Food Makes Me Happy

Homemade Pork and Veggie Balls

2012-02-07T22:45:00.000-08:00

Once in a while I'm in the mood for making a batch of food that can be stored for a long time, preferably in the freezer,
For western items, mostly spaghetti sauce and flavored butter,
For Asian items, usually dumplings, sweet bean paste, and meatballs.

My pork and veggie balls can be stored in the freezer for a long time,
They're lightly seasoned in order to be utilized for all types of food later on,
However, despite the light seasoning, these meatballs are definitely packed with fresh vegetable aroma and crunchy bites.

But why spend all that effort making pork and veggie balls when I can easily pick up a big pack almost everywhere?
Safety and healthy eating of course, especially for ground meat products that intended to be stored for a long period. Who knows what weird part of meat or chemicals have been grinded together? I'm only sure about one thing, my meatballs are made with 100% freshest ingredients and no chemical traces can be found.

Ingredients (30 to 35 balls)?

3 lbs of ground pork
8 water chestnuts
3 celery roots
1 large carrot (or 3 skinny ones)
1 tablespoon of sea salt

How?

Cut off the very top and bottom of the carrot then peel it,
Cut half into tiny cubes and the other half into larger cubes,
Transfer the larger cubes into a food processor.

Cut off the tough part from the celery root,
Same as carrot, cut half into tiny cubes and the other half into larger cubes,
Transfer the larger cubs into a food processor.

Puree the big cubes along with 1 tablespoon of salt,
Remember to scoop down the side once a while to ensure all the veggie bits get blended,
When ready, set aside for later use.

Carefully peel the water chestnuts -

Water chestnut might be Asian's favorite ingredient when making food like meatballs, spring rolls, etc. Its texture adds crunchiness to the bite, creating a sense of freshness to the dish you make.

Finely chop them and mix with previously cubed carrot and celery.

Transfer the ground pork to a big container and pour in the puree,
Give it a few stir, add the veggie cubes and mix well.

Prepare a big pot of water and turn to high heat,
Form the mixture into medium balls, gently add to the hot water before boiling,
Don't overload the pot, you might have to cook them in two batches if necessary.

Remember to scoop out the dirty foamy bits during the cooking process,
Bring to a boil and turn down the heat a wee bit,
Cook for about 10 minutes, drain well and wait till the meatballs cool down completely.

I saved 15 for my parents, 12 for myself, and the remaining 4 into the oden soup,
So gonna devour them after the oden flavor soaked in!

These meatballs are perfect for Asian oriented dishes ranging from soup to stewed pot. You can re-boil, sear, or even fry them depending on the type of food you are making.
By the way, for parents trying to make their kids eat more veggies, this can be a good alternative full of carrot and celery nutrients!

Cindy's Rating: 8

Refreshing Treat - Lemon Madeleines

2012-02-01T01:48:00.000-08:00

Usually when I'm craving for luscious dessert, chocolate is my ultimate answer,
As for a refreshing one, I can't think of anything better (at this moment) than lemon!

This little round thing will definitely bring my regular madeleines up a notch!

Ingredients (for 10)?

3/4 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
2 eggs
5 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 teaspoon of baking powder
Few drops of vanilla extract
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon

How?

Brush the baking mold with some melted butter then dust with flour,
Turn the mold upside down and give it a few taps to remove excess flour -

Take a large bowl,
Add in the eggs, sugar, and room temperature melted butter,
Blend till smooth.

Change to lower speed and pour in baking powder and flour,
Remember to add the flour in 2 or 3 batches to prevent large lumps,
Pour in vanilla extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest,
Mix well and let it sit in room temperature for about 30 minutes to an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Evenly spoon the mixture to the mold, about 3/4 full for each shell shaped space,
You might feel 3/4 is not enough, trust me, these madeleines sure do get "fat" during the baking process,
Bake for about 9 to 10 minutes -

Once done, transfer the whole thing onto a rack to cool down before removing the madeleines from the mold.

Preferably serve with a cup of hot coffee or tea,
Hopefully this recipe will brighten up your day!

Cindy's Rating: 8

Shredded Swordfish with Sunny Side Up Egg over Steamed White Rice

2012-01-24T22:31:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese Lunar/Dragon Year!

Supposedly this year is good for people with Chinese zodiac signs of rooster, monkey, sheep, and pig. Are you one of them? If you can't find your sign on the list, don't be sad, at least we still got some good food here to brighten up the day!

Shredded swordfish with sunny side up egg, served over steamed white rice -

Ingredients (for 1)?

1 piece of swordfish steak
1 egg
2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
1 tablespoon of mirin
1 teaspoon of sake (or any Asian cooking wine)
1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger
Some steamed white rice
Some toasted sesame seeds
Some dried seaweed flakes
Some chili oil
Some olive oil

How?

Mix the grated ginger, light soy sauce, sake, and mirin together -

Pour over the fish and let it marinate for at least 6 hours in the fridge,
Remember to flip over the fish half way through so the marinade can get absorbed by both sides -

Prepare the rice,
As for the fish, remove from fridge for about 10 minutes,
Steam it for 10 to 12 minutes depending on the thickness,
Transfer the marinade to a small pot,
Turn on the heat and reduce till slightly sticky in texture.

Once the fish is done, remove from heat and let it sit for about 5 minutes,
Use a fork to shred the fish to make it flaky.

Drizzle just a little bit of olive oil in a pan and turn to high heat,
Once hot, add in one egg and cook till the egg white is not runny anymore but the yolk remains gooey in texture.

Let's assemble the plate.
Scoop some steamed white rice,
Sprinkle the fish flakes around the edges, pour the egg to the center,
Sprinkle some sesame seeds and dried seaweed flakes on the swordfish,
Drizzle some reduced sauce and chili oil all over -

Look at that egg, especially the yolk balances out the spiciness from the chili oil,
Just one bite -

Mmmmm,
Who cares about dragon, monkey, sheep, or whatever,
As long as we get healthy and delicious food every day, it's all good.

Cindy's Rating: 8

Spaghetii with Creamy Fava Bean Sauce and Rosemary Infused Grilled Shrimps

2012-01-16T00:45:00.000-08:00

"Indulgence"

That's right, I just wanna indulge myself with a very satisfying lunch today.

Spaghetti with creamy fava bean sauce and rosemary infused grilled shrimps -

Ingredients (2 to 3 portion)?

For the shrimps/marinade -
1 dozen shrimps
1 small sprig of rosemary
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper

For the fava bean sauce -
1 cup of fava beans
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
2 roasted garlic cloves
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper

Others -
2 to 3 portions of spaghetti
1 ripe tomato
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some Tabasco sauce - optional
1 small sprig of rosemary - garnish

How?

Peel and devein/butterfly the shrimps,
Take the needle shaped rosemary leaves and chop into tiny pieces,
Mix well with the shrimps,
Sprinkle some salt and pepper,
Also drizzle some olive oil just till the mixture can evenly coast the seafood,
Let it marinate in the fridge for at least few hours, I left it overnight -

Bring a big pot of water to a boil,
Add in a few pinches of salt to flavor the water,
Pour in the spaghetti and cook till al dente in texture,
Drain well and set aside for later use,
Remember to save some pasta water in case you need to dilute the creamy sauce later on.

To make the creamy fava bean sauce,
Bring a small pot of water to a boil, add about 1/2 teaspoon of salt,
Add in the fava beans and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or till softened,
Once done, drain well and transfer into a blender.

Peel 2 garlic cloves and roast them in the oven,
You can simply sear them with a pan instead to save some work,
Once done, transfer to the blender.

Add 1 cup of heavy whipping cream to the blender along with some salt and pepper to taste,
Blend till smooth, taste the mixture to see if more salt is needed,
It should be slightly on the salty side because the fava bean sauce will be our main seasoning for the spaghetti.

For the tomato, you can simply chop it into smaller cubes,
If a smoother bite is preferred,
Score the bottom and cook the whole tomato in boiling water for a little bit,
Quickly remove from water and transfer to a bowl full of icy cold water,
That way the skin can be removed easily -

Cut into smaller cubes,
Set aside for later use.

Use a grill pan to cook the shrimps,
About couple minutes on both sides, pan-sear the shrimps works also -

Drizzle some olive oil to a pan, turn to medium heat,
Pour in cooked pasta and the creamy fava bean sauce,
Mix well, it's up to you to add in seared shrimps or serve them separately,
If the mixture appears to dry, you can either add in some previously saved pasta water or more olive oil to dilute the sauce.

To assemble the plate,
Transfer the pasta onto the plate,
Place the shrimps around the spaghetti,
Scoop in some tomato cubes, this will freshen up the heavy creamy taste from the sauce,
Sprinkle some black pepper and drizzle some Tabasco sauce around the plate,
Finally, garnish with a fresh sprig of rosemary on top -

I think it's totally reasonable to treat myself a nice meal once a while,
Mmm...let me change my wording a bit, maybe few times a week muahahha!

Cindy's Rating: 8

Karasumi Fried Rice - 烏魚子炒飯

2012-01-10T03:21:00.000-08:00

Learn about "karasumi" here - click click!

High quality karasumi comes with hefty price tag,
The one I used above is only mediocre, you can tell by its color, especially after roasting. Very good ones will show vibrant orange color in the center after roasted till 50% doneness, and that's how you're supposed to enjoy it - not fully cooked through. The one above was too dry, which explains the dark and dull appearance.

So what to do with leftover karasumi? I've also got some leftover stir fry veggies with soy sauce in the fridge, maybe fried rice will do?

Ingredients (2 to 3 portion)?

1 1/2 cups of white rice
1/2 cup of multigrain rice
1 small pack of karasumi
1 cup of leftover veggie
2 garlic cloves
2 fresh chili pepper
2 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper
Some dried seaweed flakes
Some toasted black and white sesame seeds

How?

I used white rice and multigrain rice mixture for this recipe to add more nutritional value and a distinct nutty aroma, otherwise simply white rice is fine too.

Peel and finely chop the garlic,
Remove the chili stems and finely chop it,
As for the karasumi, cut into tiny pieces. Be careful, some tiny eggs might start flying everywhere, please proceed with caution.

Drizzle some olive oil in the pan, add in chopped garlic, chili pepper, salt, and pepper,
Easy on the salt since karasumi tends to be quite salty.
Turn to medium low heat and cook till the garlicky aroma comes out, about 1 minute,
The tip here is to use lower heat so you get to bring out the flavor without burning the garlic.

Add the karasumi bits, give it a quick stir,
Add in leftover vegetable, mine has some green veggies, corn, and sliced onion,
Bring up the heat a wee bit,
Mix well, let it cook for about 2 minutes.

Pour in cooked rice, make sure every grain is coated with all other ingredients,
Serve with some dried seaweed flakes and toasted black and white sesame seeds.

Since this wasn't top quality karasumi, I think it's a pretty good way to utilize the salty roe in fried rice. Better than putting it into waste yep?

Cindy's Rating: 7

Stir Fry Mushrooms with Mentaiko, Butter, and Japanese Mayo

2012-01-03T23:37:00.000-08:00

Ground pork, braised belly, stewed knuckle,
That's all I've been eating these past few days, a true enemy of the piggy race.

Overwhelmed by all the meat and fatty skin, oh, not mentioning the thick layer of oil in between the tissues, now I'm yelling for mushrooms!!

Stir fry mushrooms with mentaiko, butter, and Japanese mayo -

Ingredients?

Small bundle of cinnamon cap mushroom/tea tree mushroom
Small bundle of enoki mushroom
1 to 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 tablespoon of Japanese mayonnaise
1 small sac of mentaiko
Tiny bit of sea salt
Some dried seaweed flakes

How?

Remove the mentaiko roe from the thin tissue layer -

Remove the stems from the mushrooms,
Thoroughly rinse under water, pat dry, and set aside for later use.

Add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of mayo to the pan,
Use 2 tablespoons of butter for larger portion of mushrooms,
Turn to medium high heat,
Add in the mushrooms and sprinkle some salt to bring out the moisture,
Cook till the mushrooms softened, about 2 minutes,
You might want to lower the heat a bit to prevent continuous boiling.

Mix in the mentaiko, combined well and cook for another 30 seconds,
Remove from heat and transfer onto a plate,
Sprinkle some dried seaweed flakes all over.

You can bake it instead of stir fry,
Just mix the butter, mayo, salt, and mentako together with preferred mushrooms,
I think about 400 degress Fahrenheits for 15 minutes should do the trick.

After devouring this plate of mushrooms,
I think it's time to get back on more pork goodies!

Cindy's Rating: 7

Lighter Version Squid Ink Spaghetti

2011-12-29T03:13:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to use real ink to make squid ink spaghetti, especially since I moved back to Taiwan. Instead of going to grocery store, over here, the more convenient way to get fresh seafood is through the local fish market, where sellers get their fresh items the same morning.

There's a recipe from about a year ago using squid ink infused pasta. But this time, I've got the real goodies, two fresh off the sea ink sacks, let's be a little bit more adventurous using those dark and gooey stuff!

Ingredients (2 to 3 portion)?

1 large squid
2 sacks of squid ink
8 garlic cloves
6 fresh chili pepper
1/3 cup of basil
1/2 cup of dry white wine
4 tablespoons of olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper
Some spaghetti

How?

You can ask the squid seller to clean it for you, otherwise it might be a mess in the kitchen. If DIY style is preferred, thoroughly rinse the squid under running water and pull out the legs from the body. Remove all the internal parts and the semi solid section in the middle.

Be gentle, the ink sack will be found there, you can poke a small hole with a toothpick and carefully squeeze out the ink into a small plate for later use.

Cut the squid into bite size pieces,
I also score some just on the surface,
That way the squid will look like the one below, kind of cute, and it also adds some texture to the bite -

Peel and finely chop the garlic,
Remove the stems from the chilies and finely chop it,
Chop the basil into smaller pieces, you can also cut it into thin strips.

Bring a big pot of water to a boil, sprinkle some salt,
Toss in the spaghetti and cook till al dente in texture, should be about 9 to 11 minutes,
Once done, drain well and set aside.

Prepare a big pan, drizzle some olive oil,
Sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and equal amount of black pepper,
Toss in chopped garlic and chili pepper, turn to medium low heat,
It'll help to bring out the flavor from the garlic but not burning it, about 1 minutes.

Add in the squid, squid ink, basil, and just a little bit more salt,
Turn to medium high heat,
Give it a quick stir, about 30 seconds, pour in some dry white wine,
Bring to a boil then lower the heat to keep it simmer,
Pour in cooked pasta, mix well, wait till at least half of the sauce has been absorbed by the spaghetti,
Transfer onto a plate, garnish with fresh basil leaves.

