Jamaican Oven Roasted Onions

 

2 pounds small white pearl onions
Pinch turmeric
Olive oil
Salt to taste
Pinch pepper
Pinch paprika

Blanch onions in boiling water 4-5 minutes to facilitate peeling skins. Cut off root end of

each onion, squeezing onion core from outer peel – the core will pop out. Drain onions

and dry. In a bowl, add onions a little olive oil until the onions are coated with a thin film

of oil. Add salt, pepper, a pinch of paprika for color and a pinch of ground tumeric1. Toss

in bowl. Onions should be yellow. (Add Tumeric as required for color.)

Bake in an open pan or shallow glass dish in a hot (375 F) oven, turning several times

(5~10 minutes) to insure even browning.

These yellow onions go well with many meals and add an unusual bit of color.

 

Note:

1. Turmeric is the dried root of a plant similar in size and related to ginger. Its flavor

is woody and earthy. India is the primary exporter of turmeric, although Peru,

Haiti, and Jamaica are additional sources. It thrives in hot, moist, tropical climates

with well-drained soil.

 

The use of turmeric as a coloring agent for food and fabric dates as far back as

600 B.C. Marco Polo, in 1280, mentioned turmeric in notes of his travels in

China: "There is also a vegetable that has all the properties of true saffron, as well

as the smell and the color, and yet it is not really saffron." In medieval Europe,

turmeric was known as "Indian saffron." Since then, turmeric has been used as an

inexpensive substitute for saffron. Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice

hence an affordable alternative is welcomed. That being said, turmeric is not in

taste, an alternative to saffron only its color and a little bit goes along way.

 

Aji amarillo is a hot Peruvian pepper that alo colors food yellow.

 

 

 

Pork Mushrooms and Pepppers

 

1 1/2 lb. pork loin, cut cross grain in bite sized pieces

1 pound red peppers, inner ribs and stem removed, cut into bite sized pieces

1 green bell pepper, inner ribs and stem removed, cut into bite sized pieces

1 can water chestnuts, drained, sliced

1 large sweet onion, cut in bite size sections

2 large carrots, sliced diagonally, thinly

1 pound Cremini mushrooms, sliced evenly because then, cooking is even

4 green parts of scallion, cut into sections diagonally 3/4 inch long  

2 baby bok-choy, cut down middle, ends trimmed

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp of Chinese Shaoxing wine

1 tbsp marin

1 teaspoon black vinegar to brighten the flavors

2 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp +  1 tbsp of  dark soy sauce

1 tbsp + 1 tbsp of  cornstarch

1 1/2 tbsp water

1 teaspoon of white sugar

2 pinches of salt

5 clove of garlic, smashed then chopped

1 thumb of fresh ginger, smashed then chopped

peanut oil as required

 

 

In a small bowl, add 1 Tbsp cornstarch. Add 1 1/2 tbsp water slow turn to comine a slurry to thicken the sauce. Set aside.

 

In a 1 cup measuring cup, add 1/2   Shaoxing wine,  add hoisin sauce, marin, black vinegar, oyster sauce, soy. This will be the sauce. Set aside.

In a teflon pan, add enough sugar and salt to coat bottom of pan. Heat the pan, when hot, add the sliced mushroom. Cook on high with a little oil. Turn the mushrooms until they sweat out, and caramilize. Pour in a large bowl, when fully cooked.

In a medium bowl, add loin pork, cut to bite size, across the grain of the meat. The loin maybe pounded to tenderize. Add a tablespoon of cornstarch. Stir the pork to coat all pieces. Add 2 tbsp of Chinese Shaoxing wine and 1 tbsp of dark soy sauce, marinate at least 30 minutes, can longer.

Cut up all vegetables, scallions, peppers, onion, water chestnuts, carrots, and the bok-choy. Sequester scallions and carrots seperately. Carrots will cooked first. Scallion, as garnish hence, not cooked. Put all the vegetables in a medium bowl sufficiently large bowl that will hold all the vegetables

After the mushrooms are cooked, then heat the fry pan until hot again. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, and heat the oil over high heat, cook the meat, allow bottom of pieces to brown. then turn over, and brown other side. When done and golden brown, turn out into the bowl with the mushrooms.

Time to fire up the wok over hottest burner. Idealy, 34,000+ BTUs

 

When the empty wok starts to smoke, add two tablespoons of oil. Coat the inside walls of the wok. When the oil is hot, add the ginger and garlic, when these are golden brown, spoon them from wok into large bowl that contains the meat & mushrooms.

 

Add the carrots and wok stir fry them for two minutes turning often as these cook. Now dump the medium bowl of vegetables and water chestnuts  into the wok and stir fry for three more minutes. Add the measuring cup with sauce, the contents of big bowl, stir fry a minute more. Add slurry of cornstarch to thicken. Turn contents of wok over with the wok-spoon several times. When thickened, turn off heat. 

Garnish with diagonally cut scallions.

Serve over white jasmine steamed rice.

 

Beef Tendon Soup

 

 

Asian soups have become so popular that whole soup-houses cater to these in many of
the business districts of many large metropolitan cities across the United States. Silicon
Valley in the California’s Bay area is no exception. This soup is an unxious rich aromatic
brown broth, studded by big generous chunks of beef, small pieces of beef tendon over a
base of rice noodles and garnished with greens. Although this recipe calls for rice
noodles, it could be made with your favorite noodles. (More on noodles below.) An
amazing transformation occurs with the protracted cooking time turning inedible beef
tendons into a delicious punctuation to this famous Asian dish. To make things quicker,
the beef stock could be made a day ahead. The tendons could also be cooked in the stock
until the point they are tender and the recipe resumes the next day from that point.

2 1/2 pounds prepared beef tendons (Asian Market provides this)
2 scallions, sliced
4 cloves chopped garlic
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
4 lemon grass stalks bruised with back of cleaver
2 tablespoons dark mushroom soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons Marin
1 tablespoons Fish Sauce (optional)
3/4 package fresh rice noodles (Asian Market) (see notes)
2 teaspoons white pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper
½ cup Shao Hsing wine
Juice from 2 limes
Lime zest from 2 limes
Pinch of sugar
Salt as required
Beef Stock
3 pounds beef ribs (Have these sawn into strips)
1 coarsely chopped yellow onion
1 chopped coarsely carrot
1 quart of water
1 coarsely chopped rib of celery
¼ cup dried shitake mushrooms
 

Garnish

Lime slices
Bean sprouts
Chopped fresh cilantro

Make Beef Stock the day before
Cut up carrot, onion, celery, and beef ribs into chunks and brown beef ribs pieces and
vegetables under the broiler, turning occasionally until meat has browned on most sides.
Using a bag fashioned from cheesecloth and string, tie up the vegetables and mushrooms.
Add meat, and bagged vegetables with 1 quart of water to a stock pot with a lid. Cover
and bring to a boil then simmer until meat is tender. Discard expended bagged
vegetables. Cool stock several hours or refrigerate. Skim and remove all fat. Strain the
stock and retain. Discard bones, separating meat which is retained for later use.
Bring a pot of water to boil. Add tendons and boil five minutes to purge them. Strain
tendons and rinse in cold water. If there are any LARGE pieces cut them down to size so
everything cooks evenly.
Discard bottom root sections and dried out top sections of the lemon grass stalks, bruise
the stalks with blows from the back of the cleaver or chef’s knife on both sides of the
stalks and retain for later.

Boil tendons in the retained beef stock until fairly tender, about 3 ~ 4 hours but 2 hours
out, add bruised lemon grass stalks. When tendons are very tender, remove lemon grass
pieces and discard them. Using thongs and kitchen shears, cut tendons into small edible
1/2 chunks. This is an important step as the soup would be very difficult to eat otherwise.
If the preceding is advanced preparation, start the next step the next day.

Add soy sauce, ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, wine, red and white peppers, juice from limes,
Marin, lime zest, the retained pieces of beef. Heat on high and when boiling add noodles.
Assist the noodles to separate and when noodles are hot add chopped scallions, a handful
each of bean sprouts, and chopped fresh cilantro. Correct the seasoning with salt, 1
teaspoon of sugar, additional vinegar and lime to taste.

To serve, bowl up soup with a portion of noodles in each bowl. Serve with a plate
holding a garnish of lime slices, bean sprouts, and chopped fresh cilantro so guests can
add their own.

Put some Thai hot sauce on the table (Shark Brand Sriracha or see
Thai_Chile_Sauce.) otherwise offer some other form of hot.

Notes on Noodles:
You can buy noodles fresh or dry, gluten flour, rice, or even buckwheat in large
diameters, flat, vermicelli or round. The noodle isle at the Asian market I go to in California is 40 yards long - all noodles at that just the dry ones! If going “dry” not fresh, adjust cooking time according to package directions or cook ahead of time in water then drain and rinse in cold water when the noodles are “al dente” or a little under done. The next reheating will soften them some so keep that in mind. Fresh is much easier and less work.
 

Banh pho – Rice Sticks - Pad Thai Flat Shape Noodle / Fresh Dry
Banh Tam – Rice Noodle (Round shape)