pacific, terrific.

I've owned two or three copies of this cookbook over the years, and today I decided that it just might have aged better than almost any other multiple-cuisine cookbook I own. 

Hear me out: I'm not comparing it against bibles like Marcella or Madhur Jaffrey; I'm saying that for a 1990s "Asian fusion" cookbook, most of the recipes are still pretty viable. Here are a couple. 

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mushroom risotto with snow peas, shiitakes, and cispy ginger. 

7 dried shitake mushrooms
½ cup cold sake
¼ cup light olive oil (do not use virgin or extra-virgin)
1 cup chopped onions
¼ cup chopped shallots
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons best-quality curry powder
1½ cups Arborio rice
6 cups mushroom stock

Peanut oil, for deep frying the ginger
2 heaping tablespoons julienned fresh ginger
4 ounces snow peas, trimmed

NOTE: this recipe originally called for 250g shrimp, am rewriting. 

1. Soak the dried shiitakes in the cold sake for 1 hour. Drain, reserving the soaking liquid. Remove and discard the stems and cut the caps into thin slices.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onions, shitakes, shallots, and minced ginger and cook, stir-ring, for 5 minutes. Add the curry powder and stir for 1 minute. Add the rice and cook, stirring, for another 3 minutes. Add the reserved mushroom-soaking liquid, then raise the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring continuously, until the liquid evaporates, about 4 minutes.

3. Slowly stir ½ cup of the simmering stock into the rice. Reduce the heat to low and keep at a simmer. Cook the rice, stirring frequently to keep it from sticking to the pan, until the stock is absorbed. Continue adding more stock, ½ cup at a time and stirring frequently until it is absorbed and there is 1 cup of stock remaining, 15 to 20 minutes.

4. While the risotto is cooking, prepare the fried ginger. Pour peanut oil to a depth of 1 inch into a small skillet and heat to 375° F.

Add the ginger and cook until crisp, about 2 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove to paper towels to drain.

5. Stir the shrimp into the risotto, and continue adding the remaining 1 cup stock, ¼ cup at a time, for 10 minutes. Stir in the snow peas and salt to taste. Cook until the shrimp is cooked through and the rice is creamy, but still slightly al dente, about 5 minutes more. Divide among 6 serving bowls and garnish with the fried ginger.

SERVES 6

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celiac notes.

It looks like we're going to be conducting our first gluten-free experiment in a while, here are some targets. 

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OTTOLENGHI
Baked mint rice with pomegranate and olive salsa. 
Ginger egg-fried rice. 

MEERA
Workers' curry. 

ANNA JONES
Corn risotto.
Brown butter new potatoes. 

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sloppy go.

This worked pretty well as something to put on a witte puntje so as not to slit ones wrists due to boredom. 

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sloppy go. 

1 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp gochujang
2 tsp vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sake
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp honey

200g plant-based ground meat, unflavored 

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i see red.

Since the royal we is having a sober summer, here's a NYT recipe that just crossed my path, this makes a lot. 

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phony negroni. 

1 medium navel orange
10 hibiscus tea bags, such as Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon whole cloves
½ cup sugar
2 (12-ounce) cans tonic
1 cup unsweetened grapefruit juice

Ice, for serving
Orange wedges, for serving

Use a vegetable peeler to peel the orange, avoiding as much white pith as possible. In a small saucepan, combine the orange peel with the tea bags, peppercorns, cloves and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil over high heat.

Add the sugar and cook, stirring, until dissolved, about 1 minute. Cover, remove from the heat and let cool completely, about 2 hours. Strain the tea and discard the solids. The cooled, brewed tea can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

To serve, in a large pitcher, stir together the tea, tonic water, grapefruit juice and about 1 cup ice. Divide among rocks glasses filled with ice and garnish with orange wedges.

Tip: To make one serving, fill a rocks glass with ice. Pour in 1 ounce of grapefruit juice, 2 ounces of the tea and 3 ounces of tonic water; stir to mix. Garnish with an orange wedge.

ginger risotto.

Recipe in progress. 

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risotto with daikon or sweet potato and miso butter.

3 tbsp sesame oil, separated, possibly less, or actually use this amount 

6 scallions, whites and greens separated
1 tbsp microplaned ginger, possibly twice this? version 1.0 did not taste remotely of ginger
1 cup shortgrain rice
3/4 cup sake or white wine
2 cups porcini or dashi stock (1 cube)

1 tbsp miso
2 tbsp butter

300g daikon or sweet potato, obviously two very different choices
250g chestnut mushrooms, halved or quartered

Heat oven to 200°C.

