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In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Dairy, Sweets

Fauxnut holes

There’s nothing more unappetizing to start this conversation by saying that these days when I sit down, my tummy-folds can sort of touch my thighs… Nothing more unappetizing… Not even a fart-joke can top it. I know that. So instead, I’m going with a different approach to explaining why I came up with these unbelievably, OUT-of-your-MIND-ly delicious “fauxnut” holes on my table without making you subconsciously touching your gutt while reading.

02.18.2013

In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Sweets

Elvis The Criminal

Dear juries if I may, truth is I wasn’t planning on baking something for Valentine’s Day. Clearly as you can see beyond the deceiving cuteness, these muffins have no place near the category of Romantic V-Day offerings unless the need of a relatively presentable figure wasn’t on the agenda for the end of the night… In fact, it was nowhere on my mind when I was scheming on a compact delivery system for a sandwich come to be known as – the Elvis, a criminal creation of peanut butter, banana and bacon in between two slabs of toast. But it turns out, there is something sweet to come to my defense.

02.14.2013

In All recipes, Meat

Kimchi Meatloaf Melt

Because of this, Jason and I had almost nothing but a bottle of soy sauce to sip on Chinese new year’s eve. Because of my fixation on having something called a “meatloaf melt” in my archive, I was giddying and bustling in the kitchen the night before NOT on a Chinese feast but an American staple with a Korean twist. Because nowadays I am more a traffic-seeker than a considerate home-cook, we desperately loitered on the deserted Beijing streets only few hours before new year’s eve dinner, earmuffs and Uggs equipped and all, bracing an empty pot from home meant as a carrier for hot-pot soup which turned out was irresponsibly gone on holiday as well. Like I said, almost nothing to eat.

02.11.2013

In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Meat, Snacks

Who Took the “Gua” out of “Bao”?

Everybody, Happy CNY! Yes, only 2 months after Thanksgiving and 1 month after Christmas comes our very own Annual-eat-ourselves-senseless Day. And you think you’ve got difficulty shedding pounds before Valentine’s Day (“Honey, your gut has never looked more sexy!”)? So I thought… in the spirit of Asian festivity and so on, that it’s good timing to honor our newly uprising social icon, one of our most successful cultural ambassador yet to date (and when I say “our” I mean Taiwanese…) – the Brits have Kate Moss and we have this guy. The infamous, the notorious, the little bite of heaven brought to fame by Momofuku, (drumroll) the~~ Taiwanese GUA BAO! ………………………. Oh wait, that’s right. You don’t recognize him. Perhaps because he’s mistakenly known as “the pork bun” or just… “bao”. Phoooph… can you believe it…

02.06.2013

In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Sweets

The Wicked Black Forest

Is it too late in our relationship to declare that I’m not into chocolate? Should I have said that on the first date along with things weighing the same importance like “I have 10 children”… or “I have herpes” (just for argument sake… I totally don’t btw). Well, to me the thing with chocolate is that instead of being mystified with grand illusions like “indulgent”, “decadent”, “sinful”, “love~” (more?) “AMOoUUR~~” or whatever, it just tastes sort of… bitter to me.

02.02.2013

In All recipes, Featured Attractions, Vegatables

Tofu and Warm Mushroom Salad

So. It only took me 10 months and an extra 5 pounds to finally squeeze a salad into this blog. Not too shabby if I may say so myself. But the truth is, every month I shout: “Who THE HELL’S GUT is this!?” for like 50 times, followed by: “It definitely ISN’T mine but it’s telling me to go on a diet” for about 30 times, followed by: “I SWEAR on whoever’s gut this is that I’m going on a diet!!” for another 20 times. And I TOTALLY SWEAR 99% of the time I actually mean it which leaves me just as lost as you are of why only 0.1% of the time it actually happens. This thing called “self-control”… it has a life of its own.

