Chocolate mochi, Mochi Magic

 Chocolate Mochi Brownies

Serves 10-12

An excellent introduction to the world of baked mochi treats, these mochi brownies adapted from Kaori Becker’s “Mochi Magic” (Storey Publishing) come together as easily as conventional cocoa brownies. The results are crispy on the edges and gooey-chewy in the middle. They’re also excellent served still warm from the oven with vanilla ice cream.

Butter or neutral cooking oil for greasing pan

3 cups mochiko (sweet rice flour)

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2 cups packed light brown sugar

2½ cups whole milk

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup melted butter

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

Sift together the mochiko, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

Beat the eggs in another large bowl. Stir in the sugar, milk, oil, butter and vanilla. Mix well. Scrape this mixture into the bowl with the mochiko mixture and whisk until uniform in texture (make sure there are no lumps). Stir in ½ cup of the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, then scatter the remaining ½ cup chocolate chips on top.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool to room temperature. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

**Adapted version

Chocolate Mochi Brownies (makes 10 pieces)

Ingredients 

3 cups mochiko

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 3/4 cup brown sugar 

2 1/2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup melted butter

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup dark chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate 

*original recipe is 2 cups of light brown sugar, vegetable oil and semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Butter a 9x13 inch baking tray. 

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). 

Sift together the mochiko, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

Beat the eggs in another large bowl. Stir in the sugar, milk, oil, butter and vanilla. Mix well. Scrape this mixture into the bowl with the mochiko mixture and whisk until uniform in texture (make sure there are no lumps). Stir  in half of the chocolate.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, then scatter the remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate on top.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the brownies are golden brown. Enjoy hot with vanilla ice cream or let cool to room temperature.

Cut into squares and store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month. 

These chocolate mochi brownies are so good! I can't convey how good they are through just the pictures alone so you will just have to make them yourselves! I did cut each brownie and made them rather large for these photo but I also had no issues just eating the entire brownie square myself! While we were taking pictures, we happened to be near Luna's crate. (as it has really good light). She ran inside thinking she would get a treat as we have been praising her efforts of staying in the crate on her own. Of course we did not give her any of these brownies! 

Mochi cake Niangao

Joy Huang | The Cooking of Joy

 Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

3 cups milk, warmed to a little hotter than a fever

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 pound glutinous rice flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup red bean paste or sweetened red beans (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 °F. Grease a 9"x13" inch baking pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, warm milk, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.

In a large bowl, whisk together the glutinous rice flour and baking powder. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture in 5-7 increments, stirring well after each addition to prevent lumps from forming. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Drop red bean paste by scant teaspoonfuls onto the top of the cake. If spoonfuls are too big, the filling will sink to the bottom.

Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cake springs back when lightly touched. It should be golden and crusty. Let cool completely before serving.

For extra decadence, you can slice the niangao into thin slices, dip them in beaten egg, and pan-fry for Cantonese-style niangao.

Fermented tofu fried chicken 南乳燒雞

 我一向都是大約。南乳一粒， 南乳汁1 table sp, soya sauce1 table sp, white pepper, salt, ginger powder, brown sugar. 氣炸350 F 55 mins. Flipped once.

Airfry cornish hen youtube

材料/ ingredient

春雞1隻 1 spring chicken (spatch cocked)

南乳3粒 3 fermented bean curd

腐乳2粒 2 Bean curd

玫瑰露1湯匙 Meihui lu 1 tbsp

紹興酒1湯匙 Shaoxing wine 1 tbsp

糖 1.5茶匙 Sugar 1.5 tsp

鹽 1/8 茶匙 Salt 1/8 tsp

豉油 1/2 茶匙 Soy sauce 1/2 tsp

蠔油 1 茶匙 Oyster sauce 1 tsp

粟粉 1.5 茶匙 Corn starch 1.5 tsp

胡椒粉 1 湯匙 Pepper 1 tbsp

蒜蓉 2 湯匙 Minced garlic 2 tbsp

薑蓉 1 湯匙 Minced ginger 1 tbsp

已炒香乾蔥 1 湯匙 Fried Dried shallot 1 tbsp

步驟 / Steps

1. 春雞去內臟 ， 剪去多餘脂肪， 用兩湯匙鹽醃15分鐘， 然後清洗乾淨， 索乾水份。

1. Remove the inner waste, fat, marinate with 2 tbsp salt for 15 mins, rinse well, wipe dry.

2. 混合醃料， 塗於 雞內膽及表皮， 醃24小時。

2. Mix and marinate the chicken. Keep in.fridge at least.24 hrs

3. 預熱氣炸鍋200度三分鐘。

3. preheat airfryer 200c 3 mins.

4. 放入春雞， 皮向底， 180度 氣炸十分鐘。

4. Skin face down, airfry at 180c 10mins.

5. 反轉春雞, 200度 氣炸十分鐘。

5 .Turn to other side, 200c 10mins.

