Crispy Shrimp Chili Shrimps Fried Rice

This was one of my lazy lunch.  I had to eat and I have no food in the refrigerator.  Luckily I always make sure my refrigerator has eggs, frozen veggie and frozen shrimps.  Hence, this shrimps fried rice to the rescue.  Shrimp is easy to thaw and with some leftover rice, fried rice is an easy one dish meal.

I found the Malaysian's Spicy Tiny Shrimp Sambal by Mama's Delights at the Denver's Asian market so of course I had to buy it regardless of the price tag.  I couldn't be choosy when they were none to begin with right?  This sambal added a little spice and fragrant to the fried rice and we really enjoyed it.

I cooked this very easily, just add the spicy tiny shrimp sambal, soy sauce, salt, a little sugar and finish it off with white pepper.

Long Grain & Wild Rice Chicken Soup

I got the idea of making this chicken rice soup from a sample lady working at Costco.  She used only 4 ingredients, chicken base, organic no-salt seasoning, Seeds of Change's quinoa and brown rice and canned chicken breast.  Just add everything with water and viola! 

I remembered I have packets of Uncle Bean instant rice in my pantry and some leftover chicken meat so I bought the Kirkland Organic No-Salt Seasoning and organic chicken base to make this.  Of course for me got to add some vegetable to make it more balance and colorful!  To think about it, instead of chicken noodle soup, you can always make this chicken rice soup whenever someone is not feeling well at home and just wanted some chicken soup eh?

Stir-Fried Rice Sticks with Korean Fish Cake

I bought a packet of rice cake just because I had it in a restaurant and thought it was pretty good and I should buy it and cook at home.  Since I had the last 2 pieces of Korean fish cake in the freezer so I thought why not used it in this dish and so this dish was created.  I had some bean sprouts and chives from frying Char Kwey Tiao just two days before so I used that and added some carrot.  My girls loved it and it is good with Sriracha sauce too!  Just spice it up a little ya!

This is how the rice cake looks like from the package.  I cut each strip into half for easier consumption.  It was chewy and delicious.  I have never have it in soup or hot pot before, wonder how it would taste like?  Perhaps next time I should use this in mala hot pot and try it myself huh?

Porridge with Peanuts

I liked to save the roasted duck necks to make soup or porridge.  Just to let it fragrant the broth or porridge.  Cooking the porridge in a rice cooker is so easy as well, I just throw the ingredients in in the morning and let it cook itself and I had myself lunch and dinner ready.

Added toasted peanuts and sesame seeds plus cilantro kick it up a notch.  It just made the porridge super delicious!  I guess it is also my excuse to eat more sesame seeds.

Thai Basil Chicken Fried Rice

My girls and I loved the Thai basil fried rice that a restaurant serve here.  So,  I tried to recreate it at home.  I think I need to add more basil and jalapeno because it was not spicy at all (perhaps jalapeno now is not spicy?) and it lacked the fragrant of basil.  I will need to attempt this recipe again with double the amount of jalapeno and Thai basil!

You can replace the chicken with shrimp, beef or pork or make it vegetarian, it's all up to your preference.

Kimchi Fried Rice Easy Version

I just made a new batch of kimchi and with a new batch of kimchi and some leftover rice, I couldn't help myself but to whip up some delectable kimchi fried rice!

This is an easy version because it has no Gochujang (Korean chili paste) in it because my gochujang turned to a rock paste in the refrigerator!  I must have left it for a long time for the paste to turn into a rock huh?  Guess I haven't been making any Korean food since last year because of some personal issue. Anyway, in the trash it went and this version is purely using the juices from the kimchi, more probiotic huh?  Haha...

Onigiri Lunch Box

This lunch box is super easy to make since most of us have some leftover rice in the refrigerator or from the night before.  I stock up on pouch tuna when it goes on sales and that comes in handy.  If you have these two main ingredients, you can make onigiri!  Onigiri is Japanese rice balls and you can eat it with a piece of roasted seaweed too.  Korean have their own version and it is called samgak kimbap (triangle rice balls) and it is wrapped in seaweed (will do a post on this later).  Both of these make easy lunch box or picnic food and kids love them.

Brown Rice Kimbap/Gimbap (Korean Rice Rolls)

I am loving kimbap/gimbap because you can basically put everything you desired as fillings.  I loved to make kimbap using my leftover turmeric barley brown rice (hence the yellow color) or brown rice .  These days, I would keep some nori seaweed wrapper in my pantry so that when I feel like making some kimbap, I can.  I made the above for my girl's school lunch, she loved eating it and there was no mess.  I would make another for Edda as well when she comes home from school. 

Close up of my fillings above:  Fried eggs, imitation crab meat, spicy tuna, carrot, pickled radish and blanched bean sprouts (I wish I have some cucumber though for extra crunch).  The filling is very versatile, if you can think it, you can make it.  In fact, I like to make kimbap using leftover. 

