Beef and Broccoli

I've been super busy with work lately, and haven't really had time to cook elaborate fancy-pants meals. But lucky for you, that means this recipe will be really simple. Yay. I've been making a lot of beef and broccoli because it is seriously the easiest thing in the world to make. The only think that might be hard is getting the Oyster sauce if you don't have access to an Asian grocer.

Chinese Beef Belly (Ngow Nam)

(Click on photos for larger images)

I was talking to my Chinese friend, Carrie, the other day, and she said that she really wanted to make ngow nam and her mom has a recipe. After she mentioned this to me, I was obsessed with making ngow nam. Ngow means cow, and nam means belly in Cantonese. Basically it's stewed/braised beef brisket with diakons and a very complex flavor that I can't describe. This dish may not be for everyone, but I know that if you're Chinese, you probably like it. Not very many restaurants serve this dish because it takes a while to make. It also includes lots of ingredients (that you can only find at a well stocked Asian grocery store).

Soon Dubu Jjigae (Korean Soft Tofu Soup)

At first I wanted to make a portabello mushroom and cabbage soup because I just happen to have those things and I wanted soup. It somehow evolved to watching Maangchi make this Soon Dubu Jjigae, and then I wanted it so badly!

Beef Chuck Pot Roast

(Image courtesy of The Chopping Block)

The Chopping Block has been really nice to me (strange, right), so in return I invited her over for dinner along with our friend Brendan and my neighbor Chris. My sister and I went grocery shopping, and we got this four pound beef chuck, which is perfect for a beautiful pot roast!

Burger Experiment #1

As Helen mentioned earlier, I currently have an obsession with burgers. I created a Google spreadsheet to ask for suggestions from Helen and Brendan.

Within the first few days, the list grew like crazy! I think these people are really creative fatties.

This past Thursday was the first burger experiment. Here's the low down/menu:

- Burgers stuffed with bacon pieces.
- Burgers patties are made by gently pushing the meat into patty form without any mixing.
- Burger meats are not seasoned until after the patties are formed. Then salt is sprinkled on both sides.
- Burger accessories:
   - Guacamole with pineapples. The three people (not counting me) who ate this version concluded that it's good.
   - Cilantro pesto.
   - Bacon.
   - Fried egg with a runny yolk.
   - Ketchup and mustard.

Beef Stir-Fry with Green Beans

So I had a lot of vegetables left over from some previous meals that I had to get rid of. The perfect way to get rid of vegetables is stir-fry; I'm sure Drea would agree. So this is just one of those random-let's-throw-everything-in kind of meal post.

Fruit Filled Meatballs

So we have meatballs again! Haha. Yes, the Chopping Block still has an obsession with hamburgers and even created a shared document for hamburger ideas, and so I guess now I'm in that ground beef kind of rut too. I happen to have some mangos and pineapples along with some awesome guacamole ingredients, and so this concoction was born. Well, I guess it was also heavily influenced by the fact that mangos & avocados together are the bomb. The Chopping Block always raves to me about how awesome guacamole topped hamburgers are (this is why I have the guacamole ingredients), and so the hamburger journey continues.

Cream Cheese Stuffed Meatballs

Hi friends! Sorry it's been such a long time since I've posted. :( I was talking to the Chopping Block a lot lately about hamburgers. She has an obsession with them, but who can blame her; May is national hamburger month after all. My current obsession (for the last couple of days) has been cream cheese. So with that, I've created the most delicious meatball ever. Seriously. No lie.

Oxtail Stew

"Have you ever had oxtails? Most people I know haven't even heard of them, which is really quite a shame. Think braised beef short ribs, but with even more flavor, and you'll get a sense of why those of us who eat oxtail get dreamy eyed when we think about them. Yes oxtails come from a steer's tail, a well exercised muscle, marbled with fat. The segments are vertebrae so they have lots of iron-rich marrow as well. My father, who grew up during the Depression, remembers oxtails as being food for people with little money, because they could be had so cheap. You could get them for pennies a pound. These days, they're somewhat hard to come by and no longer cheap (though you can sometimes get a good deal on them at Costco and Asian markets). As with most tough cuts, oxtail are best slow cooked for several hours. They tend to be fatty, so we like to cook them a day ahead, so we can chill them overnight and scrape off the fat from the top the next day." - Simply Recipes

The above is an excerpt from Simply Recipes' Oxtail Stew recipe. It's a little similar to the one in this recipe, and I thought it was a good introduction to oxtails if you've never heard of them. I decided that I wanted to have some of my mom's cooking, so I called her up for her oxtail stew, which is one of her staple recipes. While I was on the phone with her she told me how Gandalf likes to sleep with her, aw! And Gandalf stole my mom's fish while she was cooking, and my mom had to chase her around the house to get it back. My sister says Gandalf also stole her chicken. In case you forgot who Gandalf is, she's this little kitty cat. Anyways, less cats more food!

Mini Meatball Sandwiches

So The Pioneer Woman said that these mini meatball sandwiches of hers only take 16 minutes to make. I love meatballs. I love fast food. I'm sold! Gone!

Let me tell you a secret, the Pioneer Woman must have magic or something because I most definitely spent more than 16 minutes on them. Either that or I'm slow. The latter seems more plausible, but I'm just going to go with the former.

