hakka house

Happy Year of the Dragon

2012-01-22T18:45:00.000-08:00

Osteria La Buca

2012-01-04T21:26:00.000-08:00

I've lived in Hollywood for almost two years and have driven by Osteria La Buca countless of times. The restaurant is housed in a gorgeous loftlike space with red bricks and wood accents, and it has a "pasta room" where the chefs make fresh pasta daily. I finally had a chance to try it a couple weeks ago, and I can't wait to go back again! It's definitely a neighborhood gem.

I am officially obsessed with the Brussels sprouts with egg, grana padano, and white anchovy vinaigrette. It is so freaking amazing, with the crispy Brussels sprout leaves and perfectly runny egg.

Smooth and delicious house-made chicken liver pate, whipped lardo, pickles, and mostardo

Agnolotti with crispy pork belly

I was surprised to find out that the spaghetti cacio pepe was house-made, too. It's pretty rare to find fresh spaghetti. It's a simple but satisfying dish.

Pizza with hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, thyme, and carmelized onions was chewy and savory and umami.

Osteria La Buca

5210 Melrose Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90038

(323) 462-1900

www.osterialabuca.com

Christmas in Big Bear

2012-01-04T20:43:00.000-08:00

Spontaneous trip to Kevin's family's cabin in Big Bear on Christmas eve.

Isn't this the most adorable Christmas cabin ever?

Co-owned by the Hermans and the Moultons.

Oh yes, that's a dead fox behind the Christmas tree.

Roaring fireplace

Christmas breakfast with bacon, eggs, and pandan cake!

Punk rock snowman

Cut Night at Casa Diaz

2011-12-11T11:43:00.000-08:00

I've been dying to visit Wolfgang Puck's Cut, ever since my friend Elisa told me about her incredible dinner there. But I'm deterred every time I think about how expensive it is. My friends and I recently started a new food club, and one of our new members is an actual chef trained in France. We hit the jackpot! For our first food club theme, we unanimously picked the menu at Cut.

Jonathan picked up four large slabs of 28-day, dry-aged rib eye steaks from Harvey's Guss Meat in L.A., the same meat purveyor for Cut. Total: $170.

Jonathan's wife, Nina, is from Switzerland, and she made us some delicious mulled wine with red wine, sugar, and vodka.

Eggs poached using the Curtis Stone method.

This was my dish: roasted asparagus, poached eggs, bacon, with a bacon vinaigrette.

Fire up the grill!

Look at the beautiful gill marks. The steaks were finished in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10-12 minutes.

Beautifully cooked.

The majority of us wanted rare, while a couple others preferred medium rare.

Nina's amazing potato gratin with rosemary. There were no leftovers.

Peggy's green beans with almonds, tarragon, and loads of buttery goodness

Look at the spread.

Everything was amazing, including Kimie's creamed spinach.

Esther's Nutella Semifreddo, inspired by Giada De Laurentiis' recipe.

I can't believe we found room for dessert, but I'm so glad we did. Worth every single calorie.

We each pitched in $25 for the steaks, which probably won't even cover the valet parking at Cut. Good deal, great food, even better company.

Fatted Calf at The Oxbow Public Market in Napa

2011-11-20T12:24:00.000-08:00

Last May, Kevin and I took part in our very first 30-mile bike ride in Napa Valley. It was also the first time we travelled with my favorite foodie buddy Esther. I may be married to Kevin, but Esther is my culinary soulmate. We appreciate the nuances of stinky cheeses; we wax poetic over hand-made pasta; and we debate over whether Din Tai Fung's xiao long bao had the right dough-to-filling ratio. Needles to say, Esther and I were excited to explore all the great eats in Napa. First stop: The Fatted Calf at the Oxbow Public Market.

Look at all the beautiful meats on display.

Mortadella, fine-textured cooked salami garnished with pistachios.

Bologna, I think.
Prosciutto

Roasted pork shoulder with rosemary, garlic, and thyme. YUM!

Look at this beautiful sliver of lardon. Fat = good.

We also ordered fresh burrata from Oxbow Cheese Merchant.

Amazing dining experience without too much damage to the wallet.

Fatted Calf
The Oxbow Public Market
644 C First Street
Napa, CA 94559
(707) 256-3684

fattedcalf.com/

Royal/T in Culver City

2011-11-19T22:20:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a story about Culver City and decided to check out Royal/T, an art gallery-teahouse-restaurant-retail store hybrid. Kevin and I have been to Royal/T many times for its art shows but have never eaten there. Most of the times, we would walk through the restaurant, awkwardly lean over diners, while trying to look at the artwork behind plexiglas walls.

Cosplay restaurants are hugely popular in Asia, but I'm not really sure how I feel about being served by girls dressed as French maids.

We order the high tea set and started with the Royal/T milk tea. The black tea had a nice floral note.

Food paparazzi.

The bottom tier: tuna tartar, grilled veggie panini, chicken sandwich, and smoked salmon sandwich.

Second tier: brownie, cookie, flan (at least it tasted like it), strawberry cream, and chocolate-covered red velvet cake.

Top tier: strawberry scone.

Chicken yakisoba.

Overall, the food was good, and I really enjoyed the milk tea. But the main draw for me is still the gallery. Right now, there's a pretty incredible Kenny Scharf exhibit, which includes pieces from Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Royal/T.

8910 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232

(310) 559-6300

www.royal-t.org

Green Zone in San Gabriel

2011-11-13T11:31:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love chicken rice. When I was a kid, my mom predicted that I would marry a chicken rice hawker. The last time I was in Singapore, I had chicken rice 7 times in 6 days. I've scoured the Southland--from L.A. to Riverside--for a good chicken rice place. Unfortunately, I've been disappointed every single time. Naturally, I was skeptical when my friend Michelle told me about an organic chicken rice restaurant in San Gabriel. However, after testing Chubby Hubby's recipe a dozen times, I've realized that fresh, free-range chicken makes the best Hainanese chicken. The Green Zone sounded like it's on the right track, and Yelp gave it a pretty high rating.

The fried tofu skin-wrapped prawn was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. It had great texture but overall a pretty ordinary dish.

I was concerned when I first read the menu, which described it as lemongrass rice with chicken. Last time I checked, there's no lemongrass in authentic chicken rice. But I was pleased when I request dark meat, and the waiter replied that they only serve dark meat. The verdict? It was actually pretty decent. The chicken was tender, and the rice was not gummy. Plus they served it with the sweet dark soy sauce, a rarity in the U.S. The bad: The chili sauce was a total miss, and there's no gelatinous chicken skin in sight. I'm not sure if it's worth the long trek out here, but I might be back someday.

Green Zone

534 E Valley Blvd

Ste 4 & 5

San Gabriel, CA 91776

(626) 288-9300

www.greenzonerestaurant.com

Ord Hoyka Noodle in Hollywood

2011-11-13T11:16:00.000-08:00

It's another cold, rainy Friday, so we headed to our favorite Thai restaurant in Hollywood, Ord Hoyka. It's a cash-only place and the menu is delicious and cheap--a winning combination.

A small serving of meatball noodle soup for less than $4. After a long work week, this bowl of light, savory broth was the perfect comfort food. Kinda wished we ordered the large bowl.

Fried meatball platter with beef, pork, and fish.

I usually order the duck rice here but decided to go with the pad ses ew instead. It's a decent rendition with enough wok hei (smoky flavor delivered by a superhot wok). Think I'll stick with the duck rice the next time.

Ord Hoyka Noodle

5401 Hollywood Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90027

(323) 463-1339

Overseas Singaporean Survival Guide

2011-11-07T20:53:00.000-08:00

I've been living in California for more than 16 years, almost as long as I've lived in Singapore. Aside from my family, the thing I miss the most is obviously the food. According to New Yorker's Calvin Trillin: Culinarily, Singaporeans are among the most homesick people he has ever met.

Inspired by a recent conversation with a fellow Singaporean expat--who has never heard of Prima Taste or Do Do fishballs--here's my Overseas Singaporean Survival Guide:

1. Do Do Fish Balls

Fish balls in America are firm and dense, resembling the texture of sotong balls. Singaporean fish balls, on the other hand, are delicate and bouncy. I've tried many fish ball brands and Do Do is by far the best. They used to sell it at Ranch 99 but not any more. The only other place I can find it is at Hong Kong Supermarket in Monterey Park (127 N. Garfield Avenue).

2. Prima Taste

Hands down, Prima Taste offers the most authentic versions of pre-made mixes. I've spent hours recreating recipes from scratch and none of them came close to Prima. My favorites are the laksa mix, the chicken rice mix, and the chicken curry mix. You can find them at some Asian supermarkets or Asiansupermarket365.com. When you're in Singapore, pick up extra packets of their sambal. It's sooo good.

It's almost impossible to find the right thick bee hoon for laksa, even in Singapore. Prima just launched a new line of laska mix that comes with the noodles. It's not bad at all.

3. The only decent char kway teow I could find was Belacan Grill in Redondo Beach, which relocated to Tustin a year ago. I've not been to the Tustin branch, so I'm not sure if it's still good there.

4. I was really excited when my friend in New York told me about a Teochew porridge place in San Gabriel called Lu's Garden, and the place didn't disappoint. You get unlimited sweet potato porridge with your choice of sides, including minced pork with mustard greens, braised pork, and fried fish.

5. There are actually quite a few places you can get belachan kangkong. Some restaurants call it water spinach. Personally, I like the ones at Phoenix Inn in Alhambra (water spinach in Malay sauce).

6. I've been to so many Malaysian/Singaporean restaurants in the Southland and have yet to be impressed. I always get my hopes up, like the time I virtually stalked The Spice Table for months, checking constantly to see if it finally opened. While the lamb satay was good, the Hainanese chicken rice was awful (why on earth would you confit the chicken?). I would actively avoid the Street Hawker Truck, Singapore's Banana Leaf at the L.A. Farmers Market, and Singapore Express in Venice. And while Mutiara Food & Market in Inglewood has pretty high Yelp ratings, I was not happy with my dining experience. The mee goreng was disappointing. Oh, and don't order hokkien mee at Malaysian restaurants, unless you like the dark, peppery kind.

7. You can get frozen prata, frozen pandan leaves, frozen cockles, and frozen durian at most Ranch 99 markets.

8. Freshly killed (never frozen) chicken make the best Hainanese chicken rice. After various trials, I've concluded that the medium-size chickens from Happy Family Farms (Hollywood's Sunday farmers market) are the best. The kosher chicken at the LA Farmers Market and Mary's Free Range Chickens at Whole Foods are also good.

