.: evil jungle prince :.

This week I got my first-ever batch of mature shishito peppers from shishito pepper plants I planted from seed. Hoorah! I love the taste of grilled shishitos -- so perfectly simple with that gorgeous smokey, grilled taste fusing with sweet pepper -- ahhhhhh!

I ate my peppers with one of my favorites, pressed and fried tofu topped with a yang nyeom jang sauce. Oh... food orgasm all the way. As one bites into a slightly crunchy exterior, the interior of the tofu is silky... like a marveous sweet pillow of silky flesh just waiting to be devoured, made all the more pleasurable with the addition of the savory yang nyeom jang. Shwing!

I also used the opportunity to eat the last of my homemade kimchi -- admittedly not the best batch I've ever made but a fine complement to this meal.

Slurp. That was a yummy meal. By the way, all were easy and quick to make:

1. For the fried shishitos, I lightly oiled a pan and sauted them for about 1-2 mins on both sides. Then I sprinkled with some sesame seeds.

2. For the fried tofu, I first pressed the tofu with a weight so that it lost about 1/3 of its mass. Then I sprinkled it with salt and pepper, coated with flour, and then fried until slightly crunchy on its exterior. (The yang nyeom jang sauce is made by mixing 3 tsp soy sauce, 1 chopped green pepper, 1 tsp minced green onion, 1 tsp crushed garlic, 1 tsp ground red pepper, 1 tsp roasted sesame seeds, and 1 tsp sesame oil.)

Does anybody know how to write this dish's name in Hangul? My cookbook just calls it "tofu steak," but I would like to say "fried tofu" (or whatever the dish is really called in Korean). Thanks!

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 06:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

... or to be more specific, vegan bibim naengmyun (비빔냉면)! This cold noodle dish normally features an egg on top with a little slab of beef, but my version contains no meat or egg -- in fact, the egg-like item on top is radish carved into an egg-shape. :-)

Bibim naengmyun must be one of the best tasting foods in this world of ours! I love to make it at home on a hot day, the cold-sweet-savory spiciness of noodles cooling me down but heating up my taste buds at the same time. The cold-savory-sweet interplay is played atop the noodles as well in the form of fresh and crunchy radish, cucumber, and Asian pear.

My favorite part about making bibim naengmyun is the fantastic smell of gochujang meeting sesame oil -- could there be a more beautiful scent? I also get excited when the noodles come from the boiling water and are poured into a strainer, the scent of the buckwheat permeating the room and causing my stomach to rumble.

1. Begin by preparing fresh vegetable and fruit toppings by slicing: daikon radish, cucumber, and Korean pear. Set aside.

2. Prepare the seasoning mixture by combining three large tablespoons of gochujang together with 2-3 tablespoons of the following, adjusting amounts to taste: sesame oil, sugar, rice vinegar. Set aside.

3. Now bring water to a boil and boil buckwheat noodles until they are just past al dente. They should be rubbery but not soft. Place into a strainger and rinse immediately with very cold water. Allow to drain.

4. With a large spoon, mix the seasoning with the noodles. Place into a metal bowl and cool the noodles down in the freezer for a few minutes. Don't allow the noodles to begin to freeze but they should be very cold.

5. Top with fresh vegetables and Korean pear. (Traditionally also served with a slice of meat and an egg.)

And now a little Korean music to enjoy with your food: my favorite Korean singer, Simsoo Bong, singing "A Million Scarlet Roses."

Actually this heart-felt, moody stage version is much better than the poppy CD verson, I thought, and what surprise to learn that the original song is Russian! Of course it makes sense after you listen to the original...

In any case, I find both women mesmerizing...

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Coconut, chili peppers, lemongrass... I needed no more convincing that this dish was to be last night's dinner. I wasn't disappointed.

1.Begin by making a curry paste by combing the following in a food processor: 5-8 dried chillies (soaked and drained), pinch of salt, 5 slices galangal or ginger, 3 tsp chopped lemongrass, 4 tsp chopped garlic, 3 tsp red shallots, 10 white pepper corns, 1 tsp shrimp paste (optional).

2. Open a can of coconut milk and carefully remove the frothy, thick cream from the top. Place a portion over medium heat, together with a little peanut oil, and the curry paste. Fry until fragrant. Season with 2 tsp fish sauce and 1 tsp palm sugar. Add remainder of coconut milk (non-cream) and simmer mixture until thick.

3. Add scallops and 2 julienned kaffir lime leaves. Simmer until scallops are cooked (about 5-10 mins max). Adjust seasonings (salt, sugar, fish sauce) to taste.

