Guinea Pigs!

I invited a few of my girl friends over tonight to be guinea pigs and test out a different flavor risotto! I chose pumpkin since.. 'tis the season for pumpkin everything! (I still haven't had a piece of pumpkin pie yet!) I steamed half of the pumpkin in the microwave, pureed it and pan fried the other diced half in butter. Made the basic risotto with onions, garlic, white wine, chicken broth and some Parmesan cheese. Added the pumpkin puree and cubes... 30 min of standing in front of the risotto, babysitting the pan.. voila! The sweetness from the pumpkin, nuttiness of the arborio rice made an interesting combination with the butter seared scallops. I think I might have to swap this dish from the butternut squash salad i planned on making for Thanksgiving.

Photo courtesy of G!

Cooking with Friends!

Had another cooking date.. this time with D! D made Vietnamese spring rolls and I made mushroom risotto and baked lobsters with garlic and butter! I wanted to make risotto cause I impulsively bought the Le Creuset risotto pot I've been wanting for years! The risotto turned out perfect! The rice was perfectly cooked with a bite! The mushrooms were nutty with a faintest hint of cognac! Yum! As for the lobster.... I am proud to say that I've perfected the skills of killing and breaking them down! I won't say how I kill them on here, since my friends usually give me the yuck face when I tell them! Let's just say... I do it the way my mom does it! Oh, and of course... as always, lobster congee (not shown) so I don't waste any bits of it!

Baked Lobster with Garlic and Butter

Mushroom Risotto

D's Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Ground Pork and Shrimp

The Pot I Bought!!!

Lastly, one more week till Turkey Day!! Got my menu all sorted out! Hopefully the pictures will turn out okay so I can post them! Can't wait to spend the holiday with the fam!... minus Jen =(

Paella Night

After some week long brainstorming of what to make with B on our cooking date, I've decided on some paella. I love the taste of the yellow saffron flavored rice! And with my favorite type of protein... it really hits the spot! Due to the size of the pan, the rice on the outer ring of the pan was a little under cooked. Overall though the center of the rice and the seafood turned out great! B suggested on cooking it in the oven versus stove top for the evenness next time! Great way to end the weekend! Nom!

Trip to Europe

It's been a long time! I felt like I needed to share some of the photos that I've taken while my travel to Europe. This time around I was able to use some of my acquired techniques over the past year taking photography class and also the prime lens that I've purchased. Definitely should think about upgrading the camera body since the D50 isn't capable of taking any high speed SD card!

This spontaneous last minute trip was planned two weeks before flying out! I felt like I needed to do something, go somewhere during the two weeks in between jobs! Pretty much the boldest thing that I've ever done so far in my life! Thanks to AJH! Also wanted to thank our Paris tour guide JT for taking us around. It was definitely a close call getting our phone/camera taken by that damn 12 year old little boy!

Paris was as beautiful as I remembered and London was just amazing! Here are just a sneak peak of some of the photos that I've taken!

Matcha Mochi Cakes

To my fellow food lovers… sorry I’ve been lagging on my food posts. I am currently taking a photography workshop and will probably be uploading some of my homework photos soon! Here are some pictures of some Matcha Mochi Cakes I made for a friend’s luau party!

Zong Zi

One of my favorite Chinese holidays is the Dragon Boat Festival. Not only can you watch the dragon boat race, you can also eat an endless supply of zong zi 粽子. That is... if you're in Taiwan! I grew up helping my grandmother making these triangular leaf wrapped goodies! Every region of China has a slightly different kind of zong zi. My zong zi, my mama's style is made with round sticky rice with peanuts, shiitake mushrooms, pork belly, salted duck egg yolk.

Braised Peanuts with Soy Sauce and Star Anise

Braised Pork Belly

Shiitake Mushroom cooked in some Pork Belly Braising Liquid

I first soaked the round short grain glutinous rice over night in water. Steamed the rice in the bamboo steamer with a cheese cloth underneath it for 20 minutes.



Stir the rice with some stir fried fried shallots and dried shrimp and drizzle the soy based braising liquid from the pork belly into the rice and stir to combine.


Then comes the wrapping...


Steaming the zong zi for 20 minutes and voila!


And by request, here are some sweet potato gnocchi with green bean soup 綠豆芋圓湯, a Taiwanese dessert. The sweet potato gnocchis are made with steamed mashed sweet potato mixed with sweet potato flour.

Cooking Party

I love meeting friends that enjoy food as much as I do. Last week, a few of us decided to have a cooking party. There wasn't really a theme to it, but there was an obvious Asian theme with a few tweaks on what looked good in the market. On the menu was some Mango Salsa, Sushi Rolls, Spicy Tuna on Crispy Rice, Pickled Cucumbers, and Fish Pockets with XO sauce.

We really centered our menu around the Spicy Tuna with Crispy Rice, a recipe that I found online during my blog reading session. The Crispy Rice is sushi rice shaped into these rectangular balls and pan fried. The tuna is mixed in with equal parts of mayo and sriracha sauce. The sauce has a nice kick to it and really was super easy to make. The rice was crispy on the outside but still moist and soft in the inside. This was really yummy!

J's Mango Salsa

Spicy Tuna on Crispy Sushi Rice [J + D + A]

J + D

J's Cucumber Rolls

Tilapia w/ XO sauce

D's Cucumbers pickled with Rice Vinegar & Wasabi

There are definitely more cooking parties to come. Our next one is an American theme... Mmmm.. Mac N Cheese!