creamy corn

I found this recipe as the side of Thanksgiving feast this year. It turned out really yummy. Sweet + creamy = ultimate comfort food. Bacon at the top adds nice texture to this dish. It only takes 20-30 minutes to make.

Ingredients:

Sweet corn kernels - 3 cans (drained)
Green pepper - 1/2 large (chopped)
Red or Orange pepper - 1/2 large (chopped)
Onion - 1 medium (chopped)

Bacon - 8 slices

Cream cheese - 6-8 TBS (depending on how creamy you want) 
Half & Half - 1/2 cup
Garlic salt - 2 tsp
Pepper - 2 tsp
Paprika - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1tsp

Prep:

1. Chop onion, green pepper and red/orange pepper into small pieces. 
2. Drain corn from can 

Cook:

1. In a frying pan or wok, cook 8 slices of bacon until your desired texture. Leave 2 TBS of bacon drippings. Cut into small pieces.
2. In the bacon drippings, fry onion until fragrant, about 3-5 minutes. Stir frequently.
3. Add in green and red/orange peppers and corn. Fry for about 8 minutes. Stir occasionally
4. Add in cream cheese, half and half, and all the seasonings. Let it simmer until cream cheese melts. Adjust the taste to your liking.

Serve:

1. In a serving plate/dish, pour the creamy corn. Top with cut bacon. 

seafood soup pasta

Weather is getting cold, which means soup season is here! This dish looks complicating, but it only takes 30 minutes to cook. No sugar is added, yet it has very sweet flavor from all the ingredients. My 2 and half year old loved it and so did my hubby. Hope your family will like it, too. Happy cooking! (The recipe is for four large servings)

Ingredients: 

Spaghetti -1 box (or however much you need)

Onion - 1 small (chopped)
Garlic - 2 cloves (minced)
Bacon - 3 slices (chopped)
Carrots - 2 medium (cubed)
Mushroom - 4 medium (sliced) 

Chicken stock - 5 cups **see TIPS
Tomatoes (can) - 1 can (chopped)

Shrimp (no tail) - 1 cup 
Salmon - 1 fillet
Tilapia (or white) fish - 1 fillet

[Seasonings]
Salt & Pepper - 1 tsp each
Tomato ketchup - 2 TBS
Milk - 1/3 cup
Oregano (dried) -  2 tsp
Basil (dried) - 2 tsp

Prep:

1. Chop/slice onion, carrots, mushroom, garlic and bacon. Size should be anywhere from 1/2 inch to 1 inch. 
2. Cut salmon and tilapia into 2 inch chunks. Rub lightly with salt and pepper.
3. Take off the tails off shrimp (optional). 
4. Cook spaghetti as instructed on the box. Rinse with cold water and mix with 1 TBS of olive oil. 

Cook:

1. In at least 5 quart pot, heat 1/2 TBS of olive oil. When it's hot, add onion and fry for 3 minutes, or until transparent. Add in 1 TBS of minced garlic. Add in bacon. Fry for another 3 minute. Add in carrots and fry for extra 3 minutes.
2. Add in chicken stock and canned tomatoes. Bring it to boil. Take out the white stuff on top of the pot.
3. Add in shrimp, salmon and tilapia. Let it simmer under medium heat for 10 minutes. 
4. Add in seasonings and stir lightly (don't mix too hard or you'll break the fish into small pieces). Cover and let it simmer for 10 more minutes. Check the taste and adjust according to your taste.

Serve:

1. In a bowl, add desired amount of cooked spaghetti. Pour in the soup & yummy seafood. 
2. Garlic bread or Grilled cheese sandwich goes well this dish, too!

TIPS

• For chicken stock, use the carton or can version, which has lighter taste than the Chinese stock cubes. If you don't like the flavor of chicken stock, you can use water instead.  

corn potato bacon soup

One good thing about living in cold Minnesota is... soups taste so much better! It's not only tasty, but it keeps us warm. So here's a new recipe for the soup. It wasn't heavy, so you can keep going for more servings (but it hits you afterwards since you'll be filled up with potatoes). 

