Thai Stir-Fry, One Wok Cooking, for serious!

 

I made the most delicious dinner on Monday night last week, man I was quite pleased with myself.  Not only was it delicious but it was also the first time I'd ever cooked shrimp.  I bought this seasoning pack from the local grocery store thinking it was Tom Yum, but it turned out to be something else, still wonderful.  I just kind of made up everything as I went along but here's what I used in case you want to re-create this:

 

 

Ingredients:

1 pack panang curry paste

1 can of cocnut milk

2 zucchini

2 yellow squash

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

1 onion

10 cloves of garlic (you can put as much or as little in as you want, we love garlic)

1ish cup of snap peas

1ish cup of string muschrooms

1/2 cup of spicy red peppers chopped (including seeds to make it extra spicy)

As much shrimp as you want or whatever kind of meat you'd prefer.

 

I have a gigantic wok with a lid that I use for this but I think you could also do it in a big pot.

 

First I missed the garlic, onions, coconut milk and the curry paste together in the wok and turned on the heat low.  I wanted to make sure the garlic cooked all the way and I thought the flavor would be extra awesome.  While that was slowly cooking I chopped up the zucchini, and yellow squash.  I threw those in and stirred them around.  And I put the lid on the wok to keep the heat in and help cook the squash.

Then I chopped up the snap peas, okay I just cut off the stringy ends.  Add those, stir everything around a little so that everything is coated nicely.

I chopped up the spicy red peppers next, they're little so I chopped up 10 of them.  I throw in the ingredients based on how cooked I want things.  That's the reason for this ordering.  Oh, and always stir after you throw in a new ingredient.

Next I chopped up the yellow and red peppers, in large chunks and threw them in, followed shortly by the string mushrooms.

Lastly, I got out the shrimp and butterflied half of them just to see if it would make a difference when it came to soaking up the flavor.  In the end I don't think it mattered too much.  I threw in the shrimp and stirred everything around, put the lid on and let it cook for 5 more minutes-sh and then it was done!

The whole process takes about 45 minutes.  Which is perfect because that's how long it takes for the rice cooker to cook rice and for Bob to get home from the office.

I had picked up a sushi tray earlier in the day and we had that as a little appetizer, although we totally didn't need it because I have a habit of cooking way too much food.  This recipe made about 4 servings, and I'm talking pretty good sized servings.

It was really good, we'll be eating it again in the future.

:)Margaret

Ridiculous Burger

My coworker Ryan and I goto HRD Cafe and have decided our plan is to continue to make ridiculous burgers. What we have here is a standard breakfast burger: bun, pickles, lettuce, tomato, mayo and a burger patty. Breakfast fixins' inlude hasbrowns and a fried egg. Ridiculous fixins' include bacon and Korean BBQ pork.

Strangely enough, after eating this I didn't feel nearly as bad had I eaten a McGriddle sandwich. Those things are bricks.

The goal for the next burger is to see if they have roast turkey (which they do now and then) and include that on top of everything else. Three meats? Three times the delicious.

Bacon Wrapped Steelhead (with other stuff)

I made some eats last night: Bacon Wrapped Steelhead (glazed with a little maple syrup and soy sauce) with Red Pepper Mashed Potatoes (mashed by hand) and oven-roasted broccoli (with garlic). Yea, it was pretty good.

The recipe was actually pretty easy to follow. This recipe was actually for salmon, but steelhead is a nice cheaper alternative. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and make sure there's a rack on the top third and bottom third of the oven. Also, the fish will be needing a broiling ban.

Simply salt and pepper the steelhead, wrap it in bacon and then put it on the broiling pan. This should go into the oven for about 12-15 minutes, depending on fish thickness. Place it on the top third rack. Also make sure the bacon is cooked all the way through and crispy.

The broccoli is to be tossed in a mixture of 3 tablespoons of olive oil and three chopped cloves of garlic. A tablespoon of lemon juice helps too. Salt and pepper to taste, then place it on the bottom third rack for 12-15 minutes.

The mashed potatoes were five peeled Yukon gold potatoes, cooked in boiling salted water for 20 minutes. Drain the potatoes and mash them with 1/2 cup of milk (or cream) and 1/2 cup chicken broth. Mash all night long. Garlic salt, black pepper and red pepper to taste.

Just a note to make: we didn't have a broiling pan and our oven is strange (doesn't keep an even heat throughout). So, I had to put the fish in the microwave after the oven for about 3 minutes to make sure it was cooked all the way through. This made the once crispy bacon less crispy, but still bacon-y.

