Xmas FEASTING!!!!!

It has been so long since I posted about food!

Thankfully, with the holiday and the wonderful gifts it has brought to my family, I got oodles of pictures to share again ^_^

12/22 Ocean City Seafood Restaurant (Chinatown, Philly)

dim sum is definitely one of favorite meals of all times~ not only is the food delicious– you get your portion of fried stuff and many steamed dumplings and assorted buns!  <— those are undoubtedly some of the best of chinese food!   It also tends to bring families together ❤  it’s hard to come by some good-o-quality time with the family during the busy modern era now a days…

my experience at Ocean City was good– there’s a decent variety, nothing tasted weird and everything was clean (that I can see ^^;;).  the other competitor in the area is Ocean Harbour.. I think I prefer this one since the food tasted a little fresher.

12/23 Han Dynasty (Cherry Hill, NJ)

unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures for this one.. if you’ve been, then you probably know about the Dan Dan Noodles which is my favorite at Han!  the other one is the Wanton in Chili Oil~  another favorite that we got was the “Fish in Hot Sauce” — it is exactly what it sounds like haha but with more flavor and umph.  The fish fillet is covered in a gravy like sauce with red pepper flakes sprankled ALL OVER the dish.  Celery and cabbage at the bottom as garnish.  The fish is slippery and silky like tofu.  I highly recommend trying this as it is a well-known dish to the locals of szechuan as well.

I do have several pictures uploaded onto Yelp from my previous pics, you may check them out here:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/han-dynasty-cherry-hill#hrid:z1-AmNSxfdeYGXeXMCalFQ

12/24 Scaturro’s (Marlton, NJ)

Xmas eve dinner! We had so many people at dinner, we ordered a bunch of the appetizers to share and then our own entree.  THERE WAS SO MUCH FOOD!! I brought half of my dinner home and ate it the next day lol

Fried Calamari

Grilled Octopus

Buffalo Mozzarella (left) and cold fish (right)

“Veal Oscar” with crab meat and parm mashed potatoes

I’m not sure if i have a favorite that’s a “must-try” if anyone ever asks me… everything was fabulous but I wasn’t wowed.  The most unique I would say is the Grilled Octopus and the cold fish.. haha I wish I know the actual name of it.. but i didn’t pay too much attention to the menu.

Tiramisu

This was delicious!  it didn’t feel heavy~ it carried the balance of sweet and coffee taste.

12/25  Xmas brunch! Homemade ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT dumplings!

this was pretty awesome~ all the parents (except for the men.. so I guess really just all the ladies in the house ^^;;) took part in wrapping the dumplings and cooking them for everyone 🙂  I feel very blessed to be part of this wonderful and loving family, feeling the love in every bite :3

Xmas dinner at Imperial Inn (Chinatown, PA)

Roasted Pork with jelly fish

Lobster and crab stir fried with scallion and ginger

fried quail? pigeon? bird? and steamed fish in soy sauce

lastly… fried noodles and fried rice in ying yang sauce

Ying Yang Fried Rice is one of my favorites of all times! I think mainly because it’s somewhat rare even for restaurants in Hong Kong/China.  In fact, this was my first time having it in the states.  It was sooo nostalgic… haha can’t say it was 5 star quality but still yummy– partially because I was savoring it from my memories too lol  not to many people are fans of this dish because of the butt load of sauce? kids love it though.  🙂 the white side is more of a creamy sauce with shrimp.  The red is made from ketchup, sweet n sour, with chicken.

12/26 BOXING day feast!

during the past couple days, the families have been taking turns picking a restaurant and etc… this time, my Iranian aunt wanted to reach out of the norm for my traditional chinese family and introduced to my stubborn dad the flavors of Lebanon!  (well living in the suburbs, you’re limited to choices.. the below is the closest we could get to a authentic middle eastern style dinner ^^;;)

catered by Norma’s (Barclay plaza, Cherry Hill, NJ)

 from bottom up: flavored rice, salad, falafel, hummus&pita and tabbouleh!  (we made a side of steamed broccoli lol)

lamb and chicken kebabs!  beef kebabs(? on the left)

close up of the Falafel

we had SOOOO much Tabbouleh, this is like the end of it haha

we also got food from Joe’s Peking House (Marlton, NJ).  But i get that so often, i didn’t even bother taking pics haha.  I would recommend getting the fish filets in clay pot.  We also got their sweet and sour pork which is always a solid choice.  Stir fry clams deliver a kick every time.  Overall, if you  haven’t been, definitely give it a try.  A very consistent Chinese restaurant in south jersey.

that’s all I got for now!  🙂

Kim.chi fried rice.?

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!