Snacking State-by-State: Mashup 13 - Whiting and Hazelnut Stir-Fry in Pale Ale and Fermented Black Bean Sauce

For my thirteenth and final mashup post of this series (no there will be no more), I try to hobble together the disparate ingredients from the Northwest, Midwest, Appalachia and the Rockies into a stir fry with somewhat mixed results.

Mashup Recipe: Whiting and Hazelnut Stir-Fry in Fermented Black Bean and Pale Ale Sauce

Ingredients (state flag indicates State-by-State post where ingredient was featured. Ingredients with no flag were not specifically used for any one post.)

Makes four servings

For the stir fry:

3/4 lb whiting fillets, cut into chunks


1/2 cup baby carrots, sliced

1/2 cup baby lima beans, soaked overnight if dried

1/4 cup hazelnuts


1 Gala apple, diced

1 - 2 pickled spring onions, sliced (or without that, use fresh)

1 - 2 pickled garlic cloves, chopped (or without that, use fresh)



1 handful fresh parsley


a few sprigs tarragon, fresh


For the sauce:


1 tablespoon fermented black bean paste


2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce


1/4 cup sake


1/2 cup pale ale


1 tablespoon garlic powder

Start by throwing your chopped garlic into hot oil in a wok or skillet and let cook for about 10 seconds over high heat.

Next, throw your whiting into the oil, and stir fry until mostly but not completely cooked through.

Remove the whiting and garlic, and set aside.

To the remaining oil, add sake and pale ale and let cook for two to three minutes until partially reduced.

Add fermented black bean paste and chili garlic sauce (Note that my ingredients list reverses the quantities of black bean paste and chili garlic sauce.  That's because in retrospect I think I would have gotten a better tasting and looking sauce had I gone heavier on the chili and lighter on the black bean).

Add the lima beans and cook for two to three minutes.

Add the remaining stir fry ingredients, including the whiting, and stir fry for another two to three minutes, or until the whiting is cooked through.

This dish doesn't look that great.  It tasted okay.  It was one of those dishes, however, that tastes much better just out of the skillet than after sitting a day or two.  It didn't age terribly well.  Again, had I upped the chili garlic sauce and scaled back on the fermented black bean paste it might have turned out a bit better than this.

Snacking State-by-State: Mashup 10 - Hazelnut Sofrito Beef Stir-Fry

After the last three states plus Puerto Rico, I had a lot of leftover ingredients waiting to be used up.  I find stir-fries to be particularly useful in such a situation.

Mashup recipe: Hazelnut Sofrito Beef Stir-Fry

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients (state or territorial flag indicates State-by-State post where ingredient was featured. Ingredients with no flag were not specifically used for any one post.)

1 cup beef (PA)

1/2 cup shredded coconut (PR)


2 green onions (OK)

1 jalapeño (OK)

2 - 3 T sofrito (PR)

1/2 medium head cabbage (PA)

1 - 2 roasted peppers (PA)

1/4 cup hazelnuts (OR)


3 T rice bran oil (OR)

3 T pineapple juice (PR)

4 T thin soy sauce (OR)

2 T dark soy sauce (OR)

2 T white rum (not pictured) (PR)

3 T cream of coconut (PR)

1/2 t white peppercorns (OR)

1 cup medium parboiled rice, uncooked (PR)

1 T sesame oil

1 T cornstarch stirred in 1 T water 

1 T sesame seeds

2 cloves garlic

Prepare the rice separately - in this case, I put it in my rice cooker.  The stir fry should be done about the same time as the rice, or a little after.

Toast the shredded coconut, which you will use to coat the beef chunks.

Slice your vegetables - shred the cabbabe, chop the jalapeno and green onion.  Smash but do not chop the garlic.

Coat the beef lightly with the cream of coconut, and roll the pieces in shredded coconut.

Meanwhile, crush your white peppercorns and set aside.

Now it's time to make the stir fry.  Put the sesame and rice bran oils in your wok or pan.  When hot (sizzles when you flick water into the oil), throw in the garlic and fry quickly for 10 to 20 seconds.

Add the beef and cook until just browned, stirring occasionally.

Don't cook thoroughly just yet, but remove and set aside.  You will re-add this later.

To the rest of the pan, add the rum...

...the thin and dark soy sauces...

...the vegetables...

...the sofrito (I froze mine in an ice cube tray, which is why it looks like that)...

...the spices...

...the roasted peppers...

...the hazelnuts...

...and the pineapple juice.  Then add the cornstarch-water mixture (see ingredients) and stir.  Fry for three to four minutes.

Add the beef back into the pan and fry until the beef is cooked through, about two to three more minutes.

Stir fries are such a good way to use up leftovers.  This one is best when it sits for a day or two: I only really tasted the coconut, the rum and the pineapple juice once I ate this as leftovers.  In the future I would probably add a little more of the liquid ingredients and the sofrito.  But the beef is nicely coconut-y and the cabbage still has a little bit of a crunch.  I would say this stir fry turned out well.