Crispy Baked Beet Green Chips

We had a full day of green eating a few weeks ago and it doesn’t seem to stop. When we cooked up mustard greens we also made a batch of beet green chips as a test. This test turned out to be a nice surprise and worthy of sharing, so here’s what we have to say: Don’t waste those beet greens, crisp them into chips. That’s what we did when our garden beet roots are still to young to harvest but we have so many tender beet greens to pluck.  It started with a few handful of seeds tossed in the garden, followed by ridiculously climate-changing warm weather.

Now we’re swimming in tender greens that normally would be peaking in March. So in celebration of our love of kale chips, we’re extending our craving for green munchies by using up all the beet greens before the bugs get to them. Kale chips are one of our favorite munchies because not only are they lighter than potato chips, we just love the taste . But it doesn’t hurt to mix it up a bit, especially when we can harvest a ton of beet greens this time of year.

Our first thought was what would beet green chips taste like? Normally beet greens are a little tougher and more leathery, but when plucked from the garden beet itself, we’re hoping for some better results. And even if the greens are a little tougher? Would it be worth the effort to make them into chips?

The answer to that question depends on how open minded you are. We loved these batch of baked beet greens, but we weren’t expecting them to be as light and crispy as kale chips. Neither were we expecting the flavor to be the same. So we went into this recipe with lower expectations and when the batch came out of the oven, we were thrilled at how delicious they were.

Beet greens are going to be a little thicker, so when baked, they don’t have the same “melt-in-your-mouth” texture like you would get from kale chips. And the flavor of baked beet chips are a little more grassy tasting. That’s what makes them unique and a light snack when you have some beet greens to use up.

This is one of those recipes that come in handy when you don’t want to waste your greens and make use of everything, from leaves down to root!

Enjoy!

Lexi was so curious about beet greens.

off to the oven with the greens

Yield: Serves 2

Total Time: 45 min

See post for additional recipe details.

About 1 large bunch of beets greensolive oilkosher or sea saltfresh cracked black pepperPre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line one or two baking sheet pans with parchment paper.Wash beet greens and blot with towels to remove excess water. Remove inner rib of beet stems if they are thick and tough. Smaller, more tender beet greens can be baked with the inner rib intact.Add all the beet greens in a large bowl. Start by tossing or spraying about 1 tablespoon of olive oil at a time, making sure the beet greens are lightly coated with oil. But do not over oil the leaves or they will become too greasy when baked.Lay the beet greens in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle salt and pepper over beet greens to taste. Season on both sides of the beet leaves.Bake the beet greens for about 15 minutes, turn the beet greens and continue baking for 10 minutes or until the greens are crisp.

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Crispy Fried Brussels Sprouts with Mom’s Chili Fish Sauce

Finally, I think Mom would approve of this recipe, or at least my hacked version of her chili fish sauce. You see, I’ve been known to break many culinary rules and Mom has pretty much warmed up to my kitchen shenanigans and fiendish ways of using fish sauce. Seriously, who would take a traditional Vietnamese spring roll and make a BLT out of it? I did. She also raised both eye brows when I told her that I made a fried egg Vietnamese sandwich called a “Bang Me”. Oh please, it’s just a sandwich. A freaking good one, at that. And last but not least, I took her beloved pork banh mi and made little tapas, open faced bites out of it. She actually giggled about that one.

I love to make kitchen trouble. Or trouble in the kitchen. Or at least anything that has to do with fish sauce. It’s in my blood, I tell ya.

My friends, you must make this and support me. If you like it, I’ll collect all your positive responses and show Mom that I’m not all that crazy. And if you don’t like it, then you’re a bit crazy too because fried brussels sprouts and fish sauce is a delicious combination. A match made in brussels sprouts heaven.

It started back in 2011 when we ate our way through Austin IACP and had our minds blown at East Side King. His version of crispy brussels sprouts was out of this world. Circle around again to 2013 when we were at BlogHer Food Austin, we experienced another addictive version of crispy brussels sprouts at Uchiko and again at East Side King. We just had to do a double take on crispy brussels sprouts in two different restaurants because we just couldn’t get enough.