Ingredients: 

Potatoes - 3 cups (cubed)
Carrots - 3-4 medium or 1 cup (cubed)
Onion - 1 med (chopped)
Corn - 3 cobs or 1 can (liquid drained)
Celery - 2-3 stalks (cubed)
Bacon - 5 slices (cut in small pieces) **see TIPS

Chicken Stock - 5 cups **see Prep

Green diced chilies - 1 small can
Milk - 2 cups
Brown gravy mix - 1/4 cup or
Mexican blend shredded cheese - 1 cup (or more, depending on how cheesy you want)

Salt, pepper and paprika - to taste 

Prep:

1. Chop and cube all ingredients. Set it aside. 
2. [Corn] If you are using fresh corn, boil the corn for 3 minutes. Take it out, let it cool, and shave off the kernels. 
3. [Chicken stock] If you have leftover rotisserie chicken bones, boil them in 4 quart water for 30-40 minutes on medium high. Drain the soup and discard the bones. 

Cook:

1. In a pot (5 quart of bigger), fry bacon until somewhat crunchy - about 3-4 minutes. 
2. Add onion, carrots and celery to bacon. Fry for another 3-4 minutes.
3. Add in chicken stock. Let it bring to boil (don't cover). Turn down to medium heat and add in potatoes and corn. Add in green diced chilies as well. Let it simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are soft. 
4. Meanwhile, heat milk in microwave safe bowl or cup. Add in gravy mix and mix well with the milk.
5. When the potatoes are soft, add in milk/gravy. Bring to boil. 
6. Turn down the heat to low, add in cheese. Simmer for 10 more minutes. Taste to see if you need to add salt and pepper. You can add paprika for some kick as well. If it's too salty, you can add more chicken broth, water or milk. 

All mixed in!

Serve:

1. Serve with warm bread sticks or toasts (with lots of butter on!). Nice salad on the side will go well, too.
2. We also had it with shrimp/fish tacos (recipes coming up soon), which was a nice addition. 

 TIPS:

• If you don't want to use bacon, or want to use other meat like chicken or ham, add 2 TBS of butter or olive oil to the pot. 

stuffed egg fry

Japanese call deep-fried panko coated food "fry" (fu-ra-i). I wanted to use eggs and this was the end result. :) It turned out better than I expected. It's easy and fun to prepare, so you can have your kids help out in the kitchen, too. It looks really cute (egg-shaped deep-fried food - so cute!), it'll definitely be a hit at potluck or party. 

Ingredients: 

(Makes 12 fried eggs)

Eggs - 6 (hard boiled)

Onion - 1/2 (chopped)
Carrots - 1 med (finely chopped)
Ham, Sausage, Bacon or SPAM - 1 cup full **see TIPS

Mayonnaise (Japanese) - 2 TBS
Corn starch - 1/2 TBS
Garlic salt - 1/2 tsp 

[Panko coating]
Flour - 1/2 cup
Egg - 2 (beaten)
Bread crumbs (panko) - 2-3 cups

Prep:

1. Boil eggs for 10-12 minutes. Take it out and set is aside or run it through cold water. Shell the eggs. Set it aside.
2. Chop onion, carrots and your choice of meat into small pieces. 

Cook:

1. Cut the eggs in half. Take the cooked yolk out and put it in a medium bowl.
2. Heat 1 TBS of olive oil the frying pan. Fry onion and carrots until carrots are nice and tender. a
3. Add in meat. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add in mayonnaise, corn starch and salt. The taste should be a little bit salty. Dish out the meat mixture into yolk bowl. 
5. Mix using spoon until it's easy to work with. 
6. In each egg white shell, take about 1 big tablespoonful of meat. Press it down using your hands like you're making a ball (or onigiri, if you know how to make it). Make sure you press it tightly. Repeat for the rest of the eggs. 
7. Coat each egg with flour, eggs and panko. The filling might drop off, so be gentle and hold the middle part as you coat them. 
8. Deep fry in vegetable oil (or half deep-fry and turn, to use less oil) until golden brown. **see TIPS 

 Serve:

1. Salad or pickled vegetables go well with this dish. Don't forget nice, hearty miso soup -- personally, it's a must-have for Japanese meals. :) 
2. Serve with tonkatsu (fruit & vegetable) sauce, or kojujyan sauce (from calamari salad recipe), or mayonnaise. 

