s h i n s h i n e: February 2014

Love of chocolate requires no special day for it, but here is another variation of my simple chocolate truffles hinted with citrusy clementine scent just in time for Valentine's Day. I happened to be hugging a bag of clementines when I made these, but my guess is that zest from any citrus fruits (mandarin, orange) will work well.

As usual, you can shape them into uneven, bumpy balls. But if you don't need to travel with these bites and can afford to spend more time, take the tip of a teaspoon or a chopstick to make a little indentation in the middle. You can fill it with orange marmalade and stick a piece of candied peel of the citrus fruit you use for the truffles. Maybe you'll consider making the lemon wheels from my triple lemon cake recipe? Yes, these additions will take time, but also up the cuteness of the usual bumpy truffles. Just a thought.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Clementine Truffles
Yields: About 20 truffles

INGREDIENTS
Zest                  from 2 clementines
1 Cup             Chocolate chips, semisweet or bittersweet
3/4 Cup         Heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup        Cocoa powder, preferably unsweetened

Optional)
1 Tablespoon Orange marmalade
20 pieces Candied clementine peel or orange peel (Recipe below)

DIRECTIONS
1. Bring heavy cream to steaming hot in a saucepan over low heat.

2. Pour over hot heavy cream to a bowl with zest, chocolate chips and salt. Let it stand for a minute then whisk to completely mix and melt chocolate.

3. Refrigerate to cool and harden the chocolate-heavy cream mix, about 2 hours to overnight.

4. Take out hardened chocolate mix and scoop out small balls. I use a small cookie scoop to form 1-inch balls. If the scoop gets too sticky, rinse it in hot water, wipe off chocolate then get back to scooping. If the chocolate gets too soft, refrigerate for 30 minutes to chill.

5. Roll the chocolate balls in cocoa powder and shape them again as necessary. Refrigerate to store for a couple of days. Freeze if you intend to store for more than a couple of days. Take them out 30 minutes before serving so that truffles come to room temperature.

Optional)
You can use the back of a chopstick (I used a wooden fork) to make an indentation in truffles. Fill it with orange marmalade and stick a piece of candied clementine peel to complete the orange-citrus themed-truffles.

To make candied clementine peel, put the peel of one clementine in cold water and bring it up to a boil. Discard the water and repeat the boiling twice more, each time with new cold water. Simmer the peel from one clementine in symple syrup (1/2 cup sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup water) until the peel starts to turn translucent, about 40 minutes. Transfer the peel on a parchment-lined sheet pan and dry it in the 200F degree oven, about 2 hours. Cut to different shapes with a knife or with a cookie cutter while it's still warm. As it cools down, it will harden.

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KOREAN WORDS
눈 (noon) snow, eye(s)

While deep-frying is not often done at home, deep-fried food always hits the spot, especially when it's cold and dreary outside. The article "Deep Fried and Good for You" a few months ago gave me a big smile and the affirmation that I didn't necessarily need. The article has good recipes and a lot of pointers for deep frying, so even if you don't agree with the title, it's a worthwhile read.

Yes, packaged, frozen fish cakes are available in Asian markets, and I use them as an ingredient in my spicy rice cake dish (떡볶이 tteokbokgi) and in fish cake stews (어묵탕 eo muk tang or also known as 오뎅탕 oh deng tang).

But if you take time to make this, make a big batch. A couple of spoonfuls of potato starch will make the fish cakes lightly crispy with a hint of sticky bite. If you use all-purpose flour instead of potato starch, it's slightly crispier with no stickiness, which makes it easier to deep-fry. Starch-battered ones tend to stick to the bottom when they're first dropped, but they will float up with a gentle nudge of a spoon after giving it a minute.

Any white fish fillet will do for this recipe. Shrimp adds natural briny-sweetness and its paste-like consistency will help the fish cake bind together without using much starch or flour. If you decide not to use shrimp, add another spoonful or so of flour or starch to keep the consistency tight and dense.

Vegetables add savory-sweet flavor and colors pleasing to the eye. You don't need to add vegetables or switch up with other finely-chopped, sturdy vegetables such as carrot, garlic chive, broccoli.

Enjoy a handful when it comes out of the fryer. They are soft and moist inside with a very light crispy coating. I don't really need any sauce for this, but I submit myself to a dollop of ketchup once in a while. Soy sauce mixed with rice vinegar and a tiny bit of wasabi or mustard - the kind with an unexpected spicy slap in the back - would be a more mature way.

Freeze the leftover and use them for other Korean dishes that call for the pre-packaged fish cakes. Keep in mind that homemade fish cakes are softer, so be gentle with them when you use them as an ingredient for another dish. Enjoy~

Deep-Fried Fish Cakes (어묵 eo muk)
Yield - 20 4-inch fish sticks (4 servings)

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pound      White fish filet (such as turbot, tilapia, flounder)
1/4 pound      Shrimp, shells removed, deveined and cleaned
2 Tablespoons Potato starch or all-purpose flour
                          (Plus additional 1~2 tablespoons to adjust batter consistency)
2 Cloves          Garlic, peeled and grated
1/2 teaspoon Salt
Pinch              Black pepper
1/4                  Red bell pepper, seeds removed and finely chopped
                            (about 1/4 cup)
2 Stalks          Scallion, trimmed and finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1/4                  Onion, peeled and finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
Neutral-tasting cooking oil for deep-frying

Optional) Dipping Sauce
Soy sauce
Rice vinegar
Mustard or Wasabi
Lemon slice

DIRECTIONS:
1. Rinse and pat-dry fish filet and shrimp. Finely chop fish filet and shrimp to a paste consistency with no big lumps.

2. Add garlic, potato starch (or all-purpose flour), salt and black pepper and mix to combine completely. Mix in onion, red bell pepper and scallion completely. When the batter is completely mixed, it should be a sticky paste-like consistency. If it's loose, add potato starch (or all-purpose flour) to adjust its consistency.

3. Heat oil in a deep, sturdy pot. When the oil is hot enough, add a small piece of fish cake batter. It should sizzle and come to the surface right away. On the other hand, oil should never be smoky, which means it's too hot.

4. When oil is heated, drop small amounts of the fish cake batter. Take a half-spoonful with a spoon and carefully push the batter into oil with another spoon (picture above). Or take about 1 tablespoon of the batter and shape it into a ball. Repeat with the rest, then gently drop the fish balls one by one.

5. When fish cakes (sticks or balls) float to the top and turn golden brown, transfer them to paper towel-lined plate.

6. Serve warm. You can serve fish cakes with soy sauce mixed with rice vinegar and mustard or wasabi. I do also like ketchup to go with fish cakes. Any leftover can be frozen in a plastic bag.

Extra! Shrimp shells have a lot of flavor, so you can make shrimp stock and use it for anything that calls for seafood stock if you buy shell-on shrimp. Sauté shrimp shells and whatever aromatic vegetables (onion, garlic, ginger, etc.) you can find in the refrigerator. Pour water and simmer for 30 minutes or longer. Strain, cool down, then refrigerate to use for the next few days or freeze.