Hochiak! Delicious Asian Food

New Here?

2007-12-17T13:00:00.001+08:00

In case you are new over here, Hochiak! Delicious Asian Food has now moved to its own domain at http://deliciousasianfood.com. Head on over for the latest mouth watering recipes.

Making pop corns

2007-12-17T12:53:00.000+08:00

I remembered back in 1990 when I was in Form 4 and my school was having a Food & Fun Fair. After much pondering, my classmates and I decided to make some popcorns to sell. It was cheap and relatively easy to make. Not only that, we reckoned that we could make a hefty profit for the school's fund. The only set-back for us was that we don't have a popcorn maker.

It would make no sense for us to buy ourselves a popcorn maker just for a day and so, we asked around if anyone had access to one. We even went to a popcorn vendor and asked if he could loan us the popcorn maker just for one day but he said that he would need to charge us rental for that, which was not unreasonable. The problem was the amount of rental itself does not make it economically viable for us to take up the deal.

Finally, after much deliberation, we decided to make our very own popcorn maker. We used a wok instead. A wok with a lid. And it worked perfectly well. You should try that as well ;)

Slow Cooked Pork Ribs in Plum Sauce

2007-12-17T12:36:00.000+08:00

The slow cooker is a useful cooking assistant for the kitchen. You can just leave it to cook for hours without fearing that the food inside will dry up quickly. Cooking pork ribs in a slow cooker is an excellent way to ensure that the meat on the ribs are stewed well and have that "melt in the mouth" feeling. By the way, there is no fear of the slow cooker (also known as Crockpot) cracking even though no water is added to the cooker prior to or during cooking. The meat and vegetables will provide the necessary juices to make the dish moist. Since no water is added, you can bet that the gravy will turn out really flavourful! And the meat is so tender that it just slips off the bone. Yummy!

This is my recipe for Pork Ribs in Plum Sauce

Ingredients

300 to 400 grammes of pork ribs (cut to desired size)
1 to 2 large onions (cut into chunks)
1 large carrot (cut into chunks)

Marinade

4 teaspoons of plum sauce
1/2 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce
a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
a pinch of salt
1 heaped teaspoon of corn flour

Method

Marinate the pork ribs for at least 1 hour. The longer the better.

Lay onions and carrots on bottom of slow cooker. Then, lay pork ribs on top of the onions and carrots. Turn on slow cooker to high for 3 hours. If you have left over marinade, baste the ribs halfway through cooking.

Announcing Dot.Com

2007-01-15T17:50:00.000+08:00

The secret is out! After much work and time, I've completed the recipe which is at least, okay to be revealed. Still need to be perfected though.

I've gone dot.com and this blog is now migrated to its own home at

http://deliciousasianfood.com

There is still much to do as wordpress is a different fish altogether. I'm still trying to get my fellow blogger's links up there. Friends, do remember to link up or bookmark to my new site, ya? I will be updating over there from now on.

As for current wordpress users, give me some tips and comments on the site and how I can improve it. I need to put up links to my fellow foodies ;) as well as recent posts.

See ya there!

Something's Cooking

2007-01-10T10:38:00.000+08:00

Sorry I have not shared any recipes recently. I am cooking something up but it's not ready yet. The recipe is rather complex and it is the first time I am doing it. I'm currently marinating the food and have to consider what kind of seasoning would be appropriate so that it will turn out well. If it doesn't turn out well, I will not reveal it.

You and I will know in due course.

Bovril Chicken

2007-01-08T11:18:00.000+08:00

Bovril Chicken

Marmite Chicken is probably more famous than Bovril Chicken. But since I only have Bovril at home, Bovril Chicken it shall be then. It is also my very first try and I am quite pleased with how it turned out.

Fried Chicken

There are two steps in this recipe. The first step is to fry the chicken and the second is to cook the bovril sauce before coating the chicken with it prior to serving. You will need to have fast hands with cooking the sauce because the sauce can dry out pretty fast. However, if you add too much water (to prevent drying out), it would be too runny and not as nice. Anyway, don't let that fear you into trying this dish. It's actually an experiment on my part and it works!

This is my recipe for Bovril Chicken

Ingredients

6 chicken supremes (the tender piece of the chicken breast, cut into cubes)
1 large onion (quartered)
5 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
about 30 to 50 ml warm water
Oil for deep frying

Marinade for chicken

2 teaspoons light soya sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons chinese cooking wine
a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
1/2 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon of oyster sauce
1 teaspoon corn flour

Seasoning

2 heaped teaspoons of bovril
salt to taste
1 teaspoon sugar or to taste

Method

Marinade chicken for 30 minutes or longer and deep fry till golden brown. Set aside.

Leave approximately 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in wok and saute garlic and onions till fragrant. Add seasoning and water and bring to boil. Return fried chicken pieces to wok and stir well to coat the sauce over the chicken.

Remove and serve hot with rice.

Technorati Tags : Recipe , Chicken , Bovril , Marmite , Chinese Food

Stir-Fried Sotong with Sarawak Laksa Paste

2007-01-05T14:02:00.000+08:00

Stir-Fried Sotong with Sarawak Laksa Paste

Care for squids? Squids, also known as sotong in Malay (and Hokkien), is great when cooked in sambal. It cooks pretty fast and usually, it is best not too cook it for too long or it might become chewy. To prepare it for cooking, push the "head" apart and reach into the "body / cavity" for a plastic-like strip. Remove that and wash the sotong clean.

Squid aka Sotong

I had been wanting to get rid of the leftover Sarawak Laksa paste which was lying in the fridge and last Saturday's trip to the wet market gave me an opportunity when the fishmonger had some really fresh sotongs on sale. So, I bought 300 grammes worth of sotong and was drooling in anticipation of what I was going to cook that night. I also bought some lime to give this dish a slight tangy and refreshing taste to it. Otherwise, it would be too much of a plain sambal taste.

This is my recipe for Stir-Fried Sotong with Sarawak Laksa Paste

Ingredients

300 grammes squid / sotong (washed and cleaned and cut across into 2 cm tubes)
1 1/2 tablespoons sarawak laksa paste
6 lime (squeezed for the juice)
3 to 5 pieces kaffir lime leaves
2 medium sized onions (chopped roughly)
1 tablespoon cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
30 to 50 ml warm water

Seasoning

2 teaspoon sugar
Salt to taste

Method

Heat oil in wok and saute onions till fragrant. Add sarawak laksa paste and stir well for 30 seconds. Add sotong, lime juice, kaffir lime leaves, water and seasoning whilst stirring. Sotong is cooked when it curls up.

Serve with plain white rice or coconut rice.

Technorati Tags : Recipe , Sotong , Squid , Sarawak Laksa , Seafood

Sitiawan Noodle ala PabloPabla

2007-01-04T10:29:00.000+08:00

Sitiawan Noodle ala PabloPabla

This must be one of the discoveries from Sitiawan. I was there for a trip recently and chanced upon these instant noodles being sold at a famous Kong Pia shop. Read about my review on the kong pia. Anyway, I've always known that the Foochows have great tasting noodles called "Kan Pua". And I believe these are the dried and instant type.

Seng Huat Hand-Made Instant Noodles

Having brought it home, I went to the wet market the next day, bought some char siew (with sauce), cucumbers and carrots and had a lip-smacking lunch ala PabloPabla. Almost like cold soba styled, it's simple, light, healthy and definitely, delicious! These noodles are different because of the texture and it does not break easily. It also does not clump up. Try it if you can get your hands on these noodles. Otherwise, just try it with any other types of instant noodles though I can't guarantee it will be as nice.

This is Sitiawan Noodle ala PabloPabla

Ingredients

5 pieces Sitiawan instant noodles
200 grammes of char siew (sliced thinly)
1 medium sized cucumber (remove core, cut to strips)
1 medium sized carrot (cut to strips)
5 shallots (sliced thinly)
5 tablespoons palm oil
Water for boiling

Seasoning

50 ml char siew gravy / sauce
3 teaspoons light soya sauce
a couple of dashes of white pepper powder

Method

Fry shallots in oil till golden brown. Remove fried shallots. Save up 2 tablespoons of shallot oil.

Boil instant noodles till al-dente. Remove, run through cold tap water and return to boiling water to heat it just a little. Drain and let the noodles cool down.

In a large mixing bowl, mix noodles with seasoning and shallot oil till even.

Place an amount of noodles on serving plate, garnish with generous amounts of cucumber, carrots and char siew. Mix well before eating. Gives about 4 servings.

Technorati Tags : Recipe , Noodle , Pork , Chinese Food , Char Siew

Spinach Soup with Hawthorn Berries

2007-01-03T11:08:00.000+08:00

Spinach Soup with Hawthorn Berries

*Urgent correction!! Oh dear! It is not supposed to be hawthorn berries! It's wolfberries! Where in the world did I get hawthorn berries from? I hope no one has used hawthorn berries and had stomach upset or the like after trying out this recipe. I can't possibly change the title above without getting this post topsy-turvy in the search engines. So, from here onwards, it's wolfberries, ya? Not hawthorn berries. Thanks to Jessie for raising enough suspicion in me that my original post is dodgy*

Spinach is a fast-cooking vegetable and packed with nutrients. That's why Popeye loves 'em. It can be stir-fried and it can be cooked in soup. Recently, my dear wife told me that she wanted to try cooking spinach soup with hawthorn berries (a.k.a. kei chee).

Imagine all the goodness from the spinach doubled up with the circulatory benefits of hawthorn berries (get the good quality berries which are slightly plummer and sweeter in taste). It is definitely a power-packed soup. Oh yes, the stock is made from ikan bilis soup. So, there you go. My daughter of 3 1/2 years old loved it. I think you will too!

This is my wife's recipe for Spinach Soup with Hawthorn Berries

Ingredients

300 grammes of spinach (rinsed and plucked at the stems. Discard old or thick stems)
10 grammes of hawthorn berries (about 20 to 30 pieces)
100 grammes of minced meat (we use pork)
50 grammes of ikan bilis
3 soup bowls

Marinade (for minced meat)

2 teaspoons light soya sauce
a dash of white pepper powder

Seasoning

Salt to taste
2 teaspoons light soya sauce

Method

Boil ikan bilis in water for 30 minutes to make stock. Remove ikan bilis when done. Meanwhile, marinade minced meat.

Bring stock to boil again after removing ikan bilis. Scoop minced meat into meat balls using a teaspoon and add into the stock. Cook till all meat balls float to surface. Add spinach and hawthorn berries and bring back soup to boil. Add seasoning to taste and serve immediately.

Technorati Tags : Recipe , Spinach , Pork , Chinese Food , Soup

Deep Fried Tofu Meat Patties

2006-12-28T12:01:00.000+08:00

Deep Fried Tofu Meat Patties

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.

After steaming

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

Claypot Chicken with Bitter Gourd

2006-12-26T11:32:00.000+08:00

Claypot Chicken with Bitter Gourd

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

Stir-Fried Instant Noodles

2006-12-21T16:01:00.000+08:00

Stir-Fried Instant Noodles

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.

Ingredients

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.

Close-Up of a piece of Fish Cake

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

Stewed Pork Belly in Dark Soya Sauce

2006-12-18T12:14:00.000+08:00

Stewed Pork Belly in Dark Soya Sauce (before slicing)

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

Laminated Kitchen Flooring

2006-12-18T11:55:00.000+08:00

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!

This is a sponsored post.

Mui Choy Bak (Mui Choy with Pork Belly)

2006-12-15T16:02:00.000+08:00

Mui Choy Bak

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

Mee Hoon Kueh (Flour Cake Soup)

2006-12-13T11:48:00.000+08:00

Mee Hoon Kueh (Flour Cake Soup)

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

Search Marketing Solutions the Apogee Way

2006-12-12T15:02:00.000+08:00

Apogee Search, a division of Leads Customer Growths LLC is a Search Engine Marketing Company founded in 2001 whose corporate headquarters is in Austin, Texas. Apogee Search claims that using proven techniques, powerful Web analytics tools, and a deep expertise in statistical evaluation helps generate solid, measurable results at every stage of the search engine marketing process.

On 24th October, 2006, Apogee Search announced that it has decided to endorse and support the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO). Founded in 2002, SEMPO's purpose is to educate, and foster awareness of SEM and its role in marketing. Key sponsors include search engine giants like Google and Yahoo!.

If you have a web site and would like to generate more traffic to your site, visit Apogee Search today.

This is a sponsored post.

Technorati Tags : Apogee Search , PayPerPost , Advertising

Luncheon Meat Fried Rice

2006-12-12T14:39:00.000+08:00

Luncheon Meat Fried Rice

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

PayPerPost Blog

2006-12-11T12:08:00.000+08:00

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.

As I have mentioned, the blog has some utterly hilarious videos where the staffers take a go at each other. It shows how sporting these people are and it gives people like us a a good way to destress.

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

This is a sponsored post.

Technorati Tags : PayPerPost , Advertising

Stir-Fried Pork Liver and Kidney with Ginger

2006-12-11T11:23:00.000+08:00

Stir-Fried Pork Liver and Kidney with Ginger

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.

Pork Kidneys being soaked

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.

Ingredients (clockwise from top) : Kidney, sliced pork,
egg, spring onions, ginger, garlic, liver

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

PayPerPost Affiliate

2006-12-11T10:54:00.000+08:00

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.

If you have not signed up with PayPerPost, you don't know what you are missing out especially if you are a regular blogger. Just click on the PayPerPost badge which appears on the right hand side column of this site and you will be taken to the registration form for PayPerPost.

Signing up is simple and fast, not to mention getting paid to blog!

This is a sponsored post.

Technorati Tags : PayPerPost , Advertising , Money

Tofu with Minced Pork

2006-12-08T10:40:00.000+08:00

Tofu with Minced Pork

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

2006-12-08T09:48:00.000+08:00

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.

This is a sponsored post.

Technorati Tags : Organic , Health , Advertising

Stir-Fried Dwarf Bok Choy with Garlic and Dried Prawns

2006-12-06T16:35:00.000+08:00

Stir-Fried Dwarf Bok Choy with Garlic and Dried Prawns

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.

Dwarf Bok Choy

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

Shop Using Coupons from CouponCHIEF.Com

2006-12-06T09:27:00.000+08:00

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!

This is a sponsored post.

Technorati Tags : Coupons , Online Shopping , Advertising

Super Fast Noodles

2006-12-05T17:49:00.000+08:00

Delicious Super Fast Noodles

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.

Boil the instant noodles

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.

