Hot and Crunchy Shrimp and Chicken with Avocado Cone

I believe that if you wanted to call something a cone it should be more than a gimmick. The cone should be more than just a paper snow cone cup; it should enhance the character of the dish itself.

So the first thing I decided to do differently was to deep fry the flour tortilla into a cone shape that could be utilized as a serving vessel itself. The cone was dusted with chili powder and paprika to help impart an extra level of spice and flavor.


Instead of making cole slaw and a spicy aioli, I combined the two elements and created a Sriracha aioli slaw. This consisted of shredded cabbage, carrots, and Sriracha ailoi.


I also did away with breading the avocado and deep frying it, I left it in its natural form to ensure that the rich and creamy flavor doesn't get masked.


The last element of this dish consists of using corn flakes as breading for the shrimp and chicken. I didn't change the use of the corn flakes but I did eliminate the sesame seeds and added roasted ancho chili flakes to add a touch of heat along with your basic salt, pepper, and sugar to help boost the flavor. The chicken and shrimp were marinated in salt, pepper, garlic, powder, cayenne pepper and paprika before being coated in the egg wash and battered.


Ingredients:


Large flour tortillas (10 inch diameter)
Canola oil (for deep frying)
1 chicken breast (halved and then cut into long strips)
12 shrimp (peeled)
1 cup corn flakes (processed and ground)
2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoon roasted ancho chili flakes
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 eggs (beaten)
1 cup shredded cabbage (loosely packed)
1/2 cup shredded carrot (loosely packed)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 garlic cloves
1 - 2 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce


Directions:


Start by making the slaw first so that the cabbage and carrots get a chance to absorb some flavor before the dish is assembled. Shred your cabbage and carrots and set aside in a large bowl. In a food processor add the 2 garlic cloves and begin processing. Next, add your mayonnaise and Sriracha and continue processing for about 10 - 15 seconds. Your aioli is now complete and should have an orange coloring. Add your aioli to the cabbage and carrots and mix well. Set this aside in your refrigerator until you're ready to assemble your cone.


The next step in creating this dish is to create the cone itself. Heat the canola oil in a deep pan to 350 degrees. Fold the tortilla so that the bottom portion is smaller than the top portion. This will create your cone shape. Now take some egg wash and brush it on the inside of the top part of the tortilla that overlaps. Gently squeeze this area so that the egg wash works as a glue to hold the tortilla together while frying. Place the side with the egg wash into the fryer first. This will seal the tortilla and ensure that it will not open during the frying process. Continue cooking this side for about 2-3 minutes and then rotate the cone and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Repeat until the entire cone has been evenly fried. Immediately after removing the cone from the fryer dust it with 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of chili powder and paprika. Set this aside on a towel to cool and drain.

Marinate the chicken and shrimp separately by adding the following to each: 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1/2 teaspoon and 1 teaspoon garlic powder. Mix well and let this rest for at least 10-15 minutes.

To create the breading, add the corn flakes to the food processor and blend until the grains are semi-fine (a few large chunks won't hurt either). Process enough corn flakes until you get about 1 full cup after processing. Add this to a deep dish along with 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 2 teaspoons ancho chili flakes, and 1 teaspoon granulated sugar. Mix these ingredients well and set aside.

Now that you have everything ready, it's time to setup your breading and frying station. Start by dipping the proteins in the egg wash and then the breading and directly into the fryer. The shrimp should be done in less than a minute and then chicken takes anywhere from 2-3 minutes. Remove the fried proteins and set it on some paper towels to cool and drain.


To build this cone, I stuffed it with the Sriracha slaw first since this contains the sauce for the cone. Then the chicken strips and shrimps were stuffed on top of the slaw. Next, layer the avocado delicately on top of the proteins and add another layer of the slaw.


