Throwback Thursday - Chicago

Ah, Chicago. The city of deep dish pizzas, Chicago style hot dogs, and brutal winters. Back in October 2013, I had the chance of visiting for a few days and I was determined to fit as much as I could into the four days there. The city actually reminds me of NYC but much, much smaller. We were able to walk from Chinatown all the way back up to our hotel at the Near North side portion of Chicago in one day.

Pizza:

If I were to compare deep dish to think crust, I actually prefer thin crust. This is not because I am from NYC but it is because deep dish pizza is crispier than thin. I don't like it when crispy bread gets stuck in between my teeth so I am pretty much saying I love that soggy slice of pizza =).

Hot dogs:

Three words. OH. MY. GOODNESS. You MUST try Portillos if you are in Chicago. Rather than the Chicago style hotdog, I HIGHLY recommend the sausage (Char-grilled maxwell street style Polish sausage). It was so juicy and tasted amazing with the onions.

Sights:

You might think that being from New York I am used to the bright lights and would not find beauty in another city. In the time we were there we walked around most of the city and I must say that the city is super clean. Since I didn't have much time in Chicago, I went to the places all tourists would go : Buckingham fountain (aka Married with Children fountain), the "bean", Chinatown, etc. Hopefully I'll get to go back soon!

NY public library: Manhattan, NY

Yesterday at lunchtime time I decided to take a walk to the New York Public Library. It was actually my first time there and I have to say it is beautiful! Hopefully I can spend more time outside during lunch since the weather is starting to warm up. 

Roaming around Locust Valley

Today was a beautiful day to walk outside and get some sun. Not really knowing where to go, the husband and I decided to pick a random thrift shop for some props. It turned out that the thrift shop was in a cute little area called Locust Valley in Nassau County.

Terri NYC - Vegetarian and Organic

Lunch yesterday with a friend at Terri's at the Flatiron district! My first time here but I have always had their green power smoothie.

Salmon Potato Cakes

As time goes by, you will start to learn that I absolutely love salmon, potatoes, and cilantro. What would be better than to combine all of those into one bite sized disc? This recipe is super easy to make and also it is very flexible. Want more potatoes? Add more. Want more salmon? Sure!

Ingredients (Enough for ~40 patties)

• 4 oz salmon fillet
• 5-6 small potatoes
• 3 stalks of cilantro
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup of flour
• 2 cups of seasoning or as much as needed
• oil for pan frying

Directions 

1. Boil potatoes in a pot until soft. At the same time, steam the salmon until 80% cooked. Peel the skin off of the potatoes and mash until there are no lumps. 

2. Break up the salmon into small pieces and mix in with the potatoes. Add cilantro and mix thoroughly

3. Shape into balls about the size of a golf ball. (If you want larger portion sizes that is fine as well, it does not change cooking time.)  Pat down into small patties and cover first in flour, then egg, and lastly the seasoned bread crumbs

6. Over high heat, pan fry the patties until golden brown.

Throwback Thursday - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Welcome to Throwback Thursdays where I upload share photos of a place I have been and maybe it might even be about food!

Just a little about myself, I am ethnically Chinese but my parents are from Malaysia. I grew up eating a mix of the two cultures but most of the dishes I ate were heavily influenced by Malaysian spices. About a year and a half ago, I took a trip to meet my dad's side of the family in Malaysia and I still dream about the food that I was able to eat everyday. On average a meal costs ~$2 USD and the portion sizes were just perfect. Nevertheless, I still ate more than I should and came back weighing a little more than when I left ;).


Har Mee Noodles (Prawn Noodle Soup) - Wikipedia link

Looking through my pictures, I ate a lot of variations of the below. Each with its own flavor but all linked with the prawn taste!

My large family in Malaysia

Rice cakes with Pork and Vegetables

Made by my mother in law over the weekend. I absolutely love rice cakes, it doesn't matter what size. If cooked right, it is just the right amount of chewy. This is not a recipe since I didn't cook it but if there is any demand, we can always republish this with one =)

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream : East Village, NYC

I absolutely love ice cream and even if it is freezing outside, I will still eat it. I also prefer my ice cream without extra "stuff" like those found in Ben & Jerry's or Coldstone. I wouldn't really say that I am picky, it's just that I like my ice cream plain and simple.

One night, I was watching Unique Eats on the Cooking channel and there was an episode which featured the Van Leeuwen ice cream truck. I looked them up online and was sad to find out that their trucks do not operate during the winter but I quickly rebounded when I saw that they had two brick and mortar shops!

All of their ice creams use only four ingredients which is milk, cream, dairy, and cane sugar. Their flavoring are also all natural ingredients! If you are looking for a simple and natural ice cream, Van Leeuwen is the place to go. Their business model is also revolved around being green and their cups and spoons are also eco-friendly.

