Chinese Hot and Sour Soup

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• 5 ounces trader joe’s red argentine shrimp, deveined, butterflied.
• one package of trader joe’s dried mushroom medley.
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 12 dried lily buds* (sometimes called golden needles)
• 1/2 cup canned sliced bamboo shoots*, cut lengthwise into 1/8-inch-wide strips (from an 8-oz can)
• 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (not seasoned)
• 2 tablespoons balsalmic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce*
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 4 cups chicken broth
• a block of firm tofu, rinsed and drained, then cut into 1/4-inch-thick strips
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground white pepper
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallion greens
• 2 tablespoons fresh whole cilantro leaves

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Soak mushrooms in 3 cups boiling-hot water in another bowl (water should cover mushrooms),until softened, about 30 minutes. Cut out and discard stems from mushrooms, then squeeze excess liquid from caps into bowl and thinly slice caps. Remove mushrooms from bowl, reserving liquid, and trim off any hard nubs. . Stir together 3/4 cup mushroom-soaking liquid (discard remainder) with cornstarch in a small bowl and set aside.

Meanwhile, soak lily buds in about 1 cup warm water until softened, about 20 minutes, then drain. Trim off tough tips of lily buds. Cut lily buds in half crosswise, then tear each half lengthwise into 2 or 3 shreds.

Cover bamboo shoots with cold water by 2 inches in a small saucepan, then bring just to a boil (to remove bitterness) and drain in a sieve.

Stir together vinegars, light soy sauce, sugar, and salt in another small bowl.

Heat a wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Pour peanut oil down side of wok, then swirl oil, tilting wok to coat sides. Add shrimp and stir-fry about 1 minute, then add mushrooms, tree ears, lily buds, and bamboo shoots and stir-fry 1 minute.

Add broth and bring to a boil, then add tofu. Return to a boil and add vinegar mixture. Stir cornstarch mixture, then add to broth and return to a boil, stirring. (Liquid will thicken.) Reduce heat to moderate and simmer 1 minute.

Beat eggs with a fork and add a few drops of sesame oil. Add eggs to soup in a thin stream, stirring slowly in one direction with a spoon. Stir in white pepper, then drizzle in remaining sesame oil and divide among 6 to 8 bowls. Sprinkle with scallions and cilantro before serving.

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Holy crap for crap!

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This was seriously, seriously good. The perfect soup base, with the ground white pepper providing all of the warmth. Not really heat, just warmth. I never thought I could cook a meal without onions, ginger, or garlic, but this has none of them and is still amazingly savory and delicious.

One of the very best soups I’ve ever eaten.

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I think I’m going to go get another bowl of it right now.

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Also, seriously easy to do vegan, just skip the shrimp.

Or go the other way, and use pork or chicken or both.

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Next time I catch cold I am making one hundred gallons of this and I’m dropping in a tablespoon of sambal olek into every bowl I eat.

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Go make this, right fucking now.

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Namaste.

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Cooking with Ezra

So, Ezra is one of my bigtime influences in cooking. Besides making the most delicious meals, he also makes the best movies about cooking. And the best custom bicycles. And takes the best photos of his dog and his wife and the world around him.

If you watch these short films and then make what he makes and then eat it you will be happier than you were before, I guarantee it.

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And, you know,

Namaste.

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Food

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So, this weekend was, for me, all about cooking and eating. When we were not taking Yolie’s mom to the hospital to be checked out for a possible heart-attack, or buying diapers for the grandbaby, or going to office Christmas parties, I was in the kitchen, cooking.

Moqueca de Peixe is a Brazilian fish stew that starts with sweated onions, garlic, and bell peppers, adds some chicken broth and coconut milk, and a bunch of shrimp, tilapia, and cod, along with serranos and cilantro. Mushrooms. tomatoes.

I served it over bowls of orzo, with crusty bread, butter, and a big bottle of red wine.

It were good enough.

After that, though, we had to pack up my mother in law and take her to the hospital. Indigestion disguised as a myocardial infarction.

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Today, while Yolie tended to her mother at the hospital, I stayed home and made my interpretation of David Chang’s Momofuku pork buns.

Instead of roasted pork-belly, which is hard to come by here, I made a Chinese-style pulled pork in the slow cooker. I made his steamed buns from scratch and served them with some ginger-garlic roasted green beans. Quick-pickled cucumbers, ginger-scallion sauce, and sriracha.

Fuck me running.

Even the wild woman of Borneo ate her fill, and gave me a big thumbs up. For a human who mostly survives on goldfish crackers, it was a ringing endorsement.

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It could be I enjoy spending the day in the kitchen even more than hitting people.

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We have not a single Christmas decoration up yet, and aim to keep it that way.

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That grandchild undoes us all.

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Namaste.

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