Spicy Spinach Stems

I’m fully in support of the zero-waste food movement that has become a thing in recent years, though when I was a kid it was just called being Asian 🙂 Make Pesto with your beet greens! Use your radish greens for Chimichurri! And don’t throw away those spinach stems… Guessipe stems from 1 bunch of…

Red-Braised Ribs

These red-braised ribs are fall-off-the-bone tender and pretty easy to make. The hardest part is cutting the slab into individual ribs – my mom always used a cleaver. The second hardest part is having the patience to wait 90 minutes as the braising slowly breaks down all the connective tissue of the ribs, filling your…

Lettuce-less Salad

Sometimes salad kinda bums me out, because even a big bowl of it seems like it’s mostly air. Plus it doesn’t keep well as leftovers once you’ve put the dressing on – nobody likes soggy, wilting lettuce leaves. So this lettuce-less salad is awesome, because it’s a hearty salad you can really dig into. I…

Cinnamon Chouquettes

Chouquettes are small round pastries sprinkled with pearl sugar. They’re often eaten in France as an afternoon snack. You can fill them with custard to make cream puffs. These airy pastries are pretty cool, because they puff up without any kind of rising agent. Apparently the high water content makes steam when baking, which is…

Steamed Chinese Mushroom Chicken

Steamed Chinese Mushroom Chicken was one of my favorite dishes growing up. Steaming the chicken in the sauce keeps it super tender and lets it absorb all the great flavors. The Chinese mushrooms add a great woodiness and bit of chewiness. And the Chinese sausage gives some pop and sweetness. It’s also easy to make,…

Spicy Eggplant with Pork

Spicy Asian eggplant is a pretty common dish at Chinese restaurants. This is my re-creation of it, with pork added, because what’s good without pig is even better with it. This can be done more simply by skipping the salting, cornstarch coating, and frying of the eggplant – just sautéing it with the pork instead….

Sesame Snow Pea Salad

Often snow peas come pre-packaged in a one-pound bag, so when I buy them to use in my Creamy Pea Salad (go here for the Guessipe), I end up with quite a lot leftover. I was looking for something other than stir-fry to do with them, and came up with a sesame salad that makes…

Mango Lassi Pie

What would be in the running for my favorite holiday? Well, Pi(e) Day, of course. March 14, aka 3.14, get it? I had convinced a bunch of friends to help me celebrate this mathe-magical day. Even though it fell on a Tuesday, they had all agreed to make homemade pies (go here to feast your…

Grilled Asian Eggplant

I love grilled foods, though I have to admit that it is one of the types of cooking I feel a bit timid with. I know it’s applying heat in a way not so dissimilar from the stove, but I suppose it’s not being able to adjust the heat in the same way that makes…

Japanese Breakfast Bowl

Apparently Japanese Breakfast Bowls are becoming a thing in LA restaurants these days. They’re basically rice, with some fish and some veggies. I love dinner food for breakfast, so I’ve been making something akin to that at home for a long time! My version is super easy because it’s mostly already prepared ingredients from the…

Berry Cream Brûlée

This is a dessert I learned from my friend Sheana, and have adopted into my repertoire because it is dead simple but so tasty. Anything you serve in ramekins and brûlée can be put forth at a dinner party as a fancy dessert. No one will know that this has 3 ingredients and takes minutes…

Corn Muffin Pudding

Corn Muffin Pudding is one of my mom’s go-tos if she needs to whip up something quick to bring to a party. Everyone loves it and is surprised to hear that it’s another one of those fantastically easy recipes that involves nothing more than mixing together 5 ingredients and throwing in the oven. The 5…