Japa Dog - A Vancouver Street Food Fave

The Japa Dog carts - two so far - and a soon-to-be-open storefront are teaching the old dog some new tricks. A sidewalk sensation, Japa Dog regularly produces a line-up for their Japanese take on the tubesteak.

Even on the dreariest of rainy Vancouver days, Japa Dog shows a dogged entrepreneurial spirit by throwing up some tarps. 

First course: the Okonomi Kurobuta Pork. Translation: 100 percent Kurobuta pork (Berkshire pork) plump and juicy with the perfect snap, is presented nestled in a toasted bun, topped with mayo, special okonomi sauce - a tricked-out ketchup - fried cabbage and dried bonito flakes.
Get extra napkins. It's going to get messy.

Next course, the Kurobuto Terimayo of the same delicious all-natural pork with terisauce, fried onions and nori seaweed. 

Other embellishments included miso-mayo, daikon-oroshi (grated daikon) and ume ( plum).

I might try them at a later date, but for me the Okonomi Kurobuta Pork is the Hello Kitty. And only $6.25. 

Japa Dog can be enjoyed at the corner of Burrard at Sutton Place, Burrard and Pender, and at 530 Robson St. Carts are open late night on the weekends, weather depending.

Check out their celebrity clientele including Anthony Bourdain and Ice Cube - who prefers the turkey dog - at their website, japadog.com

Frittata. An Exercise in Leftovers

Leftovers again? That's right, kids. Time to use up those bits and pieces taking over the fridge and freezer. What better way than to make a family-size frittata, a freeform free-for-all crustless quiche. Italian accent optional. A simple base of 2 eggs per 1 cup of milk or cream to whatever ingredients that need to be used up. Like those roasted anaheim chilies I had stashed in the freezer. That leftover turkey meat, the chard stalks, the cool red-tinged corn and various herbs on the verge of extinction.

Saute any onions or leeks first, along with any fresh or raw ingredients. Add chopped herbs (I used cilantro) and lay down the layer in your pan or olive oil-licked skillet. You can use a cast iron skillet or other oven proof pan. I like my trusty pyrex, a 9 x 13 beauty. Any ingredients like tomatoes should be free of all the juice, and those previously frozen roasted chilies must be patted dry. Otherwise your frittata won't set properly.

Add the cheese. And again, any cheese will do. Grated, sliced or rasped. Get it in there. I only had some bland mozzarella but it needed to be used up. Add your frittata mix.

I used 6 eggs to 3 cups of milk. Take a fork or spoon just to gently move the mix around making sure it's hitting the bottom of the dish, embracing all the ingredients.

I like to top the mix with pieces of day-old bread. It gives the finished dish a nice toasty crust. Kind of like an omelette and toast all in one.
Bake at 375 for 45 minutes or until set.
If you want to keep things Italian, think leftover pasta. A classically rustic Italian dish is spaghetti pie. Use cooked spaghetti or any leftover pasta, add cheese and/or prosciutto and your egg-milk mix and bake. Luscious. I've enjoyed it in Napoli, but you don't have to travel that far.

You can easily double, triple or otherwise increase the recipe. It makes an easy brunch dish for a crowd, using leftovers or not, served hot. A brilliant breakfast, lunch, dinner with a salad or snack.

Meatloaf, Tomato Sauce, Caramelized Onions & Wild Mushrooms

Nothing like a bout of tomato sauce, redolent with onions and garlic to take the edge off a cold rainy afternoon. Simmer with oregano until the tomatoes break apart and relax into it.
A pan of slowly caramelizing onions got a hit of apple cider vinegar for a lift. 
To later adorn the top of a meatloaf of veal, bison and pork. The meaty beauty was spiced with more onions, garlic, mustard and some leftover iguana mole sauce.
Pine and chanterelle mushrooms were given a quick saute and lo and behold, dinner was served.

Let's Have Some Pie

I've got some ice cream left.

Chilies Rellenos - Stuffed Chilies. One of Many

Stuffed chilies, or chilies rellenos in Mexico, show evidence of the many cultures that showed up on their shores.

