Fried deliciousness: Buffalo wings

Buffalo wings, the classic that we know and love, are credited as an invention at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY in the '60s.  They were deep fried, tossed in a mixture of Frank's Red Hot and butter, and served with blue cheese dressing.  Classics are a classic for a reason.  I serve mine the same way.

The first buffalo wings I ever had were baked in the hot sauce and butter mixture.  They were luxuriously rich, but I prefer the crunch of the fried ones.

We start off with whole chicken wings.  You can buy them already separated into flats (my favorite) and drummettes (Josh's favorite), or you can buy the wings whole.  We buy our chicken from Heritage Farms, so I separate them myself.  

If you have the whole wing and aren't sure where to cut, wiggle the bone.  It will bend where the hinge is, so cut at that point through the cartilage, not the bone.  But even if you cut through the bone, it's not a big deal.  Just keep cutting.  No one will notice when they are eating.  Wash the bones after cutting to remove any bone splinters or stray feathers.

This is a lot of wings for two people!  Four packs of four wings each.  I cut them up and put them in a bowl.  If you're not going to start cooking soon, hold them in the fridge.  

All those little wing tips?  I put them in a labelled bag in the freezer, and I'll use them to make chicken stock one day when I have enough bones.

This is my frying setup.  I use a wok for frying.  Food needs room to fry.  I tried frying in a fry daddy once, and it just didn't go that well.  I like more room.  I fry in peanut oil and buy it in bulk at Costco.  You can reuse oil probably up to four or five times depending on what you are frying and how much is in a batch.  

When I've finished frying, I'll let the oil cool and, usually on another day, I strain the oil through a cheesecloth into a plastic container.  I dump the nasty bits from the cheesecloth and then wash it with dish soap.  Then it goes into the dishwasher or laundry machine.  Then I clean out the wok.  The flour from the wings will burn over time, so don't fry too many times without straining it out.  

When I made this batch of wings, I used all new oil which means that I won't get as deep a golden frying color as I would like.  Normally I try to keep a little used oil on hand when I switch out oils, but I let it go too far last time.

I set everything up before I begin any cooking so that I'm not rushing around while things are going.  I put out a baking sheet -- here it's a quarter size -- with some paper towels to catch the oil and a rack on top.  Sometimes I use the wok rack, but I ended up removing it once I got the food going so there was more maneuverability.  Sometimes food gets stuck under it.

To pick up the food, I might use the spider (pictured) or chopsticks.  I have some long cooking chopsticks, but sometimes they lack the control I want so I use the regular length bamboo chopsticks.  Just don't burn yourself.

My splash guard is a pizza box.  I've never seen anyone else use a pizza box, but my mom always used one.  Keep it away from the flame so it doesn't catch on fire.  Even if it does catch on fire -- and yeah, I know it from experience -- move quickly and douse it with water in the sink.  With the pizza box, you don't have to wash anything.  If it gets too greasy, just throw it out.  Whenever we get pizza, if the box is pretty clean, I'll hold onto it.

I also put a small pot on low heat with the butter and Frank's Red Hot.  I let it slowly melt and burble on its own.

Now that I'm ready to start cooking, I turn on the heat and fan.  I usually fry chicken at around 325-335.  Let the oil go up above 325 so that when you add the chicken, the cooking temp will still be where you want it to be.  I usually let it go to 350 or higher.  You can also fry closer to 340-350.  The key with frying is that you need the oil to be hot so that the meat seals when it goes in.  If you fry at too low a temp, your food gets greasy.  Yuck.  No one wants that.

I dredge the wings in flour.  You can either salt and pepper the wings when they go in, or you can add salt and pepper into the flour.  Or you can leave the salt and pepper out.

Be careful when you add the wings into the oil.  Splashing oil is not a good thing.  I always wear an apron when I fry.  You might burn yourself seriously a few times before this really becomes a habit.

I'm used to frying in a wok specifically, so I use an oil level that scares many people who use pots or fry daddies.  Work with a level of oil and an amount of wings that you feel comfortable with.  Less is more in this case.  

Once I put the wings in, I let them cook for maybe 10 to 30 seconds and then stir with the spider.  Then I let them cook.  And this is what it should look like when you put the wings in at the right heat.  Good, active bubbles.  Yum.

With a wok, you don't necessarily need to flip things because the oil is all around them, but I do tend to stir at least halfway through the process.  

When the wings are done, take them out with whatever utensil you are comfortable with.  It could be a spider, tongs, chopsticks, ...  I use chopsticks and a spider as you see here.  This lets the wings drain a bit before I put them on the rack.  The wok rack would have done the same thing but it can get crowded quickly.

I usually pull out the flats first as drummettes could take a little longer to cook.  I tend to cook all flats or drummettes in a batch to avoid this situation.

Let the oil come back up to temperature before adding new wings to cook.  I used to use a hot oil thermometer, but it takes up room in the wok.  Now I use a ThermaPen.  These things are great.  Don't burn yourself closing the ThermaPen after you take the temperature.  I lay out a little paper towel for it specifically.

Fry all the wings in batches until they are done.

Once all the wings are cooked, I like to put them back into the oil for a minute or so to reheat and recrisp.  This step isn't necessary, but makes them better.  

If I've turned the heat off the buffalo sauce, I'll turn it back on and stir around now so that it's hot for saucing.

I put the wings into a bowl, swirl the hot sauce, and pour it over the wings.  

Then I toss the wings in the bowl (messy) or use tongs.  If you decide to toss the wings, toss away from you as you would a skillet.  Don't toss too high or you're going to have some casualties.  Messy casualties.  Josh likes less sauce on his wings so they stay crispier.

When all the wings are sauced, I serve with blue cheese dressing and celery and carrot sticks.

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Buffalo wings

Ingredients:
Chicken wings -- whole or pre-cut.  I eat like 12-14 for dinner.
Peanut oil or other oil for frying
Flour for dredging
Frank's Red Hot Sauce or your favorite hot sauce
Unsalted butter
Blue cheese or ranch dressing
Celery, carrots, or radishes (we do all three)

Some notes about deep frying:

• Wear an apron!
• Know where your utensils are at all times.  Don't leave wood or bamboo directly in oil when it's hot.  Make sure utensils are positioned so they won't fall in and splash oil.  
• If you have pools of oil, wipe it up with paper towels quickly and throw it away.  If you spill oil on the floor, wipe it up immediately.
• If you are using a flammable splash guard (like a pizza box), always be aware of its position as it relates to the heat source.
• Turn on the fan when deep frying or your house will smell like deep fry for days.
• If the heat gets too high, just turn it down or off.
• Above all else, be careful!  

Preparation:
1. If using whole chicken wings, cut wings into pieces, saving the tips to use for stock.  Cut away any extra pieces of cartilage or loose skin if you are inclined.  Wash the wings to remove any bone splinters.  Put in the fridge if you are more than 1/2 hr from frying.
2. Set up your frying area.  Make sure you are using an oil level you are comfortable with, keeping in mind that when you add the wings, the oil level will rise.  Set out your baking sheet or area for the cooked wings and your frying spiders, chopsticks, tongs, and temperature gauge.  Use a splash guard, like a nice clean pizza box.  If using pizza box, make sure it is away from the flame.  Always check your pizza box positioning if you bump it.
3. Turn on the heat under the oil.  You're targeting 350-360 degrees.  
4. Take a small saucepan and add unsalted butter and hot sauce.  I use one stick of butter and about 4 oz of hot sauce for a batch this size.  Put on low heat.  When everything is melted or bubbling too big, turn off the heat.
5. Set up your dredging bowl by adding flour, salt, and pepper.  Mix to combine.  I use about 2 cups of flour for all these wings.  You can always add more later.
6. Wash, peel, and cut celery sticks, carrot sticks, and/or radishes.  You can also do this while the wings are cooking.  
7. Dredge wings in flour mixture.  Toss with your hands, pressing them into the flour to make sure wings are completely covered.  Wash your hands.
8. When the oil reaches the temperature you want, shake extra flour off each piece, and place gently -- DO NOT DROP -- into the oil.  Put the wings in the oil away from you so no oil splashes on you.  When all the pieces are in the oil, pick up more naked wings and add them to the flour, mixing them in the flour mixture.  Then wash your hands.
9. Stir the wings with tongs, the spider, or chopsticks.  Let wings cook for about ten minutes total, agitating them about halfway through, or until they are a nice golden color.  
10. Lift and drain the wings from the oil and put them on a rack to cool and drain.
11. Let the oil come back to temperature and then repeat steps 6 through 8 until all the wings are dredged and cooked.  Don't forget to turn off the heat when you're done frying.
12. Turn buffalo sauce mixture to low or medium.  Heat until there are small bubbles.
13. Take a large bowl and, at a maximum, fill 1/3 or halfway with cooked wings. Swirl the buffalo sauce, and pour some over the wings.  Toss wings in the bowl or use tongs to mix.
14. Serve with blue cheese or ranch dressing and vegetables.

Rimmed baking sheets

 I love my rimmed baking sheets.  Pictured above are half sheet and a quarter sheet.  They are the perfect size for just about anything.  

As you can see, I have a lot of them.  I use mine a lot so they are scuffed up and show signs of use, but they're still shiny and beautiful.

The quarter baking sheets are the perfect size for roasting vegetables, roasting a whole fish (mmm, branzino), and most things for two people, really.  I also use them for prep work.  They hold vegetables, raw meats, cooked meats, everything.  And because I have a lot of them, I just keep pulling them out which keeps things sanitary.

I use the half baking sheets for cooking, prepping, roasting, and broiling -- like Chinese ribs.  When I'm frying chicken, I lay out all the brined chicken pieces on a rack to drip off their buttermilk so I can easily sprinkle the spice mixture.  When we throw parties, they provide heavy duty support holding food in various stages of prep.  I keep the little plastic stands we get with fresh pasta so I can stack the trays in the fridge.

The only bummer about these baking sheets is that they don't go into the dishwasher.  I mean, they could go in the dishwasher.  I've put them in there before.  But then they lose their luster, and they get a little funky in color.  They still cook just fine.  They don't flake like aluminum baking sheets.  So it's handwashing for these babies.  But that's a small trade-off for their versatility.  And if they ever get grimy, you can shine 'em up again with baking soda and peroxide.

I bought mine at a restaurant supply store.  Costco seems to be carrying them now, too.  You want to be sure you are getting thick good quality ones.  Bad ones will buckle when they heat up, which is bad for just about anything that is on them.  Cooks Illustrated speaks highly of the Vollrath ones, if you need a brand to look for.

Happy 4th of July and lobster rolls!

Happy 4th of July!

Along with hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, fireworks, slices of watermelon, and kids running around the lawn, nothing screams summer like lobster rolls.

There is one lobster roll that really sticks in my memory.  I was up in Massachusetts hanging out with my cousins.  They drove us up to Maine, stopped to have lunch at Robert's Maine Grill in Kittery, and then picked up fresh lobsters for dinner on the pier in Gloucester.  It was an amazing seafood weekend.

There are two camps for lobster rolls: warm and buttery or cold with mayo .  I'm in the latter camp.  I always find the buttered ones to be dry, and the Robert's lobster roll certainly confirmed this in my mind.

For the most part, I'm a fan of local, sustainable, low carbon footprint, and all that crunchy granola stuff.  I like to know the farmer who grows my meat and my vegetables.  I buy produce from a farm and pickle or make jam, lining up pretty jars and enjoying it year round.  Sometimes I make my own butter from the cream of local grass-fed cows.  But there is something to be said for getting high quality seafood from its source of origin every once in a while.

For the 4th, I wanted blue crabs.  We've been buying from The Crab Place in Crisfield, Maryland for years.  Their crabs are really delicious, and they pack them really well for shipping.  I've always been happy with my order.  You can get the crabs live or steamed.  I find that it's less stressful for me -- and the crabs are fresher since they are cooked earlier -- if they steam them for me.  

It's taken a few years, but finally like Old Bay.  Back when we first started ordering blue crabs, I asked for them without any Old Bay and served them Chinese-style with black vinegar and julienned ginger or clarified butter the way I grew up having them.  They are good both ways.  :)

Our friend Jaime is from DC.  She used to pick up crabs every time she drove through DC, so I invited her over to partake in our crab feast.  And that's when she mentioned lobster rolls.  Well, that sounded like a mighty fine idea indeed.

We can find lobsters in Atlanta, but you might be surprised how much of a challenge it is to get good ones. You want to buy live lobsters from a tank, and you have a find an employee who feels like helping you with this adventure.  That can sometimes be a challenge.  I prefer female lobsters for the roe.  I'll have to walk through how to tell the girls from the boys another time because I forgot to take pictures. You want your lobsters to be snappy and active.  This means you might need to go through a lot of the lobsters in the tank to get the ones you want.  It has taken a lot of time and patience in the past.  If you buy lobsters live at the store, make sure the bag is open so they can breathe and make it home.  You can put them in a brown paper bag in the fridge when you get home to keep them.  It makes them sleepy.  The most humane way to kill a lobster is to shove the sharp tip of a knife through their head before cooking them.

Or, take the easy way out and buy just the tails.  That's what I did.  Click! -- and I added four Maine lobster tails to my order.  

The tails arrive frozen.  They came in on Saturday, and our feast was planned for Sunday, so they went into the fridge to defrost.  A kitchen towel underneath prevented any pools of water.

If you are wondering about the crabs, I put them in a nice handy plastic see-through bins from Restaurant Depot for the night.  I use those things for everything.

They look pretty good, don't they?  

I planned to cook the lobsters ahead of time, chill them, and mix them up right before serving.  I did a lot of research for lobster rolls, but directionally preferred the simplicity of the recipe on Bon Appetit.

I grabbed a pot, put about an inch of water in it, added a generous amount of salt, and set it to boil.  Then I put in my lobster tails in a single layer, covered the pot, and let it cook for eight minutes.

When the lobster was cooked, I pull them out and ran them under cold water to stop the cooking.  I should have pulled the meat from the shell right then, but I don't do this too often.  Next time, I'll know.  You can cut the shells so that the tails don't curve, but I wasn't too concerned about that.

I pulled out the meat with some difficulty, but for the most part, they came out pretty well.  I put them into the fridge to chill.  I saved the lobster shells for future stock.  Lobster bisque is one of my favorites.

When Jaime and Eric showed up, I chopped up the lobster and added the lemon juice, chives, mayonnaise, diced celery, salt, and pepper.

I had pre-ordered rolls from H&F Bread Co, explicitly requesting split-top hot dog buns for lobster rolls.  Josh had to take a trip out Sunday morning to pick them up.  But when they arrived, they looked just like regular hot dog buns!  That is, until I realized that, duh, I could just cut them through the top.  Brilliant.

I left butter out that morning to come to room temp so it was smear-able.  I slathered up the sides of the bun and heated a cast iron griddle, then browned the buns on both sides.  See, if you cut them through the sides that are browning, they would look like your everyday hot dog buns.

Once they were browned, I pulled them off the heat and piled them high with the lobster mixture.  They were absolutely delicious.  We are definitely doing these more often.

Oh, if you are wondering about those blue crabs, they were pretty awesome, too.  There were full, happy bellies all around.

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Lobster rolls

Adapted from Bon Appetit's Ultimate Lobster Rolls

Ingredients:
4 6-7 oz Maine lobster tails
Celery, diced.  If you like celery, one stalk.  If you don't, like me, go half a stalk.  The less you like it, the smaller the dice.
3 tbsp chives, chopped
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 tbsp mayonnaise -- I like Duke's
Unsalted butter, taken out in advance to soften
4 split-top hot dog buns, 4 1/2" long

Preparation:
Lobster mixture
1. Fill a pot with about an inch of water and salt generously.  Bring to a boil.
2. When water is boiling, add lobster tails in one layer.  Cover.  General rule of thumb is two minutes per ounce, but err on less cooking time.  Mine were done and shells were red in eight minutes.
3. Pull the lobster from the pot and run under cold water to stop the cooking.
4. When lobster is cool enough to touch, pull the lobster meat from the shells.  Use kitchen shears to cut through the carapace.  You can chill the lobster meat for up to a day.
5. When ready to serve, cut the lobster into chunks.
6. Mix celery, half the chives, lemon juice, and mayo with the lobster, adding salt and pepper to taste.  You may not need a lot of salt, so taste before salting.

Buns
7. If buns are not split, cut through so the sides of the bun are exposed.  If you are using regular hot dog buns, stand the buns up and slice down the sides so more of it is exposed.  
8. Heat up a pan, preferably cast iron.  Butter the sides of the buns generously with unsalted butter. 
9. When the pan is hot, add the buns, buttered side down.  When brown, turn them over with tongs to brown the other side.
10. Remove all the buns from the heat while you fill them.

11. Fill each bun with 1/4 of the lobster mixture.  Top with chopped chives.  Enjoy immediately.

Chinese essentials: sesame oil

I'm very brand-specific and brand-loyal.  It's part of my Chinese, snake (read more about Chinese horoscopes), and Scorpio nature apparently. Childhood-learned Chinese home recipes tie to taste memories so I stick to the brands and flavors that I grew up with.  This is the second in a four-post series about brand-critical essentials for my Chinese pantry.  

I've been using the same sesame oil at home my entire life.  It's a Japanese brand: Kadoya.  It doesn't matter to me that it's Japanese, but if you buy your Asian staples at a grocery store that separates by country, as they do at Buford Highway Farmers Market where I shop, you'll have to head over to the Japanese aisle.  I actually buy it in bulk now in a sizable metal box.  Korean marination can call for a lot of it, but in the Chinese pantry, mine lasts a long time.

Sesame oil is slightly viscous and has a rich, deep sesame flavor.  It can go rancid, so I store it in a dark cupboard, far away from the heat.  It's a sign of how I use sesame oil that it lives with hot sauces and other condiments instead of with the cooking oils and soy sauces.

I've overheard aisle talk that sesame oil is expensive.  I encourage you to buy Kadoya because its rich flavor will make a difference in your food.  This isn't one of those products where you pick up an organic brand at Whole Foods.  It's worth the trek to an Asian grocery.

Pork chops sauteed in butter

My immediate response to the suggestion of "pork chops" is "mmMMMmmm".   I love pork chops.  Salty, tasty, and with a bone to gnaw on.  And when I think of making pork chops, the first thing I think of is these pork chops cooked in butter.

We buy most of our pork from Heritage Farms.  They're a local farm out of Bowden, GA, and we've been happily buying their natural, grass-fed, antibiotic- and hormone-free meat for several years now.  They raise everything -- beef, pork, chicken, duck, turkeys, and rabbits.  They do vegetables, too.  Their chicken is the best I've ever had.  Come to think of it, so is their turkey.  But I'm here to talk about pork.  Heritage Farm's pork is Berkshire: deliciously porky with creamy white fat.

This recipe comes from Jacques Pepin's Essential Pepin: More Than 700 All-Time Favorites from My Life in Food.  This is a great cookbook from an amazing chef.  I think it's safe to say that any Jacques recipe will turn out great, even that one where he shapes the cucumbers and then cooks them in Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home.  

We tend to buy meat from the farm frozen so we have our favorite cuts at our fingertips.  This means a little advance planning so meat will defrost in time for dinner.  The subzero has superior temperature control which means if I pull it out too late, the meat is sometimes still frozen when I get home.  Then it's time for a water drip.  Always use cold water if doing a drip to defrost.  I usually just put the frozen item in cold water, with something heavy on top to keep it submerged, and don't bother with the drip to save water.

When the chops are defrosted, I rinse them well.  This goes for any meat that is cut through the bone.  There are usually little bone bits left on the meat.  And I always pull out the gristly bits in the crevice of the bone.  

You really want anywhere from 1/4-1/2" of fat all around the chops.  If there is extra fat, I'll trim it off.  But these chops looked beautiful so no trimming needed.  Then I lay them out to dry on some paper towels while I prep the rest of dinner.

Here are the chops all cleaned up and ready to cook.  Salt and pepper generously.  I like kosher salt.  Then flip and season on the other side.  

There are a lot of schools of thought on salting meat.  When you salt your meat and let it sit, little beads of juice will form on the meat.  This can be bad if it goes to waste.  But if you give it time to reabsorb, 30-40 minutes, the meat reabsorbs the salty juices.  Bonus!  The thicker the cut, the earlier and more generously I salt it.

Anytime I'm cooking meat, I use a cast iron skillet.  This is my newest piece, a square Wagner that I picked up at a flea market.  You can tell from the less gleamy surface that it's not fully seasoned.  Cast iron seasons as you use it, so it goes faster when you use it a lot.  The best way to season your cast iron is to make and eat a lot of bacon.  If you needed encouragement to eat more bacon, here it is.  I like mine crispy so it crunches when you eat it.  Mmm, bacon.

What was I talking about again?  Oh right.  Pork chops.  Yum!

I put the skillet on medium high heat (which means that the flame circle is about 75% of the pan).  Add a pat of unsalted butter (roughly 1 tbsp) and then add some olive oil (I do a 1-2 second pour).  Using some olive oil means less butter.  

If you want to add thyme, now is the time.  Put it directly on the meat or in the fat.  You'll still love these pork chops without the thyme though.  

I swirl the melted butter and oil together and add the pork chops.  That nice sizzle is a gorgeous sound.

If you're not using a cast iron, the first side that is seared will be prettier and is the side you should serve up on the plate.

Let it cook for about 3 minutes.  Then flip!  And 2-3 minutes on the other side.  This is for one inch bone-in chops.  

We prefer pork cooked to about 145 degrees.  That means it's still pink!  When I was growing up, everyone said pork had to be cooked to 160 so that it killed any bad things.  Pork at 160 is sad and dry.  But rest easy: the USDA said that we can eat pork at 145.  If you are uncomfortable with pink pork, let it go a little longer, like 30-60 seconds a side.  But no more, or you will be sad.

Take the chops off the heat so they can rest and rebalance out the juices.  I put them straight onto the plates and go about finishing the vegetables.

That porky fat in a hot skillet is great.  Don't waste it!  Before the pan cools, saute greens -- Josh loves dinosaur kale or mixed greens -- or potatoes.  Or use it in a vinaigrette over a salad.

It's ideal to care for your cast iron as soon as you are done cooking with it.  Or if you are a little lazy, you can heat up the pan again later if necessary.  But don't leave it overnight and don't soak it, especially not with soap.

If there are sticky bits in the skillet, I either use my little plastic pan scrubber or, if the pan is still hot, I use this chainmail thing.  It works great.  You can also use kosher salt (or any salt with a large grain) both to absorb the fat and to scrub the pan.  Pour the salt in and use paper towels to scrub whatever is stubbornly clinging to the pan.  I put the chainmail thing in the dishwasher to clean it up.

I wipe out as much of the fat with paper towels as I can -- always mindful of putting grease and fat down the drain.  Rinse the skillet with water if it's salty, repeating any scrubbing as necessary.  When you are happy with the surface, put the pan back on the stove.  Turn on the heat.  I put it on high because I'm impatient.  When the water has evaporated, add about a tablespoon of oil (or slightly less depending on the size of the skillet) and rub it into the pan with a paper towel.  Turn off the heat and let pan cool.  Don't put in too much oil because it will leave a sticky film.  

This last drying and oiling step is critical for your pan.  I leave the pan on the stove overnight and put it away in the morning.

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Pork chops sauteed in butter (and sometimes thyme)

Adapted from Essential Pepin: More Than 700 All-Time Favorites from My Life in Food.

Ingredients:
Bone-in pork chops, one inch thick, one per person
Fresh thyme sprigs, two per chop (optional)
Unsalted butter

Preparation:
1. Rinse defrosted chops in water, being sure to clean off any bony or gristly bits.
2. If necessary, trim off extra white fat.  Ideally you want 1/4" of fat in the outside pieces of the chops.  I like 1/2" though. :)
3. Pat chops dry with paper towels and lay chops out on more paper towels to absorb water.
4. If you have 30-40 minutes or more, season chops generously with salt and pepper.  If you have less than 30 minutes, salt immediately before cooking.
5. Heat skillet, preferably cast iron, on medium high heat.  When hot, add butter and olive oil.  
6. When butter is melted, swirl to mix butter and oil in the pan.  Put chops in the pan.  Lay them down away from you in case any hot oil splashes.  
7. Let cook three minutes.  Do not move the chops around.  You only get a great crust if you leave them alone.
8. Flip the chops.  I use tongs because there's less oil splashing.  Let cook another 2-3 minutes.  Again, leave chops alone.
9. Put chops on plates or platter.  Let rest five minutes while you finish the rest of dinner and before devouring.
10. Use porky fat to sauteed your greens or other vegetables.  You'll like it.

Chinese essentials: soy sauce

I'm very brand-specific and brand-loyal.  It's part of my Chinese, snake (read more about Chinese horoscopes), and Scorpio nature apparently. Childhood-learned Chinese home recipes tie to taste memories so I stick to the brands and flavors that I grew up with.  This is the first in a four-post series about brand-critical essentials for my Chinese pantry.  

Soy sauce is probably the first thing that comes to mind as part of the Chinese pantry -- and it may be Kikkoman or little take out soy sauce packets.  I'm sure there is nothing wrong with Kikkoman, but it's not what I buy.  And those little packets...  Well, they are not soy at all.  You don't want to know what is in them.

I grew up with largely Cantonese recipes so it's light soy sauce that I use the most.  Light soy sauce is lighter and thinner.  And the flavor is distinct.  Distinctly what?  It's hard to define.  Some of my favorite recipes -- steamed fish, in particular -- lean heavily on the flavor of the soy sauce so it's critical.  I also use light soy as my table soy.  No, I don't actually put it on the table.  That would say that I don't know how to season my food properly.  I use it for condiments like dumpling sauce.

When I first started cooking in Atlanta, I scoured all the Chinese grocery stores for the brand I grew up with.  Alas, I couldn't find it.  I bought one bottle of every brand that they had at a Chinese grocery store run by Cantonese speakers, and we tried them all out.  When I found the one that tasted right, I went back to the store and bought a case.  The guy brought out a box of 25.  And then he brought out another.  Yep, I bought 50 bottles.  Wow.

I still look for the brand I grew up with, but generally I buy soy sauce in the larger plastic container and refill the glass bottle.  It has a spout so it doesn't pour dangerously quickly.  There is nothing worse than pouring more soy sauce than you intended.  You may not find this brand specifically or use enough to buy a plastic container, but look for the silver label saying "light soy sauce".
* Note, I pull off the plastic spout with the blunt edge of a knife when refilling the glass bottle.

Pictured to the right of the light soy bottle is a dark soy.  It's mushroom soy sauce, and it's actually made by adding a mushroom broth, hence the name.  It's darker, thicker, and saltier.  I reach for the dark soy when making my dad's delicious pepper sauce or most Sichuan recipes.

Salt cellars

Salt is crucial to cooking.  It can make the difference between mediocre food and food that is really satisfying and delicious.  Some people say they don't use salt when cooking like it's a badge of honor.  It's not.  Your body needs salt.  It's when you eat food with no salt that you look around for something to satisfy the leftover blandness, and you turn to snacks or sugar.  

In 2015, we renovated our kitchen.  When I put everything away, the countertops were left as bare as I possible, with spatulas, whisks, spiders, and tongs next to the stove in their crocks and a Ball jar of tasting spoons.  

Salt is such a critical part of cooking that I decided to invest in a good solid pepper mill -- Peugeot, no question! said my culinary friend -- and some quality salt cellars.  I commissioned some salt cellars from Doc's Woodturning, from which we have happily bought cheese boards and salad bowls from Peachtree Road Farmers Market in the past.  I requested that each cellar be a different wood so that I could tell the difference between them.  I love the swivel tops that close with a little magnetic click.  

These cellars now hold my more often used salts -- starting bottom left, clockwise: kosher, grey, fleur de sel, and maldon.

The critical piece about salting is knowing how much to use.  I use kosher salt as my every day salt.  I use what I call "restaurant salting" which means I use more than you think you should.  I salt using the three-finger pinch method that most cooks use and evenly distribute the salt over the target.  Some people salt from on high -- like eight inches above something like a chicken that will be roasted.  They claim it helps ensure even distribution.  I think this just makes a larger mess.  Over time, you'll get better at evenly distributing and knowing how much salt is right.  

I use grey salt for salting meats (thank you, Michael Chiarello) and fleur de sel or Maldon salt for finishing.  I learned to cook with Morton's iodized salt.  Use what you feel comfortable with.

We buy grey salt, dry it out in an oven at 200 degrees, and then grind it with a mortar and pestle so it's more fine.  I use fleur de sel when I want a nice crunch or Maldon when it's more subtle.  Maldon is a big flake salt so it crunches a little less.

I used to make fun of people with a lot of different types of salts.  But salt really does make a difference,  Use what you like.  If you get comfortable with using one, try another.  Or don't.  Just make sure whatever you are salting tastes good.

My favorite potato side: smashed potatoes

I'm a big fan of potatoes.  Somewhere along they way, they became one of my favorite sides.

When I was little, my mom exclusively bought yukon gold potatoes.  I looked down on all other types of potatoes until I learned that every potato has a best use.  But yukon golds are still my favorite, and I fall back on buying them when I just put "potatoes" on the shopping list.  They are delicious mashed, as hash browns ("scattered and covered," please), roasted, and, of course, smashed.

We try to only buy organic potatoes because of the high level of pesticides on the conventionally-grown ones.  In general, I like to serve them with the skin on, not only because my boyfriend tends to like more rustic preparations, but also because most of a potato's fiber is in the skin.

I start off by washing the potatoes and scrubbing them with my little potato brush.  If they are big, and they usually are, I cut them in half and cook them at a light boil until they are cooked through.  I start the potatoes as soon as possible because they really benefit from sitting in a colander and drying out a bit.

Once I'm less than fifteen minutes from being done with cooking, I heat up a cast iron skillet on medium heat, add some (okay, a lot usually) olive oil, and lay the potatoes in, cut side down.  Potatoes are really forgiving so they are easy to cook.  You want to add a good amount of olive oil because crispy potatoes are one of life's delicious things. That's what you are going for.  But not too much, because you are going to finish it with a really nice oil.  I have one of those cocktail pourers on my olive oil, so a good two or three second pour is good for two big potatoes. I choose a skillet that fits best the amount of potatoes.  In this case, it's one of my new Griswolds, a 9", that I found at a flea market up in Rabun County, and the smallest cast iron I have.  Don't use a non-stick for this recipe.  A "stick" pan works best.  This Griswold is only new to me, not to the world.  Finding good cast iron at flea markets is something I like to do during my adventures, even if it sometimes mean I have to reseason them.

Once the potatoes are in the skillet, I smash them down with a potato masher, add salt and pepper, and let it crisp up.  I'm pretty generous with both, believing that properly seasoned food is critical.  If I have extra time while everything else finishes up, I'll scoop and mix it and re-lay it out with a spatula.  If not, none the wiser.  I add more olive oil if it looks dry.

While the potatoes crisp up, I can worry about more pressing issues like making sure the spinach doesn't burn and the trout is searing up as expected.  

When everything else is ready, the potatoes go into a bowl for serving.  I top it with chopped fresh parsley and a really generous amount of extra virgin olive oil all over it.  Fresh herbs can really make a dish.  Todd Ginsberg taught me that.  
 

We usually use Il Bel Cuore, which we buy either at Peachtree Road Farmers Market or Storico Fresco.  I've grown really partial to its very green fresh flavor for all that I use for finishing dishes or in raw sauces.  You want to be sure to add the oil while it's hot/warm so that it soaks it all up.

This is one of my favorite bowls made by Earthborn Pottery, which we discovered on a visit to Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Alabama.  Their bowls are perfect for serving sides at home.

When serving, dig deep so you get some of the olive oil.  You'll get the hang of how much to add so you don't end up with a massive pool of oil at the end.  If undersalted, pass salt at the table.  You know it's undersalted if it doesn't make you go "mmmmmm!" when you put it into your mouth.

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My favorite smashed potatoes

Ingredients:
Potatoes, preferably yukons golds.  One large potato will satiate one potato lover, but two will give you enough for leftovers.
Kosher salt + freshly ground black pepper to taste
Regular olive oil, for sauteing
Good finishing extra virgin olive oil -- I prefer Umbrian but pick your favorite
Chopped parsley, preferably Italian flat parsley

Preparation:
1. Wash and clean potatoes as needed.
2. Lightly boil potatoes until soft through.  Test by poking in a paring knife.  If knife moves smoothly through potatoes and they don't stick to the knife, potatoes should be done, usually 20-25 minutes.
3. Heat skillet, preferably cast iron.  When skillet is hot, add olive oil.  When oil is hot, add potatoes, cut side down.  
4. Smash potatoes with potato masher.  Salt and pepper generously, to taste.  Add more oil to edges of potatoes if they look dry.
5. Optionally mix potatoes to increase ratio of crispy potatoes.  Add more oil if necessary.
6. When potatoes are done (or the rest of the meal is done), put potatoes in a bowl.  Top with chopped parsley, and pour over good finishing extra virgin olive oil, like 1/4 cup for two.
7. Dig deep when serving.  Enjoy!