Banana Blossom

mung bean noodle soup

2010-10-29T23:16:00.028-05:00

Mung Bean Noodle Soup, a simple and easy dish that you can put together in a short time. The stock requires about 45 minutes to make; while it simmers, you can do your other work. The preparation to put the other ingredients together takes about 15 minutes.

Here are the ingredients and instructions for this recipe:

I use chicken as the base of the stock. In the area where I live, I can get chicken backbones from Whole Foods Market. I use a few pieces of ginger to flavor the stock. Simmer the stock for 30-45 minutes. Season the stock with either kosher salt or sea salt. Other ingredients that you need are: mung bean noodles (Please click the "ingredients" link to see picture of product. Noodles are also known as cellophane noodles or glass noodles or fen si in Chinese), green vegetables (chinese mustard greens or spinach), fish balls (Please click the "ingredients" link to see pictures of product. I use crab balls and mushroom fish balls here) and tofu pieces (This is the first time I use these fish tofu pieces and to my surprise, they are really tasty), chopped green onions and cilantro, fried shallots (You can use store bought ones. I just returned from a trip to Malaysia and as always, I received my share of fried shallots from my aunt in Medan, Indonesia. I love these fried shallots because they are handmade by a lady there and they are just like homemade ones. With the supply that I have, you can imagine, I have been putting fried shallots in almost every dish that I made these days).

Instructions: In a pot of boiling water, blanch the washed green vegetables, rinse them in cold water and squeeze out all the liquid by hand and cut vegetables into 1" pieces. In another pot of boiling water, blanch fish balls and tofu pieces for 3-5 minutes. In yet another pot of boiling water, cook the noodles. Once the noodles are softened, which takes about 2-3 minutes, they are ready. It is not necessary to rinse the noodles with cold water. Just place them in a bowl, top the noodles with the blanched vegetables, fish balls and tofu pieces. Lastly, ladle the soup stock over the noodles and toppings. Serve the noodle soup immediately with chopped green onion and cilantro mixture, and fried shallots. If you like, you can also serve some chili sauce on the side, for dipping.

Mee Rebus - Asian Food Channel Recipes

2010-09-18T22:38:00.000-05:00

Mee Rebus - Asian Food Channel Recipes

Jean Anderson's Oven Fried Chicken

2010-09-07T12:39:00.000-05:00

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Fried Chicken Fingers Recipe - KitchenDaily

2010-07-09T21:16:00.000-05:00

Fried Chicken Fingers Recipe - KitchenDaily

Spaghettini with Bacon and Basil - KitchenDaily

2010-05-15T20:23:00.004-05:00

Dear readers....I have not been able to update my blog for many months now. I hope everybody is doing well. Until the next time I meet you again, please enjoy this video and recipe that I came across....Spaghettini with Bacon and Basil by chef Marcus Samuelsson.

Spaghettini with Bacon and Basil - KitchenDaily

Cultivating Life | Greek Mixed-Greens Pie with Poppyseed Topping

2010-03-19T22:54:00.001-05:00

Cultivating Life | Greek Mixed-Greens Pie with Poppyseed Topping

Posted using ShareThis

Roast Chicken

2009-10-18T23:43:00.013-05:00

In our home, I am usually the person who cooks our meals. I enjoy cooking and my husband enjoys eating the foods that I prepare. However, sometimes when there is a need for me to take a break from cooking, my husband will cook for us. One dish that he likes to cook is this roast chicken. It is very easy and quick to prepare; and the result is always a chicken that is succulent and delicious!

For good results, you will need to use the best ingredients that you can get. Also, we highly recommend using a good quality roasting pan-- a heavy pan which can retain heat. We invested in a Mario Batali lagsana/roasting pan which I came across in our local kitchen store and figured it would give results similar to cast iron cookwares such as Lodge, Le Creuset etc., which I love very much. You may use another type of roasting pan if you don't own a cast iron roasting pan. Before the Batali, we used a Bendes roasting pan for many years. This pan is smaller, much lighter and non-stick; we loved using it until it had to be replaced.

