My Creations (pun and irony intended :P)

My lovely bathroommie, knowing I love to cook, bought me a 30 Minutes Cookbook as a moving out present :). So of course I've put it to good use! The recipes below are directly taken from the book and no copyright infringement intended. 

Thai-Style Rare Beef and  Mango Salade 

Prep: 2 mins; Cooking: 8 mins

Ingredients (Serves 4): 

450kg/1lb sirloin steak 

45ml/3tsbp garlic-infused olive oil (however, I just used regular olive oil and finely chopped garlic for this) 

45ml/3tsbp soy sauce

2 mangoes, peeled, stoned, and finely sliced

ground black pepper 

Methods:

1. Marinate steak with oil, soy sauce and coat it with pepper. Let it stand for 10 mins, but for best results, marinate for 2 hours covered, in the fridge. 

2. Cook 3-5 min. on hot griddle for a rare steak. If you don't like rare, cook for 10-15 according to your preference. 

3. Leave steak to cool for 2 mins and cut it into think slices. Meanwhile, cook the marinade along with the mangoes. Drizzle sauce over steak and may be served with salad leaves with blended lemon juice and olive oil. 

Recipe Review/Possible Improvements: 

The taste of the dish is very strong, however, the mangoes and the sauce worked very well together. Cooked mangoes actually tastes pretty good! I think eating with salad without the lemon juice and olive oil would harmonize the flavours and reduce its intensity. 

The steak was really tough because domestic stoves are just not hot enough. If you cannot cook steaks like me, I would recommend just searing the steak and bake it in the oven. That way, most of the juice would be trapped in the steak, and even if you cook it well done, it would still be very tender. 

Baked Cheese Zucchinis (Sorry for the terrible picture)

Prep: 3 mins; Cooking: 20 mins (Appetizer)

Ingredients (serves 4):

4 zucchinis

30ml/2tbsp cheese of your preference (of course you could also change the amount according to your preference)

~25g/2tbsp butter

salt and ground black pepper 

Methods:

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Slice zucchinis in halves. Butter baking dish (or use baking paper), but the halved zucchinis side by side. 

2. Sprinkle cheese on top of zucchinis and some butter. 

3. Bake for ~20mins until cheeses is bubbling and golden brown. Serve immediately. 

Recipe Review/Possible Improvements: 

I didn't use butter since the cheese already had more oil than needed when you bake it. I would put the salt on the zucchinis before putting the cheese on, or else it would be tasteless.  I would also sprinkle dried parsley on top of the cheese to give it a lighter and fresher taste (since the cheese may be too heavy for some people). I think parsley would be the best dry herb for it, but you could also try cilantro or rosemary. 

This is SUPER easy to make if you're a beginner cook. If you're a cheese lover like me, then I'm pretty sure you'll like this! However, nothing can beat cheese on garlic bread :P 

This is not from the book. I usually don't like using cake mixes since it's kinda like cheating, but I got a last minute call about a family friend's child's birthday party. With only 3 hours before the party starts, I got some cupcake mixes, sprinkles, princess cupcake holders and candles and some pre-made icing to make my life easier.

If you want something quick and easy and tasty (high in sugar and oil), this is your best choice. This is perfect for a kid's party, I mean, which kid doesn't like sugar? Other than the batch of pink cupcakes, I also made a purple batch. Just dirty ice the cupcakes when it cools, and sprinkle whatever toppings you like on it.

If you're just starting to bake, this is the best type of things to make at first. Making brownies out of brownies mixes was how I started :P

For those in the GTA...

This is what we do on a typical Saturday morning ---- drink Chinese tea. This place is one of the branches of the chain that created Casa Imperial, Casa Victoria and Crown Prince Fine Dining. The branch is known for using the best ingredients in food markets for all their dishes, the impeccable service and the grand decor. This explains the difference in price from the regular Chinese restaurants. 

Angus beef tarts. Flaky and sweet on the outside, warm and savoury on the inside. I usually don't like well done beef, but this was cooked to perfection. The beef was tender and not chewy at all. This dish is a good fusion of Chinese and American tastes. 

Sticky rice. Not one of their best. This tastes the same as all the other places. 

