Doesn't TaZte Like Chicken

Location: My tiny kitchen

If I have to quickly think of one thing that kids and men have in common, then I would say they both hate vegetables with a passion. If you see vegetables on their plate, then it’s because a woman put them there. From flicking the peas off their plates to hiding the broccoli under a bun, somehow they always manage to develop their skills to avoid eating vegetables.

ET is no different than other men when it comes to veggies. He is not a picky eater and sometimes I even consider him someone easy to cook for. But over all these years, he hasn’t liked any vegetable dish I made. He always implements the “3 pieces rule”, which means at most only 3 pieces of vegetable are eaten from a dish. Of course, fries and roasted potatoes are excluded from this rule. I have learned to surrender and stay on the positive side. Despite the unsuccessful attempt to convert ET to love vegetables, I believe I managed to create a few delicious veggie recipes. This brussel sprouts recipe is an example. The bacon and walnuts give a nutty flavour to the brussel sprouts while the balsamic vinegar adds sweetness. It has become our tradition serve brussel sprouts this way as one of the side dishes with turkey for Christmas.

And what does ET think of this dish? “It doesn’t suck”, he said.

This recipe serves 4 and you will need:

- 16 brussel sprouts, washed and halved with stems removed
- 2 strips of bacon, diced
- 4 cloves of minced garlic
- 1 minced shallot
- 1/2 cup of toasted walnut, coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup of sherry
- Aged balsamic vinegar. If you cannot find aged balsamic vinegar, you can use regular balsamic vinegar.

Boil water in a quart pan, put in brussel sprouts and let them boil for 1 minute. Drain. Put them into ice water for a few minutes. Drain again.

In a skillet, put in 1 tbsp of olive oil. Put in the bacon and pan fry the bacon until crispy. Put in the garlic and shallot and pan fry them for 1/2 minute.

Put in the brussel sprouts. Add 1 tsp of salt and freshly grounded pepper. Mix the brussel sprouts with the bacon. Add the sherry. Continue to cook the brussel sprouts until the sherry has reduced and the brussel sprouts become fork-tender, about 3 minutes. Mix in the walnuts.

If you are using regular balsamic vinegar, then add 2 tbsp of vinegar into the pan and continue to cook the brussel sprouts until the vinegar has completely reduced.

If you are using aged balsamic vinegar, then drizzle in 2 tbsp of vinegar onto the brussel sprouts after they have been plated. Mix the vinegar into the brussel sprouts and serve.

Location: My tiny kitchen

Once having dim sum at a Chinese restaurant, I saw shrimp balls on the menu. Since shrimp balls are not a common dim sum item, I was curious to find out what it is. I was astonished when I saw melted cheese oozing out of the centre. It is very rare to see cheese used as an ingredient in a Chinese dish and surprisingly, the shrimp balls tasted delicious with the cheese. At that moment, I was determined to recreate this dish.

Once in awhile, I like cooking a dish that takes a lot of work and time to prepare. The bolognese sauce that involves 2 hours of shimmering and crab cakes made from picking meat out of whole crabs are two examples. But compared to making the shrimp and cheese balls, making these dishes are as simple as heating up frozen dinners in the microwave. This dish could easily be the most labour-intensive dish that I have ever made. The most time consuming step is turning whole fresh prawns into a paste, which would be easy using a food processor or a good chef knife. But it wasn’t as simple. The shrimp balls have a somewhat chewy texture that made them taste delicious. To create the chewy texture, the prawns must be pounded and not minced or chopped. Unlike chopping, pounding uncoils and stretches the protein strands in the meat and therefore creates the chewy texture. It was a lot of pounding. To make 8 shrimp balls, I pounded the meat for a good 15 minutes!

This is the first time I make the shrimp balls and I’m happy that it was a success. But with the amount of trouble involved, I don’t recommend any one (that’s including myself!!!) to make this at home.

But if you are curious and feel that you want to exercise your wrist, here’s the recipe. If you know of a better and more efficient recipe, please let me know.

This recipe makes 8 shrimp balls.

You will need the following:
- 8 medium sized prawns
- 1/3 cup of Japanese breadcrumbs, Panko
- 8 small cubes of cheddar cheese

Special equipment that you will need: Chinese cleaver

To turn the prawns into paste:
- Peel the prawns. Using a paring knife, make a slit on the back of the prawns and take out the vein.
- Place the prawns in a bowl and mix them with 3 tablespoons (yes, 3 tablespoons!) of salt.
- After the salt is mixed into the prawns, immediately rinse the prawns under cold water for 2 minutes to wash off the salt.

- Using paper towel, dry the prawns thoroughly. I was told this is an important step. The prawns must be completely dry.

- Cut the prawns in half vertically. Place the prawns on a thick wooden cutting board.

- Using the flat surface of a Chinese cleaver, take one prawn and mash it by pressing the cleaver on it and sliding the cleaver to one side. Repeat this for a few times.
- Using the flat surface of a Chinese cleaver, pound on the prawn. Between each pounding, lift the prawn up from the cutting board and splat it on the cutting board. Repeat this step for 2 minutes or until the meat has turned into a paste.

Once the prawns become a paste, they become very sticky. Place the paste into a bowl and add:
- A few drops of sesame oil
- 1 tsp of cornstarch flour
- A dash of white pepper

Using a pair of chopsticks, mix the seasonings into the prawns in a circular motion.

Form the paste into balls about an inch in diameter. If your hands become too sticky, you can wet your hands with water. Insert a cheese cube into the center of the ball. Make sure the cheese is totally covered by the paste.

In a quart pan, put in oil (make sure the oil doesn’t fill up more than 1/2 of the pan’s height). Heat oil until it reaches 350F.

Roll the balls in panko. Fry the balls in the oil for 2 and 1/2 minutes at 350F. Once the balls are taken out of the oil, sprinkle them with a little bit of salt.

Serve and enjoy the products of all the hard work!

Location: My tiny kitchen

When I had the afternoon tea at Hotel Vancouver for the first time, I was drawn to a sandwich with a bright and cheerful mustard colour. Assuming it was a regular egg salad sandwich, I was surprised when I tasted a mild curry flavour in the first bite. It was a curried chicken salad, as I discovered later from reading the menu. When I thought about this sandwich later (yes, I often think of the food long after I ate it ), I couldn’t help to recreate it. I added roast chicken in my version because I wanted to give the salad a more substantial texture. I have liked this sandwich and made it a few more times since then.

From our Christmas dinner, we had some turkey leftovers and I made this sandwich again using turkey meat instead of roast chicken. The turkey meat worked as well as chicken and hey, if it’s another way to finish off those turkey leftovers, then it must be a good thing!

This recipe makes 3 sandwiches with a good amount of filling

- 1 cup of minced roast turkey or roast chicken meat, without the skin
- 3 eggs
- 2 tbs of mayonnaise, more if desired
- 1 tsp of mustard
- 1 tsp of hot curry powder
- freshly ground pepper
- salt to taste
- 6 pieces of sliced bread

Bring water in a quart pan to boil. Put in the eggs and let them boil for 10 minutes. Rinse the eggs under cold water until they are cool to touch, about 3 minutes. Remove the shell and minced the eggs.

In a bowl, put in the minced turkey, eggs, mayo, mustard, curry powder and ground pepper. Mix well. Taste and add salt if necessary.

Trim the edges off the bread. Spread a generous amount of the salad onto a piece of bread, making sure all 4 corners are covered. Place another piece of bread on top. Cut into 3 pieces of finger sandwiches. Repeat with the other two sandwiches.