Tuna Oyakodon

Oyakodon is a Japanese comfort-food dish that is basically a rice bowl with a chicken and scrambled egg mixture on top.  It translates to "parents and children," which is a reference to the chicken and eggs.  I didn't have any chicken on hand, so I used some good canned tuna instead.  First I sauteed some thinly sliced onions, then I added the sauce consisting of soy sauce, sugar, mirin and water.  Once the liquid came up to a boil, I added 2 beaten eggs and let them set up in the pan.  Once the egg was cooked through, I spooned it over a bowl of Korean-style black rice and garnished it with some toasted nori and sesame seeds.  What I like about this dish is the balance between the salty and sweet flavors.

Almost Pad Thai

I've always wanted to make pad thai, and a trip to 99 Ranch Market this weekend inspired me to finally try it.  I read a few different recipes to get some ideas, but I wasn't necessarily looking to go totally authentic.  The beauty of cooking is that you can take a traditional dish and make it exactly how you like it -- recipe be damned.  For my personalized version, I first made the sauce with equal parts tamarind paste, fish sauce, brown sugar and sambal for that classic Thai flavor profile of sour, salty, sweet and spicy.  I then scrambled some eggs and set those aside while I sauteed some sliced chicken thighs (the classic version uses shrimp) with scallions and chopped garlic.  I finally added the rice noodles to the pan with the sauce and returned the scrambled eggs to the mix until it all came together.  The finishing touch was a garnish of chopped peanuts, sliced scallion and fresh lime.  The flavors were spot on, but the noodles were too al dente; I don't think the recommended soaking time on the package was very accurate, but then again I can't read Thai.  

Bucatini with Oxtail Ragu

I usually think of oxtail as an Asian ingredient, but it is also the perfect foundation for an Italian ragu because it can stand up to a slow and low cooking technique.  A traditional ragu is braised for hours, but I wanted some instant gratification so I broke out my pressure cooker and threw in the oxtails with crushed tomatoes, dried oregano, diced onions and garlic.  After about 45 minutes, I pulled out the oxtail and cleaned the meat off the bone, and then I put it back into the pressure cooker with the tomatoes before adding the bucatini (think of a hollow spaghetti).  The flavors in this dish packed a serious punch, and the heft of the bucatini stood up to the heartiness of the the ragu.