Gettin' Spicy

We all need some spice in our lives, right? These recipes will satisfy your spice tooth, but do not worry, I also included a dessert recipe that will cool you right down!

First up, my Crispy Gochujang Shrimp with Congee. The perfect combination of comfort, heat, spice, a touch of sweetness, and umami. Not to mention how beautiful it looks on the plate.

I used all parts of the shrimp including the shells. Nothing goes to waste. I peeled one pound of shrimp and added the shells to a stock pot with two quarts of water, one tablespoon of black peppercorns, one bay leaf, a handful of parsley sprigs, and two tablespoons of seafood seasoning such as Old Bay to make a homemade shrimp stock. I brought it to a boil, covered, lowered the heat, and allowed it to simmer for one hour before straining the stock into a large measuring cup to slightly cool and discarded the solids.

Instant shrimp stock!

Congee is the ultimate comfort food. It is a silky porridge made from rice and it achieves its consistency from the longer cooking time and the additional cooking liquid than what is typical of most rice cooking methods. I wanted mine to be extra flavorful so I began by cooking aromatics (one inch piece of unpeeled ginger sliced in half and one small finely chopped shallot) in one tablespoon each of neutral oil and butter. I also added one cup of jasmine rice and allowed it to toast slightly while stirring constantly to prevent burning.

Congee is often made with chicken or vegetable broth, but I used seven cups of the shrimp stock that I made earlier because I felt the flavors would go well with the crispy shrimp. I added the stock to the rice, brought it to a boil, lowered the heat, covered, and cooked for one hour, occasionally stirring so that the congee did not burn or stick to the bottom of the pot. I fished out the ginger at the end. While the congee cooked, I started on the gochujang glaze. Gochujang is a paste made from red chili peppers, fermented soy beans, rice, and salt. It is spicy, savory, and a little bit sweet. I made the glaze by combining two cloves of minced garlic, one quarter cup honey, the juice of a lime, two tablespoons of gochujang, and a teaspoon of gochugaru (Korean red chile flakes). I brought it to a boil, lowered the heat, and allowed it to reduce and thicken.

Congee is often served with Chinese crullers which are crispy fried pieces of dough, but I decided to serve it with the crispy shrimp instead. I set up a standard breading station consisting of seasoned flour (salt, pepper, and a pinch of cayenne), one beaten egg with a splash of water, and seasoned Panko bread crumbs. You can use regular bread crumbs but Panko makes the shrimp more crispy.

I fried them in 360 degree neutral oil in batches, to prevent overcrowding, until golden brown, which only took a few minutes. As soon as they came out of the oil, I set them on a rack over a sheet pan and seasoned with salt.

Once all of the shrimp had been fried, I brushed the gochujang glaze on both sides and assembled the plates.

I started with a bed of congee. To be honest, I could eat a bowl of this by itself!

Shrimp down the center!

To finish the plating, I added a stem of cilantro, a sprinkling of sliced scallions, and some steamed snow peas.

Ready for more spice? Then you will love my Spicy Chorizo Empanadas with Chipotle Mayo and Jalapeño Corn Dogs! For the empanadas, I cooked one pound of ground chorizo, breaking it up with a wooden spoon until cooked. I also added one medium yellow potato that I peeled and small diced, one teaspoon of ground cumin, two teaspoons of chili powder, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Once cooked, I set the mixture aside to cool while I prepared to assemble.

You can certainly make homemade empanada dough, or - MAJOR SHORTCUT - you can use store-bought pie crust. (I did!) I used a cookie cutter to cut perfect circles of dough that were the same size as my empanada mold. I added a teaspoon of cooled meat and oaxaca cheese which is basically Mexican melty string cheese.

I used my mold to form them and then used a fork to crimp the edges. If you do not have an empanada mold, gently fold the circles in half being careful not to let the filling pop out, and then use your fork to crimp.

I brushed the tops with egg wash, sprinkled on kosher salt, and baked on a parchment lined sheet pan at 375 degrees for around twenty five minutes, or until they were golden brown. The dipping sauce is one cup of mayonnaise, one tablespoon of hot sauce, one teaspoon of chipotle powder, the juice of half a lime, and a pinch of salt.

And finally, for the spicy corn dogs, I made the batter by combining the wet ingredients - one cup of milk, two eggs, and one diced jalapeño. I removed the jalapeño seeds and membrane, but you can certainly leave them in if you want your corn dogs even spicier. In a separate bowl, I combined the dry ingredients - one and a half cups yellow cornmeal, one cup of all purpose flour, two tablespoons of sugar, one and a half teaspoons each of baking powder and salt, and one teaspoon of mustard powder.

I carefully added the dry ingredients to the wet, combined, and poured the batter into a tall drinking glass. Next, I skewered the hot dogs, and lightly coated them in flour.

I dipped the dogs in the batter and allowed the excess to drip back into the glass, but made sure they were completely covered.

I fried in 350 degree neutral oil until golden brown, several minutes, turning occasionally. I sprinkled with salt as soon as they came out of the oil.

Well now we need something sweet and cool to put out the fire, right? Got it covered with my Vanilla Flan with Raspberry Orange Coulis. I started by heating three quarters cup of sugar in a small sauce pan until it dissolved into caramel, stirring occasionally.

I poured the caramel into the bottom of a glass pie plate, swirling to coat the entire bottom.

For the custard filling, I combined one 12-ounce can of evaporated milk, one 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk, three eggs, two teaspoons of vanilla extract, and one teaspoon of vanilla paste. (If you do not have paste, use an extra teaspoon of extract.) I poured the custard over the caramel, and placed the entire pie plate into a large roasting pan. I added an inch of warm warm water to the roasting pan and baked at 325 degrees for fifty minutes.

I removed the flan from the water bath, allowed to cool on the stove for an hour, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated overnight.

The next day, I ran a knife around the edge and inverted onto a plate. The caramel forms the top.

For the raspberry orange coulis, I added twelve ounces of fresh raspberries to a sauce pan with three tablespoons of sugar, two tablespoons of fresh squeezed orange juice, and one teaspoon each of orange zest and vanilla extract. I cooked until the raspberries broke down, around twelve minutes. Finally, I strained through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl to remove any seeds.

This cool dessert is the perfect end to a spicy meal! And the flan is just as good with or without the coulis, or you could use different berries. Endless possibilities!

More yummy posts on the way!