Baked Prawn Tofu 烤虾豆腐

Missing for 2 weeks again. You probably got use to me having lesser post now. :P But I'm still here and really grateful that I'm in fact getting more diners to my humble little cyber eatry. Thank you everyone who likes to dine here.

Back to the post. This is a 2-part post. Part 2 will be up early next week. I have schedule to post it automatically, so you won't have to wait for 2 weeks to hear from me again. :P

This dish looks great and is a good consideration if you are hosting a dinner. I'm using the oven to bake this. Toaster works too but if you don't own either one, you can actually steam it.

More on that in Part 2.  

Ingredients:

• 1 box Silken Tofu
• 3 Water Chestnuts, skinned and diced
• 1/2 kg Small to Medium Prawns
• 100g Fish/Squid Paste (optional)
• Cooking Oil

Seasonings:

• 1 teaspoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1/2 teaspoon Oyster Sauce
• 1/3 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• 2 tablespoon Cornflour

How to do it:

1. Shell prawns and keep tails of 10 prawns intact.
2. Devien all prawns.
3. Slit the back of the 10 prawns.
4. Mash tofu and squeeze as much water out using Muslin cloth. You can also use a fine sieve to do this.
5. Combine all ingredients and seasoning except oil and prawns with tail together.
6. Mix well.
7. Brush porcelain spoon with oil.
8. Put a little mixture in the spoon.
9. Place the a prawn with it's silted back down to the mixture. Press down a little.
10. Put more mixture to cover the prawn leaving only the tail.
11. Brush the top mixture with a little oil.
12. Bake in preheat oven at 190C for 18 minutes, longer if the mixture is more.
13. Serve with spoon or removed and served on dish.

Note:
The fish/squid paste gives the tofu the "spring" when you bite it.

Black Chicken Porridge

You see Chicken Porridge very often but using Black (boned) Chicken 乌骨鸡? I have not heard of anyone using it for porridge. For soup, yes but not porridge. At least not the people I know. Hopefully, I'm not the only one out there. Chinese always use this breed of chicken for double-boiled soup along with Chinese Herbs. The meat of this chicken is finer and sweeter compared to the regular chicken. It is believed that this breed of chicken is more nutritious and is a curative food. I can't confirm this but I do like making soup with Black (boned) Chicken as the soup is clearer. I have been using Black (boned) Chicken in place of regular chicken to make porridge for many years. It was first for my son when he was a toddler. If you follow my blog from the beginning, you would know he is a very picky and fussy eater. Now, my daughter likes it too. When they are younger, I would add Chinese Yam 山药 along with Wolfberries 枸杞子 and red dates 红枣 when I cook the black boned chicken porridge. Now that they are older, they are able to tell the taste difference with and without the Chinese Yam and preferred I not add it. Now I add a couple of dried scallops instead for it's sweetness and a few dash of Chinese Cooking Wine to bring out the taste of chicken porridge. In case you are curious, my method of making this is by cooking the whole (blanched) chicken with rice, together with the other ingredients. I feel it will be as waste if you only use the meat. The bone was pack with nutrition too. If you don't stir it too hard the whole chicken will be intact and you need not worry about have small pieces of bones in the porridge. When the porridge ready, slowly lift the chicken out with a large ladle or slotted spoon. You can then shred the chicken and add it to the porridge if you like. Then add in the Chinese Cooking Wine and salt to taste at the end and give it a last stir and it done.

Lunch Box #12

Another simple lunch box I did for my son. You won't see me making complicated lunch box here. I only have about an hour to complete everything, including clearing the kitchen top. I have somehow manage to persuade him to have bread instead of his regular rice lunch box. Thank you! Do you know it's so much easier?! I used sweet bun here and in between the bun are lettuce and pork patties. (Just look that my post from almost 2 years ago! :P ) I used cherry tomato instead of the normal sliced tomato as I think it's easier for him to eat it. Oh, and not forgetting fruits!

Hot Wings

It has been almost a month since my last update. I have been extremely busy and I hardly have time to blog. I used to find time to blog on Saturdays when the kids are not schooling but now that my son hardly has time to play and relax, with all the school and tuition, I will bring them out on Saturdays to have fun. By the time we return home, I have to rush to finish the housework. *pant* Oh, and Sunday is no computer day. *wink* I still (have to) cook and sometimes if I'm not too tired, I still think of new dishes or revamp old ones. Otherwise, it just regular dishes we have. If you noticed, there's a list of upcoming list of recipes on the right. Hopefully, I'll be able to find time to update after this. I made these some time back when I had friends visiting. Nice as a party snack but for those who can handle spicy and sour stuff only. Ingredients:

• 10 Mid-joint Chicken Wing
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 tablespoon Cooking Wine
• Cornflour for dusting
• Oil for frying

Sauce:

• 4 tablespoon Tomato Sauce
• 2 tablespoon Sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/3 tablespoon Apple Cider or White Vinegar
• 2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Water
• Tabasco Sauce to taste

How to do it:

1. Marinade wings with salt and cooking wine for at least 1 hour.
2. Dust with cornflour and deep fry them till golden brown.
3. Leave on paper towel to drain.
4. Combine ingredients for sauce in a sauce pan on low heat.
5. When the sauce starts to bubble, add in the wings.
6. Stir to coat well with sauce.
7. Serve.

Note: You can use whole chicken wing if you like. I prefer mid-joint wings or drumlets as I don't have to use too much oil to fry it and it's easier to eat.