Sincerely, Syl

beef noodle soup

Dear In-Laws,

You make the best beef noodle soup. Hands down. And I can confidently say this now that we went on a trip to Taiwan together – where beef noodle soup originated from – and I tried many bowls that did not live up to my expectations. It was the first meal I bought in Taiwan in one of the many tasty and busy food courts. We even lined up for over an hour for another at a restaurant (let’s not talk about how that was so not worth it). Heck, I even gave it another attempt in the airport before we left. But nope, none had the flavours that I wanted, yours is truly the high standard.

I keep telling myself that Howard and I need to learn how you make that broth. So I don’t have to wait for the birthdays or special occasions when you do grace us with that piping hot bowl of comfort. I don’t know what I love more, pho or beef noodle soup? It might be a tie.

So imagine my surprise when I saw a fairly simple recipe that took less than 4 hours to make! Could it be? Let’s find out.

Beef Noodle Soup
Makes about 4 servings
Recipe from Lucky Peach Presents 101 Easy Asian Recipes

2 tablespoon grape seed oil
2 pounds boneless beef shank meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 teaspoon salt
1 ½ tablespoon minced ginger
1 ½ tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon gochujang (fermented chile paste)
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 whole star anise
1 3-inch long cinnamon stick
2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (cooking wine)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
10 cups water
1 tablespoon hondashi (bonito)
2 handfuls baby bak choy
8 ounces Yet-Ca-Mein (noodles)
⅛ sesame oil

I was actually quite surprised at how little ingredients I had to purchase. I had to pick up the meat, ginger, hondashi, and bak choy, but I had everything else in my pantry. If you’re looking for gochujang, your best bet is a Korean supermarket. I also found the Shaoxing wine and hondashi in a Chinese/Taiwanese grocery store. Everything else should be pretty common in large chains across the country.
I got to use my Dutch oven for this (yay) and heated it over medium-high heat with the grape seed oil (you can also use another neutral oil here). Add in the ginger and garlic, give it a quick stir for thirty seconds. You can still see my minced ginger and garlic in the photos – Howard gave me some flak for that. It’s my least favourite prep to do, so when they look “small” enough to me, I stop! Season the meat with 3 teaspoon of salt.
This is what the cookbook calls the flavour party: add in the beef, gochujang, soy sauce, star anise, cinnamon, wine, sugar, and vinegar.
Stir for a minute, add in the water and hondashi and stir until it’s dissolved. I stored my leftover hondashi in an airtight jar, as I could only find them in packets that were way more than the tablespoon needed.
Once the broth starts simmering, turn the heat down to low to keep it on simmer state. Skim any froth, fat, or scum on the surface out with a ladle – but then remember to replace a ladle-ful of water for each ladle you discard.
Partially cover the pot with a lid and let it simmer for 2 hours. I kept checking back at the hour to discard any froth on the surface and replacing each scoop with water. But you’re pretty much done here. You can cool it and chill it in the fridge for up to three days. Or eat it that same day.
Boil some water and blanch the baby bak choy. Take them out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Then boil the noodles in the same pot of water that is now saturated with all that vegetable goodness in it. Drain and divide into servings. Place the bak choy on top, along with some slices of beef, and ladle in the hot broth over until just about covered.
This is optional, season the broth with sesame oil. I preferred it without, while Howard thought it was way better with it.

Pair those piping hot bowls with some freshly fried scallion pancakes and it’s pretty close to the greatest meal ever. You’ve got your crispy and salty side dish to go with that hearty and filling noodle.

So what was the verdict?

This recipe was good, but just still not as good as the one you make. Howard refused to drink my broth here, but we all know that he gulps down the bowls you serve us at home.

Oh and because we’re in a condo, our place smelled like beef soup for a couple of days. That simmering time acted as an aroma diffuser for every corner of our place. I think I went through four mini candles before our home started to smell neutral again!

Sincerely,
Syl

scallion pancakes

Dear Mom,

I can’t believe you’re walking around colonial America right now. You just texted me a photo of you and dad enjoying the sunshine in Virginia. I’m just glad to see you’re both safe and are having a fun time with your friends. I admit I was a little worry about the timing of your road trip after this week’s news. Granted, I’m still worried and won’t stop until you’re back home in a few days.

This has been such a weird week. So many swirling feelings around the future and even the present. I was in such a funk on Wednesday, not really feeling right. Being at work felt oddly wrong, it felt like we should all be banding together to do something. Commuting, I couldn’t tell if my fellow Torontonians were feeling it too or if it was just the usual rush hour crowd.

Then there was Remembrance Day which also reminds of us the solemn past that we do not want repeated. Gosh, what will the history books tell of our days? Of this moment in history? The good thing is that we’re seeing a lot of amazing people rallying together and spreading positive messages using art as a medium.

I don’t think I knew this about myself, but I think I’m a stress eater! I don’t know for sure but I’m obviously turning to food to find comfort. I had time off on Friday to make scallion pancakes and beef noodle soup. I love how you knew to order me these delicious eats when I was younger.

Scallion Pancakes
Makes about 6-8
Recipe from Lucky Peach Presents 101 Easy Asian Recipes

4 cups all-purposed flour + more for dusting
¼ cup vegetable shortening
1 ½ + ⅓ cup warm water
2 cups chopped scallions
2 teaspoon salt + more for sprinkling
sesame oil
grapeseed oil (or another neutral oil)

Take out that stand mixer of yours and attach the dough hook to it. In the bowl, add in 2 cups of flour with all the vegetable shortening. Mix on low until the shortening has broken down into flour-covered bits, resembling a coarse crumble.
Pour in the water and mix for about 3 minutes until a dough forms.
Stop the mixer and add in the remaining 2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoon of salt, and ⅓ cup of water. Turn on the mixer and have it knead on medium speed for another 3 minutes. If your dough looks shiny and sticky still (mine did), add in ¼ cup of flour and mix again. The dough still looked a bit wet to me, but I didn’t want it to be too dried, so I left it at that. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for 10 minutes in the fridge.
While the dough is chilling, chop up your scallion and take out the sesame oil and salt.
Unwrap the dough and cut it into 8 equal pieces. Dust your work surface with flour and roll the first piece into a square-ish shape about 8×8 inches. Remember when I said the dough seemed too wet? Well, it was perfect. Easy to roll out and beautiful. Nothing makes me happier than perfect dough consistency.
Pour a teaspoon of sesame oil on it and brush the entire surface. If you need more sesame oil, keep adding until the surface is covered with a thin layer. Sprinkle on a pinch of salt and then add in 1-2 tablespoons of scallions.
Roll the dough into a log and form it into a tight spiral. The cookbook calls this a Cinnabon of scallion pancake dough!
Repeat with the remaining 7 pieces of dough.
Take out a skillet or frying pan and fill it with ⅛ inch of grapeseed oil over medium heat.
While the oil is warming up, it’s time to flatten those spiraled pieces of dough. The log roll and spiral helped embed all those pieces of scallions inside the dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll these “Cinnabon” shapes out until they’re flat 8-inch circles. Gently place it in the frying pan and fry 2-3 minutes on each side. Only flip once! Use a pair of tongs to help flip and take out the scallion pancakes when they’re ready. They’re super hot, so let it cool on a wired rack before hungry hands come along.

This is the dough that I ended up wrapping to chill. It looks very gooey, but let it be. Let it be.

I love the ombré of a good scallion. The white roots to the pale green to the dark green.

The cookbook calls for a tablespoon for each pancake, but I just chopped up a bunch because I like it extra scallion-y.

A teaspoon of flour is roughly the right amount for lightly flouring your work surface.

Still can’t get over how smooth and easy it was to roll.

Just darn perfect.

You’ll have to eyeball the amount of sesame oil.

See? I already need more.

Do not skip the salt!!! You need it otherwise your pancakes won’t be crave worthy.

Told you, more than a tablespoon of scallions for me.

Gently take the edge and start the rolling process.

Keep going until you have a rolled up log.

Then take that log and spiral it into a bun.

Like so! A little snail.

When it’s time to fry, flatten that spiral down.

Wait for it to get golden.

You should really let it cool before picking it up. My fingers were burning here.

Oh my gosh, so flaky and delicious. Totally worth the burnt fingers.

You know that rule where the first pancake is always a throwaway? Not the case here!

Mom, you’ll like to hear about this … Howard went “yummy” after every single bite. And he didn’t want to share when I made one for dinner. I had to tell him there were 4 more in the fridge waiting for us to eat. Sigh.

Sincerely,
Syl

totoro pear pie

Dear Steph,

Yay! It’s one of our favourite weeks of the year – Totoro Week! I still remember the first year you hosted it, I was making a big fuss at home (poor Howard couldn’t stop hearing me squee with delight) and showing everyone the photos online: You have to see this! Then again, it happens year round whenever I see Totoro toast, eggs, bento boxes, buns, pancakes, and tarts. I really do love how Totoro translates into food so well.

This year I was looking back on your posts to see what the exact week would be when you sent us a little reminder. I quickly told Howard to purchase me a Totoro cookie cutter using his PayPal account and proceeded to bug him for two weeks: Has it shipped? Is it here yet? Will it arrive by Friday?

Alas, it did not arrive last Friday so I am without Totoro cookies. I did try making your Totoro-in-a-hole with a pairing knife. But it’s just not the same.

My next attempt were Totoro Pineapple Buns or bo lo bao. But I totally screwed up the cookie topping. Using measuring cups versus a scale makes such a big difference. I knew there was too much flour . . . but I’ll try them again as the buns were deliciously fluffy.

So my last minute attempt are these Totoro Pies. I had purchased a box of large pears against Howard’s advice and still haven’t made any pear tarts or cakes with them yet. So this seemed like the perfect opportunity to pair my determination to create something for Totoro week.

Pie Crust
For three 4″ double-crust pies and one 8″ pie shell

500 ml (2 cups) all-purpose flour
4 ml (3/4 teaspoons) salt
250 ml (1 cup) all-vegetable shortening
1 egg
30ml (2 tablespoons) cold water
15 ml (1 tablespoon) white vinegar

Place the flour, salt, and shortening in a food processor and pulse until the flour is course and resembles a coarse crumb.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, water, and vinegar. Pour into the flour mixture and pulse until the dough is combined.
Divide the dough in half and flatten both into a disc. Cover the two discs of dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least half an hour (or overnight).

Pear Filling
Makes enough for three 4″ double-crust pies and one 8″ pie shell

5 Bosc pears
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Peel and dice the pears into small chunks, place in mixing bowl.
Add in the sugar, salt, flour, cinnamon, and lemon zest. Mix well with the pear.

Pear Pie Assembly

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 egg yolk

Take out one of the pie dough discs out of the fridge and roll out so that it’s one inch bigger than your pie tin. Carefully transfer the dough into the pie tins, pat the dough down to fit along the edges, and trim off any excess dough. When making multiple pies, keep the ones that are done in the fridge to keep the dough cold at all times.
Prick the base of the pie dough with a fork.
Scoop in the pear filling until it reaches the top.
Place tiny bits of butter on top of the pear filling.
Take out the second pie dough disc from the fridge.
For Catbus pie: roll out the dough and use a large cookie cutter to trim the dough for the top (if you’re making mini pies). Knead the dough scraps together and roll out flat again and use cookie cutters or a knife to cut out the eyes, mouth, and nose.
For Soot spirit pie: roll out the dough and use a knife to cut out long strips. Trim to about an inch long and start laying them on top of the pear filling. Continue until the entire top is covered. Take the remaining dough scraps and roll it together again and use a cookie cutter to create the eyes.
For Totoro pie: roll out the dough and use a large circle cookie cutter that will cover the top of your pie. Trim out the circle. Then about halfway on the circle, use that same cookie cutter to divide it into two pieces. Place the top half over the pie filling. Using a knife, cut out upside down V-shapes on the bottom half. Remove the excess dough and then place Totoro’s belly over the remaining pie filling. Gather up the leftover dough scraps and roll it together again and when flattened, use a cookie cutter to create the eyes and nose.
Brush the top of the pies with the egg yolk.
Preheat oven to 425°F. Bake for 20 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 325°F and bake for 45 minutes. Turn the oven off and let the pies cool in the remaining heat for another 15 minutes before taking them out.

