Cooking from my pantry
August 20, 2023 7:58 AM Subscribe
Due to various cooking experiments, I now have various leftover ingredients waiting to be used. Looking for recipe ideas for: Szechuan peppercorn, fermented bean paste, jujubes (red dates), dried mushrooms, goji berries, black eyed peas, dried soybeans, hot & spicy hot pot mix, dashi, gochugaru (korean chili pepper powder), cassava flour, dessicated coconut, buckwheat flour, arepa flour, wholemeal spelt flour, rice flour, polenta, almond meal, red dahl, yellow dahl, tamarind paste, (a friend's homemade jar of) kimchi.
I do have other ingredients (including various herbs, spices, and other staples), and have access to typical Australian supermarkets (that sometimes have an international section), Asian supermarkets (mostly East/South East Asian), and an open air market with produce, deli stuff, meats & seafood (including some more exotic options).
I don't really cook pork at home and have a grudge against strawberries but otherwise I'm pretty open. Slight preference for savoury but I'm down for dessert ideas (especially if they're low sugar) and sweet + salty is my favourite flavour combo! I'd like things that are relatively easy (I'd say my cooking skill is beginner-intermediate but I also don't have a ton of time & energy), but if there is a challenge that's worth it I'd like to hear it. Any culture welcome!
I know there are apps that can figure out what to make out of your pantry, but they don't tend to have more "ethnic" ingredients like my list.
I do have other ingredients (including various herbs, spices, and other staples), and have access to typical Australian supermarkets (that sometimes have an international section), Asian supermarkets (mostly East/South East Asian), and an open air market with produce, deli stuff, meats & seafood (including some more exotic options).
I don't really cook pork at home and have a grudge against strawberries but otherwise I'm pretty open. Slight preference for savoury but I'm down for dessert ideas (especially if they're low sugar) and sweet + salty is my favourite flavour combo! I'd like things that are relatively easy (I'd say my cooking skill is beginner-intermediate but I also don't have a ton of time & energy), but if there is a challenge that's worth it I'd like to hear it. Any culture welcome!
I know there are apps that can figure out what to make out of your pantry, but they don't tend to have more "ethnic" ingredients like my list.
With the rice flour and dried mushrooms plus a small daikon radish you could make a meat-free version of lo bak go/turnip cake. (I use whatever onions I have on hand in place of the shallots and green onions and use regular black pepper.) You can slice it up and put it in the freezer before the frying step (and then you can have dim sum whenever you want!).
posted by mskyle at 9:02 AM on August 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by mskyle at 9:02 AM on August 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Many of these foods last a long time. I use gochugaru in chili and any recipe I want to heat up a little. Dried mushrooms add umami to scrambled eggs, pasta, mac-n-cheese, and more. Dashi is a good soup base - I make soup from the simmered and strained bones*, skin, and meat bits of a rotisserie chicken; adding dashi and/or mushroom powder would be delicious.
I have made brownies and apple crisp topping with a mix of rice flour and almond flour instead of wheat flour; it's quite nice, a friend uses almond flour to make really rich brownies, not sure what else is in the recipe.
Make polenta(polenta, water, olive oil, salt), add pizza toppings like pepperoni(cut it up a bit), olives, cooked sausage, sauteed mushrooms, drained, canned, quartered, artichoke hearts, not all, just a few. Serve with parmesan, maybe shredded mozzarella. Leftover polenta can be poured into an oiled frying pan, fry it, flip it, great for breakfast. Add some gochugaru, too.
Kimchi is my favorite way to eat rice. Cook rice, add a lot of kimchi, repeat. So good with scrambled eggs. Make extra rice for fried rice, it has to be at least a day old, and the scrambled egg is not optional. Serve with plenty of kimchi. Kimchi lasts a long time, and it's considered excellent for gut health, so even a little every few days is a benefit.
*People can be a bit obsessive about 'bone broth' - feel free to use up all the good meat, then dump the rest in a pot of water and simmer for 1+ hours. I probably average 3 hours and get a couple quarts of broth, but even after an hour, it will be excellent. I do pick through for any remaining meat, skin, and soft bits which will be combined with rice and added to the dog's food over a week, to her delight.
What a great way to develop cooking skills.
posted by theora55 at 9:03 AM on August 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
I have made brownies and apple crisp topping with a mix of rice flour and almond flour instead of wheat flour; it's quite nice, a friend uses almond flour to make really rich brownies, not sure what else is in the recipe.
Make polenta(polenta, water, olive oil, salt), add pizza toppings like pepperoni(cut it up a bit), olives, cooked sausage, sauteed mushrooms, drained, canned, quartered, artichoke hearts, not all, just a few. Serve with parmesan, maybe shredded mozzarella. Leftover polenta can be poured into an oiled frying pan, fry it, flip it, great for breakfast. Add some gochugaru, too.
Kimchi is my favorite way to eat rice. Cook rice, add a lot of kimchi, repeat. So good with scrambled eggs. Make extra rice for fried rice, it has to be at least a day old, and the scrambled egg is not optional. Serve with plenty of kimchi. Kimchi lasts a long time, and it's considered excellent for gut health, so even a little every few days is a benefit.
*People can be a bit obsessive about 'bone broth' - feel free to use up all the good meat, then dump the rest in a pot of water and simmer for 1+ hours. I probably average 3 hours and get a couple quarts of broth, but even after an hour, it will be excellent. I do pick through for any remaining meat, skin, and soft bits which will be combined with rice and added to the dog's food over a week, to her delight.
What a great way to develop cooking skills.
posted by theora55 at 9:03 AM on August 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
There's lots that would be great for marinating tofu (or meat) in your post. I put the tofu block on a lipped plate, put plastic wrap on top, add 5-7lbs of free weights, wait 20min, pour off the water once or twice, then slice and marinate in whatever's handy - coconut and lime, bean paste, soy and peanut butter, mushrooms, soy and ginger, etc - for a few hours or overnight in the fridge, then bake at ~350 on parchment paper for 20-30min or so. Great to have baked flavored tofu in the fridge to add to dinner or just snack on for a few days.
posted by mediareport at 11:46 AM on August 20, 2023
posted by mediareport at 11:46 AM on August 20, 2023
I wonder about a crosscultural mash-up with the polenta, add a little gochugaru for some kick, top with kimchi and an egg and whatever else sounds good (a handful of shredded mozzarella if you've got it). I mean, we eat corn cheese.
posted by joycehealy at 11:55 AM on August 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by joycehealy at 11:55 AM on August 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
If the Szechuan peppercorn is whole (minus the seeds) then it'll keep for a long time, especially if you refrigerate it. If it's ready-ground, it won't last any time.
You could experiment with different dals. It might be interesting to see what a hot Szechuan dal or one finished with kimchi would be like.
It also looks like there are a lot of things there that could be used with ramen etc.
posted by pipeski at 1:57 PM on August 20, 2023
You could experiment with different dals. It might be interesting to see what a hot Szechuan dal or one finished with kimchi would be like.
It also looks like there are a lot of things there that could be used with ramen etc.
posted by pipeski at 1:57 PM on August 20, 2023
Oh hai, my pantry looks like yours!
Yellow dal makes excellent hummus if you have some tahini and if you run short, sub pb.
Red dal (raw) is excellent in quick bread. I'm gf, so I make bread with all of the flours and dried coconut and polentia you've listed with the exception of cassava (only because I haven't tried it yet). In particular, buckwheat flour is heavenly. Combine with in-season fruit. Oh - and wait a day before eating bread you put raw red dal (or quinona as it works similarly) into or it's still too hard and not yet hydrated.... but after that it reads as 'nutty'! As a bonus you have high protein bread because of combining legume and grain, high fiber, excellent snack. I under-sweeten mine and eat barely warmed for breakfast with or without plain yougart.
Almond flour makes excellent breading for meat/tofu/veg before frying or broiling. Also, the best shortbread cookies I've ever tasted, but I saw the low sugar direction so perhaps as a gift/treat?
Cassava flour - I'd swear I've read about a banana upside-down cake traditional in vietnam...?
Or fufu? Treat it like a small dumpling in soup?
If 'sweet' rice flour, you can make little chewy mochi 'dumplings' in soup, either sweet or savory, but plain (in an elegant way) in either case. Or red bean paste mochi balls, or sesame balls if you're willing to fry.
Dashi - all I've got is soup base, but I'm watching for ideas on that one, as I find instant dashi kinda meh.
Bean paste is an excellent base to any marinade or stir fry sauce. I've used it with PB to head towards peanut sauce, and with g.... (I can't spell it, but the Korean chili paste or mild crushed pepper and found it an excellent source of umami.
Kimchi fried rice is delish, as is kimchi soup. I've only made it with pork, but I think it'd be excellent with frozen tofu (so it has that spongy texture) and some sort of rich fat - ideally schmaltz or duck fat, and chix broth.
Juju and gojis, I'm with you on struggling to find ways to use them. They're supposed to be healthy tonics, so I throw them in rice before steaming and snip them up or remove them after. You may look at simple sweet Chinese dessert soups - I have white cloud ear mushrooms that I occasionally combine with jujus and simmer and later lightly sweeten. They aren't sweet like capitol d desert, but much gentler.
No idea on tamarind paste- could you put it in a fruit juice or use it to tart-up marinades or stir-fry sauces?
Dry soybeans - make soymilk! Maybe get crazy and make tofu?
I'm not a fan of black eyed peas either - I lean towards puree and use as the basis for a dip - probably spicy and with nuts/nut-butter to improve the texture.
Dry mushrooms - SOUP. Seriously, if they're the dried shitaki that I'm imagining, rehydrate, slice, and put in a simple soup (chix broth, few raddish or carrot shreds, maybe rice noodles or a sm potato, plus the sliced mushrooms. Also delicious in a stir fry! I think beef complement them nicely, plus other veg, use some bean paste and Korean chili powder (g....) with corn starch as a pan sauce along with aromatics and soy sauce or tamari +/- fish sauce. I'd try some melted tamarind juice because I have the idea it may be a nice bright/sour compliment to a pretty heavy/wintery stir fry, but that's wild speculation!
Hot pot mix - I'd treat like bullion and add to soups of all kinds for heat/flavor.
Peppercorns -bnot sure, they're pretty specific. Are they fresh (really floral and numbing)? If do, I'd do schzuan chix, tofu (I prefer texture of previously frozen), any other stir fry I could come up with. If they aren't fresh, I'd toss them (and I'm loathe to trash anything - it's just not worth making such a recognizable flavor try to fit into other dishes).
Looking forward to great answers - thanks for a fun question!
posted by esoteric things at 1:11 AM on August 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yellow dal makes excellent hummus if you have some tahini and if you run short, sub pb.
Red dal (raw) is excellent in quick bread. I'm gf, so I make bread with all of the flours and dried coconut and polentia you've listed with the exception of cassava (only because I haven't tried it yet). In particular, buckwheat flour is heavenly. Combine with in-season fruit. Oh - and wait a day before eating bread you put raw red dal (or quinona as it works similarly) into or it's still too hard and not yet hydrated.... but after that it reads as 'nutty'! As a bonus you have high protein bread because of combining legume and grain, high fiber, excellent snack. I under-sweeten mine and eat barely warmed for breakfast with or without plain yougart.
Almond flour makes excellent breading for meat/tofu/veg before frying or broiling. Also, the best shortbread cookies I've ever tasted, but I saw the low sugar direction so perhaps as a gift/treat?
Cassava flour - I'd swear I've read about a banana upside-down cake traditional in vietnam...?
Or fufu? Treat it like a small dumpling in soup?
If 'sweet' rice flour, you can make little chewy mochi 'dumplings' in soup, either sweet or savory, but plain (in an elegant way) in either case. Or red bean paste mochi balls, or sesame balls if you're willing to fry.
Dashi - all I've got is soup base, but I'm watching for ideas on that one, as I find instant dashi kinda meh.
Bean paste is an excellent base to any marinade or stir fry sauce. I've used it with PB to head towards peanut sauce, and with g.... (I can't spell it, but the Korean chili paste or mild crushed pepper and found it an excellent source of umami.
Kimchi fried rice is delish, as is kimchi soup. I've only made it with pork, but I think it'd be excellent with frozen tofu (so it has that spongy texture) and some sort of rich fat - ideally schmaltz or duck fat, and chix broth.
Juju and gojis, I'm with you on struggling to find ways to use them. They're supposed to be healthy tonics, so I throw them in rice before steaming and snip them up or remove them after. You may look at simple sweet Chinese dessert soups - I have white cloud ear mushrooms that I occasionally combine with jujus and simmer and later lightly sweeten. They aren't sweet like capitol d desert, but much gentler.
No idea on tamarind paste- could you put it in a fruit juice or use it to tart-up marinades or stir-fry sauces?
Dry soybeans - make soymilk! Maybe get crazy and make tofu?
I'm not a fan of black eyed peas either - I lean towards puree and use as the basis for a dip - probably spicy and with nuts/nut-butter to improve the texture.
Dry mushrooms - SOUP. Seriously, if they're the dried shitaki that I'm imagining, rehydrate, slice, and put in a simple soup (chix broth, few raddish or carrot shreds, maybe rice noodles or a sm potato, plus the sliced mushrooms. Also delicious in a stir fry! I think beef complement them nicely, plus other veg, use some bean paste and Korean chili powder (g....) with corn starch as a pan sauce along with aromatics and soy sauce or tamari +/- fish sauce. I'd try some melted tamarind juice because I have the idea it may be a nice bright/sour compliment to a pretty heavy/wintery stir fry, but that's wild speculation!
Hot pot mix - I'd treat like bullion and add to soups of all kinds for heat/flavor.
Peppercorns -bnot sure, they're pretty specific. Are they fresh (really floral and numbing)? If do, I'd do schzuan chix, tofu (I prefer texture of previously frozen), any other stir fry I could come up with. If they aren't fresh, I'd toss them (and I'm loathe to trash anything - it's just not worth making such a recognizable flavor try to fit into other dishes).
Looking forward to great answers - thanks for a fun question!
posted by esoteric things at 1:11 AM on August 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Jujubes and goji berries - chicken soup! (You can put the mushrooms and some other things in there too.) Example recipe. If you don't want to gather all the other herbs etc and then have all of them to use up, I'd say you'd still get some pretty tasty soup even if you only used the jubes, goji, and ginseng (or ginger).
posted by pianissimo at 7:30 AM on August 21, 2023
posted by pianissimo at 7:30 AM on August 21, 2023
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My favorite things to go with polenta are either fegato alla Veneziana or the same recipe with thinly sliced portobello mushrooms instead of liver, if someone doesn't eat liver, or you are just cooking for yourself. A whole liver is too big for me to take on alone.
For the buckwheat flour, Galettes Bretonnes
This article might be helpful too, specially if you read the comments.
posted by mumimor at 8:52 AM on August 20, 2023 [1 favorite]