This is a super easy fried chicken recipe that you can make at home with easily accessible ingredients (and probably ingredients that you would already find in your house). I would say that it’s a mixture of both Korean and Chinese style fried chicken (due to the ingredients and techniques used); nevertheless, it’s still so so good.

I used chicken thigh here, because they have a more intense and rich flavour, compared to chicken breast, due to it’s higher fat content. You may be here thinking: I don’t want to consume so many calories and fats. Well, you’re eating frying chicken anyways, so there’s honestly not much of a huge difference. Chicken thighs become more tender the longer they cook, whereas chicken breast would produce more of a drier texture. This makes the chicken thighs juicier and more flavourful.

We first fry the chicken thighs until they become golden brown. Then, we make a super easy honey garlic sauce with A LOT of garlic. The more garlic the better right?

Making the sauce tips:

Cook the sauce over low-medium heat and keep a close eye on it, because it may get burnt easily. You would have to keep stirring the mixture to prevent it from burning/sticking to the wok. The sauce should have a slightly thick consistency, like pure honey.

I honestly could not stop eating this.

If you do try out this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and/or give it a rating! I’d also love to see your creations so don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!

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Honey Garlic Chicken Bites

Fried chicken pieces tossed in a sweet and savoury honey garlic sauce, and when I mean garlicky – I mean A LOT of garlic.

Course Main Course, Snack

Cuisine Chinese, Fusion, Korean, Western

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 2 people

Author Dearnomdiary

Ingredients

Marinade

• 1 lb chicken thigh
• 10 g fresh ginger slices
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• Few cracks of black pepper

Coating

• ½ cup all purpose flour
• ½ cup cornstarch

Assembling + Sauce

• Neutral oil (for frying)
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 15 garlic cloves (minced)
• ½ tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp honey

Instructions

Marinade

• In a large bowl, marinate the chicken with all the marinade ingredients for 30 minutes.

Coating + Assembling + Sauce

• Mix together the coating ingredients in a wide dish/bowl.
• Coat each chicken piece with the coating mixture.
• In a large pot/wok, add in the oil. Heat it up until it reaches a temperature of 350°F/180°C.
• Fry the chicken for 5 minutes, or until both sides are golden brown and the chicken is cooked through. Remove and set aside.
• In a clean wok over low-medium heat, melt the butter. Add in the garlic, soy sauce, and honey and mix to create a sauce. Add back in the fried chicken and toss with the sauce. Serve and enjoy!

Tarte tatin is basically an upside down tart where the fruit is caramelized and baked on the bottom of the pan, and the pastry is baked on top. This produces a flakey and crisp pastry, while the fruits are saucy and gooey. Apples are usually used for tarte tatin, but pears work great too because they can get soft and caramelized the same way apples do too.

Equipment:

For this recipe, I am using a medium-large skillet that’s 10 inches in diameter.

A tarte tatin is usually done in an oven safe skillet, since you need to caramelize the fruits first, and then lay a sheet of puff pastry over it and bake it in the oven. However, you can use a cake pan too, or even a cast iron. A cast iron would be my last choice because you have to keep in mind that you need to flip the pan upside down to release the tart from the pan; but if you want to train those muscles, by all means go ahead.

How to avoid a soggy crust:

1. Let the tart cool completely in the pan. If you flip it too soon, the juices and sauce from the fruits will fall down onto the pastry, thus resulting in a soggy pastry that’s not crisp.
2. When it’s time to serve, warm it at 300°F in the oven. This will help loosen the fruit from sticking to the bottom so that you can flip it more easily.

You can also cook the pears ahead of time, but be sure to keep the pears at room temperature before laying over the puff pastry sheet, or else it won’t product the same caramelized and juicy texture. That’s why it’s best to do everything in the same day (you can cook the pears in the morning, and do the puff pastry part later that day). If you’re not baking it in the oven right away, remember to not cover the fruits with the puff pastry just yet, or else the puff pastry will become soggy.

You can serve this dessert with some ice cream for a little extra treat.

If you do try out this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and/or give it a rating! I’d also love to see your creations so don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!

