Tamagoyaki 卵焼き/玉子焼き, also called dashimaki tamago, is different from its European counterparts, not only because it contains some soy sauce and is sweet, but, most of all, because of a different frying method. Seasoned, beaten eggs are fried in thin layers, which are rolled successively with long cooking chopsticks and end up in a – hopefully neat – cylinder. A special rectangular or square pan is the traditional utensil, but it can also be made in a simple, round pan. I have seen the tamagoyaki making process dozens of times on television and internet and it always looked extremely difficult, especially for someone who, like me, lacks patience and dexterity and who isn’t used to cook with chopsticks.

Last year I decided to brave the tamagoyaki challenge and put the special pan as an obligatory item on the shopping list for my trip to Japan. I came back with a small rectangular pan and… didn’t have the courage to use it for over eight months! I don’t remember what has triggered my sudden urge to use it, but last week I thought I was fed up seeing the pan still unpacked in my drawer. I desperately needed very precise instructions, so I started to look for videos and finally followed the famous YouTube show called Cooking With Dog. I found it comprehensive, very well made and the concept of a talking dog funny and completely crazy. I have chosen this video also because the recipe called for mitsuba, the Japanese plant which starts forming a small forest on my balcony and which is particularly good with eggs. It was a sign I should choose this show and no other.

The video was very helpful and, apart from scaling down the recipe’s amounts, the only thing I changed was eliminating the sugar. Japanese omelettes are always sweet, the thing which doesn’t suit my taste buds, so my home-made tamagoyaki, even though clumsy and messy-looking, was the best because it was 100% savoury, just the way I love it. Check the Cooking with Dog show to see the original three-egg recipe and very comprehensive instructions, but, please, do not compare the final result to mine!

TIPS:

PAN: The special square or rectangular pan is not necessary. Tamagoyaki can be prepared in a round pan too. The important thing is to adapt the size of the pan to the number of eggs you want to use. I have bought the smallest pan I found because it was adapted to a two-egg omelette, perfect for one serving. My rectangular pan’s measures are: 18 x 13 cm (7 x 5 inches), so if you want to make an omelet with two eggs, take a similarly-sized round pan.

HERBS: I have used here mitsuba because I love it and am lucky to grow it on my balcony, but of course any fresh herb of your choice will be great here. I recommend chives, tarragon or dill.

SERVING: My favourite way to serve tamagoyaki is with good French buttered bread (baguette or similar bread with crunchy crust), but you can have it as a snack or in a more Asian way, as a part of a meal with rice, pickles, vegetables…

Tamagoyaki is often served cold, but personally I like it still slightly warm, with a splash of soy sauce.

Special equipment: long cooking chopsticks. As difficult as it may seem, in my opinion cooking chopsticks are a perfect tool for this omelette. You can try also with normal eating chopsticks, but they might be too small.

Preparation: 15 minutes

Ingredients (serves one as a main course, for example breakfast):

2 eggs

2 tablespoons Japanese stock (dashi), but in my opinion chicken stock will be perfect here too (you can dissolve a pinch of instant stock of course)

1 teaspoon soy sauce

(ground black pepper)

pinch of salt

about 10 sprigs mitsuba leaves or any other herbs of your choice (chives, tarragon, dill…)

oil

(soy sauce and grated daikon radish to serve)

Chop the herbs (if you use mitsuba, use also the stalks!).

In a wide bowl mix the eggs, add the stock, the salt, the soy sauce and the pepper, if using. Combine with the chopped herbs.

Heat a pan (keep in on medium heat) and grease is slightly using chopsticks and a piece of folded paper towel soaked in oil and brushing the surface with it.

To check if it’s hot enough Cooking with Dog’s chef advises pouring a small drop of egg mixture: if it sizzles, it means the pan is ready.

Pour a part of the omelette mixture (in case of my pan’s size 100 ml/about 3,5 fl oz was the ideal amount) onto the pan and move the pan so that the egg mixture covers the whole surface.

When it’s half-cooked, lift the pan from the heat and start rolling the omelette. I found that rolling in the direction towards me was easier.