6. 待涼20分鐘， 即可食用。

6. Set aside to cool down for 20 mins. Dish up.

是開咗來醃，搽均匀雞内外，剩餘的汁全部倒落雞肚内雪過夜，焗時連汁一齊焗。

Baked seafood rice dish - 焗海鮮飯

焗海鮮飯. It basically consisted of a baked dish that was layered with rice on the bottom, mixed seafood on top of the rice, some creamy white sauce, cheese on top, and baked until bubbly. 

I’ll break the recipe down into three parts, so it’s easier to follow – the rice, the seafood mix, and the white cream sauce. Measurements are approximations, as I eyeballed everything for this.  Please adjust each to taste.

For the rice, you’ll need:

• 2 cups of cooked rice

• 2 tablespoons butter

• ½ of a chopped onion

• 1 egg, beaten (optional)

You can really use anything here. You can go as simple as what I’ve got here, or make a fried rice to your liking. I actually omitted the egg as one of my kids doesn’t like it, but what you’re going for is a simple (or not so simple) fried rice.

Melt the butter over medium-high heat, and sauté the onions. Add in the cooked rice, and season with white pepper, dashi powder, and a bit of chicken Better Than Bouillon. I wanted a very simple, but fragrant, rice base, where the flavors didn’t compete with the layers that would go on top.

For the seafood mix, you’ll need:

• Seafood mix, thawed

• 1 tablespoon rice wine

• 1 teaspoon salt

• Dash of white pepper

Lightly marinate thawed seafood with rice wine, salt, and white pepper. Heat a few tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and sauté for a minute, until fragrant. Add in seafood and cook until almost cooked through (about 4-5 minutes). It can be underdone at this point, as we’ll be baking later on anyway.

For the cream sauce, you’ll need:

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 2 tablespoons flour

• 1 cup milk

• Black pepper

• Garlic salt

• Salt

Melt butter over medium-high heat.  Sprinkle flour over butter and cook until bubbly (about 1-2 minutes). Add in milk, a little bit at a time, mixing well and allowing to thicken with each addition.  Season with salt and/or garlic salt and black pepper.

Assemble your dish in a baking pan.  On the bottom, layer the rice, followed by the seafood mixture, then top with the cream sauce.  Lastly, sprinkle some shredded cheese on the top, and bake for about 15-20 minutes at 350, until bubbly and hot. You may need to broil for the last minute or two to let the cheese brown.

https://www.instagram.com/foodiewithflair/

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup - J. Kenji López-Alt

4 to 6 servings, 3 hours, plus overnight chilling

Flavored with warm spices, sugar and fermented broad bean chile paste, Taiwanese beef noodle soup is traditionally made with gelatinous beef shins and tendons, giving the broth a sticky richness. The flavors and technique suit meaty short ribs, which come out meltingly tender and moist. Adding a packet of powdered gelatin to the braising liquid gives it the same lip-sticking richness that braised tendons offer in the traditional version.

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE BRAISING LIQUID:

2 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup Shaoxing wine

3 tablespoons Chinese dark soy sauce or shoyu

3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon doubanjiang (Sichuanese fermented chile bean paste; see Note)

1 (1/4-ounce) envelope unflavored powdered gelatin (about 2 1/2 teaspoons/7 grams)

FOR THE BEEF:

3 pounds meaty, bone-in English-cut short ribs (about 4 large pieces)

 Kosher salt

1 tablespoon neutral oil, such as canola, rice bran or grapeseed

FOR THE AROMATICS:

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped

2 Roma tomatoes, roughly chopped

8 to 10 medium garlic cloves, unpeeled, smashed with the side of a cleaver or knife

1 (2-inch) knob fresh (unpeeled) ginger, sliced about 1/4-inch thick

3 scallions, trimmed and roughly chopped

3 small hot dried chiles, such as Sichuan heaven-facing, Thai bird or chiles de árbol, split open

 Kosher salt

FOR THE SPICES:

1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick (optional; see Note)

2 whole star anise pods

2 teaspoons whole fennel seeds (optional; see Note)

2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds (optional; see Note)

2 teaspoons whole Sichuan peppercorns (optional; see Note)

2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns (optional; see Note)

2 dried bay leaves

FOR SERVING:

2 tablespoons Chinese black or balsamic vinegar, plus more for serving

 Kosher salt

1 pound baby bok choy, halved lengthwise (or Chinese water spinach, Napa cabbage or other tender greens, cut into strips)

1 pound fresh Chinese egg noodles or wheat noodles

¼ cup chopped preserved Chinese mustard greens (ya cai), mustard root (zha cai), suan cai (pickled cabbage) or plain old sauerkraut

¼ cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems

PREPARATION

Make the braising liquid: Combine chicken broth, wine, dark soy sauce, sugar and doubanjiang in a medium bowl or large liquid measure. Sprinkle gelatin over the top and set aside.

Sear the beef: Season short ribs lightly with salt on all sides. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over high until shimmering. Working in batches if necessary, add short ribs in a single layer and cook, turning occasionally, until well browned on all sides, about 8 minutes, reducing heat if necessary if the oil smokes excessively. Transfer short ribs to a large plate and set aside. (Do not wash out the pot.)

