Semi-Homemade Dinner: Chicken & Waffle

On lazy nights, I don't have the energy to cook up a meal. So to make life easier, there's always take-out. And sometimes, I just want to add a personal touch to the take-out so that it seems like I made an effort or like I accomplish something for the night.

Tonight, I feel like making waffles! I bought a waffle machine three years ago, and it'd been collecting dust since then. Tonight is the night for it to shine!

Always grease the waffle maker before pouring batter 

Have you ever play a word game in which one person say a word and the other person shout out the first thing that came up in his or her mind. Well, waffle made me think of  chicken! So I told my boyfriend to go grab some fried chicken while I mix up some waffle batter at home. We are lucky to have both KFC and Popeye nearby; we're having Popeye's tonight.

I got this basic waffle recipe from one of my idols, Alton Brown. He's a genius, and his recipe are always very simple and delicious.

Top it all off with maple syrup and down it with an iced cold beer (or just water for me)!

Blue Fin Tuna from Japan

Every year in December, I look forward to my boyfriend's company holiday party. Not only do they always host it at an awesome venue, they also always cater delicious food!

This year, the company imported a 50lb Blue Fin tuna from Japan! They held the party at Ozumo, a Japanese restaurant, so they placed the whole fish by the sushi bar for display until it was time to slice it. At the party, we were free to eat as much Blue Fin tuna along with a table filled with yakitori, tempura and terriyaki. We were also free to order anything from the cocktail and sushi bar. It was a Japanese cuisine lover's dream come true!! I didn't eat any of the yakitori, tempura and terriyaki, because I was determined to fill my belly up with my favorite cocktails, the Blue Fin and some of my favorite sushi and sashimi.

When it was time to butcher the fish, everyone gathered.

The chefs carefully clean the fish, and then started removing the head by slicing at the collar of the fish.

After the head is removed, the head chef sliced the fish in twos.

The chef was careful with the fish, and he used a clean towel to keep the fish clean and sanitize.



Toro

The most expensive and delicious part of the tuna is the fatty part or toro, which is all located in its belly. I could not stop staring at it as the whole belly was placed in front of me at the sushi bar!

There are two types of toro. There is chutoro, which is the fatty part located on the side of the fish belly. It is much leaner than otoro, which is the fattiest part located at the underside of the tuna. It's so fatty that it melts in the mouth!

Joy in my belly!

HK Style Baked Chicken Over Fried Rice

I grew up in Hong Kong, thus are exposed to Hong Kong style cafe food a lot. I love the breeze of air conditioning and the smell of the cafe when I stepped into the store. I like how fast the food comes out and I get a choice of milktea or iced tea with my entree. And I love how the food is consistent every time! One of my favorites is Baked Chicken Over Rice. It consists of a filet of pan-seared chicken thigh over a bed of fried rice, then topped with a sweet tangy tomato sauce, and then baked in the oven with cheese.

[ Ingredients ]

For chicken:
2 filet of chicken thigh
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of grinded black pepper
1/4 tsp of powdered white pepper
1/2 cup of flour

For the fried rice:
2 cup of overnight rice
2 eggs
1/2 tsp of salt

For the sauce:
3 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, diced
2 tablespoon of ketchup
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 tablespoon of water
cheese, amount to liking

[ Instruction ]

For the fried rice:

1. Heat a frying pan with 2 tablespoon of olive oil. Add eggs.
2. Stir fry the eggs until done. Place it in a bowl.
3. Add another 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and stir fry the rice. When the rice stopped clumping and separate by grain, add in the pre-fried eggs.
4. Add salt and mix.
5. Divide rice into two oven-safe dishes.

For the chicken:1. Marinade by mixing all the ingredient EXCEPT for the flour with the chicken. Let it sits for 20 minutes.
2. Pat both side of the chicken on a plate of flour. Shake off excess.
3. In a heated frying pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, pan-fried the chicken.

For the sauce:
1. Preheat the oven at 350 degree F.
2. In a sauce pan on medium heat, sautee garlic, onion and bay leaf until brown.
3. Add in carrots and tomatoes. Cook until soft, mix occasionally.
4. When carrots and tomatoes look soft, mash them with the spatula. The mixture should looks watery.