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Pear Ginger Tarte Tatin

Sweet juicy Bosc pears are first slowly caramelized, and then placed on a flakey and crisp pastry.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Western

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 6 people

Author Dearnomdiary

Ingredients

• 5 large Bosc pears
• ¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter
• ½ cup (100g) sugar
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp fresh minced ginger
• 1 box of puff pastry (weighing 397g)

Instructions

• Prepare the Bosc pears by peeling the skin and slicing them in half. Discard the core by scooping it out or using a pairing knife. Cut out and discard the stem lines that run from the stem to the core. Then, cut off the end.
• In a medium-large skillet that’s oven safe (mines is 10 inches in diameter), melt the unsalted butter over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add in the sugar and stir to create a sandy mixture.
• Distribute the sliced pears around the pan (with the insides facing up). For the center of the skillet, place the bottom half of a pear to form a flower shape. You might have to move the pears around to make them fit in the skillet.
• Allow the pears to sit in the mixture over medium heat without moving them, for the sugar to caramelize (this should take around 10-15 minutes). Keep a close eye so that it doesn’t burn. It’s ready once the bottom of the pears turn golden brown. Cool completely.
• Preheat the oven to 425°F.
• Sprinkle the cinnamon and ginger over the pears and also in between them.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry to a large circular shape that has a diameter of 12 inches, and a thickness of 2mm. Place over the skillet and tuck in the edges around the pears.
• Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, until the top of the pastry is a deep golden brown color. Then, let cool for 5 minutes to allow the caramel to stop bubbling.
• Cover the skillet with a plate that’s larger than the skillet, and be brave and flip it over. Let cool for 10 minutes, and serve. Slice and enjoy!

You may think Oreo corn dogs are so weird, yes, I thought it was weird too; but when I tried it for the first time, it was mind blowing let me tell you. The first time I tried Oreo corn dogs was at a place called Arirang Hotdog. I was a bit skeptical to try it at first, but it seemed so unique and interesting. When I took a bite, it was surprisingly very good. That sweet and savoury combination was working wonders, and I was amazed at how good it tasted. So much better than fried Oreos.

Tips:

1. Make sure the dough rises for one hour until it doubles in size – very important or else it will be hard to coat the skewers in the batter!
2. I opted to use wooden chopsticks (the ones that you would usually get for your takeout utensils). I find that those have a much stronger hold than regular skewers, and they don’t break as easily.
3. I’m using Oreo O’s here and I crushed it into smaller pieces for it to stick to the dough better. I tried this recipe using uncrushed Oreo O’s and it kept falling off of the dough and also when it was being fried (a huge mess and it drove me nuts), so learn from my mistakes.
4. After rolling the corn dog in Oreo O’s and panko, press it down on the corn dog with your hands to ensure they won’t fall off!
5. Keep a very close eye when frying these, because I find that the Oreo O’s can get burnt very easily.

Last but not least, drizzle a good amount of condensed milk on top, and it will taste so so good.

If you do try out this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and/or give it a rating! I’d also love to see your creations so don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!

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Oreo Corn Dogs

It's crunchy, sweet and savoury, and drizzled with condensed milk.

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine Fusion, Korean, Western

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Resting Time 1 hour hour

Servings 3 corn dogs

Author Dearnomdiary

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 tsp instant dry yeast
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 135 ml lukewarm whole milk
• 120 g all purpose flour
• ¼ tsp kosher salt

Corn Dogs

• 3 hot dogs
• 2 cups Oreo O’s
• ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
• Condensed milk

Instructions

Dough

• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the yeast, sugar and warm milk. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes for the yeast to melt and appear bubbly (activation). 
• Add in the flour and salt to the mixture and use a wooden spoon to stir to combine (make sure there are no dry lumps remaining). Cover with plastic wrap or a wet cloth and let it rest for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Corn Dogs

