California Refried Rice Recipe by Ruth Paget

California Refried Rice Recipe by Ruth Paget 

I use a small rice cooker to make the cooked rice for this recipe. 

Serves 6 

Ingredients: 

-1/4 cup olive oil 

-2 beaten eggs 

-1 (8.5-ounce) can drained green peas 

-2 cups cooked brown rice 

-1 cup chopped cooked shrimp or chicken (optional) 

-salt to taste 

-sesame oil for seasoning 

Steps: 

1-Heat olive oil. Add beaten eggs and scramble. 

2-Add peas, rice, and shrimp or chicken and turn until sizzling hot. 

3-Sprinkle with salt and sesame oil at the table for seasoning. 

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

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Bean Salad in Tomato-Anchovy Sauce Recipe by Ruth Paget

Bean Salad with Tomato-Anchovy Sauce Recipe by Ruth Paget 

I use a 3-cup Pyrex glass container to make this recipe. 

Serves 2 

Ingredients: 

-1 tablespoon tomato paste 

-1 tablespoon garlic paste 

-2 tablespoons lemon juice 

-1 tablespoon olive oil 

-1 (2-ounce) can of anchovies packed in olive oil 

-1 (15.5-ounce) can of cannellini beans 

-2 teaspoons oregano 

-2 teaspoons capers (optional) 

Steps: 

1-Mix tomato paste, garlic paste, lemon juice, and olive oil together in the bottom of the Pyrex dish. 

2-Place anchovies in the bottom of the Pyrex dish. Cut anchovies into thirds across the body and thoroughly mix the anchovies to coat them with the tomato sauce. 

3-Rinse the beans in a strainer to remove milky canning liquid. Places beans in the Pyrex container and turn to thoroughly coat with the tomato and sardine mixture. 

4-Sprinkle the oregano on top of the bean and anchovy mixture. Sprinkle capers on top of the oregano. Serving suggestions: Mix the bean and anchovy salad with lettuce or with cooked pasta. 

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

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Sardine-Bean Salad in Horseradish Sauce Recipe by Ruth Paget

Sardine-Bean Salad in Horseradish Sauce Recipe Created by Ruth Paget 

I make this recipe in a 3-cup Pyrex glass container. 

Serves 2 

Ingredients: 

-1 tablespoon horseradish 

-1 tablespoon mustard 

-2 tablespoons lemon juice 

-1 tablespoon olive oil 

-1 (4.475-ounce) can sardines packed in olive oil 

-1 (15.5-ounce) can cannellini beans 

-2 teaspoons dill weed 

-4 teaspoons capers 

-1 teaspoon salt 

Steps: 

1-Mix horseradish, mustard, lemon juice, and olive oil together in the bottom of the Pyrex dish. 

2-Use a sharp knife to cut sardines into 4 pieces across the body. Use knife to place the sardines in the Pyrex dish. Mix sardines with the horseradish sauce until thoroughly coated. 

3-Wash beans in a strainer to remove cloudy liquid. 

4-Place beans in Pyrex dish and turn with sardines to thoroughly coat with horseradish sauce. 

5-Sprinkle dill weed on top of sardines and beans. Then, sprinkle capers on top of sardines and beans along with salt. 

Serve with green salad, whole wheat toast, and Yorkshire Red tea. 

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

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Avocado Salad Recipe by Ruth Paget

Avocado Salad Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Serves 6 

Ingredients: 

-3 peeled, seeded, and sliced avocados 

-1 cup bean sprouts 

-1/4 cup sliced pimiento 

-1/2 cup sliced black olives 

-1/2 cup finely chopped chives 

-1/2 cup French dressing 

Steps: 

1-Combine all the ingredients with the dressing. 

2-Serve on 6 individual plates as soon as possible so the avocado does not discolor. 

