Culinary Musing of a Silicon Valley Mom

Japanese Gyudon aka Beef Bowl

2012-08-06T20:08:00.000-07:00

Japanese gyudon (gyu is beef, don is rice bowl in Japanese), a variation of sukiyaki, is one of the popular dishes from Japan in the States. It's an easy one-dish meal to prepare at home. Kids normally like it a lot. We just made it again recently at home so here's the recipe ...

Indonesian Slush Ice Drink

2012-07-19T20:57:00.002-07:00

Because Indonesia is a tropical country, there are countless of cold drinks available year round. Instead of ice cream, we drink or eat slush ice drinks with fruits, jellies, beans, fermented casava, avocados, and others as the added ingredients, sprinkled with syrup and condensed milk (optional). It is my favorite snack drink of all time. There are other similar slush ice drinks throughout Asia but each country has its own twist to it. It is popular in the Bay Area now but it is either Chinese or Vietnamese version of the drink. So here's the Indonesian style.

Japanese Cold Ramen

2012-07-02T18:02:00.000-07:00

For hot summer days, some of us crave for "cold" food to cool us down. Japanese cold ramen is one of those foods. I believe it is a Japanese version of Chinese cold noodle. According to my husband who used to live in Japan for a few years, Japanese eateries serve this ramen noodle with ice cubes underneath the noodle on the serving plate. I did it once at home, it was kind of interesting and unique. Without the ice, it is still perfectly a good meal.

I have always use store bought cold ramen noodle kit package, they come in fresh noodle package located in the refrigerator section or dry cold ramen along with other dry ramens in most Asian markets. There are a few fresh cold ramen Japanese brands but I only know of one dry cold ramen brand (see photos below). Making the noodle sauce from scratch is actually quite easy - peanut sauce, hot sauce, or sweet vinegar sauce, and more. I believe peanut sauce is more popular or well known compared to the others. I will update this post once I have tried it myself.

Burmese Ginger Salad

2012-06-22T12:12:00.001-07:00

Southeast Asian salads from Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Burma (at least these are the ones that I am familiar with) share common ingredients and flavor in my opinion, such as lemon juice, peanuts, fish sauce, cilantro, shrimp, and more. The following ginger salad recipe is no exception. I have an earlier post for Vietnamese Lotus Stem Salad recipe in this blog as well if you are interested.

Who would have thought of using ginger as one of the main ingredients in a salad, I have always use it as a flavoring ingredient in steam fish, stews, or stir fry but never in a salad. When I was first introduced to it by my friend, Jasmine, who was born in Burma, I liked it right away. It gives a very different aroma, texture and flavor to the salad that I never had before. Of course, there are variations of ginger salad recipe but this one is Jasmine's version of it and I have made this salad many times over.

Braised Tofu With Green Onion

2012-06-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

This is one of my family favorite vegetarian dishes. It only has two main ingredients with few seasonings for braising. Needless to say, this recipe is another one that is easy and simple to concoct when you don't have much time to cook. My sister told me that she read somewhere in a Chinese newspaper saying that tofu should not be cooked with green onion. It has to do with some kind of yin-yang energy balance in the body when the two ingredients are combined. I have not heard from anybody else about it and we really love the taste and flavor of green onion tofu, so we still make this tofu whenever we have craving for it. If I find out more concrete information about this issue, I will update this post accordingly. In the meantime, my family will continue to cook and enjoy this simple and delicious dish.

Korean Soft Tofu Stew aka Soondubu Jjigae

2012-05-27T22:18:00.001-07:00

Kimchi soft tofu stew (soup) is a popular Korean dish. It is comforting to eat on a cold day. We make it often during cold winter months. As some of you may know, kimchi has properties that can strengthen your body immune system which comes in handy during cold season.

My Korean friend, Maria, has shown me how to make it her way (without the kimchi), it's a bit more elaborate compared to this quick recipe. She makes the soup broth from scratch with chicken but often I don't have the time to do it, I just want something quick and easy. So the following recipe is how I make this tofu soup.

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

2012-05-21T21:17:00.000-07:00

Chocolate chip cookie is an all time American favorite cookie for all ages. In the corporate cafe where I work, these cookies are gone in a fly, especially when they just come out of the oven - warm and soft. Kids would snap them in a hurry whenever they see chocolate chip cookies. They come in soft or hard/crunchy textures. I like the soft one. Chocolate chip cookies are readily available at most food places but nothing beats homemade ones - they are fresh, natural, and no preservative. There are myriad of chocolate chip cookie recipes out there and of course, I have not tried all of them but from the few that I did, I prefer the recipe below.

