sandilog的部落格

What to do with lots grapefruit? Here is what I did - Grapefruit Marmalade! End result was excellent! Sweet & Tangy. I spread it on some homemade toast for breakfast. Super yummy breakfast and excellent source of Vitamin C.

[caption id="attachment_1201" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Homemade Grapefruit Marmalade Spread on Homemade Toast - super yummy breakfast![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1202" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Fresh Grapefruits[/caption]

Homemade Japanese Mochi Cheese Ball QQ芝士波波, super soft and chewy, extra cheese added :)

Great snacking!

[caption id="attachment_1197" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Japanese Mochi Cheese Ball QQ芝士波波[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1196" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Japanese Mochi Cheese Ball QQ芝士波波[/caption]

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Recipe Added 03/06/2014

Finally made a batch of oven fresh, hot, soft, ham & cheese bread! It was supper soft and yummy.

[caption id="attachment_1169" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Ham & Cheese Loaf - super soft![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1170" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Ham & Cheese Bun![/caption]

 

Happy Chinese New Year!

I did a simple home made dinner for Chinese New Year.

鮑魚冬菇扒生菜 Braised Abalone with Mushroom and Lettuce.

1. Boiled lettuce and put on a plate. Soak Chinese mushroom until soft.
2. Open the can of braised abalone, cook abalone and mushroom together until sauce thicken.
3. Put mushroom and abalone on the lettuce. Done. Simple.

[caption id="attachment_1108" align="aligncenter" width="700"] 鮑魚冬菇扒生菜 Braised Abalone with Mushroom and Lettuce[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1107" align="aligncenter" width="700"] 鮑魚 Braised Abalone - we like this brand and the small size of abalone, you can use any brand you like[/caption]

薑蔥雞 Ginger & Onion Chicken

1. We used a small Cornish chicken, around 1-2 lbs. Use a little salt to rub around the chicken, set aside for about 30 minutes. Cut few slices of ginger and put them on/around the chicken.
2. Boil water and steam chicken for 25-30 minutes, until cook.
3. Cut chicken as you like.
4. Chop ginger and green onion. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat, cook ginger and green onion until fragrent, add a tablespoon of salt and a little bit of sesame oil. Done.

[caption id="attachment_1109" align="aligncenter" width="700"] 薑蔥雞 Ginger & Onion Chicken[/caption]

 

Another late update! Here is one of my favorite Chinese snacks - Pork Jerky. I decided to make this my own, not the easiest to make, but definitely worth the time.

[caption id="attachment_987" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Homemade Pork Jerky 蜜汁豬肉乾[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_989" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Left - ready to put into oven
Right - baked for 25 mins in oven[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_988" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Done product! Supper yummy! Homemade Pork Jerky 蜜汁豬肉乾[/caption]

Ingredients (mix all in a bowl):

• 1LB ground pork (I used 80%-90% lean)


• 1/2 cup sugar


• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce


• 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce


• 1/2 tbsp fish sauce


• 1 tbsp oyster sauce


• a pinch of white pepper


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 1 tbsp honey

Mix all above ingredients in a bowl, like it marinate at least 4 hours.

Instructions:

• Use baking pan, cover with aluminum foil, then parchment paper on top.


• Use a little of vegetable oil, lightly brush on the parchment paper.


• Spread the marinated ground pork on the layered baking pan, no requirement on thickness (just your personal preference). I did mine medium thickness.


• I used a spatula, and cling wrap to spread evenly on the baking pan. I left about 1/2" clearance on the baking pan.


• Preheat oven at 300F and let it bake for 15-20mins.


• In a small bowl, mix a bit of honey and oyster sauce. Set a side.


• After 15-20mins, take out the baking pan ... use a brush and brush the honey & oyster mix on the pork jerky (both sides). I cut the pork jerky horiztanal in half, so I can flip easier for brushing.


• After brushing both sides, bake for 10 minutes ... this should give the pork jerky the burnt edges. You can bake each side of 5 mins for more even burnt edges. I was lazy, I baked for 10mins, didn't flip. Pay close attention to the oven during this 10 minutes as pork jerky can be easily over burnt.


• Finally ... take out the baking pan, cut into squares and let it cool.


• Enjoy!

Asari no sakamushi (sake steamed clams) - yummy, simple and easy dish.

[caption id="attachment_938" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Asari no Sakamushi (Sake-Steamed Clams)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_939" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Asari no Sakamushi (Sake-Steamed Clams)[/caption]

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup sake


• 5 slices of ginger, cut in thin slices


• 1 tbs green onion, more if you like


• 1lb Manila Clams (you can do more, I found 1lb is good for two)


• Pinch of Salt


• Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

• soak clams in salt water, 1 teaspoon of salt and enough water to cover clams, soak at 1.5 hours.


• put sake and ginger in pot, bring to boil


• add clams, cover the pot and let the clams boil to open


• put salt, freshly ground black pepper


• garnish with green onion

 

[caption id="attachment_908" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Add sesame seeds for garnishing[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_905" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Mix all marinate in large bowl[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_906" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Add chicken wings into marinate and make sure coated well[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_907" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Line with baking paper and bake for 45 minutes[/caption]

Marinade:

• 1/2 cup mirin


• 1/4 cup sake


• 1/4 soy sauce


• 2 tbs sugar


• pinch of salt


• pinch of white pepper


• 1 tbs veggie oil

Instructions:

• Combine all marinate in a large mixing bowl. Add chicken wings and make sure its coated well.


• Cover and let it marinate for 4 hours or more, I marinated overnight.


• Pre-heat oven and bake chicken wings under 355F, make sure line baking tray with baking paper.


• Bake for a total of 45 minutes, in about 20 minutes you can take the wings out and brush the wings with marinate to give them a bit more color.


