Sauteed Sweet Potato Leaves and Sweet-Sour Salmon and Lychee-Chili Sauce

A bunch of gorgeous Sweet Potato Leaves seemed so fresh and inviting at the farmers market that I had to bring it home and sauté it right away.

A hunk of Silver Salmon caught in Alaska during our recent trip was thawed and ready. Sweet-and-sour salmon was one of the requests I received while wondering how to cook up the salmon this time.

Sweet-and-sour Salmon it is, then.

Tamarind paste and grape molasses is a perfect sweet-and-sour combination that I've come to love while cooking with these two staple ingredients in my kitchen.

Of course, vinegar and sugar is a default sweet-sour combination, which I am not very fond of... so, am glad I settled on tamarind paste and grape molasses for now, that bring in a deeper flavor and an interesting layering.

(Disclaimer:I don't have any affiliation with these brands, these just happen to be the ones easily available where I shop.)

I grew up loving lychees (aka litchi), enjoying this seasonal fruit whenever it hits the local market. Litchi chinensis has a shell like peanuts which are peeled and discarded to get to the translucent mildly sweet flesh that has a strong odor characteristic of many tropical fruits. There were at least half a dozen varieties cultivated in northern and eastern parts of India, where the warm and humid climate and soil seem ideally suited for these lovely trees.

These days, every once in a while, I find fresh and frozen lychees at the Asian market, and bring them home for some fun smoothies and chutneys and sauces. It has a rather large pit inside, so, getting the flesh is a bit of an effort, but well worth it if one loves these fruits as much as I do.

Lychees with home garden chilies became a hot-and-sweet sauce in the form of Lychee-Chili Sauce, much like the sauce made for Lychee-Chili Chicken. This time, I served the sauce on the side as I knew kids don't care for it.

Sometimes, the combination of ingredients might seem like a mish-mash meal, but those are the ones I've noticed turn out satisfying as it is rather unexpected and refreshing.

The salmon was slathered on with tamarind and grape molasses, and a sprinkling of salt, then, lightly dusted with flour. It is first pan-seared skin-side down. Then, flipped to cook the other side. I peel the skin off at this stage and slather more of the tamarind and grape molasses plus salt to the now skin-free side, then flip again and sear it till flaky and cooked through.

Sweet Sour Spicy Bitter Melon, Eggplant, Bell Peppers

I had half each of bitter melon, long eggplant, red and green bell peppers and decided to make a sweet-sour-spicy dish. It can be served with warm jasmine rice or even simple roti or naan. The picture shows it served with a small portion of chicken breast per the Other Half's request.

I salted the bitter melon for 10 minutes; rinsed and patted dry; then par-cooked in the microwave.

For the sweet-sour-spicy sauce:
2 tbsp sambal oelek
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 teaspoon tamarind paste
1 tbsp mirin

Stir the sauce ingredients. Adjust to taste as preferred. Heat some oil in a caste iron skillet, add the veggies, saute; add the sauce stir well and cook till desired doneness of the veggies. I like them crisp-tender.

Baked Tofu in Fig Sauce

Marinated firm tofu can be pan-fried or baked ahead of time and stored in the fridge. It comes in handy to add to stir-frys and soups for a weeknight meal, or can be simmered in some favorite sauce and served over rice.

In this recipe, marinated baked tofu is simmered in fig sauce, with caramelized onions. I prefer firm or extra firm tofu as it has a solid structure and doesn't fall apart in cooking. Use any favorite store-bought marinade, or curry paste or hot sauce, or just make one up with favorite flavors like I usually do.

The chewy texture from baking, and the infused flavors from marinating makes this a meal in itself. To enjoy as-is, I prefer as little of the sauce as possible, but over steamed brown rice, the rich flavors of the sauce is delicious.

Ingredients:
1 lb Firm Tofu (I like the local brand manufactured by Pacific NW - has a large Panda picture on top)
Marinade: balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, sambal oelek - a tablespoon or so each, mixed
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
Cremini mushrooms, sliced (optional)
1 Tbsp sesame oil


For the sauce:
4 dry figs, chopped finely
6 small dark raisins (optional)
1 Tbsp home-made red curry paste
1 Tbsp Sambal Oelek
1 Tbsp tamarind juice (adjust to taste, it can be quite tart depending on the brand)
salt to taste
water as needed

Preparation

1. Slice the big tofu block into 3/4-inch thick rectangular slabs/slices, and marinate the tofu slabs for an hour (or up to overnight in the fridge)
2. Pre-heat the oven to 400° F and bake the tofu slabs/slices for 25 minutes, flip over and continue to bake another 25 minutes
3. For the fig sauce: Combine the sauce ingredients and grind to a fine smooth paste
4. Heat the oil in a pan and sautée the onions till caramelized
5. Cut the baked tofu into cubes
6. Add the sauce paste, enough water, salt as needed, tofu cubes, and allow to simmer till sauce thickens 
7. Adjust flavors to taste, garnish with chopped dry or fresh figs, cilantro, spring onions

Vegetable Manchurian

Indian-Chinese food came into my life several years ago, in India, with the most popular Gobi Manchurian, which is Cauliflower fritters in a sweet-sour-hot-ish sauce.

