Chili Tuna and Corn Pasta

I love simple recipes that taste good (who does not?). I almost felt embarrassed to post something which was basically "assembled". But then I reckon that simple ideas that give flavor to food would not turn most people away. So, this is my easy Chili Tuna and Corn Fusili for Presto Pasta Nights - this week is back to my favorite blog host, Ruth from Once upon a Feast.



Pasta is always a fall-back for worker bees, in my opinion. When I was working, I was even lazy and tired to fry Chinese green vegetables. What I often do is to blanch them before consumption. Too bland? Mix them as a salad, with a flavored gravy/sauce from another dish.

In this recipe, when the corn kernels and chili tuna are mixed with blanched vegetables and cooked pasta, you get the sweetness from corn, spice and savory from tuna to blend with the natural light flavors of vegetables. The vegetables and pasta absorbs the flavors every well and finally, a well-balanced dish in terms of taste, color and even nutrition.

Chili Tuna and Corn Fusili
Ingredients: Canned tuna; corn kernels, fresh or drained from a can; blanched vegetables, sliced to smaller pieces; cooked fusili (or any shell pasta)

Directions: Place cooked pasta, corn kernels, tuna and vegetables in a deep mixing bowl and mix gently and thoroughly



A little spice walks us through gradually when temperatures start to show signs of dropping for the next few months.

Tag: tuna, corn, pasta

Wontons (Dumplings) in Chicken Soup

I have been yearning for soup more often than before. I just find it too comforting.

Wonton dumplings in MSG-laden soup or plain bland "natural broth" labeled as "water"? NO! When it is home-cooked, we can't be doing that.


Homemade wontons in homemade chicken soup, courtesy of S.

We do not need the most expensive food such as sharks fin and bird's nest to define the quality of life. Often, simple matters like a bowl of nutritious and warm chicken soup with homemade wontons that makes a person happy and satisfied when defining a meal. Savoring such comfort food in your own cozy corner, without the noise and clamor of a mad rush is just...LIFE.

Simple.

Also try this Gojiberry Chicken Soup to boost your immunity for the cold/flu season. This soup is just TOO GOOD.!

Tag: wonton, dumplings, chicken soup

A comprehensive online ShopWiki buying guide

Talk about merchants and retailers paying premium to grocery stores and supermarkets in order to get their products on the shelves, especially at the most "eye-catching" and eye-level position to grab the easy attention of shoppers and consumers; many online shopping sites are subjected to similar tactics too. As a smart shopper on-site at grocery stores, I would often look at products at the bottom of the shelves since this is where I tend to get bargains. Likewise to online shopping, ShopWiki discovers stores on the internet by crawling the web and not being paid for product placement by online merchants and retailers. In such a way, the product offerings at ShopWiki tend to be unbiased and shoppers also get a comprehensive range of products to choose from.

ShopWiki also provides a good "how-to" guide when selecting each product. For example, before purchasing your kitchen pots and pans, you can seek out the type of pan (material, size, weight) for your cooking style and needs, then proceed to select the pan or pot of your choice. Their guide on How to Buy Refrigerators and How to Buy Washers and Dryers definitely serve as handy reminders for consumers like myself who tend to forget about the size, features and practical functions about the appliances while easily swayed by the design and brand, when selecting and purchasing kitchen appliances.

Butternut Squash Soup - "pumpkin" season, never too early for it

While fresh figs are almost disappearing, pumpkins and squash are coloring the scene yellow, orange, and gold. Remember the baked butternut squash fries I made last time? I also kept some of the butternut squash to make a soup. This recipe is just good for coming Fall.


And if you do not have a food processor or blender to puree the butternut squash, do not worry. This is a trick you can use. Steam the butternut squash (skin already removed and flesh cut into cubes) for 10 to 15 minutes till soften. Then place the softened butternut squash into a deep bowl and mash the squash with a fork, till a slightly chunky puree forms.


Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients: Butter; 1/2 butternut squash, pureed; 1-2 cups whole milk; pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper; pinch of ground cumin

Directions: In a heated pan/pot, add butter. When butter melts slightly, add butternut squash puree and add milk (bit by bit, "eyeballing"), then stir till soup texture forms (Note: It depends on the texture you prefer. If you want more chunky and thick soup, add less milk). Add pinch of ground cumin, then pinch of salt and black pepper. Mix well. Garnish with baked butternut squash fries.

Enjoy.

Tag: soup, butternut squash

Figs(无花果) and Brie Cheese on Crackers

Fig season will be over soon??!?!?! I'm learning to appreciate fresh figs more and more. They are high in dietary fiber, potassium and manganese. While dried figs are available throughout the year, California figs are available from June through September. In Chinese cuisine, dried figs (known as 无花果 ) are usually added in soups to add natural sweetness. I love the fresh and dried figs, almost equally.


One easy snack I make out of fresh figs - small dollops of creamy brie cheese and fresh figs on top of crackers. The textures and flavors of brie and the flesh of fresh figs are...A Perfect Match!

Also remember: when you buy dried figs, get those dried ones which are un-sulfured. My favorite organic stores such as Trader Joes and Whole Foods Markets have un-sulfured dried figs. Of course, get the fresh ones too. I usually get two punnets of fresh ones when they go on sale ($2.99/lb) at Whole Foods.

Tag: fig

How to cook instant noodles? WhAat? Do we really need a post for this?

Contrary to believing that cooking instant noodles is (almost) idiot-proof, it is not.


Some see the water to a full boil, add in the noodles, and bring to a re-boil to cook it.
Some add the noodles before the waters comes to a full boil, then further cook it to a boil.
Some (who choose to use the seasoning pack) throw in the seasoning pack at the last of the cooking process.
Some choose NOT to use the seasoning pack.
Some blanch the noodles to rid the "oil" in the noodles (since the noodles might have been pre-fried in the manufacturing process) before adding it to boiling water to cook it again.
Some like to cook the noodles till soft.
Some prefer to cook it "just right' and leave a springy texture to the noodles (equivalent to al-dente)

I like to cook my instant noodles this way: Do without the seasoning pack and drop an egg to the noodles when the noodles are half-cooked. Lightly stir the egg into the noodles till both noodles and egg are just cooked. No soft mushy overcooked noodles for me, please!

WHAT IS YOUR WAY?



Tag: instant noodles

Bamboo Shoot Dumplings: 笋粿, Soon Kueh

笋粿 (pronounced Shun Guo, in Mandarin), most often known as Soon Kueh (a Hokkien/ Teochew pronunciation) in Singapore/Malaysia, is a semi-circular-shaped steamed Chinese dumpling originated as a Teochew (Chaochou) savory snack. Literally translated, these are also called bamboo shoot dumplings due to the bamboo shoot fillings in the dumplings. The flour dough/skin wrapping the fillings is made of rice flour.

Though we loosely call them "bamboo shoot dumplings", the versions sold in food stalls nowadays have fillings made of turnip (jicama) instead of bamboo shoots. Bamboo shoot - eh...that shall be the weekend plant for Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Haalo from Cook(almost) Anything.

Bamboo shoots are low in fat and sodium, yet high in fiber, minerals and vitamins. In Chinese medicine, bamboo shoot is believed to lead to excretion and thus sometimes considered a means of detoxification (and even help you lose weight!). To this extent, some aspects of Chinese medicine even believes that if one is on medication, bamboo shoots must be avoided as the shoots will neutralize the effects of the drugs. In the US, bamboo shoots are usually canned and 99.9% of canned bamboo shoots has a foul-smell (ermmmm...most canned bamboo shoots smells terrible, to me). You can find fresh bamboo shoots in Asian supermarkets in parts of the US but beware - you must know how to cook fresh bamboo shoots as they are toxic when raw.

To make bamboo shoot (or turnip) dumplings, shredded bamboo shoots (or turnips) are usually fried with garlic, pork, dried shitake mushrooms, dried shrimps and then seasoned with salt and white pepper. These fillings are then wrapped in a semi-circular rice flour skin dough and further steamed to cook the dough and fillings.



In Singapore/Malaysia, we usually eat these dumplings with dark sweet sauce and chili condiments.

Tag: bamboo shoot, dumplings

Freezer-Friendly Food

Do you freeze cooked food? If so, what kind of cooked food do you freeze? For me, cooked vegetables are definitely a no-no. However, I find that pasta sauce freezes really well and it helps worker-bees a great deal when they can cook batches of pasta sauce during the weekend, freeze the sauce, and re-heat the sauce during the weekdays after work.

What kind of food do you freeze? And how do you freeze them to ensure freshness is "locked"? Airtight containers...what else?

Tag: freezer friendly, pasta sauce

Chicken Macaroni

Each time I return to Presto Pasta Nights, I can't wait to share my comfort food with our lovely host - Ruth from Once Upon a Feast.


Not that I have not cooked Chicken Macaroni before, but each time I unveil a simpler recipe, it makes me happy. This time I merely use chicken, celery and carrot, and the final dish is still full of flavor yet light on the tummy.

Chicken Macaroni
Ingredients: 1-2 chicken leg (interchange 1 chicken leg with chicken backbones), 4-5 stalks celery, thinly sliced; 1 small carrot, thinly sliced, cooked macaroni, salt and white pepper to taste, green onions to garnish

Directions:
1. Blanch chicken in hot water. Set aside chicken and discard water.
2. Boil water (sufficient to immerse chicken) in a pot. When boiling, add in chicken, celery and carrots boil for 15 minutes. Then reduce heat and allow it to simmer at low heat for about 1 hr till chicken is cooked. Add salt to taste.
3. Ladle chicken soup over the macaroni, add white pepper, garnish with green onions and serve immediately.

Tag: macaroni, chicken macaroni