Pantry Surfing: Chinese Crab & Mushroom Soup

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. – Marcel Proust

It’s not that I don’t go grocery shopping anymore. I do. I swear.

But isn’t it nice when you can go into your pantry and pull out what you need to make something unusual and wonderful? This takes two things: a diverse pantry, and some basic knowledge.

We do this all the time with our “native” North American/Western European influenced cuisine. You go to the fridge and pantry, pull out some stuff and cook. If we didn’t have that basic understanding of what goes with what we would stand in our kitchen, frozen in fear and starve.

I’ve talked about this “knowledge” before. The more you cook diverse cuisines the more you understand what ingredients go into certain dishes. Also, the more you cook outside your normal cuisine the more likely it is that you have an international pantry that lets you cook more diverse food. It’s kind of a “Catch-22.”

Here’s your “TIL” for the day: Where does the term Catch-22 originate?

It’s from a novel set in World War II called Catch 22, written by Joseph Heller in 1961. In the novel, one of the characters describes a problem facing pilots who request a mental evaluation for insanity, hoping to escape flying dangerous missions. If you’re sane enough to want an evaluation, then you’re not insane; ergo, the insane won’t ask. Catch-22.

It’s not insane to have a well stocked pantry, although I have bought what some would categorize as “crazy” stuff. Some recipes do call for the unusual, or perhaps better phrased, not the ordinary for us.

My advice? If you spot something weird, buy it. Even if you don’t know how to use it. Find out how later.

This one really doesn’t have a lot of weird ingredients. The only one that stands out are the dried shiitake mushrooms. They’re cheap, and appear in thousands of recipes.

The only other ingredient that you may not have is siriacha sauce. But it’s now available everywhere in every grocery store. It’s now mainstream.

This is a quick recipe. The basis is another standard Chinese recipe in my kitchen, crab and corn soup. Unfortunately I had no corn. Dried shiitake, yes. Corn, no. Go figure. So that’s when the substitutions started.

This is very good. It would be a great soup course for a Chinese feast. You can get four decent bowls easily, or even 8 if you’re having a lot of dishes. For dinner this comfortably serves two.

But I’m a bit of a gourmand...

Crab & Mushroom Soup

Prep: 10 min  |  Cook: 5 min  |  Serves 2-4

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced

8 dried shiitake mushrooms

3 cups water

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp siriacha sauce (hot chilli sauce)

1 can (170 g) crab meat

3 green onions, sliced

2 eggs, beaten

salt and pepper, to taste

Place the dried shiitake mushrooms and water in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 4 minutes. Remove the mushrooms, reserving the water, and let cool for a minute or two before slicing. Set aside.

Chop the garlic and ginger and place into a soup pot. Add the shiitake, mushroom water, soy, sesame oil and siriacha. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 2 minutes.

Then stir in the crab meat and green onions. Once the pot has come back to a simmer, slowly pour the beaten eggs into the hot soup, stirring constantly to break them uo into thin strands.

Taste for salt and pepper and adjust. Serve immediately.

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Phad Thai, the best recipe for it I know

I am easily satisfied with the very best. – Sir Winston Churchill

Photo: jay galvin, Flickr ccl

This is an old post of mine, stretching back to the early-ish days of 2011. I had only been blogging for a little over two months. It's even before I had a camera to take food shots! But it's so, so very good I had to repost. Because I currently have a craving for it. When you itch, I say scratch. So scratch we shall... with abandon.

Have you ever had a craving at home for Phad Thai, that amazing peanut-y pile of noodles that is such a staple of Thai restaurants? Well look no further for the solution. It’s extremely easy to make, and not too expensive if you have an “international” pantry. Like most Asian cooking, the devil is in the preparation. Prep for what seems like hours, and it’s ready in five minutes.

Tamarind. Photo: BBC World Service
Bangladesh Boat, Flickr ccl

You don’t actually chop for hours, just minutes. Finding the ingredients isn’t that difficult either. So what are you waiting for? I’m posting this recipe as much for me as for you. 

It’s an exceptional recipe for Phad Thai, and I always have trouble locating it because the basis is from a cookbook I don’t often use. In my opinion this recipe outshines most Phad that you get when you dine out, at least in Halifax…

The book in mention is “Hot Foods,” published in 2004 by Select Publications. It doesn’t refer to only spicy food, but any food brought steaming to the table. There’s many good recipes in it. 

I think I might have too many cookbooks. We used to run to Winners on weekends and buy marked-down cookbooks for about the same price as a food magazine. No ads, and far more informative and useful.

I have altered the basic recipe to more closely resemble one in a cookbook that I no longer have. It went away in a break-up, with many other things I valued. But they were only "things," not necessities. Apparently including the person who I told to leave...