• In a saucepan of boiling water, blanch the hot dogs for 1 minute to remove the oil and saltiness. Remove and let cool.
• Crush the Oreo O’s into smaller pieces (I am using a rolling pin here). Pour into a tray or a large flat dish.
• Let’s prepare the skewers. I am using wooden takeout chopsticks because they have a much stronger hold than regular skewers. Skewer on the hot dogs.
• Prepare two more baking trays or flat dishes. Pour the panko breadcrumbs onto one tray, and the dough onto the second tray.
• Roll the dogs on the dough, and with slightly wet hands, remove the excess dough off the dogs. Then, roll the dogs in the crushed Oreo O’s. Then, use your hands to wrap around the corn dog while pressing down the Oreo O’s on the corn dog to ensure they don’t fall off.
• Roll in the panko breadcrumbs evenly and sprinkle some on any holes that you see.
• In a large pot/wok, add in the oil. Once the oil temperature has reached 170°C/335°F, fry the dogs for a few minutes and roll it around to cook evenly, until golden and crispy. Remove, and place on a wire rack.
• Drizzle on some condensed milk and enjoy!

How are Korean sweet potatoes different from regular sweet potatoes?

Korean sweet potatoes have a red purple skin and yellow flesh on the inside, while regular sweet potatoes have an orange flesh. Japanese sweet potatoes are also very similar to Korean sweet potatoes. They’re both sweeter than regular sweet potatoes which makes them so satisfying. I love roasting them for a nice snack. It becomes soft and caramelized on the inside with a crispy skin.

You can use Japanese sweet potatoes for this recipe, it works the same. They can both be found in Asian grocery stores.

This cake uses a Genoise sponge cake base (recipe here). The cake is soft and fluffy and makes this cake so so good. You can make the cake ahead of time (or even a day ahead). Just remember to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap after it has cooled, in order to retain the moisture and fluffiness of the cake.

One more picture – just because I worked so hard on making and decorating it!

If you do try out this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and/or give it a rating! I’d also love to see your creations so don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!

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Korean Style Sweet Potato Cake

A fluffy layered cake that has a creamy sweet potato filling (made from Korean sweet potatoes) and a light whipped cream.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Fusion, Korean, Western

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 1 6-inch cake

Author Dearnomdiary

Ingredients

• 1 Genoise sponge cake

Sweet Potato Filling

• 500 g Korean or Japanese sweet potatoes (the ones with yellow filling and purple skin)
• ½ cup whipping cream (or heavy cream)
• ½ cup milk
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter

Whipped Cream

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1½ tbsp sugar

Syrup

• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp hot water

Toppings

• Finely chopped pistachios (optional)

Instructions

Sweet Potato Filling

• Boil the sweet potatoes in a pot of water until they are soft and completely cooked through.
• Peel and mash the sweet potatoes while they’re hot.
• In a medium saucepan, add in the rest of the ingredients. Mix and cook until the butter has melted. Then mix in the mashed sweet potato until creamy.
• To make it extra creamy and delicious: I always blend the mixture with an immersion hand blender. You can also blend it in a regular blender or run it through a sieve. Cool the filling completely.

Whipped Cream

• In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream with the sugar with an electric hand held mixer until it’s up to 70% (which means medium peaks – soft, but still holds a form). Set aside.

Syrup

• Mix the ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Assembling

• Slice the genoise sponge cake in 3 even layers.
• Brush some of the syrup on top of two of the cakes (this helps the cake to stay soft and moist even after you put it in the fridge!)
• Spread the sweet potato filling on 1 sliced cake, and top with the second layer of cake. Repeat steps 2 and 3 again for the second and third layer.
• Spread the whipped cream all over the cake.
• Decorate it however you like! I had extra sweet potato filling leftover, so I just piped it on top along with the whipped cream. Top with finely chopped pistachios (optional). Slice, serve, and enjoy!

Tips for achieving the perfect Genoise Sponge Cake:

1. Use cake flour for this recipe. I always use cake flour when baking cakes because it produces a soft and tender texture in baked goods due to its low gluten content. Remember to sift it because since cake flour is much finer than all purpose flour, it will easily end up in clumps if you don’t sift it.
2. Make sure your eggs and milk are at room temperature before mixing them together in the batter. This is because if they’re straight out of the refrigerator and you mix it with the melted butter, it will end up in clumps (learn from my previous mistakes).
3. Always fold your batter GENTLY and do NOT overmix, or else the cake will fail to rise properly and it will produce a dense texture.
4. Bang the cake pan on the counter for a few times to release all the air bubbles in the batter – the more air bubbles there are, the drier the cake will be.
5. After you pour in the batter and bang it on the counter, bake it in a fully pre-heated oven IMMEDIATELY, because the longer it sits out, the more air bubbles it will produce.

