Easy Sumac Chicken with Onions

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This is a perfect recipe for deeply flavorful chicken with minimal prepping time!

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Equipment:

• Cast iron skillet or dutch oven

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 lbs Chicken Legs or 1 1/2 lbs of Chicken Thigh

• Salt

• 3 tbsp Sumac

• 1 tsp Cardamom

• 1 tsp Cumin

• 3 Onions, sliced into strips

What’s Next:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Season the chicken with salt

2. Mix the sumac, cardamom and cumin together. Sprinkle and rub 2/3 of the mix onto the chicken, make sure to work into the meat

3. Heat 1/4 cup of oil in the cast iron over medium heat. Cook the chicken and turn occasionally (careful oil might splatter!), until all sides are golden brown

4. Remove the chicken and set aside on a plate. Scrap off as much brown bits as possible but leave the oil in the pan

5. Cook the onions into the same pan, splash some water if the pan gets dry. Cook until the onions are 10-15 minutes until golden brown

6. Add the rest of the spice mix into the cast iron, stir frequently until fragrant. Add a splash of water and season with salt. Return the chicken into the cast iron and transfer to oven

7. Bake for 30 minutes until chicken is cooked through and the liquid has mostly evaporated

Honey Gochujang Zucchini

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Zucchini has always been a versatile ingredient to me. But I’d never say no to another delicious way to cook zucchinis

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Ingredients:

• 4 Zucchinis, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds

• 1/4 cup Honey

• 1/3 cup Rice Vinegar

• 1/4 cup Soy Sauce

• 1/4 cup Sambal Oelek

• 1 tbsp Sesame Oil

Optional:

• Lime wedges, garnish

• Cilantro, garnish

What’s Next:

1. Toss the zucchini slices in a colander with a tsp of salt, let sit for 10 minutes and drain excess water

2. Combine honey, vinegar, soy sauce, and sambal oelek in a small saucepan. Cook over medium low heat until it’s reduced to an almost syrup consistency. Remove from heat and mix in the sesame oil

3. Prep the zucchini slices for grill or broiler. Brush the top side with glaze and cook for 3-4 minutes (likely longer for broiler), until the top side is lightly charred

4. Flip the zucchini slices and brush the other side with glaze, cook for another 3 minutes or so until this side is lightly charred as well

5. Remove from heat and serve!

Elote

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Another easy summer hit! Can’t possibly get this one wrong. The beauty of this recipe is everything listed in the ingredients should be modified to your liking!

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Ingredients:

• 6 Corn on the cob, husked

• 1 tbsp Butter

• 5 tbsp Mayonnaise

• 3 tbsp Cotija cheese, shaved

• Ground Cayenne pepper

• 3/4 cup Cilantro leaves

What’s Next:

1. Lightly butter the corn throughout. Grill or broil the corn until golden brown and slightly charred in spots

2. Remove from heat, spread mayonnaise over the corn, sprinkle cayenne peppers, cheese and cilantro, season with salt to taste (all can be modified to your preference). Serve!

Easiest Cacio e Pepe Asparagus ever

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Summer is the season for asparagus! When the produce is fresh and in season, asparagus need no complicated seasoning!

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Equipment:

• Broiler safe roasting pan

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Asparagus, washed and ends trimmed

• 3 tbps Olive Oil

• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper

• 1/4 tsp Salt

• Shavings of Pecorino Romano

What’s Next:

1. Spread asparagus evenly on roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Turn on broiler and put the roasting pan close to the flame

2. Broil for approximately 15 minutes, or until the asparagus is lightly charred

3. remove the roasting pan from asparagus. Shave pecorino cheese on top of the asparagus and serve!

Scallion Pancake

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I used to think scallion pancakes are challenging to make and time consuming, until I actually gave it a shot.

Do you like more scallions? Perhaps a bit of ground meat inside? Do you like your pancake crispier or chewier? Now you can customize it all!

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Ingredients:

Dough: 

• 440g Flour (I used 50% All Purpose and 50% Whole Wheat)

• 200g Hot water

• 100g Cold Water 

• 8g Salt

Filling:

• Half cup of butter + olive oil

• 4-6 Scallions 

• Salt

• Black Pepper

Required Equipment: 

• Scale

• Rollin Pin 

• Parchment paper 

• Large mixing bowl

• Wrap

What’s Next:

1. Cut the scallions to very small pieces, let dry

2. Soften the butter, mix in pepper, scallions and salt into a paste

3. Mix the flour with salt in a large mixing bowl

4. Pour in hot water and mix till water is gone (at this point the dough would have been quite dry, that’s ok!)

5. Pour in the cold water and mix until it just about comes together (don’t worry if it’s not very dough like, it’ll probably look crumbly and that’s ok too)

6. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20-30 minutes

7. Uncover and drip in a few drops of olive oil and mix until it’s a shiny ball! Don’t over mix and create too much gluten, it’ll toughen the pancake

8. Cover again with plastic wrap and let rest for at least 30 minutes

9. Grease the surface and your rolling pin lightly with olive oil. Spread the dough into 5-6 balls. Roll out one ball into a rectangle shape and spread the filling. Then roll into a long log along the short side. Set aside and continue until you’re done with all dough.

10. Go back to the first log, twist up the whole log and spiral into a 3D dome form

11. Put all the spiraled dough into a container and let rest in fridge for at least 2-3 hours, or even better overnight Roll out the dough into a flat disk. Might be easier to do this between 2 pieces of parchment paper. At this point you can freeze the flat disks to store. Fry both sides with a little bit of oil and eat!

Sukiyaki Beef

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This is what I do when I have leftover beef slices and am feeling lazy!

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Ingredients:

• 1/2 lbs of Beef Slices

• 1/4 cup Mirin

• 1/4 cup Soy sauce (May vary depending on how salty your soy sauce is)

• 1 tbsp Sugar

Optional:

• 1 Onion, thinly sliced (highly recommended!! the texture and flavor are both amazing)

• 3 tbsp Sake

What’s Next:

1. Add soy sauce, mirin, sugar and sake if you’re using, into a small sauce pan on medium low heat. If you’re not using sake, you’ll probably want to add a bit more soy sauce and mirin for the liquid volume. Bring to light simmer and taste to adjust flavor to your liking. This is why I love this recipe, the sauce is completely based on your liking, can’t do wrong!

2. If you’re using onion, add the onions now, spread them evenly across the pan. Make sure that all the onions are submerged. If not, add equal portions of soy sauce, mirin (and sake if you’re using)

3. Cook until the onions have softened, turn the heat down to low so it’s just a light simmer. Add the beef slices and mix well into the sauce and onions. Make sure the beef slices are 80% submerged.

4. Stir occasionally to make sure the beef slices are cook through and no longer pink. Serve over rice or eat as is!

Goma-e Spinach

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What to do when you have spinach and don’t want to be boring?

Here’s your answer

This recipe uses tahini to expedite process, instead of 4 more tbsps of sesame seeds

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Ingredients:

• 4 cups of Spinach

• 1 1/2 tbsp of Tahini

• 1/2 tbsp of Sesame seeds

• 1 tbsp of Soy Sauce

• 1 tbsp of Sugar

Optional:

• 1/2 tsp of Sake

• 1/2 tsp of Mirin

• Sesame seeds

• Scallions

What’s Next:

1. Toast the sesame seeds in a small pan on low heat until lightly brown, careful not to burn!

2. Boil water in a medium size pot, add in all the spinach until lightly cooked, about 30 seconds

3. Strain the pot through a mesh to collect all the spinach. Run the spinach under cold water to chill. Squeeze the spinach dry and move to a medium size bowl

4. Mix sesame seeds, tahini, soy sauce, sugar, and sake and mirin if using. Pour the mixture over the spinach and mix well

5. Top with sesame seeds and scallions if you like

Curried Butternut Squash Coconut Soup

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Growing up in Asia, soup is always light and probably clear. More so known as “broth” in western culinary definitions. But I occasionally fall for the famous New England chowder, as well as flavor soup like this one.

