Monday, December 31, 2012

Polenta with Chicken Mushroom Sauce


I have been wanting to try the organic polenta for sometimes but I needed time to think of how and what to serve it with.  The above was the result of much thought.  I loved how soft and nutty the polenta tasted and the slight crispness from the edges resulting from pan-frying it in olive oil.  It didn't look much but was actually quite filling and well served as an alternative to rice or bread.  It was delicious to pair it with the creamy mushroom sauce.  The pine nuts added a wonderful crunch to the mushroom sauce and juicy white chicken.  You can choose to grill the chicken breast or pan-frying it in extra virgin olive oil.  Overall, it was a satisfying and balance meal.


Pantry essentials are those go-to ingredients that you love to reach for when thinking up new ways to create holidays dishes that wow friends and family.  Polenta is a great meatless dish to add to your weekly cooking repertoire, their Crepes are an easy no-muss-no-fuss dessert and Pine Nuts make for a wonderful crunch to any dish whether savory or sweet.  Not only that, they have lots of unique, hard to find and specialty items such as exotic fruits and vegetables. Check out Friedas for any of your pantry essentials need and specialty items.


I love these ready-to-use French Style Crepes, it makes making a delicious dessert super quick and easy.  I just spread it with a thin layer of Jif Chocolate/ Nutella and roll it up and sprinkle some powder sugar on top.  Can I say YUMMY!!   You can also use this to make the famous Crepes Cake and cut down on hours of labor!

* I received free samples from Friedas.  Thoughts and opinions are my own.

Friday, December 28, 2012

Cream Cheese Milk Loaf


Making the bun that uses the Dough function can be quite time consuming as it usually took more than 3 hours to get it done.  Sometimes it was hard for me to allocate the time as I have to fetch my little one at noon and another one three and half hours later.  I did over proving the buns once.  So, I need to find a loaf recipe that creates softer bread without using the Dough function.  This bread machine loaf is soft with light crust.  I added walnuts, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds and black sesame seeds for the extra nutrients.  You can add any nuts and seeds that you have in your house, it is not limited to what I listed here.  After day two, you can warm it up in the microwave to soften it again.  Enjoy it as it, or with peanut butter or jam.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Cranberries Salsa


I was never a fan of cranberries sauce until I tasted the cranberries salsa.  I was changed then and wanted this as one of the side dishes for my Thanksgiving meal.  Spicy, sour and sweetness increase one's appetite and which makes this dish so appealing and irresistible.  The crunchy apple added a nice bite to it as well.

If you make this dish, please feedback to me and link back to my original post.  Thank you!


Cranberries Sauce:

1 cup water, 1 cup cane sugar, 1 pkg. cranberries, zest of  2 clementines or 1 orange.

Dissolve sugar in water, then add cranberries and zest.  When boiling, turn the heat to low and let it simmer uncover until thicken, about 20-25 minutes.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Tricolored Soft Coconut Candy


This is a soft and chewy coconut candy that is very easy to make.  This is different from the hard coconut candy with bright coloring (from Malaysia).  Instead of making it tricolored,  you can shape each color into a ball (wear plastic glove) and serve it individually.  I think it would help in tasting the different flavors of the candies.  I found that when combining the three, I couldn't taste the individual flavor as the rose paste seem to be over powering the rest of the flavors.

When I flipped through my friend's recipe cards the other day, I saw a recipe that was very similar to this and it is called Coconut Ice, it is a traditional English candy that required no baking too.  You can read more about it here.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Brined Turkey Breast


Brined turkey breast is definitely the choice for my small family.  But I heard that deep-fried turkey is also very good.  Someone told me if I ever tried a deep-fried turkey, I won't switch back.  Since I don't have a deep-fryer for turkey, brine turkey is sufficient for me.  This turkey doesn't have the turkey smell at all, I am not sure whether it is because it only has white meat or because I added ginger into the brine and also lemon slices into the cavity before roasting?   Anyway, since whatever I did this time worked, I will keep doing it.


Moist and juicy carved turkey breast.  This time I carved it the American way instead of the Asian way.  Haha...  You can see my Asian carving under Turkey posts.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Korean Smoked Fish Ham



Look what I found while shopping at the Korean supermarket, H-Mart?  Smoked Fish Ham!!  I didn't know that fish can be made into ham, that was new to me.  A lady was doing the sample booth and offering me a sample of this fish ham and I really was impressed as it really tasted like ham.  Best of all, it was made of fish which made it slightly healthier?


It was on sales for $5 (usual price $8) and according to the lady it might increase to $10.  I certainly wouldn't pay $10 for it but since it was on sales and all of us loved it, I bought one along with some fish cakes.


I just sliced it into pieces and pan-fried it in a little oil as demo and served it with Udon noodle soup (not picture).  I put vegetable and mushroom into the noodle soup to make it more balance.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Buttery Mashed Potatoes


Everyone has their own way of making the mashed potatoes.  Posting this recipe seem a bit out of place because I assume everyone knows how to make it.  Haha... Anyway, making the mashed potatoes using an electric beaters was taught to me long time ago by an American friend.  That was when I realized making mashed potatoes from scratch was so easy.

Coming from Malaysia, my exposure on mashed potatoes was mostly from KFC and it seem so processed and difficult to make at that time.  And since my mom only cooked Chinese food, making American food seem so far fetch and difficult.  After living here for a while, I slowly realized American food is actually not difficult to make at all.  This recipe is more on the sinful side so enjoy!

Saturday, December 08, 2012

Mushrooms with Hijiki Seaweed



My first exposure to Hijiki sea vegetable was on ANA Japanese airplane.  It came in a small dish along with other small dishes in a set meal.  It think it was just a seasoned hikiji salad.  The shape and size was unlike any sea vegetables that I tasted and I actually liked it.  My girls said it looked like little black worms.  Hehe...  Then, I read some where that the ancient Chinese practitioners actually used Hikiji as one of the prescriptions for low iodine.  Interesting right?

Hijiki is a brown sea algae that cultivated in Japan, China and Korea.  Then, it was boiled and dried to be sold as dried hijiki, the color turned black when dried.  It is a rich source of iodine, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and soluble fiber.  Because it has 10 times the calcium of milk, Japanese eat it for the calcium intake and overall balanced diet.  All sea vegetables are low in calories and contains many minerals that our bodies need.  I read that seaweed can detoxify and convert the toxic metals in our bodies to harmless salts which then pass through the body's intestinal tract.

One drawback that I read about Hijiki seaweed is it contained inorganic arsenic and might cause cancer if consume in a large amount.  But there is no ban and no known illnesses associated with consuming hijiki seaweed to date and the Japanese have been eating this as part of a balanced diet for centuries.  You can read more about it here.  United Kingdom, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Canada have issued a warning on hijiki seaweed.  I think the health benefits out weight the negative as it's impossible to consume this in large amount anyway and I only cook it once in every two weeks and used it as an extra for mushrooms or noodle dish.  I put some in Japchae and it was delicious.

By the way, I think it looks like Chinese "Fai Chai", the one that looks like black hair that Chinese consume during Chinese New Year because of it's auspicious meaning.

Fresh oyster mushrooms and fresh Shiitake mushrooms

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Thanksgiving Meal for 2-4 persons


Everything made from scratch except the pumpkin pie which I bought at Sprouts.  This was about 5 lb. worth of turkey breast and it is good for 2-4 persons (4-6 persons in our case).  Cranberries sauce for my girls and cranberries salsa for me.  Creamy mashed potatoes top with melted Kerrygold butter and chopped scallions.  My banana oats buns and easy crunchy green beans.  Turkey gravy, short-cut method (turkey dripping, chicken stock and thicken with potato starch).




Thursday, November 29, 2012

Taro Mochi Cake


Showing you pictures of my Taro Mochi Cake.  I am still in the process of experiment as I am not quite happy with the result so I won't be sharing the recipe for now.  It will be a while until I get my hand on some taro again and begin another trial on this mochi cake.  But will post the recipe once I succeeded in accomplishing the texture that I want.  Stay tuned!


It was okay but a bit too soft, so more experiment needed.  I want to do it differently the next time.


Sunday, November 25, 2012

Korean Spicy Stir-Fried Squid (Ojingeo Bokkeum)


Ojingeo Bokkeum, Korean spicy stir-fried squid is one of my favorite dish to order in a Korean restaurant.  I also like the octopus version.  However, sometimes the dish we ordered turned out super sweet or just too sweet for my taste, so I intend to make it myself.  The one I had was served on a bed of raw cabbage, I thought that was an excellent idea in the sense that juices would come out from this dish and flavored the raw cabbage.  Downside was of course they used lots of cabbage hence the dish looked like a great serving size but in fact half of it was the cabbage.  I also liked that they added Korean rice cake in it and gave this dish an extra chewiness.  I would have added rice cake if I have some on hand but since I didn't, I used the Korean fish cake instead.


I didn't make my sauce too sweet nor too spicy as my girls shared this dish with us.  Surprisingly Edda, my little girl loved this dish a ton!  She said it was delicious and asked me to make it again.  She is also a fan of my kimchi pancakes, even requested to save some for her lunch box the next day.  :-)

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I want to wish all my readers a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!  Go ahead and indulge all the great food and dessert on this special day.  Just worry about losing the weight after the New Year.  :-)  For those who will be shopping for Black Friday deals, have a fun time shopping and hope you will be getting what you wish for.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Chicken, Zucchini and Shiitake Mushroom


My new found love, fresh Shiitake mushrooms!!   We have been enjoying the dried Shiitake mushrooms for ages but recently I spotted some fresh Shiitake mushrooms and being one that never tasted a fresh Shiitake mushroom before, I was eager to give it a try.  I was pleasantly surprised by the fragrant of this fresh mushroom as it had the same earthy, smoky flavor as the dried ones and oh so delicious!  It also more meaty in texture than the white button mushroom and has more potent antioxidant, L-ergothioneine that helps the body to fight off free radicals.  It also has a compound called lentinan that keep the immune system strong and resistant to infection and disease.  Lentinan can also protects against cancer as the studies shown that it has the anti-tumor effect by slowing or reversing the tumor growth.  Not to say it also a good source of protein, iron, vitamin C, dietary fiber and contains vitamins and minerals such as selenium and potassium just to name a few.  I am totally in love with this fresh Shiitake mushroom and hence it will be my mushroom of choice when I go shopping in the Asian market.  But since I am also one that voted for variety of food in my family diet, I would buy other variety of mushrooms too like oyster mushroom, enoki mushrooms, king oyster mushroom, crimini, portobello, beech mushrooms and etc.

I will be sharing this easy recipe with you in the next page which turned out to be surprisingly delicious!


Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Tofu Knots with Mushrooms


This is another of my meatless vegetarian meal.  I loved these cute baby dried flower mushrooms that I bought in Malaysia.  Since it's so small, I could just serve it whole.  It is great for presentation too!  I have seen this baby mushrooms here too and it is not cheap.  Wish it is cheaper though!  Anyway, the tofu knots and mushrooms in this dish will soak up all the flavor of the stock and you can serve this with rice or porridge.

Friday, November 09, 2012

Herbs Scallops


Scallops are actually good for cardiovascular health as it has Vitamin B-12, omega-3, magnesium, potassium, selenium and lots of nutrients.  Not to say it is also high in protein, low in saturated fat and cholesterol.  Seafood have iodine in it so scallop, calamari and shrimp are actually a good source for me to get some natural iodine besides seaweed.  These seafood have higher monounsaturated fat (increase HDL) and lower saturated fat (decrease LDL) so eating these seafood should be helpful for the heart, but in moderation of course.

I read that table salt (refined salt) is toxic because it has been bleached and rid of all the natural vitamins and minerals essential for the body to function properly.  And your body needs salt in order to function properly as well as important nutrients such as magnesium and potassium which were found in natural unrefined salt (there are lots more nutrients in tiny amount).  So, I will be buying unrefined salt from now on such as natural Mediterranean sea salt, natural sea salt and natural Himalayan rock salt to season my food.  I will get my natural iodine from seaweeds such as wakame and hijizi, and some seafood.

Monday, November 05, 2012

Matcha Mochi Cake with Sweet Potatoes/Yam

 


Why green tea you asked?  It's simply because I adore the Redman green tea powder, it's so fragrant and make your baked good vibrant in this beautiful green color.  I made sure I bought some when I went back to Malaysia few months ago. There is no substitution for me!  Not disappointed, my house smelled like green tea when this was baked and this mochi cake really fragrant packed with green tea smell.  If you just want a plain matcha mochi cake, just omit the sweet potatoes.


The texture of this mochi cake is sticky and chewy with the fragrant of green tea and sweetness from the sweet potatoes.  My next experiment will be with taro mochi cake, wait til I get my hands on some taro!

Thursday, November 01, 2012

Calamari Spaghetti


Recently, I saw a Healthy Chinese Cooking Show that actually suggested eating squid, calamari, octopus and cuttlefish to lower your cholesterol.  That was completely news to me as I always thought these have the highest cholesterol level among all other seafood and which should be avoided. But they said when you clean your calamari, squid, octopus and cuttlefish completely (don't eat the internal organ and the eggs), then the cholesterol level is not too bad.  Furthermore, it has good vitamins and minerals that the body needs such as Vitamin B2, B3 and B12, potassium, magnesium, zinc, selenium, iron, protein and phosphorous that are actually good for us.  It also has omega 3 fatty acids such as DHA and EPA which can lower bad cholesterol.  However, how you cook and prepare this is important too, raw (as in sushi), steam, or lightly stir-fry is best compared to batter it and deep-fry and eat it with dipping sauce.  For people with already high cholesterol level, consult with your doctor first as this piece of information is very new to me too.  Food high in cholesterol doesn't mean it will raise your blood cholesterol such as egg and squid, unlike food high in saturated fat.  In any case, moderation is still the key, occasional treat shouldn't be a problem.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Purple Sweet Potato Mochi Cake


The inspiration of making this mochi cake came from a Korean mom that I talked to.  I never thought of adding sweet potato into a mochi cake until I tasted some that she made.  Hers was different with orange sweet potato and some other things that she added (she didn't give me the recipe though).  Since I LOVE the purple sweet potato because of the color and sweetness, I wanted to recreate her recipe and hence this recipe was born.  I was glad to say that it was a success and we all loved it very much.  On the day it was baked, the crust was crusty and the mochi was chewy with the sweetness from the sweet potato and a little sourness from the raisins, just perfect!  The crust will turn soft on the 2nd day but just as chewy and delicious!  This is definitely my keeper recipe that I want to make all the times.  Next time I want to try it with taro and play with this recipe a little.  Feedback to me if you ever try it!


Seriously it was so hard to stop at just one piece, got to have two!!  Self-control....self-control....

Monday, October 22, 2012

Crispy Pumpkin Cookies


Yeah!  I did it!  I managed to create a crispy pumpkin cookies!!!  Two years ago, I tried my hand on soft pumpkin cookies which I didn't really like as I preferred my cookies to be crisp and tasted like cookies instead of cake.  I told myself that I was going to experiment and come out with a crispy cookie recipe but never really gotten to do it.  So, this year I took on the challenge and happy to announce that I created a delicious crispy pumpkin cookies that we all liked and easy to make.

As you know, my recipe got to be easy to whip up.  And this recipe only required a hand whisk!!  What a plus right for busy mom or for someone who just want to make cookies fast with minimally washing required.  I added the dried cranberries just because I have about 1/2 cup left and I wanted to finish it.  You can omit it or use raisins or chocolate chips, it's up to you!


Your house will smell like pumpkin and spices when you bake these cookies.  My girls totally loved this and said it tasted like pumpkin.  I think the cinnamon and cloves paired really well to bring up the full flavor of this cookie.  Warning:  It is hard to resist, so self-control needed in eating these cookies!

Friday, October 19, 2012

Stir-Fried King Oyster Mushroom


This recipe was adapted from Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen, a cookbook.  In this cookbook, it has a recipe called sauteed oyster mushroom with scallops.  I didn't have oyster mushroom nor scallops, but I have a packet of king oyster mushroom.  I was interested in trying out the sauce from that recipe.  It has a combination of soy sauce and lemon juice.  Interesting sauce, sourish because of the lemon juice.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Banana Carrot Pulp Muffins


With the frozen bananas and carrot pulp in the freezer, I thought of why not just combined the two?  Hence, this muffin was created.  It took the fragrant of banana and not a bad eat I tell you.  This muffin cup that I used made a big muffin so my girls only had half as their breakfast.  I added walnut in this too!

I think the banana flavor stood up because I used canola oil (neutral) and all-purpose flour (neutral).  It might taste and smell different with different oil and flour used for instance olive oil and whole wheat flour, might even have a different texture too. 


Showing you the inside of this muffins.  It's moist and soft with the fragrant of banana!

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Sweet and Sour Salmon Fish


This is a remake recipe of my recipe here.  While trying to think of a different way to serve my salmon, I remembered I once cooked a sweet and sour sauce that I liked.  When I went to look for the recipe, alas!  it was without any measurement!!  Now I know it must be hard for beginner to create a sauce based on the ingredients listed.  So, I wrote it down for you and also for myself (convenient) and my girls (they won't know how much soy sauce to add or how much sugar or vinegar to put, etc. to create a sweet and sour sauce!).  Anyway, I measured the amount, pen it down and tried it myself and we all loved it, it turned out delicious so I shared it here with my readers.

Believe it or not, I frequently came to my own blog to look for my old recipes that I have forgotten (old age?).  I have created lots of recipes over the years and I am actually glad that I documented them in this blog which I can always come back and refer to, even when I am in another country or someone else kitchen. 

Sunday, October 07, 2012

100% Whole Wheat Carrot Pulp Muffins


This healthy 100% whole wheat carrot pulp muffins uses little oil and sugar.  However, if you like it sweeter, you can increase the sugar amount (I included it in the ingredients list).  To make this muffin healthier, I used extra virgin olive oil, brown sugar and cane sugar (you can use all brown sugar or cane sugar if you like).  And what a great way to use up the carrot pulp left from juicing!  If you read it previously, I measured my carrot pulp into 1 cup serving size container and freeze it individually.  Just thaw it in the refrigerator the night before you want to use it.

These muffins are moist and soft and not sweet.  Since it has egg (protein), carrot (Vitamin A, fiber), milk (calcium), olive oil (healthy fat), whole wheat flour (carbohydrate), salt and sugar, I considered it a balance breakfast or snack.  You can also add nuts or seeds for extra nutrients!

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Carrot Pulp Raisin Buns



This recipe came about because I was trying to save the carrot pulp left behind from juicing.  I used organic carrots in my house and we all knew that the skin on the carrot has lots of nutrients too.  I don't peel my carrot when juicing and the pulp left behind is just too wasteful to throw it away.  So, I had to think of a healthy way to reuse the carrot pulp.  Then, a light bulb went up, I can make it into bread!!  As I am making bread/buns for our breakfast every morning, I can try to incorporate the carrot pulp into my bread.  And hence, this recipe was created.  I used 75% whole wheat flour here and also added raisins for sweetness.  This bun can be eaten as it without any jam or butter.

This bun makes a healthy and balance breakfast as it has milk (calcium), egg (protein), whole wheat flour (carbohydrate), carrot (fiber) and raisin (fruit) in it.  This bun is dense and soft.


For the above picture, I measured the carrot pulp into 1 cup each and store in an air-tight container and freeze it for later.  Just thaw in the refrigerator a night before using, either to make bread or muffin (recipe coming soon).

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Happy Mid-Autumn/ Mooncake Festival


Hereby wishing all my readers a Happy Mid-Autumn or Mooncake Festival!!!


This year Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Sept 30th.  I saw these cute bear mooncakes and just got to have it.  Furthermore, it was made in Malaysia.  I always love the quality of Malaysian mooncakes and these were not disappointed.  I wish they can import the green tea flavor mooncakes too, but made with lotus seed paste and not mung bean paste.  The above were made with mung bean paste so it was fairly cheap.


Sunday, September 23, 2012

Deep-Fried Turmeric Smelts


We all loved this little fish called Smelt.  I bought it at WalMart where they sell frozen fish.  Turmeric has curcumin which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.  And the best way for me to cook this fish is marinating it with turmeric powder and then deep-fry so that we can eat the whole thing including the fish bones.  So, flouring the fish is important here for it to get crispy and delicious.

Have you eaten Smelt before?  If yes, how else would you cook it?

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Veggies with Wood Ear Fungus


Wood ear fungus, Clouds Ear, Tree Ear or Black fungus are the same thing.  It is used widely in Chinese cuisine and recently had been known to provide lots of health benefits.  It is high in vitamins and minerals, improve blood circulation, lower cholesterol, anti-viral, etc.  Its texture is crunchy even after stir-frying and take the flavor of the sauce, as it is tasteless by itself.  Usually sold in dried form in the Asian supermarket.  Again, very affordable and I would suggest to eat this often, at least once a week would be nice. I even made this into a very healthy veggie dish with color super food from celery, carrot, garlic and red bell pepper.
 

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Kuih Bakar



Kuih Bakar is a Malay kuih and can literally translated to baked cake.  This kuih can be easily spotted at pasar malam or pagi (night or morning open street market) in a flower mould shape.  I made mine in a 9"x13" pan so it was flat compared to the one sold outside.  You can make it in a 8" square or round pan for better height, just adjust the baking time as needed (longer baking time).


Certainly one easy kuih to make (just blend, pour and bake!), if you are short of time and want to eat Malay kuih, this would be a great choice.   The crisp and toasty edges are the best!  Note:  when you store it in the air-tight container for the next day, it won't be crisp anymore.  You can also freeze it for much later.  Just thaw on the kitchen counter until it is soft and you are ready to eat.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Firmoo Global Online Optical Store


I adore magnetic clip-on eye glasses and semi rimless is a plus.  Once I tried the magnetic clip-on sunglasses  ten plus years ago, I never go back.  It provides such a convenience for me and that is what I was looking for.  However, this type of eyewear is hard to find and the store that has it have limited selection.  The old pair that I had was such a hassle to put it on, I have to take out the glasses in order to clip it on and it came with full rim and I paid $159 for it (only the frame)!!!  So, when Firmoo contacted me for a review, I was surprised at how cheap the glasses were. I never want to go back to the store for frame anymore!  Go check out the prices yourself!  I loved the glasses that I received, it was well made and the customer service was prompt.  It fits my eyes perfectly without any adjustment and it clip on and off easily without taking the glasses down. In addition, I think this pink semi rimless frame makes me look younger. Haha...

I love the detail on the side! 

Firmoo is the world's most popular online glasses store and has over half a million Facebook fans.  They believed in providing the best quality and fashionable products at the most reasonable and affordable prices to their customers. The customer service is great, wide selections and the delivery is fast (I tried it myself!).  They also have a Virtual Try-On Feature that I liked, where you can see whether the glasses you pick would fit the shape of your face.  You can even upload your own photo to see how it would fit on your face if you prefer.  In fact, they are so sure of it that they are giving a FREE eyewear to their first-time customer so more people can try their products and excellent customer service.  So, what are you waiting for?  If you don't need a new pair of glasses now, just bookmark it for later.  Their 514k+ Facebook fans speak for itself!

 

The glasses was sponsored by Firmoo for the purposes of this review.

Friday, September 07, 2012

King Oyster Mushroom with Tofu


King Oyster Mushroom (杏鮑菇) is antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-viral, antioxidant and has positive effects on the immune system.  You can buy it at the Asian and Korean supermarkets here in the United States.  All kinds of mushroom are good for us so I would suggest you to add a variety of mushrooms into your diet.  Just read that Enoki mushroom has a very high anti-cancer property too. 

Tofu is high in protein, has selenium, omega-3 fats, iron, calcium, etc and low in calories.  A great substitution for meat in those meatless days.  I always strike for a balance meal and diet, so serve this with a plate of green vegetable and a little brown rice and there you have it.

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Kimchi Pancakes


Kimchi pancakes have been on my to-do list for quite some times.  Glad to say I finally made it happen.  I made it vegetarian and vegan without adding any meat and egg.  I also added the spicy radish that I made earlier for extra kick.  I didn't add any seasonings in these pancakes as the kimchi and spicy radish were well seasoned.  Furthermore, I served this kimchi pancakes with ginger scallion soy sauce.  Hence, I didn't want to make it too salty.

Makes a great side dish or appetizer in any meal.

By the way, Evy made the pretty flower origami!  :-)

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Minced Chicken with Bottle Gourd (Lauki)


Frankly, I hardly buy any Asian gourd or melon.  But since I am trying to eat healthier, I also want to explore into unfamiliar Asian vegetable.  Asian melon and gourd are one of them.   For me, stir-frying it with eggs or make soup with it should be a very safe approach because my mom did that.  But I was out of drumsticks and we had eggs for lunch, so I needed to think of another approach.  Hence, this was created.  Later, when I did a search on this, I found out that it was actually very common in Indian cuisine.  Perhaps next time I can try cooking it with Indian spices and recipe.  Indian version is more mushy while this stir-fried version has a bite to it.


Bottle gourd has lots of benefits, one of them is low in fat and calories while high in dietary fiber.  Also said to treat urinary tract infection, balancing liver function, treatment for blood pressure and heart disease and more.  You can read more about the benefits here.