Seasaltwithfood

First of all, I would like to wish my family, friends and readers a very "Happy New Year"! I can't believe it! Another year has gone by so quickly! Is it a good thing? Who knows, right? Well, this evening we had Hot pot or Steamboat for dinner. It's rather cold today, so I have decided to cook Tom Yum soup for the hot pot. You can get the soup recipes from my previous posts here. I have doubled up the recipes and added an extra cup of chicken stock. I cooked some rice noodles, so everyone can have them with the soup. Let's see, I have Big Dungeness Crabs, River Prawns, fish dumplings, fish balls, tofu, Enoki mushrooms and some vegetables. Guess, my ingredients were pretty simple but that's how my family likes their hot pot :) So, have a good feast everyone! Don't forget the Champagne! Cheers!!!

I'm sure every kid or even adult would love to have some jelly or jello. You can serve this pineapple jelly as a dessert or starters. Of course, you can use any kinds of fruits for this jelly. I'm making some for this New Year Eve's! Pineapple Jelly Ingredients 1 tin 540 ml Pineapple Chunks, reserved the juice 2 tsp Agar Agar Powder 2 to 3 Tbsp of Sugar 2 cups of Water  2 Pandanus Leaves, knotted Method In a saucepan, combine the reserved pineapple juice (you should have about 1 cup, if not top it up with some water to reach 1 cup), water and pandanus leaves. Bring it to a boil and add the agar agar powder and sugar. Simmer until the agar agar powder dissolves. Then let the mixture cool slightly. Strain the mixture and fill them up with jelly mould and top it with pineapple chunks. Then set it a side and keep it chilled. Serve cold.

First of all, I want to say Yay! This is my 100th posting in exactly 3 months!

Hey! Merry Christmas everybody and have Happy Holidays to all my friends and family :) Okay, this is what we had for our Christmas Eve's dinner. This year, I'm staying away from the old tradition, turkey and stuffs. I'm not a big fan of turkey anyway! As a matter of fact, this month alone, we went to quite a number of parties and turkey's were always served, right on the table! Can you imagine having turkey since Canadian and American Thanksgiving and now? I really can't take it anymore! LOL!! Well, since it's so cold and snowy out there, I have decided to make Osso Buco for tonight's dinner. It's a comfort food to me. I made some mashed potatoes and risotto Milanese to go with it. Dinner was perfect and everyone enjoyed the meal. This recipe was adapted and slightly tweaked from the Dean and Deluca Cookbook, which is one of my favorite cookbooks. Enjoy! Osso Buco Ingredients 1/2 cup Flour 1 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper 5 Tbsp Olive Oil 4 ce

I know everyone has their own unique way of cooking fried rice. I guess, the most important is to have a "quick" hands on cooking on a very high heat. Well, you may noticed my cooking style might be a little bit different from the others. But, I bet you will succeed using my method! It works all the time, perfect bowl of fried rice. Have a go! Pineapple Fried Rice Ingredients 5 cups of Cooked Cold Rice, preferably overnight 1 1/2 cups of tin Pineapple Chunks, drained 150 g Prawns, shelled and deveined 1/3 cup Sweet Corn Kernel 1/3 cup Frozen Sweet Peas, thawed and drained 1/3 cup Roasted Cashew Nuts 30 g Raisins 2 Large Eggs, lightly beaten 1 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce 2 cloves Garlic, chopped 2 Thai Birds Eye Chili, chopped 2 stalks Scallions, chopped 2 Tbsp Peanut Oil Ground White Pepper Sea salt to taste Method In a medium pan, heat 1/2 Tbsp of Peanut Oil, and cook the egg. When cooled slightly, finely shred the eggs. Set aside. In a large wok with a low heat. Add 1/2 Tbsp of P

