I know this photo sucks - my kids played with the camera and did something with the settings and I didn’t find out until after the food was eaten!

from my column in Tampa Tribune

Two weeks ago, I took a trip to Los Angeles to teach a couple of cooking classes and to visit family. So, I thought it would be a great idea to bring both of my boys along with me since tickets were only $250 each round-trip for a direct flight from Tampa to Los Angeles.

It was a deal too good to pass up, as I’m a Wal-Mart shopper and easily wooed by a bargain. I wouldn’t normally buy tangerine-flavored fingernail polish, but if it’s on sale for 35 percent off? OMG. I cannot resist. Give me the entire lot of them.

So, when I saw that the airfare was practically half off, I quickly purchased the tickets, not really thinking of the consequences of spending five hours in a small, enclosed flying contraption with no easy access to reinforcements, aka husband, teachers or relatives. Tag team, FAIL.

Thank goodness for the rolling minibar and $3 Snickers. That newlywed couple in the next aisle going to Hawaii for their honeymoon? My money says they probably swore off having children for the next 11 years. Who knew that flying with kids would be such great birth control? Next time your teenager talks about sex, have ‘em sit next to us on an airplane. Cheaper than an intervention or therapy.

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Since I’ve been working on my cookbook, which is all about modern Asian cooking, almost everything edible that comes out of my kitchen has been Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian or Korean. Yes, it can be tiring and I’m considering starting a new blog called “Steamy Kitchen, UnAsian” just to break the monotony. Gimme some Brazilian! Moroccan! Australian!

My family has been begging for something different, and everytime that I ask the kids, “so what do you want for supper tonight?” They chime excitedly, “McDonald’s HAPPY MEALS! Hip, hip, HOORRAYYYY!”

Which is fine. I give in. Because I do love me some McD french fries dipped in soft serve ice cream. I know, You’re groaning. It’s a leftover habit and craving from my pregnancy days.

Please tell me that I’m not alone in this craving! Please tell me that you, too have strange culinary cravings and secret flavor combinations that just make other people squirm uncomfortably in their pants.

Tell me and I’ll enter you in the drawing to win one of three gorgeous Cooking Light The Complete Cookbook - this baby is MASSIVE, weighing in at 4.4lbs with 1,200 recipes, 630 color photographs and a companion DVD. Plus I think there is an offer for 1 free year of Cooking Light magazine subscription inside.

OHOHOH! And there’s a bonus…at the end of this post.

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I’ve been on an Indian food kick lately, as a friend of mine sent me a goody box full of Indian ingredients to experiment with.

I’m new to the cuisine, intimidated by the long list of unfamiliar spices in recipes. How do I pronounce badi elaichi or hara dhaniya without sounding as if I’ve slammed five shots of tequila for breakfast? If I ask for methi seeds at the market, will the shopkeeper flip out and push the police button hidden under the cash register? Surely, very suspicious.

So, rather than risk sounding stupid, I’ll order Indian food at restaurants, where I can read and understand the English description of the dish and point out my selection for the waiter without oophhinen mhyyy moufff.

But then I’m reminded by my friends that they feel the same way about common ingredients used in East and Southeast Asian cooking, such as nam pla, dong-gu and naganegi. My advice to friends who yearned to learn was to start with just one dry spice blend, such as five spice powder, and sparingly sprinkle on roasted vegetables. It’s inexpensive, simple and a great way to be introduced to Chinese flavors without having to invest in a cupboard full of one-hit wonders.

It was time to follow my own advice and venture into the world of Indian cooking.

My friend Sowjanya suggested I start with garam masala, a dry-spice mixture very popular in Indian cuisine. It’s a warming, aromatic blend of cardamom, cloves, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and black peppercorns, and it goes well with anything, especially vegetables. Garam masala is the type of spice that when you hold the bottle anywhere close to your face, you’ll collapse in ecstasy and moan loudly right there on your kitchen floor. Steamy kitchen, indeed.

