Kid's Fish Meal

I haven't post kid's meal for a while now. Well, here's a new one I did last week. The fishes were a bit 'rough' though. I really need to learn to be more skillful.

The fishes were made from rice, cocktail saugsages, cheese and a tiny bit of seaweed.

The other two dishes that comes with this were Colourful Tamago and Deep Fried Fish with Seaweed

* Fishy No.1 *

* Fishy No.2 *

Deep Fried Fish with Seaweed

I did these with the slices of Snakehead (fish) I had in the fridge I wanted to clear. Not fantastic but okay enough to get my son to eat it. These got to be eaten while it's hot otherwise the seaweed will turn soft and soggy. Not a good idea if your kids hate seaweed.

Ingredients:

• Sliced Boneless Fish meat
• Nori aka seaweed cut to size (according to the length of the fish meat and 2.5x the width)
• Salt
• Batter
• Breadcrumbs
• Oil for frying

How to do it:

1. Season the fish with salt.
2. Wrap the fish with seaweed.
3. Dip in batter followed by breadcrumbs.
4. Deep fry till golden brown.
5. Drain and serve.

Colourful Tamagoyaki

I did this as part of a dish for my kids. You know how I always try to mask veggie to try to get them eating it. Well, this dish has always worked. They know they are eating the veggie but without the taste of it and best of all, the veggie is never over cooked this way.

If you don't like the hassle of doing it the Japanese way, you can always do it the normal scramble eggs way. Oh, the Japanese do this using a rectangle pan. If you don't own one, you can still do it with a regular round frying pan to achieve that rectangle shape.

Ingredients:

• 2 Eggs, beaten
• 1 tablespoon Chopped Spinach or any other vegetables
• 3 Crabsticks, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• A few drops of oil

How to do it:

1. Heat the frying pan.
2. Oil the pan with a few drops of oil. Use kitchen paper towel if you added to much.
3. Mix all ingredients together.
4. Pour 1/3 of the mixture to the pan and spread it well to have it cover the pan.
5. When the base of the egg mixture has set, flip over about 2 cm of the edge and 'roll' it, till the egg comes rectangle in shape.
6. Move the egg to one side of the pan, pour another 1/3 of the mixture into the pan again.
7. Spread the egg mixture.
8. Lift the earlier cooked egg a little and let in sit on the mixture.
9. When the mixture is set, again flip the egg over so that the earlier cooked egg is now rolled inside.
10. Repeat for the remaining 1/3 of the egg mixture.
11. Continue to pan fry the egg roll on all four sides till they are slightly browned.
12. Remove, cut into smaller pieces and serve.

Sweet Vingeared Pork

My MIL used to be a very good cook. I wished she would teach me her Sweet and Sour Pork 咕噜肉. It's to die for! It's the best that I have eaten so far. Oh, I did ask her many times over the year how she did it.

She always says, "Just cook like this lor." When I refused to accept "just cook like this" and probed further, she would say, "Well, you just fry the pork and put the sauce lah." Oh, oooooookay. Looks like I'm not going to get anything out from her. It has been so many years already. LOL

I don't think I could ever achieve my Sweet and Sour Pork 咕噜肉 anything close to hers. Crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside with just the right amount of sweet and sour taste. Hmmm .... I miss it so much! I could eat 2 bowls of rice with it alone! Just super! Don't tell me to ask her how it is done. I know what answers I'll get! LOL

So I kind of take a break from experimenting with that dish (for the moment) and came up with this instead. Sweet and Sour Pork 咕噜肉 and Sweet Vinegar Pork 糖醋肉 (usually ribs 排骨 are used, hence 糖醋排骨）is two different dishes, though both have the sweet and sour taste. 咕噜肉 uses tomato and chilli sauces. Where as 糖醋肉 has none of the two. It uses sugar 糖 and vinegar醋.

Ingredients:

• 250g Pork (五花肉)
• 2 tablespoon Cornflour
• 2 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1 Egg Yolk
• Oil for frying

Sauce:

• 3 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 4 tablespoon Sugar
• 3 tablespoon Black Vinegar
• 60ml Water

How to do it:

1. Marinade pork with light soy sauce, cooking wine and egg yolk for at least half an hour.
2. Heat a pot of oil.
3. Coat pork with cornflour and deep fry till golden brown or cooked.
4. Remove and drain.
5. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok, add in sauce.
6. Stir slowly till the sauce thicken.
7. Add in the pork and coat evenly.
8. Dish and serve.
   

Black Pepper Squid

I couldn't get over the Black Pepper Crayfish I cooked yesterday and I just eat it again. Sooo, I just had to cook it again today but with squid, which was suppose to be for another dish.

Squid taste nice with black pepper. I had cooked Grilled Squid with Black Pepper some time back. Grilled squid is tough with overcooked. The one is just nice - chewy but tender.

For this dish, I cut down the black pepper to 2 tablespoons and chilli was not added too. Oh, I also reduced the water to just 2 tablespoons as this doesn't need too much cooking to get the flavours in it. You can do the same if you are using Prawns.

In case you are wondering how I cut the squid, I sliced across the squid leaving about a centimeter from the edge. It looked like the squid had lots of rings attached. After which, I half it. When you fried it, it will curl and look like a flower, pretty.

Okay, enough. No more black pepper dish for me liao.

Black Pepper Crayfish

I love seafood. I used to cook Chilli Crab a lot but I have stop cooking crabs a long time now. Black Pepper Crab is one of my favourites too. Since I don't buy crabs anymore, I have find other replacements for crabs.

In this case, I'm using Crayfish. It taste almost as good as crabs! Take a look at the photo below. One whole piece of meat right into your mouth! How do you like that?! Hope you are not salivating now! hehehe ...

Ingredients:

• 3 Crayfish, scrub to clean and chopped in half
• 3 tablespoon Butter
• 2 Red Chilli, seeded and finely chopped
• 4 tablespoon Black Pepper, crushed
• 1 tablespoon Minced Garlic
• 1 tablespoon Minced Onion
• 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 2 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1/2 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 5 tablespoon water
• 2 teaspoon Sugar
• Cornflour for dusting
• Oil for frying

How to do it:

1. Dry-fry black pepper till fragrant.
2. Remove and set aside.
3. Pat dry the crayfish and dust with flour
4. Deep fry till golden brown
5. Heat wok, add the butter.
6. When the butter has melted and begins to sizzles, add the garlic, onions and chilli and stir fry fragrant.
7. Add the oyster sauce, light soya sauce, sugar, pepper and cooking wine.
8. Mix well.
9. Add in the water.
10. Add the crayfish and stir fry on high heat till the sauce has dry.
11. Dish and serve.

Note:

• If you can't take it too spicy, leave out the red chilli or add more if you want it more spicy.
• Replace light soy sauce with 2 teaspoon of dark soy sauce instead for colour, if you like.
• You can add some curry leaves when you are frying garlic and onion to add fragrance.
• Remove when the leaves turn dark green and are crispy. Add them only at the end for garnishing.

Egg Mayonnaise with Prawn

Okay, I did this out of boredom. You may noticed my dishes are mostly Chinese and some Asian. I wanted to try something out of the usual stuff I cook for the family and yet the ingredients must be obtainable here in this ulu (rural) place I live, be acceptable to my family who are so into Chinese Food and most importantly - easy.

I noticed a lot of western dishes always look soooo too beautiful to be eaten and difficult to make as well. Well, not difficult for many but for this stay at home mum who only started cooking for not more than 3 years ago (and with no guidance), it is like asking my son to cook Pandan wrapped Chicken on his own.

Anyway, I came out with these, which were really Delifrance-inspired, easy to make too and it was a hit at home!

