Wok Star Eleanor Hoh

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Easy Kimchi (Updated)

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2 main seasonings: Fish Sauce and Red pepper powder.
Optional: toasted sesame oil
Garlic, ginger, scallions and carrots are ingredients I always have in the house.

Excited to share my Easy Kimchi and in Korea, they call it Kimchi Maki! Kimchi is the Korean way of pickling (fermenting) vegetables. I omit the rice flour and sugar. My personal preference is crispy, crunchy Kimchi before it ferments too much making it sour and soft. I start eating it the next day and go as fast as I can. I’m sure my Korean foodie friends would be horrified with this. It’s just what I like to do – turn recipes to suit my own taste and I encourage you to do the same, it’s so much fun.

However, I’ve provided a few links to other Kimchi recipes so you can choose how you want to make your kimchi or kimchee. Many recipes require you to make a ton, one starts with 10 pounds of cabbage!!!! To me, that makes cooking a chore and stresses me out thinking about the quantity. It takes TIME (always goes back to this), then finding/buying/cleaning jars to store it. No, no, we are not making this to resell, just as a little side dish to go with our dinner!

Try my Easy Kimchi and feel free to make your own variations, that’s what being a Wok Star is all about. Do share an unusual kimchi you’ve made. Hey, I didn’t even use a wok in this one!

Easy Kimchi
Use some or all of the following veggies:
1 whole medium size napa cabbage (wash & cut into bite size pieces)

All these are optionals, cut into julienne strips…
chayote, 1/2, peeled, deseeded
jicama, 1/2 small one, peeled
daikon, small handful
carrot, small handful
scallion 4-6 stalks

Salt for brining

Adjust seasonings to suit your taste:
3 tblsp. fish sauce
1 cup red pepper powder (do not mix this up with chili flakes! see photo below)
2 thumb size ginger minced
3-4 cloves garlic minced (optional)

Directions:
1. Gather utensils: big bowls, chopsticks, disposable gloves, 4-5 clean jars
2. Combine seasonings in small bowl
3. Wash all veggies, drain, chop. Put veggies in a big bowl covered with water and add salt, mix really well to coat. Leave to brine for a couple of hours.
4. Drain veggies in colander, put back into big bowl. Add seasoning and use gloves to massage till they soften a little. Divide into jars, don’t fill right to the top, put lids on.
5. Leave out for a day before refrigerating.
6. I start eating it right away, see if you’re not astounded how good it is!

Mix all seasonings in bowl.

I didn’t realize you could ‘kimchi’ anything. I always associated kimchi with napa cabbage cause that’s what we had with Bulgogi (Korean BBQ) growing up in Hong Kong.

Add veggies to seasonings in same bowl (less washup!)

Use disposable thin gloves for mixing. You don’t want to use your hands cause the red pepper powder is pretty spicy and discolors your hands. Don’t ever put your hands anywhere near your eyes after touching chilies!

My 1st Kimchi had more napa cabbage.

Give it a taste, you want it to be a little bit salty, so add a little more fish sauce but be careful, cause a little goes a loooong way.

This experiment was with chayote, jicama, carrots, radishes and 1 tblsp toasted sesame oil.

Mix all the veggies in a BIG bowl, otherwise you cannot combine well. Same concept when you use a wok that’s too small, you can’t stir fry properly, your food doesn’t cook evenly and is frustrating because your food keeps falling out. (I had to get this tip in about size of your wok!)

I bottle in cute jars so you can give to your friends. I end up eating it so fast, never gets a chance to get out the door!Goes well with your one-dish wok meals (unless it’s a curry already)

Tip: If you have leftover seasoning, store in a container or zip loc and freeze it for another batch.

There’s even a chef who calls himself a lactofermentation and pickling instructor who started a Kimchi Festival in Boston!

This blogger has really impressed me with his food adventures, considering he started late in life.

We cannot mention kimchi without mentioning this youtube celebrity, here’s her video and her kimchi!

Here’s my Korean twitter buddie’s authentic version, scroll down for kimchi.

If you live in Miami, Little River Garden gives Kimchee workshops! Found out from Mango and Lime after she went to one.

UPDATE 5.5.11: I’m excited to see a new PBS TV show that’s not a reality cooking show or a chef competition coming this summer starring chef Jean Georges-Vongerichten’s wife, Marja. Watch a preview clip of Kimchi Chronicles

Crispy Salt Shrimp

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Finger Lickin’ Crispy Salt Shrimp

Crispy Salt Shrimp is a finger lickin’ dish that’s so delicious even grown men like my husband doesn’t mind peeling the shells! Making this dish always reminds us of several funny stories with the tea finger dip (story below.) To me, food is all about shared memories, experiences and associations and this dish definitely represents all three!

Chop all aromatics and leave on your chopping board.
Dry shrimp VERY WELL with paper towels.

The secret to making this shrimp crispy is to have patience. A word that makes busy people cringe, so don’t make this when you’re starving after a long, hard day at work. Leave it for a weekend when you have a little more time.

Fry shrimp in TWO batches. Spread them out.
Add rock salt to shrimp

When I researched recipes online or on Youtube (some very annoying videos) for Salty Shrimp, nearly all of them were coated with flour and deep fried. Not me, I hate wasting all that oil. You could reuse but why would you want to? It’ll be ‘shrimpy’. Whenever I tackle a dish, I like figuring out how to make the dish healthy, yet tasty and the easiest possible method. It’s what being a Wok Star is all about.

