Braised Salmon with Pineapple and Mushrooms

Everyone who loves to cook loves to experiment with new dishes and new tastes. I feel compelled to explain most of the dishes that I have created in my blog, which are a combination of my knowledge for so many years of helping in my family restaurant and working in the California Pizza Kitchen. From those experiences, I like to have some recipes that are made with the Westerner's taste in mind. Most dishes are cooked on a stovetop and quick to prepare. Most ingredients are familiar to the reader and most of them are sold in American grocery stores for the reader’s convenience. My recipes are ideal for busy moms or college students who want to prepare home-cooked meals without stress.

Ingredients:
1 lb. salmon with skin and bone in
1 cup fresh pineapple cut into big chunks or 8 oz of canned pineapple chunks
5 fresh button mushrooms, each sliced in half
1 knob ginger, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup sweet onions, chopped
1 cup fish stock or chicken stock
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs sake or dry sherry
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp sugar
2 tbs peanut oil or vegetable oil
3 green onions, sliced

Directions:
Cut fish into 4 big chunks. Sprinkle with salt and let stand for 10 minutes.
Heat oil in a heavy pot and fry fish until brown on both sides.

Add sweet onions, ginger, garlic, cook, and stir for 2 minutes.

 Add the remaining ingredients except the green onions and bring to boil.

 

 

 Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Uncover and add the green onions. Cook for another 5 minutes or the liquid is reduced until almost evaporated. Serve with rice.

Three Valuable Best Things

Three things in life that you cannot have back when they are gone:

•           Time

•           Words

•           Opportunity

Three things in life you shouldn’t lose:

•           Relaxation

•           Hope

•           Faith

Three most valuable things in life:

•           Love

•           Self-Confidence

•           Friendship

Three things that do not last long in life:

•           Dreams

•           Success

•           Property

Three things that create the value of a person:

•           Hard Work

•           Honesty

•           Success

Three things that destroy a person:

•           Selfishness

•           Conceit

•           Anger

Source: Internet

Fish Cooked With Oyster Sauce

In Asian cooking, especially Chinese, fish and all kinds of seafood are popular and lend themselves particularly to quick cooking in a wok, and it is so simple to do. Choosing any kind of fish that is available or in season is the way to save money. Many recipes are interchangeable, so choose wisely the sauce for each recipe. A small change of taste depends on the fish that is used, but it will not make a dent on the recipes. I have this recipe to prove that.

Ingredients:
Two 6 oz tilapia fillets
2 tbs peanut oil
3 scallions, chopped
1 knob fresh ginger, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup sliced button mushrooms
2 tbs oyster sauce
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 cup fish stock, vegetable stock, or water

Directions:
Wash and dry fish.
In a sauté pan, heat 1 tbs of oil and fry the fish on both sides until brown, turn over only once. Remove from the pan.
In the same pan, add the other tbs of oil. Stir in ginger, garlic, scallions, and mushrooms until lightly brown. Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. Cook for 1 minute. Add the stock and bring to boil. Return the browned fish to the pan, bring to boil and simmer for 3 to 6 minutes. Turn over only once. Serve.

Fried Taro-Tofu Sausage Patties

In our lifestyles today, we are realizing that eating healthy is very important not just for us individually but also to express our humanism to society. I am truly a Buddhist follower, so, when I was young, my family always reserved four days every month to eat just vegetables on those days. If we vow to eat more vegetables and less meat every day, more animal lives will be saved. However, eating more vegetables is primarily to make us healthier, calmer, and our brains more intelligent. Some studies have shown that just before animals are killed, their bodies produce more toxins, and we the consumers will put them into our bodies. Anyway, vegetables, grains, and tofu have as much albumin, fiber, or fat as meat. Therefore, I would like to introduce this recipe that will create all the protein that is necessary for healthy living and a delicious dish for the beginner like vegetarian.

Ingredients:
1 small taro root, cooked and mashed (about 2 cups)
1 small yam, cooked and mashed (about 1 cup)
1 cup cooked mung beans, mashed
1 cup cooked black beans, mashed
One 8 oz. firm tofu, drained and mashed
1/4 cup roasted sesame seeds
1 cup rough-chopped button mushrooms
1/2 cup celery chopped
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup red bell pepper. chopped
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup roughly chopped cilantro
1 tsp salt
1 tbs soy sauce
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cayenne
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup canola oil

Directions:
In a large sauté pan, add 2 tbs oil. Sauté shallots and garlic until fragrant. Add mushrooms, red bell pepper, celery and carrots. Cook these vegetables until wilted. Let cool.
In a large mixing bowl combine, cooked taro, yam, tofu, two kinds of beans, cornstarch, green onions, cilantro, and the cooked vegetables. Season with salt, black pepper, soy sauce, sugar, and cayenne. Mix well.
Form the paste into 3 inch diameter patties. At this point, if not using all patties, they can be wrapped with plastic wrap and frozen until ready to use. Let it thaw in the refrigerator.
In a sauté pan, add enough oil to fry patties on each side for about 3 minutes or until crispy, as you like. Serve with sweet soy dipping sauce.

