Vegetarian Wrap

My mum's yoga class is coming to have lunch at our house. Since the yoga teacher is a vegetarian, I thought that it would be a good time to try out this vegetarian wrap. This is one of my favourite dim sum when I was in Brisbane. Back then I worked as a dim sum girl at a Chinese restaurant in Sunnybank. I would pray that no one ordered this basket while pushing the dim sum cart around the restaurant as any leftovers from the steamer carts would end up being lunch for the staff.

Vegetarian Wrap Recipe

Ingredients:
1 sheet of dried beancurd skin, soak in water
1/4 inch old ginger, julienne

Filling:
2 inch of carrot, shredded
1/2 stalk of celery, cut into 2 inch strips
A handful of dried lily bulb, soaked in water
5 dried chinese mushrooms, soaked & sliced thinly
1 piece of dried black fungus, soaked and sliced thinly

Seasoning:
1 tsp of vegetarian oyster sauce
1/2 piece of fermented beancurd
A dash of salt and pepper

Method:

1. First, heat up a little oil in wok. Saute 1/2 the ginger you have julienned.
2. Then add the mushrooms, dried lily bulbs and black fungus. Stir fry for 3 minutes to soften them. Add a sprinkle of water if necessary.
3. Then add carrots and celery. Pour in seasoning. Stir fry for another 3 minutes. Remove to cool.
4. Use a kitchen towel or clean cloth to dry the soaked beancurd skin. Cut the skin into 6-7" squares.
5. Here is the tricky part. Place 2 tablespoon of filling in the middle of the skin. Wrap it by folding the bottom part of skin upwards. Then fold in the sides of skin. Finally flip the roll towards the other end of the skin. Careful as the whole thing might fall apart when you flip.
6. Use a large spatula to gently lift the roll and place it in a heated non-stick pan. You should have a little oil in the pan.
7. Fry the roll on one side until it is crispy before turning it over to the other side. Pan fry until the roll becomes golden brown.
8.  Serve hot with chinese red /black vinegar and the balance julienne ginger.

Stir fry Roast Pork with Leek

What do you do with overnight roast pork?

Chinese are very creative with their leftovers. We don't just freeze and reheat the same food for another meal. We usually turn it into a totally different dish altogether. For instance, we could put all the leftover meat from different dishes into one pot, add chili, tamarind and vegetable and turn it into a hot & sour stew. It even has its own name! I'll be making this comfort food in April when my sisters in law come back to visit!

 

But today, I only have a small piece of leftover roast pork in my fridge and one of the best ways to serve it is to stirfry with leek. Even if you don't take leek (the taste is simliar to having onions!), once you combine these two ingredients together with a good dark soy sauce, I guarantee you'll be asking for another bowl of rice to go with the dish! 

Stirfry Roast Pork with Leek Recipe

Ingredients:

300g roast pork, cut into bite size

2 stalks of leek, sliced into 1 inch thick

1 tbsp of garlic

1 tsp of dark soy sauce

1/2 tsp of soy sauce

1/2 tsp cooking wine

Method:

1. Heat up a tbsp of cooking oil in wok.
2. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add roast pork and seasoning. 
3. Lastly add leek and stir fry for 3 min. Ready to serve!

 

Sticky Sweet & Sour Spare Ribs

Sticky Spare Ribs (FEb 2012)

This is my version of a "King To" sparerib or sticky sweet sour spareribs. I was actually planning to make black bean sauce spareribs but ran out of fermented black beans so I changed the lunch menu to this all time kids' favourite, to my sons' delight! My boys completely devoured the ribs leaving only the bones for my hubby to chew on! Poor hubby, promise I'll make a lot more the next time!


Sticky Spare Ribs Recipe (Serving for 2)

Ingredients:
300g pork ribs ( ask the butcher for the meatier rib)
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp of corn flour
A dash of pepper

For Deep frying: 
1 small egg
3 tbsp of cornflour
Oil for deep frying

Seasoning:

1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp oyster sauce
1/2 tbsp white vinegar

1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp of Shao Hsing wine
A dash of pepper
1 tbsp water

Method:

1. Marinade pork with soy sauce, cornflour and pepper for 15 minutes
2. Heat oil for deep frying. Break an egg in a bowl. Pour cornflour in a plate. Dip pork ribs in egg, then coat with cornflour before dropping ribs into oil. Fry until golden brown. Remove from oil & put aside.
3. Heat up wok. Pour a little oil and saute minced garlic. Add the rest of seasoning. Add 1 tbsp of water if too dry. 
4. Return fried porkribs to wok and give it a good toss. Ready to serve!

Making Egg Noodles

Kampung Egg Noodle

Remember how I said I would make my own egg noodles when I blogged about Sui Kow? I've been so eager to try homemade noodles that I bought a pasta maker over the weekend! Since it costs me a fortune, I've got to make all sorts of noodles and pasta from now on. Perhaps Pan Mee next week?

Anyway, my hubby is really big fan of noodles, any sort. He's always raving about how his granny would make the most wonderful springy egg noodles using duck eggs. He described to me the whole process and with his insightful memories and my basic knowledge of flour-egg-water ratio, I attempted to make egg noodles for Sunday lunch!

It turned out, according to my hubby, almost as good as granny's! My parents in law enjoyed the noodles tremendously too. Now that I've gotten the hang of it, I'll be making noodles very often.

