I don’t know about you, but my Instagram feed and feed reader are clogged with photos of ramps and ramp recipes, respectively. Unfortunately I’m going to have to miss out on the fun yet again since I’ve never seen a ramp at a farmer’s market or grocery store out in Honolulu.
Bummers.
I guess I’ll just have to drown my sorrows with excessive amounts of rhubarb and asparagus.
These days it’s rare that I leave a grocery store without 2-3 large bunches of asparagus. Although I love basic grilled or roasted asparagus as much as the next girl, I’ve been trying to branch out and use it in other recipes as well.
Although the cold weather crop isn’t a vegetable that I normally associate with Indian cuisine, asparagus makes one heck of a side when paired with shredded coconut and Indian spices.
Traditional? Maybe not. But this healthy vegan and gluten-free side just landed itself into a heavy rotation this Spring.
Indian Asparagus with Shredded Coconut
Yield: 3-4 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons coconut or vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon yellow or brown mustard seeds
s1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 medium to large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Serrano chile pepper, finely sliced
1 large bunch asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces on the diagonal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup dried, unsweetened shredded coconut
Directions:
Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. When the oil begins to smoke, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds and immediately cover with a lid or splatter screen. When the mustard seeds have stopped popping, add the onion and reduce the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion has softened. Add the garlic and the Serrano chile pepper and cook until the onion begins to turn golden.
Next, add the asparagus and stir to mix. Add the salt and the water and cook, stirring frequently, until the asparagus is tender-crisp. Finally, add the coconut, stir to mix, and cook for an additional minute. Serve hot.
It may be just a coincidence, but none of the Burmese dishes I’ve tried have set off any multiple-alarm fires in my mouth. And that’s just fine by me.
I love my Sriracha as much as the next girl, but I’m all for making my own homemade hot sauce, especially when it’s this easy. Red chile peppers are simmered with water and garlic and then processed with some fish sauce, sugar and rice vinegar until it hits that magic sweet spot between smooth and chunky.
Before I move on to more Burmese entrees, salads and desserts, I thought it would be best to go back to the basics. So over the next couple days I’ll be focusing on Burmese pantry staples that pop up in just about every savory Burmese recipe.
Because I’ve been making Indian Burnt Onions for years, it didn’t occur to me to look at the recipes for Crispy Shallots in the Burmese cookbooks I picked up. Big mistake on my part. Because with this recipe, in addition to crispy, sweet shallots, you’ll end up with plenty of shallot-infused oil for your favorite curries and stir-fries. That’s what I call a win-win.
Although I always enter grocery stores with a very specific list, I rarely leave without a couple of impulse purchases. And those extra items usually fall into one of two categories: dark chocolate or super clearance items. Bargain shopping is in my blood.
Since fridge space is always an issue (and because I can only drink so many green smoothies), I decided to wilt the spinach down to a more manageable size and make this vibrant Burmese salad.
So many Southeast Asian cuisines are known for their dishes that incorporate hot, sour, salty and sweet elements. But Burma seems to place no less importance on umami, which is often referred to as the fifth taste. Shrimp powder seems to be a key ingredient in this quest.
Although you certainly won’t be doing anything wrong if you just blend up dried shrimp in your food processor or high-speed blender, I’m going to defer to Southeast Asian cuisine expert extraordinaire, Naomi Duguid on how to correctly make shrimp powder at home.
And besides, there are plenty of times when these foreign dishes end up reminding me a whole lot of childhood classics. Take, for instance, this Burmese meatball curry dish. The seasoned beef meatballs are simmered in a sweet, savory and tangy sauce that combines garlic, onion, ginger, tomatoes and tamarind liquid. It was reminiscent of those ketchup glazed meatloaves I ate when I was younger… except a whole lot better.
To all the shakshuka lovers out there: I think you guys are really really going to like this one. It’s the same basic format as the famous Israeli and North African dish, with eggs nestled in a fiery, chili pepper-laced tomato sauce.
And that’s a pretty bold statement considering that I wouldn’t even eat hard boiled eggs a couple years ago. But that was before I learned the trick to the perfect hard-boiled eggs: 8 minutes at a low boil with immediate subsequent dunks into ice water. You end up with the most perfectly creamy golden yellow centers.
As a child, the only time I ever really ate rice was when my mother made rice pudding. We were a meat and potatoes family, through and through. But these days I’ve joined the billions of other folks worldwide who consider rice a diet staple.