Holiday Decoration (2012)

I made these flower arrangements for my favorite co-workers.

Green Tea Ice Cream

Ingredients:

·         3 large egg yolks

·         250 ml milk

·         2 1/2 cup of whipped heavy cream

·         80 g white sugar

·         2 teaspoon green tea powder

·         2 drop of green food color (optional)

Directions:

In a sauce pan, heat milk over low heat until small bubbles form. Remove from heat immediately.

Beat egg yolks and sugar in a stand mixing bowl (medium high speed) until light and foamy. Then gradually pour the warm milk in the egg yolks and stir continuously in 1 direction with a hand whip.

Pour all the mixture back into the sauce pan and heat on very low heat, stir constantly until the mixture increases in volume and become creamy. Then pour everything back into the large bowl and let it cool.

Using a stand mixer, beat the whipping cream + matcha powder on high speed until soft peak forms. If you like, you can add 2 drop of green food color.

Pour the whipping cream + matcha powder to the warm milk mixture. Then add the whipped heavy cream so that the mixture is denser.

Let cool completely and then put in the freezer. Take out and stir with a folk every 30 minutes. Repeat for 5 - 7 times so that your ice-cream is not too hard.

Home made Pretzel

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cup warm water

1 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup bread flour

3 cups regular flour

2 cups warm water

2 tablespoons baking soda

4 tablespoons butter (melted)

DIRECTIONS:

Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl; stir to dissolve. Add sugar, salt and stir to dissolve; add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic. Let rise at least 1/2 hour.

While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 Tbsp baking soda. Be certain to stir often. After dough has risen, pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope* (about 1/2 inch or less thick) and shape. Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on greased baking sheet. Allow pretzels to rise again. Bake in 450 degrees F oven for about 10 minutes or until golden. Brush with melted butter and enjoy

Toppings: after you brush with butter try sprinkling with coarse salt. Or dip the pretzel into the butter, coating both sides generously. Then dip again into the cinnamon mixture. Enjoy!

 

Pad Thai

Ingredients:
• 1 package of rice stick noodles (14 oz)
• 2 minced shallots
• 1 cup of bean sprouts
• 1 cup of Chinese chives cut into 5 cm lengths
• 2 teaspoons tamarind powder
• 4 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 4 round pieces of palm sugar
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 cup chop peanuts
• 20 peels and deveined large shrimp

Preparation:
• Soak the dry noodles in hot water and set aside for 1 hour then drained.

Sauce:
• Using a sauce pan on medium heat, add palm sugar, fish sauce, brown sugar and tamarind powder and stir them well.

• Heat vegetable oil to medium heat. Add shallots and minced garlic, stir until golden colors. Add in pawns, stir for 1 minute, then set aside one side of wok.
• Add the eggs to the pan; once the eggs begin to set up, about 15 to 20 seconds, stir to scramble.
• Add remaining ingredients in the following order and toss after each addition: noodle, sauce, Chinese chives, bean sprouts and peanuts. Toss everything until heated through, but no longer than 1 to 2 minutes total.
• Transfer to a serving dish and serve with lime and chili sauce.

Cakeroll with Ham+Chinese Sausage with Butter Cream and Peanut Coating

When I was little, my mom used to make this type of cake for my birthday and I love it. Her recipe is a little different than mine because she made it with fresh pork liver instead of the liver pate.

Cake Ingredient:• 6 eggs
• 120g sugar
• 100g all purpose flour
• 20g corn starch
• 60g vegetable oil
• 70g milk
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Pre-heat oven to 340F
Separate egg yolks and egg whites in different bowls.
In a stand mixer, beat egg white with 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar and salt until stiff peak.

In a separate bowl, using a whisk mix egg yolks with milk and vegetable oil and then add all purpose flour and corn starch, mix well until it become creamy.
Fold 1/3 eggs whites into the egg yolks and stir with a spatula in one direction, then pour all the egg yolks into the rest of the egg white and mix well.
Cut a piece of parchment paper and line it inside the jellyroll pan, then pour the egg mixture on top.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Take the cake out from the pan and let it cool for 5 minutes.


Fillings:• 1 cup of Chinese sausage (chop into little cubes)
• 1 cup of cooked ham (chop into little cubes)
• 1/8 cup of purple shallot (chop well)
• 1 can of liver pate (spreadable one)
• 4 tablespoon of butter
Using a sauce pan on medium heat, melt butter. Add shallot into butter and stir it until a light golden colors.
Add Chinese sausage and ham and cook well in medium heat. Add a little salt and sugar.


Butter cream:• 1 1/2 stick of butter
• 1/4 cup of confectioners’ sugar
• 1/4 cup of chocolate powder
• 1 tablespoon of milk
• 2 cup of raw peanut (roasted on a hot pan then crush it with the food processor)
Using a stand mixing bowl, beat butter until it become creamy and fluffy. Slowly add in the milk. Gradually add sugar and chocolate powder, beating until almost stiff.

Arranging the cake:Spread liver pate onto the cake

Top with sausage and ham

Roll the cake and put it inside the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes.

Spread butter cream around the cake. Then add crush peanut on top.
Place cake in refrigerator for another 20-30 minutes, serve chills.

Stir Fry Beef with Leeks

Homemade stir fry beef with leeks. This is one of my favorite dishes inspired by Phoenix Chinese Cuisine in California.

Ingredients:
• 2 packages of Sakira Beef
• 1 cup of oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1/2 cup of soy sauce
• 1 teaspoons of chop garlic
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 table spoon of sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoons of ground pepper
• 1 tablespoons of dry sherry
• 1 big leek

1. First, cut leak in half from top to bottom. Wash them in cold water.
2. Trim off the ends of the leeks, cut the leeks crosswise into 2 inches pieces.
3. Heat the oil in a wok and add garlic, stir them until it has a golden color.
4. Add the beef, stirring quickly to separate the pieces.
5. Add the oyster sauce, sugar, soy sauce.
6. Add the leeks and dry sherry, cook for 2 minutes.
7. Add pepper and cook for 10 seconds.
8. Spoon the mixture into serving dish and ready to serve.

