Singapore Chilli Crab

It's the start of the dungeness crab season in the Bay Area. Last year, the dungeness crab season was closed due to domoic acid levels. This year, it's been given the go-ahead by the California Department of Public Health* (The dungeness crab season starts Nov 5, 2016 and ends July 30, 2017)

So I made my first crab dinner of the season. Listed number 35 on the World's 50 most delicious foods (compiled by CNN), Singapore Chilli Crab is a quintessential Singapore dish. As a girl,  I remember going to seafood restaurants by the beach, housed in bungalows, sitting in the garden enjoying the sea breeze and wonderful dishes like chilli crab, satay and black pepper crab.

In Singapore, Sri Lankan crab is used and it is a bigger and meatier version of its Dungeness cousin. The crabs are cooked with garlic and ginger, and simmered in a chilli tomato sauce. The sauce is so good as the juice of the crab gives the gravy its 'umami' flavor.  It is usually served with deep fried buns, to mop up the gravy.

Most Singaporeans don't make this dish as all they have to do is go to one of the many seafood restaurants in Singapore and order the dish. (Jumbo, Red House, No Signboard Seafood) but living in the Bay Area, one has to attempt the chilli crab dish at least once or twice during the crab season.

My Chilli Crab recipe is adapted from Christopher Tan's cookbook: Singapore Cooking 

6 Ibs Dungeness Crab
5 tsp oil
2-3 shallots, thinly sliced
8 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 Tbsp minced ginger
5 Tbsp Siracha garlic chilli sauce
7 Tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1.5 cups water
3-4 eggs, beaten

1/ Cut the crab into quarters. (be sure to remove all the fibrous tissues) Crack the claws lightly with a pestle
2/ Heat oil over high heat in a large wok. Stir fry the onions until soft and transparent. Add garlic and ginger and fry until fragrant (be sure not to burn). Add crabs and stir fry until they turn bright red. This may be tricky with a lot of crabs and you may have to place a lid on top to cook the crab faster. Omit cooking the crab viscera (located at the head of the crab)*
3/ Add all the other ingredients except the eggs and cook for another 2-4 minutes. Make sure the crab is cooked. The meat should be opaque, not translucent and the shell should be red.
4/ At the end, stir the beaten eggs into the gravy so that it thickens and serve with buns to mop up the gravy.

* Note that the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) advises that consumers not eat the viscera (internal organs, also known as butter or guts) of crabs caught north of Point Reyes. So if your fishmonger can't tell you where the crabs were caught, it's better to be safe and omit the viscera during cooking. CDPH Shellfish Biotoxin Information Line (800) 553-4133 for updated crab consumption advisories.

Japanese restaurants in the Peninsula

As I have grown up in Asia and have been exposed to Japanese restaurants in Tokyo, I'm picky. My husband proposed to me in Japan so it holds special memories. Tokyo is teeming with foodie gems (restaurants, street eateries and food stores) I'll bet that anyone who's been to Tokyo has a "Tokyo Food Story" - a food experience so good, they were blown away.

I have many Tokyo food stories but one of my memorable ones is in Sogo food hall, Shibuya. We were captivated by this fishmonger carving out a huge tuna head. (Some of the best cuts of sashimi comes from the head). We ordered the sashimi and the fishmonger was really nice, he gave us a complimentary 'butcher's cut' slice of fish that he usually consumes for himself. I am struck by the generosity and perfectionist culture in Japan.

What's your Tokyo food story? Leave me a comment! I'd love to hear from you... 

So I have been delaying this but here is my list of Japanese restaurants in the Peninsula SF.

Sushi Kuni (Sushi)
10211 S De Anza Boulevard, open tues-sat, 11:30-2pm, 5-9:30pm
The chefs at sushi kuni are serious about their craft and that's why I am a fan. You can tell that they source their ingredients carefully (their latest offering is an octopus sourced from Tsukiji market, Tokyo). Be sure to sit at the bar and watch the sushi master Kunio put together the sushi. And I would recommend the Omakase (your dishes will be selected by the chef). It's worth it.

Sushi Tomi (Sushi)
635 W Dana St, Mountain View, open daily, 11:30-2pm, 5-9pm
This is my go to Japanese restaurant off Castro Street. It is very popular but the tables turn-around fast. They have all the standard favorites and they do it well.

Sumika Grill (Yakitori)
236 Central Plaza, Los Altos, open daily except monday
This is hands down my favorite Japanese yakitori in the bay area. It's perfect for a casual date or a girl's night out. Tucked away in a car park in Los Altos central, it reminds me so much of the small hole in the wall restaurants in Japan that I love so much. The most popular dish seems to be the pork belly yakitori. Don't forget to check out the seasonal menu, filled with inventive dishes - melt-in-the-mouth eggplant tofu and deep fried octopus are clear winners. Just pick a few dishes to go with you sake and you're in for a great night out.

Ramen Dojo (Ramen)
805 South B Street San Mateo, Open daily except tuesday, 11:30am-2pm, 5:30pm-9pm
Ramen Dojo is the smaller sister restaurant of Santa Ramen. It was clear from the concise menu that the focus of the dining place was ramen - spicy ramen, to be precise. The restaurant opens at 11:30am and there will be a queue of at least 25 people waiting to get in. Not to worry, tables move quickly. It is known for its spicy ramen. I ordered the garlic pork ramen (tonkatsu soup broth) It is topped with a delicious roasted black garlic sauce. At $8.95 for a basic bowl, it was worth the wait.

