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Registered: Nov 03, 2006
Posts: 40

	June 25, 2009 at 08:32 AM	Reply with quote	#1

During the past couple of years everyone seems to now have in their kitchen artillery a zester. Lemon zest is something which has become quite popular as has the zest of of limes and oranges. I would love your thoughts on this 'fad' which is in danger of overuse IMHO, but when skillfully employed is really super. Thanks, Jay __________________ I love good food and am especially good at washing up after a delicious meal requiring every pot and pan in the kitchen.
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Chef

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Registered: June 13, 2006
Posts: 169

	June 25, 2009 at 08:02 PM	Reply with quote	#2

The use of citrus fruit zest in cookery is NOT a fad. It's been around for centuries. The modern stainless steel citrus zester has replaced the now antiquarian bulky and hard-to-clean ones made from hard-surfaced wood including bamboo ... which is, BTW, a grass not a tree. Your observation that zest has become a fad is true only because it is boon to older tried and true less interesting recipes. Please do NOT scoff at this wonderful almost forgotten ingredient. Citrus perks-up a surprisingly long list of would-otherwise-be-vapid recipes; including both savory and sweet dishes. (Chocolate of course is a natural Made-in-Heaven marriage with most any citrus... orange being the most popular.) Needless to remind you that fish has been embellished with citrus from the beginning of time. Also note that many old fashioned rich dark meat stews often call for citrus rinds-both fresh and/or dried == whether whole, crumbled or powdered. Citrus in any almost form can and does add a richness and flavor that is remarkable. Game recipes in particular often call for dried citrus rinds as an important ingredient that adds character to an all-too-often murky if not musty flavored end points of some older red-fleshed animals, especially HEAVY flavored game such as Wild Boar, Moose, Muskrat, and Bear to name a few. ("Miss Sarah" should be pleased to know this "chefs' secret".) Returning to zest, citrus zest is the paper-thin outermost skin layer of most any citrus fruit. In addition to the modern fabulous stainless steel citrus "zester" (which resembles a carpenter's rasp), an ordinary vegetable peeler can also be used to harvest long paper thin strips of citrus zest. I find a back-and forth slicing motion to works very well. The goal is to avoid the acrid flavor of the pith. After the strips of zest are harvested, they can be dried and powdered and used to uplift many many recipes especially rustic Provençal fish soups. Also, you can stack the freshly harvested fresh zest strips into piles about 1/2-inch high and carefully slice them with a very sharp small chef's knife into what looks like very thin fingernail trimmings. These trimmings provide the same wonderful sparkle to recipes which call for zest as an ingredient or as a garnish (Once the fresh citrus zests are made, one can also easily simmer them in simple sugar syrup - with or with out the addition of glucose (aka Karo ® corn syrup) - to make a delightful sauce which can be further fortified by the addition of Gran Torres or Grand Marnier liquor. . . really really great on vanilla ice cream ! Dried and/or dry-fermented citrus rinds have been used by Chinese chefs since the beginning of time. (Translated as "old skin" dried tangerine peelings are a very very very important ingredient in many many Classic Chinese recipes including a remarkable dish called Loy Soy which has migrated into Thai cooking as Pa Low wherein almost anything is fair game for this remarkable ancient method of cookery, including and especially chicken, duck, pork, and is an especially popular breakfast treat whereby peeled hard-cooked eggs be they from chickens or duck are simmered gently in Pa Lo or Loy Soy. Too bad these recipes are not generally found in Chinese restaurants, but rather are mostly found in home kitchens or for sale by street venders, and at gas station snack bars ! See the recipe for Lo Soy given to me by Eileen Yin Fei Lo following this post.
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Chef

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Registered: June 13, 2006
Posts: 169

