Carefree Cooking

Korean Beef Stew (Best Version)

2010-04-27T13:33:00.000-07:00

Boneless beef short ribs (got this from T&T Supermarket)
Soy Sauce
Mirin
Sugar
Corn starch
Aluminum foil

Mix equal part soy sauce and mirin in a bowl. Add sugar and stir to dissolve. Cut the meat into portion size. Place one or two meat into aluminum foil and brush sauce mixture on all sides. Set aside the rest of the sauce for later. Seal the meat using the foil. Make sure air doesn't come out as the steam is required to cook the meat thoroughly.

Bake at 300 degrees for 2 hours. Take meat out and set aside. Pour the liquid inside the foil into a container. Take out all the fat. Pour the rest of the mixture with the leftover sauce into a sauce pan. Add water to cornstarch to create a thickening agent and pour in sauce pan to get a thick sauce. Taste sauce and add more water if it's too salty. Pour thickened sauce on top of cooked meat and serve with toasted sesame and shopped scallions.

Korean Beef Stew

2010-01-29T19:08:00.000-08:00

I always like slow cooked meat. This time, I think I hit the magic ingredients to make a yummy korean beef stew.

Beef Ribs

Soy Sauce

Sugar

Mirin

Brown the meat on all sides, discard oil. Put beef back and apply enough water to cover the top part of the beef. Add soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. Cook for 2 hours under low heat until beef is tender. Take out beef but leave the sauce. Heat the sauce until desired consistency is achieved. Leave overnight so that the oil solidifies. Scrape oil.

Steved Beef with Gravy

2008-07-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

I haven't been buying simering steak for a while since I don't really know how to cook it. The first time I bought it, I cooked it like a steak, and the texture wasn't right. I guess I should have really looked at it's name. Simering implies that the beef needs to be cooked in low temperature for a long time. So I got this steak again and decided to try something different. This time, it came out delicious. So I want to share this recipe with everyone. I think it should work with any tough cuts of meat.

Here's what you'll need:

1 pack Simering steak (usually comes as one slice, haven't seen this sold in bulk here in Vancouver).
1 onion, chopped
Several pieces of garlic (depends how much you like garlic)
Whole peppercorn seeds
stock (fresh is better, or bullion is acceptable)
Oil

Pour some oil on the pan and pan sear the steak on both sides. After the sides are brown, put the chopped onion and garlic. Add the stock (I used bullion since I didn't have any home made stock) into the pan until it covers the beef. Add the peppercorn. When the liquid starts to boil, turn down heat to simmer and cook for 1.5 hours or until the liquid is less than half the amount before. Make sure you cover the pan during the cooking process.

After around 1.5 hours, the meat should be very tender. If not, cook longer. Once the meat is ready, take it out of the pan and set aside to rest. To make the gravy, pour all the liquid (including onions, garlic, and peppercorn) into a blender and blend for 10-20 seconds. Be careful when blending since the liquid is hot. Blend at the highest speed for 10-20 seconds. The liquid should turn into gravy (it will get very thick). Taste the gravy and add more water if it's too salty, or add salt if it's slightly bland. Pour into a gravy container or pour directly on top of the meat.

I didn't get a chance to take a picture, but trust me, this one is tasty. I can just imagine redoing this recipe on ox-tail. Hmm....yummy.

Korean Style Beef Stew

2006-12-31T23:41:00.000-08:00

When I was small, I love korean beef stew. I would always get that whenever we go to the foodcourt to eat (this was in the Philippines). When I came to Canada, couldn't find that dish ina any of the Korean restaurants that I went to. That's when I realized that perhaps this is not an authentic Korean dish, but rather a fusion of Filipino and Korean cuisines. In any case, I found a website that had the recipe.

I tried the recipe as is a few times. It was very good, but I find that there's too much liquid (although that's one of the main appeal of the recipe). I think it would taste better if the liquid was reduced so that it's thick and rich. That would match the beef very well. So after a few tries, I have it to where it's just right for my taste.

Beef ribs (as many as you want to cook or as many as the pot can hold)

1 whole garlic
1 whole onion

Soy sauce

Sugar

Chili (flakes or freshly cut)

Salt to taste

Put all the beef inside the pot and fill it with water until it just covers all the meat. Cook for half an hour over medium heat and skim all the stuff that floats on top. Add garlic, onion, soy sauce, sugar, and chili. The amound of soy sauce depends on how much water is in the pot. The rule that I follow is to add just enough to darken the liquid (give it a brownish color). Add a couple tablespoons of sugar. I always taste the liquid when I cook this dish. Remember, everyone has different taste so adjust accordingly. Note that the liquid does not need to be perfectly seasoned at this point since the liquid will be reduced at a later time (flavor will get concentrated). Cook at low heat for 2.5-3hrs. You'll know when it's done when the meat falls off the bone and becomes very tender. Take out all the meat and and any non liquid ingredients from the pot (e.g. garlic, onion, bones). If you are health concious like I am, right now is the best time to take out all the fat from the liquid. I use a gravy separator to do this, but you can cool down the liquid in the fridge until the fat solidifies and skim it off. Reduce the liquid to half the volume. Season to taste at this point. Do not be tempted to put more soy souce. Add more salt instead if saltiness is desired. The sauce should have a mild saltiness and sweetness to it. So balance the amound of salt/sugar. After the sauce has reduced, pour the beef back into the pan so that the sauce can coat the meat thoroughly. Serve immediately.

Sesame seed can be optionally added just before being served. Best way to eat it is with plain white rice. If you get a chance to try this, let me know how you like it.

Summer Salad

2006-12-27T23:19:00.000-08:00

I got the inspiration for this while watching Chef at Home by Michael Smith. After multiple iterations, I have finalized on the recipe that everyone in my family likes. I'm so proud of this that I've named it after my daughter, Summer.

I was tired of eating the same type of salad every time. The usual green leafy vegetables(lettuce, spinach, etc) are getting a bit too boring even though I've changed the dressing that I use each time. When I saw Chef Smith make this on TV (it wasn't meant to be a salad but rather a filling for a wrap), I got excited. I knew that this one had the potential of replacing the boring standard salad that I've been having.

Summer Salad is very very easy to make. It's just a mixture of ingredients that I like, followed by a tasty dressing that anyone can make at home. Below is a list of ingredients that I always use (you can add or take out ingredients based on your preference).

1 can Garbanzo beans, drained

1 can mandarin orange slices, drained

1 can corn kernel (not cream styled corn), drained

2 Green Onions, finely chopped

1/2 bunch Cilantro, finely chopped

Make sure all the ingredients are well drained. Otherwise the liquid will dilute the dressing and will make it hard for the dressing to stick to the ingredients. I just put everything in a strainer/colander and leave it there for a few minutes. For the mandarin slices, you can either get whole slices, or chunks. I always go for the chunks variety since they are cheaper and the mandarin slices are not meant for decoration.

For the dressing, the following ingredients are needed.

Mayonnaise

Horseradish mayonnaise or Dijon mustard

Salt

Pepper

I don't have any exact measurements for the dressing (since I don't usually measure when I cook - that's not the carefree way). But I would say half mayonnaise and half horseradish mayonnaise. If you can't find Horseradish mayonnaise (I use the PC brand from Superstore), a few spoons of Dijon mustard should do. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour the dressing on the dry ingredients and serve. The salad taste even better when left overnight as it gives the flavours time to be properly mixed.

Not only can this dish be eaten on its own just like a salad, but it can be used just like a salsa (a side dish for meat or dips for chips). A dish so versatile...that's carefree cooking at its best.

Leg of Lamb

2006-12-22T21:35:00.000-08:00

Leg of lamb is one of the ingredients that I was afraid to use. It's typically expensive since it's a big chunk of meat. And when not cooked properly, could be completely inedible. However, just like the duck, I had to try it. As the famous saying goes, practice makes perfect.

I've seen some cooking shows where leg of lamb is the main ingredient. But I decided to be adventurous and try adding whatever flavours I can find in my fridge. Cooking technique is very important when cooking the lamb so I followed the basic barbeque style of cooking (low heat for a long period of time). I want to share a quick tidbit I learned recently (From Alton Brown I think). Tougher cuts of meat (muscles that are used frequently by the animal) has a lot of collagen. Collagen are tough to eat, but when the proper heat and cooking duration is applied, these connective tissue melts and the meat falls apart. So to cook the cheap tough cuts of meat, keep in mind the low temperature and long period of cooking.

Now back to the lamb. I used the roasting technique which essentially means put the meat in the oven. To add flavour, I used a wet rub. Below is what I had in my wet rub.

Olive oil
Dijon Mustard

Rosemary

Thyme

Basil

Salt

Pepper

Mix all the ingredients together and rub on the entire leg of lamb. Place the lamb on a roasting pan. Cut some onions, garlic, and potatoes and place them on the roasting pan as well. This will give the gravy a nice flavour (more on that later). Preheat the oven at 300 degrees F and place the roasting pan in there for 3 hours. If you have one of those digital meat thermometer, use that instead. The lamb should be ready when the internal temperature hits around 180 degrees F.

After the meat is fully cooked, take it out of the roasting pan and let it rest for at least 15 minutes. Take out the onions, garlic, and potatoes from the roasting pan. There should be some juice from the meat left on the pan. This will be the basis of the gravy. Put the roasting pan on the stove and turn the heat to medium. Put some stock into the pan and mix the sauce thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste. To thicken the gravy, add some cornstarch mixed in water (equal parts) and pour into the sauce. Mix quickly. The sauce should thicken soon.

Cooking a leg of lamb is definitely not for the every day meal. It takes a bit of preparation and time to cook it, but it is very worth it. There are many different ways leg of lamb can be cooked, and I've just began to scratch the surface. Next time I cook lamb, I will use the braising method instead of roasting. I'll see which one taste better. Stay tuned!

Ducks, Ducks, and more Ducks

2006-12-10T00:24:00.000-08:00

Duck is one of the meats that I don't normally touch. All the duck recipes that I've seen are too elaborate/complicated so I end up just giving up. Besides, a quick trip to my local asian grocery store (T&T in my case) and I'll be eating duck in no time. But just like fear, I find that I have to conquer this meat, so here are my trials and tribulations.

The first time I made duck, I just followed how chinese barbequed duck are normally made. First thing to do is apply a dry rub of 5 spice powder (五香) on the entire duck and let it sit there for a few hours. I then rinsed the rub in warm water and let dry. I applied some honey on the skin and let it dry even more for up to 6 hours. I popped the bird in the oven for an hour at 400F and that was the end of the cooking. It only took me the entire day to prep and cook the bird. The result was not as good as I hoped however. Although I could taste the flavour from the 5 spice powder, and the sweetness from the honey, it needed salt and the meat was very hard. So that's strike 1.

The second time I made duck, I altered the cooking process a little bit. I took a page out of my ribs cooking technique (also saw Ina Garten do it this way) by boiling the entire duck in water first. I cooked the duck for half an hour (and followed the same technique as the first time. The result was pretty much the same. Needed more flavour and the meat was hard. That's strike 2.

Today, I decided to give it another try. This time, I made a few changes. I rubbed 5 spice powder on the entire duck, added kocher salt, and applied honey. A quick tip when applying honey, microwave it for 10-15 second so that the liquid is not too thick. I covered the entire duck in aluminum foil so that the skin doesn't turn dark too quickly during the long cooking process. Without waiting for the honey to dry, I popped the duck into the oven for 1 hour at 250F. After an hour, I basted the duck with more honey and cooked it for another 1 hour at 300F (keep the duck covered with aluminum foil). Baste the duck with more honey and cook at 350F for 45 minutes. The duck should be fully cooked at this point. Continue cooking for 15 minutes but this time without the aluminum foil. This will give the skin the nice brown roasted color.

