Prima Taste Mix--Laksa

I've previously tried Prima Taste's Hokkien Mee and Chili Crab, but I wasn't impressed. Last week, my dear aunt from Singapore bought me the Laksa mix (amongst other goodies) and I decided to give it a try. It was delicious! I especially liked the inclusion of laksa leaves and sambal.



I added some cockles (haam), fishballs (!), bean sprouts, and prawns. I was a taste from home.

~Ray

Hokkien Mee

Guess what I finally found yesterday? Do Do Fishballs! Instead of going to yet another Ranch 99 (I've already been to 3 different ones), my aunt suggested Hong Kong market in Montery Park. Good call! There was an entire frozen section dedicated to Do Do Fishballs. I bought two packs, and couldn't not wait to try it out. So, I decided to whip up hokkien mee from scratch, with the recipe from Sim Cooks. The last time I made hokkien mee, it was with the Prima Mix, which basically contains some shrimp stock. This time, I just made the shrimp stock myself with saved up shrimp head (per Rasa Malaysia's advice).



All in all, it wasn't bad. Perhaps the next time, I'll use more stock and less noodles.

~Ray

Crush

We recently celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. We also have another reason to celebrate -- We are expecting our first child in Nov. which we are very excited about.

For this special night we went Crush in Seattle. It was featured in Rachel Ray's Tasty Travels and I've read lots of great reviews on City Search. Crush is owned by a couple, Jason & Nicole Wilson who converted a house into a cozy resturant. I love the ambience of the place and the staff were friendly. The food was fantastic!

For starters, we order Crispy Sauteed Sweetbreads & Pinot Sauce. yum!
For entrees, I ordered Seared Sea Scallops & Fuyu Persimmon with Sweet Onion Risotto. I forgot to tell the server to make sure the scallops to be well done since I can't have rare seafood right now -- but our server was thoughtful enough to come back to our table and ask. I LOVE this dish. I was worried that the scallops would be too rubbery if well done but it was perfectly done and the risotto was wonderfully creamy, tangy and sweet.
My husband had the Slow Braised Short Ribs & Yukon Potato Puree. It was savory and tender. The sauce was amazing!
Desserts - Parfait

Noodles with Pork & Preserved Mustard

I love preserved mustard...mostly because it doesn't go bad and it's great with soup or stir-fry. One of my favorite ways to prepare it is with ground pork. This is a quick and easy dish with some left over ground pork and egg noodles.

Ingredients - For 2 servings
2 bundles of egg noodles
Soy Sauce
Sesame Oil
1 clove of garlic
1/2 pound of pork
1 pack of preserved mustard greens with chili oil(you can buy the ones pre-sliced)
Salt & Pepper
Fish Sauce

Cook the egg noodles in boiling water. I like to dunk it in cold water after it's cooked to get rid of the starchy water and back into the hot water for a second.
In serving bowl, I mix some soy sauce and sesame oil with the egg noodle to season.

In a wok, heat up chopped garlic, then add ground pork. Once the pork browns, add chopped preserved mustard green. Season with salt, pepper and fish sauce. Adjust seasoning to your liking. I learned from my grandma so it's hard to figure out the exact measurements. Top the noodles with the ground pork & preserved mustard green mixture. I had some left over kai land which I cooked in boiled water and added to the noodles as well.

~ Mina

Yakisoba

I love trying to figure out what to do with left over ingredients. I had left over chicken, cabbage (left over from Okonomiyaki), You Chai and yakisoba noodles (which I used when I made Hokkien Mee). So I decide to make Yakisoba. I've never actually made Yakisoba from scratch...I usually just buy the pre-packed stuff. However, ever since I found out how much sodium there are in those cup noodles stuff, I try to avoid as best as I can. I also didn't have the right Yakisoba sauce so I improvised and used Okonomiyaki sauce which taste pretty similar.

It was pretty easy to prepare. The chicken was already pre-cooked so I just stir-fried the cabbage and you chai with garlic, added the chicken and noodles. Salt & pepper to season and 2 tbsp of Okonomiyaki sauce and 1 tbsp of soy sauce. Mix and serve. I garnish with pickled ginger and sprinkled green nori (seaweed commonly used on Okonomiyaki & Yakisoba).

Taadaa! My version of Yakisoba... And it only took 15 minutes~!

~ Mina

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese style savory pancake. Our mom made this often when we were little and I kinda got sick of it so she stopped making it. After being away for from home for a long time, I started to miss Okonomiyaki and was really excited when I found an Okonomiyaki place in L.A. But then it closed down. When we moved to Seattle, I decided to learn how to make the dish from my mom. It turns out to be fairly easy and you can substitute any of type of meat or seafood.

Ingredients:
1 Pack of Okonomiyaki Mix (any brand you can find)
1 Egg
1 1/2 Cup of water
1 head of Cabbage - Thinly sliced
Diced prawns
Thin slices of Pork or Bacon
Japanese pickled ginger
Okonomiyaki Brown Sauce
Japanese Mayonaise

Put the Okonomiyaki mix in a big bowl. Add 1 egg and water into the mix and stir. The mixture should be the consistency of a pancake (actually slightly thicker). Fold in sliced cabbage and prawns. Heat the griddle and add a couple of slices of pork. Ladle on the Okonomiyaki mixture on top of the pork. When both sides of the Okonomiyaki is brown, it's done. Top the Okonomiyaki with Okonomiyaki sauce, mayonaise and sprinkle some pickled ginger.

* You can use a flat saucepan or griddle to cook the Okonomiyaki. I use our Cusinart Griddle because it cooks the top & bottom of the Okonomiyaki at the same time and it's great! Flipping the Okonomiyaki on a flat saucepan is pretty hard.

~ Mina