Baked Camembert with Hot Honey

This is a very versatile recipe. I mean the whole Camembert is there for sure, and who doesn't like a chunk of oozing cheese to eat along with bread? So what goes around the cheese is more so additional points here and there per my opinion.

Honey is another key, it is an ingredient that most likely goes really well with most variety of cheese. So we have the Camembert and honey down for sure. All other extra elements solely depend on your own preference. 

Simply use whichever herb you usually enjoy in a dish, such as rosemary, thyme, and oregano. Dried red chili flakes is my favorite, but a little twist by using pink peppercorns or even Thai sweet chili sauce can be fun too. Remember, the key is to incorporate things that you normally love in this baked cheese recipe.

Baked Camembert with hot honey - 

Ingredients?

• 1 round Camembert cheese
• 1 small sprig rosemary
• 1 garlic clove
• Some baguette or other type of bread of your liking
• Some extra virgin olive oil
• Some salt flakes
• Some black pepper
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon dried red chili flakes (I used 1 tablespoon of Thai sweet chili sauce instead)

How?

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius / 395 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the Camembert from the plastic packaging if there's any, but do save the wooden box. Simply put the cheese back to the wooden box, which can act like a serving container. I further use a baking dish to hold the cheese box in case of any spilling in the oven later on.

Use a knife and score the top of the Camembert. Peel and slice the garlic. Insert the garlic slices here and there within the cracks on the surface of the cheese. Also pick out some rosemary and insert that to the cheese too. 

Since we will be heating up the honey in the oven, I didn't intend to make the hot honey prior, but simply mixing room temperature honey with some Thai sweet chili sauce. You can mix honey with dried red chili flakes too. Pour that all over the cheese. Also sprinkle some salt and pepper on top.

Into the oven. Mine baked for about 15 minutes. Should be around that time. The basic idea is to use high heat and bake till the cheese seems about to melt. Note that the surface of the Camembert might still appear slightly solid, so just aim for the oozing cheese underneath.

Once ready, remove the Camembert from the oven. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil and serve with preferred bread. I used some baguette slices.

You can also pre-toast the bread slices. Slightly crunchy bread works and dips even better with melted Camembert.

Of course you can serve it with crackers too. But crackers tend to break more easily, so in that case, perhaps have some utensils on the side to scoop out the cheese then spread onto the crackers instead.  

Other recipes good with a glass of wine or two (don't drink and drive):

• Steamed clams with smoked bacon in white wine parsley sauce
• Less oil fried cream cheese wontons

English Tea Style Cucumber Sandwich

Not related to recipes at all, just want to share that recently I've been watching some bird-related live streams while doing chores or playing with my phones at the same time. Like when washing dishes, I'll have my laptop on the side with live streams on. Here is one of the channels I've been watching Big Bear bald eagle live nest. It's actually quite therapeutic if you ask me.

English tea style cucumber sandwich - 

Ingredients (about 6 servings)?

• 6 slices white toasts
• 1 yellow lemon
• 2 to 3 English cucumbers 
• Small bundle dill
• Small bundle chives
• 8 oz or 226 grams cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• Some salt

How?

Remove the cream cheese from the fridge first and transfer 8 oz to a medium bowl. Wait till it softens. Chop the dill and chives, we will only need the leafy part for this recipe.

Trim-off both ends for the cucumbers. You can shave the cucumbers or thinly slice it. Doesn't matter which direction to slice into because in the end I'm going to chop the cucumber into smaller cubes for the sandwich. Not the typical way to prepare English cucumber sandwich but I kind of like it.

So transfer sliced cucumber to a bowl and use 1 teaspoon of salt to massage and marinate it. Rest under room temperature for about 20 minutes, until some moisture has been drawn out.

Once time's up, really squeeze hard to get all the liquid out from the cucumber. Dice into mini cubes and set aside for later use.

As for the cream cheese bowl, also add in 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon of chopped dill, 1 tablespoon of chopped chives, zest from 1 lemon, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Mix till evenly blended. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed.

Spread the cream cheese mixture to one side of the toast for all 6 square white toasts. Arrange chopped cucumber on top for 3 of the toasts. So for every one toast with the spread and cucumber, top with another toast with the spread only, making sure all the seasoned side facing the inside, the center direction.

Trim-off the toast edges. You can just use a knife and press down, don't saw back and forth since it might rip the edges and ruin the shape of the sandwich.

Slice the square sandwich in half, so it'll either become two rectangular sandwiches or two triangular sandwiches, whichever shape you prefer.

About the mayonnaise used in this recipe, I used the English style mayonnaise, not the Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise. However, if you only have the Japanese kind available, the flavor shouldn't be off too much in the end. 

So back to the bird-related live streams, the Big Bear Lake bald eagle channel seems to be on all the time, and it's been on for a long long time already.

Hope such live stream will raise some awareness in regards to animal's natural habitat and preservation topics. Meanwhile, seeing these wild life prosper is such an amazing feeling, a cheerful boost while doing the daily routine chores. 

Other sandwich recipes:

• Cured ham open-faced sandwich for two
• Roasted tomatoes Serrano ham and burrata pesto sandwich
• Food I love and miss back from high school years - sloppy Joes

Steamed Pork Patty with Salted Duck Egg

You know that I do have a recipe category under "Cindy's Homemade Food-No Fuss Cooking." This pork patty with salted duck egg is one recipe that fits the description. In fact, many of the steamed dishes can be listed under the no fuss cooking category.

It's mostly easy prepping, but the key lies on the easy cleaning part. You see, steaming means no oil splashing around the stove area. And since I'm using the Taiwan Tatung electric steamer, basically there's no cleaning work needed in the end. Maybe just wipe-off the residual water on the inner lid and keep everything air dry in the end. Not like I hope for all the kitchen work to be that easy, but once a while it surely does reduce some workload in the errands-filled life. 

Steamed pork patty with salted duck egg - 

Ingredients?

• 2 salted duck eggs
• 500 to 600 grams ground pork
• 3 water chestnuts
• 1 talk scallion
• 1 small chunk ginger
• 1 teaspoon aged Shaoxing wine
• 1 teaspoon white sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon potato starch
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

How?

Scrape and chop the water chestnuts to smaller pieces. Scrape and finely chop the ginger, we will need about 1 teaspoon of prepped ginger for this recipe. Destem and chop the scallion, separate the white and green parts.

Peel the salted duck eggs. Separate the yolk and the white. Smash the yolk till paste-like texture. Chop the egg white (as you can tell from the picture that I'm not an expert in peeling the eggs).

Transfer ground pork to the bowl or deep plate that you'll be using for steaming. Measure in 1 teaspoon of aged Shaoxing wine. Increase up to 1 tablespoon if stronger Shaoxing aroma sounds like your type of food.

Also add 1 teaspoon of white sesame oil, finely chopped ginger, chopped water chestnuts, chopped duck egg white, 2 tablespoons of chopped scallion white, 1 teaspoon of potato starch, and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. 

Blend till evenly mixed together. Clean up the sides and make sure the pork mixture looks nice and clean as a whole chunk sitting on the bottom of the bowl or plate. Simply let the whole thing rest under room temperature for about 10 minutes.

After that, smear the duck yolk paste to the center of the pork mixture. Like forming a smaller circle, a round area on top of the pork. Into the steamer for 15 to 20 minutes.

Once ready, carefully remove the bowl or plate from the steamer and not to let any water drops into the dish. Garnish with chopped scallion greens before serving. 

Have you noticed that I didn't use any salt nor soy sauce for this recipe? Just like the name suggests, the salted duck egg can be quite salty already, so I intentionally avoid using more salt to this dish.

However, if you prefer a darker, more soy sauce like look, perhaps just add a little bit of dark soy sauce to the ground pork mixture. Dark soy sauce is more so for the color only, it's not as flavorful and salty compared to the regular soy sauce, so there's no need to worry too much about the over-salty result in the end.

