Playing with My Food - Cling Wrap Poached Egg

Our cat has a strict routine.  Every morning @ approximately 5:56am Sheldon would reach his claws under the blankets & "play tag" with my toes.  After being threatened to get kicked off (literally) the bed a couple of times,  Sheldon would proceed up to my pillow where he'd settle down comfortably next to my head & begin to munch on my scalp/hair.  On a work day my alarm goes off @ 6:00am so it's not usually such a big deal; but on the weekends when I don't have an alarm, it's really annoying.  So what does Sheldon's morning ritual have to do with what I'm writing about?  I'm getting to it.

This past Saturday morning Sheldon gave me the usual morning call & after giving him breakfast, I was desperately trying to fall back asleep.  You see, it was GRE day & for me, standardized testing and sleep deprivation just don't mix.  One tried & true way to get me to quickly fall asleep is to have me watch a show - any show - while in a comfy position (e.g. in bed).  So I picked up my phone, opened up Netflix, & began browsing for something to watch.  As I scrolled, I stumbled upon a PBS show called The Mind of a Chef featuring chef David Chang of the Momofuku empire. Did I mention the show is produced by Anthony Bourdain?  Anyway, the plan was to watch this show for 10-20 minutes, fall asleep, & go on with my day.  I finished the first episode (~20 minutes); then I watched the second episode; then I woke Russell up & we watched the 3rd episode; then we got out of bed & watched more episodes until it was time for me to leave to take the GRE. To say I was hooked on the show is a little bit of an understatement.

The GRE went well enough & the rest of Saturday passed with Russell & I stuffing our faces with oysters before heading home to watch more episodes of Mind of a Chef.  This pattern of "obsessive viewing" continued for parts of Sunday when all of a sudden Russell decided he was going to try out one of the cooking techniques featured in the show; the one where David Chang poaches eggs in little packets made of cling wrap.

The process is simple...
     Put a good-sized piece of cling wrap over a small bowl or ramekin
     Spray the cling wrap with a little bit of non-stick spray & sprinkle on some salt & pepper
     Crack the egg into the cling wrap & bring up the sides, making sure to remove all the free air
     Take a piece of string or a strip of cling wrap& tie off the packet.
     Place the packet into barely boiling water & let it cook for 4 minutes
     Careful unwrap the packet & remove the cling wrap from the egg

When we unveiled the egg it looked a lot like a ball of fresh mozzarella cheese but once we cut into it, the gooey yolk started to run out just like a regular poached egg.  According to other recipes for cling wrap poached egg, you can use any kind of oil & seasoning to flavor the egg before it is cooked.  This technique for poaching eggs is so quick & simple compared to the traditional methods of making a vortex or adding vinegar to the water.  Before I knew about this technique, my eggs would either get stuck at the bottom of the pot or half of the egg white would float off in little chunks.

Later on in the show chef Wylie Dufresne (wd~50) demonstrates his interpretation of Eggs Benedict & he remarks that Eggs Benedict is a dish made with eggs topped with more eggs (Hollandaise sauce is made with egg yolks).  This was a total lightbulb moment for me!  It's so obvious I can't believe I had never seen it like that before.  I repeated this statement to Russell & he said the idea of egg-on-egg is too "gratuitous." To simply matters, we came up with a brilliant idea: to replace the egg yolk with Hollandaise sauce.  Now we just have to experiment until we can get it done.

"Tortoise Tower" Chicken Pho

As you might have read in one of my previous posts, Russell turned (29+1) earlier this month & I wanted to make his birthday extra special by cooking him some delicious food.  Even though I am more Chinese - genetically & culturally - than he is, I had never heard of the Chinese tradition of eating chicken on one's birthday before I met the guy.  He told me that in the Taishan (Toi-San, 台山) dialect, the word for "chicken" sounds very similar to the word for "luck" so a person should eat chicken on his/her birthday in order to ensure good luck in the year to come.

I was originally planning on making surf-&-turf, but chicken is good...until...

Me: "So what kind of chicken do you want me to make?  Fried?  Chicken wings?"
Him: "How about chicken pho?"
Me: "You want to go to out for your birthday?"
Him: "No.  I want you to make it...from scratch."

Seriously?!?

