Cooking from a small kitchen in Boston
This is just a quickie post, I’ll get to posting the recipes later.
The roommate and I decided to cook a couple dishes tonight and share. Found a nice fresh looking whole tilapia at Super 88 and decided to steam it with some ginger and scallions. Also been meaning to make Ma Po Tofu for a long time and it turned out pretty well. Could be a little saltier but it was still pretty good 
Here’s a teaser pic, I’ll post one of the recipes tomorrow I hope.
Junior year in college, one of my buddies used to make a great meatloaf. I think I had it a couple times and bugged him for the recipe. And after 2 years, I finally was able to get the recipe from the guy! And it was worth it!
Now I make this maybe once a month or once every other month these days, it’s pretty easy to put together, then throw it in the oven for about an hour and you’re done! Definitely my kind of recipe
I made this with some roasted potatoes (Will post another time) from a recipe on Recipezaar
Main:
2.5-3 pounds ground beef (93% lean)
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup breadcrumbs, plain
2 teaspoons thyme, fresh
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 cup scallions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 slice of bread
1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
Sauce:
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar, dark
Method:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
-Saute onion and scallions in olive oil until soft. Add garlic and cook for about a minute. Add the first portion of ketchup and brown sugar and heat until sugar melts. Set aside to cool.
-Mix together the eggs, breadcrumbs, slice of bread, thyme, peppers, garlic powder and parsley in a large bowl. Add beef and onion mixture and hand mix until you get a good distribution of ingredients.
-Spray a baking dish with some cooking spray, and add the meatloaf.
-Mix the rest of the sauce (ketchup and brown sugar) and spoon over top.
-Bake for about an hour at 350 degrees Fahrenheit
A couple weeks ago, while it was still cold in Boston (It’s been 70 degrees for the past 10 days), we all got together for a traditional family-style hot-pot. I’d only had hot pot one other time previous to this occasion so I was a little unfamiliar, but it doesn’t take a long time to catch onto how it works. A bunch of people put a pot of soup on some sort of burner, drop raw food into the boiling broth to cook, and then remove the food and eat it
Anyway, there were three different broths : Tom Yum, Miso, and Chicken. As main ingredients, we had the following (not enough meat for me though!) : Squid, Fish balls, Beef, Lamb, Chicken, Watercress, 2 different mushrooms, Clams, 2 types of tofu, taro, tomato, broccoli, chives, cabbage, turnip, and some udon noodles. As you could probably tell, it was a LOT to eat.
Here are the pictures!
This recipe is one I’ve commonly seen on the Asian blogs I’ve read, varying slightly from blog to blog. Adapted my own version for tonight’s dinner.
It actually ended up kind of a spur of the moment thing for me. I had all of the ingredients already and didn’t feel like eating leftovers from Monday. Speaking of Monday, I forgot to take pictures of the Pad See Ew I made (bummer!) but I’ll make sure to remember next time!
Anyway, sister’s birthday is tomorrow so Happy Birthday Rachael! Maybe I should make her special cookies to commemorate it 
Main:
1 lb pork (I used pork chops – can also use less than a pound if you like more veggies)
1 medium onion, sliced
1 bell pepper, sliced (I used a green pepper)
Marinade for the pork:
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Sugar
2 tsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tsp Dark or Sweet Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Corn Flour
1 tsp Fish Sauce
1 tbsp Water
Sauce:
1/2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
1/2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Crushed Black Pepper
1 tsp Sesame Oil
1/2 tbsp Fish Sauce
1 tsp Sugar
1/2 tbsp Corn Flour
3 tbsp Water
Method:
1. Slice the pork thinly (bout 1/4 inch slices)
2. Mix the marinade and marinate pork for 30 minutes
3. Add a tablespoon of oil to the wok and turn on high heat
4. Stir fry the pork briefly until lightly browned
5. Stir in peppers and onions and toss to get a good mix. It’s ok to sear the onion/peppers a little, it tastes awesome!
6. Add the sauce, toss well to get everything coated.
7. Serve over rice when the sauce thickens