Combination of seasoning

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

Stir-Fried Mixed Vegetables - Sugar Snap Peas, Baby Corn, Carrots and Mushrooms

2006-12-04T15:16:00.001+08:00

Stir-Fried Mixed Vegetables - Sugar Snap Peas, Baby Corn, Carrots and Mushrooms

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.

Sugar Snap Peas

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

Ingredients

100 grammes sugar snap peas (about 20 pieces, remove tip and fibre which runs across the pod)
8 pieces of baby corn (sliced lengthwise to quarters)
Carrots (sliced - amount to your desire)
5 pieces chinese dried mushrooms (pre-soaked till soft)
3 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 tablespoon cooking oil (palm oil preferred)
30 ml of water or more
Corn starch (prepared using 1 tablespoon of corn flour mixed with 5 tablespoons of water)

Seasoning

1 tablespoon oyster sauce
salt to taste
a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
2 teaspoons chinese cooking wine

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

Save money with the Thrifty Scot

2006-12-01T11:30:00.000+08:00

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.

This is a sponsored post.

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

Japanese Tofu with Braised Mushrooms and Wood-Ear Fungus

2006-12-01T09:28:00.000+08:00

Japanese Tofu with Braised Mushrooms and Wood-Ear Fungus

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.

Japanese Tofu

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.

Pre-fried Japanese Tofu lined on the plate before the gravy is poured over it

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

Stir-Fried Pork Tenderloin with Enoki Mushroom

2006-11-29T16:06:00.000+08:00

Stir-Fried Pork Tenderloin with Enoki Mushroom

I like to eat enoki mushrooms. They are also known as "kim cham" mushrooms (meaning golden needles in hokkien) as they are longish with a small cap. These mushrooms are sometimes added to soups like Bak Kut Teh and commonly used in Japanese cooking. The stems have a crunchy bite despite it being rather thin and needle-like in appearance. It has a mild and delightful flavour and compliments well with meat dishes.

Enoki Mushroom

I usually cook enoki mushrooms with meat, pork tenderloins to be exact. You can substitute the meat with chicken breasts. The enoki mushrooms are added in towards the end of the cooking time as too much cooking will render the stems tough and stringy.

This is my recipe for Stir-Fried Pork Tenderloin with Enoki Mushrooms

Ingredients

200 grammes of pork tenderloins (sliced thinly)
1 packet of enoki mushrooms (cut off and discard the bottom of the cluster of mushrooms and gently rinse them to remove any dirt)
1/2 piece of carrot (julienned) - for added colour to the dish
3 cloves garlic (chopped)
2 tablespoons of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
50 ml of warm water
Corn starch (prepared using 1 tablespoon of corn flour mixed with 5 tablespoons of water)

Marinade

1 tablespoon of light soya sauce
a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
1 teaspoon of corn flour

Seasoning

3/4 tablespoons of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of chinese cooking wine
Salt

Method

Marinade pork tenderloin for about 30 minutes.

Heat oil in wok on high heat and stir-fry the garlic till beginning to brown. Add pork tenderloin and carrots and stir-fry till meat is almost cooked. Add oyster sauce and salt to taste followed by water and bring gravy to boil. Then add the enoki mushrooms and chinese cooking wine and stir well for 30 seconds.

If it is too dry to your liking, add a little bit more warm water. If the gravy is too runny, add a tablespoon of corn starch at a time.

Serve hot with steaming white rice.

Technorati Tags : Recipe , Pork , Mushroom , Chinese Food

Wallhogs.com

2006-11-29T10:21:00.000+08:00

Have you heard of Wallhogs? They provide digital printing services with a difference. They specialise in big sized prints and I am talking about 2 feet going up to 7 feet tall by 2 feet wide! That's taller than me and most people anyway. The prints will be printed on a choice of removable matt wall graphic vinyl, premium glossy photobased paper or even semi-gloss fine art paper.

Payment can be made via Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express and even through PayPal accounts and the prints are shipped via UPS. Safe and secure delivery right to your doorstep!

Wallhogs can even help you to remove any background junk from the picture of your choice and you can even add captions into your picture which you can then hang it on your wall. Imagine having a picture poster of your favourite food with the words "Eat me, quick!". Hmm...I might very well try that. Oh yes, the posters come with 6-colour scratch, water and fade resistant UV inks to ensure that your posters are maintenance-free. If you drool on the picture of the food, you just need to wipe it off!

Wallhogs prices start from a low USD$19.99 with the posters ready for the wall. And when I said it is ready for the wall, I mean no use of nails or screws necessary. The posters come with self-adhesive backing, which is really great for those not familiar with tools.

This is a paid post.

Technorati Tags : PayPerPost , Wallhogs , Advertising , Pictures

Stir-Fried Yau Mak with Garlic

2006-11-28T17:43:00.000+08:00

Stir-Fried Yau Mak with Garlic

I like vegetables. I think I am okay with all types of vegetables except the obvious bitter ones eg. bitter gourd. I know it is good for health but I usually give it a pass. Not with green leafy vegetables though.

There are many varieties of lettuce around and most of them can be eaten raw or cooked. If you intend to stir-fry the lettuce, make sure that your wok is really heated up to very high temperature (smoking) so as to minimise cooking time and to prevent too much water oozing out from the leaves. The idea is not to have the vegetables swimming in a pool of gravy. You also lose a lot of essential vitamins and minerals by prolonged cooking of the vegetables. Here, I use a type of lettuce known as "Yau Mak" which is a slightly smaller version of the romaine lettuce. I should have taken a photo of it before the leaves were separated and rinsed.

This is my recipe for Stir-Fried Yau Mak with Garlic

Ingredients

2 pieces yau mak (or to your desired amount but bear in mind that they will shrivel and reduce in size as you cook, separate leaves and rinse well. Drain in colander to remove excess water)
at least 5 cloves of garlic (chopped)
4 cloves of shallots (sliced thinly)
3 tablespoons of palm oil

Seasoning

1 1/2 tablespoons of oyster sauce

Method

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

Add garlic into remaining oil and stir fry for about 10 seconds followed by yau mak. Give it two or three stirs and add oyster sauce. Stir till leaves are evenly coated with sauce. I like the leaves crunchy, so I do not usually stir fry them for more than 1 minute.

Sprinkle fried shallots prior to serving.

Technorati Tags : Lettuce , Recipe , Chinese Food

Pork and Dried Oyster Porridge

2006-11-28T11:27:00.000+08:00

Pork Porridge with Dried Oysters

Let's cook porridge / congee today! I like to eat porridge especially on for lunch on weekends. It is light and suitable on hot days especially when you want to eat something non-oily. When I plan to cook porridge for lunch, I will usually drop by at the wet market in the morning to buy yau char kuey (fritters) to compliment the porridge.

Porridge can be cooked with many different types of ingredients. Actually, the types of ingredients are only limited by one's imagination. Here, I have added minced pork, pork liver and dried oysters. The dried oysters add a little sweetness to the porridge whilst the other ingredients each have its individual taste. I also like to break an egg into the bowl prior to pouring boiling hot porridge over it. It is a taste I acquired since young (runs in the family).

Give this recipe a try. If some of the ingredients are not your type, feel free to omit them or substitute them. If you need clarification, just post them in the comments below.

This is my recipe for Pork and Dried Oyster Porridge

Ingredients

Approximately 50 to 100 grammes of rice (rinsed once and pre-soaked in water for 30 minutes)
100 grammes of minced pork
50 grammes of pork liver (sliced)
5 to 10 pieces of dried oyster (pre-soaked in water for 30 minutes and cut into half)
1 to 2 pieces of yau char kuey (cut across like in the picture above)
4 cloves of shallots (sliced thinly)
3 eggs
3 bowls of Water
2 tablespoons of palm oil
3 teaspoons sesame oil

Marinade (for minced pork)

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

Seasoning

2 teaspoons light soya sauce
Salt
White pepper powder

Garnishing

Chopped spring onions
Chinese salted vegetables or Tung Chai

Method

Marinade minced pork for 15 minutes or more.

Place water in a cooking pot and add rice. Cover with lid and bring to boil. Unlid and reduce heat to medium low and cook till rice becomes porridge / cooked and broken (approximately 20 minutes). Add a little hot water when it becomes too dry. You shall strive to cook it a little runny in consistency. Midway through cooking, add the oysters.

Meanwhile, place cut yau char kuey into a toaster oven to toast it till crisp. At the same time, heat oil in wok and fry the sliced shallots till golden brown. Remove fried shallots and set aside.

Once you have cooked the porridge, bring to boil again and add the minced pork (using a teaspoon, scoop one teaspoon of minced meat at a time) and stir. After you have finished adding all the minced pork, add the pork liver and stir the porridge till pork liver is cooked (no more blood oozing out - yes, I know it sounds gross but it's delicious, I tell you!). Add seasoning to taste.

To serve, break an egg into bowl (you will have about 3 servings here) and pour boiling hot porridge over the egg. Drizzle one teaspoon sesame oil and add garnishing. If you still have some of the oil used to fry the shallots, drizzle a bit as well. Finally, sprinkle the toasted and crispy yau char kuey and fried shallots over the porridge.

Enjoy! I know it may sound a bit complicated but it is actually very easy to cook if you try it.

Technorati Tags : Porridge , Recipe , Pork , Food

PayPerPost really pays

2006-11-27T14:01:00.000+08:00

I am beginning to like PayPerPost (PPP). I did not realise how easy it is to earn side income through PPP until I signed up for it recently. Thanks to philin and 5xmom's recommendation, I am now, perhaps, on my way to accumulating enough money to own my very own domain. I wonder what domain name should I choose?

Anyway, PPP is now catching the world in storm and many bloggers have joined the bandwagon. Apart from this, the advertisers have also increased thus giving bloggers and website owners more articles to write about. When companies or institutions advertise on blogs, their advertisements reach a growing audience which can number in the millions considering the rate of growth of blogs. I would love it if more food companies join PPP as advertisers so that food bloggers like us can give our reviews about their products.

The other advantage of PPP is that you only blog and post about something which you feel strongly about from the list of articles made available. Unlike some other advertising programmes which you have absolutely no control over, PPP allows you to choose the topic which you want to blog or allow to be posted in your website.

Nothing beats being in control and earning money at the same time.

What are you waiting for? Sign up for PPP and if you are kind enough, do list pablopabla at gmail dot com as your referral, will ya? That will generate USD$5.00 to me! Thanks!

This is a paid post by PPP

Technorati Tags : PayPerPost , Blogging , Monetise

Sauteed Chicken Supreme with Dried Chillies

2006-11-27T12:16:00.000+08:00

Sauteed Chicken Supreme with Dried Chillies

I can't believe that this is my 50th post! And I am truly encouraged that some have left kind words of encouragement to me for the recipes here. You can't imagine how much I beam from ear to ear when I read that some of my recipes have been tried and tested to satisfaction. It's very much like how a chef will feel when the food that has been cooked is given the thumbs up or finished cleaned on the plate.

Anyway, for the 50th post, I would like to highlight a recipe which my wife shared with me (and cooked for me). She does cook...and she cooks well too. Only thing is that I have persuaded her to allow me to use the kitchen and enjoy my hobby of cooking instead.

This dish is tasty as it is hot and spicy whilst at the same time, has a hint of sourness to it (due to the vinegar / lime used). It is also very fragrant due to the quite liberal use of chinese cooking wine. It is a variant of Kung Po Chicken, I believe but tastes slightly different. Adjust the taste according to your preference. That very day when she cooked this dish, we had some cashew nuts at home and she decided to throw some in hence what you see in the picture. It is not in the recipe but you can add it in for extra bite!

This is my wife's recipe for Sauteed Chicken Supreme with Dried Chillies

Ingredients

500 grammes of chicken supreme (the most tender part of chicken breast which is longish in shape, slice it to cubes / thick diagonal slices)
20 dried chillis (pre-soaked for 30 minutes, seeded and cut into halves)
5 cloves garlic (chopped)
4 tablespoons of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)

Marinade

1 tablespoon chinese cooking wine
1 tablespoon dark soya sauce
2 tablespoon corn flour

Seasoning

2 tablespoon chinese cooking wine
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar (or squeeze approximately 10 limes or more for juice)
1 teaspoon of cornflour
1/2 tablespoon of light soya sauce
1 tablespoon of water

Method

Pound meat slightly with blunt side of knife or tenderiser. Marinade for 30 minutes.

Heat oil in wok, fry the dried chilli for 30 seconds and then add the garlic. Continue to stir-fry till garlic begin to brown. Add chicken and fry till cooked (if you wish to add cashew nuts, add them now). Then add seasoning, stir well until evenly distributed and gravy dries up.

Serve hot with steamed white rice.

Technorati Tags : Chicken , Dried Chilli , Recipe , Chinese Food , StirFry

Steamed Chicken with Carrots, Wood-Ear Fungus, Dried Lilybuds and Mushrooms

2006-11-23T10:54:00.000+08:00

Steamed Chicken with Carrots, Wood-Ear Fungus, Dried Lilybuds and Mushrooms

Remember I used to have a recipe called Mixed Vegetables - Cabbage, Carrots, Wood-Ear Fungus, Dried Lily Buds and Mushrooms? Well, I am going to modify that recipe a bit instead. Using most of the same ingredients, these will be steamed together with chicken to make a nice healthy dish.

In this dish, the chicken is sweet-tasting and has a hint of chinese cooking wine as it was marinated prior to steaming. The meat will usually be tender when cooked as whole chicken leg (drumstick and thigh meat) is used and the wine further tenderises the meat. This is in contrast with the crispness of the wood-ear fungus, sweetness of the carrots and lily buds and smoky taste of the mushrooms. Truly, it comes with a riot of taste and goes well with steamed white rice.

Actually, as emphasised in most of my recipes, you don't actually have to follow the ingredients in full especially if you have difficulty finding them at the place you live. Just use a bit of creativity and substitute them with different ingredients. If you are not sure, feel free to ask me at the comment section below.

This is my recipe for Steamed Chicken with Carrots, Wood-Ear Fungus, Dried Lilybuds and Mushrooms.

Ingredients

2 whole chicken legs (chopped into bite pieces)
1 small sized carrot (sliced)
50 to 100 grammes of wood-ear fungus (pre-soaked till soft)
5 dried chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked till soft) or enoki, oyster or button mushrooms
50 grammes of dried lily buds (pre-soaked till soft and knotted in the middle)
1 whole bulb of garlic (chopped)
1 tablespoon of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)

Marinade for chicken

1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
2 teaspoons of light soya sauce
A couple of dashes of white pepper powder
1 tablespoon of chinese cooking wine
1 tablespoon of corn flour

Seasoning

1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
Salt to taste

Method

Marinade the chicken for about an hour.