Make sure the duck is rested well (around 15 minutes will do fine). The end result from the low temperature cooking is that the meat was very tender and fell off the bone. Now this is good eats. And since there's no waiting for drying or marinating, it was less time consuming than the first time I cooked duck.

I used a chicken roasting rack to cook the duck. It allowed all the fat to come off and evenly roasted the skin. I think this is the best way to roast any poultry (except for turkey since it's too big). It's also a good idea to put a big plate underneath the roaster to catch any splatter.

I always like to serve duck with plum sauce. Give it a try and I'm sure you'll like it. There's nothing more gratifying that being able to conquer your fear and have a full stomach while you're at it. Enjoy!

Fried Rice Carefree Style

2006-12-06T23:58:00.000-08:00

I thought I had a post of a fried rice dish, but I can't seem to find it in my previous postings. So here is one for my loyal carefree cooking readers. I've been cooking different types of fried rice for a while, but I like this one the best.

The basis of this fried rice is based on a classic fried rice recipe (which I got from one of Ming Tsai's book). The main ingredients are pretty standard, and you can just add any other ingredients you like (leftover meat/vegetables are perfect for this). This is one good way to clean your fridge, and enjoy a good meal while you're at it.

Here are the main ingredients:

Day old rice (newly cooked rice would work as well, but need to freeze it for a while to make the rice kernels firm)

A couple eggs, beaten

Chinese sausage or any salty ham (optional), sliced

A few cloves of garlic (more if you're into it), minced

2-3 green onion, chopped

cup of frozen vegetables - thawed (e.g. peas, carrots, corn, etc) (optional)

A tbsp of minced ginger

2-3 tbsp Soy sauce

Salt

Pepper

Whenever I cook fried rice, I always start with the eggs. I use a non stick pan to cook fried rice because a) easier to clean and b) I don't have a wok. I start of with putting enough olive oil on the pan (just enough to coat the pan). Pour the beaten eggs and cook scambled style. It should only take half a minute to cook it. Transfer the egg into a separate container. Add some more oil on the pan and add the chinese sausage. After a minute or so (the chinese sausage will brown a little), add the minced garlic, ginger, and half the green onion. Adding the garlic at a later time will prevent it from getting burnt. Break up the day old rice and drop them in the pan. Break any clumps and cook for another minute or so. Add the soy sauce to give it a darker color (but not too dark) and add the salt and pepper to taste. When i first did this, I added more soy sauce and added less salt. The color of the friend rice was very dark and didn't look appetizing. So i've held back on the soy sauce and added more salt instead. Add the cooked eggs, thawed vegetables, and any other leftover food you have, and cook until everything is heated thoroughly. Remember to taste as you go to make sure that it's just right to your liking. Garnish with the left over chopped green onion.

It may seem like a complicated dish, but believe me, it's one of the simplest dishes you can make after you've tried it once. This is the best dish to expand your culinary mind as I don't think you can mess it up (unless you put too much salt/soy sauce). The only rule of thumb I follow with everything I cook is to only add ingredients you like. Enjoy!

Hash Browns Carefree Style

2006-12-02T23:45:00.000-08:00

When I was young, I would think of this patty like goodness that McDonalds sell whenever I hear hash browns. For the longest time, I didn't think hash browns were served any other way. But now that I'm more informed, I can play around with it to give it more depth and dimension.

My sister actually started this, I just modified the recipe a little bit. Here are the simple ingredients.

1 spud (potato), sliced to small cubes

A couple green onion, chopped

Half (or whole) onion, depends on how much you like it

Salt

Pepper

Paprika

Chili Powder

Curry Powder

I like to cut everything up before I start cooking (mise en place). This way, there's no danger of overcooking what's in the pan while I'm cutting/chopping other ingredients. Put a little oil (olive) on a pan and brown the potato. Set aside. Put a little more oil and caramelize the onions (cook in a little bit of oil until the color turns brown and taste sweet). Halfway through the caramelization process, put the green onions. Finally, put the potatoes back into the pan and mix everything. Add the paprika, chili powder, and curry powder (if in doubt, add a teaspoon of each). Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with your favourite breakfast food (I like it with egg and ham) and this will guarantee a good start to your day.

Pan Fried Fish Steak

2006-11-26T10:19:00.000-08:00

A lot of people find seafood intimidating. I guess pound for pound, it is usually more expensive than other types of meat. If not cooked properly, it might mean having to call the local chinese restaurant for some take out food.

Cooking seafood does not have to be complicated. For now, let's stay away from the lobsters and crabs (that will be for another post) and just stick with more affordable cuts of fish. In an ideal world, we'd always be using the fresh fish that the local market has to offer. But if cost is an issue, frozen fish can offer a tasty alternative. For this post, I used a frozen fish (any one would do).

The first thing to do is season the fish. I use kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. I think this is the simplest way to season meat. You can try to be more adventurous here by adding different types of herbs (dill, parsley, etc), but this is purely optional. The next step is to give the fish some texture. To do this, liberally cover the fish with flour. This way, the fish becomes golden brown when cooked.

In a skillet, put sufficient olive oil to coat the bottom. When the oil is hot, slowly place the fish on the skillet. The thickness of the fish will dictate how long to cook it. This is a challenge to some people, but I don't think you should worry. If I undercook fish, I just pop it in the microwave until it's fully cooked. That's how I save my fish. Make sure there is enough oil left on the skillet when you turn over the fish. If there's not enough, put some more. Without sufficient oil, the flour will burn before the fish is done.

At this point, the fish has a bit of taste, but we can definitely kick the flavour up another level. There are many sauces that can go with this. You can have the fish with your favourite salsa for example. But for this dish, I will share my interpretation of a classic chinese sauce.

In a sauce pan, pour some oil and put some finely chopped garlic and ginger. After the garlic is golden brown (not burnt), pour some soy sauce. There is no exact measurement for the amount of soy sauce, but this will depend on how big the fish is. Usually you'd want enough sauce to cover the fish, but not too much sauce that the fish is swimming in it. Add a tablespoon of sesame oil and chopped green onions for added flavour. Pour over the fish and enjoy.

TIPS: Reheating Pizza

2006-11-13T11:10:00.000-08:00

A lot of us like to eat pizza, whether it is bought from a pizza parlor, the local grocery store, or home made. The problem I used to have is that day old pizza just doesn't taste the same. One of my biggest complaint is that the dough at the bottom gets soggy after being in the fridge for a few hours.

What I do before was to microwave the pizza for around half a minute (depending on how thick the dough and toppings are) and pop it in a toaster oven. The reason why I microwave it first is to heat up the toppings. I find that the toaster oven can never heat up the toppings and dough/crust at the same time. I tried playing around with the bake/broil setting and it's just not the same.

Recently, I was reading one of those spam emails and it had a very good suggestion about heating leftover pizza. The trick is to heat up the pizza on a stove. I was skeptical at first but I didn't really have anything to lose so I tried it out. It worked very very well. So here I am sharing it with you.

Here's how you do it. Use your favourite pan (I use non stick for convenience) and turn your stove to medium to medium-high heat. While the pan is getting hot, pop the pizza in the microwave for half a minute (just until the toppings get hot). Place the pizza on the pan (no oil needed - that's why I use a non stick pan) and heat it for a couple minutes. You'll need to keep an eye on this one to determine how long you need to heat it up. After all, the level of crunchiness depends on the type of pizza and personal taste. But after you've done it once, you'll know exactly how long to do it for.

I would never have thought that a pan/stove is the best way to heat up pizza. But it works and it works well. That's carefree reheating for you.

Carefree Cooking is Back!!

2006-11-13T11:02:00.000-08:00

It has been over a year since I last made a post here. When I first started this blog, I felt very enthusiastic about it. It felt good being able to share some of the recipes I've created/enjoyed to everyone. Unfortunately, there came a point in time last year when I got too busy and didn't feel like updating the blog. I didn't really miss the blog and I was quite surprise that it still get hits from google regularly.

Since last year, a lot of things have changed for me. I have a new baby (Summer) who was born on May 20, 2006. I have been doing this crazy workout routine that is meant go bring my weight down to 155lb. I switched job (same company still). Lots of other little things that are probably too boring to post here.

In any case, I think it's time for me to start this blog again. I've had some delicious recipes that I'm sure you will enjoy (one of them is named after my daughter :) ). I also got a camcorder so my plan is to post some of my actual cooking on youtube.com. That way, you'll know how carefree my recipes really are. Also planning on adding complexity ratings on each of the recipes I post. Lots of things to come so stay tuned!

Chicken Wonton

2005-10-18T23:10:00.000-07:00

It's getting harder and harder for me to find interesting ways to cook chicken. Whenever I buy chicken wings, I almost always grill them using my George Foreman grill. When I buy chicken legs, it's usually baked or braised with some sauce. When I buy chicken breast, it's usually fried like chicken strips.

This dish is no exception to the rule. But instead of the usual slicing the chicken breast and coating it with some spiced up flour mixture, I thought of wrapping it with some wonton wrapper. Why wonton wrapper? When deep fried, wonton wrappers become very crispy. So it's kind of like eating chicken strips, with the outer batter being extremely crispy.

To make this dish, I started off with some chicken breast. I used the cleaver to mush it up so that it becomes a paste. Note: An easier way to do this would be to buy ground chicken. For the flavour, I added lots of paprika, salt, pepper, chili powder, curry powder, and some crushed basil. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. To assemble the Chicken Wonton, take a small spoon of the chicken mixture and apply thinly on top of a wonton wrapper. Just like making a ravioli, leave the outer edge clean. Apply some water on the edges and put another wonton wrapper on top to seal it. Fold in half and set aside.

On a deep pot or deep fryer, heat up some oil to around 350 degrees. That's what everyone says when deep frying, but since I don't have a thermometer at home, I just estimate. If you have a wooden chopstick, you can deep it in the oil. If you see bubbles coming out of the chopstick, you're good. You can also drop a small piece of wonton wrapper and if there's a lot of bubbles coming out, you're in business. But if it seems that it's just floating in the oil, wait for a while longer.

One note about wonton wrappers is that they brown very quickly when deep fried. So make sure you take it out of the fryer slightly before the desired golden brown color is reached. One other note (very important) is that the layer of chicken applied on the wrapper should be as thin as possible. This way, the chicken cooks at the same time as the wonton wrappers.

You can wrap the wonton in numerous ways. I've tried just using one wrapper and folding it in half, and I've also tried rolling it like a spring roll. What I've found is that you get the most "crunch" when placing two wrappers together and folding it in half.

The dish is good on its own, but it's even better when dipped into something. I like the Thai Chicken sauce (sweet and spicy sauce) but other favourites like Honey Mustard, BBQ, Ranch, or even Ketchup would work well. Feel free to experiment. This makes an excellent snack when you have friends over watching the game. Let me know if you try it out. I want to hear some feedbacks. Enjoy!

Too many SPAMMERS

2005-08-21T23:01:00.000-07:00

It seems that SPAMMERS found a way to post random advertising comments on blogspot. So to stop this, I've changed the settings so that only authorized blogspot members can post comments. I apologize to people who like posting anonymous comments. I would still like to hear from you so please send me an email if you don't want to open a blogspot account (uyjasongmaildotcom).

