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.  

fish with miso & mushroom sauce

Here's an easy 30-minute meal. Easy to prep, easy to cook. This dish will make you want to eat more rice! It's miso base, but got a nice kick with oyster sauce and sugar. Enjoy! 

Ingredients:

White fish (e.g. Tilapia) - 1 fillet (**see TIPS)
Salt & pepper for marinade
Shiitake mushroom - 3 medium (sliced)

[Miso sauce]
Miso - 2 TBS
Water - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 2 tsp
Oyster sauce - 2 tsp

Green onion - 1 stalk (chopped)

Prep: 

1. Cut the fish into 2 inch chunks. Rub it lightly with salt & pepper. Set it aside.
2. Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms and slice thinly when softened. 
3. Mix the miso sauce well. 
4. Chop green onion. 

Cook:

1. In a wok or frying pan, heat 1 TBS of oil. When it's hot, fry fish fillet - 1 minute on each side. 
2. Add mushroom and miso sauce mix. Cover and let it cook for 3 minutes. 
3. Uncover and turn the fish so the sauce will be well integrated (**see TIPS). Cook under low-medium heat until the sauce thickens. If it's too thick or too salty, add water (1TBS at a time).

Serve:

1.  Sprinkle chopped green onion on top and serve with warm rice. 

TIPS

• White fish -- Costco sells both frozen kind and fresh kind. Fresh ones seem to be thicker and bigger than the frozen ones. Make sure the amount of fish used will be at least 3 inch by 5 inch and 1/3 inch thick. 
• If the sauce is too salty, cook more fish on another pan and add them in.
• Fish is easily broken into pieces, so turn gently.

fish and shrimp soft tacos

Mexican food is one of my favorite cuisines because of the flavors that come from all the spices they use. And one of my life goals is to be able to make decent Mexican food -- and I'm nowhere close to achieving that goal. Recently I found a Mexican/Latino market near my place and the people there are so friendly! I bought couple of interesting ingredients to try out. Tacos turned out good, but I will have to study taco recipes more to achieve the authentic taste. But for now, this recipe is good enough for our little family. :)

Ingredients:

Shrimp - 8-10 medium
Salmon - 1 fillet

[Marinade for shrimp and salmon]
Lemon juice - 1 TBS
Carne Asada seasoning - generous amount all around (about 2-4 TBS)

Blue corn tortillas - however much you want
Black beans - 1 can (drained)
Corn - 1 can (drained)
Salsa - store bought or see easy salsa recipe, click here
Lettuce - 1 head (thin slices)
Mexican cheese mix - 1/2 to 1 cup

[Dressing - another version similar to Cafe Rio salad dressing] **see TIPS
Tomatillos - 2 (seeded & chopped)
Jalapeno - 1 (seeded & chopped)
Ranch dressing mix (dry) - 1 packet
Milk - 2 cups
Sour cream - 1/2 cup to 1 cup (depending on how thick you want your dressing to be)
Sugar - 1/2 TBS
Lemon juice - 1/2 TBS

It says it's for meat, but it works for seafood, too!

Prep:

1. Make the dressing beforehand (overnight will be ideal, but 2-3 hours in fridge will do just fine). Mix all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to airtight container and keep it in the fridge.
2. Marinade shrimp and salmon with the seasoning and lemon juice. Set it aside for at least 30 minutes. 
3. Prepare salsa according to the recipe
4. Cut lettuce, wash twice in cold water, pat dry and keep them in the fridge. 

Marinade shrimp and salmon

Cook:

1. Mix black beans and corn together 
2. Preheat the oven to 300 F.
3. In a frying pan, heat 1 TBS (for non-stick pan or 2 TBS for stainless steel) of olive oil under medium heat. Fry marinated salmon fillet for about 3-4 minutes. Check to make sure it's not burnt. Turn to the other side. Add in shrimp and cook for 3-4 minutes. 
4. Transfer the salmon and shrimp into a oven-safe dish/plate. TURN OFF the oven. Cover the shrimp and salmon with aluminum foil. Leave in the warm oven until ready to serve (about 15-20 minutes) Take it out and cut salmon into bite size pieces.
5. [Warm up tortillas] For 6 tortillas, prepare 6 pieces of wet paper towel. Line each tortilla with a wet towel (the paper towel shouldn't be drench wet). The top should be covered by paper towel. Heat in the microwave for 45 seconds. Serve immediately. 

Cover in aluminum foil - you can poke some holes on top if you want

Serve:

1. Items on the table: 1) Tortilla, 2) Salsa, 3) Lettuce, 4) Beans & corn, 5) Shrimp & salmon, 6) Dressing and 7) Cheese. 
2. You can top your tortilla with anything you like - it's your soft taco!
3. It went really well with the corn potato bacon soup we made.

TIPS 

• No time to make dressing? Just use American mayonnaise. The sweetness of mayonnaise goes perfectly with the tacos! 

cioppino {italian seafood stew}

 One of our favorite places to eat in California is Phil's Fish Market. Their cioppino is so yummy, even chef Bobby Flay couldn't beat Phil in cioppino cook-off. :) This year for Christmas, my husband wanted to try making his own version of cioppino. It turned out really good and it was very simple to make. It's hearty and warms you up -- perfect for Christmas dinner! We got the original recipe from Whole Foods, which is my husband's favorite store to shop for good food.

Ingredients:

Garlic - 4 cloves
Red pepper flakes - 1/2 tsp
Yellow onion - 1 large (chopped finely)
Fennel - 1 bulb
Green bell pepper - 1 med
Diced tomatoes - 1 (28 oz) can
Kale - 2 cups (chopped in big pieces)

Chicken broth - 2 cups
White wine - 1 1/2 cup [optional - replace with chicken stock]
Tomato paste - 2 TBS
Dried oregano - 1 tsp
Dried thyme - 1 tsp
Dried basil - 2 tsp
Salt & pepper - to taste

[Seafood goodness] **see TIPS
Cod fish - 1 lb
Crab meat - 1 tub (8 oz)
Medium shrimp - 1 lb (tails on)
Mussels - 1 lb

French baguette - however much you need **see TIPS
Olive oil or butter - for brushing
Garlic salt - dash

Prep:

1. Chop garlic and onion finely.
2. Trim, core and slice fennel. (we didn't know how, so we checked out online. Here)
3. Cut green peppers in slices (discard seeds)
4. Chop Kale and wash couple of times. 
5. [Seafood] Cut cod fish into 1-inch pieces. Shell and de-vein medium shrimp (leave the tail on if you like), wash mussels if they are not prepared beforehand. **see TIPS

Cook:

1. In a large pot (at least 7-8 quart), heat 2 TBS oil and fry garic, red pepper flakes, onion, fennel, bell pepper and kale until softened - about 5-7 minutes. 
2. Stir in can tomatoes (put the whole thing with liquid and all), broth, wine and tomato paste. Stir in seasonings - oregano and thyme. Bring soup to boil.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes. 
4. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400F. Cut the french baguette into 1/2 inch thick. Brush olive oil onto the surface, sprinkle with a dash of garlic salt. You can use butter if you prefer more butterly taste.  Bake for 7 minutes on one side, flip on the other side and bake for another 8 minutes.
5. [Seafood] Add in fish and crab in the broth and simmer for 5 minutes. Don't over stir or else the fish will break into small pieces. 
6. [Seafood] Add in shrimp and mussels. Cover and simmer for about 5-7 minutes. Make sure the mussels are open. 
7. Season with basil, salt and pepper.

Serve:

1. Serve soup hot with freshly baked bread. A nice refreshing salad on the side will be good, too.
2. Don't forget sparkling cider to celebrate! 

TIPS

• I found all the ingredients in Costco. Get the tail-on, raw, de-veined shrimp from frozen section. Crab meat is a can one. For mussel, they usually have packaged prepared ones (not frozen, so check at refrigerated section). If you can't find mussel, they sell can clams, which is a good substitution. 
• French baguette from Costco is really yummy, too!
• Not a big fan of baguette? Use sourdough bread instead. You can even core out round sourdough bread and pour the soup inside, just like at Phil's.

sweet and spicy calamari salad with crispy wonton

My sister lives in Big Island, Hawaii (which is our favorite place on earth so far!) and there's an awesome Japanese-fusion restaurant called Sansei seafood & sushi restaurant. My sister gave us Sansei cookbook for Christmas last year and we love it! This salad is my favorite dish from the restaurant. We made it few times and we tweaked the recipe a bit.

(More pictures to come)

Ingredients:

[Calamari]

Squid - 1 (big) or 4 (small) - see TIPS for squid options
Salt & Pepper
Flour - 1 cup

[Sweet and spicy sauce]

Kochujang (Korean red chili pepper) paste - 6 TBS
Vegetable/peanut oil - 1/3 cup
Rice vinegar - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Salt

[Other ingredients]

Wonton skin - 8 (or more)
Mixed salad greens - 4 cup (or more)
Black sesame seeds - for garnish
White sesame seeds - for garnish
Lemon wedges - 1 lemon (cut in 4)

Oil for frying

Prep:

1. Prepare sauce. Mix all the ingredients for sauce in a blender. Blend until smooth. Keep in the fridge in an airtight container.
2. Prepare calamari. 
• If you are using fresh squid: wash it, take the inside out, peel the outer layer (you should be left with white, smooth squid). Cut into rings. Cut the tentacles. For tentacles, no need to worry about peeling the skin.  
• If you are using frozen squid, just defrost and cut in rings.
3. Put the squid in a container and season with salt and pepper. Keep it in the fridge until ready to use. 

Cook:

1. Heat the pot with oil (fill half of the pot). If you have thermometer, heat up to 375 degrees. Fry  wonton skin, two at a time, until golden brown. Take it out on a paper towel-ed plate. 
2. For calamari, put flour in a bowl, coat each squid in flour and fry until golden brown and crispy (about 2-3 minutes/batch).  You can fry them in batches of 3 or 4. 

