Misua Soup with Meatballs, California style

Blogger’s Note: Apologies for the long absence. I’ve been meaning to write this for a while now but my intermediate hula classes, some travel, and life was taking up most of my time. However, I am determined… yes, determined to write my soup post before the weather become warmer. So here goes…

I finally found a blog-worthy recipe and had time to write! Hooray! It was about time since the weather is getting warmer and I still want to write about soup. I feel that my year needs a soup post or two.

I was finally able to make a successful Maddification of one of my favorite soups. I actually saved this one for last because I thought this would be the easiest (and I obviously overestimated my cooking abilities). I really should have started with this.

I found a really good base in PinoyCookingRecipes.com for Misua Soup with Meatballs. Misua are very delicate wheat noodles used in the Philippines mostly for soup. You can find these in Asian grocery stores. There really is no good substitute for misua in our regular grocery stores, unless you find one with an extensive Asian section. You may be able to substitute pho noodles, but its not quite the same.

The soup contains pork-based meatballs and noodles: fairly straight forward. However, part of my goals was to make misua soup healthier. The base recipe has very little veggies and of course, I wanted to add nice veggies in it. The misua that my grandmother used to make usually has patola but I could not find it here in California (in spite of the huge Filipino community). I could not even find it in the Filipino store. Also, when I lookup what patola is, the translation is zucchini. I don’t think that is correct… the consistency is not the same. Even though it’s back in season, I refuse to add zucchini. I feel that it is a cop out.

Because of my dilemma, I decided to healtify the meatballs instead. Mushrooms were the most obvious choice to add because since they have a consistency similar to meat. It's filled with Vitamin D and we can always use more of that. I chose some nice portabella mushrooms to add to the pork.

Looking at the fridge, I was inspired to add kale. It would give the meatballs an additional nutritional boost and texture. It would not be made in California without kale, right?

The last unintended upgrade was to use shallots instead of onions. We thought we had onions, but did not find it. By using shallots, we have more antioxidants. iron and potassium. They also have a milder flavor than onions.

Here’s what I have. As always, let me know what you think.

Misua soup with Meatballs, California-style

Based on Misua Soup With Meatballs in PinoyCookingRecipes.com

Ingredients

Meatballs:

• 3/4 lb of ground pork
• About 1 cup of kale, minced
• 1/4 cup portabella mushrooms, minced
• 1/4 cup scallions, minced
• 1 egg
• Salt and pepper to taste
• flour for dredging
• cooking oil for frying 

Noodles, broth and garnish:

• 3 cups of water
• 100 grams misua noodles (Half the package)
• 1/2 tsp fish sauce
• green onions, sliced for garnish

Directions: 

1. Combine pork, kale and mushrooms, and 1/8 cup of the shallots and eggs. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Shape into 2" balls and roll in flour.
3. Fry until brown. Set aside the meatballs. 
4. Remove excess oil from the pan. Leave at least 1 Tbsp of cooking oil.
5. Saute garlic and remaining onion. 
6. Add the water and let it boil.
7. Add the fried meatballs, fish sauce and misua noodles.
8. Cook for until noodles are soft (about 5 minutes). 
9. Serve hot and garnish with green onions, and enjoy! 

Verdict

I really love this soup. Even with the Maddifications, the original flavor, I think, was not really sacrificed. It still reminded me of the misua soup that my grandmother made. The fact that it is healthier is a big bonus! Maybe I can add zucchini next time… in the meatballs.

The green onions also added a good layer of flavor. But perhaps because of my exposure to Vietnamese soups, I added some lime and yes, Sriracha. That took it up another notch!

One tip though: Because misua is extremely delicate, I would suggest only cooking the noodles that you will be enjoying. When stored, the noodles do not maintain the same consistency and can be a bit (ahem) unappetizing. I think this explains why my grandma kept the broth and meatballs in the refrigerator... and why some of the meatballs disappeared (Hey, I also had several cousins living with us).

Hope you try this and enjoy.

P.S. I did the meaty part of the writing in the Philippines while I was visiting my Dad. I had more time then, because we spent a lot of time just hanging out at home. Perhaps, I was inspired... even though I was just writing on my smart phone.

