Wok Wednesdays: Salt & Pepper Dry-Fried Salmon

I know. The Wok Wednesday recipe this time is Salt & Pepper Dry-Fried Shrimp, but we keep a Kosher home. I almost skipped making this dish. The dish is a dry stir-fry and there are few ingredients so it seemed to me that the flavor of the shrimp would be intensified.  The question then is what would be a good substitute.  Tofu is bland, making it wonderful for taking on the flavors of sauces and marinades, but for this dish?  Probably not a good idea.  Beef might work well, but we don't eat a lot of red meat and when we do, my family wants large portions.  In the end, I chose salmon. It's a flavorful fish and would benefit from this simple dish. 

In Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge,  Grace Young explains how to prep the fish for stir frying so that it doesn't fall apart. Velveting is a technique to protect the fish from drying out. You briefly marinate the fish in egg-white, rice wine and cornstarch followed by blanching in hot water. You also use a delicate hand when stir-frying so the fish doesn't fall apart. Grace says "The term stir-frying is more suggestive..." when talking about fish. 

This recipe also calls for Sichuan peppercorns.  When we made Kung Pao chicken, I limited my shopping to the major grocery chains and none of them carried the pink peppercorns. I ended up using a peppercorn medley.  Having read so much about other Wok Wednesday bloggers who raved about the real deal, I went to a local Asian grocery. I found a 4 oz. bag of Sze Chuan Pepper at a very reasonable price. The only thing that gave me pause was the warning on the back of the bag. Don't eat raw. Rinse under running tap water for 5 minutes and then boil for 30 minutes.   Excuse me?  Are you serious?  Am I going to suffer awful consequences for not following these instructions exactly? 

In the end, I compromised. I rinsed the peppers for 5 minutes, but then dried them, took off the tiny stems and dry roasted them for a few minutes. I'm not sorry to have my peppercorn medley, but the Sichuan peppercorns are a revelation and only a little goes a very long way. The salmon flavor was delicious and I will be making this dish again.

To see how others enjoyed this dish check out Wok Wednesdays.  You are always welcome to join in the fun. We have decided not to publish the recipes on-line, but you can borrow or buy the book. It's well worth it.  



TWD & BWJ: Pizza Rustica

 Between the hand mixed crust and my first attempt at a lattice crust, my pizza was quite rustic looking.  Our baking hosts for this treat are Emily and Raelynn.  Follow their links to find the recipe.  Or alternately, buy or borrow the book, Baking with Julia.

I usually try to stick to the recipes as they are written. Because I keep a kosher kitchen, I knew from the get-go that I would have to substitute a vegetable or two for the prosciutto. The rules of keeping kosher forbid the use of any pork or the mixing of meat and milk products. Many fellow TWD bloggers had some excellent suggestions for veggie substitutes. In the end, I went with sauteed sweet onions and roasted red peppers because I like them and they were close at hand.

I was worried about the sweetness of the crust. I am not usually a sweet & salty girl and I wasn't at all sure how this would play with the family. I thought about taking out the sugar or at least cutting the amount, but because part of the BWJ challenge is trying new recipes, what would be the point?  I would try the sweet crust and if I didn't like it, so be it.  I could change it the next time.

I have to say I loved, loved, loved this crust.  It's the best crust I've ever made. Eventhough I don't own a food processor, this was easy enough to make by hand. My older daughter thought the sweet crust complimented the savory filling, but my husband thought the crust was too sweet. At first, I wasn't crazy about the sweet/savory combo. But when I had leftovers cold the next day, I thought the sweet crust complemented the savory very well. Maybe it has to do with the temperature of the pizza. I will definitely be making this again.