Category Archives: By Ingredient

Beef, Korean

Bulgogi Recipe (Korean Barbecued Beef)

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When I was in San Jose, every so often, I would pop into a Korean grocery store and pick up several tubs of marinated bulgogi (uncooked) to cook at home.  One tub would be used on the day it was bought and the rest would be stuck in the freezer for other times when I wanted to convenience of cooking up a quick meal.

bulgogi

Here in Kuching, we found that there is a small enclave of Korean expatriates around (there’s even a small Korean grocery store here) and a few Korean restaurants.  So far, we’re tried two of the restaurants only to find them somewhat disappointing.

Just this past week, I had a hankering for some Korean food.  So I decided to make it myself.  After all, our Killer Kalbi recipe is probably one of our all-time most popular recipe (with good cause—it’s REALLY good).  So I decided I needed to expand my Korean repertoire.

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Bakes, Chocolate, Cookies

Marbled Chocolate Cookies

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marble cookies

I’m not a big fan of baking cookies. *Gasp!* Is that horrible to say?

As a baker, I’ve always enjoyed baking cakes more. I like that I just have to mix together my batter, pour into a pan, stick it into the oven and forget about it till it’s done. While waiting, I get to clean up my mess and when the cake comes out, I just have to wait a while, and I can cut into a large slice. Make myself some tea, and voila, I’ve got a tea-time snack all ready to go.

But every so often, I wish I could have a cookie.

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Indian, Vegetables

Masala Vadai

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Recipe for how to make this tasty, South Indian fried lentil snack called vada or vadai.

Masala Vadai

A few days ago, Nate and I were walking in Kuching’s version of a strip mall (more like a row of shop lots) looking for Christmas presents for our kids and we bumped into an Indian lady selling snacks outside a store. She spoke to me in Hokkien (a Chinese dialect) which surprised me. I guess she must have lived here a good long time and have interacted with enough Chinese here to pick up the language. I bet her Hokkien is better than mine!

Anyway, she was selling vadai and some steamed chickpeas. Nate had been craving vadai for a long time so we happily snapped up some to munch on as we walked around shopping. Though they were tasty, they lacked the curry leaves that Nate loves dearly and they just didn’t have any heat to them. That is one problem with living here in Kuching—people don’t enjoy their food too spicy. My heat tolerance has probably gone down a lot since getting here. And being that this lady was local to Kuching, she has also tempered her food to match the local tastebuds.

Feeling somewhat deprived of good vadai, I decided it was time to try to make some of my own. I’ve had a Southern Indian cookbook that I bought many years ago that I’ve never gotten around to cooking from and I decided that it was time to look at the recipes again. True enough, there was a section on snacks and there was not just one recipe for vadai but several recipes.

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Chinese, Poultry, Vegetables

Chicken with Black Fungus

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Try this simple and delicious recipe with healthy black (wood ear) fungus, and you’ll be sold on it too!

Chicken with Black Fungus

Have I told you that I’m a pretty easy sell? I totally believe in sales gimmicks and this is why I never let those Kirby people in unless Nate is there at home with me. If I was alone, I’d be the proud owner of a really expensive vacuum cleaner (and I hate vacuuming). Why do I even let them in? Because I’m pake, see, and they always offer to clean one room for free! ^_^

I was at the market the other day buying vegetables and the vendor lifted this packet of black fungus to me. At first I didn’t know what it was she was trying to sell me but once I understood, I was tempted to get it. It’s not often that I can find fresh black fungus here.

Turns out, this vegetable vendor was a pretty good salesperson. “It’s very good for your health,” she said, “and it’s my last big pack.” She went on to convince me that it was really tasty and I would enjoy it. She could see that I was sold before I even nodded and, with a big grin, added it to my bag of other vegetables. Thankfully, in this case, it was just a pack of wood ear fungus that make for delicious eating and thus, totally justifiable. Right honey?

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