.: evil jungle prince :.

Seeing as I live in California, I'm kind of obliged to post this entry. But it's less than painful to do because I can eat a million of these and still find room for more.

California rolls are Japanese maki rolls made with a key California ingredient: avocado. Mine are made with avocado, asparagus, and crab. I tend to lean away from fusion food in favor of the real thing, but in this case, I think fusion food stands its own ground. The combination of the crab and avocado somehow scream "California sun" while the dish remains anchored in the beautiful subtleties of Japanese cuisine.

1. Start by cooking short grain rice in a rice cooker.

2. Meanwhile, prepare your ingredients by cutting avocado, blanched and chilled asparagus, and imitation crab sticks into strips. If the crab sticks are too large, peel into two long pieces.

3. When the rice is down, place it into a bowl. Sprinkle the rice with rice vinegar while at the same time fanning it. Keep tasting the rice until it tastes like sushi rice -- slightly but not overly tart. Fan until cool.

4. Take out a sheet of nori and plate it atop a sushi mat. Use the rice paddle and spread rice all over the nori, with the exception of the the very end (farthest from you). Leave 1/2 inch so the maki can be sealed.

5. Place the ingredients at the end closest to you. Use the sushi mat to begin rolling up the maki. After the ingredients disappear into the roll, pull the roll closer and roll until the maki is sealed.

6. Cut into bit sized pieces with very sharp knife. Discard ends.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 08:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

This dish falls under "didn't use a recipe -- just made it according to the parameters of my craving." I would describe it as a mix between pad thai and pad khe mao, with a Korean kick in the pants.

To make it, here's what I did:

1. First I marinated cubes of firm tofu in a spicy marinade, consisting of: a few dashes of white pepper, 2-3 tsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp dried red chili pepper flakes, 1 tsp lime juice, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp fish sauce. Allow to sit for a few minutes so the tofu can absorb the seasoning.

2. Next I prepard my fresh ingredients: 1 sliced shallot, 2-3 green peppers, 2-3 cloves sliced garlic, chopped green onions, and 1-2 tsp chopped coriander stems (optional), one bunch of Thai basil leaves. Place to the side.

3. Next I began preparing my noodles by placing 1/3 package of sen-yai rice noodles into boiling water, stirring and tasting until they were al dente (soft but still rather chewy). These are then drained and immediately placed under cold water to stop cooking. Set aside.

4. Finally I sauteed the following in a wok with a little peanut oil: shallots, peppers, garlic, and coriander stems. (Leave just a few of the fresh ingredients to the side for a topping.) When aromatic, I then added my marinated tofu, basil. Be sure to include all the marinade sauce. Stir fry briefly on high heat.

5. Next I added 2-3 tsp oyster sauce, dash or two of soy sauce, and Thai basil leaves. Stir fry on high heat until the noodles have uniformly absorbed the liquids. Ideally your wok heat will be high enough to slightly char the noodles. Just before removing from wok, add green onions and then remove.

6. The noodles can then be topped with the remaining fresh ingredients together with some chopped peanuts for crunch. Serve with a cool vegetable like cucumber -- enjoy!

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 05:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

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)

Sometimes I get crazy ideas in my head and they are usually tied directly to the immediate demands of my stomach. In my garden yesterday I was marveling at how huge my kkaennip (Korean shiso or 깻잎) crop is this year, with leaves sometimes larger than my hand. In the years prior I have used the leaves to make kkaennip kimchi -- one of my favorite types -- but I wondered how else it might be used. As this herb is related to basil, I got it into my head that I might be able to use it in an Italian context. The Italians happen to love pine nuts too -- also a very Korean ingredient -- so why not make a Korean-inspired pesto sauce with kkaennip and roasted pine nuts?

You can see for yourself how huge this year's kkaennip leaves got -- nearly the size of a dinner plate. This year we had freezing temperatures and I wonder if this more-like-Korean climate wasn't actually beneficial to my kkaennip crop? Kkaennip is my current favorite herb. While so basil-like in taste, it also has elements of sweet licorice in it, making it a truly unique set of tastes to work with.

