While mommy is away....5/8/14

魚香茄子

煎雞翼

蒜蓉炒A菜

While mommy is away.....5/15/14

吉列雞扒跟粟米蔬菜汁

While mommy is away....5/13/14

蒸三文魚頭

韓式牛仔骨

蒸豆腐

菜

While mommy is away....5/5/14

蘆筍雜菌炒肥牛

Pork Ribs with Black Beans Sauce

While mommy is away...5/4/14

電飯煲沙薑雞脾

While Mommy is away... 4/28/14

豬扒

三文魚

菜

While Mommy is away...4/27/14

Mom is away for a month which means I have to take up cooking for the family.

皮蛋鹹蛋蒸肉餅

雞翼

清炒西蘭花

Egg Tarts

Preheat oven to 450F
For the shell
8oz Butter (melted) - 2 sticks
3 1/2 oz Sugar - 7 tablespoon
1 Egg
12oz All Purpose Flour - 1.5 cups

Wisk egg, sugar and butter togetherAdd flour and make doughWrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for later use (approx. 30 mins)Roll out dough and cut into rounds (or simply press into tins) to fill tins (wrap dough in plastic to ease rolling)

For the custard:2 Eggs
40g Sugar - 2.5 tablespoon
250g Milk - 1 cup

Wisk EggsBring milk to boil (very important to have HOT milk). Add Sugar to hot milk.Pour milk/sugar into Eggs and stir constantlyAfter the liquid is mixed wellFill shells and bake 15-20 minutes or until you see the edge of the shell appear crispy/golden

Sausage Spaghetti with Garlic Sauce

This is my attempt to recreate the spaghetti that I had at UCC cafe...and I totally just guessed on how to make the sauce and it turned out pretty good =D

Ingredient

Enough for 4 Servings

your choice of pasta

10 hot dogs (I used nathan dogs) cut up Octopus style *just like how the japanese does it*

20 mushrooms (sliced)1 yellow onion (sliced)

4 cloves of garlic (sliced)*

1 can chicken stock

3/4 cup milk

3 tablespoon all purpose flour

cook your pasta al dente and don't forget to season the pasta with little salt and little olive oil to help it from sticking. strain and set aside.

heat pan then add about 2 tablespoon of butter, sautee the onion until semi-translucent, add it mushroom and cook for several minutes. dish up and set aside

In the same pan cook hot dogs until browned

For the sauce

Sautee garlic in a hot pan with a little oil

Add in chicken stock and let cook with garlic to get the flavor

turn to medium heat and add milk then slowly add in flour to thinken the sauce

scoop up garlic and discard (unless you like garlic chucks in your pasta)

transfer hot dogs, mushrooms and onions to sauce add salt and pepper to taste and let it cook for 2 minutes

pour sauce over pasta, serve and enjoy.

* like garlic? add more!

Omelette Rice

I've been on a hiatus but I'm back, I think. Not that I haven't been cooking...I have, really. It's just that I didn't feel like blogging cuz 1. my computer went ka-put and had to be revived by my in-house computer geek and 2. i'm just too lazy to take pics of the food then write about it and 3. i.just.didn't.wanna....

In preparation of the hopeful Japan trip at the end of year (that's another story) I've decided *ahem, since last night* that I'll be making stuff that are Japanese cuisine inspired until I really get to go to Japan *fingers crossed* ~ oh, i've been doing that a lot lately ~

So, this is it for Japanese inspired cuisine *tada* Omelette Rice! I actually watched a video on how to make it on youtube because it really "looked" intimidating ...not the fried rice part but the egg part. i mean wrapping rice inside an egg wrapper?!?!?! I can make a decent fried egg but wasn't sure if I was able to make an egg wrap without poking holes in it.

Beef & Mushroom Fried Rice (I can't really list the quantity of each item cuz I didn't measure)

thinly sliced beef

one chopped yellow onion

sliced mushrooms

2 stalks of green onion, chopped

2 cups (approx) rice - left over rice are the best

ketchup

salt and pepper to taste

Marinate the beef with some salt, sugar, and pepper

In a pan, sautee onion until semi-translucent add beef and while it's still pink add mushroom and sautee for a minute or so. dish up and put aside.

Add more oil in the pan and add rice. Using the back of the spatular press down on the rice (this way the rice will separate and won't get broken up, never jab it with the spatular it will cause the rice to break up....unless you're going for the broken rice effect) and cook for about 3 minutes under medium heat.

Push the rice to the side of the pan and add about 3 tablespoon of ketchup to the pan and let the ketchup cook for a little bit (cooking the ketchup brings out the color and make it more vibrant when mixed with the rice *so the dude said on youtube*) before stirring it over the rice. Add meat/onion/mushroom into rice..salt and pepper to taste. Do a taste test at this point and see if you need to add more seasoning or ketchup. Add green onion and turn off heat and prepare the egg wrap.

