Jul 29, 2008

It's OK to be Bad Once A Year - Fried Oreo Cookies

Good lord that I've been to America for more than five years,
Otherwise I would definitely had a giant culture shock at OC Fair,
It's not because of the rides that were throwing people up and down,
It's not because of the little games that guys tried so hard to win a stuffed toy for their dates,
It's because of the food, the enormous amount of fried food!
The fair has everything fried,
Let me try to count it here,
1. Fried Twinkies
2. Fried Oreo cookies
3. Fried frog legs
4. Fried onion rings
5. Fries (and it shaped like a small treasure box, yes, it is that huge)
6. Fried White Castle burgers
7. Fried veggies
8. Fried chicken
9. Fried snickers

God I just lost my count in that Pacific Ocean sized frying oil.
I wish I can say proudly here that I tried all the fried "goodies" on the list,
Too bad my heart wasn't strong enough to accomplish this goal,
It'll probably be like a 5 year span for me to finish everything fried at the fair,
And who knows if someone will come up with another FRIIIbulous idea during that period,
Fried sausage? Fried banana? Fried turkey legs?

Ignored the risk of getting more pimples on my face, I tried this,
Fried Oreo cookies-


It shouldn't be that hard to recreate this deep fried goodies at home,
Probably just coat the cookies with some kind of pancake mix and fry them for few minutes,
And then sprinkle some confectioner's sugar on the top.


Surprisingly,
Fried Oreo cookies actually taste pretty dang good!
It tastes kind of like chocolate souffle,
But of course the texture is thicker and heavier,
Besides the fact that it was a little too sweet for me,
I don't mind eating fried Oreo cookies again next year.

OC Fair will last until August 3rd this year,
For all you OC fellas out there,
If you seriously gonna try or tried every fried items at the fair,
Let me know,
You'll be on the top of my super foodie list,
Who knows?
Maybe I'll ship you a cholesterol monitor device as a present too!

Jul 23, 2008

Pancakes with Garlic Chives and Ground Pork - 韮菜肉餅

Have you ever had garlic chives before?
They look almost like scallions and chives,
Thanks for Wikipedia, you can learn more about garlic chives on its website.

The most common place to see garlic chives is --- inside a dumpling,
It's like one of the all time favorite flavors for dumplings among Chinese people,
There's only one reason I can think of if I don't wanna order garlic chives flavored dumplings in a restaurant,
I don't wanna scare people away!
But why?
You should be able to figure out the reason,
"Garlic" chives,
Just like garlic, garlic chives taste so good but yet people will definitely know if you had it for lunch.
So what do you do if you're really craving for garlic chives?
Just make all your friends to eat it with you,
Now that everybody smells the same, no one will have the rights to complain!

Anyhow, after such a long talk about dumplings,
I decided to use that idea about garlic chives stuffing and give it a little twist,
Instead of dumplings, let's make a big pancake with garlic chives and ground pork!-


Ingredients?

1 lb of ground pork
1 egg
1 small bundle of garlic chives (about 10 stems, chopped into small pieces)
1/4 small onion (chopped into small pieces)
1 teaspoon of grated ginger
Soy sauce
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt
1 tablespoon of cornstarch or tapioca starch
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
Thai chili sauce

How?

Let's marinate the ground pork first with some soy sauce (about 1 tablespoon),
Mix them well and set aside for at least 15 minutes.

While waiting for the meat to absorb the flavor from soy sauce,
We can go ahead and start chopping all the ingredients.

After you're done with all the knife works,
Have a big bowl ready,
Toss in chopped onions, grated ginger, chopped garlic chives, and marinated ground pork,
Don't forget to add the egg, cornstarch, and all purpose flour.
Sprinkle some salt (about 1 teaspoon) and black pepper (I used a lot),
I also added one more tablespoon of soy sauce into the mixture.

Here, please use your hand to combine everything together,
Sometimes hands work way better than food processor,
Don't be scared, just close your eyes and dip your hand into the mixture,
It's not that hard, just a little bit sticky.
Keep your hand there and start mixing!
You'll know it's ready when every little bits of flour are combined well with other ingredients,
Set aside,
Now, go wash your hand.

Have a skillet ready,
Drizzle some olive oil, or you can substitute it with cooking spray,
Just make sure your pancake mixture won't stick to the skillet later.

Wait till the skillet turns really hot,
Pour in the mixture and spread it out evenly,
Cook for about 3 minutes or slightly browned on each side.

I was gonna make a big round pancake instead of breaking it up into smaller pieces,
Sadly, there was this little accident in the kitchen,
..............................................
Ok fine, it was my fault,
I tried to flip the pancake over and the next thing I know..
My one big round pancake turned into pieces of uneven-shaped pancakes,
With some smaller bits scattering on the stove and on the counter....
Hey, practice makes perfect yeah?
Until the next time.

Serve with Thai chili sauce.
The crunchy edges definitely give this pancake...ok these pancakes an irresistible kick!
Makes a perfect snack to munch on!

Cindy's Rating: 7