Push the roll towards one side of the pan (the one with the handle is more practical).

Grease the pan once more, holding the soaked paper towel in chopsticks.

Pour once more the same amount of egg mixture. Spread it evenly, moving the pan.

Make sure it arrives under the rolled first part of the omelette (lift the roll slightly while spreading the mixture).

Fry it, destroying with your chopsticks the bubbles forming on the surface.

When this portion is almost cooked, lift the pan from the heat and roll the omelette, starting with the roll you have previously made.

Push it towards one side of the pan (preferably close to the handle), grease slightly the surface and repeat the whole process until you finish the egg mixture.

Make sure you are not left with a tiny amount of egg mixture! It’s better to make the last rolled layer too thick than too thin. If it’s too thin it will break or/and be overcooked.

Squash slightly the roll with a wide spatula, transfer it onto a chopping board.

Let it cool down slightly and cut into 4 equal pieces.

Serve cold or slightly warm (it is usually served cold).

Cooking with Dog show’s chef recommends serving it with grated daikon radish and a splash of soy sauce. I like it served still warm, with good buttered French bread (with crunchy crust), with a splash of soy sauce and, optionally, with some chili or chili paste.

Have you ever fried cucumber? Even though it’s one of the vegetables I eat most often, such a way to serve it had never crossed my mind before I saw this recipe in the Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook by Fuchsia Dunlop. In constant search of new ways to cook shiso (see below), I prepared this dish out of pure curiosity, considering it a rather risky experiment. Luckily, quickly fried, still crunchy and juicy cucumber tasted surprisingly well. Paired with strong, slightly astringent shiso leaves, fresh chili and vinegar, it created a bold-tasting and original side-dish.

Shiso (紫蘇), or perilla, is an Asian aromatic dark red or green plant with an astringent taste and strong fragrance. I have discovered it thanks to the Japanese cuisine, where it’s frequently used raw, cooked and its red variety is gives a reddish hue to pickles. Similar varieties of this herb are also used in Korean (ggaennip, 깻잎) and Vietnamese (tía tô) cuisines. Thanks to Fuchsia Dunlop’s book I learnt that perilla is also appreciated in China.  Shiso is not to everyone’s taste, but I instantly fell in love with its herbaceous aroma and the more I cook with it, the more I appreciate it.

Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook, which presents the Hunan province, has not only revealed a new way to prepare cucumber. It has most of all made be realise I am very fond of the combination of hot, salty and sour flavours, typical of this place (and often distorted abroad by the addition of sugar). The few dishes I cooked from this book (I hope to share them with you soon) were excellent and proved once more that Fuchsia Dunlop approaches food writing with discipline and passion. I equally – and even more –  recommend her “Sichuan Cookery” which is one of the best  cookery books I have ever seen.

If you like cucumber and have access to shiso, try this simple but surprising (at least for me) recipe. I haven’t modified the original instructions and have only changed amounts of ingredients. If you don’t find shiso, the author advises Thai sweet basil and I totally agree. The taste will be completely different, but it’s also a strong, aromatic herb, which gives excellent results when cooked. For me, the taste of the dish is interesting enough to try making it without any herb.

If you look for shiso cooking ideas, you might like some of these:

Teriyaki Pork Rolls with Shiso and Gochujang

Pork Rolls and Shiso in Tempura

Garlic and Shiso Infused Soy Sauce

Shiso and Bacon Fried Rice

Preparation: about 15 minutes

Ingredients (serves two):

1/2 long cucumber

1 red chili (fresh)

1 garlic clove

1 teaspoon light soy sauce

1 teaspoon  rice vinegar

4 tablespoons chopped perilla leaves (the recipe calls for purple perilla leaves, but I’m sure you can use the green variety too)

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon peanut or canola oil

Halve the cucumber lengthwise and then cut diagonally into 0.5 cm/about 1/4 in thick slices.

Chop the chili and the garlic. (Remove the chili seeds if you don’t want your dish to be too hot).

Heat one tablespoon oil in a pan or wok.