Ingredients:

• 3 Hard Boiled Eggs
• 1 tablespoon Mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoon chopped Parsley (optional)
• 3 small to medium Prawns

How to do it:

1. Remove shells from eggs and cut them into half.
2. Carefully remove the yolks and set both yolks and whites aside separately.
3. In a pot, add water, a pinch of salt and let it boil.
4. Add in the prawns and remove when cooked.
5. Let the prawns set in cold water.
6. Shell the prawns, slice into half, pat dry and set aside.
7. In a bowl, mix yolks, mayonnaise and parsley together till smooth.
8. Spoon some egg yolk mayonnaise to fill the 'hole' in the egg white.
9. Place half prawn on top.
10. Spoon some more egg yolk mayonnaise on top of the prawn.
11. Serve.

Note:

• I include prawn, preferably fresh, here to add chew in it.
• The size of the prawns used depends on the egg used.

Getting the hard boiled egg - Perfect

Do you know there's a technique in making hard boiled eggs? If you don't really care how it looks like, you can just dump the eggs in the pot and let it boil. Most of the time when you cook your hard boiled eggs this way, you will noticed that there is a grey ring around the yolk. That is if you did notice it lah.

But, if you want your hard boiled eggs to look nice, the yolk golden with no 'stain', I do have a way to do it...

1. Place eggs in a pot with cold water covering the eggs at least 3 cm above.
2. Bring the water to boil.
3. Once the water boils, reduced heat to let the water simmer for 2 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, cover the pot and let the eggs sit for another 10 minutes (longer for larger eggs)
5. Remove the eggs gently and set them in a cold water (ice cold preferred).
6. Once the eggs are not longer warm, you can remove them and start peeling.

Note:

• Do not let the eggs boil in water for too long as it will crack and the whites will leak out. Not very nice right?
• If you are using refrigerated eggs, bring them out at least 5 minutes before boiling to prevent cracking.
• The cold water stops the cooking process thus helps avoid the grey ring around the yolk
• The difference in the temperature will also help makes peeling easier.

Broccoli and Cauliflower with Shimeiji Mushrooms

This is a healthy veggie dish. Not actually my kids' favourite kind of dish but my son will still support by eating a piece of broccoli or two and he will finish all the carrots.

I like all the veggies here whether or not there are fans at home. I'll finish the whole dish if no one wants it. It's nice, what!

Ingredients:

• 1 handful of Broccoli florets
• 1 handful of Cauliflower florets
• 1 handful of Shimeiji Mushrooms
• A few slices of Carrot
• 1 teaspoon Minced Garlic
• 5 tablespoon Broth
• 1 tablespoon Oil
• Salt to taste
• Cornflour Mixture (thickener)

How to do it:

1. Blanch broccoli and cauliflower florets for 8 minutes with a teaspoon of salt and 1/2 tablespoon oil.
2. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat wok with 1/2 tablespoon oil.
4. Stir fried garlic till fragrant.
5. Add in shimeiji mushroom and stir fried for 5 minutes.
6. Add in the broth, broccoli and cauliflower.
7. Add salt to taste.
8. When broth begin to simmer, gradually add cornflour mixture to thicken.
9. Dish and serve.
   

Fruit Basket

The other day we when to the supermarket, my son picked Kiwi and Strawberries for his after meal's fruits. I told him they may be a bit sour and ask if he like to changed to other fruits instead. He didn't want to. Why? Because he said he like the colours - colours of the traffic lights. Haha ...

I had a Grapefruit at home, so I did this Fruit Basket for him as a after meal treat.

Ingredients:

• 1 Grapefruit, half and pulp removed, juiced it and set the skin and juice aside
• 1 Kiwi, skin and diced
• 1 Golden Kiwi, skin and diced
• 3 Strawberries, diced
• Agar Agar (Jelly), made with apple juice, cubed (optional)
• Syrup to taste (done by melting sugar with water)

How to do it:

1. Mix, kiwi and strawberry in a bowl.
2. Add in grapefruit juice.
3. Sweeten with syrup.
4. Add in agar agar or jelly.
5. Mix well and chill.
6. To serve, scoop some of the mixture into the Grapefruit skin.

