Grilled Lemongrass Chicken Wings

Since my lemongrass has been growing rampant in my little container garden, I decided to thin it out and do something with it.  My mom used to make a fish sauce marinade for pork that went with her bun thit nuong.  Bun thit nuong is a cold Vietnamese noodle dish that consists of marinated grilled pork, vermicelli noodles, an assortment of thinly shredded lettuce, cucumber, sprouts, pickled carrots and daikon, coarsely ground roasted peanuts, mint and a nuoc mam cham vinagrette.  It's a really refreshing rice noodle salad that replaces my pho cravings in the summer.  Unfortunately, I have yet to find a restaurant in San Diego that measures up to my mom's bun thit nuong.  The grilled pork is just never quite right.

My mom's marinade for her grilled pork was savory, citrusy and slightly sweet.  I didn't have all the ingredients for bun thit nuong, but I did have a huge bag of frozen chicken wings. While the wings defrost in a bowl of cold water in the sink, I began pounding together the ingredients for my marinade.  Unfortunately, I didn't pay that much attention to what my mom threw into her marinade or even the measurements for that matter.  So I kinda winged it.  I tasted and adjusted until I finally got it close enough.  So here's the recipe for my Grilled Lemongrass Chicken Wings, which is inspired by my mom's Bun Thit Nuong.  My measurements are not exact, but hey, it's close enough.

Grilled Lemongrass Chicken Wings

10-12 chicken wings

2 cloves garlic

4-5 stalks fresh lemongrass, white parts only and minced

1 tbsp sugar

4 tbsp nuoc mam (fish sauce)

1 tsp sesame oil

juice from 1/2 lime

With a mortar and pestle, pound together the garlic, lemongrass, and sugar.  A food processor will do if you don't have a mortar and pestle.  

In a small bowl, combine the lemongrass mixture with the nuoc mam, sesame oil and lime juice.  Rinse the chicken wings and pat dry.  In a large bowl or freezer bag, toss the chicken wings with the marinade until completely coated and marinate for at least 4 hours.  Re-toss the wings every hour or so to get them to marinate evenly.

Fire up the grill and cook the chicken wings for about 15 minutes each side or until the meat closest to the bone is no longer pink.

More than just salad

I got some romaine hearts that were on special at Fresh & Easy.  I wasn't thinking salad.  I wasn't thinking grilled.  I was thinking about sauteed.  I was thinking about the way my friend's husband made them.  He is Taishan and an excellent chef, which is good news for my friend because I don't think I've ever seen her cook anything that wasn't Top Ramen.  She does make a very good sou chef, gotta give her credit for that.  When I was visiting one evening, she started washing and chopping 10 minutes before he walked through the door.  After cooking at the restaurant all night long, he started throwing together a simple, yet delicious late night dinner.
The one dish that I still remember is the simplest.  Romaine hearts sauteed with fermented tofu, which tastes kinda like blue cheese made from tofu.  I was skeptical as I watched him prepare this dish.  Up to that point in my life, the only way I've seen romaine hearts prepared has been raw or lightly grilled in a salad.  Plus, fermented tofu???  Really?
He convinced me to give this homestyle dish a try and I was became a convert.   It was light and refreshing.  The fermented tofu added just the right hint of savoriness (I could go fancy and call it "umami") that highlights the seared edges of the romaine.  I am salivating whilst thinking about romaine hearts. Whowouldadunkit?

Umami Romaine Hearts
1 Romaine heart
1/4 cube fermented tofu
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Step 1: Slice the romaine heart lengthwise into 8 pieces.

Step 2: Heat wok or frying pan with 1 tbsp vegetable oil.

Step 3: Add romaine hearts and garlic to pan.  Cook until leaves are just starting to wilt, turning every now and again.

Step 3: Add fermented tofu.  Just 1/4 cube will do, this stuff is potent!

Step 3: Continue cooking until fermented tofu is melted, about 2 minutes.  De-glaze the pan with about 2 tbsp of water in the final 30 seconds if you want some sauce for that rice to soak up.

Onsen Tamago

I have always loved eggs.  In my opinion, the yums factor will almost always be raised 2 fold when topped with an egg...3 fold if the yolk is runny...4 fold if the runny yolk is a fresh, free range, golden orangish hue.  Well, you get the idea.
I have recently decided to take my egg addiction to a heightened level.  I am talking about being able to enjoy an occasional onsen tamago without trekking all the way to the hot springs of a japanese spa.  Although, if anyone wants to sponsor me for a trip...
"Onsen" means "hot spring" in Japanese, so "onsen tamago" literally translates into "hot spring egg." The temperature of the hot springs are perfect for soft poaching an egg in it's shell so that the whites are cooked and opaque, but still runny and the yolks are set, but still soft.
Since I live no where near a hot spring, my newfound obsession has been to replicate the onsen tamago method in a home kitchen.

I researched the internet and found some recipes for making onsen tamago in the rice cooker.
Cooking an egg is really a scientific endeavor.  Adjustments had to be made based on the size of the egg, temperature of the egg, the number of eggs and the elevation I live in.

• I found that large eggs are easier to work with than jumbo eggs.  
• Always use the freshest eggs possible.
• Rinsing the eggs with tap water to bring them to room temperature prior to cooking helps minimize cracking and helps the egg cook evenly.
• Cooking more than 3 eggs at a time has huge effects on the temperature and cooking time.
• And did I mention, use the freshest eggs possible?

After 2 attempts with the rice cooker method, I was finally able to crack open an egg with runny whites and a softly set yolk over some fluffy white rice drizzled with soy sauce.
I also wanted to try to achieve a runny yolk with the the runny, yet opaque whites.  That proved to be harder to do with a rice cooker.  Either my whites were undercooked or my yolks were overcooked.  The temperature of the warm setting on my rice cooker was not up for the task.
So I decided to come up with my own stove top method for cooking a runny yolk onsen tamago.  This was even more trying than experimenting with a rice cooker.  I went through 5 eggs before I finally perfected the temperature and timing.





Stove Top Onsen Tamago Method:

Stove Top Method - 23 minutes 

Bring a pot halfway with water and bring to a boil.  Take pot off heat.  Bring egg to room temperature by running it under tap water.  Place egg in a bowl small enough to fit inside the pot with the lid on.  Place the bowl inside the pot and cover.  Depending on your elevation, the timing might have to be adjusted.  I found that cracking open the egg after 23 minutes works perfectly for me.  Add about 2 minutes for every additional egg, but do not try to make more than 3 at the same time.

Runny whites and runny yolk

Rice Cooker Method:

Rice Cooker method drizzled with soy sauce afterwards - 50 minutes

Cook rice in rice cooker.  Once rice cooker switches over to the Warm setting, rinse the egg under tap water to bring to room temperature and place on top of cooked rice in rice cooker.  The yolk should just start to set after about 50 minutes, but the whites should be cooked, yet still runny.