Okra & Pasilla Omelet with Egg Noodle

okra
Originally uploaded by Kolya Vishnevsky.

One of my best food memories, was a simple meal prepared by my then-boyfriend's mother -- the woman who opened up my palate to Vietnamese cuisine. It was a backyard bbq meal of grilled beef, salad, rice and grilled okra in a soy marinade. I have never had okra so delicious! They were tiny green jewels grown in her backyard -- picked at their peak, and lightly grilled with a little char on the outside. I've been on a quest to enjoy okra like this once more.

My recent break from red meat has re-sparked my interest in veggie varieties, outside of my staples. The trip to the market yielded the lovely oyster mushrooms from my last post, and a nice pack of small, tender okra. Craving a hearty breakfast, with the okra in mind, I went through my pantry, yielding a pack of Chinese dried egg noodle and chicken bouillon. I remembered a yummy, simple noodle dish, made by my friend Rio, that was basically fresh egg noodle quickly boiled in broth and drained, served with sauteed greens garnished with a drizzle of good oyster sauce. Inspired by this pairing, I came up with a similar dish incorporating the okra, and added omelet to "breakfast-ify" it.

Okra & Roasted Pasilla Omelet with Egg Noodle

ingredients
1 med fresh pasilla pepper (sometimes called poblanos)
6-8 oz thin Chinese egg noodle (fresh or dried)
2 1/2 cups water
1 chicken bouillon cube
*note* you may substitute water & bouillon with 2 1/2 cups diluted chicken broth
1 tsp roasted sesame oil
2 Tbs light, non-flavored oil (extra or virgin olive oil does not work here)
1 clove garlic, sliced
5-7 okra pods, sliced on the diagonal
1/3 cup canned sliced bamboo shoots
2 large eggs, beaten
Approx 1 Tbs oyster sauce (use a brand with real oyster extract)
Fresh radish sprouts for garnish
Salt to taste

preparation
- Roast the pasilla pepper on an open flame, or in the oven on broil, till blackened throughout. Set aside.
- In a saucepot, bring the water & bouillon (or broth) to a boil. Add the egg noodle and cook till just tender, but with bite (semi al dente). Drain, and place in serving bowl, tossed with the roasted sesame oil.
- Remove the blackened skin from the pasilla, rinse quickly or wipe with a damp towel to clean. Chop half of the pepper and reserve the other half for another dish.
- Heat 2 tsp of the oil in a large skillet or wok, till oil shimmers, but not smoking.
- Add garlic, okra, bamboo shoots and a couple dashes of salt. Saute quickly for about a minute. Set aside.
- In the same pan, heat the remaining oil on medium high, add chopped pasilla peppers, saute for approx 10-15 seconds.
- To the sauteed pasillas, add the beaten eggs. Let egg mixture cook by pulling the cooked edges to the middle, allowing the raw egg to seep to the edge of the pan, to cook evenly. Cook till eggs are set, but still moist.
- Turn out omelet onto the egg noodles, top with okra saute, drizzle oyster sauce on top and garnish with fresh radish sprouts.
- Makes 1 generous serving. Enjoy!

Mushroom Tofu Fried Brown Rice

the mushrooms #1
Originally uploaded by tamjpn.

Mmmm, mmmm, mushrooms. I swoon for funghi! Give me a generous serving of mushrooms sauteed in just a touch of butter, and I am good to go.

As of late, I've taken a break from red meat, and am delving back to the semi-vegetarian state I embraced in the 90's. I hopped over to Rainbow Market for some staples, and happened upon a beautiful package of plump oyster mushrooms. With a potful of cooked brown rice, and pouring rain outside, I decide to put the mushrooms to work and cook up some mushroom fried rice.

I've discovered brown rice makes extra delicious fried rice, as the outer covering toasts up nicely, and you don't have to use much oil since the starch is contained within (less sticking). I came up with this recipe through trial an error, and further simplifying the ingredients. This dish would be great for breakfast with soft scrambled eggs, or served as a simple dinner with a bowl of miso soup.


