I can sauté!

I tried the sauteing procedure from 'How to Cook Without A Book.' I was nervous, but it was so easy! In no time at all, I was able to have some nice and juicy chicken breast, without it being tough and stringy. And, a pan sauce to boot! (The pan sauce was a balsamic vinegar one).

Sauté procedure:
1. Place the butter and oil on the skillet at low heat while preparing the meat.
2. Season the meat with salt and pepper, then dredge with flour. 2 minutes before actual frying, turn the heat up to medium high and wait for the butter to turn golden and smell nutty.
3. Cook the chicken breasts for 3 minutes on each side, turning only once (since my pieces are on the thin and small side, 2.5 minutes may be better). I covered the pan by the second turn.
4. Make the pan sauce reduction + whisk in butter after liquid has reduced to half.
5. Done!

Easy-peasy. It's even quicker than stir-frying! And the chicken breast did taste good... I'm a happy cook!

Dubious chicken teriyaki, Decent stir-fry

Overcooked chicken with a too-watery sauce

I tried my hand at a chicken teriyaki recipe from my Japanese recipe book last week. I bought the chicken breasts and even separated the breast from the bone myself (tough job, but I somehow managed thanks to my new and sharp knives). However, I should've known there was something fishy about the recipe since the sauce (which is cooked together with the chicken) contained no thickener whatsoever. I found it very strange but went ahead with the instructions. The result? Overcooked, slightly tough chicken breast with watery sauce. I can't believe my recipe book would let me down. Since the chicken cooked with the liquid, the searing and browning went to waste too (the chicken got boiled instead). I'm trying out a different recipe next time for chicken teriyaki.

Oyster sauce stir-fry from odds and ends in the fridge.

But at least I had a decent dish next time. Using the vegetable odds and ends from the fridge, I was able to make a decent oyster sauce stir-fry yesterday. I used the standard 'How to Cook without a Book' technique and for the sauce, used the first recipe in my new Periplus Simple Stir-Fries cookbook. Just great, though it's a pity the kangkong shriveled up the next day when I reheated.

Conquering the Stir-Fry

First attempt: Pork with soy-sesame sauce

This week marks my first TRULY serious attempts at cooking, armed not only with a vague recipe but a clear idea of the technique. In fact, I concentrated solely on one technique: the STIR-FRY.

My idea of cooking has always been the image of stir-frying: the cook tossing meat and vegetables around, then placing it atop some hot rice. It looked simple enough, and the technique and taste was distinctly Asian, my preference. However, until now, none of my attempts have even come close to the stir-fries I've had in restaurants. The reason only became apparent to me after way too many failures: I needed technique if I was to create a proper stir-fried dish.

Lemon chicken with asparagus and mushrooms

So when I decided to put 'How To Cook Without A Book' (my new textbook that I'm planning to cook through) to use, it was a no-brainer for me to start with the Stir-Frying section even though it was halfway through the book. As it turned out, Stir-Frying was simply following a simple technique and formula:

1. Marinate the protein in a tbsp each of rice wine and soy sauce for a short while
2. Cook the protein in batches in a very hot skillet to sear the meat and prevent it from boiling,
3. Setting aside the meat, then tossing in the onions,
4. Then putting in the minced garlic and ginger
5. Then the vegetables, in the proper order they should be cooked
6. Put the meat back,
7. Toss in the flavoring sauce prepared beforehand
8. and then some cornstach in chicken broth to thicken.

And that's it! Following the formula, I was able to make some very decent stir-fries. I have a problem with the book's flavoring sauce recipes though. The Soy-Sesame sauce was too salty for me. The Lemon flavoring sauce was too lemony and lacked depth of flavor. The third time, I decided to make my own original sauce, and it turned out the best of the three. The protein and doneness of the vegetables were spot-on, though. I was surprised how juicy the chicken breast turned out. For the first time, I was made aware of the importance of texture in cooking food. I always thought it was just about taste.

Third time's the charm: tofu and ground meat with an original sauce concocted out of sake, shoyu, hoisin sauce, worcestershire sauce, and sesame oil. (I think I'll replace sake with mirin next time. I also didn't add the ginger).

I think I have come close to mastering the stir-fry! Next on the list: Sautéing.

Marimorimo's Classic Donburi Made Better

The donburi even shot beautifully!

