Takoyaki

I LOVE these things. I will usually go to the Summer International Night Market just for these. Sure there are other foods, but there was always this one vendor who did these really awesomely. No one has ever done them as nice so I go less often. Maybe once a year now...

The other day I was totally craving these, so I decided to borrow a pan and make some. Now I have my own pan (yay!) so I'll make these another time. I overloaded myself last time so YEAH...Hubby and I can polish off a batch of this and we'd be stuffed (and I had made two batches...yikes!), so you probably can serve about 4-5 people as appetizers.


Takoyaki
(makes 24-30 balls)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dashi (I use instant and then cool it down to room temperature before using)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2-3 green onions, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp pickled ginger, chopped
• 180g cooked octopus or 7-8 baby octopus, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• Canola oil (for greasing pan)
• Okonomi sauce
• Japanese mayo
• Bonito flakes/some sort of furikake
• Dried seaweed flakes (optional)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together dashi, eggs and soy sauce. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together flour and salt. Whisk in the wet contents from the small bowl until the batter is no longer clumpy.
3. Heat your takoyaki pan over medium high heat. Using a napkin or a brush, generously grease the pan well. When the pan starts to smoke, carefully fill the holes in the pan with batter. 
4. (If you need to do this in a couple of batches, then portion out your octopus, green onion and pickled ginger accordingly.) Drop a piece of octopus in the center of each hole. Sprinkle with green onion and and pickled ginger. 
5. Lower heat to medium and cook for another minute or two, until golden brown and you can use a skewer/takoyaki pick/chopstick to break the contact between the takoyaki and pan. Using the pick, turn/flip the takoyaki over to the other side, while stuffing the batter that overflows over the edges/from the turning ball into itself using another takoyaki pick (1 per hand!).
6. Cook until golden brown, crispy on the outside and they turn easily in their holes. Transfer balls to a plate. Repeat with remaining batter, if necessary.
7. Drizzle okonomi sauce, then Japanese mayo, then bonito flakes/furikake and seaweed flakes (if using) over the takoyaki. Serve hot, but be careful because the inside is super hot.

Lemony Garlic Shrimp

Uber simple and very lemony. It's good for when you make a rich starch or if you want to put it in a salad to add a warm component. Heck, or just have it as an appie or a snack! ;)


Lemony Garlic Shrimp
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb raw shrimp, deveined and shelled
• 1/2 small onion, finely diced
• Juice of 1/3 of a lemon
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1. In a small mixing bowl, mix together garlic, shrimp, a pinch each of salt and pepper. Set aside for 5-10 minutes.
2. Heat up a skillet over medium high heat. Add butter and olive oil. When butter and olive oil is heated, add onion and cook until just softened. Push the onions to the sides and add shrimp to the middle empty part of the skillet in one single layer.
3. Once the shrimps start to curl, turn over to cook the other side for a few seconds until that side starts turning pink.
4. Stir in lemon juice. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if necessary.
5. Serve shrimp alone as an appetizer or over couscous, quinoa, pasta, in a salad, etc.

Lemony Strawberry Mixed Greens Salad

I'm a sucker for buying the big bags of lemons at the grocery store. It's silly because I almost never use up all of them unless I'm making lemonade, which means I'll almost have to throw away a few. It's sad when I have to. I know I can do other things with it and one of those things is to make a lemony vinaigrette. It's the easiest way for me to use up anything citrus: to make a vinaigrette. Lol.

This vinaigrette can be used on any salad with strawberries and/or sweet greens. If not using on a salad with sweet ingredients, I'd add more honey.

Lemony Strawberry Mixed Greens Salad
(serves 6)

Ingredients:

• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 Tbsp honey
• A pinch each of salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup garlic infused virgin olive oil
• 150g mixed greens
• 6-8 strawberries, sliced
• 1/2 cup toasted almonds, walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper. Drizzle in 2/3 of the olive oil while whisking vigorously. Taste and add more olive oil if the vinaigrette is too acidic.
2. In a large salad bowl or mixing bowl, combine mixed greens, strawberries and pistachios. Drizzle dressing over greens and gently toss. 
3. Serve with a creamy/rich entree.

Easy Lo Mein

So it has occurred to me that I've never posted a Lo Mein recipe here. WTF?!!??? It's one of those things that I like to make as a quick snack. Mind you, it almost always turns into a meal just by adding some veg and some leftover (roasted) meat.