9. I highly recommend food blogs like Rasamalaysia.com, Little Corner of Mine, and A Tiger in the Kitchen.

10. I usually stock up my pantry during my annual trip back to Singapore. I buy everything from salt and white pepper to dark sweet soy sauce and fresh spices. Here's a list of food items you're allowed to bring back.

~Ray

Mario's Peruvian & Seafood

2011-11-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

It was a cold and rainy Friday evening, and I was craving something warm and soupy — specifically Chupe De Camarones, a Peruvian shrimp chowder from Mario's in Hollywood. At any given time, it's at least a 30-minute wait to get into the restaurant, but the rain kept the crowd away. We were seated immediately.

I don't know what's in the spicy green sauce, but it's so freaking amazing.

Chupe De Camarones with rice, shrimp, cilantro, and evaporated milk.

Camaron Al Ajo: sauteed shrimp in a butter and garlic sauce. You can't really go wrong with the fried shrimp, but I'm happy with just the garlic and butter sauce. Drizzle it all over rice and I could eat a whole bowl.

Kevin's Lomo Saltado: beef sauteed with onions, tomatoes and French fries over seasoned rice

Mario's Peruvian & Seafood
5786 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038
Neighborhood: Mid Wilshire
(323) 466-4181

Saddle Peak Lodge

2011-10-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

My co-worker and I were invited to Saddle Peak Lodge to try their new chef's tasting menu. I wasn't sure what to expect as we drove through the winding roads of Malibu. My co-worker is a huge taxidermy fan, so imagine her delight when we entered the main dining room.

The building has been around for a hundred years. While my design taste leans towards midcentury modern, I'm kinda digging the rustic hunter's lodge look.

My co-worker had the Manhattan and I had a mojito. (Okay, I had a couple sips. It was STRONG!)

Tomato soup amuse bouche. It reminded me of the borsch I had as a child at the Hainanese-owned Russian restaurant in Singapore called Shashlik.

Smoked salmon blini with caviar. The blini was a little doughy but I liked it.

Albacore sashimi with Hawaiian papaya, red onion, cilantro, avocado, and orange-ginger puree. I don't really understand the puree. What do I do with it? Is it a sauce?

Mushroom agnolotti with truffled wild mushrooms, and Parmesan. This was soooo good. Simple, rich, and oh so tasty.

Rabbit roulade with bacon, mushrooms, apples, sage, and huckleberries. The bacon was great but the rabbit was a little dry.

Crispy Berkshire pork belly with carrot, daikon, cilantro, and mint. This was my favorite dish. The slaw was a nice balance to the wonderfully fatty pork belly.

New Zealand elk tenderloin with vanilla butternut squash, brandied cherries, cipollini onions, and mushrooms. I liked the elk, which was perfectly cooked. But the puree was confusing.

Cafe latte

Banana huckleberry croissant bread pudding with Tahitian vanilla ice cream. It's the first time I've had a croissant bread pudding, and I loved it! It's rich but not too sweet, and the huckleberries were a nice touch.

Peach beignets with crème anglaise.

419 Cold Canyon Road
Calabasas, CA 91302
(818) 222-3888
http://www.saddlepeaklodge.com/

Aladin Sweets & Market

2011-07-07T21:36:00.000-07:00

My husband and I were watching "Ramsay's Best Restaurant: Indian" and had a serious craving for curries. There are many Northern Indian restaurants in L.A. but not too many Southern Indian spots, which is my preference. We found a Bangladesh spot (close enough!) near our house, so we decided to check it out.

Aladin Sweets & Market is a South Asian market + restaurant.

Curries average around $3 to $5 per dish! The total damage, with two drinks, is less than $20.

Shammi kabab (fried ground beef ball) and two Aloo Chop (mashed potato ball with diced carrots and peas, deep fried. They were fine but I probably wouldn't order them again.

The addictive Ruhu (fish) curry with garlic, ginger, tomatoes, cilantro, and celery. It's sweet and spicy and savory. My favorite of the day. But be very careful when you eat this dish--lots of tiny, tiny fish bones.

Biriyani with basmati fried rice and mutton. The rice is not as perfumy as the one at Jasmine Market, and I like this version so much more! Add a little chutney and you get a completely different flavor profile.

Mutton curry; my husband's favorite. It's got quite a kick.

The service was warm and prompt. And you can browse the market while you wait for your food.

~Ray

Strawberry Banana Bread

2011-05-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

1 cup butter, soften

2 cups sugar

2 frozen bananas, thawed

4 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

3 cups flour

4 cups diced strawberries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add bananas, scrape down the side of the bowl with a spatula. Add eggs, one at a time. In a separate bowl, mix salt, baking soda, and flour. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Stir until fully incorporated. Add strawberries. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour (or cupcake molds and bake for about 45 minutes), or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on rack before serving.

~Ray

2010-10-22T17:14:00.000-07:00

Seafood Village (Bi Feng Tang)

2010-08-28T21:04:00.000-07:00

Seafood Village in Monterey Park is one of my all-time favorite Chinese restaurants in L.A. It's also one of the very few Teochew restaurants in SoCal, and the food reminds me of Chinese food in Singapore.

Their house specialty crab is deep fried and piled on with garlic fried in butter.

There's a light crust that coats the shell. Very tasty!

The beef with satay sauce was my husband's favorite dish of the night.

I've been dying to try the oyster omelette and I was disappointed. It's a perfectly fine omelette but it's nothing like the Oh Chien you find in Singapore. It's just egg and oyster; nothing special.
The omelette had plenty of oysters.

Green beans is the only vegetable my husband eats, so this is always a staple.

My dad, a very discerning eater, really enjoyed the Yang Chow fried rice. The rice is nice and fluffy.

~Ray

Prima Taste Curry Chicken

2010-08-23T20:32:00.000-07:00

I love, love, love Prima Taste's Curry Chicken mix. It's so simple -- just add water, chicken and a couple russet potatoes. It's just the comfort food I need after a hard day at work.

www.asiansupermarket365.com now carries Prima Mixes.

~Ray

Sour Lemon Scones

2010-08-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

My love affair with scones started around my secondary school years. One particular summer, my friends and I made daily treks to Padang, an open field in the middle of downtown Singapore, to watch an inter-regional softball tournament. We'd meet up at City Hall MRT in the morning, pick up breakfast -- scones for me -- and head to the field, where we sat and watched game after game until the sun went down. The field is sandwiched between two busy streets with bumper to bumper traffic, and it was always a crowd pleaser when a foul ball hit a passing public bus.

I have very fond memories of that summer and those buttery, fluffy scones.

Sour Lemon Scones

Yields: 12 scones

4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ginger

3 sticks unsalted butter, cubed and chilled

1 large egg

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup lemon zest

2 tablespoons raw sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ginger. Whisk to combine. Add chilled butter and rub into the flour mixture.

In a separate bowl, whisk egg, 3/4 cup buttermilk, and lemon zest. Slowly pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture. (The dough will be pretty wet.) Knead gently. Gather the dough onto a floured work surface. Separate the dough into two disks. Don't overwork the dough.

Cut each disk into 6 wedges. Place on baking sheet. Brush each wedge with the remaining buttermilk and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake in the oven (center rack) for 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer scones to cooking rack. These tastes great when served warm, with a cup of tea.

I love these scones because they're mild and not super sweet. They're really easy to make and lasted about 3 days at my house.

~Ray

Steak Salad

2010-08-21T20:49:00.000-07:00

It's one of those summer nights that begs for a good, filling salad.

Two pieces of ribeye (my favorite cut) -- seasoned with salt and black pepper -- from Fresh & Easy.

Served with arugula, shaved Parmasan cheese, diced avocado and cucumbers.

~Ray

American Tea House in Beverly Hills

2010-08-15T21:28:00.000-07:00

My cousin received a gift certificate to a tea tasting class at the American Tea Room for Mother's Day and invited me along. I'm half Japanese and half Chinese, and I grew up drinking both green and black tea on a regular basis. My parents didn't think it was appropriate for young children to drink soda with our meals so we had tea instead. I've always loved tea but it wasn't until today that I found out how little I knew about this ancient beverage.

All tea -- from the glorious Tie Guan Yin to the humblest Lipton black tea -- came from the Camellia sinensis plant. At the American Tea Room, we sampled white, green, Oolong and black tea, as well as an herbal "tea."

We were told the cup was very special.

Look at how a pattern emerges when hot water is poured into it. We got to keep the cup.

This is a very high quality white tea from Fujien, China. It boasts three times the antioxidants of your average green tea. White tea, or Silver Needles, are hand plucked buds of a tea plant. It's very light and has a floral flavor, which lingers on your tongue. A 3.5 oz bag retails for $65.

This green tea from Japan has a very fresh, almost grassy taste. A few tips I learned: Tea should not be steeped in boiling water. 183 is the preferred temperature. And different tea requires different steeping time.

Oolong is partially (around 10%) fermented tea leaves -- the state between green and black tea. The version we tried is from Taiwan. It's more mild than the Oolongs I've had at dim sum restaurants.

The Oolong was paired with a cracker with a soft Danish cheese and olives. The olives were really salty and pungent and highlighted the subtlety of the delicate tea.

Black tea is fully fermented tea leaves. The Maharajah or Assam Black tea is from northern India and has hints of cinnamon and cloves. This full-bodied tea is my favorite of all five teas we tasted.

The Maharajah was paired with a smoked salmon tartlet.

The Choco Laté is made with African rooibos, cacao husks and vanilla bean. It brewed for 4 minutes and smelled and tasted like hot chocolate! It was dessert without the sin. Technically, this is not real "tea" since it was not brewed with leaves from a tea plant.

The matcha meringue dipped in chocolate really complemented the African rooibos.

~Ray

Vegetable Garden in Progress

2010-08-01T13:35:00.000-07:00

I have an aunt who lives near Chinatown in Los Angeles and she has an incredible vegetable garden. She's a vegetarian and grows most of her own food. She's my inspiration for what I hope my garden would be someday.

I have basil, Japanese eggplant, sage, rosemary, Thai chili, lemongrass, roma tomatoes and shiso. $1 each from the Hollywood farmers' market.

Kevin built the planter boxes.

Look at how big the avocado is getting!!!