Egg Noodle Recipe (Recipe for 5-6 servings)

Ingredients:

500g plain wheat flour

3-4 kampung eggs / normal large eggs (ratio is 120-150g flour to one egg depending how eggy you want your noodle to be)

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp water

Tapioca flour for dusting

Method:

1. First, sieve the flour into a mixing bowl or on a flat working surface. Break egg yolk lightly into a bowl and mix without beating.
2. Make a well in the centre of flour. Pour egg mixture into flour. Sprinkle salt around well.
3. Start kneading. You will feel crumbs only in the beginning. Gradually sprinkle water and continue to knead until dough feels smooth and springy. Form into a ball. I've got small hands so it took me 20 minutes. You could try using a mixer if you are making more.
4. Dust dough lightly with tapioca flour. Cut out 1cm thick of dough. Roll out using the roller function, gradually increasing from 1-6. 
5. Boil a pot of water. When boiling, roll the flattened dough through the pasta maker using the thin strand function. Immediately drop the noodle into the boiling water. 
6. Cook for 2 min while using a chopstick to stir the noodle around.
7. Serve as you like. I just tossed the noodle with oyster sauce, soy sauce, cooked oil and deep fried garlic mince.

 

Dong Bo Rou

Melt in Your Mouth Dong Bo Rou

How many of you have memories of Esquire Kitchen's Dong Bo Pork with Steamed Flower Rolls? I'm not talking about the Esquire Kitchen now but 20 years back where there was only two outlets in town ~ one in Sungai Wang Plaza and the other in Asia Jaya.When my grandparents came to visit, we would always make a trip to Esquire Kitchen. My brother and I ate nothing else but this yummy dish & we would use the last of our rolls to wipe the serving bowl clean of its sauce! Though the restaurant's menu is similar, the food just isn't the same anymore!

Another serving of Dong Bo Rou with steamed plain buns (15 Apr 2012)

Anyway, it's always been a challenge to manage pork meat and make it into something out of this world. Dong Bo Rou is a dish that requires no skills but a lot of patience. I don't own a pressure cooker so it took a whole afternoon of supervision... But, it was all worth it!

Dong Bo Rou Recipe
Ingredients:
500g pork belly, with skin (square shaped)
1 inch of ginger, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, whole without skin
4 stalk white part of shallot, about 4 inch
1 star anise

Seasoning:
1/2 cup of soy sauce
2 tbsp of dark soy sauce
4 tbsp of Shao Hsing wine
15g rock sugar (or less, if you don't like it too sweet)
1/2 cup of water

Steamed plain buns for dipping

Method:

1. Boil a pot of water. Place pork in boiling water for 5 minutes. Remove pork and let it cool.
2. In a wok, add a tbsp of cooking oil, fry garlic, ginger and shallot till fragrant. Add seasoning and star anise, then reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Place pork skin face down into a claypot. Add seasoning. Cook on high heat for 5 minutes.
4. Reduce to simmer and turn the pork skin face up. Simmer for minimum an hour. Gradually add more water if sauce starts to thicken. 
5. After an hour, transfer the pork into a stainless steel bowl. I used one that the pork could fit in snugly. Pour all the sauce into the bowl. Wrap tightly with heat proof cling wrap.
6. Steam for another 2-3 hours.

 

Stirfry Sea Asparagus with Mixed Vegetable

Stirfry Sea Asparagus & Mixed Vegetable (Feb 2012)

What do you do when you have to whip up a presentable dish in 1/2 hour during Chinese New Year? Well, it's during the festive seasons that you'd probably have a can or two of sea clams lying around. What better way to raise the standard of a plain old stirfry than to add seafood?

I love to add different textures to my stirfry and celery is always my first choice. Somehow, celery is always a good sidekick for any meat dish. Its strong flavour never outshines the main ingredients but instead brings out the best flavours of the dish!

Recipe
Ingredients:
1 can of sea asparagus, rinsed but retain juices in can
2 stalk of celery
1/2 carrot
1/2 cup of black fungus, soaked in water
5 dried mushrooms, soaked in water
6 slices of ginger

Seasoning:
3 tbsp of sea asparagus juice from can
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp rice wine
1 tbsp cornstarch (1 tsp cornflour mixed with water)

Method:

1. Heat up wok till smoky. Add ginger slices. When fragrant, add carrots, black fungus and mushrooms.
2. Gradually pour in seasoning. Then add in celery and sea asparagus. Stirfry for another 2 minutes.
3. Pour in cornstarch and give it a good toss before serving.

Stirfry Vegetarian Chicken with Shitake Mushrooms & Snowpea

Stirfy Vege Chicken with Shitake Mushrooms & Snowpeas (Feb 2012)

My mum-in-law's sister, whose a vegetarian, came to visit during Chinese New Year. When she stayed over for lunch, I did a major crash course online on the subject of vegetarianism. I found out as well that aunt-in-law took eggs but no garlic or onions. By the way, did I mentioned that she's a very good cook?

I've never liked fried gluten which most Chinese vegetarian restaurants would use to substitute meat in their dishes. Since I don't stock vegetarian ingredients at home, the best way was to serve vegetables only.I had fresh shiitake mushrooms with rather broad stems. The stem felt a bit like a tough piece of cooked chicken breast meat! So I decided to make the "chicken" meat out of it! It was all very experimental this time around as I had only an hour to prepare lunch. Luckily, the dish turned out well and was acceptable

Recipe

Ingredients:

6 slices of ginger

200g fresh mushrooms

A packet of snowpea

1 piece of black fungus soaked

Thinly sliced red chilli, for garnishing

1/2 cup of cornflour

1 tsp salt

A pinch of 5 spice powder

1 small egg

Seasoning:

1 tbsp of Vegetarian Oyster Sauce

1/2 tsp of dark soy sauce

1 tsp of rice wine

Method:

1. First, remove the mushroom stems and soak in water for 15 min. Add 1 tsp of salt into water. Squeeze out excess water from stems.
2. Break and beat 1 egg in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the cornflour and 5 spice powder. Dip stems in egg then in cornflour mixture before deep frying the stems till golden brown. Drain stems and leave aside
3. While soaking the mushroom stems, slice the mushrooms into bite size pieces. Remove the tough string along the sides of snowpea. Cut black fungus into smaller pieces.
4. Heat a tsp of oil in a wok and fry the ginger till fragrant. Add all the vegetables and seasoning, turn down heat to simmer for 3 min.
5. Bring the heat back up and add earlier fried stems to the vegetables. Give a quick stir before serving.

Minced Pork Patties

Minced Pork Patties (Feb2012)

A cheat way to persuade your kids to eat their veges is to hide them in these yummy bites! Getting my kids to take their greens is an ongoing war in my house. It's a battle of the wits and guess who's winning? I may lose a battle or two but I shall win the vege war soon enough! Hahaha....

They'll never know until they read this blog one day that scheming Mummy has managed to put 4 different kinds of vegetables in their "gold nuggets" (That's what Justin calls them!). Do you consider potato a vegetable? Well, it's a start... what next?
 

Minced Pork Patties Recipe

Ingredients:
300 g minced pork
1/4 cup of carrot,shredded
1/4 cup of cabbage, shredded
1/4 cup of  long bean, chopped finely
1/4 cup of potato, shredded then chopped finely
2 cups of bread crumbs (Toast 3 slices of wholemeal bread, then crush finely)
1 tsp of meat curry powder
1 egg, beaten

Seasoning:
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp of oyster sauce
A dash of ground black pepper
1 tbsp corn flour
1/2 tsp cooking oil

Method:

1. Combine pork, carrot, cabbage and long beans into a bowl. Add seasoning and mix well. Leave aside for 1/2 hour
2. While waiting, toast the bread and crush to make bread crumbs. I place them in a zip lock and pound them with my pestle. Add potato and curry powder into the bag and mix well.
3. Heat up enough oil for deep frying. Take a tablespoonful of minced meat mixture and make it into a patty. Dip patty into the beaten egg, then roll it around in your bag of breadcrumb mixture.
4. Drop patty into the oil and fry until golden brown. 
5. You could make all the patties first before frying. Fry in batches as the bread crumb burns easily!

Cabbage Roll with Fish Paste

Chinese cabbage can be quite versatile. Some like it stirfried with dried prawns or as a garnishing for noodles, others like the sweetness it brings to clear chicken soup. I had a head of chinese cabbage which was a little wilted. Instead of throwing it away, I used it as a wrapper to roll a box of fish paste I bought from the wet market. I will blog about homemade fish paste shortly!

 

Cabbage Roll with Fish Paste Recipe
Ingredients:
1 head of chinese cabbage/ napa cabbage
250g fish paste (spanish mackerel)
1 tbsp of carrots, diced finely
1 tbsp of water chestnuts, diced finely
Spring onion, washed & cut into 15 cm long
Salt & pepper to taste
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 small egg, beaten

Method:

1. Cut out 10 cabbage leaves from its root. Wash & steam on a plate for 5 minutes. The leaves would have softened and turned slightly translucent. Let it cool before using.
2. While waitng remove fish paste from container and onto a chopping board. Prepare a small bowl of cold water on the side. Wet your hand with cold water and roll fish paste into a ball before smacking it back on the chopping board. Do this a few times while constantly wetting your hands. The fish paste will feel slightly "springy" after you've given it a good smacking. 
3. While smacking, gradually add the carrot and water chestnuts into the paste.
4. Take a cabbage leave and place it on a flat surface. Take a tablespoonful of fish paste and spread it on on the surface of the leave. Then start rolling the cabbage leave from its rootbase upwards. 
5. To hold the roll together, tie with a knot with a piece of spring onion.
6. Place all cabbage rolls on a plate. Steam for 10 minutes. You should see some liquid over on the plate.
7. Heat up a tbsp of cooking oil in a wok. Fry the garlic till fragrant, add oyster sauce and left over liquid from steaming plate. Take wok off heat and slowly stir in beaten egg.
8. Arrange cabbage roll on a serving plate and pour egg sauce over. 

Yam Rice

Yam Rice (Feb 2012)

There used to be a really great stall in Section 17, Petaling Jaya, serving yam rice with 3 types of meat dishes and 8 types of soup. The dishes are not quite your usual affairs ~ wild boar curry, yellow wine chicken & braised chicken feet. Not to mentioned some of my favourite soups like coconut chicken soup, black chicken ginseng soup and salted vegetable soup! But alas, the store no longer exist! If anyone knows where else I can find these types of dishes, do let me know!    

Yam rice is a wholesome one pot meal. It's easy to prepare and great to satisfy any yam lovers' craving. If you make your own, you'd probably go heavy on the yam like I did! It's optional to add other ingredients like the pork mince or the mushrooms.

Ingredients for Yam Rice

Stirfry uncooked rice in wok

Yam Rice Recipe (Serves 5-6)

Ingredients:
3 cups of rice
3 1/2 cups of water
1 cup of yam, diced into cubes

100g minced meat / chinese sausages diced finely
5 dried chinese mushrooms, soaked & sliced finely
1 tbsp of dried shrimp, chopped finely
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 shallot, sliced finely

Seasoning:
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp of dark sauce
1/2 tsp of sesame oil
1 tsp of cooking wine
1/2 tsp of white pepper

Garnishing:
Chopped chinese parsley
Deep fried shallots

Method:

1. First, soak and rinse rice. 
2. Heat up wok and add 1 tbsp of oil. Fry dried shrimp, garlic and shallot till fragrant.
3. Add yam, minced meat and mushrooms. Pour in seasoning as well. Fry until minced meat does not have clumps. 
4. Pour in all the uncooked rice into wok. Mix and stir rice until it is evenly coated with seasoning.
5. Transfer rice into rice cooker and add water. The amount of water I've given you is an estimate as it depends on the type of rice and ingredient that you use. To tell you the truth, I use the finger and knuckle test. It never goes wrong.   
6. Once ready, give the rice a good stir before serving!

