Sam (crazy candle person) ✦
@samantha
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Miso two and a half more ways:
- Cucumber Miso Gazpacho
- Miso mashed potatos
- Miso short ribs (improved)
—Background—
When I tried doing miso three ways and I said I couldn’t do it 6 ways it genuinely made me mad. I absolutely hate hate hate when someone tells me I can’t do something, or worse yet, I tell myself I can’t do something. So obviously I had to make 2.5 more miso dishes this weekend.
Although I loved the traditional miso soup it’s just way too hot outside for a hot soup. In Spain when it’s hot I really enjoyed drinking gazpacho, a cold salty tomato soup. My friend had brought over these fresh Kirby cucumbers from her garden which I needed to use up. So I thought a cucumber miso gazpacho could hit the spot.
Re: the mashed potato’s, although the short ribs tasted very Asian, I felt the texture of the sauce would be more suited for mashed potato’s. It’s great on rice but this took it to another level. Can’t go wrong with stew and mash. Obviously I had to incorporate miso cuz.. why not.
Lastly, when I made the first round of short ribs this weekend, I felt panicked following the recipe to a tee. It upset me that I had to make so many changes, and it was mentally taxing to follow the recipe. The way I cook is, I watch a million tiktoks or YouTube videos on how to make [insert dish here], read some recipes on google, and I consolidate them by taking the best techniques from each. I always taste as I go when I add each ingredient too. I was cooking for my good friends and thought that by following the recipe, it would turn out well, which I didn’t feel like it did, so I needed to be true to my intuition and taste this time around. So I made them again.
—Recipes—
Miso cucumber gazpacho: https://iheartumami.com/cucumber-gazpacho/. I took out the seeds of the cucumber as I thought it added bitterness. I also took out the pepper flakes, basil, pesto, and maple syrup. I did it in two batches today, one with the pepper flakes and maple syrup and honestly it was gross, because of the raw ingredients, you would cycle through tastes in a slurp, and it just didn’t feel cohesive. Sometimes you gotta subtract. In the recipe she uses a lemon, but I also had a yuzu vinaigrette on hand which I added. I didn’t have pine nuts but would’ve been a nice addition. I also think some goat cheese would’ve been nice.
Miso mashed potato’s: https://www.travelcookrepeat.com/miso-mashed-potatoes/. Honestly used the recipe as a reference but didn’t measure anything. It’s mashed potato’s it’s easy.
Miso braised short ribs: https://whisperofyum.com/post/miso-short-ribs-with-cilantro-sauce/. This time around, instead of buying individual short ribs already packaged I asked for the whole rack at the meat counter. I wanted some more consistency in terms of sizing, because in the first batch I had two little ones and two big ones, which are fine, but I wanted them all to cook at the same time. I took diligence to sear the fatty parts of the ribs first, as opposed to a random side, and the sear on all sides came out much better. When it was time to add the vegetables I added half of a white onion, and spent a much longer time than the recipe suggests frying down and cooking the vegetables. Overall I added double the amount of vegetables because I felt it needed less meat taste and more lightness. I added a whole other cup of sake, because it was too salty the first time around, and this was much better. And 2 tablespoons of sugar at the beginning. The rest of the changes you can see I made on my previous post about it just 1-2 days ago.
— Closing —
Overall I’m very happy that I learned how to make 5 different miso dishes this weekend. There weren’t many new techniques but the gazpacho was particularly difficult because my sense of taste for cold soup has not been calibrated. If you’ve gotten this far, thanks for reading! 0 reply
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Dinner tonight: “Miso Three Ways”
Miso soup. Miso broccoli salad. Miso braised short ribs.
— Background info —
Since I was feeling sick, I had a big container of miso paste I need to finish. So I thought to myself - could I make multiple course meal based off of one ingredient?
It reminded me of my time at the Modern, a fancy schmancy restaurant I went to in New York. I went for brunch and was presented with my first course “Eggs Six Ways “. And it was like, an egg fried potato with a raw yolk and hollandaise sauce, then literally an egg 3 others ways, which I can no longer remember. Obviously I’m not advanced enough to put miso six ways together in one dish but I think I could do it in 3 dishes, which I did.
