This was an experimental dish recently and I was quite pleased with the outcome. What I had in my fridge that day were 2 pieces of firm tofu (beancurd), about 200 grammes of lean pork, some oyster mushrooms and other vegetables. This time, rather than cooking another "usual" tofu dish, I decided to make patties out of it, not unlike burgers.

The main ingredients here are tofu and pork whilst the rests adds to the colour and gives its distinctive taste. The end result is a tofu meat patty which is crispy on the outside and yet, juicy and semi-firm on the inside. My daughter liked it very much. It is tasty eaten with rice and also great for tea time snack or parties. I think it will taste even better if it is dipped into some freshly pounded red chilli and garlic with a squeeze of lime. I intend to continue modifying this recipe and will add them in this blog in due course. Nevertheless, I hope you will try this recipe as I loved it!

This is my recipe for Deep Fried Tofu Meat Patties


Ingredients

• 2 pieces firm tofu
• 200 grammes of lean pork mince
• 1/4 piece of carrot (diced as finely as possible)
• An equivalent amount of spring onions (chopped finely)
• An equivalent amount of oyster mushroom or any other type of mushrooms (chopped finely)
• An equivalent amount of dried prawns (chopped / pounded finely)
  
• 1 large egg
• 2 cloves of garlic (chopped finely)
  
• 3 tablespoons of corn flour
• Oil for deep frying

Seasoning

• 2 teaspoons of oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper powder

Method

In a mixing bowl, combine and mash up the tofu, pork, carrot, spring onions, mushrooms, dried prawns, garlic, corn flour and seasoning and mix well in one circular motion. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Place mixture in a stainless steel bowl or deep plate and steam it for 10 minutes. The mixture, especially the meat, should be at least 70% cooked after steaming. Remove from steam and place bowl over cold water (to cool it rapidly).

When mixture has sufficiently cooled down, break the egg onto mixture and stir it in one circular motion till egg is evenly distributed. Add some corn flour if mixture is runny.

Heat oil in wok for deep frying. To fry, scoop one heaped tablespoon of mixture and using another spoon held on another hand, push / slide the mixture into the oil. Fry till patty becomes golden brown. Place fried patties on absorbent kitchen napkins to absorb excess oil prior to serving.

For more recipes on tofu / beancurd, click on Beancurd below.


Technorati Tags : Recipe , Tofu , Pork , Chinese Food

This is my mother's recipe. I've never acquired the taste for bitter gourd all these years though I know it is packed with nutrients and goodness. I am informed that this dish - Chicken with Bitter Gourd is a favourite amongst many who like bitter gourd. I am also informed that the bigger and older the bitter gourd, the less bitter it is.

So, I thought why not I post it up here on this blog for those who like to eat chicken with bitter gourd but do not know how to cook it. My mum used the claypot to retain the warmth of the dish as well as to ensure that the chicken and bitter gourd continue to simmer slowly though it has been removed from the cooker. If you don't have a claypot, it doesn't really matter. Just serve it on a plate.

This is my mother's recipe for Claypot Chicken with Bitter Gourd.


Ingredients

• 1 large bitter gourd (wash, remove seeds, cut halved across the bitter gourd and then, cut to chunk bite sizes)
• 2 whole chicken legs (remove skin and cut to chunky bite sizes. You can keep the skin if you don't mind the dish slightly oily)
• 5 pieces dried chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked till soft and cut to two with stems discarded)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tau cheo
• 4 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
• 1 cup warm water

Seasoning

• 1 1/2 teaspoons dark soya sauce
• Salt to taste
• a pinch of sugar

Method

Heat oil in wok and stir-fry garlic and tau cheo for 30 seconds. Add chinese mushrooms, chicken and bitter gourd and continue stir-frying till outer layer of chicken meat is cooked.

Add seasoning and water enough to cover the ingredients. Bring to boil. Meanwhile, if you have a claypot, heat it up whilst waiting for the gravy to boil in the wok.

Once the gravy is boiling, transfer contents into claypot and simmer for 15 minutes on medium heat till gravy reduced to your liking. If you do not have a claypot, simmer likewise.

Serve hot with white rice.


Technorati Tags : Recipe , Bitter Gourd , Claypot , Chinese

Whilst instant noodles can be REALLY EASY to cook, you can actually make a slightly more elaborate dish out of it by adding some ingredients which blend nicely with the springy texture of the instant noodles. For this recipe, I use bean sprouts, carrots and capsicum to give it a bit of crunch and fibre and I also add sliced fish cake for added flavour.


