Jan Can Cook

A collection of my recipes and ideas for a simple meal at home.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Chinese Scrambled Egg & Tomato

Ingredients:
1 egg, beaten, seasoned with 1 tsp salt
1 medium tomato - cut into big chunks (halve it, cut the half into 4 wedges, and halve the wedges)

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over medium heat. Fry the egg like a flat omelette (don't scramble it up in the pan) until lightly golden brown on both sides. Remove from pan and cut into large bitesize pieces. Return the pan to the stove, and add another tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the tomatoes and allow to saute for about a minute. Add 1/4 cup hot water and bring it to a boil. The skin should come off the tomatoes and curl up. Add a 1 tsp of salt. Return the fried egg into the pan. Stir together. Remove from heat and serve.

Monday, June 26, 2006

Egg Fried Rice

This is one of the first things my mom taught me how to make. Just so you know, fried rice, to Chinese people, is like something you throw together when you have leftover cooked rice. Like, people like my parents, they would never in their life walk into a restaurant and order fried rice, or go out of their way to make it for dinner. But that doesn't mean you can just throw everything together in a wok and voila. There's still an art to it.

Ingredients:
4 cups cooked leftover rice
1 egg - beaten & seasoned with salt
1 large green (spring) onion - chopped
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
(Serves 1)

In a large wok, heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Cook the egg like a flat omelette (don't scramble it) until lightly golden brown on both sides. Remove from pan, cut up into bitesize pieces, and set aside. I think the egg just takes better this way, rather than scrambling it all up.

With the wok still hot and over medium heat, add the other tablespoon of vegetable oil. When hot, toss in the chopped green onions. Let it cook for maybe 30 seconds, then dump in the 4 cups of cooked leftover rice on top of. Just let the rice sit there for a few minutes, pressing down with your spatula so the grains at the bottom will really sizzle. (This makes some of the rice more crispy, giving texture to the whole thing.) Drizzle the soy sauce over the rice, and then mix with your spatula.

Variations:
Kimchi egg fried rice
Fry kimchi with green onions. This variation adds a little spice.

Another variation is to add any leftover meat or veggies. Throw them in after you add soy sauce, and cook together.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Hummus

Ingredients:
1 can (400g) garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
1/4 cup tahini sauce (sesame seed paste) - available at most grocery stores
1/4 water
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of 1/2 a large lemon
2 cloves of garlic - roughly chopped
salt - to taste

Garnish:
paprika
2 sprigs of parsley - chopped

Add all of the ingredients to the blender, and blend until smooth. If you want a spicier version, add a chopped red chili pepper or a teaspoon of paprika before you blend.
Garnish with a sprinkle of paprika in the center, and chopped parsley.

Serve with warm pita bread and cucumber slices.