Sauteed Chard (simply delicious!)

2012-05-16T19:39:00.003-07:00

This is a simple recipe that is almost impossible to go wrong. Chard is highly nutritious and considered one of the healthiest vegetables out there. It has bitter taste that fades with cooking; thus giving its distinctively robust flavor and texture. I was surprised to find out how easy it is to cook chard and you can be as creative as you want by adding or changing things to the recipe. Feel free to experiment by adding bits of ham, beans, or parmesan cheese and try different wine or sake. You may remove the butter and olive oil mix and use regular cooking oil instead. The end result still tastes great. Even my son who is not particularly fond of vegetables enjoy this sauteed chard.

Chard is great with fish or beef steak or pasta. I added parmesan cheese on this serving; giving more zing to the final flavor.

Teriyaki Chicken

2012-05-08T22:23:00.000-07:00

Everybody seems to like teriyaki sauce, be it with chicken, beef, fish or other ingredients. The most popular one is probably teriyaki chicken, my family is no exception. We make it once in a while when we crave for it. Although it is healthier to make the sauce from scratch and it is not very difficult to do so, most of the time we opt to use store bought sauce for convenient sake. We have tried a few different brands but we prefer "Mr. Yoshida's marinade & cooking sauce - original gourmet, sweet & savory". We get it at Costco. The one thing I don't like in the ingredients is the high fructose corn syrup, which is probably why the sauce is really good. As long as we don't eat it too often, I would say it's not a big deal. I do try to avoid high fructose corn syrup whenever I could in foods or drinks. I have tried to make teriyaki sauce from scratch a long time ago but I recall it didn't turn out very good and have never tried it again since then, which I should. When I do, I will post the result and update this recipe. In the meantime, here's teriyaki chicken recipe using ready made sauce.

Homemade Roasted Almond

2012-05-05T16:45:00.000-07:00

Nuts in general are good for you. Almond is no exception, it is a rich source of Vitamin E & B, dietary fiber, essential minerals, and monounsaturated fat. It also contains phytosterols which is linked to lowering cholesterol in our body. Raw almonds retain the most nutritional values compare to roasted ones; however, roasted almonds taste better and crunchier, in my opinion, so I am sacrificing some nutritional elements in exchange for better taste, which is fine with me. For convenient sake, usually I buy roasted almonds but when there is a good deal on raw almonds, I don't mind roasting them myself. The following is my recipe:

Stir Fry Tomatoes with Eggs

2012-04-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

The dish is a staple in many Chinese home cooking. It is a great simple recipe for something quick, easy, and delicious; and requires very few ingredients that you might already have in your kitchen. It is a vegetarian dish but contains protein in the eggs. It has a bit of sweet and tangy flavor to it.

Chayote Squash with Vermicelli Noodle

2012-04-22T11:07:00.000-07:00

This is definitely a comfort food for me. My mom was a great cook and she made this dish on a regular basis at home many years ago. I never had the exact recipe from her so I made up my own, especially on the amount of ingredients but this recipe is very forgiven, no matter how much ingredient you use, it still tastes good, in my experience. To label it as a Chinese or Indonesian dish is a toss up, I don't exactly know the origin of it, perhaps it is a Chinese-Indonesian home-cook dish. I do not remember eating it in any Asian restaurants as far as I know. Chayote squash is also popular in Mexican or South American cuisines. Again, it is a simple and very easy to cook recipe. My family loves it whenever I make this dish.

Thai Ground Beef Stir Fry

2012-03-31T14:59:00.000-07:00

This is a very simple and easy recipe for a quick dish. A friend of mine, Anita, was gracious enough to share this recipe with me. This recipe came from a Thai cooking class that she took years ago. She told me the ingredients and I adjusted the amount according to my taste as well as adding onion and sweet soy sauce into the ingredients. This dish tastes better the next day after the ingredients got absorbed into the meat, in my opinion. If so, you may want to add the green bell pepper and Thai chili when you are ready to eat so they don't get soggy. You can serve this dish with steamed rice or dry cooked noodle seasoned with some oil so the noodle does not get sticky and the oil gives some fragrant to the noodle. I usually use fried shallot oil.

