East Coast Spawn

Butter Poached Shad Roe with Caramelized Onion

The weather has been in its peculiar mood this year. I do appreciate the normalcy of Spring arrival--spawning of the East Cost river herring from Shad and its Roe. There is a window of about 2 weeks when I keep my eyes peeled for this delicacy. Shad's spring ritual is to swim and spawn from ocean to river, along the East coast. Once the water gets warmer, they will come up north. Georgia, North Carolina will get them before Virginia, Maryland and New England

Fresh East Coast Shad Roe

Though, Shad has a bad reputation of being a bony fish. Trust me, it will never stop a true Thai-seafood eater. I can gently fry the fish until the bones are crunchy that you can consume the fish whole. My family and I became a fan several years back, not of the fish meat, but the roe. Properly cooked Shad roe can easily be called the Foie Gras of the sea. Unlike any other fish eggs I have had, salty cured or spicy curried, the sack needs to be cooked gently with subtle heat to produce a stately out come. I poached the whole sack in warm butter for about 10 min. After that, it's all about how you want to make it happen. 

One way is to have it as is with some whole-wheat toast, caramelized onion, caper and a squeeze of lemon.  I added some fresh baby arugula and fennel slice to bring aroma and contrast, highlighting the roe.  It was like butter.

Shad Roe with Chive Blossom

The second way is to stir fry (intense heat for less than 5 min.) the fresh roe with aromatics, like garlic and chive blossoms.  I love this green, sweet, crunchy, big volume in flavor.  It is a good paring with the roe.

Larb Shad Roe

My favorite so far is to "Larb" the roe. The term “Larb” is translated to a process in which one cooks half-raw meat salad with lemongrass, toasted rice powder, Thai herbs, seasoning and lots of lime to cut the richness of the roe and cook it further.  This is a traditional method of cooking meat in the Northeastern part of Thailand and Laos.

With a plate of steamed rice and a cold drink...This North American sea Foie Gras makes me feel so much at home.  You should give it a try.

Cheers!
Teera

 

St. Patrick’s Day Silver and Gold

Yukon River Smoked Salmon

My husband brought me back a gift from his recent trip to the Pacific Northwest. I was ecstatic...wild hot smoked delicacy, who would not be? There were two types, Keta salmon hot smoked and Coho salmon candied smoked, from the Alaskan Yukon River.  Both fishes are glistened with beautiful silvery scales. The Keta or Chum salmon has a deep pink, smoky, salty and sweet meat. The Coho salmon has a pale orange meat with a hint of salt and spices.

Whether you are Christian, Irish or believe in the Holy Trinity or not, you can't help but join in the celebration. Wearing green and drinking Guinness on the Shamrock day seems to be as American as apple pie. My husband--a mutt of the British Isle's (mostly English and Welsh), has a bit of Irish in him...so, this is his excuse to celebrate. And the family joins in.

St. Patrick's Day Breakfast--Silver and Gold

Smoked salmon is the perfect element for St. Patrick's Day. Our kids like the idea of green eggs and ham, so scrambled they had. I, on the other hand, am a poached egg fanatic. Warm, yellow egg liquid is like gold. I call it green eggs, using the spring onion. The egg was the perfect compliment to the extravagant and rare treat of the smoked salmon. I layered the fish with tangy cream cheese, julienned red onions, capers and a squeeze of lime.

Later on tonight, we will surely have corned beef, cabbage, hash and a Guinness. But for now, it seems like spring is all round us. End the winter with the smoked meat and start spring with fresh eggs and green.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Teera

Siphoning of Spring

Atlantic Razor Clam

Spring has sprung. The ice of a minuscule winter has melted.  It is supposed to get close to 80 degrees by the end of this week.  Ready or not, here comes the warm weather.  The ground is soft and plumped for any livelihood to break the surface and to evolve. Daffodils are not the only souls that pop out of the ground.  What you find in the market place may surprise you during this season. I ventured out to the local Asian seafood counter, and stumbled upon bundles of fresh Atlantic razor clams, my spring forward catalyst. When your mind is running at the speed of light, the muscles get tensed up, like an overdone piece of meat. The art of controlling heat becomes essential. Cooking up a piece of mussel resolute to only the "know how" and the craving in desperate mode. 