(A Royal Oak, Michigan recipe) 

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

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Coleslaw with Shrimp Recipe by Ruth Paget

Shrimp with Coleslaw Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Serves 6 

Ingredients: 

For Dressing: 

-1 cup mayonnaise 

-1 tablespoon lemon juice 

-1 tablespoon Tabasco juice 

For Coleslaw: 

-3 cups finely shredded cabbage 

-3 tablespoons finely sliced scallions 

-3 tablespoons finely chopped green peppers 

-1 tablespoon caraway seeds 

-36 cooked shrimp without shells or heads 

Steps: 

1-Mix mayonnaise with lemon juice and Tabasco sauce. 

2-Toss sauce with cabbage, scallions and green peppers. 

3-Place coleslaw on 6 individual plates and sprinkle with caraway seeds. 

4-Place 6 shrimp on each plate around the coleslaw and serve. 

(A Royal Oak, Michigan recipe) 

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

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Coffee Cake Recipe by Ruth Paget

Coffee Cake Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Serves 6 

Ingredients: 

-1¾ cups flour 

-1 cup sugar 

-1 teaspoon salt 

-2 teaspoons baking powder 

-2 beaten eggs 

-1/2 cup milk 

-1 teaspoon vanilla 

-1/2 cup softened butter 

Steps: 

1-Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2-Mix flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. 

3-In another bowl, mix eggs, milk, and vanilla together. Blend in the softened butter. Add liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix to form a batter. 

4-Place cake batter in a greased 8-inch cake pan. 

5-Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. For a chocolate cake, add two tablespoons Valrhona chocolate. 

(A Royal Oak, Michigan recipe) 

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

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The Japanese Noodle Lunch by Ruth Paget

Japanese Noodle Lunch by Ruth Paget 

With Ramen Made Simple: A Step-by-Step Guide by Christ Toy and online ingredients (if you cannot obtain the ingredients locally), it is possible to make great ramen at home with the many recipes in Toy’s book. 

Toy begins his guide by telling readers that Chinese travelers brought wheat noodles to Japan in the 1800s and called them shina or chuka soba. The Japanese word ramen comes from la mien in Chinese, meaning noodles. (Chinese lo mein and chow mein are both noodle dishes that Americans might be more familiar with.) 

Toy gives the following formula for building a bowl of ramen:  

1-broth 

2-tare sauce 

3-noodles 

4-toppings 

The first building block of ramen is broth. 

There are 5 different broth flavors: 

1 - shio – salt-based broth 

2 – shoyu – soy-sauce based broth 

3 – miso – fermented soybean broth 

4 – tonkotsu – broth made from boiling bones 

5 – kare – curry broth 

The second ingredient for making a ramen soup is the concentrated tare sauce. You place the tare sauce in the bottom of the ramen bowl before adding the other ingredients. 

There are 4 tare sauce types not to be confused with broth types: 

1 – shio tare – salt based sauce 

2 – shoyu tare – soy sauce based sauce 

3 – miso tare – fermented soybean based sauce with seasonings of sweet mirin wine, ginger, and red pepper added 

4 – kare tare – curry based sauce 

The third ingredient that goes into ramen is wheat noodles. The wheat noodles are eggless and made with flour, salt, and kansui (an alkaline water). Ramen noodles may be thin, thick, straight, or wavy. 

The final ingredients for the ramen noodles are the toppings. There are many, but some of the most common follow: 

-ajitama eggs – hard-boiled eggs that have been marinated in sweet mirin wine and soy sauce overnight 

-chashu pork – braised or baked pork marinated in soy sauce and brown sugar 

-kamaboko (naruto) – sliced, processed fish cakes that have been steamed and refrigerated 

I was happy to find a recipe for a ramen I ate as a high school exchange student in Japan: kitakata ramen 

Kitakata ramen comes from central Japan. Its ingredients follow: 

-shoyu tare 

-tonkotsu pork broth 

-udon noodles 

-chashu pork 

-kamaboko fish cake 

-menma bamboo shoots 

-scallions 

-chopped and dried nori seaweed 

To make delicious Japanese noodles at home, let Ramen Made Simple: A Step-by-Step Guide by Christ Toy be your reference book. 

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

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