Egg Wrap

Wisk eggs (2 eggs per wrap) with salt

Add oil to pan and let heat up and test the oil to see if it's ready by adding a tiny tiny drop of egg in the pan. if the egg begins to bubble immediately the pan is hot enough turn down to medium heat add eggs in the pan and swirl it around to make sure it covers the entire bottom of the pan. Let it sit *don't attempt to stir it - leave it alone* until you see the top of the eggs begin to set

Scoop some fried rice onto the middle of the pan and keep it in an oval shape (like a football)

Slowly *i mean slowly!* fold one side of the wrap over.

Tilt the pan so the folded side slides to the side of the pan then the other side of the egg will separate from the side of the pan easily and making it easier to fold over the other side and you should end up with an oval shaped wrap

Slowly pour the wrapped fried rice and catch it with a plate

Squeeze more ketchup over egg. Serve and enjoy!

Beef Tripe in Black Bean Sauce

I've been on a hiatus from cooking and baking since I've picked up some other hobbies, went on a trip to Hong Kong, and other happenings in life including, a very sick family member, a death of a friend, or just haven't had the mood, which mostly is just - that.

I was roaming around the market scratching my head on what to make for dinner besides the usual (which lately it'd been hot pot cause it requires no effort) I spotted some beef tripe and thought, hey, why not? If you don't know what that is, it's cow's stomach.

Ingredients:
One package of Beef Tripe
2 medium Yellow Onions
2 medium Bell Peppers
3 cloves Garlic (minced)
2 tablespoon of Fermented Black Beans
Chilly Peppers (according to how spicy you can take it, I used 2)
Cornstarch for thickening the sauce

Prep:
Wash and drain Beef Tripe
Soak fermented black beans in hot water
Cut up peppers, onions and chilly peppers

Method:
Blanch tripe in a pan until done (when it curls up, they're done. don't overcook)
Sauteed the garlic with about 2 tablespoon of oil for approx one minute
Add onion and brown
Add bell peppers and cook until semi-done
Add chilly peppers
Add black beans and cook continue to stir-fry everything for one minute
Add in tripe and stir fry mixing everything evenly
You should get some sauce at the bottom of your pan from the bell peppers but if there's not enough, you can add about 2-3 tablespoon of water
Thicken sauce with cornstarch water

Done!

Lor-Bat-Go (Radish Cake)

Another traditional creation for Chinese New Year, Lor-Bat-Go.
This is my Dad's recipe....which means there's no measurement. He learned it from Grandma when he was a young boy and passed the recipe onto my mom and I learned it by standing around the kitchen while he was showing mom how to make it. He had his little secrets for this recipe, all the radishes must be purchased from Korean markets since according to Dad they had the best radishes. When I was getting my ingredients, I went to 99 Ranch thinking they would have some lovely looking radishes cuz every-other-chinese-household are probably making Lor-Bat-Go for the new year. BUT..... all the radishes there were skinny and sad looking....probably due to the fact that all the other families got their radishes last week while I had to wait for till the last minute.....oh well, off to the Korean markets I went...and these are what I found.
This radish was the smallest I bought of all three...ok, so Daddy's right....his little secret ingredient does put the radishes at 99 Ranch to shame. Off to work I went...peeling and dicing and more peeling and dicing. After some intense labor..I had the stove top with the wok and a 3 layer steamer and the oven going baking Nin-go all at the same time...pretty impressive, huh =P....
and more pics of the process....

I don't usually cook with the wok but today, I had to break it out since I had so many radishes to cook up.
Ingredients:
5lbs Radish
1 package of chinese sausage
2lbs Rice Flour
20 +/- black mushrooms
5 +/- dried scallops
salt and pepper to taste

sautee the sausages with mushroom
cook the radish with dried scallops, add water and salt to taste. cover and cook until soft
Add sausages to radishes, stir well
Add flour, stir well
Add mixture to pan and steam for approx 40 minutes

Nin-Go (Mochi Cake)

It's Chinese New Year and what's new year without nin-go? This year I opted for the white nin-go instead of the tradition brown ones made with candied sugar.

This is equally good as the traditional steamed brown nin-go and probably equally as fattening...but who cares... it is the new year after all! Gung Hey Fat Choy everyone!

I took one to work and shared with coworkers and next thing I know they've placed orders with me. So here goes...Curly-Wurly's Kitchen is in business!!