Spread the cucumber slices at the bottom and fry them at high heat until they are slightly golden on one side (about 2 minutes). Turn them and fry the other side in the same way.

Add the chili, the garlic and the soy sauce. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the vinegar and the chopped perilla.

Stir well the dish for one minute and put the pan aside.

Add the sesame oil and stir well before serving.

Hitokuchi katsu means “bite-sized cutlet” and is usually made with tenderloin (though I have seen it somewhere on internet made with pork belly). In reality these mini-cutlets require rather two or three bites, but due to their small size, they can still be treated as snacks or “drink” food. I have enjoyed them served with rice, in a “proper” meal, but they were also excellent with some pickles and a glass of shochu (click here to learn more about shochu). As its name suggests it, tenderloin is softer than loin and in spite of being lean, it doesn’t dry as easily as loin. I have tested both thick and thin versions of hitokuchi katsu and both were excellent, the latter being crisper and the former juicier. If you already know – and like – tonkatsu, you will not regret experimenting with tenderloin.

Hiroyuki, thank you so much for this excellent idea and constant inspiration!

If you have never tasted or cooked Tonkatsu, you might want to try its most popular pork loin version first:

or the equally good chicken version, called Chicken Katsu:

TIPS: 

Deep-frying scares many home cooks, but in my opinion it becomes very easy and quick with time. Everyone has different preferences of course, but the basic rule to observe is to make sure the food is completely dry before it’s fried (or breaded) to minimise the risk of oil splashes. Personally I prefer deep-frying in a small cooking pan (I have one which is only for deep-frying) using a small amount of oil. I also place the pan as far as possible from myself, just in case the oil splashes.

Deep-fried food should “swim” easily, so do not overcrowd the pan (otherwise the temperature becomes lower, the food fries slowly and absorbs more oil).

In order to make sure all the pork slices are hot when served, I place a baking dish in the oven at 100°C/212°F, line it with paper napkins and put there tonkatsu, one by one, until the whole frying process is finished.

Frying oil can be reused as long as it doesn’t darken and is filtered after each use (I usually throw it away after three times). If you fry a lot of batches, you might want to strain the oil in the middle of frying, after 4-5 batches (there will be lots of burnt panko pieces which will stick to freshly fried cutlets).

From my experience, deep-fried food, if the oil temperature is correct and the pan is not crowded, absorbs less oil than shallow fried, so if you have a choice between the two, try deep-frying.

Sauce suggestions: Traditionally tonkatsu is served with “tonkatsu sauce” available in Japanese grocery shops. Thanks to Hiroyuki’s kind advice (Hiroyuki’s Blog on Japanese Cooking), I know it can be substituted with a mixture of ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce. I actually prefer now this home-made sauce because it is not as sweet as the commercial version.

Another “sauce” I love with tonkatsu (and hitokuchikatsu) is mayonnaise and hot chili oil sediments from taberu rayu (and sometimes with hot chili paste, such as Korean gochujang).

I have recently discovered that my Tomato Indian-Style Chutney is simply perfect with tonkatsu (hereby I encourage you to try making it this year and stock your pantry!).

Slicing tip: You can cut the tenderloin into 1/2 – 1 cm (1/4- 1/2 in) slices, depending on your preferences; the thicker the slices, the juicier they will be; the thinner ones will be crispier. I always slice tenderloin diagonally, starting with a very small angle and increasing it at the thinner tip of the tenderloin.

Preparation: about 30 minutes

Ingredients (serves two-three):

10 – 12 slices of pork tenderloin (1 or 1/2 cm or about 1/2 or 1/4 in thick, depending on your preferences: the thicker the slices are the juicier they will be; the thinner ones will be crispier)

about 10 heaped tablespoons of panko

5 tablespoons wheat flour

1 egg, slightly beaten

salt, pepper

oil for deep-frying

tonkatsu sauce to serve (or a mixture of ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce) or mayonnaise + thick chili paste or taberu rayu sediment or Indian Tomato Chutney

Season the pork slices with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oil for deep-frying.

