Image by massdistraction
Yesterday and today’s lunch (leftovers). Had a minor panic attack when the food first arrived. The box with my number on it contained nothing but spinach and sprouts. Turns out the curried tofu was in another container.
Ingredients
1 lb dried black beans
onion
salt and pepper
cumin
chipotle in adobo sauce
1 can diced tomatoes (salt free)
Directions
Soak the beans over night. Use plenty of water!
Early the next day, top with more water and add diced onion, the tomatoes, a healthy amount of pepper, a bit of salt, healthy amount of cumin, and a small can of chipotles in adobo sauce. Cook on high for 6~10 hours, depending on how soft you want them.
This has a little kick to it, but the chipotles gives it a smoky/sweet spice. I wish I put more in it honestly since I love spicy food.
Serve with over rice and then top with japanenos, cilantro, cheese, more tomatoes, more onions… you can top with anything. I just used lots of cilantro, personally. Note: The guys brought some cajun sausage to add to the meal, so I just skillet-cooked the meat and added it to the pot after everything was done.
Cumin Rice
I use a rice cooker.
I cooked 4 cups of rice to go with the beans, and it may not have been enough. I often use jasmine, but this week it’s just plain long grain white rice.
In a skillet: quickly melt some butter and cumin seeds (whole) until the seeds are a ltitle browned. Don’t burn the butter! Dump this in the rice cooker with the raw rice and water. Add some lime juice (I use 1-2 cap fulls of real lime juice per cup and that may be a bit conservative) and then cook rice as directed.
Yum!
Lamb and Carrot Dumplings – Original Taste – Alpha
Image by avlxyz
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Dinner for 8 at Original Taste Northern Chinese Food came to a reasonable AUD105. We were able to try a few more dishes this time, and everyone agreed that the food was good and the familiar flavours were combined in new and different ways. The salads were crunchy and light, while the stews were rich and satisfying. Wheat is the staple cereal in the North and we had dumplings and 3 different types of pancakes. With glass noodles, there was one made from sweet potato flour and flat and round varieties made from green mung bean flour. The chilli chicken could have been more of a Sichuan dish but it was crisp and tasty. According to the waitress, it is marinated in Chinese black rice vinegar.
The only problem is that I don’t remember the Chinese names because most of them were recommendations by the waitress.
As it turns out, the Finepix produced photos with better colours, but occasionally over-exposed photos, whereas the Exilim was more consistent. I wonder if the circuits inside the Finepix are getting a bit old? I remember using it for Cathy & Scott and Chris & James’ weddings and it was fine.
In terms of shutter lag and general responsiveness, the newer Exilim definitely won out over the older Finepix.
It’s probably not really fair to compare camera’s made 4 years apart!
源³é¦ 东北菜馆
Original Taste Northern China Cuisine ⪲ Whitehorse Rd, Box Hill
Tel: 03 9898 8787
Laksa is a spice-laden noodle dish that is popular in Malaysia and Singapore; it’s a noodle dish that is quickly gaining popularity outside of Southeast Asia because of the scrumptious taste. To most people, especially the western media, laksa means curry laksa, a noodle dish in coconut milk and curry soup base. The truth is, there are many different types of laksa but the two dominant ones are curry laksa (coconut milk based) and asam laksa (tamarind based). Laksa is an iconic street food served by street vendors (hawkers) throughout Malaysia, a dish that I grew up eating…
In my hometown Penang, laksa simply means Asam Laksa, a spicy and sour fish-based noodle dish. My Penang laksa recipes are here and here. In Penang, curry laksa is known as curry mee and my Recipe is here.
Are you confused yet?
Anyway, today I am sharing a “friendly” laksa recipe with you. I have adapted this laksa recipe so the taste appeals more to the western palate. I also did a twist by adding evaporated milk to the laksa stock, so it’s half coconut milk and half evaporated milk. The end result is a creamier version of laksa without the dominant flavor of coconut milk. To further enhance the aroma of the broth, I threw in a few kaffir lime leaves. The laksa was so delicious that even my friend‘s 2 year old and 4 years old enjoyed it.
3 tablespoons oil
1/2 pack (120g) Malaysian instant curry paste (you can get it at AsianSupermarket365.com)
2 cups chicken stock (1 can)
2 cups water
2 stalks lemongrass (white part only, pounded)
5 kaffir lime leaves (optional)
10 tofu puffs, cut into pieces
1/2 cup evaporated milk
Ł/2 cup coconut milk
Salt to taste
Other Ingredients
Yellow noodles
Vermicelli
Bean sprouts
10 shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cooked
3 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
Fish cakes, cut into pieces
Method:
In a stockpot, add the oil and sauté the instant curry paste until aromatic.