Braised Ginger Duck

Keong Nga Ngap (Feb 2012)

If you are a big ginger fan, you'd love this dish and if you are a big duck fan, this simple hometown dish would certainly satisfy your craving. All you need is a nice tender duck, a plate of sliced old ginger and 1 1/2 hour of braising to produce this aromatic dish.

Braised Duck Recipe (Picture Guided)

Ingredients:
2kg duck
300g old ginger

Seasoning: 
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
A few drops of sesame oil
A few dash of pepper
1 tbsp of Shao Hsing wine
2 cups of water

Method:

1) Chop duck into pieces & slice old ginger

2) Place duck in hot wok without oil & fry till skin slightly brown

3) Add seasoning & enough water to cover duck. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Soup

My sister, Charmaine has been living a pretty healthy lifestyle considering her hectic work schedule. Sometimes she'd sent me an image of her many dinners and this soup was one of them. Naturally, I was eager to try the recipe out besides adding some international flare into my Asian diet.

The recipe is adapted from taste.com.au. It has a little Middle Eastern feel to it so I've changed some of the ingredients to suit the family palate. (or rather the kids!)

Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Soup Recipe

Ingredients:
60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil
1 large brown onion, finely chopped
1 tbs finely grated fresh ginger
1kg Butternut pumpkin, peeled, deseeded, coarsely chopped
500g sweet potato (kumara), peeled, coarsely chopped
1 tbs ground cumin
1L (4 cups) vegetable stock
125ml (1/2 cup) water

Method:

1. Heat half the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add half the ginger and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the pumpkin, sweet potato and half the cumin and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until aromatic.
2. Increase heat to high. Add the stock and water. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the pumpkin and sweet potato are very tender. Set aside to cool slightly. Transfer to the jug of a blender and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

New Orlean French Beignet

I would never have known what a beignet was if not for my kids! They were watching Disney's version of Princess & The Frog during the school holidays. It's a very different setting all together ~  there's no princess, there's no castle, there's no evil witch. On the bright side ~ there's a handsome prince, great jazzy music, and a creepy voodooman who can croon! Now what has all this got to do with beignet? Well, the "Princess" turned out to be a poor hardworking young lady who dreamt of opening her own restaurant in New Orleans & boy, can she cook! Guess what her best dish was? French Quarter Beignet! 

I guess Disney did well with this movie because Justin said he could just smell the sweet beignet from the TV! Darren made me promise to make these delectable sweets once I've found the right recipe.... So that was when I went in search for answers.

To make it simple, a beignet is a small square doughnut dipped in powdered sugar! It is one of New Orleans' staple snacks. It's not the healthiest snack but once you've had one, you just can't stop!

French Beignet Recipe (adapted from Paula Deen's recipe on Foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 envelope active dry yeast
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup evaporated milk
7 cups bread flour
1/4 cup shortening
Nonstick spray
Oil, for deep-frying
3 cups confectioners' sugar

Method:

1. Mix water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.

2. In another bowl, beat the eggs, salt and evaporated milk together. Mix egg mixture to the yeast mixture. 3. In a separate bowl, measure out the bread flour. Add 3 cups of the flour to the yeast mixture and stir to     combine. Add the shortening and continue to stir while adding the remaining flour. Remove dough from the bowl, place onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray. Put dough into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a towel. Let rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours.
4. Preheat oil in a deep-fryer to 350 degrees F.
5. Add the confectioners' sugar to a paper or plastic bag and set aside.
6. Roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness and cut into 1-inch squares. Deep-fry, flipping constantly,   until they become a golden color. After beignets are fried, drain them for a few seconds on paper towels,   and then toss them into the bag of confectioners' sugar. Hold bag closed and shake to coat evenly.

Pasta with Lemon, Garlic & Mushrooms

Pasta Creation (Oct 2011)

I've always been fascinated by Nigella Lawson from her Nigella Bites & Nigella Feasts series. With some of her recipes readily available on her website, I quickly tried out some pasta dishes. This is actually the first of her linguine recipes!

I made this pasta for Darren's 9th birthday party. It seemed to compliment the meat dishes that I was serving. I adapted most part of the recipe except that I made do with spaghetti instead of linguine. I'd encourage you to try different kinds of fresh mushrooms that you may find in your local markets.

Pasta with Lemon, Garlic & Mushroom Recipe
Ingredients:
1 packet of pasta
A punnet fresh mushrooms
80ml extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
1 small clove garlic, crushed
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
4 sprigs of fresh thyme, stripped to give 1 teaspoon leaves (Otherwise make do with dried thyme)
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
2-3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, or to taste
Freshly ground pepper 

Method:

1. Slice the mushrooms finely, and put in a large bowl with the oil, salt, crushed garlic, lemon juice and zest, and thyme leaves.
2. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions and drain loosely, retaining some water. Quickly put the drained pasta into the bowl with the mushroom mixture.
3. Toss everything together well, then add the chopped parsley, grated cheese and pepper to taste, before tossing again.

Pork Noodle Soup

Pork noodle soup is a staple diet in my parents' house. It's a dish that we could have for breakfast, lunch or even dinner when we didn't feel like having rice. It can be served with any type of Asian noodle. I've even used macaroni and pasta shells when my kids were toddlers. The other great thing about having noodle soup is that you'll be able to satisfy everyone's tastebuds by adding their favourite fishball, porkball, fried beancurd skin, whatever they fancy. Yup, I do try to please even the pickest eater!