Voila -

I was expecting a plate full of pitch dark pasta but it turned out on the lighter side,
Two full sacs of ink were used in this dish, not enough?

Oh well, as long as it tastes good, who cares?
Don't forget one other benefit, no gargling is needed for this meal,
However, just kind of disappointed that I can't scare my friends with black teeth after devouring the pasta!

Cindy's Rating: 7

My New Found Favorite Stinky Tofu - 阿灶伯當歸羊肉湯、臭豆腐

2011-12-20T18:39:00.000-08:00

Mmmmm...stinky tofu,
The name might frighten you a bit.
In fact, the taste might actually scare you away -

It might be one of the top five all time street food favorites in Taiwan,
Just like cheeses, while brie and mozzarella are welcomes by nearly all crowds; gorgonzola and stilton are considered as "acquired taste."
The same reasoning applies to tofu! Most people enjoy products such as soy milk and silken tofu, but definitely not the case for stinky "fermented" tofu.

Have you ever watch the show Bizarre Foods hosted by Andrew Zimmern?
Well if you do, you probably know the power of this little chunky thing,
The brave and adventurous TV host eats literally everything; I mean EVERYTHING - ranging from brains to live worms.

So far I believe only two things almost got him puke:
1. The king of fruits - durian
2. Taiwanese's favorite street food - stinky tofu

Please remain calm and stay on your seat,
As I warned you earlier, it's an acquired taste.
Maybe try the tofu with some Taiwanese style kimchi on the side, I bet it'll make you feel at least a little better~*

The picture shown in the beginning is my new found favorite stinky tofu,
For most stinky tofu, you get a semi-firm center while biting into the crunchy skin. However, this one has a semi-runny center, should I call it stinky tofu - lava cake style?
So good.

If you plan to visit Taiwan, please ask the locals see where can you find a good stinky tofu stand. That way you get to try true smellest tofu instead of mediocre kinds (that's a good thing or bad thing?)

One little bite won't hurt you,
Well, maybe later on if you have a weak stomach.
But that's all part of traveling fun yeah?

Here's the address for my lovely stinky tofu stand:

阿灶伯當歸羊肉湯、臭豆腐

宜蘭縣羅東鎮民權路羅東夜市第1094攤
Yilan City. LuoTong Town. Min-Chuen Road.
LuoTong Night Market Stand #1094.
(03) 954-7736

Mom's Meatballs and My Pasta + Grated Pecorino

2011-12-15T18:19:00.000-08:00

My mom shuffled 8 fist-sized meatballs in my fridge the other day,
"Those are very basic pork meatballs with little seasoning, you can cook them anyway you want," my mom said.

She only mixed some ground pork (on the fatty side) together with Chinese water chestnuts, salt, and black pepper. The chestnuts give the meatballs some bits of crunchy bites, they're often used in ground meat to add more texture to the dish.

Looking at those meaty goodies, I have to put them in good use.
How about...

Meatball pasta served with grated pecorino?

Ingredients (3 to 4 portion)?

Meatballs:
Some ground pork
Some Chinese water chestnuts
Some salt
Some black pepper
Some vegetable oil
Some olive oil
1 can of garlic and basil spaghetti sauce
1/2 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

Pasta:
1/2 onion
1 canned corn
1 carrot
1 yellow squash
12 button mushroom
1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
3-4 portions of spaghetti
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper
Some red pepper flakes
Some pecorino
Some flat leaf parsley (optional)

How?

Like I mentioned earlier, my mom mixed all the ingredients for the meat mixture, shape them into fist sized balls, and then into the fryer till the outer layer turns semi browned color.

Once that's done, drain well and let the meat cool down completely,
You can either store them in the fridge for up to one week, or store in the freezer for a longer period.

Chop all the vegetables into small cubes and slice the mushroom -

Bring a pot of water to a boil, toss is few pinches of salt,
Add in the spaghetti and cook till almost al dente in texture,
When ready, drain well and set aside.

Drizzle some olive oil in a deep pot,
Add in 6 to 8 meatballs, sear all sides till coated with darker color,
Pour in spaghetti sauce and 1/2 teaspoon of Italian seasoning,
Stir occasionally and cook till the sauce has been reduced by 1/3,
Turn off the heat and set aside.

Drizzle some olive oil in a big pan,
Add in chopped onion, sprinkle some salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes,
Give it a quick stir, cook till the onion turns translucent, about 3 minutes.

Add in chopped carrot, season with some more salt,
Let the vegetable sweat a little bit, the salt will help in drawing out the liquid inside,
Add the squash and mushroom,
Same steps, we need sto prinkle some salt for every later,
Once these two cook down a little bit, pour in the canned corn,
Some more salt please, also add 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning into the mixture.

Cook for few more minutes,
Now you'll see all these chopped vegetables soaking in their own juice,
Don't worry about it, let's add in drained spaghetti and just let it absorb all the juice from the vegetables.

Time for plating,
Take some pasta, top with 2 giant meatballs and their tomato sauce,
Add freshly grated pecorino all over,
You can also sprinkle some finely chopped flat leaf parsley or simple crushed black pepper will do.

Take a bite,
Feel that cheese oozes in your mouth, adding a salty zing to the dish,
Maybe I'll grate more cheese for my portion, just for me. ~~Greedy~~.

*The work between mother and daughter, plus a little help from pecorino*

Cindy's Rating: 7

Fried Hiratake Mushroom - 日式炸香菇

2011-12-06T02:00:00.000-08:00

Don't we all love fried mushroom?

Today I gonna show you my Japanese style fried mushroom, using 3 coating steps: flour, egg, and panko. Panko is Japanese style bread crumbs. It comes in larger and flakier bits compared to regular store bought western style bread crumbs.

Here's what you can do if you can't find any panko around neighboring grocery stores:
Take some one day or two days old bread,
The tip here is the dryer the bread the better the crumbs you'll get.
Tear the bread into smaller pieces and toss them into a food processor.
Just keep pulsing till desired size, store with tightly sealed Ziploc.

Ingredients?

20 hiratake mushroom
5 cups of vegetable oil
Some all purpose flour
1 to 2 eggs
Some panko
Some black pepper
Some salt
Some yuzu kosho (yuzu pepper)
Some dried seaweed flakes
Some other power seasonings if desired

How?

Thoroughly rinse the mushroom and dry well with paper towel -

Have three deep plates ready,
Put some flour in one plate, beat one egg in one plate, and panko in last plate,
Here we have our little assembly line.

Take the mushroom one at a time,
First, evenly coat it with the flour,
Give the mushroom a quick shake to get rid of the excess flour,
Dip into the egg wash,
Finally, evenly coat the mushroom with panko then set aside,
Repeat the steps till all the mushroom are ready to go.

Try to use one hand while coating the mushroom with flour and panko,
Use the other hand while dipping the egg wash,
That way you get one hand dealing with dry ingredients, the other with wet ingredient,
This will prevent some gooey lumps from sticking all over your fingers.

Pour 5 cups of vegetable oil into a deep medium sized pot,
Turn to high heat and wait till the oil just started to get bubbly,
Fry the mushroom in 2 to 3 batches, till the color turned slightly browned on the edges.

While frying the mushroom, line a big plate with paper towel,
Once the mushroom are done, remove from oil and transfer to that plate,
The paper towel will help absorbing the excess oil from the veggie.

The seasoning part is totally up to you,
Here are some suggestions:
Seaweed flakes,
Yuzu kosho,
Black pepper and salt mixture,
Dried Italian herbs,
Paprika,
Curry powder.

The list goes on, I bet you can even sprinkle some cheese powder and make it into an afternoon snack.

My favorite is seaweed flakes with either yuzu kosho or black pepper & salt mixture,
If you have other ideas, share with me please, so I can savor your creation with my imagination!

Cindy's Rating: 9

Spicy Asian Sausage Spaghetti with a Touch of Grated Pecorino

2011-12-01T13:32:00.000-08:00

**Secret revealed**

This is my all time favorite Asian sausage. The love is so intense, you can find at least 20 of them sitting in the freezer at all times just in case my craving kicks in any moment. The sausages came from a local market in Taiwan that specializes in all kinds of marinated, pickled, aged, and dried goods.

So far I haven't found any comparables that get half as tasty in the states. Sadly no meat products are allowed on the plane, otherwise I'm so gonna stuff one big luggage just full of sausages. By the way, did I tell you it's "super spicy" (麻辣) Asian sausage? Even better!

The sausages are good on its own after steaming, pan-searing, or both. Some people stir-fry it with other ingredients or cook with white rice. But this time, I gonna add a little twist, how about spaghetti with a touch of grated pecorino?

Ingredients (for 2)?

2 spicy Asian sausages
2 fresh chili pepper (yes I prefer it even more spicy)
3 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons of sausage oil
Some spaghetti
Some grated pecorino
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper

How?

It's actually a quite simple dish. If you can't find "super spicy" Asian sausage, any other type of spicy pork sausages will do.

Steam the sausages till fully cooked through. Once done, remove from heat and let them cool a little bit before cutting into thin slices. Remember to save the ~~grease~~ oil that came out from the sausages during the process.

Bring a bit pot of water to a boil, add a few pinches of salt to flavor the water. Add in the pasta and cook till al dente. Once ready, drain well and set aside.

Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves. Remove the stems from the chilies and finely chop them.

Heat up a big pan, drizzle some olive oil till just evenly coated the surface,
Toss in chopped garlic and chilies, sprinkle some salt and pepper,
Cook till the aroma comes out, add in the sausage slices and 1/2 of the sausage oil right before the garlic almost gonna get burned.

Cook for about a minute,
Pour in the pasta, mix well and toss in the remaining sausage oil,
Cook till the juice has been absorbed a wee bit by the spaghetti,
Transfer onto a plate,
Sprinkle some more black pepper and serve with freshly grated pecorino.

So spicy, so mouth watering,
The cheese actually balances out the spiciness, but after all it's still a super hot dish. I bet it'll be a perfect meal on a cold winter day.

Be careful, those of you who can't take the heat well, tissues are required in case of excessive sweating.

Cindy's Rating: 9

Marinated Pork Slices Donburi - Hearty and Comforting

2011-11-29T00:40:00.000-08:00

Post Thanksgiving shout out:
Are you tired of bird related dishes?
No more turkeys?

I'll never get tired of eating turkey. If the dish is good enough, I can munch on the same thing for up to one week, one whole week! Sadly though, I couldn't find any place that sell turkey before the holiday.

So what are we having tonight since no birds are involved?
How about marinated pork slices donburi?

Ingredients (2 to 3 portion)?

Marinade:
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of mirin
2 teaspoons of Sriracha sauce or other types of chili sauce
Few drops of sesame oil

Other:
20 pork slices
1/2 onion
3 garlic cloves
3 fresh chili pepper
3 eggs
1 to 2 tablespoons of Japanese Tsuyu (soup base)
1 tablespoon of black bean soy sauce
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper
Some steamed white rice
Some toasted sesame seeds
Some dried seaweed flakes

How?

Combine all the marinade ingredients and mix well with pork slices,
Let it sit in room temperature for about 15 minutes -

Beat the eggs and set aside.

Peel the garlic and remove the stems from the fresh chilies,
Finely chop them together -

Remove the outer brown layer from the onion and cut into thin slices,
Toss to the pan, drizzle some olive oil and turn to medium high heat,
Sprinkle some salt and pepper, cook till the onion turns translucent or even slighted browned on the edges.

Add in chopped garlic and chili pepper, cook till the aroma comes out but not burning the garlic.

Add in pork slices and give it a quick stir,
Cook till almost cooked through, pour in one tablespoon of tsuyu first along with one tablespoon of black bean soy sauce,
Mix well, taste the mixture see if one more tablespoon of tsuyu is needed,
It should be on the salty side since we gonna pour in beaten eggs and serve with rice later on.

Turn to high heat, almost to a boil,
Evenly pour in beaten eggs and turn off the heat immediately,
Gently stir up the mixture just a few times so that all the ingredients are coated with silky eggs.

Pour the sauce over steam white rice,
Sprinkle some sesame seeds and seaweed flakes before serving.

Such a hearty and comforting dish,
I'm very happy even without a turkey this year,
On a side note, this recipe was supposed for two people...but...but I ate them all in one hour...

*I have committed a sin*

Cindy's Rating: 8

Semi Instant Indonesian Rendang Beef Curry

2011-11-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

Happy early turkey day!!

I was already late for the past Halloween holiday, therefore it's better to spread out my greetings as soon as possible.

This was supposed to be some kind of turkey related post, but sadly it's pretty tough to find a whole turkey here in Taiwan. Most Taiwanese prefer dark meat. As a result, even chicken breast is too dry for us, don't even thingk about extra lean turkey.

The only popular turkey dish, as least that's the only kind I found so far, is the shredded turkey over rice. In fact, it's so loved by Taiwanese, the rice has become one of the must-haves when visiting southern Taiwan. I promise, if I ever see turkey meat at my local grocery stores, my next post will be Taiwanese style shredded turkey rice.

Guess no big birds for me.
Instead, this year's Thanksgiving, I'm having Rendang beef curry -

Ingredients (2 to 3 portion)?

1 packet of Indonesian rendang curry paste
1 lb of beef cubes
1 to 2 sticks of carrot
1 can of coconut milk
1 tablespoon of red curry paste
Some olive oil

How?

I wish one day I'll learn how to make curry from the scratch, meaning selecting the herbs and spices, grinding/pounding, and transforming them into curry paste just like the one from the instant packet, or even better.

But before I master that skill, let's just try to stick with the instruction in the back -

I actually pre-cooked the beef cubes and carrot before making the curry because those ingredients take longer time to get that fork tender texture. If chicken is used, skip this step.

Bring a small pot of water to a boil, toss in beef cubes,
Bring to a boil and cook for couple minutes till all the dirty bits come out,
Drain well and rinse the meat under running water.

Bring a pot of water to a boil again,
This time, we'll slowly cook the meat till almost tender and soft,
Add the beef cubes into the water,
Bring to a boil and just let it simmer for about 1 1/2 hours,
If carrot is used, you can also add peeled and diced carrot towards the end,
Once done, drain well and set aside.

Drizzle some olive oil to a big pan, turn to medium high heat,
Add in the curry paste and cook for about 30 seconds,
Be careful, the sauce might start flying everywhere,
I suggest using a deep pot or carrying a lid as your shield during this process.

Add in the beef cubes and carrot, cook for couple minutes,
Pour in coconut milk,
Bring to a boil and turn down the heat a bit,
Just let it simmer for another 30 minutes.

