Seafood | Jaden's Steamy Kitchen

Long Life Fertility Noodles with Happy Shrimp

Note: this was written for the lovely wedding issue for the Tampa Tribune

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The Chinese culture is filled with food traditions and symbolisms, so much in fact that I could never keep up and remember them all. During the entire 6 days surrounding my wedding, I deferred to my mother to tell me what to eat to please the Gods of good fortune and fertility. Oh, did I want to have some grapes? I had to eat five of them, not one less because that number that I must not utter, one less than five, means something bad in Chinese. In fact, I am choosing each and every word very carefully in this column so that in case YOU are the one getting married, I do not want to be blamed for any misfortune!

My wedding with Scott was a nice blend of his culture (Scottish-German) and mine. We exchanged vows at Pebble Beach’s legendary 18th hole (ok, Scott just corrected me and said “fairway” not “hole” because I don’t think they’d let 10 pairs of three-inch stilettos aerate the baby-soft skinny grass at the hole), but included Chinese customs throughout the entire week

One custom that we opted out of was serving a whole roast suckling pig at the wedding banquet. According to the Chinese, the pig symbolizes the virginity of the bride, and um, you know where I’m going with that. I say, no sense in pretending or misrepping what is not true, because that would be a lousy way to begin a marriage! Plus, where the heck would we find a whole suckling pig in the middle of a gucci golf resort? Can you even imagine the chef struggling to fit the fat pig on his fancy rotisserie grill?

There is one tradition that I would like to share with you, eating noodles. For birthdays, new year and weddings, noodles are served to represent long life. Don’t be tempted to cut the noodles, or you’ll be “cutting your life short.” You may not be Chinese, but really, there’s no harm in covering all your bases. I mean, who knows what deity drew the short straw and was appointed to be in charge something so boring like “lifespan?”

So, I created one easy dish that covered all your important bases – sort of cramming in as much good fortune as possible on one plate. The sesame seeds and pea pods in the noodles symbolize fertility (remember, if you don’t want children, substitute with any greens, bean sprouts or sliced bamboo shoots.) Shrimp, in Chinese, is pronounced “haa” which sounds like laughter, and may your marriage be full of happiness.

And of course, this column has 688 words, my way of wishing you a smooth path to double prosperity.

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May 14th, 2008 in Fast, Feel Good, GF-Adaptable, Photography/Blog Tips, Rice & Noodles, Seafood |

Dr. BBQ's Barbecued Barbecue Shrimp

I’ve never been interested in cooking traditional American BBQ, mainly because I do not like what I cannot control, and in this particular case, the BBQ grill is outside of my domain with a fat “trespassing renders marriage contract null and void“ sticker on the front. But to give my husband control over a hunk of brisket roasting away for over 6 hours in a pad-locked container with a 3 inch crusty, scratched plastic window is just way too much stress for my Type-A personality to handle. Is it done? Is it done? What does it look like? Is it ok? Do I need to baste? What if it fell over? Can I take its temperature? CAN I TOUCH??? PULEEEEZZZZE!?

I’d just rather not subject myself to that kind of torture.

So, when I was asked to cook alongside Ray Lampe, the famous “Dr. BBQ” for a charity event to benefit The Crescent City Farmers Market in New Orleans, it was no big deal. So what if he’s a BBQ Grand Champion with a couple hundred awards under his belt, can he pleat perfect dumplings one handed, fold laundry with the other and fend off 2 whining kids? Think not.

We met last week to shoot a few pics to market the event and at first glance, the razor-sharp spiky blonde hair, trophy belly, baggy black shorts, flavor-savor beard and a killer watch tattoo where time stops at 5:01pm was everything I had expected from a man who carried a name, Dr. BBQ, with swaggering authority.

While grilling skewered shrimp for the recipe below, Dr. BBQ casually mentions that he’s the new Executive Chef of Southern Hospitality Restaurant in New York owned by Justin Timberlake.

Holy hickory! I’m only ONE DEGREE OF SEPARATION from “Dick in a Box”!!!

How can I not embrace this larger than life chef who’s on a first name basis with a celebrity that I’d throw my lusty, naked body at? Apparently, the mere thought of SexyBack caused immediate brain damage and I ended up saying stupid things like, “do you ever get mistaken for Guy Fieri’s dad?” Ouch. I think I just insulted my one degree.

