Flying Hearts

We went Cold Storage and I bought a block of Kamaboko. I call it high class fish cake. Why? Because a block of Kamaboka cost me $4. That's equals to 40 fish balls or 400g of fish paste! What to do? I'm a sucker for pretty food. If you go to their branch at Bugis Junction, you can even get those with Pokemon and Hello Kitty imprinted. キユ一ト。かわいい。可爱！Cute!

Anyway, I used a few slices to make the wings for the sausage heart. Now they can fly! Catch them quick before they fly away! *giggle*

I included Stir Fried French Bean and Fish Fries with the meal.

* the flying sausage hearts *

* Fish Fries *

• Marinade sliced fish fillet with some salt and pepper.
• Coat with batter.
• Fry till golden brown.
• Dish and drain.

* French Beans *

• Stir fry garlic till fragrant.
• Add french beans and carrot.
• Stir fry till you see the french been turned into darker green.
• Add light soy sauce to taste.
• Mix well.
• Dish and serve.
  

Strawberry Mousse

We love strawberries and mangoes. The dessert I made for my husband birthday dinner has to be easy because I don't have much time to manage to difficult dessert.

Since I have a can of Sweeten Whipped Cream in the fridge. I thought this would be just nice. Simple, nice and very little work required.

Ingredients:

• 1 punnet Strawberries, washed and top removed
• 1 tablespoon Fine Sugar (more if you are not using sweeten whipped cream)
• 1 cup Sweeten Whipped Cream

How to do it:

1. Puree strawberries with sugar in a blender.
2. Pour in a cup.
3. Fold in the cream.
4. Refrigerate till cold.
5. To serve, top with more cream if preferred.

Note:

• If you don't have whipped cream, you can use whipping cream and whipped till it become stiff.
• You may have to add more sugar to your puree if you find your puree too sour. I top with more sweeten whipped cream.

• Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe
  

Soft Shell Crabs in Butter Cereals

This the 3rd dish for my husband's birthday dinner. The 4th was a dessert (please see the next post) .

My husband and I love a particular dish from Bi Feng Tang 避风塘 (literally translated as "Storm Shelter" in Chinese), Soft Shell Crab Bi Feng Tang Special. So on his birthday, I cooked this for him. An extra big plate some more. What you see here was only 1/5 of the whole dish. Yeah, I cooked that much. That's how much we, including my son, enjoyed that dish. *wink*

By the way, you can use the same method to cook with prawns or squid. I had also tried replacing cereals with oats too. Tasty too.

Ingredients:

• 500g Soft Shell Crabs, half
• Oil for frying

Marinade:

• 1 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 tablespoon Corn Flour
• a dash of Pepper

Flour Coating (not batter, DO NOT ADD WATER) :

• 3 part Corn Flour
• 1 part Rice Flour

Seasoning:

• 3 tablespoon Butter
• 6 tablespoon Cereals (I used Nestle's Nestum Cereals)
• 1/2 tablespoon Garlic, minced
• 1/2 tablespoon Shallot, sliced
• 1 tablespoon Sugar
• 3 sprig Curry Leaves, leaves removed from stalk
• 4 Chili Padi, sliced
• Salt to taste

How to do it:

1. Marinade soft shell crabs for half an hour.
2. Heat oil in pot.
3. Drip dry crabs and coat with flour.
4. Fry till crabs turn red.
5. Remove and drain.
6. Return to oil pot for frying again when you are ready to make the butter cereals. This helps to make them extra crunchy.
7. Remove and drain.
8. Put butter in wok.
9. Add garlic, shallot and curry leaves.
10. Stir fry till fragrant.
11. Add the remaining ingredients.
12. Stir fry quickly till the cereals turn slightly brown.
13. Add in the crabs and coat well.
14. Dish and serve.

Note:

• If you are using squid or prawns, do not re-fry them as they would turn too hard.
• If the seasoning is too dry, add more butter, otherwise it will not coat well.

• Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe

* Alternative dishes using same cooking method *

Stir Fried Pork with Lotus Roots and Veggies

This is dish number two of my husband's birthday dinner. We love this dish. A well balanced between meat and veggie. If you read my previous post, you would know what soup I made that day. Then you should noticed a repeated ingredient used here.