Pad Thai

2005-08-21T21:16:00.000-07:00

One of the dishes synonymous to Thai cuisine is Pad Thai. I didn't use to like Pad Thai since I'm the rice type of person. Every time we go to a Thai restaurant, I always get a rice dish (mostly curry based). But I've had a change of heart and now this is the dish that I would order. Making Pad Thai is not hard...making it taste like the ones in the restaurant is a different story. Isn't that the case for most dishes? Even though the Pad Thai that I make at home doesn't taste like the ones in the restaurant, I still enjoy eating it that's why I'm sharing it with you.

There are several meat options when making Pad Thai: shrimp, chicken, or beef. Actually any meat will do, just depends on which one you crave at the moment. I made mine with some clams and some shrimp paste. But you can use whatever meat you have in the fridge. If it's cooked and flavoured already, the easier it is.

To start the dish, boil some rice noodle. The noodle used for Pad Thai are the thin and flat variety. Follow the cooking instructions for the noodle. Make sure that the noodle is not too soft, otherwise it will get mushed up when all the ingredients are mixed. On a separate pot, stir fry some garlic, the selected meat and some bean sprout. Once the meat is fully cooked, put some "Thai Choice Pad Thai sauce". I got the bottle at T&T Supermarket but you might be able to get some at any asian grocery store. It's hard to say how much of this sauce you need to put since everybody has different taste. Just remember that you can always add more later, but it's hard to take it away if you put too much. So add a little at a time until you reached the desired taste. I also add ketchup to the sauce since that gives it the familiar reddish color. Add the cooked rice noodle and mix well. After cooking, put some raw bean sprout and chopped peanuts on top for garnish. In addition to the traditional garnish, I like to add some chopped cilantro for additional taste. If you do get a chance to try it, let me know what you think.

Minced Pork With Egg and Friend Banana on Rice

2005-07-21T22:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted a blog entry. Part of it is because I was too busy. Part of it was because I got injured (back hurting). Part of it is because I felt lazy :( Anyways, I'm back and hopefully I'll be able to put some regular entries.

Ground pork is something that most asian household will have in their freezer. I find myself always buying ground pork even though I don't have a dish in mind. I just feel that it's so versatile therefore it's always a good ingredient to have. So what do you do with ground beef?

I had this dish only once when I was small. I don't remember what it's called (my mom made it for us), but I think it had a spanish name. All I remember was that there was some ground up meat (could have been ground beef) with raisins, fried banana, and fried rice. It was one of those dishes that need to be assembled on an individual plate instead of being served in a big communal bowl. It might seem like hard work, but I assure you that it's easier than it sounds. To give you an idea, I made three portions of this dish in the morning (just before going to work).

I started with cooking some garlic rice. Just like any fried rice, day old rice works best. Old rice is much dryer and holds its shape better than freshly made rice. But if you don't have old rice, freshly cooked rice is perfectly acceptable. I like to cook garlic rice because it's so simple and delicious. Just minced some garlic, cook it in the pan for a few seconds, then dump the rice in. Thoroughly mix it until all the oil has coated each grain. Remember to scoop at the bottom as the garlic tends to sit there. You don't want burned garlic, that will taste bitter. Sprinkle some salt to taste and place the rice on a plate.

The next step of the recipe is to fry some eggs. You can cook the egg any way you want, but I personally like sunny side up. After frying the eggs, place them on top of the rice (make sure to leave room for the ground pork and banana).

Slice some banana lengthwise and cook it on a pan until it browns. This shouldn't take long so make sure you keep a close eye on the pan. The banana will be very soft at this point so it may make things easier if you use two forks to take the banana out of the pan. Set on top of the rice.

The ground pork takes a bit of time to cook. So you can either start this one up on another pot or use the same pot as the one used to cook the other ingredients. Brown the pork and drain all the liquid. You don't want this since it contains mostly fat. From this point on, you can either go dry or wet. When you go dry, I mean adding herbs and spices to the meat to give it flavour. When you go wet, I mean adding liquid to the meat to give it taste. I went for the wet approach so I got my sweet mirin and soy sauce. Note that mirin and soy sauce is the same ingredient used for teriyaki sauce. I also added some star anise to give a stronger flavour to the meat. Once cooked, scoop a few spoon full of meat on top of the rice and serve. You can play around with the arrangements of the egg, banana, and ground pork. Since I didn't really have time to do that (nor do I have the skills for making beautiful arrangments), I just divided the plate/bown into three and placed the ingredients in their respective sections.

Hopefully you can get a chance to try this out and taste what I tasted many many years ago. Ah good times....good times.

Apologies for the lack of posting

2005-06-11T00:04:00.000-07:00

I sincerely apologize to all the carefree cooking devotees out there. I've been tied up recently with a lot of home renovation so haven't had a chance to experiment with cooking. I'm hoping to get all the renovation work done by the end of the month so hopefully I'll be back to my regular posting habits. In the mean time, here's a picture of a deep dish pizza that I had in Chicago. I was very excited to try it since I heard so much buzz about it. After the almost two hour line up to get seated, a slice of deep dish pizza laid on my plate. The crust had a texture that I could best describe as similar to eating a cookie. I didn't really like that texture, perhaps it's because I have gotten accustomed to the bread type texture of regular pizza. The sure didn't cheapen out on the topping since there were layers and layers of good meat on it. Overall, I find the experience to be ok, but definitely not worth the two hour line up.

Authentic (?) Fish and Chips - Review

2005-05-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

The first thing I did when I got to London was look for a good place to eat. It would be a shame if I didn't try fish and chips since that's what UK is known for. I could go to the local bar and order that, but I thought going to a small restaurant might offer good food at an affordable price. I was amazed by the number of items in the menu. There were different types of fish offered, some of them I haven't even heard of. I guess those are not freshly available here in Canada. I asked the chef what he recommends and he told me to go for the cod and chips. Who am I to argue with the chef right?

The dish consisted of a very long piece of fish, perfectly fried so that every bite had a crunch. It was served with some bland tasting fries, but that was easily fixed with a sprinkling of salt and some ketchup. The fish and chips restaurants that I've been to here usually offer three different types of dip for the fish: ketchup, vinegar, and tartar sauce. It seems that tartar sauce is not popular in UK as I didn't see any. The fish was good, very flaky, and evenly cooked. Unfortunately, just like the fries, there was absolutely no taste to the batter or the fish. The cod that I got still had its skin when deep fried. I thought this was a bit different from what I expected. The skin was a little chewy, which gave it more texture so it's a good thing in my book.

It's too bad the fish and chips didn't have its own flavour, otherwise it would make a perfect meal. I was also told that Indian food is fast becoming the national food of Britain. Perhaps when I visit UK again and have an inkling for some national food, I will hit one of the local Indian establishments.

Open Chicken Pot Pie - Review

2005-05-04T21:45:00.000-07:00

For dinner today, I got a chicken pot pie that is open. Open? Normal chicken pot pie has a pastry on top (and sometimes at the bottom). This one just had it on the side and the top is "open". The chicken was good, although without the sauce, it was a bit flavourless. The pastry nicely complemented the chicken as it added texture (always good to have). The sauce was creamy and delicious, just had the right spices into it.

My dish came with a serving of onion rings and some garden peas. The peas was tasteless so I had to add some salt. Onion rings were yummy, what deep friend food isn't?

I can't say that this dish is especially good so I probably won't order it again. But it's a good experience and it's a nice change from all the deep friend food that I've been eating recently.

Carefree Chef in Birmingham

2005-05-03T22:12:00.000-07:00

I'm in Birmingham, England for the next few days so I'll get a change to try out some dishes that I don't normally get when I'm in Vancouver. For dinner yesterday, I went to a restaurant/bar beside the hotel. It was the only restaurant around so didn't really have much of a choice. It was weird going in since I didn't know what the custom is. Do I just sit myself or should I wait to be seated. It turns out that you can just sit anywhere you like. The menus were on the table so I spent some time figuring out what I want to get. I decided to get the soup of the day (Potato and Leek soup) and a Breaded Pork Shnitzel. I was waiting for the waitress to come to my table to get my order, but she never did. So I was wondering if I should be ordering somewhere. I then saw a sign near the bar that says "Ordering Post". I'm thinking I can't be ordering there, how would they know where I sit. But eventually I saw this guy go there so I followed him. The way the bar works is they will ask where you sit, then give you a big wooden spoon that has been painted with a color. The color tells the waitress which section of the restaurant you are sitting. There's a number on the spoon to identify you. So it finally all made sense to me. I didn't know what the custom is when it comes to tipping. Initially I thought that tips are part of the bill already so there's no need to put anything extra. But when I got the receipt, there was a line for tips. Since I wasn't sure what to do, I just ignored it. Besides, I thought giving tips usually happens after you finish your meal, not when you are ordering it.

The soup arrived pretty quickly. I was surprised by the large piece of bread that it came in. I think the bread was half the size of a regular loaf. The crust was a bit tough, but it was soft inside. The soup was ok, I wouldn't say it's exceptional. Perhaps my palette is not accustomed to that type of texture. I don't see myself wanting to make that at home.

I was very anxious about the pork shnitzel because I don't really know what it is. It turns out that it was the same as breaded pork chop. The dish came with fried egg on top. I wasn't sure how good the combination is, but I liked it so this is something that I will definitely try to make when I get home. Unfortunately I could only finish 3/4 of the dish because I was too full.

I know this entry is a bit unusual since it didn't really mention anything about how to cook a dish. So to compensate for that, here's a link to a pork shnitzel recipe. Enjoy.

http://www.lattaplantation.org/sugarpop/html/shnitzel.html

Vietnamese Salad Roll

2005-04-25T21:21:00.000-07:00

Although it involves multiple steps, making vietnamese salad rolls at home is relatively easy. The good thing about this dish is that it involves almost no cooking at all. Here are the key ingredients in assembling the salad roll.

Vietnamese Rice Paper (wrap)
Rice noodle
Bean sprouts
Sliced Barbeque Pork/Shrimp/Ham
Parsley/Cilantro (optional)

Depending on what type of rice noodle you get, you might either need to hydrate it in boiling water or just let it soak in hot water. Guess what, that's all the cooking you need!

To begin assembling the roll, hydrate the Vietnamese Rice Paper in a big pan filled with warm water. If you get the good rice paper, it will only take around 15-20 seconds to fully soften the paper. Take out of the pan and place on a plate. I like to put a piece of paper towel on top of the plate to absorb any excess water. Place a handful of rice noodle on the rice paper and add your fresh ingredients on top of the rice noodle. When I said shrimp, I don't mean raw shrimp. You can use the cocktail shrimp as these are already cooked. Wrap the salad roll as you would wrap a burrito. This is the trickest part of the assembly. Practice definetely makes perfect so don't be discouraged the first few times when things don't look too pretty. Eventually you'll get the hang of it and you will be ready to serve these to your friends.

I would like to thank Martin Yan and the food network for providing the recipe for the sauce. I've tried so many times to make peanut sauce but always failed until I saw Martin Yan make it. At first I was skeptical but tried it anyways since I didn't have a better recipe. To my surprise (and delight), the sauce tasted very authentic. Ok, I don't really know how an authentic peanut sauce taste like, but it was pretty good so that's all I need to know. Here's the recipe.

teaspoons oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2/3 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
3 tbsp chunky peanut butter
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp chili garlic sauce
1/3 cup chopped roasted peanuts, 1 tablespoon reserved for garnish

The roasted peanuts are optional since I bet not a lot of people would have this lying around at home. But as I mentioned many times, adding texture to the food bring a whole new dimension in the dining experience so it is highly recommended. As an alternative, you can put anything crispy like fried wontons (if you have leftovers from takeout) or any other type of nuts.