There are actually two parts to cooking this dish. The first part would be to cook the instant noodles in boiling water till al-dente (which is cooked but not soggy or soft). After cooking the noodles in boiling water, drain it and run it under cold / tap water to stop the noodles from cooking further. Running it through the cold / tap water also makes the noodles springy in texture.


The second part involves the stir-frying of the ingredients together with the noodles. You will need a cooker which gives you really high heat or else, the noodles might stick to your wok. And if you used the wok to boil the noodles, I would recommend that you fry some sliced shallots in that wok, remove the oil and shallots and wash the wok before proceeding to stir-fry the instant noodles. Frying the shallots or even an egg for that matter will somehow "recondition" the wok to be less sticky.

This is my recipe for Stir-Fried Instant Noodles


Ingredients

• 4 pieces of instant noodles (cooked by boiling as per above paragraph)
• 1 piece or more of fish cake (sliced) (substitute with whatever meat you want)
• 1/2 piece of capsicum (sliced thinly)
• An equal amount of carrots or more (julienned)
• 300 grammes of bean sprouts (rinsed and root removed)
• 2 stalks of spring onions (cut to 3 inch lengths)
  
• 4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)

Seasoning

• 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon of light soya sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of dark soya sauce

Method

Heat oil in wok and saute garlic together with sliced fish cake till garlic begin to brown. Break the eggs over the sliced fish cake and gently stir till egg is thoroughly cooked. Add carrots and capcisum and stir-fry for 1 minute.

Add cooked noodles and seasoning and stir-fry for 1 minute to ensure that seasoning is evenly distributed. Sprinkle some warm water if the noodles are drying out or burning. Sprinkle the spring onions onto the noodles and stir evenly.

Dish out and serve hot with cut chillis.


Technorati Tags : Recipe , Noodles , Stir-Fry , Chinese

This recipe is VERY EASY and DELICIOUS. You have no reasons why you should not try it (unless you do not eat pork), even if you are a beginner. The ingredients are simple and can be obtained almost everywhere. In fact, I used to cook this dish during my university days in England and it was really nice to have it with steaming hot rice on a cold winter's night!



This is my recipe for Stewed Pork Belly in Dark Soya Sauce


Ingredients

• 300 grammes pork belly (whole)
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 2 whole bulbs garlic (separate into individual cloves)
• Approximately 15 - 20 white peppercorns
  
• Warm water
• 1 piece star-anise (optional)
  

Seasoning

• 3 to 4 tablespoons dark soya sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  

Method

Add sugar into a wok / saucepan which has been heated up. Let the sugar caramelise (turn liquid and brown).

Once sugar fully caramelised, add pork belly and let it "sear" for 1 minute on each side. Add water to cover the chicken pork belly (*thanks to Tummythoz for identifying my error) by 1 to 2 cm. Add the rest of the ingredients and seasoning. Once water begins to boil, reduce to medium low heat, cover lid and let it simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.

To serve, separate gravy from the rest of the ingredients. Slice the pork belly to desired thinness.


Technorati Tags : Pork , Recipe , Food

I've always been fascinated with laminated flooring especially those with nice teakwood grain. It always lends a touch of nature and class to the house, especially the kitchen. Currently, my kitchen has the common foot-long tiles with geomatric patterns. Due to financial constraints, we did not change the floor tiles of our kitchen when we moved in.

Recently, I chanced upon www.LaminateFlooringCo.com and had my interest in laminated flooring aroused again. Perhaps I will have a rethink whether to get the kitchen floor laminated in future. After all, the kitchen it is one of my favourite places at home!


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Mui Choy, which is preserved mustard cabbage, comes in two variants - salty type as well as the sweet type. It is normally sold in sundry shops and wet market grocers (unsealed) or in sealed bags in supermarkets. In Malaysia, it is usually sold in wet market grocers. Whichever type you use, make sure you wash and soak them (especially the salty type).

This dish is great eaten with mantou (a type of bun) or with plain white rice. In fact, it even tastes better overnight as the meat would have soaked all the exquisite sweet-salty taste from the cabbage.

