Let’s Chow!

My coworker Zeynep, who happens to be from Turkey, made red lentil balls for a bridal shower and I was immediately drawn to them because they were unique, tasty, and something that I’ve never tried before. They were a big hit as an interesting vegetarian finger food for the health-conscious. The recipe featured below is an adaptation from the recipe Zeynep shared with me, with a few minor modifications that worked better for me. The ingredients are still true to its original recipe and others I have seen.

Red lentils, teamed up with bulgur (sometimes known as cracked wheat), are the main stars of this dish in a 2 to 1 ratio. Both ingredients have excellent nutritional value with their high protein and fiber content. These legume and grain counterparts are common in countries within the Mediterranean region.

Red lentil balls can be served as an appetizer known as “meze”, a meal starter or accompaniment. From what I have read, it is a common dish in Turkish cuisine, particularly in the southeast part of the country. Köftesi means meatballs, and red lentils and bulgur are the meat replacements that provide similar nutritional value. It can be served warm or cold, and the flavors from the onions, cumin, and paprika really make it burst with flavor. The deep orange color comes from the red lentil foundation, with even more color added from the tomato paste and paprika. The lentils and bulgur give it a natural earthy bite, and since they’re both full of protein, the lentil balls are satisfying to one’s stomach.

My exposure to Turkish cuisine has been minimal, but it is certainly fascinating to learn about. The history of the cuisine is rich, dating back to the Ottoman Empire. Someday I look forward to visiting Istanbul and other cities to explore the culture and take classes at Cooking Alaturka!

Turkish Red Lentil Balls (Mercimek Köftesi) Recipe

Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Yields approximately 30-35 lentil balls

Ingredients

• 1 cup red lentils, uncooked
• 2 and 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup fine bulgur, uncooked
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon salt or more, depending on taste
• 1 tablespoon paprika, plus more for dusting
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 3 scallions, finely sliced

Tools

• Large bowl
• Medium saucepan
• Chef knife and cutting board
• Wooden spoon, or other stirring tool

Preparation

1. Wash the lentils in a large bowl until water runs clear. In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add lentils, and simmer until soft (but not overly mushy), about 15 minutes while stirring occasionally. Mix in bulgur; turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let it rest until the residual liquid is absorbed by the bulgur, about 15 minutes or longer.
2. While the lentils cook, bring a skillet to medium heat and with olive oil and saute diced onions until tender and translucent, about 8-10 minutes. Add in tomato paste; stir and turn off heat.
3. Use the resting time of the lentils mixture and onions cooking to chop scallions and parsley.
4. Once the lentils and bulgur are cooked, it should be moderately moist and not completely dry, like cookie dough. Add salt, onions, paprika, cumin, and most of the parsley and scallions into the mixture and stir to combine.
5. At this point, the lentil and bulgur mixture should resemble thick cookie dough when stirred. If it still seems too damp, add more bulgur and let the mixture rest longer. The bulgur should no longer be hard, but soft and melded in to the mix.
6. With a bowl of water at your side, wet your hands and mold the lentil and bulgur mixture into mini golf-ball sized balls (or any shape you prefer) and place on a platter. A tablespoon is a good amount for each ball. Garnish with remaining scallions and parsley and drizzle with good extra virgin olive oil.

Selina’s Notes

• Red lentils and bulgur can be purchased in bulk food bins, which are probably the least expensive. Sometimes they are also available in the international food aisle.

Not Grey’s, but whose anatomy?

Similar to Latin American tamales, I grew up eating the Chinese variation of this family classic, also known as zhong (in Cantonese), or zhongzi (in Mandarin). The term zhong literally means rice dumpling. Tamales and zhong share similar characteristics in that both are wrapped in various types of leaves and take many hours, if not more, to make. I can also safely say that both are typically eaten for special occasions. Notice that I said typically - I have the luxury of enjoying them all year-round because of my awesome relatives who make them for me.

