Crabby Eggs and Ham

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The first time I made this Japanese crab meat omelette, Mr. Tess said it tasted just like egg foo young! Wikipedia notes that creative Chinese cooks in the U.S. invented egg foo young in the 1930′s. (see this note.) Eggs are beaten together with minced ham, crab, or chicken, then fried and served with a chicken stock-soy sauce gravy thickened with cornstarch. Since the 1950′s kanitama-don is a popular dish in Chinese restaurants in Japan. It’s a fine example of a well-traveled yoshoku (multi-cultural!) recipe: a recipe sort-of-from China, to the U.S. and then to Japan.

Carl Sandburg mentions egg foo yong (alternate spelling) in his 1936 poem The People, Yes.

To the Chinese we have given
kerosene, bullets, bibles
and they have given us radishes, soy beans, silk,
poems, paintings, proverbs, porcelain, egg foo yong,
gunpowder, Fourth of July firecrackers, fireworks,
and labor gangs for the first Pacific railways.

~Carl Sandburg

The People, Yes

After looking at a number of recipes and sites online, I am coming to believe that this recipe belongs to genre like “stew” “soup” or “salad” because there are variations of eggs fried with an assortment of meats, vegetables, and sauces from all over the world.

One interesting U.S. variation on this theme is a “Denver Sandwich” described by James Beard in his American Cookery book.

I’ll have to ask my brothers, who formerly lived in St. Louis Missouri for a number of years, why they never told me about this delicious-sounding St. Paul’s Sandwich! It’s a egg fu young sandwich on white bread (reminds me of the sandwiches we ate as kids): an egg foo yong patty with shrimp, chicken, beef, pork or all of the above topped with lettuce and mayo. I’d like it with added tomato, pickles and even cheese.

At any rate, I’ll leave you with a recipe for the Japanese version:

Rice Topped with Crab-Meat Omelette
Kanitama-don
かに玉 or 蟹玉

adapted from: The Japanese Kitchen
•250 Recipes in a Traditional Spirit•
by Hiroko Shimbo
page 313
serves 4

• cook 6 cups of Japanese rice

Make the omelette:

• small handful of dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in cold water for 20 minutes, drained (reserve liquid for sauce)
• 3 ounces water chestnuts—about ½ cup
• ½ cup negi (or green onions) julienned
• ½ cup crab meat (surimi, fresh, or pasturized)—Ms. Shimbo notes it should be from legs
• 2 ounces ham, diced
• 6 eggs, lightly beaten in a large bowl (I only had 4)
• pinch of salt
• vegetable oil to cook the omelette (not the 4 Tablespoons Ms. Shimbo used)

Procedure:
Chop the mushrooms. In a large bowl beat the eggs. Add the mushrooms, water chestnuts, onions, crab, and ham. Add a pinch of salt. Mix.
Heat a skillet (use a skillet about the size of the bowls you will serve in). Add oil for pan-frying. I made 4 small omelettes. Keep the eggs warm.

Make the sauce:

• 2 Tablespoons sake
• ¾ cup chicken stock
• ¼ cup reserved mushroom water
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 ½ Tablespoons shoyu
• 2 Tablespoons potato starch mixed with 2 Tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Wipe the skillet with a paper towel, and add the sauce ingredients: first the sake (to cook off the alcohol), then the stock, sugar, and shoyu. Mix the potato starch and water and add; stir to prevent lumps, and cook to thicken. Finally stir in the sesame oil.

To serve:
Put half the rice in each dish. Cover it with the omelettes. Serve with the sauce poured over the rice/omelette bowl.

Note 1:
Chinese cooks for logging camps and railroad gangs during the 19th and early 20th centuries were likely responsible for introducing egg foo yung to America. It makes sense that by necessity they would have to substitute and change traditional Chinese recipes because ingredients would not be easily available in the American wild west. The cooks were trying to quickly feed the hungry workers.
Back to where you were

Mushroom Lasagna

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Several years ago, I made a special lasagne. I’d just discovered lasagne made with béchemel sauce rather than pounds of gooey cheese. Mushrooms were on sale so I was inspired to create a memorable meal. Over the years, we’ve said to each other, “Remember that mushroom lasagne!” and smile fondly. But the recipe was misplaced…
This is not that recipe, but it is deliciously extravagant with mushroom delight. The way the noodles are layered is elegant: They are laid one over the other with filling and sauce between. To serve, just cut across the pan so you can lift out neat servings, each with curly noodle edges.

Rich Mushroom Lasagna
lasagne with béchemel sauce

adapated from Cooks Illustrated
serves 12

• ½ ounce dried porcini mushrooms, rinsed well
• 1 cup water
• ½ pound oyster mushrooms, cleaned, and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
• 12 ounces king trumpet mushrooms, cleaned, and cut into ½-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
• 10 ounces shiitake mushrooms, cleaned, stems removed (they are tough), and sliced ¼-inch thick (about 4 cups)
• 1 pound cremini mushrooms, cleaned, and sliced ¼-inch thick (about 4 cups)
• ½ pound cremini mushrooms, cleaned, and finely chopped, reserved
• 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, plus additional for greasing pan
  half for the mushrooms, half for the béchamel sauce
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large red onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
• 6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon)
• 5 Tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
• 4 cups milk
• ¼ cup minced fresh parsley leaves
• 2 Tablspoons minced fresh rosemary
• 8 ounces fontina cheese , rind removed and shredded (about 2 ¼ cups)
• 1 ½ ounces grated Parmesan cheese (about ¾ cup)
• 12 lasagna noodles
• grated lemon zest from 1 lemon

Cover porcinis with hot water in measuring cup. Soak for one hour. Lift mushrooms from liquid with fork and roughly chop (you should have about 3 Tablespoons). Set mushrooms and liquid aside.

Cook the mushrooms separately in butter. Add salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and most of liquid has evaporated. Transfer mushrooms to a large bowl and set aside to cool. Toss them together to mix well.

Heat 1 Tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering Add onions and salt and  pepper Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are browned around edges. Transfer onions to the bowl of mushrooms. Toss to mix well.

Coarsely chop the reserved cremini mushrooms in food processor. Heat 1 Tablespoon oil in the skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Brown the chopped cremini and stir until all moisture has evaporated.

Reduce heat to medium and add the porcini mushrooms, the garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook until garlic is fragrant.

Melt 4 Tablespoons butter. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly. Slowly add reserved porcini soaking liquid, scraping pan bottom to loosen browned bits. Add milk. Increase heat to medium-high and bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered until sauce has thickened and reached consistency of heavy cream. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley and rosemary. There should be about 4 cups.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400°F.

Combine Fontina and Parmesan in medium bowl.

Cook noodles very al denté. Rinse in cold water, and dry on paper towels. Grease a baking dish with butter.

Using rubber spatula, evenly distribute a quarter of the mushroom sauce in bottom of baking dish; position 3 noodles on top of sauce. Spread one quarter of the mushroom-onion mixture and one quarter of the cheese; sauce, noodles, mushrooms, cheese… Repeat layers, placing each of the 3 noodles directly over the ones below: don’t overlap them, don’t lay them crosswise. Cover lasagna with foil.  Place in oven and turn heat down to 375°F. Bake until bubbling, about 30 minutes.

Cool  the lasagne for 15 minutes, then cut crosswise to serve.

Notes: the mushroom flavor of the sauce is greatly enhanced by the porcini, its soaking water, and the chopped baby bellas (cremini).
The king trumpets would have been better sliced very thinly: they are quite chewy compared to the other mushrooms.

New Year’s Eve Soba: an easy recipe

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This year I missed the year crossing toshi koshi noodles and Mr. Tess greeted the new year with the company of his laptop. He did get out a very nice chopstick rest!

I had a queasy headache all day, but I got out the chicken (usually I use duck breasts), started soaking the shiitake and kombu, dashi (yes, a packet—I wasn’t feeling well), soba, soy sauce, and so on, brought up Ms. Shimbo’s recipe on my blog, then succumbed to the call of my cozy bed for a nap.
The new year noodles (toshi koshi) I usually make are delicious,
so please click one of the pictures below for the recipe:

The next thing I knew, it was 11:30 and almost 2012! Mr. Tess had made the year crossing noodles and was busily taking pictures for my blog! I was still queasy and half asleep so thanked him and returned to dreamland…

Kakejiru
(Broth for Hot Noodles)
2 servings

• 4 cups water
• 2 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 1 piece kombu (2-inches by 4-inches)
• 1 packet dashi powder
• 1 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 ½ Tablespoon shoyu

Submerge the shiitake and kombu in 2 cups of water. Allow them to re-hydrate and flavor the liquid for 3 to 4 hours. Put 2 cups water into a saucepan to dissolve the packet of dashi powder. Add the kombu/shiitake liquid (reserve them for another use), then stir in the sugar and soy sauce. Bring to a gentle simmer for a few minutes.
Toshi Koshi
(year crossing noodles)
2 servings

• 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts*
• 2 bundles of soba noodles
• 1 bunch of green onions, sliced into 1-inch lengths

Place the chicken breasts in a steamer and cover. When the water comes to a vigorous boil, allow them to steam for 10 to 15 minutes. Cool them enough to cut into ½-inch slices.
Boil a large pot of water and cook the soba according to package directions. Rinse well in cold running water.
Be sure that your broth (recipe above) is hot. Add the green onion slices for a minute, then add the noodles and warm them for about 2 minutes. Divide the noodles between 2 large bowls, then spoon broth and green onions over them. Arrange sliced chicken over the noodles.
* These chicken breasts were huge. Each was plenty for 2 people! What is happening with chickens that they are so big!

Note: We’d had mussels with pasta the day before, and it was unusual that we didn’t finish them. Mr. Tess added them (with the lemon-wine-parsley broth and the extra brussel sprouts) to his lucky noodles.
so elegantly arranged…

≥^!^≤

Happy New Year!

The world outside is dark; my fire burns low;
All’s quiet, save the ticking of the clock
And rustling of the ruddy coals, that flock
Together, hot and red, to gleam and glow.
The sad old year is near his overthrow,
And all the world is waiting for the shock
That frees the new year from his dungeon lock.—
So the tense earth lies waiting in her snow.
Old year, I grieve that we should part so soon,—
The coals burn dully in the wavering light;
All sounds of joy to me seem out of tune,—
The dying embers creep from red to white,
They die. Clocks strike. Up leaps the great, glad moon!
Out peal the bells! Old year,—dear year,—good night!

——Edward Estlin Cummings

Ah, this may not be one of ee cummings’ most innovative poems, but it does express something of what I’m feeling. In the past year we faced moving to a new house, some unexpected increases to our expenses, the death of my father, and four re-unions with siblings: lots of happy sad tumultuous times. I’m reluctant to look forward when looking back feels secure: the stories are familiar. The new year will bring new events, and I am taking a deep breath before getting up to begin.