It's great if you only have time to cook only one dish and you cannot decide if you want a meat or a veggie dish.

Ingredients:

• 60g Pork Fillet (腰肉), sliced
• 8 Shitake Mushroom, cut into quarters
• 10 Asparagus, half
• 8 slice Lotus Root, skinned
• 2 tablespoon Oil

Marinade:

• 1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1 teaspoon Cornflour

Seasoning:

• 300ml Bone or Chicken Broth
• 1 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• Salt to taste

How to do it:

1. Marinade pork and set aside for half an hour.
2. Heat wok with oil.
3. Add pork and stir fry till half cooked.
4. Remove and set aside.
5. Using the same wok, add the mushroom and stir fry for a minute.
6. Add some more oil if oil has been absorbed by mushroom.
7. Add in the lotus roots and asparagus.
8. Stir fried briefly.
9. Return the pork into the wok.
10. Add in the seasonings and bring to a boil.
11. Reduce heat and let it simmer till sauce has been absorbed.
12. Dish and serve.
    

• Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe
  

Seared Prawn Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

My husband has been working late lately so we celebrated a day ealier with home cooked dinner and on the actual day he had this and this.

This dish was one of the four dishes, excluding soup, I prepared for my husband for the birthday dinner.

Ingredients:

• 6 medium Prawns, shelled and deveined
• 2 Lettuce Leaves, or your preferred greens (I had rocket leaves too)
• 6 Cherry Tomatoes, whole or sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon Sesame Seed Oil or Olive Oil

Marinade:

• 1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• a dash of pepper

Orange Vinaigrette:

• 1/2 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 2 tablespoon Orange Juice
• 1/2 tablespoon Apple Cider
• 2 teaspoon Lemon or Lime Juice
• a pinch of salt and sugar each

How to do it:

1. Arrange lettuce in bowl and set aside.
2. Marinate prawns briefly.
3. Saute with sesame seed oil or olive oil if you preferred, till just cooked.
4. Let the prawns cooled before putting in the bowl.
5. Add tomatoes.
6. Mix vinaigrette well and drizzle over salad.
7. Serve.

Note:

• Do not refrigerate cooked prawns as it will turn hard.
• You can prepare all the green and refrigerate it. Only cook the prawns when you are really to eat or serve.
• You can add any other greens you like, eg, bell pepper, cucumber, celery.
  
  
• Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe.

Longevity Noodle in Chicken Broth

My late grandfather told me that people during their time were very poor. They can only have chicken during Chinese New Year, if they can afford it and they look forward to each birthdays because then they will be given an hard-boiled egg (shells dyed red) all to themselves. And if they are lucky, there will be a bowl of Longevity Noodles (长寿面) aka Rice Wheat Noodles (面线) to go with it. They were not suppose to cut or bite the noodles to shorten it because the noodles symbolise longevity. You wouldn't have to shorten your life would you?

Nowadays, people no longer have that for birthday. Perhaps some may not even know the existence of this simple meal. They may not even want to have this for their birthday when they can afford any other food they like. But for me and my husband, it's like a tradition. We don't have rich, modernised (read: no cakes) parents. Both our mothers cooked us Longevity Noodles during our birthdays but of course there were chicken, eggs and stuff like that. We are not rich but not that poor either.

So, on my husband's birthday, I took over the role of cooking him this, wishing him health, happiness and of course, longevity.

For those who interested to have this for birthday for a change, it's really simple. Blanch noodles before cooking it in broth. Cooking it for 5 minutes is enough. Then just add in the ingredients you like or rather the birthday boy/girl likes. And that's it!

To me it's a simple yet meaningful birthday meal, especially if you are cooking it for your elders. Try this, they will appreciate it.

* Longevity Noodle in Chicken Broth with Egg and Abalone *

* the Chicken broth *

Cake - Sacher Torte

It was my husband's birthday few days back. It was a weekend and he was extremely busy with his work and could not leave work earlier, so I decided to we celebrate at home with some nice home cooked food, which I will post soon, and a cake!

This is my 5th baking attempt and my 2nd for cake. The first one was a marble cake which has not be posted yet. I think I was really ambitious when I decided to baked this. I have never done ganache before and I failed in doing my icing the 1st time round (you'll see when I post my cuppy recipe). I don't know what made me to choose to do this cake but I got everything prepared anyways. hahaha ...