Note:
You can use any other fruits and juices of your choice too!

Steam Prawns with Angelica Sinensis

When you see me posting a recipe on prawns, you should guess I managed to get fresh live prawns. Yes, I did get live prawns, Tiger Prawns some more! I love it so did the kids. Not because they like to eat prawns, but because they like to play with it. They like to see how they jump out the little basin I hold them in and when they hold on to the their 'moustache', to see how their legs move. So torturing!

Live prawns is best to be eaten steamed. They taste great without any seasonings - just steam with the prawns alone and nothing else. That, we call 白绰虾. The prawns taste sweet! This time round I'm going to steam it with Angelica Sinensis aka 当归. This Chinese herb is also know as the female Ginseng aka 人参 and is very good in treating mild anemia. So, for the ladies, after 'the period' of each month, cook something with 当归. Good for you! *wink* Well, that's what my aunt always say. My little girl is already loving this herb. She loves the soup! Smart girl! 实货!

Ingredients:

• 12 medium to large Prawns, preferably live prawns
• 4 slices Angelica Sinensis aka 当归
• 1/2 handful Wolfberries aka 枸杞子
• 1 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 100ml water
• A pinch of salt
• 2 slice Ginger (if you are not using live prawns)

How to do it:

1. Put all ingredients except prawns, in a bowl and steam it for 30 minutes to release the flavour of Angelica Sinensis.
2. Lay the prawns in a deep dish.
3. Pour the sauce with the herbs over the prawns.
4. Return to steam for 7 minutes, longer if you refrigerate it or till cook.
5. Indulge now!

Note:

• Now, don't go using chopsticks, fork or knife. Use your fingers to eat these!
• And don't leave out the heads! Suck them hard!
• Don't forget to finish the soup too!

Oh, if you not a fan of Chinese Herbs, leave it out or better still, hop on to Tigerfish's blog to grab her yummilicious, Drunken Prawns.

Salami/Ham and Cheese Toast

I have a Guest Chef today, WokkingBoy. LOL I know he would love to make tea for both of us, so I 'invited' him to do it. I became his assistant and prepared all the ingredients for him.

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of bread of your choice
• 3 slices of cheese of your choice, cut into 6 strips each
• Toppings of your choice (we had shaved Breakfast Ham and Salami)
• Parmesan Cheese

How to do it, in the Chef own words:

1. Wash your hands and dry them first.
2. Take a piece of bread and put on a plate.
3. Put 3 pieces of cheese (he meant the cut strips) over the bread.
4. Put the ham over the cheese; put A LOT. (we did ham first)
5. Put some more cheese. Must put nicely. Don't anyhow put. Won't be nice later.
6. Put the breads in the toaster and wait for a while.
7. See the cheese are all melted. (8 minutes, the assistant took note of the time)
8. Can take them out. Must wear glove - long ones.
9. Put some Parmesan Cheese.
10. Okay, can eat now but too hot for me.

Note:
The assistant cut the Salami in quarters and chopped the shaved ham in smaller pieces because it was a bit difficult to cut them nicely.

* Guest Chef, WokkingBoy, in action *

Cranberry Beans with Pork Ribs Soup 珍珠豆排骨汤

The other day I was chatting with my friend, June, about food and she showed me a link on beans. I didn't know there are so many different types of beans. So interesting. I saw one of the listed beans as the one I often see in the market. The next day, I went to bought some to make soup. I tasted really nice. A bit powdery but it taste very close to lotus roots soup. Yummy!

Oh, keep these beans out of reach of young children. My daughter thought they were white chocolate candies and want to eat them!

Ingredients:

• 250g Pork Ribs, blanched
• 4 cups Cranberry Beans aka 珍珠豆
• 1 litre Water
• Salt to taste

How to do it:

1. Put all ingredients except salt in a pot and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for another hour.
3. Add salt to taste.

