073 - Crispy Enoki Mushroom!

Deep fried food is my love/hate kinda thing. I loved the fact that they’re crunchy and tasty, but I hated the fact that they tend to be greasy and fattening. But indulging on them once in a while is a-okay on my book!

Anyway, my friend introduced me to this dish at one of our favorite Chinese restaurant, and I’m forever hooked. Needless today, I managed to make a replica, which is also hell of a lot better!

Introducting, the CRISPY ENOKI MUSHROOM!

For 1 Serving, you will need;

·         1 pre-packed Enoki Mushroom (Approximately 50 grams)

·         1 Egg

·         100 ml Water

·         Oil for frying

For the breading

·         200 grams of Cornstarch

·         150 grams of All Purpose Flour

·         1 tsp of Garlic Powder

·         1 tsp of Onion Powder

·         1 tsp of Paprika Powder

·         1 tsp of Chili Powder

·         1 tsp of Salt

·         1 tsp of White Pepper

·         1 tsp of Black Pepper

·         2 tsp of Dried Parsley

·         ½ tsp of Mustard Powder (Optional)

Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Cut off the root part of the Enoki, and proceed to tear the Enoki into small strand using your fingers. Set aside

Step 2 – Combine all the breading ingredients on a large bowl, mix to combine.

I love spices!

Step 3 – Crack your eggs, add the water and stir.

Step 4 – Set up your breading station, the order goes Eggbath – Breading – Oil. Meanwhile, heat up your oil on a medium-high heat for about 3 minutes, or until hot.

Step 5 – Dip your Enoki strands on the eggs, add it to the breading, and proceed to dip it into the oil. Deep fry for about 1-1,5 minutes, or until golden brown. Repeat.

Step 6 – Serve!

Get yourself a dipping sauce, preferably a mix of Asian inspired Sweet-Spicy Sauce and American Favorite Garlic Mayo. These tasted like HEAVEN!

You can even use this to top off a vegetarian sandwich. F yeah

Give this a try, you’ll love it

Cheers

xx

045 - Korokke #EasyCooking

Korokke 

(Japanese: コロッケ) is the Japanese name for a deep-fried dish originally related to a French dish, the croquette. It was introduced in the early 1900s (Wikipedia).

I Love Korokke. It is one of those Japanese comfort food that complements a meal perfectly. Heck, it can even stand on it's own! Serve with a side of Cabbage and Tonkatsu sauce, and you got yourself a kickass meal.

==========================

For 8 patties, you will need:

500 grams of Potato. Skin peeled off

250 grams of Ground Beef

150 grams of Onion. Cut into small cubes a.k.a finely minced.

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

1 tsp of Sugar

1 Cup of All Purpose Flour

3 Cups of Panko (Japanese Breadcrumbs)

2 Eggs

Oil for frying

Water for boiling

============================

Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Heat up a small amount of oil in a non-stick pan on medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, put the onions in and let it cook through until half-translucent, about 2 minutes. After that, put the beef in and mix well. Season with salt, sugar, and pepper, and give it a taste. If the taste is not to your liking, adjust to your palate! Once the beef has cook through, set it aside to cool while we prepare the potatoes.

Oil

Onion

Vigorous stir!

Meat goes in!

Salt

Pepper

..i added the sugar right before this shot lol

Step 2 – Get a saucepan and fill it up with water. Set the heat to high, and put the potatoes in. Cook the potatoes until tender, about 15-20 minutes. How to know whether it’s done or not? Pierce a knife to the thickest part of the potato. Strain the potato and return it to the sauce pan. Grab a fork (or potato masher if you have), and smash the potato.

Potatoes gotta be nicely submerged!

Hack: Cover the pan to quickly raise the temperature!

This is what it looks like after straining; limp, ready to be mashed

Mash away!

Step 3 – Add the beef/onion mixture and mix well. Transfer it into a wide shallow dish. Divide into 8 pieces, and let cool for 10 minutes.

Step 4 – Shape the Korokke into barrels. Assemble a breading station; Flour, Eggs, Panko. The breading flow goes like this; flour-eggs-flour-eggs-panko. The double dredging of the flour helps maintain the shape of the Korokke so it doesn’t explode while frying.

Before

*mush mush mush*

TA DA!!!