~Ray

Prima Taste Hainanese Chicken Rice

2010-08-01T12:58:00.000-07:00

Hands down, chicken rice is my absolute favorite food in the entire world. I can eat chicken rice every day. It's almost impossible to find decent chicken rice in Los Angeles, so I'm taking things into my own hands. I've experimented with many recipes but still can't figure out the correct way to make the rice part of chicken rice. Until I locate the perfect rice recipe, I'm turning to Prima Taste to satisfy my cravings.

During her last visit, my lovely aunt Judy brought me boxes of the Hainanese chicken rice mix.

The directions are pretty easy, and it even comes with the dark sweet soy sauce.

It is essential to use the freshest free-range chicken you can find. I always go with Healthy Family Farms from the Sunday Hollywood Farmers' Market. Healthy Family Farms' chicken tastes like the way real chicken should, which is important when you're serving something as simple as poached chicken.

My technique:

1. Rub chicken with shaoxing wine and salt.

2. Stuff chicken cavity with scallions, knobs of ginger and smashed garlic cloves.

3. Bring a pot of water to boil.
4. Once the water is boiling, turn off the heat and submerge the chicken in the water. Cover and let stand for 15 minutes.

5. Remove cover and lift chicken out of the water. Make sure the water drains out of the cavities. Then submerge the chicken again, cover and let stand for another 15 minutes.

6. Remove chicken from pot. Bring water back to a boil. Once the water is boiling, turn off the heat and submerge the chicken. Cover and let stand for 15 minutes.

7. Repeat step 5.

8. Total "cooking" time should add up to about an hour.

9. Remove chicken from pot and dunk it into a bowl of ice water. Let stand for 5-10 mins.

10. Remove from ice water and cut up chicken.

11. Serve with soy sauce mixture (from the Prima mix) and sliced cucumbers.

Enjoy!

~Ray

Sunday Dinner: Fried Tilapia and Lentil Soup

2010-07-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

The last time I made fried tilapia, my husband dubbed it the unfortunate "fish mush incident." I had gotten tilapia from a Mexican market and wanted to make fried fish tacos. I've never cooked tilapia before but figured it couldn't be too hard. Maybe the tilapia was not fresh or maybe the pan was too hot. Either way, the entire fish disintegrated into a mushy mess. It was the first and last time I cooked tilapia; that was almost seven years ago. My mom and I were at Fresh & Easy last week and she picked up some frozen tilapia. I was hesitant at first, given our sordid history, but I decided to give it a shot.

Panko-fried tilapia

4 tilapia filets

4 tablespoons Japanese Kewpie mayo

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons dried thyme

2 teaspoons garlic salt

2 teaspoons rice vinegar

White pepper to season

Oil

Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

Pat dry 4 tilapia filets with paper towels. Mix mayo, mustard, thyme, garlic salt, vinegar and white pepper in a bowl. Coat fish with marinade. Leave fish in the fridge for 1-2 hours.

Heat oil in a pan. Coat tilapia with Panko and pan-fry fish until cooked through.

Fried tilapia with pasta salad, farmers' market cucumbers and tomatoes. I also made a honey-mustard dipping sauce.

Dipping sauce

2 tablespoons mayo

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon honey

Stir mayo, mustard and honey in a small bowl. Serve with Panko-fried tilapia.

My husband is a picky eater. He hates most vegetables and anything remotely healthy. But, he likes my lentil soup =)

Lentil soup

2 tablespoons oil

1 onion, diced

1 carrot, diced

1 cup fresh lentils

3 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup ham, diced

Heat oil in pot. Add onion and stir for 2 minutes. Add carrot and stir for 1 minute. Add lentils and chicken stock. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add milk. Blend soup using an immersion blender. Add diced ham.

It's not the prettiest soup, but it's so good!

~Ray

How to Season a Wok

2010-07-18T22:10:00.000-07:00

This year, I'm determined to learn Chinese home cooking the correct way. And in order to do that, I needed to start from the basics ... I needed a wok. During my last trip to Singapore, I picked up an authentic cast-iron wok. Just like a cast-iron skillet, you'll need to season it properly to create a natural non-stick surface.

I admit, I was very disappointed when I first picked up this wok. It's steel grey and barely resembles the gloriously black version my grandma cooks with. But my mom assured me that all the cast-iron woks look like this at first.

$10 cast-iron wok from Best Quality House Ware in Ang Mo Kio

Step 1: Rinse with water

Step 2: Stir-fry old vegetables and scallions with pork fat

Step 3: Discard the veggies and reserve the pork fat. Wipe the wok with paper towel.

Look at how dirty it was! So, I had to rinse and repeat steps 2 (using the reserved pork fat and more veggies) and 3. It took about three tries before the wok is ready.

~Ray

Goldilocks

2009-11-09T20:58:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, I trekked out to Eagle Rock in search of the famed Filipino strip mall, home of the holy trinity: Seafood City Supermarket, Goldilocks, and Jollibee. Although the smell of fried chicken at Jollibee was irresistible, we decided to have lunch at Goldilocks instead. It's been years since I had Filipino food and Goldilocks did not disappoint.

Calamansi juice. Calamansi is a Southeast Asian lime that's more reminiscent of a sour tangerine. It's very rare in the U.S. So good!

Teeny tiny spring rolls.

Sticky balls of rice.

Pinakbet: eggplant, okra, squash and string beans sautéed in garlic, onion, tomatoes and shrimp paste.

The pork adobo was tangy, savory, fatty, and delicious.

We were too stuffed for cake. Maybe next time.

Secret Burmese Restaurant

2009-11-09T11:22:00.000-08:00

When I first heard about this "secret" restaurant, I was immediately intrigued. Although I grew up in Southeast Asia, I've never actually tried Burmese food. The restaurant operates out of a home kitchen, which leads out to the backyard dining area. Calling the place rustic is an understatement: a couple picnic tables and fold-out chairs, Tupperwares filled with onions and cilantro, and flasks of complimentary tea. The food is home cooking at its best.

The menu is entirely in Burmese.

Condiments

Coconut noodles comes with hard-boiled egg, shredded chicken, and crunchy split pea fritters. And the tangy noodle salad is the perfect balance of texture and flavor.

Prata and chicken stir fry

Prata is an Indian flat bread with a flaky croissant-like texture.

The dry curry chicken, with onions and tomatoes, is eaten with the prata.

Two very satisfied customer.

Roasted Duck with Soy-Lime Syrup

2009-01-01T20:50:00.000-08:00

I was watching Simply Ming a few weeks ago and Ming Tsai made this roasted duck. Since I've been looking for a good duck recipe, this looked promising so I made it for our late Christmas dinner with friends. It turned pretty good. Here's the recipe with my suggestion for modification.

Serves 4

2 tablespoon minced ginger
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 cup naturally brewed soy sauce
8 limes, washed, halved, juiced, reserve halves
1 cup brown sugar
3 sweet potatoes, peeled, roll cut
1 large onion, minced
1 5 to 6-pound whole Long Island duck, eviscerated, rinsed, dried
Canola oil for cooking
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large, oven-proof sauté pan over medium heat, add oil to coat and sauté ginger and garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute. Deglaze with soy sauce and add lime juice and sugar and stir to dissolve sugar. Bring to a simmer and reduce by 25%. Pour syrup into a bowl over a bowl of ice to cool. Rinse out the pan and place back over heat.

In a large bowl, combine potatoes and onion, season and lightly drizzle oil over. Dump the potato mixture into the pan. Massage the duck with the cooled soy syrup inside and out and stuff cavity with reserved lime halves. Top with duck and roast until brown, about 30 minutes, then cover loosely with foil to prevent burning. Cook the duck about 30-40 minutes more. (See note below) Let rest 10 minutes before serving on a platter surrounded by the cooked veggies.

What I would have done differently
1) Roast the sweet potatoes in a separate pan and drizzle the soy syrup before serving. Duck is really fatty and I thought by cooking the sweet potatoes with the duck, it made the sweet potatoes really greasy.

2) The suggested cooking time for the duck was not accurate. My duck ended up cooking for 2.5 hours. Click here for Roasting Time Conversion

3) The duck did not turn out as crispy as I would have liked. So I think the next time, I might broil the duck last 10 minutes.

~ MW

Braised Oxtails with Star Anise and Chinese Greens

2008-11-02T19:30:00.000-08:00

I have a crush on sausage king Bruce Aidell, specifically his fantastic red meat-focused recipes. I've been dying to try his braised oxtail recipe for two years, but the frugal part of me was hesitant ($16 for a couple pounds!).

My very generous friend asked me if I were interested in some leftover oxtail and I gladly said yes. This recipe took two whole days and it turned out absolutely delicious. However, it was on the fatty side, so I'm saving this for special occasion.

~Ray

Father's Office

2008-10-04T18:31:00.000-07:00

It's the last night of my mom's visit and she wanted to take us out for a nice dinner. We picked Father's Office, home of the best burger ever!

We had a chorizo sausage and cheese starter.

The soft-shell crab was pretty average.

We love the sweet potato fries. It's crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

The burger is amazing.

~Ray

Homemade Okonomiyaki

2008-10-04T18:24:00.000-07:00

Every summer when my mom visits, I always have a list of requests. Most of them are Japanese comfort food like omelette rice, niku jaga, and, of course, okonomiyaki. This year, I invite my good friend at work who is as crazy about okonomiyaki as I am.

This is the ONLY way my husband would ever eat cabbage. My mom is definitely happy about that.

~Ray

La Dijonaise

2008-10-04T18:15:00.000-07:00

I've always been a fan of breakfast at La Dijonaise, especially its ooey gooey Croque Madame. When we were turned away from Father's Office a few doors down, we decided to try dinner here instead.

The scallops in a lobster brandy saffron sauce was decent. I feel the scallops could be a little fresher.

Kevin had the Beef Stroganoff.

~Ray

Katong Laksa!

2008-08-22T10:59:00.000-07:00

My good friend took me to Katong for their famous laska. She insisted the one we went was the "original" one. But how come there's no customer? Nonetheless, Kevin thinks this is the best laksa he's had.

Lime juice

Otah

The best part is you can just eat it with a spoon, no chopsticks required.

~Ray

Wee Nam Kee

2008-07-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

A trip to Singapore is not complete without a visit to my favorite roasted chicken rice place.

I can eat this every day for the rest of my life.

Sambal kang kong

~Ray

Shangri-La High Tea

2008-07-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

My husband fell in love with the concept of high tea three years ago during our honeymoon in Singapore. He is a tea fanatic with a sweet tooth. His first introduction was the high tea buffet at the Shangri-La.

What a spread!

