Friday, May 18, 2012

Ember Room - Photo Essay


I love having friends who work in food journalism because I get to go to restaurant menu tasting events. Love it! My friend Will who works with The Daily Meal as a recipe editor and invited me last night to a menu tasting at the Ember Room in Hell's Kitchen, NYC. Chef Pongtawat "Ian" Chalermkittichai invited a few publications to come taste their new menu items. Despite having just arrived back in New York after a visit to Thailand and waking up super early to do a morning show on CBS, Chef Ian was gracious, welcoming and nice enough to by our table a few times to talk about his food and travels. Ember Room is not his first restaurant in the city, his first restaurant, self-titled Kittichai, is actually one of my favorite places in the city so I had high hopes for the food. I certainly wasn't disappointed. 

 Crispy Rock Corn Shrimp - tempura battered shrimp, roasted melting eggplant, sweet tamarind dressing, shredded hard-boiled egg

 Thai Tacos - shredded chicken, bean sprouts, chives, peanut, tofu, coconut, sweet chili sauce

 “Yum Hoi” Pomelo Scallops - seared “diver” scallops, chili jam glaze, pomelo salad, roasted pepper-lime dressing

 Koi Tuna Tartare - fresh tuna, roasted ground rice, crispy tortillas, chili-lime dressing

 Had Yai Volcano Chicken - oven-roasted turmeric-coconut marinated chicken, green chili sauce (IT'S ON FIRE!)

 Korean BBQ-Beef Fried Rice - wok-fried rice, kimchee, bbq beef, topped with raw egg.

 Crispy Whole Striped Bass - whole fish, sweet/sour/spicy sauce, crispy basil 

 Red Curry Crispy Duck - lychee, pineapple, cherry tomato, eggplant

 Mango with Sticky Rice & Toasted Coconut Ice Cream

 Pandan Pot de Crème with Waffle and Pandan Ice Cream

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Bun Rieu - Vietnamese Crab Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

5-6 pounds tomatoes
2 tablespoons dried shrimp
2 tablespoons garlic, chopped
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup tamarind paste (dried and condenses with seeds)
1 small can minced shrimp with spices
1 large can minced crab with spices
6 eggs

Directions:

In a small pot, add tamarind and add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. In large (6 or 8 quart) stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add dried shrimp to hot oil and fry for for 2 minutes, then add garlic for another minute. Strain the liquid from the boiling tamarind into the stock pot. (The seeds of tamarind pods are dried with the flesh, but the seeds are bitter so we only want the tamarind flavor in the liquid.) Add more water to the seeds and bring to a boil again. Continue this process of extracting the flavor from the tamarind until the water start to run more clear and you've extracted as much flavor as possible. (This process goes much more smoothly if you have already hot/boiling water on hand, i.e. in a kettle.) When you've finished with the tamarind, dispose of the leftover flesh/seeds. Add more water to the pot until about 3/4 full and bring to a boil.


Quarter the tomatoes making sure each quarter has a part of the head attached to it. This keeps the tomatoes from completely falling apart. When the broth approaches a boil, carefully add the tomatoes. (Don't splash yourself with the hot broth, I've done it once or twice. Not pleasant!) Simmer for an hour.



Empty both cans into a mixing bowl and beat together with eggs. Turn the heat on the stock pot to low and pour the egg/spiced seafood mixture into the pot slowly in circles making sure the mixture has room throughout the pot. Slowly simmer for another 30 minutes. Serve over vermicelli, traditionally accompanies with a spread of Vietnamese herbs, lettuce, lime, bean sprouts, and other unidentified items. So good and a great way to make use of tomatoes when they are in season, ripe, and cheap!


Thursday, May 3, 2012

Chinese Watercress Soup

I grew up on soup. My mother made sure we had soup with every dinner. On the days when we wouldn't, dinner seemed incomplete. The slow-cooked taste of simmer low-fire Cantonese, or lou fo tong (老火湯, lǎohuǒ tāng), is a smell and flavor that brings me back to my childhood. Some people have chicken pot pie, others have roast beef. Cantonese soups are my comfort food, this being one of my favorites. 

Ingredients:

1 lb pork neck bones
2 bunches watercress, washed and drained
3 dried honey dates (蜜枣)
6 dried red dates (红枣)
3/4 cups Chinese South Almonds ( 南杏)
Salt to taste

Directions:

Take your soup pot and fill three-quarters (3/4) full with water and put it over high heat. Bring a second (smaller) pot of water to a boil. Put the pork neck bones into the water and let it boil for 5 minutes; this helps get rid of all the bloody water and any excess fat and discharge from the meat. Your end product will be a clearer, cleaner broth.

Turn off the heat and drain the water from the bones. Rinse several times with water until the water runs clear and all the grit is off the bones. Then add the bones to the large soup pot. Add the dried honey dates and the Chinese south almonds to the pot. Wait for the pot of water to come to a boil. If the pot is already boiling, give the ingredients 5-10 minutes in water before adding the watercress.


Lower the flame to a medium/medium-low heat and simmer the soup for 30-40 minutes. The watercress will turn brown and less appealing than the vibrant green when it first enters the pot but the soup you are left with is full of earthy flavor and super delicious!