Stew in bread bowl

Experiment: Stew in bread bowl

Introduction:

I’ve tried something like this in those Hong Kong style cafe.  I always wanted to try to make it, but then, I couldn’t find unsliced bread.  Until few days ago I went to Cobs, I saw that they sell loaf of bread unsliced.  Then I bought a loaf home and made this dish.

Materials:
A loaf of bread, unsliced
1 can of Campbell’s soup, cream of (something).  I used cream of mushroom
1 carrot
1 onion
1 small bag of button nushroom
half can of corn
Ground pepper
Cheese (optional)

Procedure:
1) Wash all the vegetables.  Cut the carrot into small bite size pieces, thinly slice the onion, and cut the mushrooms into small pieces

2) Heat up a frying pan, put all the vegetables in and cook until soft.  Add the cream of mushroom in, stir.  I didn’t add any water, because the mushroom I used released enough water to make the soup thin enough.   You can add milk if you want.  Let it simmer for 10-20 minutes.  Add corn in the last 5 minutes.

3) Cut the loaf of bread in half.  (Mine was small so I cut in half.  If yours is a big loaf, you can cut it in 3 or 4)

4) Cut a small square in the middle and take the white part out.  You can toast the white part or make french toast with it! 🙂

5) When the stew is ready, put the stew in the bread bowl.  If you have shredded cheese, sprinkle them on top of the stew.

6) Bake the bread bowl until the cheese melts.

Results:

Discussion:
1) It’s pretty easy! hehehe!  Me and Mr. Clam both liked it. Easy enough.  Next time if I have time I think I’ll make the stew from scratch instead of using canned soup.

2) Since now I know that I can buy unsliced bread, I think next thing I wanna try is those super thick toast that you have at Taiwanese bubble tea places! 🙂  I’m gonna look for recipes now!

Miso soup

 

I got 2 new bowls as presents a while ago, and I have always wanted to use them. 

Well I was thinking of miso soup this morning… so I decided to make miso soup for dinner.  And… FINALLY! I got a chance to use my new bowls! 🙂 hehe!

I won’t write too much about this recipe coz… it’s only miso soup, nothing fancy.  You can pretty much follow the instruction on the miso package that you buy.  You just throw in whatever you like into the soup. 

This particular soup that I made, I put in onions, mushroom and tofu, boil for a while, and then sprinkle the 7-flavour powder on top for more flavour.

Enjoy!

Asparagus salad

Experiment: Asparagus salad

Introduction:
I bought a box of masago the other day.  I didn’t know what to do with it, so I read through my recipe books, and I found this recipe.  So I gave it a try.  It’s super simple! 🙂

Materials:
1 bunch of asparagus
2 tbs Japanese mayonnaise
1 tbs lemon juice
Masago (as much as you like)

Procedure:
1) Wash the asparagus.  Boil a pot of water, and boil the asparagus until cooked.  Cut asparagus in half.  Place in a plate.

2) Mix the Japanese mayonnaise, lemon juice and masago together.  Pour the sauce on top of the asparagus.

Results:

 

Discussion:
1) It was really quick!  I think the whole thing took me 5 minutes.  And it’s really yummy! 🙂  Love it!

Gomae

Experiment: Gomae

Introduction:
I loooooove gomae! When I go to all-you-can-eat… I can easily eat 5 gomae. Thanks to my co-worker, Ms. Cat Slave, who lent me her grinder, I can make the sesame sauce. And with the sesame sauce, I can make GOMAE! hehehe!

Materials:
1 bunch spinach
Bonito flakes
Sesame sauce
Sesame seeds

Procedure:
1) Wash the spinach, then boil until soft.

2) Sqeeze out water with paper towel or clean cloth. When it’s dry enough, cut the spinach into desired length.

3) Put the spinach in a plate. Put the bonito flakes and sesame seeds on the spinach, then pour the sauce on the spinach.

Results:

Discussion:
1) I thought one bunch of spinach would be enough for me and Mr. Clam… ended up, one bunch of spianch is not a lot after you squeeze the water out.