The sushi was a little out of place.

Haha ... yes, it's laksa! It's actually pretty good.

A little greens to offset all the protein.

All-you-can-drink tea

God almighty ... we were full.

~Ray

Join the Line

2008-07-15T10:36:00.000-07:00

During a recent trip to Singapore, my husband and I stayed at our aunt's place in Sembawang. Her apartment is very close to the mall and MRT station. Every time we took the MRT, we would pass by this place.

Look at the line! Must be good, right?

The price is good and the chicken is not bad, but the noodles are a bit bland. Overall, it was a disappointment.

~Ray

Crepes & Co

2008-07-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

My husband and I are brunch people. And our friend Camilla, whose sister is currently living in Bangkok, recommended the very popular Crepes & Co. The restaurant is very laid-back, the service is excellent, and the food is okay. It's standard brunch fare. The fun part is ordering: You get a checklist of options ranging from French toast and crepes to bacon and eggs. Kevin ordered the brunch special which includes tea, juice, French toast, crepes, fruit, bread basket, ham, bacon, and eggs. It's ALOT of food.

Tea to start

Kevin drinking watermelon juice

French toast

Ham, bacon, and scrambled eggs

Fruit plate

My three-cheese crepe with bacon. It has great flavors and texture, but the bacon was a bit tough.

18/1, Sukhumvit Soi 12
Klongtoey 10110
Bangkok
Thailand
http://www.crepes.co.th/

Hakka Abacus Stir-fry

2008-07-08T15:46:00.000-07:00

My grandma came to visit us last month...mostly to see her first Great Grandson. :) While she was here, I took the opportunity to ask her to teach me how to make the Hakka Abacus stir-fry. It's one of my favorite dish growing up. My grandma often made it for special occasions like Chinese New Year. I've made it a few times with my grandma but never paid much attention to the ingredients or the measurement, especially for the abacus.

It's actually quite similar to making Gnocchi but instead of potato, we use tapioca or yam.

Grandma cooking away...

Abacus Ingredients:
1 lb of small tapioca (you can also use yam)
1/2 bag of 14oz tapioca flour
Water

- Use a grater to grate the tapioca into shreds. This will help the tapioca to cook more evenly. Place the shredded tapioca into dish and place it in the steamer.
- Steam the tapioca for 15 minutes or until it's soft and done
- While the tapioca is nice and hot, transfer it into a mixing bowl.
- Slowly add tapioca flour and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon. If you are not afraid of the heat, use your hand. Keep adding the flour and fold into the tapioca well. This is the hard part but you know it's well mixed if the "dough" is no longer sticky to your touch. If it's still sticky, add more tapioca flour.
- Once the dough is well mixed, pull a small piece off (about the size of a quarter) and roll into a ball. Press your thumb lightly into the ball to create an indent in the middle. Set aside, and make the next ball.
- Heat a big pot of water. Once the water is boiling, add the abacus dough into the water. When the abacus floats to the top of the pot, it's done.
- Scoop up the cooked abacus and put them into a bowl of cold water. This will prevent the abacus from overcooking.
- This process can be done ahead of time, ie night before, and chill in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

Abacus Dough

Stir-fry ingredients:
1 cup of Dried black fungus (soak in water)
1/3 lb of ground pork
1 tbsp of dried shrimp (soak in water)
1/2 cup of dried mushroom (soak in water and sliced)
Shredded Napa Cabbage (OPTIONAL)
Chopped garlic

- Heat the wok with oil and add garlic
- Once the garlic is fragrant, add the ground pork.
- Stir until the pork is cooked. Then add dried fungus, mushroom, dried shrimp and napa cabbage
- Season with salt, pepper and fish sauce
- Add Abacus and cook until the abacus is nice and soft

Final product - Tah Dah...

Love love this dish. I'm going to try and attempt to make it again on my own. See if it'll turn out the same. :)

~ Mina

More Bangkok Photos!

2008-07-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

Donuts for breakfast

Flat rice noodles in tom yum soup.

Pad thai

Baked pizza

Fruit at the hotel

It's mangosteen season!

~Ray

Bangkok Market

2008-07-06T11:57:00.000-07:00

When I travel, I always love visiting the city's market. This one was a block from our fabulous hotel Siam @ Siam. Actually, it turned out to be a pretty scary market. There were flies everywhere! Gross!

I bought a fried chicken from a vendor. As I was paying the guy, I could smell the oil he cooked the chicken in. It smelled rancid! Ewwwww! But I was stubborn and I insisted on eating it. I prayed before I took a bite. It was terrible. I threw the rest in the trash. That was the extent of my Bangkok street food.

~Ray

Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes: Recipes from a Modern Kitchen Garden

2008-06-12T09:35:00.000-07:00

I work at a food magazine, and one of my jobs is to maintain the library. I have to weed out boxes and boxes of junk (any of Sandra Lee's cookbooks, yuck) and find gems worthy to keep in the already packed shelves. I love reading cookbooks, but very rarely do I actually follow the recipes from within. It's almost easier to search the Web.

There is one cookbook, however, that I'm extremely excited to try. That's "Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes" by Jeanne Thiel Kelley. I've had the privilege to sample many of Jeanne's amazing dishes and I'm always thinking of them fondly days after I tasted them, especially her vegetarian pastas. Me--a proud card-carrying meat eater--dreaming about vegetarian food. Yes, it's THAT good. One thing that stands out is the various textures she incorporates in her dishes. I'm placing an order on Amazon, and you should, too!

~Ray

Ikoi All-You-Can-Eat Sushi

2008-06-08T20:27:00.000-07:00

In Singapore, eating is like a sport. And what better way to test your stamina than with a buffet? The food at Ikoi in Miramar hotel is not the best sushi I've had, but it served its purpose.

~Ray

Ice Cream Prata

2008-06-08T20:25:00.000-07:00

~Ray

Mellben Seafood at Toa Payoh

2008-06-08T18:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a family tradition to go to Jumbo Seafood in East Coast for chili crab whenever one of us visits home. But my dear aunt Judy wanted to treat us to a nice meal a little closer to home. She also knew that I've been dying to try the crab bee hoon, so she recommended this place.

Nice and spicy sambal kang kong.

The chili crab was sweet and fresh.

The fried man tous are good but I miss the white crustless bread they used to serve at those pongol seafood places.

Cereal prawns were very big!

Some kind of fried tofu. Not a fan.

The crab bee hoon was very buttery and had a slight herb taste to it. I like the bee hoon. Not sure if I'm sold on the taste though. But very glad I tried it.

Mellben Seafood
Blk 211,
Lorong 8 Toa Payoh
#01-11-15
Tel: 6353-3120

~Ray

Vivo City Food Court

2008-06-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

This hokkien mee really hit the spot.

These BBQ chicken wings look so good, but in fact, are rather bland. Very disappointing.

The duck rice was even worse. The gravy was too sweet and the duck was tough. Felt like I wasted calories on bad food.

~Ray

Food at Thomson Plaza

2008-05-31T20:30:00.000-07:00

It was a long day, and we didn't want to travel too far to eat. Dinner at Thomson Plaza's food court is not bad--not great, but not bad.

My first real laksa in over a year.

Fish ball soup

Bak chor mee

Mee goreng

Ice kachang!

~Ray

The Chicken Rice Blog

2008-05-29T11:30:00.001-07:00

Since hubby got to start his trip with his favorite meal, it's natural that I got my turn during lunchtime. I love, love, love chicken rice. And I've always enjoyed the one at Far East Plaza.

Although I have always preferred roasted chicken, I will change my mind by the end of the trip (stay tune to find out why).

Look at how beautiful and succulent the chicken is.

A good iron boost!

~Ray

The Prata Blog

2008-05-29T11:10:00.000-07:00

My husband LOVES prata. He is obsessed with it. In LA, he has prata practically every weekend. My mom happens to live in Upper Thomson Road and the first thing we did after we arrived in Singapore was head to The Roti Prata House.

The Teh Tarik was perfection.

The mutton curry was sweet, savory, spicy, and delicious.

Cheese prata

I love my Milo Dinosaur

Total count: 4 crispy prata, 1 cheese prata, 1 paper prata, 1 mutton curry, 1 teh tarik, and 1 milo dinosaur.

It was a good start to our one-week vacation.

~Ray

Graduation Day

2008-04-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the final exam and the day we (hopefully) receive our cooking certificate. This was a scary one for most of us. Could we actually pull off creating dishes without the help of recipes? Will our hollandaise sauce break? Will we burn our steak? Well, here are the answers:

Did my sauce break? Hell ya, it did. I dumped the first batch of "scrambled" eggs and started all over again. Hollandaise is a very delicate sauce. One wrong move and it's over. Making hollandaise is my personal hell. It was hot, stressful, and tedious.

Even though it turned out fine, this is probably the last time I'll ever make this again.

I was one of the last ones to pick a steak, and I ended up with an enormous piece. I was worried how long it would take to cook this monster.

Steak with red wine reduction and roasted vegetables.

I swear I cooked this for a good 30 minutes, and it still turned out rare!

I don't know what this dessert is called.

All done! Time to pop the champagne.

Class of April 08!

~Ray

Wonton on Steroids!

2008-04-13T19:36:00.000-07:00

My co-worked E and I often sit around and talk about our favorite Asian food. Once we get a certain dish in mind, we're on a one-track mission to consume it. This week, it's wontons. E mentioned a place her dad took her to where they served gigantic wontons. I immediately knew which restaurant she's talking about: Wonton Time in Alhambra.

HUGE, huh? The wontons are stuffed with whole shrimps.

You get a choice of thin rice noodles, flat rice noodles, and egg noodles. You also get to pick between wontons, fish balls, and sliced beef. For a whopping $6, you can get all three. It's so yummy--the soup's light and tasty, the noodles are QQ (I think that means springy), and the wontons are succulent.

Wonton Time
19 E Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91801
626-293-3366

comme Ça

2008-04-11T20:38:00.001-07:00

I'm spoiled. I work at a great place where food plays an important role. And twice a year, my department gets to enjoy a nice meal out. This time, we picked comme Ça by Melrose and La Cienaga.

Comme Ça, from chef/owner David Myers, is a nice French bistro-type restaurant. The decor is modern with clean lines, and the service is great.

The bread came wrapped in brown paper. It is fresh and fluffy, and smells amazing.

I wonder who tipped off the chef that we were there? They gave this platter of oysters and shrimp to our table for free. Like I said ... spoiled.

