Chinese Cabbage

My mom made this dish constantly when I was growing up and I hated it. But I always had to have a few bites. It seemed like we had it every other day. The crunchy pieces and the leafy pieces were equally bad to me. As I got older, it was a tolerated dish, with the crunchy pieces being easier to eat. Fast forward many decades and I haven't had this dish in ages. I found xia-mi (tiny dried shrimp) in the local asian store and tried to give this a go, using an internet recipe. (Couldn't get the recipe from my mom because she no longer believes in using xia-mi.) Thoroughly enjoyed it. Ginger was quite strong and I would try without the scallions next time.

• 1 chinese cabbage
• 2 T dried shrimp (xia-mi)
• 2 T oil
• 4 scallions, cut into 1 inch pieces (I don't think my mom's recipe used this)
• 1" ginger, peeled and grated (nor this)
• 1 T soy sauce
• 1 T cold water
• 2 t cornstarch
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 t white pepper

1. Place xia-mi in small bowl and cover with boiling water to rehydrate for 15-30 min.
2. Split the cabbage in half lengthwise. Rinse it and shake it dry. Cut out the core and discard. 
3. Cut the cabbage into 1 inch pieces and separate into 2 bowls - one for leafy bits, one for thick white pieces.
4. Drain the shrimp.
5. In large skillet, heat oil over high heat. Add scallions, ginger, and xiami. Toss until fragrant, about 1 min.
6. Add the thick cabbage pieces and lower heat to medium high. Cook for 3-4 min until edges start to look slightly translucent but center is still opaque white.
7. Reduce heat to medium low and add leafy pieces. Cook until wilted, about 2 min.
8. Make cornstarch slurry: combine soy, water, cornstarch in small bowl. Pour over cabbage and cook until sauce has thickened.
9. Season with salt and pepper.

Dal Saag - Spinach Dahl

Quick and delicious. 1/2 c of dahl doesn't look like much but it expands quite a bit. Based on original recipe but left out onions and missing spices.

• 1/2 c moong dal (the quickest cooking one that doesn't require soaking, and easiest to digest, but other dahls can be substituted if soaked)
• 1 c water
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped (90g, 3/4 c) [omitted]
• 1-4 cloves garlic
• 1 roma tomato, chopped
• 1 c baby spinach (8 oz/227 g)
• 1/4 t turmeric (did not use)
• salt
• 2 t ghee, melted
• 1/4 t cumin seeds
• 1/2 t mustard seeds (did not have)
• pinch of asofoetida
• 1-4 dried chillis

1. Rinse the dahl until water is no longer cloudy. Fill bowl halfway with water and swish with fingers.
2. Heat oil in pan. If using onion, saute 2 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and optional dried chilis, plus 1/2 t salt. Tomatoes should soften and release juices. About 1-2 min.
3. Add the washed dal, water (and turmeric). Layer the spinach on top. Cover with lid. Cook for 30 min. Dal should be cooked through and mushy to the touch. Use a wooden spoon to stir until the dish becomes creamy. Add 1/2 t salt (or to taste). 
4. In separate saucepan, melt ghee. Add mustard seeds. When they start to pop, add the cumin, asofoetida, and 1-2 dried chilis. After a few seconds, cumin seeds should dance. Pour this spice tadka over the dal. 
5. Serve with rice. 

Coconut Sticky Rice with Mango

I've found one shop with quality mangoes that are ridiculously expensive. But I splurge once in a while because they're my favorite fruit. To stretch them, I make this dish. Otherwise I prefer to eat them plain and fresh.
Summer 2023: Doubled the pouring sauce to finish the leftover coconut milk. Fed 8 generously.

