Warm watercress salad with strawberries and pan seared chicken breast

This is a salad that I threw together one day while living with my best friend/former roommate, Kate.  After surviving a harsh Connecticut winter, we were overjoyed to see strawberries at our campus grocery store.  I used some typical Asian greens, like watercress, mint, and scallion, that I had lying in the fridge and some non-Asian, yet equally important foodie staples, like goat cheese, chia seeds, extra virgin olive oil, and balsamic vinegar, to make a delicious and healthy meal.

The measurements aren’t exact, but salads allow for a lot of leeway with measurements. Adjust the proportions according to the size of your ingredients and your preferences.

Ingredients

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 ts of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 ts of fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 bunch of watercress, washed and drained
5 large strawberries
1 inch slice of chèvre
1 sprig of mint, with stems removed and leaves rough chopped
1 scallion
1 tbs flax seed
1 tbs chia seeds
1 tbs of raw pistachios, finely chopped
balsamic vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Wash the chicken breast and remove any excess fat.  Season on both sides with salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme.

Warm a small pan on medium high heat.  Once the pan is hot, add a splash of olive oil.  Place the chicken breast on the pan and let it cook for approximately three minutes, making sure not to move it around.  After the edges of the breast start to change color, flip the breast.  Let it sit for another minute, then add a splash of water and turn the heat down to medium low.  Cover the pan, and let the chicken cook without removing the lid until all the water has evaporated, approximately ten minutes.

While you are waiting for your chicken to cook, remove the thick end of the watercress, leaving only the tender stems attached to the leaves; cut the strawberries into thin, lengthwise slices; and arrange the watercress neatly on a plate.  Chop off the root end of the scallion, and cut it into three inch pieces.  Then, slice the pieces into thin strips and soak in ice water.

When the chicken breast is fully cooked, remove it from the pan and let it rest.   Meanwhile, add another splash of water to the pan to deglaze pan and pour the caramelized chicken juices onto the watercress to wilt them a bit.

To assemble the dish, place the strawberry slices in a circle on top of the watercress, leaving enough space for the chicken breast in the middle.  Crumble the chèvre on top of the strawberries, and sprinkle the julienned scallion and chopped mint leaves on top of everything.  Then, drizzle some extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top, season with a pinch of salt and pepper, and sprinkle with chia seeds, flax seeds, and chopped pistachios.  Finally, cut the chicken into thin slices, and arrange nicely in the middle of the plate.  Makes two healthy servings.

Food related pictures that I have taken at various points in my life

  

Eggs galore

I love eggs. I am a self-identified “egg slut” (as Alvin Cailin would say), and I’m proud of it! I mean, what is there not to love? Eggs are a delicious, protein packed food, individually packaged in little shells. Steamed eggs, gyeran jjim, are one of the infinite number of ban chan, or Korean side dishes, that are served at every meal. There is nothing quite as comforting as having a heaping bowl of rice with some steamed eggs, kimchi, and other Korean side dishes. My mother used to whisk the ingredients in a bowl and pop it in the microwave for a couple of minutes. Once I started cooking for myself, I decided to go back to basics and make gyeran jjim the traditional way, on a steamer basket, and the results were a smooth, yet satisfyingly hearty, egg-casserole. Because I love eggs so much, I started experimenting a lot in the kitchen with them and came up with some exciting things. Some of these dishes were a direct homage to the simple Korean steamed eggs, and others were more of a modern twist on eggs with influence from my Asian roots. So, here I’m sharing a couple of my go-to egg recipes, perfect for the egg slut in all of you.

Korean steamed eggs (gyeran jjim)
This dish is my mom’s original recipe. It’s super simple, and super delicious!

Ingredients
4-5 eggs
1/2 tbsp fish sauce (more or less to taste)
1/2 cup of water or homemade chicken stock
1 chopped scallion (white and green parts)
a pinch of Korean beef seasoning, dashida, or powdered chicken stock (optional)

Directions
Wisk all of the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Put about 1″-2″ of water into a large pot, and place it on the stove. Carefully place the bowl directly in the water (making sure the water doesn’t overflow into the bowl) or over the water on a steamer basket. Cover with a lid, and turn the heat to medium.  Once the water comes to a boil turn down the heat to medium-low, and check on the eggs every couple of minutes. You’ll know that it’s fully cooked when you see no raw egg when you poke it with a chopstick, but make sure that it’s still soft and not overcooked. Serve with rice, kimchi, gim (toasted seaweed), and other Korean side dishes.

Note: Make sure to put the bowl in the pot BEFORE you turn on the heat because the extreme temperature change could crack the bowl.

Coconut oil fried egg
My best friend and roommate, Kate (biddiekitchen), introduced me to the wonders of coconut oil this year. Here’s a classic fried egg recipe with a little twist.

Ingredients
1 egg
1/2 tbsp coconut oil
a pinch of salt
black pepper
a squeeze of lime juice
chopped scallion
chopped cilantro
A generous squirt of Sriracha

Directions
Heat a small pan over medium-low heat on the stove.  When it is warm, scoop the coconut oil into the pan and let it melt. Once the oil is completely melted crack the egg into the pan.  Allow the egg to set for a couple of seconds. Then, sprinkle it with salt, crack some black pepper on top, and cover the pan.  Allow the egg to cook for about a minute, without removing the lid.  It should be ready when the the egg white is brown on the edges, and the yolk is still runny. Remove from heat, squeeze lime juice on top, sprinkle with scallion and cilantro, and top off with Sriracha. Serve on top of avocado toast for a protein packed breakfast, or with some bacon on the side if you’re feeling frisky.

Note: Make sure the pan is not too hot. Coconut oil has a relatively low burning point, and things can get very smokey, very quickly.

Chinese-American scrambled eggs
This recipe has more influence from my Chinese-American side.  I love cooking with oyster sauce because it imparts a perfectly sweet, yet savory flavor that you don’t get from using just soy sauce.

Ingredients
Canola or any other neutral oil
half of an onion, sliced
2-3 eggs
1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp soy sauce

Directions
Heat a medium pan over medium heat. Once the pan is warm, pour in enough oil to make one full circle. When the oil is heated up a bit, put the onions into the pan.  Let them sweat a bit, about 1-2 minutes. Meanwhile, crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk to combine. One the onions start to caramelize, pour in the eggs and let them set for a few seconds. Pour in the oyster sauce and the soy sauce. Gently scramble the eggs, moving from the outside of the pan inward, allowing the eggs to set a bit between each “scramble”. Once the eggs are completely set, remove from the heat and transfer to a plate.  Serve with rice and some stir fried watercress or bok choy.

Note: I like my scrambled eggs on the less scrambled, more set side.  If you like your eggs super scrambled and runny, just scramble with more vigor and remove from heat earlier.

Thoughts I had while eating breakfast this morning

1. I think my favorite word used to describe food is unctuous.  As in, “This pork belly is so unctuous, the inside of my mouth is covered in a layer of fat!”

2. The kimchi I bought over spring break has an expiration date, and it has already passed.  Isn’t having an expiration date completely contradictory to the fundamental principals of kimchi?  It’s a fermented food! Like my ancestors used to bury it in the ground for months before eating it.  I’m going to eat it anyway.

3. Damn this kimchi is mad sour, but I’ve definitely had sour-er (more sour?) kimchi. Still, I should probably make kimchi fried rice or kimchi pancakes with it soon.

4. Pork belly is by far my favorite cut of meat.  It’s so beautifully decadent. It’s like the Beyoncé of meat.

5. This thit kho has formed a clear layer of liquid fat in the bowl, and the cilantro and scallions are suspended in it, kind of like the gold flakes in Goldschlager.

6. Oh god. Remember that month sophomore year when I would only drink Goldschlager and Coke? Weird times…

7. I just ate two bowls of white rice.

8. White rice is amazing! It’s like the Beyoncé of grains.

9. This pork belly has successfully cured my hangover. Yet another reason pork belly is my favorite cut of meat.

Chicken Porridge/Congee/Juk/Chao

For my first post I’m going to make a very simple, yet delicious dish: Congee!  All of the ingredients in this recipe are readily available at most grocery stores, so there’s no need to go to an Asian store to find obscure ingredients that you will never use again.  For my fellow Wesleyan students, all of these ingredients are available at Weshop, so there’s no need to spend real money!

According to Wikipedia, congee is ubiquitous in Asia, and it is usually made for sick people (or in my case, to cure a nasty hangover).  In Cantonese and Korean it is called juk, in Vietnamese it’s chao, and in Thai it is chok.  In it’s most basic form, it is a rice porridge that is cooked until the starches break down and create a nice thick consistency.  Each Asian country has several variations on the dish, but my recipe is a variation of my grandma’s Korean chicken juk recipe with a Vietnamese twist.  Usually, it is made with a whole chicken, but I used chicken drumsticks because that’s all that was available at Weshop.  I like to top mine with scallion, cilantro, fried shallots, and I eat it with some nicely fermented kimchi.

Ingredients

5 chicken drumsticks
9.5 cups of water
3 cups of chicken broth
1 peeled onion
1 tbs salt
1/2 tbs sugar
1/2 cup of white sticky rice (or Weshop sushi rice)
1/2 cup of jasmine rice
6 garlic cloves
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
salt and pepper to taste
fish sauce (optional)
scallion, cilantro, and fried shallots (for garnish)

Instructions

1. Mix the two types of rice in a bowl, rinse until the water runs clear, and soak in 1.5 cups of water for at least half an hour, but no longer than two hours.

2. While the rice is soaking, prepare your mise en place.  Rub salt on the chicken drums sticks, then rinse under cold water. Peel and smash the garlic cloves and the ginger.

3. Put the remaining 8 cups of water, 3 cups of chicken stock, the chicken drumsticks, and the onion in the pot.  Add 1 tbs of salt and 1/2 tbs of sugar, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

4. Once the water starts to boil, turn the heat down to medium-low and skim off all the foam that rises to the top.  Leave the pot on medium-low heat until the chicken is fully cooked (30-40 minutes)

5.  Once the chicken is fully cooked, carefully remove it from the stock and set aside to let it cool.

6. Drain the soaked rice, and add it to the pot.  Turn the heat back up to medium-high. Once the broth comes to a boil, put the lid on the pot and turn off the heat. Let the congee sit, covered, for 45-60 minutes.

7. While the rice sits, remove the cooled chicken meat from the bone and shred with your fingers.  You can also chop up the scallion and cilantro.  If you don’t have already fried shallots, chop up a fresh shallot into small slivers, batter it with some corn starch and fry it over medium heat until they are golden brown.

8. Turn the heat back on to medium high and let the congee boil for another 5-10 minutes.  Add the chicken meat in the last minute, just to heat it up.

9. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and fish sauce.  If you do choose to add fish sauce, be careful.  A little goes a long way!

10. Assemble your dish by scooping some congee into your bowl and garnishing with the chopped scallion, chopped cilantro, and fried shallots.  I also like to add a soft boiled or poached egg.  Crack some black pepper on top and enjoy!