Weekend Cooking/Cook the Books Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

 

When this book was chosen as the current selection for Cook the Books I was curious but wasn't sure what to expect. After all, I had no idea who Michelle Zauner is, let alone what a H Mart is! So first things first, Michelle Zauner is an indie musician who is part of a band called Japanese Breakfast. She originally published an essay called Crying in H Mart. That essay in effect became the first chapter of this book, which is an examination of grief following the loss of her Korean mother. Other topics covered include her search for her own Korean identity given that her mother is Korean and her father is white American.

As for a H Mart, that is a Korean supermarket, usually located on the outskirts of towns, where there  are often restaurants. The supermarkets are filled with the ingredients that remind immigrants of home.

Michelle had a very interesting relationship with her mother. Whilst she hated that her mother had very definite ideas of how she should behave and dress, what she should do with her life, and she rebelled against it, she also looked for validation from her. They were sufficiently close that when her mother became ill Michelle dropped everything to go and look after her. The devastation that the aggressive cancer diagnosis for Michelle's mother, and Michelle watching the decline of her mother was very clear.  I wouldn't be able to do this with my mother, both because of our distant relationship (physical and emotional) and not being able to deal with the physical aspects of such a diagnosis and treatment.

When she was younger, Michelle and her mother used to travel to Korea on holidays, and part of the question for Michelle is how does she maintain those relationships. I have gotten this far in my review and realised that I have not once referred to Michelle's mother by her name, Chongmi, which seems a bit of an oversight. And to be honest, it feels a lot like this in the book too. There were times when I was emotionally affected by the book but there were other times when I found Michelle to be a bit juvenile.

I did find the search for a sense of identity quite interesting, especially given that my own son's heritage is part Afro-Caribbean and part Australian. As far as I know he isn't particularly interested in that side of his identity, but I am also aware that could change at some point.

I was also saddened by the strained relationship with her father. Even watching her mother die did not bring them closer together. Given that I was in Perth just last week spreading my father's ashes after her passed away last year, I did feel that. Then again, I am always emotionally affected by father daughter stories because of the relationship that we had.

One of the things that I enjoyed was when Michelle Zauner started trying to learn to cook more Korean food by watching Youtube videos from a person called Maangchi. I have now gone down a bit of a rabbit hole watching Maangchi's videos. We are heading to Japan and Korea next year on a cruise and I am enjoying seeing some of the foods that we might be able to explore while we are there.  Between the Youtube channel and all the food references in the book, there is plenty for us to explore.

When it came to choosing a recipe, I have a Korean cookbook called Rice Table: Korean Recipes and Stories to Feed the Soul which I bought last year. Interestingly this book is the author trying to find her Korean identity through the exploration of Korean food after living in the UK away from her family for 20 years. She then becomes the mother of a Korean/British child and is trying to share her heritage, so there are definitely some differences but yet some similarities between the themes of the two books.

We have tried a couple of recipes from this book, including a delicious roasted baby potato with soy sauce and cheese recipe. I really need to make those again. 

However, this time I chose to take inspiration from a very popular Korean dish, Kimchi, to make a version of fried rice. This does feel as though it could be a great recipe to adapt, either by adding tuna as suggested, or adding in some chicken or some other protein.

I did have a Korean workmate who suggested that this recipe was overly complicating things and all you really needed was some rice, some kimchi and some tuna and you had a delicious lunch, but we definitely enjoyed this when we made it, and it is an easy mid-week meal. I could have been a bit braver when it comes to creating the crust, but I am also aware that our non stick frying pan is not as non stick as it used to be and I need to be a bit careful with it

I didn't have any Gochujang so I subbed in a small amount of Sriracha. We have also run out of nduja paste. I only know of one place where we can get it so next time I am in the area I will drop in and get more.

Midnight Kimchi Fried Rice 

Serves 2

1½ tbsp vegetable oil
200g (7oz) kimchi, roughly chopped
1 tsp golden granulated sugar
70g (2½oz) ’nduja (cured pork spread)
1 tbsp mirin
300g (10½oz/2½ cups) cooked white short-grain rice
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp gochujang (Korean red chilli paste)
1 tsp oyster sauce
¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper

To finish

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 eggs
2 tbsp gim jaban (crumbled toasted seasoned seaweed)
2 tsp toasted sesame oil



Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan (skillet) over a medium heat. Add the kimchi and sugar and sauté for 3 minutes to soften the kimchi. Stir in the ’nduja and mirin and cook for 1 minute to incorporate. Stir in the rice followed by the soy sauce, gochujang, oyster sauce and black pepper. Continue frying for 3–5 minutes.

