i like to eat.

Tuesday night was beef and boy choy stir-fry, as part of my challenge to cook every day of the week and to follow a menu in Real Simple magazine.

Another easy recipe to follow, although I accidentally over cooked the bok choy. I was doing too many things at once, there's a reason why most chefs have a mise en place (everything prepped before hand and reachable)!

The flavor of the flank steak was actually pretty good. It was marinated in rice vinegar, soy sauce, ginger and brown sugar. I'd use this marinade again and next time, I won't over cook the veggies! :)

   

Click here to download:

Weeknight_Dinner_Part_2_tag_fo.zip (417 KB)

Related: Weeknight Dinner, Part 1

Was about to make some dinner, opened a container of leftover rice and saw.....purple rice?! Don't know how only a few grains turned purple..and from what? I thought rice would turn green or just smell bad if it's rotten.

Needless to say, into the trash it went! Unsolved mystery.

My previous mushroom experience was fun and I wanted to play with them again. Plus, Ranch 99 (Asian supermarket) was having a promotion of $1 packaged mushrooms. I had to take full advantage of this special and buy many types of mushrooms.

I bought king oyster, hen of the woods and white beech mushrooms. I wasn't sure of their texture when cooked, but I liked the interesting different shapes.

I would have preferred to use Japanese noodles, but I didn't have any, so spaghetti was used. While the pasta was cooking in its own pot, I sautéed all the mushrooms in garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil until tender. When the pasta was done, I added it to the mushroom mixture and poured some Chinese bottled sauce (it's like oyster sauce but much thinner).

This was a really simple dish with different textures of mushrooms. I liked the hen of the woods the least. It didn't have too much flavor and was really light in texture.

Buddy Mari has a mushroom farm at her place. I think it'd be cool to have one and be able to grow my own. But, I unfortunately don't have a green thumb, the plants I have now are dying...

             

Click here to download:

Mushroom_Noodles_tag_food_chin.zip (1475 KB)

Saturdays are pretty lazy for me. With Jason at work, I do not need to cook lunch for anyone but myself. And cooking for myself can be uninspiring.

A staple in my pantry is packaged instant noodles. This meal is so easy to make - boil water, pop in the noodles, boil water in another pan (I like to cook my soup base in another pan) and top it off with the powder flavor packet. A meal for one in less than 10 minutes.

This time around, I got a little bit fancy and fried an egg. If I had some spam, I would have included that (popular instant noodle combination in Hong Kong), but none in my pantry.

This easy lunch filled my stomach, but I know in a couple of hours, it'd be grumbling for more food.

I was craving for a specific Chinese dish my mom used to make all the time. It's a very comforting dish of steamed egg with dried scallops and shrimp, topped with scallions and soy sauce. It was a simple dish we'd eat with rice.

While at my parents' house a few weeks back, I grabbed some dried scallops and shrimp from their kitchen. There are so many varieties in Chinatown, I wouldn't even know which ones to buy, so I thought it was best to just grab some from my mom's pantry.

The dried shrimp are tiny, bay shrimp-sized, and salty when eaten alone. I would highly not recommend this (haha), it's definitely not a snack, but an addition to dishes for a salty and slight seafood flavor.

My mom's dried scallops are about nickel sized. They come in many different sizes and at most times, you need to soak them in water for a few minutes to soften the scallop meat.

First failure - not asking my mom how she made this dish. I was experimenting and battling this dish head on.

I first made a steam bath with a pan, filled it with some water and put a little rack in it.

While I waited for the water to boil, I whipped a few eggs, poured it into a metal pan (the same one my mom uses) and randomly placed the dried shrimp and scallops into the eggs.

I placed the pan into the steam bath, covered it with a lid and let it cook.

Second failure - Letting it cook for about 15 minutes. Way too long.

I took the dish out and topped it with scallions and soy sauce. The egg mixture was too thick - so not creamy and soft like the way my mom made it. I remember her steamed egg texture was extremely soft and would just melt with the rice. Mine was not like that, at all. Ugh.

I'm determined to make this dish a success the next time. Wish me luck!

In the meantime, read about my semi-successful dad's dish and a very successful one.

     

Click here to download:

Replicating_Moms_Dish_-_Fail._.zip (583 KB)

My parents invited me to lunch at King Won Ton in the Outer Sunset district. They've never been to this restaurant, but they heard it's suppose to be really good and the noodles are made the old fashioned way (handmade with a bamboo stick and all - see video below).

I ordered the "sui gao (shrimp won ton)" noodles. I've never seen dumplings this huge! They were filled with shrimp, pork, bamboo, chives and "wood ear." Not bad, I wouldn't mind having a frozen batch of these bad boys at home.

As for the noodles, hmm. I couldn't taste its specialty or the fact that they were handmade. They weren't chewy and didn't have the right texture. The noodles tasted like any other noodles I've had.

King Won Ton, nothing special. And do they REALLY make their noodles handmade, like the video below? Skip to 2:37 for the action.

King DONG.

(snicker).

Immature, I know. I couldn't resist. That's what happens when you hang out with a bunch of guys that make fart jokes all day.

