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The Hirshon Thai Seafood Sour Orange Curry – แกงส้ม

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The Hirshon Thai Seafood Sour Orange Curry - แกงส้ม

Sour Orange Curry Image Used Under Creative Commons License From review.edtguide.com

Citizens, today I am proud to share with you a most unusual (outside of Thailand) curry – one that does not use coconut milk as a base!

Kaeng som or gaeng som or Thai sour curry is a sour and spicy fish curry or soup with vegetables popular in central Thailand. The curry is characteristic for its sour taste, which comes from tamarind (makham). The recipe uses palm sugar to sweeten the curry.

A paste called nam phrik kaeng som is prepared as a base for the curry, to which water and the ingredients are added. The preparation of this paste includes shrimp paste and shallots and all the ingredients are pounded with a mortar and pestle. This paste can be made from dry red chilies and one made from fresh red chilies. Some recipes state that large chilies should be used, others prefer bird’s eye chilies.

Fish or shrimp may be used as the basic ingredient. Kaeng som is usually served with steamed rice.

Traditional vegetables used in household preparation include drumstick pods (marum), green papaya, and Sesbania grandiflora flowers (dok khae), including the red variant of the flower in kaeng som dok khae daeng. Other locally available vegetables are used in the traditional versions such as Ipomoea aquatica (phak bung) and Neptunia oleracea (phak krachet).

Following the popularization of the dish, currently the favored vegetables include cauliflower, white radish, cabbage, chinese cabbage, carrot, long beans and asparagus, as well as cha om omelet.

The versions using shrimp instead of fish are more popular; kaeng som with shrimp and cha-om omelet is now a standard dish in Thailand. Other types may include pineapple or seafood. The common point, however, is that coconut milk is not used in this sour curry.

Southern Thailand has its own sour curry, which is locally called kaeng som, but in the rest of Thailand is called kaeng lueang (“yellow curry”) or kaeng som phak tai (“southern Thai kaeng som”) to differentiate it from the central Thai kaeng som.

It differs from the central Thai dish through its use of tamarind paste, assam fruit (som kaek) and lime juice to achieve the sourness, turmeric, which gives it a yellow color, garlic, shallots. The main characteristics of the southern variant is the use of turmeric and that it very spicy, sour and salty.

I add garlic, turmeric and Chinese keys to mine. Many people add Chinese keys to tame the fish flavor and add a nice aroma to the curry. My version of this curry paste does use some fresh turmeric, in the style of southern Thailand.

Citizens, this non-coconut milk curry is both unusual and delicious and I hope you will give it a try! :D

Battle on – The Generalissimo

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The Hirshon Thai Seafood Sour Orange Curry – แกงส้ม

Ingredients

  • For the curry paste:
  • 1 dried Anaheim pepper
  • 4 dried Chiles de arbol
  • 2 orange Thai chili peppers, minced - if unavailable, try 1 orange habanero instead
  • 1" piece peeled fresh turmeric, sliced (cut and peel on a paper plate, dispose of plate immediately after cutting and wash knife and your hands thoroughly after cutting - fresh turmeric stains permanently!)
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons minced shallots
  • 1 teaspoon shrimp paste
  • 1 tablespoon Chinese keys (Optional) - (aka gra-chai) scraped and grated (optional but recommended)
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • ⅓ cup skinless, boneless meat of poached trout or catfish (optional but recommended)
  • 2 ½ cups of fish stock
  • ¼ cup prepared tamarind pulp
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 3 tsp. palm sugar (preferred) or if unavailable use light brown sugar
  • For the curry
  • 1 lb. Shrimp or boneless and skinless white fish fillet
  • ¼ cup decoratively sliced daikon radish
  • ¼ cup sliced green beans
  • ¼ cup peeled green papaya, cubed

Instructions

  1. Cut up the dried chili peppers and soak in warm water for at least 20 minutes or until soft.
  2. When the peppers are soft, squeeze out the water and place them in a food processor.
  3. Add salt, which helps with the grinding.
  4. Grind the peppers until the paste becomes smooth.
  5. Add Chinese Keys (if using) and turmeric. Grind until mixed in.
  6. Add garlic, Thai chilis and shallots. Grind until smooth. Add shrimp paste and grind to mix it in.
  7. Add the fish meat and grind until you have a smooth paste.
  8. Put the fish stock in a pot and bring it to a gentle boil.
  9. Stir in the prepared paste, followed by tamarind pulp, fish sauce, and palm sugar.
  10. Once the palm sugar completely dissolves, taste and correct the seasoning as necessary. The flavor should be predominantly sour, then salty, and a little sweet.
  11. Your kaeng som curry base is now ready to be used right away or frozen.
  12. Bring 2 cups of the curry base to a boil in a medium pot, add vegetables. Once the vegetables are almost ready, add cubes of fish fillets or peeled and deveined shrimp and gently cook until the fish or shrimp is done.
  13. Serve immediately with plenty of white rice!
https://www.thefooddictator.com/hirshon-thai-seafood-sour-orange-curry-%e0%b9%81%e0%b8%81%e0%b8%87%e0%b8%aa%e0%b9%89%e0%b8%a1/

Paul Bocuse Sea Bass in Pastry with Sauce Choron

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Paul Bocuse Sea Bass in Pastry with Sauce Choron

Paul Bocuse Sea Bass in Pastry with Sauce Choron Image Used Under Creative Commons License From overworkedunderfed.blogspot.com

Citizens, Paul Bocuse is a truly legendary French chef!

