhere else.

All the food looks so good.

Thank you!

I've got lemongrass on my nursery shopping list. I have the pot, the site, just need the plant. My one experience cooking with it suggested its like bay leaves - simmer in and then remove. You handled it quite differently from that. When you chopped it fine and cooked it, did it get tender or stay very fibrous/chewy? Do you peel many layers off the stalk before chopping?

Can you grow lemongrass outside year-round? We have grown lemongrass in the vegetable garden, but the stem diameter doesn't get that big around before frost.

I have seen lemongrass used three ways:

1. Chop finely and use in stir-fried or grilled dishes. Lemongrass is pretty stringy if you don't chop it very finely across the grain.

2. For Thai and Malaysian curry pastes, chop the lemongrass and pound it to smithereens in a heavy mortar with chilies, garlic, shallots, etc. Sometimes we start curry pastes out in a food processor and finish in the mortar. If we have enough volume we can use the Preethi grinder, but it doesn't work for small quantities. We are still playing with the most efficient method of making curry pastes.

3. Bruise the lemongrass, simmer it like a bay leaf, and remove before serving. In Cradle of Flavor, James Oseland recommends bruising the lemongrass and tying it in a knot. We do that for coconut lemongrass rice, which is delicious (but not very WW-friendly, unfortunately).

[C. sapidus]

Mrs. Crab woke up early, made coffee, put the borscht in the outdoor fridge to solidify the fat . . .

. . . set up to make Russian black bread for tonight . . .

. . . and breakfasted on coffee and a muffin with egg white and Canadian bacon (4 WW points or less). She ate a portabella burger for lunch when she came home to start the bread machine (portabella burger - 1 point; whole-grain muffin - 2 points).

Good news and bad news this morning. Bad news: my throat feels like I gargled with broken glass, so I stayed home from work. Good news: I can check my work e-mail from home and post on eGullet. Breakfast: coffee, blood orange, and a throat lozenge.

Edited: y'know, if I looked at my own pictures more closely, I could tell the difference between Canadian bacon and a portabella burger. Also added WW points (thanks, Mrs. C!).

Edited January 17, 2007 by C. sapidus (log)

[C. sapidus]

Catching up on pictures here - we stopped by the Latino Market . . .

. . . and picked up some odds and ends. Their chorizo is excellent, the best I have found. They carry Salvadoran and Mexican chorizo, so I have learned to say, “Quatro chorizo Mexicano, por favor” in a moderately convincing manner. I know that I needed bitter orange (naranja agria) for something – a Rick Bayless recipe, perhaps? No ginger beer until my throat feels better.

We also picked up some yard-long beans and baby mustard greens at the Asian Market. The owner is from Burma, and gave me a book of Shan recipes. Much more about the Asian market later.

I forgot to take a picture of the sign outside the Asian Supermarket - sorry for the blurry pic. For locals, the store is located across the street from Rita's shave ice and the Adelphia building.

Edited January 17, 2007 by C. sapidus (log)

[C. sapidus]

Bruce makes lunch, and purists wince: omelet with fish sauce, chorizo, feta cheese, Mexican oregano, and black pepper. More coffee.

Mmmmm, good.

I may have some leftover rice and chicken stir-fry later, if I get hungry.

[C. sapidus]

Hmm, stunned silence after the omelet. Would y’all like to see a kitchen tour, pictures from the Asian market, both, or neither? Please let me know - I’ll be back in a bit after wrestling with ImageGullet.

[snowangel]

I'm having computer problems, and every time I try and reply to anything, the blasted thing shuts down, so I'll try again.

I love omelets like that. And, they are rather traditional in Thailand to "overstuff" them (as opposed to a French omelet with barely anything in it).

The combo sounds oddly good.

Yes, pictures of the Asian market, please!

[MarketStEl]

I've had to cut fish sauce out of my repertoire. Partner has high blood pressure, although I suspect but do not yet know for sure that laying off the sauce has probably brought it down to the point where he might be able to consider going off blood pressure medication. (I'm no longer sober, but my BP is 110/84, well away from the danger zone.) Even so, he probably will still have to limit sodium intake, and fish sauce is loaded with the stuff.

Soy sauce I can get away with, but I buy the reduced-sodium varieties.

Everything else in that omelet sounds like it's right up my alley.