Now the cravings start to come around again and the cheapest way to indulge in this dish is to make it at home, rather than to fly out to Austin. The crispy fried brussels sprouts is a must for anyone who haven’t plunged their brussels sprouts into hot oil yet. The deep fried flavor and crispy outside, slight charred leaves of the brussels sprouts is a flavor that’s hard to describe. Add on top of that, my hacked (corn starch thickened) version of Mom’s Chili Fish sauce and what you have is about 2 pounds of goodness that you will want to eat all by yourself.

You can’t go wrong on this recipe if you like brussels sprouts, if you love fish sauce and if you don’t care about calories.

Plunge your brussels sprouts in hot oil, I tell ya!

Do it, try it and trust me. I also love the chili fish sauce so much that I might fry a batch of potatoes and toss this addictive sauce on top. Next post!

enjoy,

diane

P.S. I dedicate this post to Miss Rachel because she’s the only person I know of who can out eat me when it comes to brussels sprouts.

More Brussels Sprouts Recipes:

Cheesy Brussels Sprouts Gratin
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Sriracha and Mint
Pan Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Fish Sauce and Lime
Easy Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Vinegar

Yield: Serves 1-4

Total Time: 30 min

You might have some left over chili fish sauce dip, but that's ok. Save it for your next batch of fried brussels sprouts, egg rolls, fresh fries or even baste the sauce on steak or chicken. It's a winner! Also, depending on your size of brussels sprouts, cut them to appropriate bite sized pieces. If your brussels sprouts are small, cut them in half. If they are very large, cut them in quarters. How ever you decide to cut them, make sure they're all about the same size so that they can cook evenly in the hot oil.

2 pounds brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and quarteredoil for frying1 cup water1/2 cup fish sauce2 tablespoons sugar2 fresh chiles, minced (or to taste)3 tablespoons minced garlic3 tablespoons fresh lime juice1 Tablespoon corn starch1 Tablespoon waterMake the Chili Fish Sauce: Combine all chili fish sauce ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Bring the sauce to a boil. As the sauce is coming to a boil, make the corn starch slurry by combining the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Make sure to stir the slurry well and break up any lumps of cornstarch.When the fish sauce comes to a boil, gently stir in the corn starch slurry. Slowly stir the sauce till it thickens. Once the chili fish sauce thickens, turn off heat. Allow chili fish sauce to cool.Fry the Brussels Sprouts: In a large work, deep pot or dutch oven, fill oil to about two inches high. Heat the oil to about 350 to 375 degrees. Test the oil by frying one piece of brussels sprouts first. If it sizzles and cooks quickly, then the oil is ready.Fry the Brussels sprouts in batches, so start by frying about 1/4 of the brussels sprouts till they are golden brown. Remove them from oil and blot them on paper towels to remove excess oil. Repeat the frying for the rest of the brussels sprouts.Once all brussels sprouts are fried and crispy, combine them in a large bowl. Toss the crispy brussels sprouts with the chili fish sauce and serve warm.

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Soft and crispy

Quite possibly my singlemost favourite Bangkok street dish is actually four different but nearly identical dishes using seemingly similar, but actually rather disparate ingredients, combined in ways that run a diverse spectrum from gooey to crispy. Let me explain…

Or suan (??????) is made by frying a batter made from paeng man (???????), tapioca flour, along with egg and oysters. The batter made from this particular type of starch tends to remain soft, sticky and stretchy — essentially the point of this dish, which takes the form of a sort of gloopy oyster pancake.

A good example of or suan is the version served at Hoy Thot Texas, a 70-year old shophouse restaurant in an alleyway in Bangkok’s Chinatown. The proprietor/chef here, an older woman who speaks Thai with an endearing Chinese accent, fries the ingredients on a wide, flat pan, intertwining the thin batter, egg and oysters in a barely-set, oily mass. It’s not an attractive dish:

and to be honest, it didn’t have heaps of flavour, but it’s indicative of the soft, squishy texture that defines old-school or suan.