1. To make my pesto, I began by roasting about two handfuls of pine nuts in a pan until they began to brown.

2. I then placed the roasted pine nuts with fresh kkaennip leaves, 2 tsp salt, 2-3 garlic cloves, and olive oil into a food processor, creating the pesto sauce.

3. Finally I cooked some linguini until slightly past al dente. After draining them, I then mixed the pasta and the pesto and served with a fresh kkaennip leaf, a few reserved roasted pine nuts, and roasted sesame seeds.

Kkaennip growing in the garden, below a Korean chili pepper plant -- also doing very well this year.

My version of Italian-Korean fusion. Let me know what you think! I really enjoyed this one, with the unique licorice-tasting kkaennip just barely noticeable.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 08:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)

I was craving something tropical yesterday (as usual), but couldn't decide between making a mango lassi or making a banana lassi. So why not combine them, I thought? Here's the result -- I loved the unique color and taste combination this turned out to be. The mango was flavorful and tart whereas the banana was smooth and sweet. Combined with a little lime juice, honey, and yogurt this was really a superb and refreshing snack.

Here's how I made it:

1. First I skinned a ripe mango and cut the flesh into pieces.

2. In a blender I combined the following: fresh mango, one banana, 2-3 tsp honey (for sweetening), 1 tsp lime juice (for a little tartness), Greek yogurt, and some frozen mango pieces (to keep the drink nice and cold).

3. Blend briefly. Don't blend too long in order to keep the drink cool and thick.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 07:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

For whatever reason -- genetics I suppose -- anxiety runs in my family and we have all dealt with various forms of it throughout our lives. For a number of years I dealt with this by taking a drug called Serzone, until one day a friend of mine let me know that Europe was pulling this product from the market because of deaths due to liver toxicity. Needless to say, I weaned myself off it as quickly as was possible. I was fortunate to be able to do this because at that same time, I was transitioning into a new career which was, and remains, about 200% less stressful than the last one. I'm happy to say I've been off of prescription antidepressants ever since.

This doesn't mean however than I'm anxiety free. Nobody is, and living without anxiety is a complicated task. One needs a sound mind, a life that is fulfilling, an exercise routine, and a healthy diet among many other factors which may contribute to the goal of anxiety reduction. I try as best I can to juggle such goals in a way that is most beneficial to me, but everybody must find their own path. And it's always an ongoing learning experience.

Recently I've begun consuming kava kava (Piper methysticum) an am enjoying it immensely. Kava has a peppery taste and has long been a part of religious, political, and cultural life throughout the Pacific. Kava has a calming effect which I'll describe in the following paragraph, similar to an antidepressant but without the strange side effects. I'm still experimenting with different preparations, but my favorite so far has been "kava chai," or Indian chai prepared with kava in place of black tea. (See EVP's chai entry for a chai recipe.) I'll mince no words: kava is nasty! But preparing it heavily spiced and sweetened with honey renders it quite tasty. By itself, it is peppery and nothing you'd want to recreationally consume.

The effects of kava are singular. With the first sip, one's tongue immediately feels numb. The mind and the body then feel progressively relaxed but without feeling sleepy. A sense of well-being follows. These effects last for an hour or so and they altogether mild. One's troubles seem to become a secondary type of reality -- removed from a satisifying, lackadaisical existence. Worries may continue to exist but they become peripheral as opposed to oppositional.

I have noticed over time that many of my worries are a regular cycle. That is, they really have less to do with the things I'm worried about than they do with my mind attaching itself to the next stressful topic. In such circumstances, I allow these worries to pass over me while I enjoy a cup of kava. They aren't worth the trouble.

Today's cup was enjoyed with some yummy, dairy free ginger bread. Good combo!

By the way, if you're interested in experimenting with kava yourself, be sure that you never use kava products which utilize stem peelings and leaves because these products can lead to liver toxicity as well. Traditional use of kava only uses the root and this has been proven safe by hundreds of years of practical use and consumption. I use Kava King which only uses root in its product.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

One of my favorite warm drinks is Indian style chai, but not being a fan of American dairy products (due to BGH contamination) I have longed for a good alternative to condensed milk's creamy goodness. Soy milk does not work well with tea due to its chalky consistency, but recently I discovered that almond milk makes for a perfect, super creamy alternative.

