this is a link to my sister's blog.
bake from scratch
Please visit her blog! Thanks!!!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
[Food][Cooking] Fried Chicken with Herb
This dish is a Taiwanese famous snack, and probably the easiest to re-create. Also it's just fried chicken with herb, western culture should have no problem accepting this to be sell at street vendors.
But you don't see it being sell at your street corners, hack, you almost don't get to see any street vendors these days in Toronto.
Since fried chicken are being sell at a ridiculous price (ie KFC popcorn chicken?), to make it at home you can eat till you drop and it's probably the same price or less. And it's always tastier and fresher to make fried chicken at home, right?
To make this fried chicken, first you have to marinate the small pieces of chicken leg meat overnight. (Well, you can just whip it up at anytime you feel like some fried chicken, but it will be much better in taste if you marinate it for a some time.) marinate the chicken meat with soy sauce, sugar, white pepper, cornstarch, sesame seed oil.
Before you fry the chicken, let it sit for half an hour in room temperature to make sure the meat get to cook more evenly.
For coating the chicken, we use sweet potato flour. The texture of the sweet potato flour is the key to this dish, when the lumps in the flour gets into the hot oil, it will turn into little crunch sticking to the meat. The flour makes a nice crunch on the surface of the meat, and the flour lumps sticking on top, the double crunch makes this dish stays crunchy even cooled. (yeah, right. like it can get a chance to cool down before it got into someone's mouth.)
Mix the sweet potato flour with salt and white pepper. Make sure the chicken gets coated on all sides, then set it aside on another plate to sit for a minute. This will ensure the flour sticks to the meat for good.
This dish should be made with Taiwanese Basil-like herb, since there isn't any available here in Toronto (at least I don't see them in supermarket), you can use Basil or Thai Basil instead. Coat the herb just the same as the chicken.
Heat the oil then turn it down to medium-heat, as the chicken has to well done, a medium-heat is a safe way to make sure the chicken is cooked through and avoid the coating gets burnt.
Fry the chicken for 3 to 5 minutes depend on size, then turn the heat up so that the oil drawn out of the chicken pieces. Also adding the herb to fry with the chicken for a minute, drain the oil and place them on some paper towel to remove any excess oil.
Sprinkle some salt and white pepper on the chicken while they are hot. Add some chili powder for an extra kick.
Chinese version posted at:
http://chichican.blogspot.com/2008/06/fried-chicken-with-herb.html
But you don't see it being sell at your street corners, hack, you almost don't get to see any street vendors these days in Toronto.
Since fried chicken are being sell at a ridiculous price (ie KFC popcorn chicken?), to make it at home you can eat till you drop and it's probably the same price or less. And it's always tastier and fresher to make fried chicken at home, right?
To make this fried chicken, first you have to marinate the small pieces of chicken leg meat overnight. (Well, you can just whip it up at anytime you feel like some fried chicken, but it will be much better in taste if you marinate it for a some time.) marinate the chicken meat with soy sauce, sugar, white pepper, cornstarch, sesame seed oil.
Before you fry the chicken, let it sit for half an hour in room temperature to make sure the meat get to cook more evenly.
For coating the chicken, we use sweet potato flour. The texture of the sweet potato flour is the key to this dish, when the lumps in the flour gets into the hot oil, it will turn into little crunch sticking to the meat. The flour makes a nice crunch on the surface of the meat, and the flour lumps sticking on top, the double crunch makes this dish stays crunchy even cooled. (yeah, right. like it can get a chance to cool down before it got into someone's mouth.)
Mix the sweet potato flour with salt and white pepper. Make sure the chicken gets coated on all sides, then set it aside on another plate to sit for a minute. This will ensure the flour sticks to the meat for good.
This dish should be made with Taiwanese Basil-like herb, since there isn't any available here in Toronto (at least I don't see them in supermarket), you can use Basil or Thai Basil instead. Coat the herb just the same as the chicken.
Heat the oil then turn it down to medium-heat, as the chicken has to well done, a medium-heat is a safe way to make sure the chicken is cooked through and avoid the coating gets burnt.