I was craving for Chinese food (very rare), so the boys and I went to King Dong. I've heard of this place numerous times because Jason and Mike go there frequently for lunch. I immediately denied whenever they suggested the restaurant, but I finally gave in, curious to find out why my boyfriend visits this place.

We ordered a set dinner for four which included hot and sour soup, potstickers, mu shu pork, Mongolian beef, prawns and vegetables and Mike's favorite dish, King Dong chicken.

Growing up in a Chinese restaurant, my expectations are extremely high when it comes to Chinese food. It's either bland, too salty, too greasy or just doesn't taste right.

King Dong was no different.

Although I'd have to say, it was a little comforting eating Chinese-American food. I haven't had hot and sour soup or mu shu pork in so long. It brought back memories of my dad's cooking - not the same at all, but just the thought of my dad's food.

If the boys ever suggest Dong again, it'd be a flat no. Do you guys hear that?! Sorry, I'm picky. :P

             

Click here to download:

King_Dong._tag_chinese_food_di.zip (1697 KB)

I've always wanted to do some sort of mushroom stir-fry. I went to the store and bought a few types of mushrooms - beech, enoki and cremini. I should have bought more varieties, but this was my first time and I wanted to do a trial before I go all out.

The beech mushrooms (image 1) were so pretty. It came packaged in a small plastic wrap. There are also white versions, but I went the brown route for more color. Enoki mushrooms (image 3) are my favorite for hot pots, soups and other broth-y types of meals, so I was a little excited to see how they'd taste stir fried. Lastly, creminis, they're nothing special, so I didn't take a picture of them. They're like white button mushrooms but brown.

I didn't cook them in any crazy way, just sauteed them with olive oil, salt and pepper. The enokis were a little bit hard to distribute while cooking, since they're skinny and bunched up, but it's still not a difficult task. This dish is easy to cook and only takes a few minutes for the mushrooms to become soft.

The beech and creminis tasted like your typical mushrooms - nutty with a mild earthiness. While the enokis had a nice crunchy texture (not super crunchy like cereal), but much crunchier than the others.

I served my mushroom dish with rice, but it'd also be great in pasta. Mushroom pasta with a sesame sauce, perhaps?

         

Click here to download:

Mushroom_Galore_tag_dinner_hom.zip (1087 KB)

Kate was leaving for her usual Taiwan summer trip, so we had a goodbye dinner before she took off.

The dinner was filled with a ton of good food - bacon wrapped asparagus, artichoke shrimp (see original post), zucchini with mushrooms, chives and bean sprouts, roast beef, garlic broccoli, prosciutto wrapped dates and barbecued chicken (not pictured).

Everyone pitched in and made something (image 13 is cheesy, I know). It was fun cooking with everyone and helping each other make their dishes.

For dessert, we had a delicious, moist strawberry cake for Cocola.

And of course, sangria, served on a vintage cart - super cute. This time, we made the sangria with boxed wine. It tasted OK, but it gave me a nasty hangover. So, wine box, out.

As the night continued, we munched on Shrimp Flavored Chips. Yes, that sounds disgusting, but they're good. The taste is kind of indescribable since they do not taste like shrimp at all. They're extra crunchy and is a childhood memory. I used to eat them a lot when I was growing up.

The night ended quite late with our tummies filled with delicious food and wine. Good times.

Thank you Kate and Kai for having us, we miss you already!

                                   

Click here to download:

See_You_Soon_tag_dinner_americ.zip (4152 KB)

When I think of sugar snap peas, I think of my dad's dish, prawns with sugar snap peas. He'd always cook it for me whenever the peas were in season. I had a small bag full of these sweet jewels and I knew I had to try to make it.

Ingredients: shrimp, sugar snap peas, chicken stock, cornstarch, sliced ginger, olive oil, salt and pepper.

1. Saute shrimp in olive oil, salt and pepper until they're pink and cooked through. Set aside.
2. Pour some chicken stock into the pan to deglaze and scrape all the yummy brown bits off. Bring to a boil and simmer.
3. Combine a few spoonfuls of chicken stock (from the pan) and a few teaspoons of cornstarch into a small bowl. Mix the ingredients until the cornstarch is dissolved. Pour it back into the pan.
4. Continue stirring the liquid. The stock will thicken from the cornstarch. If it looks too thick, add more chicken stock. If it's too thin, repeat step 3.
5. Add the sliced ginger to the stock and stir it around.
6. Add the sugar snap peas into the pan and cover with a lid for a few minutes or until the peas are tender. Be sure to not over cook the peas, you still want a crunch to them.
7. Add the shrimp to the pan and stir until the sauce coats it.
8. Enjoy!

I'm not much of a recipe writer, but trust me, it's easy! My cooking tends to be experimental and I rarely have any measurements, so a lot of things are eyeballed. That's what makes cooking fun for me. :) But, remember, take small tastes here and there while you're cooking. It'd be easier to "save" your dishes, rather than finishing a dish and not know what it tastes like.

Anyways, I was very happy with the results and it tasted similar to my dad's (unlike my last attempt of another dish, haha). I was so excited, I couldn't wait to tell him. I'm definitely going to make this dish again and continue to copy my dad's dishes. :D