This is my recipe for Mui Choy Bak (Mui Choy with Pork Belly)


Ingredients

• 1/3 piece salty mui choy (washed thoroughly, soaked for 30 minutes and chop to small pieces)
• 2/3 pieces sweet mui choy (washed thoroughly, soaked for 15 minutes and chop to small pieces)
• 500 grammes pork belly without skin (also known as three-layered pork, cut to small cubes)
• 2 whole garlic (smash it a bit with the side of a cleaver / chopper)
• 1/2 tablespoon cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
• Warm water

Seasoning

• 2 to 3 tablespoons of dark soya sauce (or more if you prefer)
  
• Sugar and salt to taste (if necessary)

Method

Heat oil in pot and stir-fry pork belly till beginning to brown. Add mui choy and garlic and continue stir frying for another 1 to 2 minutes. Add water to cover all the ingredients by at least 1 cm and seasoning.

Simmer for at least 1 hour or more till meat is flavourful and slightly soft, checking that the dish does not dry out occasionally. You can also add dried chillis at the stir-frying stage if you want a little spiciness to this dish.

For picture of mui choy and a quite similar method of cooking, click here.


Technorati Tags : Recipe , Chinese Food , Mui Choy , Pork

Contrary to the word Mee Hoon being rice vermicelli, the Mee Hoon here is actually a Hokkien word which means flour. This is a soupy dish made using flour dough which has been flatten pancaked-style to small pieces. Some may even identify it as Pan Mee, but this is a home-cooked version and the flour cake is torn into pieces rather than machine-rolled to noodle form.

It is actually quite a healthy dish combining carbohydrates (flour), protein (pork) and fat (little oil is used), fibre (vegetables) and calcium (ikan bilis / dried anchovies). The most important part of this dish is the ikan bilis stock as it gives much flavour to the overall dish. I like to have this for lunch.

This is my recipe for Mee Hoon Kueh (Flour Cake Soup)


Ingredients

• 200 grammes of flour (add some water and knead into a dough, allow dough to stand for 30 minutes and then separate them into balls about half the size of an egg)
• 3/4 bowls of ikan bilis (boil in 5 soup bowls of water for 30 minutes to make ikan bilis stock. Discard ikan bilis thereafter)
• 1/2 bowls of ikan bilis (rinsed)
• 50 to 100 grammes of sliced pork tenderloin (marinate with 2 teaspoons light soya sauce)
  
• 200 grammes or more of chinese mustard leaves (choy sum / sawi) (washed and cut to bite sizes)
• 5 pieces dried chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked in 1 bowl of water till soft and cut into strips discarding the stalk / stem. Retain water for cooking)
• 5 cloves of shallots (sliced thinly)
• Oil for frying (preferably palm oil)
• 2 pinches of chinese salted vegetable (tung choy)

Seasoning

• Light soya sauce
  
• Salt to taste

Method

Fry the 1/2 bowls of rinsed ikan bilis in sufficient oil till crispy. Remove and set aside. Discard oil.

Heat up wok and fry the shallots in about 3 tablespoons of oil till golden brown. Remove fried shallots and set aside. With remaining oil, saute pre-soaked mushrooms for 1 minute (add 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce whilst you saute the mushrooms). Add sliced pork tenderloins and stir-fry till almost cooked.

Add ikan bilis stock and water (used to soak mushrooms) and bring to boil. Meanwhile, using a rolling pin or bare hands, flatten the balls of dough invidually to make flour cake.

When soup is boiling (and keep it boiling throughout), tear flour cake to bite sizes (say approximately 5cm x 3cm) and throw them into the soup. Stir occasionally. Once you've finished with the flour cakes and with soup boiling, chuck in the chinese mustard leaves and stir for about 30 seconds whilst adding seasoning and salted chinese vegetables to taste.

Dish up in bowls (you'll get about 4 bowls here) and sprinkle fried shallots and fried ikan bilis over the soup prior to serving.


Technorati Tags : Recipe , Chinese Food , Flour , Soup , Pan Mee

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Technorati Tags : Apogee Search , PayPerPost , Advertising

Got left over rice in the fridge? Got luncheon meat in the kitchen cabinet? Why not fry them together for a delicious plate of Luncheon Meat Fried Rice? Throw in some carrots for added taste and colour and a couple of slices of cucumber as garnish and you will have a beautiful plate of fried rice to dig in.

This is my recipe for Luncheon Meat Fried Rice.

