Spice it up. Not your regular watermelon soju

As most of my friend know, I am somewhat of an alcohol fanatic. I also want to experiment with cocktails but haven't stock up enough in my liquor cabinet to do that. But this cocktail I tried in Hong Kong was not a difficult mix at all.
Watermelon soju has been a popular thing among my friends especially during summer months. This cocktail is let's say a more complex version of it, flavor wise.

I don't really like to measure when it comes to alcohol. Be more free spirited and taste test while mixing it.

Ingredients:
watermelon juice (I used one mini watermelon and blend everything)
vodka/ soju
fresh lime juice
lemongrass (i didn't have fresh lemongrass so I used frozen ground lemongrass)
honey syrup
thai chili

With half of the watermelon juice, I mixed 2 shots of vodka, half a lime, a tsp of lemongrass, a squirt of honey syrup and half a thai chili.
Everyone likes this drink differently so you are in control of your own drink. Cheers and have a sweet hot spicy night ;)

Bring home to me. Shanghai Vegetable Rice

Home is far for me. Home cooked food is even further. My cravings are the motivation for me to cook these dishes and this shanghai vegetable rice one that I also crave and therefore always make. Although I have to admit that, my mom's rice is also unbeatable and the best I have ever had.

With the help of a rice cooker, everything is so much easier these days. This dish is the same.

Ingredients:
Shanghai bak choy (those with milky white stems)
Chinese sausage
Jasmine rice
Salt

First wash the rice and measure the amount of water. Put in a little less water than usual because there will be water in the vegetable and you don't want your rice to be soggy.

Then wash the bak choy and finely chop them. You would want at least a bag of vegetables. It will look like a lot but when you cook it they will shrink.
Heat the wok, add a little more oil than usual.  Put all of the chopped vegetables in. Add a handful of salt. Remember this will be mixed into the rice so you should definitely over salt them.
Water stored in the vegetable will be forced out when you cook it. Once the vegetables are all wilted, pour them into the rice cooker including the vegetable juice.

Start the rice cooker. Halfway through the cooking process, put in the Chinese sausage. This adds flavor to the rice. Let the rice cook through and your vegetable rice will be done!
Easy peasy :)

Hope all of you who are living far away from home can feel the love during the process of cooking some traditional homemade food you had at home.

Nothing beats homemade soymilk

Everyone buys soy milk at supermarket but the hard work you put in when you make your own changes the flavor of the ultimate product.
So here you go, homemade soy milk. Silky and delicious.

It's a two day process. First sock the soy beans overnight so they grow in size.

The next day pour the soy bean into the blender. 1:1 ratio. Start the blender until smooth. Strain the pulp and milk with a cloth bag. You can find these at asian supermarkets. People usually use them for making fish soup.


Use all of the strength you got to squeeze all the juice out of the bag. Then put the remaining pulp back into the blender. This time adding half the water. 1:.5 ratio. You don't want to put too much water because it will dilute the final product. Repeat the squeezing part.

Now all the liquid is in a pot, turn on the stove and give it a boil. THIS WILL SPILL so watch the fire. Let it cool and there you go. Homemade soy milk. You can make a batch and put them in small jars ready for your morning commute.

                 

     

Pickles

These days I have been obsessed with pickles. The process of pickling was used as a way to preserve food but then people enjoyed the resulting flavor and nowadays people from all over their world have their own style of pickling.
Koreans is one of the Asian country that has a lot of preserved food. This recipe is one of my favorite and also the easiest.
Chayote is a plant that belongs to the gourd family. In Chinese we call them "buddha's hand" since it has a shape of a close fist. I have also used it to make soup until I tried a pickle chayote at a Korean restaurant.
**One thing you need to know about this plant. It's slimy after you peel the skin off. The sap from the plant dries out the water on your fingers and your hands will be super dry. Some people will even have allergic reaction to it. Try to use gloves when you cut them**

For the pickle, we do not need to peel the skin, but we need to take out the center white part of the plant. Cut them into cubes and find a tight jar for you to store them.

Now the brine. It consists of 1:1:1 sugar, soy sauce and white vinegar. Put them all in a pot and bring it to a boil. Watch the fire because the brine will over boil very quickly.
Once it boils up, pour the brine into the jar of raw chayote.
They float so in order to let it soak up the brine, place a few rocks or something heavy to push them down. Seal the jar.

Let the jar sit in room temperature for  a day or two then you can put it in the fridge.

For a kick, put in a jalepeno (poke a few holes in the pepper). That should give you a sweet sour spicy delicious pickle. ENJOY!

**You can reuse the brine. Just add extra soy sauce and vinegar and give it a boil. Also use hot brine so the chayote cooks a little in the brine but remain crispy.**

Bottomless Brunch Part 2: French Toast

This is not some ordinary French Toast. This is the Hong Kong style French Toast!
You usually find them in local restaurants that serves a vary of breakfast food, milk tea and a rice plates. This is one of my favorite afternoon tea snack when I was young. 

French toast was created in European and until this day, there are still French toast served in Europe. This specialty food was brought to Hong Kong during the colonial years under British rules. It became a popular afternoon tea choice and is now part of the distinct Hong Kong food culture. 
The Hong Kong style French toast uses two slices of white bread instead of French baguettes. The most popular filling is peanut butter or jam. After deep frying the French toast, people usually add a slice of butter, syrup, honey or condense milk. 
The Asian white bread is comparatively softer and fluffier. These breads soak up the eggs a lot quicker than French bread. The Hong Kong style French toast is therefore like a deep fried scramble egg filled with melting peanut butter. AMAZING. 

Ingredients:
Asian white slices bread (you can keep the sides or cut them out)
Eggs 
Peanut butter/ Jam
Oil

This time, I did not deep fry the French Toast but instead pan fry them for a healthier version. I also cut them into small cubes and served them as an appetizer for my boozy brunch.

1) Spread peanut butter on both slices of bread
2) Cut them into 4 small cubes
3) Soak them in the egg wash 
4) Heat the oil and put in the cubes
5) Flip them till both sides are golden brown
6) Drizzle syrup or condense milk

Voila!

Bottomless Brunch

How to host a bottomless brunch party

Ingredients:
Unlimited bottle of prosecco /champagne
Juice (grapefruit, orange etc.)
Liquor (Elderflower) (optional)

Unlimited cold cuts (prosciutto, salami etc)
Crepe batter 
Cheese and ham for filling
Nutella and banana if you want sweet crepes
French toast

Conclusion: unlimited supply of drinks and food

First up: Crepe

This is the best crepe batter ever. It is chewy and thin and the smell of milk and egg is absolutely divine. 

1 cup flour

2/3 cup cold milk

2/3 cup cold water

3 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons melted butter, plus more for brushing on pan

Directions:

1) Mix all ingredients until smooth in a blender or with a whisk. Refrigerate. I put it in the fridge overnight.

2) Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Brush with melted butter.

3) Pour in 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter into the center of the pan and then tilt the pan in all directions to cover the bottom evenly. Cook about 1 minute, or until browned on the bottom. Turn and cook briefly on the other side.

4) You can then put in the cheese (i used Havarti) ham and arugula or the sweet ingredients in the crepe and fold them in half and then in a quarter. Now that is ready to be served.

I will be posting the Cantonese style french toast (西多士) on the blog tomorrow.

A year later, piggy blog revives: Budae Jjigae

A year later, a lot has happened. Friends moved, friends get married, new friends made but what ties us all together are still the love for food. Not just any food, but great homemade food. 

Summer is over and fall foliage is close to the end. With the drizzling rain in Boston, the one thing you think about is a pot of boiling hot stew. Budae-jjigae also named the Army Base Stew is one of my favorite stew. The flavor of spam and the spicy soup base with some flavorful rice cakes and ramen warms your body and your heart. Of course you will need good company but that pot of stew. THAT POT OF STEW! It makes it much better since it is very easy to prep and make. 

Broth: 

• 2 Tbsp fish sauce
• Hon dashi ( I ran out of anchovies and kelp but this works just fine)

Seasoning Paste for Soup Base

• 2 Tbsp red pepper powder (gochugaru 고추가루)
• 1 Tbsp red pepper paste (gochujang 고추장)
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp Mirin (sweet cooking wine)
• ¼ tsp black pepper

Ingredients:

• 1/2 onion cubed
• 2 green onions 
• 1/2 pound pork butt (marinate in mirin and gochujang)
• 1/2 cabbage
• 1 can spam
• 4 sausages
• 1/2 pack Soft Tofu
• 1/2 cup of fermented kimchi
• 1 bunch watercress
• 12-16 Korean sliced rice cake (optional) (presoak them in cold water before you put them in the pot)
• 1pack ramen (optional)
• 1 Handful of cheese (optional)

Prepare the broth and turn off the fire when it boils. Mix all the seasoning paste in a bowl and set aside.

