My mom makes this dish and growing up, it was one of my absolute favorites!
Serves 2
1/3 box of elbow pasta (macaroni)
1 box of frozen peas and carrots, defrosted
2 potatoes
1 or 2 scallions
salt
water
Start boiling water in a pot for the elbow pasta. Meanwhile, wash the potatoes and scallions. Peel and cube the potatoes and chop the scallions. In a heated and well-oiled wok or pan, throw in potatoes and add some water. Cook covered for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Add peas and carrots and mix it together. Add more water if necessary and cook covered for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and add it to the wok or pan and stir fry everything together. If the mix is dry or the potatoes are hard, add some water and cook covered for a few minutes longer. Add salt to taste and once everything is cooked through, it's time to serve and eat!
Tips/ Variations:
- Bits of ground pork can be added if you eat meat
- Minced garlic are also a wonderful addition
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
My favorite eggplant dish!
You have to use chinese eggplants for this, also known as japanese eggplants or more politically correct, asian eggplants. I prefer asian eggplants in general because it contains less seeds. This is supposed to be made with a small amount of ground beef, but since I'm vegetarian now, I leave it out. Anyways, the recipe is below:
Serves 2
Ingredients:
3 asian eggplants
1 scallion, chopped
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
2 cloves garlic
These eggplants are cut in a particular way. You are going to make approximately 2 to 3 inch sections. Place the eggplant on the cutting board in front of you and at the part where you are going to cut your piece, hold your knife at a 45 degree angle away from you and slice down. Turn the eggplant a quarter turn and cut another piece at an angle. So you are slicing straight down each time, but turning the knife at an angle away from your body. Repeat until all the eggplants are cut up this way.
Heat up the oil in the pan or wok and toss in the garlic, followed by the scallions, then the eggplants. Eggplants soak up a lot of oil when cooking so make sure you use enough. They will eventually "spit" the oil back out when they're just about done. Add the soy sauce to taste and toss the mix until the eggplants are soft and mushy.
Tips/ Variations:
- Add some bits of ground beef
- Make sure the wok or pan is not too hot when tossing in the garlic and scallions or they'll burn
- This is a rather oily dish, heavy on flavor because it was meant to be eaten with plain rice.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
3 asian eggplants
1 scallion, chopped
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
2 cloves garlic
These eggplants are cut in a particular way. You are going to make approximately 2 to 3 inch sections. Place the eggplant on the cutting board in front of you and at the part where you are going to cut your piece, hold your knife at a 45 degree angle away from you and slice down. Turn the eggplant a quarter turn and cut another piece at an angle. So you are slicing straight down each time, but turning the knife at an angle away from your body. Repeat until all the eggplants are cut up this way.
Heat up the oil in the pan or wok and toss in the garlic, followed by the scallions, then the eggplants. Eggplants soak up a lot of oil when cooking so make sure you use enough. They will eventually "spit" the oil back out when they're just about done. Add the soy sauce to taste and toss the mix until the eggplants are soft and mushy.
Tips/ Variations:
- Add some bits of ground beef
- Make sure the wok or pan is not too hot when tossing in the garlic and scallions or they'll burn
- This is a rather oily dish, heavy on flavor because it was meant to be eaten with plain rice.
Fried rice
Fried rice is how we, Chinese, like to deal with leftovers. Whatever leftover dishes is tossed in with whatever leftover rice and cooked with some scrambled eggs and scallions. For added flavor, you can add some soy sauce to the mix, which will darken the rice. Personally, I like making fried rice without using leftovers because the flavoring of leftovers interferes with my penchant for eating it with lots of ketchup! Here is my favorite fried rice recipe:
Serves 2
Ingredients:
2 cups rice
2 to 3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup of milk
1 to 2 scallions, chopped
1 to 2 roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup ham/veggie ham, chopped
salt
water
cooking oil (I use olive oil)
Combine the eggs with the scallions and milk. Scramble the eggs in a heated and well-oiled pan or wok. Throw in the rest of the ingredients. If using leftover rice, the mixture may be too dry, in which case you should add some water. Mix everything up well and if the tomatoes and rice still seems rather hard, add a little bit of water and cook covered for a few minutes. Salt to taste and mix everything up a little bit more before serving.
Tips/ Variations:
- I love ketchup with my fried rice, but I usually add it to my bowl after I've scooped out my portion. You can add ketchup while cooking, but it means everyone else has to like it too!
- You can add little bit of sesame oil if you like that in your fried rice.
- As I mentioned before, you can use soy sauce instead of salt for your fried rice, but I don't like adding ketchup after if it's been prepared that way.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
2 cups rice
2 to 3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup of milk
1 to 2 scallions, chopped
1 to 2 roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup ham/veggie ham, chopped
salt
water
cooking oil (I use olive oil)
Combine the eggs with the scallions and milk. Scramble the eggs in a heated and well-oiled pan or wok. Throw in the rest of the ingredients. If using leftover rice, the mixture may be too dry, in which case you should add some water. Mix everything up well and if the tomatoes and rice still seems rather hard, add a little bit of water and cook covered for a few minutes. Salt to taste and mix everything up a little bit more before serving.
Tips/ Variations:
- I love ketchup with my fried rice, but I usually add it to my bowl after I've scooped out my portion. You can add ketchup while cooking, but it means everyone else has to like it too!
- You can add little bit of sesame oil if you like that in your fried rice.
- As I mentioned before, you can use soy sauce instead of salt for your fried rice, but I don't like adding ketchup after if it's been prepared that way.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Ginger ale/ ginger beer
This first recipe is the one I used in my first successful attempt at making ginger ale, or ginger beer.
¾ tbsp grated ginger
Juice and Zest of one lemon
½ cup sugar
Tap water
1/8 tsp. yeast
Combine the first three ingredients and shake to dissolve the sugar. Fill the bottle with water, leaving 2 inches of space at the top. Place in a warm place for 24 to 48 hours until bottle feels really hard when you try to squeeze it. Place in fridge to chill and serve!
Subsequent attempts have led me to something that looks more like the one below. I like strong flavors in my food and drinks.
1 to 2 tbsp grated ginger
Juice and Zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
Tap water
1/8 tsp. of rapid rise yeast
Combine the first four ingredients with some tap water that has been warmed and mix well. Add the yeast and pour the mix through a funnel into a 2-liter soda bottle. Fill with cold tap water, leaving about 2 inches of space at the top. Cap the bottle and shake until sugar is dissolved. Place in a warm place for about 24 to 48 hours, or until bottle is really, really hard. Place in fridge to chill and stop fermentation. Once the drink is chilled, serve and enjoy!
Tips:
- Warm tap water helps to dissolve the sugar, honey and yeast, which is why I like to make a warm mixture first. It cuts down on the amount of shaking time required to dissolve the stuff once it's in the bottle.
- I've round that rapid rise yeast works faster than regular yeast and being impatient, I prefer to use something that works faster.
- Opened packages of yeast does not last. Either refrigerate or freeze the leftover yeast to keep it alive longer. I believe the refrigerator will allow the leftover yeast to last between a week to a month and freezing the yeast will allow it to last up to 6 months.
- To see if your yeast is still active, put some in a cup of warm water and some sugar and see if it foams and expands in 5 to 10 minutes.
¾ tbsp grated ginger
Juice and Zest of one lemon
½ cup sugar
Tap water
1/8 tsp. yeast
Combine the first three ingredients and shake to dissolve the sugar. Fill the bottle with water, leaving 2 inches of space at the top. Place in a warm place for 24 to 48 hours until bottle feels really hard when you try to squeeze it. Place in fridge to chill and serve!
Subsequent attempts have led me to something that looks more like the one below. I like strong flavors in my food and drinks.
1 to 2 tbsp grated ginger
Juice and Zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
Tap water
1/8 tsp. of rapid rise yeast
Combine the first four ingredients with some tap water that has been warmed and mix well. Add the yeast and pour the mix through a funnel into a 2-liter soda bottle. Fill with cold tap water, leaving about 2 inches of space at the top. Cap the bottle and shake until sugar is dissolved. Place in a warm place for about 24 to 48 hours, or until bottle is really, really hard. Place in fridge to chill and stop fermentation. Once the drink is chilled, serve and enjoy!
Tips:
- Warm tap water helps to dissolve the sugar, honey and yeast, which is why I like to make a warm mixture first. It cuts down on the amount of shaking time required to dissolve the stuff once it's in the bottle.
- I've round that rapid rise yeast works faster than regular yeast and being impatient, I prefer to use something that works faster.
- Opened packages of yeast does not last. Either refrigerate or freeze the leftover yeast to keep it alive longer. I believe the refrigerator will allow the leftover yeast to last between a week to a month and freezing the yeast will allow it to last up to 6 months.
- To see if your yeast is still active, put some in a cup of warm water and some sugar and see if it foams and expands in 5 to 10 minutes.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Scratching the patch
I have a skin condition called eczema. I’ve had it all my life and in some ways, it seems like my struggles to either soothe, alleviate or placate it is the one continuous, faint side-story of my life. On good days, I may actually be mostly eczema free or at the very least, my patches are not bothering me. On bad days, I’ll have swollen, weeping wounds all over that are STILL begging me to scratch! On those days, which usually lasts anywhere from a month to years, I have resorted to sitting on my hands, burning my patches with hot water and slathering on mentholated lotion – all to keep me from scratching. The torture of not scratching can, at times, feel excruciating as the itch keeps itching right under the horrible bleeding and throbbing pain. When I do give in and scratch, the sensation of scratching that taunting itch feels oh-so exquisite. Sometimes it feels like I’d scratch right to the bone if I weren’t careful.
Funny that it should feel sooooo good to scratch the patch when the only thing that really helps in the end, is to not scratch. It’s the only thing that keeps it from getting worse. I remember in fifth grade, my right wrist had been swollen and weeping fluid for years from all the scratching. I just couldn’t stop! One day, while being bored in class, I thought of a story my father had told me. He said that some of the greatest heroes in China’s were able to take lots of pain by divorcing their mind from their body. It’s the same idea that’s sometimes employed during meditation. I was taught that when you feel the urge to move due to pain, itch or discomfort, first just observe it, as a stranger observes a street scene out of curiosity. You want to see where it would go or how it will develop. If you really have to move because the pain is just that unbearable, then do so, but the point is not to indulge. So that’s what I tried on my eczema.
There were moments when I sat on my hands to keep from scratching, but mainly, I just focused on the itch and really tried to feel what it felt like to be itchy. At times, it feels like there’s movement where the itch is. I realized that the itch doesn’t feel like it’s on the skin at all, but inside and when the patch is swollen, it itches right through the throbs or in time with the throbs. It itches while I’m writing, practicing piano, reading or playing. All the while, I practiced being aware of it without indulging it. Eventually, I stopped scratching in my sleep and the patches were able to heal. I was not bothered by eczema for years. That isn’t to say it didn’t come back. It surely did, but I didn’t scratch, allowing it to pass through on its own time.
However, eczema barged its way back into the limelight several years back. I was undergoing major depression and health problems. I lost my way and started scratching madly again! Scratch, scratch, scratching that horrible, itching patch! The more I scratched, the more it itched and the more patches I had. I had patches everywhere, but nowhere more prominent than on my hands, which were swollen and red all the time. I couldn’t bend my wrist or fingers very well and yet, I had to work with my hands every day. I tried wearing cotton gloves but I would scratch right through them – even in my sleep! It was horrible!
Eventually, I pulled myself together and climbed out of depression, which in turn, improved my health. I got a new job, new friends, new life… and I stopped scratching so incessantly. I also learned a new technique in dealing with eczema. In addition to watching the itch without scratching, I can help it heal faster if I apply a good, soothing lotion on it and then cover it with some breathable fabric. Opaque tights under my pants work well for my legs, undershirts for my top and cotton gloves for my hands. The idea is to help keep the skin moisturized as well as keeping the sensitized skin from rubbing anything. When I finally got to see a doctor about it (I couldn’t afford to before), he said the lotion and covering combination was the best thing for soothing eczema.
Now that the weather has gotten colder and the heater has been turned on, the air is getting drier. I noticed my eczema has already returned on my fingers and hands. Even so, I’ve a good feeling that my eczema problem is going to fade back out of focus for a while.
Funny that it should feel sooooo good to scratch the patch when the only thing that really helps in the end, is to not scratch. It’s the only thing that keeps it from getting worse. I remember in fifth grade, my right wrist had been swollen and weeping fluid for years from all the scratching. I just couldn’t stop! One day, while being bored in class, I thought of a story my father had told me. He said that some of the greatest heroes in China’s were able to take lots of pain by divorcing their mind from their body. It’s the same idea that’s sometimes employed during meditation. I was taught that when you feel the urge to move due to pain, itch or discomfort, first just observe it, as a stranger observes a street scene out of curiosity. You want to see where it would go or how it will develop. If you really have to move because the pain is just that unbearable, then do so, but the point is not to indulge. So that’s what I tried on my eczema.
There were moments when I sat on my hands to keep from scratching, but mainly, I just focused on the itch and really tried to feel what it felt like to be itchy. At times, it feels like there’s movement where the itch is. I realized that the itch doesn’t feel like it’s on the skin at all, but inside and when the patch is swollen, it itches right through the throbs or in time with the throbs. It itches while I’m writing, practicing piano, reading or playing. All the while, I practiced being aware of it without indulging it. Eventually, I stopped scratching in my sleep and the patches were able to heal. I was not bothered by eczema for years. That isn’t to say it didn’t come back. It surely did, but I didn’t scratch, allowing it to pass through on its own time.
However, eczema barged its way back into the limelight several years back. I was undergoing major depression and health problems. I lost my way and started scratching madly again! Scratch, scratch, scratching that horrible, itching patch! The more I scratched, the more it itched and the more patches I had. I had patches everywhere, but nowhere more prominent than on my hands, which were swollen and red all the time. I couldn’t bend my wrist or fingers very well and yet, I had to work with my hands every day. I tried wearing cotton gloves but I would scratch right through them – even in my sleep! It was horrible!
Eventually, I pulled myself together and climbed out of depression, which in turn, improved my health. I got a new job, new friends, new life… and I stopped scratching so incessantly. I also learned a new technique in dealing with eczema. In addition to watching the itch without scratching, I can help it heal faster if I apply a good, soothing lotion on it and then cover it with some breathable fabric. Opaque tights under my pants work well for my legs, undershirts for my top and cotton gloves for my hands. The idea is to help keep the skin moisturized as well as keeping the sensitized skin from rubbing anything. When I finally got to see a doctor about it (I couldn’t afford to before), he said the lotion and covering combination was the best thing for soothing eczema.
Now that the weather has gotten colder and the heater has been turned on, the air is getting drier. I noticed my eczema has already returned on my fingers and hands. Even so, I’ve a good feeling that my eczema problem is going to fade back out of focus for a while.
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