Paul Bocuse is based in Lyon and is famous for the high quality of his restaurants and his innovative approaches to cuisine. A student of Eugénie Brazier, he is one of the most prominent chefs associated with the nouvelle cuisine, which is less opulent and calorific than the traditional cuisine classique, and stresses the importance of fresh ingredients of the highest quality. Paul Bocuse claimed that Henri Gault first used the term, nouvelle cuisine, to describe food prepared by Bocuse and other top chefs for the maiden flight of the Concorde airliner in 1969.

Bocuse has made many contributions to French gastronomy both directly and indirectly, because he has had numerous students, many of whom have become famous chefs themselves. One of his students was Austrian Eckart Witzigmann, one of four Chefs of the Century and the first German-speaking and the third non-French-speaking chef to receive three Michelin stars. Since 1987, the Bocuse d’Or has been regarded as the most prestigious award for chefs in the world (at least when French food is considered), and is sometimes seen as the unofficial world championship for chefs. Bocuse has received numerous awards throughout his career, including the medal of Commandeur de la Légion d’honneur.

The Culinary Institute of America honored Bocuse in their Leadership Awards Gala on 30 March 2011. He has received the “Chef of the Century” award. On 4 July 2012, in the New York Times the Culinary Institute of America announced they will change the name of their “Escoffier” Restaurant to the “Bocuse” Restaurant, after a year-long renovation.

In 1975, he created the world famous soupe aux truffes (truffle soup) for a presidential dinner at the Elysée Palace. Since then, the soup has been served in Bocuse’s restaurant near Lyon as Soupe V.G.E., V.G.E. being the initials of former president of France Valéry Giscard d’Estaing.

This particular recipe is one of my favorites by the Master.

Battle on – The Generalissimo

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Paul Bocuse Sea Bass in Pastry with Sauce Choron

Ingredients

  • Prepare the sea bass:
  • 1 sea bass weighing around 1 ¾ pounds (800 g), skinned
  • Table salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Olive oil
  • 2 packages flaky pastry
  • 1 egg yolk
  • Make the mousse:
  • 3 ½ ounces (100 g) skinless fillet of bass
  • 3 ½ ounces (100 g) scallops, rinsed and dried
  • Table salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 whole egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 7/8 cup (200 ml) heavy cream
  • ¼ cup (50 g) softened butter
  • 1 ounce (30 g) shelled pistachios
  • 1 teaspoon tarragon
  • Make the sauce Choron:
  • 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
  • 3 shallots
  • ¾ cups (150 g) butter
  • 1 teaspoon tarragon
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon tomato concentrate
  • Table salt
  • 1 knife point coarsely ground pepper

Instructions

  1. Prepare the sea bass
  2. Cut the fish under the gill, as far as the central bone. Split the skin all along the back.
  3. The bass is the same fish as the perch. The first is fished in the Mediterranean, while the second is caught in the North Atlantic.
  4. Slip the blade of the knife under the skin, and peel it back over the whole side, pulling it toward the tail. Do the same thing on the other side.
  5. Take out the spine by pulling it. Salt and pepper the fish on both sides. Sprinkle it with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Keep it cool in the refrigerator.
  6. Make the mousse
  7. Cut the fish into pieces. Put them into the bowl of a food processor, along with the scallops and 2 teaspoons of table salt. Mix. Add ten twists of the peppermill. Add the whole egg and egg yolk, and mix.
  8. If there is some mousse left over, poach it for a few minutes in simmering water and serve separately.
  9. Add the cream, mix, then scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the butter. Mix again. Tip the mixture into a bowl. Chop the pistachios and the tarragon and add them. Let harden in a cool place for at least 1 hour.
  10. You can find shelled pistachios (peeled) in the shops. Cut them with a knife rather than in the food processor, which might reduce them to powder.
  11. Make the sauce Choron
  12. Heat the wine vinegar in a saucepan.
  13. Peel the shallots. Make vertical and horizontal cuts in them, then dice.
  14. Put them into the vinegar and let it reduce to dry over high heat. Reserve.
  15. Tip the shallot purée into a small bowl as soon as the liquid has evaporated.
  16. Melt the butter. Chop the tarragon.
  17. Put the egg yolks into a saucepan with 2 teaspoons of water. Mix.
  18. Heat over low heat while beating well, so that the mixture thickens (into a sabayon).
  19. Take it off the heat.
  20. While the eggs are cooking over low heat, stir them constantly (in a figure eight) with a whisk to keep them from thickening too fast. When you can see the bottom of the pan clearly, that tells you that the sabayon is thick enough.
  21. Gradually add the butter while continuing to stir. Add the shallot reduction, the tarragon, then the tomato concentrate. Season with a little salt and pepper.
  22. Roll out the pastry dough on its paper. Cut two 1 ¼ inch (3-cm) strips, and stick them onto the sides to form a rectangle (if your pastry is round; otherwise roll out a rectangle on greaseproof paper). Lay the bass on the pastry. Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
  23. Fill a piping bag, without a nozzle, with the mousse. Pipe a little mousse into the gills of the fish. Repeat this into the inside of the fish. Mix the egg yolk with 1 teaspoon of water and a pinch of salt. Spread a little of this glaze on the pastry around the fish, using a brush.
  24. If you don’t have a piping bag, use a small spoon to stuff the fish with the mousse.
  25. Roll out the second packet of flaky pastry. Cut off a strip about 2 ½ inches (6 cm) wide and set aside for the decoration. Lay the pastry over the fish. Press all around to make the two layers of pastry stick together. Cut the excess pastry back to within about ¾ -inch (2-cm) of the fish, drawing in the side fins and the tail. Glaze the fish with the egg wash.
  26. Copy the appearance of fins and tail: Mark the pastry with a ½ inch (12-mm) nozzle for the scales. Draw in the eye and the mouth. Cut a strip of pastry measuring ½ by 6 inch (12 mm by 15 cm). Place it at the base of the head. Cut out a fin and stick it on.
  27. Make a small ball of pastry and place it on the eye. Glaze again with egg wash. Trim the greaseproof paper to within ½ inch (12 mm) of the pastry. Slide the fish on to a baking tray and bake for 25 minutes. Serve with the sauce Choron.
  28. Reheat the sauce Choron by putting it into a bain-marie over just simmering water.
  29. This recipe was originally published in "My Best Paul Bocuse" (Éditions Alain Ducasse).
https://www.thefooddictator.com/paul-bocuse-sea-bass-pastry-sauce-choron/