Heat oil in wok, followed by garlic and chinese mushrooms. Fry till garlic begins to brown. Add carrots, wood-ear fungus and lily buds. Stir-fry for 2 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Place chicken on a suitable plate for steaming (I use a stainless steel plate as seen in the picture above). Place the pre-stirfried vegetables on top of the chicken. Steam in wok / steamer for at least 20 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Technorati Tags : Chicken , Vegetable , Recipe , Chinese Food

I Got Paid by PPP

2006-11-23T10:36:00.000+08:00

This is a quick digression from my usual recipes. As I have shared in my earlier posting, I have signed up with PayPerPost to see if I will get paid for sharing here in my blog. True enough, my very first post through PayPerPost has been approved and I will be paid USD$10.00 just for that one post.

It is truly that simple. All you need to do is to sign up an account at PayPerPost and wait for its approval of your blog or website. Once your site has been approved, you choose one of the topics to share in your blog or website. Write about it and voila! You will be paid for that.

I won't stop to say this but this post alone will generate a further USD$10.00 to me. This is definitely an incentive for me to keep up this blog but I know that it is through you regular visits that makes the biggest incentive for me to continue sharing my family recipes. In fact, I have one just coming right up later today.

What am I going to do with the money? I don't know yet. Perhaps sign up for a domain name for this blog? Let me have your suggestions, ya? I think this blog could do with some revamp in the presentation or perhaps layout. I welcome your feedback!

This post is paid by PPP.

Technorati Tags : PayPerPost , Monetise , Blog

A B C D Soup

2006-11-22T13:31:00.000+08:00

A B C D Soup

There is a famous soup called ABC Soup which is essentially a combination of cubed potatoes, carrots, tomatoes and onions cooked in meat stock (usually pork or chicken). After my posting on Hot and Sour Szechuan Vegetable Soup recently, Tummythoz, girlgirl and tekko informed me that they add carrots and even corn into the soup. That was new to me.

So, when I went home to my mum's place last night, I was most surprised to see a bowl of Szechuan Vegetable Soup which has carrots, onions and potatoes in it! It is indeed a marriage of the Hot and Spicy Szechuan Vegetable Soup with the famed ABC Soup! And true enough, it has the hot and sourness of the szechuan vegetables and the sweetness of the ABC soup. I shall call it the A B C D Soup then!

It is another one of those simple-to-cook yet appetising soup which is great on a cold weathered day!

This is the recipe for A B C D Soup.

Ingredients

200 to 300 grammes of meat (pork ribs or suitable cuts or chicken parts)
2 medium sized potatoes (washed, skin removed and cubed in big chunks)
1 carrot (cut in big pieces)
2 large tomatoes (quartered)
2 large onions (quartered)
1 piece szechuan vegetable (washed and sliced)
2 bowls of water (approximately 800 ml to 1 litre)

Method

Bring water to boil. Add meat and let water reboil. Remove layer of scum from surface of water.

Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to boil again for 5 minutes and then lower heat to simmer for at least 1 hour or longer.

You don't really need to add any seasoning to this soup as the various ingredients will impart its taste.

Technorati Tags : Soup , Recipe , Chinese Food

My Disclosure Policy

2006-11-22T09:23:00.000+08:00

You would have noticed that I do have some advertisements by Google on the right hand side of this blog, upper part of this blog as well as between my postings. Whilst this blog is completely written out of love for cooking, I also take this opportunity to generate some income through the advertisements which appear. It may sound impressive but actually, the income generated per day is not even enough to have a meal. I still need my full time job to have a meal. LOL!

Anyway, I have just signed up with PayPerPost which apparently pays for each of their advertised post. I will keep this to the minimum so that it would not clutter up this blog. Moreover, I would only write something from PayPerPost only if I find it relevant and worth sharing on this blog.

So, I would like to disclose herein my blog's policy as follows:-

This policy is valid from 21 November 2006

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact pablopabla at gmail dot com.

This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

The compensation received will never influence the content, topics or posts made in this blog. All advertising is in the form of advertisements generated by a third party ad network. Those advertisements will be identified as paid advertisements.

The owner(s) of this blog is not compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners. If we claim or appear to be experts on a certain topic or product or service area, we will only endorse products or services that we believe, based on our expertise, are worthy of such endorsement. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

Thank you for your understanding and support!

More recipes coming right up!

Essential Seasoning or Ingredients for Chinese Cooking

2006-11-20T14:53:00.000+08:00

Whilst I did cook over the weekend, unfortunately, I did not have my digital camera around and was not able to take pictures of what I cooked. Hence, I probably would not have any recipe to share this week.

Nevertheless, I would like to share with you the essential seasoning or ingredients in chinese cooking (or at least, this are the must-haves in my kitchen). When I first moved out of my parent's house to study in England, these were some of the items that I stock up in the kitchen. Similarly, when my wife and I got married, these are some of the necessities in our kitchen. The list is by no means exhaustive but essential, nevertheless.

Oyster Sauce is a versatile sauce which appears in many chinese recipes. The current brand I am using is Lee Kum Kee's Panda brand Oyster Sauce. You can use it in cooking vegetables and meat recipes. Some even use it as a dip. In some recipes, oyster sauce is probably the only ingredient you need. Whilst it is called oyster sauce, it does not really smell like a bottle of oysters. I would describe the taste as salty sweet.

Next on the list is Light Soya Sauce. Made from fermented soya bean, light soya sauce is a good substitute for salt as it is salty with a hint of sweetness (depending on the quantity of sugar and salt used in the fermentation process). There are many brands available and recently, I had the chance to try out Lee Kum Kee's Premium Soy Sauce above and was quite impressed. It is not overly salty and rather light. This is forgiving because if you are using light soya sauce which is very salty in taste, you might spoil your dish with saltiness if you add a tad too much during cooking.

If you have light soya sauce, you must not forsake the Dark Soya Sauce. Dark soya sauce is of course, darker in colour than its light counterpart but that's not all. Generally, the taste is sweeter than salty though just like light soya sauce, the level of sweetness depends on the manufacturer. I currently use the Kadory brand which is a local brand. It is runny just like the light soya sauce unlike some brands which are thick and slightly sticky. Dark soya sauce is sometimes added to colour the dish and sometimes used as a dip. The picture above is for illustration purposes.

Next stop, the Shao Hsing rice wine. A must-have in chinese kitchens, it is used in quite a lot of recipes. Besides being a seasoning ingredient (it adds aroma and sweetness to the dish), it is also used as a marinade. There are many brands available in the market and most of them are called Shao Hsing or Tsao Tsing rice wine. Most likely due to its origin in China.

Apart from the above, I also have corn flour or corn starch in my kitchen. It is used in marinades (to seal the meat, I think) as well as to mixed with water to form starch to thicken gravies. When used as corn starch, it can give some dishes eg. vegetables a smooth feel when eaten.

If you have checked out some of my recipes, one of my most used items is dried chinese mushrooms. I understand that these are shiitaki mushrooms. It has a smoky flavour and depending on one's taste buds, can be either heavenly or repulsive. Those grown in Japan are the most expensive and I find them fragrant. The good quality ones have nice "flower" patterns on the top of the mushroom. These dried mushrooms are always pre-soaked with water to soften it. If you know you are going to cook them, it is best to pre-soak them overnight to enable the mushrooms to be fully hydrated. That way, they will be able to absorb whatever gravy you are cooking as well as imparting it's own taste to the dish you are cooking.

Apart from the above, other essentials are too obvious to mention eg. salt, sugar, cooking oil and such. I do have monosodium glutamate as well (Ajinomoto) but I rarely use it. It is a taste enhancer and if I do actually use it, I only take a pinch.

By the way, I don't get paid by any of the companies above by writing this post :)

Technorati Tags : Chinese Cooking , Ingredients , Sauce

Hot and Sour Szechuan Vegetable Soup

2006-11-16T10:45:00.000+08:00

Hot and Sour Szechuan Vegetable Soup

Got szechuan vegetable in your kitchen? Why not cook soup with it? Szechuan vegetable which is preserved with chilli and salt imparts a distinct flavour when cooked in soup. The soup will be spicy hot and salty. When you add a couple of tomatoes into the soup, it's be hot and sour. Definitely appetising especially when eaten with long bean rice or even cabbage rice.

Depending on how hot or salty you want your soup to end up, you can actually wash or even soak the preserved szechuan vegetable prior to cooking. I usually just wash the szechuan vegetable rather than soaking as I like the original taste of the preserved vegetable. My mum adds a couple of cloves of garlic for added taste but I don't really fancy that. You can try it if you want.

This recipe is simple and not intimidating for first timers!

This is my recipe for Hot and Sour Szechuan Vegetable Soup.

Ingredients

1 piece szechuan vegetable larger than the size of an egg (washed and sliced)
3 - 4 large tomatoes (quartered)
50 to 100 grammes of minced pork or pork ribs or chicken parts
2 soup bowls or 600 ml of water

Method

Bring water to boil and add sliced szechuan vegetables and tomatoes. If you are using pork ribs or chicken parts, add them now. Simmer for 1 hour or more till water reduced to approximately 1 soup bowl.

If using minced pork, 3 minutes before intended serving, bring back to boil and add minced pork shaped into small balls.

Serve steaming hot.

How about stir-frying the szechuan vegetable? My recipe for Stir-Fried Pork with Preserved Szechuan Vegetable here.

Technorati Tags : Soup , Recipe , Szechuan Vegetable , Chinese Food

Cabbage Rice with Lap Cheong

2006-11-14T16:30:00.000+08:00

Cabbage Rice with Lap Cheong

This is my 3rd recipe for rice cooked in a rice cooker. Prior to this, I have a recipe for Chicken Rice as well as Long Bean Rice. This is another one of the vegetable rice recipes which can serve as a meal on its own.

Cabbage Rice with Lap Cheong (Chinese Sausages) is quite mild in flavour but sweet in taste. The sweetness comes from the cabbage. The type of cabbage we usually use is the chinese cabbage, which is white in colour and longish in shape rather than round. Try not to leave the rice uneaten overnight as I believe that the cooked cabbage does not withstand being kept overnight that well.

If you don't have lap cheong, you can even substitute it with ham or even salami! Do experiment. As I have emphasised many times before in my recipes, you can actually experiment with the ingredients once you get the basic idea of how the dishes are cooked. The presentation of the rice in the picture above could be much better but the taste definitely is!

This is my recipe for Cabbage Rice with Lap Cheong (Chinese Sausages)

Ingredients

2 cups rice pre-soaked for 30 minutes (measured using the cup that comes with your rice cooker)
About 400 grammes of chinese cabbage (shredded roughly)
400 grammes of belly pork (try to get the 3-layered pork. Remove skin)
5 to 8 pieces dried chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked till soft. Remove from water and cut to slivers but retain water for later use)
50 grammes of dried prawns / shrimps (pre-soaked for 5 minutes. Remove from water but retain water for later use)
3 to 5 lap cheong (remove skin and slice thinly diagonally)
5 cloves shallots (sliced thinly)
2 tablespoons of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
3 bowls of water

Seasoning

4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper powder
2 teaspoon light soya sauce
2 tablespoon dark soya sauce
A pinch of msg (optional)

Method

Bring water to boil. Add belly pork and let it boil till cooked. Remove pork. Cut into small pieces.

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

With remaining oil in wok, fry the cooked belly pork till beginning to brown. Remove pork. With remaining oil, fry the dried prawns and chinese mushrooms for 1 minute till fragrant. Add cabbage and put back the pork into the wok and continue to stir fry for 1 more minute. Add seasoning and a little bit of water (used to soak mushrooms / dried prawns) to keep it moist.

Add pre-soaked rice into the ingredients and stir well for 1 minute.

Transfer the ingredients into rice cooker and add water till it covers rice completely just like how you usually cook rice. Turn on the rice cooker. Check occasionally for water to dry out from the upper layer of the rice. Once that happens, place lap cheong on top of the rice, cover lid and wait for rice to cook completely.

Sprinkle fried shallots over rice before serving.

Technorati Tags : Recipe , Rice , Recipe , Chinese Food

Fish Ball Bee Hoon Soup

2006-11-10T09:46:00.000+08:00

Fish Ball Bee Hoon Soup

Once in a while, we will cook Fish Ball Bee Hoon Soup for lunch on a weekend. Bee Hoon is also known as Rice Vermicelli. The clear soup is refreshing especially on a hot day. We usually use Ikan Bilis stock for the soup as it makes the soup tastier.

I would advise that you buy the Fish Balls from the wet market and have it cooked the same day to enjoy its freshness. If you are unable to cook them on the same day, do keep them in the fridge and cook them the next day. I don't think preservatives are added to these fish balls and so, they don't last long.

This is my recipe for Fish Ball Bee Hoon Soup. Serves 4 people.

Ingredients

1/2 packet of bee hoon (approximately 150 grammes) (pre-soaked in water for 30 minutes to soften)
15 to 20 fish balls
100 grammes of pork tenderloin (sliced thinly) (optional)
200 grammes of choy sum (chinese mustard leaves) (washed and cut into 6 cm lengths)
5 to 8 shallots (sliced thinly)
100 grammes of ikan bilis (dried anchovies)
a pinch of salted chinese vegetables (tung chai)
3 tablespoons of palm oil
1.25 litres or 5 soup bowls of water

Marinade (for pork tenderloin slices)

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

Seasoning

2 tablespoons of light soya sauce
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon of MSG (optional)

Method

Marinade pork tenderloin slices for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, boil ikan bilis in water for at least 45 minutes. Remove ikan bilis when done.

Fry shallots in oil under medium heat till golden brown. Remove fried shallots from oil and set aside.

With remaining oil in wok / pot, stir-fry the pork tenderloin slices for 30 seconds. Add ikan bilis stock above and bring to boil.

Add pre-soaked bee hoon into boiling stock followed by choy sum and fish balls and let the ingredients cook for at least 2 minutes in boiling condition. The fish balls will float to surface when cooked. Add seasoning to taste.

Separate into individual bowls and sprinkle fried shallots and chinese salted vegetables prior to serving.