Armed with my newfound realizations, I decided to tackle my 'signature' donburi dish (the recipe from the Bento Cookbook). Even when I didn't know what I was doing, this recipe hasn't failed me yet. But I wanted to see if my newfound knowledge would influence my take on this dish.

I followed the instructions more closely this time, instead of winging it. I didn't have enoki mushrooms so I subbed dried reconstituted mushrooms. The mushrooms took it over the top and beyond. They were so rich and flavorful. I think it's the naturally-occuring glutamate in the mushrooms (I've read of this somewhere before).

I may have browned the meat too much (and it didn't taste as rich as the mushrooms!).

Next time, I'll brown the meat just enough for it to change color, then put in half the sauce so it will take more time for the sauce to seep through the meat and develop the flavor. I prefer softer meat to tougher fried meat.

It was a good move of me to double the amount of sauce. It was just right. And I didn't play around with the sauce ratios either. It was just right. I think the meat and vegetable ratios are just right, though I just eyeballed them. Unlike when I usually go overboard and toss everything in, even the finished dish looked picture-perfect!

My previous 'revelation' has definitely started influencing my cooking, and I'm looking forward to cooking more!

Pork and Cabbage Stir Fry Take 2

In my previous cooking post, I mentioned the importance of learning technique in cooking - something I was seriously lacking in. So tonight, armed with cobbled-up know-how from painful experience and elsewhere, I decided to revisit an old favorite, Pork and Cabbage Stir Fry.

For the first time, I actually knew what I was doing.

This is a simple formula I got from Hiro-kun's dad. Previous attempts to replicate it produced soggy messes. This time, I decided to focus more on technique and the right proportions and set out to create a better version (perfect may be pushing it).

I made sure to dry the meat before placing them on the well-heated pan. I made sure not to overcrowd the pan. I think I was successful because I noticed that the meat was browning - I have never been able to achieve this before. I was afraid the meat might overcook while I sauted the vegetables so I temporarily removed them from the pan, but later I found out this fear was unfounded. If anything, I wish I cooked the meat more. I used only half a head of a small cabbage, and it was just right. The cabbage cooked very quickly - too quickly for my expectations. In the end, I think they were slightly overcooked, but not so much so they still to tasted good. I put in the sauce last (concocted using miso paste, mirin, sugar, and my tastebuds). I added a sprinkling of black pepper in the end. I think I could use a tad bit more sauce. I was afraid of another goopy mess so I held back on the sauce this time. I think I also made the right decision by making the sauce more sauce than liquid. I added a sprinkling of black pepper in the end. When the dish cooled slightly, I could see there was some watery residue at the bottom, though I never added water.

All in all, I think this was a successful dish. The meat could use a bit more browning and a bit more sauce, and the vegetables slightly less cooked. These improvements I could work on and tweak next time. Amazing what knowledge of what exactly you are doing does to your work and methods. I'm inspired to study cooking science more. Alton Brown and a bunch of other cooking books, here I come...!!! (Now if only I had an unlimited budget...*sigh* I could be raiding Amazon US and Amazon Japan right now.)

I admit it. I *am* a terrible cook. Or, failed 'Chicken Cacciatore'

soupy mess

We ate at Holiday Inn a few weeks ago and I enjoyed a dish so much I decided to look it up. It's called Chicken Cacciatore, which is tender chicken in tomato sauce. I found a recipe with good reviews at allrecipes, and considered myself good to go.

What I appreciated about the dish is that the ingredients were all easily available. The only ingredient new to me was the white wine. Mushrooms and a can of tomatoes were easy to find in the supermarket.

I was quite excited to make this dish. I read through the recipe and followed instructions as best as I could. I had trouble with browning the chicken. I don't know if it was my stainless steel soup pan (I used that since I thought my regular skillet was too small) or the electric range or both, but the chicken refused to brown properly. I even made sure to fry in two batches but it didn't do the trick. I gave up when I thought the chicken skins were burning, not browning.

Later, I put in the whole 14.5 oz can of tomato in. Uh-oh. That was a big mistake. The tomatoes were actually enough for about 4 times the amount of chicken I was cooking. I ended up with a SOUP. What makes chicken cacciatore tasty is the SAUCE. Major FAIL :(

My confidence has gone up the previous weeks since I find myself to be a fair novice baker and the torta I made last week was good enough, but it has reached rock bottom once again. I'm trying to analyze what happened. I am quite successful as a baker since I follow recipes as strictly as I could (but always with some modifications), I read a lot about baking so I have extensive theoretical knowledge that help me come up with modifications successfully. I have read extensively about the techniques (how to cream butter and sugar, how to mix batter, what pans to use, the ingredient proportions to use....) so I know how they work and how to apply them.