Since it's no secret that I love my meat, we ordered a beef tartar for starters. I have a vivid childhood memory of my dad ordering a beef tartar with a raw quail egg cracked on top. I was fascinated! Raw beef!! I've never actually had beef tartar before, though it's something I've always wanted to try. This dish was light and refreshing. It had bits of pickles in it and gave it a nice touch.

I ordered the steak frites. The meat was cooked perfectly, and although it's rare, it was surprisingly tender. I think I convinced the rest of the table that "rare" is the way to go.

My supervisor ordered the chicken. She's a meat gal like me, but sometimes she tends to go with her head rather than her heart, and end up ordering the "healthier" option. I warned her about plate envy. But this chicken dish was quite pleasant. The spinach underneath was creamy and homey. Not bad at all.

Tuna niçoise. The dressing was light and the tuna was very fresh.

Duck confit salad. The duck confit reminds me of Chinese waxed duck.

Verdict: comme Ça was a good choice for high-quality ingredients cooked simply.

8479 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90069
323.782.1178
commecarestaurant.com

~Ray

Exam Part 2

2008-04-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

In the past few months, I've really enjoyed spending time with my classmates. The best part is chatting, cooking, and snacking around the kitchen. I'm really going to miss them. During the exams, we're not allowed to speak to each other. That really did damper the mood a bit.

For this test, I practiced making the souffle at home. It turned out fine, but cheese souffle really isn't something I would make that often. I think it's bland.

Here's the home version

Here's the exam version. Notice the color difference? The teacher said it's because I beat the egg whites a tad too much.

Braised chicken with tomatoes, tarragon, and chicken stock. I probably should have seasoned the chicken a bit more before I pan-fried them. Again, not something I would recreate. The taste is very one-dimentional. I like food with more kick!

Apple crumble. I "cheated" a bit and put chuncks of butter on top of the crumble before I put it in the oven. Turns out, the smooth top was a tell-tale sign that I added the butter. My teacher totally called me out! It's funny how we all had the same ingredients but all 10 apple crumble look so different from each other.

~Ray

Exam No. 1

2008-04-11T15:59:00.000-07:00

I'm an unabashed, card-carrying nerd. In college, you can find me in the front row, armed with a myriad of colored pens and highlighters. I enjoy puzzles and taking tests. I'm also way more confident than I should be. The 20-week long cooking class ends with three consecutive exams. For the first part, we all receive a list of ingredients and instructions. For the second test, we get a list of ingredients. No instructions were provided. For the final, we only get the name of the dish--no ingredients, no instructions.

Here are the results of the first test:

The mushroom soup was my pride and joy. It was well seasoned and had great consistency. I've never made mushroom soup in my life, but have enjoyed them as part of set lunch menus. It turned out great.

I apologize for the blurry photo. This dish was just OK. The fish was slightly undercooked (boo!) and my Béchamel sauce broke. *sigh* It tasted fine, though.

Again, I've never made a bread pudding before. It's so freaking easy that it's no wonder Tre got kicked out of Top Chef 3 for screwing it up. I like mine chunky, so I added the bread cubes at the last minute. It turned out more "rustic."
Ray

Last Class!

2008-04-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

Here are what others made for desserts class:

Chocolate chips

Chocolate sauce

Chocolate pudding

Chocolate cake

Creme Brulee

Caramel Ice Cream

It was delicate and delicious

Meringue

Lemon tart

~Ray

Tiramisu Step-By-Step

2008-04-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

Desserts is the final class in the cooking course. Imagine, skipping dinner and eating way too much sweets at 10 p.m.! Definitely too much of a good thing =)

I offered to make my favorite: Tiramisu

~Ray

Takoyakiiiiiii

2008-03-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

Last week, I watched an old episode of No Reservations where Tony visited Osaka, Japan. The episode focused on the famous Osaka takoyaki and okonomiyaki. The alluring images of octopus balls burned into my brain, and I developed a serious craving. LA Weekly's Jonathan Gold suggested Gaja Restaurant in Lomita (near Torrance) as one of the best place for takoyaki and okonomiyaki.

Watermelon soda ... delicious!

Look at all the condiments!

Takoyaki with spicy mayo. There was a single tako (octopus) in each ball and it was soooo teeeeeny!

The chicken karaage was crisp and not too oily.

Takoyaki with gooey mochi and cheese.

The "modan" mix okonomiyaki with pork slices, shrimp, octopus, and noodles. Warning, these suckers are HUGE. Sharing between two people is more than enough.

2383 Lomita Blvd
Ste 102
Lomita, CA 90717
(310) 534-0153
www.gajamoc.com

~Ray

Cooking Class: Baking

2008-03-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

It has been all too convenient to buy muffin and cake premixes. Little did I know, baking from scratch is pretty much a non-brainer.

Buttermilk biscuit

Poppers

Lemon-poppy seed cake

The glaze is made of just powdered sugar and lemon juice.

Muffins

Quiche with asparagus, leeks, garlic, shallots, sesame seed oil, and siracha. How does it taste? Actually, kinda bland. Need more siracha!

~Ray

Cooking Class: Yeast Baking

2008-03-21T17:15:00.000-07:00

The very first time I made bread, it was a disaster. I killed my yeast and my bread is a lumpy mess. This time, I'm determined NOT to kill the yeast and have a little patience.

I love, love, love challah bread, especially the ones with raisins!

They came out a lot denser than I like.

Sticky buns

They were gooey and delicious.

Whole wheat buns

Everyone got to make a loaf of white bread.

~Ray

The Boiling Crab

2008-03-21T16:56:00.000-07:00

I've been dying to try this place for months, ever since I saw it on Wandering Chopsticks. Loads of butter, garlic, spices, and seafood--what's not to love?

Love the roll of paper towel! It came in superhandy.

The crawfish/crawdads come in plastic bags. They usually include 1 corn on the cob with a 2-pound bag.

Between the five of us, we had five pounds!

How cute!

We also had 3 pounds of King crab. Honestly, I was not too keen on King crabs. But since they were out of Dungeness, we didn't really have a choice. They turned out AMAZING. They were succulent, sweet, meaty, and delicious.

The cajun fries had a real kick to them.

The aftermath ... haha ...

I kinda wished they had a pipping hot bowl of rice or bread to soak up all the spicy gravy. The bill came up to about $26 per person (with drinks). The service was pretty good for a place in Alhambra. Two thumbs up!

The Boiling Crab
742 W. Valley Blvd.
Alhambra, CA 91803
626-576-9368

We had the sweet potato shaved ice with green tea ice cream at a different place.

~Ray

All About Braising

2008-03-05T20:08:00.000-08:00

Tonight is about moist cooking. Since I'm a big fan of rare meat, I always think it's a waste to slow cook the beef. I feel it masks the natural meat taste with lots of seasoning. Maybe I'm just not a fan of the overwhelming flavor of red wine. I do, however, enjoy Chinese braises (chicken, duck, pork) with soy sauce, cinnamon, star anise, garlic, and cloves. These dishes were nonetheless pretty awesome.

Short ribs marinating in olive oil, garlic, and basil

Beef stew

Did you know there's milk in bolognese sauce?

Did you know the pork butt is actually a pig's shoulders?

Back in the pot for more braising

Someone put sugar in the ramekin, and poor Richard had no idea. This dish was still tasty, though.

Braised short ribs with cumin. It was good, but needs to cook a few hours longer.

Can you tell the difference?

It's not the same stew as the one above. I have no idea.

~Ray

Where's the Beef?

2008-03-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

I am an unabashed carnivore. I love all things red meat. In my family, steak has always been reserved for special occassion meals--birthdays and christmas. Since it's so rare, anytime mom made steak, I would cut mine into tiny bite-size bits in order to savor them longer. My parents like to tease that I'm eating minced meat instead of a big hunk of steak. My husband has a completely different experience. His mom made steak on a weekly basis. Another difference: I like my red meat on the rare, bloody side, while my husband likes his tough and well-done (yuck!).

Well, imagine my utter joy when it's steak night at cooking class. Enjoy the photos.

Lamb

Raw steak

Veal

Since we don't eat till 9-10, my classmates cooked up some "appetizers." It's filet mignon bits. Soooooo delicious.

Tri-tip

Filet mignon cooking up

Filet mignon cut up for easy distribution. It is tender and soft like butter.

Sliced tri-tip

Plated tri-tip

Wiener Schnitzel

I know all about the risks. I don't care; I like my pork chops on the pink side.

spaetzle

Lamb chops with spinach, eggplant, and tomatoes. I think I needed to cook it a bit longer.

I've never had steak Diane before. It's delicious.

You bet I went for seconds =)

~Ray

Cream Cheese Wontons

2008-03-02T11:53:00.000-08:00

Honestly, I don't think I've ever eaten cream cheese wontons until I moved to the U.S. I never realized how easy they were to make! I used scallops instead of crab (or imitation crab meat). Bay scallops work great because of their short cooking time. I just mixed cream cheese with chopped up scallops, enclosed them in wonton wrappers, and fried them up. The whole process took less than 15 minutes. It's a fantastic, simple appetizer.

~Ray

Bento Obsession

2008-02-24T18:20:00.000-08:00

I recently came across the blog Lunch in a Box, and instantly became obsessed. When I was a child, my mom used to make us these elaborate bento lunches. I was the envy of my friends. But was I thankful? Heck no! I wanted to buy my own food in the school canteen. I'm not sure why I didn't enjoy it back then. Perhaps it was the room temperature food, since you weren't suppose to microwave bento boxes. Nowaways, they have such a variety of bento boxes, including ones that are safe to microwave. Today, I went to two Marukais in Torrance and stocked up on goodies.

The result of my shopping spree.

Something to look forward to on Monday: onigiri, pork tenderloin marinated in Magic Dust, steamed sugar peas, and instant stuffings.

~Ray

Good Lord, More Chicken!

2008-02-24T11:55:00.000-08:00

This is part 2 of the chicken series. Today, it's "moist" cooking, i.e. braising.

Raw poussin

Poussin with figs and couscous

I have no idea what this was, but it smelled amazing.

Porchini-onion stuffing

Laying out the stuffing

Rolling the chicken

Open up the parchment paper

Boy, it was a lot of work. Pretty awesome, huh?

Searing chicken

Delicious vinegar chicken

Coq au vin

Soy sauce chicken

~Ray

Chicken!

