Soyaki-Braised Potatoes & Broccoli

This Soyaki-Braised Potatoes and Broccoli dish is a variation from Mark Bittman's Soy-Braised Potatoes. It's a tasty vegetarian dish that's easy to make in less than 30 minutes, perfect on top of a bowl of steamed rice.


Ingredients:
1 pound baby Dutch potatoes, cut in half
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons neutral oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup soyaki sauce
1 1/2 cup water
1 pound broccoli florets, cut into pieces
1/2 pound crimini mushroom, sliced
4 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

• Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. When hot, add the potatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Cook, stirring occasionally, until coated in oil and beginning to turn golden.
• Add the soy sauce, soyaki sauce and enough water to barely cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil and stirring once in a while to make sure the potatoes aren't sticking, then the heat to medium-low so that the mixture bubbles gently.
• Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes almost tender, 15-20 minutes.
• Add the cut broccoli florets, sliced mushroom and green onions into the pan and cook for 5 more minutes.
• Taste and adjust the seasoning and garnish with toasted sesame seeds.

Fennel and Orange Salad

After getting disappointed with his Cheese Straws recipe, I totally scored with this Fennel and Orange Salad from the How to Cook Everything book - it's refreshing, tasty and crunchy. I thought the fennel anise taste would overpower the dish but i was wrong... marinating it with lemon & orange juice made it mellower. I added some raisins, avocado slices and a soft boil eggs and oh it's so good!


Ingredients:
1 pound fennel (1 large or 2-3 small bulbs)
3 small sweet oranges or tangerines
salt
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

• Trim and core the fennel and cut into thin slices.
• Squeeze the juice from one of the oranges, pour over the fennel, add salt and lemon juice, and let it sit for a couple hours while preparing the orange slices.
• Peel the remaining oranges and segment into orange slices.
• Add the oranges and cilantro to the fennel, toss, taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
• Add raisins, avocado slices and soft-boiled.

Eggplant and Tofu in Spicy Black Bean Sauce

This Eggplant and Tofu in Spicy Black Bean Sauce is another vegetarian dish that is easy to make and super tasty. It is similar to the one that I made last year but I added Chinese black bean garlic sauce after I saw this dish on Veggie Belly.


Ingredients:
4 medium Chinese eggplants
2 package of cooked fried (yellow) tofu
3 tablespoons oil
1 head of garlic, finely chopped
8 slices ginger, finely chopped
2 Serrano pepper, seeded and finely chopped
4 green onions, cut into 1-inch section
1 tablespoon chili paste (I used Sambal Oelek)
1 tablespoon Chinese black bean garlic sauce
1/2 cup water

Sauce:
1.5 tablespoons soy sauce
1.5 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon mirin
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

• Cut eggplants length wise and then cut each half into 1-inch pieces.
• Cut tofu into 1-inch pieces.
• Combine all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
• Stir fry garlic, ginger and Serrano pepper over medium low heat in a heavy bottom pan or a wok for 5 minutes fragrant.
• Add in the eggplant pieces, cook until the eggplants absorb the oil and begin to soften (about 5 minutes).
• Add in tofu, green onion and the chili paste and cook for another 2 minutes.
• Add the sauce and mix carefully to combine all the ingredients.
• Add the water and cover the pan with a lid, lower the heat, simmer for 6-8 minutes until eggplants are fully cooked.
• Stir to mix carefully and serve over rice.

Lima Beans, Leeks & Artichoke Stir-Fry

I came across this recipe from Bitter Sweet when I was looking for a simple vegetable stir-fry dish that is different from the usual Chinese stir fry. I like the fact that it uses frozen vegetables so you can cook it all year round and it has artichoke - as much as I love artichoke, I always think that it’s such a hassle to peel and eat them. I cooked this at the same time I made Spaghetti with Spiced Meat Sauce so I was able to use the same pot of boiling water to blanch the vegetables and cook the pasta.


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups frozen shelled and skinned lima/fava beans, blanched quickly for a couple minutes
1 bag frozen artichoke hearts (8oz or 12oz whatever available in your grocery stores), blanched quickly for 1 minute
1 red bell pepper, cut into small diced
1 leek, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Serrano pepper, finely diced
2 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped
¼ cup roughly chopped parsley
Grated zest from 1 lemon

Directions:

• Cook the garlic, Serrano pepper and rosemary with a couple tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat until fragrant (~1 minute).
• Add in the leeks and cook until the leeks started to soften up.
• Add in the blanched lima/fava beans, artichoke hearts and red bell pepper and cook for 3 more minutes.
• Add in the chopped parsley and lemon zest, stir to combine and serve.

Stir-fried Yu Choi and Shiitake Mushroom

Here is a simple and delicious vegetable dish that can be used as a main dish or a side dish for something like Osso Buco since it can stand up for itself. It took me only 5 minutes to prep and another 5 minutes to cook the dish.


Ingredients:
1 lb yu choi or other chinese vegetables, ends trimmed
1/2 lb shiitake mushroom, sliced
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1-inch ginger, julienned
2 tablespoons olive oil

Sauce:
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 wine
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Directions:

• Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
• Heat the oil in a wok on a medium high heat and, when hot, add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry quickly for 1 minute or so until fragrant.
• Add in the vegetables, mushroom, and sauce and stir until combined. Cover and cook for 2-3 more minutes.

Fatty 'Cue Brussels Sprouts

Last Saturday, Porgy told me that one of his friends made a snide comment because we served Chinese take-out food, cheese and crackers, and frozen Trader Joe’s snacks when we had them over before. It totally annoyed me that someone would say that so I decided to make Roast Leg of Lamb with Roasted Potatoes and Fatty ‘Cue Brussels Sprouts (which I had planned to make on Sunday) that Saturday evening and opened up a nice bottle of Italian Rosso to de-anger myself.

I seasoned the (boneless) leg of lamb with olive oil, salt, pepper and several rosemary sprigs and roasted it in a 400F oven for 20 minutes per pound with the fat side up and used similar seasoning for potatoes (and roasted them for ~30-40 minutes until golden brown and crisped). I saw the Fatty ‘Cue Brussels Sprouts recipe a few months ago on NYTimes website and had been wanting to try it out but had totally forgotten about it until Mo-Fo brought it to my attention again last week because one of her coworkers made it and raved how good it is.


Note: I did not have shallots and fresh Thai bird-eye chili so I used 1/2 of red onions and frozen Thai green chili instead. In the future, I think I might add more chili or chili paste (like Sambal Oelek) at the end to give it more zip.

Ingredients:
2 Thai bird chilies, stems removed
2 garlic cloves
2 small shallots
4 ounces double-smoked bacon, cut crosswise into thin strips
1 tablespoon coriander seeds, crushed
1 pound brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
Kosher salt
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon maple syrup

Directions:

• Combine one of the chilies with the garlic and shallots in a food processor and purée, or use a mortar and pestle.
• Fry bacon in a large sauté pan over medium heat until most of the fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. Add coriander seeds and stir until fragrant. Transfer bacon to paper towels using a slotted spoon.
• Add brussels sprouts to the pan, cut sides down, and cook over medium heat until golden brown on the undersides, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and transfer to paper towels.
• Add garlic-shallot paste and cook over low heat until fragrant, about one minute. Return brussels sprouts to pan and cook, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to a simmer.
  
• Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until sprouts are mostly tender, about 5 minutes. Uncover and reduce broth to the consistency of a glaze.
  
• Thinly slice the remaining chili. Remove pan from heat and stir in the syrup, bacon and sliced chilies. Sprinkle with salt.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms

Sometimes I think Arthur is just like Brussels sprouts – they are both bitter on the first bite when you first know them and definitely not for everybody but after spending more time with them, you can finally understand, appreciate and love them. Arthur is a handful, at times a bit too much such that he got returned several times before and believes me that we have thought about it before. But we decided to toughen up and stick with him, it’s a continuous process and we are hoping that he will realize that we really love him and are committed to him.

I love making this roasted Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms dish because they are simple to make, healthy and very delicious. Perfect for a side-dish of a meat or pasta course.


