Stir-fry celery with cabbage

To vary stir-fry cabbage , celery can be added. Surprisingly tasty ! Oh, chinese cabbage and napa cabbage actually taste quite different.

Stir-fry celery with cabbage (serves 4)
Ingredients:
-~5-6 ribs from celery stalks/hearts, washed, and sliced in medium thickness if you want more crunch
-half a chinese cabbage head, washed and jullienned ( remaining half of cabbage was used here )
-1/4 lbs minced pork
-1tsp dried shrimps
-1tsp minced ginger
-1tsp minced garlic
-~3tbsps warm water

Method:
1.Heat oil in pan and fry garlic, ginger and dried shrimp
2.Add the minced pork and fry for 2-3mins
3.Add in celery and fry for 1-2 mins, then add cabbage to fry for another 1-2mins
4.Add warm water, and allow the vegetables to simmer for 2-3 mins
5.Ready ready !

Tag: celery, cabbage, dried shrimps

S&B curry rice

The true Curry-in-a-Hurry

Curry rice
Ingredients:
-1 pack Japanese Style "Golden Curry" by S&B (Hot)

-0.5lbs chicken or beef (you can substitute with shrimps, if you prefer)

Method:
1. Heat up the S&B sauce as instructed in the packaging. I prefer boiling the sealed packet in boiling water, as microwaving often has the tendency to make the end-product dry
2. Grill or saute the meat cubes or strips, if you are using the sirloin or flank part. If you happen to have leftover stew beef cubes similar to my case, grind these beef cubes since these stew beef are usually chuck beef and will be tough and hard if you were to just saute or pan-fry
3. Top curry sauce over meat, then served warm with steamed rice

Tag: S&B curry, ground beef

Slow cooker beef stew recipe

Slow cooker beef stew recipe
Ingredients:
-~ 2lbs cubed beef stew meat
-1/4 cup corn starch
-1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
-3 tablespoons olive oil
-baby carrots
-1 bunch/stalk celery hearts
-8-10 caps crimini mushrooms
-white/yellow onions, sliced
-2 cups boiling water
-1tbsp butter
-some red wine to deglaze the skillet/pan after frying
-warm water

Method:
1.Place meat in a large plastic bag. Combine 1/4 cup flour with 1/2 teaspoon salt; pour into the bag with the meat, and shake to coat
2.Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add stew meat, and cook until evenly browned on the outside. Transfer to a slow cooker along with the carrots, celery, mushrooms, plus 2cups of boiling water
3.In the same skillet, melt butter and saute onions until softened; remove to the slow cooker
4.Pour red wine into the skillet, and stir to loosen browned bits of food on the bottom
5.Remove from heat, and pour into the slow cooker
6.Cover, and cook on High for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to Low, and cook for 5 hours, or until meat is fork tender.

Eatin' and dippin' it with toast (good for lunch!),

or stir it up(like any pasta sauce) with macaroni.

Can even try a casserole, but I've really run out of beef stew for this. Uh-oh!

Tag: slow-cooker, beef stew, crockpot

Okra with sambal chilli

Okra with sambal chilli
Ingredients:
-okra; blanch whole okra pods in boiling water for about 4-5 mins; remove with a slotted ladle and cool it in a bowl of ice water or until just tender (but still crisp). When cool, trim off the cap- and tail- ends.
-1tbsp of sambal chilli (GLORY brand Nonya Sambal Chilli); up to 2tbsp if you love HOT spicy
-1tbsp dried shrimps

Method:
1.Heat oil at medium-high in frying pan
2.Fry dried shrimps
3.Add in sambal chilli and continue frying for ~1 min, gradually turning on heat to high
4.On high heat, add in okra and fry quickly, just to "coat" the chilli-shrimp mix onto the already cooked okra
5. Dish up and serve

Tips to reduce THAT slime include frying the okra in high-heat within a short time, making less cuts to the okra(the more, and smaller you cut, the more SLIME), not introducing moisture while frying okra, and blanching in boiling water-then-plunging in ice-cold water. This is such a "difficult" plant vegetable to work with. It is even suggested that okra should not be cooked in a cast-iron or aluminium pot, to prevent them from turning "black" and thus unappetizing.

Tag: sambal belacan, okra, lady's finger, sambal chilli

Mushroom cabbage rice

Mushroom cabbage rice(serves ~6, or 2 for 3 days)
Ingredients:
-1tbsp dried shrimps
-8caps fresh shitake mushrooms,wiped with damp towels, stalks removed and caps sliced; or dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked and diced
-half a head of cabbage, washed and julienned
-0.5lb lean pork (I've used "char siew" for more flavor in my rice)
-3tbsp light soy sauce (optional if you are using "char siew" or roasted pork belly)
-2.5cups rice
-pepper, to taste

Method:
1.Cook rice in rice cooker
2.Heat oil; add dried shrimps, lean pork, mushrooms, light soy sauce, and stir fry for 2-3 mins (If using "char siew" or cooked meat, the meat can be added later)
3.Add cabbage to mixture and fry lightly for another 2-3 mins
4.Add cooked meat the last, if you are using cooked meat
5.Simmer till all ingredients are cooked
6.Transfer mixture to rice cooker once rice is cooked
7 Fluff them up!

Do not underestimate the sweetness of cabbage, the earthy mushrooms, and the savoury "char siew" that flavors up this dish so well. Even I, was surprised how tasty it turns out.

Tag: mushroom, cabbage, char siew, rice

Stir-fry snow peas and peppers with shitake

Stir-fry snow peas and peppers with shitake
Ingredients:
-snow peas, washed, and trim off tips at both ends of the pod pea
-green and red peppers, washed and sliced in strips
-shitake mushrooms, wiped with damp kitchen towels, stalks removed, and cut caps into halves
-1 clove garlic, minced
-oyster sauce, to taste

Method:
1.Heat oil at medium in frying pan
2.Fry the minced garlic
3.Add the snow peas and fry lightly for 2 mins
4.Add in mushrooms and continue frying for 2-3 mins
5.Add oyster sauce, to taste. If mixture looks dry, add in some water
6.Finally, add in green and red peppers (added last since I do not want to overcook them; peppers can be taken raw anyway)
7.Fry lightly for another 2-3 mins; then ready to serve

Tag: snow peas, stir-fry, peppers

Three cups chicken

I pondered why it was named Sanbei ji (Three Cups Chicken)...then I realized the recipe called for 1 cup of Shaoxing wine, 1 cup of soya sauce, and 1 cup of sesame oil, so it's 3 cups !!!

Three cups chicken , Sanbei ji
Ingredients:
-2lbs chicken thigh (you can use chicken breasts or leg fillets), cut to bite-size pieces
-1 cup or 6 soup spoons Chinese Shaoxing wine
-1 small cup or 4 soup spoons soya sauce
-1 samll cup or 3 soup spoons sesame oil
-4tsp minced ginger (you can use sliced ginger as well)
-Chopped spring onions or scallions, to garnish

Method:
1.Heat up sesame oil in wok or pan
2.Add chicken pieces, sear the chicken to brown on all sides
3.Add ginger, followed by soya sauce. Turn down heat to simmer 5 minutes
4.Turn heat up again when sauce is bubbling, add the Chinese wine (when adding wine, do nto drizzle directly on the cooking chicken; instead slowly pour wine
on the sides of the pan, allowing the heated metal to evaporate the alcohol content; this way, only the fragrance of the wine is retained)
5.Cook till chicken is done and sauce has reduced
6.Garnish with scallions, serve with hot rice

Tag: shaoxing cooking wine, sesame oil, soy-sauce,chicken