Recipes that uses a sponge cake:

Korean Style Sweet Potato Cake – a fluffy and moist layered cake with Korean sweet potato cream and a light whipped cream.

If you do try out this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and/or give it a rating! I’d also love to see your creations so don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!

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The BEST fluffy Genoise Sponge Cake

Soft and fluffy – this is the only sponge cake recipe you'll ever need for your cakes.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Western

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 1 6-inch cake

Author Dearnomdiary

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs (room temperature)
• ½ cup sugar
• 100 g cake flour
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter (melted and cooled)
• 2 tbsp milk (room temperature)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 325°F.
• Separate the egg yolks and whites in two separate mixing bowls.
• In the bowl with the yolks, add in HALF of the sugar and whisk until it becomes creamy and a light yellow colour. Set aside.
• In the bowl with the whites, beat it with an electric hand held mixer to make meringue, while adding in the rest of the sugar little by little. Mix until stiff peaks form.
• Add in the meringue to the yolk mixture in 2 separate times, while folding gently with a spatula.
• Sift in the cake flour and fold it GENTLY until the flour has been incorporated.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter (cooled), milk, and vanilla extract. Pour this around the edges of the cake batter in a circular motion.
• Carefully fold the mixture. Do not overmix.
• Pour into a 6” mold lined with parchment (do not grease the sides). Bang the pan on the counter for a few times to release all the air bubbles (too much air bubbles dries out the cake). Then put it in the preheated oven to bake IMMEDIATELY for 35-40 minutes.
• Remove from the mold and transfer to a wire rack and remove the parchment. Cool to room temperature and then slice in equal layers. Enjoy!

What is Hong Kong style milk tea?

Hong Kong style milk tea was actually inspired by the British afternoon tea, but instead of using traditional milk and sugar, Hong Kong people modified it to fit more of the Hong Kong palate. It’s made from Ceylon black tea, and passed many times through a fine sieve or stocking, which some people thought it looked like a pantyhose. It is then mixed with evaporated milk and condensed milk, and then sweetened by additional sugar depending on preference.

This ice cream is super creamy, and has intense Hong Kong milk tea flavours. I like my milk tea very strong (tea is more important to me over sugar), that’s why I steeped a lot of Ceylon tea for this recipe in order for the flavours to come through in the ice cream. Ice cream that lacks flavour is definitely a no no for me. I highly recommend refrigerating the milk tea mixture overnight, to intensify the flavours. I tried making it all in the same day, but the flavour is just not as strong compared to if I had let it steep in the fridge overnight.

To make it vegan:

Substitute the heavy whipping cream or coconut cream or canned coconut milk that has been refrigerated overnight. Whisk or beat with an electric hand held mixer and it’ll turn into just like whipping cream. For the condensed milk, substitute it with sugar or maple syrup, but taste as you go because maple syrup can be very sweet!

How to cook the perfect boba:

I’ve worked in a bubble tea shop before so let me tell you the secret to cooking the perfect boba.

First, you have to remember the ratio: 10 cups of water to every 1 cup of boba.

Once the tapioca pearls float to the top, you want to cook it for 30 minutes, while stirring every 5 minutes to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. Then turn off the heat, cover, and let it sit for 30 minutes. If there are still white spots in the centre of the pearls, that means it’s still not fully cooked yet. If they are cooked, mix with brown sugar water for that bubble tea shop style boba.

Yes, cooking boba is a long process, but that’s what you have to go through in order to get that perfect bubble tea shop style boba!

There should be no white spots in the pearls, or else that would mean they still need some more cooking time.

Combine the creamy milk tea mixture and bouncy brown sugar boba together, and freeze! The flavours from the HK milk tea is just pure nostalgia.