If you like apple pie, chances are you’ll like pear pie! You can also use nutmeg instead of cinnamon if you prefer.

Normally when working with larger pies, I roll the dough on a silicone mat or plastic wrap to help make the transfer to the pie tin easier. But since these were mini pies, a spatula was able to get under there and help lift the dough and prevent tears.

Giving the mini pies a good seal.

Catbus! I used a knife to cut in some whiskers and for steam to escape when the pie bakes.

My lil soot spirit pie!

Before they go in the oven, brush the dough with egg yolk.

I was lucky enough to go to the Donguri Republic store in Hong Kong earlier this year. I got that cute lil soot spirit, a watering can, and the fork (which is part of a utensil set that includes a spoon and chop sticks). AND I got my photo taken in the Catbus, it was the happiest day of my trip!

Sincerely,
Syl

cancer sucks

Dear Lyndsay,

“Cancer sucks” doesn’t even begin to describe it. You have been incredible, brave, and strong and so many of us have followed your journey as you posted about your difficult experience. I think so many of us can relate because no one can avoid it nowadays. I’m pretty sure that everyone has been affected by cancer in some way, so to give it the big old middle finger is just about all we can usually do to show our anger and frustration.

I personally know a handful of people dear to me who have gone through the horrible experience or have managed to exhaust all types of treatments according to the doctors. A handful is way too many!

I just want to thank you for initiating the #fuckcancercake project. It’s amazing how we have never met, yet you can create such a magnetic pull all across the country to me. I remember writing to you after your blog post back in February 2015. It’s funny how the online baking community can feel so attached to each other. I love seeing you post on instagram and reading your blog. I often think of you and Teddy whenever I see a ghost book or a new kids book he might like. Most of all, I love how you’re another cool person who’s into dessert and resides in the same country as me. Plus, you have a “y” where most people put an “i” – just like my name!

Without further ado, I hope I made you proud with my #fuckcancercake. I tried to draw as many inspirations from you as possible. Pink. Star piping. Sprinkles.

I tend to pipe the frosting between cake layers instead of spreading it around with a spatula. I find this so much easier and faster to fill a cake. Do you have any special techniques?

Same goes for that second level. And the small gaps don’t really matter. The cake layers help squish and fill in the frosting.

Practicing my star tip. I’m still no where as good as you, Lyndsay!

Really practicing my piping. Thought this would be fun even though I’m going with a smooth edge.

And when I say smooth edge, you must really take it with a grain of salt. I think I need a bench scraper! My poor little cake is wonky. But I decided to put some chocolate ganache on the top to help the writing really pop.

Here goes nothing. No such thing as an icing eraser.

Got to have some sprinkles for that extra “f-ck you cancer!”

Yeah! You take that! (Err, the more I look at it, the more my “c” looks like an “l” – sorry for anyone named Lancer out there.)

That’s right, there’s more colours of the rainbow in the cake. You’re going down cancer.

Sincerely,
Syl

PS: This cake also goes out to those of you I love who want to give cancer the big middle finger. You know who you are.

thanksgiving apple flan

Dear Dad,

Welcome home! It’s good to have you back, I hope you’re not going through a tough bout of jet lag. But I’m glad you’re back safe and sound and in time for Thanksgiving. We kept hearing about typhoons in Taiwan and was glad to know you could still reach us online. But in true dad fashion, you went out in the rain anyways.