Ingredients

• 3 bowls of cooked rice (preferably overnight cooked rice) [bowl denoting rice bowl]
  
• 1/2 to 1 tin of luncheon meat (diced)
• 1/2 bowl of carrots (diced)
• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 5 shallots (sliced thinly)
• 1 stalk spring onions (chopped)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil (preferably palm oil)

Seasoning

• 3 teaspoons of salt or to taste
  
• White pepper powder to taste
• teaspoon light soya sauce
• 1 pinch of msg (optional)

Method

Heat oil in wok and fry shallots till golden brown. Remove fried shallots and set aside.

With remaining oil in wok and at high heat, fry luncheon meat till beginning to brown. Set aside.

Stir-fry onion till aromatic, add carrots and stir fry for 1 minute. Add salt and pepper. Mix well.

Add rice and fried luncheon meat and stir-fry for 2 minutes.

Make a "well" in the wok by pushing the rice mixture aside. Break eggs into the "well" and fry it till semi-cooked. Cover with rice mixture and continue frying whilst adding light soya sauce. If wish to, add a pinch of msg. Fry for another minute and add chopped spring onions.

Dish up and sprinkle fried shallots over the fried rice before serving.


Other fried rice recipes on this site:-

Egg Fried Rice

Char Siew Fried Rice


Technorati Tags : Recipe , Fried Rice , Luncheon Meat

The PayPerPost team blogs! Yes, they do. There are many important news and updates, interesting articles and hilarious videos posted on their blog.

I do check out the PayPerPost blog on a regular basis in case some changes have happened recently. One of the recent news which got me comforted was the deployment of new servers at PayPerPost which gives a more consistent performance and reliability, not to mention more bandwidth as well.

If you aren’t a postie yet, visit PayPerPost and check out the cool stuffs offered there, including the cool people behind the scenes.

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Technorati Tags : PayPerPost , Advertising

Stir-fried Pork Liver and Kidney with Ginger is a fear-factor dish for some, confinement food for many chinese mothers and delicacy for some like me. This dish is supposedly "heaty" in nature and helps to expel "wind" after mothers have gone through labour. The liberal use of ginger helps in this cause and the liver and kidney provides much needed nutrients.


Preparation of the kidneys can be a trying task for those who are inexperienced (including me!). If your butcher can help, so much the better. If not, you will need to slice the kidney into half across the middle part, which will give you two equal looking kidney. Using a sharp knife, slice and remove the whitish middle part of the kidney. Then, cut the kidney into smaller portions, cut criss-cross patterns on the outer side of the kidney and then, soak it in water (add ginger slices if you want). My mum will, prior to the actual cooking, further give the kidney "treatment" by frying the kidney in a wok without any oil. It is quite a process because the smell can be offensive to some. After the kidneys have been thoroughly cooked through this process (when it becomes dry and no more juice / water oozes out of the kidney), it will be removed from the wok. Then, wash the wok thoroughly and begin cooking proper.



This is my recipe for Stir-Fried Pork Liver and Kidney with Ginger


Ingredients

• 2 pork kidneys (prepared as per paragraph above)
  
• Equal amount or less of pork liver (sliced)
  
• 50 grammes of sliced pork (marinate with 2 teaspoons light soya sauce and 1 teaspoon corn flour)
  
• 1 or 2 eggs
• 3 cm of ginger (julienned finely)
• 1 1/2 whole bulbs of garlic (chopped)
• 2 to 3 stalks of spring onions (cut to 6 cm lengths or so)
• 1 tablespoons cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  
• Warm water

Seasoning

• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dark soya sauce
• 1 teaspoon light soya sauce
• White pepper powder (to taste)
• 2 teaspoons brandy

Method

Heat cooking oil and sesame oil in wok on high heat and saute garlic and ginger till aromatic. Push garlic and ginger slices aside and fry an egg till semi-done. Add sliced pork and mix well with egg, garlic and ginger till pork is cooked.

Add kidneys, seasoning and warm water enough to cover the ingredients and bring to boil with lid closed. Add liver and break another egg on top of ingredients. Stir gently and add spring onions.

Once liver is cooked (no more blood oozing out), dish up and serve.


Technorati Tags : Recipe , Chinese Food , Confinement Food , Liver , Kidney , Pork

I really love PayPerPost! Why? Well, after 6 posts, I have been informed that I will be paid in excess of USD$60.00, that's why. There good thing about PayPerPost is that you get to choose a topic which interests you and just blog away. For this site, I usually blog about food related stuffs eg., coupons for online purchases of food stuffs and organic food web site. That way, I keep the contents relevant to this site.

