Stir Fry Scallops with Asparagus and Ginkgo

Today is the 2nd day of Chinese New Year. How has it been goin' for you ?


During Chinese New Year, restaurants usually name their dishes to mark the festive season, and to symbolize good luck, prosperity and peace. For example,

八宝盒 -Eight Treasures - usually assortment of seafood and vegetables in a beancurd pocket
金玉满堂 -Gold Everywhere - usually some egg-fried rice dish with shrimp, and crabmeat
年年高升 -typically a festive goodie "nian gao" 年糕 , meaning "Promotion every year"
富贵有余 -a fish dish; 鱼 and 余 both pronounced "yu" ; with the latter meaning "abundance/excess"
一 路发财 -a dish that often contains black moss vegetable/发菜; 菜 and 财 pronounced "cai" and latter means "money or rich"

代代平安 (Peace and Harmony for Generations) is what I will name a dish, with scallops (带子) in it! For recipe, do check it out here. This is a nice change if you have been feasting excessively and wish for something lighter on the stomach.

Tag: Chinese New Year, vegetables, seafood

Chinese New Year - what it means to you ?

Have An Ox-picious Chinese New Year !


What I did in Chinese New Year 2007 and 2008
Festive dishes, Chinese New Year
Festive dishes - I, Chinese New Year
Festive Goodies, Chinese New Year

Spicy Green Beans with Carrots

Seventh heaven! Seventh helping! Happy events are linked...someway or another. My Legume Love Affair is at its 7th helping. We have got Susan - The Well Seasoned Cook to thank, for bringing us such a wonderful event.

Spicy Green Beans with Carrots
Ingredients: green bean sliced, carrots cubed to bite-sizes, 4-5 shallots sliced, 2-3 garlic minced, 1-2tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp turmeric, butter, salt, 1tbsp oil, freshly ground black pepper, sprinkle of red chili pepper flakes

Directions: Add butter and 1tbsp oil to a frying pan, add in minced garlic, shallots saute till fragrant. Add in green beans, carrots and saute till green beans, carrots and onions are slightly tender/onions caramelized. Add the spices. Salt to taste. Cook for about 10 mins in low-heat pan (note: if too dry, add some water). Add in some freshly ground black pepper and red chili pepper flakes, mix well.


Other simple Indian recipes include:
Indian Green Beans
Indian Spicy Chickpeas

Tag: indian food, green bean

Chicken, Shrimps and Greens - my Stir Fry Pasta lingo!

Mixed seafood in Seafood Mui Fan; seafood in Braised Seafood Soba Noodles; chicken and shrimps in Wat Dan Hor - Rice Noodles with Egg Gravy - I shall make the "chicken and/or seafood" one-dish repertoire more complete by including a Stir-Fry Pasta dish! Cos' I just love this rhythmical lingo - Chicken, Shrimps and Greens !


Stir Fry Pasta with Chicken, Shrimps and Greens
Ingredients:
Shrimps, bite-size sliced chicken pieces, minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste, green leafy vegetable (Note: I use Basella Alba that I have also used in Shrimp Fried Rice before), pasta cooked according to instructions

Directions:
1. In a lightly oiled pan, saute the minced garlic, and saute the green vegetables. When they are partially tender(soft), dish out, set aside
2. Add in chicken, saute for 3-5mins, then add in shrimps. By the time the shrimps turn pink and are cooked, the chicken will be cooked as well. (Note: cooking time of chicken depends on size of chicken pieces). Salt and pepper to taste.
3. Add in some chicken broth/water to simmer. When broth starts to reduce, add in cooked pasta, vegetables, then mix well in the pan. When the broth(flavors) gets mostly absorbed into the pasta, dish out and serve immediately. Garnish with sliced red chili.


This goes to Ivy at Kopiaste, the host for Presto Pasta Night this week.

Tag: pasta, stir fry, seafood pasta

Vegetarian food, Ukiah, California

At Ukiah, California


The vegetarian restaurant location within the temple.


