Category Archives: By Cuisine

Egg, Malaysian, Noodles, Pork

Hokkien Prawn Mee

2 Comments

When you talk of Hokkien Mee, you have to qualify yourself: do you mean KL-style Hokkien Char Mee, or Penang-style Hokkien Prawn Mee? The two couldn’t be more different. KL-style means thick, yellow noodles braised in a thick, dark soy sauce with pork, squid, fish cake and cabbage and, if you’re lucky, some crispy pieces of lard. Enjoy it with some pickled chile peppers for a spicy-vinegary kick.

Penang-style Hokkien Prawn Mee is a soup-noodle dish, using both egg and rice noodles. The broth is made from lots and lots of prawns, plush pork and / or chicken bones. The noodles come laden with prawns, fish cake, pork, and crispy fried shallots.

Annie adapted this Hokkien Prawn Mee recipe off of the Rasa Malaysia website. She made a stock from shrimp shells and pork bones with some rock sugar for sweetness. Egg and rice noodles go on the bottom, followed by shrimps, pork, and a hard boiled egg. Ladle on the rich broth (great, unctuous mouth-feel with little bits of pork fat floating in it), then top with fried shallots. Serve with a spoonful of chili sauce made from blended chiles, shallots, garlic, and oil.

Our shrimp stock is not as dark as Rasa Malaysia’s because we used mostly shells and not enough prawn heads. Next time, more heads!

Aloha, Nate

American, Egg, Pork

Sweet and Savory Biscuits

4 Comments

When I was growing up, we used to always have a can or two of Pillsbury biscuits in the fridge. They were just so convenient – just pop the can (always a lot of fun to see how far you could peel back the label before the internal pressure split the cardboard), lay out the biscuits on a tray, and bake them in the toaster oven. We would eat them with our spaghetti dinners, sopping up the sauce.

Annie recently had a little inspired moment with a can of Pillsbury biscuits. After baking, she split them, spread on some Nutella, added sliced strawberries, then topped with fresh whipped cream. At first it tasted weird to me because I felt the biscuits should have been served with something savory. But actually the slightly salty, buttery biscuit flavor went very well with the sweet fillings.

This is more along the lines of what I was thinking of making with those Pillsbury biscuits: ham, egg and cheese. I really like the flaky layers of these biscuits, as opposed to the wetter, crumbly ones you find at say KFC.

What’s your favorite way to eat biscuits?

Aloha, Nate

Barbecue, Pork

Apple City Barbecue Ribs

Leave a comment

Every couple of months or so I get the hankering for some barbecue ribs. My Weber Smokey Mountain smoker has enough room to handle 6 or more racks of ribs so I usually get some friends to order a slab or two from me. They are the best ribs in San Jose after all…

Recently one of my friends had a surprise birthday party and I was asked to smoke some ribs for the party. I normally do a dry rub of salt & pepper (and other stuff) but this time I took the recipe for “Apple City Barbecue Ribs” out of the “Smoke and Spice” cookbook. It involves a wet marinade and a dry rub, followed by smoking and then served with a sauce on the side. This recipe has won several major Grand Championships for the team that created it.
Continue reading Apple City Barbecue Ribs →

Japanese

Sakura Tea and Mochi

Leave a comment

Growing up in Hawaii, I was exposed to a lot of local Japanese culture. But it wasn’t until I met Annie that I was introduced to Japanese tea culture. We were privileged to attend a Japanese tea ceremony demonstration held at the Japanese Tea Garden on the grounds of the East West Center at the University of Hawaii. It was quite an experience, one that I will not forget.

Coming from a British-influenced country like Malaysia, Annie loves to drink tea. She was so happy when a Lupicia tea store opened up in the Valley Fair mall in San Jose. They have such really wonderful teas there, and sometimes you can find good deals on clearance items.

Such as this sakura tea – a black tea flavored with lightly salted and cured cherry leaves.

Of course, now you have to have something to go with the tea. What better finger food to enjoy with sakura tea, than sakura mochi? The soft, sweet, glutinous rice paste is filled with sweet azuki bean paste, then wrapped in a slightly salty cherry leaf that adds a faint “green” flavor and a pleasing bite to the texture profile.

Nibble, sip. Nibble, sip. Let the flavors meld in your mouth…mmmmm…..perfect!

What are your favorite tea / finger food combinations?

Aloha, Nate