Click here to go back to the review of "The Mighty Cone"

Carolina Style Pulled Pork Sandwich

The previous job I had sent me to many places around the U.S. and the world. But I'll never forget my first project; I was on in North Carolina in the middle of Nowheres-ville and about the only highlight of that trip was the barbecue I sampled there. Different regions of the U.S. specialize in different types of barbecue; for example, Texas is known for brisket and North Carolina is known for pork. Since I still live in an apartment I couldn't smoke the pork shoulder but the dry rub still remains the same. The sauce I created was an apple cider barbecue sauce, much like the one I had in North Carolina. I also made spicy aioli coleslaw from the aioli leftover from yesterdays dinner.

Pulled Pork Ingredients:

1 1/2 - 2 pound pork shoulder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large shallot (roughly chopped)
4 garlic cloves (roughly chopped)
1 teaspoon all spice
1 cup water


Directions:

Mix all the dry ingredients, except for the all spice, together in a bowl. Then generously sprinkle the dry rub on the pork and pat down at the end to ensure the rub stays on. In a skillet, add the olive oil and turn the heat to high. You'll want to sear in the flavors by browning the entire pork. I used a pressure cooker to save some time in cooking the pork but you can use a roasting pan and an oven as well.

If you're using a pressure cooker, add the water, shallots, garlic, and all spice to the pot. Do the same if you're using a roasting pan. Before putting your pork in the pot or roasting pan you'll want to elevate it to keep it away from most of the liquid. I used a foldable stainless steamer basket for the pressure cooker. For the roasting pan, you can use the rack that comes with the roasting pan. Set you pressure cooker on high pressure and cook for 1 hour, in the roasting pan set your oven to 275 degrees and cook for 3-4 hours. I normally, cover the roasting pan when I cook in the oven to seal in the steam and create a little pressure to help the meat cook and tenderize a little faster. This will also keep it moist. After the the is cooked you can test to see if your meat is tender by pulling on it - if it pulls apart easily, then you're ready to remove it from the pressure cooker/oven and let it cool for at least 15 minutes. After it has cooled, use your hand to separate the meat into smaller edible pieces.

Barbecue Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 cup water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 large tomato (diced)
1 large shallot (diced)

Directions:

In a sauce pan, add the olive oil and turn the heat to medium high. Add your shallots and cook for about 4 minutes or until it is translucent. Then add your brown sugar and let it melt but not caramelized. Add water immediately after all of the sugar dissolves. Next add your paprika, cayenne pepper, and tomatoes. Bring the heat down to simmer and let it cook for 10 minutes. Now add your apple cider vinegar, kosher salt, and black pepper. Let this simmer for another 10 minutes. With an immersion blender, begin blending your sauce in the sauce pan. If you don't have an immersion blender, transfer your sauce to a regular blender and blend until all the large ingredients have broken down.

To assemble your sandwich, take two pieces of bread and layer that with your pulled pork and add about 1-2 tablespoons of your barbecue sauce on top.

The coleslaw is very easy to make. Slice 1/4 head of cabbage into thin strips and add to a large bowl. Now take the aioli we created yesterday and add that to the cabbage. Toss thoroughly to coat all of the cabbage.

This dish is a little time consuming but very worth it. Especially if you have a lot of mouths to feed or you just want to have some food leftover for the next day.

Cabbage Wrap (Panh Mieng)

My mom was in town this past weekend and she brought me some healthy goodies, tons of fresh veggies straight from her garden that consisted of fresh Thai chili peppers, basil, eggplants, lemongrass, rice patty herbs, Vietnamese coriander and also brought me a refill of pa dak (homemade fish sauce).

Last week I had some health issues causing the doctor to prescribe me a regimen of steroids. The medication caused some weight gain, so this week, I'm back on my wrap diet since this is an ultra low carbohydrate diet with minimal protein. Normally, the diet consists of lettuce but since I haven't had the cabbage wrap in years, I thought I would change things up a little bit (still the same concept, however).  Eating like this helped me lose 25 pounds in a 4 week period; thankfully I'm only looking to drop 7 pounds this week.