My other Bee Hoon Recipes :
Sarawak Laksa
Bee Hoon with Chicken Frankfurters and Chinese Mushrooms
Fried Bee Hoon with Stewed Pork Ribs

Technorati Tags : Fish Ball , Bee Hoon , Soup , Recipe

Sambal Belacan Ladies Finger

2006-11-08T14:52:00.000+08:00

Sambal Belacan Ladies Finger

Ladies finger, also known as Okra, is a fibrous pod full of round white seeds. Packed with vitamins and minerals, it is often used in Asian cuisine especially in India. Back home in Malaysia, it is commonly added to Assam Fish or Curry Fish. It is also cooked as a dish of its own and I usually stir-fry it with belacan sambal.

Ladies Finger or Okra

When choosing ladies finger, choose the younger pods which are usually lighter green in colour and smaller in size. Usually, the younger pods will have softer fur-like skin. These younger pods are more tender in texture and less fibrous.

And again, just like Kangkong Belacan, you should cook this dish using really high heat as you want to cook it in minimum time to preserve its juice.

This is my recipe for Sambal Belacan Ladies Finger

Ingredients

Approximately 15 pieces of ladies finger (washed and sliced diagonally. Discard top / head)
A pinch of sugar
50 ml warm water
2 tablespoons cooking oil (preferably palm oil)

Sambal belacan mix (pound / blended together)

50 grammes dried prawns / shrimps (pre-soaked for 10 minutes to soften)
20 grammes of belacan (buy from stores)
5 to 8 cloves garlic
5 to 8 cloves shallots
3 to 5 red chillis (remove seeds if you want the sambal to be less hot)

Method

Heat oil on wok at medium heat. Stir-fry the sambal belacan mix for about 2 minutes.

Increase heat to high and add ladies finger and sugar. Stir well for about 2 minutes or till the ladies finger is to your desired softness. Add a little water at a time if sambal belacan mix beginning to burn. As the sambal belacan mix contains dried prawns and belacan which are salty in itself, it may not be necessary to add salt.

Technorati Tags : Ladies Finger , Okra , Recipe , Vegetable

Simplified Kung Po Chicken

2006-11-07T09:42:00.000+08:00

Simplified Kung Po Chicken

Kung Po Chicken is a common dish found in most, if not all, chinese restaurants. This dish is basically diced chicken stir-fried with onions, dried chillies, cashew nuts and capsicum. Some even add water chestnuts to the dish. The aroma from the chicken which was marinated with chinese cooking wine blends well with the spiciness of the dried chillis. Meanwhile, the tender bits of chicken meat is contrasted with the crunchiness of the capsicum and onions. The cashew nuts lend a natural sweetness to the dish.

Dried Chillis

Anyway, I am not that good expressing how a dish tastes like, so I shall keep it short and simple. This dish is best eaten with plain white rice so that you can savour the full taste and aroma of the dish. Some have substituted the chicken with cuttlefish, which is quite a good alternative.

Simple ingredients, delicious taste

In my recipe, I have simplified the dish to my own liking. I have omitted the use of the capsicum and perhaps, the sauce is a bit different from the original recipes by professional cooks. However, I am still confident that you will like this dish if you try it out.

This is my recipe for Simplified Kung Po Chicken.

Ingredients

300 grammes chicken breast (cut into cubes / bite sizes)
2 medium sized onions (quartered)
10 to 15 pieces of dried chilli (washed and pre-soaked for 15 minutes prior to cooking)
20 to 30 pieces of cashew nuts
1 1/2 cups of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
1/2 cup (70 to 100 ml) warm water

Marinade for chicken

2 tablespoons of chinese cooking wine
1 1/2 tablespoons of light soya sauce
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of white pepper powder
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 1/2 tablespoons of corn flour

Seasoning

1 1/2 tablespoons of dark soya sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
A pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of chinese cooking wine

Method

Marinade chicken cubes for at least 1 hour.

Heat oil in wok on high. Fry chicken cubes till golden brown. Remove from oil and place aside.

Remove cooking oil from wok leaving about 1 tablespoon in the wok. Add onions and dried chillis and stir-fry for 30 seconds to bring out the aroma. (If you wish to add capsicums which are cut into cube sizes, add them at this stage) Add pre-fried chicken cubes and cashew nuts and stir well for a minute.

Add seasoning and 1/2 cup water and close lid. Stir occasionally till water / gravy reduced by half.

Serve hot with plain white rice.

Technorati Tags : Chicken , Chinese Food , Recipe , Kung Po Chicken

Stir-Fried Pea Sprouts with Garlic

2006-11-06T14:17:00.000+08:00

Stir-Fried Pea-Sprouts with Garlic

Pea-Sprouts are also known as "Tou Miau" in Mandarin. Rich in vitamins and minerals, it is considered one of the easiest vegetable to stir-fry. Popular in many Chinese restaurants, the prices of these pea-sprouts have risen over the years due to its high demand.

Fresh Pea-Sprouts

When cooking this dish, it is important to have the wok heated at high as you need to cook the pea-sprouts in minimum time to preserve its nutrients and to ensure that the juices are retained in the sprouts. Else you will have a flooded dish!

This is my recipe for Stir-Fried Pea Sprouts with Garlic

Ingredients

300 grammes pea-sprouts (rinse with water to remove dirt prior to cooking)
5 to 8 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
2 tablespoons cooking oil (preferably palm oil)

Seasoning

1 1/2 teaspoons oyster sauce
Salt to taste
A dash of white pepper powder

Method

Heat wok till wok starts to smoke.

Add oil followed by garlic. Give the garlic a few quick stir and add the pea-sprouts.

Continue to stir-fry briskly whilst adding seasoning. Cook until pea-sprouts begin to wilt to your desired softness or reduced by 1/2 in bulk. Add one or two tablespoons of warm water if you prefer some gravy.

Technorati Tags : Pea Sprouts , Vegetable , Chinese Food

Stewed Chicken in Dark Soya Sauce

2006-11-03T13:58:00.000+08:00

Clockwise from top : Stewed Chicken in Dark Soya Sauce,
the gravy and Stewed Beancurd in Dark Soya Sauce

This recipe is EASY. You should try it, if you have not. It is different from Tau Yu Bak (Stewed Pork in dark soya sauce) in taste but can be similar to Stewed Duck in Dark Soya Sauce save for some difference in spices used.

I used to cook this dish quite often during my university days in England and my British housemates loved it when eaten with steaming hot rice! If you make an extra effort and fry the rice ala Egg Fried Rice, you will have a truly satisfying meal. The beancurd is a complimentary item which I add to the dish. You can also add hard boiled eggs (shell removed, of course) into the dish during the simmering stage.

This is my recipe for Stewed Chicken in Dark Soya Sauce

Ingredients

2 chicken legs (whole)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 whole bulbs garlic (remove skin)
Approximately 15 - 20 white peppercorns
Warm water
1 piece star-anise (optional)
2 pieces hard-type beancurd (optional)
2 large hard-boiled eggs (optional)

Seasoning

2 to 3 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 chicken legs and let it "sear" for 1 minute on each side. Add water to cover the chicken 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. Chop the chicken to desired size, cut beancurd into quarters and half the eggs.

Technorati Tags : Chicken , Recipe , Food

Stir-Fried Kai-Lan Stems with Pork and Mushrooms

2006-11-01T15:10:00.000+08:00

Stir-Fried Kai-Lan Stems with Pork and Mushrooms

"Oh no! Not another recipe with mushrooms!" Ha! Ha! Well, can't help it when I have a lot of mushrooms at home. Chinese dried mushrooms to be precise. But anyway, the mushrooms here are the supporting act. The main actor is the Kai Lan stems.

According to the Wikipedia, Kai-lan, also known as Chinese broccoli or Chinese kale, is a slightly bitter leaf vegetable featuring thick, flat, glossy blue-green leaves with thick stems and a small number of tiny, almost vestigial flower heads similar to those of broccoli. As a group of Brassica oleracea kai-lan is of the same species of plant as broccoli and kale. Its flavor is very similar to that of broccoli, though not identical, being a bit sweeter.

In this recipe, I use the kai-lan stems. These are usually imported and sold in supermarkets. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it prior to cooking. What you get is a stem roughly 15 to 20cm long and with very little or no leaf. It tastes much sweeter than the leaves in "normal" the normal kai-lan vegetable. I am told that this variety of kai-lan is grown specifically for its crunchy and sweet tasting stem.

The ideal way to cook this stem is to stir-fry it with medium or large sized prawns which have been deveined and cut "butterfly style". If you are rich enough, you can consider adding scallops! As I don't have any prawns at home when I decided to cook this dish and I am not rich enough to consider scallops, I used pork and mushrooms as the supporting cast.

This is my recipe for Stir-Fried Kai-Lan Stems with Pork and Mushrooms

Ingredients

3 to 5 kai-lan stems (lightly scrape the layer of skin from the stem and slice diagonally)
50 grammes of pork tenderloin (sliced thinly)
2 to 3 pre-soaked chinese mushrooms
4 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
1 tablespoon of palm oil
1/2 cup warm water
2 teaspoons cornflour mixed with 1/2 cup water to make corn starch

Marinade for pork tenderloin

2 teaspoon light soya sauce
a pinch of white pepper powder
1 teaspoon corn flour

Seasoning

1 tablespoon oyster sauce
Salt to taste
2 teaspoons chinese cooking wine (optional)
A dash of white pepper powder

Method

Marinade pork tenderloin for 30 minutes.

Heat oil in wok and fry garlic till beginning to brown. Remove garlic from oil.

Add pork tenderloin and chinese mushrooms into remaining oil in wok and stir fry for 1 minute. Add kai-lan stems and pre-fried garlic and stir-fry briskly for 1 minute. Add one or two teaspoons of warm water to prevent burning.

Add seasoning (except chinese cooking wine) followed by remainder of water and cover lid. Allow to cook for 1 to 2 minutes whilst checking occasionally for drying out of gravy.

Once the stems have more or less turned to a darker colour, add chinese cooking wine and stir well. If the sauce is too thin to your liking, add a little bit of corn starch to thicken it.

Serve hot with white rice.

Technorati Tags : Kai Lan , Vegetable , Chinese Food , Recipe

Linguine with Pan-Fried Chicken Breast and Siew Pak Choy

2006-10-31T17:14:00.000+08:00

Linguine with Pan-Fried Chicken Breast and Siew Pak Choy

What do you do if you have linguine (a type of pasta), chicken and siew pak choy? Cook them into a dish, of course! It will be handy if you have a can of pasta sauce in your kitchen cabinet.

This dish takes me 1 hour to prepare and cook. I am still an amateur and take a longer time to prepare the ingredients and cook them. Briefly, what I have prepared is pan-fried chicken breast, blanched siew pak choy and pasta sauce. Each can be a dish by itself but this is sort of a fusion dish using western and eastern ingredients. In fact, this is the first time I cooked this dish and I was quite pleased! (I am usually quite fussy over the quality of food I cook. My wife will attest to that!)

Glorious Siew Pak Choy

I hope you will give this dish a try and having learnt it, experiment on your own with the ingredients.

This is my recipe for Linguine with Pan-Fried Chicken Breast and Siew Pak Choy.

Ingredients

250 grammes of linguine (you can use any type of pasta)
1 large chicken breast
200 grammes of siew pak choy (wash and clean)
1 can of button mushrooms (halved)
1 can of Campbells Pasta Sauce (tomato, garlic and basil sauce)
2 large onions (chopped)
5 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of palm oil
1 pot of water

Marinade for chicken

1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper powder
A dash of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
1 tablespoon of HP BBQ Sauce
A dash of black pepper powder
1 teaspoon of corn flour

Seasoning for tomato-based sauce

Salt to taste
Black pepper powder to taste

Method

Marinade chicken breast for at least 1 hour or more.

Bring water to boil in a large pot. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of palm oil. Add in the siew pak choy and blanch till the leaves turn dark green / cooked. Remove the leaves and set aside.

Cook the linguine in the pot of water according to directions on packaging. Remove and drain. Set aside and drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over it.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in frying pan and fry the chicken breast for at least 2 minutes on each side. Ensure chicken breast is thoroughly cooked by piercing the meat with a fork. Clear juice should flow when pierced. Remove from pan to cool. Slice the pan-fried chicken breast.

Heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil on a sauce pan and saute the onions till translucent. Add button mushrooms and stir well for 2 minutes. Add the pasta sauce and seasoning and bring to boil. Add half-can of water. Cover with lid, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Arrange cooked linguine on plate. Place sliced pan-fried chicken breast and siew pak choy to your liking. Pour an appropriate amount of the mushroom tomato pasta sauce over them and serve hot.

Technorati Tags : Pasta , Vegetable , Recipe

Stir-Fried French Beans with Egg

2006-10-31T10:29:00.000+08:00

Stir-Fried French Beans with Egg

This is another simple dish to cook but great tasting. French beans can be cooked in many different ways including blanching and steaming but I find it most delicious when it is stir-fried with garlic and egg.

The crunchiness and sweetness of the french beans mixed with the fluffy-fried eggs gives this dish a good balance in taste and texture, not to mention the healthiness. Try choosing the younger and lighter green french beans which are younger, tender and less fibrous compared to the older and darker coloured variety.

Thinly sliced french beans

Cooking time varies depending on how thinly you slice the french beans diagonally. Obviously, cooking time is lesser if you slice it thinly. You will also have to manage the heat from the cooker as you do not want to burn the garlic.

This is my wife's recipe for Stir-Fried French Beans with Egg.

Ingredients

150 - 200 grammes french beans (sliced diagonally thinly)
1 large egg
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)

Seasoning

Salt to taste
White pepper powder to taste

Method

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in wok on medium heat. Lightly stir fry the garlic till it begins to brown. Add french beans and stir fry at medium high heat for 1 - 2 minutes. If garlic is browning fast, reduce heat. Sprinkle seasoning to taste.

Make a well in the wok (i.e. move the french beans from the center of the wok), increase to high heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Break egg into the oil and let it fry till semi-solid. Mix and stir french beans into the semi-solid egg and fry for 30 seconds or so.

Remove from wok and serve hot with rice or plain porridge.

Technorati Tags : French Bean , Vegetable , Chinese Food

Chinese-Styled Chicken Chop

2006-10-30T11:08:00.000+08:00

Chinese-Styled Chicken Chop

Chicken Chop is known to be a western dish and is commonly found in most western restaurants. In Malaysia, chicken chop is sometimes served in Chinese restaurants which serve western dishes and it is usually accompanied with a tomato based gravy.

Recently, I tried cooking chicken chop for a change from the usual dishes we have for dinner. I bought two chicken legs (which consists of the thigh and drumstick) which I had it deboned. Apart from the chicken legs, the only other ingredients I used were cherry tomatoes and onions, excluding the marinade and seasoning, of course. It is fairly simple and not an intimidating dish to cook. To make it more elaborate, you can even add in fried potatoes (diced).

