Alyssa's Favorite Cookbook: The Flavor Bible

Let’s start with a confession:  I have a cookbook problem.  Actually, it extends beyond cookbooks to food magazines, websites and blogs. 

What was the most difficult part of packing up our San Francisco apartment and deciding what was going into storage v. what was going on the boat to Japan? It was sifting through my dozens of cookbooks and hundreds of food magazines.  It was impractical to bring all of it, so I had to make some cuts. A LOT of cuts.  About half of the cookbooks stayed in SF.  And sadly, almost all of the magazines were left behind.  This was tough.  I am addicted to the glossy spreads, the food porn, and the “what to eat in exotic location X” articles in magazines.  I had accumulated these babies through years of subscriptions to Saveur, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, and my favorite, Gourmet (R.I.P. sniff, tear).  They had each been lovingly devoured by yours-truly, with dog-eared pages marking recipes that I wanted to try and notes in the margins from the dishes I had tried.  Hopefully they survive the stint in storage though, and they’re waiting for me to return to the States!

I also have an expanding file folder with copies of hundreds of recipes that I’ve found online.  I’ve gone “green” lately and organize new recipes on my computer rather than print them out, but it’s much more difficult to cook from a recipe on a computer or iPad than a piece of paper! 

But as much as I obviously love recipes, I rarely follow them.  I use them as inspiration, as guidelines.  Sometimes it’s just doubling the spices, or adding some pancetta, or removing the offensive eggplant.  Other times it’s taking only the crust portion of the galette recipe and replacing the filling completely.

That’s why my favorite “cookbook” isn’t actually a cookbook.  It’s a book that helps you develop your own dishes and recipes.  It has an incredibly long title, so sit down for this one: The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America’s Most Imaginative Chefs.  We shall henceforth refer to it simply as The Flavor Bible, if you don't mind. 

The book is divided into three parts.  The first chapter introduces the reader to some of the vocabulary the book uses, such as “mouthfeel” and it also delves into the basic philosophies of some of America’s top restaurant chefs (real ones, like Brad Farmerie of Public or Traci Des Jardins of Jardiniere.  Not your Food Network made-for-TV "chefs.").  The second chapter covers a range of topics important in cooking and serving meals, such as seasonality and flavor pairings. 

The third chapter is the one that I use primarily.  It’s an impressively comprehensive dictionary of ingredients, flavors, and types of cuisine.  But instead of having definitions, the entries have lists of ingredients and flavors that pair well with it.  There are flavor affinities as well, which are tried and tested combinations.  The authors have interviewed some of the most respected chefs in America to get their favorite combinations, both traditional and unusual.  They also provide examples of their favorite dishes that include these ingredients.

Does this sound like a lot of information?  Let me give you an example.  The other day, I had a head of cauliflower in the fridge.  I could have made a dish that I’ve made in the past, but I wanted to try something different.  So I went to the entry for “Cauliflower” and scanned the list to see if I had any of the ingredients.  Yes! Cumin and cilantro.  I happened to have (and love) both.  So I cut the cauliflower into florets, and tossed them in harissa oil, cumin, salt and pepper.  I roasted them and topped them with chopped cilantro.  It was fantastic, and there was no real “recipe” involved.

Under the same listing, there are 8 flavor affinities.  My favorite is cauliflower + bread crumbs + brown butter + parsley.   And the contributing chefs add a few dishes that they love to make.  Holly Smith lists cauliflower with pine nuts and lime supremes.  Daniel Boulud makes a dish with raisins, butter and capers.  See how many ideas you can get by just by looking up one ingredient?  

I love to sit down with a cup of tea and a notebook, pull out The Flavor Bible, and plan dinner.  It gives me inspiration when I'm stuck.  It gives me the confidence to try new dishes and flavors. And that's why it's my favorite "cookbook!"

