Spice Marinated Lamb Shoulder with Flat Leaf Parsley Salad (Surprisingly Tender Meat)

Mister doesn't really eat lamb, so all these 400 grams of lamb shoulder were all for myself. Too bad for Mister from my point of view because I know the lamb would be packed with flavors due to the spices used, but the meat was surprisingly tender too. Consider this a "monopolistic" feast solely tailored to my preferred taste.  

Spice marinated lamb shoulder with flat leaf parsley salad - 

Ingredients?

• 400 grams lamb shoulder
• 2 bulbs shallots 
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon all spice
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Flat leaf parsley salad:

• 1 small bundle flat leaf parsley
• 6 cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 red onion
• 1 garlic
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

How?

Peel and chop 2 garlic cloves. Peel and chop the shallots, we will need about 3 tablespoons here. Mix these two together with the seasonings in a big container, that means 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of all spice, 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon of coriander, 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon of cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Trim and slice the lamb shoulder to large bite size pieces then add to the container. Massage and rub in these spices. Cover with lid and store in the fridge overnight. 

When ready to bake/roast the meat, take out the lamb from the fridge and rest under room temperature for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with foil if needed, also preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/175 degrees Celsius.

Transfer the lamb to prepped baking sheet then into the oven and bake for at least an hour.

During baking, let's make the flat leaf parsley salad. Trim the parsley by removing any tougher stems, also give the leafy part a few chops. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Peel and thinly slice the red onion. Peel and grate one garlic clove. 

Have a bowl of icy cold water ready and separate the onion slices in the water. Soak till ready to assemble the salad. This will help drawing out some of that spicy smelly onion flavor. 

For the vinaigrette, mix together that grated garlic, 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of mustard, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper. 

Have a medium large bowl ready, add in drain and well dried onion slices along with halved cherry tomatoes and flat leaf parsley. Toss together with the vinaigrette.

When the lamb finishes baking in the oven, remove from heat and rest under room temperature for 10 minutes. Once ready, transfer to serving plate and serve with salad on the side.

The tangy salad works extremely well with spiced lamb shoulder. I think it's something about lamb and vinaigrette. They truly fit together, like one can cut through the distinct taste of lamb and the other can smooth out the sourish note from the dressing.

Either way, I'm somehow glad that Mister won't be fighting over this lamb and salad combo with me.

  

Braised Noodles with Luffa Gourd and Chicken Meatballs 絲瓜貢丸雞湯煨麵

The vegetable vendors at the traditional market in Taiwan are often very friendly. If you buy a lot of stuff from one stand, often times they'll stuff some other items in your bag for free, like scallions, red chilies, ginger, and cilantro.

So I was kind of "forced" to accept the extra scallion this time, in a nice way of course. I wasn't plan to use scallion in this recipe, but since I got some free scallion on hand, might as well use it right? In fact, I think the extra scallion was actually very helpful, providing much more depth and flavor to the final braised noodles.

Braised noodles with luffa gourd and chicken meatballs 絲瓜貢丸雞湯煨麵 - 

Ingredients (about 3 portions)?

• 1 luffa gourd (try to use the sweeter kind)
• 400 grams chicken meatballs (or regular pork meatballs 貢丸)
• 3 portions dried packaging thin noodles (no extra flour kind)
• 3 eggs
• 1 stalk scallion
• 500 grams chicken stock
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons shrimp skin 蝦皮
• Some olive oil
• Some salt
• Some white pepper powder
• Some chili sauce or fresh red chilies (optional)

How?

Drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil to a wok and switch to medium high heat. Once warmed up, break in 3 eggs and sear. We are aiming for sunny side up with semi-runny yolk in the center, also slightly browned and crunchy edge for the egg white. 

Once ready, scoop out the cooked eggs and set aside for later use.

Destem, peel, and slice the luffa gourd to chunks. Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Destem and section the scallion.

Still using the same wok, add more oil if needed. Add in the scallion sections and use medium heat to sear the scallion till slightly charred. Add in garlic and shrimp skin. Continue to sear a bit longer but not burning the garlic bits.

Pick out the scallion here if desired. This is just for a smoother bite for the final noodles. If you don't mind having some charred scallion texture then just keep it there.

Add the luffa and give it a quick stir-fry. Add in chicken meatballs and cook for another 30 seconds or so. I was lucky and found an online vendor that sells all-natural no-additives meatballs, and frankly speaking it was surprisingly delicious too. Didn't expect that from such "clean" product. 

Pour in 500 grams of chicken stock. Bring the entire thing to a boil then lower the heat to keep it at a light bubbling stage. Taste and adjust the flavor with salt if needed. I added 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt here. Continue to cook for 3 more minutes.