Simple as that!

* Cranberry Beans aka 珍珠豆*

Mango Smoothie

My hubby and my son love mango. It's their number one favourite fruit. I bought two huge mangoes (almost 1 kg each) from the supermarket because their were on promotion and was really cheap ($3+ each). I decided to use some to make smoothie with some of the milk left in the fridge. What can I say? It was delicious!

What I did was blend 300ml Fresh Milk with 400g Cubed Mango together and about 8 ice cubes. Once it's smooth, pour it in a glass and ... tada! Home-made Mango Smoothie! Oh! Don't forget to top with some Mango cubes for that extra bite.

You don't have to add ice cubes. I just want it less thick. And if your mango is sour, add some extra fine sugar or syrup to the blending. Okay, go grab some mangoes and a carton of fresh milk now!

Hot and Sour Soup 酸辣汤

Many years ago, I found a stall at Beach Road Hawker Center, selling Hot and Sour Noodle, while working nearby. I left that company after a short stint and when I returned to the hawker center, the stall selling this noodle was nowhere to be found.

To curb my cravings for the soup, I used instant Hot and Sour Soup mix, till I got married and started cooking. I'm not sure how the authentic version is done, mine is really simple and quick.

Ingredients:

• 700ml Chicken Broth
• 3 tablespoon Black Vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce or Salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon White Pepper Powder
• 2 Egg Whites or 1 Egg, beaten
• Cornflour Mixture (thickener)

A handful each of the followings:

• Chicken Breast meat, cooked and shredded
• Black Wood Ear aka Black Fungus, shredded
• Bamboo Shoots, shredded
• Carrot, shredded
• Dried Chinese Mushrooms, soak to softened and sliced thinly
• Tofu, cut into strips

How to do it:

1. Put all the shredded ingredients in the broth.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Add the vinegar, light soy sauce and pepper, to be adjusted to your taste.
4. When the soup begins to boil, gradually add in the cornflour mixture to achieve your desire thickness.
5. Turn off heat and stir in the egg white.

Note:
To add extra spicy taste to it, add some chilli hot.

Sesame Seed Toast

This is one easy snack I made for tea. A bit oily though since it's deep fried. If you have a oven, you can tried toasting/baking it. It will be much healthier. Do tell me the outcome because I won't be able to know it since I don't own an oven.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tube Egg Tofu
• 70g Fish Paste
• Bread of you choice, trimmed
• Sesame Seeds
• Oil for Fry

How to do it:

1. Mashed tofu and mix well with fish paste.
2. Spread on the bread
3. Press sesame seeds on the paste.
4. Deep fry with paste facing down for 3 minutes or till cooked.
5. Remove and drain on paper towel.
6. Serve with tomato or chilli sauce.

Strawberry Cooler

I don't want to waste the Strawberry Sorbet I made. Neither do I want my son to eat too much of it too. He already had a big scoop with his Strawberry Milk. So I got a glass of Sprite and drop the remaining Sorbet I had in it. Hmm ... nice for a hot day!

Strawberry for Afternoon Tea

Now that my son doesn't nap in the afternoon, I have to prepare afternoon tea for him. He sometimes take only fruits and milk for tea. Sandwich is another thing he likes.

So now other than cracking my head to think what to cook for dinner, I have to also think what to make for afternoon tea.

Strawberry Ice Milk ... A glass of Strawberry Milk with a scoop of Strawberry Ice. It's actually Strawberry Sorbet I made but minus the lime juice, so it's not sour at all.

Strawberry Cheesy Ham Sandwich ... Bread with cream cheese and ham topped with another slice of bread with Strawberry Jam. All my son's favourite, rolled up together.

Paper wrapped Chicken

There is this particular eating house in Clementi Road that is famous for it's Paper wrapped Chicken. I have been there twice. The last time I visited there, this specialty was a let down. Perhaps they had not change the deep frying oil for a long time, so the taste was err ... hmm ...