Hoy Thot Texas/?????????????
77-77/1 Trok Sai (Soi Texas, off Th Phadungdao)
9am-6pm

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Not all vendors go that gloopy though, some opting instead for a slightly more set, almost omelet-like version of the dish. Nay So, another Chinatown old-timer, does a good example of this take (pictured at the top of this post). The or suan here is prepared and served on a sizzling hot plate, and unusually, arrives topped with a pile of beheaded bean sprouts. The hotplate continues to cook the dish even after it’s been served, and the result has all the flavours of a good or suan, but none of the gloopiness.

Nay So/??????
3/1 Th Maitri Jit, Bangkok
11am-2pm & 5-9pm

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The crispiest — and most common — version of the batter/egg/shellfish combo is hoy thot (??????), mussels and egg fried with a batter, and served on (or sometimes topped with) a bed of flash-fried bean sprouts and green onion. In English, I usually refer to the dish as ‘mussel omelet’, but have come to like Andy Ricker’s ‘crispy broken crepe’, which although it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, is probably more indicative of the way the dish is made.

Hoy thot is made more or less the same way as or suan, but here the batter is fried until crispy. The starch used is generally a mixture of tapioca and rice flours, the latter as it’s able to obtain the crispy texture associated with the dish. At Yu Huat, a longstanding stall in Bangkok’s Chinatown, they use paeng thao yay mom (???????????????), a type of flour made from Polynesian arrowroot, an old-school ingredient that few vendors nowadays use. The flour is allegedly combined with stock, not plain water, and the result is a textbook version of the dish: crispy and rich, slightly peppery, and topped with barely-cooked mussels:

Like all the places mentioned here, Yu Huat fries the dish in lard, but not over coals — at least not any more. “That was during grandpa’s time! It’s just too much work,”  I was told upon asking.

Yu Huat/?????? ??????
Soi Phiphaksa 2, Bangkok
11am-8pm

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Blurring the lines even further, many of the same vendors who do the dishes above employ the same ingredients used to make or suan — oysters, egg and tapioca flour — in a dish call or lua (???????). In this version, the normally soft batter is fried until shatteringly crispy — similar to hoy thot — then topped with barely-cooked oysters. A great version of this dish — crispy, lardy, smokey (because here they do cook over coals) — can be got at Nay Mong.

Nay Mong/??????
539 Th Phlap Phla Chai
02 623 1890
5-10pm

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Some of the shops that do the dishes above also do one more dish that can more or less be slotted into this category. Although you’ll find no shellfish, and the dish is accompanied by soy sauce, not sweet chili sauce, khanom phak kaat (?????????):

fits the familiar pattern of a batter — in this case a heavy dough made from rice flour and shredded white radish — fried with egg, sprouts and green onions.

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Crispy Kale and Mushroom Fried Rice + Giveaway

What’s your go-to comfort food?

As someone who grew up eating a lot of Chinese dishes served family-style, I like to whip up fried rice at home on a regular basis. It’s easy and oh-so-versatile. For special occasions like Chinese New Year, I like making Yangzhou fried rice, loaded with roast pork and shrimp. But most of the time I just like making a vegetarian fried rice using fresh finds from the farmer’s market.

Recently I was asked by BlogHer to develop a recipe for RiceSelect™, which has a wide range of rice available, including brown rice, sushi rice, arborio rice, and American basmati rice. Since I love working with all types of rice, and making dishes from around the world like biryani, risotto, coconut rice, and rice pudding, I was more than happy to participate. (You can visit RiceSelect’s site to find out more about its distinct types of rice and the many dishes you can make with each kind.)

For the program, I tested out RiceSelect’s Jasmati® rice, a long grain American grown jasmine rice. And what I really wanted to do was a fried rice using kale and fresh shiitake mushrooms from the Union Square Greenmarket. The inspiration actually came from an amazing kale salad I recently had at neighborhood Italian restaurant; instead of just raw kale with a light dressing (delicious in itself), it also had bits of fried kale scattered throughout. (Heaven in a bowl, if you ask me. I’ve been thinking about it for weeks.) So I wanted to recreate that experience in a fried rice dish.

I started off by cooking up some Jasmati rice and leaving it in the fridge overnight to cool (you can also do it in a few hours if you’re in a hurry.) The next night, I stir-fried some scallions and ginger in the pan, then added the finely chopped mushrooms and kale and kept moving the kale around until it cooked through and got nice and crispy. Finally, I added the rice with some hoisin sauce and soy sauce, then added salt and pepper at the end to taste.

