I didn’t know that lite coconut milk existed until recently and I think it’s great! One of reasons why I don’t cook or try more dishes that include coconut milk  is because of its fat content. The brand of this one is Clover and it was found in HMart. Luckily, I looked at the nutrition facts because this one actually didn’t list it as “lite” even though it only has 4 grams of fat and 40 calories per serving. Compared to regular coconut milk, you’d be consuming 20 grams of fat and 200 calories. Trader Joe’s now also offers lite coconut milk so head there if that’s more convenient.  I’ve made curry with this and it tastes great, and probably tasted even better to me just knowing that it’s healthier.

This is my quick and easy version of char siu, “home edition!”  This won’t be like your typical roasted pork from the Chinese supermarkets – but more of a pork “simmer.”  It does however have the same great char siu taste!  It also tastes healthier, less fatty, and it doesn’t take a long time to make – woohoo to a fast, yummy dinner.

Click “more” for the recipe.

Time: 30-40 minutes
Price: under $5

• 1 pound pork shoulder (cut up into 1″ cubes)
• 1 packet of char siu seasoning mix
• 1 can coconut soda
• 1 onion (cut into thin slices)
• 2 cloves of garlic (minced)

1. Marinate overnight with garlic and enough char siu seasoning to coat the pork entirely.
2. The next day, stir fry half of the onion and all of the pork until brown on the outside.
3. Add enough coconut soda to cover about half of the pork and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Flip the pork over and let it simmer for another 20 mins (add in extra coconut soda if you think it’s needed) until most of the liquid has evaporated.
5. Add in the rest of the onions at the end and sautee a little longer.

]]> http://goeatit.wordpress.com/2009/01/28/quick-char-siu-pork/feed/ 3 Go Eat It char_siu2 char_siu http://goeatit.wordpress.com/2009/01/19/hamachi-tartare/ http://goeatit.wordpress.com/2009/01/19/hamachi-tartare/#comments Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:58:53 +0000 Go Eat It http://goeatit.wordpress.com/?p=205 ]]>

Haha I really like the word “tartare.”  I think when I present this dish as a hamachi tartare, I sound like I know what I’m doing…but yet at the same time you have absolutely no idea what this actually tastes like.  All it really means is: “a preparation of finely chopped raw meat or fish optionally with seasonings and sauces.”  Talk about a vague definition.  The seasoning and sauces are optional?  Without seasoning and sauce, isn’t raw mean and fish just carpaccio and sashimi?  Haha just a great word overall.

Click “more” for my recipe!

In my previous post, I talked about ponzu sauce.  This is a key ingredient in my recipe.  I debated between a variety of other sauces, but since I was aiming for a pretty light and refreshing taste, I knew I wouldn’t go wrong with ponzu.  This makes a GREAT appetizer.  Arrange it on one plate in the center of a table, or give people individual portions.  Feel free to mix up the ingredients and send me any of your own suggestions for tartare – what meats, fish, sauce, seasoning did  you use?

Time: 5 minutes
Price: about $5

• 1/4 pound sashimi grade hamachi (I bought mine from Ranch 99)
• seaweed salad (again, mine was from Ranch 99)
• ponzu sauce
• pea sprouts
• crackers

1. Cut the hamachi into small pieces.  If you cut them too big, the ponzu sauce doesnt’ have enough surface area – and it tastes bland.
2. Put this in a smallbowl.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of seaweed salad.
4. Add 2 tablespoons of ponzu sauce.  The amount depends a lot on your specific ponzu sauce.  Add more if you’re not getting enough flavor.
5. Mix this together well and then chill in the refrigerator for a few minutes.  This gives time for the flavor to seep in, and gives it a bit more form.
6. Put a plate over this bowl.  Flip both (together over) so you end up with an upside-down bowl of tartare on the plate.
7. Arrange crackers around the tartare and garnish with a few pea sprouts!

It tastes great and looks (somewhat) professional as well!  Haha yum I want some more now.

I bought my first bottle of ponzu sauce a few months ago.  Since I wasn’t really sure if I’d use it much, I went cheap and picked one up at Daiso for $1.50.  That store has some seriously great stuff (think of it as a dollar store…where everything’s from Japan…and they’re actually not limited to a dollar.)   Not sure how prevalent they are at random markets, but I have seen them everytime at my local Asian market.  If there’s a close Chinatown – that should be an easy place to pick one up as well

Click “more” for info and practical applications.

It was originally used in Japanese cuisine and is a citrus-based sauce that is both tart and light.  If that doesn’t really entice you, give it a try anyways.  Based on that short description, I wouldn’t have picked up one either.  Luckily I did though!

On Wikipedia, they cite uses as traditinally “dressing for tataki (lightly grilled, then chopped meat or fish), and also as a dip for nabemono (one pot dishes) such as shabu shabu.  It is also used as a dip for sashimi.”

