vegetables

Shanti Christensen's Book Giveaway and Umami Kale (updated)

April 6, 2017 By Eleanor Hoh 16 Comments

Book Giveaway details below, ends tonight Sunday, April 16: 12am ET, good luck!

If you crave real home cooked Chinese food, you can win Shanti Christensen’s book, “Family Style Chinese Cookbook: Authentic Recipes from My Culinary Journey Through China!” (see details below!) It’s a MUST. Shanti’s quest to learn authentic Chinese cooking led her into 40 families’ homes over a 3 year period and culminated in this treasure trove of family recipes. Her superb story telling makes us feel like an extended family, privy to secrets that have been passed down for generations.

You’ll learn about Chinese traditions, the importance of family and with meager ingredients, you can cook up feasts. Lamb Fried Rice Xinjiang Style (p.161) and Braised Pork Ribs in Aromatic Sauce (p.111), umm, not bad bedtime reading or to dream about.

Simple, no frills recipes. They won’t intimidate you or make you keel over with impossible-to-find ingredients like many Chinese cookbooks. My favorite part of the book? Reading Shanti’s endearing stories about the families gave me a sense of what life was like in China. I was born in China and left when only 9 months old.

You can experience more of Shanti’s China trip here.

And if you’re lucky enough to live in San Francisco,
she produces outrageous popup dinners serving dishes from all over Asia.

To celebrate this book giveaway, I chose Shanti’s Stewed Kale (p.156) because the day I wanted to experiment from her book, that’s all I had in the fridge. And I loved that because it reflects my whole philosophy of using what you have and make the best and tastiest dish you can!

Creating a sauce to put over veggies is a very efficient way of adding flavor
to a big batch of veggies and gives them a different texture and flavor.

As always, I couldn’t help being a Wok Star and put my personal spin on it…

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. kale (ready washed and torn into pieces)
Grape seed oil
Sesame oil

Sauce:
1 tsp Koon Chun brown bean sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp i.e. few dashes of sherry
1 tbsp i.e. few dashes of tamari
1/4 cup chicken broth

METHOD…

Combine all sauce ingredients in bowl
Heat cast iron wok till hot, add sauce and fry till fragrant
Immediately add kale and cover with sauce. Add broth, tamari and sherry.
Cook till kale is wilted, taste for doneness, if not enough sauce, add a little more broth and cook till tender.

This kale goes well with ANYTHING.
I’d love to hear about some of your favorite ways for preparing kale in the comments.

Ready for Book Giveaway? Keeping it simple, here you go:

1. Subscribe to my free newsletter in right sidebar —->
2. Follow Shanti Christensen on Instagram @showshanti
3. Follow Eleanor Hoh on Instagram @wokstar and leave comment on Book Giveaway post
4. Leave a comment below why you deserve to win Shanti’s cookbooks? Then email me eh at eleanorhoh dot com so I have your email if you win.
5. Eligibility: Only for United States residents. Closing date: Sunday, April 16 , 12 am ET. Check back here for winner announcements Monday, April 17.
6. A random winner will be picked and contacted via email. Respond ASAP, otherwise I will pick the next winner.
7. Your book will be sent directly to you, good luck everyone!

If you didn’t win, you can still buy Shanti’s cookbook here.

Want more ideas for vegetable dishes?…

Simple Kale Stir Fry

Three Ingredient Broccolini

How about more Kale recipes?