My result is quite close to the one in my missing book, using the basics from “Hot Foods.” If you’re familiar with Phad Thai, and you look closely at this recipe you will see there are certain things that make Phad Thai, well, Phad Thai. 

This recipe has the balance “right.” An uncommon ingredient that brings it all together is tamarind. You can find it in blocks, or liquid form, in most grocery stores in the international section. So I tip my hat to the cookbook I do have that was the inspiration for this recipe.

Phad Thai

Prep: 20 min  | Cook: 15 min  | Serves 4

This picture is pretty close. Photo: Manuel W, Flickr ccl

250 g dried flat rice stick noodles

1 tbsp tamarind (either sauce or from a pressed block, finely diced)

1 2" thai red chilli, finely chopped with seeds

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1-1/2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp lime juice

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

2 tbsp oil
2 eggs, beaten

150 g (1/3 lb) pork, diced

1/2 lb shrimp

100g (3 1/2 oz) fried tofu puffs, julienned (optional)

1 bunch spring onions, chopped in 1/2” pieces

1 cup bean sprouts

1/4 cup chopped peanuts

1/4 cup coriander, chopped

lime wedges, to serve

Soak the noodles in warm water for 20 minutes, or until they are al dente. Keep in cool water to avoid sticking.

Combine the tamarind, chilli, garlic, sugar, fish sauce and lime in a bowl. Set aside.

Heat a wok with 1 tbsp of oil and swirl to coat the sides. When hot, add the egg and swirl to coat in a thin layer. Let cook, undisturbed. Roll up in the wok, remove and slice into thin strips.

Hear the remaining oil in the wok. Add the Chilli mixture and fry for 1 minute. Add the pork and fry for 2 minutes. Then add the shrimp and cook until just done. Blend in the peanut butter.

Add in the noodles, egg, tofu, bean sprouts and green onions and toss together until heated through.

Serve immediately with the peanuts, coriander and lime wedges in bowls on the table.

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Chicken in Garlic Basil Cream

A career is wonderful, but you can't curl up with it on a cold night. – Marilyn Monroe

So winter isn’t really done with us yet. It’s not as cold out as it could be, but it’s still cold. This morning found us sitting at -13°F. Brrrrr......

This month is shaping up to be a hectic one for me. So I’ll have to keep Marilyn’s words constantly in the forefront of my mind. All work and no fun makes our loved ones feel neglected. Not a good thing.

When there is a little down time to cook, and the weather outside is still frightful, there’s really not much that can compare to a garlic cream sauce. Couple that with basil and tender chicken, and all you’re really missing is a bottle of wine.

Oh, and someone to enjoy with with.

See, I almost forgot already. Not really... :-)

Chicken in Garlic Basil Cream

Time: about 20 minutes

6-8 chicken thighs, bone in and skin on

salt and pepper, to taste

4-6 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

1 cup 32% whipping cream

penne, for 3 or 4

If serving 3 people, cook 6 thighs; if serving 4, cook 8. Cook enough penne, cutting the suggested time down by 1 minute, for either 3 or 4 people. Keep it warm in water while you cook the chicken.

Place the chicken skin side up in a dry, hot pan with a lid. Season with salt and pepper. Let cook until the chicken releases from the surface. Fat will render out as it cooks.

Turn the chicken and repeat the process, skin side down. Once the chicken releases easily, remove to a plate.

Discard all the chicken fat in the pan except for about 1 tablespoon. Add the chopped garlic and sauté until fragrant. Then add the cream and return the chicken. Sprinkle with half of the chopped basil, cover and cook on medium for about 5 minutes.

Then add the penne, and let cook until the sauce reduces enough to start to coat the pasta and chicken.

Serve with more fresh basil, salt and pepper as desired, sprinkled on top.

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If you like this post retweet it using the link at top right, or share using any of the links below. Feel free to comment. I'll always try to respond. If you like this post, feel free to share it. All I ask is that you credit me and share a link back to the original.

Old-fashioned Rich Egg Bread

A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone. – Henry David Thoreau

Riches. We all want them. Our society directs us to consume constantly, in a never ending cycle, never being happy. Never reaching "the goal."

If your yeast doesn't proof, you won't
have successful bread.

My profession is part of the problem. I’m a designer. We often help shill the things you really don’t need. We help make the unnecessary feel necessary, at least in many consumers’ minds.

Thoreau lived from 1817 to 1862 and is most famous for his work Walden, which was a collection of reflections on simple living. This was in the first half of the 1800s – not the last half of the 1900s, or the first two decades of this century. It boggles the mind a little when you realize that people saw a problem with how we felt we had to live over 150 years ago.

