Blanch Vegetables

Hi everyone, I hope that I didn't make you guys disappointed by posting this "Super Simple" recipe.. This dish was inspired by a local cooking programme in Tokyo last week while I was in the hotel room with my little rascal and hubby, sad to say that I did not really understand what the chef says in Japanese but roughly I can catch hold of some simple cooking steps, hopefully :) and nonetheless it turn out not bad with my mini modifying skills.

Boiling vegetables is really super easy. But if you don't do it right, you can end up with very dark soggy flavorless veggies, instead of bright green and tasty. Color and nutrient value as possible during the boiling process.

Preparing the Vegetables :

1. Choose green leafy veggies of your choice (I used Xiao Bai Chai)
2. Cut and Wash with cool or icy water
3. Drain water away

Preparing boiling water :

1.  Bring water to boil before adding the vegetables. If you add the vegetables when the water is hot, you don't need to boil them as long, and so you won't lose the nutrients.
2. Add a bit of salt and cooking oil. The salt will enhance the vegetables taste.
3. Observe the vegetables and don't over boil, usually takes about 2-3mins for leafy vegetables, remove from water and immerse the boiled vegetables into icy cold water for awhile and drain.

Seasoning the vegetables :

• Miso みそ paste, 1Tbsp and 20ml water then cook them in the sauce pan; OR
• Oyster sauce-1 Tbsp, Light Soya sauce-1//2tsp, Cooking Oil-1Tsp, 1Clove garlic chopped, Stir fry altogether

Pour seasoning onto vegetables and serve.

Sweet and Sour Pork

Sweet and sour pork is a Cantonese dish, and also a very common dish in almost all Chinese restaurant. I will always order this dish when me and my family are eating out, it is very good combination of crispy meat with tasty sweet tomato sauce, of cause not just tomato sauce alone :)

Main Ingredients :

• 200gram pork shoulder, cube
• 1 Green capsicum, cube
• 1 Red or Yellow capsicum, cube
• Half brown onion, slice
• Half clove garlic, chopped
• Half tomato, cube
• 2 Slice pineapple, cube (I bought can syrup pineapple)
• 2 Cups Oil for deep fry  (depends your wok size)

Marinate meat Ingredients :

• 1 Tbsp light soya sauce
• 1 Tbsp rice wine
• 1 Tbsp cornflour
• 1 Egg, beaten

 Mix above ingredients and marinate meat for 30mins.

Deep Fry batter Ingredients :

• 3/4 Cup plain flour
• 1/4 Cup corn flour
• 1 Tbsp baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 Cup water

Sieve plain flour, corn flour together then add in baking soda and salt, give it a gentle mix then beat in the egg, slowly mix the batter with the cup of water. After batter is mixed, pour in all meat and prepare to deep fry in a hot wok, fry until golden brown, remove from oil and drained, put aside.

Sweet and Sour Sauce ingredients :

• 4 Tbsp tomato sauce
• 3 Tbsp plum sauce ( I used Lee Kum Kee, see photo below)
• 1 Tbsp light soya sauce
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp water

Mix all ingredients together. Put aside

Heat about 1 tbsp of oil in the wok, Saute the garlic till fragrant, pour in capsicum, onion, pineapple, then pour in the fried pork, continue saute for about 1 to 2 mins, (REMEMBER : do not over stir fry your vegetables) then pour in sweet and sour sauce we had prepared eariler.  Mix well to coat the pork with sauce evenly.  Pour in the cucumber and capsicum (and pineapple if using).  Mix well to coat. Serve with steam rice

Vinegar Sushi Rice

 

Sushi is a Japanese Cuisine, everyone knows! and I believe that most of us had ate sushi before, but do you know how to make it? is actually not that difficult nor simple, require more on your skill, the more you make it the better you will become :)

This was my first attempt making vinegar sushi rice. I bought a small packet of Japanese short grain rice from Cold Storage (local supermarket) and Pre-mix Sushi Vinegar. this is very simple you don't even have to cook the vinegar with salt, sugar in the traditional way. 

Ingredient :

• 3 cups of rice - washed and drain
• Water - for cooking of the rice
• 1/2 cup of Sushi Vinegar
• 3/4 Vinegar added water

Method :

1. Place rice into a rice cooker, and cook. When cooking is finished, keep the cooker covered and let it stand for about 10min until grains are settled.
2. Then transfer rice to a wooden sushi bowl moistened with vinegar added water.
3. Slowly sprinkle the pre-mix vinegar all over the rice, toss the rice while cooling the rice with a fan. 
4. When tossing is completed, cover the rice with a clean cloth moistened with vinegar added water.

Ingredient of making sushi :

• 1 Japanese Cucumber - sliced
• 3 crab sticks - boiled and sliced
• 2 eggs - beaten, Pan fry and sliced
• Sushi Bamboo roll mat
• 6 pieces of nori seaweed

Method :

1. Place a nori seaweed sheet on the bamboo roll mat
2. Put the Vinegar sushi rice lighty on the nori sheet and spread over the sheet leaving 3/4 inch at the top and the bottom uncovered.
3. Place ingredients on the rice
4. Gently but firmly press the bamboo mat then roll to shape it.
5. Cut into 1/2 inch
6. Served with wasabi and Japanese Soy Sauce.

My rolling skill is not good, hopefully will improves with more practice, overall the sushi taste is there, give it a try :D

My version of Minestrone soup

Finally I am back to homemaker status again, after 1 year of busy, rushing and stressful working life concurrently taking care of my toddler son. So, now I am trying hard to get back my cooking skills as my hubby says I need time to practice again and also update some new recipe here to share with you. I know, my last post was like 8 months ago! haha

Today was a lazy day for myself and family, hubby bought typical breakfast (mee siam, fried carrot cake and zhu cheong fun) from hawker center for us,  and during the breakfast at home I am already thinking what's to cook for dinner, Simple! so, Minestones soup comes into my mine, easy and one pot done.

Here are the ingredients and used and the steps..

Ingredients :

• 1 Medium size potato - Diced in small cubes
• 1 Carrot - Diced in small cubes
• Half Australia Brown Onion - Chopped
• 2 Stalks of Celery - Chopped in small pieces (Because my son and hubby doesnt really like the smell of it)
• 1 Large tomato - Chopped
• 200g lean beef or chicken breast (slice in small pieces)
• 2litre Chicken stock (soup base)

Place the meats, potato, carrot, celery, tomato in a large pot of chicken stock and stir to combine. Cook over high heat, uncovered, stirring often, for 5 minutes.

• Olive oil
• Pinch of salt
• Handful of desire pasta ( I used Shell Shape Pasta)

Heat pot with water then add pasta in boiling water and add olive oil and salt and simmer for 20mins to 25mins, drain.

After soup is boil for 1hour or until vegetables are tender, put pasta in serving bowl add in soup and serve hot.

Old Cucumber Soup

Hi Everyone, I believe most Chinese drinks this soup before, you even can see them in almost Singapore's Food Court.
So, I will just give a brief intro of the benefits of this soup.
Old cucumber, which is considered to have 'cooling' properties in traditional Chinese medicine so it is believed to aid detoxification, and ease throat pain.

Is a easy prepared soup, just get ready your slow cooker that you need.

 

 Ingredients:
 

• 400 gm Pork Spareribs
• 1 Medium size Old Cucumber, De-seeded,
• 2 - 3 Medium Dried Scallops, raise and soaked for 4 hours (keep the soaked water)
• 1/2 of 1 Dried Squid, cut into small bite size
• A Handful of Small Red Dates
• One Honey Dates
• Dried Oysters, raise and soak for 1 hour (keep the soaked water)
• Handful of Sweet Almonds
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Bring a pot of water to boil for blanching of the spareribs.  Once the water boils, place the spareribs into the water and remove once the surface changes to white.  Remove, drain and set aside.  Discard the water.
2.  Prepare a slow cooker pot of water, I used 1.8litres pot for the above ingredients.  
3. Add the dried squid, red and honey dates, sweet almonds, dried scallops and dried oysters (pour in the soaked water) and spareribs. and bring to high heat.  Once boiling, add in the old cucumber wedges continue to boil for least 4hours.
4. Turn heat to low and add salt.
5.  Serve hot with with steam white rice.