Serve with more fresh kaffir lime leaf and julienned red pepper. The red pepper topping provides a bonus heat which will set your mouth on fire, which to people like myself is a very good thing. :-)

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 05:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Just doing some more experimenting tonight. Bananas getting dark scream out for banana bread, so this time I've made a near-vegan bread (no dairy, no eggs, but uses some butter) which uses a minimum of butter and is supplemented in taste by the inclusion of coconut milk, medjool dates, and a little taste of cloves.

One of my "beefs" with sweet breads is the tendency of chefs to put far too much oil in them. People are always saying "oh, they're so moist" -- well, I think to myself silently, that's because they're full of oil and fat. But in this recipe, one gets moistness with a minimum of oils and fats, which strikes the best kind of balance.

1. Start out with a scant 1/2 cup of brown sugar and a scant 1/2 cup of white sugar. Combine with 1/2 stick butter at room temperature. Combine in mixer.

2. Now add the remaining ingredients: 3 very soft bananas, 2 cups flour, generous 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 cup coconut milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp cinnamon, scant 1/4 tsp ground cloves, and 1/2 tsp salt. Combine in mixer.

3. To this mixture, add by hand 10-20 sliced medjool dates. If they are hard, don't worry, they will soften up while being baked.

4. Butter a bread pan and dust with flour. Place mixture into bread pan and bake at 350F for 70 mins. If you use a convection oven, bake at 330F.

The exterior will get a bit crisp but this is necessary so that the interior bakes thoroughly. The interior will remain soft and moist.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 07:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Last night I experimented with some new recipes. Since it's chili pepper season and I'm crazy about anything Capsicum, I tried out Mahanandi's recipe for fried peppers in peanut sauce:

As you can see, I used Korean peppers instead, and they turned out just wonderfully. The firey, crunchy, zesty taste of the smokey peppers worked so deliciously with the peanut sauce. See Mahanandi's recipe for details.

I ended my firey dish with some sweet mango and coconut halva which I made the night before. I happened to have some fresh strawberries, so I sliced them and cut the halva around the shape of the strawberry slices. I loved how the slightly sour but sweet taste of the strawberry played off the sweet mango and cardamom. Yum! This is another Mahanandi recipe that you can look into here.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 05:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

When people say "I don't like okra," I can hardly believe my ears. I love okra, and okra with a bit of chili pepper and garlic seems like a marriage made in heaven, to my tastebuds at least. So you can imagine how much I enjoyed this easy and quick recipe for okra masala, or Indian spiced okra.

1. Place a pinch of fenugreek seeds, pinch of fennel seeds, 2-3 cardamom pods, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 bay leaf, 3 garlic cloves (chopped), 1 onion (chopped) and saute in peanut oil until the onions are golden.

2. Add 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp ground coriander, and 1 tsp tomato paste. Mix with onion mixture and then add 2 finely diced tomatoes and 2 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the sauce thickens.

3. Add fresh or thawed frozen okra (whole). Stir into the masala sauce and simmer for 5 mins until the okra is tender.

If you don't like okra because it breaks down when it cooks, have no fears. In this recipe the okra is cooked whole and so the okra never becomes mushy. Serve with rice or an Indian bread. Enjoy!

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 05:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

One of my home renovation fantasies, perhaps only half-serious (and half for comedy value), is the thought of having a tandoori oven in my backyard, adjacent to my tiny kitchen. "Half fire pit, half tandoori oven," I tell people as they grin at me curiously. Perhaps if I manage to get on H&G TV or win a contest, that will come to pass, but in the meantime I'll be making Indian naan bread with my pizza stone.

My recipe is modeled after Mahanandi's recipe, which works really well with a pizza stone. While the pizza stone offers few of its authentic counterpart's characteristics, it does provide for a hot surface which quickly bakes the naan from below and creates a crispy surface with soft, chewy interior. Who doesn't like naan?

1. Mix 2 tsp warm water and 1/2 tsp sugar with 2 tsp active dry yeast. Allow to become bubbly.

2. Place 4 cups flour, 1-2 cups yogurt (BGH-free), 2 tsp melted ghee or butter, 1 tsp sugar, yeast mixture, and 1 tsp salt in a mixer and combine until the mixture pulls away from the sides of bowl.

3. Oil a bowl and place mixture in, covering bowl with a damp towel until the mixture rises to twice its size (about 2 hours).

4. Preheat oven to 425F with pizza stone.

5. Roll into tennis ball size portions. Flatten a little and pull the top and bottom portion into a naan shape. Baste naan tops with butter and whatever topping suits your fancy -- I like garlic on mine.

6. Bake for 5-10 mins or until golden. Add a little dollup of butter and serve.

Thanks to Mahanandi for this great recipe.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 06:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)