Kushi Dango

KUSHI DANGO (Recipe courtesy of About.com)

1 cup rice flour
3/4 cup warm water

For Sauce:
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsps soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp potatostarch/cornstarch
1 1/2tbsp water

*Bamboo skewers

PREPARATION:

Put rice flour in a bowl and add warm water. Knead the dough well. Make small round dumplings. Place the dumplings in a steamer and steam them on high heat for 10 min. Cool the dumplings and skewer them in bamboo sticks. (3-4 dumplings each stick.)

Mix water, sugar, and soysauce in a pan and put it on medium heat. Mix the water and potatostarch in a cup and set aside. When the sauce boils, add the starch mixture and mix quickly. Slightly grill the skewered dumplings and brush the sauce over them.

Marbled Pound Cake

Had a craving for it last night before we went to bed, but I was all snuggled up and warm under the blankets, so I waited until morning instead.

MARBLED POUND CAKE

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick/4 oz/113g) unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips (I substituted it with cocoa powder mixed in 2 cups of batter)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 C). Grease and flour a 9 x 5 x 3-inch or a 8 x 4 x 2-inch loaf pan; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition until just combined. Spread 3/4 of the batter in prepared pan. Mix cocoa powder into the remaining batter (about 2 cups of batter) and drop it in batches over the vanilla batter. Using a spatula, swirl until a pattern is achieved as in the picture. (I thought I swirled mine enough but apparently not as the chocolate lingered only at the top and did not swirl to the center of the cake, oh well).

5. Bake the cake in preheated 325 degree F (160 C) oven for 55 to 60 minutes for the 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf or 65 to 75 minutes for the 8 x 4 x 2-inch loaf or 45 minutes for the flat pan I used or until a toothpick (in my case, a satay skewer) inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Loosen the edges of the cake. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

6. EAT!

Grilled Squid

We started the barbecue early because um ... pfft, I do not need a reason.

Spent most of last night cleaning, deheading and deboning the squid. Very icky, something in my head was telling me that I really should have been icked out, but I was not. Sacrifices must be made so that we can enjoy this delicious food!

The smell was divine!

Sean polished off most of them as fast as I could pull them off the grill! It was goooooooooooooooooooood! I -still- smell of grilled squid right now. LOL

We got to the hot dogs, Sean and I had one each then almost fell over from the sheer amount of food. So the kebabs go into the microwave for storage until later tonight. Ha ha ...

Stew Recipe III

STEW RECIPE NUMBER III

(1 and 2 are fired due to the fact that this recipe beats the rest so far)

Sean turned a whole slab of beef roast into this:

So, now what to do with it?

First we cut up some potatoes and carrots as well as chop up some garlic and onions. A tablespoon of olive oil / cooking butter in a medium-high heated pot, then add the onions and brown them. Place two slices of bacon in (optional but I like the smokey base smell) and stir that around until the fat is rendered into oil. Add the garlic, and brown that too. Toss in your vegetables and 2 tsp of herbs (basil and thyme), fry that until they are coated in the onion mixture. Pour in some sherry or red wine, about half a cup and stir. Add 1 cup of water, stir again and cover to cook on medium heat.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix one cup of all purpose flour, 2/3 cup of cornstarch, and 2 pieces beef bouillon, mix it up. Then add 3 cups water, 1 cup sherry / wine and blend that well.

When the vegetables are cooked (you can tell when the potato turns opaque around the middle) add the beef cubes. Cook the beef by continously mixing over a medium heat until browned all over, then cover and cook with lid on for 5 minutes.

When the meat is sufficiently cooked (no oozing blood), add some salt and pepper to taste. Then turn the heat to medium-low, add your flour-bouillon mixture and stir it into the stew until everything is coated or the sauce has turned into a thick gravy.

Serve individually in a medium deep dish with dinner rolls, rice or just plain bread! For those who are entertaining, you might want to decorate with fresh sprigs or dried parsley on top and around the dish. GOOD STUFF!

Wan Tan Mee w/ Pork Wontons

WAN TAN MEE (or er won tons as it is known here in the States)

Meat mix has:
*** Deveined and deshelled prawns / shrimp
*** Ground pork
*** Ginger, Chopped spring onions
*** Sherry (or Chinese cooking wine)
*** Pepper, Salt, Soy Sauce, Garlic Powder

Blended the shrimp to a paste together with the ginger and spring onions. Place in a large bowl, and mix it with the ground pork. Add the sherry and soy sauce, mix that. Add the rest of the ingredients. It smelled sooooooo good!

