Tag: easy cooking

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Gluten-free, dairy-free banana pancake and raspberry banana sorbet

gluten free banana pancake

Pancake is my husband’s favorite food of all time. And he is a traditionalist when it comes to it, meaning he’s not into any of fancy new versions (such as souffle pancake, which I personally love). To him, pancake is one of those perfect comfort foods that no one needs to mess with. So I get quite nervous about doing something different or experimenting with pancake recipes. One of the successful ones from the past is my “vegan coconut and cinnamon pancake” . Although he couldn’t help adding a little butter on top of the pancake, he liked the flavor. Continue reading Gluten-free, dairy-free banana pancake and raspberry banana sorbet

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Pickled red onion and dill

Sunday Brunch Flatlay

One of the challenges I’ve often faced cooking for myself or just two people is having too much leftover vegetables. (That is also one of the most common excuses I hear from my friends who never cook). I started cooking in London where I lived as a student many years ago, simply because it was too expensive to eat out every day. But each time I cooked I had so much leftover vegetables, which all ended up in a bin. I really hated wasting perfectly good food and it didn’t exactly help me save that much money either. So I started to throw all my leftover ingredients in a big pot and make hearty Korean soup or stew like my grandmother used to do. It would keep well in the fridge for at least a few days, and it was a perfect mood booster in one of those rainy chilly gloomy days in London. Continue reading Pickled red onion and dill

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Soba noodle salad with Korean chili paste “gochujang” sauce

korean platter noodles

I miss good authentic Korean food all year round, but there are a few cold dishes that I miss even more when summer hits Hong Kong hard. One of those dishes that I’ve been missing a lot lately is “Jaengban Guksu”, literally means noodles on a plate. It is cold soba served with lots of fresh vegetables and spicy Gochujang (fermented red chili paste) sauce and boiled eggs. Although called noodles, I think what it really highlights is the crunch vegetables. This dish is sweet, spicy, refreshing and quite healthy. The recipe doesn’t require any specific kind of vegetables, you can use whatever you like as long as they bring crunchiness to the dish. Cucumber and carrots are commonly used in Korea, and sometimes we add fruits like Asian pear. Apple will work great as well. I personally love adding as many rainbow color veggies as I can, not only for nutrition purpose but for making things more fun and pretty as well.

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How to use old sour kimchi – Kimchi fried rice

As kimchi started gaining its superfood status, my friends started asking me all sorts of kimchi related questions. And two of the most common questions among them were 1. Does kimchi ever go bad if you keep it too long? 2. What do you do with a few weeks or months old sour tasting kimchi? Continue reading How to use old sour kimchi – Kimchi fried rice

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20 minute meal – Squid ink spaghetti with crab and green chilis

crab chili squid ink pasta

I came down with a terrible flu last week. So terrible that I didn’t even have much appetite (that rarely happens to me), and couldn’t think of what to have for dinner. Fortunately my appetite came back after a couple of days, which I figured as a sign of recovery, and one of the first things I wanted to eat was pasta. In fact, I could eat pasta pretty much everyday, not a problem for me at all. Continue reading 20 minute meal – Squid ink spaghetti with crab and green chilis

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Sweet, sticky, spicy chicken wings with orange & honey glaze

The first thing I do when I come up with a recipe is taking a note on my phone. Then I usually move onto testing it, and make necessary changes. If I decide to post the recipe, I either picture what the dish is going to look like in my head or doodle it out on my sketch pad. I remember finishing all those steps for this recipe months ago. I was ready to work on my post, then my husband and I went to a bar (nice bar, not a trash one) and ordered chicken wings. And oh boy, were they the worst chicken wings we’d ever had…I think they were one of the worst things I ever had to put in my mouth. I just couldn’t get it, who messes up chicken wings? Not only we stayed away from eating any type of chicken wings after that, I couldn’t even hear the word ‘chicken wings’ without having a gag reflex. Continue reading Sweet, sticky, spicy chicken wings with orange & honey glaze

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20-minute meal – Garlic and caper butter with parmesan linguine

Have you ever watched ‘Jamie’s 15-minute meals’ and tried to replicate his recipes?  Unfortunately I was never able to make the dishes from the show in 15 minutes. Well, I am not Jamie Oliver after all so it is understandable I guess. Cooking technique or the speed is one thing but the most challenging part for me is the space. 15-minute meal is all about having everything ready to go in front of you and this includes all the equipment and tools. But I simply cannot layout more than 3 pots or pans in my tiny humble kitchen. So speedy cooking for me usually means that I am making 1-2 pot dishes, and pasta is just a natural choice in this case. Continue reading 20-minute meal – Garlic and caper butter with parmesan linguine

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Hangover breakfast – Kimchi and barley flour pancakes

kimchi pancakes

There aren’t that many things that I like more than Kimchi and eggs in this world. Especially when I am hungover and craving for something rich, spicy and refreshing at the same time. If I come home tipsy and I know that I will be hungover the next day, I head to the kitchen and make myself a Kimchi omelet no matter how late it is. This omelet makes me wake up with a puffy face but it also keeps me from having a splitting headache and nausea. I don’t know whether Kimchi actually cures the hangover or our brains and stomachs are just programmed to think that way but Kimchi is one of the most common hangover cure food in Korea. (As you could probably guess, we eat Kimchi for almost anything). Continue reading Hangover breakfast – Kimchi and barley flour pancakes

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Spinach, feta and pomegranate salad with lentils

I will be taking my annual spring trip to Korea soon. I normally do this in May because it is the best time to visit Korea in terms of weather and my mom’s birthday usually falls in May (her birthday is based on lunar calendar so it changes every year, I am not kidding)…Anyways, this means it is time to clean out the fridge and cupboards. I don’t always get lucky with what I find, but this time a bag of organic red split lentils and a gorgeous pomegranate caught my eye, yay! Instead of trying to remember what I was going to do with them in the first place or come up with a fancy recipe I just decided to go with something simple and fresh. Besides, I was a little busy packing… Continue reading Spinach, feta and pomegranate salad with lentils

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Coconut miso chicken breasts with toasted sesame seeds

To be honest, I used to hate chicken breast. I just could not understand why anyone would ever eat that tasteless dry meat. I am a huge fan of fatty and flavorful cuts of meat like pork belly, rib eye and duck breast (with skin on of course), so the idea of having chicken breast as main protein in my meal seemed too boring. It was only last year when I started to care more about eating healthy that I decided to give a go with chicken breast. I had tried as many cooking techniques as I could find for months, but perfectly cooked juicy chicken breast I wanted seemed almost unachievable. Continue reading Coconut miso chicken breasts with toasted sesame seeds