Serious Eats: 15 Kale recipes

All the Kale Recipes You’ll Ever Need

Stuffed Squash a la Wok Star Style

December 7, 2016 By Eleanor Hoh Leave a Comment

The three elements to delicious food are flavor, texture, color in that order and this Stuffed Squash a la Wok Star style is the perfect dish! Impress your friends with this dish…

TECHNIQUE IS KEY…
So, I wanted to do a festive dish for the holidays and of course squash came to mind. I love the orange color of the squash and lends itself to so many different ways of preparing it. I immediately surf the net for how to make a stuffed squash, my go to site is The Kitchn, I love this site, it’s all about technique.
If you’ve read my blogs, you’ll know I don’t follow, use or teach recipes. Cooking for me has always been about creating a dish from scratch and building on those three elements I mentioned. Recipes are good for inspiration, possibly ingredient combinations and new flavors. Technique for me is the most important element to cooking.
SHAPE YOUR BRAIN TO COOK…
Last night as I was cooking, I was listening to a TED Talk by Dr. Lara Boyd, her talk solidified my philosophy totally! She described how neuroplasticity gives you the power to shape the brain you want! This means, the more you do something, the easier it becomes and you’re exercising your brain. I found this so fascinating because it’s what I’ve been promoting all these years. If you keep training your brain to create a dish, you’d be amazed what dishes you come up with. It’s also a lot of fun because you come up with something new every time, no repeats.
TIPS FOR ROASTING SQUASH…
I find out you have to roast the squash first BEFORE you put your stuffing in. I wanted my stuffing to still have crunchiness and colors, so naturally, stir frying them is the answer! I find when you roast vegetables, the colors are more grey and dull. Do you see where I’m going with this? Don’t just follow a recipe blind and do everything they say.
A good example of this is most Chinese recipes will ask you to make a ‘flurry’, a mix of cornstarch and water to give your dish a nice glaze but I find it’s just one extra step, so I include the cornstarch when I make sauce. Ta Da, eliminated a step.
USE RIGHT CHEESE…
A mistake I made was using hard goat cheese. My husband uses goat cheese in our omelets and it melts beautifully but it didn’t melt as well in this dish. I suspect the heat wasn’t hot enough, only 350. Use cheese like cheddar, Parmesan or any sharp cheese.
VERSATILE DISH…
You can make it totally vegetarian or even vegan and leave out the cheese. It’s a great side dish to go with anything! Add meat to it and you’ve got a one dish meal. If served as a main, you will need a half per person.
You can use whatever vegetables you have lying around but try and get a contrasting color in there to make it pop. Even leftover roast potatoes or rice.
I loved putting together the stuffing for this dish because I had many ingredients I thought would be perfect.
celery for color and texture
chestnuts for festive component
mushrooms for flavor
cooked quinoa for texture, protein and good for you
multi colored bell peppers for color
cilantro for color and flavor

HERE’S HOW TO DO THIS STUFFED SQUASH…
1. Cut squash in half, swish a little olive oil, salt and pepper on the inside. Place on baking tray and roast at 350 for 45 mins. – 1 hour depending on how big your squash is. Give a little fork test to see if it’s soft enough.
2. Chop all your vegetables and leave on chopping board. Grate your cheddar cheese ready
3. Stir fry chopped vegetables with usual, grape seed oil, garlic and ginger, dash of tamari and sherry, I added Flavor God’s dry rub, Everything Seasoning, you can add dried herbs but not both, too much.

4. Remove squash and crank up to 425. Fill squash with chopped stir fried vegetables, add cheese on top and return to oven. Squash is ready when cheese has melted and smells amazing in there! You’re welcome.

I found half was way too much to eat in one dinner, so you might want to even only have a quarter of it. I cheated and grilled some bacon wrapped scallops to go with it, yummy!
There you have it, looks colorful and festive! Stuffed Squash Good a la Wok Star Style! It’s a great dish to serve as a side or a main when you have guests for dinner.
Here are some other festive dishes for the Holidays to try…
Wok Charred Brussels Sprouts
Ginger Honey Brussels Sprouts
Grilled Duck with Stir Fried Brussels Sprouts

Happy Holidays everyone!!!

WokStar-StuffedSquash-redplate — Stuffed Squash a la Wok Star Style!

