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Saturday, November 9, 2013

Magimix 5200XL 16-Cup Food Processor Giveaway

I am partnering with my friends at Magimix to give away a Magimix 5200XL 16-Cup Food Processor. There will be one (1) winner whom will receive one (1) polished chrome colored Magimix 5200XL 16-Cup Food Processor. This premium package comes with a Juice Extractor/SmoothieMix attachment and Creative Slicing Discs kit! The suggested retail price of the Magimix 5200XL 16-Cup Food Processor is $599.95.

Versatile for volumes of chopping, slicing, grating, blending, mixing, whisking or kneading, the Magimix 16-cup Food Processor is produced by the French company who developed the world’s first food processor and the use of multiple bowls. The Magimix food processor offers a trio of work bowls so you don’t need to stop to wash a bowl while preparing foods. The 6-cup mini bowl is ideal for blending baby food and sauces or mincing herbs. The 12-cup midi bowl is designed for slicing and grating of vegetables, fruit and cheese and the 16-cup main bowl is generously sized for kneading dough, mixing batters, whisking egg whites, making citrus juices, and extracting juice from hard and soft fruits. The only company around the world to manufacture its own motor, Magimix powers the 16-cup food processor with the “smart motor”, a commercial-grade induction motor, backed by a 30-year warranty.

The Magimix food processor features razor-sharp serrated Sabatier stainless-steel blades and stainless-steel discs. Forged for incredible strength, the serrated blades easily perform heavy-duty tasks such as crushing ice or chopping hard nuts. Optimizing the appliance’s vortex, the BlenderMix accessory improves the blender function and provides water tightness when processing soups, consommes and liquids. The 16-cup food processor also includes a creative 3-disc kit, a Juice Extractor/SmoothieMix attachment, 4 slicing and shredding discs, citrus press, dough blade, egg whisk, spatula and 2 accessory storage boxes.

Robot-Coupe was founded in the early 1960s in Burgundy, France, famous for fine cooking and creating kitchen essentials for gourmet cooks. Producing appliances for leading restaurants and hotels, Robot-Coupe created the world’s first commercial food processor and founded Magimix in 1971 to introduce the large food processor to home chefs around the world. The undisputed world leader in commercial food processors for more than 40 years, Robot-Coupe continuously develops and refines its processors in both function and size. In 1988, Magimix created the mini bowl and in 1998 introduced the midi bowl processing bowl. Today Magimix by Robot-Coupe produces innovative kitchen products with longevity and energy efficiency for home chefs.

Product Features

Produced in France by the company who developed the world’s first food processorUltra quiet 1,100-watt commercial-grade induction motor automatically adjusts the power for the task neededThe “smart motor” is a commercial-grade induction motor backed by a 30-year warrantyThe 16-cup is ideal for serious cooks, people who regularly entertain, and large familiesSimple three button operation: Stop, Auto, PulseThree dishwasher-safe and shatter-proof Lexan bowls — 6-cup, 12-cup and 16-cup2 stainless-steel Sabatier blades, one for small bowl, and one for main bowlCreative 3-disc kit includes: small and large julienne discs, fluted disc and dedicated storage boxJuice Extractor/SmoothieMix attachment easily makes all-natural smoothies, juices, extracts and berry purees. Works with soft fruits such as bananas and pineapples or vegetables such as carrots or cucumbers. Attachment includes a special funnel for berries and processes juice for jams, jellies, sorbets and ice cream4 slicing and shredding discs to use with the midi bowl or main bowlsExtra-large feed tube eliminates need to precut most ingredientsSmall pusher with measurement marks up to 10 oz.BlenderMix accessory attachment improves the blender functionIncludes versatile slicing/grating, julienne and fluted discs, dough blade, citrus press, whisk and flexible spatulaAll accessories are top-rack dishwasher-safe; hand washing is recommended30-year warranty on motor, 3 years on parts

Includes

English/French spiral-bound instruction manual with DVD recipesThree bowls — 6-cup, 12-cup and 16-cupCreative 3-disc kit in dedicated storage box: fine and extra-wide julienne discs and fluted discJuice Extractor/SmoothieMix attachmentNew BlenderMix attachmentSabatier stainless-steel mini and main blades2 mm and 4 mm shedding disc2 mm and 4 mm slicing discscitrus pressdough bladeegg whiskflexible spatulaaccessory storage box

Eligibility: United States and Canada only. No purchase necessary and subject to this official giveaway rules. Closing Date: December 29, 2013, 11:59 pm PST. Winner will be randomly selected and contacted via email on December 30, 2013. The prize is proudly sponsored by Magimix. To enter, please follow the steps below.

Eligibility: United States and Canada only. No purchase necessary and subject to these official giveaway rules.

Step 1
Like Rasa Malaysia on Facebook. (Click on the Like button below.)

Step 2

Follow Rasa Malaysia on Twitter. (Click on the Follow @rasamalaysia button below. If you don’t have Twitter, skip this step.)

Step 3

Like Magimix North America on Facebook. (Click on the Like button below.)

Step 4

Fill in the form below. You can enter to win using this form every day.

You will be redirected to the “Thank You” page if your entry is successfully submitted.

ONE ENTRY PER DAY STRICTLY ENFORCED.

cforms contact form by delicious:days


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Mildly delicious

DSC_1339-Edit

There’s a widespread perception that Thai food is spicy. And justifiably so. Thai people — women in particular — seem to relish in eating devastatingly hot dishes, and even have a repertoire of only marginally translatable words to express the equal parts painful and pleasurable sensation of doing so (example: ????????????, phet jon huu eu, roughly “so spicy your ears ring”).

But it’s certainly not the case that everything in Thailand is spicy. In fact, many of the dishes sold on the streets or from the shophouses of Bangkok — particularly those of Chinese origin — tend to be quite mild, sometimes bordering on bland.

One of the more famous examples of this is satay. Although the dish is most likely Indonesian in origin and appears to have been brought to Thailand by Chinese immigrants, in the US, the peanut-based dipping sauce that accompanies the skewers of meat has somehow become synonymous with Thai food. Origins aside, in Thailand at least, I’d never cared for the stuff. Most versions are dry and relatively flavourless, and come served with an cloyingly sweet dipping sauce — a far cry from the delicate, fatty, spicy skewers and rich sauce one encounters in the dish’s country of origin or even in Malaysia.

But a recent discovery single-handedly changed my opinion about Thai-style satay. Chong Kee, a longstanding shophouse restaurant at the edge of Bangkok’s Chinatown, specialises in the dish — in fact, it’s the only dish they serve. Like elsewhere, the skewers have been marinated in a mixture of coconut milk, turmeric and dried spice. Unlike elsewhere, the skewers at Chong Kee are smoky and surprisingly tender. They use fattier cuts of pork (the staple meat for this dish in Thailand), which don’t dry as quickly, and are great at soaking up all that flavourful smoke (they also serve a somewhat unusual liver version). The accompanying peanut sauce is sweet, as it should be, but not overwhelmingly so, and also packs a tiny bit of chili spice and a pleasantly fragrant hint of coriander seed. Other sides include ajaat, sliced shallots, chili and cucumber in sweet/tart dressing, and thick slices of fluffy white toast.

Next door, another longstanding restaurant sells an equally mild but delicious dish: khao muu daeng, rice topped with roast pork.

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An ‘everything’ order here will get you a plate of rice topped with thin slices of bright red roast pork, crispy fingers of deep-fried pork belly and rich, fatty disks of Chinese-style pork sausage. The whole lot is topped with a slightly rich, somewhat sweet, very gloopy sauce:

DSC_1348-Edit

Soft-boiled eggs (made orange by the addition of food colouring) and a condiment of mild chilis in vinegar are optional sides.

The pork belly is great — rich, crispy, fatty — and the kun chiang (Chinese sausage) also good, but the roast pork is pretty mediocre — more red food colouring than flavour. Regardless, the whole thing comes together in a favourably mild way that will trick you into wanting a second dish.

In addition to pork and rice, they also do a few excellent Chinese-style soups. Duck in broth made tart with pickled lime is available every day, while pork rib and bitter gourd:

DSC_1353-Edit

and pork stomach with Chinese-style pickled vegetables are available intermittently.

Two solid options for spice-fearing and adventurous eaters alike.

Si Morakot/??????
80-82 Soi Sukon 1, Bangkok
11am-7pm

Chong Kee/??????
84 Soi Sukon 1, Bangkok
9.30am-6pm Tues-Sun, to 2pm Mon


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Pan Mee (Hakka Flat Noodle Soup)

Pan Mee (??) is a popular Hakka noodle dish in Malaysia, especially in central and southern part of Malaysia where most Hakka people reside. Hakka Pan Mee is made with a simple flour-based dough, with anchovy broth, and topped with crispy fried anchovies, ground pork, shiitake mushrooms, and some vegetables. Pan Mee is also known as Mee Hoon Kuih (???), which is commonly prepared at home.

