Ginger Apricot Lotus Salad

Whenever I stop at our local Japanese grocery store I can't help but pick up a few unique items that I've never cooked with before.  For a store smaller than our tiny apartment, they have an amazing variety of Japanese and Asian goods.  I once bought every supply needed to make sushi at this store, including the rolling mats!  This time I picked up a package of sliced lotus root, mainly because I love the way it looks.   When sliced, lotus root looks like a flower or lace doily and makes any dish look fancier.  

I decided to go for a simple flavorful salad since this was my first time making a dish with lotus root.  I sliced thin cucumber rounds for freshness, which happened to be about the same size as the lotus rounds.  The sliced apricot wedges added a burst of tart juiciness that was amazing with the rather tame flavor of the lotus.  And when I say rather tame, I mean literally flavorless.  The taste of the root definitely doesn't match up to it's appearance.  But it added some crunch to the salad to say the least, and absorbed some flavor from the potent ginger-garlic sauce.  This is a great fresh tasting salad perfect for these hot summer days.

Ingredients:

• thinly sliced lotus root (about 1 to 1 1/2 cups) 
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 3 apricots sliced into thin wedges - I like them a little hard so they are sour more than sweet
• 1 English cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1 inch fresh ginger root
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• salt to taste

Directions:

To try and bring out flavor from the lotus root, I placed it in a bowl with the juice from one lime, and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and sugar, mixed, and let it sit for about 10 minutes while I prepared the other ingredients.  

Grate the ginger and garlic with a microplane which will give you a very fine paste.  You won't be able to get the entire clove grated, but that's okay because garlic has such a strong flavor when raw.

 In a bowl, combine the paste with the vinegar, other half of lime juice, soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon salt, olive oil, and honey. Whisk.  

In a bowl, mix together the cucumber and apricot slices.  Drain the lotus root, and add it to the mix.  Stir in the sauce and let sit for at least 15 minutes, chilled, until ready to serve.  

This is also great the next day when more of the flavors have absorbed into one another.  It keeps for several days, in an air tight container in the fridge.  Enjoy!

Quick Asian Pickles

We often forget how easy it is to make quick pickled vegetables.  This is a great alternative to canning pickles when you know you will eat them all relatively quickly.  After a recent purchase of diakon, a white root vegetable most often used in Asian cooking, we decided to make some quick pickles.  Daikon looks like a giant carrot in shape, but has a pungent smell and tastes like a cross between a radish and a turnip.  Along with it, we sliced up carrots and a cucumber to add to the pickling mix.  

Using rice vinegar gives the pickles a different flavor than the usual white or apple cider vinegar.  We also sliced up some Thai chiles to give the pickles a little heat.   The end result makes us wonder why we don't pickle more often!  These were great as an acidic complement along side a red curry dish with rice, but they are also great to snack on.  The longer you let them sit, the softer they will get and the more the flavors will infuse.  If you use hot chiles like we did, they will get progressively spicier too. As a note, the word "quick" is used here relative to how long normal pickles take.  This still takes some time, but is manageable in a a couple hours as opposed to a couple days.

Ingredients:
3 carrots, sliced into thin sticks
1 large English cucumber, halved, seeded, and sliced
1 daikon, peeled, halved, and sliced (if you can't find daikon you could use another cucumber)
2 tablespoons salt
1 cup seasoned rice vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
1-3 Thai chiles, minced (or other hot pepper) 

Directions:
In a bowl, combine the vegetables and the salt.  Let it sit for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  This releases the liquid of the vegetables and you will see it building up in the bottom of the bowl. 

Meanwhile, combine the rice vinegar and sugar into a bowl and whisk.  Let it sit until the sugar dissolves, and add the chiles.

Drain the vegetables well.  In a large gallon-sized zip-lock, combine the vegetables with the vinegar mixture.  Squeeze the air out and seal the bag.  

Let the bag sit in the fridge for an hour before serving.  You can leave them in the bag for up to a couple weeks- but ours definitely didn't last that long!  As I said, the longer they sit the more the flavors will infuse, the softer the pickles will be, and the spicier they will taste if you used hot chiles. If you like pickles, these will not disappoint!  They are super easy and definitely worth the effort.  Try the recipe with other veggies to mix it up.  Enjoy!

 

Bacon & Rice Vinegar Mustard Greens

We had a ton of leftover mustard greens after we use some in our Italian sausage soup, so we used the rest up as a side dish for our Korean steak & egg brunch with kimchi rice.  It was the perfect complement to the meal, because no brunch can be complete without bacon!  We cooked it with rice vinegar and chicken broth to keep with the theme.  It really mellowed out their intense flavor and the mixture of tangy and salty flavors was a perfect balance.  This would be a great side dish with other breakfast items such as grits, or with pork or chicken for dinner.  

Ingredients:

1 large bunch of mustard greens, washed and torn or chopped into smaller pieces (they will cook down!)

4 slices bacon, chopped

2 T rice vinegar

1 cup chicken broth

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Start by cooking the bacon over medium heat in a large sauce pan.  When the pieces have all browned and look crispy, add the rice vinegar and chicken broth.  

Start adding the greens, a few handfuls at a time.  Stir them in and wait until they are partially wilted to add more.  

When all the greens have been added, cover and simmer for about 15-20 minutes.  Taste for salt and pepper.  Serve alongside your savory brunch or dinner.