I didn't hit the panic button just quite yet.  His mom had gotten me a cookbook for Christmas that was all about Vietnamese home cooking.  Lo & behold there is a recipe for chicken pho in there.  Phew.  But still, can I tackle making pho?

Watch out for the "trick ingredient"...
     1 chicken, about 3 pounds
     6 whole scallions
     1 2-inch piece of ginger, crushed
     1 tablespoon salt
     0.5 package thick vermicelli noodles
     6 cups homemade chicken stock*
     2 tablespoons fish sauce
     1 scallion, chopped
     0.25 cup cilantro, chopped

And it takes longer than one'd think...
     In a large pot, bring some water (~6 cups) to boil
     Add in the chicken, scallion, ginger, & salt.  Bring back to a boil for 20 minutes
     Remove the chicken & place it in an ice bath for 20 minutes
     Remove the chicken from the ice bath, pat it dry, remove the skin, & shred up the meat
     Cook the vermicelli noodles according to the package instructions
     Boil the chicken stock, seasoning with fish sauce to taste
     In a bowl, place the vermicelli noodles, the chicken meat, & then pour over with the hot broth
     Garnish with chopped scallion & cilantro

Makes 2 servings

What seemed complicated @ first turned out to be more time consuming than anything else.  The end result was not too shabby.  The noodles could have been cooked a little longer & the broth could have used a bit more salt, but that was about it.  The "trick ingredient" I mentioned above is the homemade chicken stock.  I actually went ahead & made one a day ahead & it took about 5.5 hours start to finish.  I think it's nice to have a homemade stock but it is by no means necessary in my opinion.  Actually, store-bought stocks are much more flavorful than the one I made.

So why am I calling my chicken pho "Tortoise Tower" chicken pho?  For those of you who live in or around San Francisco, you might know of a Vietnamese restaurant called Turtle Tower that is quite famous for its chicken pho.  As a matter of fact, it is the only place I get chicken pho.  Since I was trying to riff off Turtle Tower, I thought I should give my dish a cleaver name that involved a similar reptile.  If you want, you can read more about the real Turtle Tower chicken pho here.



* To make the chicken stock, roast 0.5 yellow onion & 1 3-inch piece of ginger at 350F for 1 hour.  Blanch 3 pounds of chicken scraps (i.e. neck, wings) in boiling water for 3 minutes & rinse.  Cut the roasted onion in half & the roasted ginger into coins.  In a large pot, bring to boil 8 quarts of water along with the chicken, onion, ginger, 0.75 tablespoon salt, & 0.75 tablespoon palm sugar.  Reduce heat to a simmer & let it go for 4 hours.  Remove any large solids & strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer.  Refrigerate or freeze in air tight containers.

Special Occasion Pai Bao (排包) French Toast

The Boyfriend turned 30...I mean 29...again...this year.  Since I work from home now & have the time, I thought I would make him a nice breakfast to enjoy as he opened his presents.  I didn't come up with the idea until the night before his birthday so naturally, I didn't have many options in terms of ingredients to choose from.  Luckily, my parents had stopped by a few days earlier for my birthday & they brought me some Pai Bao (排包).  After a quick rummage around my brain & the fridge...French toast it is!

What is Pai Bao?  It is a sweet bread with lots of eggs & butter that is really common in bakeries across Hong Kong.  Think of it as Hong Kong-style Brioche.  As far as I know, Pai Bao gets its name from its row-like formation and in Cantonese, the noun form of the word 排 is "to be in a row".

I had the idea & I had - I think - the ingredients; but how are French toasts made exactly?  I did a bit of Googling &  Mr. Alton Brown popped up with a 5-star recipe (from 500+ reviews).  As a long time fan of Good Eats, this is the recipe for me.

