Shrimp Hong Kong Style Pan Fry Noodles

By : Mymy Suajico-Santiago

 

Ingredients:

1 pkg.                  Hong Kong Style Noodles
1 dozen              Med. Shrimps (peeled and deveined)
1 can                   Baby Corn (cut to size)
1 bunch              Spinach
2 pcs.                  Carrots (julienne)
12 dozen            Quail Eggs (hard boiled)
1 can                   Water Chestnuts (Cut)
6 pcs                    Shrimp Balls (cooked & cut)
6 cloves              Garlic, minced
4 pcs                    Shitake (soaked overnight)
4 pcs                    Woodear Mushroom (soaked overnight)
1 pc                      Big Bell Pepper (julienne)
1 Stalk                 Green Onion Leaves (Cut-for Garnish)
Peanut or Canola Oil for Frying

Sauce:

1 tsp                    Corn Starch
1 tsp                    Sesame Oil
1 tsp                    Soy Sauce
2 tsp                    Oyster Sauce
½ cup                  Chicken Broth
Salt/pepper to taste

 

Procedure:
Prepare the pan fry noodles by immersing it on water for at least 5 minutes

Mix soy sauce, oyster sauce, chicken broth & corn starch. Stir until free of lumps, set aside.

Sautee garlic in canola oil until brown, drop the shrimp followed by all of the vegetables & mushrooms; stir fry until cooked. Remove from heat, toss in cooked shrimp balls & quail eggs & drizzle in the sesame oil. (Sesame oil is stronger in flavor when added last)
Add in the sauce mixture & simmer on low heat.
Drain the water from the noodles. Pour cooking oil on the wok and drop the noodles, press lightly to evenly pack on the wok. Fry until crisp and turn over & spread evenly to fry on the other side.
Top the crispy noodles with the shrimp & vegetable sauce mix, sprinkle with spring onions & serve!

 

Spiced Apple Cider Sangria

Recipe by: Mymy Suajico-Santiago

 

Ingredients:

2            cups apple cider

2           cinnamon ground
¼            ground allspice
1            bottle Spanish red wine (or any red would do)
1/2       cup orange juice
1/2       cup brandy
Orange Slices for Garnish (Optional)

 

 

Procedure:

Simmer apple cider, ground cinnamon & all spice in a saucepan until flavors infuse, set aside to cool.

Combine orange juice & brandy, set aside
Fill the carafe or pitcher with crushed ice, pour in the orange & brandy mix, pour in the spiced apple cider over, lastly drizzle the red wine to allow bleeding over the liquids for visual, garnish with orange slices. Stir to mix.

Cheers!

 

Sugar & Butter Free Cashew Pecan Fruitcake

Mymy Suajico – Santiago 蔡马安

I always believed that loving fruitcake is an acquired taste. I love fruitcake and could have it all year round, as it meant to be.

Fruitcakes are most popular as holidays & weddings delicacy, slice by slice they are consumed to the next anniversary. Wrapped in a cloth and foil & saturated with alcohol regularly, it could go for months and even years without refrigeration. It is even kept as an heirloom for some families in Europe.
It was made in some form all the way back to ancient Rome but it wasn’t until the middle ages that it became known as ‘Fruit Cake.’
This is a diabetic friendly recipe, made intentionally without sugar additives (save for the sugar content of the dried fruits) & without butter…guilt free on big slices!

