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. 

Stocking stuffers and little gifts to make any budding home chef happy

It's that time of the year when you have to make that mad dash and get loads of little useless gifts. Try getting some useful ones this year. Culinary gadgets make the best gifts in my humble opinion!

For the tea aficionados (Found this in World Market)

Beautiful ravioli moulds to get them cooking for you

This food gadget is a beautiful as is useful. Alessi makes great designs!

Nothing better than a homemade gift. There's nothing more special than a big bottle of home brewed apple cider accompanied with a small bottle of brandy. Other ideas: mulled wine and maybe even sangria. This is a perfect gift for the host or hostess. You can also add some nice hand-blown glasses for that extra punch. Thank you P and J for your wonderfully thoughtful gift!

Gingerbread men, cookies...christmas is a great time for cooking with the kids. And a kitchen set for kids makes a perfect gift. You can find kid-sized kitchen utensils online and put together the present for the next budding junior masterchef.

A great stocking stuffer for the little ones - kid training chopsticks.
My three year old holds the chopsticks like a pro

Another great stocking stuffer - Microplane grater. It's not a must-have in most kitchens but it makes a world of difference when grating lemon rind and other small items. It will make a home chef very very happy

I've always gotten compliments on my coffee when I serve them in these Bodum Pavina insulated cups. It could be psychological but it will make any coffee-lover feel good. Trust me.

These lemon / orange squeezers are so jolly looking, you'll want to make lemonade again and again.

I used to use store-bought olive oil sprays and always felt that the packaging was wasteful. This gift is not only healthy but convenient and eco-friendly at the same time.  

10 things to know when cooking Dungeness Crab

It's the Dungeness Crab season in the Bay Area and it's time to cook some crab. There are many recipes but my favorite is the Singapore Black Pepper Crab - crab cooked in a buttery sauce with lots of black pepper!

10 things to know about cooking dungeness crab

1/ It is best to cook freshly killed crab. Put the crabs to sleep in ice or in the freezer for half an hour or more. It makes the process more palatable. You can get the fishmonger to kill the crab but you should cook it as soon as possible

2/ Grab the crab on its hind part to avoid getting pinched

3/ For Asians who like crab eggs, take note that buying female dungeness crabs is illegal (for conservation purposes)

4/ How to tell the sex of a crab? turn the crab around and the shell has a triangular flap which you should pull out (it's called the apron). Female crabs have rounded aprons

5/  Remove the top shell from the crab and discard the leaf like spongy gills on the main body of the crab. 

6/ Remember to break off and discard the mandibles (mouth parts) before cooking

7/ If you're boiling the whole crab, it cooks best in salty water. 

8/ As a general rule of thumb, crabs need 15-20 minutes to be cooked (depending on size) Another good gauge is to notice the color. When the shell turns from green or brown to red or orange, it is probably cooked. The final check is to make sure the flesh is opaque white instead of translucent white.  

9/ If you're stir frying the crab, bash the claws with a cleaver or pestle so that the sauce can blend with the meat

10/ The greenish yellow crab butter or crab gut found in the top shell is considered a delicacy but bear in mind it's also where toxins accumulate, so eat it sparingly

To kill a crab, open the apron, the triangular flap at the bottom of the crab (see picture above). It should open easily. You will find a hole where you should stab with your knife for a quick death.

Removing the top shell from the crab body is the most challenging part. Prise open the crab from below the apron.  Remove the spongey gills on the side of the crab.

What's left of your turkey?

Don't forget to use your leftover turkey bones. This is what I learnt from my stock cooking class at SF cooking school. Roast the turkey bones in pan for 1 hour to brown. brush tomato paste on top and add in all your roasting vegetables for the last 20 minutes. Transfer the meat and vegetables into your stock pot. Deglaze the bottom of your roasting pan with one cup white wine. Scrape off the sticky stuff at the bottom and pour all of that into your stockpot. Add cold water until it covers the meat by an inch. Boil, remove scum and simmer for 4 hours. Season with salt and spices. You've got nice dark stock. Use the stock for soups and sauces. Use it right away or put it in plastic containers and freeze.  

More leftover turkey recipe ideas for post thanksgiving

Tons of leftover turkey post-thanksgiving. What do you do to spice up the meat? I make turkey and fried potato with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. 

1/Chop potatoes into one-inch cubes. Fry with olive oil. 2/ Add one tsp ground cumin, one chilli (sliced) 4 cloves crushed garlic, salt to taste and a squeeze of lemon. 3/ Top with leftover turkey. 4 Accompany with salad leaves. 5/ Top with a poached egg

Bang Bang Turkey Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson's book FEAST
Dress chicken with a spicy sauce and accompany with salad
Nigella's spicy sauce contains hot oil (4 Tbsp), 3Tbs peanut butter, 2 Tbsp chinese chilli bean sauce(I used laoganmama), 1.5 Tbsp black vinegar and 1 Tbsp castor sugar