Shanghai Nice Green Bo - #2

Another Sunday visit to Green Bo. We can't help it everything on the menu sound so delicious we must try them all. Can't wait to try their Rice Cakes.

Here we started with an cold dish of aromatic beef (chilled sliced five spice marinated beef tendon ), side with roasted sesame oil jelly fish ( crunchy and slippery with hints of sesame oil and vinegar).

Gave Soup dumplings a rest ordered Wonton soup instead ( the wrap just melts in your mouth)

Dry stir fry string beans with pickle greens.

Fish Belly in brown sauce.

All good except the fish was a bit on the sweet side.

Previous Green Bo Lunch 

Nice Green Bo Shanghai Restaurant - Click for the full MENU *

Moon - Fall Festival

Last weekend  Oct.3 was our traditional Moon Festival.

 ( some people like to call it Fall festival , Luna , Winter, Feasting festival...up to you) 

It is a holiday where families like to get together to welcome and celebrate the Fall Season.

And how we like to celebrate is to have a ........feast!

very simliar to Thanksgiving but we have our traditional dishes.

 Geoff and I decided to start the day with Dim Sum, straight to Chinatown we went.

Stuck in heavy traffic so we decided to get out and walk,then realized that it must be a long wait at most restaurant that serves Dim Sum.This holiday explains the super business in chinatown...... standing around ......Hmmmmmm....and then I saw " East Boat Lobster House"

we looked at each other and grinned. Entered the restaurant, look just like a seafood shack with red gingham table cloth...cute.( It has been awhile since I last ate here) Geoff first time and gave it 2 thumbs up!

Menu was great...all photos with desciptions, english and chinese. Decided on the platter for 2:

Dungeness Crab - Steamed whole with side of lemon and butter - it was so sweet we actually did not need it. Can pick any style of your choice...fried , steamed, stir fry with garlic black bean.

Roasted Crispy whole Squab

Salt and Pepper Baked Shrimp

Baked Scallop with Onion and Cheese ( sooo Kraft Singles ) it was still tasty!

Let's see what else came with this platter...... chinese sausage fried rice ( good) omg i just remember , this is a not so heathly move  I had some of the Crab roe and juice with the rice...yup tasty! and Calamari stir fried with pepper and black bean sauce, and also a salad which you can skip..mushy sweet weird...

Did not regret we stumbled here :)

The following night, friends and family got together and decided to dine out...Vegan style.

Ate at this place called " Wild Ginger" it was surprisingly good. Super cute restautant. We had a nice night.

Next night.... of course Mama Ng need to whip up some of her traditional goodies! Love it! Love it!

 Buddah's Delight

 Slow Poached Chicken ( like Hainanese style) with oyster sauce and coleman HOT mustard....itwas very juicey mmmm ( got the recipe that night from mom)

Chinese Broccoli with Garlic and oyster sauce

Steamed Whole Sea Bass with Ginger Garlc and Soy Scallion

Here are some of the snacks she likes to make on any Chinese Holiday  

...Boiled Salted fresh Peanuts and Taro Root except the Moon cakes was bought.

It was very cozy nice night ........and how did you spend yours?

Little vietnamese girl...

I haven't seen my baby sister for weeks so I decided to visit her one afternoon at work. She has been working doubles at this new vietnamese restaurant in Williamsburg, An Nhau. I nearly jumped on her when she greeted me at the door. You would too, just take a look...

The place is really nice. Imagine Indochine minus the fuss. She sat me in the garden where it felt like an indonesian resort until some annoying hipster started talking.

She took my order and made sure to check on me every 10 minutes. I couldn't have felt more VIP. Out of all people, She knows what a pain I am when it comes to dining out. Service was excellent.

The menu at An Nhau is traditional but modern. I really wanted to order the pork belly braised in coconut juice served with an egg. I am watching my cholesterol and weight ( I'm not 20 anymore) so I opted for vegetable summer rolls.

It was delicious. Normally this is with shrimp but the sauteed portobello mushroom substitutes nicely. The combination of the mushroom, bean sprouts, basil, mint and shredded cucumber and carrots topped with the homemade chili sauce was heaven.

My second dish was the classic pho...

(Sorry, this was half eaten. I was too hungry )

This is surely a classic. You have this wonderful soup served with rice noodles, thinly sliced beef, tendons and beef balls.

You can taste the hours the oxtail and pork bones simmered in the soup. It was rich and flavorful.

If this is the only way I get to see my sister and have good food, life isn't so bad.

Must experience:

An Nhau - Vietnamese Cuisine - Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY

172 Bedford Avenue

(between North 7th and 8th Street)

Brooklyn, NY 11211

718.384.0028

ground turkey stir fry

We always have ground turkey in the fridge. We use it for turkey bolognese and this stir fry which we have every week. It is inexpensive and super quick & easy to make! We love it with rice and siracha. You can use whatever veggies you like. I like using long beans but have used kale, broccolini or cabbage. I also add carrots when I have them in the fridge.

• 1 lb ground turkey dark meat
• 1 bundle of long beans ( cut into 2 inch pieces and blanched)
• onion
• garlic
• 1 square preserved bean paste (fu yu) mix with water to thin
• 1 tablespoon black bean paste (lee kum kee is my friend)
• 1 teaspoon hoisin
• salt and soy sauce to taste

Brown turkey, unless you have an industrial strength stove like Annie, this takes a while. I drop the turkey in the wok in large pieces over high heat to get the sear. After I get some color then I break the meat up to smaller bits by pushing a wooden spatula through it. The meat usually gets a bit watery at this point. Just keep stirring until the water condenses and you hear the sizzling come back. At this point add a little more oil. I use olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and let it cook for a few mins. Then add the veggies. Once the wok is sizzling again, turn the flame down a little. Add the sauces and stir fry until veggies are at the tenderness you like! I put all the seasonings at the end because the turkey gets too salty if you season along the way.

