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Cooking

Sizzling Mapo Tofu with Pork, Tofu and Eggplant

ma po tofu with eggplant

This recipe for Sizzling Mapo Tofu is an easy and delicious dish to make any night of the week. As preparation only takes about 10 minutes and cooking is just as fast. So, your family dinner will be on the table in no time.

Another thing that I love about this dish are the textures. I love the combination of soft eggplant, tender tofu, small pieces of pork, crisp green onions. And that fiery trio of ginger, garlic and hot sauce really hits the spot. So, this dish couldn’t be more perfect.

I’m sure you have your own go-to dinner recipe when food needs to be on the table as fast as possible. Well, Mapo Tofu is that dish for me. I have been making this dish for many many years. I just love it. It is warming, satisfying and delicious anytime of the year. And, boy, is it fast to make.

I make this dish with pork. but you could easily turn this dish into a vegan dinner by omitting the pork. Because there are so many seasonings, you won’t miss the pork.

I love reading about the history of recipes. And this one is pretty amazing. Mapo Tofu actually dates back atleast 200 years.  It was originally made by an elderly woman at The Chen Xingsheng, a small restaurant near the Wanfu Bridge in north Chengdu, the Capital City of Sichuan province in China, that she ran with her husband.

Ma means pork, and po means elderly, so mapo was actually used to describe the woman who made and served this delicious dish.

ma po tofu with eggplant

If you need a quick and delicious dinner – Mapo Tofu with Eggplant is for you!

Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Ma Po Tofu

Serves: 4
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • Part A
  • 1 eggplant, cubed
  • 2 garlic clove, chopped
  • 2 tsp chopped ginger
  • 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp sambal oelek or other hot chili sauce
  • 300 grams ground pork
  • Part B
  • 360 ml vegetable broth
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tsp sake
  • dash of pepper
  • 1 package of firm tofu, cut into cubes
  • Part C
  • 4 green onions
  • 3 Tbsp corn starch
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 Tbsp sesame oil

Instructions

1

Saute eggplant, then remove from pan.

2

Saute garlic and ginger and when aromatic add the sambal oelek.

3

Add pork and saute until cooked.

4

Add Part ‘B’.

5

Add eggplant back into pan.

6

Mix cornstarch with water.

7

Add mixture to pan.

8

Add sesame oil and green onions.

9

Serve with rice.

10

Enjoy!

March 11, 2019
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Cooking

Sweet Potato Noodles with Beef and Vegetables

Korean Sweet Potato Noodles with Beef and Vegetables

This dish, Sweet Potato Noodles with Beef and Vegetables, is a real family favourite. It has everything an asian stir-fry should have: sweet and salty sauce, crisp stir-fried vegetables and these amazing sweet potato noodles. So good.

I got this recipe from my friend, Kana, who I met years ago when we both lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Our family had moved to Halifax for my husband to do his medical internship. Kana and her family had come to Canada for two years to learn English as well as Canadian culture. In a very short time, Kana and I realized we both loved cooking.

We were both eager to learn cooking from each other’s country. We started getting together every Friday for ‘East-West Cooking’ Classes in each other’s kitchens. While our children played together, Kana and I would cook Japanese family favourites in her kitchen: sushi, sukiyaki, rice balls and other fantastic Japanese dishes. On other Fridays, she would come to our house and we would make meatloaf, roast chicken or nachos. Our kids and husbands loved this arrangement. I think our most fun day was when we made gingerbread houses just before Christmas.

Sweet Potato Noodles are fantastic to be know about, because, just like rice noodles, they’re perfect for vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free diets. The only ingredient for these noodles is sweet potato starch. Personally, I find sweet potato noodles easier to cook than rice noodles. For me, rice noodles always seem just seconds between being not done to overdone. If you have any suggestions on cooking rice noodles, please send them my way!

Sweet Potato Noodles are VERY long. When Kana taught me this dish she just snipped the cooked noodles into shorter pieces with her scissors. I still do it this way as it’s super easy.  You could break the noodles up when you put them in the pot, but I just pull up a bunch of almost cooked noodles with my tongs and snip away until they all look a good length.

This dish is fantastic for a picnic or potluck dinner as it tastes amazing at room temperature. You can eat it hot, but it tastes fine even after it has cooled down.

If you would like to make a vegan/vegetarian version, just replace the beef either with sauteed tofu, or double up on the vegetables. You won’t miss the beef at all.

Print Recipe

Korean Sweet Potato Noodles with Beef and Vegetables

Serves: 6
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • one package of Korean Sweet Potato Noodles
  • 1 pound stir-fry beef
  • 1 medium onion, sliced
  • 250 grams mushrooms, sliced
  • 4 carrots, thinly cut
  • 2 cups broccoli florets
  • Sauce: 3 tbsp sugar, 4 tablespoons soy sauce, 2-3 tablespoons stock.

Instructions

1

Put a large pot of water onto boil.

2

When water comes to a boil, add noodles.

3

Cook noodles for about 10 minutes until they taste soft but not soggy.