1. First I measure out a cup full of almond milk and place this into a small pot, pan, or kettle. To this I add one bag of black tea.

2. Next I grind the following in a mortar coarsely and add it as well: 2 whole cloves, 1 small stick cinnamon , and 2 cardamom pods.

3. Finally I bring the mixture to a boil, watching it continuously so that it does not boil over. I then pour the chai through a strainer.

If you like your chai really sweet (like I sometimes do), I add a spoonful of honey. This makes for a guitless sweet treat any time of the day.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Sometimes I cook strictly by the rules but other times I like to cook according to what I crave. This is a good example of the latter. O-hitashi spinach rolls are actually an old dish from Japan, but in this case I Koreanized them by preparing them with yang nyeom jang sauce, as opposed to the typical soy sauce marinade in the Japanese version. The result was a zestier roll which suited my cravings just perfectly.

1. First I began by preparing a traditional Korean yang nyeom jang sauce. I combined 3 tsp soy sauce, 2 hot green peppers (minced), 1 tsp chopped green onion, 1 large clove garlic (crushed), 1 tsp chili pepper powder, 1 tsp roasted sesame seeds, 1 tsp sesame oil, and a dash of black pepper. Set aside.

2. Next I dropped fresh spinach into boiling water and removed immediately once the spinach wilted. I ran cool water over the spinach and then gently squeezed out the liquid from the spinach. I then added 1 tsp of the yang nyeom jang sauce to the spinach, mixing with the fingers, squeezed out excess liquid again, and then created a roll shape. This was then cut into pieces with a very sharp knife.

3. Finally I topped the o-hitashi with some extra sesame seeds. I served them on rice with some yang nyeom jang sauce on the side.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 08:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's guava season in my backyard, so this weekend it was time for me to decide how to best use the few pink guavas that managed to survive continual attacks by insects, birds, and gardeners. (Yes, last week I discovered that the gardeners had helped themselves to two of my earliest-to-ripen guavas, much to my dismay!)

I love the perfumed, tropical, sweet smell of guavas. They are an amazing fruit, rendered even more mesmerizing by their wonderful pink color. What a sight they are once cut through with a knife.

Yesterday I had a craving for both waffles and guavas, so I decided to experiment a little and try making pink guava waffles. I couldn't find a recipe for such a thing, so I experimented and came up with the following. To my culinary glee, they turned out great. For additional fun I topped them with some longan fruits and powdered sugar.

1. To prepare the waffles, I first combined 1/4 stick butter, 2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, and 4 tsp baking powder and mixed in an electric mixer.

2. Next I folded in 2 egg whites, 1 1/3 cup flour, and 1 3/4 cup almond milk. (Any kind of milk will do, but I use almond milk to avoid American dairy products due to Bovine Growth Hormone contamination.) I also added 1 tsp of powdered coconut milk.

3. I then scooped out the flesh of two pink guavas and added them to the mixture, until the waffle batter turned light pink.

4. Lastly I cooked the waffles in a waffle iron until crispy and topped them with longans and powdered sugar.

Yummy American style breakfast food with a tropical twist.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Hi, everyone! Some bolshoy appy-polly-loggies to you for the delay in posting these days, but with temperatures in the 110-120F range daily, even a heat-lover like me has had his energy zapped. But fret not, I'm still here and ready to do more tinkering the chemistry lab which is my kitchen.

Last night's dinner was an experimental use of available ingredients, which to my delight combined to form a super-yummy meal. With some leftover pumpkin seeds, fresh limes, a rather large Thai basil plant in my garden, garlic, and some good Greek olive oil, I came up with a Thai basil and roasted pumpkin seed pesto sauce which I used to season a freshly cooked batch of linguini noodles. This experiment far exceeded my expectations and will surely be prepared again in this household. So in the name of future replication, here's the recipe I used...

1. First I dry-roasted 3-4 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds in a pan until they became fragrant and began to pop. These were then placed into the food processor. Note: use the green pumpkin seeds known as pepitas, not the white ones.