Anyway, my recipe is not as good. It's more oyster sauce based. They have mastered it for so many years. Mine is nothing compared to it but at least I can guarantee one thing for sure. We can make sure we use the freshest ingredients if we make it at home.

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken drumstick, deboned and cut into bit size pieces
• Baking paper, into 15x15 cm size
• Oil for deep frying

Marinade:

• 3 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine
• 1/2 tablespoon ginger juice (optional)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
• 1 teaspoon 5 spices powder

How to do it:

• Marinate chicken with sauce for at least 3 hours, best if overnight.
• Put chicken in the middle of the baking paper; in diamond shape.
• Fold bottom corner up, left, right and finally tuck the top corner in the 'pocket'.
• Heat up your pot of oil
• Place the side where the paper is thicker, facing downwards.
• Fry for 2 - 3 minutes or till you will see the inside of the paper turning black stuff inside (that's the burned sauce).
• Turn over and fry for another minute.
• Dish and drain.
• Eat while it's hot.

Note:

• When you put the chicken meat in the paper for wrapping, add 1 teaspoon of sauce inside too.
• Make sure the chicken is wrap well - no chicken meat showing and the paper must be tucked in well if not the oil will flow in, then will be very oily.

Kid's Mui Fun aka Thick Gravy over Rice 儿童式绘饭

My kids love Mui Fun 绘饭. I'm not quite sure if there's a English word for Mui Fun. Probably not. In fact, Mui Fun is a Cantonese word. It's actually thick gravy over rice. It's an easy one dish meal for lazy mum like me.

The usually Mui Fun we had, had only fish slices or pork and Chinese Flowering Cabbage in it. Since this is for my kids, I tweak it to make it more enticing for them.

Ingredients:

• Ham, cut into smaller pieces
• Carrot, sliced
• Corn
• Chinese Flowering Cabbage aka 菜心, chopped
• 300ml Broth
• 1 Egg White
• 1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce (for colour and sweetness but optional)
• Salt to taste
• Cornflour Mixture (thickener)
• a bowl of rice

How to do it:

1. Bring broth to a simmer.
2. Add in ham, carrot, corn and bring to a boil.
3. Add in the Chinese flowering cabbage.
4. Add light soy sauce and salt to taste.
5. Gradually add in the cornflour mixture to thicken the gravy.
6. Stir in the egg white.
7. Pour gravy over a bowl of rice.
8. Serve immediately.

Spicy Mayonnaise Prawns 虾球伴辣蛋黄酱

You know I love seafood. But seafood only taste good if they are fresh. It's impossible to get live fish here where I stay so I try my best to get fresh ones but for prawns, I always get live prawns. They taste the best.

The other day, the supermarket near my place was having a promotion for live tiger prawns, yah, they were still swimming in the tub when I bought they. These poor prawns were 'tortured' before they were eaten. My kids will 'playing' with them and they had so much fun. Poor prawns! I almost didn't want to eat them.

Anyway, since this is such a hot favourite among my friends who viewed my food gallery, I'm jumping queue to post this recipe first. Hope it's worth the wait gals and do try this during the weekends. *wink*

Ingredients:

• 10 (or more) Medium Prawns, shells removed, back slit and devien.
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoon Cornflour
• A pinch of salt
• Oil for frying

Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon Chilli Sauce
• 3 tablespoon Mayonnaise (I use Japanese Mayo)
• 1/2 tablespoon Fresh Milk
• 1/2 teaspoon Lemon Juice

How to do it:

1. Mix prawns, egg, salt and cornflour together.
2. Combine ingredients for sauce and set aside.
3. Deep fry prawns till lightly golden brown.
4. Remove and drain.
5. In a wok, add 1/2 tablespoon oil, add the combined sauce and prawns
6. Stir fry fast (toss) in low heat till the prawns are coated with sauce.
7. Dish and serve hot.

