The version that we made was with wasabi mayo (word to the wise, use a very little bit of wasabi powder if you’re making your own wasabi mayonaise) and Nori Komi Furikake (which is sesame seeds and seaweed). Just well cooked veggie weiners and fried onions made this a very good idea indeed. A great way to spend a saturday afternoon:

I have the bestest friend in the world don’t I? Thanks Jess for a delicious treat!

This recipe is for Bei gu su or Tofu with vegetables. It’s a super easy stir fry! Literally, took about 20 minutes to prep and then about 10 minutes to cook, I think if you prep ahead of time you can have dinner ready in 10 minutes. And who doesn’t love that?

Bei Gu Su

1lb firm tofu, cubed
1/2 lb. snow peas
1 carrot, julienne cut
1/2 lb. mushrooms, finely sliced
4 scallions, chopped
1-inch piece of ginger, grated
1 tbsp. rice wine or ginger (optional)
2 tbsp. stock or water
1 tsp. cornstarch
oil
salt and pepper

1. Heat some oil in a wok and fry the tofu until it is golden.
2. Carefully pour off any excess oil and then add the snowpeas, carrot, musrooms, 3 scallions and the ginger.  Stir-fry briskly for a couple of minutes, and then sprinkle on the sauce and rice wine.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Pour on the stock or water and continue to cook.  Mix the cornstarch with a little cold water to make a paste and then pour this into the pan, stirring to distribute it.  Garnish with the remaining scallion. Serve with omelet and rice or noodles.

Verdict and Notes:
To be completely honest I didn’t really try to make any substitutions and I really didn’t have to. All of the ingredients were very easy to find, even in Winnipeg. It was such a simple recipe that I think I will make it a staple meal.  The only thing I did use different was the oyster sauce, I used the real thing instead of the vegetarian kind but that’s only because I’m not a vegetarian.   I had the stir fry with some rice (but of course) and sprinkled some furikake on it. Yes, I know furikake is japanese but it really seemed to go with this. So go ahead, try it, and take your taste buds to China.

Quote to share: “Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only to stand still.”
- Chinese Proverb

Nepal is officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal is a country is South Asia and the world’s youngest republic. It is ordered to the north by the People’s Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India. Kathmandu is the nation’s capital and the country’s largest metropolitan city.
Interesting Facts:
- The mountainous north is home to eight of the world’s highest mountains, including the highest, Sagarmatha, known in english as Mount Everest.
- Buddhism, though a minority faith in the country, is historically with Nepal as the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, who as the Buddha gave birth to the Buddhist tradition.

Recipe: Honey Almond Chicken

1lb. Chicken Breast
1/2 C. Yogurt
1/2 C. Cream
3 1/2tbsp. Raisins
2 Tbs. Honey
3 1/2 tbsp. Chopped Almonds
Juice and Rind from 1 Lemon
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. turmeric

Stir the yogurt, cream, almond, raisins, honey, lemon juice and rind, cumin seeds and turmeric well together and marinate the chicken 4 hours.
Put the chicken in an oven dish, spoon the rest of the marinade on top and bake it in the oven for 35 minutes at 350F.

Nepalese Honey Almond Chicken

First, a little information about Korea: Korea is a formerly unified nation that’s divided into two states. It’s located on the Korean Peninsula and it borders China and Russia. It’s separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait.

Korea was split into North Korea and South Korea in 1948. South Korea, officially “the Republic of Korea”, is a capitalist, democratic and developed country and is a member of the United Nations, WTO, OECD and G-20 major economies. North Korea, officially ” the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”, a single-party communist country founded by Kim Il-Sung.

Interesting Facts:
- In 1910 Korea was forcibly ruled by Japan and remained occupied until the end of World War II in August 1945.
- With the surrender of Japan in 1945 the UN developed plans for a trusteeship administration, the Soviet Union administering the peninsula north of the 38th parallel and the United States administering the south. The politics of the Cold War resulted in the 1948 establishment of two separate governments, North Korea and South Korea.

Recipe: Spinach Soup (Korean Malgun Sigumchi Kuk)

1/2 lb Fresh spinach
1 Scallion
1 Clove garlic
4 c Water
1/2 lb Ground beef
1 tb Soy sauce (or more to taste)
1 tb Salt
Dash pepper
1 tsp grated ginger

Directions:
1. Wash the spinach thoroughly and trim off the thick stems. Chop the scallion. Mince the garlic.

2. Bring the water to a boil. Add the meat and bring to a second boil. Skim off the froth. Add the spinach, scallion, garlic, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Add the ginger. Lower the flame and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Verdict:
There really aren’t any notes on this recipe. It was very easy and straight forward. The soy sauce is what gives the soup all the flavour. At the time I made this I had a bad case of laryngitis and the soup helped sooth my achy throat. PLUS it has a LOT of iron and that is a good thing. Overall, a very easy dish and a complete meal in itself. Try it for lunch or as a starter for dinner.

The Republic of the Fiji Islands is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean east of Vanuatu, west of Tonga and south of Tuvalu. The country occupies an archipelago of about 322 islands, of which 106 are permanently inhabited, and 522 islets. Fiji’s main island is known as Viti Levu and it is from this that the name “Fiji” is derived, through the pronunciation of their island neighbours in Tonga.

