I love Korean food especially their side dish. Whenever I go for a Korean barbecue, I keep asking the staff to refill the side dish, be it the potato salad, the seaweed salad and the wombok kimchi. I just can't stop eating them. Among all kimchi I have ever tried, the cucumber kimchi is my next favourite after wombok Kimchi. :D
Do you want a little bit of spice tonight? I absolutely do!
Cucumber Kimchi
make 12 | prep 1 hour | cooking 10 mins | Korean
[ Ingredients ]
6 Lebanese cucumbers *
4 cups water
4 tbsp sea salt
1/2 small bunch of Asian chive, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cups carrots sliced into thin matchsticks *
For the filling
1 tbsp salted shrimp
2 tbsp cooked white rice
1/4 cup water
3 garlic cloves
1 piece of ginger, size of a garlic clove
1 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup Korean chili flakes
4 tbsp fish sauce *
* where I used different ingredients from the original recipe
[ Method ]
The below is for reference only, for a proper full version of the recipe, please click here and click photo to enlarge the image.
[ Kitchen Notes ]
¶ To avoid irritation from the chili, it is recommended to use gloves when stuffing the cucumber :)
♥ bon appétit :)
This is a very simple dish from Christine's Recipes (she also has a Chinese version of this blog called 簡易食譜). She cooks many Chinese traditional food and the best of all is they are all simple and easy to do. When I found out she is also living in Brisbane, I was really happy. Why? Because whatever she bought for her cooking, I am sure I can find it here!!! hehe... Even I can't find, I can simply ask her :DDD
I have tried quite a few recipes from her and this is one of those. That night I cooked for Mr. Pear for dinner and put some fried pumpkin and snow peas for sides. Easy and quick fix for a lazy night or a lazy housewife, like me! :P I wish I can cook like her :))
Try this one night and you will love it!!
Sticky Baked Pork Ribs
serves 2-3 | prep 10 mins (plus marinate) | cooking 40 mins | Chinese
[ Ingredients ]
400 g American pork rib
Marinade
2 tbsp char siu sauce (Chinese barbeque sauce) 叉燒醬
1 tsp ground bean sauce 磨豉醬
2 tsp freshly grated ginger
3 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp Shaoxing wine
2-3 tbsp water
[ Method ]
Note: the below is for reference only, for a proper full version of the recipe, please click here and click photo to enlarge.
¶ Since I have no chau siu sauce, I replaced it with hoisin sauce 海鮮醬. It still tasted very nice :D
¶ I obviously did not read the tips from Christine and that's why my sauce was dried up!! haha~ Therefore, it is very important for you to read through the recipe! ;)
♥ bon appétit :)
I love Japanese food. Oyakodon (親子丼) is one of my all time favourite Japanese dish. It literally means parent and children rice. This is simply because this dish main ingredients are chicken (the parent) and egg (the children). What a meaningful dish! But at the same time, it sounds a bit sad... because both parent and son are cook for someone to eat... Oh no, I am getting too emotional... haha... Despite of this, I still love to eat this :P
Oyakodon
{ via Recipe of Japanese Cooking, p. 101 }
serves 2 | prep 5 mins | cook 10 mins | Japanese
[ Ingredient ]
Ingredient A
100 g chicken thighs
1/2 onion
3 eggs
4 or 5 stalks trefoil (I did not use this)
2 bowls of rice
Ingredient B
4 1/3 tbsp chicken stock
2 tbsp sake
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp mirin
2 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
[ Method ]
1 Remove excess fat and skin from the chicken thighs, and shave into bite-sized pieces. Peel the onion, and slice thinly. Cut the trefoil stalks into 2-3 cm long. Beat the eggs lightly.
2 Add ingredient B a bowl and mix well.
3 Put the hot rice into individual bowls.
4 Put only a half of the liquid prepared in step 2 in a frying pan, and bring to the boil. Add half of the chicken thigh pieces and onion slices, and simmer.
5 Pour a half amount of the eggs gently along the circular edge of the simmering sauce, and cover. Simmer for about 30 seconds while shaking the pan gently. Scatter half of the trefoil stalks, and turn off the heat. Put everything onto the rice in one of the bowls. Repeat step 4 and 5 for the other portion.
[ Kitchen Notes ]
¶ If you think it is too trouble to cook the chicken one by one, you can put the chicken in a big ban and pour all the ingredients and follow the recipe. I did it like that cause I think it's too time consuming... After all, I think I am really lazy... hehe
¶ Normally, oyakodon gives a lot of moist and sauce, I guess I cooked too long... haha.. Because I didn't follow the recipe... um...
Indian! Yes, I have been craving for Indian food for a while! And again, Julie Goodwin made me cook her recipe... haha! This is a very simple and easy recipe. How could I not cooking this while I was craving for Indian food? It may not be as authentic as the one you might taste in the Indian restaurant, but the flavour and the look are definitely there. This recipe is certainly a winner for a quick fix weeknight dinner.
Butter Chicken
serves 6 | prep 15 mins | cook 20 mins | Indian
[ Ingredient ]
2 tbsp olive oil
50 g butter
1.6 kg chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into thirds (I boned and cut all skins and fat)
2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tsp ground coriander seed
3 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cardamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp chilli powder
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 cups tomato puree
2/3 cup natural yogurt
1 cup thickened cream
Salt
Coriander leaves and extra yogurt
[ Method ]
Note: the below is for reference only, for a proper full version of the recipe, please click here and click photo to enlarge.
[ Kitchen Notes]
¶ I forgot to buy the yogurt, so I am not sure does it affect the flavour of the whole dish.
¶ After I cooked the chicken in the pan, I also cooked them in the pressure cooker for about 15 mins. However, I think the chicken were too soft after they cooked in there... haha... So I think next time, it's either cook in the pan or straightly put in to the pressure cooker. That way the chicken will not be too soft.
¶ Click here to know more about Butter Chicken.
♥ bon appétit :)
Zucchini Slice, I have heard and read about it for so many time, but I never had one or made one before. This recipe again is from Julie Goodwin, all because I have zucchini in the fridge and this is super easy to make, that is why I decided to make it with her recipe :D Actually, I start to like her... I mean her recipes :)
Zucchini Slice
make 12 slices | prep 10 mins | cook 35 mins
[ Ingredients ]
2 zucchini, grated
1 large onion finely chopped
3 rashers bacon finely chopped
1 cup tasty cheese grated
1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup of oil
5 eggs
salt/ pepper
[ Method ]
Note: the below is for reference only, for a proper full version of the recipe, please click
here and click photo to enlarge.
[ Kitchen Notes ]
¶ If you have a food processor, definitely go for it coz it saves so much time. Before I took out my food processor, I was thinking to manually grate the zucchini and chop my onion, but didn't know why I suddenly thought about the food processor. I am glad that I used it for this recipe :D ha!
¶ Maybe my eyesight is getting worse, but I really can't find anywhere mentions about the temperature for the oven... So, I used the normal 160°C- 180°C baking temperature depends on your oven is fan forced or not and also how normally your oven perform. I found mine one work best for 170°C, so it can be your guide when you bake.
[ More Photos ]
♥ bon appétit :)
This morning after we brought Cindy to see the vet, we went for some grocery shopping at Woolworths Then I saw they had a bag of mushroom selling at AUD 3. How can I not buying them when I have been craving for a mushroom soup for ages and it is such a great comfort food for this non-stop raining weather.
Last time when I made homemade mushroom soup, I followed Julia Child's recipe and this time I tried Julie Goodwin's one. There are many other variations, but because I don't have many ingredients in the fridge, so I picked this one and find it easy to make! :))
Talking about Julie Goodwin, this is my first time to read her recipes. To be honest with you, I like Poh Ling Yeow better and I so wanted Poh to win Master Chef in season 1. So, when I know Julie won, I was kinda refuse to read any food related material from her... Yes, I know it is a bit extreme and not very fair... When I googled "mushroom soup", her link was the first one on the page... but I clicked every single one on that page and still hesitated if I wanted to see her recipes... But then, I talked to myself and I thought why I am so narrow-minded.... So, I took my greatest effort and click to Julie's website and read the mushroom soup recipe. Guess what? I actually like it! It's simple and easy to make, and it is so good for people cooking at home. Then, I browsed other recipes and I found there are many easy-to-follow recipes and I am definitely going to try later, umm... Maybe tomorrow? haha... Anyway, I still like Poh better~ :P
Mushroom Soup
serves 4 | prep 10 mins | cooking 20 mins
[ Ingredients ]
25 g unsalted butter
2 tbsp olive oil ( I forgot to put.. but still tasted good :D)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 kg button mushrooms, stalks removed, finely sliced
1/4 cup plain flour
1 liter chicken stock or vegetable stock for vegetarian option (I used reduced salt chicken stock)
1/4 tsp finely ground white pepper
1/2 tsp salt (I did not put any)
1/4 cup thickened cream
[ Method ]
Note: the below is for reference only, for a proper full version of the recipe, please click
here and click photo to enlarge.
[ Kitchen Notes ]
¶ This recipe doesn't say that you need to put the soup in the blender or stick mixer. However, I personally like to blend my mushroom soup, just because I like the texture :D
♥ bon appétit :)
We tried this Japanese gyoza place before, and tonight we decided to have a light dinner there as both Jeff and I were still quite full from lunch.
The ebi-chan was an ok dish, you can eat the whole prawn with the shell, but you need to be very careful because the shell can be really sharp and cut your throat! >__<
The gyoza was presented on a hot plate, so it smells really good when they pour the sauce on the gyoza. :))
I was a bit disappointed about the salmon carpaccio because the portion they give was really small and the sauce was not very nice as I expected it should be :((
These were what we tried last time during day time. We ordered one bento and also some tapas dishes, because we were very hungry on that day and also wanted to treat ourselves. :D
Gyoza Bar Ann
Shop26, 1000 Emporium Ann St, Fortitude Valley QLD 4006
07-3172 3020
♥ bon appétit :)
Mr. Pear needed to worked on Valentine's Day, so he promised to make me a 3-courses dinner on this Sunday. So, here comes the entree: Butternut Pumpkin Soup.
Followed by the main: Roast Beef ,Capsicum & Eggplant Terrine with Tomato Tea Jelly and Potato & Sweet Potato Medallion. As you can see there are lots of things going on this plate and I know he made a great effort to put this up on the table :D Good job, darling! :))
Dessert, he made Deconstructed Lemon Curd Tart with Homemade Hazel Nut Ice Cream. Super duper yummy!!!
♥ bon appétit :)
