Garland Chrysanthemum, Tong-Ho or 茼蒿

To me, Tong-Ho 茼蒿 means hotpot! At least, that is what happens in Singapore, or rather in my family. The only time we have Tong-Ho is during Chinese New Year since this is the best time to find us enjoying hotpot.

I never found out more about Tong-Ho 茼蒿 (and other ways to cook it other than in soups!) till recently when I was sick for the whole month of February and March - down and out, attacked by some strange cold or allergy bug that caused me to cough like mad (accompanied by nasal congestion).

Then one day, my friend prepared a dish of Tong-Ho 茼蒿 Salad (almost similar to how this Chinese Celery and Tofu Salad - 芹菜拌香干 was prepared), asking me to try; and at the same time told me Tong-Ho 茼蒿 is quite good in relieving cough (reducing phelgm).

Continue Reading >>

Kale-Red Bell Pepper Pasta Sauce

Green, red, yellow, orange bell peppers - Red Bell Pepper has one of the highest ANDI (short for Aggregate Nutrient Density Index) among all. So it did not take me too long to pick some red bell peppers from the grocery stores. Though not at its peak season, I still wanted some "red/orange" food in my meals, other than sweet potatoes and tomatoes.

So for the same reason, I pick the bell pepper which is better nutrient-dense and leave the other colors when the time is right.

I enjoy adding bell peppers when I cook omelette or in stir-fries. Never did I try making a red pepper pasta sauce (though I know there are store-bought roasted red pepper sauces available) before, as I am always in  my comfort zone of preparing tomato-based sauces.

SO today, I bring you a sauce - built with intense flavors, nutritious, healthy:  Spinach Fettuccine in Kale-Red Pepper Sauce. It is a vegetarian pasta sauce all of you can do at home with your own tweaks of using the kind of vegetables you love.What favorite vegetables of yours would you use?


My homemade pasta sauce is made from: red bell peppers, grape tomatoes, kale leaves, garlic, onion, cumin, turmeric and a lil' curry powder. The sprices are not new, coming from me.

Continue Reading >>

Portobello Mushrooms Egg Omelette Open-Face

An omelette can be as bright as the omelette rainbow; yet as "dark" as this. Welcome to the "dark" side which is apparently good.

I have been bringing you many simple recipes, fit for home-cooking because that is just what I cook at home. Of course, the portobello mushroom was on sale, I bought one for about $2 and cook it very simply.

Continue Reading >>

Ginger-Sesame Oil Steamed Chicken

Lazy lazy lazy! Sorry to put you through such no-pride-cooking. Laziness can be a double-edge sword. Either you totally depend on take-outs and convenience food OR you devise new easy ways of cooking ALMOST...EVERYTHING. The parchment-steamed vegetables is one example of "leveraging on laziness". This is another example.

And because I chose good quality organic chicken, the natural flavors of chicken were allowed to shine. Organic chicken really taste better (the freshness, more flavorful)! Errr, or is it just me ?

I bought the organic chicken wings from WholeFoods Market. I usually request the butcher at the meat counter to carve the wings at the joints for me so that it is easier for me (half the food prep. done!) when it comes to cooking at home.

Continue Reading >>

Parchment-Steamed Vegetables - Fresh, Easy

As much as I enjoy stir-fry vegetables, I do not feel like doing it sometimes. Lazy! What else? There is always a pan/wok to wash - no matter how "clean" the cooking can be.

And I cannot possibly blanch everything. Well, broccoli or cauliflower...yes, ok, blanching. But what about zucchini and red bell peppers? I can't blanch those!

So I resort to parchment-steamed veggies. Parchment so that I can retain as much moisture as possible; and parchment so that I don't have to even wash any dishes. Ha, laziness to the max. but to my advantage!

Continue Reading >>

"All-The-Balls" Pasta Mushroom Balls and Meatballs

"All-The-Balls" Pasta! Sounds really lame, low-class, unruly crude or obnoxiously rude - a plate of bad words!

But it looks like it ? No?


Can you guess what those crispy balls are, among the other obvious-looking meatballs?

Continue Reading >>

Did Dr. Oz wear a scrub?

Who looks best in medical scrubs? As far as I am concerned, it's Dr. Oz. Fortunately, I don't get to visit doctors and nurses often. The only time I get to see them is on TV. And those uniforms and scrubs really give the medical team of doctors and nurses a sense of professionalism.

Continue Reading >>

Napa Cabbage Hulled Barley Soup

Currently, we are experiencing wintry weather as a way to welcome Spring. What a damper!

And staying home to cook a hearty soup is my way to welcome the rain, winds and Spring. I am using these YIFON mushrooms in this everyday home-cooked fare. To have a little spice factor - I combined some Spicy Bailing Mushrooms - 白灵菇 and some Assorted Mushrooms-三味菇 in a vegetables and barley soup.

