The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (35 page)
Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
CANNED CHIPOTLE CHILES
Canned chipotle chiles are jalapeños that have been ripened until red and then smoked and dried. They are sold as is or packed in a tomato-based sauce. We prefer the latter since they are already reconstituted by the sauce, making them easier to use. Most recipes don’t use an entire can, but these chiles can keep for two weeks in the refrigerator or they can be frozen. To freeze, puree the chiles and quick-freeze teaspoonfuls on a plastic wrap–covered plate. Once these “chipotle chips” are hard, peel them off the plastic and transfer them to a zipper-lock freezer bag. Then thaw what you need before use. They can be stored this way for up to two months.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
For an authentic-tasting Thai coconut soup without all the exotic ingredients, we began by making a rich base with chicken broth and coconut milk. Thai curry paste from the supermarket was an easy substitution for the assortment of obscure ingredients like kaffir lime leaves, galangal, and bird’s eye chiles used in from-scratch recipes. Pungent fish sauce and tart lime juice contributed the salty and sour flavors.
SERVES 6 TO 8
For a lighter soup, substitute light coconut milk for one or both cans of regular coconut milk. The fresh lemon grass can be omitted, but the soup will lack some complexity; don’t be tempted to use jarred or dried lemon grass, as their flavor is characterless. If you want a spicier soup, add more red curry paste to taste. For a more substantial meal, serve the soup over 2 to 3 cups of cooked jasmine rice.
SOUP
1 | teaspoon vegetable oil |
3 | lemon grass stalks, trimmed to bottom 6 inches, halved lengthwise and sliced thin crosswise |
3 | large shallots, chopped |
8 | sprigs fresh cilantro, chopped coarse |
3 | tablespoons fish sauce |
4 | cups low-sodium chicken broth |
2 | (14-ounce) cans coconut milk |
1 | tablespoon sugar |
8 | ounces white mushrooms, trimmed and sliced ¹⁄ |
1 | pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3 breasts), trimmed, halved lengthwise, and sliced on bias into ¹⁄ |
3 | tablespoons lime juice (2 limes) |
2 | teaspoons Thai red curry paste |
GARNISHES
¹⁄ | cup fresh cilantro leaves |
2 | serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, and sliced thin |
2 | scallions, sliced thin on bias |
Lime wedges |
1. FOR THE SOUP:
Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat until just shimmering. Add lemon grass, shallots, cilantro, and 1 tablespoon fish sauce and cook, stirring frequently, until lemon grass and shallots are just softened but not browned, 2 to 5 minutes.
2.
Stir in chicken broth and 1 can coconut milk and bring to simmer over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until flavors have blended, about 10 minutes. Pour broth through fine-mesh strainer and discard solids. Rinse saucepan and return broth mixture to pan.
3.
Stir remaining can coconut milk and sugar into broth mixture and bring to simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, add mushrooms, and cook until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add chicken and cook, stirring constantly, until no longer pink, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove soup from heat. Combine lime juice, curry paste, and remaining 2 tablespoons fish sauce in small bowl and stir into soup.
4. FOR THE GARNISH:
Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with cilantro, chiles, and scallions. Serve immediately with lime wedges.
TO MAKE AHEAD:
Soup can be prepared through step 1 and refrigerated for up to 1 day. Complete steps 2 through 4 immediately before serving, as the chicken and mushrooms can easily overcook.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Authentic versions of this soup call for ingredients like mustard pickle, pig’s-foot tendon, and dried sea cucumber. To get an authentically spicy, rich, and complex version that would use only ingredients from our local supermarket, we created a “hot” side for our soup using two heat sources—a full teaspoon of distinctive, penetrating white pepper and a little chili oil. To create the “sour” side, we preferred Chinese black vinegar but found a combination of balsamic and red wine vinegar to be an acceptable substitute. Cornstarch pulled triple duty, going into our slurry to thicken the soup, into the marinade to keep the meat tender, and getting beaten with the egg to keep the egg light, wispy, and cohesive. We settled on fresh shiitakes in lieu of wood ear mushrooms and canned bamboo shoots instead of lily buds.
SERVES 6 TO 8
To make slicing the pork chop easier, freeze it for 15 minutes. We prefer the distinctive flavor of Chinese black vinegar; look for it in Asian supermarkets. If you can’t find it, a combination of red wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar approximates its flavor. This soup is very spicy. For a less spicy soup, omit the chili oil altogether or add only 1 teaspoon. You can make your own
CHILI OIL
or use store-bought.
7 | ounces extra-firm tofu, drained |
¹⁄ | cup soy sauce |
1 | teaspoon toasted sesame oil |
3 | tablespoons plus 1¹⁄ |
1 | (6-ounce) boneless center-cut pork loin chop, ¹⁄ |
3 | tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cold water |
1 | large egg |
6 | cups low-sodium chicken broth |
1 | (5-ounce) can bamboo shoots, sliced lengthwise into ¹⁄ |
4 | ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced ¹⁄ |
5 | tablespoons black Chinese vinegar or 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar plus 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar |
2 | teaspoons chili oil |
1 | teaspoon ground white pepper |
3 | scallions, sliced thin |
1.