Kimchi (Part 2)

Experiment: Kimchi

Introduction:
My Kimchi is done!  Please refer to here for the ingredients and recipe.

Result:

Discussions:
1) It’s finally done!  This kimchi has been fermented for 2 weeks. I don’t kow if you can see in the picture, but there’s a bubble between the kimchi and the saran wrap.  I read in other blogs that the bubble is a result of the “fermentation.”  Anyways… once I open the wrap, wow…. it smelt SOOOOO GOOD!  And of course, I tasted it immediately, and it tasted…

2) like Kimchi! hehe!  It actually tasted pretty good!  The only thing is… it’s a little spicier than the kimchi that I usually have.  I think next time I’ll put less chili powder in next time. 

3) I used this batch of kimchi to make Chicken and Kimchi Rice bowl.  I used this recipe.  I substituted chicken with pork, and I used less kimchi (coz Mr. Clam can’t take spicy food that well).  It was yummy! 🙂

4)  I’ll try another batch after I finish this one!  Hehe!  I’m just so excited!!!!

Kimichi (Part 1)

 

Experiment: Kimchi

Introduction:
I saw a few Kimchi recipes on a few blogs a while ago.  I never knew that I could make Kimichi at home!  So after I saw those recipes, and knowing that the ingredients are quite accessible, I decided to give it a try.   I modified the recipe a bit (because I don’t have some ingredients), but hopefully it’ll still taste good! 

Materials:
1/2 Korean cabbage (about 500g)
1/2 Korean raddish
1/4 onion, chopped
2 tbs chopped ginger
2 tbs chopped garlic
4 bunches of green onions
4 tbs salt

Kimchi sauce:
6 tbs crushed red pepper (or red pepper powder)
6 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs sesame oil
1/2 tbs sugar
2-3 tbs sesame

Korean Cabbage:
 

Crushed red pepper:

Procedure:
1) Cut the cabbage into small pieces.  (OR just leave the leaves as they are.  There are many different ways.)

2) Put the cabbage into a big bowl, sprinkle the salt onto the cabbage. Mix the cabbage and the salt together until the cabbage leaves are soft.  I think I left the cabbage in the big bowl for roughly an hour.

3) Wash away the salt from the cabbage leaves.  Taste the cabbage leaves (the acutal leaf part) and see if it’s still salty.  Keep washing (or soak the cabbage in cold water) the leaves until it’s not salty. And then air dry the cabbage for about 2 hours.

4) While you’re drying the cabbage, it’s time to prepare the other ingredients.  Cut the green onions into 2-inches pieces.  Cut the Korean raddish in half.  Grate half of the radish, and thinly slice the other half of the raddish.

From top left clockwise: chopped onions, chopped ginger, thinly sliced Korean raddish, grated Korean Korean raddish, choped garlic and green onoins

5) Mix all the Kimchi sauce ingredients together in a bowl.  Taste it and see if you like it.  You can add more crushed red pepper if you like it really spicy.

6) When the cabbage leaves are dry, then you’re ready for the mixing!  Simply put all the ingredients in a biiiiiiig bowl, and mix them together.  Mix them well!  It’ll start to look like kimchi.

7) Put the mixed kimchi in a container.

8) Put saran wrap on top of the kimchi.  Cover the lid, then put it in the fridge for 7 days.

Result:
It’s not ready yet!  I’ll post it again after 7 days… but… OH!  I’ll be out of town… so maybe I’ll post it after I come back… hehe!

(Updated: Please see Part 2 here)

Discussion:
1) I didn’t know that the leaves would shrink so much… I think I should’ve used ONE whole cabbage instead of half.

2) I saw in a recipe that you can add shrimp paste in the kimchi sauce as well.  Too bad I don’t have it at home!  I really like the smell of shrimp paste.

3) You can also add grated apple, thinly sliced cuccumber, and thinly sliced carrots in the kimchi as well…  I don’t have it at home.  But I’ll definitely try them next time!

