2018 Chinese New Year Eve & Tofu Ball with Pork and Mushroom Fillings

中文版菜谱：

2018年夜饭 & 猪肉糯米酿油豆腐

02/16/2018 is Chinese New Year Day.  Family members get together on New Year’s Eve and have a big family feast together.  It is very much like Thanksgiving Day for American people.  It is all about celebrating, appreciation, families and love. 

Fish in spicy beer sauce

Steamed pork belly and taro

Steamed Chicken feet with oyster sauce

Tofu balls with pork and mushrooms fillings

Smoked pig tails

Pickled daikon

Stir-fried pea tips with garlic

Sweet rice cake with nuts and red bean paste filling

Can you believe it is tofu?  O(∩_∩)O~          

Yes, it is definitely tofu.  Chinese people invented tofu more than a thousand years ago.  We have been cooking and eating tofu in numerous different ways ever since.  Sometimes you know what you eat is tofu, but sometimes you don’t even know if you are eating tofu. 

Ingredients：

2 packages of fried tofu balls ( a total of 16)
100g ground pork
6 to 8 pieces dried wood ear mushroom
a handful of  dried shitake or regular mushroom
1 cup sweet rice
 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
1 to 2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 tablespoon rice cooking wine
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
salt to taste
water for soaking and cooking

Directions：

Soak sweet rice for at least 4 hours.  Drain well.

Soak mushrooms with water for at least 2 hours.  Rinse well under running water.  Add to processor, and finely chop them.

Add ground pork, chopped mushrooms, and sweet rice, along with all the seasonings to a large bowl.  Mix well with a wooden spoon or a pair of chopsticks.

With a sharp knife or kitchen scissors, cut a small opening on each tofu balls, and then scoop out inner tofu as much as possible.

Fill the tofu balls with pork sweet rice mixture.

Add all tofu balls to a medium pot, add water.  Season the water with salt.  Cook over high heat until water boils.  Cover with lid; reduce the heat to simmer for about 25 to 30 minutes. 

Turn the heat back to high.  Cook until all the liquid evaporates. 

Serve hot

It tastes like across meat balls and sweet rice cake balls.  Dried mushrooms and pork add ton of flavors to it.  I love it not just because it tastes good, also because I grew up eating it.  (￣▽￣)”

Tuna poke

中文：金枪鱼POKE

Tuna and avocado are such a great pair that I always put them together such as in sushi and poke.  They both have mild flavors and similar soft and oily texture that will literally melt in your mouth. 

Tuna poke is a great dish for those who love tuna and avocado as much as I do and don’t want to spend too much time on rolling sushi at home.  It is so simple that the whole dish can be done in 5 minutes from start to finish; but the flavor is so great that you want to make it again and again. O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients:

10 oz sashimi grade tuna
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 onion, thinly sliced
1 to 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce
green onion, chopped or sliced
minced ginger
1/4 teaspoon honey
1 to 2 teaspoons teriyaki sauce (optional)
1/2 avocado
sea salt / kosher salt to taste
freshly cooked rice (optional)

Directions：

Thaw the sashimi grade tuna in refrigerator.  Pat dry with paper towel and then cut into bite size cubes.  

Add onion, toasted sesame seeds, soy sauce, green onion, ginger, honey, teriyaki sauce and saltBTW, you can tell I use frozen green onion here.  The fresh one will do just fine.  I always grow a lot of green onion in our garden in spring time and harvest them in fall.  Rinse them well under running water; chop them up and bag them with Ziploc bags.  They will last the whole winter and it is quite convenient for me too O(∩_∩)O~

Mix with a wooden spoon.

Remove avocado’s skin and seed.  Cut the fresh into bite size too.  Gently fold into the tuna.

It is very easy and simple.  Try it yourself!  O(∩_∩)O~

Grilled Split Lobster

中文菜谱： 烧烤大龙虾

Summer means BBQ!  Both my husband and I love grilling in our back yard.  We bought two large lobsters home on our last grocery trip to Detroit area.  One is grilled, and the other one is boiled and make into a salad. 

