Salt and Pepper
It’s Hunger Action Week (click), so the only spices I am allowed to use unless I want to purchase them are salt and pepper. Regular table salt and black peppercorn will see a lot of use this week!
Side Note:
It’s going to be 70+ degrees today in Seattle. Do you know how bad I want to BBQ right now? I’ve been working on a BBQ sauce recipe for 2 years now………..it’s sunny……..in Seattle……..must resist temptation to BBQ.
It’s getting to the point where it’s hard for me to go out and eat. Well that and I don’t have the money, ha!
Ingredients:
2 Star Anise seeds
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. fresh ground ginger
1 1/2 tbsp. worcestershire sauce (gotta love spell check)
4 drops fish sauce
Sesame Oil
Chili Oil
This is a great marinade for chicken, beef, or just vegetables. All you have to do is marinade anything you are going to stir fry with this sauce for around 30 minutes. Get a wok on high heat then add 5 drops of sesame oil in the pan along with 1/2 tsp. chili oil. Let that start to smoke then add your vegetables, meat, or chicken then stir fry for 2 minutes then add the rest of the marinade and stir fry for another 4-5 minutes.
This is one of my favorite marinades because it is versatile. You can even use it as a dip for gyoza.
I’ve never posed a liquor shot before. It’s a work in progress!
Post #2 about the spice of the week, star anise. I got a lot of inspiration from doing a spice of the week from another blog that I visit almost every day. Greg. over at Sippitysup.com is blogging about mustard this week and is blowing me away with his creativity, recipes, and fantastic pictures. I’m going to get a little more involved with this whole spice of the week thing so be patient while I work out all the kinks.
Other uses for Star Anise. I’ve shown you a nice Pho broth recipe and now I’ll tell you what else you can find this spice of the week in. That green drink in the picture is Absinthe. If you have never heard of Absinthe before it’s probably because you live in the United States and for a long time it has been illegal, until recently.
I’ll keep it simple………..If you like the taste of black licorice then you will definitely like this drink. There are a couple ways to serve Absinthe. One, is straight up but I don’t recommend that because the taste will linger with you for about an hour, it’s pretty strong. Two, melt a sugar cube over the Absinthe as shown here (CLICK).
Give it a try, but be careful as always. The Green Fairy has a way of sneaking up on you if you’re not careful.
(Click each picture to make it larger)
I’m going to start doing a spice of the week. I have 30-40 different spices in my house right now so it’s time to start sharing these with you. You might have heard of these before. If you have then share some ideas on what you use them for. It’s that easy!
I love Pho Noodle Soup. It really is one of the foods I can eat everyday with no complaints. I probably eat it 2-3 times per month and every time I eat it I leave happy and I always want more. The key to Pho noodle soup really isn’t the ingredients added to the soup, it’s all about the soup broth. My favorite thing about Pho is that you can go to 10 different Pho restaurants and each Chef makes it a little different. I’ve asked a few Chef’s how they make their broth and none of them told me exactly what they put into each broth but they gave me an idea of what ingredients I should use.
#1, Star Anise. I’m not going to go into the whole history behind it so just click this Wikipedia article about it and let’s move forward (CLICK). Star Anise has a little licorice taste to it but when it is coupled with a few other ingredients it makes or breaks the Pho noodle broth. Too much and it tastes like black licorice and overpowers the rest of the broth. Too little and you might as well dump the broth and start over. The key is to add the right amount the first time….not add as you go. 5:2 ratio is what I use and it comes out nice every time. 5 full Star Anise for every 2 liters of water being used in the broth. You can pretty much add anything else you want after that and you’ll always have that hint of Pho noodle soup. Obviously, there are other ingredients to add but I’ll get to that in another post.
What else could you use Star Anise for? Next time you’re making Chinese food drop 1 or 2 Star Anise into the food as you are preparing and you will get that an authentic taste that will leave you floored with excitement. “WOW, this tastes just like the restaurant”. It’s amazing how easy it is to mimic flavor when you know what you’re looking for. It’s been a long time coming for me.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the spice of the week. I’ll be posting a recipe with Star Anise so make sure you check it out. If you have any additional uses for this spice then post in the comments and let your word be heard.
Eric
