Post 84: Squash Carbonara and more - Mrs. Haraguchi Grew Butternut Squash in the Backyard

A few seasons ago, Allison's mom presented me with a butternut squash grown from her own backyard... and I had no idea what to do with it.  Mrs. Haraguchi's suggestion was to roast it, but there's only so much roast squash a guy can eat! By the way, it was a huge butternut squash... huge.  So I planned out two dishes with this grand gourd... a squash and bacon pasta carbonara and a squash and sweet potato Japanese curry.

To make the carbonara, I roasted one half of the butternut squash.  I brushed the top with olive oil and tossed some salt and pepper over the top.  After rendering the bacon, I tossed in the pasta noodles with eggs and heavy cream, making sure not to overheat the pan.  If the pan is too hot, then the eggs will curdle, and the pasta will taste like tofu has attacked it.  While tossing all of the ingredients together, I added cubes of the roasted squash and garnished it with fresh basil at the very end.

Japanese curry is relatively simple to make using the box of concentrated cubes of curry.  Rather than using the usual Idaho potatoes, I substituted sweet potatoes and fresh butternut squash in for the starchy base.  I cut a high quality beef into cubes and browned it along with onions, garlic, celery and carrots.  After adding in the appropriate portion of water to curry cubes, I added in the starches and canned corn.  When serving, spoon the curry over a bed of steamed rice (brown rice if you're feeling healthy), and garnish with toasted sliced almonds.  This is definitely a unique take on the traditional Japanese curry.

With all of my remaining vegetables, I made a vegetable soup.  It isn't the most exciting of soups, so I amped it up with some... bacon! Bacon makes everything more exciting, doesn't it? And to add even more oomph to the soup, I spooned in some pesto to the base... and I also made sure to include the celery leaves (not just the stalks) because they smelled so fresh and aromatic when I first got them.  I also added in cherry tomatoes as an interesting twist. 

I was pretty amazed at the amount of food that I made with just one homegrown butternut squash.  Next time I am going to attempt making a butternut squash panna cotta that I saw on Iron Chef America.  But until then, thanks so much for the squash, Mrs. Haraguchi... let's get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 20120604

Post 70: Taipei - Night Owls Congregate at the Porridge Shop (Taipei: Da An District / 台北: 大安區)

While the congee from Hong Kong style dim sum houses are typically served in the morning, the Taiwanese rice porridge with chunks of sweet potatoes are served around the clock.  Both types of rice based soup, though, are used to wake people up.  The Taiwanese porridge works best as a 3 a.m. slap of sobriety and the Hong Kong congee works best as a hangover help at noon the next morning.

"You tried to drink her under the table or something?"

The server glances over at my friend as she brings a pot of piping hot porridge over to the table.  My friend has collapsed on the dining table... whether in complete exhaustion or in complete intoxication, I'm not quite sure... I'm feeling a combination of exhausted and intoxicated myself... attributed to a night of clubbing in Taipei.  Either way, she's about to miss out on some soul warming rice porridge and my trash talking of her inability to conquer the night's liquor.

"No, she tried to drink me under the table," I reply.  "And that," I point to the slumber of hair, makeup, and jewelry that is my friend, "is what happened.  Huo gai."

Huo gai is a term that is tough to translate.  In this instance it might mean that my friend's state of unconsciousness is completely deserved.  In a sense, it's karma... karma for nudging me towards more shots of tequila.  And if huo gai has been served in the Taipei nightlife, it's best to accompany it with a sobering bowl of porridge and plenty of side dishes.

My absolute favorite accompaniment to this bowl of rice soup is super spicy steamed stinky tofu.  It's served in a miniature hot pot with the gas burner still running.  There's nothing like a fragrant tofu in a boiling spicy broth in the middle of a hazy night.  If the spicy broth isn't a natural alarm clock, then I don't know what is.

