Yum! Yum! Tom Yum Kai - Thai Hot & Sour Soup with Quail Eggs

I have been suffering from an extreme lack of inspiration in cooking lately.

Oh, I have been cooking, but nothing really all that earth shakingly interesting to make it blog-worthy in my view... OK, the panko crusted Razor Clams I fried up last week may actually qualify as blog material, but I have not decided yet.  (it's a messy process)  In my defense, we had 2 weeks of insanely hot weather and I usually resort to a steady diet of salad during those times. (and there is another heat wave on the way even as I type this)

The primary reason for my lack of creativity has been my lack of computer usage.  It's summer and there have been a LOT of things going on. So, aside from the occasional check on email and checking my eBay listings for sales, I have not been engaged in a whole lot of "recreational computing", like social networking.  This presents somewhat of a cooking conundrum for me, as I always find inspiration with my Beeps (BakeSpace Peeps) over on the BakeSpace forums.

I have even been lax in reading my Beeps' Blogs... Not all my Beeps have Blogs, but a healthy chunk of them do...  All summer, I have been missing out on the culinary exploits of Heather at Girlichef, DeeDee at DDPie's Slice, Danielle at Cooking For My Peace of Mind, Cris at Hye Thyme Cafe, Bob at Cooking Stuff, Cathy at Dutch Baker's Daughter, Sheryle at Cookie Baker's Corner, and Dajana at Baker's Corner, just to name a few.....  (sigh)  I miss my Beeps.

Anyway...  With no culinary input whatsoever, I have found that my well of creativity has run dry.  Dry as a roasted bone.  Dry as the pages of the cookbooks to which I so desperately cleave.   Ahem.

That is until now.

I have discovered the joys of Thai food.  OK, I already knew about Thai food (as it's one of my favorites) but I don't really "cook" Thai food.  I tend to remain in my French, Italian, Scandinavian and Greek sphere with occasional forays into Eastern European and North African (mostly Moroccan) and save the Thai food for when I feel like going "out" to eat.

I avoid cooking in the Pan-Asian arena because it requires a completely different pantry than western cuisine. My pantry is only so big and there is only so much room.  I must say, however, that between the Tom Kha I made last year and this foray into Tom Yum, I think Thai food is going to have to start becoming a staple round here.  Time to find a bigger pantry.

Thai food just seems so vibrant and fresh.... Even more so than Chinese. Though I will admit that my knowledge of Chinese is pretty much limited to Sezchuan, Mandarin and Canton.  Just bear with me, I am taking baby steps out of my comfort zone here... LOL

Tom Yum is a delicious hot & sour soup that, unlike its Chinese cousin, contains no cornstarch or tapioca starch.  This makes it a little more "brothy" and less "clingy" in your mouth, giving it a "cleaner" finish. While it still contains rice wine vinegar, it's primary souring agent is lime juice.  Which makes me extremely happy, for I love all things of the lime persuasion.

Usually, Tom Yum contains some form of protein. Sadly, while I have seen Tom Yum made with Chicken and Pork, it usually boils down to some form of fried tofu.  EWW!  Tofu and I DO NOT get along....  As in "Hello, Emergency Room" as I swallow an entire box of Benedryl.  No To the Tofu!

Luckily, the Lily Market on Halsey had a solution for me (they are always so helpful there).  Canned Quail Eggs... Yep, little itty-bitty quail eggs that have been boiled, peeled and canned in water.  I was a little leery at first, for I had only purchased quail eggs in the raw at the Mitsuwa Marketplace in San Diego, but I gotta tell ya, they were perfect for my soup!    Turned out pretty darned tasty if ya ask me. 

Tom Yum Kai

(Thai Hot & Sour Soup with Quail Eggs)

3 fresh Red Birds Eye chiles, seeded and chopped (I actually use 4, but I like it hot)
6 TB Rice Vinegar
2 stalks of Lemongrass, cut into chunks (cause you will want to remove them later)
4 Scallions (Spring/Green Onions), sliced
1 small head of Bok Choy, shredded
1/2 cup worth of Cilantro Leaves (be sure and save the stems for Green Curry Paste)
5 cups Vegetable Stock
4 TB Tamari Soy Sauce
1 TB Coconut Palm Sugar (Jaggery) though you can sneak by with light brown
Juice of 1/2 a Lime
1 can Quail Eggs, packed in water (about 7 oz drain weight), drained
14 oz can Straw Mushrooms, drained

Seed and chop the Chiles.

Place them in a non-metallic bowl (cause they will even react with stainless steel) and add the rice vinegar, allowing them to soak for 1 hour (which gives you enough time to chop everything else)

Like peeling and chunking up the Lemongrass......

Slicing up the Scallions,

Shredding the Bok Choy,

and picking all the leaves off the Cilantro stems.
OK once that is all done, you probably still have about 40 minutes before the chiles are ready....
So, pour the 5 cups of Vegetable Stock into a large sauce pan and add the chunks of Lemongrass, Tamari, Palm Sugar and Lime Juice.

Bring this to a boil, then reduce the flame and simmer for 30 minutes.

