Tag: main course
Doro Wat
Doro Wat
Doro Wat is a smokey and spicy Ethiopian chicken stew with hard boiled eggs that is the perfect comfort food for winter. If you are not very familiar with African cooking, this is a great first dish to make. There are minimal steps in making this. All of the ingredients can be found at any grocery store. I chose to use bone in chicken thighs since dark meat works best for stewing. You can definitely use a whole chicken cut up into pieces if you'd like. I highly advise to not use boneless skinless chicken in this recipe. The bone adds so much flavor. Plus, in honor of the animal that gave it's body for our consumption, I will always use as much of it as possible.Doro Wat is best served with greens and lentils over inerja.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 large white onion sliced
- 3 cups water
- 2 tbsp berbere spice
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 8 bone in chicken thighs
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp dried basil
- 6 hard boiled eggs
- juice of a lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt the butter. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes or until they are translucent.
- Add all of the spices, garlic, and ginger. Cook for another 3-5 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste, the chicken thighs, and 3 cups of water. Simmer on medium high heat for 40 minutes.
- Add the hard boiled eggs and the juice of a lemon. Continue simmering for 20 minutes.
- Serve with collard greens.
Ropa Veija
Ropa Veija
Ropa Veija is a classic Cuban dish of shredded beef made out of either flank steak or skirt steak. If skirt and flank are out of your price range due to the popularity they have grown over the years, you can you chuck. This recipe is pretty straight forward. Season the meat. Sear the meat. Set aside. Sautee the vegetables. Add the sauce, spices, an meat. Slow cook in the oven. This works really well in a crock pot as well. I was originally going to cook it this way; but decided “Hell. I’m gonna save me some dishes and do it all in one pot.” I literally said that out loud to myself. If you are going to do it in a slow cooker, cook on high for 4-6 hours. Ropa Veija goes great with rice, beans, and plantains. This meat is also great in tacos and burritos.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
The Meat
- 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
- 2 lbs skirt steak, flank steak, or chuck
- salt, pepper, cumin to taste
Ropa Veija
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 medium onion sliced
- 1 head of garlic cloves minced
- 2 bell peppers, 1 red, 1 green sliced into strips
- 2 roma tomatoes sliced into strips
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 cup beef stock
- 2 tbsp parsley chopped
- 2 tbsp cilantro chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
The Meat
- In a large sautée pan or dutch oven, heat up 2 tbsp of cooking oil on medium high heat. Season the skirt/flank/chuck with salt, pepper, and cumin. Cut into 4″ chunks. Sear in the pan for 3-4 minutes on each side.
- Once seared, remove the meat from the pan and set aside.
Ropa Veija
- Prep your ingredients.
- Add the rest of the cooking oil to the same pan the meat was seared in. Sautee the bell peppers, onion, garlic, tomatoes for 4-5 minutes.
- Add the tomato sauce, bay leaf, thyme, smoked paprika, cumin beef stock parsley, and cilantro. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the meat.
- Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Place the pan or dutch oven into the oven covered and cook for 4 hours. Bring back out on the stove to. Cook on high for 20 more minute until the sauce thickens. Shred the meat apart with 2 forks.
- Serve the ropa veija with rice and tostones.
Fish Cake Soup
Fish Cake Soup (Eomuk Guk)
Fish cake soup is great to have on a cold winter day. What are Korean fish cakes? Known as Eomuk in Korea and Odeng in Japan, they are processed ground fish, mostly surimi, with other ingredients such as wheat, carrots, onion, salt, and sugar, pressed, and rolled flat in sheets, then either fried or steamed. They are really inexpensive. I payed $3 for a 1lb package, found in the freezer section at your asian grocery store.This soup is very simple to make, taking only 20 minutes in total to make, if you have the anchovy stock already on hand. If you just made the anchovy stock before making the fish cake soup, save the shiitake mushroom from the stock and use them in this recipe.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 8 cups Anchovy Stock
- 12 oz eomuk fish cake
- 8 oz korean radish 1″ thin squares
- 4 dried shiitake mushrooms use the ones that where used in making the anchovy stock
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp soup soy sauce
- 1 green onion chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Blanch fish cake in boiling water for 1 minute. This helps remove extra oil from the fish cake.
- Prep your ingredients.
- Bring 8 cups of anchovy stock to a boil. Add the korean radish. Boil for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, shiitake mushrooms, and soy sauces. Cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add the fish cakes and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 2 more minutes.
- Add the green onions in while turning off the heat.
