Curry Beef Sambos -- aka what I made at NYCWFF

I can’t believe I haven’t posted this recipe before.

Sambos is an iconic Tom family dish, and the dish that inspired the cheeseburger samosas I made to win Star Salvation.

I talked about this during my NYCWFF demo, but in brief: this is the most requested, most beloved food item in my family. We usually make it for Thanksgiving and Christmas, or a special occasion like a baby’s birth or my book launch.

It’s a family affair, with my brother peeling the spring roll skins, my mom and I folding and stuffing them, and my dad deep-frying them.

Sambos are a street food from Madagascar (where my mom is from) and are influenced by the country’s Chinese and Indian influences. Because they’re so tasty, people assume they must be hard to make. They’re actually quite simple.

WARNING: These are meant to be apps, but people will still eat too many and spoil their appetites for the rest of the meal. It happens all the time — to sambos newbies and veterans alike.

Curried Beef Sambos (pronounced “shambosh”)

Makes 13-15 sambos

1 package 8”x8” spring roll wrappers (I prefer Spring Home brand)
1 lb ground beef, 85% lean  
1 tsp + 6 cups vegetable oil for frying
2 tsps kosher salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
3 tbsps Madras curry
10 scallions, diced  

2 tbsps flour
2 ½ tbsps warm water

2 lemons, cut into wedges

Heat 1 tsp canola oil in large frying pan. Add beef and sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper. Cook on medium-high until almost all browned, 5-8 minutes. Break up any large pieces. The beef should be broken up as much as possible so it can be easily spooned inside the sambos.

Drain any excess water/fat and return to heat. Add curry and continue to cook, allowing curry to warm and bloom, 1-2 minutes. Turn off heat and add diced scallions. Allow to cool and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes. The mixture will be very heavily spiced and seasoned -- this is what you want because the deep-frying will temper the flavors.

When ready to assemble and deep-fry, cut spring roll wrappers in half, so the sheets are long rectangles (not squares). Separate 20 or so sheets and lay them under a damp paper towel. (You will make 13-15 sambos, but you may need extra in case you mess up).  

Make the flour paste by mixing the flour and water. If the paste stiffens, just add more water. It should be the thickness of craft glue.

Remove the beef from the refrigerator and start assembling the sambos.

Here’s how you fold them:

Bring remaining vegetable oil to 375°F. Deep fry until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Place on paper towels with the pointed end (ie: the tip of the arrowhead) pointed downwards to help drain excess oil.

Serve hot with lemon wedges.

Feel free to swap out the meat and seasoning. I once even made a raspberry-Nutella sambos, though I encourage you to start with the original.

Food Network Star Episode 1 Dish: Miso Skewer en Papillote (aka 2-in-1 Surprise Skewer)

Okay, so you’ve been dropped onto a fake beach in the middle of an amusement park. What now? You cook, of course! 

I've watched enough seasons of Food Network Star to know that the first challenge usually involves your signature dish. But here was this season's twist: it had to park-friendly. Explicitly, that meant no utensils, and it had to be plated on servingware normally found in an amusement park. Implicitly, that meant a world of intangible things that you might expect from park food. 

my signature dish in its normal form

What are those intangibles? Here were the musts I considered: 

• Fun -- think churros and Groot bread 

• Light -- this was a water park after all and I didn’t want to serve anything too heavy or hot 

• Easy and relatively unchallenging -- no one comes to an amusement park to take culinary risks 

When you're not good at hiding your discomfort ...

... and panic.

So I decided to convert my miso-glazed halibut with turmeric tiles into a skewer, cooked en papillote. The parchment papillote would keep the dish neat, ensure everything inside was warm and tender, and provide a little mystery. 

on the show

at home

In my presentation, I ended up calling this a “Two-in-One Surprise Skewer”. After our cook, I had looked around and seen people had beautiful dishes -- all visually exciting colors and textures. I had… a brown paper pouch and a piece of brown bread. Blech. 

"Everyone likes their own personal packet. And it tastes good." 

So I tried to spin the negative into a positive. Can’t see what you’re eating? It’s a surprise! Don’t know what’s inside? It’s actually two things, a skewer and brothy veggies to sop up with the bread. 

Sadly, neither the park guest, Giada, nor Bobby commented on my expert re-branding. But it didn’t hurt me either :P. 

RECIPE

2-in-1 Surprise Skewer (aka Miso-Glazed Turbot and Zucchini Skewers with Turmeric Veggies and Garlic Sesame Naan) 

I changed this recipe a bit from what I cooked on the show. My original signature dish used yellow squash, and that’s what I used here. On the show, I couldn’t find/they didn’t have any yellow squash, so I ended up using bell peppers. 

I also used turbot here because my local Whole Foods was out of halibut. Feel free to use any firm, thick white fish like halibut, turbot, or cod. 

Poached Vegetables
4 cups water
1-inch knob of ginger
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
½ head Napa cabbage
3 yellow zucchini 

Skewers
2-inch knob of ginger
6 cloves of garlic
¼ cup white miso
2 ½ tablespoons mirin
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
1 lb firm white fish like halibut, turbot, or cod 

Naan
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic
Pinch of salt
Splash of sesame oil
Black sesame seeds
1 naan 

Preheat oven to 400°F. Peel and dice ginger. Slice Napa cabbage into ¼ inch strips. Slice zucchini into ¾” half moons. Add water, ginger, salt, turmeric and peppercorns to a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the Napa cabbage and zucchini and lower to a simmer for 3-5 minutes, until the cabbage has wilted and the zucchini is fork-tender, but still firm. 

Puree all the skewer ingredients (except for the fish :P)  in the blender. Cut fish into 1” cubes and mix with the miso marinade. 

Use pre-cut parchment paper squares, or cut them yourself. Lay out skewers diagonally on the paper. There should be at least one inch of room on each side of the skewer. If not, trim your skewer. 

Lay out one square. Spread a bed of cabbage along the diagonal of the square, where the skewer will be. Build the skewer, alternating zucchini and fish. When done, place the skewer on the parchment paper. Trim the corners of the parchment paper “wings”. This will reduce excess paper. Crimp the edges of the parchment paper by rolling and pinching, sealing the skewer.

Place on a sheet tray and bake/steam in the oven for 13 minutes. 

As the fish cooks, make the garlic sesame naan. Add olive oil and garlic to a small frying pan. Slowly bring to a simmer, until garlic is lightly golden. Add sesame oil. Brush oil on naan with a pastry brush. Toast in the oven or on a grill. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. 

Serve hot so your guests can open the pockets and enjoy the aromatic steam.