Food escapades in modernist cuisine

Showing posts with label Side Dish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Side Dish. Show all posts

Cabbage, Red Onion and Carrot Slaw

Whenever I visit my favorite neighborhood Thai restaurant, I always order a green papaya salad. I've always wondered how they get such nice, uniform julienned cuts of papaya. The last time I went, I happened to get a glimpse of the chef preparing it and noticed she was using what appeared to be a peeler with a special blade.

I went home and searched on Amazon for "green papaya peeler" and this - the Kiwi Pro Slice Peeler - came up as the first search result. I decided to give it try, and it turns out it was exactly what I needed. For $5.65 plus free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime, this product is an absolute steal. I'd say I have decent knife skills, but julienning a bunch of vegetables, whether it be carrots or daikon, is a tedious, time-consuming task. This tool eliminates a lot of the headache. I've only had it for a week, and I've already used it a bunch of times. It's becoming one of my favorite kitchen gadgets.

I used my special peeler for julienning some carrot for a pickled slaw that I paired with a Mexican-inspired ancho chile and beer braised short rib dish for tacos. The recipe for the slaw is basically a combination of shredded carrot (1 medium), cabbage (half a head) and red onion (half of a medium sized) - I used the peeler to cut the carrot and a mandolin for the latter two. Combine the vegetables with 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 cup of cider vinegar, .5 cup of water, 1.5 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon dried oregano. Let the slaw sit in the pickling liquid for a few hours and then drain before serving. Don't worry about including the onion, as it becomes very mild through the pickling process.




Fried Brussels Sprouts, Fish Sauce, Garlic, Chilis

Growing up as a kid, I never really liked eating Brussels sprouts. However, as an adult, I certainly have acquired a taste for them. I usually oven roast or sauté them in a pan on the stove top but I must say that my absolute favorite method of cooking them is deep frying - yes, deep frying!

The exterior leaves get somewhat crispy and caramelized, and the flavor is deep, rich, and extremely savory. They are great on their own with a sprinkle of salt, but if you really want to put them over the top, dress them in a spicy thai-inspired vinaigrette with fish sauce. You might think fish sauce is unusual but it's not much unlike the Italian bagna cauda sauce, which uses anchovies.

Here's what to do:

  1. Pre-heat a deep fryer to 375 degrees F - I use the Waring Pro DF280 but if you don't have a dedicated deep fryer, alternatively you can use a dutch oven or large pot. To measure the temperature of oil, make sure you do so safely and use a thermometer that can measure high temps like a Taylor Thermocouple
  2. Slice the brussels sprouts in half
  3. Once the frying oil is up to temp, drop them in and fry for 2-3 minutes until brown and caramelized
  4. Remove from fryer and drain on paper towels to remove excess oil 
  5. Prepare thai vinaigrette by finely chopping thai bird chilis, grating a few garlic gloves using a microplane, and combining with fish sauce.
  6. Dress the brussel sprouts with the vinaigrette and enjoy!



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