Some may balk at the idea of anchovies, but you could simply neglect to mention them (unless, of course, there’s an allergy involved) since they vanish into the sauce. This tactic worked for a while with our anchovy-averse daughter, but by grade school she was on to us. She still won’t eat a visible anchovy, but the ones melted into garlic oil in her favorite midnight pasta get a pass.
Pajeon (Korean scallion pancakes) are another good place for sea creatures of all kinds; bits of squid, shrimp and clams are often slipped into the batter. They aren’t vital, though, and Sohui Kim, the chef of the Brooklyn restaurants Insa and Gage & Tollner, prefers to leave them out. Instead, in her golden, crisp-edged vegetable pajeon, she lets an array of vegetables (either raw veggies or cooked leftovers) keep the scallions company. She serves them with a simple dipping sauce of soy, sesame oil and grated fresh ginger, but a squirt of hot sauce and a few lime wedges would also make an easy, fuss-free accompaniment.
Moving on to more obvious seafood, check out the crescents of pink shrimp flaunting themselves atop leafy broccoli rabe in this 20-minute sheet-pan dinner. It’s a delight for pescatarians, omnivores and anyone else who loves a brightly hued, speedy meal with a red chile kick. An orange wedge squeezed over the top mitigates the heat with its sweet, juicy tang.
Now that we’re thinking pink, let’s check in with mortadella, that soft Italian cold cut with a silky texture, rosy blush and mildly brawny flavor. Ali Slagle uses mortadella in her carbonara, letting the bologna-like meat melt into the eggy, cheesy sauce and stirring in green peas for a welcome pop of color and freshness.
There’s nothing pink and no seafood in Hetty Lui McKinnon’s new recipe for one-pot mushroom and ginger rice, and no one will miss them. Hetty’s clever twist is to take the Chinese technique of velveting — coating a protein in cornstarch before cooking to help keep it tender — and apply it to mushrooms. The mushrooms stay plump and juicy as they cook in the rice, which is liberally doused with fresh ginger and sesame oil. Hetty offers an optional step of crisping the rice for a crunchy contrast, but the dish is just as good and maybe even more comforting when everything stays soft and supple. Also, “velveting” is my favorite verb.
