34 posts Posts by becca

Korean Blanched Scallion Sashimi or Green Onion Bundles (Paganghoe 파강회)

Today’s Korean recipe comes from my friend Terry, whom I had the pleasure of meeting in Grenada. Terry is such an awesome cook and continues to amaze me to no ends with her culinary skills, her resourcefulness, and her generous heart. She is a wonderwoman who makes everything from scratch, does it ever so efficiently, and makes everything cute and pretty to boot. She can also work wonders with a scrub and sponge. I lent her one of my old, stained pots once, and when she returned it to me, I could barely recognize it. It was shiny and looked as good as the day I bought it. Thank you, Terry!

One of the things that we can readily find on the island is scallions. Now, I’m usually not a huge fan of scallions. In fact, I didn’t really eat scallions for most of my life and would go out of my way to pick them out of my soups and dishes (my dad used to yell at me for this when I was a kid, but he has since given up and makes a scallion-less version of everything for me now :D). These days, I still order dishes without scallions when I can, but I’ve learned to appreciate the flavor and complexity that they add to certain dishes (salmon poke, green scallion pancakes).

When Terry mentioned that she’d be making blanched scallions for us, I have to admit that I was wary of the prospect. But I have complete faith in Terry’s sense of taste. And if she says it’s going to be good, I believe it. And you should too.

I can honestly say that I think I ate more scallions that day than I’ve eaten in my entire lifetime.

Here’s Terry’s recipe for blanched scallion sashimi and a special dipping sauce to go with it too!

Blanched Scallion Sashimi or Green Onion Bundles (Paganghoe 파강회)
serves 4 as an appetizer or side dish

5 bunches scallions
5 quarts water
3 Tbsp. baking soda
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
2 tsp. sugar
sesame seeds

1. Soak the scallions in water and baking soda for 5 minutes to cleanse them. If you can find a tub/sink large enough to hold the entire length of your scallions, soak the entire thing. If not, just soak the heads (the dirtiest part).

2. Remove from water and trim off all scallion heads.

3. Rinse scallions.

4. Bring 5 quarts of water to a boil.

5. Submerge the scallions in the water and blanch for about a minute.

6. Remove scallions from pot and rinse under cold water.

7. Squeeze out excess water.

8. Mix soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar in with the scallions.

9. Picking up one scallion head at a time, starting at the base, fold the scallion over onto itself at about the 2-inch mark. Continue to fold the scallion onto itself 3 or 4 more times.

10. Now pinching the folded scallion part with one hand, start wrapping the end of the scallion around the folded section. Tuck the loose end of the scallion under the wrap.

It should look about like this when done.

11. Repeat with all scallions. Arrange on a plate, and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

Now for the special sauce that goes along with this yummy appetizer…

Chogochujang

1 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. red pepper paste (gochujang)
1 1/2 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. sesame seeds

1. Mix all the ingredients together and stir until well combined. Serve with scallion sashimi.

Enjoy!

Pan-Fried Tamarind Chicken Thighs

Aside from making juice with all that newly prepared tamarind paste, try it on a savory dish! The tart, fruity flavor pairs particularly well with chicken and pork. I whipped up this recipe for dinner one night, and it took me less than half an hour (minus the marinating time).

Tamarind Chicken Thighs
6 servings

1/2 c. tamarind paste
2 Tbsp. honey
1/4 c. white wine or cooking wine
2 tsp. salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, trimmed
2 Tbsp. oil

1. Combine first five ingredients together to make the marinade.

2. Next, cut slits in the underside of the chicken thigh on either side of the bone. This helps the marinade soak in and also helps the chicken cook more evenly.

3. Pour marinade over chicken and let rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator or overnight.

4. When ready to cook, remove chicken from the marinade. Reserve marinade for sauce.

4. Heat up oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.

5. Place chicken thighs in pan and cook for 8-10 minutes per side. Check to make sure the chicken is done by poking with a knife or fork. Juices should run clear.

6. Place cooked chicken on paper towels to soak up excess oil.

7. Pour the reserved marinade into the pan and bring to a boil. Make sure to scrape up any browned bits for full flavor.

8. Serve over chicken and rice.

Food Matchmaking: Lavender Loves Chicken

Lavender is usually paired with fruits and sweet confections, but have you ever tried it paired with savory foods? When I came across this roast chicken recipe, I was thrilled to discover that lavender is used as one of the herbs to flavor the chicken! It’s combined with thyme, rosemary, marjoram here in a mixture similar to the popular spice blend, Herbes de Provence. In fact, you can purchase Herbes de Provence with lavender here or you can make your own at home. Try it rubbed on chicken and lamb, or as a pork glaze!

Photos from here and here.

Tamarind Paste + Juice

I’ve been trying to incorporate more local Grenadian ingredients in my cooking, so I was thrilled to discover tamarind trees on one of my visits to the beach. I happened to be walking through a grove of trees when I saw piles of brown, roundish pods littering the sand below. Upon closer inspection, I realized the pods were actually tamarind pods and confirmed this by cracking open their dry, brittle pods to find the sticky, flesh-covered seeds of the tamarind inside.

The fruit of the tamarind is edible, but can be quite tart, so it’s usually cooked or added as flavoring to dishes. In Grenada, they like to mix the flesh with sugar to make tamarind candies, but you’ll also find it used to make juice and to flavor stews.

The tamarind tree can also be found in Southeast Asia, so you’ll see it in a lot of southeast Asian dishes, like pad thai or Vietnamese canh chua (sour soup). Today, I’ll be showing you how to extract the pulp from the tamarind pods to make tamarind paste and a deliciously refreshing tamarind juice!

The flesh of the tamarind tastes best (and is the sweetest) when the pod is fully ripe. You can determine if the pod is ripe if the shell is dry and brittle to the touch. It should crack easily in your fingers. Simply crack the pod in half and pull out the seeds and flesh.

I didn’t collect nearly as many tamarind pods as I needed to make a lot of paste, so I went ahead and purchased about a pound of fresh tamarind from the market in St. George’s. The tamarind here has been de-shelled, but still contains all the seeds. You can also find dried tamarind paste, as well as whole tamarind pods (sometimes in boxes, sometimes loose), at Asian grocery stores in the States.

To remove the seeds, add about 2 cups of water to your fresh tamarind paste. (If working with dried tamarind paste from the grocery store, use hot water instead.)

Mix it around to fully incorporate the water. It should start becoming a thick, gooey mixture. Let it sit in the water for about 15 minutes.

Using gloves, grab a handful of the mixture (seeds, pulp, water, and all), and in a separate bowl, slowly squeeze to separate the paste from the seeds.

The seeds will still have a bit of pulp left on them, so I throw them into another bowl filled with water to continue soaking. This water can later be added to your juice.

Continue the squeezing process until all the seeds have been extracted and you’re left with a whole bowl of pure tamarind paste.

Strain the seeds from the water and reserve the water to add to juice. Discard seeds.


At this point, the tamarind paste can be refrigerated and added to different recipes. It should last in the fridge for a few weeks, or can be frozen for several months. Freeze in an ice cube tray to help portion the paste*! You can then defrost as much as you need for recipes like pad thai and canh chua. Or you can use the tamarind paste right away to make tamarind juice.

Tamarind Juice
10 servings

1 cup tamarind paste
6 cups hot water
1/2 cup sugar (or honey)
ice

1. Dissolve the sugar (or honey) in the hot water.

2. Stir in the tamarind paste.

3. Serve over ice. Add more sugar as needed. Enjoy!

*Update – You can also make tamarind chicken with all that leftover tamarind paste.