anytime carrot cake

sometimes i crave carrot cake, but i just want a slice. i don't want a whole cake. a few years ago i made a two layer carrot cake for my mom's birthday. it was a lot of work.

but now if i'm craving carrot cake, i can buy a box of Gu anytime carrot cake. six individually wrapped carrot cake bites with walnuts, mixed fruit an cream cheese frosting.

it was yummy and moist. however, maybe they're a little too small because now i want another piece. it's a good thing there are six in a box.

korean bbq

as a thank you to my conference team, i wanted to treat them to some korean bbq, something that most of them never had before. the challenge was finding the right cut of meat. I went to a local butcher, but it was hard to explain the kind of cut i needed for bulgogi (korean marinated beef) so in the end i went into london to a korean grocery store to buy the beef.

i haven't marinated my own bulgogi in a long time because in the past i could easily buy at the korean grocery store. well, living in the outskirts of london, korean food isn't as accessible. also i wanted to make sure the marinade was gluten free. (did you know that kikkoman soy sauce has wheat?)

i found a good recipe from maangchi.com. i used her bulgogi recipe (minus the pear) and substituted regular soy sauce with tamari soy sauce which is gluten free. she uses a food processor to make her marinade which saves a lot of chopping time. lucky for me, we have a food processor in our home.

i marinated the meat for most of the morning (almost 6 hours). we grilled it to give it a bit of a burnt edge. along with the bulgogi, i prepared a spinach side dish, a bean sprout side dish, as well as egg-battered zucchini slices. i showed everyone how to eat the bulgogi in their own lettuce wrap.

in the end, everyone loved it! i want to make bulgogi again, but i need to find a local butcher. that is my next quest.

a foodie's day in barcelona

one of the places we had to visit in barcelona was la boqueria, the famous indoor market for fresh fruit, meats, etc. the metro stopped right at the entrance of la boqueria. it's pretty huge so we just started walking from one side. most of the vendors sell similar things. they sell either fruits, fruit juices, eggs, meats, hams, and then some stalls are eating places.

because we didn't have breakfast, we decided to eat at el quim de la boqueria. we weren't sure what to order so we just asked the server what he recommends. he told us to get the two fried eggs with baby squid and the cod with vegetables. both were fantastic. the squid was so fresh. the cod just fell apart but it was still moist.

as we continued to eat, a gentleman came out and started talking to us. later on we found out that he was the owner of the restaurant, Quim, short for Joaquin pronounced like "Kim". i asked him (through my friend) why the hams are so expensive? he explained that they are fed acorns so because it's expensive to feed them, the ham is expensive. then he made us a little sample of the ham on top of toasted baguette with a layer of tomato puree. delicious!

i asked him where we can get churros, and he offered to take us to a place he goes nearby. so we followed him through the streets of barcelona to his favorite churro place. unfortunately it was closed so we went to his second favorite place.

i love days like this when you experience something you didn't imagine!

foods that freeze well

sadly this blog has been neglected because i have been so busy with work. alas, my cooking has become minimal as well as i heat up fish fingers (fish fingers here in the UK) or store bought breaded chicken.

the other week i was out with a friend at a local pub, and we both ordered lasagna. then i realized that lasagna is an easy dish to make (as long as you have enough time for the prep and baking which is usually 1 1/2 hours) that freezes really well! so last weekend, i made a meat lasagna that i divided up into six parts. four parts i froze, and the rest i will eat this week.

buying the ingredients for lasagna was a bit tricky. i spent about 10 minutes in the cheese aisle looking for ricotta cheese. i scanned each shelf carefully, but i eventually found it next to the marscapone cheese. apparently, the brits don't use ricotta cheese too much. i guess it's considered a posh cheese. But what else would you put into your lasagna? to me lasagna isn't lasagna without ricotta cheese. i did cheat a little as well, and i purchased the lasagna noodles that you don't have to pre-boil. anything you can do to save time.

one to thing to remember when you bake it in the oven, cover it for the first 30 minutes so that you don't overburn the top. i made that mistake with the first lasagna i made. uncover afterwards and continue to make to give the mozzarella a nice melted surface.

well, only a few more weeks until work calms down and life returns.

kimchi pressie

on my birthday, my dear friend gave me kimchi and tofu along with a few korean goodies. usually, i probably wouldn't be excited about receiving kimchi on my birthday, but when you live in a country where it's hard to get these items, it's a completely fantastic thoughtful birthday gift!

my friend, who is not korean, was near the korean grocery store by new malden. luckily she remembered what the kimchi looked like from a photo i had taken. however, she didn't know where to look so she asked someone where she could find kimchi. when she was directed to the refrigerated section, she was looking at jars with no english. but using her detective skills, she looked for a similar jar like the photo i posted, and she examined the label.

and somehow she picked my favorite tofu! this discovery was by accident! what made her choose that specific tofu? she liked the color of the packaging. (green is her favorite color).

thanks, friend, for making my birthday so special!

i heart ny

so excited to have my friend, juicy, visit me from nyc. she asked me what i wanted from nyc. i requested nyc bagels and a slice of ny pizza. she wasn't sure she could bring the pizza b/c of customs, but she did bring me two everything ny bagels!

i toasted it up and smeared on it a generous amount of philadelphia cream cheese. slightly crunchy on the outside, but soft and chewy on the inside. mmmm...

and she brought me a mug that looks like a diner coffee mug! whenever i use it, i'll think of juicy and nyc.

i love pho

i've been searching for good pho (vietnamese noodles) ever since i got here. i was mentioned to my friend, juicy, that i've been craving good pho. she told me that she had a great recipe for chicken pho, and that she would make it for me! oooh....

when i picked up juicy from the airport, she was still fighting a cold. so after we got to my place, i had her sleep. but before she slept, i asked her for the recipe to make the broth.

so here goes:

Makes about 3 servings.
ingredients
1 large chicken
5 star anise
5 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 onion, halved
2 inch piece of ginger
1 tsp coriander seeds (or coriander powder)
cilantro stems
sugar
fish sauce
rice noodles
bean sprouts.

1. Place the chicken in a large pot and cover completely with water. Add all spices. Bring to boil. As it boils, skim off any scum residue. Lower heat to a med low and let simmer.
2. Char the ginger and the onion in your broiler. after it's charred, removed the blackened parts.
3. Once ginger and onion is ready, add to the broth.
4. Once meat is all cooked, remove from the chicken, and put the bones back into the broth. break up bones as much as possible.
5. Simmer on low for about an hour.
6. Add 1 tsp of sugar. Add more if you want.
7. Add 1 tbsp of fish sauce. Keep adding until it's the right saltiness.
8. Strain broth through a cheese cloth or very fine strainer.
9. Once broth is done, boil rice noodles for about 5 minutes.
10. Place desired amount of rice noodles in bowl. Add broth and chicken. Add cilantro (coriander leaves) and bean sprouts. Squeeze fresh lime over broth. Enjoy with sriracha sauce!