Seafood & Chorizo Paella

I made this dish a few month ago for my dear friend Diana and her Fiancée Phil.  They drove all the way up from Long Beach for a visit, so I wanted to offer them something really special.  What I love about this dish is that it is simple and it feeds a lot of people! It's essentially a "one pot" dish. Everything goes into one large pan but the real work is in the shopping and the prep... so be prepared!

For this recipe I basically scoured the internet for all different types of Paella recipes.  They come in so many variation that it's hard to pick just one.  I basically combined the ingredients I liked most and came up with my own special recipe.  This is the second time that I have made this dish, so I was able to modify and perfect it the second time around.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoon olive oil
4 large chicken thigh
1/2 lbs Chorizo (usually found in markets like Whole Foods. Can be substituted w/ another spicy sausage)
1/4 lbs shrimp
1/4 lbs squid
1/4 lbs clams (manilla clams are good)
1/2 lbs mussels
1 head of garlic (separated, peeled and chopped)
1 tomato finely chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas
3 tablespoon flat leaf parsley (garnish)
1 teaspoon paprika
1 pinch saffron threads
2 cups paella rice
1 quart chicken broth

Directions:
1. Heat a large pan over medium-heat and coat with olive oil.  Add 1 tbs of garlic and the chicken thigh.  Cook the chicken thigh for 4-5 minutes on one side and turn-over and do the same to the other side. When cooked, remove from pan and set aside.

2. Re-heat the pan again  on medium-heat and add another tablespoon of olive oil. Add another half table spoon of garlic, mussel, squid, shrimp and clams. Cover for about 3 minutes. Remove and set aside.

3. Re-heat pan once again and add another tablespoon of olive oil.  Add the rest of the garlic and chorizo. Cook for about 3 minutes.  Add the tomato, red bell pepper and paprika.  Stir for a bit and then add the 2 cups of paella rice.  Stir the rice so it is nicely coated with oil and vegetables.

4.  In a separate small pot, heat the chicken stock to a simmer and add the safron. When safron is dissolved, ladle stock to cover the entire paella rice.  Let it simmer down and ladle in more stock to cover the rice again.  Do this over and over until rice is cooked.   This should take about 35-45 minutes.

5. When rice is cooked, give it a little stir. Lay the chicken on thighs on top of the rice and then lay the seafood all around the chicken thigh.

6. Cover at low-heat for another 10 minutes. Remove cover, sprinkle with parsley and serve!

Crispy Vietnamese Pork & Shrimp Crepe (Banh Xeo)

Banh Xeo also known as "Vietnamese Crepe" is another dish that I grew up with in our Chinese/Cambodian household.  I thought it was a Cambodian dish, but after thorough research it looks like the Cambodians might have borrowed from the Vietnamese and the Vietnamese borrowed from the French. Southeast Asia was called "French Indochina" for a good 67 years due to French occupation and although they took over our country, they did introduce foods like the baguette and crepe.

Banh Xeo in our house is equivalent to a steak dinner in a typical American household, we only had it on rare occasions and it's always everyones favorite.  The batter is a bit of a challenge to master and you'll probably mess up a few times, but after some practice you should be able to obtain a good consistency and they will turn out perfect!  Eating Banh Xeo is  always an interactive activity similar to that of hot pot or Korean BBQ.  You have to basically assemble your own lettuce cups and dip it in the Nouc Cham (fish sauce). I enjoy it most with Vietnamese fresh herbs (as seen in picture above).  The combination of the crispy crepe, juicy shrimp and pork, fresh herbs all wrapped up in a crunchy lettuce wrap will make any taste bud want to do a little dance!

Ingredients:

Crepes
1 cup rice flour (or you can purchase the brand pictured below at your local Southeast Asian market)
1 cup water
3/4 cup canned coconut milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (usually included if you by the rice flour brand pictured below)
pinch of salt
Vegetable oil for frying

Filling
1/4 lbs ground pork
1/4 lbs shrimp (if not small, chop into smaller pieces)
1 medium yellow onion sliced into 1/8" thickness
2 clove garlic (minced)
2 cups bean sprouts

Wrap
Lettuce Leaves (Preferably leafy ones like Red Leaf Lettuce)
Fresh Herbs such as Mint, Thai Basil, Vietnamese Coriander Leaves (please see earlier post for detailed descriptions of these herbs)
1 cucumber sliced in to 1/4" thickness

Directions:
1. In a large bowl whisk together the rice flour, turmeric powder and salt.  Add water, egg, coconut milk and whisk until smooth.  Let the batter stand for about 10-15 minutes.