Stir fry Daikon Cake with XO sauce

 

 

Experiment: Stir fry Daikon Cake with XO sauce

Introduction:
I tried to make the Daikon Cake again.   This time I tried it with Rice Flour:Corn Startch 2:1 ratio, but then… it turned out to be quick firm.  Still not the texture I want.  BUT!  Since this is so firm, it’s actually quite good for stir frying.  So today I tried stir fry daikon cake with xo sauce – a common dish now in many dim sum restaurants.

Materials:
Daikon cake
A bunch of bean sprout
2 -3 tbs XO sauce (depends on how spicy you like it)
1 tbs of chopped garlic
Chopped green onions
Pepper and salt to taste
Oil

Procedure:
1) Cut the Daikon Cake into cubes.

2) Heat up a frying pan, then some oil, and then add the chopped garlic.  When the garlic turns golden brown, put the bean sprouts in and stir fry for a bit.

3) Put the daikon cake in and stir fry with the bean sprout.  Then put the XO sauce in.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

4) When the daikon cake is well cooked, put everyone on a plate and sprinkle grenn onions on top.

5) Time to eat!

Result:

 

Discussion:
1) Just in case you didn’t know what XO sauce is, it’s a seafood sauce that’s usually made of  chilli pepper, dried scallope, dried shrimp etc.  It’s usually spicy.  You can find it in most Asian supermarkets.

2) I think I put too much oil from the XO sauce in… so the whole dish turned out to be quite greasy.  Not good.

3) Hmm… About the Daikon Cake I think I’ll try a Rice flour:Corn Starch 3:1 ratio… Wish I’ll succeed next time!

Chinese Radish Cake (蘿蔔糕)

Experiment: Chinese Radish Cake

Introduction:
I saw in my friend’s facebook that she made Radish Cake last year.  I was sooo tempted to make it last year, but then… since it involves MANY steps, I was quite reluctant to do it.   This year, since I have time in my hands, I decided to give it a try.  I’ve done my research – I went to MANY recipe websites.  But very interestingly, the flour proportion vary from site to site.  In the end… I just randomly put the two types of flour together… in the end… It was too sticky.  Hmm… I’ll definitely try it again (when I feel like it).  But anyways… here’s what I did…

Materials:
1.5 Chinese white radish (about 800g)
2 shallots
2 dried scallopes, pre-soaked in water
5 dried shitake mushroom, pre-soaked in water
2.5 Chinese sausages
2. tbs Chinese dried shrimp, pre-soaked in water
A bunch of green onion, chopped
Sesame
Rice Flour
Corn Starch
Oyster Sauce
Sake
Grounded white pepper
Oil

Procedure:
1) Cut the shallots, dried scallopes, dried shitake mushroom, Chinese sausages, Chinese dried shrimp in tiny pieces.

2) Shred the radish.  When you shred the radish, water will come out.  Don’t pour out the water, you’ll need it for later.

3) Heat up the frying pan.  Put the Chinese sausage in first, the oil from the sausages will come out.  Then put in the shallots, dried scallopes, dried shitake mushroom and dried shrimp.  Put this mix in a bowl when everything’s cooked.

4) In the same pan, put in the shredded radish.  Fry for a while, and then add in 3), oyster sauce, sake and grounded white pepper, and keep stirring.   When the radish becomes half cooked, turn off the heat.

5) In a small bowl, mix the rice flour and corn starch with the radish water.  If you don’t have enough radish water, then just use water to substitute.  I think I used roughly 500g of flour in total.

Ok this is the part where I had problem.  I didn’t know what proportion of the rice flour and corn starch I should use… from lots of websites that I’ve read, I know that I should put more rice flour then the corn starch.  So I just randomly mix them in.   From the result that I got, I think next time I’ll try:

Rice Flour:Corn Starch
3:1

6)  ANYWAYS… after you mix the flour with the radish water (mix it well!), pour it in the frying pan and mix it with the radish.  Keep stirring.  It’ll become thicker and thicker.