Toss daikon and mushrooms in 1 tbsp sesame oil. Roast daikon and mushrooms for 35 minutes, turning halfway through. 

In a medium ovenproof saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add onion and ginger and cook, stirring until translucent, 5 to 8 minutes. Add rice, and stir until grains are shiny and well coated with oil, about 2 minutes more. Add wine, and continue cooking and stirring until liquid is absorbed, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add stock, stir to combine. Cover saucepan; transfer to oven. Bake until almost all of the stock is absorbed, about 25 minutes. While it's baking combine miso and butter to make, you guessed it, miso butter. Take the rice out, check for doneness, it should still be barely inedible. Add roasted vegetables, return to oven. After 6-8 minutes, remove from oven, add miso butter. Serve immediately, topped with the scallion greens or your choice of garnish. Furikake? Togarashi-spiced Rice Krispies? Crispy onions is the easy answer. 

Serves 4, sometimes less.

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winter.

Made it 4 times so far, it's solid. 

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mushroom bourguignon.

6 tablespoons butter

450g mushrooms, quartered
250g shallots or sweet onions (one big onion is fine)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 carrots, cut into coins
1 parsnip, possibly 2 if you like them, cut into whatever shape you like
3 garlic cloves (2 minced, 1 grated to a paste)
1 tablespoon tomato paste

2½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
1½ cups dry red wine
1½ cups beef, mushroom or vegetable broth
2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce, plus more to taste
3 large fresh thyme branches or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 rosemary sprig
2 bay leaves

optional
Smoked paprika, for serving
Polenta, egg noodles or mashed potatoes, for serving
Finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, for serving

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Add 2 tablespoons butter or oil to a large Dutch oven or pot and set it over medium heat. When hot, stir in half the mushrooms and half the shallots/onions and throw in the rosemary sprig. (If it doesn’t all fit in the pot in one layer, you might have to do this in three batches, rather than two.) Without moving them around too much, cook the mushrooms until they are brown on one side, about 3 minutes. Stir and let them brown on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes more. Use a slotted spoon to transfer mushrooms and onions to a large bowl or plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Repeat with another 2 tablespoons butter and the remaining mushrooms and onions, seasoning them with salt and pepper as you go. Finish by removing the last batch of mushrooms and onions from the pan.

Reduce heat to medium-low. Add another 1 tablespoon butter or oil to pan. Add carrot and parsnip and sauté until lightly golden and everything starts to soften, 5 minutes. Add the 2 minced garlic cloves and sauté for 1 minute longer. Stir in tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Stir in flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then add wine, broth, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, thyme and bay leaf, scraping up the brown bits at bottom of pot.

Add reserved cooked mushrooms and onions back to the pot and bring to a simmer. Partly cover the pot and simmer on low heat until carrots and onions are tender and sauce is thick, 30 to 40 minutes. Taste and add more salt and soy sauce if needed. Stir in the grated garlic clove and saute for 2 minutes. Serve over polenta, noodles or mashed potatoes, topped with minced parsley and a tiny pinch of smoked paprika if you feel like it. 

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how many times do you live.

The most adult mac and cheese possible. 

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sage and blue cheese mac + cheese with hazelnuts and red grapes.

INGREDIENTS
2 handfuls seedless red grapes

olive oil 
flaky salt

8 sage leaves
2 tbsp salted butter

50g mascarpone or cream cheese
75g blue cheese
(these cheese amounts are approximate, you want a sauce that mostly tastes like salty blue cheese but is also creamy like mac and cheese)

zest and juice of one lemon
2 tbsp hazelnuts, skinned and coarsely crushed 

1 Belgian endive, coarsely chopped
1 small handful arugula

200g dried lumache rigate (medium-sided ribbed macaroni)

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METHOD
Roast grapes for 20 minutes at 220, turning halfway through and checking often to make sure nothing's burning. Sauté sage leaves in butter on low heat for 10 minutes, careful not to burn the butter. Nutty brown butter is OK. 

Melt cheeses in a small saucepan. Add lemon zest and juice and hazelnuts to melted cheeses, salt to taste. If sauce is a little thick you can add some pasta water during the next step. Cook pasta.  

Toss the pasta in the cheese/nut/lemon sauce, add sage butter, ladle into plates and garnish with grapes, arugula and endive. Sprinkle with flaky salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

Serves 2.

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