(I don’t have the special thermometer and put some panko in the oil to check the temperature. If it starts making bubbles, doesn’t fall down and is golden immediately, it means the oil is hot enough.)

Dust the pork slices with flour, dip them in the beaten egg and coat in panko, pressing so that the whole slice is covered.

Deep-fry them until golden on both sides (it usually takes one minute per side).

Remove excess fat, placing the pork slices on paper towels.

Keep them in a warm oven (see the TIPS) until you finish frying all the slices.

Serve on rice or on shredded cabbage or simply as a snack with drinks, with tonkatsu sauce or with mayonnaise and chili paste (or chili oil sediment).

Slightly softened fruits, hidden under a light creamy vanilla-scented blanket… This how I imagined a strawberry gratin and at first it seemed an easy task. I made a quick research on internet, found a reliable-looking recipe and… a disaster. Then, another recipe and another inedible, mushy result. Then I decided to find my own method, turning to foolproof basics. I quartered the fruits, covered them in pastry cream (crème pâtissière), baked for 15 minutes and this obvious, straightforward solution worked perfectly. If you like strawberries and pastry cream in fruit tarts, you will probably enjoy them in this warm, light gratin.

This dessert is an excellent way to use up leftover egg yolks. If you start with whole eggs, click here to browse some egg white using ideas.

If you don’t like the idea of a warm strawberry dessert, you might like this Yogurt Strawberry Mousse I have recently wrote about:

TIPS: I strongly advice to serve this dessert warm (not hot). When it cools down, it somehow loses its charm.

Vanilla is not necessary here, but in my opinion it enhances the strawberry taste.

You can prepare this dessert in two stages (in two days). First make the pastry cream, refrigerate it overnight (well covered) and, if you still have some cream left the following day , prepare the final stage just before serving.

Unless you have health problems which forbid you even its smallest intake, do not skip the butter in the pastry cream! Even if you are on a diet. This is only one tablespoon divided into six portions, but it changes the taste and texture a lot. (The worst thing you could do here though would be substituting butter with margarine…).

Special equipment: 6 x 9 cm/3,5 in shallow round baking dishes (or similarly sized baking dishes)

Ingredients (serves 6):

24 big strawberries

(6 tablespoons almond slivers)

Pastry cream (crème pâtissière, based on Pierre Hermé’s recipe (from “Plaisirs sucrés”), the best I have ever found):

250 ml (about 1 cup) milk 

2 tablespoons corn starch

2 heaped tablespoons caster sugar 

1/2 – 1 vanilla pod

2 egg yolks

1 heaped tablespoon butter 

Prepare the pastry cream.

Bring to boil 3/4 of the milk with the vanilla pod cut in two lengthwise.

Put aside and let it cool down.

Scrape off the two vanilla pieces so that the small vanilla grains stay in the milk.

Combine the yolks, the sugar, the corn starch and the remaining 1/4 cold milk.

Strain the warm vanilla milk, constantly stirring, into the yolks mixture.

Discard the vanilla pod (wash it, dry it thoroughly and put into a confectioner’s sugar jar: you’ll have vanilla scented sugar).

Put back the obtained mixture into the pan and constantly stirring bring to boil.

Put aside when it thickens to the cream consistency.

If the cream is not smooth and you see many lumps, mix it in a blender or rub through a sieve.

When the cream is no longer hot, but still very warm, combine it with butter.

Preheat the oven to 200°C (about 400°F).

Prepare 6 individual baking dishes.

Quarter the big strawberries and distribute equally among the dishes. (If the strawberries are small you can halve them or even leave whole).

Spread the pastry cream equally on the top of each dish, sprinkle with almond slivers and bake for 15 minutes (until the almonds start changing colour).
Serve warm.

(You can sprinkle the gratins with some brown sugar and burn it with a torch just before serving, but make sure you don’t burn the almonds).

In spite of the coldest spring I remember, mizuna has been growing like crazy on my balcony. I have sown this delicious Japanese plant for the first time and am thrilled to see it adapts so easily to a different climate. Actually, it grows with such a speed, I have already harvested several handfuls in recent weeks. The only, very simple way I knew to enjoy mizuna was to make it into a green salad or mix with other leaves, but these spring rolls were well worth the small additional effort.

