My Dwarf June Plum (Coc)

Here is the start and death of my dwarf june plum. I planted this tropical fruit tree between April and May of 2008. Because this tree is a dwarf, it fruited the first year I planted it. I guess I was too greedy and didn't remove some of fruits causing all the fruits to be so tiny that I couldn't eat them...lol.

June 1 08

September 10 08


September 15 08

September 21 08

December 25 08

Finally the end. February 16 09

Fried Curry Fish Fillets

Found some fish fillets in the freeze and decided to make it curry to spice up the taste. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Use less curry if don't want it to be spicy.



Ingredients:

2 fish fillets (any white fillets)
2 tsp curry powder
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch

Method:

1. Cut the fish fillets in long chunks.
2. Mix with all the seasoning. Then mix in the cornstarch.
3. Heat a pan with enough oil to pan fry. Fry the fish until golden brown and crispy.
4. Serve with white rice. Use some fish sauce and chili pepper for dip.

Chicken Alfredo Fettuccini

Too much Asian food...now time to eat something else, pasta! :) This is made from scratch so you know what's in it...lol. Good to eat this only once in a while since it is a fatten food. :) But it tastes so great so who care about the fat...lol






Ingredients:

1 pack of fettuccine (14oz)
3 chicken breasts chopped in chunk
1 box whole white mushroom
1/2 onion diced
2 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 stick of unsalted butter
2 tsp chopped garlic
2 tbs olive oil
2 tsp salt
2 tsp fish sauce
3 tsp sugar
dash of nutmeg (optional)
3 tbsp cornstarch +1/4 cup water


Method:

1. Cook fettuccine by following the direction on the box. After it cooked, pour out all of the water and add in some salt and 1 tbsp olive oil. Mix and let it drain.

2. Pour oil in a pan and fry the garlic until golden and add in the chicken breast. Stir until almost done and add in the butter. After all the butter melted, add in the onion and sliced mushroom. Add in a dash of salt and sugar. Leave aside.

3. Heat a pot and add in the heavy cream and water. Bring it to boil and then add in the cheese. Stir so the cheese doesn't stick to the bottom.

4. Add the chicken mixture to the sauce and let it simmer for a couple minutes. Add in the seasoning for taste. After you got the right taste then slowly pour in the cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce. Make more cornstarch if not enough to thicken the sauce.

5. Pour the sauce over pasta to serve.

Chinese Broccoli with Abalone

Last time I made three mushrooms abalone and I cooked three extra abalone to save time for cooking them later. Now it is time to finish them. I decided to cook it with my favorite veggy, chinese broccoli (gai lan). This is such a simple and yet tasty dish. Look at the other post if you want to know how to cook the abalone.



Ingredients:

2 lb chinese broccoli
3 cooked abalone (sliced)
2-3 cloves of garlic smashed
2 tbsp oil
1 cup brothe from cooked abalone

Seasoning for abalone w/ king oyster mushroom:

1 1/2 tbsp abalone bottle sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
dash salt
dash sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch

Method:

1. Cut the broccoli in half so it's not so long. Boil a pot of water. Add in the broccoli and left it boil for until the broccoli starts to change to a lighter green, should not cook for more than 3 minutes. The longer you cook it the softer it gets, and soft is not good. You want the broccoli to be crispy. Add in a dash of salt. Drain and rinse with cold water.

2. Heat the pan with 2 tbsp oil. Add in the garlic and fry until golden. Add in the broccoli and stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add in dash of salt, sugar, and fish sauce for taste. Remove from heat and place on plate.

3. Heat a pan with the 1 tsp oil and add in the abalone. Now add in the brothe. Let it simmer a little and add in the abalone seasoning. Stir until thicken and place on top of broccoli.

4. Serve with white rice.

Banh Da Lon (Steamed Tapioca Layered Cake)

Banh da lon also known as pig skin cake. The reason, I don't really know. Perhaps the texture and the layers make it similar to pig skin...LOL. This is a Vietnamese cake made of tapioca starch, rice flour, mung bean, and coconut milk. The flavor is sweet and gelatinously soft in texture. The tapioca layers are great with the mung bean layers. One soft, the somewhat chewy...mmmm....