2. To the food processor, I also added the following: 2-3 cloves fresh garlic, 1 tsp fresh lime juice, 1 cup fresh Thai basil leaves, 1 tsp honey, 2 small tsp salt, and about 8-10 heaping tsp of olive oil. (As always, I used Greek olive oil which is the only good olive oil in this world.) This mixture was pulsed until the mixture was semi-liquid but still a little coarse. (See photo above.)

3. Finally, I boiled the linguini until it was al dente, rinsed it with cold water. I then placed the pot on a low flame and combined the pesto with the linguini until mixed and slightly heated.

I served my Thai basil and pumpkin seed pesto linguini with grilled zucchini slices, which were pan fried on a grill pan with a very small amount of oil and salt only. Before serving, I also squeezed a little fresh lime juice on the slices as well as the pasta. I served the dish in a naengmyun bowl and cut the zucchini into slices, in the style of a Korean dish. I added the fresh tomato and basil for a splash of color.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 08:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

This dish started out as a recipe for spicy longbeans, but as longbeans are in short supply here in the desert I thought I would try it out using French beans instead. I was so happy with the result that I thought I'd go ahead and post the recipe. I have, by the way, tried replacing American green beans for longbeans in the past with rather disastrous results -- the American green beans refused to soften leaving me with an all-too-crispy stir fry. French beans, on the hand, cooked down to just the right texture -- perhaps just 1/2 notch below al dente. And the taste? So wonderful. I ended up eating these with rice alone and making a nice meal of it.

1. First, I prepared by ingredients in advance. (Stir-frying is a quick process so there's no time to rest and prepare ingredients.)

1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds, 1 dried chili broken into pieces, and curry leaves (optional)

1 tsp ginger (minced) and 1 tsp garlic (minced)

longbeans or French beans, 3 chopped, dried chillies

1/2 cup coconut milk, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp sugar, 1/8 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 stock cube

2. Next I heated peanut oil and fried the 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds, 1 dried chili broken into pieces, and curry leaves (optional).

3. Once the oil was fragrant, I then briefly added the 1 tsp ginger (minced) and 1 tsp garlic (minced).

4. Once the ginger and garlic had infused the oil, I added the French beans and 3 chopped, dried chillies. These were stir fried for about 5 mins.

5. Finally, I added 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp sugar, 1/8 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp chili powder, and 1/2 stock cube. (This can be any kind of stock -- fish, vegetable, etc.) The beans were stir fried in the seasoned coconut milk for another 5 mins, until nearly all the seasoning had evaporated.

The original recipe called for garnishing the beans with cilantro, which I was hesitant to do because it sounded strange, but I must admit the zesty freshness of the cilantro did add something to the salty, pungent tastes. This tasted great and was a big success. In my mouth, at least. ;-)

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Last night I was looking at a recipe for gkai pad gkaprow (spicy basil chicken) when I noticed that it said 'anything goes' when it comes to replacing the chicken with other proteins, so I tried preparing spicy basil tofu. To my suprise it really came out great and I'll likely be repeating this recipe from herein.

1. First I prepared the ingredients by slivering 2-3 shallots, 2-3 cloves of garlic, a few kaffir lime leaves, and slicing a couple of Thai chilli peppers (to taste) into small rounds. I also set a aside a handful of fresh Thai basil, half a block of cubed, firm tofu, and 4-5 green onions (cut into 3 inch lengths). I then pre-mixed my seasonings in a small bowl by mixing 3-4 tablespoons of soy sauce, white pepper to taste, and half a teaspoon of shrimp paste in soy bean oil.

2. Next I heated the wok until smoking, added peanut oil, and then the shallots, garlic, and chilli peppers. Once fragrant, I then added the tofu. After about 15 seconds, I then added the pre-mixed seasonings. After about 15 more seconds, I added the green onions. I then added the Thai basil and removed the contents as soon as the leaves were about mid-way, but not entirely wilted.

By the way, here is the new wok I picked up in San Francisco. It is pure heaven using this after dealing with a Le Creuset wok for so many years that never functioned the way I wanted it to. That wok was the bane of my kitchen existence -- it had so many problems. It was flat bottomed and always fell off my round-bottom burner while cooking, it never seasoned properly and food always stuck to it, it was too heavy and too bulky to easily remove food, and the list goes on. On the other hand, my new wok seasons perfectly, fits the burner perfectly, is light enough to easily remove food, has two handles, and is an all-around joy to use. My wok burdens have been lifted!

