Spicy Chili Miso Hummus Platter

Spicy Chili Miso Hummus Platter

I finished the rest of my first jar of Abokichi’s Chili Miso Oil so I broke out the SPICY Chili Miso Oil for today’s lunch (but I’m pretty sure you can also do this recipe with their Curry Miso Oil too.) I like hummus because it …

Wiggly Jiggly Purin Recipe (Custard Pudding)

Wiggly Jiggly Purin Recipe (Custard Pudding)

This is a recipe I’ve been wanting to do for a while–I had convenience store purin when we were in Japan and they’re so addictively delicious. Smooth and creamy, and not as rich as flan, it makes for the perfect dessert, portioned out in little …

Duck Liver and Heart Pate

Duck Liver and Heart Pate

I reserved the heart and liver of the two muscovy ducks that we processed, because I am a fiend of offal and really wanted to make a pate. Due to the muscovy’s large size, foie gras de canard (duck fatty liver) is usually made from …

Duck Blood Cake From Scratch

Duck Blood Cake From Scratch

This might be a bit beyond some modern western palettes (so if you’re squeamish, I suggest you stop reading now. You have been warned!) but duck blood and pig’s blood is a part of traditional Chinese and Taiwanese cuisine. Blood cake is a mixture of …

Egg and Sprout Sandwich: Eggshell Sprouts Part 2

Egg and Sprout Sandwich: Eggshell Sprouts Part 2

We waited another 2 days before resolving to give our eggshell sprout heads a haircut–follow this link if you want to read about this super fun craft. By then I already had the sandwich lined up–a traditional egg and cress sandwich that’s popular during English …

Strawberry Bing Tang Hu Lu

Strawberry Bing Tang Hu Lu

This is an easy sweets recipe from my childhood in Taiwan–Bing Tang Hu Lu. Of the memories that I could see in my mind’s eye, my dad coming home with a skewer of hawberry tang hu lu sticks is one of the most vivid of …

Perfect Microwave Eggs

Perfect Microwave Eggs

In an effort to not use as much oil or have to wash pots and pans as often, I ventured into the world of microwaving eggs. And I’m never going back. It’s quite simple–a round bottomed bowl, a light wipe of oil, covered and zapped …

Antipasto Salad Supreme

Antipasto Salad Supreme

This particular dish involves a lot of chopping. A lot. But it’s my husband’s favorite style of antipasto. I first learned of this particular style at a Thanksgiving dinner hosted my my in-laws–it’s the husband-unit’s Italian grandmother’s recipe. I prefer this style because every bite …

Spicy Hiyashi Chuka (Chilled Noodles)

Spicy Hiyashi Chuka (Chilled Noodles)

I was, for some reason, craving cold noodles. I usually make it during the summer, when the heat dulls our appetite and the tangy sauce stimulates my palette. I’m not a stickler for ingredients, and often interchange the noodles. Traditionally, it uses ramen noodles but …

Chili Miso Roasted Eggplant Dip

Chili Miso Roasted Eggplant Dip

I had some leftover eggplant from making tempura and I haven’t roasted anything in my woodstove recently (which is pretty much roaring 24/7), so I decided to do a roasted eggplant dip. If you don’t have a wood stove to impart the delicious smokey flavor–a …