This crispy kale and mushroom fried rice takes a minute or two longer than most fried rice dishes, but only because of the added time to get the kale extra crispy. Otherwise it’s a very simple dish that’s easy to prepare at home for a side dish or a light meal. And the Jasmati rice — with a sweet aroma, soft texture, and subtle nutty flavor like Thai jasmine rice, only grown in the U.S. — was perfect for it.

Giveaway: How do you like to incorporate rice into your family meals? What are your favorite rice dishes to make? Each comment will automatically be entered for $100 Visa gift card!
____________________________________

Crispy Kale and Mushroom Fried Rice

Serves 4 as part of a multi-course meal

3 cups cooked RiceSelect Jasmati rice, cooled 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil2 scallions, thinly sliced2 teaspoons minced or grated ginger1/4 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps finely chopped1/2 pound kale, thick stems removed and leaves finely chopped1 tablespoon hoisin sauce1 tablespoon soy sauceSalt and freshly ground black pepper to tasteBreak up the cooled cooked rice into smaller clumps.Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat until a bead of water sizzles and evaporates on contact. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and swirl to coat the base. Add the ginger and scallions and cook for about 30 seconds, until just aromatic.Add the mushrooms and kale. Stir-fry for about 3 minutes, until the mushrooms are cooked through and the kale is starting to get crispy.Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to pan. Toss in the rice and break up any remaining clumps with a spatula. Continue to stir-fry until the rice starts to turn golden, about 2 minutes. Add the hoisin sauce and soy sauce and stir until well-mixed with the rice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer the rice to a large communal bowl or individual bowls and serve.____________________________________
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Crispy Chicken Vegetable Spring Rolls (Egg Rolls) – A Neighborhood Favorite

This is a new recipe we’re featuring over at Chicken Recipe Box. Please head on over there for this Crispy Chicken Spring Roll recipe.

When we moved to our current neighborhood almost 10 years ago, there many little kids in the hood, scurrying past on their bicycles and skateboards. Although we didn’t have kids of our own, we quickly made friends with them because we were the “cool” neighbors. This was quite an honor, especially coming from a bunch of 7-11 years old whose only occupation after school was to play basketball and video games.

What was the cause for our status as “cool adults”?  Chicken vegetable egg rolls. Yup, to be cool to a group of grade school kids, just make them batches of chicken egg rolls.

To say that our neighborhood kids loved these chicken vegetable egg rolls is an understatement. They were always super duper polite and gracious to us when they passed. They even offered to help us garden and take care of the pups. Now how many kiddie critters would offer such a thing?

In exchange for their smiles and waves every time they passed our house, we’d deliver a hot batch of egg rolls to their houses. Their squeals could be heard across the street and most importantly, their parents were glowing brighter with delight. It wasn’t only the kids that loved these chicken egg rolls, it was the parents too. Their parents would come tell us that their kid wouldn’t eat anything that they cooked. But they LOVED and always ate every single of our egg rolls.

Ok, so your kid won’t eat your cooking, but they’ll only eat these egg rolls. We get the hint. A hot batch on your doorstep tomorrow.

Then the parents would mention how they loved the egg rolls even more and how they didn’t want to eat all the egg rolls because they wanted to leave them for the kids.

Ok, so you’re saying that you, the parents, won’t eat your own cooking and want some extra hot chicken egg rolls?

Again, we get the point and next time made sure to deliver enough egg rolls to feed the whole household, parents included.

So if you want to make friends with your neighbors, here’s the magic formula: make a batch of these chicken vegetable egg rolls and make peace with the world!

