Stir Fried Sole with Celery

Hi Everyone!

Oh, is it good to be writing again!  I was MIA in the last few weeks because I was so busy putting up my sons' school book fair. I think I'm going to do a post about that too, and label it under "parties."  It was quite a production - literally!  I mean, we chose a Hollywood theme, because you know me, I love my glamour!  And having a fun theme really gets me excited about decorations and stuff.  Which is what I love to do.  So, if you need inspiration on book fairs, stay tuned!

Well, this post is about my life going back to normal and being able to cook for my family again.  I found this recipe on a Chinese cook book also - I don't take credit for stuff that's not original!  So here it is, translated into English.

Ingredients:

Sole fillet, cut into 2 inch sections
Celery - about 1/2 a stalk, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
ginger, thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp wine
1 tsp corn starch

Instructions:

1) Marinate sole fille in soy sauce, wine, corn starch, and ginger for about 15 min
2) Stir fry celery and carrots, add salt, remove
3) Stir fry fillet until about 80% done, put celery and carrots back in
4) Add sugar, cook for another 5 minutes, or until fish is fully cooked

Happy cooking!

xo,
Lin

Deep Fried Sole Fillet

Hi Everyone!

I've done deep friend fish before-but never was able to make it crispy and have the batter stick to the actual fillet.

I've finally just given up and consulted a cookbook.  Turned out, you're supposed to batter the fish in this order 1) flour, 2) egg, 3) bread crumbs.  And guess what?  Voíla!  It turns out beautifully when it's done in this order!

I chose to put my fish on a bed of stir fried chive buds because my husband loves them.  But you can really put it on a bed of any stir friend vegetable.  Or even just with some lettuce leaves.  Or on it's own.  Although the recipe calls for marinating the fish, you can still dip with either ketchup or a mixture of salt and pepper.  My kids love ketchup - which kid doesn't - so that's what we used.

Ingredients

1 package of sole fillet - you can use any, actually.  I just got the one from Trader Joe's, comes with 3 strips
1 cup flour
3 eggs
3 cups bread crumbs - I used panko bread crumbs, you can use regular ones

Seasoning

Cooking wine
salt
pepper - optional

Instructions

1) slice fish fillet into rectangular pieces.  Marinate in seasoning for about 20 minutes
2) Coat fillets in 1) flour, 2) beaten eggs, 3) bread crumbs
3) Heat oil, turn heat to medium, fry fillets to golden

This is an easy way to make a fast meal.  Or if you're trying to show off your cooking skills at a potluck, this is an easy dish to prepare.

Hope you enjoy it as much as my family did!

Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

It's only a few days until Halloween, what are your plans?  My family is attending a friend's Halloween party, after we stuff our bellies, we're going to go walk it off around her neighborhood and go Trick-or-Treating with the kids.

My boys are going as Thor and Hawkeye, and my daughter is going as "new" Cinderella - the one with Lily James and Cate Blanchette.  I was going to be Lady Tremaine, but couldn't find a costume that I liked. So I got my creative juices going and made my own costume.  It's the first time I've made my own costume and I was pretty proud of my idea. I'm going to be a clock that strikes midnight!  Isn't that fun?!  My husband always dresses up in as outrageous a costume as he can find (he was a full on Olaf to our daughter's Elsa last year), so he wanted to be the Hulk to match the boys' Avenger's theme.  But we just couldn't find a good Hulk costume.  So I told him that I'd make his costume too.  We'll all match our daughter.  And...he will now be Cinderella's pumpkin!  The problem was, I couldn't find a good pumpkin costume.  Every single one has a scary Jack-O-Lantern face on it.   So I got a piece of blue fabric, sewed it on the pumpkin costume to cover scary Jack, then used black felt and made a pumpkin carriage silhouette.  Then glued that on the fabric.  It's looks totally awesome.  I'll post pictures of the three of us once we all put our costumes on.  :)  I think we should win any costume contest!