While the stock is simmering with it's added flavor components....
Place the Bok Choy in a bowl, add 1/2 the Scallions and the Cilantro Leaves, then toss them together.... (You will add this mixture at the very end of cooking)

Take a short break while everything just kind of hangs out doin it's thing.... the Stock is simmering, the Chiles are soaking and the Bok Choy, Scallions and Cilantro are mingling together in the bowl.
Once an hour has passed and the chiles are finished soaking, go ahead and add them to the simmering stock.

Add the remaining Scallions, the Quail Eggs and the Straw mushrooms and simmer an additional 10 minutes.

Remove the soup from the flame and stir in the Bok Choy/Scallion/Cilantro mixture and stir gently until slightly wilted.

Serve.

Heaven in a bowl!  I kid you not.

And now it's time to tackle Green Curry Paste, for I have a massive amount of Cilantro stems.

Maa Gin Khaao!!
(มากินข้าว)
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The Soup That Eats Like a Salad - Squash Soup with Celery & Bok Choy

I was a little leery about this soup. After all, the only pumpkin/squash soups I have had in the past were pureed with a ton of cream added. Quite tasty, but also a little heavy on the calories. This recipe comes from the Feng Shui Food cookbook I recently found when perusing the volumes at the GoodWill (I find some pretty darned nifty cookbooks in there).

I have modified it slightly, for personal taste. The original recipe called for 2 tomatoes, diced to 1 cm, to be added at the end along with the Basil, Bok Choy and the Celery leaves. Since I cannot eat uncooked tomatoes I added them after I had fished out my bowl and taken my photos.

I shared this soup with my parents, and my mother stated that she felt the tomatoes overpowered everything else in the pot. So I have left them out of this blogged version completely. Feel free to add them in if you like. Oh, and I also chose spring onions (scallions) instead of a white onion or a shallot.... This was a personal preference because I was going to a "crisper" onion flavor.

Squash Soup with Celery and Bok Choy

1 TB Olive oil
1 bunch Scallions, Sliced - White and light green parts
3 Cloves garlic, Minced
2 stalks celery, diced (save the leaves)
1 small Fennel Bulb, diced
1 Liter Cold Water (this is about 4 1/2 cups)
300 g (10.5 oz) Butternut Squash, Diced in 2 cm cubes
1 TB Double Concentrated Tomato Paste (or Sun-Dried Tomato Paste)
Kosher Salt
White Pepper
1-2 Baby Bok Choy, Chopped
Small bunch of Basil, chiffonade
1 tsp Black Truffle oil

Chop the Celery and save the leaves, your gonna need then for finished the soup.

Heat the oil over medium flame in a stock pot then add Spring onion, Garlic, Celery and Fennel, sweating for about 3 - 4 minutes to release their vegetable goodness into the pot (DO NOT saute, this seals the flavors in)

Add the water and the diced Butternut Squash.

Bring to a boil, then add tomato paste and reduce heat and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes, until the Squash is tender.

Chop the Bok Choy.

Pick the leaves from the celery, removing the actual top stems.

Chiffonade the Basil, reserving a couple of bud tops for garnishing.

After 15-20 minutes, season with Kosher Salt and White pepper, then remove from the heat and stir in the Bok Choy, Basil and the Celery Leaves.

Drizzle with 1 tsp Black Truffle oil and enjoy a steaming bowl garnished with basil tops and a couple extra celery leaves.

This was an absolutely delicious soup! Light on calories with a delightfully "fresh" flavor. I cannot wait to make it again! Neither can my mother.... ;)

Mangia!!
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Using your Noodle - Gingered Chicken Ramen with Bok Choy

I promise that this is the last one... Cause I think I am completely Ramen'ed out for awhile.

There really isn't an interesting back story to this except that I figured since the first dish I did focused more on a basic "Noodle soup" aspect and the second focused on bringing a more "French" flair to the dish, that I should do something that smacked of the Asian origins of Ramen noodles. So this is what I use to do when I was tired of eating it as a soupish type dish, and focuses more on Pan-Asian flavors as well as the "noodles" themselves when serving, as the broth is discarded.

Gingered Chicken Ramen with Bok Choy

1 pkg Chicken Ramen (although Pork works just as well for this)
2 TB Orange Juice
1 Baby Bok Choy
1/2 tsp Ginger Powder (although this is better with freshly grated)
1/4 tsp dried Orange Peel
1 egg

Remove the core and separate the ribs of the Bok Choy.

Cut off the top leaf part and reserve, then dice the ribs as you would celery.

Place 1 3/4 cups of water in a small sauce pan along with 2 TB Orange Juice, the diced Bok Choy, dried Ginger and dried Orange Peel; bringing to a boil over medium heat.

Add the noodles and let boil for 2 minutes.

Crack an egg into the sauce pan.

Stir slowly with a fork so the egg pieces are larger and simmer for 1 minute more.

Remove from heat and add the reserved Bok Choy leaves.

Stir them into the noodles and let set for 5 minutes. This will allow the noodles to absorb some of the stock.

Strain out any remaining broth and serve the noodles.

Serve with a sprinkle of more powdered ginger if desired.

So these last 3 posts I have shared with you some of the "things" I do to my Ramen noodles. Do you do anything different to yours? What's your favorite flavor? (Mine is actually the Chili Lime Shrimp)

Mangia!!
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