July 2009
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Month July 2009

Entries 5 Total

Green Mango Salad

Jul 20, ’09

Mangoes are abundant in the Philippines. When I was growing up, we had a mango tree in our backyard. When the mangoes were ripe, they were sweet and supple. Slicing each cheek with a check board pattern allowed you to flip the skin up and push out the mango flesh. When they were still green, you peeled and chopped them to make a salad. A dab of shrimp paste gave it flavor perfect with cold beers.

Nowadays, I make this salad for barbecues and they’re always a hit. I usually just use salt instead of shrimp paste so that I don’t have to worry about vegetarian guests and those with allergies. For more color, add a handful of arugula or mixed greens. It’s also a good side to serve with a simple steak or leftover roasted chicken.

Ingredients:
2 green mangoes, peeled and sliced into smaller pieces
red onion, chopped
a handful of cilantro, finely chopped
grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 tsp shrimp paste

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. If not using shrimp paste or fish sauce, substitute with a jigger of fish sauce or a dash of salt and pepper.

Related post/s:
I like dishes with fruit
You can try fruit chutneys, too

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Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill

Jul 15, ’09

308 West 58th Street off Columbus Circle
212/397.0404
$170 for two, with three beers, with tip
♥ ♥

I was so glad to hear when Blue Ribbon opened their new space in the upper west side. I don’t have to go to the east side for sushi! I don’t have to go downtown for Blue Ribbon! Right across the street from the Eighth Avenue entrance of the Time Warner Center, this new location is the most convenient for me coming from home or from a movie in Lincoln Center. It’s exactly what we did last week after watching Dave Eggers’ movie, Away We Go. The rain let up and we walked down eight blocks from 66th Street.

We opted for the sushi bar when the maitre d’ let us in past the bar. Minus the Brooklyn branch, this Blue Ribbon is actually the most spacious. It looked like any other restaurant situated in the floor level of a hotel and it definitely strays away from Blue Ribbon’s more serene setup. Of course, every Blue Ribbon gets loud and this uptown branch is no different, but the noise is spread out because of the high ceilings and wide dining room.

We nursed our Sapporos and Kirin Lights while we enjoyed several small plates with the ubiquitous bone marrow. The salad of sautéed wild mushrooms bathed in tamari butter and was very fragrant; same with the simple mushroom broth that calmed my stomach. An appetizer of octopus was fresh and tender and a half dozen Canadian oysters drizzled with a ponzu-like sauce were deliciously tarty. I don’t think I’ve ever had wild Alaskan salmon as sushi before–they were really fresh and buttery here. The uni was silky and rich while the roe with quail egg was expectedly light and crisp.

It might have moved uptown, but the prices are up to par with its counterparts downtown. At Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill, it’s impossible to spend less than $80 a person, but you’d be surprised at how full the place was on a rainy Friday night.

Related post/s:
Per Se is inside the Time Warner Center. You’ll definitely spend more money in there.
Or you can go to Brooklyn and enjoy lobsters and cooked fish

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Sardines with Linguini

Jul 13, ’09

I’ve been drowning in pork and beef for the last two weeks so I thought a dose of fish would do me good. Rummaging through the pantry, I found two tins of sardines and some pasta from my last visit to Trader Joe’s. Following a Sicilian recipe I found online, I threw some leftover rye bread in the food processor to make my own bread crumbs. I didn’t have capers handy but I can imagine it would have been the kick the dish needed–I settled for red pepper flakes instead. A splash of lemon juice before serving gave this pasta dish the fresh touch it deserved.

Ingredients:
linguini
2 tins sardines, drained
1 cup bread crumbs
a handful of parsley, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
red pepper flakes
oil, salt, pepper

1. Cook linguini in boiling water al dente. Drain and set aside.
2. While cooking the pasta, heat some oil in a skillet. Sauté garlic until golden brown and onions until translucent. Add bread crumbs and stir until toasted. Add parsley and season with salt and pepper. Remove to a plate.
3. Using the same skillet, heat a little bit more oil and cook sardines by sautéing and crushing them in smaller chunks. Season with red pepper flakes.
4. Transfer drained pasta to the skillet and toss with the sardines. Add back the cooked bread crumbs and keep tossing until combined.

Related post/s:
Try the cioppino recipe for seafood in broth

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Kasturi

Jul 8, ’09

83 Lexington Avenue between 26th and 27th Streets
212/679.7993‎
$7 for one dish
♥ ♥

Let’s go there, I said as I pulled the Dr. towards the street crossing. Among the many restaurants in Curry Hill, the South Asian restaurant row in the Gramercy Park area, Kasturi is the only one without the frills. No string of chili lights here or sari-style tablecloths, just straight-up Bangladeshi food. You walk down a few steps and sit under really bright fluorescent lights with the taxi cab drivers on break.

The food is as bright as the lights, and before Kasturi, I never had anything like it. The dishes we tried all had a lemony taste and the saucy stews weren’t thick nor heavy. We couldn’t have enough of the anchovy stew, an interesting mix of ceviche taste with broth from a long-simmered stew. A tamer plate of zucchini and chickpeas smothered with bay and curry leaves was equally good, if not better with pickled hot peppers. We mopped everything else with warm nan. The neon yellow rice tasted better than it looked and a bowl of it proved just right for two Asians after a night out of drinking in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

We didn’t know what kind of food Kasturi served when we walked in and only realized it was Bangladeshi when we saw that the TV was fixed on ATN Bangla. There were plenty of phone card commercials and the diners next to me smiled when I correctly interpreted a commercial with an actor scratching his palms as someone who was expecting some money. They were eating the same dishes and watching them made me think of home: they were using their hands.

Kasturi is one of the reasons why I love New York City. Even after almost sixteen years of calling it home, I still discover new places, new foods and new cultures.

Related post/s:
Down the block is Kalustyan’s where you can buy all your Asian spices
Next door is Saravanaa Bhavan; more families and less cab drivers

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Thai Beef Stew

Jul 6, ’09

The first time I made this in the Dr.’s kitchen, he said after tasting it: Oooh, like bœf bourguignon. While that comment was fine and good, I didn’t spend the effort to cook a French dish; I wanted to make a Thai beef stew. This recipe has been rehashed from that first time and I adjusted the coconut milk (more) and cut down the mirepoix (less). I used more of the Thai spices I bought from Kalustyan’s and was more generous with the galangal and the curry leaves.

Ingredients:
1 pound of beef chuck, cubed
1 can of coconut milk
two handfuls of green string beans
4 ribs of celery, chopped
a handful of baby carrots
a handful of dried curry leaves
a handful of Thai basil
a small knob of dried galangal
a small knob of ginger, peeled, minced
1 tbsp powdered lemongrass
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 cup of beef broth
oil, salt

1. In a large Dutch oven, heat some oil over medium-high heat. Brown beef cubes on both sides and remove to a plate.
2. Using the leftover oil and rendered fat, sauté onions until soft. Add Thai basil, curry leaves, lemongrass, galangal and ginger and keep sautéing until everything is incorporated. Season with some salt.
3. Return the beef to the pot including its juices. Add coconut milk and simmer for 45 minutes, covered. Stir halfway through just to make sure nothing has stuck to the bottom of the pot.
4. After 45 minutes, add 1 cup of beef broth and 3/4 cup of water. Add the green beans, carrots and celery. Cover again and let simmer for another hour or until beef is soft. Stir every now and then and add a small splash of water to make sure it doesn’t dry up. Serve with rice and tell your guests to mind the spice leaves and big chunks of galangal and ginger.

Related post/s:
Beef bourguignon recipe from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food
No one appreciated my Tunisian beef stew but me

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