• 
  2 ripe mangoes
  
• 2 rice cups of sticky rice (aka glutinous rice)
• 1 c/8oz/250 ml thick coconut milk
• 1/3 c sugar (reduced from 1/2 c)
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 T sesame seeds (white or black)
• Sauce: 1/4 c thin coconut milk, 1 T sugar, pinch of salt

1. Do ahead: Soak the rice for 3 hours or overnight.
2. Cook the rice in a rice cooker, using ratio from package.
3. Mix the thick coconut milk, sugar and salt. 
4. When the rice is done, transfer it to a bowl and while it is hot add the coconut mixture. Combine thoroughly. Leave it to rest for 30-50 min so the rice can absorb the liquid.
5. Mix the sauce ingredients and set aside.
6. Peel the mangoes and slice thinly. Scoop rice into bowl/plate, top with mango and drizzle with sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Aussie Meat Pie

I found the recipe and MM cooked the meat both times. I just assembled them the first time. Second time he did it for the international festival. He used way more black pepper the second time and it gave it a really nice kick. We still want to try a mushroom version, but this was a good start. First time we used rib steak, second time chuck steak with less broth. First time made 6 muffins, 2 texas muffins and 6-5" pies. Second batch made 24 muffin size pies. Recipe adjusted below (original in parens).
6/6/23 Made this on my own with soup meat, using just under 1 kg all in 1 day. Made exactly 6-5" pies. I thought they were fine but MM said not as good.

• 
  3 T olive oil
  
• 1.5 kg chuck steak, cut into 1 cm cubes
• 1 onion, diced - brown, yellow, white or shallots (2)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 T tomato paste
• 3 c beef broth (4 c)
• 1 c red wine (dry and dark, not light like pinot noir)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1.5 t salt
• 2 t black pepper*
• 3 T cornstarch*
• 4 T water
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten (or whole egg for lighter finish)
• puff pastry
• quiche pastry/shortcrust pastry (1 jumbo circle has 4 5" pies worth)

Day Ahead: Beef filling

1. Heat 1 T olive oil in large pot over high heat. Add layers of beef to sear outside until lightly browned. Remove to bowl and repeat.
2. Lower heat to medium high and add the remaining olive oil. Cook onion and garlic until translucent (~5 min).
3. Return beef to pot and all other filling ingredients EXCEPT cornstarch and water. Mix to combine. 
4. Simmer then lower heat to low/med-low so bubbling super gently. Leave to cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Beef should be very tender.
5. Mix cornstarch with water to make slurry. Pour into pot and mix. Cook for 5 min until sauce thickens.
6. Remove from heat to cool. Season with additional salt and pepper.

Assembly

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
2. Grease muffin tins, silicone cups or 5" pie plates.
3. Cut quiche pastry ~1" bigger than tin/cup. Press into pan leaving overhang/thick edge. Fill to brim with filling.
4. Cut puff pastry to size. Place lid on top of filling and gently press to join the doughs.
5. Slice 3-5 times from center, widening the slits to ensure they stay open.
6. Brush with egg wash.
7. Bake for 20-25 min until dark/deep golden brown.
8. Allow to rest for a few min before turning out to wire rack.
9. Serve warm with tomato sauce (aka Australian for ketchup).

Chicken Peanut Noodles

I wanted to try a chicken satay noodle recipe and bought pre-chopped veggies at the store to make it all go faster. I bought a bag of beautiful red cabbage, but this turned out to be a disaster while cooking. It immediately started turning the chicken blue...and then dull black, making the dish visually unappealing. However, outside of the looks, it was fine. But next time I would use white cabbage for sure. I used 150 g noodles and 300 g chicken but did not increase the sauce ratio (should have though). It's also easy to dump in extra vegetables and substitute tofu to make this pescatarian (because of the fish sauce).

Sauce

• 1/4 c crunchy peanut butter
• 1.5 T fish sauce
• 1.5 T dark soy
• 2 t sugar
• 2 t cornstarch
• 1 garlic clove, minced (reduced from 2)
• 2 t grated ginger
• 1/2 t curry powder (optional...reduced from 1.5 t)
• 1/4 c water

Other

• 180 g thinly sliced chicken breast
• 1 t baking soda
• 100 g dried rice noodles
• 2 T oil
• 1 garlic, minced
• ~1 c shredded carrot
• ~1.5 c shredded white cabbage
• ~1 c beansprouts
• chopped peanuts
• cilantro