Place tofu in paper towel–lined pie plate, top with heavy plate, and weight with 2 heavy cans. Let tofu drain until it has released about ¹⁄
2
cup liquid, about 15 minutes.
2.
Whisk 1 tablespoon soy sauce, sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon cornstarch in medium bowl. Add pork to bowl, toss to coat, and let marinate for at least 10 minutes or up to 30 minutes.
3.
Combine 3 tablespoons cornstarch with 3 tablespoons water in small bowl. Mix remaining ¹⁄
2
teaspoon cornstarch with remaining 1 teaspoon water in second small bowl. Add egg and beat with fork until combined.
4.
Bring broth to boil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, add bamboo shoots and mushrooms, and simmer until mushrooms are just tender, about 5 minutes. While broth simmers, cut tofu into ¹⁄
2
-inch cubes. Add tofu and pork with its marinade, to pan, stirring to separate any pieces of pork that stick together. Continue to simmer until pork is no longer pink, about 2 minutes.
5.
Stir cornstarch mixture to recombine, then add to soup and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soup thickens and turns translucent, about 1 minute. Stir in vinegar, chili oil, pepper, and remaining 3 tablespoons soy sauce and turn off heat.
6.
Without stirring soup, use soupspoon to slowly drizzle very thin streams of egg mixture into pot in circular motion. Let soup sit 1 minute, then return saucepan to medium-high heat. Bring soup to gentle boil, then immediately remove from heat. Gently stir soup once to evenly distribute egg. Ladle soup into bowls, top with scallions, and serve.
OTHER USES FOR CORNSTARCH
Most cooks keep a box of cornstarch on hand for a single purpose: thickening. So did we—until we noticed that cornstarch was working its magic in other ways as well. Adding just 1 teaspoon of cornstarch to a pork marinade helped the marinade to cling to and coat the meat during cooking, creating a protective sheath that slowed the inevitable rise in temperature that separates moist, tender pork from dry, chalky pork jerky. Predictably, adding cornstarch to soup thickens it, but in our Hot and Sour Soup, we also found that adding just ¹⁄
2
teaspoon of cornstarch to the egg that’s drizzled into the soup at the end of cooking had a tenderizing effect. Cornstarch stabilizes liquid proteins when they’re heated, staving off excessive shrinkage and contraction, so the egg cooked up lighter and softer.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
For a beef and vegetable soup that we could make in just an hour, we turned to quick-cooking, richly flavored sirloin tip steaks and doctored store-bought broth with a few of the test kitchen’s favorite ingredients for accentuating meatiness: mushrooms, tomato paste, soy sauce, and red wine. To give our quick version the rich texture of a long-simmered soup, we added a tablespoon of gelatin softened in cold water, which provided the body typically lent by gelatin released from the beef bones in a traditional recipe.
SERVES 6
Choose whole sirloin tip steaks over ones that have been cut into small pieces, often labeled for stir-fries. If sirloin tip steaks are unavailable, substitute blade or flank steak, removing any hard gristle or excess fat. White mushrooms can be used in place of the cremini. Feel free to add 1 cup of frozen peas, frozen corn, or frozen cut green beans during the last 5 minutes of cooking. For a heartier soup, add 10 ounces of red potatoes, cut into ¹⁄
2
-inch pieces (2 cups), during the last 15 minutes of cooking.
1 | pound sirloin tip steaks, trimmed and cut into ¹⁄ |
2 | tablespoons soy sauce |
1 | teaspoon vegetable oil |
1 | pound cremini mushrooms, trimmed and quartered |
1 | large onion, chopped |
2 | tablespoons tomato paste |
1 | garlic clove, minced |
¹⁄ | cup red wine |
4 | cups beef broth |
1³⁄ | cups low-sodium chicken broth |
4 | carrots, peeled and cut into ¹⁄ |
2 | celery ribs, cut into ¹⁄ |
1 | bay leaf |
1 | tablespoon unflavored gelatin |
¹⁄ | cup cold water |
2 | tablespoons minced fresh parsley |
Salt and pepper |
1.
Combine beef and soy sauce in medium bowl. Let sit for 15 minutes.
2.
Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add mushrooms and onion and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is browned, 8 to 12 minutes. Transfer vegetables to bowl.
3.
Add beef and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid evaporates and meat starts to brown, 6 to 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and garlic to pot and cook, stirring constantly, until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Stir in wine, scraping bottom of pot with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits, and cook until liquid reduces and becomes syrupy, 1 to 2 minutes.
4.
Add beef broth, chicken broth, carrots, celery, bay leaf, and browned mushrooms and onion ginto pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until vegetables and meat are tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat and remove and discard bay leaf.
5.
Meanwhile, sprinkle gelatin over cold water and allow to soften 5 minutes. Add gelatin mixture to pot with soup and stir until completely dissolved. Stir in parsley, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.