Char Siew Pao

This is a char siew pao that can be made within 3 hours. Recipe is taken from http://auntyyochanaindex.blogspot.com/, tested and verdict is the pao skin is fluffy and fillings is tasty. Thumbs up!










Ingredients
Dough:
(A)
300 gm. Hong Kong flour

2 tsp. Pau King double-action Baking Powder

(B)

60 gm. castor sugar
2 tsp. Instant Yeast
35 gm. Shortening

(C)

140 ml. water

Fillings

250 gm. Char Siew (diced)

1 shallot - diced

1 Tbsp. Oyster sauce

1 Tbsp. Soya Sauce

1 tsp. sesame oil

130 ml. water (combined with 1 1/2 Tbsp. cornflour)

Salt and sugar to taste

oil for frying

Method
Dough:
(1) Sieve (A)into a mixing bowl.

(2) Add (B) and mix, then pour in (C) and knead till a dough is formed.

(3) Knead the dough with your hands for about 15 mins.

(4) Let dough proof for about 30 mins.

(5) Weigh and scale into small dough of about 30 gm. each.

(6) Wrap with fillings and seal tightly.

(7)Place onto greaseproof paper and leave to proof for another 30 mins.

(8) Steam over high heat for 10 mins.

Fillings:

(1) Heat up oil and fry the diced onion until fragrant.

(2) Add in Add in char siew and the rest of the ingredients.

(3) Cook till thick.

(4) Leave to cool before wrapping.

Stuffed Glutinous rice Chicken Wings

This is a very simple to made dish that is healthy and delicious too.

Ingredients

5 chicken wings with bone removed

Marinade

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp shao xing wine

Stuffings

Dry mushrooms soaked and diced

120g Glutinous rice rinsed

1 tbsp soya sauce

1/2 tsp salt

Pinch of pepper

Method

1) Marinate deboned chicken wings with oyster sauce and wine for half hour.

2) Mix the seasonings and ingredients for stuffings well.

3) Spoon 3 tsp of stuffings into chicken wings pockets.

4) Place chicken wings on a plate and steam at high heat for 50mins.

5) Serve hot.

Braised Pork

Braised Pork or Lor Bak is a good dish to go with porridge, mantou and rice. It is very simple to make too.

Ingredients

500g pork belly or front thigh meat

Seasoning

3 cloves of garlic

1 star anis

1 stick of cinnamon

3 pieces of Danggui

1 tbsp dark sauce

1 tbsp soya sauce

120ml of water

1 small piece of rock sugar or 1 tsp of sugar

Method

1) Add in the water and seasonings into a claypot.

2) When the water boil, add in the pork.

3) Turn the fire to small.

4) Slowly simmer for half hour, turn the pork to the other side.

5) Simmer for another half hour. Switch off the fire.

6) Serve with rice or mantou.

Fried Carrot Cake ( Char Kway)

I fried my own carrot cake today. It is really simple and the ingredients are cheap and easy to assemble.

Plain carrot cake

Ingredients

500g of radish grated

2 cups of rice flour

2 cups of water

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp oil

Method

1) Grease a 7 " round tin and heat up a steamer.

2) Heat the skillet and add in oil. When the oil is heated up pour in the grated radish.

3) Stir fry the radish for around 15min until the radish is soft and the fluid has dried.

4) Pour rice flour and salt into a mixing bowl and pour in the water. Mix the flour and water well.

5) Add the fried grated radish into the flour mixture and mix well.

6) Pour the mixture into the greased tin.

7) Put the tin into the steamer and steam for 50 min, or until the centre has solidify.

8) Leave the cooked carrot cake to cool down completely before covering the tin with a plastic wrap and chill in the fridge.

9) Leave it over night or at least 8 hours.

Ingredients for frying the carrot cake

2 tbsp chai bor ( preserved radish)

1 garlic chopped

2 tbsp oil

Spring onion chopped

2 eggs beaten

3 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp sweet sauce

1 tbsp black sauce

some pepper

Method

1) Dislodge the carrot cake from tin and cut into cubes of 3 cm each.

2) Heat up the oil in a frying pan, add in the garlic and chai bor, stir fry till fragrant.

3) Add in the carrot cake cubes, stir fry for 3 mins.