The history behind zhong came about to honor Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet who ended his life in a river due to political events. According to popular legend, villagers paid respect to Qu by throwing packets of rice into the river so that fish and other creatures would not consume his body. Zhong now remains as a traditional Chinese food that is enjoyed among families during the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month (sometimes around June of of the Gregorian calendar). For me, I suppose I honor Qu at all times of the year

So what exactly is inside a tetrahedral-shaped, bamboo leaf wrapped zhong? There are many varieties, but I have grown up eating zhong with a combination (sometimes all at once if I’m lucky) of the following:

• Glutinous white rice
• Roasted and/or marinated pork
• Shitake mushroom
• Preserved salted egg yolk
• Peanuts
• Mung beans
• Green split peas
• Chinese sausage
• Chestnuts
• Dried shrimp

Yes, this is quite a weird hodgepodge of ingredients that a normal person would probably not put together voluntarily. When used independently, I would say these are pretty typical ingredients in southern Chinese cuisine. Where and when my relatives grew up, not many people could afford these ingredients (or they just weren’t available), so these were considered gourmet in a villager’s perspective. However, the gourmet part of it is still true; many store-bought versions have a fraction of the above ingredients, and some might only have a piece of meat inside. I consider them a wealth of goodies because they all contribute to a rich and flavorful food that truly satisfies your hunger. The bamboo leaves give the zhong an incredibly scrumptious earthy flavor that captures the essence of the leaves. The glutinous rice also brings it all together in a sticky, gooey fashion.

The zhong making process is pretty onerous, and I applaud my relatives for putting so much effort into making them for me. You may also be asking, what could be so complicated about wrapping rice and other goods in some leaves? The main ingredients that hold it together actually require the most work, which are the bamboo leaves and rice. Both ingredients require overnight soaking, and on top of that, the bamboo leaves also need to be washed and scrubbed, one by one. When purchased, the leaves come dry and brittle, so they need some attentive care. The filling ingredients are not as complicated, but the process of gathering and preparing them for zhong-making takes time. The pork typically needs to be marinated, the salted egg yolks (usually duck eggs) need to be separated from the whites, the shitake mushrooms need soaking to revive them from the dried form, and so forth. The rice is flavored with salt and sometimes a pinch of five spice powder.

Once all the ingredients are ready to go, they need to come together somehow. To me, the hardest part is packaging a zhong together to look like a tetrahedral cylinder shape as perfectly shown in the above pictures. I have tried it before alongside with my great aunt, and mine looked awful compared to her perfect ones in which she completes at 10 times the speed of me. And finally, after the wrapping part is finished, the zhong need to be cooked by being simmered in a large stockpot for several hours.

The cooked zhong can then be eaten immediately or cooled for freezer storage. As a busy traveling person, the freezer option works best for me. My freezer is stocked full of zhong, ready to eat whenever I feel like it. I simply microwave one in a bowl, submerged in water, for 5-6 minutes. It’s fabulous. Mine get shipped in my 21″ carry-on luggage bag when I travel from CA to IL - I always wonder if the TSA personnel ever think they are grenades or something from the X-ray machine.

It’s always fun to untie the kitchen twine that holds the zhong together and slowly unravel the leaves, getting one step closer to the yummy goodies inside. I think this process is somehow quicker when one is hungry, too:

I have to be careful because it’s extremely hot, and the steam can be painful. Once unwrapped, the specimen looks like such:

Now it is time to dissect and demystify a zhong, gently splitting it right down the middle (no scalpel needed here; chopsticks work fine):

See, that’s all there is to it! It’s not that foreign anymore, right?

And just as savory French crepes have a sweet counterpart, there is a sweet version of zhong, too (called gan sui zhong in Cantonese, or jianshui zhongzi in Mandarin). I may feature that varietal in a future post. Until next time, readers!

Taking a skip down memory lane, here is an excerpt from Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss, a familiar childhood classic:

…I do not like
green eggs
and ham!

I do not like them,
Sam-I-am.

You do not like them.
So you say.
Try them! Try them!
And you may.
Try them and you may, I say.

Sam!
If you will let me be,
I will try them.
You will see.

