Tag Archives: noodles

Chile Crisp by Andrew Janjigian

kokblog-chili-crisp-jar

A few weeks ago I got an interesting package in the mail. I had no idea what it could be, but as it was from my friend Andrew Janjigian I suspected it was something tasty. It was a jar of his homemade chili crisp. It looked enticingly appealing with its ruby red texture. And when trying it on rice I found it incredibly delicious. My husband instantly switched out his store bought chili condiment and ended up having it on everything. Now neither of us can think of anything else. So when Andrew asked me to share it on kokblog I was over the top excited.

Andrew is an associate editor at Cook’s Illustrated Magazine, a passionate baker and a mycologist. He is regularly holding bread and pizza classes at King Arthur and on top of everything he is an excellent photographer. Andrew and I have collaborated on several things (mostly baked goods) and here on kokblog he is behind one of the most popular posts: Mushroom Confit

Chile Crisp
by Andrew Janjigian (illustrated by Johanna Kindvall)

Chile crisp is my version of Lao Gan Ma or ‘Godmother Sauce’, a spicy Chinese condiment that is a cross between a hot sauce and a crunchy salsa. But I like to think of it as chile crack, because everyone I share it with becomes just as addicted to it as I am. It tickles nearly all of my culinary erogenous zones: spice (both from chiles and the buzz of Sichuan peppercorns), sweet (from the fried shallots and garlic), umami (from fermented black beans), and heady aromatics from most of the above, along with toasted sesame oil and all the dried spices.  

It’s essential on noodles, fried rice, or just steamed white rice. It makes eggs infinitely better. Combined with a little black vinegar and soy sauce, it makes a great dipping sauce for dumplings. Stir it into a little mayonnaise and it becomes a killer spread for sandwiches. Or (as I do on a daily basis) it can be simply eaten with a spoon right from the jar.

(The recipe is actually fourfer, since its byproducts are a large amount of aromatic chile oil, along with extra fried garlic and shallots. And credit where credit is due: The starting point for my recipe is the version I found in the Mission Chinese Food Cookbook.)
kokblog-crispy-onions

Microwave-fried garlic
makes 3/4 cup (180 ml) garlic and 1 cup (240 ml) garlic oil

Remove the garlic from the oil a few shades lighter than you want it, as it will continue to darken as it cools. Dusting with confectioner’s sugar helps prevent clumping and tempers the garlic’s bitter edge. Fried garlic will keep for several months if stored in a sealed container. (If you don’t have a microwave, the garlic can be fried on a stovetop in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat, 10 to 12 minutes.)

1 cup (150 g) garlic cloves, minced
1 cup (240 ml) vegetable oil
2 teaspoons confectioner’s sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Combine garlic and oil in medium bowl. Microwave on high power for 5 minutes. Stir well and cook for 2 minute intervals until just beginning to brown, 2 to 12 minutes total. Stir well and cook for 30 second intervals until evenly light brown, 30 seconds to 1 minute total. Strain garlic through fine-meshed strainer set in bowl, and reserve oil. Drain garlic on paper-towel lined plate. Dust with sugar, season with salt, and allow to cool.

Microwave-fried shallots
makes 3/4 cup (180 ml) shallots and 1 cup (240 ml) shallot oil

Remove the shallots from the oil a few shades lighter than you want them, as they will continue to darken as they cool. They will still be soft at this point, but will crisp up as they cool. Fried shallots will keep for several months if stored in a sealed container. (If you don’t have a microwave, the shallots can be fried on a stovetop in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat, 10 to 12 minutes.)

2 cups (175 g) thinly-sliced shallots
1 cup (240 ml) vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Combine shallots and oil in medium bowl. Microwave on high power for 5 minutes. Stir well and cook for 2 minute intervals until just beginning to brown, 2 to 12 minutes total. Stir well and cook for 30 second intervals until evenly light brown, 30 seconds to 1 minute total. Strain shallots through fine-meshed strainer set in bowl and reserve oil. Drain shallots on paper-towel lined plate. Season with salt and allow to cool.
kokblog-chili-crisp-4

Chile Crisp / Chile Oil
makes 3 cups (700 ml) chile crisp and 3 cups (700 ml) chile oil

Using harder-to-find (but delicious) Sichuan chile flakes (“facing heaven” peppers) will make the crisp slightly hotter. Chile crisp will keep for two months or more in the refrigerator. Chile oil will keep for up to two months at room temperature.