This would make a great picnic lunch as well.  I can't wait for summer to arrive so that I can go picnic with my girls.  Well, if the weather turns nice like in the 70s, that's a good reason to go picnic, doesn't have to wait until summer. :-P

Lobster Heads Porridge

We were invited to a Chinese New Year reunion dinner on CNY eve.  The owners and their relatives were all Chinese restaurant's owners themselves so for sure we were having a great feast that night.  They cooked a lot so it was a night of abundance of delicious authentic Chinese food.  I forgot to sample the roasted duck, white chicken and another chicken dish (can you believe that?).  The owner even gave me a big tray of food to bring back which I was very thankful.  Her uncle (also a restaurant owner) told me how to cook this lobster heads porridge, the only thing I did different was I added 2 dried scallops in it.  The resulted porridge was so sweet and flavorful and no additional seasoning was required.  Thank him for sharing his delicious porridge recipe with me.

Korean Spicy Kimchi Topokki

My variation of topokki.  Kimchi Topokki!!  I figured the intense flavor of kimchi would give the basic spicy topokki a boost and I was right.  I actually liked this version better as I found the flavor was more well rounded.  This makes a great meatless meal too.

Feel free to adjust the thickness of your sauce as I think mine was a bit too dry.  I think it would taste better with a little more sauce.  Happy experimenting and whoever try this, please feedback to me ya! 

Korean Spicy Topokki

Topokki or dukbokki is a popular Korean street food that is made of rice cake sticks, fish cakes and gochujang.  You can spot the street vendors selling this popular snack food all day long.  Because of it's popularity, lots of variation had been created.  Most of it are spicy but there is also a sweet and salty variety that uses oyster sauce as a base.  Some added ramen, cheese, seafood, curry, meat, chicken, etc.

Here, I used the basic recipe that was at the back of the package of the rice cake sticks that I bought.  I liked the chewiness of the rice cakes and I didn't make it too spicy.  You can add 1 Tbsp. of  Korean chili pepper powder to brighten up the color further and make it spicier.  I will be sharing my other variation in a different post later.

Korean Kimchi Fried Rice

I guess making kimchi fried rice is the next step after I made my version of fast kimchi.  I made some kimchi tofu soup with it already but my girls didn't quite fancy the sourish taste of the soup.  But how strange that they didn't complain about the kimchi fried rice but kinda liked it.  I added the kimchi into the Korean instant ramen that I prepared for us as well and they finished their noodles.  I later asked them don't they feel anything different with the soup base?  My elder did reply correctly that the soup base got a sourish taste to it because I added kimchi and she said it was not as delicious.  Hahaha...But they finished the noodle with the kimchi I added.  They sure don't like the fermented kimchi but not sure why they liked the kimchi fried rice and could tolerate the kimchi I secretly added into the ramen?  Regardless, I will still try to sneak in some kimchi into their diets.  Perhaps, I will try the kimchi fried cake next without telling them what it is and let them eat it.

Watermelon Rind Fried Rice

Surprise, surprise, surprise!  Who could have thought this was possible?  I didn't; that's why I had to cook it to believe it.  This fried rice used the cold mixed watermelon rind that I posted earlier.  Got to say this fried rice was really interesting and it tasted pretty good too.  The cold mixed watermelon rind actually gave this fried rice its taste as it was flavorful.  All I used for this simple fried rice were eggs, soy sauce, cold white rice, white pepper, a little sugar and the cold mixed watermelon rind.  If you make the watermelon rind salad, save some to make this fried rice and see for yourself!

Sweet Potatoes Brown Rice (红薯糙米饭)

In my list of 10 most healthy food, brown rice is number 1 and sweet potato is number 3, behind onion.  Sweet potato is also number 1 in detox, or getting rid of "poison in your body" in the Chinese saying.  This is another of my easy way to enjoy the sweet potato.  I just put it in my rice cooker and cook it with my brown rice.  For 2 cups of brown rice, I added 1 organic sweet potato, cubed and cook it like usual.  When it's done, I left it for 10-15 minutes before lightly stir it.  Be careful not to break the sweet potato as it would be soft.  It's okay if you mash some of it as well.   Sweet potato regardless of color is one of the super-food and I will make sure to eat it often.

Healthy Rice (Black, Brown, Barley and Millet)

I was cooking barley brown rice for my family for a while now.  And then I read that black rice is also good for us, including all the black things like black bean, black woodear and black sesame seeds.  I also bought some millet because of the health benefits that I read.  So, I decided to mix all these grains together.  Chinese believed that barley can aids in beauty like have beautiful skin, reduce heatiness and detoxification, black rice aids kidney, bright eyes and millet aids stomach, etc.

