Taste Of Spice

My Steam Flan

2011-09-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

Flan is one of those desserts that come in many shape, size and texture from all over the world. In fact, after some intense searched for the best recipe possible, I noticed that there are many versions to that claimed to be the “original” recipes. I am so sure of this, that I know most family have their own version too that is the original. Of all the recipe, the one I found most intriguing is the one that I had at this Chinese Buffer near my house. It was so rich and creamy, yet just the perfect hint of sweetness that just melts in your mouth and longing for more and more and more. You get the picture. Therefore, that might have been the reason why I never really want to make my own version, for fear of overindulgence!
Now all that changes when my mom came over and told me that she and my sister love this creamy dessert, but can’t seem to get it right. So liking a challenge and thinking that this is just such an easy dessert to make, I went ahead and research for some recipe try my own version. The one that I seem to taking a liking to was the one by Kiss My Spatula. I like that she steamed it instead of baking it and that she didn’t used any condense milk. I had other flan that used too much condense milk that all you taste was the intense sweetness from it that it left a bitterness aftertaste. Too sweet for my taste! Although, I don’t really want to use too much condense milk, but I do like their caramel flavor it brings to dessert so I had added a spoonful of it and it turn out great. Also noticed that I used heavy whipping cream instead of evaporated milk, due to the reason I really like creme brulee extreme creaminess texture. So far this is the best hybrid flan recipe I ever had! It look like flan and last so much like crème brulee..love it! Love it! Found my new love affair…and this one for my sisters..
Ingredients:
Caramel Sauce:
1 Cup sugar
1 Tbsp of ready- made caramel ice cream sauce (optional if you like that intense caramel flavor and thickness)
Flan
1 Cup Milk
1 Cup heavy whipping cream
1 TBSP of condense milk
1/3 Cup sugar
3 Eggs
2 Egg yolks
1Tsp vanilla extract
Methods:
1. Add some water to your steamer and turn it on to warm it up.
2. In a sauce pan, on medium heat, melt the sugar. Do not stir, just sit and watch until it melt completely and golden. Remove from heat and pour into prefer glass dish and make sure to coat the bottom completely.
3. In another sauce pan, heat the milk, heavy cream, condense milk and sugar. Stir until completely blend. Bring milk to hot. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Beat the eggs and yolk and vanilla extract together until blend. When the milk is slightly cool, whip in the eggs and blend well. Remove any forms or lumps.
5. Pour the blended mixture into the glass bowl and place in the steam and steam for 15 minutes.
6. Remove and let it cool down before refrigerating it overnight.

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

2011-07-28T21:52:00.000-07:00

As I mention earlier in my post, we don’t really have a real Asian market here. The closest one would be in Dallas about 5 to 6 hours drive, so the motivation to cook can be pretty limited too. That had recently changed since our little town finally had a real Chinese/Oriental Market. I was the first to check it out! Yes, that how excited I was. So as I was grabbing everything to put into my basket, I made my way to the cooler section and noticed the Taiwanese noodle. I nearly jumped for joy! I knew right away that I will make it this coming Sunday.
In all honestly, I never had this since I moved to Texas 5 years ago and just thinking about it made my mouth water. The blend of spices with the hot soup and oh so tender beef just compliments the chewy hands pulled noodle to perfection. This noodle soup is so soothing and delicious that it hard to any other noodle to compete with. It one of those noodle that once you have it, you’ll crave for more and more.

3 Pounds of beef shank cut into 2” inches pieces
5-6 Garlic cloves, slightly crushed
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp sesame oil
3 Sliced gingers
5 Slightly crushed scallion, cut halved crosswise
1 Tsp Chinese five-spice powder
4 Star anise
½ Tsp of white pepper
1 Tbsp of beef soup base
½ Tsp of black pepper
1 Tsp of sea salt
4 Dried chilies
¼ Cup chile bean sauce
3 Tbsp of Shaoxing rice wine
2 Tbsp of rock sugar
½ Cup of soy sauce
3 Tbsp of dark soy sauce (add more for darker broth)
5 plus Quart of water

1 Bunch water crest or baby bok choy, broccoli flower
2 Package fresh hand pull Taiwanese noodle (find it in your Asian market)

1. Put all the ingredients together and bring to a hard boil.
2. Remove any scum on the top to make the soup clear.
3. Lower the heat to medium and cook for another 1 ½ hours or until beef shank is tender. If you put tendon in there cook the tendon ½ first.
4. When it done do not cover and let it sit for a couple of hours to fully absorb the flavor. Or make it overnight and refrigerated.
5. To serve, in another pot add water to almost full and bring it to boil. Cook noodle to package instruction.
6. Drain and add the vegetable and soup.

Enjoy.

My Steam Chinese Sponge Cake Dan Gao

2011-07-24T12:58:00.000-07:00

This steam Dan Gao or sponge cake is often present itself during the Chinese New Year festival with a red dot on the center. It always the first item I want to eat before anything else. I can’t put my finger on it, but it has a uniqueness that only childhood memories could make you appreciated this cake even more so. It not like your average baked sponge cake. It one more dense and less airy, yet it have it own distinctive taste that just melts in your mouth. I can really eat this cake all day long! Of course it being steam is doesn’t make it less fat content, even though it tasted lighter. Everything is moderation is always best.
Beside the paper cup sponge cake, this is one of my favorite cakes that I often buy when I do happen to go to Hong Kong bakery in Torrance. They make this cake nice and moist and right out of the steamer every time I order them. If you really want to try this out, I know that some Dim Sum place do serve this tasty treat. So next time if you do see it, don’t hesitate to try some!

Ingredients:
3 Cup of cake flour
½ Tsp of baking powder
½ Tsp of almond extract or prefer flavor
½ Tsp of butter/vanilla emulsion
6eggs
1 Cup of granulated sugar
Methods:

1 Put half of water in the steamer and bring to a slow boil.
2 Shift the flour and baking powder together and set aside.
3 In a mixer whip the egg until creamy and then add the sugar, butter/vanilla emulsion and almond extract.
4 When the egg turns pale yellow and double in volume. Slowly add the flower and mix well.
5 Pour the batter into a grease baking pan of desire size and put over hot boiling steamer.
6 Steam for 45 minutes or until the pick comes out clean when poke in the center.

Let cool and serve plain or with fruit topping.

Chendol

2011-07-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

I been looking for the recipe for some time now. Chendol is another form of Lod Chong, just a slight difference in texture and much chewier. There are many name for it, but the one I am familiar with is the Thai’s version known as Singapore Lod Chong, using topical starch or mung bean starch instead of the regular rice flour with lime stone water. In Cambodian lotus root starch is their main ingredient. I know that Vietnamese have the same dessert that they put in their rainbow color drink, and I am assuming that they used tropical starch due to it super chewy, clear texture. In all, I think this dessert is awesome in each and every form. I just love the chewy texture combination with creamy coconut flavor that sweet and salty. It just hits the spot for my sweet tooth craving every single time. This refreshing sweetness it great on serve on shave ice, in a coconut milk drink or just alone with drench in coconut milk syrup, you’ll never just have one serving!
Here what I found out after many experiments with the different kind of starch:
Mung bean starch makes it more bouncy and less chewy.
Lotus root starch soft and chewy, almost melt in your melt texture.
Topical starch is very chewy and almost little or no bounce. Have to chew long before digesting.

Ingredients:
1 Cup starch
3 cup water for lotus starch and 3 ½ cup water for the mung bean flour
1 to 2 drops of pandans extract for flavoring and green coloring

Coconut Milk Syrup
1 Can coconut milk
¾ Cup of palm sugar
½ Tsp of salt
Over medium heat add everything and bring to boil. Add the sugar a little at a time taste. Turn off and set aside.

Methods:
1. Mix the water and the flour until blended.
2. Heat over medium heat and stir constantly.
3. When it starting to clump up, lower the heat to low and continue stirring in one direction to keep the consistency going.
4. It is done when it is sticky, shiny and clear. That about a good 15 minutes of stirring.
5. Remove from heat and pour into the lod chong presser. Making sure that the presser is only ½ above ice water.
6. Let it sit in the water for a good 10 minutes then remove and serve with the coconut milk, with or without ice.

Beef Kabob

2011-05-27T21:55:00.000-07:00

For this Easter I forgo the traditional ham, lamp and turkey dinner for something that is exotic and closer to home and less complicated. So I decided to do an Asian B.B.Q. with beef and chicken kabob with all the dressing and herbs Khmer style. I grew up loving this beef stick because of it rich tasting and powerful aroma. There is no other beef kabob that can match it in taste or texture and I’ve tried many. Overall, if you into spices and herbs this is one dish you got try at least once. This is one of those dishes that can be used for multi-purposes. I made both chicken and beef with the same marination, but somehow the beef more flavorful and tender. It's great as sandwich meat, as an appetizer or even as the main dishes, whichever way it is just oh so good! Of course I used it as my main dish accompany by papaya salad and a couple of desserts. Simple yet very delicious and interesting to taste bud and everyone seem to love it too. I didn’t have any leftover for this Easter!

Ingredients:

1 Cup minced lemon grass
3 Dried chilies (soak in hot water for an hour until soften)
1 Tsp of turmeric powder
2 Tbsp of oyster sauce
2 Tbsp of fish sauce
¼ Tsp of kosher salt
¼ Cup kaffier lime leave minced
4 Garlic cloves
¼ Cup of coconut milk
2 Tbsp of vegetable oil
1 Tbsp of palm sugar or brown sugar
2 LB beef skirt

Methods:

1. Cut the beef skirt against the grain about 2 inchs long. Set aside.
2. Put all of the ingredients in the food processor and grind to fine.
3. Once it finely grinded poured the puree over the meat and let is sit for at least 6 hours or overnight for great flavor.
4. Soak the skewer in water for 30 minutes before you kabob them.
5. Cook beef for 5 minutes flipping every 2 minutes. For chicken kabob cook for 10 minutes or until done.

Banana Cream Pie

2011-05-27T21:54:00.001-07:00

If you love banana cream pie, but don’t want to make one because is just seem so complicated, then you need to try this recipe. This is an easy as pie recipe that can’t go wrong, yet taste so good. For some reason I can never resist banana cream pie! I have tried many versions of banana cream pies and they are all delicious. This is one pie that you can’t really go wrong making or eating! The creaminess of the whip cream combined with banana is oh so perfection that just melt in your mouth….and with some chocolate syrup, you got yourself a perfect crowd pleaser!

Filling

1 Pkg banana flavor pudding
4 Bananas slice thinly

Topping

2 Cup heavy cream
½ Tsp vanilla extract
1/2 Cup powder sugar
Chocolate syrup drizzle on top (optional)

Pie Crust

3 Cups graham cracker crumbs
1 Stick unsalted butter, melted

1. Prepare crust by mixing the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter.
Mix thoroughly. And press the mixture into a 9 inch pie pan to form crust.
2. Then prepare the pudding according to instruction, place in the refrigerator to thicken and set.
3. Now mix heavy whipping cream on high speed, slowly adding in the vanilla extract and sugar. Mix until stiff.
4. Carefully pour the pudding on the pie crust little at time. Neatly place the sliced bananas on top of the pudding layer by layer until it all used up.
5. Pour the whip cream into a piping bag, using the big star shape tip and pipe the whipping cream to top the pie off. Play and be creative and make your own design. Have fun.
6. Now put in the refrigerator for a couple hours to set it.
7. Cut into slice serve. For a little kick drizzle with chocolate syrup. There just something so irresistible about the combination of chocolate and banana!

Mung Bean Pudding Dessert

2011-01-31T20:47:00.000-08:00

Here another one of the simply yet satisfying your sweet tooth dessert. There not much to this dessert recipe. It is as simple as it gets and taste as good as it should. Yet it one of the most sorts after dessert by most Asian home. I guess the mung bean is supposed to be good for you that it gives a cooling effect to the body. Whatever the reasons are, I just simply can never resist the sticky, gooey texture of this dessert where the combination of the mung bean, sugar and creamy coconut milk just melts in your mouth and satisfying your sugar craving. Of course, there not many versions out there only the thickness that is different. I like mine very thick and gooey with lots of the delicious sweet and salty coconut cream on top of it. I got to admit that the best version that I ever had was the one at this Vietnamese dessert shop on Westminster street somewhere in Westminster, California if I remember correctly. This place makes the best dessert ever! When you walk in there you can smell the sweet aroma of all the dessert and the coconut cream. I just love the thickness of how they make it there and coconut milk is to die for! If you ever happen to be in that area, it a must stop..

Ingredients:

1 Cup of hulled yellow split mung beans (soak in cold water overnight)
4 Cups of water
1 Cup of sugar
2 Tbsp of tapioca starch 3 tbsp of cold water mix together

Coconut Milk Topping

1 Cup of coconut milk
1/2 Tsp of salt
3 Tbsp of sugar
½ Tsp of tapioca starch 1 tbsp of cold water mix together

Methods:

1. Using a steamer, line with cheese cloth and pour the soaked mung bean into it. Make a circle in the middle to have the steam distribute evenly. Cook for a good 25 minutes or until cook. Make sure do not over cook it or it will fall apart.
2. In a pot add the water and sugar and bring it to boil. Stir in the tapioca liquid and stir constantly to prevent burning the bottom of the pot. When it thicken and clear add the cook mung bean and stir lightly to mix.
3. In another small pot heat the coconut milk, sugar and salt to boil. Then add the tapioca liquid in it and stir until it thicken.

Serve hot with coconut milk topping. Great with Chinese’s donut Yao Tiew too!

Sweet & Sour Spareribs

2011-01-31T20:43:00.000-08:00

Here a dish that really gets your mouth water just by looking at it. I don’t know what it is, maybe it the coloring or the caramel looking glaze, but it does make you just want to dig in. It doesn’t help that it totally delicious too! Now I for one don’t really care for anything sweet & sour and I was very reluctant about making this one, but alas the picture just makes my mouth water and I gave in. The best part about this recipe it that it not your typical sweet & sour ribs that in the Chinese take out. This one is restaurant style where it is deep fried first to give it that crispy outside and moist and tender inside.
As mention before, in my house we don’t really care for sweet & sour, but this dish really convince them otherwise. They really clean this dish clean! So if you really into sweet & sour or ribs give this recipe a try….you might just love it!

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice wine
3 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp of vinegar
A couple dash of black pepper
1 Tbsp of sesame oil
2 Tbsp of water
½ Tsp of corn starch added about 2 Tbsp of water to it.
Vegetable oil for deep frying
1 Drop of red food coloring or ½ of dark soy sauce (dark soy sauce makes it brown and red makes it red coloring)

Methods:

1. Marinate with the soy sauce and rice wine overnight so that the flavor can set in.
2. The next day take the rib out and place enough vegetable oil and heat to hot. Cook the ribs for about a good 10 minutes or until golden brown and fully cooked. Remove and set aside.
3. In another wok or skillet pour the soy sauce, dark soy, sesame oil, sugar, vinegar and bring to boil and slightly thicken.
4. Now add the ribs and give it a couple of tosses to fully absorb the flavor.
5. Lastly, add the corn starch water and give it a couple more tosses until liquid is fully absorbed and thicken. Give the black pepper a couple of shake and toss once or twice.

Serve hot.

Stir Fried Herbs Chicken

2011-01-30T20:57:00.000-08:00

This is a favorite among many Southeastern Asian for it many herbs and ingredients. What interesting about this dish is that the combination of the herbs aroma makes you just wants to chow down more than you desire potion. Although it not hard to make, but if you making the herbs from scratch and using your hands it can be tiring and time consuming. The easiest way is to buy the ready minced lemongrass and using an electric blender. It works and it time and life saving! Of course, everyone will have their version of this dish. Even the restaurants added their own flavor to it. Here my version. Enjoy making it and eating it!

Ingredients:

6 Stalks of lemon grass sliced to it thinnest possible. Or ½ cup of ready minced version.
1 Lb Chicken wings or drumstick clean and cutting into 2” sizes. It taste best when use part with bone in them.
4 Cloves of garlic
I Thumb size turmeric or ½ Tsp of powder version
1 Handful of kaffir lime leaves
4 or 5 Thai chilies pounded to open
3 to 4 Jalapeno sliced
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Large onion cut into four
1 Handful of holy basil
1 Tbsp of vegetable oil
2 Tbsp of fish sauce
½ Tsp of dark soy sauce
A couple pinches of kosher salt or to taste

Methods:

1. Combine all the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and pulse for 4 times or until blend. Sometime adding a little water makes it easier to blend. When it minced and blend thoroughly add the garlic and turmeric and pulse 3 more time.
2. Heat a nonstick pan to hot and add the oil. When oil it hot add the herbs mixture and Thai chilies and stir until aroma.
3. Add the chicken pieces and stir in the fish sauce, salt, oyster sauce and dark soy. Stir occasionally so the chicken will not be burnt on one side.
4. When the chicken it fully cooked, usually a good 20 minutes or so add the jalapeno and onion and stir for another 5 minutes.
5. Turn off the heat and add the holy basil and give it a couple of tosses.

Serve hot with fresh steam rice.

Fish Cake

2011-01-30T20:44:00.000-08:00

If you love fish cake, here a good one for you! Fish cake is often consider as an appetizer because it on that section in all of the Thai restaurant, but in reality it is also great as the main dish with rice too or that how I often eat it. A good fish cake should have the following characteristic, crispy on the outside and moist and chewy in the inside, just the way I think every fish cake should be. Of course, this is not a hard dish to make, but if not done right it just tasted like rubber! And believe me I had some of those before! It was very hard to swallow it, let alone enjoy it. So here my famous version, by famous I meant with the family wise. They just ravish this dish and rave about it. A big smile is the way to a chef heart as I always say…..

Ingredients:

1 Package of fish paste
2 Tbsp of red curry paste
1 Tsp of paprika
1 Tbsp of fish sauce
2 Tbsp of tapioca starch
1 Cup of Asian green bean cut into small pieces (optional)
Handful of kaffir lime leaves sliced into thin pieces
¼ Vegetable oil for frying

Cucumber sauce or salad

1 Cucumber thinly sliced
2 Tbsp of white vinegar
1 Tbsp of sugar
Mix together set aside. Great with fish cake and satay alike.

Methods:

1. Using electric blender add the fish paste, curry paste, fish sauce, paprika and tapioca starch and pulse 3 to four time or until fully blended.
2. Scope it out and add the lime leaves and cut green bean and mix well.
3. In a frying pan add the oil and bring to hot.
4. Rubbing a little oil on your hands, scope a spoonful of the fish paste mixture into your hand and roll it into a ball. Then flatten it with your palms to about ¼ to ½ inches in thicken.
5. Drop the fish paste into the hot oil and cook until golden brown. Make sure to turn it over so that it will not get burn.

Serve hot with cucumber sauce and with steam or sticky rice.

Thai Beef Jerky (Nua Sawan)

2011-01-26T19:49:00.000-08:00

This is the perfect take snack for every occasion. You can never have enough of this, especially when it served with sticky rice and the tangy garlic vinegar sauce. This is one of the must have dish everything I do eat Thai food, because it just tasted so good with freshly cooked steam rich or sticky rice! Of course there the hardcore beer drinking that loves this as their finger snack.
Unlike the our American’s beef jerky where you just bit into it, this one you have to pull it in strand and it taste just heavenly this way. Great snack for on the go when you need to have pack some light food on a road trip.

Ingredients:

2 Pound of beef (using the chewing type such as chuck roast, beef sirloin) cut to long strip about 2” wide
2 Tbsp of minced garlic
3 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp of sugar
1 Tbsp of rice wine
½ Tsp of salt
1 Tbsp of black pepper
½ Tsp white pepper
1 Tbsp oyster sauce

Sauce:

1 Tbsp of sugar
2 Tbsp of white vinegar
2 Cloves of minced garlic

Mix and you have a sauce!

Methods:

1. Place the beef in a metal bowl and add the rest of the ingredients, fish sauce, salt, black pepper, white pepper and oyster sauce.
2. Message it thoroughly for a minute or so.
3. Now cover it up and refrigerated it overnight.
4. The next day, set your over to lowest setting possible and place the beef on top of a rack and keeping the oven door ajar and let it sit for 2 to 4 hours. Another option is to sun dried it if you have the right cover up and netting.
5. When it dry you can freeze the rest that not use.
6. To cook this just
7. heat enough hot to hot and cook for 5 minutes. Do not over cook or it will be burnt. After remove from the oil. Towel dry and slightly pound it so that it will be tender and not to hard when it cold.

Best serve hot. When it cold it tend to be teeth breaking and lost it true flavor.

Vegetarian Pad Thai

2011-01-26T19:33:00.000-08:00

Ok here a very popular dish that you will see in every Thai restaurant. There something about this noodle that everyone just can’t seem to resist. With it sweet and tangy flavor and chewy noodle texture accompany with eggs and tofu just melts in your mouth. Of course, when not done right it is tasteless and dry, tasting more like dried cardboard than noodle. I am not a sweet main dish person, but this noodle caught my attention once upon a time when my chef first cook it for me at my once upon time Thai restaurant. The way he made it was makes the noodle look so tempting all glossy and moist. Of course, after one bite, I was hooked on Pad Thai! And the long process of pestering him to finally teach me how to make and what is his secret ingredients. Needless to say, if he is reading this he won’t be too happy that I am leaking his secret ingredients out! But you know what they say about sharing is caring…and I am sure he wants his wonderful recipe to be acknowledged and enjoy by other Pad Thai lover out there! Whoever you guys are….