2. Heat up a non-stick skillet (approx 10") over high heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil.  Put in the garlic, onions and ground pork.  Stir for about a minute and then add the shrimp.  Stir fry until pork and shrimp are about half done.  Remove the pork and shrimp filling from skillet and set aside in a bowl.

3. Return to the skillet and add another 1 tablespoon of oil.  Ladle 1/2 cup of batter into the skillet and swirl the batter until the bottom of skillet is evenly coasted.  Cover the pan for 1 minute until the edges are lightly brown.  Once edges are brown and a bit crispy, use a rubber spatula to lightly lift batter from the bottom of the pan.  If batter lifts off easily off the pan, then it is nicely cooked.

4.  Ladle 1/2 a cup of pork and shrimp filling into one half of the batter like an omelet. Top it off with some fresh bean sprouts and fold the other half of batter like an omelet. Let it sit for about 1 minute and remove from skillet with a wide plastic spatula.

5. Repeat this several times until you run out of batter.  This recipe will make about 3 large crepes.

6. Clean all the lettuce, herbs and cucumbers.  When ready to eat, place wrap ingredients next the crepe for easy assemble. Dip into Fish Sauce and enjoy! *Please see below for fish sauce (aka: Nuoc cham or Tuc Triey).

Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese name) or Tuc Triey (Cambodian name): Fish Sauce

Ingredients:
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 lemon juice
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 clove garlic (finely minced)
1 birds eye chili (finely chopped)
*optional - roasted peanuts (chopped)
Directions:
1. In a sauce pan add sugar, water, lemon juice, fish sauce until completely dissolved.
2. Add minced garlic and chopped birds eye chili.
3. When ready to serve, pour each person a small bowl full of sauce.  Add peanuts if desired.

Rice Flour can be bought at your local Southeast Asian Market.  This brand will include the turmeric powder. 

Prepare the shrimp, garlic, bean sprouts and onion.

Batter well mixed.

Stir fry the garlic, onion, ground pork and shrimp.

Ladle 1/2 cup of batter into oiled skillet. 

Place the pork & shrimp filling on half of the crepe. Don't forget to top off with fresh bean sprouts before folding over!

Give it a nice fold

Viola!

Ready to eat... 

Pumpkin Season = Pumpkin Pancake Breakfast!

With the abundance of "Pumpkin Puree" during the holiday season, I decided to make Pumpkin Pancakes with Honey Nutmeg Butter for breakfast this morning.  The pancakes came out nice and fluffy yet still moist and yummy! The perfect breakfast for a Sunday before Thanksgiving!

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoon butter (melted and cooled)
1/3 cup walnuts (optional)

Instructions:
1) Combine all the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar in a medium bowl.
2) In a separate smaller bowl, mix the wet ingredients: pumpkin puree, egg, milk, vanilla and cooled melted butter. Whisk until smooth.
3) Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and fold until they are nicely combined, but do not need to be too smooth. Having a few lumps here and there is good. 4) Heat cast iron skillet or pan over medium-high heat for about 3 mins.  Lightly butter the pan. Ladle about 1/4 cup of batter for one pancake. Drop in a few walnuts into the batter on the pan. Cook until golden brown and flip to the other side.

Honey-Nutmeg Butter

Ingredients:
1/2 stick butter, softened
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of salt

Instructions:
1. Cream the butter with honey, nutmeg, and cinnamon until slightly fluffy and even. Place in a small bowl and refrigerate for about 30 mins. Take out of fridge and give it another mix and they will be ready to use.