Say!
I like green eggs and ham!
I do! I like them, Sam-I-am!
And I would eat them in a boat.
And I would eat them with a goat…

And I will eat them in the rain.
And in the dark. And on a train.
And in a car. And in a tree.
They are so good, so good, you see!

So I will eat them in a box.
And I will eat them with a fox.
And I will eat them in a house.
And I will eat them with a mouse.
And I will eat them here and there.
Say! I will eat them ANYWHERE!

I do so like
green eggs and ham!
Thank you!
Thank you,
Sam-I-am!

As Sam had a change in heart over eating green eggs and ham, perhaps there is a chance that you might even like my version of this seemingly grotesque concoction. And thanks to the polling results, scrambled eggs and eggs over easy were popular choices, which inspired me to create two variations of green eggs and ham. I will say this, though - I don’t turn the eggs and ham green like some other recipes I have seen. I try to avoid food coloring when possible, and to make the dish remotely appetizing, these are my interpretations of what a fun children’s book breakfast should be.

Rules will be rules, and I had to use some form of green in the dish. And what better green sauce to use than pesto (okay, you might get me with guacamole)? I used a spinach pesto to top the eggs and ham in my recipes, adapted from Giada De Laurentiis’ version, but I just made it with less Parmesan. Spinach typically goes well with eggs, but if you generally don’t like pesto sauce, a sauteed spinach topping would do the trick as well; it would just lack the gooey green sauce effect I was going after.

Green Eggs and Ham Recipe #1

Preparation Time: 25 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients

• 8 ounce ham steak, diced into small bite size cubes
• 5 large eggs, beaten
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, divided
• 4 slices wheat or white bread, for toasting
• 2 tablespoons spinach and pine nut pesto (note: I’d recommend using 1/4 cup Parmesan instead of 1/3 cup)

Preparation

1. Prepare pesto and set aside.
2. Heat skillet with 1 teaspoon oil on medium-high. Add diced ham cubes and heat through until lightly browned and crisp.
3. In the same skillet with ham, reduce heat to medium and add in remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Pour in beaten eggs and gently stir until desired level of firmness.
4. Serve immediately with toast and top with a tablespoon of pesto sauce.

Tools

• Food processor for pesto sauce
• Toaster
• Chef knife and cutting board
• Small mixing bowl
• Large skillet
• Wooden spoon or spatula

Green Eggs and Ham Recipe #2

Preparation Time: 25 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients

• 2-4 slices Canadian bacon
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, divided
• 2 slices wheat or white bread, for toasting
• 2 tablespoons spinach and pine nut pesto (note: I’d recommend using 1/4 cup Parmesan instead of 1/3 cup)

Preparation

1. Prepare pesto and set aside.
2. Heat skillet with 1 teaspoon oil on medium-high. Add Canadian bacon slices and heat through until lightly browned. Be careful with this type of meat, though - it will get too dry if you overheat it because it’s leaner. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
3. In the same skillet, reduce heat to medium and add 1 tablespoon of oil divided in half on opposites sides of the skillet. Crack each egg over the oil spots in the skillet and let it cook until whites are set and opaque. Flip each egg over with a spatula (or just the pan itself if you’re savvy) for about 10-15 seconds.
4. Serve immediately with toast and top with a tablespoon of pesto sauce.

Tools

• Food processor for pesto sauce
• Toaster
• Large skillet
• Spatula

Selina’s Notes

• If you decide to use sauteed spinach instead of pesto sauce, I recommend sprinkling a handful of Swiss or Gruyere cheese when the scrambled eggs are almost done, or on top of eggs over easy
• If time is an enemy, store-bought basil pesto sauce may work fine
• These recipes were not meant to be entirely too precise; just have fun with it!

Perhaps, as Sam did, you will eat them in the rain, on the train, on a boat, or with a goat? Maybe not, but I hope you enjoyed the little flash back and will make green eggs and ham for the sake of being silly and creative. If you have another varation, please do share.