Can I CTRL-Z that comment?

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February 22nd, 2008 in Uncategorized |

Fried Noodles with Garlic Shrimp

Chinese New Year is coming up in just a couple of weeks! It will be the Year of the Rat!

I'll be sharing some of my favorite Chinese dishes with you - easy meals that you can whip up for the holiday. Chinese are big on food symbolisms - and some of the references are pretty far out there - but hey, if eating this hairy moss dish:

Tsai means that I might just win the lottery this year, I'll take my chances. Traditionally, we eat noodles for Chinese New Year - which symbolizes long life. Just don't cut the noodles before serving - you'll be snipping your life short.

Super fast noodles

You can use any type of noodles for this dish - rice noodles (great for gluten-free), wheat noodles or in a pinch, use regular spaghetti noodles for the Fried Noodles with Garlic Shrimp dish.

Here are my favorite noodles to use when I'm in a hurry:

These noodles only take a couple of minutes to cook, because they are soft, fresh noodles not dried. When I make a trip to the Asian market, I grab a few packs and put them in the freezer. They freeze great and when ever you need a quick meal, just boil a pot of water, add the pack of frozen noodles in and in 2 minutes, they are ready. If you aren't going to freeze them, it only takes 1 minute to cook. Timing of course depends on the thickness of the noodles you choose - check the packaging for instructions.

Fried noodle ingredients

You can use any type of vegetables: mushrooms, cabbage, bok-choy, spinach, bamboo shoots, tofu, snow peas, etc. The only rule is when adding the vegetables to the wok, add them in the order it takes longest to cook. HUH?! What did I just say? You know what I mean. Vegetables that take longer to cook go in first, fry a bit, then add the next vegetable. Cut your vegetables into nice, thin, easy to quickly fry pieces.

If using carrots, I suggest cutting into slivers, or super thin slices so that they can fry easily. I use my favorite tool in the whole world - the Oxo Julienne Tool. For less than $10, this baby has saved me time and nicked fingers. Plus, the vegetable comes out looking really pretty.

In my dish, I chose crunchy, fresh celery, carrots and scallions:

For meat/seafood - you can use shrimp, chicken, thinly sliced pork or beef. Or just keep it vegetarian. Totally up to you.

The Fried Noodle with Garlic Shrimp recipe is from this book:

Wei Chuan Chinese Rice and Noodles, my copy is well-worn and this book has tons of recipes for fried noodles, noodle soup, fried rice, rice dishes, etc. Recipes are in both English and Chinese.

Recipe after the jump!

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January 26th, 2008 in Uncategorized |

Crab and Fuji Apple Salad with Thai Dressing + Winners of Cookbook

I scootched over to my friend, Sue Ann's blog, noticed that she had a badge on her site, proudly proclaiming that her blog's reading level is College Post-Grad level. Curious, I went to see what reading level Steamy Kitchen is, because I am a supporter of education and higher learning.

Crap. Must be because I used the words "HAIRY TWAT" once in a post.

Note: Up until about 4 minutes ago, my blog was at ELEMENTARY SCHOOL level. I added the words, "BUTT-HEAD" to this post and was immediately raised to JUNIOR HIGH level! WOOHOO!!!

I want to hear what your blog's reading level is!

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December 21st, 2007 in Uncategorized |

Scallop Salad with Sweet Vanilla Chili Dressing

Andrew and I arrived home safely late Monday night. Our trip to Los Angeles was full of Mom's home cooking - we had Chinese hot pot, fried garlic chili crab, chicken noodle soup with rice noodles, homemade XO chili sauce, and Hainan steamed chicken. Oh it was heavenly and I ate like a madwoman. These trips back to Mom are essential to restoring my inner Asian balance.

Our flight to Los Angeles left super early from the Tampa airport, which is about an hour away. Since we rushed out of the house at 5am, I left dishes unwashed in the dishwasher from the night before. All my energy was focused on getting to the airport on time and making sure that I didn't pack my normal purse contents of hand lotion, hair spray, bottled water, weed killer, self-inflating rafts, bacterial cultures, bleach and rodent poison.You know, anything that could potentially be used as a weapon.

Back off, bucko, I can hurt you with my hand lotion. It's LAVENDER SCENTED WITH EXTRA ALOE.
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December 19th, 2007 in Uncategorized |