ITEMS
Honeycrisp Apples
Russet Potatoes
Carrots
Daikon Radish
Sichuan Chili Sauce
PRODUCERS
Moss Farm - Rollins
Lifeline Produce - Victor
Amaltheia Organic Produce - Belgrade
Winter Kissed Farm - Stevensville
Hummingbird's Kitchen - Bozeman
Hummingbird's Kitchen
Linda of Hummingbird's Kitchen may be best known for her pop-up dinners featuring handmade dumplings, street noodles, steam buns, and other delicious Chinese foods, but she's also gradually introducing the greater Bozeman area to new flavors through her line of condiments. The Ginger Tea Concentrate is a must-have for ginger fiends, and this Sichuan Chili Sauce will be just the ticket if you enjoy a little spice (or a lot of spice). Sichuan Chili Sauce is Sichuan peppercorns and crushed red peppers steeped in oil with sesame seeds, fermented black beans, and salt. I find chili sauce (or chili crisp, or chili oil) to add an irresistibly savory spice when drizzled on top of noodles dishes, stir fry, roasted potatoes, soups (esp. ramen), eggs, and avocado toast, to name a few. I hope you have fun with it! Since it is oil-based, open carefully, and gently mix to reintegrate settled ingredients. It is potent, but addicting! Just remember to start small...
Spicy Daikon-Carrot Salad (Liangban)
This recipe is adapted from Kathy Yuan. It's a simple, flavorful side dish to go with rice and/or meats.
1 large carrot, peeled
1 large daikon, peeled
2 tsp salt
2-3 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and minced
2-3 tsp Sichuan Chili Sauce, or to taste
2 tsp Chinese black vinegar - substitute rice wine vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/8 tsp white sugar
fresh cilantro and/or scallions, rinsed, dried, and chopped for garnish
Trim the ends off of the peeled carrot and daikon and julienne. If you have a mandolin, you can use that. Or you can shred the vegetables, but the thinner strands won't retain as much crunch. Toss veggies with salt in a large bowl let sit for ~15 minutes to draw out excess moisture. Then drain, squeezing the carrots and radish to get rid of as much liquid out as you can.
Combine the veggies with remaining ingredients in a serving bowl. Toss to coat evenly and refrigerator for later or enjoy immediately. Garnish with cilantro or scallions and serve.
Chinese Hot Pot
Holidays, especially New Year's Eve, bring to mind communal, interactive meals that bring everyone to the table, like fondue, or South African potjie, or Chinese Hot Pot. Hot Pot requires a big pot of simmering, flavorful broth in the center of the table, surrounded by plates and bowls of ingredients that you add to the broth, let cook, then retrieve and dunk in your personal dipping sauce. I adapted this recipe from Woks of Life: the steps are listed first, followed by a non-exhaustive list of ingredients
You'll need a portable electric burner, or some way to keep a large pot of broth simmering on the table. You can preheat your preferred broth on the stovetop in a wide, shallow pot, or any large pot, and add aromatics like ginger or garlic, if you want them.
Prep whatever ingredients you want to use ahead of time. When you're ready to begin, place the hot broth on the portable burner in the center of the table, and surround it with the plates of sliced and chopped ingredients, plus an assortment of ingredients for making dipping sauces.
Each person will mix their own dipping sauce in a small/medium bowl in front of them. Then you add one or two items that you personally want to eat to the broth, allow it to cook through (mushrooms may take 5 min, whereas thinly sliced beef might only need 10 seconds), remove the item with long chop sticks or mesh scoopers, transfer it to your dipping sauce, then eat and repeat!
Allow broth to return to a boil for safety reasons, especially after cooking meat or seafood
BROTH: I suggest chicken or vegetable with a bit of sliced garlic and ginger, but you can use any broth you like. You may also be able to find a Hot Pot soup base at the store - I haven’t looked!
INGREDIENTS [Aim to include at least 1 of each kind of ingredient, though more options can be more fun, depending on how many people you're feeding]:
GREENS: baby bok choy, napa cabbage or green cabbage (washed, cut into 1-2 inch pieces), spinach, pea shoots
HARD VEGGIES: potato, carrot, daikon radish, sweet potato, winter squash (butternut, kabocha, pumpkin) - cut into 1/4-inch or 1/8-inch thick half moons or chunks.
MUSHROOMS: shiitake, oyster, enoki, or any mushroom you like, sliced, with woody stems removed
MEAT/SEAFOOD/TOFU: beef brisket, short rib, ribeye, sirloin, or flank steak, thinly sliced against the grain; pork loin or belly, thinly sliced; chicken breast or thighs, thinly sliced; fish fillets, such as tilapia, bass, or flounder, thinly sliced; shrimp or scallops; firm tofu, cut into 1-inch pieces
STARCHES: Rice noodles, or any Asian wheat or buckwheat noodles you like (udon, ramen, etc) - soak or parboil depending on package directions; Frozen dumplings, if they’re small and cook in 5-7 minutes, or less; rice cakes.... [Find links online for even more ingredient ideas
DIPPING SAUCE INGREDIENTS: peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce, Sichuan Chili Sauce, chili garlic sauce like Sambal oelek or Sriracha, Chinese black vinegar or rice vinegar, toasted sesame seeds, minced garlic, chopped scallions, chopped cilantro, fried shallots or garlic, etc...
Here is even more info, and ingredient ideas for Chinese Hot Pot, from the source
Additional Recipe Suggestions
Try the chili sauce on Korean kimbap or bibimbap, or mix it with mayo to spread on a Bahn Mi-style sandwich
Crispy Roast Potatoes are always good (you could even toss or drizzle them with chili sauce, or a chili sauce-mayo aioli situation... which kind of reminds me of this Patatas Bravas recipe
A simple fried egg sandwich is my personal favorite use for chili sauce...
Quick Homemade Ramen - you can shred some carrot and radish for this recipe, and it might benefit from a dribble of chili sauce on top!
Morning Glory Muffins are a tasty way to use carrots and apples