Pork Noodle Soup Recipe (Serve 4)

Soup:
1/2 kg bone (pork / chicken / combo)
200g of any Chinese root vege - chinese turnip, kudzu, jicama (optional)
1/2 inch of old ginger

Ingredients:
500g noodle of your choice
A bunch of leafy vegetable (Choy Sum / romaine lettuce)

200g minced pork
200g sliced pork loin
Deep fried garlic mince in oil
Salt, pepper, rice wine, cornflour

Method:

1. Blanch pork/chicken bone for 3 minutes. Sieve away the scum and place bone, root vege and ginger into a stock pot with 3 litre water. Boil soup for 2 hours.
2. While waiting for soup, marinade both minced and sliced pork with fried garlic mince, salt, a few dash of pepper, 1/2 tsp rice wine and 1 tbsp of cornflour.
3. Just before serving, blanch noodle till cooked. Place in a serving bowl.
4. Sieve some soup into a separate small pot. Bring to boil. Place enough pork (for 1 pax) into the boiling soup and stir well. Add vegetable. After 2 min, pour soup onto the noodle in the serving bowl. 
5. Add 1 tsp of deep fried minced garlic on top before serving.

Fried Chicken with Spices (Ayam Goreng Berempah)

Ayam Goreng Berempah (Oct 2011)

It's not unusual for Malaysians to add a variety of fresh herbs & spices when preparing the local meat dishes and the Ayam Goreng Berempah is one of it. (The name says it all, doesn't it?) The local Malays have this wonderful, aromatic fried chicken which I think, taste much  better than any deep fried chook from the fast food joints. 

"Nasi lemak biasa, mau ayam goreng, Kak?"  (One coconut rice with or without fried chicken?)

For some, a plate of coconut rice accompanied by a piece of fried chicken, is a typical breakfast or a late night supper! Sometimes I do wonder how we, Malaysians, managed to live beyond our fifties, when we consume all that rich food everyday!  Let me tell you... it's certainly more than just the fried chicken! There's the char kuey teow, fishhead curry, all that street food.....yumyum! As Malaysians say "Eat Now, DIEt Later Lar!"

So, the conclusion for a greedy ol' me is ~ make the street food my home food! It's healthier, hygenic and there's no long queue!

Ayam Goreng Berempah Recipe:

Ingredients:
1 chicken (chopped into frying pieces) or 8 drumsticks
A spring of curry leaves
6 shallots
5 cloves of garlic
1 inch of ginger
3 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp coriander seed
2 tsp fennel seed
1 tbsp tumeric powder
4 tbsp corn flour
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp Salt
Oil for frying

Method:

1. Pound shallot, garlic & ginger until it becomes a paste. Add the chili powder, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, tumeric powder and curry leaves into the paste and just give it a light pounding. Alternatively, if you don't like to eat the spices, you could put all the above into a blender & blend until it becomes a paste
2. Marinade the chicken pieces and leave in fridge overnight or at least 2 hours.
3. Dip the chicken pieces into the beaten egg one by one then dust with cornflour before deepfrying. This should be done just before deepfrying.
4. Heat up frying oil and fry the chicken pieces till golden brown. Don't forget to pick up the bits of fried spices. (Those are the best bits!)

Vietnamese Spring Roll

Vietnamese Spring Roll (Jan 2012)

I invited my parents and parents in law to my house for a Chinese New Year lunch. Having had too much too many heavy meals, I thought I'd make these fried spring rolls to complete my Vietnamese style lunch (together with my Salad Rolls & Beefball Noodle Soup). 

 

It's better to drain excess oil by standing the spring rolls like this.

The Vietnamese version varies from the Chinese version. Even in Vietnam, I was told, there are many different kinds of spring rolls. This originated from Hanoi, I believe.


Fried Spring Roll Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 pack of 15cm popiah skin / rice paper
200g minced pork
150g crab meat
1 cup of shredded carrots
1.2 cup of thinly sliced black fungus
50g of soaked rice vermicelli

Seasoning:
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp Shao Hsing wine
1 tbsp corn flour

Method:

1. Cut the rice vermicelli into short strands.
2. Place all ingredients and seasoning into a large bowl and mix well with your hands.
3. Place a tablespoonful of the filling onto a piece of popiah skin. Tuck in both sides and roll into a cylinder.
4. Heat oil over high fire and fry until springrolls turn golden brown. Dish out and strain on a strainer.
5. Hint: Don't use kitchen towel to drain excess oil as it will only soften the spring rolls. Place the springrolls slightly tilted on the strainer. The oil will drip downwards and you've have crispy springroll even when it turns cold!

Claypot Crab & Glass Noodle

Claypot Flower Crab & Glass Noodle (Jan 2012)

As a child, I remember the claypot crab glass noodle as one of my Dad's favourite dish while we were on holiday at Bangkok, Chiang Mai or Phuket.  Then, there wasn't any local restaurants serving this except for a couple of Thai restaurants that sprouted around town. One being the family's favourite weekend makan place in SS2. I can't remember what the place was called then but it is opposite the entrance to Wai Sek Kai. Now it seems that every Chinese seafood restaurant is serving this dish in either the soupy or dry version.

This is a fairly easy dish to prepare. Freshness of the seafood plays a big role  in giving the soup its sweetness. Here I've used the flower crab but in actual fact any shellfish would do too ie. other types of crabs, prawns, clams, etc..