This lemony tartlet recipes came from one of my favorite cookbooks, Falling Cloudberries by Tessa Kiros. I have used some her recipes for my cooking and so far, they are pretty good. In fact, I am gonna try a couple more recipes from her book. Btw, I have reduced the sugar slightly for the lemon curd. (Not much of a sweet tooth family here!) Also, you may want to double up the recipes. They are really good! Lemon Curd Tartlets Ingredients Pastry 70 g (2 ½ oz) Butter, slightly softened 30 g (1 oz) Sugar 70 g (2 ½ oz) Plain (All-Purpose) Flour 25 g (1 oz) Ground Almond A Pinch of Salt Lemon Curd 75 g (2 ½ oz) Butter 3 Eggs, lightly beaten 230 g (1 cup) Sugar Juice and Finely Grated Rind Of 2 Lemons Method To make the pastry, cream together the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon. Add the flour, ground almonds and a pinch of salt and mix well, using your hands when it becomes a little stiff, until the pastry comes together. Flatten slightly, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at

I like eggplants a lot but, they do need quite a bit of oil to cook. They absorb oils like sponge!! So, instead of chopping and sauteing them in oil, I have decided to roast the whole eggplant with only a few drizzles of oil. It's much more healthier to cook this way. Eggplant With Chili Bean Sauce (Printable Recipe) Ingredients 1 Medium Eggplant 2 Tbsp Toban Chili Bean Sauce 200g Prawns, shelled, deveined and chopped 2 Shallots, sliced 2 Cloves Garlic, chopped 1 tsp Oyster Sauce 2 tsp Chinese Cooking Wine 2 tsp Light Soy Sauce 2 tsp Dark Soy Sauce 2 tsp Sesame Oil 2 tsp Corn Flour 1 Tbsp Peanut Oil 2 stalk Scallions, chopped 1 Tbsp Sugar 1/2 cup Water Ground White Pepper Tin Foil Method Preheat the oven at 205˚C (400˚F). Drizzle the eggplant with some peanut oil and wrap in a tin foil. Roast the eggplant for about 20 minutes. Then open the tin foil and roast the eggplant for another 5 to 10 minutes until they are soft. Meanwhile, marinate the prawns with light soy sauce, dark soy

How can I have a Japanese meal without the good old Agadeshi tofu, right? Simple and refreshing. Anyway, as I'm typing out this post, my daughter said to me, "Wow! I have been hearing so much about dashi, soy sauce and mirin this week!" Ha! I guess a little bit too much Japanese cooking for this week. Well, at least my family enjoyed the meal. Agadeshi Tofu (Printable Recipe) Ingredients 2 Packet Soft Tofu Corn Flour Some Grated Ginger 1 Red Chili, minced 1 Egg, Lightly beaten Some Bonito Flakes 1 cup Dashi Stock 1 tsp Mirin 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce 1 Tbsp Sake Method Cut the tofu into 6 or 8 squares for each packet. Drain the tofu well on a paper towel. Prepare the sauce. Combine the dashi stock, mirin, soy sauce and sake. Bring it to a boil and set it aside. Heat the oil over a moderate heat. Dip the tofu into the lightly beaten egg, then coat with corn flour and shake off any excess flour. Deep fry the tofu until light golden in color. Make sure to fry in small batches. Dish o

I bought some nice looking scallops in their shells, and for the first time I forgot to ask the fishmonger to remove and clean them up properly for me! Hey, turns out it's even better to do it yourself! Well, the scallops might not look perfect but, they are really, really fresh and tasty after cooking. Can you imagine? I can still see and feel the scallops moving while trying cleaning them? I did startle a little bit at first, but it was all okay when I got the hang of it after removing few more scallops from their shells. And the thinking of gobble them up too! LOL! The shells are so pretty, so I have decided to bake the scallops in them. Another thing, I noticed the color of the roe are different too. I wonder why? I like the darker color ones, they are tastier. Baked Scallops Ingredients 8 Scallops in their shells, cleaned 2 Tbsp Japanese Soy Sauce 1 Tbsp Mirin 1 Tbsp grated Ginger 3 Tbsp Peanut Oil Method Preheat the oven at 180˚C (350˚F). Arrange the scallops in their shells

These beef rolls are so delicious! You can serve them as starters or even as a main course. This dish is definitely on my list for my next party. It's so easy to prepare and cook in less than 20 minutes! Japanese Beef Rolls Ingredients 8 thinly slices of Beef (sirloin) 8 stalks of Asparagus, trimmed 3 stalks of Scallions, halved 100g Enoki Mushrooms, trimmed 3 Tbsp Japanese Soy Sauce 3 Tbsp Mirin 1 Tbsp Cooking Oil Toothpicks or small skewers Method Preheat the oven to 400˚F (205˚C). Oil a baking tray. Prepare the basting sauce. Mix the soy and mirin. Set aside. Lay the beef slices, place the asparagus, scallions and mushrooms. Roll them tightly, and secure with toothpicks. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes and baste the beef rolls with the sauce. Repeat the basting every 5 minutes until the beef rolls are cooked. Boil the remaining sauce lightly and brush the beef rolls again. To serve, remove the toothpicks. Top it with some chopped scallions! DELISH!

We love having cold buckwheat noodles, especially the green tea type. I find them very refreshing especially with some wasabi. Ingredients 400g of Dried Green Tea Noodles 3 stalks Scallions, chopped Toasted Japanese Seaweeds, shredded Wasabi Sauce 250ml Dashi Stock 350ml Water 4 Tbsp Mirin 3 Tbsp Japanese Soy Sauce Tempura Assorted Vegetables, such as Okra, Aubergine, Sweet Potato, Bell Peppers and Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms Prawns 250g Tempura Flour 400 ml Cold Water Some grated Ginger and Daikon Oil for frying Method In a large pot of boiling water, add the noodles and cook until al dente. Drain and rinse the noodles with cold water. Then drain well. Prepare the sauce by combining the dashi stock,mirin, soy sauce and water. Bring it to a boil and set aside to cool. Mix the tempura batter and deep fry the vegetables and prawns in a hot oil. Make sure to cook it in small batches. Deep fry until crispy. Drain on a paper towel. To serve the cha soba, top it with toasted seaweed, dipping s

Recipe adapted from the Dean & Deluca cookbook . Buffalo Chicken Wings Ingredients 24 Chicken Wings (about 4 pounds), tips removed Salt and Pepper to taste 1 quart Vegetable Oil 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) Unsalted Butter 1/4 cup Louisiana Hot Sauce, or more to taste 1 Tbsp White Vinegar Celery Sticks as an accompaniment Blue Cheese Dressing as accompaniment Method Cut the wings in half, and season them well with salt and pepper. Heat oil to 375˚. Fry the wings, in 2 batches, until crisp and golden brown, about 10 minutes for each batch. Remove and drain on paper towels. Melt the butter in a saucepan, and add the hot sauce and vinegar. Stir to blend. Dip the wings into the sauce, and place wings on a serving plate. Pour any extra sauce over wings. Serve with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing.

Fancy some Nachos for a little afternoon snack? Try this easy Nachos recipe. The Nachos were layered with kidney beans, salsa, pickled Jalapeno peppers, and with lots of Monterey Jack cheese. Do serve the Nachos with some guacamole. Enjoy! Nachos (Printable Recipe) Ingredients 1 Bag (about 350-380g) Tortilla Chips 200 ml Prepared Tomato Salsa or 3 Roma Tomatoes, seeded and diced 1 Cup of tin Kidney Beans, drained ½ Cup of sliced Pickled Jalapeno Peppers, drained 350 g of Monterey Jack Cheese (or Jalapeno Jack Cheese), shredded Guacamole Chopped Fresh Coriander Method Preheat the oven at 190˚C (375˚F). In a large pizza pan, assemble a layer of the tortilla chips. Toss some cheese on top of the tortilla chips. Then scattered some salsa or tomatoes, kidney beans, and Jalapeno peppers. Repeat until all the ingredients are used up. Bake in the oven for about 12 to 12 minutes. Serve immediately with additional salsa, guacamole and top with some chopped fresh coriander, if desired.

The idea of baking this cake came from Tessa Kiros cookbook. I made a few adjustments to the measurements to suit my smaller Bundt pan and added some cinnamon to the apple cake. Who doesn't like apple with cinnamon, right? To make it easier, instead of slicing and arranging the apples, I cut them into smaller chunks. Just fit the apples into the Bundt pan and when you invert the pan, the apples will be on top. I am very happy with the result. The apple cake was moist and yummy! Apple Cake Ingredients 4 Apples, skinned, core and cut into small chunks 2 tsp Cinnamon 3 Tbsp Fine Granulated Sugar 1 stick (1/2 cup) Unsalted Butter, softened 160g of Fine Granulated Sugar 4 Large Eggs 1 tsp Vanilla Extract 1 tsp Sea Salt 1 Tbsp Baking Powder 250g Cake Flour, sift 1/2 cup of Milk Method Preheat the oven to 180˚C (350˚F). Grease and flour the baking pan. Combine the apple chunks with cinnamon and sugar. Set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder until well

Another simple home cooked meal and yet, it was so satisfying! I am using the Hue Rice Sticks from Vietnam. I have tried several brands of thick rice sticks but this particular brand called Three Fish, is one of my favorites for now. When cooked, they are chewy and al dente! Just the way I like my noodles or pasta. Rice Noodle Soup With Seafood Ingredients 10 cups of Chicken Stock 300g Prawns, shelled 350g Manila Clams 200g Squid, cleaned, cut into rings 400g Spinach 400g Vietnamese Rice Sticks, washed 2 Tbsp Deep Fried Shallots 2 stalk Scallions, chopped Sea salt to taste Ground White Pepper Method In a large pot with boiling water, cook the dried rice sticks for about 10 minutes, or until they are cooked and al dente. Drain and mix the rice noodles with 1 Tbsp of oil to prevent them from sticking to each other. Set aside. Bring the chicken stock to a boil, add the prawns, vegetables, clams and squid. Season with sea salt. To serve, ladle the soup over the rice noodles and top it wit

This is a simple bowl of winter melon soup. To me, most of the Chinese style soups are quite easy to make. The key ingredient is the broth. With good quality chicken, pork or beef stock, you can add any kind of meat, seafood or vegetable of your choice. Then you will definitely have a fantastic bowl of soup. Winter Melon Soup (Printable Recipe) Ingredients 5 cups of Chicken Stock 1 Kg of Winter Melon, skinned, seeded and cut into 1 1/2 inch cube 4 good quality Dried Scallops 2 slices of Ginger Sea salt to taste Method Soak the dried scallops with boiling water for about 5 minutes and drain. Bring the chicken stock to a boil and add in the winter melon, ginger and dried scallops. Simmer for about 20 minutes on a low heat. Season with sea salt and serve warm.

Thats it! I am now obsessed with Vietnamese food! I am out of control! Ha ha! Just kidding:) Anyway, according to the writer of this cookbook, in Vietnam, there are people who would travel a great distances each morning just to get a perfect bowl of beef stew. At breakfast, thit bo kho (beef stew) is served with a French baguette, but at other meals it is usually accompanied by noodles or steamed rice. As for me, I just had it for brunch. So, I served the beef stew with baguette. It was simply delicious! Well, I strongly recommend this cookbook, "Pleasure Of The Vietnamese Table" by Mai Pham. I have tested many of her recipes and all of them turned out great each time. Beef Stew With Star Anise And Basil Ingredients 3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil 2 Tbsp Annatto Seeds 2 Tbsp chopped Shallots 1/2 Tbsp chopped Garlic 1 lb Beef Chuck Roast, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes 3 cups fresh water, Chicken Stock or store bought low sodium chicken broth, boil 2 Lemongrass stalks, lightly crushed with