Add the chicken broth, water, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, tofu puffs and bring the stock to boil.
Lower the heat to simmer. Add the coconut milk and evaporated milk. Add salt to taste. Keep the stock on simmer.
Rinse the yellow noodles, drained and set aside. Soak the dry vermicelli with some warm water until soft, drained and set aside.
To assemble a bowl of laksa for serving, bring to boil some yellow noodles, vermicelli, and a handful of bean sprouts. Drain the noodles and transfer to a serving bowl.
Top the noodles with 2-3 shrimp, a few pieces of fish cake, and 1-2 egg quarters.
Using a ladle, pour the laksa broth and a few pieces of tofu puffs on top of the noodles.
Laksa is a spice-laden noodle dish that is popular in Malaysia and Singapore; it’s a noodle dish that is quickly gaining popularity outside of Southeast Asia because of the scrumptious taste. To most people, especially the western media, laksa means curry laksa, a noodle dish in coconut milk and curry soup base. The truth is, there are many different types of laksa but the two dominant ones are curry laksa (coconut milk based) and asam laksa (tamarind based). Laksa is an iconic street food served by street vendors (hawkers) throughout Malaysia, a dish that I grew up eating…
In my hometown Penang, laksa simply means Asam Laksa, a spicy and sour fish-based noodle dish. My Penang laksa recipes are here and here. In Penang, curry laksa is known as curry mee and my Recipe is here.
Are you confused yet?
Anyway, today I am sharing a “friendly” laksa recipe with you. I have adapted this laksa recipe so the taste appeals more to the western palate. I also did a twist by adding evaporated milk to the laksa stock, so it’s half coconut milk and half evaporated milk. The end result is a creamier version of laksa without the dominant flavor of coconut milk. To further enhance the aroma of the broth, I threw in a few kaffir lime leaves. The laksa was so delicious that even my friend‘s 2 year old and 4 years old enjoyed it.
Laksa Recipe
Ingredients:
Stock
3 tablespoons oil
1/2 pack (120g) Malaysian instant curry paste (you can get it at AsianSupermarket365.com)
2 cups chicken stock (1 can)
2 cups water
2 stalks lemongrass (white part only, pounded)
5 kaffir lime leaves (optional)
10 tofu puffs, cut into pieces
1/2 cup evaporated milk
Ł/2 cup coconut milk
Salt to taste
Other Ingredients
Yellow noodles
Vermicelli
Bean sprouts
10 shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cooked
3 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
Fish cakes, cut into pieces
Method:
In a stockpot, add the oil and sauté the instant curry paste until aromatic.
Add the chicken broth, water, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, tofu puffs and bring the stock to boil.
Lower the heat to simmer. Add the coconut milk and evaporated milk. Add salt to taste. Keep the stock on simmer.
Rinse the yellow noodles, drained and set aside. Soak the dry vermicelli with some warm water until soft, drained and set aside.
To assemble a bowl of laksa for serving, bring to boil some yellow noodles, vermicelli, and a handful of bean sprouts. Drain the noodles and transfer to a serving bowl.
Top the noodles with 2-3 shrimp, a few pieces of fish cake, and 1-2 egg quarters.
Using a ladle, pour the laksa broth and a few pieces of tofu puffs on top of the noodles.
Wine marinated lamb popsicle in fenugreek cream curry
Image by Vincent Ma
When we went to Vancouver we visited Vij’s. We were absolutely floored by their food. Subsequently we bought his cookbook and proceeded to try to make one of our favourite dish from that visit, the Lamb Popsicle.
Dried fenugreek leaves (that’s what we used in this dish) is called kasoori (or kasuri) methi. We found a big bag of it in an Indian groceries store. The smell and flavour of the fenugreek is very hard to describe and very exotic. It’s no wonder that this herb hasn’t made it into many mainstream western dishes.
The recipe called for a "sweet white wine" to be used when marinating the rack of lamb. Since this is a spicy (literally, and also piquant) dish, we thought we’d be cute and used a Gewürztraminer. I picked one of my favourite: Pelee Island Winery. Remember, kids: Always buy a wine that’s good enough to drink for cooking. Especially when faced with a recipe that calls for something like 3 tablespoons of wine (Doh!)
