Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Northern VN eggrolls

Love me so eggrolls! Vietnamese eggrolls are super duper different from the kinds you see in Chinese restaurants. Sometimes VN eggrolls are called spring rolls as the skin wrapper is paper thin and smooth and crispy. I normally make my mom's style which is made of ground pork, carrots, cabbage, etc..however, I forgot to buy the cabaage!

So instead, I'm making the Northern VN style eggrolls. Well I call it Northern style b/c a lot of my friends who speak the northern dialect..well, their parents make it this way, so I'm just making an assumption (apologies if offending anyone!) Typical NVN eggrolls are typically made of ground pork, shittake mushroom, carrot, and bean thread noodles.

This recipe is idiot proof, even if it wasn't spiced perfectly, it's okay, b/c the dish is meant to be eaten w/ nuoc mam or fish sauce. What you will need is a lot of TIME and patience.

- 1.75 lbs ground pork
- 4 to 5 dried shittake mushrooms, rehydrated in warm water for 30 minutes, then sliced thinly
- julienned carrot (grated carrots work really well, but since i dont own one..)
- bean thread noodle, soaked in warm water at least 15 min
- green onion chopped
- garlic powder
- soy sauce
- sugar
- salt
- black pepper
- sesame oil
- spring roll sheets
- beaten egg



1. Okay, using a huge mixing bowl, add in the ground pork.
2. Throw in garlic powder, sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce, black pepper, salt, carrots, mushrooms, and bean thread noodle (make sure you cut them before adding - they are LOOOOONG).
3. Mix by hand.


Okay, I was too busy (and dirty!) rolling the eggrolls, so I don't exactly have the pictures to show how to fold them in.

1. Take one sheet and lay it diamond side towards you as such.
2. Fill it in about one tablespoon of mixture, about cigar length. Make sure it is NOT thick, b/c then cooking time will increase and chances of consuming raw meat runs higher.
3. Using the bottom corner, fold it upwards OVER the mixture.
4. Taking both corners on left/right side, fold it inwards over the edge of the mixture.
5. Roll it upwards, keeping it tight.
6. Before you seal it, brush w/ egg and roll it all the way.

Damn it, I really need pictures to prove it...no worries, it'll go up one day soon.

OKAY FRYING: Heat oil up to 325-350 F. The trouble w/ frying is sometimes the skin will crisp up and become golden brown BEFORE cooking the inside meat. All of this is trial and error.

Drain and enjoy w/ a Thai chili sauce or nuoc mam. You can definitely freeze these but do it in a sheet pan. If you throw it in a zipper bag, then the eggrolls can lose their shape. Once frozen, then you can bag them. The technique again when frying to make sure the oil is low enough to cook thoroughly but high enough to crisp w/o making it soggy.

Crab Rangoon - kiss of death

Who doesn't love cream cheese filled deep fried wontons?! At China Pearl, their crab rangoons are HUGE and super garlicky. I know of some places that make theirs w/ low grade cream cheese and the result is a toothpaste like consistency and absolutely no flavor! My recipe is super easy, but I warn you: you will NOT be gettin any lovin from ANYONE b/c this is GARLICKY!

- Two 8 oz bricks of Philadelphia cream cheese
- 8 cloves of minced garlic (if you can, garlic paste)
- handful of green onions
- black pepper
- crabmeat (frozen hand picked is great, but i'm cheating w/ imitation)
- olive oil
- wonton skins (thick kind - perfect for frying)


1. Place about 1/2 tbs of olive oil in a pot on medium high.
2. Quickly toss in garlic and sautee. Do NOT burn it. The intention is to release the aroma.

3. Add in cream cheese. Stir constantly to ensure that the cream cheese is smoothed out and super pliable, not melted. Shut off heat.

4. Add in TONS of cracked black pepper.
5. Add in green scallions. (My mom thinks it's too tart, so you can add a bit of sugar)

6. The cream cheese mixture should now be speckled in black, soft, and super garlicky. At this point, you can either take a Ritz cracker and dip or proceed.

7. Take wonton skin. Fill about a teaspoon or a bit more of the mixture into the center.

8. Wet the wonton w/ water or egg wash mixture on the perimeter.
9. Take one end to the other in the form of a triangle.

10. Wet one point and bring the dry point to the other end.



11. To deep fry, set your setting at 350 F. Throw in the fryer until golden brown, roughly 3 minutes.
12. Drain and serve w/ a Thai sweet chili sauce.



