Green Onion Pancakes, and the story of a blue frog

Once upon a time there lived a young frog boy named "Blue".
They called him "Blue" because he was a very unusual blue frog.
Blue lived with his mother in a small cottage near a little stream deep in the mountain of South Korea.
His mother loved him very much and did the best she could to teach him, so that he could grow up to be well mannered and respectful. But alas! Blue was not the most obedient boy you can imagine. In fact he was quite rebellious and often showed the contrary behaviors.

Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies, Oh! sugar, sugar

WARNING!!! Do not make these cookies.
Don't even dare to put one in your mouth, or your diet is over at the very moment.
I ate 7 of them and I regret...
I meant to eat only one, you know.

But if you really want to taste the simple gourmet flavor of true vanilla sugar cookies, make a batch by all means.
I don't even like sugar cookies but these are truly good; crisp on the edge yet soft in the center with speckles of vanilla beans.
Irresistible is the exact description of how good these are once you put one cookie in your mouth.

Kimchi, the easy version

Every once in a while I have this strong urge to make kimchi.., it must be the Korean blood in me!

So I made a simple cabbage kimchi called "mak-kimchi".

I have posted 3 episodes of how to make the authentic cabbage kimchi about a year ago.

Although the method of that type of kimchi in those posts will yield truly amazingly tasting kimchi, it is quite time and labor demanding work.

This version is basically quick and easy. "Mak" literally means whatever fast.

I will show you how easy it is to make delicious kimchi with its pungent yet refreshing flavor.

Even a novice to kimchi making can succeed with a great result. 

I bet you would like that.

My Teriyaki Chicken

Would you like to take a bite?

TERIYAKI CHICKEN is a universal food.  Everybody loves it and have their own way of making it.

I bet Giada de Laurentiis or Paula Dean have their own version.

I do, too.  :) ... although I am not sure if can say it is authentic.

Traditionally Teriyaki is made with Sake (Japanese rice wine) marinade, but I use pineapple juice and you don't need to marinade.

The juice adds wonderful flavor to the chicken and get rid of the gammy smell of poultry. It also tenderize the meat and keep them so moist. Did I mention it can be done less than 30 minutes?

Braised Tofu and Radish, the Korean tofu dish

I love tofu and I hope you do, too.

This has to be one of my favorite tofu dish.
Partnered with mellow radish and a little bit of chopped shrimp, I don't need anything else on my table to finish out a bowl of rice if I have this.

With a good source of soy protein, calcium, and vitamins from the radish, you have quite a nutritious dish that screams to be Korean.

Pomelo Prawn Salad, the easy Thai salad

Is it March already?

It must be spring then...

Living currently in a tropical land of SE Asia, I often loss the sense of seasonal changes.

Spring is my favorite season. 

I miss seeing green buds blossoming on the trees, daffodils and tulips popping out of garden, and people gathering around Home Depot to look for pretty flowers to plant on their yards. I was one of them.

But I enjoy living in tropical land these days. It does offer good culinary adventures.., a big time!

... Loads of tropical fruits and veges, awesome beaches, can't complain much.