The results ... outlook was not pretty. Not smooth as what it's suppose to be. There were lots of bumps because I had forgotten to grease the pan!! And I had also forgotten the flip the cake over!!! *slaps head twice* Luckily, taste wise was great.

Anyone who could bake would have done a much lovely job so please make this to give it justice. Haha!

Ingredients:

• 125g All-Purpose Flour, shifted
• 30g Coca Powder, shifted
• 250g Caster Sugar
• 100g Butter
• 60g Strawberry Jam or your preferred fruit jam
• 4 Eggs, separated

Ganache Topping:

• 170ml Cream
• 200g Dark Chocolate, chopped (I used bittersweet chocolate cooking bars)
• 90g Caster Sugar

How to do it:

1. Preheat oven to 180c.
2. Grease cake tin and line with baking paper
3. Add flour and cocoa powder into a bowl and make a well.
4. Combine sugar, butter and half of the jam in a pot or bowl over another pot of simmering water.
5. Stir till the sugar is melted
6. Add sugar mixture to the flour.
7. Add the egg yolks.
8. Stir till combined.
9. Beat egg whites till soft peaks form
10. Fold in the whites into cake mixture.
11. Pour into the cake tin.
12. Bake for 40 -45 minutes or do the toothpick test.
13. Rest of 15 minutes before removing the cake to be cooled on a wire rack.
14. To make ganache topping, add cream, chocolate and sugar in a pot over another pot of simmering water.
15. Stir till mixture is melted and smooth.
16. Level the top of the cake and turn it upside down on a plate or tray
17. Brush the remaining jam over the cake.
18. Pour the topping over the cake.
19. Tip the cake, so the topping will flow to the side of the cake.
20. Tap the plate to level the surface.
21. Refrigerate for 1/2 hours to let the chocolate set.

Note:

• The icing on top of the cake is additional.
• I have not master the butter icing yet which require 100g of butter and icing sugar each and 1/2 tablespoon milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence. I could get to be firmed.
• The one shown here is just using butter and icing.



• Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe.

* folding egg whites into cake mixture *

* fresh from the oven *

* my bumpy cake and un-uniformed piping *

* the inside of the cake *

Birthday Treats

We celebrated my husband's birthday few days ago at home with some nice home-cooked food and a cake baked by sincerely me! An ambitious decision because I'm very new to baking. But I'm glad I did it as it tasted great!

So, you will be expecting to see the recipes of these dishes in my coming posts.

Bookmark me or Subscribe in a reader, so you won't miss them. *wink*

Brownies 布朗尼蛋糕

My 3rd attempt in baking and I did brownies. I haven't had brownies since my primary school days. Honestly, I had no idea how brownies taste like. What I know is that it's always in blocks and some are served with a scoop of ice cream.

Anyways, I baked my brownies not knowing if the outcome is right or wrong (crusty top and moist inside). I gave a tray to my husband's colleague as it's impossible for us to finish all. Well, the comments were positive. His family love it. So does mine. Hmm .... then I would have to do it the same way I do it the first time now.

Ingredients:

• 120g Unsweeten Chocolate
• 200g Semi-Sweet Chocolate
• 220g Unsalted Butter
• 6 large Eggs
• 400g Sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon Vanilla Essence
• 210g All-Purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt

How to do it:

1. Preheat oven to 170C.
2. Melt chocolate in a bowl or pot over another pot of simmering water.
3. Set aside.
4. Whisk eggs and sugar together.
5. Fold in the melted chocolate mixture and vanilla essence.
6. In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt together.
7. Fold into the chocolate and sugar mixture till well combined.
8. Grease your pan and pour mixture in.
9. Bake for 45-55 minutes or do the toothpick test.

Note:
The original recipe calls for 680g of semisweet or bittersweet chocolate but I cut it and it still taste great!

• Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe.

Edible Othello

My son was so crazy about the Othello that it gave me the idea of making this for his dinner. The white seeds were Rice and the green seeds were Spinach Tofu with Fish Paste. I used a melon baller to scoop the balls out from the Tofu. My poor daughter had to eat the messy left-over but she still enjoyed it.

