Red Bean Mochi Cake (nian gao)

It's dangerous to have these mochi cakes lying around the house at midnight while I'm blogging.  Maybe it's their addictive chewy texture. Or the deliciously sweet red beans strewn throughout the cake. Or maybe I secretly think it's low fat, so it's OK to eat at night.

Whatever it is, I can't just have one. In fact, I can hardly keep from eating the entire loaf.  It doesn't help that I love red beans and anything made with mochi flour.

Mochi cake (or "nian gao" 年糕 as it is called in mandarin) is a classic dessert that is especially popular during Chinese New Year.  The term "nian gao" sort of has a double (or even quadruple) meaning in Chinese.  In Chinese, the pronunciation "nian" sounds like the word for year (年)and sticky (粘). The word "gao" sound like the word for cake (糕) but also sounds like tall or high (高).

You can imagine the combinations:  New Year cake!  Sticky cake!  Reaching higher with the New Year!  Sticky tall!  (ok, that last one doesn't make that much sense).  But you get the point.  This dessert is popular during the New Year  because it symbolizes all these wonderful ideas about wishing each other good health and fortune. Chinese people love those double meanings.

Traditional Chinese new year cake is steamed.  This version has been modified for the Western kitchen - it's baked in an oven!  I personally like this version better, as it has a nice browned crust that doesn't exist in the steamed version.  The best part?  This simple recipe has a short ingredient list and only takes 10 minutes to prepare.

This recipe is really really flexible.  In fact, you don't even have to add red bean.  You can add something else if you like (ha ha, I once even tried coffee! yes, I love coffee).  And if you do add red bean paste, you can add as much or as little as you want.  I only added 3/4 of a cup, but some people like to add an entire can!  It's really up to you.

The sugar amount is also flexible, depending on your sweetness tolerance.  I recently made it with 1 1/4 cup sugar, which I personally though was plenty sweet enough.

Red Bean Mochi Cake
prep time 10 | minutes bake time 1 hr | makes 2 loafs

1 lb sweet/glutinous rice flour (e.g., Mochiko, the bag with the green text in those Asian stores)
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups milk (or water)
1 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 - 1 cup red bean paste

Mix together all the ingredients except the red bean paste.  Stir in the red bean paste.  Bak at 350 degrees in a 9 x 13 pan or 2 loaf pans for 45 min - 1 hour.  Cake is done when you can insert a knife cleanly.

Slice it up!  And enjoy!  This tastes great warm or at room temperature.  At room temperature it has more of that characteristic chewiness.  When it's warm, it's a bit softer and slightly gooey.  I love toasting it in the toaster oven in the morning.  The inside gets nice and warm and the edge gets nicely toasted.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Red Bean Mochi Cake (nian gao)

It's dangerous to have these mochi cakes lying around the house at midnight while I'm blogging.  Maybe it's their addictive chewy texture. Or the deliciously sweet red beans strewn throughout the cake. Or maybe I secretly think it's low fat, so it's OK to eat at night.

Whatever it is, I can't just have one. In fact, I can hardly keep from eating the entire loaf.  It doesn't help that I love red beans and anything made with mochi flour.

Mochi cake (or "nian gao" 年糕 as it is called in mandarin) is a classic dessert that is especially popular during Chinese New Year.  The term "nian gao" sort of has a double (or even quadruple) meaning in Chinese.  In Chinese, the pronunciation "nian" sounds like the word for year (年)and sticky (粘). The word "gao" sound like the word for cake (糕) but also sounds like tall or high (高).

You can imagine the combinations:  New Year cake!  Sticky cake!  Reaching higher with the New Year!  Sticky tall!  (ok, that last one doesn't make that much sense).  But you get the point.  This dessert is popular during the New Year  because it symbolizes all these wonderful ideas about wishing each other good health and fortune. Chinese people love those double meanings.