I also read that not everyone can eat millet especially for those that have hypothyroidism or problem with thyroid.  Since I had it before, I definitely watching what I eat.  I would probably use the rest of the millet to make bread or buns instead.  Small quantity is fine, just not everyday.

Now I am alternating barley brown rice, turmeric garlic brown rice, sweet potato brown rice and black brown rice for our meals.  You can find the recipes under Rice.

Sweet Potatoes Rice (地瓜飯)

Sweet potato is one of the healthiest food one can eat.  It contains vitamins A, Bs, C, manganese, potassium, dietary fiber and some iron. It improve immune system, preserve eye sight, fight infections, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and has low glycemic index.  But for people with kidney and gallbladder ailments, consult your doctor before consuming.

I have a combination of orange and purple sweet potatoes for my rice simply because I love the different displayed of colors.

This is one healthy and delicious way of eating the sweet potatoes.  You can make it complete with a fried egg (sunny side up) on top for a more balance meal.  Or you can serve it with lean protein and a veggie side dish.

Barley Brown Rice (薏米糙米饭)

I guess I never satisfied with brown rice alone.  I have read that barley is good for us.  It is a very good source of fiber, selenium, niacin, phosphorus, magnesium, copper and manganese. The health benefits include aids regulatory, lower cholesterol, intestinal protection (the insoluble fibers feed friendly bacteria and this friendly bacteria prevent the disease causing bacteria to stay in the intestinal tract), prevent gallstones in women, lower risk of type 2 diabetes, and etc.

In Malaysia, we have barley drink.  In Korea, they have toasted barley tea (I wanted to try this, but always forgot to look for toasted barley while in the Asian/Korean market).  They have barley and beans rice in Korea too.  So, I tried to incorporate some barley into my brown rice so that I can eat it more often.  I experienced with 1/2 cup of barley with 1 1/2 cups of brown rice and it was delicious.  I think my family couldn't tell a difference if I didn't tell them.  Slowly, I want to add more barley into my brown rice and play with the ratio some more.

Make sure you buy hulled barley and not pearl barley as pearl barley is not considered whole grain as the outer hull and bran had been stripped during processing. But if you can't find hulled barley, pearl barley is still good.

Steamed Glutinous Rice with Chicken and Shiitake Mushroom (蒸香菇糯米鸡)

I don't know who wouldn't love a bowl of steamed glutinous rice.  I ate this while growing up in Malaysia and now I passing this dish to my daughters.  I hope when they grow up, they will learn how to cook this and pass it down to the next generation as well and let the tradition continue.

Instead of the usual waxed sausages, I substituted it with the waxed pork belly that was given to me.   I was out of dried shrimps so this was without it.  But this dish won't be as flavorful without the dried shrimps.  Best to serve it with chopped scallion, crispy fried shallots and chili padi.

Waxed pork belly courtesy of a Chinese chef who works in our friend's restaurant.  His departure gift as he will be leaving here for good and back to China to be with his daughter.   A bit sad as no more special treat from him.  :(

Sardines Fried Brown Rice (沙丁鱼炒糙米饭)

Sardine?  Have you been eating enough of this?  I certainly not!  But I would love to include it more into our diets.  Sardine in tomato sauce or spicy tomato sauce is very popular in South East Asia, I remembered my mom cooked it for us pretty often, according to her, it was packed with calcium and thus good for our bone.  Sardine is actually another power food because not only it's good to our bone, it's good to our heart and overall health as well.  It has the most concentrated sources of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, which have been found to lower triglycerides and cholesterol levels.  It's an excellent source of Vitamin B-12 (promote hearth health), Vitamin D (aid in calcium absorption), phosphorus (strengthen bone matrix), selenium (antioxidant), protein and niacin (vitamin B3).

You can also buy sardine packed in water or olive oil.  I just preferred it packed in tomato sauce, tastier to me.  Anyway, for this recipe I recommended one packed in tomato sauce as the flavor goes well with the chili sauce.  If you don't have chili sauce, you can substitute it with ketchup.  This is definitely one bowl of healthy and nutrients packed brown rice!  Hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

Bibimbap/ Korean Mixed Rice

Bibimbap is a Korean mixed meal or mixed rice, either serve warm or cold.  Usually consists of few banchan (Korean side dishes), raw or fried egg, beef (or pork/chicken) and mixed with gochujang (Korean red pepper paste), sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds.   "Dolsot Bibimbap" is mixed rice in a hot stone pot.  The stone pot will keep the rice warm.  I had some leftover from the Korean meal that I prepared earlier so I made bibimbap out of it.  I didn't add any gochujang, sesame oil or sesame seeds because my banchan and the dak-galbi already flavored with those.  

 

Mixed well together

It did not look too appetizing when mixed together but it was delicious!  To me, the vegetarian bibimbap that consists of all the veggies side dishes, mixed with gochujang, sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds is actually quite healthy.