Viet World Kitchen

Masala-Stuffed Indian Eggplant Recipe

Hot weather signals eggplant season. Farmer’s markets and Asian grocery stores explode with various kinds and colors. All of a sudden, the typical purple globe eggplant seems dull, especially when compared to charming little Indian eggplants. In California, many of the Asian eggplants are grown by Southeast Asian farmers in the Central Valley. When you see Indian eggplants – which look like jumbo purple eggs – get some. Dive in to purchase your share of the meaty wonders.

Sure, you can grill them up as cutie mini-eggplants but stretch a little further and make this Indian preparation, one of my favorite summertime dishes. Adapted from Ruta Kahate's 5 Spices, 50 Dishes (Chronicle Books, 2007), this recipe is one of my go-to eggplant recipes. I originally posted it at Bittman.com a couple years ago and dust off the recipe yearly. In other words, it's a keeper.

Fried Tofu and Egg Pancake Recipe (Tahu Telur)

There are a number of recipes that didn’t make it into the Asian Tofu cookbook. Why? We just did not have enough space. This remarkably easy and versatile Indonesian treat is among the recipes that I set aside to post online. If you have the book already, add this to your Asia tofu recipe collection. If you don’t, this is a recipe that highlights how tofu can be transformed as well as transformative.

Tahu telur (tahu means tofu and telur means eggs) is like egg foo yung with pieces of fried tofu. In its elemental state, a block tofu is subtle in flavor, a canvas for receiving other ingredients. However, if you fry tofu, it gets a little crunchy and nutty tasting, almost like crisp chicken skin.

For these pancakes, small flattish pieces of tofu (I use Trader Joe's firm) get fried and then mixed with egg. The tofu absorbs some of the egg while lending its fattiness to reinforce that of the egg, as if it's an egg extender. 

Then the mixture is dropped into hot oil. The amoeba-like pancakes develop crisp surfaces and edges. The delicately rich and eggy result gets crowned with crunchy vegetables and savory-sweet-spicy sauce, typically peanut sauce or chile-spiked sweet soy sauce; both sauces are in the photo above. The combination of texture and flavors is amazing.

Leftover Bonanza: Beef with Miso, Mustard, and Wine Sauce

 

This is what we just had for dinner. It’s not a great photo but tells the story of how last Sunday’s tri-tip and potatoes got turned into something “new.” My husband and I don’t eat a ton of meat so what we cook actually gets used up in many other meals during the course of a week.

Tonight it was a matter of eating up the roast, which we’d simply rubbed with lots of kosher salt, pepper, and dried summer savory, seared it stove top and popped it in the oven at 425 for 15 minutes per pound for medium or medium-rare (aim for 125-135F and rest for 10 minutes). You can also rub soy sauce or fish sauce on the roast along with pepper and garlic to marvelous effect. As we were getting things ready for dinner, Rory said, “I wish there was some gravy.”

That’s how this little impromptu sauce started. I remembered a conversation I’d had with chef Douglas Keane of Cyrus in Healdsburg about the virtues of combining miso and mustard – something he’d picked up from a renowned chef in Kyoto. Years ago, I made a simple red wine sauce with lots of shallot and whole grain mustard from a Martha Stewart recipe. There was a tub of dashi stock in the fridge to serve as my stealth umami infusion. With all of that in mind, I made a quick savory-sweet-tart sauce for the beef. As with past posts on repurposing leftovers, this one is also about how I cook on the fly.

Curry Popcorn Recipe

I love little salty, spicy nibbles to go along with cocktails, wine, and conversation. Unfortunately, if I eat too many of them, I notice it eventually around my middle. Last weekend, we had our friends Sue and Jerry over for dinner. Youthful people in their early 60s and 70s, respectively, they are athletic, naturalists who enjoy a balanced lifestyle of food, drink, and exercise. Whenever we host them, I serve light as well as hearty fare. Hey, you only have so many calories to spend each day.

Sue and Jerry love popcorn and this one is a favorite of mine to make for them. It’s easy, fast and flavor packed. Despite my use of oil, it’s low-guilt food too. You can munch as much as you want along with your drinks.

Spiced Siamese Peanuts Recipe

I love the sweet-salty-and-slightly briny peanuts served at Hawker Fare in Oakland, California. Whenever I go to James Syhabout’s casual rice bowl-and-snacks cafe, I start off with an order of the peanuts (called “Siamese Peanuts” on the menu) to nibble on. A squirt of lime juice brightens up the funk of the shrimp paste that lends the roasted peanuts their umami depth. It also brings out the chile and fennel undertones.

The other dishes usually arrive before I finish the peanuts so I end up mixing some into my rice. These peanuts are at home as a nosh with beer or as a side dish. You could certainly make a light meal out of the peanuts, rice, and a green vegetable. 

Yesterday, I was jonesing a cocktail hour snack and thought of Hawker Fare’s Siamese peanuts. Not living near the restaurant, I took matters into my own hands and made my own, coming up with this recipe after a couple of tries.