Serve: 

1. In a bowl, toss the calamari in the Kochujang dressing. Add black and white sesame seeds and toss few more times. 
2. To assemble the salad, place mixed greens in a bowl. Add wonton skin (I break it up in smaller pieces, but not too small - about bite size) on top of the greens. Add calamari on top. 
3. Serve with lemon wedges and more Kochujang dressing. 

TIPS

•  I personally prefer fresh squid. It's very tender and the tentacles are very chewy. It takes more time to prepare, but it's worth it! I will post more pictures for that next time. 
• You can add peanut or cashew nuts on top. 

creamy penne with chicken & shrimp

Creamy white sauce is very versatile! You can add tomato ketchup to make it tomato creamy sauce, or add pureed spinach to make spinach creamy sauce. You can make in big batch and keep them in the freezer. I will share with you more recipes using this white sauce later on. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

[White sauce]

Onion - 1 (small)
Butter - 7 TBS
Flour - 1/3 cup
Milk - 2 cups
Chicken broth - 1 cup (you can use water or more milk if you are out of broth)
Salt & pepper to taste

Thanks to my wonderful sister's suggestions, adding Parmesan Cheese to the white sauce is a great way to add flavor. Thanks, sis! 

[Pasta]

Penne pasta - as much as you need (see TIPS)
Asparagus - 5 stalks, cut in small pieces
Mushroom - 1 cup (sliced/cut in small pieces)
Shrimp - as much as you want (about 1 cup)
Chicken - 1 breast (sliced)

Garlic - 2 cloves (minced) 

[Other optional ingredients you can put]

Bacon
Green/red/yellow peppers (slices)
Salmon

 

Prep: 

1. [White sauce] Chop onion into small pieces.
2. [Pasta] Boil water and cook penne.
3. [Pasta] Prepare vegetables and meat. Season chicken with salt, pepper and paprika. Mince garlic. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cook:

[White sauce]

1. In a pot, melt butter and add onion. Brown onion until brown.
2. Add the flour to the pot all at once. Keep mixing so it won't stick to the pot.
3. Slowly add milk, keep stirring. It should get thicker as you stir. 
4. Add chicken broth slowly. Continue stirring to your desired creaminess (if you want it more creamy, add less milk/broth.)
5. Add salt & pepper to your taste. 

 [Paste]

1. Fry garlic in 1 TBS of butter into a frying pan or wok. 
2. Cook chicken and cook for few minutes - brown both sides.
3. Add asparagus and mushroom. Cook for couple of minutes.
4. Add shrimp. Add salt & pepper (and other herbs). Makt it your 'own' taste.
5. Add penne pasta to the pan. 
6. Add white sauce to the pasta and mix. 

 Serve: 

1. Put the pasta in a bowl, add parsley for garnish or cheese. 
2. For other variations, add ketchup to make it tomato creamy sauce. You can eat it without the white sauce, too. 
3. Serve with salad

TIPS

• Wheat pasta is good for you, but it's somewhat harder than the regular penne. So I usually mix regular and wheat penne together.

salted fish fried rice

Singaporean men can cook. That's one thing I noticed. They just don't cook, but they cook well! This is a recipe by Bishop Joseph Saw, another wonderful chef we know. Thank you for the wonderful recipe! 

Ingredients: 

4 cups cooked rice (preferred kept overnight) 

3 eggs

1 large piece of salted fish (or 4 small salted fish) 

1 cup of mixed vegetables (green peas, carrots, and/or corn)

3 shallots (chopped) 

4 TBS of warm water (melt enough chicken cube stock, usually 1/2 piece or less) 

5 TBS oil 

Prep: 

1. Soak salted fish. wash and cut into small slices, but if the salted fish come as a whole fish, then soak, cut open and manually get the meat off the bones & skins. It's a labor of love the end result is awesome! 
2. Soak mixed vegetable in a bowl of warm water.
3. Chop 3 shallots (but if you like less onion taste, then 2 will do) 
4. Prepare chicken stock mixture and set aside. 
5. Cook rice and keep overnight.

Cook: 

1.  Heat wok with 3 TBS of oil, put in sliced salted fish and stir fry till brown (do not let it burnt). Set aside. 
2. Lower heat and add 2 TBS of oil, fry the eggs and shallots till fragrant. 
3. Pour in the rice and mix well with the eggs and shallots, increase the fire and add in the mixed vegetables. Do not allow the rice to stick on pan by stirring well. Pour in the chicken stock and thoroughly fry the rice until it gets dry. 
4. Lastly, add in the dried salted fish and mix well. (If you like it to be a bit more salty, add 1/2 tsp salt to taste) 

TIPS

• Salted fish is quite tricky to find. If you live near Chinese market, search for Chinese sausages and fish balls area (refrigerated).  
• Taste your food every step of the way until you are satisfied with the taste.