Fry the chicken for 3 to 5 minutes depend on size, then turn the heat up so that the oil drawn out of the chicken pieces. Also adding the herb to fry with the chicken for a minute, drain the oil and place them on some paper towel to remove any excess oil.
Sprinkle some salt and white pepper on the chicken while they are hot. Add some chili powder for an extra kick.
Chinese version posted at:
http://chichican.blogspot.com/2008/06/fried-chicken-with-herb.html
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
[Cooking] Beef Stir-fry with Oyster Sauce (Video)
Food related blog post not limited by words and pictures only.
Now we can have video too~
Wanted to make a "Beef stir-fry with Green Onion". But after missing lunch at work, all I can think of is to have a dish with lots of sauce, so I can mix it with the rice (and eat it mouthful after mouthful~).
Therefore, I made a "Beef stir-fry with Oyster Sauce".
Not alot of Ingredients, but it's better to have them all ready to go before cooking.
Main ingredients: sliced Beef (marinated with Soy sauce, Sesame seed oil, Cornstarch and Sugar), White Onion, Green Onion.
Sauce mixture: Soy sauce, Oyster sauce, Cornstarch and Water.
heat the pan, add sesame seed oil when it's hot.
put in White Onion when the oil is hot.
stir-fry the onion.
Keep on cooking the Onion until it's soft.
Add Beef to the pan, place them evenly on the pan to cook. cook it for a minute.
When the Beef is half cooked, toss it. Then add the sauce mixture.
When the sauce thicken, add Green Onion.
Toss it until the Green Onion are mixed with the sauce.
Ready to plate. Time to eat!
Let's take a closer look.
It's really easy to make, and it's really tasty! Best served with Steamed Rice.
This blog post entry was to test the flickr video in blogger. It would only work perfectly in FireFox or other browser, but in IE? Just like it's name, Internet Exploded!!
man, I hate IE7.
Chinese version posted at:
http://chichican.blogspot.com/2008/06/beef-stir-fry-with-oyster-sauce.html
Now we can have video too~
Wanted to make a "Beef stir-fry with Green Onion". But after missing lunch at work, all I can think of is to have a dish with lots of sauce, so I can mix it with the rice (and eat it mouthful after mouthful~).
Therefore, I made a "Beef stir-fry with Oyster Sauce".
Not alot of Ingredients, but it's better to have them all ready to go before cooking.
Main ingredients: sliced Beef (marinated with Soy sauce, Sesame seed oil, Cornstarch and Sugar), White Onion, Green Onion.
Sauce mixture: Soy sauce, Oyster sauce, Cornstarch and Water.
heat the pan, add sesame seed oil when it's hot.
put in White Onion when the oil is hot.
stir-fry the onion.
Keep on cooking the Onion until it's soft.
Add Beef to the pan, place them evenly on the pan to cook. cook it for a minute.
When the Beef is half cooked, toss it. Then add the sauce mixture.
When the sauce thicken, add Green Onion.
Toss it until the Green Onion are mixed with the sauce.
Ready to plate. Time to eat!
Let's take a closer look.
It's really easy to make, and it's really tasty! Best served with Steamed Rice.
This blog post entry was to test the flickr video in blogger. It would only work perfectly in FireFox or other browser, but in IE? Just like it's name, Internet Exploded!!
man, I hate IE7.
Chinese version posted at:
http://chichican.blogspot.com/2008/06/beef-stir-fry-with-oyster-sauce.html
Friday, April 25, 2008
[Food] Fake McRib (I'm Faking It~)
Of course I can't stand having something so simple with such a high price tag. (Especially the taste didn't completely satisfy me.)
So I have decided to make my own McRib-like sandwich.
Only a few ingredients: Minced Pork Meat, Chopped Onion, Sliced Pickle, a Bun, and most important of all, THE Barbecue (BBQ) Sauce.
First we mix little salt and pepper into the meat, then we form it into a square patty. (you will see why in just a second)
The meat patty was made into the same size as the sliced bread. Why sliced bread? It's just because I don't want to spent extra on the bun, so I use something that I would have in house everyday. (Also, bun comes in a pack of 8, and I'm just having one sandwich. what am I going to do with the rest?)