This is my recipe for Chinese-Styled Chicken Chop.

Ingredients

2 chicken legs (deboned. I had the chicken skin removed as well)
10 cherry tomatoes (of whatever tomatoes you fancy)
1 large onion (quartered and separated)
1/2 cup warm water
2 tablespoons of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)

Marinade (for chicken)

1 1/2 tablespoons 0f HP BBQ Sauce
1/2 teaspoon of Lea & Perrins Worchestershire Sauce
1/2 teaspoon of salt
A couple of dashes of white pepper powder
1 teaspoon of corn flour

Seasoning (gravy)

2 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
Sugar to taste

Method

Marinade the chicken for more than 1 hour using the marinating ingredients above.

Heat a thin layer of oil in a frying-pan (I used a non-stick frying pan. If you don't have one, add more oil for the frying process) and pan-fry the chicken on both sides till thoroughly cooked. Pierce meat with fork to test for thorough cooking (clear juice should ooze out if cooked). Remove chicken onto a plate leaving the juice in the frying pan.

Add the onions onto the frying pan and stir fry for 1 minute. Add cherry tomatoes and continue to stir fry for 15 seconds or so. Add tomato ketchup and water and bring sauce to boil and thicken whilst adding sugar to taste.

Pour sauce over the fried chicken and serve hot with potatoes or rice.

Technorati Tags : Recipe , Chicken Chop

Chicken with Potatoes, Carrots and Mushrooms

2006-10-27T12:18:00.000+08:00

Chicken with Potatoes, Carrots and Mushrooms

I am back after the long festive holidays. I had the chance of cooking a couple of dishes and this is one of them. My mum cooks this dish quite often too. I guess it's because it is quite easy and simple to cook. I usually remove the skin of the chicken prior to cooking this dish for health reasons. Furthermore, I don't like the dish to turn out with a layer of oil. In the picture below, I have yet to remove the skin.

Ingredients

Once you have mastered this dish, you can experiment with the ingredients - eg. adding baby corn, different types of mushrooms, celery etc.

This is my recipe for Chicken with Potatoes, Carrots and Mushrooms.

Ingredients

2 chicken drumsticks & thigh (chop to desired size)
1 medium sized carrot (cut to wedges)
2 small sized potatoes (cut to wedges)
4 pieces dried chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked)
5 cloves garlic (chopped)
3 tablespoons cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
1 cup warm water

Marinade

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

Seasoning

1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon dark soya sauce
Salt to taste

Method

Marinade chicken for 30 - 60 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil in wok and fry potatoes till golden brown. Remove fried potatoes from oil.

With remaining oil in wok and at medium heat, saute the chinese mushrooms for 1 minute. Increase to high heat and add chicken and garlic and stir fry for another minute till outer layer of chicken is cooked. Add fried potatoes and carrots and continue stir frying for another minute.

Add seasoning and water and close lid. Cook for another 3 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Technorati Tags : Recipe , Chinese Food , Chicken

Stir-fried Pork with Preserved Szechuan Vegetable

2006-10-19T15:30:00.000+08:00

Stir-fried Pork with Preserved Szechuan Vegetables

This is a very easy recipe to cook and uses only a handful of ingredients. You only need pork or beef, preserved szechuan vegetables, garlic, cooking oil and dark soya sauce. The preserved szechuan vegetable, which is spicy hot and salty, gives a natural flavouring to the dish and you don't really need to put any others seasoning apart from the dark soya sauce to give the dish some "colour".

This is my recipe for Stir-Fried Pork with Preserved Szechuan Vegetable.

Ingredients

200 grammes of tenderloin pork (sliced thinly)
1/2 piece of szechuan vegetable (julienned and washed thoroughly)
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 tablespoon cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
50 ml of warm water

Seasoning

2 teaspoons dark soya sauce
Sprinkle of sugar (optional)

Method

Heat oil in wok and add chopped garlic. Stir for 5 to 10 seconds. Add pork and preserved szechuan vegetables and stir-fry for 1 minute.

Add dark soya sauce and water and cook until pork is thorougly cooked and sauce has reduced. Sprinkle some sugar if you find it too salty.

Technorati Tags : Pork , Chinese Food , Recipe

Kiam Chye Tau Foo Soup

2006-10-18T14:57:00.000+08:00

Kiam Chye Tau Foo Soup

Further to my last post on Long Beans Rice, I did mention there that it tastes great with soup. I am referring to Kiam Chye Tau Foo Soup which is basically Salted Mustard Leaves and Beancurd Soup in Hokkien dialect. Somehow or rather, the salty, sour and sweet nature of this soup complements the Long Beans Rice well.

Remember the water used to boil the belly pork in the Long Beans Rice recipe? The stock is used for this soup and in fact, you can retain a couple of slices of the pork to enhance the flavour of this soup. Nothing goes to waste! See the Long Beans Rice recipe for the preparation of the stock.

This is my recipe for Kiam Chye Tau Foo Soup.

Ingredients

5 to 10 pieces of salted mustard leaves (kiam chye)
2 large tomatoes (quartered)
1 piece beancurd (soft type, approximately 6 inches x 2 inches x 2 inches - LxWxD, cut into 8 pieces)
2 bowls of stock (prepared using 2 1/2 bowls of water used to boil belly pork)

Method

Bring stock to boil and add tomatoes and salted mustard leaves. Simmer for 1 hour or more.

3 minutes before intended serving, bring back to boil and add beancurd.

Serve steaming hot.

Technorati Tags : Soup , Beancurd , Chinese Food

Long Bean Rice

2006-10-17T17:05:00.000+08:00

Foreground : Long Bean Rice
Background : Kiam Chye Tau Foo Soup

Rice cookers are not meant just to cook plain rice. Prior to this, I have a recipe for Chicken Rice cooked in a rice cooker. Apart from Chicken Rice, you can also cook other types of rice, one of which is Long Bean Rice.

Ingredients

A meal on its own, you will find out here that you can also cook a soup as a side dish arising out of the use of the ingredients here. I will give the recipe for the soup another day. Anyway, the fact that all the ingredients are firstly stir-fried and then cooked in the rice cooker gives the whole dish maximum flavour from the various ingredients used.

Place into rice cooker before turning on the cooker

Long Beans can be stir-fried on its own with belacan or even garlic and is highly nutritious. Eat too much, however, you may end up with too much gas in your stomach which is common among beans. Once you master this dish, you can substitute the long beans with other vegetables such as cabbage, pumpkin or even "kua chye" - I am still trying to find out what's the anglo-name for this vegetable.

This is my recipe for Long Bean Rice.

Ingredients

2 cups rice pre-soaked for 30 minutes (measured using the cup that comes with your rice cooker)
About 15 pieces of long beans (cut to 2 inch lengths)
400 grammes of belly pork (try to get the 3-layered pork. Remove skin)
5 to 8 pieces dried chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked till soft. Remove from water and cut to slivers but retain water for later use)
30 grammes of dried prawns / shrimps (pre-soaked for 5 minutes. Remove from water but retain water for later use)
5 bulbs shallots (sliced thinly)
2 tablespoons of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
3 bowls of water

Seasoning

4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper powder
2 teaspoon light soya sauce
1 tablespoon dark soya sauce
A pinch of msg (optional)

Method

Bring water to boil. Add belly pork and let it boil till cooked. Remove pork. Cut into small pieces.

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

With remaining oil in wok, fry the cooked belly pork till beginning to brown. Remove pork. With remaining oil, fry the dried prawns and chinese mushrooms for 1 minute till fragrant. Add long beans and put back the pork into the wok and continue to stir fry for 1 more minute. Add seasoning and a little bit of water (used to soak mushrooms / dried prawns) to keep it moist.

Add pre-soaked rice into the ingredients and stir well for 1 minute.

Transfer the ingredients into rice cooker and add water till it covers rice completely just like how you usually cook rice. Turn on the rice cooker and wait for it to cook automatically.

Sprinkle fried shallots over rice before serving.

Technorati Tags : Recipe , Rice , Recipe , Chinese Food

Stingray with Taucheo Chilli and Salted Vegetables

2006-10-16T17:30:00.000+08:00

Stingray with Taucheo Chilli and Salted Vegetables

Stingrays are sometimes sold at the wet market and we buy it once in a blue moon. The most common method to cook stingrays are to grill them after marinating them in some spicy sauce. In fact, most hawkers selling grilled seafood will have stingrays amongst other seafood available.

We don't grill our food at home because...we don't have a grill in the first place. But what we do like is to cook the stingray with taucheo chilli and salted vegetable. The taucheo chilli gives the stingray a slight spicy taste whilst the salted vegetable lends an interesting salty twist to the dish. Taucheo is preserved soya beans which are bought from grocers in bottles. The salted vegetables mentioned are also known as kiam chye (in hokkien) or preserved mustard leaves.

Stingrays can have a rather "fishy" smell and that's one of the reasons why it is cooked with chilli. By past experience, we find that the ones where the white-coloured flesh is riddled with black dots are tastier and have less "fishy" smell. If anyone can share the name of this specie or why it is riddled with black dots, that would be most appreciated.

This is my recipe for Stingray with Taucheo Chilli and Salted Vegetables.

Ingredients

400 grammes of stingray (wash thoroughly and cut to bite sizes)
3 to 4 red chillis (remove seeds and pound finely. Use more chilli if you like it spicier)
3 bulbs garlic (chopped finely)
4 slices of ginger
2 teaspoons taucheo (preserved soya beans)
3 to 4 leaves of salted vegetables julienned (kiam chye / preserved mustard leaves)
1 tablespoon cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
1/2 cup water

Seasoning

Dash of white pepper
Sugar to taste

Method

Heat oil in wok. Add chilli, garlic and ginger and stir till fragrant or slightly brown. Add taucheo and salted vegetables (preserved mustard leaves). Stir fry for 30 seconds.

Add stingray and stir till the meat is turns colour / cooked on the outside. Add water and close lid. Cook for 2 minutes on high heat (till stingray is thoroughly cooked).

Add a dash of white pepper and sugar to taste prior to serving.

Technorati Tags : Stingray , Recipe , Chinese Food

Lamb Shoulder BBQ Sauce

2006-10-13T15:07:00.000+08:00

Lamb Shoulder BBQ Sauce

Once in a while, I have no "inspiration" to cook and struggle to cook something. So, having some lamb shoulder chops in the freezer comes in handy. Though this is not strictly an Asian recipe, it is still cooked by an Asian :)

Actually, I sort of learnt this dish from my mother-in-law and I have sort of modified it a bit by adding a bit of this and a bit of that. One of the best part of this dish is actually the fat! Yeah, by the time the lamb shoulder is cooked, the fat just melts into the mouth. If you are on the health concious side, just trim away the fat prior to cooking but I suspect, it would not taste as nice.

This is my recipe for Lamb Shoulder BBQ Sauce.

Ingredients

6 pieces of lamb shoulder
1 whole garlic (choppped)
1/2 teaspoon of Italian Herbs
2 tablespoons of BBQ sauce (buy from supermarkets)
1 teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce
1 - 2 teaspoons of sugar
1 pinch of salt
A dash of black pepper powder
100 ml warm water
1 tablespoon cooking oil

Method

Heat oil in wok and fry lamb shoulder for 1 - 2 minutes each side turning once only.

Remove lamb shoulder and set aside. With remaining oil, fry garlic for about 15 seconds and add water, BBQ sauce, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, salt and black pepper powder to taste.

Once the sauce boils, add the lamb shoulder and cook for 1 minute by coating the sauce thoroughly over the lamb shoulder.

Serve hot with rice or potatoes.

Technorati Tags : Lamb , Recipe , Sauce

Lotus Root Soup with Red Dates and Peanuts

2006-10-11T18:00:00.000+08:00

Lotus Root Soup with Red Dates & Peanuts

It's amazing what people can find to make delicious food. Who would have thought that the root or rhizomes of the lotus plant which is submerged in muddy-like waters in ponds or lakes can be very delicious indeed? Some have used it in stir-fries with sweet peas and baby corns. Some cook soup with it.

One popular chinese-style soup is the Lotus Root Soup with Red Dates and Peanuts. You can even add dried cuttlefish for added flavour. After hours of simmering, it tastes robust and is apparently good for your body. It tastes even better if it is cooked using charcoal fire.

This is my recipe for Lotus Root Soup with Red Dates and Peanuts.

Ingredients

300 grammes of lotus root (wash thoroughly, gently scrape the skin and slice not more than 5 mm thick. Discard the points between the sections)
300 grammes of pork ribs (ask butcher for ribs suitable for stewing soup)
10 - 15 Red Dates
100 grammes peanuts (uncooked)
4 pieces dried cuttlefish (optional. Cut into halves)
2 1/2 soup bowls of water

Seasoning

Salt to taste

Method

Boil water in pot. Upon boiling, add pork ribs. Remove layer of scum on surface of boiling water.

After about 2 minutes of rapid boiling and having removed scum, add the rest of the ingredients and bring to boil again for 2 minutes.

Cover lid, reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 hours. Add salt to taste before serving.

Technorati Tags : Soup , Recipe , Lotus , Chinese Food

Mixed Vegetables - Cabbage, Carrots, Wood-Ear Fungus, Dried Lily Buds and Mushrooms

2006-10-10T16:32:00.000+08:00

Mixed Vegetables

I have not been posting since the 2nd October. Not that I have not eaten but I have not been cooking and I have not eaten anything which I deem interesting enough to share it here. Recently though, my mum cooked Mixed Vegetables consisting of cabbage, carrots, wood-ear fungus, mushrooms and dried lily buds (kim cham).

Dried lily buds are unopened flower buds of lilies and also known as "golden needles". The buds need to be soaked in water for at least 30 minutes followed by tying itself in a knot at the middle. The wood-ear fungus also need to be soaked in water till soft prior to cooking as they come in dried form.

This is the recipe for Mixed Vegetables using Cabbage, Carrots, Wood-Ear Fungus, Chinese Mushrooms and Dried Lily Buds.

Ingredients

300 grammes of cabbage (cut across into 1 inch width)
200 grammes of carrot (sliced)
50 to 100 grammes of wood-ear fungus (soaked in water till soft)
5 dried chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked in 1 large bowl of water, cut into halves and with stem removed. Keep the water for cooking)
50 grammes of dried lily buds (pre-soaked till soft and knotted in the middle)
4 bulbs of garlic (chopped)
2 tablespoons of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
1 tablespoon of corn flour (mix with 3 tablespoons of water to make starch)

Seasoning

2 teaspoons light soya sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
Salt and white pepper powder to taste
1 tablespoon chinese cooking wine

Method

Heat oil in wok at high heat. Add garlic, chinese mushrooms and wood-ear fungus. Stir fry for 1 minute ensuring the garlic does not burn.

