Sumie Nouvelle - Japanese Fine Dining in Taipei

Our third day in Taipei, we were a little tired of Chinese banquet dinners (we had two 10-course meals with family the two previous nights. So after a day of checking out the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall and shopping in Ximen Ding, we decided to have dinner at the nice Japanese restaurant inside our hotel, San Want Hotel, called Sumie Nouvelle Cuisine Japonaise.

We went for the chef's tasting menu, a seven course dinner.

First course was this beautfully plated guava, crab, soy gelee, cucumber, and tomato salad with miso dressing.

 Second up was Sashimi on the Rocks—snapper, hamachi, salmon, grilled white fish, and blanched shrimp. It was served with a white-fish ceviche.

The sashimi was very fresh and tasty, and the ceviche knocked it out of the park. The only thing that really didn't work for me was the shrimp. Anytime I've had shrimp with sashimi it's been fully cooked. This one was was reddish, but still translucent, and the texture in the mouth reflected that. But I manned up and swallowed it.

Third course was a play on tempura. Puffed rice crusted prawn, fried kabocha squash, fried fish.

Fourth course was a filet that was still cooking on a bed of hot rocks. Mine was delicious, but ended up a bit more done then I would've preferred. But that's the price I pay for taking too long to snap photos of all the food.

Steak is really expensive in Taiwan, because there isn't much that is locally raised on the island. So it must be imported from Japan, Australia, or the U.S.

Fifth course was a small collection of sushi (not pictured) and an amuse-bouche of hamachi.

Sixth course was a ginger lobster soup. The soup was extra gingery but delicious because it stayed piping hot the entire time. The soup was served in a bowl but lined with a water-resistant paper; inside the bowl, underneath the paper was a hot tile of granite to keep the soup hot.

Finally, for dessert we had mochi and cantaloupe. But this was no ordinary mochi, for inside this beautifully shaped mochi pillow topped with cocoa powder was a tiramisu filling. A wonderful little surprise to end the night.

In fact we were so inspired by the tiramisu mochi, that when we came back to the states, we had a holiday party where we took part in a dessert competition. We took the idea, and made a pumpkin pie mochi, which wasn't as beautiful (my first time making mochi), but a winning dessert none-the-less.

Tuscan Kale Salad

When I was in Scottsdale, Arizona I tried this amazing kale salad at True Food Kitchen. I love the idea of eating raw kale over your typical romaine lettuce in a salad because it is much more nutritious. This recipe calls for dinosaur kale or a black Italian kale. This refreshing and spicy salad is perfect for a warm summer night.
Ingredients:

• Thoroughly wash 4-6 cups of dinosaur kale, midribs removed, chopped.
• juice of 1 lemon
• 3-4 T EVOO
• 2 cloves garlic, mashed
• salt and pepper to taste
• hot red pepper flakes to taste
• 2/3 cup of grated Pecorino Toscano cheese (I used Parmesan)
• 1/2 cup freshly made bread crumbs from lightly toasted bread (optional)

1. whisk together lemon juice, EVOO, garlic, salt, pepper and a generous pinch of hot red pepper flakes
2. pour over washed and chopped kale in serving bowl and toss well
3. add 2/3 of the cheese and toss again
4. let the kale sit for at least 5 minutes. Add bread crumbs, toss again, and top with remaining cheese.

Enjoy!

Pizza Benedict

Friday night, as I was biking home from work wondering what to make for dinner, I took a mental inventory of what was in my fridge that I can make into a meal. I knew I had 1/3 bag of shredded mozzarella, a ball of buffalo mozzarella, ham, and some frozen bacon. I decided to make a quick pit stop at Trader Joe's* thinking I'd make a pizza, what better way to get rid of all that mozzarella cheese. I then thought about what flavors go with ham, and tomato sauce and ham didn't seem like it would go well together. So perhaps another sauce would work. I had a flashback to a brunch I had a couple months earlier at my neighborhood Café Aquarius--I had an Eggs Benedict Pizza.

I ended up making a hollandaise sauce (in lieu of tomato sauce), which started with with 3 egg yolks, 3 tablespoons of butter in a small bowl. I brought some water to a low boil and put the bowl of butter and egg yolks in it, forming something of a double boiler. I whipped that well with a fork, and after a bit, added a bit of salt, pepper, and cayenne. Normally when making a hollandaise sauce, you want it to get to about 140 degrees, but since I was baking the pizza, it wasn't a concern.