-- Before starting your prep work, preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Ingredients:

1 free-range roasting chicken (about 5 lbs)
Chicken rotisserie seasoning (see 3rd picture from top)
Olive oil
Potatoes (peeled or unpeeled and cut into bite-size pieces)
Kosher salt to season (optional as seasonings already had salt)
freshly ground pepper to season

cooking instructions for chicken:

Rinse chicken to clean
Dry chicken with paper towels (Make sure Chicken is completely dried)
In a bowl, make a mixture of rotisserie seasoning (3 tablespoons), salt and pepper to taste and olive oil (3 to 4 tablespoons or enough to coat the whole chicken)
Rub this mixture all over chicken, inside and out
Place chicken in a heavy roasting pan

Cooking instructions for potatoes:

Peel potatoes (if you decide not to peel potatoes, make sure the skin is scrubbed and cleaned. When we use young potatoes, we usually don't peel the potatoes)
Cut potatoes into bite-size pieces, rinse to remove excess starch, and dry thoroughly with paper towels
In a bowl, make another batch of the seasoning mixture: 2 tablespoons of rotisserie powder, salt and pepper to taste and olive oil-- enough to oil all potato pieces
Add seasoning mixture to potatoes until well mixed and thoroughly seasoned
Add seasoned potatoes onto the roasting pan around the chicken

Loosely cover chicken and potatoes in the roasting pan with alluminium foil, pinch the foil at the shorter end of the pan. Bake the chicken for 1 hour.
When chicken is done, remove foil and let it sit for 15 minutes before carving it.

Enjoy!

Oyster omelette

2009-08-05T00:43:00.019-05:00

Hello everybody: Thank you for dropping by. I hope your Summer has been an enjoyable one. I have enjoyed my Summer but I have been very busy with work that I have to put posting on hold.

I also had to travel to New York City in July to get myself a new passport . My husband and I enjoyed N.Y.C. very much. I did not bring my camera with me as I wanted to travel light. Therefore no N.Y.C. photos to share with you. However, We have a restaurant to recommend it to you.

Becco

355 West 46 Street

New York City

212-397-7597

www.becco-nyc.com

In my kitchen, I have prepared an omelette dish for you. With my busy schedule, I like to find dishes that are easy and quick to prepare. This omelette dish is an example of such a dish that is popular in Taiwan.

In Malaysia, oyster omelette is a much fancier dish served in restaurants and hawker centers. This version of oyster omelette is more of a home-cooked dish and it is very simple, using ingredients (oyster, egg and sesame oil) that are delicate, that do not require much or long cooking.

Ingredients:

4 eggs, beaten

Salt and pepper, to taste

4 fresh oysters, shelled, rinsed, and drained

1 tablespoon sesame oil

Mix the eggs, salt and pepper with a fork. Stir in the oysters. Heat the oil in a 10-inch omelette pan or skillet. Pour in the oyster and egg mixture. Using a spatula, draw the cooked portions toward the center, tilting the mixture toward the edges of the skillet to hasten even cooking. When eggs are set and the oysters are done, fold and serve.

Make 2 servings. Do not double recipe.

Source: The Best of Taiwanese Cuisine by Karen Hulene Bartell

Note: By the way, my dish here is a "scrambled egg" version rather than a folded omelette. The reason is I wanted the oysters to show up in the photo. I also think 4 oysters is too little. The next time I make this dish, I will use 6 oysters and have the omelette cooked open-faced like a tortilla. I serve this dish with steamed Jasmine rice and a sauteed green vegetable dish. I hope you like it.

I will be back posting again in early September. I am leaving for my vacation in a few days and I will be away until the end of August. See you then and have a great late Summer!

Soft Tofu with Shrimps

2009-05-10T22:40:00.036-05:00

The dish that I have today is Soft Tofu with Shrimp. You may have come across this dish before. It is definitely a popular Chinese home cooking dish. The version I have posted here is my own. Please check out my recipe; I hope you'll try it sometime.