It’s not always as easy as it seems: Reflections on testing new recipes

I have been on an unintended hiatus from blogging recently. Yes, things have been busy. Yes, I added one more thing on my plate (but also cut down on some). But that was not the reason…

Since it is the middle of winter, I had plans on blogging on soups from the Philippines. I remember enjoying a lot of soups when I was growing up. My mom would make soup in the afternoon, and I would sample it until dinner. Loved it!

I wanted to recreate two or three of my favorites this month, Maddify it, then blog about it. It turns out that these soups can be more complicated than expected. Also, if you modify it a bit, the flavor may change – a bit or a bunch. It was not bad, just different.

I also wanted to work on some Filipino sweet goodies. Again, similar result: the flavors are right, the consistency is not exactly correct. I guess the practice makes perfect applies here.

So, instead of blogging, I decided that I need to develop these new recipes and make it blog-worthy.  That may mean that I need a bit more time… good thing about being my own boss (at least as far as this blog is concerned), I set my own deadlines.

My boss can be demanding though…

Here’s my current hit list. If you are familiar with these recipes, please give me some suggestions on how to improve it or make it healthier, and I’ll incorporate it in my Maddification.

Pansit Molo: A light chicken broth based soup with pork or chicken wontons. I remember my Mom making these and there would be wontons lined up for the soup. Oh, the anticipation… I’d sneak in a wonton or two (after it’s cooked, of course) before dinner: really yummy. This brings me back to Mom’s kitchen.

What I came up with: Leek, Kale and Mushroom Soup with Pork Dumplings. I think the mushrooms added earthiness to the dish, which was not in the original. This soup was good and I will definitely make it again. If I make it like Pansit Molo, I would not add mushrooms in the broth to retain the original flavor. The dumplings have kale and mushrooms though, and I can still taste the pork.

Working with new ingredients also inspired me to make variations. Working with wontons also inspired me to make wonton "raviolis" with cream cheese, kale and quinoa. I've seen these before in cooking shows, and I have always wanted to try it. I would have used ricotta, but this was a last minute inspiration.

Misua with Meatballs: Very delicate noodle soup with meatballs often made with a Filipino vegetable called patola. I have not seen patola (yet) here in California, so I may opt for a local alternative (or what I am calling Kale-lifornication).  The meatballs often suffered the same fate as the wontons from the Pansit Molo, i.e. some of them become my appetizer before dinner. Maybe that is why Mom made extras. It helped growing up as an only child (No! I am not spoiled!)

What I came up with: Lots of ideas but nothing tangible yet. I think I am leaning towards a quick and easy version for weeknight cooking and a more involved one for the weekend.

Bibingka: Sweet coconut cakes served with butter, salted egg, cheese or any combination of thereof, popular around Christmas time (or the Holidays, if you prefer).  I’ve seen a recipe using wheat flour, but I truly believe this should be made with rice flour. 

What I came up with: Something close to it. My first attempt was made with glutinous rice flour, but the cakes did not get the browning that I was expecting. Since baking is right in my wheelhouse, I am planning part two soon, and hopefully a blog post (Whew).

To add to this, my husband said he wanted to make samosas from scratch. I forwarded him a samosa recipe, and now he is having second thoughts. I did say that I will help. Making samosas sounds really exciting.

Through this experience, I learned that things are really not as simple as it looks, and it makes you appreciate the effort that went into these recipes. Before this, I had dreaded making pansit molo because of the thought of folding all those wontons and sure enough it did take time, but it was not as bad as I thought. I am also dreading the effort in making the meatballs from scratch, but am looking forward to the results.

I also may be a bit homesick since I’ve been focusing on recipes from my childhood.

It is also very enlightening to work with ingredients that one is not used to. For this adventure, I worked with wontons and glutinous rice flour. In my day-to-day cooking, I also worked with Marsala wine, rapini, oyster mushrooms and possibly 2 or 3 more that I had forgotten.

So, watch out for a new post (hopefully) soon… I want to give my readers something really good, so I am becoming really picky.

Meanwhile, I’m still eating and experimenting, so follow my tweets and instagrams.

Spanakopita with Kale (Kale-o-kopita)

Spanakopita has always been one of my favorite Greek dishes. Unfortunately, since I have developed a sensitivity to spinach (of all things, right?), I can no longer have a traditional spanakopita. However, making spanakopita with alternate ingredients has been in my bucket list of cooking.