Ingredients:

1 cup               Chopped Dried Pineapple
1 cup               Raisins.
1 cup               Dried Cranberries
1 cup               Dried Cherries
¾ cup              Dark Rum (Bacardi Select)
¾ cup              Patron Orange Liquor
2 tbsp.             Finely Chopped Clementine Peel
3 cups             Unbleached, all-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon     All-spice
1 teaspoon     nutmeg
1 teaspoon     vanilla
1 teaspoon     salt
1 teaspoon     baking soda
1 cup               toasted Cashew
1 cup               toasted Pecans
1 cup               Granulated Sugar substitute
½ cup              Dark sugar free Syrup
4                      large Eggs
1 cup               Canola Oil

 Garnish:

Fresh Blueberries & Clementine slices soaked in rum overnight
Dried fruit mix

 Procedure:

Preheat oven on 350 F
Incorporate Clementine Peel in the orange liquor, set aside
In a mixing bowl combine the following:
Flour, Allspice, Nutmeg, Salt, Baking Soda, Granulated  Sugar
Add in: Rum, Orange Liquor with Peel, vanilla, Dark Sugar-free Syrup, Eggs & Canola Oil
Blend in low setting until homogenous, up to medium until mixture is light.
Fold in the nuts & fruits uniformly well
Scrape the mixture off to the prepared pan.
Decorate the top surface with the fresh garnish (this will dry in the baking  process)

Bake for an hour & 30 min. or until a bamboo skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
In case the cake is too dry, cover with aluminum foil over while baking
Cool the cake for 20 minutes

Drizzle dark syrup to thinly coat
Cover plastic wrap and age
Serve & Enjoy after 1 week at room temperature or loooonger….

 

Spicy Sesame Shrimp Ramen with Enoki Mushrooms & Quail Eggs

Mymy Suajico – Santiago 蔡马安

Though most popularly known as Japanese, Ramen is actually Chinese in origin. After World War II, cheap flour imported from the U.S. swept the Japanese market. Consequently, multitudes of Japanese troops had returned from China and continental East Asia from their posts in the Second Sino-Japanese War. Many of these returnees had become familiar with Chinese cuisine and subsequently set up Chinese restaurants across Japan.

In 1958, the Instant Ramen was invented by Momofuku Ando. The idea came about his yearning to answer the post war hunger issue plaguing Japan. He eventually founded Nissin Foods- named the greatest Japanese invention of the 20th century in a Japanese poll. Instant ramen allowed anyone to make this dish simply by adding boiling water.

When I moved to US from the Philippines back 2010, I was taken aback with the numerous terrible clichés about instant ramen & college students. This is therefore to (if seriously) vindicate the essence of Ramen from being a mere college student’s stuffing to a healthy, tasty & economical meal envisioned to end world hunger – just how Momofuku intended it to be.

This is my “Non-Instant” Ramen recipe, a ‘Shoyu’ (Soy Sauce) preparation using fresh egg noodles and shrimp.

Ingredients:

1 troop               Enoki Mushroom
1 tray                 Quail Eggs (peeled)
2 dozens             Shrimp (shelled & cleaned)
1 tsp                   Minced Ginger
To taste              Jalapeno Peppers (for heat)
2 Tbsp.               Dark Sesame Oil
10 oz.                 Fresh Egg Noodles
½ cup                 Anchovy Sauce (Fish Sauce will do)
6 cups                Shrimp Juice (extracted from shrimp heads)-or shrimp bouillon for convenience

Garnish:
                                     Shredded Nori (Seaweed)

                          Chives

                                     Toasted Garlic
                          Mustard Greens, Kale or Collared Greens

Procedure:

Cut off the heads of the shrimp and simmer them in 6 cups of water until cooked and essence is extracted ( Shrimp juice broth )

Strain liquid, discard shrimp heads. Cook the broth to rolling boil

Add in ginger, shrimp, quail eggs, noodles & mushrooms
Savor to taste with Anchovy sauce and pour in dark sesame oil

In a serving Bowl, arrange the greens, pour in the hot ramen and its contents

Drop in jalapenos for spice top with chives, toasted garlic and garnish with nori
Enjoy & slurp your big hot bowl of comfort!

 

 

 

 

Spicy Kani Salad

Mymy Suajico – Santiago 蔡马安

 

Though the word ‘Kani’ means crab in Japanese, in a strict sense this salad never uses crab at all but rather ‘surimi’ or imitation crab. Surimi is a blend of fish, starch, sugar, and spices. This is formed into long rectangular shapes with red sides, known as kanikama. Resulting to a flaky, slightly sweet product that somewhat resembles crab in texture, appearance, and flavor.