By now, everyone should know how to wrap things. If not, it's pretty simple, it is just putting your favorite ingredients on a base - this case it's cabbage - wrapping it up without over filling and enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 head of cabbage (quartered)
2 scallions (sliced)
Several sprigs of cilantro (roughly chopped)
5 chili peppers (sliced)
3 inch piece ginger (julienne cut)
1 stalk lemongrass (thinly sliced on bias)
10 cherry tomatoes (halved)
1/2 lime (cut into tiny 1/4 squares, with peel on)
1 bag pork rinds
5 Thai eggplants (quartered)
1 shallot (sliced)
1 handful vermicelli (cooked)
1/4 homemade fish sauce
4 tilapia filets (or 1 whole fish)
4 garlic cloves (thinly sliced)

Cooking the fish:

First, you'll need to lightly batter the fish with rice flour (all purpose flour is too dense for this application) so that the fish doesn't fall apart in the deep fryer.  You will then deep fry the fish in canola oil that has been preheated to 350° for about 4-5 minutes. Once the fish has completed frying, place on a towel to drain and cool.

A different and healthier alternative to cooking the fish is simply putting the whole fish (skin on) in a preheated 375° oven for approximately for about 15 minutes or until fish is crispy on the outside.

Dipping sauce:

The dipping sauce is basically a homemade fish sauce (using the whole amount listed above), chili peppers (half the amount listed above), and garlic (half the amount listed above). You can also add tamarind paste  for extra tartness or sugar for added sweetness; of course add these according to your taste.  Beware: this sauce is super potent so use it sparingly. If you don't have homemade fish sauce you can also try using the bottled unfiltered fish sauce from the store or contact me if you need some homemade fish sauce.

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Fish Tacos with Kaffir Lime Aioli

The other day I saw one of my friend's post on Facebook that his wife made him fish tacos. I was a little disappointed that I wasn't invited but that just made me crave it even more. This dish is pretty simple but has a lot of components. I'll try to break it down as easy as possible.

Fish preparations:

2 pounds tilapia filets
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 tablespoon cayenne peppery
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and mix well, let it marinate for at least 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and bake the fish for approximately for 15 minutes (be careful to not overcook, you want the fish to still look and taste moist).

Korean/Spanish rice:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 shallot thinly sliced
1 cup brown Korean rice
32 ounces chicken stock
2 Roma tomatoes (roughly chopped)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder

Directions:

In a deep sauce pan, sauté the shallots in butter and add rice once all the butter melts. Add tomatoes and all the dry ingredients. Then add 1/3 of the stock and cook rice in medium high heat and keep it covered. Once most of the liquid has reduce add another 1/3 of the stock. Repeat this again until all the stock is gone and the rice is cooked.

Cabbage aioli slaw:

1/2 head of red/purple cabbage (thinly sliced)
1 cup kaffir lime aioli

Directions:

Blanch the cabbage in a pot of boiling hot water for about 3 minutes. Strain and let cool. Add kaffir lime aioli (see previous post for this recipe) and toss.

Pico de gallo:

1/2 large onion (diced)
2 jalapenos (diced)
1/2 cup cilantro (roughly chopped)
1 medium tomato (diced)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Juice of 1 lime

Directions:

Mix all ingredients well and adjust salt and sour preference by adding salt or lime juice.

Assembling tacos:

You're going to need tortillas (I used flour) and lettuce. Simply layer the lettuce on top of the tortilla, and then just add the rice, slaw, and pico de gallo. Drizzle with extra ailoi and enjoy.