Green Layer:

300 gm tapioca starch
120 gm sugar
2 tbsp rice flour
250 ml water
200 ml coconut milk
1/2 tsp of pandan paste
3-4 drops of green food color

Mix everything together until smooth.


Mung Bean Layer:

125 gm hulled mung bean (soaked for 3+ hrs)
85 gm sugar
50 gm rice flour
3 tbsp tapioca starch
200 ml coconut milk
1/3 cup water
1/3 tsp salt
2-3 drops of yellow food color

1. Steam mung bean until cooked. About 30 minutes.
2. Let mung bean cool a little and put it in the blender with coconut milk and water. Blend until smooth. (The mixture is a little thick, so blend it slowly to prevent motor burn.)
3. Take the blended mung bean and mix with sugar, rice flour, and salt. Mix well and then add in the food color.

Methods:

1. Heat a steaming pot with water. Oil an 8 or 9 inch pan (or smaller molds). Place the pan in the steamer. Do not need to heat the pan ahead of time.

2. Now pour in the green layer, about 1/2 inch thick. Steam until the cake is clear green, cooked. About 15 minutes.

3. Pour in half of the mung bean, about 1/2 inch thick or thicker. Use a spatula to smooth the mung bean. Steam for another 15 minutes.

4. Now pour in another green layer. Steam until cooked.

5. Pour in the mung bean layer and steam until cooked.

6. Last is another layer of green. Steam for 20 minutes or until cooked. Remove and leave to cool.

7. Depending on your mold, you might have to use a knife to cut the edges to help ease getting the cake out.

8. Slice and serve cool.

Banh Khot (Vietnamese Mini Savory Pancakes)

Another good Vietnamese appetizer. It is similar to banh xeo, except smaller. It is filled with shrimps and mung bean. The batter is made out of coconut milk and rice flour. I took the easy way out by buying a bag of banh khot flour. :)





Ingredients:

1 bag of banh khot flour
1 can coconut milk
350 ml water
1-2 stalk of green onion chopped (use green part)

Filling:
16 large shrimps (peeled and devein)
1/2 cup hulled mung bean
2 stalks of green onion chopped

Powder Shrimps Topping: (optional)

1/2 cup dried shrimps (soak for 2+ hrs)

Fish Sauce:

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 lime (juiced)
1 tsp vinegar
3 tbs fish sauce
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
2 red chillies (chopped)


Method:

1. In a bowl mix flour, water, coconut milk together. Mix well and add in chopped green onion.

2. Wash mung bean and cook until tender. Remove excess water and mash mung bean into paste. Add in a dash of salt and sugar for taste. In a pan fry 1 chopped green onion with some oil. (Do not overcook.) Mix the fried green onion with the mung bean.

3. Chop shrimps into small pieces. In pan heat some oil and add in shrimps. When shrimps is half cooked, add in the chopped green onions and some salt, sugar, ground pepper, and oyster sauce and cook until done.

4. Remove dried shrimps from water and ground it finely in a blender or food chopper. Heat a nonstick pan and fry until dry. Stir constantly to prevent burn. After cooking leave it to dry completely before storing.

5. After getting everything ready, it is time to make the banh khot. Heat the banh khot pan and brush with oil. Stir the batter and fill each mini cup to 3/4 high. Add in some mung bean and shrimps. Brush on some more oil on the side of the cakes. Cover for 2 minutes. Check to see if it's cook or not. If not then brush on more oil and cover to cook again. When cakes are cooked, sprinkle on some dried shrimps. (Cook in medium high heat.)

6. For the fish sauce, mix everything together and taste.

7. Serve banh khot with fish sauce.

Che Troi Nuoc (Sticky Rice Dumpling w/ Ginger Syrup)

This is another one of my favorite Vietnamese dessert. My mom told me I love to eat this since I was little. But back then we didn't have money to eat this everyday in Vietnam. Well, now I can...lol. This dessert is similar to the Chinese Tang Yuan except the Vietnamese one is made with mung bean filling and eat with coconut milk and sesame seeds.



Ingredients:

1 bag of glutinous rice flour
500 gram hulled mung bean
water

Ginger Syrup:

2 1/2 slap of brown sugar candy
3-4 slice of ginger (less if you don't like ginger)
4 cup water for syrup
salt
sugar

Coconut Milk:

1 can coconut cream or milk
3 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup water +1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt

Method:

1. Wash mung bean and cook with water. Water level should be double of mung bean. When the mung bean almost fully cooked, remove some of the water. Leave only enough so it will be dry when mung bean is fully cook. Add in some salt and enough sugar for sweetness. Do not make the mung bean overly sweet as the syrup will be sweet. Leave to cool and form into round balls.

2. Place glutinous rice flour in a large bowl. Take 1/2 cup out and add boiling water. Stir and knead until you form a dough. Now pour cold water in the rest of the flour. Knead into a dough. Now add in the hot dough. Mix the two well. (The purpose of this is so the flour will not crack and easier to manage.) Divide the dough into small balls. Leave some dough to make small dumpling with no filling.

3. Flatten the round ball and add in the mung bean paste. Wrap it and in circular motion make a round ball. Repeat for the rest of dough. For dough with no filling, just take a small piece of dough and make it into small balls. Bowl hot water while making dumplings.

4. In a pot boil hot water to put the dumpling in. When the dumpling float, it means they done.

5. In a pot add in the 4 cups water and sugar slap and ginger. Boil until sugar dissolved. Add in the cooked dumpling. You can scoop the cooked dumpling from the hot water straight to the syup.

6. In a pot cook the coconut milk mixture until thick. Remember to stir continously so the cornstarch don't stick on the bottom.

7. Serve while warm with coconut milk and roasted sesame seeds. (Roast sesame seeds by frying in a pan. Just stir until golden brown)

Note: You can always cut the recipe in half if you don't want to make a whole pot.

Three Mushrooms Abalone

This is the best dish ever...maybe because of the expensive abalone...lol. Well, once in a while got to buy something good for yourself. :) The recipe only call for 3 fresh abalone (not dried). Due to the time for cooking abalone, it is best to cook 6 or more and put the left over in the freezer for later use.







Abalone Sauce

Serving 6

Ingredients:

6 Mid-size abalone (fresh or frozen)
2 1/2 lb King oyster mushrooms
15-20 Mid-size dried shiitake mushrooms
Handful of Black Fungus (large)
2 piece of dried scallops
1 Can chicken broth
12 cups water
2-3 pieces of garlic (flatten with knife)
4 slice of ginger

Seasoning for abalone w/ king oyster mushroom:

1 1/2 tbsp abalone bottle sauce (see pic)
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
dash salt
dash sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch

Method:

1. Clean the abalone by using a knife to scrap of the black stuff. Boil a pot of water. Put the abalone in for 1-2 minutes. This will help clean the abalone some more. Take it out and rinse. Boil 6 cups of water, chicken broth and dried scallop. Add in the cleaned abalone and bring to boil. Turn the fire lower to medium high and simmer for 30 minutes to1 hr. Be surprise that your abalone will shrink 1/2 its size! Afterward transfer the abalone+soup to a crock pot and add in another 6 cups of water or more. Simmer on high for at least 6 hr until abalone is soft. Add in 1 tsp salt and a small piece of brown rock sugar after 2 hr of simmering. (Best to do his at night so the abalone will be ready the next day.) Add more water if the broth reduced tremendously.

2. Soak the shiitake mushrooms in warm water for 1 hr and boil it until soft, about 30 minutes or more. The longer the better. Drain away the water and rinse the mushrooms.

3. Soak the black fungus in warm water for 30 minutes and then bring it to boil for about 5 minutes or until fungus fully expanded. Drain and use some salt to rub in the fungus to wash it. Then rinse.

4. After preparing the abalone, shiitake, and fungus, it is now ready to cook. Slice the king oyster mushrooms sideway.

5. In a pot, heat 2 tbsp oil. Add in some of the garlic and stir until brown. Add in the shiitake mushrooms, fungus, and ginger. Now add in 2 cup of the abalone broth. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes. Add more broth if needed to cover the mushrooms. Add in a pinch of salt, sugar, fishsuace, osyter sauce, and soy sauce for taste. Just a little of each and taste.

6. In another pan, heat some oil and garlic. Add in the sliced king oyster mushrooms. Stir fry briefly and add in 1 1/4 cup of abalone broth. Let it cook for one minute and add in seasoning. Now add in the 3 sliced abalone. Let it simmer a little. Taste, if too salty then add in some water or broth. In a bowl add in 1 tbsp cornstarch and 2 tbsp water. Stir this in the pan slowly to get the sauce thicken. Turn off the heat once the sauce is thicken. (If sauce is too thick, just add in a little water and continue to cook just a little. If not thick enough then add more starch mixture)

7. Now serve by putting the shiitake mushrooms and fungus on the plate first and then add on the king oyster mushrooms and abalone...plus the sauce of course. (When placing the shiitake mushroom, do not include their sauce.) Serve with white rice.

Avocado Shake

This is a little different than the watery shake. It is creamy and best eaten with a spoon. The avocado have to be ripe but not too ripe. The avocado turns purple when ripe. Buy the green one and let it ripe...but still have to be somewhat firm. Too soft mean the avocado is too ripe. If you let the avocado overripe, you'll get roots in them...lol.



Ingredients:

1 avocado
1 tbsp condense milk
1/2 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup ice (best give it a rinse)
1 tbsp milk or water

Put everything in a blender and blend until smooth. Taste to see if you need more sugar. If you want it to be more watery, use more milk or water.

Che Khoai Mon (Sticky Rice with Taro)

Here is another good Vietnamese dessert. This serve with coconut milk...the more the better..mmmmmmm :)



Ingredients:

1 cup glutinous rice
1-2 lb taro (get the one with purple inside)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp pandan paste
1/2 tsp salt
6 cups water

Method:

1. Rinse the glutinous rice and add just enough water to cover the rice. Add in 1/2 tsp of the pandan paste. Let it soak for 15-30 minutes.
2. Boil 2 cups water. Add in the soaked rice including the pandan water. Cook the rice for 5 minutes.
3. Cut the taro in 1 inch cubes, don't cut too small as the taro melt. Boil 4 cups water and add in the taro. Cook the taro for 7 minutes or until kinda soft.
4. Take out 2 cups of the water from the taro. leave the water a side in case you need to add more later. Add in the sugar and salt in the taro pot. Stir and cook for another minute.
5. Add the half cooked rice in with the taro. Let it cook for another minute until rice is cooked. Add in the other half of pandan paste, add more if you want a darker color. Taste and add more sugar if necessary.
6. In a bowl, use 2 tbsp of the taro water and mix it with 2 tbsp of tapioca starch. Stir the starch mixture in with the taro rice mixture until thicken.
7. Serve with coconut milk.

Coconut Milk:

1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp tapioca starch
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

1. Mix everything together and cook on medium heat until thicken. Stir to prevent sticking to the pot.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone! I've been so busy this weekend making food for CNY. We made zongzi, a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves. We also made neen gow, a New Year's cake made of glutinous rice flour and brown candy sugar. All these are must have for New Year. Somehow this year I really want to eat them. I fried some zongzi on New Year Eve and it was very good. The long zongzi have glutinous rice, mung bean, and pork as stuffing. The triangular ones are made out of glutinous rice, peanuts, shiitake mushroom, and pork. As you can see their leaves are not as dark and shiny....that's because we forgot to wrap them while they were still wet. We were too busy gambling...LOL.









Xin Nian Kuai Le (Happy New Year)
Gong Hee Fat Choi (Wishing you Prosperity and getting Rich)

What to do for Chinese New Year???

A lot of us living in the US and being the new generations, we don't really know what's the true meaning of Chinese New Year. Do we know what to do and how to prepare for this holiday? As usual, I was surfing the web to see what kind of recipes I can find for CNY. I came across this interesting website that talk about CNY. I find it very true and it have a lot of information we can use:FamilyCulture . Below is some content from that website.

BEFORE NEW YEAR's EVE

The celebration actually starts on New Year's Eve with the reunion dinner. By New Year’s Eve, you should have done the following:

• Clean the entire home to get rid of all the things that are associated with the old year.
• Put away all brooms and brushes.
• Pay all your debts.
• Resolve differences with family members, friends, neighbors and business associates.
• Buy the following:

  - red money envelopes

  - oranges and/or tangerines

  - circular candy tray

  - flowers (especially plum blossom, peach blossom, water lily)

  - a new set of clothes and shoes for children, preferably something red or orange.

• Get new dollar bills from the bank. Insert the new dollar bills into the red envelopes. Now the red envelope is called a lee see or lucky money envelope.

• (note: Very few modern families follow all the "cleaning" traditions.)

ON NEW YEAR’s EVE:

• Get together with close family members (not including married daughters and their families) for the "reunion" dinner.
• Pay respect to ancestors and household gods. Acknowledge the presence of ancestors because they are responsible for the fortunes of future generations.
• Open every door and window in your home at midnight to let go of the old year.

ON NEW YEAR’s DAY:

• Decorate your home with symbols of good fortune. Here are some suggestions:
  

  - Colors: Bright red (happiness); gold/orange (wealth & happiness).

  - Fruits: Oranges and tangerines (good health & long life); tangerines with leaves intact (long lasting relationships; fruitful and multiply as in having children); persimmons (happiness and wealth).

  - Circular candy tray (candy for sweet and circular for togetherness).

  - Flowers: If flowers bloom on New Year’s Day, it will be a prosperous year.

  - Red banners or couplets with New Year wishes and symbols of good fortune in gold.
  

• Here are some suggestions for food:
  
• - Jai - a combination of food that represents good fortune. Jai comprises of ginkgo nut, black moss, dried bean curd, bamboo shoots, vermicelli and scallion.
• - Fish and chicken represent prosperity. Always present the fish and chicken as a whole. Do not cut them in pieces. The head, tail and feet (for chicken) must be presented to symbolize completeness.
• - Noodles represent longevity. Again, they should not be cut.
• - Desserts include oranges, Chinese New Year cake (ni gao) and prosperous cakes (they look like golden nuggets).

DO’s & DON'Ts on NEW YEAR’s DAY:

- Greet others with "Gung Hey Fat Choy" which means "Wishing You Prosperity and Wealth".

- Give two lee see’s to each child. Because happiness comes in two’s, do not just give one. This is your way of passing good luck to the next generation. Business owners also give lee see’s to employees and associates.

- Wear brand new clothes - preferably in red. Children should wear new clothes and new shoes.

- Don’t wash your hair.

- Don’t sweep the floor.

- Don’t greet people who are in mourning.

- Don’t drop your chopsticks.

- Don’t say the number ‘four’ (Chinese homonym for death) or mention death.

- Don’t borrow or lend money.

As you prepare for this important holiday, think of the changes you want to make in your life ... perhaps spend more time with your family, reduce your credit card debts or pursue a new interest. Gung Hey Fat Choy ... and Happy New Year!

Banh Bo Nuong (Honey Comb Cake)

This is the Vietnamese honey comb cake. It is sweet and chewy. The edges are crispy. It have the aroma of the coconut milk and pandan flavor. Tu can eat half a cake all by himself in an hour! This is a good breakfast item as it soften after microwave. Great with coffee too!



Ingredients:

-2 cups tapioca starch
-200 ml thick coconut milk/cream (200ml = 1/2 can)
-3/4 cup sugar
-6 large eggs
-2 1/2 tsp baking powder (single acting, use Alsa or create your own with 2 tsp cream tartar + 1 tsp baking powder)
-2 pandan leaves and 1/2 tsp extract

Method:
1) Bring the coconut milk, sugar, and pandan leaves to boil. Add in the pandan extract and leave to cool. Sprain the mixture.
2) Sift the starch and baking powder together.
3) Turn on the over and preheat to 350' F. Brush some oil on the pan and heat the pan in the over for 3-5 minutes. Keep it hot until use.
4) Use a fork to stir the eggs. Remember to stir just enough to homogenize the whites and yolks.
5) Add in the coconut syrup and give it a few stir. Then sift in the tapioca mixture. Mix everything together with fork until smooth. Now Strain it in the heated pan.
6) Bake at 350'F for about 45 minutes, until golden. Turn off oven and let cake sit in there for another minute before taking it out.
7) Let it cool for a little before cutting.