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Tokyo Pot

Tokyo Pot in Stillwater serves shabu-shabu style.

Dean Chen and David Tjie, owners of Tokyo Pot in Stillwater, might not have great location or serve expertly cooked food, but there’s practically nowhere in the state that I’d rather eat. You could go the Melting Pot in Bricktown for a similar experience but you’ll pay three times the price, have half the fun and pay for parking. That’s no knock on the Melting Pot, it’s just an example of what a terrific time I had at Tokyo Pot.

Dean Chen, left, and David Tjie are co-owners of Tokyo Pot in Stillwater. The two Indonesian friends met in California.

The state’s only shabu-shabu restaurant is in Stillwater, and not even in the fashionable part. South of State Highway 51 in an area with potential but little current street traffic, they serve food that isn’t even cooked. Some say it’s a smart restaurateur who charges you to cook you own food, but David and Dean do plenty to earn your business.

They’re serving culture, history, and a little piece of themselves — dunked and swished in choice of two broths, 1. sweet like sukiyaki, the other with a little more heat. As dedicated as they are to what they do, it would be no surprise to find a pound of their own flesh among the wafer-thin meat slices that eventually arrive at the table. This is the food of their youth, and they not only serve it with pride but share it with a panache that I haven’t seen in the Oklahoma foodscape.

Shabu-shabu isn’t about precision, it’s about fun. This style has been around for 1,000 years because it’s easy and does what food does best — it brings people together. It’s impossible to sit through a meal at Tokyo Pot in silence. If you’re looking for a quiet meal in a dark corner, by all means go elsewhere. If you want to learn something about a different culture, share laughs with friends and loved ones and make at least two new friends, this is your place.

Rib-eye fresh out of the pot, dunked in ponzu sauce, what Dean calls quality control, and into the rice pot. More please.

Chef Kurt Fleischfresser, the Big Kahuna of fine dining in Oklahoma, knows a thing or two about eating out. He told me this is one of a handful of places that he doesn’t even open the menu.

“I just say, ‘Dean, take care of me.”

Take care of you he will. Dean has charisma, energy and enthusiasm for sharing a taste of his culture. Meanwhile, David directs traffic in the kitchen. He makes sure the broths come out as advertised, the meats sufficiently thin and the vegetables and mushrooms good and fresh.

Rib-eye, pork, chicken and lamb are all available, wafer thin, for some shabu-shabu treatment.

Prices range from $9.95 for vegetarian platter to $18.95 for the seafood combo, including shrimp and scallops. The rib-eye is $15.95.

David told me he almost opened Tokyo Pot in Edmond two years ago, but decided to play it safe and stay in Stillwater, where he’d been working for a number of years. The good news is, he is looking to expand. He’d like to open in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa. While that is potentially good news, I can’t imagine any new locations capturing the magic that Dean and David conjure together. Dean is fire, David is ice and shabu-shabu is the stage. But beware, this show demands audience participation whether it be donning a Samurai outfit or cooking your own food. But after a couple sake bombs, you’ll not be competing with Dean for the lead in this six-nights-a-week act. After you eat, you’ll be checking your calendar to figure out when you can get an encore.

Have you been to Tokyo Pot? Let me know what you thought.

Indian Tacos

 

Just like they make at the State Fair.

If the high price of Dan’s Original Indian Taco stand has you down, never fear the Food Dude is here. The fry bread is surprisingly simple to make and doesn’t take a lot of time. Typical Indian tacos are topped with ground beef, pinto beans, lettuce, tomato and cheese. I like onions on mine. Perhaps some diced fresh jalapenos or serranos. Maybe some sliced black olives, if you like. Ultimately, it’s your call.

These are good and significantly cheaper than the State Fair and much easier to contain in the privacy of your own home.

Recipe: Indian Tacos

Summary: This Fair Favorite can be made easily at home.

