What I Eat: Vietnamese Side Sauce

You don’t own a blender at home, and you refuse to bend your back over chopping things up. No fear. I have a simple sauce that is sure to play with your taste buds and leave you wanting more. Goes super well with almost any fried/non-fried foods imaginable; only not those already with sauce of their own. If you’re a healthy person, your lettuce and salad would marry this sauce on the spot.

Ingredients:
Mince garlic, one tablespoon of fish sauce, one tablespoon of lime juice, Sugar, and warm water.

So you add them all together. That’s it. Toggle the quantity around to suit your own taste. I assure you that people will ask you for the recipe! If you want some extra kick, put in some chopped chili padi.

I usually make rice paper rolls to go with this. But they make great salad sauce too!

Empty stomach,
Vonnie S.

What I Eat: Korean Pancake

Okay, I promise you that my dishes aren’t complicated. Otherwise I wouldn’t put them up here to help you college students. Here’s another one if you’re into the Hallyu wave lately.

Ingredients:
One cup of flour, one and a half cup of ice cold water, one egg, one teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of Korean chili paste, vegetable oil, and a whole load of scallions.

Sift the flour into a bowl. Carefully add water to the mix. Any temperature is fine, but I find ice cold water tends to make crispier pancakes. Add the egg. Add the salt. Add the chili paste. Stir them all until they form a batter. The batter is to be runnier than the western pancake for faster cooking.

Heat a frying pan with some oil. Stir-fry some scallions until they are soft. Then make sure they spread evenly around the pan. Next, you take the batter and carefully coat over the scallions. Don’t coat too thick, or the stuff is gonna taste horrible (too doughy). Keep it light and you’ll have better results. Flip the pancake over to cook the other side.

And you’re done! A nice flavored Korean pancake. You may certainly add seafood to the batter for more variety. But I prefer mine plain and simple for sure.

Wild past,
Vonnie S.

What I Eat: Butter Chicken

So, this is a recipe I revamped from Ika’s. You can say that I stole it and added more points to suit my taste. Not exactly better, but it’s something I like to do with all the extra spices lying around.

Ingredients:
Chicken meat, onion, minced garlic, broccoli, carrots, butter, salt, pepper, chili powder, rosemary and parsley.

Fairly easy recipe; don’t have to constantly watch it while you work on your papers. Set oven to around 375 F. Take your chicken meats and vegetable in hand, dump them into a bowl. Add all the mentioned condiments above to taste. Don’t ask me the quantity, I main agak-agak. Mix everything together minus the butter and parsley. After they become one big happy family, you may take a baking plate/tray/something deep so that the butter doesn’t flow all over the place. Yes, that’s your sauce. Lay the chicken nicely like their sunbathing yo.  

Then, take spoonful of butter and put them where necessary. We want both meat and vege to get them okay. Once you’re satisfied, you may put them into the oven for thirty minutes or whenever cooked.  Flip them periodically to avoid it being burnt. Garnish with parsley before serving.

Voila! You got yourself a dish worth serving with rice. Makes a great party potluck dish too!

Really,
Vonnie S.

What I Eat: Steamed Eggs

If you have a rice cooker with significant dept or a wok that enables you to steam stuff, you may want to try this recipe to satisfy your tofu cravings.

Ingredients:
Eggs, water, salt and one salted egg yolk.

Boil water for steaming purposes. Then proceed to do the next step while the heat works its magic.

Crack your eggs into a bowl. On a 1:1 ratio, add the water to the eggs. Yup, you stir them like your life depends on it. Just make sure they become one liquid. Meh, them salted egg yolk is not really important. But they add flavor and surprise to the dish. You can add mince meats to the mixture as well. Then, pour them over a deep dish. 

Take that dish and put it on a standing pedestal above the boiling water pit. The idea is to let the heat and steam cook the dang thing. You can tell that it's cooked by poking a fork into the egg. If no yellow liquid flows outta those holes you just made, you can be certain that the dish is ready. Garnish with soy sauce, sesame oil and some chopped green onions.

Serve it while it's hot. Yea baby. This is one healthy ass meal that's sure to impress people for its color and smooth texture.

Ding dong,
Vonnie S.

What I Eat: Butternut Squash Porridge

A personal comfort food that needs little care and skills. Honestly, I enjoy having porridge these days due to the dropping temperature. And this will definitely make it appearance on my menu at least once a week. This was an accidental creation; a time I got too lazy for anything brilliant.

Ingredients:
Butternut squash, rice, water, chicken stock, white pepper, sesame oil

Wash your rice and put them inside a pot. Fill half the pot with water (and you may have to occasionally add more because they either evaporates or get absorbed by the rice to maintain texture). Then add in the squash; make sure they are cut into cubes. Cover the pot and let it cook for fifteen minutes. You can then add the chicken stock. Don’t put too much all of a sudden. Taste it before you decide to up the quantity. That’s all!

Garnish with white pepper, sesame oil and some chopped green onions.

There you have it. An easy meal that’s light and savory. You may have some chicken or eggs on the side to compliment it too.

Ding dong,
Vonnie S.

What I Eat: American Potatoes

One of the most celebrated foods during my potluck days. I am pretty sure they’ll make a bang at your future ones too. These things make great party finger foods and your friends will thank you for bringing some potassium into their diet. This recipe works well with yam, pumpkin and sweet potato too!

Ingredients:
Potatoes, Butter, Parsley, Salt, Pepper

Cut the potatoes into thin slices. Then evenly coat salt and pepper with the potato slices in a bowl. Later, heat butter on a frying pan. Once hot, put slices after slices onto the pan. Increase heat and let them brown before flipping them over with a fork or chopstick. Garnish with parsley while they are in the pan before tossing them out on a plate.

Married,
Vonnie S.

What I Eat: White Sauce

The main affair of my life and what is the reason for living is good food. But it doesn’t mean that I am an expert cook. I’ll try to make do this blog posting by inputting some recipes that I, as a busy graduate student, would cook at my tiny studio apartment.

You may or may not be inspired by them, but it’s a lil note for myself as well when it comes to making easy yet time manageable food.

So…when it comes to sauce, there is an impressively simple yet full of Western flavor. Named the white sauce, I came across this at an American friend’s home. It was Thanksgiving and the turkey needed some dressing. Hence came this white blanket coat.

Ingredients:
Butter, Milk and Flour

Melt butter on the pan in low heat. Then you add flour in a 1:1 ration with the butter. Stir them all together until thickens. Finally, you pour in some milk until the texture suits that of a sauce.

Tadaa!! It goes well with steak, fries and anything else imaginable. And trust me, I personally tried making them, so rest assured you won’t go to the hospital.

NY strip,
Vonnie S.