Teppanyaki-Style Udon, or Stir-Fry Udon

Teppanyaki-Style Udon, or Stir-Fry Udon (serves 2)
Ingredients:
-1 pack fresh udon, 1lb or less; blanched before frying
-6oz, less than 1/2lbs ground beef (substitute with ground turkey or other meats you wish)
-1 small pack buma shimeji mushrooms
-1 piece ginger, small sized, julienned into finger lengths
-2 stalks scallions/spring onions, bias-cut into finger lengths
-black pepper, to taste
-dark soy sauce, to taste

Method:
1.Heat oil in pan, and fry all the ingredients EXCEPT the udon. This will take about 5-7mins for all flavors to be released, interact and fuse
2. You can dish up and serve it now with your steamed rice


3. You can add in udon noodles for mix-in and stir fry as a noodle dish

Kong Bak-Braised Pork Belly Slices and Kong Bak Pau

Kong Bak for the burger challenge -

Can you see the tiny bits of yam?


I thought of Pac-Man all of a sudden. Don't know why!

Kong Bak/Kong Bak Pau - Braised Pork Belly Slices with Yam (serves 2-3)
Ingredients:
-1/2lb pork belly
-water for blanching
-6-8 cooked yam slices (~1.5cm width each)

Marinade:
-tbsp dark soya sauce
-1tsp oyster sauce
-1tsp cane sugar
-1tsp tomato ketchup
-1/2tsp white peppercorns
-1/2tsp five spice powder
-1/2tsp salt
-1tsp chinese cooking wine
-4cloves (from 1 bulb) of garlic, peeled and crushed

Method:
1. Blanch pork belly in hot boiling water for about 30-45secs. Remove from water and drain
2. Cut the pork belly into 1 to 1.5cm-width slices, and mix in marinade and leave it in the fridge, at least 2 hours or more
3. After marination, add in the yam slices, arranging them in between the marinated pork belly slices, then pour remaining marinade to drench the pork belly slices and yam
4. Steam marinated pork belly slices and yam for 1hr, then transfer them to slow-cooker
5. Cook in slow-cooker on low and continue braising (should take another ~2hrs) till pork belly slices are cooked to soft tenderness, as with the yam. By this time, the kitchen is smelling a whole lot like cooked Kong Bak!


Can you see the disintegrated yam bits on the pork belly slices ?

Notes: The yam acts like a "thickener"...just like what a potato does in stews. If you want your Kong Bak gravy slightly thick(or starchy), you can add in some yam to do the trick. Also, the yam has a hint of sweet that flavors the Kong Bak as well.


Is this the Chinese KB burger?


Tag: kong bak, pork belly, kong bak pau, burger

Spinach frittata, spinach omelette

Spinach frittata, spinach omelette
The ingredients are simple - just egg and baby spinach, with salt and pepper to taste.

Steps: Heat oil in frying pan while whisking the egg. Pour the egg onto the pan and let one-side cook on medium heat. Do not turn or disturb the egg for 1-2mins. Add in the spinach, by handfuls, till you feel it's sufficient. You may use a turnover spatula to help you press down the spinach to reduce the volume. It may look heapful but spinach reduces by almost half the amount when cooked, so don't worry by adding in more.



Turn to the other side once the underside of the egg is cooked and lightly browned.


Get your cookie cutter to shape them for breakfast or brunch portions.



Related posts:
Green green vegetables of home - Stir fry long beans and celery
Real spinach, fake fish cake - Stir fry Chinese spinach
Dear okra, don't try to be funny with me - Okra or lady fingers with sambal chilli
Kang Kong's friend is your friend, Kang Kong's enemy is also your friend - Stir fry kang kong or water spinach
Snowing in fall - Stir fry snow peas
Once upon a time - Steamed brussel sprouts