Arrange all the ingredients in a shallow pot. Layer the cabbages, onions, green onions and watercress on the bottom. Add the kimchi and pork and also the spam and sausages. Put the tofu and rice cake last since the rice cake tends to stick to the pot and will easily burn the bottom of the pot.

Add the seasoning paste and add 3-4 cups of soup till it barely covers the rice cake. 

Use a portable burner so you can enjoy the hot boiling soup while eating with friends and family around the table. 

Let it boil for 10 minutes and it is ready to serve! You can lower the fire to prevent it from burning.

I like to add the ramen later because I will have more space after I had some of of delicious food in the pot.

Enjoy this Budae jjigae in this upcoming cold harsh winter! 

The YOLO feast

The time when we were still young, we eat all we want, drink all we can, and live our life to the fullest. YOU LIVE ONLY ONCE became the word for 2013. 5 Piggies became great friends, and of course who could just 'hang out' without food and drinks?

A spontaneous seafood craving ended with laughters and a satisfied stomach.
First there are oysters. Freshly bought and opened at home. Then there is lobster. Sashimi alive, dipped with soy sauce and wasabi. Store bought sashimi (for those who lives in Boston, Sakanaya in Allston is the best fish market you can find in Boston. They have fresh fish that are reasonably priced) and some white wine pasta top with seared scallops. Lastly a bottle of white wine from Loire Valley to pair all these seafood.

A great night with my piggies. Although the last night with them at my apartment, I'm sure we will all reunite once again very soon, with food and their company.

White wine linguine with seared scallops
Ingredients:
One pack of linguine pasta (DiGiorno recommended)
5 Carrots
1 Onion
1 garlic clove minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Chili flakes (optional)
1 tablespoon butter

10 scallops
1/2 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoon olive oil

First boil the pasta in salted water until al dente.
Meanwhile, in a nonstick skillet melt the butter over medium heat and add in the olive oil. Pat the scallops till dry and sprinkle salt and pepper. Place them on the pan and sear each side until golden brown. Do not over cook the scallops. Test them with a fork. It should still be a little spongy when pressed. Set them aside.

Now melt the butter over medium heat. Add in the garlic and chili flakes and cook until fragrant. Add in the onions and carrots. You can also add in other vegetables as well. Raise the heat to medium-high and then add wine. Cook until reduced by 1/4 about 1 minute. Remove the pan from heat and add in the pasta. Swirl in lemon juice and add scallops. Toss to combine.
You can pick out the scallops and place them on top when plating.

Enjoy! and remember YOLO~

Poe's Kitchen at the Rattlesnake -- burger

My best food buddy found out about this restaurant and we went to try out their famous burger.
It's walking distance from newbury street and you could also take the T and get off at Arlington.
When you walk in, on your right there is a full bar and the lights are dimmed. The vibe is relaxing and perfect for a drink with a friend.
We ordered a chipotle wings to share. There are around 8 pieces of chicken, rubbed with smoked jalapeño and served with poblano blue cheese. The wings are not too spicy and the meat is very juicy.
Next up our main course.
I ordered the Prime Rib Poe Dunker: Peppercorn-rubbed, shaved prime rib with brie, horseradish-sage mayo, black lava sea salt, jalapeno powder & onion broth dipping sauce
The description is very attractive but the sandwich is not as flavorful. The prime rib was soft but because the onion broth dipping sauce was too salty and it covered the flavor of the rib and mayo.
Should have ordered the Burger instead.
My friend ordered the Poe Burger: Kobe beef burger stuffed with lobster, foie gras & black truffles & served with house-cured whiskey bacon, avocado & Irish porter cheese on brioche
Fantastic. The beef is perfectly cooked and you could taste every ingredients in the burger. The chewiness of the lobster, the rich and creamy foie gras and the aromatic black truffles. Personally i think the bacon is too thick but it still hasn't over power the patty. The avocado also had creaminess to the burger too. Overall this burger is splashing with flavors but also very very heavy. One more side note, their fries is crispy, thick and delicious. 
You should definitely go try out some of the other food on the menu and give me some comments. Go try out the burger too! Worth it.