Juicy Sirloin Steaks

After reading the direction on how to make super tender and juicy steaks from "cheap' steaks from Jaden Hair on Steamy Kitchen, I knew I must try it. Who knew that making tasty steaks from on-sale meat was so easy? I'd like to apologize to my vegetarian friends that you have to go through yet another meaty post. But for all of you carnivores out there, you will not have to spend a fortune for a hunk of semi raw meat again!

Beef Stew (Cooking With Cats)

Cats are delicious when stewed, but should be left to professionals.

Hamburger

Okay, okay. What's so special about my hamburger? Well.... I think I've found the secret to making the best hamburgers like EVER. I make a lot of hamburgers because they're seriously easy. Shape them up, put them in the fridge, and when you're hungry, pop them onto the George Foreman grill! Done in like no time!

Shaking Beef & Garlic Noodles

Yes, I noticed that this is supposed to be an "International Food Adventure Blog," but I just can't seem to get out of Southeast Asia.

Whenever I hear "Shaking Beef," I always imagine a really cold cow shivering... inside my apartment (because it's really cold!). Anyhow, I decided to make some "famous" dishes from some restaurants: Shaking Beef from The Slanted Door and PF Changs' Garlic Noodles. For those who have not heard of The Slanted Door, it's a local San Francisco Restaurant (a kin to Out the Door).

Jap Chae

Back in college (it feels so weird saying this because some times I still think that I'm in school), my friends and I would always go to Steve's Korean Barbecue for some bi bim bap or jap chae (also spell chap chae). Steve's Korean Barbecue means a huge plate of rice, vegetables, kim chi, and a mean pile o' meat! Well, unless you get the vegetarian bi bim bap, then there's no mean pile o' meat. After moving away from school for a few years, I was craving for some jap chae a.k.a. Korean glass noodles with beef, but I was too lazy to deal with the lack of parkings and seas of pedestrians near Steve's. So I decide to make my own jap chae! Hah! Let me confess this, I failed miserably the first time around. Like epic fail. The noodles came out too dry, the shiitakes too chewy, the beef was tough, basically the whole thing was a mess. Since the downfall of the first try, I hit the books and studied the art of making jap chae and this time, it was a success! Wanna know how I did it?

Minced Beef With Egg

College was a time for food exploration for me. Before that, I rarely get to eat anything outside of home prepared food. The first time I encountered minced beef with egg was during one of those quick dinner after class in one of the restaurants at the "Asian Ghetto" on the south side of UC Berkeley. Of course, I was too chicken to order it because the dish came with a raw egg over some slimy beef! All of the boys I know love that dish and they all ordered it one time or another. Once, I managed to get a taste but then decided to stick to my own food. I finally overcame the look of the dish and decided to make it myself. It was very hard to find a recipe for this dish for some reasons. Perhaps because it is too simple...kinda like how it would be hard to find a recipe to fry an egg. I did have to use a recipe/direction from a cookbook the first time I attempted to fry an egg, mind you.

Ingredients:
(Printable recipe)

1 lb of boneless beef chuck
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of salt
ground black pepper
1 tsp baking soda
4 tbsp corn starch
1 cup green peas
2 eggs

So, on to the cooking:

Take about 1 lb of boneless beef chuck. Trim the fat. I have the piece somewhat frozen so that it'll be easier to slice.



Dice it up in approximately 1/4" cubes.

Pull the cubes together in a pile and roughly give it a nice chop. The end product doesn't need to be so fine, some rough pieces should be okay.

Put the minced beef in a bowl and set aside. Mince 3 cloves of garlic.


Combine the garlic with the beef in a bowl. Add about 1 tsp of salt and as much ground pepper as you'd like. Sprinkle in 1 tsp on baking soda (to tenderize the beef). Toss in 4 tbsp of corn starch or enough to cover all of the beef pieces with a thin layer of corn starch. As you can see in the picture below, I did not add enough corn starch (only 3 tbsp) which will not ensure a satisfying gravy-ish end product.



Use your super clean hand and give it a good mix.



Heat about 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a pan. Add the beef mixture and proceed to push the beef around for 1 minute.



Turn the heat down to medium high. Add 1/4 cup of water. Let it cook until the beef is turning brown.



This is what it looks like if you don't have enough corn starch. No gravy. :(

No matter, I hope you learn from my mistake. Next up, throw in 1 cup of peas. I got mine frozen and had to run it under the tap for 30 seconds.



Another mistake! My hand got a little too happy and actually dumped in a lot more than 1 cup. Sad face again!

Cook for another 2 minutes or until the peas are nice and tendered. Scoop some steaming hot rice to a bowl. Top the rice with the minced beef and peas. Be sure to make a little well on top of the beef and peas. Why, you ask? Because your truly here darn forgot to do that and it resulted in unhappy end product as seen below. When I proceed to crack an egg over the dish, the egg just slid off the mountain of beef and peas and made a happy home at the SIDE of the bowl rather than perching at the center.



Serve IMMEDIATELY!

How to eat such a dish: Quickly use a spoon/fork to scoop up the steaming hot rice and beef mixture and drape it on top of the raw egg. Break the egg and use your eating utensil to let the egg mingle with its hot hot neighbors. Eat the gooey goodness.

If you do not want to entertain the idea of a raw egg, quickly fry an egg in your still hot pan.



Then transfer it to the mountain of rice, beef, and peas.



Lessons learned:

1. Add enough corn starch to cover beef with a thin layer.
2. Don't go trigger happy and add too much peas.
3. Remember to make a small well at the top of the mountain of beef so egg won't slide pathetically to the side of the bowl.