Pasta Carbonara Recipe ★★★

Chef Ludo Lefebvre's Pasta Carbonara. Chef Ludo has been very generous to share his recipes on his Instagram during the pandemic. I baked the bacon instead and saved the egg whites for sandwiches. I mistakenly used a pot instead of a pan, so the sauce looked a bit thick. Still delicious.

Picture with Chef Ludo at Trois Mec in 2016.

Recipe Source: @chefludo https://www.instagram.com/p/B-7fRHgpX0C/
Ingredients:
360 grams Penne Pasta (approximately 4 cups)
4 egg yolks
8 slices of smoked bacon
160 grams grated parmesan or pecorino cheese (approximately 1 ½ cups)
touch of salt
touch of black pepper

Directions:
1. Slice bacon in to ½ inch pieces. Cook bacon until soft. Meanwhile, boil water for pasta.
2. Add 4 egg yolks in medium sauce pan.
3. Add ½ of the parmesan to egg yolks. Whisk together. Add remaining parmesan to yolk/cheese mixture whisk.
4. Drain bacon fat into egg/cheese mixture.
5. Warm egg/cheese/fat mixture over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add in ½ cup of pasta water and fully incorporate.
6. Drain pasta. Add pasta to egg/cheese/fat mixture, stir in bacon, salt & pepper to taste and serve.

Mickey Chocolate Waffle Recipe ★★★

Chocolate Waffle for Breakfast. Used a mixer this time for smoother consistency. Can't be lazy. Cocoa powder is causing cracks tho. May try to use real chocolate chips next time. Best with fruits, cream cheese, and chocolate syrup.



Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon white sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 teaspoons of cocoa powder
chocolate syrup

1. Beat eggs in large mixing bowl with beater until fluffy. Put in the rest of the ingredients and beat altogether.
2. Let the batter rest. Preheat waffle maker for 4-5 minutes.
3. Pour batter into waffle maker and heat for 3-4 minutes.
4. Serve with chocolate syrup on the side.

Baked Potato and Cream of Asparagus ★★★

Baked Potato with Real Bacon Bits and Cream of Asparagus. I love the baked potatoes from Super Sandwiches in Hong Kong. Finally decided to make it. Recipes below.

Baked Potatoes:
Ingredients:
1 Large Potato
1/2 piece of BaconSpring Onion
Cheese
Sour Cream
Butter
Salt

Directions:
1. Wash potato, prick holes with a fork 5-6 times, rub with salt, and bake at 375° for 60 minutes. Can add bacon to baking after 45 minutes and bake bacon for 12 minutes. Cut bacon into small pieces.
2. Cut open potato, spread butter and sprinkle cheese inside. They will melt perfectly.
3. Spread a lot of sour cream (more than picture above), add bacon, and garnish with spring onions.


Cream of Asparagus: (from epicurious)
Ingredients:
Green Asparagus – 1 lb.
1/2 Large Onion – chopped
Butter – 1.5 Tbsps
Chicken Broth – 2.5 cups
Heavy Cream – 1/4 cup
Fresh Lemon Squeeze – A few drops

Directions:
1. Cut asparagus into 1/2 inch pieces. Reserve some tips for garnish.
2. Cook onion with 1 Tablespoon of butter and in a large pot with low heat, stirring, until softened. Add asparagus pieces and salt and pepper to taste, then cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add 2.5 cups of broth and simmer, covered, until asparagus is very tender, for 15-20 minutes.
3. Boil asparagus tips in salted water for 3-4 minutes and drain.
4. Purée soup in batches in blender until smooth. (caution with hot soup) Return to purée to pan. Stir in whipped cream. Season with salt and pepper. Bring soup to boil and whisk in remaining butter.
5. Add lemon juice and garnish with asparagus tips.

Jack Jack's Disneyland Num Num Cookies Recipe ★★★

Jack Jack's Num Num Cookies at DCA. Released by Disneyland. Studying the recipe led me to undiscover Disneyland's trade secrets. If you follow their recipe, there is no way it will look like the ones at Disney's California Adventure. I added a few steps to achieve the look. Tips in captions below. I used Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Premium Baking Chips for this. Worth the premium. My first time baking cookie.

The one I baked. Final product.