Enjoying Fresh Oysters at Oyster Farm in Tomales Bay, Marin Co., CA

2012-02-27T23:07:00.001-08:00

My family went to Tomales Bay vicinity in Marin County, CA for on-site oysters eating experience in the summer of 2011. It was the second time around for me and my son but it was the first experience for my husband. My son enjoys the on-site oysters eating experience, he was looking forward to going back again. I think it might be our annual outing for oysters from now on.

grilled oyster sprinkled with lemon juice & tapatio hot sause ready to eat ... yummy

Vietnamese Grilled Pork Chop

2012-02-05T16:42:00.000-08:00

This recipe came from a Vietnamese cookbook but I do not recall the title or the author now. I have tried it many times and didn't have to modify it in anyway, it's Asian style BBQ flavor. You can use any type of pork chops but I prefer the "pork butt" pork chops or sometimes they are called "pork chop steaks" because they are a bit fattier and therefore juicier. I also tried it broiled instead of grilled but grilling is still the best way to cook it if possible.

Korean-style Zha Jiang Mien (Noodle), aka Jiajangmyun

2011-10-27T22:34:00.000-07:00

I have been missing from my blog for a while now due to other commitments, aside from family - working full-time and taking classes in Hospitality Management Program at a local community college. My goal is to be able to continue updating my blog on a regular basis or as often as possible. So, here is my next recipe.

A Korean friend of mine made this noodle dish and I liked it a lot. This is a Korean version of the Chinese Zha Jiang Mien that is very popular in Korea. The recipe below is from my friend, Maria Lee. It is a quick one-dish meal for either lunch or dinner - it has carbohydrate, protein and vegetable in it. Serve with picked radish as a side dish.

Thai Style Cole Slaw

2011-05-13T16:14:00.000-07:00

Fusion has becoming a trend in the foodie world. This is mainly due to the adaptation of flavor, texture, or taste to accommodate the general public's palate. At the same time, more and more Americans are exposed to ethnic foods through its myriad of immigrant population. As a result, some chefs in the States have integrated two or more different cuisines or ingredients and come up with a new flavor and dish. Chef Ming Tsai from his PBS show - Simply Ming calls it "East meets West". Of course, fusion food actually is not a new phenomenon. Older immigrants from Italy, England, Germany, and others had already influenced many of the American staple foods. We would generally label them as "American" because of the fact that these fusion of food or ingredients have been long assimilated into the mainstream.

In any case, this Thai style cole slaw recipe is one of them. The recipe comes from my culinary class. It makes a good side dish or salad to either Western or Asian main course or BBQ. It has a combination of peanut, sweet and tangy flavors and the texture is similar to regular cole slaw - crunchy.

Chinese Radish Cake aka Turnip or Daikon Cake

2011-04-27T16:18:00.000-07:00

I have been missing from blogging for a couple of weeks now due to my cold/flu that is still lingering now, I can't wait until I am back to my normal health. Every time I get really sick, I always appreciate it when I am healthy. We always hear this saying - we take things, in this case - health for granted when we are well, and then realize what we are missing when we are sick. Well, life goes on ...

In any case, here's a recipe for the radish/turnip/daikon cake. For simplicity sake, I'll call it radish cake here. It's typically served in Chinese dim sum in China, Hong Kong and overseas Chinatown restaurants. This radish cake is also common in Chinese New Year celebration. Like many Chinese food, there are symbols/meaning of certain food eaten at certain festivals, the same is true here but I forgot what why some Chinese eat the radish cake for New Year. I will update this blog once I confirm it. I try to make it once a year during Chinese New Year if I can.

It is usually cut into square-shaped slices and sometimes they are pan-fried before serving - to make the outside layer crunchy and soft on the inside. This is a savory cake, nothing sweet about it. It's delicious to dip it with a little hot sauce when it's ready to eat.

Zucchini with Scrambled Eggs

2011-04-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

With leftover zucchini from the zucchini pie, I came up with this easy recipe for a quick dish. It turned out to be surprisingly tasty and delicious, even my son liked it a lot. It has both vegetables and protein in one dish in case you are in a hurry or have no time to cook fancy dish.