If you make the dish please make sure you have lots of rice or bread around — you won’t want to waste a drop of the sauce, it’s that good.
Untitled
Image by Smithsonian Institution Description: A participant carves a watermelon in the Food Culture USA program at the 2005 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
Image by Stitch
My “spartan” snack the other day. It’s one of my few photos about food, yay! I don’t eat much as you can see. btw, pansit or chinese noodles is the Asian spaghetti but i’ll settle for the real spaghetti anytime :p
I baked a cake just to photography it, it turned out well too. This was a mini cake and realized managing small portions of food is much easier when taking shots.
Chef Themed Cupcake Box
Image by clevercupcakes
Ordered for an chef’s birthday these cupcakes are decorated with some of his favourite foods to cook (steak, fish), items he uses in the kitchen (dark brown pepper mill, global knife, thongs, green trimmed chef’s jacket), some asian fare (chopsticks, fortune cookie, bowl of noodles, soup spoon) and finally a cupcake topped with a birthday cake! The cupcakes themselves are red velvet filled with cream cheese frosting and topped with chocolate buttercream.
Hey Remember Laptop Lunches?
Image by glue&glitter
I sort of rediscovered my Laptop Lunchbox this week! The secret to keeping the sucker from popping open is rubber bands! Why didn’t I think of that forever ago??
Today’s lunch is a total preschool lunch. All dippy things and finger food. Yes!
When it comes to Japanese noodles, there are the big three: ramen, soba, and udon. Udon (うどん) noodles are thick and white, made with wheat flour and salted water. Udon is very popular in and outside of Japan€”dishes such as tempura udon and kitsune udon are widely eaten…
Udon noodles are available in Japanese/Asian supermarkets, or regular supermarkets with an Asian ingredients section. As with any noodles, you can find fresh, dried, or frozen udon. Fresh udon is ideal but dried or frozen udon noodles are quite good as long as you follow the cooking instructions. Udon is prized for its chewy texture yet totally smooth mouthfeel, so don’t overcook the udon noodles. When shopping for udon, avoid those udon packets with a seasoning pouch, as the quality of the udon is mostly compromised.
One of the most common recipes of udon noodles is yaki udon, which is stir-fried udon, a dish that constantly reminds me of my first trip to Tokyo, where I had a serving of authentic yaki udon at a mom-and-pop eatery right beside my train station. Topped with some shaved bonito flakes and freshly pickled beni-shoga (Japanese pickled ginger), the taste of the fried udon noodles still lingers in my mouth.
I cooked my udon noodles with some cabbage, carrot, onion, pork, and shrimp—some of the most common ingredients for yaki udon. For the seasonings, I used Mizkan (Bonito Flavored) Soup Base to replace soy sauce, and balance it off with Mizkan Mirin. The end result is delicious and utterly satisfying.
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
4 oz pork, cut into small pieces
5 peeled and deveined shrimp
2 oz cabbage, shredded
1/2 carrot, peeled and cut into matchstick strips
12 oz udon
1 stalk scallion, cut into 2-inch lengths
Combine all the ingredients in the Seasonings in a small bowl. Set aside.
Boil the udon noodles per the packet instructions. Make sure not to overcook the udon. Rinse the udon noodles with cold running water, making sure that there is no excess starch clinging to the noodles. Drain and set aside.
Heat up a wok or skillet with the oil. Add the onion and sauté briefly, follow by the pork and shrimp.
Add the cabbage, carrot, and stir a few times before adding the udon noodles.
Add the Seasonings into the wok or skillet, stir continuously to combine well with all the ingredients.
Add the scallions, stir a few more times, and transfer the yaki udon into a serving bowl.
Top the yaki udon with some shaved bonito flakes, beni-shoga, and serve immediately.
Cookâ€s Note:
If you prefer ramen, you can use the same recipe and the Seasoning to make yakisoba for an equally delicious result.
June 14th, 2011 | 30-Minute Meals Recipes, Korean recipes | 5 Comments
My husband has a good Korean friend whose mother-in-law runs a restaurant in LA’s Korean Town. She always makes kimchi from scratch and he would always give us some. Whenever life gives us homemade kimchi, I make kimchi fried rice, which is easily one of the most delicious fried rice recipes ever.
