Year of the Dragon Bento

Hello again, everyone :)! I had been wanting to make a dragon-themed bento to celebrate the Chinese New Year and today I managed to overcome my laziness and made one :). Chinese New Year was always quite important to me when I was a little girl because it was the time when I would get 'red envelopes' filled with 'lucky money', so I always enjoyed visiting my relatives and parents' friends to get those red envelopes, haha ;). But now that I am married, I think that I am no longer eligible to receive those envelopes and I believe it's now my turn to give out red envelopes instead. But since I live in Germany, I don't have anyone to give out red envelopes to - maybe this is a good thing...;)??

I have to admit the dragon was quite complicated to make, but it's worth it because I am so proud that in the end it really does look like a (Chinese-style) dragon ;)!! The body of the dragon is made out of cheese, carrot and nori and the head of the dragon is made out of cheese, crab stick, carrot, nori and soy paper.

The pink, round balls above the dragon are meant to be red lanterns - they are made out of boiled quail eggs which I coloured with beet juice.

The big sakura bento box contains tamagoyaki (omelet with slices of fish cakes and chopped onion), Peking pork chops, garlic & chili shrimps, kimchi mandu and ebi fry.

The round, pink thingy next to the bento boxes is red bean mochi which I bought from my local Asian store.

Peking Pork Chops
Adapted from Rasa Malaysia

Marinade

• 500 grams pork tenderloin, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Sauce

• 1 1/2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
• 1/2 tablespoon plum sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon chili sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon sweet bean sauce, or Hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons black vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• small pinch of Chinese Five Spice powder, optional
• 2 tablespoons water

1. Marinade pork with Shaoxing wine, salt, egg and cornstarch for 30 minutes.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the sauce ingredients. Set sauce mixture aside.
3. Deep fry the pork slices until golden brown. Set aside.
4. Bring sauce to a quick boil. Toss in the deep fried pork slices, stir and coat well with the sauce.
5. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

Garlic and Chili Shrimps

• 500 grams shrimps
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoons chopped (seeded) chili
• 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• Sugar and white pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil. Add chopped garlic and chili. Stir-fry until fragrant.
2. Add shrimps and stir well.
3. Add Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, sugar and white pepper.
4. Cook for another minute and turn off the heat. Serve.

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone who celebrates it :)! I think the opening theme of the film 'Once Upon a Time in China' suits the atmosphere of Chinese New Year well. Enjoy the music!

Mapo Tofu Ramen

Ingredients

• 200 grams soft tofu, cut into cubes
  
• 200 grams ground pork/beef
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 2 tablespoons chilli oil
• 1 tablespoons chilli powder (or more if you like it extra fiery)
  
• 1 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoons minced ginger
• 2 tablespoons chilli-bean paste
• 2 tablespoons cooking wine
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorn powder
• 1 teaspoon corn flour (mixed with 1 tbs water)
• Chopped green onions
• 200 grams ramen noodles, cooked according to package instructions

Instructions

• Heat 2 tbs oil. Add the minced garlic, ginger and ground pork. Stir fry until fragrant. Add cooking wine, soy sauce and fish sauce.
  
• Then add tofu, chilli oil, chilli bean paste, chilli powder and sugar.
• When it boils, add in the corn flour mixture to thicken the sauce.
• Serve on top of ramen noodles.
• Garnish with chopped green onions and Szechuan peppercorn powder. You can also add julienned cucumber and soft-boiled egg.
  

Szechuan Noodles with Spicy Meat Sauce

I have not been posting for a while because I was stuck on what to make for my 100th bento ;). Finally I made my 100th bento today, but I'll post about it tomorrow. For now, I am simply posting a noodle dish which I whipped up last week. Basically it's got the same recipe as my Szechuan Noodles with Wontons and Meatballs, but I added some boiled shrimps and soy-sauced seasoned boiled egg this time minus the wontons. If you're a noodle-lover like me, this is a must-try recipe. It's extremely simple to make but very flavoursome.


Ingredients - serves 2

• 400 g Udon noodles
• 250 g ground pork
• 100 chopped mushrooms
  
• 2 tbs fish sauce
  
• 3 tbs 'Fried pork with chili in oil' (click my previous Szechuan noodles recipe to see what it is.)
  
• 2 tbs oyster sauce
• Pepper to taste
  
• Frozen meatballs
• Boiled shrimps and eggs - optional
  
• Chopped green onions and fried onions for garnish

Instructions

• Heat 1 tbs oil in a wok.
• Toss in the ground pork and mushrooms and stir fry until slightly brown.
• Add fish sauce, 'fried pork with chili in oil', oyster sauce and pepper.
• Simmer the meat sauce, stirring occasionally until cooked through.
• Place cooked udon noodles in a bowl. Top with the meat sauce, cooked meatballs, shrimps and eggs. Garnish with green onions and fried onions.

Have a lovely evening and see you all tomorrow :)!

Szechuan Hotpot Style Udon Noodle Soup

Hello again, my dear readers...! I am still alive and kicking despite of not being active virtually for one whole week :). In fact I feel very well and rather excited because I am officially on a long summer vacation now :D).

I thought about making a bento lunch today, but I finally decided to make a 'normal' meal which wouldn't take so much time to make, since I still had to do a lot of packing.

This soup tastes quite similar to my Szechuan Noodles with Wontons and Meatballs, but this udon noodles soup has got more toppings and looks indeed prettier ;).

Ingredients - serves 2

• 400 g Udon noodles
• 250 g ground pork
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 tbs fish sauce
• 3 tbs 'Fried pork with chili in oil'
• 2 tbs oyster sauce
• Dashi powder to taste
• Pepper to taste
• 800 ml water
• Chopped green onions
• Topping suggestions: store-bought meatballs, fish balls, shiu mai, chikuwa (fish cake), shrimps, you tiao (Chinese bread stick), boiled egg, mushrooms and sugar snap peas.

Instructions

• Heat 1 tbs oil in a wok.
• Toss in the ground pork and chopped onion and stir fry until slightly brown.
• Add fish sauce, 'fried pork with chili in oil', oyster sauce and pepper.
• Simmer the meat sauce, stirring occasionally until cooked through.
• Add 800 ml water and dashi powder to taste.
• Add udon noodles and the toppings (except the you tiao) and cook for a few minutes.
• Garnish with green onions and you tiao slices.

Happy Cooking :)!