My goodness! Has it been a month since I’ve posted? Bad me! :*( I’ve been too lax, so I am here to amend my laziness. Well, it was not just shear idleness.  I started a part time job in the restaurant industry (aka server) after a long period of unemployment.  It is not a glamorous job (I am not one of those models who is waitressing as a side gig in pursuit of a modelling career on the runway or a starving artist supplementing one’s meager income to support an art project).  I am neither photogenic nor artistic, but someone who always wanted an opportunity to become a server.  Maybe it is the maternal side of me who wants to nurture the customers through food service; the ability to move around all day instead of a desk job; or my fetish with cleanliness.  But as someone with no service experience, it took me months to find such job.  Of course, I do not intend to make this into a long term career, but I for one believe that any job is a learning experience and I do not underestimate any job slightly.  In fact, after being a server and getting to know the kitchen responsibilities, I have more respect and gratitude towards all food industry workers, whether it is the chef, line cooks, servers, or the dishwashers.  They work hard and it is labor intensive.  Not an easy gig at all.  I got muscle pain from areas that I had never experienced from my workout after a only a day of work.  Amazing.  I also get to learn a lot of personalities, which is important Social Learning 101.  Not something you could learn from a textbook.  It is life experience.

Although I do not make big money from this job, I feel much more useful than sitting around home.  At least I am contributing to the society and my own spending.  It is nice to work.  Really. I enjoy working. 

Now that I sometimes have to work on the weekends, which is the usual brunch ritual for me and my mom, I like to prepare a little something for her as lunch.  It is sad that I do not get to brunch with her much anymore, but sometimes, you win some, you lose some.  Just got to be flexible.

Fish Wontons

Ingredients: store-bought wonton wrappers, filet of white fish, salt and pepper to taste, white pepper, sesame oil.

Directions:

Just super easy.  Pop the filet and grind it in a food processor.  Add in salt and pepper to taste, a pinch of white pepper, and a drizzle of sesame oil.  As this turns into a paste, feed a small amount in the middle of the wonton wrapper.  Fold and seal into a triangle (wet the edge with a bit of water) and then connect the tips together. Boil the wontons in boiling water until they float.  Serve with some greens, cooked noodles, or as is.

PS Best of all, premade wontons freeze well! Prepare some for hunger emergency!

Funny that I have all this ‘time’, yet I am so lax with updating my posts.  I do continuously take pictures on my phone of the dishes I have stormed up in the kitchen and meals I ate in restaurants.  Yet, I never found the ‘energy’ to write a decent passage and keep my blog interesting and current.  I find time to read other blogs, yet I could have used the same effort to do my part.  So is this sheer laziness or reluctance?

I have been without a job for awhile.  My field of study is not opening up in my area (not willing to relocate) and I keep failing my certification exam.  Not proud of this.  I have always been interested in the food industry, but every position I seek out require experience.  So my question is, how could one gain experience if opportunity is denied? However, I just a job at a new restaurant.  I am both excited and apprehensive about this chance.  I am glad to finally jump back into the workforce and financially contribute to my family, but I also know this is not an easy job.  Do not ever underestimate your server’s responsibilities.  It is a tough gig that is severely underappreciated.  I am always courteous to my server because every job should be respected. No hierarchical discrimination.  I respect anyone who makes a fair, honest living.  So I went for a trail last week, following a waiter around and get a sense of what the job entails.  The manager is very understanding and thought I did a good job and said I could come in for training and then go live by next weekend.  Wow. My mom is a bit worried if I could handle the workload (my health is not in the best shape). Schedule will be intense, but that is expected.  I do look at this as a learning experience and a chance to meet new people and strengthen my resume.  Although it is not related to my field of study, I think we could learn new things from all directions.  We cannot be fixated on certain ideals.  We have to learn to be flexible, understanding, and willingness to learn.

So one of my friends (an older lady) was in the hospital.  Before she went in for her surgery, I baked her my childhood love – Hong Kong style egg tarts.  It was something I always ate after school as a snack.  You could say it was comfort food because it is sweet, custardy, and loved the eggy goodness especially fresh out of the oven.  My friend enjoyed it every much.  She equaled it to bakery version. I thought she was just being generous.  In any case, so glad she tasted something sweet before the harsh surgery she went through.  But she is a fighter and now she is nursing at home.  She is my role model. Never give up.

Ingredients:

Pastry:

2 cups of flour

1/2 cup of cold, cubed butter

4 tables spoons of water

Custard:

2 eggs, room temperature

1.5 cups of whole milk

4 ounces of sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and grease the tart pans.

2.Mix the butter and flour until in crumb-like form. Knead while gradually add in water. Roll the dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge.

3. Beat the eggs, then stir in the milk and the sugar.

4. Take dough out and roll to about 1/8-inch or 3 to 4 mm thick.  Fit the circles into the tart shells.

5. Pour the filling into the shells. Bake until the custard is cooked (about 35 minutes). Cool.

Surely this past weekend was filled with a sea of greenery on the streets.  No, I’m not talking about new tree plantation or free money flowing around (though I wished for both), but as it was St. Patrick’s Day yesterday, it was the moment for everyone to congregate together, all dressed in anything in green color (including stickers and tattoos) and also the perfect excuse to down some Guinness and bar hopping like bunnies.  I actually am not a ‘crowd’ person, so I shy away from parades, crowds, and free giveaways like cooties.  Knowing that pubs and bars would be packed with pint raising arms and rowdy groups, I steered clear of those places as well and instead, when to a Mexican restaurant for a quiet brunch time with mom.  Although I did not take in any drinking activities, I did engage in some cooking celebration though.  After Guinness, IRish soda bread is probably the next traditional foods to consume for St. Patrick’s Day.  What’s great about this ‘bread’ is that it is quick to put together (no yeast involved).  Sort of like a quick bread, like banana bread.  The ingredients are probably available in your very own pantry at any given day, so really, there is no excuse to NOT be a little Irish yourself as well. 

Traditional Irish soda bread includes no raisins, hence the additional of dried fruits is the American version. Guess Americans just have a sweet tooth for everything.

Ingredients

1 cup of milk

2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon white sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Stir  milk and vinegar together, let the liquid sit for 10 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  In a bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.

3. Gradually stir the soured milk into the flour mixture. Take the dough out and knead it a few times, then shape into a ball. Place the dough onto an oiled baking sheet. As with tradition, mark an ‘X’ on top of the dough to release steam and help the bread keep its round shape.

4. Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes until golden bread.

Sliced, this soda bread is great with a spread of jam or butter. Irish butter.

 

Oh my gosh! I did not even realized that I haven’t written a post for so long! Though I HAVE been taking pictures of my culinary works, but guess just got caught up with time.  To be honest, I have been committing a lot of thoughts and energy into figuring out my diet.  As most of you know, I have been a vegan for a few years (a vegetarian even longer), but have been contemplating going back to a pescetarian.  It was a mental struggle to reason with myself in purchasing my first piece of fish, butchering it, broiling it, and then consuming it.  Firstly, I was afraid of a physical, regurgitation reaction (to put this nicely and non-violently).  How would my body react after not having any animal product in my system for so long? Luckily, I had my first bite of fish three weeks ago and I felt fine.  What DID NOT go well was that I got a piece of farm-raised salmon and they fishiness residue stayed with me and that did not sit too well inside.  Not able to relent, I took a brief break and decided to conquer my fear ago.  This time, I got wild-caught arctic char, which has a lighter flavor and texture than sockeye salmon and that experience went better.  So my lesson is this – for your health, do not go cheap.  It is not worth the aftermath and self-condemn for choosing poor quality of food.  Quality over quantity. Remember that.

During my resting period from fish, my body continued to crave proteins and fats (that is one of the main reasons to go back to having fish. I know there are athletes who follows a vegan diet, but I believe that everyone’s body is distinct and perhaps mine just does not function well on that route…sadly…), so I played around with coconut milk because I just started to crave fats, but good ones.  I also love Asian sweet soups, such as azuki beans, black sesame, and sweet potatoes. Despite them being called ‘desserts’, I think if you control the sugar level, it could be onto itself – you’ve got your legumes, seeds, and even starches, so why not turn it into a meal?! Hence, I made bo bo cha cha, a Malay dessert soup that you could find on every menu.  Though I grew up on the ‘Chinese’ version, which includes beans, so that is what I am using in this recipe.  But what makes this dessert so special is the velvety, sweet coconut milk.  The sweetness and gentle coating of the cream texture contribute to this dessert’s heartiness and exotic flavor.  You could serve this soup hot or cold.  For me, it depends on the season. Now that it is winter, I find a hot bowl of  cha cha warms my heart and soul.

Ingredients:

2 cups of diced yam
1/4 cup of kidney beans
1/4 cup of azuki beans
1/4 cup of mung beans
3 tablespoons of tapioca pearls
1/4 cup of sugar (more if you like more sweetness)
1/2 cup of coconut milk
5 cups of water

Directions:

(1) Put the yams and beans in with the water into a pressure cooker.
(2) Bring everything to a boil and then lock in the cooker for three hours.
(3) Check to see if the ingredients have cooked or not. Boil some more if not. If you do not use a pressure cooker, a regular pot is fine, too.  After you bring everything to a boil, lower to a simmer and let it go for 20-30 minutes.
(4) When everything is cooked, pour in the coconut milk and tapioca pearls.  Turn on the medium heat, but do not let it over boil.
(5) Stir occasionally.  Once the tapioca pearls become translucent, put the cover back on, turn off the heat and let the soup sit for half an hour to ‘marinate’.  Then, it is ready to eat!

