#charsiu Archives

Love Letter to Rice (Garlic Rice)

By threejamigos | June 26, 2017 | Comments 0 Comment

On one of our weekend food treks, hubby and I headed to East San Jose in search of egg rolls and banh mi. Right in front of the entrance to the market was a display of different dried pasta on sale including tiny little pasta shaped like letters. Woohoo! Haven’t seen pasta letters in ages. When the kids were little I would make rice pilaf using alphabet pasta. The kids loved it and called it “letter rice.” They would spell their names and challenge each other to spell as many words as possible on their plates. We were totally bummed when our market stopped carrying our beloved alphabet pasta. A search of other markets came up empty so I resorted to using star and rice-shaped pasta. Not the same, but a good life lesson for my kiddies…you can’t always get what you want.

I took a picture of the display with my phone and sent it to the kids with the exclamation “LETTERS!” then I bought a couple of bags (ok, more than a couple) to have on hand for when they come home.

Letter rice is a fusion of rice pilaf and Hainanese Chicken Rice, a Singaporean dish of poached chicken and rice. The broth from the poached chicken is used to cook the rice for a double flavor whammy. The rice is first sautéed with the Asian trinity of garlic, ginger and onions, tossed in a rice cooker (because I don’t know how to cook rice any other way), and cooked in the reserved stock.

IT IS STUPID EASY. Maybe not as easy as making plain rice but with little effort you can jazz up your rice making it delicious and fun to eat. Kid-tested, kid- approved.

Mains that aren’t “saucey” beg for letter rice as an accompaniment. Letter rice in our house accompanies barbecued ribs or chicken, grilled fish, and STEAK. Yum.

Like many of the recipes, this one lends itself well to changes. Tweak the Asian trinity. Onions can be replaced by shallots, or use only garlic and omit the ginger and onions. Having steak? Use beef stock instead of chicken. Vegetarian? Use mushroom or vegetable stock instead. I throw in dried mushrooms to intensify the flavor. You can use all rice and skip the letters (auugh, why would you skip the cute shaped pasta), it all works.

The recipe is easy to remember. For every cup of uncooked rice, use 1 fat clove of garlic (or 2 skinny ones), 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of ginger, and 1/2 shallot. For each cup of rice or pasta, use 1 tablespoon butter or oil. Saute’ the aromatics first, and when they begin to brown add the pasta and rice. Watch your garlic carefully, do not let it burn or it will be bitter.

The quirky part of this recipe is I only know how to cook rice in a rice cooker (I should be embarrassed-I am). I use the cup that comes with the rice cooker to measure my rice but a standard 1 cup measure for the pasta. For 2 cups of rice, use 1 cup of pasta and fill the rice cooker with the stock up to the 3 cup line. Yep. Easy peasy if you have a rice cooker…

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Love Letter to Rice (Garlic Rice)

Ingredients

2 cups long grain or basmati rice (measured in standard cup that comes with the rice cooker its equivalent to 3/4 cup
1 standard measuring cup any small shaped pasta stars, letters, acini de pepe, or orzo
3 tablespoons butter or vegetable oil or 50/50 of each

Aromatics

3 large cloves of garlic finely chopped (garlic lovers or those living among vampires feel free to increase the amount of garlic)
1 shallot finely chopped (or 1/4 yellow onion or 1 green onion green and white parts, finely chopped)
2 teaspoons minced ginger

Liquid

Homemade or low sodium chicken broth can substitute beef or vegetable stock approximately 3-4 cups
1/2 to 1 tsp salt
1/4 cup dried sliced shiitakes or dried mushroom mix optional

Garnish:

green onions
cilantro leaves
1 tsp sesame oil

Instructions

Melt butter or oil in pan
When butter is fully melted add garlic, shallots and ginger and saute' over medium heat until garlic begins to brown.
Add pasta and rice to pan. Stir to coat rice and pasta with oil thoroughly.
Put rice and pasta mixture in rice cooker and fill to the three cup line. If using dried mushrooms add them at this point.
Set to cook and you're done!

Back from school for the summer, Jordan requested “char Siu” style barbecued ribs and letter rice which prompted this post! Here is the marinade for the ribs. Grill over indirect heat for 25-30 minutes in a covered bbq. Flip and baste halfway through, then baste ribs with honey and grill over direct heat to slightly char ribs.

I remember my mom yelling at my brother and me “STOP PLAYING WITH YOUR FOOD, JUST EAT IT!” Where is the fun in that?

Cha Cha Char Siu, Chinese BBQ Pork!

By threejamigos | April 16, 2016 | Comments 2 comments

The ultimate comfort food is the food you ate as a kid. In our family, my Dad was the cook. The last 30 minutes of his workday found him running around Chinatown for dinner groceries. He haggled with the fishmonger for the freshest catch of the day or gossiped with the store clerks as he picked through piles of fresh snap peas. Some of my favorites included steamed fish with soy, ginger and onions, stir-fried beef with pickled vegetables, and scrambled eggs with bbq pork.

My Cooking Roots, from Gung Gung and BaBa

Dad (BaBa) cooked for fun, but for my grandfather (Gung Gung) it was his livelihood. He worked as a chef at the Original Joe’s on Broadway and also at the legendary Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel. To this day I have no idea what he cooked at these iconic San Francisco restaurants. Every meal he made for me and my brother was rooted in Chinese comfort food. We ate dinner with him a couple of times a week right before he went off to work.

In his tiny room above Jackson Cafe in Chinatown, he would spread the China Daily on the table, pull out chopsticks, rice bowls, and a tiny shot glass. The shot glass held a “digestive” he would swig right before eating. He cooked in a communal kitchen down the hall. A well-worn oval metal tray, a remnant from his restaurant days, sat wedged between the burners and wall at the ready to ferry our meal to his room.

We usually sat waiting, impatiently, stomachs growling and legs swinging in anticipation, as he made the long trek back to his room. As we ate he regaled us with stories from his childhood. We feasted on steamed pompano with black bean sauce, stir-fried greens with garlic and onions, steamed pork with fermented shrimp paste, or slices of bbq pork (char siu). My comfort food.

These days I make my own Char Siu. The marinade is adapted from a cookbook I found years ago in Chinatown, Authentic Chinese Cooking by Sharon Hoy Wong. Long out of print, it is my go-to cookbook for the down-home food of my childhood. Serve Char Siu as an appetizer, stir-fried with greens or eggs, noodle topping, or as a filling in buns. Our entire family loves the play on the sweet and salty flavor combination.

The marinade is also delicious for grilled baby back ribs.

Char Siu, Chinese BBQ Pork!

Chinese bbq pork, a staple in every Chinese deli and restaurant, a favorite on its own or as filling in buns, pastries, and dim sum.

Course Appetizer, Meat

Cuisine Asian

Keyword barbecue pork, bbq pork, Grilled Pork Belly

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1

Marinate time 4

Ingredients

2-3 pound piece of pork shoulder cut into strips approximately 1.5 - 2" thick 3" wide, 6-7" long
or 2 slabs of baby ribs with membrane removed
1- tsp. Salt 2 T sugar mixed together rub this on ribs or boneless pork shoulder and let sit for 15 minutes while making marinade.

Marinade:

3 T hoisin
2 T catsup
1 T honey
1 T soy sauce
1 T sherry
1 T oyster sauce or black bean with garlic paste
1/8 t 5 spice powder
1-2 T orange or apple juice
2 cloves of garlic crushed
2 slices ginger 1/4 inch thick each slice

Instructions

Combine marinade ingredients and coat meat. Let marinade for 2-4 hours minimum or overnight in the fridge.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a wire rack over a baking pan. Place strips of pork on the rack and place in oven. Add 1/2 cup hot water to pan, filling to approximately 1 inch depth.
Roast for 45-50 minutes. Turn pork over midway through.
With about 10 minutes to go, increase temperature to 400 degrees, drizzle pork with honey and roast an additional 10 minutes to glaze the pork or pork can be transferred to a grill for the last 10 minutes.

Pork Ribs

Place ribs on grill (underside of ribs faced down) and cook over indirect heat, (medium heat 350-400 degrees) in a covered grill for 15-20 minutes. Flip ribs over, brush with additional marinade and grill additional 15 minutes.
To finish ribs, move ribs over direct heat and continue cooking ribs uncovered. Baste ribs with honey and flip every couple of minutes to avoid burning ribs but you do want a little bit of char for flavor and texture. Grill over medium heat additional 10 minutes. This is for baby back ribs, times will be longer for larger ribs.