Mexican Night

Once a month, we invite my family over for a potluck dinner.  We usually pick a theme and everyone must make a dish from scratch.  It's a lot of fun to see what everyone ends up bringing and the best part is eating them!  So last night was Mexican night.  Not many of us eat out at Mexican restaurants or cook Mexican food at home so we decided to give this a try.  We had a lot of food for just the five of us - Mexican rice, black beans, pork carnitas, and spicy pork soft tacos.  I also made guacamole and fresh tomato salsa to compliment the dishes.  

My brother's spicy pork soft tacos was pretty popular.  He actually used a Korean recipe for the pork which required marinating overnight.  I would've liked it even spicier.

After dinner, everyone played a competitive game of Naruto on Xbox.  I'm not a big fan of video games so I just watched them play.  Then it was time for dessert.  My sister made tres leches which means "three milk" in Spanish (I forgot to take a picture).  She made a butter cake soaked in three kinds of milk - evaporated, condensed and regular milk, and topped it with whipped cream.   I could hardly move after dessert was over. 

My sister really liked the guacamole I made one time so she requested I make it again.  She asked me to use less onions this time so I decreased it by half.

Perfect Guacamole
Recipe Adapted from Simply Recipes 

Ingredients

• 2 ripe avocados
• 1/4 red onion, minced
• 2 serrano chiles, minced (stems and seeds removed)
• 2 T cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 T lime juice
• 1/2 tsp coarse salt
• A dash of freshly grated black pepper
• 1/2 ripe tomato, chopped (seeds and pulp removed)

Directions

1. Cut avocados in half and remove seed.  Scoop out avocado from the peel and put in a mixing bowl.
2. Mash the avocado with a fork.  Add the chopped onion, chiles, cilantro, garlic, lime juice, salt and pepper and mash some more.  Adjust to taste.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Right before serving, add tomatoes and mix. 

Kona Kitchen

I'm discovering more and more food establishments serving up local dishes native to Hawaii here in Washington, especially the signature plate lunch with two scoops of rice, mac salad, and a hot entree. I usually rely on word of mouth from people who have actually lived in Hawaii before I decide to give these restaurants a try. I hope to see more eateries like these pop up so I can pig out on some of the popular foods I miss from Hawaii.

Last night, we went to Kona Kitchen near Northgate and got a good fix of local kine grindz and entertainment. While not the best food I've tasted compared to home, the atmosphere was laid back and relaxing which I really enjoyed. Not to mention there was a live band performance that night which was a big plus for me! I was almost transported back to Hawaii, but I think they could have played a little more Hawaiian music to make the experience even better.

Back to the food. Hubby and I shared the loco moco and the huli chicken. The hamburger patty was dry but otherwise, I don't see how you can mess up a loco moco. The huli chicken was tender and tasty which made up for the other dish. Next time, the Mr. wants to go back for lunch to eat Da Kanak Attack! I feel sleepy just talking about it.

Jajangmyun (Korean Black Bean Paste Noodles)

I had a hankering for noodles and Korean food last night so I made jajangmyun and dukboki (spicy rice cakes) for dinner. According to wikipedia, jajangmyun is a popular Korean noodle dish that originated from the Chinese zha jiang mien. The sauce of the jajangmyun is made with black bean paste called chunjang, which can be purchased at any Korean market, and usually stir fried with ground meat and diced vegetables. The sauce is served hot on top of Korean wheat noodles. The first time I had jajangmyun was from Nong Shim - yes, instant!


Now I make my own at home. It is very easy and effortless to make this dish. I don't remember where I got the original recipe but here is my adaptation.

JaJangmyun (Korean Black Bean Paste Noodles)
Serves 4

1 package Korean noodles (or thin udon)

vegetable oil
4 T chunjang (Korean black bean paste)
1/4 lb. ground pork
1 medium onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 T garlic, minced
1 T ginger, minced
2 tsp sugar
1 cup water

1 T cornstarch
2 T water

cucumber, shredded
green onions, chopped

1. Heat a small skillet with 2 T oil and stir fry jajang over medium high heat for about 1-2 minutes, drain extra oil and set aside
2. Boil water in a large pot and cook noodles according to the package for a few minutes, then drain and rinse in cold water so the noodles do not stick (you may have to reheat noodles to eat hot later).
3. Heat 1/2 T oil in wok or large skillet and stir fry garlic and ginger until fragrant. Stir in ground pork and keep cooking until almost cooked.
4. Add diced onions and carrots until everything is cooked. Stir in jajang, 1 cup of water, and sugar. Keep cooking until water boils vigorously.
5. Mix cornstarch with water and slowly stir into the sauce until the mixture becomes a thick and heavy consistency.
6. In a bowl, place cooked noodles and pour jajang mixture over and garnish with cucumbers and green onions.

Hawaii Shortbread Cookies

Last week, my friend emailed me "...my sister brought something for you from Hawaii. I was suppose to call you and let you know until she reminded me recently...it's just something small!" So, I was expecting something "small" but when I went to pick it up today, I got this. Kona flavored shortbread cookies from the Honolulu Cookie Company! These pineapple shaped cookies came all individually wrapped with a variety of chocolate covered flavors including dark and white chocolate. What a nice surprise to brighten up this dark, cold wintery Sunday.

Banana Bread

This past weekend, my mom gave me some bananas to take home since they had a lot. Apparently, my dad saw a sale and bought a box full of them. They were pretty ripe so I decided to let them sit a few more days to make banana bread. This is a foolproof recipe and the bread is incredibly moist. Except one time I mistook tapioca starch for baking soda and I was puzzled for days before I realized why my bread didn't rise. Funny story. Anyway, I love this recipe because no mixer is needed which means one less thing to wash! I substituted 1/2 cup sugar with brown sugar and added some walnuts to the recipe.



Banana Bread
Adapted from Simply Recipes

Ingredients:
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted [optional]

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan and sprinkle walnuts on top. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Sweet and simple

My sister brought over some cinnamon rolls this morning on her way to work. I love it when she spoils us with her delicious baked goods! The rolls were all arranged perfectly in a cake pan. All I had to do was pop them in the oven at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.


Hot and fresh cinnamon rolls right out of the oven!


They were yummy! Thanks, J!

Tweeting grandma

I can't believe it's been over 2 years since I moved away from Hawaii. Everytime my cravings kick in for all the local grindz I can't get here in Seattle or hear Iz's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" playing on the radio, I get extremely home sick. On most days, I still browse the Honolulu Advertiser online as if I still lived there. Today, as I was going through the Island Life section, I saw this really cute article. At 101 years old, this grandma sure can tweet. I especially loved reading the part about her favorite tweet subject - FOOD!