Mizuna (水菜) is one of the most popular Japanese leaf vegetables, used both raw and briefly cooked. Its long, thin fringed leaves are in a certain way similar to rocket (aka arugula) or dandelion, but they have a much more delicate taste, with a subtle peppery note (the younger the more delicate they are of course). Until now I have been using it only in salads, but given its growth easiness, I will certainly have many occasions to experiment.

These fresh spring rolls (also known as summer rolls) are very similar to those I posted here (with surimi, avocado and lettuce) and are a nice alternative to a salad starter, appetiser or a lighter replacement of a sandwich, for example at a picnic. I have always associated uncooked rice paper rolls with Vietnamese cuisine, but I have recently learnt they are also known in Japan as “harumaki” (春巻き), though I think mizuna is not their usual ingredient. In my opinion the extremely versatile rice paper can be filled with practically everything one likes, as long as it’s not leaking, and mizuna has been an interesting change.

You can serve these rolls with a mixture of soy sauce, chili oil and vinegar, but they were particularly good with this sesame paste dressing treated as a dip.

TIPS: If you add transparent (glass) noodles, these rolls will be more filling (in this case cut down the carrot and mizuna amounts).

Preparation: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients (8 rolls):

8 (22 cm or 8 3/4 in diameter) rice paper sheets

2 big handfuls of mizuna leaves 

2 big carrots

1 big baked, grilled, boiled or steamed chicken breast

mayonnaise

(chili paste or sauce)

(mint leaves)

Julienne the carrots.

Cut the mizuna leaves in two.

Cut the chicken breast in two horizontally and then into thin strips.

Fill a big wide bowl with warm (not hot) water.

Divide the mizuna, the chicken breast, the carrot (and the mint if you use it) into ten equal portions.

Dip rice paper sheets one by one in the water, immersing them delicately so that you don’t break them.

As soon as the sheet softens (after about ten – twenty seconds), put it onto a big chopping board.

Place first 2/3 of 1 portion of mizuna leaves in the middle, horizontally (at the edge which is closest to you) julienned carrot, a piece of chicken breast, mayonnaise, (chili paste and mint leaves if you choose to do so), cover with the remaining 1/3 of mizuna’s portion. You should aim at approximately 9cm/3,5 in long roll.

Roll tightly starting from the edge which is closest to you.

Proceed in the same way with the remaining rolls.

Serve them immediately as they are or cut in two horizontally with the sesame paste dressing/dip or with a mixture of soy sauce, chili oil and vinegar.

If you wish to serve them later, wrap them individually in cling film because they dry out very quickly.

All the asparagus fans will probably agree that a rare magic operates when an egg gets in contact with delicious green spears. Therefore, the successful outcome of this small experiment was neither a feat nor a surprise, but I was glad to learn another way to serve asparagus and to discover another  perfect spring brunch: it is easy, quick, amusing and features the star of the season’s vegetables.

I love individual dishes, desserts and snacks, but bread tartlets are special also because they are one of the reasons why I appreciate soft, sliced toast bread (also called “sandwich bread”, but it is not my idea of a good sandwich…). I remember I saw this bread for the first time maybe only as a teenager. It appeared sliced, packed in plastic, had a suspiciously long life and was sold only in supermarkets, so I have always associated it with convenience – or even fast – food. Then, I slowly started to prefer it in certain snacks or dishes, such as bread tartlets, which for me give this super-soft bread a real raison d’être: no other bread I know is flexible enough to be easily rolled out, flattened and then shaped into an edible container. You can experiment with other types of bread of course, but it must be soft, dense (not with big wholes, like baguette for example) and elastic enough to be folded.

Until last week I had always prepared bread tartlets with ham and egg, the version I found years ago in “Si simple, si bon!” (So good, so simple) by Josée di Stasio. It was so simple and so good (the pun was unintended!), I have never felt the need to modify it. Now that I dared changing it, I somehow feel that this asparagus twist (which I have also tested with ham) announces a long list of experiments with other seasonal vegetables. (I actually already have several in mind…).

