Technique: Steamed Vs Fried Eggplants

To anyone who has ever had any stir fried or stewed eggplant, we need to talk. You know that succulent, juicy, and gooey eggplant that is stir fried in that sticky, sweet, and spicy sauce? If you want to continue eating that out in the restaurants, do not ever look up the nutritional value of the dish.

All eggplants are essentially fried. The odd texture, anatomy, and make up of an eggplant makes it quite difficult to deal with in the kitchen. Under cooked? It probably tastes like cardboard with a stringent texture. Over cooked? Most likely burnt or turned into a complete slop. Fried eggplants are able to keep a juicy interior due to frying, texture because of the speed of cooking, and flavor because of the addition of oil. The only problem is that eggplants soak up oil like a dry sponge absorbing water for the first time. It's as if there was some black hole of oil absorbing gravity in each eggplant!

If I said there was a way to enjoy the same beloved eggplant texture and flavor without bathing it in fats, would you believe me? Oh yes, a healthier, faster, and simpler alternative exists out there fellow friends. We need to learn about steamed eggplants.

Selecting The Right Eggplant

Behold, freshly diced eggplants, ready to saute in delicious sauce. These are Male Japanese Eggplants ready for the steamer.

Hold on...
Male, Japanese...Eggplants? Not only do I hit the gender card, but a racial one too?

First off, eggplants actually have genders. Female eggplants generally contain more seed pods than the male variant. The seed pods actually have a sticky texture to them when cooked, making sauces more viscous and full bodied. But often times, we don't want seeds in our eggplants! This is where the male eggplants shine. They generally contain less seeds and contain more flesh!

To help discern males from females, I suggest watching Chef John's Baba Ghanoush video. He does a great job and explaining and displaying the above said properties.

Eggplants also differ from the regions in which they are grown in. Essentially, different strains of the same crop. The traditional "Eggplant" is actually quite large. Because of this size, roasting them whole often leaves you with an overcooked exterior. I'd usually slice these to mirror tomato or zucchini slices when making ratatouille or eggplant parmesan. Other popular variants include Italian and Japanese eggplants, which tend to be more slim, firm, and textured. These are my personal favorite! Chinese eggplants are somewhere in the limbo area for my own personal tastes. I don't have any real opinion about them, which can be considered good nor bad.

Steaming Your Eggplants

You're going to want to steam your eggplants for about 10-15 minutes, depending on the texture that you're looking to achieve. If you're making a flavorful stew, I suggest a 10 minute steam, followed by slow simmering to finish them off. This allows them to soak up all of the flavors of your stew!

Alternatively, you can roast your eggplants. This requires up to 45 minutes of your time, as well as the addition of olive oil, so I'd only consider this option when making a full set of roasted vegetables. Of course, this steaming technique also limits what you can do with it, like above said eggplant parmesan.

There's nothing more to say about the subject but to give it a try and make some delicious and healthy eggplants at home! I love putting it into curry, stews, and casseroles!

Technique: Make Your Own Croutons

The other day, I was shopping at Trader Joe's and was in need for croutons. For a 4 oz bag of croutons, you're going to need to shell out $2.99. That's Breadway Robbery!

Out of frustration, I drove to a Ralph's market to buy some generic branded crouton bag. For $1.25, you can buy a 6 oz bag of cheap, wimpy, already crumbled, and pathetic looking bread bits. In great fury, struck a mad discovery. I'm going to make my own croutons.

I walked to the bakery section at Ralph's and picked up a loaf of garlic sourdough bread. Aha! $1.99 for a loaf the size of football, with whole cloves of garlic baked into it! I brought it home and let it sit out on my open table over night to have it turn stale.

A loaf of this size was able to fill my entire baking pan in a single even layer. Did I mention the whole cloves of garlic inside already? I seasoned the cubed bread with olive oil, salt, pepper and Italian herbs (any combination of parsley, thyme, rosemary, cheese, paprika, garlic, shallots, onions, etc) and baked them in my oven at 400 F.

