Pulled beef teriyaki taco with feta cheese #188

Everybody likes tacos so here´s one with a bit of a twist, it´s made with pulled beef that is flavored with a teriyaki sauce and topped with a roasted avocado, crumbled feta cheese, onion and fresh cilantro. 

The combination with feta cheese and teriyaki sauce might some a bit unusual but it really works great, I´ve picked it up from a friend who used to make noodles with beef, teriyaki sauce and feta cheese and been doing it every since.

Pulled beef teriyaki taco with feta cheese

wheat tortillas

beef meat for pulled beef or bought pulled beef

avocado

red onion

feta cheese

cilantro

teriyaki sauce

salt, pepper

The meat

First the meat, (if you haven´t bought it pre-made), season a piece of beef with salt and pepper and roast in the oven on low to medium heat until it´s tender enough to be pulled, you can add a bit of water in the bottom of the pan while cooking to keep the meat moist. This is usually a step that is good to make a day ahead.

Once the meat is done pull it into strips and heat in a pot, add teriyaki sauce the way you normally would add BBQ-sauce. You want the pulled beef to be slightly creamy and moist with a clear taste of the teriyaki. Seat aside and keep warm.

The vegetables

Slice the onion, chop the cilantro, crumble the feta cheese. Split the avocado and remove the pit, then cut it into four wedges, brush the avocado with olive oil and roast in a hot pan for a few seconds. 

Plating

Heat the tortilla and put on a plate, put a bit of pulled beef in the middle, top with avocado, onion and sprinkle the feta cheese and cilantro on top. Eat.

Asian coleslaw with cabbage, carrots, lime and sesame seeds #187

Asian coleslaw is a great fresh, crunchy and sometimes spicy variety of coleslaw that also can be served like a small appetizer or tapas even if you usually serve it as a side dish. In comparison to regular coleslaw this is very different, much fresher in both texture and flavor.

I use white cabbage as my base for the salad and then add what I might have at home, this time this was carrots, spring onion and a bunch of herbs but you can use celery, apples, beets, pears, papaya and a bunch of other vegetables.

Same goes for the dressing, in this recipe I used sesame oil, olive oil, lime juice and chili but you can use soy sauce, lemon, vinegar, sriracha, oyster sauce and make the salad equally good but different for every time you serve it. Only downside from regular coleslaw is that this one won´t keep for very long, I usually serve it the same day, you can save it one or maybe two days but it won´t be as good as on the first day. If you still want to prepare you can make the dressing and cut the vegetables a day ahead and dress the coleslaw a few hours before dinner time.

Asian coleslaw with cabbage, carrots, lime and sesame seeds

white cabbage
carrots
spring onion
lime
sesame seeds, roasted
sesame oil
olive oil
dried chili, strips or flakes
cilantro
chives
salt, pepper

The veggies

Wash the cabbage and slice thin, remove any big stems before, add to a big bowl and sprinkle with salt, leave for one hour. This make the cabbage softer and it will loose some of it´s water. Discard the water from the cabbage. Peel carrots and cut to thin strips, slice the spring onion and roughly chop the cilantro and chives. Combine all the vegetables in the bowl.

The dressing

With dressing you´ll need some measurements, for this dressing use 3 parts olive oil, 2 parts lime juice and one part sesame oil.

Combine olive oil and sesame oil,  wash limes and grate the skin into the oil, then squeeze and add the lime juice. Add the chili, sesame seeds and season with salt and pepper.

Final steps and plating

Combine the dressing with the vegetables and check the taste, adjust if necessary. Serve on small plates with a lime on the side or as a side. Good luck!

Calamari salad with sesame seeds, fennel, cucumber & chili #182

Hello, it´s time for some calamari, this time I am serving it in a salad with Asian flavors. It is fairly simple to make, the base is chopped cucumber, fennel and seared calamari and then I added toasted sesame seeds, cilantro, sesame oil, chili and some seaweed. 