Ingredients:

1 Serving or ¼ package of medium size fresh or dried rice noodle
2 Tbsp of Pad Thai sauce
1 Tbsp of fish sauce
1 or 2 Eggs (optional)
1 Handful of bean sprout
2 Tbsp of cold water
½ Cup of hard tofu cut into 1/2 inch cubes
½ Tsp chopped cooked peanuts
3 Steams of cilantro
A couple dash of white pepper
1 Tbsp of vegetable oil

Pad Thai’s Sauce

1 Package of ready peel tamarind paste
1 Cup of sugar
½ Cup of Sambal Oelek fresh ground chili paste (find it in sauce section in Asian market)
2 Cup of boiling water

• Bring the water to boil. Pour the water on the tamarind paste and let it sit for 30 minute or so.
• After the required time, it should soften and fall the tamarind will fall apart.
• Now using a spoon or hand mash the tamarind until it thicken and strain it through a strainer to remove all skin and seed.
• In a medium pot, pour the tamarind juice, sugar and chili paste and bring to boil.
• When it boiled lower the heat to medium and stir occasionally until the sauce is thicken.
• When it done you can put it in a plastic container and or seal tight and refrigerate it for up to 6 months.

Methods:

1. If you’re using dried noodle, make sure to soak it for 1 hour first then soak it boiling water for 30 seconds or so to soften the noodle up. Fresh one can be cook right away or if you like it softer soak in boil like the dried noodle. Do not soak in boiling too long or the noodle will break apart and gets mushy when cooking it.
2. Heat wok to hot, than add the vegetable oil. When the oil is hot add the tofu and cook until light golden brown.
3. Move the tofu aside, add the eggs and scramble it until cook.
4. Add the noodle, fish sauce, water and Pad Thai’s sauce and toss the noodle until fully mix together and the sauce is coating the noodle all over. Do not over stir it or it will break apart.
5. When it fully cooked add the cilantro and white pepper and give it a toss or two. If you like your bean sprout to be cook add it now.

Remove, add the peanut, cilantro and bean sprout, serve hot.

Lod Chong

2011-01-25T21:18:00.002-08:00

Love..love!! This particular dessert more than I can explained. The funny thing is that it not even chewy! And we all know how much I love anything with a chewy texture. Although it lack the chewy texture, but it deliver in other areas to makes you just fall in love with it, such as the soften of short noodle like strains that just slip through your mouth and down your throat, just leaving the creamy coconut milk sweet linger and yearning for more. Come to think of it, the reason that I love eating this thoroughly satisfying dessert, because of the memories that goes with it. I will always remember the first time eating it in Cambodia from a street vendor. My grandmother bought me my first bowl and that was the sweetest most precious things I ever taste after many years in starvation and away from modern civilization (actually survived the killing field). So this one dessert brought back so many heartwarming memories.

This is the one dessert that you will only see at private gathering such as birthday, New Year or special occasion, because it is time consuming to make and very intimidating for those that never made it before. So if you happen to stumble upon this dessert as a house guest, consider yourself lucky…because you must be special!

The pandanus squeeze

Ingredients:

1 Cup of rice flour
3 ½ Cups of red limestone water
1 Tsp of pandanus squeeze
½ Tsp of pandanus liquid flavor
¾ Cup of palm sugar
2 Tsp of tapioca starch mix with 2 Tbsp of cold water
1 Can of coconut milk
¼ Tsp of salt

Methods:

1. Use ½ canister of red limestone and add 7 cups of water. Let it sit overnight.
2. Before you do anything get some ice and put in bucket with cold water.
3. Next day take the half of that water 3 ½ cups and pour through a cheese cloth and into a non stick pot.
4. Now add the rice flour, tapioca starch, pandanus flavor and squeeze and knead with wooden spoon until it fully mixed together into liquid form.
5. Over medium heat, place the pot and stir continuously.
6. When the batter turn bright green, thicken and almost glossy looking it done. The texture when you pick up the spoon should run like the gooey slime. About 25 to 30 minutes.
7. Placing the salim’s presser only 2” inches about the ice water, gently and slowly pour the batter into it little at time. Now give it a hard but short press. Once the batter hits the cold water it will holds it shape. Continue until you finished with all the batter. Let it sit in that water.
8. Now in a small pot add the coconut milk, palm sugar and salt and bring to boil and remove from heat.

Serve room temperature or add some ice for a cooling dessert. Enjoy!

Fish Maw Soup (Kra-Paw Pla)

2011-01-25T20:59:00.000-08:00

This soup is very similar to shark fin soup in texture, but it has a sweet and sour tasted that like hot and sour soup. Although, it a very popular street vendor soup, but you will not be able to find it in your Thai restaurant menu. I guess it the time consuming part and all the ingredients can be pretty costly. Even I don’t make it often, but when I do, it never fails to get lots of compliment and satisfaction from both parties. I like mine very sour and spicy. Of course, I tried many versions and after much experimenting I find that this is the most tasteful one thus far. Great for that cold winter day where you need a good soup to comfort your taste bud and soul.

Ingredients:

1 Small chicken (cook, save the broth and pull the meat into shredded pieces)
5 Dried shitake mushrooms (soak in hot water for 1 hours or so, cut into thin slices)
1 Package of dried dish maw (soak in warm water until soften then cut into small bite size)
1 Cup bamboo shoots
1 Cup of slice Jacama (adding this gives it a nice crunchy texture)
1 Can quail eggs
½ Cup vinegar
3 Tbsp of corn starch add about 3 tbsp of water to it
1 Tbsp of soy sauce
2 Tbsp of fish sauce
3 Tbsp of sweet soy sauce
1 Tsp of white pepper
1 Bunch of cilantro cut into 1’ section
1 Tbsp of sugar
6 Cup of chicken broth
1 Scope or cube of chicken flavor soup base

Topping sauce

1 Tbsp of rice vinegar
1 Soy sauce

Fresh ground chili paste to taste

Methods:

1. In a medium pot pour about 7 cups of water, chicken soup base in with the chicken. Bring to boil and shimmer it for at least an hours or so for better flavoring.
2. When it fully cooked remove the chicken and strain the broth to remove all fat and scum.
3. Then pull the chicken meat into shredded pieces and set aside.
4. Now to prepare the fish maw, after it soaked, boil it for 5 minutes removed and cut into small pieces. This is optional, but in doing this it remove the smell and soften it further.
5. In a medium pot, pour the chicken broth, fish maw, mushroom, soy sauce, sweet soy, fish sauce, sugar, vinegar, bamboo shoots quail eggs and sliced jacama and bring to boil.
6. Now slowly add the liquid corn starch and let it boil and thicken.
7. Turn off and add the white pepper and cilantro.

Serve hot with or with it topping sauce and chili sauce.

Chinese Beef Stew

2011-01-23T14:58:00.000-08:00

If you’re looking good home cooking beef stew for this cold winter months, look no farther for here a recipe that promise to warm you up. Nothing beats a good bowl of stew for comfort in such a dreary cold winter season. I love that the spices in this stew give this traditional beef stew a “kick” as often called by my husband. There not much to this recipe, except that it does required some time to cook it. Once it done, the beef and carrot just melts in your mouth. Excellent source of nutrients and flavorful favorite! Goes great with rice or noodle too.

Ingredients:

1 Pound of beef stew chunk cut into 2 inches cube
1 Pound of beef small intestine clean and cut into 2 inches length (optional)
6 Carrot cut into 2 inches length
½ Tsp of five spices
2 Tbsp of rice cooking wine
1 Tsp of black pepper
1 Tsp of white pepper
½ Tsp of kosher salt
½ Tbsp of dark soy sauce
2-4 Tbsp of soy sauce or to taste
2 Star anises
2 Tsp of brown sugar
4-6 Cup plus 4 Tbsp of water

Methods:

1. In a medium pot heat to hot then add the brown sugar and 4 Tbsp of water and stir in the wine, salt, soy sauce, dark soy, peppers, star anises, and five spices. Stir until it mixed well.
2. Add the beef and small intestine, stir for a couple of minutes or until it brown.
3. Now add the water and bring it to boil. Once you bring it to full boiling point, lower the heat to medium and let it shimmer for a good hour plus. Depending on how tender you want your beef to be, you can shimmer it to desire tenderness.
4. Now it you want to add some carrot, the time to do it right when the beef to add. Carrot taste best when it nice and tender in stew. The plus part about putting carrots is that it actually gives the natural sweetness to your soup.

Serve hot and enjoy!

Mango Pudding

2011-01-23T14:54:00.000-08:00

When mango season in, I often stock it up. Once because I just love mango or anything with mango in it! As long as I can remembered, I always love eat thing ripe, fragrant fruit. My favorite memories would be the taste mango’s roll up that my grandma used to make for my after school snack. And then there all those ripe mango that we often eat after every meal in place of dessert. It would be mango everyday when it in season and it would often be what I look forward to most to dinner time. That how obsession with mango and all the dessert I love to make with it. As I grew older I would tried every kind of dessert that have mango in it and attempting to make and perfecting it. This one is just plain and simple, yet so refreshing and good for you. Great to for those hot Summer day after a nice meal. Or a beautiful table display for dinner parties or get together. Great way to leave an impression!

Ingredients:

2 Ripe large mangos
1 Packet clear gelatin
½ Cup of hot water
1/3 Cup of sugar
Strawberry for garnishing

Methods:

1. Scope the mango into a blender and pulse three or four time until it fully blended.
2. In a hot heat the water to boil then add the gelatin. Stir quickly until it fully dissolved.
3. Now add the sugar and mango and stir until fully blend.
4. Pour into desire mold or cup.
5. Let it sit in the refrigerator for an hour or so.
6. When it harden remove and garnish with strawberry.

Serve cold.

Ka Nom E

2010-12-12T04:08:00.000-08:00

This is one of those desserts that is very simple to make, yet makes a great compliment to any meal. I personally love this dessert because it chewy texture combined with the sweet coconut syrup just melts in your mouth. And it gets better with every bite as the palm sugar flavor just linger in your mouth. Therefore I love making this dessert a few times a year. Usually during the moon festival and Chinese New Year, because it of it round shapes it represent longevity.

Now there are many different versions of this yummy chewy balls dessert. Some would have bean stuffing in them, some would add taro, sweet potato and even pumpkin. Of course it different region it would also be call differently. I only have three flavor preferences of these little balls. One would be the plain one with nothing else but coconut palm sugar to compliment it. The others would be the taro and the pumpkin version. As for this version it would be the simplest version, the plain one and it also known as the Thai dessert version. Of course, as for the syrup you can omitted the coconut if you don’t like creamy version and use rock sugar, malt or palm sugar would compliment it nicely.

Next time I will make the pumpkin version.

Ingredients:

1 Cup of glutinous rice flour
1 Tsp of clear vanilla (optional)
1 Tbsp of wheat starch (make it nice and soft)
¾ Cup of boiling water plus 3 cups for boiling
2 Cup of coconut milk
¾ Cup of palm sugar
A pine of salt

• You can add some food coloring into it to make it more pretty and fun to eat.

Methods:

1. Bring water to boil.
2. In a large bowl, add the flour and wheat starch and make a well in the center.
3. Slowly pour ½ cup of the boiling water in a little at a time to and stir until it is the right consistency. If it too wet add some more flour, if too dry add some more water.
4. Now knead the flour until it pliable.
5. Dusting your finger with some flour, take a nickel size dough and roll it into a ball.
6. Drop the ball into the boiling water to cook it. When it floats up it done.
7. Meanwhile you can make the syrup by bring the coconut milk to boil. Then add the sugar and salt. When it completely boiled, turn off and set aside.
8. After the balls are done. Remove from the water and add into the coconut milk syrup.

Serve hot.

Sesame Ball

2010-11-15T20:24:00.000-08:00

Growing up with my grandmother and aunt was fills with memories of goodies snacks and desserts that they would make every so often and sesame ball was one of those that everyone loved. There just something so good about this crispy, chewy outside and yet sweet and creamy filling that I can’t really put my finger on. This is one of those dessert or snack that comes in many variations from all part of Asia. There the mung bean, red bean, sweet meat and sesame and coconut. Of course, my family version is often a combination of sweet mung bean. As for my version I like it with sweet mung and coconut. Of course, you can always invent your own version. I used to live not far from this Hong Kong bakery that have their in sweet version and the shelf being chewy and thick instead of thin and crispy and it was one of the best I had thus far. My point is that if you play with your filling and find that one that fit your taste bud. Remember cooking is not about following orders to perfection, but about creativity and flares that fits your taste bud. That what makes it the more enjoyable!

Ingredients:

6 Cups of vegetable oil for deep frying
½ Cup of white sesame seeds
¾ Cups of brown sugar or malt sugar
1 1/3 Cup of boiling water
3 Cups of glutinous rice flour
1 Cup of filling (mung bean and coconut)

Methods:

1- In a wok or pot, preheat the oil to hot about 350 F degrees. Make sure that your pot is deep enough so that the oil would be at least 4 inches deep and be able to submerge the dough ball completely.
2- Next dissolve the brown or malt sugar with 1 cup of boiling water.
3- In a large bowl, put the flour in there and make a well. Then slowly pour the boiling sugar water into it and stir until the dough is blend and sticky. If it not blending you can use the 1/3 cup of boiling water, it needed. Now knead the dough until it smooth and pliable.
4- Taking out a dollar size at a time, roll it your palms and make a ball out of it. Then flatten it and add the filling in the middle and slowly bring the side up to completely cover the filling. Roll it back into a ball.
5- Now wet your finger in water and roll the ball around your ball to semi wet it. Then dip it in the sesame seeds to fully coat it.
6- Last but not least drop the ball into the hot oil. Cook until it light golden and floating up, it is done.
7- Remove and place on top of paper towel to remove any access oil.

Serve hot and enjoy!

Spaghetti with Shrimp Alfredo Sauce

2010-11-14T15:14:00.000-08:00

Of all the spaghetti this got to be my oldest son favorite. It would have been mine too if it not for the calories, but I can’t deny how much I do enjoy eating this creamy melts in your mouth dish. As long as I could remembered this is always one of my favorite dish that would order in an Italian restaurant and would often rate if they are good are not by this dish and the garlic bread. Sadly, as I got older I have to cut back on my calorie intake due to my waistline expanding. It doesn’t help that I truly and utterly just love food! Alas, when I do make this spaghetti version it often to accompany our night in with steak and a nice glass of wine. And it a plus to see the smile on my son face after he take his first bite and going back for second and third. My joy for the day is accomplished.

Ingredients:

½ Packet of spaghetti or any pasta you like
¼ Cup of butter + 1 Tbsp
½ Of jumbo shirmps or scallops
1 Cup of heavy cream
3 Garlic cloves, minced
1 Cup of parmesan cheese
½ Cup of Romano cheese
A pinch of nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil for drizzling over noodle

Methods:

1. Cook the pasta to package instruction. When it el dente, remove from heat and run cold water over it stopped the cooking process. Then drizzle some olive oil on it and toss well to prevent it from sticking together.
2. In another heated sauce pan, melt the butter. Then add the garlic and give it a stir a couple of time.
3. Next add the heavy cream and stir constantly and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to low and add the nutmeg, cheese, salt and pepper. When the sauce is thicken it is done. Set aside.
4. Now in another pan, melt some the 1 tablespoon of butter and then add the shrimps and cook for 3 minutes or until pink. Then add into the sauce.
5. Lastly slowly pour the pasta into the sauce and toss a couple times to completely cover it.
6. Serve hot with some grate parmesan cheese..Yum..Yum

Pesto Sauce

2010-11-14T15:10:00.000-08:00

If you like both pine nuts and sweet basil, then this is the perfect sauce for you. My first experienced with pesto sauce was at Olive Garden a very long time ago. I didn’t know what it was called back than, I just know that it tasted soooo yummy with grill salmon! From that day on I was determined to learn the recipe and indulged! At last, I finally found this simple yet delicious recipe.
There not much to this recipe except make sure that the pine nuts is of good quality. If you used bad pine nuts, the consequence would be very bitter. And I meant literally. Not long ago, as I was trying to clean my pantry, I noticed a bag of pine nuts that seem good yet open. Not wanting to be wasteful I decided to make some yummy pesto sauce to go with my spaghetti and steak night in.
I combined both the new package and the rest of the old package. Well the result was superb. It look great and taste great, the only con was that the very next day I have this bitter taste in the back of my mouth. Of course, didn’t know the cause of it I naturally think that I was sick or something. Anyway, it took a whole week and plus some to get rid of that awful taste. Needless to say, nothing tasted good during that whole process.
Anyway to make the story short, I didn’t realize that it was the pine nut that causing it until it happen the second time. Then I did some thinking and google pine nuts and found that bad pine nuts can leave that bitterness in the back of your mouth.
So that little rascal can do some damage if you’re not careful with it.
Disregarding that one little minor set back, I still love pesto sauce and I put mine on everything from steak, fish, vegetables to pasta. Its just one of those sauces that so good you can’t put down.
Beside from that fact, enjoy and have fun making it….if you still want to make some.

Ingredients:

1 Cup basil
½ Cup pine nuts
3 Garlic cloves
¼ Cup extra virgin olive oil
½ Cup parmesan cheese
¼ Cup romano cheese
½ Tsp ground pepper
Salt to taste

Methods:

There not much to this sauce, except to put everything in the food processor and mix well. Serve as is.

Babies Theme Cake

2010-11-14T14:38:00.000-08:00

Sorry been away for so long. With all that going on in my life right now, I have too much to get process all at once. Anyway, glad to get back on track and start to post again. Now let get started.

In this past couple of months I had made two cakes. One was for my baby boy 1st Summer Lua birthday bash. Therefore I decided to make an island inspired cake with teddy grams and fishes splashing around the water oasis. I used the same Asian sponge cake recipe and whipping. I got this idea from Parent’s Magazine and decided to do a Lua thyme with it. It was a great success! We had great food, great time with families and friends.

The second cake was for my little princess 3rd birthday. For some reasons, maybe because it winter and cold outside, we never have a chance to make her a lavish birthday party…including this year. In quote from my cousin “this is the saddest birthday party ever” of course maybe it is because we didn’t invited anyone. We just want to celebrate our princess birthday on quieter note. Just with the people that love her most, her family.
Now as for the cake, it was not hard to make at all. It was just a little tedious work with all the gum paste coral that was made overnight, but it turn beautifully. And the plus side was that she had fun helping me roll and cut them too! It was a great way to spend quality time with my birthday girl. As for the icing, well that wasn’t too hard, but a bit of a mess to clean up. In the end it was all worth the effort and time. As a mom, I feel that whatever little I have, I will make it an effort to do whatever I can for my kids big or small. And hopefully they can pass this tradition down to their own kids one day with sweet memories of growing up.

Here are the recipe for the Asian sponge cake and whipped cream icing..All you need is some food colors and creativity...
Babies Birthday Cake

Ginger Chicken

2010-09-10T23:02:00.001-07:00

If you ever had ginger chicken before, than you know that there are many ways to make them. Every restaurant have their own version of how it done. I for one don’t really like the one in the Chinese restaurant, due to the fact that it is too soggy and have too many ingredients. For me, ginger chicken only require two main ingredients and that is ginger and chicken. I want to be able to taste the spiciness of the semi crispy ginger and tender chicken, no other overpowering flavor needed. Of course, oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and pepper are an addition that also a must to perfect the dish!

Growing up ginger chicken is our favorite dish to make and eat. As mention before, we love our ginger and chicken to be crispy and with lots of pepper.
Beside from the fact that ginger taste good, it also very good for you. It is known to regulate your blood flow due to it heat factor. This is also a very popular dish for women post baby, to help their body heal and regulated itself. Not to mention it other benefit for nauseate, gas, stomachache, headache, but we’re not going to get to into that today.
The point is that ginger is just plain good for you and taste absolutely delicious no mater what you add to it!

Ingredients:

8 oz Chicken thigh or breast thinly slice into strip
Cup of ginger cut into thin strings
1 Tbsp of soy sauce
1 Tbsp of fish sauce
1 Tsp of oyster sauce
½ Tsp of dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp of vegetable oil
A couple dash of white pepper
Lots of black pepper or to taste

Methods:

1. In a hot wok add half of the oil.
2. When oil is hot, stir the ginger until it is lightly golden.
3. Remove the ginger and set aside.
4. Add the remaining oil and add the sliced chicken to the hot wok.
5. Add the dark soy sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, salt, oyster sauce and pepper.
6. Stir until it is fully cooked and all the liquid is evaporate.
7. Stir in the ginger and stir for a couple times.
8. Remove from heat and serve with hot steaming rice!

Seafood Wonton Soup

2010-09-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

The best soup are the one that are home made and from the heart, but with so many things to do and catch up, who has time for home made right? That is the sad part of today busy mom world. Having a meal on the table at all is a task to itself. Although I find that this to be true for me before in a bigger city and more demanding job, but now in a lazy slower pace town, I find time to make what is good for my family. It is not always completely from scratch, but always from the heart and it home cooked.
In Chinese culture, the most meaningful food to make for someone is soup. For soup is believed to be essential to balance energy and bring them back to health from sickness.
Beside from that fact it also time consuming to make soup, for you have to cook it at a medium to low heat to get the best flavor and benefit out of it.

Ingredients:

1 Package of dumping wrapper
12 Shrimps
6 Scallops
1 Tsp of minced ginger
1 Tbsp of minced scallion
1 Tsp of sesame oil
½ Salt
A couple of dash of white pepper
1 Tbsp of soy sauce
1 Tsp of rice wine
1 Tbsp of baking soda
1 Egg white
1 Package of fish balls or shrimp balls
5 Pieces of bak choy cut in halves

Soup:

1 Package chicken bone
1 Package pork neck bone
1 Dried turnip
6 dried shrimps
2 Inches ginger
1 Onion
1 Tsp of kosher salt
2 Tbsp of fish sauce
2 Tbsp of chicken soup base

Or use the ready made wonton powder soup base to taste.

Methods:

1. Make the soup by using ready made wonton soup base or boiling some pork neck bone and chicken bone for 2 hours with some ginger, onion, dried turnip and dried shrimp. Add kosher salt and fish sauce to taste.
2. Clean the shrimps and scallops and chop them into small desire size.
3. In a bowl add the baking soda and enough water to cover the shrimp and scallop and let sit for 30 minutes.
4. When it done rinse the baking soda out completely. Then mix the egg white and a couple dash of salt and message into the shrimps and scallops. Let it sit for another 15 minutes.
5. After the 15 minutes up, add the sesame oil, rice wine, salt, soy sauce, ginger, scallion, white pepper and mix well.
6. In a small pot pour enough water and bring to boil.
7. Placing the dumpling wrapper in your palm, scope a teaspoon size filling and place it in the middle. Now wrap it up by simply twisting into a small pouch with wet water finger or using some oil.
8. When all the wonton is ready, slowly lower into the boiling water and cook for a good 8 minutes. You can also blanch the bak choy at this time too.
9. Remove and place in the serving bowl adding the soup and some scallion.
10. Serve hot and enjoy!

Chicken Curry with Rice Vermicelli

2010-07-22T22:05:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned before, my favorite dish of all time is anything with noodle in it. In our house, it called “noodle head” and there a couple of us that can be labeled as that! Although rice vermicelli is not really consider as your traditional noodle, but nevertheless it is such as good if done right and with the right soup base. Now this is one of those dishes that is very popular in Southeast Asian where spices is their everyday life. And after tasting so many different curries dishes, I can state that every culture and family has their own version on how it is done.

This version that I am making is my family version that been passed down by my grandma. I remember getting up early in the morning to help cook, because she would make two big giant pot so that she can give it to all her five children and their family. Not to forget her neighbor too. Therefore, she usually make enough to feed 30 plus people and that meant lots of coconut grating, lemon grass mincing and the mortar always busy pounding away.
Of course this is the long and old fashion way where everything is made from scratch. In the end, the result is authentic and tasted splendid!

Now let face fact, not everyone is a homemaker that would actually have the time to do all this from scratch, so I came up with a shorter version and taste very close to how I remembered how my grandma curry used to be. Of course, if she ever found out I did this she would have a field day with me, but what she doesn’t know doesn’t hurt right?
Then again, I have both the long and easy version, so I am pretty much guilt free…or at least I hope to be….lol

Ingredients:

6 Lemon grasses
Handful of kaffier lime
5 Dried chili pods soak in hot water to soften
1” turmeric
4 Garlic cloves
In a mortar or food processor mash the above ingredient to fine and paste like. Now you have your homemade curry paste.
1 Tbsp of powder curry
(For a shortcut, you can use 2 Tbsp of Thai yellow curry + 1 Tsp of curry powder instead of the above ingredients)
1 Large can of coconut juice or 3 to 4 Cup of fresh squeeze coconut milk
1 Tbsp of oyster sauce
1 Tbsp of sugar
1 Tsp of shrimp paste
1 Tbsp of vegetable oil
½ Cup of fish sauce or to taste
1 Tsp of kosher salt or to taste
3 Tsp of chicken soup flavor powder
1 Organic chicken cut into small desire pieces
1 Large can of bamboo shoot
2 Large yellow onions
1 Handful of Asian green bean cut diagonally
3 Asian eggplants cut diagonally
2 Potato cut into 2’ cubes (optional)
Water

Garnish:

1 Handful of sweet basil
Fresh Thai chills
Bean sprout
Thinly sliced green been
Thinly sliced cucumber
Thinly sliced cabbage

Sauce:

4 to 5 Jalapenos
2 Cloves of garlic
1 Tsp of kosher salt
2 to 3 Tbsp of lime juice

This is the sauce that I made for dipping the chicken and vegetable in. It also great to put in the noodle to “give it a kick” BAM! Lol
In a mortar mash everything together and add the lime juice to taste. Set aside.

Methods:

1. In a 10 quart pot, heat to hot. Add the vegetable oil, wait a couple of seconds to bring the oil to hot. Stir in the curry paste, oyster sauce, half of the fish sauce, salt and stir until aroma and lightly golden.
2. Now stir in half of the coconut milk and bring to boil. If using the ¼ of the can, use half at a time with about a cup.
3. Add the chicken and stir until gently. Slowing adding the rest of the coconut milk, chicken flavor soup base, the rest of the salt and enough water to cover the chicken. I used coconut can to measure 3 to 4 cups of water, depending how thick you want the curry to be.
4. After it boil bring to heat to medium.
5. About 10 minutes before it done, put all the vegetable and let it cook.
6. In another pot, add enough water and bring to boil. Cook the vermicelli according to package.
7. Remove from heat and run cold water on it to stop the cooking process.
8. With your two index fingers pick the noodle up and form a circle around your palm.
9. Wring the water out of it and place on a strainer to dry.
10. Serve by placing the noodle and vegetable and herbs in a bowl while pouring the curry soup on top of it.
11. For a kick add the jalapeno and garlic sauce.

Ahi Tuna Salad

2010-07-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

This is a great dish if you’re looking for a lite and filling snack without all of the calories. I especially enjoy this dish, because the tangy sauce just compliments the Ahi tuna and crispy salad. This is can be serve alone before the main course as a salad dish. The plus side is that it is so easy to make and in such little time.

Ingredients:

½ Lb of fresh Ahi sushi grade Tuna
2 Tbsp of soy sauce
1 Tbsp of wasabi
1 Tsp of minced ginger
1 Tsp of minced cilantro
1 Tbsp of sesame oil
1 Tbsp of rice vinegar
1 Bag of baby Spinach clean

Methods:

1. Make the sauce by mixing the sesame oil, wasabi, soy sauce, rive vinegar, minced cilantro and ginger. Set aside.
2. Heat the skillet to hot. Place the tuna and sear for 1 minute on each side.
3. Remove from heat and slice into long thin stripe.
4. To serve place the sear ahi tuna over the baby spinach and lightly drizzle the dressing over it. Serve right away.

Sticky Rice Ball

2010-07-22T21:28:00.000-07:00

I love, love this sticky rice ball dessert. The plus side is that it is so easy to make. With very little time require and methods, this is one the dessert that you can easily impress your kids and guest alike. I for one never really have the need to make it when it so readily available in the hometown where I used to live in. Now since moving so far away in an isolated, no Asian food place, I have learn to make this with ease and confident. The only hard part is the coconut grating part. Otherwise this will be a easy as pie recipe.

The texture is so worth it though. With a slight sweetness chewy and sticky rice on the outside and sweet, melts in your mouth palm sugar in the inside is just to die for! The coconut meat is just added the perfect combination to both of this texture, making it crunchy and creamy, yet so delightful. This is a must try recipe, even just for the sake of trying!

Ingredients:
2 Cups glutinous rice flour
½ Cup of palm sugar (filling)
1 Cup Hot boiling water
1 Cup freshly grated coconut meat
1 Tsp of vanilla extract
¼ Cup of granulated sugar

Methods:

1. Smashed the palm sugar to thumb sizes. Set aside.
2. Grated the coconut meat and set aside.
3. In a clean bowl, pour the flour in it and make a well in the center.
4. Slowly pour the hot water into it and mix well. Be sure to do it a little at a time so that you’ll get the right consistency. Use a wooden spoon to blend the flour together until it pliable.
5. Now knead the dough in your hand for a couple of minute.
6. Meanwhile, in a small pot pour enough water to ¾ full and bring to boil.
7. Pull out a quarter size ball and flatten it. Place the thumb size palm sugar in the middle and close it up by kneading it until it looks like a ball.
8. Now drop the ball into the boil water. It will sink down to the bottom of the pan. Once it floats up, it is done. Pick it up and let it cool off for a couple of minute.
9. To finish this dessert just roll is in the grated coconut meat and serve hot.
10. Carefully when biting into it, because the palm sugar in the center is very hot and runny.

Honey Pecan Shrimps

2010-06-29T20:57:00.000-07:00

This is a crispy on the outside and soft and moist inside shrimps that is perfected with the enhance by the creaminess of the mayo and sweetness of the honey with a hint of tangy from the lemon juice. It one of those dish that just melts in your mouth and you can’t help but have more than one. I for one love this rich dish even though I feel very guilty stuffing my face in it. For this very reason I tried not to make it too often. In fact, I made only twice a year. One for Chinese New Year and another time around my eldest son birthday, because he just love it. He said that he can never have enough of it! Now that he moved out, I will have to make this more often to lure him to visit me. lol There not much preparation to this dish, only to coat it in flour, fry and coat it with real mayo and honey. A very simple dish to make, yet bursting with flavor that still linger even after you swallow it. It will leave a great impression if you aim to press your guest or your family once in awhile. It always did for me!

Ingredients:

1 Lb jumbo shrimps, peel and devein
½ Cup corn starch or rice flour or all purposed flour
2 Egg beaten
1 Tbsp of fresh squeezed lemon juice
3 Tbsp of real mayo
Salt to taste
1 Tbsp of condensed milk
1 Tbsp of honey or to sweetness taste
5 Tbsp of water
¼ Cup of sugar
½ Pecan (originally walnut is used)
Water

Methods:

1. Heat the flyer to hot or if using pot, heat enough oil to hot. About 2 cups of oil.
2. Bring a little water to boil and add the pecan. Cook for a minute remove. Strain out the water and set aside.
3. Peel and devein shrimps then clean it and set aside.
4. In a mixing bowl beat egg together to blend.
5. In another bowl place the corn starch flour and set aside.
6. Dip the shrimp into the egg and let it sit for ten minutes.
7. Now drain the eggs out and dip the shrimps into the flour and coat well. Divided it into three to four batches.
8. Place in the hot oil and cook until shrimp turn pink and fully cook. About 3-5 minutes. Remove and set on towel to take the oil out and makes it crispy.
9. Do this to until all the shrimps is cook.
10. Now while your last batch of shrimps is being cook, mix all the ingredients together such as the mayo, lemon juice, honey and condensed milk and salt to taste. Set aside.
11. In a small non stick pot, heat the water and sugar until boil. When it boil lower the heat to medium and stir until it turn amber and slightly thicken.
12. Remove from the heat add the pecan to sugar coat it.
13. Now add the cook shrimps to the mayo sauce and toss a couple of time to couple it completely.
14. Serve hot and garnish with the sweet pecan.

Sa lor Ma Chiu Karung

2010-06-25T22:14:00.000-07:00

I am not going to write a lot about this soup only that it is an exceptional Cambodian dish that I have ever learn to make. In the Khmer culture if you can cook this soup, then it meant you can cook! The reason being that it require some time to prepared the herbs and spices to get ready for this soup. Of course, once you got the basic herbs and spices down, you can most certainly cook most Khmer dishes due to it similar ingredients and methods.
Also I would like to add that even though the taste should be very sharp with it perfect harmony of sweet and sour, every family will have their version of meat and vegetable preferences. I do mine version by observing and trying many different kind before deciding that this is the flavor I set out to accomplished.
Overall, I like mine thick and with lots of chewy texture meat and tendon. Sometime I would add beef tripe too, to make it taste super yummy. Mostly importantly bold and sharp is the word to best describe the flavor of this soup.

Ingredients:

1 Lb beef stew meat cut into cube
½ Lb beef tendon cut into thumb size pieces
½ Cup grind lemon grass (about 6 to 8 whole)
½ Tsp of turemic powder or small thumb size fresh one, grind
¼ Cup fish sauce
1 Tbsp of vegetable oil
1 Tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp of oyster sauce
2 Tbsp of chicken soup flavor powder
4 Clove garlic
4 Jalapeno
1 Handful of morning glory cut three time.
1/2 Cup kaffir lime leaves grind
2 Tbsp of tamarind soup flavor powder
1 Winter melon gourd
6 Round Asian egg plants
1 Cup celery sliced diagonally
Water

Methods:

1. Clean and cut the beef and tendon, set aside in refrigerator.
2. Finely cut the lemon grass, lime leaves, fresh galaga, garlic, fresh termine and put in the grinder and grind until fine and almost paste like. If using the dry version, put in the grinder to blend too.
3. Heat a 5 quarts pot to hot. Add the vegetable oil to hot. Add the herb mixture, oyster sauce, fish sauce, salt and stir until lightly golden.
4. Add the meat and tendon and enough water to cover the meat.
5. Bring it to boil and turn to heat to medium and let it shimmer until tender. I let mine sit for 1 hour and 20 minutes, because you want the tendon to tender but not over cook the meat.
6. Ten minutes before it done, add the whole jalapeno, slice celery, melon and egg plant and shimmer.
7. When the vegetable is semi, add the morning glory and turn off and remove from the stove. Don’t overcooked the vegetable, because it will continue to cook even if remove from heat when it in soup form.

Duran Cake

2010-06-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

I made this cake for my daughter 2nd birthday awhile back. Although, it was a very rich cake, but it very good because it light in sweetness. I love that in Asian cake, everything is very fluffy and light making it feels like you're eating cotton candy just with very little sugar. I can never get enough of this cake, especially
with whipped cream and duran filling! This cake recipe is not for the fainted heart that doesn't like the taste or the smell of duran. So thread with caution!

Ingredients:

Duran Whip Filling

1 Cup heavy whipping cream
½ Cup mash frozen duran
1 Cup powder sugar
1 Tbsp of clear gelatin
3 Tsp of hot water

Methods:

1. In a cool metal bowl whip the egg to foam.
2. While the heavy cream is whipping, dissolve the gelatin and powder sugar into hot water until melt.
3. Pour the mixture into the whip cream and beat until almost whip cream stage.
4. Add the duran.
5. Place in the refrigerator to set, about 45 minutes.

Whip Cream Icing

2 Cup of heavy cream
1 Cup sugar
1 Tbsp of clear gelatin
3 Tbsp of hot water

The method is the same as the above just without the duran being added.

Asian Chiffon Cake

1 ½ Cup of cake flour ( for 1 Cup of flour used only 6 to 7 eggs)
½ Tsp of baking powder
½ Cup of Sugar + 2 Tbsp
¼ Tsp cream of tartar
½ Cup of water
¼ Cup of oil
1 Tsp of vanilla extract
9 Eggs separated

Methods:

1. Preheat over to bake at 350 F.
2. Shift the cake flour and baking powder.
3. In a blender, blend the oil, sugar and water.
4. Add the egg yolks and vanilla extract, blend on medium for a couple of minutes.
5. Slowly pour the flour and blend well or until pale yellow and fluffy, about 1 minutes or so.
6. In another cold metal bowl, whip the eggs white to foamy, add the cream of tartar and sugar to stiff. When you turn the bowl upside down, the egg would stay in shape and not off.
7. Now slowly fold the flour into the eggs white. Do not over mix or it will deflated.
8. Grease two 8 inches round pan and lined with parchment paper on the side. Slowly pour the batter into it.
9. Bake for 35- 45 minutes or until golden amber and a toothpick is clean when poke in the center.
10. Remove from oven and let it cool for 5 minutes. Then move to a cake rake to cool for at least a couple of hours or more.
11. When the duran cooled, spread the duran icing between the two or four layers.
12. Ice the outside and top of the cake with the whip cream icing.
13. Using the ready made fondant, color and decorated as desired.

My pineapple Tart

2010-06-22T21:41:00.000-07:00

I have made this sometime at the beginning of Spring. I was inspired by the beautiful bloom in my garden, so I decided to make a flower shape version. Even though it is Summer now, I feel that I should post this anyway, just because it so yummy! This pineapple tart is so good, that you can’t have just one. The flaky melts in your mouth pastry is a perfect combination with the sweet and tangy pineapple jam. Taste great with a cup of coffee or tea. I tried not to make this yummy tart too often, for a have a tendency to eat too much in one sitting. Luckily, my oldest son loves it too and he would be the one that usually help me finish it.

This cookies is not hard to make, but is does require the right amount of ingredients and right oven temperature.

Ingredients:

Pineapple Jam

2 Pineapple
2 Tbsp corn syrup
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tsp ground cinnamon
½ Cup of granulated sugar

Methods:

1. Cut and clean pineapple. Remove all the seeds. And put it in the food processor and pulse three to four time. You want it chunky not well blend.
2. Remove from the processor and strain it until really well until dry.
3. In a non-stick pot set on medium, pour the pineapple, both sugar, cinnamon, corn syrup and stir constantly so that it won’t burn or stick on the bottom of the pot.
4. Repeat this for about 30 minutes or until thicken.
5. Remove from heat and let it cool. Then place it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or overnight to harden it up a little more.
6. After the cooling and harden process, scope into small ball to desire size and set aside.

Pastry Dough:

250 g butter
100 g powder sugar
4 egg yolks
350 g all purpose flour
1 Tbsp corn starch
2 Tsp baking powder
2 Tsp vanilla essence

Egg wash:
1 Egg
A Pinch of salt
1 Tbsp of water
Beat well

Methods:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F on bake.
2. Blend in the butter and sugar until it nice and fluffy and white.
3. Add the egg yolks one by one and blend at slow for 1 minute.
4. Gradually add the flour and mix well.
5. Put the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to harden a bit.
6. Remove roll out and cut into desire shapes.
7. Brush the egg wash on it evenly.
8. Place the pineapple jam on the top and place in the oven.
9. Bake for 30 minutes or until it is light golden amber.
10. Remove and cool.

Sesame Sticky Rice Square

2010-06-22T21:39:00.001-07:00

If you anything that is love sticky rice likes I do and I can’t seem to get enough of it, then here another dessert snack for you. This one the method is exactly the same as the Mango Sticky Rice and Durian Sticky rice. Well maybe a slight difference. You will need roasted sesame instead of the other fruit topping.

If you don’t want to make it a dessert, just don’t put too much sugar and it will be a great and filling snack for the kid to put in their lunch box. That is another recipe all together.
As always make sure to soak your sticky rice in advance.

Ingredients:

2 Cup sticky rice
1 Big can of coconut cream (maploy brand is best)
1 ½ Cup of sugar
½ Tsp of salt
½ Cup of roasted sesame
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
Bamboo dim sum basket or it original Thai bamboo steamer

Methods:

1. Drain the rice the rice. If you using the dim sum bamboo basket, place a cheese clothe on top of it and pour the rice over it, cover. If you’re using the original Thai steamer, just pour the rice in it and cover with a ceramic plate. Fill bottom pot with water half way to the rice, do not touch the rice. Cook for 35- 40 minutes. Make sure to flip and turn it half way so that it will fully cook.
2. When the rice is done, stir it to separate it.
3. Now in a medium sauce pan, pour the coconut cream, sugar and salt and bring to boil.
4. Stir the coconut sauce on the rice and mix well over medium heat until coconut milk is completely absorb and turn clear and shinny texture.
5. Next, sprinkle half the sesame on the rice and mix well again.
6. Now pour the whole mixture on a square pan or glass pan and spread and level.
7. Lastly, sprinkle the sesame on top and press down.
8. Let it sit for half a day to harden then cut into 3 x 3 squares.
9. If you need to cool fast, place it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Serve cool.

Mee Ka La (Dried Noodle)

2010-06-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

This is one of my all time favorite noodle snack. It is just dried noodle with eggs and dried shrimp and pickle shredded carrot and green papaya. The combination of the vegetable pickle and sweet and sour sauce is very complimentary. And the eggs gives it the creaminess, that just melt in your mouth. Of course, I would have to say that this is a preference dish. It neither you love it or just plain hate it. In a way, you have to enjoy the simple taste in order to enjoy this noodle.

The plus part is that there no cooking require, well maybe just a little on the eggs part. In my opinions, the taste is all about preference. If you like simple yet tasty dishes, then this one might just do it for you. Now if you like noodle soup and more fancy type dishes, then this one might just be too simple for you. This is what you would call a poor man noodle or country noodle in the native South East Asia, mainly Cambodia.

Ingredients:

6 Eggs, cook and sliced into four pieces
Dark soy sauce
½ Cup dried shrimp, grind
2 Tbsp preserved turnip (in a plastic or ceramic jar for noodle soup)
Bean sprouts
Cilantro
Chopped peanuts (optional)
A couple dash of white pepper
Hot chilies paste sauce
1 Bag fresh noodle

Garlic oil:

2 Garlic gloves, minced
3 Tbsp of vegetable oil

Pickle Vegetable:

1 Tbsp of vinegar
¼ Cup water
3 Tbsp of fish sauce
3 Carrot, shredded
1 Cup papaya, shredded
1 Cucumber cut into small pieces.

* Place the cucumber and shredded carrot and papaya in a plastic container and pour the vinegar, water, fish sauce and set in refrigerator a day or two in advance.

Sauce:

2 Garlic glove, minced
2 Tbsp sugar
½ Tsp salt
½ Cup water
1/4 Cup of fish sauce
1 Tbsp of vinegar

Methods:

1. Prepare pickle overnight.
2. Making the garlic oil, by bring the oil to hot and add the minced garlic until amber.
3. The next day, prepared the garnish by boiling the eggs and then cutting into small pieces.
4. Next grind the dried shrimp into small flakes.
5. Then make the sauce by bringing the water to boil.
6. Add the minced garlic, fish sauce, sugar and vinegar. When it shimmer pull away from the heat and set aside.
7. To make the noodle. In a noodle strainer, place the noodle over hot boiling water for 5 seconds.
8. Pull out of the pot and let it drip until dry. Place in a serving bowl and add the garlic oil to prevent it from sticking together. Add a dash of dark soy sauce for coloring and mix well.
9. Now add all garnish such egg, bean sprout, preserved turnip, pickle vegetable and dried shrimp.
10. Lastly, top it off with a couple of spoon of the sauce or to desire taste. Enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Shrimp Salad

2010-06-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

This salad is a Cambodian country style version. With this salad style, many versions are made from it. The most common one are the beef, shrimp, chicken and pork. There are also other exotic version such as the beef tripe and chicken feet. I seen it made, where both are add and it actually pretty tasty. This is considered as an appetizer or a starter salad that often accompany with another meaty dish. It is often a dish that to be accompany with beer or alcohol for those whom like to snack while drinking, generally it the men in the Asian culture.

Ingredients:

1 Lb shrimps, devien, peel, cook then split in half
2 Tbsp fish sauce or to taste
½ Kosher salt
¼ Cup tamarind juice (soak 1 tbsp in hot water for 15 minutes, then strain for the juice only)
2 Tbsp of sugar
¼ Cup of water
8 Thai chilies, minced
½ Cup of sa dao (bitter leave/ flower vegetable, frozen)
1Garlic minced
3 Cups of cabbage, shredded
1 Small onion, shredded
1 Handful of mint
1 Handful of basil
1 Handful of cilantro, cut into small pieces
2 Cups bean sprouts
1 Cucumber, sliced into small pieces
1 Small bell pepper cut into small thin pieces

Methods:

1. Clean, peel and devien the shrimp. Cook the shrimps in some water for 5 minutes or until it turn pink. Remove split in halves and set aside.
2. Clean the cabbage, sa dao, onion, bell pepper, herbs, Thai chilies, cilantro and bean sprout.
3. Cut all the vegetable and place in a big mixing bowl.
4. Now add all the vegetable together with shrimps, leaving the bean sprout and herbs last.
5. Mix in the tamarind juice, fish sauce, salt, sugar, minced garlic, Thai chilies. Mix well.
6. Lastly add the herbs and bean sprout and toss a couple of time.

