Turkey Pot Pie

A week post Thanksgiving and I am still left with two huge legs from a 16lb turkey we had hosting the dinner at our place. Flipping randomly through the magazines and browsing randomly online, "What do you do with your holiday leftovers?" seems like a real hot topic, and I think this will be on focus at least for a little while longer considering that the holiday season has just started kicking off with plenty more festive meal lineup promised. The Bon Appétit magazine November issue started with plenty of ideas for Thanksgiving leftovers and this is where I got intrigued with the idea of making a turkey pot pie. This is yet another first after so many others this Thanksgiving - first time hosting, first time dealing with a bird so huge, first time seeing, making and actually tasting a turducken, and now a homemade pot pie. And it surprisingly did not disappoint not even a tad! All of a sudden I think I no longer do dread or mind turkey leftovers that much now. Hereon, as much as I shall always love the whole purpose of Thanksgiving, I can already foresee my anticipation of always having a turkey pot pie each time post Thanksgiving!

Stir Fried Baby Bok Choy 清炒小白菜

A simple post, back to the basic yet essential in our everyday meals. My favorite type of green? It has got to be the Chinese mustard green (choy sum) for its sweet and crunchy natures. Some say that all greens taste the same, but I personally think that each of them holds a distinct flavor and maybe even a texture unique to themselves. To define and describe them individually is something that I perceive as hard, some taste more earthy than the others, some with a stronger aroma, some sweeter, some crunchier and some simply taste a tad of raw in nature. And so yes I do think that not only do they differ from one another in those senses, they actually ace better revealing the best they can offer when cooked and handled in certain ways that best suit them. Back at home when I was a kid, baby bok choy has always been my brother's favorite. Not sure if his liking has remained through all the years, but I have come to like baby bok choy all the same over time, especially considering that these are one of the few greens that always come nicely and neatly packed looking fresh and all appealing here in the States.

Having them stir fried with minced garlic is probably my most preferred way of cooking them. Whether to toss in any extra ingredients is all optional. My version normally includes some protein - here it is the slices of chicken breast, on other occasions they could be the shrimps, minced meat or slices of fish cakes. Protein aside, these are the very contributing factor to a plate of greens with exceptional natural sweetness which I shall always prefer over the usual convenient sodium loaded seasonings. Whether or not there are other additional ingredients included, the basic to a plate of greens cooked this way always remains the same. Hot wok with a little oil, garlic stir fried until aromatic, protein first followed by the greens, a little of water, cover and let the steam within works its way up, toss, season, thicken the gravy optionally, dish up and serve hot. Simple yet essential these greens sure are.

Kam Heong Crab 金香炒蟹

Kam Heong Crab 金香炒蟹 has got to be one of the many all-time favorites of hubby. While I probably shall never consider myself a big fan of Crustaceans in general, nibbling and getting my fingers dirty picking at these crabs are something that I do enjoy still once in a while - they really are a part of the pleasure of eating crab and joy of the occasional bare-hands eating experiences. My very personal history of crabs started with those nicely and patiently picked by my dad and mixed into my plate of plain rice when I was way too young. And then I started having them the most basic way - steamed whole before I developed a liking for spicy food like everyone else in my family. That was when I started digging into the huge plate of mom's very own specialty chili crab at home. 

So apart from those methods of preparing it at home, the rest was made known to me through the many years of dining out. There are this "kam heong" way of making it, the salted egg version, the sweet and sour, the salt and pepper, the ginger and scallion and it goes on and on. But of all, the "kam heong" way is by far my personal favorite when dining out. Literally translated to mean "golden fragrant", it does indeed come with a fragrance unique to the dish which I think I shall attribute to the presence of the curry leaves. Aromatic in nature, a sprig or two is always good enough to bring the dish a different dimension on its own and especially so when made to complement the many other aromatics used here - the dried shrimps, birds eye chilies, curry powder, shallots and garlic. Elaborated on the whole yet not too overwhelming that it conceals the freshness of the crabs within. As for the golden part, I guess the final appearance does somewhat justify the name after all. 

My first few attempts at making this had kind of failed. Or probably inconsistent will be a better word here. On some occasions they looked and tasted fine. On others, you just know it wasn't right when your plate of crabs looked slightly wet in general, lightly drenched in some unintended gravy even. So with enough wrongs done, I think my failures could be tracked down to me again and again easily succumbing to the temptation of adding in some water in the process. This is especially so when dry frying the aromatics in the well heated wok looked too dry as if they will get burnt any minute if left unattended. So with some water in, the dry frying process gets halted locking in the flavors prematurely. At the same time, they create a steaming effect and that is when I will end my crabs up in a mini pool of not-so-flavorful gravy. So lesson learned here - "kam heong" is very much like dry frying the aromatics bringing out the best flavor they can offer and have them coated all over the crabs. The crabs are deep fried prior to cooking. So with this bit of oil clinging on to them, plus a little more used for dry frying the aromatics later together with the wet seasoning, coating should be the last thing you will have to worry about really - they simply will and should cling and coat conveniently. But if you must introduce some moist at any points, do really limit them to a few sprinkles of water and nothing more.  

Yeung Chow Fried Rice 扬州炒饭

This is what I will personally classify as one of the classic and most popular fried rice in the Chinese restaurants in Malaysia. I have not an idea what the history to this is like, whether or not it really originated from the city the name bears or if this version of fried rice is made exactly like it was intended when first created. But despite all the unknowns, I must say that these Chinese restaurants have at least been somewhat consistent in defining this Yeung Chow Fried Rice 扬州炒饭 on the whole as if a common ground to the definition of this has always been achieved and agreed on all along. They are always made with the same few ingredients that even I have since and still made believe are the essentials in a plate of Yeung Chow Fried Rice 扬州炒饭. They are the Chinese barbequed pork (char siu), shrimps (whole or diced), eggs and balanced with something green (most of the time it will be the sweet peas). Each looks simple enough on their own really, but have them tossed together with the rice plus a bit of this and a bit of that of some real simple seasonings, there is something about this fried rice that has always captured my heart. And if I were to really pin point at one - I guess it must be the Chinese barbequed pork in its sweet glaze with a tad of the char grilled taste that makes the key to defining a plate of good Yeung Chow Fried Rice 扬州炒饭.

Quoting from the previous post on Kimchi Bokkeumbap (Kimchi Fried Rice) 김치 볶음밥, "As with any other varieties of fried rice, leftover rice always makes better fried rice, having had the chance to slightly dry up overnight chilled in the refrigerator. But making fried rice is always still possible even without any leftover rice in hand. Cook some rice well ahead of time with, use a little less water than what usually is required (reduce by a 1/4 maybe), remove the rice from the cooker as soon as it's done cooking, spread them out to let the steam escapes well and leave to air dry right until cooking time. Same good result, same level of satisfaction!".

Homemade Crispy Fried Shallots 香酥红葱头油

Sweeter and milder than onions, shallots are often indispensable in an Asian kitchen. They are the essentials when it comes making making certain marinades, curry pastes, sauces and the various kinds of sambal, not forgetting its role as the very basic component to define certain dishes. Just like the garlic and ginger, shallot is what I personally think of as something elementary hardly substitutable with any others. Onions? Probably yea in some ways, but definitely not in others. They may give you a similar texture almost comparable between the two, but there always will be the fragrant exlusively coming from the shallots that will be slightly missing in the end. And very much thanks to their extraordinarily sweet nature, shallots make an awesome garnishing when thinly sliced and fried to perfect crispness. This is definitely one of the many popular garnishes that I easily adore.

It took me more than a single or a couple of trials before I was convinced that mine actually looked somewhat presentable and acceptable. From choosing the good shallots to begin with, rinsing and draining, slicing all the way to frying them up in the end, each comes with its own challenges needing a little more than just some tender light care to make it right. Making fried shallots generally takes a little more time than frying the other aromatics like the garlic and ginger, but fried shallot are good to be kept up to a week when store appropriately. So despite the little hassle, you will be rewarded with something that will keep you going for at least a little while. They are good to go with plenty dishes - the fried rice, fried noodles, bowl of noodle soups, steamed rice noodles rolls 猪肠粉 or some snacks even like the steamed yam cake 芋头糕. They simply really do make everything better. And a last note - as precious as these shallot crisps are, the resulting shallot oil makes an extraordinarily good essence on its own with an infused natural fragrance. Have them substituting the cooking oil or drizzle lightly over some dishes and you will be surprised with how it gives yet another dimension to the dishes, accentuating their flavor and taste easily.