It can be said that chicken is the most frequently used ingredients in my cooking. Simply because chicken is the most affordable of all kinds of meat. Almost every week, chicken is included in my shopping list. I often buy a whole chicken, breaking it into separate parts to use in different dishes.

Sometimes getting tired of the old flavor and the familiar way of preparing a chicken dish, I would read my books or searching about on the Internet to find a new flavor for my chicken dish. And this is a recipe I found from my book ‘Bowl Food’. This dish is full of Asian flavor. I often cook braised chicken with ginger and fish sauce. However, this time there are some changes in the ingredients, which makes the dish totally different in flavor. The flavors are richer and there are more to experience: the fragrance of ginger and especially the typical smell of star anise, the sweetness of honey, the tender saltiness of soy sauce. All bring in great taste to this simple chicken dish.

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It is no controversy that tofu is a all time favorite food of Asian people. And I am a fan of tofu. Each time I came home to visit my family, my Mom often asked me what I wished to eat for the first meal at home. The first thing I always remembered was a simple dish of fried tofu.

Tofu is very popular in Asian countries, however, the taste and the texture of tofu differ from country to country. And of course, tofu comes in a great variety of dishes. I am not a vegetarian, however, I never hesitate to try any dish made with tofu.

So this time, I am attracted to another Korean dish made with tofu. Tofu Jo Rim is the name of this dish in Korean. I have to admit that right from the first bite, I really loved the tofu cooked in this way. The only matter was that the tofu was a little too salty for my taste. So I remembered to omit the salt used to sprinkle the tofu slices before cooking them.

This dish goes well with hot cooked rice, vegetable and salad.

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Oyako donburi is the Japanese name for this bowl of steamed rice. ‘Don’ refers to a way of serving cooked rice with toppings of some kinds over a base of white rice. This makes a quick and convenient lunch for the Japanese.

The word ‘oyako’ is very meaningful, literally, it means ‘mother and daughter’. It is interesting, isn’t it? The main ingredients for this time’s topping is chicken and egg. At first, when thinking about chicken and egg, I thought there would not be so much fun as chicken or egg is so basic and familiar. However, I was wrong after tasting what I made. Wonderful! This chicken and egg offered a very distinctive flavor and texture. The ingredients, the cooking method are quite simple, but the final product is great. It was out of my imagination because this was my first time making a ‘don’ like this.

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I made this green mango salad following the Thai salad style. I really like having something light and sour on hot days since consuming these flavors makes me feel more comfortable.

Green mangoes are easy to find at Asian supermarket, so I often use them to cook sour soup. However, this time I used green mango in this salad, which is very fresh and crunchy. The mango strips are a little softened yet crunchy, you can still hear the sound when you chew them in your mouth. The roasted coconut flesh and cashew nuts not only add the texture but also the buttery taste to the salad. This is also the familiar taste I often get from my home country’s salads.

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Zucchini pancakes is one of the tradional dish by Korean people, especially during the Harvest Moon Festival. However, it is served whenever zucchini is available.

This is a pancake where the main ingredients are vegetables, so it may be suitable as a vegetarian dish. Wih a non-stick frying pan, only a very thin layer of oil is spreaded over the surface of the pan. The pancake is so very fresh with vegetable texture. There is no feeling of it being greasy.

The pancake offers a very comforting taste. The dipping sauce combines well with the pancake. It’s the first time I’ve tried a salty pancake of other cuisines, and I really loved it. I follow the recipe in one of my cookbook "Cooking the Korean way".

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I like Japanese noodle soup for its healthful benefits. This kind of noodle soup is not rich in flavor or taste. The texture is also very simple. However, with simple dish like this, we can really test the quality of the noodle, the broth and other ingredents.

Cooking this noodle soup is very simple and fast. It is best for a quick lunch. Sometimes when I am busy over meal time and I don’t really feel like hungry, I still make this quick noodle so that I will not go all the day with an empty stomach. After finishing a bowl of this noodle, I often feel very refreshed and relaxed.

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It is simple, but it is the best way to really test the taste and the chewy texture of the soba noodle. Zaru in Japanese means ‘the basket’. Due to the way the soba is place on a small bamboo basket that it was given the name. I love to have soba in this simple way because the taste is mild and very comforting. In addition, it is very quick to make. Whenever I am in short for meal, I would think of this dish. Whenever I crave for something light to eat to refresh my appetite, I would think about this noodle.

This cold noodle may be served together with shredded spring onion, grated daikon radish, wasabi or quail eggs.

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Sambal adds the spicy flavor to these thin slices of beef. I am not a fan of spicy food, however, this dish did make me feel palatable. Again, as usual, when making spicy food of other Asian cuisine such as Indian, Malay, Thai or Indonesian, I will reduce the amount of spicy ingredients, otherwise I will not find the food delicious at all. When the spicy taste is too overwhelming, I hardly eat anything at all and only drink water

Serving this spicy beef with steamed rice on cool days is great.

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