5. Mix in ketchup, chicken stock, Worcestershire sauce and sugar.
6. Let the sauce simmer on low for ten minutes.
7. In a small bowl, mix corn starch with water to rid clumps.
8. Add corn starch mixture into the sauce. Mix.
9. Simmer for five minutes. The sauce should thicken.
10. Laddle sauce over the fried rice.
11. Sprinkle cheese over.
12. Bake in a 350 degree F oven until the cheese melt or brown.

Enjoy!

Don't forget to add some veggies for a complete diet!

Can't Stop Thinking About Sushi Ran

107 Caledonia St

Sausalito, CA 94965
(415) 332-3620
http://www.sushiran.com/

It was a pouring night, but it did not stop my friends and I from coming to Sushi Ran. We parked our car, ran through the rain; and luckily, once we entered for our reservation, we got seated right away at the sushi bar (my favorite place in a gourmet sushi restaurant). We also got lucky because the executive chef was the one making our sushi for the night!
I ordered the omakase, which by the way is very worth it--chef's choice of 7 pieces of quality and beautifully-prepared sushi made with Japanese fishes for $36...oh yes, and toro was one of it. The omakase was such a teaser; we got excited and ordered more and asked the chef to make us whatever he liked for us to try. I felt like we tried almost everything on the nigiri menu, and all tasted delicious! Everything was so tasty and entertaining because all the fish were specially prepared and pair with condiments to bring out their flavors.

I recommend:

**Katsuo--lightly cherrywood smoked bonito. It has this very unique smoked flavor that's to die for!

Katsuo--cherry smoked bonito

**Kaisui uni--deep sea urchin from Hokkaido. I usually don't eat sea urchin because it's so fishy, but this kaisui uni is soooooo sweet and creamy!

Kaisui Uni--deep sea sea urchin

**Kamasu--seared barracuda. This is my first time having barracuda, and I must say, I love it! The ginger adds a nice touch visually and tastefully.

Kamasu-seared barracuda

**Kanburi-wild winter yellowtail. I love yellowtail, and this yellowtail is no exception. It is so rich and flavorful. You get the normal yellowtail flavor but timse ten!

Kanburi--wild winter yellowtail

**Hon tarabagani-fresh steamed king crab with miso butter. The crab is so fresh and so creamy. The miso butter is so good!

Hon tarabagani--fresh steamed king crab

Remember to save room for dessert, I recommend the Mascapone ice cream with berries. The ice cream was so creamy and rich in flavor.

mascapone ice cream with fresh berries

Very satisfying dinner, and great service! I cannot stop thinking about it for a week now! I am so going back.

Raspberry Macaron

I started making macaron at end of December. I was a little intimated with making macaron because it consists of so few ingredients, but the technique involves is complicated. To my surprise, my first batch turned out pretty good! The cookies have feet and are crunchy on the outside and chewy in the inside.
Today I decided to make a raspberry one. This would be the fourth flavor I've made, along with vanilla, matcha and coffee.

Macaron contains almond flour, powder sugar, granuated sugar and egg whites. There are the French style macaron and Italian style. Both are simliar except that the granulated sugar is melted in the Italian one.

Weighing and sifting the dry ingredients are as important as the way to incorporate all the ingredients together by hand...yup, by hand! That step cannot be replaced by machine since it's very delicate.

The consistency has to be correct. Running batter leads to flat and airy macaron. Hard macaron will lead to cracks on exterior of the cookie.

Baking time also play a role. If the macaron is under-bake, the cookie is going to be stained. If it's over baked, it is going to be hard and non-chewy at all.

Last but not least...the fillings! The filling is what gives the macaron the intense flavor of what it is supposes to taste like.

For the raspberry macaron, I just made a simple buttercream and added couple tablespoons of raspberry perserves.

These cookies are to die for! They are so small and colorful, which make great gifts!

A few for myself, and some to share at work's potluck.

Yummy! I can eat them all in one day if I want to...guilty pleasure!