I will be honest, before I develop this Pan Mee recipe here, I have had Pan Mee once. Yes, once, some twenty years ago while I was visiting Kuala Lumpur. While I was growing up in Penang, Pan Mee was never sold in the hawker centers or street food stalls, so it has never been in my culinary dictionary.

Pan Mee

Anyway, what prompted me to develop a recipe for Pan Mee? Well, it all started with a HUGE bunch of mani cai (???), or cekur manis/sayur manis in Malay. Mani cai, my favorite vegetable and a key ingredient of Pan Mee, is not available in the United States. The vegetable is not grown here and thus it’s one of those things that I could never get in the US. My friend Eddie grows his own plant, and gave me a big batch of his harvest. I promised him I would make Pan Mee.

I reached out to my friend Anna and she taught me how to make pan mee. It was a success and Anna, who used to live in Pan Mee paradise of KL, gave me her thumbs up. I invited a couple friends over to my house to taste my Pan Mee and they all gave me their rave reviews. I, for one, who have never been a fan of Pan Mee, is now a converted fan. I finally understand why so many people love Pan Mee. It is a Hakka comfort food in a bowl—nothing flashy or glamorous about this dish, but it is tasty and very satisfying.

Pan Mee

If you are of Hakka descent and far away from Malaysia, I hope my Pan Mee recipe could bring the tastes of home to wherever you are. Happy cooking!

Get Recipe(Click Page 2 for the Pan Mee Recipe)

Pages: 1 2


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Friday, November 8, 2013

Tangra Fall: Next Indian-Chinese Feast on Nov. 16!

I'm excited to announce that Tangra, the seasonal vegetarian Indian-Chinese supper club I formed with Chitra of The ABCDs of Cooking, is returning Nov. 16th! Tangra was started this past summer as a celebration of Indian-Chinese cooking. The names comes from a neighborhood in Calcutta where a Indian-Chinese hybrid cuisine first originated, but for this seasonal dinner series we've pulled out all the creative punches to create a spectacular, unique multi-course menu using local-to-NY produce. 

For Tangra Fall, we have an exciting new location in Brooklyn, Court Tree Collective, a new arts and cultural space in Carroll Gardens. We also have a brand new menu, but also with the return of "the best dumplings ever", as coined by several attendees of our summer event (see pics from our summer event.)

If you're in NY on November 16, come join us! (Definitely an only-in-NY experience, to be sure!) Tickets went pretty quickly last time, so  here's the link to nab yours

Hope you can join us in November! 

Read more about Tangra:

On Medium

On Appetite for China


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Nonstick Wok Recommendations

Nonstick Wok Recommendations - Viet World Kitchen window.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 );} )();Viet World Kitchen Newest Post Dumplings Asian TofuRecipe IndexEventsFav SitesAbout MePermission+Credit Welcome! Join me to explore, create, and contribute to the culinary traditions of Asia.

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November 05, 2013Nonstick Wok Recommendations

Wok-full
I often take pictures of my food cooking in a wok so it wasno surprise when a couple of people asked about wok selection and care. Lastweek, Man Nghi wrote this: “I have the heavy Chinese cast-iron wok at homebut often it is very useful to have a non-stick one too.” She’d seen one forabout $59.99 and thought it pricey, which led to this question, “Is that thenormal price for a good non-stick wok? I would ask my mother however she doesnot own one.”

Her comments hit on a lot of points forme, mainly that for decades, my mom didn’t have a wok at home. She stir-friedin a well-worn deep cast iron skillet. Viet cooks tend to not be big on woks.Chinese-Vietnamese people, like my friends Eric and Sophie Banh in Seattle, are more inclined to use them forcooking Viet fare. I can totally understand why Man Nghi’s mom isn’t a Viet wokuser.

When I started outcooking for myself and tinkering with Chinese food, I initially tried a regularcarbon-steel wok. My food kept sticking and I switched to using a largenonstick skillet. In the late 1990s, I wanted to try the wok again but was gunshy. I bought a nonstick wok for about $20.

The nonstick wok instantly made me feellike a Chinese food pro. Slices of marinated meat slid around the pan with ease.I turned out fabulous dishes as if I’d been using one for years. The troublehit when the bits of nonstick coating came off into the food I was cooking.

Ididn’t realize that you couldn’t heat the darn thing up at high temperatureswithout consequences. Stir-frying is about high heat, fast cooking. The flecksof black came off during a dinner party, as I was finishing up dishes to bring tothe table. I picked out most of the bits and hoped for the best. The next day,I threw the wok away.