HaiDiLao - HOT POT!!!! Jing'An, Shanghai

Poor Eric and Bob had lots of meetings on Thursday so we all went out to HaiDiLao for dinner at the end of the day. We LOVE HaiDiLao, the place is seriously amazing, and we're like celebrities there.  Ever since the first time Eric took us with Richard, whenever we go we never have to wait for a table, even if the place is packed.  They always seat us right away, I think it's because we're fat americans so they think we'll order more, which to be fair, we probably do.

Even if we weren't celebrities there, the wait would still be awesome.  The way HaiDiLao is set up, even when you're waiting for a table they take great care of you.  There are snacks and games, and if you want you can get a hand massage, or get your hair cut or your shoes shine, or have your nails done, FOR FREE while you wait.  It is truly amazing and full service and I have never met a nicer staff.

Our Miso Base:

Anyway, we decided that rather than getting the two variations of cooking soup/sauce that we usually do, one spicy and one more miso-esque that we would just do the miso-esque one and I'm quite please that we did, it was great.  We had mushrooms, lotus root, bamboo shoots, cabbage, tofu strips, shrimp balls, beef balls and thin slices of beef and Kung Fu Noodles.  We love HaiDiLao, it's like fondue in the sense that you cook the food yourself, but even better because there's a spice bar.

Yummy fixings:

I love the shrimp balls, lotus root and tofu the best.  I think they pick up the most flavor, and have the best texture.  The tofu is neat because instead of being chunks, they're strips of tofu that are textured.  And if you've never had lotus root you should definitely try it out.  It's very similar to a potato, but I think it's a little sweeter.  After it's been sitting in the the soup mixture for a while it's all nice and tender but still has a little bit of a crisp bite to it.  YUMMY!

The Kung Fu Noodles are pretty rad.  They call them Kung Fu noodles because when you order them a guy comes to your table with just a ball of dough and then starts to kneed it and then twirl it like a ribbon to get it thin and it's like watching an olympic sport.

Kung Fu Noodle Awesomeness:

The spice bar is seriously amazing, there is every kind of spice you could ever want and more, plus a sort of salad bar area.  I typically like crushed garlic, seasame seeds, thai peppers, chili sauce, mushroom sauce and various other things all mixed together to dip my food in.  There's also peanuts, cherry tomatoes and sugar cane for you to snack on, plus they'll bring slices of cantaloupe and watermelon to your table.  It's an eating extravaganza.

They also provide you with red aprons so you don't spill on yourself, which I definitely appreciate as I have managed to ruin some of my clothes here with all the grease in the food.  They'll also give you wipes for your glasses for at the end of the meal to wipe all the steam off your lenses.  And there's a wonderful woman who comes by the table all the time with hot clothes to wipe your hands and face off with.

Bob modeling his apron:

HaiDiLao is actually a chain, and we've tried one of their locations in Beijing as well and it was just as awesome.  I will definitely miss eating at HaiDiLao when we return to the states, it's just a great eating experience.

:)M

 

 

Gourmet Cafe Lunch -Jing'An, Shanghai

For lunch on Thursday November 11th, I walked down to the Jing'An area of Shanghai and ate at my favorite burger place, Gourmet Cafe.  It was a beautiful day so I was able to take advantage of their outdoor seating, unfortunately this means that service goes down the tube because they pay very little attention to you when you sit outside.

I ordered a mint lemonade, an Unbrielievable Burger, and garlic fries.  I didn't need the fries, but kinda wanted to check them out as I hadn't had them before.  I really like the mint lemonade because they don't sweeten it at all, and bring you a side of simple syrup for you to sweeten it yourself.  I choose not to sweeten it because I think it's pretty great as is, it's kind of like really lemony water, which I think is quite refreshing.

Yum, lemonade:

The burger, as usual was awesome!  Brie cheese on a perfectly seasoned patty, with tomato, and caramelized onions with a sun-dried tomato sauce.  It was kind of mess and I ended up eating it with a knife and fork, but it was still delicious.  The garlic fries were a little disappointing, mostly because I'm pretty sure they weren't garlic fries at all, and were just fries with crushed bacon on top.  Don't get me wrong, I like crushed bacon as much as the next person, but I had really wanted garlic fries.  Oh well, there's always next time.  All the burgers come with a small side salad that reminds me of grass and four leaf clovers, but the dressing is nice, it's kind of mustardy.

My awesome burger:

My not garlic fries:

I was disappointed with the service, like I said, sitting outside kills their service.  I moved all my empty dishes to the side of me while I read my book in hopes that they'd come out and clear everything and I could ask for another lemonade and the check, but it didn't happen.  I ended up packing up my things and walking into the counter to pay for my food.