Practice makes perfect. I think I am getting better at creating tasty vegetarian dishes. Nah, vegetarian dishes are not bland. In fact, they can be flavorsome and delicious...ahem...speaking from this non-vegetarian here. And seriously, it is not difficult to develop flavors in vegetarian dishes. It is not the (huge) amount of oil you have to use. And you don't have to over-depend on excessively-rich, heavy hot sauces.

How then?

Continue Reading >>

HSN Cooks Spring Weekend Event, by Bon Appétit

I am frantically searching if I have HSN channel on my TV as the biggest cooking event of the season, HSN Cooks Spring Weekend Event presented by Bon Appétit will be on March 26-27, 2011.



Watch world-renowned chefs, including Wolfgang Puck, Emeril Lagasse, Padma Lakshmi, and many others with their line-of-products, kitchen gadgets and entertaining ideas, at this event. While searching for the HSN channel, I am also thinking how the gift card provided by HSN can be put into good use - maybe some Under $15 Kitchen Specials or Clearance Kitchen and Dining Items.

If you wish to have more info. of this event telecast (and programming schedule) on HSN, check out HSN Cooks Spring Weekend Event, and join me in looking out for special kitchen and dining deals at HSN.com too! So fun!

Tag: HSN Cooks Spring Weekend Event

An Escape to Food on Facebook

Cabbage Chayote Stir-Fry

Once in a while, we have those "clearing out the fridge" days. Before leaving for a short vacation. Too bored with what's in the fridge. A fridge in need of a makeover. To find new inspiration.

How often do you have THOSE days?

I made this by clearing out the cabbage and chayote in my fridge. It is not hard to guess why Cabbage and Chayote. They are relatively hardy vegetables that keep longer in the fridge, so naturally when it is clearing out time, there they are!

Food taste different with tomatoes. Food taste different when you add tomatoes first. Food taste different when you add tomatoes last. Sorry for my stupid talk. Sorry for my monologue.

Continue Reading >>

Steamed Cakes - 蒸鸡蛋糕

Alas. Desserts.

Finally. Cakes.

I seldom (never) bake. So my bad, for not paying attention to details. I can only focus on making the cake work, not make it beautiful. I drop some chocolate chips to the bottom of some of those molds (to get some chocolate versions), pour the cake batter over, and allow it to steam.  My Steamed Egg Cupcakes 鸡蛋糕 - made simply with egg/flour batter. Find it at Chapter 19 : Desserts - Steamed Egg Cupcakes in The Everything Rice Cooker Cookbook (Everything Series)


The other egg-dessert that you may want to try is Steamed Egg and Milk Custard/Steamed Milk Pudding. It is not difficult to make your own at home. Previously, I made another version of egg-custard: Steamed Ginger Egg Custard (姜汁炖蛋.

The only "special tool" you need is a steamer (of course, rice cooker with steamer insert, works too).





Tag: rice cooker, rice cooker cakes, steamed cakes

An Escape to Food on Facebook

Garlic Oregano Roasted Potatoes, Wheat-Germ Crumbed Potatoes

I cannot believe I did four different dishes with those Tasteful Selections potatoes. First I did steamed potatoes, then a purple passion stir-fry, some out-of-the-norm potato cutlets and this duo of roasted potatoes.


"Killing one ingredient (potatoes) with two recipes" here:

First was Garlic-Oregano Roasted Sunrise Medley Potatoes


then was: Wheat-Germ Crumbed Roasted Salt and Pepper Purple Passion


Partially cook the potatoes in wedges. Parboil or steam works for me. Then toss potatoes in a bowl with extra virgin olive oil, minced garlic, oregano, sea salt and pepper.


Preheat oven 400F. Roast potatoes for 30-40mins. At the halfway mark, remove the tray of potatoes and dollop wheat-germ crumbs over the purple potatoes. Then continue to roast the potatoes.

At the end, the potato duo is out for My Meatless Mondays and Hearth and Soul.

Tag: potatoes, roasted potatoes

Bell Peppers Stuffed Leftover Curry Rice

Had some leftover curry and rice the previous night and decided to make stuffed bell peppers using the leftover as "stuffing" - yes, the curry and rice as the "stuffing". This is a clever way to make a new one-dish meal with leftovers. You get to add more vegetables the next day without sweating through another round of cooking.

Get the idea? By doing this: I added two different vegetables the next day.

First, the bell pepper (red bell pepper is wrinkle-fighting food due to high content of Vit. C). Then the green beans that incarnates as finely diced beans sprinkles over the "stuffing" of leftover curry + rice before baking.



(1) Place the halved bell pepper on the lined baking tray
(2) Mix up the leftover curry with the leftover rice
(3) Stuff them in the bell pepper
(4) Sprinkle the diced green beans over the rice
(5) Drizzle some olive oil over the stuffed red peppers
(6) Roast the red peppers in the oven

Continue Reading >>

Collard Greens Noodle Salad Japchae

I tried Lacinato kale for the first time the other day. Well, the kale that I have been talking about and cooking with previously is green kale (with curly leaves). You know what? I may actually prefer Lacinato kale (flatter leaves) as the leaves cooked faster and more tender than green kale.

I digress.

It is about collard greens today.





Remember the stir-fry of collard greens I have done with cabbage previously?


Well, I have turned it into a one-dish noodle creation - kinda typical of my style. No surprise.

I used Wang Korean Sweet Potato Starch Noodle, the same noodle used for my home-style Japchae. And this "collard green noodle" actually carried some Japchae resemblance. Who knew there were collard greens in there?

Continue Reading >>

Oven-Baked Spanish-Style Shrimps

How do you usually cook shrimps? Steamed Shrimps? That is what I usually do. Easy-to-do and very delicious. When I saw this dish from Weave A Thousand Flavors, I went instinctively: Oh, I am making this! First, it sounds so easy (as easy as steaming)! Then of course, I love shrimps and they were available in my fridge. The other ingredients called for are also basic and I have them!

What am I waiting for?

When I look at other food blogs, I look for ideas; dishes that I can replicate or tweak a little using ingredients available to me at the very moment. Seldom will I see a recipe and intentionally find the ingredients for it. Either way, you can call me crazy. But that is how new recipes are created, if you ask me.


The ingredients for this Spanish-Style Baked Shrimps are really basic. Some good ol' shrimps (I used frozen and it worked well); garlic (lots!), olive oil, and cilantro (my substitution for parsley). The only ingredient that is extra/additional: red pepper chili powder (a little!). That is because I want that hint of spice amidst the garlicky taste. It kinda made it special too.

Continue Reading >>

Stir-Fry Broccoli + CSN Giveaway

Update: It's YOU! Vicki from A Work in Progress, the winner of the giveaway, out of 55 eligible entries. You will be contacted shortly.

It is rare. Strangely rare. This is one of the few times I have done a broccoli stir-fry. It is so easy to enjoy steamed broccoli that I do not bother to cook them other ways. Do you stir-fry your broccoli or prefer to enjoy them...steamed?

But this day, I wanted to add more vegetables and cook just ONE side (vegetable) dish to pair with steamed rice. So I did so (the stir-fry)...with garlic, ginger, celery, carrots, broccoli and fresh shitake mushrooms.

Hey, that's my Calaphon stainless steel pan from CSNStores. CSNStores has such an extensive array of products. You can even find backyard swing sets. I am really quite amazed by the offerings.

This pan of fresh veggies stir-fry is shared over at My Meatless Mondays and Hearth and Soul.

As easy as it gets, you comment (and reply) to WIN! A $70 Gift Certificate, courtesy of CSN Stores, and you can shop at any of their websites. How to Enter (in the US and Canada only):

Browse through any CSN Stores websites and tell me (comment) what you wish for - furniture, home decor, tools, kitchen & dinner, bed & bath etc. - anything they offer that you want!

Leave your comment in this post for an entry to win. If you link this giveaway in your blog post, just  be sure to tell me by leaving a separate comment (additional entry for that!) If you do not have a blog, do not worry. You can also take part by just leaving your comments (be sure to leave your email address though).

Unfortunately, the giveaway is opened in the US and Canada only; and ends March 18, 2011 at 11:59 PM PST. Winner will be chosen by random.org and announced in my blog. Good Luck!

Thank you CSN Stores for sponsoring this giveaway.

*This is not a paid review*

Tag: stir fry, broccoli, stir fry broccoli

An Escape to Food on Facebook

Homemade Jams, Preserves and Sauces

Just a pause to bring you what I came across in a tech magazine this week. Yes...food featured in a tech magazine. Anyway...it is never too early to plan for next winter. Preserve the upcoming spring/summer produce and fruits - enjoy summer pleasure next winter. Why not? An OXO Food Mill to begin with:

it helps to control the texture of pureed foods. With a polished stainless-steel interior and white enameled-steel exterior, this one features three different-sized discs for producing perfect mashed potatoes, applesauce, baby food and more. Includes three discs for fine-, medium- and coarse-grained purees. Simple spring-loaded lever for easy disc exchange and dis-assembly.Fits securely over vessels up to 11" in diameter.Soft ergonomic handles provide a comfortable nonslip grip.

Not interested? You can select other kitchen tools and appliances over at Williams-Sonoma. Right now, you can receive an All-Clad Stainless Steel Lasagna Pan, two All-Clad branded red cotton oven mitts, and The Essential of Classic Italian cooking by Marcella Hazan with $500 All Clad Cookware Purchase at Williams-Sonoma!


Receive a Lasagna Pan, two Oven Mitts & Cookbook with $500 All Clad Cookware Purchase