Tomato Salad

With tomatoes like these, what do I need lettuces for?

Smoked Salmon on Crispy Potato Pancake

Now, that is the way to break the fast!

Corn Fritters

I made these corn fritters with fresh yellow corn and ham, with egg, flour and baking powder and salt. Dark dark maple syrup is the dip. Rather enjoyed it. What isn't good with dark maple syrup?

Tomato Season

Late spring is tomato season and this is one of my favourite from my childhood--tomato and eggs. Easy to make, just ginger, tomato, eggs and salt. Reason to grow tomatoes.

Pho

Haven't made pho with the leg cut for a while, rathe like it. The marrow really gives the stock great richness.

Singapore Noodles

This is one of my favourite dish to order for lunch. Here is my first attempt at it. Not bad. Now I can have it anytime I like!

Smoke 2 Kinds of Salmon

The red ones are sockeye and the yellower ones are chinook/spring/king. I doubled the smoking time so we will see if I like it.

Near Record Sockeye Return

The news is that this year has the second highest number of sockeyes returning to the Fraser. After a record low year, that is a specially good news. To celebrate I made this slightly blacken sockeye burger on my own bun and tomato. A very happy occasion indeed.

The Cook's Treats

Bought a Fraser sockeye down on the wharf. This is alway what I eat first: the collar and the belly strip grilled and the bones and head made into a rich soup with miso, gochujang, and wakame. This time I have yellow squash and bean sprouts in the soup too. These are the best part of the fish, I hope they remain the cooks' secret.

Mapo Doufu +

Made this like Mapo Doufu with ground beef, garlic, ginger, hot bean paste, sugar, soy sauce, sichuan pepper corns and sesame oil; threw in a yellow squash and some amaranth. Quite good over rice.

Oxtail and pasta

Cooked and then shreded the meaty part of an oxtail in a spicy tomato sauce, tossed with my own egg pasta. Very satisfying.

Smokies

Didn't want to wait to defrost so smokies from Oyama it is. Shredded some potatoes and sliced some tomatoes from my garden. Perfect with an IPA and my own bread.

Blueberry and cake

Made a simple sponge cake and served it with blueberries, whipped cream and dark maple syrup. So easy and fresh.

Culinary Immigration

I have some leftover so I added some sauteed potatoes and ate it with bread. It is like the dish changed nationality.

Big squash, small pork

A nice summer dish, a little thinly sliced lean pork marinated in garlic, sugar, salt, rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper and corn starch. The sauce is just garlic, ginger, hot bean paste, soy sauce and sesame oil.

Chinook, King, Spring

Looks pretty, doesn't it? Why can't they agree on one name for this salmon? Tasty by any name, particularly when it is bought directly from the fishwoman who caught and flash froze it.







I don't understand why people peel off the skin on salmon, first thing I did was peeling off the skin and eat it like a chip! The best parts of a salmon are the skin, the narrow strip on the bottom of the belly and the 'collar'. People think of these parts as scrapes, stupid.

Spicy Buffalo sausages

Went to Granville Island today and bought some sausages from Oyama. Good spicy buffalo sausages and sweet creamy potatos play off each other perfectly.

Smoked Tuna salad

I picked the first tomatoes from my garden and in their honour I cut up some smoked tuna to go with the tomato, kolrabi, basil, carrot, green beans and lettuce salad. Summer must be thanked.

Puffy rolls

I was a little tired of pitas so I used the same dough to make these rolls. They really puffed and had excellent texture and taste. I can have one dough in the fridge and make different breads according my mood! I am happy.

Potato and corn pancakes

Got some very fresh and sweet yellow corns and creamy potatos from the farmer's market so I made this. Unfortunately it does not show up well in this picture. Added some chili pepper and garlic to the mayonnaise for a sauce. Rather enjoyed it.

Cold spicey chicken 'salad'

I have some poached chicken left so I shredded it and added my own pickled cucumber and spicy bean sprouts, some soy sauce, scallion and sesame oil. Very fresh, crisp and tasty, great with rice.

Crab Cakes

I like my crab cake light and on the dry side but these are too light to hold together, tasted good still. I was not planning on making them so all I had was green pepper, onion, salt, pepper, eggs, chili pepper, some rather light homemade mayonniase and bread crumps.

Amaranth and poached chicken

This is just so Cantonese summer.

Fried Chicken

For some reason I wanted fried chicken. It was good eating but I felt rather weighted down afterward.

Uncreative

Lucheon meat, bean sprout, rice vermicelli in chicken broth--woke up tired and not very creative.

Big Crab

The truth about crab is that all you have to do is steam it and eat it cold with a good drink. Here I have some warm xiaoxing rice wine.

Giant Squash

I was out of town for a few days and this yellow squash suddenly expanded.








So, I fried some up to go with some cold beer.













And I still have half for dinner. Good thing about growing them is that they are still very tender even this big.

Bye Bye Peas

The last of this season's peas, in their honour I made them almost a main ingredient for this chicken rice.

Raspberry Souffle

When you have crushed raspberry, you make raspberry souffle. Very simple, just beat an egg white, beat an egg yoke with sugar, add mashed raspberry and bake in 400 oven. Not a fancy souffle but this is leftover and it is good.

Season change

All of a sudden, it is cucumber and bean season. I am not complaining. I like this cucumber salad: cucumber, salt, sugar, cider vinegar, rice vinegar, chopped fresh chili and sesame oil.

Guu with Garlic

One of my favorite restaurants in Vancouver, Guu may very well be one of the best drinking/eating place anywhere. Took some out of town friends there with their children, with the variety of food and small size, everybody find something they really like. Here are the Okonomiyaki and fried chicken thighs. The kids loved them.

Steak and peas

Got really lazy and realized why lazy people like steaks--no fuzz.

Return of my favorite salad

This is my all time favorite: smoke salmon, toasted pine nuts, dry cranberries, my own baby lettuce with balsamic vinaigrette.

Blueberry pancakes

It is blueberry season and eating this turns me into a kid.

Short Ribs

Just can't stay away from short ribs on the Q. This time a lighter marinate: mirin, soy sauce, garlic, Korean chili, rice vinegar and sesame seeds and oil.

Spagetti with Clam Sauce

Fresh manilla clam makes a sweet sauce. Very basic, just garlic, chilli pepper, onion, lemon juice and white wine then parsley and chervil at the last moment. Clean and good.

Redemption

Half of this chicken did not work out yesterday, so I have to make something good to redeem myself. I made this poor man's version of paella and it was good. Salt and pepper and sautee the chicken, remove. Sautee carrot, onion, chilli pepper and garlic until soft. Add tomato paste and then rice and toast around for a minute or so. Add white wine then hot stock (I made it with the back and wing tips and feet of the chicken) to which saffron has been added. Simmer for a few minutes until the water level is down to just over the rice then add the chicken back. Turn down the heat, put on the lid and the rice is ready in a few minutes. Tasty.

Sauteed Chicken and Snap Peas

Chicken sauteed with garlic and herbs. I shouldn't have put the lid on, the chicken's texture turned out a little funny. Good thing is the peas from my garden were fresh and very sweet.

Empty Fridge Dinner

I forgot to defrost more things and was too lazy to go shopping so a fried up some dace fish cakes and a hairy melon soup. It is simple but the very very hot sauce make it interesting.

Amaranth

This is 莧菜 from my garden. One of my favorite summer vegetables. I like it in light soup or sauteed with garlic. A very fast grower, a lot of pressure to eat!

Poached Sockeye

Saved a fresh piece from the barbacue and I poached it with white wine, onion, thyme, parsley, peppercorn and a little salt. Use the poaching liquid to make the veloute sauce. Added some peas and shanghai bak choy from the garden, it is very very seasonal.

Smoke Sockeye

Bought a whole sockeye today and smoked the leftover. Lighter brine and cooler temperature this time, it is less stong than the coho last time but very creamy.

Hen on the Grill

Fit just perfectly. A little salt, a little pepper, a little lemon juice, a little garlic, a little chili pepper and a little olive oil on the bird and that is it. Yummmmm

Must be Summer

The pea pods are plump...


















And the strawberries are ripe.

What Kind of Mess is This?

Blueberries, pecan macaroon and sweeten whipped cream, sort of a darker Eton Mess. I like this one better.

One and A Half Claws

This poor thing just started to grow back that claw and found itself in my pot! Oh, well, saved money for me.