Spaghetti with Clams, Mussels, and Tomatoes

We eat a lot of pasta in our house. Luckily, it’s so versatile that the options are truly endless. With all the fresh and dried varieties available in stores these days, you could probably combine a different type of pasta with a different sauce every day for years and never get bored.

But while I cook pasta quite frequently, it’s rare that I get to incorporate my favorite ingredients: fresh, locally caught seafood. The only exception is this spaghetti dish, topped with fresh clams and mussels—even in landlocked Umbria, it’s usually possible to find both bivalves at the market.

Many folks get nervous about buying fresh clams and mussels, since they have a reputation for requiring a lot cleaning before use. It’s true that they need a little extra care, but once you learn the basics of choosing, storing, and preparing them, the process becomes significantly less intimidating.

Like all fresh seafood, mussels and clams should smell of the ocean—like salt and seaweed, but not at all fishy. The shells should be tightly closed, with no chips or cracks. If you spot one that’s partly opened, give it a tap; if it doesn’t close immediately, it should be discarded. Similarly, any clams or mussels that remain tightly sealed after the recommended cooking or steaming period should never be forced open and eaten.

Once you get your clams and mussels home, immediately unwrap them and store them in a dry bowl in the refrigerator until needed. Though they can keep in the fridge for up to two days, you should generally cook shellfish the same day that you buy it.

When preparing your clams and mussels for this recipe, remove any dirt, sand, or seaweed clinging to the shells by scrubbing them with a firm brush under cool running water. Then, about 20 minutes before cooking, soak them in fresh, cool water with two tablespoons of cornmeal. This will help purge any sand remaining within. Finally, if your mussels still have seaweed, also called a beard, use a towel to gently pull it off the shell just before cooking.

Source: culinaryyounie

Braised Lentils Topped With An Olive Oil Fried Egg, Italian Food

Umbrians love their lentils, and the tiny, beige lentils grown in the fields around Castelluccio are wonderful. Lentils can be used in soups, salads, or when braised make a great side dish for grilled or roasted meats. One of my favorite ways to enjoy braised lentils for a light dinner, is simply topped with an egg as shown in the photos. When you cut into the egg, the yolk will run into the lentils creating a delicious flavor and creamy texture. Lentils are also very good for you, being very high in dietary fiber which is known to lower cholesterol, prevent heart disease, and stabilize blood sugar. Of all legumes and nuts, lentils contain the third-highest levels of protein. 26 percent of lentil’s calories are attributed to protein, which makes them a wonderful source of protein for vegetarians. Although lentils include such beneficial nutrients like fiber, protein, minerals and vitamins, they are also low in calories and contain virtually no fat. One cup of cooked lentils only contains about 230 calories, but will leave you feeling full and satisfied.

When choosing lentils, use the small green or beige lentils, not the larger orange ones, and the smaller lentils retain their shape and texture better, while the orange lentils can become mushy. I had fresh, local sweet corn in my refrigerator when I made this dish, so I added some into my pot, but sweet corn is not a typical ingredient found in Italy, so feel free to leave it out if you prefer. To make this dish vegetarian, simply leave out the pancetta, and use vegetable and not chicken broth.

Yield: Serves 4

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
4 Ounces, Finely Chopped Pancetta
3/4 Cup Finely Diced Onion
3/4 Cup Finely Diced Carrot
3/4 Cup Finely Diced Celery
3/4 Cup Sweet Corn
2 Garlic Cloves, Peeled & Minced
1 Tablespoon Finely Chopped Fresh Thyme
1 Tablespoon Finely Chopped Fresh Rosemary
3 1/2 Cups Chicken or Vegetable Broth
2 Cups Dry Beige or Green Lentils
Salt & Pepper
To Serve:
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
4 Large Eggs
Salt & Cracked Black Pepper

Directions:

In a large pot over medium heat, warm the oil and add the pancetta.
Cook, stirring often until the pancetta is cooked and lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
Add the onion, carrot, celery, corn, and garlic, and mix well.
Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often.
Add the broth, lentils, thyme, and rosemary and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to low, and cook until the lentils are tender to the bite, about 30 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper.
In a frying pan, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil and fry the eggs just until the whites are cooked through.
Serve the lentils in individual bowls, then top each with a fried egg.
Drizzle the leftover oil over the eggs, and season with salt and cracked pepper.

Source: culinaryyounie

Regional Food Specialties in Indonesia

Each region of Indonesia has its own specialties and there is great variety in the cuisine available. One of the most famous is West Sumatran or Padang food, which uses a lot of chili, spices and santan. Padang dishes include rendang, kalio (similar to rendang but the sauce is not reduced and thickened), gulai(a spicy curry), kari (curry), dendeng balado (thin sliced and crisp fried beef with red chilies). Padang food is Indonesia’s version of fast food. All the food is cooked in advance and displayed on dishes stacked up in the window of the often distinctively decorated restaurants. When you come in and sit down at a table, waiters will immediately appear bearing 10 or 12 small plates of different dishes along their arms and a huge variety of food will be set down on your table, along with a plate of rice and a glass of hot tea for each person. You may choose whatever you like and at the end of the meal the headwaiter will check all of the dishes to count what has been consumed. Needless to say you pay only for what you have eaten. Some recommended Padang restaurants are those in the Sederhana chain, Natrabu, Nasi Kapau and Sari Bundo.

Central Javanese food tends to have a sweeter taste with palm sugar or the dark sweet type of soy sauce being added to most dishes. Traditional dishes from Central Java include ayam goreng (spiced fried chicken), ayam panggang (broiled chicken cooked with either soy sauce or santan and spices), semur daging (beef braised in soy sauce), empal daging (slices of beef cooked with spices then fried), opor ayam (chicken in mild white curry sauce), gudeg(jackfruit cooked in santan and served with chicken, egg and soybean cake) and sayur asem (tamarind flavored vegetable soup). One of the specialties of East Java is rawon (diced beef cooked in spicy black sauce). You can find Javanese fried chicken at Mbok Berek Ny Umi and gudeg at Gudeg Bu Tjitro.

In West Java, the Sundanese use fewer spices but some kind of sambal is always served with meals. Sambal is a hot and sometimes spicy sauce or relish served as an accompaniment to other dishes. Take only a tiny portion and taste with caution! Acar (pickled cucumbers and carrots with little green chilies – the hottest ones!) is also frequently served, along with krupuk (prawn crackers) or emping (nut crackers). Sundanese meals generally include lalab (a selection of raw or lightly cooked vegetables) with each mouthful being dipped first in sambal, as well as the Sundanese version of sayur asem or sayur lodeh(vegetables cooked in santan). In addition to nasi timbel mentioned above, Sundanese restaurants usually offer fried or barbecued fish or chicken as well aspepes ikan (marinated fish wrapped in banana leaf and grilled). In Jakarta you can find Sundanese food at Dapur Sunda, Padzzi Pondok Ulam, Ratu Kuring and the Sari Kuring chain.Pork is rarely consumed in Indonesia due to the Muslim teachings against its consumption by the faithful. However the Hindu people of Bali are well known for their pork dishes, such as babi kecap (pork braised in soy sauce) and sate pentul (minced pork sate) as well as ayam/daging bumbu Bali (chicken or beef in chili and tamarind sauce), lawar (raw vegetable salad) and duck dishes such as bebek bangor (crispy duck) and bebek betutu (smoked duck). For Balinese food try Ajengan, Bebek Bali or Bebek Bengil.Food from Manado, North Sulawesi is also very popular and focuses on seafood with many dishes being fiery hot. Manadonese specialties include ikan kuah asam (fish with tamarind sauce), ikan cakalang garo rica (fish with chili), ayam rica-rica (grilled chicken with chili), cumi/ayam woku belanga (sautéed squid or chicken with spicy green chili sauce), sayur Manado (hot and spicy mixed vegetables) and ayam isi di bulu (chicken cooked slowly inside a bamboo tube with green chili sauce). You can find these dishes at Cak Tu Ci, Waroeng Camoe-Camoe and Ikan Bakar Manado Rica-Rica.

In addition to the restaurants mentioned above serving regional cuisines, there are also numerous restaurants in Jakarta offering a general selection of Indonesian food from across the archipelago. Some recommended restaurants for starting off your culinary journey through Indonesia are: Sate Khas Senayan, Dapur Tempo Doeloe, Klub 45, Waroeng Podjok, Para Para, Kafe Foto, and the more upscale Bumbu, Kafe Museum and Oasis famous for its traditional presentation of rijstafel.

Many hotels, such as the Borobudur, Dharmawangsa, Sahid Jaya and Sheraton Bandara, also have special Indonesian restaurants or coffee shops which serve excellent Indonesian food in addition to international cuisine.

Enjoy tasting Indonesian food, and as they say in Indonesia: selamat makan! (enjoy your meal!)
Source: culinaryyounie

Some Japanese Cuisine

Ramen is a noodle soup that was originally imported to Japan from China in the Meiji Period. In more recent decades, it has become a very popular dish in Japan, adapted to the Japanese taste. Ramen restaurants (ramen ya) number in the thousands, and instant ramen (invented in 1958) is popular both in and outside of Japan.

Ramen noodles are about as thin as spaghetti and are served in a soup that varies based on region, city and even specific vendor. Ramen's popularity stems in part from the fact that it is so inexpensive and widely available, making it an ideal option for budget travelers. In addition to freshly prepared ramen at ramen ya, supermarketsand convenience stores offer a large selection of instant ramen bowls.

Though ramen can be considered a one dish meal, gyoza are a common side dish offered at ramen ya. These Chinese style, pan fried dumplings are eaten with a soya and vinegar sauce. Shichimi (red chili mix) is usually available on the table to be added according to taste.

Ramen can be classified according to its soup base. The most popular ones are:

• Shoyu Ramen: Brown, transparent, soya sauce based soup
• Miso Ramen: Brown, non-transparent, miso based soup.
• Shio Ramen: Transparent, salt based soup.
• Tonkotsu Ramen: White, milky, pork based soup.

Ramen can also be named according to its ingredients. For example, chashumen is a ramen dish that features barbecued pork as toppings.