There are a plethora of side dishes to choose from.  Upon arrival at the porridge shop, there is what seems like a buffet of chafing dishes... from grilled sausage to stir-fried eggplant to spicy cucumber salad to all sorts of crunchy pickles.  In our bumbling and stumbling stupor, we select a recurring theme of egg, vegetable and stewed protein.  Our first round of egg, vegetable and stewed protein includes a pickled radish omelette, garlic sauteed broccoli, and ginger braised calamari.  The omelette, broccoli and calamari all have strong flavors which infuse well into the plain rice porridge. 

Our second round of egg, vegetable and stewed protein ordering produce salted duck eggs, simply sauteed string beans, and three cup chicken.  The salty and dense egg yolk makes for a great crumble over a hot rice porridge.  It may even work better than croutons over salad.  The ginger, garlic, and basil flavored soy and sesame oil from the three cup chicken make for a flavorful gravy over the top of the porridge.  And the green beans complement the steaming stew with a light and refreshing crunch. 

Our second round is also thankfully our last of ordering since everyone has either crashed onto the table or has bickered over the last polyp of broccoli.  Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of another friend slap the broccoli out of another one's chopsticks in a not-so-ladylike manner.  And the ratio of intoxicated and those suffering from insomnia versus the sane and sober are dangerously imbalanced.  It's definitely time to go home.

There's nothing that the sweet potato rice porridge can do for us now.  The only thing that can save us now is an efficient taxi driver.  Mai dan so we can hui jia, please.  Until the next night out on the town, let's get S.O.F.A.T.

No Name Congee and Delicatessen (無名子清粥小菜)

台北市 大安區 / Taipei City, Da An District

復興南路 2段 130號 / Fuxing South Road, Section 2, No. 130

ML - 20110910

Post 42.1: Thanksgiving Means Turkey... Not Hot Pot

A tour guest recently asked me what a Taiwanese Thanksgiving feast is like.  Hmmm... I had never really thought about it... but I can't speak for other Taiwanese or Taiwanese-Americans.  

For me I guess I always took Thanksgiving to mean turkey, and anything Taiwanese would be saved for the remaining 364 days of the year.  Anytime any family member proposed to have hot pot for Thanksgiving, I put up strong opposition, and that usually led to our having a turkey at Thanksgiving.  

The one year that hot pot was elected over turkey, my cousins and I boycotted dinner with an I Love Lucy style hunger strike.  There was much yelling, but there was even more silence.  Not that my family ever ate hot pot on a regular basis, but hot pot was too typical of a meal for me... it wasn't special enough for this once-in-a-year holiday.  I mean... I don't particularly like turkey, but Thanksgiving without turkey is like Old Glory without the stars and stripes.  Thanksgiving meant turkey, and my cousins and I would find a way to get our roasted bird no matter what it took.... even if it was compromised with sticky rice stuffing.

This was the spread at Aunt Christy's house this year. 

Cream of mushroom soup with a swirl of sour cream and Pillsbury croissants.

Ham from Honey Baked Ham Company.

Condiments are champagne honey mustard and pineapple marmalade.

Originally prepared as asparagus in garlic and olive oil.

But later tossed into a salad of mixed greens and crispy bacon.

The golden turkey.  No stuffing... but surrounded by mini potatoes.

My aunt made the Cranberry sauce with fresh cranberries and added orange zest to it.

The seafood dishes are must haves in our family.

Shrimp cocktail with cocktail sauce on ice.  Linguine and clams with a forest of parsley.

Sweet potato casserole with brown sugar and pecan crust from Ruth's Chris.

No mashed potatoes this year? No problem.  Bye bye flat stomach.

If Aunt Jessica were stateside this year, there be two or three Marie Callender's pies on the table too, which probably makes our feast probably indistinguishable from from any other typical family's Thanksgiving feast... so I'm not sure if that answers the question, "What is a Taiwanese Thanksgiving feast like?"

But to throw in a little variation... how about another Taiwanese-American Thanksgiving feast from across town? Aunt Li doesn't eat turkey, chicken... or anything that walks on two feet, and her Thanksgiving dinner guests don't eat beef.  The compromise? Pork ribs from Tony Roma's. 

What was your Thanksgiving feast like?

ML - 20101202/20101125