Mapo Tofu

One of the things I like best about Chinese food is how well it goes with a steaming bowl of rice, especially if it includes a savory sauce. Wanting to whip up something comforting and easy for a weekday night dinner, I turned to my trusty Mapo Tofu recipe. Now, you can easily get those packet sauces at many grocery stores, but I like being able to concoct my own sauce to suit my tastebuds. While gathering the ingredients from the fridge, I found this interesting bottle of chilli sauce (we absolutely love chilli sauces, so at any time we will have various types on hand)and decided to mix it in.

- 1 pound of ground pork (I bought ground kurobuta pork and it was so smooth)
- 1 packet of firm tofu
- 1.5 tablespoons of chilli bean sauce
- 1 tablespoon of black bean sauce
- 1 tablespoon of your fave Asian chilli sauce
- 2 tablespoons of Shaoxing rice wine
- 1 teaspoon of corn starch
- few tablespoons of water depending on how thick you want your sauce to be

In a bowl, marinate the pork with the Shaoxing wine and the corn starch. Let it sit for about 10mins.

In a heated wok, add some oil and stirfry the ground pork till about 90% cooked. Add in the 3 sauces and mix them into the pork. When pork is fully cooked, add in cubed tofu and water and let it simmer for about 5 mins.

Sprinkle chopped green scallions on top and serve (with rice of course).

Garlic White Wine Mussels with Spaghetti

A few weeks back, we took our good friends who were visiting from Singapore to Tasting Kitchen after getting recommendations from one of my fave LA food blogger.  Unfortunately, it was so dark there I was not able to take any decent pictures of the yummy food.  One of the appetizers we ordered was this saffron cream mussels.  I didn't have high hopes since I'm not much of a shellfish person.  Having tried the highly acclaimed green lipped mussels in NZ and not loving yet didn't do much to help.  However, I only had to try 1 @ Tasting Kitchen and I was hooked.  It was so fresh, non of that yucky shellfishy taste.  And the sauce...oh the sauce, so creamy, so appetizing..I wanted to drink it up but chose a classier route by souping it up with the crusty bread provided.

I've been thinking about those mussels ever since then.  I would totally go again if it wasn't about an hour's drive away from me.  So I decided to take up the challenge and make my own.  Scouring the net for recipes, I found many reputable ones.  While I did like the creamy taste, I wasn't prepared to cook with something that contains so much saturated fat and calories.  I was afraid it wouldn't taste as good w/o the cream but decided to forge ahead.  Not wanting to bog it down with too many ingredients, I tweaked the recipes to suit my lazy self.  The taste definitely did not fall short of expectations.  It was so delightful..sweetness from the wine, shallots, mussels..it felt like I was tasting the sea..please do try this simple recipe.

- 1.5 pounds cultivated mussels
- 4 shallots, sliced
- 5 cloves of garlic
- a handful of chopped parsley
- few threads of saffron
- 1 cup dry white wine (I used Chardonnay)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Pasta to serve 2

In a pot, drizzle in the olive oil and put in the butter.  Stir fry the shallots and garlic (do not let them burn).  Add in parsley and saffron and cook them a little.  Pour in white wine and water and bring the mixture to a boil.  Add in cleaned and debearded mussels.  Put the lid on and steam mussels for 8-10 mins.  Discard any mussels that are not fully open.  Add in cooked spaghetti and serve.  I would strongly suggest having some toasted bread drizzled with olive oil and rubbed with garlic on hand to soak up excess juices.

Lipsticks

I have been, and still am, going through a retail therapy phase. I wanted to come across as a more serious professional rather than just look like I have just rolled outta bed. So, I've been adding items to my would like to have list. My mum always says a woman should at the bare minimum put on lipstick as it it just common courtesy. I've never been a fan of lipstick. I find it hard to find a color I like and I hate the constant reapplying or having hair stuck to your gloss issues to deal with. Nonetheless, they are cheap and it has been said that even in recessions, lipstick sales hold up as women would still buy inexpensive items to satisfy their vanity.

