Fresh salmon salad rolls

By Periplus Editors, Quick & Easy Asian Tapas and Noodles


Reprinted with the express permission of Tuttle Publishing.

Inspiration for these gorgeously delicate rolls comes from Yu Sheng, a raw fish salad eaten by Singaporeans during the Lunar New Year celebrations. Light, fresh and nutty flavors come prettily bundled in rice paper wrappers, with little dabs of tasty tobiko fish roe lending an elegant finishing touch.

Makes 24 rolls
Preparation time: 25 minutes

6 dried rice paper wrappers (see note)
10 oz (300 g) fresh salmon fillets
Wasabi tobiko or salmon roe (see note), to garnish
Green onions (scallions), to garnish

Filling
1/2 cup (50 g) finely shredded carrot
1/2 cup (75 g) finely shredded daikon
2 tablespoons minced coriander leaves (cilantro)
3 tablespoons sweet plum sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons crushed unsalted roasted peanuts
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, dry-roasted in a skillet until brown
3 teaspoons lime juice

Make the Filling by combining all the ingredients in a bowl and toss to mix well. Set aside.

Quarter each dried rice paper wrapper and trim the sides to form 4 squares. Briefly soak the squares in water to soften, then pat dry with paper towels.

Cut the salmon fillets into 24 very thin slices. Place a slice of salmon and 1 tablespoon of the Filling onto each rice paper square and roll up tightly into a bite-sized piece. Garnish with tobiko or salmon roe and green onions, and serve chilled.

Note: Dried rice paper wrappers are sold in Asian food stores in plastic packets containing 10 or more wrappers. They are round and white, about 10 in (25 cm) in diameter. Pale green wasabi tobiko roe is tobiko roe that has been flavored with wasabi. Fresh wasabi tobiko roe can be purchased in packets in Japanese supermarkets.

Classic Indonesian Fried Rice

By Wendy Hutton, Southeast Asia’s Best Recipes

Reprinted with the express permission of Tuttle Publishing.

Fried rice is a common breakfast throughout Indonesia. It is often very simple—cooked rice tossed with a seasoning paste of chili and a dash of sweet soy sauce—or can be more substantial, like this recipe, which adds beef instead of the pork often used in non-Muslim parts of Southeast Asia. You could also add some shrimp and top each serving with a fried egg (which the Indonesians call a “bull’s-eye egg”). This is a quickly made lunch or supper dish.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 10 mins

1/3 cup (85 ml) oil
7 oz (200 g) sirloin or rump steak, thinly sliced across the grain, shredded
7 oz (200 g) small fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined, or add another 7 oz (200 g) beef
6 cups (800 g) cold cooked rice, stirred with a fork to separate the grains
2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
2 tablespoons crisp-fried shallots
1 green onion (scallion), minced
1 large ripe tomato, sliced

Seasoning Paste
6 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2–3 red finger-length chilies, sliced

Prepare the Seasoning Paste by processing all the ingredients together to a coarse paste.

Heat 1/4 cup (60 ml) of the oil in a wok and add the Seasoning Paste. Stir-fry over medium heat until softened and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Increase the heat, add the beef and shrimp, if using, and stir-fry until cooked, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir-fry over high heat for 1 minute. Sprinkle with the sweet soy sauce and salt and stir-fry for another minute.

Transfer the rice to a large bowl and keep warm. Use the remaining oil to fry the eggs, one at a time, in the wok, or cook them all at one time in a skillet. Transfer the rice to four plates. Top each serving with a fried egg and garnish with the crisp-fried shallots and green onion. Add a few tomato slices and serve with a chili sambal.

Note: As with all fried rice dishes, it is preferable to use rice that was cooked the previous day, so that it has completely dried out.

Steamed scallops with black bean dressing

By Periplus Editors, Quick & Easy Asian Tapas and Noodles

Reprinted with the express permission of Tuttle Publishing.

Fresh scallops are a delicate treat and require quick cooking and unfussy embellishments in order to shine. A hint of salty black beans, some sweetish rice wine, a few Asian aromatics and a brief steaming give spectacularly flavorsome results.

