Basic Roasted Sunchoke ｜ 香焗菊芋

Sunchoke is a special root vegetable you will find in farmer's markets around October.  It is the tuber of a plant that belongs to the sunflower family.  Its look resembles a knobby ginger root and its taste somewhat reminds me of ginseng.

Sunchoke has increasingly earned its popularity in many upscale restaurants.  You can easily find sunchoke in salad, roasted side dishes, soup, or even chips on the menus.

Cooking sunchoke is no more complicated than cooking potato.  Basically, you can treat both in the same ways.

Basic Roasted Sunchoke

香焗菊芋

Ingredients:

4 Sunchokes

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Black Pepper, freshly ground

How to make it:

1. Brush off the dirt and sand on the sunchokes under running water.

Sunchoke has thin skin and it is totally edible. It brings extra flavour after roasting.  So it is not necessary to peel off the skin.

2. Slice the sunchokes into about 1.5cm pieces.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients together; mix it well.

4. Roast it in the oven at 400 F for about 25 minutes, or until the skin starts to shrivel and become crisp.

5. Remove it from the oven and serve it as a side dish.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you enjoy the recipe.

Pickled Daikon Radish ｜ 醃醋蘿蔔

Although daikon radishes are available all year around, the peak season to enjoy these juicy root vegetables is during fall to winter.  At this time, the daikons are plump, juicy, and with less fibre.

My husband and I love to pickle daikons for our side dish.  Sometimes, I will cut them into cubes or sometimes I will simply slice them into thick pieces, depending on how crunchy the texture I want.  But I found the best flavour daikons usually are the ones that are thick and chunky. 

To pickle daikon is very straightward, but you will have to accept that the radish smell will linger in the fridge for quite a few days, even after you finish all of them.  My husband often said he would know when we were going to have pickled radish for dinner because he could smell it, as soon as he stepped out of the elevator down the hallway (but every time he got it right!).  I don't find the radish stinky at all.  I guess it's just like the people who like blue cheese -- they only find the aroma in the food they love.

Pickled Daikon Radish

(Ingredients):

1 Daikon Radish

1 tablespoon Sea salt

1/4 cup White Vinegar
1/3 cup Sugar
1 tablespoon Rice Wine
1 tablespoon Red Chile Flakes

How to make:

1. Peel the daikon.  Cut it into 1cm thick slices.

2. In a zip lock bag, combine all ingredients.  Then, rib it until the sugar is dissolved and the daikon pieces are evenly coated with marinade.

3. Keep the bag in the fridge and allow further marination for two more days before serving.

Dandelions are finally back (with dandelion recipes) ｜ 蒲公英咖啡。蒲公英醃菜

 I’ve been waiting for dandelions to come back since the middle of last winter. The whole plant is delicious, but it was the roots I was longing for. Dandelion roots can be used to make tea that is nutritious and cafferine-free.

Dandelions start coming up around mid April and flower until early summer, but the best time to harvest the roots is in April when the young leaves are just starting to develop, before the plant blossoms. At that time, most of the nutrients that have been stored up for the winter are still in the plants. Finding a day after the rain to dig up the roots will lead to an easier harvesting since the soil is loosened.

At Easter, I spent nearly two hours in my in-law’s garden to dig out these “teasures” and they were both very happy that I cleaned up their “weeds”.

After separating the roots and the leaves, I cleaned them under running water a few times and made sure there was no dirt, debris, or other plants like moss mixed inside them.

      To make the tea is very simple:

1. 1. Cut the roots into pea size. Place them on parchment paper. Roast them at 360F until they are totally dried out.
2. 2. Grind the roasted roots into finer powder with a stone grinder (which was what I used) or a food processor. Keep the powder in an air-tight container and it can keep in good condition for up to six months.
3. 3. Whenever you want to enjoy this beneficial drink, just brew it like the normal tea you would drink. My preference is 2 flat teaspoons to 1 cup of water. Bring the water to a rolling boil and then pour it into the root powder. Let it steep for about 8–10 minutes and it is ready. I like mine with a splash of milk and some sugar.

Dandelion Tea:

I also used the dandelion greens to make a kimchi dish. I used the young leaves here because they are less bitter and much more tender. For people like my family and I who have little tolerance for bitterness in food, mature dandelion leaves are just too much to handle.

Kimchi Dandelion:

Ingredients:

20 stalks Young Dandelions, green part only

2 teaspoons Salt

Seasoning:

2 teaspoons White Vinegar

1 tablespoon Sesame Oil

1 tablespoon White Sesame, toasted

¼ teaspoon Ginger, ground

1 teaspoon Red Chili Flakes

DIRECTION:

1. Combine salt and dandelion in a bowl; rib it evenly. Leave it for 2o minutes for the bitter water to come out.

2. Squeeze out as much water as you can. Then rinse the dandelion under running water. Squeeze out the excess water from the dandelion again.

3. Add the seasoning to the dandelion. Mix well and taste it. Adjust the seasoning if it is needed. Let it marinate for at least 30 minutes before serving. For the best flavour, leave it in the fridge overnight before use.

I enjoy eating this kimchi with a bowl of very warm rice.