Well, enough talk about Halloween (I think I'm more excited than the kids!).  I recently made these short ribs and they were a fan favorite at my house.  Everyone loved them.  Even my husband!  And he's a man that's hard to please.  I adapted this again from a Chinese cook book. So I will translate and post it here for you.

Ingredients:
1/3 lb short ribs
2/3 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp cooking wine (or any wine)
1/2 tbsp chopped garlic
dash of salt
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp ketchup
1/2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp water

Instructions:
1) Marinate ribs with soy sauce, wine, garlic, and salt mixture for 20 min
2) Coat with cornstarch and flour, then deep fry until golden.  Remove.
3) Combine ketchup, sugar, and water.  Cook with 1 tbsp of oil until boiling. Put ribs in sauce and coat evenly in high heat.  When sauce has nearly dried up, remove and serve.

Happy cooking!

Xo,
Lin

Pork Tender Loin with Garlic Sauce

Happy Tuesday!

I wasn't able to post a recipe last week because I got busy with some book fair preparations.  But I really wanted to share this easy recipe with you. There's not much preparations at all!  Just a large pot, pork, some asian sauces and garlic, and you're DONE!  Here goes!

Ingredients

1-2 lbs of pork tender loin
2-3 cloves or garlic, minced
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp water
2 tsp sugar

Instructions

1) combine all sauces
2) add garlic in sauce
3) boil pork tender loin until done, about 1 hour in medium heat
4) slice into thin slices, and you can either pour garlic sauce on the slices, or use as dipping sauce.

Enjoy!

xoxo,
Lin

Slow-Cooked Beef Shank

Happy Hump Day!

I made this delicious dish last night because I've been craving it for a while.  My entire family likes it, especially me and the hubby, since we've all had it when we were kids.

Although it super easy to make, it takes a long time.  When I say long, I mean loooonnng.  I started cooking this on Monday.  It was finally done...Tuesday afternoon.  So I'd say it took me about 6-8 hours.  See what I mean?!  Then again, it's actually tastier if you let the shank sit in its broth overnight in the fridge.  So it's a good idea to make this a day ahead.

However, if you own a slow-cooker, I think you just might be able to do this in the slow cooker.  I don't have one - we have so much junk in our kitchen, I REFUSE to add more stuff.  So I do it the old-fashioned way: on the stove.  However, I'd imagine you can prepare everything and dump them all in the slow cooker in the morning, and have a delicious dish ready by dinner time.

Ingredients

2 lbs beef shank
1 tomato
1 onion
5-7 slices of ginger
4-5 pieces of star anise
soy sauce
cooking wine
sugar
oil
green onions, chopped

Instructions

1) Blanch beef shank in hot water.  Cook until all the impurities have floated to the top.  Drain water and rinse.
2) Heat oil in pot, stir fry ginger until fragrant.  Add shank.
3) Fill pot with water, covering shank.  Add soy sauce, cooking wine, sugar, sliced tomatoes, sliced onions
4) Let simmer in soft boil until shank is soft.  It takes awhile if you're doing this on the stove.  Like I said, it took me 6-8 hours.  I had to constantly add water.  I don't know what it's like in a slow cooker though.
5) When done, let cool, store in fridge overnight
6) When ready to serve, cut into thin slices. Garnish with chopped green onion.  Reheat broth and pour about 2 tbsp full over the sliced shank.

What's good about this dish is that you can kill two birds with one stone.  You can use the broth to make - you guessed it, beef noodle soup!  I kid you not, it's the best broth ever!  That's how I served mine last night.  The kids and I had noodles, and the hubby, who's not a fan of noodles, had just the shank and some other vegetables I cooked.  Everyone was happy.

Enjoy!

xoxo,
Lin

Peppered Beef

I've been wanting to write this post for a while, truth be told, it's because this dish is so amazingly delicious.  Seriously.  I never thought the beef I cook could be so tender.  This recipe calls for black pepper, but I skipped it since my kids won't eat anything remotely spicy.  You can decide whether you want to use it or not.  Either way, it's incredibly yummy.  Your whole family will be asking for more and more servings until it's all gone!