The blog money I earn will go towards the purchase of a dedicated domain for this web site, which hopefully, will be up and running by February 2007. Recently, PayPerPost has a new affiliate programme wherein bloggers registered with PayPerPost like me who are successful in referring bloggers to sign up with PayPerPost and who eventually earn their first income through PayPerPost will earn me USD15.00 per referral. Do remember to type my email as your referral when you register especially if you feel strongly about crediting me for convincing you about PayPerPost.

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Technorati Tags : PayPerPost , Advertising , Money

This is a healthy dish to eat and fairly simple to cook. The ingredients are kept to a minimum for simple cooking and it is delicious eaten with plain white rice or porridge. As I have mentioned before, tofu (beancurd) comes in many textures and for this recipe, I use the firm white tofu which comes in a size of 6cm x 6cm x 2 cm (W x L x H) blocks.

You can whip up this dish in 30 minutes wherein the majority of the time spent is actually towards marinating the minced pork. You can substitute the pork with chicken. I have not tried minced beef or minced lamb though. If you wish to spice up the dish a bit, you can add a little (perhaps 1 teaspoon) of chilli oil when you start frying the minced pork for that added kick.

This is my recipe for Tofu with Minced Pork


Ingredients

• 3 pieces firm tofu (quartered)
• 100 to 150 grammes of minced pork
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
  
• Spring onions (cut to 6cm lengths or thereabouts for garnishing)
• 2 tablespoons of cooking oil (palm oil preferred)
• 50 ml water or more
• Cornstarch (mix 1 tablespoon corn flour with 4 tablespoons water)

Marinade for minced pork

• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon of corn flour

Seasoning

• 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon dark soya sauce
• salt to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper powder

Method

Marinade minced pork for about 30 minutes.

Heat oil in wok and stir-fry garlic till beginning to brown. Add minced pork and stir-fry till cooked. Add tofu, water and seasoning and lightly stir to mix well. Close lid and let it cook for another 2 minutes (add more water if gravy drying out).

Before serving, and sprinkle spring onions evenly and add cornstarch bit by bit if gravy too runny for your liking.

For other tofu dishes, click on the label "Beancurd" below.


Technorati Tags : Recipe , Chinese Food , Tofu , Beancurd

Organic BabyVillage.Com is an online organic baby shop with a difference. Rather than being just a commercial site, it is also a place where parents share organic style living. This informative site gives organic product reviews, parents' choice of organic baby products, news articles on organic baby food amongst others as well as a big choice of organic baby food, resources and organic baby gifts available for purchase. The site has a nice simple layout and is easy to navigate to find the information or product you are looking for.

I find the product review quite useful and informative especially since I have 2 children at home aged 3 years old and 9 months old respectively. These reviews give me an informed choice of organic baby products which I can purchase for my children. I never even know there existed an organic baby shower or eco-baby shower before I visited organicbabyvillage.com!

Another helpful advise I got through organicbabyvillage.com was information on how to avoid toxins in mother's milk. This is especially helpful because my wife still breastfeeds our younger child and it is good to know how to keep toxins away from the breast milk.

Those who are thinking of trying out organic food will find articles like "Seven Tips for Buying Organic Food" most useful. This first and most obvious tip was - When starting out, focus on organic alternatives to the food that your family eats most. How very true! Sometimes we go scouting around the supermarket aisles looking for some organic products without a focus and without realising that if we intend to try organic food, we might as well try an organic alternative to something which we eat most often. A good example for Asian cuisine would be organic rice since rice is a staple diet! Or even vegetables. That way, we would be able to detect a difference in our health much faster than say, if we try out something which is not in our daily diet.

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Technorati Tags : Organic , Health , Advertising

Lately, Dwarf Bok Choy is commonly sold in markets. Bok Choy or Pak Choy is a commonly cooked vegetable in chinese cuisine. Generally, the vegetable has dark green leaves and white or greenish spoon-shaped stems. Siew Pak Choy (Small Pak Choy) is a favourite to many and has greenish coloured stems whilst the Tai Pak Choy (Big Pak Choy) has a darker green leave atop white coloured stems. Dwarf Bok Choy, I believe, is a miniature version of the Tai Pak Choy, which you can see in the picture.