Wok Charred Brussels Sprouts from Chris Kimball's Milk Street Magazine

October 28, 2016 By Eleanor Hoh Leave a Comment

Wok Charred Brussels Sprouts will turn Brussels Sprouts haters into LOVING them and vegetable eaters into die hard Brussels Sprout addicts! They have 3 qualities I always talk about: flavor, texture, color in that order. Wok Charring is a fail proof technique that’s quick and easy and will get you perfect results every time. Wok Charred Brussels Sprouts go with anything whether it’s a western dish with meatloaf, BBQ ribs or an Asian cheat dinner like mine with Mui Choy Pork Belly and Roast Duck, see below.

Tada, the yummiest wok charred brussels sprouts!

I learned how to make Wok Charred Brussels Sprouts from the charter issue of Milk Street magazine, published by Christopher Kimball, yes, that Christopher Kimball. Ex-America’s Test Kitchen TV and radio show host and the man behind Cooks Illustrated that pivoted him into the stratosphere of a “cooking god!” Below is the recipe by kind permission from Milk Street’s Editorial Director, J.M. Hirsch (previously AP food editor.)
If you hurry, you can still get a free charter issue and yearly subscription discount here.

You’ll want to hear more about his new project, Milk Street Kitchen, it’s very exciting because we share a lot of the same philosophies and the project deserves a separate post, working on that.
Cooking isn’t about following a recipe, so don’t just skip to the “recipe,” take a moment to understand WHY certain ingredients or techniques are used. When you understand WHY, you will have more chance of success and this is one philosophy Chris Kimball and I share! I’ve made Wok Charred Brussels Sprouts three times, all were successful and delish. My hubby whose my tester adores Brussels Sprouts devoured them and couldn’t stop saying, umm…
What you need to know…
1. Smaller is better…
Cutting sprouts smaller creates more surface area = more charring = more flavor! I pride myself as a Wok Star to think and do things outside of the norm but I didn’t think of the obvious which is to cut them smaller so they cook faster, what a revelation, it changed the whole cooking process and flavor profile.
2. What ingredients do…
– lemon juice “wakes” up any ingredient and make it shine
– honey caramelizes and gives charring color, however, I used only half of honey in recipe and didn’t add honey at the end, I find honey/sugar masks the natural flavors of vegetables, we like vegetables with a bit of bite.
– extra-virgin olive oil handles high heat
– pepper flakes gives a wonderful kick but do NOT include at beginning of your stir fry or fry in oil, they will gag you, sprinkle in at the end
3. Wok Star Way
– adapt to the recipe with what you have e.g. I had no anchovy, so I used fish sauce for umami flavor or use tamari.
– no fresh lemons, try a sprinkle of rice vinegar which has a sweetness or just leave out
4. Wok Char vs grilling vs oven roast
– a lightweight, round bottom cast iron wok is BEST for charring sprouts, its wide opening and shape makes it easier to move sprouts around vs a flat skillet
– a steel spatula used with a wok can turn lots of sprouts vs using tongs to flip each sprout
– wok charring give sprouts an even and overall char vs grilling which has hot spots and oven roasting for me has never resulted in crispy sprouts, maybe it’s my oven.

Here’s recipe…

I eliminated step 2 (frying the seasonings) and 4 (adding more honey etc.) altogether and tossed sprouts in bowl with everything except garlic which I added to the oil with some shredded ginger like I always do when I stir fry vegetables.
I’d love to hear how your Wok Charred Brussels Sprouts turn out, whether you’re using Milk Street Magazine’s complete recipe or used some of my tips?
Here’s a short video to show just how fast those sprouts cooked!
How about trying my Ginger Honey Brussels Sprouts, it’s hard not to compare with charred version, trust me!

WokChar-BrusselsSprouts-beefstew — Wok Charred Brussels Sprouts with a bowl of spicy beef stew!

Perfect side to King Palace's Mui Choy Pork Belly and roast duck from P.K. Market. These sprouts would go well with any dish but especially grilled ribs, umm! — Wok Charred Brussels Sprouts, a perfect side to King Palace’s Mui Choy Pork Belly and roast duck from P.K. Market. Yes, a cheat dinner. These sprouts would go well with any dish but especially grilled ribs, umm!

