A to Z Challenge

There are well known versions of oxtail soup… British Jamaican, Indonesian, Korean, Filipino, Thai… all using flavors specific to each region.

Oxtail is one of those ingredients that is popular in all meat-loving cuisines around the world. 

Though a bony piece of meat it is very flavorful and most suited for soups and stews, or braised in a liquid like red wine. A dish made of oxtails contains plenty of marrow, which, according to traditional Chinese medicine, is good for health, contributing to its eater’s longevity. Also it provides plenty of collagen, good for skin nourishment.

Oxtails usually takes hours to cook on the stove top, but a pressure cooker, electrical or stove top can cut down the cooking time considerably. As they are very boney with little meat, oxtails are ideal for making flavorful stock.

Funnily enough, it had humble origins as a poor people’s food in most cuisines as they were seen as ‘throwaway cuts’. In recent times, as concepts like ‘nose-to-tail eating’ gained in popularity, it increased the popularity of cuts of meat like oxtails. And their price tags as well.

There are well known versions of oxtail soup… British Jamaican, Indonesian, Korean, Filipino, Thai… all using flavors specific to each region.

In Britain oxtail soup is considered a quintessential British comfort food, with humble beginnings, thought to have originated in London’s east end in the seventeenth century. The British version combines beef tails and vegetables in the soup.

Jamaica makes an oxtail soup that is brown and steaming, light with ginger and thyme, pungent with allspice and soy, a true taste of the Caribbean.

Indonesian oxtail soup (sop buntut) is another well-loved version. It features diced oxtail in a clear rich beef broth, with chopped carrots, celery and potato, and flavored with ginger, coriander, lime and chilies.

Kkori-gomtang, the Korean oxtail soup is made with garlic, salt, black pepper, green onions and other typical Korean flavors. The soup is simmered at low heat for several hours to soften the meat and make the broth bloom.

And then there is the Kare Kare, the well known Filipino soup, starring oxtail with peanut butter and fish sauce, and colored with achiote seeds.

We are going for a Thai version of the oxtail soup today, flavored with tomatoes, start anise, coriander, cumin and cinnamon, a perfect winter-warmer.

Oxtail Soup

Ingredients

• 2 pounds oxtail
• 2 cups chopped tomatoes
• 2 6-inch cinnamon sticks
• 6 star anise
• ⅓ cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds, toasted and ground (or use ground coriander)
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground (or use ground cumin)
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 or 3 shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh red Thai chili or dried red chilies, crushed
• ⅓ cup lime juice
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

Directions

• If using whole coriander and cumin seeds, dry roast them in a pan, till fragrant and they begin to change color. (Better to roast coriander seeds for a minute before adding the cumin to ensure they are uniformly roasted.) When cool grind them using a spice grinder.
• Place the oxtail pieces in a pot with water to cover and add tomatoes, cinnamon, star anise, soy sauce, along with coriander and cumin powders. 
• Bring to a boil over high heat, then adjust the heat to simmer. Cook until tender, for about 2 hours, checking every 30 minutes to make sure there is sufficient water to cover the oxtail pieces, adding more if required.
• Slice the shallots thinly lengthwise and fry them crisp in the vegetable oil. Drain on paper towels.
• When meat is done, add chili and lime juice. Adjust seasoning. 
• Spoon into individual bowls, and garnish with the fried onions and cilantro and serve hot.

Note: You can make the soup till the stage where the meat is fully cooked and refrigerate it for a few hours and remove any excess fat, if so desired. 

Did you know… Egg is an essential ingredient in the noodles making process. In fact, according to federal law “The total solids of noodle products contains not less than 5.5 percent by weight of the solids of egg, or egg yolk.” You can read the entire specifications here on the FDA website.

The oldest evidence of noodles was from 4,000 years ago in China. Radio dating shows that noodles, discovered in 1999, among relics at the Lajia archeological site in Minhe County, Qinghai Province, were crafted and cooked four thousand years ago, during the early Xia Dynasty. However, this may not have been exactly the noodles we are familiar with today as they were shaped into little bits and not strands.

Noodles are made from many grains, mainly wheat, buckwheat and rice, while cellophane noodles are made from mung bean. Egg is an essential ingredient in the noodles making process. In fact, according to federal law “The total solids of noodle products contains not less than 5.5 percent by weight of the solids of egg, or egg yolk.” You can read the entire specifications here on the FDA website.

Wheat noodles in Japan (udon) were adapted from a Chinese recipe as early as the 9th century. ramen was introduced to Tokyo by way of Yokohama’s china town, around 1910. Japan has over 30,000 ramen-only shops across the country.

The first instant ramen noodle was created in Japan. This invention of instant noodles and their mass production greatly changed the noodle industry, funnily enough, making instant ramen one of the most popular food items in college dorms!

It used to be believed that Marco Polo brought pasta to Italy from China in the 13th century. However, this has been proven to be a myth. Pasta, in many forms existed long before Marco Polo in Italy, though it may not have been documented. 

Currently food historians believe that pasta’s origin was in the Mediterranean countries as there are mention of it in many books starting with the 2nd century. From where the Arab traders brought it to Italy where it took strong roots.

Tidbyte

The Yokohama Cup Noodles Museum in Yokohama, Japan, is an interactive museum and according to the museum, is designed to stir the creativity and curiosity within every person and provide a rich educational experience.

Noodle Soup with Chicken and Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil, plus more for serving
• 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• 1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, sliced, plus extra julienned ginger, for garnish
• ¼ cup rice wine or any type of white wine
• 4 ounces fresh button or any other variety mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 6 ounces dried ramen noodles
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Heat 2 tablespoons sesame oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, and add to pot, skin-side down, along with sliced ginger. Cook, turning, until the chicken skin and ginger slices are golden, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Add the rice wine and continue cooking until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. 
• Add 6 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook covered, until the chicken is fully cooked, about 25 minutes.
• Remove chicken from the pot and transfer to a bowl and set aside. 
• Strain the broth, discarding the ginger. Adjust the seasoning and set aside. 
• When the chicken is cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones and shred the meat. Return the shredded chicken to the broth.
• Bring a saucepan of water to boil and cook ramen noodles according to package instructions.
• Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a pan and add the sliced mushrooms and sauté till wilted and the liquids are almost dry.
• To serve, add the cooked noodles to bowls and top with the broth and chicken. Sprinkle sautéed mushrooms on top. Garnish with sliced scallions, ginger juliennes and more sesame oil and serve hot.

Mushrooms are a universal pleaser; I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t like them. Their delicate subtle flavor and agreeable texture contribute to their popularity.

Mushrooms are commonly called fungi, but they are only the fleshy sporophores or the fruiting bodies of fungi. While most mushrooms are edible, some varieties are highly poisonous.

Mushrooms as food have been known to humans probably since pre-historic times.

Most common mushroom varieties available in the market are portobellos (button mushrooms, cremini, and baby bellas) and shiitake.

The morels are difficult to cultivate and hence highly prized. Truffles, though they do not resemble mushrooms are considered as such.

The edible mushrooms are free of cholesterol and contain small amounts of essential amino acids and B vitamins. 

By fresh weight, the common commercially grown mushroom is more than 90 percent water, less than 3 percent protein, less than 5 percent carbohydrate, less than 1 percent fat, and about 1 percent mineral salts and vitamins.

While a majority of mushrooms consumed are cultivated, foraging for wild mushrooms is popular in regions where they are available. However, it takes some expertise to identify the edible varieties. Poisoning from mushrooms may be fatal or produce merely mild gastrointestinal disturbance or slight allergic reaction. And hence their role as means of murder in so many detective stories!

The most prevalent superstition about identifying a poisonous mushroom is to cook it in water to which a silver coin is added or stirring with a silver spoon. If the spoon turned black it was supposed to be proof that the mushroom was poisonous.

Some mushrooms are used in spiritual rituals as they have mind-altering effects. Some recent studies have shown that psilocybin, the chemical in the magic mushrooms could help treat depression in some people.

Fresh mushrooms don’t hold up well for long. They can be stored in the refrigerator crisper, in a paper bag, for two or three days. And never wash a mushroom in water; just wipe them clean, multiple times, with wet paper towels.

The mushroom soup presented today is simplicity itself, but tastes delicious.

Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

• 2 ounces dried mushrooms (like cremini, shiitake, whatever is available)
• 4 tablespoon butter
• 1 sprig fresh thyme 
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms like shiitake or button, sliced (a variety is nice)
• ⅓ cup sherry 
• 5 cups liquid (chicken stock, mushroom-soaking liquid or a combination)
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• ½ cup cream (optional)

Directions

• Soak the dried mushrooms in 3 cups very hot water for a minimum of 15 minutes. When they soaked, drain and chop them roughly. 
• Add enough chicken stock to the water in which the mushrooms were soaked to make up 5 cups. 
• Heat butter in a largish pot. Add the thyme leaves and chopped onion. Sauté till onion is softened without starting to brown.
• Add the garlic and sauté for a minute.
• Add both the sliced fresh mushrooms and the chopped soaked mushrooms.
• Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir together and cover and cook on medium heat, for 20 minutes.
• Add the sherry and deglaze. 
• Add the stock and mushroom soaking liquid and mix thoroughly. Cover and cook on simmer till mushrooms are fully done, for about 15 minutes.
• Using an immersion blender, puree the mushroom mixture to your desired consistency. 
• Add the cream, if using, and adjust the seasoning. 
• Serve warm or at room temperature.

Jackfruit is having its day in the limelight! Recently it has started appearing everywhere… burger and steak menus, produce section of grocery stores, food magazine pages, cooking videos… they are everywhere. 

The reason for the jackfruit’s sudden popularity is the meat like texture of it when unripe. It provides a great option for vegans as it can be used in place of meat in everything from hotdogs to burgers to pulled pork. As jackfruit has a mild flavor, it is easily adaptable for any recipe. 

Jackfruit, the biggest tree fruit of them all, grows in tropical Asia, Africa and South America. In these regions, it is a seasonal fruit most often ripening during the peak summer, just before the rainy season. Jackfruits come in many varieties and some of the bigger ones can grow up to 3 feet long and 20 inches wide.

The part of the fruit that is eaten when ripe is the fleshy pods that hold the seeds. These are arranged around a central core, surrounded by dense fibers protecting the pods.

Jackfruit can be used in any stage of its life. Very young ones are cooked as a vegetable dish, tender seeds and fiber and all, after peeling only the outer thick thorny skin. When it is grown yet unripe, the fleshy parts are cooked, without the seeds and the encasing fiber. When fully ripe, jackfruit is either eaten raw or used to make sweet dishes and preserves. And the seeds, either from ripe or unripe fruits, are cooked as a vegetable as well. 

While Jackfruit has a relatively low calorie count, it is richer in micronutrients and phytonutrients than many other fruits. Its seeds and flesh contain more calcium and iron than other tropical fruits and it is a useful source of potassium and B vitamins including B1, B3, B6 and folate. Carotenoids, the pigments that give jackfruit its yellow color, are high in vitamin A.

Jackfruit, ripe and unripe, can sometimes be bought fresh at Asian groceries. It is also available canned, mainly exported from Thailand. 

I have chosen a very flavorful recipe as today’s dish as the jackfruit absorbs all the flavor, and produces a delicious alternative to the beef in the original classic recipe from the Burgundy region of France. 

Tidbyte 

Ripe jackfruit is a favorite of elephants… a big fruit for a big animal! Wild elephants, attracted by the smell of ripe jackfruit, sometimes come down to villages to steal the fruit!

Jackfruit Bourguignon

Ingredients

• 1 lb unripe canned jackfruit
• 4 rashers of bacon, diced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1½ cup of red wine
• 1 large bay leaf
• A few sprigs of thyme
• 1 cup pearl onions, peeled
• 4 ounces mushrooms (cremini, shiitake, or bella), quartered
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Cut the jackfruit it into 2 inch chunks. If using canned jackfruit, drain, cut into large pieces and set aside.
• In a largish pan, cook the bacon until crisp, over medium-low heat. Drain and set aside.
• Heat oil in a largish pot. Add onion and carrot and cook until soft, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add garlic and tomato paste, and cook for 1 minute. 
• Add the flour, cook for 1 minute.
• Add the wine, bay leaf and thyme, and deglaze scraping up brown bits at bottom of pot. 
• Add the jackfruit and half the cooked bacon. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.
• Add the pearl onions and mushrooms to the pot. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes.
• Add the remaining bacon. Adjust seasoning and serve hot.

In praise of iceberg lettuce, tongue firmly in cheek! By the way, doesn’t it look like a picture of a brain? Yay, brain food indeed! 🙂

Lettuce and other leafy greens make up an important part of a healthy diet. However, when it comes to nutritional content, iceberg lettuce does not have a great reputation. Still, there are good things to be said about it.

First of all, it is very difficult to dislike an iceberg lettuce. Unlike many other leafy greens, it is very mild with a gentle sweet flavor. And it is so crisp, adding a crunchy texture to many a salad while other greens might have got wilted! No wonder it is also called ‘crisphead’ lettuce!

This lovely pale green vegetable is so full of water content that on a hot summer’s day it is as refreshing as a glass of water!

It makes a great starter salad for children before you can actually introduce them to the arugulas and frisees of the world. Once they accept an iceberg, it is easy to move on to other lettuces.

And why children alone? With its sweet flavor and  pleasant crunch it is a great bridge food for people who don’t eat enough other vegetables.

But wait, there is more… iceberg lettuce is a powerhouse of Vitamin A, Vitamin K, and folate!

And talk about health benefits! People who have issues with blood clotting may benefit from a diet high in Vitamin K, in other words iceberg lettuce.

People who have a history of bleeding disorders or liver disease, may want to check with their doctor whether iceberg lettuce is right for them. Good thing is, there are no side effects and no small print!

And above all, it starts with the letter ‘I’! It the only ingredient I could think of, for this series. If you can think of something else, please mention it in the comments… I dare you!

And the recipe is for a cold soup, in the lines of a gazpacho. Actually it is a kinda cross between a soup and a salad. No need to answer that eternal question in many Chinese restaurants: soup or salad?  🙂

Iceberg Lettuce soup

Ingredients

• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced thin
• 2 small shallots, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 slices bacon (thicker slices are better)
• 2 ounces blue cheese crumbled 
• 4 Cups chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice 
• 1 large head iceberg lettuce, the outer leaves removed
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons finely minced chives for garnishing 
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce (optional)

Directions

• Prepare the bacon as you usually do (in a pan, in the oven, or in the microwave). Keep aside.
• Cut the iceberg lettuce into four wedges. Slice one of the wedges into thin strips and keep aside. Rough chop the remaining three wedges of lettuce.
• In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil.
• Add half the chopped shallots. Sauté for two minutes.
• Add half the sliced cherry tomatoes. 
• Add the stock and bring to a boil. 
• Add the rough chopped lettuce leaves, with salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for five minutes.
• When cold, blend thoroughly using an immersion blender, or in batches in a regular blender. Chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of two hours.
• To serve, ladle the soup into a flat soup bowl. Sprinkle some of the kept aside lettuce strips on one half of the soup. Follow with sliced shallots, chives and tomatoes. Crumble the blue cheese and bacon on top. 
• Serve immediately, with wedges of lemon, and hot sauce, if using.