How to make Tonkatsu

Hi everyone :)

My bf was craving for tonkatsu today so we decided to make our own instead of just eating out. Tonkatsu is japanese style fried pork cutlet. So we headed to grocery store and got some thin cut pork slices. And lets get started!

Tonkatsu

All we need is thin cut pork slices, eggs, flour, bread crumbs, salt and pepper for seasoning.

Ingredients

Slit the side of the pork to prevent the meat from curling while frying.

Seasoned the pork slices with salt and pepper

Lightly coat the pork slices with flour, then beaten eggs and lastly the bread crumbs. Set them aside.

Coat pork slices with flour, eggs and bread crumbs.

Put the coated pork slices into frying pan with hot oil. Fried it with medium-high heat until golden brown both sides. Place it on paper towel or let it rest on metal rack to remove excess oil. 

Fried until golden brown

Ta-dah, tonkatsu is ready to serve!

Thanks for reading :)

Kimchi Jjigae 김치찌개

TGIF!!

I can't believe it's March already, so spring is almost here YAY!!

Weather is still cold outside and a bowl of my favorite kimchi jjigae (korean spicy cabbage stew) will definitely keep me warm. I decided to cook on the last minute so I didn't get to thaw any meats because it took me forever gahhh :( This is the veggie version of kimchi jjigae.

What you need

1 bowl cut kimchi

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp pepper paste (gochujang)

1 tsp pepper powder

1 onion

5 cloves garlic (chopped)

green onion

dried shrimp

anchovies

kelp

sesame oil

Kimchi

Clockwise: garlic, kelp, anchovies, dried shrimps

Pepper paste and powder

1) Fill water in pot and put dried shrimp, anchovies and kelp to cook the soup base. Drain out the dried shrimp, anchovies and kelp.

2) Quick fried kimchi, sugar, pepper paste, pepper powder, onion, garlic and green onion on a pan. Pour into the pot with flavored soup base.

3) Close the lid and boil it for 10 minutes with high heat. Then, turn to medium heat for 20 minutes.

4) Add sesame oil before serving.

Kimchi jjigae 김치찌개
omnomnomnomnom..

Valentine's Day Dessert: Tiramisu

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Heart-shaped for V-day ♥

For those who are in a relationship, I hope you guys can stay sweet and happy forever. And those who are single, I wish you can find your true valentine very soon :) Don't forget you can also celebrate with family!

I love desserts very much, and that is why I love to bake because it is hard to find a good bakery here in West Lafayette. I always bake my own dessert on holidays because a lot of places raise their price on holidays like Valentine's Day or Christmas Day. And most importantly, the person who eats your bakery will feel special because that is the thing specially made for them.

Last year, I made red velvet macaroons and Derek loved it! It is a very good valentine's day dessert. And this year, I wanna make something I haven't made before, which is Tiramisu. Tiramisu is an Italian dessert and has a meaning of 'pick me up'. I love tiramisu so much. It is one of my favorite cake. It has a mix flavor of coffee and chocolate also some liquor taste. The mascarpone cheese is so smooth and melt instantly in your mouth. I always thought it is very hard to make and the ingredients are hard to find. I found some recipes online and improvised them. Tiramisu is a no bake cheesecake unless you make the lady fingers from scratch.

**This is an eggless tiramisu recipe.

♥ Tiramisu ♥ 

Ingredients:
30 lady fingers (soft and hard)
1 cup espresso
2 tbsp coffee liqueur (optional)
2oz dark chocolate
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
8oz mascarpone cheese
cocoa powder (sprinkle on top)

Happy Valentines Day

1) Mix espresso and coffee liqueur in a bowl. Then soak the hard lady fingers with the espresso mixture.
2) Put the soaked lady fingers as a base in a mold.
3) Melt chocolate with half cup of whipping cream and let it cool.
4) Beat the remaining whipping cream until stiff.
5) Beat sugar, mascarpone cheese and rum. Then fold in whipping cream.
6) Spread 1/3 of chocolate mixture followed by 1/3 of mascarpone cheese mixture in mold.
7) Layer with soft lady fingers and brush espresso mixture on top. Repeat step 6) and 7).
8) Sieve a layer of cocoa powder on top. Serve chill.

Ta-dahh

Crème Brûlée

Bonjour! Ça va bien?

Who doesn't love dessert? It's kind of hard to find my favorite desserts in this little campus town unless if I go to Chicago. So I always try to bake it myself teehee :P
Baking is one of my favorite things to do at home. As long as I have the ingredients, I can bake anytime even 4 in the morning!

I had crème brûlée couple times and it tastes so good. I always wanted to make it my own and I got the ramekins last month! It was easier than I thought.