Ingredients
Beef fillet (I just used one rib-eye steak)
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
Marinade:
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp wine
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cornstarch
water
Sauce:
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp cornstarch

Instructions
1) Cut beef into 1 inch cubes, then soak in above marinade for 20 minutes
2) Cut onion into slices
3) Mince garlic
4) Run beef through heated oil then remove
5) Heat another 2 tbsp of oil; stir fry onion, then add garlic and sauce described above until thickened.  Add beef and stir fry.

Voila!  Bon apetit!

xoxo,
Lin

Ketchup Shrimp

I never knew this until I grew up, but my mom is one heck of an awesome chef.  We didn't have much growing up, but my mom would make the most amazing delicacies out of very simple stuff.  The amount of time she would put into each meal, all the chopping, the mixing, dicing, etc, pairing her dishes into something that not only tastes great, but looks beautiful as well.  I thought all mothers cooked like she did.  Who knows, maybe they do, but her food rivals those from restaurants, and to me, they're always the best tasting ones.

So this was one dish she created and I had forgotten about until recently.  I'm not a big fan of shrimp, but these I do like.  I had to start making shrimp because my children like them, so I was wracking my brain trying to think of a tasty way to make shrimp.  Then I remembered my mom's ketchup shrimp.  The sweet and sour flavor combined with the mixture of ginger, garlic, and green onion makes this irresistible.  Eat this over some plain rice, and you'll find yourself not only mixing the sauce into your rice, but licking the sauce off your fingers as well.

Ingredients:
1 lb shrimp (shell attached)
ketchup
ginger, slices
garlic, diced
green onions, diced
salt
wine
sugar
oil

Instructions:
1) Heat oil in large pan
2) Stir fry ginger, garlic, and green onions
3) Add shrimp, stir fry until it's half done
4) Add ketchup, salt, wine, sugar, and a little bit of water.
5) Mix everything, lower heat, cover and let simmer for about 5-8 minutes.
6) Remove lid, turn up heat, and stir fry for another 3 minutes
7) Enjoy!

You can make this dish with shrimp that have been peeled, or with peel still on.  I like it unpeeled, I feel that the peel preserves the moisture a little to prevent overcooking the shrimps.

Hope you liked these shrimps as much as my family did!

xoxo,
Lin

Almond Chicken

So I've been looking for more ways to make chicken these days.  My son loves it, and it's a healthier alternative to beef.  The problem was, I had no idea what to do with chicken other than put it in soup and baking it.

Luckily I found this recipe on Pinterest.  The recipe actually calls for cashew.  But I'm not a big fan of cashews myself, and neither are my children.  So I substituted with sliced almonds instead.  And since my husband doesn't like celery, I skipped that as well, and instead used a yellow bell pepper.  I didn't use exact measurements in my version.  I usually just eyeball everything.  After nearly 2 decades of cooking, that comes easy!  Pour this over rice, and you'll have a crowd-pleasing meal.  Although in my family, I always have to make 3 different dishes for dinner - "variety," says the hubby!

Here's the recipe.  Happy cooking!

xoxo,
Lin

Pork Dumplings

Happy Tuesday!

So I made these a couple of weeks ago for the first time.  I can't believe it took me this long to make dumplings.  When I was young, my sister and I would always help my mom fold these on weekends.  She would make a couple of hundred at a time; whatever we didn't eat that evening, she'd freeze for future use.

It's actually quite simple to make.  You can find dumpling skin at any Chinese market.  They are the circular ones, not the square ones, which are wonton skins.  And honestly, you can fill them with anything you want.  I chose to use ground pork and chopped napa cabbage for this one, but it's also common to use ground beef with chives, or ground chicken, or shrimp, even fish!  I used ground turkey the first time I made them, and they were delicious as well.  Be creative and use your imagination!  The recipe below makes about 120 dumplings.