The good thing is your brother started to get better and things weren’t as worrisome as they were last month. I feel that I’m grateful every week, but it’s nice to have a day dedicated to really looking back and evaluating how blessed and lucky we are. So many things have to happen for us to get to where we are today. I’m so grateful you and mom came to Canada, gave my brother and I numerous opportunities and paths to choose from, and continue to take care of us even though it should be the other way around by now.

I used to think that our family wasn’t of the norm, we went to school and classmates would point out that they get grounded, that their parents were never around, and that they don’t always eat dinner together at the dining table. Well first, thanks for never grounding me – I also understand that it’s not a typical punishment in our culture. Thank you for always being around. And I look forward to our family dinners even though technology has slowly crept in with phones and tablets in the kitchen.

I think flan will always be associated with you. It was the first time I found out that there was a dessert out in this world that you liked. That it gave you childhood memories. That it’s one thing I’ll serve that you won’t share with others and will give me the plate back with no flan crumbs on it.

I’ve made classic flan and then a coffee flavoured one in your request, but for this Thanksgiving, I’m adding an autumn touch with apples.

Apple Flan
(Fits one loaf pan)

1 apple
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
1½ cup whole milk
1 (300mL) can condensed milk
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Use a roasting pan that is large enough to fit your loaf pan in it. Put in the loaf pan and then fill the roasting pan with water. Make sure the water doesn’t spill into the loaf pan, you want it about half an inch from the top. Remove the loaf pan. Put the roasting pan with water into the oven.
In a small pot, add in the sugar and water over medium-high heat. Let the sugar dissolve, you don’t need to stir or move it.
While the caramel is forming, slice up the apple into thin slices. I only needed about half the apple, but you can use the entire one if you want more apple in your flan.
Take out a skillet or frying pan and heat if over medium-high heat. Add in the butter, apple, and cinnamon. Cook until the apples are tender, which should take around 5 minutes. Then turn off the heat and set it aside to cool.
Check on that caramel! When you see it turn brown, you know it’s ready. Mine went to a deep golden colour because I took my eyes off of it to set up the next photo. Oops! Luckily it didn’t burn and I quickly poured it into the loaf pan to keep it from cooking any more. Make sure the caramel coats the entire bottom of the loaf pan.
In a mixing bowl or using your stand mixer, pour in the milk, condensed milk, eggs, and vanilla extra. Whisk until combined.
Arrange the apple slices over the caramel in the loaf pan. As much as I wanted them to stay in the pretty layers on the caramel, they will get loose and float to the top of the flan.
Using a sieve or strainer, pour in the flan batter over the caramel and apple slices.
Carefully place the loaf plan in the roasting pan with hot water and bake for 50 minutes. The custard should be set when you take it out – it’ll be a little jiggly, but will firm up after some chill time. Let it get to room temperature and then cover with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
When it’s time to serve, fill the roasting pan with hot water. Place the loaf pan in it to help loosen up the caramel. This will make it easier to unmold. Then, run a knife around the edge of the pan to help separate the flan from the loaf pan. Find a platter or pan with edges to serve the flan in. Carefully turn the flan upside down and give it a slight shimmy if needed. The edges of the serving dish will help catch any extra caramel sauce.

I remove the skin on my apples – mainly because Howard seems to get an allergic reaction to apple skin (maybe from the pesticides? – but you can choose to keep them if you want.

Slide those apples up really nice.

The cinnamon apples smelled sooooo good.

Ai! Hot, hot, hot. Look at that steam from the caramel.

There really isn’t a point to arranging the apple slices nicely, but . . . doesn’t it look nice?

Straining the batter will help you get a smoother flan texture.

Use the same pan from the water bath to help loosen the bottom of the flan. Sometimes you get to hear a very satisfying “crack” from the caramel.

Plop! A clean removal.Look at all that caramel sauce. Soak your loaf pan in hot water to help remove the hardened caramel.
Don’t forget the extra caramel sauce when you serve!

Sincerely,
Syl