**I don't have a torch so I didn't burn the top surface but it's okay. It tastes as good :)

Ingredients (filling):
2 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
6 oz milk
6 oz whipping cream

Ingredients (caramel):
1/2 cup sugar
3 oz water

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla essence.
3. Heat milk and whipping cream until warm (not boiling), leave it for 5 minutes off stove and pour to egg mixture.
4. Heat sugar and water for 15 minutes or until light brown or caramelize.
5. Pour caramel into 4 small ramekins then pour the egg mixture into each ramekins.
6. Bake it with water bath for 25 minutes.
7. Let it cool completely and keep in fridge for at least 3-4 hours. Serve chill.

How To Clean Your Makeup Brushes

Happy weekend everyone :)

I'm writing this post to show you guys how to clean and disinfect your makeup brushes. As I know a lot of people usually don't clean their brushes often or NEVER cleaned it! Eww...

The amount of bacteria on your makeup brushes could be as much as the the bacteria on your toilet! Okay I'm exaggerating but you know what I mean. You should do daily cleaning/every time when you use those brushes and also deep cleaning like once every week.

My makeup brushes.

Professional makeup brushes are an investment. If you clean the brushes often and use them right, they can last for years. Also, it is very important to clean the new brushes. You might think ohh it is brand new and unused I can just use it right away. This is a big no-no. Dust or some chemicals might get to the brushes when they are made or packaged. So it is very important to clean your new brushes before using them. You don't want to get breakouts from dirty brushes.

There are couple ways to clean your brushes daily. It is just depends on whichever way you think is more convenient or cheaper. I used to use cleansing wipes to wipe off the remaining makeup on the brushes before I use them. Now I got my daily brush cleanser from Sephora. I really like it because it has anti-bacterial formula in it. I spray it onto my brushes and tap dry before using them. This product works very well. I usually spray directly onto the small brushes because they dry so fast. For big brushes like powder or blush brush, I spray the cleanser on tissue paper and and swipe the brushes on it. You can also get alcohol wipes to clean the brushes before you use them. It helps to clean and also sanitize the brushes. The best part is you don't need to wait for the brushes to dry! I thought of getting the alcohol wipes when I run out of my daily brush cleaner because that is way cheaper.

Use wet wipes to wipe off remaining makeup for daily cleaning.

For deep cleaning, I am using the purifying brush shampoo, also from Sephora. I bought it with the daily cleaner. But any mild face cleanser or baby shampoo will work too and they are a lot cheaper. I bought the Sephora one just to try out if it is better but for me face cleanser and baby shampoo work fine. So I don't think I'll repurchase when it runs out. First, pour very little amount (like the size of pea) of shampoo/cleanser into a bowl, add little water, swirl your brushes couple times until bubbly, rinse off the shampoo/cleaner each time you clean a different brush. There is no harm to wash the brushes for few times as long as they are clean and disinfect.

This is a new brush and the water
turns blackish.

Swirl brush couple times and rinse
with warm water.

To dry your brushes, lay flat a clean towel, roll another small tower and put on top of the flat towel. Put the handle of the brushes on the rolled towel with the tip facing downwards. Let them air dry. Don't forget to dry the brushes thoroughly before you use them.

Dry brushes on a clean towel with the tip facing down.

People always find excuses and hesitate to clean their brushes because it takes time, they don't have the cleaning materials, they don't put make up everyday, they are busy and etc...
Cleaning and disinfecting the make up brushes are very important and it prolongs the brushes' life and makes your skin free from dirt and bacteria while putting makeup on. Also, tools like eyeliner brush,  mascara wand and eyelash curler have to be cleaned or sanitized everyday because your eyes might get infection from bacteria.

So be hardworking cleaning your brushes and makeup tools at least every other day and deep clean once a week. Ohh and don't forget to clean you brush bag/case too! It is no use if you clean all your brushes and put them back in a dirty brush bag/case.

**I do not own high end brushes like MAC, Bobbi Brown or even Sigma because I think they are way too expensive for a college kid like me. Also I don't put on makeup everyday so I think it's okay for me to use affordable brushes. Brushes in the pictures are from e.l.f, UD and some over the counter brands.

Thank you for reading and I hope you guys have a great weekend. Bye :)

Weekend Baking Fun: Chocolate Lava

Hi everyone.
I hope everyone has a fun 3 days weekend. I was bored at home so I made Chocolate Lava!!!! It was much easier than I thought and it tastes amazingly good.
I topped it with my favorite Haagen Dazs green tea ice cream. It felt like heaven in my mouth hehee.

Recipe:
4oz/113g semi sweet chocolate bar
4oz/113g butter
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp cocoa powder
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Melt chocolate bar and butter in a pan, set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until fluffy. Beat in chocolate mixture.
4. Add in flour and mix well but not for too long.
5. Prepare 3 small rameskin. Brush with butter and sprinkle cocoa powder.
6. Pour in mixture and bake for 10 minutes.