In hindsight, I may have been too adventurous my despite my extremely limited knowledge of cooking. I always read that unlike baking, cooking is not an exact science so one is free to improvise. However, someone like me does not have the required knowledge, experience, or technique to make suitable improvisations. I realize now that my biggest downfall in cooking is that I have no regard for ingredient proportions. My mother and grandmother never measure anything, so I thought I could get away with it, too. However, this is only possible if you have had prior experience and an idea of how the ingredients will work together - I don't.

I still like blaming my electric range which I think heats up too much even on the lowest setting, but it is only half of the story. If I actually knew how to compensate for that (like what I do with my baking pans), I may still get a decent dish.

I always end up with crowded or soupy dishes, and that's because living alone, the amount I require is usually much less than the 6-8 servings usually seen in recipes. Now if only I followed the ratios more closely and didn't pour in the whole can, I might have been able to come up with something halfway decent.

I hope that next time, this blog will bring a success culinary story.

Not-so-hot pork and cabbage stir-fry :(

So I challenged myself to another dish tonight. It's a simple pork-and-cabbage Japanese dish that I first had the priveledge of eating when I ate dinner at Hiro-kun's house. I got the recipe from his dad. It's very simple. Miso + mirin + sugar. I didn't get the exact measurements, but I adjusted it according my taste, and it turned out delicious the first time I tried it, albeit a bit soggy. So I decided to do round 2 this time.

I wanted to get it right this time, with crunchy cabbage and sticky sauce. The last time I made it, the stir-fried meat looked more like boiled meat, so I made sure the meat was dry and that the pan was hot. The first few strips seemed to cook and brown nicely, but after I put in all 270 grams of pork slivers, the pan was very crowded and probably due to the drop in temperature, the pork started to boil, not fry! :( Maybe it's really impossible to put in so much meat at the same time? Do I need to study the art of stir-frying after all? (Probably, yes.) I put in a dash of pepper on the meat, since it's the kind of thing I would do.

The next major problem was the vegetables. I was afraid the meat might overcook so I removed them from the pan while I sauteed the onions and red peppers (just to add color). Then the cabbage came. I wanted to cook the cabbages only lightly, but it was very difficult to work with them as my pan was too small and there was simply too much cabbage, even after I threw away lots (I was using a medium-sized cabbage). Arggh. Next I put in half the miso-mirin-sugar sauce, and tried to mix everything in before I added the meat. Here is where I did my greatest blunder. Thinking that the sauce was too dry, I added in more mirin. Big mistake. While it cooked, the water level seemed to rise higher and higher (seeping from either from the miso itself or the vegetables?) My stir-fry ended up looking more like soup :( It was even soggier than my first try. I have only my impatience to blame.

Still, the great thing about this dish is that it still tastes relatively nice soggy vegetables and all. But I'm very unhappy about it, especially since I probably have to eat the leftovers for about a week D:

The next time I cook this dish, I plan to keep Kentaro Kobayashi's (Bento Love cookbook) advice to heart: Don't overcook the cabbage and keep the sauce under control.

And I had this book all along. Drat.

Ginisang Pechay and Corned Beef a la Tintin

Dinner today was a simple affair. I just heated up the Ginisang Pechay I cooked up last night and sauteed the premium version of Argentina corned beef sitting in my cupboard. It cooked up fast, and was totally fuss-free unlike my other fancy recipes. And to my surprise, it made for a very satisfying meal. It's not perfect (I have never made something I was totally satisfied with - yet), but I'm proud that I can finally cook up a decent meal, even though sauteed corned beef doesn't really count as cooking since it's from the can. But corned beef isn't such a simple affair, as I learned the last time I cooked some and ended up with undercooked potatoes and a taste I wasn't happy with, at all. I wanted corned beef that tasted the way Mommy cooks it.