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground pork
1 medium-sized napa cabbage
4 stalks green onions
1 3/4 tbsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup wine
1/4 cup sesame oil
about 4 packs of dumpling skin (with 30 in each pack)

Instructions:
1) finely chop napa and green onions
2) combine napa mixture with ground pork
3) add salt, wine, and sugar, then mix
4) prepare a bowl with some water
5) put about a tsp of pork and napa mixture in the center of 1 dumpling skin
6) dip finger in water and trace outer rim of dumpling skin
7) fold in half, encasing the pork mixture, then fold the sides by pushing up the corners.

8) Place folded dumplings in rows on cookie sheet sprinkled with loose flour.

To cook these, you either boil them, or pan fry them.  When ready, dip them this mixture: soy sauce, sesame oil, and vinegar.  It's delicious!  I chose to pan fry this time, here's the end result!

Here's the instruction to make pan-fried dumplings look as good as mine:

1) pour about 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan, heat
2) line dumplings around pan
3) pour 3 tbsp of water in pan, lower heat to medium
4) cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes
5) open lid, so water can evaporate, and let cook for about 2-3 minutes.
6) this part is tricky, if you want your friend dumplings to look like my picture above, you just cover the pan with a plate, flip the pan and plate over, and voila!  Your dumplings should look like the ones pictured above!

I'm going to try making ones with beef and chives next.  Happy cooking!

xoxo,
Lin

Hong Kong Style Egg Tarts

Happy Thursday!

So we celebrated my hubby's birthday yesterday.  Given that I have a little more time on my hands these days, I decided that I would surprise him with his favorite dessert on his birthday.  Him and his egg tarts. What can I say?  He loves them so much that every time we have Dim Sum, he'll get two orders of the delicious egg yumminess.  What better way to celebrate his special day with some home made ones?

It's really quite simple to make them, actually.  I got my recipe from All Recipes.  I followed the direction to a T, but I think you're better off using 1 1/3 cups of butter, and 8 eggs.  The recipe calls for 1 cup of butter and 9 eggs.  I found that 9 eggs made the egg flavor a little too strong. Also, you'd definitely have to bake for at least 25-30 minutes instead of the 15 the recipe calls for.  I found myself adding more and more time to the timer since the tart crusts just weren't hardening.

Well, without further ado, here's the website where I got my recipe from.  And here are photos of the ingredients and the finished products.  Happy baking!

xoxo,
Lin

Oxtail Soup

I know...it really is too hot right now to think about any type of soup.  We're sweating like pigs during the day, who wants to sweat more in the evening when it's finally cool?  But this soup is like a meal in itself.  It's so easy to make, everything is in one pot, so there isn't even that many dishes to wash after the meal.  What my mom used to do was pour these over rice, but I chose to pour them over noodles for my kids.  Of course, if you're watching your carbs, you can eat this by itself and still feel very satisfied.  You got your protein and your veggies, it's a healthy, easy, and hearty meal.

I got my oxtail from a local Chinese market.  I was craving this soup after visiting a family member and her MIL made some for them.  It's been years since I've had my own mother's oxtail soup.  So I just decided to make my own.  Here's the recipe!

Ingredients:
1 oxtail, cut into 1 in pieces (the butcher will do this)
5 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 in pieces
1/2 of a large cabbage or 1 small cabbage, chopped
3 large tomatoes, cut into 1 in pieces (I use beefsteak tomatoes, and I usually use more because I love them, but it's up to you)
1 onion
chicken stock (not broth - stock is more flavorful since it's made of chicken bones)
ginger (this is important - you need it to slightly mask the meaty scent of the oxtail so it doesn't over power the entire soup)
salt

Directions:
1) Boil oxtail in regular water in large pot to clean the oxtail.  You'll see all the impurities rise to the top.  Pour water out, repeat one more time.

2) Once the oxtail is clean, you can fill the pot with all the ingredients above except for the cabbage.  If you want a more flavorful soup, you can use only chicken stock for the broth.  I find that with the oxtail and the vegetables, the broth will be flavored as is, so I chose to use regular water.  It's really personal preference.

3) Flavor with salt.

