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Showing posts from May, 2023

Sour Patch Grapes Sugar Free

The easiest frozen treat that will become your new summer obsession! These frozen grapes taste just like sour patch kids candies - granulated "sugar" crust, a sharp burst of sourness, followed by the oh-so-rewarding sweetness, while being all natural, added sugar free, and super easy to make. I've loved frozen grapes growing up, there's something special about frozen grapes that no other fruits can compare except maybe frozen lychee and frozen logan. It's as if they go through some kind of magic in the freezer and literally turn into little mini popsicles, the texture is not frozen solid but instead, it's like shaved iced pressed inside the grape skin! With only two simple steps we can put a fun spin on frozen grapes and turn them into a much healthier version of sour patch kids candies. They're generously dressed in lemon and lime juice, which provides the sour burst and then rolled in granulated "sugar". But instead of regular table sugar I use

Collard Greens Salad Wrap with Beetroot Chickpea Mash

A high plant-protein rainbow salad that you can grab and go! This collard green wrap is a super easy and fast meal that's packed with lots of veggies as well as flavors. It's perfect for the coming hot summer days when you'd crave something fresh and light yet still nourishing. This colorful and eye-catching wrap is almost a no-cook and no-heat meal! The only "cooking" part is blanching the collard green leaves to make them more flexible, all the rest of the ingredients are kept raw except canned chickpeas, which are already cooked of course. I made a beetroot and chickpea mash as a main protein source for this wrap. It is vibrant, earthy, and hearty, with a secret flavor lift from Gordon Ramsay's famous herb duo - mint and coriander! I've heard him repeat this herb combo so many times on different cooking shows and you know what, it is indeed so good! It's one of those one plus one greater than two scenarios, the two herbs really compliment each other

Chinese Cucumber Salad - Suo Yi Cucumber

The most fabulous way to cut and present cucumber, ever! This cucumber salad is made of ONE SINGLE cucumber, sliced into a spring shape and dressed in a sweet, sour, and umami sauce, and finally topped with some aromatic and spicy chili oil. Let's please call this dish by its proper name - Suo Yi cucumber, or Suo Yi Huang Gua 蓑衣黄瓜. Suo Yi, means the traditional Chinese raincoat which was made of overlapping layers of straw and sometimes leaves, think a Hawaiian grass skirt but for the whole body. And the "scales" of the cucumber created by a special slicing technique and stretching resemble the layers of straws in Suo Yi, hence the name. And this special way of slicing is not just for presentation's sake! Because of all the incredibly thin, translucent, and flexible slices that this method creates, the seemingly ordinary cucumber is transformed into a form of magic and art! The texture is crunchy yet tender, every single thin "scale" of the cucumber picks up

Vegan Yaki Onigiri aka Japanese Grilled Rice Balls with Chickpea "Chuna" Filling

Your next lunchbox, picnic, snack, appetizer, for just for anything! These yaki onigiris, aka grilled rice balls, are simply the best thing you can do with rice - you get a golden crunchy crust that's glazed with a umami and sweet sauce, yet the rice inside remains fluffy and steamy, the savory aroma from the grilled nori, plus whatever fillings you heart desires. How do you make a seemingly ordinary ingredient exciting? Look no further. With a few simple steps and some culinary magic, voila, you can turn good old white rice into these irresistible flavor bombs. My favorite part is that golden brown crispy crust, I honestly can't stop crunching them away! Yaki onigiri is one of those things that if you know the tricks and hacks then they are a breeze to make; but if you don't know where you can potentially fail, chances are something is gonna go wrong. So here are some very important points to keep in mind: 1. Use freshly made rice while they're still hot. This is the

Mango Sticky Rice Recipe with Crispy Mung Beans

A dessert that needs no introduction - mango sticky rice! Made in the most authentic way possible while being outside of Thailand but without any added sugar. It's one of the most comforting treats, sweet but not too sweet, creamy, and velvety, with a little crunchiness from the crispy mung beans. When it comes to international recognition and popularity among Asian desserts, few can compete with mango sticky rice, if any. And for good reasons. It is such a beauty-in-simplicity kind of dish, gorgeous tropical vibes, sweet and comforting taste, and no fuss, simple to make and easy to eat. There are very few ingredients in this entire dish and the three main ones are of course, mango, sticky rice, and coconut milk. For the mango, a fresh and ripe Thai mango is definitely the ideal choice but it can be hard to find outside of Thailand and Southeast Asia, so if you live in North America like me, the second closest thing is the Ataulfo mango, which has a similar soft, velvety, and no-st

Chinese Sweet Black Sesame Soup with Simple Flower Tang Yuan

This is a bowl of literal black gold that is not only a decadent sweet treat, but will also nourish your skin, hair, and body from within. It is super simple to make, only requires TWO main ingredients - black sesame seed and sticky rice. And it's naturally, vegan, gluten-free, and can be made sugar-free as well. Did anyone notice the concept of dessert is quite different between the "East" and the "West"? In North America and most European countries, desserts are pretty much always just a sweet dish or snack that's carb, fat, and sugar-heavy (not that there's anything wrong with that I myself love all the desserts lol). But in China and lots of other Asian countries, desserts often serve as a medicinal remedy on top of satisfying one's sweet tooth.  This sweet black sesame soup is one of the most widely loved Chinese desserts and a prime example of a sweet treat and medicinal benefits two in one. Black sesame is rich in antioxidants, zinc, iron, and

Cantonese Claypot Rice or Bo Zai Fan with Triple Mushrooms and Veggies

THE rice bowl to end all rice bowls! Fluffy, perfectly cooked rice with savory toppings, and refreshing vegetables all in one pot, every single grain of rice has fully absorbed the flavors from the umami sauce and all the flavorful toppings, and just when you think this couldn't possibly get any better, you'll reach the golden, crispy, rice crust bottom for a grand finale surprise. The Hong Kong style clay pot rice, or Bo Zai Fan 煲仔饭, is one of my absolute childhood favorites. It's a complete meal prepared, cooked,  and  served all in one earthware pot! The cooking process is almost poetic really, all the different ingredients uniting into one in the warm hug of the pot, bringing their individual flavors together into one euphoric experience. Traditionally, Bo Zai Fan is made with cured meat, Chinese style sausage, and sometimes char siu as well. Obviously growing up my palate had been accustomed to really like the taste of these ingredients but now it's a known fact th