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Required equipment:

• Blender / Food Processor

Ingredients:

• 1 Onion, quartered

• Butternut squash (peeled, halved lengthwise, cut into ~1 inch pieces)

• 4 Garlic cloves

• 1/4 cup of Coconut oil (If you don’t have this, olive oil is totally fine)

• 1 1/2 cup of Coconut milk + 2 tablespoons for garnish (optional)

• 1 tbsp Pepper flakes (Feel free to add more if you like the kick)

• 3 tablespoons of Curry powder (any kind that you like, Garam Masala for example) 

Optional:

• Cilantro, chopped

• Shallot, quartered (if I happen to have shallots, i’ll add it along with onion, it gives more flavor to the soup)

• Ginger (treat it like garlic)

• Cinnamon / Cardamom (Warm spices will go really well here)

What’s Next:

1. Toast coconut flakes in oven at 350 degrees or stove top, ~3-5 minutes until light brown and set aside

2. Heat up the coconut oil in a dutch oven or medium size pot over medium heat

3. Add onion, garlic or shallots if you like (optional), 2 teaspoons of salt, black pepper, curry powder, pepper flakes and any spices listed as optional if you like. Occasionally stir with a wooden spoon until onion has softened and become translucent, about 5-7 minutes

4. Add squash to the pot, stir to coat. Then add ~3 cups of water just about cover the squash and add coconut milk. Turn heat up to boiling. 

5. Turn down the heat to medium and let the vegetables cook until tender, about 12-14 minutes. 

6. Transfer the content to a blender or to a large bowl if you're using a hand blender. Fill up to no more than half way. Make sure it's equal parts of liquid vs solid. Better to do this in smaller batches than to have soup cover your kitchen :) 

7. If your blender has a vent, keep that open. Otherwise the steam will blow off the cover as you blend. Start slow and work your way up to high, until the content is smooth and silky. Transfer to a large bowl and continue to work in batches. 

8. Give it a final taste, add salt to adjust to your taste 

9. If your soup has lost temperature during the blending process, pour back to the pot and reheat for a few minutes 

10. Garnish with coconut milk, toasted coconut, black pepper and cilantro!

Roasted Sweet Potato with Miso Tahini Sauce

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As I’m typing this, I wonder if I’ve let out the biggest cooking secret…

This is a SUPER easy recipe, requiring ingredients that are fairly shelf stable, you can always have this as a back up

Plus did I mention this is plant based?!

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Ingredients:

• 2 small to medium size Sweet Potatoes (No need to peel if you don’t mind the texture, I personally don’t! less work and extra fiber :) )

• 2-3 tbps Olive OIl

• 2 tbsp Miso

• 2 tbsp Tahini

• 2 tsp of Rice Vinegar

Optional:

• 2 Scallions, chopped, for garnish

• Sesame Seeds, for garnish

What’s Next:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

2. Cut the sweet potatoes into pieces, depending on your preference, either just 1 inch cubes or semi circles with 1/2 thickness are ok. Drizzle some olive oil into a baking dish/pyrex or onto aluminum foil on a baking sheet, place the cut potatoes as 1 layer and lightly salt

3. Put the sweet potatoes into the oven. I like to place it on the low rack and then half way through flip the pieces. Bake for 15-20 minutes depending on the size of your sweet potatoes.

4. Meanwhile, mix miso, tahini and rice vinegar in a small bowl. Depending on how salty your miso is, you might want to add more tahini or vinegar, or even water. This is completely up to your taste.

5. Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven. Serve with sauce, and garnishes!

Crispy Tofu with Honey Glaze

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This is my forever go-to recipe. Super pantry friendly and vegan. Easy 10 minute from stove to table!

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Ingredients:

• 1 pack of firm tofu

• 1/4 cup of soy sauce

• 3 tbsp of rice vinegar

• 3 tbsp of maple syrup / honey 

• 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes

• 1/2 piece of ginger, thinly sliced 

• 3 tbsp of oil

• Scallions (garnish)

What’s Next:

1. Drain the tofu and remove excess liquid with paper towel. Cut into slices with 1/2 inch thickness (size can be to your liking) 

2. Mix soy sauce, rice vinegar, maple syrup or honey, red pepper flakes and ginger into a small bowl. Set aside

3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is rippling across the surface, gently and slowly add tofu, so it doesn't splash! Cook undisturbed until crisp and dark brown on one side, 3-5 minutes. Carefully flip and repeat on the other side. 

4. Spoon the mixture on the tofu pieces. Then flip each slices to make sure both sides are coated. Let sear for 1-2 minutes. Flip again to make sure the other side is crisp as well, 1-2 minutes. 

5. Transfer to plate and top with scallions!