Green Onion Pancake

OK, my obsessive tendency is getting out of hand. After the successful green onion pancake, I wanted to try out another type on my guinea pigs. In Chinese cooking, there are quite a few type of green onion pancakes, the ones using yeast, the ones with cold water like what I made previously, or the ones (I decided on today) that's kneaded with hot water. It was a big hit too! Yay, I'm on a roll! I don’t think we’ve ever eaten this much green onion in this household this quickly. =)

Green Onion Pancakes

1 cup of AP flour (about 4.5 oz)
1/4 cup of hot water (about 2.7 oz)
2 green onions, finely chopped
salt
oil

Sift flour with a dash of salt.

Mix in hot water. Wait couple of minutes, when the water flour mixture isn't too hot, knead with your hand till smooth. Cover with a wet towel, let it sit for at least 30 minutes till the dough is smooth, and bounce back when pushed down with a finger.

Divide into 4 balls. Flour a smooth surface and a rolling pin. (Continue to flour the surface and the rolling pin during the process to prevent the dough from sticking.) Roll a piece of dough into a circle about 1/16" thickness, about 8" in diameter. Brush with oil, sprinkle a thin and even layer of salt, spread 1/4 of the chopped green onion on evenly.

Roll the dough up from two opposite ends till they meet in the middle. Close the ends. Twist the dough like a rope. Roll the dough into a disk, tug in the end on the bottom. Push down on the dough. So it becomes a flat disk. (This roll, twist and roll process will create lots of layers in your already very thin pancakes.) Repeat with all the dough pieces.

Roll a dough disk into a circle about 1/8" thickness, about 6" in diameter. Repeat with all disks. (If the green onions popped out like some of mine did, just tuck it in.)

Heat the pan on medium, once it's hot, turn it down just a tad (still above medium low). Add 1 tsp of oil, spread the oil by twirling the pan. Add one pancake, 3 minute on each side.

Serve while warm.

This doesn't reheat well, so make only enough for one meal.

Korean Feast (Part 2)

OK, so hubby often thinks that I can get quite obsessive. (I never agreed! =) However, I do have to admit that today even before he tells me so. I wasn't quite ready to accept defeat yesterday. So today, I continued to cook to complete my "Korean feast". =) My banchan included sprouts, spinach, sweet potato stems, and my token radish leaf "kimchi" (blanched radish leaf marinated/fermented in Korean hot sauce). It still looks like a small offering. But along with Bulgogi, Japchae, Green Onion Pancakes, and Bibimbap, it was quite a feast for us.

Sweet Potato Stems

1 oz dried sweet potato stems
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp finely chopped green onion
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt
drops of sesame oil

Soak the potato stems in water for an hour. Add potato stems and enough water to cover in the pot, bring to boil. Simmer for 30 minutes.

In a pan, heat the oil. Add garlic, stir for a minute. Add potato stem, stir for 5 minutes. Add green onion, stir for another 5 minute. Add salt and sesame oil, mix and stir for a minute. Remove and set aside.

Zucchini

1 medium green zucchini, julienned
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp salt
drops of sesame oil

In a pan, heat the oil. Add garlic, stir for a minute. Add zucchini, stir for couple of minute. Add salt and sesame oil, mix and stir for a minute. Remove and set aside.

Bibimbap

Make sweet potato stems, zucchini, spinach, sprouts, mushroom, carrots, and beef.

Arrange the vegetables in a circle on top of steamed rice (avoid putting veggies of similar colors next to each other), add beef to the center. You can also add shreds of egg omelet or a fried egg. Mix together with chili paste according to personal preference.

This dish is very easy, but quite time consuming (at least for me) to make.

I think traditional Bibimbap uses fern bracken, but I opted to use sweet potato stems. This was a huge hit with the kids (sans the chili paste). It didn't do as well with hubby though since he's the type of person who doesn't like to mix his food together. (He wouldn't even mix spaghetti with paste sauce. =P)

Green Onion Pancake (Pa Jun)

3/4 cup AP flour
1/4 cup rice flour
2/3 cup cold water
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
black pepper
3 tbsp oil

Mix the flours and salt. Stir to mix while adding the cold water, a little at a time, until the mixture is a thin batter. Add the green onion and a dash of pepper.

Heat the oil in a 8" nonstick pan on medium low. Pour 1/2 the batter into the pan. Twirl the pan to spread the batter in an even circle. Cook till that side is gold brown. Flip and cook the other side. Remove and drain the oil. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

This is probably more Chinese than Korean. I believe Korean ones use more green onions, and cut them into 1-2 inch long sections. But my family don't care for strong green onion taste, so this is sufficient.

