The Flavorful Japanese Grill by Ruth Paget

The Flavorful Japanese Grill by Ruth Paget 

Avid grillers might enjoy the novel flavor combinations in The Japanese Grill: From Classic Yakitori to Steak, Seafood, and Vegetables by Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat. Salty, sweet flavors along with those that are spicy to fiery hot add zest to grilled foods for cooks who want to travel from the backyard. 

Ono and Salat write that three basic marinades flavor meat, poultry, seafood, and vegetables. These marinades follow and give a good idea for what Japanese grilled foods taste like: 

1-garlic-soy sauce for all red meat – made of soy sauce, garlic, olive oil, and black pepper 

2-Yuzu kosho marinade – made of fiery chilies, salt, tangy yuzu citrus fruit and its juice, soy sauce, and olive oil 

3-All-purposed vegetable marinade  

One of the book’s best pieces of advice for yakitori (chicken) grilling Ono and Salat write that they grill the chicken partway. Then, they coat the chicken with sauce and finish grilling it. The authors give recipes for sauces, tare, along with advice on how to best skewer chicken for even cooking. 

Ono and Salat list pantry items including some that might be unfamiliar such as the following: 

-mirin – sweet wine 

-miso – fermented soybean paste 

-tanbanjan – fiery chili paste 

-wasabi – horseradish 

-sansho – relative of Chinese Sichuan pepper 

-shichimi togarashi – ground chili, sesame, mustard, and citrus among others 

Ono and Salat give recipes for side dishes that might interest grillers looking for refreshing vegetable dishes. Recipes of interest include: 

 -green cabbage salad with carrot-ginger vinaigrette 

-daikon radish salad with dried tiny shrimp 

-spinach with ground sesame 

A final very useful item in this book is the list of pantry ingredients with large, Japanese characters for the item to assist with in-store shopping. 

Avid grillers and students of Japanese language and culture all can find something of interest in The Japanese Grill: From Classic Yakitori to Steak, Seafood, and Vegetables by Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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The Lure of Hanoi Chicken by Ruth Paget

The Lure of Hanoi Chicken by Ruth Paget 

I bought The Banh Mi Handbook: Recipes for Crazy-Delicious Vietnamese Sandwiches by Andrea Nguyen for its cover photo of a succulent, grilled chicken baguette sandwich with pickled daikon radishes and carrots, spicy chile peppers, cucumber slices, and cilantro. 

I thought I could make that sandwich and bought this cookbook for its savory, spicy, and perky fresh recipes. 

Nguyen writes that the banh mi’s (pronounced bun me) ingredients hearken back to Vietnam’s colonial past: 

-the baguette bread is of French origin 

-several condiments such as hoisin sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, and oyster sauce are of Chinese origin 

Nguyen helps first-time Vietnamese cooks with a pantry listing and later in the book provides recipes for everything from pickles and condiments to Indonesian saté chicken as a filling. Among the pantry items Nguyen lists the following items: 

-baguette buns 

-red chile peppers 

-cilantro 

-garlic 

-ginger 

-lemongrass 

-shallots 

-Chinese five spice powder 

-curry powder 

-fish sauce 

-hoisin sauce 

-oyster sauce 

-sesame oil 

-sriracha chile sauce 

-vinegar 

Nguyen lists how to construct a basic banh mi as follows: 

1-Hollow out the center of the slice of baguette to firmly hold the fillings in place 

2-Season the bottom layer of bread with condiments 

3-Place protein filling on the bottom layer of bread 

4-Place pickled vegetables on top of the protein 

5-Place cucumber slices on top of pickled vegetables 

6-Place cilantro on top of cucumber slices 

7-Place the top baguette slice over everything. Press down the top of the baguette and serve. 

Nguyen finishes the book with pan-Asian filling selections that will find fans including: 

-Indonesian Chicken Saté 

-Sri Lankan Black Curry 

-Spicy Wok-Seared Shrimp 

-Doner Kebab 

-Peppery Portabello Mushrooms 

Nguyen’s recipes for Hanoi Grilled Chicken Thighs sounds especially perky with its combination of lime juice and fish sauce seasoning. 

Cultural information plus doable recipes make The Banh Mi Handbook: Recipes for Crazy-Delicious Vietnamese Sandwiches by Andrea Nguyen a great buy, especially for families who would like to try Vietnamese food for the first time. 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Teff: The Global Flour Game Created by Ruth Paget

Teff: The Global Flour Game Created by Ruth Paget 

Use: 

Droughts or floods may affect the availability of the flour you usually cook with. Knowing about other flours helps choose alternatives that may appear on supermarket shelves or what blends of flours might be like nutritionally. 

Background: 

I named this game after teff flour from Ethiopia and Eritrea in Africa. I used a reference book by British author Christine McFadden called Flour: A Comprehensive Guide to test player’s knowledge of 45 flours listed in the book. 

On the front of an index card, write the name of the flour. 

On the back of the index card, note the following information to test yourself on: 

1-plant source (cricket flour has an animal source – insects) 

2-other names for the flour, which McFadden refers to as AKA (also known as) 

3-Gluten: yes or no 

4-Protein percentage 

5-other nutrients – McFadden lists several of these, but for more detail the following websites list vitamins, minerals, and fiber: 

www.healthline.com 

www.webmed.com 

Christine McFadden’s Flour: The Comprehensive Guide can be found on Amazon and Kindle to set up the above information for the 45 flours she writes about. 

Quiz yourself on one item at a time until you know them all. 

Happy Playing! 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Mushroom-Cheese Scrambled Eggs Recipe by Ruth Paget

Mushroom-Cheese Scrambled Eggs Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Serves 1 

Ingredients: 

-2 tablespoons olive oil 

-1 (4-ounce) can sliced mushrooms with juice 

-2 eggs, beaten 

-2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese 

-1/2 tablespoon Italian herbs 

Steps: 

1-Heat olive oil in a sauté pan. 

2-Add mushrooms and their juice to the beaten eggs and stir. Pour this mixture into the hot oil. 

3-Stir the egg mixture around for five minutes. 

4-Sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese and herbs. Stir for 1 minute and serve. 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Green Bean-Tuna Salad Recipe by Ruth Paget

Green-Bean Tuna Salad Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Serves 2 

Ingredients: 

-1 (14.5 – ounce) can green beans, rinsed and drained 

-1 (5 – ounce) can tuna packed in water, drained 

-1 (15 – ounce) can cannellini beans or other white bean, rinsed and drained 

-1/4 cup vinegar and oil dressing 

Steps: 

1 – Mix the green beans, tuna, cannellini beans, and dressing together. 

Serve alone or over croutons, cold cooked rice, or cold elbow pasta. 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Pea-Tuna Salad Recipe by Ruth Paget

Pea-Tuna Salad Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Serves 2 

Ingredients: 

-1 (14.5 – ounce) can peas, drained 

-1 (5 – ounce) can tuna packed in water, drained 

-1 (15 – ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained 

-1/4 cup vinegar and oil dressing 

Steps: 

1-Mix peas, tuna, cannellini beans, and dressing together. 

Serve alone or over croutons, cooked cold rice, or cooked cold elbow pasta. 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Cheesy Pot Scrambled Eggs Recipe by Ruth Paget

Cheesy Pot Scrambled Eggs Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Serves 1 

Ingredients: 

-2 tablespoons olive oil 

-1 (10-ounce) can Ro-Tel Tomatoes and Green Chilies with Juice 

-2 to 3 eggs, beaten 

-3/4 cup shredded Colby or Cheddar cheese 

Steps: 

1-Heat olive oil in a sauté pan. 

2-Mix Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chilies with the beaten eggs. 

3-Pour the egg mixture in the hot oil. Stir for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how moist you would like your eggs. 

4-Sprinkle the shredded cheese on the eggs and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. 

Ro-Tel tomatoes are very spicy. If you like spicy foods, this dish goes well with strong coffee or a Bloody Mary. 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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