Shot my 1yo inaanak around the Hollywood strip of Universal Studios. Makulit na. Couldn't get her to pose as she's always running around. Well, it's good training though for shooting kids (wonder if I'd ever need such training. lol.).

Thanks to unimoden for the background track. ;) (By the way Multiply, I don't like that you stretched my video vertically ... it's supposed to be wide screen format. :-S)

21 August 2010. Hollywood strip, Universal Studios, Singapura

Description:
"Oko...oko.. whats that pancake called again?" "Okonomiyaki", my friend reminded me. "Yes, Okonomiyaki. I wanna have that. C'mon let's!"

It was indeed love at first bite the time I was introduced to this yummy Japanese pancake of assorted fillings. After having it on several occasions in different japanese restos, I thought, "why not do it at home?" So I looked up for recipes online, customized them according to my taste and to the availability of ingredients and came up with this recipe. I made my own sauce as well with a recipe I found from an Okonomiyaki blog (it's nice to find people online who feels the same way about this dish). Hope you find time to try this at home as it really is worth the trouble. ;)

(According to Wikipedia, Okonomiyaki's "name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning what you like or what you want, and yaki meaning grilled or cooked.)

Ingredients:
1/2 c Soft Wheat Flour (3 1/2 oz) or All-purpose flour or combination of wholewheat and buckwheat flour
1 tsp Dashi Soup (5 oz) dissolved in 2-3tbsp of water
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 tbsp Grated Yamaimo (Japanese Mountain Yam) or Tapioca flour
A Little Bit of Salt

Fillings
1 c Cabbage, chopped (7 oz)
50g Boiled Octopus or squid, cut into small cubes (1 3/4 oz)
8 cooked Shrimps, cut
Green onions, chopped
Beni Syoga (Pickled Ginger) (I made do without this)
2 Eggs

Toppings
Okonomiyaki Sauce (see recipe below if you don't have this in a bottle)
Green Onions, chopped
Mayonnaise (I recommend QP)
Dried Bonito Frakes (optional)

Quick & Easy Okonomiyaki sauce
(there are authentic okonomiyaki sauce recipes out there but they require too many ingredients that I haven't heard of, so I made this which comes close enough)

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup Ketchup
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp Oyster sauce

Directions:
Okonomiyaki Batter
1. Combine flour and baking power. Add dissolved dashi mix and stir until there are no more lumps. Add salt and grate the Japanese yam. This will give the batter the sticky texture but if you cant find it a your local stores, you can add tapioca flour instead (like I did). Mix well.

2. Add all filling ingredients to the batter, topping with the eggs. Break the eggs and coat ingredients with batter but do not mix too well.

3. Heat pan with a bit of oil or butter. Place the mixture on the pan and form a round shape. Cook for about 3-5 minutes or until done and turn over the other side to cook. Brush sauce over the cooked side, sprinkle with green onions and pipe with mayonnaise. Serve when done.

Makes 1 big pancake or 2 medium size of 4 mini single servings.

Okonomiyaki sauce
Mix all ingredients. Adjust to your desired taste if need be. Enjoy!

Description:
I have been trying to recreate this fave western dish but it's frustrating that I couldn't get that crispy & tasty coating on the fish that resto-served Fish n' Chips have (at my work area in Singapore, I can get a good plate of this at Raffles Marina Clubhouse - a mere 5min drive from the office). That is, until I chanced upon a recipe while watching Food Safari on Discovery Travel & Living Channel. Now I know that it's the stout, mate! I've tried it with regular beer before but never with a good ol' stout beer yet (Guiness!). And I think it's the wheat that makes the batter thick and, later on, crispy when fried. Just be sure to let the batter rest for atleast 30 minutes as it surely makes a difference. ;)

Ingredients:
4 regular sized fillets of your fave fish (Satchi, Dory, Cod, or any white meat fish)
1 c flour
salt and pepper
1/2 c stout beer (or just enough to wet the flour)
1/2 c water
1/2 tsp of wheat (i used instant)

2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into strips

Lemon edges (and mayo, if desired)

Directions:
1. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in the stout. Mix well just until the flour mixture is completely covered and free of lumps. If half a cup is not enough, feel free to add more so don't finish off the can just yet. =P

2. Slowly add water, just a little amount at a time, and whisk into the mixture, until you get a thick consistency. Add the wheat and mix. Cover and let sit in the fridge for 30mins to an hour.

3. Heat oil in a pot to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

4. Fry the potatoes until tender and golden brown in color. Drain in paper towel.

5. Prepare the fish and pat them dry (frozen fish are convenient to have but they tend to be less crispy compared to fresh fish because of the water content).

6. Coat the fish completely by sliding each side onto the batter (batter will easily cling on to the fish). Carefully drop into the hot oil. Be sure not the crowd the pan with fish in order to maintain the oil temperature. Let fry until each side is golden brown in color, which shouldn't take so long. Remove from pan and drain in paper towels.

7. Serve with lemon wedges and mayonnaise. Enjoy!

Description:
Tahina is the ubiquitous Egyptian (or you can say Middle Eastern) dip that accompanies every mezze set in oriental tables. "Hummus" means chickpeas and here it's blended with sesame paste and flavored with lemon plus various spices as you so please. I looove it. I used to dip all my meat and aish baladi (egyptian bread) in it but now since i'm more into veggies than any kind of meat, I'd just spread it on my chapati or pita bread and top it with greens or any salad and roll it to make a sandwich wrap. Yummmm!

I got this recipe off the net after searching for what appears to be an authentic recipe. And I was happy with the result. It's just a bit tedious to make if you're the instant-food person but if you're like me who prefers preparing or cooking food - esp soups and sauces and dips - from scratch, then this is the recipe for you. Sesame paste or tahini can be bought from the supermarkets. Here in Singapore I have only seen the organic version being sold in NTUC. Maybe there are others available that are less expensive. Good thing I still have some left from the bottle my friend brought for me from Cairo. Lucky me. :D

Ingredients:
3 cups dried chick peas (about 1 1/ 2 pounds), picked over and soaked overnight in cold water to cover mixed with 1 teaspoon baking soda or 6 cups canned cooked chickpeas, saving 1 1/ 2 cup of water from the cans
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt
8 large garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Cumin and some chickpeas for garnish (as in the photo)

Directions:
1. Drain the chickpeas and place in a pot of lightly salted water to cover by 2-inches. Bring the water to a boil over a high heat until it foams, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the foam with a skimmer and continue boiling, partially covered, until tender, about 3 hours, so keep checking. Add boiling water to the pot to keep the chickpeas continuously covered. Drain and save 1 1/2 cups of the cooking water. Return the cooked chickpeas to the same pot filled with some cold water so you can rub the skins off the chickpeas with your fingers (many of them will rise to the surface).

2. Process the chick-peas with 1/2 cup of the olive oil and 1 cup of the reserved chickpea cooking water in a food processor until creamy.

3. In a mortar, pound the garlic with 1 tablespoon salt until it is a creamy mush. In a small bowl, beat the tahini and lemon juice together slowly. If it is too thick, add water--never more lemon juice. Stir the tahini-and-lemon juice mixture into the garlic and salt. Stir this mixture into the chickpea puree, adjust the salt, and season with pepper. Check the consistency; if it is too thick, like an oatmeal, then add some of the remaining reserved chick-pea cooking water until it is smoother, like a Cream of Wheat. Check the taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. If you do need to adjust the taste, the process must be repeated--in other words, mash some more garlic with salt or mix a tablespoon of tahini with a tablespoon of lemon juice.

4. In a small skillet, cook the pine nuts in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat until light brown, stirring, about 4 minutes. Remove and set aside.

5. Spoon the hummus onto a large round serving platter, not a bowl. Warm the remaining 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Make spiral or fan-shaped furrows in the hummus and fill with the warm olive oil. Garnish by sprinkling cumin over the edges. Serve with warm Arabic flatbread or pita bread or chapati.

Description:
This is one of my fave Chinese dishes back in the Philippines especially whenever I eat at Luk Yuen. Here in Singapore, I don't find this in hawker centers and since I seldom eat in chinese restos, I decided to just cook this myself at home. Good for me, the first recipe that I chose to follow is an authentic one, and I've tried and tested this 3 times already so if you're a fan of this dish, you can be rest assured that this one can beat any Chinese resto's. No kiddin'!

Ingredients:
2 1/2lbs boneless-skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1” cubes) (For the photo above, I used cut chicken parts as I still had some left.)

Marinade
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sherry or red wine (optional)
½ teaspoon salt

Batter
2 large eggs
¼ cup cornstarch
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch white pepper
oil (for frying)

Sauce
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup chicken broth
1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons lemon juice
¾ teaspoon salt
3 slices of lemon (peeled)
2 tablespoons oil

Directions:
1. Place cut chicken breast pieces into a bowl and mix with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce (and sherry if you have it) and ½ teaspoon of salt. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

2. To make the batter – beat 2 large eggs with ¼ cup of cornstarch, a pinch of white pepper and baking powder. Coat the chicken with the batter.

3. Heat deep fryer to 350 degrees and deep-fry in batches until chicken is fully cooked. Drain on paper towels and set aside. You can also cook the chicken using a wok if you don’t have a deep fryer.

4. Now, to make the lemon sauce – combine 1/3 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 cup chicken broth, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and ¾ teaspoon salt (if using food coloring you can add it now). Mix until well combined and add 3 slices of lemon to the sauce mixture.

5. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in your wok and stir in the lemon sauce mixture and heat until well mixed and sauce becomes clear. Remove lemon slices and pour the sauce over the chicken and mix. Best served with hot rice.