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Note: This post seems silly now - because

1) I’m not mad at Scott anymore - that was SO last week

2) Andrew had a brain MRI on Tuesday morning

However, this story was published in the Tampa Tribune (my deadlines for the paper are a week ahead of pub date), and I’m not quite ready to talk about Andrew quite yet. (Yes, he’s healthy, fine) So I’m posting this little story anyways.

Also, something happened on the way to Flickr…the colors on the photos flattened out and are a little mushy. ??? Can’t figure it out this morning and will work on it later. In the meantime, enjoy!

Uninhibited Rage of Energy

I’m mad at my husband and it sucks. 36 hours ago, he lashed out at me, totally uncalled for and ever since then, I’ve been waiting for that apology. Waiting…nothing. That’s the trouble with being married to one of the most stubborn individuals this side of the universe.

When I’m upset, I retreat to my kitchen and make something. Sometimes, the most brilliant concoctions arise from my uninhibited rage of energy. I tear, chop, slather, peel, whirl and blend. Pots clang on the stovetop, the KitchenAid spits out patches of stray flour, the cheap blender vibrates across the counter, and the whirring exhaust fan drowns out angry thoughts in my head. I chop loads of fresh mint because no matter how hard I run my chef’s knife across the leaves, it happily returns with a bright, refreshing, crisp fragrance that bathes my tear-streaked face and clears my breathing.

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You will LOVE this free drawing, my friends…read on!

Also in the Tampa Tribune

Buying fish at the supermarket is one of those things that make me nervous. First off, the only thing I can ever afford is farm-raised tilapia from who-knows-where and whatever the fishmonger has on sale. Secondly, cooking fish is finickier than chipmunk in heat – 60 seconds is all that separates a moist, tender fillet from a dry, tough, overcooked rain jacket. Do I risk $16.99/lb for a grouper or $24.99/lb for monkfish? If the fish isn’t sushi-grade, is it ok to cook medium-rare? What if the recipe I found in the cookbook sucks and I end up with an inedible dinner? What if I misjudge my timing?

The poor fishmonger watches as I stand in front of the glass case, wringing my hands, calculating the price/risk index for each fish on display. Most days, I’ll opt for nice hunk of salmon, as my pocketbook is comfortable with the ratio of $9.99 per pound x high-fat content that it almost impossible to overcook.

A couple of weeks ago, a company called Kona Blue, overnighted to me a few pounds of a fish called kampachi to try. It’s Hawaiian yellowtail, sustainably raised off the coast of Hawaii at their farms. Like salmon, it’s chock full of Omega 3 oils, so it’s succulent, firm and rich. The best part is that it’s raised in a clean, controlled setting and it’s sushi-grade.

The kampachi fillets were one of the most beautiful, moist fish I’ve ever cooked at home. The true test was that I even accidentally overcooked the fish, because the moment the timer went off, something called, “sibling rivalry” screamed from the other room and demanded my immediate attention.

The price/risk ratio? Well, it’s expensive if you mail order from Kona Blue. $17.00/lb for fillets plus $35 for FedEx. Ouch. But some of the best restaurants in town and a handful of markets carry the fish. Here is a partial list of retailers and restaurants.

Tampa & Sarasota Readers: Tampa, FL restaurants are not listed there, but you can find Kona Kampachi at Roy’s, Bern’s, Sidebern’s, Mise en Place, Lakeland Yacht Club, Grand Hyatt Tampa and the Tampa Yacht Club. I just visited Whole Foods in Sarasota and they LOVE Kona Kampachi. Call or visit them and tell Ryan the fish manager that you want him to order! They have it sometimes, but the more people who ask, the more available the fish will be!

It’s certainly a fish that I’d beg or bribe my local fishmonger to carry.

Free Kampachi Drawing

But, my dear friends, I’ve got a surprise for you. Kona Blue has graciously given me some prizes to give away – packages of super-fresh Kona Blue Kampachi overnighted to 3 randomly chosen lucky winners. The fish is packed with tons of ice packs, and will arrive on your doorstep fresh as ever. I don’t know how much they are sending to you, but I have a feeling it will be more than your entire family can eat in one sitting.

Oh, and since it’s sushi-grade, you can eat it like sashimi with some soy and wasabi.