Josée di Stasio calls this tartlet a “ramekin”, but I thought the word “tartlet” was more appropriate (I think it could also be called a “bread basket”). She also recommends baking the tartlets in muffin moulds, but I usually prefer individual baking dishes (ramekins) which are wider, higher and make bigger baskets. Retrieving the tartlets from the ramekins may be delicate, but somehow even such a clumsy person like me has always succeeded, helping myself with a knife and then a spoon.

Here are some other suggestions for asparagus lovers:

Tama Konnyaku with Asparagus

Chawan Mushi (Egg Custard) with Asparagus

Asparagus with Chicken and Miso

Asparagus Tempura

Asparagus Teriyaki Pork Rolls

Asparagus with Cashew Nuts and Chicken

Asparagus Maki Sushi

If my blogging rules consisted of posting every single dish I have, you would see this mousse at least every other day during the whole strawberry season (regardless the weather). In fact, this is one of the rare sweet treats I never get bored with. First of all, I never get tired of strawberries and if they are a part of a very light, quick and easy dessert, which moreover keeps fresh for several days in the fridge, it obviously becomes my staple.

I have already posted a basic light strawberry mousse recipe (see below), but this one is my recent favourite: it is topped with an irresistible strawberry coulis. Making the coulis (which consists simply in mixing fruits with confectioner’s sugar) takes a minute, but adds an additional texture, a sharper flavour and, in my opinion, a little elegant touch.

If you don’t feel like making the coulis (or don’t have enough strawberries), here is a basic version of my Yogurt Strawberry Mousse:

TIPS: I used to prepare all my quick fruit mousses with fresh cheese (also called “quark” or “farmers cheese”) and discovered that this mousse is perfect with yogurt too. Given the fact that many of my readers cannot easily buy fresh cheese, the yogurt version can be prepared I suppose all around the world. The only tiny difference is that when made with quark or Greek yogurt, this mousse is slightly creamier than the one prepared with yogurt. Both are terrific.

The amounts of gelatin depend sometimes on the brand. Leaves are sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller,   powdered gelatin sometimes contains other products and doesn’t set as well as pure gelatin in powder… In short, the aim here is to use here the amount of gelatin which sets 500 ml/2 cups/about 17 oz liquid. (The whole mousse mixture has more than 500 ml, so the mousse will be firm but not hard).

Preparation: 10 minutes+ 2 – 3 hours in the fridge

Ingredients (serves 4):

250 g (about 1 cup) unsweetened natural yogurt (you can use also Greek yogurt, which will make this mousse creamier, or quark (fresh cheese)) 

300 g (about 11oz) strawberries (hulled)

4 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar or sweetener (or no sugar if you prefer your mousse to be very tangy)

1 tablespoon gelatin in powder or other amount necessary to set 500 ml liquid, see TIPS above (you can use leaves too, in amounts necessary to set 500 ml/2 cups liquid)

(some strawberries for the decoration)

Coulis: 

150 g (about 5- 6 oz) chilled strawberries

4 flat teaspoons confectioner’s sugar (or more if you want)

Mix the strawberries in a food processor or a blender. Add the sugar and the yogurt (remove the liquid floating on the surface). Mix once more.

Taste and add more sugar if needed.

Dissolve the gelatin in 4 tablespoons warm water (if using leaves, soften them in cold water, squeeze and dissolve also in 4 tablespoons warm water).

In a food processor mix well the dissolved gelatin with the strawberry mixture.

Divide the mousse into serving dishes.

Put the mousse into the fridge for 2 -3 hours until it sets.

Coulis should be prepared just before serving: in a blender mix the remaining strawberries with confectioner’s sugar. Top each serving dish with an equal amount of coulis.

Serve very cold.

Have you ever bought a food product which tasted good but you had no idea what to do with it? It happens to me regularly, but usually involves exotic, foreign food. Strangely, I have recently had similar experience with goat yogurt. I like goat cheese a lot, so I did like goat yogurt too, but somehow couldn’t place it in any food category (and definitely not in the same as cow milk yogurt), not to mention a dish where I could use it.