The service is crap, but the food is delicious.  It is a little on the steep side, but these are gourmet burgers and they are delicious so it's totally worth it.  And if you like beer, they have an excellent beer selection.

:)M

Korean Lunch - Tech Park Food Court

So the Mochi China office is across the street from an outdoor foodcourt area that has a lot of different places to eat, and we've typically eaten at the same places because, we like familiar things and don't like to be disappointed at lunch.  I decided that while I do like to know what I'm getting for lunch, we should also be trying out new things, and so has begun our adventure of the Tech Park Food Court.  The Tech Park is on the East side of the river in PuDong, where our office is also located.

The Tech Food Court:

The Korean Lunch Place:

We had Korean for lunch on Wednesday, November 10th, to be honest I have no idea what the name of the place is, because they didn't have anything in English.  Nothing on the menu was in English and the after ordering food I'm pretty sure no one who works there speaks English.  That's okay, because they have excellent pictures and Bob and I are familiar enough with Korean food that we were able to order something yummy.

DIY bibimbop:

We both had beef bibimbop for lunch.  The idea of the place is DIY (do it yourself), so they bring a giant stone bowl that's burn your face off hot and throw in all the ingredients in front of you at the table.  For those of you who have not had bibimbop, first, go find the closest korean place to your home and go try it, now!  It's delicious.  We had carrots, onions, sprouts, zucchini, and other veggies mixed in with rice and beef slices.  We each had a side of kimichi which we threw into our bibimbop, which made it even more delish.

Top view of my awesome food:

I will definitely be going back to this place, it was spicy but not too spicy and while the language barrier was there we had no problem ordering our food.  Plus, as usual the food was super cheap.  The meal was the bibimbop, side of kimichi and a miso soup for $4USD.  And it's a huge bowl.   Next time I'm going to get the bibimbop with egg, I love when they throw the egg on top and stir it around, but my favorite part is really when the rice has gotten a little burnt because then it's crispy.  Go have Korean now!

:)Margaret

Element Fresh and Boxing Cat Brewery

Boxing Cat Brewery (and a foot massage) -

So on Saturday night (October 9th) Bob took me to the Boxing Cat Brewery for dinner, and omg it was delicious!  (http://www.boxingcatbrewery.com/enter.html)  It's a micro brewery in the French Concession serving typical pub food, the only difference is that it's delicious!  Delicious to the point of mouth watering goodness.  We ordered a 4 appetizers to share: the baked mac and cheese, chili cheese fries, pulled pork quesadilla, and pulled pork sliders.  The pulled pork quesadilla was my favorite, the pork was so juicy and tender and had a real kick to it.  We could have been eating at a great place in the states.  The mac and cheese was pretty good but needed a little something more to complete the taste, we were thinking jalapenos would have finished it off nicely.  The pulled pork sliders were also really good, but I preferred the pulled pork on the quesadilla, still good though.  The chili cheese fries were okay, the chili itself was good but the fries were kind of blah.  I will definitely be back for the pulled pork quesadilla.

The beers they brew were only so-so and they didn't have the two kinds on tap that we wanted to try.  But it's not like we went there for exceptional beer, we went for awesome food, and got it!  AND  we found out they do brunch!  I can't wait to try their breakfast burrito.  Yummmy!

After dinner Bob and I wandered around the neighborhood and found a little strip with a bunch of bars with patio seating.  We played liars dice for a while, and I was terrible at it so I was the one who ended up drinking more.  After cutting myself off we finished the night by going to our favorite massage place.  We were getting foot massages when the woman rubbing Bob's feet told us we were fat!  It's true, we're not skinny, but really.  And then she told us that I was fatter than the last time she had seen us, I was horrified.  She followed it up by telling me I was adorable, so I'm apparently fat and adorable.  I vowed never to eat again.....until.....

 

Element Fresh -

I woke up the next morning and wanted pancakes.  I had wanted pancakes the morning before but we ended up eating stir fry at home that Bob made.  That's right, Bob made us lunch and it was very good, he did an amazing job.  It was beef strips, broccoli, mushrooms, onions, tomato and garlic in a chili sauce.  I told him he can cook whenever he'd like :)

Anyway, we went to Element Fresh for pancakes because I'd read in one of the local magainzes that Element Fresh had the best pancakes.  After getting to the restaurant though and looking at the menu, neither of us had pancakes.  Bob had steak and eggs and I had peanut butter and banana french toast which was pretty good.  The place over all was only so-so, I don't think we'll go back for breakfast, maybe for lunch, but not for breakfast.

We spent the rest of the day shopping for snacks and things to stock up on while Jay and Staci are in town.  (For more info on this read the MargaretOnTheGo blog)