Shrimp and Artichoke Pasta (Using Canned Artichoke Hearts)

Question first, why this recipe is often called shrimp and artichoke pasta instead of artichoke and shrimp pasta? In the beginning I was like maybe I should go with alphabetical order, so putting artichoke before shrimp. However, after a quick search online, most of the recipes are titled shrimp and artichoke, with shrimp in the front.

Why is that? Or it's like way too normal and too common so no one ever thought about it? Not like it's super important but it'll be nice to know the reason behind. I'm a little curious cat here.

Shrimp and artichoke pasta using canned artichoke hearts - 

Ingredients (about 3 to 4 portions)?

• 290 grams (60 grams solids) canned artichoke hearts
• 360 grams linguine pasta
• 16 to 20 shrimps
• 30 small or 20 medium cherry tomatoes
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 small bundle flat leaf parsley
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• Some extra virgin olive oil
• Some salt

How?

Have a big pot of water ready and bring to a boil. Season with few good pinches of salt and add in the linguine pasta. Cook till almost al dente. Before draining, save about a cup of pasta cooking water on the side, then proceed to drain out the water.

Try to calculate the pasta cooking time so when the sauce is ready, the pasta should be just about finished cooking too, then you can simply drain and dump into the sauce right away.

Peel and slice the garlic cloves. If the cherry tomatoes are on the bigger side, cut into half. Peel and devein the shrimps. Zest the lemon before slicing it in half. Chop the flat leaf parsley, do not use the stems if appear too tough. Remove the artichoke heart from the jar and give it a few chops.

Bring out a big pan and drizzle 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Use medium heat and add in garlic slices along with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Sear till slightly golden then add in halved cherry tomatoes. Swirl the pan once a while and cook till the tomatoes seemed about to burst or slightly charred on some sides.

Add in shrimps and cook for about 30 seconds. Add in artichoke and continue to cook for a short moment.

Pour in 1/2 cup of dry white wine, also add all the lemon zest we prepared in the beginning, squeeze in juice from half of the lemon. Also add 1 teaspoon of salt and most of the chopped parsley. Swirl and toss to make sure every ingredients are evenly mixed together. Taste and adjust with salt if needed.

Check and see if the sauce is enough. If not, pour in some pasta water that we saved earlier. I added about 1/4 cup here. Then I transfer drained pasta over. Swirl the pan and try to blend in some air to the sauce.

Cook till the sauce looks slightly thickened, and the oily part appears binding with the sauce. Give it a last couple rounds of extra virgin olive oil drizzles. Toss a few more times. Plate and garnish with the remaining chopped parsley.

You know what? Canned artichoke heart ain't bad at all, it's actually quite delicious. Especially with all the hard prepping work being dealt with, the only job we have is to utilize the tender hearts into our cooking.

And using canned artichoke heart for pasta was such a great option. A slightly tangy touch worked really well with lighter-tasting shrimps. Not just shrimps, flat leaf parsley also balanced well with canned artichoke hearts. 

Extended reading:

• Thick cut bacon and lentil ragu
• Pasta all'ortolana (healthy pasta with lots of vegetables)
• Tuna and olive linguine for two
• Oyster and shiso peperoncino
• Paccheri with tuna in red bell pepper sauce

Soft Batter Taiwanese Breakfast Egg Pancakes 軟粉漿蛋餅

Calling it Taiwanese "breakfast" egg pancakes is in fact quite an accurate description. No matter where you go in Taiwan, you can always find some breakfast joints selling egg pancakes. Some places even extend their opening hours till early afternoon for working crowd coming out during lunch time, seeking for a cheap and lighter lunch option.

So basically there are two types of Taiwanese breakfast egg pancakes texture-wise. Usually you'll find thinner and sometimes slightly crunchy on the edges for the wrapping. However, traditionally there's also this thicker and softer type of wrapping, like this recipe here. 

The soft batter wrapping is not as main steam as the thinner type. Partially I suspect that the thinner version is cheaper and easily accessible with factory premade product, and that's what you'll find at most of the little breakfast joints.

Soft batter Taiwanese breakfast egg pancakes 軟粉漿蛋餅 -

Ingredients (about 3 to 4 pancakes)?

Batter: 

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch 地瓜粉
• 1/2 cup potato starch 太白粉
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 1 stalk scallion (green part)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Others:

• Some eggs (1 or 2 per serving)
• Some mixed shredded cheese
• Some canned corn kernels (optional)
• Some olive oil
• Some soy sauce or soy sauce paste (optional)
• Some chili sauce (optional)

How?  

To make the batter, measure 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, 1/2 cup of tapioca starch, 1/2 cup of potato starch, and 2 1/4 cups of water to a big mixing bowl. Whisk till evenly blended.

Destem and chop the scallion. Add the green part to the batter along with 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Mix till evenly blended. The final consistency for this type of "soft" batter will be somewhat similar to thinner pumpkin soup.

Bring out a pan, I used non-stick pan because it'll make the job a lot easier. Drizzle some olive oil and switch to medium heat. Wait till it's a bit warm and make sure the oil spread throughout the surface. Scoop some batter over and swirl the pan to form an even round sheet with a little thickness to it. I used about 3 ladles per sheet.

It'll take about 2 to 3 minutes for each side, and don't try to move around the batter early on. The batter will start to set and since I'm using non-stick pan here, it'll be very easy to "detach" and flip to the other side.

So also 2 to 3 minutes on the other side, or till slightly golden brown color. Once ready, transfer the sheet to a plate. Repeat the process and continue to make more sheet/wrappings. Depending on the size of the pan you're using, my recipe should give you about 3 to 4 medium sized sheets, with some thickness that is.

To finally make the breakfast egg pancakes. Drizzle some oil to the pan to cover the surface again. Still using medium heat. Crack one or two eggs in a bowl first and beat it. Pour the beaten egg to the pan and try to swirl the pan to spread out the egg.

Before the egg sets, top with the sheet we just made. Give it a few gentle presses using a spatula, helping the egg binds with the sheet. Flip and add your preferred fillings to the center but a bit towards one side of the sheet.

I used lots of cheese here. Then try to fold in the sheet to make a log in the end. Maybe use some force here to give the log some pressure in order to hold the shape.

Transfer the log to a cutting board, slice to medium pieces then move to serving plate. Serve with some soy sauce, soy sauce paste, or chili sauce if desired. 

If you happen to have more sheets in the end, you can stick one sheet of parchment paper in between and store the sheets stacked together. Seal tight in a big Ziploc bag and send to the freezer. Just defrost for like 30 minutes or so before cooking the next time.

And if you're really not up for the challenge and make the sheet yourself, you know sometimes you can find the prepade sheets in the frozen food aisle in the supermarket. Just note that it'll most likely be the thin kind, not this special soft batter version. I've never seen the soft batter version sheet being sold as frozen product anywhere.

Also flavor-wise, I focused on oozing cheese this time so mixed shredded cheese is key here. You can play around with the fillings. In Taiwan, some of the most popular fillings you'll see at the breakfast stand are pork floss, tuna, and Chinese basil, cheese or without cheese is optional.

Extended reading:

• Basic scallion pancakes 基本款蔥油餅
• Pan-fried Chinese beef pie 牛肉餡餅

A Brush of Romantic Pink - Mentaiko Scallion and Sesame Seeds Onigiri

Here's my confession. At first I was imagining rice balls with chunks of mentaiko throughout, like clear white colored rice and red chunky mentaiko color contrast. Little did I know that once I removed the mentaiko roe from the membrane, there's no way I can keep these little roes intact.

So I ended up with mini roes scattered throughout the rice grains, thus the romantic pink hue everywhere. Definitely not what I have in mind, but with such pretty tone in the end, not bad actually.

Mentaiko scallion and sesame seeds onigiri - 

Ingredients (about 4 servings)?

• 60 grams mentaiko
• 4 portions cooked white rice
• 1 stalk scallion
• 1 large nori sheet
• 1 tablespoon white sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon toasted white sesame seeds

How?

Precook some white rice for this recipe, preferably use bit less water than usual to get slightly drier bouncier grains in the end. You can use the rice while still a bit warm, or even overnight rice that's been stored in the fridge. Just remember to bring up the temperature a little before shaping into onigiri. 

Remove the mentaiko from its membrane. 

Transfer the mentaiko roes to a bowl. Destem and chop the scallion. We will only use the green section for this recipe. Add that to the bowl too, about 6 tablespoons. Also tear one big nori sheet into smaller pieces and add to the bowl. Lastly, add 1 tablespoon of toasted white sesame seeds and drizzle 1 tablespoon of white sesame oil too.

Fold in about 4 servings of rice and gently mix till evenly blended. Roughly mark four equal portions.

Take each portion and shape into onigiri, let it be round or triangle, whichever shapes are good. You can dip some drinkable water to your palms before working with the rice to prevent sticking. However, the most fool-proof way to do it is laying down a sheet of cling foil, scoop the rice mixture on top, grab the cling foil edges and tighten up, making the mixture into rice balls.

You might want to use a new sheet of cling foil for each rice balls. Also notice that I didn't put any salt to the list of ingredients? Mentaiko can be very salty so just by itself, the flavor should be salty enough.

Have you found out that this time we are not using the nori sheet to "wrap" the rice balls, instead we torn it into little pieces and mixed together with the rice. However, I suppose if you would like to keep the nori sheet on the outside, to wrap the rice ball, that should work too.

Just that the texture can be a little bit different. If using nori sheet as a wrap, usually the nori sheet sould still be crispy if being served right away. On the other hand, nori sheet as part of the mixing ingredient, it'll turn soft with almost unnoticeable texture. But that nori aroma will be evenly permeating the rice grains throughout.

So I guess in the end it's up to you regarding where to use the nori sheet. I do find it fun and a nice change once a while by using the nori sheet as part of the mix-together element though.

Other onigiri recipes:

• Komatsuna katsuobushi onigiri (rice balls with Japanese mustard spinach and bonito flakes)
• Sansho pork onigiri
• Misoyaki onigiri 味噌焼きおにぎり
• Egg scallion and shio kombu onigiri 蔥蛋塩昆布日式飯糰

Baby Sardines in Japanese Sweetened Soy Sauce いりこの佃煮

What I meant by baby sardine is the dried anchovy, also called iriko (いりこ) in Japanese. Not the much more delicate little white fish shirasu (しらす). You can find the dried anchovies in the supermarket usually around kombu, seaweed, or other dried seafood ingredients.

While in Taiwanese cuisine, dried baby sardines often used in stir-fry or chili sauce, I've also made congee with dried baby sardines, upgrading that umami flavor all around. And of course the classic Japanese tsukudani (佃煮) is one other great way for such ingredient.

Baby sardines in Japanese sweetened soy sauce いりこの佃煮 - 

Ingredients?

• 1 loosely packed cup dried baby sardines 丁香魚乾
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 1 tablespoon rice wine
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon toasted white sesame seeds

How? 

Usually the dried anchovies are stored in the freezer, at least that's what I do. So if that's the case, there's no need to defrost the anchovies the night before. Just use it straight from the freezer. Or if you happen to just bought the room temperature dried anchovies, use as it is too.

Right before cooking, quickly rinse the dried anchovies then pat dry with paper towel. Use a medium pot and add in the prepped anchovies. Switch to medium low heat to dry-roasting the fish for a short moment.

Still using medium low heat, pour in 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of mirin, 1 tablespoon of rice wine, 2 tablespoons of water, and add 1 tablespoon of sugar. Slowly cook till all the sugar has been melted.

Continue to cook till the sauce has been reduced, almost to a sticky consistency in the end. Mine took about 10 minutes.

Towards the end, sprinkle some toasted white sesame seeds. You can serve as it is. For unfinished portion, simple store in the fridge. Serve the unfinished portion under room temperature later on and don't attempt to reheat the anchovies again.

It's sweet and savory at the same time, which can be a great little side dish for Japanese style breakfast, maybe serve together with congee too. I actually used it as a little flavor swap for curry rice. A little goes a long way. In fact, if the portion is too big, the somewhat sticky seasonings can be a bit overwhelming. Just a spoonful or two for each serving of main meal will do.

Extended reading:

• Japanese burdock root and pork stir-fry
• Kinpira gobo (burdock root cooked in Japanese seasonings)きんぴらごぼう
• Seared corn and seaweed fritters

Braised Beef Rice 滷牛肉燥飯

There's braised pork rice, so of course there's braised beef rice too. In fact, sometimes you can find braised "beef" rice in Taiwan as a special item. It's not hard to make at all, basically exactly the same way as making braised pork rice. Just the cost for the main beefy ingredient is much higher.

Braised beef rice 滷牛肉燥飯 - 

Ingredients (about 3 to 4 portions)?

• 550 grams beef 
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 stalks scallion
• 2 big bulbs shallots
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Some salt
• Some black pepper
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 1/2 cups hot water
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 big star anises
• 1 tablespoon crystal sugar
• 3 to 4 servings steamed rice

Pickled cucumber:

• 220 grams/about 3 skinny cucumbers
• Some salt
• 1 big garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon white sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

How?

Let's make the pickled cucumbers first. Trim-off both ends for the cucumbers then slice to thin pieces. Use some salt, mine was about 1/2 teaspoon to "massage" into the cucumber slices. Let it sit for 15 minute while the salt helps drawing out some moisture from the cucumber.

Meanwhile peel and grate one garlic clove. And when that quick marinating time is up, rinse the cucumber with drinkable water to wash away the salt. Drain and squeeze really dry. Season with grated garlic, 1 teaspoon of white sesame oil, 1 teaspoon of rice vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar. 

Mix till evenly blended. Taste and see if you need any extra seasonings. Some prefer it sweeter and some like it on the sourish side, so adjust according to your preference. Once all checked, store in a container and into the fridge till our braised beef rice is ready.

Now it's time to handle the beef part. By the way, remember to precook the rice to serve alongside the braised meat.

Slice the beef to medium small chunks. I got the part with some tendons, not the ideal cut but since that's what's left in my fridge, I'll just use it. Otherwise beef shank, brisket, or even the pricey sirloin are all great options.

Peel and slice the shallots. Peel and chop 4 garlic cloves. Destem the scallion and just tie the whole stalks to a knot if possible, otherwise cut into longer sections is fine too. It's just easier to pick out the knotted scallion towards the end of braising.

Have a big pot ready, drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil and switch to medium heat. Add in shallots and scallion. Sear till aromatic and slightly browned on some sides.

Then add in chopped garlic along with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Cook for about a minute.

Transfer beef chunks over and sear a bit, at least till the meat changes color. Pour in 1/2 cup of soy sauce, 1 1/2 cups of hot water, 2 bay leaves, and 2 star anises. Bring to a boil then adjust the heat to keep it at a medium bubbling stage. Continue to braise for 45 to 60 minutes or till the sauce has been reduced. Like a bit condensed juice left but not saucy.

Towards the end, pick out bay leaves, star anises, and scallion. If the scallion has almost melted into the sauce, it's fine to just leave it there. Add 1 tablespoon of crystal sugar, which will help balance out the saltiness and give the sauce a little shine. Cook till all the sugar has been dissolved.

Serve the braised beef with rice and remember to add some of that pickled cucumber stored in the fridge. 

You know what? The actual time of braising can be reduced maybe by around 15 minutes if you use more expensive and more tender cut. However, it's totally up to you. Just like braised pork rice, some will use chunkier meat for a fuller bite, but that requires more time and usually cost a bit more to make.

And some will use finer ground meat, which takes less time to cook and will result in a smoother bite instead. As for me, I'll always go with the chunkier route. 

Extended reading:

• Braised soy sauce chicken over rice
• Spicy gochujang chicken rice bowls