I had almost everything in the list...
     0.5 cup half-and-half
     1 egg + 1 yolk
     1 tablespoon agave nectar
     1/8 teaspoon salt
     4 slices of Pai Bao, about 0.5 inch thick
     2 tablespoons butter

Who knew you'd need an oven to make French toast...
     In a medium bowl, whisk together the half-and-half, eggs, agave, & salt
     Soak the bread in the custard for about 30 seconds per side, set aside on a wire rack over a sheet tray
     Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a sauté pan over medium-low heat
     Place 2 slices of bread into the pan & cook them until golden brown; about 2 minutes per side
     Place the bread on the wire rack & place into a 375F oven for 5 minutes
     Repeat the previous 2 steps with the other 2 slices of bread.
     Serve the toasts hot with maple syrup, fruits, whipped cream, and/or powdered sugar

Make 2 servings

I thought about waiting until all 4 slices of bread were browned in the pan before sending them into the oven but then I thought better: the butter is going to soak into the bread as it sits there for the next 6 minutes and get gross.  Seriously, do it in batches.  I learned the hard way that when melting and cooking in butter, the key it to go low & slow.  I had the heat up to medium-high & the bread turned out so charred I had to throw a whole chunk of it away.  The French toasts in the picture turned out much better because I melted the butter slowly & removed the pan from heat when it bubbled too much.  I didn't have any half-and-half around so I substituted with 0.5 tablespoon butter & half a cup of milk.  The original recipe calls for day-old or stale bread.  I am not sure what the value is in that; maybe it will soak up more of the custard?  I thought the Pai Bao was a bit too soft but it might have to do with the fact that they are almost an inch thick.  The next time I make this - which won't be very soon because I don't know where to go to get really good Pai Bao - I am going to make a pocket, put some peanut butter & grape jelly inside, & make it a PB&J French toast sandwich.

Weekend Dinner - Tuna Casserole

I wasn't exposed to my first casserole dish until I moved to the United States @ age 12; I think it was a green bean casserole that time.  I didn't understand why people would want to throw a bunch of stuff into a glass plate & then stick it into the oven for an hour.  Dude, it's beans!  They cook in like 10 minutes!  And why the heck would you cook beans with cream soup?!?  The concept of a casserole befuddled me & I wasn't exposed to it again until a couple of years ago the Boyfriend made me tuna casserole.  While still confused about the whole deal, I was hooked.

We don't make this dish very often since he doesn't really like canned tuna, but we do it sometimes when we want something that we can make a big batch of in very little time & not have to stand over it as it is cooking (maybe that's the motivation behind a casserole?).

The ingredients are simple...

     3 cups medium shell pasta

     10 ounces canned tuna in water, drain & flake

     1 can Cream of Mushroom soup

     3/4 cup water

     11/2 cup frozen vegetables

     Salt & pepper to taste

The steps are even simpler...

     Cook the shell pasta according to the instructions on the package

     In a baking dish, combine tuna, Cream of Mushroom soup, water, salt & pepper

     Once the pasta is cooked, drain it & add it to the baking dish

     Add in the frozen vegetables & mix everything together

     Bake at 350F for 1 hour, uncovered

And there it is.  A great way to add some texture to this otherwise soft dish is to crunch up some potato chips & add it on top; I particularly like using barbecue flavored chips. The top of the pasta gets a little dry from the oven which makes me think I should cover the dish for most of the hour.  But would that make the dish more soupy?  Or maybe I should use more water? 

Quick & Easy - Lemon Ginger Soda

Friends of ours are moving away for school & we are going to take care of their Sodastream machine in the mean time.  Before we could make the drink that we intend to though (stay tuned to see what that is!), we need to get to know the machine & form a bond with it.  While there are plenty of delicious soda ready-made syrups out there, the Boyfriend decided he was going to make his very own from scratch.

To make the simple syrup, gather together...
     1 cup ginger, finely chopped
     1 cup water
     1/2 cup agave nectar (or honey)

And in a small pot...
     Bring water, ginger, & agave to a boil while stirring constantly
     Reduce heat to a simmer & let that continue for 15 minutes
     Turn off the heat & let the syrup steep for 3 minutes
     Strain the syrup through a sieve into a container

To make the actual soda.....
     Carbonate cold plain water according to the Sodastream
     Slowly pour in the juice of 2 lemons & 3/4 cup of the ginger syrup
     Close the bottle tightly (not too tightly) & gently roll the bottle on a flat surface

Pour into a glass & enjoy!  The spiciness of the ginger comes through without being too overpowering & it was not too sweet like store bought sodas can be.  And a huge bonus?  Everything was natural without artificial additions or chemicals!

7x7 Big Eats 2012 - The Leader Board

As you have all seen, all 10 of you anyway, we are well on our way to devouring this year's 7x7 Big Eats List.  It is to our understanding that 7x7 Magazine does not rank the eateries & their foods, but where is the fun in that?  So to make things more interesting, the Boy has decided to start his own leader board of the things that we have tasted.  We will be posting this leader board every 10 places we try.  Here goes!