You should see how my son 'played' with his food. He ate the losing seed and replaced them with the winning ones. I had to tell him to play both sides otherwise he will end up eating one of the two colours first. Then it will be to plain to eat just the remaining.

So you see, we CAN play with food. *giggle*

Duck Porridge

Sometime back I did a Roasted Duck Noodles in Herbal Soup, with the broth done by brewing the bones of the roasted herbal duck. A week later my husband brought home two roasted ducks from the Seventh Month Festival aka Ghost Festival (the Asian Halloween) praying session. My husband is in the Construction Industry and having a Chinese boss, praying during the seventh month of the Lunar Calendar is a must for them to ensure smooth and 'accidents' free operation.

Anyway, I didn't waste the bones (again) and went ahead to make more broth with them. This time I cooked porridge with the broth with shredded duck meat in it. I tore out the skin and pan fried them without oil (They are like streaky bacon. See the oil later.) till they are crispy. I added the crispy skin on the porridge for that extra fragrant and bite.

The kids love it so much, they finished it like hungry .... erm ... kids.

BBQ Chicken Wings with Maple Syrup

We miss barbecuing. Before we have kids, our friends and us will often bbq. It's the best thing to do to hang out with friends and to keep each other updated with our lives.

The last time we had BBQ was at the public BBQ pit at the park near our place. That was about 5 years ago. We prepared all the food and drinks, our friends just need to bring an empty stomach. After that, most of our friends left for drinks but some came over to our place for mahjong session (with my husband).

The number one food to be included for our BBQ is chicken wings. It's a must have. But then, we always use ready-made marinades. I didn't know how to cook then. Hmm.... maybe really simple cooking like frying an egg. hahaha ... Yeah, my poor husband has been my food tester for many years before he is served with decent food. I have to thank him for this food blog I have now.

Ingredients:

• 10 Chicken Wing, I'm using mid joints only.
• 2 teaspoon Butter or Oil

Marinade:

• 1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1/3 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 3 tablespoon Maple Syrup or 1 tablespoon Honey
• 2 teaspoon Sugar
• a pinch of Salt

How to do it:

1. Marinate the chicken with marinade over night.
2. Place chicken on rack and bake in oven at 160c.
3. Boil the marinade till it has reduce by half and thickens.
4. Add in the butter.
5. Use the thicken marinade to brush on chicken occasionally.
6. Turn over the chicken after 15 minutes.
7. Remember to brush on some marinade.
8. Reduce temperature to 120c and bake for about 15 minutes or till cooked.
9. Remove and serve.

Note:

• Reduce temperature of your oven if your chicken gets too burned.
• Try pan frying your chicken on low fire if you don't have have an oven. Just remember to oil your pan with butter or oil.

• Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe.

Creamy Potato Pie

I made this sometime ago when I brought out the oven to grill chicken wings (to be posted later). My oven is not placed on the kitchen top. I didn't had the space so each time I have finish using it, I had to move it back into the cabinet.

My potato pie was a bit too wet as I too much cream in it. I have since adjusted the recipe and the second batch of the potato pie was just nice. The funny thing, however was, my family like it better when it was mashy.

Whichever way you like your potato pie to be like, you can adjust the ingredients accordingly.

Ingredients:

• 4 Potatoes, cooked and mashed
• 50g Butter
• 40ml Cream
• 2 tablespoon Fresh Peas
• 2 tablespoon Carrots, diced
• 1/2 Onion, diced
• Salt to taste
• Parmesan Cheese (optional)

How to do it:

1. Place 40g butter, 20ml cream and mashed potato into a blender.
2. Blend till smooth.
3. In a pan, add in the remaining butter.
4. Stir fried, the onions for a minute.
5. Add in the carrots and peas.
6. Pour in the remaining cream.
7. Let it simmer till the mixture is thicken.
8. Divide the mixture into equal portion.
9. Put into baking cups and top with mashed potato.
10. Sprinkle on parmesan cheese.
11. Bake on 180c till cheese turned golden brown. (it took about 25 minutes for my oven)
12. Dig in.

Note:

• You can also put all mixture into a baking bowl and top with all the potato to bake as a whole.
• If you prefer to bite into potato bits, do not blend it.
• After mashing with a fork, mix well with butter and cream.
• If you prefer it more creamy, add more cream to the potato.
  