Don't forget: anything goes with thai basil.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 07:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (1)

Breakfast this morning was this delicious banana bread chock full of crunchy macadamia nuts. What a flavor and texture combination! Biting into this moist, succulent, tropical tasting bread transported me immediately back to Honolulu. How I miss being there! This was a great accompaniment to my morning espresso, as well.

The idea for this recipe began at Costco. Last month's trip to Costco was my first and wow did it amaze me. I was unduly impressed by the selection and quality of foods they had available at super-low prices. One such item was a coffee-can sized cannister of macadamia nuts for $8.00 -- zoinks! (Usually this would buy you a measly 10-15 macadamia nuts at the grocery store in a baking powder sized can. What a discrepancy!) Suddenly finding myself in macadamia nut heaven, I set about looking for a good recipe.

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour bread pan. In a mixer, mix 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup light brown sugar until creamy.

2. In a separate bowl, combine 1 3/4 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt. Blend ingredients into sugar/butter mixture.

3. Next add 2 cups mashed bananas, two eggs (I used whites only and it turned out great), and 3/4 macadamia nuts (I broke mine up slightly so they wouldn't be too chunky). Bake for one hour or until a stick comes out clean. (For convection ovens, a full hour is probably not necessary.)

This was a great recipe that I'll definitely prepare again. By the way, I took the remainder of the baklava to work and it was a big hit. (Unlike the poutinga bread pudding, which nodbody commented on -- hehe.)

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 06:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

What happens when you fuse together the aromatic spices of Indian chai, black tea, and sweet bread? The answer is a delightfully spicy sweet bread which will knock your socks off in terms of its sheer flavor power.

At times I get cravings that demand immediate attention. Yesterday I heard a voice from somewhere deep witin my soul shout: chai! I had to have these flavors straight away, and as I began brewing my black tea I began to wonder what else might be made with that classic flavor combination of cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, sugar, cream, and tea. As my tea brewed, I stumbled across this recipe.

1. Combine 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup (unmelted) butter. Beat until fluffy.

2. Mix in remaining ingredients: 2 eggs, 1/2 cup black tea, 1/3 cup milk (I used soy milk -- see below for reason), 2 tsp vanilla extract, 2 tsp baking powder, 3/4 tsp ground cardomom, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground cloves, and 2 cups flour.

3. Bake at 400F for 50-60 mins or unti ltoothpick comes out clean. (For convection ovens, I suggest 380F and 40-50mins.)

By the way, you may have noticed that most of my dishes are dairy free, with the exception of recipes utilizing yogurt which I buy imported from Greece. This is intentional.

Recently I became aware of the fact that American milk producers now inject rBGH bovine growth hormone into milk producing cows in order to increase milk production. rBGH hormone is not destroyed by the pasteurization process and also causes mastitis in hormone-treated cattle, resulting in the contamination of milk with significant levels of pus. Mastitis requires the use of antibiotics to treat, which leaves residues that are also passed on through milk consumption. This is why American milk is banned in Europe.

I encourage everyone in the U.S. to learn more about the use of rBGH hormone in United States dairy farms, in order to come to your own enlightened conclusions. Do compare Codex Alimentarius Commission's opinions (i.e. the outside world's opinions) with the shameless propaganda produced by corporate lackeys at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 07:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Last night I was an experimentation mode and decided to try something entirely new. Armed with half a durian and inspired by a muffin recipe I'd been eyeing which used jackfruits, I thought I'd give "durian breakfast muffins" a go. I'm so glad I did, because these were simply delicious!

1. In a mixer, I combined 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup durian pulp, 2 eggs, 2/3 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp vanillla extract. The contents were then poured into a muffin pan.

2. This was then placed in the oven at 325F (310F for convection ovens) and baked for a little over 15 mins.

Man alive, did these smell great! Self restraint was in order, however, as I had been drinking while making these. Not wanting to combine alcohol and durian consumption (a terrible mistake I naively made before which made for my most commented-upon blog entry ever, long ago), I held off until this morning. Biting into the durian muffins released a whole rainbow of complex, heaty flavors! After a bite or two, I immediately had a mad craving for banana, which I ate along with my muffin. Sure enough, a quick lookup online confirmed that banana is considered a cooling food. Amazing what our bodies tell us if we listen, isn't it?