Serve as is.

Hai Nam Chicken Rice

2010-06-07T21:18:00.000-07:00

Here another dishes that is widely enough and enjoy in many Asian culture. Even though there were some changes that were made passing down from generation to generation and culture to culture, but we can all agreed that it was originated from a region in China call Hai Nam. Or at least this is what it is called in most restaurant and people that I know that makes this dish. Simple as it is, yet the chicken is burst with flavors that compliment the chicken very nicely. My guess is that this is Asian comforting food, or at least it is for our house.

The taste though is very similar, but the ingredients and the sauce might be a bit different. I noticed the Vietnamese and Cambodian version they used broken rice. It actually very good this way too! And they would accompany this dish with some pickle carrot and diakon. As for the sauce they would use the sweet and sour fish sauce.

My version is the Chinese version, the one that you can find in Chinese restaurant.
Although it is easy to make, but it is time consuming. The longest would be steaming the chicken and then cooking the rice. Too bad there no way to shorten the process, unless you used the can chicken broth to cook the rice and steam the chicken at the same time, but it will defeat the whole purpose of this awesome dish. So take the long way, and I guarantee you that you will appreciate it more. So will your family and their health! I know my kids did, because once in awhile they would ask me to make it for them.

Ingredients:

1 Whole chicken 4-6 lb (organic best flavor)
1 Cup finely chopped scallion
1 Tbsp powder or cube chicken soup based
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 Garlic glove, minced
1 Tsp of ginger minced
1 Tbsp kosher salt + ½ Tsp of salt
½ Tsp black pepper
4 Cup of jasmine rice uncooked, clean

Dipping sauce:

1 Tbsp of vegetable oil
1 Tbsp of ginger, minced
1 Tbsp of scallion, minced
1 Tbsp of cilantro, minced (optional, can used whole to eat as a vegetable)
1 Tsp of sugar

Mix everything together and set aside

Methods:

1. Clean and towel dried the chicken.
2. Take the minced ½ Tbsp of the salt, ginger, scallion, and garlic and spread it evenly under the chicken skin. Let it sit for 30 minutes or more.
3. In a steamer, add the rest of the salt in enough (10 cups or more) water to steam the chicken. Put it in top tray and steam for 45 minutes.
4. When the chicken is cooked. Remove the water or juice from the chicken steam bottom part and pour it on top of the clean rice in the rice cooker. With your index finger, measure up to the first notch on your finger for nice firm rice. If you like it soft then go past that a little.
5. Press cook and wait.
6. Meanwhile, when the rice is almost done. Sautee the finely chopped scallion in the 2 tbsp of vegetable oil by heating the oil to hot, add the scallion and remove from the stove.
7. Pour the hot oil and scallion on the cook rice with the ½ tsp of salt and mix well.
8. Serve by chopping the chicken to desire size and arrange it around the rice with some cucumber and cilantro. And the dipping sauce on a side.
9. If you still have some juice left, make it into soup by adding some cilantro and white pepper.

Serve hot.

Beef Loc Lak

2010-05-25T19:58:00.001-07:00

I made this a month or so ago and didn’t have a chance to post it up. This is not a hard dish to make, but it is very yummy and good for you. Great way to incorporated vegetable and eggs into your kids balance diet. Well as you know by now, that most of the dish that I made are very common to different Asian culture. For the recipe tend to circulate around and around to different region of Asia and every culture adapted it as their own, with some slight changes.

There not much to give you advice on, only that don’t overcook the beef or it will become chewy, unless you used rib eyes steak. In all it is a very simple and dish to make, so don’t worry, you can’t make any mistake as long as you don’t burn it.

Ingredients:

1 Lb Rib eyes beef stead or beef sirlon
2 Tbsp of soy sauce
½ Tsp of dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tsp of black pepper
½ Tsp of kosher salt
¼ Cup of corn starch
1 Tbsp of minced garlic
4 Eggs
2 Tbsp of vegetable oil
2 Tomato, thinly sliced
1 Head of red lettuce, clean
1 Medium onion, thinly sliced

Dipping Sauce:

2 Tbsp of lime juice
1 Tsp of white pepper
1 Tsp of salt

Mix well and set aside.

Methods:

1. Clean and cut into 1” cube. Mix in the corn starch and let it set for 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, arrange the plate as shown in the picture above, with lettuce, sliced tomato and sliced onion.
3. Now heat the skillet to hot add 1 tbsp of oil. Wait for a couple of seconds, add the minced garlic until aroma.
4. Add the beef, oyster, dark soy sauce, soy sauce, pepper and salt. Stir until cook, about 5 minutes plus.
5. When the beef is done, scope in and place it on top of the decorated plate.
6. In another clean pan, heat to hot and add the remaining oil. When it hot add the four eggs and cook it to desire. Normally, it prefer that the inside it a little runny. Remove and place on top of the beef.

Water Crest With Oyster Sauce

2010-05-25T19:50:00.000-07:00

This vegetarian dish can be found at every dim sum outing. It a very simple dish to prepared, yet is very flavorful and delicious. I often order this to accompany all my other meat dim sum dishes. As mention before, it is a Chinese culture to have at least a vegetable dish and soup to accompany a main dish. Beside from the fact that it taste good, it also a great way to get your green in the menu too!

Ingredients:

2 Bunches of water crest clean and dried
1 Tbsp of vegetable oil
½ Tsp of salt
1 Tbsp of oyster sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
½ Tsp of sugar (optional)

Methods:

1. In a mixing bowl mix the oil, oyster sauce, salt and sugar together and set aside.
2. In a pot fill water to half and bring to boil.
3. Add the water crest a little at a time and let it cook slightly.
4. Remove from the pot and directly to the already mix sauce and mix well.
5. Repeat until all is done.
6. Serve hot.

Salt and Pepper Chicken Drumstick

2010-05-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

Here another version of the salt and pepper dish. I find this one is very yummy with it crispy out and moist inside, accompany with it salty and pepper taste. Although, I have to admit that I do prefer the shrimp version better, but the chicken is just as good. If you haven’t realized by now that our house love chicken, then this should seal it. Yes, we love chicken and there was even a time where we only had chicken. You name it we ate. Chicken soup, chicken dumpling, chicken noodle, fried chicken, broil chicken, stir fried chicken etc….And then there was a long pause from chicken, because we feel that we’re actually turning into a chicken from eating too much chicken. Lol Or at least that what my husband said.

Anyway, let not get off subject. The purpose of this recipe is for anyone and everyone out there that don’t have a lot time to cook and want something that is fast, easy and delicious. I can attest to you that this is the recipe for you. Beside from the cleaning and cutting the vegetable part, which is actually the time consuming part, the rest is a breeze. Well at least it is for me. You see, I don’t have a lot of patient. Therefore, I like to every thing fast. And things as vegetable washing and cutting sort of slow me down. When I do feel too drain and too busy, sometime I make my son do all this tedious work for me, so that I can just go and do the major part. It like having an assistant, the only thing is that he learning in the process.

Ingredients:

10 Chicken drumstick, but into two or three small pieces
¼ Cup of corn starch
1 Egg white
1 Tbsp of white pepper
1 Tsp of black pepper
1 Tbsp of kosher salt
½ Cup of finely chopped scallion
½ Cup of finely chopped jalapeño

Methods:

1. Clean and dried chicken. Cut it into three pieces and mix the egg white in completely.
2. Next, mix the corn starch in let it sit for 10 minutes. Heat the fryer at this time to hot.
3. Cook it in the fryer for 15 minutes or until done and golden brown. Do it in three small batches, so that it won’t stick together and it crisper this way.
4. As soon as you pick it out of the flyer place it in a mixing bowl and sprinkle the salt, pepper and white pepper on it. Toss it a couple of time.
5. Lastly, toss in the minced scallion and jalapeno and give it one more toss.

Serve with hot rice.

Five Spice Pork Belly With Eggs

2010-05-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

Ok I know that every family have their own version of this dish regardless if you’re Chinese, Cambodian, Thai, Vietnamese or Lao. And I also noticed that different culture make it almost the same way but just sweeter or darker. Naturally this would happen, due to the fact that everyone have different taste bud and the recipe that is being past down from generations had to change a little in every culture.

I like mine not too sweet but more salty and lots of black pepper. I consider my taste bud pretty bold, therefore my flavor is very intense. The combination of sweet and salty have to compliment each other and be able to match one another. Oh, and we love eggs so if you haven’t noticed I put a lot of eggs. And I like it brown. Usually it gets that way the next day when it have time to absorb the flavor and coloring. Thus it also known as brown eggs that often sell on the street cart in most part of Asia.
As for the soup, make sure it not too runny or too thick. It has to be the right consistency for the full flavor goodness.

Ingredients:

4 Pieces of pork bellies cut into 2 inches pieces
2 Inches ginger slice diagonally
3 Star anises
1 Tsp of five spice powder
2 Tbsp of oyster sauce
½ Cup of soy sauce or to taste
¼ Cup of dark soy sauce
¼ Cup brown or malt sugar
1 Tbsp of minced garlic
1 Tbsp of vegetable oil
3 + Tbsp of black pepper
12 + Eggs
Water

* Boil the egg in advance and let it cool before peeling it.

Methods:

1. In a hot pot add the oil and bring to hot.
2. Add the minced garlic until golden and aroma. Then add the ginger.
3. Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar with 1 cup of water and bring it to thicken.
4. Add the sliced pork pieces and dark soy sauce and stir for 6 to 7 minutes or until it is brown and sauce thicken some more.
5. Add some more water to cover the pork with the rest of the ingredients such as the star anises, five spice powders, black pepper and egg.
6. Cover slightly and cook for at least 35 minutes or until it slightly tender and the juice thicken. Depending how tender you like it. Cook to preference.
7. Turn off and let it sit for 35 minutes so that the flavor will intensify.

Reheat once more to grab the bold flavor and serve.

Chicharrone with Hot Sauce

2010-05-21T22:12:00.000-07:00

I accidentally discover this one day years ago. Although I like the concept of chicharrone with spicy sauce sandwich, still the taste was lacking something. Not until a couple of years ago, in a desperate attempted to make something out of my pantry did I came up with this recipe. I know that there are many kind of chicharrone sandwich recipes out there and I haven’t tried it all yet. This is something that I made up to my taste bud and it a very delicious one indeed. I only make upon request from my sons whom love it with a passion. There is something with the spiciness and sweet combination of the sauce and the chewy texture that makes it so addicting. And with all the health conscious food lately, this may not be good for you, but it sure does good.

Ingredients:

1 Big bag of Mexican chicharrone (pork cracking)
1 Small can of chipotle chilies
2 Large onions chopped
2 Chile pod soak to tender
1 Tbsp of butter
2 Tbsp of cinder vinegar
1 Bunch of cilantro
2 Tbsp of brown Sugar
2 Cup chicken broth

Methods:

1. In a hot skillet melt the butter and add the chopped onion and sauté until golden amber and aroma, remove from heat.
2. In a blender place the chipotle chilies, cilantro and sauté onion and give it a three to four pulse. Don’t over blend it. Leave it a bit chunky.
3. Bring it back to the pot and add the rest of the ingredients in and bring to boil.
4. Lower the heat to medium and add the chicharrone and stir until all is fully absorbed by the chicharrone. Doing this process make it tender and flavorful. About 10 minutes process.
5. Remove and let cool slightly.
6. Serve on bread.

Mango Mousse Cake

2010-05-19T22:26:00.001-07:00

For my son 12 birthday, I decided to make him this mango mouse cake since he love anything mango. Beside I can’t let mango season pass by without celebrating it with this melts in your mouth Asian style cake. I’ve always been fascinated with this cake and often ponder on how it is made and why is tasted so different from the American cake version. Now the reason I mention this is that Asian sponge cake tend to be very delicate and less sweet, due to the fact that they like to use whipped cream icing. As for the American sponge cake are hard and it uses butter cream that is super sweet. I don’t really have a taste for that latter version.

After years of research and many mistakes and errors I learnt a few tips and techniques to perfect my Asian cake version, but this is my first time making the mango mousse version. Although I made the mouse a bit runny, due to the fact that I over saturated it mango that was too chunky, it turn out very good taste wise. We actually finished the cake in one day, between the four of us! And this will not be the last time. There will be many more attempts and errors. Hopefully I will perfect it next time around. Now I can’t wait until another birthday comes up.

Ingredients:

For the mousse

6 Large mangos

• Peel the mango and puree it with a half cup of water.

For the fruit glaze:

1 Tbsp of clear gelatin
3 Tbsp hot water
• Dissolve the gelatin in hot water when ready to do the fruit topping.

For the chocolate designs

1 Dark chocolate bar
1 Milk chocolate bar

Melt in microwave for 1 minute. Stir it every 30 seconds to blend.
Remove from microwave and leave for 5 second or until slightly cool, dip two fingers into it and spread it on parchment paper to dry. To make the top design, just scope some on a spoon and carefully make your zig zag design. Let it set for 30 minutes.

Mango Mouse

1 ½ cup puree mango
1 ½ cup heavy whipping cream
¼ Cup powder sugar
2 Tbsp of clear gelatin
2 Tbsp boil water

Methods:

1. In a clean cool metal bowl mix the heavy whipping until form.
2. Add the sugar and whipped until whip cream stage.
3. Add the mango and blend well.
4. Add the clear gelatin into the hot water until fully melt and slightly thicken.
5. Let it cool for about 1 minute then blend in with the whipping cream.
6. Place in the refrigerator for a 1 or so to stiffen some more.

For the mango glaze

1 Tbsp of clear gelatin
½ Cup mango puree
3 Tbsp of hot water
½ Lemon juice
2 Tbsp of sugar

1. After the cake is fully glazed, wrap a piece of parchment paper 2 inches about around the cake.
1. Heat the water to hot, add the clear gelatin and stir until melt.
2. Pour the gelatin in the mango puree adding the lemon juice.
3. Pour on top of the cake and let it sit for 30 to 45 minute to sit in the refrigerator.

Asian Chiffon Cake

1 ½ Cup of cake flour ( for 1 Cup of flour used only 6 to 7 eggs)
½ Tsp of baking powder
½ Cup of Sugar + 2 Tbsp
¼ Tsp cream of tartar
½ Cup of water
¼ Cup of oil
1 Tsp of vanilla extract
9 Eggs separated

Methods:

1. Preheat over to bake at 350 F.
2. Shift the cake flour and baking powder.
3. In a blender, blend the oil, sugar and water.
4. Add the egg yolks and vanilla extract, blend on medium for a couple of minutes.
5. Slowly pour the flour and blend well or until pale yellow and fluffy, about 1 minutes or so.
6. In another cold metal bowl, whip the eggs white to foamy, add the cream of tartar and sugar to stiff. When you turn the bowl upside down, the egg would stay in shape and not off.
7. Now slowly fold the flour into the eggs white. Do not over mix or it will deflated.
8. Grease two 8 inches round pan and lined with parchment paper on the side. Slowly pour the batter into it.
9. Bake for 35- 45 minutes or until golden amber and a toothpick is clean when poke in the center.
10. Remove from oven and let it cool for 5 minutes. Then move to a cake rake to cool for at least a couple of hours or more.
11. When it cooled down. Ice one of the layer in the mango mousse or cut each layer into two so and ice between each to make four layers cake. If you’re using four layer, use the mousse sparingly or you won’t have enough all around. Or you can double your mousse batch. Finish off the mousse by icing all over the cake. Let it set in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes.
12. After the 45 minutes, remove and lined the side with a parchment paper tightly. Making sure that non of the glaze would drip to the side.
13. Pour the warm mango glaze over it evenly.
14. Now for the fruit topping. Just dip the fruit into the warm fruit glaze and coat evenly.
15. Place it in your desire design.
16. Place it the refrigerator about 45 minutes to let it set.
17. Remove from the refrigerator and remove the parchment paper and decorate the side of the cake with the harden chocolate on the side and on top if desire.

This cake is best serve cold. And leave in the refrigerator to harden the glaze and when not serving.

Crispy Chilies and Garlic Chicken

2010-05-19T22:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, I will be upfront with you regarding this recipe. This is the first recipe that isn’t mine, but I really enjoy eating this tasty and crispy chicken once in awhile. In fact, this is my husband recipe. He said that it is his special recipe and that it should be keep a secret! For he felt that it took him awhile to perfected this recipe.
And I do have to admit that it actually very good, considering that it came from a guy that only cook a couple of dishes. Well maybe 6 to be exact! Lol And those are all his favorite dishes too..not kidding!

Anyway, this crispy outside and moist inside chicken have a lots nice spices to it. He a very simple guy that doesn’t have much method to his cooking, therefore I don’t have much to share with you on this one.

Ingredients:

6 Pieces of thigh meat
10 Thai chilies
5 Garlic cloves
1 Tbsp of powder chicken stock
4 Tbsp of fish sauce
½ Tsp of kosher salt
1 Tsp of black pepper

Methods:

1. Clean and remove the fat out on the chicken and place it in a clean mixing bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mortar combine all the dried ingredient first and mash to paste like.
3. Add the fish sauce and mix well.
4. Now take the chicken and message in the sauce. Cover tightly and place in the refrigerator overnight.
5. The next day, heat the fryer to hot.
6. Cook in the fryer for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Serve right away for the nice crispy taste.

Spicy Oyster Salad

2010-05-19T22:11:00.001-07:00

For those of you who love oyster and what something different than your regular hot sauce and lemon taste…then this is one recipe you have to try. Although it is very spice, it is very refreshing and delicious. Especially, with a great beer or glass of White Zinfandel wine.

This dish is very easy to make, the only hard part is getting it out of the shelf, but if you’re using the can version, it just fast and simple. Now if you don’t feel like messing with oyster and wants to try some, there always Thai restaurant that serve this exotic dish.

Ingredients:

10-12 Fresh oysters of I pre-clean can in your grocery seafood section
A handful of cilantro chopped
10-15 Thai chilies
2 Tbsp of Lime juice
2 Tbsp of fish sauce
1 Tbsp of sugar
Pinch of salt
1 Red shallot chopped
Lettuce for decoration, clean and dry

Methods:

1. If you’re using fresh oyster, remove from shell and clean it thoroughly and set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile make the make the sauce using a mortar by grinding the thai chilies and sugar, until it slightly fine.
3. Add the lime juice, salt to taste and fish sauce.
4. Toss in the cilantro and red shallot and oysters, mix well.
5. With the lettuce, chopped into bite size and place on the top of the plate.
6. Pour the oysters mixture on top of it and serve.

Chicken and Tofu in Clay Pot

2010-05-19T22:04:00.000-07:00

If you’re looking for authentic Chinese cooking, than this is the closest you’re getting without having to go to China. Many of the rural Chinese village uses clay pot to cook, due to lack of fancy porcelains. They utilized what they have and this method actually makes the dish very tasteful. Another popular dish that was made from clay pot is the rice and meat or seafood. Cooking this way makes the rice nice and crispy on the bottom and very moist inside. It’s also very flavor and has a nice aroma to it too, but that is another recipe in the making soon.

This is almost stew, because of the process of make the chicken tender. It’s great comfort food for the winter and when you don’t know what to make.

Ingredients:

4 to 6 Pieces of thigh or drumstick cut into desire size
1 Cube of soft tofu cut into tiny cubes
1 Garlic chopped
1 Cup of water
½ Tsp of ginger
1 Tbsp of vegetable oil
1 Tsp of sesame oil
½ Tsp of black pepper
½ Tsp of kosher salt
¼ Cup of soy sauce or to taste
¼ Cup of dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp of brown sugar
1 Tbsp of rice vinegar (optional if you like it with a hint of tanginess)
6 Shiitake mushroom, soaked until soften

Methods:

1. Soak the dried shiitake mushroom 30 minutes in advance in hot water. Cut the steam and spilt in an x in the middle.
2. Heat the clay pot to hot. Add the vegetable oil and sesame oil until hot then add the chopped garlic and ginger until lightly amber and aroma.
3. Add the water and brown sugar, vinegar, salt, pepper, soy sauce and dark soy sauce and bring to boil. Lower the heat to medium until the sauce is slightly thicken.
4. Add the chopped chicken and mushroom, stir a couple of time and cover it for 25 to 35 minutes or until if tender.
5. The last 10 minutes give it a couple of stirs and carefully add the soft tofu on top and side and cover it with the juice in the pot. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes.
6. Remove and give a couple dash of white pepper, serve hot over steam rice.

Jumbo Prawn Sweet and Sour Soup

2010-05-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, I am sure everyone Asian family has their family recipe for this soup. I for one, like to experiment with different version of this soup. In every Asian culture there is a similarity with only a slight difference, but the taste is all but one.

I love this refreshing soup with a perfect balance of sweet and sour, not one flavor too over powering of the other. It has to be or it won’t taste right.

Ingredients:

1 Lb of jumbo shrimps or prawn
3 Stalk of lotus steam, cut diagonally or/and Asian Rhubard
1 Handful of morning glory cut into three section
2 Red tomato, slice into to four pieces
1 Bunch of ma om (rice paddy herbs) chopped
5 -6 Chilies chopped
3 Garlic cloves finely chopped
2 Tbsp of tamarind soup based powder
3 Tbsp Fish sauce
1 Tbsp of vegetable oil
½ Tsp of kosher salt

Methods:

1. In a hot 5 quart pot, add the oil and bring to hot. Add the chopped garlic and stir until golden amber and aroma. Remove and set aside.
2. Fill enough water about up to ¾ way in the pot and bring to boil.
3. Add the prawns, lotus roots and tomato and let it cook for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the tamarind based, salt and fish sauce and cook for another 2 minutes.
5. Now that the soup is fully cooked, add the morning glory and ma om and stir a couple of time.
6. Before serving, add the oil and garlic and some chilies to enhance the smell and taste.