Nyonya Chap Chai means Mixed Vegetables, Braised or Stewed

Nyonya Chap Chai - Braised or Stewed Mixed Vegetables (serves 4-6)
Ingredients:
- 75g/3oz bean vermicelli (glass or mung bean noodles, tung hoon in hokkien)
- 1 head cabbage; washed and cut into chunky slices
- 8 caps fresh shitake mushrooms caps; cleaned with damp towel, cut into slices
- 5oz black fungus, cut to bite slices
- 1/2 cup dried lily buds (Note: read above for preparation instructions-soaking and knotting)
- 3oz fried beancurd sticks (soaked in water, then cut into finger-lengths)
- 1 tbsp salted soy beans (豆 酱, dou jiang in Chinese)
- 1tsp oyster sauce, to taste
- 1-2 pieces rock sugar (1 piece ~ half size of thumb)
- chicken broth/water

Method:
1. Heat up oil in wok, add in salted soy beans, smashing them while frying till fragrant
2. Add in cabbage and mix well for 5mins
3. Add in the rest of the vegetables (mushrooms, black fungus, lily buds, beancurd sticks) and mix well before adding enough water to cover them up. Add oyster sauce to taste and flavor.
4. Simmer on low heat, covered, for 10-15mins till all the vegetables soften

5. Next stir in bean vermicelli (glass or mung bean noodles), simmer for another 5-8mins (Note: vermicelli absorbs a lot of moisture, so you would not want to add this too early or the gravy/sauce would be reduced by too much)
6. Once the ingredients are cooked, dish up and serve. Good with rice or on its own!




Tag: vegetables, weekend herb blogging

Tom Yum/Tom Yam Fried Rice

Tom Yum/Tom Yam Fried Rice (serves ~4)
Ingredients:
-10 medium-size prawns or shrimps
-0.8lbs long beans, cut into thin slices on the bias
-2 fresh red chilli, sliced thinly
-1 stalk lemongrass, use bottom white part
-1tbsp Tom Yum Paste
- some water
(Optional: eggs, whisked and fried as plain omelette, cut into strips for garnish, frozen corn,
edamame beans, thinly sliced jalopeno peppers for that extra spice)


Method:
1. Cook rice as per normal
2. Heat some oil in frying pan, saute the prawns/shrimps on both sides till cooked. Dish out and set aside


3. Fry all the long beans, red chilli, jalopeno peppers, corn in the same oil, add Tom Yum Paste and some water(adjust according) and fry for 5-8mins


4. Add in the prawns and mix well. Make sure there is some gravy but not too wet since you do not want the rice to be too soggy

5. Add in the mixture into the rice while in the rice cooker. Mix the rice well with the Tom Yum mixture of long beans, chillis, peppers and shrimps

Note: If you have been following my blog posts, you would have noticed that I usually don't fry the rice in the wok/frying pan since I don't have a big enough wok to allow "all ingredients break loose in the wok", and more importantly, I usually don't cook more rice, intentionally for leftovers. Fried rice is typically easier to do with leftover cold rice. I have more "rice -cooker -style fried rice" featured at the bottom of this post. Easy cooking without sacrificing taste. Still yummy!

7. I want to eat now!


Related rice dishes:
Cabbage Fried Rice with Leftover Roasted Pork(Char Siew)
Curry Tonkatsu Don - Japanese Pork Cutlets with Rice and Curry
Braised Chicken Rice


Tag: tom yum, prawns, fried rice, Fusion

Portobello and shitake mushroom penne

Portobello and shitake mushroom penne (serves 2-3 as main dish; 4-5 as side dish)
Ingredients:
-1/2lb whole wheat penne pasta
-3 portobello mushroom caps, wiped clean and sliced
-1/4 pound shitake mushrooms, stems removed and thinly sliced
-2 cloves crushed garlic
-1 shallot, thinly sliced
-1/4 teaspoon five-spice or allspice (eyeball)
-pinches of dried oregano
-1-2tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
-salt and pepper, to taste
-water, or chicken stock

Method:
1. Bring water to a boil and salt it for the pasta
2. In a saute/frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, shallots, portobellos, shitakes, oregano, allspice and some black pepper
3. Cook 10-12mins till mushrooms are dark and tender. Remove half the mushrooms and place them in a food processor. Add some water/chicken broth to the processor, grind into a thick sauce and add liquid back to the pan. Season with pinches of salt, to taste

5. Drain pasta when al dente and add it to the mushroom sauce to absorb flavor.
6. Serve the pasta over simply grilled portobello (see recipe snippet below)



Recipe snippet of easy grilling portobello: Several hours before cooking, place portobello mushrooms in a large sealable plastic bag. Add some olive oil, enough to coat all mushrooms, with excess of olive oil. Pinches of salt and freshly gound black pepper goes into the bag; then add some minced or crushed garlic. Seal bag and shake. Refrigerate for a few hrs. Before serving - remove the mushrooms from the bags and place on grill for 5mins per side or longer (don't overcook them!). Flip them once every few minutes.

