Cold Fusion Cuisine: Noodles, Peanut Butter Sauce, Banana

Cold Buckwheat Noodles, Peanut Butter Sauce, Banana

Cold Fusion Cuisine

Buckwheat Noodles, Peanut Butter Sauce
Banana, Serrano, Scallion, Peanut, Cilantro

Cold Fusion: The hypothetical process of creating energy at room temperature by the fusion of hydrogen atoms into helium. If possible, this process could potentially provide unlimited cheap energy for all of humanity. One problem – scientists have never been able to duplicate that 1989 experiment.

Fusion Cuisine: The melding or blending flavors, foods, or techniques from the cuisine of one or more regions, cultures, or ethnicities.

Cold Fusion Cuisine: The harmonizing of foods from different regions into a stellar cold dish. One rarely sees peanuts or peanut butter in Korean cuisine. Here I’m pairing fresh Korean buckwheat noodles with a zippy sauce made with peanut butter and banana.

Cold Food Festival: Hansik Day is a traditional Korean holiday which falls on April 5. The festival is a time to honor one’s ancestors and welcome warmer weather. Like the Chinese, Koreans eat cold food on this day. Try my cold buckwheat noodles, with peanut butter sauce and Szechwan peppercorns for an energetic celebration of flavors!

Buckwheat Noodles, Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe

Continue reading “Cold Fusion Cuisine: Noodles, Peanut Butter Sauce, Banana”

Korean Cold Noodles with Crab & Asparagus (Bibim Naengmyeon)

Korean Cold Noodles with Crab & Asparagus (Bibim Naengmyeon)

Korean Mixed Cold Noodles with Crab & Asparagus (Bibim Naengmyeon)

As the weather warms, we’re looking forward to cooler dishes. Bibim naengmyeon is a Korean spicy cold buckwheat noodle dish typically served with cucumber, radish, and hard boiled egg. Sometimes sliced beef and Korean pear are added. To celebrate springtime, I’m making my bibim (mixed) naeng (cold) myeon (noodle) with asparagus and Dungeness crab.

Korean Mixed Cold Noodles Recipe

Continue reading “Korean Cold Noodles with Crab & Asparagus (Bibim Naengmyeon)”

Miso-Braised Asparagus, Ginger Sauce

miso braised asparagus, ginger sauce

Miso-Braised Asparagus, Ginger Sauce, Sliced Scallion
served on
My “Le PONT de la TOUR” China
in Honor of
The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

While ginger sauce makes a heart-healthy alternative to hollandaise, braising asparagus in miso broth adds another layer of subtle flavor. A casual ladle of ginger sauce over braised asparagus makes for a zippy vegetable side. The addition of buckwheat noodles, tomatoes and pine nuts makes a vibrant meatless meal.

❖❖❖

Lucy Robinson Hanson
1886 – 1970

Over a century ago, Lucy Robinson and Jack Hanson were Londoners. Early in the 1900’s, Jack left England for Chicago to follow his dreams. Shortly thereafter and still a teenager, Lucy left her family and followed her true love to America. By 1952 Lucy was a widow, a mother of 7 and grandmother of 17 when Princess Elizabeth, while visiting Kenya, received the news of her father’s death and her own accession to the throne.

Lucy decided to take one of her grandchildren back to England to visit the family she hadn’t seen in many many years and to witness The Coronation which was to take place in Westminster Abbey on the 2nd of June 1953. They boarded the RMS Queen Elizabeth and sailed to England. The granddaughter that accompanied Lucy was my mother. She was 19.

Continue reading “Miso-Braised Asparagus, Ginger Sauce”