Thai Boat Noodle Soup

2010-05-13T20:39:00.000-07:00

This is one of my all time favorite noodle soup. There is something about this soup that makes it so flavorful and tasty. It has a tangy and spicy taste to it with full of herbs in a dark soup with beef tendon and shank that is stew to perfection.
I can only recall a handful of Thai restaurant that can make this noodle taste good and authentic, but the best ever is in a little tiny hole in a wall Thai restaurant in Hollywood.
I often miss this noodle and once in awhile I would make it so that my craving is curbed.

Ingredients:

Soup

6 Pieces of beef shank
4 Pieces of beef tendon
1 Lb of beef tripe
2 Cloves of garlic lightly pounded
2 Stalk of lemon grass lightly pounded
3 Kaffier lime leaves
1 Bunch cilantro pound
3 Star anise
2 Tbsp chicken broth powdered
1 Tbsp of beef broth powdered
2 Tbsp of boat noodle soup paste
3 Tbsp of fish sauce or to taste
2 Tbsp of dark soy sauce or to desire color
1 Tsp of kosher salt
6 Thai dried chilies
1 Tsp of dried chilies flake
1 Tbsp of black pepper
4 Dash of white pepper
2 Inches of ginger lightly pounded
1 Whole onion

Noodle and Topping:

1 to 2 Package Pad Thai noodle dried or fresh
Morning glory or water crest
Bean sprout
White pepper
Wedges of lime
Cilantro
Thai chili flakes
Beef ball (optional)

Methods:

1. In a big 8 quarts pot or bigger place the beef shank and tendon and fill water up to ¾ full. Bring to boil and remove the water clean out the scum. Refill the water, add the salt and bring to boil again.
2. In a skillet grill the onion and ginger to a charcoal. Place in the soup.
3. Add all the soup’s ingredients and bring to boil. Then lower the heat to medium and cook for another 2 to 3 hours until the tendon is slightly tender. Don’t over cook the tendon or it won’t taste as good.
4. About 30 minutes before it done, add the beef tripe to soak in the flavor and color.
5. When it done, remove from the heat and let it cool. After it cool, place it in the refrigerator overnight. It more flavorful this way.
6. The next morning remove from the refrigerator and remove the fat before reheating.
7. Serve hot over noodle and desire topping. The spicier the better!

Angle Hair with Artichoke and Bacon

2010-05-03T20:16:00.000-07:00

Craving pasta and don’t want the same old spaghetti and meat ball? Well here a great dish to try. When I first saw this recipe in Food and Wine magazine by Mario Batali, I knew I had to try it. The only thing was that I don’t have all the exact ingredients on hand. So I was looking into my pantry and gathering what I had in the freezer, I did some adjustment to the recipe. I also added fish sauce to give it a kick, as my husband always stated. Ok, we love fish sauce on almost everything. And it does make a world of difference. The taste is so much bolder and flavorful. Try it sometime. He discovered this long, long time ago in his college days while making clam sauce angle hair. I will get into that recipe later when I could get him to make it once again.

Anyway, this easy and simple to make dish sort of speaks for itself. There not much to prepared in advance like some of my recipes. Most importantly it very important that the pasta should be el dente and make sure the bacon is well done and crispy. The rest is just cut and stir and done in about 30 minutes or less.

Ingredients:

1 Package of Angle Hair or thin spaghetti
1 Cup of preserved in jar artichoke heart
4 Sliced of bacon thinly sliced
3 Tbsp of olive oil
½ Cup of chopped onion
½ Cup of white wine
2 Tbsp of fish sauce (optional)
½ Tsp of kosher salt
3 Tbsp of minced garlic
2 Tbsp of minced parsley
1/2 Cup of Parmesan Cheese, shredded

Methods:

1. Bring water to boil and add the spaghetti cook for 8 minutes or until al dente.
2. Drain the spaghetti and drizzle a little 1 Tbsp olive oil and parsley on top of it and toss a couple of time.
3. In a hot skillet use add the chopped bacon and cook until golden brown.
4. Drain out the oil and set aside.
5. Bring the remaining olive oil to hot and then added the minced garlic and onion and stir until slightly brown.
6. Add the bacon back in with the artichoke heart and salt and wine and bring it to shimmer.
7. Add the spaghetti and toss a couple of time until the sauce is completely absorbed into the spaghetti.
8. Remove from stove and top with Parmesan cheese to desire.

This goes great what a white wine or a Riesling…my favorite is the crispy semi sweet
Relax Riesling or very sweet fruity and refreshing Santa Teresa Moscato D’Asti.

Mongolian Beef

2010-05-01T07:38:00.001-07:00

Ok, for my Sunday birthday dinner I decided that I wanted to stay home for Chinese food. And Mongolian beef was the second dish I came up with since I have bought some nice thick pieces of rib eyes. I was craving something spicy and sweet and this was the perfect dish with that combination. It is a very easy dish to make, but a little advance preparation required. Meaning you have to soak the beef in corn starch 10 minutes in advance. This is very important, because it makes the beef tender inside and crispy outside. Then come to think about it, you can do that while making the sjavascript:void(0)auce. Ok, so I lied. It doesn’t really required much preparation time, it you done it right. Regardless, the outcome is sooo good! So good that my nephew practically hogged the whole dish to himself!

Ingredients:

1 Lb of beef sliced into strips
1 Medium onion cut into small strip
4 Scallion cut diagonally
1 Tbsp of garlic minced
2 Tbsp of vegetable
½ Cup of soy sauce (or to taste)
½ Tsp of dark soy sauce
¼ Cup of brown sugar (or to taste)
1 tsp of red pepper flake
¼ Cup of corn starch
A couple dash of white pepper

Methods:

1. Mix the beef with the corn starch and set aside for 10 minutes. Heat your flyer up.
2. In a hot wok add the oil and bring to hot.
3. Add the garlic and stir until golden brown and aroma.
4. Now add the soy sauce, brown sugar, red pepper flake and bring to boil. Lower the heat to medium and shimmer for at least 3 minutes or until thicken.
5. Now add the beef into the hot flyer and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove and towel dry.
6. Bring to sauce to boil again and add the onion, cook for 2 minutes.
7. Then add the beef, dark soy sauce and stirred for another 1 minute or until the sauce is almost completely reduced and caramelized.
8. Lastly, add the scallion and toss a couple of time.
9. Remove and give a couple of dash of white pepper. Serve.

Caramelized Garlic and Pepper Chicken

2010-05-01T07:33:00.000-07:00

If you love anything caramelized then it about time for you to try it with chicken. You’ll love this dish, because I too, love anything caramelized. This dish just melts in your mouth bursting with so much flavor that it makes you salivate for more.
It not hard, just a couple steps and about 40 minutes of your busy schedule you can make this delicious meal too!

When I do crave this dish, I often anticipate making it. It is a very clam cooking process that sort of make you want to relax. Well at least it does for me. I would literally salivate just thinking about it, because of it sweet and salty flavor. And all that garlic and pepper is such a superb combination with chicken.

Ingredients:

8 Pieces chicken drumstick cut into two or three small pieces
3 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tsp sea salt or kosher salt
½ Cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp black pepper
1 Tsp dark soy sauce
¼ Cup + 2 Tbsp brown or malt sugar
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Methods:

1. Clean and chop chicken into 4 to 5 pieces for each thigh, towel dried.
2. Heat the flyer to hot and place the chicken in it to cook for 10 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and towel dry.
4. In a hot wok add the oil and bring to hot.
5. Stir in the minced garlic until aroma and golden.
6. Add the soy sauce, dark soy, salt, pepper and sugar and stir slowly until it thicken for 5 minute.
7. Now add the chicken and toss occasionally until fully cooked and caramelized.

Remove and serve hot over steam rice..Yum..yum!

Red Curry Chicken

2010-04-29T22:39:00.001-07:00

I just love curry! I don’t know what it is exactly, maybe it the creamy coconut or the spiciness or just the aroma of the spices itself. Of course, there only a million different kinds of curries out there, but sadly to say I only had experiences Thai, Chinese and Cambodian curry. In fact I think almost every Asian culture have their version of flavorful curries. And from what I heard that it is originated from no where else but the king of spice Indian.

So I will try to elaborate some of my favorite curries recipe. And since I already started with Thai curry, I will continue until I’ve cover all of it. With Thai curry, it actually same time by using ready made curry paste that is just as good as making it from scratch. And I can tell you that most Thai restaurant use this same paste to make their curry. It makes sense since it very time consuming to grind your own curry paste, especially for a restaurant. Although, if you do find a restaurant that makes their own curry paste, let me know, because I would love to try it too!

Now as for the method of cooking this, there not much to tell you except that do not burn the coconut milk..lol It happen you know…from experience!

Ingredients:

1 Can small coconut milk (maploy)
6 Oz Chicken thigh or breast sliced into thin strip
1 Cup mushrooms or straw mushrooms
1 Cup bamboo shoots
1 Handful of basil leaves
2 Asian kaffir lime leaves
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp of water
1 to 1 ½ Tbsp of red curry paste
2 Tbsp of fish sauce
½ Tsp of kosher salt
1 Tbsp sugar

Methods:

1. Heat skillet to hot, add oil and bring to hot.
2. Add the curry paste and stir until aroma.
3. Pour the coconut milk (cream) with water and stir until all the curry paste is dissolves and blend into the coconut milk.
4. Now add the chicken, salt, fish sauce, sugar and stir until cook about 8-10 minutes.
5. When the chicken is fully cook, add the mushroom and bamboo shoots. Cook for another 5 minutes and remove.
6. Top with basil leaves.

Serve hot over steam rice or sticky rice…Yummy!

Note: Sometime Thai restaurant would add green bean and carrot to Americanize the dish, but it not the authentic version. Sure look colorful and pretty though.

Mango Sticky Rice

2010-04-28T23:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is a very popular Southeast Asian dessert that could be found in most Thai restaurant. Why did I mention Southeast and not Thai, because these Asian countries are borderline close and they do adapt each other traditions and foods. Of course, the history stated otherwise, but I am not going to go into that right now. So if you haven’t noticed yet, most dishes are very similar, but with a slight changes due to the country preferences.

This being one of those dishes, but there not much to alter or change with this simple and delicious mango season dessert. Although, I noticed that the Cambodian version does have roasted mung bean on top of it. I have to admit that it is a very good combination with the creaminess of the coconut and the sweet sticky rice topped with the sweet and tangy mango.

As mention above, this is a simple and easy recipe. The only thing that you need to look out for is the sticky rice. Make sure to soak the sticky rice in room temperature water for at least 4 to 5 hours or overnight. That way when you steam the rice, it will be nice and soft yet sticky. If you like your rice hard, you just let it sit in shorter time duration. Also I would like to say that I made this many time steaming it, but yesterday I feel a bit lazy and decided to put it in the rice cooker with just about 1 hour of soaking in water. The result was pretty good, a bit more stickier and softer and takes less coconut milk. Still I have to say that I like my traditional steaming process better. It gives the rice a bit more crunchy taste and texture to it. So try both way and see which one best suit your taste bud.

Ingredients:

2 Cup sticky rice
1 Big can of coconut cream
1 ½ Cup of sugar
½ Tsp of salt
5 to 6 Mangos
Bamboo dim sum basket or it original Thai bamboo steamer

Methods:

1. Drain the rice the rice. If you using the dim sum bamboo basket, place a cheese clothe on top of it and pour the rice over it, cover. If you’re using the original Thai steamer, just pour the rice in it and cover with a ceramic plate. Fill bottom pot with water half way to the rice, do not touch the rice. Cook for 35- 40 minutes. Make sure to flip and turn it half way so that it will fully cook.
2. When the rice is done, stir it to separate it.
3. Now in a medium sauce pan, pour the coconut cream, sugar and salt and bring to boil.
4. Pour the coconut sauce over the rice and mix well, leaving about ½ cut for topping.
5. Lastly, slice the mango and place it on top of the individual portion.
6. If you like the extra creamy taste, with a teaspoon carefully drizzle it on top of the rice and mango.

Serve hot!

Garlic Butter Lobster

2010-04-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

Those of you whom had the pleasure of eating this garlic butter lobster and enjoyed it, here a recipe for you. This is usually called a house recipe at almost every Chinese restaurant. This is a dish that often served at special banquet or wedding. The event is often considered a good and solid event when the lobster is served.
The best one I ever had was at a restaurant in Garden Grove called Seafood Cove. Of course, this place is so busy all the time and they don’t need to do wedding. If you ever had this lobster there, you can’t but wonder how they make is so good. I too often wonder how it done or what they put in it, but I never had to make any due to the fact that I can always go there for it.

Now is a different story. We don’t have a Chinese restaurant here that served that, let alone Seafood Cove. So for my birthday this year, I decided to concoct this dish up. Let just say I have intense craving for the garlic, buttery flavor of this lobster. Of course, I don’t really care for lobster, but the sauce itself is to die for. Lol

As always, making Chinese food is not hard. It all about preparation and knowing the right steps to make it taste better. Remember to coat the lobster in corn starch or flour 10 minute before so that it will have that crispy texture on the outside. And the coating helps to grab the full flavor of the garlic butter sauce to perfection. Also if you don’t have a deep flyer, invest in one! Just kidding. Lol Although it not a bad ideas for moments like these, you can use the traditional method by flying it in a pot with lots of oil enough to submerge the lobster. I see this method very time consuming and a lot more pot to clean. Beside it a lot of oil to be wasted to for one meal and reusing it is a pain.

Ingredients:

2 Medium lobsters with head, clean and cut into 2 x 2 or prefer size
1 Cup scallion chopped
2 Tbsp of minced garlic
2 Tbsp of soy sauce
1 Tbsp of fish sauce
½ Tsp of kosher salt
1 Block of butter
5 Jalapenos slice diagonally
3 to 4 dash of white pepper
¼ Cup corn starch

Methods:

1. Coat the lobster in corn starch and let sit for 10 minutes.
2. Fried in deep flyer for 2 minutes.
3. In a hot wok, add the butter and melt it.
4. Add the garlic until slightly brown and aroma.
5. Add the sliced jalapenos and stir a couple of time.
6. Add the lobster and toss.
7. Next add the soy sauce, fish sauce and salt and toss a couple more time.
8. Lastly, add scallion and white pepper and remove.
9. Serve hot.

Soba Noodle

2010-04-24T22:12:00.001-07:00

Soba Noodle is Japanese buck wheat noodle that is usually eaten cold. At restaurant it is usually server over a bamboo serving plate and accompany with dashi sauce. Some time fried vegetable tempura top it off for another great yummy flavor all together. I prefer my plain and simple so that I can savor the nice aroma and sweetness of the dashi sauce with the noodle. It a very simple noodle to make and always put a smile your eater faces. With it chewy texture and melt in your mouth flavor this noodle can be a complete lunch or dinner, for it very filling. I often make this with sashimi instead of rice it fill in the carb void.

3 Bundle of soba noodle (usually 6 in a package)
1 Tbsp grinded to paste diakon
2 Tbsp minced scallion
1 Cup bonito flavored soup base
2 Cup of water
½ Cup dried seaweed chopped into tiny strips

Methods:

1. Fill pot up with water and bring it to boil.
2. Place noodle in and cook for 7 minutes or to package instruction.
3. Remove and run cold water to stop the cooking process. Leave it in the water for 5 minutes.
4. When it cold, pick the noodle up by the handful and roll into a ball and carefully press your hand together with the noodle in between it so that you can drain the water out. Place the ball of noodle on a strainer to dry it.

To serve, place on or two ball of noodle in a bowl. Add enough bonito flavored soup base and top with dry seaweed, scallion and diakon paste. In some restaurant would add tempura vegetable or fish ball sliced. No matter how it is serve it is just so good.

Serve cold.

Sear Tuna Wrap in Black Sesame

2010-04-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

Twice a month we would get our sushi craving by making it at home. Of course when I say sushi, what I meant is sashimi. We rarely have sushi unless in roll or wrap version. Beside the kids don’t really sushi, due to the fact they don’t like anything raw.
Yes, I said raw. I know for those of you out there that never had sushi are thinking. Is it safe? Is it good? How could you eat that stuff? I got all of that remarks and more when I tell people that I love sushi.

So here a quick tips for those of you sushi fearing people out there. Of course, sushi always seem so exotic and enticing when eating at a sushi bar or restaurant. Maybe it the atmosphere and the company or the price tag or just the though of someone making it makes it taste so much better. Even though it assumed to cleaner and safer, it not always is. But if you have no other choice for what reason make sure that the restaurant is busy, slow restaurant meant the food is not always fresh.

And if unfortunate like me where sushi bar is rarity and making at home is not an option but a must then here how to prepare your fish.

• Make sure to always buy sushi grade fish
• Clean and freeze it over night.
• Defrost in the refrigerator only. Never, never room temperature or hot water.
• Cut and serve right away when it super cold.
• As always it taste awesome with soy sauce and wasabi!

Ingredients:

1 Piece of Sushi grade tuna
3 Tbsp of black sesame
1/8 Cup of soy sauce
1 Tsp of Chinese hot sauce
1 Tsp of rice vinegar
1 Tbsp of wasabi
1 Tbsp shredded daikon for garnish

For the sauce: Mix the soy sauce, vinegar and hot sauce together.

Methods:

1. Take the piece of tuna out of the freezer and semi defrosted it in the refrigerator.
2. Roll the tuna in the sesame, make sure to cover all corner.
3. Heat the skillet to hot and place the tuna to cook about 1 minute on each side.
4. Remove from the skillet and with a sharp knife slice carefully against the grain.
5. Assemble it on the plate and carefully spoon the sauce over it and garnish with daikon, hot sauce and wasabi like in the picture above.
Chill and serve cold.

Korean B.B.Q

2010-04-19T20:33:00.000-07:00

Yum..Yum…just typing this give me the craving for Korean B.B.Q again. Maybe I will make it again this Sunday! Anyway, this is a very easy dish to prepare, but the cooking part is a bit tedious and messy. What I meant by that is the grilling, splattering of grease, the cleaning the grill process. Good thing I have a rule in my household. I cook and the kids clean. So that will take the load of the whole ordeal of cleaning afterward. Plus this way I enjoy cooking all the more and they get to eat more wonderful dishes. That I nice trade off, wouldn’t you think?

Ok, back to the recipe. Now this recipe is what you would consider starting from scratch. If you don’t have the time or don’t want all the hassle, well here a tip for you, just use the ready bottle Korean B.B.Q version called bobbique sauce. The only tiny problem is that sometime depending on the brand it doesn’t always taste as good. Well it isn’t for me and I end up adding the oyster sauce, fish sauce and some rice wine to make it more flavorful. And it actually turned out pretty good. I only do this when I don’t have a lot of time in my hand or not enough ingredients in my pantry. So don’t be afraid to experiment a little. You’ll never know, you might find your family recipe to pass down for generations to come. That how I got most of mine recipes is through trails and errors….lots of errors..

Ingredients:

1 Lb boneless beef short rib precut into strip
2 Tbsp garlic
2 Tbsp black pepper
½ Tsp salt
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
2 Tbsp fish sauce (optional)
11/2 Cup water
1 Cup soy sauce
1/2 Cup sugar
1 Onion grated

Garnish:

1 Onion sliced and separate rings
½ Stick butter cut into cube
1 Head red leaf lettuce

Dipping Sauce:

¼ Cup low sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
½ Minced chili sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp minced scallion

Combined all items together and you’ll have your dipping sauce.

Methods:

1. Grind the onion by using a blender.
2. In a mixing bowl add all the ingredients together. Set aside.
3. Cut the beef in half if desire and mix with the sauce.
4. Cover it up and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. It more flavorful this way.
5. Next day, drain the water completely.
6. Heat the grill to hot and add the butter to coat and melt the grill.
7. Add the beef to cook for a few minutes on each side.

Serve with steam rice and kimchi. I like to wrap mine in lettuce an kimchi with beef in between and dip in my special dipping sauce like shown above.

Kimchi

2010-04-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

Watching Jewel in the Palace a long, long time ago, I learn that napa cabbage was first introduce to Korea by Chinese for medicine purpose. It supposed to be good for your digest system and stomach, because of it cooling effect to your body. Later on it become the vegetable of the poor, because if was easily grown and cheap vegetable. Thus, the poor learn to ferment it and it that how it all started the kimchi obsessions. And over the years the recipe is past down from generations to generations as it changes to the taste of the maker.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to make Korean B.B.Q for our traditional Sunday dinner. Therefore I decided to make some kimchi with napa cabbage, daikon and Japanese cucumber. Using the same ingredients and process, I managed do all three kind of kimchi. Of course to get it done by Sunday, I usually soak it on Thursday night after work and finished on Friday night. Then by Sunday its ready to eat with the Korean B.B.Q. And what a Korean B.B.Q without kimchi right? A little warning, if you don’t have Korean chili powder. Do not replace it with just any other Asian chili powder. I did this once and it didn’t taste so good. Actually it didn’t even taste right or the original kimchi flavor. Sadly my husband can’t tell the difference, but I can and I have to endure a whole week of that kimchi. You named it I eat it all with kimchi….kimchi dumpling, kimchi noodle, kimchi with meat, kimchi with rice… Needless to say, it a lesson well learnt. lol

Ingredients:

1 Head of Napa cabbage
1 Cup + 1 Tsp of sea salt or kosher salt
½ Cup of Korean chili powder
2 Inches ginger clean and cut to small pieces
6 Scallions and cut diagonally
¼ Cup of fish sauce or to taste
5 Jalapenos slice your way
6 Cloves of garlic
1 Cup shredded carrot or thinly sliced diakon

Methods:

1. Wash the napa cabbage and pull each leaf and cut it in half down vertical then place it a plastic container fill with water and dissolve salt.
2. Cover it with a heavy plate or whatever heavy to put the pressure down. Making sure the cabbage is completely cover in water. Soak overnight.
3. The next day clean the salt out and drain the water out. Leave it flat to dry completely on a strainer. For a couple of hours.
4. In mortar, put the garlic, ginger grind it into tiny pieces.
5. Add the jalapeno, carrot (diakon) and scallion and lightly mesh together.
6. Now add the chili powder, salt and fish sauce, mix well almost paste like.
7. Now with gloves on, take the paste and rub all over the cabbage inside and out.
8. Lay it in a glass jar piece by piece and layer by layer until completely done.
9. Now close the jar air tight and let it fermented for 2 day for slightly sour and 3 day for sour. Do not touch or shake the jar in the process or you’ll crushed it.
10. Remember to put it in the refrigerator after opening. It last over a week.

Chinese Choy with Oyster Sauce

2010-04-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

This dish could be use with many other Chinese vegetable such as Chinese broccoli, bok choy, dandelion stem, morning glory etc. With Chinese cooking vegetable like soup always accompany the man entrée. Most typical Chinese household in every meal you must have at least one vegetable entrée for those who doesn’t eat meat. And soup, because it supposed to be good for you heath wise. I often follow this tradition, because I just love vegetable and can’t live without soup to wash down my rice. Lol

There not much to instruct regarding this easy to make dish. Except to soak the choy really well and wash it really well. Drain and soak again to get rid of all the dirt that accumulated during it stay in the dirt. If not, well let just say that you will be chewing on lots of dirt. Yuk! Hate that feeling of dirt on your teeth. Hurt my head and ears.

Ingredients:

1 Bunch of any kind of choy cut four times
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce (fish sauce Thai style)
½ Tsp of kosher salt
2 Tbsp oil vegetable
½ Sugar (optional)
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp water

Methods:

1. Heat wok to hot then add hot to hot.
2. Add the minced garlic until golden brown and aroma.
3. Add the choy, soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt and water.
4. Toss a three to four time, don’t over cook this.

Serve hot.

Shrimps and Mushroom Risotto

2010-04-15T21:56:00.000-07:00

This is my first time making risotto. To tell you the truth I never even heard of risotto until I ran across this month Daring Cook’s Challenge host byMelbournefoodGeek and Jessthebaker. When I first saw the challenge I was afraid to try it out, but once I read through the recipes and did some research…I realized it wasn’t hard at all. Just time consuming. As always, loving a challenge, I set out to gather my ingredients. Of course, living in such a small town, I ran into trouble finding the Arborio Italian rice. Suddenly, I’m contemplating if I should take this challenge or not, and I tried to find every excuses possible weighting the pros and cons of it all. Alas, Amazon came to the rescued as I bought I first bag of this Italian rice online! For $1.29!
Ok that sounds crazy, but at least it shows how dedicated I am in getting this right.

So after almost 2 hours (stock and risotto) of slaving over the stove, I result was absolutely delicious! Of course, I not really into creamy rice, but my 2 years old seem to be loving it. She was the first guinea pig sort of say, but she finished every single spoonful of it. I am still trying to finger out why my picky eater relishing it. Maybe it the creaminess or it the shrimps and mushrooms, her two favorite items, but whatever it is, she end up finishing it up for me. Of course that would be over the course of 2 straight days. To me it reminded me of our rice porridge and I don’t really care for it, but it was pretty good once you get used to it. I might even love it next time around. Which that will be pretty soon! Anything to make my 2 years old picky eat, even it meant another day of slaving over the kitchen stove.

I also want to add that to save time, you can use store bought chicken broth. It is just as yummy!

Chicken Broth

Ingredients:
1 Whole Chicken 4 + pounds
1 Large onion
2 Bay leaves
3 Garlic cloves
1 Tsp of salt
1 Tsp of black pepper

Methods:
1. With a 5 quart pot put all the chicken and salt and fill to the ¼ inches from top.
2. Bring to boil and add the rest of the ingredients and lower to medium and cook for 1 ½ or until water is reduce to ½.
3. Set aside on low heat.

Risotto recipe

Ingredients:
1 ½ Cup of Arborio Italian rice
½ Kosher
½ Cup shredded parmesan cheese
½ Cup shredded asiago cheese (optional, makes it really creamy)
7 1/2 Cup of chicken stock
6 Tbsp of butter
1 Tbsp + 1 tbsp virgin olive oil
26 Jumbo shrimp, peel and devein with tail on
1 Cup Sliced mushrooms
2 Tbsp of minced parsley
1 Medium onion chopped finely
½ White wine

Methods:

1. In a hot skillet pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
2. When oil hot, add the onion and stir until slightly brown and aroma.
3. Add the rice and stir until rice turn white.
4. Now add the white wine and stir until it is completely absorbed.
5. Next add 1 cup of chicken broth at a time stir until fully absorb, repeat again until all the 7 chicken broth is used up.
6. Before you reach the last cup of chicken broth, add the shrimp in there to cook it. Remove and set aside after fully cooked.
7. Now in a hot skillet add the last 1 tbsp of olive oil and then add the mushroom. Stir until cook and set aside.
8. When the rice is fully absorbing the last cup of chicken broth add the butter until it completely melt. Rice supposed to be el dente.
9. Lastly, add the cheese and stir until completely melt and add the shrimps and mushrooms and stir for a couple of minutes.
10. Remove and sprinkle the minced parsley and stir well. Serve hot with a nice glass of white wine.

Roast Leg Of Lamb

2010-04-13T21:44:00.000-07:00

For Easter this year I’ve decided that we will have lamb instead of beef as usual. Even though traditionally lamb is the choice of meat for many home due to religious reason, but for us it just a family gathering as usually. This is a time for the kids to enjoy eggs hunt and adult to get together and enjoy the lazy Sunday meal.

Since I am having 20 guests give or take over, I’ve decided to included turk-duck-hen as another one of the main entrée. And since it was store bought, I don’t have a recipe for it. Only to follow direction.

Getting back to the lamp, I am proud to say it was a success. We didn’t have any left over the next day. Everyone love and compliments on how yummy and flavorful it was. And what makes it so much better is the garlic yogurt sauce. The creamy tangy sauce just compliments the flavor of the lamb so well.

Ingredients:

6-8 Lb of leg of lamb bone or without
1 Large onion minced by using a blender
½ Cup of garlic minced
3 Tbsp red pepper flake
1 Tbsp of kosher salt
1 Bunch of thymes leaves only
3 Tbsp of peppercorn grinded
3 Tbsp of olive oil
½ Tsp cumin powder

Methods:

1. Rub the lamb with olive oil thoroughly.
2. Mix the rest of the dry ingredients together and rub on the top of the lamb.
3. Next mix the onion and garlic and pat on top of the dried ingredients.
4. Place in the refrigerator and marinate overnight.
5. Set oven to 350 F on boil and place the lamb in a baking dish rack and cook for 45 minutes or until it reach 160 for medium rare. I cooked mine until it well done a little over an hour.

Garlic Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients:

½ Cup o yogurt or sour cream
5 Clove of garlic
½ Tsp spicy mustard
2 Tbsp of mayo
Salt to taste

Methods:

1. Roast garlic until charcoal.
2. Remove and mash to a paste.
3. In a mixing bowl add the yogurt, mayo, garlic and salt, mix well.

Egg Fried Rice

2010-04-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

When I make my Pad Kar Pao fried rice, I would make this version of fried also for my 2 years old and 12 years old who doesn’t eat anything hot. Therefore, this easy and simple fried rice goes hand and hand with the other spicy one. There not much to this fried rice, but if you like it plain and simple then this is the perfect rice for you. It also great complimenting other dish such as curry and stir fried, due to the fact that it not over powering in spices.

Of course my version here doesn’t contain any meat or vegetable, unless you count the few pieces of scallion and cilantro as vegetable. Nevertheless, it is very flavorful and tasty. My daughter likes it this way plain and simple and it doesn’t get any simpler than this fried rice.

As mention with the Kar Pao fried rice. The kind of rice and cool rice, make a great impact on the outcome of this dish. So it best to be well prepared a day ahead for your rice. You want to rice to be hard. Soft rice makes the fried rice sticky and too oily, not a good combination. Unless you like it that way and I do know a couple of people who prefer it just that way too! For me, fried rice is loose yet a tad crunchy and chewy and bursting with flavor.

* Adding Chinese sausage taste great too! Try it!

Ingredients:

3 Cups of cooked rice
3 Eggs
2 Tbsp of vegetable oil
2 Dashes of white pepper
1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce (or fish sauce Thai style)
½ Tsp Kosher salt
1 Tbsp of minced garlic
½ Cup scallion chopped finely
2 Tbsp of cilantro roughly chopped
1/8 Cup of water

Methods:

1. Heat wok to hot and add the oil to hot.
2. Add the eggs and stir it until fully cook, set aside.
3. Add the garlic stir until golden and aroma.
4. Toss the rice in and pad gently until it separate.
5. Pour in the water to soften the rice and mix well.
6. Stir in the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, salt and stir well until rice is completely brown.
7. Toss in the scallion and cilantro and toss a couple of time and give a dash or two of white pepper.

Serve hot.

Spicy Hot Basil Fried Rice (Kao Pad Kar Pao)

2010-04-13T21:33:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite Thai fried rice is this Kar Pao flavor. Basically it just hot basil fried rice. This flavor also taste great as a stir fried base with seafood and meat. It also awesome with fried Thai flat noodle too. I will get into that recipe later on, when I have time to make it. As for the spiciness, you can make it more spicy by adding more chilies and jalapeno. I love it super spicy, whether it fried rice, fried noodle or in the stir fried. I normally put 14 chilies and 4 jalapenos, because for me Thai food has to be bold and spicy taste to it or it wouldn’t be called Thai food. Also it good to remember that with most Asian food garlic and chilies is their essential ingredient that makes a difference in taste and the outcome of the dishes.

As with any good fried rice, the rice makes the difference. So when you do want to make it, make sure to cook the rice at 4 to 5 hours in advance. Or even over night would be even better. To cool it down leaved it in the refrigerator.

Ingredients:

3 Cups cook jasmine rice
1 Cup beef slice
½ Tsp of kosher salt
2 Tbsp of vegetable oil
1 Tbsp of minced garlic
2 Jalapeno sliced diagonally (optional, very spicy)
8-12 Thai chilies minced
1 Cup hot basil (also known as holy basil)
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1-2 Tbsp of dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp sugar syrup (sugar thicken with water, if you regular sugar about 1-2 Tbsp)
2 Dashes of white pepper
1 Large tomato cut into 8 pieces
1 Egg white
1 Tsp of corn starch
1/8 Cup water + 1 Tbsp

Methods:

1. Cut beef 1/8 thick against the grain. Message the beef with the egg white and corn starch. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes.
2. When the half an hour done. Heat the wok to hot and add the oil until it heat up.
3. Stir in the minced garlic and minced Thai chilies until slightly golden and aroma.
4. Stir in the beef, salt, sugar, oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon of water and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until beef almost fully cook.
5. Add the rice and carefully press down on it to separate it.
6. Then soften it by adding the water and mix well.
7. Then add the sliced jalapeno, dark soy sauce, fish sauce and mix so that the rice will be completely cover with the dark soy sauce and turn brownish coloring.
8. Add the tomato and toss lightly a couple times.
9. When it done toss in the hot basil and toss once more.

Remove and give a couple of dash of white pepper. Serve.

Steam Egg with Shrimp

2010-04-13T21:16:00.000-07:00

One day I noticed that I forgot to take the meat out to thaw, so I end up clueless on what to make for lunch the next day. Looking into my refrigerator, I noticed that I have a dozen of eggs sitting there waiting for me to make dessert with. At our house we always keep eggs around, due to the fact that we are obsessed with egg. My husband and I love eggs in all shape and form, whether it pouched, fried or boil. It has become our midnight snack with our 2 years old.

So with eggs in hands and some shrimps I managed to whip up our delicious meal for the next day. I to admit that this is the best effortless and easy meal I made in a long time. Of course, my grandmother got me into this dish. She would make it once in awhile and I can’t wait to get out from school and run home to dinner. Instead of putting shrimp she would often put minced pork and scallion and it still taste as good. Although I do prefer the shrimp version better. I don’t know what it is, but the crunchiness of the shrimp with the creamy eggs and tofu just make a melts in your combination.

Ingredients:

2 Shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 Eggs
2 Tbsp of scallion chopped finely
¼ Cup of soft tofu cut into small cube
1 Tbsp of soy sauce
1 Tbsp of rice wine
2 Dash of white pepper
½ Tsp of kosher salt
6 Jumbo shrimp cut into small pieces

Methods:

1. In a mixing bowl, break the eggs and beat it slightly.
2. Add the soy sauce, rice wine, salt and white powder and mix well.
3. Add the shrimps, shiitake mushrooms, scallions and tofu in the bowl that you’re going to use to steam with.
4. Pour the egg mixture over it.
5. Place in steamer and steam for 15 minutes or until cook. Depending on the size of the bowl and the depth cook time may vary, if it no longer running then it cook.
Remove serve hot.

Preserved Lime Chicken Soup

2010-04-12T21:45:00.001-07:00

If you never heard or had this before, than this is the time to try it. It has a sour and tangy soup that is good for winter. Great for the common cold, cough and sore throat. I made
this soup when the ever changing and cold winter gave me a sore throat and chest congestion. As soon as I took a sip of this soup, I felt better right away. Maybe it just in my head, but it does feel great right away!

For the preserve lime:

8 to 10 limes
¼ Cup Salt
Water

Steam the lime for 5 minutes. Then take it out and put it on a strainer and lay flat to sun dried for 3 days. After 3 days, bring enough water to cover your glass or plastic jar to boil and add the salt. Let cool slightly and then pour in jar with the dried lime in there. Let it sit for at least 2 months or until color changes..the longer preserved, the more sour it become, the better it is. It also great as a drink for a hot Summer day.

Ingredients:

1 Small duck or chicken
1 Preserved lime
1 Tbsp of sugar
1 Tbsp of salt or to taste

Methods:

1. Place the chicken or duck in a pot and fill up with water to cover completely.
2. Add salt, and preserved lime and cook for at least 1 hour 45 minutes until the meat is so tender that it about to fall off.
3. Remove from stove and serve hot.

Garlic Pepper Pork

2010-04-12T21:42:00.000-07:00

Pork is not my favorite meat, but I do make them once in a while. I do like it this way. It a very simple and delicious dish to make, yet have a burst of flavor that great with freshly steam jasmine rice or regular rice. Adding cucumber it makes a great combination. The crunchiness of the cucumber and the salt just fit perfectly.

The kids also can’t get enough of this dish too. Or maybe it just that all kids tend to love anything meat! Whatever the reason is, I could always count on the plate to be empty.

Ingredients:

1 Lb center pork cut
3 Tbsp of garlic minced
½ Tbsp of white pepper
2 Tbsp of fish sauce
1 Tbsp of sugar
1 Tbsp of oyster sauce
1 Tsp of dark soy sauce

Methods:

1. Place all the ingredients with the pork and message it together thoroughly.
2. Marinate overnight for intense flavor.
3. The next day set oven to 425 f and place the on the middle rack and cook for at least 45 minutes.

Serve with steam rice and sliced cucumber.

Shark Fin Soup

2010-04-12T21:28:00.000-07:00

Shark Fin Soup

Beware animal lover, you might not have the stomach for this..

I have been contemplating for awhile now, about posting this dish. One I don’t want to offend anymore by writing this, but I feel that this is our way of life for thousand years. For Chinese’s culture shark fin is a delicacy that can only be indulge in on special occasions such as wedding, birthday, and New Year day. Often at wedding it would be served before the main entrée arrive. It is often the representation for all the dishes to serve after it, for it will be judge on how good the banquet is by the quality of the shark fin soup. The thickness, the flavor and the more shark fin the better. And so is the price tag. It also the most anticipated soup by almost everyone whom enjoyed it. Of courses, there would always accompany with whisper that it good for the women skin and good for the men strength. Then in Asian culture that are many things that does this!

With so much going on today on how the shark fin are obtained. I will make a note to try the imitation version. From what I heard that it is as good, but first I must find a place where they sell it online.

Ingredients:

1 Package of ready prepared dry shark fin (soak for an 1 hours in cold water)
1 Tbsp of minced ginger
1 Tbsp of scallion
1 Tbsp of sesame oil
¼ Cup of corn starch
¼ Cup of cold water
1 Cup of crab meat
8 Cup of chicken broth (cooked chicken overnight for the broth or use can version)
2 Tbsp of rice wine

Topping sauce:

White pepper to taste
2 Tbsp Cup red vinegar,
1 Tbsp cognac
1/8 Cup soy sauce

Methods:

1. In a hot wok put the sesame oil, minced ginger and scallion and cook until slightly golden.
2. Add the chicken broth and bring go boil.
3. Add the shark fin and crab meat. Cook for 10 minutes.
4. At the last 3 minutes stir the corn starch into the water and pour into the hot soup.
5. Stir until the soup until thicken for at least the remaining 3 to 5 minutes.
6. Remove and drizzle some of the red vinegar sauce with some white pepper and serve.

My Version of Phnom Phenh Noodle Soup

2010-04-04T22:00:00.000-07:00

My Version of Phnom Phenh Noodle Soup

This is the noodle that I grew up with in our house. I remember this version ever since I was little and my grandmother would take me to this outside booth in Thailand and we would share our bowl of noodle once in a long while. Then when we first came to Long Beach, there was no such thing as a noodle house or Chinese restaurant. So we always end up making our own noodle at home. And that occasion would be maybe four times a year. I never learnt how to make it then, because I was too young and the process took too long. I was always willing to eat and never willing to help my grandmother cook. That why I only caught on to a couple of my favorite dishes from her.

As I grew up and have my own family, I learn to make this noodle for my family too. Even though by then Long Beach have plenty of restaurant and noodle house. And the saying still goes that eating out uses too much msg. Which I don’t use in my cooking at all, due to the fact that it is already in the soy sauce and fish sauce…if you haven’t noticed by now. So with trials and errors I have learnt to improve this recipe. Of course, you have to remember that even with the same exact recipe, the outcome will still be different due to our difference in taste. As for the name it depend whom you ask or where, for it also known Thiew Chieu noodle.

This noodle bring back old memories growing up. I just love how the house would fill wit this intoxicating aroma early every morning, making me looking forward to Sunday.

Ingredients:

Soup:

5 liter water or bigger
5 Pieces of pork neck
3 Pieces of pork shoulder bone
3 Pieces of chicken bone
4 Tbsp of chicken broth (powder form)
1 Cube of pork flavor soup base
2 Tbsp of sugar
1 Tsp of white pepper
1 Tsp of black pepper
3 Star anises
1 Large onion
1 Inch ginger
1 Dried Squid
3 Tbsp of dried shrimp
3 Cloves garlic
2 Whole preserved turnip cut into two pieces
2 Tbsp of preserved vegetable (comes in jar shred)
¼ Cup of fish sauce or add to taste
½ Tbsp of sea salt

1 – 2 Pack dried of fresh noodle

Meat garish:

8 oz of rib eyes beef sliced thinly
8 oz or one flap of beef tripe cooked and sliced into stripes
1 Pack beef ball
1 Pack fish ball
1 Cup of shrimp devein and peel
½ Cup of cook pig kidney (optional)

Topping:

1 Whole garlic (minced and added into hot oil until golden brown)
½ Bunch of cilantro chopped
3 Scallion chopped
2 Cup of bean sprout
Preserved vegetable topping as desire…
White pepper

Methods:

1. Place the bones in a big enough pot for your family. I used a 2 gallons plus. Fill water to top add the salt and place on the stove on high.
2. Bring it to a rapid boil and removed all scum and fat on the top.
3. Add all the soup ingredients.
4. Lower to medium and let it cook for another 1 hour and 45 minutes at least.
5. Make sure to add the salt, fish sauce and sugar to taste.
6. After meat are tender, turn off the stove and let it cool.
7. When it finished cooling place it in the refrigerator over night.
8. The next morning put reheat on the stove on high.
9. As the soup is reheating add the beef and fish ball, and put enough water in another clean pot and bring to boil.
10. Cook the noodle no more than 1 minute.
11. When it cooked use a noodle strainer and pick up the noodle and let the water drip and dry the noodle.
12. As soon as you place the noodle on the bowl add the oil and garlic right away so it doesn’t stick together.
13. While the water still boiling cook the beef and shrimp and add it on top of your noodle. Add the beef tripe and kidney too.
14. Add all the desire topping on like the preserved vegetable, cilantro, scallion bean sprout.
15. Now slowly and carefully pour the soup on top of it. Sprinkle a couple dash of white pepper and your ready to eat!

Bamboo Salad

2010-04-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

This is one of my first Thai dishes that I love and learn to make. This pickle bamboo salad it originated in more of Southern Thai called a ha E San. E San foods are rich in spices and flavor. It is very good in it being very bold, spicy and lots of herbs. I love almost all the E San dishes and had learned to make most of them.

If you’re wondering how I of Chinese heritage, love to cook Thai food. Well it simple really. I used o owned a long time ago, over 15 years to be exact. And running beside from running the business, I love to sneak into the kitchen and learn from the chiefs there.
Since there fours chiefs I learn everything from them. One of them is an old lady that I called grandma that teaches me traditional methods to make desserts, salad, curry and craved fruit and vegetable into roses. From the other chiefs I learn to make all kind of fried rice, stir fired dishes and my favorite fried noodles!

Therefore I may not be a chief by degree or certified, but I consider myself to be very knowledgeable in Thai cooking. And over the years I think I had learned to perfected it!

