5 Reasons why you should be stir frying in your kitchen today

I conducted my first stir fry workshop today. My students were introduced to basic sauces and ingredients for a successful stir fry. We also tried out different woks and practiced a lot of chopping!

So here are the 5 reasons you should be doing some stir frying action in your kitchen: 

1/ It is a very fast method of cooking (and hence ideal for busy parents and career people). The chopping can be done ahead of time which leaves the frying (only takes 5 minutes max) Dinner is ready - faster than ordering a take out.

2/ Vegetables are not overcooked so you get more precious nutrients. Sure, it's not as raw as a salad but its probably the next best thing!

3/ The cleaning up is quick. There's hardly any sticky bits to scrub.

4/ There is so much room for creativity. My students created their own stir fry on the spot. One of them made a vegetarian version of my grandma's ginger chicken recipe. Once you know the ratio and proportions of the ingredients, it's easy to play around and surprise yourself with the variety of dishes.  Dark or light? May the sauce be with you!

5/ The food is yummy! (We made stir fried bean sprouts, tofu and dried mushrooms, Thai basil chicken and Stir Fried Broccolini in a ginger sesame suce)

In search of the perfect bowl of ramen in the bay area

There's ramen mania going on in the Bay Area. Queues of hungry diners waiting for a nice comforting bowl of ramen.  Truth be told, I've already tried a few ramen places - Santa Ramen, and Orenchi Ramen which has a following. I must say I was disappointed with both. The first ramen joint was alright but for all its hype, I was expecting something more. It was an ok bowl of ramen. And to top it off, they served me cold tea. I was also excited about Orenchi Ramen because of the queues of people waiting outside and because I like their sister restaurant Sumikagrill. However, their ramen broth was overly salty. 

I think my ramen fascination is somewhat like a fussy twenty something year old princess trying to find the perfect man. There are good guys out there...but they're not perfect, and you keep searching. The same with ramen. Some are better for their broth, some for their chewy noodles, some for their fatty pork and some have the perfect soft boiled egg. Occasionally you find a joint that does everything right.  

So today, I tried Ramen Dojo, which is actually the smaller sister restaurant of Santa Ramen. It was clear from the concise menu that the focus of the dining place was ramen - spicy ramen, to be precise. Ramen dojo opens at 11:30am everyday. I arrived at 11:25am and I was surprised to see a queue of at least 25 people already waiting. So I didn't get to be seated in the first seating when the restaurant opened. But tables move pretty quickly here. I ordered the garlic pork ramen (tonkatsu soup broth). I was surprised when my bowl of ramen was served. It had a thick black sauce on top of it. I was told it was roasted black garlic sauce. I tucked in and for the first time, I enjoyed my ramen. The noodles were nice and chewy, the soup was porky, garlicky and not overly salty, the black garlic sauce was a nice distinctive touch. At $8.95 for a basic bowl, it was worth the wait. I didn't order the spicy version (although I was tempted) as I was sharing my bowl with my three year old. This is my fave joint for now and I will be back to try the spicy version with a soft boiled egg!

Ramen Dojo, 805 South B Street, San Mateo, Open daily except for Tuesday
11:30am - 2pm, 5:30am - 9pm  

How to train a picky eater - fishcakes

Happy New Year! One of my new year resolutions is to entice my children with wonderful ingredients. 

It's Jan and I find myself with lots of left over mash. Costco makes wonderful creamy mash (only for the festive season). This makes a good short cut to comfort food for busy parents or career gals and guys. It's a good idea to stock up on this in your fridge / freezer. 

Here's a simple recipe for the kids and yourself to enjoy!

1/ It really just takes 10 minutes to steam some nutritious cauliflower and carrots. Blend the vegetables into a pulp. 

2/ Combine left over mash, blended vegetables, 1Tbsp capers, 4 anchovies, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 fillet cooked salmon (or any fish), chopped dill, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix and mash. This is the perfect way to disguise those vegetables. I usually involve the kids in this process. They love mashing the ingredients together. They totally forget that there's vegetables inside. I also talk to them about the new ingredients like capers and anchovies and they're hooked.

3/ Shape into patties, dust with flour, dip in a beaten egg and coat in matzo meal or panko breadcrumbs. Fry in oil. Serve with cucumber salad and a dollop of sour cream.