For any extras, you can place them in the freezer and save for another day. The consistency will not be as smooth or hot as the first day you make them, but just let it fry longer w/o burning the wonton skin.

Dad's Good Old Marinade

Ever since I can remember, my dad has this kick-ass marinade that he uses on EVERYTHING - beef, porkchops, chicken, shrimp, squid...you name it, he used it. This marinade is SUPER easy and SUPER basic comprising of 6 ingredients.

*Note: As good as this tastes, beware if you are diabetic!!! A boatload of sugar is used and for those w/ hypertension, the fish sauce is deniably salty. However, once in a while, why not???? Its soooooo good!


Ingredients:

- 1 cup of nuoc mam (fish sauce)

- Black pepper

- 4 cloves garlic, worked into a paste

- 1 teaspoon Five-spice powder

- 1 to 1 1/4 cup sugar



1. To work garlic into a paste, you need to first mince the garlic. Add kosher salt, and constantly press the garlic on the cutting board back and forth.




2. Once you have the garlic paste, add in your fish sauce.



3. Stir in the sugar until dissolved. Continue to add more sugar until a syrup-like consistency is achieved. The given amount is an estimate, you may need to use more.




4. Stir in 5-spice. The mixture will end up looking "dirty." But damn it will smell good.

5. Stir in your marinade on top of your meat choice. In my case, I had chicken thighs. I did a double baggy method: using a ziploc bag and then a regular plasstic bag to ensure no leakage.





6. Let it marinate for at least an hour.


7. Throw the chicken in the oven at temperature of 400 F. Bake for at least 20 minutes.







This should be the result. The skin should be crispy and sweet and the meat should be juicy and have a faint aroma of the marinade. This is served w/ jasmine rice on the side w/ fried green scallion oil and topped w/ fish sauce.

Bon Appetit!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Dad's Mapo Tofu

Mapo Tofu is traditionally a spicy Szechuan dish made w/ tofu, ground pork, and peppers!!!! Soooo good but when I order it in restaurants, it's usually SPICY but no flavor and w/ the huge grease pockets. I'm following my dad's recipe a bit - w/ the addition of ginger but I'm keeping the heat element.

- Soft tofu, cut in cubes
- 1/4 lb of ground pork
- knob of ginger, julienned
- minced garlic
- green onion
- vegetable oil
- oyster sauce
- soy sauce
- sugar
- crushed red pepper
- cornstarch mixed w/ water

1. Place cubed tofu on a plate as if you are presenting the dish.
2. Add oil to pan and then add in ground pork.
3. When the pork is about 90-95% done, add oyster, soy sauce, and sugar.
4. Add sugar, garlic, and ginger.
5. Add in about 1/4 cup of water and let simmer for at least a minute. Microwave the tofu for one minute, making sure it doesn't explode.
6. Stir in red pepper and then shut off the heat.
7. Add in the cornstarch mixture and stir well. This will thicken up the sauce.
8. Top off the pork mixture on top of the warmed tofu.
9. Dress w/ green onions.






The result is a heavenly mixture of salty meat and silky "plain" tofu. Again, I warn you, if you eat the meat alone, it will be SUPER salty. However, when you bite it w/ tofu, it's a wonderful blend of softness and textures. The red pepper should come through a bit, but what gives this dish character is the GINGER. The ginger should be able to cut through the flavors and provide that clean earthy taste as well as bite.

Chinese Hot Wings



LOVE me some hot wings...but as much as I love 'em, the traditional style of deep frying and melted butter makes me cringe! So here's a healthy cooking method of Chinese wings. (*Remember, eating the skin is NOT healthy, but tasty!!!)

- 2 lbs of drumettes (or wings)
- salt
- cayenne pepper
- five-spice powder (anise seed, cinnamon, fennel, clove, & garlic)

1. Preheat oven to 500 F.
2. Add salt, cayenne, and 5-spice on wings.
3. Flip and repeat.
4. Lay on lightly greased baking sheet (used Pam spray).
5. Bake for at least 30 minutes, flipping drumettes in process.
6. When the skin is golden brown and crispy, then it's time!

The result should be a crispy skin and super super hot wings. The cayenne gives the heat but the five-spice gives it a completely different flavor. Remember to use salt, b/c it would be super bland w/o it!

Breakfast Burrito



Okay, I know I can't compete w/ McDonald's and their

McSkillet Burritos...but dang it, I'm going to make it! This was just to have something for Tony to eat for breakfast right before heading out to work.