What I felt like I missed out on today was a miso banana caramel ice cream. I really would’ve loved to make a savoury ice cream but I didn’t have the time and no ice cream machine. So I’ll save it for next time. Can’t get too greedy you know.
This is probably one of the most intense dinners I’ve cooked for friends before. It was well worth the effort seeing how much they ate. I surprisingly timed everything well too (braised ribs first then a short break, then broccoli, then soup). Honestly my feet hurt, it was 3-4 hours of active cooking but super rewarding.
— Recipes and the Stuff i changed —
Miso soup: No recipe. I didn’t do the thing where I bring down the temperature before I add the miso. Miso paste, konbu, tofu, onions. Didn’t measure anything.
Miso broccoli salad: https://dishingouthealth.com/roasted-broccoli-salad/. Used store bought miso dressing. Substituted panko crumbs with crushed cornflakes, which I toasted on the stovetop. Instead of bacon I used prosciutto, because I felt it could be crispier. 300F in air fryer for 20 min, flip halfway through, broil on low for 4 min. Technically you should blanch them first but ain’t nobody got time for that.
Miso braised short ribs: https://whisperofyum.com/post/miso-short-ribs-with-cilantro-sauce/. I made a mistake, I deglazed the pot with sake before I pan fried the onion, ginger, and garlic. Its alright. Followed the recipe but added an extra 1.5 cups of stock and water to reduce the saltiness of the miso before adding it to the oven. In the recipe she used a whole bulb of garlic, which she takes out at the end. This felt wasteful to me. I used whole peeled garlic gloves instead, so they became like caramelized flavour bites. After taking it out, it was still too salty, so added maybe 2 more tablespoons of sugar. The recipe suggested that you take the ribs out and then reduce the stew once its ready to serve. But it was just too salty for it to reduce even more. So instead of waiting for it to reduce, I used a tablespoon of flour to create the gravy, and a splash of cream, which is not in the recipe. The sauce was the best part, and my friends ate more sauce than they did the ribs. I didn’t even get to eat any garlic or onions because they drank all the sauce. Worth it. Oh and for next time I would’ve loved to use mushroom stock or vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.
Cilantro salsa (recipe with braised ribs above): honestly I didn’t feel like making a salsa, I wanted a finishing oil. I never finish sauces either and oil stays longer than salsa. Author also recommended that it be made and served 10 min before, but I didn’t have time for that since I was doing the broccoli and the miso. I hate the texture of chopped cilantro, it’s just slimy and gets stuck in my teeth. So instead I blended the cilantro with some neutral oil, and then strained the cilantro through a sieve, and mixed the infused oil into the sauce. No more green cilantro bits stuck between your teeth and you’re able to get a solid bite of garlic or ginger on top of the braised rib. 14 replies
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Had to have a tough (but unsuccessful) conversation with my younger sister, who is interning at a law firm right now.
Her mentor grilled her during a 30 min private feedback session and expressed that she was not ready to participate in trial. My sister was upset that she felt belittled, and that the feedback was done in private as she thought it was so her mentor could humiliate her. During the session she broke down crying, because she felt bad, and she also mentioned that she wanted to make her mentor feel guilty.
I tried to break it down for her, that feedback in private is great, that intense feedback is a gift, and that crying in the workplace can impact her upward mobility against her less emotional peers. And crying can also affect her professional reputation, because it can be perceived as taking feedback poorly. I told her she could just take the feedback and cry in the bathroom if she had to. She became upset with me that I did not agree with her response.
I called her immature after attempting to break it down multiple times, which I feel bad for. One thing I try to refrain from is putting labels on people’s actions or personalities, but of course my sister can push all my buttons to make me lose my patience 🤣 and that’s still my fault and I own that.
As a sibling to her I do not want to make her feel more bad than she already feels. But I also feel a responsibility to be honest with her, even if she doesn’t want to listen, and hope that the advice permeates when she has a cooler head.
Sometimes you gotta give people you care about tough feedback 😜 18 replies
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