Tag: asian cooking

Cooking with Natty

Mongolian Tofu Noodles

by nattysbestlifeLeave a Comment on Mongolian Tofu Noodles

Ingredients:

  • 1 slab EXTRA FIRM TOFU: dry with a paper towel and cut into cubes
  • 1 tbs flour
  • 1-2  green bell pepper sliced into thin strips
  • 3 packets of ramen noodles (uncooked)
  • 2 tbsp sesame oil
  • 3/4 cup soy sauce low sodium
  • 1 1/4 cup chicken broth low sodium, or no sodium added
  • 4 cloves garlic minced cloves garlic minced
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar packed
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 2 tbs minced ginger
  • 3 green onions chopped (optional garnish)
  • black sesame seeds (optional garnish)
  1. Take the diced tofu and toss it in flour: bake it at 350° on a greased pan until it gets crispy. I just kept an eye on it and baked it for 20-30 minutes.
  2. Make the sauce: cook the minced garlic and ginger in sesame oil and add soy sauce+ chicken broth+ chili flakes (you can add more if you want) + brown sugar. Reduce heat and let it cook for 20-30 minutes until it thickens. I didn’t use all the sauce only about half for this dish- I stored the rest to use later.
  3. Sauté the green pepper in oil and put aside
  4. Cook the ramen. I just add the uncooked ramen to a mixing bowl and add boiling water over it and mix around for about 1 minute and strain- this prevents the noodles from getting overcooked.
  5. Mix the crispy tofu + sautéed green pepper + noodles together top with green onions and black sesame seeds (or regular sesame seeds) and enjoy

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Cooking with Natty

Mushroom Ramen

by nattysbestlifeLeave a Comment on Mushroom Ramen

Ingredients:

  • 1 container chicken broth/ veggie broth
  • Assorted mushrooms of choice (3/4 lb)
  • Dried shiitake mushrooms (optional- these are very strong
  • 3-4 ramen packets
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 tbs fresh ginger/ ginger paste
  • 1-2 garlic cloves (minced)
  • Garlic powder (unsalted)
  • Sesame seeds
  • Miso paste
  • Soy sauce
  • 4 eggs
  • Green onions/ scallion (garnish)
  • Corn (fresh or frozen)
  • Butter
  • Red chili flakes
  • Sesame oil (optional)

1. Prepare the toppings

Soft boiled eggs→ bring water to a boil, put in the eggs, boil for 6 minutes, take out and put in a ice water bath, peel and cut in half

Chili garlic sesame oil → heat sesame oil (or vegetable oil), add chili flakes, sesame seeds and garlic powder stir (don’t bring it to a boil or it will burn)

Butter corn → heat the corn and add butter

Cook ramen →boil water, put boiling water into a large bowl, add ramen and let sit for 2-3 minutes. Rinse with cold water (you don’t want to overcook the ramen noodles)

2. Prepare the broth

Sauté the garlic, ginger and onion in oil until the onion shrinks. Add the broth of choice, chopped mushrooms, soy sauce (to taste) and miso paste (to taste). Bring to a boil, I cook it on low heat for 20-30 minutes.

3. Assemble and serve

Put the broth in a bowl, add the ramen end with toppings of choice and serve. You don’t want to add the noodles until the end or they will get soggy. You can always modify your toppings and get creative by adding: spicy miso paste, fried shrimp or tofu, meat of choice, takana, spinach, kimchee, bamboo, seaweed, bean sprouts ect.

🖤

Cooking with Natty

Fluffy Cloud Japanese Pancakes

by nattysbestlifeLeave a Comment on Fluffy Cloud Japanese Pancakes

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 
  • 1 1/4 cups milk 
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg yolk plus 3 large egg whites
  • 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • PAM- for cooking
  • Maple syrup- for serving
Special equipment:

 four 3-inch-wide-by-2 1/2-inch-high ring molds: you can use any tall ring you have

This was my first time trying homemade Japanese pancakes and I was pleasantly surprised! They turned out amazing! The easiest way to make this pancake, start with THREE BOWLS!

Bowl 1: Mix together the dry ingredients: flour, confectioners’ sugar, baking powder and salt

Bowl 2: Mix together the wet ingredients: milk, melted butter, vanilla and egg yolk

Bowl 3: Mix 3 egg whites with a hand mixture until white peaks form (this takes about 3-5 minutes depending on the hand mixer

Mx together the contents of bowl 1 and bowl 2 in equal proportions, at the end fold in the contents of bowl 3

Heat up a pan on LOW HEAT- I had it on the lowest setting, spray the pan and the ring. Once the pan is heated pour the batter in 1/2 way into the mold, set a timer for 5 mixtures, flip and cook the other side for 5 more minutes.

Once it’s done pop it out of the mold and top with powder sugar ( confectioners’ sugar). Serve with fresh fruits, whipped cream, and maple syrup!

🖤

Cooking with Natty

Egg fried “rice”

by nattysbestlifeLeave a Comment on Egg fried “rice”

Today I decided to make egg fried rice without rice. I substituted the rice with Green Giant Riced Broccoli and Cauliflower mix. They have a variety of different riced veggie combos, just use the one you want. The whole bag of “rice” has 80 calories! That’s what makes this recipe so healthy and low in calories.

Ingredients:

  • Low sodium soy sauce
  • Sesame oil
  • 3-4 eggs
  • 1 package of microwavable frozen mixed veggies
  • 1 package of riced veggies
  • 1 onion
  • 1 garlic clove

The prep time was about 15-20 minutes! Warm up the sesame oil in a pan, add the chopped onion and garlic and cooked it for about 5 minutes, turn down the heat right before the onion becomes caramelized. In a separate pan cook the riced veggies, this also takes about 5 minutes. Add the microwaved veggies to the onion/garlic mixture. Push this mixture to the side of the pan and use the other half of the pan to scramble 3-4 eggs (I used 3 this time). Once the eggs are cooked, add the riced veggies and add soy sauce to taste. I didn’t add salt to this recipe because the soy sauce is enough sodium for me, but if you feel you need to add salt, just salt to taste.

It is a very simple recipe and tastes amazing. We ate right away, but I am excited to make this again on a Sunday and use it as my lunch for a few days!

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