Baguette Pizza

Me and hubby got a small fight because he disagreed that I had slice the whole baguette in pieces without eating them and also leave them uncovered in a dish while I was out for a moment, therefore I thought of a way to settle all the cut baguette. luckily I had my reminding half jar of tomato spaghetti sauce and some white button mushrooms.

Ok let me share with you this simple baguette pizza :)

Ingredients :

• One long baguette (slice them in half length wise)
• 1tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic clove, minced
• 10 baby carrots, slice thin
• 1 stalk celery, slice thin
• 1cup white button mushroom, slice thin
• 1cup tomato pasta sauce or pizza sauce
• Bacon or ham, cut in small pieces
• 1cup shredded mozzarella cheese 
• Italian Herbs to sprinkle 
• Pinch of salt

Method :

1. Preheat oven in 200c
2. Saute garlic in olive oil till slightly golden, add in carrots, celery and continue to saute for 5mins, lastly add in mushrooms and sprinkle salt saute until tender set aside.
3. Placed aluminum foil on a large baking tray and put all slice baguette on it, spread tomato sauce evenly on each baguette, top with cooked mushrooms, celery and carrots, add in ham or bacon, sprinkle Italian herbs and lastly covered mozzerella cheese on each baguette.
4. Bake for 15mins or until cheese are melted and golden.

Pork Knuckles in Sweet Vinegar

Not another Chinese confinement food haha, I can simply ate 2 full bowls of rice just with this dish, not that I praising how good I cooked, is because of the main ingredient (Vinegar) sour and sweet really makes you good appetite.

After eating so much of it, I started reading about benefits of the Black Vinegar and surprisingly it had some slimming and detoxifies benefits, which I need it >_< (still having flabby tummy after birth)

I read up some food blogs to get some ideas of how they prepare this dish, the main source is from christinesrecipes.com  and also some additional suggestion from my mum.

Ingredients :

• 1kg Pork Knuckles / Trotters (Cut them in BIG chucks)
• 1 big old ginger
• 1tbps cooking oil
• 1 bottle black vinegar 750ml
• Water 750ml to 1L
• 200gm rock sugar or palm sugar
• 4-5 eggs
• 1 stalk coriander for garnishing

 Preparing Sweet Vinegar 

1. Pour in black vinegar and water in a large casserole, bring it to boil.
2. Add in ginger. (please see below instructions first)
3. Add in rock or palm sugar (depending which one you use), stir in slow motion untill sugar dissolve and reduce heat to low, cover casserole and simmer for 15mins.
4. Remove from heat and set cool for half a day, this is to let the ginger absorbed the vinegar flavor.

 Preparing Ginger, eggs and Pork Knuckles Method :

1. Chop the ginger in pieces about 2inch in size, lightly pressed ginger and wash clean, set aside
2.  Rinse and clean the pork knuckles or trotters, blanch in boiling water for about 10mins then wash well with clean water and set aside.
3. Heat pan hot and fry ginger, do not add any oil on it, by doing this is to dries up ginger, once ginger is dried add a bit of oil and fry the ginger until aromatic. set aside. (this tactic was obtain from Christine Recipes) 
4. Prepare hard boil eggs in a pot, leave it to cool completely and shell them. 

After Half a day :

Once the cooked sweet vinegar is in room temperature, bring to boil again then add in pork knuckles or trotters, cook for 20mins then add in shell eggs. Let the eggs soak in the sweet vinegar for at least 30mins or until it turn dark brown.

Garnish with coriander and serve with steam rice!!