Won Bok Seafood Soup

2012-02-05T23:11:27Z

As a tribute to Ashley's post about her creation of cabbage soup, I decided to take a stab at the dish. I've still had a quarter of a head of won bok, so I chopped that up with half an onion, and two cloves of garlic. I started the onion and garlic in a bit of oil and then I had the brilliant idea of throwing in a packet of bay scallops that I had sitting in the freezer. In the freezer, I also came across my shrimp. I grabbed both and dumped them in the pot--not thawing them. I let the ice and liquid help steam the two. I added some water and dried shiitake mushrooms. I let the the liquid come to a boil and then added my chopped won bok. Some time in the process I also added a bit of shoyu and white pepper. I simmered it till the cabbage was soft. It smelt a little too fishy for my taste at that point, so I tossed in more white pepper and some oyster sauce. I then cracked an egg in it to the broth to make it a bit like egg drop soup. I turned down the heat and threw in some fresh green onions.

A fast, simple and comforting dish to make. :D

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Food Experiment 01 (for the sake of recording I shall start of with 01 in this journal)

2012-01-31T21:43:30Z

Even if my ex-sorority is eating my friend inside-out and I didn't get the CTBUH internship, I still have the joy of mustard lemon black pepper caper creme chicken with mac and cheese. In some ways I suppose it is a good thing I have such a long commute; it stops me from squandering all my time on cooking and eating.

Just last night, on a whim I decided to try to recreate Buca di Beppo's amazing lemon creme chicken. I had lemon, capers, milk, and chicken. ...but then I spied the mustard, and the whole dish changed. I remembered a green peppercorn creme porkchop dish a Hawaii Aunty made me all the time. I decided to incorporate the two dishes together.

I minced two cloves of garlic and threw them into a pan with a generous amount of butter. I let the butter sit and melt whilst I prepared the chicken. I had two boneless chicken thighs which I defattened and cut into strips. I seasoned them generously in black pepper and a little bit of salt (because capers are salty). Then I doused them in mustard with a bit of lemon and mixed them thoroughly. I sprinkled them with oregano and rosemary and a bit more black pepper because pepper and mustard go together uncommonly well.

I upped the pan's heat till the butter was bubbling and started laying the chicken strips in. I really only browned them. I had to cook in batches because of a small pan. When all the chicken was nicely seared, I poured in milk to deglaze. I threw all the chicken pieces in, some capers, and an itty bitty bit more lemon juice. Be careful how much lemon you put in because unless you do it right, the lemon and milk will interact to make a curd, which is not what you're going for. I threw in a few whole black peppercorns and let the whole thing simmer till the sauce became thick.

Towards the end of the simmering period, I became inspired by my dried shiitake mushrooms, so I threw a handful in with a tiny bit more milk to keep them submerged. I kept simmering till the mushrooms were soft and the flavor became integrated in the sauce.

The verdict of this experiment? Delicious! I'd say it's a success, something that I'd definitely repeat again. My only problem was that I made this to eat for lunch during the week and ended up eating a third of it right after I made it--"tasting" it. I suppose I shall have to make it again.

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"Bei mir bist du schoen

Won Bok Seafood Soup

Food Experiment 01 (for the sake of recording I shall start of with 01 in this journal)