SnackBar
I’ve been wandering the world recently, doing Yemen one day, hopping over to Japan the next, and sometimes experiencing both cultures in one dish. The kitchen is magical that way. Slow-simmering lamb stock dyed bright yellow by turmeric will fill the room with heady heat for an afternoon; the sudden sharp tang of yuzu oil tickles the memory of polished wooden counters; a whiff of whiskey seeps out of the whipped cream just to remind you how ridiculously rich and over the top the world can be. Yemeni maraq broth, yuzu soused fava, and classic tiramisu were all part of the travel plan, but the real journey begins after all that is done and eaten.
Cooking with a fully-stocked fridge is fun, but nothing’s quite like the adventure of figuring what to make with one lonely poblano, half a carton of mascarpone, a fistful of day-old rice, and a couple of forgotten cans dug up from the back of the pantry. Sometimes I feel like I’m playing the last letter game (shiritori for those who play it in Japanese), where the next word must begin with the last letter of the previous word. I cook my meals with the endings of previous one, linking them up like a daisy chain, which can go on for a week or so.
This week’s leftover cycle began with reusing the maraq lamb stock to make a Middle Eastern ochazuke, a traditional Japanese dish that usually means green tea over rice with pickles. My version was halal lamb stock poured over a grilled rice ball, mixed with fava beans, cilantro, and a generous squeeze of lime—tasty. The next day, the left over rice was stir-fried with onions, garlic, and canned crab (yuck, no wonder I never buy this stuff). The canned crab was pretty terrible, and I had to add a big pinch of garam masala and stir in a dollop of mascarpone to make it palatable. This now creamy mix got stuffed into a char-grilled poblano and topped with a good amount of whole-grain mustard. Grilled pepper is meltingly sweet, and this one packed a surprising amount of heat for a poblano, making it was absolutely contradictory and delicious. Dismal crab was rescued from the brink of foulness, and I quite enjoyed this new creation. Next time I may try the stuffing again with an oily fish, or perhaps with octopus, which would be amazing in terms of texture. This is how new worlds are discovered.
The recycling of leftover continues still. I had some curry crab mascarpone mix left over, which went into a potato salad with sardines, capers, a small hill of dill, and mounds of tangy mustard. The next step will probably be smashed potato pancakes with carrot green pesto (all the actual carrots were eaten days ago). But who knows, maybe I’ll finally go grocery shopping again—the tea and coffee jars are running low.
If you have any comments, suggestions, questions, or other tasty tidbits, contact DuanDuan at SnackBar.Kitchen@gmail.com.