Over the last year I have taken a page from Thoreau (in a very small sense) and have tried (in a very small way) to simplify my life, or perhaps more correctly, take control of it.

After first rise.

Working for myself was a major step. So was cutting down on monthly expenses by living more efficiently. Our foray last year into vegetable gardening was another. There’s a satisfaction you get from putting hand to soil that can’t be described until you do it.

So is “making” rather than “buying.” Not only does it reduce expenses but it gives a feeling of self-sustenance and sharpens your mind to what is important. Success takes many forms. Being able to afford the latest and greatest is only one concept of it.

Besides our small house in the country, we have a bachelor apartment in the city that my spouse uses for college and I use as a second office for my city clients. It’s small. It doesn’t have much except the necessities. We’re fine with that. The things one thinks they need are not in truth what is necessary.

After second rise in the pan.

Happiness, I believe, comes from fewer things, not more. If you can love someone, and be loved in return, what more is necessary, except for those few things required to keep you alive? He who has the most things at the end of the day does not win.

In fact, the more you have can make you less happy. Picture a dog with four bones. There’s no way he can enjoy all of them simultaneously, so instead of enjoying one, he spends his time guarding all four, constantly afraid another dog will take them.

Food for thought on a Thursday: What can you do without today to make yourself happier? Is it a simpler life, one in closer contact with nature and those you love? Would you sacrifice the hurly burly of your everyday existence for something “less” but far more rewarding?

From the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam:

A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,

A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread–and Thou

Beside me singing in the Wilderness–

Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!"

I hope my writing helps inspire you to reassess your priorities. For me it has worked. I am in a far better place now than I have been before. I am in control of my life, and responsible for my own happiness.

Bake some bread. Get in touch with a simpler way of life. Find some peace.

A recipe for happiness? Self-sustainability.

Old-fashioned Rich Egg Bread

Prep: 15 min  |  Rises: 3 hrs  |  Bake 35 min

1 cup water, 110°F

2-1/2 tsp yeast

1 tsp sugar

2 large eggs

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

Proof the yeast in the warm water mixed with the sugar. Once the yeast is creamy (has activated), mix in the eggs. Pour over the flour and salt in a large bowl. Mix well.

Once the flour has been incorporated, turn out onto the counter and knead for 5 minutes. Let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.

After the first rise, remove the dough to the counter again, divide in two and shape each piece into a round ball. Place the balls side by side in a well greased 5x9 bread pan. Proof again until doubled, about 1 to 1.5 hours.

Preheat the oven to 425°F with a pan with a little water in it on the bottom rack. Bake the loaf for 35 minutes, until hollow sounding when tapped on top and nicely browned.

For a soft crust, rub the top with butter.

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Mushroom Braised Beef Roast

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

I was reminded of that quote yesterday as I attended the funeral for the husband of a friend of mine. It was a very sad affair, as all funerals are, but was made all the more poignant as they would have celebrated only 17 months of marriage on Saturday. He was 50 years old.

My heart was torn at the sight of his wife, and the rest of the family, having to pull together to make sudden arrangements to say that final goodbye to the one they love. The word love is on purpose, not loved. It does not end because someone is no longer here, nor should it.

Sear the beef on all sides.

His passing should be a clarion call to us all to appreciate and love those we have in our lives, every single day. Do what you can to show it today, not tomorrow, as there may not be one. A sobering thought, that very few of us actually recognize. We all have an immortality complex.

Have you raised you voice harshly to someone you purport to love in the last week, day, hour? Was it over a trifling matter, something so insignificant it was only used as a vent for your bad mood? Did it cut, was it meant to hurt or make someone feel small or bad?

Go apologize. Now. Start to live seeing the big picture. None of us are perfect – not them, not you, and certainly not me. But you love them for a reason – remember that every time you open your mouth.

Be supportive, be helpful, be an ear to listen and shoulder of support.

Reduce the liquid in the pot.

Of course there are serious things in relationships that need to be discussed. Most often they stem from selfishness or rigidity. Communication is key. But do it in a way where you do not denigrate the opinions of those you love; cultivate a cooperative atmosphere where issues can be discussed calmly and solutions found.

There are no winners and losers in a healthy, loving relationship. Love and living together is about give and take. What you decide together will make you stronger than what you decide alone. And those joint decisions will lead to new avenues of choice that you may never have dreamed possible.

Remember that life can be short and brutish, and inherently unfair. Live life like there is no tomorrow, and always treat those you love in a way you would wish to be treated. If you live life like this, if the worst does happen, you will not look back with regrets.

Happy memories, smiles and laughs are far better ways to remember those we love than living with self-recrimination because  of how we acted. We can’t change what happens around us, but we are in total control of how we react to those circumstances. The two saddest words are “what if...”.