Frying aromatics.
Add shrimp to seasonings.
Sides: simple stir fried bok choy & red bell pepper

As regular readers know, I don’t use recipes so here are very rough guidelines (I made this a while back and found it in my huge library of meals.) The more you cook without measuring, the better you’ll get at judging how much you’ll need to ‘season’ your food. So, here’s my simplifed version with very few ingredients and tastes so good!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. shrimp (my fav is Costco Tiger Shrimp 31-40 count)

Aromatics :
6-8 cloves garlic, diced
6 slices ginger, shredded
3-5 shallots (substituted with half red onion)
3-4 scallions, chopped in small rounds
1 medium sized serrano pepper, optional (wash hands immediately, do NOT touch face, eyes)
handful cilantro, chopped or any other herb you like: basil, parsley
Rock salt to taste

Canola oil for frying

Finger Dip:
Make hot tea and put into bowl with wide opening, one bowl per person. Cut a lime or lemon into wedges and add to bowl of tea. You can use this ‘natural astringent’ dip to rinse your fingers after shelling your shrimp.

Dip (optional):
Tamari and lime or lemon juice

Directions:
1. Defrost shrimp under running cold water. Dry VERY WELL with paper towels.

2. Chop all aromatics and leave on your chopping board.

3. Very important – fry shrimp in TWO batches.

You need to move FAST in this first few steps to prevent burning…
Heat your cast iron wok or skillet on high (see notes below.) Add 3 swirls of oil. Immediately add a third of the garlic and ginger. Immediately add in half of the shrimp and spread them out so they all get some heat and not overlap each other. This is what will give your shrimp a crispy exterior and succulent interior.

To test the shrimp for doneness, check the one at the base of your wok (the hottest area.) Once the shrimp turns pink on one side, you can stir fry the whole batch by constantly flipping them over. It doesn’t take long for all the shrimp to turn pink. Don’t overcook shrimp or seafood esp. calamari because it becomes chewy and tough instead of tender.

Add a few tsp. of rock salt to shrimp. Remove the shrimp to a platter. Do NOT cover because it makes the shrimp stew in its shell and go soft.

Cook second batch the same way.

4. Add a little oil into wok to cook your aromatics. Add garlic and ginger first, then rest of aromatics and serrano chilies last because they are so pungent, they make you gag. Add all the shrimp back in with the aromatics and fry to coat. Give a shrimp a taste and add more salt if you need to and you’re done!

Put another dish out for the shells.

How to eat…
Lick the shells first before peeling them, then lick your fingers before washing them. YUMMY. I stir fried a simple bok choy with red bell pepper as a side dish. It’s all you need for this finger lickin’ crispy salt shrimp, enjoy! I hope you’ll try this easy and delicious way to make shrimp…

O.K. here’s the funny story: My mom was visiting us in Key West and it was her first meal with Ralph (yeah, before we got married). I set down the finger dipping bowls and next thing I knew, mom started nudging me, “quick, he’s going to drink it, he thinks it’s soup!” I’m laughing from the memory of it, my mom immediately liked him, she thought he was a hoot. Well, also because she discovered he was a ‘Chinaman’ in his previous life, Ralph likes hot food piping hot, not luke warm and he’d eat Asian food everyday rather than Western food.

Notes:
To give your shrimp that seared look and to get them crispy, you need high heat. Non-stick woks or pans are not supposed to be used above medium heat.

When you crowd your wok or pan, it lowers the temperature of your pan and then juices will exude which in turn stews your shrimp instead of giving it a crispy, crunchy exterior. So, fry in TWO BATCHES, you won’t regret it.

More notes:
Link to check out different types of chili peppers.

I like frying with canola oil and have been using it for a number of years but currently trying some Tea seed oil from China, not tried enough to tell yet. Here’s a chart to show different oil smoke points. Sesame oil is not good for stir frying because it does smoke and it’s very overpowering but good for marinading, adding to pasta, making sauces and salad dressing.

Hong Kong Fast Food (Updated)

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This is the first in a series of food journeys from my Hong Kong trip, so hope you’ll keep coming back for more. If you’ve been to Hong Kong, I’d love to hear about your experiences.

I found it very amusing how American fast food companies adapt their food to suit the Chinese culture. Here’s Circle K featuring a Chinese menu:

Big bamboo steamers full of dim sum were constantly replenished. She’s scooping noodles for a lunch order, notice her wearing a mask. Hygiene is quite strict in some places especially public transport. Broadcasts warning people to wear a mask and not touch your eyes. I even saw a few women’s masks with bows and designs to make them more personal and interesting?

The Lunch Menu is in the left corner of the window.

Always wondered why food courts don’t offer dim sum as an option. It’s perfect portions for snacking and come in small bites. Many buns have meat and veggies in them so it’s a meal. I’ve noticed their one dish meals have a lot more rice with very little protein. It’s not proportioned like before. Guess economy has something to do with it.

Lotus Leaf with steamed rice is a favorite of my husband’s, good ones have Chinese mushrooms, very fatty pork, Chinese sausage and yellow soy beans (HK $15 is about US $2.20!).

They even offer fish and meat balls.

Right next door, the stall offered Meatballs in sauce in two large stainless steel vats

and Low Mein (fried noodles) over a steamer of hot water.


This is the closest thing to Fast Food. Most often, at food courts, the food is cooked fresh when you order it! Since it’s fried in a big wok over very high heat, it only takes a few minutes. So, it just shows that once you have your food prepped, it’s a matter of minutes for the fry and your meal is ready!

We can accomplish the same thing in our home with a smaller, lightweight, cast iron wok over a 12,000 (previously had mistakenly said it was 20,000!, must have been jetlag, sorry) btu portable butane gas stove which can sit on top of your electric glass or coil top. Easy, convenient and practical. This is my personal setup at home.

Love to hear any stories of your food experiences in Hong Kong!