Interesting Facts:
- The population of Fiji is mostly made up of native Fijians, who are Melanesians (54.3%), although a few also have Polynesian ancestry, and Indo-Fijians (38.1%), descendants of Indian contract laborers brought to the islands by the British in the nineteenth century.

- Fiji’s culture is a mix of indigenous, Indian, Chinese and European traditions, language, food (based mainly from the sea, casava, dalo & other vegetables), costume, belief systems, architecture, arts, craft, music, dance and sports.

Recipe:  Spiced Prawns with Almonds

3 tbsp Vegetable Oil or Ghee (lucky you if you can find Ghee… I used olive oil)
2 Bay Leaves
1 Cinnamon Stick
The seeds from 5 Cardamom Pods, crushed (use the green cardamom pods, you can coarsely grind the seeds in a coffee grinder or a magic bullet)

1-½ lb large Raw Prawns (shrimp), shelled and deveined (remember to do the ice water trick for the fullest flavour)
1-inch Fresh Ginger Root, grated (I cheatd and used the jarred grated fresh ginger)
1 Onion, chopped
4 Garlic Cloves, crushed
1 tbsp Plain Flour
3 tbsp Ground Almonds (you can get away with 4 tbsps)
½  tsp ground Turmeric
600ml/20fl.oz. Coconut Cream or Milk

2 Green Chilies, deseeded and finely chopped

1 tsp Sugar
Salt
1 tbsp Lime Juice

Directions:

Heat the ghee or oil in a frying pan, add the bay leaves, cinnamon and cardamom and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the prawns and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove the prawns using tongs or a slitted spoon and set aside.
Reheat the oil then add the ginger, onion, and garlic, and fry for 5 minutes, stirring. Add the flour, almonds, and turmeric, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the coconut milk, chilies and sugar, mix well and simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes.
Return the prawns to the pan, season with salt and continue to simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time. Stir in the lime juice then remove from the heat and serve immediately.

VERDICT:
It may seem like there are a lot of ingredients but it was actually pretty easy to follow. I was afraid to screw it up so I did use a timer to have the exact minute count but even that didn’t make this recipe difficult.  My biggest challenge really was finding green chilies, I went to 3 different supermarkets and found lots of jalapeños, serrano and ancho chilies but no green ones. Thank goodness a friend of mine grows a small garden and, for some reason, he had green chilies to spare (I say “For some reason” because he doesn’t use them himself). So I want to thank my friend Paul for contributing to an important part of this recipe.
The recipe called for salt at the end to season and I only used about a teaspoon, in my opinion salt was really not needed thanks to the symphony of flavours that mingled together to make this creamy delight! I served it over, of course, whole grain rice on its own and we all really enjoyed it. It was delicious! Then again, I am very fond of coconut milk in sauces so I may not be the best judge on this one. All I can say is that it was so good I almost regretted having to share! Almost…

Brunei (pronounced Brunai): officially the State of Brunei, Abode of Peace. It is located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia, apart from its coastline by the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the state of Sarawak, Malaysia, is separated into two parts by Limbang, which is part of Sarawak. Brunei, the remnant of a very powerful sultanate, regained its independence from the United Kingdom on 1 January 1984 and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Fun Facts: It is one of the smallest countries on earth. at 5,765 sq. km. (El Salvador is larger at 21,040 sq km. Who Knew!). POP 150, 000
Over half the population is Malaysian and most are Muslims.

Recipe: Nasi Goreng Keropok Belinjau (a version of Fried Rice)

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked one-day old rice (of course I used whole grain)
6 tbsps margarine, melted (you can free hand it here, I used about 4)
4 oz. mixed vegetables (I suggest the asian or oriental frozen mixed veggies from Green Giant, Europe’s Best or President’s Choice)
4 oz.  prawns, peeled
1/4 lb. chicken meat, thinly sliced (you can get away with using 1/2 lb. I did!)
2 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika powder
1 cube of chicken stock
2 stalks spring onion, cut diagonally
1 stalk coriander leaves, chopped

Directions:
Heat margarine and stir fry minced ingredients until aromatic. Add prawn, chicken meat, pepper, paprika powder and chicken stock.
Add rice and mix well.
Add mixed vegetables, spring onions and coriander leaves. Stir to combine.

Ok… so overall this recipe was pretty easy. And I learned a lot! For example, I didn’t know that cilantro and coriander where the same thing, I went around to the supermarkets looking for coriander and they kept showing me cilantro! Finally I went home to look it up and sure enough, they are the same. Also, Spring onions are the same as Scallions but can be substituted if necessary by green onions. I used 4 stalks instead of 2.
I don’t own a kitchen scale (I really should get one though!) so I measured the meat by hand and I’m sure I used more than what the recipe called for but it didn’t ruin the taste one bit.

Make sure you put the prawns or shrimp in ice water (maybe even a couple of ice cubes in there too) after you shell them and remove the head and tail until you are ready to add them to the pot, it actually helps keep the flavour when you cook them, just a little tip I learned watching cooking shows. ;)

Verdict: This dish was so aromatic and it was very good! I had leftovers so brought some to work to share, everyone agreed that the smell was so good it made people hungry and it tasted even better the day after. The recipe didn’t call for salt and there really isn’t a need to add it, the buillon cube is enough sodium. I believe that even the pickiest eater would like this (unless they don’t like cilantro/coriander). I will definitely make it again, I think it would be a great addition to any potluck too!