Reduce the heat and, using the back of a spatula or a large wooden spoon, spread the rice thinly and evenly around the pan, while pressing down quite firmly. Let it sit over a low heat for 3 minutes without disturbing the pan to form a light crust. Remove the pan from the heat after 3 minutes. Let it sit for a couple of minutes.

Meanwhile, to fry the eggs, heat the olive oil in a frying panfor a couple of minutes over a medium heat. You want the oil to get nice and hot but not smoking, so that when you crack the eggs in they sizzle. Crack the eggs in, ensuring they are not too close together. Let them fry for 2 minutes without touching. After 2 minutes, tilt the pan slightly away from you to pool the oil and carefully baste around any whites that still appear raw. Keep the yolk nice and runny. You should have perfectly fried eggs with a crispy edge. Remove from the heat.

Serve the rice immediately, topped with the eggs and crumbled seaweed and drizzled with the sesame oil. Eat straight from the pan to scrape off the caramelized rice at the bottom.

I am also counting this book for Non Fiction November, and will be sharing the link with Foodies Read hosted at Based on a True Story.  This book also fits the theme for my read on a theme book club. This time the theme is food/cooking 

The next selection for Cook the Books will be Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang. This sounds like it is going to be another book where I am going to be a bit outside my comfort zone, but that's okay. Hopefully I will get that review up a bit before the last possible day! Today is the last day for the contributions for this selection!

Weekly meals

Saturday - Away
Sunday - Away
Monday - Pork chops, mash, broccoli and gravy
Tuesday - Beef and beans stir fry
Wednesday - Kimchi Fried Rice
Thursday -
Friday -

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: Sift: The Elements of Great Baking by Nicola Lamb

 

When Jamie Oliver announced this book as the November selection for his Cook Book club, my initial reaction was do I really want another baking book to sit on the shelves. To be fair, I think that most months and then I end up buying the book anyway, which is what happened with this one. It turns out that this is a baking book that I needed! Not just wanted...needed.

The structure of this book is quite unusual. The first third of the book is all about techniques and ingredients, and really gets into the details. Then there is a chapter which is the base recipes, and then we get to recipes at around page 140.

You may wonder what on earth there is to talk about in 140 pages before you get to recipes. I promise you, there's a lot. For example, in the chapter about flour, Lamb gives us an explanation about what a wheat kernel consists of, about the development of gluten, about the role of starch and more. Similarly, in the section about sugar, we get descriptions of the role of sugar and what happens when you add sugar and water together and then about adding salt to the equation. There are also chapters about eggs, fats, how things rise (for example in pastry) and so much more. It's often said that baking is a scientific and this is where we have the opportunity to learn the science.

The base recipes provided including meringues, choux, craquelin, brioche and so much more. 

When it comes to the recipes, I love how the author not only gives you the recipe but she also points you back to the reference section. For example, in the recipe I have shared below, she points us to the base choux bun recipe for the technique of making the choux. She also tells us that the techniques we are using are Starch Gelatinisation and Egg Coagulation, along with the page numbers where we can find the information. In other words, she is always pointing us back to the science. It's very clever and I've never seen a book laid out in exactly this way.

Even the way that the recipes are grouped together is different. They are sorted into 3 different sections. The first is recipes that you can make in an afternoon. The next group can be made in a day and the final group are recipes that are more complicated and that you can make in a weekend, including a wide range of different viennoiserie. An example of a recipe that could be made in the weekend is Tiramichoux, which is choux buns with craquelin that is then filled with mascarpone custard, salted brown butter coffee sauce and even has a savoirdi biscuit in it. There is a summary which talks about what you can do on Day 1 and how long it should take, and then what you should on Day 2.

When I went through the recipes there were many which I wanted to make but the four that stood out the most were:

Brown Sugar Custard Tart

Rhubarb and Custard Crumb Cake

Secret Chocolate Cake

Mango Shortcake with Candied Lime. 

