Taiwanese Pumpkin Rice Vermicelli 金瓜米粉

Surprisingly I had my most share of pumpkin rice vermicelli back in California. The thing is that my own family doesn't really make "pumpkin" rice vermicelli, but it's like one of the most common Taiwanese household dishes. 

So as an international student many many years ago, my fellow Taiwanese friends often invited me to their home and have family meals together during holidays. And guess what? They've always had pumpkin rice vermicelli on the table. Man that was such a comforting dish, especially when the chef (auntie) was very good at making all sort of Taiwanese dishes.

Taiwanese pumpkin rice vermicelli 金瓜米粉 - 

Ingredients (about 6 portions)?

• 200 grams 100% rice vermicelli
• 360 grams matsusaka pork
• 300 grams pumpkin
• 150 grams wood ear 
• 1/2 medium small cabbage
• 1/2 medium small carrot
• 8 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons dried shrimps 蝦米
• 2 stalks scallion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon Chinese rice cooking wine
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• Few dashes white pepper powder
• 3 tablespoons goose's grease or olive oil
• 1 cup shiitake soaking water
• 1 cup chicken stock

How?

Rinse then soak the the dried shrimps using room temperature water. Once rehydrated a little, drain and pat dry with paper towel. Fine chop the dried shrimps.

Rinse and soak the dried shiitake mushrooms using room temperature water too. Preferably drinkable water. Once rehydrated, save the mushroom soaking water, which should be about 1 cup. Destem the mushrooms then slice the caps.

Meanwhile, slice the matsusaka pork to medium large bite size, preferably with a little thickness to it. If you can't find matsusaka pork, regular pork slices with a bit fat or even strips are doable too. Marinate and massage the pork using 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of Chinese rice cooking wine.

Trim-off the tougher cabbage stem then slice the rest to medium threads. Trim-off the tougher wood ear center then slice the rest to threads too. Peel and julienne the carrot. Peel the pumpkin then cut into about 1mm thickness slices. Note that much of these veggies will slowly cook-down later on so bigger or thicker pieces are totally fine.

Destem and section the scallion. Peel and slice the garlic cloves.

Prepare the rice vermicelli according to package instruction. Some might require a short soaking time, some might need to quickly cook in hot water first. I used 100% rice vermicelli here so it gets soft and break apart easily. All I need to do was simply soaking the vermicelli in room temperature water till slightly separated then drain for later use.

Have a big wok or a big pot ready, if you have goose's grease then definitely use it, otherwise drizzle 3 tablespoons of olive oil instead. Switch to medium heat and add in chopped dried shrimps, garlic, scallion sections, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt right away.

Wait till the heat goes up and these aromatics start slightly browning on the edges. Add in pork along with the marinade. Sear till half-way cooked through then add in the shiitake. Continue to sear till aromatic for a little longer.

Add in carrot now. I prefer to add in the carrot early because I don't really like eating "hard" carrot in Chinese dishes. However, the actual cooking time is up to you. I myself actually cook the carrot sticks for two minutes first here.

Then add in the cabbage, wood ear, and pumpkin. Give it a quick stir-fry then season with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, and 2 dashes of white pepper powder. Mix till evenly blended.

Pour in 1 cup of reserved shiitake mushroom soaking water and 1 cup of chicken stock. Bring to a light boil and cook for 3 more minutes.

Add the prepped rice vermicelli to the wok and mix till evenly blended with all the ingredients. Put on the lid and cook in medium or medium low heat all the way till the rice vermicelli reaches desired texture, should be around few minutes.

Remove the lid and do a final flavor check. Adjust with additional seasonings if needed. By the time most of the pumpkins should be semi-melted into the sauce already, adding a hint of sweetness to the whole rice vermicelli. 

I also think that's the key to pumpkin rice vermicelli. If you can still find whole and hard pumpkin pieces in this dish, to me that means the flavors have not yet been fully soaked in yet, no good.

So memorizing the days in California, how lucky I was that I still get to eat all the authentic Taiwanese homemade meals back in California. Not the somewhat look-alike Taiwanese food at the restaurants, but true local-flavored home-cooked version with my friend's family.

The heart-warming feeling of friends and families gathered together and enjoyed countless homemade dishes. That feeling was rooted in my heart that I still treasure till now. You know I don't really get the same vibe here back in Taiwan. First of all my own family is kind of small, and secondly most of my close friends in Taiwan don't really know how to cook.

Good thing is that as long as I go ahead and buy that airplane ticket to fly all the way to America, at least I can still relive the holiday gathering moment again, surrounded by friends and so called my CA families with lots of delicious homemade food. Yes! I've got to make that happen again soon.

Extended reading:

• Curry flavored beehoon/rice vermicelli stir-fry 咖哩炒米粉

Three Ingredients Only Persimmon Custard (柿プリン)

It took me a while to decide whether I should use custard or pudding to describe this recipe. You know that this little sweet treat recipe was kind of a popular way to enjoy persimmon in Japan. And there they called it 柿プリン, basically persimmon pudding. 