2008-02-16T10:58:00.000-08:00

When my mother first met my then-boyfriend (now husband) for the first time, we had lunch at Johnny Rockets. My mom, who speaks very little English, points at the menu and tells him, "Ray loves chicken ... always order chicken." Well, my mom knows me well. Chicken is one of my fav. food. Last Monday was all about chicken in my cooking class. I was assigned to frying up 10 whole chicken (cut up into 8 pieces each) ... um, I think that equaled to 80 pieces of chicken.

The genisis of the following dishes

We all got to take home a box of fried chicken.

Chicken, flatted and stuffed with cheese.

Look at that cheese oozing out!

Poulett (small chicken) with a wine-cream sauce

Fresh out of the oven

Roasted chicken served

Turkey wrapped in bacon

BBQ chicken

Mashed potatoes

Diane and Corinna

Duck

The payoff

~Ray

Sage-Scented Shortbread

2008-02-10T19:02:00.000-08:00

I bought a bunch of sage at the farmers' market. I'm not usually a big fan of sage, but I like its touch in the brown butter sauce. I had some leftover after making the gnocchi, so I decided to make a sage-scented shortbread from the November 2007 issue of Bon Appetit. It's subtle and delicious. I'm not that great a baker, but I'm happy with these results.

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh sage leaves or 2 teaspoons dried sage
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch-thick pieces, room temperature

Blend first 4 ingredients in processor. Add butter; using on/off turns, process until dough comes together. Divide in half. Shape each dough piece into log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Chill until firm enough to slice, about 30 minutes.

Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Cut each dough log into 1/3- to 1/2-inch-thick rounds; place on sheets. Bake 10 minutes. Reverse sheets so bottom sheet is on top rack of oven and top sheet is on bottom rack. Bake until cookies are golden, about 15 minutes longer. Cool on racks.

Source: Bonappetit.com

~Ray

Homemade Gnocchi with Sage-Brown Butter Sauce

2008-02-10T17:07:00.001-08:00

I always thought the store-bought gnocchi have this weird sour taste to it. That's why it's worth putting in some elbow grease to make your own. The texture and flavor belong to a whole different league. Toss them in with a sage-brown butter sauce--it's to-die-for!

Homemade gnocchi
3 large russet potatoes
2 ounces butter
3 ounces milk
Salt & pepper
1 egg
2 1/2 cups flour

Peel, cut, boil the potatoes until very soft. Drain and allow to dry, about 5 minutes. Pass through a ricer or food mill. Heat the 2 ounces butter and milk. Add to the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the egg. Incorporate thoroughly.

Stir in half the flour and turn out onto a board. Work in the remaining flour, adding more if necessary to achieve a soft but not sticky dough.

Divide into 4 parts, shape into cylinders and place on a floured sheet pan. Refrigerate for a half hour. Cut the cylinders ainto 3/4 inch thick slices and shape into an oval ball. Press fork against the side.

Place gnocchi in boiling salted water. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Drain.

Sage-Brown Butter Sauce
Butter
Fresh sage

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
8 fresh sage leaves, torn in half
Finely ground sea salt, preferably gray salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Chopped garlic (optional)
Chopped bacon (optional)

Put the butter in a cold skillet and place it over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally to prevent it from burning in spots but without moving the pan, until it stops foaming and browns evenly, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the sage leaves and cook briefly until they crisp in the hot butter. Season with salt and pepper. Add garlic and bacon. Remove from the heat and keep warm.

Toss gnocchi in the sauce. Grate some fresh parmesan over ! Bon appetit!

~Ray

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

2008-02-10T17:03:00.001-08:00

I love brussels sprouts, so I was excited to find out that almost every vendor at farmers' market carried them today. I hurried home and popped some in the oven, along with a drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle of salt, pepper and chopped garlic. Bake them for 30 mins, grate some parmersan over. These are the kinds of recipes I love: the ones that are simple, yet bring out the natural flavors of the ingredients.

~Ray

Happy New Year!

2008-02-06T21:35:00.001-08:00

These lovely flowers were from my good friend Samantha.

~Ray

Cooking Class: Shellfish

2008-02-06T20:46:00.000-08:00

My first love has to be seafood. I love them all--fish, shrimp, crawfish, lobster, squid, octupus, crab. So, I could not wait till we get to the shellfish class. The beauty of it is the simplicity and speed. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Canned crab for crabcakes!

Corinna putting her crabcakes in the fridge.

Golden brown goodness

My mise en place for mussels in green curry.

Everything chopped up and ready to go.

Looks pretty, but I would never prep it so nicely if I have to wash my own dishes.

Spicy, warm, and yummy.

Skewered shrimp with rosemary

Fresh oysters

Calamari

Frying up!

Close-up

It's as good as it looks.

Ceviche with avocado. It was a lot of work, but so delicious.

Clams

Service up

The reward

~Ray

Fried Nian Gao

2008-02-02T12:05:00.001-08:00

Gosh, I don't even remember the last time I had this. It has been years since I got to go back for Chinese New Year. I miss my grandma's abacus disc (suan pan zi), stuffed mushrooms, minced pork and dried oysters wrapped in pig netting, steamed chicken with shaoxing wine, fried bee hoon, pig intestine soup.

So, when I came cross nian gao at the Ranch 99 market, I decided that it's time to make a little Chinese New Year snack to remedy this homesickness.

Very easy, lah.

Recipe:
Nian gao, sliced thinly
1 egg
1 Tbs cornstarch
2 Tbs rice flour
1 pinch salt

Heat wok with oil. Mix egg, cornstarch, rice flour, and salt. Coat nian gao in the batter and fry. Optional: Sprinkle powdered sugar over and serve.

~Ray

Cooking Class--Finned Fish

2008-02-02T11:50:00.000-08:00

I was really excited about this particular lesson because I've always wanted to learn to fillet my own fish. Unfortunately, it was demo only, and we didn't get to practice.

On the plus side, my fellow classmates turned out fantastic dishes.

Cedar-plank salmon

Look how pretty!

Dover sole with lemon sauce

Don't remember what this is! But I really liked the fresh fruit and veggies.

Chinese steam fish

Fish tacos

Smoked trout with eggs made by me and my partner.

Ignore the burnt toast. Haha!

Salmon with red wine sauce and lentils, also made by me and my partner.

We eat at 10 p.m.

~Ray

Cooking Class Part 1

2008-02-02T11:34:00.000-08:00

I'm a lucky girl. One of the benfits at my company is tuition reimbursement for career-related classes. And what class relates to my job? Cooking class! My co-worker and I signed up for the Professional 3-month cooking class at The New Cooking School in Culver City. I've met many wonderful foodies who are as passionate about food as I am.

We have a few dentists, a hand bag designer, a city government worker, an art director, and more.

Each week, we're partnered up with different people. This particular week, my partner and I made lasagna with béchamel (white) sauce from scratch. It was a bit of a trial by error since the instructions were vague.

And at the end of the class, we get to taste everyone's hard work. My favorite was the homemade gnocchi with butter-sage sauce.

~Ray

The Big 3-5

2008-02-02T10:56:00.000-08:00

My husband's birthday happens to be a day before mine, and he turns 35 this year. Ever since I introduced him to high tea at the Shangri-La in Singapore, he's been obsessed with tea. He loves his chai, teh-terik, Earl Grey, crysenthemum ... It seems like high tea is not as popular in Los Angeles. After researching around, we decided to celebrate his birthday at The Peninsula in Beverly Hills. I called three weeks ahead to make researvations for 8. At The Peninsula, there's two seatings at The Living Room--one at 11 a.m. and one at 5 p.m. You can stay as long as you want. The Living Room is exactly what is sounds like ... big comfy couch with a roaring fireplace.

We picked the mid-range choice ($29), which includes one pot of tea, 2 scones, 3 small pastries, 4 small finger sandwiches. This tray was for two people. It looks quite pathetic, at least compared with the all-you-can-eat high tea at Shangri-La. Honestly it's $6 for the food, and $23 for the "couch rental." But, it was quite delicious and surprisingly filling. It was worth it for special occasion, but I probably won't pay for it again.

~Ray

The Big 3-0

2008-02-02T10:44:00.000-08:00

Some might find it odd that of all the places, I chose to celebrate my 30th birthday at Sizzler! Well, it was pouring in Los Angeles, and it's a Thursday night. I had dinner with friends the Saturday before, and have dinner plans for the following Saturday and Sunday. I know 30 is a big deal, but I really don't need to go all out the entire week. Actually, Sizzler is considered quite "high class" for western food if you grew up in Singapore.

Cheese bread! That weird orange colored bread is delicious.

I had a rare ribeye. I always order my steak on the rare (i.e. bloody) side. This was not bad ... for Sizzler.

~Ray

Bento Dinner

2008-01-19T11:54:00.000-08:00

I recently made a bento dinner. It included Ginger Pork, Fried Fish Cake, stir fried cabbage with tomato and mixed Japanese vege. I bought the fish cake and the mixed vege from a local Japanese market. The ginger pork is really easy dish and is my husband's favorite.

Ginger Pork Recipe:
Thin slices of Pork (Shabu shabu cut)
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 tbsp cooking oil

Marinate the pork with soy sauce and grated fresh ginger (include the ginger juice). Cook the marinated pork in hot oil.

Stir-fried cabbage Recipe:
Cabbage
Chopped Garlic
Salt
Diced tomatoes

Cut cabbage into 1 inch slices. Heat garlic in hot oil. Add cabbage and stir-fry. Add tomatoes when the cabbage is almost done and salt to taste.

Mixed Japanese Vege Recipe:
1 tbsp of sugar
1/2 cup of water
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of sake
1 tbsp of mirin
1 bag of mixed Japanese vege (includes lotus roots, carrots, taro, shitake mushroom)

In a pot, bring water to boil and add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Halibut in Tomato-Shiitake Broth

2008-01-19T11:52:00.000-08:00

This was a recipe from the Best of Cooking Light Special Edition book. I tried it for the first time. It was super easy to make and delicious!

8 ounces uncooked udon noodles
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp bottled minced garlic
1 1/2 cup bottled clam juice
2 tsp red curry paste
4 cups of thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps
2/3 cup canned diced tomatoes undrained
1/4 tsp curshed red pepper
4 halibut filets
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/8 tsp salt

1. Cook noodles according to package directions.

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, cook until tender. Add clam and curry paste, stirring with a whisk. Add mushrooms, tomatoes, and pepper; bring to a simmer. Add fish; sprinkle with basil and salt. Cover and cook 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve over noodles. 4 servings.

Prawn Mee

2008-01-15T20:32:00.001-08:00

prawn mee, originally uploaded by cloey17_98.