After making the sweet stuff,  I decided I needed to make a savory version for balance.  As a child, my first bite on Lunar New Year was always nian gao because I loved sweets and when my mom pan-fried the slices, the heat made the cake even more ‘mochi mochi’ and I just loved the glutinous texture. What’s not to love – sugary, moist and soft, and a positive symbolic meaning on this celebratory day?  Since my family keeps a vegan diet on New Year’s Day, yet most taro cakes incorporate dried shrimps and Chinese sausages, I decided to tweak the usual recipe and make my version of a vegan taro cake.  In order to up the flavor profile, I used dried shiitake mushroom for replace the umami flavor and add extra white pepper for flavorings.  I did not salt my cake too much as I enjoy to dip my slices into vegetarian oyster sauce, but that is just a personal preference.  Play around with the recipe based on your taste buds and diets!

Ingredients:

Flour mixture: 1 pack (1 lb) rice flour 1

1 tsp salt

1.5 tsp ground white pepper

1 tsp soy sauce

4 1/2 cup water

1 tsp oil

2 finely chopped cloves of garlic

6 medium dried mushrooms– soaked then chopped into slivers

2 cups of cubed taro

Procedure:

1. Mix dry ingredients

2. Sautee garlic with salt and pepper and mushrooms. Add in taro cubes until cooked. Take off the stove.

3. Pour in flour mixture gradually. Stir until everything is incorporated.  Pour into container for steaming.

4. Steam taro cakes on high heat for 45-50 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick. Let the cakes cool. Garnish with chopped scallions if desire.

Usually, you slice the cake, then pan fry them with a bit of oli for a crispy exterior. Dip into oyster sauce for extra savoriness.

Wow! As if it felt like we have JUST entered into 2013, this coming Monday will be ANOTHER New Year – the LUNAR New Year.  According to the Chinese zodiac, we will be leaving the dragon and entering into the Year of the Snake.  The snake is one of the 12 year cycle of animals based on the zodiac, so if you know someone who’s a ‘snake’, then you can probably guess that person’s age as well.

There are lots of delicious traditional delicacies eaten during the New Year.  Of course, most are not very figure-friendly (well, most holiday dishes are heavy and comfort food anyway), but let’s make a pact that this is just a once a year celebration and anyway, most of these New Year foods are only cooked/sold for this occasion, so consume while they are available!

I cannot believe I got so committed, but I completed TWO cooking project – steamed sweet rice cake (nian gao - a homonym for ‘higher year and growth) and taro cake.  And best of all, I made them both vegan! As my family keep a vegan tradition on the actual New Year day, that means we could eat these for breakfast to ring in the Year of the Snake!

Nian Gao

Ingredients:

1/2 pound glutinous rice flour

1/2 cup of brown sugar and the slabs of darn brown sugar that you will find in Asian supermarket.

2 cups of boiling water

White sesame seeds

Direction:

1. Prepare the wok for steaming.
2. In a bowl, mix the boiling water and sugar until dissolved. Cool.
3. Gradually tamper in the cooled liquid into the measured rice flour. Stir gently.
4. Oil a 7-inch round pan with oil. Carefully pour in the batter. Sprinkle white sesame seeds on top.
5. Steam the cake over medium-high to high heat for 45 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick. Remove the cake and cool.

You can eat this cake as is, microwave for 5 seconds for a ’mochi-mochi’ texture, or pan-fried by dipping the cake slices in an egg wash before frying.

I just cannot wait and eat it cold.

For the readers who are not aware of my diet lifestyle, I have been a vegan for the last three years and going back five years more as a vegetarian (preceding that was a pescetarian, but do not want to bombard you with my life history).  I have been proud of my choice as I follow this diet out of ethical and health reasons.  As a Buddhist, I am against killing and harming of any living things and for health purposes, I do not behind that meat is necessary to sustain a human being’s life.  All that being said, you might be curious why then I have decided to take a vegan hiatus.  After struggling night and life, through a number of sleepless nights and contemplation, I have decided to experiment with my eating habit to maximize health benefits.  Personal health benefits.

I believe that everyone’s body is built differently.  Some people could tolerance grains better than others, whereas some might find them a culprit to their allergies and weight issues.  Recently, I have been experiencing a drop in energy.  I read lots of articles and posts about being gaining tons of energy after following a vegan diet.  How their acne problem got resolved; insomnia disappeared; or dispelling all types of sugar or caffeine cravings.  Then how come it is not working for me? I think one thing is that I consume a high carb vegan diet.  I depend on a lot of breads (healthy kinds though), but also consume soy, beans, and lots of vegetables and fruits. Yet, sometimes I still feel hungry even after a ‘big’ meal.  Is it being the bread is not satiating me? Perhaps I need to increase my protein intake.  Yet I do have a lot of beans, such as hummus, plain beans, and soy/tempeh, but they did not work as ‘effectively’ as when I had my first bite of salmon last weekend.  I admit that I had more than I needed, but ultimately, the oily, omega-3 fulfilling fish gave me such fullness that I did not even have dinner that night.  Although that fish meal did not sit too well with me that day and I felt ‘guilty’ for abandoning my vegan life, at that moment, I felt that was the ‘right’ decision for my health.

Today, I had another craving for salmon. Again.  So before heading home, I stopped by my local supermarket and got some salmon.  This afternoon, I took care NOT to overdo the portion.  While I do not appreciate the ‘fishy’ flavor relinquishing in my mouth, I felt ‘alright’ afterward.  So you might ask, “So? Did you have a BURST of energy afterward?” I cannot answer that question that, but my goal is to hope that having more ‘meat’ protein would control my carb cravings.  Fish is the further extent I would go (no red meats for me) and I think I can justify one fish meal per week.  Right now, there are still some salmon leftover neatly packed in the freezer for next week’s meal.  Whether I would cook it or not, it all depends on what my body is telling me.  I am learning to listen to my body’s voice.  If you stay still and quietly, your body, your temple of life is engaging in a conversation with you every single second.  We must honor her voice and communicate with her.  Today, she said she is tired of having too much bread in life and wanted something different.  I have been denying her presence for the past few months, hence my lack of energy and listlessness.  I did not need a lot of salmon to appease her today.  While I am not ‘proud’ of the death of this body of fish to make me ‘feel’ healthier, I just want to justify that its sacrifice was not in vain.  I have been succumbed in a continuous battler over this hiatus for a very time; so, my final decision is to make a truce – only one fish meal per week and ONLY if my body is telling that I need it.  And of course, vegetables and fruits will always be my main stables.

Sometimes we have to learn to be flexible and be ready to take on challenges, whether it is trying out or even leaving a particular eating habit.  Being too restrictive might have a negative, polarized effect and that is not a well-balanced life should be.

Directions

Sure, chocolate chip cookies are almost the ‘go-to’ choices for many, but if you want to feel that you are at least packing in some ‘protein’ into your dessert treat, I would recommend peanut butter cookies.  I also love to decorate my cookies with the universal crisscross pattern.  Why only for peanut butter cookies though? Why not for sugar cookies? Molasses cookies? Or even on…chocolate cookies? Anyone could solve this mystery for me?

1 1/2 cups of peanut butter

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) softened unsalted butter

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350  degrees. In a  medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder.
2. In a large bowl, beat peanut butter, sugar, and butter until smooth, then add in egg. Slowly combine with the dry ingredients.
3. Roll dough into a log and rest in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight. When ready to bake, roll a small ball and then press onto a baking sheet. Use a fork to create a crisscross pattern.
4. Bake cookies until slightly golden, approximately 18 to 22 minutes. Cool cookies. Enjoy!

Out with the old, in with the new. I wish all my readers a fresh start of the year of 2013!

Today, I visited Mitsuwa, a Japanese supermarket with several locations across the US.  The closest one to me is situated in New Jersey and since I do not have  car, I took their special service bus (with fee, of course) across the river to participate their annual mochitsuki, a mochi pounding traditional event that happens on New Year only.  Due to the large crowd, I was unable to get a good shot of the pounding action and sadly, I am not a tall gal to reach over the sea of heads.  My only solace was that there were less crowds in the restroom and the restaurant area, so I took this opportunity to ‘release’ and ‘consume’.   Plus, they were serving free mochi swimming in a sweet red bean soup.  A delicacy for good luck in the new year.

For lunch, Mom chose the “Japanese breakfast set’, which composed of marinated salmon, a bowl of rice, natto (acquired taste definitely), miso soup and other accoutrements.  Unfortunately, the rice was cold and the fish was oversalted.  Should have went for the ramen place, though the line was extremely long, well, guess there is a reason why because the foods are hot and fresh.  Before we left, we grabbed some salmon avocado sushi and some Japanese pastries.  We travelled this far, might as well buy more, right?

Happy New Year again! May the world prospers and there be peace on earth~

Yesterday was Winter Solstice, the short daylight in a year.  It is also an Asian custom to have family dinner together.  Rather than going the ‘tradition’ route, I ordered an Italian feast of eggplant rollatini, homestyle pizza, a green salad, and a side of spicy tuna sushi.  Got to incorporate some Asian flavor.  For dessert, I scooped out a dragonfruit and filled the shell with pistachio ice cream, paired with diced dragonfruit flesh and cantaloupe.  My parents left the table holding their stomachs.

Stay warm for those in the Northern Hemisphere!