Note: In my previous post below, I mentioned the next entry would be related to the poll topic (eggs). It certainly will be shortly! This entry is a mini spontaneous detour…

I started to write about food outside of work for genuine gratification and recreation. It has been about two months since my first introductory post, and I am very pleased to have a handful of readers! Comments and feedback have been very exciting to read, and I truly appreciate every single one of them because it turns into motivation to continue coming up with unique topics and recipes related to food.

This leads to my sincere thanks to Aggie from Aggie’s Kitchen who passed on my very first blog award for Let’s Chow!:

Exciting stuff. Grazie mille, Aggie! To reciprocate the generosity, I too will pass on this award to some cool food bloggers I have been following, using these six simple rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when their entry is up.

As per number 3, here are some Selina factoids:

• I am a huge gymnastics fanatic, and I have been following the sport since I was a child. I had the chance to compete in high school gymnastics and also teach children for a couple years. When it comes to Nationals, Worlds, Olympic Trials, and the Olympic Games, I am glued to the TV. I used to tape record competitions beginning with 1992 through 2004 (yes, VHS) and watch them repeatedly. Now a days, DVDs can be purchased and clips can be watched on YouTube and NBColympics.com!
• One of my phobias is to be followed or when people walk behind me (dragging shoes, floppy flip flops, and the like).
• I have a love-hate relationship with onions. I love them in most soups, stews, salsa, and sauces, but I truly hate eating them raw in sandwiches, or in anything with large chunks of onion.
• I am obsessive compulsive about recycling and reducing waste and energy usage.
• I prefer snowboarding to skiing, hands down.
• I can eat oatmeal every day of the week and not get tired of it.

Now it’s my turn to tag!

• Amy at Delicious By Nature
• Bridgett at La Bella Cook
• Authors at Tasty Meals At Home
• Norman at Green Avocado
• Alex at Just Cook It!
• Jescel at Spice of Life

Cheers,
Selina

As a preview to my next post, please vote in the following poll about eggs

Eggs are a wonderful food (sorry vegan friends!) because they are so versatile. They easily qualify to be BLD - breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You will begin to notice that I rave about versatile foods because of the infinite number of ways to use them. Plus, most of the versatile foods I mention are generally good for you and tasty.

If a method you prefer is not listed in the poll, feel free to share your favorite egg dish in the comments section!

Note: For RSS/Facebook viewers, you will have to visit the actual site to vote on the poll.

I label myself as one who does not bake…often. Can I see myself as a pastry chef? It might be a hard feat. Perhaps not using an oven for over 16 years to make baked goods still haunts me to the point where the oven is a foreign machine that remains untouched unless absolutely necessary. Okay, the situation is not that extreme, but baking is something that takes an extra special ‘umph.’ It’s like knowing you’re not naturally gifted with X sport and yet you still try extra hard to still play for the pure joy and entertainment of it.

Regardless of my nearly nonexistent baking skills, I learned how to make a basic apple cake from a friend’s mother. Over the years I have modified the recipe to make it my own, with some extra sass to it. The sass comes from the spice and nut part of the cake - cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and walnuts. These ingredients combined are extraordinary pals, especially with apples. The apples and cinnamon create a classic flavor foundation for the cake while the ginger and nutmeg create a special depth in the background.

And to top it off, the walnuts are a great way to add some nutrition and crunch.

This recipe is remarkably fool-proof, really. Your family and friends will give you smiles after having this cake! I have served it at Thanksgiving dinner and many other occasions. My coworkers seem to love the cake, too.

Apple Spice Walnut Cake Recipe

Preparation Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes (1 hour bake time, 15 minute prep time)
Serves 9

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 can Comstock or Wilderness apple pie filling (21 ounces, available at most supermarkets)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
• Cooking spray
• Confectioners’ sugar, optional
• Vanilla ice cream, optional

Tools

• Large mixing bowl
• Chef knife and cutting board
• Spatula
• Measuring spoons and cups
• 8 x 8 square baking pan

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare the batter: In a large mixing bowl, combine the first 11 ingredients with a spatula until moderately combined. The eggs should be well incorporated and the dark cinnamon should be blended in at this point.
   
   Fold in chopped walnuts.
   