Carla's Soup Recipe: Chinese Sizzling Rice Soup

I find it pretty awesome that Alyssa and I both chose to go Asian with our soup theme this week.  She's got a scrumptious looking khao soi gai on the blog this week that I hope to make really, really soon.

This soup recipe is a long time coming.  Several years ago, my mom's best friend was in town visiting from San Diego.  Restaurants were a HUGE treat as a kid and we didn't visit them often, so it's no surprise that her visit marks the first time I can remember eating in a Chinese restaurant.  One of the items she ordered was SO COOL for a six year old: Chinese Sizzling Rice Soup.  Not only is it delicious, it has the neatest sizzling sound effect that the waitress creates right at the table when she pours the rice into the hot, hot soup.  Ever since, I've been ordering it every time.  I've had it with assorted meats and with just chicken, with tons of vegetables and barely any.  Since it's so customizable, it's kind of a wonder that its taken me so many years to decide to make it on my own.

The challenge in making this recipe (for ME) was figuring out the rice part.  You don't get too close to the pre-soup rice when it's being served to you in the restaurant and I wasn't sure which of the many online recipes was closest to that rice.  There were two main ways offered: fry the crap out of some uncooked long grain white rice or or cook some rice and throw it in the oven for two hours to crisp it up.  Neither of these options seemed like they would work if I was looking for the consistency of the restaurant rice: very crispy, non-oily, and cooked-but-dry.  I persevered in my Googling and finally landed on a page which reminded me that YOU CAN BUY THESE THINGS.  In all my years of ordering the soup, I remember a few restaurants had used pre-sized rice cakes, similar to the product highlighted on that page.  A trip to the nearest Asian Grocery was in order!

Although I'm literally four minutes from an AMAZING Chinatown, I thought I would personally have more luck at a market selling a range of items from several different countries.  The 99 Ranch market (you're in luck if you're in CA, WA, NV and TX since there may be one near you) carries a wide variety of Asian products, produce, bakery and meat items along with a few random American items thrown in (Frosted Flakes, Sanka, that kind of thing.)  If you've never shopped one and aren't sure if you'd like to make sizzling rice soup, I'd still recommend checking it out for the experience alone.  You're likely to find something to gawk at, cook or take secret photos of.

I ended up finding two products at the market that day: the recommended rice cakes and a version called Instant Sizzling Rice:

I picked them both up, took 'em home and got to cooking.

* Delicious sparkling water optional, but highly recommended.

As I was in the process of settling in with my manufactured rice items, my oldest sister clued me in that I might, in fact, be able fry up some uncooked rice.  Before we make Mexican rice, (I'm Mexican. We eat a lot of Mexican rice) we fry up the uncooked rice for a minute or two to brown it and add extra flavor.  Since she's not the most TIMELY cook, she'd left her rice to fry for longer more than once and told me that eventually they get hot and crispy and puff up a bit like popcorn.  LIKE POPCORN?  COUNT ME IN.

Spoiler. It's NOT like popcorn:

As the rice got hotter and hotter it started to bubble. My thinking is that the water in the rice was being released and mixing with the oil?  Not sure, but I never got to "popcorn" stage.  I stopped at extremely-toasted brown.

Dehydrated browned rice didn't really seem to be what I was going for, but some of the grains appeared to be a little fatter?  We would have to see.

Chinese Sizzling Rice Soup

(Adaped from several recipes, but mostly this one.)

6 cups chicken broth

1 boneless skinless chicken breast, sliced into strips

8 oz of raw shrimp (I prefer to cut the tails off prior to cooking)

1-2 cups sliced mushrooms

1/4-1/2 cups canned water chestntuts

Handful of sugar snap peas

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp soy sauce

salt and pepper, to taste

Prepared rice cakes, or your choice of crispy rice (see below)

Bring the chicken broth to a boil.  Add chicken, salt, pepper, soy sauce and sesame oil.

Once the broth is boiling again, reduce to a simmer.  Add mushrooms, water chestnuts and snap peas.  

