Red Curry Squid and Green Beans

There once lived a king and a queen and the king was completely attended to by his queen. She did everything in the castle and even had to spoon feed him sometimes when he became extra lazy. They were completely smitten with each other and lived in harmony and happiness. However, one day the devil came to visit the kingdom and stayed for a while. Life was difficult and the king was so distracted that he didn't even have time to let the queen spoon feed him anymore. The king and queen were unhappy and managed to evict the devil from the castle for a short period of time, but not much time had passed before the devil managed to insinuate himself back into the castle. The devil's name? You guessed it - Modern Warfare 2! I know some of you ladies out there have had the pleasure of the devil's stay, either for a short time or you may still be enjoying its pleasant company, and can commiserate with me over this intrusion into life. It's like a second wife, and gets all the attention and none of the grief. The most annoying thing about MW2? Since Tombee's hogging the TV, I still haven't been able to watch Julie & Julia! It's a tough life I tell ya...

But, the show must go on. This dish was nice with a hint of spiciness. I would have added more curry paste since I adore super hot food but because Tombee sweats like an Eskimo in fur in 40 degree weather when he eats "spicy" food, I didn't add as much as I would have liked. The hoisin sauce complemented the heat in the dish well by tempering a lot of the spiciness with an almost caramelized sweetness. I cooked the beans until they were barely done and were still extremely crisp, which added a nice textural contrast to the soft squid. Of course I probably don't need to say that Tombee's food went ice cold while he was in the devil's clutches...waste of my efforts I tell ya!





Red Curry Squid and Green Beans

Ingredients
1lb squid, cut into rings
1lb green beans, ends trimmed
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 birds eye chili, thinly sliced and seeds discarded
1 tablespoon oil

Sauce
1-2 tablespoon red curry paste (depending on how spicy you want it)
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon water

Directions
1. Mix sauce ingredients and set aside.
2. Heat oil in pan and add garlic and chili pepper. Cook until fragrant.
3. Add green beans to pan and stir fry for 2 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons water and cover for 2 minutes. The beans should be about 90% cooked. If not, add more water and cover again.
4. Add squid rings to pan and stir to mix with beans.
5. Add sauce and stir quickly to coat squid and green beans with sauce. Cook until squid is just cooked (do not overcook as squid will become rubbery). Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
6. Serve with steaming hot rice.

Gochujang and Chipotle Fried Sea Bass and Zucchini

I luurve spicy food. Unfortunately Tombee is a bit of a wimp when it comes to spicy stuff so I always have to be considerate when making something spicy. This dish was not spicy at all but Tombee said it was so I guess it depends on how much of a wimp you are ;). If you can't find chipotle peppers you can substitute with chili powder but the smokiness of the chipotle peppers just cannot be replaced.


Live action shot - look at that steam!



Gochujang and Chipotle Fried Sea Bass and Zucchini

Ingredients
2 sea bass filets, cubed (substitute with any firm white flesh fish)
2 small zucchinis, cubed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon oil

Sauce
1-2 tablespoons gochujang (more or less depending on how spicy you want it)
1 chipotle pepper (omit or only use half if you don't want it too spicy)
1 teaspoon chipotle pepper sauce (from can)
2 teaspoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons chicken broth (can substitute for water if you'd like)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon cooking wine

Directions
1. Place all ingredients for sauce into a food processor and blend together until smooth. Taste and adjust sauce as desired.
2. Heat oil in pan and add minced garlic. Cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
3. Add zucchini cubes and cook until they are softened and almost cooked.
4. Add the fish cubes and cook for 1 minute.
5. Pour the sauce into pan and mix to fully coat fish and zucchini in the sauce.
6. Cook until fish and zucchini are cooked and tender.

Chipotle Honey Soy Braised Chicken

When I first started cooking, I would never know if what I made would be a hit or miss. When I succeeded in making something that tasted good I wouldn't really know what I had done right or wrong (I still feel that way sometimes!) but the biggest difference between now and then is that if a recipe turns out poorly I can make some adjustments and make it taste better. The biggest mistake I made when I first began cooking was not tasting before serving. Somehow I must have thought that things would just work themselves out and magically taste perfect without having to adjust the seasoning. Of course now I know better and I taste things several times. Another very important thing to remember is that you can always add more but you can never take back what you add so add sparingly and taste every time you add seasoning! Now onto the recipe - I love chipotle peppers and I wanted something that brought out the smokiness of the chipotle peppers while also balancing the spiciness and bringing out the sweetness of the peppers. I added chocolate to the sauce mixture because it would bring out the smokiness and sweetness of the mixture and it's similar to how chocolate is used in a mole sauce (plus any excuse to use chocolate right?). The chicken was juicy and the sauce was finger-lickin good!