I also added additional 1 tablespoon of red curry paste for a heavier taste,
That's just for me, you can totally omit this step.

Curry is ready once the meat reaches your desired tenderness,
Recommend to serve with steam white rice.

While I'm enjoying my curry here, HAVE FUN eating all your turkey with gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, turkey soup, homemade bread, tons of cakes and cookies!!
( > ____.<)**

**jealousy kicks in**

Cindy's Rating: 6

Krung Siam - Las Vegas Chinatown

2011-11-15T01:20:00.000-08:00

I can't even remember when was the last time I posted about restaurant reviews,
So why all the sudden...
Well, kind of embarrassed to tell, but I'm running out of homemade dishes and pictures to post!!
(Whatttttttt**)

First of all, I have to blame it to the weather.
It's been raining here 24/7. Unwilling to go out to replenish my fridge, I've been eating the same thing day after day, which leads to no new recipes to share.

But I did make something new,
Even thought it was just a simple grape juice, but man...it was one hella yummy juice,
So what happened?
The whole bottle was gulped down by a greedy girl ~~me??~~ in 5 minutes...
It was already hours after when I realized I forgot to take a picture...
You guys don't wanna see a blog update without pictures right?

All I have left are the pictures taken during my last Vegas trip,
Bear with me, I promise next time something yummy will be up here winking at you!

Krung Siam -

Located just outside of Las Vegas strip,
Krung Siam is a sizeable Thai restaurant completes with a bar and live band performance during the weekends.

For people planning to visit Vegas on a budget, it'll be a brilliant idea to dine somewhere outside the strip once a while. Otherwise be prepared to wait in a long line just for a bowl of $$$ noodles.

Chinatown can be a good place for your culinary adventure. Just 5 minutes driving distance from Vegas, you'll find tons of cuisines including Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, etc in the neighborhood - all for a decent price.

Thai Pond -

"Flavorful clear chicken broth soup with mushrooms, carrots, napa cabbage, onions, garnished with cilantro."

Roast Duck Curry -

"Roast duck simmered in red curry paste in coconut milk with pineapples, sweet peas & carrot, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers & sweet basil leaves."

Green Curry -

"Simmered in green curry paste in coconut milk with bamboo shoots, bell peppers, sweet basil, sweet peas & carrot."

For most dishes, you get to choose the meat (chicken, beef, shrimps, etc) being cooked,
On top of that, you get to select to serve with either brown rice or white rice,
Interestingly, usually only more Americanized Asian restaurants will give you the option of brown rice, and that's what attracted me to dine there, just for the brown rice.

So you figured?
Krung Siam is that Americanized Thai restaurant,
Compared to authentic Thai food, I think Krung Siam's dishes come with lighter flavors, meaning less kick from the spices.
The price is slightly higher too, about $10 per dish, but still way cheaper than Vegas food.

I guess it'll be a better idea to eat here when the restaurant is hosting a live band performance, then it'll totally worth the price!

Cindy's Rating: 5

Krung Siam
3755 Spring Mountain Road
#102
Las Vegas, NV 89102
(702) 735 - 9485
http://www.krungsiamvegas.com/

Japanese Style Dan Dan Noodles - 日式芝麻担担麵

2011-11-08T00:24:00.000-08:00

I got this bottle of sesame sauce from a Japanese grocery store the other day -

Unlike traditional Chinese sesame sauce, the Japanese version yields a more liquid texture with lighter taste. I think it'll be a perfect condiment as soup base or dipping sauce. Read on to see how I transformed this sauce into a comforting lunch!

Japanese Style Dan Dan Noodles - 日式芝麻担担麵

Ingredients (for two)?

Soup:
3 cups of pork bone or chicken stock
1/2 cup of Japanese sesame sauce
1 tablespoon of homemade chili sauce (my dad made it!)

Meat:
1 lb of ground pork
5 garlic cloves
3 fresh red chilies
1 stalk of scallion
1 1/2 tablespoon of Hatcho miso 八丁味噌 (or any other type of red miso)
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
Some olive oil
Some salt
Some freshly ground black pepper

Other:
2 portions of ramen noodles
1 small cucumber
Some toasted black and white sesame seeds
Some Sichuan peppercorn chili oil

How?

Let's start with ground pork.

Peel and finely chop the garlic, finely chop the chili pepper and scallion,
Drizzle enough olive oil to evenly coat the pan, turn to medium high heat, toss in chopped garlic, chilies, and scallion,
Sprinkle some salt and pepper, give it a quick stir, cook till the aroma comes out but not burning the garlic.

Add in ground pork along with soy cause and Hatcho miso,
Mix well, cook till all the juice has been reduced, remove from heat for later use.

If you don't feel like dan dan noodles, this stir fry ground pork still serves as a perfect side dish for dry noodles or rice. Maybe even better if you add a sunny side up egg on top!

To make the soup, simply whisk all the ingredients in a medium pot while heating it up,
You can adjust the portion for chili sauce depend on how much heat can you tolerate (evil grin)*

As for the cucumber, just julienne it and store in the fridge while waiting for other parts to be ready,
It'll be a nice hot and cold contrast when serving the dish.

Prepare a pot of water to cook the ramen noodles,
In the meantime, scoop in some soup into a big bowl (or two),
Once the noodles are done, drain well and transfer to the bowl,
Then we top it with generous portion of stir fry ground pork,
Lastly, some very cold julienned cucumber, sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds, and drizzle some Sichuan peppercorn oil all around to add more kick to the dish -

Don't be picky about my fat cucumber strips!
I'm very bad at julienning vegetables, especially carrot,
Fat cucumber strips or bloody finger, pick one!

Cindy's Rating: 8

Halloween Fingers from Fat Monsters

2011-10-31T22:52:00.000-07:00

Am I too late for Halloween?

I finally managed to chop down some fat monsters' fingers just couple days before Halloween. Overwhelmed with endless chores, maybe this post was a little bit too late for such a greenish festival. But even though Halloween might just pass few hours ago, our spooky spirits remain right!?

Ingredients (for about 15 fat fingers or 20 skinnier fingers)?

1 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
3 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 tablespoon of almond butter
1 egg
15 or more almond halves
Few drops of vanilla extract
Small pinch of sea salt
Some Japanese matcha powder

How?

Beat the egg and vanilla extract in a small bowl.

In another container, mix together room temperature butter, almond butter, sugar, and salt. Once fully combined, add in the egg mixture and blend till smooth in texture.

Gradually add in the flour while mixing in slow speed,
Mix till no white flour bits present, divide the dough in half.

Wrap 1/2 of the dough with foil,
As for the other half, keep blending while adding matcha powder a tiny bit at a time till it reaches desired yucky green color,
When the dough is ready, wrap with foil.

Transfer the dough to the fridge to chill for about 15 to 20 minutes,
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line the parchment paper on a baking sheet.

I also halved the almonds while waiting for the dough and the oven,
This is my dummy way to halve the almonds -

Push the almond in between the fork to position it tightly,
Aim the center with a sharp knife and carefully cut the almond in half.

Take the dough out and start our art lesson,
Just like playing with clay when you're a little kid, simply grad some dough and roll out some fingers! I tried to make some big deformed Frankenstein-like knuckles but yeah..not very successful..

Score the dough with fork that resembles the wrinkles on our fingers,
Gently push down each almond halves on finger tips to make ugly nails.

It was my first time making Halloween fingers so I got a little bit too greedy, turned out I got fat fingers.

If you want regular size fingers, remember to make skinny logs while forming the dough.

Into the oven for about 10 to 12 minutes,
If you prefer a softer bite, 10 minutes should be enough.

Despite their creepy looks, the almond and matcha flavor actually taste pretty good. In fact, I'm glad I got fat fingers because it means more bites in one cookie!

Cindy's Rating: 7

Simple Pecorino Pasta

2011-10-27T02:14:00.000-07:00

Pecorino is a type of cheese with a taste similar to Parmesan,
The main difference is that pecorino comes from ewe's (sheep) milk and Parmesan comes from cow's milk. Personally speaking, I think pecorino has a slightly stronger and more so saltier taste compared to Parmesan.

Here's a very simple paste dish made with pecorino cheese. In fact, there's a traditional Italian recipe called "cacio e pepe" with pecorino, black pepper, and butter as main ingredients. But today we gonna skip all that steps and just focus on the creamy stuff. Let's save cacio e pepe for the next round!

Simple pecorino pasta -

Ingredients (for two)?

1 1/2 to 2 cups of grated pecorino
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
1 small bundle of flat leaf parsley
Some sea salt
Some pasta water

How?

First and also the hardest part, grate the cheese, which requires strenuous muscle work -

Bring a big pot of water to a boil,
Add in some salt to the water, and cook the spaghetti according to package instruction, or till al dente.
Once ready, remove from water and set aside,
Remember to save the pasta water in case you need to dilute the sauce later.

Pour the whipping cream to a big pan, sprinkle just a little bit of salt since the cheese will provide most of the savory flavor later on.
Turn to medium high heat to warm up the whipping cream, for about couple minutes.

Add the already cooked pasta into the pot,
Pour in 4/5 of the grated cheese,
Mix well till all the cheese oozes in the spaghetti,
If the whole mixture appears too dry, scoop in pasta water a little bit at a time and stir well,
Sprinkle the remaining cheese and fresh parsley before serving to brighten up the flavor.

Quite simple right?
Try to finish this in one meal, otherwise reheat it with a pan instead of microwave,
You might have to add a little bit more hot water or milk when heating up the pasta.

Cindy's Rating: 8 (simple dish rules!)

Spicy Garlic Chives and Ground Pork Stir Fry - 辣炒韮菜豬絞肉

2011-10-20T03:22:00.000-07:00

Saw these beautiful garlic chives during one of my recent visit to the local market -

Garlic chives is a common vegetable in Asia,
Usually you'll find it as one of the stuffing ingredients used in all kind of dumplings and buns,
Another popular way to cook garlic chives is by stir frying them with heavy seasonings, and that's how I like it.

Spicy Garlic Chives and Ground Pork Stir Fry -

Ingredients?

1 bundle of garlic chives
4 garlic cloves
2 red chili peppers
1 pound of ground pork
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of black bean soy sauce
2 teaspoons of Sichuan spicy peppercorn sauce (or other types of chili sauce)
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper

How?

Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves,
Remove the stems from the chilies and finely chop them,
Remove the very bottom part of the garlic chives and the flower top if necessary, sometimes they might get a wee bit chewy.

Have a big pan ready,
Drizzle some olive oil untill evenly coat the bottom of the pan, turn to high heat,
Toss in chopped chilies, garlic, some salt and pepper; cook till the aroma comes out.

Right before the garlic is about to burn, add the ground pork,
Give it a quick stir, about 2 minutes, then add in all the remaining seasonings,
Mix well and cook till the liquid has been reduced by half,
Toss is chopped garlic chives,
Mix well again and cook till all the juice has been fully absorbed by the ingredients, about few more minutes,
You can taste the mixture to see if more soy sauce or chili oil is needed.

Sprinkle some more freshly ground black pepper and garnish with one garlic chive flower before serving.

*Perfect with rice or as noodle base.

Cindy's Rating: 8

Beef Stew Vietnamese Style

2011-10-12T22:54:00.000-07:00

One night at a regular potluck gathering, my friend had a pot of fork tender beef stew sitting on the table. In my memory, that very first bite basically knocked me out with a big punch of exotic flavors. It was so good!

My friend was very kind to share his secret - Vietnamese beef stew seasoning from local Asian grocery store. Soon enough, I got a few packs of my own -

I think it doesn't have to be the exact same brand. All other generic Vietnamese beef stew mix should work almost the same.

Ingredients (for a big pot)?

1/2 to 2/3 pack of Vietnamese stew beef spices
1.5 lbs of beef brisket
2 carrots
1/2 large onion
8 garlic cloves
4 tablespoons of ketchup'
2 teaspoons of granulated sugar
Some unsalted chicken stock or beef stock
Some corn starch
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper

How?

Since it was my first time using the seasoning pack, I carefully followed the instruction behind the package with a little twist of mine. Let's see how my first Vietnamese style beef stew was made.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and toss in cubed brisket,
Cook till the dirty brown bits start to float to the surface, turn off the heat, drain well, and set the beef aside.

Grab another big pot or skillet, toss in peeled garlic cloves and chopped onion,
Sprinkle some salt and pepper,
Cook till the garlic turns slightly brown but not burned,
Add in ketchup and seasoning mix, stir well and cook till the aroma comes out.

A well shielded deep pot is highly recommended since some burning bits might start flying out once you pour in the ketchup. Trust me, there is still a small burned red spot under my right eye and it's been almost 3 weeks!!
Maybe next time I should cook Captain America style with spatula on one hand and shield on the other.

After dodging the flying seasoning bits, carefully mix in beef cubes and cook for about 2 minutes. Add in peeled and cubed carrots, combine well and cook for another 5 minutes or so.

Gradually pour in luck warm chicken or beef stock till all the ingredients are submerge under the liquid,
Bring to a boil and turn to medium low heat tokeep it simmering,
Season with some granulated sugar.
Instruction calls for some msg, but I don't use msg in my cooking so didn't even bother,

At first I couldn't wait and tasted it after simmering for one hour only,
Man...the meat was tough as a rubber band.
Luckily, after 3 more hours of cooking, the beef cubes have transformed into another fork tender goodies. You'll know its ready when all the liquid has been reduced by at least half.

Once ready to serve, mix some corn starch with water.
Gently pour in the mixture while stirring the beef stew at the same time,
This will yield a thick and gooey gravy, otherwise you can try to start with even more stock in the beginning and prepare it beef soup style!

You can serve it over rice, noodles, or even pasta,
I believe almost any kind of stew dish tastes even better overnight.
Here's how I enjoy it the next day:

Cook some Asian noodles -

Drain well and mix in with the beef stew plus one teaspoon of Sichuan chili paste -

Next time I'll try eating it with rice and a sunny side up egg, make it an even heartier dish!

Cindy's Rating: 7

Who Would Have Expected Great Tacos Near Zion National Park!?

2011-10-05T22:43:00.000-07:00

I'm usually the food planner - meaning finding a place to eat - when it comes to traveling. Maybe partly due to my knowledge of food; partly due to my restaurant searching capability, but I bet a big chunk of the reasoning is because how picky I am when it comes to food. Hey! You don't wanna ruin your traveling experience by walking into a crappy restaurant right?

