Monday, January 26, 2009

New Year Bok Choy


Happy Chinese New Year 2009, the Year of the Ox has arrived. The moon has retreated inward, a breath of savory introspection. 

In honor of this beautiful transition into a new year, I thought we could celebrate a beautiful chinese green.

Bok Choy is also a member of the cabbage family like kale and collards. However, as you can see, it's appearance is quite distinct and lovely. Both the bright green leaves and the white stalk are edible. The leaves are mild and can be eaten raw or cooked, and the stalk is a delightfully watery and refreshing. It's reminiscent of celery minus the stringiness. It too can be eaten raw or cooked. 

There are actually over 20 varieties of Bok Choy and smaller varieties are especially valued for their tenderness. Bok Choy is delicious chopped up in a miso soup or stir fry or finely sliced to add crunchiness to your fresh rolls and kimchee. 

I just finished spending a lovely weekend cooking for a group of spiritual activists and my fellow chef and I used Bok Choy in a recipe for a delicious Oriental Soba Noodle Salad which follows here. Prepare it for lunches this week!

Oriental Soba Noodle Salad

Inspired by the Esalen Cookbook

Noodles:
Prepare buckwheat soba noodles according to their instructions. Soba noodles take about 8 minutes to cook. Drain, rinse, and set aside.

Vegetables:
Lightly saute in 2tbs. olive oil 

1 tbs minced garlic
2 tbs. minced fresh ginger
1/2 cup diced red pepper
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
1 cup chopped button mushrooms
1 cup snow peas, chopped in half
2 cups bok choy, sliced into thin ribbons

Dressing:
Toast 4 tbs. sesame seeds on the stove in a dry pan....just a few minutes of toasting on medium heat until they turn brown and smell deliciously nutty

Place sesame seeds in small mixing bowl and add
1/2 cup sesame oil
1/2 cup olive oil
5 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice- 1 fresh squeezed orange
1/4 cup maple syrup
5 tbs. tamari

Whisk it all together

Toss soba noodles, vegetables, and dressing in a pleasing bowl and enjoy!

Happy Year of the Ox.






Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The State of Greens...Collards in Particular

Much of my motivation in penning this blog is a desire to help restore the knowledge and usage of green leafies in this world. On most restaurant menus, one is lucky if they can find romaine lettuce, spinach, and the occasional sprig of kale for garnish. Frustrating for the greens enthusiast.

However, I had an awakening journey last week in which I realized in some parts of the United States, the culture of greens eating is still very much alive. 

So last week, I had the incredible privilege to ride around Alabama and Georgia in a bus of students, teachers, and professors dedicated to learning the lessons of the Civil Rights Movement, preserving the stories, and applying the principles of Nonviolence. In the spirit of this journey, we of course consumed a lot of soul food. 

I was delighted to discover the propensity of greens on the soul food restaurants' menus. Collards were the most popular with few showings of mustard and beet greens. 

Collard greens belong to the brassica family and are a large, strong leafy green. They grow with great fervor all over the Southern United States as well as in Spain, Africa, Brazil, Portugal, and Kashmir. Although they will grow for much of the year, folk wisdom says they taste best when the sparkles of frost have graced their dark leaves. They're of course, incredibly nutritious, and have long been a staple of southern cuisine. 

During slavery, slaves were often forced to feed themselves from the scraps of their white masters. These scraps included pig's feet, ham hocks, hog moss (pig's bladder) and so these were tossed in with a pot of collards to create a nutritious, tasty stew. The mineral rich juice is called pot-likk0r and makes an excellent tonic. The collards that we met on our tour were similarly cooked with hunks of meat...pork fat back mostly. I didn't see any pig feet or bladder although that would have been interesting. Sometimes collards are also prepared with a bit of brown sugar or vinegar. If you come upon a co-op down South, your collards might be prepared with shoyu, tamari, or maybe a bit of miso.

In ethiopian cuisine, collards are sliced thin, steamed, and then scooped up with a bit of fermented flatbread called injera. This is my favorite way to eat collards. 

So next time you're at the store, look for a bunch of large, flat dark colored leaves. Take them home, wash them thoroughly. Then roll them up, and slice them into strips...fine strips or thick strips. Toss them in a steamer basket, steam for 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle on a bit of sea salt, squeeze half an orange and see how you like collards plain and simple.  

Mmm, hooray. The culture of collards is alive and well.