ants climbing a tree

The inspiration for this dish came four decades ago for the birth of our second daughter. My mother-in-law flew out to Wisconsin from California to help us look after a toddler and a newborn. She helpfully took over the cooking duties. At the time I had only ever cooked recipes out of cookbooks, and had never encountered her intuitive cooking methods before. I watched her prepare her famous coffee chiffon cake using a porcelain Chinese rice bowl to measure out the ingredients. But I was tethered to measuring cups and spoons, so I knew I could never repeat the feat. She was an amazing cook. She whipped up tasty meals quickly, including this dish fancifully called “ants climbing a tree” in the Chinese cookbooks on my shelves. My mother-in-law’s recipe only included 5 ingredients: ground meat, bean threads, eggs, scallions, and garlic. And as I watched her put it all together in a wok, and seasoned it to taste with soy sauce and fish sauce, I knew I could make it too. It was the first time I ever cooked a dish without a recipe.

Although I give measurements here, they are just an estimate; a guide if you will.

Ants Climbing a Tree (Ground Meat with Bean Threads)

Yield: 4-6 servings

1 tablespoon rice bran oil

2 large cloves of garlic, minced (add more or less to taste)

Approximately 300g ground meat (chicken, pork, beef or lamb) or a little over a pound

1 bundle of bean threads

2 large eggs, beaten (1 egg is fine but 2 adds more deliciousness)

Dark soy sauce and fish sauce, to taste

2 stalks scallions, sliced thin (be fancy and slice them on the diagonal)

Boil a cup of water. Place it in a bowl and add the bean threads. Let it soften in the hot water about 7-10 minutes. You’ll know it’s soft enough when the bean threads are limp but still opaque. Drain and set aside.

Cook’s Note: To make the ground meat moist and tender, add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda with a small amount of water to a small bowl to dissolve it. Pour the mixture onto the meat during stir frying. Adding baking soda to tenderize meat is called velveting. This step is entirely optional but highly recommended.

Heat oil in large wok or skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir-fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the meat and stir-fry until no longer pink. Season to taste with dark soy sauce, or add just enough to darken the meat. Mix well. Add half the scallions and stir to combine.

Cook’s Note: Dark soy sauce is not salty. It is a somewhat thick sauce used mainly in Chinese cooking to color food without adding salt. If you only have light soy sauce which is salty, (“light” refers to the thickness of the sauce) add a small amount to color, mix and then taste. Remember you will be salting the dish with fish sauce later. Or you can skip the fish sauce and salt the meat now.

Add the soaked bean threads and stir until well-combined with the meat. Cut the meat and bean threads together using the spatula for stir frying. The heat will turn the bean threads from opaque to transparent. Pour over the beaten eggs and let it sit for a few seconds until slightly set around the edges. Then stir fry until the eggs are cooked through and well distributed. Sprinkle over fish sauce. This is finishing the dish with fish sauce, so go lightly. Add just enough fish sauce for a delicate aroma, the merest hint of pungency. Plate. Sprinkle over the remaining scallions. Serve at once with steamed brown rice.

how to cook an egg

Cook’s Note: My mother correctly pointed out that I forgot to say that the pan must be covered when cooking eggs!

Cooking eggs may be basic but it can be complicated–paradoxically because it is so simple–especially eggs cooked in the shell. Just an egg heated in water. Seems so simple. But cooking an egg to an exact specification is hard to gauge. I learned how to cook an egg in two phases. The first time I was living in Milwaukee, I read in the newspaper how to make perfect hard-cooked eggs. This is how you do it:

To make hard boiled eggs, the method is “boil and forget.” Almost.  Put the eggs in cold water in a pan, cover,  and bring to a boil, about 10 minutes. Then turn off the heat and let the eggs steep in the hot water, covered,  for 10 more minutes. Drain the water. I swirl the eggs around in the  pan to crack the egg shells, then fill the pot with cool water. I let the eggs sit in their  bath  until they are cool enough to peel. I’ve done hard-boiled eggs this way for years, for breakfast, for egg salads, for potato salads.

However, the second time I learned how to cook an egg was last Thanksgiving, when my mother described how to cook a soft-cooked egg with a gelatinous but not watery egg-red. An egg-red is what country-people in Jamaica call the egg yolk.  To make this kind of egg, put two eggs in a pan of warm water, covered,  over a medium high flame. First tiny bubbles start to appear; this is called the pearl stage. When the water is at the fish-eye stage it will quickly come  to the rolling wave. Now turn the heat down to simmer. Do not uncover the pot. Let the eggs simmer 3 minutes. Then you turn off the heat. Drain the water from the pan and swirl the eggs around so the shells crack and splinter. Fill the pot with cool water until the eggs are cool enough to peel.

pantry pancakes

For sometime now, I’ve been experimenting outside my comfort zone with my own variations on recipes–a fusion, so to speak, between the original and my own tastes and preferences. That’s how I came up with a fusion between Thai style basil chicken and shepherd’s pie a few summers ago.

Necessity, it is said, is the mother of pancakes. I didn’t have any all purpose flour. I had one large egg, whole wheat and cake flours, lots of strawberries, and a deep reluctance to use butter. Still, I can’t throw things in a bowl et voilà, it’s a meal. I guess you could say I’m not ready to give up exact measurements! So inspired by Foodie Pam’s strawberry pancake recipe, I made up this delicious breakfast pancake using what I had on hand in my pantry. The pancake turned out filling, fluffy, and oh-so fine with a little maple syrup drizzled all over it.

Whole Wheat Strawberry Pancakes

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
1 large egg
1 cup nonfat milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon almond oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cake flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
Cooking spray

Preparation
In a large bowl, beat the egg. Add the milk, vanilla, and oil. Blend well. Add wheat flour, cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir until well combined. Fold in the strawberries.

Spray cooking spray in a 10 inch skillet. Heat over medium heat until the skillet sizzles when a drop of water touches the surface. Pour half cup of batter in the center of the skillet, spread it a little bit,  and cook until little bubbles appear in the surface. Flip. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until the underside is browned, and the top of the pancake, when pressed, is firm to the touch, but not “squidgy” as Nigella would admonish.

What do you have in your pantry to make these pancakes? Here are my suggested ingredient swaps:

• Canola, vegetable, or extra virgin olive oil
• Almond extract to ramp up the almond flavor
• Blueberries
• Chopped banana
• Whole milk for nonfat
• Sprinkle cinnamon sugar or confectioner’s sugar on top
• Serve with chopped fresh fruit sprinkled with a little stevia, if you like

Related articles

• Whole Wheat Fruit and Nut Pancakes (katieatthekitchendoor.com)
• Weekend Breakfast: Whole-Wheat Strawberry Vanilla Pancakes (hungrygatorgal.wordpress.com)

curry-flavor shrimp with sesame rice

It’s been so cold that I decided to cook something hearty but quick and easy. I found this recipe for Sesame Rice Salad in the South Beach Diet cookbook, the blue cover. Since then, I’ve adapted it in some form or another depending on the vegetables I have on hand. One thing I won’t swap is the asparagus. It must have asparagus! Bright green, cooked asparagus is such a pretty contrast in this dish. Though the rice and shrimp are spicy, the crisp-tender asparagus cools the mouth.

Curry-Flavor Shrimp with Sesame Rice

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

20 medium shrimp, shelled and deveined, washed and patted dry with paper towels
2 teaspoons curry powder (I recommend Montego, the Jamaican curry powder)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
3 cups cooked brown rice, room temperature
8 stalks asparagus, cut in thirds
1/2 cup frozen edamame
1/2 cup frozen sweet peas
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
cooking spray
2 scallions sliced thin on the diagonal
2 tablespoons cilantro, minced fine
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Red pepper flakes, to taste, optional
salt and pepper

Season the shrimp with curry powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Set aside.

Boil a saucepan of water, lightly salted. Add the asparagus and cook until bright green. Remove from the heat at once, drain, and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain and set aside.

Spray cooking spray in a large skillet. Heat the skillet until a drop of water sizzles on the surface. Add the shrimp and cook on one side until no longer pink, 1 minute. Turn and cook on the other side, 1 minute.

Add the frozen edamame and peas to the hot skillet and cook until they are heated through, scraping up the browned bits or fond on the bottom. Add the rice and the cooked asparagus. Toss to combine. In a small bowl, mix the canola oil, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Whisk until the mixture emulsifies. Pour over the rice and toss lightly. Add the scallions, cilantro and sesame seeds. Toss lightly. Add red pepper flakes, if desired. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve warm or at room temperature.