Note:

• I used two egg yolks instead of a whole egg to achieve a more yellow look for the prawns. Using whole egg is fine.
• Add more chilli sauce if you prefer it to be more spicy or you can add tomato sauce instead if kids are having it. Personally, adding chilli sauce taste better compared to tomato sauce.

Prawn Dumpling Soup 鲜虾水饺汤

When I'm feeling lazy (to cook), I'll do some simple dish that are actually 2 dishes in want. Just like this. *stick up tongue* And it's easy too.

Ingredients:

• 4 Dried Chinese Mushrooms, soaked to soften and minced
• 60g Minced Prawns
• 100g Minced Pork
• 4 Water Chestnuts, skinned and chopped
• 1 teaspoon Cornflour
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• A dash of pepper
• Wanton Skin (but I use Shanghai Shuijiao Skin here)
• Broth, I used home-made Chicken Broth

How to do it:

1. Mix all ingredients, except wanton skin and broth, together.
2. Take a wanton skin, place some mixed meat on one side and fold the other over.
3. Dab some water between the skin to seal it.
4. You can also add an additional prawn and pleat the skin if you like.
5. Set aside.
6. Boil a pot of water, add a tablespoon of oil.
7. Blanch your wanton till the skin become translucent. This helps remove the extra starch on the wanton skin.
8. Remove.
9. Bring your broth to a boil, add your wantons.
10. Add salt to taste.
11. Serve.

Note:

• I use Shanghai ShuiJiao Skin (上海水饺皮） so blanching is not necessary.
• Adding oil to the pot of water will help prevent the wantons from sticking together.
  

Chive Rolls

My husband and I love potstickers! Those pan fried Chive Dumplings (鍋貼）. The Japanese called it Gyoza. However, we find the potstickers here to meaty. We preferred those with more chive than meat. Best to make it ourselves. It's easy since I'm using ready-made skins.

My version isn't nothing like 鍋貼. They look totally different. I call it 韭菜卷. ^_-

Ingredients:

• 70g Garlic Chive aka 韭菜, diced
• 100g Lean Meat, minced
• 1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1 teaspoon Sesame Seed Oil
• 1/3 teaspoon Salt
• Wanton Skin (I used Shanghai Shuijiao Skin 上海水饺皮)
• 1/2 tablespoon Oil for pan frying

Condiment (to be mixed together):

• 2 tablespoon Vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Garlic, minced to paste
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Chive, minced to paste
• Extra Vinegar (in a dish)

How to do:

1. Mix all ingredients, except wonton skin, together.
2. Put 2 - 3 teaspoon of mixture on wonton skin.
3. Roll the wonton skin up so it looks like a 'love letter' (鸡蛋卷).
4. Seal the edge with a dab of water.
5. Pan fried on medium fire till the skin is slightly brown on all sides.
6. Serve with condiment.

Note:

• You can use the usual shredded ginger with vinegar instead of my suggested condiment.
• Add the condiment to extra vinegar if do not prefer a strong taste of garlic (just like adding wasabi to soyu)
• 上海水饺皮 is thinner and 'blander' compared to the normal wanton skin.

Japanese Vinaigrette

I love salad and I love it with Japanese Dressing. One very common Japanese Dressing is Wafu® Dressing. If you do not know how Wafu® Dressing is like, well, go get a salad from MOS Burger and ask for Japanese Dressing. (It's stated in their dressing) It's sour and salty and oily. Very Asian.

I have experiment mixing my own Japanese Vinaigrette and has been using this dressing for my Spring Onion Salad for a long time. Yap, Spring Onions! Don't ask me how I had this idea. It just happened! Mainly because I love spring onions and I always get a big bunch free when I go to the market. Since I usually use them for garnishing only, it's a waste to see them get spoilt. The fastest way to finish them is to have them as Salad.