• Add sesame seeds or green onion marinate.

Lemon Pork Slices /Pork Chops 檸檬豬柳片. Boyfriend is not so fond of sour-y dish, usually when he's away I will cook something I like.

[caption id="attachment_861" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Lemon Pork Slices /Pork Chops 檸檬豬柳片[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_862" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Lemon Pork Slices /Pork Chops 檸檬豬柳片[/caption]

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Pork Slices (you can use pork chop, I was too too lazy)


• 1 Lemon (I used a whole lemon)


• 2 Garlic Cloves

• 1 Teaspoon soy sauce


• 1 Teaspoon dark soy sauce


• 1 Teaspoon cooking wine


• Dash White Pepper


• Little Sesame Oil

combine below and adjust according to your taste. I like mine a little bit more sour.

• Squeezed 1/2 lemon juice (more if you like sour)


• 1 Tablespoon dark soy sauce


• 1/3 cup of water


• 3 Tablespoon sugar


• Lemon Zest (only the yellow part, white parts are bitter)


• 1 Teaspoon cornflour for thickening

1. Combine marinate items with pork and let it marinate for 45 minutes or more
   
2. Heat up oil over medium heat. Put garlic cook til fragrant, and add pork stir fry til slightly golden brown
   
3. Add sauce ingredients til sauce thickening (taste to see if you need to add more sugar or lemon juice)
   
4. Garnish with lemon zest
   

Finally another update, last week BF had a sore throat ... we were eating porridge for almost a full week.

[caption id="attachment_848" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Taiwanese Style 3 Cup Chicken 台灣三杯雞[/caption]

Here is my home made version of Taiwanese Style 3 Cup Chicken  三杯雞. Actually its very simple and easy to make. I bought chicken leg quarters from Marina Food and asked them to cut for me. They cut into 3 huge pieces!! Way too big, I will make sure to ask them to cut into 5-6 pieces next time. I had to cut the chicken into smaller pieces when I got home. I find that 3 cup chicken is best cooked with bones, it just need to have the bones to meet that authentic Taiwanese style.

Ingredients:

• 4 leg quarters


• 6 slices ginger


• 6 garlic cloves


• 1/4 cup rice wine


• 1/4 cup dark soy sauce


• 1/4 cup sesame oil


• 3 tablespoon sugar


• 1 hand full of Thai Basil

1. A little sesame oil in large skillet over medium-high heat, put garlic and ginger until fragrant.
   
2. Add chicken and cook until browned all sides.
   
3. Add rice wine, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. Bring to boil and reduce heat to medium, cook for 15 minutes uncovered or until you see the liquid is start condensing.
   
4. Last thing is to add the Thai Basil leaves and let it cook for 5 minutes.
   
5. Goes perfect over rice!!!
   

Ok, couple more homemade items. 

Simple and easy Chinese Steamed Rice Noodle Rolls/Cheung Fun 蒸腸粉. It was not as chewy as I wanted, but still pretty good. I added sesame paste, soy sauce, and sesame seeds (I was missing sweet sauce at home). 

[caption id="attachment_843" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Steamed Rice Noodle Rolls/Cheung Fun 蒸腸粉[/caption]

Fried Eggs with BBQ Pork - we had left over bbq pork, so I added eggs, onions, salt and pepper ... simple, easy, so yummy!

[caption id="attachment_842" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Fried Eggs with BBQ Pork 叉燒炒蛋[/caption]

Ok, another home made dinner. Two extremely simple dishes.

Snow Peas Cuttlefish Stir Fry - the cuttlefish were extremely "crunchy".

[caption id="attachment_684" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Snow Peas Cuttlefish Stir Fry[/caption]

Also made Pork with Spicy Dried Tofu (I bought the spicy dried tofu from grocery, just added some lean pork strips). Just added a bit of salt, no extra work.

[caption id="attachment_685" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Pork with Spicy Dried Tofu[/caption]

 

Ok, I do cook at home, at least 3-4 times a week. I am going to start posting home dinner.

Curry Chicken Wings with Potatoes was the highlight of the night. I did marinated the chicken wings overnight.

[caption id="attachment_679" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Curry Chicken Wings with Potatoes 8/6/13[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_677" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Dinner for 2 - 8/6/13
Curry Chicken Wings with Potatoes
Garlic Choi Sum
Hairy Melon with Pork Bones Soup[/caption]

It was one of those nights, I am hungry, I feel lazy and I don't want to eat out. So I venture around and find the simplest thing to make. I got shrimps and eggs at home, perfect! I wish I had green onions, again too lazy to go out.

[caption id="attachment_541" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Stir-Fried Shrimp with Eggs滑蛋蝦仁[/caption]

My recipe is the simplest - serving 1-2.

1. 10-15 pieces of medium shrimp (marinate with little salt and white pepper)

2. 3 large eggs (add a little soy sauce and mix)

3. white pepper, salt and soy sauce.

4. green onion (optional)

Method:

1. quickly stir fried the shrimp until is 80% cooked, and set aside.

2. hit up pan with oil and add eggs ... about 30 seconds later, you can add the shrimps in. Quickly stir fried until eggs are 90% cooked, still a little runny. Turn off the stove. You are done. Use your judgement, make sure don't over cook the eggs. Use green onion if you want.

Ok, just for the fun of it ... I will be adding some home-made meals post.

I made some naan bread couple days ago, it was soft & chewy. Its best when its freshly made, hot from the pan (yes I made them on a regular pan).

[caption id="attachment_282" align="alignnone" width="300"] Home Made Naan Bread[/caption]

I had some left over and microwave it 30sec the next day ... still soft and chewy!!!!! Goes best with curry!!!!