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.

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!  :-)

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.

Brownie from Scratch

I used to buy brownie in a box because I liked the fudge liked texture and it was fool proof.  Or because I always thought brownie was hard to make?  But I stopped buying it after I was aware of partially hydrogenated oil, just like a lot of other things that I used to buy.  Anyway, both my girls have been bugging me to make brownie for them.  They loved brownie but I don't buy them in the store so I had to make it for them.  I found an easy recipe with great reviews and decided to try it (recipe link provided in the next page).  It was good and but not very fudge like, not sure whether I over baked it or not.  Nevertheless, my girls loved it!

Would definitely try this recipe again without the chocolate frosting.

Snow Fungus Sweet Soup with Lotus Seeds (雪耳莲子糖水)

Sometimes I feel like making some sweet dessert soup for my family.  After reading about how great the black fungus/ wood ear and white snow fungus for our bodies, I decided to cook it more often.  Since black fungus has more health benefits, I cook it quite often in stir-frying dishes.  But I don't want to neglect the snow fungus as it has a beauty benefit that makes one face looking younger just like bird nest.  But bird nest is expensive and not everybody can drink it often, whereas snow fungus is really affordable.  I read that in order to have that beauty benefit, you have to eat it at least three times a week.  I couldn't possibly cook it that often but when I do make it, I am making sure I am cooking a big pot and have at least three bowls of it. :-)

Picture with ingredient names listed for your convenient.

All these ingredients have health benefits, not just the snow fungus so this sweet soup is really nutritious.  For example, goji berries is high in antioxidant and vitamins, red dates/ jujubes nourishes blood and replenishes Qi, lily buds is cooling, reduce heatiness, treats cough and helps with insomnia, lotus seeds improves digestion, removes heatiness and calms the spirit.

I have a question to ask.  Does adding sugar to cook together with the snow fungus making it soft and gelatinous?   For this, I added the sugar in the end and the resulted snow fungus was crunchy.

Roti Jala with Chicken Curry

Roti Jala is a Malay cuisine where 'roti' means bread and 'jala' means net.  You need a special roti jala mould with five holes to make this fish net looking crepe. You can buy the plastic roti jala mould in the bakery supply stores in Malaysia for only RM$1 each, very cheap.  It's texture is more like a soft crepe and the yellow color is derived from the turmeric powder.  It mostly serves with curry or rendang.

My chicken curry is made from A1 chicken curry paste.  I added red onion and used boneless and skinless dark chicken meat.  I was thinking of serving it with frozen roti canai that I bought recently but then I saw Sonia's roti jala post and decided to give it a try.  I bought the roti jala mould for years but never tempted to make it.  Glad to say that I finally did it and since it was pretty easy to make, would love to make it once in a while from now on.

White Radish Soup

I loved Korean radish and have been buying it to make kimchi, braise chicken Chinese style or Korean style and not forgetting to make soup.  Radish is cooling so eaten best when you feel that your body is heaty or a cough is coming.  Simmering radish with pork said to be reduce fever, stop coughing and prevents gallstone and kidney stone.

I made this soup for my cough that I developed after I came back from Malaysia.  I suffered the worst jet leg ever, couldn't sleep well for the whole week and then started to have sore throat and coughing that prevented me to sleep for another week.  Not cool at all.  My dad said my body didn't want to come back to the U.S. and thus it made me suffered.  ;-D 

  

Green Tea Buns

My previous green tea buns recipe has bread improver in it and I know that a lot of people have no access to bread improver.  I stopped using bread improver few years back as I have no idea what was in it.  So, sharing with you here another recipe that has straight forward ingredients list with no bread improver or bread softener.  It is basically a Haiji white buns recipe with added green tea powder.  I like to use this recipe as a base and create other variation of bread recipes.  Enjoy!

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.

Banh Mi Wanna Be (Vietnamese Baguette Sandwich)

The original Banh Mi uses French baguette because this is a fusion of French and Vietnamese cuisines.  However, for my home version, I just used the bread I have at home.  I never thought of making Banh Mi at home but it just so happen that I have all the ingredients at home and my girls loved it and I had to make lunch for them so I made this.

My friend introduced me to Banh Mi so I had a chance to try it.  If not, I would never thought of buying it to try.  The one I had was a lemongrass flavored chicken Banh Mi.  It had a yellow color sauce on it and pate along with sliced jalapeno, cucumber, cilantro and pickled radish and carrot on a French baguette.  The lemongrass chicken was surprisingly fragrant and it tasted delicious. 

Stir-Fried Baby Bok Choy

This is another easy stir-fried baby bok choy recipe.  Instead of par-boil it in water, I sometimes stir-fry it because I think it's easier and faster this way.  I just learned that this veggie is good for the eyes just like carrot.  So, for picky eater kids who don't like carrot, you can use this as a substitute.  And because it is like carrot, it is also better to stir-fry it in a little oil to bring out the nutrients.  How interesting eh!

Pumpkin Buns/ Bread

I have two cans of organic pumpkin puree waiting for me to use.  I always store some when it went on sales during Christmas holidays because I simply adore pumpkin cake.  However, since I have to make buns for our breakfast, I figure pumpkin buns would be a nice change from pumpkin cake since it's contained less fat and healthier.

I knew I bookmarked Lily's sandwich bread recipe a while ago but have yet to try it.  So, this was the best time to give it a try.  I actually over baked the buns because I was multitasking.  Nevertheless, the resulted buns were still soft.  A little harder crust on the outside but soft inside.  One can of pumpkin puree can make this twice.

I got the recipe from Lily's Wai Sek Hong:  Sandwich Bread.  Slightly changed it and made it into buns because it was easier for us to eat. 

My second batch of pumpkin buns with added black sesame seeds.

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!

Spicy Tempeh

My version of spicy tempeh.  I used my homemade sambal tumis, if you don't have one, a great substitute would be the shrimp paste in soy bean oil and a little fish sauce.  When I made my sambal tumis, I made a bunch and freeze them in individual small size containers.  So, each time I only took out one container that usually lasted for a week or two, either in cooking or as a condiment.  This one definitely goes well with rice,  but might be too spicy for children.  My Edda loved the none-spicy version but won't touch this spicy one.  My hubby and elder daughter are not a fan of tempeh, but they would still eat it if I cook it. 

Picture of tempeh

Yonanas Review!!

This is another kitchen gadget that I got to have when I saw the infomercial.  As a health conscious individual this is right up my alley.  We loved ice-cream but the saturated fat content, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oil and the long list of ingredients scared me.  I had been drastically cut down on buying them at the supermarket and wanted an alternative.  Then, I saw this and this was the answer.

The Yonanas machine above priced at $50. Easy to install, easy to use and easy to clean.  Came in 5 pieces, except the base engine, the rest are dish washer safe or just wash with warm soupy water right after use.

Ingredients I used here were 2 frozen bananas (got to be the one with dark spots so that it would be sweeter) and 1 cup of frozen blueberries, thaw for 5-7 minutes.  (There are tons of recipes in the recipe booklet that came with it)

Turn it on and push the fruit down with the plunger and we have this creamy and healthy blueberries banana ice-cream.

Eating a bowl of ice-cream never felt this healthy before.  It's just plain fruit, no cream, milk, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, saturated fat or any artificial ingredients added.  There are more recipes in their website.  This is not a paid review so I am not sharing a link here, but you can easily find the website via search engine.  I just wanted to share this product with my readers who would love a healthier alternative to ice-cream.

One downside is if your fruit is sourish or tart, then the ice-cream would be sourish instead of sweet.  You can add chocolate kisses or top it with homemade chocolate or strawberry syrup, caramel sauce should do the trick.  I top mine with Gula Melaka syrup!  ;)

Disclaimer:  This is not a paid review and I received nothing from Yonana.  Just me sharing a kitchen gadget that I bought recently.

Seasoned Tempeh

Tempeh has been a staple in Indonesian diet for over 2000 years.  After knowing about the benefits of tempeh (fermented whole soy beans) for a year or two, I finally introduced it to my girls.  I heard about it but never tried it until last year my friend cooked it and let us tried it.  She cooked it in sambal so my girls didn't try it but my hubby and I did.  My hubby didn't really like the nutty taste but I thought it was not too bad.

I prefer to slice mine thinly so that it would be well seasoned.  I made this non-spicy version for my girls using half of the tempeh shown below and the other half I made it with my sambal tumis.  My Edda loved this non-spicy tempeh a lot and even requested to keep some for the lunch box the next day.  The tempeh took the flavor of the marinade and actually quite delicious.  I can see this being sandwich in bread and make a good burger.

Picture of tempeh

Don't freak out if you see black spots on your tempeh.  It is still edible, just that it is more ripen and age more than the white one.  I read that the flavor might be more intense as well.  But if you see color other than black and white, discard or refund it.  Another indicator that it is spoiled is that it becomes slimy and smell bad.

Cold Mixed Watermelon Rind (凉拌西瓜皮)

I saw this recipe while watching a healthy eating Taiwanese cooking show and it intriguing me.  Thus far, I only used the watermelon rind to make cooling soup and have yet to try anything else with it.  So, of course this fast and easy cold salad interested me.  They said this is good as a side for drinking too.  I shared my measurement with you as that show didn't provide the measurement (You will have to buy their cookbook to know it).  It tasted surprisingly refreshing and delicious and my friends also gave it a thumb up.  I will share with you what I did with this salad as well (like as seen on that TV show) because I just wanted to know how it would taste like.  Stay tuned for this surprising upcoming dish!

When cutting the watermelon to eat during Summer, save some of the flesh between the rind and red flesh of the watermelon for this cold mixed salad.  Don't cut it too close to the skin as it would be hard.  I have a picture to show you how I cut it in the recipe page.  I also freeze some to make soup (recipe already posted in my blog under Soup).  It can freeze for months.  But for this cold mixed salad I won't recommend using the freeze one.  It is best when freshly sliced.

Stir-Fried Woodear Fungus

Just like my easy stir-fried carrot dish, wood ear fungus has always been a side ingredient in a dish, hardly ever as a star in a dish.  So for this dish, I wanted to make wood ear fungus a star and used carrot and scallion as side ingredients.  I have told you about the benefits of wood ear in my previous post so I am not repeating myself again.  Both black and white wood fungus are good for our body but the black one has more nutrients.  The white one has also been known to keep one skin looking young and beautiful and people has called it a poor people bird nest.  Because bird nest is expensive and no many people can eat it everyday or few times a week for the benefit of looking young.  So the poor people use white wood ear fungus or snow fungus as a substitute as it is so much cheaper.

Pancakes from Scratch!

I used to make pancake from a box because I didn't know better.  When I started into baking, I started to wonder, why make it from a box (I don't want to name it here but all who made it from a box should know the brand name) when it's actually very easy to make from scratch as my pantry already have all the ingredients?  This recipe is a keeper recipe for me, never from a box again.

My girls were bugging me to make pancakes for them.  So, pancake is an occasional treat for them as they loved it.  I served it with cinnamon sugar and pure honey as I was out of maple syrup.  I could probably make my own brown sugar syrup to go with it too eh? 

Soft, light, fluffy and delicious pancakes from scratch!  

Stir-Fried Chili Sweet Potatoes

While shopping at my Asian market recently, I spotted a white flesh sweet potatoes.  It interested me because frankly I don't think I have eaten this before.  So, I bought 4 to try.  I used one to cook with my brown rice but I didn't really like it as it was not as sweet as the orange and purple ones.  So, I had to find another way of cooking it.  Since it's white, it resembled potato a lot, so I julienned it thinly and cooked it like people would do with potatoes.

Not bad I would say but a bit spicy with the dried chili pepper as I was suffering from sore throat so the chili pepper was a bad idea.  If not, it would be good with rice.  It's a bit crunchy.

White flesh sweet potatoes

Fast Kimchi

I admitted lots of time that I don't fancy kimchi.  I guess the kimchi that I tasted before were aged kimchi and too sourish or pungent for me.  However recently I tried a kimchi that was not too sourish and it was okay for me, in fact I quite liked it.  I have been reading a lot about the benefits of eating kimchi and since finding that there was a kimchi that I liked, I really wanted to make it myself because I could adjust the seasonings.

Kimchi is fermented vegetable that said to promote intestinal health by feeding the friendly bacterias that live in your intestines.  It nourishes them so that they can out number the bad bacteria that find their way into the gut.  Thus promotes gut health and increase your overall immune system.  It is also anti-oxidant and rich in Vitamin C and carotene.  You can do a search on the Internet to read more about the benefits of eating kimchi if you are interested in learning more.

This is a fast kimchi because I don't fancy aged kimchi.  I added sugar because I liked it sweet.  I also don't want to make too much because I am the only one that consume this in my household and also I don't like to keep it for too long in the refrigerator, even though kimchi should be able to keep for a very long time.  It turned out well for me and I couldn't resist to eat a little bit during lunch and dinner times.  I guess it won't last long in my fridge.

Meatless Meal

Another picture of my meatless meal.  I have stir-fried wood ear fungus/ black fungus, stir-fry white sweet potatoes with dried chili peppers and stir-fry baby bok choy.  Recipes of each dish will be coming up in an individual post later.

If you have any meatless meal picture, please do share it in my Facebook page as I would love to see yours as well. :) 

Instant Korean Jjajang Noodle

I like Korean Jjajang noodle or Jajangmyeon.  I made it several times using the recipe here.  But I found a quicker way to enjoy the jajangmyeon that is to use the instant jjajang noodle.  The instant one tasted just as delicious.  Just add extra fresh ingredients to make it more nutritious.   I bought this at H-mart and I think you should be able to find it at any Korean supermarkets.

How the package looks like.

Stir Fried Pea Sprouts

I loved pea sprouts!!  This veggie is not cheap if we were to order it in a Chinese restaurant.  It costs about $12 per plate.  Other veggie is about $8.  It is more expensive then other vegetable.  I paid $3 to $4 for a box and it served one plate like the above picture.  So, instead of ordering this veggie in the restaurant, I usually cook it at home for less than $5.

I usually cut the sprouts in half with a scissor as I found it to be easier to cook and eat.  It also need quite a bit of oil to stir-fry this veggie, or else it will leave you with the unpleasant raw taste.  If you master cooking this veggie at home, it can save you some money.  :-P

Whole Wheat Fruit Cake Mix Cookies

I am making my own cookies and bread for my family.  This is one of the cookies that I made for my girls.  My girls like this a lot and this is my second batch.  I will probably keep making this until I finish the container of the fruit cake mix that I have.  This recipe is almost the same as my whole wheat and oats cookies recipe except I added the fruit cake mix and needs minor adjustment.  Very easy, no mixer required.  Just a bowl, a hand held whisk and a spatula.

This cookie is crispy with a chewy bite from the fruit cake mix.  While baking with the fruit cake mix, I learned that you shouldn't over bake your cookie or else the fruit cake mix will become hard instead of chewy. 

If you have a container of fruit cake mix some where, why not give this recipe a try?

5 Spice Powder Ham Chim Peng (Asian Fried Bread)

I tried the sweet one with the red bean filling earlier but I had the soft spot for the savory 5-spice powder ham chim peng.  While looking through my recipes for the pumpkin cake recipe, I came across the red bean paste ham chim peng recipe and I immediately craved for the savory ham chim peng.   Reading through the recipe, I thought I could make it work with the savory ham chim peng.  My mind was set and I set to work the next day.

Glad to say that it was not bad at all considering the steps were very straight forward and easy.  Crispy on the outside and soft inside with hint of saltiness and 5-spice powder.  We had enough for lunch, snack and breakfast the next day.

Crispy on the outside and soft inside

Stir-Fried Tofu with Chayote

I fell in love with chayote once I tried it.  So, I have been buying it quite frequently because chayote is a nutritious veggie.  I mentioned about the nutrition in my previous or first post about chayote, please refer back to my old post (under vegetable) to read about it if you are interested.

The above dish is easy and super delicious.  I just substituted the chicken breast with tofu for my meatless meal.  All you need for this dish is a bottle of Lee Kum Kee's Chu Hou Sauce.  I just ran out of this sauce and I have been to two Asian supermarkets and couldn't find it.  *cry*  I guess I had to make another trip to a different Asian supermarket up in Denver to search for it.  I dislike how the Asian market here is not quick in restocking their products or sometimes they just stop ordering it.  *sigh*

Healthy Buns (Whole Wheat, Oats, Millet, Black Sesame Seeds Buns)

I started making my own bread again knowing that it would not have any artificial stuffs added to it.  I called this "Healthy Bun" because it is pretty healthy as I used whole wheat flour, a little bread flour, old fashioned rolled oats, millet, black sesame seeds, milk, butter, brown sugar, salt and yeast.  The ingredients that I am familiar with without any scientific name.

This bun is soft and remain soft.  Since this is homemade, it is best eaten within 2 days at room temperature (you have to check for spoilage after 3rd days) .  Otherwise, freeze it and just take out the amount you want to defroze it on the counter top.  Mostly 30 minutes should be sufficient to defroze it, or for faster speed, use a microwave.  I eat mine with organic jam and my daughters prefer theirs with Nutella.

This recipe makes about 21-22 buns, depending on the size you shape it.  I put out the amount we eat for breakfast at room temperature in an air-tight container and freeze the rest.  Just take out what I want the night before and have it the next morning.

Seaweed Salad (Miyeok Muchim)

I took out too much of the seaweed for my seaweed gochujang soup, so the best way to use up all the seaweed is to make it into salad.  I had a similar seaweed salad with cucumber and thought it was really refreshing.  My girls loved seaweed so they helped me finished this except the onion, the raw onion was just too pungent for them.  Not only for them but for me as well but since I was raised not to waste food, I had to finish all the onion.  You can omit the onion if you want.  I did another version here which uses sesame paste and sesame oil which we liked better.

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.