1. Tartine Bakery
2. Izakaya Sozai
3. Hog Island Oyster Co.
4. Bi-Rite Creamery
5. Delfina
6. Nopalito
7. Turtle Tower
8. Humphry Slocombe
9. Scream Sorbet
10. San Tung
11. Anthony's Cookies
12. Il Cane Rosso
13. Papalote
14. Namu
15. House of Prime Rib
16. Outerlands
17. Muracci's Japanese Curry and Grill
18. The Slanted Door
19. Curry Up Now's truck
20. Miette
21. Chairman Bao Bun's truck (now named The Chairman)

Disclaimer: Please note that these rankings are made based solely on the authors' palettes & does not reflect the taste of other individuals or the eateries' chefs/owners; or the opinion of 7x7 Magazine.

Getting Canned...Again

Earlier this year, I wrote a post on the Boy's behalf about his taste test of canned coffees.  After trying 3 different brands, he had to stop his experiment because (1) they were all really gross tasting & (2) the high amount of sugar within each of these drinks could seriously cause Diabetes.

On a recent trip to the East Village, we discovered a cozy little Asian market where the Boy's eyes once again fell upon a can of coffee.  I don't know if he's just stubborn of if he just didn't learn his lesson the last time, but here we go again...

Specimen #4: UCC Hawaii Kona Blend with Milk
     At the price of $1.49 & 15.6g of sugar per 8oz, this specimen was...that's right...too sweet! But @ least it was tolerable enough that he drank the whole can.  Unfortunately, like all 3 of the original specimens, the texture of the drink was no match to one that is freshly brewed.

Although this attempt was the best of all the attempts, the verdict still stands that coffee in a can is a no-can-do.

Getting Canned

Coffee is an essential part of many people's daily routine.  But let's be honest - how many people actually have the time or the energy to fire up their espresso machines, their French presses, or even just their regular-ol' drip machines every single time they want an extra jolt of energy??

Surfacing in 1969 in Japan, canned coffee has become a popular & convenient alternative for the multiple-times-a-day coffee drinker; & sometimes even for the non-regular coffee drinkers.  Its existence has spanned worldwide & has even been made into energy drinks.  But do canned coffees really deliver on the same levels as real coffee?  Being ever so curious & adventurous, the Boy decided to pick up 3 different types of canned (or bottled) coffee & did a taste test.  Here are the results according to him...


Specimen #1: UCC Original Coffee with Milk
     The first to introduce canned coffee to the world, the UCC Original Coffee with Milk smelled bland.  The taste was overly sweet to the point where it tasted artificial & more like condensed milk than anything.  The Boy actually said that the after taste of the coffee made him thirsty...but not for more.  A can costs about $1.28 and it contains 17.7g sugar per 8oz.

Specimen #2: Sangaria Milk Coffee
     Priced @ $2.13 a bottle, this coffee was really, really, really sweet.  It's so sweet that it can be classified as milk with a little bit of coffee flavoring.  After only 1 sip, the Boy called it quits.  Even though this was much sweeter than the UCC, it only has 16g super per 8oz.

Specimen #3: Pokka Milk Coffee, Real Brewed
     Credited as the company that put the canned coffee industry on the maps, this can of coffee was also really, really artificially sweet.  While it does have more coffee taste than the Sangaria, its after taste was cloying on the tongue.  This was the cheapest of all 3 brands - only $0.93 - but it had the highest sugar content of 17.8g per 8oz.


While the wanted to try as many brands of canned coffee as he could get his hands on, the Boy decided to discontinue his experiment in order to prevent premature Diabetes.  So the final verdict is UCC > Pokka > Sangaria; but none of the specimens could truly be considered as coffee.  While almost all Japanese drinks companies & many European/US companies (i.e. Starbucks, Illy) offer canned versions of our favorites coffee beverages, nothing can really compare to the real deal.  So next time, when you're looking for a quick caffeine fix - or when you just need that taste of coffee in your mouth - but you absolutely don't want to break out the big guns, can the canned stuff & go for something like a Starbucks Via or just shell out a couple of dollar and go to a cafe.