Sides – Page 4 – The Occasional Cook

Asian Dishes, Japanese/Korean, Salads and Vegetables, Sides

Spinach Namul

March 24, 2018March 3, 2021 7shasha7

The best spinach ever. And it’s so super easy to make! Such a hit. You need to use Asian spinach called Phuay Leng here. All you need is to boil it (not too long!) and then toss it in a mixture of garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds. Delicious! This afternoon I ate with brown rice, boiled cabbage and beans in peanut sauce, and chicken. 🤪

breakfast, Sides

In the mood for spicy eggs

October 28, 2015March 3, 2021 7shasha7

Bread and Batter, Desserts, Japanese/Korean, Sides, Snack

Hoddeok – Korean sweet pancakes

February 15, 2015March 3, 2021 7shasha7

I love anything doughy and especially fried. Ever since I heard about these delightful Korean pancakes, I’ve been craving for them. It wasn’t until a friend actually made them and testified that it was easy to make did I try it myself. There’s this lovely eccentric Korean woman on the web – Maangchi. And her recipe for this hoddeok is flawless. I made them a few weeks ago – twice! Do give it a go. Her recipe is here: http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/hoddeok

It’s not as difficult as it looks. The dough is soft, even when it’s a bit cold. Delicious!

Salads and Vegetables, Sides

Carrot Vichy

January 19, 2014March 3, 2021 7shasha7

For lunch yesterday, I roasted chicken and then decided to make carrot Vichy. I first heard if carrot Vichy from Bourdain’s Christmas special. And so yesterday was a good time to try because firstly I had a whole bag of young Aussie carrots waiting to be consumed and secondly The Mom was coming over. Apparently it’s simply cooking carrots in water, butter and sugar. The resulting dish was very delicious bit definitely too sweet for our Asian tastebuds. Plus I felt so guilty cooking already sweet and fresh carrots in this sugary buttery concoction. Suffice to say that this would be the last time I’ll be making this. Well, at least I tried!

breakfast, Cakes and Cookies, Desserts, Sides

Super soft buttery buttermilk biscuits

January 5, 2014January 5, 2014 7shasha7

This morning I wanted to use some leftover buttermilk. So I made biscuits. This time round I was determined to make them like KFCs or Texas chicken.

In a bowl I added 2.5 cups of self raising flour then grated 100g of French butter and rubbed the mixture in. For good measure, I added a bit more butter to the crumbly mixture. Then quickly I stirred in the fridge cold buttermilk. Do not over stir. The mixture was wet but just nice to be scooped with my ice cream spoon. Drop them onto greased trays and pop into a hot oven (190 degrees).

I made two kinds. After the first tray, I added shredded cheddar and black pepper to the remaining mix.

The result was super moist biscuits. Even after six hours, they were still soft and not dry. Of course, it’s best to pop them in the toaster first. Drizzle with honey or eat with butter and jam. Yum!