Add the aromatics: Add onion, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, scallions and dried chiles to the pot, season lightly with salt, and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are starting to brown around the edges and the tomatoes are breaking down, about 4 minutes. Reduce heat if the bottom of the pot starts to blacken or smoke excessively.

Bloom the spices: Add cinnamon, star anise, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, Sichuan peppercorns and black peppercorns, and cook, stirring frequently, until aromatic, about 1 minute.

Stir the braising liquid to get the sugar off the bottom. (The hydrated gelatin will have formed a raft that will break up a little when you stir. It’s OK if it’s not dissolved at this point.) Pour the braising liquid into the pot, then scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.

Return the short ribs to the pot and add enough water to barely cover them (1 1/2 to 2 quarts). Add bay leaves, bring the liquid to a boil, adjust heat to maintain a bare simmer, and cover the pot with a lid, leaving it slightly cracked to allow steam to escape.

Cook until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the meaty part of the largest short rib shows very little resistance but isn’t falling apart, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Using a spatula and tongs, carefully transfer the short ribs to a plate. Strain the braising liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into a fresh pot. Discard the solids.

Pick any stray spices or aromatics off the short ribs and discard. Return the short ribs to the braising liquid. For best results, allow short ribs to cool in the liquid on the countertop, then refrigerate overnight. Once liquid has chilled, using a ladle, skin and discard most — but not all — of the fat from the surface.

To serve: If you have the right number of ribs for each guest, you can reheat them on the bone. If not, gently separate the meat from the bone (including the tendons) and break the meat into big chunks with your fingers before reheating. Bring broth and short ribs to a simmer. Add vinegar and season broth to taste with salt. Keep hot.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add greens and cook until tender-crisp, about 1 minute. Remove greens with a slotted spoon or tongs and set aside. Return water to a boil and cook noodles according to package instructions. Drain noodles and divide among four serving bowls. Top with short ribs, divide the greens evenly among the bowls, and ladle the broth over the top. Place a small pile of chopped Chinese pickled vegetable or sauerkraut on top of each short rib, sprinkle with chopped cilantro, and serve.

Tips

Doubanjiang is a Sichuanese fermented broad bean and chile paste. It can be found in better-stocked supermarkets, most Asian markets or online. The best is from Pixian in the capital city of Chengdu.

If you want to omit some of the spices, they are listed them in order of importance, from most to least. You could simply use the star anise, along with 2 teaspoons of Chinese five spice in place of the other whole spices, but at the very minimum you should include the star anise.

Tomatoes and Eggs Chinese Stir-Fried

NYT Francis Lam

Home-style Chinese food at its simplest and, arguably, tastiest, this dish is the object of nostalgia for many Chinese immigrants (and their children). Well-seasoned eggs scrambled until just-set combine at the last moment with a sweet-tart ginger-tomato sauce. Serve with lots of steamed rice. When tomatoes are out of season, canned tomatoes in juice work best.

INGREDIENTS

6 eggs

 Kosher salt

½ teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 pound beefsteak tomatoes in season, or 1 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes in juice

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 scallions, sliced

1 teaspoon minced ginger (from about 1/4-inch nub)

 Steamed rice, for serving

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs well with 1 teaspoon salt, sesame oil and rice wine or sherry. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water until well combined, then stir in the sugar and ketchup.

If using fresh tomatoes, core and cut them into 1/2-inch wide wedges.

Heat a wide nonstick skillet over high heat with 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil. When the oil shimmers, add most of the scallions, saving some to garnish. Cook, stirring, until very aromatic, about 20 seconds. Add the eggs, and cook, stirring well with a spatula or chopsticks, until just set but still runny, about 45 seconds. Pour the eggs back into the mixing bowl, and wipe out the pan.

Reheat the pan over high heat with the remaining tablespoon of oil. When it is hot, add the ginger and cook until aromatic, about 15 seconds. Add the tomatoes and salt to taste; cook, stirring occasionally, until the flesh has softened but still has some shape and the juices have begun to form a sauce, 2-3 minutes. (If using canned tomatoes, add the juice as well and cook about 4 minutes, to reduce it to a saucelike consistency.)

Reduce the heat to medium. Give the cornstarch-ketchup mixture a stir in its bowl, then stir it into the pan. Cook, stirring, until the sauce returns to a boil and thickens. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, sugar or more ketchup — you want a savory, tart-sweet sauce. Stir the eggs in the bowl to cut up the curds a bit, then return them to the pan. Cook, stirring, for a few seconds to finish cooking the eggs and to combine. Top with the reserved scallions, and serve with steamed rice.

Korean Fried Chicken (beksul fried chicken mix)

From:  jeannie.at.home (instagram)

Hi! I pour 1 cup milk (or buttermilk) to 1 C mix over the chicken. Stir to make a wet batter. Then I coat one more time in the dry mix only (no liquid), before frying. So measurements of liquid to mix is 1:1, you can increase depending on amount of chicken you have!