My mom always made it super simple for us for breakfast. Just cooked hot oil with soy sauce. Believe me, it's worth it to heat up the oil. I remember sometimes she didn't have time to heat up the oil and it just never tasted the same. :(

But, of course, Hubby likes it with spice. Meh. I'll eat it whichever way. I love it all!


Easy Lo Mein
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 bundles dry thin shrimp egg noodles
• 3 Tbsps soy sauce
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp canola oil
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 red chili pepper, diced (optional)
• 1 green onion stalk, finely diced (optional)

Directions:

1. In a small pot, bring water to a boil. Add in the bundles of noodles. Cook for 5-7 minutes, or until al dente, using chopsticks or tongs to separate noodles from their bundled form.
2. Meanwhile, mix remaining ingredients in a microwaveable bowl. Cover with saran wrap and cook on high for 20 seconds. Carefully uncover the bowl.
3. Using tongs or chopsticks, transfer noodles into the bowl of sauce and mix. Some of the residual noodles water will help make the noodles saucier.

If you don't want to use the microwave, just mix all the ingredients, except for the noodles and oils. Heat up the oils in a wok or pot and then pour it over the sauce mixture and then mix in the noodles.

Wonton in Hot Chili Sauce

My mom makes the best wontons. Her filling is different all the time, depending on her mood and what's available at the moment, so I've taken to doing that as well. K only likes the wonton wrappers and Hubby likes it all meaty with some shrimp. I love them with shitake mushrooms and pork or pork and shrimp. Sometimes my mom will even put in some diced choy.

Hubby probably loves his wontons best this way rather than the traditional wonton noodle soup. I can't blame him. The man does love his spice.

There are so many ways to wrap a wonton. I've always wanted to wrap it the way my mom does it with her chopsticks, but I can't. I just end up smushing the thing into something totally unrecognizable. It's crazy awesome though. She just uses her chopsticks to put the filling in the middle of the wrapper, and then use it to help pinch the ends together to make it into a tiny meat pouch that looks so pretty too. It's similar to how this person does it.


Wonton in Hot Chili Sauce
(makes about 100 wontons)

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs lean ground pork
• 1 lb raw shrimp, finely diced (or 7 rehydrated shitake mushrooms, finely diced)
• 1 Tbsp ginger, grated
• 6 garlic cloves, minced and divided
• 6 Tbsps soy sauce, divided
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 4 tsps sugar, divided
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce paste
• 2 tsps canola oil
• 2 tsps sesame oil
• 1 tsp chili oil with some of the chili
• 1 red chili pepper, finely diced (optional)
• 1 green onion stalk, diced
• 1 1/2 lb (about 100) wonton wrappers

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine together pork, shrimp/mushrooms, ginger, 4 cloves of minced garlic, 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, cornstarch, 3 teaspoons of sugar, canola oil and 2 teaspoons of sesame oil until mixed well.
2. Line 2 large plates or baking sheets with wax paper. Set aside.
3. To make the wontons, hold the wonton wrapper in your left hand so that it's diagonal (e.g., each corner pointing top, right, bottom & left). Spoon 1 teaspoon of filling into the middle of a wonton wrapper. Bring the bottom corner up to meet the top corner with your left thumb and middle finger. Then using both index fingers, push the left and right sides up, squeezing out all of the air from the pocket and lightly scrunch the top to make a neat little meat pouch. Lay the wonton down on the wax paper lined plate. Continue until you run out of either wrappers or filling.
4. At this point, you can freeze all the dumplings for 2-3 hours before transferring them into bags for easier storage until you're ready to eat them.
5. To cook, bring a pot of salted water to boil. Gently drop in 16 or so wontons into the pot of boiling water and cook for 8-12 minutes until wontons are cooked through. You'll know they're done because they'll float up to the surface.
6. Meanwhile, make the sauce in a small microwaveable bowl by mixing together remaining soy sauce, remaining sugar, remaining minced garlic, remaining soy sauce, soy sauce paste, chili oil and red chili (if using). Cover with saran wrap and heat on high for 30 seconds. Uncover and mix in green onions.
7. Using a slotted spoon or spider ladle, transfer cooked wonton to a shallow rimmed plate. Spoon sauce over wontons.
8. Serve with tea.

Note: If you want to turn this into a meal, just use the salted boiling water after cooking the dumplings to cook some wonton noodles and then mix them into the remaining sauce after you've finished eating the wontons. Or mix the noodles in with the wonton and sauce to eat together.