Claypot Crab & Glass Noodle Recipe (Serving for 2)

Ingredients:
1 large flower crab/ 2 small ones as I have used, chopped into pieces
100g of vermicelli / tung fun
30g of thinly sliced pork belly, just enough to line the bottom of your claypot
1 clove of garlic
1 inch ginger, sliced
1 lime, squeezed
Water, enough to fill half your claypot

Garnishing:
2 tbsp fried garlic oil
1 bird's eye chilli , sliced thinly
Chinese parsley

Method:

1. Heat up the claypot. Add a tsp of oil. Place pork belly slices the bottom of the pot and let it sizzle on low fire.
2. Then turn up the heat and add the garlic & ginger. This little trick is to get that fragrant pork flavor without having to use lard in your cooking.
3. Add water and wait until it boils before adding the crabs. 
4. Boil for 3 minutes before adding the vermicelli. You can turn off the fire at this point as vermicelli will cook within seconds at such high temperature.
5. Add squeezed lime juice and stir. Garnish before serving. Serve immediately. 

Wanton Noodle with Pork Dumpling (Sui Kow Mein)

 

Sui Kow Mein (Jan 2011)

My late Granny (Mum's mum) had Sui Kow Dumpling Noodle Soup at least once a week when she stayed with us. She has a favourite stall which was always packed and could always tell if we cheated and bought from another. Everytime I visit the stall now, ironically I think of Granny and how she'd look me square in the eye and say "This is not my Sui Kow Mein." After tasting her beloved Sui Kow, I knew why people kept going back for more.

Keeping it simple

I suppose you could make a complicated Sui Kow or keep it simple with the basic main ingredients of a decent dumpling. Sui Kow dumplings are different from other Chinese dumplings because the filling is a mixture of meat/prawns/fish paste and some sort of crunchy vegetable (ie. carrot, water chestnuts, etc) Usually it's wrapped into a half moon shape but as you see in my picture, I've wrapped some in a gold nugget shape to differentiate the meat and the seafood only dumplings.

Wrapped & Ready!

Sui Kow checked but what about the noodle? Wantan noodles are so readily available in the markets. If possible get some fresh ones as the frozen ones tend to break easily. I shall look forward to making my own noodles soon.

Sui Kow Recipe (to make 12 sui kows)

Ingredients:
1 packet of fresh dumpling skin
400gm pork mince (not too lean)
100g prawns, shelled & chopped coarsely
1/2 cup of carrots, chopped finely
1/2 cup water chestnuts, chopped coarsely

Seasoning:
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp rice wine
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp of sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
A few drops of sesame oil / cooked garlic oil

Method:

1. Remove the dumpling skin sheet by sheet.
2. Mix all the ingredients with seasoning well. Use your hand if possible to feel the texture. You should have a slightly sticky springy texture.
3. Add 2 spoonful of filling in the middle of the dumpling skin.
4. Fold the skin upwards to meet the other end. Wet your finger and run it along the edge inside the dumpling skin. Press firmly and you should have a half-moon shaped dumpling in your hands.
5. When all is done, you can choose to boil the dumplings in soup or deepfry in a wok.

Putting the noodle together:

1. Blanch the noodle in hot water for 1 min, then immediately remove and dunk it into cold water. Remove from cold water and put the noodle back into the hot water for a few seconds. Drain away water.
2. To make the sauce for one serving of noodle, add 1 tsp of oyster sauce, 1 tsp of soy sauce, 1/2 tsp of dark soy sauce, 1 tsp cooked shallot oil and a dash of pepper onto a plate. 
3. Place  noodle the plate and mix well with sauce. 
4. You can see from my picture that I have also made a simple minced meat to be served with my noodles.

Vietnamese Fresh Salad Roll

Gui Cuon or Vietnamese Fresh Salad Roll (Jan 2012)

I LOVE Vietnamese food! Simple & refreshing yet dense & vibrant at the same time! How do you beat that food that taste like that?

I learned to make Goi Cuon, as the Salad Roll is called, from my Vietnamese housemate, Marissa, in Brisbane. At her quaint little wooden house in an eclectic West End, Marissa took me under her wings and taught me the essentials of Vietnamese street cuisine. Not far away, her parents' house smelled like basil & mint and there's always a large pot of beef stock simmering away in the kitchen! Anyone can have pho bo (beef noodle soup) no matter what time it was! See how my thoughts roam when it comes to food? Can you focus on the spring rolls first, dear brain?

Gui Cuon with Prawn

Goi Cuon is great if you've had too much oily food and want to cleanse your body (Well, it feels like it anyway!) The key to a good Gui Cuon is not the roll itself. Everyone can make the roll but it is the dipping sauce! Usually, the rolls are served with peanut sauce dipping but I just love Nuoc Cham, the fish sauce dipping. I've provided both recipes for you to enjoy!

Salad Roll Recipe:

Ingredients:

Rice Paper (I prefer to use the "Rose" brand")

Thin Rice Noodle (Mee Hoon)

Lettuce Leaf

Chives

Mint leaves

Beansprout

Carrots, shredded

Peanuts (roasted lightly and crushed)

Additional ingredients:

Thinly sliced cooked pork belly

Blanched prawns, shelled

Nuoc Cham Sauce: (for a rice bowl serving)

3 tbsp fish sauce

2 tsp sugar

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bird's eye chili (cili padi), chopped finely

Lime Juice

Peanut Dipping Sauce:

Hoisin Sauce

Crushed Peanut

A lil warm water ( to thin sauce)

Method:

1. Soak & blanch mee hoon.
2. Clean & dry vegetables.
3. First, soak rice paper into hot water until it softens. Place it on a dry surface
4. Place ingredients in the centre of the rice paper in this order for nice presentation: Meat/prawn, lettuce leaf, mint, noodle, peanut, carrot, chives.
5. Roll it as you would with any other spring roll.

