Around The World On Your Plate

Ingredients: 1 star anise 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 1 stick of cinnamon 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns 4 cloves Method: Put all the spices in a grinder and grind to a smooth powder. Notes: You can also add some white pepper powder to this. I have used the dry Sichuan pepper, which in India is also known as  Tefal/Tirphal .

Serves 4 Total time: 10 minutes Ingredients: 3 cups cooked rice 2 scallions chopped (white and greens separated) 2 cloves of garlic minced 1 tablespoon of oil 1-1/2 cup mixed vegetables of your choice like  cabbage, carrots, peas 1/4 cup shiitake mushroom chopped fine 1 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice powder 1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce salt to taste Method: Heat oil in a pan and saute scallions (white) and garlic for a minute. Next add rice.  I am using left over rice for this recipe.  Break down the rice and fry for a minute or two.  Add soy sauce and mix well. Once the rice is nicely coated with soy sauce, add the chopped vegetables and mix everything well.  Add the 5 spice powder along with shiitake mushrooms and stir fry for a minute. Adjust salt to taste.  Garnish with scallions (green) and serve hot.

Ingredients: 1 Pizza dough All purpose flour for dusting 1/4 cup red onion sliced 1/2 cup Tinned pineapple cubed 1/4 cup Pickled jalapenos Shredded mozzarella cheese 2 tablespoon of pickled jalapeno water and pineapple water Crushed red pepper flakes to taste Salt and pepper to taste Method: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Using a nonstick spray, grease the baking tray and set aside. On a well floured surface, roll out the pizza dough either using your fingers or a rolling pin. Transfer it to the baking tray and brush the top with jalapeno water and pineapple water, this is completely optional but gives a lot of flavor to the crust. Next top the crust cheese followed by pieces of pineapple, sliced red onion, and pickled jalapenos.  Sprinkle salt and pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. Place it in the middle rack and bake for around 20-25 minutes or until the crust turns a light golden brown in color. Notes:

This recipe makes about 10-12 buns depending on the size Ingredients: 2 cups plus more for dusting of all purpose flour 1 cup warm water  1 tablespoon of yeast 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon of sugar 1-2 teaspoon of oil for greasing 1 cup of red bean paste or as per your taste Method: To 1 cup warm water add yeast and sugar and set aside to activate.  (about 10 minutes) In a mixing bowl, mix all purpose flour and salt. Add the yeast water mixture to the flour and knead a soft dough, add more flour as you knead.  The result should be a soft smooth dough. Grease it with oil and set aside in a warm spot covered for it to rise, (about 1 hour). After an hour, generously dust your work surface with flour and punch down your dough and knead again for a minute.  Divide the dough into equal portions and shape them into roundels. Roll each into a 5 inch disc, making sure the edge is thinner than the center.  Place a spoonful of fill

Ingredients: 1 cup red beans 1/3 cup sugar or to taste 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste Water as needed Method: Wash and soak red beans in water overnight. After trying various methods of cooking the beans, I feel the fastest and easy way is to pressure cook.  However, if you do not have a pressure cooker, you can directly cook it in a high-side pot for about an hour or so, constantly monitoring it and adding water as required. Once the beans are soft and well cooked, drain the water and add sugar and salt.  You can adjust the amount of sugar and salt according to your taste. Once everything is well incorporated, use a food processor or a blender to make a paste of this. Once the paste is ready, transfer it back to a pan and cook on medium heat for about 8-10 minutes or until the sugar is well dissolved and the paste has thickened.  Turn off the heat and transfer it to a bowl and let it cool before using it.

Serves: 2 Total time:  12 minutes Ingredients: 2 cups left over rice 2 scallions chopped (white and green separated) 1/4 cup red onion chopped 2 garlic cloves minced 1/2 cup shiitake mushroom chopped 1 cup red and green bell pepper diced 3 tablespoon of oil (divided) Salt to taste Black and white pepper to taste Sauce: 1 tablespoon broad bean chili sauce (Doubanjiang) 2 tablespoon light soy sauce 1 teaspoon vinegar Method: Heat 1-1/2 tablespoon of  oil   in a pan and saute scallions (white) along with onion and garlic. Next add rice and break it down well and stir fry it for a minute. Add soy sauce and vinegar and mix well. Take the rice out in a separate bowl and heat the remaining oil. Saute all the vegetables and mushroom well.  Add the broad bean chili sauce and mix well. Do not over cook the vegetables. Mix rice and adjust salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with scallions (greens) and serve hot. Notes: You can

Serves: 2 Total time: 15 minutes Ingredients: 1-1/2 cup cubed tofu (about 10 oz) 1 cup bell pepper sliced 1/2 inch ginger minced 2 cloves of garlic minced 2 scallions sliced (white and greens separated) 1 teaspoon sugar 2-3 tablespoon oil Salt to taste Sauce: 1 tablespoon light soy sauce 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce 1 teaspoon vinegar Method: Heat oil in a pan and sauté scallions (white) along with ginger and garlic.  After about a minute or so, add bell pepper and sauté for a minute. Next add the tofu and reduce the temperature to medium.  Stir occasionally and gently so that tofu does not stick to the pan. After about 4 minutes, drain excess oil and add all the sauce and mix well. Adjust salt to taste. Garnish with scallions (greens).  You can even garnish with some toasted cashew nuts and serve hot. Notes: Use firm tofu only for this recipe as soft tofu will be easily crushed while sauteing in the pan. Drain out the w