Molly likes just the turkey and rice. I tried sneaking in the long beans cut into tiny pieces. She found them! "No"

Very Simple Grilled Whole Tilapia

Who is in the mood for delicous tilapia?

This is very easy to prepare and to cook, so you can kick back and enjoy a glass of wine, that's what I did...

With this recipe, you can grill, bake or just simply steam the fish.

Tilapia is a fresh water and non-oily fish, that way it was able to absorb the sauce and seasoning well.

What you need :

Fresh Tilapia - ( yes the fish market will do most of the hard work)

scallion

ginger

garlic & black bean sauce (LeeKumKee Brand)

salt . pepper

-clean fish inside and out, you might find some scale left, use a knife scape aganist the scale which is toward the head.

I usually have the head of the fish facing me and scaping toward my direction, that helps the scales fly to opposite direction to the wall of the sink (easy to clean) or do it under water.

lightly score the skin of the fish on both side

rub salt and pepper inside and outside

stuff the cavity with ginger and scallion

lay the fish on a plate and rub the garlic and black bean sauce on the entire fish ( can put some in the cravity) you can thin out the paste with anykind of stock

Set up a sheet of foil, lay stalks of scallions then lay the fish on top so it won't stick to the foil.

semi seal it and put on grill, about half way done spread the foil open so the skin is exposed (close lid) that way the skin can crisp. Tilapia is more on the meaty side compared to other fishes but each bite is like butter.....mmmm go on...give it try...

That night we realized we should've got 2 tilapias...

Here is a not so good photo but sooooooooo delish ....served with grilled veges ..

oh yes , foil is great btw ..... we had friends to enjoy our meal with ...

you look good! ---------------------no...you look good!

lisa - Watercress Pork Soup

This is one of my favorite soups from childhood and is based on my memory of my mom's recipe. I started making this not too long ago. it's quite simple to make.

Ingredients :

Watercress - water

Pork ribs ( better flavor with the bone)

Carrot -Young potato

Goji berries or Wolf berries

Ginger- Garlic - Red Dates

Start a pot of water for the soup, and another for the pork, bring to boil.

Watercress- to clean, use a big pot under running water and sprinkle salt over the greens that helps to remove any sand or dirt. (standard salt ,don’t waste the good stuff)

I like to keep a portion of watercress aside and add that in after 45 minutes so you can still have some of the crunch.

Pork- put in boiling water for a few minutes to remove the scum and impurities and also the soup will be clear and not cloudy. ( see picture)

When soup pot is boiling, put in pork, watercress, ginger (sm knob), garlic, carrots, and the red dates. Bring to boil again then simmer for 45 minutes

45 minutes later
Add the potatoes, goji berries, and the rest of the watercress.

Simmer for 15 minutes.

Done, I like to add the seasoning on the side , salt, white pepper and oyster sauce. Can add rice or pasta - i like macaroni

This soup also works as a detox soup. Not only this taste great, is super good for you!

Frittata for Molly

This is one of the few moments when Molly is actually happy eating a vegetable! I did however thought of a clever way to hide some healthy veggies and also include protein, dairy and carbs! I made a "frittata" of sorts with eggs, cheese, spinach, mini elbow pasta, spaghetti squash and it was yummy! I don't really have any measurements since I winged it when I made this. I started with sauteing the squash in butter and olive oil. Then I added the spinach. In a bowl I whisked 8 eggs and added about a cup of shredded cheese. Then I mixed in the sautee mixture and a cup of cooked pasta, seasoned, put it in a baking dish and baked at 375 for about 20 mins. This isn't gourmet food exactly but great for kids obviously. I was surprised at how yummy it was. John liked it too!

Em's chicken stew

I love making chicken stew! And every time I make it, it is a little different. It's always a tomato and stock base alternating latin, moroccan and mediterranean flavors. Tonight I made it with mushrooms, carrots, green squash and olives. Got all the veggies from the farmer's market. Molly liked it but of course rejected the squash. However, she ate the sauteed broccolini that I made for a side. Go figure. Veggies are a challenge for the mo-ster.

Here's the recipe, its for a large pot. I love leftovers.

6-8 chicken thighs or 1 chicken cut up in 8-10 pieces

onion, garlic

1 can san marzano tomatoes hand crushed, use the puree they sit in too

chicken stock (use more for a thinner stew, less for thicker)

any herbs and seasonings you like (use coriander, cumin and paprika for morrocan style)

any veggies you like

brown chicken, add onion garlic, add seasonings and herbs, add tomato, add long cook veggies, simmer for half hour, add quick cook veggies, simmer until chicken almost falls off bone

Serve with rice, cous cous or noodles....

Lisa - Chicken Watercress Ginger Tomato Dish

Heat the wok and start!

-ginger, garlic and the dau se ( fermented black bean ) you can also use Lee Kum Kee Bean and garlic sauce ( Recommended)

- add the chicken ( I used wings and drums for this dish )
-soy sauce , rice wine , seasame oil , sugar , white pepper
-added cilantro along with diced stems and quartered tomatos with juice
-watercress the last touch to keep the crunch

served it with avocado slices over rice.
geoff had seconds!

i think it was mama ng fried red snapper that inspired me with this dish. YUM !