Prepare the Stock first

Ingredients for the stock:

Water: 5 cup

Chicken drumsticks: 3 pieces

Shrimp heads: Saved from shrimp (see ingredients below) or 7-10

frozen shrimp (thawed)

Ginger: 1" x 1" piece, sliced

Preparations for the stock:

Put all stock ingredients into a sauce pan. Bring stock to a boil. Reduce heat to low once stock has reached a boil. Let stock simmer in low heat (make sure it is still boiling) while you start prep work on the dish, for about 30minutes.

Ingredients for the dish:

Soft tofu: 1 packet. Cut tofu into bite size pieces (see pictures).

Shrimp: 1 lb., preferably fresh shrimp. If using fresh shrimp, cut off shrimp heads and save them for the stock. If there is any roe present, include the roe with the stock. (The roe lends deeper flavor for your stock which in turn flavor the dish.) If you are using frozen shrimp, thaw shrimp, save about 5-7 shrimp for the stock. Peel and devein shrimp.

Ginger: 1 tablespoon, finely julienned

Green Onions: 1 stalk, finely sliced

Oyster Sauce: 1 tablespoon

Cooking oil: 4 tablespoons

Rice wine: 2 tablespoons for marinating shrimp; 2 tablespoons for the dish

Cornstarch: 2 teaspoons constarch for marinating the shrimp; 1 teaspoon constarch + 2 teaspoons water for thickening the sauce

Kosher salt: season according to taste

Ground white pepper: season according to taste

Preparations for the dish:

1) Season shrimp with rice wine, ground white pepper and cornstarch for 5 minutes or longer while you do other prep work.

2) Saute marinated shrimp in non-stick fry pan or wok with 2 tablespoons of oil. When shrimp turn pink and cooked, remove them onto a plate and set it aside.

3) In the same pan, add 2 tablespoons of oil.

4) When oil is hot, add the julienned ginger and sliced green onion to lightly brown.

5) Then add tofu, oyster sauce, rice wine to lightly saute for 2 minutes. I prefer shaking the cooking pan to stirring as the tofu pieces break easily

6) After tofu has sauteed well with ginger, onion and seasonings, add 1 cup of the stock and the sauteed shrimp to the tofu-ginger-green onion mixture and let this cook for another 2-3 minutes. The tofu will absorb the liquid. Adjust liquid amount as you go. You may save the remaining stock for other use, or make a bowl of noodle soup for your next meal! (discard chicken and shrimp pieces).

7) Lastly, stir the cornstarch/water mixture and add it into the tofu in the pan to thicken liquid for the dish.

8) Add salt to season and shake pan to distribute sauce evenly around the tofu and shrimp. Remove tofu and shrimp into a serving bowl. Serve dish with a bowl of steamed white Jasmine rice.

9) I keep the fire level high throughout, but you may adjust accordingly if you need to reduce heat, especially at the end when the starch goes in to thicken the sauce.

10) Also, I normally don't measure my ingredients when I cook unless I follow a particular recipe. So use this recipe as a guide and feel your way as you cook.

Enjoy cooking and eating!!

Hello

2009-05-10T00:50:00.003-05:00

I am here to wish you a Happy Mother's Day, if you celebrate this event.
I will be back tomorrow with a dish for posting. See you then.

Steamed Eggplants

2009-04-28T00:51:00.019-05:00

To my readers: I am sorry for not writing this month. I have been very busy at work, and I thought it best to wait until I have time enough to write. I have just given 2 recitals in the past 2 weeks. It was hard work and consumed a lot of energy and time but I was pleased with the outcome. As always, I appreciate your dropping by my blog; I will try to do better in May!

In this post, I decided to make Steamed Eggplant for you. I love eggplant; it is one of my favorite vegetables. I hope it is yours too. At home, I don't know how to stir-fry eggplant like they do in Chinese restaurants. This vegetable is like a sponge, it soaks up oil as if you have not added enough. On the other hand, the Chinese restaurant version is delicious, but it is very rich in fat. I usually bake or steam my eggplant.