Mmm... I just realised that it's hard to describe the process without showing you! Do look out in the near future as I shall make an effort to provide you with step by step pictures!

Sweet & Sour Pork

Sweet & Sour Pork (Sept 2011)

Sweet & Sour Pork, I believe, is the most well-knowned Chinese dish in the world. I think it's the combination of tangy tomato sauce & crispy yet tender meat that makes the dish so acceptable. As for me, I love the Malaysian version of the dish. The meat is coated with a light batter and the tomato based sauce is just enough to cover the pork, thus no soggy meat at the end of the meal! (if there's any left!)

The dish by itself looks easy enough to prepare but it's not! It takes a lot of effort to make a good sweet and sour pork. So much thought goes into this simpleton's dish for instance the type of meat to use, what makes of a light frying batter or even the amount of vinegar or wine infused into the sauce. There's no need to follow the recipe to the point.... improvise, make the dish your own!

Deep fried pork

 Sweet & Sour Pork Recipe:


Ingredient:
300g tenderloin pork (enough for 2 person)


Marinade:
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp of Shao Hsing wine
1 tsp corn flour

Frying Batter:
1 cup of water
1 small egg
1 cup of plain flour
2 tbsp of cornflour (some like to use rice flour to get the crunchiness)
A pinch of salt

Sauce:
1/2 cup of ketchup
1 tbsp white vinegar / rice vinegar
1 tsp of oyster sauce
1/2 tsp sugar (to balance the vinegar)
salt to taste
2 tomato
Handful of cucumber
Handful of pineapple
1/2 red onion
1 tbsp of chopped garlic

Method:

1. Slice pork into 1/2 cm thick bite size. Marinade for at least 1/2 hour before frying. 
2. Make batter to thick consistency. by adding water gradually. The batter should feel like thick syrup not watery. Dip meat in batter.
3. Heat up oil in wok till smoky, reduce heat slightly before dropping the meat in to fry.
4. When turning golden brown, remove meat from wok and drain off any excess oil. Now the trick! Leave the pork to cool down slightly before dipping it back into hot oil for a few seconds. 
5. Heat up a tbsp of oil. Fry chopped garlic. Add all vegetables followed by the rest of ingredients and stir fry on high fire. Once you are satisfied with the taste, switch off the stove and stir in fried pork till well coated.

Beef Rendang

Beef Rendang (Nov 2011)

I have to confess... I have not given a good thought nor study the origins of Beef Rendang before I made it. It didn't matter to me because I've always cross path with it since I was a baby girl. In my toddler years, we were neighbours with Auntie Badariah & Uncle Ismail. I hold fond memories of the couple as they were not only kind and helpful, but the sight, sound and smell of their kitchen each morning truely fascinate even a 4 year old like me! Auntie Badar (as I fondly called her) made kuih-muih (Malay cakes/snacks) which she'd supply every afternoon to a nearby vendor. And every evening, she'd called out my name and pass an assortment of kuih-muih to my brother & I. There would be fresh curry puffs, kuih dadar, pulut inti, kuih keria, and my personal favourite fried popiah with homemade chili sauce!

Naturally, Auntie Badar cooks very well. I would always look forward to any kenduri (house party) held by her family. I'd make a beeline for one thing only....her beef rendang, which she would serve with lemang (bamboo rice). The taste has lingered til now..... Sounds exaggerating, eh? Well, it does and I have yet to find another beef rendang as good as hers! Thank you, Auntie Badar, for making my childhood 'flavourful'! 

So back to my recipe.... I looked up a couple of recipes and found that the basic ingredients are the similar. The taste and texture would differ if you add more or less of certain ingredients. I adapted a recipe by Rohani Jelani. Hopefully, I'll be able to join her classes one of these days! Care to join me?



Beef Rendang Recipe

Spice Paste:
3/4 cup grated coconut
15 dried chillies
10 shallots, sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 inch ginger, sliced
1 inch galangal, sliced
1 inch turmeric, sliced
2 stalks lemon grass, sliced 

2 bird chillies, optional

Cooking: 

400 gm stewing beef, sliced into chunks
1 1/4 cup coconut milk
1 cup water
1 turmeric leaf, tied into knot
2 kaffir lime leaves, torn
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1-2 pieces asam keping

Procedures

1. Place coconut in wok over medium heat and dry-fry until golden brown. Cool slightly before grinding finely in mortar and pestle.
2. Snip chillies into 1-inch lengths. Soak in hot water until softened. Discard half the seeds and place the chillies in electric blender jug with shallots, garlic, ginger, galangal, turmeric and lemon grass. If you want a hotter rendang, add bird chillies. Add 1/2 cup water and grind to a paste- but not too finely.
3. Place spice paste, beef, coconut milk, and water in a roomy wok. Bring to a boil and simmer on medium heat, stirring now and then until mixture is well reduced and thick and oil surfaces—at least 1 hour.
4. Add ground toasted coconut, turmeric leaf (if using), kaffir lime leaf, salt, sugar, and asam keping (if using). Cook another 5-10 minutes, taste, and adjust seasonings if necessary. Take pan off heat. Serve with rice.The taste is even better overnight!

Claypot Waxed Meat Rice (Lap Mei Fan)

Lap Mei Fan (Jan 2012)

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone! May the Year of the Water Dragon bring lots of prosperity (shui) to all!

Every household celebrating this auspicious day would have had a Lap Mei Fan, may it be an elaborate claypot with assorted waxed meat or just simply steaming waxed sausages and serving it with rice. I had an blooming petal inspiration while watching a Hong Kong cooking show. The Chef had this elaborate yin yang design he did with white & black glutinious rice. Yes, why just plain dull rice when I could jazz it up with a lil deco that was already part of the dish?