01.31.2013

In All recipes, Meat

White Wine Meatball To The Rescue

(繁體) (简体) *UPDATES AVAILABLE

Oh dear. Oh dear. Gather up guys, because do I have a funny story for ya. (Am I gonna tell you how my old layout dumped me on a post-it?)… No, I don’t want to talk about that asshole. (Awww, meatball’s going to tell us how you and him first met!)… NO! This isn’t Hallmark either. If we haven’t been properly introduced, this is more of a place… where my enthusiasm goes to die after too much saturated reality has popped its arteries (see my angry new banner?). But HEY! Back to that story…

01.28.2013

In All recipes, Noodle/Pasta/Rice, Vegatables

Improved Smoked Cheese Risotto

I have a severe case of post-vacation depression. NOT that I don’t miss my kids achingly on each and every trip, and want to tell’em about places where they could potentially live in the next life where they’d be allowed into every eateries (woof!) and ~~crumbs shops~~ PATISERIES (woof! woooof!). But for reasons beyond me, they instead insist on residing in a city that I loathe full-heartedly. Not an uncommon problem among modern parents I guess. So every time I return home, my kitchen becomes a laboratory for recreating things that I crave from each trip to ease the symptoms (which, if left untreated, could develop into doomsday-scale meltdowns). The shwarma sandwich from Paris. The laksa from Malaysia. Bonci’s pizza bianca from Rome. Oh, right. Rome. Well, about that… I haven’t told you everything yet.

01.24.2013

In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Sweets, Vegatables

Lonely-Carrots Carrot Cake

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I don’t mean to expose myself as someone who discusses about appliances as IF I have no real life (…) but am I the only one who suspects that her refrigerator suffers from seasonal bipolar disorder going from Fall to Winter? I’m saying around October and towards the end of every year, (for the sake of easy referencing and NOT because I am totally juvenile and pathetic, let’s call it…) Skinny Box behaves like a healthy female who is gladly stocked with seasonal fruits and vegetables, meats and dairies, readily equipped for all kinds of culinary wonders. But as the weather slides quite abruptly into January to February, her mood-swing takes a deep dive into anorexic tendency taking only the basic necessity for life such as caffeinated drinks and probiotic capsules. And can you believe that she has the guts to blame me for it?! Argh.

01.21.2013

In All recipes, Meat, Quick Meals, Snacks

Fully Loaded Baguette

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Wow! What a weekend last Saturday, uh?! Golden Globes? Did you watch it? What a fantastic sequence of showmanship one after the next uh? First came Jodie Foster’s neurotic ramblings of a speech though I’m not going to argue with the world who apparently thought she was phenomenal. Then Oh-glory’s-the-name-of-vengeance Ben Affleck won best director and fired a bullet with his love-declaration for Gardner right in the heart of who else but J “LOW”! Oh snap!! And how about Ann Hathaway giving all she’s got on an AMAZING performance acting surprised at winning supporting actress! Flaaaaawless! That’s another award in itself I’m telling ya. OH oh and Kristen and Will’s HILARIOUS little team-up was PURE comedy gold! Missed it? Geeet ooout of heeerree!! Finally FINALLY Tina Fay and Amy Poehler’s opening act was marriage made in heaven… come on… I laughed the tears out of myself!

01.18.2013

In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Sweets

Puffy Powdered Pillow

(简体)（繁體)

OMG. I’m telling you out of my last shred of conscience and humanity before I turn Paula Deen. If you like fried dough. If you have a weakness for doughnuts. If exercising self-restraint over hot-and-crispy-exterior-with-chewy-center things isn’t exactly your forte. Or if you value any possibility to a) find a mate, b) keep a mate, c) or simply to be able to fit into ANYTHING ever again. Pack your knives and go. Because this recipe is up to no good. Run. RuN. RUN!

The rest of you, follow me into beignet Mordor with no return.

01.15.2013

In All recipes, Meat, Soup

Soup From Yunnan

Oh there she goes again… trying to answer the question that nobody is asking. Beef stew from Yunnan? Anybody? (zeeeeeeeeee…) Believe me… I really struggled about posting this you know. The more conforming side of me who knows better wanted to kiss it on the forehead and lovingly bury it six feet under the ever-growing queue of recipes, resting peacefully inside WordPress’s cyber data-tomb. The curry fish head? The chili braised tofu? Com’on… blogs are all about traffics (snap fingers)! Followers (Snap)! Cookies (snaP)! and CAKES (SNAP)!! Nobody’s interested in exotic affairs with the far east especially shortly following that temporary insanity fermented tofu thing… But really guys, I tried. As I fed myself this soup, it became clearer and clearer with each spoonful that it would just be TOO WRONG to keep it away from you, traffic-tank or not. Oh selfless me.

01.11.2013