1 cup (240 ml) Korean chile flakes (gochugaru) or Sichuan chile flakes
(or a combination of both)
4 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns, finely ground
½ cup (120 ml) sesame seeds
4 cups (950 ml) vegetable oil (including oils from shallots and garlic above)
3 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks
6 star anise pods
6 black cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 (3-inch) piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
10 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
1/2 cup (120 ml) toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup (60 ml) fried garlic (see recipe above)
1/2 cup (120 ml) fried shallots (see recipe above)
1/2 cup (120 ml) fermented black beans, chopped
2 teaspoons kosher salt

Place chile flakes, Sichuan peppercorns, and sesame seeds in large heatproof bowl. Heat oil, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, ginger, and garlic in large saucepan over medium heat until it reaches 375ºF (190ºC). Pour oil through fine-meshed strainer slowly over chile mixture (be careful, mixture will foam initially). Discard solids in strainer. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature, 1 to 2 hours.

Add sesame oil and stir to combine. Strain through fine-meshed strainer set over bowl.
kokblog-fermented-black-beans2

Transfer solids from strainer into second bowl. Add fried garlic, fried shallots, black beans, and salt, along with enough chile oil to produce a loose, salsa-like consistency, about 1 cup (240 ml).

Transfer chile crisp to jar and refrigerate. Transfer chile oil to jar and store at room temperature.

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We like this condiment:

as a dipping sauce for dumplings by Rabi Abonourat at Serious Eats

on handpulled noodles by Tim Chin at Cook Science

as a garnish for congee (rice porridge) – recipe from Saveur

and Leftover fried onions are excellent topping
on a classic smørrebrød with roast biff and Danish remoulade

or Middle Eastern mejadra

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More of Andrew

Fresh Flour Power for Cook’s Science Magazine

From Beehive to Barrel: A Tale of Two Ovens for Edible Boston

Mushroom Confit for kokblog (equally addictive as the Chili Crisp)

Follow Andrew on twitter & instagram

 

Spätzle – German Egg Noodles

Årsta fältet, a flat field in a suburb of Stockholm, may not be the most exotic place to visit in the capital city of Sweden. But somewhere in that field I had one of my most peculiar food memories ever. It was there I ate spätzle (or maybe it was Hungarian nokedli) for the first time in my life. The spätzle was served with a rich goulash that we made in a hanging cast-iron pot over an open fire. This is that kind of moment that is hard to recreate.

The goulash was amazing but it was the spätzle that won my heart. Since then I’ve been treated to spätzle again and again and I love it as much every single time. However not many cooks have been able to share their recipe as they cook it by instinct without any instructions. Fair enough, I just had to start figuring out my own way.

I started by playing around with different recipes I found online. The result was often not that great which probably had more to do with the choice of flour than the recipe. I discovered that, for example, pastry flour (why use that in the first place?) made the batter taste really floury in an unpleasant way. I also tried adding fresh grated potatoes but then it became halušky (potato noodles). At some point I gave up and started to use just regular wheat flour. The result made me very happy and pleased!

Recently I followed Steen Hanssen’s recommendation to use dinkelmehl (spelt flour). The spätzle became darker and had a slight nutty taste. I liked it.

for the batter
(2-3 people)

3 eggs (depending on size)
¼ cup of lukewarm water
about 1¼  cups of spelt flour or regular flour
pinch of salt
some freshly grated nutmeg
a couple of tablespoons of butter

Heat up some water until its just lukewarm. Mix together eggs, water, nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Gradually start adding flour, little by little. Make sure to avoid creating lumps. The dough has got enough flour when its a little stretchy and easily falls off you spatula without breaking. If you get the dough too stiff, just add some more water. Let the dough rest for about half an hour.

There are many different ways to “form” the spätzle and its probably very individual which method you may prefer. I have tried some techniques with more or less success. I think using a spätzle lid is the easiest and my kitchen doesn’t ends up in a mess (see image above).

Heat up some salted water in a large pot that will fit the spätzle lid nicely (see below for other methods). Bring the water to a boil. Lower the heat. Place the lid on top of the pot and add ¼ of the dough on top. Start to press the dough down with a spatula (often comes w/ the lid). Stir around the spätzle a little so they don’t stick together. The spätzle are done after about 2-3 minutes when they float up to the surface. Use a skimming ladle to fish them up. Repeat above steps until the dough is finished. Adjust the heat if necessary. Add some melted butter to the spätzle so they don’t stick together.

Serve the  spätzle with a rich goulash, creamy mushrooms or baked in the oven topped with cheese.

Other methods (and there are more)
Another technique is to use a pasta strainer, preferably those with larger wholes. My stainless steel strainer worked fine, even if it was a little clumsy, the spätzle came out pretty nice, tiny and delicate! Just let the strainer rest at an angle on the edge of the pot (see image above) and use a soft spatula to press down the batter through the holes into the hot water.

If you want larger spätzle you can use a smaller chopping board and a chef knife or a bench scraper. Place one batch of dough on the chopping board and let it rest at an angle at the edge of the pot. Start to cut small pieces of the dough right into the boiling water. It worked okay and probably would be better with practice.

Recipe and drawings was originally published at EcoSalon, on 11 March 2012