The introduction of olives, capers, raisins and almonds, to name a few, fell into the hands of gifted cooks and were worked with indigenous ingredients like chilies, tomatoes and herbs to become dishes that are now mainstays of the Mexican repetoire.

One of them, known as picadillos, is highlighted in this recipe from chef Ricardo Santibanez. Ground chicken and other luscious ingredients with hits of mint and other herbs are stuffed into dried and hydrated chile anchos. (The recipe follows at the end of the post).

The dried but still pliable chilies are hydrated in a lovely hot bath of water, piloncillo (see the cones of sugar below), cinnamon and apple cider vinegar. Fruit vinegars are very popular in Mexico but where I live pineapple vinegar is not an option, so apple cider will be the most accessible.

I was blessed to meet and work with chef Santibanez when he was at Fonda San Miguel in Austin, Texas. Years later, we met again at New York's Rosa Mexicano where as culinary director, he developed their menu giving it bold and elegant flourishes. Check out his cookbook, Rosa's New Mexican Table for further evidence of his talents.

Next comes a wonderful saute of the ground chicken, tomatoes, onion, garlic, olives, capers, cilantro, mint, parsley and almonds.
Stuffed into hydrated chilies anchos.
Heated and served with a wonderful cilantro-flecked cream sauce, this dish is indicative of chef Santibanez' style combining the modern with the authentic.

He suggests serving with rice and black beans. I substituted a fresh and crunchy salad for the beans.

Chilies Anchos Rellenos de Picadillos de Pollo

(printed by permission of Roberto Santibanez)

(Makes 8 to 10, depending on chilie size)

For the chicken

2 lb. of finely chopped or roughly ground chicken

6 oz. white onion, finely chopped ( 1 generous cup)

1 oz. garlic, peeled and minced ( 2 Tbsp.)

2 lb Roma tomatoes or good quality canned, finely diced ( 4 cups approx.)

1/2 c. mild olive oil

1/4 tsp. thyme

2 bay leaves

1/2 c. raisins

1/4 c. cilantro leaves only, very firmly packed, finely chopped

1/4 c. parsley leaves, firmly packed, finely chopped

6 mint springs, leaves only, finely chopped

1/2 c. manzanilla olives, pitted, roughly chopped

1/4 c. capers, well rinsed

1/2 c. slivered almonds,

salt to taste

In a medium saucepan, heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil and lightly fry the onion until translucent. Add garlic and cook for one more minute, add tomatoes, thyme and bay leaves, and let sauce boil at medium heat for 15 minutes. Add capers, olives and raisins, and continue to cook for 10 more minutes.

In a large saute pan, heat the rest of the oil and add the chicken and cook until dry, stirring constantly. Salt lightly. Pour the tomato sauce into the pan with chicken and bring to the boil. Add almonds and fresh herbs and turn off the heat. Let cool.

Time to do the chilies.

For the chilies

8 - 10 chilies anchos, slit open on the side, seeds and veins removed

4 cups water

4 oz. piloncillo, grated

1/2 inch. Mexican cinnamon bark

2/3 c. apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp. salt

In a saucepan combine the water, piloncillo, cinnamon, vinegar and salt. Bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the chilies and cover, take off the heat and let the chilies soak for 8 minutes.

Transfer the chilies carefully one by one onto paper towels, patting dry. Set aside.

Stuff the chilies with the picadillo mixture and place in an oven-proof dish. Cover with foil and heat through at 350F.

Meanwhile fix the sauce.

The Sauce

1 c. whipping cream

1 c. sour cream

1/2c. white onion , finely chopped

1/4 c. cilantro leaves, firmly packed, finely chopped

1/2 tsp. sea salt

Put whipping cream and onion in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to medium and reduce for 8 minutes. Strain out the onion. Add sour cream and whisk to incorporate. Add chopped cilantro and keep warm until serving. (Don't do this too much ahead of time).

