Hong Kong Salmon Cakes with Bok Choy

You can have all the cookbooks in the world, but you always come back to Tyler.  I won't wax romantic about how much I love Tyler Florence, as long as we all understand he's pure genius.

This time around, I opted for his Hong Kong Salmon Cakes and Bok Choy recipe found in this favorite cookbook.  I love, this cookbook.  It's probably apparent as my other cookbooks have one, possibly two recipes highlighted.  It seems I really just can't stay away from this Tyler cookbook.  I am not even a little apologetic. The recipe was perfect--the cubed salmon had a texture unlike any other crab or salmon cake I've ever had. 

Salmon Cakes and Bok Choy
Adapted from Tyler Forence's Real Kitchen

Salmon Cakes:
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 to 2 red or green chiles, minced
1 1/2 pounds skinless boneless salmon fillets, cut in small cubes
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (4 slices whole wheat bread with crusts removed pulsed in the food processor)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons greek yogurt
1 lemon, juiced
1 large egg white
Sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons peanut oil

Bok Choy:
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2-inch piece fresh ginger, sliced
2 heads baby bok choy, halved lengthwise
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Toasted sesame seeds, chopped cilantro leaves, and sliced green onion, for garnish

To make the salmon cakes: Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, shallot, ginger, and chiles; saute for a few minutes to release the flavor. Remove from heat to cool slightly.
In a mixing bowl, combine the salmon, bread crumbs, cilantro, yogurt, lemon juice and egg white. Scrape the garlic/ginger oil into the salmon mixture; season with salt and pepper. Fold the ingredients together gently but thoroughly, taking care not to mash the salmon too much. Using your hands, form the mixture into 4 salmon cakes, they should be moist and just hold together.
Coat a non-stick skillet with the 2 tablespoons of peanut oil and bring it to a slight smoke over medium heat. Fry the salmon cakes until brown, about 4 minutes on each side, turning carefully with a spatula. Keep warm on a plate lined with paper towels.

To make the bok choy: Return the skillet to the heat and coat with the 2 tablespoons of peanut oil and heat until almost smoking. Split the piece of ginger open with a knife then whack it with the flat side of the knife. Lay the ginger pieces in the oil, cut-side down to let it start to perfume. Pan-fry the bok choy, cut-side down, for a couple of minutes to give it some color. Add the water and cook another minute to steam the bok choy; carefully remove it to a plate. Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, lemon juice, and brown sugar. Cook and stir for 3 minutes until the sauce is the consistency of syrup.
Serve the salmon cakes with the bok choy, and drizzle the brown sauce over the whole thing. Garnish the dish with the toasted sesame seeds, cilantro, and green onion.

Belated Thank You

I suck.  Most of the time I just go with it, but sometimes, when it's me being ungrateful, I want to slap my own hand and stand myself in the corner. 

When I went on my Amy Butler binge, another blogger offered to gift me with an Amy Butler pattern.  It took me almost two weeks to take a photo so I could say a huge "thank you!!!!" to her on my blog.

Karen at Maggie's Secret Garden sent me the above pattern--just because.  Thank you Karen--"Just because" is my all time favorite sentiment-- I just need to come up with some plan to pay it forward. And of course, I can't wait to be the sewer of new Amy Butler mp3 case. 

Before There Were Kids

Just a heads up that this post may be the death of me.  Dad--look the other way, and no one tell mom it exists.

My mom raised us to be pretty darned independent. She was not the type that I could just bring a load of laundry home to after a tough week in college. But who am I kidding? I am not the type to let someone else do my laundry. I can't bring myself to share that kind of fun.

When it comes to food though, she is 100% doting mama.  One of us needs to merely mention a craving and the next thing we know, that food is sitting in front of us.  I like to think we try to control this incredible power we have, but in truth, we don't.  And the funny thing is, it doesn't matter how independent a girl is or how much she likes to cook for herself, there's always something so comforting about mom making you food. 

Som Tum.   When you have tickets booked to head back to Thailand this April, you have to start prepping for the daily consumption. As my Dad kept asking as my mom was pounding away....couldn't I make this myself?  Of course.  But it's so much better when mom makes it.

I didn't plan on going back to Thailand this year, but my parents planned a trip this April.  I couldn't pass on that opportunity.  As I visited with family over there last year, I heard stories about my mom and about my parents.  This was my mom's home, her family and where my parents met and got married.  There were stories here that I wanted to see and hear again with my parents there as well.

See, apparently, before she was a mom who jumped at every food request we made, before there was even a Mary, Mikey or Monica(or Mark and Matt)...

She was actually, well, not a mom. It's hard to believe.

I can't even imagine her outside of our family, having a life that didn't include us.  But alas there was a time that she hung out with her friends posing for pictures that look like something from an Amy Tan novel.

