shrimp in caramelized sugar

shrimp in caramelized sugar: Vietnam, BRW, p 359
coconut rice: Caribbean, BRW, p 516

Unfortunately, one of our guests doesn’t eat onions, and shrimp in caramelized sugar is a pretty onion-heavy dish. The shrimp in caramelized sugar was tasty–very peppery, and I love how fish sauce and caramelized sugar make such a tangy-sweet sauce–but I think the steak version (which we’ve made a couple times in the past) is much better.

The coconut rice, made with basmati and lite coconut milk, was awesome as usual. We made the ginger version.

fish fillets poached in caramel sauce

Last night, I made fish fillets poached in caramel sauce (Vietnam, BRW, p 232) using two 1 lb fillets of mahimahi. I used caramelized onions instead of shallots, halved the sugar (by accident—I didn’t read the recipe closely), and used brown sugar instead of white. I doubt any of the changes were improvements, but the dish still tasted alright. One thing about it that was excellent, however, was that it was well-seasoned enough for Juliana, but I could add more of the peppery caramel sauce to give the dish (a lot) more kick.

salabat (ginger tea)

I thought that salabat, or ginger tea, (Southeast Asia, BRW, p 665) was delicious, especially hot. It was a little too gingery for Juliana, though. As it cooled down, the ginger flavor became more biting, too.

synopsis of the past month

Though I took a leave from posting, we didn’t take a leave from cooking. Foods we’ve prepared in the last few weeks include:

• blackberry jam
• blackberry cobbler (2x)
• corn on the cob
• roasted peppers (2x)
• biscuits
• steak w/ Peruvian seasoning
• Peruvian mayonnaise
• pineapple-coconut rice
• Mexican steak and mushroom stew
• caramelized onions
• hummus
• fried rice
• ganache-frosted brownies
• truffles
• huevos rancheros

Also, we had friends over and tried the ratafia that I started at the beginning of the summer. It was slightly thick, boozy, and tasted of peaches and honey—delicious! Finally, I have some plans for the future:

• use the rice cooker for grits and oatmeal
• make Bittman’s new no-knead bread recipe
• make a soaked cake
• to make something with butternut squash

Descriptions are below.