4

When noodles are done, snip them with scissors, until they are all about 10 inches long.

5

Rinse noodles.

6

While you are cooking the noodles, get a large wok out to cook the beef and vegetables.

7

Saute beef in a wok, until no longer pink, and then place in a bowl while you cook the vegetables.

8

Add onions and saute until soft. Add mushrooms and continue to saute until softened slightly.

9

Add carrots. Put lid on the wok until the carrots have softened.

10

Add broccoli florets. Put the lid back on for a couple of minutes until the broccoli is almost done.

11

Add beef back to the wok.

12

Add noodles to wok.

13

In a small bowl, add sugar, soy sauce and stock.

14

Pour sauce into wok.

15

Toss everything together with tongs. Serve hot or room temperature. Keep leftovers in fridge for up to 3 days.

Notes

You can also use other vegetables such as spinach, green beans, snow peas or red peppers.

Korean Sweet Potato Noodles with Beef and Vegetables

 

 

June 5, 2018
0
Cooking

Mango and Coconut Porridge Recipe

bowl of porridge with mango and coconut

I love oats. They are probably my favourite grain. I love them in bread, muffins, cookies as well as cooked for breakfast. If you browse through my blog, you’re going to find a lot of recipes using oats.

I especially love oats for breakfast. I think they make the most healthiest and filling breakfasts whether they are in granola or this recipe for porridge. When I make porridge, I don’t add any sweeteners. Instead I love to pile in loads of fruit. I use fresh fruit and berries in the summer, but in the winter when it’s hard to find fresh fruit or they are super expensive, I use frozen fruit.

My usual mix of fruit is mango, blueberry and sweet cherries, but one day I only had mango.  So, I just used what I had and couldn’t believe how perfectly mango goes with oats. Who would have guessed? Traditional porridge is usually cooked with raisins and brown sugar and served with an extra splash of maple syrup. But the smooth sweet flavour of tropical mango balances so well with nutty tasting oats, it’s like they were meant to go together. And forget the added sweetener: mangoes are so naturally sweet, you won’t need any.

Different Types of Oats

Steel-Cut: These are also known as Irish or Scottish Oats and are the closest to their original grain form. The oat kernel is cut one or two times to help it cook. Cooking steel-cut oats can take between 15-60 minutes. They are nutty, chewy and very nutritious.

Rolled Oats: Whole Oats are toasted, hulled, steamed and then flattened with giant rollers. Rolled oats take about 15-20 minutes to cook.

Quick Cooking Oats: These are similar to rolled oats, but have been cut before being steamed and flattened so they cook quicker. Try sprinkling some in muffins or pancake batter to add an extra texture.

Instant: These oats cook very quick. They are cut, pre-cooked, dried, steamed and flattened. They cook super fast, but because they’re been processed so much a lot of their nutrition has been lost.

Oat Flour: You can make oat flour by putting rolled oats in a blender or food processor. They add a nutty flavour to baked goods, as well as making them more moist and crumbly. You can substitute up to 30% of flour in a recipe with oat flour. Try it the next time you bake some muffins and see how you like it.

Oat Bran: This comes from the outer layer of the oat kernel. Whole Oats always contain oat bran, quick cooking or instant oats do not contain oat bran as it has been removed. Oat bran is high in fibre and is often eaten as a hot cereal, sprinkled on cold cereal or added to bread, cookies and muffins for extra fibre.

Not only are oats delicious they are also super healthy. If you are also an oat lover, here are some cool nutrition facts about oats:

  • oats are low in calories and they slow digestion which helps you feel full longer.
  • 1/2 cup of oats has 150 calories, 5 g of protein, 27 g of carbs, 2 grams of fat and 4 grams of fibre.
  • oats help prevent constipation as they contain both soluble and insoluble fibre.
  • dietary fibres in oats decrease bad cholesterol (LDL) without affecting good cholesterol (HDL)
  • oats contain enterolactone and other plant lignans which protect against heart disease.
  • according to the American Cancer Society, lignan in oats also helps reduce the chances of hormone related cancers such as breast, prostate and ovarian cancer.

Enjoy cooking and baking with oats!

If you enjoy oats as much as I do, here is some additional reading:

A BBC Podcast on Oats

Stoats: A company focused on Oats

Baking with Oats

bol of porridge with mango and coconut
Print Recipe

Mango and Coconut Porridge

Serves: 1
Cooking Time: 5-8 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup Whole Oats
  • 1 cup Water
  • Milk (or milk alternative)
  • Mangoes
  • Unsweeneted Shredded Coconut (toasted)

Instructions

1

Toast coconut in a dry pan for a few minutes until golden.

2

Add whole oats to pot and add the water.

3

Bring to a boil, and cook on a low simmer for about 5-8 minutes until oats are soft. If it starts to look too thick, add a bit more water until you have the consistency you prefer.

4

Add about 1/4 cup of milk or milk alternative. (optional).

5

Pour into a serving bowl.

6

Add sliced mangoes and toasted coconut on top.

7

Serve hot.

8

Enjoy!

March 19, 2018
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