Blue Cheese Sauce Fettucine with Shrimp

I love shrimp. A creamy sauce with succulent shrimp is perfect for dinner time. This simple dish is a great idea for a romantic dinner or a rather formal party meal with your friends and family!

Here's how I made it tonight:

Serves 3-4 people
Ingredients:
Fresh Shrimp (medium to large - about 1/2 lb)
Fresh Leek (2 cups -chopped to small pieces)
Pecans (chopped - 1/4 cup)
Cooking Wine (1/2 cup)
Vegetable Stock (1/2 cup)
Milk or Buttermilk (1/4 cup)
Soft Cream Cheese (1 container, about 8oz)
Blue Cheese Crumble (1/2 cup)
Garlic (2 cloves, chopped to small pieces)

Step 1: In a big pot, cook fettuccine. Drain and set aside.

Step 2: While pasta is cooking, prepare the shrimp. Rinse and peel the shrimp and set aside. No need to season, the sauce will be flavorful enough.

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Step 3: Saute leeks, pecans and garlic with a little olive oil over medium heat.

Step 4: When leeks are softened, add shrimp to the pan.

Step 5: Turn heat to LOW, slowly add milk, vegetable stock, cooking wine and cream cheese to the pan. Keep stirring until cream cheese is completely dissolved. Tips: Allow shrimp to soak in the rich sauce for a few minutes after turning off heat. Do not overcook shrimp. Heat must be low at this step, this sauce burns easily.

Step 6: Remove from heat, toss with fettuccine and blue cheese and serve immediately!

Bon appetit!

Chinese Chicken Fried Rice

Fried rice is great for just about every family. Not only is it fun to make, it can also CLEAR OUT your refrigerator! It's very versatile. It can be prepared with almost any kind of ingredients. Putting all the scraps and pieces in a wok, you can really turn it into something very delicious!

Here's how I made mine tonight:
5-6 Servings

Ingredients:
White Rice (3 cups - Secret: Cook rice a day ahead of time and put it in the fridge. Cold, dry rice has a much better result for fried rice)
Chicken Breast (chop into small chunks)
Spring Onion (3 stalks, chopped)
3 Large Eggs
1/3 of a Large Cabbage (chop to thin strips)

Ginger Root (half a thumb of it, minced)
Garlic (3 cloves, minced)

Marinade:
Light Soy Sauce (2 tablespoons)
Dark Soy Sauce (1 tablespoon)
Sesame Oil (2 teaspoons)
Salt and Pepper (a few pinches)
Cornstarch (1 tablesppon)

Step 1: Mix marinade with chicken in a bowl and set aside
Step 2: Scramble the egg and set it aside in a small bowl 
Step 3: In a big wok, fry the chicken with the chopped ginger and garlic in some oil. Scoop out into a bowl on the side after cooked through

Step 4: Fry cabbage in the wok with a bit of oil. Add some chicken stock to soften the cabbage. Do not over drain. Close the lid for about 5 minutes. Scoop cooked cabbage out and set aside in another bowl

Step 5: Now, lets cook the rice. Put rice in wok with some oil. Add some soy sauce and chicken stock as you break the rice with the spatula

Step 5: Add cabbage and chicken to the work and stir. Add egg last and break it with the spatula

Step 6: Sprinkle spring onion and serve immediately!

Tips: You may want to add some colorful vegetables to make this dish more appetizing, such as diced red pepper or carrot slices!

Enjoy!

Chinese Sweet Corn and Chicken Soup

Besides spicy food, hot soups are great in the winter time. It really warms up the kitchen and your tummy! This soup is very popular within Chinese households and it is extremely simple to make. Kids love it and they would even eat this soup with rice. It is not heavy like a traditional cream soup, yet it fills you up with the beautiful sweet corn and chicken goodness!

Here's what you need to do to make this wonderful soup:

Ingredients:
Serves 3-4 people
1 Fresh Chicken Breast (boneless, skinless. chopped finely
2 Large Eggs (whisked gently with a fork in a measuring cup) 
Creamed Sweet Corn (1 can - about 15 oz)
Yellow Sweet Corn (1 can - about 15 oz)
Chicken Stock (5 cups)
Spring Onion (for garnish. chopped in tiny pieces. about 2 stalks)

Marinade:
Light Soy Sauce (2 tablespoons)
Dark Soy Sauce (1 tablespoon)
Rice Wine, Dry Sherry or red wine (2 tablespoons)
Cornstarch (1 tablespoon)
Sesame Oil
Minced Ginger (1 teaspoon)

Step 1:  Mix chopped chicken with Marinade and set aside for about 10 minutes

Step 2: In a large pot, pan fry chicken over medium heat until half-cooked

Step 3: Over medium heat, add sweet corn into the pot and stir gently for about 3 minutes.

Step 4: Then, add chicken stock slowly. Keep stirring.

 

Step 5: Add creamed sweet corn into the pot. Stir gently until it comes to a boil.

Step 6: Now, turn down the heat a little, SLOWLY pour the beaten egg into the steaming liquid.

Tips: Using the spatula, slowly make the number "8."  The egg will make a lacy pattern in the soup. Do not go fast. Let it sit after you make the pattern. (Over-mixing will dissolve the egg into the liquid completely and you'll get a whiter colored soup instead of a nice, "egg drop soup" pattern)  

 

Step 7: Sprinkle spring onion and serve immediately!

Stay Warm!!

Chinese Crispy Stuffed Eggplant (5 STAR recipe from MOM)

This is one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE home dishes! These eggplant bites are super crunchy on the outside and soft n' juicy in the inside. Basically, they melt in your mouth after you bite through the light, crispy shell! When I was little, my mom used to cook a lot. I remember she always made these eggplant bites for my birthday parties because they made me so happy!

Here's how to make them:

Ingredients (all items are available in MOST Chinese and Vietnamese supermarkets):
- Chinese Eggplants (3 medium size)
- Fish Paste (1 lb - look for fresh fish paste from the Seafood department, if not available, the frozen kind should work just fine for this dish)  
- Tempura Batter Powder (1 packet) 
- Light Soy Sauce (a few teaspoons)
- Sriracha Hot Sauce  (a few drops)
- Black Bean and Garlic Paste (optional-enhance flavor)

Step 1: Wash and dry eggplants. Cut each piece carefully at an angle (around 1/4"thick)

Step 2: Carefully cut between each slice of eggplant, do not cut all the way through so it will hold the fish paste together

Step 3: Pick up some fish paste with a round knife and stuff inside the opening of the eggplant

Step 4: Dip eggplant into tempura batter (to make tempura batter - mix water with powder and stir until there are no lumps or bubbles)

Step 5: Fry them over medium heat until they're golden brown on both sides

Step 6: In a small saucepan, heat up a tablespoon of Black Bean and Garlic Sauce, Sriracha hot sauce and light soy sauce over low heat. Add half a cup of water in the saucepan SLOWLY as you stir it together. Turn off heat and pour sauce over eggplant bites!

 
Have fun and I hope you like them as much as I do!!!! 

Note: Few people asked me what was FISH PASTE after I made this post...

Well, What is fish paste?

Fish paste comes in all varieties/quality (depending on brand, origin and cost). It's very popular in Asia, so it can be found in most Chinese supermarkets everywhere. You may make it from scratch but I wouldn't recommend it if you're a busy person since it's quite a bit of extra work!

To make it from scratch, please see below:

Ingredients:
Whitefish fillets (2 large pieces)
1 Large Egg

Seasonings:
Rice wine/dry sherry (1 tablespoon)
Light soy sauce (1 tablespoon)
Fresh ginger (minced finely to a paste)
Salt and pepper (a bit more)
Sesame oil (just a little)

Step 1: Mince fish. Tips: Cut into small pieces and hit it with the side of the heavy blade. Keep chopping back and forth until it has a gluey texture. Can be done in a food processor if desired.

Step 2: Put minced fish in a bowl with the seasonings and egg.

Step 3: Mix well and it's ready to be used for all kinds of Asian dishes!  

Japanese Tuna Salad Sushi Roll (Homestyle)

Tonight, I wanted to make something special yet easy to prepare. Something that we can munch on while we watch a movie. So, I made some tasty tuna salad sushi rolls that are somewhat healthy, kid-friendly and safe to eat (not raw fish). The only thing that you need to "cook" is the egg (which is optional anyway). Ok, there's rice too but I assume that you have a rice cooker to take care of that.

Not only is it economical to make, the ingredients are also very flexible. You can even save them for the next day to take to work for lunch. So as long as you have the seaweed sheets and Japanese rice and some light soy sauce for dipping (all are available in most grocery stores these days, even in Walmart!), all the other ingredients are optional and can be substituted with other choices (example, you can use crab meat or clam meat instead of tuna, carrot instead of cucumber).  Just use your imagination!

Anyway, here's how I made them tonight:
Ingredients:
- Albacore tuna (2 cans)
- Japanese mayonnaise (aka "Kewpie Mayonnaise." It has a very creamy texture. Very rich flavor. Great on Salads. You may substitute it with regular American mayo if you don't want to bother with it. For mine tonight, I used the regular Kraft olive oil mayonnaise. The flavor is not as strong, but since we were only  using a very small portion of it, I was better off with a healthier option)
- Japanese white rice (3 cups. Cooked in rice cooker. Scoop out in a big bowl and chill in room temperature. When it's no longer hot, add rice vinegar. Mix and leave for 10 minutes or so)
- 2 eggs (scrambled with a pinch of sugar)
- 1 cucumber (peeled, pitted and sliced to long tiny strips. The thinner the better)
- 1 big avocado (peeled, pitted and cut to strips. Not too thin, since it's very soft)
- Sushi seaweed sheets (aka "Nori." Seaweed sheets usually come10 in a pack)
- Rice vinegar (a few teaspoons)
- Light soy sauce (a few teaspoons)
- Toasted sesame seeds (a few sprinkles - optional)

step 1: Make tuna salad by draining tuna and mix with 3-4 teaspoonful of mayo (not too wet).

step 2: Place chilled rice on seaweed and spread around on seaweed sheet. Seaweed-shiny side down.

step 3: Put tuna salad, cucumber slices, avocado and egg pieces on one end.
step 4: Roll up slowly and squeeze on the bamboo mat gently to tighten the sushi roll.

step 5: Cut to equal sizes and arrange on plates.

step 6: Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Tips: Make sure the knife you use for cutting the sushi rolls is thin and sharp. That way the roll edges will be smooth. Dip knife over cold water to avoid rice sticking to knife.

Have a good night!

Hello 2010!

Oh yes, I woke up this morning on the first day of 2010 and it's radiantly sunny in St. Louis! Lets toss away all the old BS and step into the HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I almost forgot, yes, my dear reader, WELCOME to MUN-CHIES! MUN-CHIES is everything about FOOD! From cooking experiments, tips, Asian/family secret recipes to reviewing special restaurants, diets...etc. It's all here on MUN-CHIES! It's my personal insights on one of the LOVES of my life.