The Hirshon Japanese Miso-Marinated Black Cod – 西京焼き

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The Hirshon Japanese Miso-Marinated Black Cod - 西京焼き

Gindara Image Used Under Creative Commons License From moranbong.co.jp

Citizens, of all the delicious fish in the Japanese culinary repertoire, Gindara (miso-cured and glazed black cod) reigns high in the firmament of all finned feasting!

The sablefish has many names: in English, common names for it include sable (USA), butterfish (USA),black cod (USA, UK, Canada), blue cod (UK), bluefish (UK), candlefish (UK), coal cod (UK), coalfish (Canada), beshow, and skil(fish) (Canada), although many of these names also refer to other, unrelated, species.

The sablefish is found in muddy sea beds in the North Pacific at depths of 300 to 2,700 m (980 to 8,860 ft) and is commercially important to Japan.

The white flesh of the sablefish is soft-textured and mildly flavored. It is considered a delicacy in many countries. When cooked, its flaky texture is similar to Patagonian toothfish (Chilean sea bass).

The meat has a high fat content and can be prepared in many ways, including grilling, smoking, or frying, or served as sushi. Sablefish flesh is high in long-chain omega 3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA. It contains about as much as wild salmon.

This particular dish’s cooking method is known as “Saikyo Yaki”.  Saikyo in Japanese means “West City” and it’s actually the old name for Kyoto.

This specific cooking method is named Saikyo because the recipe utilizes Saikyo Miso (sweet white miso) which originated from the Kyoto area. The traditional Saikyo Yaki recipes include just three ingredients: Saikyo Miso, mirin, and sake.

My recipe for Gindara is closely based on superchef Nobu Matsuhisa’s version, as it was he who popularized this delicious recipe outside Japan. Citizens, it remains one of my great favorites and is not difficult at all to make!

Battle on – The Generalissimo

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The Hirshon Japanese Miso-Marinated Black Cod – 西京焼き

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup shiro (white) miso
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup sake
  • 6 tbsp. mirin (sweet Japanese cooking wine)
  • 1 lb. boneless sashimi-quality black cod
  • Sea salt

Instructions

  1. Put all marinade ingredients in top of a double boiler and mix with a wooden spoon until smooth.
  2. Cook over simmering water over medium heat until fragrant, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Cut 1 lb. boneless sashimi-quality black cod into 8 equal pieces.
  3. Sprinkle sea salt over the fillets and set aside for 30 minutes. This will help get rid of the fishy smell and removes excess moisture from the fish.
  4. Wet a paper towel with sake and gently pat the fillets dry. Do not wash the fish.
  5. Pour half of cooled miso marinade into a shallow dish, add cod, then pour remaining marinade on top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 days, traditionally it cures for a week!
  6. Position a rack in center of oven about 8'' under broiler. Preheat broiler.
  7. Remove the marinade off the fillets completely with your fingers. Do not leave excess miso on the fish otherwise it'll burn easily. Place the fish skin side up on baking pan lined with parchment paper.
  8. Put in oven and broil until caramelized, about 10 minutes. Turn cod over and broil until fish flakes easily, about 3 minutes more.
  9. Serve immediately.
https://www.thefooddictator.com/hirshon-japanese-miso-marinated-black-cod-%e8%a5%bf%e4%ba%ac%e7%84%bc%e3%81%8d/

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