By the way, if you're not familiar with the famous durian fruit, the picture above shows some other Flickr user's durian fruit stall picture. I have yet to try a fresh durian -- my muffins were made from frozen durian because it is impossible to buy them in the desert -- but I anxiously await the opportunity. Personally I think the taste of durian is fabulous. Yes, it may be frightfully pungent in smell and yes, if looks could kill it would easily wipe out entire villages, but the durian is a confirmed friend of mine.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 07:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

As usual, I was craving coconut in a big way today. This craving of mine in turn got me looking at coconut recipes on Recipezaar in an attempt to locate an interesting recipe that would satisfy my insatiable appetite for coconut. Stumbling across this recipe, I wondered if I wouldn't be able to notch up the coconut factor by using a real coconut.

1. I began by using a hammer to whack open a fresh coconut. It fell cleanly into two pieces, coming pre-scored from the grocery store. I then used my handy-dandy scraper tool and scraped out the coconut meat for use in the muffins. Mmmmm, coconut!

2. I then preheated the oven to 375F and placed 1 1/4 cups flour, 2/3 cup sugar, and 1 tsp baking soda in a mixing bowl. Set aside. In a blender, I briefly blended 2 ripe bananas, 1/2 cup butter, 1 egg, and a dash of vanila concentrate. I then combined the two and mixed,, adding 1/2 cup of the freshly grated coconut near the end.

3. After dividing the batter into paper cups, I then placed the remaining fresh coconut on top of the muffins. These were baked for 25 mins.

I was pretty happy with these. The taste of the freshly grated coconut really made the dish, although if I were to bake these again I would leave out a lot of the sugar. The called-for amount of 2/3 cups sugar was too sweet for my taste, although most of my countrymen would probably beg to differ.

Because somebody asked, here is a photo of the scraping tool I used on the coconut (see wooden tool at bottom). The upper part of this wooden tool is what I used to scrape the coconut, which did a fine job. The bottom portion, by the way, is used for shredding green papaya and does a far better job than anything else I own. This is one of my favorite kitchen gadgets and likely the most useful and valuable 99 cent purchase I've ever made. It's from the Philippines. (Can't remember what it's called though?)

The plastic tool up above is another one of my don't-know-what-I-did-before-I-found-this tools. The serrated edge at the bottom is the best cucumber and daikon shredder I have ever used, although surprisingly it is terrible at shredding green papaya. The top portion which is a straight edge is used for skinning vegetables such as potato, carrot, daikon, and cucumber; alternatively it can be used to make very thin, sashimi-style cuts of vegetables. I love this thing and at $10.00, a wise investment. This one is from Japan and was purchased at Mitsuwa Department Store.

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

I had a mad craving for vegetables this evening so I prepared these colorful veggie kebabs, which I served with a Thai sweet-spicy sauce. It was a messy affair on the stovetop but well worth the post-dinner cleanup as the flavors really satisfied my hunger for greens.

1. I first made my Thai-style sweet-spicy sauce by combing a little hot water with a 1 tsp sugar, juice from half a lime, 1 tsp sambal oelek (chili puree), 1 tsp fish sauce, and some crushed peanuts. Mmmm, this sauce would make anything taste good.

2. I then cut my vegetables and skewered them on sticks. For some added flavor, I squeezed some more lime and sprinkled on a little salt on top before adding them to the grill.

Here's what the dipping sauce looked like, with some crushed peanuts on top. I added just a bit to the kebabs as they grilled for some additional flavor.

Tonight was definitely one of those nights when I craved a big bowl of food to eat in front of the television, so here's what the dish looked like after removing the cooked veggies from the skewers and placing them on a bed of rice. (Together with the leftover crushed peanuts... why waste them?) I also didn't want to bother with the dipping sauce, so I lazily poured this on top of the vegetables. The rice subsequently soaked up the sauce, and the end result was... ahhh... just heavenly.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 08:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Well, I guess I was hungry tonight. :)

My main dish was clams in a miso-mustard-sake sauce with green onions. My side dishes included homemade cabbage kimchi, bellflower root, Korean style potatoes, Peking cucumber, and boiled mung bean sprouts with a soy/sesame oil/garlic seasoning.

