p. Vegetables. Asian afterthoughts

After reviewing all of the previous vegetable recipes, I see that I must add a few forgotten favorites, which are more related to a process than to a specific product.

Stir-Fried Vegetables

Stir-frying is a great equalizer. This technique, based on high heat transferred through a layer of oil and some steaming among ingredients, constantly managed by the cook, allows for the preparation of a variety of vegetables (and meat) in record time. The cook must know his or her stuff, flip the ingredients over constantly so that pieces are heated on all sides, reduce the heat when needed (very rare), and even use a lid, sparingly, but effectively.

The result is a symphony of fresh-looking, brightly-colored, appetizing morsels with varying crunchiness. To make it more Asian, use some “Asian” ingredients like scallions, snow peas, water chestnuts, bok choy, Chinese broccoli, ginger, soy sauce or a drop of sesame oil.

Chances are you cannot easily use a wok on a normal US range (See Odds and Ends). A thin carbon steel skillet is the next best thing. 

 

Tempura

This dish requires some advance preparation as you will need to:

1.     Use vegetable pieces, which must be chosen and cut up

2.     Coat them in batter, which must be prepared (at the last minute)

3.     Deep-fry them in oil, which must be heated to 340°F in a large deep-fryer

4.     Dip them in a dipping sauce, which must be cooked on the side

The most essential part of tempura is to make a proper batter, a very simple process which must be followed strictly like so many Japanese traditions if you want to delight yourself.

For the batter, you will need:

×           1 egg yolk

×           1 cup of ice water

×           1 cup of flour

Beat the egg yolk lightly.

Pour the ice water and give the mix a few strokes.

Pour the flour in one go and give the mix a few strokes.

This is the hard part: stop now while the batter is still lumpy and irregular. This will give the tempura its characteristic golden, irregular character. Over-mixing would activate the wheat gluten and transform this delicacy into a vulgar western deep-fry you do not want to experience. 

This batter does not wait. Take each individual piece, dip it in flour, then in batter, then lay it in the deep-fryer.

It cooks in 3 minutes. Take it out with a meshed scoop or chopsticks, drain it on some paper towel, and put on a serving dish.

Prepare the next batch while you start serving.

The dipping sauce should have been made in advance. It requires:

×           1 cup dashi (See Soups)

×           1/3 cup mirin

×           1/3 cup soy sauce

×           Grated daikon radish and ginger

Mix the liquid ingredients. Bring to a boil and keep warm until it is time to serve. Add the daikon and the ginger.

Needless to say, you will be forgiven if you have no dashi ready in your refrigerator. In this case, you may settle for a simple dip in soy sauce!  Rejoice! It is still wonderful! And you can eat it at home with the best ingredients you have selected yourself at the market, without having to drive to a restaurant!

Take some time to thank the Portuguese Jesuits who traveled all the way to Japan in the 16^th Century and wanted to fast by not eating meat. They ended up converting the Japanese, at least to the virtues of deep-frying.  

Toppings and Chutneys

Many of the vegetable dishes mentioned in this section can be prepared in advance as so many building blocks and will keep in the refrigerator for 2 to 10 days. They can be used as toppings with pasta or rice or side dishes as an accompaniment.

From my point of view, Indian inspired chutneys, more concentrated, strongly flavored, and used as a condiment, also belong to this category.