Central Park Picnic

There's nothing better than a picnic on a shaddy day with your friends and family. Especially my friends, who all love to cook and eat. We always end up being the envy of the picnic scene... :)


Here's what we had:

- fried chicken wings
- buffalo wings
- vietnamese sandwiches (mine!)
- mortadella and liverwurst sandwiches
- fruit salad
- brownies
- chips and pretzels...

Another dinner party...

Grilled shrimp salad with blood orange vinaigrette

Skirt salad with chimichurri sauce

Five Spice Braised Goose

Does anything smell better than braising a goose? ok, maybe roasting a duck... or searing a steak... ok, fine. meat + heat = heaven!!

This is a very Shanghainese dish, my mom learned it from my grandmother and I learned it from her. The recipe is shockingly simple, perhaps because the goose is naturally so flavorful or that everything tastes good braised.

I will come back and post the recipe soon, but in the meantime, here are the sides I served with it. Yes, we eat a lot for two people.

Shiitake mushrooms with bok choy and shrimp tofu stew

Seafood paella....

Venetian Seafood Salad

I loved, loved this dish from Osteria Morini. So I finally had a chance to recreate this amazing dish my memory and a little googling!

Here's the recipe copied word for word from Food Network, of course I edited some parts and added a few others the way Morini had it.

Ingredients

For the seafood and poaching liquid:

• 1 celery stalk
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 small onion, halved
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 quarts water
• 1 pound cleaned calamari, cut into 1-inch-thick rings
• 1/2 pound sea or bay scallops, foot removed
• 1 pound medium to large shrimp
• 1 pound octopus

For the salad:

• 1 cup julienned tender celery
• 1 cup julienned carrots
• 1/2 cup seeded and julienned red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup seeded and julienned yellow bell pepper
• 1 scallion (white part only), julienned
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons) or lime juice (about 3 limes)
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 6 to 8 cups baby lettuce

Directions

To poach the seafood, you will need a large saucepan fitted with a colander insert. In the bottom of the pan, combine the celery, carrot, onion, bay leaf, lemon juice, salt, and water. Bring to a boil.

Place the calamari in the colander and cook in the simmering water for 2 minutes. Remove from the water, transfer to a large bowl, and set aside. Place the scallops in the colander and cook until opaque, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the water and transfer to the bowl with the calamari (large sea scallops may be cut in half horizontally after cooking; bay scallops may be left whole). Place the shrimpin the colander and cook until pink, about 3 minutes. Remove from the water. Peel, devein, and cut in half horizontally, adding them to the bowl with the calamari and scallops.

Remove the colander from the pan and place the octopus directly in the saucepan, adding more water if necessary to completely cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and gently simmer until tender, about 40 to 50 minutes. Transfer the octopus to a bowl and rinse under cold running water until octopus is completely cooled, about 5 minutes. Use your fingers and a small paring knife to remove the outer skin. Discard the hard mouth and head sac. Cut the tentacles and octopus on the bias into 1-inch pieces and add to the bowl with the other seafood.

To prepare the salad, toss the julienned celery, carrots, bell peppers, scallion, parsley, basil, and garlictogether in a serving bowl. Add the seafood and toss. Add the lemon juice, vinegar, and olive oil and toss well. Season with the salt and generous grindings of pepper. Arrange 1 cup of lettuce on each serving plate. Top with equal portions of the seafood and vegetable mixture, and serve immediately.

Variations: 6 to 8 steamed mussels may be added to the basic recipe and tossed with the other seafood. To extend the recipe and add a new texture dimension, 1/2 cup cubed, peeled, cooked Idahopotatoes and/or 1/2 cup cooked or canned (drained and rinsed) cannelini beans may be added to the basic recipe. Although it isn't traditional, I like this salad with a hint of chopped cilantro, about 2 teaspoons.

Sake Steamed Wild Pheasant

Isn't that beautiful? There is no doubt that wild game is always more delicious than commercially raised game... everyone knows that. But what's the best way to get the most flavor from that tasty bird? The Chinese believe it is with a gentle steam in the universal four (qual-fecta) umami producing ingredients: ginger, scallion, smoked ham and shiitake mushrooms. Doesn't that already sound great? :)

Being me, I also added a little sake and a tea spoon of sugar to bring together all the flavors! Yum!