   
3. Lightly coat baking pan with a quick dash of cooking spray. Pour cake batter into baking pan and place in the oven to bake for one hour.
   
4. Remove from oven and let it cool for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm with your favorite vanilla ice cream. Dust with confectioners’ sugar if your mood calls for it; it’s always a nice touch!
   

Selina’s Notes

• For those watching sugar intake, a ‘No Sugar Added’ version of apples is sometimes available. Alternatively, you can reduce the granulated sugar amount to 1/2 cup. Splenda is also an option.
• All purpose flour can be substituted with whole wheat flour
• Don’t have ginger or nutmeg? Cinnamon alone would make it a lovely cake as well, just less sass.

And now the process of blissful, sweet satisfaction:

After a bite, one must keep going.

And going…

Task accomplished!

As mentioned previously, breakfast is an essential part of my day. For some odd reason I consistently wake up with a growling stomach that screams “feed me!” Even if I feast on an occasional large dinner the night before, the growling stomach persists without fail. I have eaten countless types of food for breakfast in my lifetime. In Chinese culture, a typical breakfast can consist of soup, rice porridge or congee, steamed buns, or dim sum. When I went to Japan last year, our breakfast was typically rice, eggs, and sometimes tsukemono (Japanese pickles) in Kyoto. We even had sashimi one morning at 7AM.

While I am pretty adaptable in terms of what I eat in the morning, I generally stick to my staples - cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, eggs, pancakes, toast, and the list is pretty long. In the toast category, I especially love English muffins. These muffins are so versatile and can be enjoyed toasted with plain butter. Craving a little sweet? Spread some jam on top of the butter. In the mood for savory? Make it an egg and cheese sandwich, or even top it off with a breakfast meat if that suits your taste. Make the muffin quasi Italian by broiling it with tomato sauce and cheese. The possibilities are endless.

The Works: I made this up, but it is my definition of good flavors combined (shown above). Even if all these ingredients aren’t available, there are easy substitutes to use. The first component of The Works is almond butter. Now, if you haven’t tried almond butter yet, you are in for a treat. Peanut butter fans will naturally have a liking for their family relative, almond butter. It is a little less sweet, yet has the same great nutty flavor that is comforting and rich. Plus, almonds are one of the healthiest nuts around. The second component is the banana. Any nut butter and bananas are so complimentary, almost as good as the famous PB&J duo. And lastly, to top it off with some extra sweetness, honey is the natural super star.

Having an English muffin with The Works is an easy to way spruce up this ever so popular breakfast favorite, and it will definitely keep you energized throughout your morning.

English Muffin With “The Works” Recipe

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Serves 1

Ingredients

• 1 whole wheat or honey oat English muffin, split in two (some say using a fork gives the best nooks and crannies)
• 2 tablespoons crunchy unsalted almond butter
• 1/2 banana, sliced (just eat the other half later!)
• 1-2 teaspoons clover honey for drizzling

Tools

• Toaster
• Butter knife

Preparation

1. Place muffin halves in toaster and toast on a medium setting.
2. While muffin toasts, slice banana into thin quarter inch pieces with the butter knife.
3. Spread 1 tablespoon of almond butter on each muffin half, followed by banana slices and finally the drizzled honey. Serve immediately with a cold glass of milk.

Selina’s Notes

• Almond butter can be substituted with natural peanut butter (none of that Jif stuff with hydrogenated oils - choosy Selina does not choose Jif!). Almond butter is typically more expensive than regular peanut butter, but it’s well worth the splurge!
• Bananas can be substituted with apples or raisins. If no fruit is available, The Works sans fruit is still delicious.

Everyone seems to have their morning beverage preference. What’s yours?

For me, I like them all but lately I have been resorting to coffee. It is certainly not an addiction, but simply for pure enjoyment. On top of the beverage, it is essential that I eat breakfast because it really is the most important (and sometimes best) meal of the day. Breakfast definitely takes precedence over caffeine; a morning without breakfast would be very unpleasant

Note: For RSS/Facebook viewers, you will have to visit the actual site to vote on the poll.

