Laura Avery chats with Vicki Fan, chef-owner of Beacon, about cooking with silk squash (Chinese sing gua.) On October 8, Vicki will be opening a new grab-and-go, healthy food eatery, The Point, in Culver City.
Sing Gua Salad with Ginger, Garlic and Redwood Hill Feta Cheese
(From Kazuto Matsusaka and Vicki Fan of BEACON, an Asian Cafe)
4 small appetizers
1/2 Tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 Tablespoon minced ginger
1 Tablespoon canola oil
2 lbs Chinese Sing Gua (Chinese Okra, Silk Squash, Luffa)
4 oz Redwood Hill feta cheese
Salt and pepper
Pine nuts, optional
Peel hard edges of Sing Gua and discard. Cut into chunks or thick slices. In wok, heat canola oil over moderate heat. Add ginger and garlic, being careful not to burn garlic. Add Sing Gua and sautee until Sing Gua is soft. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Place on plates and grate feta cheese over it. Garnish with toasted pine nuts.
Laura also talks with Lompoc farmer Mario Trevino about tomatillos (small citrusy tomato-like fruits with a hard protective husk.) He shares a salsa verde recipe (boil tomatillos, and then fry them with onions, peppers and cilantro) and talks about the medicinal properties of the husk (he makes a medicinal tea out of the tomatillo husk to lower his blood sugar.) It tastes awful, but Mario says it's brought his blood sugar down significantly.
Tomatillo Husk Tea
10 tomatillo husks
1 zucchini
1 nopal cactus
Boil for an hour and a half. Let it sit overnight. Drink the following morning.
Music break: Disco Special by Discotheque