Seared Halibut wth Asparigus

Normally we wouldn't have a dish like this as it is so expensive >< (I'm not even going to go into pricing), but since my parents gave me some, we had it. It was really good, especially since we don't eat fish that often here. Came out clear and fresh, the tastes adding but not hiding the flavors of the halibut or asparigus. Adapted slightly from this recipe (1), here's how we cooked it:

• 2 3/4 lbs Halibut Fillets (cut into 7 pieces)
• 2 lbs Asparigus
• 1 head + 5 cloves Garlic (minced)
• 2 Large Tomatoes (pealed, deseeded and diced)
• 2 Green Onions (finely chopped)
• 1/2 cup Dry White Wine
• 1/6 cup Lemon Juice
• 1/2 cup Margarine
  
• Salt and White Pepper

In a large pan, heat oil to medium heat and saute 5 cloves minced garlic. Remove the garlic and pan fry the asparigus for about 6 minutes, when the vegetables have become soft and dark. Place into a separate bowl and toss with the sauted garlic.

Season fillets with salt and white pepper on both sides. In the same pan, heat oil to medium-high heat. Saute half a head of garlic (minced) until golden brown and set aside. Place enough fillets in the pan to cover it and cook for 3 minutes on each side. Reduce to medium heat and cook for another 4 minutes on each side. Repeat for remaining fillets

Scrape pan and remove oil. Place wine and lemon juice in pan at high heat and reduce to half (about 2 minutes). Add margarine one spoon at a time until completely added stirring all the while. Toss in tomato, green onion, and sauted garlic. Remove from heat.

Over a bed of white rice, place one filet and some asparigus. Spread a generous serving of the tomato and wine sauce over both. Serve immediately. Enjoy.

Cites:
(1) http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Seared-Halibut-with-Haricots-Verts-Scallions-and-White-Wine-Sauce-104104

Summer Dinner Get Together

Final get together of the summer, as a lot of people are going off for a bit before school starts anew. Hope everyone enjoyed the food. Here was the menu and how it all went down.

Calbi (Korean Short Ribs):
Korean short ribs were on sale at $2/lb at 99 ranch and seemed to be an awesome choice for a big dinner. I hope I was right. Came out a little salty, but seemed to be good overall. Based off this recipe (1).

• 12 lbs Korean Short Ribs
• 32 cloves Garlic (crushed)
  
• 12 Green Onion (sliced)
  
• 2 cup Soy Sauce
• 1 1/2 cup Rice Wine
• 1/3 cup Sesame Oil
• 2 cup Sugar

On a large surface layout short ribs and rub with a total of 1 1/2 cup sugar on both sides. Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl until sugar is dissolved. In large ziplock bags, place 4-5 short ribs and pour in 1/6 of total sauce into bag. Remove air and seal (total of 6 bags, hence 1/6 to each bag). Keep in fridge overnight (~18 hours total marination) flip over at some point (hours before cooking).

To cook, remove from the fridge and let warm to near room temperature. On a grill or pan heated to medium heat place 3-4 short ribs and cook for around 4-5 minutes on each side (or as wanted).

This was cooked during dinner with people taking turns being in charge of the meat. It seemed to work out pretty well. Fed 14 people easily with 1/4 of the meat left. $30 for the dish total.

Spicy Garlic Eggplant:
This dish was apparently spicy enough for the hot food lovers who came over, and it was quite spicy. Taken mostly from this recipe (2), but adjusted to be more wet and more spicy.

• 5 large Chinese Eggplant (sliced thin)
• 16 cloves Garlic (minced)
• 1/4 cup Ginger (minced)
  
• 1 1/2 cup Soy Sauce
• 1 1/2 cup Rice Wine
• 1 cup Water
  
• 1/3 cup Sesame Oil
• 1/3 cup Chili Oil
• 1/3 cup Hot Chili Sauce
• 2 Green Onions (minced)
  
• Few stalks Cilantro (minced)
  

In a large pan, heat oil to medium-high heat. Saute 1/3 of the garlic until beginning to brown. Add enough eggplant to the pan to cover in one layer (about 1/3 of total) tossing in the garlic. Saute the eggplant until the garlic is browned and then add 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup rice wine, 1/3 of the ginger, and 1/3 cup of sesame oil, chili oil, and chili sauce mix. Bring to boil, making sure that the eggplant is well coated. Add 1/3 cup water and cover. Let sit, mixing every few minutes, until soft all the way through. Remove from pan and repeat with the rest of the eggplant. Garnish with green onion and cilantro.

Ended with around 1/3 of the eggplant remaining. Perhaps it was too spicy, but I felt it was flavorful through the heat. $7 for the dish.

Home Style Kang Kong (Kong Xin Cai):
Made this dish before on the blog, but I'll list it again. This one appeared to be a favorite - completely demolished by the end of the night.

• 3 lbs Kang Kong (Kong Xin Cai)
• 12 cloves Garlic (minced)
• 3 cups Chicken Stock
• 3 cups Rice Wine
• Garlic Salt and White Pepper

Trim the kang kong and then cut into 1-2" pieces. Heat oil in large pan on medium-high heat. Saute 6 cloves minced garlic until golden and then place in 1/4 of the kang kong. Pour in 1 cup chicken stock and 1 cup rice wine and mix. Let sit for a minute and add another 1/4 of kang kong along with 1/2 cup stock and 1/2 cup rice wine. Stir and cover. Let sit until the stalks have softened (about 8-10 minutes). Remove and repeat with other 1/2 of kang kong.

Simple and clean flavor and recipe. Came out to $7.

All the dishes were serve with steamed rice. Veggies eaten quickly as people were hungry while waiting for the meat the cook XP. $54 total for 14 people with quite a bit of leftovers. Hope everyone enjoyed it as much I enjoyed making it. Cheers.

Cites:
(1) http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Korean-Barbecue-Beef-Marinade-1-109586
(2) http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/ubbs/archive/VEGETARIAN/Asian_Hot_and_Spicy_Eggplant_Stir-Fry_with_Ramen_Noodles.html

Jiu Cai and Pork Dumpling (Filling)

(Cooked Saturday) Great dumpling filling, but eaten in a completely different way as we can't use dough in our house. Covered in rice paper and enjoyed as mock spring rolls, but easily turned into a dumpling dish. Here's the recipe:

• 1 lb Jiu Cai (minced)
• 2 lb Ground Pork
• 1 cup Soy Sauce
• 1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
• 1/4 cup Rice Wine
• 3 Eggs
• 2 tbsp Sesame Oil

Toss the jiu cai in the ground pork with hands. Toss in the remaining liquids and mix. Beat eggs lightly together and mix with hands into the pork and jiu cai. If used in dumplings, may want to use a little bit of corn starch to hold the dumplings together. Fill each dumpling skin with a heaping tbsp of filling and fold up, pinching the sides. Either pan fry or boil them. Enjoy with soy sauce with strips of ginger within.

We pan fried the filling since we couldn't make dumplings. Still great, with much leftover. Price for the dish came out around $8. I hope someone enjoys making great dumplings out of this stuff. Cheers.

Sweet Surprise

Today's dinner came out a little different than I had expected. I knew I had added a lot of sugar, but I didn't know that it would turn out so sweet. In a dish that I had thought would turn out more savory than it was, the sweetness was a nice surprise.

Sweet Stewed Pork:
Sweeter than I thought it would be, but probably could have been cooked a little more than I had made it. It was also a little dry, so probably could have used more liquid too, but turned out pretty well. The dish reminded me of Chinese sweet jerky (whatever the real name for that is called ><). Loosely based on this recipe (1). $7 for the dish enough for 5 people and a little more for lunch the next day.

• 3 lbs Pork Sirloin (sliced, but probably better cubed)
• 1/2 head Garlic (minced)
  
• 1 head Shallot (minced)
  
• 2 Green Onions (chopped)
  
• 3/4 cup Soy Sauce
• 3/4 cup Beef Stock
• 1/2 cup Rice Wine
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 3 tbsp Cornstarch (with water)
  

Everything but the pork into a pot and bring to boil, stirring to incorporate the sugar. Once boiled, add the pork and stir. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes (longer for softer meat, but we were hungry so we let it go for 30 minutes). Meat should be cooked all the way through (white the entire way). Remove the meat, and add cornstarch mixed in water. Bring sauce to boil. Remove from heat and add back meat. Stir, let the sauce thicken, and serve warm over rice.

Kang Kong (Kai Xin Cai/On Choy):
We've made this veggie before, but I called home to try that recipe. It came out lighter and fresher than the other stir fry. It also looked better due to the lack of soy sauce to make it brown XP. $4 for the dish and it was completely demolished at the meal.