Pool the sauce onto each plate, carefully place a stuffed chilie and drizzle some of the sauce on top (optional). Garnish with a cilantro sprig.

Serve this exquisite dish with white rice, and my new favourite salad of chayote, watercress, apple and pomegranate. I dress the salad at table with a orange and lime juice vinaigrette.

Night of the Iguana. Afternoon of the Quesadilla.

I keep three big tubs of chilies in my cool climate pantry, but cooking Mexican has been on the back burner for a while. When I found a bag of chile costeno rojo, I felt the need to put the front burners on high.

The costenos are small, tough-skinned and fiery little buggers, about 3 inches long or so. I've used them in the past to make a Oaxacan coastal mole known as Mole de Iguana Negra, traditionally using iguana.

Nothing like that available in BC, so I use pork ribs. I was first introduced to the dish via Claire Archibald, chef and co-owner of the now closed Cafe Azul in Portland, Oregon. A stylish Mexican regional restaurant, Claire prepared the dish with baby back ribs over country-style ribs as suggested in D.K's book My Mexico.

If you have access to these chilies, this is another easy introduction to the art of mole making.

Begin by par-poaching the ribs in just enough water to cover, along with a 1/4 chopped onion and freshly cracked pepper. (My addition). Once the ribs are firm but cooked through, remove to a platter. Strain and set the broth aside for later use.

The recipe asks for 40 chilies but I must stress to use the weight measurement in the book as the size of the chilies varies. I ended up using more like 60 chilies to achieve the suggested 115 grams. Choose whole chilies. Now you must stem them, remove the seeds and inner membrane. The sensitive should wear gloves to do this. I find that gloves impede my progress, and really, the pain isn't that bad!

You are now going to toast all the chilies on a comal or dry cast iron skillet, being careful not to burn them. You may want to open a window the fumes can be irritating to the lungs.

Soak the toasted chilies in a bowl of hot water for at least 20 minutes if not more. You want to soften the skins.

Avocado leaves are a substitute for the required hoja santa here, most likely the former is easier to find than the latter. I happen to have some dried avocado leaves on hand, which were toasted and crumbled into the blender with some pork broth, garlic, onion, peppercorns, oregano and cloves.

As with all moles, the blender is your best friend, so make sure yours is in good shape - a sharp blade is most important. The other emphasis is on frying and reducing your sauce to season it. This mole is no different. Once the spices are smoothly blended, fry with a bit of oil or lard in a deep saucepan, stirring continuously for one to two minutes.

The soaking chilies are drained and blended along with a good dose of pork broth until smooth. Really smooth.

Hello down there.

Add the pureed chilies to the reduced onion-spice-herb mix by running it through a fine strainer, over the saucepan, extracting as much juice and flesh as possible. Cook over med-high heat, stirring for about five minutes. Add the blended tomatillo-masa mix. Add the pork ribs and more broth if needed to keep a medium consistency. Simmer until some pools of oil appear on the surface and the ribs are tender. Those pools of oil are exactable what you are looking for in a mole.
Serve with bowls of steamed rice and hot tortillas. I also made a salad of chayote, apple and watercress to cool down the palate.

Next day, with still more costenos to use up, DK's cookbook suggests a mushroom filling using toasted and ground costenos, blended with raw garlic, water and toasted hoja santa. The mix is fried a bit, chopped mushrooms are added and simmered until most of the liquid has been absorbed. This will be a filling for empanadas or quesadillas.

Be forewarned: even though the seeds were removed from the chilies, they were even hotter today. FYI: soaking chilies will tone down the heat somewhat, and further to that repeated rinsing in cold water. Just do this after toasting.

The requested addition of salty cheese for the quesadillas was okay, but I would have preferred jack or mozzarella to counterbalance the chilie's intensity. I tried some pickled rajas (strips of roasted, peeled anaheims, pickled in lime juice) but ended up adding cool plain yogurt, as that's all I had on hand. Sour cream or crema would also do the trick.

They were still delicious, but hell fire! This would be great dish with seared beef.