Knife Skills: Pinch and Claw

Chad Ward, author of An Edge in the Kitchen, a book on knife sharpening and such has helpful video on a basic technique of knife skills. 

There are a few other knife grips and techniques to cover in other posts, but most of the chopping done for cooking, Chinese cooking especially, this is how it's done. The technique is the same for the cleaver-style Chinese chef's knife as well. 

Watch Martin Yan carefully in this video. You'll notice he does the same Pinch grip. But he tends  to move much faster. He's chatty for a while, but he gets there.

The pinch grip is about control and precision. It's usually a slow process for a home cook to pick up get as fast and precise as these videos. Home cook's simply don't prepare enough food to develop the skill quickly. That's OK. Stick with it and it will come. The benefits are better looking food that cooks properly, as well as efficiency with the tools and less waste. 

I want to compare how classic French technique uses this skill with how a home cook can use a variation that's particularly helpful for Chinese cooking. 

The Julienne cut.

In French technique and fine dining, the julienne cut is much like an even match stick, something also referenced frequently in cutting meat and vegetables for the wok. 

The French square off the section of carrot. The sides should be saved in a freezer bag for stock, don't waste them. Or snack on them. 

Make even perpendicular cuts through the block to form even planks. As you get close to the other side, it can be hard to hold. Lightly pinch the whole block of cut and uncut carrot together and make the last few cuts.

Stack the planks together horizontally and cut through evenly again as before.

These are ready to use as julienne carrots. If you want to go one step further, you could cut across your sticks into an even cube the french call Brunoise. I want a piece of carrot similar in size to a grain of cooked long grain rice. Make those cuts, a sort of stubby julienne. There will be a little extra most likely to trim off the last section. Again, those are saved in your freezer bag for stock.

A simpler technique but not as exact is to cut the carrot on the diagonal. Shingle the slices together. They should be mostly shingled from your cutting process. Shingling the carrots gives the efficiency of the stacked cut, but in a line that is more stable all the way to the last cut on a thin carrot or two.

Chop the shingled carrots again for match sticks. With my skills, its not as precise as the french technique, but much much faster.

This works for most vegetables you want in this shape. The primary exception is onion. That's a topic for another time.

A final few slices for rice grain size pieces. It's not as precise, but if I need higher precision cuts for a formal occasion, I know how to do that too.

And here's the carrot in some fried rice. 

Chinese Steamed Fish

This is a great dish of simple, elegant, outstanding flavors.

If you haven't had a fish steamed in the Chinese style you should definitely order one at a restaurant. Sadly in my experience, they're usually on the menu reserved for the Asians or in a special section of authentic dishes, and then in a dinner for 4-6 at that. It deserves to be readily available on the menu.

Jaden Hair of the Steamy Kitchen Blog has already written an entertaining recipe for steamed fish that really works. She takes a few extra steps that keep the flavors bright and up front.  Of note are two batches of aromatics and two batches of seasoning. One set of aromatics and seasoning is used at the start, then discarded when the cooking is done. Then the fish is hit with a batch of fresh seasonings just before serving.

Recipe link one more time just to be clear:
Steamed Fish of the Steamy Kitchen Blog

The bamboo steamers are usually too small to hold a fish of any common size. You could cut it up, but part of the enjoyment of this dish is the drama of a cooked whole fish.  A 12" or larger steamer is useful here, but you can adapt a wok to the job. I used a 2 tier 30cm steamer, two filets in each layer.

Over your boiling water, lay bamboo, wood or steel chopsticks in a tic-tac-toe pattern in the wok.

Set a heat proof plate on top of the chopsticks. Glass, stoneware, ceramic will all work fine for this. Be careful not to jostle the wok while steaming this way as the set up tilts easily.

Cover with the lid and start timing it.

Don't use plastic or melamine chopsticks as they'll soften under the heat. The bamboo chopsticks may well warp after a few uses too.

If you're not near a vendor of whole fish in a size or variety that works for you, fillets or frozen pieces work just fine.

We enjoyed some tilapia fillets this way tonight.

Not everyone in my family enjoys cilantro so I omitted that aromatic.  Even without the cilantro, you really should try this dish.

Turkey Tamales

This is one of my preferred uses for leftover turkey. How your turkey was seasoned and cooked is not a huge factor in the result but latin flavors in the first cooking of the turkey are a nice touch too. Turkey is worth cooking all year, not just at the holidays so you can experiment with different flavors and preparations.

Tamales include a few sub-recipes unless you can find some of it pre-made for you. You need to make a chile sauce to flavor the filling, and you need to make masa. If you have a preferred Mexican style chile sauce, use it.