Mummy told me that arrowhead (Nga Ku) goes well with waxed meat. So I tried that on the 1st day of Chinese New Year. Turned out that nga ku actually brought a kind of fragrance to the dish, just as sweet potato would have to porridge!

On the 10th day, as I was preparing for another claypot for a party of 8 (Mummy's dear dancing kakis), I couldn't get a decent arrowhead. I searched my pantry and guess what I found? A New Moon brand abalone! What a rich flavour it lent to the dish. It now looks "expensive" and unknowingly looked like dahlia amongst rose petals.... bear with me, I have a rather wild imagination when it comes to food!

Lap Mei Fun with Abalone (Feb 2012)

Lap Mei Fan Recipe:

I made really huge claypots with 5 cups of rice. I've reduced the portions for the recipe to 1 cup of rice, enough for two. Do multiply when required.

Ingredients:
1 cup of rice
3 waxed Chinese sausages (meat/liver/mixture)
1/2 cup of diced "lap yuk", air dried pork belly (optional)
1/2 waxed duck leg (optional)
5 slices young ginger
Jullienne strips of ginger for garnishing


Seasoning (mixed together):
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
A dash of pepper
A pinch of salt & sugar

Method:

1. First, blanch the sausages for a few seconds in boiling hot water. Take the sausages out and use a fork to poke some holes all over its surface. Then, put the duck into the water and leave it there for 5 min. This will not only help soften the duck slightly but it also helps get rid of the strong smell of the duck oil that most people do not like.
2. If you've never used a claypot to steam rice, I suggest that you cook the rice as you normally would in a rice cooker. However, do measure up slightly less water than indicated as juices from the sausages will compensate. Place only the sausages into the rice cooker before switching it on.
3. Meanwhile, chop the duck into bitesize bits and the lap yuk into small chunks.
4. Remove the sausages from the cooked rice. Leave to cool before slicing them into thin pieces.
5. Heat up the claypot. Add a little sesame oil and stir fry the ginger slices till fragrant. Then, transfer all the cooked rice into the claypot.
6. Arrange all the meat on top of your rice. Pour the seasoning around the dish. Cover & cook under low heat for 5 minutes or when you start to smell that wonderful sweet aroma of Chinese sausages and fragrant rice from the claypot.

Chinese Barbeque Pork (Char Siew)

Char Siew (Aug 2011)

My eldest son, Darren, has a thing for Char Siew or BBQ pork, so I try do prepare it at least once a month. Not that the rest of the family are complaining! I've made Char Siew with the oven, simmered in a wok, even fried in a Philip Airfryer. Now I use a combination of cooking methods to achieve the best juicy tender Char Siew.

There's not one recipe for a good Char Siew. Everyone has their own preference in terms of flavour and texture. What matters most is that you enjoy every morsel of it! Modify the recipe as you go along to suit your own taste. Happy trying!

Two different pieces of pork used - pork belly & shoulder loin

Char Siew Recipe

Ingredient:
500gm pork (belly/shoulder)

Marinade:
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rose wine
1/2 tsp 5 spice powder
1 tsp maltose syrup
1 tbsp castor sugar
1/2 tsp of dark soy sauce for colouring

Glazing (mixed together):
Hoisin sauce
Maltose syrup
Oil

Method:

1. Marinade pork at least 2 hours before.
2. To cook pork, you could either place pork in tray into the oven @ 220 deg celcius for 15 min or simmer pork in wok for 10 min.
3. To grill pork till slightly charred, you could either place pork on grilling rack of the oven for another 15min or place pork in airfryer for 15 min at 160 deg celcius. For both methods, glaze meat frequently with the marinade on both sides of meat.

Note: You do not get a lot of sauce at the end with this recipe. If you like more sauce, you can cook the balance marinade with 1/4 a cup of water.

Chinese Roast Pork (Siew Yoke)

Roast Pork (Siew Yoke) ~ Jul 2011

Who doesn't love a good roast pork? We find every excuse to have roast pork in Malaysia. It's common to find this succulent salty meat with cripsy crackling skin (rind) in every Chinese eatery, may it be at a roadside hawker or in a 5 star Chinese banquet hall.

I was very fortunate to have inherited an absolutely no brainer recipe from my Aunt Nancy (yes, credits to her!). Well actually, she gave it to my mum who tweaked it further by adjusting the oven temperature, buying the perfect piece of pork, etc. (So, credits to darling Mummy too!)

It took 2 observations and 2 trials for me to achieve the above end result ie- succulent tender meat with crunchy crackling skin. You can't imagine how I loomed like a hawk over my mum when she made hers! I was peering over her shoulder, sniffing the perfect 5-spice powder, tapping the crackling skin.... However, I do confess that I did a lot of research on other foodblogs and found some pretty interest sites which I diligently follow.

My roast pork journey began in September 2010.

Looks like a boil! (Sept 2010)

After chopping it into pieces, nobody really cared how it looked like earlier on!

A recent 1.5kg piece roasted in Jan 2012.

I made two 1.5kg pieces for prayers on the 9th day of Chinese New Year. I was very excited and humbled that my in-laws asked me to prepare the roast pork as an offering for the auspicious prayers instead of ordering a whole roast pig. This was a really big deal for me as the roast was usually significant part of the prayers. It is a day when Hokkiens give thanks and ask for blessing from the Jade Emperor.

It meant the most to me that both pieces of roast pork turned out well. I was so paranoid that I had 2 extra kilos in the fridge! (just in case!). The above piece turned out perfectly while the other one had a few 'bubbles'. Overall, I was told, that both pieces were equally tasty and crispy! Phew....

This is how an offering looks like at my in-laws place