Beef broccoli is probably one of the most popular entrees at a typical Chinese restaurant. Oh yes, it’s right up there on the charts with fried rice, chow mein, sweet and sour [name your meat], and pot stickers. I often chuckle at these various dishes because of the Americanized stereotype associated with them, essentially portraying what Chinese food is in a nutshell. I have gradually accepted the fact that authenticity is subjective. Simple demand is all it takes for foods to end up on restaurant menus, and obviously people like what they like. Beef broccoli is no exception. However, the broccoli part of beef broccoli has been adapted to fit American taste. Chinese broccoli, which I will feature in a future post, is probably what was originally used. Since regular broccoli is readily available for anyone to buy all year-round, popularity dominated.

For me, beef broccoli is one of my staple comfort foods that I have shared with family, friends, and coworkers over the last several years. It has been a big hit at potlucks, dinner parties, date night, bring-to-work lunch, and dinner-for-one. It seems to be well liked by most (except for vegetarians - sorry my friends!), even those who aren’t so fond of (or familiar with) Chinese food.

The recipe here is my very own, and I cannot find anything else closely similar to it on the Internet. I have typically seen recipes that combine both beef and broccoli in the wok to incorporate the sauce. Some recipes even call for an entire cup of oil using ingredient quantities just slightly above mine - no wonder Chinese food is often plagued by the image of being greasy. My version separates the beef and broccoli until the very last minute, and it is also lighter on the oil. The end result: crisp, vibrant, green broccoli topped with perfectly tender, flavorful slices of beef steak, all without being drowned in gloppy sauce. There is definitely sauce, of course, but just not in an excessive amount. If you’re a fan of *gulp* Panda Express or PF Chang’s, you will boycott their versions.

It was a challenge writing this recipe because it is definitely one that I eyeball and go off my memory, as if I can do this in my sleep. You know, a little dabble of this, and a couple splashes of that kind of thing. Fear not, though - the process is very simple once you get used to it.

Beef Broccoli Recipe

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound flank steak, thinly sliced against the grain (about 1 inch long should be bite-sized)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1 teaspoon corn starch
• Salt and pepper
• 2 heads of broccoli (florets and trimmed stems), about 4 cups
• 3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger, grated
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice wine (Chia Fan brand)

Tools

• Medium mixing bowl
• Chef knife and cutting board
• Paring knife
• Medium stock pot
• Colander
• Skillet or wok
• Tongs or wooden spoon

Preparation

1. Pre-work: Before handling the meat, bring a medium stock pot of water to a boil. Divide the flank steak into 1-inch sections along the lengthy fibers (see below). Thinly slice each section against the grain, about ¼ inches each slice, and place into mixing bowl. Toss beef together with soy sauce, sugar, 1 teaspoon oil, and corn starch. Let it marinate until broccoli prep is done.

   

   

2. Prep the broccoli by cutting about an inch off the tough part of the stem. Using a paring knife, peel away the tough layer off the stems and florets. The florets should be bite size, and the trimmed stems should be thin for even cooking.
   
3. Blanch ‘n fry: Place broccoli in boiling water and blanch until water comes to a light boil again. Promptly drain in colander (no need to rinse with cold water here). It’s a very quick dip in the hot tub here.



Heat the skillet on high heat with 1 tablespoon oil and a pinch of salt. When oil comes to a smoking point (it should be fragrant at this point), toss in broccoli and stir constantly for about 15-20 seconds. Transfer to a serving plate and reserve.

In the same heated skillet, add remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Add garlic and ginger and vigorously stir for 5 seconds to avoid burning. Immediately add in marinated beef, followed by oyster sauce as soon as beef changes color (semi pink, semi brown at this point). Stir fry until beef is almost all browned. Lightly season with course black pepper. Finish the beef with rice wine; sauce should thicken at this point. Remove from heat and pour over cooked broccoli.

The final product:

A meal like this cannot be complete without steamed white or brown rice to go with it, right?

Now that’s more like it. Enjoy!

Selina’s Notes

• Once the ingredients are all prepared, this is a very quick cooking dish. To prep in advance, you may wash and cut broccoli beforehand. The beef can also be marinated overnight, but without the corn starch until ready to cook. If the corn starch is left in overnight, it will harden.
• If you’re doubling the recipe, the broccoli can be cooked in a double batch during the blanch ‘n fry step. However, I’d suggest cooking the beef in two batches.
• Most people will not peel the tough portion off the florets, especially in restaurants because it takes  longer to prep. However, my mother taught me to cut broccoli this way because the outer layer is chewy and takes longer to cook otherwise.

I will start off by saying that I never used an oven to bake (besides making chocolate chip cookies in my 6th grade home economics class) until I was 17. I mentioned this to my friend who grew up baking her entire childhood and she was taken aback by my lack of oven usage. Why on earth was I deprived from such an ordinary and staple household appliance? The funny truth is, our oven never worked and it was not essential to get it repaired because, well, Chinese households (at lease mine) rely on two things: a wok and stock pots. Baking cookies, cakes, turkey, casseroles, and all the wonderful things an oven can make were not part of my everyday meals at home. I had a lot of soups and stir fry entrees. Let’s put it this way - if the rice cooker broke, it would have been a serious issue. But the oven? Not so much…it really just became the object under the gas burners as well as extra storage space. I certainly still tried many other cuisines growing up, but it was just slightly different at home. After moving into a new house at 17, the oven at last became a part of my life. Today I depend on it as much as I depend on salt in the kitchen.

Now onto the main topic - carrots. I actually never used to be a big fan of them. In the past, they were just one the many ingredients in my soup, skinny sticks in my salad greens, or crunchy snacks that practically required peanut butter or ranch dressing to swallow down. Plain carrot sticks? Blah. After this period of non-excitement about carrots, these special root veggies have made a comeback.

And it’s all thanks to the miraculous oven! Roasting carrots amazingly brings out all these wonderful characteristics that simply cannot be achieved by steaming, boiling, stir frying, or any other cooking method. When roasted, carrots get nicely crisp and caramelized, adding to its lovely golden orange color. The flavor also becomes richly sweet and savory, a combination that is really fascinating to me. It almost reminds me of oven sweet potato fries. It is intensely good.

My recipe features Chinese five spice, a unique blend of spices that usually include star anise, fennel seeds, cassia (cinnamon varietal), Szechuan peppercorns, and cloves. This blend is highly aromatic, bringing great flavors to meats and vegetables. Sometimes it is also combined with table salt and is served along with steamed chicken at Chinese banquets. It captures the essence of sweet, salty, and tartness. Five spice can be found in most large supermarkets these days. Chez Pim provides a great method for making it, too. I paired five spice and carrots together because I have tried it with cinnamon alone, and they turned out to be a happy couple, so why not try five spice to make things more interesting? As it turns out, they were a great complex match.

Five Spice Roasted Carrots Recipe

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Serves 2 as side dishes (can easily be doubled, tripled, etc.)

Ingredients

• 1 bunch carrots (about 8 small to medium carrots), cut into thick matchsticks, shown above
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder

Tools

• Chef knife and cutting board
• Vegetable peeler
• Baking tray, lined with aluminum foil

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare carrots by washing, peeling, and chopping. Transfer carrots to lined baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil, five spice powder, salt, and pepper. Toss with hands to coat evenly. Make sure all carrots are flat on the baking tray to ensure even roasting.
2. Roast for 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve immediately with your favorite pasta, meat, or fish.

Selina’s Notes

• If five spice powder is impossible to find, it’s okay to omit; plain roasted carrots are phenomenal as well
• If you’re running short on time, peeled, ready-to-eat bagged carrot sticks work just fine. The cooking time may take an extra few minutes since the thickness is greater than the ones I cut. Also, bagged carrots tend to have extra water in the package, so it’s important to pat dry with a towel before roasting.
• Make extra because people are going to fight over these!

Having finally gotten a true appreciation for this vegetable, carrots are one of the many gifts from the Earth. They are widely available year-round and super inexpensive. Plus, there is no need to feel guilty for eating them - carrots are full of vitamin A and other great benefits.