4) Boil for at least 2 hours in medium heat.  You want the water to be bubbly lightly the whole time.  That's when you know everything is simmering and your broth is being flavored.  In the last 30 minutes, add all the cabbage.  If you want an even more hearty soup, you can add some potatoes as well.

Voila!  This lasts in my family for about 2 days.  I'll use it as a main meal the first day, then the second day just as a soup additional to the mail meal.  I hope you enjoy it as much as my family did!  Next week I'll post the recipe for my San Bei Ji (Three Cups Chicken)!

xoxo,
Lin

Fruits and Veggies Overload!

Hi There!

I was slaving in the kitchen all afternoon trying to use up the mounds and mounds of vegetables and fruits that have been accumulating in my fridge.  Chopping, blending, baking, stewing, you name it, I was doing it.   And below is a picture of the result of my culinary labor:

Clockwise from left to right: Chicken soup, fruit smoothie, guacamole, and chocolate banana muffin.

I have to say that I'm pretty proud of myself for creating such a well-rounded meal!   I got the appetizer, the drink, the entree, and the dessert all down.   I was pretty surprised that it turned out this way.  I started out with a bunch of leftover vegetables from various other meals I made, 4 lbs of fresh strawberries, 1 pineapple,  2 containers of OJ, at least 6 avocados from my mom's backyard that were ripening, and a few mushy bananas.  And after a little bit of brainstorming, I was able to use most of everything.

I chopped up all the vegetables and put them in the chicken soup.  I blended the avocados, added chopped onions, cilantro, salt, and lemon juice for the guacamole.  I blended the strawberries, pineapple, and OJ for the smoothie.  And last but not least, the bananas were used for the muffins.

Needless to say my family had a good meal tonight!  And my fridge is a bit less full.  Now I don't need to push past a bunch of produce to get to what I want!

Xo,
Lin

Apple Swan

So I came across this video on YouTube the other day, and decided to try it out.  Next time you host a party, you can show off to your friends your new skill too!  It's super easy to make and looks beautiful!

Follow the tutorial on this YouTube link here.

Xoxo,
Lin

Giada de Laurentiis's Orzo Salad

Hi Y'all!

It's been a ridiculously long time since I wrote a new post.  What can I say.  The end of the school year was incredibly busy, given I was one of the Room Parents for first grade.  Then summer came around, with kids at home and vacations, there's hardly any time to breath, let alone write a post.

But here I am!  I made this salad from an episode of Giada de Laurentiis's cooking show on the Food Network.  I made it for a party and it was a pretty big hit.  It looks absolutely beautiful too, and SO easy to make.  I'd say make it for your next pool party or summer BBQ.  It's a crowd pleaser!

Here's the link to the Orzo Salad recipe.

And here's a picture of my attempt!  I'd say just use the Swanson brand chicken stock.  I wouldn't waste my money on an organic chicken stock since all we're using it for is to flavor the orzo.

My 3-year-old daughter saw this picture and her immediate reaction was, "Mmmmmmmmm!"

Enjoy!

Xoxo,
Lin

Three's A Crowd...Pleaser!

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone!

Today I wanted to share recipes for three dishes.  Two of which I made last week, and one that I made last night.  Everything is easy-peasy...the third might be a little more time-consuming, but this one isn't mine really, I followed a cookbook.  So maybe you can at least incorporate the first two dishes in your dinner plans tonight!

These are the dishes: Broccoli Beef, Tofu with Shitake Mushrooms, and Lemon Chicken.

I. First up, Broccoli Beef.  Honestly, I don't make this often.  Don't get me wrong, my family loves this dish, even the most picky eaters like C would eat even the broccoli on this dish.  But gosh, is it ever so time-consuming for me to have to peel off the broccoli "skin" on the stems!  My boys are picky enough that they will only eat the broccoli stems, and if I don't peel of the broccoli skin, then they won't eat them.  But if your family isn't as picky as mine, then you don't have that to worry about!