The recipe is very forgiving so you don't need to have everything exact. When I make this sauce, I just approximate it and it still ends up tasting good. Give it a try and tell me what you think.

House Special Linguini

2005-04-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

Everyone has their favourite pasta recipe. Some have been passed on for several generations, others have just been recently concocted. I want to share a recipe that I just put together based on what I had at home. It was a surprise to me how tasty it turned out so I'm especially proud of this one.

My wife doesn't understand why I keep buying ground beef. In her opinion, there is no dish that involves ground beef that taste good, including this one. I just tend not to listen to her and still use beef to make spaghetti. In an attempt to reach a compromise, I also use ground pork (which is what she is used to cooking with).

To start the sauce, I cooked a pack of ground pork and ground beef until both are fully cooked. It's good to break the chunks unless you want to make it look like a meatball sauce :) Pour a can of tomato sauce and a small can of tomato paste. I like to have the strong dark red color that the tomato brings. Add some water so that it gets a little watery (same amount as the tomato sauce). If you don't add water, the sauce becomes too thick and mixing with the pasta becomes a challenge. I then added all the herbs and spices that I think will go well with the sauce: basil, thyme, oregano, italian seasoning (came with the spice rack), chili flakes, salt, pepper, and sugar. I like to put sugar on the sauce so that it doesn't taste too sour. A bit of sweetness in the sauce is actually quite delicious (at least in my opinion). Add a spoon of constarch dissolved in water to thicken the sauce a little bit.

To cook the pasta, just follow the cooking instructions written on the package. Make sure you add salt to the water. In the previous times I cooked pasta, I didn't put enough salt in the water so it actually didn't do anything. This time, I made sure I put lots of salt. The salty water actually made a big difference in the pasta as it adds a bit of flavour to every bite you take.

Everyone has their own special way of making pasta. I've shared mine, now it's your turn.

Baked Pork Chop

2005-04-19T16:51:00.000-07:00

Every time I go to a hong kong style chinese restaurant, I'm tempted to get a baked pork chop. There is this place in Vancouver called Oscar that makes the best baked pork chop; unfortunately, I've only been there once. Since I have a big pack of pork chop sitting in my fridge today, I thought why not try and make it.

After a couple of searches at google, I found this website that seems to match the ones that I've tasted in the past.

Baked Pork Chop Recipe

I can now understand why it alwasy takes so long to make those baked dishes from the chinese restaurant. There are so many steps involved in making these that I don't really consider this as carefree cooking. But from time to time, I have to deviate from my comfort level to be able to learn something new. Making it is relatively easy, just time consuming since I had to fry 8 pork chops individually (I don't have a deep fryer unfortunately). One problem about pan frying is that the oil gets dark very easily. The bread crumbs left from frying the first pork chop gets burned and sticks to the second pork chop. This gives the illusion that the second pork chop is burned even though it has only been cooking for a short period of time. To minimize the darkening of the oil, make sure you pat the pork chop to take out any excess bread crumbs. It may also be a good idea to fry the pork chop for a short period of time to get the desired color and finish cooking in an oven. This is what I eventually had to do as I cannot cook the pork chop too long in the frying pan (otherwise it will be completely black).

To make the sauce, I had to improvise. I didn't have tomatoes, but I did have some tomato sauce. I followed everything else except for the water and corn starch since the tomato sauce was already thick so I didn't need an extra thickening agent.

As for the fried rice, you can use your favourite recipe. The fried rice served in chinese restaurants follow the recipe in the link above so you can use that if you want an "authentic" taste. I used garlic rice (popular in the Philippines) instead of fried rice for this dish.

Combine the rice, pork chop, and sauce, bake for 5 minutes and the dish is ready to eat. I think it took over an hour to make the whole thing. My wife and sister were lurking in the kitchen way before the dish was done so I had to tell them to wait. After all the hard work, I was glad to find out that it actually tasted pretty good. So all the hard effort was worth it.

Ribs

2005-04-18T23:36:00.000-07:00

It seems that I've been switching about sandwiches a lot recently so I thought I'd try something different this time. Ribs is one of the most popular dish in western restaurants. It's actually very simple to make.

I usually get some pork ribs (whichever variety you can get from your supermarket). Start by boiling some water in a big pot and place the ribs inside. Cook it for about 30 minutes using medium heat. After the ribs are cooked thoroughly, take it out of the pot and pat dry. Now we have to apply our barbeque seasoning. I'm not a barbeque expert so I do not have a recipe that I can share with you. I usually just get a bottle of barbeque sauce and apply that on the ribs. The brand I always use is Bull's Eye, but I bought a pack of Tony Romas sauce recently (I'll update this entry after I try it).

Place the ribs in a baking pan and apply the bbq sauce on both top and bottom of the ribs using your trusty brush. I bought a silicone brush and I must say it is one of the handiest tool in my kitchen. I used to have the old style brush (the one that looks like a paint brush), but the sauce always gets stuck in the hair of the brush so it's very hard to clean. The silicon brush is very easy to clean and it's even dishwasher safe so I suggest you get one if you will be cooking some ribs regularly.

Place the seasoned ribs inside the oven (heated to ~375 degrees C) for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, take out the ribs and apply a second coat. Heat for another 15 minutes and the ribs should be good to eat.

To serve, I like to pre-cut all the ribs so that it's easier to eat. Put a bit of tabasco if you want to kick it up a notch and enjoy.

Another Steak Sandwich

2005-04-16T23:10:00.000-07:00

I got some flank steak last week hoping to make some fajitas. I've never made fajitas before (although it's very similar to a wrap). I didn't get a chance to buy some tortilla so either I use that for something else, or rush to the supermarket to pick up a pack. As you might have guessed (from the title above), I went the lazy route and just made a sandwich out of it.

In the past, I would season the flank with some steak seasoning and cook it like I would cook a T bone. But this time, I wanted something different, so I started experimenting with different types of marinate. I pretty much grab whatever I had in my pantry. So for the marinate, I added some dark and light soy sauce, sweet cooking wine, sesame oil, brown sugar (just to see how it would taste like), salt, pepper, and some hot sauce. I marinated the meat for about a day just to make sure that the meat absorbs all the flavour from the marinating mixture.

I used a bit of oil to cook the steak. Since flank steaks are relatively thinner than your average T bone or Prime Rib, make sure you don't cook it too long. I wouldn't advice going for well done for this type of meat as it will not be edible. Just like any other steak, make sure you let the meat rest for a bit (around 5-10 minutes). Slicing the meat is very critical. You MUST slice the meat across the grain. From the surface of the meat, you should be able to see some lines going from end to end. Make sure you cut perpendicular to this, otherwise the meat will be very chewy.

Now we can contemplate accessories for the sandwich. We can use some green salad vegetables, but I already did that in a previous carefree cooking entry. So this time, I thought I'd use onions. Slice the onions into rings and use the same pan you used to cook the steak to cook the onions. This way, the onions get to absorb some of the leftover steak "goodness" from the pan. Just put a little bit of oil, then saute the onions until they are tender. The more you cook onions, the sweeter they get. I like to cook them really well to get all the sweet onion flavour. Normally you know onions are good to eat when they turn brown. But if you use the same pan you used to cook the steak, the onions will get a brownish color from the soy sauce so the color is not a good indication of done-ness in this case. I suggest just taste a piece to see if it's cooked to your desired standard.

To assemble the sandwich, you can use mayonaise or horseradish sauce. This is really a personal preference so I urge you to experiment. The good thing about this dish is that a piece of flank steak can make a lot of sandwich so one cooking can last a few meals. Isn't that carefree cooking.

Tuna Sandwich

2005-04-06T16:16:00.000-07:00

Sandwiches are very versatile since you can eat them for breakfast, lunch, snack, or dinner. You can spice up the meal by choosing different side dishes that match the mood that you are in. If you feel like eating healthy, you can make a quick side salad. If you are feeling very hungry, bake (or fry) some seasoned curly fries. If you don't feel like making a side dish, a bag of chips would suffice. In any case, having different side dishes can add variety to the same sandwich.

Sandwiches can be as simple as the "bread, meat, bread" topology, or as complex as the multi-layer extra cheese double patty club house sandwich that you might get in fancy restaurants. One of the more complex sandwich is a tuna sandwich. It's complex because it requires preparation before assembling the sandwich, rather than just taking the meat from the package and slapping it on the bread.

I always think that toasting the bread is the way to go. Regardless of how fresh the bread is, I always toast it. The added texture of a toasted bread seems to improve the taste of the sandwich. You can use any type of bread you like. Tuna spread can be an excellent dip for crackers or toasted baggettes.

To make the tuna spread, you'll need a can of tuna (or any canned meats you have handy but it won't be called tuna sandwich anymore), a couple of eggs, mayonnaise, horseradish, mustard, relish, salt, and pepper. First thing to do is to hard boil the eggs. Cut the eggs into small chunks. Drain all the liquid from the tuna (otherwise the tuna spread will be too watery). Combine the rest of the ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Be generous on the mayonnaise since this acts as a binder for the spread. You can put a little at a time and add as you go along until you get the desired consistency. If you don't have horseradish (no leftover packets from Arby's?), you can use dijon mustard instead of regular mustard. If you don't have that either, don't sweat it. It will still taste good. Make sure you add sufficient amount of salt and pepper to bring out the flavour of the tuna. Most of the tuna's saltiness comes from the brine that it was soaked in. Since we drained it away, we need to add salt. Remember, taste as you go along and you'll get your perfect tuna spread.

To assemble the sandwich, you can choose to add some lettuce and tomato. If you can't wait to eat it, just put a generous serving of tuna spread on the bread and enjoy.

Chicken Feet

2005-04-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

When i was at my local asian grocery last sunday, chicken feet were on sale. I used to like chicken feet when I was younger (always order it when I go for dimsum), but now the novelty seems to have worn off. My wife on the other hand still likes to eat it so I thought why not try making it at home. It will be a good experience for me.

I looked for some "authentic" recipes online and it wasn't hard to find them. All of the recipe requires deep frying the chicken feet. Initially I thought that deep frying was to make the feet taste better, but it turns out that it is required to loosen the skin. For the chicken feet lover, you know what I'm talking about. The skin on the chicken feet when we order it at a restaurant are almost falling off the bone. This makes the skin softer and easier to eat. One word of caution when deep frying, the chicken feet makes the oil "explode" from time to time and this caused my entire stove to be covered with oil. If you do not have a deep fryer, I suggest you don't fry the chicken feet. You won't get the texture like the ones served in the restaurants, but it will still taste good.

To prepare the chicken feet, use a sharp cleaver and cut the nails off the feet. Wash thoroughly afterwards. Some online recipe calls for salting the feet first before rinsing, I didn't see the point for this step so I skipped it.

I gave up on the deep frying method when the oil kept on splashing and my stove started to get covered with oil. I had to resort to a safer method of cooking: stewing. To stew them, I put some chicken broth and water in a big pot. I dumped all the chicken feet into the pot and cover until it boiled. Once the liquid boils, you will see some stuff floating on top, need to take these out. The chicken feet is cooked at this point, but it is still not tender (especially the ligaments attached to the bone). Put your favourite seasoning. I used dark and light soy sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, and salt (to make sure they are salty). Turn the heat to medium-low and cook for an hour or so until you can see that the liquid has reduced considerably. Just like in any dishes you make, I recommend tasting towards the end to make sure that they are cooked to your desired texture and consistency. Also taste the liquid(sauce) as this is what flavours the chicken feet. If you want to make it spicy, I recommend adding some chili flakes early in the cooking stage.

