many lifetimes ago, back when i lived in the yellow glare of
los angeles and not the deep greeny-blue of seattle, when i drove a convertible and not a minivan,
when i was 20 times blonder but 20 pounds heavier, and when instead of running
after three small people, i translated english-to-klingon for a living (true
story), a good pal & i used to have a fun little tradition: the daily top
five list. there were no rules, other
than you had to give it some serious thought & the old college try. any list, any theme, any topic would do: top five menu triggers, top five most evokative smells, top five awful movie
accents, top five guys-you-wanted-to-sleep-with-but-not-marry… the choices were endless. perhaps i’ve been missing that pal recently,
or perhaps i’ve been missing the excellent adult conversation that those lists
would generate, but for whatever reason i have decided that for you, my four
readers, i would bring back the much-revered TFL! (drum roll, rev the engines, hold your hands
up like the ceiling can’t hold us. here
we go…)
top five random ingredients you will always find in my fridge:
1) fermented black beans:
perhaps the mustiest, funkiest legume i have ever encountered, i
reluctantly tried them on the vehement assurance of a recipe blurb. exceptionally savoury and wickedly delicious,
after trying them you shall never buy a bottle of pre-made black bean sauce
again.
2) kim chi:
(though i
just learned that “kim chi” is more of a verb than a noun, much like
“pickle.” so i suppose i should say
cabbage kim chi.) the spicier the
better. bring it.
3) miso paste:
essentially the asian equivalent of anchovy paste, miso gives you way
more than just the base of a refreshing soup.
add a dollop to a braise or stew for incredible depth of flavour, or mix
with orange juice and a little soy for a versatile sauce.
4) pickled mustard greens:
.JPG)
a random discovery at my local asian supermarché, more of a dare than
anything. i think i referred to these in
a different post as kim chi on steroids.
(quoting myself?? how gauche.) chop then top anything and everything with
these strange and pungent leaves. they
take a simple buckwheat noodle with soy/vinegar dressing to a new level.
upon re-reading, i now see there’s somewhat of a well-preserved
asian theme going on here. i’m rather
expecting, should i dig deep enough, to find george takei lurking in the depths
of my refrigerator.
ohhhhh my!
lastly… 5) za'atar:
okay, so it’s not kept in my fridge as such, but these
days i am never without a jar of za’atar close at hand. a delicious middle eastern herb blend that
supermensch and i discovered together a while back, it’s mostly thyme, sesame,
sumac & salt, with a few other bits and bobs thrown in. spread some hummus on some good stodgy
flatbread, sprinkle on some za’atar, and i call that lunch. or breakfast.
or a snack. or just “delicious.”
now to the recipe. i
had the pleasure of seeing edward lee speak about his new book “smoke and
pickles” a few weeks back. this book
rocks socks, and most recipes contain either miso, kim chi, or both. ed is my people. he spoke for over an hour about his life,
about cooking, how cooking influenced his life, and how his life influences his
cooking. (i feel dizzy.) sitting there for an hour as he talked with
nary a cue card in sight, it also made me realise that i could never do a book
tour. i think you also can’t do a book
tour when your blog has four readers (and you don't have a book), but still. my presentation/speech would go a little
something like this:
“hi, my name is jo, i live in seattle and i love to
cook! uhm… so, actually, i like kim chi and pickled
mustard greens… lots of other things are
terribly yummy, too… [big pause] can’t actually think of any
right now… uhhhh, what the bloody hell was
i going to say… something about nicki
minaj? somebody throw me a hoopity hoop
hoop here. crap… actually, uh…
HEY, look over there, a cute animal doing something cute and totally
distracting!! (what does a girl have to
do to get a glass of wine around here???)”
then i’d probably pass out from nerves and wait for supermensch to fly
in and save me.
thank you for coming to my book tour. you’re welcome. (on the other hand, i did happen to have
dinner with sue from subeeskitchen.com the other night, and i bet she would
give an excellent book tour. not a
british mumble in sight. good recipes,
too, check it out.)
the following recipe is a sauce from saucy ed’s awesome
book. actually, it’s like a version of
ed’s recipe if you take off your specs, squint your eyes, and look at it in a
wonky thrift shop mirror. ed uses a
classic remoulade as a base, but when you’ve just moved house and are still
trying to unpack whilst three small people nip at your heels and literally hang
off your apron strings, the phrase “classic remoulade” is not exactly tripping
off your tongue. so my version is
simpler, easier, and far lazier. these
days, i call that survival.
(pretend there's a chalkboard picture here. truth be told, i've not yet unpacked my chalk & actually have no clue where it might be... nothing to see here, carry on.)
orange-miso sauce (adapted so terribly-loosely from ed lee’s “smoke and pickles”)
2 tablespoons red miso paste
1/3 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
a good dollop of mayo, sour cream, or even greek yogurt,
beaten until smooth
add miso to orange juice and whisk until blended.
add sesame oil, soy sauce, and your lazy
remoulade-substitute. mix well and
refrigerate until needed. flavours
develop if made a couple of hours ahead.
brilliant over chicken, salmon, pork, and i bet it would
even show a green salad a pretty good time.
there you have it! simple,
easy and lazy! thank you for coming to
my book tour, i’ll be here all week…
mostly due to nervous stammering and inability to finish a sentence… actually…