Ingredients:

1 pheasant (approx. 1 pound)

1-2 tbsp of sake

1 ounce of salted, smoked ham

1 ounce of ginger

1 ounce of scallion

3-4 shiitake mushrooms, sliced

pinch of salt and pepper (don't overdo it, the ham is salty!)

1 tasp of sugar

stuff the ham, scallions, ginger and mushrooms inside the bird and scatter the remaining on top. pour the sake, sugar and s&p all over the bird. steam in low heat for 90-120 minutes.... perfect as the most luxurious midnight snack.

Yup, it's amazing!

Seafood pan fried noodles at Amazing 66

My favorite roast chicken with preserved veggies
and beef short ribs on a hot skillet

Dinner Party!

Another fabulous dinner in a beautiful Central park apt... :)

broccoli and cheetos a la Park Ave (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter)



Bacon crusted pork burger with beet and celery relish and air fried sweet potato fries...

Crab Two Ways: steamed and crab roe with tofu stew

Don't you love Asian restaurants that take an item and executive it multiple ways? They were the original innovators!

So here's my version of crabs two ways: steamed then crab roe with tofu stew

Steamed is a favorite for purists, steamed until barely cooked. in some places the fresh is still like sashimi... not my cup of tea but then again I am a carnivore! :)



Crab roe with tofu stew is a widely popular Shanghainese dish. But ridiculously time consuming. The reason I steamed first is so I could pick out all the claw meat for the stew, but what truly made this dish amazing is the crab roe... so umami!!

Another weekend meal

Cold soba noodles is one of my favorite summer time meals. From the moment I first had it at Soba Totto, I was shocked how some simple noodles with a soy-based sauce can be so delicious!

Imagine my excitement when I found out I can make this at home! To serve with the soba, some cold cucumber salad (not pictured), baked chicken wings (I steam then bake to eliminate some of the grease), and steamed maryland crabs.

Simple. Light. Delicious. Happiness.

Osteria Morini

Osteria Morini opened a year ago, I went twice the first month and LOVED it! I haven't been back since, there are just too many great restaurants in NY...

So it was great to go back to an old favorite last Friday. We walked in at 6:30pm, the place was already half packed but we were lead to a table in the center of the restaurant right away. No wait, check!

We (I) decided to start with two appetizers, and share a pasta dish and an entree...

Appetizer course:
Mare $12
adriatic style seafood salad, olives, lemon, and capers


Fegatini $13
duck liver mousse, passito wine and grilled crostini


Pasta course:
Garganelli $19
pasta quills, batterkill cream, truffle butter and proscuitto


Entree course:
special of the day - grilled lmab should blades

See top. God, this was one of the best lamb chops I ever had, juicy, flavorful, lamby and soo soo tender!

Antipasta Dish

I love tapas, appetizers, antipasta, snacks, small plates, sharings....etc

Basically I like variety. That's why I love the Hot & Cold appetizer platter at Uncle Nick's Ouzaria in Hell's Kitchen.

This thing has a ton of stuff going on: grilled shrimps, olives, grilled sausages, feta salad, grilled zucchini and eggplant, calamari and shrimp seafood salad, grilled chicken, potato salad, spinach pie, stuffed grape leaves, pickled peppers, 3 bean salad... almost all my favorite foods!

Red Cooked Pork

There's no dish more famous in Shanghai than Red Cooked Pork, yes, the name in translation is horrible. But what can you do? At least the dish tastes good.

Red Cooked Pork is the dish that any self-respecting Shanghainese housewife knows how to cook. And there are so many variations and every family has it's own thing. Kinda like how fried chicken is treated in the South.

Anyway, the basic includes:

pork bellies
lite soy sauce for taste
dark soy sauce for color
rock sugar for the caramelized sugary, savory taste
ginger and scallion

that's it.

Now, there are always ways to improve upon the classic... why not add fried tofu to absorb some of that porky good sauce? and traditionally eggs are also added to stretch the meal and also provide a different texture contrast. But eggs can be boring and they are huge so that means the flavor never really reach the center. So why not add quail eggs? Who doesn't love quail eggs? They are so poppable, just like pringles!!

Being me, I also added some sake to bring out the heavenly scent of meat cooked with wine... now THAT'S love.

