How and where I store spices and dried herbs?

...as messy as this box of spices and dried herbs. I need to learn to be better.


It's a shoe box ! :O

Red Cabbage Udon Noodle Soup - Purple Udon!

Look at my soup, it's PURPLE! Welcome to the world of food coloring! What kinds of natural food can you think of, to make food colors? I know screwpine (pandan) leaf does a lovely job in making food GREEN. And in fact, red cabbage does a good job in making food PURPLE! Hmmm...what else can you think of?  

Udon Noodle Soup 

Ingredients: Tomatoes, bak choy, corn spears, red cabbage, fresh shitake mushrooms, instant udon, meatballs. Note: My homemade meatball recipe is here. There were deep-fried previously to make Stewed Lion Heads. This is the boiled version. You can use pork and adjust the amount of seasonings. 

Directions: 1. Cook packaged instant udon according to instructions. Set aside. 2. Prepare pot of boiling water, blanch the bok choy and corn. Set aside. 3. Add pinch of salt and pepper, drops of sesame oil into the boiling water, then add in tomatoes, mushrooms, meatballs to the boiling water and simmer till meatballs cook through. When meatballs cook through, dish out and set aside (Note: overcooking the meatballs will make them tough) 4.Add in red cabbage to the soup broth and cook till leaves are softened. 5. In a serving bowl, lay the vegetables (bok choy, cabbage, tomatoes, corn, mushrooms) and meatballs with the udon and ladle soup over the udon. Serve immediately.  

Shaved Ice Dessert - Red Beans, Taro, Grass Jelly

Grass Jelly, Taro Balls, Taro Ice Cream and Red Beans on shaved ice

Ask me ONE thing about Taiwan at this moment, I would tell you it is the DESSERTS that I miss. In Taiwan, they call it 吃冰, literally meaning "to eat ice". A lot of their "shaved ice" desserts are served on ice, similar to ice kacang. But that does not mean you only eat the ice.

Street food, good food, yummy snacks can be found at:

Nearby temples - 庙 口 小吃
Night markets - 夜市
Old historic - 老街
Close to major universities

This is one of the desserts that I miss while I was looking at my photo files in the folder. The dessert photo told me "You have not posted me yet". Oops, I am sorry. How could I? I have already left Taiwan sometime ago and I have forgotten about this.

Oh well, this happens when you save the best for last and when, the BEST gets FORGOTTEN. Yucks! I hate myself for doing that.

There are many dessert shops that specialize in Grass Jelly (仙草 ) and Taro Balls (芋圆) Desserts. Do check them out when you are there in Taiwan.




For all the other Taiwan episodes, do check out my Taiwan Eating link under Labels.

Tag: desserts, ice

Boiled dumplings (云吞 ) - my most-used freezer friendly recipe, so easy and versatile

I have cooked wontons many times, in so many ways such as Spicy Wonton Soup, "Mathematical" Mince with Wonton Noodles, Fried Seafood Wonton, Seafood Wonton Soup,Sweet Peanut Butter and Banana Wontons and not forgetting the simple boiled wontons or dumplings that my friend, YJ, imparted to me. In fact, the latter are those "little gems" that form the base of my dumpling repertoire above.

Boiled wontons or dumplings are also a perfect match for Spinach Soba Noodles with Mushrooms during summer. It completes a meal.

Ever since I learn how to make wontons, they have become my most-used freezer-friendly recipe. I usually make batches of them (3-4 batches, ~15 wontons per batch) and they make cooking so easy during weekdays.


YJ also told me that the dipping sauce for dumpling (饺子) is actually vinegar and garlic, and not vinegar and ginger like what we commonly see in Singapore. Oh ye?



Wonton Dipping Sauce Recipe (*Sauce only, without garlic or ginger*)
Ingredients: black vinegar, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, water

(P.S. quantity of each ingredient remains secret because it is how I was taught)


Ok. Learn to make wonton today, will you?

Tag: wontons, dumpling,wonton dipping sauce, soba

Broccoli and Lentils Pasta - from "Cream of Broccoli"

Somehow I failed in making Cream of Broccoli Soup. I can't compose my thoughts on why and how it failed as it was too unmemorable to remember. Perhaps, I am not used to cooking with an intermediate step...for example...requires putting something already cooked over the stove-top-->into the food processor-->pureeing it further?

The outcome of the soup is just not as creamy as those I have had before. What I can remember at this instant is --> I did not use heavy cream --> maybe that was the reason? OK. That is not the subject of this post. I digress.



So...I ended up with a chunky(bits of broccoli) watery (too much milk?) "Cream of Broccoli", and decided to use it to create other edible recipes such as Chunky Broccoli Pasta, maybe? Sound too adventurous? In addition to the broccoli that has earlier been ground to small little bits (refer to picture above on what I meant by "bits"), I added lentils (bet you can see traces of that above) for more bulk (proteins actually, so that the meal is balanced!) Then, toss the pasta in broccoli-lentil sauce and top the pasta with hard-boiled eggs.

