Mellie Dee ♥

Lifestyle | Food | Travel

I Love My Boys

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Saigon Pho and Grill Vietnamese Noodle House | Sugar Land, Texas | Crawfish

Crawfish | $8.99

Crawfish at Saigon Pho and Grill Vietnamese Noodle House while Scruffy got pho for lunch. It was cooked to perfection, flavour was great, but the size wasn’t amazing, especially for that price. Sigh, sucks. I am excited about crawfish season. Cheap, big, and DELICIOUS!

OG Tea | Sugar Land, Texas | Hazelnut Milk Tea and Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Since one pound wasn’t anything, we went to OG Tea for some Hazelnut Milk Tea and Strawberry Banana Smoothie. YUM! The smoothie surpassed my expectations.

OG Tea | Sugar Land, Texas | Hazelnut Milk Tea and Strawberry Banana Smoothie | Panda Lids

I especially loved the covers on the drinks. Scruffy calls me a Panda and it was so cute that on mine, there’s a panda and a pup = RIzzo and I!

And Scruffy had a panda and a boy hugging it = Scruffy hugging me. hehe

OG Tea | Sugar Land, Texas | Popcorn Chicken and Fries

Scruffy ordered some bahn mis for Ashy and Korman and I went for popcorn chicken and fries with ranch. Everything was a bit too sweet but fried to perfection. I’m not too certain if I’d get this again. Maybe when I’m extremely hungry and it’s the only thing.

Meatball, Lentil, and Rice Dinner by Korman at Scruffy's

Korman cooked us all dinner and Rami and Caitlin came over with Peyton. The dinner was delicious and it was great to finally see the little baby since the end of December. It has been a long while. She’s grown so much!

2018 | 052/365 | Scruffy Giving Rizzo Kisses

[2018] 052/365: My Boys

My boys. Scruffy giving Rizzo kisses. #heartmelt

Saigon Pho and Grill Vietnamese Noodle House
4645 Hwy 6, Sugar Land, Texas 77478  |  (281) 491-2988  |  Yelp
OG Tea
5730 New Territory Blvd, Sugar Land, Texas 77479  |  (281) 886-2577  |  Yelp

RECIPE | Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken

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Lip Mask From Sephora

Happy Valentine’s Day, lovies!! I started off the day with a lip mask from Sephora. It actually worked pretty well in my opinion. Perfect for Valentine kisses. haha Just kidding.

2018 Valentine's Day Presents

Scruffy came over and he walked into his room to drop off his things and found this pile of goodies.

2018 | 045/365 | Rice Krispies Hearts

[2018] 045/365: Valentine Rice Krispies Treats

One of which was heart-shaped rice Krispies treats Juhi and I made last night that I was hesitant to post in case he checked the blog for once. I’ve been asked if they were professionally made by a few people and was surprised when he also asked. I guess I should start a rice Krispies business. It might actually help me rake in some money since I’m unemployed.

2018 Valentine's Day Lunch | Caspian | Houston, Texas | Hummus

He let me chose the restaurant, treating me to Cafe Caspian. We started off with Hummus, Sabzeh, and Tandoori Bread.

2018 Valentine's Day Lunch | Caspian | Houston, Texas | Lamb Shanks and Kubideh

By the time our main meals arrived, lamb shanks for me and Kubideh for him, we were a bit stuffed and nibbled on a bit packing the rest to go.

Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken

I decided to try out Mum’s new fryer and made Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken, recipe below. I was surprised how well they actually turned out. I thought it would have been a hot mess and everyone complaining.

I was surprised every single piece of chicken was polished off along with other foods we had on the table!

Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken
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Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken


Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine: Asian, Chinese, Taiwanese
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
Marinating
  • 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 1 medium head of garlic
  • 1/2 inch ginger
  • 3 green onions white and 1-inch of the green part, minced
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp mirin or rice wine
  • 1 tsp potato starch or corn starch/flour/breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 tsp Chinese Five Spice
  • 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Coating
  • 1 eggs
  • 1/2 cup cold water
  • 2-3 cups potato starch
Frying
  • 3-4 cups peanut oil or vegetable oil
Serving
  • Leaves from 1 bunch of fresh Thai Basil
  • 1 tbsp salt to taste
  • 1 tbsp white pepper to taste
  • 1 tbsp cayenne pepper to taste
  • 1/2 tbsp sugar to taste
Preparations

  1. Remove the fat and cut the chicken into 1-inch chunks. Place in large bowl.

  2. Make the marinade by adding all the ingredients to the bowl of chicken. Mix to coat all the chicken. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to overnight.

  3. Once the chicken is done marinating, beat the egg with the 1/2 cup of water in a bowl. Place the sweet potato starch in another bowl.

  4. Heat the frying oil until it reaches 350˚F.

  5. While the oil is heating up, dip the chicken in the egg mixture first, then in the potato starch.

  6. Once the oil reaches the right temperature, fry the Thai basil leaves for 30 seconds or until they darken.* This helps flavour the oil. Scoop them out and lay them on a wire rack or a plate lined with paper towels to drain off the excess oil.

  7. Fry the chicken pieces for about 5 minutes or until golden brown. Make sure not to add too many pieces into the pot. Scoop them out and lay them with the leaves.

  8. Immediately toss with generous amounts of salt, white pepper, cayenne pepper, and sugar, to taste.

Notes

*When frying Thai basil leaves, keep in mind of the big splash back due to the moisture in the leaves. I used a fryer and had a lid I quickly closed as I lowered the basket into the oil.

 

Cafe Caspian
12126 Westheimer Road, Houston, Texas 77077  |  (281) 493-4000  |  Website  |  Yelp

San Dong | Houston, Texas

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San Dong | Houston, Texas

On May 27th, Mum and June and I went to San Dong. Best dumpling place ever. We ordered a few plates to share and took the rest home for Dad and used it as part of our dinner. Yum! I love leftovers.

San Dong | Houston, Texas | Peanut Mixture

June wanted this mixture of peanuts, carrots, and zucchini with a slimy sauce. The slime deferred me from liking it.

San Dong | Houston, Texas | Pig Ears

Pig Ears

I know what you’re thinking … GROSS?! But don’t hate it til you try it. I wish people would eat it before they judge. Sometimes it’s better than they think! It’s just your mind playing a joke on you because if you don’t try it, you’re missing out!

San Dong | Houston, Texas | Wenchou Won Ton Soup

Wenchou Won Ton Soup | $4.75

Mum’s favourite. The wontons had very thin wrapper and the meat inside was pretty soft. I ate a lot of the bok choy though.

San Dong | Houston, Texas | Beef Soup Dumplings

Beef Soup Dumplings [12 dumplings] | $5.25

The soup has more flavor of a beef stock. Because these are dumplings, their wrapper is thicker and with a bit of a chew to it. It was good but the soup was too salty for my taste. June loved this one the most.

San Dong | Houston, Texas| Leek Pork Dumplings

Leek Pork Dumplings [15 dumplings] | $5.25

This is like the previoius dish but without the soup (and more dumplings!). This was the first dish I ever had when I first came here and remains my favourite.

San Dong | Houston, Texas | Cabbage Pork Dumplings

Cabbage Pork Dumplings [15 dumplings] | $5.25

Until I tried this! Much juicier than the leek pork dumplings. My new favorite.

Just doing this post makes me want to go here this weekend. I would definitely order the Cabbage Pork Dumplings – but not to share.

San Dong
9938 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX 77036  |  (713) 271-3945  |  Yelp

Star Ice & Teriyaki | Houston, Texas

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Star Ice & Teriyaki | Houston, Texas

Family day continued to Herman Park then Star Ice & Teriyaki for lunch.

Star Ice & Teriyaki | Houston, Texas | #12 Beef Noodle Soup

#12 Beef Noodle Soup | $4.75

I’m usually not a big fan of this dish since the noodles are either under-cooked or too overcooked and the meat is usually tough. I was shocked. The noodles had the right bounce to it and the meat was super tender. It’s one of their most known dishes and now I know why.

Star Ice & Teriyaki | Houston, Texas | #29 Spicy Squid (Fried)

#29 Spicy Squid (Fried) | $3.00

Little fried critters are always a fan favourite. Usually squid comes out chewy but this was perfect with just the right crunchy texture on the outside.

Star Ice & Teriyaki | Houston, Texas | #2 Beef Teriyaki

#2 Beef Teriyaki | $4.28

My first thought when they brought this out was that I wouldn’t be full from it but boy was I wrong. Definitely enough food for one especially since we did other other things to share.

Star Ice & Teriyaki | Houston, Texas | #37 Spicy Chicken Nuggets

#37 Spicy Chicken Nuggets | $3.00

Just like the squid but with moist, tender chicken inside. It went really well with the rice.

This is a great place to go to when you just want a quick snack. They have tapioca drinks as well but we didn’t bother with that.

Star Ice & Teriyaki
9889 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX 77036  |  (713) 779-8886  |  Yelp