less oily air fried Taiwanese pop corn chicken (台式鹽酥雞 空氣炸鍋 作法）

less oily air fried Taiwanese chicken pop corn

chop a package of skinless chicken dark meat in small chuck

season with light soy sauce, vegetarian oyster sauce, white pepper powder, Sichuan pepper corn powder 花椒粉，five spice powder, garlic powder, fermented bean curd （1 腐乳 cube), lastly coated with either 1 egg and/or corn starch powder.  Marinated for at least 1/2 hour.

Coated each chuck with the 地瓜粉 (Taiwanese potato/yam starch), then pour oil in fry pan to pan fry them till it's oated with golden brown (no need to cook it through)

Then move the batch to the air fryer and cook for about 10-15 min.  (turn or toss half way), temperture is set about 360 F.

Korean Spicy BraisedTofu (Dubu Jorim)

 

Ingredients

• ▢16 oz firm tofu
• ▢1 tablespoon oil
• https://www.simplyrecipes.com/dubu-jorim-korean-braised-tofu-recipe-6544036 (adding rice flour to make it more crispy)

Sauce:

• ▢1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• ▢1 tablespoon sugar
• ▢1 stalk green onion (stem removed and cut into small rounds)
• ▢2 cloves garlic (minced)
• ▢1 1/2 tablespoons Korean red chili power
• ▢1 red chili (seeded, pounded with mortar and pestle, optional)
• ▢1 teaspoon white sesame
• ▢1 tablespoon sesame oil
• ▢1/3 cup water

Instructions 

• Cut the tofu into rectangle shapes, about 1/4-inch thickness. Pat dry with paper towels. Mix all the ingredients in the Sauce together. Set aside.
• Heat up a non-stick skillet on medium heat and add the oil. When the oil is heated, add the tofu and pan fry until brown on both sides. Add the sauce to the skillet and lower the heat. Simmer the tofu until the sauce reduces but still somewhat wet. Turn the tofu over to simmer on both sides.
• Transfer to a serving platter and top with chopped scallions. Serve at room temperature.

Carrot salad from Korean Show

1 carrot shredded thin

add sea salt 

drain the excess water after about 10 min.

add  about 2 T olive oil, a dash of salt, a dash of pepper, 1 T vinegar,  add 2 t of curry powder, add a good/fair amount of honey (not too much), then sqeeze in the fresh orange juice from one orange (about 1/2, use the other half to slice the orange to garnish (see picture below) .

grated some orange zest to garnish

lastly,  some hot/dried pepper can be added on top drizzled with some favorite seasoned oil if making this as a meal with the rice/bread, layered with the homemade tofu/cashew cream dip and avocado slices.

Mango Coconut Chia Pudding

 

• 1/2 cup lite coconut milk
• ▢1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• (or can use 1 whole cup of coconut milk instead)
• ▢3/4 cup fresh ripe champagne mango, diced
• ▢4 tbsp chia seeds
• ▢1 tbsp sweetened shredded coconut
• ▢4-6 drops Nu-Naturals liquid stevia, or monk fruit, sugar/honey to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large container. Mix well and let it sit 30 minutes, then mix again. Refrigerate overnight or at least 5-6 hours, until the seeds expand and thicken.

french pear cake with Crème Fraîche

 https://www.seasonsandsuppers.ca/french-pear-cake-creme-fraiche/

A lovely light pear cake, that's more pear than cake. With a crispy, crackly sugar topping and topped with flaked almonds. Enjoy slightly warm with a dollop of Crème Fraîche.
I made this using the Harry & David's pears (gift from the Lo family) for the first time. Even a family member who doesn't like sweet love it :)

For cake batter:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (I used only 3 TBSP this time)
• 1 cup white granulated sugar (I cut it to 4/3-8/7 cup)
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream (I replace this with milk plus 1/2 tsp of lemon)

For filling:

• 3 pears, ripe but still firm, peeled or unpeeled, halved and cored

For topping:

• 1/4 cup white granulated sugar (I sprinkled less on top this time)
• 1/3 cup flaked almonds, optional/I skipped

For serving:

• Crème Fraîche, alternately whipped cream or ice cream

• Instructions

   

  • Preheat oven to 350 F. with rack in centre of oven. Prepare a 10-inch springform pan by spraying with baking spray and lining the bottom ring with parchment paper. Place on a baking sheet and set aside.
  • Prepare the pears: You can peel the pears if you like, or simply leave the peel on. Cut in half down from the stem end to the bottom. Scoop out the core with a spoon and remove the stem spine and bottom blossom end. Place cut side down on a cutting board and cut each half in to 1/4-inch-ish slices. Transfer the sliced halves to the prepared baking pan, cut side down, fanning out the slices slightly. Arrange the sliced halves in a ring around the outside of the pan. The sliced halves should just touch each other in the centre and fan out slightly towards the outside edges. The centre couple of inches should be empty. You may or may not need all your pears. Simply fill until it's filled around. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl with an electric beater or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and the 1 cup of sugar until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
  • Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition.
  • Spoon the batter in to the centre of the prepared pan. Using a knife, gently spread the batter in to a thin layer out to the outside edges of the pan. It will seem very thin and barely cover the pears. Scatter the flaked almonds over the centre area of the batter. Sprinkle top of batter evenly with the 1/4 cup white sugar.
  • Bake in preheated oven until a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes.
  • Let the cake cool 5-10 minutes in the pan, then run a knife around the outside and remove the outer ring. Allow to cool a bit more, then slice and enjoy warm with a dollop of Crème Fraîche.

  Notes: other recipe for pear https://changbre.pixnet.net/blog/post/260718353

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Purple Yam Cake 紫薯发糕

 This fluffy cake is made with all-purpose flour and purple yam.  Purple yam can be found in local Asian stores, it has quickly become a favorite treat that my daughter likes. We love its sweet taste and beautiful color.

Prepare time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 3-4 minutes

Stand time: 1-2 hours

Level: Low

Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients:

1) 75g peeled and cubed purple yam, 1 tbsp water;

2) 3/4 cup all purpose flour (120g), 2-3 tbsp sugar (30-45g), ½ tsp baking powder;

3) 3/4 tsp fast rising yeast;

4) 1/2 cup+1.5 tbsp water (142g).

Directions:

1: Place purple yam pieces in a bowl. Add 1 tbsp water and cover with food wrap. Microwave at high for 2-3 minutes until the yam is fully cooked (Picture 1). Mash yam with a fork.

2: Add all ingredients of Ingredient 2) to 4) in the bowl (Picture 2). Beat with a handheld mixer at low speed for a minute, then at high speed for 2 minutes until fully mixed (Picture 3).

3: Pour the batter into a microwave safe glass dish that is coated with oil (Picture 4). Cover with food wrap and let it stand in a warm place until it doubles in volume.

4: Microwave at high for 3-4 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and cut into small pieces before serving.

Recipe credit/adapted from maomaomom.com

Instant Pot Homemade Soy Milk and Soy Bean Pudding

Credit/adapted from

https://whattocooktoday.com/homemade-soy-milk.html

Soybean milk/soy milk (often called soya bean milk in Asia), or dou jiang (豆浆) in Chinese, is a staple beverage in Asia. Dairy milk like cow’s milk is not consumed as commonly in Asia, but soy milk is. I grew up with soy milk that my mom will buy from a market. The lady who sold the soy milk a few houses down from us, made it fresh daily and it wasn’t like the packaged stuff, it was really homemade and tasted great! She also sold homemade tofu, dou hua (soybean pudding), and pretty much anything that is made using soybeans 🙂

Dou hua is one of my favorite desserts too :)

The recipe rundown

Taste: Creamy and no raw taste
Texture: Smooth and clean
Level: Easy
Pros: You are left with the soybean pulp/ okara that you can use to explore other savory and sweet recipes (I’ll be sharing some too)
Cons: sometimes you’ll get a burn alert from IP, but I included some tips to try to avoid that