[C. sapidus]

Cooking Asian food used to require lots of planning and a two-hour round trip. Discovering the Asian Supermarket dramatically changed how we cook and eat. The owners, incredibly pleasant folks, are from Burma, near the Indian border. They also have roots in Singapore, Japan, and California. This probably explains the incredible diversity of foods that they offer in a relatively small space. One of the owners at the cash register (she told me her name, but I'm embarassed to say that the information leaked out of my brain on the short drive home):

The owners would like to expand the store. Expansion would enable them to carry a wider variety of produce and offer hot prepared foods. I hope it works out – I would love to see more produce, but the store already offers nearly everything I need to cook Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Laotian, Indian, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Singaporean food. In the summer, they stock cases of indescribably delicious mangos.

The store has two long aisles, with cash register behind me and produce at the far end:

Rice and snacks:

Gratuitous Pocky shot:

Freezer case with fresh coconut and durian:

Indian goods:

Malaysian, Indonesian, and Singaporean supplies:

Thai curry pastes, picked vegetables, and coconut milk:

Household goods, including granite mortars:

Freezer cases – fish, meats, dumplings, wrappers, and frozen chilies, galangal, and turmeric:

Canned goods, flours, shallots, pickled vegetables:

Produce section – small but well-chosen. I usually buy lemongrass, Thai chilies and basil, mint, long beans, green mango, limes, bean sprouts, Asian greens, Asian eggplants, Napa cabbage . . .

Fruit purees, cabbage, chayote, root vegetables, noodles . . .

Another freezer case:

Chinese and Korean sauces:

More sauces – sometimes I stand here and smile quietly to myself.

Japanese ingredients:

There is also a whole wall of dry noodles from southern and eastern Asia (no picture). Great place!

[C. sapidus]

Do you peel many layers off the stalk before chopping?

Kouign Aman: Sorry, I missed your last question (which was a good one). For the stir-fry I peeled the outer grungy layers and chopped up the bottom six inches or so of the lemongrass. The recipe stated that one stalk of lemongrass would yield about 3 tablespoons finely chopped. I found that it took two stalks of lemongrass to yield that amount. Perhaps lemongrass grows thicker in California or Vietnam?

For making curry pastes, I peel the lemongrass down to the very tender inner layers. Otherwise, pounding lemongrass to a paste takes quite a while. I just sorta worked this stuff out by trial and error, so I could be doing it all wrong.

We have heard from the greens experts - would any lemongrass experts care to weigh in on this?

[SuzySushi]

Cooking Asian food used to require lots of planning and a two-hour round trip. Discovering the Asian Supermarket dramatically changed how we cook and eat. The owners, incredibly pleasant folks, are from Burma, near the Indian border.

. . . Great place!

←

Your Asian market looks fabulous! What a lot of diversified products in a small space!

[C. sapidus]

Mrs. Crab made borscht and Russian black bread for dinner. The borscht was delicious with a little rice vinegar. We had sour cream for the borscht, and honey or butter for the bread. Mrs. Crab used 18 cups of broth in the borscht; half of the borscht was gone by dinner's end. Good stuff!

5 WW points for one eighth of a loaf of bread; about 1.5 points per cup of the borscht.

The table:

Mrs. Crab’s borscht.

[C. sapidus]

Fridge shots, continued:

Besides the main refrigerator, an under-counter dorm fridge in the kitchen holds milk, yogurt drinks, and beer. Storing drinks here makes it much easier to keep the main fridge somewhat organized. The ginger ale was left over from a dinner party several weeks ago – we don't drink much soda. Under-counter fridge:

The freezer in the basement holds bulk meats (bought on sale), frozen seafood and veggies, the emergency backup bread supply, and the usual odds and ends. Freezer:

Enough about refrigerators - a delightful package showed up today (half-price at Amazon). Our first enameled cast iron pot - I can't wait to try a braise, maybe even some no-knead bread.

[caroled]

Cooking Asian food used to require lots of planning and a two-hour round trip. Discovering the Asian Supermarket dramatically changed how we cook and eat. The owners, incredibly pleasant folks, are from Burma, near the Indian border. They also have roots in Singapore, Japan, and California. This probably explains the incredible diversity of foods that they offer in a relatively small space. One of the owners at the cash register (she told me her name, but I'm embarassed to say that the information leaked out of my brain on the short drive home):

The owners would like to expand the store. Expansion would enable them to carry a wider variety of produce and offer hot prepared foods. I hope it works out – I would love to see more produce, but the store already offers nearly everything I need to cook Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Laotian, Indian, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Singaporean food. In the summer, they stock cases of indescribably delicious mangos.