All you have to do is comment below! Accepting entries until Saturday morning after my morning coffee lunchtime…whenever that will be. Oh, and for my international friends, I don’t think Kona Blue can ship overnight internationally, but enter anyways, and if you win, I’ll personally ship you something nice….a box full of Steamy Kitchen goodies. Maybe some wonderful American spices, sauces, gadgets, books? Dunno yet, but I’ll send something extra special.

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So, you curious about how I started teaching cooking classes? It wasn’t that long ago, 3 years ago to be exact. While this published in my weekly food column in Tampa Tribune, I wanted to share the column with you guys here on the blog as well. The point of sharing how I started is because I know many of you would LOVE to have a food related career, whether it’s food writing, food photography, food blogging, teaching classes or maybe even owning your own restaurant. And hey, if I can do it without any formal culinary training (psssst…I’ve never even worked in a restaurant before either), anyone can.

Or, in other words, to borrow from great master, Martin Yan, “If Yan Jaden can cook! You can too!”

btw, in the paper, I’m limited to 650 words (which includes the recipe), and I have so much more to say than just these 650 words! So, first the text from the column, and then more from me afterwards:

My husband, Scott and I moved from the culinary epicenter of San Francisco to Florida about 5 years ago when we decided that the hour-long commute just to get to work 5 miles away was just insane. Visiting the Tampa area, we found three times the home for half the price AND neighbors who live more than 2 inches away? Sold.

Happy, happy, joy, joy until I started looking at area restaurants. Oh boy, was I disappointed.

You see, in San Fran, I was spoiled by the uber-ethnic eateries that dot every street corner. It’s the type of place that when you ask a local for a Chinese restaurant recommendation, he’d look at you for further clarification and ask, “Hong Kong, Sichuanese or Mongolian?”

From my new home, the closest Asian restaurant was a mile away, and it was called Bangkok Tokyo. One afternoon, while I stood waiting for my lunch to-go order of Red Chicken Curry and Steamed Jasmine Rice, I overheard a lady at the sushi bar talking quite loudly on her cell phone, “Hey Barbara, come meet me for lunch. I’m eating sushi at the Chinese restaurant.”

WTF?!?!?

Excuse me, but the last time I checked, neither Bangkok nor Tokyo were in China. That’s kind of like calling Ceviche’s Tapas Bar a French restaurant! Do I really live in a place where all Asian ethnicities just get ignorantly lumped under Chinese?

I complained to Scott. I cried to my Mama on the phone. I wanted to move back to SF. And of course, Scott scolded me after the fourth straight day of whining, “Quit your bitching and do something about it.”

And so I did. I started teaching hands-on cooking classes featuring Asian cuisine for the home cook. I’ve always been a rock star in the kitchen, and it was easy to transition my cooking into a teaching format. I love it. I’ve found my calling. I’m meant to teach the difference between dark soy and light soy, to write about how to cook with a wok, and to rid the world of goopy brown sauce that coats every stir-fry I’ve had in town.

Yes. it’s true. I started my food career because of a silly conversation that I overhead at a restaurant. While I was really pissed off at first (ok, I was FURIOUS <– and what spurred that emotion is for another post) but I needed to find a way to turn that anger into something positive, something that would move us forward, not back. Dammit - I hate typing in italics. Anyways, Scott was right. There was no point in complaining, it’s not like we were going to pack our bags and move back to San Francisco because of a lack of restaurants! How lame would that be?!

So I worked it out with a small, local cooking school to teach a Chinese cooking class. OH BOY WAS I NERVOUS! For days leading up to the class, I went back and forth:

OMG! I’m teaching a cooking class!

Oh shit, I’m teaching a cooking class.

This will be fun!

Crap, I never went to culinary school - I have no cred. What if I suck?

But it was fabulous. And I loved it. More importantly, the students had a blast.

That first class was about 3 years ago. If you’d looove to explore a little more in the food world, I say, go for it! You can let yourself get consumed in excuses, or you can take that step and just do one thing every day to get you closer to what you want.

All I did was pick up the phone.