TIPS:

• You can use one type of meat, or combination of meat. You just need 1 cup of chopped meat. If you don't have any of the mentioned meat, you can also use ground beef or pork. 
• When deep frying, make sure the oil is hot enough. Test it by sprinkling some panko in the oil. If it sizzles and floats, it's ready. If it sinks, wait a little longer. If the food is already cooked, you don't need long time to deep-fry. 
• Also, when deep frying at home, use smaller pots and less oil. Half deep-fried works great. Fill the pot 1-2 inch high.

meaty loco moco

October is probably my husband's favorite month because there's Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. My husband has already decided to retire in Hawaii. Yup. So since we won't be able to make it to Kona this year, the least we could do was to eat Hawaiian food. Loco moco = Meat patty + Rice + Egg + Brown gravy. You can have it simple or you can add more toppings. This time we did meaty loco moco. We miss you, Hawaii! 

Ingredients: 

Rice - however much you want to eat (Japanese rice/short-grain rice)

Brown gravy - about 3 cups (depends how much you want to pour over your rice)
Milk - 1/3 cup

Eggs - 4 (one for each person or more if you desire)
Hamburger patties - 4 **see TIPS
SPAM - 1 can (sliced)
Bacon - 8 slices

[For those who want to add some greens]
Spinach - 3 handful/1 bunch
White mushroom - 2 cups (sliced)

[Optional toppings]
Katsu - see Katsudon recipe (chicken or pork)
Broccoli - 1 head (bite size pieces, blenched and lightly salted)
Breaded shrimp
Italian sausage or Portuguese sausage 

Prep: 

1. Make hamburger patties if you are making your own. See TIPS.
2. Cut SPAM
3. Cut mushrooms and set it aside
4. Cook rice. 

SPAM!

Cook:

1. In a frying pan, fry bacon until your desired crunchiness. Take it out on a paper-toweled plate. Drain some bacon fat, but not all. 
2. Using some bacon fat (about 1 TBS), fry SPAM until the edges get crunchy - about 2 minutes each side.
3. On the same pan, fry hamburger patties. 
4. Meanwhile, prepare brown gravy (follow the packaging). Add in milk and stir well.
5. On another frying pan or clean frying pan, heat 1/2 TBS of olive oil. Fry mushrooms for 2 minutes. Add in spinach and fry for another minutes. Lightly salt (1/2 tsp). 
6. Fry egg on frying pan, 1 minute on one side and 45 seconds on the other. You want the egg yolks to be runny.

Serve:

1. On a plate, scoop rice. Place the toppings on top of the rice. The top should be the egg.
2. Pour brown gravy on top of the rice. 

TIPS

• You can use store-bought hamburger patties, or you can try Italian sausage patties (or 50/50). 
• Easy hamburger recipe: ground beef (1/2 lbs), panko (1/4 cup), egg white (1), salt & pepper (1 tsp each), Paprika or other herbs if you wish to add.

bacon broccoli pasta

I was having one of those lazy days, my husband stepped in and cooked dinner for us!  He did a great job with this dish and even our little girl loved it. It's great to have a husband who can cook. :)

Ingredients:

Rotini or Penne Pasta - 3 cups (dry)
Broccoli - 1 head
Bacon - 6 slices
Chicken - 1 breast
Garlic - 2 cloves (minced)
Onion - 1 small (sliced) 

[Chicken marinade]
Soy sauce - 2 tsp
Pepper - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Red chili peppers - 2 tsp

Salt & Pepper -to season
Chili pepper - 1 tsp

Prep:

1. Prepare pasta according to the package. 
2. Cook bacon until crispy (or your preference). Save the bacon fat.
3. Blanch broccoli for 2 minutes in boiling water. 
4. Slice the chicken. Marinade chicken and set it aside for 15-20 minutes. 

Cook:

1. In a wok, heat the bacon fat. Fry garlic and onion until fragrant (about 3-5 minutes). 
2. Add in chicken and fry for another 3-5 minutes. 
3. Put back the bacon in the wok, together with blanched broccoli.
4. Combine pasta in. Add in salt, pepper and chili pepper.

Serve:

1. This dish has everything you need to keep you healthy. :) Yay for one dish wonders.

Thank you for making us dinner!

mayonnaise pasta

I personally think mayonnaise goes well with pasta. But my husband doesn't like the combination. So I usually make this dish to treat myself once in a while. :) It's definitely on my Top 10 comfort food list. If you like mayonnaise (I prefer Japanese mayonnaise to American one) and pasta, you should definitely try this recipe! 

Ingredients:

Pasta - your favorite kind (for 2 people/2 cups dry)
Japanese mayonnaise - 1/2 cup (yes, it's a generous amount!)

Bacon - 2 slices (sliced) **see TIPS
Salmon - 1/2 cup (sliced)
Diced Tomato in can - 1/2 cup

Salt & pepper - pinch
Any of your favorite herbs - 1 tsp (I like parsley in mine)

Prep:

1. Cut bacon and salmon, set it aside.

Cook:

1. Cook pasta according to package instruction. 
2. While pasta is cooking, fry bacon in a frying pan.
3. Add in salmon and let it cook for 2 minutes. 
4. Add in diced tomatoes, salt, pepper and herb. Cook until bacon is cooked.
5. Drain water from pasta and toss them in the frying pan (or you can do the opposite - put bacon mixture in a pot with pasta).
6. Add in mayonnaise and mix well. Adjust taste to your liking. 

 Serve:

1. All the good stuff in a bowl! Mayonnaise-goodness. :)

 TIPS

• You can add any meat you want - I just happened to have bacon and salmon in the fridge. 

trio-meat linguine in sun-dried tomato alfredo sauce

It's a super long title, but it's probably the easiest recipe. I love Classico's sun-dried tomato alfredo sauce. It's on sale once in a while, so I usually stock up on them. When I'm lazy, this is a life-saver! 

Ingredients: 

Bacon - 4 slices (sliced) **see TIPS
Salmon - 1 cup (sliced)
Chicken - 1/2 breast (sliced)

Garlic - 2 cloves (minced)
Onion - 1 small (minced)
Asparagus - 10 stalks (skinned and cut in 2-inch pieces)

Classico Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo - 1 jar

Milk - 1/3 cup
Tomato ketchup - 2 TBS
Salt & Pepper - 1 tsp
Sugar - 2 tsp

Linguine - 1 packet (13oz)

Prep:

1. Cut chicken into pieces. Season with salt & pepper and set it aside. 
2. Peel outer layer of asparagus (it's optional step) and cut them in 2-inches. 
3. Mince garlic and onion. 
4. Cook pasta according to packet instructions. 

Cook:

1. In a wok or frying pan, heat 1 TBS of olive oil. Fry onion and garlic until fragrant. Add in asparagus and fry for another 2 minutes. Take it out from the wok.
2. In the same pan, add in bacon and fry for 2 minutes. Add in chicken slices. Fry until almost cooked. Add in salmon, but don't over-stir. 
3. Add in the sauce. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. 
4. Add in milk, ketchup, salt & pepper, and sugar. Stir and cook for another 20 minutes. 

Serve:

1. Serve over cooked pasta. Garlic bread/stick is a great addition, too!
2. Grate cheese on top.

TIPS

• I did trio-meat because I had little bit of leftover bacon, chicken and salmon. But you can only use one type of meat.

kimchee jjigae (woo family style)

We love Kimchee jjigae! But if any Korean people eat our kimchee jjigae, they probably say it's not authentic kimchee jjigae. We put a lot of things in the stew - our favorite ingredient is SPAM. I moved to a very cold state, so we will be eating a lot of this in the winter (and other soups, too.) What is your kimchee jjigae like? Please share with me your version of kimchee soup. :)

Ingredients:

Kimchee (cabbage) - 1 cup
Kimchee (raddish) - 1 cup

Water - 5-6 cups
Miso - 1.5 TBS (**see TIPS)
Kojujyan (Korean chili paste) - 1.5 TBS
Garlic - 2 cloves (crushed)
Sugar - 1 TBS
Soy sauce - 2 tsp

Carrots - 2 small (thin slices)
Onion - 1 small (sliced)
Bacon - 3 slices (cut in 1 inch piece)Shiitake mushroom - 6 (sliced)
SPAM - as much as you like (cut in dice)
Chapchae noodle or instant noodle - 1 bundle (**see TIPS)
Tofu (silken/soft) - 1 packet
Green onion - 2 stalks (chopped)
Spinach - 3 cups (or 1 bunch)

[Chicken/pork meatball]

Ground chicken - 1 cup
Ground pork - 1 cup
Onion - 1/2 small (diced)
Garlic - 1 clove (minced)
Panko (breadcrumbs) - 1/3 cup
Egg white - 1
Pepper & salt - 1 tsp each
Soy sauce - 2 tsp
Carrots (optional) - 1/2 small (diced)

Prep:

1. Cut all ingredients and set is aside.
2. Cook chapchae noodle according to packet. Drain & rince.
3. [Meatball] Mix all ingredients under meatball. Make 1 inch ball (toss the ball back and forth using your hands)

Mix all ingredients - use your hands and mix well!

Chapchae noodle

Cook: 

1. In about 4-quart pot, bring water, garlic, miso, and kojujyan to boil. 
2. Add in Kimchee (both kinds), carrots and onion. Boil for 5 minutes. 
3. Lower the heat and add in SPAM, Bacon, Meatball and shiitake. Simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Add in sugar and mix well. Taste the soup and adjust if needed (too salty? add in more water). Simmer for 10 more minutes.
5. If you're happy with the taste, add in tofu, noodle, green onion and spinach. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. 

As you can see, the previous pot was too small to fit everything! :)

Serve: 

1. It goes perfectly with hot short-grain (Japanese/Calrose) rice. 

TIPS

• If you like more kimchee taste, add dashi instead of miso. Miso makes the taste mild. 
• You can use Korean instant noodle or udon instead of chapchae noodle.
• Use a bigger pot - when you add all the ingredients, the pot gets very full.

50/50 (bacon + beef) sliders with caramelized onions

We got this idea from Slater's 50/50 burgers. It's smaller and easier to prepare than a regular burger patties. Ground bacon really adds nice flavor to the burger. Savory burger patties + caramelized onion + Hawaiian sweet rolls = yummy goodness. 

Ingredients:

[Slider]
Ground Beef - 1/2 lbs
Ground Bacon - 6-8 slices

Onion - 1/2 (minced)
Garlic - 3 (grated)
Egg white - 1
Bread crumbs - 1/4 cup (or more if it seems too wet)

Salt & pepper - 1 tsp each (remember, bacon is salty)
Paprika - 1-2 tsp
Italian seasoning (or your favorite herbs) - 2 tsp

[Other ingredients]
Hawaiian Sweet rolls - as many as you want
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Ketchup, mayo, BBQ sauce (whatever you want for sauce)

[Caramelized onion]
Sweet yellow onion - 2 med
Butter - 4 TBS

[Potato wedges]
Potatoes - 6 (cut in wedges)
Olive oil - 1/4 cup
Dried parsley - 1 TBS
Italian seasoning - 2 tsp
Seasoned salt - 2 tsp 

Prep:

1. [Sliders] Combine all the ingredients under [Slider] in a bowl. Use your hands and mix well together. If the mixture looks too wet, add more meat or bread crumbs. Divide into small balls  (about 2 TBS-ful) and pat it down to 1 cm thick. Set it aside.
2. [Caramelized onion] Slice the onions thinly. Cut butter into 1 TBS chunks. 
3. [Potatoes] Clean potato skin by brushing. Cut into 2-inch chunks. Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil. Combine potato wedges and other ingredients. Mix well using your hands or spatula.
4. [Toppings] Cut lettuce and tomatoes. Wash them and pat dry. 

Grating garlic brings out the juice

Small patties! Should've chopped the onion smaller. :)

Potato wedges with seasoning

Cook:

1. [Potatoes] Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. When it's ready, bake the potatoes for 10 minutes, then flip to the other side and bake for another 10 minutes. 
2. [Caramelized onion] Melt 2 TBS butter in a pan on a medium-low heat. When it's barely melted, add in onion slices. Gently stir-fry. Make sure you continue to toss, or else you'll get burnt parts. Add in 1 TBS butter at a time when onion starts to turn brown.  
3. [Sliders] Add thin layer of olive oil or butter. When it's hot, place 6-7 mini burgers. Fry for about 2-3 minutes on one side. Flip and fry for another 2-3 minutes. Pour 1TBS of water onto the burgers and cover the pan. Let it simmer/steam cook for about 1-2 minutes. Set it aside and repeat for the rest of the burgers. 

Butter the pan

Crispy outside, soft inside!

Serve:

1. Cut rolls in half, add lettuce, tomatoes, mini burger and your favorite topping if you want, and caramelized onion. 
2. Don't forget the side of potato wedges!