7) Brush oil all over the steaming container. Then put the radish mixture into the container.  Then steam it for roughly 30-45 minutes. 

8)  Use a chopstick or skewer to poke into the center.  If the radish cake doesn’t stick onto the chopstick/skewer, it means that it’s cooked.

9) While it’s still hot, sprinkle sesame and chopped green onions on top and let it cool.

10) You can either eat it steamed, or cut it into slices, and pan fry it. 

Steamed radish cake

 

Discussion:
1) Hmm… I acutally do like the taste of this radish cake… the bad thing is that it was toooo sticky, which is not good if you wanna pan fry it.  I acutally liked to eat this batch steamed.

Radish cake - eaten steamed

 2) I cheated and used V-Slicer to “shred” the radish.  People told me that the radish slices were too thick.  I think I really have to SHRED!  (Which means it’ll take me MUCH LONGER!)

3) I’ll defintely try to make it again!!!

 

 

Steamed Eggplants with garlic

Experiment: Steamed Eggplants with garlic

Introduction: I’ve always liked eggplants.  I used to just panfry eggplants and drizzle sesame sauce on top.  One day I was talking with my co-worker about eggplants, she told me that she usually steam eggplants with lots of garlic.  She said it’s super easy and it tastes very good…  Easy and Yummy sound good to me! so I decided to give it a try.

Materials:
Eggplant 
Lots of minced garlic
2 tbs chopped green onion
Soy sauce
Sesame oil

 Procedure:
1) Cut the eggplant into small pieces. Put them on a plate.  Put lots of garlic on top of the eggplants, and steam.

2) Mix soy sauce and sesame oil together.

3) When eggplants are done, put the chopped green onion on top, then pour the soy sauce and sesame oil mix on the eggplants.  DONE!

Result:
 

 

 

Discussion:
1) I usually only use this Garlic+Green Onion+Soy Sauce+Sesame oil combination for seafood.  When I ate this eggplant… for a moment I thought I was having seafood! 😛

2) Love this easy dish!  Very easy and quick and yummy!

Nikujaga (肉じゃが)

 

Experiment: Nikujaga (肉じゃが)

 

 

Introduction:

Ok technically this dish is not an experiment for me anymore, since I make it quite often.  But evertime I make it I could change something.  So this time, the new things are:  nugget potatoes and beef slices.

 

 

Materials:

150g sliced beef

1 big carrot, cut into bite size

12 nugget potatoes

1 white onion, cut into slices

1/4 cup frozen edamame

1 pack konnyaku

1 to 1.5 cups of water

Oil

 

Sauce:

3 tbs brown sugar

3 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs mirin

2 tbs sake

 

 

Procedure:

1) Boil water in a small pot.  When water boils, put the konnyaku in, and let it boil for a minute.  Turn off the heat and take the konnyaku out.  Cut it into small pieces.  (Or if you have time, you can curl the konnyaku like I did)

2) Heat up a medium/large frying pan.  Put some oil in, then put the onions, beef and konnyaku in.  When the beef changes colour, put the carrots and nugget potatoes in.  Stir.

3)  Put the water in. (water should just be enough to cover the food)

4)  Mix the sauce together and pour it into the frying pan.

5)  When it boils, turn the heat to medium.  Cover the lid and let it simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft. 

6)  Put the edamame in.  When the edamame is ready, serve.

 

 

Result:

 

 

Discussions:

1) It’s my first time trying nugget potatoes.  I actually like it better than the regular potatoes! 🙂

2) You can substitue sweet potato with potato, chicken with beef, green peas with edamame… basically, any vegetables that you like!

3)  You can add some Dashi Stock powder in as well.  I’m thinking next time maybe I’ll use Dashi stock instead of water!  Not sure how it’ll taste though.  Will post it up! 🙂

 

 

Conclusion:

It’s one of the very first few Japanese dishes that I learned to make.  After trying it the first time, Ijust fell in love with it!  It’s good because it’s easy to make and it has lots of veggies in it!  Me love eating veggies! 🙂

 

 

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