But if you really Google something "pudding" online, usually it'll end up with tons of a more "bread-like" baking dish instead. So I figured let's keep it as persimmon custard instead, and I'll also put up 柿プリン to provide some extra insight.

Three ingredients only persimmon custard (柿プリン) - 

Ingredients (about 4 medium servings)?

• 400 grams/2 big ripe persimmons 
• 200 grams whole milk (I used lactose-free version)
• Some honey (optional)

How?

Peel and slice the persimmons to chunks. We will need 400 grams of persimmon here for the main custard part. You can also save some and slice to smaller cubes for garnish later on when serving.

Transfer persimmon chunks to a blender. Pour in 200 grams of whole milk and blend till smooth. Taste and see if some honey is needed. 

The persimmons I have here are very sweet, but I still added no more than 1 tablespoon of honey just for that extra aroma. After adding honey, blend again till evenly mixed.

Pour into containers, use glass containers if possible so that orange hue can been seen.

Cover with lid or cling foil. Store in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight. Once the texture has been set, you can add the cubed persimmon on top and enjoy the whole custard anytime.

Fun thing is that I also Googled what's better not to be enjoyed together with persimmon. Ended up dairy was one of them. Saying that there's a risk of forming stomach concretions by eating these two together.

However, you do see many sweet treats being made using persimmon and dairy together. So I dug a little bit more. Yet again it's more about portion control. As long as you don't binge eating persimmon and dairy, usually the situation won't be as serious, and most likely nothing bad will happen.

One more thing you can do to prevent such event is that always make sure to use very ripe persimmon if it's about to be turned into something creamy. Because ripe persimmons are less astringent, that means less tannic, and reduces the chance of forming bezoar in your body. 

And of course if somehow you don't feel too good after eating persimmon, even without dairy some people can't digest such fruit that well still, just stop consuming it all along. But for those who can eat persimmon without much issues, please enjoy such delicacy especially fall and winter are the best seasons for sweet persimmons.

Extended reading:

• Persimmon salad with mozzarella and Jamón Ibérico

Aged Shaoxing Wine and Soy Sauce Prawns 花雕醬油大明蝦

"Heck it!" My mind was thinking about these two words when I finally decided to pick up a pack of frozen prawns. Why so dramatic? Because the price for 6 prawns was well over $30 USD. I could have substitute with much cheaper shrimps instead.

But it's not like I cook prawns all the time, most likely less than twice a year. I guess a little indulgence once a long while should be fine. And to make it worth the money paid, I just have to make sure the final success of pricey prawn dish.

Aged Shaoxing wine and soy sauce prawns 花雕醬油大明蝦 - 

Ingredients?

• 450 grams prawns
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2 red chilies
• 1 stalk scallion
• 1 chunk old ginger
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon aged Shaoxing wine
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Some potato starch

How?

Scrape-off the skin then slice the old ginger to about 1mm thickness slices. Peel the garlic cloves. Destem then slice the red chilies diagonally. Destem the scallion then slice to shorter sections. However, do save some diagonally sliced green part pieces for garnish in the end.

To prep the prawns, use a kitchen scissor and trim-off the antenna, legs, and especially that pointy tip on the head. Then insert the scissor inside the gap between the head shell and the body part.

Run down the scissor and cut an opening in the middle of the back all the way to the last segment close to the tail. From there, around the second or third segment, gently break open the shell and pick out the intestinal tract. It should be fairly easy to spot the dark line due to the size of the prawn, meaning thicker tract as a result.

Don't pick up the orange tract if there's any. In fact you should be happy that you hit the jackpot! It's basically fertile gonads with roe and very yummy stuff. Kind of like crab roe or crab paste, the orange thing will enhance the umami of the overall dish, and a delicacy to munch on.

Once the prawns are prepped, marinate them with 1 tablespoon of aged Shaoxing wine, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 2 slices of ginger. About 10 minutes, sprinkle some potato starch and coat the prawns all around.

Preferably use a clay pot, drizzle 3 tablespoons of olive oil and switch to medium heat. Wait till the pot and the oil get hot. Add in the prawns and sear till slightly golden browned on both sides. Once ready, scoop out the prawns first.

Still using the same pot, add more oil if needed. Add in 6 peeled garlic cloves along with red chilies, scallion sections, and 2 ginger slices. Sear till aromatic and maybe slightly charred.

Add back the prawns and give it a quick toss. Add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Toss and cook for about 30 seconds, no more than a minute.

Right before the end of cooking, pour in 1 more tablespoon of aged Shaoxing wine along the inner edge of the pot. That direct contact with the heated surface will further bringing out the aroma of the wine. 

Garnish with some diagonally sliced scallion and serve right away.

Thank goodness these prawns were DELICIOUS. It's like double the umami power compared to regular shrimps. And not just the prawns itself, the sauce was super flavorful too and definitely killed more rice because of it. 

So I guess that was money well-spent?

Extended reading:

• Chinese spicy sausage and shrimp rice using rice cooker
• Shrimp and pork wontons in vinegar and chili oil sauce
• Shaoxing drunken shrimp 紹興醉蝦