Here's my recipe:

1 can (210 g) of Gold Label Argentina corned beef
1 medium sized red onion, chopped (or half - I like lots of onions, so 1 onion is OK for me)
1 biggish potato, diced
1 tablespoon patis (fish sauce), to taste (I'm planning on cutting down to 1/2 or 3/4 next time)
1 tablespoon cooking oil

Fry the potatoes (diced small) on hot cooking oil and saute them for a while on medium heat (on my electric stove) until all the oil has passed through them and they turn a darker shade of yellow. Move them to the edge of the frying pan and put in some more oil (I used the oil sitting on top of the corned beef) then toss in the onions. When they're half-cooked, fold in the potatoes at the edge and saute the potatoes and onions until onions become translucent. Next, put in the can of corned beef and mix well. Cover for 5-7 minutes, until potatoes are of the desired tenderness and meat looks cooked. Add patis to taste. Done!

I was very happy that this time, the potatoes were nice and soft (but not overdone). And thank goodness I overcame the compulsion to add black pepper! (I am a black pepper addict and put several dashes of the stuff in everything). It does taste like Mommy's, maybe even (slightly) better. It seemed there was a bit more potato and onion in it than meat, though, but I don't mind that so much. Good extenders! Anyway, Yosuke did say he likes potatoes in corned beef. I'm trying to eat less meat. The one biggish potato left in my vegetable bowl sufficed, and I realize now that I always put in too many potatoes, ingredients, and spices in my cooking. Really, moderation is the key. Next time I will also cut back a bit on the patis since I can tolerate less salty foods.

Now for the Ginisang Pechay. This was the biggest breakthrough for me in a while. I like pechay (I love my greens), but there's something about the 'acidic' taste in pechay that I don't find appealing. The funny thing is, I've been eating pechay all my life and it was only recently that I noticed the 'acidic' taste (My tastebuds are getting more sensitive, especially after I left Japan and now that I'm starting to cook). I believe the acidic taste is what separates pechay from my favorite dark green vegetable and Popeye's food, spinach. For some reason, spinach is just divine.

So I was cooking the ginisang pechay late last night and wondering what spice or flavor I could use to give it a twist, especially since the water and pechay had started boiling and I could smell the acidic smell - quite unappetizing. I had very few spices on hand, so I decided to take the plunge and put in a few dashes of dried McCormick oregano, which I love so much in tomato dishes. The wonderful oregano smell quickly overpowered the acid, but I had yet to know how the taste would be. I cooked the pechay quickly so it won't be overcooked (to my standards. Then I added in a couple of dashes of my ever-favorite black pepper.

I had to admit I put in a bit too much oregano since the opening from the spice bottle is big and oregano, I think, is best placed on a spoon to prevent accidents while using, since it's such a strong herb. Still, it didn't affect the taste, and I had a fragrant ginisang pechay with no acidic taste. Hurray! :D

Roll Cabbages

←　The plain steamed version of the cabbage rolls.

I finally made the roll cabbage recipe I've been meaning to try cooking for 5 years now. Is it edible? Yes. Is it delicious? ..Yes. Am I satisfied? No.

I had a bunch of blunders which made the food less than satisfactory, though thankfully not enough to ruin it. The list of improvements I'm planning to do next time are:

1. Pay more attention to the cabbages while preparing them to be soft enough for rolling. I think I slightly overcooked them.
2. I think I can use slightly less ground meat and it'll still taste great (hooray for a healthier recipe!)
3. Use only a pinch of salt in the mix. I overdid it this time. I didn't mind lots of black pepper powder, though.
4. The leftover cabbage from the hard stalks chopped up and mixed make a good and healthy filling.
5. Cook the butter on low heat! (of course, the dang electric stove is partly to blame for this) I also don't need much butter. The 15 grams called for was more than enough.
6. Immediately turn off the heat when fine bubbles form on the butter-and-flour mix.
7. Use only half the Knorr broth cube. That and the salted butter + too much salt in my meat mix was the downfall of my recipe. Too salty for my taste, though thankfully still edible.
8. Use the biggest cabbage leaves from the biggest cabbage I can find. They're easier to roll and look better.

I seriously think I have some issues with either too much sodium or MSG. Maybe it's the sodium, or both. I get the same slight headache when I eat instant noodles, even though it's my favorite Lucky Me. So, it's best to cut down, I guess.

------

I steamed the leftover rolls for dinner tonight. So now I can directly compare them with the buttered versions.

1. The taste is just right, maybe just a little too salty for my taste which means that I definitely overdid it with the salt. Now that I think of it, the bacon was probably already salty too.
2. No significant loss in taste, just less "savory" and strong.

I think I'll stick to steaming next time. Less calories and no MSG. I'm thinking of incorporating some butter into the meat mix, though. And no Knorr.