Traditional Chinese new year cake is steamed.  This version has been modified for the Western kitchen - it's baked in an oven!  I personally like this version better, as it has a nice browned crust that doesn't exist in the steamed version.  The best part?  This simple recipe has a short ingredient list and only takes 10 minutes to prepare.

This recipe is really really flexible.  In fact, you don't even have to add red bean.  You can add something else if you like (ha ha, I once even tried coffee! yes, I love coffee).  And if you do add red bean paste, you can add as much or as little as you want.  I only added 3/4 of a cup, but some people like to add an entire can!  It's really up to you.

The sugar amount is also flexible, depending on your sweetness tolerance.  I recently made it with 1 1/4 cup sugar, which I personally though was plenty sweet enough.

Red Bean Mochi Cake
prep time 10 | minutes bake time 1 hr | makes 2 loafs

1 lb sweet/glutinous rice flour (e.g., Mochiko, the bag with the green text in those Asian stores)
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups milk (or water)
1 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 - 1 cup red bean paste

Mix together all the ingredients except the red bean paste.  Stir in the red bean paste.  Bak at 350 degrees in a 9 x 13 pan or 2 loaf pans for 45 min - 1 hour.  Cake is done when you can insert a knife cleanly.

Slice it up!  And enjoy!  This tastes great warm or at room temperature.  At room temperature it has more of that characteristic chewiness.  When it's warm, it's a bit softer and slightly gooey.  I love toasting it in the toaster oven in the morning.  The inside gets nice and warm and the edge gets nicely toasted.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Kabocha Squash Gnocchi

Kabocha has peaked my interesting lately.

There's been a lot of blog posts about kabocha squash  - from No Recipe's award winning kabocha pumpkin cream cake to Gourmet Fury's Canadian Chimichurri Pork Cheeks with Kabocha Parsnip Puree.  I've never had kabocha, so when I saw it in the local market about a month ago, I decided to pick one up.

I then proceeded to forget about it . . . for weeks.

The beauty of this squash is, it lasts forever.  So, even after several weeks, my squash was as good as new.  Inspired by a butternut squash gnocchi recipe from Saveur, I decided to try my own version using kabocha squash.  You won't believe how easy and how few ingredients it takes to make your own gnocchi!

Kabocha squash has a subtle sweet taste that sort of reminds me of chestnuts.  Its texture is relatively starchy and there's really not that much water content in the squash.  When roasting, it gives off an amazing aroma that fills up the entire house.  I love it.

The most time consuming part of this recipe is probably the baking of the squash. I did mine the night before, which made everything a lot easier the next day.  I wondered whether I could simplify this recipe immensely by microwaving cut-up squash.  However, since this was my first time cooking kabocha, I thought I should play by the rules.

Kabocha Squash Gnocchi
preparation time: 2 hours | serves 4
1 kabocha squash, baked
2 eggs
Salt
1 cup flour

Preparing the Squash

Preheat oven to 350°. Cut squash in half, slather the flesh with vegetable oil, and place the halves (facedown) in a baking pan.  Bake until soft, about 45 min to 1 h. Remove from oven and, when cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh. Transfer to a large bowl, add eggs, and mash together with a potato masher. Season to taste with salt, then work in flour to form a thick, soft dough.

Because kabocha squash is a pretty starchy squash, it does not give off much water, and therefore the gnocchi dough is surprisingly easy to handle.  I bet kabocha gnocchi is much easier to make than pumpkin gnocchi, which would probably yield a much wetter dough.

Working in portions, roll out the gnocchi into foot long "snakes" and cut them into bite size pieces.  Press the tines of a fork into each one to give it that characteristic gnocchi shape.

At this point, you can freeze or refrigerate the gnocchi for future use.  Or you can either boil it or pan-fry it!

Of course, boiling is classic. Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Add the gnocchi pieces (they should sink) and wait until they float.  Cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.  Drain water, and serve with sauce.

