Radish (Daikon) Leaves, Cauliflower and Tomato Curry

What does radish (Daikon) leaves taste like?


Radish, of course. You must be laughing. That is a no-brainer.

BUT...I did not know that till I tasted them in my dish. I used to discard those leaves or even dumber - tried choosing those radish without leaves. What a fool, I am.


I only discovered recently that these leaves packed power! Leaves: Vitamin A is 3x more than Green Vegetables? Vitamin C is 10x more than lemon? Also, the leaves are high in Calcium, Iron, Beta-carotene and Vitamin B. Leave it to the experts to verify this. But all in all, radish (daikon) seems such a nutritious vegetable/plant.

Bell Peppers, Bok Choy and Mushrooms Pasta

Knowing a variety of cuisines helps me better my cooking. I try not to overcook the pasta, make sure it is al-dente and allow the pasta to finish off cooking while they are bathed in the pasta sauce in the pan. When it comes to Chinese stir-fry (esp that of vegetables), I do not like to overcook as well. So, when I combine both pasta and stir-fry vegetables, I only add the al-dente pasta when the stir-fry vegetables is just about 80% done, then finish off the rest of the 20% cooking of both pasta and vegetables...all in the pan. Makes sense?

Garlic Chips, Shallot Bits and Ginger Strips

Just like gentle aromatic herbs, there are also stronger-tasting garnishes that makes stir-fries and  soups stand out. The trio of garlic, shallots and ginger which are often a first step (pre-fry) to deepen the flavors of stir-fries, can turn to unsung heros when fried to golden as last touches to soups etc.

Fried Garlic/Garlic Chips, good in fried vermicelli, rice porridge/congee or Steamed Garlic Shrimps

How-To: Slice them razor-thin and fry them till the garlic starts to turn brown. Remove immediately and lay them on paper towels to absorb excess oil. Do not over-fry or the garlic will turn very bitter (Note: Remove them immediately when they start to turn brown and NOT when they already turned uniformly brown)



Fried Shallots, good in soups, fried noodles and even noodle soups. Also good in Gado Gado and Mee Rebus.

How-To: Slice them razor-thin and fry them in hot oil till they turn brown and crispy. Like the garlic, do not over-fry or it will turn bitter.

Char Kway Teow in Opeh (Betel Nut) Leaf

Char Kway Teow is a very popular hawker/street food in Singapore. To find Char Kway Teow wrapped in Opeh (Areca) Leaf (Betel Nut Leaf) as a takeaway or to-go is rather rare these days.

Similar to Otak-Otak wrapped in Banana Leaves or Coconut Rice cooked with Pandan Leaves, using Opeh Leaf (Betel Nut Leaf) as a food wrap must be doing good to Char Kway Teow in terms of retaining aroma, warmth, or moisture. Maybe eco-friendly too? I don't know. I wonder if we are hurting the Betel Nut Tree population.

Chayote (Chokos) Tomatoes Quick Stew

I'm a dead pig. My infatuation. Tomatoes.


Okra with Tomatoes. Bitter Melon with Tomatoes. Brisling Sardines with Tomatoes. Cabbage with Tomatoes. And now...Chokos (Chayote) with Tomatoes.

When the word "Umami" became a hype these few years, tomatoes became a topic of the town as they are tied to ketchup which many claimed to taste "Umami" - kinda addictive with savory deliciousness. I do not like ketchup (or probably, should I say, not my kitchen or dining habit to have it?) but extremely so love tomatoes. That is why many Indian curries and dishes taste so good. They've got tomatoes. And that is why I enjoy Indian food.

Silken Tofu with Mushrooms and Chicken

This is one homey dish that I enjoy, like many of you out there. I like tofu but seldom have them because the other half in my home do not really fancy tofu. According to some unorthodox sources, males who take too much tofu will become more feminine! Hahahah, but tofu is definitely good (food) for women. So I still have to buy(cook, then eat!). Of course, mapo tofu is enjoyed without question in my home and often asked for. However, ever since my flying here and there for the past 6-8 mths, I decided not to buy too many bottled sauces such as chili bean paste (which I use for mapo tofu) since in every move, I have to throw these bottled sauces - opened and used, away. Such a waste!


I also like to use tofu in such a combination : with mushrooms and some ground meat, generously garnished with finely chopped/slivered green onions. The earthy flavors of mushrooms and savory in ground meat can make bland tofu taste so delicious.

Hot-Shot Sweet Corn

Another easy and delicious snack or side-dish that if you can decode just by looking (I know I have smart readers here), you already got the recipe! ^o^

I will not be posting the recipe or revealing the ingredients till the cookbook is published. Currently, the only obvious ingredient is corn kernels.

Do so for corn-on-the-cob summer grilling season. I swear it is gonna be a HOT-SHOT sweet corn :)


Enjoy.

What is your favorite way to prepare corn kernels or corn-on-the-cob?

Talking about favorites, MarxFood Giveaway is here again! This time, another 2lbs of fresh morels! Wow!

Tag: corn, sweet corn, corn kernel

An Escape to Food on Facebook

How to steam fish filllet (uneven thickness) and whole fish

Remember Chef Martin Yan's way to steam fish? That is to uniformly steam a whole fish.



What if not a whole fish but an uneven fillet that is unable to "stand" on its own like a whole fish? I use a Chinese soup spoon to jack up the thickest part of the fillet. This will ensure more heat circulating through the thickest part of the fillet. Make sense? Well, you know the Chinese usually steam their fish and don't poach - so maybe that is where the tips and tricks come about.

Seasoning for the salmon can be found here

Watercress Soup 西洋菜汤

That was the first and last time I had Daikon in my Watercress Soup. Not horribly wrong but I lost the distinct watercress taste that I enjoy. So in the same recipe, I omitted the daikon to make a clear tasting Watercress Soup - 西洋菜汤. While most Watercress Soups are boiled with pork/spare ribs or pork bones, I made my Watercress Soup with chicken bones.

Watercress Soup

Watercress is one of the most nutritious vegetables and has rich sources of vitamins and essential minerals. While Western cuisines usually call for Watercress of dainty amount in salads and garnish, Chinese cuisines use one (or two) reasonably bunch(es) in soups (clear soups, not puree). Whenever I see Watercress in a grocery store like WholeFoods, I go "That is a different Watercress" - but am I wrong? Weeks later, I kinda found the answer in The NY Times.

How wrong or right did the science of association go? They are all the same Watercress, right?

Black Glutinous Rice Porridge dessert - Bubur Pulut Hitam

Aren't we amazed by the variety....

Spot the black glutinous rice in the outermost ring...

I use that to make Pulut Hitam, also known as Bubur Pulut Hitam in Malaysia and Singapore.


In Malay: "Burbur" means Porridge; "Pulut" means Glutinous Rice; "Hitam means Black. This is a Black Glutinous Rice Porridge dessert, often topped with coconut cream/milk.

Potato Cheese Egg-Pancake-Omelette, rice-cooker ready!

It's hard to keep it under wraps for too long when most of you have guessed it (partially) right in this post. Well, it was not so wholesome as many have thought. No vegetables (cauliflower)! Nope. I thought it look like the popular street food of Singapore - Chai Tow Kway. Yes, Denise of Quickies on the Dinner Table, we, in Singapore, are geared in the same Chai Tow Kway direction. But it is not. The egg is pretty obvious. Then I had two other "yellow" food that goes with the egg.

Deconstructing it...

A rough mash of boiled potatoes("yellow" food) with butter, green onions, salt and black pepper


The potato mash atop the "cooking-in-progress" egg omelette in the rice cooker, then topped with cheese slices(the next "yellow" food) and finally garnished with cilantro. Let the egg cook completely and wait till the cheese melts before serving...

Stir Fry Hairy Melon with Black Fungus and Peas + Imagine & Guess

This furry hairy Little Winter Melon also known as Hairy Melon can be stir fried, not just in soup or steamed. I used to braise them with dried shrimps, shitake mushrooms and glass noodles into a deep flavorsome dish. Today, I am doing it milder with black fungus and green sweet peas. Black fungus gives this dish deep earthy flavors. Green peas are also naturally sweet. With that touch of salt and white pepper to taste, the dish finishes off with that drizzle of sesame oil for shine and aroma.

Mango, Banana and Shrimp Wontons + Otah-Egg Sandwich

As a filler idea, can you imagine the magic combination of mangoes, bananas and shrimps? Seriously delicious...in a deep-fried wonton.


The moist, smooth, creamy mangoes and bananas with the tender springy bite of shrimps...


OK...coming back to Otak-Otak - you can eat them straight from the banana leaves; as a side-dish to steamed rice or as a filler in your bread. Versatile, yeah?