Poe's Kitchen at the Rattlesnake
384 Boylston St
Boston, MA 02215
T: 617.859.8555
www.rattlesnakebar.com/

LOBSTER PT. 2 (home made, Neptune, Summer Shack)

Neptune Oyster, the pearl in North End. Walking distance from government center and Faneuil Hall, this tiny restaurant is packed every night. They do not take reservation so get there as early as possible and write your name down. 

We arrived around 7 thinking it would not be packed on a Monday night but we were wrong. We waited close to 2 hours and at last we were seated. The restaurant was cosy and you could see the man cracking open the oysters one by one. 

Oysters are of course the main dish, they were around 2 dollars each depending on the area. I personally like the Island Creeks.

Besides oyster, the main dish would be the Maine lobster roll. You could have it hot with butter or cold with mayo. We ordered the hot one and it was divine. 25 dollars lobster roll was worth every penny. There were over flowing of lobster chunks accompanied with fries. Just a reminder, it gets really filling so share some of this deliciousness with friends. Definitely worth it.

Next up, Summer Shack. It is in the back bay area and walking distance from the Hynes T station on the green line.
The restaurant is pretty big and great for a casual family dinner or friends gathering. They also have a bar and televisions so you could watch some of the games while cracking lobster shells.

We ordered 3 different kinds of lobsters. First the special pan roasted lobster(1 1/2lb). They used bourbon, chervil and chives for the sauce. It was delicious. I did not even care about the lobster that much. The sauce was amazing! The lobsters were really hard to crack open and at the end of the meal we were all exhausted.

My friend ordered the clambake. It comes with steamers, mussels, chorizo, corn, potatoes and of course a lobster (this is a 1 1/2lb). The seafoods were fresh and nothing could beat that.

My other friend has been a lobster fanatic. Whenever he comes to Boston, I take him for a lobster feast. In Summer Shack they offer a 3 pound lobster and that was his challenge for the night. The lobster was huge but at the end, he was overwhelmed by the bits and pieces of lobster.

Last but not least, home cooked lobster.I got these lobster in Chinatown and they were priced by weight which is usually cheaper than eating out in a restaurant.

So how do you pick a lobster. In the market, they give you a tongs for the live lobsters swimming in the tanks. I usually pick the ones that has strong claws and fight back because their meat tend to be more muscular and therefore bigger and chewier. I am not sure if it is just me or not, but I "help" them pee before they got into the boiling water. Just stick a chopstick at the end of the tail and release the liquid. Putting them in boiling water for about 10-13 min per pound for the first pound. Add 3 min for each additional pound thereafter. You can melt any kinds of butter you have at home to add some saltiness to the lobster. 

It is really hard to mess up a steam lobster but there are many other different ways to eat a lobster also. If you have any suggestions for a new style of lobster, or suggestions of restaurants for lobsters, lobster roll or seafood please feel free to email me or leave me a comment!

Neptune Oyster                              

63 Salem Strett #1

Boston, MA 02113

T: 716.742.3474

http://neptuneoyster.com/

Summer Shack

50 Dalton Street

Boston, MA 02115

T: 617.867.9955

summershackrestaurant.com

LOBSTER (lobster hut, chinatown)

I looked through my albums and realize LOBSTER is the main theme to start off my hometown, BOSTON's review.
This would be a 2 part post just on LOBSTER.

Plymouth, MA

Plymouth, sightseeing and of course some seafood. We arrived at Lobster hut, and it was open seating. The weather was great and we sat next to the sea enjoying the birds and seagull. 

steam clam, fish and chip

lobster and scallop

before

after 

Everything was fresh and feeling the sea breeze better the experience.
There is no better way to taste the freshness of the seafood besides steaming them and dipping some melted butter and lemon.

Lobster Hut
25 Town Wharf
Plymouth, MA
T: 508.764.2270

Next up lobster for dinner in Chinatown.
In Boston Chinatown, you would usually see small signs in the restaurant with cheap double lobster (雙龍). Chinese cook lobster in different ways. We order the ginger leek lobster. Ginger and scallion/leeks goes well with pretty much anything. It is full of flavor but it covers the flavor of the lobster. With the cheap price, you can taste a different kind of lobster.