Lemongrass Mussels, Vegetables & Noodles

Ever since trying frozen mussels Steamed Mussels in White Wine Sauce - Trader Joes, I have let down my guard on frozen shell-fish products, in general. That said, I still take a few moments to scan the ingredient list and nutrition label to make sure the ingredients are as natural (less processed) as possible and the sodium level is not exceedingly high. For example, the clams used in Steamed Eggs with Clams is a good quality product that produced such deliciousness with minimal effort.

Back to the Whole Catch Mussels - Lemongrass Curry from Whole Foods Market which might not have one of the best ingredient lists (it's okay good, just not perfectly good) but @$2.99 a package, who could resist this value deal, and the convenience it will bring to the table when one craves seafood.

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Steamed Eggs with Clams

The only problem with this dish is the steamed egg sticks to the bowl; and that's always hard to clean even using a rough surface dish sponge. So, what's the trick to making Chinese-style steamed eggs and the steamed eggs do not stick to sides and bottom of the bowl?

Else, everything was relatively easy for this Steamed Egg with Clam Meat. All you need is clam meat (fresh or frozen, depending on availability) and eggs, plus minimal seasonings - a little soy sauce and ground white pepper. then garnished with thinly sliced green onions.

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Cordyceps Flowers Steamed Cod EnPapillote

Parchment cooking En Papillote did not fail me. This Asian-Style Steamed Cod Fish Fillets with Cordycep Flowers, Gojiberries, Woodear Mushrooms turned out wonderfully delicious.


Cordyceps Flower or Cordyceps militaris is a type of mushrooms in family Cordycipitaceae, and are usually cooked in soups. 

Instead of steaming the fillets over the stove, the fish wrapped in "parcels" are "steamed"/roasted in the oven.

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Smelt Fish Protein Bowl

Besides salmon, mackerel, milkfish, hairtail ribbon fish, this high calcium smelt fish (oven-roast or pan-fried) can also be protein entree to these protein bowl meals.


Oven-roast or pan-fried, these smelt fish (also known as capelin or Japanese masagos) are deliciously crispy and makes protein bowls such a healthy delight to enjoy.

If you are not a fan of fish, you can opt for other seafood option or stick with chicken.

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Curry Spiced Trout Fillets

Whole fish tastes better when cooked on the bone; and whole fish, especially when it is still swimming in the tank, is probably one of the freshest!

No whole fish today but fillets of trout are used here; just because fresh fillets (not labeled as "previously frozen") were available from the market's seafood section. These fillets may well work into my favor today, as the marinade will be readily and quickly absorbed into the fish, and certainly makes cleaner and fuss-free food preparation (as with whole fish, comes an additional step to proper clean the inside of the fish).


No time? Season with a little salt and pepper. 2 minutes more? Prepare some spice seasoning as marinade. With 5 minutes extra-time to spare, mince up ginger-green onions paste on top of the spice seasoning.

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Shrimps Chicken Multigrain Congee Porridge

A few days away from daylight savings when we turn our clock back an hour. The days are getting shorter and temperatures are down to sweater weather.

A warm wholesome bowl of multigrain congee (this Rice Cooker /Multicooker will be useful) is a welcoming meal as we embrace autumn and winter. Call this Surf and Turf as shrimps (prawns) and ground  meat (pork, chicken) are added to the otherwise plain bowl of congee made from brown rice, millet, quinoa.

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Tacos Pork Carnitas, Fish Salmon #TacoTuesday

Our family was never quite into tacos, burrittos, Mexican food and cuisine in general. However, this past year of occasional day-tripping and local travel opened up our travel food world to food trucks, especially taco trucks.

Though we prefer to have home-cooked food (these food storage containers will come in very handy), having to depend on prepared/store-bought food while travelling has become unavoidable. However, eating out past few years has become very expensive. When you are travelling on the road, what is your go-to for food?

For us, it's tacos - definitely not those fancy-schmancy $8 tacos in restaurants but traditional authentic basic no-frills meat tacos topped with onions and cilantro. We are always excited to discover and try great delicious $2-3 tacos on our road trips, and try to keep our meal budget under $15 (for two people).

Semi-homemade: carnitas tacos with pineapple salsa, cilantro

There comes a time to take matters into my own hands with semi-homemade tacos (check this best-selling taco holders) at home, getting some good quality pork carnitas from the store, then putting it together at home.

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Pineapple Shrimps/ Prawns

Fresh whole shrimps/prawns (heads and shells on) are most flavorful when cooked in a dish; but when time is not on our side, peeled deveined frozen version brings the convenience one would wish for without much sacrifice to the flavors.