The salad keeps for a few hours in the fridge so it is a good dish to have prepared beforehand, also if you´re serving guests who are not big fans of calamari it is a great way to learn to like it since it´s not the dominant flavor of the dish. Some people don´t like the texture of calamari either and since it´s chopped and seared it is not so noticeable.

Calamari salad with sesame seeds, fennel, cucumber & chili

calamari, fresh or frozen

sesame seeds

fresh red chili

cucumber

fennel

sesame oil

dried wakame seaweed (can be found in most Asian food stores)

olive oil

salt, pepper

fresh cilantro

fresh lime

Chop the calamari into cubes and sear in a frying pan with some vegetable oil, season with salt and pepper. Once cooked add the calamari to a bowl and dice the cucumber and slice the fennel and add to the bowl. Dice the chili and cilantro and add together with some olive oil, sesame oil and lime juice.

Bring water to the boil in a pot and add some dried wakame seaweed, let it simmer for one minute, discard the water and rinse the wakame in cold water, then chop the seaweed and add to the salad.

In a dry pan roast the sesame seeds until they are golden, once done add to the bowl and combine all ingredients, adjust flavors using oil, salt, pepper and lime if necessary. Be a bit careful with the chili since it takes a while for the flavors to come forward.

Mexican corn with cilantro, chipotle & Parmesan cheese #180

Mexican corn is quite a new discovery for me but I fell in love at first bite. I have never had it in Mexico but got to try some in California this summer and have been trying to reproduce the same experience here in Sweden since then. 

I can´t say I´ve come close enough to what I had in California but it still is a great tasting corn. Luckily we are in the middle of the season for fresh corn here so there are plenty to get in the stores for everyone to enjoy.

I parboil the corn and then brush it with a little bit of oil, grill it and then smear it with a combination of mayonnaise, sour cream and cilantro and then grate Parmesan cheese and sprinkle a little bit of salt and ground chipotle on top. Serve some lime wedges on the side. This is my version of Mexican so far, hope you´ll like it!

Mexican corn with cilantro, chipotle & Parmesan cheese

fresh corn

vegetable oil

mayonnaise

sour cream

fresh cilantro

lime

ground chipotle

salt

Parmesan cheese

Remove the outer leafs of the corn and then parboil for half a minute, brush with vegetable oil and a little bit of salt and then grill on high heat. Combine equal parts sour cream and mayonnaise and add chopped cilantro and a pinch of salt. 

Once the corn is grilled smear it with the cream and put on a plate and then grate Parmesan cheese on top. Chop some more cilantro and add with some ground chipotle on top. Serve warm with lime wedges on the side, good luck!

New Years recipe ideas with Asian flavors

New Years Eve is coming up and if you haven´t decided on what to serve I have picked some of my own favorite recipes from Delicious Tapas and have some great suggestions for you!

This is the sixth and final post in this series and it will be focused on Asian flavors and inspiration

All recipes can be found in their original post that I have linked for each dish. I haven´t suggested any dessert but since I´m not that much into desserts. But if I have to recommend something I would go for any great ice cream, because who doesn´t love ice-cream?

New Years menu with Asian flavors

Appetizers - these appetizers is quite light in flavor and is a great start to any meal.

Vietnamese spring rolls with sesame seeds and soy dipping sauce
Calamari with cilantro, lime and spring onion
Mussels with Thai flavors

Starter

Scallop in dashi with wakame and chili oil

I love this dish, the sweet scallop in combination with the wakame and dashi makes it one of my own favorites and I think it´s perfect as an Asian inspired starter.

Main course

For the main course it´s time for some meat, soy braised ribs with some Momofuku quick pickles and rice balls on the side.

Soy braised ribs with chili and cilantro
Momofuku quick salt pickles
Rice balls with cilantro and chili soy dip

Crab with cilantro & avocado #94

For this recipe I used fresh crab claws which I boiled in salted water and then removed the meat, make sure you use white crab meat. If you can´t get hold of any crab you can replace the crab with shrimps. The spring onion and cucumber is almost completely hidden in the pictures under the cilantro but don´t forget them because they add much needed crunch to this dish.