Add the dry packaging thin noodles directly to the stock. The reason why we use packaged noodles instead of fresh noodles is due to its lowered flour content clinging onto the noodles. If using fresh noodles, it'll be too much flour and the soup will be too gooey in the end.

So the pre-packaged dry noodles is just about right. The way we cook the noodles with the stock instead of using another pot of water can slightly thicken the soup without turning it into a dense mess.

Continue to cook till the noodles are ready and reaches your desired texture. Taste and season with more salt if needed. But do sprinkle some white pepper powder and mix till evenly blended for that extra hidden aroma.

Scoop to serving bowls. Top each serving with one sunny side up egg. Also add some chili sauce or fresh red chili rings if preferred.

The soup was super flavorful, it was like umami-packed but yet refreshing in a way. I also love the slightly thickened stock clinging onto every noodles in the end, so delicious.

By the way, the luffa gourd variety I used was more of a ball-shaped instead of the longer cylindrical-shaped. It's called fruit luffa gourd in Taiwan 水果絲瓜, which is sweeter than the longer kind. Use this variety if you can find it.

Extended reading:

• Chinese braised noodles with vegetables and pork 青菜豬肉煨麵

Seared Pork in Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

Once a while I do have a bottle of Thai sweet chili sauce in the fridge. Usually used as a dipping sauce for fried spring rolls or grilled meat, but this time why not add a ton of it to the actual cooking process?

Ok fine, the trust is that I was just looking for ways to finish off the Thai sweet chili sauce bottle. But it has to be a delicious way.

Seared pork in Thai sweet chili sauce - 

Ingredients?

• 470 grams pork tenderloin
• 6 tablespoons Thai sweet chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons potato starch 太白粉
• 2 tablespoons tapioca starch 地瓜粉
• 1 1/2 tablespoons green lemon or lime juice
• 1 small bundle Chinese basil or Thai basil
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 red chili (optional)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

How?

Slice the pork to medium size chunks and marinate with 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel and grate the garlic. Save a few whole basil leaves and chop the remaining.

Have a bowl or a plate with some depth filled with equal amount of potato starch and tapioca starch, I used 2 tablespoons each. Mix till evenly blended.

Dip the pork chunks in the starch mixture. Make sure all sides have been coated, then shake-off excess starch and set aside for later use.

Premix the sauce by combining 6 tablespoons of Thai sweet chili sauce, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon or lime juice, 1 grated garlic, and chopped basil. I used about 1/3 cup loosely packed chopped basil here.

Have a pan or wok ready, drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil and switch to medium high heat. Once the oil gets hot, add in the pork and sear till golden brown and almost fully cooked-through.

Lower down to medium heat, wait for about 30 seconds then pour in the premixed sauce. Quickly coat the pork with the sauce all around and make sure the meat is fully cooked-through here.

Plate and garnish with whole basil leaves we saved earlier. I also added chopped red chili rings for a color pop. 

It's very hard to mess up this dish because we've got a great helper here - Thai sweet chili sauce. So basically the flavor is checked, all you need to be careful about is the pork searing part.

But even if you can't get some crispiness to the pork coating, I assure you this is still a pretty good rice-killing dish. A bit sweet, a bit tangy, and very flavorful. 

And I'm also glad that I get to use up all the remaining Thai sweet chili sauce in the bottle. Time to get a new one for stock.

Quick and Easy Banana Pancakes

Making pancakes is one of the best ways to utilize ripe bananas, don't you agree?

Banana pancakes - 

Ingredients (about 6 pieces)?

Dry:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet:

• 1 large or 1.5 regular size ripe banana (about 3/4 cup mashed)
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup milk

Others:

• Some avocado oil or unsalted butter
• Some honey or maple syrup
• Some fresh fruits (optional)

How?

Have a big bowl ready and sift in all the ingredients listed under the "dry" section.

Have an even bigger bowl ready, peel and mash the ripe banana there. We will need about 3/4 cup mashed banana in the end. 

Break one egg to a separate bowl and beat it, then pour into the ripe banana bowl. Also pour in 3/4 cup of milk. Whisk the whole thing till evenly blended.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two batches. Make sure it's evenly blended before dumping in the second batch. Mix till blended again.

Have a non-stick pan ready. Wipe some avocado oil or add two tablespoons of unsalted butter. Switch to medium heat and wait till warm or the butter melts.

Pour in equal amount of batter every time, and try not to let the batter touch one another. I used a ladle for even measurement. Slowly heat up the batter, it'll start to puff up a little bit and the color will turn golden brown on the bottom.

Then carefully flip the pancakes and continue to sear the other side. You can add more avocado oil or butter if needed. The whole thing will take about 1.5 or 2 minutes for each side.

Repeat till you finish all the batter. This recipe yields about 6 medium sized pancakes for me.

