We Chinese people like to "nurture" our body with food. Parents always make chicken soup or honey ginger drinks when kids are having flu. Doctors sometimes recommend teenage boys to eat more melons when suffering from acne issues.
As for us females, we'd like to treat ourselves something "nurturing" monthly. I don't have to explain the "monthly" part in detail right? You should be bright enough to get the idea.
The ingredients for my monthly treatments usually involved with ginger, black sesame oil, pork liver, red bean, and brown sugar. I've got to have something made with some of these ingredients after the periodical thing. Believe it or not, treating myself with these type of food regularly actually relieves the pain and soreness that I used to get on the first couple days.
Black sesame oil chicken soup with rice -
Ingredients (for a medium sized pot)?
6 to 8 chicken drumsticks
4 to 6 Thai chilies
1 medium sized ginger root
1 small pack of dashi powder (I used natural katsuo/skipjack tuna dashi)
Some 100% black sesame oil
Some Chinese rice cooking wine (if preferred)
Some sea salt
Some hot water
Some steamed white rice or brown rice
How?
Roughly peel the ginger and slice it lengthwise, about 4 to 5 slices per ginger root. Remove the stems from the chilies.
Drizzle a good amount of black sesame oil into a deep pot, about double the amount compared to regular stir-fry usage. Turn to medium high heat, add in ginger slices, chilies, and a pinch of sea salt. Cook till the aroma comes out and the oil starts to bubble around the ginger slices. Turn down the heat just a little bit, continue to sear these ingredients for couple more minutes.
Add in the chicken drumsticks and sear till the skin turns slightly browned. Pour in hot water till all the drumsticks are submerged under the liquid. Turn to high heat and add in selected dashi powder. You can pour in some Chinese rice cooking wine, about 1 cup if preferred. Switch to medium heat once the mixture turns to a boil. Cover with lid and simmer till the liquid has been absorbed by 1/3 to 1/2.
Pour all over steamed rice. I used brown rice because it holds up the texture better while serving with soup. Brown rice's tougher texture won't get soggy easily compared to white rice.
Well, Chinese's saying again, if you're having pimple issues, maybe try to stay away from this recipe for now. This black sesame oil chicken soup is actually a very "heaty" dish and might cause more breakouts if your body can't handle the heat.
Five burgers a year. That's the annual average number of burgers consumed by me since the past few years.
Things changed when I met Umami Burger. In the past, I'll never crave for burgers, the most panini, but that's like a seasonal thing. Something clicked on my taste buds after trying out Umami's burger. On top of craving burgers, now I even MAKE my own patties with meat!
Turkey burger with two cheeses, sunny side up egg, baby greens, broiled tomatoes -
Ingredients (yield 4 burgers)?
For the burgers -
4 sets of burger buns with sesame seeds
4 eggs
2 tomatoes on the vine
1 lb of ground turkey
1/2 large onion
2 tablespoons of sun dried tomatoes
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon of paprika
Some ricotta cheese
Some baby spring mix salad
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper
For the salad -
Some arugula
Some toasted walnuts
Some Parmesan cheese
2 medium navel oranges
1 lemon
1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
How?
Place one layer of foil on the baking sheet. Slice the tomatoes, about half inch thickness, so two tomatoes yield about 8 to 10 slices. Even lay the tomato slices on the sheet and sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Turn the oven to broil and let the tomato slices bake in there till the edges turn slightly burned, or the tomato appears to be slightly dehydrated. Remove from heat and cover with foil to keep warm, set aside for later use.
Peel and chop 1/2 to 1 whole onion into tiny squares. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a pan and turn to medium high heat. Toss in chopped onions, add 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Sear till the onion turns translucent then add in 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Turn to medium heat and keep cooking the onion till almost burned, about 5 minutes.
Prepare a big bowl for the turkey patties. Add the ground turkey into the bowl along with 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon of paprika, 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons of finely chopped sun dried tomatoes, and caramelized balsamic onions. Mix well and let it sit for couple minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Add 2 tablespoons of butter to a pan and turn to medium high heat. Wait till the butter starts to bubble, form the turkey mixture into 4 thick patties and carefully add into the pan. Sear about 3 minutes on both sides. Be patience and do not peek or flip the patties too early. The turkey mixture cannot hold up its shape as well as other ingredients such as pork or beef. If you start poking around the patties too early, most likely you'll end up with a blob deformed meat.
Once done searing both sides, transfer the patties onto the baking sheet and into the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until the center part has been fully cooked. Let the patties sit for 5 minutes after removing from heat.
Use the same pan and add in a little bit more olive oil. Turn to medium high heat, once the temperature has be raised, sear 4 eggs and sprinkle some salt and pepper evenly. Sunny side up eggs with semi-runny yolks are preferred for this burger recipe.
Toast the sesame buns right before serving. Here's how I assemble my turkey burger:
Sesame bun (bottom),
Turkey patty,
1 sunny side up egg,
2 to 3 tomato slices,
1 handful of baby greens,
3 spoonful of ricotta cheese,
Sesame bun (top).
Simple arugula salad on the side. Mix together juice of 2 oranges, juice of 1 lemon, zest of 1 orange, zest of 1 lemon, 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 tea spoon of sea salt, and 1/4 tea spoon of freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle the dressing over arugula, top the greens with some toasted walnuts and Parmesan shavings.
Runny egg yolk is the key here to the success of this turkey burger. Turkey is pretty lean compared to other meat options. As a result, having luscious egg yolk while biting into the burger actually adds more moisture to the patties. The sweetness and acidity from both the balsamic onions and sun dried tomatoes also match well with ground turkey.
Depending on your selected Parmesan cheese, you might want to reduce the amount of salt used in the salad dressing. I'd say it's always safer to start out less since you can always add more after tasting the final product.
Surprisingly, homemade burger actually takes more time to prepare compared to simple Chinese stir fry. Will I do it again? With my growing burger appetite, for sure you'll see more burger recipes coming!