For this Chicken Vegetable Egg Roll Recipe visit Chicken Recipe Box and there’s a How-To Video on making these too!

enjoy,

diane and todd

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Spam & Egg On A Crispy Fried Rice Cake

Spam & Egg On A Crispy Fried Rice Cake - Burnt Lumpia: Filipino Food | Filipino Recipes | Culinary Hijinkswindow.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init( { apiKey: 'a279adbe87e2b3c505e777af99a5260d', xfbml: true } );};( function() { var e = document.createElement( 'script' ); e.async = true; e.src = document.location.protocol + '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js'; document.getElementById( 'fb-root' ).appendChild( e );} )();Burnt Lumpia: Filipino Food | Filipino Recipes | Culinary HijinksLumpia FillingAbout Burnt LumpiaFilipino Food Recipe ArchiveLinks Get My FeedWelcomeRecent PostsSpam & Egg On A Crispy Fried Rice CakeCookbook Update: All Done & Available for Preorder... The Adobo Road Cookbook!FOOD Magazine December 2012Chicken PipianBistek & Pancit: Together At LastOven-Roasted Pinakbet with BaconCookbook Update: A Title Change, and a Quick Peek InsideHomemade TofuHomemade Limoncello w/ Calamansi Limes (Calamancello)Pork and Rhubarb SinigangCategoriesAdobo RecipesAdobo Road CookbookBeefBeer, Liquor, & WineBL OriginalsBL Restaurant ReviewsBooksCookbooksDessertsFruits and VeggiesGiveawaysHolidaysHow to Make LumpiaKalamansiKinilawLasang PinoyMy Cookbook!On The GrillOtherPancit (Filipino Noodles)PorkPoultryRiceSeafoodThe BL FamThe Manila MachineTravelUbe RecipesVinegar (Suka) « Cookbook Update: All Done & Available for Preorder... The Adobo Road Cookbook! |Main

January 21, 2013Spam & Egg On A Crispy Fried Rice Cake

When you have the foresight to store any leftover steamed rice in your refrigerator, you've got plenty of fried rice fodder for the next morning. Cold leftover rice is ideal for turning into fried rice since the rice grains can be easily separated—all the better for a fluffy fried rice.

But sometimes (many times, actually), I don't have this refrigerator foresight at all and leave my leftover rice in my rice cooker. The next day, instead of cold, dried-out grains of cooked rice, I have room temperature sticky rice—which wouldn't make for a good fried rice at all.

So what to do with leftover, room temperature steamed rice when you've got a hankering for fluffy fried rice? Fry up the leftovers as a crispy rice cake instead, as shown in this cool video by Chow.com's John Birdsall:

Neat right?

John actually learned that leftover rice trick from his Ilocano mother-in-law. And although my family is also Ilocano, I've never seen or heard of this awesome technique before. The sheer diversity of Filipino cuisine never ceases to amaze!

So when I recently peeked into my rice cooker one morning, I remembered that Chow video and was inspired to replicate it. But because I happened to have a can of Spam in my cupboard, I made just a couple of minor changes to the technique. Rather than frying the rice in a bare non-stick skillet, I actually added a bit of oil and browned a smashed garlic clove in the oil. I added this extra step simply because I wanted to replicate the flavors of garlic fried rice (Sinangag) in this rice cake.

After the garlic browned, I removed it from the pan, then fried a slice of spam in the oil. After the spam was nice and crispy on both sides, I then added the leftover rice to the pan and did as the video instructed—formed the rice into a flat disc and fried until both sides were brown and crisp. Finally, I fried an egg sunny-side up.

I placed the crispy rice cake down on a plate, then topped it with the spam, followed by the egg. The resultant dish is a nice change of pace to a traditional Spamsilog (spam, fried egg, and garlic fried rice). If I ran a Filipino diner, I'd probably call this dish Spamsilog on a Shingle.

Spamsilog On A Shingle

Oh, and a final squirt of Banana Ketchup, or Sriracha, or both, will brighten up this breakfast/midnight snack considerably.

Enjoy.

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Crispy Scallion Tofu and Rice Cakes Recipe

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July 19, 2012Crispy Scallion Tofu and Rice Cakes Recipe

Several people who read the post on Diep Tran and Good Girl Dinette remarked how tasty her tofu snack looked. And for those of you who’ve eaten it, you know that it’s true. I couldn’t agree with you more!

I kept thinking about it yesterday so I made my own version of it. I figure that what Diep was riffing on was a classic northern Vietnamese fried tofu dish in which the crisp tofu was retrieved from the oil and simmered in diluted fish sauce and green onion. The tofu sucks up all the seasonings and gets coated with the green onion. My mother made deep-fried tofu simmered in scallion (dau hu chien tam hanh la) on a regular basis for our family dinner. She still makes it today.

The classic Viet tofu dish is made with chunky pieces of tofu. For Good Girl Dinette's I cut the tofu into thin squares. Here they are hot from the wok:

And Diep’s rice cakes was a terrific mini-take on com nam, compressed rice logs. My father made that for us when we were kids, shaping hot rice into baguette-like fat logs. He’d slice it up and we’d eat it out of hand, pressing some caramelized minced pork on top of it. Oh my, what fond memories of my chubby youth. (The tofu and rice recipes are in Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, pages 191 and 241; the pork is on page 131.) This is what I made for the crisp scallion tofu: 

I combined that knowledge of classic Viet cooking and what I know about frying tofu to come up with this rendition.

You can fry the tofu in advance and reheat it in the toaster oven at 325F to 350F till gently sizzling. Use leftover rice and reheat it in the microwave oven. If for some reason your tofu is bigger than your rice cake, cut the tofu in half. Can you save calories by pan-frying the tofu? Sure, but the pieces wouldn't be as scrumptious.

Recipe

Crispy Scallion Tofu and Rice Cakes

Yield: Serves 2 to 3 people

Ingredients

A block of firm or extra firm tofu, about 1 3/4 inches wide and 3 to 3 1/2 inches long (about 6 ounces total)About 1 1/2 teaspoons salt2 cups very hot or just boiled water2 cups cooked rice (long, medium or short grain)1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce or soy sauce2 tablespoons water2 slender green onions, white and green parts, cut into ringsCanola oil for deep-frying

Instructions

Cut the tofu crosswise into 6 pieces to yield squares. Put into a shallow bowl. Dissolve the salt in the water and pour over the tofu. Set aside to season for 15 minutes.Meanwhile, sprinkle a bit of salt over the rice to season it. If your rice is dryish, sprinkle on some water. Cover with plastic wrap and reheat in the microwave. If the rice is freshly cooked, skip the reheating! You want rice that’s a little on the soft side so it will stick together well.Shape the rice into a 6 inch log atop a piece of parchment. Use a silicon spatula or wet fingers. As if you’re making a sushi roll, roll it up, applying firm pressure to ensure that the rice is well squished together. It should resemble a fat sausage in size and shape. Wrap in plastic wrap and set aside.The tofu should be ready by now. Pour off the water, set the tofu atop a dry dishtowel or paper towel t drain for 10 minutes. In the mean time, combine the fish sauce or soy sauce and water in a small saucepan, like a butter warmer. Bring to a boil over medium heat, add the green onion, and cook for 1-2 minutes until the green onion has wilted. Transfer to a small bowl to cool.Heat 1 inch of oil in a wok, deep skillet or saucepan t 360-375F on a deep-fry thermometer. Right before frying, blot the two dry one last time. Fry the tofu in 1 or 2 batches, without crowding, until crisp and golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain atop paper towel and let cool for a few minutes.Remove the plastic wrap from the rice. Wet the knife blade, then cut the rice log in half crosswise, right through the parchment. Then cut each section into thick rounds, each about 1/3 inch thick. The ones in the center will be prettiest. You need 6 rounds. Save the extra rice for something else. If a rice cake falls apart, wet your fingers and smoosh the grains together.To assemble, put a piece of tofu atop a rice cake. Top with the scallion, leaving most of the liquid behind. If you want extra oomph, drizzle on extra liquid. Enjoy.

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Comments Crispy Scallion Tofu and Rice Cakes Recipe

Several people who read the post on Diep Tran and Good Girl Dinette remarked how tasty her tofu snack looked. And for those of you who’ve eaten it, you know that it’s true. I couldn’t agree with you more!

I kept thinking about it yesterday so I made my own version of it. I figure that what Diep was riffing on was a classic northern Vietnamese fried tofu dish in which the crisp tofu was retrieved from the oil and simmered in diluted fish sauce and green onion. The tofu sucks up all the seasonings and gets coated with the green onion. My mother made deep-fried tofu simmered in scallion (dau hu chien tam hanh la) on a regular basis for our family dinner. She still makes it today.

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