Luckily, my friend and her husband lived the words I wrote above. The only regret is they had far too little time together.

What does this have to do with braised beef roast? Nothing. But I’m giving you a recipe anyway. It may be a way to enjoy the company of those you love, and have some of supportive conversations you really should be having, over a lovely meal.

Mushroom Braised Beef Roast

Prep: 10 min  |  Cook: 2 hours  |  Serves 4-6

2 tbsp vegetable oil

3lb boneless beef blade roast

2 tsp cracked black pepper

1 tsp dried garlic

1 tsp salt

300 g crimini mushrooms, sliced

1 cup chardonnay

1 cup cream

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Mix together the pepper, garlic and salt and rub the mixture well into the surface of beef.

Heat half the oil in a Dutch oven or other heavy pot with a well fitting lid. Sear the beef on all sides. Remove to a plate.

Add the remaining oil to the pot. Sauté the mushrooms until they start to colour. Push them to the sides and nestle in the beef. Pour the wine around and bring to a gentle boil. Then reduce the heat to medium low, cover the pot and bake.

If your pot lid doesn’t fit well, cover the top of the pot with heavy aluminum foil and then place your pot lid on top. Fold the hanging foil up over the lid, for a slightly better seal.

Bake the roast for for 1 to 1.5 hours, testing using a meat thermometer at the hour mark for doneness. Interior should read 140 to 150°F for medium.

Remove from the heat. Let sit for 15 minutes, tented with foil to keep warm.

While the roast sits, bring the liquid and mushrooms in the pot to a boil, and let cook until the liquid has reduced down to about 3/4 of a cup. Add the cream and boil until reduced to sauce consistency.

Taste the sauce for salt and adjust if desired. Slice the beef and serve the mushroom sauce on top.

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Thoughts on Bread & Olive Oil Loaf

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. – Mozart, Requiem Mass in D Minor

There used to be times when occasions of life called for specific foods. We still have vestiges of that today. For example, hot cross buns, turkey and cranberries are often seen as necessities for Easter and Thanksgiving feasts, respectively.

But in “olden times” many other gatherings of families and friends were celebrated and traditionally called for very specific foods to be served. There’s not a lot of people (if any) who now serve Simnel cake on Mothering Sunday (4th Sunday in Lent), or Groaning cake when a woman has been “confined” in the process of giving birth.

Before overnight rise.

Here’s another one I just found out about today: funeral (arval) bread – once common in the north of England. As is now apparent by my quote and this post today, the health of my friend’s husband did not improve and the family has the sad task of saying goodbye for the last time in a few days. Our collective hearts ache for them.

There appears to be a few variations of this “bread.” Some say it was like a cake with raisins and cinnamon, others more like a biscuit. But they all were associated with the celebration of a life well lived, and the transition of inheritance – and responsibility. 

Arval was the inheritance feast of the Norse. You can see a clear influence by the Viking invaders/settlers (northern England).

This bread was distributed to the gathered mourners before the funeral procession. Apparently it was provided not just as sustenance at the wake, but mourners were given it to take home, and I believe at times it was also distributed to the poor.

An arval dinner and bread were intended (according to an old source) to “exculpate the heir and those entitled to the possessions of the deceased from fines and mulcts to the Lord of the Manor, and from all accusations of having used violence; so that the persons then convened might avouch that the person died fairly and without any personal injury.”

That’s a lot of significance in a round of bread. What foods in our culture now carry such weight?

We still have wakes and “celebrations of life” but nothing so circumscribed and definitive.

This recipe is not avral bread – not by a long shot – but it made me think, and learn, and appreciate anew.

I hope you try to make this. Baking bread is a demonstration of love, and isn’t that part of the ideas associated with funeral bread?

Olive Oil Bread

Prep: overnight  |  Second rise: 2 hrs  |  Bake: 35 min

3 cups unbleached flour

1-1/2 cups water

1/4 cup olive oil

2-1/2 tsp yeast

1-1/2 tsp salt

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl and beat with a spoon for 2 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and a towel and let rise overnight (or 8 hours). 

In the morning, (sort of) knead the bread on a lightly floured surface (it will be very sticky) and place in a well oiled 5” x 9” loaf pan. Oil your hands and press the dough out so it is even in the pan.

Let rise until the dough reaches the top of the pan (about 2 hours). Preheat the oven to 425°F. While the oven heats, hydrate it with a shallow pan on the bottom rack with 1/2 cup of water in it.

Bake the loaf for 35 minutes, until browned and hollow sounding when tapped on the top. Remove from the pan and let cool on a rack.

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If you like this post retweet it using the link at top right, or share using any of the links below. Feel free to comment. I'll always try to respond. If you like this post, feel free to share it. All I ask is that you credit me and share a link back to the original.