- Flour tortilla

- 3 eggs, beaten

- Three slices turkey

- Two slices of cheese, sliced thinly

- Cup of frozen breakfast potatoes

1. In skillet, sautee frozen breakfast potatoes for 5-7 minutes or almost cooked through.

2. Add beaten eggs and scramble like crazy.

3. Fill mixture in tortilla. Top of w/ cheese and roll it burrito style.

4. Throw the burrito back in pan and let it grill for a minute on both sides.

5. Top w/ salsa and enjoy!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Home-style tortilla chips and BBQ Chicken Pizza


Homestyle BBQ Chicken Pizza

Tony and I *love* Papa John's BBQ Chicken pizza. It's sweet, it's tangy, it's full of so much freakin calories/cholestoral/sodium/ etc. So in a quest to capture the spirit of the BBQ CHIX pizza, I decided to do it at home using everyday items.

- BBQ sauce (Jack Daniel's BBQ bottle)
- mozzerella cheese (8 oz, but used half bag)
- Trader Joe's regular pizza dough ($1.29! A STEAL!!!!)
- thinly sliced white onion
- Sliced white meat chicken (I had leftovers - normally when I buy chicken in bulk, whatever's left I broil/grill, slice, and throw it in freezer)
- olive oil
- a bit of flour for dusting

1. Lightly brush olive oil on a cookie sheet or pizza pan while preheating oven @ 450 F.
2. Dust the counter or cutting board w/ flour.
3. Work w/ the pizza dough and roll it out to the desired size. In my case, I'm using a cookie sheet, so rectangular size it is. Oh yes, I didn't have a roller, so it was all handy work.
4. Spoon on about half a cup of BBQ sauce.
5. Spread chicken evenly.
6. Top off w/ onions.
7. Top off w/ cheese.
8. Lightly brush olive oil on the edge of the pizza dough.
9. Throw it in the oven and bake around 15 minutes or until golden brown.
10.Rest the pizza for 5 minutes before cutting.

The result: Well, I was 3/4 done w/ the pizza consumption until I realised I didn't take any picture! It was great! The cheese was tasty, the BBQ sauce was delicious, and the chicken - well, a bit of freezer burn, but yummy - onions so good! Huge difference between this and Papa John's is the liberal use of bacon! But I rather something a wee bit healthier and not feeling heavy after. Sure it's no Papa John's but...saved money! I spent probably $7.00 on making this pizza versus $18 Papa John's!


Homestyle Baked Tortilla Chips

Personally I think bagged tortilla chips are disgusting. Who would want to eat deep-fried corn tortilla chips full of sodium and what other preservatives??? I love buying salsa in store especially from Costco b/c it's fresh and the ingredients are simple. So instead of dropping $3 a bag, I decided to pick up a pack of flour tortillas at Trader Joe's for $1.49. Here we go:

- Flour tortilla
- olive oil
- salt

1. Preheat oven at 375 F.
2. Take one tortilla and brush one side with olive oil.
3. Salt the tortilla lightly.
4. Flip the tortilla and repeat.
5. Cut tortilla in half and then into 8 pcs.
6. Toss on a baking sheet and throw it in the oven.
7. Bake for 5-10 minutes and then turn over.
8. Take out and let them cool on a rack.
9. Stack and store in an airtight container or throw in on a plate and enjoy!




kimchi jiggae

Ahh kimchi jiggae or kimchi stew, a perfect bowl soothes one's soul during a rainy night or a cold day. The hot temperature coupled with the slight spicyness makes this stew a great comfort food.
Unfortunately, Tony doesn't dig my jiggae too much b/c I don't use tuna. When he makes it w/ tuna, I don't like it at all, so I rather my way than his.
- Older kimchi (stinky! but the older the better!)
- one block soft tofu, cut in cubes
- water
- dashida (beef stock)
- sesame oil
1. Squeeze excessive kimchi juice into a reserve bowl.
2. Chop off kimchi into bite size pieces.
3. Adding sesame oil into pot, sautee kimchi pieces.
4. After about 5 minutes, add water and reserve kimchi juice.
5. Boil 15 minutes.
6. Add dashida and tofu. Stir gently making sure tofu is heated through.
7 If need be, add sugar to taste.
Scoop rice in bowl, add the kimchi jiggae and enjoy! Yaay!