• 2 lbs Kang Kong
• 1 cup Rice Wine
• 2/3 cup Beef Stock
  
• 1/2 head Garlic (minced)

Cut off the ends of the Kang Kong (the stems with white within) and then chop the rest of the vegetable in half. In a large pan heat oil on medium. Saute half of the minced garlic until starting to brown. Toss in half of the kang kong, and pour 1/2 cup rice wine and 1/3 cup beef stock on top. Cook for nearly 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the leaves are wilted, but the stalks are still crunchy. Repeat for other half.

Sweet pork and savory veggies served over rice. Enjoy.

Stir Fry

You really can't go wrong with stir fry. Originally I had planned to make steamed chicken and Kang Kong (On choy/Kai Xin Cai), but the whole chicken had gone bad ><. I don't understand why though, today was the day the chicken said to use it by. Anyways, that led to the use of chicken breasts instead and a somewhat improvised recipe for it since we didn't want to waste the already cut ginger, shallot, and garlic.

(Improvised) Chicken and Onion Stir Fry:
Pretty good for something made on the fly, but could've used stronger flavoring. It wasn't bland, it just came out lighter than usual. Came out to $8 for this dish, serving 5 of us and still yielding a bunch of leftovers.

• 4 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 3/4 Onion (chopped)
• 1/2 head Garlic (minced)
• 1 Shallot (minced)
  
• 2 tbsp Ginger (minced)
• 2 cup Soy Sauce
• 1 1/4 cup Rice Wine
• 1 Green Onion (chopped)
• 3 tbsp Sesame Oil

Cut the chicken breasts into small bite size slices and place in a bowl with the chopped onion. Add 1 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup rice wine, and 1/2 chopped green onion and mix. Let sit to marinate. Heat oil in large pan on medium-low. Saute the garlic, shallot, and 1 tbsp of ginger until golden brown. Remove this from heat and set aside.

Bring in enough chicken and onion to fill the pan (about 1/3 of it). Add 1 tbsp sesame oil and 1 tsp ginger, stir, and let cook for 4 minutes (covered). Add 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup rice wine, and 1/3 of saute. Stir, cover, and cook for another 3-4 minutes. The chicken should be white all the way through by now. Remove from heat and set aside. Repeat for other 2/3.

Home Style Eggplant:
I called home for this recipe - I missed it a lot. Eggplant is one of my favorite veggies and I really like the way we make it at my house. Maybe next time I'll try cooking in a clay pot. This time the eggplant came out cooked but still a little crunchy as the slices were a little thick. It was still tasty though and I would do it again. $4 for this one and we still have half of it.

• 3 Chinese Eggplants
• 1/4 Onion (minced)
• 1/2 head Garlic (minced)
• 1/3 cup Oyster Sauce
• 1/3 cup Rice Wine
• 1/3 cup Soy Sauce
• Olive Oil

Preheat oven to high broil. Cut the eggplant into diagonal slices and arrange on a baking sheet. Cover with olive oil (I poured olive oil over it, coating it poorly. Probably better to do this with a brush). Broil for ~10 minutes, when the skin begins to turn brown and the eggplant is still firm but is more soft. In a large pan heat oil on medium heat. Saute the garlic and onion. Add the oyster sauce, rice wine, and soy sauce and stir. Add the eggplant and stir. Let sit for 2-3 minutes. Should be mostly soft through the eggplant slice when done.

Both dishes were served with rice and eaten together. Enjoy.

Pork and Cabbage

Hey All,

We had a large head of napa cabbage that's been in our fridge for a while and I decided it was about time that we cooked it. Considering the only thing I could think of when thinking of napa cabbage was kimchi - I had to consult a little bit of help and found a recipe here (1). Working off this we built a pretty yummy dish for way more than enough for 6 people for around $9.

Stir-Fried Pork and Napa Cabbage:
Mostly taken from here (1) but changed as usual as time went on.

• 4 lbs Pork Loin (1/2" cubes)
• 2 lbs Napa Cabbage (1 1/2" slices)
• 12 cloves Garlic (minced)
• 3 tbsp Ginger (minced)
• 1 1/2 cups Soy Sauce
• 1 cup Rice Vinegar
• 2 tbsp Sesame Oil
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1/4 cup Corn Starch
• 2 Green Onions (thin slices)

Cube the pork loin and toss in 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup sugar, and corn starch. Heat vegetable oil in a large pan. Fry 3 cloves minced garlic until golden brown and remove from pan. Fry 1/3 pork in pan for 3 minutes each side. Remove pork into a bowl. Repeat with next 1/3 of pork. For last 1/3, fry 1 tbsp minced ginger until golden brown and remove from pan (add to fried garlic). Fry remaining pork same as before and add to rest of the pork.