After the mushrooms have reached your desired cooking consistency (I like them soft), add the raw shrimp.  Ensure the shrimp is cooked through, but we're adding it last so that it is not overcooked in the boiling soup.  Three to four minutes should be perfect.

Dish up the soup.  Add crispy rice (SIZZLE...)!

(I realized after finishing this batch that I would prefer a lot more veggies.  A lot of the restaurants add frozen peas and carrots to the mix and I think that would be ok, but I'd REALLY like to add green beans and fresh carrots.  Just add them to the simmering soup to cook them to your desired consistency before you add the shrimp.)

The Verdict:

I can't believe I didn't make this sooner.  Not only is it just as good as the restaurant version (which I wasn't sure could be accomplished), it's BETTER.  I especially like that I can add as much of any ingredient I want rather than getting one shrimp, a lot of frozen peas and a piece or two of pork (which seems to be the usual restaurant serving- not bad, just not as good).

But, WAIT! What happened with the rice?

I tried them all, ladies and gentleman. 

Rice Cakes (green and yellow package): PERFECTION.  Not oily and satisfactorily crispy, yet soaked up the soup and had a good bite.

Instant Sizzling Rice: I chucked these things in the bowl and tried to eat them, but no luck.  They were gummy and didn't seem to soak up too much of the water.  I tried to give them some time, but after not being able to chew on them I ended up taking them out of the bowl.

Homemade: AS WE ALL SUSPECTED, this... did not work.  Even a little bit.  It was actually edible, I suppose, if you like really really crispy bits in your soup.  This rice definitely tasted good, but was completely wrong for the soup with its lack of sizzle and crunch.

Except... there's more to the story.

As I was gathering my reference links for this post, I happened across a blog post which had not shown up in my Google search previously.   YOU GUYS.  Those Instant Sizzling Rice cakes that I had to REMOVE from my soup for being inedible?  YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO FRY THEM UP.  It says it in plain English RIGHT ON THE PACKAGE.  I'm not sure if it's better (for future use) or worse (for my pride) that it only takes 15 SECONDS, according to the author.

Fifteen seconds and it would have puffed up just like the rice on the left in that photo up there.

I thoughtfully chewed two whole squares of uncooked, gummy rice and didn't immediately figure out that something was wrong.  It didn't even occur to me and I can ASSURE you that I had I not come across that post out of sheer luck I would be here telling you that it's a darn shame they let the market sell those things because someone is going to break a tooth. And also they aren't "instant" anything so that's FALSE ADVERTISING.

I, um, learned my lesson.

If you can't find ANY pre-made rice cakes in your neighborhood, both the rice cake and instant rice cakes are available online.  I am fairly confident given the consistency of the winning option that the best homemade version would be to cook the rice and then bake it on a cookie sheet in the oven at 325 degrees for about 2 hours until it's crisp and brown, a la Rice Krispie cereal.  Depending on it's crispy-ness, it could be worth giving it a quick fry, but it appears the baking would probably be enough according to the several recipes I've researched online.

Alyssa's Soup Recipe: Khao Soi Gai

The Hubby and I spent some time in Thailand for our honeymoon, with our first leg of the trip in the northern province of Chiang Mai.  One of the regional specialties there is called khao soi gai.  It's a rich, spicy coconut milk broth with chewy noodles and tender braised chicken.  You personalize it with your favorite combination of toppings: tart lime wedges, crunchy fried noodles, bracing raw shallots, salty pickled greens.

Khao soi gai in Thailand.

We discovered khao soi gai by simply stepping out of our amazing hotel on our first day in town and trying the first food we saw.  It was in a small, open-air stall on the side of the road, about 20 yards from our hotel.  A very friendly Thai woman acted as the owner, waitress, cook, and dishwasher.  We went back every day while we were in Chiang Mai, and we probably would have visited her twice a day if she didn't close at 5 pm.  We tried the same dish at other restaurants in Chiang Mai, but it simply wasn't as good as hers!