Ingredients:
1 lb Brussels Sprouts
1 lb mixed mushroom (I used a mix of Shiitake and King Trumpet mushroom)
olive oil
salt & pepper

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400F.
• Cut off the brown ends of the Brussels Sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves.
• Clean the mushroom by wiping it using a dry paper towel. Do not wash them. Cut into halves if they are big.
• Spread the sprouts and mushroom on a baking pan and drizzle with a couple tablespoon of olive oil.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for 35-40 minutes until crisp on the outside.
• Shake the pan a couple of time to brown the sprouts and mushrooms evenly.
• Sprinkle with some more salt and pepper if needed.

Roasted Corn Salad

I saw this Roasted Corn Salad with Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette by Arnold Myint on the second episode of Top Chef Season 7 and thought that it would be a great dish to bring to Mo-Fo Duo's 4th of July BBQ because it looks pretty easy to make and it's a refreshing light side dish. However, I didn't get the chance to bring this dish to the party (or even make it) because I had a huge hangover from drinking too much the night before (yes... the curse of long weekend!)

So I decided to make it last weekend using my new Lodge stove-top cast-iron grill. Unfortunately, the corn kernels were not charred enough because I was too impatient so the charred/smokey flavor was missing. The dish still tasted really good though next time I would be more patient and take my time grilling the corn.


Ingredients:
6 ears of corn, husked
3 limes, zested and juiced
2 sprigs fresh cilantro, chopped
1 red onion, small diced
1 pkg grape tomatoes, halved
4 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons onion powder or 1 tablespoon garlic powder
salt, to taste
sugar, to taste

Directions:

• Mix together chili powder, onion/garlic powder, salt, and sugar.
• Brush onto corn and grill until some kernels are burnt to a char.
• Slice kernels off the cob.
• Combine corn kernels with lime zest, lime juice, cilantro, red onion, and grape tomatoes in a mixing bowl.
• Season to taste.

Stir Fried Green Beans

I bought a couple of types of green beans at the Farmers Market last week - the French-style haricot-vert and the Chinese long bean because I was in the mood to have a simple stir-fried green beans specially the Asian-style, with some chili sauce and shrimp paste. Porgy helped me cleaned up the green beans and snapping off the ends and cut them into 2-inch sections while we're enjoying our Manhattans.


Ingredients:
1 lb of haricot-vert (French green beans), cut into 2-inch sections
1 lb of Chinese long green bean, cut into 2-inch sections
4 shallots, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 inch of ginger, thinly sliced
3 dried red chili pepper
a small tip of shrimp paste (~1/16 teaspoon)
1 tablespoon of Sambal Oelek
vegetable oil
1/4 cup fried shallots (optional)

Directions:

• Heat up a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large wok (or stir-fry pan) over medium heat for a 1-2 minutes until hot.
• Add in the green beans and stir fry for 5 minutes or so until they're just about to cook through. Set aside.
• Heat up another 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in the wok over medium heat and add in the shallot, garlic and ginger slices along with the red chili pepper and shrimp paste. Cook for 2-3 minutes until fragrant and then add in the Sambal Oelek.
  
• Add in the semi-cooked green beans, add 2 tablespoons of water, cover the wok and cook for 3 more minutes or until the green beans are all cooked through.
• Add in the fried shallots, stir and transfer to a serving plate.
  

Asparagus and Chopped Eggs

In addition to the farm fresh eggs, I also got these asparagus at the Castro Farmers' Market to make a simple roasted asparagus and crumbled some chopped boiled eggs on top.


Ingredients:
1 lb asparagus tips
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper
2 hard-boiled eggs, roughly chopped

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400F.
• Wash and dry the asparagus
• Toss with olive oil, spread on a baking sheet on a single layer, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Bake for 15 minutes, turn once while baking.
• Sprinkle the chopped eggs on top and serve.

Asparagus

Vegetable and Tofu Soup

After eating plenty of cupcakes in the past few days, we both felt that we should eat better so I made this light yet very tasty Vegetable and Tofu Soup. It is another fantastic recipe from Periplus' Homestyle Chinese Cooking cookbook – I'm loving this cookbook more and more!