• 1 cup dried soybeans organic non-GMO preferred
• 5 cups water see notes

Optional:

• Sugar to your taste
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

 

Soak the soybeans:

• Rinse the soybeans in several changes of water. Pick out any beans that do not look good anymore and discard
• Put the rinsed beans in a large pot and pour enough water, about 2 inches above the beans and soak them for at least 4 hours or best overnight for creamier taste

Blend the beans:

• Drain off the soaking water. I didn't rub off the skin. You can if you want. Some people prefer the taste without the skin, but I didn't notice much difference. Put this into a blender with 2 cups of water. Blend the mixture on high speed for about 10 seconds. I use Vitamix blender

Cook the beans (how to avoid getting the "burn" alert):

• Pour the mixture into the inner pot of Instant pot and add the rest of the 3 cups of water into the blender to make sure and give it a swirl so we get bits and pieces that are left in the blender. Pour this into the inner pot. So we have total of 5 cups of water with the beans
• I notice that if I pressure cook this mixture right away, I'll get a "burn" alert from IP because some of the starches get scorched at the bottom of the pot and trigger the burn alert. Turn the "saute" mode first and keep stirring and skim off some foams that rises. Stir until the mixture starts to about to boil. Turn off the saute mode. Give it a stir for a few more rounds to make sure nothing gets stuck at the bottom of the pot
• Close the lid and turn the steam release valve to sealing. Press "pressure cooker" and make sure it's on high pressure. Set the timer to 10 minutes and then natural release, which may take 15 minutes or a bit longer. The valve will collapse on its own. Carefully unlock the lid

If you still get a burn alert:

• Don't panic, just unlock the lid and give it a good stir again and close the lid and continue with the pressure cooking process

Strain the milk:

• Prepare a large pot with a strainer and a cheesecloth lined over it to strain the soymilk for a fine smooth texture. Very carefully pour about half of the soy milk onto the strainer. You may need to use a spoon to stir the mixture a bit to help it strain through the cheesecloth. Once most of the liquid has gone down, pour the rest of the soy milk (if it can fit) and let the liquid strain through the cheesecloth again
• When it's cold enough to handle, you can use your hands to squeeze the rest of the soymilk out from the soybean pulps inside the cheesecloth. Alternatively, you can also let the soymilk strained inside the fridge until the next day

Sweeten the soymilk or add flavor (optional):

• You can bring the soymilk to a gentle simmering again and add sugar or sweetener of your choice and also flavor like vanilla extract. The amount is up to you. Reboiling it will also extend the shelf life a bit longer, but make sure to give it a good stir so nothing get burnt at the bottom of the pot

Storage:

• Homemade soymilk can be kept in the fridge for no more than a week. You may find that after sitting in the fridge for a while, the soymilk may look a bit more watery on top and more "stuff" sink at the bottom. This is quite normal. Don't be panic. The soymilk hasn't gone bad (as long as you follow hygiene practice and it hasn't been kept for more than one week)

Serving:

• Soymilk can be served warm, hot, or chilled. Please note that if you mix soymilk with anything acidic, for example coffee, it will cause the milk to curdle a bit, which is normal.

NOTES

The more water you use, the thinner the soymilk will be. So you can adjust the consistency by playing with the amount of water. I think 5 cups of water  for 1 cup of soybeans is pretty good, but you may feel differently.
For Tofu pudding (豆花), for every 5-6 cups of hot soy bean milk, use 40 g (half the package of the 一心豆花粉 powder add 150 g of cold water, follow the package instruction to make the pudding by mix the powder mixture first then pour in the hot soy bean milk, let it sit for 10+ min. to set.

RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS:

Instant Pot

Vitamix Blender

NUTRITION

Serving: 1cupCalories: 210kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 17gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 16mgPotassium: 837mgFiber: 4gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 10IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 138mg