Once I went inside, I stood there for about 10 minutes trying to decide on which flavor I wanted. In the end, I went the safe route and chose a scoop of chocolate and vanilla. Why? Well, you can't really get chocolate wrong and I had heard their vanilla was really good. My husband chose vanilla and pistachio.

Their chocolate had just the right amount of taste in it without being too bitter or too sweet. It reminded me a bit of dark chocolate and the consistency of the ice cream itself was not too heavy. I was also glad that I chose vanilla after hearing that they use real vanilla in their recipe. You can actually see the vanilla bean in the ice cream itself! If you are into ice cream, they are definitely worth the trip downtown or to Brooklyn where their other location is. If you are not a lover of ice cream, they also have coffee and other things you can check out as well!

Burmese Coconut Noodles with Chicken

I was introduced to this dish several years ago by my now husband and mother in law. I remember eating this for the first time and having my mind blown because it was salty, sweet, and sour at the same time. If you love coconut milk, cilantro, and lime juice you might want to try this recipe for yourself!

The prep time is about 30-45 minutes depending on how long it will take you to cut chicken meat off of thigh bones and to chop onions.The cooking time for this recipe is also about 30-45 minutes so if you are interested, plan ahead!

Ingredients

• 3lbs of Chicken meat. Cut into small pieces (This can be a mix of white and dark if you like)
• 4 tablespoons of oil
• 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder
• 2 teaspoons of paprika
• 1/4 cup of fish sauce
• 4 medium white onions, chopped
• 1 can of coconut milk
• 5 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon black pepper

Garnish

• Cilantro
• Lime/Lemon juice
• 1 Red onion
• Fish sauce
• Pepper Flakes

Cooking directions

1. Add oil, onions, and garlic into a large frying pan and saute on low-medium heat until onions are soften and starting to turn brown. Add paprika and turmeric powder to the onions and stir in until mixed

2. Increase to high heat, add the chicken and black pepper to the onions. Cover until chicken is cooked, stir occasionally 

3.Add in the fish sauce and coconut milk and stir. 

4. Taste test and add more fish sauce or coconut milk to your liking. Bring it down to a simmer for another 5 minutes.

5. In a separate pot, boil water and cook the noodles for about 2-3 minutes. Put into a strainer and rinse with cold water

Serving directions: In each bowl, add a serving of noodles and top with the chicken and coconut milk. From here, you can add garnish to your liking! For myself, I like to add a lot of cilantro, red onions, and lemon juice to give it a sour taste.

Jin Ramen: Morningside Heights, NYC

With all of the different types of food that is available at my disposal in NYC, my definite favorite is ramen! I have had ramen at many places (Ippudo, HinoMaru, etc) but the best place in my opinion is Jin Ramen found in Morningside Heights. Click here for their site.

Situated right off of the 125th street 1 train stop, it is quite a trek from Midtown but it is so worth it! We got there exactly at 7pm (I remember this because we didn't have to pay for parking) on a Friday and it was packed. I originally thought that with just two of us, we would be able to sit down quicker but we still had to wait about 40 minutes. The general rule of thumb is, if there are a lot of people waiting outside to get in, then it must be amazing!

I must say, amazing it was. This was my second time there so I knew exactly what I wanted : Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen with a second bowl of noodles. Since we were so hungry, we also ordered two appetizers!

Chicken Gyoza Dumplings: came with 6 dumplings that is made by hand daily!

Nankotsu Kara-age: Fried chicken that was so moist with amazing seasoning! I didn't get to order this the first time we came to eat here but I know I am going to be ordering this in the future. The chicken is still moist and it has the right amount of salt for each bite. If you eat it with the salad that it comes with, it is drool worthy.

Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen : The broth is full of flavor and it is not salty at all. I also ordered extra bamboo shoots because I absolutely love them. Without additions, one order comes with a piece of seaweed, half an egg, slices of pork, bamboo shoots, and straight noodles. Just writing this up right now makes me want to go back and eat it again. 

Asian Comfort food

I love when I am home with my mom! She made these delicious noodles for me with fish balls and fish wontons. Of course I had it with some chili peppers and soy sauce with each bite =)

Asian Marinated Baked Pork Chops

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons of Soy Sauce
• 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
• 3 teaspoons of lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons of ketchup
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 5 porkchops

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix all ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly blended
3. Marinate the pork with the mixture either in a bowl or bag for 20minutes
4. Place the pork on a baking dish and cover the top half with half of the mixture. After the oven has preheated to 350 degrees, put the baking dish in. After 30 minutes, turn the pork over and cover with the other half of the ingredient mixture. Cook for another 30minutes.