Ingredients:
6 cups of water
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 lb fresh Shiitake mushrooms (or 8-10 dried Shiitake mushrooms)
1/2 lb of fresh bok choy or similar Chinese vegetables
1 package of firm or soft tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes
5 slices ginger, cut into thin strips
2 teaspoons white pepper
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine
1 teaspoon Mirin
1/2 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
2 green onions, finely chopped

Directions:

• If using dried Shiitake mushrooms, soak them in hot water for 15 minutes and drain.
• Bring water to a boil in a large pot and then add salt.
• Cut the mushroom stems and then cut each mushroom in half.
• Wash and rinse the vegetables, removing any dirt, any tough or wilted stems, and separate the leaves.
• Add the mushroom to the boiling water, and let the water return to boil, then add the tofu, ginger, white pepper, soy sauce, Shaoxing cooking wine and Mirin. Return to boil on medium flame, cover with lid and simmer for about 15 minutes (or 20 minutes if using dried mushrooms).
• Add the vegetables and stir, let water return to boil and simmer for 1 more minutes.
• Sprinkle chopped parsley and green onion prior to serving.
  

Stir-fried Sweet Peas and Mushrooms with Ginger and Spring Onions

I'm glad that spring is here because it means that I can get fresh peas (sweet peas, English peas, fava beans, etc.) at the Farmers Market and that I can finally try out this stir-fry recipe that I saw in Periplus' Homestyle Chinese Cooking cookbook. It says in the book that "snowpeas and mushrooms are a classic combination in Chinese cuisine because they harmonize opposite yin and yang qualities in three different ways: flavors (sweet and smokey), textures (crispy and mushy), colors (bright green and dark brown)" and I kind of agree with that. I used sweet peas instead of snow peas and added fried yellow tofu to add some meatiness to the dish. I really love this cookbook because it has a lot of great recipes that are not like the typical greasy Chinese food available at restaurants.


Ingredients:
1 lb fresh sweet peas
1 lb fresh Shiitake mushrooms
1/2 package of fried yellow tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1-inch ginger, slice into fine shreds
4 green onions, cut into 1-inch sections
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons Shaoxing cooking wine
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sesame oil

Directions:

• Wash the sweet peas, snap off the tips and pull away the strings from each sides.
• Clean the mushroom with damp cloth to remove any grit and dirt and cut in half
• Combine the soy sauce, cooking wine, sugar, salt and sesame oil in a small bowl and set aside.
• In a pot of boiling water, quickly blanch the sweet peas for 30 seconds and shock them in ice cold water to keep the bright green color.
• Heat the oil in a saute pan until hot and then add in the mushroom and ginger slices, stir fry for 2 minutes.
• Add the sauce and the tofu cubes and cook for another minute.
• Add the blanched sweet peas and the green onion and stir fry for a couple more minutes.
• Transfer to a serving dish.
  

Chard and Feta Quiche

I made this Chard and Feta Quiche after getting tired of eating Roasted Leg of Lamb for both lunch and dinner for 3 days in a row. This recipe was similar to my other quiche recipes except that I used a couple bunched of rainbow chard and feta cheese. Since I used quite a bit of vegetables, I added one more egg and heavy cream and baked the whole thing in a deep gratin dish instead of a round pie dish.

We had a difficult time going back eating the lamb again after having this dish. It was a wonderful light(-ish compared to the lamb) dish to have with a side arugula salad and a glass of Pinot Gris because the weather was so nice last week. Now I need to figure out what to do with the rest of the roasted lamb meat.


Ingredients:

1 frozen puff pastry sheet
2 tablespoons oil

1 onion, cut into half and thinly sliced
2 bunches of Rainbow Chard, washed and roughly chopped
4 eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
Fresh ground pepper
Fresh ground nutmeg
1 package of feta cheese

Directions:

• Roll the puff pastry dough to fit the gratin dish and bake for 15 minutes at 400°F. After it's done, lower the oven temperature to 375°F and place the pie pan on a wire rack to cool.
  
