Soft shell crab bun(Airfryer) 炸軟殼蟹包 (氣炸煱)

Today when I shopped at H-Mart. I found a box of soft shell crab for sell $39.99 per box. It has 6 crabs in a box. I originally want to deep fry them by using a electric deep fryer. But I want to try to use Air Fryer method first and it turns out not bad at all. I think I will also try traditional deep fryer next time. 

For the bun, I purchased it from Freshco Freezer section. It comes with 10 per bag and each bag $5.xx. You just need to take out the bun and steam it for a few minutes. They are ready to serve! 

Please view my YouTube demonstration on how to make Soft Shell Crab Bun with AirFryer!! Enjoy! 

Korean Army Stew (Budae Jjigae) 部隊鍋

Budaejjigae (Wikipedia): 

Budae jjigae (Korean pronunciation: [pudɛ tɕ͈iɡɛ]; literally "army (military) base stew" or "troop stew") is a type of jjigae (a thick Korean soup similar to a Western stew). Soon after the Korean War, food was scarce in Seoul, South Korea. Some people made use of surplus foods from U.S. military bases around the Uijeongbu area, Pyeongtaek area (also called Songtan)^[1] or Munsan area, such as hot dogs, Spam, or ham, and incorporated them into a traditional spicy soup flavored with gochujang (red chili paste) and kimchi.

Budae jjigae is still popular in South Korea. The dish often incorporates such modern ingredients as instant noodles and sliced American cheese. Other ingredients may include ground beef, sliced sausages, baked beans, minari, onions, green onions, tteok, tofu, chili peppers, macaroni, garlic, mushrooms, and other vegetables in season.

This year Christmas time in Vancouver, we had couple of snow fall and weather is relatively cold throughout these couple of weeks. We always love to ask friends to come for hotpot dinner in the weekend. We did so many times and we will need some special kind of hotpot to make the dinner more fun! We want to try this Korean Trooper Pot for so long. It is an expensive pot that can serve over 8 adult guests. Beside this pot, we also had seafood steam pot. We had 2 crabs, 2 lbs of Clams and 2 lbs of mussels. Other than that is this Korean HotPot. We served 5 noodles with cheese on every noodle that we put into the pot. There are veggies at the bottom so we have veggies and meat to serve with the noodle. And the soup base is so strong and good. Tips: Remember to add the Noodle Soup Powder that comes with the noodle to to pot. It enhances the flavour. As for the soup base, I use Beef stock + Kimchi+Red Pepper Paste. 

10" 2-layers Sashimi Sushi Cake

Made this for my husband's birthday party! This 2 layers sushi cake was made out with 5 cups of rice ~ 10 bowls of cooked rice. The ingredients for this sashimi cake included: Ahi Tuna, Sockeye Salmon, Hotate, Masago, Amaebi, Egg, Avocado, Seaweed and Sesame

On the bottom of pan, I placed a layer of Sockeye Salmon and Ahi Tuna slices. 

2nd layer (Rice)

3rd layer (Avocado, sesame, seaweed, ahi tuna and salmon slices)

4th layer (Rice)

Then flip pan over with a big plate. Unmold.

Decorated with avocado, Radish sprout, Hotate, masago, Amaebi,and Egg.

Puffer Fish (Fugu) Meal in Japan 河豚餐

March 20, 2016 Osaka, Japan

Puffer Fish Dinner: 4 courses

I am not a travel blogger and I don't think I will spend too many words on describing my Japan travel experience. All I can say is "FANTASTIC" food, hotels, and travel companions. Eating puffer fish is one of the exotic experience in this trip. Fugu, puffer fish, is only safe to eat at a recognized and licensed puffer fish restaurant with certified Fugu chef. It is a fatal food if it is not cutting and serving properly. We had ordered 3 sets of the following meal for our group of 10 adults 4 kids and 1 toddler. 

It costs ~¥80,000 ~C$900. So it is C$300 for this 4 courses meal (serves 3-4 people)

Appetizer: Puffer fish skin

Sashimi: Puffer Fish Sashimi

Dish: Puffer Fish Tempura

Main: Puffer Fish Hotpot

Video: Very fresh puffer fish meat

Owner: Chef Kawata-san

Store's address

Video of cutting puffer fish by Chef Kawata-san. He told us the liver of puffer fish is poison, please avoid eating it.