The store has two long aisles, with cash register behind me and produce at the far end:

Rice and snacks:

Gratuitous Pocky shot:

Freezer case with fresh coconut and durian:

Indian goods:

Malaysian, Indonesian, and Singaporean supplies:

Thai curry pastes, picked vegetables, and coconut milk:

Household goods, including granite mortars:

Freezer cases – fish, meats, dumplings, wrappers, and frozen chilies, galangal, and turmeric:

Canned goods, flours, shallots, pickled vegetables:

Produce section – small but well-chosen. I usually buy lemongrass, Thai chilies and basil, mint, long beans, green mango, limes, bean sprouts, Asian greens, Asian eggplants, Napa cabbage . . .

Fruit purees, cabbage, chayote, root vegetables, noodles . . .

Another freezer case:

Chinese and Korean sauces:

More sauces – sometimes I stand here and smile quietly to myself.

Japanese ingredients:

There is also a whole wall of dry noodles from southern and eastern Asia (no picture). Great place!

←

I know how you feel. Everytime I go to one of our asian markets (I am fortunate enough to have 4 within a 6 mile radius of our house) I have to remind myself of just what I came for so that I don't end up with a $100+ bill and not know what to do with 1/2 of it .I always want to buy 1 of everything just to try it!

Feeling inspired by your blog I ran out to the nearest one and piced up 6 packs of firm tofu, 1Japanese miso marinated tofu and 1 already fried tofu cake.

I have a couple ideas for some of it,curried tofu salad, Japanese tofu salad with sesame,and mapo dofu. How would you handle the rest??

[C. sapidus]

Susan (snowangel) requested a kitchen tour, so here goes. The kitchen and dining room are about 10 feet wide and 20 feet long. These pictures are from last year, so some things have changed. To understand the layout, picture yourself standing in the middle of the room and spinning clockwise while taking pictures.

The cooking wall: Blue Star rangetop, Vent-A-Hood (could have used more cfms), Ikea cabinets, Ikea shelf above the rangetop, Ikea hanging rails, basic GE oven. The small prep sink near the door is incredibly useful. Mrs. Crab usually preps to the left of the rangetop; I usually prep to the right.

Spices and dried chiles in the glass-fronted cabinets, bulk spices above the sink, pots and pans below the rangetop. The tall pull-out drawer next to the rangetop (where the oven mitts hang) holds cooking oils, fish and soy sauces, and pull-out drawers for cooking implements. More cooking implements to the left of the rangetop.

Kitchen overview: the left side is for cooking, and the right side mostly for cleanup. The door leads to the carport and grill. When we add on to the house, the door will lead to a foyer and in-law apartment. The freezer will move upstairs to a laundry room just past the foyer.

The cleanup wall from back to front: refrigerator; trash pull-out and compost jar; sink; crappy Whirlpool dishwasher (hidden behind a wooden panel); flatware and coffee drawers with drying racks above; tall cabinet for plates, bowls, glasses, and serving dishes. A new coffee maker is now to the left of the sink. The big single sink hides a lot of dishes when we entertain.

The dining room and more Ikea cabinets (we now have a rug under the table). The tall cabinet on the right holds cereal, grains, and countertop appliances. The base cabinets hold pasta, canned goods, plastic bags, and miscellaneous stuff that begs for organization. The tall cabinet on the left holds vinegars, less-used serving plates, and our stash of home-made root beer.

[C. sapidus]

I know how you feel. Everytime I go to one of our asian markets (I am fortunate enough to have 4 within a 6 mile radius of our house) I have to remind myself of just what I came for so that I don't end up with a $100+ bill and not know what to do with 1/2 of it .I always want to buy 1 of everything just to try it!

Feeling inspired by your blog I ran out to the nearest one and piced up 6 packs of firm tofu, 1Japanese miso marinated tofu and 1 already fried tofu cake.

I have a couple ideas for some of it,curried tofu salad, Japanese tofu salad with sesame,and mapo dofu. How would you handle the rest??

←

One of the things I love about eGullet is how the members inspire each other to try new things. Rachel’s lyrical description of waking to the aroma of your mapo tofu has inspired me to try Fuchsia Dunlop’s recipe. We have some tofu in the fridge, so I will attempt my first mapo tofu this weekend.

I have not tried any Japanese cooking yet. So little time, so many things I would like to do.

Please let us know what you make with your bounty from the Asian market.