• Saute the onion and the chopped chard stem with olive oil over a medium heat for about 8 minutes or so until the onion is soft and starting to caramelize.
  
• Add the chopped chard leaves, cook for 8 more minutes over a medium high heat until the liquid is evaporated.
• Add a third of the cheese on the bottom of crust until it's all covered, top with the vegetable mixture and then cover with the remaining cheese.
  
• Mix together the eggs with the heavy cream and season with freshly ground pepper and nutmeg.
• Pour over the vegetable mixture and cheese.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes and cool on a wire rack for about 10-15 minutes before slicing.

Broccolini with Sausage and Shitake Mushroom

Here's a simple quick stir-fried vegetable dish that I made over the Easter weekend. It's delicious and healthy – just make sure to get young broccolini so it's not too tough or too stringy.


Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
1-inch ginger, finely chopped
1 lb broccolini
2 uncooked sausages
10 fresh Shiitake mushroom, destem and cut into slices
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine
2 tablespoons chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• In a large pan, quickly stir-fry the garlic, shallots and ginger with olive oil over a medium heat for a couple of minutes until fragrant.
• Take the sausages out of the casing, crumble them into the pan and cook for 5 minutes until they are almost cooked.
• Add in the sliced mushroom and cook for 3 more minutes.
• And then add in the broccolini along with the soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and chicken broth.
• Stir well, lower the heat, cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes or so until the broccolini is tender.
• Adjust seasoning using salt and pepper.
  

Spaghetti with Broccolini and Peas in Pesto Sauce

Ah... the intention of cooking healthy food can sometimes be derailed because of last minute improvisation (like adding too much cheese...). I'm not sure if this is a healthy and nutritious dish or not but I'd like to think so, specially since Porgy said that it's a very 'green' dish.

It's all started when I read this Recipe for Health article on NYTimes. I thought to myself 'Hey, that's a good idea to make simple, healthy and delicious vegetarian dish!' so I decided to make it over the weekend. Since I didn't have any parsley and edamame, I substituted spinach, arugula and dandelions for parsley and frozen shelled peas for edamame. And since I wanted to make extra 'pesto sauce' to use for pizza topping later on, I tripled the amounts of the olive oil and added extra Parmesan cheese to the sauce.


Ingredients:
4 large garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 packed cup of spinach
1 packed cup of arugula
1 packed cup of dandelion
1/3 cup of olive oil
1 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
1 package of dried spaghetti
1 cup of frozen peas
1 handful of Broccolini
1/2 cup of dry white wine

Directions:

• In a food processor, pulse-chop the garlic for a few seconds. Add in the spinach, arugula, dandelion and Parmesan cheese and then pulse-chop some more until finely chopped. With the machine running, drizzle in the olive oil. Taste and season with salt and pepper accordingly.
• In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the dried spaghetti pasta according to the direction in the package.
  
• About 5 minutes before the spaghetti is done cooking, add the frozen peas and Broccolini into the pot. Drain well.
• Using the same pot, cook the 'pesto sauce' with the dry white wine for a couple of minutes until it boils and then add in the spaghetti, peas and Broccolini.
  
• Toss the mixture together, add grated Parmesan cheese, salt or pepper if necessary.
  

Asparagus, Mushroom and Caramelized Onion Quiche

Oh boy... the past few weeks have been very stressful and tiring for us as Arthur, our Terrier mix, had been limping. We brought him to the vet a couple weeks ago but they couldn't find anything wrong with his foot. Yesterday we went back to the vet for further examinations and they found several 'foreign objects' including a small broken glass in his paw. They were able to take out most of the objects except one... so after spending $500+ for the visit, Arthur is still not 100%. I really hope that 'foreign object' will come out by itself some time soon so he can be back to his cheery self and we don't have to stress out about him too much anymore.

So anyway... tonight I decided to catch up with my blog starting with this Asparagus, Mushroom and Caramelized Onion Quiche. Continuing with my effort to eat more vegetables and less meat, I made this quiche a couple weekends ago. It's an easy, hearty and healthy(ish) dish that can be eaten with a side salad for a light lunch or dinner. It is similar to what I did before, I just modified the recipe based on what I had in my fridge.