If you do try out this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and/or give it a rating! I’d also love to see your creations so don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!

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Hong Kong Milk Tea Boba Ice Cream

Smooth, creamy, infused with black tea for a strong and bold flavour, and mixed with bouncy brown sugar boba for the ultimate treat.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cantonese, Fusion, Western

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 3 cups

Author Dearnomdiary

Ingredients

HK Milk Tea Ice Cream

• 30g (¼ cup) Ceylon tea (loose leaf black tea)
• 375ml (1½ cups) heavy whipping cream (sub for coconut cream or refrigerated canned coconut milk for vegan)
• 150g (½ cup) condensed milk (sub for sugar or maple syrup for vegan)
• ¼ tsp salt

Boba

• ¼ cup tapioca pearls
• 3 cups water
• 50g (¼ cup) brown sugar + water

Instructions

HK Milk Tea Ice Cream

• Combine the Ceylon tea and heavy whipping cream in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat and cover for 30 minutes to let it steep. Let cool, and refrigerate (I like to refrigerate it overnight to intensify the flavours even further – highly recommended).
• Strain out the tea leaves through a fine sieve and press out every last drop of the liquid (to extract the most intense flavours)!

Boba

• The ratio for making boba is 10 cups of water to every 1 cup of boba.
• In a saucepan, bring the water to a boil and add in the tapioca pearls.
• Once the tapioca pearls float to the top, turn the heat down to medium, and cook it for 30 minutes, while stirring every 5 minutes.
• Turn off the heat after 30 minutes and cover with a lid for another 30 minutes. The tapioca pearls should then be fully cooked. If there is still a white spot in the centre, that means it’s still not fully cooked – repeat step 3 and 4 until there are no white spots.
• Drain and rinse the pearls under cold running water (this will give it that chewy and bouncy texture).
• In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar and a little water together and bring to a simmer until the sugar melts, to make brown sugar water. Turn off the heat and add in the cooked pearls and mix everything together. You can let it sit for a few minutes to let the pearls soak up everything. Your pearls are now ready to use.

Assembling

• In a large mixing bowl, beat the HK milk tea ice cream mixture until medium-stiff peaks.
• Add in the condensed milk and salt and whisk until incorporated.
• Fold in the boba until combined.
• Pour the mixture into a loaf pan or airtight container and freeze for 4-6 hours, or overnight.
• When ready to serve: let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before scooping. Enjoy!

It’s picnic season, (and also lavender season), which is why I decided to make vibrant purple ube cookies. I like my cookies soft and chewy, which is why these are actually the best cookies you will ever have. Other than the amazing taste, they also look aesthetically pleasing.

I decided to add a purple yam filling inside these cookies to increase the ube flavour even more, and that was the best decision I’ve ever made for these cookies. We first steam the purple yam, and then mash it with condensed milk until smooth. Add a teaspoon of the filling in the centre of each cookie and wrap it up. When you take a bite, all the ube flavours will be melting on your tongue.

What is ube?

Ube, is a purple yam or (purple sweet potato) that originated from the Philippines. It has a slightly nutty and vanilla taste, and has a beautiful purple colour. It’s normally hard to find ube in grocery stores (if you can find it for this recipe, that’ll be even better), so I substituted it with purple yam, which tastes very very similar. Purple yam or purple sweet potato works for this recipe!

This is cookie dough (not what you’re thinking). Look at that glossy dough.

The cookie dough is super easy to make. I added coconut oil and coconut milk in it to enhance the flavours even more. It also makes it less fattening as I didn’t use full butter!

Here’s an idea: a purple themed picnic. These cookies would be PERFECT for it.

If you do try out this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and/or give it a rating! I’d also love to see your creations so don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!

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Stuffed Ube Cookies

The perfect cookies. Soft, chewy, crispy edges, stuffed with real purple yam filling, and has a vibrant purple colour.