Bring in another convenient ingredient - a good quality free-of-preservatives store-bought sauce, and a delicious shrimps/prawns stir-fry is less than 30 minutes away.


Certain fruits (and its natural juices) bring tangy-sweet acid brightness to a dish. Not all fruits are created equal. For example, stone fruits e.g. peaches and nectarines tend to be on the sweet-side while kiwi on the tangy-side. Pineapple, to my preference, is one of those tangy-sweet candidates that makes a dish more mouthwatering, and tantalizing such as Mixed Vegetables and Pineapple Curry, Tofu, Pineapple, Bell Peppers Stir-Fry and Sweet and Tangy Tofu.

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Mackerel Protein Bowl

Besides lean fish such as tilapia, barramundi, snapper, trout, we also love oily (high in omega-3) fishes such as salmon, sardines, milkfish and mackerel.

Our family usually fall back on easy and fuss-free preparation methods e.g. en-papillote, oven-roast/grill when enjoying these fishes.


Oven-Roasted/Grilled Mackerel is so delicious, and super easy to prepare. They make protein bowls such pleasurable treats.

Small kitchen appliances such as air-fryer, table-top ovens are fabulous kitchen helpers when preparing such delicious, healthy meals.

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Steamed Fish Skin

I remember trying milkfish porridge/ soup in Taiwan and it's equally mouthwatering to grilled/ pan-fried milkfish belly; both different but so delicious and satisfying in its own way.

When I bought frozen ribbon/ belt fish from online grocery store Weee!, I also purchased frozen milkfish skin*.


Most of us will turn to frying or air-frying fish skin to make crunchy fried fish skin (hey, the famous fish skin snack!) but I wanted to try something different to replicate something similar inspired by the milkfish soup in Taiwan (of course, I also do not have an air-fryer to make crunchy fish skin).

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Shrimps, Eggs, Tomatoes, Broccoli Bowl

Shrimp bowl is one of my favorite bowls to make because it's quick, easy and delicious. Quick because it takes much shorter time to cook shrimps than chicken or fish. Easy because it just needs basics like salt and pepper to bring out its flavors. Delicious because IT JUST IS.


If you also enjoy shrimp bowls (be it shrimp grain bowls, shrimp veggie bowls), I hope you can find some quick inspiration.

Do you currently own an air-fryer? I do not and still using conventional oven or sometimes toaster oven to do all the baking, roasting and grilling.

While cooking the shrimps in the oven, make sheet-pan eggs or ramekin eggs at the same time in the same oven.

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Corn Tuna Bread Rolls Buns

Surprise surprise! This was what I did - Homemade Corn Tuna Bread Rolls, when the corn-tuna mix could not fill all the avocado in these Corn Tuna Avocado Cups.

Well, I am happy to say "I baked!" but equally ashamed to be using store-bought ready-to-use dough for these Corn Tuna Bread Rolls. These savory Corn Tuna Bread Rolls with soft fluffy bread filled with sweet (corn kernels)-savory (tuna) were addictive! The dough-bread was also given generous touches of dried herb sprinkles just before sending off into the oven to bake. Another advantage of making these breads at home is the bread rolls can be loaded with more filling, to optimize the ratio of filling to bread.

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Canned Fish (Eel) Quinoa

Whenever whole grains such as quinoa or other multigrains are planned in our family meals, extras of chicken and seafood such as shrimps, canned fish are added while cooking these grains - not only to impart flavors; but more importantly to boost protein in the cooked grains. This is in addition to other main protein dishes that are being prepared separately. For example, One Pot Shrimp Quinoa and One Pot Shrimp Multigrains can be served with chicken (main protein) and veggies as a protein-worthy grain bowl. 

Sometimes when there is leftover grilled/roasted salmon, it can be as easy and simple as gently flaking leftover salmon into the cooked rice (or grains), fluff and mix salmon into the rice. When there is no leftovers, the often forgotten pantry-friendly canned fish becomes our friend. Canned sardines or canned mackerel if you have; but today, this canned version of braised eel with fermented black beans fits the bill of One-Pot Canned Eel Quinoa.


Which rice cookers or multi-cookers are you currently using? I am using this rice cooker which is one of the most common multicooker (cooks rice, steams/stews/braises dishes, cooks soups etc.) in many Taiwan households. It operates with simple ON-OFF and COOK-WARM buttons, its durability and reliability has been proven as my family has been using it for years (and hopefully, many more years).

