Sushi Zushi

20Nov09

I have a new favorite sushi restaurant in Austin! It is Sushi Zushi on 5th Street, near MoPac. Bharat and I were going to go to 219 West but the wait was 45 minutes so Bharat mentioned sushi and I thought about the place that I always drive past after coming home from work.

I will always like Sushi Sake, near the Arboretum, but Sushi Zushi is *SO* much closer to me than Sushi Sake. Sushi Zushi has a very comprehensive menu. I’ve never seen so many sushi rolls on one menu. It’s going to take many times before I try everything on the menu, minus the food with cream cheese in them.

We shared a soft-shelled crab tempura for our appetizer. I ordered a bowl of hot udon tempura with 3 shrimp, a sushi sampler (nigiri and maki-zushi tuna, salmon, yellowtail, octopus, and shrimp, and a spicy salmon roll), and mochi ice-cream (red bean, green tea, and mango).

Dinner was spectacular.

Make sure when you go there, ask to be seated in Ryan’s section. He was a very good waiter. You can mention my name if he asks who referred you :]

One criticism, since I’m Chinese and probably few of the real Asian customers, I thought the wasabi was very weak. I had to put ALL of my serving and part of Bharat’s serving to make it to my liking.

Filed under: japanese, miscellaneous   |  1 Comment
Tags: atx, nigiri, sushi

Food I Had in the Past 16 Hours

19Nov09

Mussels with White Wine
[100% organic & wild]

Recipe here.

Broiled Skewered Rosemary Shrimp

[100% organic & wild Gulf shrimp]

Shrimp Choy Sum Fried Rice

[Shrimp is wild]

Filed under: broiling, chinese, cooking, italian, worldly   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: mussels, rice, shrimp, cai xin/choy sum

My 2009 “Thanksgiving” Menu

19Nov09

This year is the first time I’m spending Thanksgiving in Austin and by myself! My brother is in boarding school in Boston and my parents live in Hong Kong. For the previous 4 Thanksgivings, I went to Los Angeles once, Boston twice, and Toronto once.

I don’t “celebrate” Thanksgiving and I don’t eat/like turkey. I don’t like how it’s so dry tasting and it has tryptophan in it so it puts you to sleep. I was searching around for recipes and this is what I’m going to have on the night of Thursday November 26:

• Cheesy Potato Soup with Crispy Prosciutto
• Pomegranate Glazed Cornish Game Hen
• Rosemary Grilled Shrimp

I can still “celebrate” Thursday as a special night for myself. I need some vegetable dish but I think I’ll just roast some zucchini.

Filed under: miscellaneous   |  1 Comment
Tags: random

Ronizza: Andouille & Prosciutto

15Nov09

Out of the five toppings that I bought yesterday, I had a spinach and prosciutto pizza and then an Andouille and rapini pizza for brunch.

Spinach & Prosciutto

[100% organic]

Andouille & Rapini

[100% organic]

For my pizza dough recipe, click here.

Filed under: baking, fusion, italian   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: mozzarella, pizza, prosciutto, rapini, sausage, spinach

Ronizza: Shrimp Rapini Three Cheese Pizza

14Nov09

I made the dough before I left for work this morning so it was sitting in my not-on oven. This is what I had for dinner:

[100% organic, environmentally responsible aquaculture farmed shrimp]

For my pizza dough recipe, click here.

Filed under: baking, fusion   |  1 Comment
Tags: bell peppers, cheddar, monterey jack, mozzarella, pizza, rapini, seafood, shrimp

Kebabs

14Nov09

I had leftover chicken breast, tuna, and random vegetables. So I made kebabs. Here are them raw:

[100% organic, wild Yellowfin Tuna]

Ingredients:

• Red bell pepper
• Red onion
• Yellow zucchini squash
• Green zucchini
• Chicken breast
• Yellowfin/ahi tuna

Filed under: grilling, worldly   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: ahi tuna, bell peppers, chicken, cwST originals, onions, seafood, zucchini

Lobster Tails in a Buttery White Wine Sauce

13Nov09

I never really liked lobster because it looks like a giant shrimp and for $8, I can only eat 1 lobster tail but for $8, I can eat 32 shrimp. Quantity isn’t just the only reason. In restaurants in Hong Kong, they always cook it with spaghetti and cheese or in a simple garlic sauce. That’s so un-Chinese – the spaghetti and cheese way. I’ll eat it once in a while (once every 5 years) but really, are there better and more yummier ways to eat lobster? And I always thought lobsters were really boring…

[100% organic, lobster wild from Canada]

Ingredients:

• Two 7 oz. lobster tails
• 0.5 cup butter
• 1 TB cornstarch
• 0.6 cup dry white wine
• 0.6 cup chicken broth
• 2 TB flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 TB soy sauce
• 1 TB lemon juice
• 0.5 tsp sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Chives, for decoration

Instructions:

1. Cut lobster tails in half length wise
2. Season with salt and pepper
3. Melt butter and add the corn starch, stirring continuously
4. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer while stirring for 10 minutes
5. Add lobster tails and cook each side for 2-3 minutes until the tails turn red
6. Serve with a pool of the sauce

Filed under: cooking, worldly   |  1 Comment
Tags: chicken broth/stock, chives, cwST originals, lemon juice, lobster, parsley, seafood, white wine

Avocado Salsa Over Grilled Mahi-Mahi

12Nov09

I bought an indoor grill pan today so I’m really excited to make grilled dishes! I have so many things to make, including kebabs!

I was going to add mango into my salsa but Whole Foods was out, so it’s just avocado.

[100% organic & wild]

Ingredients:

• Mahi-Mahi fillet
• 1 TB olive oil, for brushing over the fish
• 2-3 ripe avocado, diced into cubes
• 2 tomatoes, chopped into cubes
• 2 TB olive oil, for salsa
• 1 TB lemon juice
• 0.5 cup flat Italian parsley leaves, chopped
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Salt & ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat grill to high heat
2. Brush the fillets with olive oil and let sit for 10 minutes
3. Make the salsa by first chopping up the tomatoes, parsley, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper in a food processor
4. Then mix with avocado and olive oil, set aside
5. Grill fish for 3-4 minutes on each side
6. To serve, pour salsa over fillet

Filed under: american, cooking, mixing   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: avocados, cayenne pepper, cwST originals, lemon juice, mahi-mahi, parsley, seafood, tomatoes

Congee with Shredded Chicken

10Nov09

Traditionally, this congee is made with century old duck egg (the black jelly-like egg) and shredded pork. But since I had no pork tenderloin at home, I used half of a chicken breast instead. And I don’t eat modern-day made salted duck egg or century old duck egg anymore because they are made with chemicals that are not good for you. I prefer the old fashioned way… but it’s not available here.

Congee is Chinese porridge.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked rice
• 10 cups water
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 chicken breast, whole
• 3 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. Wash the rice three times and then soak in water for 30 minutes before cooking
2. Pour the 10 cups of water into the soaked rice and cook for 2-4 hours with the chicken breast, bouillon, and salt
3. After cooking, take the chicken out and shred it with a fork, and place the pieces back into the rice cooker/crock pot
4. Serve with chopped green onions and pork floss

Filed under: boiling, chinese   |  2 Comments
Tags: chicken, chicken broth/stock, cwST originals, pork floss, rice

Creamy Spicy Baked Scallops

09Nov09

I had 12 scallops remaining in my freezer so I decided to make this for dinner. This recipe has been bookmarked for 4 months now. I am emptying out my fridge for my pizza phase so I’m trying to make simple things for the food in my fridge and freezer.

[100% organic & wild]

Ingredients:

• 6 sea scallops
• 1 pack of enoki mushrooms
• 6 tablespoons of mayonnaise
• 0.5 tsp lime juice
• 0.5 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp chili garlic sauce (passed through sieve)
• Paprika
• Chives, chopped

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 475ºF
2. Clean the scallops and cut each scallop into 2-4 pieces of equal size (slice horizontally)
3. Chop off the roots of the enoki mushrooms and divide them into equal portions
4. Spread the mushrooms on a plate and layer the scallop pieces over the mushrooms and bake for 3-4 minutes
5. Mix the ingredients for the creamy spicy sauce and blend well (mayonnaise, lime juice, sugar, and chili garlic sauce)
6. Remove the scallops from the oven and top with creamy spicy sauce
7. Put the scallops back into the oven and bake until the surface turns golden brown
8. Sprinkle some paprika powder and chopped chives

*Adapted from RasaMalaysia.

I know mine looks kind of messy but it tastes really good and I can’t get enough!

Filed under: baking, japanese   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: chili garlic sauce, enoki mushrooms, lime juice, mayonnaise, scallops, seafood

Food I Had in the Past 24 Hours

07Nov09

Recipe can be found here. I ran out of dried shrimp so there isn’t that in there and I used red chili pepper flakes instead of whole dried peppers.

The clams I used in last night’s bisque.

Filed under: boiling, cooking, sichuan, worldly   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: clams, green beans, ground pork, seafood