Roasted Cauliflower

Tried this with the garlic powder and next time would like to try it without (for my allium sensitivity, not that it didn't taste delicious).

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 2 T olive oil
• 3 T butter, melted (original was only 2 T but I had a big head of cauliflower)
• [1/2 t garlic powder]
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t paprika
• 1/4 t pepper

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Break off cauliflower into pieces, slicing the larger ones in half if necessary to make them fairly even and bite-sized.
4. Place on sheet and drizzle with oil and butter. Toss to combine.
5. Combine the seasoning and then sprinkle on. Toss again.
6. Spread evenly and bake at 200C convection (or 425F regular) for 15-20 min until desired tenderness/crispiness.

Hainan Style Chicken - One Pot

One pot recipe that both BDs enjoyed. I could only find skinless, boneless thighs so used that. And I forgot to reserve 1/3 of the aromatics, so it all went into the rice (of which there was extra) and it turned out great. 

• 4 pieces chicken thighs, skin on/bone in/optional (~700 g)
• 1 t salt
• 1 pinch white pepper
• 2-3 rice cups of rice (recipe called for 2, but I used 3 to have leftovers)
• 2 T neutral cooking oil
• 2 stalks scallions, finely chopped
• 1 T minced ginger
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 t salt

Sauce

• 2 T light soy sauce
• 1 T fresh lime juice (or less)
• 1 t sesame oil
• cucumber slices, blanched greens (spinach, bok choy)

1. In a bowl, sprinkle the chicken thighs with the 1 t salt and white pepper. Rub it in. Leave to marinate for 10 minutes.
2. Heat oil over medium heat. Add the scallions, ginger and garlic. Fry until fragrant - do not burn.
3. Scoop 2/3 of the mixture into the rice cooker. Add the rice and extra 1/4 t salt. Add the water. Place thighs on top.
4. Set to cook. When done, leave covered for an additional 10 minutes to let the chicken continue to cook.
5. Take chicken out and slice into strips (cutting off the bone if there).
6. Serve the rice, with chicken on top and cucumber slices.
7. Mix the sauce ingredients with the aromatics mixture that was saved earlier. Use as a dipping sauce or to pour over the chicken and cucumbers.

Pasta with Brussel Sprouts, Tomatoes and Spinach

Used leftover plain spaghetti from XBD's carbonara dinner to make this for lunch the next day. Delicious! BDs don't eat brussel sprouts or tomatoes, so a perfect lunch for one.
3/16/26 Made this again without spinach. Still delicious!

• pasta of choice
• butter
• Brussel sprouts
• 1 tomato
• spinach
• mozzarella
• salt and pepper

1. Cut Brussel sprouts in half and sauté on medium in generous amount of butter for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Salt and pepper to taste.
2. Slice tomato.
3. Sauté spinach.
4. Serve over cooked pasta, sprinkle with additional salt and pepper. Sprinkle with grated mozzarella.

Cha Siu Bao

When I was a teenager I attempted making cha siu bao from scratch. It was a full day task and after all that effort they came out terrible. Full of long scallion pieces (which should have been a warning sign in the recipe to me). Baba found the best frozen variety and I never tried again. But it's hard to find a good one here so I decided to try this again, but this time starting with store bought cha siu. Neither of these recipes is perfect, but it's a starting point to try to figure out what to tweak to get it better for next time.

Red House Spice Recipe - ** - 14 buns
27 Jan 2026 - I started with this one because the dough was quick to make. However, the filling was way too goopy. After filling 4 buns, I chopped up a lot more pork and tossed it in. The recipe asked for 130g of cha siu, but it needed about 200 g for the amount of sauce. I ran out of grapeseed oil part way, so subbed in less than 1 T olive oil. I used regular flour instead of cake flour (perhaps the dough would have been better with cake flour). But in the end, the bread was not sweet like I think a cha siu bao should be, so I would not use this dough recipe again. The folds also all disappeared into each other while sitting to rise. The filling tasted too salty, but then when compared to the next recipe, XBD thought this filling was better. My judgement is reserved for when I do a side by side taste test (I put some of each batch in the freezer to compare later). However, I do like that the shallot (which I used instead of onion) was used just to flavor the sauce, but was not kept in.

Woks of Life Recipe - *** - 10 large buns
28 Jan 2026 - This dough was a pleasure to work with, came out much fluffier and cracked closer to a restaurant style one. It was noticeably sweeter than the first recipe (which makes sense since it has 5 T of sugar instead of just 2). The buns came out huge! I would divide into 12-14 next time instead of just 10, just to have a smaller size. I also couldn't fit in all the filling. The filling still came out too salty. Try reducing the salty items (soy, oyster and/or chicken stock?).

Next attempt

- woks of life dough
- no onion/shallot in filling (only use to flavor the sauce)
- less saltiness
- less sauce:pork ratio
- improve flavor - figure out what is missing or too much