I find the Dwarf Bok Choy sweeter in taste rather than the more bitter Tai Pak Choy. That is not to say that it tastes sweet but rather, bitter sweet. I usually cook this vegetable with garlic and dried prawns. Somehow, I find the combination of garlic and dried prawns bring out the nice bitter sweet flavour of the vegetable. I also understand that cooking with dried prawns enable the vegetable to cook faster. You will notice that I do not use any seasoning as I prefer the original flavour from the garlic and dried prawns. The dried prawns are in itself, slightly salty.

This is my recipe for Stir-Fried Dwarf Bok Choy with Garlic and Dried Prawns


Ingredients

• Approximately 200 grammes of dwarf bok choy (wash and rinse to remove dirt)
• 5 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 30 grammes of dried prawns (rinsed for a couple of seconds, pre-soaked in 50 ml water for 20 minutes - retain water for cooking)
• 1 tablespoon of cooking oil (palm oil preferred)

Method

Heat oil in wok and stir-fry the dried prawns for about 10 seconds. Add garlic and continue stir-frying till garlic begin to brown. Add dwarf bok choy and stir-fry for another 15 seconds or so. Add the water (previously used to soak dried prawns) and close lid.

Cook dwarf bok choy according to how soft you want the stems to be. Add a little water if you wish to have more gravy and add salt to taste (if not already salty).


Technorati Tags : Vegetable , Bok Choy , Recipe , Chinese Cooking , Stir-Fry

Online shopping is now catching on fast and many people have started purchasing items through the internet with just a click of the mouse minus the hassles of travelling and finding a car parking space. Even so, there is a greater incentive to shop using online coupons because these coupons will enable you to obtain further discounts from the prices listed by your favourite merchants.

Let me illustrate. Say, you want to buy some coffee beans from Starbucks. Just go over to CouponCHIEF.Com and click on Food & Wine Coupons. Next, click on Starbucks.Com coupons and you will be directed to special deals offered eg. Free Standard Shipping on Orders above $49.00. The best part is, the coupons are free of charge! No hidden terms at all. You can get coupons from well-known food and wine merchants like Omaha Steaks coupons, Chocolatesource coupons and Lobster Gram coupons.

Use the coupons. You have nothing to lose!

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Technorati Tags : Coupons , Online Shopping , Advertising

Instant noodles are sold in all supermarkets nowadays. I think most people have got their favourite brands and flavour. When I first started learning how to cook, I was taught by mum to cook instant noodles without using the packet of ingredients that come with it. No MSG.


If you do not wish to be wasteful, you can actually buy a larger packet of instant noodles which does not come with any flavour. These noodles can be cooked in a variety of ways - in soup, stir-fried and even dried style, which I shall show you shortly.


This recipe is a very basic recipe and there are no accompanying ingredients. You can add them on your own eg. fried egg, sausages, blanched vegetables, etc. It's all up to you. Use your creativity, ya? Tell me if you like this recipe or not. My 3 year old daughter loves it!

This is my recipe for Super Fast Noodles


Ingredients

• 1 piece dried instant noodles
• Water to boil

Seasoning

• 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil

Method

Place seasoning on a plate.

Boil instant noodles in water for 3 minutes till cooked. Remove and drain and mix well with the seasoning. Serve immediately.


Technorati Tags : Noodles , Recipe , Simple Cooking

Sugar Snap Peas are sweet tasting, crisp and succulent and make a good mixed vegetable dish. They have a thicker pod compared to the snap peas and the seeds are larger and sweeter. However, you will have to match it with the right ingredients to get a nice combination of taste and texture. In this recipe, I have mixed it with baby corns (absolutely wonderful and sweet tasting, yet crunchy), carrots (highly nutritious and sweet) and chinese dried mushrooms / shiitake mushrooms (smooth, smoky flavoured and absorbs the gravy well) for a delicious and healthy stir-fry. You can substitute the mushrooms with any other type of mushrooms eg. straw mushrooms, button mushrooms or golden needle mushrooms.


When preparing the snow peas, do remove the tips either using your fingers or with a small knife. Try to remove the stringy fibre which runs across both sides of the pod by pulling the tip across. It's like unzipping the pod, only that the pod stays intact and the seeds remain inside.

The timing indicated for cooking below is only an estimate and it also depends on the intensity of the heat that your stove gives. You can adjust the timing to cater for your preferred softness of the vegetables. I like my sugar snap peas crispy, so I do not cook them for a long time.

