Category Archives: homemade

How to make lychee soju?

by

I see people google this question all the time~ so i’ll help answer it real nice and easy..

ingredients:
– 1 can of lychee (at any Asian supermarket)
– 1 bottle of soju

instructions:
Open the can of lychee and pour the whole can into the blender. Puree it until it turns into juice. Then by 1:1 ratio, mix the lychee juice with the soju. That’s it! You can adjust the amount of juice depending on taste. So far I enjoy 50% lychee juice and 50% soju 🙂

Ps. lychee juice with malibu is delicious too!

related: https://food2wear.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/lychee-soju/

Kim.chi fried rice.?

by

So trying to make this quick b/c it’s 1am!!!?!? omg.. ok sooo if you love fried rice and have a strange liking to kimchi, I recommend kimchi fried rice! Yes, you can get it at restaurants but you can also make it at home!

Ingredients:

  • -spoonful of minced garlic
  • -diced ham
  • -bean sprouts
  • -egg
  • -refrigerated rice
  • -KIMCHI!!! (you may choose to cut it up into smaller pieces)

proportion is really up to you.. if u like more meat, then put more meat in.  Of course you can also substitute ham or w/e with ingredients you like, but I just find this combo to work very well.

Instructions:

  1. Heat up your pan… doot bi doot bi do~ be sure to put a generous amount of oil, enough to coat your pan.  Once it’s heated, put in the garlic, watch it! So it doesn’t burn! Make sure to gently swirl your pan a little to get the garlic flavor everywhere.
  2. Next, put in your ingredients like ham and beansprouts! Usually ham is pre cooked.. so you just have to wait for the beansprouts to be cooked to soft and clear.  This also depends on what kind of texture you like.  If you prefer to have a crunch in your bite, then you don’t have to cook it thoroughly.
  3. Put in the rice! Again, the ratio of rice to ingredients is up to you.. if you’re more of a ricey person, then add more rice! so yeah, you know… mix the rice with the ham and etc… it’s probably lumpy so you have to de-lump it to retrieve the grain texture of fried rice…
  4. Next, I like to spread my fried rice.. and leave a hole in the middle– kind of like a donut shape– and that’s where I crack my egg! So do that, while it’s sizzling, sprinkle in some salt~ and then take your chopsticks or spatula and stir the egg! Like what you would do to make scrambled egg 😀 (wish I have a visual for this step) once the egg is 80-90% solidified, mix it in with your rice.
  5. Lastly, add in the kimchi!!! You don’t really need to add too much… what’s important is actually the sauce in the kimchi jar aka kimchi juice~ so pour some in if you have some to spare~ mix it all up, let it hit up a little for like 1-2 minutes, and then you’re done! 😀

Thanks for reading! 😀

ZZZZzzzz time!

a midnight snack that won’t make me fat

by

As I’ve shared before, I love to eat .. and I tend to get hungry very often.  But just like every other girl, I am afraid that I’ll eat too much and I’ll gain weight and then my boyfriend won’t like me anymore!! ;_; ok. ok. I’m going too far. 😛 You get the idea… So anyways, I always get hungry right around bedtime.  It is absolutely the worst habit to get into… but when a girl’s hungry, a girl has got to eat! In order to make myself feel less guilty tonight, I snacked on this!

Salad with ham + 1/2 croissant = I will not get fat! 😀

Now there is actually more to this post than my insecurity ranting on the surface :P.  As I’m sure you know, the typical American diet often lacks daily servings of veggies.  Even when you think you got your portion, I still think it is not enough.  The best way to stay healthy is to get more veggies than meat.  I try to reach the ratio of 2:1, meaning for every bite of meat, I want to eat AT LEAST 2 bites of veggies.  Hence, the late night salad.  It is a great chance to catch up and double the intake of veggies.  Plus, veggie consists of mostly water content and a key ingredient in helping you have a smooth excretion process.

Key dressing: I am using the creamy caesar dressing– you might think, if one really cares about health, then one should use low fat or at least not creamy… But come on, let’s admit it, low fat is no fun… life is short! Have to enjoy every moment of it with tasty food 🙂 I know creamy is not the greatest, BUT! there is a way to counter attack that, I squeeze fresh lemon juice and mix it with the salad dressing.  I have a strange affinity to lemon juice…?? I add it to everything.. salad… pho… fried calamari… fried seafood… my tea…. yeah, also lemon has mucho! vitamin C and it helps break down those fatty acids!  Anywho, you’ve heard it before, don’t drench your salad, use just enough to get a taste of flavor in every bite.  Add little by little! 🙂

I don’t know why but felt extra hungry today.. So I added more ham.. I usually prefer to eat a no-meat salad.  But I’ll let you know right now, eating a salad with no protein DOES NOT fill you up!! To ensure I won’t remain hungry after the salad, I got half a croissant too. Yum~~

One important point to remember if you are interested in losing weight is that not eating is not the only method.  Not eating what you desire will only increase your craving.  If you are unable to suppress your inner beast, you will result in the opposite of your initial intention.  Thus, the key is to eat! with moderation.  For example, the croissants looked mighty tasty on my dining table… I could wait until morning and eat.. but I want to eat now.. Ok, no problem.  I could eat a WHOLE croissant, but I chose to eat half.  Compromise!!  Also, PATIENCE is the ultimate factor in winning this long battle against yourself! 🙂 Like the story of the turtle and hare, “slow and steady wins the race”.

Ps. I’m not just saying this b/c… I can :P.. this is actual talk from experience… I lost 15 lbs in 2 years time and have been able to keep it off without dramatic changes in my lifestyle and diet. I eat fried chicken with joy and satisfaction ^_^ v

Lastly, I finished my snack with a hot green tea latte~ yum yum (you can purchase this in most Asian supermarket, it is an instant beverage with hot water)

Now I will do some yoga moves!! 😀 😀 exercise is good for your body!

Thanks for reading 🙂

recent discoveries of the old

by

I’m one of those coffee addicts and no doubt spend more money on caffeinated drinks than I really should.  However, I don’t know where I’ve been all this time, I was introduced to this greentea frappacino at one of the ubiquitous Starbucks today!  It is so refreshing on a summer day.  Nice and cooling but not too heavy or filling.  Definitely one of the awesomest things I’ve come across in a while thanks to a friend.  🙂  I hope the summer won’t end, so I can continue getting this! 😀

In other news, my first time making Omu-rice today! I was first reminded of the recipe from a youtube clip.  God I love youtube cooking inspirations.  It is a tomato sauce fried rice wrapped inside a layer of egg (as you can see).  It’s a very appetizing and fun recipe because you get to decorate/draw with ketchup! lol Unfortunately, I burned the egg a little… lack of skills.  But no worries! Will get better with practice 🙂 I also need to perfect the appearance a little too… 😛

Those of you by the philly area, I highly recommend going to Mad Mex located in University City.  I love all things fried….. aaand comfort food.  Not to mention, they brought back the half-off deal on food after 11pm!!!!!! 😀 How. Glorious. Is. That?! That equals $5 dollar burrito, $4 dollar wings and $3 dollar taquitos!  I feasted so many times during the college years on a budget at this place.  It was great returning to it last night getting some satisfying down-to-earth food.  P.S. they got GREAT waffle fries!

While i’m at it, I just want to mention.. I can’t get enough of my spring rolls! absolutely love taro! It’s so delicious! I encourage people try to make their own cause it’s fun, easy, and soooo delectably delightful!  I forgot to mention this in the last post.  My mom made her own dipping sauce.  We used vinegar as base, minced garlic, and mix with a hint of fish sauce.  It compliments the taro spring roll so well 🙂

Hurricane?! nah let’s make dumplings

by

So Hurricane Irene is supposed to hit soon… everybody is panicking… I took my chill pill and decided to treat it like any other day.  Plus, it’s not the end of the world, guys… So anyway, my mom decided to make dumplings for the special occasion and I’m helping out!  Many people wonder how to make dumplings so I’ll give you a brief and easy tutorial.

Ingredients:

this will yield about 30 to 40 dumplings, you can decide the amount of leek to add into your mix depending on your preferences.

To prepare the mix, put your meat in a big mixing bowl, add the leek, mix it a little THEN add the seasoning.  You can go nuts with the oyster sauce (I say squirt like 3-4 TABLE spoons worth (not tea)), sprinkle salt all over, and give like a splash of sugar (about 2 tea spoons)) surprisingly, sugar brings the flavor of the meat out.  Once you got everything in there, just mix it all up!

Procedure is super duper simple:

1) Scoop a spoonful (like the size of a quarter) and place it in the middle of the wrapper.

2) Next, you want to fold from one corner to the opposite one, making it look like a triangle.  IMPORTANT: before you fold, use your finger and be sure to dap water at the edges and where the meat isn’t present! Fold and squeeze the edges a little so it doesn’t fall apart.

3) bend and curve the dumpling a little so the 2 ends/corners come together and put a little water on that so they stay glued

4) once you are done folding them, you can start cooking them.  Have a pot of boiling water ready, and put the dumplings in when the water is boiled.  Move them around, so they don’t stick to each other or the pot.

5) when they float to the top (about couple minutes), then you can take them out! You see the big ladle thingie in the picture?  We transferred the cooked dumplings into chicken broth for more flavor, but that’s optional.

Usually, we like to serve it with a side dish of red vinegar.  If that’s too exotic, try some sesame oil, also delicious.

And that’s how we prepared for the hurricane 🙂 no stress

How to make a quick meal

by

I was heading home today around 2pm, STARVING.  So I thought, what to eat? That’s quick, simple and most importantly, CHEAP.  I decided on pasta.  I was in a creamy alfredo mood today, so I did a quick stop at the supermarket and just picked up a jar of 4 cheese alfredo sauce and boy, did it turn out to be a good choice. 🙂

Anyways, some things all kitchens should have (if you ask me) are salt, pepper, jar of minced garlic, and frozen ingredients (ie: frozen mixed veggies, shrimp).  Why? Because they all last for a very long time! Trust me, it helps when you’re starving and just want to make something delicious to eat.  Having your fridge stocked is very crucial.

Shrimp and Mushroom Alfredo Pasta

Ingredients:

  • Pasta
  • Couple shrimps
  • 3 big mushrooms (optional veggie?)
  • Jar of Alfredo sauce (or any type of pasta sauce works too) $2
  • garlic (optional), salt, pepper, olive oil

Prep time: 5 minutes   Cook time: 15 minutes  (my prep time is usually mixed in between the cook time, I like to make it as fast as possible 😛 )

Steps:

1) Boil water to cook pasta.

Since making pasta takes the longest, you want to do that first.  While you’re waiting for the water to boil, begin to cut up your ingredients, or whatever you choose to put in your pasta.  I always like to have some form of veggie in my meal so I can lie to myself and say I eat healthy.  Today, I happened to have mushroom, so I added that.

2) Cook the pasta! Don’t forget to sprinkle salt and a drop of olive oil into the water.

So while that begins to cook, finish cutting your stuff…. I cut my frozen shrimp into halves for smaller bites and the mushroom into slices.  I also added a strand of scallion just for kicks.

3) Start heating your pan.  Don’t forget the oil!

At this point, your pasta should be ready (for those of you who don’t know, pasta should be ready in about 10 minutes), so drain the water and put the pasta aside while your pan heats up.

4) When the pan is heated, you will begin to put in your ingredients in the following order:

1 – Garlic

You want to get the garlic flavor to mix with the oil so your dish gets a plethora of flavor.  Make sure you don’t let it burned.

2- Shrimp

You can pretty much add the shrimp immediately after the garlic.  Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper for flavor to the shrimp. Move it around so it doesn’t stick to the pan.

3 – Mushroom (or frozen veggies or w/e)

Wait about 30 secs to a minute, you’ll begin to see the shrimp turn pink.  Then throw in the mushrooms or your choice of veggie.  I picked mushrooms because they cook easily and quick.  Move it around, make sure everything is being cooked evenly.  It should be ok after like a minute or 2.

4 – Pasta

Once your ingredients are pretty much done, you add your pasta and mix everything.  You may choose to add more salt if you like it saltier.

5 – Alfredo sauce

Now add your sauce and mix it all around! Then you’re done! Let it heat for like 30 secs and you’ll be good.

Hope this post helps some of you with ideas for dinner.  I did this a lot in college and it beats eating out constantly.  This cooking method works for all pasta, tomato sauce, Florentine, or pesto.  You can also substitute shrimp with bacon! I love bacon.  Just make sure the bacon is cooked thoroughly (maybe like a a min or 2 longer than shrimp).  So today I spent a total of $2 dollars on my meal! and used whatever I had left in my fridge.  A great saving and much healthier than eating out. 🙂