Anyway, my current craze for Salad is using Cabbage. If you have been to Sakae Sushi, they have this. They named it Vegetarian Wafu® Salad. Vegetarian because there is no Crabstick in it. Wafu® salad usually comes with crabstick. All veggies only and it is served with Wafu® Dressing, hence, Vegetarian Wafu® Salad. Oh, they are charging SS$5.90 per serving. It's so much cheaper to make my own!

What is in the Salad Bowl ...

• Shredded Japaneses Cabbage
• Frisée
• Tomato Slices
• Japanese Cucumber Slices
• Avocado Slices

The Dressing:

• 3 tablespoon Salad or Vegetable Oil
• 2 tablespoon Vinegar or Apple Cider
• 1 tablespoon Sesame Seed Oil
• 1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Lemon or Lime Juice
• 1 teaspoon Sesame Seeds
• A pinch of sugar
• 1 tablespoon Grated Radish, to be added before serving

Note:

• Adjust the flavour accordingly to your taste. If you prefer less sour then add less vinegar.
• You can make more dressing and keep it in the fridge.
• Optional ingredients here are the sesame seeds and grated radish.

* the Dressing *

* Spring Onion Salad *

It has Shredded Lettuce, Cherry Tomato, Shredded Spring Onion and Fried Onion.

Afternote:
I have been asked to remove the word, Wafu® from my post. I've removed it from my Title as well as not calling it THE dressing. The rest I wouldn't be able to change as that's what the vendors called it. I'm just quoting what they state. Hope this is reasonable.

Watercress Soup 西洋菜排骨汤

I meant to post this for sometime ... old age. hahaha... Anyway, do you know you can make Watercress Soup in two ways? Adding 2 Honey Dates (蜜枣）will do the difference.

Watercress Soup may have a hint of bitterness and I thought my kids will like it better with a bit of sweetness in it. Nope, I was wrong. They like the normal way of cooking even if it taste slightly bitter.

I used to pluck the leaves to cook. I'll remove the stems after cooking leaving only the leaves in the soup. It was easier for the kids. Now, they refuse to eat the veg, only want the soup. Well, less work for me.

Ingredients:

• 250g Pork Ribs
• 1 bunch Watercress
• 5 Red Dates, pitted
• 1 handful Wolfberries
• 2 Honey Dates (if you want the soup sweet)
• 1 litre Water
• Salt to taste

How to do it:

1. Blanch pork ribs
2. All all ingredients, except salt in a pot.
3. Bring to a boil.
4. Simmer for an hour.
5. Add salt to taste.
6. Serve

*Watercress Soup without Honey Dates*

Faux Shark's Fin 碗仔翅

碗仔翅, literally translated from Cantonese words as Little Bowl Fins, is a very common street snack (街头小吃）in Hong Kong.

Chinese loves Shark's Fin but it expensive. So some smart person in Hong Kong must have came up with this idea of using Glass Noodle to replace the Shark's Fin. Now everyone can afford to have a few bowls of 'Fins' everyday if they want to.

Glass Noodles do look like Shark's Fin when they are cooked.

Ingredients:

• 1 packet or 40g Glass Noodles, soaked to soften
• 1/2 Chicken Breast or Drumstick, more if you like
• 8 Dried Chinese Mushroom, soaked to soften
• 4 Crabsticks, shredded
• 2 Egg Whites
• 750ml Chicken Broth
• Cornflour Mixture (Thickener)

Seasonings:

• 1 teaspoon Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1/2 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Sesame Seed Oil

How to do it:

1. Drain glass noodle, cut them into 2 inch length and set aside.
2. Drain mushroom, slice thinly and set aside
3. Boil chicken till cook, retain water to be used together with broth.
4. Shred chicken and set aside.
5. Add mushroom to the broth and bring to a boil.
6. Add in seasonings.
7. When it begin to simmer, add in chicken, crabstick and glass noodles.
8. Gradually add in thickener, when the soup begins to boil.
9. Stir in egg whites slowly.
10. Serve with pepper and vinegar.