4) Make a well in the middle of the carrot cake cubes and add in the eggs.

5) Fry the cubes and eggs together till well mixed.

6) Add in the fish sauce, pepper, sweet sauce and black sauce.

7) Make sure the carrot cake is well coated with the sauce.

8) Add in the spring onion, switch off the fire and stir the spring onion into the carrot cake.

Note: Make sure the carrot cake is almost ready before adding the sweet sauce and black sauce or else the carrot cake will become bitter. If you are replacing the fish sauce with soya bean sauce, you should mix it together with the black sauce and sweet sauce first before adding to the carrot cake. This should also be done only when you are sure the carrot cake is already cooked.

Healthy lunch

Had disappeared for a long time, really busy at work, and felt rather tired after doing alot of baking recently. :) Dotter had to do a healthy lunch with my help as a project over the long National Day weekend, so she did the planning and managed to come up with a healthy and yet delicious dish.

Ingredients

Broccoli washed and cut into smaller pieces
Carrot julienned
Fishball 6 pieces halved
Mushrooms 4 pieces chopped
1 tbsp oil from fried onion
Egg white from an egg (optional)
2 tbsp soya sauce











1)Arrange the broccoli in the outermost ring.


2)Next place the carrots in the middle of the plate.







3)Place the fishball in a ring on top of the carrots.







4)Next add the chopped mushroom right in the middle.
5)Drizzle onion oil and soya sauce on the ingredients.
6)The ingredients are now ready for steaming.
7)Steam the ingredients for 10mins.

8)Add the egg white on top of the fishball and mushrooms and steam for another 5mins.


9)Remove from steamer and the dish is ready.

Fish Soup

Ingredients
200g sliced batang fish fillet
some fish bone
1 tomato cut into wedges
Tofu cut into cubes(optional)
Local lettuce (optional)
spring onion chopped(optional)
Parsley chopped (optional)

Seasoning
2 tsp onion oil
500ml water
2 tbsp fish sauce/1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp chinese wine
pepper

Marinade
1 tsp salt
1 tsp corn flour
Sprinkle of pepper

Method
1. Marinade fish slices, leave aside.

2. When the water boil add in the fish bone. Turn to medium fire and boil the bone for 10min.

3. Remove the bone, add in onion oil.

4. Add tomato and when the water boils add in the fish slices.

5. Gently stir so that the slices do not stick together.

6. When the fish is 3/4 cooked, add in the fish sauce, chinese wine and sprinkle of pepper.

7. Let the water boil for 2 mins then switch off flame. Add in spring onion.

8.Serve hot with rice or pour on bowl of rice to make it into teochew type fish porridge.

Claypot Pork & Liver with ginger and spring onion

Ingredients
300g pork
100g liver
4 slices of ginger
2 stalks spring onion cut into 4cm length
1 garlic chopped
2 tbsp oil

Marinade
2 tsp soya sauce
Sprinkle of pepper
2 tsp corn flour

Seasoning
2 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
Pepper

Method
1. Marinade the pork and liver separately with 1 tsp or soya sauce and 1 tsp of corn flour each.

2. Heat oil in claypot, add garlic and ginger. Fry the garlic and ginger till fragrant, add sliced pork.

3. Close the cover for 2 min, then stir the pork till 3/4 cooked. Add seasoning and mix well.

4. Add in the spring onion and the liver. Turn up the heat and close the cover. After 1 min, switch off the flame.

5. Open the cover and mix the liver and spring onion well with the seasoning and replace the cover.

Note:
1)The remaining heat in the claypot will cook the liver. Overcooking the liver will make it tough.
2)The liver can be replace with sliced firm bean curd (tau kwa).
3)You can also fry chicken or fish instead of pork, but in both cases you will not add dark sauce and for fish, you substitute the soya sauce with salt.

Fried Kway Teow ( No pork no lard version)

Ingredients ( For 4 person)
500g Kway Teow noodles

300g Yellow noodles

3 Fish cake sliced thinly

100g prawns

1 Chinese wax sausage sliced (optional)

1 bowl of bean sprouts

1 garlic chopped

3 tbsp oil

1/2 bowl water

Seasoning

3 Tbsp soya sauce

1 tbsp dark soya sauce

1 tbsp sweet sauce

Method

1. Heat oil, add garlic. Fry for 1 min, add fishcake, kway teow and yellow noodles.

2. Add half of the water to the noodles and mixed evenly, while cutting up the noodles to shorter strands.

3. Fry for 2 min, then add the rest of the water and prawn fry till the prawn is almost cooked.

4. Make a well and pour in the egg. Scramble and mix with the noodles. Add in the bean sprout and fry for another 2 mins.

