Tomatillo Guacamole (粘果酸浆鱷梨, Nim1 Gwo2 Syun1 Zeong1 Ngok6 Lei4)

I regularly make this guacamole to use as a sandwich spread or for coating the interior of burritos. The tomatillos add a slightly citrusy taste to the guacamole and the spiciness comes from the Jalapeño and chipotle peppers. Since the amount of spiciness is a personal preference, feel free to adjust the amount of peppers used in the recipe. The chipotle peppers actually supply most of the spiciness and come canned with an adobo sauce (some of which is added to the guacamole), so use fewer of the peppers if you want less. Although the picture doesn’t really show it, the guacamole is chunky and not pureed, so the avocados are broken up with a spoon rather than placed into the food processor.

Enjoy!

Miso, Sesame, and Sweet Potato Dip with Tortilla Chips

I made this tasty dip, served with fresh tortilla chips from my local Mexican market, for my family’s 2016 Thanksgiving dinner. The original recipe can be found here: Miso, Sesame, and Sweet Potato Dip Recipe. The original recipe was modified to use a microwave oven to cook the sweet potatoes rather than steaming and garlic was added. Orange sweet potatoes really give this dish its color. The trick to making this dip is to add enough water to the food processor to make a smooth mixture because it’s quite stiff, but still edible, if you don’t. I also forgot to add the green onions to the dip after mixing in the food processor, but it’s included in the recipe.

Enjoy!

Sriracha Capsicum Dipping Sauce (紅油辣椒是拉差香甜辣椒醬, Hung4 Jau4 Laat6 Ziu1 Si6 Laai1 Caa1 Hoeng1 Tim4 Laat6 Ziu1 Zoeng3)

Capsicum in Red Oil and Sriracha Sauce were the basis for making the beef steak marinade in the last recipe: Grilled Sriracha Capsicum Bourbon Rib Eye Steak (燒烤是拉差香甜辣椒醬紅油辣椒波本肉眼牛排, Siu¹ Haau¹ Si⁶ Laai¹ Caa¹ Hoeng¹ Tim⁴ Laat⁶ Ziu¹ Zoeng³ Hung⁴ Jau⁴ Laat⁶ Ziu¹ Bo¹ Bun² Juk⁶ Ngaan⁵ Ngau⁴ Paai⁴). The marinade is slightly spicy (at least to my tastes), but the combination also makes a great dipping sauce. Rather than using soy sauce as the dipping sauce for dim sum, try using this mixture instead.

Enjoy!

Tomatillo Salsa

Tomatillo salsa is variation of the Salsa recipe that I published earlier. Tomatillos add, what I would describe as, a slight lemon flavor to the salsa. Tomatillos are also crunchy, so there’s also a texture contrast to the rest of the ingredients in the salsa. I made this salsa for my family’s 2014 Christmas dinner. Everyone got to snack on tortilla chips and tomatillo salsa before dinner.

Enjoy!

Salmon and Bell Pepper Garlic Bread Sandwich with Wasabi Mayonnaise

   

This is a quick way to make a hot salmon sandwich. The bell pepper adds the necessary crunch to the dish and the wasabi mayonnaise the necessary kick to the taste buds. You can use any thickly sliced bread for the sandwich, I happen to use the garlic bread you get from Costco.

Enjoy!

Salsa

This recipe was updated on 20 Jan 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

Homemade salsa tastes best with homegrown tomatoes and hot peppers, but store-bought tomatoes and peppers work well too. The heat of the salsa will depend upon how hot the peppers used in the recipe are, which means that you can never tell until a batch of the salsa is made and tasted. The recipe below is for a “normal” batch of salsa to be used with the Mexican Pulled Pork (Carnitas) recipe. I actually made a huge batch of salsa because I intended to also use the salsa as a part of the filling for the Mexican Pulled Pork Enchiladas recipe. You actually can’t make too much salsa since it goes well with tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

Pickled Vegetables

Homemade pickled vegetables are very easy to make. All you need are the vegetables – in this case sliced carrots and diced onions – vinegar, salt, and some sugar. Just be sure to refrigerate the pickled vegetables and the flavor will develop over time. This recipe also works well for hot peppers. Eat the pickled vegetables with MexicanPulled Pork (Carnitas) and Mexican Pulled Pork Enchiladas.

Enjoy!

Poached Chicken (白斬雞, Baak6 Zaam2 Gai1) with Ginger-Scallion Oil (薑蔥油, Goeng1 Cung1 Jau4)

This recipe was updated on 07 Sep 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

When I was living with my sister and her husband while my house was being remodeled (over 15 years ago), I made this dish, took it out of the refrigerator, and put it out on the counter to warm up before cutting. While I was occupied preparing other things for dinner, their cat, Phoenix, also noticed that there was a chicken and jumped onto the counter to investigate. As I turned around and noticed that there’s more than just a chicken sitting on the counter, Phoenix starts licking the chicken! Needless to say, I shooed the cat away. Phoenix looked very unhappy, since it just lost possession of a tasty bird, and I wondered what to do with the chicken. I figured that if the cat thought the chicken was tasty, then the chicken is still tasty. So I washed the chicken under the faucet and proceeded to cut it up under the watchful gaze of Phoenix. We ate the chicken that night for dinner. My sister still laughs at this story and I can truthfully say that my chicken is kitty licking good!

Grilled Rib Eye Steak with Mustard Mayonnaise

In honor of the Fourth of July, here’s a simple meat spice rub for when you have a carnivorous urge. In this case the rub was used on a grilled rib eye steak, but will work with just about any meat. A mustard mayonnaise further flavors the grilled steak.

Enjoy!

Crispy Salmon Skin Wrap with Wasabi Mayonnaise

The usual breakfast wrap has bacon or sausage, together with scrambled eggs and hash browns. Since I had salmon skins leftover from the Crispy Teriyaki Salmon Skin meal, I replaced the pork with the salmon skins. With the addition of wasabi mayonnaise and shiso leaves, this made for a yummy Sunday brunch dish.