I think the flavor really pairs with sashimi wonderfully.  It’s a key ingredient in my “hamachi tartare” that I want to post about next.  If you don’t like eating something completely raw, it also works great as a dipping sauce or a drizzle over something seared or boiled.  It never struck me to use it as a marinade though – I think that would just seep up an overpowering amount of the flavor.

Here’s a recipe on how to make your own ponzu sauce. (It’s actually very simple)

Here are some interesting recipes I found online using: tuna, shitake mushrooms, and beef.  Enjoy!

WOW.  It has been quite a long time since I updated this blog.  I guess it makes sense with the crazy amount of stuff going on with me right now, but I’m glad to say I get a huge breather now – and a lot of free time!   Just because I haven’t updated, doesn’t mean I haven’t been experimenting with food just as much!  I have a huge back-log of recipes and pictures to upload.

I’ll start with the TURBACONDUCKEN.  Made this in early December.  After a famous link about it started circulating on the internet, I couldn’t wait to give it a go.  This post is going to be primarily pictures – cuz I took a crazy bunch of them.  To all the vegetarians out there, probably don’t want to check this post out.   But for all others, this was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime type of meal.

Click “more” to start the adventure!

Ok, so you’ve most likely heard of the Turducken.  How does the Turbaconducken differ from this?  Is it a few strips of bacon laid out on top of the final product?  WRONG.  It’s bacon on top of a deboned-turkey stuffed with a bacon-wrapped deboned-duck stuffed with a bacon-wrapped deboned-chicken.

Time: 4-5 hours
Price: super variable (but not cheap)
Advantages: conversation piece, laughing at “normal turkeys”, no seasoning
Disadvantages: clogged arteries, food for about a month, bacon juice

• de-boned chicken (or 3 chicken breasts)
• duck
• turkey
• 2-3 packs of bacon
• roasting pan & rack
• cotton thread (or other turkey threader)

Step 1: Prepare a de-boned chicken.  If you don’t want to de-bone it yourself, nor buy a prepared one, go the easiest route by using 3 thawed chicken breasts.  Wrap these with 2 strips of bacon each!

Step 2: Prepare a de-boned duck.  I used this video to help me.  I didn’t do it exactly right, but I ended up with 4 pieces of meat, 2 drumsticks, and 2 wings.  I used the 4 pieces of meat first.  I sandwiched a chicken breast between 2 pieces of duck meat…and of course, I wrapped each with 2 strips of bacon.

Step 3: Wrap the third chicken breast with the 2 drumsticks and wrap with 2 strips of bacon.  I left the 2 wings off to the side and ended up eating those another day.

Step 4: Prepare a de-boned turkey.  Again, the internet is your friend.  So are people that offer to de-bone the turkey while you read a web-site (hehe).  During this meal, I learned I wasn’t very good at de-boning any type of poultry.

Step 5: Lay this de-boned turkey on a roasting tray.  Toss those bacon-wrapped-duck-wrapped-bacon-wrapped-chicken breasts right in!  Pull the turkey back together and sew that guy good as new!  (You might need a friend to help with this part)  Should end up like this:

Step 6: Lay strips of bacon on top of the turkey and around the drumsticks.

Step 7: Put a piece of foil over it and cook it in the oven!  It’s important to get the internal temperature of the meat to about 165°F.   Exactly how to get there is the source of a lot of debate and varies based on your turbaconducken.  I left mine on at 325°F for about 3 hours.  I think preferably, a lower temperature for longer is better.  But if you dont’ have all day, crank it up a bit.  The one downside might be a bit-too crispy bacon (see mine.)

Step 8: Carving is the last step – and one of the hardest.  Couldn’t find any easy guides for this so I just started slicing away.  i think the end result didn’t turn out too shabby (I only carved half to begin with…we were hungry!)

Step 9: Throw some side dishes together…and you got yourself a great meal. Enjoy!

The great thing about the rice-cooker is that it doesn’t just cook rice, porridge, brown rice, sushi rice, etc. – it functions as the most simple steamer ever!  While I tend to pan-fry or bake with much more frequency, there is the rare occassion I want to throw something in the rice-cooker and have it ready without me having to look over it.  Here’s one of the recipes I’ve adapted from something my mom used to make.

Click “more” for the recipe.

While whatever I cook miraculously end up done (fully-cooked) I really have no idea how long things actually need to be steamed.  Therefore, just make sure you don’t eat any un-fully-cooked chicken – because that’s just a road to disaster.

Time: 15 minutes
Price: under $3

• 1/2 pound chicken (cut up chicken breast or thigh, marinated overnight)
• 3 pieces of Chinese sausage
• rice
• rice-cooker!

1. Wash uncooked rice and prepare it normally for the rice-cooker (using the right amount of water)
2. Cut Chinese sausage into slices and scatter them around!
3. Now cut the marinated chicken into bite-size pieces.  Marinade for the chicken can be anything – though I prefer a mix of soy sauce, corn starch, and a bit of olive oil.
4. Let the marinade drip off before scattering pieces around the rice-cooker.
5. Turn on the rice-cooker.