Ingredients:

1 Bottle of pickle spice bamboo shoot
1 Tbsp roasted rice ground to fine
1 Tbsp of fish sauce
1 Tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
½ Tsp kosher salt
5 Thai chilies minced (this is super spicy)
2 Clove red scallion thinly sliced
3 Tbsp cilantro chopped into ½ length
Hand full of mint leaves sliced in half

Methods:

1. Open the bottle of the pickle bamboo and drain out he water.
2. Put it in a pot and cook for a couple minutes.
3. Remove from the stove and put in salad mixing bowl.
Add the fish sauce, salt, lime juice, grounded rice, minced chilies, scallion and mixed well. Add more fish sauce or lime juice to your tast

Mochi Ice Cream Filling

2010-04-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

Here another version to the previous mochi recipe. This is a very yummy chewy and creamy dessert after a nice meal. Or in my kids case, they like to indulge in it at anytime of the day! This is our favorite Japanese ice cream dessert because it unique flavor and texture. Can’t go wrong with this easy to make dessert! Although, it tended to get really sticky and messing, but there nothing corn starch can’t do!

This time I decided to play with the recipe a little and use the Japanese mochi flour instead of the Chinese version flour previously. Also, I didn't added the wheat starch for fear that it would be too soft. And the result was absolutely so good! Another reason that it amazed me is that it stay soft the next day. This flour is a whole lot better than the first glutinous rice flour I used. Maybe it is soft or chewier, but the taste is more refine. Beside from the point, it is a lot easier to work with this flour. As you can see the different in the picture of the above and the one below. The first one is harder to mold into a nice ball and shape the mochi and the second is a beauty...Need I say more!? I am sold..from now on it will only be this mochi flour!

For the mochi skin follow previous mochi recipe:

Ice Cream Filling:

Use any flavor ice cream such as strawberry, vanilla, green tea, mango etc…. I used Haagen Dazs Vanilla Swiss Almond…yum, yum…Best ice cream ever!
This is a to die for…the sweet chewy texture compliment the vanilla and chocolate cover almond perfectly!

Make sure to scoped the ice cream into quarter size ball in advance and leave it in the freezer for at least 1 hours so that it will become frozen and hard.

Make sure the dough is cold, by leaving it in the refrigerator for at least 1/2 hour or more after removing from the microwave.

Always use corn starch on hand so that it won’t stick to your hand. If you want rub a little oil on your hand so that the ball is nice and smooth and easy to blend.

And follow the same step are the first mochi recipe.

Mochi Recipe

2010-03-28T19:12:00.000-07:00

Is a very soft and chewy glutinous rice ball with sweet bean filling. I like the super soft texture on my finger…because I tend to play with it first before eating it. It feels like the stress ball that you can squeeze and mold with you find at sporting good store, but a lot softer. It almost like the mochi that most frozen yogurt chain carried, only it softer and more tastier with filling.

The first time I had this was at a Korean bakery in Garden Grove. I was amazed that it looked so much like the Chinese version rice ball that we normally make during Chinese New Year just without the syrup. I knew I had to try it! And I tell you I can eat 3 or 4 of these at a time, because of it sweet and chewy texture with creamy red bean filling…I love anything that is chewy.

This is my very first time making this dessert. I was always very intermediated by the softness of the texture and never thought that I could succeed in it. Well I am here to tell you that it was a success! I found out the key ingredient that makes it soft even to the next day is the wheat starch…therefore this is a must add ingredient, forget this you will have a soft texture the first day and hard the next. And the plus is that it super easy and my kids love it. It helps because they do clean it up pretty fast, rescuing my waistline.

Ingredients:

1 Cup glutinous rice flour
3 Tbsp of wheat flour (makes it stay for a couple of days)
1 Cup of Water
½ Cup of Sugar or to taste
¼ Cup of corn starch for dusting

Filling:

Most time the filling are red bean paste, but I like to create my own flavor.
1 Cup of grated coconut
¼ Cup of palm sugar
1 Tbsp of black or white sesame seed
2 Tbsp of water
1 drop of food color (optional)

For the ice cream filling: To be continue...

Methods:

For the filling:
1. Put the palm sugar and the water in a pot and bring to boil. Then lower the heat to medium and let it thicken.
2. Add the coconut until the sugar is fully absorbed and there no more water left.
3. Stir in the sesame seed on low heat for a couple of minutes and remove let it cool.
4. Roll into quarter size ball and set aside.

For the mochi skins:
1. In a glass bowl, add the flour and water and stir well until completely blend.
2. Add the sugar and blend well.
3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave for 2 minutes.
4. Take out and stir well until it completely blend and turn to thick blob.
5. Cover plastic again and microwave for 30 seconds.
6. Take out stir again completely.
7. Take the corn starch and dust all over the cutting board.
8. Put the hot mochi mixture on it and let it cool for a couple of minutes.
9. Taking a piece the size of half dollar coin and make a ball.
10. Flatten the ball and knead the side to make it bigger, about the size of your palm.
11. Place the ball filling in the middle and cover all filling and then roll again into a ball.
12. Slightly flatten the ball to about ½ thick and dust with corn starch.

You can serve this cool in the refrigerator or room temperature.

Enjoy!

Beef and Shrimp Chow Mein

2010-03-27T23:12:00.001-07:00

Here another dishes that you can always find in your pantry. Well at least the noodle part and at least at my house. My pantry is stuffed. And by stuffed I mean like no room to walk stuffed. Lol So I like to be prepared. Can you blame me? Well anyway, I saw this in my pantry and I thought of making some good old comforting chow mein.

It quick and easy and super filling late night snack. There something about this noodle that is hard for me to resist. I love how combination of soy sauce and garlic make this noodle so enjoyable. This is one of those dishes that every Chinese fast food carried and they all have their own version and taste. Of course noodle is like rice to Asian people, every dishes neither accompany with steam rice or mein. Hi in carb with oh so worth it.
And if you’re used to eating this way, no other carb will do!

By the way, I like my food bold and sharp. Some who eat bland, will think that it too salty, but that just our difference in taste bud. So feel free to added or subtract any measurement on the sauce part. And another point I like to make is that dark soy sauce it more for look than flavor. It gives the meat or noodle dish browning color, making it look tasty and enticing. This is my must have ingredients, because I like to make my food look edible and not white or bland looking. I truly believed that if the food looks good, the message that it will send to your brain is that it taste good!

Ingredients:

1 Package dried or fresh noodle
1 Cup of cabbage sliced
½ Cup of yellow onions
½ cup of scallion sliced
1 Tbsp of minced garlic
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp of rice wine
2 Tbsp of soy sauce ( or to taste)
2 Tbsp of dark soy sauce
½ Tsp of kosher salt
3 Dash of white pepper
1 Tbsp of corn starch
1 Tbsp of oil
1 Tbsp of sesame oil
1 Cup of rib eyes beef sliced
12 Shrimps clean and peel
½ Bunch of cilantro (life savor, make it smell nice)
1 Egg white

Methods:

* Soak and message the beef in the half of the corn starch and pinch of salt and half of the egg white and set aside for at least 1 hour. Do the same for the shrimp for the remaining cornstarch and egg white.

1. Bring water to boil and add the noodle, cook for 8 minute or until prefer texture.
2. Drain and set aside.
3. Put both vegetable oil and sesame oil in the wok heat to hot.
4. Add the minced garlic until slightly light brown. Add the onion until slightly brown.
5. Add the beef and stir in the soy sauce, salt, a bit of the dark soy sauce, oyster sauce and rice wine. Cook until brown and done.
6. Now add the cabbage and stir well until cook, about 2 minutes max..Too long will be over cook. You want it crunchy but cook.
7. Add in the noodle and cook for another 2 minutes or so then add the scallion and cilantro and remove from the hot stove.
8. Lastly, give 3 dash of white pepper for the nice spicy smell.

Served and enjoy!

Banana (lotus) Leave Sticky Rice

2010-03-24T21:44:00.000-07:00

This is another one of those items that could be found at your closest Dim Sum house. It normally wrapped with lotus leaves though. I just improvised and used banana leaves, but still taste yummy. I just love anything with sticky rice, sweet or salty or just plain. The chewiness of it and how it burst with sort of nutty flavor is just too hard to resist.

So prepared for lots of recipes with sticky rice! Those of you who like my 12 years old that associated this kind of sticky rice as a dessert, then you will be in for a surprise! For it not your basic sticky rice dish, but a unique and it an acquired taste. He doesn’t like it that much, because he think that it should be sweet with banana filling. Now my oldest relish this one. He just love the unique of it, and the salty yet flavorful taste of the rice and the meat combination.
I guess I can’t please everyone…

Ingredients:

2 Cup of sticky jasmine rice
¼ Cup dried shiitake mushroom thinly sliced
2 Cup of chicken broth
½ Tsp of white pepper
¼ Cup of pork or duck meat
1 Tbsp of rice wine
1 Tbsp of sesame oil
2 Tbsp of soy sauce or to taste
½ Tsp of salt
1 Chinese sausages

Methods:

1. Soak the rice with cold water overnight.
2. Clean and dried the banana leaves.
3. Cut into 8 inches squares.
4. Slowly roast it over low fire so that the leaves will be soft and easy to wrap without cracking or tearing apart. Just don’t burn it.
5. Bring the oil to hot and add the meat, Chinese sausages, salt, soy sauce and stir fried it for 5 minutes or until cooked.
6. Put the sticky rice in a pot over medium heat and stir in the chicken stock, mushroom, white pepper.
7. Stir until all the juice is dry and all the rice turn white.
8. Take off the stove and let it cool slightly.
9. Take the cut square banana leaf and scope about 3 to 4 table spoons of the rice on it.
10. Wrap it by folding the first corner closest to you. Then folding both side together and roll it to the end.
11. Placing the end on the bottom, put in the steamer and steam for about 1 hours.

Serve hot!

Siu Mai

2010-03-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

Now this is my all time favorite dumpling. The combination of the melts in your mouth pork and shrimp with all the spices are so hard to resist. And this is always on my menu when I do make dim sum at home. It also help that the process of making it is so much fun and easy….even my son can do it! And that precisely what I put him up too! When I do make this cute little dumpling he gets to wrap it together. He is getting really good at it too! So I will teaches my two years old to do it too..that way I can just wait to eat at the table! Lol So not happening anytime soon though!

This is also a very popular item at the Dim Sum house. You can never miss this item in the cart that being push around the room. Beside from the taste, it probably the safest if you not sure what to order and item that doesn’t take a lot of guessing what in it for those not familiar with Chinese food. Also helps, that the taste never failed to amaze first time Dim Sum eater.

Ingredients:

1 Package of Dumpling wrapper (circle one best)
1 Lb of center cut pork
12 Shrimps devein and peel
1 Tbsp of corn starch
1 Egg white
1 Tbsp of Chinese rice wine
5 Shiitake dried mushroom
1 Steam of scallion
1/8 Cup of water chestnut (optional for crunchiness)
1 Tbsp of carrot cut into square for decoration, cut into thin tiny squares
1 Tbsp of sesame oil
½ Tbsp of minced ginger
2 Tbsp of soy sauce or to taste
1 Tsp of dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp of oyster sauce
½ Tsp of salt
½ Tsp of white pepper

Methods:

1. Soak the Shiitake mushroom wit hot water for at least 30 minutes. Then slice it into thin strips.
2. Peel and devein the shrimps. Grind the pork and put in a mixing bowl.
3. Add the all the ingredient together such as the corn starch, egg white, ginger, salt, both of the soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine, oyster sauce and message together.
4. Put in the refrigerator and marinated for at least 1 hours.
5. Remove from the refrigerator and mix in the water chestnut, mushroom, and scallion.
6. Remove one of the wrapper and place on your palm.
7. Place about a tablespoon of the filling in the middle and wrap it pull the wrapper up and slowly wrap it around the filling.
8. Place the cut carrot on top for some nice color.
9. Spray the bamboo tray with Pam and place the siu mai in it over water.
10. Steam for 15 to 20 minutes to cook well.

Served with Chinese hot mustard, chili sauce and soy sauce.

Enjoy!

2010-03-24T21:42:00.000-07:00

Daikon Radish Cake

If you’re not familiar with this dish, well maybe this can help you. This is the dish that usually gets push around with the grill push cart that comes with the taro cake. It is usually served with the sweet hoisen sauce mix with something else. I can’t seem to get the ingredient on it yet. Anyway, it usually grilled in front of you until golden brown before serving. The fragrance and the texture is so good. It a creamy and has a lot of chew in it.

I always order this, but not everyone enjoy it as much as I do. Therefore, I end up packing it to go after everyone taste about a bit or so. It is an acquire taste. But I think it one of the best dish ever, beside the siu mai.

Ingredients:

8 Oz rice flours
1 Cup of water
1 1/2 Cup of daikon finely chopped or shredded.
2 Chinese Sausages
3 Tbsp of Scallion chop http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
4 Shiitake dried mushrooms
¼ Dried shrimps soak in water for at least 25 minutes
4 Tbsp of vegetable oil or lard
1 Tsp of salt
2 Tsp of soy sauce
½ Tsp of white pepper
3 Tbsp of cilantro

Methods:

1. In two separate bowl soak the dried mushroom and dried shrimp in hot water for 25 minutes.
2. After finished soaking thinly slice the mushroom and set aside.
3. Chop the sausages and daikon and set aside.
4. In a mixing bowl, mix the flour and water until it is paste but not too runny. Add the 3 tbsp oil.
5. With the remaining 1 tbsp of oil, heat it to hot and then stir in the sausages, mushrooms, scallion, shrimps and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Then pour it into the flour mixture and mix well.
7. Spray the 6x9 inches square baking pan with Pam spraying oil and pour the dough into it.
8. Flatten the top out smoothly add the chopped cilantro and put it in the steamer for 1 1/2 hours. javascript:void(0)
9. After it cool down, place it in the refrigerator overnight.
10. Before serving, cut it into square shape of desire size and fried it with 1 Tbsp of oil until slightly golden brown on top.

Serve and dig in!

Ha Gaw

2010-03-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

This cute little clear dumpling it a very popular Chinese item at every Dim Sum house. Maybe because it look nice with it transparent skin or maybe it the love for shrimp that makes it so popular! Whatever it is, this is a very easy and yummy dish to make…not to mention pretty to look at. It does take a little patient while you’re pleating it, but it so worth it when you see the finished product.

For me personally I just love the way it look! It just looks so pretty and delicate. And that it precisely what it is too...very delicate to work with. If the flour is not mix with hot boiling water it will fall apart when you try to work with it like an overcooked fragile pastry. Therefore, it is very crucial to follow the direction down very details. Beside this point, I really do enjoying making this dumpling. I like how pleating these tiny things relaxes me. It feels like I am in my own little serene corner and just concentrating….blocking out all the noise and crying baby! Well at least for that 30 minutes it takes to get it done.. 

Ingredients:

1 1/4 Cup Wheat flour
2 Tbsp Corn Starch
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tbsp vegetable oil or lard
1/2- 3/4 Cup hot boiling water

Filling:

1 Pack Jumbo Shrimp
½ Cup of bamboo shoot
1 Tbsp of corn starch
1 to 2 Table spoon of soy sauce (add to taste)
½ Tsp of dark soy sauce (optional, it for color)
½ Tsp of kosher salt
½ White pepper
1 Tbsp of Chinese rice wine
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Egg white

Methods:

1. Peel and devein the shrimp.
2. Add the corn starch, oil, wine, egg white, both soy sauce, salt, pepper and message it together with the bamboo shoot. Let it marinate for at least 45 minutes in the refrigerator.
3. When the shrimp done marinating start the skin wrapper.

Methods:

1. Bring water to boil.
2. Shift together dry ingredient such as wheat flour, cornstarch, salt.
3. Make a well and add the hot water slowing and using a wooden spoon blend well. Do not pour at once, do it until dough soft and pliable.
4. Blend until it is pliable.
5. Wet a hand towel and cover the dough to keep it moist and soft.
6. Now make a quarter size balls and put it in the tortilla presser and press.
7. Remove and slowly pleat the from left to right, one over the other.
8. Put the shrimp filling inside and bring the back to close gently. Pinching the side flat.
9. Make sure to spray the bamboo steam with Pam spray first so that it won’t stick.
10. Place the ha gaw in bamboo tray and steam for 8 to10 minutes or until it turn transparent and the shrimp is pink inside.

*If it is not transparent or clear maybe because it too thick or while it hot in the steamer it tend to be less clear.

Sweet Rice Dumpling with Coconut and Mung Bean

2010-03-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

This is a very popular dessert in Southeast Asia. This is usually made during the Spring Festival or Cambodian, Thai, Lao New Year during the month of April 10-13 and it is made to bring it to the Temple to honor the buddha for blessing. Also other popular event like a birthday, Memorial Day and other special occasion. It supposed to shaped like the pyramid meaning descending to heaven and the path to reincarnation. It is made of glutinous flour or sweet rice flour and usually fill with coconut and sesame or mung bean. I can’t stand the one with mung bean, because it more salty than sweet. I love the coconut and sesame version. The fragrance of the grated coconut and palm sugar is jut too good to pass.
So in my version here, I decided to add all three together: the mung bean, coconut and black sesame with palm sugar. And it is sooooo good. The mung bean just melts in your mouth and the coconut and sesame just linger with the sweetness of the palm sugar.

This is another one of those dessert that look very hard to make, but once you get the hang of it, it is as easy as pie….maybe even easier..lol

Ingredients:

Skin wrapper:

2 Lb fresh banana leave
3 Cup of glutinous rice flour
1/4 Cup of wheat starch flour
½ Cup of palm sugar
2 Cup Hot boiling water

Filling:

1 Cup of palm sugar
1/8 Cup of water
1/4 Tsp of salt
1 Cup peel mung bean (cooked for 20 + minutes and blend to a fine paste)
1 Cup shredded coconut
1 Tbsp roasted black sesame seed

Methods:

Preparing banana leaves.

1. Clean and dried the banana leave thoroughly.
2. Turn on the stove to low and roll the banana leave over it slowly, careful not to burn it. This will make it softer and easier to wrap.
3. Cut the banana leave into 10 inches circle or 10 inches square. Circle wraps prettier. Set aside.

Filling:
1. Heat the water and the palm sugar and salt until slightly thicken and light brown.
2. Add the mung bean and stir until all the water has been absorb.
3. Add the coconut and cook until it is thick and paste like.
4. Removed and set aside to cool.
5. After it cool down, rolls into ball for desire size…half dollar coin is perfect.

For the skin:

1. Heat water to boil add the sugar and melt it completely.
2. Slowly add in flour an corn starch a little at a time until dough is pliable.
3. Dust some corn starch on your finger and take a dollar size coin and roll into a ball.
4. Flatten it with the palm of your hand and spread the side to look like a miniature tortilla. About 1/8 inches thick.
5. Place the filling in the middle and close it up. Roll into ball again.
6. Now take the banana leaves circle and fold it in half and then another half.
7. Open it up and it looks like a cup. Drop the ball of dough in there and carefully
fold the first corner in front of you. Then fold the one on the right side on top of it.
Now fold the left side on top of the right side and lastly fold the one that on top 12 o’clock on top of the left folded side and whatever left over tuck it under.
8. Put it in the steam and steam for 30 minutes. Make sure not to let water on it or it will be soggy.
9. Remove and eat while it hot or cold.

Japchae Korean Noodle (cold)

2010-03-19T22:38:00.000-07:00

Since it is freezing below outside I decided that this yummy, chewy noodle will save the night! This is one of those dish that only get cook when I have no clue what to make for dinner. I can always rely on a package of noodle in my pantry and some vegetable and it ready to go.
Plus this is a fun and easy dish to make. And it is oh so pretty to gaze upon.

My love affair with this noodle began almost 15 years ago….
The first time I went to a Korean buffet, this is the first Korean noodle that I ever had. And the first time I ever taste this chewy and flavorful noodle, I instantly love it! Although every time I had it, it always tasted different at different place. I guess everyone will have their own version on how this is done.

As mentioned before, our house is a noodle house. Anything noodle is welcome with anticipation. And they are willing to do almost anything to eat! You know like cleaning the house, watering the plants and even babysitting the terrible two and my precious little 8 months old baby.

As for the noodle it is very different your originally noodle, because it is clear and the texture as mention above chewy yet very tasty. Now don’t let the translucent appear full you, this noodle is very filling. Of course while you’re eating it, you won’t feel the fullness right away, but once you done you will feel stuffed. Nevertheless, I still love this noodle. For it chewy texture, for it exotic flavor and how it a challenge just to try and eat it slippery strands.

Ingredients:

1/2 Package of cellophane noodle
6 Dried shitake mushrooms
A Handful of shred carrot
4 Scallions sliced diagonally
1 Small yellow onion slice
1 Bunch of blanch spinach (I don’t have any on hand)
A Handful of chop cilantro
½ Cup of celery sliced diagonally
1 Tbsp of dark soy sauce
2 Tbsp of soy sauce
¼ Cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp of sesame oil roasted
1 Tbsp of vegetable oil
½ Tbsp of sesame
¼ Cup dried fungus
½ Tsp of kosher salt
1 Tsp of corn starch
2 clove of garlic minced
1 Tbsp of rice vinegar (optional but yummy with a tangy taste)
2 -3 White pepper or black
1 Tsp of sugar (optional)
1 Tbsp of water
1 Egg white
1 lb rib eyes steak slice into strips

Make sure to soak and message the beef with corn starch, water, a pinch of salt and 1 egg white for at least 30 minutes before cooking. That way the beef will very nice and tender.

1. Bring water to boil and put the noodle in. Follow direction cooking time. Usually 8-10 minutes.
2. Remove the noodle and run cold water on it, to stop the cooking process and so that it won’t stick together.
3. Heat the skillet up and then add both kind of oil.
4. When the oil is hot add the onion and then add the beef and stir in the soy sauce, chicken broth and salt.
5. When the beef look to be done, add the mushroom, carrot, celery and toss a couple of time.
6. For the spinach you can add in there too or you can blanch it.
7. Remove from the stove and pour over the noodle and mix well.
8. Add the dark soy sauce for color and the mirin for flavor. Mix completely.
9. Add the scallions, cilantros and sesames and a couple dash of white pepper.
10. Remove from stove and let cool then put in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving. That if you like it cold…we normally like to right out off the stove!

Prosperity Steam Cupcake

2010-03-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

This is a very easy recipe to make. This cupcake is one of the dessert is vital for Chinese New Year. Prosperity is a very meaningful adjective to wish other and received in return for Chinese New Year, beside from luck, health, happiness and longevity.

