Of all the various Asian fried rolls I’ve ever eaten, cha gio is the best in terms of taste and texture, hands down. There is just something serendipitous about the interplay between the flavors of the filling ingredients: the taro, the freshly ground pepper, the fish sauce, and of course, the pork and shrimp. Texture-wise,… Continue reading Cha Gio / Nem Ran / Vietnamese Fried Rolls
Hippo Flatbread, my contribution to the world’s repertoire of flatbread, is rich and buttery in flavor, even if it is gluten-free and free of dairy, egg, sesame, peanuts, and all tree-nuts except for coconut. The texture is satisfying: soft and warm on the inside with a bottom and edges that are crisped just so. Eat this flatbread with dal, stews, curries, and grilled meats and veggies. Or, spread on Sunbutter and allergen-free jam for a gluten- and allergen-free pb&j sandwich. Personally, I like it best eaten plain.
This was my son’s birthday cake this year. I was so happy he loved it!!! 🙂 An old-fashioned term, “spider” refers to a cast iron skillet, which I use to make this cake; spiders are not an ingredient. 🙂 Pineapple Upside Down Cake is probably one of the best known spider cakes baked today. The… Continue reading Chocolate Craze Spider Cake
Some days are meant for sitting on the sofa and eating bon bons. While I admit bon bons are incredibly tasty (I had them just once and even made it a point to sit on the sofa while eating them), more often than not, I’ll make jun jiu kao when I’m in need of a… Continue reading Jun Jiu Kao (Pearl Balls)
Every gluten-free cook has his or her signature bread recipe. This is mine. A derivation of Neat Bread, Hippo Bread is superior in terms of texture, taste, and appearance thanks to its key ingredient, plain, homemade soy milk. Homemade soy milk acts as a binder, tenderizes the loaf’s crumb, adds a creaminess to the flavor, and imparts… Continue reading Hippo Bread
Soy milk is a kitchen basic in our household. It’s good for drinking, but it’s also indispensable in the kitchen as an ingredient in many recipes. Soy milk is an excellent dairy substitute in cooking. It’s also a great egg substitute in recipes requiring the binding (though not rising) properties of eggs. My family enjoys… Continue reading Soy Milk
If you’ve been to a dim sum restaurant, you’ve probably had har gow (a.k.a. ha gow, crystal shrimp dumplings). When done right, har gow can be a revelation: shrimp, paired with bamboo and/or water chestnut/jicama, enveloped in a thin, chewy, yet luscious, translucent wrapper that teases and leaves a person craving more.
I vividly remember the first time I had hash browns. My Aunt Rose had taken my mom, my brothers, and her daughter, my cousin Sabrina, to Hobo Joe’s, a chain eatery that no longer exists in Los Angeles. Aunt Rose ordered hash browns, and my, they were dee-lightful! The texture was light, ever so slightly… Continue reading Hobo Joe Hash Browns
A popular dim sum dish, hom sui gok’s savory interior is enveloped in a wrapper that is at once chewy and luscious on the inside, yet every so slightly crisped on the outside. Hom sui gok’s paradoxical texture owes itself to glutinous rice flour. When fried, glutinous rice flour does not react the way most… Continue reading Hom Sui Gok
The evolution, which is still ongoing, of this recipe travels the globe. It started out as a Kenyan recipe for a sweetened, yeast-risen rice pancake tinged with cardamom. We were enjoying that for a while. Then one day, I ran out of rice flour and threw in a bunch of glutinous rice flour. Chewier and… Continue reading Bao de Bing, Bao de Beng!