The very sweet Thai woman who owned the roadside stand where we discovered khao soi.

Now that I'm back in Tokyo, I dream about big bowls of creamy khao soi gai.  But I haven't been able to find a Thai restaurant that serves it.  My normal approach to not being able to find the food I want is to just make it myself, but there's something intimidating about Thai food that stops me from making it at home.  Maybe it's the fact that there are usually so many ingredients involved?  But I took a cooking course while we were in Thailand, and decided it was time to put that knowledge to use and try my hand at khao soi.

Coconut cream and coconut milk.

The first issue came from finding the ingredients.  It's surprisingly difficult to find ingredients to cook non-Japanese Asian food (Thai, Filipino, Korean, even Chinese!).  After searching import stores, I had to make a few substitutions to the traditional recipe.  But I think they'll make this recipe more accessible to someone who might not have a ton of Asian ingredients available to them, as well as make it less intimidating to someone who may not cook much Thai food (or has never tried khao soi gai before).

Pickled greens.  I am not sure what kind of greens these are, but they did the trick!

The few recipes that I was able to find for khao soi call for Thai curry powder in addition to Thai curry paste.  I was unable to find the curry powder, so I just used extra curry paste.  I couldn't find store-bought curry paste either, but I had the ingredients on hand to make my own (through a recent fortuitous grocery store trip and smuggling a few things in from Thailand!).  I won't bore you with how to make your own curry paste, as it calls for some ingredients are are fairly obscure in much of the world (galangal, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass).  But let me know if you are interested and I can always provide the recipe!

Some curry paste ingredients: lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, dried chilis, ginger, shallots and shrimp paste.

The second issue came from finding the correct way to make the crispy noodle toppings.  I adore the ones served by the vendor in Chiang Mai (which you can see in the first image).  They are thick enough that they managed to absorb some of the delicious broth while still maintaining their crunch.  They're just a thick, deep fried noodle, but I can't figure out how to make them properly!  The recipes I found said to use Chinese Ba Mee noodles, but I couldn't find them here (Surprise! Are you noticing a theme?).  I experimented with several different noodles to try to find a substitute (fresh linguine, dried linguine, fresh Japanese egg noodles) and never got the right texture.  Some restaurants used a thinner fried noodle, so I settled for some of the store-bought ones.  Besides, who wants to have to deal with deep-frying noodles for a garnish? Too much work!

Crispy noodle toppings.

There are two ways to handle the chicken part of the soup.  The khao soi gai that I ate in Thailand had slowly-braised chicken legs in it.  It was so tender that the meat fell off the bone, and you could easily eat it with chopsticks.  The Hubby preferred the soup with chicken meatballs, but I found them to be a bit spongy and tough.  For a quick meal, I use a version of the meatballs that is easily available in Japan.  You can buy small, pre-made chicken meatballs for hot pots in any grocery store.  It's simply a mixture of ground chicken and green onions, but it's delicious and tender.  I simmer them in the broth for about 15 minutes and they were perfect.  You can make your own easy version of that, but if you have time to plan ahead and braise chicken legs for an hour or so in the covered pot, you'll be delighted with the results!

Thai fish sauce.

With all of the substitutions and tweaks that I made to make this taste more like what we ate in Thailand, this no longer resembles any of the source recipes I used.  If you're interested in comparing different versions of the recipe, I found some good ones here and here.  There's also a thicker version of khao soi that is more of a curry and less of a soup, but I was trying to replicate the soup version.  You should adjust flavors to your own liking, since I suspect that there are as many different ways to make this dish as there are ways to make chicken noodle soup (perhaps even more ways, as there are so many variations on Thai curry paste which forms the basic flavor foundation of this soup!).