Ingredients:

2-3 bunches of broccoli (depending on your family size)
1 piece of steak (any kind will do)
2 tsp of salt
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 cup of oil
1/2 cup of water
Marinade for beef (see my previous posts here for recipe)

Steps:

1) cut beef into 1-2 inch wide slices, place in marinade and set aside.  let marinade for about 10-15 min
2) wash then cut broccoli into bite-size pieces
3) heat 1/2 cup oil in pan
4) when oil is heated, toss beef in.  cook until just about done, scoop up, set aside.
5) heat remaining oil in pan, toss in garlic pieces.
6) when garlic is golden brown, toss in broccoli.  stir until coated with oil, then toss beef back in.
7) turn heat down to medium, pour water into the dish, cover and let cook for about 10 minutes.
8) turn heat back up, toss the dish and cook about 2 minutes, scoop, and serve!

II. Second dish, the Tofu with Shitake Mushrooms.  For my dish I used silken tofu, and although they don't hold up too well, they are delicious.  If you like your tofu to remain in the rectangular shape, then I suggest you use firmer tofu.  

Ingredients:

1 box tofu

5-6 shitake mushrooms

2 stalk green onions, chopped

3 cloves garlic, sliced

3/4 cup soy sauce

3/4 cup oil

Steps:

1) If you're using dried Shitake Mushrooms, first soak them in warm water.  If not, just cut the mushrooms into fours

2) cut tofu into small rectangles, about 1 inch long and 2 inches wide.

3) heat oil in pan, throw in garlic when heated.

4) throw in tofu first, toss and let cook about a minute, then toss mushrooms in.  

5) pour soy sauce in dish, turn down heat, cover and let simmer for about 5 minutes.

6) when just about ready, toss green onions in.  Serve!

III. The last but not least, is Lemon Chicken.  For this dish, I actually followed the recipe in a cookbook called Quick and Easy Chinese, 70 Everyday Recipes, by Nancie McDermott.  You can find it here on Amazon.  I made the dish exactly as the book instructed, but I'd do some things differently next time.  I find that there were too much of certain ingredients, so next time, I'd cut down.  And I'd also marinade the chicken strips with my marinade (referenced above in the Broccoli Beef recipe) beforehand.  Because without marinading them first, I find them lacking in taste.  

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp salt

1 lb bonelss, skinless chicken breast (or thighs, which is what I used)

2 tbsp water

1 tbsp cornstarch

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp minced ginger

1 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 lemon juice

1/2 cup oil

2 stalks green onions, thinly sliced like the picture below

Steps:

1) cut chicken into strips, marinade and let stand for 10 minutes

2) mix flour and salt in a bowl, dip chicken in them and set aside

3) in a sauce pan, combine chicken stock, sugar, ginger, soy sauce, salt, and lemon juice.   

4) in a small bowl, combine cornstarch with water.  mix.  

5) bring the chicken stock mixture into a gentle boil, then add the cornstarch mixture.  Bring to a boil again.  Then cover and remove from heat, set aside.

6) heat oil in frying pan.  place pieces of chicken in the oil.  cook each side for about 1-2 minutes, then transfer them into another dish.  

7) when chicken is done, pour lemon sauce over chicken, and sprinkle green onions over the dish.

Double Chocolate Banana Bread Muffins

Hi Everyone!

I hope everyone had a great Easter!  We sure did.  We had a family Easter brunch with cousins and grandma, the boys and I then went to another Easter BBQ while Daddy took a nap with K.  Needless to say, we had a lot of yummy food.  The kids had fun hunting Easter eggs; K only gathered the pink ones.  What can I say, she's special like that!  ;)

Anyway, I've been making this double chocolate banana bread for a long time, but this is my first time making it into muffins.  They're SO delicious, and such a good way to use up your old bananas.  I got this recipe from Pinterest, I can't take credit for it.  But the only thing I changed was the baking time.  Instead of baking for the suggested 60-70 minutes, in muffin pans, you only need to bake for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

The recipe is from this website:
http://www.thesisterscafe.com/2009/05/double-chocolate-banana-bread

Don't forget, if you want to make them into muffins, reduce the baking time to only 30  minutes!

