Sunomono 0001

Missing in Action

Hello....is anyone still there?? hehe I don't even know when I last posted.  But winter has passed and spring is upon us! =) I guess the cold weather made me lazy but now my spring spirit is back and ready to blog again.  I've actually been busy trying to keep my apartment dust free because I get affected by allergies fairly severely. 

Anyways, although I haven't been blogging, I have definitely still been cooking.  I have a lot of new recipes and dishes I want to try soon.  I only have a few more months here before Nhat and I head back.  And if all goes as plan, next April get married!!! So excited!!

That's all I have to say for this post but check back soon.  This weekend I want to try to make my own kim chi!!

Homemade KIMCHI and Bulgogi

Last week my co-worker gave me some homemade kimchi that her mom made.   So Sunday I wanted to do right to the kimchi by making an authentic Korean dish, Bulgogi, to serve with kimchi.  I have to say the meal came together very nicely.  Although my bulgogi was good, the main show was the kimchi.  It was spicy and crunchy and FRESH! I think my next food project will be my own homemade kimchi. =)

Burger and Chili Cheese Fries

Nhat and I went snowboarding on Sunday and didn't want to spend our life savings on a burger at the restaurant so we went home, spent about 14 bucks on items at the grocery store, and made ourselves chili cheese fries and burgers. We made four burgers and a big plate of chili cheese fries for under $20. We probably saved $100 bucks, no joke. 

Quarter pounder

Chili Cheese Fries With Stagg's Turkey Chilli

How to Make Quick and Easy Chili Cheese Fries

Some frozen fries
Can of nacho cheese
Can of chili
Some pickled jalepenos
Some chopped cilantro (optional)

Cook fries according to package instructions
Heat up cheese
Heat up heat up chili
Put fries on a plate
Pour cheese and chili on top of fries
Add jalapenos and cilantro and enjoy!

Hello Again.

Welcome back! It's been an eventful and busy two weeks, but now here I am, back to work and back to my routine.  I hope everyone had a happy holidays.  I haven't cooked in two weeks! Last night Nhat and I ate eggrolls that my dad made and packaged for us.  All we had to do was fry them up.  One day I want to try to make eggrolls like my parents'.

On another happy note, I am officially engaged!  Can't wait to start planning and setting the date. He did it on New Years Eve/Morning, right after the countdown, in the comfort of our cozy apartment. It was perfect and so is my ring.  =)  I had the hardest time getting out of bed today.  It's cloudy and rainy and its always hard for me to go back to my routine after the holidays, especially since Nhat is still on vacation.  But I gotta do what I gotta do right?

On second thought I did cook this weekend.  I made Che Chuoi, Warm Banana Coconut Pudding with Tapioca.  I followed a recipe in my go-to Vietnamese cookbook.  The flavor was good, but next time I may cut down the amount of water that was called for.  Please please PLLLLEEASSE let work go by fast today.

Vacation Vacation Vacation

Today is cloudy and cold and all I can think of is how I wish I could stay home from work.  I could drink hot tea, stay inside and clean the place up and o how nice that would be...

2.5 more days of work...2.5 more days of work...come on I can make it!

Japanese Shrimp Burger Ebi Katsu

I love it when I attempt to make a brand new recipe that not only have I never made before...but I've never eaten before.  This weekend I made a Japanese Shrimp Burger!   The prospect of shrimp mushed together in a patty that is fried in hot oil, made me both anxious and intrigued.  But life is all about pushing limits and trying new things, right? And besides, if it's supposedly the most popular item at the Mcdonald's in Japan, how can it be bad? So on Sunday I ventured forth to the grocery store, bought my ingredients to make this exciting new recipe and viola! Japanese Shrimp Burger!

It was actually quite easy.  I think next time I will not add as much sake and make sure my shrimps are more dry because when I combined my flour, I think the liquid caused my patty to be a touchy gooey but nothing too bad.

I doubled coated my patty in the flour egg bread crumb mixture to make it as crispy as possible.  
 

Top: Flour, Egg, Bread mixture is essential to crispy patties. Bottom: Condiments to put on burger.

 I used two recipes I found online and made slight adaptations of each, RunnyRunny999 and from Sumo Kitchen.

Japanese Shrimp Burger and French Fries