Pumpkin and corn congee. You don't see this dish in a lot of places, but it did not taste as great as I expected from this chain. You can't really taste the pumpkin unless you're one of those super-tasters. This is supposed to be more sweet than salty, but it lacks sweetness. In the end, the corn and pumpkin just drowns in the salty congee. 

Deep fried bread sticks "ja leung" wrapped in rice noodles. This dish is a burst of flavours and textures. The taste and texture is well layered. This is worth a try. 

In many places, the rice noodles are often cold, hard and thick. But that is not the case here. Very silky, and the soy sauce brings out the rich flavour of rice.

Overall Review: 

Food: 9/10

Compared to the other restaurants from the same company, the dishes are more conventional overall (especially the flavours). Compared to the others, this did not leave that strong of an impression on me. 

Ambience: 7/10

The restaurant feels very empty (high ceiling and all), since it was originally an old banquet hall. There were no decorations and it kinda gives me a washed out prom feel. However, the arrangements on the tables is consistent with other branches. The service staff is in maid-like uniforms (formal ones, not the Japanese anime type). I like it because it gives a sense of unity and elegance to the restaurant, but it's not everyone's cup of tea. 

Service: 9.5/10

Because the restaurant was so big, it did not take long before we were seated. The staff is nice enough, but the only thing I'm not too happy about is that the food came a tad bit slow. 

Price: 10/10

Compared to other Chinese restaurants, this place is still a bit more expensive. However, you really get your money worth of food. However, since this place is considered fine dining, I think it is a reasonable price for Chinese food. Also there are early bird specials 7 days a week (if you order food before 11:30). 

Final verdict: 8.75/10

I would definitely recommend this place if you live near Hwy. 7. If not, I would go to Crown Prince instead if you're looking for the early bird special since they have the same thing but better ambiance and food in general. If not, I would recommend Casa Imperial. This is the original restaurant and in my opinion has the best ambience of them all. 

*note: each restaurant have their own set of menu depending on the chef's specialty. Things you eat at one place may not be available at the other ones. 


Address:
9019 Leslie Street, Richmond Hill, ON
L4B 4K3

(905) 709-1759

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Shanghai Flavours

After I moved back from res, I felt kind of deprived of Chinese food for the first time of my life. So my family and I went to try this Shanghai style restaurant. It looked like a mini China Pavilion from the World Expo and you can spot the restaurant far away.

Old style Chinese teapot. 

 Decor

 Decor

 Shanghai Dumplings, the restaurant's specialty. The dough is SUPER thin and the bun was SUPER juicy, just like the ones I ate in Shanghai. This was really well made and authentic. 

 "Ma Po Tofu" (Spicy Tofu). The tofu was tender and silky, the sauce was a bit too spicy for my taste but still very rich in flavour. However, the downside of the dish is that the two don't mix which leaves the dish too bland and too salty at the same time. 

 Deep fried sesame bread with beef stuffings. It was my first time trying this dish and I gotta say it was amazing! It was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. I haven't seen this dish in other Shanghai restaurants (either that of I'm blind haha). 

 Salted duck. The duck was supposed to be placed inside the white buns on the side and eat it together. That was why the duck was extra salty to compensate the tasteless buns. However, considering there are bones in the duck, it made it hard to eat in the intended way. The duck was too salty and too fried. 

Shanghai rice cakes. Too salty, too oily, not enough ingredients. Period. 

 Sticky rice dessert with flower syrup and red bean paste fillings. The syrup had a fresh flowery scent to it and meshed well with the flavours of the other ingredients. However, after 4/5 bites, the dessert becomes too sweet to handle (and I have a big sweet tooth). 

Overall Review: 

Food: 4/10

There were some hits, but a lot of misses when it comes to the food. 

Ambience: 6/10

There was a mix of modern and authentic Shanghai decorations and they're not meshed well together. It gives you a taste of authenticity but the feeling is not complete. 

Service: 7/10

The waitresses were polite and smiling all the time, but the food comes too slow. 

Price: 6/10

A bit too expensive for the quality of food. ~$60 for all of the above. 

Final Verdict: 6/10 

I do not recommend this place if you want to get a taste of what Shanghai dishes are like. If you go there just for the Shanghai dumpling, then it's worth a go. 

Woot woot! First post! Thanks for visiting and please comment! :) ♥ you all!

Address:
4401 Sheppard Ave E
Toronto, ON M1S 1T8

(647) 344-3630

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