Other no fuss cooking recipes:

• Shabu pork salad in homemade miso dressing
• Salmon and dashi takikomi gohan using brown rice 炊き込みご飯
• Chinese spicy sauce and shrimp rice using rice cooker
• Japanese pickled napa cabbage with shio kombu 白菜漬け
• White bean and tuna salad (insalata di tonno e fagioli)

A Brush of Romantic Pink - Mentaiko Scallion and Sesame Seeds Onigiri

Here's my confession. At first I was imagining rice balls with chunks of mentaiko throughout, like clear white colored rice and red chunky mentaiko color contrast. Little did I know that once I removed the mentaiko roe from the membrane, there's no way I can keep these little roes intact.

So I ended up with mini roes scattered throughout the rice grains, thus the romantic pink hue everywhere. Definitely not what I have in mind, but with such pretty tone in the end, not bad actually.

Mentaiko scallion and sesame seeds onigiri - 

Ingredients (about 4 servings)?

• 60 grams mentaiko
• 4 portions cooked white rice
• 1 stalk scallion
• 1 large nori sheet
• 1 tablespoon white sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon toasted white sesame seeds

How?

Precook some white rice for this recipe, preferably use bit less water than usual to get slightly drier bouncier grains in the end. You can use the rice while still a bit warm, or even overnight rice that's been stored in the fridge. Just remember to bring up the temperature a little before shaping into onigiri. 

Remove the mentaiko from its membrane. 

Transfer the mentaiko roes to a bowl. Destem and chop the scallion. We will only use the green section for this recipe. Add that to the bowl too, about 6 tablespoons. Also tear one big nori sheet into smaller pieces and add to the bowl. Lastly, add 1 tablespoon of toasted white sesame seeds and drizzle 1 tablespoon of white sesame oil too.

Fold in about 4 servings of rice and gently mix till evenly blended. Roughly mark four equal portions.

Take each portion and shape into onigiri, let it be round or triangle, whichever shapes are good. You can dip some drinkable water to your palms before working with the rice to prevent sticking. However, the most fool-proof way to do it is laying down a sheet of cling foil, scoop the rice mixture on top, grab the cling foil edges and tighten up, making the mixture into rice balls.

You might want to use a new sheet of cling foil for each rice balls. Also notice that I didn't put any salt to the list of ingredients? Mentaiko can be very salty so just by itself, the flavor should be salty enough.

Have you found out that this time we are not using the nori sheet to "wrap" the rice balls, instead we torn it into little pieces and mixed together with the rice. However, I suppose if you would like to keep the nori sheet on the outside, to wrap the rice ball, that should work too.

Just that the texture can be a little bit different. If using nori sheet as a wrap, usually the nori sheet sould still be crispy if being served right away. On the other hand, nori sheet as part of the mixing ingredient, it'll turn soft with almost unnoticeable texture. But that nori aroma will be evenly permeating the rice grains throughout.

So I guess in the end it's up to you regarding where to use the nori sheet. I do find it fun and a nice change once a while by using the nori sheet as part of the mix-together element though.

Other onigiri recipes:

• Komatsuna katsuobushi onigiri (rice balls with Japanese mustard spinach and bonito flakes)
• Sansho pork onigiri
• Misoyaki onigiri 味噌焼きおにぎり
• Egg scallion and shio kombu onigiri 蔥蛋塩昆布日式飯糰

Baby Sardines in Japanese Sweetened Soy Sauce いりこの佃煮

What I meant by baby sardine is the dried anchovy, also called iriko (いりこ) in Japanese. Not the much more delicate little white fish shirasu (しらす). You can find the dried anchovies in the supermarket usually around kombu, seaweed, or other dried seafood ingredients.

While in Taiwanese cuisine, dried baby sardines often used in stir-fry or chili sauce, I've also made congee with dried baby sardines, upgrading that umami flavor all around. And of course the classic Japanese tsukudani (佃煮) is one other great way for such ingredient.

Baby sardines in Japanese sweetened soy sauce いりこの佃煮 - 

Ingredients?

• 1 loosely packed cup dried baby sardines 丁香魚乾
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 1 tablespoon rice wine
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon toasted white sesame seeds

How? 

Usually the dried anchovies are stored in the freezer, at least that's what I do. So if that's the case, there's no need to defrost the anchovies the night before. Just use it straight from the freezer. Or if you happen to just bought the room temperature dried anchovies, use as it is too.