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Jalapeno Shrimps Sausage Veggies Bowl

This Jalapeno Shrimps and Sausage Veggies Bowl is a flavor-packed one-dish meal that you can happily enjoy any month of the year. Healthily loaded with garlic steamed vegetables, topped with delicious oven-roasted shrimps and breakfast sausages.

Cooking the shrimps, sausages, and jalapeno altogether on a sheet-pan in the oven is one of the easiest fuss-free cooking prep.; at the same time, the ingredients flavor up one another so you actually do not have to depend on any other seasoning/marinade. 

Do you currently own an air-fryer? I do not and still using conventional oven or sometimes toaster oven to do all the baking, roasting and grilling. You can also make Sheet-Pan Fish with Asparagus and Bell Peppers or Sheet-Pan Beans and Veggies.


Other variations of Shrimps Veggies Bowls: Shrimps Veggies Bowls with Avocado and Tofu, Shrimps Veggies Bowls with Avocado and Radish

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Oven Roast Belt/ Ribbon/ Hairtail Fish

Belt fish, also known as cutlass fish, ribbon fish or hairtail fish resembles a thin ribbon or belt (therefore the name) with a sharp pointed head. Whole fish or frozen sections can be usually found in Asian (Korean and Chinese) supermarket. I bought frozen sections (frozen ribbon fish rolls) from online grocery store earlier, not knowing how I want to cook it. This fish is best pan-fried; but since I hardly prep the pan or wok for frying, opted for it to be grilled/roasted in the oven just like other types of fish such as salmon, mackerel, milkfish. 


And personally, any grilled/roasted fish is great for protein bowls. It may not turn out as crispy as pan-fried version but this alternative delicate way of cooking helps to preserve the mild briny flavors and its nutrition - protein and omega-3 cannot be undermined.

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Oven-Baked Shrimps Protein Bowl

Shell-on, shell-off, head or headless, we enjoy all of them. Shrimps!

Shrimps Salad Bowls are less common in salad shops; even there is, it's at a premium, sometimes even more expensive than salmon bowls. So it's best to prepare Shrimps Protein Bowl at home.


I have made shrimp bowls many times but each time, the bowl turn out different (yet always delicious!) because the shrimps are sometimes seasoned differently and vegetables are also changed out depending on seasons and availability.

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Baked Mackerel Veggies Bowl

Besides salmon and grilled milkfish in seafood protein bowls, our family also enjoys oven-baked mackerel.


With its fishy reputation, some people may find the taste of mackerel too strong, too fish, too oily. But for the same reasons, we enjoy mackerel for its rich, distinct flavors. Its flesh is also moist and flaky. 

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Easy Budget Edition Pen Cai 盆菜

Pen Cai (literally translates to “basin dish”) is a popular festive dish customarily enjoyed during Lunar New Year. A "basin dish" is a way to describe a brimming pot layered with premium seafood e.g. abalone, scallop, fish maw and meat e.g. roast pork. In short, a dish loaded with luxurious ingredients and delicacies to symbolize abundance and prosperity.

A menu mainstay in many Cantonese/Chinese restaurants during Lunar New Year, many home cooks now also make their own version at home.

Inspired by this concept, we made our own budget home version of "Pen Cai" with Chinese deli take-out leftovers (e.g. braised pork ribs, deep-fried-then-braised yuba/tofu sheets, fried prawns/shrimps).


Though not truly premium and luxurious, our home edition does not pale in flavors (and deliciousness). More importantly, it is very easy to prepare (compared to restaurant-style Pen Cai which might take an hour , minimum) and enjoyed by everyone at home.

Alternatively, this Abalone Scallops Veggie Hotpot Soup also makes the cut for Chinese New Year celebration.

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Seafood Veggies Hotpot Soup

Some days during winter months are dedicated to hotpot as tis' the season to have soups...soups and more soups to feel warmth and comfort.

This Seafood Veggies Noodle Soup is prepared from a seafood-based hotpot, full of umami goodness and nicely balanced by natural sweetness from Napa cabbage and Nai Bai.

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Milkfish Belly Veggie Bowl

Besides frozen milkfish belly, whole milkfish is also available in 99 Ranch Market, select locations in California. However, de-boning this notoriously boney fish, said to have more than 100 to almost over 200 fish bones, is not going to be an easy task.

Oven-roast/grill milkfish belly and shrimps with broccoli, cabbage

Meanwhile, I am happy and satisfied with frozen milkfish belly. The preparation is easy and Oven-Roast Milkfish Belly is belly delicious.

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