I wanted a barely there look, something that will look good but isn't high maintenance. I looked online and found great reviews for Clinique's chubby stick and colors look very neutral, nothing screams tramp. Looking at color swatches online, I was fairly certain I will be getting either Super Strawberry or Chunky Cherry.  When I tried those on, they seemed too bright on me and clashes with my skin color.  In the end, I left with Graped Up.  The color is very similar to my natural lip color so that fulfills my barely there criteria.

Next day, I went to Ulta, hoping to get a NYX or Rimmel lipstick since they are so cheap and have great reviews.  Since I wasn't able to try the lipsticks on my lips, I was apprehensive about buying some color that looks nice on its own but may not match well with my skin tone.  Not wanting to play safe and get a natural pink shade, I stumbled upon L'oreal's lipgloss.  The Candy Apple caught my eye (I've been on a red/fuschia binge).  The color is very pigmented and looks harsh if I apply too much.  However, a little goes a long way.  If I apply a regular layer and then blot it off with a tissue or just apply a thin layer, I get a red tinted look, kinda like Benetint.

Spiral Curry Puff - a buttery, flaky reminder of home

i absolutely love curry puffs - deep fried (ok, i love most things that crisp up in hot oil) pastry filled with potatoes and other ingredients such as chicken, onions, hard boiled egg mixed in with an aromatic blend of southeast asian spices. back home, such treats can be found almost everywhere. there's the malay version epok epok, the chain store version and the many mom and pop versions. of course, finding these treats here is near impossible so i took up the challenge of making it from scratch. images of how my terribly failed attempt to make croissants haunted me but i was comforted by the fact i'm in a much drier and cooler country (read: less likely for butter dough to break through to make an oily mess).

i wanted to share my recipe, but due to the lack of pictures capturing the process, i decided to just post the final product

Kimchi Chigae

the korean craze has many countries a decade ago..till today, i catch myself sometimes secretly wishing i was korean..and many times i find kimchi chigae so comforting, so here's how i do mine

slice 3 stalks of green onions diagonally into 2-inch length
slice 1 large shallot
mix 1 tablespoon of gochujang, 1/2 tablespoon of doenjang paste and 1 teaspoon of red pepper powder

Heat some oil in a pot, stirfry the green onions and shallots till fragrant
add in about 1 cup of kimchi and 1 tablespoon of kimchi juice
put in sliced protein of choice - here i'm using thinly sliced pork loin
add in the paste mixture and stir it into the ingredients till nicely coated
add in enough water to cover ingredients and stir to ensure paste is dissolved
bring to a boil, add it the cubed tofu and serve at lava hot temperature

i usually have my kimchi chigae with rice dunked into the hot soup (coz that's how koreans in those k-dramas do it)..yummeh!

breakast, the most important meal of the day

i love the idea of breakfast on weekends. on weekdays, i eat whatever is most convenient, so there's not much interest there. while i'm tempted to shell out $20 to have breakfast cooked for us, i try to make breakfast for us so that I can be sure it is relatively healthy and cheap.

Here's what we had this weekend:

Cranberry walnut bread from picketlane bakery with hillshire farm ham. the bread was yummy, dotted with sweet cranberry and walnuts, even better when toasted.

someone at work mentioned that the south americans like to put avocados on toast and have it for breakfast. i know avocados have good fat that is good for peeps with high cholesterol so decided to make it for him. using rosemary sourdough from costco, i toasted it, drizzled olive oil over it and rubbed raw garlic to give it that wonderful aroma garlicky bite without it being too overpowering.  sliced some avocados and laid it on top and finished it with some sea salt and black pepper. this is so yummy, the crunchy bread with the creamy avocado, accented with garlic, salt and pepper...mmmm...

Haven Gastropub in Orange

Yelp is my new best friend in the States.  After having the wonderful truffle fries at Barracks @ House in Dempsey Hill 2 nights in a row several months ago, I was hoping to find the same delicacy in this part of the world.  Yelp told me I can find it at Haven Gastropub, so when family decided to meet up for a meal, I jumped at the chance to suggest the restaurant.

It being a Friday night, the wait was rather long (40 mins) especially since they do not allow reservations for parties of smaller than 7 (we had 6, boo hoo).  When we finally got in, the restaurant was slightly on the noisier side with it being a pub and tvs tuned to sports.