Add carrots, dried lily buds and cabbage and continue stir frying for another 2 minutes. Add a little water (from the water used to soak mushrooms) at a time to ensure that the vegetables do not dry out.

Add light soya sauce, oyster sauce, salt and white pepper followed by 1 cup of water and let it boil with lid closed. Cook for about 3 minutes or until cabbage is slightly limp.

Finally, add chinese cooking wine and adjust seasoning to taste. This is followed by the corn starch to thicken sauce to your desired thickness.

Technorati Tags : Vegetable , Chinese Food , Recipe

Fish Ball Tang Hoon Soup

2006-10-03T14:54:00.000+08:00

Fish Ball Tang Hoon

Fishballs are commonly sold in wet markets in Malaysia especially by the chinese traders. It is usually cooked in soup and tastes delicious when fresh. I prefer those which are springy and "crunchy". Fishballs should ideally be cooked the same day it is purchased as it usually does not taste as fresh overnight.

One of the common ways to cook a quick and delicious soup using fishballs is to cook it with Tang Hoon (also known as Glass Noodles). It can be served as an accompaniment to rice or even eaten / drunk on its own. One of the important ingredients which you should strive to add to the soup is chinese salted vegetable as it adds a nice saltish flavour to the soup. The chinese salted vegetable can be bought from sundry shops.

Chinese Salted Vegetable

This is a very simple and clear soup to cook which admittedly, might be too amateurish to some. Happy trying if you have not.

This is my recipe for Fish Ball Tang Hoon Soup a.k.a. Fish Balls with Glass Noodles Soup.

Ingredients

10 to 15 fishballs (actually, quantity up to you)
A handful of Tang Hoon (usually sold tied in a small bunch) [pre-soak in water to soften it]
Chopped spring onions for garnishing
A pinch of chinese salted vegetable
50 grammes of ikan bilis (dried anchovies) [buy those suitable for making stock]
2 bulbs shallots (sliced thinly)
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 1/4 soup bowls of water (approximately 600 ml)

Seasoning

Light soya sauce
Salt
White pepper powder
A pinch of msg (optional)

Method

Boil water with ikan bilis for 45 minutes to make stock. Remove ikan bilis when done.

Fry shallots in cooking oil till golden brown and place aside to cool.

Once stock is ready (which should be at least 1 soup bowl full) and maintaining high heat, add tang hoon and fish balls. The fish balls will float whilst the tang hoon will turn semi-translucent when cooked. Add seasoning to taste.

Sprinkle chopped spring onions, pinch of chinese salted vegetables and 2 teaspoons of the shallot oil onto the soup before serving.

Technorati Tags : Fish Ball , Soup , Tang Hoon , Glass Noodles

Chicken Rice cooked using Rice Cooker

2006-09-29T16:31:00.000+08:00

Chicken Rice cooked using Rice Cooker

The rice cooker is a very useful kitchen equipment and is present in many Asian households. Whilst it is primarily designed to cook rice, newer versions of the rice cooker has enable cooks to use it for steaming and even boiling soup.

Recently, my mum cooked Chicken Rice using the rice cooker. It is actually another version of the popular Claypot Chicken Rice. The beauty of using the rice cooker is that the rice does not get burnt at the bottom unlike the claypot. However, for those who are fond of burnt bits of rice, you may have to try this using the claypot instead.

This is the recipe for Chicken Rice using the Rice Cooker.

Ingredients

3 cups of rice (measure using the cup that comes supplied together with the rice cooker)
2 large chicken drumsticks and chicken thighs (chopped to bit sizes)
5 chinese dried mushrooms (pre-soaked in a bowl of water and cut to half or quarters. Do not throw away the water used for soaking)
2 chinese lap cheongs (chinese sausages) (sliced)
4 bulbs shallots (sliced thinly)
5 slices of ginger (more if you like a stronger ginger taste) {Added thanks to Earl-Ku's reminder}
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
warm water

Marinade for chicken

3 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoon of white pepper powder
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 tablespoon of chinese cooking wine

Seasoning

5 teaspoons of light soya sauce
1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce

Method

Soak rice in water for about 1 1/2 hours. Marinade chicken for the same length of time.

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

With remaining oil in wok and at high heat, add pre-soaked chinese dried mushrooms and ginger and stir fry for about 1 minute. Add marinated chicken and stir fry for another minute.

Add pre-soaked rice and seasoning and continue frying for about 2 minutes. Sprinkle a little bit of warm water to keep the rice from drying out.

Remove rice with ingredients into the rice cooker. Place the lap cheongs over the rice. Pour water (previously used to soak dried chinese mushrooms) gently over the rice to cover the rice just like how you would usually cook white rice in a rice cooker. Add plain water if the water used to soak dried chinese mushrooms is insufficient. Turn on your rice cooker and let it cook.

Serve hot and sprinkle fried shallots over the rice prior to serving.

Note : As you learn to cook this dish, adjust the seasoning to your prefered taste. You can also sprinkle chopped spring onions over the Chicken Rice for added colour and taste.

Technorati Tags : Malaysian Food , Chicken Rice , Rice , Recipe

Char Siew Fried Rice

2006-09-26T14:06:00.000+08:00

Char Siew Fried Rice

There are many variants of fried rice. In fact, it is only limited by the chef's imagination. One of the most popular is Egg Fried Rice, a recipe which I previously shared in this site. Another way of frying rice is to add meat to it and this gives the fried rice a good dose of flavour.

Sometimes, I will buy char siew (barbecued pork) from the market and use it as an ingredient in my fried rice. Most of the "tai chaus" (restaurants) also fry their rice this way though I must qualify myself and say that my recipe is more home-style and perhaps, different in some ways. Whilst the list of ingredients may seem long, it is actually not too complicated a recipe if you actually put your hand to it and try it for yourself.

This is my recipe for Char Siew Fried Rice.

Ingredients

3 bowls of cooked rice (preferably overnight cooked rice) [bowl denoting rice bowl]
1/2 bowl of french beans (cut into tiny cubes)
1/2 bowl of carrots (cut into tiny cubes)
3/4 bowl of char siew (cut into tiny cubes)
5 shallots (sliced thinly)
3 bulbs garlic (chopped)
3 eggs
4 tablespoons cooking oil (preferably palm oil)

Seasoning

3 teaspoons of salt
White pepper powder to taste
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 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, add garlic, french beans and carrots and stir fry for 1 minute. Add salt and pepper.

Make a "well" in the wok by pushing the french beans and carrots aside. Break eggs into the "well" and fry it till cooked. Mix with french beans and carrots followed by char siew. Fry and mix well for another 1 minute.

Add rice and stir fry the rice for 2 to 3 minutes whilst adding oyster sauce and light soya sauce. If wish to, add a pinch of msg. (The amount of salt, oyster sauce and light soya sauce can be adjusted to your prefered taste)

Serve hot and sprinkle fried shallots over the fried rice before serving.

Technorati Tags : Recipe , Fried Rice , Char Siew

Bee Pang (Rice Crispies)

2006-09-22T16:20:00.000+08:00

A packet of Bee Pang

After having a nice bowl of Sarawak Laksa at Nam Chuan Coffeeshop today, something familiar caught my eye being sold at the same stall. It's Bee Pang (literally translated as "Rice Fragrant" in Hokkien but I would call it Rice Crispies). I have not seen it sold anywhere else here in Kuala Lumpur (yet), so I bought two packets.

Bee Pang is actually sold in many places but not the type which is made in Kuching, Sarawak. This Bee Pang which I bought is made in Kuching by Goh Hak Hiang of 17th Mile, Serian Road. Something about the Bee Pang made in Kuching makes it taste better than those made elsewhere in Malaysia which I have tasted before.

Bee Pang

The Kuching variant as shown here is really crispy and light. The ingredients are rice, sugar, peanut, cooking oil, onion, wheat molasses, salt and sesame seed. Eack packet contains three blocks of Bee Pang. These blocks of Bee Pang has been pre-cut into smaller pieces measuring 5cm x 3.5cm x 1cm for easy eating.

It tastes sweet. The onions (which I suspect is shallots) and peanuts give the Bee Pang a nice hint of fragrance and the Bee Pang which I bought here is pretty fresh. It doesn't have that stale smell or taste associated with those rice crispies which have been left on the shelves for a period of time. It is also light and you can have a couple of pieces without feeling full.

Bee Pang is sometimes used as a hand gift when visiting others. It is also popularly used as part of the "hantaran" or "dowry" during engagements or marriages amongst some of the Chinese community. Try it when you visit Sarawak or if you are in Kuala Lumpur, you can get it from the Sarawak Laksa stall at Nam Chuan Coffeeshop.

Technorati Tags : Biscuit , Confectionary , Sarawak

Ko Ah from Kedai Biskut Chai Huat Heng

2006-09-21T15:24:00.000+08:00

This is not a recipe post (for the first time in this site).

I just want to share with you (pictures only though) what I always buy when I go back to my hometown in Pontian Kechil, Johor, Malaysia.

I've been eating this confectionary...or biscuit (if it is classified as biscuit) from the most famous confectionary shop in Pontian Kechil - Kedai Biskut Chai Huat Heng, ever since I was a kid. Not everyday, of course but at least once a year if I can get my hands on them.

We call this biscuit...or confectionary...let's just call it biscuit for ease of blogging, Ko Ah. Don't ask me what it is called in English 'cos I don't know. I only know it is the very delicious Ko Ah. It is sold in packets like what you see in the first picture above and has 6 pieces on every pack.

The ingredients that go into it are beans (I wonder what type of beans), sugar, flour, water, oil and salt. I always thought it also contains sesame seeds as there are tiny brown specks in the biscuit but it is not stated so in the list of ingredients.

How does it taste like?

Well, I will describe it as sweet with a hint of saltiness. The texture is slightly crumbly. Definately Delicious Asian Food!

Technorati Tag Confectionary , Tea

Beancurd with Minced Pork

2006-09-20T17:20:00.000+08:00

I like beancurd (aka. Tofu). It is so versatile and many recipes can be created out of it. You can fry it, steam it, boil it, mash it with ingredients etc. And the best thing is, it is relatively cheap and highly nutritious.

Beancurd with Minced Pork

There are many types of tofu. Some are hard in texture and some soft. I have a prior recipe here for Simple Tofu with Dried Prawns. In this recipe, however, I use the soft type of tofu which is measures approximately 6cm x 6cm x 2cm (W x D x H) and more ingredients are used.

This is my recipe for Beancurd with Minced Pork. Though it suggests minced pork, I have added other ingredients to give it some colour. Feel free to experiment!

Ingredients

3 pieces soft beancurd. Alternatively, you can use Japanese Beancurd.
100 grammes minced pork (season with 1 tsp soya sauce and a dash of white pepper)
Carrot (cut to strips. Amount up to your liking)
Chinese dried mushroom (pre-soaked and cut to strips) or other button mushrooms. In fact, any type of mushroom will do or you can omit it altogether.
Spring onions (cut to 2 inch lengths)
2 bulbs garlic (chopped)
2 bulbs shallots (sliced thinly)
2 tablespoons of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup corn starch (add 1/2 cup water to 3 teaspoons of corn flour)

Seasoning

1 - 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
White pepper powder (to taste)
1 teaspoon light soya sauce
1 tablespoon chinese cooking wine

Method

Fry shallots in cooking oil till brown. Remove shallots. Heat up the remaining oil and fry the garlic till beginning to brown. Add minced meat and stir fry for about 30 seconds.

Add carrots and mushrooms and continue stir frying for a minute. Add seasoning (minus the chinese cooking wine). Add water till it completely covers the ingredients and let it boil.

Once the water boils, place beancurd gently on top of the sauce / meat and cover the lid (in a way, you are steaming the beancurd whilst cooking the rest of the ingredients / gravy) for 2 to 3 minutes. Ensure that the gravy does not dry out.

Open lid, remove beancurd gently and place on a plate. Add chinese cooking wine to the meat sauce and stir to mix well. Add corn flour to the meat sauce to to thicken sauce to your liking. Add spring onions, give it a good stir and pour the meat sauce over the beancurd. Sprinkle fried shallots over the dish.

Serve hot with rice.

Technorati Tags Beancurd , Dinner , Lunch

Kangkong Belacan

2006-09-18T15:01:00.000+08:00

Kangkong Belacan

Water Convolvulus (or Water Spinach) is also known as Kangkong in the Malay Language. It is a common vegetable found in abundance in Malaysia and has nutritional values similar to the spinach.

In Malaysia, it is often served as Kangkong Belacan (stir-fried with spicy shrimp paste) or Sotong Kangkong (mixed with cuttlefish in fish paste and sprinkled with crushed peanuts). It is very easy and fast to cook. You should ideally have a cooker with high heat as it is imperative that this Kangkong Belacan dish be cooked as fast as possible. Otherwise, it will be flooded with juice from the vegetable and watery.

Kangkong and belacan mix

This is my recipe for Kangkong Belacan.

Ingredients

Approximately 400 grammes of kangkong. Separate leaves from stem. Cut stems to reasonable bite sizes
50 grammes of belacan (shrimp paste)
50 grammes of dried shrimps (pre-soaked in about 150 ml of water. Do not throw away the water)
5 bulbs of shallots
5 bulbs of garlic
4 to 8 red chillis (remove seeds if you want the dish to be less spicy)
4 tablespoons of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)

Method

Prepare belacan mix as follows. Pound belacan, dried shrimps, shallots, garlic and chilli in a mortar pound / blend them.

Heat oil in wok till smoke appears from wok. Add oil (which should be heated up substantially). Add belacan mix and stir quickly whilst reducing to medium heat. Do not burn the belacan mix.

Once belacan mix is fragrant and slightly brown, increase heat to high and add kangkong. Stir briskly and add a little water (from the water used to soak dried prawns) if the dish is too dry for your liking. Once kangkong is slightly limp, it is ready for serving.

I usually do not add any seasoning as the belacan and dried shrimps are quite salty in itself.

Technorati Tags Vegetable , Recipe , sambal belacan

Chinese Leek Flower with Beancurd, Carrots and Prawns

2006-09-04T11:19:00.000+08:00

Chinese leek flower can be considered a delicacy in chinese cuisine. It belongs to the same family as onions and is highly nutritious and sweetly flavoured. Usually, the "flower" is eaten before it blooms.

