Mussels with Fennel-Saffron Broth

Mussels with Fennel-Saffron Broth

The other week we received fennel in our bi-weekly CSA shipment from Helsing Junction Farms. Since we don't often cook with fennel, Erin scoured the web for an appealing dinner that used this perennial herb. The recipe she eventually settled on comes from one of Mark's favorite food websites (Serious Eats) and involves one of our favorite foods (mussels)!

Over the past handful of years we have eaten mussels in a variety of preparations both in Seattle and around the world. We've enjoyed delicious Penn Cove mussels at home here in Seattle, at restaurants in the city, and at the nearby Front Street Grill in Coupeville on Whidbey Island (seriously, look them up and visit if you have a chance!). We've savored traditional Moules Frites in Brussels. We (Mark) has enjoyed smoked green-lipped mussels in New Zealand while on vacation. However, at home, we almost always prepare them in the same way we prepare clams.

This fennel-saffron mussels recipe was a refreshing change to our usual preparation of clams and mussels. The broth is full-flavored and semi-rich without being too heavy so that you can eat large quantities of these mussels without feeling overwhelmed as you might by a cream-based broth. It also pleasantly incorporates the fennel flavors with a hint of spice and a touch of herb to create a dish that you won't be able to stop eating. In particular, this preparation mellows out the licorice/anise flavor of raw fennel to create an extremely well-balanced dish that you can keep on standby as an impressive main requiring relatively minimal effort.

Original recipe: J. Kenji López-Alt at Serious Eats

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2-4 ounces hard dry fennel salami, diced
• 1 small bulb fennel, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
• 4 medium cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• pinch of saffron
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• 1 (2-inch) piece orange zest, white pith removed
• ½ cup crushed tomatoes (optionally pureed)
• 2 pounds mussels, cleaned and de-bearded before cooking
• ¼ cup minced fresh parsley leaves
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 loaf rustic bread, sliced, buttered or oiled, and well toasted

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan or pot over medium-high eat until hot. Add salami and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add fennel, onion, and garlic then reduce heat to medium, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until vegetables are softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Add saffron and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine, orange zest, and tomatoes, increase to high heat and bring to a boil.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Add mussels, stir, cover, and cook, shaking pan every 30-60 seconds. As soon as all mussels have opened, remove the mussels from the pot using tongs and transfer to a bowl then cover with a lid or a plate.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Remove the pot from heat and whisk in the parsley, butter, and lemon juice. Return the mussels to the pot stir to combine, then transfer to a warm serving bowl or serve directly into warmed bowls, ladling broth and vegetables from the pot over mussels. Serve with toasted bread.
   
   

   

   Mussels with Fennel-Saffron Broth
   
   

Notes:

• Make sure you thoroughly rinse and de-beard the mussels immediately before cooking. De-bearding the mussels will kill the mussels eventually and mussels should be alive when you cook them, so avoid doing this too far in advance. See this article on Serious Eats for more information.
• When de-bearding mussels, use half a piece of paper towel to grab and grip the beard. This makes it much easier to grasp the beard compared to using your bare hands, and if you are purchasing paper towels that can be composted then you can toss them into the compost when done.
• Go light on the pepper flakes the first time (no more than 1/8 teaspoon) to avoid an overly spicy dish. The flavors in the dish pair nicely with a bit of heat, so increase the amount of red pepper flakes to match your tastes, but note that a little goes a long way.
• The original recipe calls for pastis or Pernod instead of dry white wine. We are not huge fans of the licorice/anise flavors so we opted for a dry white wine. Dry vermouth should also work well as a substitute.
• Slice the bread about 1" thick and then toast or broil so the outer surface is well toasted while the inside is warm and soft.

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Pad Gra Pao (Thai Stir-fried pork with basil)

Pad Gra Pao ready to eat!

Pad Gra Pao is a delicious Thai pork stir-fry featuring salty, sweet, and spicy notes that is a regular in our weeknight meal rotation. Erin introduced Mark to this dish a few years ago, having become a fan of it herself during her time in Thailand and Southeast Asia. When we visited Thailand a couple summers ago, I (Mark) had the chance to try the dish from a local vendor and was shocked by how similar the version we make at home was to the version we had in Thailand. The main difference between our version and what we enjoyed in Thailand is the spice level: we use fewer chili peppers.

The recipe we use originally comes from Leela at SheSimmers. The main difference in our version is that we typically use only regular soy sauce and use fewer Thai chili peppers. Regardless, it is still delicious. Every time we make this dish it turns out slightly different depending on the spiciness of the chile peppers, the amount of garlic or shallot we use, or the exact mixture of sauce ingredients. However, it never disappoints and this stir-fry is a staple in our weeknight diets.

Ingredients

The aromatics - garlic, shallot, Thai chile pepper, and Thai basil

The sauce - oyster, soy, and fish sauces

• 1 pound ground pork
• 5-7 garlic cloves
• 2-3 Thai chili peppers
• 1 large shallot
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp fish sauce
• 2-3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 cup Thai basil leaves, packed
• Thai Jasmine Rice for serving
• Fried egg for serving

Directions

Minced aromatics ready for sautéing

1. Finely chop or mince garlic, chili peppers, and shallot together. If you have a mortar and pestle, pound these ingredients together into a coarse paste.
   
   

   

   Sautéing the aromatics

   
   
   
2. Heat oil in a large pan over medium-high heat, then add garlic, chili peppers, and shallot mixture. Fry until fragrant.
   
   

   

   Stir-frying the pork with the aromatics

   
   
   
3. Add meat to pan and break it up into small pieces as it cooks.
4. When the meat is nearly cooked, add remaining ingredients (except basil), and stir well to incorporate.
   
   

   

   Adding Thai basil to the stir-fry

   
   
5. Once meat is cooked through, add basil leaves and stir a few times, then remove pan from heat and continue to stir basil in until it wilts from the residual heat.
6. Serve over Thai Jasmine rice and then top with Thai-style crispy fried egg.

Notes

• Feel free to substitute ground beef or chicken for the pork for a variation on the dish. I don't think we have ever tried, but tofu crumbles might also work for a vegetarian (protein-wise) variation.
• The soy sauce can entirely regular soy sauce or a combination of thin/light soy sauce and dark sweet soy sauce in 2:1 ratio.
• The Thai-style crispy fried egg can be replaced with a sunny-side-up or over-easy egg.

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Salsa Verde (Cooked Tomatillo Salsa with Cilantro and Jalapeno)

Salsa Verde

Salsa Verde is a classic Mexican salsa made from cooked green tomatillos. It is absolutely delicious on Carnitas or as a dipping salsa for tortilla chips (in addition to being great on many other Mexican dishes). This recipe comes courtesy of Deborah Schneider and her book Salsas and Moles, which has proven to be an indispensable guide for our Mexican and Mexican-inspired cooking.

Salsa Verde's main ingredient is the green tomatillo. Similar in a way to the tomato, in that it looks like a small to medium green tomato on the outside and has seeds inside, the tomatillo is quite different than a tomato. Tomatillos may also be purple-green in color, but as far as I know this is only a visual variation that has no impact on flavor. A tomatillo typically comes with a husk surrounding the fruit, which is removed before washing the fruit. You may notice a sticky residue on the tomatillo after removing the husk (this is normal), but it will disappear with a little running water. Tomatillos have a tart-sweet flavor that is complemented nicely by the onion, jalapeno, and cilantro in the recipe.

Tomatillos (with and without husks) - including a cool purple-green one!

Ingredients

• 10-12 medium tomatillos, husked and washed
• 1 clove of garlic
• ½ white onion, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 large jalapeno or serrano chile, stemmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 10 sprigs cilantro (tough stems removed, tender stems included)
• (optional) ½ of a lime

Directions

1. Place tomatillos, garlic, onion, jalapeno, and salt in a saucepan (2 ½ to 3 ½ quart). Add just enough water to barely cover the tomatillos then bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Boil until tomatillos are tender and the tip of a knife can be inserted, about 5 minutes. Do not overcook. You want tender, not mushy.
   
   

   

   Ingredients in the pot with water

   
   
   

   

   Cooked tomatillo mix ready for blending

   
   
   
3. Drain off the cooking water and transfer the contents of the saucepan to a blender. Add the cilantro leaves then pulse the mixture until smooth. Specks of cilantro and some tomatillo seeds will still be visible after pulsing.
4. Add a squeeze of lime (start with a little, and increase as desired, but don't add too much!) and taste to adjust seasoning. You want to primarily taste the tomatillo with a bit of added sweetness, heat, herb, and acid from the remaining ingredients.
5. Enjoy with chips or try it out on top of some freshly made carnitas!

Notes

• If using table salt, use ½ tsp, then add more at the end if needed.
• Add another clove of garlic if you are a garlic lover.
• Serrano peppers are typically spicier than jalapeno peppers. If you enjoy spicy salsas, use a serrano. If you like milder salsas, feel free to remove the seeds from the chile pepper before using.
• You can use a food processor or even an immersion blender instead of a regular blender. I have found that a blender makes the best salsa, though, so use one if you can.

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Enchiladas (chicken, shrimp, or vegetarian)

Enchiladas!

Enchiladas are an easy and delicious dinner that comes together quickly enough to enjoy on a weeknight. These particular enchiladas are filled with a mix of onion, pepper, corn, black beans, and an optional protein of your choice. The seasoning mix of cumin, marjoram, and chipotle powder provides notes of warm spice, herb, and smoked pepper to create a full-flavored filling that won't disappoint!

This recipe makes 6 enchiladas, but can easily be doubled to serve a larger group or to make extras for leftovers. Enchiladas make excellent leftovers for lunch or dinner. A typical serving is one enchilada, as these are fairly large, so a pan of 6 enchiladas is enough for three meals for the two of us.

Serves: 6

Time: about 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• ½ red bell pepper, diced (about ½ cup)
• ½ medium yellow onion (about ½ cup)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 x 15 ounce can black beans, drained
• 1 x 4 ounce green chilis
• ½ pound chicken or shrimp, cooked and cut into ¼"-½" pieces (about 1 cup total)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp marjoram
• ½ tsp chipotle powder
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro (leaves and thin stems)
• 1 x 16-19 ounce can green enchilada sauce
• 8 ounce bag shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 6 tortillas

Directions

Sauté pepper, onion, and garlic (we added some hatch chili pepper this time)

1. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté onions, bell pepper, and garlic for 3-5 minutes, until fragrant and vegetables are beginning to soften.
2. Add corn, drained beans, and green chili and sauté for another 2 minutes.
   
   

   

   Enchilada filling, removed from heat and ready to stir in cilantro.

   
   
3. Add chicken or shrimp, cumin, marjoram, and chipotle powder, then season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook for another minute or two until combined and warmed through. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
4. Grease a 9"x13" glass pan so enchiladas will not stick to pan.
   
   
   

   

   Filled, rolled, and topped enchiladas ready for the oven

   
   
5. Roll enchiladas: take a tortilla and spread a small sprinkle of cheese down the center then fill with one-sixth of the enchilada filling. Roll tortilla then place in greased pan seam side down. Repeat until pan is filled (a standard pan will fit six enchiladas perfectly).
6. Drizzle enchilada sauce over the enchiladas then top with remaining cheese (or as much as desired).
7. Bake enchiladas in a 350℉ oven for 20 minutes. Cheese should be fully melted and gooey. After baking, remove from oven and let sit to cool slightly before serving.
8. Serve with chopped cilantro, guacamole, sour cream, and hot sauce.

Notes

• We love garlic and typically use 4 or 5 cloves. This gives the dish a touch more garlic kick, but by no means makes it overpowering.
• Chili pepper and paprika can both be added to the dish if desired. Cayenne pepper could also be added to give the filling a bit more kick, but add sparingly at first!
• Try adding a little poblano or hatch chili pepper to the dish for an additional twist. We recommend keeping at least ¼ cup of regular bell pepper in the mix for its natural sweetness to balance the flavors of other chili peppers.

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Tokyo Style Ramen

Tokyo Style Ramen

At last, it is time for Tokyo Style Ramen!! This post is the culmination of a couple weeks of posts covering the essential components of at-home Tokyo Style Ramen, which we learned to make at a cooking class hosted by Chef Shinya Asami (Cozymeal, Facebook). At the end of the class we assembled and rapidly consumed a piping hot bowl of ramen. Today, we will pull together all of the recipes for the broth and toppings that we have shared and create our own delicious bowl of Tokyo Style Ramen at home.

The recipes we have provided so far can easily be scaled to make multiple servings (if they don't already). We usually make enough for 4 servings of ramen so that we can enjoy ramen for dinner at least one other night during the week after putting in the effort to make it. The best part about ramen (aside from being delicious) is that it can be customized for your personal taste preferences. After making this recipe once, we encourage you to experiment and find the combinations of toppings and flavors you like best!

Recipe from: Chef Shinya Asami (Cozymeal, Facebook)

Servings: 1

Recipes

• Tokyo Style Ramen Broth
• Ajitsuki Tamago - Seasoned Boiled Egg
• Nibuta - Pork Chashu
• Seasoned Steamed Cabbage
• Rayu - Japanese Chili Oil

Ingredients

• ~380 ml Tokyo Style Ramen Broth (a couple ladles of broth)
• 4 Tbsp Chashu Broth
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 bundle ramen noodles (Sun Ramen Noodles, frozen fresh noodles, (no. 22 or 28)
• 1 seasoned boiled egg, sliced in half with a very sharp knife or fishing line
• 2 slices pork Chashu
• ¼ cup seasoned steamed cabbage
• Menma (pickled bamboo shoots)
• Scallions, thinly sliced
• Rayu, to taste

Directions

1. Combine ramen broth, Chashu broth, and soy sauce in a serving bowl and stir to incorporate.
2. Cook ramen noodles according to instructions (approximately a few minutes in a large pot of boiling water)
3. Add ramen noodles to soup broth and top with pork Chashu, seasoned egg halves, cabbage, and a few strips of Menma. Garnish with thinly sliced scallions and Rayu, if desired.
4. Eat while piping hot!

Notes

• Our preferred soy sauce is Yamasa Less Sodium
• Toppings can be customized to fit your tastes! Try out the suggested ones then experiment with others that you enjoy.
• Some additional topping options are radish or pea sprouts/shoots, sweet corn, sautéed seasoned spinach, or Japanese fish cakes.

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Nibuta - Chashu - Pork Shoulder

Sliced pork chashu topping Tokyo-style ramen (with miso tare)!

Pork Chashu, or Nibuta, is a classic ramen topping of rolled pork shoulder braised in a savory-sweet, aromatic-infused sauce. The pork is then allowed to cool and sliced into rounds that are placed on top of the ramen broth and noodles. For many, pork chashu stands alongside the seasoned soft-boiled egg as the most iconic and beloved ramen topping.

This recipe for pork chashu relies on a pressure cooker to cut down on the required cooking time to create nearly fall apart tender pork. The pork is seasoned with soy sauce, sugar, sake, and mirin to provide a pleasing savory-salty-sweet flavor profile with just a hint of aromatics from some added ginger and green onion. Pork belly can be used in this recipe instead of pork shoulder, but beware that the result will be much fattier (delicious, perhaps?). We have found that a standard pork shoulder has plenty of fat and, unless you are in the mood for a very rich bowl of ramen, pork belly is often a little overwhelming in its richness and fattiness.

Recipe from: Chef Shinya Asami (Cozymeal, Facebook)

Time: 2-3 hours (22 minutes cooking at pressure)

Servings: 4-8

Ingredients - Step 1

• 1 pound pork shoulder (also called pork butt or Boston Butt)
• Water, to cover pork

Ingredients - Step 2

• Water, to cover meat, measured accurately
• 1 Tbps fresh ginger, sliced
• 2 to 4 green onions, cut into 2" pieces
• 8% brown sugar (by volume of water)
• 8% sake (by volume of water)
• 8% mirin (by volume of water)

Note on measurements: the amount of sake, brown sugar, and mirin are determined relative to the amount of water used to cover the pork. For example, if it takes 1000 ml of water to cover the pork, you will use 80ml of sake, mirin, and brown sugar.

More generally, if you have N ml of water (e.g., N = 1000), multiply that by 0.08 to get the volume of brown sugar, sake, and mirin to add. In our example, 1000 ml * 0.08 = 80 ml.

Ingredients - Step 3

• 10-16% soy sauce (by volume of water)

Note on measurements: compute the amount of soy sauce as was done for the sugar, mirin, and sake in the Step 2 ingredients, using the amount of water from Step 2 as 100% volume.

Directions

Pork shoulder tied-off and ready for searing

1. Tie pork with cotton twine, sear on all sides, then place in pressure cooker and cover with water. Cook under pressure for 2 minutes and let stand until pressure releases naturally.
   
   

   

   Chashu with aromatics and flavorings, ready for pressure cooking

   
   
   
2. Drain the water, rinse inside the pot and pork, then return pork to the pressure cooker. Add enough water to cover the pork while accurately measuring the volume of water used. This volume of water will be equal to 100%. Add ginger, green onion, sake, mirin, and sugar. Bring to pressure and cook for 12 minutes, turn off heat and let stand until pressure releases naturally and pressure valve is down.
   
   

   

   Chashu cooling after adding soy sauce

   
   
   
3. Turn the meat upside down, add the soy sauce, bring to a boil, cover with a lid (use a drop lid if you have one), and simmer for 8 minutes. Turn off heat and let stand to cool for at least 20 minutes. Slice into ¼" slices and serve immediately or store in refrigerator for up to one week. When storing, keep meat and broth together.

Notes

• If using an Instant Pot for the pressure cooking use the High pressure setting with no delay and turn off the keep warm setting. Let the pressure release at least partially after each step, but you can use the quick release after 20 minutes each time.
• Chashu cooking broth should be kept and will be used to assemble a Tokyo-style ramen bowl!
• We typically use 10-12% (by volume of water) of soy sauce in Step 3. The meat still has a savory-salty-meaty flavor of pork and soy sauce, accented with sweetness and aromatics from the remaining ingredients.
• Chef Shinya's original recipe calls for 1% salt in Step 3. We omit the added salt in because soy sauce (even the less-sodium Yamasa we use) has plenty of salt. Ramen broth is also usually well seasoned, and we have never felt like our completed bowl was lacking seasoning! If you feel chashu could use more salt, try adding a small amount in Step 3 next time.
• Substitute pork belly for the pork shoulder for a richer and fattier chashu. Remove the skin before rolling the pork belly and tying with string.
• Tying the pork tightly with string ensures that it stays in the log shape while cooking and retains the classic spiral cross-section after slicing.
• Letting the pork cool at least 20 minutes (we often let it cool at least 45 minutes) is important for creating perfect slices. Hot or warm chashu will tend to lose its shape when sliced, while cooled chashu retains the spiral. Use a very sharp knife to slice!

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