Ingredients

TOPPING

 2 lbs. ground beef

2 tomatoes

 1/2 white onion diced

 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil

 1-2 fresh serrano chiles

 2-3 cloves garlic

 1 tablespoon salt

 1 teaspoon black pepper

 juice of 1/2 a lime

 1/2 cup chicken broth

 1 Can Ranch Style Beans

 Grated cheese

Shredded lettuce

 Chopped tomatoes

Chopped onions

 FRY BREAD

4 cups all-purpose flour

 2 tablespoons powdered milk

 1 tablespoon baking powder

 1 teaspoon salt

 1 1/2 cups warm water

Vegetable oil

Instructions

1. In a heated skillet, brown meat.
2.  While meat is browning, put tomatoes, garlic, serranos, salt and lime juice in a food processor and pulse 4 to five times.
3. Drain meat in a colander.
4.  Heat skillet on medium and add oil.
5.  Saute onions for 2-3 minutes then add meat, broth, tomato mixture, salt and pepper. Simmer 15-20 until moisture is mostly cooked out.
6. For the bread, mix all ingredients.
7. Pinch into small balls of dough. Pat back and forth in hands into small, flat (about 1/4-inch thick) rounds.
8. In skillet, heat about 2 inches of oil to 350 degrees.
9. Fry dough to golden brown, turn and fry other side.
10. Drain on absorbent paper.
11. In center of each taco, put 2 tablespoons cooked pinto beans, top with meat sauce, shredded lettuce, onions and chopped tomatoes. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Serve hot with salsa. Guacamole and sour cream are optional.

Source: Dave Cathey

Microformatting by hRecipe.

105degrees: Cool food, hot spot

Entrees at 105degrees Cafe show refinement, artistry and creativity.

Fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice and the Curious George.

Spicy Vegetable Sushi with avocado, cucumber and sesame.

Honestly, she was so happy with this expertly crafted combination of avocado, cucumber and sesame with a dollop of homemade ancho aioli, that we could’ve walked away happy. I had only one bite as I didn’t want to slow down what was clearly a love affair in progress.

Meanwhile, I was sipping the spicy Bahian-style soup. This malagueta-chile influeneced puree of Heirloom tomatoes and coconut milk provided the heat in this cool soup. Rather than reel off a barage of power verbs and superfluous adjectives, I’ll tell you the square bowl made it a little difficult for my round spoon to retrieve the last few droplets, even when I tipped it. More please.

Spicy Bahian-style soup.

Heirloom Tomato lasagna.

Blood orange cheesecake.

Feeling the full force of our misconception of the gullet-filling potential of veganism, we fought through like champions and took down a slice of blood-orange cheesecake. The primary agent at work in this seamless interpretation was young coconut meat. What a triumph of creativity and flavor.

Do-It-Yourself Torta

The bolillo roll is the most important step in making your own torta.

If you want to make you own tortas, the first and most crucial step is finding the right bread.
The bolillo roll is the most commonly used torta shell. Once impossible to find, these small, stuffable rolls can be found in either white or wheat versions at most Homeland and Buy 4 Less stores. The Buy 4 Less Super Mercados have a variety of Mexican rolls like teleras as do the many panaderias around town.
Once you’ve got the right bread, it becomes a lot easier.

If you can make this at home, CALL ME!

You’re never going to make puerco al carbon like they have in Mexico, pork steaks marinated in red chile and pineapple juice stacked in layers with fresh pineapple slices on a vertical roaster.
Great as that would be, you can make a tasty torta with available product. Simple stuff like ham and cheese works. 

But if you want some thing with a little more kick, this simple beef fajita recipe that works like a champ.

Char-grilled skirt steak is difficult to beat for tortas.

Recipe: Torta con Carne Asada

Summary: Street food at home

Ingredients

• 2 pounds skirt steak
•  1/3 cup soy sauce
•  1/3 cup tawny port wine
•  1/3 cup vinegar from bottled guero chile peppers or jalapenos.
•  1 teaspoon smoked paprika
•  1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon black pepper
•  1 teaspoon garlic powder
•  ½ teaspoon onion powder
•  ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
•  ½ teaspoon toasted ground cumin seeds
•  ½ teaspoon toasted ground coriander seeds
•  ½ teaspoon ground chile de arbol or cayenne
•  6-8 bolillo rolls

Instructions

1. Trim excess fat from bottom of steak.
2.  In a one-gallon resealable bag or shallow container, combine skirt steak, soy sauce, port wine, vinegar and any chiles that happen to tumble in.
3.  Marinate overnight, at least 8 hours.
4.  Combine remaining ingredients and mix well. Set aside. Remove steaks from marinade and pat dry.
5.  Apply rub, reserving a little for last-minute dusting.
6.  Heat barbecue to 400 degrees.
7.  Cook steak 5-6 minutes per side, flipping just once.
8.  Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes, the meat will continue to cook.
9.  While the meat is resting, toast the bollilos in the broiler or on a very hot griddle. A little char won’t hurt them. The idea is to attain a crusty outside and a doughy inside.
10. Carve meat against the grain, and chow down.
11. Serve with any or all of the following: refried beans, sliced avocado or guacamole, sour cream, salsa, grated cheese, shredded lettuce, sliced radishes and tomatoes, sauteed onions and bell peppers.