1. Tenderize the chicken: Place chicken and baking soda in a bowl and mix by hand. Set aside for 20 min. Rinse well in a colander and shake off excess water. Pat dry with a paper towel.
2. Place sauce ingredients, except water, in bowl. If peanut butter is natural, add salt, sugar and oil. Microwave if necessary to soften the peanut butter. Stir in water.
3. Prepare noodles by soaking in boiled water for package time. Drain, set aside.
4. Heat oil in large skillet on high heat and saute garlic for 30 seconds. Add chicken and cook until outside is white. Add carrots and cabbage and cook until they start to wilt.
5. Add noodles, sprouts and sauce. Stir for 1.5-2 min until sauce thickens and noodles are coated.
6. Serve immediately garnished with peanuts and coriander.

Gimbap

This was delicious but we did not have enough rice or nori to make as much as we wanted to eat for 4 of us (1 adult, 3 kids). So next time, double the rice and get lots of nori (we had 5 sheets). Everyone loved it. Based on maangchi recipe.
3/24 Have made this several times without soy sauce in the beef to make it gluten free. Most recently at XBD's request. Leftovers brought for DBD's lunch/snack. Best to leave uncut in fridge and cut in the morning to prevent drying out. Tried new 10 sheet korean seaweed pack from AO.

• 
  sushi rice (2 c uncooked rice per 5 sheets)
  
• 1/2-1 lb beef (skirt steak, tenderloin, or ground)
• carrot matchsticks
• pickled radish, cut into strips
• spinach, blanched, rinsed in cold water and squeezed
• 3 eggs
• optional: cucumber sticks, pepper sticks, imitation crab sticks, avocado strips
• garlic, minced
• soy sauce
• brown sugar
• salt
• sesame oil

1. Rice: Cook short grained rice in rice cooker. Place hot rice in large shallow bowl. Mix with 1/2 t salt and 2 t sesame oil per 2 c uncooked rice. Let cool until it's not steaming. 
2. Spinach: Combined blanched spinach with 1 cl garlic, 1/2 t salt and 2 t sesame oil. Mix well. Chop. Place on large plate with pickled radish slices.
3. Carrot: Combine the carrot matchsticks with 1/4 t salt. Mix well and let sweat for 5-10 min. Squeeze out the water. Heat pan and add a few drops of oil. Saute carrots for about 1 min. Place next to spinach.
4. Beef-1: In a bowl, combine 1 garlic cl, 1/4 t black pepper, 1 T + t 1 brown sugar, 2 t soy, 2 t sesame oil. Mix in trimmed, sliced steaks or ground beef. Mix well by hand. Set aside to marinate while preparing eggs.
5. Eggs: Crack 3 eggs into bowl. Remove stringy white bits. Beat with 1/4 t salt. Drizzle a few drops of oil on heated pan. Wipe off excess oil. Turn the heat to low and pour egg mixture into pan. When the bottom is cooked, flip. Remove from heat and let it cook in pan for another 5 min (This is to prevent browning). Cut into 1/2" strips. Place next to spinach.
6. Beef-2: Heat pan over med-high and cook beef, stirring.
7. Assembly: Place nori on bamboo mat with shiny side down. Evenly spread rice leaving 2" gap at top. Dot top with rice for sealing. Place favorite filling inside, making sure to reach left and right edges. Use both hands to roll tightly, pressing mat as you go. Slice each roll with sharp clean knife.
8. Use leftover toppings to make poke bowl.

Cheater Bulgogi Beef

You can make bulgogi sauce from scratch, but instead I just bought jars from the local asian market. Tried one and the DBD really liked it, so going to add this into the dinner rotation.

• 90 g bulgogi sauce
• ~1 lb beef (rundreepjes, thinly sliced steak, other)
• oil
• vegetables (sprouts, mushrooms, gailan, carrots, etc)
• rice/noodles

1. Marinate the beef for 3 hours to overnight, covered in the fridge.
2. Heat oil in pan and cook beef until cooked through (~2 min each side).
3. Remove to serving dish.
4. Saute vegetables in saucy pan.
5. Serve with rice or noodles.