I should have make the patty slightly larger than the sliced bread, as the meat will shrink. (As it shrink, the center of the patty will get thicker! It's good to keep the patty thin.)
Look at this! Fried to perfection! (But a little bit too much oil around...)
Well, you can use the oil to fry some Onion. It's all done by using the remaining heat in the pat.
The patty I made was a little thick, to make sure it's cooked inside, and to get rid of some of the oil, we put it into a oven to bake it for 5 minutes.
See the oil on the right side? It's almost 2 teaspoon of oil right there.
Now we are sure the meat is done, and much less oil going into the final product. (Which means this sandwich is much more healthier than you would think, or you would get in one of those fast food chain.)
This is a slice of Cucumber, marinated in a quick brine. (This will turn into the sliced pickle that we need.) It's really east to make!
Slice your Cucumber to the thickness you like, but thinner it is, the quicker it will become pickle.
Sprinkle salt and sugar all over the Cucumber, and put in some Red Wine Vinegar to cover all of it. (You can use just normal vinegar, but I don't have any of it in the house, and I think the Red Wine Vinegar brings in both flavour and colour to the pickle. A nice touch~)
Let it sit for 30 minutes. (You can do this at beginning and take it out of the brine at the time you assemble the sandwich. But it probably don't need that long, if you slice it as thin as the slice in the picture.)
Tony Roma's Hickory Barbecue Sauce.
Got this from Costco, love the taste as it's not really sour, a nice sweet taste with a bit of smokiness is perfect of Ribs!
This is the key flavour (probably the only flavour?) for this McRib-like sandwich.
Now put some BBQ sauce on the meat! Both side!!
See the thickness of the meat? It's real meat! NO fillers!
With the sauce on it, it's just so attractive~
Add some fried Onion on the top. Fried Onion has a slightly sweet taste to it, and it smells great!
Now add some raw Onion, so we can have two different taste of Onion.
The raw Onion gives the sandwich a little bit of a kick, and the sharpness of raw Onion can cut through the sweetness of the BBQ sauce. A nice balance in the sandwich.
But we still need to put more BBQ sauce on the Onions.
As we need the BBQ sauce to make the pickle slices sticks to the whole sandwich.
Using four slice of pickle because I like the sweet and sour taste it brings into the sandwich. (You don't have to add as much.)
Now take a Big bite into it!
With this done, I can really careless about McRib coming back for a limited time or not. I can have this McRib-like sandwich any time I want. Now you can try it at home and...Enjoy~
Chinese version posted at:
http://chichican.blogspot.com/2008/04/fake-mcrib.html
So I have decided to make my own McRib-like sandwich.
Only a few ingredients: Minced Pork Meat, Chopped Onion, Sliced Pickle, a Bun, and most important of all, THE Barbecue (BBQ) Sauce.
First we mix little salt and pepper into the meat, then we form it into a square patty. (you will see why in just a second)
The meat patty was made into the same size as the sliced bread. Why sliced bread? It's just because I don't want to spent extra on the bun, so I use something that I would have in house everyday. (Also, bun comes in a pack of 8, and I'm just having one sandwich. what am I going to do with the rest?)
I should have make the patty slightly larger than the sliced bread, as the meat will shrink. (As it shrink, the center of the patty will get thicker! It's good to keep the patty thin.)
Look at this! Fried to perfection! (But a little bit too much oil around...)
Well, you can use the oil to fry some Onion. It's all done by using the remaining heat in the pat.
The patty I made was a little thick, to make sure it's cooked inside, and to get rid of some of the oil, we put it into a oven to bake it for 5 minutes.
See the oil on the right side? It's almost 2 teaspoon of oil right there.
Now we are sure the meat is done, and much less oil going into the final product. (Which means this sandwich is much more healthier than you would think, or you would get in one of those fast food chain.)
This is a slice of Cucumber, marinated in a quick brine. (This will turn into the sliced pickle that we need.) It's really east to make!