—

Garlic Brandy Shrimp

Life doesn’t get much better than a 15-minute shrimp stir-fry that features brandy and butter. My Mom always tells me, “hot wokky, no stickky.” And it’s true. Let your wok or pan heat up before you add any of your ingredients. Swirl the hot oil around a bit so that it coats the entire surface of the pan. If you wok is super-hot it will immediately sear the surface of your shrimp, which will prevent it from sticking. In this recipe, I fry the shrimp halfway in hot oil, remove and then add it back in when the sauce comes together to finish cooking through. This gives the shrimp a nicely seared surface with an incredible snappy texture, instead of just boiling away in the sauce. And, the bonus? No goopy brown sauce.

Serves 4 as part of multi-course meal.

1 lb raw tail-on shrimp, deveined
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbl butter
2 stalks green onion, cut into 2” pieces
1 tbl brandy
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbl cooking oil
Rinse shrimp, pat completely dry and marinate in cornstarch and 1/2 tsp kosher salt for 5 minutes. Heat your wok or large skillet over high heat. When wok is hot, add 2 tbl cooking oil. When oil is hot and just starting to smoke, add shrimp. Fry until they are half-done, approximately 1-2 minutes. Remove from wok, leaving the oil in the wok.
Turn heat to medium-high. Add the garlic, fry for 10 seconds. Add the brandy, salt, sugar, butter. Cook sauce for 1 minute to thicken slightly. Add the half-cooked shrimp and green onion. Fry until shrimp are cooked through, about 2 minutes (depends on size of your shrimp)

Lets just say a well-respected local newspaper contacts you and says, “Hey, we’d like include you in a food story we’re doing. You’ll be creating a meal and we’ll be shadowing you while you shop and cook. You’ll be one of five chefs we’ll be profiling. Can you create a dish write a recipe and be ready tomorrow?”

Wow. Me?! Sure!

No problem at all. I’ll just create something simple like Seared Sea Scallops with Mango Melon Salsa and Coconut Rice. Its not fancy, its not complicated. Just let the fresh, in-season ingredients shine through. An easy recipe that anyone at home can create. Nooooo problem. Ha! I can cook this dish in 30 minutes. Piece of cake.

Except for one thing. I’ve been spoiled by my rice cooker. I don’t know how to make jasmine rice without it. The water measurements, timing and technique are totally different. I mean…I’ve never ventured outside of the ‘one-finger-push-button’ technique of the rice cooker.

I know. I’m spoiled, sheltered and stupid.

I undercooked my rice in front of the mighty food critic, Brian Ries. I watched him chew chew chew gulp cough. He was brave and polite - but I think I saw him pop a couple of Tums behind my back. He also scribbled notes on his little notepad. It probably read, “lets not call her again.”

How could I, a Chinese cook, mess up RICE of all things?!?! Thats totally sacreligious and I might as well be disowned by my “peeps.” “Ahhhh….Jaden-grasshoppa….Confucious, Buddha and Jackie Chan all very much upset. We meditate and pray for your awakening.”

Thank goodness that the scallops were perfectly cooked and the salsa was refreshing. I’ll post the photos next week when the paper publishes the article. Of course I had to go home immediately and make the rice properly in a pot just to prove myself a worthy citizen of the Chinese race.

Perfectly Cooked Coconut Jasmine Rice without a Rice Cooker

serves 4-6 as side dish

1 tbl butter
1 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
2 cups jasmine rice, washed and drained well
½ cup good, thick coconut milk (shake can to mix well before opening)
2 cups water
1/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Heat butter a medium sized, heavy saucepan over medium heat. When butter is melted, add brown sugar and salt, stir until dissolved. Turn heat to high, add rice and stir until all grains coated evenly. Add coconut milk and water. Stir occasionally to prevent grains from sticking to bottom. When boiling, immediately cover with tight fitting lid, turn heat to medium-low and simmer undisturbed for 20 minutes. Remove pot from heat but do not open lid. Really, no peeking! Let sit for10 minutes. While rice is cooking, toast coconut flakes on a dry skillet over medium high heat. Stir frequently to avoid burning, remove from pan as soon as coconut is golden brown, about 2 minutes.