I've been saving up prawn heads for about six months now. To make more room in the freezer, I decided to thaw out the prawn heads and pork bones to make prawn mee. To be honest, I've never been a big fan of prawn mee, and it's been years since I had any.

Last week, on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, Tony was treated to a home-cooked prawn mee meal. And since then, I've been craving a piping hot bowl of prawn noodles. I used Rasa Malaysia's recipe, but added dark soy sauce, salt, fish sauce, and sugar to the soup. It was quite yummy, but extremely tedious. Not sure if I have the stamina to make it again.
~Ray

Murtabuk

2008-01-12T13:09:00.000-08:00

We recently bought a family-size bag of frozen pratha, but only bought one can of curry (which was promptly used up). The solution to leftover pratha? An easy, delicious murtabuk. I have to admit, I've never really had this before. But I came across this recipe on Teczcape . This is not authentic coz we used ground beef instead of mutton. My husband says it's just like Indian tacos!

IMG_4342, originally uploaded by cloey17_98.

1/2 chopped onions
1/2 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 beaten egg
4 frozen pratha

Fry chopped onions until transluscent. Add ground beef, curry powder, and tumeric. Add beaten egg and fry until cooked. Set aside. Heat up prata, spoon the ground beef mixture on one side, and fold. Enjoy!

~Ray

Happy 2008!

2008-01-01T21:08:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how time has flown by! Sorry I haven't posted anything for awhile. I've been a bit busy with the new baby.
I haven't stop cooking but just haven't had time to post them. Hopefully between Rae and I, we will keep this blog going.

Mina

Hash-Brown Turkey

2007-10-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

First of all, let's take a moment to welcome the newest member of the family: Jake Toshiro Whitehead.

Mina just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, and while I was visiting her in Seattle, I came across a Rachel Ray magazine. Personally, I'm am not a fan of Rachael Ray. I can't stand when she says "EVOO" or "Yummo"! I don't think she's a great cook either. So, imagine my surprise when I saw the recipe for "Hash-Brown Turkey." It sounded really good! I tried it tonight and it turned out really delicious and easy-to-make.

One 16-ounce bag frozen hash browns, thawed
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 scallions, finely chopped
Salt
3 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 turkey cutlets (about 1 1/2 pounds total), pounded thin

1. In a wide, shallow bowl, toss the potatoes with 1 tablespoon flour, then with the parmesan and scallions; season with salt. Place the eggs in another wide, shallow bowl and beat lightly. Place the remaining 1/2 cup flour in another shallow bowl and season with salt.
2. In a large, heavy nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Working with 1 piece at a time, coat the turkey cutlets with flour, shaking off the excess, then dip in the eggs and transfer to the potato mixture, pressing potato onto each side.
3. Cook the cutlets in the skillet with more oil as needed, turning once, until the potato coating is golden and crisp, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to parchment paper or paper towels to drain.

~Ray

Seafood Village

2007-10-07T19:28:00.000-07:00

Last week, I made plans with an old friend to meet up for lunch. "I know a great seafood place in Montery Park," I said. "I know a great seafood place in Montery Park, too! It's called Seafood Village," she replied. Turns out, it's the same place I had in mind, except, I knew the restaurant as Bi Feng Tang. The lunch menu is super economical. You can get a whole fried fish for only $5.95. Unfortunately, my friend had to cancel, but I just could not get my head out of Seafood Village. So, I bribed my cousin with a bottle of wine to go with me.

Their specialty is garlic crab at $5.99 per pound.

They're also famous for their chicken. It's the closest thing to Hainanese chicken that I've tasted. Cold, succulent, juicy chicken.

This is our attempt to have some "greens" in our diet. Don't think it's very healthy though =)

My cousin was craving shrimp and eggs. I've never had this before but it's really tasty. The eggs are slightly undercooked, which is a nice contrast to the crisp prawns.

~Ray

Claypot Rice without the Claypot

2007-10-07T19:22:00.000-07:00

I can't remember the last time I had claypot rice. But what I do remember is the crispy rice bits at the bottom, the sweet chinese sausage, and aromatic dark soy sauce. Since I had all the ingredients, I decided to make claypot chicken rice myself. I found the "cheat" version from rasamalaysia. The only difference is that I didn't marinate my chicken in cornstarch (ran out)!

Overall, it's an easy, fast, satisfying dinner.

~Ray

Mee Pok Test #1

2007-09-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

I'm on the hunt for the most authentic mee pok sauce. This is experiment No. 1:

3 Tablespoons Pork Lard Oil
3 Tablespoons Roast Char Siew Sauce
1 Teaspoon Black Vinegar
1 Teaspoon Fish Sauce
2 Tablespoons light Soy Sauce

I went to Ranch 99 on Saturday and casually asked the butcher for pork fat. He gave me 5 pieces for 16 cents! So, I cut 1 slice to small bits and fry it until the oil is rendered and the bits are crispy.

Verdict: This sauce is more wanton mee than mee pok. It's on the sweeter side. I'm looking for something more spicy and tangy.

The search continues.
~Ray

Victory at Last!

2007-09-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

What's my favorite food in the entire world? Simple: Hainanese chicken rice. I ate it every day in secondary school, and miss it every day I'm away from Singapore. Chicken rice alone is enough motivation for me to hop on an 18-hour flight back home. And every time someone recommends a good chicken rice place in LA, I get my hopes up. But I'm always disappointed. The chicken is usually too hot (should be room temperature), over cooked (should be slightly undercooked), and oily.

I came across Chubby Hubby's chicken rice post a few months ago. I had no idea chicken rice is that complicated! Turns out, to achieve the juicy texture, you need to cook it slowly in hot water (with the stove turned off). I tried Chubby Hubby's recipe and it was a success! The chicken was cooked to perfection.

The rice is just chicken fat, minced ginger, minced garlic and the chicken stock from cooking the chicken.

And the soup is simply the stock seasoned with salt and some soy sauce (though I threw in some celery for body).

The chopping of the whole chicken proved to be difficult, but overall, it was AMAZING! I am so proud of myself.

~Ray

Yong Tau Foo

2007-09-19T16:44:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, I made the infamous Hakka dish -- Yong Tau Foo for a dinner party. Our friends just remodeled their kitchen and invited us to use it which I happily agreed to. They have my dream kitchen -- plus they recently made a delicious meal for us a few weeks back. :) We like to get together and try out new dishes. Since they've never had Yong Tau Foo and I've been craving for it, I thought it would be a great dish for a party of 6.

Now, I learned how to make this dish from my Grandma who does not use any sort of measuring system. So seasoning is just based on what I remembered. I served the dish with a side of dry egg noodles w/ ground pork and baby bok choy. I just cooked the egg nooldes and bok choy in boiled water and seasoned with black bean sauce, sesame oil and soy sauce. And I did a quick stir-fry of the ground pork with minced garlic, salt and pepper.

Yong Tau Foo Ingredients
- 2 Chinese Eggplants (Sliced about 1.5 inch diagonally and cut out a shallow hole in the middle)
- 1 pack of Tau Pok (Puffy Fried Tofu)
- 1 pack of Firm Tofu (cut into rectangular pieces about 1.5 inch)
- 1 pack of Firm fried Tofu
- 1 pack of bean curd skin (soften the dried beancurd with warm water)
- Cornstarch water (a couple of tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with water)
- 6 Cups of water (or chicken stock)
- 1 cube of boulion

Fillings
- 1 pound of fish paste
- 1 pound of ground pork
- 2 stalks of green onions
- 1 tbsp of fish sauce (or 1 tsp salt)
- Pepper

Cut a shallow hole in all the tofu pieces for the fillings. Mix the fillings well with the seasoning. Start stuffing the tofu and eggplant pieces with the filling and dab the cornstarch mixture on the meat. This will help keep the meat on the tofu pieces. Put about a spoonful of fillings onto the beancurd sheet and wrap it like you do with spring rolls. Once the fillings have been stuffed, heat up about 3 tbsp of oil in the wok. Brown each of the pieces, meat side down and set aside. For the beancurd sking pieces, you want to fry them to crispy brown.

In a different pot, add 6 cups of water, 1 cube of Fish Boulion (or you can use 6 cups of chicken stock). When it comes to boil, add the tofu and eggplant pieces into the pot. Simmer for another 10 - 15 minutes. Season the soup with salt or fish sauce and adjust to your taste. I like to keep the broth light since everything else is fried.

- Mina

New Yorker

2007-09-10T12:46:00.000-07:00

There's a really interesting article in this week's New Yorker about Singaporean foodies. The author wrote that, "Culinary, [Singaporeans] are the most homesick people I have ever met." Touché.

~Ray

Nasi Lemak

2007-09-09T21:37:00.000-07:00

I had some leftover chicken wings and pandan leaves in the freezer, so I decided to make some nasi lemak. The last time I made nasi lemak was 3 years ago and I used so much coconut milk that the rice turned out very rich. This time, I just used half coconut milk and half water. And, of course, a pandan leave (tied in a knot).

The chicken was deep fried, and I also made some stir-fried green beans with sambal nonya sauce from Prima Taste. The only thing missing was a fried egg, which I ran out.

Overall, a simple solution to an empty fridge.

Ray

Black Alaskan Cod

2007-09-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

I have never cooked cod before. Heck, I've never even bought cod coz I'm so scared of the price tag. My co-workers cleaned out the kitchen freezer last Friday and I could not believe my luck with this luxurious find: four thick pieces of delicious black cod. I decided to go simple because I love the flavor of cod and did not want to ruin it with too much tinkering. So, I turn to my favorite blogger, rasamalaysia, for her Nobu-inspired cod with miso. I'm constantly surprised at how simple Nobu's recipes are, yet the flavors are always so complex.

Marinade:
1/4 cup mirin
4 tablespoons white miso
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup sake

Rasamalaysia recommends marinating for 24 hours, but I only did it for 2 hours.

Pan sear the fish, skin-side down first. Then transfer it into a pre-heated oven (400 degrees F). Bake for 15 mins. I saved some of the marinade for the sauce.

It's so easy and delicious.

Enjoy!

Ray

Diver Scallops

2007-08-31T14:02:00.000-07:00

My new best friend at work is Roberta. She often shares her bounty of leftovers. Last night, she packed 6 plump, juicy diver scallops in ice for me. I made a simple seared scallops with spicy mayo (thanks rasamalaysia) and a side of angel hair pasta. It was delicious.

~Ray

Fair Food

2007-08-31T13:52:00.000-07:00

Every year, my friends and I make a pilgrimage to the Orange County Fair. The main attraction? The fried food of course--fried oreos, fried potatoes, fried avocados, fried tomatoes, fried coke (yes, coke!). Good thing we only go to the fair once a year.

Famous Australian Fried Potatoes

Fried Avocado and Tomatoes

Oh, and the best part? Winning $100 on scratchers!

~Ray

Vietnamese Dinner

2007-07-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

Much apology! It's been awhile since I've updated the blog. All I can say is that it's been a busy busy July. We've had visitors and weddings to attend. My mother-in-law, her sister and 2 nephews were in town for a week. It's been a lovely visit although my husband was a little stressed out. We had a wonderful home-cooked Vietnamese dinner with his uncle and his uncle's family who live actually not far from us.

I don't know the names of the dishes but there were grilled marinated pork meat and patty, served with rice noodles, fresh herbs and lettuce. There was also a jellyfish and prawn salad that was just so refreshing. While we were stuffed, I felt fairly good after dinner.

Chili Prawns

2007-07-01T17:23:00.000-07:00

I have never been a big fan of Violet Oon, but I've been a recent convert. Trying out a new recipe is always a hit and miss (e.g. my failed attempt at otak). I remember seeing Violet Oon on Food Network years ago making Chili Prawns. I was skeptical at first, but decided to try it because I had all the ingredients she required (as opposed to other more complicated recipes). It actually turned out pretty darn good. I added some fishballs for more volume.

Sauce:
1 cup water
5 tablespoons tomato catsup
1 1/2 to 3 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons corn flour
1 teaspoon pounded brown preserved soya beans or dark miso (optional)
1/4 teaspoons salt
Prawns:
1 pound large, whole prawns (unshelled)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
8 fresh red chiles, roughly chopped
1 egg
2 scallions, cut into finger lengths
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice
1 small bunch cilantro, cut into 1-inch long pieces

Serving Suggestions: loaf of French bread

Make the Sauce: Whisk together all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Make the Prawns: Cut down the backs of the prawns and remove the black intestinal vein. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a wok or shallow saucepan over high heat. Add the garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the chiles and stir-fry for another minute. Add the prawns and stir-fry until the shell turn slightly red, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sauce and stir-fry until the shells turn red.

Break the egg into the wok and, using a fork, streak the egg through the sauce (this is an important step, as the egg has to be in beautiful gold and white streaks). Simmer the sauce for a few seconds and remove from the heat. Stir in the scallions and lime juice.

~Ray

Har (prawn) Mee

2007-06-24T15:20:00.001-07:00

I was totally craving for Prawn Mee and remembered I have prawn shells that I've been saving in the freezer. So I made prawn and pork rib soup served with Beehoon.

~ Mina

Ingredients for the broth:
- 4 cups of water
- 1 quart bag of prawn shells (clean the prawn head)
- 4 Pork ribs
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp fish sauce

Other ingredients:
- Beehoon
- Cooked prawn
- You Choy or any other leafy vegetbales
- Fried onions

Heat water to boil. Add prawn shells and pork ribs. Turn the heat down to low and cook for 1 hour. Add salt and fish sauce for seasoning.

Blanch beehoon and vegetable. Put in the bowl and add prawns, pork ribs. Pour broth over the nooldes. Garnish with fried onions.

Thai Panang Curry

2007-06-23T17:13:00.000-07:00

Last month my husband's company organized a cooking class at a local Thai restaurant they go to often. There about 20 of his co-workers and their wives eager to learn the secret to Thai cooking. We made Thai Panang Curry which turns out to be a lot easier than I expected. I've tried to make it at home twice since.

Here's my version with chicken breast, eggplants and carrots.

~ Mina

Panang Curry Ingredients:
1 Can of Coconut Milk
A couple of Kaifer Lime Leaves
Chicken tenders
2 Chinese Eggplants
2 Carrots
1 Can of Baby Corn
2 Tbsp of Red Curry Paste
2 Tbsp of Fish Sauce
2 Tbsp of Sugar
Basil leaves

Directions:
- Cut the chicken, eggplants, carrots and baby corns into bite sized cubes
- Using medium heat, add in 1/2 can of head of the coconut milk and let it come to boil
- Add in 2-3 tbsp of curry paste and mix well
- Add chicken to the curry/coconut mixture and cook until the chicken is thoroughly cooked
- Add the carrots, eggplants and baby corn
- Add in the other 1/2 of the remainder of the coconut milk and 1/2 cup of water. Keep stirring
- Add 2 tbsp of fish sauce and sugar
- When the coconut milk thickens, add in the basil leaves and lime leaves
- Taste the curry. Add more fish sauce or sugar depending on your preference. If you want it spicier, just add chili pepper flakes.

I also made a side dish of vegetable with fried tofu.

Ingredients:
A bunch of Tagu Choy
Fried Tofu
Minced garlic
1 tbsp of spicy Shrimp Paste

- Heat minced garlic and shrimp paste in the wok
- Add the Taguy Choy and fried tofu
- Cook until vegetable is done

Mushrooms Stroganoff

2007-06-14T19:23:00.001-07:00

I was so thrilled when they gave away these beautiful mushrooms at work.

I did a quick search on Bonappetit.com, and found a simple Mushrooms Stroganoff dish. The creme fraiche and fresh parsley were freebies as well. Score! The only thing from my pantry was white wine and pasta.

RECIPE:
1 tablespoon butter
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 pounds mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup nonfat sour cream
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
12 ounces linguine, freshly cooked

Melt butter in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high-heat. Add garlic and sauté 30 seconds. Add onion and sauté 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté until tender and most liquid in pot evaporates, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Add flour and stir 1 minute. Add white wine and cook until mixture thickens, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes. Mix in sour cream, then nutmeg. Season mushroom mixture to taste with salt and pepper. Add linguine to pot; toss to blend well and serve.

~Ray

SPAM!

2007-06-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

Speaking with Hawaiian fusion chef Roy Yamaguchi actually made me crave Spam. Go figure! So, since my husband was away on business, I decided to make myself some Spam onigiri.

I bought these nifty onigiri maker for $1. It's awesome.

~Ray

Fried Macaroni & Cheese

2007-06-11T21:55:00.000-07:00

Rae has been on my case about not posting for awhile. My excuse...it's been a busy busy month!
Anyway, I've been wanting to post about this Fried Macaroni & Cheese that we had last month at Cheesecake Factory. This was our appetizer and boy, were we surprised by the size! The fried macaroni & cheese was the size of a tennis ball. It was very tasty with a creamy tomato sauce.
I was only able to eat one...my husband managed to eat 3!

~ Mina

Prima Taste Restaurant - Vancouver

2007-06-10T14:03:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago we visited our friends in Vancouver, B.C. Before going I did a little research and was excited to find out that there is a Prima Taste Restaurant there. I told my friends we have to go try it out. They've never had Singaporean dishes before so we ordered the classic favorite, Hainanese Chicken Rice. One of our friends is vegetarian so we ordered a few vegetarian dishes. I was so hungry that I kept forgetting to take photos before eating...but I managed to take photos of a few dishes. Overall, I liked the flavors and was not disappointed. Our friends loved the dishes -- they thought the dishes were different from anything they've ever had. Like most folks in the NorthWest, they are more familiar with Thai food.

~ Mina

Belachan Eggplants

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Lontong

Vancouver, Canada
Prima Taste Restaurant
570 Robson Street
Vancouver BC, V6B 2B7
Tel: 1 60 4 685 7881

Lard, The Magic Ingredient

2007-06-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

It seems for most Singaporean hawkers, lard is their not-so-secret weapon to whipping out mouth-watering char kuey teow, Hokkien mee, and bak chor mee. However, the way the lard is used is still a mystery to me. Did they use lard as cooking fat, in place of oil? Is it a combination? If so, what's the ratio? Or did they just use the pork's back fat, and fry it up like cracklings? Or is the answer: All of the above?

I decided to do a little investigating on the Web. I found several recipes that call exclusively for lard as the "cooking oil." And the fried pork fat bits are separate. Mystery solved. Now, I know lard has a terrible reputation, but new studies have shown that they're actually better for you than vegetable shortening and margarine. Of course, moderation is the key.

Bruce Aidells, Bay-area's sausage king, frowns upon the store-bought packaged bricks of lard, which are "highly processed and don't taste anything like real lard." Instead, he encourages you to make your own. Here's his lard recipe"

Ingredients:
6 pounds pork back fat, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1.) Preheat the oven to 300F
2.) Put cubed fat in large pot or Dutch oven, making sure it's no more than half full
3.) Slip into oven and bake until the fat begins to melt.
4.) Stir the mixture every 45 minutes, until the bits of cracklings (fat) brown and float to the top. It could take as long as 4 hours.
5.) Strain lard and store in canning jars. Cool and refrigerate.

Tip:
If you grind them, the cooking time can be reduced.
The lard could store up to 6 months.

It's tedious, but could be worth it.

~Ray

Eh, What's Up Doc?

2007-06-05T19:28:00.000-07:00

I don't know what possessed me to buy this large bunch of carrots from the Farmers' Market. Maybe I was seduced by the pretty green leaves. Honestly, I don't really like carrots.

So, I decided to get a little creative. I made carrot and scallion fritters with a recipe I got from Gourmet magazine. It was quite tasty. It does require some kind of sauce, though. Maybe a garlic mayo would work.

3/4 cup coarsely grated carrot
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallion
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs
vegetable oil for deep-frying

In a bowl combine well the carrot, the scallion, the egg, the bread crumbs, and salt and pepper to taste. In a large skillet heat 1 inch of the oil until it registers 375°F. on a deep-fat thermometer, in batches drop the carrot mixture into the oil by tablespoons, and fry the fritters for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, or until they are golden. Transfer the fritters to paper towels and let them drain. Serve the fritters as hors d' oeuvres or as a side dish.

~Ray

Mee Pok

2007-06-05T19:21:00.000-07:00

Fellow bloggers, I need help. I have all the right elements of a mee pok dish (pretty right?), but I'm not happy with the taste. All I used was sambal and fish sauce. Anyone know how to achieve the spicy/vinegary sauces you find at mee pok stalls?

~Ray

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Fatted CalfThe Oxbow Public Market644 C First StreetNapa, CA 94559(707) 256-3684

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Fatted Calf
The Oxbow Public Market
644 C First Street
Napa, CA 94559
(707) 256-3684