Eventually, this young woman fell in love with an American GI with sweet TEDs and superstar bike skills.

(A bike skill, if we recall from this past 4th of July, was not passed in the genes to me.)

But I digress.  So when I see these old photos and hear these stories, there is a fascination in two lives lived before I even existed.  And when presented with the opportunity to visit Thailand with them, and see my mom's homeland through her eyes, or even through the eyes of a father who first experienced it as a 20 year old, how do you pass up that opportunity?  And the view's not so bad either....

Pad Thai

Mise en Place. Pad Thai is one of those recipes that can frustrate if you don't have everything set up before you start.  It's all about mise en place because once you start, there's seemingly no time to scramble the eggs or chop the garlic.  Having all the ingredients chopped, prepared and ready to go in the pan lends a sense of calm that you'll appreciate in the end.

The ingredient list does require a trip to an asian grocer.  Palm sugar can be replaced with white or even brown sugar, rice noodles, fish sauce and even Siracha can be found at Safeway, but tamarind paste?  Well I've never seen that outside of an asian grocery store. It's the tart and the tangy part of the sauce. 

Once you do find the ingredients though, they last for ages. Just whip them out, chop, soak, stir, mix, drain, heat up a pan and go.  First you cook the chicken...

Place cooked chicken in a bowl, Add in the scrambled eggs and garlic to the pan...(and green onions if you don't forget at that point like I did)

Add the noodles, sauce, green onions and beansprouts...

And what put a Pad Thai on the menu?  Perhaps a little vacation planning? Fingers crossed!

Pad Thai

3 tbsp tamarind paste
2/3 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons palm sugar
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp red chili sauce such as Sriracha
4 ounces rice stick noodles
1 to 2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 whole chicken breast sliced
1-2 thai chilies, sliced (optional)
1 cup chopped green onions, divided
2 cloves minced garlic
2 whole eggs, beaten
2 cups bean sprouts, divided
2/3 cup roasted salted peanuts, chopped, divided
1 lime, cut into wedges

1. Place the tamarind paste in the boiling water and set aside while preparing the other ingredients.

2. Combine the fish sauce, palm sugar, Sriracha, and rice wine vinegar in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Place the rice stick noodles in a mixing bowl and cover with hot water. Set aside while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Once the other ingredients are prepared and measured out into separate bowls, drain the water from the noodles and set them aside.
4. Press the tamarind paste through a fine mesh strainer and add to the sauce. Stir to combine.
5. Place a wok or large pan on high heat. Once hot, add 1 tablespoon of the peanut oil, then add the chicken. Cook the chicken until golden brown, stirring often until fully cooked (about 3-5 minutes). Remove the chicken from the pan to a small bowl and set aside.
6. If necessary, add some more peanut oil to the pan. Add 2/3 of the scallions and then the garlic, cook for 10 to 15 seconds. Add the eggs to the pan; once the eggs begin to set, about 15 to 20 seconds, stir to scramble.
7. Add the remaining ingredients in the following order: noodles, sauce,  and 2/3 of the bean sprouts and peanuts. Toss everything until heated through, but no longer than 1 to 2 minutes total. Transfer to a serving dish.
8. Garnish with the remaining scallions, bean sprouts, and peanuts. Serve immediately with lime wedges.

Guess

Please excuse the photo--it was taken with a phone. Which really is a clear and strong argument on why one should carry a camera at all times.  You never know when you will be presented with one of the great mysteries of the world.

Truth be told, I'm not sure that a proper photo would prepare you to guess at the ingredients that went into this particular pancake at Snooze.  Yes, the Snooze of pineapple upsidedown pancake fame.  The Snooze that consistently has a 1 hour wait even after opening a second location on 7th and Colorado.  In fact, it was at this new location that we were presented with this fascinating pancake this past weekend.  It went something like this:

Server: Would you like to try our pancake of the day, the Caprese pancake?
Us:

Okay so not a very exciting conversation, but how does one respond to that question except with mouths agape?  He absolutely meant tomato, mozarella and basil.  Or rather tomato and mozarella with a pesto butter and sweet balsalmic reduction.  I kid you not.

I'm a sucker for produce and a sucker for fascinating food concepts, but tomato pancakes?  Over pineapple upside down pancakes or eggs benedict?  Intrigue vs. extreme hunger--which would win?  Turns out we didn't have to choose.  Our server brought complimentary Caprese pancakes to go with our ordered breakfasts.  I heart Snooze. 

The verdict?  A little bit wierd, a little bit fun.  Kind of like bruschetta without the crunch.  I won't be making them at home, but I can safely venture forward in my life saying I've sampled tomato and mozarella pancakes with balsalmic syrup.