Trestle on Tenth

Restaurants are a funny thing. There are moments where everything is perfect, the chef is at top of his game, the wait staff is not hurried and can dedicate just the right amount of attention to you, and most importantly, you order precisely the right thing for you at the right time. The last part is where so many ppl run into problems, and who can blame them? It's hard to order precisely the right appetizer to share, with the right entree catered to that individual's precise desire at that moment and not to mention the right amount of food... so that's why I love it during those rare moments when everything turns out perfectly... precisely perfectly. :)

Trestle on Tenth is one of those restaurants that I really enjoy - affordable, neighborhoody and relaxed. I happily go there versus Daniel or Per Se (more on those later).

To start we shared a simple country pate, so shockingly good at just $5. Picture on Top


Then it was crispy Belgium waffles with caramelized apples and maple syrup creme for me... $10.50


And Leg of Lamb with morels, fingerling potatoes and two eggs, sunny side up $16... he definitely won today's who-ordered-the-best-dish contest

Broiled Vietnamese Pork chops

I love Vietnamese food! And I don't care what anyone says, NY has pretty decent viet food. Yes, I have been to Houston and Cali... whatever, I like my pho here!

And I love the grilled pork chops, they were actually an obsession in college, I used to drive (or make someone else drive) for hours so I can get some pork chops and spring rolls. hell yeah!

So why not make them at home? If you can't bbq (and who can in manhattan?) broiling is the next best thing. So I pounded the porkchops (very shanghainese thing to do) and then marinaded my porkchops in:
lemongrass
lemon juice
garlic
onion
salt
pepper
brown sugar
regular sugar
honey
sake
and finally vietnamese fish sauce (eww! haha)

To serve with that, sauteed belanchan with garlic:


And caramelized shrimps. Btw, this is my favorite way to cook shrimps, imagine all that soy sauce, sugar, ginger, scallions and sake reduced down to an intense, finger-licking, kick ass sauce... and that's what you got

Crispy, Salt & Pepper Shanghainese Duck

When I was growing up, this was my favorite duck preparation - salty, peppery, steaming hot and soo sooo crispy out from the fryer!

To me this beats peking duck any day. And today this is still my favorite preparation for duck for the following reasons:
1. the duck was steamed first so majority of the oil is already gone
2. it's been marinaded in roasted szechwan peppers, five spices, black & white peppers, salt, cinnamon, clovers, garlic, ginger and scallion. If all those thing don't give it enough flavor, it was also steamed in quality sake.... mhmmmm
3. once steamed, it's left to dry for hours in order to promote extreme crispy skin
4. the residual oil is fantastic for sauteed spinach or roast potato

Now I know the traditional dish is meant to be deep fried. But I live in Manhattan with a small (actually bigger than most, but still small compared to suburban standards) kitchen and the idea of deep frying and then getting rid of the oil is a pain in the ass. Plus, why introduce more oil when my danko oven is perfectly capable of reducing even more of the oil left in the duck with a quick broil?

And to serve with it, caramelized brussel sprouts with lardons...

Surf & Turf

After a busy week, there's nothing better than an elaborate spread. For those weekly highlights, there's no where better to shop than Whole Foods. Don't get me wrong, I hate spending a Whole Paycheck there as much as anyone, but I have to admit they have the best quality meat and seafood in Manhattan.

So when I saw the Bone In Ribeyes on sale for $10.99, I knew I had to get one. And for the Surf, a huge bag of perfectly clean, plump and unbelievably fresh mussels.

Look at that! So pretty and pink!


My fool-proof method:
salt (like there's no tomorrow)
sear (2 minutes each side)
broil (4 minutes on 450+ degree oven)
butter (like it's god's gift to steak, cause it is!)
rest (for at least 5 minutes)
carve (this is very important, most ppl don't know how to cut a good piece of steak and will mutate it with their ridiculous dull butter knife. Better do it for them)



On to the mussels! Remember my little kitchen secret? a bottle of sake... that's all this recipe needs. That, and:

2 cloves of diced garlic
half a medium onion, also diced
a few ounces of slab bacon, again diced
half a ripe tomato, diced
a bunch of parsley

brown the bacon first, then take it out and add the garlic and onion to the flavored oil. After 5 minutes, add the tomato and cook until they are all one big happy family. Then add a cup of sake (very important to use a good sake and a lot of it). once the alcohol has burned off, add the mussels, cook for another 5 minutes with the lid on and then sprinkle with the parsley and bacon before serving. yum!!

No meal is complete with veggies... and why make regular veggies when you can broil portabella mushrooms in the steak juice?

Crab Season!

I love crabs!

I love carbs!

I love crabs and carbs together!

