If you’ve not read this week’s SFR, you should know it has a pretty cool cover story wherein some of the writers went grocery shopping with local chefs and then the chefs made meals from that food (and also the chefs were really nice to do that because cheffin’ ain’t easy and giving up time to yahoo newspaper writers is a tough one even on the best day).
Anyway, one of those chefs was Hue-Chan Karels, the inimitable proprietor of Open Kitchen, a business that offers cooking classes, private dinners and, during the pandemic, some of the best takeout we had during that time that eating takeout was basically like being an American hero. Point is? Karels is an amazing chef with a cool story (check the paper this week for more), and our editor handed over a recipe there was not enough room to print, so we’re going to share it here! Lucky you!
Before we get to it, it’s important to note that the main ingredient to this dish—called morning glory or also, according to Karels, water spinach—is not all that easy to find in Santa Fe. Luckily, Karels DID find it at Santa Fe Asian Market, which is an aptly named Asian market in Santa Fe. It’s also important to note that Karels’ cooking journey is an interesting one. In a nutshell, she’s a Vietnamese immigrant who fell in love with food and came up with family recipes, a whole lotta self-driven awesomeness and, frankly, a whole lot of talent. Like, we got a taste of this dish the other day, and it was phenomenally good, and now we feel like some sort of morning glory-driven Popeye or something.
We’ve heard the cooking classes at Open Kitchen are legendary (and are particularly enamored with what we heard was a thrilling outdoor paella session), and while Karels definitely works with proteins, we think it’s cool she has the skillz to pay the billz with vegetarian and vegan items. So lastly, before we share this awesome recipe, remember to keep Karels and Open Kitchen in mind when you’re looking for something fun to do, hoping to get better at cooking things or just kind of need a badass chef to admire.
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Hue-Chan Karels’ Morning Glory Garlic Stir Fry
From Karels: “Morning glory (rau muống in Vietnamese) is a Southeast Asian water spinach. This is an earthy and hearty vegetable dish that is quickly sautéed with garlic and fish sauce.”
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pound morning glory bunch
- 3 cloves garlic cloves thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- ½ lime
Method
1. Trim about 1 inch off the ends of the morning glory stalk then cut the stem and stalk into 3 to 4 inch pieces, leaving the leaves intact.
2. Wash morning glory leaves and stems well.
3. Heat oil in a wok or large pan on medium-high heat. Add the garlic and sauté until slightly brown, about 15 seconds.
4. Add morning glory, fish sauce, and water to the pan and sauté until morning glory cooks down, about 3 to 4 minutes.
5. To serve, squeeze juice of ½ lime over the sautéed morning glory. Enjoy with jasmine rice.
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Ba-doom. There you have it.
And it doesn’t end there, not by a longshot. This November, Karels hosts Culinary Escapade to Vietnam, a literal trip to the country of her origin where she’ll work with other chefs in creating a travel/eating experience one is likely to remember forever. In your face, Stanley Tucci and, like, Phil Rosenthal, we guess. Click that link above to learn a little more and maybe sign up? If you go, tell us how it goes.
If you know what record this is from, it alllllll makes sense.
Also
-The Marquez Deli announced it’ll move off its namesake street to a different street and into the CHOMP Food Hall (on Cerrillos Road, which is, as it happens, also a street). And it will change its actual name to Alex NYC Deli. The former was heck of an eatery according to our reviewer—here’s hoping it continues to offer killer bagels and such.
-Hard to believe, we know, but Edible New Mexico’s Green Chile Cheeseburger Smackdown is coming back around again this September 10, and we tell you about it now because that thing ALLLLWAAAAAYS sells out. Can you blame it, though? This is New Mexico, so when there’s an event that’s all about green chile cheeseburgers, we show up. You can get tickets here, and you can expect entries from eateries like Yo Mama’s Grill in Socorro, Mesa Provisions in Albuquerque and Rio Chama in Santa Fe (plus more, we bet).
-Nutella announced this week that it will kick off a series of limited edition jars for a series dubbed Breakfast Across America. For the series, photos of iconic American cities will grace special labels, and in addition to places like Chicago, New Orleans and San Francisco, you’ll find little ol’ Santa Fe in the lineup. The idea is to give folks a taste of the town featured on whatever label, and Santa Fe’s entry is all about empanadas (which is weird because that’s not even close to the first thing we think of when imagining New Mexican food). Learn more here.
-We hear through the grapevine that chef Fernando Ruiz is full steam ahead on his upcoming Escondido restaurant. Now, it’s still not gonna open til next Spring but, Ruiz told a colleague, he and his partners were meeting with contractors the other day to make sure the building can handle sick-ass DJ parties when the time comes. We love it.
We were Googling the term “jamz,” and this came up and we were like, “Oh, hell, yes.” This has nothing to do with food, but slow-jamz are fly, you know it.
More Tidbits
-Great British Baking Show host Paul Hollywood says he’d like the show to last forever, which is interesting to us as, after a billion seasons, forever is how long it feels like it takes to make it through an episode. And yeah, we know that sentence was also too long. Anyway, in a recent video shot in his own dang house, Hollywood says a bunch of stuff about how baking is cool and how he’d do the show for the rest of all time. Word. We like the part where the contestants are nice to each other on that show, but we’re kind of sick of it. Sorry.
-The World’s 50 Best List, which is a list of the best things around, released its list of the best restaurants in the world, and Denmark’s Geranium from chef Rasmus Kofoed takes the top spot this year. Right on. While we doubt we’ll ever make it to Denmark because we’re still vexed by how anyone can afford to do anything, we wish food fans of the world all the best in making it there. Learn more here.
-In only vaguely related to food and also what the hell kind of person does this news, some dude in Colorado hiked to the top of Pike’s Peak while pushing a peanut with his nose. It took him nearly seven days, we hear. In a related note, maybe it’s time for humanity to just pack it in?
-Looks like France is moving to reduce the use of nitrates (which you’ll find in cured meats, for example, and is delicious, but which has also been linked to cancer) and the meat-makers are reportedly onboard. Look, we get that people like their cured meats, but also nobody wants certain kinds of cancer.
-It’s early yet, but that hasn’t stopped Delish-dot-com from naming its list of top Halloween candies for 2022. What’s number one? Those TootsieToll Caramel Apple Pops. You know the ones—they feel like they’re going to rip even the healthy teeth out of your mouth and also they’re so sugary they’d probably explode if they came in contact with an open flame? Remember, though, adults (whom, we assume, are the bulk of our readership since our jokes and writing are both so sophisticated that your average kid would likely be lost), that Halloween is about giving kids a night to go nuts on candy. In other words? If Delish says the kids love ‘em, go ahead and buy ‘em. Then hand ‘em out. They’ll love ‘em almost as much as we like saying “’em.”
A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork’s Correspondence
In the print edition of this week’s SFR, food takes over the cover as a bevy of local chefs take staffers shopping and then kick out a number of meals. You’ll even find recipes!
Number of Letters Received
33
*We get it—you also like tea. We’re working on it, God!
Most Helpful Tip of the Week (a barely edited letter from a reader)
“Coffee is actually really bad for you.”
*We’re not sure that’s true, though at the rate we drink it, maybe it is.
Actually Helpful Tip(s)
“Buy a grill.”
*We realize this isn’t new advice, but maybe this is what we needed to hear?
Not looking back in anger,
The Fork
