Categories
Food Recipes

Recipe: Tuna Salad

Makes 3 sandwiches

INGREDIENTS:
1 (5 oz) cans of solid white albacore tuna (i.e. Wild Planet Wild Albacore Tuna, from Whole Foods)
1 slice of onion, finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon vinegar (e.g. Vinegar of Banyuls)
1/4 tsp. Salt & 1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 celery rib, finely chopped

DIRECTIONS:
1. Microwave onion and oil in a small (pyrex) bowl until onion begins to soften (about 40 seconds).
2. Drain tuna, transfer to medium bowl, and mash with fork until finely flaked.
3. Add onion mixture, vinegar, sweet pickle relish, salt, and pepper to tuna.
Stir to combine. Let sit 10 minutes.
4. Stir mayonnaise and celery into tuna mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Optionally, stir a chopped hard boiled eggs into salad with mayonnaise.

Categories
China Food Recipes

Recipe: Asian Sauteed Green Beans & Mushrooms

INGREDIENTS:
3-4 fresh shiitake mushrooms
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon mirin cooking wine
1/2 lbs green beans
1 tablespoon garlic fermented black bean sauce
Avocado cooking oil

DIRECTIONS:
1. De-stem and wash greens beans.
2. Steam green beans for 6-8 minutes.
3. Thinly slice and sprinkle mushrooms with soy sauce and mirin. Marinate for few minutes. Saute mushrooms for a few minutes, and transfer to bowl.
4. Transfer green beans to pan, and stir fry with black bean sauce, some water (or chicken broth), and mushrooms for a few minutes.
5. Serve.

Categories
Asian Food Recipes

Recipe: Instant Pot Three Cup Chicken

INGREDIENTS:
8 chicken drumsticks (1.8 lbs), chopped (or whole)
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup rice cooking wine or Shaoxing rice wine
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1 Tablespoon rock sugar (raw cane sugar) 黃冰糖
1 oz ginger, peeled & thinly sliced
14 garlic cloves, peeled & crushed
3 dried Chinese red chili
1/2 Tablespoons dark soy sauce
10 – 16 fresh Thai basil leaves (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Peel and thinly slice the ginger. Peel and crush the garlic cloves.
2. Chop the drumsticks in pieces
3. Set Instant Pot to saute, and saute the ginger and garlic in 1/4 cup of sesame oil for 30 seconds (until fragrant).
4. Add in the chicken, 3 dried Chinese red chili, and 1 tablespoon rock sugar. Saute for 3 minutes.
5. Pour in 1/4 cup of rice cooking wine, and let boil for a minute to evaporate some of the alcohol.
6. Add 1/4 cup of light soy sauce.
7. Close the lid and pressure cook on high for 6 minutes + 10 minutes natural release. If using whole drumsticks, high pressure for 8 minutes + 10 minute NPR.
8. Remove lid, and place chicken pieces in large serving bowl.
9. Press saute button, and bring sauce back to boil. Add about 1/2 tablespoon dark sauce to give color, and sweeten.
10. Taste the sauce, and adjust with more light soy sauce if needed.
11. Stir in 10-16 fresh Thai basil leaves.
12. Pour the sauce into the bowl with chicken. Mix well.
13. Serve immediately with rice.

Source

Categories
Food Recipes

Reverse Sear Steak

INGREDIENTS

1. One thick steak (e.g., bone in ribeye). At least 1″ thick. The thicker, the better. Otherwise, just pan sear it.
2. Salt & pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 250°
2. Place well-seasoned steaks on a rack over a baking tray (with foil).
3. Put in oven and cook til an internal temp of 125°-135°. Usually takes around 20-40 minutes.
4. Remove when at temp and rest for 10-15 minutes under foil
5. Preheat a skillet (e.g. cast iron) to hot temperatures
6. Sear steaks about one minute each side
7. Serve immediately

Source

Categories
Food Recipes

Recipe: Crispy Pan-Seared Salmon Fillet (or steelhead)

INGREDIENTS
4 skin-on salmon fillets, about 6 ounces each
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable, canola, or light olive oil

DIRECTIONS
1. Press salmon fillets between paper towels to dry surfaces thoroughly. Season on all sides with salt and pepper.

2. In a large stainless, cast iron, or carbon steel skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Reduce heat to medium-low, then add a salmon fillet, skin side down. Press firmly in place for 10 seconds, using the back of a flexible fish spatula, to prevent the skin from buckling. Add remaining fillets one at a time, pressing each with spatula for 10 seconds, until all fillets are in the pan.

3. Cook, pressing gently on back of fillets occasionally to ensure good contact with skin, until skin releases easily from pan, about 4 minutes. If skin shows resistance when you attempt to lift a corner with spatula, allow it to continue to cook until it lifts easily. Continue to cook until salmon registers 110°F in the very center for rare, 120°F for medium-rare, or 130°F for medium, 5 to 7 minutes total.

4. Using spatula and a fork, flip salmon fillets and cook on second side for 15 seconds, then transfer to a paper towel–lined plate to drain. Serve immediately.

Source

Categories
Asian Food Recipes

Recipe: Instant Pot Pork Belly (Kakuni)

Ingredients:
2 lbs pork belly
3 green onions
1 inch of ginger
1/2 cup water

Kakuni Seasoning liquid:
¼ cup sake
½ cup water
½ cup mirin
½ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Optional:  Red Cooked Pork Seasoning liquid
3 tablespoons rock sugar
3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 whole star anise
2 tablespoons Chinese dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese light soy sauce
¼ cup Shaoxing rice wine
1 cup water

Directions:

Slice the pork belly.  Slice the green part of the green onions in half.  Slice the ginger into thin slices.  Place ingredients in Instant Pot, and cover with water.  Cook under pressure for 35 minutes.

Release pressure, and discard water, green onions, and ginger.  Rinse the pork belly under warm water. Clean out Instant Pot, and return pork belly.

Pour seasoning liquid over the pork, and put Instant Pot in “saute” mode. Simmer to evaporate the alcohol. When alcohol smell is gone, turn Instant Pot off. After the pot has cooled a bit; cover, lock, and seal the lid.  Cook under high pressure for final 10 minutes. Release pressure, and serve (e.g. over rice).

Categories
Food Recipes

Recipe: Instant Pot Spareribs

Ingredients:
1/2 rack of pork back ribs – the back ribs are leaner than regular pork ribs.

Sauce ingredients:
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Directions:
Cut ribs into sections.  Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder (if available).  Layer the seasoned ribs in the Instant Pot.  Pour the sauce over the ribs.  Cover and cook on high pressure for 35 minutes.  Natural release for about 10 minutes (in those 10 minutes, stir fry some veggies).  Remove (falling-off-bone tender) ribs carefully with tongs.

Categories
Recipes

Recipe: Spinach with Garlic

Spinach with Sesame and Garlic Recipe

  • Yield: Serves 2-4.

This is a fun take on spinach, a Korean version, with the spinach wilted in sesame oil with garlic, and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. The recipie is from Mark Bittman’s The Best Recipes in the World. In typical Bittman style, the spinach is quick, easy, and good.

If you are using bagged baby spinach, the presoaking is not necessary, as that spinach is pretty clean. Also baby spinach does not need to be chopped. The spinach you get in bunches from the farmers market can have a lot of dirt at the root ball that needs to be washed out before you use the spinach.

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp dark sesame oil
  • 1 Tbsp minced garlic
  • 1 lb fresh spinach, soaked in water to clean, drained, excess water squeezed out, large stems removed and discarded, leaves roughly chopped
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 Tbsp soy sauce (use gluten-free soy sauce for gluten-free version)
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Method

1 If you haven’t already toasted the sesame seeds, do that first. Heat a stick-free skillet on medium high. Add raw sesame seeds and use a spatula or wooden spoon to stir. The seeds may make a popping noise and jump up, almost like popcorn. They will toast very quickly, so stir constantly until they begin to brown and smell like they are toasted. Remove from pan into a separate bowl as soon as they are done.

2 Heat 2 tablespoons of the sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic. As soon as the garlic begins to sizzle, add the spinach and cook, stirring occassionally, until the spinach is completely wilted. Turn the heat to low.

3 Stir in the sugar and soy sauce. Remove from the heat. Add salt to taste. Serve hot, warm, room temperature, or cold, drizzled with the remaining sesame oil and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Read more: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/spinach_with_sesame_and_garlic/#ixzz4ZTPmflnr

 

Categories
Food Recipes

Recipe: Steam Eggs

Quick savory, smooth steamed eggs.

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • Water (same volume as eggs)
  • Vegetable or chicken stock (same volume as eggs)
  • Salt, to taste
  • 1 tsp sesame oil (or less)
  • Chopped scallion

Procedure

Crack 3 eggs in a liquid measuring cup and note the volume. Pour the eggs into a large bowl, add salt, and beat for at least 1 minute. Now measure out water at the same volume as the eggs, and add it to the bowl. Do the same with the broth. Whisk in the sesame oil, and make sure everything’s well combined.

Place 4 empty ramekins in a steamer over high heat. (Alternatively, you can also use just 1 shallow, heatproof bowl). Be sure the water will not bubble and touch the ramekins during steaming. Once the water boils, turn the heat down to a slow simmer. Then, divide the egg mixture into the ramekins.

Cover the steamer, turn up the heat to high, and steam for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes have elapsed, shut off the heat but keep the steamer covered. Let stand for 14 minutes with the lid firmly covered. Remove from the steamer, sprinkle with scallions, and serve.

Recipe courtesy of The Woks of Life and Ling.

 

Categories
Food Recipes

Recipe: Coffee Jelly

Coffee Jelly @ Yama Sushi
Homemade coffee jelly

Ingredients

8 oz water
1 tsp instant coffee (or cold brew coffee)
1 tsp unflavored gelatin powder
1 tbl sugar (optional)

Directions

1. In 8 oz cold water, add 1 rounded tsp instant coffee, sprinkle in 1 tsp gelatin, and (optionally) sugar. Stir and let sit for 3-5 minutes for gelatin to hydrate.
2. Place liquid in microwave for one minute on “high” to dissolve the gelatin. Liquid should not boil. About 160° is sufficient to dissolve gelatin.
3. Pour liquid into two serving bowls (4 oz. each), and place in fridge to chill and set gelatin.
4. Top with creamer and whipped cream before serving.

Note 1: Instead of instant coffee, cold brew coffee may be used. Starbucks cold brew coffee contains sugar, which may be preferable.
Note 2: Sugar in the coffee jelly makes the gelatin softer, and more pudding like.