In the chaotic kitchen of a recipe developer, you get a food blog called FoodMayhem.
I'm Jessica, an Asian-American, born and raised in NYC, and that's Lon, my Jewish, white husband. While professionally trained as a French culinary- and pastry chef, many of FoodMayhem recipes are my attempt to preserve and share authentic Chinese and Taiwanese recipes learned from my mom. We don't eat Chinese food every day, so you'll get a little bit of anything we find delicious enough to share: from our Eastern European side; recipes and techniques learned from my restaurant days; restaurant reviews, food travel tips; and a few other juicy bits along the way. Welcome to FoodMayhem!
I wish I could convince more people to cook bi-valves and it’s not just because I love them so much. I hear from nearly every novice cook that they are afraid to cook clams and mussels. They just assume it’s going to be difficult. On the contrary, it’s easier than learning how to cook chicken or pork (in my opinion). The key to all proteins is to NOT over-cook them and clams tell you when they’re done. When they open up, they’re done!
My friend Angie introduced me to Emporio 231 Mott Street, New York, NY 10013. Very good Italian food and the price is great if you book through Savored (invite link). When a couple of us gathered there for a girls’ night out, we were seated when Angie said, “you have to try the Kale Salad!” Of course, we all loved it–Angie is a taste bud. On the menu, they call it Cavolo Nero which just means black leaf kale, the type they use. What they don’t say or write is that it was essentially a Caesar Salad made with kale instead of romaine lettuce. I immediately thought to myself: I’ll make this for the girls next time they come over. I did and they all approved of this recipe 100%. What I consider 8 to 10 servings was gobbled up by six people.
As if great-taste is not valuable enough as a salad characteristic, this salad also offers a unique trait in that it can (and should) be dressed ahead of time! Usually you can’t dress a salad and let it sit, all the greens will wilt and it will look oh-so sad. Not this one, the kale will maintain its curly leaves and fluffy look. (Now, if only my hair could.)
It’s taken a very long time for winter to come this year and I’m not complaining. However I have been waiting for my noodle soups; they are one of my favorite categories of food. (Have you ever thought about what your favorite food categories are, as opposed to favorite foods?) Credited for getting me through the freezing cold days, I just love wrapping my hands around steamy bowls bigger than my head. I slurp away my chills with Wonton Noodle Soup, Ramen, Pho, any noodle soup, I love them all! It seems crazy that FoodMayhem is nearing it’s fifth anniversary and yet I’ve never posted the noodle soup I grew up on: Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup.
I’m extremely proud to serve up this soup as the first recipe of 2011. It’s actually a soup that I made for Thanksgiving, when I decided to work with Calabaza pumpkin for the first time. Being unfamiliar with this pumpkin, though it is not so far off from sugar pumpkins (and you can use that if you can’t find Calabaza), I didn’t expect to get a winning recipe on the first try. I made the soup intending for it to be a work in progress.
When I served the soup, it got such rave reviews, I quickly tried to jot down notes for what I put in. Luckily, the steps are simple and the soup was easily re-created. I made it again in New Year’s Day for some guests, and again, I received such sweet compliments. Lon reiterated: this is a winning recipe. Why haven’t I posted it? I am. I am…
Let’s not talk about the food yet. Let’s talk about the reason for this dish or more specifically the recipe. In previous posts for chili pepper-based recipes, we have received notes about how the chili peppers we use are often hard to find in certain areas: cascabels, chipotles, pequins, anchos, guajillos, etc. Other people have asked for chili pepper flavor without so much spice/heat. We’ve heard loud and clear, so this post is about making an authentic-tasting chili pepper sauce, using readily available ingredients with a rich taste that is not spicy. Let’s hope it works out!
The first part is making a Latin-flavored shredded pork. I’ve done BBQ-style pulled pork before; even though this uses the same cut (pork butt) and is shredded, it tastes totally different. Plus we’re going to use it to make an enchilada casserole, which we’ve done before (last time the enchiladas were beef with a green sauce), so this is quite different.
I make black beans several times a year and I posted about it way back in April of 2008. This time, I made a large batch and felt compelled to post about it again. Why? For one thing, I needed to make sure that readers who were not with us in 2008 are made aware of this easy, healthy, and delicious recipe. And, I also realized that making it in bulk changed a lot of things in the process, which could help you when you need to feed an army. (If you want the smaller-sized recipe, feel free to go back to the original post.)
In case you were wondering, I made 16 servings to fill 8 jars for BK Swappers last week. BK Swappers is a genius free event started by Kate Payne of Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking and Meg Paska of Brooklyn Homesteader. The idea is for people who love to cook and eat, that’s me ( and probably you if you’re reading this), to make a batch of something and come swap with others. You make one big batch of something and come home with a mix of goodies.
We’ve been living at my parent’s house as our kitchen undergoes renovation. Yes, the kitchen re-do is finally under way! While under normal circumstances, I would dread the inconvenience, it just so happens that right now, it’s the best thing for me. If I was my normal, overly busy self I’d be annoyed that my commute to the city is longer. With morning sickness still lingering, I’ve limited making plans anyway.
At first I imagined being frustrated by not having my whole wardrobe here with me. Only later to realize I only fit into five outfits. (We’re planning on putting up a picture of my little bump soon.) Of course, the cherry on top is that my mom is doing all the cooking. I have a stockpile of nutritious foods at my fingertips and my mom lovingly makes anything I want.
Some Chinese dishes are so well known that there’s already an accepted English name for them. It certainly minimizes confusion when all the restaurants use the same name on their menu. We have no doubt what Hot & Sour Soup is. We recognize the word wontons and Ma Po Tofu signals heat to us. For every widely known Chinese dish, there’s at least 5 that have not met with such fame and fortune. I don’t read much Chinese so even I get confused when reading the English translations on menus.
It always causes me to think about naming when I write these recipe posts. Sometimes, like this time, I really didn’t know what to call this dish. In Chinese, it’s called Jee Jwen, which translates to Chicken Roll.
This is turning out to be a record hot summer, when even mornings and evenings may not bring about a cool breeze. My long morning walks with Ice have been cut really short, and I dread riding the subway in fear of the 5 minutes on the platform. It started out as a great excuse for extra ice cream, but then I turned to lemonade, watermelon, grass jelly, anything for relief.
I called my mom, complaining about the heat, and leave it to mom for some more great ideas. She says, come over, I’ll make you my cucumber salad. We’ll have it with some cold noodles with peanut sauce, and we’ll go buy Do Fu Hwa for you to take home. Then it occurred to me. I never shared my mom’s Taiwanese Cucumber Salad, a summer staple at our house. How could I have let this go un-published for so long?
Sweet & Sour dishes are commonly known Chinese dishes. They’re probably even in the top 5 most popular. Yet, what I’ve seen at “fake” Chinese take-outs rarely resembles what I know of as Sweet & Sour. They’re often neon orange ( I don’t even know where that color comes from), taste like pure fried batter without meat, sweeter than a lollipop, or all three atrocities.
I’m not claiming that the real thing is healthy. It’s not. These spare ribs are deep-fried. There is still a lot of sugar, though I have to believe less than whatever “they” put. Plus, I know I’m still using meat. It is delicious, in addictive little chunks that work well as finger food at parties. Of course, Sweet & Sour Ribs goes over well with the kids too.