In Malaysia, my mother likes to steam her vegetables (green beans, cabbage and eggplant) when she is busy and eat them with sambal belachan, freshly ground with a mortar and pestle, and of course you always have rice to go with this meal. For a vegetarian meal, you may add fried tofu.

In this post, I serve my steamed eggplant with a sauce that I put together. The sauce is a common condiment in Indonesia. I recommend using this dish as a side dish if you need to have protein in your meal. You may serve it with another contrasting dish such as fried fish or fried chicken, or a similar dish such as steamed fish. Even rendang or another curry dish will go well with this dish. I also like simple stir-fried greens to go with it. Experiment and find out what you like.

Ingredients and Preparation:

1 or 2 eggplant(s): Cut into halves lengthwise. If eggplant is long, cut each half into 2 pieces to fit onto the plate for steaming. I use a stainless steel plate. Steam eggplant for 15-20 minutes.

2 shallots: Peel and slice thinly, then transfer into a bowl.

1 thai Chili: Cut chili into halves lengthwise. Remove seeds or keep seeds if you like it spicy. Use one hand to hold the stem when you are doing this. Slice chili thinly, then add it into the bowl with the shallots.

4 tsp. of Indonesian sweet soy sauce (Kecap Manis): (available at Oriental grocery stores) Add sweet soy sauce to the shallots and chili mixture. If you do not have the sweet soy sauce, you may use this mixture: in a separate bowl, combine 4 tsp. of soy sauce and 3-4 tsp. of white or brown sugar (adjust sugar amount according to your taste), stir until sugar melts, then add to the shallot and chili mixture.

Juice of 1/4 of a lime: Add lime juice to the shallot-chili-sweet soy sauce mixture. Stir sauce to mix well.

Serve sauce with the steamed eggplant.

Note: Indonesian sweet soy sauce is available online at efooddepot and indomart.

Spring Blossoms

2009-03-30T01:27:00.012-05:00

As you can see below, Spring has arrived in Saint Louis, Missouri. I have been out taking pictures of the beautiful flowers. I hope you enjoy them. In my last post, I shared with you some flower pictures as well. A note here to let you know that those flowers were from California. Pictures were taken by me when I was there in January, 2009. Spring came early in Southern California! Sorry for the confusion!

The flowers in this post are from Saint Louis. We have enjoyed spring weather since March 20-21 but on Saturday night this last weekend, a snow storm passed through here. As a result, on Sunday morning we had a much cooler and fresher air than the day before. The trees are still beautiful with their flowers. I hope the cooler weather stays here so the flowers can bloom longer in the tree.

Name of flowers:
Picture 1, 2, 3 and 4-blossoms of Bradford Pear tree
Picture 5, 6, and 7-blossoms of purple-leaved plum cherry tree
picture 8 and 9-crabapple tree

The pictures were taken before the storm.

~Happpy Spring Again!~

My Blog and Blue Flowers

2009-03-23T23:44:00.014-05:00

To my readers: A few days ago, I decided to move my blog to another address. But on second thought, I like my space here at blogspot. My apologies to those of you who came here and had to check out the other address. I hope it hasn't been too inconvenient. The other site is now closed for personal use and my blog's address remains the same as before:

http://www.bananablossomz.blogspot.com/

I do not have a recipe to post at this time, but I do have some pictures to share with you. I hope you like them.

Don't you like these Blue flowers? I don't know their name but they are just beautiful. The purple ones are gorgeous too.

I would like to have the print of these flowers on my skirt!

Happy Spring.

Turkey Soup

2009-03-11T01:14:00.029-05:00

When I was growing up in Medan, Indonesia, it was a treat for us kids to stay at our grandmother's house, whether it be for a day or two or a week; but she could only take in one kid at a time! When it was my turn, I always felt special as I got the attention from my grandmother and relatives all to myself, and......I got to eat my grandmother's food. She was a good cook; she came from an island off the western coast of Sumatra.

