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Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Asian Popcorn -Wasabi Sesame & Vietnamese Food Guild 2010

9.15.10

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Is it Friday yet?

Yes, I'm counting down and looking forward to it. Have you ever felt bored of daily work and wanted to do nothing but cooking/baking? I'm in that phase. I took a few cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu these past few weekends. The idea of enrolling into a culinary school hit me hard again after it had settled down for a while. But I have bills to pay, can't just quit my job, can I? (although I really want to! haha). Anyway, to release the stress and boredom, my friends, hubby, and I went camping and rafting at Tieton River, WA this past weekend. It was so much fun! Needless to say, it's such a good workout while enjoying nature's beauty, scenery and such. I definitely want to do it again.

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See how happy we are? We're ready to raft!

What am I talking about here? It has nothing to do with popcorn. Okay, popcorn is so easy to make and good for your wallet. Variation is abundant depending on how creative you are. Sweet or salty flavor works fine with it. It can be good eaten plain or with a bit of salt. Then, you're done with your business.

I made this popcorn exclusively for NAAAP-Seatle, a non-profit I'm a part of. They went to watch the Mariners play the Los Angeles Angels on Mariners' Asian American Heritage Night. The event info and photos are here or there.

To carry on the theme, I created wasabi sesame popcorn for attendees' giveaway. The number of attendees went up from 16 to 30 from originally what I had been told. Making it at home wasn't ideal especially with the medium pot I have. Although I made it work, I was wishing I had a popcorn machine. I packaged it in "compact" clear bags and tied with my blog's name tag. Do you remember moo card from FoodBuzz? Yep I used that as a name tag. If you make it ahead of time and won't eat it right away. Go easy on the salt. After a certain time, popcorn will absorb salt and it gets more salty than you anticipated. That was my lesson learned from this experience. It was a little salty - a general comment from attendees. Boo.

Adjust it to your preference. It can be done in so many flavors. I included some links for different variations at the end of this post.

Wasabi Sesame Popcorn
Yield: 4 quarts

1/2 cup popping corn
3 tbs canola oil
1 tbs rice seasoning wasabi flavor
2-3 tsp wasabi powder (depending on your preference)
1/2 tsp fine seasalt
1/2 tbs toasted black sesame seeds
3 tbs salted butter (unsalted is fine too)
2 tsp sesame oil
A pinch Shichimi  pepper (optional)
Dried seaweed (Nori) (optional)
Cooking spray butter flavor

Directions:
  • Heat up the large or medium deep pot over medium high heat. Add oil.
  • Pour popping corn in a pot, swirl to thoroughly coat with oil. Cover and leave a lid slightly ajar.
  • You will hear them popping shortly. Wait until the popping sound fades away. Remove to a big bowl. Repeat the first step if you wish to make more.
  • Melt butter in a microwave for 15 secs. Whisk in sesame oil.
  • Drizzle over cooked popcorn gradually while swirling popcorn around to get evenly coated.
  • If you wish, you could spray cooking spray for another layer of coating.
  • Mix salt, wasabi powder, rice seasoning, sesame seeds, shichimi pepper in a separate bowl.
  • Sprinkle the seasoning all over popcorn. Adjust to taste. Shred nori to small pieces and mix with popcorn.
  • Package them if you wish to give it to your friends. It can be kept in a fridge for a few days in an air-tight container or wrap.
News to shout out!
Don't forget to join my first organic giveaway to win a bag of organic mutigrain waffle & pancake mix from Arrow Mills, and a special gift from me! Enter here

If you like Vietnamese food, check out this food guild for Readers'  Pick Authentic Vietnamese Cuisine 2010 in Seattle! It's published by the NorthWest Vietnamese Newspaper. This food guild is the first bilingual version that they've launched! A friend of mine initiated the project.

Useful Links for popcorn recipes:
    Black sesame and mustard popcorn
    Curry popcorn
    Caramel popcorn
    How to make perfect homemade popcorn



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    Add oil

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    Cover with a lid slightly ajar

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    They did their own magic

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    Wasabi seasoning (this is without sesame seeds)


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    25 comments:

    ~Lisa~ said...

    My son loves popcorn! I live the Asian flavors. That's awesome that you're thinking of culinary school! I say go for it! Camping and rafting sounds like my kind if weekend.

    denise @ quickies on the dinner table said...

    I love the flavor combination Tanantha! I find sweet popcorn a little too much after a while but salty flavors like this one, I can keep shovelling in my mouth till everything's gone. My bad LOL Great pictures - you look adorable all suited up for rafting ;)

    Anonymous said...

    Now THAT is what I call popcorn! How unique and interesting!

    Anonymous said...

    Wow, this is one amazingly flavorful popcorn! Love the wasabi in it!

    Lazaro Cooks said...