Zucchini Pie

2011-04-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

This recipe is from my ex-colleague many years ago. All of us wanted the recipe once we ate it at a gathering at her house. She found it online - Raven Haven Bed & Breakfast in Mentone, Alabama (their specialty recipe). I've made this pie countless times and it never fails to garner compliments from those who eat it, and some would asked for the recipe. Most of all, it's super easy and fast to make with just a few ingredients. All the ingredients combined gave a fragrant aroma in the air once it's baked that you can't wait to try it. The texture is similar to quiche. We've prepared this zucchini pie as a side dish to western/American food and it goes really well with steamed rice and Asian dishes, too. For those of you who like spicy food, I find that Asian chili sauce surprisingly goes very well with this pie.

BBQ Baby Back Ribs

2011-03-26T17:56:00.000-07:00

Baby Back Ribs are the rib meat from pork. They are a bit more tender and meaty than beef ribs. Tony Roma restaurant is famous for this type of ribs. My husband & I used to go to Tony Roma once in a while to enjoy those delicious ribs along with their famous onion rings.

We got this simple recipe that tries to emulate Tony Roma's rib from one of my husband's friends. We make it occasionally when having dinner guests or family gatherings. Everyone seem to love it, especially kids. This is a totally wonderful dish, it tastes great and simple to make. The meats are so soft and tender that it easily falls off the bones while you eat them. The quality of the ribs seems to matter. It happened to us a few times when the meat weren't as tender and juicy and I was pretty sure my husband didn't alter the recipe instructions in any way shape or form. Anyway, here's the not-so-secret "secret" recipe for baby back rib ...

Geocaching Is Fun and Healthy Activity

2011-03-12T23:54:00.000-08:00

This morning my family participated in a geocaching hike at Piccetti Ranch in Cupertino, CA, organized and sponsored by the Mid Peninsula Open Space Preserve (Mid-Pen Open Space for short) and REI. It was our first time ever doing geocaching of any types. Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting activity using GPS devices (handheld GPS, iPhone, or Android Phone). The basic idea is to locate hidden containers that may include family-friendly or general trinkets to trade (if you want), called geocaches. They can be hidden anywhere outdoors - trails, creeks, parks, shopping malls, along freeways, in the water, just to name a few. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment. There are over 1.3 million active geocaches and over 5 million geocachers worldwide according to Geocaching.com - the official geocaching website.

Basil-Cayenne Baked Fries

2011-03-06T14:02:00.000-08:00

My son is getting more and more adventurous with his culinary skills recently - adding or mixing up ingredients and coming up with his own recipes. This is one of them. He has made this bake fries recipe several times and he's good at it by now.

It's the best baked fries we have tried so far - it's crunchy (of course, it's best to eat them right away), wonderful basil flavor and a bit tangy spiciness. Best of all, it's healthier than regular french fries and it's quiet simple and easy to make. We are hooked on baked fries these days. Try it! Below is his recipe through his own words.

Taiwanese Pineapple Cake

2011-02-24T22:30:00.000-08:00

It's square, it has pineapple filling inside, and it's delicious. They are sold in many Chinese markets under various brands, most of them are made in Taiwan. You can also find them from local Taiwanese bakeries, such as Sheng Kee but nothing can top the pineapple cakes made at home. I am fortunate to have friends from Taiwan and have been introduced to various types of Taiwanese food, this pineapple cake is of them. Even before I make them at home, my husband used to love this cake. He occasionally bought them at the market.

To make this cake, you will need the square molds. I don't have them at the moment so I borrow from a friend of mine, Olivia. I am not sure if you can get the molds here in the States, Olivia got hers from Taiwan. I have to admit that I don't make the pineapple filling from scratch. They are sold "ready for use" in Taiwan in baking stores and I got them from friends (or their husbands) who regularly go back to Taiwan. See photo below. Again, I don't know if you can find them here for personal use. Note: it's not pure pineapple - it's combined with some winter melon. I am not sure why they add winter melon, perhaps to make a better filling texture?

Taiwanese Pineapple Cake

Egg & Bread for Breakfast

2011-02-23T21:28:00.000-08:00

My son enjoys cooking and concocting his own creation. He saw a recipe that caught his interest in a cookbook, "MaterChef Cookbook" and came up with his own version of the "egg in purgatory". His variation is very simple and easy to make, it's yummy and nutritious for a quick breakfast, it's almost like eating a toast except there's an egg in the middle. Here's the recipe in his own words and picture.