Cha Bo

Cha Bo is also known as Vietnamese Beef Ham. I usually eat it with steam rice cake and fish sauce.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs fresh beef – ground twice – ask your butcher
• 1 teaspoon monosodium glutamate (optional)
• 2 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1/2 package of Alsa-Baking-Powder
• 1/2 tablespoon potato starch
• 2 1/2 tablespoon cold ice water
• A little bit of chop garlic and black pepper (optional)

• Marinate ground beef with all the above ingredients.
• Place the ground beef inside a plastic zipper bag, place flat on a surface and put it inside a freezer for 3 hours.
• Put the ground beef into a food processor and pulse it couple time, if it’s too hard then you can add 1 tablespoon of cold ice water to soften it. The texture should be very smooth and had a pinkish colors.
• Wrap it up in banana leaf or in plastic wrap and tied it with multiple plastic string. Steam for about 30-35 minutes (will vary depending on size). Remember that the beef ham will rise and expand a bit when cooked.

Chewy White Chocolate Chips with Macadamia Nuts and Cranberry Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cups white chocolate chips
• 1 cups macadamia nuts
• 1 cup dry cranberries

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips, macadamia nuts and cranberries by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Banh Beo Tom Tuoi

Banh Beo is one of Vietnamese traditional cuisine. It is filled with dried fresh shrimp, mung bean and green shallots and it’s serve with fish sauce.

Ingredients:
• 200 gram rice flour
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 10 to 15 large peeled shrimps
• 3 fresh green shallots
• 1 cups mung beans (soaks in warm water for a couple hours)
• 2 thinly chopped garlic cloves

Fish Sauce: 1/2 cup of sugar + 3 tablespoon of fresh squeeze lime juice + 1 cup of hot water + 1/2 cup fish sauce + some fresh Thai chili (depend on how spicy you want)

• In a bowl, mix flour, salt and water together with a spoon, stir constantly to avoid lumps.
• Pour the mixed flour into little cup and steam the mix flour with high heat for 5-10 minutes (depend on the size of the cup).
• Heat a non-stick pan, put a little oil, and then put in chop garlic. Wait till garlic turn golden, put in peeled shrimps. Be careful not to overcook the shrimps.
• Then put the shrimps in the food processor and pulse for a couple times.
• Heat a non-stick pan, transfer the shrimp contents, stir constantly and crush gently the contents against the pan until it become dry and their texture should look like cotton. Reserve the content in a bowl.
• Clean the soaked mung beans with water and steam it for an hour or two.
• Then use the food processor to crush it.
• Remove the white part of green shallots and mince into 5mm long sections.
• In a small sauce pan, heat the oil, add the green shallots, stir quickly and remove from heat.
• Serve Banh Beo with fish sauce, dried shrimps, mung beans and green shallots

Banh Bo Hap

Banh Bo Hap is one of the traditional sponge cake from Vietnam. It is made from rice flour, coconut milk and yeast.

Ingredient:
Part 1
Kneading:
• 16 oz rice starch
• 2 tablespoons tapioca starch
• 3 tablespoons yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cups of warm water (not too hot)

Pour 2 tablespoons of sugar into a bowl, sift yeast on top of sugar then pour 1 cup of warm water (do not mix them) and let it dissolves for 2 minutes.
In another bowl, mix rice starch and tapioca starch with 1 cup of warm water. Stir well, and then pour the mixture into the yeast with sugar that was previously prepared. Mix well.
Wrap the bowl with a plastic wrap and leave it inside the oven for 12 hours. (Do not turn on the oven). The batter should rise and falls when you take it out from the oven.

Part 2
Boiling sugar:
Combine 1 can coconut milk with 3/4 cup of cold water, 1 cup of sugar, 1 bag of vanilla powder and mix them together on medium heat. Let it cool, and then add with the batter that was previously leave overnight inside the oven. Let it rest for another 1 hour.

Part 3
Steaming:
Let the water boil in the steamer. Spray the small bowl with vegetable oil then put it inside the steamer and warm them up before use. Pour the mixture into the bowl and steam for 15 to 20 minutes.
You can add food color into the mixture before put it into the steamer.
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 Another easy way to make the steam rice cake is to buy the pre-mix flour at any Vietnamese supermarket and follow the instruction printed on the package. TL is one of my favorite brands.

Strawberry Chocolate Cream Puffs

Cream puff is one of my favorite desserts that I thought it would be very complicated to make but actually it’s not. This puff is filled with chocolate whipped cream and fresh strawberries.

Ingredients:
Dough
• 1 cup water
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs

Filling
• 1 1/2cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoon baking cocoa

Glaze
• 1 ounce square unsweetened chocolate
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons water

Some fresh strawberries cut in half

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring water and butter to a boil. Add flour and salt all at once; stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove from the heat; let it stand for 5 minutes. Using a stand mixer in medium speed; add egg in dough one at the time until dough smooth and had a creamy texture.

Cover a baking sheet with foil; grease foil. Used piping bag with star nozzle to shaped the puff.

Bake 400 degree for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350 degree and bake for another 30 minutes longer or until puff turned light brown.

Remove puffs to a wire rack. Immediately cut a slit in each one of them for steam to escape.

Using a stand mixer in medium speed, beat heavy whipped cream until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and cocoa, beating until almost stiff.
Add filling and fresh strawberries.
Melt chocolate and butter; stir in sugar and water. Drizzle over puffs. Chill.