Tag Archive for: fish sauce

The Holiday Challenge III

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If you do something more than once, it can become a tradition. I decided to do the Holiday Challenge again with a slight twist. If you remember, the challenge last year was to see who could eat the most servings of vegetables and fruit over the 4th of July weekend. I’m still interested in volume: I want more of you to do the challenge, wherever you are in the world. But instead of eating the most number, the goal is to eat at least five servings of fresh or frozen vegetables and fruits every day—Friday through Sunday.

What’s the incentive? Everyone who eats five fruits and veggies per day can participate in the next Insider conference call on July 16th. It’s been a long time since I opened it up to non-Insiders, and you can earn your way to an invitation by reaching the five veggies and fruits per day for the weekend. Just respond to this email saying “I did it!” and I’ll put you on the guest list. If you have trouble figuring out what qualifies, check out last year’s Memo from July 2nd.

One more thing: a cooking tip. If you’re cooking this weekend and you want to enhance the flavor to make it more salty and umami, try fish sauce. It is made by fermenting fish for a couple of years, so if you’re allergic to seafood, don’t use it. But I add it to just about everything I cook as an entrée or sauce, including BBQ sauce; I can’t explain it, but it’s almost magical. I think you’ll find the additional flavor is excellent but watch the amount. A dash will do the trick. If you don’t find it at your regular grocery, you’ll definitely find it at any Asian market.

If you’re traveling by car this holiday weekend, you can binge listen to my podcast Straight Talk on Health that I do for the local public radio station. Click the link or find it on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and other podcast sites.

Have a safe weekend and I’m looking forward to your responses next week.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Expand Your Food World

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Paula and I watch a lot of cooking shows; most are competitions and the styles of cooking vary from diner food to high-end restaurants. The one thing that is prevalent is that you see a lot of foods and cooking techniques from other continents and cultures. This weekend, I’m going to challenge you to try different spices, different vegetables and fruits, and different techniques.

The spice blend that we’ve discovered is fish sauce. It seems like it would be used only in cooking seafood, but it gives a great umami (meat-like flavor) to every sauce, casserole, and soup. The only caution would be that it’s made from shrimp or other seafood marinated in salt for up to two years, so if someone is allergic to seafood, don’t use it. Also, try a little first because you can add more, but you can’t take it out.

A vegetable would be ube or purple yams. It’s one of the foods that is the staple of the Blue Zone areas in southeast Asia. It’s easier to find than it used to be, and you can use it like regular potatoes. One of the fruits Paula and I tried was prickly pear, but I don’t have the patience for it because it’s full of seeds. On top of that, the flavor is subtle so while it’s full of nutrients, it doesn’t have an intense flavor or texture.

One technique to try is to spatchcock a chicken or turkey, also called butterflying. The technique involves cutting out the neck and back with shears and pressing the bird flat; press hard enough to break the breastbone and the bird lies flat. It’s easier to get seasoning on the bird meat under the skin, cooking time is reduced, the skin will be crisp, and it will have the moistest breast meat you’ve ever eaten. Just be sure to check the temperature in the breast to make sure it reaches 160° and it should get to 165° or higher while it rests.

Food is one of life’s great pleasures as well as the source of nutrients we all need. It’s a shame to be bored with food, so I’m challenging you to shake it up a little. The objective this weekend is to eat a food, use a spice or blend, or technique you’ve never tried before. Then let me know how it went.

No time to cook? Try a food from another region of the world you haven’t eaten before—West African, Caribbean, and South Asian all have intriguing spices and flavors that may be unfamiliar. They may be a miss, but if you find something you like, you’ve completed the challenge: expanding your food world, even if it’s only a new dessert.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet