Sushi

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Sushi (well..a.k.a Kimbap in Korea) used to be a special meal for me when I grew up.
We had a picnic day in Spring and Autumn twice a year when I was at school. Sushi was a must dish that everyone brought in their lunch box and compared whose tastes and looks better. I liked that excitement the night before, waiting for a picnic day, sometimes sleepless night with a big smile on my little face. Mum used to get up really early and made noises in the kitchen to make my lunch box when I was still sleeping in bed. Then I wake up and walk to the kitchen. The kitchen bench is a full of colourful ingredients like a rainbow. Spinach, carrot, pickled radish, ham, cheese, eggs, some herbs, etc. My family ends up having mum’s sushi for breakfast, lunch and dinner that day. She made the prettiest sushi in the world and it, of course, tasted delicious! Ah..nostalgia..my childhood food 🙂

I know sushi has become a big trend of healthy take-away food. To me, though, western sushi has so much rice and no flavour compared to Korean sushi. And did I mention it is a bit pricy for a small roll of sushi >.<
I normally make one myself home because it is so easy and fun to make. If you haven’t done it before, it may look a little intimidating task but trust me on this! You just need to practice a couple of times until you get the hang of it. Always the first one is the ugliest, exactly like when you make pancakes. I used two cups of sushi rice and some vegetables to make two big rolls. A bit of chilli sauce to spice it up as well. I find it helps to have the sharpest knife you’ve got at home in runny water before you slice them up so that rice doesn’t stick to your knife and ruin your beautiful sushi. Writing this post…I think myself I really should call this Kimbap, not sushi!!!!

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Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, Vegetarian

Paté Platter for Dinner

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Having vegetables and fruits most of the time, I can feel quite exhausted and a lack of energy at times. The micro-nutrients from vegetarian diet are great though it is true that you get iron and vitamin B12 deficiency.
After my visit to my uncle who is a oriental medicine doctor back home, I had to find a list of foods that contains high iron to boost more energy in myself. I tried a pan-fried liver before but somehow the flavour got more intense after cooking, and it was hard to eat after a couple of mouthful. Pate, on the other hand, needs a little bit of preparation but I think it has better texture and flavour.

The liver is a storage for many important nutrients, a rich source of iron, vitamin B12 and vitamin A. It has a incredible nutritional benefits when compared with fruits, veggies and other meats. I guess having the organ meats helps the farmers and environment as well. People worry about a high cholesterol content in the liver, though it is a good cholesterol (you need it in your body unless you have hyperlipidemia!) and a small amount is okay. It is all about moderation after all.

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Problem with making pate, though, is most recipes suggest using so much butter or oil to make a smooth texture. Well I had to give up on that. There is no way I use that much butter in my food.So I used a couple of table spoons of coconut oil, hoping it helps to hold everything together. I also had the liver in milk for an hour before cooking to get rid of any bad smell. Then I boiled it with white wine, bay leaves, peppercorns and some other spices in a saucepan until it’s cooked through. Remove from the heat, cool down a bit, blend it all up, put it in a ramekin, and set in the fridge. Well…it turned out to be so crumbly without butter >.<
I might need to try again with some other substitutes to make a buttery texture next time.

Viola! I served with zucchini bread, red onion jam, home-made pickles and green salad.
Very satisfying dinner 🙂

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Posted in: Dinner, My recipes

Raw Cheese Cake

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I’ve been craving for nice cool sweets as a snack recently and been meaning to try to make “raw cheese cake” to see what all those fusses are about.

So here it is…my very first attempt to make “raw cheese cake” with no cheese. This delicious dessert is gluten-free, dairy-free and sugar-free, but has a full of flavour and nutrition in it!

I soaked 200g of raw cashew nuts in water for about 6 hours, then drained and washed them. Put them in the blender with two table spoons of coconut oil, a cup of frozen blue berries and a heap teaspoon of maca powder. Whiz all up until you get a nice smooth texture. Pour into the mold and set in the fridge before you serve. You can also keep them in the freezer for a hot summer day!

Did you know cashew nuts have a lower fat content than other nuts? 75% of this fat content is unsaturated fatty acids, and 75% of this unsaturated fatty acids is oleic acid a.k.a omega-6, which is good for your cardiovascular system. Cashew nuts are high in antioxidant and a good source of protein, fiber, potassium, vitamin B, folate, magnesium, phosphorous, selenium and copper. On top of that, soaking nuts not only releases the enzyme inhibitors but also starts the gemination process, which releases the good enzymes and nutrients.

This awesome dessert blew my mind away!

Firstly, it has a beautiful creamy texture like a real cheese cake. It is super-easy to make – no baking involved, don’t need to measure ingredients accurately. You can be creative with ingredients to make other types of cheese cake, for example, lemon, green-tea, chocolate, you name it! It is incredibly easy to digest cause it is made of soaked and blended nuts. It definitely fills you up with a little piece and satisfy your sweet tooth or teeth 🙂

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Posted in: Dessert, Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack, Vegetarian \ Tagged:

Vegetable Stack with Blue Cheese

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Another vegetarian dish I made up from what I have in the fridge!I made a jar of char-grilled red capsicum and caramelised red onions last week, which lasts in your fridge for a couple of weeks. It means that you can save time when cooking and it is a great addition to other dishes.
I highly recommend preserving vegetables like this so that you can quickly grab from the fridge and make something up when you are in hurry or don’t have many ingredients in the fridge.
I always have some kind of pickles and kimchi in my fridge, never run out of it! Also it is fun to make them.
Tonight I just needed to cook some eggplant and zucchini in the pan and stack up all the vegetables in beautiful layers:) I try to have as many colours of vegetables as I can on my plate. It is good for you and looks pretty too.
As a treat, I also put some gorgonzola cheese on top. When I tried blue cheese for the first time, I was in a shock why people consume this moldy cheese which both looks and smells horrible. Seriously it smells like old socks >.< After some courageous attempts and my taste buds have developed over years, now I’m so enjoying this distinctive flavour of blue cheese and it is one of my favorite cheese. Especially French and English ones, so yummy! A good combination is blue cheese with a slice of pear, caramelised onion and walnut wrapped in prosciutto. Juste delicieux!

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Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, My recipes

Sunday Lunch

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My relationship to raw food started about a year ago after I saw this guy on TV, who runs a raw kitchen/ cafe in Fremantle. He was showing how to make a dehydrated bread and zucchini pasta, etc.
I thought it would be one of those fad diet thing, but found out after a fair bit of research and studying nutrition, raw food actually provides good nutrients and vitamins to your body.
Of course, certain foods I believe are better to be cooked to be absorbed into your digestion system, for example carrots and tomatoes.
I’m not on a strict raw diet, but perhaps 50:50?! depending on how I feel. Sometimes I feel like a refreshing raw salad, but sometimes crave for a nice warm hearty soup.
What I’m trying to say is…it is all about a balanced diet 🙂 Do whatever works for you and do not judge other people. I like the way I eat and hope other people don’t frown on me or anything.

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I try to cook a variety of food during the week, but sometimes run out of idea or just don’t want to think about menu!Weekend is like that at times. I don’t feel like cooking much (being lazy >.<). So normally my fridge cleaning project starts haha:)
I made some Asian inspired salad for light lunch.
We had a soft boiled egg sitting on mixed salad and slices of firm tofu (rice noodles for Daniel). I also drizzled soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds on top.
It’s crunchy, refreshing, light and nutritious, and surprisingly very filling.
This salad is actually a left-over from last night. I grated a half zucchini, one carrot, spring onions and mint leaves. I had it with a small bowl of mixed grains for my dinner.
See how lazy I get on the weekend? Just make a big batch of salads and have it with either noodles or rice or fish or chicken or….whatever you feel like!

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Posted in: Lunch, My recipes, salads