Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad)

Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad) is a popular and refreshing salad from Thailand that will awaken your taste buds! The combination of salty, sour, sweet, and hot makes it mouth-watering. This has been in my recipe collection for quite a while and I loved it when I was in Thailand (we also made it in school during Asian week). Green papayas are unripe papayas, which can be found in Asian markets. Choose very firm ones with minimal blemishes.

Salad 1    cup green beans, blanched 1/2   green, unripe papaya, shredded 2    tomatoes, cut into wedges 1   tbsp.               dried shrimp, rehydrated and chopped (optional)*** 1/4 cup peanuts, roasted and chopped 3    tbsp. cilantro, chopped
Dressing 1.5  tbsp. palm sugar 3     tbsp. fish sauce 1/4  cup lime juice, freshly squeezed 1     garlic clove, minced 1 red chili, sliced

Bring salted water to a simmer. Trim the green beans and cut into 1-inch pieces. Blanch the beans for approximately 1-2 minutes and refresh in cold water. Drain and place into a large bowl. Peel the papaya and cut it in half. Scrape out the seeds. Using a grater or mandoline, shred into large strands. Traditionally, and if you are very experienced with a sharp knife as one of the students from Thailand in our class was, hold the peeled papaya in one hand and hack away at it with your knife. Then run your knife along the papaya lengthwise to cut strands - yikes! Not recommended if you do not know what you are doing!. Add the shredded papaya, tomatoes, shrimp, and roasted peanuts to the beans.

To prepare the dressing mix the palm sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, garlic, and red chili together. Taste and adjust to your liking. Pour the dressing over the mixture. You can let it sit for a while to allow the flavors to combine. I like to garnish with cilantro leaves. Makes 2 large servings.

***Traditionally, this salad is made with chopped, dried shrimp but I don't particularly like it in this dish. You can skip it if you like.

Tagged as: [ papaya recipes salad somtum thai ]

Happy 60th Birthday Mom

My mom is the most special woman in my life. She is always supportive and encouraging, generous and caring, and so much fun to be around. I cherish every conversation, every visit, and everything we share.

Mom, you are awesome and you re-define what it means to be 60! Thanks for this last visit. I love the fact that you remain wide-eyed and are willing to try anything new. It must be your secret to staying young! I look forward to our next Grouse Grind hike together where I know you will beat me to the top! Thanks for being the incredible woman that you are.

Pan-Fried Pork Dumplings

I love pork dumplings. My lovely mom and I spent the morning making a huge batch of them. Here is a favorite recipe of mine which is really easy and absolutely sumptuous. I serve them with red vinegar and sambal oelek. Yummmmmy!

1 pound	raw ground pork
4 cups	napa cabbage, chopped
1.5 cups	Chinese chives, thinly sliced
3 cloves	garlic, minced
1 tsp.	ginger, minced
6 tsp.	soy sauce
3 tsp.	sesame oil
1 tsp.	salt
2	eggs
2 pkgs.	dumpling wrappers

Combine all of the ingredients in a bow and mix well. Fry a little bit of the mixture in a pan to taste. Adjust the seasonings if necessary. Without overfilling, drop about a tablespoon of the mixture into the centre of a dumpling wrapper. Using water, wet half of the perimeter of the wrapper with your finger and fold to make a half moon shape. Squeeze out as much air as possible when sealing. You can pleat the edges by folding part of the seam over itself and pressing together to glue.

In a non-stick pan, heat 1-2 tbsp. of peanut oil on medium heat. Without crowding, place the dumplings in the pan and fry on both sides until golden brown (you will need to do this in batches). Add about 1/4 cup of water and cover with a lid to steam for about 5 minutes until the pork is cooked through. Remove the lid and cook off any liquid that is remaining. Serve immediately.

We make large batches and freeze them individually on a cookie sheets and then transfer to freezer bags. When you have a craving, cook them the same way as described above. The cooking time will take a little longer when frozen.

Makes about 60 dumplings.

Tagged as: [ dumplings howto pork recipes ]

How to Use Salmon Scraps

We visited a small fishing village called Steveston where we enjoyed some fish and chips on the dock at Pajo's before purchasing some freshly caught B.C. sockeye salmon.
 

After fileting the salmon at home to make Cedar Plank Salmon with Deconstructed Pesto, one of the methods we learned in school to salvage the little bits of salmon that don't get used (and the bits that can be scraped off of the bones) is to make a rillette. A rillette is a preparation of meat, poultry, or fish which is braised in a cooking liquid of wine, aromatics, and fat until tender. The cooking liquid is reduced, strained and cooled, and then pounded into the protein to form a paste. A delicious rillette is well seasoned and served with toasted bread as a cold hors d'oeuvre.

I made an Asian-style rillette by poaching the salmon scraps in a liquid of: wine, shallots, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, peppercorns, red chili, parsley stems, a small bay leaf, lemon zest, celery leaves, a tiny bit of carrot, and water to just cover. I pounded the reduced, strained and cooled cooking liquid into the salmon with some olive oil to form a paste and seasoned it well with sambal oelek, soy sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. To plate the rillette, I steamed some soy beans and fried some ginger threads. I also toasted some bread which was served on the side.
 

When fileting your own salmon, this is a great way to avoid any waste! Click here for more pics from the day.

Tagged as: [ fish foodcost howto pajos rillette salmon scraps steveston tips ]

Sumptuous Shops | Cupcakes

The best cupcake to date, in my opinion, is from a wonderful bakery in New York City called Magnolia. People line up for these delights and can only buy a maximum of 6 at a time (larger orders need to be placed in advance). The vanilla ones are light, fluffy, and full of flavor. The sweetness of the icing is just right and they have cute little sprinkles on the surface. Every time Marcelo and I are in NYC, we pay Magnolia a visit (or two or three).

Today I checked out Cupcakes on Denman Street. Although the name of the shop is a little boring, the cupcakes from this place were pretty good. I tried a chocolate cupcake


with caramel inside and caramel icing. It exceeded my expectations and I will probably go there again...but Magnolia's in NYC has stolen my heart for good. If you want to try out their recipe, you can find it in the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook or here at 52 Cupcakes.

Tagged as: [ bakery cupcakes magnolia pastry ]