 

Kani Salad is usually served chilled which makes it such a refreshing delight especially during summer. The cucumber component gives it a very refreshing note that cleanses the palate.

 

Easy to prepare but never fails to impress the tongue.

 

INGREDIENTS:

4 sticks               surimi (1/2 lb. imitation crab)-julienne
4 pcs.                       Kirby (Cucumber)-julienne thinly                      
2 stalks               spring onions-julienne thinly

 

DRESSING:
¼ cup                 mayonnaise
2 tbsp.                lime juice (lemon will do)
½ tsp.                 sugar
2 tsp.                 sriracha (Korean hot sauce)
1 tsp.                 freshly grated ginger
                               Salt to taste

 

GARNISH:
Herring Roe (any fish roe)

Shredded Nori

Black sesame seed

 

Procedure:

Simple as mixing all the dry ingredients, whip the dressing and top the salad, garnish and enjoy! How easy is that!

 

 

Honey Glazed Roast Pork “Char Siu” (蜜汁叉燒) and Buckwheat Noodles

Mymy Suajico – Santiago 蔡马安

"Char siu" literally means "fork burn/roast" (Char being fork (both noun and verb) and siu being burn/roast) after the traditional cooking method for the dish: long strips of seasoned boneless pork are skewered with long forks and placed in a covered oven or over a fire. Listed at #28 on World's 50 most delicious foods readers' poll compiled by CNN 2 years ago, Char Siu is a Cantonese roasted meat. In Hong Kong, char siu is usually bought from a siu mei setting, which specializes in meat dishes—char siu pork, soy sauce chicken, white cut chicken, roasted goose, roasted pork, etc. These shops usually display the goods by hanging them in the window.

Despite health concerns, eating pork has always been a part of Chinese heritage. It symbolizes opulence for celebrations and thanksgiving. It being a taboo in relation to one’s well-being, places pork in a culinary pedestal which is only to be availed as a “well-deserved indulgence.”Back at home, we used to procure this from Cantonese restaurants as “Hum Bao;” that is, Char Siu with Rice Bun on the side.

This is my take on Char Siu. I have chosen to have Buckwheat as an accompaniment. I love how lightness and the natural sweetness of the noodles compliments the richness of the dish.


l to r : Sesame Oil, Sriracha, 5 Spice, Honey, Soy Sauce, Anchovy Sauce

Ingredients: Char Siu
2 lbs                           pork butt, sliced
1/2 cup                       liquid honey
1/4 cup                       hoisin sauce, 海鮮醬
4 tbsp                         soy sauce, 老抽
2 tbsp.                        Anchovy Sauce (or any Fish Sauce)
2 tbsp                         black bean paste
¼ cup                         dry Red Wine
2 tsp                           five spice powder, 五香粉
2 tbsp.                        Sriracha
2 tbsp.                        Sesame Oil
1 tbsp                         black pepper

Procedure: Char Siu

Mix well all ingredients dry and wet into a bowl
Soak to marinate the pork for at least 4 hours or overnight
Arrange in a baking dish & set aside
Pre-heat oven @ 375 and roast the pork
Roast to cook until the liquid turns ‘syrupy’
Ensure that pork is cooked on both sides; flip the meat halfway thru roasting

Glaze with honey & sesame oil emulsion if it’s too dry
Take out from the oven and allow to rest in the baking dish to thicken caramel coat

Ingredients: Buckwheat Noodles

2 portions           fresh buckwheat noodles
2 tbsp.                canola Oil
¼ cup                 clam juice
1 tsp.                 anchovy sauce (fish sauce)

Procedure: Buckwheat Noodles

Boil 3 cups of water, remove from heat
Drop in buckwheat noodle, stir and immerse for 20 seconds
Run in cold water to stop cooking process
Toss in canola oil to loosen noodles
Flavor with clam juice and anchovy sauce

Garnish:
Chives & Century Eggs

 Eat & celebrate Life!...a full belly conquers all!

