some dishes i made lately

Just a collection of dishes I made recently. Many requires very little time.

soup noodle with fresh mussels and leaf lettuce

 surf clam linguine with andouille sausage in cream sauce

 another meal of surf clam linguine with andouille sausage in cream sauce - the fresh surf clam is so delicious

same recipe but made with wild shrimps instead of surf clams - i like to add a bit of heat as Creole or Cajun cooks would do

still another variation; this one has shrimps and my Texas BBQ brisket

here are a series of photos capturing the steps to make the dish

a little of andouille goes a long way

and there are only 4 shrimps for the dish - by slicing them into halves i get 8 bites explode with umami

 i am getting quite good in minimizing the number of cooking vessels to save cleaning work; here i put the saute shrimps in the serving plate

 when the pasta is ready i add them too to the serving plate

 then just a bit of tidy up for presentation

 you can make this dish with just about any shellfish; note that there is very little cream and i like it that way

rice soup noodle with braised beef flank and tendon

 closeup of the succulent beef flank and toothsome tendon

i bought this little made in Japan delight from Amazon for a mere $3.41 shipping included; i only wish it has a maple leaf shape; but then the idea that there are 4 blossoms symbolize the seasons; there is cherry (sakura) 櫻花 for spring, chrysanthemum 菊花 (kiku) for autumn, blossom of small tangerine 桔花 for winter, but I am puzzled as plum 梅花 and cherry (sakura) 櫻花 both bloom in spring

My search on the web for the flowers that symbolize the four seasons comes up empty for summer.
still more braised flank cut soup rice noodles

this is my fusion dish inspired by Puerto Rican cuisine use of annatto seeds in place of saffron; the white strips are cuttle fish

i came across this really cheap bottle of Thai fish sauce (on the left side) and bought it out of culinary curiosity; compared to the premium brand (on the right) it lacks umami; it tastes just salty with not much flavor; yet it tastes very similar to the ones you find in a lot of restaurants in Thailand

 more of my variation of yellow rice

 soup noodles are my standbys whenever I don't feel like putting in a lot of work making a meal

 this one has beef slices and daikon and wide wheat noodles

 stir fried a-choy

 this one with crab meat and shitake mushrooms

 this is a salt cured Chinese duck leg forgotten in my refrigerator for years

 steam it well with a bit of julienne ginger

 it is delicious - alas good Chinese salt cured duck legs are very hard to find now

so too are good Cantonese wheat noodles - i reluctantly bought this one knowing it has food coloring; i would have to make my own in the future

 preparing a soup noodles with razor clam

 razor clam soup noodles

 this one has braised beef flank cut and beef meat ball

Tennessee country ham - my first attempt to figure out best way to eat it; i would later found out i like eating it straight like you would with Spanish jamon by slicing along the grain very thinly

braised dish made with shiitake, black tree fungus, fish maw, shrimp, and hairy gourd

saw these Chinese clay charcoal grill at An Dong; in each passing year Portland Asian stores bring in greater selection of cookware and ingredients from Asian countries

these Chinese clay vessels used to be unobtainium in Portland; being a cookware collection junkie i have to exercise discipline to resist the temptation to bring them home

steps in assembling a beef soup noodle - the pre-made broth and blenching of the noodles are not shown nor the cooking

 this brand of noodle is pretty good, but not as good as those found in Hong Kong

 the white chunks in the noodle soup is daikon that is braised with the beef flank cut

 this photo shows the classic rough and tumble bowls used by street vendors

 this is braised eggplant made in Japanese style

 1 in 1000 items in Ikea is quite good and this LED light is one - i almost bought it for Brunnhilde

 like i mention above, i eat a lot of soup noodles because they are so versatile