Crab with cilantro & avocado

crab meat
cilantro
avocado
cucumber
spring onion
olive oil
lime
salt, pepper

Peel and crush the avocado into a rough paste, chop some cilantro and add to the avocado and combine. Add fresh lime juice, salt and pepper. Season to taste. Dice the cucumber and slice some spring onion. Plate the avocado cream and put the crab meat on top together with some cucumber and spring onion. Garnish with fresh cilantro leafs.

Calamari with cilantro, lime & spring onion #93

This is probably the tastiest way I ever had calamari, simple, fresh and tasty. For this recipe I used frozen baby squid which is better since you want to slice them as thin as you can, taste wise there is no problem using larger calamaris but if you´ll find small, get them.

Calamari with cilantro, lime & spring onion

baby calamari

fresh cilantro

lime

spring onion

salt, pepper

olive oil

Slice the calamari as thin as you can, slice the spring onion. Heat olive oil in a pan on high heat and add the calamari, sear it for about thirty seconds constantly stirring. Add salt and pepper and then the spring onion. If it starts to dry out then add a little more olive oil. Finally squeeze in lime juice and some roughly chopped cilantro, serve immediately.

Ceviche marinated shrimps with mango & cilantro #82

Fresh mango with lime marinated shrimps, a great appetizer for summer. Keep in mind that since I´m using cooked shrimps for this recipe you shouldn´t marinate the shrimps for to long or they will get dry, a few minutes is enough.

So if you want to prepare it just do the marinade and peel the shrimps and combine a few minutes before it´s time to serve.

Ceviche marinated shrimps with mango & cilantro

cooked shrimps
fresh lime
cilantro
red chilies
fresh mango
red onion
olive oil
salt, pepper

Peel the shrimps, finely chop the chili, cilantro, red onion and combine with some fresh lime juice, season with a few drops of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Peel and slice the mango and then cut into rectangles, arrange the shrimps on top of the mango and decorate with a few leafs of cilantro and a wedge of lime.

Grilled sole with mango salsa and lime # 58

A great recipe for a tapas but you can easily make it bigger and serve as a main course on a summer day.
I used sole but any white fish that can be grilled is good.

Grilled sole with mango salsa and lime

filets of sole
fresh mango
olive oil
cilantro
chili
salt, pepper
dried chili powder
lime

Dice the mango and marinate in limejuice, olive oil, chopped cilantro, pepper, a pinch of salt and some chili powder. Let sit for half an hour and then season to taste.

Brush the fish with a little bit of oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill on high heat until done. Serve varme with the mango and wedges of lime.

Soy braised ribs with chili & cilantro # 48

Soy braised ribs with chili & cilantro

Pork ribs

Japanese soy

Honey

Cilantro

Chili flakes

Combine soy with honey and brush the ribs with the marinade. Roast the ribs in oven on medium heat until tender, for me this usually takes between 2-3 hours. Brush the ribs every twenty minutes until done.

Take out the ribs and let cool down, then cut between bones and brush one more time, sprinkle with chili flakes and chopped cilantro. Serve varm.

Rice balls with cilantro & chili soy dip # 41

Rice balls with cilantro & chili soy dip

Cooked basmati rice
Fresh cilantro
Dried chili flakes
Japanese soy sauce
Sesame seeds
Sriracha sauce (or any other hot chili sauce)
Sesame oil

Finely chop the cilantro, save some leafs for decoration. Combine the chopped cilantro with the rice and form round balls.

Combine soy, sesame seeds, sriracha sauce, sesame oil and chili flakes into a dip. The soy is the base so this should be the dominant flavor and go easy on the sesame oil because it can easily get to dominant.

Decorate with some sesame seeds, cilantro leaves and chili flakes. Good luck.

Seared beef with cilantro, carrots & sesame seeds #5

Seared beef with cilantro, carrots & sesame seeds

beef

fresh cilantro

carrot

sesame seeds

salt, pepper

japanese soy sauce

Sear or grill the beef, slice the carrots thin. Slice the beef and season with salt, pepper and soy. Garnish with carrots, cilantro and sesame seeds.