5. Add in the seasonings, making sure all the noodles get the seasonings, then switch off flame.

Note:

1)Use medium flame throughout so that the noodles will not get burnt.

2)Do not add in the seasonings too early or else the noodles will end up a little sour.

Fried Hokkien Mee (No pork version)

This morning made hokkien mee （炒福建面）for breakfast. The whole process took me half an hour including cooking and cutting. For those people who do not know, Fried hokkien mee is a local delicacy. It is one hawker food you don't want to miss. Ok with no further ado, I will bring you the recipe.Ingredients( serves 4)
500g Thick Vermicilli
300g Yellow noodles
4 prawns or more deveined
1 squid cut into rings
1 fish cake sliced thinly
1/2 chicken breast sliced thinly
Chye Sim (optional)
1 garlic chopped
1 onion sliced thinly
1 egg beaten
1 bowl water/stock
3 tbsp oil
4 tbsp soya sauce

Marinade
Oyster sauce
Soya sauce
Pepper
1 tsp corn flour ( for chicken only)

Garnish
Chilli sliced thinly
Lime cut into half

Method
1.Marinade chicken with 1 tsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp soya sauce,pepper and corn flour. Marinade the squid and prawn with 1 tsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp soya sauce. Set the items aside for 5 mins.

2.Heat the oil and add the onion and garlic. Fry for 1 min, add in chicken and fry for 2 mins, add fish cake and fry for 1 min.

3.Add in the yellow noodles, then thick vermicilli. Add half a bowl of water and make sure the yellow noodles and vermicilli are well mixed.

4. Add in the prawn and squid and the other half bowl of water. Fry till all ingredients are cooked.

5. Add in 4 tbsp of soya sauce. Make sure the soya sauce are mixed well, make a well in the middle of the noodles and add the egg.

6. Scramble the egg and mix well with the noodles. Switch off flame.

7. The noodles can be served with some sliced chilli placed on top as garnish. The lime juice is to be added to the noodles before eating.


Note: The authentic hokkien mee version is not with chicken but with pork belly. But I decided to use the healthier version. This version of the recipe can be used by muslim considering it is cooked without pork.

Chicken Feet & Peanut Soup

Ingredients (Serves 4)

10 chicken feet

6 red dates with seeds removed

400g peanuts

2L water

Salt

Method

1. Boil water in a earthen pot/claypot.
2. Add red dates and peanuts.
3. Bring to a boil then simmer for 1 hour.
4. Bring the water to a boil and add the chicken feet, when the water boils, turn down to flame to low.
5. Cook for another 1 hour, add salt to taste and the soup is ready to be served.

Pork and Liver Mee Suah

This morning I made pork and liver mee suah（猪肝瘦肉面线）. Mee suah is a type of chinese noodle made from wheat flour. It's texture is soft and is a suitable for young children and old people who can't bite too well. The best mee suah are hokkien/Amoy mee suah. It is easily cooked and you can actually cook the noodles longer to make it abit soft and gluey. Since my pregnancy, that's the way I like all my noodles done, super soft hehe. This is a very fast to cook dish that can be ready in 20 mins including preparation and cooking. Ok here's the recipe.

Ingredients ( For 2 persons)

100g pork sliced

50g liver sliced

600ml water

2 slices of ginger julienned

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp soya sauce

2 tsp corn flour

1 tsp salt

Pinch of pepper

1 tsp of Shao Xing chinese wine

Mee suah 2 pieces

Garnish

spring onion chopped

parsley chopped

Method

1. Marinade pork with soya sauce, pepper and 1tsp corn flour. Marinade liver with 1 tsp cornflour.

2. Bring 300 ml of water to a boil and put in the mee suah. Add sesame oil and 1/2 tsp salt to the water.Cook till the noodle is soft, if you like it softer, boil it a little longer.

3.Drain the hot water, add 300ml water to the noodles and bring to a boil.

