January 2007
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Month January 2007

Entries 5 Total

Ushiwakamaru

Jan 16, ’07 1:51 PM

136 West Houston Street off Sullivan
212/228.4181
$150 for three people with six drinks, without tip
♥ ♥

I’m always walking on Houston Street, but I have to admit that I never pay attention to the restaurants on the street. There are a few off Sullivan Street, right before you turn towards Bleecker, but I’ve never been inclined to check them out. We wanted sushi one night after a few after-work drinks in SoHo but Blue Ribbon was, as usual, packed and there was quite a wait at Nagomi. Yama or Tomoe are not good options to me so I was delighted to eat good sushi at Ushi Wakamaru. The uni was fresh and the ankimo creamy. The otoro was still the most expensive on the menu but it was still less than what Gari would charge. They accommodated my requests for salmon skin and shiso leaf makimo before we closed our tab. They didn’t take unfamiliar requests like shiso with pickled carrots and daikon–something Sushiden wouldn’t refuse–but they pretty much met my expectations.

Related post/s:
Nagomi, around the corner
Gari for more expensive sushi
Go to Sushiden for shiso with pickled carrots and daikon

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Cote-d’Ivoire: Tilapia with Alloco

Jan 15, ’07 12:03 PM

This recipe was very close to my heart because Filipinos fry plantains and fry fish, too. It’s always cool to find out that a country so far from the Philippines have the same way of serving an ingredient. Esther told me that this recipe is a very famous goute, or a small meal eaten between 3 and 6pm, in the Ivory Coast. (That’s merienda to the Filipinos.) Her recipe included one Maggi chicken bouillon but I used homemade chicken stock instead. I grew up with Knorr bouillons in our cupboard and know that it has a lot of salt so I decided to skip it even though the African store in my neighborhood sells them. I wanted the dish to be flavorful without using artifical ingredients. The stock gave the sauce some flavor and at the same time kept it from drying up. In New York City, it’s impossible not to find plantains in any bodega. You can certainly substitute plain bananas but they’ll fall apart when frying, so if you do, try to use the firmer ones.

Ingredients:
1 tilapia, cleaned
3 yellow ripe plantains, halved and then sliced lengthwise
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 large tomato, roughly chopped
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
red pepper powder
salt, oil

1. Make the piment d’alloco, or thick, hot tomato sauce. In a saucepan over low fire, heat some oil and sauté onions. Add tomato and simmer until thick, about 20 minutes. Slowly add chicken broth to keep it from drying. Season with salt and red pepper. Set aside.
2. Prepare the alloco. Using a skillet, heat some oil and fry plantains until both sides are lightly browned. Remove to a plate lined with paper towel.
3. Rub salt all over the tilapia. Using the same skillet, fry the fish in hot oil until both sides are golden brown. Serve with the plantains and pour over tomato sauce.

Related post/s:
More Cooking the World recipes: Indonesia
About Cooking the World: Global Gastronomy Food Project

Comments (3)

Tia Pol

Jan 14, ’07 10:24 PM

205 Tenth Avenue between 22nd and 23rd Streets
212/675.8805
$84 for two people with three drinks, without tip
♥ ♥ ♥

If you’re looking for a good tapas place in New York City, Tia Pol is most likely recommended. I rarely make it around the Chelsea neighborhood, so I visited about two years after the entire city has already fawned over it. Ever since they opened in 2004, the wine hasn’t stopped flowing and the customers haven’t lost their patience waiting for a spot. We waited for about 45 minutes to be seated with our glasses of wine one warm winter night. When we finally made it, it was as if the bartender was waiting for us all along. She was very busy, yet attentive. She forgot to bring out the lamb but everything else we ordered lifted our spirits. The food brought us back to Catalunya. The owners of Tia Pol say they opened a tapas bar because of an on-going love affair with Spain. I give it three stars for the same reason.

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Stir-Fry Flank Steak with Shiso Oil

Jan 12, ’07 9:53 PM

I also used some of the shiso oil I made for a beef stir-fry dish. It’s the oil that keeps on giving!

Ingredients:
1 pound beef flank steak, cut against the grain in strips
enoki mushrooms
baby bok choy
shiso oil
soy sauce
1 medium onion, roughly chopped

1. Marinate beef. In a bowl, combine beef, shiso oil, soy sauce and onions. Mix and let sit for at least 20 minutes.
2. When ready to cook, heat a large skillet and stir-fry marinated beef for 6 minutes. Add vegetables after the first 3 minutes. Serve immediately.

Related post/s:
Homemade shiso oil
Where to buy fresh shiso leaves
Shiso-wrapped tempura prawns

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Shiso-Wrapped Tempura Prawns

Jan 12, ’07 12:56 PM

For this recipe, I made my own shiso oil to drizzle the prawns with after flash-frying them, but I also used the leaves to wrap them. A toothpick can hold the leaf in place but I ended up using one of the prawn’s harder feelers as a replacement.

Ingredients:
5 prawns, peeled but with heads intact, deveined, feelers and arms chopped
5 shiso leaves
shiso oil
rice flour
club soda
red pepper flakes
lime
salt, oil

1. Wrap each prawn with a shiso leaf. Use a toothpick to keep the shiso leaf in place.
2. Make batter. In a shallow bowl, combine flour, red pepper flakes and salt. Drizzle club soda slowly and mix until it has that pancake batter consistency. Cover each prawn with batter.
3. In a skillet, heat some oil and flash-fry for about 4 minutes, turning each prawn gently with tongs after two minutes. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and squeeze with lime juice. Serve immediately.

Related post/s:
Homemade shiso oil
Where to buy fresh shiso leaves
Shiso-marinated beef stir-fry

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