We both decide the grilled one is tastier O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients：

1 large lobster (about 2.2 pounds)
3 to 4 tablespoons butter, softened
2 to 4 cloves of garlic
1 stalk of green onion
1/2  to 1teaspoon crushed chili peppers
 lemon zest from 1/2 lemon
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt to taste

Directions：

Peel and mince the garlic.  Finely chop the green onion.

In a small bowl, combine garlic, green onion, butter, chili pepper, lemon zest, black pepper and sea salt.  Mix with a fork until everything is well combined.

Clean the lobster.  With a big knife or clever, split it open in the middle.

Preheat the grill to 450F/232C

Spray or brush the lobster with olive oil/ vegetable oil.  Grill it flesh side down for 4 to 5 minutes.

Flip ove

Spoon spice butter mixture over the lobste

Grill for another 5 to 8 minutes.  The actual grilling time depends on lobster’s size and grill temperature. 

Its claws will need 1 to 2 minutes extra grilling time.  

It is a big one.  I have to serve it in a pizza pan.

Don’t worry.  After taking the photo, I send the claws back to grill to grill for another couple minutes.  

Boiled Lobsters

中文菜谱： 水煮龙虾

We love lobsters.  Who doesn’t?   Whenever we buy fresh lobsters, I always go with steaming or boiling with minimum seasoning.  It is the best way to taste lobster’s natural flavors.  

Ingredients:

2 lobsters
5 quarts cold water
4 to 5 tablespoon sea salt

Butter dipping sauce：

3 to 4 tablespoons butter
3 to 4 cloves of garlic
freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste
1/2 lemon

Directions：

Clean the lobsters.

Fill a large cast iron pot with water.  Add sea salt. Heat over high heat until it boils.

Add lobsters.

One lobster is 1.5 pounds.  It needs 8 to 9 minutes boiling time.  The other one is smaller, about 1.2 pounds.  So it needs to boil for 6 to 7 minutes.

Add the bigger one first.

One and half minutes later, add the smaller one.  

Heat a small cast iron skillet over medium low heat. Add butter.

Peel and mince the garlic gloves.  Add it to the pan, along with freshly ground black pepper and salt. 

30 seconds to 1 minute later, remove the skillet from heat.  Transfer the garlic butter sauce into a small dipping bowl. 

The lobsters are ready too. 

The black plate is actually a pizza plate.

He hates to deal with whole lobster.  Fine, I will do it.

Twist the tail off.  With a pair of sharp scissors, cut it open and reveal the lobster meat inside. 

Sprinkle with lemon juice.  Dip in the butter sauce. 

With a nut cracker, crack open the claws.  

Dip in the butter sauce too.  The fondue/ butter warmer can keep the butter warm the whole dinner time. 

Why does the same lobster look so much smaller in his hand?  O(∩_∩)O~

Teriyaki tuna rolls

中文： 照烧吞拿鱼紫菜卷

Sometime when I crave for sushi but too lazy to go out, I make these teriyaki tuna rolls.  They are easy and fast to make, but still very tasty! O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients：

1bowl of freshly cooked rice
1 ripe avocado
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 pound sashimi grade tuna
3 to 4 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
2 to 3 teaspoons toasted white sesame seeds
5 to 6 dried seaweed sheets
wasabi paste
soy sauce

Directions：

Defrost the tuna in refrigerator.  Cut it into small long strips, about the size of little fingers.

Peel the avocado and remove its core.  Cut it into thick slices.   Add rice vinegar and sugar.  Toss gently until they are well combined.

Place one seaweed sheet on the bamboo sushi mat.  Evenly spread a handful of freshly cooked rice over the seaweed sheet.  Add tuna strips to a end; spoon teriyaki sauce over tuna; sprinkle with white toasted sesame seeds and line up with avocado slices.

Roll it up from one end as tightly as you can.

With a sharp knife, cut it into 8 equal pieces.

Repeat the process until all the tuna and rice is finished.

Serve with soy sauce and wasabi paste. Enjoy!