Red Chile Sauce

1 tablespoon each ground California Chile, ground New Mexico Chile, Guajillo Chile. You can use other combinations of chiles to your taste preference of course.  I have to make my own ground guajillo chile from whole dried guajillos. You can see it's not as finely ground as the commercially ground chiles.
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds

Grind these seasonings together. It's OK to use preground cumin and coriander though the flavor is more distinct if you grind them yourself. Mortar and pestle the whole seeds is a fine technique. I've taken to using a cheap propeller coffee grinder for grinding whole spices and making such blends as this.

Spices in my grinder:

Spices after grinding:

4 medium onions chopped
10 cloves garlic sliced thinly
2 tablespoons bacon drippings or olive oil or a combination
2 1/2 cups turkey or chicken stock.

Melt the bacon fat over medium high heat in a large pan. Yes, you can use most any fat for this.

Add the chile spice mixture and stir to bloom its flavors in the hot fat, about 60 seconds.

When it's fully aromatic and blended with  the fat,

then add the onion and garlic.

Saute for a few minutes, to soften the onion.

Then add the turkey stock to cover the solids. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer.

Simmer 20 minutes.

 Scoop out the solids and puree. I use a hand blender.

Return the puree to the pan. I didn't puree in the pan because it would have splattered badly and the contents weren't deep enough to puree well and evenly. You can use a food processor or blender for this step too, whatever is most convenient for you.

Add 28 oz canned crushed tomatoes.

Combine, simmer another 20-30 minutes stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, soak a package of corn husks in hot water. And cut/pull your turkey into shreds. 

 Simmering away, be sure to stir it so you don't scorch your solids.

 It should be a nicely thickened sauce at the end.

For this batch, i was able to pick up a bag of tamale masa at a latin grocer. While convenient, when you purchase your masa pre-made, you don't have control over things like how much fat they used. Commercial masa has all been very fatty in my experience compared to when I make my own.

Husks on the left, masa in back, chile sauce up front, shredded turkey on the right.

I like to work on a dish towel or paper towel to absorb the water from the corn husk. Lay the husk out flat. The husk should be at least 6 inches wide on the trimmed end. Pick off any corn silk adhering to the husk.

Pull out about a 1/4 cup of masa.

Press it out into a square about 4 inches on a side and about 1/8 of an inch thick. I had some extra masa leftover which you can see at the bottom. I'll use that on the next tamale. Leave about 1/2 inch of space at the trimmed end of the husk. Certainly, you can make longer tamales if you have a longer wrapper.

Spoon on a generous tablespoon or so of chile sauce. More sauce is better than less and provides the moisture for this dish.  Darn the flash on my camera!

Top evenly with a layer of turkey.

Add on a little more chile sauce. Tamales tend to be on the dry side so plenty of sauce makes a better tamale.

 
Fold the edges of the masa together.

Continue rolling to cover the edge. A little sauce leaking out is not a problem.

Fold the bottom up against the tamale filling.  Yes, I prefer to make these with gloves on. Dries out my skin otherwise. You can tie the fold to hold it with string or a strip of corn husk, but it's not really needed.

Simply load the tamale into your steamer insert so that the tamale holds the fold in place. I have the steamer resting on its side so that gravity holds everything in place.

Repeat. You'll have some husks that aren't quite big enough for a tamale by themselves. Simply overlap the husks somewhat and 'glue' it in place when you spread out your masa.

Here is my pasta insert being filled with tamales to steam.  Lay it on its side as it gets filled up.  This way the tamales don't tip over and you can arrange them to hold themselves closed. You don't want to pack it tightly. You want some gaps for steam to move around the tamales.

And up right now that it's full and the tamales won't tip over.

Masa is just about gone as is the chile sauce. Turkey is all used up.

Add water to your pots to come up close to but not touching the steamer insert. You may need to add water to your pot during cooking if you can't hold at least 1 1/2 inches of water in the bottom.

Here is the steamer basket for my pressure cooker filled with tamales. Notice that the tamales are right up near the rim of my pressure cooker. The first time I steamed tamales in this pressure cooker, the masa rose up and blew through the steam release valve. I pack this steamer more carefully now and with a greater clearance near the pressure release.

Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat to just hold the boil. Or with  a pressure cooker, bring it up to pressure, then reduce heat to just hold the pressure.

Cook in a standard pot for 45-60 minutes. 30 minutes in a pressure is sufficient. Other types of fillings and masa may have different cooking times. 

 All done. You can see how the masa expands as it cooks.

 Same for the pressure cooker.

Ready to eat. Hmm, I need better lighting.

 Unwrap the tamale and discard the husk.

Yummy.

Jacques and Julia do a Turkey

I saw this episode for the first time on PBS last year. Nicko Sahlas of Cheftalk had talked about the technique and when I saw it done, it resonated with me.

For now at least, it happens to be on Youtube and you should watch it.

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afdh_i3Kmy0

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDHiS5ivkN8

But if you just watch the video, you don't really get much information about time and temperature and so forth. Because the bird is disassembled, it cooks in about half the time which is very convenient.

The Washington Post has the recipe and some good backstory as well.  The first page is about the episode, the second page has the recipe. J & J had only talked about cooking the bird in parts. They had no recipe, they hadn't even done it before. This is being done just on straight technique and understanding of cooking on camera without a net.

I've not followed their specific recipe. The last few times I've cooked a turkey, I did it in parts this way with the legs stuffed and the stuffing under the breast. But I used my own preferred recipes for stuffing and such.

One thing I do particularly like about this technique is that you have enough parts (back, wing tips, thigh bones, neck) to make a small batch of turkey stock the day before you cook the bird. This is helpful for gravy, stuffing, basting and so on. And you still have the main carcass for making turkey soup after the holiday meal.

It's a little more work up front, but it pays dividends at meal time and lessens the hectic cooking on the main day.

Fish Sauces Compared

After encountering the Red Boat fish sauce I did some more reading to learn what I could about fish sauce. Vietworldkitchen is probably the single best source and I've linked her more useful posts below.

• Sodium Benzoate in Fish Sauce
• Fish Sauce Buying Guide
• 3 Crabs Tasting
• Megachef Premium Fish Sauce
• Red Boat, IHA and Megachef

Viet Huong makes 3 crabs, 5 crabs and some other fish sauces. They have a different take on protein and what makes a fish sauce premium. 

• http://www.viethuong.com.hk/qanda.html 

Of course it's geared to reflect their fish sauce as best, but even still, it's a counterpoint to consider.

As °N  (dam according to Veitworldkitchen) is supposed to relate to the protein content of the fish sauce, it was revealing to look at the listed protein grams per tablespoon in the nutritional analysis panel.  Red Boat 40 ° showed 4g/tablespoon. The IHA & Megachef 3g/tablespoon, 3 crabs 2g/tablespoon and the unknown brand 60°N 1g/tablespoon. Pricing follows similarly. The higher the protein/tablespoon, the higher the price generally with 60°N not conforming. But I suspect its label is wrong.  I would expect a linear relationship between the protein/tablespoon and the dam number. Rounding rules for the nutritional panel might be to blame, as well as incorrect panel info.

Visiting a number of the Asian grocers I assembled 5 fish sauces to compare against each other, mostly based on recommendations from Vietworldkitchen. Every store carried 3 Crabs, and Red Boat. The IHA was only at Hong Phat, and Tay Do had the Megachef and the 60°N sauce.

The recipe for fish sauce is pretty simple. 3 parts fresh anchovies, 1 part salt. Some fish sauces have other ingredients, often a little sugar for example.


3 Crabs 

Ingredients: Anchovy Extract, Water, Salt Fructose and Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein
Sodium per Tablespoon: 1800 mg
Protein per Tablespoon: 2 grams

Tasted Straight
Strong, harsh a little fishy, has a forward strong flavor impact and a hint of old fish to the aroma and taste. It's a few flavor notes played loudly. My son loves the strength of this straight.

Nuoc cham
Punchy,  with the a sort of fish breath finish.  Disliked by my son on goi cuon. Liked best by second son and my wife. They liked the punch and strength. Wife commented this would be the fish sauce she'd like for pho.

Among my friends, the one who cooks with fish sauce the most and uses 3 Crabs, he picked this and the IHA as his favorite.  The others placed this in the middle of the pack.

Pho
Only tested with my family. My family zeroed in quickly on 3 Crabs sample as their preferred flavor. It's certainly the flavor they're most familiar with which I think was what made this popular.

I have to say I'm disappointed in the ingredients list as well representing more of a fabricated product rather than a simply fermented one. 3 Crabs is a product of Thailand and Hong Kong.


Red Boat 

Ingredients: Anchovy, Sea Salt
Sodium per Tablespoon: 1490 mg
Protein per Tablespoon: 4 grams

Tasted straight
Better, fuller, richer, parmesan cheese notes in the finish. Has a more mouth filling flavor with greater complexity. It's more of a harmony of flavors.  Son likes this too straight but prefers 3 crabs for the salt and strength impact.

Nuoc Cham
Subtle, but again mouth filling, lime finish. May need a little more fish sauce to balance better, but it's pretty close as it is.  Was OK to my second sone and wife. Wife commented on the fuller flavor but liked punch more from 3 Crabs.  This was my favorite

Among my friends, this was selected as best by most of them. And as second/third by the 3 Crabs fan depending how you score his tie for first.

Pho
My son who loves fish sauce picked this as his second favorite. I liked it best. The other three of my family scored it in fourth place. It is a different sort of fish sauce if you've been using one brand faithfully for years.

And it's one actually made in Phu Quoc in the traditional fashion as shown by the simple ingredients.

IHA

Ingredients:  Anchovy Fish, Salt, Water
Sodium per Tablespoon: 1730 mg
Protein per Tablespoon: 3 grams

IHA was liked pretty well.

Tasted Straight
IHA is very similar to Megachef, but preferred to the Megachef. Balanced, pleasing. Of all of them, this is the only one I could call light and delicate as Vietworldkitchen did of 3 Crabs brand.

Nuoc Cham
It's not assertive as 3 Crabs or 60N but more so than Megachef. Subtle, pleasant notes were observed in general, but it was just high-middle rated.

Pho
Generally scoring second among the family, it lacked the impact of 3 crabs or Red Boat, or certainly the  60°.

IHA has the ingredients right and is alleged to be from Phu Quoc, but I haven't been able to back up that claim.

MegaChef

Ingredients: Anchovy, Sea Salt, Sugar, Fructose
Sodium per Tablespoon: 1520 mg
Protein per Tablespoon: 3 grams

Tasted straight
Much like the IHA, it's well balanced. Perhaps a little fishier.

Nuoc Cham
Innocuous, certainly  enjoyable, but doesn't stand out in any way. Even less distinctive than the IHA.

Pho,
Megachef struggled here against the richer flavors and variety of flavors. it wasn't disliked, it just didn't stand out again.

I'm thinking the added sugars with the slightly lower sodium didn't help here. It cut the impact too much. Megachef is a Thai brand.


T&T 60°N

I don't know the brand of this sauce, the label isn't clear that way. I bought it for the label of 60° N. It's made by T&T Co., LTD.

Ingredients: Fish Sauce, Water, Salt
Sodium per Tablespoon: 490 mg (I don't believe this, it's probably more like 1490)
Protein per Tablespoon: 1 gram

Tasted Straight
VERY STRONG, balance is off, strong aged cheese notes in the finish, a little fishy

Nuoc Cham
Darker than the others, stronger impact. Not disliked, but tended towards the bottom of every one's ranking except one, who scored it second. She liked the strength.

Pho
Again, not really disliked but scored at the bottom of everyone's rankings. It's just overly assertive.

This was the most expensive of the Fish Sauces I bought. The labeling is odd and the Nutritional Analysis is a typo or fiction. The ingredients list is similarly odd. Still, I'm inclined to believe it has a high °N based on the the intensity and similarities with Red Boat in the cheesy finish. But if it does have the high °N, then why is the Protein so low? The labeling is questionable and the overall flavor balance isn't there for me. Purported to be a product of Veit Nam.


Conclusion

3 Crabs was preferred by my family. Outside of my family, but including myself, the testers liked Red Boat. The testing seemed to show that if you've been using a particular brand for while, you'll have some tendency to prefer that in the testing.

I think the Red Boat is certainly worth trying. It has good flavor, is distinctive and of good quality.  I plan to keep it on hand and use it myself and in cooking because I like it best.  I'll need to keep 3 Crabs around for a while too to keep my family happy.

As always, you should try comparing some different brands and finding one you like best.

Other reading of some interest to the topic.

• http://wastemang.blogspot.com/2011/01/fish-sauce.html
• http://www.thaiscience.info/Article%20for%20ThaiScience/Article/1/Ts-1%20characteristics%20of%20fish%20sauce%20made%20from%20pacific%20whiting%20%26%20surimi%20by-products%20during%20fermentation%20stage.pdf
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2010/04/20/ST2010042002063.html
• http://shesimmers.com/2012/07/thai-fish-sauce-taste-test.html
• http://www.thanhniennews.com/2010/pages/20121015-phu-quoc-fish-sauce-wins-vietnam-first-origin-recognition-from-eu.aspx
• Technical, but somewhat interesting is the comparisons to soy sauce http://www.academia.edu/358619/Chemical_Components_of_Fermented_Fish_Products
• Another link to a blog with some talking with the man behind Red Boat fish sauce. http://www.theravenouscouple.com/2011/05/red-boat-fish-sauce-nuoc-mam-nhi.html