Enjoying a happy meal with friends :)

This is a continuation from Trip to California 18-30 Dec 2008.

Tag: vegetarian, ukiah

Mushroom Creamy Pasta

I hope 2009 brings with me new recipes and motivates me further in participating in blog events I truly love and enjoy.

Presto Pasta Night is one blog event I truly love. Though I don't take part every week, I dare say it is still the blog event that gets most of my postings/entries. This week, PPN returns to Ruth and I wanted to start the new year with something new. Well, cream-based pasta is not new, yes. But it is relatively new for me when it appears on my dinner table since I am definitely a tomato-based pasta person - Ragu sauce, Bolognese, Arrabiata...always my preferred.

So here I am, having a go at cream-based pasta.

Mushroom Creamy Pasta
Ingredients: pasta, butter, olive oil, onions, fresh mushrooms, herbs (oregano), freshly ground black pepper, whole milk, cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Butter and oil saute pan
2. Add onions and saute till soft
3. Add in mushrooms and saute till onions caramelize and mushrooms before soft
4. Add in some freshly ground black pepper and herbs
5. Before adding in cooked pasta to mix with, add in milk. Simmer, then add in cooked pasta and stir till sauce reduced
6. Top with cheddar cheese (or any melting cheese)


As you see, I like to serve my pasta with Chinese vegetables. Ha ha!

Now I have overcome my fear of cooking cream-based pasta. I used to think it will always turn out lumpy and dry because of the milk and cheese but no, I am wrong. It can be moist and saucy too! Yay! Just make sure to serve immediately and don't leave it to cool down.

Tag: pasta, mushroom, cream based pasta

P.S.Most of you were right. There are indeed three peacocks here.

A Wikipedia for online shopping

Due to the recent financial crisis, we have seen consumers cut down on spending. We have also seen site merchants closing down physical stores and appearing online to do business. Why not? Online business offers a way to cut operating costs. A good online shopping site like ShopWiki not only offers relevant search results in the product of your interest, it also gives a detailed product description so that, YOU, the consumer knows what you are buying into with an extensive list of merchants and partners.

As a person who would one day want a dream kitchen with dream kitchen appliances and kitchen furnishings, I dived down into the cooktop buying guide. Why? Because observations have told me some kitchens come pre-installed with electric stovetops and I simple dislike it. I am for the gas stove! I thought it was better for temperature control while cooking. Anyhow, the Shopwiki site has information on the pros and cons of different cooktops. You can jolly well read up before you buy anything. There are also refrigerator buying guide, oven buying guide, and more.

This site is simply the one for online shoppers like me - a well integrated site which provides the kind of information that consumers wants.

Dungeness crabs, wontons and coffee cake in California plus peacock spotting

Even when my recent trip to California was a short one, it meant much more. Each time we are back in California, we behave less and less like visitors. We do not head towards touristy attractions such as Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf or Union Square shopping in San Francisco. Instead, we simply enjoy the basics of returning back home - do my favorite grocery shopping in Trader Joes and Whole Foods; appreciate the company of friends and taste a good breakfast coffee cake at Hobees. Don't ask me about accomplishments in this trip as there are none. We are with friends most of the times - DIY steaming and savoring dungeness crabs at a friend's place, making and slurping on delicious wontons dumplings at the same friend's place, and even taking a Christmas trip to Las Vegas with the same group of friends. AHhhh, life's simple pleasures. What is new? You ask. Even the jet lag I am experiencing currently, is not new.

How many peacocks can you spot? ~ Taken at City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, Ukiah, California

OK. We visited Ukiah, California for the first time - where City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is. That's new. A visit not for religious reasons but just to know more about this place that Richard Gere and Orlando Bloom have visited. We were amazed such a place existed in California. Ignorant, we were. More photos to come, stay tuned.

Plus more food, cooking and recipes in this new year, of course.

New Year resolution ? - hope my dream/resolution come true!

Tag: wontons, dungeness crab