Candied Almonds

Ingredients:

• 1 pound almonds
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 sea salt
• 6 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Spread almonds over a baking sheet. Roast for approximately 8 to 10 minutes or until almonds start to turn brown.
2. Stir sugar, cinnamon, sea salt, and milk together in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat for 8 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla immediately.
3. Combine almonds with the syrup mixture. Stir and coat very well. Spoon nuts onto a sheet of waxed paper and separate nuts with a fork. Store in an airtight container after almonds are completely cool.

Shredded Tofu with Edamame

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of shredded tofu
• 1 cup of shelled edamame
• 2 fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 4 teaspoons of olive oil
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon chicken bouillon 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

1. Wash shredded tofu throughly then place it in a bowl of water and add the baking soda. Let sit for 2 minutes then rinse throughly and cut the shredded tofu roughly to break the long pieces.
2. Wash the edamame and mushrooms. Slice the mushrooms.
3. In a frying pan, combine tofu, edamame, and olive oil. Cover the pan for 3 minutes. 
4. Add in the mushroom slices and seasoning. Cook for 3 more minutes and serve!

Spicy Cabbage with Frozen Tofu

Ingredients:

• Half of a cabbage, cleaned & sliced to large chunks
• 1/2 of frozen tofu, defrosted
• 4 teaspoons of olive oil
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried garlic
• 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper or 1 teaspoon chilli oil
• 2 teaspoons of soy sauce

Directions:

1. Defrost/thaw frozen tofu. Once its thawed, cut tofu into 1/2 inch thick slices. 
2. Wash and prepare cabbage, cut into large chunks.
3. In a frying pan, put tofu at the bottom of the pan then the cabbage. Drizzle with olive oil then cover the pan for 3 minutes.
4. Add salt, dried garlic crumbles, cayenne pepper or chilli oil, and soy sauce. Flip the tofu slices. Cook for 5 minutes or until cabbage is at desired tenderness. Serve!

Juiniang (Sweet Rice Wine Dessert)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups Glutinous rice
• 1 juiyao (chinese yeast for brewing rice wine) these comes in individual packets of round balls

Directions:

1. Cook the rice in the rice cooker, make sure not to use too much water. The water should just barely cover the layer of rice. 
2. Once the rice is done, transfer the cooked rice to a bowl. Flip it with a pair of chopsticks until the rice is completely cooled and room temperature. 
3. Using 1 chinese yeast ball, dilute the ball in warm water mixture and stir it until it is completely dissolved.
4. Mix the yeast water mixture with the rice and stir to mix it then transfer the mixture to a glass bowl. Sprinkle some dried osmanthus flower on top. 
5. Create a hole in the center of the rice mixture with a spoon. This will allow us to observe the fermentation progress.
6. Put the lid on the glass bowl and wrap the bowl with plastic food wrap tightly then wrap the bowl with a baby blanket. Place it in a warm area in your kitchen but away from sunlight. Let the wrapped bowl sit for 48 hours.
7. After 48 hours, you should see water in the hole from the fermentation process. It is now ready to serve!

Baked Yams with Rose

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of purple yams or Japanese yellow yams
• 1/2 pound of sugared red bean paste
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 3 teaspoons of honey
• 10 dry rose buds, crushed
• 1 teaspoon hot water

Directions:

1. Wash and clean the yams. In a large pot of boiling water, cook yams for 30 minutes. Let cool and peel skin off. Slice yams vertically down the center only.
2. Preheat oven to 350º. Spread butter in a baking dish then spread red bean paste evenly inside the dish. Lay yams evenly inside the dish. If yams are too long to fit inside the baking dish, slice horizontally. Slice cold butter generously over the yams. Bake for 15 minutes. 
3. In a small pan, warm honey and add rose petals. Add hot water and remaining butter. Do not let boil, just warm and mix well. Remove yams from oven and drizzle sauce evenly on the top then bake yams for another 5 minutes. Serve immediately.