Xoxo,
Lin

Chicken Noodle Soup

Hi There!

Ever since I got back from Taiwan, I've been trying to get the fam bam back on track.  It took a while to get over the jet lag.  I probably cooked a whopping total of once last week.  But this week is a little better, therefore I was able to make some delicious dinners.

Yesterday the boys had Chinese tutoring right after school.  We didn't get home until 5:30 in the evening.   So I decided to make a pot of Chicken Noodle Soup.  So easy and quick, and it's got all the nutritious stuff in there.  Here's the recipe:

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients

7 quarts water

1 whole chicken

6 stalks of celery

4 carrots, peeled

3 small onions

6 Roma tomatoes, or 3 beefsteak tomatoes

3 tablespoons of salt

half a package of pasta (I used min wheels, but any shape will do)

cilantro, chopped up into tiny pieces

Optional

I couldn't find celery in the Japanese market I went to yesterday, so I substituted celery with cabbage and mushroom.  Perfect for my husband because he hates celery.  And sure enough, he loved the soup last night!

Steps

1) Fill pot with chicken and water, cook chicken until boiling.  Dump water.  This step is to clean the chicken and cook off all the bacteria.

2) Fill pot with fresh water again, cook chicken until boiling again.  Turn down heat and let cook with a soft boil.  You will let chicken cook like this for the next 2 hours.  Flavor the stock with salt.  Add or subtract accordingly.

3) Chop all vegetables into 1-inch size, set aside

4) Cook pasta according to package directions, when done, set aside.

5) When chicken is about an hour into cooking, throw all the vegetables and pasta in

6) Throw in cilantro 15 minutes before soup is done.  

7) You can flavor your own bowl of soup with a few splashes of Tapatio sauce if you'd like.  Adds a kick to the soup.  

Serves at least 8 adults as a meal!

Xoxo,

Lin

Za Jung Noodle

So yesterday was one of those insanely busy days that I referenced here on a previous post.  Therefore I decided to make noodles for dinner.

Oh, how I love noodles.  I can eat them in any shape or form, with any type of sauce.  Whether it's Western or Eastern cuisine, I love them all.  That's why I love it whenever I get the opportunity to make noodles.  Easy and simple.  Most of my noodle recipes takes about 30 minutes from prep to finish.  So it's a great go-to meal when you need something in a hurry.

This noodle sauce is as easy as pie to make, the only thing is that you would really need to go to an Asian market for the main ingredients - the bean pastes.  Other than the pastes, everything else can pretty much be purchased at any grocery store.  You might have to find baked tofu at the Asian markets too, but even firm tofu will do.

Za Jun Noodle

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef, port, chicken, or turkey (I always use beef)
1 package of baked tofu (or just regular firm tofu)
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 cup sweetened soybean paste
1/2 cup broad bean paste (I actually found one here on Amazon for you!  Amazing!)
1 1/2 cup water
1 cup oil

Steps

1) Heat about 1/2 cup oil, stir fry ground beef until done, remove from pan
2) Heat remaining oil, stir fry garlic until golden brown, throw in chopped onion until opaque
3) Throw in tofu, toss for about a minute, put ground beef back in
4) Put the bean pastes and water in.  Toss until everything is coated evenly.
5) Reduce heat to medium and cover.  Let cook for about 10 minutes.
6) Cook noodles according to package instructions.  Drain when done.
7) Pour Za Jung sauce over noodles.  Enjoy!

The sauce on Amazon is similar to the one on the right.  Not the same brand but same sauce.

Xoxo,

Lin

Red Cooked Chicken

I made these dishes last night and they were a great hit.  I had to stop C from overeating - if I let him, he would probably eat 6 or 7 chicken drummets (and a bowl of rice, and some tofu, and a tall glass of milk) all by himself.

This is called Red Cooked Chicken.  What's good and convenient about this dish is that you can throw whatever you desire into the pot to cook with it.  This time I chose baked tofu and then sliced them into thin slices.  You can also put carrots or daikon too.