Served with a quick Greek-style salad

Kale actually gave the ultimate substitute. It gives me the green look of spinach and great nutritional value. It is also good that I love kale and it has become one of our staples, particularly the curly kale. In fact, if I eat more kale! My hair may turn curly and green.

The docs also gave me specific orders to avoid feta cheese (ugh), something about it being a soft cheese. As a result, I have another challenge in my hands. I can have cream cheese, so that gives me a start, but it would not give me that distinct feta taste.

Since I have some of the basics, I have been sleeping with and meditating on the cookbook that we bought at our favorite Greek Festival in Oakland. I also have been researching recipes on the web. It is classic me: I went into my usual analysis-paralysis.

Then I procrastinated since I did not want to bake in the summer: 90 degree temperatures, you know. But now that it's winter, I don't mind a hot oven (in fact, I welcome it). It is time to pursue it.

Preparing the parcels

I decided that Christmas week would be the perfect time to try this recipe out. I have a lot of time and I can get what I have been visualizing into reality. Besides, I should complete my goals before year-end.

And to make it more difficult for me, I decided to use the parcel technique that I learned from Giada and initially used in my baklava. I figured this will make my kale-o-kopita more portable.

This time I was well-prepared for working with phyllo. I have a small kitchen, so I cleared my counter space. I needed to hang the cook book from a hanger to create more room!

Here's what I have so far. Please note, this was only tested once... let me know what you think.

Mad Gourmet’s Cheesy Kale Phyllo Parchments (or Kale-o-kopita)

Based on several Spanakopita recipes from Kali Orexi!

A collection of recipes by the Philoptochos Society of the Ascension Cathedral

In Oakland, California

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of kale, about 10 cups of kale
• 1 leek (about a cup)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 8 oz cream cheese (I used light)
• 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
• 2 tsp of Italian seasoning, divided
• 15 sheets of phyllo
• About a stick of butter, melted
• 1/2 cup of olive oil

Directions: 

1. Cut kale in fine pieces and squeeze the water out. Set aside.
2. Cook leeks in olive oil until tender. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Add kale, cream cheese and Parmesian cheese to the leeks (I microwaved the cream cheese for about 30 seconds to soften before adding to the mixture). Mix well. Set aside.
4. Melt butter and let cool. Mix olive oil in the butter.
5. On a dry work surface place 1 sheet of phyllo. Using a pastry brush and the remaining melted butter, lightly cover the entire sheet of phyllo with melted butter and olive oil.
6. Cover the first sheet with a second sheet of phyllo and brush with melted butter mixture. Continue until there is a stack of 5 sheets of phyllo.
7. Cut the stacked phyllo rectangle into 4 equal pieces (Cut lengthwise into 2 pieces and widthwise into 2 pieces. This will end up into a rectangular shape).
8. Carefully press each cut piece of phyllo into greased muffin tin cups. Press 2 tablespoons of the kale mixture into each of the phyllo cups.
9. Gather the ends of each of the phyllo squares and tuck to make a sachet shape.
10. Continue shaping the remaining sachets in the other mini-muffin tin.
11. Bake until the edges of the phyllo are golden, about 30 to 35 minutes.

Verdict

Yummy! Looks just like spanakopita!

One bite brought my husband and I back to Greece, strolling through Plaka or exploring the alleys and streets in Mykonos or just relaxing in Santorini. It was great.

Although, I thought it can use a bit more tweaking, my husband thought it is perfect as it is. I think it can use more Italian seasoning to make the cream cheese taste more like feta, maybe another half teaspoon or a full one. I could try to use fresh herbs too, but that would require more.

My other dilemma when I was planning this was what to do with the extra phyllo. I remember the last time I used phyllo, when I made bastilla, I ended up with a bunch of extras. This time by accident, I bought a packet that has two separate phyllo rolls (YES!) which means I will can have another phyllo adventure mid-January.

Bonus! Phyllo cups!

I still ended up with had some extra phyllo, about six sheets. So, I made myself some phyllo cups! It’s cheaper than buying a packet. Then, I can use it to get a pre-taste of my creation or for some cheesy sundried tomato scrambled egg cups the next morning.

In my curiousity, I asked Google translate what kale is in Greek. Google says that Kale in Greek is λάχανο or lachano. So, does this make this Lachanokopita?

Kali orexi!