Makes 12 scallops or serves 4
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 4 minutes

12 fresh scallops in their shells
2 green onions (scallions), green part thinly sliced lengthwise and soaked in cold water, to garnish

Black Bean Dressing
2 green onions (scallions), white part minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh young ginger root
1 to 11/2 tablespoons black bean garlic sauce (see note)
2 tablespoons rice wine or sake
11/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon olive oil

Shuck each scallop and discard the top shell. Rinse under running water to remove sand and dirt. Carefully remove the muscle and organ, leaving only the white flesh. Cut the stem to separate the white flesh from the shell with a paring knife. Stand the white flesh vertically on its shell to drain excess water. Shuck all the scallops in this manner.
Make the Black Bean Dressing by combining all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
Spoon 1 teaspoon of the Black Bean Dressing over each scallop and steam the scallops in their shells in bamboo steaming baskets for 4 minutes, making sure not to crowd or tilt the scallops inside the baskets (for best results, use stacked basket and steam the scallops individually). Serve hot, garnished with green onions.

Note: The black bean garlic sauce normally used in this dish has large chunks of fermented black soybeans and is sold in small jars in Asian food markets. Whole fermented black beans may also be used with a bit of minced garlic and soy sauce added.

Wakame and Tuna with Soy Dressing

By Susie Donald, Masano Kawana, and Adrian Lander, Japanese Homestyle Dishes: Quick and Delicious Favorites (Learn to Cook series)
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Reprinted with the express permission of Tuttle Publishing.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 30 mins
Assembling time: 3 mins

2 sheets (10 g) wakame
2 cups (500 ml) water
Two 6-oz (170-g) cans of water-packed tuna
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 Japanese cucumber, thinly sliced
1 tomato, diced

Dressing
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons sesame oil

1. Soak the dried wakame in a bowl of cold water to soften, about 20 minutes.

2. To make the Dressing, combine the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and oil in a small bowl, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

3. Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Blanch the wakame for 30 seconds, drain and rinse under cold water. Pat dry with paper towels. Remove any hard veins from the wakame and slice it into 1/2-in (1-cm) strips.

4. Drain the tuna and place it in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle with the lemon juice and use a fork to break the tuna into bite-sized pieces.

5. Combine the wakame, cucumber and tomato with the tuna and toss with the Dressing. Serve immediately.

Chicken and Three-Color Pepper Stir-Fry Bento

By Makiko Itoh, The Just Bento Cookbook, Everyday Lunches to Go

Recipes © 2010 Makiko Itoh from The Just Bento Cookbook published by Kodansha International

This beginner bento is made with everyday ingredients that you may already have in your pantry.  It can be assembled in twenty minutes or less without any advance preparation.

Contents:
Chicken and Three-Color Pepper Stir-Fry (recipe below)
Instant Cabbage and Cucumber Pickles (recipe below)
Blanched Broccoli
Basic White Rice
Cherry Tomatoes

For the Chicken Stir-Fry

1/2 Tbsp olive or other vegetable oil
3 Tbsp roughly chopped green onion
2 tsp peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger
1/3 each medium-sized red, green, and yellow sweet peppers, de-seeded and cut into 1/2 inch (1 cm) chunks
salt, for sprinkling
2 oz (60 g) boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch (1 cm) chunks
black pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp soy sauce
lettuce or shiso leaves used as dividers, optional

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat.  Add the green onion and ginger and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes until the oil is fragrant.  Turn the heat up to the highest setting and add the peppers to the pan.  Stir-fry with a spatula or long chopsticks.  Sprinkle in some salt–this draws out moisture from the vegetables and cooks them a bit faster.  Continue stir-frying for 4-5 minutes, until the peppers are cooked.

Push the vegetables to the sides of the pan, and add the chicken to the exposed bottom.  Leave for a couple minutes, then turn over to cook the other side.  Stir everything together, and add the black pepper and soy sauce.

Turn the stir fry from the pan onto a cool plate so that it cools rapidly.  When cooled, pack into the bento box, using the lettuce or shiso leaves as a divider.