After serious of cross referencing and diner review validation, we've decided to eat at small Mexican joint called Whiptail Grill after one whole day of exploring Utah's Zion National Park -

It's not exactly hole in the wall place, but definitely not a pretty restaurant around the neighborhood. On top of that, the service can be quite slow sometime since there might only be two servers running around the place. But it's ok, we're here to relax and to take in that beautiful sunset shining on the rocks while gulping down a cold beer in our hand -

Let's see what's on the menu tonight -

Calamari friti $11.99 -

"Strips of calamari steaks flash fried, served with a roasted plum tomato and herbed sauce, and basil pesto aioli."

Yum!
It's a little bit different than the regular fried calamari. There were bits of Italian seasoning mixed in the coating, which makes the fried calamari very aromatic. Together with garlicky basil pesto aioli sauce, that's divine.

Chipotle chicken enchiladas $15.99 -

"Spicy chipotle marinated chicken, onions, green chilies, smothered in roasted tomatillo green salsa, topped with cheese and salsa fresca."

Enchilada is my Mexican comfort food. It's good, but not as good as the tacos I'm gonna tell you about.

Grilled prawn tacos $15.99 -

"Seasoned and char grilled prawns atop cabbage and spicy salsa fresca."

Sooooooo good!
Let me tell you, I'm not the biggest fan of tacos and burritos, so when being asked to try one bite, my expectation was not very high up there. But man...that one bite might change my view of tacos forever. All the bright flavors were like a big punch in my mouth. Who would have thought there's a great Mexican joint next to a national park?

My recommendation is if you're not in a hurry to get yourself filled with food, please come to Whiptail Grill for dinner. Just sit there, relax, and enjoy the sunset while the Mexican chef preparing your dish in a tiny kitchen behind the counter. It's totally worth it.

*Taco is a must
*Go before sunset
*Get a table outside to enjoy the view and the beauty of this little town

Whiptail Grill
445 Zion Park Blvd
Springdale, UT 84779
(435) 772-0283

Cindy's Rating: 8

Healthy Version of Homemade Hawaiian Pizza

2011-09-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

One of the best benefits about homemade food is that we get to enjoy our guilty pleasure with a healthier twist.

My version of Hawaiian pizza is made with organic cheese, organic flour, etc. On top of that, I used roasted and smoked turkey breast instead of ham, and the result is not any less tasty than store bought version (at least better than boxes from the frozen aisle!).

Ingredients for one pizza?

Dough:
1 envelope of instant pizza crust yeast
1 2/3 cup of organic all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of organic granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon of sea salt
2/3 cup very warm filtered water
3 tablespoons of olive oil

Toppings:
3 oz of sliced honey roasted and smoked turkey breast
8 oz/1 small can of cubed pineapple
1 1/2 cup of organic shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup of organic shredded parmesan
1/4~1/3 jar of spaghetti sauce
Some olive oil

How?

There's actually one "less successful" pizza before this recipe. Thanks to my friends who unknowingly became experimental white mouse and finished that very first pizza.

I used instant pizza crust yeast for the pizza dough. In fact, I never knew such thing exists till the other day at the grocery store. After reading the description, there's no hours of proofing the dough required, what a time saver!
If you can't find instant yeast, just use the regular kind and prepare the dough as instructed -

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheight.
Once done kneading or maybe proofing the dough, roll it out and transfer onto a baking sheet. Drizzle some olive oil and let's start layering the toppings. Below are the ingredients I used starting from the bottom:

Spaghetti sauce
Half of the shredded mozzarella
Turkey breast slices
Pineapple
Parmesan
The other half of the shredded mozzarella

Remember to leave about one inch space around the outside edge of the dough. Into the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or till the top of the cheese turn slightly golden brown.

Serve with Tabasco or red pepper flakes.

The cheese helps binding all the ingredients together and Everything just turned into a mouthful of oozing goodness.

Maybe dessert pizza next time?

Garlicky and Lemony Shrimp Linguine

2011-09-21T23:39:00.000-07:00

When we talk about spaghetti sauce, the immediate responses are usually tomatoey marinara and creamy alfredo. For more advanced eaters, the answers are broadened a wee bit into nutty pesto and spicy arrabiata. I found that most of the commonly known sauce are the very hearty ones and sometimes that can translate into a plate of heavy tasting meal.

With a big ambition in mind, I wanna tell these people that there are numerous light and flavorful pasta dishes out there that have long been underestimated by the public. A delicious Italian meal doesn't have to be overload with cheese nor packed with meat balls and sausages every bite. This is how I do it -

Ingredients (for 2 to 3 portion)?

30 shrimps (peeled and deveined)
1 zucchini
1 ripe tomato
1 lemon
4 to 5 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil
1/3 cup of dry white wine
Some red pepper flakes
Some linguine
Water

How?

Let's start with some prep work first,
Peel and mince the garlic,
Peel the zucchini and cut into small cubes,
Also dice the tomato into small cubes, save the juice for the pasta sauce,
Peel and devein the shrimps -

Bring a big pot of water into a boil then add a few pinches of sea salt to flavor the water,
Cook the linguine till almost al dente in texture, drain well and set aside,
We'll finish cooking it once mix together with the sauce.

Drizzle some olive oil in a big pan, turn to medium high heat,
Toss in chopped garlic, some red pepper flakes if desired, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper,
Cook for a short moment, before the garlic gets burned, add in the shrimps and Italian seasoning.

Give it a quick stir and sear the shrimps for about one minute, pour in some dry white wine.
Add the zucchini and tomato, season with more salt and pepper.

Usually I would cook the shrimps after the vegetables to prevent tough chewy texture from happening, but I find the shrimps to be more aromatic if I cook them first. On top of that, if the shrimps are very fresh, the texture usually remains even after simmering in heat for a while.

Bring the whole mixture to a boil then simmer for couple minutes,
Add the spaghetti along with the juice of 1 lemon,
Remember to zest the lemon first and save it for later use.

Cook the whole mixture in medium heat till the pasta reaches desired doneness,
Taste it and see if more salt is needed,
Transfer onto a plate, sprinkle some black pepper and lemon zest before serving -

Buon appetito!

Cindy's Rating: 8

What to Do with Kale? How about Asian Stiry-Fry Style?

2011-09-14T00:16:00.000-07:00

Most Asians, at least the ones like me who didn't come to CA till after middle school, are not very familiar with kale.

I remember the very first time,
Its big, luscious leaf lured me to bring a big bundle home,
Man oh man, looks can be deceiving,
Unlike its bright green color and beautiful curls on the edges, this green veggie was so tough and chewy to munch on, definitely not my favorite type of vegetable.

But that pretty color kept fooling me into bringing the vegetable home over and over again,
Finally, after several trials and errors,
I found my top two ways to prepare kale:
Frying or baking kale into vegetable ships or simple Asian stir-fry.

Ingredients?

1 bundle of kale
4 slices of smoked bacon
6 cremini mushroom
3 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
Some soy sauce
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper

How?

Chop the bacon into bite sizes and toss to the pan,
Turn to high heat and drizzle some olive oil till evenly coating the bottom of the pan,
Cook for about 2 minutes or till the bacon grease happily join the olive oil inside the pan.

Add in chopped garlic along with some salt and pepper,
Don't finely chop the cloves because it'll get burned easily on a stove,
Just a few rough chops go a long way.

Cook the garlic till the color on the edges turned slightly brown but not burned,
Toss in kale that has already been chopped into large bite sizes,
Add about 1 tablespoon of soy sauce,
Cook for a few minutes, or till the leaves finally wilted down a bit,
Once done, transfer the greens onto the center of a big plate, leave the grease in the pan.

From the same pan, add 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter and toss in chopped mushroom,
About one minute,
Add about 1 to 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and cook till the liquid has been fully absorbed by the mushroom,
Once done, pour the mushrooms onto the plate, circle the already stirred-fry kale -

Unlike simply boiling then shocking the vegetable,
My stir-fry way actually cooked the tough leaves longer, which helped in softening the texture a bit.

Using "smoked" bacon is also a key because the sweetness from the meat addes more flavor to kale,
If you tried kale before and doesn't like it, how about giving this vegetable one more chance by stir-frying it?

Cindy's Rating: 7

Very Tomatoey Pan Fried Chicken Steak

2011-09-04T22:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Hope all of you guys are having a fantastic break at the moment,
Hanging out with family and friends, catching up some good TV shows, or sleeping through the days,
As for me, I gonna head over to Vegas and Zion National Park on Monday,
Yes, for money's sake, the vacation time has been moved a few days later,
Can you believe it!?
The plane ticket from CA to Las Vegas is only $29 one way, totally worth it to postpone my days off a wee bit later.

Before leaving for the trip, let me share my latest kitchen experiment so maybe you can give it a try over the break -

Ingredients (2 to 3 portion)?

Simplified salsa -
1 large ripe tomato
2 tablespoon of finely chopped onion
1 1/2 tablespoon of finely chopped cilantro
1/2 lemon juice
1 teaspoon of sea salt

Tomato sauce (bed) -
1 large ripe tomato
2 tablespoon of chopped onion
1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of dried Italian seasoning

Breading -
Some all purpose flour
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg
2 teaspoons of water
3/4 cup of panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 teaspoon of dried Italian seasoning

Avocado layer -
1 ripe avocado
Some lemon juice

During cooking -
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

Main ingredient -
6 chicken thighs (skinned and deboned)

How?

Salsa part is easy,
Just chop all the ingredients and mix them together -

To make the tomato sauce,
Drizzle some olive oil inside a small/medium pot,
Turn to high heat, toss in chopped onion, sprinkle some salt and pepper,
Cook till the onion turns translucent, add in chopped tomatoes and dried Italian seasoning,
Mix well and cook for about 2 minutes,
Transfer the mixture into a blender and puree it,
Once done, set aside for later use -

At first, I thought the color should be red, but it turned out to be bright orange,
What a surprise, wonder how that happened?

Now let's make an assembly line here for our chicken thighs,
Use 3 bowls or plates,
One with some flour, sea salt, black pepper,
One with the egg and water mixture,
Last one with panko and died Italian seasoning.

Coat the chicken thigh with the flour, shake it a bit to get rid of excess flour,
Drench in egg wash then lastly coat the meat with panko mixture,
Repeat the steps for all the remaining thighs -

For avocado,
Remove the tough outer layer and center pit,
Halve the fruit, slice then fan it out,
Brush with lemon juice to avoid discoloration.

Now we have all the ingredients ready, the final steps should be easy,
Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter inside a big pan,
Turn to high heat, once the oil mixture gets really hot, carefully transfer the chicken thighs into the pan,
Sear about 5 minutes on each side then turn to medium low heat and cover with lid,
Let the meat finish cooking with lower temperature for 5 more minutes.

Meanwhile, line a paper tower on a plate,
Once the chicken is done, transfer onto the plate and let it sit for about 2 minutes,
The paper towel will help in sucking up some oil from the coating.

To service the dish,
Shake the tomato sauce first then pour it onto a plate to form a circle,
Layer with avocado slices,
Slice the pan fried chicken and add onto the avocado,
Scoop in a generous portion of fresh salsa, lastly, garnish with cilantro -

Very refreshing taste,
Even though it's pan fried chicken, with some butter too,
The tanginess from the tomato actually balances out the oily coating,
Maybe it can be a good meal after a whole weekend of binge eating during the holidays?

Cindy's Rating: 8

Transformation of Asian Leftover Ingredients - into Fusion Spaghetti

2011-08-31T23:00:00.000-07:00

My god...I just realized there's been a major misspelling error on my blog for almost 3 years!!
I know, I know....
There should be way more typos throughout Food Makes Me Happy,
But this one was big..more so embarassing..
If I didn't make this spaghetti, the unforgiving error might last even longer..
( > _.< )"

Fusion or Fushion?
Am I the only that get confused over these two words?

Yes, me..myself.., the so called food blogger,
The misspelled word "fushion" has been sitting on my blog as one of the labels since 2008!!!

Man....even though the correct word "fusion" does pronounce similar to "fushion," (yes? agree? or it's just all in my head?)
A mistake is still a mistake...

-banging my brain against the wall-

~~FUSHION~~ FUSION spaghetti made with leftover ingredients -

Ingredients (for 4 to 5 portion)?

1 lb of ground beef
1 cup of oyster mushroom
1 package of spaghetti
1/2 onion
2 stalks of scallion
1 small box/50 grams of alfalfa sprouts
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon of Chinese spicy bean paste
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
1 teaspoon of Sriracha sauce
1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
Some sea salt
Some hot water
Some grated Parmesan cheese

How?

Alfalfa sprout is one of the vegetables that rarely shows up in my grocery bag,
But the girl at the supermarket mistakenly shuffled my friend's alfalfa sprouts into my bag,
Since there's no way I can return this grassy flavored veggie back to her before it got rotten, maybe the alfalfa sprouts can be a good addition with to my heavy tasting "fusion" spaghetti (I just can't get over the misspelling don't I?) -

Thoroughly rinse the sprouts and give it a few chops,
This will prevent the veggie from tangling up with other ingredients later on.

To prep all the other ingredients,
Bring a big pot of water to a boil,
Add a few pinches of sea salt into the water and toss in one pack of spaghetti,
Cook according to package instruction, but minus couple minutes,
We gonna finish cooking by stir frying the pasta later on,
Once done, drain well and set aside.

Peel the onion and chop into small pieces,
Remove the stems from the scallion and chop into small pieces,
Remove the tougher stems from the mushroom and give it a few chops too.

Have a big pan ready and turn to medium high heat,
Add equal amount of butter and olive oil along with onion, one tea spoon of sea salt, and one tea spoon of freshly ground black pepper,
Cook till the onion turns translucent, toss in chopped scallion,
You'll know it's ready when the aroma comes out and the onions are nearly burned,
Here's the key,
Please make sure the onions are either almost burned or semi-burned,
Don't be afraid, it'll add much more flavor to the dish.

Transfer the ground beef into the pan,
Give it a quick stir then pour in all the below seasonings -
Worcestershire sauce,
Chinese spicy bean paste,
Soy sauce,
Oyster sauce,
Sriracha sauce.

Mix well and cook till the meat is about 60% doneness, add in the mushroom,
Cook till the mushroom softens then pour in the alfalfa sprouts,
About one more minutes, add the already cooked spaghetti,
Let it finish cooking in the pan, until all the sauce has been absorbed by it.

Sprinkle some black pepper and grated Parmesan cheese before serving,
If spiciness is preferred, try to drizzle some Tabasco sauce all over.

Besides semi-burned onions, the butter is one other key that made this "fusion" dish successful,
It adds that sticky, buttery texture to the dish, and surprising works pretty well with Asian seasonings,
You can also try using butter and soy sauce together with other entrée, such as stir fry pork or fried rice.