I was torn about what to order for my main entree, I was tempted to order everything in the snacks section but refrained.  We decided to get the home-made chips and truffle fries to share.  The chips and fries were fried a tad bit too long and were on the dark side.  The chips were also too heavily salted and truffle taste on the fries was not too distinctive.  Nonetheless, I couldn't help but keep eating them coz potatoes in hot oil are my besties!

for the main, i decided to get the margarita flat bread, can't go wrong with it. the tomato paste was seasoned just nicely, not too tart.

the other mains ordered were the lamb burger (which was ordered as medium rare hence the gamey taste was too overpowering), shepherd's pie, waffles and chicken and the scallops.  The scallops were delish, with a caramelized crust outside and the inside was still pinkish!  And it just so happened we just watched masterchef the other day and Gordon Ramsey was so impressed with the well-cooked scallops. I think I know what he's talking about.

not gonna comment on the beverages since I'm not big on alcoholic drinks but must say they have a very extensive list.

I think I was too engrossed in trying the truffle fries and that kinda disappointed.  Overall, this was an okay experience (maybe 3.5 stars outta 5) but i do like the feel of old towne orange...

my bad habit

so, it isn't a surprise to me that i neglected this space for over a month...yeah i can go with the usual work has been busy line, but truth be told i was too lazy to blog! it sux that blogger does not have an iphone app that allows blogging. i can still access the page and blog via the iphone, but the scaling of the page, the formatting aren't available.  i have not been conscientious in taking pictures of the yummy food i've had or made.  i will make it a point to update this regularly..wish me luck!

heading for an much anticipated meal @ Haven Gastropub this weekend!

Jinpachi @ West Hollywood

so the boy was crowned employee of the month several months back and the company gave him a $200 meal budget. so we decided to splurge it on a japanese restaurant in west hollywood after much agonizing research on the delicious life's website (it's tough to decide what to eat!).

we started off with the fried shishito peppers. fried till it blistered and topped off with some lemon juice and bonito flakes, this dish definitely helped to whet our appetite for more yummy food to come.

next up was the spicy tuna with crispy rice. definitely a 1st for both of us, the tuna wasn't exactly spicy but was juicy when you bite into it. it paired well with the sweet sauce and jalapeno pepper on top and the highlight was the crunch from the rice.

our favorite dish for the night has to be the grilled miso black cod. it is ooohhh soooo good! the fish melts in your mouth and you can taste the slight smokiness from the grill and the sweet miso sauce complemented the delicate fish. we were contemplating getting another order of this dish and hating ourselves till this day that we did not.

we ordered several pieces of nigiri and though they were not spectacular, we were satisfied nonetheless. wanting to fully utilize the $200, we ordered other specials such as the sashimi salad which came with 8 pieces of thick cut sashimi, the hamachi with fried garlic and lemony sauce. we rounded up the meal with the blue crab handroll and monkfish liver nigiri. the blue crab handroll was fresh and did not contain any mayo so you can taste the crabmeat itself. avocado gave the same creaminess as mayo and is way healthier for you.

a fantastic meal which was still shy of $200 including tax and tips and so we decided to give them a bigger tip!

Jinpachi
8711 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 358 9134

Pumpkin Kueh (Cake)

I'm sure many of you have had the pan fried radish cake as a dim sum dish. This pumpkin kueh is a variation of that, using pumpkin instead of radish. Pumpkin is considered a superfood given that it is high in antioxidants and especially good for women.

Soak about 6 Chinese mushrooms and 3 tablespoons of dried shrimps.
Dice 4 shallots
When the mushrooms are soft, chop off the stem and thinly slice them
Heat some sesame oil in a wok, add the shallots and stir fry. Add mushrooms and dried shrimps and fry till fragrant and set aside
Add about 2 cups rice flour to 1.5 cups water and mix over the stove till the mixture gets sticky. Add in mashed pumpkin and the shallots, mushrooms and dried shrimp
Transfer the entire mixture into a deep dish and steam for 45 minutes.
After steaming, allow it to cool before serving. What I usually do is to slice them up and pan fry them till it gets crisp on the outside
Serve plain or with your face chilli sauce and/or sweet soy sauce.

Chili Tomato Prawns

Ok, so i need to work on my photography skills.  made this dish as i had fresh prawns bought in bulk from costco and was hoping to make something spicy for the tastebuds.  mummy mades a very good rendition of this dish and i've always loved ladling spoonfuls of gravy onto my rice.

i don't have a recipe per se for it since i pretty much eyeball my ingredients. so i added a whole white onion, 1 roma tomato, about 13-14 prawns, half a tablespoon of chili sauce brought from hometown and about 2 tablespoons of ketchup.  depending on how runny you want the gravy to be, feel free to add desired amount of water.

nice quote

you live as long as you are remembered - russian proverb

lovely words. pa is still alive :)

Don Quijote @ Dempsey

tried tapas for the very 1st time at Don Quijote @ dempsey. did my research well so i know what i wanted to order. placed my order for the squid ink paella the minute we sat down coz i read that it might take an hour to cook. went on to order their well known dishes such as the garlic shrimp, garlic mushroom and the tortilla espanola. 

Sangria and tortilla espanola

garlic mushroom and garlic shrimp

the sangria was refreshing and honestly i couldn't taste the wine at all but mummy claims it made her woozy half glass through. the tortilla espanola which is eggs covering layers of potatoes is supposed to be really good but i felt it was forgettable and uninteresting. mummy likes it though, says the taste is mild and appealing. the garlic mushrooms and garlic shrimps were awesome. the mushrooms were juicy and the sweet onions and garlic paired well together. the garlic shrimp had bits of fried garlic and the shrimps were succulent. it looks really oily but it doesn't taste that way. 

the highlight of the dinner has to be the arroz negro. i took a pic of it but the restaurant was dark, the dish was black, it really does not do it justice. arroz negro is squid ink paella. many years ago, i tried seafood paella with boy and was really turned off by the heavy seafood taste (not a great fan of clams and mussels). everyone who ate at don quijote raved about the paella so i figured i have to give this another try. good thing i ordered the squid ink version because it isn't cooked together with the shellfish so it doesn't have the taste i dislike. the rice was charred at the bottom but was al dente otherwise. the shrimp, squid, lemon juice and tomatoes all contributed to the varying taste and texture of the dish. this is probably the only version of paella that i will enjoy to this extent.

all in all, a tasty meal and a nice experience. do check it out!

things to do in los angeles

a friend is planning a trip to the west coast of USA and i was struggling to name things for her to see/do in los angeles. i spent 4 years there and you'd think i should be able to name countless interesting things to do but all i could think of that is unique are the beaches. seriously though, what else is interesting to do in LA? it definitely isn't known for architecture or culture. telling people to go there solely for shopping makes my IQ decline immediately. theme parks aren't my cuppa tea since i dont believe in spending that much money to have my lunch hurled out. can someone name me 5 things to do in LA that is truly unique and appealing?

beauty products review

one of the presents i requested for my birthday was the shu uemura uv under base mousse.  i have been rather intrigued by the product after watching 女人我最大.  the mousse just looked so easy to apply and i've been looking for something that will help my makeup stay longer and to cover up my enormous pores.  my friend managed to get it in the limited edition packaging and it looks really pretty.

so how did the product fare?  application was, as i thought, super easy.  the pump is easy to control so you don't get a big glob of mousse.  it went on evenly, you don't have to worry much about it not blending in nicely.  the mousse smells really nice, a light floral scent.  it comes with spf 30 so i was able to skip my usual eucerin moisterizer + sunblock.  

the coverage probably ranges from light to medium though u can layer to get slightly better coverage.  it does help to minimize the looks of my pores a little though nothing life changing here.  the disappointment was that it didn't help my makeup stay longer or better.  i tried pairing the under base with my mineral foundation, my compact powder and my liquid foundation, all did not stay on longer than if i were to wear them alone.  in fact, it makes my skin oilier by mid day and the foundation i have on top tends to "slip off" easier.  i'm still undecided on the product, would really like to try it different ways to make it work since so many people seem to rave about it

next up is the biore aqua rich UV face mousse spf 50+ PA +++.  i first saw this product in taiwan last year but think i didn't have enough twd in the end so did not buy it.  recently saw it selling at those discount beauty stores in chinatown and decided to have a go at it.

i really like the product. it contains hyaluronic acid so i skip moisturizer when i use it for the day (i tend to find products that can double up as moisturizer and sunscreen coz i hate applying multiple products in the morning and it's time consuming).  it isn't exactly mousse-like but the texture is very light, somehwhat like whipped cream.  it goes on smoothly, does not have a white cast that most sunscreens give you.  it is not sticky at all (yay!) and even feels a little refreshing, so makeup goes on nicely.  given that it has been so warm these few days, this sunscreen seems sufficient for my moisturizing needs though i'm not sure how it will fare in a colder, drier country. having said that, i'm still gonna buy a few more tubes to bring with me to the states.

a long overdue tribute

as mentioned in my 1st post, the last 5 years i've been through many trials - family, work, relationship, etc. every time i encounter something so great that it consumes me, i turn to my faith to see me through. i've not reached the stage when i can be at total peace and trust in God fully but i really am learning to let go and let God. in retrospect, i realize why God said "no" to some of my prayers and i really do see His work in my life even though i am not the most deserving of His blessings. But, that's how He is so awesome.  it is by His Grace that we are made worthy.

there were so many encouraging words that i came across in my difficulties and here are some i would like to share:

- in my most recent life challenge, i've been waiting and waiting for an answer for a really long time. then i read the daily email from Joel Osteen's and i was very encouraged by it

“Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today...the LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” Exodus 14:13-14


how i interpreted it was God did not bring me this far just to abandon me and what i should do is to be still and trust in his deliverance. i am the most paranoid person i know, i worry about countless things and it is impossible for me to be at peace when i am facing a difficulty. this passage came at the right time, reminded me not to give up hope and that everything will be done in His perfect timing and He will not be late. i now realized He caused the delayed response so that I will learn this lesson and also for me to spend more time at home with my family and friends.

- "God meets even our simplest, most basic needs with extravagant generosity" This was the theme of a daily Catholic meditation for the passage when Jesus blessed the disciples a record catch of fish when He suggested they try His method after they failed to catch anything.  Because of their obedience and willingness to follow, God blessed them with abundance. One must be careful to interpret this. God's abundance may not be in the prosperity, tangible sense. His blessings of intangible things such as character can also be abundant in nature.

- those who follow Rick Warren's sermons will know that he names a verse in the bible as the SOS hotline. "call upon me in the day of trouble, i will deliver you, and you will honor me" Psalm 50:15

this is one of my favorite verse as well. what i've learned about praying is to gently remind God of the promises He gave us. not that God is forgetful, but that you are breathing life into His words when you activate them and put them to the right use. See, God wants to bless us, but we need to ask him for the blessings we want. be specific, be persistent. okay, i'll admit i'm not always praying consistently. there are time s when i find myself in trouble and i will pray this verse and God will see me through what i ask of him. answer may not always be immediate (i waited 2 years for my help), so be patient.

As a Catholic, there are several novenas that I hold dear to my heart. i am not going to debate the notion of asking saints to help us pray (we do NOT pray TO saints), i think that is not the point i am trying to make. The novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the novena to St Jude are 2 prayers I've been saying since 5 years ago when my papa was ill. i'll pray these prayers when i wake up and will go beyond the recommended 9 times. i've said these prayers many times after that and i know i will continue to say them for the years to come.

So what i want to say is thank You God, for the blessings you've given me, thank You for the trials which have molded my character and drawn me closer to you. continue to bless my loved ones and i pray i never lose sight of you.

needs a break...

while tweedling around with the layout of this blog, stumbled upon a beautiful background showing snow on trees.  brought back memories of the trip to NZ last year around this period.  the breath-taking scenery, the yummilicious seafood, the idyllic time, the fresh air, i can go on and on...

probably won't be able to take an awesome trip as such this year, so will leave myself with these serene pictures...

thought of the day...

do i judge because i disapprove or because i am jealous?