  
• Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe.

Soupy Udon Lookalike 鱼胶面条汤

Nope, this is not Udon, the Japanese Noodle. It's not noodles at all. Yeah. You didn't read wrongly. It's nothing close to noodle except for the look.

It's fish paste. Something my kids love. If you are bored with fish ball soup, why not make this instead. But wait. So, should I serve this as a soup? Maybe it should be a noodle dish since it looks like it? Hmmm ... maybe it should be a side dish?

My kids really don't care. They had it like noodles but still ate rice with the soup. They just love it. *wink*

Ingredients:

• 300g Fish Paste
• 1 litre Broth of your choice
• Assorted Vegetables, sliced
• Salt to taste

How to do it:

1. Add vegetables to the broth.
2. Bring broth to a boil.
3. Reduce to a simmer.
4. Put fish paste into a plastic bag.
5. Push the fish paste to the bottom and twist the top of the bag till paste is secured in the bag.
6. Snip a tiny corner off one of the corners.
7. Gently squeeze the bag to get the fish paste out to the simmering broth. Try not to 'break' the fish paste too much otherwise it will be too short to look like noodles.
8. When all fish paste has been squeezed into the broth, wait for all the 'noodles' to float up to the surface. It means they are cooked.
9. Add salt to taste.
10. Serve.

Note:

• You can use your pastry piping bag if you have one.
• The plastic bag acts as a piping bag.
• The size of the corner you snip off will decide how thick your fish paste noodles will be.
• If you are using leafy vegetables, only add them after you add the fish fish. Otherwise, they will be overcooked and turn yellow.

Braised Chicken in Ginger 麻油姜鸡

This is another dish I ate a lot during my confinement. This also a regular on our dinner table. My son like to pour the sauce over his rice and I love it with extra Fried Shredded Ginger. Good to get rid of wind in my body.

In fact, the confinement food I had are often seen on our dinner table. You don't need to be doing confinement to enjoy those food. They are actually quite 'normal' dishes except to contain lots of ginger or wine. You can cut those down if you don't like it too strong.

Ingredients:

• 2 Chicken Drumstick, chopped into 3 parts each
• 70g Ginger, shredded thinly
• 2 teaspoon Sesame Seed Oil

Marinade:

• 2 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Chinese Cooking Wine

Sauce:

• 1/2 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 2 teaspoon Sesame Seed Oil
• 2 teaspoon Ginger Juice
• 2 teaspoon Sesame Seed Oil
• 500ml Water
• 2 drop Dark Soy Sauce of colour (optional)

How to do it:

1. Marinate the chicken for 2 hours
2. Heat wok with sesame seed oil.
3. Add fry half of shredded ginger till golden brown
4. Remove, drain and set aside.
5. Add in the rest if the ginger and chicken
6. Stir fry till chicken is slightly brown but not thoroughly cooked.
7. Pour in the sauce.
8. Bring to a boil.
9. Reduce heat and let it simmer for another 2 hours.
10. Sprinkle earlier fried ginger shreds.
11. Serve with rice.

• Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe.

Check these other confinement food we have regularly ...

• Liver with Ginger and Spring Onions
• Black Chicken with Black Bean Soup
• Stir Fried Pork with Ginger Sauce

Hearty Dinner

This was my kids' recent dinner. Rice with Sakura Denbu and eggs.
The side dishes were :

• Cheesy Potato and Tuna Balls
• Blanched Broccoli and Cauliflower with Creamy Soup

My daughter love the cheesy balls so much she ate 4 of them and she finish her rice with soup over it.

* the Hearts *

* Cheesy Potato and Tuna Balls *


* Blanched Broccoli and Cauliflower with Creamy Soup *

Creamy Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup 奶油西兰花与花椰菜浓汤

I thought I'll use up the broccoli and cauliflower in the fridge but then the kids will kick a fuss for having to eat them. Since, I have a fresh carton of whipping cream, I thought I'll try making creamy soup with the ingredients. Hopefully, the cream will mask the taste of the veggies. Well, it worked. Especially my little girl who finish her rice with the soup in it.

Ingredients:

• 150g Broccoli, chopped into smaller pieces including the stem
• 50g Cauliflower, chopped into smaller pieces (optional)
• 300ml Chicken Broth
• 250ml Whipping Cream
• Salt to taste

How to do it:

1. Blanch broccoli and cauliflower for 5 minutes. Do not over cook them.
2. Place into the blender with the broth.
3. Blend till smooth.
4. Pour into a pot.
5. Add in the whipping cream.
6. Stir to mix well.
7. Bring to a boil.
8. Serve.

Note:
If you prefer the soup to be thicker, gradually stir in cornflour mixture to thicken it.

• Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe.

Cheesy Potato and Tuna Balls

This dish is a marriage between this and this. The kids love croquettes and they love this new dish the most, especially the girl because she refused to eat her rice. All she wanted was these balls. And she had four of them!

I did a batch without the cheese inside because my son didn't like cheese 'cooked' and he will simply refuse to eat the food with cheese in it. Yap, he doesn't eat pizza as well. Anyway, those without cheese taste just as good.

Ingredients (A):

• 3 medium Potatoes, cooked and mashed
• 1 small Onion, diced
• 1 canned Tuna, drained
• 1 tablespoon Coriander or Spring Onion, chopped finely
• 1 Egg, beaten
• Salt to taste
• a dash of Pepper

Ingredients (B):

• Cheese of your choice, I used Laughing Cow Party Cubes
• All purpose flour for dusting
• 1 Egg, beaten
• Breadcrumbs
• Oil for frying

How to do it:

1. Put all ingredients (A) together in a bowl.
2. Mix till well combined.
3. Take some mixture and flatten in your palm.
4. Put a piece of cheese in the middle.
5. Cover the cheese by working the mixture over it and rolling it in to a ball shape.
6. Dust with flour shaking excess.
7. Dip into egg.
8. Coat with breadcrumbs.
9. Deep fry till golden brown.
10. Drain and serve immediately.

Note:

• Adding coriander or spring onions is optional. It's to add colour and for coriander, colour and smell.
• You can fold sliced cheese (singles) into cube and use that too.

• Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe.
  

* the hidden cheese *

Ham and Egg Gunkan

I was sick last week and I just couldn't stand the heat from cooking. So this was served among other dishes for my son.

It was simple. Just lay a piece of nori, top it with egg, rice and shredded ham and roll away. Instead of soy sauce, I had a dish of furikake for him to dip in for extra flavour.

He still gobbled them up. *wink*

King Oyster Mushroom with Dried Scallop Sauce 杏鲍菇伴干贝汁

 
It's another mushroom dish. Told you we love mushrooms! What I like about this King Oyster Mushroom is how it looks like and the texture when it's cooked. I always pass it off as braised sliced abalone. My husband got tricked the first time I did this. *giggle*

I prefer to add an additional green with the mushroom. In this case, I added Kai Lan (芥兰) aka Chinese Broccoli. You can always use other veggies. Try this if you are expecting guests for dinner. It's cheap and easy yet presentable.

Does the picture looks like a lotus flower? Have a petal!

Ingredients:

• 150g King Oyster Mushroom, sliced
• a few stalk of Baby Kai Lan (芥兰) aka Chinese Broccoli
• 4 pieces Dried Scallop
• 200ml Water
• 1 teaspoon Oyster Sauce
• a pinch of Sugar to taste
• Cornflour Mixture (Thickener)
• 1/2 tablespoon Oil

How to do it:

1. Soak dried scallop in the water till soften.
2. Shred the dried scallop with your finger and set aside.
3. Retain the water.
4. Separate the leaves of the Kai Lan.
5. Blanch the vegetables and arrange on the plate.
6. Heat wok with oil.
7. Stir fried mushroom till cooked.
8. Pour in the water used to soak the dried scallop.
9. Add in the oyster sauce and sugar.
10. Let it simmer for 1 minute.
11. Remove the mushroom and lay on top of the vegetable.
12. Add in the the dried scallop.
13. Bring to a boil.
14. Thicken with cornflour mixture.
15. Pour over the mushroom.
16. Serve.

Note:
Instead of Kai Lan, you can use any other vegetable you like.

* King Oyster Mushroom *

Pork Ribs with Black Pepper and Mushroom Sauce

You might notice that I cook a lot of mushrooms. We just love it. My son loves Dried Chinese Mushrooms. My husband and I love all kinds of mushrooms except I don't like canned straw mushrooms. And I'm trying to let my little girl to eat mushroom too. I always replenish my fridge with mushrooms. They are always one of the items in my fridge.