To make soy dipping sauce:
In a glass jar, combine 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup red vinegar, and 1 cup hot water.
Cover lid and shake well. The soy dipping sauce can be refrigerated for month. Add minced garlic and hot chili to the sauce each time served. Adjust this sauce to your own taste, but this is good as directed.

One and a Half Friend

Long ago, one hero established relationships with so many people. Before he passed away, he told his son, “Do not assume that because I have known so many people in the world they are my friends. The truth was all my like I just have one and a half friend."


His son was very confused, and then the father said, “You follow my words and go meet my one and a half friend. Then you will understand what a friend is."

First, the son came to see the person who his father thought was "one whole friend". Following the father’s advice, he said, “I am the son of Mr. XX. I am a fugitive, and I am the end of my rope and that is why I came looking for you and hope that you will help me." After listening, this man did not hesitate to ask the son to come into his house and then to ask his own son to exchange clothing with the fugitive son to help him escape.

At this time, the son realized that at the moment between life and death, this man did not hesitate to sacrifice himself and his own son to save a friend's son. That is a true friend.

Later, he came to see the "half friend" who his father mentioned. The son said the same thing to this man. This man looked at him for a while and said, “Well, this is a big problem, and I don't think I can save you, but I will give you food and enough money for you to run away to save yourself. I promise that I won't tell the authorities about you.”

Now the son understood clearly. When you face a difficult situation, and someone understands the situation that you need help to save yourself, but he will not be completely on board with helping you, he is only half of a friend.

 

Source: Internet


 

Rice-Quinoa Cake

I posted this recipe a year ago, but today I will introduce another recipe for rice cake. After carefully studying about how beneficial quinoa is, I wanted to add this wonderful grain into this recipe. Why not, when we feed our body, we have to think about all the good-healthy foods that are available to us. Most of us don't have much room in our body just to eat anything. Therefore, choosing the right food for our body is the best decision that one can make for healthy living.

Ingredients:
2 cups rice flour
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup mashed potato
2 tbs dried shrimp, soaked in water and ground to fine
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tbs oil
2 1/3 cups water

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients listed above in a medium pot and mix well. Place the pot over medium heat. Use the whisk and constantly whisk rice mixture until almost thick. Prepare an 8 inch round baking pan by lining the pan with plastic wrap at the bottom of the pan. Pour the rice mixture into the pan. Place another plastic wrap cover the entire surface of the rice cake. In a steamer over high heat, steam the rice cake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Refrigerate until completely cool. If not using it right away, this rice cake can be wrapped with foil and put into a Ziploc® and frozen.

 

Vietnamese Meatballs or Xiu Mai

Making meatballs one already thinking about ground beef, pork, and veal; also some kind of cheese and simmering in marinara sauce. What a yummy dish it is! As always, I want to cut back on most of the fat and calories on most of my recipes, and this one is one of them. Vietnamese meatballs are similar to a Chinese dish called Shu Mai, served at the dim sum hour, which contains ground pork. I created this recipe using a combination of ground turkey and chicken for a leaner dish. I guarantee that this dish will fulfill the desire for meatballs – either Italian meatballs or Chinese Shu Mai.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground turkey
1/2 lb ground chicken
1/4 cup white onions, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbs cornstarch
Sauce;
2 fresh tomatoes
1 cup fresh pineapple
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tbs soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
Black pepper
1 tsp cayenne

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients listed above Sauce and mix well. Form the meat paste into meatballs about the same size as a golf ball.
In a large sauté pan, add 2 tbs oil. Fry the meatballs until nearly done because I like to simmer the meatballs more in the sauce. Chicken and turkey tend to dry easily, so not overcooking them is helpful.

Bring a pot of water to boil. Slash an X on top of each tomato and blanch them in the boiling water for 3 minutes. Remove them and place in cold water. When the tomatoes have cooled enough to handle, peel off the skin. Place both tomatoes and pineapple in a food processor and blend them into a sauce.
In the same large sauté pan, add 2 tbs oil. Cook onions for 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until onions and garlic are fragrant.

Pour the tomato sauce into pan and bring to boil.

Place fried meatballs into the tomato sauce and simmer uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes.

Season the sauce with soy sauce, salt, black pepper and cayenne (if you like a thicker sauce, then mix 2 tbs of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and pour into the sauce).

Serve the meatballs with hot cooked rice or on a baguette for breakfast.