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine Fusion, Western

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Chill Time 2 hours hours

Servings 10 large cookies

Author Dearnomdiary

Ingredients

Filling

• 200 g purple yam
• 1 tbsp condensed milk

Cookie Dough

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup unsalted butter (softened)
• ½ cup coconut oil (softened)
• 1-2 tsp ube extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ cup coconut milk (if dough is crumbly – add little by little at a time)

Topping

• Dark chocolate chunks

Instructions

Filling

• Peel and chop the taro, purple yam, and sweet potato in small chunks. Steam for 25-30 minutes, or until soft and you can poke it through with a toothpick.
• Mash the purple yam while it’s hot. Add condensed milk and mix until combined and smooth. Let cool and set aside.

Cookie Dough

• In a bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. Set aside.
• In a stand mixer/hand held electric mixer/by hand, cream together the brown sugar, butter, and coconut oil.
• Add in ube extract and vanilla extract and mix. Then, add in the dry ingredients and mix well until combined.
• Lastly, add in the coconut milk a little at a time. You may not need the whole thing depending on the texture of the dough. The dough should be smooth and slightly sticky, but not stick to the spatula.
• Refrigerate the dough for 2 hours and let it sit in room temperature for around 10 minutes until it softens up before assembling.

Assembling

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out the cookie dough and form them into balls.
• Flatten each ball and place a teaspoon filling inside each of them. Fold the edges of the dough together and roll it up to form into a ball. Slightly flatten the cookies and place the chocolate chunks on top.
• Place cookies on a lined baking sheet and bake for 13-15 mins, or until edges are set. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy them while they’re warm!

I love making my own garlic butter, with actual REAL garlic, and I thought, “why not add gochujang to it?” Gochujang is a Korean sweet and spicy chili paste, made from gochugaru (Korean red chili pepper powder), glutinous rice, fermented soybeans, barley malt powder, and salt.

The key to making the most wonderful garlic butter is to use softened unsalted butter and to roast the garlic. Using softened unsalted butter allows you to mix and incorporate everything together easily, and you can always adjust the amount of salt yourself instead. I roast my garlic heads for an hour in the oven in order to produce the most flavourful garlic butter. The smell of roasted garlic also makes the whole house smell so good and makes me hungry.

The cheese is optional, but I would highly recommend it because everything tastes and looks better when there’s an epic cheese pull. You can always adjust the amount of cheese to put on depending on your liking.

The cheesier it is, the better. Serve it while it’s hot!

If you do try out this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and/or give it a rating! I’d also love to see your creations so don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!

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Cheesy Gochujang Garlic Bread

Crispy and soft bread made with REAL garlic butter, with a sweet and spicy kick, and topped with lots and lots of melty cheese.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Fusion, Korean, Western

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Servings 6 people

Author Dearnomdiary

Ingredients

• 1 loaf French bread (sliced in half lengthwise)
• 4 heads of garlic
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 110 g unsalted butter (softened)
• 1-2 tbsp gochujang (adjust to preferred spiciness level)
• ½ tbsp dried oregano
• ¼ cup fresh chives (or sub for 2 tbsp dried chives)
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• Dried parsley
• 2 tbsp honey

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Chop off the top of each head of garlic. Place in foil and season with salt & pepper. Drizzle olive oil on top of the garlic heads. Wrap into a ball and roast in the oven for 50 minutes. Once it’s ready, let it cool for a bit until you can handle it with your hands, and squeeze out the garlic. Mash the baked garlic cloves using a fork.
• To make the gochujang garlic butter: In a bowl, mix together the softened unsalted butter, mashed roasted garlic, gochujang, oregano, and chives. Season with salt & pepper if necessary. Mix until combined and smooth.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Spread the gochujang garlic butter onto each half of the bread, and top with lots and lots of cheese.
• Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.
• Top with parsley and drizzle on the honey. Slice and enjoy hot!

Last year, I posted a recipe of my favourite way to make corn – Roasted Street Style Corn. This time, I decided to add a Japanese kick to it by adding shichimi togarashi, which is Japanese 7 spice. It’s spicy, tangy sweetness of citrus, and has umami flavours due to the nori seaweed. I love using shichimi togarashi on everything, simply sprinkle it on top of dishes such as udon, ramen, or even mix it with rice! The possibilities are endless.

A mixture of Japanese and Mexican flavours. Look at that sweet juicy corn.