Pork & Cabbage Gyozas with Soy Dipping Sauce

I used to make these and wontons ALL the time before K. It was something that I could do while watching TV rather than snacking. Ever since K, I hadn't really had much time to do it. It didn't occur to me that Hubby may actually be craving it. Plus it's nice to have dumplings in the freezer ready to go whenever you want to make some for breakfast before work or a quick snack or lunch or even dinner!

Best part of all was when I found out something new about Hubby; I almost never find out anything new about him anymore after over a decade of being together. Apparently he knows how to fold these little guys. And he's pretty good at it too. Very impressive. <3

I learned how to wrap these little guys when I was working in a Japanese restaurant after high school. Hubby learned from his mom.


Pork & Cabbage Gyozas with Soy Dipping Sauce
(makes about 100 Gyozas)

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs lean ground pork
• 6 cups loosely packed napa cabbage, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 Tbsps soy sauce, divided
• 3 Tbsps grated ginger
• 2 Tbsps Shaoxing wine
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil, more for dipping sauce
• 100 round Gyoza wrappers (about 3 packages of the Double Happiness brand)
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1/2 tsp honey
• Chili oil, to taste
• 2 Tbsps canola oil
• Water

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix cabbage with salt. Set aside and let sit for 15 minutes to draw out all the water while you prepare the meat mixture & prepare your work surface.
2. In another large bow, mix ground pork with 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, grated ginger, wine, sugar and 1 tablespoon of sesame oil until well combined. Set aside.
3. Line 2 baking sheets or some large plates with wax paper. Set aside.
4. Fill a small bowl with water. Set aside.
5. After 15 minutes, use a cheesecloth or your hands to squeeze out all of the excess liquid. This will prevent the dumplings from getting soggy.
6. Transfer drained cabbage into the meat mixture. Mix well with hands.
7. Lay a dumpling wrapper on a dry work surface, and place a heaping teaspoon of the meat mixture in the center of the wrapper. With a fingertip moistened with water, trace a line along half of the edge of the round wrapper. Fold the wrapper over to enclose the filling, and pinch one end of the half circle to seal the edges together at that spot. Pinching the one end between your index finger and thumb in your left hand, use your right index finger to push the top fold to the left. Use the left index finger to pinch the new pleat down to seal and repeat until the dumpling has been sealed all around. Set the stuffed dumpling with the pleated wrapper edge up on the wax paper lined plate/baking sheet. Repeat until all the meat and cabbage mixture or dumpling wrappers are gone. (Click here if you need a video visual. This person does it very similar to the way I do it but with way more filling; I use less filling.)
8. At this point, you can freeze all the dumplings for 2-3 hours before transferring them into bags for easier storage until you're ready to eat them.
9. To cook, heat up canola oil in a large skillet with a tight fitting lid over medium high heat. Gently place frozen (or fresh but never defrosted or it'll be a soggy sticky mess) dumplings flat side down in the skillet; don't worry about crowding the pan, as the dumplings can touch each other. Arming yourself with the lid, quickly pour 1/3 cup of water into the skillet and quickly cover. Let cook until the water has almost all evaporated. Uncover and cook until the water is evaporated and bottoms are golden brown, gently shaking the pan occasionally to keep the dumplings from sticking to the pan. Transfer to a plate, golden brown bottoms up.
10. Mix together remaining 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, vinegar, honey, a couple of drops of sesame oil and a few drops of chili oil in a small bowl for the dipping sauce.
11. Serve Gyozas hot with the dipping sauce.

White Chocolate Cashew Clusters

This is as simple as it gets. And it's crazy yummy. Really a good idea if you need to make some quick snacks for goody bags or whatever. They were a hit last year for Xmas when I gave them out to the neighbours so I did it again this year. If you're feeling fancy, just drizzle some milk chocolate over each cluster. :)


White Chocolate Cashew Clusters
(makes 2 1/2 cups of clusters)

Ingredients:

• 1 - 1 1/4 cups white chocolate chips
• 2 cups roasted and salted whole cashew

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. Melt white chocolate chips in the microwave in a medium microwave safe bowl on high for about a minute, or until melted, stirring every 10 seconds.
2. Mix in the cashew nuts until well coated. Add more cashews if you feel it's too chocolatey or use less if you want it more chocolatey.
3. Using a small spoon, scoop a bite size cluster and place it onto the parchment paper. Repeat with remaining cashews.
4. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before devouring or storing in an airtight container. The clusters will keep in the pantry for up to 4 weeks, if they last that long.

Honey Garlic Wings

So one of Hubby's favourite wings is just good old plain salt and pepper wings. I, on the other hand, love saucy wings, so my go to is most definitely honey garlic. That day when I made the Roasted Salt & Pepper Wings, I also made a honey garlic sauce to go with it. It was just a tad salty, so I'd suggest that if you're going to slather the honey garlic sauce over these wings, you'd make the wings with less salt.


Honey Garlic Wings
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 3 lb Roasted Salt & Pepper Wings (made with less salt), or any cooked wings
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 Tbsps cornstarch
• 2 Tbsps soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:

1. In a small pot, combine sugar, water, honey and garlic. Bring to a boil and let it boil for about a minute while you make the soy slurry. 
2. Dissolve cornstarch in soy sauce in a small bowl and whisk into the sugar mixture. Keep whisking until it starts to thicken. Turn off the heat and pour over cooked chicken wings. Toss to combine.
3. Serve as is as an appetizer or with some rice and veggies as a meal.

Roasted Salt & Pepper Wings

I have not had wings in a while. Pre-K we'd go for $0.39 wings (or something like that) at the pubs and stuff. But since K, we haven't gone to any of those places anymore, thus no cheap wings. Since we haven't had any in a while and wings were on sale, I decided to just go for it and make my own. I made these for K's first birthday and they were all gone, so they couldn't have tasted too bad. ;)

Hubby and I had these for lunch and it was more than enough. I think if you were to make them as appies for a party or something, they'd stretch a lot further.


Roasted Salt & Pepper Wings
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs wings, split and tips removed
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450F and line 2 shallow roasting/baking pans with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine olive oil, salt and pepper together. Toss in wings and mix thoroughly.
3. Spread wings onto parchment lined pans and roast for 20 minutes. Flip wings over and cook for another 15-20 minutes, or until wings are cooked through and golden.
4. Serve as is or with your favourite dip/hot sauce.

Ahi Tuna Sesame Poke

It was difficult but I managed to take a picture of this before Hubby devoured it! No, I'm kidding. I actually made this just before going to bed the other night and then left it in the fridge for him the next day. Usually he forgets to eat the food I make for him the next day, so I gave him a piece to sample first so that he'd remember it was in the fridge for him. Little did I know that it worked a little TOO well. He did actually devour it all before I could have more than one sample piece. :(

Oh well. He liked it and that's what matters. :)


Ahi Tuna Sesame Poke
(serves 2-3, or 1 hungry Hubby)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb sushi grade Ahi tuna, cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 tsps soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp sesame seeds
• 2 green onion, finely diced

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, toss everything together until tuna is well coated. Serve with a side of sushi rice or by itself as an appetizer. If you want it saltier, just add 1/2 teaspoon of soy sauce.

Spicy Salmon Sashimi

So I was at H-Mart shopping for some beef bones to make more Pho and noticed that there's a sashimi section. HMMMMMMMM.....Poke? :D

It's actually pretty unfortunate because there wasn't any tuna. But there was a lot of salmon, so I just got a pound of it and made spicy salmon sashimi. It's pretty darn good and comparable to the one we usually get at a local sushi place, only it's less sugary. It is most definitely cheaper than getting it from there too. Lol. Maybe even healthier? :)

This is a pretty spicy dish, so if you don't want it to be that spicy, I'd half the gojujang and add 1 tsp of water to dilute it a bit. But if you're used to spice and love it, I'd stick with the recipe below. Add some chopped cucumbers to ease the heat. :)


Spicy Salmon Sashimi
(serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb sushi grade salmon filet, chopped into bite sized pieces
• 2 Tbsps gojujang
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsps sesame seeds, divided
• 1 green onion stalk, finely diced, divided

Directions:

1. Combine salmon, gojujang, sesame oil, sugar, 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds and all but 1 tablespoon of green onions in a medium bowl. Mix until all of the salmon pieces are well coated.
2. Garnish with remaining green onions and sesame seeds.

Make sure you use sushi grade salmon! I used the kind you can get at Costco (froze for 3 days and then defrosted before making) and it wasn't as good. It's still alright, but it definitely was not as yummy as the sushi grade kind at H-Mart. I gotta look for another place to get this stuff. A pound at H-Mart was already $12. Cheaper than going to sushi places for sure, but still...:P