Slice your Cucumber to the thickness you like, but thinner it is, the quicker it will become pickle.
Sprinkle salt and sugar all over the Cucumber, and put in some Red Wine Vinegar to cover all of it. (You can use just normal vinegar, but I don't have any of it in the house, and I think the Red Wine Vinegar brings in both flavour and colour to the pickle. A nice touch~)
Let it sit for 30 minutes. (You can do this at beginning and take it out of the brine at the time you assemble the sandwich. But it probably don't need that long, if you slice it as thin as the slice in the picture.)
Tony Roma's Hickory Barbecue Sauce.
Got this from Costco, love the taste as it's not really sour, a nice sweet taste with a bit of smokiness is perfect of Ribs!
This is the key flavour (probably the only flavour?) for this McRib-like sandwich.
Now put some BBQ sauce on the meat! Both side!!
See the thickness of the meat? It's real meat! NO fillers!
With the sauce on it, it's just so attractive~
Add some fried Onion on the top. Fried Onion has a slightly sweet taste to it, and it smells great!
Now add some raw Onion, so we can have two different taste of Onion.
The raw Onion gives the sandwich a little bit of a kick, and the sharpness of raw Onion can cut through the sweetness of the BBQ sauce. A nice balance in the sandwich.
But we still need to put more BBQ sauce on the Onions.
As we need the BBQ sauce to make the pickle slices sticks to the whole sandwich.
Using four slice of pickle because I like the sweet and sour taste it brings into the sandwich. (You don't have to add as much.)
Now take a Big bite into it!
With this done, I can really careless about McRib coming back for a limited time or not. I can have this McRib-like sandwich any time I want. Now you can try it at home and...Enjoy~
Chinese version posted at:
http://chichican.blogspot.com/2008/04/fake-mcrib.html
Sunday, April 20, 2008
[Food] McDonald's McRib (limited time only)
McRib.
Something you don't see very often at McDonald's menu, and if you go check it on McDonald's website (Canada), you won't even see anything about it. (well, may be on their nutrition chart?)
A McRib is a piece of meat (minced pork) shaped into a boneless pork rib shape. With onion, pickle, and BBQ sauce to top it off. Different from your everyday sandwich, and in order to fit the meat perfectly inside, McRib uses a sub-like bun rather than the round shape bun.
Haven't seen a McDonald's sandwich using a box for a long time. (well, that just me not having McDonald's from quite some time. Try to live a better / healthier life?)
But it doesn't say it's McRib on the box, guess they are just using a generic box for all these limited time sandwich in order to save some money? Hmm...
Once I open it up, WOW! See all that sauce on the box? isn't that a little too much?
Onions are pushed to one side, and the pickle is in the middle. (actually there is another piece right behind the onions.)
On the top of the bun, it's Semolina, not sesame seed as I have expected.
And you can the sauce also hit the side and the top of the box.
There isn't much "stuff" added to this McRib, just onion and pickles, no lettuce or anything.
Well, a TON of sauce, drowning the meat inside.
I guess they use the same pickle in every other sandwich? I can't really taste the pickle as the BBQ sauce they use here is really sour. And it's really alot of sauce, covers up all the other flavours. (Well, if it can cover up the taste of RAW onion, you can imagine how strong it is.)
Of course I have ordered a Combo and that means a great side of french fries!
Ever since I knew about the McRib is back, I have been dying to try it again. But something came up every time I want to have it for lunch at work.
Finally get a chance to have it two weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon, I guess that's the last day of this "Limited time only" promotion. As I was picking up lunch for my nephews, I saw the big poster of McRib and how it's piece of meat sticking out of the bun. I wasn't hungry at the time, so I didn't get one. (And didn't bring my camera with me, so I didn't take a picture. I thought it would be online at their website or some other place on internet, but I guess I was wrong.)
Later on that day, drove by the same McDonald's again, decided to pick up this McRib as a afternoon snack on my way home.
While I'm lining up in the drive thru, I look up and the big poster was gone! I'm like, "oh crap, they don't serve it anymore?!"
So I ask (thinking if they don't serve it, I will just leave...), and lucky for me, they still have it.