And a failed attempt in making soup (as a side) has turned upside to a one-dish meal!
Cream of Broccoli - success or failure, I thought it makes a good cream-based pasta sauce. Isn't it? The idea just seem to work. I know that is not new.

Broccoli Lentil Pasta (serves 2)
Ingredients:
A can of (or enough for pasta sauce) Cream of Broccoli; 1/2 can of lentils, drained; cooked fusili; 1 hard-boiled egg, cut into wedges

Directions:
Toss the cooked pasta in a bowl of Cream of Broccoli and lentils. Top with wedges of hard-boiled eggs.

This recipe is just a rough guide for ideas. Give me, or yourself an easy Cream of Broccoli recipe, and WE will be on our way to perfection!

A recipe inspiration out of a mistake, should be "original" for Culinarty's Original Recipes #13 .

Tag: broccoli, cream of broccoli,lentil, pasta

California Strawberries, FoodNetwork's Cioppino and my Dum Biryani

Activity: 6 June 2009
Blog Posting: 8 July 2009

Strawberry picking time! We headed for strawberry picking in the morning, at our favorite U-Pick at Swanton Berrry Farm. Bad news bestowed! The strawberry field was quarantined due to suspected moths (an agricultural pest!)! Heck! I thought only humans were quarantined for the H1N1 swine flu! Now, our favorite strawberry field has been quarantined too! With just a little good luck on our side, we were recommended to go to their neighboring fields. Phew! It sent bright spark to all our faces. We thought we have spent ONE HOUR down Highway 17 for nothing. Ok. At least, there is something. Some 'healthy" strawberries for us to pick.


After that mild exercise of picking strawberries, we drove further down to our favorite cioppino stall. I am sure Phil's Fish Market is no stranger to those who have watched FoodNetwork since Phil was featured before. And this is definitely not our first time there. With A&S with us this time, we ordered more food. Seafood chowder, fried calamari (rings and tentacles) and of course, a huge bowl of slurpilicious cioppino. It was completely satisfying!


Indian food @ Peacock, Santa Clara

In our one week in the Bay Area, we also tried two establishments that serve Dum Biryani. We had take-out from Kabab and Currys, at Santa Clara (famous for its Dum Biryani) and dine-in at Peacock, also at Santa Clara(above).

Dum Biryani is a famous Hyderabad dish, where the meat (chicken, mutton or lamb) is layered with the rice and cooked under low flame in a sealed container. This style of cooking is sometimes called Dum Pukht. And naturally, biryani cooked this way is called Dum Biryani. Yum yum yum! and not *Stupid Dum Dum* ... ... ^o^


I like basmati rice a lot - and so what happens when basmati rice is mildly infused with the aroma of the chicken and lamb and all the spices ? I love thee even more!

Tag: strawberries picking, dum biryani

Curried Potato and Mushrooms + attempt to grow Curry Leaves failed!

Remember my last Weekend Herb Blogging (WHB) entry on Curry Leave, Curry Love? On the note that

(1) "... ... the FLAVOR of FRESH curry LEAVES is SUPERIOR and IRREPLACEABLE";
(2) neither dirt cheap nor easily available in the Bay Area, CA

we decided to try growing them in Singapore - to get the technique right at least (assuming growing conditions in Singapore are conducive?) so that we may have chance to grow them back in our backyard *day dream* back in CA and I can use the leaves FRESH and CHEAP in my cooking, whenever I need *day dream*. Allow me to day dream, pls.



In this week's WHB with Laurie from Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska, let me share some experience in growing curry leaves. They might not have been successful but sharing failure lessons can help people out there avoid the same mistakes. At the same time, successful growers may like to offer some tips.

My parents have a curry leaf plant rooted to the garden's ground. We plucked a few fresh curry leaf stems and hope to use those stems to root.

1st try: We removed all the leaves from the stem before planting them in the pot(see potted plant above) + occasional watering + sunlight conditions.
Result: Failed. No growth or even sign of life observed after 1 month.

2nd try: We removed most of the lower leaves and planted them in a pot + occasional watering + sunlight conditions.
Result: Still failed. No growth observed.

WHAT DID I DO WRONG? Any tips out there?

Meanwhile, I will have better luck as a user of curry leaves - in this simple Indian-spiced Potato and Mushroom concoction.


Curried Potato and Mushrooms
Ingredients: potato, peeled and diced, mushrooms, diced; some butter, 3 to 4 curry leaves, turmeric powder, cumin seeds, garlic and onion

Directions: Melt the butter in a heated pan, saute the onions, garlic and curry leaves till fragrant. Then add mushrooms and potatoes and sprinkle in the spices (turmeric and cumin), mix well. Fry till potatoes and mushrooms are cooked (mushrooms become tender).


For similar recipes, you can also try this chick pea dish.

Tag: indian food, potato, curry leaf