Food Porn

Those of you who have read a few of my previous posts may have figured out that I enjoy food. I like to cook it, eat it, read about it etc. and one of my favourite things is watching youtube videos of brilliant recipes! I find it's so helpful not only to have a full recipe for a dish, but then to also be able to watch how it's supposed to look step by step in the cooking process. It's always reassuring when you think somethings not looking quite right to check the video and see that it's exactly how it should look.

Like my favourite blogs, I have a list of cooking channels that I check religiously for new videos, so I decided I would share those with you and say what it is that I like about them.

First up is Cooking with Dog.

I LOVE this channel. It is hosted by 'Chef' and Francis the dog. 'Francis' narrates the show, beginning every episode with "Hi I'm Francis, the host of this show, Cooking with Dog" in the most adorable accent, sometimes he even has little hats or bows in his hair.
A majority of the recipes are for traditional Japanese dishes, which for a japanophile is just brilliant! I have only actually tried a couple of the recipes from CWD but I have watched every one, some several times, just because everything is done so beautifully and the end result never fails to get my mouth watering. I would probably try more of them if I was back in the UK and could find Japanese ingredients more readily, but foreign foods can be very hard to find (or expensive) outside of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
I'm also a member of the CWD facebook fan group where people share all kinds of recipes and meals they've created.
Here are some of my favourite videos:
Kansai-style Sukiyaki  - I have made sukiyaki before (using a different regional recipe) and it is incredible!
Hiroshima Okonomiyaki - I would love to try this
Takoyaki - I tried takoyaki for the first time the other week (albeit at Yo! Sushi), they are so good!

My next favourite channel has to be Food Wishes.

This is Chef John, the culinary king. He makes the most tantalizing, down-to-earth, stick-to-your-ribs, good, home cooking. I've tried several of his recipes and the biggest success of all is that he made me change my bolognese recipe! It's been one of my favourite crowd pleasers for a good while now and I'd tweaked and changed the recipe until I had something I thought was pretty close to perfect. Then I saw Chef John's Marcella Hazan-Inspired Meat Sauce and I changed my ways, who would have thought of using milk in a bolognese?! I have tried a few Food Wishes recipes and all with spectacular results.
I recommend:
French Baguette - So easy and definitely worth the wait!
Chicken Mushroom Chimichanga - amazing with freshly made salsa, guacamole and sour cream.
Country Gravy - Definitely one to avoid on a diet, this is sinfully tasty served on fresh, warm biscuits.
For tips, hints and explanations of methods also check out the Food Wishes blog. 

Another fun asian channel I watch is Maangchi.

Maangchi is Korean and makes wonderful looking traditional Korean dishes. I love to watch her videos, she is so sweet and enthusiastic about her food and I would love to taste everything she makes! Sadly again, asian speciality ingredients are very hard to find in the Netherlands so I've never tried any of her recipes, but I have taken inspiration from some of them for flavour combinations and the like.
They are so fun to watch (not when hungry of course! bad idea) even if you don't plan on testing your Korean cooking skills any time soon, I suggest you check them out.
Take a look at:
Crunchy Korean fried chicken - I love fried chicken and I could probably polish off about 50 of these.
Korean Ramen - A simple way to spice up instant noodles.
Spicy pork BBQ - I am a sucker for BBQ of any kind and I could eat pork every day.

Unless you hadn't sensed a theme in my food loves, here's another asian channel I love: Runnyrunny999

Runny-san is another person who does traditional Japanese food (for the most part) but rather than just posting random recipes, he asks viewers to send in 'orders' for things they want and he comes up with something to fit that. I think it's a really cool way of doing a cooking channel and I love the way he presents the recipes and gives a little review at the end of each video. It's also amusing when he makes fun of himself for pronouncing things wrong.
Watch these:
Katsu Kare  - A brilliantly tasty dish and a pretty simple recipe.
Hiyashi Chuka - I will definitely be trying this when summer finally arrives.
Rice Burger - An awesome fusion recipe that I would love to try.
Miso Ramen - I think ramen would be my desert island food.

So there you have it, these channels are great and I hope you'll find something that inspires you to get in the kitchen!