Sara Moulton (I’m not sure if she is still on the show but she used to be on Food TV as a chef) does great job going back and forth between hands…one dry hand and the other one wet. I’m talking about the process of “flour–>egg–>panko(breading)”. For example, use your left hand for coating the food with flour, next use your right hand to coat in beaten egg, and then go back to your left hand to coat it with breading so your hands will not end up with looking like “the Hulk”:) I did such a terrible job doing it and had to wash my hands between shaping each croquette.
This recipe suggests to repeat the “flour–>egg” part two times so they will be less likely to fall apart while deep frying. I skipped that part because it was already messy enough. lol! Inside the croquettes are avocados, hard-boiled eggs, crab meat, salt&pepper, and lemon juice.
Finding the right eggplants is such a big deal to me. Fortunately, our local store often carries the best looking eggplants:)
I love eating noodles in salad style. This time is with shrimp, wakame-seaweed, and diced tomatoes. I used udon noodles, a thick Japanese noodle I bought from the frozen section of an international grocery store. Just defrost it in running water and add whatever I have in my refrigerator and pantry. It is topped with shiso, Japanese basil. I grow this delicious herb in my garden. This is one of the must-have vegetables in my family. It can only be harvested during summer and that makes us appreciate it even more! The sauce is Japanese mayonnaise. Every single time I have a chance to talk about food, I recommend this mayo. It is totally different from any mayos you get in American grocery stores. Usually, it can be found at Asian stores and it comes in a tube, then packaged in a clear plastic bag with a cute cupid picture. Right before starting the meal, we pour Mentsuyu (soy sauce based noodle soup) over the entire salad.