Green Onion Pancake Taco

2005-04-03T23:08:00.000-07:00

Is it a pancake or is it a taco? I hope you are not confused. As part of the fusion cooking (the type of cooking I like to associate my style with), I like to create western dishes using completely traditional chinese ingredients.

So how do we make a "chinese taco"? I always keep some green onion pancake in the freezer since it is one of those emergency food items that is good to have. Today was the day when I needed the service of my emergency food. To cook the green onion pancake, I learned that skimping on the oil is not a good idea. Since it is flour based, you can expect the pancake to soak some oil. Here's the technique that I use to get the best result (in my opinion).

Put just enough oil on the pan to coat the surface. You can put more oil if you want, but for health reason, I wouldn't recommend it. A few seconds after you drop the pancake, flip it immediately. This way, both sides of the pancake gets a nice coating of oil. The oil is required to make the pancake golden brown and crispy. If you do not do this (with the small amount of oil that I suggested), the side of the pancake that was initially facing down will absorb all the oil from the pan. When it's time to flip it, there will be no oil left to brown that side. The end result is that the pancake will burn quickly. Of course if you put a lot of oil in the pan, you don't care too much about the lack of oil so you don't need to do this technique.

To do the filling for the taco, I browned some ground pork, and put some dark and light soy to give it a salty flavour. I learned this recipe from my parents since they like to eat this with plain congee. The full recipe requires oil, garlic, and green onions. I didn't want to put some oil, and didn't have garlic and green onions so my taco filling only consisted with ground pork. It would have been nice to add some shredded lettuce, but I didn't have that either. As I said, today was the day I had to call in my emergency food :)

You can also use green onion pancake to make a chinese pizza. I made this for my wife last year and she liked it. Too bad I didn't take any photos of it but I will try to make that dish some time in the future and share with you how to make it and what it looks like.

Korean Pancake

2005-04-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

Whenever I go to a korean restaurant, I'm always tempted to get the korean pancake. Unfortunately, the pancake is not usually cheap and comes in a big portion so I can't finish it myself. I always thought that the batter was made up of egg (like an omelette). Not sure why the word "pancake" didn't make me think that it was made up of flour.

While browsing through a korean supermarket for some potato noodles, I saw a pack of korean pancake mix (although it's probably just called regular pancake mix there). I grabbed a pack since it was fairly inexpensive ($2.5 CAD) for a kilo of mix. One good thing about korean people is that they are generally nice. The cashier thought I was korean and started talking to me. I gave her a confused look and she realized I was just a korean wannabe and didn't really understand the language. She then said in english that there is another brand that is currently on sale. Wow, who said you need to look for bargains...these nice people tell you where the bargains are. She even asked one of the worker to grab that pack for me. Guess how much that mix cost? $1 for the same 1 kilo pancake mix. So I happily left the supermarket.

I didn't try it out until the other day. Unfortunately they put a sticker on top of the instruction so I had to spend some time peeling it off to figure out how to create the batter. The english instructions wasn't best in class, but I understood enough to determine how much pancake mix needs to be mixed with water. Dissolving the mix in water was quite a challenge. I need to figure out how to make this easier. Perhaps a hand blender will do the trick. Since I didn't really use a measuring cup to measure the flour (although I did measure the water), I didn't know if I was doing it right or not. The first batch that I made was too watery. So I just added more pancake mix until I got the right thick consistency. If you ever made pancake before, you are looking for the same consistency.

For the toppings, you can really use any meat and/or vegetables you want. Just make sure you cut them into small pieces. I just grabbed whatever I had in my fridge at that time: onions, green onions, frozen shrimp, chinese sausage, and bean sprouts. You can also add some kimchi but not everyone at home is a fan of that so I didn't want to risk it. I first sauteed the onions and chinese sausage just so that they will be nicely cooked. After all, when they are in the batter, they will not really cook that much. Combine all the toppings with the batter and use a ladle to pour a nice portion on a pan (make sure the pan has a nice coating of oil). One of the mistake I made was that I made the pancake too big. This makes it hard to flip it. It also causes the oil to splash after flipping so don't make the same mistake I made of burning myself. Cook until the top and bottom are "nice and golden grown". You want the outside to be crispy. I haven't really investigated what sauce usually goes with the pancake. So for now, I just use Maggi Seasoning to spice up the pancake. I'll update this entry once I find out and try the "real" sauce.

Good korean restaurants serve the pancake on a hot metal plate so the longer the pancake stays there, the crispier it gets. If you don't have such a metal plate, don't sweat it. Just put it in a regular plate and serve immediately. If you make the portion small enough, you don't have to worry about the pancake getting soggy since you'll probably finish it quickly anyways. I don't know if you consider this as carefree cooking since there are many steps involved in preparing this, but the reward is definitely worth it. My wife and my sister loves the pancake. One good thing is that you don't have to cook it all at the same time. Just put the batter in the fridge and cook it when you want to eat. Perfect dish for breakfast, lunch, or dinner courtesy of our korean friends.

Caramelized Banana

2005-04-02T08:39:00.000-08:00

Have you ever thought about kicking up your plain boring banana? You can slice it in half and serve it with ice cream, or perhaps just cut it into small chunks and serve it with your favourite breakfast cereal. But as a standalone dessert, it's hard to imagine how a banana can be the star of the show.

I was watching Iron Chef America a few weeks ago and I saw Mario Batali cut some figs in half, sprinkle some brown sugar, and torch the top to caramelized the sugar. I thought this was a great idea. He also said that this technique works well with banana so that immediately made me want to try it. First thing first, I need to get a torch. It doesn't seem like the average cooking stores sell torches. I had to look at hardware stores for these. The price ranges quite a bit depending on how portable and stylish it is. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to purchase one since there was a big roadblock...my wife. I had to resort to plan B: my trusty toaster oven.

Preparing the dessert is very easy. Cut the banana in half (length-wise) and place it on a plate or baking tray. Liberally sprinkle some brown sugar on top so that the banana is fully coated. If you are lucky enough to have a torch (or be allowed to purchase one), you can use it to melt the brown sugar. Since I haven't tried it myself, I can't really say how long it takes. But based on watching Mario Batali on TV, it doesn't seem to take that long. Since I used the oven method, melting the sugar will take longer. I used the highest temperature setting, and also used a raised pan to lift the banana closer to the heating element of the toaster oven (set to broil mode). I believe it took around a minute for most of the brown sugar to melt. Make sure you don't have clumps on the brown sugar, otherwise it will be hard to melt (if you're using the oven method)

After the sugar is melted, wait for a while until the sugar solidifies. It might be worth putting the banana inside the fridge to speed up this process (or if it's relatively hot in your area).

To plate the caramelized banana, you can put a pool of melted chocolate at the center of the plate and place the caramelized banana on top. If you don't have melted chocolate handy, you can sprinkle/dust some confectionary sugar on top. I didn't have neither in my pantry (have to include that in my shopping list), so I just grab whatever I could find in my fridge. We had some leftover cake so I used that as a "garnish".

Stay tune for an update on this as I plan on doing this "right". But first, need to figure out how I can pass the "roadblock" :)

Stir Fried Asparagus

2005-03-30T21:27:00.000-08:00

It's Asparagus season! So rush out to your local supermarket and grab a bunch. Asparagus is a very versatile vegetable that can be eaten standalone or as a sidekick to some seafood (or just regular meats). The good thing about asparagus is that it will keep its firm texture longer than most vegetables so you don't have to worry about overcooking it. But having said that, you can overcook asparagus so beware.

Asparagus can be prepared quite easily. Hold the bottom with one hand and the botton 1/4 with another. Bend the asparagus until it snaps. The place where it snaps is the weakest point since that is the boundary of the soft ("yummy") part and the hard ("fibery") part. You can either do this for the entire bunch or you can use the first one as a template to determine how much to cut off from the rest. Discard the bottom part since that is not "good eats".

There are lots of ways to cook asparagus. If you're into grilling, just dab some olive oil on the the Asparagus, sprinkle a little bit of salt and pepper and throw them on the grill. Once they are done, you'll see lovely grill marks on them.

I find grilling too messy since I have to clean it up afterwards so I often go for the stir fry option. Just add a bit of oil to coat the pan, then throw in some chopped Asparagus (cut in 1 - 1/2 inch length) and some diced garlic. Cook for a 3-4 minutes (depends on how firm you want it to be). Add the seasoning next (i.e. salt and pepper) and taste the veggie. Asparagus is all texture and no taste that's why I usually add "liberal" amounts of salt and pepper. Serve with any meat dish and you now have a well balanced meal. Carefree cooking? Or easy cooking? It's also healty eating.

Simple Dinner Party Ideas - Easy and Enjoyable

2005-03-30T07:52:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wanted to invite your friends over but don't really want to spend the time and effort cooking for them? It's bad enough that you already have to spend a lot of time cleaning the house, so there might not be enough time for cooking. To address these concerns, you can hold one of the following: Pot Luck, Hot Pot, and Fondue Party.

Pot Luck

If you have a circle of friends who like to cook, then having pot luck is a great way to share each other's specialty dishes. In order to hold a successful pot luck, the organizer (i.e. You) need to determine what everyone is bringing. This is crucial unless you want multiple bowls of potato salad. Make sure you have some people brining appetizers and desserts to have a hint of having a three course meal. If you are bringing food to someone's house, be cautious when choosing a container. The container should be good at preserving whatever is in side. For example, if you have a salad, make sure that the container can keep the vegetables cool. If you are bringing a pot of stew, perhaps a ceramic container will be a good transportation medium.

Although pot luck will still require cooking effort in your part (unless you buy something from a nearby restaurant), it is a small price to pay for having a feast that rivals that of buffet restaurants in Las Vegas.

Hot Pot

A lot of people enjoy having hot pot especially during the cold months of winter. Going to a restaurant for hot pot is very expensive and doesn't really make sense since you question why you are paying so much for food that you cook yourself! The last time we went to a hot pot restaurant, we had an unwanted "secret ingredient" in our sour plum juice...a dead fly. Anyways, now that I have successfully killed your appetite, we can talk about Hot Pot preparation.

There are a couple things that you need to keep in mind when planning for a hot pot festivity: number of people coming, and what type of food people are allergic to.

The number of people required is important so that you can gauge how much food to buy. When we have hot pot, we aim for around $10 per person. So if there are 10 people coming, a total ingredients cost of $100 would be more than enough to satisfy the belly of those friends who have been starving themselves since breakfast.

It is important to know what food people in your invitee list are allergic to. I've been having hot pot for so long with the same group of people and just realized recently that one of my friends are allergic to shellfish (sorry Jane). So make no assumptions when it comes to this. You can either buy ingredients that no one is allergic to or prepare a separate pot. There are some pots that have built in divider which was made to support two types of soup base. This is perfect for preventing unwanted ingredients from finding themselves in unwanted places.

You can either ask your friends to bring some hot pot ingredients or you can designate a select few to do all the shopping. I've tried both methods and I think having a few people do all the shopping is both efficient and cost effective. It's good to place all the hot pot ingredients into a plate/bowl so that people can have quick access to it. Once the pot starts boiling, the eating doesn't stop until you see people rubbing their tummy. Depending on how fancy you want the hot pot to be, there are multiple options when it comes to the soup you use. If you want to go ultra cheap and are feeling lazy, you can just use plain water. As a step up to that, you can use broth or boullion (dissolved in water). There are also a wide variety of hot pot pastes that you can buy at your local asian supermarket. The best in my opinion is making your own soup using pork/beef bone.

Surprisingly, we have never had a hot pot where we finished all the food. Maybe it's because you tend to eat slower during hot pot so you get full easily. This is perfect for people watching their weight. And since it's mostly protein (if you just buy the meats and veggies), it's perfect for that friend who is on Atkins' Diet.

Cleaning up is not so bad after a hot pot party. Just exercise caution when handling the pots since they might be heavy (from the soup) and hot. Just stuff all the plates and bowls into the dishwasher and you're good to enjoy the rest of the night.

Fondue

Contrary to what people might think, Fondue doesn't revolve around dessert items. You can have a three course meal that are all fondue based (with different dipping sauce of course). For the appetizer, you can cut some raw vegetables (broccoli, carrots, celery, etc) and place them on a platter. Cheese is probably the best accompaniment for these vegetables. For the main course, you can have slices or cubes of raw steak laid on a nice plate. Heat up some oil on the stove and transfer it to the fondue pot. Your friends can then dip the raw steak in the hot oil until it's cooked to their desired consistency. It's good to have a few selections of dips for the meat. This way, your guests will feel like they are eating more than one type of dish. Some suggestions for dips include a gravy type dip, tomado based dip, and a cream type dip. For the dessert course....should I even talk about it? I'm sure everyone has their own ideas when it comes to this. Fruits are a natural favourite. But whatever you choose, make sure each piece is dry. Otherwise it won't receive a good coat when it gets dipped into the fondue pot. Since cheese was already served for appetizer, chocolate might be a good for this course. But if you are a cheese lover, I won't stop you from having another cheese course :) Maybe you can even reuse the pot from the appetizer course. Kill two birds with one stone.

I hope some of these suggestions give you an idea on how to tackle your next party. Feel free to experiment with different ingredients. This is what makes cooking fun and exciting. These ideas are great especially if you want to have a house warming party. After all, you provided the venue, so they need to provide the fun.

Miso Fried Noodle

2005-03-22T19:35:00.000-08:00

Fried rice is one of those dishes that allow you to clean up your fridge of leftovers. You can pretty much put anything with fried rice (as long as you cut them into smaller pieces). If you don't have anything, but still want to have fried rice, you can just use eggs (we all have that in our fridge right?) and any canned food you have.

Aside from fried rice, fried rice noodle is another dish that can be made up of any leftover food. Any noodle you have in the pantry will do, but just make sure you don't over cook it. Italians call it Al Dente, or "cooked enough to be firm but not soft". The easiest way to tell if noodles are cooked just right is to taste it. If the noodle feels firm but yo don't see any sign or taste of flour, then you're good to go. For pasta noodles, some people have different techniques. I saw once on TV that they would cut a piece and throw it to a fridge. If the noodles stay, then you're done. I prefer to just taste it, that way you don't feel like you're wasting food.

To make the fried noodle, I just boiled some dried noodles. While the noodles are boiling, you can start creating the flavouring for the noodle. I had some chinese sausage and asparagus so I cut those into little pieces and sauteed them with a little bit of oil. I set them aside and left the little bit of oil and fat (from the sausage) in the pan. Once the noodles are cooked, I placed them in the pan so that it can fry a little bit with the leftover oil from the sausage and asparagus. The sauce is what combines all the ingredients. I didn't have any "stir fry" sauce available so I knew I had to make my own. I took some miso paste (the same stuff you use to make soup), dissolve it in some soy sauce and add some oyster sauce and a little bit of Mirin. Ever since I got the bottle of Mirin, I've been trying to find recipes where it will go well in. In this recipe, I didn't taste any Mirin flavour so I don't think you should bother putting it. The sauce was a little thick due to the miso paste. This is necessary for the sauce to stick to the noodle. If it's too wet, then the sauce will not stick to the noodle and that won't be good eats. Combine the sausage/asparagus mixture into the noodle and cook for a minute or so.

One other trick when boiling noodles (or vegetables). After you take them out from the pot, rinse it with cold water. For vegetables, you can put them in a bowl of cold water. This will stop the noodles (or vegetables) from further cooking due to the residual heat. The culinary term for this is "shocking". Doesn't sound very "culinary" doesn't it. Anyways, feel free to experiement with your own carefree cooking dishes and remember to share your recipes and experiences.

Marinated Pork Ribs

2005-03-16T21:28:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, there is only one way I know how to cook pork ribs: barbeque style. I think barbeque ribs is one of the easiest way to cook pork since it requires minimal ingredients and doesn't require marinating. Just boil the ribs so that they become soft and well cooked. Then stick it in the oven and brush your favourite barbeque sauce. I use different flavours of Bulls-eye sauce but any homemade or store bought sauce would do.

For this dish, I tried a different flavouring technique: marinating. I'm not an expert in marinating, but I think you can use any flavour ingredient you like as long as they are liquid base, or can dissolve in liquid. I use whatever is available in my kitchen cabinet: soy sauce, sesame oil, Mirin (from the teriyaki sauce), and osyter sauce. It's important to make sure all the ribs (or riblet) are coated thoroughly. I just left it in the fridge for one night to make sure that the meat absorbs all the flavour. One good way to marinate is to put them in a ziplock bag. That way, you can coat all the meat without actually having to touch it. You may need to mix them a few times while they are marinating to make sure all the meat gets an even coating. Otherwise some meat will end up being very tasty and some will be bland.

To cook the dish, I put some oil on the pan and throw in the marinated meat. I also put in the left over marinate to act as a sauce. If you find that the meat is not tasty enough, you can adjust accordingly (add salt, pepper, sugar, etc). It's your dish, so only you who knows what you like. But I like it salty so I put a lot of salt or soy sauce. I also chopped some onions and add it to the pan. Cook until the onion is translucent and the meat is tender. Garnish with some cilantro (or parsley).

There are many ready made sauce that comes in a small pack that is perfect for ribs. They have sweet and sour, spicy thai, etc. If you do not want to worry about marinating or deciding on the flavour agents, pick up a few of these flavour packs and try it out. After all, carefree cooking also involves trial and error. Isn't life like that as well?

Teriyaki Fried Rice

2005-03-13T23:21:00.000-08:00

I've always wondered how japanese restaurants make their Teriyaki sauce. The sauce looks brownish in color and is very thick and sweet (if you know the secret, please share with us). But when I buy the prepared ones (that come in a bottle), they don't taste like the ones served in the restaurant. I was told that for authentic japanese teriyaki, there are only a couple ingredients: Mirin (japanese sweet rice wine) and soy sauce. Since I have never been to Japan, I don't know what "authentic" taste like, but it was worth a try to see if it will be as good as the ones served in japanese restaurants.

I searched for some teriyaki recipe on the web and I found one that is simple (and requires ingredients that I already have).

Teriyaki Sauce

1/2 cup Mirin
1/2 cup Dark Soy sauce
3 tbsp Sake wine
1 tbsp sugar

Mix everything in a pan until sugar dissolves completely.

The sauce was not bad. It didn't taste like the ones from the japanese restaurant. So my search continues. In the mean time, I had a lot of leftover teriyaki sauce so I decided to make some fried rice with it. After all, fried rice is one of those dishes where you can dump all your leftovers (including sauces).

To make my fried rice, I sliced some chinese sausages and pan fried them with a little bit of oil. I find that cooking the chinese sausages in oil makes them smell even better and concentrates the taste. I added some rice and the teriyaki sauce. I didn't know how much sauce needs to go in the pan so I added a little at a time. You know you had enough when you don't see any more white rice color. To give it some additional flavours, I added some salt, pepper, and oyster sauce. I also added some store bought cooked peanuts to give it some texture.

I also fried an egg to go with this rice. I didn't know if the two would go well, but it was worth a try. The combination actually tasted good so I was pretty happy with the dish. The rule of thumb that I always follow is that you use the stuff that you like, and the end result would most likely be good. Cooking can't get any easier than that right? Is that Carefree cooking or what?

Banana Pancake

2005-03-06T18:51:00.000-08:00

How many times have you forgotten to eat the last piece of banana you bought two weeks ago? That's what happened yesterday when we found that there were two pieces of banana left. The skin was almost completely black so it didn't look appealing by any standards, but it should be very sweet inside. Then I remember an episode of of "Chef at Home" where Michael Smith made some banana pancake. I also had some left over pancake mix so I decided to give that a try.

I didn't have enough pancake mix when I assembled my ingredients so a quick search in google gave me a lot of different pancake recipes. The main ingredients are actually very quite common: flour, baking powder, salt, egg, and water. I didn't have baking powder so I used baking sode instead (Arm and Hammer brand, I'm sure everyone has that sitting in their pantry). Mix all the ingredients until they are all well blended.

I cut the banana into small slices, but now that I think about it, I should have diced it instead (the smaller the better). That way, the banana can be evenly distributed and each bite will have a taste of banana.

To cook the pancake, apply a little bit of oil on the pan and pour a small amount of batter+banana. The batter absorbs oil like a sponge so make sure you don't put too much oil otherwise the pancake will be very oily. Serve with your favourite syrup and/or jam and enjoy.

Crispy Chicken Wings

2005-03-05T18:20:00.000-08:00

I always use my George Foreman grill when I cook chicken wings. They always come out very tasty so why change what works right? Perhaps the planets where aligned in some weird way, but a few weeks ago, I decided to cook chicken wings using a slow cooker. The slow cooker that we got came with a recipe book and there was a recipe for Five spice chicken wings. I thought why not try it to see what it would taste like. After two hours of cooking, I can say that it was a bad move. The recipe asked for a bottle of plum sauce. That made the dish a little sweet, instead of the usual salty flavour that I'm used to. Needless to say, it was not very popular with my wife and sister, and hence it's still waiting to be eaten inside the fridge.

Not to be discouraged by the failed five spice chicken wings recipe, I bought more chicken wings to try my luck on another chicken wings recipe. To make the crispy chicken wings, I used the same mixture of seasoning as my grilled chicken wings: seasoning salt, paprika, and curry powder. Mix these well with the chicken wings and let it sit for a few minutes (I waited for half an hour) for the chicken to absorb some of the flavour. Pour some oil on the pan and put the seasoned chicken wings. You don't really need that much oil. One trick I learned from Bob Blummer (a.k.a. the Surreal Gourmet) is that you can apply some force on a meat to make the skin crispy. He used a brick (yes, construction brick wrapped in aluminum foil) to apply constant force to the meat when frying. Since I didn't have a brick, I used a smaller pan to apply some weight on the chicken wings. The end result was amazing, crispy skin and juicy meat.

The chicken tasted very good, my wife couldn't stop eating them (I had to stop her since I hadn't taken a picture of it yet). Feel free to change the seasoning since everyone has different taste. But I suggest you use the three ingredients I mentioned above first, and you can change it to suit your taste.

Steak Sandwich

2005-03-01T13:40:00.000-08:00

There are many different type of people in the world. Some like wraps, some like sanwiches. There really is no reason why we can't satisfy both type of people. Creating a steak sandwich and steak wrap require pretty much the same ingredients. Since I cooked a whole bulk pack worth of sirloin steak the other day, I had lots of leftover meat. I also ran out of wrap since I didn't expect us to go through a whole pack (of 10) in one day. Otherwise I would have bought two packs instead. We do have some sliced bread so I thought why not have a steak sandwich instead.

I took out the usual suspects to make my steak sandwich: organic veggies, leftover sirloin, salad dressing. In addition to those, I wanted to have a mayonaise-type dressing to put on the bread. I could have gone for the bland tasting mayo, but I wanted something with a kick. Luckily I had some horseradish sitting in my fridge. You can also use some dijon mustard if you like. But if you don't have any of those, I suppose regular mayo/mustard will do. I recommend toasting the bread first since this will provide a nice crunchy texture. The secret to good food is that not only does it need to have a lot of different taste, but also have a lot of different texture. Toasting also prevents the bread from getting too soggy after you apply the mayo (if you are not serving it immediately).

I used up all my frozen fries the other day so the only acceptable item I have in my pantry are potato chips. Again, I still need to work on my presentation skills, but you get the idea.

Steak Wrap

2005-02-27T22:06:00.000-08:00

I separate the beef that I buy into two categories: steak-able, and stew-able. The steak-able meats are the ones that I would cook for a short period of time and would require a lot of dry seasoning. T-bone, and prime rib are examples of steak-able cuts of beef that I would cook with a little oil and a lot of spices. Stew-able meats are the ones that require long period of cooking in order for the meat to become tender. Shanks and Ox tail are examples of stew-able cuts of beef that I would either braise or stew for more than one hour. My preference is to buy stew-able cuts of beef since they are usually cheaper and they taste much better. But since we need variety in life, I try to mix what I buy.

When I was a the grocery the other day, Sirloin was on sale. I've never really bought Sirloin before since I usually go for the fattier type of steak such as Prime Rib and T-bone. Sirloins are pretty lean and the only hint of fat is on the edge. With less fat, the meat would typically be more tough to eat compared to a prime rib. This is why I got the idea of making some steak wraps. Preparing the sirloin is simple. Just add salt and pepper, or your favourite steak spice. I personally use the Montreal steak spice, but any one would do. Don't be why on your seasoning as the more taste the meat gets, the better it will be. You don't have to worry about the meat being too salty since only a few slices needs to be added in the wrap. The sirloins that I got were around half an inch thick. I cooked each side for 4 minutes and that seems to work. I wouldn't recommend cooking these past medium-rare otherwise they will get hard when you reheat them the next day (assuming you have some leftovers). After cooking the steaks, make sure you rest the meat. I waited for around 10 minutes just to be sure. If you start cutting the meat after you cook it, all the juice will flow out and you will be left with a dry meat. Trust me, the extra patience will be rewarding.

Every time I cook steaks, I always cook onions. To me, steak and onions are the perfect combination. After cooking the steaks, there are some residue left on the pan that has a lot of flavour. Professional chefs would "deglaze" the pan by pouring red wine to extract the flavour bits and create a sauce out of it. Since I am alergic to alcohol, I do not keep a stash of red wine. So I use onions instead to pick up the steak flavours from the pan. Just put a little bit of oil, then put the thinly sliced onion in the pan and cooked until the onions are soft. You can add water or broth to help loosen the flavour bits that are stuck on the pan.

After waiting for 10 minutes for the meat to rest, slice the meat thinly. Here's the tricky part. There is only one rigtht way to slice the meat. If you do not slice it correctly, the meat will be tough and chewy. As Alton Brown will tell you, this is not "Good Eats" (See FoodTV.ca). You need to cut across the fibers of the meat. If you are not sure where this is, try cutting a thin slice from two sides (90 degrees from each other) to see which slice is easier to eat. Once you find which side to cut from, look at how the fibers of the meat are oriented so that you will know how to cut them next time.

I used a flour tortilla to make my wrap. You can also use pita pockets if you prefer that. Even sliced bread will do (but that gets you a steak sandwich instead). Combine the onions, various organic vegetables (same as the ones used for the House Salad), and thin slices of steak. Add your favourite salad dressing to give more flavour to the wrap. After assembling the wrap, I like to pop it in the microwave for 10-20 seconds just to make the wrap warm. I tried toasting the wrap but that just made it hard and chewy.

What do you eat the wrap with? Normally you don't need anything else. But when you go to restaurants to have a wrap, there is usually a side dish. So I baked some curly fries to go with the wrap. Here is one good trick for making crispy fries in the oven. After the fries are completely cooked, leave outside for a few minutes (do not leave in the oven). I think the cooler air makes the outside of the fries extra crispy.

My sister also made some yummy chocolate cake. This would be a perfect dessert for a delicious dinner. Don't worry, the cake was very simple to make. Just buy the cake mix from Duncan Hines and half an hour later, you will have some tasty treat.

Note: I know that presentation is not really good. I still need a lot of work on this department. Perhaps when I start taking some cooking lessons, I can learn more about this art.

House Salad with Eggplant Crouton

2005-02-26T20:20:00.000-08:00

It is good to keep some salad veggies in the fridge for quick meal preparation. I usually get a big box of the organic vegetables that are already pre-cleaned. This is a very good time saver and well worth the slight premium. A salad can act as a main course or as a side dish. Personally I prefer salad as a side dish. Adding dressing to the regular veggies seems a little dull. To make the salad more tantalizing, something very unique and exotic should be included.

I had some leftover eggplant from my spicy eggplant dish. So I thought I should somehow combine the two. Perhaps use the eggplant as a garnish or some sort of crouton. Good idea? I think so. To create the texture of crouton, I had to slice the eggplant thinly so that each slice becomes crispy in a short amount of time. I laid all the slices on a baking dish and drizzled some good olive oil on the eggplant. It's important to use good oil for this since the eggplant will absorb all the oil that you put in. So it's better to use a healthier variety. I also sprinkled some salt and pepper to give the eggplant a more acceptable taste (especially to the non-eggplant lovers out there). It is important for each slice of the eggplant to have a little bit of oil and adequate salt and pepper to get the desired taste. I just use my hand to mix them all up. To make sure all slices are evenly baked, they need to be spread out so that there are no overlaps. Bake until the slices are crispy.

The taste of the crispy eggplant adds a unique flavour to the salad. Make sure you put enough on the plate as you would want every bite to have that crispy texture. For this dish, I got two thumbs up (from my wife and my sister) so I'm sure you will enjoy it too.

Emergency Food Ideas (Part 2)

2005-02-26T00:46:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of microwavable dinners out there (or TV dinners as they are commonly referred to) that taste nothing like you would expect after looking at the picture on the box. I tried a few of them and I always end up being disappointed. Since then, I never bought any of those and would not eat them unless there are no alternatives. If you go to your local chinese supermarket, they always have frozen foods for sale. The two main type that I would recommend as emergenfy food are frozen dumplings (gyoza), and frozen shanghai pork buns. There are generally two ways to make these: pan frying or steaming.

Steaming:

This is the easiest way to cook the dumpling/pork bun since it requires minimal supervision. It helps to have a steam rack especially if you find yourself steaming a lot of dishes (e.g. steamed fish). Just like how it is served in chinese restaurants, it would be good to put some broad leaf vegetable like lettuce on top of the steamer to prevent the food from sticking. How do you know when it is done? I usually just see if it looks cooked or not. If in doubt, cook longer. Since it is steamed, it will not burn the dumpling/pork bun if you leave it for a longer period of time. For those who want to have a more exact time, 10 minutes should be sufficient. Of course, if the dumpling/pork bun package has a recommendation, follow this. I usually set my stove to the middle heat setting for steaming.

Pan Frying:

This is the tastier way of cooking the dumpling/pork bun. But it somewhat requires a little bit of supervision. Pour some oil on the pan until the pan is fully coated. Put the dumpling/pork bun on the pan and fry for around 30 seconds. Pour some water on the pan until it covers roughly 1/4 the height of the dumpling/pork bun. Cover and wait until all the water evaporates. The steam from the water will cook the dumpling/pork bun, while the oil will prevent the food from sticking to the pot. The oil is also required to give the food the golden brown appearance. Once the water has fully evaporated, move the dumpling/pork bun a little bit just to make sure that they are not stuck to the pot and fry it a little bit until the desired golden brown color is reached.

There are many different types of sauces that you can use for these: vinegar, soy sauce. It's really up to you to experiment on what suits your taste. After all, it is your dish. There are some pots/pans that need to be washed when making this dish, but I never said it was carefree cleaning.

Emergency Food Ideas (Part 1)

2005-02-25T23:49:00.000-08:00

After a long hard day at work, we often feel too tired to prepare something delicious and healthy. Sometimes we just want to relax on the couch and watch some TV, or perhaps listen to some soothing music. Who can blame you right? That's why I've compiled a list of "emergency food" ideas that can hopefully provide delicious food with little effort. If you can flip the channel on the TV, I'm sure you can do this.

1. Hearty Salad

Ingredients:
Box of pre-washed assorted leafy vegetables
Cooked meat (Canned variety or leftover)
Favourite salad dressing

I used to think that buying those pre-washed veggies were a waste of money. I mean why pay so much money for something that I can prepare myself for less than half the price. I head of lettuce doesn't cost that much after all. But the key thing here is variety. As Chef Michael Smith (Chef at Home - Food Network) said, variety is not the spice of life, it is the key to life. Having different types of veggies in your salad definitely adds a whole dimension in terms of flavour. The contrasting taste of sweet and bitter provides character to what you are eating. That's why most high end restaurant serve salad with assorted veggies, instead of just a bland romaine lettuce (unless it's caesar salad) that we would otherwise prepare. It's the taste that counts. How many food do you know that is healthy AND taste good as well. For that price, I think it's a good deal.

To make the salad hearty, we need meat. Without meat, I find that the salad doesn't provide the desired satisfaction especially if it is eaten as the main course. There are many different types of meat that you can use. Leftovers are perfect for this. Most cooked meat would work well (I'm not so sure about pork however). I would suggest that you use cook meat that doesn't have any sauce. The sauce might otherwise clash with the dressing that you put on the salad. Even bland tasting meat is acceptable, as you really just want the meat's texture to give you the hearty feeling. If you don't have any leftover meat, there are some canned alternatives. Canned tuna I think works well (make sure you drain the tuna first!). I saw a canned chicken at Costco and I just had to try it. Unfortunately, I was not very impressed with the taste. Even the color didn't look like it's a chicken. However, the texture still feels like chicken so that would work as well (if you are unfortunate enough to get a club pack). For the Spam enthusiast, you can use that one as well (yes, I know this is pork...or is it?!). I would prefer that you at least pan fry it (or microwave it if you really are feeling lazy). Anchovies will work as well as it bring that salty flavour to the salad, but may not give you the hearty feeling.

Salad dressing is very important as it is what completes the salad. There really is no reason to cheapen out on this as this can determine what makes a good salad from a bad salad. If this was not an Emergency Food Ideas topic, I would recommend you make your own salad dressing. I'll try to write about this in the future. Otherwise, the bottled ones are perfect for quick and simple preparation. Just grab your favourite dressing and pour some on the veggies and meat. When tossing the salad, I like to use a container that is much bigger than the contents. This makes mixing the salad dressing easier and you get an even coat on the veggies. Believe me, this is important if you want to have the perfect bite every time. Exercise moderation when pouring dressing on the salad. It is always easy to add more, but hard to take it off. If you are not sure, add a little bit, toss the salad and taste. If it's not tasty enough, add some more dressing and repeat. Just like my other recipes, I do not give precise instructions since that just makes cooking more like a lab experiment. Cooking is suppose to be carefree, and I am sticking with that policy.

Grocery Shopping

2005-02-23T21:14:00.000-08:00

What is your favorite grocery shopping advice? A lot of people don't really plan their grocery shopping and end up either buying too much, or too little. If you live close to a grocery store, then this is not a problem. For most people, this is probably not the case. Having an efficient way of doing grocery shopping can save a lot of people time and headaches.

I learned a very valuable lesson on a TV show I saw a while back. Never go grocery shopping when you are hungry. This makes you want to buy more food than you really need and they end up being rotten or expired.

Just because something is a better deal doesn't mean it's the way to go. There are sale tactics that make you want to buy two of the same item because it makes the cost of each less. For example, you can buy a head of lettuce for $0.70 or buy two for $1.10. The mathematician inside us would undoubtedly conclude that getting two gives you the best deal. But if the carnivour inside us can only tolerate so much salad in a week, the second head of lettuce might end up rotting even before the first one is completely consumed. So the end result is a loss of $0.40. I wonder what the mathematician inside you will think now. It really depends on how fast you think you can consume the food, and how long the food will last.

Having said that, there are always exceptions. There are food items that

Spicy Thai Pork

2005-02-19T23:13:00.000-08:00

Instant seasonings or sauces are very popular for a lot of people, especially me. I have a whole box of assorted seasonings/sauces, some of which I don't even know how to use. McCormick is a popular spice brand but they also sell sauces. I tried their spicy sparerib sauce and I was impressed by how quick and delicious it tasted. It's unfortunate that I was the only one who appreciated it. My wife said it was too spicy. Perhaps I didn't mix it well since I thought it was not spicy at all.

Today I tried the spicy thai pork sauce. The sauce comes in power form and requires dissolving in some liquid. Normally the liquid will be water, but for this particular sauce, it required coconut milk. Luckily I had a couple cans sittin in the pantry so I didn't have a problem making this dish. Preparation was quite easy. I just cut pieces of spare ribs into individual pieces so that they can cook quickly (and easy to eat as well). The instruction asked me to brown the pork so I put some oil on a pan and dumped all the spare ribs in it. It takes a while to brown the ribs. I had to flip it until all sides are brown enough for me. You don't actually need to have this color, but it's important to cook the pork thoroughly. So at a minimum, you need to cook them until you don't see any pinkish color on the meat.

I mixed the dry sauce mix with a cup of coconut milk. I find that the best way to mix it is with a whisk. If I use a fork or a spoon, I usually can't get rid of some lumps. But if that works for you, then it's all good. Once the spare ribs are cook, dump the coconut sauce mixture. Cook further until the sauce thickens and that's it. I think it took a total of 10 minutes to cook the whole thing. Pretty quick especially if you are very hungry coming home from a long day at work. Just like any thai dish, it is best to serve this with rice. I like to pour some sauce on top of the rice. That way, I enjoy the flavour with every bite. For some garnish, I sprinkled some sesame seeds and place a few sprigs of parsley (totally optional).

I like the taste of the dish. I don't know how authentic it is, but as long as it taste good then, it's a keeper. And best of all, it's carefree cooking.

Spicy Garlic Eggplant

2005-02-17T22:24:00.000-08:00

I made this last Monday but due to some technical difficulties, I was not able to write an entry about it. This dish is really easy to prepare. There are three major ingredients required: Eggplant, ground pork, and spicy garlic eggplant sauce (Lee Kum Kee). I used some other garnishes like parsley and peanuts but these are totally optional. In fact, my wife and my sister hated it. But I thought the dish will look bland if I didn't add any color or texture.

There are multiple ways of cooking eggplant. When you go to a chinese restaurant and order the eggplant hotpot, it's usually very oily. The reason is they deep fry the eggplant. The bad thing about this is that eggplant acts like a sponge and absorbs all the oil. So if you are thinking of doing this, make sure you use good oil. Chinese recipes would normally ask for peanut oil for its flavour, but this type of oil is also the most unhealthy oil you can use. I usually use canola oil or olive oil.

Before I made this dish, I did a little bit of research on the internet on how to cook eggplant. I've already talked about deep frying. There are other ways of preparing it such as pan frying, grilling, and baking. I didn't have the required 1 hr to bake the eggplants and I didn't think grilling would be that much quicker as well. So I opted for the pan frying. But instead of putting some oil, I used a non-stick pan and sprayed a little PAM just in case the eggplant decides to stick. I also read from a website that it's important to cook the eggplant thoroughly. Having a half cooked eggplant will not taste good. Since I'm pan frying without oil, I have to cut the eggplant in small pieces. Ideally I would cut the eggplant in strips, but I didn't have the appropriate knife skills to do that.

After cooking the eggplant (you can always taste it if it's cook), I set them aside and started cooking the ground pork. Cooking the ground pork is very easy and quick as long as you break them apart to form little pieces. Once the ground pork is done, throw in the cooked eggplant and add the Lee Kum Kee sauce. I added some parsley and some chopped peanuts (for texture). Cooked them a little more until you are happy that the sauce is thoroughly mixed into the eggplant and ground pork. As a final touch, I put some left over parsley at the middle of the dish and sprinkled some more chopped peanuts around the dish.

There are many different types of eggplant and some are more bitter than others. Many recipe ask you to put some salt on the eggplant so that all the bitterness will be extracted. It's up to you to decide whether you want to sal the eggplant or not. You can try it without salting and if the eggplant taste too bitter for your taste, you can do the salt technique. It's not really an exact science after all, it's just carefree cooking :) Let me know what you think.

Most Unique Cake I Have Ever Tried

2005-02-17T18:35:00.000-08:00

What is the most unique dessert you have ever tried? If I ask that question, most people will start to think about the most exotic fruit they have eaten. As for me, it wouldn't be a fruit, but rather a flower....Rose in particular.

My friend Dave has a girlfriend who is a dessert chef. From time to time, our lunch group will be lucky enough to try some of the cakes that she makes. Today was one of those days. Dave took out this cake container and in it held what seems like your average strawberry mousse cake. When I tried it, I couldn't figure out what was in it. I can't even describe what I have tried before that has a similar taste. All of us tried to guess what the "mystery" ingredient was. After a few rounds of incorrect guesses, my wife shouted Rose. I was surprised that she would say something very silly, but I was even more surprised when Dave said "How did you know?".

To make a rose mousse cake, you take some rose flower, grind them until they turn to a powder, and use that to make a mousse. I have to confirm that with Dave. This is definitely an experience to remember. How is the cake you ask? I must say, it's pretty good. Just like all the cakes that Dave's girlfriend makes. It's unfortunate that I didn't have my camera so that I can share the picture with you.

Random Blurb - Not Carefree Cooking Related

2005-02-17T18:16:00.000-08:00

Here's a totally unrelated carefree cooking experience. My internet was very slow last weekend. It took me a long time just to create a blog. Called my local internet provider and they asked me to have my cable modem replaced. Bad move! When I installed the new modem, it wouldn't connect to the server. I took another trip to the store to get another one and I got the same thing. My internet provider told me that they will send someone to check it out on Monday! Monday!! That's almost 6 days without having internet at home. The good thing is that the lack of distraction forces me to work on my Masters project.

I apologize if you came here expecting to see a post about carefree cooking. I did have something to post, but thanks to the lack of internet access at home, I wasn't able to do it two days ago. I'll just queue them up and I'll post all of them at the same time once my home computer goes online again.

Thinking about the meaning of life lately? Check out some words of wisdom from InvestmentOwl

Baby Bok Choi with Duck

2005-02-14T21:58:00.000-08:00

Today is Valentines Day. Happy Valentines to everyone! While most people are out celebrating, my wife and I decided to order some yummy crab from a restaurant and just eat at home. Too boring you think? We actually enjoy this. We get to eat with our hands without having to worry about how messy things get, and we get to do it in front of the TV. I bought a lot of vegetables yesterday so I thought I'd quickly make something up. I grabed the bag of baby bok choi and started frying them. What I don't like about bok choi (and other similar vegetables) is that it is a pain to wash them thoroughly. The batch I got were relatively clean, but I still had to be careful. The bottom of the strainer had lots of sand when I was done with the rinsing.

I only know of one way of cooking bok choi - pan frying. So if anyone out there have other ways of cooking them, please let me know. A little bit of oil is all it takes to cover the entire pan. From what I have been told, the pan has to be really hot before you throw in the vegetables. Otherwise it will not come out ok. I usually just add salt to the vegetables when I pan fry them, but this time, I decided to be more adventurous. I looked through my fridge and found a bottle of black bean sauce. I think any sauce that is salty can work when pan frying vegetable. Some people put oyster flavour sauce on the vegetable to give the salty flavour.

We had some left over duck so I heated it up in the toaster oven. I like to heat the duck in the oven as it makes the skin slightly crispy. Microwaving is ok as well, but I only do that when I'm really hungry and can't wait. I didn't plan to put the two dishes together, but while plating the vegetable, it occured to me that the two dishes might go well together. It's the first time I've paid attention to presentation but I think it does look more appetizing this way. Normally I would just pile all the vegetables on a plate and that was it. Anyways, send me your comments or any similar recipe ideas.

Ingredients List:
1. A pack of baby bok choi
2. Some left over duck. Any leftover meat would work well, just cut them to bite size pieces
3. A bit of oil to coat the bottom of the pan
4. Black Bean Sauce (salt would be sufficient as well)

Carefree Cooking, Inc.

2005-02-14T18:18:00.000-08:00

Carefree Cooking, Inc.

It seems that there is a website for Carefree Cooking already. I hope I do not get an email asking me to stop using the name. Even though I've only been using it for less than a day, I kind of like the name. As an act of good faith, I'm attaching the link to CarefreeCooking.com. This site is owned by Susan Brigden, a personal chef. For those people who wants someone to eat healthy, you can check out her site. There is a sample menu and price list on the site so you know exactly what you are getting. It does seem like her services are only for the Atlanta area.

Curry Ox Tail = Yummy

2005-02-14T00:47:00.000-08:00

I got a couple Ox Tail at the local chinese store this morning. They were on sale so I thought why not. When you buy Ox Tail, they look pretty lean. I just found out this mornig that there is a heavy layer of fat surrounding the tail. Luckily the trustee butcher at the supermarket cuts them off before selling them. Since the tail meat is very hard (unlike your typical tenderloin steak cuts), you need to cook them for a very long time. For the working people, I'd say try this during the weekend. Although it is simple, it does take 2-3 hours to cook.

I start off with puting just enough oil on a deep pot to cover the bottom (I used medium heat on the stove). Throw in the Ox Tail in the pot (the butcher would normally cut the tail into smaller pieces) and sear in the meat until they are brown on all sides. I don't really know if searing is important, but it makes me think that cooking this involves more skills than it actually requires. Pour in enough water to cover the meat. Turn the stove to low and wait for 2-3 hours. You can tell if the meat is done if it is soft and the meat is starting to separate from the bone. After that, I added the Glico curry (very common in most supermarkets) to the pot, stir a little bit and the dish is done.

I've made Ox Tail a lot of times before, but this is the first time I used the Glico curry. My friends have been telling me how good it is, so I decided to try it. The good thing about the Glico curry is that it has everything you need to finish the dish. You don't have to add any spices or thickening agent. I must say that the dish turned out really well (guess what I'm having for lunch tomorrow).

You may have noticed that I did not include measurements in my description above. Even though I'm an engineer by trade, I'm not really that good with measurements for cooking. I usually just rely on my gut feeling on how much I need. Besides, people have different taste so what I find too salty might be just right for other people. My suggestion is, taste the food and adjust accordingly.

Since I didn't know that I will be doing this blog thing, I didn't have the foresight to take a picture of the dish. But moving forward, I will try to take a picture of all the dishes I post here. That will force me to work in my presenation skills too.

If you have any experience with Ox Tail (or any similar food for that matter), please share with us.

Welcome!

2005-02-14T00:17:00.000-08:00

My friend InvestmentOwl introduced me to blogging. I've heard about this for a few years now but I never really saw the point of having one. My view is, why post your diary for everyone to see. I don't think my life is that interesting. I've been working for quite a while now and up to this moment, I haven't found anything that I am truly passionate about. I like to watch the Food Network and I like to cook, so I thought why not talk about my cooking experience. If my experience can help someone out there, then all this effort would be worth it.