This cupcake is very soft and fragile unlike your ordinary cupcake that we all used to. That why it required lots of baking powder. I like this cupcake because it is our symbol of our New Year and also because it literally melts in your mouths.

I dread making this cake due to the fact that I am the only person in the house that appreciated the hard labor of making dessert. Therefore, I end up eating all of these yummy cake all by myself and it doesn’t do much for my diet or self-esteem afterward. Lol I need to stop making dessert until all my baby weight is shed…but then where the challenge in that? Anyone who reading this and have an 8 months old know exactly what I am going through right now. The plus side is the reward of your gummy baby smile at you is priceless. I take that baby weight any day!!

Ingredients:

1 Cup low protein or cake flour
4 Tsp Baking powder
2 Tbsp wheat starch
1 Egg
1 Egg yolk
2 oz Vegetable oil
¼ Cup of water
¾ Cup of powder sugar

1. Put the cupcake mold in the steamer so that it will get hot and ready.
2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, egg and water together.
3. Blend well at high speed until fluffy.
4. Add color if desire.
5. Pour the batter into the hot steam cupcake pan and make sure the water is boiling.
6. Steam for at least 15 minutes on high and boiling.

Volia done!

Beef Pho

2010-03-04T22:17:00.001-08:00

Just want to point a couple of things out before we get started. I grew up in an area where any kind of noodle is an abundant. Therefore, I never have the need to make my own noodle since it a lot cheaper and faster to eat out. I often take my boys to the noodle house every Sunday. So Sunday is our favorite day for everything, but since moving to Texas…there not much here, let alone a noodle house. So we often crave what we can’t have, but I’ve tried to accommodated all of our craving. Especially Asian food, but noodle is top of our most wanted list! Thus we all became a noodle head!

And to maintain our Sunday ritual, I make Pho very Sunday. Of course with my busy schedule I don’t have all day to cook the soup, so I made it the night before on Saturday.
On Saturday night, I get off from work really late like 11 pm. By the time I get home it about 11:30 at night as I started my soup stock. I like to cook overnight my soup overnight due to my busy schedule and also because leaving the soup overnight the heat help finishing cooking the meat and it way more flavorful. The added bonus the fat would deposit when leave in the refrigerator overnight and easier to remove. Love this soup!!

Ingredients:

For the soup:

6 pieces of oxtail or feet bone for more tendons
4 to 6 pieces of neck bone
1 cinnamon stick
3 star anis
1 onion
2 inches of ginger
1 to 2 cube of beef bouillon
1 pk noodle dried or fresh
3 to 4 Tbsp of fish salt
1 tsp of kosher salts

For the topping:

1 6 oz of filet mignon or rib eyes thinly sliced
Handful of bean sprout
Handful of cilantro
Handful of basil
Handful of scallion sliced
Handful sliced jalapeno

Methods:

1. With a 5 quart of pot or bigger put the oxtail, neck bone adds a little salt to about ¾ full and brings to a boil. While the water boiling make sure to grill the onions and ginger to a charcoal so that the aroma will give.
2. Remove from stove top and rinse the bone well off the scum and impurities. Refill the water to almost full and placed back on the stove top on high.
3. Add the salt, cinnamon, ginger, onion, beef bouillon, star anis, salts and fish sauce.
4. Bring to boil and then lower the heat to medium. Boil for at least 2 to 3 hours, depending how tender you want your oxtail and neck bone to be.
5. After the meat is tender and to taste turn the heat off and let it cool then put it in the refrigerator overnight.
6. The next morning before serving, remove all the fat that deposit on the off.
7. Reheat until boil.
8. If using dried noodle, make sure to soak it in water for at least half an hour.
9. Bring water to boil in pot and add the noodle in. Dried noodle cook about 2 minutes for fresh noodle as soon as you put it in, pull it out so that it won’t over cook.
10. Add the garnish and beef and pour the hot soup over the noodle.

Get your chopstick and spoon and dig in!

Sticky Rice With Coconut and Durian Sauce

2010-03-01T21:42:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite all time dessert! I love the sticky rice texture with the sweet and creamy blend of coconut milk and yummy durian fruit. If you wondering what kind of fruit durian is…well let just put it this way. It is an acquired taste. Neither you love it or hate. It have a very strong smell that some whom love it will say it pleasant and yummy smell and for those that hates it will say that it is stink! Durian is a spiky on the outside and yellow creamy flesh in the inside. It is consider an exotic Asian fruit that plentiful in all over Southeast Asian. And it also not good to over indulge in it, because it supposed to make you feel hot inside. Pregnant women are caution in eating too much of this fruit, it can causes heartburn. This learnt this is from experiences.

I personally grew up with this acquired taste and loved it. I can’t tell you enough how much love eating this fruit and all that made out of it. That why I do cherish and looking forward to this dessert every time I made. Of course it help, that my kids and husband love it too. That way I won’t be the only one indulging in it and gain the excess weight. Those of you who had this dessert before and enjoyed it, you know what I mean. Just love that creamy coconut-durian over nice, hot sticky rice. This is one of those dessert you have to eat with your eyes closed and let the flavor rolls off your tongue, because it is that good!
This is a very popular dessert among Lao, Thai, Cambodian part of Asian.

Ingredients:

3 Pieces of durian frozen or fresh
1 Can of coco milk
3/4 Cup of sugar
2 Tbsp of palm sugar
Pinch of kosher salt
1 Cup of sticky rice soaked over night

Methods:

1. Put the rice in a bamboo basket and steam for at least 30 minutes or until cook.
2. When the rice is cooking make the coconut and durian sauce.
3. Put the coconut milk in a pot and bring to boil and lower the heat to medium.
4. Stirred in the sugar and palm sugar and salt.
5. Pour almost half of the coconut sauce and set aside for the sticky rice.
6. Shred the durian and add into the coconut milk,
7. Bring it to boil again and turn off. Set aside.
8. When the rice is fully cooked, pour the coconut milk that was set aside and mix well.
9. To serve. Just put scope some rice and put on a plate and topped it with the coconut and durian sauce.

Voila it done and enjoy!

Angle Hair Paste in Red Wine Sauce With Sear Scallop

2010-03-01T21:37:00.000-08:00

As you might guessed by now, I love anything food. I love making it and I love eating it. To me all kind of food is enjoyable and challenging. I like to experiment with new recipes, ingredients and technique. As I was watching the Food channel a couple of years ago I saw a segment on pasta and red wine. Of course, I didn’t have a chance to take down the exact recipe, but always wanted to try it.

So a couple of days ago I have no ideas of what to make for our regular Sunday dinner. Coming upon some giant scallop and pasta, I decided to put it into good use. Sunday is the only day that I actually have time to make a good dinner. And it the only day where the whole family can sit down to a good home cooked meal. Therefore we all enjoy and look forward to our weekly Sunday dinner.

Ingredients:

4 Pieces of big scallop
¼ Package of angle hair pasta
1 Cup of red wine (I used cabernet sauvignon) you can also use pinot noir or shiraz
1 Tbsp of minced parsley
1 Tbsp of minced garlic
3 Tbsp of butter
1 Tsp of kosher salt
1 Tbsp of fish sauce (optional)
1 Tbsp of olive oil
1 Tbsp of black bean sauce

Methods:

1. Put enough in nonstick pot for the pasta and bring it to semi boil and add the pasta, make sure stir it well so that it will not stick together.
2. Cook about 8 to 10 minutes until pasta el dante.
3. Removed pasta and drain, running cold water on it to stop the cooking process.
4. Add half of the olive oil and parsley and toss together, set aside.
5. Heat the skillet until hot and then add the butter.
6. Cook the scallops by adding the salt and black bean sauce and sear it until golden brown, then flip the other side. Set aside.
7. While the scallops are cooking, put the butter on the hot nonstick sauce pan.
8. Add the minced garlic and golden brown
9. Add the red wine and bring to boil, then add the black bean sauce.
10. Lower the stove to medium and add the pasta until the sauce is all absorb. About 5 to 7 minutes.
11. Remove and top with Scallop and serve.

This dish is very nice with a good glass of white wine.

Caramelized Plum Sauce Pork

2010-02-24T20:44:00.000-08:00

Caramelized Plum Sauce Pork

This is one of the dishes that I came up with after seeing malt sugar pork in one of my Asian cook book. Of course, I did my own altering by adding and subtracting ingredients I don’t like. And instead of making it malt sugar, I added the plum sauce to give it a kick. This is a very simple dish to make and it taste so good with freshly steam rice. The sweetness of the caramelized plum sauce really compliments the crispiness of the pork.

The only requirement is to marinate it overnight so that it will be flavor and tender. I can’t tell you enough how I miss Asian cooking. So to appease my craving I have learned to perfect many dishes. This is one of my husband favorite dishes, therefore it will show up again next Chinese New Year. Of course I always like to cook different dishes every year, beside from my regular shark fine and mushroom and abalone. Those are the two dishes that a must for most Chinese home. It’s been in our family for many generations.

Ingredients:

2 Lbs of pork butt or leg part with some fat
2 Tbsp of soy sauce
2 Tbsp of dark mushroom soy sauce
½ Tbsp of minced garlic
1 Tbsp of seasime oil
½ Tbsp of all spice powder

Glazed Sauce:

5 Tbsp of brown sugar
2 Tbsp of plum sauce ( in a jar at your Asian grocery)
½ Cups of water

Methods:

1. Clean and cut the pork into small bite size strip. Combine all the ingredients well and marinated 6 hours or over night in the refrigerator.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 F on broil.
3. Skewer the pork, make sure it is not too close together. You want it to be crispy.
4. Put it in the oven and broil for 20-30 minutes, make sure to flip it half way through.
5. Make the glazing sauce by combining the sugar, plum sauce, water and bring it to boil. Shimmer it for about 5 minutes until it thicken. Remove from stove.
6. When the pork is fully cook, remove it from the oven and brush the plum sauce glaze over it thoroughly.
7. Put it back in the over for 5 more minutes to a caramelize texture.
8. Remove from oven and let it cool slightly. After it cool, removed it from the skewer and serves.

Enjoy!

Sea Cucumber and Abalone in Oyster Sauce

2010-02-22T20:42:00.000-08:00

This dish is considered a delicacy all over Asia, due to the fact that they are very expensive and when done right melts in your mouth. Most Chinese New Year, wedding, birthday or important celebration is not really complete without this delicious dish. I've always anticipate every wedding banquet with glee, knowing that I will get to savor this yummy dish. When I say savor, I really meant it. This is one entrée that is rare and delicate and everyone will only get a piece each. And with each bite I often wish for more. Of course you have to grow up with the taste to truly appreciate it.

This is not a hard dish to make, but it required lot of preparation and timing. Most of the preparation is cleaning the abalone and sea cucumber and soaking the dried mushroom until nice and tender. If you’re using dried Abalone and dried sea cucumber you will need to soak in water and change water for a couple of days in advance. If you bought the can abalone and ready pack sea cucumber then it will save you a lot of time and headache.

Ingredients:

3 Small sea cucumbers sliced
4 Pieces abalones in can sliced (more tender then the dried one)
12 Pieces of dried Asian mushrooms
3 Pieces whole pieces of bamboo stalk sliced(can version)
6 Pieces of bak choi
2 Tbsp of oyster sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp of corn starch
4 Tbsp of water
½ Tsp of kosher salt
1 to 2 Table spoon of soy sauce
1 Tsp of minced ginger
1 Tsp of minced scallion
½ Tsp of dark soy sauce

Methods:

1. Soak the dried mushroom in warm water for at least 30 minutes.
2. Wash and cut the sea cucumbers and abalones, set aside.
3. Wash and prepared the bamboo slice into small pieces.
4. Soak the bak choi water to get all the dirt out, cut in half.
5. Heat the skillet until hot then add oil, then add the minced ginger and scallion until the lightly brown and it have a nice aroma.
6. Stir in the bamboo, mushroom and the oyster sauce, salt, soy sauce and dark soy sauce for about 5 minutes.
7. Add the sea cucumbers and the abalones and stir until fully cook about 10 minutes.
8. Lastly, mix the water and corn starch together and stir in with the rest of the ingredients until thicken, about 5 minute.
9. Remove from stove and serve.

Love this with hot steam rice!!

Chinese Braised Pork

2010-02-22T20:34:00.000-08:00

Chinese Braised Pork

Just like it name, braised pork is a method that used to tenderized pork making it juicy and tender while it absorbed all the marinating ingredients. This is one of the other dishes that required some preparation and marinating a day head. This way the flavor will be more intense. If you like pork tender and full of flavor then this is a must try dish!

I got to admitted that I never had this before and this was my first time making it. It turns about a lot better than I’d anticipated it to be. It ends up being one of my favorite dishes this Chinese New Year. Needless to say, it will return next year and I will not try to alter anything about it. This is the perfect recipe for me! I do tend to experiment a lot with my cooking.

Ingredients:

1 Lb pork leg with skin intact
1/4 Cup of rice wine
3 Tbsp dark sweet soy sauce
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesames oil
1 Tbsp of minced ginger
½ Sea salt
1 Tsp of all spice
2 Star anise
½ Tsp of minced garlic
1 head of broccoli for decoration purpose

Methods:

1. Clean and marinate the pork thoroughly with half of each of ingredients like the dark soy sauce, soy sauce and used all of the all spices, sesames oil, star anise.
2. Put it in the refrigerator overnight.
3. Take pork out and paper dry it.
4. Put enough oil in pot to cover the pork and deep fly it for 10 minutes until skin look crispy.
5. Take the pork out and put it in the pot that to be braised with the other half of the dark soy sauce, soy sauce, minced ginger,garlic and rice wine.
6. When it starts to boil, lower to medium and braised for 2 hours.
7. When the pork it tender it done.
8. Use the remaining juice to blanch the broccoli.
9. Now for decoration purposes, put the broccoli all around the plate and slice the pork and arranged it nice in the center then pour some of the juice on top of it.

Voila! Your done!

Roast Duck

2010-02-20T23:11:00.000-08:00

Roast Duck

I have contemplated a long time what to make for Chinese New Year this year. Roast duck was one of the main dishes that I’ve decided to make due to the reason we haven’t had it since last year. As mention earlier, it is hard to get any authentic Asian cooking in my small town populations of 100,000. The closest to roast duck is a 5 to 6 hours drive and it doesn’t taste as good as the one I had in California. So I decided to experiment on my own roast duck and try to make it as close to home as possible.

Now I have always wanted to try to make roast duck, but I was very intermediated by the fact that it is very difficult to make. After much planning and drooling over it since, I decided that I’ll just wing it and whatever happens, happen. Lol

Upon deciding to go for it, I done some research on some recipes, but can’t seem to find the one that is closes to the one that I used to have in California. So by reflecting on that flavor before, I am able to come up with this recipe. I have to say that I was really happy that it came out right. The flavor was very bold and sharp, and it complimented the sweet and tangy sauce perfectly. I think I did a pretty good job, but the best part was that my sons and my hubby love it. So that all that count!

Now to prepared I did the following:

Ingredients:

1 Duck clean and dry
1 Half pieces of ginger minced
2 Tbsp of brown sugar or palm sugar
1 Tbsp of minced garlic
2 Tbsp of rice wine
3 Scallions
3 Star anises
4 Whole cloves
½ Tsp all spice
1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
2 to 3 drops red food coloring
1 Tbs corn starch
3 Tbs soy sauce
1 1/2 Tsp of kosher salt
Enough water for bottom of pan about ½ cup to 1cup

Dipping Sauce:

Juice of cook duck
1 Tbsp of plum sauce

Methods:

1. Clean and patted duck to dry with paper towel.
2. Rub the salt inside the duck marinated for at least 3 to 4 hours.
3. With a big needle poke hole in the duck skin, so that the marinate will absorb better. Mix the salt, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, food coloring, corn starch and all spice together and rub all over the duck and inside.
4. Cut the ginger and scallion and combine with the star anises and whole cloves and stuff inside duck. Sew it up.
5. Marinate over night.
6. Preheat the oven to 300 F on broil.
7. Bring water to boil,
8. Place the duck on rack over roast pan with the boiling water under it. Don’t let the duck touch the water.
9. Roast breast side up first for 45 minute then turn for another 50 minutes and turn temperature to 425 F for the last 20 minutes.
10. Remove and serve.

Dipping Sauce:

1. Using the juice from the duck, bring it to boil.
2. Add the plum and shimmer it on low until slightly thicken.
3. Removed, let it cool and served.

• Perfect with steam rice! Enjoy!

Vanilla Macaron with Mango Whip Cream

2010-02-11T21:50:00.000-08:00

For my very first post I will do away with my mini obsession for macarons. The feeling of making something from scratch and seeing the finishing product is very rewarding. Especially, when it turn out just right. My moto in cooking or baking is that “If it look good, it taste good” therefore look is everything. The most delicious dish will not show it true flavor if it is not presented right. .

Perfecting Macarons

Macarons…macarons…macarons what can I say? I have a mini obsession for macarons. It all started one day when I was just browsing through delicious looking food at foodgwaker.com and saw this cute looking French pastry. So I decide to jogged down the recipe and try it. Let just say that it was horrific! You see macaron is one of those pastries that require you to follow direction down to perfection or it will not turn out right. One wrong measurement or too many stirring of the batter or wrong temperature will not do. As for when my obsession really started, it is the moment I asked to my sister (who live in France and understand what a true macarons is about) if she ever make macaron. Her first reaction was a laugh not the loud kind, but the I know what you’re talking about kind. Anyway, she said that she love macarons and she loving making it. She also mention how hard it is to make and that it took her 15 tried to finally got the result she was looking for.
Then she sent me some recipe in French and link to the technique of making them. The only problem is, my two year of French didn’t help much. I can’t decipher what it was saying. So I decided to do my own research by reading every recipes, techniques and tips from every macarons experts online. I was craving any information from tips, techniques to details and errors. Finally I stumble upon a book that is very easy to follow and have a step-by-step photo called “I Love Macarons” by Hisako Ogita. Her book give you tidiest detail down to the tee. And so my journal to perfecting the perfect macarons began….

Now when I mention perfecting macarons, it just my definition of what a perfect macarons should look and taste like. The perfect macaron to me is pretty to look at and have a taste of crispy shell with chewy texture inside. The filling is just to compliment the rich and intense flavor of the macarons. When I said rich and intense I really mean it. It is very sweet cookies that are not to be indulge too many in one sitting. It is best to savored one at a time. Of course telling that to my two years old daughter Jassi is impossible. She doesn’t believe in one or two, because at these stages everything belongs to her. Making the word MINE meaning it belonging to her and only her. Alas, she a great asset to all my baking experiment. We always manage to finish everything together since the boy don’t really care for dessert!
For those of you who doesn’t like to bake you can always find it in a store near you, unless you happen to live in a small town like me…there none. So you really have to start baking or at least attempt to bake. lol

Vanilla Macarons (French Style)
Make 24 halves depending on the sizes or 2 dozens

Ingredient:

¼ plus 3 tbs cup of almond meal (flour)
¼ cup of powdered sugar
1 large egg (leave it out for room temperature for 24 hours)
3 tbsp granulated sugar
½ tsp of vanilla extract
1 or 2 drop of desire food coloring ( I used yellow in this one)
A pinch of meringue powder (optional, this will stabilize the shell better, but harder)

Whip cream filling:

¼ cup of heavy whipping cream
¼ cup of icing sugar
½ tbsp mango puree (too much the whip cream will not stiff)

*After the shell is baked. Whip the heavy cream on high until it starting to take shape then slowly added the powder sugar and flavor. Continue whipping until it stiff and glossy whip cream texture like. I like my filling light since the cookies are very rich.

Let get started:

* Prepared by drawing a quarter or half dollar size circles on wax parchment paper. Put aside.

1. Mix the almond flour and the powdered sugar together. Put it a food processor and pulse it 4 to 5 pulsed or until fine. Do not over grind or it will get oily. Take it out and shift it and place it aside.

2. Next separate the egg yolk from the white. Put the white part in a clean and dry metal bowl. Whip the egg white on high until it started to foam then add the granulated sugar slowly. Whip until stiff peak and glossy then add food coloring. When egg white on the whip will not fall off when lift up.

3. Add in the dry mixture and fold gently until it is fully blended. Then stirred it about 20 times until the mixture is right. It should have a thick paste like consistency also known as “magma”. Over stirring will make it oily.

4. Pour the mixture into the piping bag with round tip and squeeze down to make sure to let the bubbles out. Pipe out batter onto the pre drawn circle on the parchment paper. Now pick up the baking pan and bang it on the table once or twice to let the bubbles out. This also help for a better forming shell and pied. Using double baking tray will ensure that it will not get burn on the bottom.

5. Let it air dry for at least 15 to 30 minutes. This step is to ensure that the shell is dry and take it shape. Drying process is completed when touching it will not stick to your finger.

6. Preheat the oven to bake at 300 F to 325 F (depending how hot your oven and double tray. I put mine on 315 F for 13 minutes). When the shell is hard when touch, put it in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes. Removed and cool. When the macarons is starting to form pie or feet put a aluminum foil or wax parchment paper on top of it to prevent burn top.

Tips:

As mention above, I have tried making these cuties pie many time and many different way. Due to the fact, that I love a good challenge I never quite. So this is what I noticed.

• Make sure to use room temperature egg that is left out at least 24 hours. Old eggs whip better therefore making better shell. Fresh egg will make the shell fragile and crack.
• Make sure to use all the sugar that call for or it won’t form feet or also know as pied. (from experiences)
• If used the higher temperature don’t bake the whole 15 minutes or it will burn the top.
• Over stirring of the batter will make the shell oily. So don’t get stirring happy!

*Bonus: Keep the yolk for other dessert like cream brulee..

Now if you do mess up, don’t worry. We’ll never know. Just start over again. lol

Bon Appetite!

There I did it! Hope you will enjoy making and experimenting with it just as much as I do. Take lots of picture and relish your accomplishment..
Now it time to prepared myself for Chinese New Year meal.