From those days of staying at my grandmother's, I still remember the taste of the many dishes that she cooked. One of them is her Beef Soup, which I will share with you here in the near future. Today I am sharing with you my own Turkey Soup, very much in the Indonesian style, influenced by my grandmother's cooking. I hope you will try making it, as it is really delicious and satisfying. As always, my recipe is only a guide. Please feel free to substitute chicken stock for turkey stock, but be sure to use bones for the stock.

Ingredients:

3 Turkey necks
3 cups of water
1 full tablespoon of whole peppercorns
2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 carrots, peel and cubed
1/2 cup of frozen green peas, thawed
Fried shallots
(Evenly slice the shallots and fry them in oil. I fry mine in shallow oil for health reasons, although in Indonesia fried shallots are normally deep-fried, yielding really crispy and even-colored shallots.....yum!)
Cilantro

Preparation:

Bring water to a boil in a soup pot. Add turkey necks and peppercorns into water to make the stock. When water returns to a boil, cover pot and turn heat down, low enough to keep water boiling slowly. Boil stock for an hour or until turkey meat is tender and no longer tasty. When stock is done, strain it to remove necks and peppercorns. Return strained turkey stock to soup pot. Bring stock back to a boil, add carrots to stock. Adjust heat to medium. Let it cook for 5 minutes, then add the potatoes and cook the vegetables until tender in medium heat (soup boiling gently). You do not want to cook soup at high heat as you will loose this delicious broth through evaporation. Add green peas at the very end as peas cook quickly. (If you are serving this soup to kids, you can omit the peas and it will be equally delicious without them.) Season soup sparingly with kosher salt, garnish with fried shallots and cilantro. Enjoy!

Below are pictures from my last vacation: Laguna Beach and Huntington Beach, Southern California.

Kailan and Oyster Mushrooms

2009-01-23T00:58:00.008-06:00

To my readers: Thank you for visiting my blog. I appreciate it very much even though sometimes you don't hear from me right away. Tomorrow, I will be leaving for my vacation. Before leaving, I would like to wish my readers who observe Chinese New Year: "A HAPPY & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR". To the rest of my readers: "PEACE" to you always.

Here's a simple and healthy dish that I would like to share with you in this post. It's Kailan stir-fried with fresh oyster mushrooms, flavored with ginger. It is my own recipe, and I am very sure you will love this combination of vegetables. The oyster mushrooms are a treat. I hope you can try it sometime.

Kailan and Oyster Mushrooms

Ingredients:

Kailan (Chinese broccoli leaves, available in your Chinese Grocery. I use half of a packet that it comes in, or about 5 to 8 bunches, leaves and stems). I hand-shred the vegetables as you can see in the photos.

6-10 Oyster mushrooms (depending on the size)

1/4 cup Chinese rice wine

2 tablespoons julienned fresh ginger

Ground white pepper

2 tablespoons Olive oil (this is my healthy dish, so I use Olive oil; you can use vegetable oil if you prefer)

Preparation:

Add olive oil to heated frying pan. When oil is hot (not too hot as olive oil has low smoking point), add ginger. Shake pan to brown ginger a bit, then add vegetables and mushrooms. Shake pan over fire to distribute heat evenly. When vegetables and mushrooms start to sweat, add rice wine and keep shaking pan. About a minute after, cover pan and reduce heat to medium. Let vegetables simmer in the wine for a few minutes until vegetables soften (about 3 minutes). Sprinkle ground white pepper on vegetables and serve dish with a bowl of Jasmine white rice. Enjoy!

Note: I find it is not necessary to add salt to this dish. If you wish, season dish accordingly to your liking.