A secret to good tasting leek flower is to remove the "skin" very carefully from the stem. This layer of "skin" is as thin as cling-film and takes some practice to remove them.

Try not to use a knife as you will remove the outer-layer of the stem instead. Once you have removed the transparent looking "skin", y0u are on the right track.

I usually cook the leek flower with beancurd (hard type), prawns and carrots. You can also throw in roast pork for added flavour.

Chinese Leek Flower with Beancurd, Carrots and Prawns

This is my recipe for Chinese Leek Flower with Beancurd, Carrots and Prawns.

Ingredients

200 grammes chinese leek flower (cut into an inch lengthwise, remove skin)
100 grammes carrots (cut into strips)
2 pieces of beancurd (hard type. Cut into strips and fry them till brown)
100 grammes of medium-sized prawns (keep tail intact and devein)
2 bulbs garlic (minced)
1 tablespoon cooking oil
50 ml warm water

Seasoning

1 tablespoon oyster sauce
Dash of white pepper

Method

Heat oil and fry garlic for 15 seconds or so. Add leek flower, carrots, prawns and pre-fried beancurd. Stir-fry till prawns are cooked.

Add seasoning and warm water and close lid. Cook for another 3 to 5 minutes. Add a little bit more water if the dish dries up.

Serve hot with rice.

If you want to add roast pork, chop the roast pork (amount up to you) and add it into the dish before seasoning. You might want to reduce the oyster sauce because roast pork can be a bit salty.

Pork with ginger and spring onions

2006-09-01T12:27:00.000+08:00

Pork with ginger and spring onions

Ginger and spring onions are the best of pals. Somehow, when combined, they compliment each other very well and gives the dish a good taste regardless whether you use pork, fish slices, chicken or beef.

Today, I would like to share with you my recipe for Pork with Ginger and Spring Onions.

Once you have mastered this dish, you can substitute the meat with chicken, fish or beef.

Clockwise from top left : Pork, Chinese Mushrooms,
garlic, ginger and spring onions

Ingredients

200 grammes of pork (preferably tenderloin, sliced thinly and marinated for 30 minutes with a few dashes of light soya sauce, white pepper powder and a few sprinkles of corn flour. Sprinkle some chinese cooking wine for added flavour)
5 dried chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked and sliced. You can use any mushrooms you like or omit it altogether)
5 bulbs garlic (minced. Use more if you like)
About 2 cm ginger (sliced thinly into strips. Use more if you like)
Spring onions (cut into 2 inches length)
2 tablespoons cooking oil (palm oil preferred)
50 ml warm water
Corn starch to thicken the gravy (add a little corn flour with water)

Sauce

2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
A dash of dark soya sauce
A dash of white pepper powder
A dash of chinese cooking wine (optional)

Method

Heat oil in wok. Stir fry the garlic and ginger for about 30 seconds. Add mushrooms and pork and continue to stir fry for about 2 minutes till pork is seared.

Add sauce to taste and warm water. Cover wok for about 2 minutes. Add spring onions and corn starch to thicken the gravy to your liking.

Serve hot.

Pineapple Prawn Sambal

2006-08-30T11:09:00.000+08:00

My parents went to Pontian Kechil, Johor last weekend. Pontian Kechil is a well-known fishing village in the southern tip of Malaysia. In fact, drive a further 20 km or so southbound and you would have reached the southern-most tip of Asia!

Gorgeous Pineapple skin

Anyway, a short 15 minutes drive from Pontian Kechil towards the direction of Johor Bahru will lead you to a town called Pekan Nenas (which literally means "Pineapple Village" in Malay). Pekan Nenas has many pineapple plantations and is the biggest exporter of pineapples from Malaysia. My parents bought 2 pineapples home and we had Pineapple Prawn Sambal last night.

Pineapple Prawn Sambal

The sweetness and slight sourness of the pineapples complimented well with the freshness of the prawns as well as the spicyness of the sambal chilli. A definite good companion to steaming hot rice!

This is the recipe:-

Ingredients

300 grammes fresh medium-sized prawns (shell and deveined)
2 large onions (quartered)
150 grammes of pineapple (cubed)
Sugar to taste
Salt to taste
2 tablespoon of cooking oil

Sambal :

5 dried red chillis (pre-soaked for 30 minutes and remove seeds if want it to be less hot)
10 bulbs shallots
5 bulbs garlic
3 slices of galangal

Method

Blend or pound sambal ingredients till fine.

Heat oil in wok and fry sambal ingredients at medium heat till fragrant (about 2 minutes) taking care not to over-burn the ingredients. Add onions and continue stirring for about another minute.

Increase to high heat and add prawns and pineapples. Continue stirring till prawns are cooked. Add sugar and salt to taste. Add a little warm water if you prefer some gravy.

Bon appetit!

Steamed Pork Ribs with Taucheo Sauce

2006-08-28T15:32:00.000+08:00

Lately, there has been a number of recipes on pork ribs on this site. Pork ribs can be cooked in many different ways and mum cooks pork ribs by steaming it in taucheo sauce once a while.

The trick to this dish is to include ~~sour~~ salted plums as this actually give the pork ribs a good "zing" to taste as well as tenderises the meat. Some add this salted plums to steamed fish ala Teochew style.

This is the recipe:-

Ingredients

300 grammes of pork ribs
2 tablespoons of taucheo (fermented soya beans sold in bottles)
2 teaspoons of sugar
2 ~~sour~~ salted plums (sold in bottles. Remove excess water)
4 bulbs garlic (chopped or minced)
1 teaspoon cooking oil (preferably palm oil)

Method

To prepare marinade, heat oil in pan / wok and stir fry garlic with taucheo for 1 1/2 minutes on medium heat. Add sugar. Remove and let cool.

Add the ~~sour~~ salted plums to the marinade and marinate the pork ribs evenly for at least 30 minutes.

Steam the pork ribs for at least 30 minutes and serve.

Super simple, isn't it?

Sarawak Laksa

2006-08-25T15:37:00.000+08:00

Any visit to Sarawak, Malaysia especially to the major cities and towns like Kuching, Bintulu, Sibu and Miri would not be complete without a sampling or indulging in the very delicious Sarawak Laksa. Many locals swear by their favourite stalls and some stalls are really famous. You will have to be there early to catch a bowl.

I cooked Sarawak Laksa last Saturday. Invited some friends over and had a good time. Some say it tastes good but I felt that it lacked something. Could it be the laksa paste was not spicy enough? Of could it be due to my removal of some of the oil from the soup for health reasons?

If you have cooked it before, I would appreciate your comments.

This is the Recipe for Sarawak Laksa which I cooked. Good enough for 16 bowls.

Ingredients

750 grammes of Bee Hoon (rice vermicelli) (pre-soaked)
1.2 kilogrammes of medium-sized prawns (with head and shell)
1.5 kilogramme chicken (whole bird minus the head and feet)
5 eggs
500 grammes of bean sprouts
16 to 20 pieces of lime
900 grammes of Sarawak Laksa paste (I used the "Swallow" brand)
Coconut milk from 1 1/2 coconuts (about 300 mls)
Salt and sugar to taste
20 bowls of water (about 8 litres)
Coriander leaves (for garnishing)

From top left (clockwise) : Beansprouts, beehoon,
shredded chicken, egg strips and prawns

Method

Beat eggs and fry them thinly on a frying pan. Cut into strips. Set aside.

Boil 4 litres of water in a stock pot. Upon boiling, add 2 teaspoons of salt followed by prawns. Boil the prawns till they start to float indicating that they are cooked. Remove the prawns and let it cool.

Separately, boil 4 litres of water in another stock pot. Upon boiling, add 2 teaspooons of salt followed by the chicken. Boil till chicken is thoroughly cooked. Remove chicken and let it cool.

Remove head and shell from prawn. Put back the head and shell into the first pot, cover lid and continue boiling for at least 2 hours on medium heat. Place prawn aside.

Remove chicken meat from bones and shred the meat using fingers. Put back the chicken bones into the second pot, cover lid and continue boiling for at least 2 hours on medium heat. Place shredded chicken meat aside.

Once both stock are cooked, remove heads and shells of prawns as well as chicken bones. Combine the stock into one pot. Add Sarawak Laksa paste and let it boil at medium to high heat for at least 30 minutes.

Using freshly boiled water, blanch the beansprouts in 3 batches for 1 minute each. Drain beansprouts and set aside.

Next, cook the pre-soaked beehoon in 4 to 5 batches by blanching them in boiling water for at least 1 minute. Drain and set aside.

After the Sarawak Laksa paste has been left boiling for at least 30 minutes, turn off heat and sieve and remove the spice from the stock. Bring the stock (now laksa soup) to boil again. Turn off heat and add coconut milk gradually whilst stirring. Add salt and sugar to taste.

To serve, first place cooked beehoon on a bowl. Add beansprouts, shredded chicken, prawns and egg strips. Then pour the laksa soup over the ingredients.

Garnish with coriander leaves and squeeze a lime over the soup before eating.

It is not recommended that the laksa be kept overnight as coconut milk is used.

Bee Hoon with Chicken Frankfurters and Chinese Mushrooms

2006-08-22T14:22:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, we were rummaging through our kitchen to find out what we have which we could cook for lunch. In most Chinese homes, dried chinese mushrooms and dried prawns / shrimps are commonly found. So are bee hoon (rice vermicelli).

I have previously shared with you how to cook Bee Hoon with Stewed Pork Ribs. But yesterday, we have no stewed pork ribs in stock at home. What we have is chicken frankfurters. So, I decided to mix and match and am quite pleased with the outcome.

This is what I did :-

Ingredients

250 grammes bee hoon (pre-soaked till soft and drained)
4 pieces chicken frankfurters (cut diagonally - or whichever way you like)
5 pieces dried chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked in one bowl (about 250 ml) of water till soft and slivered. Remove stalk)
50 grammes dried prawns (pre-soaked in about 150 ml of water)
100 grammes chinese mustard (more if you like)
2 eggs
4 bulbs garlic (minced)
3 tablespoons cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
3 pieces Lime

From top (clockwise): Beehoon, frankfurters, eggs, minced garlic,
chinese mustard, dried prawns and dried mushrooms

Seasoning

3 teaspoons light soya sauce or to taste
Dash of white pepper powder to taste

Method

Heat oil in wok. Fry the chinese mushrooms for about 30 seconds and remove from oil.

Proceed to fry the dried prawns for 30 seconds. Add garlic followed by the frankfurters and eggs. Stir-fry till eggs are done and add back the chinese mushrooms.

Add bee hoon and stir fry for about 3 minutes, gradually adding water which was used to soak the mushrooms and dried prawns a little at a time to keep the bee hoon moist. Add seasoning followed by chinese mustard.

Continue stir-frying till chinese mustard and bee hoon is cooked.

Serve with a squeeze of lime.

This recipe serves 3 to 4 persons.

Bee Hoon with Chicken Frankfurters and Chinese Mushrooms

Mee Goreng (Fried Noodles)

2006-08-15T11:36:00.000+08:00

When I go to mamak stalls, I sometimes order mee goreng (fried noodles). Most of the time, the noodles are cooked in slightly dark coloured gravy due to the use of dark soya sauce. As for me, I have not been able to replicate the same type of mee goreng probably because I do not use the same type of ingredients.

I do, however, have my own recipe for mee goreng in which I use yellow noodles, tomatoes, fried beancurd, bean sprouts, chinese mustard (sawi), onions, garlic and fried fish cake (see photograph on right for ingredients used). If I have left over fried chicken, I will also put it in for extra flavour.

My mee goreng is basically sweet, sour and hot in taste as I use tomato and chilli ketchup. Do try it as it is not difficult at all.

Mee Goreng PabloPabla style

Ingredients

500 grammes of yellow noodles
1 large onion (chopped)
3 bulbs garlic (minced)
2 cups of bean sprouts (remove root)
200 grammes of chinese mustard (sawi) (cut into bite sizes)
2 pieces hard beancurd (cut into strips)
1 large tomato (cut into 8 wedges)
2 large eggs
2 pieces fried fish cake (cut into strips) (you can also use any form of pre-cooked meat eg. fried chicken, fried beef, etc)
3 pieces lime (halved)
4 tablespoons of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
1 cup warm water

Sauce

3 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
2 tablespoons of chilli ketchup
1 teaspoon of light soya sauce

Method

Fry beancurd strips in wok till golden brown. Remove from oil.

Whilst the oil is still hot, fry the onions, garlic and fish cake strips (or meat) till fragrant. Add eggs and stir fry till eggs are semi-cooked. Add noodles gradually whilst stirring. (Cook at high heat to ensure noodles do not stick on wok)

Having stir fried the noodles for about 1 to 2 minutes, add fried beancurd strips and cut tomatoes. Continue to stir fry, add beansprouts and sauce (adjust amount of ketchup to taste). Add a little bit of water to keep noodles moist.

After 1 to 2 minutes, add chinese mustard and stir for 1 minute (chinese mustard cooks fast and gets limp easily in yellow noodles).

Serve with a squeeze of lime.

Technorati Tags : Merdeka Open House 2006

Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs

2006-08-14T17:55:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday, I decided to cook Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs. It is quite a simple dish to cook. In fact, the sweet and sour sauce can be used for many types of meat eg. pork balls, fried fish and even chicken fillet.

Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs in the wok

This is my recipe.

Ingredients

2 Pork ribs cut into 2 inch lengths (approximately 400 gms)
1 large onion (quartered and separated)
1 green capsicum (slivered)
2 large tomatoes (cut into wedges)
Oil for deep frying
Corn flour
1 teaspoon of Salt and 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper powder to marinade pork ribs

Sauce

3 tablespoons tomato ketchup
sugar to taste
1 cup of warm water

Method

Marinade pork ribs for about 3 hours or more. Adjust amount of salt as marinade according to your preference.

Deep fry the pork ribs till golden brown and cooked. Remove and drain.

Add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil into wok at high heat. Fry onions and capsicums for 30 seconds. Add tomato ketchup. Sprinkle sugar to taste (depending how sweet or sour you want the sauce to be). Gradually add a little warm water depending on how thin you want the sauce to be. Finally, add the tomatoes and fried pork ribs.

Stir and coat the pork ribs in the sauce and serve hot. Excellent served with Egg Fried Rice.

You can also add cucumbers (diced) or pineapples (diced) into the dish.