Cindy's Rating: 8

For Those Who Didn't Get a Table at LudoBites - Please Feast with Your Eyes and Enjoy

2011-08-25T01:11:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to dine at chef Ludo Lefebvre's number 7 "pop-up" restaurant event - LudoBites 007,It's a long and feisty passage to get a reservation at LudoBites,
No phone calls, no showing up at the door, just our old and faithful friend from the 21st century - the Internet.

Thanks to my friends who stared at the computer screens who clicked on the keyboards countless times,
The result?
We managed to get a table for 6 on a Tuesday night, at 9 p.m.,
And yes, the only available time determines when we get to eat, instead of WE decide what time we wanna dine at Ludo's,
The battle for a table is that fierce.

For those of you who doesn't know about LudoBites, please refer to the hyperlink and you'll have all the information in front of your eyes,
I can assure you that the site showcases better insights about the whole concept than my little brain can provide.

Gram & Papa's was chosen as the hosting location for event #007 -

I had a hard time trying to figure out the woman's name on that painting,
Luckily, the right person to ask was right there for me,
Kathy Bates she is,
You know?
The Annie Wilkes in Misery,
The Molly Brown in Titanic,
And the Roberta Hertzel from About Schmidt.
As Ludo changes menu constantly, here's our menu of the day -

Right about my head: an art work created by local chef and Matt Scofield -

Pig's head compressed and mimolette, barbeque gelée $14 -

Don't get gross out by the words "pig's head,"
Trust me, you won't even know there's pig's head inside that dish,
The taste and texture is similar to crispy pork belly skin,
If you live bacon, you'll like it.

On a side note for mimolette,
It's a type of cow's milk cheese that resembles cantaloupe on the outside with a tint of salmon-liked color on the inside.

Prawn ceviche, aji amarillo, red berries $25 -

Plancha tandoori octopus, yogurt, cauliflower, grapefruit $18 -

Amazing,
The grilled octopus was tender with a punch of heavy seasonings,
Perfect match for our little friend here, thanks to our friend -

*Slurp*~

Foie gras quesadilla, mozzarella, crispy cabbage, celery root, curry $28 -

This is definitely on my top 3 favorites of the night,
Why didn't I think about using foie gras in quesadilla while there were like 6 pieces of frozen ones sitting in my fridge!?

Egg, sea urchin, caviar, champagne beurre blanc $18 -

Not a big fan of this,
I feel like something is missing, but please, this is just my own personal taste talking.

Foie gras French dim sum, crispy kimchi, sake-black truffle cream $28 -

Foie gras tastes so good with kimchi!

This pickled veggie balances out the greasiness of foie gras,
And to compensate with the fat lost, truffle cream was put into a right place to fulfill the whole dish.

Salt crust pork shoulder, beer sabayon, imaginary choucroute, juniper berries -

Sorry,
My tongue just didn't sparkle with this one.

Epoisse cheese risotto, hazelnut, egg yolk, herb salad $18 -

Somehow all the dishes involved with egg that night failed to get my attention,
But it's ok,
All the remaining food totally won me over.

The most beautiful dish of the night,
Squid, black ash, chorizo $12 -

Look at that bright yellow and pitch black contrast,
What's even better, the taste definitely lived up to its looks.

Salt cod panna cotta, whipped fingerling potato, smoked tapioca, black olive bread $12 -

Good contrast between smooth panna cotta and crunchy "croutons,"
However, I did find the bread a wee bit too tough to bite on..
Maybe it's just my teeth..man I'm getting old.

Raw beef, rainbow carrots, shallots, red wine mayo $15 -

Even though it's more like an appetizer, somehow I find it hearty and comforting,
The red wine mayo must be the reason,
You know what? It might sound absurd at first, but I bet it'll be good serving on a bowl of white rice, like Japanese donburi.

All the above seemed not enough to fill 6 ~~greedy~~ hungry people, so we asked for more -

Jamaican fried chicken wings $10 -

Thoughtfully, gloves were provided so we can still enjoy the food elegantly.

Duck, cherry, spicy saucisse, beets, radish $22 -

My friend said there were two different texture of meat on the plate,
The one showing on the picture, and a ground meat version,
According to their palate, the whole duck meat tastes better,
Well, I didn't even see a bit of ground duck when the plate was passed on to me,
Call that lucky!?

My #1 choice of the day, onion tart, bottarga $10 -

This is where simplicity done right.

The dough was packed with naturally sweet flavor,
The caramelized onion also adds up to another level of sweetness,
I know we were sharing food, but a big portion of that tart ended up in my stomach, happily ever after.

Chocolate cupcake, foie chantilly $14 -

Look at that thing with tiny pieces of bacon on top,
Dense, chocolately, matched with some savory flavors,
You have to try it yourself, it can be quite an interesting roller coaster ride.

Lavender tropezienne tart, aloe vera, strawberry $10 -

Not a big fan of lavender but this one doesn't come with that strong flowery taste,
Light and not overly sweet, unlike the cupcake earlier.

I was glad it came as our last dessert selection because the tart acts similar to mint,
After all the seasonings and interesting flavors, what's left for me in the end, was a pleasant fragrance in my mouth.

Cindy's Rating: 8 (quite an experience~!)

Ludo Lefebvre
http://www.ludolefebvre.com/ludobites

Chef's Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/LudoBites

Fried Sushi Grade Sashimi Donbori

2011-08-16T21:58:00.000-07:00

August 8th was Chinese Father's Day,
My family decided to stay home for dinner instead of getting ripped off by restaurants that night - which was indeed a clever idea.

For a lesser price, we got sashimi, mom's signature fried chicken, seafood soup, my favorite honey cake, etc, on the table,
Eating like a king.

However, I guess my greediness for food is inherited from my dad,
He bought way too much sashimi and there were like 20 pieces fish untouched on the table,
To make a good use of it, frying them might be a good alternate for leftover fish.

Then I have this,
Fried sushi grade sashimi donburi -

Ingredients (for 1 big large portion or 2 smaller portions)?

20 slices of sashimi
4 tablespoons of sweet potato powder
2 tablespoons of corn starch
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/4 teaspoon of white pepper powder
1 stalk of scallion
Some rice
Some vegetable oil
Some olive oil
Some daikon (radish)
Some ponzu sauce
Some Japanese soup base (or light soy sauce)
Optional - dried seaweed and toasted sesame seeds

How?

Most common problem of making grated daikon at home is that it doesn't taste as smooth and sweet like the ones from the restaurant,
Instead, it usually comes with unpleasant spicy taste that overpowers the main flavor of the dish.

The reason is due to some kind of enzyme from the daikon itself,
Some said you can soak the daikon in cold water before grating,
As for me, my suggestion is to try to use the topper, inner part of the daikon instead of lower, outer part,
The reason is that there are less enzyme around the top, inner area that can create the spicy taste from grated daikon,
One other suggestion is only grate the daikon right before serving and try to finish it within 5 minutes.

In a small flat plate,
Mix together salt, white pepper power, sweet potato powder, and corn starch,
Simply coat the fish slices with the mixture and set aside -

Combine some olive oil and vegetable oil in a frying pan,
If possible, try to use olive oil only, but it gets expensive so I mixed in some vegetable oil to save some $$.

Turn to high heat,
Once the oil gets hot, or semi bubbly, fry the fish slices in two batches,
About 5 minutes or less for each batch,
Since it was sushi grade fish, I didn't bother much making sure the center is fully cooked through, however, 5 minutes is definitely more than enough to make the fish well done.

Line the paper towel on a plate and transfer the fried fish over,
It'll help soaking up excess oil from the coating.

To serve the donburi,
Scoop some rice to a bowl,
Lay the fried fish slices on top, add a spoonful of grated daikon and sprinkle chopped scallion all over,
Mix ponzu sauce and soup base in 2-to-1 ratio then pour it all over the donburi,
You can also add some shredded dried seaweed or toasted sesame seeds to add more nutritional value, or make you feel better eating fried food.

This recipe supposes to yield for 2 servings..
But looking at the pictures...
You know I actually ate all 20 slices by myself...
Like father like son (daughter..)...

Cindy's Rating: 7
*Next time I'll try to fry shrimps panko style!

Stir Fry Shrimps with Squash and Tomatoes

2011-08-08T03:40:00.000-07:00

Zucchini and squash are still rare find ingredients in Taiwan,
Let it be traditional outdoor market or high-end grocery store, you just can't see them easily,
Only if you get lucky sometime.

Thanks to my mom's luck,
She found this giant squash the other day at a local traditional market,
Even though I didn't plan on stepping into the kitchen for the next few days due to overwhelmingly amount of leftover food from Chinese Father's Day dinner,
But well, I guess exception can be made for this rare* ingredient -

Let me cook something for my dad,
Keep feeding him even after Father's Day! -

*August 8th is Chinese Father's Day because the pronunciation of the number "8" is similar to "father" or "pa pa." Therefore, August 8th is also known as 88 holiday (papa holiday).

Ingredients?

1 big squash
1 dozen shrimps (peeled and deveined)
1 can of diced tomatoes (drained)
2 garlic cloves
2 fresh chili peppers
1 teaspoon of tomato paste
1/4 cup of dry white wine
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper
Some parsley or rosemary (optional)

How?

Peel and finely mince the garlic cloves,
Finely mince the fresh chili peppers,
Chop the squash into smaller cubes.

Drizzle enough olive oil until it evenly coat the bottom of the pan,
Toss in chopped garlic, chili peppers, and sprinkle some salt and pepper,
Cook till the garlicky aroma comes out.

Add the shrimps, give it a quick stir,
Toss in squash cubes and sprinkle a little bit more salt, cook for about 2 minutes.

Add the drained tomatoes together with tomato paste and 1/4 cup of dry white wine,
Mix well and cook till the juice has reduced by at least 1/2.

To brighten up the flavor, I recommend using some fresh herbs,
My top choice would be parsley, but sadly...my little pot of parsley died couple months ago...
But at least my rosemary flourishes -

Well, it works too!
Take a short sprig, remove the leaves from the stem,
Finely chop the rosemary and toss some into the pan,
As for the remaining herb, just sprinkle them onto the plate before serving, or just use the whole sprig as a garnish.

I gonna make my dad fat!
( > _.^)b

Cindy's Rating: 7

Best Honey Cake from Micasa Dolci Patisserie - Taiwan, Taipei

2011-08-05T03:49:00.000-07:00

Wanna see lava cake-liked honey dessert?
Look at this pretty thing -

This is by far my favorite, FAVORITE honey cake I ever ate in my life,
It looked just like all other ordinary honey cake on the outside, well, besides its round instead of common rectangle shape,
Who would have know that it has such a soft and moist inside that just melt in your mouth -

Where did I find this beauty?
At Micasa Dolci Patisserie in Taipei, Taiwan.

Katena Keichi, the Japanese head pastry chef is the creator behind this lava-liked honey cake,
He is also my new found top favorite pastry chefs in Taiwan.

Much dedicated work were put into this tiny 5 inch cake,
First is the mixing of egg yolks and sugar for nearly 40 minutes,
With a little bit of flour, honey, and all other yummy ingredients,
Chef baked the cake for just 10 minutes in order to create that fluffy and moist center.

Unlike all other honey cakes I've ever had,
Micasa's version gives you that moist bite from the beginning till the end,
Highly recommended if you ever visit Taiwan.

Micasa locates next to one of Taiwan's landmark - National Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall,
This little eatery has a cozy outdoor seating area which is hard to come by in the crowded city of Taipei,
Big trees provide natural shades for customers,
However, the intolerable heat during summer time keeps me away from enjoying Micasa's creation outside,
But it's ok, the cheerful indoor area with lovely air conditioning aint bad at all -

Perfect match for a sweet treat?
Hot tea it is -

I have to admit that I didn't come with any positive expectations because of my stereotypical thoughts,
Thinking that Japanese pastry chef usually equals to light flavored dessert,
But I was wrong, so wrong!

Mille-feuille with lychee and fresh fruit filling -

That naturally fruity aroma came right through my nose after the first bite,
It's not overwhelmingly sweet since the chef balanced the flavor out with the pastry and slightly sour-ish fruits.

The whole plate resembles a carefully orchestrated art work,
Or maybe a treasure box for my palate,
I can eat this everyday and will never get sick of it.

Micasa also provide a small selection of savory items such as salads and sandwiches,
Below is meat pastry with stewed mushrooms and salad -

In the beginning, I didn't expect that their desserts can be so delicious,
And now Micasa's savory items just blew me away again -

Especially the salad,
Usually this type of greens is on the bottom of my list while enjoying a salad dish,
But they match it with quality shredded Parmesan that balance out the grassy taste from the greens, marvelous.

I haven't had any restaurant reviews published for quite some time, especially restaurant overseas,
This shows how much I'm in love with Micasa.

Reservation is recommended, however, this place usually won't get very busy till after lunch hours,
But don't take me seriously on that,
Who knows? If more people found out this place, I don't even know if there will be a seat for me in the future,
Maybe publishing this post is a bad idea...

You should feel lucky I'm in a "sharing" mood today,
Again, highly recommended,
Please do swing by when visiting Taiwan.

Cindy's Rating: Whopping 9!

*Average price is about $10 to $20 per person.

Micasa Dolci Patisserie

First Floor, #426, Section 4, Ren-Ai Road, Shin-Yi Area
Taipei, Taiwan
台北市信義區仁愛路4段426號1樓
(02) 2345-7669
http://www.micasadolci.com.tw/

Utilizing Leftover Ingredients - Veggies and Parmesan Risotto

2011-07-31T01:51:00.000-07:00

Ouch!
Why do I keep hurting myself?
Few weeks ago a tiny piece of my finger nail got chipped by a butcher knife,
Then the food poisoning thing after Shanghai trip,
Now my hand just got burned by 95 degrees Celsius water..

Sadly I'm not even a chef, otherwise maybe I can blame all these injuries to occupational hazard,
Or maybe it can be categorized as food blogger's occupational hazard?

Either way, even though the distance between a home cook like me and a professional chef is like comparing lean ground meat to Kobe beef,
At least the spirit remains,
Patch up my burned wounds, let's keep cooking!

Utilizing leftover ingredients, veggies and Parmesan risotto -

Ingredients (for 4 to 6 portion)?
2 1/2 cups of Arborio rice
2 cups of mushroom mix
1 cup of smoked ham
1 1/2 cups of grated Parmesan cheese
5 3/4 cups of unsalted chicken stock
8 asparagus
1 big shallot
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

How?

Dice the shallot and chop the asparagus, smoked ham into smaller pieces,
As for the mushroom mix, you can use any kind of preferred mushroom,
Remove any tough stems and cut into smaller pieces,
Grate the Parmesan cheese and set aside.

Have a medium sized pot fill with chicken stock,
Bring that to a boil then turn off the heat,
We gonna use warm/room temperature chicken stock while making risotto.

A big, non-stick pot will be a perfect tool for this dish,
Add in olive oil, butter, and chopped shallot into the pot,
Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of salt and equal amount of pepper,
Turn to medium high heat,
Give it a quick stir and cook till the shallot turns translucent.

Toss in asparagus and cook for couple minutes,
Next, add the mushroom and sprinkle the additional 1/4 teaspoon of salt into the mixture,
You can also add more black pepper if desired,
Cook for few more minutes.

Pour in the rice and mix till every grain is evenly coated with the veggie juice,
To cook the rice, add a small amount of warm chicken stock at a time and stir once a regularly,
Add more stock when the liquid has been absorbed by the rice,
Repeat the steps till the grains reach desired texture, al dente per my case.

Mix in 4/5 of the grated Parmesan cheese,
What about the remaining cheese?
Just sprinkle them on the top of the risotto before serving,
That way, you get a clear cheesy bite together with the oozing cheese between the grains.

Remember do not add too much salt while following this recipe,
The reason is that cheese and smoked ham are quite salty already,
So please taste the mixture before sprinkle more seasonings into the pot.

Besides grated Parmesan,
I also sprinkle more freshly ground black pepper on top before serving,
No more unwanted leftover ingredients,
Just a little more thoughts, you can make a yummy meal with all that miscellaneous stuff in the fridge.

Just be careful don't cut, bruise, or burn yourself in the kitchen....like me...
( T 口.T )*

Cindy's Rating: 7

Smoked Ham Sandwich with Aioli and Parmigiano Reggiano

2011-07-21T04:05:00.000-07:00

Home sweet home!

I couldn't wait to fly back to my cozy crib in Taiwan after staying in Shanghai for one whole week.

The scenery was great there,
The food was not bad, had a few bites of donkey meat*
My hotel room was comfy with amazing views looking down Shanghai,
I basically fell asleep with beautiful city lights by my side every night,
There were also kites flying higher than my room almost 24/7,
Did I mention I stayed at 33rd floor?
What's even more, these kites had LED lights on after sunset, truly a fun scene to watch!

But all the above things just don't add up,
To me, nothing compares to home....most importantly...homemade food!
No more dining out, all I want is healthy, clean, light, and yummy homemade food!

Smoked ham sandwich with aioli and Parmigiano Reggiano -

Ingredients (for two)?

4 bread slices
4 slices of smoked ham
2 eggs
2 ripe tomatoes
1 sprig of rosemary
1/4 cup of mayonnaise
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
Tiny pinch of lemon juice (optional)
Some good quality Parmigiano Reggiano
Some extra virgin olive oil
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper

How?

This is the kind of bread slices I use -

You can definitely substitute with other bread of preference.

Evenly drizzle some olive oil on both sides of the bread slices,
Grill each side till slightly brown in color.

To prepare the tomato slices,
Slice two tomatoes and set aside.
Mix finely chopped rosemary, some olive oil, sea salt, and pepper,
Brush tomato slices with the rosemary mixture and grill for about one minute.

As for the egg, it's just like cooking sunny side up,
Drizzle some oil in the pan, turn to high heat, and add the eggs in,
Remember to sprinkle a tiny pinch of salt and pepper on top of the eggs,
Cook till desired doneness and remove from heat.

Shave the cheese and set aside.

The aioli sauce is the main ingredient of this recipe,
Blend together the mayonnaise, garlic clove, lemon juice, maybe some lemon zest, small pinch of salt and pepper,
You can also add a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil if the mixture appears on the dry side,
Once mixed well, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes before using.

This is good stuff,
I can just dip plain chicken meat with this aioli and eat with rice.

All the hard work is done, now move on to the assembly line,
Brush one side of the bread slices with aioli,
Take one of the bread slices, aioli side up, top with grilled tomato slices -

Add 2 slices of smoked ham, 1 egg, and some shaved cheese -

Top with another bread slice, aioli side down -

Ahhhh homemade food is the best.

I was gonna add avocado slices but couldn't find any ripe avocados in the market,
After traveling for one whole week, no way I'm waiting for that tiny green fruit to "grow older!"
Eat first,
The sandwich is still good withouth avocado, especially after being away for one whole week.

Cindy's Rating: 8

Homemade Red Bean Paste - 蜜紅豆餡

2011-07-11T04:42:00.000-07:00

This is truly a two birds in one stone recipe,
Even though my title states "red bean paste," but I actually use the beans and turned them into red bean "soup" and red bean "paste."

You're probably familiar with red bean soup already, but what is the paste for?
Well, I usually make them ahead of time and store in small batches in the freezer,
The bean paste can be roll into all kinds of bread dough, even mochi, to make a sweet treat,
It's up to you to figure out what to do with this filling, it's time to get creative!

Homemade red bean paste (soup pictures and recipe in the end) -

Ingredients?

4 cups of red beans
Some brown sugar
Some honey
Some sea salt
Some filtered water

*Please refer to below section for the exact amount of ingredients

How?

To make a good red bean dish, we need to start with picking out the best beans to use,
Pour 4 cups of red beans into a pot, pick out imperfect beans -

Soak in filtered water for 2 to 4 hours.

Drain out the water -

Pour in new filtered water again till fully covered the beans,
Bring to a boil then discard the water again.

We're kind of repeating the steps here,
Add more filtered water till it covers all the beans,
Bring to a boil then let it simmer.

From here, I scoop out half of the beans and most of the liquid for the soup,
The other half remains in the pot for the paste,
Let's talk about the bean paste first.

In the same pot, add a little bit of filtered water at a time and keep the mixture simmering,
Repeat the steps till the beans are fully cooked, which means they can be easily smashed with a spoon,
This is similar to making a risotto, tender and constant care is the key,
When the paste is ready, the whole mixture should be on the moist side, but definitely not wet.

Use a wooden spoon and stir in 1 cup of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of honey, 1/4 teaspoon of salt,
Remember to stir and smash at the same time,
However, you don't have to smash till silky smooth, sometimes some chunky bits of beans can actually add more texture to the bite.
You can adjust the sweetness level by using more or less brown sugar,
But do remember, the bean paste should be on the sweet side since we mostly gonna end up using them as a filling.

As for the other half of the beans I scooped out earlier,
Poured it more water into the second pot,
Bring the mixture to a boil then turn to medium low heat to keep it simmer for about 45 minutes.

Add the seasonings in the end,
I used 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of honey,
Don't forget a pinch of sea salt, it helps to brighten up the flavor and the aroma from the beans,
The amount of sweet ingredients I used yields to a semi-sweet soup,
You can add more sugar if sweeter soup is desired,
Here's my mom's simple red bean soup recipe, might give you more ideas on the preperation part.

I also scooped some finished red bean paste back to the soup,
That way, I get whole red beans from the soup, and moist red bean aroma from the paste,
See, two birds in one stone again.

Call me greedy.

Cindy's Rating: 7

Brown Rice Served with Chinese Shacha Gravy and Lamb Slices

2011-07-03T04:32:00.000-07:00

Brown rice has been gradually replacing the all-mighty position in my heart,
Maybe it's becauses I love the al dente texture of pasta, and brown rice gives me that similar bite,
The bran/germ layer provides a slightly chewy texture that I can't find in regular white rice,
Don't even mention the high nutritional value it brings to my happy tummy.

However, some people doesn't like it for the reason why I love it - that chewy bite,
They think it's too dry and too tough to eat,
To remedy the situation? Why not serve brown rice with some kind of "saucey" and heavy tasting seasonings?
The soupy ingridients not only work wonderful with brown rice since the bran prevents the grains from sogginess, but also make it less parched for brown rice haters!

Ingredients (for 3~4 portions)?

Marinade:

1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of shacha sauce
1 teaspoon of Chinese cooking wine
1/2 teaspoon of chili sauce

To cook:

1 lb/about 35 lamb slices
1 big bundle of spinach
8 to 10 shitake mushroom
2 eggs
1/2 large onion
4 to 5 garlic cloves
4 fresh chili peppers
3 tablespoons of shacha sauce
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of corn starch with some filtered water
2 1/2 cup of hot water
1/2 teaspoon of chili sauce
Some rice of preference
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper
Some toasted sesame seeds (optional)

How?

Whisk all the marinade ingredients together and massage the lamb slices with it,
Let it marinate for at least 15 minutes.

Peel and slice the onion, peel and mince the garlic, chop the chili peppers into smaller pieces,
Remove the stems from the mushroom and cut into slices,
Beat two eggs,
Thoroughly rinse the spinach and soak in water for about 5 to 10 minutes,
Once done, drain well and set aside,

Prepare a big pan or a pot,
Drizzle some olive oil till the bottom of the pan is well coated,
Turn to medium high heat,
Toss in sliced onion, sprinkle some salt and pepper.

Cook till the onion turned slightly translucent,
Toss is minced garlic and chopped chili peppers,
Give it a quick stir and wait till that garlicky aroma comes out, but don't let it burn!

Add in the mushrooms together with shacha sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and chili sauce,
Mix well and cook till the mushrooms appear soft and tender,
The color will get darker too after absorbing all the heavy seasonings.

Transfer the spinach into the pan, cook till wilted,
Taste it and see if more seasonings are needed,
It should be on the salty side since we gonna add water into the mixture, it'll dilute the taste a bit.

Pour in hot water and bring to a boil,
Mix corn starch with just a little bit of water,
Gradually pour in the corn starch water while stirring the soupy ingredients at the same time,
This will prevent doughy lumps, so don't be lazy!

While doing the same motion, add in the eggs and turn off the fire,
Don't stir too much here, otherwise the whole thing will look kind of dirty and mushy.

Simply scoop the soupy ingredients onto the rice,
You can sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds to add more nutritional value,
I also added some ground pepper on top to give it an extra kick.

Hope this recipe will make more people willing to give this healthy grain another try!

Cindy's Rating: 8

Miso Marinated Pork Chop Donburi

2011-06-28T02:13:00.000-07:00

First is a ray of sharp, bright light,
Seconds after, a loud booming sound followed,
Now...what am I looking at? Gloomy cloud or just water vapor slowly dissipating from the middle of the hill up toward the sky??
Did that thunder and lightning do that!?

Well, let me just keep updating my blog while keeping an eye on the window,
This is serious.

*Or maybe I should just go set up my tripod and hope for an awesome lightning picture?
Nah, back to food.

Miso marinated pork chop donburi -

Ingredients (for two)?

Marinade -

2 tablespoons of white miso
1 tablespoon of red miso
1 tablespoon of mirin
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1/4 teaspoon of granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon of chili sauce

Other -

2 large pork chops
5 eggs
2 tablespoons of Japanese soup base (light soy sauce will do too)
2 stalks of scallion
Some freshly ground black pepper
Some olive oil
Some toasted white sesame seeds
Some rice (I mixed some white rice with brown rice)

How?

Let's marinate the pork chops the night before,
Simple whisk all the marinade ingredients together then add in the meat,
Thoroughly massage the meat with the marinade, seal with foil and transfer to the fridge,
You can also flip the pork chops half way throughout the marinating process to help the seasonings soak through the meat.

To "assemble" this dish,
Prepare rice for two and set aside,
The picture below, that amount of rice, is all for me!! -

As for the pork chops,
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit,
Drizzle some olive oil on a grill pan and turn to medium high heat,
Remove the meat from the marinade and transfer onto the grill,
You don't have to wait till the grill gets very hot to sear the chops; don't wanna see you with miso splashing all over the kitchen.

Sear both sides for about 3 minutes each, depending on the thickness of the pork chops,
Then transfer the meat onto a baking dish, into the oven for about 15 minutes, or till the edges started to burn a little,
Once done, remove from heat and let the pork chops sit for at least 3 minutes before slicing them.

To make the eggs, simply chop the scallion into small pieces,
Beat 5 eggs together with 2 tablespoons of soup base.

Have a small pan ready, drizzle some olive oil, toss in chopped scallions and cook till they get slightly burned,
Pour in the egg mixture and slowly stir it once a while, like when you're making semi-cooked scrambled eggs,
Turn off the heat when the eggs are still a wee bit runny,
If you don't like uncooked eggs, well, keep the heat on!

Pour the egg mixture onto the rice -

Then put the sliced pork chop onto the egg mixture -

Sprinkle some sesame seeds and add some freshly ground black pepper before serving.

Let me see....
Oh! That suspicious smoke is gone,
No more thunder and lighting, only the rain remains,
Wait, something is still rumbling...
It's from my stomach!

*I blame it to my blog*

Cindy's Rating: 8

Very Nutty Chocolate Cookies (No Butter Needed!)

2011-06-17T19:11:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my friends who kept posting dessert pictures on Fabebook,
Now that my unstoppable cravings for sweet treats just keeps pouring in,
But what can I do?
I have no more butter left...
Is there something chocolaty that can be made without butter?

Luckily, I've got one here!
Very nutty chocolate cookies -

Ingredients (for about a dozen)?

1/4 cup of ground pistachio
1/4 cup of ground walnut
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
5 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa power
1 egg white
Some white chocolate and heavy whipping cream (optional)

How?

These are the main ingredients of the day - pistachio and walnut -

Ground the nuts into very tiny pieces with a food processor,
Please note here, I mean tiny pieces, not fine powder,
That way you can get more nutty bites from the cookies.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line the parchment paper on the baking sheet.

With a mixer, add in ground nuts, sugar, and cocoa power till fully blended,
Once done, slowly pour in the egg white while the mixing is still on low speed,
Mix till glossy,
It won't take that long, definitely less than 1 minute -

Use a piping bag or just pour the mixture into a Ziploc and cut a 1~2 inch hole at the tip,
That's my temporary piping bag!

Pipe the mixture into about a dozen rectangular shapes,
Into the oven for 5 to 10 minutes,
Consider 10 minutes extreme already,
Remember, the longer you bake, the chewier the cookies will get!

The white part?
If you're greedy like me,
You can melt the chocolate and cream with a double broiler,
Just dip the cooled cookies into the mixture and let it set before serving.

Now I have my own dessert pictures to post on Facebook!

Cindy's Rating: 7

Grilled Chicken Breast with Slow Cooked Veggies

2011-06-12T19:39:00.000-07:00

This is one of these days,
Even though there's no one besides me,
I still don't wanna surrender to instant noodles or take-out food,
Instead, this quiet and peaceful time should be celebrated by a more dedicated comfort food,
Let me indulge a wee bit, spoil my long exhausted body and soul.

Grilled chicken breast with slow cooked veggies -

Ingredients (for 2 large portions):

Marinade and chicken -
2 large chicken breasts
2 sprigs of rosemary
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon of turmeric

Vegetable stew -
3 medium sized tomatoes
2 zucchini
6 garlic cloves
1/2 medium onion
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
1 small bundle/1 tablespoon of parsley
2 teaspoons of tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon of dried chili flakes
1/2 cup of dry white wine
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper

Optional -
Grill Asparagus
Some fresh parsley (garnish)

How?

Rub the chicken with all the marinade ingredients and let it sit in the fridge overnight -

Prep work for the vegetable stew,
Peel and dice the onion into small cubes,
Peel and finely chop the garlic,
Peel and chop the zucchini into small bite sizes,
Chop the tomatoes into small cubes,
Finely chop the parsley.

Have a big pot ready,
Drizzle some olive oil, add in chopped onion and 1 tablespoon of butter,
Sprinkle some salt, pepper, and red chili flakes,
Give it a quick stir and cook for about 3 minutes.

Add in garlic, cook for a little bit just till the aroma comes out,
Add the zucchini and cook for another 2 minutes, then toss in chopped tomatoes,
Sprinkle more salt to help bringing out the liquid from the tomatoes,
Cook for about 3 more minutes.

Add 2 teaspoons of tomato paste and 1/2 cup of dry white wine,
Stir the mixture and let it simmer for about 20 minutes, or till all the liquid reduced by half,
Mix in freshly chopped parsley right before serving.

As for the chicken,
Take it out from the fridge about 15 minutes before grilling,
Heat up the grill pan and sear both sides for 6 minutes each,
If the center is still uncooked after searing both sides, just transfer the chicken into the oven for 10 to 20 minutes, using medium heat.

Once the chicken is done,
Transfer onto a plate and scoop stewed veggies on top,
Garnish with fresh parsley -

As for the grilled asparagus on the bottom,
Well, consider me a greedy person.

*To make grilled asparagus,
Simply spread the asparagus evenly on a baking dish,
Drizzle some olive oil, salt, and pepper,
Bake in medium high heat till the vegetable turns slightly crunchy on the edges.

Food makes me happy, hope it does the same to you.

Cindy's Rating: 8

Beef Curry with a Big Help from Japanese Curry Cubes

2011-06-04T22:14:00.000-07:00

You must know I'm a big curry fan if you've been following my blog for quite some time,
Let it be yellow curry, red curry, green curry, even rainbow curry,
Whatever the color is, as long as the word "curry" presents, I love it!

Among all the instant curry products, S&B brand holds an irreplaceable position deep in my hears (yes, it's THAT serious),
This link shows the flavor I usually use,
However, they recently came up with another more upgraded version -

Unfortunately, it comes with "upgraded" price tag too,
Well, good instant curry cubes can go a long way,
Won't hurt spending a few bucks more trying out new things, maybe it'll be my next favorite kitchen staple.

Beef curry with S&B Dinner Curry cubes -

Ingredients (4 to 5 portion)?

1 medium onion
1 large carrot
(the very fat kind, if you can't find it, just use more skinny carrots as substitute)
1 large potato
5 S&B Dinner Curry cubes (more than half box)
5 1/2 cups of hot water
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper

How?

Chop the beef into large bite sizes,
Bring a pot of water to a boil, toss in the beef chunks and cook for a few minutes,
This will help in drawing all that dirty brown bits out from the meat,
Once done, drain well and set aside.

Peel and cut the onion into smaller cubes,
Thoroughly rinse the carrot and potato, peel them and cut into small cubes too -

Steam the carrot and potato for about 15 minutes, or till soften a wee bit,
You can definitely skip this step,
It's just that I prefer eating fork tender veggies while enjoying curry.
Again, once done, set aside for later use.

Prepare a big deep pan, or use a big stove pot like me,
Turn to medium or medium high heat depending on your choice of kitchenware,
Drizzle some olive oil, add in chopped onions, sprinkle some salt and pepper,
Cook till the onion turns slightly caramelized on the edges, add in remaining vegetables,
Give it a quick stir and cook for couple more minutes.

Add the beef chunks and mix well,
Cook for another minute or two, pour in about 5 to 6 cups of hot water and add the small curry cubes,
Bring to a boil and turn down the heat to let it simmer,
Remember to stir constantly in the beginning to help the cubes slowly blend in with the ingredients -

Let it simmer for at least 30 minutes after the cubes are fully mixed in.

You can adjust the thickness and flavor by using different amount of hot water and curry cubes,
Preferably serve with rice, but spaghetti or udon works well also!

Once someone asked me what's your comfort food,
Mmmm...
After giving it a deep thought,
Maybe curry can take that title and be my honored comfort food champion.

Cindy's Rating: 8

Spaghetti with Rosemary Marinated Pork Slices and Toasted Pine Nuts

2011-05-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

This is one of these days,

I turn away from rich and creamy sauces, where my palate get tired of it only after a few bites,

Instead, I'm trying to unlock a combination that can let each of the simple ingredients shine in my comfort dish - perfect for a long weekend lunch.

Spaghetti with rosemary marinated pork slices and toasted pine nuts -

Ingredients (3 to 4 portion)?

Marinade -
1 sprig of rosemary
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
Little less than 1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika
28 to 30 pork slices
Some olive oil

Cook -
3 to 4 portions of spaghetti
1/4 medium onion
4 to 5 garlic cloves
4 to 5 fresh chili peppers
1/3 cup of pine nuts
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper

Finish/garnish -
1 lime
Some parsley
Some Tabasco sauce (optional)

How?

Since there will be no heavy tasting sauce for the spaghetti,
Fresh ingredients naturally become the key success factor of this dish -

Let's prep the pork slices first,
Finely chop 1 sprig of rosemary and transfer to a bowl,
Add the remaining marinade ingredients into the bowl together with the meat,
Add enough olive oil to evenly coat each pork slices,
Set aside and let it marinate for at least 15 minutes -

Peel and finely chop the garlic and onion,
Chop the chili peppers into smaller pieces.

Bring a big pot of water into a boil,
Add a few pinches of salt into the water and toss in the spaghetti,
Cook the pasta according to package instruction, preferably till al dente,
Once done, drain well but remember to save some pasta water for later use.

Heat up a grill pan,

Toss in pine nuts and toast it till slightly browned on all sides,

You'll know when it's ready when that wonderful nutty aroma start perfuming the kitchen,
Once done, transfer the nuts into a food processor and give it a few pulses.

Since the grill pan already got a tiny bit of oil and residual aroma from the pine nuts,
We'll just use the same pan to cook the pork slices,
Remember,
You don't have to brush extra olive oil onto the pan since the pork slices were already coated with it.

Couple minutes on each sides of the pork or till the meat get that yummy-looking burn marks,
Once done, set aside for later use -

Prepare another big pan,
Drizzle some olive oil and turn to medium high heat,
Add in chopped onion, sprinkle some salt and pepper, cook for 2 to 3 minutes,
Add the chopped garlic and chili peppers,
Cook till the aroma comes out but not burning the garlic.

Toss in grilled pork slices and toasted ground pine nuts,
Give it a quick stir, mix in the pasta,
Add more olive oil and/or pasta water if the mixture appears too dry,
Personally, I prefer using more olive oil than water because it adds more fruity flavor to the dish.
Taste the mixture and add more salt if needed.

Squeeze some fresh lime juice and garnish with parsley before serving,
You can definitely add chopped parsley instead of just using it as a garnish,
Serve with Tabasco sauce if you wanna bring the spiciness up to another level!

Happy Memorial Day!

Cindy's Rating: 8

Popular Taiwanese Ingredients: Semi Stir-Fry Amaranth with Tiny White Fish

2011-05-22T04:17:00.000-07:00

Amaranth?
What a tongue twisted name for a vegetable,
This leafy green is similar to spinach, however, with lighter color and a wee bit softer texture in my opinion.
Amaranth can be found in almost every grocery store and outdoor markets here in Taiwan.

Another popular Taiwanese ingredient is tiny white fish (吻仔魚), also known as shirasu in Japanese.
I'm deeply in love with this ingredient,
Years ago, there're quite a few controversies regarding the over consumption of tiny white fish, especially those are basically baby fish in the ocean.
Luckily, more and more regulated fish farms have been established over the years so now we can enjoy this nutritious ingredient without harming the balance of the nature.

Tiny white fish can be found in major Asian grocery stores such as Ranch 99 and Mitsuwa,
Personally, I prefer the ones from Mitsuwa,
The quality is more stable and the fish are definitely fresher and cleaner.
As for the amaranth, if you can't find any around the neighborhood, just substitute it with spinach.

Semi stir-fry amaranth with tiny white fish -

Ingredients?

1 1/4 cup of tiny white fish (that's a lot, you can definitely tone down the amount a bit)
1/2 cup of hot water
2 bundles of amaranth
2 garlic cloves
2 Thai chili peppers
1 teaspoon of black bean soy sauce
Some olive oil
Some sea salt

How?

Chop 2 peeled garlic cloves and 2 chili peppers into small pieces,
Thoroughly rinse the vegetable, pick out tough stems, drain well and set aside for later use.

Drizzle some olive oil to the pan, turn to high heat,
Toss in chopped garlic and chili peppers, sprinkle some salt,
Give it a quick stir, cook till the garlic aroma comes out, but don't wait for too long that you'll burn the garlic.

Transfer the fish into the pan, cook for about 30 seconds, add in the amaranth,
Here's why I call it a semi stir-fry dish,
I'm not gonna "stir-fry" the vegetable, instead, let's add in the hot water and wait till the amaranth starts to wilt.

Bring to a boil and turn to medium heat,
Add in the black bean soy sauce and cook for a wee bit longer,
You might find it hard to "maneuver" the amaranth because it tends to stick together when cooked this way,
That's why traditionally Taiwanese will add some corn starch and make it a gooey, soup-like dish,
Not for me this time, the gooey style is only good if you gonna finish the dish immediately,
If you want to eat it the next day or use as lunch box dish, just omit the corn starch and do it my way.

Taste it before serving,
You might need a bit more salt or hot water depending on personal preferences.

Now that my semi stir-fry style amaranth is done, time to pack this dish into 3 lunch boxes,
Can't wait to eat this tomorrow!

Cindy's Rating: 7

Fusion Hambagu Topped with Asian Sauce and Ricotta Cheese

2011-05-15T00:48:00.000-07:00

This is probably my first weekend late night blog post,
There're many distractions while this recipe is being updated, which means:
Friend playing guitar just few inches away from my laptop,
Occasional screaming while the cute little doggy keeps chasing around the kids,
Drunken karaoke sound vibration from downstairs.

Readers,
Please applaud if this recipe comes out right.

Fusion hambagu with Asian sauce and ricotta cheese -

Ingredients (for 9 medium ones)?

Meat patties -
1 - 1.5 lbs of ground pork
3 cremini mushrooms
1 egg
1/4 small onion
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 pinch of sea salt
1 pinch of freshly ground black pepper
To Sear -
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/3 cup of hot water

Sauce -
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
Some freshly ground black pepper

Topping -
Some ricotta cheese

Optional -
1 bundle of spinach
Some sea salt

How?

Peel and finely chop the onion,
Chop the mushrooms into little pieces,
Beat 1 egg,
Have a big container ready, mix the ground pork, onion, mushrooms, beaten egg, soy sauce, some salt and pepper all together.

Let the mixture rest for about few minutes,
Grab a palmful of meat mixture and toss between hands while forming small patties,
This helps in driving out the air inside the mixture, which result in firmer instead of loose patties -

Have a big pan ready,
Add 1 tablespoon of butter and equal amount of olive oil, turn to medium high heat,
Sear the patties about 3 to 4 minutes each side, or till it turns slightly burned,
When the two sides are done, add in hot water and put on the lid,
Turn to lower heat and let it simmer for about 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a small pot of water to a boil,
Add in a pinch of salt and toss in the spinach, cook till wilted,
Drain out the water and lay it on the serving plate to form a spinach bed,
Blanching the vegetable works better but since this is just simple home-cooking...nah, we should just save some dish washing troubles for ourselves.

As for the sauce,

Put the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, oyster sauce, and some black pepper all together in a sauce pan,

Bring to a boil and turn to lower heat,

Cook till the sauce reduced by at least 1/3, or at least semi-gooey then you'll know it's ready.

To assemble the plate,
Put the meat patties on the spinach,

Add a spoonful of ricotta cheese on top of each patty while the meat is still hot -

Last step, drizzle the sauce all over -

( > _.< ) I hope this post turns out well.

So why am I writing this recipe while my friends are singing and "kinda" drinking?
Well, just say this is one way for me to avoid injecting too much toxic liquid into my system?

Happy weekend!

Cindy's Rating: 8

Chinese Influenced Roasted Beef with Tomatoes

2011-05-07T17:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Saturday everyone!

I just got back from my Southern California coastline road trip and still "recuperating" from all the binge eating activities throughout past few days,
There were gigantic steaks from Jocko's Steak House,
Crab and asparagus savory crepes from Novo Restaurant and Lounge,
Hawaiian style chicken wings with green curry dipping sauce from Hula's Island Grill,
And of course a few cups of fiber boosts to help me digest all these meaty goodies during the trip.

Sad thing is, too much fun can actually cause some serious damage when trying to get back to normal ~~and boring~~ schedule,
Symptoms including:
Sense of guiltiness,
Swollen belly,
Sleepiness/drowsiness/laziness,
And the most menacing of all, I kept asking for more,
More steaks, more seafood, more rice, more noodles,
You name it, I want it!!
This can't be good....arghhhHHHHH (roaring beast)....

And this recipe below definitely doesn't help curing my food craving disorder (or maybe I should just embrace it and let binge eating be a part of my regular lifestyle?)

Chinese influenced roasted beef with tomatoes -

Ingredients (small/medium portion)?

1 lb of beef (the fattier the better, I just picked the cheapest one available)

2 large tomatoes

1 medium potato

2 carrots

3 garlic cloves

1 medium onion

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of oyster sauce

1 tablespoon of mirin

2 teaspoons of Sriracha sauce

1 cup of hot water

Some olive oil

Some sea salt

Some freshly ground black pepper

How?

Cut the beef into large bite size cubes,

Bring a small pot of water to a boil, toss in the beef cubes and cook till the dirty bits come out,it should take less than one minute,
Drain the water and set the beef aside,

Don't boil the beef for too long otherwise it's gonna get tough and tasteless.