Cooking the chicken in the yummy sauce



Chipotle Honey Soy Braised Chicken

Ingredients
1lb chicken pieces (I used chicken drumsticks)
1 tablespoon oil
1/4 cup water
chocolate curls (garnish - optional)

Sauce
3 garlic cloves
2 small chipotle peppers
1 teaspoon chipotle sauce (from peppers)
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons mirin (add more honey if you don't have any)
1 tablespoon semi-sweet chocolate

Directions
1. Place sauce ingredients into a food processor and process until completely smooth. Taste and adjust depending on how spicy, sweet or salty you want the sauce.
2. Heat oil in pan and add chicken. Cook until chicken is lightly brown on both sides.
3. Add sauce ingredients and water to the pan. Stir chicken to fully coat in the sauce.
4. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer until chicken is fully cooked.
5. Plate and scatter chocolate curls over chicken.

Spicy Korean Chicken Stew

Every weekend I go grocery shopping at a small Chinese grocery store in Vancouver. Now I'm a person that has been mistaken for a 16 year old before, so imagine this kind of person pushing a shopping cart in a market where every other person uses a small basket. Fast forward to checkout time. Tombee and I are very conscious about being green so we always bring our own reuseable bags. He always bags because otherwise it would take me ten years since I absolutely must bag according to type of food (anal retentive much?). Our cart is absolutely stocked to the top every single time and the people waiting in line behind us fidget impatiently or else just openly glare at our inconsiderate lollygagging at the checkout. I can just see what they're thinking at this point - "My gosh those two must have a large family to buy so much groceries." We are a family of two. But I have a picture that will explain everything.


Tombee's lunch box (left one) and my lunch box (right one)

Now, in case you didn't quite understand the extent of our gluttony, here's another picture with a box of tissue for comparison:


Really, with lunches like that (and don't even get me started on dinner!), no wonder we rack up a grocery bill that would feed a family of 6 in a week. I personally think that being Asian, our genes have been encoded to hoard and devour store food in case of a famine in the future. I have been called a monster before...many times actually. I secretly think I have a tapeworm that forces me to eat and never be satiated but I've never gotten it checked out because what would happen if that weren't true?! That's my story and I'm sticking to it! The reason for that tangent was because I needed an explanation for why I used 3.5 pounds - yes you read that right - 3.5 pounds of chicken to feed 2 people. I am including the original recipe as I don't think anyone else would ever be able to eat 3.5 pounds of food (this of course doesn't include our vegetable dish and the ever crucial bowl of rice) but if you also have a tapeworm in your stomach, just adjust the recipe accordingly by tripling it (that didn't sound so bad until I said it out loud...).


The magic ingredient. Delicious, just buy it! (1.1lbs - go big or go home right?)


Look at that peppery spicy goodness

Spicy Korean Chicken Stew from Anjelikuh's blog
Ingredients
2 - 3 chicken thighs, cut
3 large potatoes, cubed
2 medium carrots, cubed
1 onion, sliced
1 tablespoon oil
2 cups of water (or enough to submerge the chicken and vegetables)
Spring onions or chilis for garnish

Sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons hot pepper paste (gochujang)
1 tablespoon Korean red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons sugar
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions
1. Heat oil in pan and add onions, potatoes, and carrots.
2. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently, then add chicken.
3. Cook for another 2 minutes until chicken is slightly browned.
4. Cover with water until vegetables and chicken are almost covered.
5. Bring to a boil. Mix sauce ingredients together and taste. If you want it spicier, add more red pepper flakes, and more sugar if you'd like it sweeter.
6. Add sauce ingredients to pan and bring mixture to a boil again.
7. Turn heat down and simmer for 20-30 minutes until chicken is tender. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
8. Plate in a pretty stone pot to impress guests.




Obviously I didn't cook this in the claypot. Do you really think 3lbs of chicken would fit in here?! Use it to impress guests...they'll never know. Deliciousness is more important than honesty