Pork-Stuffed Squid

This is cooked twice. First in the oven, then fried (in a little olive oil. Haha, my feeble attempt at being healthy). Not sure if there are recipes out there like this one, but hey, it tasted good in my head, so might as well try it in real life.

Get a few squid. Clean well -- set aside the head, remove all traces of ink, pull out the plastic-looking "skeleton".

Mix together some ground pork (how much you get depends on how many squids you'll have to stuff), finely chopped spring onions and bell pepper, about a tablespoon or more of garlic powder (was too lazy to crush and chop fresh garlic), a little salt and pepper. Oh, you can throw in a spoonful of pickle relish to twist the flavor. Chop the squid head and throw it into the mix. Leave it for a few minutes for the flavor to come together.

Stuff the mix in the squid, lock the open end with toothpick and bake (280˚C) for 30 minutes or until a lot of juice has seeped out of the squid. I set the oven to high setting so I'm like grilling the squid more than baking it.

When that's done, I just fry them in a little oil to brown the skin a bit so they look good.

That's it! Just slice and serve. Dip it in sweet chili sauce or tomato catsup.

Meat&Mushroom Pasta Sauce

Wanted to eat some "party spaghetti" one day, but I don't like the sweet kind. I just want it with some ready-made spaghetti sauce.

Got some ground beef, opened a can of button mushrooms or shiitake (i prefer this, it gives the sauce a little twist) and chopped them into small pieces.

Next, I chopped up some tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots and celery.

Ok, sauté time. Heat some olive oil in a pan, throw in the onions, stir until they're slightly clear, then throw in the celery, and garlic. Give it a few seconds, then mix in the tomatoes. Keep stirring till the tomatoes become soggy. Then mix in the beef and the mushrooms, cook for a few minutes. Pour in the spaghetti sauce and just keep stirring. Add a little salt and pepper and a pinch of dried basil leaves. I let it simmer for around 15 minutes or longer to make the sauce naturally sweet.

Cook the spaghetti with a little salt and a lot of dried oregano.

*I'm ok using dried herbs and canned vegetables. They're fine. :-)

Pork Shiitake Dumplings

Haha, didn't realize how fucked up this dish's name is. Oh well. Twisted it is then.

You'll need a steamer for this.

Prepare about a kilo and a half of lean Ground Pork and about 2 cups of chopped shrimp or prawn meat.

Get 2 or 3 carrots, a large bell pepper, onion, and cut them up into small pieces. Or stuff them in a food processor give it a few clicks, and you're done! Chopped veggies!

Chop up some shiitake mushrooms into very small pieces. A cup and a half is probably how much you'll need.

You'll also need a cup of chopped spring onions.

Just mix everything in a large bowl, sprinkle with a little sesame oil, soy sauce and salt (a sprinkle of brown sugar will bring out the umami taste too.)

That's it! Wrap them in wanton wrappers, steam for about 20-25 minutes and eat! If you want, dip it in some light soy sauce mixed with a little bit of Chiu Chow Chili Oil.