Soy Sauce Chicken Wings

Who doesn't like chicken wings? I cook chicken wings at least once a month because they are usually dishes that can be prepared during the weekends. Aside from the fish sauce chicken wings, these soy sauce chicken wings are another hit in my house. There was time when I used to make the sauce from scratch, but I have been lazy and using the store bought sauce. The taste is good so I haven't gone back. 

Taiwanese Style Beef Stew

Adding some dark soy sauce will make it look more like it, but I prefer it this way.

Taiwanese makes some of my favorite food- actually, there is no cuisine that I don't really like. Anyway, the Taiwanese beef stew is one of their popular dishes. It is usually soupy and served with noodles. I have read and tried so many different versions of recipes for this dish and have been twisting the recipes to make it easier and more fit to the taste for my family.

Korean Style Pasta

So there was another night that I didn't know what to cook for dinner again. I was planning to make chicken and pasta, but we always eat that and the kids are bored of it. Then I tried this flavorful pasta dish. It would have been even better if I had some kimchi. My kids have enjoyed Korean dishes lately and they like the spiciness. I believe this new dish will appear in my kitchen quite often from now on. 

Leftover Chicken

In my house, no one likes the chicken breast from a rotisserie chicken, not to mention leftovers. Last weekend we attended a Chinese banquet dinner and brought home some chicken. It would've been such a waste if I just threw it away. So I decided to give it a twist and turn it into something that everyone likes.

Sous Vide Egg (at the Office!)

Working at the downtown core, I have easy access to all sorts of food and restaurants anytime. But occasionally I crave a soothing snack, and that's when I invented this interesting egg recipe. I experimented this last week at the office and it tasted great with my instant ramen noodles! 

Savory Custard (翠塘豆腐)

I made this dish the other night when some friends came over for dinner, and we called this an "adult dish", because all the adults enjoyed it but the kids didn't. I assume the taste of this dish is not as exciting as some others to the kids; however, I find this dish is so soothing and delicious. It is also a good hosting dish, because the steamed custard helps to retain the temperature of the dish through out the meal.

This super easy dish has two parts: the bottom steamed custard and the toppings. I used a recipe from a popular celebrity chef for the custard which never fails. The toppings need a very thick cornstarch water to finish, as the tofu will keep sweating. 

Here is the Savory Custard from my kitchen:

Ingredients

For the steamed custard:

4 eggs

1 can of chicken broth 412 ml

For the toppings:
1/2 cup of each of the following ingredients all diced into about 1cm cubes:

silk tofu

Zucchini, about one small one

mushroom, any kind

about 6 shrimp, shelled
1 tbs. of cornstarch
2 tsp. of cold water
salt to taste

How

1. Use paper towel to dry the shrimp completely before dicing it. Place the diced shrimp in a small bowl and marinade it with a dash of salt and sesame oil. Let it marinade while getting the steamed custard ready.
2. Mix the cornstarch and cold water together and set aside.
3. To make the steamed custard, beat the eggs until it is just mixed. Add in the chicken broth and beat again until it is just combined. Do not over beat the mixture.
4. Pour the egg mixture into a wide dish that can fit into your steamer. Cover the dish tight with plastic wrap. Add the dish into the steamer when the water boils and steam it for 6-7 minutes on medium high heat. At the end, check the custard by gently shake the dish. If the middle is still runny, steam for another minute. When done, remove it from the steamer, set aside and keep it warm.
   
5. To make the topping, heat up a pan and stir fry the shrimp on medium high heat until the shrimp is semi-cooked. Remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside. 
6. In the same pan, stir fry the mushroom with some oil for one minutes. Add in the zucchini and stir fry for another minute. Add salt to taste.
7. Add shrimp and tofu then gently stir everything together and slowly add the cornstarch water while continue stirring.
8. To serve, remove the plastic wrap from the steamed custard and pour the hot toppings over the custard. Serve hot.
   

Lobster Bisque

The other day I made some lobster broth and used some of it to make a pasta dish. Tonight I used the remaining broth to make a bisque to go with the fresh baguette that we bought from Kensington Market.

When I made the broth, I didn't strain away the vegetables that were used for making the broth. Instead, I blended the vegetable to give the broth some nice volume. So this bisque doesn't need too much cream to get thickened up. In fact I ran out of cream and only used milk in this recipe tonight but it still tasted as good as using cream.

Here is the Lobster Bisque from my kitchen:

Ingredients
10 cups of lobster broth
1/4 cup of each cream and milk, or 1/2 cup of milk

How

1. Heat up the lobster broth in a pot. I fried some bacon in the morning and left with a pot with bacon bits sticked to the bottom. So I wiped off the bacon fat and used the same pot for heating up the broth to add more flavor.
   
2. When the broth boils, add in cream and/or milk and stir well.
3. Turn off the heat when it boils up again and serve hot immediately.

Angel Hair with Scallops in Lobster Sauce

Why is it not Angel Hair with Lobster in Lobster Sauce? Because I used the leftover lobsters to make the sauce and there was no lobster meat left.