062 - Garlic Bok Choy (VEGETARIAN Friendly!)

Good morning people!

First of all, happy 2015! May this New Year bring health and prosper to us all. Oh, and for me to come up with more easy and friendly recipes! ;)

Again, so, so, so sorry for the lack of update. I was on the Asia’s World City. That’s Hong Kong to you. The trip was wonderful! Never have I met so many new cultures in my life (well, after Japan, of course). I managed to see some of the wonderful sights from Hong Kong. But for me, the highlight of the trip was none other than HONG KONG DISNEYLAND! \(^o^)/

Have you ever been on one of those moments where you just can’t help but smiling all the time? That’s exactly what I felt throughout the whole ordeal inside Disneyland. Heck, I can barely contain my excitement as soon as I board the train towards the resort! Dude, the handle inside the train was in the shape of Mickey Mouse. Who am I to kid right?

I literally jumped when i saw the train towards the resort.

The Handles! THE HANDLES!

WOW.

Wise words, sir.

Can't believe i made it!

My favorite part of the whole theme!

The lunch i had after getting on those rides. The pasta was so good (or i'm just very hungry). It was Al dente, the sauce was creamy but not overwhelming. The Mickey shaped container is filled with Coffee Pudding. It was awesome!

HI DONALD!

*dies*

*DIES AGAIN*

And now I’m ready to serve you some nice new recipe to whip up at home!

You’ve all eaten Chinese food before right? Any of you loved the vegetables? Cause I do. I love the Chinese way of cooking vegetables! They had this knack to cook it super-fast in order to retain as much flavor and texture as possible. Tasty and crunchy vegetables? I’m sold, tell you that.

Chinese had a lot of vegetables. They cook (I think almost literally) every greens they could find. Bok Choy is one of those greens. This is GARLIC BOK CHOY.

You ready for this?

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For 2 servings, you will need

10-12 bunch of Baby Bok Choy

3 Garlic cloves, minced finely

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

1 tsp of Sugar

2 tbsp of Sesame Seed oil

½ tsp of Garlic Powder

1 tbsp of Water

2 Tbsp of Oil

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Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Wash your Bok Choy thoroughly, removing any dirt remains (or even Caterpillar, EWW), pat dry. Cut the bottom part, then proceed to cut between the stalk (white parts) and the leafs. Set aside.

Roots go bye bye

Step 2 – Heat a pan on high heat, add the oil. Once smoking hot, cook the stalk part first! We don’t want soggy green parts right? This should take around 2 minutes. Halfway through the cooking process, cover so that it’ll soften faster by steaming it.

Step 3 – Add the leaf and the garlic, also all the seasonings (salt, sugar, pepper), stir to combine. After about 1,5 minute, turn the heat down to medium and add the sesame seed oil and the splash of water.

Don't worry if they're overwhelming, they'll shrink

Garlic

Salt

Pepper

Sugar

Garlic Powder

Stir

Sesame Seed Oil

Water

Step 4 – Serve.

Now, the taste of the overall dish totally depends on your seasoning. If you go light, it’ll taste much leafier, less salty. If you choose to make it tastier, add a splash of soy sauce and onion powder, it’ll kick your taste bud up a notch!

Serve this with a hot piping Rice and a protein of your choice, and you just got yourself lunch of a champion.

Cheers

xx

054 - OKONOMIYAKI

Cooking your own food and eat it straight away is pure bliss. Don’t believe me? Try one of my recipes, preferably the easier ones, like the Aglio e Olio spaghetti or Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Grab a bite, and tell me if you don’t love it.

See what I’m talking about? That’s the great thing about comfort food. Done right and it will always hit the spot. Guaranteed.

This time around, it’s still Japanese, it’s still comfort food, and it’s still amazing.

It’s OKONOMIYAKI

To those with lazy fingers, let me help you with the googling. Okonomiyaki is basically a Japanese pancake. Well, not authentically theirs, but it’s their own take on the recipe. Instead of Butter and Maple, Okonomiyaki is served with Okonomi sauce and mayonnaise. 

Yes, it is Savory.

Okonomiyaki basically means ‘grill it as you like’. So each region throughout Japan has their version of it. Osaka people loved to add Squid or Shrimp to the mix, because their region specializes in Seafood. Hiroshima people loved to keep it heavy by adding yakisoba noodles and fried eggs into their already humongous Okonomiyaki.

Me? This is my take based on the Osaka version of the recipe. The recipe was adopted from several recipes I stumbled upon, and I tried to adjust it to Indonesian ingredients availability.

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For 2 Servings, you will need:

The star of the show!

100 grams of Cake Flour. Cake flour is basically a low-protein flour.

140 ml of Dashi stock. You can substitute this with Chicken Stock

¼ tsp of Baking Powder

(optional) 1 tbsp of Nagaimo. Nagaimo is Japanese mountain Yam. It can be bought at Japanese supermarket. The sticky texture doesn’t come cheap, it costs IDR 350.000 per kilogram.

Salt to taste

200 grams of Cabbage

75 grams of Green Onion

2 Eggs

100 grams of Squid/Shrimp. You can substitute this with Chicken. Keep in mind, Chicken cook longer, so it need to be par-cooked before being added to the batter.

For Toppings

Okonomiyaki/Japanese Worcestershire sauce. Mostly known as the ‘Bulldog’ brand.

Dried Seaweed

Katsuobushi (Dried, Smoked, Skipjack Tuna). Readily available at most major supermarkets today.

Japanese Mayonnaise. Kewpie should be your choice. Japs added MSG in their Mayo and it makes a whole world of difference.

Chives

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Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Get a bowl and put the Flour, Baking Powder, and Salt in. Slowly add the Dashi while stirring constantly to avoid lumps. If you’re using Nagaimo, peel the skin, and grate it. Add the gooey stuff to the mix. This will make the final product chewy in a very good way.

Flour

Baking powder

Salt

Dashi stock

Nagaimo

It's sticky, YEW!

Step 2 – Add the Cabbage, Green Onion, Squid, and Eggs. Give it a nice stir. Not too much, just until combined. We don’t want gluten to form don’t we?

Cabbage and Green Onion

Squid

Eggs

Stir to combine

Step 3 – Get a large non-stick pan, add some oil to it. Heat it up on medium. Once the pan is hot, put the mixture in. Quickly cover the pan, and let cook for about 5 minutes on medium. After that, give it a flip, and cook on Medium-Low heat for another 6-7 minutes to crisp up.

Oil

Cooking on medium

The cover will help the insides cook

Ready to flip?

BAM!

Cover, yet again

Step 4 – Once crispy, take it off the heat and decorate! I usually go with Okonomiyaki Sauce, Katsuobushi, Chives, Seaweed, and Mayonnaise.

Okonomi sauce

Spread that sh*t, yeah

Katsuobushi

Chives

Seaweed

Kewpie Mayonnaise

Step 5 – SERVE!

You know, this might not be as authentic as it is in Japan, but it tasted pretty damn good!

You can literally put anything you want in here. For example, if you're not a fan of squid, you can add fish or shrimp. Or maybe shredded chicken? Yes, that can work too!

The thing is, Okonomiyaki is best enjoyed with family and friends. Cause it's just so damn good!

Give this thing a go!

Cheers

xx