Bundaegi - Silkworm Pupae Snack

Bundaegi Crisps

I'd like to introduce you to bundaegi, a snack sold from stands in Korea. It is also eaten in China and South Asia (Vietnam) from what I've heard, although they use bigger ones that are crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy inside as they are deep fried:) The Korean ones are seasoned with soya sauce and sugar, and steamed or boiled. Hmm what does it taste like you ask? Well it is a mix of chicken and dried shrimp/crab. This depends on how you eat it too. My recipe will taste like dried shrimp/crab, but boiled bundaegi tastes a bit burnt.

Bundaegi in a can

Bundaegi can - sorry it is upside down, the opening is at the bottom for some reason

I prefer mine slightly fried than boiled, as the outside (shell) is easier to eat. I buy bundaegi in a can ($1.29, quite cheap), drain the excess juice, and stir fry in a pan with a little canola oil until crunchy. Careful of oil splatters! You can add seasoning like gochujang (red pepper paste), garlic or green onions.

Bundaegi crisps - Silkworm pupae Crisps

(oil free!)

Ingredients:
- Can of bundaegi
- Dried seasoning (salt, chili powder, sugar, garlic powder, etc). I use Nanami togarashi (7 spices mix for japanese udon). Its ingredients include chili pepper, orange peel, sesame seeds, Japanese pepper, ginger and seaweed.

Nanami Togarashi

• Drain bundaegi from the water in the can. Add seasoning to the bundaegi to your taste and mix well.
• Roast bundaegi in your oven at 350°c for 30 minutes until dried and crispy
• Serve with very cold soju! Or any other cold alcohol!

Well this is not authentic Korean, but still quite good :)

Dare to try?

Yogurt

Yogurt with maple syrup and mint

I love making my own yogurt, because it is very healthy and easy to make. Store bought yogurt with mixed in fruits is often high in fructose. Sometimes it can contain artificial flavors and additives. Since I started making my own, I cannot stand the over-sweet taste of store bought fruit yogurt!

All you really need is a starter culture, which can come from store-bought plain yogurt. Make sure the yogurt contains active bacterial cultures. A candy thermometer is also very useful to make sure that your yogurt is at the right temperatures. Invest in one, as it becomes very useful and it can be quite inexpensive (I got mine for ~7$)

Ingredients:
- 1 cup milk (I use 2%)
- 1 tablespoon already made plain yogurt
- Sterilized jar

• In a deep saucepan, heat the milk until it has reached 90°C (195°F). Do stir with a spoon to avoid scorching at the bottom. Remove the saucepan from the heat.

• Leave the milk's temperature to drop to about 38°C (100°F). You can dip the saucepan in a bowl of cold water if you are impatient.

• Mix in the plain yogurt slowly and pour in the jar. Close tightly.
  

• Leave the jar for 12-14 hours at a warm place between 32°C (90°F) and 43°C (110°F). I usually leave it on a medical electric heating pad. You can use the candy thermometer to find the right setting. You can also leave it in your oven if you can bring the temperature that low.

• Verify the consistency of your yogurt, refrigerate and serve once chilled!
  

I wrote down the measurements for one cup of milk. Of course, if your jar can hold more, you can double/triple/quadruple the recipe. I usually make 3 cups at a time.

Good serving suggestions: honey, maple syrup, vanilla, fresh fruits, shredded coconut, roasted rolled oat, mango puree to make mango lassi!

If the taste is too sour, reduce the bacteria developing time to 10 hours or less. Your yogurt may be less thick. Sometimes the kind of starter yogurt can change the taste. Use a less sour one.

Coffee and Condensed Milk Cupcakes

I got inspired to make this one by Cupcake Bakeshop. The recipe is simple enough and very tasty. I haven't had good Vietnamese coffee in a while, so I thought I'd try it out :)

I used the same recipe to make the cake, but I omitted the pudding and used condensed milk buttercream as frosting. The overall result was very intense. The coffee taste came out nicely, without being too strong. The buttercream could have been more flavorful. Next time I will put the whole can of milk.

For the cake base, I thought 2 cups of sugar was too much, so I reduced it to 1 cup, then added 3 tablespoon of milk to retain the same moisture. My cake was lighter in color than Chockylit's, maybe because I didn't use Viet Coffee. The taste of coffee is still very much present.

Condensed Milk Buttercream


Ingredients:
5 egg yolks
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks ~250g), at room temperature
1/2 can condensed milk (~150ml)

• In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks until they become foamy and thick. This takes about 2 minutes with a hand-held mixer.

• Boil the condensed milk in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Careful here, the milk burns quite easily.

• Add the hot condensed milk to the egg yolks gradually while beating with your mixer. Beat until the mixture has cooled down.

• In another bowl, beat butter with a wooden spoon until it has become creamy and light. Combine the egg mixture and stir well.

• Refrigerate the cream for 5-10 minutes before spreading if it is too soft for decorating.
  

If you want to make the buttercream in advance, I suggest you keep it at the warmest place of your fridge, because once it becomes cold, it will become hard like butter. The best is to use it right away and consume it quickly. Otherwise, take your cupcakes out of the fridge 10-15 minutes before serving. The cream will remain soft and uniform after refrigeration.

Fresh Cheese

You should use a yogurt that does not have added thickeners or stabilizers, such as pectin, gelatine or starch. Make sure to read your label! I used Astro Balkan Plain Yogurt 6%M.F. , Phoenicia Plain Yogurt 2% and homemade yogurt from 2% milk. From my experience, Phoenicia’s yoghurt makes the nicest curds.

Fresh cheese can be used in recipes that need cream cheese. It can also be spread on bread and served with olive oil. I like to put it in green salads or couscous.

Ingredients:
2 tsps sugar
4 cups plain yogurt (2 lbs)

• Mix the sugar with the yogurt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil for several minutes, until the curds begin to separate from the clear whey.

• Pour the boiled yogurt into a strainer lined with several layers of cheese cloth, or a large paper coffee filter. Let it drain for a few hours.

• Take the cheese out from the filter or cheesecloth. Keep it in an air-tight container in the fridge. It should keep for more than a week.

You can drain the cheese more if you want it to be harder. Wrap your cheese in cheesecloth, put it on down on a board, place a heavy plate on top of it, then add a weight on top. Let the cheese drain for a few hours.

You can also mix in spices such as paprika, black pepper or zaatar (spice mix with thyme), and serve with a dash of olive oil.

Lamb Soup

Lamb soup! This soup is dedicated to all those who love it! It is the best soup for a cold winter, but it is also good any other time of the year. According to the Chinese medicine, it helps the body to resist cold weather. This recipe requires a pressure cooker in order to cook the soup in a minimum grain of time. However, a normal pot would work too, but you would need to simmer the soup for at least 2 hours for a rich taste.

Ingredients: Lamb bones, veggies (potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, etc.), 5 spices powder, black pepper, salt, leek, ginger, and coriander.

1. Boil some water and put the lamb bones in there for a few seconds in order to clean the bones. Remove the bones and throw the water.
2. Boil some water again with the bones.
3. Wash and cut the veggies into small pieces.
4. Add the spices, salt, and black pepper in the boiling water.
5. Put the veggies, leek, and ginger in the pan.
6. Cover and lock the pan.
From here, you have to cook the soup using the instructions of your pressure cooker.
7. Turn to maximum heat until the pressure starts bursting from the top, and then turn the heat to low and wait for 30 minutes.
8. When the pressure is completely gone, open and serve this wonderful soup! :]
9. Add some coriander for a better taste!

Remember that potatoes are very good in absorbing salt and other spices, so if you put a lot of potatoes, put more salt!

Pineapple Treasure Box

Hello!

I remember eating rice in a bamboo shots long time ago. It was such a real delice!
The way they presented the rice was very interesting. Today, I found a recipe of cooking rice in pineapple. Since summer is here and it is also the season for pineapple, time to prepare an exotic dish for the hot weather!
If you are love pineapple, you can give this a shot! Let your imagination and favorite fruit guide you to a wonderful dinner.

List of ingredients:
1 Pineapple, 1 cup of rice, 2 chicken legs, 2 eggs, salt, and cooking oil.
Optional: Dried grapes

0. Remove the meat from the pineapple without damaging it shell.
1. Cook the rice by steam it or use a rice cooker.
2. Heat a wok with oil.
3. Stir fry the chicken, eggs, and pineapple meat by adding salt.
4. Add the cooked rice to the wok and mix it well with everything else.
5. Put everything in the pineapple shell and steam it for 10 minutes.

Now you can serve it while it is hot! :]

Crepe Suzette

Another of my favorite Breakfast/Dessert/Snack dish. I modified a version from the Savoy's cookbook, which has great tasting and wonderful looking recipes. The Savoy Restaurant was opened by French Chef Escoffier at the Savoy Hotel in 1890 (founded by the founder of Ritz Hotels). It's an excellent book that reinvents many grand classics such as the Pêche Melba and Veal Holstein.

Crêpes Suzettes

1cup plain flour
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
8 tbsp sugar
1 ¼ cups milk
3 tbsp unsalted butter (or half salted)

Sauce

1 ¼ cups orange juice
Zest of 2 oranges
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
¼ cup Grand Marnier
Lemon Juice
Vanilla Ice Cream, to serve


To make the crepes:

• sift the flour and salt into a large bowl, then add the eggs, half the sugar, and about a quarter of the milk.
  
• Mix to a thick batter, then gradually whisk in the rest of the milk. Melt the butter in a pan until it begins to froth and mix half into the batter.
• Heat a non-stick frying pan. Brush the inside with a little of the remaining butter, and ladle in enough batter to cover the base of the pan in a thin layer, tilting the pan gently to spread it evenly. I usually take the pan off the heat when I do this, to ensure that the whole surface is covered by a runny batter.
  
