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~

Wonton Part 2

If you still remember my recipe for Shanghai wonton, to all vegan and vegetarians: THIS WILL BE YOUR FAVORITE POST

My roomate's boyfriend, a vegan, moved in and my roomate has turned vegan as well. Therefore, in order to let her try my delicious traditional homemade food, here is the tofu wonton.

At home, my mom add dried shrimps (蝦米仔) to this, but I am not a big fan of it and this will not fit into our healthy vegetarian wonton either. But if you want to add it, you are welcome to.

Ingredients:

1 block Firm tofu

7-10 dried mushrooms

Dried Radish

Salt

Soy Sauce

Seasame oil

First cut the tofu into big chunk and throw them into a cotton bag. (I used the ones for my fish soup, recipes for this will be up soon)
Squeeze out all of the water and make them into crumbs.
Soak the mushrooms till they are soft and cut them into tiny pieces.
Do not add in too many radishes and mushrooms, the strong flavors will cover up the soy flavor of the tofu.
Dice a piece of dried radish. It should be about the same amount as the mushrooms.
Add a pinch of salt and a little soy sauce. The most important, similar to the meat wonton, is sesame oil. This is the key for the juice of the wonton. Add a two tablespoons of sesame oil and mix all of the ingredients together. The good thing about the tofu wonton is that you can taste the ingredients before you cook them. Wrap the wontons in the store bought wrapper and cook till they float.

Put them in the freezer if you could not finish them. I will recommend you cook them all first then freeze them because the wrapper will not crack or stick to the pan. You can also pan fry them and dip them in chilli oil! (my personal favorite)

Now if you want wonton, there is a vegetarian option for you. ENJOY!

Guac, the all time favorite

Guacamole. A Mexican sauce made popular among Americans for chips and all kinds of things is a quick and delicious appetizers before meal or snack before drinks.
It is colorful and definitely easy to make.

Ingredients:
2 Avocados, pitted and mashed
2 Roma tomatoes
1 Red onions
Lemon
1 tspoon Cumin powder
Cayenne pepper powder

One raw corn for corn guacamole

First mash the avocados. You can mash it till it is all smooth or leave small chunks to add texture to your dip. Cut the roma tomatoes to bite size pieces. I am not a big fan of raw onions therefore I cooked it a little first and decrease the spiciness of raw onions. You can also substitute it with yellow onions or shallots if you want. Squeeze half a lemon and sprinkle around one teaspoon of cumin powder. Add a pinch of salt and add cayenne pepper to your liking.
You can use corn instead of tomatoes as well! It will add a sweetness and chewiness to this guacamole.
Definitely taste along the way!

                               

POSTGRAD...

       It has been almost a full year since I write this blog. Throughout this year I have accumulated a lot of food photographs but my laziness took over and I refuse to write new updates. In light of my graduation, I began to look at my life and decide what I should continue to do and what I shouldn't. Food photography has become my hobby. I also began to read 4 hour chef, recommended by a friend who also loves to cook. I must say, I am quite talented with languages and this summer, I vow to continue with my french and pick up Korean as well.
      I started studying Korean through Rosetta Stone and even though it was long, I definitely enjoyed it... (now i just need to get it on my computer instead of others....)
Therefore this post will be dedicated to my korean friends and my best piggies. ( I will always remember those nights at MD ;)
Here is a korean blog that I adore!! http://www.maangchi.com

First I made a rice dish that I saw watching Kimchi family. (this is a great korean drama using all kinds of kimchi to tell the story, the food in the drama looks amazing!)
Soy Bean Sprout Rice/Kongnamul Bap

Here are the ingredients:
Pork (I used pork butt)
2ts soy sauce
1ts rice wine/mirin
1/2 sesame oil
1ts sugar
1ts corn starch
Soy bean sprout
Kimchi, coarsely chopped
1/4 Onions
Vegetables (optional)
Short grain rice

Sauce:
4tbs soy sauce
1ts sesame oil
2 ts hot pepper flakes
1 clove garlic
1 green onion
1 egg (optional)

                                                          

       

First you rinse the rice and soak it with water for about 10 minutes. This will make the rice fluffy and soft. During that time, you slice the pork and marinate it with a little soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, rice wine/mirin and corn starch. Corn starch will keep the pork moist even after stir frying. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Heat the pan with a little oil and start stir frying the onions and vegetables. Then put in the pork and then the kimchi. Stir fry till the pork changed color.

Put them in a pot and add in water and your rice. The ratio should be 1:1. Lastly cover the pot with bean sprout and cover the pot. Bring the water to a boil then lower the heat. This will take around 20 minutes. Try not to open the cover during that time. When the rice is done, mix them and add in the sauce. You can add a fried egg when serve.

For the side dish, I made

Pan fried tofu with spicy sauce / 두부부침양념장 / Dububuchim-yangnyeomjang

Here are the ingredients:

1 pack of firm tofu

1 tbs soy sauce

1 ts hot pepper flakes

1 ts sugar/honey

1 chopped green onion

1 clove of minced garlic

1 ts sesame oil

roasted sesame seeds (for sprinkling)

First slice the tofu into 1/4 inch thick rectangles. Use paper towel to absorb the water. (To make it golden brown, the tofu has to be patted down)

Then heat up 2 tbs oil in a pan. Add the tofu and lower the heat. Cook until one side is old brown (around 5 minutes) then flip them over. You can make your sauce while waiting for the tofu. 

For the sauce, add all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix them together. Taste and adjust accordingly.

Once the tofu is ready pour the sauce on top and sprinkle it with roasted sesame seeds.

This is it! One delicious Korean meal! 

잘 먹겠습니다!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE MONSTER

The one person that can actually make me start my blog again-- Cathryn the neighbor. This was a month ago when the neighbor deciding what to eat for her birthday. Since then posts on facebook are related to cakes recipes and restaurants. We at last decide on making an orea cream pie, but because after telling them and knowing the recipe myself, we abstain from making a big pie, but instead made a mini one just enough to satisfy her. The recipe is simple and this post is dedicated to the birthday girl. (she is craving fat and sweet again and i am not there for her) 


Yields a 9x13 pie 1 big pack of OREO (separate them and only use the cracker) 
1/2 cup of butter 
8 ounce cream cheese 
1 cup powdered sugar 
1 heavy cream 


Crushed all of the OREO and split them in half. For the pie crust, melt then butter and mix in the OREO. Use you hand, press down the OREO mix onto a non-stick pan and put it in the fridge. Start mixing the cream cheese and powdered sugar until it is soft and fluffy. Whip the heavy cream and add them into the mix. Pour in the rest of the OREO and mix. Pour the pie in the pan and sprinkle some of the left over OREO for decoration. Put the pie in the fridge for around an hour or two and the pie is ready!

  
 

Enjoy and happy birthday once again.

龍年團年飯 之 蛋角 Chinese New Year Eve DInner-- Egg Dumplings

The night before Chinese New Year, family gathers together to cook a big meal and enjoy the night before a new year starts.
In Boston, my family joined me and my roomate for a feast as well. Although i miss home and all those cold appetizers and hot soup and dessert, I created a lovely night with my friends.
In preparation for this night, i pre-made the egg dumplings because school work is starting to pile up.
Ingredients are very easy to get, but the process takes a while.
Yield around 25-30 depending on size
Ingredients:
A dozen of medium sized eggs
Around 2 dollars of ground pork
Seasoning:
light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce, white pepper, sugar, corn starch

First mix the ground pork with the seasoning. These are the basic ingredients for Chinese to marinate meat, sometimes without the oyster sauce.
Do not add too much of each, preferably more sesame oil.
After mixing everything in, add about 1/3 cups of water, little by little. This makes the pork more fluffy and juicy. The corn starch will also help contain the juice of the meat.

Set that aside. Beat the eggs with a fork. Do not over-beat because we do no want too many air bubble created with pan frying the egg.

Heat the Chinese wok (or you can use a non stick pan) ( the Chinese wok is better because it has a natural concavity that will help shape the egg.
Put in a small amount of oil and when the oil is heated, pour in a soup spoonful of egg. Try to make the egg as round as possible. Once the egg start to bubble up, take the pan away from the fire and scoop in some pork. Do not put too many because the egg might break.
Put the pan back on the fire and fold the egg in half. Seal all sides before the egg is all cooked through. If there are some openings, try to put a little bit more egg to seal it. Then pan fry it until both sides are golden brown.
You have to be very patience when making these dumpling because the egg breaks easily.
I made around 25 dumplings but it really depends on how big you make it.

You could put them in a box layered with parchment paper if you are not going to eat them right away.
To eat:
There are a lot of different ways people eat egg dumplings, but i put them in soup.
Make a pot of chicken soup, with chicken broth or whole chicken, cut up some cabbages and cellophane noodles, give it a boil and add in the egg dumplings. It will take around 5-7 minutes. Then it is ready!

There are so other pictures of my dinner, if you wanted the recipe of the other food, feel free to contact me :)
Once again Happy Chinese New Year!!!

DRUNKEN CHICKEN

STIR FRY OKRA WITH SACHA

LOTUS LEAF WRAPPED PORK RIBS

Custard Pudding

Once again with the help of my friends, I have a chance to make something that i would never have thought of.
Due to insufficient equipments at home, i could only use what i can find.

Ingredients:
- Caramel -
4 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp Water
1½~2 tbsp Hot Water

- Egg Mixture -
2 Eggs
250ml Milk (8.45 fl oz)
5 tbsp Sugar

First butter the pudding molds (130ml) to prevent the pudding from sticking.
Then start making caramel. Put the sugar and water in a pot. Keep it at medium heat. Once the surface becomes lightly yellow, swirl the pot and caramelized the sugar until it become brownish yellow. Then quickly add the hot water to the caramel and swirl the pot to even out the caramel. Pour them evenly into the pudding molds.
Then for the egg mixture. Crack the eggs and lightly beat them in a bowl. Don't let the whisk leave the bottom of the bowl to avoid creating foam. Pour the milk to a pot and put in the sugar. Heat the milk, keep stirring, until the sugar has melted. Pour the milk mixture to the egg. Keep whisking but avoiding making bubbles and foams. Sift the egg mixture and remove any foam from the mixture. Pour in the egg mixture to the mold evenly.

Cover each of the mold with a aluminum foil. This prevents the egg from getting dry and also help spread the heat evenly. For the steamer, add water that covers half of the mold. Put a thick towel on the bottom of the steamer to absorb some of the heat. The water should not be to hot to the point where it is boiling. Steam for 20minutes. Cool them and put them in the fridge.

When serve, scrap the side of the mold and light tap the sides of the mold to make a gap. The pudding will come out smoothly and it will be ready to serve!