Green Beans 2 Ways

August 9, 2013 By Eleanor Hoh 7 Comments

Eating vegetables is a hot topic, remember when Jessica Seinfeld hid them so her kids didn’t know they were eating them and caused such controversy? I think that’s the most ridiculous thing. Kids will grow up never knowing what vegetables look or taste like! I’ve never understood what all the fuss is because growing up, my siblings and I ate vegetables at every meal and loved them. My mom was a fantastic cook, so that may have something to do with it? She always presented food with loads of flavor and variety, we looked forward to our dinners.
So is it because modern parents dote on their kids too much and give in to their whims? Is it a cultural thing? Would love to hear your take on this topic!

Practicing what I preach – use what I have in the fridge, so green beans but prepared 2 ways, one cold and one hot! Beans are not in season in Florida, I found out through this handy site where they list vegetables and fruits that are in season in your state.
This month, we are celebrating #Letslunch member, Joe Yonan’s new cookbook: Eat Your Vegetables, Bold Recipes for the Single Cook, congratulations Joe! Such an important book to inspire folks who don’t have a clue how to prepare them.

What’s my favorite vegetable? Very tough choice, there are too many but one of my favorites is Morning Glory (kung kong is what my family usually call this) with hollow stems and cooked tender with pounded chilies in shrimp paste sauce, hmm. When my mom made that, she had to make 2 heaped plates! If you ever get a chance to have this vegetable, get it and have some for me!
Just a reminder if you’ve not visited my blog before, I don’t use measurements or recipes when I cook, just a pinch of this and that and viola. So here’s Green Beans, 2 ways, enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 lb. approx. green beans blanched with drop of Avocado oil
Green Bean Salad
Handful fresh pineapple cubes
1 plum or Romana tomato cubed
1 scallion chopped
Pinch of cilantro chopped
Annie’s chili lime salad dressing
Make this dish first to prevent discoloration.
1) Blanched all beans in boiling water in my cast iron wok with few drops of Avocado oil to prevent discoloration, great tip I learned from my mom. Drain after tasting to see if cooked but still very crunchy. Run cold water to prevent cooking.
2) Drain well and plate beans, add all chopped ingredients and toss well in dressing, done!

Green Beans in Spicy Thai Satay Shrimp Paste
Avocado oil
2 cloves Garlic thwacked
knob ginger shredded
red bell pepper, small cubes
I scallion chopped
Pinch cilantro chopped
1 heaped teaspoon of Spicy Thai Satay Shrimp Paste
Method:
1) Wipe out wok, heat it up, then add 2 swirls of Avocado oil and fry up red bell pepper, scallions in garlic and ginger till you can smell yumminess but not burning.
2) Add beans and Satay Shrimp Paste, combine well, it’s done!
#LetsLunch is a virtual lunch where food bloggers from all over the world come up with a theme. I’ve met the neatest food bloggers, if you want to join, post a comment below or on Twitter using #LetsLunch. Below are everyone’s take on Eating Vegetables!
Annabelle‘s Farmer’s Market Gazpacho at Glass of Fancy
Grace‘s Vegetable Tempura at HapaMama
Jill‘s Fusilli with Corn Sauce at Eating My Words
Joe‘s Guaca-Chi at Joe Yonan
Linda‘s Chocolate-Zucchini Twinkies at Free Range Cookies
Linda‘s Gateway Brussels Sprouts at Spicebox Travels
Lisa‘s Totally “Free” Veggie Soup at Monday Morning Cooking Club
Pat‘s Umami-Laden Green Beans at The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook
Vivian‘s Kangkong (Water Spinach) with Fermented Beancurd, Chili and Garlic at Vivian Pei

Ginger Honey Wok Brussel Sprouts

March 9, 2012 By Eleanor Hoh 10 Comments

This Honey Ginger Wok Brussel Sprouts was inspired by twitter foodies who rave about Sakaya Kitchen’s dish and because my husband loves Brussel Sprouts in any shape or form. They cause such a stir when you mention them, you either hate or love them, which camp are you?

