Matcha (green tea) Latte

 

I had been hearing a lot about the benefits of matcha; most importantly, the process of harvesting it.  Farmers put shades over the green tea plants weeks before harvesting them to increase their chlorophyll. content.  Then, the green tea leafs are picked, steamed, dried before being ground into fine powder.  The best matcha will be ground on a traditional grinding stone and it would take 1 hour to grind just 30g of matcha.  That makes me appreciate matcha even more.

So, at home, I was trying to make some matcha latte with 3 layers: the bottom layer is usually syrup, the middle is the matcha and the top layer is whipped milk.  To get creative, especially in the hot summer, I usually add ice cubes on top of the syrup.  Sometime I also add grass jelly after the ice.  To make the latte more appearing, I also decorate my latte with a cherry or strawberry on the edge of the glass.

Hmm..., a little sweet but not too sweet, refreshing, ice-cold and caffeinated; a perfect combo!

Beef Wellington V2

 

Last year, I tried to make Beef Wellington for the first time of my life, it did not go as well as I hoped for mainly because I was using the wrong kind of beef.  This year, I used a brisket, sliced it and chopped it a little to tenderize it.  Then, I seasoned it with salt and black peppers.  The meat, surprisingly, tasted very well.  Another improvement was I made enough dough which covered the whole meat and preserved the juice.  Overall, I was very happy about the outcome.

Beef Noodle Soup with Wontons

Since I had some leftover soup from the beef noodle, I made myself some beef noodle soup with wontons.  The skin, bought from an Asian supermarket, was mixed with green veggies, hence the green color.  Yummy!

Happy Mother's Day with Taiwanese Beef Noodle

Happy Mother's Day, everyone.  

Today, I made Taiwanese Beef Noodle again to celebrate this special day.  In my previous blog, many readers had thought I was making dry beef noodle since there was no soup in the pictures.  The fact is I didn't have enough soup, so, I only put a little soup in the bowl and the close-up pictures didn't help either.  Anyway, I was sure to make enough soup today.  Last but not least, I used beef shanks today and I simmered them for 2 hours.  A quote from someone who had the noodle: "I'm not going to lie, the beef noodle is frigging good!"

Taiwanese Beef Noodle (台式紅燒牛肉麵)

 

I always wanted to try to make Taiwanese beef noodle, a popular dish in Taiwan.  The beef is very tender and the soup is very flavorful.  So, I tried today, except I was running short on garlic.  Fear not, I used red scallions and celery instead.  Basically, whatever leftover in the fridge, LOL.

Of course, instead of Chinese noodle or pulling the noodle myself, I was using the Italian pasta which was chewy and perfectly served as beef noodle.  The end results were not disappointed.  Yum!

Youtube:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK1m8rnjk2w
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Md4wYKJDU

Cabbage with Tornado Omelette

 

I usually sauteed cabbage with Eggs.  It's a very easy and nutritious dish I'd like to make for lunch.  But, this time, instead of the regular, I made a variation: I first sauteed the cabbage, then made a tornado omelette on top of the cabbage.

There is no recipe nor video; it's my own creation in the hope to make cooking fun.  Enjoy!

Nigiri Sushi

I bought a farm-raised salmon from Costco, followed the youtube video listed below to cure the salmon.  Left them in the fridge for a week, took them out yesterday and made the Nigiri Sushi today.  I think the salmon tasted better after being cured.  YMMV.

 Youtube:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3gfaq_RYnI