Korean Feast

After making a series of Chinese dishes, I thought I'd give Korean food a try. Of course, I don't claim my cooking to be authentic by any means. I prefer the Korean food in bay area over the only meal I had in Seoul. (Sure, it could be that I didn’t order the right dishes, or go to the right restaurant. But still.) It's just that I always thought it would be fun to have lots of banchan all the time, and to me a lot of Korean dishes are comfort food perfect for home cooking. With my goal set, I decided to try my hands on a few banchan and Japchae today.

Bulgogi

1 lb flank steak, VERY thinly sliced
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tbsp sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
oil

Marinate the meat in soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and garlic for at least 30 minutes.

Heat the oil in a pan, add meat, stir fry till cooked.

I think the restaurants use rib eye for Bulgogi. But I like my flank steak. =) Once reheated, the meat, while still tasty, wouldn't be tender anymore. So don't make too much.

Spinach

1/2 lb of spinach leaves
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp oil
1/4 tsp salt
drops of sesame oil

Blanch the spinach in boiling water for 2 seconds. Rinse in cold water and squeeze out all the water.

In a pan, heat the oil. Add garlic, stir fry for a minute. Add spinach, stir for a minute. Add salt, and sesame oil. Mix. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Remove and set aside.

If you use spinach bunches, you can hold the leaves, and blanch the stems in boiling water for a few seconds before dropping the leaves in, so the leaves won't get all mushy by the time the stems are soft.

Mushroom

5 dried shiitake mushroom
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp oil
1/4 tsp salt
drops of sesame oil

Soak the mushroom for at least 1 hour. Then slice the mushroom.

In a pan, heat the oil. Add garlic and mushroom, stir for a few minute till the mushroom is cooked. Add salt and sesame oil. Mix. Remove and set aside.

Carrots

2 medium carrots, julienned
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt

In a pan, heat the oil. Add the carrots, stir for a few minutes till tender. Add salt and mix. Remove and set aside.

Onions

1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt

In a pan, heat the oil. Add the onion, stir till the onion is transparent. Add salt and mix. Remove and set aside.

Japchae

Now, I have loved Japchae since my college days from the Korean place in the little food court. What's better than a plate of sweet potato noodles after coming out the computer lab?! Too bad, it isn't open 24 hours. I have tried to make Japchae a number of times with slightly different recipes. I liked the result every time, so feel free to tweak it.

12 oz sweet potato noodles
2 tbsp sesame oil
1/3 cup of soy sauce
1 tbsp of sugar
1/2 bell pepper, thinly sliced
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp salt

Boil a pot of water, add the noodles and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water. Cut into sections for easy eating. Toss in sesame oil, soy sauce and sugar. Set aside.

In a pan, heat the oil. Add the bell pepper, stir for a few minutes till tender. Add salt and green onions, mix and stir for a minute. Remove.

Toss together the noodles, bell pepper, onions, carrots, mushrooms, spinach, and some beef.

Bean Sprouts

1 lb of bean sprouts, washed and trimmed
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp salt
drops of sesame oil

Add the sprouts and 2 cups of water to a pot, bring to boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Rinse in cold water and squeeze out all the water.

In a pan, heat the oil. Add garlic, stir fry for a minute. Add the sprouts, stir for a minute. Add salt and sesame oil. Mix. Remove and set aside.

Korean restaurants always serve soy bean sprouts, but I like my green bean sprouts just the same. So choose for yourself.

Unfortunately, I was way too ambitious. I was only able to serve the sprouts and some extra spinach as banchan along with the Japchae and Bulgogi.

Maybe another day.

More Mu Shu

As much as I’ve been trying to eat and cook new dishes every day, some of the dishes are just too much to finish in one day. Sure I could reduce the portion to half, but it gets difficult when I start to reduce the measurements to quarter or eighth. My Mu Shu dishes are definitely the first to fall in this category. Luckily, everyone likes it. So, more mu shu, please. =)

Mu Shu Chicken

20 oz boneless skinless chicken breast, fat trimmed, julienned
20 oz cabbage (about 1/2 head, cored, shredded)
5 dried Shiitake mushroom
20g dried tree mushroom
1 oz dried lily flower
3 oz bean thread noodles
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 tsp minced ginger
oil
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp sugar
black pepper

Marinate:
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
2 tsp corn starch

Soak the mushrooms, lily flower, and noodles in warm water in separate bowls. The tree mushrooms are best soaked for 2+ hours, Shiitake and lily flower 1 hour, bean thread noodles 30 minutes should be enough.

Marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for at last 30 minutes.

Mix the soy sauce, cooking wine, corn starch, sugar and pepper. Set aside.

Drain the mushrooms, lily flowers and noodles. Shred the mushrooms. Most lily flowers would still have the ovary, some even the pedical. Remove the pedical/ovary, and try to pull out the filament and style as well. Cut the lily flowers in halves.

In a large pot, boil 4 quarts of water, blanch the bean thread noodles for 30 seconds. Remove, rinse in cold water, drain, then mix with 1 tbsp of oil.

Blanch the lily flowers and tree mushrooms in boiling water for 1 minute. Remove and drain.

Blanch the cabbage in boiling water till tender. Remove and drain.

In a large non-stick pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add chicken, stir till cooked. Remove and drain. Wipe the pan clean.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in the pan. Add green onion, garlic, ginger, and Shiitake mushrooms. Stir till the mushrooms are cooked. Add the tree mushrooms and lily flowers, stir for 1 minute. Add the cabbage, stir and mix for 1 minute. Add the bean thread noodles and the sauce, mix and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken, mix.

Serve with hoisin sauce, and Chinese tortillas.

Note: Chinese tortillas are much thinner than flour tortillas. But if you really can’t find any, you can substitute with small flour tortillas or spring roll wrappers.

Pork, beef, and vegetarian versions are just as tasty.

Normally there are also scrambled eggs in mu shu dishes. Due to D’s allergies, I omitted them. Feel free to add 2 scrambled eggs when adding the bean thread noodles and the sauce.

Chicken, chicken...

My Mom often thinks that I cook too much. Both the upside and the downside of that being there would always be leftovers. My latest effort is to reduce the leftovers, and cook a new dish everyday. Well, this is all good. As indecisive as I am, deciding what to make has become a big chore. =) When I still can’t decide, chicken is the easiest decision, as that’s hubby’s favorite meat.

Sauteed Chicken

12 oz boneless skinless chicken breast, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 green onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp finely minced ginger
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp Chinese vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp chicken bouillon
1/4 cup of water

Marinate:
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tsp corn starch

Marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.

Mix soy sauce, cooking wine, sesame oil, corn starch, vinegar, sugar, chicken bouillon, and water. Set aside.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a non-stick pan, stir fry the chicken till cooked. Remove and drain. Wipe and clean the pan.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil, add ginger, green onion, and ginger, stir fry until fragrant. Add the sauce, simmer until thickened. Add the chicken, toss to coat.

Plated over a bed of sauteed spinach. Serve with rice.

Dueling of the Boston Cream Pies

Since I’ve been reading these vegan books, I’ve been hoping that I could make some awesome vegan cakes. (I once made blueberry muffins from Babycakes. It wasn’t bad, just didn’t live up to the hype of Babycakes.) This time I figured I’d make both the regular and vegan Boston cream pies. Let them battle it out! Who knows, maybe I could hit the jackpot and make a vegan one taste just as good.

Unfortunately, that’s just my wishful thinking. I chose the recipes from Joy of Cooking and Sinfully Vegan. I made the Joy of Cooking Boston Cream Pie with a chocolate glaze instead of icing. Regrettably, I overcooked the sugar, so the glaze was really gritty. The cake was fluffy and just the right amount of sugar. The crème patissière was this creamy custard infused with vanilla. It might not be an exceptional cake, but definitely pleasant (except for the dry glaze =P). The Sinfully Vegan version was anything but sinful. Somehow, the inside of the cake was still doughy while the outside was already getting hard. The tofu cream filling was rather bland, not worth any calories. Hubby even begged me not to try to perfect this recipe again.

The search for a truly “sinful” cake goes on.

The egg whites leftover from the Joy of Cooking version ended up as baked meringues. =)

Jang Su Jang

Our long summer vacation is coming to an end. One week in Winnipeg with hubby’s parents, and one week with mine in California, as fun as it was, we were ready for things to go back to normal. Last night, we had one more dinner with a friend, before packing up for our road trip home.

One thing I missed about Bay Area is good Asian food. I know many people think LA has the best Korean food, but I think Santa Clara can hold its ground pretty well.

Instead of going to a familiar place, I chose Jang Su Jang based on the yelp reviews. The banchan included a nice apple salad, my favorite JapChae, and quite a few others. The waitresses came by frequently, so the banchan was always refilled promptly. The service was definitely above average compare to many Korean places that tend to put the non-Koreans in a separate room.

For the 3 of us, I ordered Bossam Jungsik (steamed pork belly slices), Yookgejang (spicy beef soup), Bulgogi (grilled rib eye), and Mul Naengmyun (cold noodle in broth). (I knew it was too much food, but I couldn’t make up my mind. =). All these dishes have been highly recommended on yelp. The bossam was good (I probably ate 90% of that dish). I know that Korean pork belly normally has cartilage, but I prefer the Chinese/Japanese type without the cartilage. The bulgogi was tender and flavorful. The yookgejang wasn’t very spicy. It was good, but not all that special. Just like all the other dishes, the naengmyun was good, but could be better. The noodle was Angel hair-thin, not the normal thick and chewy ones. It didn’t have the sweet and juicy Asian pear slices that I really enjoy either. It also didn’t help the matter that they took away the mustard and vinegar bottles before I was done. I would have preferred the naengmyun at Sui Tofu.

Regardless we were still so stuffed at the end, that we didn’t even have the little yogurt drinks. Overall, it was adequate. While the service was better than most places, the food wasn’t necessarily the best. I would probably come again, but it hasn’t won me as a loyal patron yet.

Jang Su Jang
3561 El Camino Real #10, Santa Clara, CA 95051
(408) 246-1212

Mama's - Oh Mama!

We wanted to take the kids to the Exploratorium today, so everyone got up bright and early. Unfortunately, not all's well that ends well, since the construction around highway 1, we couldn't get off the exit that my GPS suggested. We ended up making huge circles, by the time we parked the car, it was already 2 hours later. Imagine my frustration! On top of that, it turned out it was free day at the Exploratorium, you'd think that’s a good thing, think again, the line was all the way round the corner, the wait would be over 2 hours. After 15 minutes in the chilly wind, we gave up. At that point, I just wanted to find a nice and warm place, sit down and make sure the kiddies are fed. We thought of Mama's on Washington Square. Hubby and I got married at Saints Peter and Paul. I remember every time we went to church, there was a long line at Mama's. We never had a chance to see for ourselves what the hype was until today. However, as always, there was a line! So by the time we sat down, with all the driving, parking, walking and waiting, it had already been 4 hours since we left the house. I was grumpy and hard to please.

Hubby got a Classic Club with grilled chicken breast, avocado, bacon, tomato, and lettuce on toasted wheat bread for $9.75. The sandwich was HUGE! Hubby and the kids loved everything. For $11.50, I went with the shrimp, avocado and grilled tomatoes Benedict. The hollandaise sauce was lemony, creamy but not heavy at all, with a touch of cayenne pepper. It was the best I’ve ever had! As soon as I tasted that, I could no longer frown. Both orders came with grilled red potatoes. Then all of us shared the Chocolate Cinnamon French toast with fresh seasonal berries and bananas (unfortunately for D, he could only have the fruit sans the chocolate sauce). For $8.95, it was rich and chocolatey, soft but not soggy. Probably too sweet for breakfast, but perfect for dessert.

So yes, Mama's is worth the wait. (Though I still wish we accomplished more in the 5+ hours than just one meal.) One more note, it's a cash only place, so make sure you bring plenty that you have the option to try their various delicious-looking baked goods - bread, muffins, etc.

Mama's on Washington Square
1701 Stockton St, San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 362-6421

Cyrus

If I have to pick one favorite restaurant, it might be a little difficult. But I wouldn’t hesitate a second to name Cyrus one of my top three. Ever since the first time hubby and I came when I was preggy with J, we fell in love with the place. We would make the drive to Healdsburg just for Cyrus. Last year, we started a new tradition of driving to bay area for a week with my parents in the summer. The kids love it. And we get to go to Cyrus. What more could one ask for? Oh yeah, except great company - which we took care of by inviting our friends along to this little gem.

I confirmed with E and her boyfriend months ago, as I knew this would THE meal for me this summer. We made good time to Healdsburg with still an hour for a stroll around the adorable little town. If you ever stop by, plan for couple of days. We were all very intrigued by the wall of spoons outside Spoonbar. I was so tempted to get a scoop of ice cream with a Pirouette wafer at Powell’s or a pastry at Coseaux. But only the strongest will and the knowing that 8 courses of deliciousness await for me prevented my indulgence. One of these days, I would book a room at Healdsburg Inn, take a tour sampling all the food, wine and chocolate they have to offer, grab a bite from Bovolo while reading at Copperfield’s Books. That’s on top of a fabulous meal at Cyrus, of course! Well, a girl can dream, can’t she?