The HUGE bag I bought gave me a bit of problem with figuring how to eat them all before they spoiled. So, I decided to apply my latest fad: By using a few different ways to prepare the same ingredient gives your palate a little variety and you won’t get bored eating the same dish for days. I’ve used this method with grilling meats and works wonderfully. Lesson learned here is not to buy a lot of produce in one go because they overwhelm you and fresh produce is best when eaten at its peak not kept for days even if they’re refrigerated!

When my #LetsLunch twitter friends came up with the March theme for Green Foods, I knew immediately this was the dish I wanted to post. I hope I’m not taking this too literally. #LetsLunch is a virtual lunch where food bloggers come up with a theme. Cheryl Tan spearheads #LetsLunch and organizes us all with our posts. I’m not sure how she does this as well as her book tour! Visit her wonderful blog, also named A Tiger in the Kitchen, I’ve met the neatest food bloggers, if you want to join, post a comment below or on Twitter using #LetsLunch. Do visit other #LetsLunch posts below for their Green idea!

Just a reminder if you’ve not visited my blog before, I don’t use measurements or recipes when I cook, just a pinch of this and that and viola. So here’s my easy way of making Honey Ginger Wok Brussel Sprouts, enjoy.

Ingredients:
Brussel sprouts, rinse and cut off bottoms with small sharp knife
1/2 lime
water
3 cloves of garlic, diced
1 thumb size ginger, diced
San-J tamari
medium drinking sherry
Honey (mine came in a convenient squeeze bottle, Whole Foods organic)
Tea Seed oil or grape seed, canola, safflower oil for high heat frying
Directions:
1. I used my cast iron wok to first par boil the brussel sprouts then stir fry them. It was the perfect vessel cause it gave them room to cook and is the best material if you want crunchy vegetables. By adding a drop of oil in the water, it keeps sprouts looking bright colored instead of ‘grey’. Don’t be afraid to use your cast iron wok with liquid, it won’t hurt it as long as you always dry it thoroughly. Once you start cooking in it, the patina will build back up immediately.
2. When you can stick a fork into a sprout, they’re ready. Drain and set aside. Par boiling doesn’t take long so don’t overcook them.
3. Wipe out the wok, I didn’t even need to wash as nothing stuck. Set on high heat, squeeze oil round wok 3 times, add garlic and ginger and immediately add in brussel sprouts, give them a swish around. Sprinkle tamari & sherry all over the sprouts, squeeze in 2 good dollops of honey and fry to spread tamari and honey all over sprouts. Adjust the taste to your liking. Lastly, squeeze some lime juice in to ‘wake’ them up and they’re READY!
Here are some ways I served the Honey Ginger Wok Brussel Sprouts:

left: Tuscan spice rub grilled pork, grilled peppers and corn, stir fried mushrooms & sprouts.
right: pineapple, cucumber, tomato salsa, grilled pork, curried grilled tofu & sprouts.

left: pineapple, cucumber, tomato salsa, roast chicken, Sakaya Kitchen’s ginger honey eggplant & sprouts.
right: roast lamb, sprouts and radish soup.
Hope you’ll share some unusual ways you’ve prepared your Brussel Sprouts!
Here are my fellow foodies’ take on Green foods and please check back for more updates from around the world! I can’t wait to read their posts…
How to Brew a Better Pot of Tea from Grace at HapaMama
Green Chorizo from Felicia at Burnt-Out Baker
Pandan Tapioca from Charissa at Zest Bakery
Natanya’s Guacamole from Lisa at Monday Morning Cooking Club
Notos Pesto from Ellise at Cowgirl Chef
Matcha Green Tea Cupcakes from Cathy at ShowFood Chef
Green Bean and Vidalia Spring Onion Soup from Lucy at A Cook and Her Books
Asparagus with Poached Egg from Karen at Geofooding