Gyudon (Beef Bowl)

So... I haven't been blogging for a while. Blame the parties and the parties and, did I mention, the parties?

It's crazy this time of the year...

Next month will be crazier.

Oh, and am I the only one who didn't like Skyfall? Most are saying it's the best Bond movie ever.

Ever? Really? I thought it dragged on for a while. I found myself shifting in the movie seat for sometime there. Boy was I glad it was over, when it finally was!

I did like Breaking Dawn 2, however. Big surprise there.

Skyfall? No surprise there.

Besides Breaking Dawn 2, I also like Japanese food.

Here's how I make gyudon, or thin slices of beef served over rice.

You will need:

Sukiyaki (thinly sliced beef)
Black mushrooms, soaked
White onions
chopped garlic
Cornstarch
Kikkoman
Brown sugar
Mirin

I grab a pack of sukiyaki, about 300 grams. I pull the thin slices of beef one by one because they are stuck together in the pack.

I prepare my sauce first, about 4 tablespoons brown sugar, half a cup of Kikkoman soy sauce, and 2 tablespoons of mirin. I set that aside for later.

Oh and I don't know what mirin is. I just find it and buy it in the grocery, Asian section. Could it be vinegar? Rice wine? I don't know. It could be anything really. Lol. Just trust me on this. You need mirin.

In a medium size saucepan, saute a tablespoon of chopped garlic in cooking oil.

Then I throw in sliced onions, 1 whole. Slice them in such a way so that they are quite long. Like onion rings sliced in half.

Once the onions are nice and golden brown, transfer the whole thing to a plate.

In the same sauce pan, I add a cup of water and 1 beef bouillon cube. Then I throw in some black mushrooms, soaked, stems removed, and sliced. Let boil.

To the boiling broth, I put in my thin slices of beef one by one. I let the beef cook very quickly just until they change color.

Then I put the cooked beef aside and mushrooms aside with the onions. Turn off heat.

Make a cornstarch mixture: 2 tablespoons cornstarch in about 4 tablespoons of water. Mix until cornstarch is dissolved. Put this in your saucepan and mix with the broth. Remember I said turn off heat? Make sure you don't dump the cornstarch mixture in until you turn OFF heat.

If you don't you'll end up with Jello in your soup. Trust me.

Turn the heat back up again and let boil until broth is slightly thicker.

When it is, put back your beef, mushrooms, onions in the saucepan. I also add in some sliced green onions. I let this simmer. Then I crack 3 eggs on top. Some Japanese restaurants don't bother putting in the egg whites. But I put my egg whites. Because what will I do with egg whites? That's something I don't want to have to think about.

Who wants to think about what to do with egg whites, anyway???

I can begin to imagine myself thinking.... should I make omelette tomorrow morning? Should I make fish cakes with the egg whites? Make a meringue? Uh uh... I'm not going there. No.

I'm putting the egg whites in.

I let my eggs cook very close to well done because I am serving this dish to the kids. If you are serving this to adults, overeasy would be alright and more delicious.

I prepare some rice on my serving plate. Then I top the rice with my cooked beef.

Yummeh!!!!

Hot Shrimp Salad

Now I know what you're thinking... That it's not hot shrimp salad. It's hot PRAWN salad.

But I didn't use any prawns for this. I used medium sized shrimps because that's all I had.

I love making this dish. Or, err, I love EATING this dish. In the United States they call this Shrimp with Candied Walnuts, and it is very popular at P.F. Chang's.

Though I've never been to P.F. Chang's...

Come to think it, I've never even seen P.F. Chang's. Not in the four years that I've lived and roamed that country.

It's sad.

So sad.

How did that happen???

How can I miss P.F. Chang's when I love Chinese food so much?

Who doesn't love Chinese food!

It's the greatest thing China's ever come up with! And perhaps the only thing original from that country. Lol. I'm kidding.

Not really.

Here are the ingredients for this dish:

1/2 kilo shrimp
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 medium sized eggs
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp condensed milk


Start by cleaning your shrimp. Remove its soft shell and head. Then devein. The easiest way to devein is to run a sharp knife on the shrimp's back and slowly take out the black stringy substance that is the gut of the shrimp.

Rinse your shrimp a couple of times in cold water.

Then, prepare your batter. Make this by mixing 3/4 cup of flour to 1/4 cup of corn starch.

In another bowl, break 2 medium sized eggs and beat.

Beat them real fast because you're mad about never having been to P.F. Chang's.

Heat up a saucepan filled halfway with oil. I use soybean oil. It makes me feel a little healthier.

Just a little.

Submerge all your shrimp in the beaten egg. Because submerging them one at a time takes way too much time. Why not just throw all the babies in?

One by one, dredge your shrimp in the flour and cornstarch mixture. This one you can't cheat on. Don't dump all your shrimp here at once or you'll have one big mess. Trust me.

Deep fry your shrimp for no longer than five minutes. You want the shrimp nice and soft, not overcooked and chewy.

Let drain. Note that the batter is really light. You want just a tad bit of crisp.

For your candied walnuts, put 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water on a separate saucepan and heat until the sugar has melted. Don't keep stirring this mixture otherwise the sugar won't melt.

Once all the sugar granules has become invisible, throw in a half a cup of walnuts. Toss the walnuts around the syrup to coat.

Strain, then transfer to paper towel.

For the sauce, you will need a cup of mayonnaise, and two tablespoons of condensed milk, a little less if you're not very much on the sweet side. Mix the two together and stick in a microwave for a minute. Stir again.

Whew. I'm tired.

I want my husband to come to the kitchen and finish this for me.

One more thing I added, because this is good with it. And this is lettuce. Fresh, green, crisp lettuce. Just wash it, and chop if you like. Pat dry with a towel, and lay them nicely on a serving plate.

You may mix the shrimp and the sauce together. But this time I don't. Instead, I put the shrimp on top of my bed of lettuce, sprinkle the candied walnuts, and just spoon the sauce on top like a salad.

But you should mix the shrimp and sauce together. It is more delicious like that.

You can put this on a sandwich too.

I totally forgot to include my mangoes when I put this dish together. So I just served my mangoes on the side. You can add and kind of fruit you have. Diced mangoes or melon really go well with this dish. Some people I know even throw in a can of fruit cocktail, drained. But I don't like the taste of canned fruit of any kind. Fresh or frozen tastes better.

Eat and be happy!