Fry 3 cloves garlic and 1 tbsp ginger in the same pan (without cleaning) until golden brown. Add 1/4 of cut cabbage. Add 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 1/2 tbsp sesame oil, and 1/4 of the remaining sugar (about 1/16 cup) to the cabbage and mix. Fry until slightly wilted, stirring occasionally (about 3 mins). Add another 1/4 of cabbage with the same mixture of liquid and sugar on top, mix and cover. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from pan, placing in a large pot, and cook the other 1/2 of the cabbage similarly.

Add all ingredients to the pot (cabbage, cooked pork, fried garlic and ginger, and cut green onions). Mix and let boil. Serve hot over a bowl of rice.

All the repitition was due simply to the lack of an extra large wok. If we had an industrial sized one, I'm sure we could've made it all in one go! It should be fine if you reduce the size of the recipe to around 1 lb (quartering this one ><).

Cheers,
---Chris

Cites:
(1) http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Stir-Fried-Pork-with-Napa-Cabbage-232797

Ribs and Kai Sin Cai

Hey all,

In a less themed combination we had slow cooked ribs and kai sin cai (a leafy vegetable with hollow stems). Seems it was done well enough and fed 5 well with lots of left overs for the veggies. Anyways here was the menu:

Ribs:
I really like just slow cooked ribs on its own. We were going to prepare a glaze but then we got hungry and ate it plain ><.

• 4 1/2 lbs Pork Spare Ribs

Preheat oven to 250 F on bake. Wrap the pork ribs in foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 2 1/2 hours. Remove, cut and serve. Glaze can be added at this point (many sauces work such as sweet chili sauce).

Kai Sin Cai:
We haven't cooked this vegetable before, but it was rather successful. It was nice and crunchy, and more than enough for 5 for $2.

• 1 lbs Kai Sin Cai (On Choy)
• 18 cloves Garlic (minced)
• 1 cup Soy Sauce (separated)
• 1/2 cup Rice Wine (separated)
• 1 Green Onion (chopped)
• 1 handful Parsley (minced)

Heat up oil in a large pan. Take 6 cloves of garlic and fry until brown. Remove from pan and fry the 1/3 of vegetables with 1/3 of total soy sauce and rice wine until soft (may turn brown but ok). Remove and repeat with the other 2/3. At the end fry all the vegetables (should fit in pan now that water has been heated off) with the fried garlic, green onion, and parsley for a minute. Remove from heat and serve.

Along with this we had steamed corn and rice. It was a pretty satisfying meal I feel. We ate all the ribs so we may be out of meat for tomorrow's lunch ><. Maybe we'll all just have veggies and rice.

Cheers,
---Chris

Too Much Food ><

Hey All,

So we've apparently have made way too much food this week and have spent yesterday and today mostly playing catch up on leftovers. We did however prepare the rest of our raw food so it wouldn't go bad ><. Here's how that went. London Broil: This is always a cheap, but tough cut of beef. For 6 dollars for nearly 4 lbs though - I'm not going to complain all that much. We prepared it quickly this time and, although tough due to the cut, it was still quite good.

• 3-4 lbs London Broil
• Salt and Pepper
• 1/2 Onion

Set oven on high broil. Tenderize the broil with a fork (poking it all over). Salt and pepper as wanted. Place on a baking pan and place in the oven. Broil for 14 minutes. During this time, chop the onion. After 14 minutes, remove the broil and flip it over. Place the onions on top and let it broil for another 14 minutes. Check for doneness (we had it rare to medium rare) and serve.

Bok Choy:
This one's as simple as it gets, save for perhaps making salad. Cost is only the veggies and the oyster sause we used (totalling around $3).

• 1 bag Bok Choy
• Oyster Sauce

Broil water to boil in a pot with a steamer. Wash the bok choy and then place in the steamer. Steam for ~10-15 minutes (more if you want them softer). Remove from steamer and serve with oyster sauce.

Today's things were quite simple, but then again that was cause we had so much food left over from earlier this week ><. Hopefully we'll get through all that old food so more new things can be made.

Cheers,
---Chris