The other day I felt like making a Cucumber and Radish Salad but unfortunately – or rather luckily – I ran out of standard yogurt and sour cream I usually add. Substituting it with goat yogurt, I actually discovered a much more interesting version of this refreshing salad. I have also added some chopped dill harvested from my balcony and couldn’t believe my taste buds! I have no words to describe how terrific proved the mixture of refreshing cucumber, subtle dill scent, slight radish spiciness and subtle goat yogurt flavour.

UPDATE: I have just discovered that goat yogurt is amazingly good served with Hungarian Chicken with Paprika (Paprikàs Csirke), instead of the usual sour cream.

Here are some other cucumber salad ideas you might like (I have just realised there is the same bowl in all the photos… I guess I liked it a lot last year!):

Cucumber and Seaweed Salad

Cucumber and Chervil Salad

Radish Cucumber and Sour Cream/Yogurt Salad

TIPS: This salad should be made just before serving, otherwise the vegetables will render liquid and the “sauce” will get watery.

Just like my older yogurt/sour cream version, this salad a perfect side-dish or starter in both Western and Asian meals. I can very well see it served with hot and spicy Indian food.

Dill is one of the herbs which freeze very well and taste much better preserved this way rather than dried. You just have to chop it finely before freezing and make sure it is thoroughly dried.

Preparation: 10 minutes

Ingredients (serves one):

6-7 big red radishes

1/3 long cucumber

3 heaped tablespoons goat yogurt

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

(salt)

Cut the cucumber in four pieces lengthwise, and then into thin slices.

Cut the radishes in two pieces lengthwise, then into thin slices.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl (taste if you need salt; I didn’t need any) and serve.

This was one of the first recipes I have posted. I hardly had any visitors at the time, so I have decided to dig it up and write about these French biscuits (or cookies). They may look ordinary, but their delicate crumbly texture, buttery taste and a delicate touch of saltiness make them very special.

“Palet” (pronounced without the final “t”) means a “puck” , and “jeu de palets” is a Brittany regional game with pucks which shape is similar to those used in hockey. Brittany is famous for its rich in butter sweets – usually made with salted butter – and one of those is a crumbly cookie, called “palet” in reference to its puck shape. They have a buttery taste, are slightly salty and sweet at the same time, very crumbly and melt in your mouth too quickly… Palets bretons are quite popular all around the  country and can be found in every supermarket, but they are easy to prepare and obviously taste better baked at home.

Together with Crème brûlée palets are a good way to use up egg yolks (if you have made Coconut Cookies for example…or another dish calling for whites uniquely).

There are French internet recipes galore for these cookies. The one I tried for the first time and have always made with success comes the French blog Miamm…Maman Cuisine, where I also found the trick to keep their shape (see below).

TIPS: Click here to see a few ideas of how to use up the leftover egg whites.

You can sprinkle the cookies with coarse salt for an extra crunch and extra saltiness, but I don’t advise it for the first batch you prepare (you can test on one or two biscuits first).

Special equipment: muffins or similar size forms

Preparation: almost two hours (including 1 hour in the fridge)

Calories (the whole batch): about 1700 kcal

Ingredients for 12-15 pucks:

80g (about 3 oz) salted butter (or unsalted butter+1/2 teaspoon salt, but salty butter is better)

80 g (about 3 oz) confectioner’s sugar

140g (about 5 oz) flour

1/3 small package of baking powder (1 1/2 heaped teaspoon) 

2 yolks

(coarse good quality sea salt)

Mix the yolks and the sugar well in a food processor. Add the softened butter, mix again.

Add the flour and the baking powder.

Knead it for 5 minutes.

Form a thick sausage (diameter=the bottom of one whole in a muffin form), wrap it in plastic film and put into the fridge for 1 hour (or more, until the dough becomes hard enough to be easily sliced).

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

Take the dough out of the fridge, unwrap it, cut into 1 cm (about 0,4 in) thick slices.