Fried Beehoon with Stewed Pork Ribs

2006-08-10T12:20:00.000+08:00

I am quite fond of noodles and pastas. One form of noodles that I like (if it is classified as a type of noodles in the first place) is beehoon (also known as rice vermicelli). Beehoon can be cooked dry or in soup or even in light sauce. It is very commonly cooked in Malaysia and Singapore.

Fried Beehoon with Stewed Pork Ribs

On festive occasions, my mum will cook beehoon with stewed pork ribs. The stewed pork ribs are sold in cans and purchased from supermarkets. Of course, you can just heat up the stewed pork ribs and eat it with rice but this is another method to cook it. Tastes good!

Ingredients

300 gms of beehoon (pre-soaked for 1 hour and drained)
1 can of stewed pork ribs (do not throw the gravy away)
150 gms of cabbage (sliced) - you can have more if you like more vegetables
1 carrot (optional - sliced into strips)
2 eggs
3 bulbs garlic (minced)
5 bulbs shallots (sliced thinly)
3 tablespoons of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
1 cup of hot water

Flavouring

1 tablespoon dark soya sauce
2 teaspoons light soya sauce (more if you prefer the dish to be saltier)
Dash of white pepper powder (to taste)

Method

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

With the same oil in the wok and at high heat, fry the garlic (till light yellow colour). Add eggs and fry till eggs are slightly brown. Then add cabbage and carrot and stir fry for 2 minutes till vegetables are slightly limp. Add in the stewed pork ribs and its gravy.

When the mix above starts to boil, add the beehoon (rice vermicelli) and stir fry for about 5 to 7 minutes. Add flavouring to taste whilst stir frying.

Add the hot water gradually to keep the beehoon moist whilst stir frying. Beehoon is cooked when it is no more translucent and is soft.

Serves 3 to 4 persons.

Stir-fried Mix Vegetables

2006-08-09T11:31:00.000+08:00

Sorry I have not updated this blog for sometime. I have not been cooking lately until yesterday.

Anyway, I am fond of vegetables particularly broccoli. It's a highly nutritious vegetable from the cabbage family. There are many ways of cooking it. Here, I will share with you how it is stir-fried with other vegetables chinese style.

Ingredients

150 gms broccoli (cut into florets like picture above)
150 gms cauliflower (cut into florets like picture above)
100 gms button mushrooms or chinese dried mushroom (if latter, please pre-soak and cut into halves. Remove stem)
1 medium sized carrot (sliced)
1/2 tin of asparagus clams (optional)
100 gms baby corn (optional)
4 bulbs garlic (minced)
1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil (palm oil preferred)
1 tablespoon corn flour (mix with 50 ml water and stir to make corn starch)
Half cup hot water

Flavouring

1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon light soya sauce
White pepper powder to taste
2 teaspoon chinese cooking wine (optional)

Method

Heat oil in wok till oil starts to smoke. Add garlic and mushrooms. Stir fry for 1 minute.

Add cauliflower, carrot, asparagus clams and baby corn. Continue to stir fry for 3 minutes, adding hot water gradually. Cover for 1 minute. Add broccoli and continue to stir fry. Add a little bit more of the hot water if it becomes too dry (you will want a little bit of sauce).

Add flavouring above and continue to cook until broccoli is slightly limp. If the sauce is too watery, add a little bit of the corn starch to thicken the sauce.

Serve hot with preferably with rice.

Four-Angled Beans with Dried Prawns and Chilli

2006-07-27T17:56:00.000+08:00

Four-angled beans are also known as "Kacang Botol" in Malaysia.

This vegetable which has a very unique shape (hence its name), grows as a creeper and is a very good source of protein and contains all the amino acids, fatty acids and antioxidants to keep you healthy and in good shape.

However, it does not last long and it is recommended to eat them the very same day of purchase. Choose beans which have green edges.

We have this once in a blue moon, usually stir fried with dried prawns and chilli. Some people eat it raw or dipped into sambal.

This is my recipe for Four-Angled Beans with Dried Prawns and Chilli.

* Click on the picture for better view *

Ingredients

300 gms four-angled beans (cut diagonally thinly - about 3 mm thick)
50 gms dried prawns (pre-soaked)
3 bulbs shallots
3 bulbs garlic
3 to 4 red chillis (remove seed)
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 to 2 teaspoons sugar
20 gms belacan (optional)

Method

Pound or blend dried prawns, shallots, garlic, chillis and belacan (optional). (paste)

Heat oil in wok. Add paste above and fry on medium heat till fragrant and slightly brown.

Increase heat to high and add four-angled beans and stir fry for about 2 minutes. Whilst stir frying, add sugar and a sprinkle of water to keep moist.

Serve warm.

Simple Tofu with Dried Prawns

2006-07-25T17:57:00.000+08:00

Tofu is also known as beancurd and comes in many varieties. It can be sold uncooked or even deep-fried. I always have a fondness for tofu and this is one of the simplest recipes for tofu which I would like to share with you. (I will take a photo the next time I cook this dish so that I can share with you how it looks like)

Ingredients

Soft white tofu (approximately 5 inches long, 3 inches wide and 3 inches height) or alternatively, 1 tube japanese tofu
4 shallots (sliced thinly)
50 gms of dried prawns (pre-soaked 10 minutes before cooking and minced)
3 tablespoons cooking oil
Water to boil

Sauce

1 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce

Garnish

Chopped spring onions (amount up to you)
Chopped red chillis (optional)

Method

Toast minced dried prawns on a frying pan at medium heat (no need to put oil) till brown and fragrant. Remove and place aside.

Fry shallots with cooking oil till golden brown, remove from oil and allow to dry. Keep oil aside.

Boil sufficient water in a pot and gently place tofu into the boiling water (ensuring that tofu is covered by the water). Boil the tofu for 1 minute. Remove tofu gently and place on plate. Drain excess water.

Drizzle oyster sauce and approximately 1 1/2 teaspoons of the oil over the tofu. Sprinkle fried dried prawns and fried shallots over the tofu together with chopped spring onions / red chilli.

Serve with rice.

Truly simple, isn't it?

Tau Yu Bak (Stewed Pork in Soya Sauce)

2006-07-21T16:19:00.000+08:00

Once in a while, mum will cook Tau Yu Bak (stewed pork in soya sauce).

I like this dish as it compliments rice very well. The rich stew tastes heavenly when poured over the rice and the meat is usually very tender by the end of cooking time.

Tau Yu Bak can be cooked using either belly pork or even pork ribs. In this picture, pork ribs are used together with tau ki (which is soya sheets).

You can also add hard boiled eggs or even tau pok (fried beancurd) as extra ingredients.

Taste can be a matter of individual preference and also depends on the type of dark soya sauce you use. Dark soya sauce (and even light soya sauce for that matter) differs in taste from one brand to another due to the individual recipe in the fermentation process. Some tastes saltier than others. Some tastes sweeter than others. For us, we usually source our dark soya sauce from our hometown in Pontian Kecil, Johor, Malaysia.

My mum's recipe is as follows:-

Ingredients

300 gms of belly pork or pork ribs. (If belly pork is used, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (fat at the top, lean at bottom). If pork ribs are used, choose meaty ones and ask butcher to cut into 2 inch lengths)
100 gms of tau ki (also known as foo chok. Ask for stiff type)
5 to 8 chinese dried mushrooms (pre-soak till soft)
3 whole bulbs of garlic
2 bowls of warm water (approximately 500 mls)

Seasoning

3 tablespoons dark soya sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar
2 star anise
3 inches ceylon cinnamon (kayu manis)
salt to taste
white pepper to taste

Method

Heat pot. Add sugar. Once sugar caramelised, add meat and coat it with caramelised sugar to lock juices in.

Add water, garlic, chinese dried mushrooms and seasoning. (This is also the time to add hard boiled eggs and / or tau pok if you wish to have more ingredients)

Once start to boil, close lid, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. Then add tau ki and simmer for a further 30 minutes. Add boiling water is stew becomes too dry.

2 minutes Bean Sprouts

2006-07-20T13:55:00.000+08:00

Do you like bean sprouts?

They are highly nutritious and easy to cook. It can be served on its own as a dish or it can be added into stir-fried noodles, kueh teow or rice vermicelli.

According to the Answers.com, bean sprouts are rich in vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins and phytochemicals, all necessary for a germinating plant, and rich in essential nutrients for humans. It is thus essential that bean sprouts are cooked quickly to prevent loss of its nutrients.

This is my recipe which will only take 2 minutes to cook.

Ingredients

300 gms bean sprouts (remove root part)
1 pot of water
3 tsp of cooking oil (palm oil / peanut oil)
3 shallots (sliced thinly)

Sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tsp light soya sauce
A sprinkle of sesame oil

Garnish

spring onions (cut into 2 cm lengths)

Method

Prepare and clean bean sprouts.

Heat cooking oil and fry shallots till golden brown. Remove from oil and drain. Reserve the oil (*).

Boil water in a large pot (enough to cover bean sprouts). Put bean sprouts into rapidly boiling water and cook for 2 minutes. Remove and drain.

Place cooked bean sprouts onto plate. Add sauce over the bean sprouts, followed by cooked oil (*), fried shallots and spring onions. Serve with fried rice.

Tom Yam

2006-07-18T14:33:00.000+08:00

I am back. I just had tom yam for lunch.

Tom Yam is a Thai-style spicy soup which is bound to increase one's appetite (and sweat). It is hot and sour and is served hot. Great accompaniment to a steaming bowl of white rice, especially in cold weather.

I do cook it once in a blue moon and this is my recipe.

Ingredients

400 gms medium prawns
200 gms squid (cut into rings)
150 gms oyster mushrooms
100 gms baby corn (quarter-cut lengthwise)
3 tomatoes (quartered)
4 cups prawn / chicken stock
Salt and sugar to taste
2 stalks lemon grass, bruised
4 kaffir lime leaves
4 fresh birds-eye chillies
Lime juice to taste
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
2 onions cut into rings
2 tablespoon tom yam paste (can be obtained from supermarkets)

Method

Shell and devein prawns. (The heads and shells can be boiled to make prawn stock)

Bring to boil 5 cups prawn / chicken stock. Add all the above ingredients (except prawns, squid, lime juice & coriander leaves) and simmer till baby corn and mushroom are cooked.

Add prawns and squid and simmer for three minutes, or just until prawns and squid are cooked.

Stir in lime juice to taste, making it nicely piquant. Serve sprinkled with coriander leaves

Steamed Tilapia with tau cheo sauce

2006-07-14T12:49:00.000+08:00

Actually I haven't had this dish for quite a while. It's a simple dish to make and this is my recipe. You can get fresh tilapias from most wet markets in Malaysia. It is a hardy fish and can usually survive without water for at least 1 hour...in a gasping state, though.

Ingredient:

1 Tilapia fish (about 500 gms, cleaned and gutted).
1 tablespoon of cooking oil

Marinade / Sauce:

5 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
3 slices of old ginger (pound finely)
3 tablespoons of tau cheo (preserved soy beans in can / bottles which you can buy from supermarkets) (pound finely)
1 to 2 red chillis (chopped finely)
2 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Garnish:

Chopped spring onions

Method

Heat oil in frying pan and saute garlic, ginger and chillis till light brown and fragrant. Add tau cheo and continue stirring for 1 minute whilst adding sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Steam fish at high heat for approximately 8 minutes (ensure that fish is only placed into steamer when water is boiling rapidly).

Pour prepared marinade over fish and continue steaming for 2 minutes or until fish eyes pop.

Remove, sprinkle spring onions and serve hot with rice.

Roti Canai

2006-07-13T13:27:00.000+08:00

I had Roti Canai for breakfast this morning. I have it quite often...averaging at least once a fortnight. It's a simple breakfast and cheap. You can get a piece for RM0.80 here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Roti Canai is essentially a type of bread wherein the dough is kneeded, flipped, stretched, laid thinly and finally folded into a square or slightly round. It is then cooked on an iron skillet till brown.

It is usually served with dhall or curry (chicken or fish). I like mine with curry and I usually start off by laying curry on the plate, followed by the Roti Canai and topped with another layer of curry.

Roti Canai is available in Malaysia and Singapore. I have not travelled to other countries in Asia ...so I am not in a position to comment on their availability elsewhere.

Enterprising and creative cooks have come out with variants of the Roti Canai and have put in various types of fillings such as egg, sardine in ketchup, bananas, cheese, onions and kaya.

No Roti Canai will be complete without the Teh Tarik (or "pulled tea"). For more information on Roti Canai, check out the Wikipedia.

I now leave you with a Roti Canai recipe which I sourced from the http://www.seberangflour.com.my.

Ingredient

500 gms Wheat flour, medium protein (Blue Ferry or Bintang)
15 gms Sugar
7.5 gms Salt
10 gms Condensed milk
10 gms Egg
10 gms Margarine
280 ml Water

Method

Dissolve sugar and salt in water. Add milk, egg and flour and blend well. Add the margarine.

Knead the dough until smooth and no longer sticky. Divide dough into 70 gms pieces.

Shape the dough into balls and coat with margarine. Cover the dough and leave for about five hours or overnight.

Gently press the dough with palm, stretching it slightly. Hold the dough and stretch to expand the dough piece. Repeat this step for about eight times.

Finally you should get a piece of thin sheet of dough. Fold up or coil into a lump.

Leave the dough for ten minutes. Fry on both sides over medium heat until golden brown.

Serve Roti Canai with Curry.

Egg Fried Rice

2006-07-12T16:26:00.000+08:00

This is the first post in this blog.

I've pondered long and hard what recipe or Asian food I shall blog about. After much thought, I decided to share with you the humble "Egg Fried Rice". Why the Egg Fried Rice, you might ask?

Well, for starters, the very first dish I learnt to cook (after "graduating" from frying eggs) was Egg Fried Rice. I was only 11 years old then. It is a simple dish and sure fills the stomach. It is also popular in most chinese restaurants and take-aways.

This is my version of the no-frills Egg Fried Rice. Super simple and serves 2 persons.

Ingredients

2 cups / rice bowls cold cooked rice
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 shallots (thinly sliced)

Seasoning :

1 ½ tsp light soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Garnishing:

Chopped spring onions, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes

Method

Heat one to two tablespoons oil in a wok and fry shallots till fragrant and light brown. Remove fried shallots.

Whilst oil is still hot, add the rice and stir-fry well. Pour in seasoning and continue to stir-fry for about 3 minutes. Pour in eggs and fry until properly cooked. The rice should be coated and yellowish-brown in colour.

Sprinkle the fried shallots over the rice.

Dish out and serve with garnishing.