Mushroom & Tofu Fried Brown Rice

ingredients
4 cups room temp or cold leftover brown rice cooked
2 Tbs mild cooking oil
4 oz cubed firm tofu (drained)
2 cloves of garlic sliced
4 scallions chopped (green & white part)
1 generous pat of butter
1-2 cups of sliced mushrooms (cremini or oyster preferred)
1 fresh green chili (serrano or jalepeno) chopped (seeds removed for milder heat)
1 tsp. Korean salted shrimp
salt or soy sauce to taste
drizzle of toasted sesame oil
garnish (optional): radish sprouts or shredded nori

utensils
wok or large heavy saute pan
wide wooden spoon (bamboo rice spoon preferred)

preparation
- Heat pan on high till it starts to smoke.
- Add cooked brown rice. Toast for 2-3 minutes. Push to sides of pan.
- Create a middle clearing and add 1 Tbs oil & cubed tofu. Saute for 1 minute, till tofu browns slightly.
- Add remaining Tbs oil, garlic, scallions and mushrooms. Saute together for 2 minutes, till garlic browns and softens.
- Add butter, salted shrimp and chopped chilis. Saute for 2 minutes till chili is sweated through.
- Taste, and add salt if needed or soy sauce, if needed
- Saute for about 1-2 minutes more.
- Turn off heat, and add a light drizzle of toasted sesame oil for flavor.
- Serve with garnishes (optional)

Enjoy!

Flor de calabaza

The other day, I left work early enough before the sun set and found myself further down Mission St in my old neighborhood. It was still early enough to catch one of my favorite markets, Evergreen, before they closed.

I love Evergreen! It's an Asian-owned grocer that sells a little bit of everything: produce, sundries and snacks. They're also a butcher, but I don't generally shop here for meat purposes. Some of the things I primarily like about Evergreen, is their produce is quite fresh, they sell an array of Brazilian and Asian items outside of the ubiquitous Mission market fare, and they have a nice fresh cheese case. Not to mention they carry a good selection of Cuban, Puerto Rican and Brazilian coffees --- AND sweetened condensed milk. I certainly get my Vietnamese Coffee swerve on here. It's empowering...

The main mission was to get some greens for my "girls" (the guinea pigs that is), and figured I could get some herbs & veggies and call it a day. Well, well, to my delight there were packages of fresh squash blossoms for sale. I was confounded at first. Picked them up and studied them, waiting for some genius recipe to hit me or something.

A latin woman, near me, noticed me staring at the blossoms and asked her daughter to ask me what I planned on doing with them. I told her I might stuff them with cheese and deep fry them. She then excitedly told me she enjoys them fresh, with a little chopped onion, epazote, chilies and queso in a quesadilla. Ding!! My alarm went off. That's exactly what I'll have.

I continued to chat with her in my horrible broken Spanish, but understood the basics:

Flor de calabaza quesadillas

- epazote (a Mexican herb) >> check!
- flor de calabaza (said squash blossoms) >> check!
- saboyas (onions) >> check!
- queso (I got me some queso cremoso - cream cheese) >> check!
- chilis >> check!
- corn tortillas >> check!

Hee hee.. I gleefully head home and await the power of squash blossoms to unfold their secrets to me.

I gently wash my blossoms and pat them dry. I did a bit of Googling on their preparation, and am advised to cut the green stem off, leaving the base intact, and remove the outer peak-shaped tips near the base.

Now onto prepare the quesadilla. Hot pan, lightly greased, tortilla, cheese, chopped epazote & onions, fresh squash blossoms torn, and one more tortilla. Grill till cheese is melted and tortilla is browned. Enjoy!

Very simple and delicious. The flavor is a gentle hit of squash, with the cheese and epazote coming up from the background. The important thing, I've discovered, is not to salt these much (or at all) and use only the faintest of condiments if you must. I had a dab of hot sauce, as I forgot the chilis, which rounded the flavor just a touch.

I might add I had these for breakfast, which intuitively seemed the best time of the day to enjoy them. Lovely and amazing! I now have a bowlfull of these blossoms left, in which I may really try stuffing them and light frying them crisp. Hopefully that's another post.


Evergreen Market
groceries from Mexico, Central & South America, and Asia
2539 Mission St @ 21st St
San Francisco, CA
415.641.4506