Cook’s Notes: If one end of the steak is inordinately thicker than the other, it might serve you well to pound it down. Skirt steak is one of a few cuts that works fine cooked to a medium-well. It actually becomes easier to carve. Source: Adapted from “The Whole Chile Pepper Cookbook.”

Meal type: lunch

Culinary tradition: Mexican

Recipe by on.
Microformatting by hRecipe.

Hickory House Baked Beans

Chef Rick Bayless shared these original Hickory House recipes with Saveur Magazine in 2005. He told the magazine navy beans were used in the restaurant, but he preferred prefers pintos.

Serves 4 to 6

½ large red or green bell pepper

2 15-ounce cans, drained or 3 to 3½ cups drained cooked pinto or navy beans

1 cup barbecue sauce

2 tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon worcestershire

Preheat oven to 375 degree. Stem and seed bell pepper, cut into quarter-inch pieces, and put into a 2-quart or 8” x 8” baking dish. Add beans, barbecue sauce, brown sugar, and half cup water to dish and mix well.

Drizzle worcestershire sauce on top. Bake until top is glazed-looking and browned, the beans start to peek up from the liquid, and the liquid is bubbling vigorously around the edges, 45-60 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

Source: Rick Bayless.

Cook’s notes: I used a cast-iron skillet, which reduced the cook time to 35 minutes. I also used one can of pinto beans and one can of navy beans. My vegetarian wife loved the exclusion of bacon, and I didn’t miss it at all.

Hickory House Barbecue Sauce

Source: Rick Bayless

Hickory House Rub

For its dry rub, Hickory House used a Cain’s barbecue spice blend that’s no longer made. This recipe is Rick Bayless’s interpretation of that rub.

2 large cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

¼ cup ground chile, such as ancho, New Mexico, or guajillo, or paprika

4 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican

1 teaspoon dried thyme

Put garlic, ground chile, salt, pepper, sugar, oregano, and thyme into a small bowl. Stir well, making sure garlic is thoroughly combined. If not using spice mix right away, store in a small clean jar, tightly sealed, in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

Source: Rick Bayless

Hickory House sweet slaw

Sweet slaw from The Hickory House Sweet Slaw Edmond teacher LuAnn Tucker, Rick Bayless’ sister, prefers this mayonnaise-enhanced slaw, another Hickory House specialty, to the tangy “sour” version. ½ medium head green cabbage, cored and very thinly sliced (about 8 cups) 1 2-ounce bottle chopped pimentos, drained, or 1 small red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4” pieces 3 ribs celery, cut into 1/4” dice ¾ cup mayonnaise 1 tablespoon sugar Salt Put cabbage, pimentos, celery, mayonnaise, sugar and 1 teaspoon salt into a large bowl and toss well. Adjust seasonings with more salt, if you like. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. The flavor and texture are best when slaw is made an hour or two before serving.

Hickory House sour slaw

Rick Bayless’ deviled eggs recipe

Batches of Hatches available

Hatch chiles are available at local Homeland stores.

Local Homeland stores have gotten into the annual late August Hatch chile explosion. 10 pounds for 10 dollars at my Homeland store. So many chiles, so little time.

First things first, learn to make green chile. It’s the foundation of all New Mexican cuisine.  You can use it alone, or use it to make stews. Only the limits of your creativity and their availability stand between you and a daily green chile dose.

First, the green chile must be roasted, skinned and seeded. Direct flame is the optimal roasting method. Since most of us don’t own rotary chile-roasters, so the grill is your best choice. The broiler will work, but direct flame has always worked best for me.

I crank it up, and turn on my Ipod.  Place the chiles over the flame. By the time you’ve heard “Black Betty from beginning to end, it’ll be time flip.

 By the time you’ve heard all of “Common People” by Pulp, it’s time to rescue these New Mexican refugees. They should be good and charred, but not extra crispy.

Plunge them immediately into a bowl or pot of ice water for quickest results.

 You can also wrap them in wet towels and seal them in a Zip-loc for 15-20 minutes, too. I like the ice water method because it’s fast and tends to keep the chile crisper. Since it’s going to cook again, I like to keep it as raw as possible.

Next, simply put a slice down the side of the chile, flay it open and brush away seeds.

Flip and peel away the charred flesh of the chile.

Now they’re ready to cook.

Here’s a basic green chile recipe. Some like to thicken  with flour or corn starch, but not me.  I use it in multiple formats, so I don’t like to mask the chile flavor with anything.

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