Arroz a la Valenciana with Garlic Poblano Allioli

Mymy Suajico – Santiago 蔡马安

Arroz a la Valenciana or Paella Valenciana, is a rice dish which hailed from Valencia, Spain. It has been savored by diners since the 1850s. This particular paella preparation has branched out extensively  and has traveled the world. Versions abound in Portugal in Europe, to the South in Chile & Nicaragua, in Central and South America, and in the Asian Philippines.

This dish takes me back to my maternal family ties (Mercurio-Britanico) in the Philippines where this Valencian Paella is never absent on our feast table. Always prepared by my Aunt, It was so good & comforting that each of us just had to take a portion home. 

This is my interpretation of the dish; fusing the old traditional Spanish way with the Asian notes of what brings me home.

Clockwise: Tomato, Onions, Green Peas, Saffron Threads, Green & Yellow Peppers, Garlic & Olives

L to R: Chorizo Picante, Bacon, Liver & Chicken Thighs

Ingredients: Arroz a la Valenciana

4 cups                Valencian rice (Pearl Rice, Sticky Rice or Jasmine)

4 pcs                  chicken thighs ,marinated in salt & Pepper, Browned

1 pack                Smoked turkey bacon, fried & cut (pork strips will do)

1/2 kilo               chicken liver, salt-peppered & half cooked in pan

1 portion             Spanish Chorizo Picante (or any sausage of preference)

1/2 cup               green peas

2 pcs                  bell peppers (red and green), cut into thin strips

2 small                tomato, chopped

1/2 can               tomato paste

1 large                onion, chopped

6 cloves              garlic, minced

½ cup                 Manzanilla Green Olives

1 tbsp                 Saffron threads

1 cup                  Coconut Milk

½ cup                 dry red wine (white, if preferred)

3 cups                clam juice (or chicken stock)

For Sautéing       Extra Virgin Olive Oil

For Garnish         2 hardboiled eggs, sliced to crecents
                         Cilantro, roughly chopped

Notes: No additional salt or pepper was added to flavor the dish, note that the meat incorporated were already pre-seasoned. The olives and clam juice are salty as well and the picante chorizos spicy enough to zest. Otherwise, flavor your Paella Valenciana to taste.

This recipe likewise is served alongside Garlic Pablano Allioli which covers the salt & spice element of the Paella.
Ingredients: Garlic Poblano Allioli
4 cloves              Garlic
2 pcs.                 Poblano Peppers
1 portion             Cilantro
½ Cup                Extra Virgin Olive Oil
To Taste              Salt
Procedure: Garlic Poblano Allioli
Drop all the ingredients in a food processor and chopped mix, keep in refrigerator

Procedure: Arroz a la Valenciana
Pour EVOO in a Paella Pan. Sautee/ fry turkey bacon & chorizo picante to extract fat. Remove fried bacon and chorizo, set aside.
Heat the oil & fat mix and drop in, Onions, Garlic, Green Peas, Tomato (in the given order), slow sautee for 10 minutes to a sofrito
Pour in 4 cups of Valencian Rice, fold in the sofrito to blend
Mix Chicken thighs, liver, bacon and Chorizo in, increase to low medium heat
Stir in wine, tomato paste, coconut milk and 2 cups of clam juice
Sprinkle saffron threads, olives & bell Peppers –Stir to mix and coat the ingredients
Cook on low until the rice soaks & softens, as the liquid reduces add remaining cup of clam stock when needed
Cover the Pan and Simmer until liquid is absorbed

Arrange Egg Crescents and garnish with Cilantro
Bake in oven for 10 minutes, remove.
allow to sit for at least 5 minutes & glaze with Allioli
savor with a good Shiraz...

Sabroso… Buena Comida!