The one I had at Disney's California Adventure last year

Extra Step – Pre-melt and stir chocolate chips in warm water in a square container

Refrigerate a little bit and cut into square chucks
also cut some smaller squares

  

  

  

I would not add the chocolate chips until after placing the cookie dough on baking sheet

Scooping into balls might not be necessary

  

Need to double the time to bake for 20 minutes for thicker cookie in a Pyrex

What it will look like if you mix the chocolate chips in the batter before

A mixture of large chocolate squares and smaller squares or chocolate chips

1st Try Baked – cookie flattens without a container

2nd Try – bake with 950 mL cylindrical Pyrex to hold its shape
Line with parchment paper beforehand

Success

Spicy Scallop Mayo Rice ★★★

My Favorite. Made Spicy Scallop by chopping Jumbo Scallop Sashimi and mix it with mayo, chili oil, sesame oil, and masago. Garnish with spring onions. I made the California Roll with avocado, cucumber, intimation crab, masago, and spring onions.

Pikachu Omelette Curry ★★★

Super Fun but Harder than I thought. Used egg for the face, carrots for cheeks and mouth, seaweed for eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and cheese for eye reflection. Added Fatty Kobe Style Sukiyaki Beef, Onions, Carrots, and Potatoes to Japanese Curry mix. Very cute. Delicious too.

Avocado Toast Recipe ★★★

Avocado Toast. My all-time overpriced brunch favorite.  Recipe below. Had it with Pomegranate Orange Vodka. Just mix Pomegranate Orange Canned Soda with Vodka.

Avocado Toast
Ingredients:
Bread – 1 piece
Butter
1/2 Avocado
1 Egg
Parmesan Cheese
Chives or Basil for granish
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Spread butter on bread and toast until golden brown
2. Fill tiny pot 2" high of water and boil. Add a drop of vinegar in water. Crack egg in a bowl, add to boiling water and simmer in low heat for 3-5 minutes. Drain water.
3. Smash avocado in a bowl or inside its skin. Spread on toast. Add poached egg on top. Sprinkle cheese. Add salt and pepper.
4. Toast until cheese melt. Garnish with chives or basil.

Chinese Boiled Shrimp Recipe ★★★

Shrimps 2 Ways. Boiled Shrimps are my favorite at Chinese restaurants. Recipe below. Soy Sauce Ketchup Shrimp is just made with sliced garlic, soy sauce, and ketchup.

Boiled Shrimps

Soy Sauce Ketchup Shrimps

Boiled Shrimp Recipe

Ingredients:
Shrimps
Salt – 1 teaspoon
Spring Onions – 1-2 stalks, cut 1 inch lengthwise
Ginger – 2 sliced
Rice Wine – 1 teaspoon
Water – 1/2 cup

1. Wash & clean shrimps
2. Add water, spring onions, ginger, and salt in wok. Cook until boiling.
3. Add rice wine and shrimps
4. Cook until shrimps turned orange
5. Plate shrimps. Can make dipping sauce with minced garlic, soy sauce, oil, cilantro, and chili.

Sushi Sushi Togo@Beverly Hills (closed) ★★★

Superb Omakase Sushi Takeout. Super fresh with Uni. Huge portion. $120 omakase.

Tofu Noodles Recipe ★★★

Tofu Ramen from Japanese Market. The shrimps from Little Tokyo MarketPlace Korean market were really fresh and tasted great. Pork from Japanese market. With soft-boiled egg, shiitake mushroom, and napa cabbage. Boiled the egg for 6 minutes. Topped with spring onions. Added sesame seeds and Japanese spicy garlic seasoning afterwards.

Tofu Ramen from Marukai Japanese Market in the Refrigerated Section

Mickey Cheeseboard@Happy Hour ★★★

Home-Craft Cheeseboard for Virtual Happy Hour. My first time. Cheese: Swiss, Monterey Jack, Mozarella, Fromage, French Brie, and Cranberry. Love it with Pistachios. Crackers from Target's Archer Farms. Love the Rosemary Crackers. Blended the Adult Dole Whip drink.

Homemade Mickey Waffles Recipe ★★★

Making Waffle from scratch. First time. It's actually pretty easy. I had it with maple syrup. Tasted great. Disneyland Esplanade music in background a plus. Got this Select Brands Mickey Mouse waffle maker from BoxLunch years ago. Recipes vary. Below is one of them.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon white sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Beat eggs in large mixing bowl with beater until fluffy. Put in the rest of the ingredients and beat altogether.
2. Let the batter rest. Preheat waffle maker for 4-5 minutes.
3. Pour batter into waffle maker and heat for 3-4 minutes.
4. Serve with maple syrup on the side.

