Pow Pow with Jaden Hair!

Our family loves Chinese food but I have to admit that we used to be slaves to Chinese take-out! Things are changing around the Bhide household thanks to folks like Jaden Hair. I have her first book, Steamy Kitchen, and I remember cooking from it and thinking, “I can do this. This is not hard. I can do this!” My kids loved the dishes so much that it became a staple in our kitchen.

I was thrilled when I saw that Jaden’s second book was coming out:Steamy Kitchen’s Healthy Asian Favorites: 100 Recipes That Are Fast, Fresh, and Simple Enough for Tonight’s Supper. Of course, I immediately cooked from it, and yes, if it is possible, she has outdone herself. Simple, delightful recipes that use fresh ingredients and create a healthy dish for the whole family.

Our fav dish turned out to be with eggs!! A unique boiled egg dish with a spiced sauce called Pow Pow. I have to say here that when you add the hot oil to the ingredients, do it carefully.. she isn’t kidding when she says it goes POW!!! It does splatter so be careful. Of course, food writers have the habit of adapting everything so I did add some mighty hot sauce to the dish (the third time we made it in one week) and it was amazing. A superb recipe, very versatile and sure to be a family fav.

Rock on, Jaden. And for those of you who haven’t seen her book trailer, you are missing out:

Soft-boiled eggs with pow pow sauce

“Reprinted with permission from The Steamy Kitchen’s Healthy Asian Favorites, by Jaden Hair, copyright © 2013. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.”

(monica’s note: we boiled the eggs a touch longer and the dish is still amazing… hard boiled, soft boiled, and I also tried it with poached eggs. Excellent)

Serves 4

4 eggs

Pow Pow Sauce

1 green onion, minced

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1 teaspoon minced fresh chile, such as jalapeño, serrano, or Thai

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

Pinch of sea salt

3 tablespoons cooking oil

Add the eggs to a pot and add water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil. When the water begins simmering, remove pot from heat, cover and let the eggs sit for 5 minutes (7 minutes for hard-boiled eggs). Remove eggs from water. With the shell still on, cut the eggs in half lengthwise and then use a small spoon to scoop out the eggs away from the shell.

For the sauce, in a heatproof bowl, combine the green onion, ginger, garlic, chile, and salt. Set aside. Heat the oil in a small pot just to the smoking point. Carefully pour the very hot oil into the heatproof bowl to explode or “pow” with the herbs. Pour the Pow Pow Sauce over the eggs and serve.

You can purchase the book here.