I didn’t cook with a wok until yearslater, after I’d been inspired by reading Grace Young’s Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen. Grace was on a wok mission, arguing thattraditional woks worked best. Poking around a Ross Dress-for-Less one day, Ifound the flat-bottomed wok you see here. As Tane Chan, owner ofthe Wok Shop in San Francisco says, a good wok doesn’t have to cost much. My $20 wokcame in a box as a Joyce Chen kit and the unusual discovery of it at Ross of all places was akin to Asian cooking kismet (a cheap deal!). After assembling it, I threw away the otheraccoutrements as I can’t figure out how to comfortably wield those longchopsticks.

Wok-handle
I followed Grace’s instructions to washthen season the wok with a bunch of Chinese chives (the same stuff used in classicChinese dumplings!). Then I started cooking, blasting it with heat without fearof nonstick coating fleck coming off.

Food stuck time and time again. Watchingme repeated scrape bits from the wok wall, my husband suggested that I buy anew wok. “Because the sticking is suppose to go away,” I’d responded infrustration.

Then I decided to deep-fry in the wok. Perhaps the oil would penetrate themetal to hasten the formation of a nonstick surface? Plus, less oil wasrequired for wok frying and it heated up in a jiffy. About 2 years into usingthe wok once or twice a week, there was a beautiful black coating in the lowerthird. Food still stuck less, though stir-frying noodles or making fried ricecould sometimes be challenging if the noodles or rice wasn’t dryish.

I rarely washed the outside of the wok, which is why it looks slightly crusty versus the smooth interior. A fast scrub after each use with hot water and maybe a drop of soap was all ittook to clean up the wok. Then I dried it over a low flame while we ate dinner.

Wok inside outside
As the wok developed its patina, I foundmyself using it more often, even keeping it out on the stove for days on end. Inot only liked it. I loved it. The wok naturally became nonstick. I was evenfrying eggs in it, something I’d rarely do in my All Clad stainless steelskillets.

One day last year I simmered a dish inthe wok and had to re-season the wok. I felt like I’d take a half stepbackwards. But I just kept using it for stir-frying, panfrying, anddeep-frying. On one occasion, I slid the wok into the oven to hide it fromguests after I finished deep-frying a batch of wontons. I left it in the ovenovernight and the next day, turned the oven on to bake something. By the time Iremembered the oil-filled wok, the oven was hot. I carefully carried the hot wokoutside to cool on the cement patio.

When cooled, the wok and wood handledhad surprisingly developed a rich patina in the oven. A beautiful, unintended consequence. I’dread that you can season a wok in the oven and I’d done it by mistake.  

So what’s the advice on buying anonstick wok? Get a carbon-steel or lightweight cast iron one. It doesn’t needto be expensive. To turn a cheap wok into a priceless piece of cookware, youjust have to use it often. Religiously, as if you’re exercising the wok andyour wok cooking skills.

If someone told me that the break-in time would take years, I would have been patient back in the 1990s. Had I truly realized that the fundamental idea behindChinese wok cooking is that it’s your go-to cooking vessel for all kinds of cooking methods, I would have understood that traditional Chinese cooks have 'nonstick' woks by using it at a super high frequency. My perception of the wok was that of a dilletante.

My long journey to achieving nonstick wok status required practicing a wok routine. A little blind neglect helped my cause too. To answer Man Nghi's question, the best nonstick wok is one you make yourself.

If you have wok experiences or questions, feel free to share.

Posted in Asian Food Culture, Cooking Tips & Tools |

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Comments Nonstick Wok Recommendations

Wok-full
I often take pictures of my food cooking in a wok so it wasno surprise when a couple of people asked about wok selection and care. Lastweek, Man Nghi wrote this: “I have the heavy Chinese cast-iron wok at homebut often it is very useful to have a non-stick one too.” She’d seen one forabout $59.99 and thought it pricey, which led to this question, “Is that thenormal price for a good non-stick wok? I would ask my mother however she doesnot own one.”

Her comments hit on a lot of points forme, mainly that for decades, my mom didn’t have a wok at home. She stir-friedin a well-worn deep cast iron skillet. Viet cooks tend to not be big on woks.Chinese-Vietnamese people, like my friends Eric and Sophie Banh in Seattle, are more inclined to use them forcooking Viet fare. I can totally understand why Man Nghi’s mom isn’t a Viet wokuser.

