Hibachi Steak

This is a “knock-off” that I obtained from Todd Wilbur’s Top Secret Restaurant Recipes. Hibachi Steak is a beef and vegetable stir-fry recipe prepared teppanyaki-style (teppan=steel grill, yaki=broiled) that was made popular by the Benihana restaurant chain. The restaurant boasts of the best “eatertainment”, with the dining experience elevated by dazzling showmanship (dicing, chopping and flipping) of highly-trained chefs. Read more

Vietnamese Sandwich (Banh-Mi)

This is no ordinary sandwich! Banh Mi is an euro-asian take on submarine sandwiches, featuring a crunchy-on-the-outside-chewy-in-the-inside baguette, filled with pate spread, daikon radish and carrot relish, slices of jalapenos, sprigs of cilantro and choice of fillings such as sardines, barbecued pork, grilled chicken, ham, and head cheese slices. Read more

Broil-in-Foil Tilapia (Broiled Mojarra)

A former classmate of mine, Monette, commented to me via a personal e-mail how she’d love to have easy-to-prepare, 30-minute type recipes. I agree! With career, traffic, household chores, picking up kids from school, taking care of hubby, PTA meetings etcetera, etcetera, a mother and wife has indeed quite a few balls to juggle. Who wants to sweat in the kitchen after a day of running around trying to please the boss at work? We want to whip up a meal and zip out of the heat in thirty minutes flat, right? Read more

Sauteed Bean Sprouts and Tofu

This sauteed bean sprouts and tofu recipe is a one my favorites to make. It is fast, easy and a very healthy and economical source of protein. The dish cost around $3 for a serving of 4. It’s delicious paired with steamed rice and fried pork chops or fried fish. I usually double the amount I prepare and use the other half for my vegetable eggrolls. Read more

Finger-Licking Good Chicken Wings

Innovation results from need. I think this recipe is a perfect example of that.

My mother-in-law taught me a recipe on one of her visits at home. It’s basically marinating chicken with spicy vinegar and frying or broiling it. Very good! One day, I had a hankering for some mighty wings to go with my favorite sauteed bean sprouts and tofu. I took out the chicken wings, cleaned and cut them into parts; opened pantry-no vinegar in the house! Checked for lemon-none! Hmmm? Describe vinegar? Sour. I remembered the packages of dry tamarind soup base that I got on sale (3 for a $1) a week ago. I usually stock this as my daughter loves sinigang soups. Sinigang is a popular Filipino sour-based soup using a meat or seafood medium, guava or tamarind flavor and loaded with lots of vegetables such as bokchoy and eggplant. Read more