Right before cooking, quickly rinse the dried anchovies then pat dry with paper towel. Use a medium pot and add in the prepped anchovies. Switch to medium low heat to dry-roasting the fish for a short moment.

Still using medium low heat, pour in 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of mirin, 1 tablespoon of rice wine, 2 tablespoons of water, and add 1 tablespoon of sugar. Slowly cook till all the sugar has been melted.

Continue to cook till the sauce has been reduced, almost to a sticky consistency in the end. Mine took about 10 minutes.

Towards the end, sprinkle some toasted white sesame seeds. You can serve as it is. For unfinished portion, simple store in the fridge. Serve the unfinished portion under room temperature later on and don't attempt to reheat the anchovies again.

It's sweet and savory at the same time, which can be a great little side dish for Japanese style breakfast, maybe serve together with congee too. I actually used it as a little flavor swap for curry rice. A little goes a long way. In fact, if the portion is too big, the somewhat sticky seasonings can be a bit overwhelming. Just a spoonful or two for each serving of main meal will do.

Extended reading:

• Japanese burdock root and pork stir-fry
• Kinpira gobo (burdock root cooked in Japanese seasonings)きんぴらごぼう
• Seared corn and seaweed fritters

Gochujang and Peanut Butter Noodles for One

Who would have thought peanut butter can be used in noodles? Well, I'm not talking about the sweetened version for spreading on toast or making cookies, but the simple and basic peanut butter. Let it be smooth version or the crunchy version, as long as there's no additional flavoring involved, go ahead and use it for savory dishes too.

Gochujang and peanut butter noodles for one - 

Ingredients (one serving)?

• 1 serving flour noodles of your liking
• 1/2 skinny cucumber
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon chopped scallion
• 1/8 teaspoon grated ginger
• Some salt
• Some toasted white sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons gochujang
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon white sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

How?

Clean then julienne the cucumber. Use some salt, about 1 to 2 pinches to massage in the cucumber. Let it sit under room temperature for 10 minutes until some moisture has been drawn out.

Rinse the cucumber using drinkable water to wash away extra salt. Squeeze really dry then loosen the cucumber strips. Put aside for now.

Destem and chop the scallion, scrape then grate the ginger, peel and chop the garlic clove.

Have a serving bowl ready, add in grated ginger and chopped garlic. Also add 2 tablespoons of gochujang, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, 1 teaspoon of white sesame oil, and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar.

Prepare a pot of water to cook the noodles. Bring to a boil then add in the noodles, choose whichever shape and size, as long as you like it. Cook till desired texture, mine took about 8 minutes. 

Once ready, drain well then transfer to the serving bowl.

Mix till the noodles are evenly blended with the sauce, and no lumps from the peanut butter. Garnish with julienned cucumber, some chopped scallion, and sprinkle some toasted white sesame seeds as the final finishing touch.

The noodles was so good. In fact, I myself didn't even expect it to be packed with so much flavors. Especially the garlic that really gives it a punch in the end. I wouldn't mind the garlic breadth afterwards if my meal was that tasty.

Other similar cooking for one recipes:

• Oyster and shiso peperoncino
• Hot and sour glass noodles
• Pidan/century egg noodles 皮蛋拌麵

Shabu Pork Salad in Homemade Miso Dressing

There's a shortcut to this recipe. It shouldn't be too hard to find Japanese sesame dressing at the grocery store, you know the brownish-looking goma sauce. So if you just want to kick back and have a healthy but hassle-free meal, definitely go with the store-bought dressing. 

However if you feel a bit more adventurous and would like to make everything from scratch, come and give this homemade miso dressing a try.

Shabu pork salad in homemade miso dressing - 

Ingredients (about 4 to 6 portions)?

• 250 grams pork slices
• 100 grams mixed salad greens
• 16 cherry tomatoes
• 8 shiitake mushrooms
• 1 big sheet dried nori
• 1 small can/140 grams corn kernels
• 1 box/480 grams semi-firm tofu (I used sesame flavored tofu)
• 1 small bundle/1 cup loosely packed mitsuba leaves

Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons white miso
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Some lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons light sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon grated young ginger
• 1 tablespoon toasted white sesame seeds

How?

