Step Up Your Cooking Game with Mandy Lee

By
Lee
-

Food blogger Mandy Lee admits she treats cooking as a hobby, more than anything else. “It’s as much a hobby to me as video games are to gamers,” she stated once in an interview with Outlook India. But with more than 120k followers on Instagram alone, her love of food has grown to be more of a vocation.

Born in Taiwan, raised in Vancouver-raised, and slow-aged in New York, Lee is currently based in Hong Kong with her husband and pups (her blog, aptly named Lady and Pups, suggests the central role both food and dogs has in her life).

Her cultural background comes to place in the dishes themselves, which act as a sort of homage for her mixed heritage. “Even a Nutella sandwich has codes to be cracked,” says Lee. “For the life of me, I don’t understand why people cook if they don’t enjoy the fundamental aspects of it.”

With so many of us craving to crack the code of cooking, Lee’s recipes come in handy. Featured mainly on her blog, Lee also shares her tip and tricks with other publications, including Saveur, FoodandWine.com, Yahoo, Food 52, and the WashingtonPost.

Take a bite:

View this post on Instagram

Time for another episode of, #cookingoutloud. Congee, the ramen of rice, where versatility is its strength and strange ideas are welcomed. First make a base of fragrant oil by frying a few sliced shallots until crispy and caramelized. Remove the shallots with a slotted spoon then fry two handfuls of ground pork, pre-seasoned with fish sauce and cornstarch, until crumbled and crispy on the edges smelling like a glorious morning. Add the fried shallots back in and raise it with equal amount of thinly julienne ginger, and a couple cups of cooked short grain rice. Now add enough chicken stock to flood all the ingredients but reserve the option to readjust. Remember you can always add but you can’t take away. Season with more fish sauce and good amount of black pepper, then simmer until the rice is soft but not dissolved. For more textural contrast, kindly consider Korean sliced sticky rice cakes to enter the scene towards the end. Readjust with more chicken stock to your liking. A very delicious case can be made for a consistency that is still soupy and not overly thickened. For toppings, boneless mackerels that are heavily seasoned with salt and white pepper and coated with potato starch, are fried until charred and blistered spots appear on both sides then flaked by forks and scattered on top of the congee. The crunch and sturdy oceanic profile brings not only contrast but excitements. Speaking of which, a touch of acidity like chopped pickled chilis along with their pickling juice would be an unforgivable crime if overlooked. That green you’re seeing is hand-torn mint. But I’m not gonna tell you where to stop. • • • • • #f52grams #feedfeed #huffposttaste #buzzfeast #eeeeeats #beautifulcuisines #thekitchn #foodandwine #forkyeah #yahoofood #onthetable #buzzfeedfood #vscofood #foodstyling #foodphotography #lifeandthyme #eater #heresmyfood #food52 #gloobyfood #foodgawker #eattheworld #eatfamous #tastingtable #dailyfoodfeed #spoonfeed #foodbeast #hautecuisines #foodblogfeed

A post shared by Lee Mandy (@ladyandpups) on

View this post on Instagram

I’m betting that you got a bag of carrots in your fridge and a couple hours to burn. May I suggest a tenderly plush yet enticingly spicy carrot cake, think allspice and nutmeg with cardamom and cinnamon icing? Because if we all need to look at an orange thing everyday in a time of uncertainly, we might as well look at this one. Get the recipe in the blog’s archive, follow link in profile. • • • • • #f52grams #feedfeed #huffposttaste #buzzfeast #eeeeeats #beautifulcuisines #thekitchn #foodandwine #forkyeah #yahoofood #onthetable #buzzfeedfood #vscofood #foodstyling #foodphotography #lifeandthyme #eater #heresmyfood #food52 #gloobyfood #foodgawker #eattheworld #eatfamous #tastingtable #dailyfoodfeed #spoonfeed #foodbeast #hautecuisines #foodblogfeed #onmytable

A post shared by Lee Mandy (@ladyandpups) on

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR