Hi everyone, and welcome back to Recipe of the Week, the juiciest crowd-sourced weekly recipe column. Last week was really something. Emotions were high, and the most up-voted comments had less to do with the topic at hand (my neglected wok) and everything to do with a certain fruit that I can't even type the name of anymore.
It made for a lively comments sections, and I have a lot of trophies to give out this week.
The most popular comment comes to us from andthentherewerenone1:
The trophy for this comment is "Sway" by The Rolling Stones, because -- to borrow a phrase from Sir Jagger -- this whole thing kind of "broke up my mind."
The most up-voted, non-mango, wok-related comment comes from lyz143:
This made me laugh long and hard, bringing much joy to my day. Your sonic trophy, lyz143 is "Hold On" by Tom Waits, because I couldn't think of a song about pot holders and settled for one with "hold" in the title.
Honorable mention goes to Miz'sCorpse, who provided a recipe...sorta.
If none of this Miz/mango stuff is making any sense, that's okay. I'm still not sure what happened, but I know it involved a lot of fruit-specific anger, banning, and Liam Neeson.
Your trophy, Corpse of Miz, is "Long Black Veil" by The Band for reasons that I will let you interpret on your own:
(Related: If you are at all interested in a playlist comprised only of various versions of "Long Black Veil," I have just the thing.)
Finally, the most up-voted recipe that actually answered the question "What should I do with my wok?" was this delicious Forbidden Rice from meep:
Forbidden fried rice with bacon and shrimp! i fucking love forbidden rice, it's crunchy and nutty and delicious and basically makes EVERY fried rice better. and it's super simple. you'll want to make 1.5 cups of forbidden rice (it's dark purple, easily available at trader joe's and most asian markets) in advance and stick it in the fridge for a couple hours. colder is better.
THEN. in this order, add the following things to your wok.2 strips bacon (cut up into matchsticks. let cook thoroughly, then drain off most of the grease, i like to let the rest of the ingredients cook in a lil bit of bacon grease for flavor)a handful of raw shrimp (cook 2-3 minutes until pink through)a few minced garlic cloves (cook until golden)half a red onion, cut lengthwise into long strips (fry until fragrant)the chilled rice (at any point add olive oil if things are starting to smoke)
1 tbsp soy sauce,
1 tbsp fish sauce
mix it all real good.
top with a handful of chopped scallions.
enjoy! the combo of bacon shrimp and crispy scallions in delicious rice is basically the best thing ever. you can also fry an egg in a shit ton of butter and serve on the side if you're feeling indulgent.
Before I could begin to cook this tasty treat, my wok had to be seasoned. I did so according to the Gospel of Grace Young, as suggested by commenter Piscita. Once that was done, it looked like this:
I hope that's how it's supposed to look. (I read that it will get better with age, so I'm excited about that.)
Anyway. I was super pumped to make this meal. I had just gotten home from yoga and was ready to eat. In fact, I was so excited to eat this umami-packed bowl of goodness that that I forgot the damn scallions.
It was fantastic even without them, but I'm pretty bummed that I missed out on delicious, crispy scallions. It was a fairly rich and salty dish, and I feel like the scallion's bright, oniony flavor would have really rounded the whole thing out.
So. Don't be like me. Remember the scallions.
Fantastic job, meep. I will be making this again (with scallions). Your trophy is "Hindsight" by Deathcab for Cutie, because in hindsight I wish I hadn't forgotten the fucking scallions.
Next.
This Sunday is Mother's Day and its imminence has me reflecting on all of the things I've "gotten from my mama," so to speak. Though I did not inherit my mother's love of sprouted grain bread, I did inherit her oily skin, perfectly straight teeth, and love of gumbo.
Due to her busy emergency-veterinarian schedule, my mom wasn't able to cook every night, and would instead make a big batch of something delicious to get us all through the week. She made a great chili and a comforting beef stew, but my favorite was her gumbo.
She taught me the way of the roux and I've been making gumbo ever since. I can't make a pot without thinking of her, and I still call her to let her know "how it turned out," because these things are important. (I also inherited her hatred of celery, an ingredient we both leave out of the gumbo.)
So what I want this week is your favorite recipes you got from your mama. If your mama wasn't a cook -- or if you didn't like her cooking -- it can also be from your grandmama, mentor, teacher, or any other maternal-type figure. What I'm looking for here is recipes passed down from woman to woman; I'm not picky.