Filet-O-Fish & Cold Wakame Udon Recipe ★★★

At Home Filet-O-Fish with Buttered Breadsticks. The Fried Fish Filet from Trader Joe's reminded me of Filet-O-Fish from McDonald's, so decided to give it a try. Just happened to have bread, tartar sauce, and lettuce at home. I skipped the cheese. It turned out amazing. Recipe below. For the Cold Wakame (Marine Seaweed) Udon, I had it with soba soy sauce, sliced seaweed, wasabi, spring onions, and ginger. Wakame is healthy.

Toasted Bread with Butter Spread
not wasting the edges – use as breadsticks

Wakame (Marine Seaweed) Udon from Japanese Supermarket

Filet-O-Fish with Breadsticks ★★★
Ingredients:
Fish Filet from Trader Joe's
Bread - 2 slices, can use breadends
Lettuce
Tartar Sauce
Cheese (optional)

Recipe:
1. Spread butter on bread, cut out the sides (keep them and toast together), and toast in oven
2. Bake Fish Filet
3. Spread tartar sauce on bottom sandwich layer (to keep crispiness on top of the fish)
4. Add cheese (optional), lettuce, then add fish, and finish with break end on top
5. Continue to toast breadsticks (cheese optional) until crisp. Serve as side.

Kraft Mac 'n Cheese

Take Spongebob Lightly or Join the Dark Side. Fun meal with fun shapes. While it's fun to eat and find the shapes of the characters, I think this serves better as a side rather than main dish. It's more about the fun shapes than the taste. Added real bacon pieces to enhance the dish.

The force is strong with this one.

Masago Salad & Miso Eggplant Recipe ★★★

Favorite Easy Side Dishes. I made the Masago (Smelt Egg) Salad based on the one I had in Hong Kong decades ago. I attempted a lazy version of Miso Eggplant a few days ago. This time I improved it with pre-mixing the marinade. It got bumped to wow, Japanese restaurant quality. Both recipes and masago tip below.

Frozen Masago from Korean Market
just scoop out what you need and put it back into the freezer

Hong Style Masago Salad ★★★
Ingredients:
Masago (frozen one got from Korean market)
Frozen Imitation Crab Meat – 1 stick, boiled, hand-shredded into strands and cut 1" lengthwise
Persian Cucumer – 1/2, sliced
Japanese Mayo

Directions:
Mix everything together and garnish with additional masago on top.

Masago Longevity Tip *Exclusive!
Masago is a trouble itself. When you get a frozen box, you have to thaw it in the refrigerator and use it within a week or so before it turned bad. Recently, I discovered a game-changer hack inspired by its 3-year shelf life:
• Buy a few boxes of them when they are on sale (I usually get it with $1 off each box)
• As instructed, keep it in freezer and never freeze it back after defrosting
• When you are ready to use it, before you cook, pull it from the freezer, use a thin spoon to only scoop out what you need. You will be surprised by how easy it is (put what you scooped in another container if needed and consume within a week)
• Put the frozen Masago back into the freezer
• Now your Masago will never go bad in the freezer and you will always have Masago on hand for any dishes you need! It also tastes great with California Roll, Japanese Tarako Mayo Spaghetti, or Kamameshi Steamed Rice Pot


Miso Eggplant ★★★
Ingredients:
Eggplant – 1, Sliced
Miso
Mirin (Japanese cooking wine)
Olive Oil

Directions:
1. Mix Olive Oil, Miso, and Mirin (about 1 teaspoon each) in a mixing bowl with a spoon.
2. Cover baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat foil lightly with oil so that eggplant won't stick.
3. Coat sliced Eggplant in sauce (dip or brush, front and back) and bake at 425° until Eggplant turns golden brown.

Taiwanese Sliced Noodles with Sausage Recipe ★★

Taiwanese Comfort Food. The thick Taiwanese Sliced Noodles are available in the Chinese supermarkets. I added sautéed onions, sliced sausage, napa cabbage and spring onions to it (also goes well with cilantro, bean sprouts and spinach). For the sauce, I did Asian sesame sauce and Japanese chili oil with garlic (oyster sauce and soy sauce can be another option). I made Hong Kong style Masago Salad on the side. Recipe to follow in the next post.

Japanese Chili Oil with Garlic
secret seasoning that tastes good on almost anything
tip: get it on sale from the Japanese market