So from March to October is crab season in the east coast, when I was growing up this always the time where I would go to a pier off of Suffolk county and catch me some blue crabs! I would get up at 5am, drag my unwilling accomplice with me and spend a good 6-8 hours line-pulling in dozens of crabs. Fun! Fun! Fun!

My favorite way to enjoy them is crab two ways: 1. steam the shells with all that yummy roe for 2-3 minutes and enjoy with just a little vinegar and ginger (think the soup dumpling sauce) 2. sauteed the crabs in ginger, scallion, sake, soy sauce and sugar with rice cakes. The rice cakes absorb all the flavors of the crabs, it's freaking amazing!

Of course, I can't just stop at crabs, we need appetizers!


Marinated mushrooms in hoisin sauce


Sauteed broccoli with roasted garlic:


Braised ham hock

Weekend Meals

The more I get into cooking, the more I want to forgo the restaurant experience and stay home to create something all my own. It's getting to the point where I only go to restaurants for new inspirations. Great for his wallet, not so good for my workload :)

Weekend dinners are where I love to spend 3, 4, sometimes 8 hours creating something really elaborate. The standard Chinese meals always consist of multiple courses; veggie, meat, seafood and usually a soup. That's what I tried to do, so here's a typical saturday night meal:

Curry chicken with potatoes is a very typical Shanghainese meal, every mom I know makes it



Roast pig from Ctown, sometimes I cheat a little and buy some prepared food to supplement the meal, I really wish there were more places there I can easily pick up more prepared/appetizer food


Sauteed string beans with roast garlic... yum!



Lastly, Asians really believe in the healing power of soup. My mom has been telling me all about the ying and yang of food types since I can remember. Truth be told, that's not why I make soup, I make soup because it doesn't feel like a complete Chinese meal until I have had something savory burning down my throat

Weekend Breakfast

I used to love making breakfasts in the morning, but that was when schedules actually allowed that luxury. Now the elaborate breakfasts are reserved for weekends only. I try to do it at least once every weekend... there always seem to be other obligations over those short two days.

Anyway, one of his favorite comfort food is congee. In every Asian country, there is always a variety of congee and people love it for it's hearty, warm, comforting feel. That's probably why it's sometimes considered the chicken soup of Asia.

Here's a bone marrow congee I made over a 3 days process. Day 1: parboil and clean 3 pork joints, make sure to get the ones with as much bone marrow as possible. Once clean, simmer the bones in a stock pot for 3-4 hours with ginger, scallion, sake and salt. My mom always use wine when cooking meat so I buy one of those huge bottles of sake and add it to everything. That's my little kitchen secret. Day 2: skim off the fat on top of the stock Day 3: shimmer with rice ( i prefer short grain rice) for 2-3 hours.

The end results:

Of course you can't have something that healthy and soft without anything that's crunchy and greasy! Here's my pan fried Chinese dumplings. If you take the B/D trains to Grand Street, there is a supermarket across from the train station that sells literally dozens of variety of Chinese dumplings. One of my favorite mixture is celery and pork (seriously, it's better than the garlic chives and pork that every dumpling stall serves). This is also the simplest preparation: a non-stick pan with a drizzle of oil, fry the dumplings for 30 seconds until you see the dark brown bottoms and then add a cup of water and place the lid on the pan immediately. By the time, the water boils out, the dumplings will be frying in the residual oil in the bottom of the pan and you will get amazing results like these:

Homemade Xo Sauce

I recently went to dinner at a friend's apt. She served bbq ribs with asparagus and chorizo as a side. Just as we were sitting down, she jumped up and said "I have the PERFECT condiment to go with the ribs". I couldn't believe it when she brought out the homemade XO sauce. Other than the freebie at Dim Sum Go Go (which is quite good FYI), I have never had XO sauce. I kinda always thought it was a gloppy, brown, Cantonese sauce. Well, her's was brown, but definitely not gloppy. It was actually a deep mahogany saute of dried shrimps, herbs, lemongrass, chilies, fish sauce and a million other things!

The very next day I went to ctown in search of ingredients to make my own. I love culinary challenges and this is one I am especially proud of. However, knowing that I never follow a recipe, I might never be able to make this again. Haha!

Start with finely dicing dried scallops, shrimps, bird's eye chillis, garlic, lemongrass and shallots. It helps to have a sous chef :)


Start sauteing everything together. You are gonna be doing this for a while...


Until it looks like this:


Final product:


Better than the version at Dim Sum Go Go, and much, much more affordable.