Flour

Eggs

Flour, AGAIN

Eggs, also, AGAIN

PANKO!

Step 5 – Heat plenty of oil enough to submerge the Korokke on medium high heat. The frying will only took 1 minute, no more. We just want the breading to turn golden brown. Fry in batches of 2, and strain in paper towel once done. Don't forget to strain burnt Panko between each batch to prevent them ruining the next Korokke in line!

This is how Japanese people know their oil is ready; the chopsticks

Strain the stray Panko!

Step 6 – Serve!

Korokke is commonly served with Tonkatsu sauce. Because, well, that’s the norm in Japan. But, if you’re cheap and don’t want to splurge more on the sauce, just eat it with chili/tomato sauce, it worked too!

Cheers

xx

035 - Lazy Kaassoufflé (Dutch Deep Fried Breaded Cheese!)

Netherlands. The one country we, Indonesians, have a lot of history with. Any of you been there before? The Dutch has a lot of tasty food. During my recent visit there, I was finally reunited again with my favorite Dutch snack food, the infamous Kaassouffle.

Little is known who actually invented Kaassouffle. But legend has it, it is inspired by Dutch people who have been to Indonesia and tried Indonesian Gorengan (Literal meaning: Fried Things). But making authentic Indonesian Gorengan is rather hard in Dutch. They don’t have rice noodle to make the Risol, or Tofu to make Tahu Isi. 

So they improvise. 

What with? Cheese of course! Dutch got tons of it, so why not wrap it in thin dough, bread it, and deep fry?

My version is a rather easy approach to the dish. This is what I call Lazy Kaassouffle.

For 2 Servings, you will need:

4 Slices of white bread.

4 Slices of Strong Cheese. Dutch goes with Gouda. But again, as always, cheap Cheddar will work fine too. Keep in mind, flavor will be rather mild.

2 Eggs for coating

1 Eggs for sealing the stuffing

300 Grams of Breadcrumbs. Dutch uses Panko-like breadcrumbs but with smaller size.

Enough oil for frying.

Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Cut off all the crust from the bread. If your bread isn't square already, cut it into squares. Get a rolling pin, or if you don’t have one, get a round drinking glass and use it as a makeshift rolling pin. Do this on all of the bread.

Off with the first

Off with the second

Off with the crusts!

Now this people, is a 'Rolling Pin'

"Keep rollin' rollin' rollin" - Fred Durst

Ooow, it's flat and tiny

Let's flatten it even more!

Flat and limp, gotta love it!

Step 2 – Get a piece of the bread, then unwrap your cheese, and place it on the center of the bread. Crack an egg, whisk it, and brush it to the edges of the bread to create a glue before sealing it with another slice of bread. Use a fork, and seal the edges by pressing it. See the picture if you got no idea how to do it.

Empty pockets

First drop

Second drop

Give the edge an egg wash

Seal

Press with a fork!

Sign, sealed, ready for fryer!

Step 3 – Crack your eggs, lightly whip it. Get a separate plate and pour your breadcrumbs. Dredge the bread with the eggs and then the breadcrumbs.

Egg - Breadcrumbs

Dredge with eggs

Coat with breadcrumbs

All wrapped up and ready to go

Step 4 – Heat your oil on high heat. We’re going to flash fry the bastard in just under 2 minutes on each side. Just keep on a lookout on the color. When it’s golden and lovely, it’s ready.

Hot oil, get ready to meet your buddy

First side. 2 minutes or less

Second side after the flip, another 2 minutes

Crunchy and ready

Step 5 – Serve!

Here's a few tips to create a memorable Kaassoufflé;

1. Use white bread as they tend to be softer than whole wheat.
2. Ensure the cheese is in room temperature before putting it inside the bread. This will ensure the cheese melt perfectly despite the short period of frying
3. Watch it, watch it, watch it. Panko burns easily on high heat, so ALWAYS keep an eye on it.
4. Feeling fancy? mix the breadcrumbs with herbs such as parsley or dill, add a touch of Paprika. Hmmm mmm!
5. Strong cheese like Gouda or Edam will give you more authentic taste. But it doesn't come cheap. That's why i substitute with Cheddar

Kaassouffle is every bit of love you will need for the day! Trust me, make one, and get hooked for life!

Peace

xx