Sous Vide:Onsen tamago(Hot spring eggs)温泉蛋 (with Video)

Sous Vide:Onsen tamago(Hot spring eggs)温泉蛋 

Very simple to do. It is my friend's favourite snack/appetizer. And it is very easy to prepare and inexpensive.

Ingredients:

Egg

Sauce:

Dashi Stock (You can make it yourself, or buy Dashi Powder stock in store) see recipe below

Soya Sauce

Mirin

Decoration: (and to increase flavour)

Bonito Flakes

Roasted Sesame seeds

Seaweed (cut in small pieces)

green onions (chopped)

Directions:

Put eggs in Preheated Sous vide bath 64°C/ 147°F for 1 hour.

Serve with Dashi Stock. Add a bit of soya sauce and mirin according to taste. 

Sprinkle Bonito Flakes, Roasted Sesame seeds and Seaweed. (I also add a piece of Uni too) optional.

Dashi stock Recipe:

Ingredients: 1 oz Dashi Kombu (Dried Kelp), 1/2 cup bonito flakes, 1 L water

Directions

1. Wipe away any dirt from the kombu with a paper towel, being careful not to rub off the white powdery deposits on the seaweed. Place the kombu and water in a saucepan, and allow it to soak for 30 minutes to become soft.
2. Remove the kombu from the water, and cut several lengthwise slits into the leaf. Return the kombu to the water, and bring it to a boil. As soon as the water begins to boil, remove the kombu to prevent the stock from becoming bitter.
3. Stir the bonito flakes into the kombu-flavored water, bring back to a boil, and take the pan off the heat. Allow the water to cool. When the bonito flakes have settled to the bottom, strain the dashi through a strainer lined with cheesecloth or a coffee filter.

Sous Vide Lychee Free Range Chicken 低温煮荔枝走地雞(with video)

Sous vide Lychee Whole Free Range chicken (split)低温煮荔枝走地雞

Ingredients:
1 can of Lychee 
1 Free Range Chicken (Split in Half)
Salt  and cooking wine

Directions:
1. Wash chicken, split in half. Marinated with sea salt and cooking wine. 
2. Put chicken in vacuum bag/ziplock bag. Put lychee into bag. Pour half of lychee juice into bag. Seal and put in preheated 71°C/160°F sous vide bath.
3. It takes at least 3 hours (depend of size of chicken). Free range chicken is usually smaller. If you use deep frying chicken, it may take 4-6 hours.

Prosciutto and Gruyere Stuffed Chicken Breasts 義大利帕馬熏火腿乾酪釀雞胸肉

Ingredients: 

Ingredients: (Pic 1)

4	Large Boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
8	Thin Slices Prosciutto
12 oz	Gruyere Cheese
½ Tbsp	Minced Fresh Garlic
¼ cup	Olive Oil, or as needed
½ Tbsp ½ Tbsp	Fresh Rosemary Fresh Thyme Cotton strings
	Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions:

Butterfly the chicken breast. (Pic 2) Pound chicken breasts with a meat mallet until 1/8-inch thick. (Pic 3) Be careful not to break the chicken by pounding too hard.(Pic 4)  Lay chicken flat on surface; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper(Pic 5). 

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Cut 3 ounces of cheese in long 1/2 inch cheese string shape (Pic 6). Place 2 slices of prosciutto, and roll up the 3 ounces cheese string (Pic 7&8). Then place on the side of the chicken closest to you.

Start to roll the chicken away from you (Pic 9), while tucking in the stuffing and sides of chicken. Use cotton strings to secure the chicken together (Pic 10). 

Use a pan, seared all sides of chicken breast (Pic 11). Place chicken side by side in a glass baking dish. Brush on olive oil and sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper, rosemary and thyme on top of each rolled chicken breast (Pic 12). Bake in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes or until internal temperature is 165 F.

Recipe adapted from: Better recipes website  

Braised Baby Back Ribs 烧排骨

Happy New Year! I made this baby back ribs for my new year eve and new year party. This recipe can always make tender and juicy baby back ribs. I got this recipe from my friend Chef Joe and it is easy to make. But it will need a few hours cooking time in oven. Great party food!