To serve the pancakes, have some fresh fruits on top, here I used banana slices and blueberries. Also drizzle some honey or maple syrup. I personally prefer maple syrup, somehow the aroma works better with avocado oil.

For sure the pancakes will smell and taste better if using butter, but I was opting for a less common option here. 

On a side note, for lactose-intolerant people, you can easily find lactose-free milk for the pancake batter, and just use avocado oil for the cooking part. That way you get to enjoy such brunch/snack meal without much worries.

Snake Beans Pork Belly and Dried Anchovy Rice 長豆三層肉小魚乾悶飯

It's more of a "semi" rice cooker recipe because instead of adding all the raw ingredients to the rice cooker, we are actually going to stir-fry some stuff first in a wok then transfer to the rice cooker to finish cooking.

So What's the point of that extra stir-fry or searing work? It'll boost up the aroma, giving it more kick to the final dish. A few more kitchenware to wash, but the end result is totally worth it.

Snake beans pork belly and dried anchovy rice 長豆三層肉小魚乾悶飯 - 

Ingredients (about 5 to 6 portions)?

• 370 grams pork belly
• 2 cups dried anchovies
• 20 snake beans
• 1 stalk scallion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons dried shrimp 蝦米
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons aged Shaoxing wine
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 rice measuring cups basmati rice
• Some water
• 1 to 2 red chilies (optional)

How?

Rinse then soak the dried shrimps in room temperature water. Once plump, drain and pat really dry with paper towel. Finely chop the dried shrimps. Destem and chop the scallion. Peel and chop the garlic cloves.

Slice the pork belly to smaller pieces, about 1mm thickness. Make sure to slice the meat in the right direction, so that each piece gets a bit of fatty part. Use 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of aged Shaoxing wine to marinate the pork for about 10 minutes.

Trim the tips of the snake beans, peel down fibrous string in the center if any. Once prepped, cut the beans to shorter sections. 

Use rice measuring cup for the raw rice grains, need 3 cups total. Rinse and wash the rice like you normally would then drain and set aside.

Have a wok or big pan ready, drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil and switch to medium heat. Add in dried shrimps along with garlic and scallion. Stir-fry till aromatic but careful not burning the garlic bits.

Add in pork belly, stir-fry and let the meat cook till some fats have been rendered.

Add in dried anchovies. Mix and cook for about a minute. Add in snake beans and cook for another minute.

Transfer washed and drained rice over. Also add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce. Give it a quick stir-fry. The fat rendered earlier should now fully coated each and every grain.

Scoop this rice mixture to the rice cooker, the inner pot usually. Add some more water. How I measure it is that I usually just pour the water till it merely reaches the edge of the ingredient inside. 

Simply press the start button and let the rice cooker do its job. Once ready, take out the inner pot. 

Fluff the rice then scoop to serving bowls. I also add some chopped red chilies on top, just love that spicy kick with savory grains combo.

The dark soy sauce is more so for the look, making the final dish darker. Its actual taste is not as salty as regular soy sauce. 

So don't worry if you don't have dark soy sauce on hand, but do up the amount of total regular soy sauce used to 4 tablespoons. Also expect a lighter color result in the end.

Other Chinese rice cooker recipes:

• Chinese sausage and shrimp rice
• Aromatic magao chicken soup prepared with Tatung steam rice cooker

Oven-Baked Chicken with Green Olives and Cherry Tomatoes

Is it baking or roasting? Trust me, I've Googled it so many times, and yet every time when I made similar dishes, I still have to look it up again and deciding whether should I call it baked or roasted.

Doesn't matter which word I used though, I think when it comes to chicken, we can still kind of get the idea and have a general expectation of the dish. So this time "oven-baked" it is.

Oven-baked chicken with green olives and cherry tomatoes - 

Ingredients?

• 4 skin-on deboned chicken legs (breast ok too)
• 12~15 green olives
• 200 grams cherry tomatoes
• 5 medium small potatoes
• 1 yellow lemon
• 1 bundle flat leaf parsley
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

How?

Before cooking the meat, use your finger and feel through the chicken making sure there're no bone fragments anywhere. Also trim-off excess fat if any.

Save some whole flat leaf parsley and then chop the remaining leaves, we will need about 1/3 cup for actual cooking. Save the stems for later. Mix chopped parsley with zest of one lemon, 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Mix till blended.

Rub the chicken with half of the parsley mixture all over then arrange on baking dish, or a baking sheet lined with foil. By the way, I actually laid down parsley stems on the bottom. Figured if I'm not really eating the tougher stems, might as well use them for something instead of goes to waste.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit/200 degrees Celsius.

It's up to you if you would like to peel the potatoes or not, it also depends on the variety you're using too. I peeled mine, also halved and quartered some bigger ones. Peel and slice the garlic cloves.

As for the cherry tomatoes, I halved a few and left some as a whole. That way I get to enjoy both the fully baked halved tomatoes and whole tomatoes that might burst in my mouth in the end. Kind of fun.

Arrange the potatoes and cherry tomatoes around the chicken. Also arrange green olives and garlics slices throughout. Pour the remaining parsley mixture on top, and pour 1/2 cup of dry white wine to the baking dish.

Into the oven for one hour. If there's enough juice, about half way through the baking time, baste of chicken with some juice in the baking dish.

Once done baking, turn-off the oven and let the meat rest inside for 10 more minutes. Remove from heat and rest for another 10 minutes. When ready to serve, garnish with some of the whole parsley leaves that we saved earlier.

I know chicken should be the main ingredient here, but somehow the potatoes really took over my attention. They were fluffy and juicy, fully soaked in all the juice from other elements.

It's up to you if you'd eat the olives too. I simply put them there for extra flavor, but since the kind I used came with pits, I tend to ignore them. The extra delicious potatoes are not helping me to sway my attention to the olives too. 

Other oven-baking recipes:

• Oven-baked mahi tikka 
• Prep ahead oven baked tandoori chicken
• Oven-baked gochujang salmon fillets

Soupy Version Simmered Salmon and Daikon in Miso Broth, A Nod to The Anime Demon Slayer

Have you ever watched the Japanese anime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba? This salmon recipe is a nod to a classic Japanese dish shown in the series, where one of the character Giyu Tomioka was enjoying his favorite dish 鮭大根. 

鮭大根 literally means salmon and daikon. It's basically a comforting miso flavored stew with salmon and daikon. I made mine here extra soupy, so you get the option to enjoy it like a hearty soup on its own too. More sips of that miso-flavored Japanese stock yumminess. 

Soupy version simmered salmon and daikon in miso broth - 

Ingredients?

• 480 grams salmon fillet
• 1 daikon
• 1 string scallion
• 2 ginger slices 
• 4 to 6 tablespoons Japanese tsuyu
• 4 to 6 tablespoons yellow miso 
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Stock:

• 2 medium pieces kombu 
• 20 grams katsuobushi bonito flakes
• 4 cups water

How?

We are going to use homemade stock but it's not obligatory. Stock powder works too, whichever way works for you, we are not trying to exhaust the person cooking in the kitchen here.

So have two medium pieces of kombu ready. Mine was like a whole long dried kelp so I had to use a scissor and cut into smaller rectangular pieces before using it. Add the kombu to a pot filled with 4 cups of room temperature water. Switch to medium heat and wait till almost bubbling. Keep it that way and continue to gently drawing out the essence from the kombu for 10 more minutes.

After that let's turn the heat off. Add in 20 grams of katsuobushi and soak for 5 minutes. Then we filter the stock to the actual pot that'll be doing the simmering work.

As for other ingredients, peel then trim-off both the top and end tips of daikon. Slice the main section to thick semicircle chunks.

Peel-off the salmon skin if any then slice the flesh to medium chunks too. Scrape the ginger then cut into 1mm thickness slices. Destem the scallion and slice diagonally. You can store the prepped scallion in the fridge first, we will only need it for garnish in the end.

So we already have the pot filled with stock, let's add in daikon and switch to medium heat. Bring to a light bubbling stage and continue to cook for 15 more minutes.

Sift in miso, the yellow-looking kind, not the dark brown variety. Use 4 to 6 tablespoons depending on how heavy the taste you prefer and the type of miso used. So it might be better to start with 4 tablespoons and add more if needed.

Also add 4 to 6 tablespoons of Japanese tsuyu. Same as miso, start with 4 tablespoons and use more if needed, especially there're like double-condensed, triple-condensed, and even quaduple-condensed version. Better start little here too. 

Don't forget to add 2 tablespoons of mirin and 1 teaspoon of sugar. The sugar will help smoothen out the saltiness, kind of like a balancing element here.

Transfer salmon over along with ginger slices.

Put on the lid or cover the surface with fitted parchment paper.Use medium heat with just a bit of bubbling going on, continue to simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, or till daikon can be easily poked through with a chopstick.

Remove the lid. Give it a taste and do some final adjustment if needed. Once all checked, garnish with the scallion we prepped earlier and serve. 

Some people like to enjoy this dish on its own, that's why I prefer to make it extra soupy, so you get more stock to enjoy instead of just a dish with a little bit of juice. 

Besides that, I love to serve it alongside steamed rice. When eating the soup and rice together, somehow it just speaks "comfort" in my mind. Especially heart-warming in chilly weather!

Other miso recipes:

• Beef and king oyster mushrooms stir-fry with miso tomato sauce
• Misoyaki onigiri 味噌焼きおにぎり
• Japanese katsuo tataki salad with miso and ponzu dressing