Pasta Albanella

2009-01-11T23:19:00.012-06:00

To my readers: I must apologize for not having written sooner since my first post. I have been traveling quite a bit since the Thanksgiving holiday, but my days have once again returned to normal. Today I have a delicious recipe to share with you. Do you like restaurant recipes? I do....very much. Whenever I dine at a restaurant, I often try to figure out how this/that dish is put together. Alright, here in Saint Louis, where I live, there is an area in midtown that is known as "the Hill". It is a community of Italian immigrants that have settled in Saint Louis since the late 19th century. Today, when you go to "the Hill", you will find many Italian restaurants, grocers, delis, bakeries, etc. One of our favorite restaurants there is Zia's. This pasta recipe comes from that restaurant. Please note that I have modified the recipe a bit. For example, the recipe calls for 3 oz. of mushrooms, I changed it to 8 oz. of mushrooms. I love mushrooms so I added more. You can definitely use different kinds of mushrooms that you can find. Here I used the normal white English mushrooms. Instead of 8 jumbo shrimps, I used more shrimps of medium size as that's what I had at the time. This is really a delicious dish. Rich and flavorful. Pair it with a Pinot Grigio like Santa Margherita and you will have a special dining experience at home. Enjoy!

Pasta Albanella

Ingredients:

2 oz. Butter
2 tablespoons Brandy
1 pint Heavy Cream
8 oz. Mushrooms
3 Shallots
2 oz. freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
6 jumbo shrimps or 15 medium shrimps
8 oz. linguine

Preparation:

Cook pasta and set aside, coating noodles lightly in oil. Saute shrimp, shallots and mushrooms in the butter for about 3 minutes. Add the brandy and heavy cream. Bring the mixture to a boil and add the pasta. Bring mixture back to a boil, add Parmesan and toss until the cheese has blended in to the cream.

Braised Chicken in Sweet Soy Sauce

2008-11-06T22:34:00.028-06:00

Hello Readers: Welcome to my blog.........

This is the very first time I am writing a blog. I hope to share with you some of the recipes that I have in my collection plus the daily cooking that I do in my kitchen. My background is Chinese-Indonesian-Malaysian. Currently, I am living in the United States with my husband (P). I enjoy foods from many different cultures. When I come across a good food, I like to find the recipe and try to duplicate it in my own kitchen. Similary, when I come across a good recipe, I like to collect it and make it. Lastly, I like to cook foods from the countries in which I grew up: Indonesia and Malaysia. Since I do not have any pictures to accompany this post at this time, I will share with you a recipe in print only. I hope you like it.

Braised chicken in Sweet Soy Sauce

This dish I cook it often for our dinner when I am short of time. It is simple and delicious . Serve it with a bowl of rice and steamed vegetables for a complete meal.

On high heat, add 2 tablespoons of Olive oil onto a saute pan or skillet. When oil is hot, brown a pack of chicken drumsticks (5-7 pieces). Please make sure chicken pieces are thoroughly patted dry so they can brown successfully. When chicken pieces are browned on all sides, Add Vermouth, pour a good amount to cover the surface of the pan or skillet. Reduce heat to medium low and cover pan/skillet to cook chicken in Vermouth for 2 minutes. Then proceed to add the sweet soy sauce (ABC Brand Kecap Manis-Sedang, available in Oriental grocery stores), about 4 tablespoons (you can adjust the amount, if you like it more or less). Cover pan again to braise chicken in the sweet soy sauce and Vermouth for another 3-5 minutes. Shake pan/skillet occasionally while braising so chicken can cook evenly. Liquid will reduce and thicken as chicken is braised in the sauce. Chicken is done when you insert meat with a fork and its juices run clear or its interior meat is no longer pink. Season dish with ground black or white pepper; and garnish it with finely sliced green onions and chopped cilantro.

Note: I use olive oil for health reasons, you can certainly use other types of cooking oil, it will be equally fine. Kecap Manis-Sedang means Sweet Soy Sauce-Moderately Sweet. It has a good balance of salt and sweet. On the other hand if you use the Kecap Manis-Manis, this soy sauce is sweet and you might want to add a little kosher salt to the dish at the end to balance the sweetness. This is my every day cooking dish - I cook according to taste without measurement. If I follow a recipe, I will provide the measurement. You can contact me if you need specific measurement.
If you are serving this dish to children, serve green onions and cilantro on the side!