Dan Dan Mian (Dan Dan Noodles)

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 Believe it or not, even though I am a native of China I have never eaten Dan Dan Mian while I grew up there.  The first time I had Dan Dan Mian was actually at a Taiwanese restaurant.  Nowadays many restaurants and cultures have their own version of this delicious noodle dish.

 The original Dan Dan Mian came from Sichuan province in China and is supposed to be very spicy cooked with peppercorn and hot chili oil.  However, for this recipe I have tailored it to suit my non-spicy tongue and my four-year old toddler.

If you've been following my blog, you would know I do not like complicated things, that includes my style of dressing and cooking.  As always, I tried to look for recipes with the least steps and ingredients.  I found this one from Momofukufor2 to be the simplest.  I've changed up the recipe here and there based on my own preference.

Dan Dan Mian (Serves 2)
Ingredients:
4 cups of chicken stock
Sesame Paste Mixture:
2 tablespoons Sesame Paste (or Tahini, can be found at local Asian markets)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced shallots

Meat
1/2 lb ground beef
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil

 1 cup of chopped Choi Sum (Chinese vegetable usually sold in Asian markets, can substitute with Spinach or Bok Choy)
1 egg (I made mine soft boiled because I wanted it to resemble the Dan Dan Mian eaten at a Japanese restaurant)
noodles of your choice (I used ramen)
sliced green onions for garnish
Chili oil (for the spicy lovers.  I sprinkled some on top of my noodles at the end for that authentic Sichuan taste)

Instructions: 

1. In a small wok or frying pan, heat up the teaspoon of vegetable oil over medium high heat and add the minced garlic and shallots. Fry until fragrant, but not burned.  Add in the sesame paste and sugar and mix well.  Put the sesame paste mixture aside or store in container to use later.
2. On a separate pan, cook the ground beef until done. Add in chili bean sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil.  Remove from the heat and keep warm while you cook the noodles.
3. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions and drain.

4. Heat up the chicken stock, blanch the Choi Sum once it boils and take out after a few minutes.

5. Spoon the sesame paste mixture into a bowl, add in the chicken stock and mix well.  Place the noodles inside and mix with the sauce.  Top with ground beef, Choi Sum and egg.  Garnish with green onions and enjoy!

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Chicken with Lemon, Cilantro & Garlic Over Pasta

The recipe of the meat and marinade were adapted from http://www.food.com/recipe/grilled-pork-chops-with-lime-cilantro-garlic-133511.  The pasta recipe was just simply from my imagination.

I came across this recipe the other day and really wanted to try it.  I changed up the recipe here and there to simplify the steps and to suit my taste buds, I hope you like it!

Serving Size: 5-8
Ingredients:
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoon lemon zest (I added this to bring out the flavor more)
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
2 garlic gloves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried chipotle powder (I omitted this because I didn't think my toddler could handle it)
6 skinless and boneless chicken breasts
   salt and pepper (I added this as I don't like my food too bland)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

For the Pasta:
1 lb package of any pasta family such as linguine, angel hair or penne (I used multi-colored bow-tie), cook and drain according to package instructions.
2 small zucchinis, cut into bite size, blanched
2 roman tomatoes, cut into bite size
1/2 batch of spinach, blanched
2 tablespoons olive oil

 

 Lemon, Cilantro & Garlic Marinade and Dipping Sauce

Directions: 
Mix the cooked pasta in a bowl with all the veggies and olive oil, add salt and pepper and Parmesan cheese if desired.

(For the chicken)
Blend the first 5 ingredients or 6 if you decided to use the chipotle powder, cover and place in the fridge.
Reserve 1/2 cup for dipping later
Place the chicken breasts down on a baking dish that has been sprayed with vegetable oil and season with salt and pepper for about 5 minutes.
The recipe said to grill or BBQ the meat but I decided to cook it with the oven (less standing around and more time spent with my little one)
Place the chicken breasts into the oven to cook for 25 minutes at 425 F, take it out and turn them over.
Start brushing the mayonnaise blend on top of the chicken until they are completely covered.
Put the chicken back into the oven for another 25 minutes at 400 F.
Serve over pasta and with the reserved mayo mixture on the side.

Enjoy! Don't forget to leave a comment and let me know how this turned out for you after trying the recipe.  I really liked the mayo and cilantro sauce, I am thinking of using it on fish next time.

Japanese Egg Custard (Chawanmushi)

I have been very adventurous with my cooking lately, as a result I cooked up this traditional Japanese appetizer that sometimes is served at sushi restaurants.  "Chawan" means tea cup or rice bowl and "mushi" means steamed in Japanese.  I always had a love for steamed egg dishes such as the Chinese one here that I grew up eating.

The texture of the steamed egg custard is very smooth and melts in your tongue as it enters the mouth.

The recipe I am sharing consists of pork and shrimp, if you are allergic to either of the ingredients you can just omit them.  If you want just a plain egg custard without any of the toppings/fillings and save time, you would only need eggs, water and salt.