When I started outcooking for myself and tinkering with Chinese food, I initially tried a regularcarbon-steel wok. My food kept sticking and I switched to using a largenonstick skillet. In the late 1990s, I wanted to try the wok again but was gunshy. I bought a nonstick wok for about $20.

The nonstick wok instantly made me feellike a Chinese food pro. Slices of marinated meat slid around the pan with ease.I turned out fabulous dishes as if I’d been using one for years. The troublehit when the bits of nonstick coating came off into the food I was cooking.

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Sweet Onion “Crack-Dip” Recipe and Bountiful Dinner with KitchenAid

Hot Sweet Onion "Crack Dip" from WhiteOnRiceCouple.com

Stop everything and make this sweet onion dip recipe. Though the recipe is our creation, we can’t take credit for the nickname. It belongs to a little gathering of friends always labels it as “crack dip”. So when it came time to sharing it again in our cookbook, Bountiful, we lovingly added the new name to the final draft. Thankfully, our Abrams editor was open-minded enough to let us coin this term in print because  the nickname really is fitting. And delicious.

Our crack-dip is easy for even the newest cooks to make and for you over-achievers, this dip will still make you look good, like you slaved over the stove for hours. Be prepared for the applause that follows when everyone has a few bites.

Friends Jacques & Hasty Torres came to celebrate & they “thumbs-up” the book. iphone Photo credit: Dervla Kelly

Bountiful cookbook signing with WhiteOnRiceCouple.com in New York City

This sweet onion dip is a mish-mash of many things devilish, fattening and wonderful. Once in a while, you have to indulge and spoil yourself rotten with something warm, cheesy and comforting. You deserve it. We all deserve it and without these little moments of cheesy-joy, eating and cooking wouldn’t be half as fun or adventurous. And when all is said and done, you can fun a few miles around the track, sweat off a few pounds and start all over again.

Because this dip is so special to us, we wanted to make it in huge batches for our Bountiful cookbook signing with wonderful KitchenAid last week in the beautiful New York City, The Daily Meal kitchen that’s outfitted with KitchenAid appliances.

Bountiful Cookbook signing in NYC with WhiteOnRiceCouple.comWe taught how to roll the perfect spring roll. No floppies or burrito-sized here. iphone Photo credit: Dervla Kelly

Bountiful Cookbook signing in NYC with WhiteOnRiceCouple.comiphone view of the whole party eating together. It was so great to finally meet so many of our editors & NYC colleagues

Bountiful Cookbook signing in NYC with WhiteOnRiceCouple.com

The incredible folks on the KitchenAid team was led tirelessly by the amazing Rachel Barbarotta. Partnered with the awesome kitchen at The Daily Meal, we were able to have a beautiful New York City venue to hold a little dinner for our fellow editors, colleagues and handful of bloggers. At the dinner, we shared all made spring rolls together, poured proseco thanks to Mionetto and ate crack-dip till we dropped.

thanks to the amazing beauties who ran the show like pro’s : Rachel, Jill and Katie-Lee (love you!)

iphone Photo credit: Dervla Kelly

Bountiful Cookbook signing in NYC with WhiteOnRiceCouple.com

We arrived at The Daily Meal kitchen with two suitcases full of groceries. In fact, these New York City locals kinda giggled at us for rolling up two full-sized suit cases to the fourth floor kitchen. How else are two tourists supposed to bring up about 3 shopping carts full of groceries to feed a party of 40? Indeed, it was the most efficient way to arrive, ready to cook, with about 100 pounds of groceries. You New York City locals should try it!

After about three hours of prepping vegetables and fillings in the incredible KitchenAid equipped kitchen (the KitchenAid ice maker is to-die-for), we were ready to feed 40 guests. And no White On Rice Couple party is ever complete without cocktails. So Todd made a few pitchers of our pomegranate grapefruit gin cocktail. Done. This Bountiful dinner was already ready.

apparently we said something funny . They were laughing at us. ooops. bloopers. iphone Photo credit: Dervla Kelly

Bountiful Cookbook signing in NYC with WhiteOnRiceCouple.com

Rachel and her team made sure everyone had beverages  and crack-dip topped off. We made sure everyone rolled perfectly tight and plump spring rolls. Everyone seemed to behave and best of all, their rolls like amazing. The guests are now ready to pass on these spring rolling skills at their next dinner party. Some even might open up their own spring roll restaurant. Their skills are that crazy good.

Thanks to everyone at KitchenAid and The Daily Meal for hosting our Bountiful dinner! We’re so grateful for your support.