The rice-cooker is definitely a tool that’s not used to its utmost potential.  Hopefully I can think of some more different recipes to try that involve steaming!

Who doesn’t love brownies? The problem with them however, is that they are full of fat! Here’s where this great find at Trader Joe’s comes in. If you have a sweet tooth and are trying to be “healthy”, this one’s for you! All you need to do is add some vanilla yogurt and bake for 35 minutes. If you want a cakier brownie (as shown), add half a container of vanilla yogurt and 1 egg white. Voila! Oh, and this also comes in regular fudge flavor but they both taste the same to me.

You read that right! There’s nothing more enticing than a well-presented AND tasty dish and this is one of the easiest ways to get just that.  Reducing balsamic vinegar is pretty common: you hear it on cooking shows, you see it in restaurants, or maybe you use it yourself all the time.  However, for a few of you (and me until a month ago), I’m sure you’ve never actually tried using it.  It’s time for that to change!

Click “more” for the recipe.

Now actually, this isn’t a traditional recipe.  That’s because the technique of reducing balsamic vinegar can be applied to so many different things!  You can use it on any of the meats (chicken, pork, beef, fish) or any vegetables!  A personal favorite is to pour it over an oven-baked chicken lying on a bed of bok choy (see picture above) or on the side of some italian squash (see picture below.)

Time: 5 minutes
Price: basically $0

• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1. Add balsamic vinegar to a small saucepan on high heat.
2. When the vinegar begins to simmer, lower heat to medium or low.
3. Continue heating until more than half the volume of vinegar is gone.  Visualize where this mark will be in the saucepan.

This process will transform the distinct balsamic vinegar taste into a sweet syrup.  You can adjust the viscosity of the final product by simmering it longer or shorter.  For example, I decided to simmer it less for the picture below, so it is more of a liquid sauce than a syrup.

Also, you can add assorted herbs, garlic, mushrooms, chili peppers, or just about anything else to the saucepan while it simmers, to give it an extra kick of flavor (though I prefer mine simple.)  Go out there and give it a try!  Let me know your positive & negative thoughts on this!

Whooo! A first attempt at cooking scallops! I never attempted scallops before, thinking that it would be very time consuming and difficult. To my surprise, it was actually fast, easy, and delicious. I tried both small and large scallops and I’d recommend getting the large scallops because the small ones are easy to overcook. This will definitely make a elegant dinner for two

Click “more” for the recipe.

Time: 30 minutes
Price: under $15

It is very important to pat dry the scallops before attempting to cook. You might also want to leave them out for 20 minutes just to ensure they’re dry. This will provide a better sear and even better tasting scallops.

• 4 large scallops
• 2 roasted red pepper (diced)
• 1-2 cloves garlic (diced)
• 1 tsp of Italian spices
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Make sure scallops are dry before cooking.
2. Add oil to pan on medium-high until it’s hot.
3. Add the scallops in the pan, making sure scallops aren’t touching.
4. Let brown for a few minutes (2-3 minutes) until slightly firm and use tongs to flip them over.
5. Let brown for another 2-3 minutes.
6. Remove scallops onto a plate, leaving the oil still in the pan.
7. Add garlic, red peppers, and Italian seasoning and sautee.
8. Serve on the side or on top of scallops.

It didn’t feel right having my last post as a “failed attempt,” so I figured I would go ahead and post something else I made recently.  I finally decide to cross into some dangerous lands – by making a dish that people would have no qualms ordering at a restaurant (Thai?) but couldn’t possibly imagine making in their own kitchen.  Well guess what?  Start making!  Because I just brought a little Thai flavor into my own kitchen and enjoyed quite a nice meal.

Click “more” for the recipe.

The timing of this recipe is the most important, because everything else is pretty straightforward.  It’s a different experience cooking with fruits, and mangoes are no exception.  In fact, mangoes are probably one of the more difficult fruits to cook with because of their texture.  The optimal dish you can create combines fruit that is warm with meat that is tender.  Neither of them can be overcooked!  Chicken, pork, or beef can be used here so cooking times will vary based on that. (Although I think chicken would be best)

Time: 15 minutes
Price: under $10

• 1 pound meat (chicken/pork/beef)
• 1 small mango or 1/2 big mango
• 1/2 onion
• 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce

1. Prepare the meat the night before: Slice it into strips or small cubes.
2. Marinate this in a ziplock bag with the sweet chili sauce.  Leave in the refrigerator overnight.
3. Make sure the mango is at room temperature before cooking.
4. Heat olive oil in a pan to high heat.
5. Cut mango into slices (use this guide)
6. Start sauteing the onions.
7. When they start to brown, add in the meat.
8. Brown the meat at high heat.
9. Add mango slices and lower the heat to medium.  Cover and cook until meat is ready (remember: no pink for your chicken!)
10. When it’s done, serve with white rice!

The timing will vary a bit with each kitchen/stove, but what you’ll get is a unique dish that’s got many different flavors going on with it.  Enjoy!