Whip out your wonton wrappers. Place a small amount in each wrapper so that you can actually close the top so the meat does not spill out.

Like this.

Stock:
*** Pork bones
*** Water and salt

Simmer stock for an hour on low heat so you get all the juice out of the pork bones, easier to do before you start wrapping the wan tan so you do not have to wait.

When the wan tan are ready, remove the bones, skim off the top of the stock where the brown stuff is (it looks gross in soup) and then turn up the heat to a boil. Add your wan tan and boil for 5 to 10 minutes until cooked.

Get some Cantonese style egg noodles (if like me, fresh wantan noodles are not available to you ;~;) soak them in cold water until they come apart. Then drop them in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain. In a plate, put some vegetable oil, dark soy sauce, pepper and soysauce about a half tablespoon each. This was my grandma's recipe heh heh ...

Then put the drained noodles into the sauce mix and stir it around. Arrange your wan tan and tada~!!!

Dinner is served ^_^

Pandan Kaya

PANDAN KAYA

(Tto make normal brown kaya, replace sugar with palm sugar and omit the pandan leave paste, but include 2 strips of pandan leaf into the mixture while it is cooking. Remove these later.)

500g SUGAR
10 PANDAN LEAVES
1 CAN COCONUT MILK (400ml)
4 EGGS
CHEESECLOTH

Actually, I did not really follow a set recipe, I modified someone else's, these are just the basic ingredients. I forgot to take pictures of the pandan leaves cut up into inch pieces and put into a processor. Blend it well with the coconut milk until it becomes almost paste.

In another bowl (preferable stainless steel) break the eggs and mix it well with the sugar. Then strain the pandan paste mixture over the eggs with the cheesecloth or a strainer. Mix that up well until the sugar is dissolved. It should look like this:

Meanwhile, fill a pot with water to act as a double boiler for the steel bowl. When it boils, turn down the heat to low and place the metal bowl over the pot. Stir occassionally for about 30 minutes or until it thickens. One of the recipes called for straining again before putting to the boiler, I did not but you see I had a back up plan. It turned out lumpy like this because I did not double strain.

After the mixture cooks, it turns into custard-like consistency and looks like that. To make it smooth like store-restaurant type kaya, I put it in my blender and pressed "Whip" or aka. highest speed available. The texture became like this:

Then you put it on bread (toasted or untoasted) and butter and YUM!

PANDAN KAYA! Happy tummy~

Zosui - Porridge / Congee

ZOHSUI / OJIYA (aka congee, aka porridge but with a Japanese twist)

1 CUP RICE
6 CUPS WATER
2 TBSP DASHI STOCK
MISO PASTE (optional I substitute with instant miso soup packet)
KATSUO (bonito flake for the main stock and for topping)
1 SHEET WAKAME (I substitute with nori - toasted seaweed)
PEPPER

OPTIONAL
CRAB MEAT / IMITATION CRAB MEAT / FISH CAKE (anything)
CHOPPED SPRING ONION (negi)
CUBE TOFU
EGG

Put the rice and water into a stockpot to boil, when the rice is cooked and softer than normal, add all the ingredients and stir. Cook on low heat until the water is absorbed, some people prefer it more soupy, that is ok too. If you have extra optional ingredients, toss them in now, make sure the egg is fully cooked by mixing and stirring it into the zohsui. Top with chives, spring onion seaweed pieces, katsuo, toasted sesame seeds anything you wish.

According to Maki's article about this particular dish, zohsui is a temple food. However, there are others who believe that zohsui also is most beneficial eaten when you are ill. For sick people and I believe this because right now I am feeling under the weather, it is an easy dish to make and toss everything in, it is also fast to prepare and cook!

All the ingredients that you really need are just what you think will be healthy for you. I chose egg for protein and strength, tofu pieces, seaweed because I need more iron. It looks a little gross on the picture, and it smelled weird to me, but when I tasted it ... WOW ... it is one of the more delicious things I have ever eaten. And perfect for me because it is so soft and easy to eat, especially when I am having a sore throat. This is definitely a dish I am making for my children when they are ill.

As for the Chinese side of it, my grandma used to make it for me all the time when I got sick. Rice, water and chicken wings, or sometimes omit the chicken completely. I would eat it with salt, salted egg, or Bovril. Then I recall once that there was too much "soupiness" in the porridge, so I started scooping out the water and tossing it at which my grandma reprimanded me and told me a story which I vaguely remember, it went something like this:

Two sisters who were quite poor, one was quite picky about her food and always got the best choice of everything. When the villagers made them some porridge, the picky one decided she only wanted the rice part of the porridge and so left all the water part only for her other sister. Then when the other sister got home, she was dismayed, but ate the water part anyway. This kept going on everytime there was porridge for dinner, and the other sister would only eat the water part until one day the picky sister asked her why she looked still so hale and hearty. The other sister replied that the rice water retained all the goodness and the best parts of the porridge and it kept her alive as much as the rice part.