It’s super easy. We first spread butter on the corn and then roast it in the oven (or on the grill if you’d like). Then, we cover it in a creamy and zesty Japanese style mayo, and then top it off with shichimi togarashi and parmesan.

Look at that beautiful corn. Serve this at your next potluck or summer barbecues!

For this dish, I’m using Staub’s 10.5” x 7.5” ceramic baking dish that’s oven and broiler safe up to 572F. Perfect for cooking, and presenting on the table!

If you do try out this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and/or give it a rating! I’d also love to see your creations so don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!

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Japanese Elote (corn on the cob)

Roasted sweet and juicy corn covered in a creamy and zesty Japanese style mayo, and then topped with shichimi togarashi and parmesan.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Fusion, Japanese, Western

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Author Dearnomdiary

Ingredients

• 4 ears fresh corn, halved (husked and cleaned)
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter (melted)
• ½ cup Kewpie mayo
• Few cracks of black pepper
• 2 tsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
• Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese 7 spice)
• ½ cup parmesan cheese

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Brush the melted butter evenly on each corn. Wrap in foil and bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, while turning halfway through. Once it’s ready, let it cool for a bit (I usually wait until it’s a little warmer than room temperature).

  Alternatively, you can grill the corn on the BBQ.
• Meanwhile, mix the mayo, black pepper, lime juice, and cilantro in a bowl until it’s well combined. Brush on the cooked corn evenly.
• Sprinkle shichimi togarashi (Japanese 7 spice) on each corn (add more if you enjoy more of a kick).
• Spoon parmesan on each corn while shaking off the excess. Enjoy!

It’s summer. Everyone is bringing out their barbecue grills out again. However, do you really have that much space and time to cook EVERYTHING on the barbecue grill, and have to clean it afterwards? This is exactly why I’m here to save your day, by creating a pork ribs recipe that you can easily cook in the oven during the same time you cook other food on the grill. If you REALLY wanted to cook these on the grill, you can cook them on the grill after you spread the sauce, just until the ribs are starting to char. Because this is an oven baked recipe, it means you can also have these ribs anytime of the year!

I’ve tried having pork ribs with barbecue sauce so many times, that’s why I wanted to switch things up a bit, and create a spicy sweet garlicky sauce. Ah, I just love cooking with gochujang (Korean red chili paste). It’s sweet, savoury, and such a versatile ingredient.

If you want super tender fall off the bone pork ribs, you need to be patient for this. We’re cooking this low and slow. This simple method guarantees super tender ribs. Remember to spread a GENEROUS amount of the sauce on both sides of the ribs, because, we ALL LOVE SAUCY RIBS.

Slow and steady wins the race, or in this case, it will win everyone’s hearts.

If you do try out this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and/or give it a rating! I’d also love to see your creations so don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!

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Korean Style Fall Off The Bone Ribs

Tender, juicy, spicy, and saucy – everyone will be craving for more.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Fusion, Korean, Western

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 3 hours hours

Servings 4 people

Author Dearnomdiary

Ingredients

• 1 rack of pork rib racks (about 3 lbs)
• Sea salt

Sauce

• ¼ cup gochujang
• ¼ cup ketchup
• ¼ cup honey
• A few cracks of black pepper
• 5 garlic cloves (minced)

Instructions

• Let’s first prepare the ribs. Using a small pairing knife, remove the membrane from the underside of the rib racks, stretching it until it tears. Discard the membrane. Then, season both sides of the ribs with a generous amount of salt.
• Preheat the oven to 275°F.
• Place the ribs in a baking dish/large roasting pan (meat-side up) and cover tightly with foil. We’re going to bake this nice and slow in order to achieve the “fall off the bone” effect. Bake in the oven for 2½-3 hours covered, until the meat is cooked through and tender.
• Meanwhile, make the sauce by combining all the ingredients together in a bowl.
• Remove the ribs from the oven, discard the foil, the juices, and increase the temperature to 390°F.
• Generously brush both sides of the ribs with the sauce. Bake in the oven uncovered for 5-10 minutes (keep a close eye so the sauce doesn’t burn).
• Remove from the oven, serve, and enjoy!