To marinade the baby back ribs:

Ingredients: (8lbs ribs) 10-12 servings with around 4-5 ribs per servings 

2 tsp Dried Thyme

6 tsp paprika

2 tsp Dried oregano

4 tsp garlic powder

4 tsp salt

4 tsp sugar

4 tsp ground black pepper

4 tsp chicken bouillon powder (optional)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients well and then rub on ribs. Cover up with cling wrap and put in fridge overnight. (Pic 1)

To cook the ribs:

Ingredients: (Pic 2)

2 Carrots (chopped into pieces)
1 big onion (cut into small slices)
4 cloves of garlic
1 shallot (cut into slices)
5 sticks of celery (chopped into pieces)
1L broth (chicken/vegetable/pork)
pinch of Salt and pepper
2 bay leaves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350C
2. Seared baby back ribs in pan.(Pic 3) Put in deep oven roasting pan. Set aside. 
3. Sauteed garlic, shallots and onion in pan. Add carrots and celery. Stir and add salt and pepper. (Pic 4) Then add broth and bay leave. (Pic 5) Cover and heat until boiled. 
4. Transfer vegetable and broth to baby back ribs that already placed in deep oven roasting pan. Make sure broth is enough to just cover all ribs. (Pic 6) 
5. Cover pan with foil and put in oven. Bake for 3 hours. 

Beef Wellington (Gordon Ramsay's recipe) 威靈頓牛柳

Beef Wellington is a great party and festive food. Near Christmas, I want to try making this dish for my family. Which I want to make this long time ago. Since I got leftover puff pastry at home, so I decided to give it a try. Many steps and time consuming, but it is worth it. The tenderloin is so tender and is medium rare doneness. Which is perfect. I will definitely make again. And out of so many beef wellington recipe, I highly recommended this Gordon Ramsay recipe. I love his shows and cooking!!

Ingredients

For the Beef Wellington

900g piece beef fillet of even thickness (from the centre cut)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

English mustard, to brush meat

.

Mushroom duxelles:

700g chestnut mushrooms, cleaned and stalks removed

handful of cooked chestnuts

1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped

2 thyme sprigs, leaves only

.

To assemble:

8 slices of Parma ham

500g ready-made all-butter puff pastry

plain flour, to dust

2 egg yolks, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp water (eggwash)

Directions:

1. To make this Gordon Ramsay Beef Wellington recipe, trim the beef of any sinew and season well with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a high heat, add the fillet and quickly sear the outside all over for about 5 minutes until evenly browned, turning as necessary (Pic 1). Transfer to a plate and while still hot, brush all over with mustard (Pic 2). Set aside to rest.

2. For the duxelles, put the mushrooms, chestnuts and garlic in a food processor with a little salt and pepper and blend to a fine paste, stopping to scrape down the sides a few times (Pic 3). Heat a dry large frying pan. Scrape the mushroom paste into the pan and add the thyme leaves. Cook over a high heat, stirring occasionally, to drive off the moisture and intensify the flavour (Pic 4). The duxelles must be sufficiently dry otherwise it will make the pastry soggy; the mixture should adhere easily. Spread out on a tray to cool (Pic 5).

3. Place a large piece of cling film on a clean surface. Lay the Parma ham slices on top (Pic 6), overlapping them slightly, to form a rough rectangle large enough to envelop the beef fillet, making sure there are no gaps. Season the ham with a few twists of pepper then, with a palette knife, spread the duxelles on top (Pic 7), leaving a 2.5cm margin along the edges.

4. Lay the beef fillet along the middle of the mushroom layer (Pic 8). Keeping a tight hold of the cling film from the outside edges, neatly roll the Parma ham and duxelles over the beef into a tight barrel shape (Pic 9). Twist the ends of the cling film to secure. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to firm up.

5. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a large rectangle (Pic 10 & 11), the thickness of a £1 coin and brush with some of the eggwash (Pic 12). Unwrap the beef from the cling film and place it in the middle. Leaving a large enough rectangle to wrap around the beef, trim off the excess pastry. Roll the pastry around the beef to envelop it and then press the edges to seal. Pinch the pastry at the ends to seal and trim off the excess. Wrap the log tightly in cling film and chill for 10 minutes, or overnight if you are preparing ahead.

6. Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas 5. Remove the cling film and brush the parcel all over with egg wash. Lightly score the pastry at 1cm intervals (Pic 13) with the back of a small knife for a decorative effect (Pic 14), if you wish. Place on a baking tray, sprinkle with salt and bake for about 35 minutes (Pic 15); if the pastry appears to be browning too quickly, lower the setting slightly. Leave to rest in a warm place for about 15 minutes before cutting into thick slices to serve, with the accompaniments.