Taka Ramen (Ramen)
2219 The Aladmeda Santa Clara
Their thin taka ramen features thin ramen noodles (which I prefer) and their broth is not overly salty. Looking forward to trying the Tsukamen (dipping ramen) They are family friendly, automatically dishing out cute dishes cutlery cups and even a little scissors for the kids to cut their ramen. But get there early. Like all good ramen restaurants, there's a strong following and it's popular.

Shabuway (Shabu Shabu)
Various stores in San Francisco, San Mateo, Mountain View and San Jose http://www.shabuway.com/
Shabu Shabu is a Japanese hotpot of thinly sliced meat and vegetables. It's interesting to note that Wikipedia mentions that Shabu Shabu is an onomatopoeia, referring to the sound emitted when ingredients are stirred in the cooking pot. Shabuway uses good quality meat (like prime angus beef from Meyer ranch, premium lamb from Niman ranch) and the broth is MSG free.

Watch this space as my list grows.
Remember, not all restaurants with queues guarantee good food. Sometimes, it is just hype.

8 things I discovered while cooking in a Mexican home-kitchen

1/ Tajin rules! Tajin is a wonderful spice mix made out of chilli peppers, lime and salt. The sour piquant taste is perfect  to flavor bland vegetables.  For example, Jicama! grate away the tough outside layer of the Jicama and slice it the same way you would slice carrot sticks. Sprinkle Tajin liberally on Jicama and I promise you, you won't stop eating Jicama! You can purchase Tajin at most supermarkets.

2/ Chipotle is not just the name of a food chain, it is a wonderful smoky hot sauce. For those that like it spicy, Chipotles is a smokey chilli sauce that would make a great accompaniment for your dishes.

3/ We discovered different vegetables and they were beautiful. We prepared Tomatillos for our enchilada sauce. Go out, bring a new vegetable home, and try them out.

4) Ceviche is easy to make and makes a good starter! It originated in Peru but it is popular in Mexico. We prepared Ceviche de pescado (fish ceviche) Use a firm white fleshed fish (never use an oily fish). We blanched ling cod in water with bay leaves, peppers, cloves, garlic, onions and salt. Remember not to cook too long as the fish flesh needs to be firm. We marinated the ceviche with lime juice, olive oil, diced onions in the fridge for 20 min to an hour and added vegetables at the end (avocado, tomato, cilantro and green olives or capers) 

We sprinkled tajin on our pescado

Serve in small glass cups for a nice touch

5/ Use orange juice to flavor your shrimp cocktail (Coctel de camaron)

Costco sells fresh ready-cooked shrimps to shorten your cooking process. Our shrimp cocktail was flavored with 1 cup fresh orange juice and 1/2 cup tomato ketchup (600g shrimp). Yes it does sound strange, but it was delicious! Mix with chopped tomatoes, avocados, cilantro, drizzle with olive oil and squeeze lime juice to taste.

6/ A good dose of Tequilla makes the cooking experience fun. Jose Cuervo Tequilla makes a great gift and beautiful pop artwork as well.

7/ It's easy and a fun activity to make empanadas at home with friends. Note: Not all empanada makers are equal. It's not so easy to shape the damn empanadas! Our empanadas were filled with chicken mole (shredded chicken cooked in mole sauce) 

Empanada filling: 

- Get ready-made mole sauce at Mexican supermarket (see bottom)

- Cook chicken breast in water, shred chicken meat

- Reserve chicken stock and combine with ready-made mole paste. Add shredded chicken 

Tip: Don't be greedy, put a smaller amount of filling for each pastry. But don't worry, they come out looking fine in the end. 

Trader Joe's makes great puff pastry that you can roll out and use for the empanadas. 

Brush with egg batter, sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake empanadas in an oven @420F

The empanadas were filled with chicken cooked in mole sauce. Mole sauce can be bought pre-prepared in Mexican supermarkets. Make sure your mole sauce is not watery. It should be nice and thick. 

8/ And when life gives you Trump, you make ceviche and coctel de cameron. 

God Bless America!

You can get your Mexican products at Mi Pueblo Food center (Mexican Supermarket): 40 S Rengstorff Ave, Mountain View, CA 94040

Discovering new ingredients at a Vietnamese Supermarket

So here I am at Vietnam town, San Jose. I brought a group of moms to Maxim Supermarket (995 Mclaughlin Ave) to familiarize them with vegetables and sauces of an Asian kitchen.

My favorite part of the Vietnamese supermarket is the herb section. Herbs are essential in Vietnamese cuisine.  The varieties of mint, basil and coriander are different to the Western variety. Notice the banana blossoms on the top left corner

This is the Saw Leaf Herb, named because of the jagged edges. It is usually served with Vietnamese Beef Pho. 

Galangal or Blue Ginger, is used extensively in South-east Asian cooking, especially curries. 

Saw Leaf Herb on top of my beef pho

Vietnamese Basil in the foreground and Rau Ram in the background, a herb that is used in South-east Asian cooking, known for its aromatic scent

And of course, navigating the sauce section can be tricky and confusing for the first-timer. 

 Here are some of my inputs:

Fish Sauce - Thai or Vietnamese? The Thai version is stronger in flavor and the Vietnamese version is slightly more delicate. So if you're cooking Vietnamese, definitely go for the Vietnamese brand but if you prefer more robust flavors, reach for the Thai version.

I love the seafood section. There's so much variety. And they gut, clean and scale the fish for you. 

And my last word of advice, EXPLORE and be ADVENTUROUS! Go, bring home some herbs and incorporate into your cooking.