Make Ahead Note: Cut up the vegetables and chicken the night before, so everything is ready to just cook.  Be sure to keep the raw chicken stored separately from the vegetables for safety.

For the Cabbage and Cucumber Pickles

1 large green cabbage leaf
2 inch (5 cm) length English cucumber, sliced into thin rounds
1/2 tsp sea salt
squeeze lemon juice

Cut out the tough vein of the cabbage leaf and slice the rest into strips. Sprinkle the cabbage and cucumber with salt, and massage well with your hands until the vegetables go limp. Let rest for at least five minutes. Add a squeeze of lemon juice.

Squeeze out any excess moisture before packing into a bento box. To prevent the mingling of flavors, put the pickles into a small container or cupcake liner before adding to the box.

To Assemble Bento Box

1. Pack the rice tightly into up to half the bento box.

2. Fill half to two-thirds the box with the chicken stir-fry. Use a divider or a lettuce leaf to separate the rice from the stir-fry.

3. Add the small container of the pickles.

4. Fill in any gaps with broccoli florets and/or cherry tomatoes.

Thai Turkey Basil Lettuce Wraps

By Jaden Hair, Courtesy of The Pampered Chef

I recently took a trip to The Pampered Chef headquarters in Chicago to host their first ever live online cooking show featuring holiday recipes and decor tips. I had great fun, thousands of people watched online and here is one of the recipes that we made on the show. The original recipe calls for chicken, but since I know that you’ll have plenty of turkey leftover from Thanksgiving, this is a great way to use them! Bottled poppy seed salad dressing gets the flavorful peanut sauce off to a running start for these refreshing wraps.

INGREDIENTS:

Peanut Sauce
2   tbsp (30 mL) dry-roasted peanuts, chopped
1   tbsp (15 mL) chopped fresh basil, chopped
1/4   cup (50 mL) store-bought poppy seed salad dressing
2   tsp (10 mL) Pampered Chef Asian Seasoning Mix (or see below)
1   tbsp (15 mL) rice vinegar
1   tbsp (15 mL) water

Salad
1   small cucumber
1/2   medium red bell pepper
1 1/2   cups (375 mL) shredded cooked turkey (8 oz/250 g)
4   large Boston or bibb lettuce leaves

Additional chopped peanuts and chopped fresh basil (optional)

Directions:

Combine peanuts, basil, dressing, seasoning mix, vinegar and water in a small bowl; set aside.

For salad, peel cucumber; slice into julienne strips, avoiding seeds. Slice bell pepper into thin strips. Shred chicken; toss with half of the sauce. Set remaining sauce aside for dipping.

To serve, divide cucumber among lettuce leaves. Spoon turkey mixture over cucumber. Top with bell pepper. Garnish wraps with additional peanuts and basil, if desired. Serve with remaining peanut sauce.

Yield: 2 servings

NOTE:  The recipe calls for Pampered Chef Asian Seasoning mix, but if you don’t have it, you can make your own substitute: 2 tsp (10 mL) soy sauce, 1 tsp (5 mL) finely grated gingerroot and 1 finely minced  garlic clove.

Japanese Sponge Cake (Kasutera)

By Susie Donald, Masano Kawana, and Adrian Lander, Japanese Homestyle Dishes: Quick and Delicious Favorites (Learn to Cook series)
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Reprinted with the express permission of Tuttle Publishing.

Serves 6 to 8
Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins

5 large eggs
2/3 cup (150 g) caster or superfine sugar
1/4 cup (60 ml) honey
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup (90 g) all-purpose flour
Additional caster sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C/Gas mark 4). Grease and flour a 9-in (221/2-cm)-square baking pan.

2. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat until frothy. Beat in the sugar and honey gradually. Continue beating until the mixture is thick and pale and the eggbeater leaves a thin ribbon, about 12 minutes.

3. Sift the baking powder and flour together into the bowl with the egg mixture.

4. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined. Carefully pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan.

5. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool completely on a wire rack.

6. Dust with caster sugar and cut into squares before serving.