The miso-mustard-sake combination turned out particularly well, even if I overcooked my green onions a bit.

This was also the first time I felt that my mung bean sprout banchan dish turned out just the way I like it -- on the salty side and not too crispy, heavy on the sesame oil taste.

Armed with some great ingredients I normally can't buy locally, I also gave this bellflower root banchan a try. My first attempt turned out a little too vinegary but I still enjoyed it. The slightly crunchy texture was particularly lovely.

Next time I will remove my green onions before they get too soft.

Stuffed beyond belief, a simple tea sounded good to me so I tried making a jujube-ginger-honey brew with fresh ingredients. To my great surprise, the result was excellent.

Mmmm. Life is good.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 08:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

What a strange day it is today! For the first time this year it is cool and rainy; after a long desert summer with normal high temperatures above 110F and even 120F, weather such as this makes one feel as if it is a foreign country. The cool weather does make it easier however to do chores that work up a sweat -- such as gardening, moving boxes of stuff back into their closets after the interior paint went up, etc etc. So even a sun and heat worshipper like myself can see benefits in grey skies, I suppose...

Today I thought I'd try doing my own version of Iron Chef and see what kind of meals I can make from the things in the garden and backyard that are currently mature and ready to eat. (Iron Jonny?) Here's what I came up with: lemon, jalapeno peppers, Korean gochu pepper, kaffir lime leavs, lemongrass stalk, and some Greek basil.

Last night I also realized that I had frozen some unused galangal, so taken together with this week's "food as medicine" theme (geared towards helping me duke it out with whatever sickness I have been fighting), I thought I'd make galangal soup for lunch. (Most people I know love this Southeast Asian soup and know it mainly by its Thai name, tom kha. A very appropriate name considering how yum it is.) Here I'm making the base broth by boiling sliced galangal, bruised lemongrass stalk, kaffir lime leaves, a little black pepper, a little salt, and half a cube of vegetable broth. (Normally I think chicken is used but I'm not a big chicken fan.)

After the broth has boiled a while, I strained out the contents leaving only the broth itself. I then returned the stock to the stove and added coconut milk, a little fish sauce, some tofu, and some mushrooms. This was then re-heated.

Into the base of my serving bowl, I squeezed half a lime and then added the galangal soup. I ate the final product with a big bowl of rice. Oh, pure heaven! Is there anybody in this world who doesn't like galangal soup?

For dinner I will try and use up the remaining lemon and Greek basil... stay tuned...

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 07:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm not one to waste kimchi or let fresh ingredients go to waste, so what choice did I have but to try making something a little different tonight? Absolutely none.

Sure, I know what I'm setting myself up for. People are going to comment, cringing at the thought of the marriage of kimchi and pizza. But to plead my case, consider for a moment how similar the use of kimchi topping is to other common ingredients such as sun dried tomato (salty/pungent) or sardines (salty/fishy/pungent). Yeah, I hear you: you're not convinced. But believe me, the coming together of kimchi (the world's tastiest condiment) and pizza (the world's most popular guilty pleasure) is an inevitability. In 2020, kimchi pizza will surely be as common as pepperoni.

Here's how it started out -- freshly prepared dough oiled with a small amount of olive oil. (No, I didn't throw it up in the air and no, it didn't land on my face.) On top of this went a small amount of garlic, fresh tomato, Korean perilla leaves, fresh mozarella, and of course... kimchi!

This was baked on a pizza stone at 425F for 10-20 minutes until crispy.

My use of perilla was purely experimental but I felt in the end it was a wild success. Already so basil-like in taste, and yet different and so distinctly Korean, I thought it would make a great candidate as a pizza topping. I was right! The peppery taste complemented but did not overwhelm the salty/pungent tastes of the kimchi.

By the way, kimchi pizza wasn't my idea. I first heard about it from my Jewish friend in New York who sent me this article back in 2002. I've been playing with the idea of making it since that time, and here we have it. Who wants a slice?

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 07:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)