Ingredients:

1 frozen puff pastry sheet
2 tablespoons ghee (or butter)

1 onion, cut into half and thinly sliced
1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup of sliced Crimini mushroom
1/2 cup milk (preferably half-and-half, but I didn't have any)
3 large eggs
Fresh ground pepper
Fresh ground nutmeg
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

• Roll the puff pastry dough to fit a pie pan and bake for 15 minutes at 400°F. After it's done, lower the oven temperature to 375°F and place the pie pan on a wire rack to cool.
  
• Saute the onion with the ghee over a medium heat for about 8 minutes or so until the onion is soft and starting to caramelize.
  
• Add the mushroom, cook for 5 more minutes over a medium high heat until the mushroom's juices are evaporated.
• Add in the asparagus and cook for another 3 minutes or so until the asparagus are just cooked.
  
• Add half of the cheese on the bottom of crust until it's all covered, top with the vegetable mixture and then cover with the remaining cheese.
  
• Mix together the eggs with the milk and season with freshly ground pepper and nutmeg.
• Pour over the vegetable mixture and cheese.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes and cool on a wire rack for about 10-15 minutes before slicing.

Eggplant and Tofu Braised in Fragrant Sauce

One of my 'ambitious' goals this year is to eat less meat. This is a hard one for me because 1) I love love love meat and 2) I'm somewhat clueless when cooking vegetables. I usually put at least a little bit of meat in my vegetable dishes but tonight I decided to go all vegetarian by adding tofu to substitute for the meat. This dish was inspired by one of the recipes in Periplus' Homestyle Chinese Cooking cookbook and has a similar taste as the Spicy Eggplant Balado that I made a few months ago.


Ingredients:
5 medium Chinese eggplants
1 package of cooked fried (yellow) tofu
3 tablespoons oil
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
8 slices ginger, finely chopped
2 leeks, well washed and chopped
1 stalk lemon grass (white part only), sliced in half and bruised
4 green onions, finely chopped
1.5 tablespoons chili paste (I used Sambal Oelek)
3/8 cup water
1/2 cup fried shallots (optional)

Sauce:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1.5 tablespoons Shaoxing cooking wine
1.5 tablespoons sugar
1.5 teaspoons vinegar
1.5 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon mirin
3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

• Cut eggplants length wise and then cut each half into 2-inch pieces.
• Combine all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
• Stir fry garlic, ginger, leek, lemon grass and eggplants over medium heat in a heavy bottom pan or a wok for 4 minutes until the eggplants absorb the oil and begin to soften.
  
• Add in tofu, green onion and the chili paste and cook for another 2 minutes.
• Add the sauce and mix carefully to combine all the ingredients.
• Add the water and cover the pan with a lid, lower the heat and simmer for 6 minutes.
• Sprinkle with fried shallots on top, stir one more time and serve.
  

Tahu Campur - Tofu with Bean Sprouts and Peanut Sauce

In addition to making Mie Jawa, this morning my Mom and I also made Tahu Campur (Tofu with Bean Sprouts and Peanut Sauce). Although I love the simplicity of this tasty dish, I don't think I will be making it often back in San Francisco because I rarely deep-fry things there - maybe some day when I have a bigger kitchen with better ventilation. I'm glad that I was able to make this in Indonesia.

If you feel ambitious, you can also add hard-boiled eggs, cucumber, tomatoes, boiled vegetables (cabbage, green bean and potatoes) and shrimp crackers to make a full meal like Gado-gado.

Grinding the fried peanuts and garlic.


Putting everything together.


Ingredients:
1 packed of firm tofu
2 cup of fresh (soy) bean sprouts
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1.5 cup raw peanut
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup fried shallots
1 green chili (optional)
1 cup sweet soy sauce
1/4 cup of water
peanut or canola oil for frying

Directions:

• Put the tofu between two plates and put a heavy frying pan on top for 30 minutes or so to drain the liquid in the tofu.
• Cut the tofu to 8 equal slices.
• Heat up the frying oil in a wok over medium heat.
• Deep fry the tofu slices in the oil until golden.
• Drain the fried tofu and sprinkle with a little bit of salt.
  
