Udon with Shiitakes & Braised Baby Bok Choy

Inspired by some beautiful baby bok choy that I found at the farmer's market today, here is an Asian noodle recipe that would be right at home in any homestyle Chinese, Japanese or Taiwanese meal. If you can only find full-sized bok choy, they will also work for this recipe.

Udon with Shiitake Mushrooms & Braised Baby Bok Choy

Two different styles of baby bok choy commonly available at farmer's or Asian markets:

Dry, thin, flat (top) and fresh, large, round (bottom) and  udon noodles:

Udon with Shiitakes

Cooking notes: The flavor of the noodles is best if you have a very high heat burner to use with wok cooking. I, unfortunately, do not have this at home. To try to achieve a bit of caramelization on the noodles, I preheat a large cast iron skillet instead. Even if you aren't able to caramelize the noodles, this dish is delicious. In the picture, above, I have used the flat, thin, dried udon noodles but the dish is best with the fresh, fat, round noodles.

Ingredients:

½ pound dried (or 1 pound fresh) udon noodles (large, round are best but any will work)

1 egg, beaten (optional)

1/4 cabbage, shredded

1 medium carrot, shredded or shaved into long strips

8 shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly

1 shallot or ½ small red onion, chopped (1/4-inch dice)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 Tablespoons untoasted sesame or peanut oil

Sauce Ingredients:

2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce

2 teaspoons vegetarian oyster sauce

1/4 teaspoon salt, optional

1 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoon mirin

1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

2 Tablespoons water

Directions:

1. If using dried udon noodles, cook in boiling water for 2/3 the amount of time recommended on the package, then drain and run cold water over the noodles to stop the cooking. If using fresh noodles, just untangle noodles with your fingers (do not pre-cook). Set aside.
2. Mix together sauce ingredients; set aside.
3. In a hot wok or cast iron skillet over high heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil, shallot and garlic; stir briefly for a couple of seconds being careful not to let them brown. Add cabbage, carrot and mushrooms, stir-frying for 1-2 minutes.
4. Remove vegetables from pan and wipe out pan. Return to heat and add remaining tablespoon of oil. When hot add egg (if using) and noodles, stir-frying until heated through. If the noodles begin to stick add another teaspoon or two of oil.
5. Add veggies back to the pan along with the sauce and stir-fry over high heat until noodles just start to caramelize or until all ingredients are hot. If using a low-power burner, the noodles may never caramelize, but the dish will still be delicious. Do not cook more than 2 minutes.
6. Serve immediately. Great with braised baby bok choy. 

Serves: 4

Braised Baby Bok Choy

Ingredients:

1 pound baby bok choy (or full-sized if you can't find baby*)

Sauce Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

2 teaspoons dark brown sugar

1 Tablespoon untoasted sesame or peanut oil

1 cup water

Directions:

1. Fill a large bowl with water and soak the whole baby bok choy fully submerged for about half an hour; swish the bok choy vigorously to remove as much dirt and debris as possible. Lift bok choy out of the bowl and into a colander; discard the soaking water.
2. Cut the very end of the stem off and then cut bok choy in half through the middle of the stem (the long way) so that all of the leaves remain attached.
3. In a Dutch oven or 6-8 liter stock pot*, bring sauce ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and add bok choy placing the stem ends directly into the liquid and standing the leaf ends up like flowers. Cover the pot and cook for 7 minutes*.
4. Serve immediately while hot.

Serves: 3-4

Serving suggestions: Goes well with any Chinese, Japanese or Taiwanese meals. I like to top Udon with Shiitakes with these Braised Baby Bok Choy to add some greens to the dish.

*Note: if using full-sized bok choy, cook in slightly smaller diameter pot (so that the bok choy will stand up) and cook for 10 minutes instead of 7.

When Your Doctor is Your Chef

Bloomberg News published a piece today that discusses the movement of doctors learning about healthy cooking and adding this skill to their healthcare toolkit. This is important, because as the obesity and metabolic disease epidemics continue, we realize that relying only on pharmaceuticals is not good medicine. We as physicians, and the broader medical community, owe it to our patients to have the best tools in our toolkits to help prevent and treat disease--including cooking and eating delicious, healthy food.

Delicious, Healthy Meals--Courtesy of @ChefInResidency on Instagram

For more on this, go to Bloomberg News and read "When Your Doctor is Your Chef."

Interview with Stanford Medicine's Scope Blog

Many of you know my story from reading the About the Chef-Doctor  section of the blog or reading Hoda Kotb’s book, Where We Belong: Journeys That Show Us the Way. However, if you’re a newbie to the site, or you’re curious about some of the things that I’ve been up to lately, check out my most recent interview with Stanford Medicine’s Scope Blog, “I wasn’t afraid to fail at my dream”: A physician-chef discusses her unusual career.”

Also, be sure to check back for the following upcoming posts (by popular demand) on common GI issues: GERD (acid reflux), lactose intolerance and IBS…and more recipes, of course!

Substitutions to Make Holiday Recipes Vegan, Vegetarian or Dairy- and Egg-Free

Do you want to lighten-up your holiday dinner without sacrificing taste? 