While "Manchurian" seems misleading, the dish happens to combine the basic Chinese sweet-and-sour sauce with some Indian spices to present an incredibly delectable meal. The staple meats of Chinese cuisine like pork and beef are not as all-encompassing in India, so, vegetables seem like a great alternative, and the sauce works great with any kind of vegetable fritters.

And fusion cuisine being my signature, this dish is one of the quick-and-easy weeknight meals we relish. This not much different from the Gobi Manchurian or Chicken Manchurian recipe. I just happened to have a smallish bit of red/purple cabbage, a couple of potatoes and a zucchini that needed to be used up and wanted to do something creative with them in combination. That's how this dish came about. Any favorite combination of vegetables would work fine, I'm sure.

Grate the raw potatoes, finely shred the cabbage and zucchini, toss them with some flour and water to bind, deep fry and drain the fritters, then toss them in with the sauce. As always, I vary the sauce proportions to taste depending on my mood. Here, I used approximately the Gobi Manchurian sauce, but instead of condensed tomato soup/sauce and sweet chili sauce, I used organic tomato ketchup.

Ingredients
2 medium potatoes, finely grated
1 cup finely shredded red cabbage
1 medium zucchini, finely grated

Seasoned flour coating:
½ cup corn starch
½ cup rice flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp coriander powder

canola oil or other preferred oil for frying

for the sauce:
1 Tbsp sesame oil or peanut oil
2 Tbsp ginger, finely grated
4-6 cloves of garlic, finely minced
4-6 green chilies, chopped finely
1 medium onion sliced thin
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
¼ cup light soy sauce
½ cup tomato ketchup
2-3 Tbsp plain white vinegar
2-3 Tbsp red chili powder (or cayenne pepper powder)
1 cup water

Garnish: spring onions, or chives, cilantro

Preparation

1. Sauce: heat the oil in a saucepan, throw in the ginger and garlic, sauté a bit, then add the rest of the ingredients and allow to simmer on medium low heat; taste and adjust flavors; if preferred, add a handful of red cabbage to the sauce; use corn starch to thicken the sauce if needed
2. Squeeze out extra water from the grated vegetables, add the seasoned flour coating plus water, a little at a time, to form a sort of powdery batter that can be formed into small balls about an inch or so in diameter, without falling apart
3. Deep fry, drain on paper towel to remove excess oil
4. Toss the fritters with the sauce, allow to simmer for about 5 minutes, and allow to sit and develop for 10 minutes or so before serving
5. Garnish with fresh chives or spring onions, even cilantro, and serve warm with hot jasmine rice

Sweet and Sour Noodles

There are quite a few possible variations on the sweet-and-sour sauce that makes this dish interesting and different each time I make it. Sometimes a dash more of vinegar and orange juice, sometimes more brown sugar, sometimes a bit more of soy sauce...

Ingredients
1 pkt rice noodles
sugar snaps, sliced
bean sprouts
baby corn, sliced
broccoli florets
green and red chilies, sliced (remove membrane and seeds to reduce heat)
spring onions, chopped to 2" pieces
½ medium sweet yellow onion, sliced thin
3-4 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
½ pkt extra firm tofu, cubed
1 Tbsp oil
sweet and sour sauce:
1 cup vegetable broth
¼ cup plain white vinegar
¼ cup orange juice
¼ cup kecap manis*
¼ cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar*
* if kecap manis is not handy, use 4 Tbsp of brown sugar instead of 2 Tbsp, adjust to taste
---------
1 Tbsp cornstarch
some water
---------
for garnish:
cilantro and chopped spring onions

Preparation

1. bring all the sauce ingredients to a gentle simmer and let it reduce and thicken a little; dissolve corn starch in some water and add it to thicken the sauce some more; adjust sauce to taste by balancing vinegar and sugar to suit your sweet and sour taste; set aside
2. marinate the tofu in some of the sauce while sautéing the vegetables and cooking the noodles
3. cook the noodles per package directions, drain, run under cold water, drain well, toss with some oil so they don't stick together; set aside
4. heat oil in a pan, add the onions, chilies, ginger and garlic, sauté till fragrant; add the vegetables and a little of the sauce, stir fry till crisp-tender
5. add the marinated tofu and stir fry some more
6. toss in the noodles and a little sauce at a time, stir well
7. off heat, garnish with cilantro and chopped spring onions, serve warm