For the veggies,

Dice up one onion, peel and cut the carrot/potato into smaller cubes,

Chop the tomatoes into large cubes, peel the garlic cloves and finely dice them -

Take a pot or a big pan,

Drizzle some olive oil and turn to high heat,

Toss in diced onion, sprinkle some salt and pepper,

Let it cook till the onion turns slightly translucent, add the garlic and cook till that garlicky aroma comes out,

Turn to medium heat,

Add the carrot and potato, add additional small pinch of salt, cook for another 3 minutes -

Add in beef cubes, soy sauce, oyster sauce, mirin, and Sriracha sauce,

You can definitely add more spicy seasoning if you want this dish to be mouth-burning hot!

Mix well and keep cooking for about 2 minutes -

Add the tomato cubes, give it a quick stir then pour in almost 1 cup of hot water,

Bring the sauce to a boil and turn to lower heat,

Put on the lid and let it simmer for 40 minutes to an hour then you'll have this comforting meal -

One tip here is to cut the ingredients into smaller pieces so the food can be done in a short period of time,

My potato cubes were fork tender only after 30 minutes of simmering,

Preferably serve with steam white rice!

(Now you know why I can't stop myself from eating even after the trip?...is it a bless or a sin??)

Cindy's Rating: 8

Weekend Brunch Twist - Rotisserie Chicken, Strawberry, and Ricotta Croissant Sandwich

2011-04-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

I'll be off to my road trip to Monterey, CA in a bit,
But before my weekend begins, let me show you this easy recipe that not only help in cleaning out leftover rotisserie chicken, but can also be done in less than 10 minutes!

*So you get more time enjoying the weekend free time strolling down the beach, climbing that little hill, or the best of all, sleeping in instead of figuring out what to cook for the family!

Rotisserie chicken, strawberry, and ricotta croissant sandwich -

Ingredients (for 2)?

2 plain croissants
4 large strawberries (and maybe a few more to munch on the side)
Some leftover rotisserie chicken
Some ricotta cheese
Some walnuts
Some honey

How?

Strawberry is our key ingredient here -

Rinse the fruit and pat dry, cut into thin slices.

Cut the croissant in half so we can make a sandwich out of it,
For the rotisserie chicken, cut the leftover meat into smaller pieces so it'll fit perfectly on our croissant.
Ready to assemble?

Take the halved croissant,
Spread a thin layer of ricotta cheese over and line the sliced strawberries on top -

Put the chicken pieces over the strawberry slices,
Sprinkle the walnuts (even better with toasted walnuts) and drizzle some quality honey -

Lastly, put the other half of the croissant over to make a sandwich,
Voila -

Here it goes your no hassle weekend brunch,
Off I go to Monterey!

Cindy's Rating: 7

Boiled Artichoke with Sea Salt and Clarified Butter

2011-04-25T22:25:00.000-07:00

I have never cooked artichoke in my life,
Look at the shape of this thing, doesn't that intimidate you? You might get cuts just by handling it!

And how in the world do you prepare this spiny ball of vegetable?
Is it even reasonable to buy something that takes so much effort just for that tiny little bit of edible part in the center?

One more point, which might be the most important reason of all, artichokes can get quite expensive compared to other greens.
This little guy costs me $2. I can buy at least 10 sticks of carrot with that money.

But my little experimental heart just can't stop me from shuffling one artichoke into my grocery bag,
Tonight, this spiny monster shall be dissected and history shall be made.

Boiled artichoke with sea salt and clarified butter -

Ingredients?

1 big artichoke
6 tablespoons of unsalted butter
Some sea salt
Some olive oil

How?

Clean the artichoke thoroughly and wipe out the water,
Cut off the stem and the outer tougher part.

For the main artichoke section, cut about 1.5 inch off the top,
Trim the sharp leaf tips with scissor,
Once done, it should look something like this (pardon the semi-messy work here, it's only my first time battling with artichoke) -

Bring a deep pot of water to a boil,
Drizzle some olive oil and toss in few pinches of sea salt,
Transfer the artichoke and the stem into the pot, cover with lid and turn to medium heat,
Just let it simmer for about 40 to 50 minutes depending on the size of your green monster,
Mine is fairly big and it took about 47 minutes.

Once done, remove the artichoke from the pot and let it sit upside down for couple minutes in order to drain out the water in between the leaves.
Cut it in half and spoon out the fury part,
You don't wanna get choked over this throat poking little monsters.

As for the sauce,
Mustard mayonnaise was my first option but later found out there's no premade mayo at home, and I was definitely not in the mood whisking eggs like crazy just for that small bowl of homemade mayo,
What would be my next option then?
Clarified butter it is.

Simply melt the butter with low heat,
Turn off the heat once the butter is fully melted,
Scoop out the floating foam and let the butter cool down for about 5 minutes,
After that, pour the butter into your serving container, discard the bottom semi-solid bits and scoop out more foam if there's any.

Sprinkle some good quality sea salt all over the artichoke while it's still hot,

To eat this weird thing, just pull out the leaf, dip the end with some butter and scrape the edible part with your teeth,

The entire center area is also edible,

Not so sure where to start your first bite?

Trust me, once this veggie is in your mouth, you'll know which part is edible and which is not.

For the stem, peel off the darker green part on the outside and eat the lighter colored section only.

It's been a tough battle considering the time and effort put into this one tiny dish,
But I'm alright! There's not a single battle wound from messing with that monster's spiny scales,
Victory shall be mine!

Cindy's Rating: 6 (I can sense a better artichoke in the near future)

Luscious Oily Date with Ponzu and Garlic Steak

2011-04-18T22:55:00.000-07:00

Who said oily food is bad for you?
On the other hand, I'm totally opt for submerging in luscious beefy fat and butter...well...maybe not every week, but at least once a month!

Here's my luscious oily date with ponzu and garlic steak -

Ingredients (for 2)?

2 large rib eye steak
2 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 tablespoons of ponzu soy sauce
2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
4 cloves of garlic
Some freshly ground black pepper
Some sea salt

How?

This is actually a semi-repost from my previous ponzu steak recipe back in early 2009,
As time goes by, there's a slight change of my original recipe, and of course the picture quality got a wee bit better,
So here it is, an improvised version for my very first ponzu and garlic steak.

Keep the steak in room temperature at 10 minutes before cooking,
Sprinkle both sides with some salt and pepper -

I got these babies for less than $4 each, what a bargain -

Peel the garlic and finely dice them, set aside for later use.

Drizzle some olive oil and add 1 tablespoon of butter into a big pan,
I didn't have access with my regular steak grill so I had to use a non-stick pan instead,
Not a perfect choice for making the steak sauce after searing the meat,
But hey, at least I got a good size pan to work with.

Wait till the oil gets really hot, add in the steaks and let it sear for about 6 minutes each side,
Don't flip the meat till time's up, no peeking allowed.

Once done, transfer the steaks to the serving plates and let them rest for at least 5 minutes,
Meanwhile let's make our very oily but indeed lovely sauce.

In the same pan, turn down the heat for a little bit,
If you really don't feel like risking your chances of cardiac arrest, just pour out some oil first before making the sauce.

Add in the remaining butter and minced garlic,
Cook till the garlic fragrance comes out but not burning, add the ponzu, soy sauce, and some more black pepper,
Cook till the liquid is reduced by at least 1/3 then drizzle all over our chunky meat,
Meal is ready!

I even added rice and some veggies (to compensate my arteries outcry) on top of my gigantic steak,
Truly eating like a king!!!.....I mean queen!!!

Look at that fat, how can you resist it -

I heart cows, especially U.S. cows.

Cindy's Rating: 8

Easy Mini Hot Dog Bread Made with Frozen Pastry

2011-04-13T04:25:00.000-07:00

Finally, here we have a real recipe post!

My mom has been feeding me way too well that I got no chance to cook anything,
Food overloaded, in a very happy way.
In order to return the favor, I made some easy pastry so she gets something to munch on as breakfast and afternoon snack.

Easy mini hot dog bread made with frozen pastry -

Ingredients (4)?

4 small pieces of frozen pastry
4 small hot dogs
1 egg
Some ketchup

How?

Preheat the oven to 390 degrees Fahrenheit or 200 degrees Celsius,
Defrost the frozen pastry,
Beat one egg as our egg wash for later use.

Once the pastry has defrosted, fold in mini hot dogs just like the picture shown below -

You can add a small spoonful of ketchup depending on the taste of chosen hot dogs,
My mom doesn't like ketchup so there's none in the picture.
Brush the egg wash on top of each mini pastries.

Line the parchment paper on a medium sized baking sheet,
With mini pastry's seal side down, transfer them onto the baking sheet,
Into the oven for 15 to 20 minutes -

The mini pastry is ready when top turns slightly brown,
I also turn up the heat just a couple minutes before the snack is ready in order to intensify that semi-burned color.

It's a super easy snack to make,
My mom likes it a lot,
The only complaint is that the hot dog was too big for the pastry,
I guess the hot dogs tend to puff up a bit more compared to just simply searing the meat,
Put that into consideration while trying out this recipe yep?

Cindy's Rating: 6

Shifen Scenery Spot Pictures (Yes I know It's Unrelated to Food)

2011-04-07T01:36:00.000-07:00

One benefit of living close to family is that I'll never have to worry about food,
Stewed pork, Indian curry, red bean soup; you name it, we have it,
Either my mom or my dad will have all the dishes ready in the kitchen for me to pick up as my next day meal.

There really is nothing to complain about parents over-feeding their child,
But per my case, that means less chance to cook and write up recipes for this blog!!

Since I still got leftover spicy hot pot and my dad's beef consommé in the fridge,
Why don't we consider this as a break from my scary cooking?
Let's look at some travel pictures from a scenery spot called "Shifen" from Taiwan.

Shifen is known for its waterfalls, but before reaching the water, you need to pass by this little town surrounded by railroads -

Surviving through the crack -

Grandma's homemade sticky pumpkin cake is really good (the orange thing). See! There's food picture involved after all -

Others selling traditional Taiwanese cakes -

Lantern store -

After the town, there's the bridge -

We're getting close -

Small fall first -

View of that smaller fall from the other side of the bridge -

Almost there! -

Shifen waterfall -

Side view -

This grass is living a good life here -

Saw this on the way back, chicken wing stuffed with sticky rice, glazed with teriyaki sauce -

This is the final product, pretty good!
Too bad I couldn't take a clearer picture, I wanted to eat the chicken wing badly so kind of careless about my picture quality....

Lastly, this is me after overloading tons of cookies and cakes during the trip...

I guess even without my parents' cooking, I still tend to overfeed myself...
( > _.< )"

Simple Pasta with Small Organic Plum Tomatoes

2011-03-29T23:23:00.000-07:00

Our neighbor gave my parents some small organic plum tomatoes the other day -

Even though these tomatoes are not as large as the regular plum tomato,
These tiny jewels still look so full and yes, they are indeed very juicy!

Tomato is considered as a "cold" ingredient when you eat it raw,
What do I mean by "cold?"
Well, try it yourself,
If you eat a lot of uncooked tomatoes, your body temperature will actually drop a few degrees, thus make you feel - cold.

That's why my mom gave me half of the tiny plum tomatoes,
But I don't wanna get that chilly feeling after munching on it too, so that's how this dish was born, simple pasta with small organic plum tomatoes -

*Tomatoes can actually make you feel "warmer," by raising your body temperature if they are cooked, preferably with olive oil!

Ingredients (4 to 5 portion)?

1 package/500g of any type of short pasta
1 small bundle of thin asparagus
1 small lemon
2 cups of small plum tomatoes
1 1/2 cups of chicken breast
1 cup of corn
1/2 medium sized onion
1 tablespoon of drained capers
1 tablespoon of ketchup
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper
Some parsley

How?

Let's prep the ingredients first,
Peal the onion and cut into small bite sizes,
For the asparagus, discard the bottom stem part and cut the remaining into smaller pieces,
Cut the plum tomatoes in half,
Cut the chicken breast into small bite sizes,
Finely chop the parsley and set aside.

Bring a big pot of water into a boil,
Toss in few pinches of salt, pour in the pasta and cook according to the package instruction, al dente preferably.

Meanwhile, have a big pan ready,
Drizzle some olive oil, toss in diced onion, sprinkle some salt, pepper, and red chili flakes,
Cook till the onion turns slightly burned on the edges, add the chicken.

Toss in all the tomatoes when the chicken is about 70% cooked through,
Season with more salt and pepper, cook for couple minutes.

Now we can add the asparagus and corn, give the whole mixture a quick stir,
Add 1 tablespoon of ketchup and a little bit more salt,
Mix it up, let it cook till the veggies soften,
Don't cook for too long if you prefer a more crunchy texture for the asparagus.

Few more final steps,
Add in the capers and juice of 1 lemon.

The pasta should be ready by now, drain well and pour into the sauce mixture,
Mix well and cook for another minute or two,
Serve with chopped parsley.

This is my hearty brunch!
The tomatoes are fully cooked through and blended into my sauce mixture,
Chilly tomatoes no more!

Cindy's Rating: 7

One Way to Utilize Your Leftover Egg Whites - Scrambled Eggs

2011-03-24T03:53:00.000-07:00

Do you always end up with lots of egg whites especially after baking bread or cakes?
So what do you do with it?
Don't tell me you just throw it away or pour it down to the sink,
Let me show you what I did with "excess" egg whites from making my unsuccessful bread the other day...
(That was one big failure, the bread turned out nice and pretty...but taste-wise...totally the opposite...)

Scrambled eggs with Asian pickled radish -

Ingredients?

Some leftover eggs/egg whites (at least the amount of a small bowl)
1 stalk of scallion
2 to 3 tablespoon of pickled radish
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some Sriracha sauce (if you like it spicy!)
Some freshly ground black pepper

How?

Beat the eggs and/or egg whites first,
Chop the scallion and pickled radish into smaller pieces -

Drizzle some oil to the pan and turn to medium high heat,
Toss in chopped scallion, sprinkle some salt and pepper,
Let it cook till the edges turned slightly brown,
Don't be afraid if you gonna over-cook it,
The key here is to drive out all these simple ingredients' aroma,
Rather burned than sorry (at least that's what I think!).

Toss in pickled radish and cook for about another minute,
Add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and give it a quick stir,
You might need to adjust the amount of soy sauce depending on how saltiness the radish is.

Pour in the egg mixture and cook it just like all other regular scrambled eggs,
I prefer the eggs a wee bit burned on the edges too, but it's totally up to you.

Serve with Sriracha sauce if you like it SPICY!

Well, even though my bread was miserable,
At least the leftover egg whites turned into something delicious!

Cindy's Rating: 8