Razor Clams on a Hot Griddle

What does a razor has to do with a clam you wonder? The razor clam has a tube like shell, depending on its species, similar to an old fashion razor.  There are several types of razor clams--Pacific, Atlantic and European. The Atlantic ones are a cross between the Europeans (shape more like a young bamboo stick) and the Pacific (elongated mussel).  They can be found along the east coast, from Canada to South Carolina.  Have you ever tasted the ocean water? Salty and minerally, just think of a briny oyster, but meatier and you can actually taste a full bite of sweet white subtleness.  A few dozen of these babies will truly give you a head start on spring.

I put the clams in a rinsing spirit with 2 buckets full of cold water. Cook them on high heat griddle until they are opened. Sprinkle them with chopped garlic, parsley, olive oil and a pinch of salt. With a glass of Alberino, the seafood counter at the Barcelona Central market will be right in your dining room.

Fried Razor Clams in Seattle

Isn't this what spring is all about, shedding the old and growing with the new? Sediments will always be there. Filtering through it with a grain of salt takes practice and wisdom. At the end of the day it is the nutrients that you want to keep, to make you sweet, not the sand!

Cheers!

Teera

The Raw, The Medium and The Well Done.

6 lbs loin of Fresh Ahi

When a friend stops by with a beautiful pink flesh, 6 lb loin of Ahi or yellow fin tuna, the question becomes what should one do with this precious piece of fish? This warm water fish has traveled a long way from the Pacific Ocean.  It ranks up there, alongside salmon as one of the fish that has the highest omega 3 fatty acid content to help boot up the brain.  With this kind of resume, cooking the fish has to be done carefully and respectfully.  The simplest 3 treatments, highlighting the diversity of flavor is to prepare it raw, half cooked and fully cooked.  By far, eating Tuna these ways are the closet to eating a piece of steak from the ocean. 

First is the "raw" way.  Eaten as Sashimi, Carpaccio, Poke or with Sushi rice I think is the best.  One can taste the subtle sweetness which disappears after the fish is fully cooked. The last time I had Ahi Carpaccio was in the South Pacific. Thinly sliced raw tuna was drenched with Tahitian vanilla bean oil. The fish was probably caught in the deep sea, just beyond the ring of the coral reefs I swam in.

The Raw-Hawaiian Poke

Poke is my newly acquired taste for tuna after the visit to Hawaii.  Traditional Poke is simple. It is composed of 4 ingredients-- fresh raw tuna, Hawaiian red sea salt, inamona (kukui nut) and limu kohu (seaweed).  I like to eat the traditional Poke with an Asian dressing (soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and a pinch of sugar) and sliced jalapeño peppers, coriander leaves and scallions.  Together with coconut rice and a Blue Hawaiian, this dish is irresistible.

The Medium-Seared Ahi

Another way of preparing Tuna is searing and cooking the meat half way.  I marinate the fish with a couple tablespoons of soy sauce, crusted with black sesame seeds and pan fried in canola oil for about 2 min. on each side, depending on the thickness of the fish.  Serve the tuna with wasabi, soy sauce and pickled ginger.

The Well Done-Fish Taco

One of my family's favorite is grilled Fish Taco. When the fish is this fresh, it needs only a few ingredients to push it off the cliff.
Sprinkle kosher salt and pepper on the Tuna steak and grill on medium high heat for about 2½ minutes on each side. Serve with corn or flour tortillas, honey chipotle sauce, cabbage and a squeeze of lime.
The chipotle sauce is composed of 3 adobo chipotle peppers, 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup of mayonnaise, 1/4 cup of honey. Blend them together in a food processor. 

Cheers!
Teera