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Sour Soup "Canh Chua"

This is just a very basic version of this refreshing dish. I was very limited in ingredients while making this dish but no need to worry I'll tell you what other goodies you can add to this dish. After a long labor day weekend I'm still too lazy to go to the grocery store. Thanks to Tropical Storm Hermine and the constant downpour I'm definitely not heading to the store today. Actually, it doesn't make any sense to do so since I'll be heading out of town again this weekend. I did manage to purchase a fresh whole pineapple the last time I was at the market though. Every time I'm getting ready to carve up a pineapple it always reminds me of my mother since she's the one who taught me how to properly spiral cut a whole pineapple. I'm willing to past that on to anyone who cares to learn.

Ingredients:

5 cups water
1 cube Knorr chicken bouillon
1 tablespoon tamarind powder
1 fresh jalapeno (sliced)
1 cup fresh pineapples (cubed)
2 small Roma tomatoes (quartered)
8-10 shrimp (shell on)
1 cup roughly chopped cabbage


Directions:

Bring water to a boil in a stock pot and then add chicken bouillon and tamarind powder. Reduce heat to medium low and add all other ingredients except for the shrimp (add the shrimp 3-5 minutes prior to serving to prevent over cooking).

Optional/alternative ingredients:

Fresh okra (I normally always have okra in my soup) thickly sliced on bias
Rice patty herb "Ngo Om"
Elephant ear stalks "Bac Ha" peeled and cut into 3 inch french fry shapes
Catfish (peeled and chopped into 3-4 steaks)

Bonus:

If you're reading this post and would like a free 1 year subscription to Bon Appetit magazine let me know. The first person that responds will win this prize. You can respond in the comments section, thanks!

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Spicy Beef Noodle Soup

I used shredded cabbage here since I served all of the
bok choy and mustard greens to the guests.

This is one of those dishes that tend to work like magic on a Saturday or Sunday morning after drinking heavily the night before. With the knowledge that I would be hosting guests this past weekend I actually started this dish on Thursday so that it'll be ready for Friday night and Saturday morning. The true cook time of this dish is about 3-4 hours. I was first introduced to this dish at an Austin downtown restaurant, Chinatown. At that time my friend was a bartender there and after bar hopping all night long, this was the perfect dish to cure the hungriness that was a result of too much alcohol consumption.  There are many variations of this dish that use different noodles and vegetables, the Vietnamese have Bun Bo Hue and the Laotians have Kow Poon (both use vermicelli noodles). The variation that's presented here is closer to the Chinese version.

Ingredients:


2 1/2 pounds boneless beef shank (you can also use beef shanks with bones) (2-3 inch cubes)
1 large yellow onion (diced)
4 tablespoon granulated sugar
6 tablespoon chili soybean paste
6 garlic cloves (crushed)
12 cups water
2 tablespoon sea salt
4 tablespoon soy sauce
6 whole star anise
2 scallions (chopped)
5 Roma tomatoes (quartered)
1 tablespoon crushed peppercorns
3 tablespoon canola oil
1 package Shandong noodles

Directions:         

Add oil to a stock pot on high heat. Add meat and brown on all sides. Add
onions and garlic and half of the chili soybean paste. Cook until onions become
translucent. Add water and bring soup to a boil. Now add all other ingredients
and wait for water to boil again. Reduce heat to low to medium low and continue
cooking soup for another 2-3 hours or until meat becomes tender. Feel free to
adjust your soup with fish sauce for extra saltiness, sugar for sweetness,
chili soybean paste for spiciness, or lime juice for tartness. You'll also want
to precook the noodles in a separate pot of boiling water for 5-8 minutes prior
to building your bowl.

Accompaniments:

You can add almost any type of vegetables and herbs to compliment this
soup. I've listed the basic accompaniments and some other options as well and don't be afraid of using your own imagination to match with your palette preference.

Basic accompaniments:

Baby bok choy (blanched)
Pickled mustard greens (roughly chopped)
Scallions (sliced on bias)

Optional/alternative accompaniments:

Cilantro (roughly chopped)
Purple or green cabbage (paper thin slices)
Red or white onions (thinly sliced)