Next step was rolling out the pizza dough. I used the Trader Joe's Garlic and Herb dough and let it rest first for about 20 minutes before working it to a nice rectangle that fit my cookie sheet.

I nuked a few slices of bacon in the microwave between paper towels. This is a great way to cook bacon and absorb some of the fat, and not make your house smell like bacon (which isn't always a bad thing) or cause a hot greasy mess on the stove. I also saved the 3 egg whites and lightly cooked them in a frying pan with olive oil and a dash of salt.

Assembly Time

1. Preheat oven to 450-degrees
2. So pizza dough is spread out on the cookie sheet (lightly greased). 
3. Spread the hollandaise sauce evenly.
4. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese lightly.
5. Cut a few slices of ham into strips or pieces, and distribute a layer.
6. Cut or break the bacon into pieces and distribute.
7. Place pieces of the cooked egg whites.
8. Slice the ball of buffalo mozzarella and lay over the pizza (or sprinkle more shredded mozzy).
9. Top with sliced grape-tomatoes.
10. Place in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until the crust feels crusty and the cheese gets some color.

When its done, let it rest for a few minutes, then transfer to a cutting board. Cut in whatever fun way you like and enjoy a wonderful breakfast pizza for dinner... or breakfast or lunch.

*Trader Joe's co-owner, Theo Albrecht, passed away at 88 years of age on Saturday, July 24, 2010. He was one of Forbes Magazine's 20 Richest People. Read more about Theo Albrecht's passing...

Thai Basil Chicken

On the menu today is Thai Basil Chicken, a relatively easy dish to make. This video will take you through the basic steps and I will also list the steps below. Here are the ingredients:

• 1 package of ground turkey or ground chicken or thinly sliced chicken (1.25 lb.)
• 1 large or 2 medium zucchinis
• 2-4 tomatoes (depending on size)
• 1 bunch of basil
• 1 onion
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 4-10 Thai chiles (or 3-6 Serrano chiles)
• 3-5 tbsp fish sauce
• 3-5 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp cooking wine
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt to taste

Thai Basil Chicken from Ray Huang on Vimeo.

This recipe doesn't really require exact measurements, its hard to go wrong, and you can make adjustments based on your preference of spiciness, saltiness, fishiness, veginess, meatiness, and chunkiness.

1. Start cooking your rice.
2. Wash all the vegetables thoroughly.
3. Slice the zucchini, tomato, and onion into pieces that are about the same size. Not too big or you can't get all the elements in one bites.
4. Dice the garlic
5. Slice the Thai/Serrano chiles to your preference. I prefer thin slices for even spice distribution. Remove seeds if you're a wuss. You could also halve them lengthwise or throw them in whole.
6. Pluck the leaves of the basil stems.
7. Heat a wok or pot on high and add a light coat of oil.
8. Add the garlic followed by the onions and sauté for a couple minutes.
9. Add the ground turkey (or chicken) and break it up a bit.
10. Pour fish sauce, soy sauce, and cooking wine and sugar over the ground turkey, mix together. (I forgot to say I added sugar in the video!)
11. Add sliced chiles and brown the meat for a few minutes until nearly cooked through.
12. Add zucchini and tomatoes and mix in for a couple minutes.
13. Add basil leaves and mix in.
14. Taste it and see if it needs any adjustments to flavor. Sometimes a sprinkle of salt at the end is all it needs to bring out a lot of the flavor.
15. Turn off heat.

Serve it however you like. Either by spooning it over rice, or transfer to a serving plate for self-service.

Braised Short Ribs w/ Celery Root Mashers

Braised Short Ribs served with Celery Root Mashers and Curly Mustard Greens. The short ribs are braised with a blend of onion, celery, carrot, garlic, ketchup, and red wine. Browned first, and then into the oven with braising sauce for a few hours.

This is one of my favorite recipes when I have time and the reason. Its a derivation of Anne Burrell's recipe.

The meat just melts in your mouth, and the braising liquid makes for an excellent gravy over the celery root mashers. If you're looking for a change-up from your run of the mill mashed-potatoes, try boiling a few skinned celery root bulbs and mashing those with your potatoes. Here's Anne Burrell's FoodTV clip on making celery root mashed potatoes. She uses a mill to get them real smooth-- I don't have such fancy equipment, so I mash.

Bon Appetit Fool!