This is my recipe for Stir-Fried Mixed Vegetables - Sugar Snap Peas, Baby Corn, Carrots and Mushrooms

Method

Heat oil in wok and stir fry the garlic together with the mushrooms till garlic begins to brown. Add baby corn and carrots and continue to stir fry for another 30 seconds while adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of water.

Add seasoning and semi-cover vegetables with warm water and close lid to allow vegetables to cook. Periodically check for drying out. After about 1 1/2 minutes or when gravy almost dried out, add sugar snap peas and another 3 tablespoons of water, stir well and close lid again. Sugar snap peas are done when the pod is breaking and has turned darker green in colour. Add a little bit of corn starch is gravy is too runny for your liking.

Serve hot with white rice.


Technorati Tags : Vegetables , Peas , Recipe , Chinese Food

It is good to spend wisely. Sometimes, one marketing trip without proper planning can drain your wallet faster than you think. Like when you find the vegetables so fresh looking that you cannot help but want to grab a couple of bunches at one go even though you are only cooking for a weekend.

That is on home spending. Other areas of spending may need some planning as well for instance credit cards, loans and remortgages. At the ThriftyScot, you will also find advise and comparison charts for competitive bank accounts and home insurance packages for you to consider. The ThriftyScot offers daily updated financial news to keep readers informed and gives comments and opinions on events in the financial marketplace and how these affect the consumer.

Whilst ThriftyScot serves primarily the UK consumers, the tips and advise on money matters which are of universal application. One tip I appreciated was the use of the paper shredder as an anti-fraud weapon. Read about it here.

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Technorati Tags : Money , Credit Card , Loan , Advertising , PayPerPost

I like eating beancurd / tofu very much and this is one of the dishes I usually choose when I have economy rice at the food stalls. Tofu comes in many forms - firm, soft, with egg, etc. Japanese tofu is usually very smooth in texture and rather soft to the touch. One of the most common Japanese tofu available is the ones sold in tubes.


These tofus usually has eggs as one of the ingredients and it is slightly salty to taste rather than neutral. Bearing in mind that it is already "tasty" on its own, the gravy should not be overpowering in taste. Otherwise, you would have missed out on the tofu's original taste.


In this recipe, I have cooked a gravy based on finely cut mushrooms (dried chinese mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms to be exact) and wood-ear fungus. I also throw in some julienned carrots for a contrast in colour as well as to provide natural sweetness to the gravy. The crunchiness of the wood-ear fungus and the smooth smoky taste of the mushrooms provide an interesting biting experience. I ran out of spring onions when I was cooking this dish but you may wish to throw in some for added colour as well.

This is my recipe for Japanese Tofu with Braised Mushrooms and Wood-Ear Fungus


Ingredients

• 2 tubes of Japanese Tofu (slice across the tube in the middle using a very sharp knife, gently push the tofu out onto a plate. Cut the tofu into 1.5 - 2 cm thickness)
• 2 - 3 pieces wood-ear fungus (pre-soak in water to soften it and thereafter, cut into thin strips)
• 4 - 5 pieces dried chinese mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms (pre-soaked and thereafter cut into thin strips)
• 50 grammes of carrot (julienned)
• 50 - 100 grammes minced meat (pork or chicken) - optional
  
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
• Oil for deep frying
• 1 cup water / stock
  
• Corn starch (prepared using 2 tablespoons corn flour mixed with 4 tablespoons water)

Marinade (for minced meat)

• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon of corn flour

Seasoning

• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• Salt to taste
• 2 teaspoons chinese cooking wine

Method

Marinade the minced meat for 30 minutes.

Deep fry the tofu on high heat till golden brown. (Tip: Place cut tofu on plate and dust / sprinkle 3 teaspoons of corn flour to lightly coat the tofu before frying. The tofu will turn out crispy on outside). Remove and line on plate.

Use 1 1/2 tablespoons of the oil previously used for deep-frying and heat it up in a wok. Fry the garlic with minced meat till minced meat is cooked. If no minced meat is used, fry the garlic with wood-ear fungus and mushrooms on medium heat till garlic browns. Add carrots and stir-well. Add oyster sauce, water and close lid to bring to boil. Once boiled, reduce to medium low heat to simmer for 5 minutes and add salt to taste. (The longer your simmer, the better tasting the gravy will be). Add cornstarch gradually to thicken gravy to your desire.

Pour gravy over the pre-fried tofu and serve hot with rice.


Technorati Tags : Tofu , Beancurd , Recipe , Chinese Food , Mushroom