Simple Bites on Fraser Street, Vancouver

We decided to have breakfast near my work place on a week day. We always walk past this restaurant which opens early for breakfast, 8:00AM to 8:00PM.

It’s a Japanese style restaurant with simple bites, hence it’s name.

The menu is simple and price is reasonable.

Customer orders and pays at the counter.

Food will be delivered to the customer. There is 2 small tables in front of the counter and a long bench seating facing the wall, so seating is limited.

Nanzaro ordered a Sausage and Scrambled Eggs Muffin for $2.50. The scrambled eggs were fluffy. (more…)

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Homemade Sambal Chili with Dried Shrimps

Ben found a pack of belachan in the store room. I must have bought it a while ago but reluctant to cook it as it will stink up the apartment.

Ben decided to use it to make some Sambal Belachan with Dried Shrimps as a condiment for rice or noodle dishes. We love sambal belachan but making it at home will require me to burn a lot of scented candles to get rid of the smell.

Ingredients

  • 50g dried shrimps (soaked in 1 cup of water, reserved soaking liquid)
  • 200g shallots
  • 30g garlic
  • 20g ginger
  • 1/4 cooking oil
  • 25g dried chili – hydrated (deseeded if you do not want it to be too spicy)
  • 150g fresh chili (deseeded if you do not want it to be too spicy)
  • 4 stalks of lemongrass (use white part only)
  • 50g dried toasted belacan
  • 1/2 cup cooking oil
  • 2 teaspoons sugar

Another reason Ben is able to make the sambal belachan is we managed to find fresh red chilies in the groceries stores like T&T.

Source: Spice N’ Pans

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Gia Minh Vietnamese Restaurant on Fraser St., Vancouver

Jo invited Ben and I for dinner on a weekday impromptu.

Jo ordered a couple of appetizers. The first one was the above BBQ squid. It was tender and it came with a dipping sauce.

Jo wanted the salad roll but ordered wrongly and got the spring roll instead. The spring roll was rather skinny. I prefer those wrap in rice paper.

Jo decided to order another salad roll which she originally intended. Salad roll is more healthy without the deep frying. This came with a peanut dipping sauce. (more…)

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Korean Egg Bread (Gyeran-ppang)

Ben made this Korean Egg Bread for me to bring for lunch at work.

We used a muffin tin to make four with egg filing. Since I am not a fan of egg, I asked him to made me a couple with cheese only.

We used a rectangular aluminium foil pan to make mine so that I get a bigger portion.

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 7 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 eggs for the cake batter, extra eggs for filing
  • cooking oil for coating the pan
  • Mozzarella cheese, optional

Source: this recipe is adapted from https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/gyeran-ppang

Yields: 4 rectangular bread or 8 muffin size bread

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Korean Spicy Garlic Fried Chicken (Kkanpunggi)

Ben made this Korean snack food for the family. The recipe is adapted from one of his favourite youtube food blogger, Maangchi.

Our boys simply love this crunchy boneless chicken nugget with a sweet and spicy sauce.

Ingredients

Chicken marinate:

  • 3 chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons minced ginger
  • 3 teaspoons light soy sauce
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 whole egg plus 1 egg white

Spicy garlic and leek-infused oil:

  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups thinly shredded leek (1 whole leek)
  • 12 garlic cloves, cut into halves
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons red chili flakes

Vegetables and seasonings:

  • a small bunch of green onions (about 6 to 8), chopped
  • 1 large sized onion, chopped
  • 10 dried chili peppers

Sweet and sour sauce (combine in a measuring cup, stir and mix well):

  • 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 6 tablespoons water
  • 4 to 6 tablespoons syrup (or sugar)
  • 3 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 3 teaspoons potato starch

Oil:

  • 1 cup vegetable oil for frying
  • a few drops of sesame oil

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Taiwanese Braised Pork Belly

Ben made this Taiwanese Braised Pork Belly for dinner.

Everyone at home loves it. It is saucy and the pork belly has the right amount of fat and lean meat which gives it the great texture.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound pork belly, cut into small strips
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil, optional
  • 4 to 5 medium shallots, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 8 pieces of dried shiitake mushroom, re-hydrated (reserved soaking liquid), diced
  • 1 teaspoon five spice powder
  • a few dashes of ground white pepper
  • 1/2 cup of white rice wine (Chinese cooking wine)
  • 1/3 cup light soy sauce
  • 1/3 cup dark soy sauce
  • 15g rock sugar
  • 1 can (395ml) chicken stock
  • 300ml mushroom soaking water
  • 4 hard boil eggs – as complement
  • blanched green vegetable – as complement

This recipe is adapted from spicenpans.com

Serves: 5 to 6

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Homemade Seremban Siew Bao

Ben made the Seremban Siew Bao from scratch at home because he misses it. The last time he had it was probably six years ago when he went back to Malaysia.

The Siew Bao was a success and Ben was very satisfied. He got the recipe from this youtube. We made some adjustments to the recipe to our preference like:

  • darker colour filings
  • darker glaze by just using egg yolk
  • more liquid in the seasonings to add moisture to the filings

Ingredients

Pork Filing:

  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 4 slices ginger
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1/2 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 pound ground pork

Pork Seasoning:

  • 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
  • 3 tablespoons all purpose flour dissolved in 3/4 cup chicken broth

Water Dough:

  • 400g all purpose flour
  • 100g butter in room temperature
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 180ml water
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Oil Dough:

  • 200g all purpose flour
  • 140g butter in room temperature

Glazing and Garnishing:

  • 2 to 3 egg yolks, beaten
  • toasted sesame seeds

Yield: 24

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