• Cook for 30 seconds, turn the crepe over, and cook for another 30 seconds. The crepe should be evenly browned on both sides. Take it out of the pan, and continue to make more crepes in the same way, greasing the pan with a paper towel dipped in melted butter.
  

To make the sauce:

• Heat the remaining sugar in a wide pan, stirring constantly until amber colored.
  
• Add the orange juice and vanilla extract. Simmer the sauce until thickened to your taste.

*I like to add pieces of mandarin in my sauce, to make less sweet and more fruity. Another variant is to make the crêpes and fill them with jam (cherry jam works very well) instead of adding the sauce. It makes an easy snack.

To serve:

• Heat 4 plates in your oven. Take a crepe, lay it in the sauce, then turn it and fold it in half, then into half again.
  
• Arrange all the crepe like this in the pan, squeeze on a little lemon juice, and add the Grand Marnier.
  
• Leave to infuse for 1 minute, then serve 2 crepes on each plate. At the last moment, top with the vanilla ice cream, which will melt deliciously over the hot crepes.

*You can also flambé the Grand Marnier with a torch while on the plates. You can also skip the Grand Marnier and just serve the Crêpes alcohol free :)

Buttermilk Biscuits

Here's one of my favorite low-sugar cookies. It's some kind of mix between a scone and bread - it's chewy and melts in your mouth. I will post a picture as soon as I can get my hands on some buttermilk (I usually end up drinking it all hehe).

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons maple sugar (you can replace by brown sugar if you don't mind losing the maple flavour)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• ¾ cup buttermilk

Preparation:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper/aluminum foil and set aside.
• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, maple sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda until well combined.
• Work in the butter with a fork (or 2 knifes) and then add the buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together.
• Pat the dough out into a 6-inch circle and cut it into 6 pie-shaped wedges (It can easily be cut with a pair of clean scissors).
• Transfer them to the baking sheet and bake for about 12 min, or until light golden (Don't overbake or it will not be chewy).

* If adding ingredients like berries or chocolate chips, add them at the very end before cutting the dough in wedges, otherwise they will loose their juices (especially frozen berries) or melt into the dough.

Here are pictures of some biscuits I made in a mini oven. The top is a bit too dark to my taste, but it is crunchy, while the inside is soft. Notice how much the biscuits expand; make sure you space them on the baking sheet!

Shrimp Pearl Balls

Do you like simple but tasty food? :)

I would like to introduce this Chinese break-fast (or lunch, or whenever you feel like to eat them!). It is called "Pearl Balls" and the main ingredient is shrimps.

First, let me show you some photos of how they look like...
















One more picture from the source where I learned how to cook them...



So? Are you still with me?

Ingredients: Shrimp, Pork Meat, Sticky Rice, Vegetables (those you like, ie cabbage, chives, green onion), Salt, Sugar, Pepper.

Step 1 - Put the sticky rice in water for at least 4 hours to 1 night.

Step 2 - Clean the shrimps and chop them with a knife (or use a blender, pulse a few times, but don't mash them too much or you end up with a shrimp paste without bits of crunchy shrimp).

Step 3 - Add pork, veggies, salt, sugar, and pepper to the shrimp, and mix well.

Step 4 - Make the shrimp into round shape and roll it in the sticky rice. The rice will stick on it like magic. =)

Step 5 - Steam for 10 minutes with boiling water. Serve with soy sauce or anything you like.


FAQ:
Q: Why pork?
A: It add some fat, because shrimps are low in fat.

Q: Why put sticky rice in water?
A: They will be soft in your mouth!

Q: What if I don't like shrimps?
A: You can use beef, pork, chicken, etc... Let your imagination guide you! :)

Toto =)

Dear readers,

First, I would like to welcome you to this new born Blog on delicious foods. I am a person who likes to try new recipes and taste authentic foods all around the world, which I will be very happy to share with you.

I will be adding new recipes and cooking related informations as much as I can. Your comments and suggestions will be an important ingredient to this blog, and they will help me to cook this blog into a wonderful delighting dish.

See you,

Toto =)

Coco Introduction

Heya there!

Who are we? Just some old kids who take their food seriously, with a 1/4 teaspoon of fun :)
I believe that the power of culinary arts can transform the way we eat (in a good way). I love looking for recipes using both ancient techniques and modern molecular properties of food. I will post things that I think can be useful in improving cooking skills and practicality in a fast paced world.

Coco's objectives for this blog:

• Discover the secret of Hand Pulled Noodles!
• Create a Gigantic and Lovely Croquembouche
  
• Make Chewy and Good tasting Semolina Pasta
  
• Become a Master of Korean Rice Cakes :D
  
• Share Impossible to Find recipes on the net (Tibetan Recipes, Old fashioned cakes, etc)

Hope to share my passion with you guys soon! Don't hesitate to ask questions!