So I’ve been making my parents Caramelized Vietnamese Pork Belly with Eggs a few times now but what I love about the Taiwanese recipe is the use of added aromatics like star anise, cinnamon, and bay leaves.

To make these delicious vegetarian “Scallops” I made a thick miso and butter broth, reduced it down, and braised my mushrooms in it which really brought out a nice umami flavor since the mushrooms absorb so much flavor. Then dredging them in a little rice flour and pan searing them in a cast iron skillet produced a nice brown, caramelized edge. I further reduced down the miso broth and added some chopped cilantro and drizzled it on top of the “scallops”... mmmm.

See post for recipe and more photos!

Learn how to pick fresh chinese broccoli (also known as Cai Lan), how to keep it bright green & glossy when cooking, and how to prepare your own restaurant style oyster sauce for that ooey delicious drizzle. You can also use the same method and instructions below for regular broccoli, bok choy or broccoli rabe as well! MMmmm

These meatless kimchi dumplings pack in a lot of flavor and can spice up a boring ramen packet! I made these dumplings and just parboiled some bok choy, bean sprouts, and added some kimchi and some of my Sate Sauce (ớt sa tế) sauce to the top! Yum!!

Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa is a Japanese celebrity chef and restaurateur known for his unique fusion of tradition Japanese with Peruvian twists.

Two of his signature dishes at the popular NOBU restaurants are the miso black cod and miso eggplant. The semi-sweet and super savory miso sauce glaze is marinated on black cod and eggplants then broiled to golden perfection.

Menu favorite, Crab Rangoon, originated on the menu of a "Polynesian-style" restaurant in the 1950’s in San Francisco and is allegedly derived from an original Burmese recipe.

Crab Rangoon are fried wonton wrappers filled with cream cheese, crab (real or imitation), scallions and are often served with a sweet and sour sauce.

One of my favorite things to make is ramen or soba noodle soup especially on cold muggy days. This is not a traditional soba by any means but it’s super easy and packs in a lot of flavor!

In Japan side dishes like these are referred to as Sunomono. Simply translated means “vinegar foods”. The most typical sunomono comprises of just thinly sliced cucumber, and wakame seaweed in semi-sweet rice vinegar, soy sauce dressing.

I love asian inspired salads. This is so easy to make but you have to have all your fermented goodies lined up prior to making this salad.