It’s always a pleasure to go to Cyrus, not only because of the impeccably prepared food, also because of all the genuinely smiling faces around you. After being presented with the Champagne and caviar choices, the tower of canapes came to the table. The eggplant puree was simple and clean, dusted with just a smedge of coffee powder; the fresh roll with tamarind was refreshing; the strawberry sphere with balsamic reduction was like a drop of sweet berry essence; the shiitake mushroom and ginger citrus broth was cold and full of the mushroom fragrance, but not a favorite with any of us; my favorite was the clam with cilantro gel and chorizo powder, so sweet and unpretentious with a little kick.

The amuse bouche was Shima Aji sashimi with pluot, miyoga, topped with a piece of smoked ginger dashi gelee. While the Aji was fresh like all fish Cyrus serves, the miyoga was crisp, and the pluot was perfectly ripe and sweet. I could have a plate of pluot alone. Yum!

The bread selection never disappoints at Cyrus. I’m sure everyone over-stuffs oneself on the little goodies. This time the choices included the wonderfully buttery brioche, rich and savory cheddar and bacon scone (yum, yum), the l’epi (which E’s boyfriend consumed, not 2, not 3, but 5 of!), two other type of buns, and the olive and feta roll which is the only one I found unsatisfying as the outside was too hard.

Our meal officially started with the Thai lobster, perfectly butter poached with just a hint of fish sauce, already cut into sections, dipped in the aromatic ginger basil cream, so tender, so luscious.

Even though there were two choices for the second appetizer, we unanimiously went with the one featuring my favorite ingredient - foie gras. The utterly smooth and creamy foie gras torchon rolled in crystal cherry sugar flakes and the sweet and tart cherry torchon rolled in crushed pistachio. It was an exquisite combination, finished with a crumbly cherry buttermilk biscuit. Yes, I still prefer my foie gras seared, but this preparation is coming up a very close second.

The tender turbot topped with scallions and a quarter of a baby corn, rested on a small mound of cream of sweet corn and lemon verbena. The cream of corn was probably too sweet for some palates. And my other nitpicking complain would be that they could have given us a little more baby corn, there was no need to be THIS delicate - a quarter cut, I kid you not!

The chanterelle ravioli was by far my least favorite dish of the night. Don’t get me wrong, the ravioli skin was thin and you can taste the freshness; the slow poached bantam egg was so soft, it was jiggly; there was nothing wrong with the parmesan foam and crisp either. However, while I love the chanterelle mushroom, the filling was just too salty.

The palate cleanser came in the form of mini bite-size lemon kiwi ice pops on skinny straws - super refreshing. Hubby loved it, but it was a bit too sour for me.

The two options of the entree were striploin of beef with daikon in a ginger-tomato broth, and crispy poussin with potato mousseline, haricots verts and fine herbes. I ran out of words to describe these dishes, other than the proteins were cooked to supremacy like always.

The cheese course offered many artisanal and farmhouse cheeses that I couldn’t remember. Instead of selecting 6 cheeses for the entire table like the past, each person gets to choose 3. I had the stinkiest cheese I’ve ever tried - l’Epoisses, a strong blue and a tangy goat. My taste in cheese finally started to mature - 3 years ago, I would pick blue cheese crumbles off of a cobb salad, and now, I’m drawn to it.

Dessert started with a quenelle of miso custard perched in the passion fruit gelato, drizzled with wasabi oil at table side and a sesame sable. It was a surprising union, velvety and exhilarating.

For our mean dessert, I got tiramisu with espresso gelato, toffee crunch, hazelnut caramel, and coffee cream. The coffee cream was so strong, it was as if I swallowed a drop of coffee bean. The tiramisu, well, I must sound like a broken record by now with all my praises, but it was divine.

Hubby’s red velvet cake had so many components I couldn’t possibly list them all. I don’t know how it tasted, but it was beautiful to look at.

Cyrus still offers the best selection of mignardises - vanilla cream truffle, salted caramel truffle, guava pate de fruit, coconut pate de fruit, shortbread cookies, nougat, and lollipops. It was always so hard to not be greedy and take them all. =) And this is on top of the little brownie that everyone gets to take home!

At $130 per person, I admit it wasn’t cheap. But it’s half the price of French Laundry, and it’s definiely worth every penny. See you next year, Cyrus!

Cyrus
29 North St, Healdsburg, CA 95448
(707) 433-3311