Blueberry Mousse Cheesecake

Hubby didn't want to cut the Mario Kart cake since I spent so much time on it so I baked another cake for cutting and I wanted something with mousse. I picked up a bag of frozen organic blueberries a while back and thought I would make a blueberry mousse cheesecake. I combined about 3 recipes together to make this cheesecake.

Ingredient and method for the cheesecake:

Crust -
Mix together
1 1/4 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
5 tbsp. Margarine, melted

Using back of large spoon or spatula press crumb mixture firmly on bottom of 9" spring form pan
Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes

Cheesecake -
3 package Cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar (i used 3/4 cup)
2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup heavy cream

Beat cream cheeese, sugar and vanilla in standing mixer on high until well blended
add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended
add heavy cream
pour into crust
bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until center is almost set

Blueberry Mousse -
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 bag frozen blueberries
2 envelopes Gelatin

Blend blueberries in blender
Whip cream with sugar
add in blueberries
add gelatin and mix until well blended
pour on top of cheesecake and refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours before serving

I loved how this cheesecake tasted!

Mario Kart Birthday Cake

After lots and lots and lots of fondant.......and rolling and kneading and rolling and kneading and more rolling and kneading and getting my hands stained. This is what I came up with for hubby's birthday.

what's inside? Three layers of yellow cake, the bottom is a 8" cake with two 5" cake stacked on top.

Roasted Pork (Siew Yuk)

My siew yuk looks good doesn't it? I'm really proud of myself on how it turned out.

This is super yummy and it's not very hard to make, just a little time consuming since it's a 2 days process.

Ingredients and method:

Day 1
2-lbs slab of Pork Belly - clean and scrape off little hairs (if any) from the skin of the pork belly using a small sharp knife
Wash and pat dry
Place the pork belly on the chopping board then stab the entire piece of pork belly using a meat stabber (or a sharp knife)

The marinate (i didn't really measure so the following is a guesstimate)
1 tablespoon Chinese Rice cooking wine (rub on first)
Mix in a separate bowl and rub on pork belly:
1/2 tablespoon Five Spice Powder
1/2 tablespoon Dry Ginger Powder
2 teaspoon Chicken Flavor Bouillion Powder
3 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoon Sugar
Rub with marinate and leave in fridge uncovered overnight

Day 2 - AM
Using a meat hook, hang the pork belly so it can air-dry for at least 4-5 hours. I hung it on my kitchen cabinet over the sink before I left for work and the pork belly was dry and ready to be placed in the oven after work

Day 2 - PM
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Please the pork belly on a rack (i used my non-stick cooling rack) and another tray underneath to catch all the dripping fat (I wrapped the tray with foil for easy cleaning)
Bake for at least 40 minutes then change your oven setting to broil to crisp the skin. It's ok if the skin is charred you can use a steak knife to scrap off the burnt parts and discard. Once you turn to broil, the top skin should start to bubble and separate and it should look crispy. I dabbed the top of the skin with paper towel often to soak up excess fats to help the "bubbling" process. Make sure you monitor this stage very closely since you don't want to overcook the top skin. I opened the oven door to let the heat escape a little every minute. Once you see the top is all nice, golden brown and bubbly/crispy looking, your Siew Yuk is ready.

Take out from the oven and let it sit for a little bit before chopping it up.
Enjoy!

Rhubarb & Apple Crumble

Rhubarb and Apple crumble is extra yummy in this chilly weather...altho my eastcoast friends might not agree with me that Cali does get chilly...I've added oatmeal into the topping and it made the topping chewy. I love the sweet and tart combination from the apples and the rhubarb. I almost forgot to take a picture since I had already scooped up some and took a few bites before I remembered to take a pic; hence, you don't see the entire baking dish. I think I will be making this over and over again....yes, it's that good.

and here's picture of the birthday girl enjoying her Miffy cookie...

Miffy Butter Cookies

Using the animal cookies recipe I made these bunny cookies for one of my favoriate young friend's first birthday. Thanks to the help of Gloria and her wonderful granite top-stainless steel appliances kitchen. I just love her kitchen....I told hubby I want a kitchen just like hers =P

Double Chocolate Chip Muffins

Back to work this week and I wanted to have breakfast ready to grab in the morning so I made a batch of these yummy and easy to make chocolate muffins. Can never have too much chocolates in the morning =P

ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 large egg
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 tsp salt

method:
In a standing mixer with paddle attachment, whisk egg, milk and butter together
In a separate mixing bowl mix all dry ingredients and pour into wet mixture with the mixer set on low
Turn mixer to medium setting and let incorporate completely
Add in chocolate chips and mix on low speed until well incorporated
Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter and bake in preheated 400 degrees oven for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poke in middle
yield 12 muffins