Put them inside the muffin forms (this way they’ll be more or less of equal size and will only rise instead of spreading around).

If you don’t have muffin forms or other cookie forms, simply put the cut cookies on a baking sheet, but at your own responsibility: they’ll probably spread around and become flatter than the ones “imprisoned” in a mould.

(You can sprinkle them with coarse salt for an extra salty crunch.)

Bake for 15-20 minutes till golden.

Since I started to explore Asian cuisine (at least 15 years ago), I have tasted a big array of noodles. Whether made of buckwheat, rice, mung bean or wheat, I am fond of all them, but my absolute number one are the Korean dangmyeon, the main ingredient of the famous japchae. I buy them in huge bags and cook them more often than any other noodle kind, but, in spite of that, I have never prepared them Korean way. I have recently been talking to Sue (from My Korean Kitchen) about the non-traditional – though very simple – way I treat these noodles and decided to share it with you.

Dangmyeon (당면), also spelled dang myun or tang myun, fall into the category of cellophane noodles. They are made of sweet potato starch and are easy to spot in Asian grocery shops: they have a characteristic (not very attractive) brown paper, greyish colour. Why do I like them so much? First of all, they are slightly thicker, chewier than other transparent noodles and have the “bounciness” I am very fond of. Obviously, like all the transparent noodles, these also marvellously absorb the flavours from sauces and seasonings. What makes them really different is that they actually have their own mellow, delicate taste I have never experienced in any type of cellophane noodles.

The first time I bought dangmyeon I didn’t cook Korean at all, so I simply started to treat them like other Asian noodles, i.e. stir-frying them with randomly chosen ingredients and sauces and it has stayed this way. One day my husband convinced me to add some Chinese dark soy sauce in order to obtain a more powerful, deeper flavour. It was a sensational discovery and I strongly encourage you to try it. Whatever meat or vegetables you include in the stir-fry, the deep, mushroomy flavour of dark soy sauce is a terrific pairing for mellow, slightly chewy and bouncy noodles.

TIPS: Apart from the sauce, the meat and vegetables vary according to my mood and, more often, to what I find in the fridge, so feel free to substitute them as you wish.

Chinese dark soy sauce has a very dark brown colour, it is thicker than light soy sauce and it’s sold in every single Asian shop I know. Usually the same Chinese brand carries both light soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Sometimes the bottles look almost identical, so pay attention to the description.

Chinese sweet potato starch noodles also exist, but the ones I have tasted lacked the chewiness and bounciness I appreciate in dangmyeon so much.

Preparation: 25 minutes

Ingredients (serves one):

50 g chicken breast cut into strips or bite-sized pieces

1 teaspoon sake

half a medium bell pepper

a small courgette

(one fresh chili, sliced)

50 g Korean sweet potato starch noodles

1 small clove garlic

1/5 cm fresh ginger

1 small onion

Sauce:

1 tablespoon Chinese dark soy sauce

1 clove garlic (grated or crushed)

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 tablespoon sake (or other rice wine)

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon corn starch

(green onion)

Cut up the chicken breast into bite-sized strips.

Grate the ginger.

Combine with the chicken with 1 teaspoon sake and ginger.

Put aside.

Boil about a liter of water, pour into a big bowl or pan. Let the noodles soak in freshly boiled water, covered, until they are soft (it usually takes about 15 minutes, but some people prefer them much softer, so test them every now and then).

Slice the onion, cut the bell pepper into thin strips.

Cut the courgette into very thin lengthwise julienne strips (a julienne grater is the best here).

Warm some oil on a pan or a wok.

Drain the chicken pieces, dry them with paper towel and fry them.

When the chicken starts browning, add the onion and after 5 minutes add the bell pepper and the chili, if you use it, still stirring.

In a small bowl combine the sauce ingredients.

Drain the noodles and put into the wok together with the julienned courgette.

Stir well all the ingredients. Add the sauce and keep on stirring until the sauce starts thickening.

Serve sprinkled with some chopped green onion (not obligatory).