Alternatively, pan-fried gnocchi tastes fantastic!  I love the crunchy outsides.  I personally thought the fried version tasted like . . uhh . . 10x better than the boiled version.  But then, when is something ever not better once it's been fried?  ;)

To pan fry, heat up a small amount of vegetable oil (or butter!  I did mixture of both) in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat.  Pan fry the gnocchi on one side for a few minutes until the edges are brown.  Flip over, and fry on the other side until browned.

That's it!  And enjoy while hot!  Honestly, you can just sprinkle some sea salt or truffle oil on top and it will taste absolutely fantastic!  Play around with different herbs.  I bet sage would be good.

Or you can pour a nice meat ragu over it (click over to the post here), and finish with some coarse sea salt and truffle oil.  This was really good!

Enjoy!

Kabocha Squash Gnocchi

Kabocha has peaked my interesting lately.

There's been a lot of blog posts about kabocha squash  - from No Recipe's award winning kabocha pumpkin cream cake to Gourmet Fury's Canadian Chimichurri Pork Cheeks with Kabocha Parsnip Puree.  I've never had kabocha, so when I saw it in the local market about a month ago, I decided to pick one up.

I then proceeded to forget about it . . . for weeks.

The beauty of this squash is, it lasts forever.  So, even after several weeks, my squash was as good as new.  Inspired by a butternut squash gnocchi recipe from Saveur, I decided to try my own version using kabocha squash.  You won't believe how easy and how few ingredients it takes to make your own gnocchi!

Kabocha squash has a subtle sweet taste that sort of reminds me of chestnuts.  Its texture is relatively starchy and there's really not that much water content in the squash.  When roasting, it gives off an amazing aroma that fills up the entire house.  I love it.

The most time consuming part of this recipe is probably the baking of the squash. I did mine the night before, which made everything a lot easier the next day.  I wondered whether I could simplify this recipe immensely by microwaving cut-up squash.  However, since this was my first time cooking kabocha, I thought I should play by the rules.

Kabocha Squash Gnocchi
preparation time: 2 hours | serves 4
1 kabocha squash, baked
2 eggs
Salt
1 cup flour

Preparing the Squash

Preheat oven to 350°. Cut squash in half, slather the flesh with vegetable oil, and place the halves (facedown) in a baking pan.  Bake until soft, about 45 min to 1 h. Remove from oven and, when cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh. Transfer to a large bowl, add eggs, and mash together with a potato masher. Season to taste with salt, then work in flour to form a thick, soft dough.

Because kabocha squash is a pretty starchy squash, it does not give off much water, and therefore the gnocchi dough is surprisingly easy to handle.  I bet kabocha gnocchi is much easier to make than pumpkin gnocchi, which would probably yield a much wetter dough.

Working in portions, roll out the gnocchi into foot long "snakes" and cut them into bite size pieces.  Press the tines of a fork into each one to give it that characteristic gnocchi shape.

At this point, you can freeze or refrigerate the gnocchi for future use.  Or you can either boil it or pan-fry it!

Of course, boiling is classic. Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Add the gnocchi pieces (they should sink) and wait until they float.  Cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.  Drain water, and serve with sauce.

Alternatively, pan-fried gnocchi tastes fantastic!  I love the crunchy outsides.  I personally thought the fried version tasted like . . uhh . . 10x better than the boiled version.  But then, when is something ever not better once it's been fried?  ;)

To pan fry, heat up a small amount of vegetable oil (or butter!  I did mixture of both) in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat.  Pan fry the gnocchi on one side for a few minutes until the edges are brown.  Flip over, and fry on the other side until browned.

That's it!  And enjoy while hot!  Honestly, you can just sprinkle some sea salt or truffle oil on top and it will taste absolutely fantastic!  Play around with different herbs.  I bet sage would be good.

Or you can pour a nice meat ragu over it (click over to the post here), and finish with some coarse sea salt and truffle oil.  This was really good!

Enjoy!

Kabocha Squash Gnocchi with Meat Ragu

You'd be surprise how satisfying a simple meat sauce poured over handmade gnocchi can be.  This meat sauce is nothing close to complicated.  Throw together ground beef, onions, and canned tomatoes, and you got yourself a pretty tasty sauce.

I think the key in this case are time and quality of ingredients.  I used more expensive San Marzano tomatoes (I bought mine at Whole Foods), which I'm sure made a difference in the flavor of the final sauce.  You also caramelize the onions for about 20 minutes, which really gives them a beautiful sweet flavor.

Though the meat sauce is relatively easy, the entire recipe is rather involved, as it also includes handmade kabocha squash gnocchi (tutorial here).  Of course, you can always take a shortcut by buying the gnocchi if you are short on time.  Definitely add a drizzle of white truffle oil and a dash of sea salt to make this dish outstanding.
Inspired by Saveur

Ingredients

1 lb. ground meat (e.g. beef, or mixture of beef and pork)

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 28-oz. can peeled whole plum tomatoes, chopped (preferably, San Marzano tomatoes)

Kabocha Squash Gnocchi

Meat Sauce
Brown meat in 1 tbsp. of the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat, using the back of a wooden spoon to break meat up. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, cook onions in remaining 1 tbsp. oil in another medium skillet over medium heat until soft and golden, about 20 minutes.  Stir in tomatoes and their juices. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens. Add the ground meat to the tomato sauce.

Cook the gnocchi (either boiling it for a few minutes until they rise or pan-frying it in a skillet).  Combine, and serve!

Enjoy!

Kabocha Squash Gnocchi with Meat Ragu

You'd be surprise how satisfying a simple meat sauce poured over handmade gnocchi can be.  This meat sauce is nothing close to complicated.  Throw together ground beef, onions, and canned tomatoes, and you got yourself a pretty tasty sauce.

I think the key in this case are time and quality of ingredients.  I used more expensive San Marzano tomatoes (I bought mine at Whole Foods), which I'm sure made a difference in the flavor of the final sauce.  You also caramelize the onions for about 20 minutes, which really gives them a beautiful sweet flavor.

Though the meat sauce is relatively easy, the entire recipe is rather involved, as it also includes handmade kabocha squash gnocchi (tutorial here).  Of course, you can always take a shortcut by buying the gnocchi if you are short on time.  Definitely add a drizzle of white truffle oil and a dash of sea salt to make this dish outstanding.
Inspired by Saveur

Ingredients

1 lb. ground meat (e.g. beef, or mixture of beef and pork)

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 28-oz. can peeled whole plum tomatoes, chopped (preferably, San Marzano tomatoes)

Kabocha Squash Gnocchi

Meat Sauce
Brown meat in 1 tbsp. of the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat, using the back of a wooden spoon to break meat up. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, cook onions in remaining 1 tbsp. oil in another medium skillet over medium heat until soft and golden, about 20 minutes.  Stir in tomatoes and their juices. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens. Add the ground meat to the tomato sauce.

Cook the gnocchi (either boiling it for a few minutes until they rise or pan-frying it in a skillet).  Combine, and serve!

Enjoy!

Clio

It's been years since I've actually gone out to a nice restaurant on Valentine's Day.  Bryan and I live in the city, and thus we have ready weeknight access to popular restaurants.  So why fight the crowds when we don't have to?  We learned our lesson early in our marriage.  Our first Valentine's Day together as a couple, we foolishly decided to walk out to Harvard Square and just show up at Finale (one of the most popular fancy dessert places in Boston) on Valentine's Day.  Ha!  Guess what?  We ended up wandering aimless around Harvard Square that night, looking for a bite to eat.

So it's unusual, but this year, on February 14th, right on Valentine's Day AND Chinese New Year, Bryan and I actually enjoyed a nice meal out.  We snagged a last minute early reservation at Clio, a place we've been meaning to try for some time now.  We enjoyed a nice, relaxing, and exquisite meal along with an amazing bottle of wine.

Join me in pictures as we re-live Clio's special Valentine's Day dinner.


A beautiful soup of tiny, perfectly cut potatoes, savory croutons, celery veloute

The soup was smooth, velvety, and wonderfully fragrant.

I loved the contrast of the creamy soup, the crunchy croutons, and soft potatoes.

This cod had the most perfect texture -I swear it must have been sous-vide.  So soft and tender, perfectly cooked throughout.  The fruit-flavored sauce was interesting, though maybe not my favorite.

Look at the exquisite detail!  Down to the single Brussels sprout and chestnut sitting on the end of the pork belly.  This dish was creative, interesting, and fun to eat.

The lobster tail was huge!  This dish was executed well, although the flavors were not particularly exciting.  We both agreed that the beef dish was more interesting.

This wine is beautiful.  It was #4 on Wine Spectator's top 100 wines and has a Wine Spectator rating of 95.  It's an absolutely beautiful wine, with tons of fruit yet full bodied at the same time.  Not a hint of bitterness or astringency.  I loved it.

I often don't love dessert at these fancy restaurants, but this one was actually quite enjoyable.  I loved the deep, rich chocolate truffles (complete with a glittering peanut butter sauce on right!).  Even though I don't like bananas, the banana ice cream was subtle, creamy, and quite good.

Happy Valentine's Day!  Here's to 8 1/2 years of marriage.  :)

Clio
370a Commonwealth Ave
Boston, MA 02215

Clio

It's been years since I've actually gone out to a nice restaurant on Valentine's Day.  Bryan and I live in the city, and thus we have ready weeknight access to popular restaurants.  So why fight the crowds when we don't have to?  We learned our lesson early in our marriage.  Our first Valentine's Day together as a couple, we foolishly decided to walk out to Harvard Square and just show up at Finale (one of the most popular fancy dessert places in Boston) on Valentine's Day.  Ha!  Guess what?  We ended up wandering aimless around Harvard Square that night, looking for a bite to eat.

So it's unusual, but this year, on February 14th, right on Valentine's Day AND Chinese New Year, Bryan and I actually enjoyed a nice meal out.  We snagged a last minute early reservation at Clio, a place we've been meaning to try for some time now.  We enjoyed a nice, relaxing, and exquisite meal along with an amazing bottle of wine.

Join me in pictures as we re-live Clio's special Valentine's Day dinner.


A beautiful soup of tiny, perfectly cut potatoes, savory croutons, celery veloute

The soup was smooth, velvety, and wonderfully fragrant.

I loved the contrast of the creamy soup, the crunchy croutons, and soft potatoes.

This cod had the most perfect texture -I swear it must have been sous-vide.  So soft and tender, perfectly cooked throughout.  The fruit-flavored sauce was interesting, though maybe not my favorite.

Look at the exquisite detail!  Down to the single Brussels sprout and chestnut sitting on the end of the pork belly.  This dish was creative, interesting, and fun to eat.

The lobster tail was huge!  This dish was executed well, although the flavors were not particularly exciting.  We both agreed that the beef dish was more interesting.

This wine is beautiful.  It was #4 on Wine Spectator's top 100 wines and has a Wine Spectator rating of 95.  It's an absolutely beautiful wine, with tons of fruit yet full bodied at the same time.  Not a hint of bitterness or astringency.  I loved it.

I often don't love dessert at these fancy restaurants, but this one was actually quite enjoyable.  I loved the deep, rich chocolate truffles (complete with a glittering peanut butter sauce on right!).  Even though I don't like bananas, the banana ice cream was subtle, creamy, and quite good.

Happy Valentine's Day!  Here's to 8 1/2 years of marriage.  :)

Clio
370a Commonwealth Ave
Boston, MA 02215