Kimchi fried rice takes practically 15 minutes to prepare and calls for a few basic ingredients: kimchi, overnight steamed rice, and egg. If you like, you can add meat such as beef, chicken, spam, or bacon, but I like the plain kimchi fried rice. It is delicious as is…
The egg is often cooked sunny side up and placed on top of the rice. For my food photography, I served it separately to let the kimchi fried rice shines through in the photos. (You can check out the complete gallery by clicking on the top picture above.)
Many Koreans make Kimchi fried rice whenever they need to use up the kimchi at home. To me, kimchi fried rice is one easy Recipe that produces mouthwatering and satisfying result.
If you like Korean recipes, you might also like these recipes on Rasa Malaysia:
2 tablespoons oil
1 large egg
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/4 small onion, finely diced
1/2 cup kimchi, cut into small pieces + 1 tablespoon kimchi juice
2 cups overnight steamed white rice
1 tablespoon soy sauce or to taste
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
3 dashes black pepper
Ł stalk scallion, cut into small rounds
Heat up a wok with 1/4 tablespoon oil and cook the egg sunny side up. Dish out and set aside.
Add the remaining oil into the wok. Sauté the garlic and onion until aromatic. Add the kimchi and do a few quick stirs before adding the rice. Stir to combine well. Add the soy sauce, sesame oil, black pepper, and scallion. Stir a few times to blend with the rice. Dish out and serve immediately with the egg on top of the rice.
Cook’s Note:
I like my Kimchi Fried Rice spicy with lots of kimchi. Cut down on the kimchi if you like a milder taste.
June 6th, 2011 | 30-Minute Meals Recipes, Korean Recipes | No Comments
Japchae (also spelled as chap chae) is the first Korean dish I tried. Believe it or not, before I came to the United States, I had never had Korean food. Growing up in Malaysia with all its glorious local cuisines and family’s home cooking, I seldom tried other cuisines…plus there weren’t many international restaurants back then.
I first had Japchae when I lived in San Francisco. I fell in love with the springy and slightly chewy texture of the japchae noodle, which is made from sweet potato. Korean food was new to me, the taste—especially the dishes with lots of heat—reminded me of Malaysian cuisine, but it’s completely different and interesting…
Korean cooking is currently high on my priority list. Even though I enjoy Korean food tremendously, I am a novice but I have been cooking a lot of Korean dishes lately. Please stay tuned as I am going to expand the Korean recipes category with kimchi fried rice, Korean pancakes, bulgogi, and more. Anyway, here is my japchae (chap chae) Recipe, which is easy and takes only 30 minutes to prepare. Enjoy!
Japchae (ChapChae) Recipe
Adapted from The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook & The Korean Table
Serves 2
Ingredients:
8 oz noodles
4 oz spinach 1 1ǘ tablespoons oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
3-4 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in warm water, stem removed and sliced
1 small carrot, cut into thin strips
1 stalk scallion, cut into 1-inch lengths
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
Salt to taste
1 heaping teaspoon toasted white sesame
Cook the sweet potato noodles in a large pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes. Drain the water and rinse the noodles under cold running water. Cut the noodles using a pair of scissors into about 6-inch lengths. Set aside.
Heat up a pot of water and bring it to boil. Blanch the spinach until they are wilted, about 1 minute. Drain the water and rinse the spinach under cold running water. Form the spinach into a ball and squeeze it to discard the remaining water. Cut the spinach ball into half.
Heat up the oil in a skillet or wok and add the garlic, onion, mushroom, and carrot and cook for about two minutes. Add the scallion and stir-fry for another minute. Turn the heat to low and add the noodles and spinach into the skillet or wok, follow by the sesame oil, the Sauce, and salt to taste. Stir to combine well. Dish out, sprinkle with the sesame seeds, and served at room temperature.
Cook’s Notes:
The japchae noodles can be found at Asian supermarkets. They are usually labelled as sweet potato noodles.
You can also try out the Japchae recipe at Steamy Kitchen and Beyond Kimchee.
www.cri-report.com – Modern fast food industry in China started relatively late along with the implementation of China’s reform and opening up. In 1987, KFC established China’s first fast food restaurant in Beijing, ushering in China’s fast food market. In the 19Ȱs and 1990s, other Western fast food enterprises began to enter the Chinese market, and acquired favorable achievements. Chinese fast food began to appear soon.
According to characteristics of the Chinese fast food market, fast food is divided into such two major categories as Western and Chinese fast food. Standardization of Western fast food is easy to be realized since in Western fast food, which is generally roasted and fried, a small quantity of major ingredients, minor ingredients and condiments are adopted. The main varieties of Western fast food are hamburger, chicken nuggets, French fries, etc. which are generally accompanied by soft drinks. Standardization of Chinese fast food is difficult to be realized since in Chinese fast food, there are a large variety of major ingredients, minor ingredients and condiments. The cooking methods are multiple, and the varieties including rice, noodles, dumplings, fried dishes, steamed dishes, etc. are accompanied by Chinese soup or soft drinks.
Currently, the major Western fast food brands in Chinese market are KFC, McDonald’s, Burger King, etc.; the major Chinese fast food brands are Kungfu, Yonghe King, Da Niang Dumpling, etc.
In recent ten years, with the quickening pace of social life, China’s fast food industry has maintained annual growth rate of 10%-20%. In 2010, the market scale of China’s fast food industry exceeded CNY 260 billion.
KFC and McDonald’s, the two fast-food giants, are always leaving Chinese fast food enterprises far behind. But it cannot be ignored that it’s still the Chinese fast food that occupies nearly 70% market share of the fast food industry in China. According to incomplete statistics, at least over 60% of Chinese fast food is rice-based. Chinese fast food enterprises are large in number, but the single enterprises are weak in strength. For instance, by the end of 2010, KFC has possessed over 3,000 restaurants in China, while Kungfu, a leading enterprise of Chinese fast food has possessed less than 400 restaurants in China.
Standardization has always been the biggest obstacle to chain development of Chinese fast food industry. Compared with KFC, McDonald’s and other Western fast food, it is fairly difficult for Chinese fast food industry to achieve standardization, especially in taste, weight, and specification, which is also one of the major reasons for the relatively slow chain development of Chinese fast food industry.
China’s fast food market has been heating up. Such world-renowned Western fast food as McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, and such Chinese restaurant chain enterprises as Kungfu, Yonghe King, Da Niang Dumpling flourish on a large scale. However, the fast-food giants seem to have no intention to slow down the pace of expansion.
At the end of 2010, McDonald’s announced that in the next 3 years, it would increase 1,000 new restaurants in China.
By the end of 2010, Burger King has opened over 30 restaurants in China. In September, 2010, 3G Capital in Brazil purchased Burger King, the second-largest fast food chain stores in the U.S.A. with USD 3.30 billion. The industry insiders believe that this acquisition will promote the Burger King’s pace of expansion in China.
In the field of Chinese restaurant chain, Kungfu possessed nearly ᐼ regular stores nationwide in 2010, growing into the NO.1 of Chinese fast food industry. Kungfu plans to own 800-1,000 storefronts in the next 5 years. In addition, Yonghe King possesses 200 chain stores in China’s major cities which are planned to be further expanded to 700 restaurants in the next 5 years nationwide.
China’s fast food market enjoys huge market opportunities, in which exists a lot of mistaken ideas in terms of investment and concept.
In China, the development of the fast food industry is constrained by consumption level and consumption capacity. Economic development is uneven throughout China, the coastal cities are more economically developed than inland, central and western regions, and large cities are more economically developed than small and medium-sized cities. Even in a city, incomes of different groups differ largely. A portion of fast food in Chinese market is usually sold at CNY5-CNY30. The fast food industry in China faces such problems as imperfect relevant laws, inadequate distribution systems, food safety, etc. Investors need to consider various angles of policies, site selection, incomes of local consumers, cultural factors, etc. before investing in China’s fast food industry.
China’s pace of urbanization is accelerating, a large number of rural populations are pouring into the cities, and the consumption capacity of original urban population is gradually increasing. Due to a large population and the continuing and rapid development of China’s economy, China will gradually become the world’s largest fast food market.
More following information can be acquired from “Research Report on China Fast Food Industry, 2011-2012″: -Development Environment of China’s Fast Food Industry -Development Status of Western Fast Food in Chinese Market -Development Status of Chinese Fast Food in Chinese Market -Key Enterprises in China’s Fast Food Industry and Their Operations -Competition in China’s Fast Food Industry -Competition and Market Strategy of China’s Fast Food Industry -Prediction on Development Trend of China’s Fast Food Industry -Existing Investment Opportunities in China’s Fast Food Industry
Following people are suggested to buy this report: -Fast Food Enterprises -Food Raw Material and Condiment Suppliers -Investors Focusing on China’s Fast Food Industry -Research Institutions Focusing on China’s Fast Food Industry
