And tonights installment....cooking and stock...
Hey All,
So first off, I'm bordering on selling off the LUV for $14.00/share. A highly marked improvement over when I bought them at $6.42. The return is so piss poor that I'm selling off my initial investment, as with many of my stocks, and letting the rest do what it will, hopefully make me a rich man, but understand I have about $150 initial investment tied up in each of these.
So onto cooking......easy, simple, asian fare.
So a long long time ago, I learned from Momma Holm that a perfect basic sweet and sour is 1 part sugar, 1 part distilled vinegar brought to a boil. I've been playing with that and have some wisdom, and ideas. The general guidance is right, but its missing some things. You can add appropriate herbs (and not what one would think), and vegetables to make it divine.
So for starters let's talk herbs. The concept of chinese herbs was baffling to me until I learned the art of 5 spice . It makes things taset so much better, regardless of where you apply it. I blame the anise.......a number that covers anything..but it still makes things nice. But then again, so does black pepper and clove. Ideally the herbs will be ground and not "chewable", however occasionally I add them whole when I'm in a hurry. I either warn guests they are there, remove them during cooking, or hope like hell......I'll never forget the day when I heard, "Wow, this tea is thick, and it tastes like clove!"
The herbs in chinese five spice are actually quite universal and will help out almost any asian dish.....mind you you will most likely need a healthy dose of soy sauce too!
Now about noodles. I've recently discovered the joy of e-fu noodles. These lil' devils are some sort of a meringue type affiar that cook up delightfully. I've been steaming them over sweet and sour dishes with phenomenal success. The chewy characteristic is to be adored and the flavor unique with the rich flavors of a well prepared asian dish. The typically come in a big bulky package of servings for 4......the "big nest" actually divides into 2 when you open the package, so if you have the right kind of food sealer, don't throw away the package as I did.
So here's the kind of crap I've been up to (this is in the order I do it):
Start a decided upon portion of Meat substitute and dehydrated mushroom dehydrating in boiling water (see package for directions, typically 1 cup water to 1/3 cup stuff). It usually helps the flavor to add a buillion cube or vegetable cube (i.e. vegetable bullion cube, garlic, onion, etc).
In a saucepan, combine, 1TBS seasame oil, 1/5 cup sugar, 1/5 cup distilled vinegar, 1 tsp orange juice, 1 tsp catsup to a boil, and turn off heat.
Large skilllet on high with 1 Tblsp of seaseme oil:
3 small zucchini....sliced thinly, seared over high (and I mean high) heat...they will blacken almost entirely on the cut surfaces
12 baby carrots, cut into matchsticks (about 3 big carrots will do this too), gently seared (only the edges will be brown)
1/2 onion...it will barely brown on the edges
After recommended browning is achieved, add 2 TBS of the rehydrating water to deglaze and reduce to medium heat.
Then add the meat substitute and mushrooms. Two swirls of soy sauce for taste......or as I recently learned in an opps moment,2 swirls worchestershire sauce and 2 swirls soy saucce and a flake of sushi ginger (thank god it was a beef type dish).
Pour the sauce over the top.....and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low.
Place the "nest o' e-fun" on top and let steam for 10=20 mintues depending upon noodle preference. Stir up gently before serving.
Serve at once.....
So there it is, you'll most like have to come visit me if you want to learn my asian cooking secrets.
Lotsa Love,
Jacob
So first off, I'm bordering on selling off the LUV for $14.00/share. A highly marked improvement over when I bought them at $6.42. The return is so piss poor that I'm selling off my initial investment, as with many of my stocks, and letting the rest do what it will, hopefully make me a rich man, but understand I have about $150 initial investment tied up in each of these.
So onto cooking......easy, simple, asian fare.
So a long long time ago, I learned from Momma Holm that a perfect basic sweet and sour is 1 part sugar, 1 part distilled vinegar brought to a boil. I've been playing with that and have some wisdom, and ideas. The general guidance is right, but its missing some things. You can add appropriate herbs (and not what one would think), and vegetables to make it divine.
So for starters let's talk herbs. The concept of chinese herbs was baffling to me until I learned the art of 5 spice . It makes things taset so much better, regardless of where you apply it. I blame the anise.......a number that covers anything..but it still makes things nice. But then again, so does black pepper and clove. Ideally the herbs will be ground and not "chewable", however occasionally I add them whole when I'm in a hurry. I either warn guests they are there, remove them during cooking, or hope like hell......I'll never forget the day when I heard, "Wow, this tea is thick, and it tastes like clove!"
The herbs in chinese five spice are actually quite universal and will help out almost any asian dish.....mind you you will most likely need a healthy dose of soy sauce too!
Now about noodles. I've recently discovered the joy of e-fu noodles. These lil' devils are some sort of a meringue type affiar that cook up delightfully. I've been steaming them over sweet and sour dishes with phenomenal success. The chewy characteristic is to be adored and the flavor unique with the rich flavors of a well prepared asian dish. The typically come in a big bulky package of servings for 4......the "big nest" actually divides into 2 when you open the package, so if you have the right kind of food sealer, don't throw away the package as I did.
So here's the kind of crap I've been up to (this is in the order I do it):
Start a decided upon portion of Meat substitute and dehydrated mushroom dehydrating in boiling water (see package for directions, typically 1 cup water to 1/3 cup stuff). It usually helps the flavor to add a buillion cube or vegetable cube (i.e. vegetable bullion cube, garlic, onion, etc).
In a saucepan, combine, 1TBS seasame oil, 1/5 cup sugar, 1/5 cup distilled vinegar, 1 tsp orange juice, 1 tsp catsup to a boil, and turn off heat.
Large skilllet on high with 1 Tblsp of seaseme oil:
3 small zucchini....sliced thinly, seared over high (and I mean high) heat...they will blacken almost entirely on the cut surfaces
12 baby carrots, cut into matchsticks (about 3 big carrots will do this too), gently seared (only the edges will be brown)
1/2 onion...it will barely brown on the edges
After recommended browning is achieved, add 2 TBS of the rehydrating water to deglaze and reduce to medium heat.
Then add the meat substitute and mushrooms. Two swirls of soy sauce for taste......or as I recently learned in an opps moment,2 swirls worchestershire sauce and 2 swirls soy saucce and a flake of sushi ginger (thank god it was a beef type dish).
Pour the sauce over the top.....and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low.
Place the "nest o' e-fun" on top and let steam for 10=20 mintues depending upon noodle preference. Stir up gently before serving.
Serve at once.....
So there it is, you'll most like have to come visit me if you want to learn my asian cooking secrets.
Lotsa Love,
Jacob