Do you have a vegetarian, vegan, or someone with a dairy allergy/intolerance coming to dinner?

Try some of these tips to cut out dairy and other high saturated fat and cholesterol ingredients—essentially “vegan-ize” your meal.

Basic Tips:

• Eating vegan just means that one is not eating animal-based foods like meat, dairy, seafood, and eggs. Since all cholesterol comes from these products, vegans eat a zero cholesterol diet! 
• Vegetarians eat dairy and eggs, but no meat or seafood.
• What about those who don’t want to be vegan? No problem—everyone’s health can benefit by eating more plant-based, whole foods. Most of the recipes I post are aimed at getting people to eat more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and other plant-based foods that we know improve health.
• If you are trying to vegan-ize recipes, the easiest recipes are those that only have one or two animal-based items and these items are not the key ingredients.
• For dishes that do have meat, dairy, seafood, or eggs as main ingredients, there generally are ways to vegan-ize them, but those methods are either more advanced or use a lot of heavily processed plant-based foods to replicate animal-based food. However, I have given some recommendations for these processed items, based purely on taste, for those who would like to use them. I have only included widely-available brands. There are a lot of faux meat and dairy products out there that either taste terrible or don’t work well in recipes (or both!). 

Here are some quick tips on replacing some dairy and other animal-based foods in recipes:

Eggs: In baked items, an egg can be replaced with 1 Tablespoon ground flax seed mixed with 3 Tablespoons hot water. Alternatively, you can use a product called “Egg Replacer” as directed on the package. Both methods only work for recipes with 1-2 eggs in them. Basically, don’t try this with angel food cake, which is mostly made of eggs.

Cream (aka. heavy cream): In items where cream is an ingredient, blend equal amounts of raw cashews and water together until completely smooth. Use as you would cream. This works for everything except whipped cream.

Milk: Silk Unsweetened SoyMilk yields the best results when substituted for milk in my experience, but you can use any unsweetened non-dairy milk (rice, almond, coconut, etc.). Beware that “plain” non-dairy milks often contain sweetener and are terrible in mashed potatoes or savory food. Make sure to find unsweetened. Plain versions are fine for using in dishes that you don’t mind being sweet.

Meat: it really depends on the recipe. If your recipe calls for a bit of bacon or sausage to flavor vegetables, just leave out and use a bit of olive oil instead to add the fat that you’d miss without the bacon/sausage. If you really want the smoky flavor, add a few drops of liquid smoke, though I won’t vouch for it’s health benefits or lack thereof. For items that are made up almost entirely of meat, you can find non-meat versions of sausage (both breakfast and link), turkey, lunchmeat, meatloaf, chicken breast, hamburger, cube steak, meatballs, and burgers on the market that taste great (but, are obviously very processed). Most are quite processed, but if you want recommendations on which taste the best, Field Roast and Gardein brands are generally good (I am not vouching for the taste of their other products). I have not found fake seafood products to be very tasty and would suggest you avoid them.

Butter: I use the EarthBalanceOriginal (the non-whipped version) or the Vegan Buttery Sticks. These have more salt than unsalted butter (the type often used in baking), so you generally have to leave salt out of your recipe if using more than a tablespoon or two.

Shortening/Lard: vegetable shortening is actually vegan but is often full of the most unhealthy thing you can eat—trans fat. I generally substitute either “butter” (as above) or unrefined coconut oil if a solid fat is needed. If liquid oil would work, I use canola, safflower, or grapeseed oils (all oils with little of their own flavor).

Cheese: Most cheese eaters will be disappointed with vegan alternatives. The exception I’ve found for eating straight out of the package is Field Roast brand Chao Cheese, which comes in three flavors (all good and not as heavily processed as many others). For shredded cheese that you cook in/on a dish, I recommend FollowYour Heart Vegan Gourmet Shreds; a runner-up is Daiya brand cheeses. Both of the shredded types are quite processed and are not passable for the real thing, but the best-tasting options widely available.

Cream Cheese: There are many on the market of varying quality, but the best-tasting is Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese. If you can find the one with the yellow label it is made without hydrogenated oils and is much better for you than the white label one which does contain hydrogenated oils (trans fat). Again, this is quite processed.

Ice Cream: Try my recipe for Vanilla Bean Ice Cream! Otherwise, look for options that are not fat-free as these tend not to taste very good and be made up nearly entirely of sugar. Don’t be fooled by those ice “creams” that claim to have no sugar—they generally mean they have no white sugar, but can still be filled with other types of sugar. Cashew-based (and some coconut milk-based) ice “creams” tend to be less processed than soy, almond, and rice milk-based varieties.

Evaporated Milk: My pumpkin pie recipe uses Mori-Nu Firm or Extra-Firm Silken Tofu (this type is sold on the shelf in an aseptic package, unrefrigerated) in place of both the evaporated milk and eggs generally found in pumpkin pie recipes. This substitution doesn't work in all recipes using evaporated milk and/or eggs.

For full vegan holiday recipes, check out the following posts:

Vegan-Vegetarian Holiday Menu

Thanksgiving Sides & Desserts

**I am not paid to endorse products, nor do I received free products, from any of the companies mentioned above. I am simply recommending what works based on my experience.