Oh, and there are some savoury recipes as well.

One of the cool things in the book is right at the back where there is something called the Matrix of Joy. The idea is that it is a table with various techniques on the vertical and other recipes from the book on the horizontal, and that by looking at the various intersections tells you how you can combine the two to come up with something new. For example, by combining choux buns with a pastry cream, you now have Custard Choux Buns or by combining Puff Pastry with Frangipane, then you now can create Galette des Rois.

The one recipe that I kept coming back to over and over was the Plum and Mascarpone Karpatka, which is also known as a Polish Mountain Cake so that is what I have been making today. All the components are now cooling and once I have put it all together I will add a picture. 

I will say that I had to use canned whole plums, as it is not plum season here.

Update - this was so delicious! Thumbs up from the husband.

Plum and Mascarpone Karpatka (Polish Mountain Cake)

Choux base

65g whole milk
65g water
65g butter
15g caster sugar

90g self-raising flour or 90g plain flour with 4g baking powder

150g–175g whole eggs (about 3)

3g flaky sea salt (about 1 tsp)

Stewed plums

250g plums, stoned
70g water
60g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, spent (optional)
5g cornflour (about 1½ tsp)


Mascarpone custard

300g whole milk
1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk (75g total)
60g caster sugar
30g cornflour
2 tsp good quality vanilla extract
250g mascarpone, at room temp

Instructions:

For the choux, preheat the oven to 210°C/190°C fan. Make the choux according to the master choux method on page 136, (traditional choux method) adding the baking powder in with the flour if using plain flour.

Line the two tins with baking paper at the bottom only. Spread 200–225g of choux paste in each tin, leaving the top slightly rough and wavy and using a palette knife to help. If you only have one tin, bake one at a time.

Bake for 35–40 minutes until well peaked, golden and crisp. Leave to cool completely in the tins on a cooling rack, then remove.

For the plums, cut the plums into six. In a small saucepan, combine the plums with 50g of the water, the sugar and vanilla. Heat over a medium heat, occasionally stirring so the plums are well coated. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer, reduce the heat to low and cover the saucepan with a lid. Steam for 4–5 minutes. If the plums are still firm, cook for a further 2 minutes. Mix the cornflour with the remaining water to create a slurry, then stir into the hot liquid. Bring to a bubble so it thickens. Pour into a clean container and leave to cool.

For the mascarpone custard, heat the milk until simmering. Meanwhile, whisk together the whole egg, egg yolk, sugar, cornflour and vanilla. Pour the hot milk over the egg mixture whilst whisking constantly to temper, then return the custard to the stovetop. Cook for 3–4 minutes over a medium heat until boiling, whisking the whole time. Pour into a clean container, then set aside to cool and gelatinise – make sure you put clingfilm or baking paper on the surface so it doesn't form a skin. You want it to be totally cold and firm before continuing with this recipe.

Beat the mascarpone until smooth – it does have a tendency to be a bit lumpy, so you just have to be prepared to work it. Once that’s ready, set aside and beat the custard until smooth and no longer jelly-like. The easiest way to do this is in a stand mixer bowl if you have one.

Now, fold/mix the two together - it should make a very thick cream. You can also do this in your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Leave it in the fridge until ready to join.

To assemble, line one of the cake tins with acetate or baking paper. This will help you get a smooth edge. Place your less cute choux disc in the base. Pile in half of the mascarpone custard, then spread the stewed plums on top. Top with the other half of the custard. Place the most mountainous choux disc on top. All the cake to settle/reset by resting it in the fridge for at least an hour.

Before serving, remove the cake from the tin and dust with icing sugar. It will keep in the fridge for 3 days and will get softer over time.

Note from the author

You can also use your favourite jam in the middle of this! Thanks to Marta Beimin, who makes the most stunning Karpatkas, for inspiring the juicy stewed plums in this recipe!

Weekly meals

Saturday - Butter chicken
Sunday - 
Monday - Honey Pepper Chicken (new)
Tuesday -
Wednesday -Pork Nachos
Thursday -Pork chops, mash, broccoli and gravy
Friday - Leftovers

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page