As for the brussel sprouts, all I did was chop off the ends, halved them, coat them with olive oil, salt, and you can use pepper too if you like, and pop them in the oven at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes.  They're delicious too!

Red Cooked Chicken

Ingredients


Chicken drummets (the package I got came in sixes.  I got 3 packs because C can eat an entire pack by himself!).  You can also use drum sticks or wings.
2 cups soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup wine
2 carrots, sliced (or use baby carrots)
Ginger, 7-8 slices
Green onion, 3 stalks cut into 2 inch strips

Steps

1) Place chicken in a large pot and cover with water - about an inch over chicken.  Cook until boiling and all the dirty stuff (the gray-ish foam) floats to the top. Pour out water, fill pot with more water and turn heat to medium high.
2) Pour soy sauce, wine, and sugar into pot.  Place ginger and green onion into pot as well. 
3) Cook for about 1.5 hours. Stove setting vary.  My stove is very powerful so that's all the time it took.  My mom's would take about 2.5 hours.
4) As dirty stuff floats to top, scoop out and toss.
5) Makes 24 drummets or wings, and about 16 drum sticks.

If you want to cook with baked tofu, then place whole baked tofu pieces in the pot with the chicken.  Then take out and cut into slices once it's done.

I've given you the recipe for the cold tofu dish on the right on a previous post.  See here.

Happy cooking!

Xoxo,
Lin

Comfort Food

Happy Saturday!

I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far.  Here in So Cal, we're just trying to stay dry.  After almost 3 months of dry spell, Mother Nature decides to finally give us rain - and boy did she deliver!  It's been raining cats and dogs since Friday!  It's kind of nice having rain for a change, though it does cause a lot of inconveniences.  It was a little scary driving home tonight on the freeway.  There were parts of it completely flooded - my boys were shouting, "Yay! This is so COOL!" while I was trying so hard to focus on the road.  Leave it to kids to think something dangerous is "cool!"

Anyway, since it has been so cold and windy, I wanted some comfort food.  I made these dishes Thursday evening, and they sure did warm everyone up alright.  First up is Miso Soup.  I use a combination of chicken broth and water (3:1 ratio), and maybe about 3/4 cup of miso for every 1/2 gallon of liquid.  Then you add salt to taste, and cube some silken tofu to add to the soup.  Chop up some green onion, and you have yourself a pot of very simple yet delicious warm soup.

Next up is my chow mein.  My chow mein is so delicious, you should make double the suggested serving size for each person because everyone will ask for seconds!  Here's the recipe.

Chow Mein

Ingredients 

Marinade for Meat
1/5 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup wine
1 tbsp sugar
3/4 tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp corn starch

2 cups of oil
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 bag of spaghetti, cook about 2-3 minutes than directed on package (chow mein shouldn't be al dente)
1 lb of chicken, beef, or pork, cut into strips
3 stalks of carrots, peeled and julienne
1 onion, chopped into slices
3 cloves garlic, chopped into pieces
7-8 shitake mushrooms, cut into strips

Steps

1) Combine all marinade ingredients, put meat strips into marinade, set aside
2) Heat 3/4 cup of oil, throw in onions, stir fry until transparent
3) Throw in carrots and mushroom, sprinkle salt over vegetables, stir fry for about 3-4 minutes, scoop out, set aside
4) Heat 1/4 cup of oil, throw in meat, stir fry until cooked completely, scoop out.
5) Heat remaining oil, throw in the garlic pieces, stir fry until golden brown.  Put in boiled spaghetti, pour soy sauce over spaghetti, toss until all the noodles are evenly coated with oil and soy sauce.
6) Pour vegetables and meat over spaghetti, toss until everything is distributed evenly.
7) Serve and enjoy!

Serves about 8 adults

We usually eat out on Saturday evenings, but since it's so wet outside, we're having pizza inside tonight.  Happy cooking, everyone!

Xoxo,
Lin