• Blanch the bean sprouts in boiling water for a minute or so, drain and pour on top of the chopped parsley leaves.
  

For the peanut sauce:

• Deep fry the peanuts until golden in a wok over low medium heat for 10 minutes or so.
• Grind the fried peanuts, garlic, sugar and fried shallots in a food processor until roughly chopped. I used mortar and pestle to do this (see picture).
• In a medium bowl, mix the green chili (optional), soy sauce and water together with the peanut mixture.
• The sauce should be quite watery and peanut mixture chunks.

• Serve the tofu with a side of the bean sprouts with a drizzle of the peanut sauce.

Mie Jawa - Javanese Noodle

It's interesting that I have not been in the mood to blog although I have been eating really well in the past week since I'm on vacation back in Indonesia. I took food pictures left and right but somehow I just couldn't force myself to sit down and start writing about them. I felt like I needed to cook something to get motivated to blog. So this morning, I helped my Mom make Mie Jawa (Javanese-style stir fry noodle) and Tahu Campur (Tofu with Bean Sprouts and Peanut Sauce) - both are easy to made traditional Indonesian vegetarian dishes.


Ingredients:
2 tablespoon unsalted butter (or margarine)
10 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon white peppercorn, freshly ground
1/2 cabbage, cut into strips
3 green onions, roughly chopped
1 cup chopped parsley leaves
3 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 eggs
1 lb fresh egg noodle
1.5 cup fried shallots

Directions:

• Heat up the butter in a wok over medium heat.
• Stir fry the garlic, salt and pepper for 1-2 minutes until fragrant and the garlic cloves turn golden.
• Add the cabbage, green onion, parsley, sweet soy sauce and oyster sauce into the wok and cover for approximately 2 minutes until the vegetables begin to cook.
• In the mean time, blanch the fresh noodle for a couple of minutes in a separate pan. If you use dry noodles, cook them according to the package minus 3 minutes or so.
• Create a well in the center of the wok and add in the eggs, breaking the yolks in the process.
• Let the eggs cook for a minute or so until they begin to harden and then stir them to make some kind of scramble eggs.
• Add in the noodle and a cup of the fried shallots, continue cooking for 3 more minutes while mixing everything together.
• Serve the noodle with the rest of the fried shallots. Enjoy!
  

Broccoli Rabe with Mushroom and Sausage

When I was a kid, I was such a picky eater and I would not eat any vegetables at all. My parents had a very difficult time making me eat them and, at one point, they sent me to sleep outside the house as a punishment because I was so stubborn and would not finish the small vegetable (broccoli tempura) portion on my plate. In case you're wondering, it was not fun sleeping outside in a tropical country without any blanket or pillow because of the mosquito and bugs. Now, I love my vegetables and I have my parents to thank for.

One of my favorite vegetable dishes is a stir-fry Broccoli Rabe (or Rapini) and yesterday I decided to stir fry it with some quartered brown mushroom and leftover breakfast sausages. You can add whatever you like and, as long as you don't overcook it, it will be delicious.


Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 teaspoon of dried red pepper flakes
2 bunches of Broccoli Rabe (or Rapini), cut into 2-3"
1/2 lb brown mushroom, quartered
2 sausages, sliced
1/4 cup dry white wine
salt & pepper

Directions:

• In a large saute pan, saute the minced shallot, sliced garlic and dried red pepper flakes over medium heat for 3 minutes. Stirring occasionally so not to burn the garlic.
• Add in the sausage and cook for another 3 minutes until the sausage crisp up a little bit.
• Add in the quartered mushroom, the stem part of the Broccoli Rabe, and half of the wine. Scrape the bottom of the pan to let the sausage bits that got stuck loose, cover and cook for 3 minutes or so.
• Add in the leaves part of the Broccoli Rabe and the rest of the wine, stir, cover and cook for 2 minutes or so until the leaves are just cooked.
• Season with salt and pepper accordingly.