	June 25, 2009 at 11:13 PM	Reply with quote	#3

Here is a recipe for Lo Soy given to me my good friend Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, author of many award winning Chinese Cookbooks. I have used it often especially for pork, ducks, and hard cooked eggs. Eileen Yin Fei Lo’s ‘Master Sauce’ aka Lo Soy (‘old water’ in Chinese ) and Pa-loh (in Thai) “Master Sauce” is a convenient term used for various soy sauce-based liquids used for slow-braising meats. (Actually the Latinate term “braising-menstruum” would be a better descriptive than “sauce”.) Such complex mixtures are used exclusively for the Chinese cooking method known as slow-braising meats, and occasionally eggs (especially duck eggs) in a soy sauce based concoction commonly translated into English as "red-cooking". The names of such on going, ever simmering ‘living’ concoctions usually are modified by the name of the region or town from where over the decades develop a distinct regional flavor. Because Chinese restaurants often maintain constantly simmering sauces for many years on end, such Master Sauces are also known as "Thousand-year Sauce”, and with tongue-in-cheek are referred to by venerable Chinese chefs and home cooks as “Old Water.” They keep indefinitely! AND the timeless addition of ducks, chickens, geese, and pork continually enhance the flavor and complexity of Lo Soy cooked dishes. Many Chinese families also maintain their own special Master Sauce, handed down through generations, the original starter-recipes being carefully guarded. The basic ingredients that typically make-up a master sauce do vary from region to region, and red cooking has spread from China to other neighboring SE Asian countries as well, including the myriad of Chinese Restaurants found in Chinatowns all over the world. “My” Lo-Soy recipe, was taught to me by my friend and mentor, Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, and I generally follow it to the letter, but with a keen regard that I progressively monitor the process by constantly tasting as the recipe proceeds, and that I remind myself of the old German adage that “The Eye of Master Fatteneth His Cattle.” However, for neophytic cooks who are just beginning, most master sauce “starter recipes” include: licorice root, star anise, pungent Szechwan peppercorns, and sweet rock sugar or palm sugar (granulated or brown sugar may be substituted). NB These ingredients are but a few of the possible starters one might find. Note that all include soy sauce and a majority also lists liquid products such as wines and vinegars. Although water is a perfectly acceptable ingredient, a rich homemade mixed stock would serve best. The actual names of specific slow-simmered lo-soy cooked dishes vary regionally depending upon dialects as well as the specific products being braised. Fatty meats are most commonly preferred and pork belly is almost a ubiquitous addition to any simmering lo-soy pot, no matter what any other choice meat is found at the morning’s market. Goose, duck, cured and/or smoked hams are commonly simmered in Lo Soy. Fresh pork such as pig’s feet, fresh belly, hocks, ears and tails are also favorites Shelled hard-cooked eggs are often added for a short half-hour or three-quarter hour simmer, and are favorite snacks available at roadside refreshment kiosks along the highways and byways throughout Thailand. Eileen Yin-Fei Lo’s Chiu Chow Lo Soy (Chiu Chow Master Braising Menstruum) Adapted from: New Cantonese Cooking by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, © Viking 1988 I hereby offer the annotated measurements and notes I made while making Chef Eileen’s recipe for Chiu Chow Lo Op” with Eileen by my side. The following measurements will yield enough Lo Soy to cook one duck OR (times four) will yield 2 to 3 gallons of Chiu Chow Master Braising Menstruum. All manner of large cuts of meats may be slow-cooked in an electric crock-pot or in a standard heavy bottomed stockpot or brazier. When the meat is done and removed, the Loy-Soy may be cooled, degreased, placed into a lidded jar or container and stored in the refrigerator for two or three weeks. At Deux Chemnées, we routinely maintained any leftover Loy-Soy by portioning and freezing it into two- cup rectangular plastic containers. After it was frozen we could easily pop the stored frozen “Lo-Soy Cubes” to be used at a moments notice. This was especially convenient when the butcher announced a new supply of Pigs Bellies, or hocks or tails, etc. Of course a staff dinner consisting of Lo Soy Duck or Goose or Chicken was always a favorite for a mid-winter Staff Dinner treat. Without any special thanks to the Chinese, Red Cooking has be widely adopted by the cooks of Thailand. Thus the Diaspora of good food evolves! Lo Soy Recipes are without end and keeping and maintaining these ever-ready Lo Soy Master Sauces is a very revered chore and thus reflects the personal favorite ingredients and flavors of individual cooks. THE RECIPE One X 4 4 (16) pieces of Eight-star Anise 4 (16) 3-inch pieces of Cinnamon Sticks 1/2 (2) Tablespoons whole Fennel Seeds 1/2 (1) Dried Tangerine Peel (~ 2 (2) Teaspoons Sichuan Peppercorns 12 (24) pieces of Dried Licorice (1 or 2 inches each) 6 (12) slices of Fresh Sand Ginger [Galangal (Thai) ] 1 (4) whole Nutmegs (cracked and broken) 1 (4) 2-inch pieces of Fresh Ginger-root smashed with a clever 1 (4) Tablespoons whole Cloves 4 (12) whole Fresh Cloves of Garlic peeled and crushed 3 (8) Fresh Scallions (Cleaned & trimmed into 3-inch pieces)
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