Canned Food Convenience - Minced Pork in Bean Paste with Tofu Puffs & Veggie

It looks like we're still on the lazy-ass canned food "series" :p

I can't believe I haven't tried this little can of deliciousness before, minced pork in bean sauce!


It's, again, SC's recommendation...(it sounds like he grew up eating a lot of canned food :p)

He told me that normally it can be heated/steamed and eaten with rice as a dish, but of course, we wanted a more "balanced" meal, so he suggested to stir fry it with some vegetables (brilliant idea), and I added some tofu puffs and more fresh minced pork to make it more substantial ^_^


Recipe
(serve two)
- 0.5lb minced pork
- 1 can of minced pork in bean sauce
- around 8 pieces of tofu puffs, quartered
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 4 small heads of lettuce, washed, remove stem and ripped
- a dash of fish sauce, olive oil, hot water, white pepper

Saute garlic in a bit of olive oil, add lettuce, let cook until a bit wilted, add a bit of fish sauce, set aside. Pour the can of minced pork in bean sauce, add the fresh minced pork, add a bit of hot water for easier mixing, once the meat's cooked, add tofu puffs, let cook for a bit, add the lettuce back in, mix everything well, let everything get heated through, and serve with (a few bowls of) steamed rice ^_^

Quick and tasty all-in-one dish, perfect for weekdays.

Asian Franks and Beans - Halloween Costume Ideas?

Another canned food creation. This is what happens when I need to serve something, other than a nice, candle-lit, romantic atmosphere, myself and a pair of raggedy old (albeit) Jimmy Choos for dinner. There was no time to procure any fresh ingredients, so I had to do my kind of dumb-n-dumber-but-smart math equation, which is:

Whatever you have in your pantry/fridge + Garlic + Onion + Ginger + Kecap manis = YUMMY

Using the formula, I came up with my version of...
Asian Franks and Beans
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
- half onion, sliced
- 1 cm of ginger, crushed
- 8 chicken franks (chopped into bite sized chunks)
- 1 can of kidney beans, drained
- 1 small can of tomato paste, dissolve with a bit of hot water
- kecap manis, salt, pepper, olive oil, fried shallots (optional as garnish)

Brown chicken frank pieces in olive oil, add garlic, onion and ginger, add tomato paste with a bit of hot water, add beans, add kecap manis, salt, and pepper. Garnish with fried shallot. Serve with steamed rice or mix with pasta/noodles or with bread as a sloppy sandwich.

Gosh, it even made ME delicious ;) hehe

Moving on...believe it or not...I, the self proclaimed party animal, haven't been to a real Halloween costume party. The only one I went to was a karaoke party, and I went as a cross between an omnivore, a big eater and a greedy bitch, which was pretty much myself...downing plates after plates of crappy cheap buffet food...singing my out-of-tune, inaccurately-pronounced version of Chinese songs, on top of my lungs. That could not be counted as a real Halloween costume party, as plenty of people were in slutty attire, but no one was in any scary costume hehe, although I certainly accomplished my mission of scaring some people off the buffet table. LOL

The idea of a costume party made me wonder...what kinda costume would be perfect for me?
Could I be...
- a sexy witch?
- a slutty nurse?
- a naughty devil?
....or a creepy handless chef?

Spicy & Beefy Beans & Zucchini

There are just too many food to avoid these days...let me scare you with some of these:
- Beef = mad cow
- Fish/seafood = mercury exposure
- Fried food = cancer
Recent Hong Kong food scare:
- Chicken = Avian Flu H5N1
- Tomato = salmonella

I can't believe it!!! Not my beloved, trusted, innocent TOMATOES!!!...Gosh, do I really need to consider going nothingarian? I bet I won't even five minutes being one...

...so...what the heck! I am already a mad cow anyway, let's have something beefy for dinner...and lemme throw in some tomatoes as well for a good measure LOL!!

Spicy & Beefy Beans & Zucchini
Recipe
- 0.5 pound beef brisket
- 3 zucchini (peel skin off, cut into chunky pieces)
- 1 can of kidney beans
- 1 can of tomato paste (ok! I chickened out!)
- half bulb of garlic, crushed
- 2 red chilli (I wanted it spicy, so I kept the seeds, just finely chop the chilli)
- olive oil, butter
- salt, black pepper, sugar, parsley

Boil beef brisket for a while to get rid of the excess fat, set aside. Saute garlic and chilli in olive oil and butter, add beef brisket, add tomato paste, cook for 1.5 hours. Add beans and zucchini, cook until zucchini's done but still crunchy. Season with salt, sugar, black pepper, sprinkle parsley, serve over rice/pasta.

PS. Beware of this failed-nothingarian mad cow. She bites.