The other reason why I decided to make this dish besides my love for Japanese food is the fact that it's nutritious and super easy to eat.  My mother was recently hospitalized due to an accident related to hot liquid.  A feeding tube had to be placed through her nose, throat and down to the stomach so she was having a hard time chewing and swallowing food.  This steamed egg custard was perfect for her as she could easily ingest it.  If you have a little one at home, this would make a great snack as well.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups (480ml) Dashi (powder fish stock, read instructions on package on how to mix)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp Mijiu (sake is traditionally used but rice cooking wine would do the trick)
• 1 tsp Mirin (sweet cooking rice seasoning)
• 2-4 shrimp, sliced into 2 pieces each if big
• 1/2 pork meat, cut into bite size pieces
• 1-2 shiitake mushroom, sliced
• green onion, chopped

Instructions

1. Marinade pork and shrimps. In a small bowl, mix pork pieces with 1/2 tsp soy sauce and 1/2 tsp Mijiu or Sake. In another bowl, mix shrimp and 1/2 tsp soy sauce and 1/2 tsp Mijiu or Sake. Let them sit for a couple of minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix eggs, Dashi, salt, 1 tsp soy sauce, and Mirin together. Strain the egg mixture through a sieve. Let as much egg as you can go through the sieve.
3. Place 1/4 amount of pork, shrimp, and shiitake mushrooms in each of 4 small cups (small bowls work too), then pour egg mixture over them to fill 3/4 of a cup. Cover with aluminum foil and put the covered cups into a steamer.
4. Steam at medium heat for 10-15 minutes. Check with a wooden skewer to see if it's done. If clear broth comes out when poked, take the cups out from the steamer (BE VERY CAREFUL AS THE HOT CERAMICS AND STEAM CAN CAUSE BURNS)
5. Sprinkle chopped green onion and cover again for 2-3 minutes.

  Be Inspired - Lily

Cantonese Glutinous Rice Dumplings/Zongzi

The Dragon Boat Festival falls on Saturday this year and it's a day before Father's Day.  I thought I would make some Zongzi for the family.  Zongzi is usually eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival in China and other Asian countries.  If you like to know more about the history of the festival you can check here.

I know for most people, making Zongzi might sound intimidating, but if you have been reading my blog on recipes, you would agree that there's always a way to simplify things.  As I've said before, I like easy, quick and healthy recipes, so I have tried my best to keep the instructions simple.

Ingredients:
Sweet Glutinous Rice (4 cups will get you about 15 medium dumplings)
Bamboo leaves (soak overnight and dry them when ready)
String or Twine (or any string that will not break easily)
1 lb chicken breast (season with soy sauce and five spice powder)
4 Chinese Sausages (cut into 1 inch length)
4 salted duck eggs (cut in quarter)
1 cup of peeled split mung beans(soap in water overnight and boil in water for 5-10 minutes)
5 dried Shiitake mushrooms (soap in water overnight)
Optional:
1/2 cup of dried shrimp

Instructions:
Although for convenience, I prefer to soak the bamboo leaves overnight but the down side to this is the leaves tear easily and are more brittle than if you boil them in water for 5 minutes.
After you have marinaded the chicken breast, place into the oven and cook on 300 F for 30 minutes.  Shred the chicken after it's cooked.
While the chicken is in the oven, cut the sausages and salted duck eggs and put aside.
Boil the mung beans.
Mix in 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and all of the cooked mung beans into the rice and mix well, transfer to a drainer to remove the excess liquid.

Personally, I think wrapping the Zongzi is the hardest part.  The works of Life has very detailed instructions on how to do this.
After wrapping, place all the dumplings into a big pot, fill it with water making sure all the dumplings are covered and boil for 2 hours.  Be sure to add boiled water when the water level goes down.

and voila! now you can enjoy a savory glutinous rice dumpling without the hassle.  My motto in cooking is to be creative and making it work with the ingredients you already have.  Thank you for reading!

MINT LEAF BEEF

This dish was inspired by Noodle World Mint Leaf Chicken.  There were some leftover mint leaves from the pho Vietnamese soup that hubby made, and some ground beef that I could not use all for my toddler's meal.  So I decided to cook up my own version of "Mint Leaf Chicken" except this is with beef!

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The result? Pretty good! Although I could've used a little more mint leaf.  I don't like my food too spicy so I substituted the Thai chili with regular red bell pepper.

Fun French Toast for Kids

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Woke up early this morning because of my biological clock.  I decided to make breakfast for my little one.  This French Toast was easy to make. I had the most fun embellishing it at the end.  I used blueberries for the eyes and one link of sausage for the mouth, as those were already in my fridge.  I am a firm believer that you can always make use of whatever you already have at home.  Have fun!

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What have you done to embellish your French Toast? please share your ideas or comment below.