Checked it online, don't seems to see anyone talking about it. And later on I found out the promotion of McRib really ended that Saturday. (at least I don't see it anymore at the local McDonald's and the one near my work place in Mississauga.) (now that McDonald's going to have a new Angus Beef sandwich coming out in April 27th or 29th, I'm sure the McRib is gone again.)
Well, it's quite expensive for a lunch with this little ingredients, it's $6.54 for a combo. I know it's just the same as a BigMac Combo, but BigMac seems to have a lot more going on inside.
I guess since it's a limited time offer, so having it once in a year (in my case it's a few years since the last time I have it) isn't too bad.
It turns out someone made a website for McRib! (actually it's McDonald's made it)
www.mcrib.com
or you can read more about McRib at wikipedia - McRib
If you can read Chinese, you can visit my other blog for the similar entry:
http://chichican.blogspot.com/2008/04/mcrib.html
Something you don't see very often at McDonald's menu, and if you go check it on McDonald's website (Canada), you won't even see anything about it. (well, may be on their nutrition chart?)
A McRib is a piece of meat (minced pork) shaped into a boneless pork rib shape. With onion, pickle, and BBQ sauce to top it off. Different from your everyday sandwich, and in order to fit the meat perfectly inside, McRib uses a sub-like bun rather than the round shape bun.
Haven't seen a McDonald's sandwich using a box for a long time. (well, that just me not having McDonald's from quite some time. Try to live a better / healthier life?)
But it doesn't say it's McRib on the box, guess they are just using a generic box for all these limited time sandwich in order to save some money? Hmm...
Once I open it up, WOW! See all that sauce on the box? isn't that a little too much?
Onions are pushed to one side, and the pickle is in the middle. (actually there is another piece right behind the onions.)
On the top of the bun, it's Semolina, not sesame seed as I have expected.
And you can the sauce also hit the side and the top of the box.
There isn't much "stuff" added to this McRib, just onion and pickles, no lettuce or anything.
Well, a TON of sauce, drowning the meat inside.
I guess they use the same pickle in every other sandwich? I can't really taste the pickle as the BBQ sauce they use here is really sour. And it's really alot of sauce, covers up all the other flavours. (Well, if it can cover up the taste of RAW onion, you can imagine how strong it is.)
Of course I have ordered a Combo and that means a great side of french fries!
Ever since I knew about the McRib is back, I have been dying to try it again. But something came up every time I want to have it for lunch at work.
Finally get a chance to have it two weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon, I guess that's the last day of this "Limited time only" promotion. As I was picking up lunch for my nephews, I saw the big poster of McRib and how it's piece of meat sticking out of the bun. I wasn't hungry at the time, so I didn't get one. (And didn't bring my camera with me, so I didn't take a picture. I thought it would be online at their website or some other place on internet, but I guess I was wrong.)
Later on that day, drove by the same McDonald's again, decided to pick up this McRib as a afternoon snack on my way home.
While I'm lining up in the drive thru, I look up and the big poster was gone! I'm like, "oh crap, they don't serve it anymore?!"
So I ask (thinking if they don't serve it, I will just leave...), and lucky for me, they still have it.
Checked it online, don't seems to see anyone talking about it. And later on I found out the promotion of McRib really ended that Saturday. (at least I don't see it anymore at the local McDonald's and the one near my work place in Mississauga.) (now that McDonald's going to have a new Angus Beef sandwich coming out in April 27th or 29th, I'm sure the McRib is gone again.)
Well, it's quite expensive for a lunch with this little ingredients, it's $6.54 for a combo. I know it's just the same as a BigMac Combo, but BigMac seems to have a lot more going on inside.
I guess since it's a limited time offer, so having it once in a year (in my case it's a few years since the last time I have it) isn't too bad.
It turns out someone made a website for McRib! (actually it's McDonald's made it)
www.mcrib.com
or you can read more about McRib at wikipedia - McRib
If you can read Chinese, you can visit my other blog for the similar entry:
http://chichican.blogspot.com/2008/04/mcrib.html
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