Check back later this week for Carla's soup recipe. I won't give away the subject, but it's also an Asian soup (albeit from a different part of Asia) and it has it's own fried component! 

The finished product.

Khao Soi Gai (Chicken Curry Soup from Northern Thailand)
serves 4

For the soup:
4 tablespoons of Thai curry paste
1 tablespoon of turmeric
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 can chicken stock
1 can coconut milk
2 cups of water (just fill one of the empty cans with water)
1 small container of coconut cream
1 1/2 tablespoons of fish sauce (see note below)
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 boullion cube (chicken or beef)
Chicken legs or chicken meatballs
1 large handful of cooked, thick egg noodles per person.  Fettuccine will do just fine if you can't find Asian noodles.

For the garnish, which are all optional but make the soup extra fun:
Fried noodles (like these)
Sliced shallots
Lime wedges
Pickled greens (mustard greens are traditional)
Thai bird chilis (for added kick, if your curry paste isn't spicy enough)

Note: You may wish to start with just 1 tablespoon; we happen to like fish sauce but I recognize that it's not for everyone!  I wouldn't recommend omitting it entirely, as it does add a slightly funky saltiness that is important to this dish.

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or dutch oven.  Sautee the curry paste for about 30 seconds in the vegetable oil, or until fragrant.  Add the turmeric and sautee for a few seconds.  Add the chicken stock, coconut milk, water and coconut cream, whisking to combine. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Add fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar and boullion cube, whisking to dissolve the sugar and the boullion.  Taste and adjust seasonings to your taste.  Add the chicken at this point and simmer, covered, until meat is cooked through (regardless of whether you're using the leg or meatballs).  Taste again and make any final adjustments.  Sometimes I'll add some dried ginger if it's not coming through from the curry paste (I don't use fresh ginger because it won't incorporate into the broth at this point, and I don't usually know whether it's necessary until it's too late).  I'll also adjust the soy, sugar, and fish sauce until the broth is rich and complex.

Put a handful of noodles in each bowl.  Divide the meat among the bowls.  Add the broth and top with crunchy noodles.  Arrange the shallot, lime and greens on a plate to pass around at the table.

Lime, shallots and pickled greens for garnish.

Carla's Favorite 15 Minute Walk: The San Francisco Ferry Building

This week we're featuring some of our favorite 15 minute walks and if you haven't read Alyssa's post on Yoyogi Park, you should probably do that now.  Immediately!  Japanese Danny Zuko video!  Dogs in coats!  Mickey Mouse!  I've said too much...

If you were to try to get me to go for a walk and I only had 30 minutes and I was at work, there is only place I would choose, hands down: the San Francisco Ferry Building.  The little hub is just over a mile from my office and a great destination for mid-day snacks or lunch or a little light shopping.  Let's go!

Here we are, leaving the office.  That's the Bay Bridge (not the Golden Gate, which I'm pretty sure confuses people who are visiting the area.  Although we're surrounded by tons of water, I think it's disorienting that we have this other non-orange pretty bridge on the bay side of San Francisco).  This big street we're about to cross is Embarcadero.  It runs along the SF piers, from AT&T Park down to Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf (where you'll want to get your crabs).

From there we'll pass this super cute fire station.  I have never SEEN an actual fireman, but the building is pretty and they have this shiny truck AND a shiny tugboat/fire engine hybrid:

These little metal sea creatures dot all the benches along the Embarcadero as you walk down.  I hear they're super annoying to people who are skateboarding (or trying to get a nap in), but I find them cute and charming.

There are minimally two big art installations you'll see along the way: this massive bow and arrow and a shiny metal space station when you get nearer.

It's tiny in the next picture, but since we're almost there, you can see the sculpture coming up on the left!

The Ferry Building has three types of shopping: Farmer's Markets (which operate in various sizes on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday), retail stores and market stalls.

The day I shot these photos, a new juice bar had just opened!  The people are VERY excited, there's quite a crowd.

For my first favorite shop, visit the Cowgirl Creamery.  The Ferry Building houses two locations, both a cheese shop and a cafe with cheesy products.  I can HIGHLY recommend the cheese plates at the cafe, along with their Grilled Cheese Special of the Day.

You can't miss it, but check out the ceiling!  (You'll notice the lighting is different for every stop along the way- the ceiling lets in tons of light along the central corridor.)

Now I'm going to get to the real reason I usually head here on lunch breaks: Out the Door.  This tiny little store carries quick versions of favorites from the fancy restaurant Slanted Door, a favorite Vietnamese place beloved by many.  If you want to head over for some sit down service, they're just around the corner, but I love picking up... black tea boba.  I know, I know, that's not food.  But I usually pair it with... something.

That's the boba there on the left.  I know the purpose of this post isn't to tell you about the perfection in that cup, but I HAVE TO.  There are both green tea and black tea versions, both which are not-too-sweet with boba that's tender and cooked to perfection.  Please try one.  You'll thank me.

Those fancy little vases on the right are from a shopping favorite, Heath Ceramics.  The stall stocks a ton of their dishes and home options plus those Weck canning jars (which I will one day actually buy to learn to can things).

On a sunny day, be careful not to get too trampled:

That huge line on the left? COFFEE, what else?  Blue Bottle is yummy, strong, and made to order.  You should try that (after your boba) and then check out their pastry selection.  On a great day, they carry simple sandwiches of baguette, cheese and butter.  (Yup, that HAS been lunch.)

Blue Bottle's seating area is unpredictable, but you can see (on the left) that it's sleek and pretty, plus perched right on a corner where you can do some excellent people watching.  (Check out that Taza Mexican Hot Chocolate I mentioned in my last post! It was there the whole time!)

El Porteno Alfajores.  Always a good thing.  They sell these alongside amazing Argentinian empanadas and those suckers are GOOD.

Gl Alfieri Nuts.  A great snack or dessert.  They set up a stall outside with nuts and dried fruit occasionally on Market Days, but you can find their stall inside for a daily fix.

Before we leave, let's cover some un-pictured must sees:

il Carne Rosso: Alyssa introduced me to their egg salad sandwich and I've never looked back.  Their food takes a bit longer than a lot of the stalls outside on Market Days, but it's incredibly worth it.

Delica: A great stop for any vegan and vegetarian friends (and for those of us who aren't), this Japanese Deli allows you to pick lots of small dishes to comprise your meal.  Yummy.

Acme Bread: Just some of the best darn bread. Try a cheese roll!  CASH ONLY.

The Pena Pachamama stand seems to have closed recently, but if you see them (or their product at the Buyer's Best Friend stall, which is new and currently located across from the Sur La Table) BUY THEIR KALE CHIPS.  They are the best darn kale chips you'll ever eat.

(Buyer's Best Friend also stocks Dang Foods Coconut Chips.  You need to get some of those too.)

And now it's back to the office. (The walk back is always a little bit harder. At least I can go back tomorrow.)

Alyssa's Favorite 15 Minute Walk: Yoyogi Park

A train approaching in the subway station near Yoyogi Park.

This week we're featuring a photo journal of our favorite 15 minute walk.  I'll take you through part of one of the largest parks in Tokyo, Yoyogi Park.  This is not a nature walk, though.  This walk, like Tokyo, is all about people (and dog) watching!

There's a very traditional Shinto Shrine just outside the southwest end of the park, which is where we'll begin our walk.  We climb stairs and cross under torii to enter the grounds of the Yoyogi Hachiman Shrine.  It's small but lovely, and we happened to catch a glimpse of a Japanese marriage ceremony.

The stairs and torii leading up to the shrine.

The Yogoyi Hachiman Jinga Shrine

A marriage ceremony in progress.

One of the koma-inu, or lion-dogs, that guard the entrance to Shinto shrines.