    T,

    You are like the kitchen mad scientist. This is a perfect popcorn dream. The flavor combinations are out of this world. This is popcorn done right, WOW! I thought I had eaten popcorn before, but I was wrong. I would be happy with this version every time.

    Please, please, please do your research before deciding to go to Le Cordon Blue. That's all I will say.

    Be good...

    lequan@luvtoeat said...

    Hey Tanantha!

    I wish it were Friday too :( soon, soon :)
    We've been white water rafting once but it was really really boring cause the lesson we took was for beginners and all we did was drift down the river. Lol. Totally our fault though. Hope you guys had a much more fun time :-)

    I love popcorn, I love wasabi, so needless to say, I love your wasabi popcorn. That's just genius! I've made the same mistake of adding too much salt too :( you learn quick after that don't you? Haha.

    Thanks for the link to that Vietnamese food guild. That Xing's seafood hot and sour soup looks and sounds to die for - DROOL! Hope you have a great rest of the week, dear. It's "almost" Friday ;-)

    Torviewtoronto said...

    spicy
    yummy

    Unknown said...

    Hey Tanantha, Great photo of you guys, looks like a fun time:) Delicious flavor combination in the popcorn, another great idea! It does look a little bit addictive,lol!

    Stella said...

    My Tanantha, you guys do look so happy and cute in that photo;) Yeah!
    Oh, and I think your wasabi popcorn sounds awesome. I love both wasabi and sesame seeds. If I try it, I'll just cut the salt in half and see how that is...one can always add more salt.
    p.s. I can't wait till Friday either. Ugh...

    Mo said...

    Yum! I love popcorns of all kinds. I usually stick with EVOO and salt, though. I'm too lazy to get creative. ;)

    Monet said...

    I make popcorn every single night...yes I'm currently obsessed! It is just so tasty, and such a cheap and filling snack. However, my bowls of popcorn are never as exciting as yours! I need to spice up my nightly routine a bit. And I totally feel you on wanting to go to culinary school...

    Nancy said...

    I have those phases too Tanantha, aaw to dream:) The popcorn looks and sounds so good! I love wasabi, you know the peas and peanut covered with wasabi, oooh don't get me started. So I know I would totally love your popcorn. Thanks for all the tips and info too, I learned so much :)

    Evan @swEEts said...

    How fun! We went rafting a couple years ago.. so much fun! The culinary school bug bit me too recently so I know what you meat! What do you say we give it a year, quit our jobs and just do it?? ha This popcorn sounds delicious and spicy!

    Unknown said...

    Wow this sounds spectacular... I love popcorn, and its a favorite snack at our house. Also love the flavors you've pulled together. Will have to try sometime soon. If you like, bring this to the Friday Potluck party @ ekatskitchen.com

    Unknown said...

    That wasabi seasoning is awesome. The nori sounds like such an interesting addition--I would never have thought of that! Great job, Tanantha. I think you would be perfect at culinary school.

    Stella said...

    Hey Tanantha! I hope you're doing well today...
    Cholesterol in avocados? No way! Cholesterol is a sterol produced by animals-it's only in animal products. That's why vegans often have the lowest cholesterol readings.
    My Cauldron Boy went to the doctor the other day btw (he's a vegetarian, not a vegan). His total cholesterol reading was 144. There is no documented case world wide of a heart attack in any individual with cholesterol less than 150! Pretty cool, huh!?
    Anyway, I just wanted to tell you this 'foodie fact' (smile);).
    Un Beso, Stella

    FOODESSA said...

    Isn't it great and also necessary to get out of our kitchen? I do, however admit that baking is my therapy after a stressful work day.

    Popcorn...Hubby and I love it so much that we ended up getting ourselves a cheapie air popping machine. Minus the wasabi...I'll try your recipe Tanantha ;o) Thanks for your enthusiasm.

    Ciao for now,
    Claudia

    Magic of Spice said...

    This is my kind of popcorn :) Maybe someday soon we can all quit our day jobs...fingers crossed, lol...

    Angie's Recipes said...

    That's a creative idea!

    Magdalena said...

    great idea!
    as regards the LCB book: I found what I wanted. I was searching for some information regarding cutting and boning techniques for meat and fish, techniques for preparation of sauces and pastries. The vegetables and fruits section was a bit disappointing (too basic). It depends what are you searching for.
    I am answering you here, because there is sth wrong wioth my blogger account and I cannot answer to comments !

    Biren said...

    What a delicious combination! Those are some of my favorite spices.

    RamblingTart said...

    Ohhh, I adore popcorn so much and this version is fantastic!!! :-) Thank you for your kind comment on my post at Lazaro's blog. :-) I really appreciate it!

    Unknown said...

    I posted a link to this recipe on my FB page: http://www.facebook.com/KoreafornianCooking

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