This recipe is simply taking what I have in the kitchen and going in Asian direction. Fortunately for my sake it was a success since it was JP's lunch today. Red cabbage has been staring me in the face for the last week or so and I was trying to come up with something different for it. I didn't want to braise it and didn't want to pickle it even thought that is what I ended up doing. I made chinese eggs with quail eggs I had on hand, a pickled red cabbage inspired by kimchi along with a few garnishes to enhance the whole dish. Talk about a bite that packs a big punch! This recipe is refreshing, spicy, crunchy and delicious.
PICKLED RED CABBAGE
1 small head of red cabbage julienned
1 small watermelon radish fine julienned
1 daikon radish fine julienned
1 serrano cut in half
2 tbsp of sambal
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup of water
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
3 tbsp of sugar
2 tsp of salt
2 tsp of sansho pepper
2 slices of fresh ginger
1/4 cup of blonde miso
1 avocado scooped with small melon baller
1/4 cup of puffed purple rice
1/4 cup of toasted garlic
2 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup of chopped roasted cashews
30 shiso leaves
1 1/2 dozen quail eggs
2 tbsp of lapsang souchong tea leaves
2 tbsp of passion fruit black tea
FOR THE RED CABBAGE
Place julienne cabbage, daikon radish, watermelon radish, and sansho pepper into a bowl. Then in a small pot add water, vinegars, sugar, ginger, serrano, sambal, and salt. Bring all of it to a simmer and then stir in your miso. Bring to a boil and then pour over top the cabbage mixture in the bowl. Then cover with plastic wrap and set aside until it comes to room temperature.
FOR THE CHINESE QUAIL EGGS
Place eggs in a pot of water and cover with water. Bring to a medium simmer and cook for 4 minutes. Then scoop the eggs out of the water. Lightly crack the eggs keeping them in tact. Then place the tea in the water you boiled the eggs in and place the eggs back in as well. Turn the pot on low so that the liquid doesn't even simmer. Let the eggs cook slightly in the tea bath for about 40 minutes. Then take the eggs out and discard the tea. Carefully peel the eggs and set aside.
To plate simply take your shiso leaves and lay them flat on your work surface. Place a small bit of the pickled cabbage on the leaf. Then place a quail egg, avocado balls, puffed rice, toasted garlic, cashews, and sesame seeds on top. Serve and enjoy!