To Watch Tutorial video, please visit Gordon Ramsay Beef recipe VideoWellington 

and

Recipe source from: eat.travel.live website

Turkey Breat Roulade stuffed with Mushroom and Spinach 蘑菇菠菜火雞胸卷

It's Christmas time!!! This year, we have organized a X'mas party of 30 adults, 12 kids and 2 babies. I and my friend Christine hosted this great party with great food again. This turkey breast roulade is one of my X'mas dishes that I made this year. I had already did whole turkey just a month ago during Thanksgiving. Therefore, I tried this turkey breast roulade and it is easier to manage the cooking time as well.

Turkey Breast Roulade stuffed with Mushroom and Spinach

Ingredients (serves 6)

1 (3-4 pound) boneless turkey breast or center pork loin
1 package Costco Baby Spinach
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, without stem, minced
2 tablespoons fresh Thyme, without stem, minced
3 tablespoons garlic, minced
8 ounces mushrooms, stems removed and chopped
1-cup bread crumbs
4 teaspoons salt and pepper-divided
1-cup chicken stock
1/2 cup butter, melted and divided
One cup Shredded Chedder Cheese
2 yards of baking cotton string to tie breast

Instructions

Optional: Brine Turkey Breast one day in advance

• Preheat oven to broil to brown roast, then preheat oven to 325.
• Prepare roasting pan with cooking spray or line with aluminum foil.
• Prepare stuffing- Heat 1-tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, mushrooms, spinach and nutmeg, sauté 6 minutes. Add thyme and rosemary sauté for 5 minutes. Stir in bread crumbs. Add salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Butterfly turkey breast, * or ask butcher
• Sprinkle flattened breast with 1½   teaspoons salt and pepper.
• Spread stuffing mixture evenly over the breast, sprinkle with shredded cheese.  On long end of meat, roll tightly into a log. Tie meat with string at 2-inch intervals. Brush meat with remaining olive oil and ¼ cup butter.  Place roll in roasting pan. Pour chicken stock to base on pan. Broil roll until browned.  
• Bake for 90 minutes, basting occasionally. Remove from oven and let stand, covered loosely with foil for 20 minutes. Transfer to serving platter, remove string and slice into ½ -1 inch slices.  Serve with pan juices if desired.

* To butterfly the breast, turn breast on its side and slice down the center, cutting almost but not through. Open breast out flat, and pound turkey to an even thickness with a meat mallet.  Season and fill as recipe directs.

Makes: 6-8 servings

Recipe adapted from: Liz Bushong Website

Hainanese Chicken Rice 海南雞飯

I always found something in fridge that are almost expired especially some leftover ingredients. I found one stalk of lemongrass. It is not enough to make a Tom Yum Soup. If might be enough to use it as marinating some other meats but the easiest way to use it is to cook it with rice. Just add ginger, garlic and shallots and it will make Hainanese Chicken style rice.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

rice 2 cups

1 stalk of lemongrass (Cut into smaller pieces and mash it with a knife(切段拍扁))

3 slices of ginger 

pinch of salt

2 shallots  (cut into thin slices)

4 cloves of Garlic 

1.5-2 cups Chicken stock 

(Use stock from making Hainanese chicken, or you can just use store brought chicken broth if you are cooking the rice alone)

2 tbsp chicken oil (or vegetable oil)

Directions:

1. Rinse the rice with water until the water is clear
2. Discard washing rice water
3. Pour chicken soup stock to rice. The amount of soup is just the same amount of water you use when you cook your normal rice.
4. Heat 2 tbsp of oil. Stir-fry lemongrass, ginger and garlic until brown.
5. Pour everything into rice cooker. Then cook rice in normal setting
6. Discard lemongrass, garlic, ginger and shallots before serving.

To view how to make Hainanese Chicken, please visit my previous blog post for Hainanese Chicken Recipe.

Thai Chicken Satay (Marinade) 泰式雞肉沙爹 (醃法)

How to make and marinade Thai/Malaysian style Chicken Satay:

8-12 skinless chicken thighs, cut into thin strips
1 package wooden skewers

SATAY MARINADE:

1/4 cup minced lemongrass , fresh or frozen
2 shallots OR 1 small onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic
1-2 fresh red chilies, sliced, OR 1/2 tsp. to 1 tsp. cayenne pepper, to taste
1 thumb-size piece galangal OR ginger, thinly sliced
1 tsp. minced fresh turmeric OR 1/2 tsp. dried turmeric
2 Tbsp. ground coriander
2 tsp. cumin
3 Tbsp. dark soy sauce (available at Asian food stores)
4 Tbsp. fish sauce
5-6 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Directions: 

(For step by step version with photos, please visit How to make real Thai chicken satay page)

1. If using wooden skewers, soak them in water while you prepare the meat (to prevent burning). The kitchen sink works well for this.
2. Cut chicken into thin strips and place in a bowl.
3. Place all marinade ingredients in a food processor or chopper. Process well.
4. Taste-test the marinade - you will taste sweet, spicy, and salty. The strongest tastes should be SWEET and SALTY in order for the finished satay to taste its best.Add more sugar or more fish sauce (in place of salt) to adjust the taste. You can also add more chili if you want it spicier.
5. Pour the marinade over the meat and stir well to combine. Allow at least 1 hour for marinating, or longer (up to 24 hours).
6. When ready to cook, thread meat onto the skewers. Tip: Fill up to 3/4 of the skewer, leaving the lower half empty so that the person grilling has a "handle" to easily turn the satay during cooking.
7. Grill the satay on your BBQ, OR on an indoor grill, basting the first time you time it with a little of the leftover marinade from the bottom of the bowl. OR you can broil in the oven on a broiling pan or baking sheet with the oven set to "broil" Place satay close beneath the heating element and turn the meat every 5 minutes until cooked (be sure to soak your wooden satay sticks in water before skewering). Depending on how thin your meat is, the satay should cook in 10 to 20 minutes.

Recipe source: http://thaifood.about.com/od/thairecipes/r/thaichickensate.htm

White wine Clam fresh from the beach (Clam digging picnic lunch) 美國半天掘蜆野餐旅遊

  

August 26, 2014: This is the last week of Summer before school starts. And we planned to have a clam digging trip since the first day of summer holiday way back in June. The closest clam digging beach is Birch Bay at Blaine in Washington state just across the border from Vancouver Canada. There was a red tide/biotoxin warning since the first day of summer break until Aug 21. Finally we can go and have our first time clam digging experience with kids before school starts. It is only an hour travel time from Richmond, Canada to Birch Bay, Blaine US if you have a NEXUS card (like us) to save border waiting time. 

To check for Red Tide warning and Washington state shellfish harvest area, you can go to their Shellfish Safety Map Website: https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/eh/maps/biotoxin/biotoxin.html

 For tide table in Blaine, Washington: http://www.dairiki.org/tides/monthly.php/bln

Tide predictions for other areas in Washington state: http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.html?gid=259#listing

For non US resident, one day shellfish license is $20.15. My friend told me that annual pass is just $35 and you can go unlimited clam digging all year round in any State of Washington beaches. Kids under 15 also need a license but it is free. 

Clams are located 4-5 inches deep down from this rocky beach. You will need a big shovel for faster and easier harvest.

There are restrictions on bringing live and raw shellfishes back into Canada, therefore we brought a BBQ stove and a Hotpot stove for cooking our harvest on site.

We went to Bay Centre Market for shellfish license and also some food for BBQ and ingredients for cooking clams. We bought wiener sausage and a loaf of garlic bread. For cooking the clams, we bought butter, white wine, lemon, lemon and pepper seasoning, and cilantro. I prefer dill but they don't have any fresh herbs except Cilantro. It is better to have garlic too. Unfortunately I cannot find any in the market :(

Today's low tide happened at 12:34 PM.  Perfect time to catch some clams for lunch. We did not dig many because we did not bring proper tools. We only brought some gardening tools and it takes longer time to find good number of clams. Next time we will bring a bigger shovel for more and easier harvest. 

We also grill portions of our harvest. It tasted good too!

Birch Bay State park has washrooms, picnic tables and water all along the beach. It is very convenient.  We wash the clams there and put the clams in bucket of clean water. Leave it for half an hour and let them have enough time to spill out the sands.

 

We got 3 kinds of clams and a few mussels there. Cockle Clams taste the best. But the Manilla Littleneck and butter clams are also delicious.

 

Ingredients:

White wine

Butter

Lemon

Lemon and Pepper seasonings

Garlic (But I cannot find that in market)

Cilantro or dill

Directions:

 Prepare a pot, melt the butter

Sauteed crushed or minced garlic

Put in clams and stir

Pour in White wine, add lemon and cilantro/dill.

 Covered until white wine boiled.

Open cover and stir the clams. Cover again and turn to medium heat.

Served when clams are cooked and opened up.