Destem the shiitake mushrooms. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil then add in the shiitake mushrooms. Boil for about a minute then scoop out. Slice into quarters.

Slice the pork to shorter pieces if needed. Still using the same pot of water, add in the pork and wait till just turn fully cooked through. Scoop out and set aside. Need to make sure both the shiitake mushrooms and pork have been cooled down before mixing with other ingredients later on.

Prep the salad greens, let it be rinse, drain, or tear to smaller pieces. Once done, transfer the salad to a big mixing bowl. Use mitsuba leaves only, about 1 loosely packed cup, add that to the bowl too.

Halve the cherry tomatoes then add into the bowl. Drain the tofu and hand-tear to medium size chunks to the bowl. Drain the canned corn and add to the bowl. Once the shiitake mushroom and pork slices have been cooled off, add them to the bundle too.

Have another bowl or measuring cup ready, add in all the ingredients listed under the "dressing" section. Mix till the sugar has been dissolved. Pour that dressing to the big mixing bowl and gently fold the ingredients till evenly blended.

Scoop to serving plate. Hand-tear some dried nori sheet on top right before digging in, otherwise the nori/seaweed will turn soft and soggy soon after.

You know what, let it be the store-bought Japanese sesame dressing or this homemade miso dressing, there's also a greedier route by using both.

Yes, don't worry about over salty or that sort of thing. Just combine the two then you'll get this savory and nutty aroma packed dressing in the end. I mean if you'd like your salad on the heavier side, this is one way to go.

Other salad recipes:

• Chopped kale and chickpea salad with roasted chicken in red wine vinaigrette dressing
• White bean and tuna salad (insalata di tonno e faglioli)
• Japanese katsuo tataki salad with miso and ponzu dressing
• Persimmon salad with mozzarella and Jamón Ibérico

Three Ingredients Only Persimmon Custard (柿プリン)

It took me a while to decide whether I should use custard or pudding to describe this recipe. You know that this little sweet treat recipe was kind of a popular way to enjoy persimmon in Japan. And there they called it 柿プリン, basically persimmon pudding. 

But if you really Google something "pudding" online, usually it'll end up with tons of a more "bread-like" baking dish instead. So I figured let's keep it as persimmon custard instead, and I'll also put up 柿プリン to provide some extra insight.

Three ingredients only persimmon custard (柿プリン) - 

Ingredients (about 4 medium servings)?

• 400 grams/2 big ripe persimmons 
• 200 grams whole milk (I used lactose-free version)
• Some honey (optional)

How?

Peel and slice the persimmons to chunks. We will need 400 grams of persimmon here for the main custard part. You can also save some and slice to smaller cubes for garnish later on when serving.

Transfer persimmon chunks to a blender. Pour in 200 grams of whole milk and blend till smooth. Taste and see if some honey is needed. 

The persimmons I have here are very sweet, but I still added no more than 1 tablespoon of honey just for that extra aroma. After adding honey, blend again till evenly mixed.

Pour into containers, use glass containers if possible so that orange hue can been seen.

Cover with lid or cling foil. Store in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight. Once the texture has been set, you can add the cubed persimmon on top and enjoy the whole custard anytime.

Fun thing is that I also Googled what's better not to be enjoyed together with persimmon. Ended up dairy was one of them. Saying that there's a risk of forming stomach concretions by eating these two together.

However, you do see many sweet treats being made using persimmon and dairy together. So I dug a little bit more. Yet again it's more about portion control. As long as you don't binge eating persimmon and dairy, usually the situation won't be as serious, and most likely nothing bad will happen.

One more thing you can do to prevent such event is that always make sure to use very ripe persimmon if it's about to be turned into something creamy. Because ripe persimmons are less astringent, that means less tannic, and reduces the chance of forming bezoar in your body. 

And of course if somehow you don't feel too good after eating persimmon, even without dairy some people can't digest such fruit that well still, just stop consuming it all along. But for those who can eat persimmon without much issues, please enjoy such delicacy especially fall and winter are the best seasons for sweet persimmons.

Extended reading:

• Persimmon salad with mozzarella and Jamón Ibérico