Yummy Bibimbop

Bibimbop (BEE-beem-bop) is one of my all-time favorite Korean cuisine.  After doing some research i.e. reading different recipes and watching cooking videos, I realized it's not impossible to make at home. A bonus for me is living in K-Town and having access to the best Korean markets.  This dish can be made in a pan and transferred to a bowl, but since my local Korean market carry authentic hot stone bowls, I decided to cook the rice right in it instead of transferring rice from a rice cooker.  Another advantage of the hot stone bowl is the ability to obtain the nice crispy rice on the bottom of the bowl.  Because the rice continues to cook in the bowl even after its been taken off the burner, by the time you finish eating and reach the bottom of the clay bowl, the rice will be nice and crispy with  a light toasty aroma!

Ingredients:

Steamed white rice

Bulgogi Beef (Sweet marinated beef.  A short cut is to purchase at your local Korean market)

1 carrot, julienned

Cooked bean sprouts,steamed or sauteed in a little sesame oil and seasoned with salt

Cooked spinach,  steamed or sauteed in a little sesame oil and seasoned with salt

Cooked squash, steamed or sauteed in little sesame oil and seasoned with salt

4 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced and sauteed in sesame oil and seasons with salt

1 egg, cooked over easy

1 tablespoon sesame oil

Soysauce, to taste

Gochuchang Paste (Can be found in your local Korean market. See picture below)

Instructions:

1) Cook the meat (Bulgogi) in small pan and set aside. 

2) Cook rice in a rice cooker or in a hot stone bowl as seen in the picture. 

3) If cooking rice in rice cooker, transfer rice into a large slightly shallow bowl.  Place Bulgogi (with juices from cooked meat) and veggies on top of the rice. Place separately so you can see each ingredient nicely arranged on the rice. 

4) Fry the egg over easy and place it on top of everything. 

5) Sprinkle with sesame seeds and drizzle with sesame oil and soysauce. 

When ready to eat, mix all ingredients together with some Gougchang paste to taste.  

 Prepare vegetables by cutting and setting aside. 

 Steam or sautee all vegetables and lightly season with sesame oil and salt.

 Arrange vegetables and meat in a way where you can see everything beautifully in the bowl. 

Fry the egg over easy. 

 This is how the bowl should look before the egg is placed on top. 

 This is "Gochuchang Paste" found in your local Korean Market. 

Bibimbap is best accompanied by small side dishes such as Kimchi, pickles and bean sprouts. 

Cambodian Peppered Beef Watercress & Tamarind Shrimp Soup

Peppered Beef on a bed of Watercress & Red Onions

Tamarind shrimp soup with squash, tomato, and pinapples  

What a yummy duo!

This dish is great with a bowl of white rice or brown rice. A lemon-garlic-pepper sauce can also accommodate the peppered beef for the ultimate flavor explosion. 

Ingredients:

1) Watercress - 1 bunch washed and dry

2) thinly sliced red onion - use about half

3) thinly sliced beef (I like to buy a good cut like a rib-eye) - for 2-3 people about a half a pound.

4) 1 tablespoon Canola or veg oil

4) Oyster Sauce - 3 tablespoon

5) Fish Sauce -1 teaspoon

6) Sugar - 1/2 tablespoon

7) Garlic - 5-6 cloves minced (reserve half for marinade and half to fry in pan)

9) Ground Pepper -1 tsp (use more until you can see on every piece of meat)

10) Miran (rice wine vinegar) - 1/2 tablespoon

11) Water - 1/2 cup

12) Cornstarch - 1/2 tablespoon

Instruction:

1. Start the marinade for the meat by placing the Oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar, garlic (half of the reserve), ground pepper and Miran in a bowl. Mix well and give it a little taste. 

2. Place the thinly sliced beef into the marinade. Leave in the fridge for 20-30 min.

3. While meat is marinating layout clean watercress on a large plate

4. place thinly sliced onions on top of watercress in a nice arrangement. Set aside for a bit. 

5. In a small bowl pour in the 1/2 cup water and dissolve the 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch. Stir and set a side for a moment. (Do this just a few minutes before meat is ready to be cooked)

6. Heat a large pan or wok with oil and throw in the half of the reserved garlic. Give it a quick stir to bring out the garlic aroma but be careful not to burn. 

7. Pour the meat and marinade into the pan/wok and cook for a few minutes until meat is cooked. This is where you can add additional pepper if meat is not peppery enough from marinade. If not salty enough, this is a good time to add either a little more fish sauce or salt. 

8. When meat is close to being cooked, place the cornstarch water mixture in. Stir well. 

9. You should have more sauce now with a semi-think consistency. 

10. Turn off heat and gently pour the entire content of the pan onto the watercress and red onions. Make sure to get the liquid marinade is all around the watercress salad and not just the center. 

Lime & Pepper dipping sauce

1) 2 lime (juiced)

2) Ground Pepper -1/3 teaspoon 

3) minced garlic -3-4 cloves minced

5) sugar - 1 teaspoon

6) splash of fish sauce -approx 1/2 teaspoon

Instruction:

1. In a small bowl mix the lime, ground pepper, minced garlic, sugar and fish sauce. 

Best way to eat:

Watercress is really bitter, so try to eat get some marinade juice on the watercress with piece of meat and ladle a spoonful of lime and pepper dipping sauce on top. This is best served with white rice. Enjoy and I would love to hear how it turned out!

Grilled Shrimp Salad w/ Coconut Lime Dressing

For a warm summer day, there is nothing better than a crisp light salad.  This salad combines classic Cambodian inspired ingredients with a Western presentation.  Grilled shrimp with fresh herbs and tropical fruit are topped off with a yummy coconut lime juice dressing. This recipe is both simple and beautiful to look at. 

Ingredients:
12-14 large or medium shrimp (shell removed, tail can be left on)
1 firm (nearly ripe) mango
generous handful of herbs such as basil, mint and cilantro
1/4 cup sliced red onions
3 cups washed Romain lettuce


Marinade for Shrimp
4 tbsp. oyster sauce 
2 tsp. brown sugar
4 cloves garlic minced 
2 tbsp. cilantro, minced
3 tbsp. fresh squeezed lime juice


Coconut-Lime Dressing
1/2 coconut milk
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. fish sauce
3 tbsp. fresh squeezed lime juice
1/2 tbsp. dried crush chili flakes
2 tbsp. brown sugar


Cooking directions:
1. Place shrimp and mango in a bowl. Stir marinade ingredients together in a separate bowl or cup and pour over shrimp and mango. Toss gently and and set aside to marinate while you prep the salad. 
2. Take a small jar and place all dressing ingredients in the jar. Put on the lid and give it a good shake. Taste and add more of what ever you think it needs.
3. Place Romain lettuce in a large bowl. Toss in the the handful of herbs and sliced red onions. Set aside.
4. Skewer the marinated shrimp and fruit onto wooden bamboo sticks.
5. Lightly oil grill and place skewers on grill for 5-8 minutes per side. Shrimp is cooked when it is pinked and plump.
6. Serve the hot shrimp and fruit skewer over the cool salad and top with a generous amount of the dressing. 

Vegetarian Rice Vermicelli Bowl (Cambodian/Vietnamese)

The best thing about Cambodian food is that it is an integration of all South East Asian food.  One of Cambodia's closest neighbor is Vietnam. My mother used to make some variation of a Vietnamese dish when I was growing up and I always thought they were Cambodian cuisines.  Little did I know that she was borrowing tastes and flavors from our neighbor. Since the countries are so close together they share almost identical agriculture and eco-system, thus producing the same types of ingredients.

Fresh Vietnamese herbs are one of my favorite things to eat.  I love the aroma, crispness and freshness of the herbs. There are many variation of fresh herbs, basil and mint being the most well known. The lesser known herbs are Fish Mint, which has a slight fish aroma and taste. This doesn't sound appetizing, but the taste of the Fish Mint mixed with the noodles, fried shallots and other ingredients is tantalizing. Vietnamese Coriander is another fresh mint I like to use. It is more slender and longer than the Fish Mint and has a spicy with a hint of cilantro taste.

Essentially, my inspiration for tonights meal was Fresh Vietnamese herbs.  With the weather getting warmer and the desire to look good in a bikini, I wanted to cook something fresh, light and refreshing which is exactly what this dish offered. The picture below is a vegetarian bowl, but you can add all sort of meats and seafood to the recipe.

*Ingredients & Instructions to come shortly.