Thursday, March 13, 2008

chicken pepper stir-fry

This is a poultry take on the classic Chinese take-out dish, pepper steak. At China Pearl, a restaurant I worked in for 4 yrs, they made an excellent chicken pepper and this is my feeble attempt to recreate it.
- Sliced chicken breast in bite size medallions in 1/4 inch thickness
- one green bell pepper, cored and quartered
- half of onion sliced (i prefer chunks, but i had slivers left over)
- garlic
- vegetable oil
- soy sauce
- oyster sauce
- black pepper
- black bean and garlic sauce
- sugar
- Pinot Grigio (all I had on hand, but if you can, rice wine)
- cornstarch mixed with water (half and half ratio)
1. Add vegetable oil to a hot pan, then add chicken.
2. Once chicken is about 70% cooked, throw in onions and bell peppers.
3. Add a splash of wine for aromatics.
4. Add oyster sauce, black bean sauce, sugary, and soy sauce. Stir well.
5. Add roughly 1/4 cup of water to the pan and promptly cover. This will steam the vegetables partially but still retain the crunch.
6. Remove lid, add in garlic and black pepper.
7. Cut off heat, add the cornstarch+water mixture to thicken the sauce.
Plate and enjoy! The dish I made today came out a wee bit more salty than I'd prefer and less saucy, but then again, I'm not big on sauces. It looked great, smells fantastic, and is begging to be eaten (hubby not home yet!).
Up next, kimchi jigae!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

spicy summer noodle


This noodle dish is a Korean version of "bi-bin kook soo" - a sort of cold noodle salad that is typically served during the summer time (for obvious reasons).
To be honest, I was trying to imitate a cold noodle salad that a certain Japanese restaurant served, but I couldn't make it as liquid-y as the noodles absorbed too much of the dressing. So this became an alternative.
- cooled bean thread noodles, cooked and drained
- sliced cucumber, peeled and seeded
- carrot matchsticks
- sesame oil
- mayonnaise
- rice vinegar
- mirin
- sesame seeds
- seasoned gochujang (Korean chili paste)
1. Mix mayo, rice vinegar, sesame oil, mirin well.
2. Pour over noodles, cucumbers, and carrots. Mix by hand well (or chopsticks, as long as the noodles don't break).
3. A few tablespoons of gochujang, mix.
4. Add sesame seeds as garnish.
The result should be a slightly creamy but still spicy noodle dish.

Crabstick Salad


This is a left-over recipe idea. Last night I served a tuna tataki salad (which completely rocked!!!!) and having the salad ingredients, I resorted to a bit of efficiency.
- Green-leaf lettuce, cleaned and roughly chopped.
- carrots, peeled and cut into match sticks
- white onion (barely 1/5 whole) sliced super thinly
- sliced cucumber, peeled and seeds scooped out
- three imitation crab sticks, hand shredded
- fried garlic bits (i used TOO much b/c it's soooo good)
- ponzu sauce (used Kikkoman already bottled)
Layered as followed:
1. Lettuce down
2. Cucumber
3. Carrot sticks
4. White onion
5. Crab
6. Garlic
When about to serve, splash on ponzu sauce. I hate to dress before b/c it will seriously make the garlic bits soggy and the crunch is the best part.
This is a refreshing and cool salad to have; a great alternative to the creamy dressings.

Fishcake stir-fry


Oden - Japanese/Korean name for fish cake that's pressed and fried and served in sheets. Oden is used in stir-frys and soups.


This version is a stir-fry.


- 2 sheets of oden defrosted if previously frozen, chopped in bite size pieces

- half onion chopped

- Korean soy sauce (khang-jang - a lighter sweeter soy sauce)

- garlic powder

- chopped garlic

- sugar

- sesame oil

- dashida (beef stock in dry granule form)

- chopped green onion (optional)

- roasted sesame seed (optional)


1. Throw in onion and sautee in a bit of olive oil - one minute.

2. Add oden and constantly stir to avoid burning - 2 minutes.

3. Add garlic, khang-jang, garlic powder, sugar, sesame oil, and dashida.

4. Stir and quickly shut off the heat.

5. Once plated, top off with chopped green onion and sesame seeds.


The end result is a sweet and savory dish that is very easy to enjoy!

get in my belly!







frequently i cook at home for a few reasons.
1. i like it
2. i like controlling what goes in
3. i *know* what goes in
4. it costs a hell of a lot less to eat at home than OUT
5. healthier (at least that's what i believe)



when i take awesome pictures of awesome dishes, i'll post a recipe to go along w/ it if it is deemed worthy. i want to provide step by step details/pictures, but that's all in due time! in the meanwhile, enjoy the tantalizing pictures as a "preview"