Source: culinaryyounie

Sashimi is thinly sliced, raw seafood. Many different kinds of fresh fish and seafood are served raw in theJapanese cuisine. Sashimi, while similar to sushi, is distinct for its absence of vinigered rice. When slices of fish are served on top of a small ball of rice, it is called nigiri zushi.

Sashimi is usually beautifully arranged and served on top of shredded daikon and shiso leaves. The sashimi pieces are dipped into a dish of soya sauce before being eaten. The daikon and shiso can also be dipped in soya sauce and eaten; both have a fresh, minty taste. Depending on the kind of sashimi, wasabi or ground ginger may accompany the dish and be added to the sashimi as a condiment.

Some of the most popular kinds of sashimi are:

• Maguro: Tuna
• Toro: Fatty Tuna
• Ebi: Prawn
• Saba: Mackerel
• Ika: Squid
• Tako: Octopus

Source: culinaryyounie

Okonomiyaki is a popular pan fried food that consists of batter and cabbage. Selected toppings and ingredients are added which can vary greatly (anything from meat and seafood to wasabi and cheese). This variability is reflected in the dish's name; "okonomi" literally means "to one's liking". The dish is available all over Japan, but is most popular in the west, particularly the cities of Hiroshima and Osaka.

Okonomiyaki is sometimes translated into English as "As-you-like-it Pancake". However, this may be misleading. Though it does consist of batter cooked on a griddle, okonomiyaki has nothing of the sweetness or fluffiness of pancakes, not to mention that it is usually filled with octopus, shrimp, pork, yam or kimchi. A more accurate comparison, which is also made, is between okonomiyaki and pizza.

In Japan, people usually eat okonomiyaki at restaurants that specialize in the dish. At some of these restaurants the dining tables are each equipped with an iron griddle ("teppan"), and customers are given the ingredients to cook the meal themselves. As this can be rather daunting, the stages of cooking are enumerated below. Information about regional variations can be found thereafter.

Source: culinaryyounie

Jayook Bokum and Donkatsu, Korean Food

Jayook bokum also known as jaeyook kimchi bokum, is a delicious Korean dish that consists of marinated pork loin which are stir-fried with kimchi and red chili pepper paste, gochujang. When making jaeyook bokum, gochujang is the key base sauce to this dish which determines the flavor and its level of spiciness. Depending on one's taste, spiciness can be softened by adding more soy sauce and less gochujang and red chili powder to the sauce mix.

Jayook bokum can also be prepared with thinly sliced pork belly strips, much like what's found in samgyupsal. Tofu is a great addition commonly found alongside this dish but it is sometimes eaten with a bowl of steamed, white rice to compliment its spiciness. Pork meat are initially cooked over a medium to high heat and then stirred fried with gochujang, kimchi, onions, carrots, scallions and other optional vegetables.

Some prefer pork to be crispy and bacon-like prior to stir-frying all ingredients together. Jayook bokum is popular as an appetizer while drinking soju but also great and hearty as a meal with rice and many other side dishes.

Source: culinaryyounie

Donkatsu is originally a Japanese dish that was first introduced in the late 19th century but it's now commonly found in Korean restaurants everywhere. It’s a popular Asian dish that consists of breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet one to two centimeters thick and sliced into bite-sized pieces. It is generally served with bop (steam white rice), vegetables such as broccoli, radish, shredded cabbage and/or miso soup.

Either pork fillet or pork loin cut may be used and the meat is usually salted, peppered and dipped in a mixture of flour, beaten egg and panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) before being deep fried. Regardless of the presentation, donkatsu is most commonly eaten with a type of thick Japanese Worcestershire sauce that uses puréed apples as a principal ingredient. Different variation of donkatsu exists which chicken or beef can be used as an alternative to pork.

 Source: culinaryyounie

Dak Galbi, Korean Food

Dak galbi is a spicy stirred-fried chicken dish that is quite appetizing with intense flavors.  All ingredients are stirred fried in a large pan placed in the center of the table as this dish is more of a crowd-pleaser, ample enough for a quartet of diners to share. The chicken pieces are soft and juicy and needless to say, spicy as well. The cabbage is slightly crunchy to the bite, yet sweet, well-balancing out the spicy chicken. The mouth watering sauce covers every inch of the bite-size chicken bits and vegetables, blending everything into perfect harmony.

During preparations, when the oiled-pan gets sufficiently warm, de-boned chicken are stirred fried with sesame leaves, leeks, sweet potatoes, tuk (rice cakes), cabbage and yang nyum jang which is the spicy base sauce of this dish. This sauce is composed of gochujang (red chili pepper paste) seasoned with additional gochugaru (red chili pepper flakes), minced garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, pepper and sugar.

While cooking, all ingredients are twirled and tossed for about 10-15 minutes by the waiter/waitress so no need to do it yourself.  Usually, when the cabbages are cooked, it's an indication that the dish is ready to eat. And finally, an option to mix in additional noodle or bop(rice) to compliment this meal is available as well. Depending on the restaurant, its spiciness may vary from mild to hot at times and its variation in ingredients may also differ having unique end results.

Source: culinaryyounie

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