Ha ha, yes old wives tale that my grandma probably made up to make me not waste the food. It worked though, and I have always liked both sticky or soupy porridge. I miss her very, very, very much. In my life, I have never ever doubted her, and I know she has never lied to me at all. Which is why it is such a hard pill to take that she has gone on. She was my island of sanity and the only person I could ever have talked to and confided in. Most of my memories have always consisted of her being in them, that is probably why I have such a hard time letting go.

*sigh* I will tell my son about her. She would have loved him immensely.

Teriyaki Chicken

TERIYAKI CHICKEN

4 CHICKEN THIGHS (deboned will make it easier to cut up in pieces, but I used the bones to make the chicken soup)
2 tbsp. MIRIN (Japanese cooking wine)
2 tbsp. SUGAR
2 tbsp. DARK SOY SAUCE (optional)
1 tbsp. COOKING SOY SAUCE

Panfry the chicken, or chicken cutlets until there is no red parts left. Add the mirin, sugar and soy sauces. Cover the chicken in the mixture, then set the chicken aside. Keep cooking the mixture until it thickens, this sauce is great over rice and for dipping the chicken pieces. Serve hot.

This was what my set up looked like. Woo yummy chicken soup. Just put some water with the bones in a small pot, boil, add salt, threw in some chives. You can also serve Miso Soup instead of chicken soup I guess, but being Chinese, I do not like wasting the chicken bones. Ha ha

Chikuteh - Chicken Herbal Tea Stew

CHIKUTEH (A chicken variation of Bak Kut Teh)
This dish was only just known to me during the pig plague, where people were not supposed to eat pork due to a virus that left many dead. Ew bad topic. Anyway, this came in a CARE Package that my mom sent me from home and I decided to try it out.

1 PACKET CHIKUTEH SPICES
CHICKEN PIECES (I eat a lot of chicken huh)
GARLIC (2 whole cloves)
WATER
DARK SOY SAUCE (Can do without)
SALT (to taste)

People usually eat it with rice, but I decided to just go with Chinese crullers.

CHINESE CRULLERS (it was so-so)

FROZEN BREAD DOUGH
OIL (for deep frying)

You want to thaw the bread dough, and then roll them into strips and deep fry til golden brown. That be it. I tore the pieces up and just dunked them in the Chikuteh soup. Yummy!

Temaki - California Handroll

BASIC TEMAKI SUSHI

2 CUP SUSHI RICE (I used Nishiki brand)
1/2 CUP SUSHI VINEGAR (or use a vinegar + sugar mix)
1 PACKET TOASTED NORI SEAWEED (make sure it comes in large sheets)

1 CUCUMBER / KYURI (Japanese cucumber)
1 PACK IMITATION CRAB MEAT (You can use stick form or loose pieces form but stick is prettier)
MAYONNAISE (I could not find Kewpie so I used normal Kraft)

Additional Ingredients (optional)
WASABI (Japanese horseradish, comes in tube form for convenience)
EBIKKO / TOBIKKO (seasoned shrimp or fish roe)
LETTUCE / AVOCADO (oh yum)
GRILLED / FRIED SALMON SKIN
HOT DOGS (I have never tried this but it seems tasty to slice them up and include it in the temaki)

1) Cook rice in rice cooker according to the instructions on the bag.
2) Fluff the rice and mix in the vinegar (I used less than 1/2 cup vinegar because I don't like it overpowering the rice "scent")
3) Let rice cool a little bit before handling.
4) Cut the nori seaweed with scissors if it is too large, otherwise, proceed to place an adequate amount of rice on the seaweed, put your dollop of mayonnaise or wasabi.
5) Add your fillings.
6) Roll it up and enjoy~! Make sure you serve it right away as the nori will tend to get soft and harder to bite. Temaki sushi is eaten from the end of the cone upwards, but you can do it the other way too! Ha ha

** Notice I did not recommend raw fish, this is so that anyone can make this recipe without possibly contracting listeria or other dangerous bacteria that can manifest in raw food. Personally, I think raw fish should only be handled by professionals. Not everyone can stomach raw fish and I am not supposed to eat it while pregnant anyway~!