4. Add in the ginger and pork. Add salt, pepper and wine to taste.

5. Add in liver and boil for 1 min before switching off the fire.

6. Add in the spring onion and parsley to garnish.

7. Pour the noodle soup into a bowl.

A sumptuous and nutritious breakfast.

Note: Do not over cook the liver, or else the liver will turn tough. After the fire is switch off, the heat will continue to cook the liver.

Bittergourd and Pork ribs with black bean paste

Ingredient
1 tsp of black bean paste with garlic
half a bittergourd
1 tsp cooking oil
300g Pork Ribs/Spareribs
1 garlic chopped
3/4 cup water
Marinade
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tsp chinese rice wine
1 pinch of pepper
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp corn flour

Method
1. Marinade the pork ribs with the marinade mixture. Set aside.
2. Clear the seeds from the bittergourd. Cut the bittergourd into long rectangular pieces around 6cm by 3 cm. Add 1 tsp of salt into the water and soak the cut bittergourd in it for 5 mins.
3.Heat the oil in a pot, fry garlic and add in the black bean paste.
4. Add in the pork ribs and bittergourd and stir fry for 2 minutes till the ingredients get all the bean paste.
5. Add water and wait for it to boil then switch to small fire.
6. Stew the pork ribs and bittergourd for 40minutes.
7. Remove from fire and serve hot with rice.


Note: 1)Soak the bittergourd in salt water to remove some of the bitter taste.
2)The bittergourd should not be cut into too small a piece because we are stewing it for long period of time, if it's too small, it will disintegrate into the sauce.

The smell of this dish just makes your appetite grows!

Pork & Century egg Congee

Ok havent been in this blog for a long long time. Had been in hospitalised, then bed rest and finally able to walk around abit more. Anyway, morning sickness seem to have subsided some, so now I have more energy to think up some nice food for everyone. Today made "Pork and Century egg porridge" ( 皮蛋瘦肉粥） for Dh for breakfast.

Recipe for Pork and Century egg porridge(Congee)

Ingredients

1 century egg cut into cubes

50g sliced pork

half cup of rice

500ml water

1 tsp onion oil

1/2 tsp of salt

1 stalk of spring onion chopped

1 tsp of fried onion

Method

1. Put the washed rice in a claypot/pot, add water, onion oil, a pinch of salt.

2. Bring the water into a boil and turn to small fire and cook for half hour until the rice has turn soft and mashy.

3. Add the pork and salt to taste.

4.Scoop out the porridge into a bowl, add century egg, fried onion and spring onion to garnish.

5.Add some pepper if desire.

The finished product: tasty pork and century egg Congee

Vegetarian Bak Kut Teh

Bak Kut Teh or Pork Rib Tea （肉骨茶） is a soup that is a local delicacy. It is said that this soup originate from the creation of poor coolies in Southeast Asia. They are very poor and whenever able will gather whatever herbs they could get hold of and make into soup together with pork rib. The herbal soup is delicious and is said to boost their constitution. There are many version of pork rib tea, herbal type and the teochew more peppery version. But here I will introduce the herbal version but vegetarian style. If you want you could substitute the bean items with pork ribs.

Ingredients

3 sticks of Tau Kee ( Bean Stick) soaked for half hour

1 can Button Mushrooms

Other Vegetarian ingredients like tau pok, mock meat (optional)

Soup Base

1/2 piece shu di (chinese herb)

1 slice danggui (chinese herb)

1 stalk of dang sheng (chinese herb)

1 piece of bei qi/huang qi(chinese herb)

1/2 stick of cinnamon

1 star anise

1 honey date

1 tsp of white peppercorn

1 tbsp of black sauce

1 tbsp soya sauce to taste

4 Cloves garlic (optional)

Method

1. Boil 800 ml of water, add in the ingredients for soup base and bring to a boil, then switch to small fire for 40 minutes.

2. Add in the tau kee and cook for another half hour, then add in the button mushrooms and soya sauce to taste, bring to a boil.

3. Switch off the fire and serve the soup hot with rice.

Note: 1)You can add in 2 cloves of garlic into the soup base if you want but garlic will not be added to strict vegan dish .
2) If want to use pork ribs instead, add the pork ribs into the soup base when it boils and cook at low fire for 45 minutes.