Too Spicy for Kids?

Quinoa, Millet and my Four-Grain Congee

With my naked eyes, I could only tell the difference by color(see below). Quinoa and Millet - some of the other (newer) grains I have recently adopted in my brown rice + red cargo rice + pasta carb-group. My latest craze must be walking down the grains, seeds and nuts aisle in Whole Foods. Like a teen or toddler in a candy shop, I got hooked on those see-through dispensers and transparent containers of grains, seeds, nuts etc. Practically, I just buy the quantity I want by turning those (irreversible) knobs. How dangerous for a shopper on a budget...

Left: Quinoa; Right: Millet

Other than the Pine Nuts I've got (the other nuts are replenished from Trader Joes otherwise), I also bought my quinoa and millet from Whole Foods. The ANDI (stands for Aggregate Nutrient Density Index) surely comes handy along the way, making it so much more interesting to choose my grains and nuts. Handy ANDI!

Quinoa Congee
I am totally new to quinoa though I have often seen them appearing in food blogs. But I am not new to millet and they look almost similar. If I could use millet to cook my congee, surely I can use quinoa? No idea. Just try. That less than 1 dollar worth of quinoa dispensed from the builk aisle is surely not going to be an expensive mistake. What can go more wrong than cooking congee ?

Spicy Cauliflower and Potatoes - an Aloo Gobi mistake

I ran out of tomatoes one day. How can I? So in that incident, I made Aloo Gobi without them. *bang head on the wall*...I even got the cilantro ready for this dish, which to me is quintessential to Aloo Gobi. How could I have forgetten tomatoes?!?! At this time, I rather call this Spicy Cauliflower and Potatoes.

Spicy Cauliflower with Potato (recipe below)

By the way, the actual recipe (with tomatoes) can be found in my rice cooker cookbook. Yes, rice cooker Aloo Gobi. Excited? Aloo Gobi is one of the most-often-cooked Indian vegetarian dishes in my home. So flavorsome. I love the blend of tomatoes and cauliflowers with some "starchy" potatoes - making it so stew-like; and the mix of spices NOT EXCLUDING coriander/cilantro leaves...bringing nuances of flavors.

Aloo Gobi (recipe will be in my to-be-released cookbook)

In my opinion, without coriander/cilantro OR tomatoes, Aloo Gobi will not be Aloo Gobi. Damn! I reminded myself of my own stupidity again. Nonetheless, this actually makes a delicious side-dish, good with rice or Indian Roti bread. Enjoy.

Cabbage and Tomato Soup or Cabbage Stir-Fry...again?

Don't rub your eyes. You ARE seeing cabbage repeats here weeks after weeks because I enjoy this vegetable as you have witnessed in my cabbage stir-fry. Another way to enjoy cabbage is in soups and any day can be a soup day with cabbage and tomatoes.


More superpower cabbage (高丽菜) is good for you! It is one of the 13 most powerful superfood. Remember how I did it without oyster sauce; and in a separate occasion, added nori/seaweed to stir-fry with noodles? I am quite surprised that many of you do not use or have oyster sauce. Good! Other than garlic and ginger aromatics, the fresh earthy flavors of shitake mushrooms also perform its duty of making this a tasty stir-fry. You do not have to use a lot of mushrooms - about 3-4 medium-size fresh shitake will do. And again 2 tablespoons of ground chicken (Note: can be omitted for vegetarians, just add more mushrooms )

Brisling Sardines Curry

Sources of fish such as salmon and sardine give good source of omega-3 fatty acid which is beneficial to us in some (brainy) way. As salmon is not cheap, I started to find other alternative and sardine has become one of my favorites. What to do...Poor Woman's Fish for me. Further, sardine is considered a smaller fish and as the size goes, smaller fish - less mercury, which is again a plus.

Brisling Sardines in Spring Water

I enjoy the Crown Prince  Brisling Sardines available in Whole Foods Market for less than USD3.00. I could not find them in Singapore and brought back 6 tins with me to cover my stay in Singapore. Woo hooo....


Often, I hear Asians staying in the US "smuggling" belachan (shrimp paste), salted fish back to the US; but here, I brought sardines back with me to Singapore as I do not want to go to the extent of scouring Singapore to find this product.

High in calcium and iron. Sodium is relatively low for a canned product and minimal ingredients(with nothing I can't pronounce in the ingredient list). Fits all my canned-food criteria.