I don't think I'm ever going to buy prepared croutons ever again.

Garlic and Cheese? Spicy with a hint of Lime? Lemon Pepper? Herbs? Just name the combination and make it happen!

Recipe and Technique: Marinating and Chopping Your Own Carne Asada

A few years ago, I was lost in the vast depths of the internet.  There, I came across a video recipe for carne asada. To my surprise, the chef added oranges to his marinade. I had to pause the video and rewatch it a few times as well as make sure my translation of narajanas was indeed oranges.

I started asking some of my coworkers about the legitimacy of this recipe. Sure enough, they all replied unanimously with agreement. They said that it helps bring out the flavor as well as make the meat more tender. I could understand the flavor component, but I had to disagree with the latter.

It is true that some fruits have a tenderizing agent in the form of enzymes, such as pineapples or kiwis, but acidity alone does not "break down" anything in meat. Instead, the tender consistency of carne asada comes from two entirely different concepts: the specific cut of beef and the chopping of the meat.

(This photo is not mine. I found it on google. I forgot to take pictures of the post-chop meat product, and I'm saving my pictures of another post. Forgive my noob moment.)

On my last visit to my local carniceria, I asked the butcher for his opinion on the best cut of beef to use for carne asada because I saw both marinated ranchera and chuck roll on sale. His personal preference is chuck roll (thinly sliced beef chuck shoulder) because it contained more fat and is juicier. However, ranchera (flap meat) is the traditional cut to use. So why not have the best of both worlds?

After marinating and cooking, I decided to chop the beef into small bits, much like how it is served at Mexican restaurants. My family originally cut the meat into larger strips and pieces simply because it was easier to do. Besides, larger pieces of meat should give a better mouth feel, like eating a piece of grilled steak. Turns out, the high collagen content in these cuts give the meat quite a chew to put down. By chopping up the steak, the tough mouthful works in our favor by not letting the chopped meat taste like ground meat (the "ready to fall apart and crumble" texture). 

After tasting the carne asada, I've come to the conclusion that the orange and lime marinade worked in perfect unison with the texture of the chopped meat. This was accomplished by the slight "pucker" reaction I had when chewing. Imagine yourself eating your favorite sour candy: war heads, sour pop, and all the other childhood favorites. The sour candy is some how able to elicit a "succulent" taste on your tongue. I believe that this same thing is happening with carne asada. The tough chew, chopped consistency, and fragrant lime and orange marinade all come together to help create this feeling that the meat you are eating is incredibly juicy. Or maybe I'm just crazy for thinking so.

Ingredients:

1 lb Beef Ranchera 

1 lb Beef Chuck Roll

1 Orange

2 Limes

1/2 Onion

Cilantro

1 tsp Cumin

2 tsp Oregano

Salt and Pepper

DO's:

-If you have a tin of chipotle peppers, add in one or two into the marinade!

-Use any proportion of beef cuts! I used a 1:1 ratio of beef chuck and ranchera. Beef chuck was half the price/pound, so it is definitely a budget cut!

-If you're unable to get thinly sliced beef chuck roll, cut your own! You're looking for 1/2 inch slices, which is fairly easy to do without exact knife skills.

-Use a grill if you can! It makes the meat so much better! But if you don't have the time, just sear it on a skillet. I used a cast iron skillet for this recipe.
-Reduce the amount of orange and lime to your own taste.

DON'Ts:
-Use too much lime and orange. I used one whole orange and two limes for a little less than 1.5 pounds of beef. It actually became overwhelming!


The Marinade

You can layer your ingredients or just toss everything into a zip loc bag. It really doesn't matter!

I decided to layer my ingredients to make it fancy. I wouldn't do it again though, it didn't make a difference.

Make sure to marinade this for at least 1 hour! No more than 5 hours!

I was too lazy to set up my charcoal grill, so this cast iron pan will do the trick for me. Make sure you get that delicious sear on your meat. I have here two steaks of ranchera sizzling away.

Honestly, the marinated meat cost the exact same as the unmarinated variety. I would only do this if I had a specific flavor I had in mind, different from the ones available in store. It was definitely worth the experience though. So the next time you show up to a BBQ, bring a giant zip loc bag of carne asada with you. You can never go wrong if you do!

Recipe/Technique: Justin's Kitchen Sushi Rice Specialty Topping

Today I'll be sharing a special assortment of toppings that I use to complement my homemade chirashi bowls. It's not exactly a recipe, just a list of ingredients. There is absolutely no cooking involved!

Ingredients:

Imitation Crab Meat

Japanese Cucumber 

Japanese Pickled Yellow Daikon
Calamari Salad

Pickled Ginger (Shoga)

Seaweed Salad

Furikake Seasoning

Wasabi 

Kewpie Mayonnaise
White Short Grain Rice
Sushi Vinegar
Konbu Kelp Seaweed

DO:

-Try a variety of substitutions! Try kimchi for a korean flare! 

-Add Masago to your toppings! I normally consider it to be part of the sashimi ingredients though, but don't forget to use it!

-Try the many different types of furikake rice seasoning!

-Buy Japanese Imitation Crabmeat, itakes a huge difference!
-Change my ingredients to anything you want! Try Japanese potato salad!  

The Rice
I use a 1 : 1.25 ratio of rice to water for short grain rice. After washing your grains, soak your rice with the final measured amount of water for 30 minutes. I've found that this softens the grains and allows for faster cooking. For a nice additive, add in a small sheet of konbu kelp while soaking your grains. It adds a subtle, but deep flavor to your rice when finished.

I keep bag of tied up konbu seaweed knots for making soups or broths. They come in handy in these situations.

Once the rice as finished steaming and resting (freshly steamed rice can be very sticky and soft), empty the entire contents into a large bowl. Add your sushi vinegar according to bottle instructions and cut the vinegar into the rice. This means to only use your rice spatula and spread the vinegar into the rice as shown below.

Using this picture as reference, the spatula will only move vertically, "cutting" the rice. This method leaves as many rice grains whole as possible, preventing a mushy texture from forming.

If you're not ready to eat the rice right away, cover the rice with a towel soaked in warm water.

The Imitation Crabmeat

For being just an imitation of meat, there is a huge difference in quality between brands of imitation crabmeat. Try to stick with the Japanese ones, such as Yamasa. The texture, taste, and consistency is just not comparable to knock off Chinese brands.

Shred your crab sticks and season with a tablespoon or so of Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise. The Japanese is much sweeter, creamier, and not as fatty tasting as your normal mayo. Season with just a sprinkle of white pepper to finish (black pepper works in a pinch).

The Vegetables
All we need to do here is to julienne the vegetables. So it's all about the knife technique. Here are some pictures to help with your fine slicing and dicing.

Slice off one edge of your vegetables to have a flat surface. This allows you to both work faster and prevent injuries on the chopping block.

It's fun to play Jenga with your sliced vegetables, but sometimes it's much faster to lay them across in smaller layers for speed. It also prevents the vegetables from slipping and your hand from missing a finger.

The Assembly

All that's left to do is to top your bowl and eat! Start by placing the rice at the bottom. Sprinkle your furikake rice seasoning on top. Layer your assorted vegetables and condiments on top and you're done!

Technique: Making Your Own Shrimp Stock

Shrimp shells are notorious for being extremely sweet and fragrant, releasing lots of flavor when cooked. It is why the shell is left on entirely in certain recipes that call for stir frying. But what can we do with shrimp shells when they're not called for in a dish? We make shrimp stock!

One of the goals of this blog is to promote quality home cooking. Sometimes, that means saving and freezing your shrimp shells in a zip-lock bag for the future. Don't discard those shells, chicken bones, or even whole carcasses (rotisserie chicken for example, makes for a great stock)! A great shrimp stock can be added to any simple seafood dish and the returns are exponential.

Ingredients:
Shrimp Shells
Carrots
Celery
Onion
Garlic

DO:
-You can make as little or as much as you want every time. The stock takes only 30-60 minutes to prepare, and can improve any seafood dish immensely!
-Try adding in whole black peppercorns!
-Use shrimp stock in combination of other cooked seafood! The sweet flavors released from clams, mussels, scallops and all the other types of seafood all complement each other. By adding shrimp stock, you bolster the flavor profiles by creating a wonderful base.
-Fan of Korean cooking? Try changing out the carrots and celery for radish, shiitake mushrooms, and konbu seaweed! The stock would make for any great korean soup or stew, such as Soondubu Jigae.
-Try using this for a base for any seafood styled hotpot! Change out the carrots and celery again and use corn, shiitake mushrooms, green onion, and many other ingredients!

DON'T:
-Freeze the shrimp stock after making it. The flavors don't hold too well after being frozen, unlike chicken or pork bone stock.
-Season with too much salt! You will be seasoning your actual dish and using this stock to enhance the flavors. Think of low sodium chicken broth.
-Add too many different or too much herbs. Chances are, you're adding them to your final dish also. Don't commit double jeopardy!

The Stock:
Olive oil and shrimp shells go into the pot, cook until fragrant on medium-high heat. Add your carrot, celery, onion, and garlic whole (no chopping needed for any of the vegetables) and fill with enough water to cover. The proportions will change depending on how much you need to make. For reference, the picture shown on this blog shows the shells of 1 pound of shrimp, 1 large carrot, 3 stalks for celery, 1 large onion, and 4 cloves of garlic produced the perfect amount of stock to use in the Cioppino I was making that day.

The stock is done when the vegetables become soft and start to give away. You don't have to simmer it until the vegetables dissolve, but 1 hour should do the trick. You can do this while you're preparing mise en place for your other ingredients and dishes!

How To Use Shrimp Stock:
-Making Seafood Pasta! Add in 1-2 cups after sauteing your vegetables, along with your white wine before adding in your seafood. After cooking, transfer your undercooked pasta (by 1-2 minutes) into your seafood sauce, and allow the pasta to finish cooking. The pasta will absorb all the flavors of the sauce, and will become absolutely amazing.
-Making Cioppino! More to come on this, I've got a recipe coming your way soon!
-Making Seafood Soup! Great for any tomato based seafood soup. The orange shrimp color will complement the red tomato color.
-Endless possibilities, just use shrimp stock where any recipe requests for seafood stock!

Seafood, eat food diet for sure!

Technique: Steakhouse-Style Lobster Tails

Ever wonder how steakhouses serve such amazing lobster that looks as delicious as it tastes? Well, it's an incredibly easy technique and all you need is a pair of scissors.

DO:

-Prepare an herb butter to spread on top!

-Remove the sand vein!

-Be gentle!

DON'T:

-Forget about it in the oven. You will regret it.

The Technique:

Start by snipping off all of the tiny lobster legs and clean up the general appearance of the entire tail. This must be done to separate the flesh from the shell. Take your pair of scissors and cut straight down the top half of the shell until you reach the last segment before the tail. Take your fingers an carefully separate the meat from the shell and gently pull the flesh out to sit on top of the shell, as if the meat is resting on the shell (piggybacking). Do not remove the flesh completely, it should still be attached at the tail end. Remember to clean the sand vein (intestine) out by removing it.

And that's it! You're done! Now how do we cook it?

Start by preparing an herb butter. Microwave some butter to soften it and mix in your choice of herbs. Some suggestions are garlic, parsley, shallots, olive oil, onions, and or paprika. Don't forget salt and pepper and do try as many different flavor combinations as you would like.

Preheat your oven by turning on the top broiler and moving one of your baking racks to the highest (or second highest) position. You want the lobster to be about 2-3 inches away from the top broiler flames. Spread your herb butter mixture on the lobster tail and broil for exactly 7 minutes.

And there we have it. Perfectly cooked lobster tails that look gorgeous. And to dispell the myth of price, if you can find a way into Costco each tail will run for about $6-7 each.