Since this food blog is about the dishes I cook daily for my family, you get to see lots of repeated ingredients. Those are what we like and those will be what I'll cook. You'll see more of mushrooms in some upcoming recipes. If you don't enjoy it as much as we do, you can always use a replacement for it.

Here's another dish with mushroom but of course you can leave it out if you don't like it. Taste just as good.

Ingredients:

• 400g Pork Ribs (slightly fatty)
• 150g Fresh (Brown or White) Button Mushroom, sliced
• 1/2 tablespoon Butter
• Cornflour Mixture (thickener), optional
• Oil for frying

Sauce:

• 6 tablespoon Black Pepper, crushed
• 1 1/2 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 2 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 300ml water
• 2 teaspoon Sugar

How to do it:

1. Blanching the ribs.
2. Cook the ribs in a pot with all ingredients for the sauce.
3. Reduce to a simmer with it start to boil.
4. Remove after 1 1/2 hours.
5. While the sauce is still simmering, stir fried the mushrooms with butter till they well cooked and absorbed the butter.
6. Add the mushroom to the sauce.
7. Cook for another 5 minutes.
8. Thicken the sauce a little with the cornflour mixture but don't over do it. The sauce should not be starchy.
9. Pan fried the cook ribs with a a few drops of oil for 1/2 minute on each side, just to let it have a slight brown look.
10. Pour the sauce over the ribs and serve.

☆ Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe.

Chocolate Meringue Cookies

This is my second attempt in baking. Although I enjoy baking, I don't really eat much. Mostly, the end products ended up in my kids' tummy.

I look forward to every Saturdays in hope that I would be able to find time to bake. Since I don't cook on Saturdays now as I need to bring my son out for class at three, I have a couple of hours free when my daughter takes her afternoon nap. I need more practice otherwise my baking results will forever looks not quite right somewhere.

Anyway, this is any simple recipe I found in the mini cookbook my husband bought for me. Just right for a beginner baker like me. Very little ingredients needed and just a few steps to follow (and yet I still have this not quite right result. :p).

Ingredients:

• 90g Flour
• 1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 4 Egg Whites
• 250g Confectioners' Sugar aka Icing Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Cocoa Powder (optional)

How to do it:

1. Preheat oven to 190C.
2. Sift flour, baking powder can cocoa powder together.
3. Beat egg whites and beat well.
4. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat well.
5. Fold in flour mixture to form batter.
6. Spoon batter onto greased baking tray.
7. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
8. Loosen immediately from tray so the cookies don't stick.
   

☆ Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe.

BBQ Pork Ribs

I did a similar dish using my toaster before I had an oven. I had to use sliced pork and do it a few times because it's easier for the tiny equipment and it's impossible to have too many pieces of pork or ribs in there. Yes, you can do this with a toaster but you have to check it more frequently in case it get burned to fast. If it's too hot, open the door.

We love this. It's like Char Siew 叉烧 aka Chinese BBQ Pork. Best to go with rice!

Ingredients:

• 500g Meaty Pork Ribs, slightly fatty preferred
• 5 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 4 tablespoon Sugar
• 3 tablespoon Maple Syrup or 1 tablespoon Honey
• 3 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 2 tablespoon Apple Cider
• 2 tablespoon Tomato Sauce
• 400ml Water

How to do it:

1. Blanch ribs.
2. Add blanched ribs to all ingredients combined.
3. Bring to a boil and reduced to a simmer.
4. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
5. Remove ribs and set aside.
6. Continue to boil the sauce till it's reduced by half and to a thick consistence.
7. Place ribs in a foil wrapped baking tray.
8. Spread the sauce on the ribs and baked for 10 minutes.
9. Bring out ribs to spread with more sauce
10. Return to bake for another 10 minutes.
11. Turn the ribs over, spread sauce on it and bake for another15 minutes.
12. Spread sauce again half way through the baking.
13. Remove and serve.

Note:
I bake at 150c for my oven. Please adjust the temperate and/or timing according to your oven. The ribs should not burn fast. We want coat it well with sauce.

☆ Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe.