Carefree Cooking

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.

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!

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.