And to the rest of you, enjoy the sweet onion crack-dip! Warning— it’s addicting.

love,

diane and todd

some of the good-eaters before the feast iphone Photo credit: Deb Puchalla

Bountiful Cookbook signing in NYC with WhiteOnRiceCouple.comour cookbook editor at Abrams and photographer of the evening… Dervla!

Bountiful Cookbook signing in NYC with WhiteOnRiceCouple.comJacques and Hasty Torres zoom off in their motorcyle and Bountiful.

Bountiful Cookbook signing in NYC with WhiteOnRiceCouple.com

Where to buy Bountiful online? Here’s also a list of some great independent bookstores in your area. Please support them! For most of the independent bookstores, our book is available to order online was well as at the store and many have signed copies available.

Amazon
Indiebound
Book Larder, Seattle
Book Soup and Vromans, Los Angeles
Kings English, Salt Lake City, Utah
Powells Books, Portland, Oregon
Barnes and Nobles

Yield: Serves 4-6

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

This recipe is from our cookbook, Bountiful. This dip was dubbed "crack dip" by friends who were over for an evening feast due to it's addictive nature. The name stuck and we've been calling that ever since. We've traditionally have served the dip with crackers or charred sliced of bread, however, with several friends needing gluten-free options, we've started serving it with crunchy vegetables such as radishes, jicama, celery, and carrots instead. We actually like the way the veggies help balance the richness of the dip better than that of the crackers or bread. It is also great to serve with heirloom tomatoes in the summertime. Amazingly good pairing. We'll also often make big batches, and then just dish out the un-baked dip into baking containers and then bake it whenever we need to serve it over a week or two span.

1 (8-ounce / 225-g) package cream cheese (at room temperature)1 cup (240ml) mayonnaise (preferably Best Foods brand)1 cup (100g) freshly grated Parmesean1 cup (160g) diced sweet onion1 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepperPreheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan, onion, and black pepper and until everything is thoroughly combined.Pour the mixture into a 6-inch (15-cm) baking dish or any oven-safe dish. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, so all the ingredients meld together. When the top crust is brown and almost burnt-looking, the dip is ready. The darker brown the crust becomes, the better the flavors are.Serve with your favorite crusty bread, crackers, slices of tomatoes, or crunchy vegetables such as radishes, jicama, carrots, and celery.

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Dried veggies and more (kanbutsu) in The Japan Times

This month's Japanese Kitchen column in the Japan Times is all about kanbutsu (??). The word kanbutusu just meands "dried things", and a kanbutsu-ya as I wrote in the article is a traditional store that specializes in dried foodstuffs. While there are all kinds of dried foods, in the article I concentrated on dried vegetables, which are a great source of fiber. The salad featured there has kiriboshi daikon, shredded dried daikon radish in it, which is full of fiber. It has a rather pointed odor when it's dry, but once you soak it in water or blanch it and rinse it, it becomes quite neutral and easy to use. The salad also has cooked dried beans. One type of canned bean that is sold in Japan that I wish was available everywhere is 'dry' canned - the beans are not immersed in liquid, so they're firmer and more versatile. Frozen beans may be better to use for the salad unless you can get this kind of canned bean product (or you can cook your own of course).

Traditional dried vegetables are seeing a small resurgence in popularity in Japan, and becoming handier to use. Here's a handy mix of shredded dried vegetables that my mom sent me - it has dried daikon radish (kiriboshi daikon), carrots, burdock root and hijiki seaweed in it. Since the vegetables are shredded so thinly, I can use it by just soaking it for a few minutes in water and adding to soups and stir fries and such.

dried-shredded-veg.jpg

I wrote about dried vegetables some years ago on these pages - see Dried vegetables. Dried vegetables don't get mentioned that much in Japanese cuisine, but they were an important part of the diet of everyday people for hundreds of years.

I was kind of inspired to write the article by some reactions I got to last month's Japanese Kitchen column, where I wrote about shokupan or sliced white bread. I know...Japanese rice is white as snow, and the most commonly eaten type of Japanese bread is also pure white and devoid of gut-cleansing fiber. (Japanese noodles are mostly made of refined flours too.) While things like brown rice and other fiber-rich main carbs are getting more popular in Japan, most people cling to their pure white fiber-free carbs. Eating brown rice (genmai) or whole wheat type breads is one way to introduce fiber to your diet, but so is adding other fiber-rich products, in the form of fresh and dried or preserved vegetables and fruit, beans and so on.

Eating is all about balance and variety, as is life, right? ^_^


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