Mexican Chilli Frito Corn Salad - SUPER EASY!

This is a thumbs up, party must have! It is SUPER SIMPLE+ QUICK to make! I was first introduced to this salad when I lived in Texas a few years ago. A co-worker brought it to the office and first I thought, it wasn't that special, then I tasted it and immediately fell in love with it. The salty, crunchy corn chips just work so perfectly with the creaminess of the tangy salad.

Seriously, it is ridiculously easy to make, yet so surprisingly tasty. You must try it if you haven't tried it yet!!

Ingredients:
Mexican sweet kernel corn(2 cans)
Buttermilk ranch salad dressing (3 tablespoons)
Catalina salad dressing (2 tablespoons)
1/2 Green pepper (chopped)
1 medium red onion (chopped)
Mayonnaise (1 tablespoon)
Sharp Cheddar Cheese (shredded, 1 cup)
Parmesan cheese (shredded, 1/2 cup)
Chilli Fritos corn chips (crushed slightly)

THREE EASY STEPS!!
Step 1: Chop pepper and red onion into small pieces.

Step 2: Open and drain corn. Put all ingredients together. Mix well. Refrigerate overnight.

Step 3: Slightly crunch the corn chips in the bag with your hands. Pour and cover the creamy salad with Chilli chips right before you serve the next day. That's it! Yum!!

Cantonese Pan-Fried Rice Noodle Rolls with Dried Shrimp (煎蝦米腸粉)

Ah, fried noodle rolls (煎蝦米腸粉), that brings back some sweet childhood memories when I was living in Hong Kong. I remember it was one of my older sister's favorites and she would have to get this when we went to the Chinese Dim Sum restaurant on the weekends. In China, people typically enjoy this dish during breakfast time. Since it's made from rice with simple ingredients, it's versatile and can be stuffed with any ingredient of your choice. It is a very popular street food there for everyone.

Rice noodle rolls are basically made from flat, thin rice noodle sheets. They were steamed and cooked to perfection, then turned to long rolls. I cut the rolls to shorter rolls and pan-fried them with some oil. Then, I drizzled them with a generous amount of a sweet soy-based sauce. You may season it anyway you like, some people like to add some spicy sauce to bring out the heat or some sesame/chopped peanut for a crunch.

These noodle rolls can be made from scratch, but frankly, it would be quite a big hassle to make it for a few people (note that it is only AWESOME when it is fresh). Kinda like buying ready made Italian pasta, I usually save time by buying the noodle rolls from the Chinese supermarket and cook them in my way at home!

Ingredients:
White noodle rolls with dried shrimp (1 pack of about 12 long pieces, available in Chinese supermarket)
Olive oil (2 tablespoons)
Spring onion (1 or 2 stalks, washed and chopped to small pieces)
Sesame Seeds (enough for sprinkling)
Chopped Peanuts (optional-enough for sprinkling)
Light soy sauce (1 tablespoon)
Sugar (1 teaspoon)

Sauce:
Hoisin sauce (1 tablespoon)
Sesame oil (1 teaspoon)
Shiracha chilli sauce (optional)
Sesame paste (VERY TASTY option - available in Chinese supermarket)

Step 1:  Prepare the sauce. Mix sauce ingredients together. Set aside in a small bowl.

Step 2: Chop the noodles into shorter rolls. Pan fry them over medium heat with some olive oil. Noodle should get slightly brown. Add soy sauce and sugar while stirring. Do not break noodles. Cook for about 5-10 minutes.

Step 3:  Scoop noodles into a bowl. Drizzle sauce, sprinkle sesame seeds, spring onion and chopped peanuts (optional) all over. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Pan Seared Salmon with Asparagus and Avocado Sauce

I saw a recipe online a while ago about making an avocado sauce and immediately fell for it. It sounded so tasty, yet so easy to make. The creamy avocado made a perfect substitute to real mayo. I added a few personal touches to it to customize to my Asian taste buds. :) This is a quick, fancy dish to have with your friends and family on the weekends!

Ingredients: (4 servings)

- 4 Salmon fillets
- Asparagus (a few sticks, washed, drained, chopped into halves)
- 2 large avocado (peeled and pitted)
- Lemon juice (2 tablespoons)
- Dried parsley (a teaspoon)
- Spring onion (a few stalks, washed, drained, chopped into small pieces)
- Sugar (2 teaspoons)
- Soy sauce (2 teaspoons)
- Vegetable broth (2 tablespoons)
- Rice vinegar (2 teaspoons)
- Spicy yellow mustard (2 teaspoons)
- Salt & pepper (a few pinches)

Step 1:  Prepare the sauce:  In a food processor, blend avocado, dried parsley, spring onions, rice vinegar and lemon juice for a few seconds. Gently pour in olive oil and spicy yellow mustard. Blend together until it gets to a creamy consistency. 

Step 2: Over medium heat, put a little olive oil on a large frying pan. Slowly, lay the salmon fillet down into the pan (skin side down). Leave untouched for 4 minutes. Flip fillet to the other side and cook for another 4 minutes. Sprinkle a few pinches of salt and pepper over both sides while searing. Take out cooked fillet and set it aside for a moment.

Step 3: On the same frying pan, saute asparagus for about 3 minutes. Add vegetable broth, sugar and soy sauce. When it comes to a boil, turn heat off.

Step 4: Layer your food in this order: (Bottom) sauce, asparagus, fish. Top with a spoon of leftover sauce and 2 pieces of the best looking green asparagus. That's it! Easy and delicious! Have a great weekend!

 

CAFE WORLD COMES TO LIFE: Loco Moco!!

 

Aloha! Due to a Mun-chies fan request, we are returning to the Facebook game CAFE WORLD's menu from Zynga again! Instead of cooking them in order, I have decided to pick some of the most interesting dishes from the menu instead. 

Loco Moco is a soul food in Hawaii. From what I've read, Loco Moco can be made in many different variations. Essentially, it can be eaten any time of the day. Basically, it consists of a delicious beef patty sitting on a bed of steaming white rice, topped with brown gravy and a sunny side up egg! Sounds simple? Well, lets give it a try!

Here we go! This recipe makes about 5 servings.

Ingredients:

- Lean ground beef (l lb)

- 1 medium red onion (peeled and chopped into big chucks)

- 6 medium eggs (1 for mixing with the meat patties, 5 for frying)

- Dried parsley (1 tablespoon)

- Sugar (1 tablespoon)

- Bread crumbs (3 tablespoons)

- Garlic (2 cloves, peeled)

- Cooking oil (2 tablespoons)

- Jasmine white rice (2 cups)

- Beef Broth (1 can)

- Flour (for thickening)

- Worcestershire sauce (1 tablespoon) 

- Salt and pepper (a few pinches)

Step 1: In a food processor, chop red onion and garlic into small bits.

Step 2: In a large bowl, mix meat with 1 egg, onion mixture, dried parsley, sugar and bread crumbs.

 

 

Step 3: Knead meat mixture into patties (makes about 5 large patties).

 

Step 4: Grill the patties.

 

Step 5: While meat is cooking, prepare the brown gravy. Heat up the beef stock in a pot. Mix flour in a separate bowl with some cold water for thickening. Slowly pour flour liquid into the beef stock while stirring. Add Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

Step 6: Pan fried the 5 eggs for the 5 meat patties in some cooking oil.

 

Step 7: Assemble the layers, rice on the bottom, then beef patty, gravy and fried egg... Yeah, done! Enjoy!

Chinese Crispy Noodles with Chinese and Vegetables

Another everyday dish from my kitchen. It's pretty easy to make and can feed the whole family with plenty of flavors.  I love this kind of cooking because you can be so creative with it (clear out the leftovers in the fridge!). You'll love the crunch of the vegetables. I used chicken this time, but really, taking the same steps, you can substitute it with any other meat, more colorful vegetables or fresh seafood.

Ok, here we go, 6 easy steps!

Ingredients:
Chicken breast (1 big piece, trimmed and cut into small pieces)
Green pepper (1 medium)
Lettuce (1/4 of a head)
Chinese flour noodles or simply dried vermicelli (10oz, cooked & drained)
Garlic (2 cloves, peeled and sliced)
Oyster sauce (2 tablespoons)
Sugar (1 tablespoon)
Sesame oil (1 teaspoon)
Salt and Pepper (a few pinches)
Dark soy sauce (1 tablespoon)
Light soy sauce (1 tablespoon)
Sesame seeds (a few sprinkles, optional)
Cooking oil (2-3 tablespoons)

Step 1: Chop the lettuce and green pepper into thin strips.

Step 2: In a large wok, saute chicken with garlic. Add half of dark soy sauce, half light soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, salt and pepper and mix well.

Step 3: Add green pepper, lettuce and oyster sauce to the wok when meat is half way cooked. Mix well and keep stirring for about 5 minutes. Turn heat off. Set mixture in a bowl on the side.

Step 4: Now prepare the noodles. Heat up some oil in the wok. When it's hot, turn heat down to medium, add cooked, cooled noodles to it. Keep stirring for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the soy sauce to it. Noodles should turn darker brown and a bit crispy.

Step 5: Add meat/vegetable mixture to the noodles. Mix well.

Step 6: Sprinkle some sesame seeds (optional) and serve immediately!! Enjoy!

Chinese Broccoli with Fresh Shitaki Mushrooms

This dish is an everyday dish for almost every Chinese family. When I was a kid, my mom made this dish in one way or another (maybe with other vegetables...depends on that's in season at the time). It is almost a "sister" dish to the main course of the day. It is very simple to make and a great way to bring some great fiber to the table.

I used Shitaki mushrooms here because of the the rich aroma, but you may substitute them with any other fresh mushrooms. Equally tasty!

Ingredients:
Chinese Broccoli (1 lb, washed and drained)
Shitaki Mushrooms (medium, about 10. Washed and drained)

Garlic (2 cloves, peeled and sliced)
Spring Onion (1 stalk, washed, drained and chopped to about 1/2" long)
Ginger Juice (2 teaspoons)
Vegetable Broth (2 tablespoons)
Sugar (2 teaspoons)
Oyster Sauce (1 tablespoon)
Olive Oil (2 tablespoons)

Step 1:  Chop Chinese broccoli in an angle as shown in picture below.

Step 2: Over medium heat, add half of the olive oil in a large cooking pan. Add garlic slices when oil is hot.

Step 3: Saute mushrooms and spring onion in the cooking pan. Put mixture in a bowl on the side when it's cooked through (Mushrooms get soft).

Step 4:  In high heat, Saute Chinese broccoli with the rest of the olive oil for about 5-10 minutes. Add sugar, vegetable broth and ginger juice.

Step 5: Add mushroom mixture to the broccoli in the pan. Mix well.

Step 6: Turn to medium heat. Add oyster sauce and mix all together. Serve immediately.

 Enjoy!!

Beef and Enoki Mushroom Rolls (金菇牛肉卷)

This little dish is indeed appetizing and really stands out from the menu. It's one of my favorites to order from Japanese restaurants in Hong Kong. Rich juices from the tender, slightly charred rib-eye steak combine in harmony with the tangy, slightly crunchy texture of the fresh Enoki mushroom.  The simple deliciousness just explodes in your mouth on every bite. It makes me hungry just to think about it. It's a perfect starter for any meal!

What are Enoki Mushrooms?

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-enoki-mushrooms.htm

Ingredients:
Rib-eye steak (sliced very very thinly 200g)
Enoki Mushroom (1-2 packs, about 400g, washed, and drained, chop off bottom part with dirt)
Vegetable Oil: 2 (1 tablespoons)
Ginger Slices (2 big pieces)
Sugar (2 teaspoons)
Sauce:
White rice vinegar (1 tablespoon)
Sesame Seed (2 tablespoons)
Sesame Oil (1 teaspoon)
Chilli Sauce (1 teaspoon)
Oyster Sauce: 2 tea spoons
Soy Sauce: 2 tea spoons
Rice Wine: 1/4 tea spoons
Green Onion (a few stalks, washed, drained and chopped in small pieces)
Salt and Pepper (a few pinches)

Step 1: Perpare the Enoki mushrooms: Heat up a pot of hot water with the ginger slices. When it comes to boil, place Enoki mushrooms for no more than a minute. Use a strainer to drain out the liquid. Let it cool on the side. Save the liquid and put it back into the pot.

Step 2: Prepare the meat: Boil the liquid again, and when it comes to boil, dip beef slices into the hot water and quickly take them out and put the meat into the bowl. Beef should be very tender and still half raw. Stir in half of the rice vinegar and add sugar. Mix well, do not break the beef.

Step 3: Lay beef slices down on a plate, place some Enoki mushrooms inside and roll them up into small bite size rolls.Using an indoor grill or pan, fry them on a flat surface with a bit of vegetable oil.

Step 4: Prepare the sauce: Heat up some vegetable oil, add the ingredients above for the sauce. Stir and mix well.

Step 5: Cut the beef and Enoki mushroom rolls into halves and place them on a big plate. Pour on some hot sauce and sprinkle sesame seeds all over. Enjoy!!