Related posts:
Pasta ala Bak Chor Mee - Chinese,Italian Fusion
Linguine Vongole using Chinese Shaoxing Wine - Chinese,Italian Fusion
Linguine Gamberetto
Chicken Macaroni Soup
Beef and Mushroom Bolognese Penne

Tag: penne, mushrooms, portobello, shitake

Snow Fungus, Ginkgo and Barley Drink Dessert

Snow Fungus, Ginkgo and Barley Drink Dessert (serves 2-3)
Ingredients:
-About 2-3 pieces snow fungus, soaked in water before usage
-About 1 cup pearl barley, washed
-Few pieces of ginkgo nuts, fresh or canned, with inner seeds removed
-Honey dates and/or rock sugar (ratio adjusted accordingly to your ingredient availability or liking)
-Pandan leaves, knotted (option)
-Water, quantity based on ingredients

Method:
1. Place all the ingredients in slow-cooker, and pour in water till ingredients are submerged
2. On high heat ~45mins-1hr till barley and fungus are cooked, then turn to low heat 1-2hrs to allow ingredients and textures to soften and flavors to infuse. If not sweet, add in more rock sugar, to taste
3. Can be served warm or cold


More about the ingredients:
All three ingredients (snow fungus, ginkgo and barley) can be used in sweet and savory cuisines.


Snow fungus :Practically tasteless, but prized for its jelly-like and crunchy texture. You can see them in sweet soups and desserts such as doubled boiled papaya and snow fungus (木瓜炖雪耳 ); and savory dishes such as doubled-boiled chicken soups. The wood ear/black fungus is another fungus species that can be used in stir-frys.

Barley: Pearl barley(above) or pearled barley is hulled barley which has been processed further to remove the bran. It may be polished, a process known as "pearling". Barley can be used in savory stews and soups, such as chicken stew and minestrone soup. But more common is the sweet barley drink/water- a good diuretic which is known to quench the thirst and expel toxins from the body.

Ginkgo : Expensive ingredient (due to labor intensiveness to crack the hard shell of each nut, removing the thin skin, and removing the young shoot that is usually bitter. So, usually what you eat is just the sweet flesh of ginkgo nuts. There are claims that ginkgo improves memory (it remains to be proven), and there are side-effects too. Usually used in sweet desserts - a popular dessert is barley, soya beancurd sheets(a.k.a foo chuk, in Cantonese) and ginkgo nut drink (can be almond-milky-based, or clear soup-like base). Due to their hint of sweetness, it complements well in a savory dish like this too. And it can be real yummy refreshing!

Related savory dishes:
Stir fry scallops and asparagus with ginkgo
Stir fry vegetables medley

Tag: desserts, tong sui, snow fungus, barley, ginkgo

Assam Prawns, Tamarind Prawns, Pineapple Prawns

My Tamarind Assam Prawns adapted the base concoction (of spice paste, and tamarind) from Rasa Malaysia. Ingredients are almost similar except:

-Substituted fish, with prawns (felt like eating prawns)
-Substiuted okra, with pineapples (easier, directly from the can)
-Omitted daun kesum -Vietnamese mint/Vietnames coriander (since I don't have)

The result is heavenly, as I would describe it; and "...extraordinarily satisfying...", quote Rasa Malaysia.




Definitely a perfect match with steaming white rice! The gravy...

Related posts:
Cereal Prawns
Pan-Grilled Prawns or Shrimps
Prawns or Shrimps with Spicy Milk Saure
Cheat Sheet "Chilli Crab" - Spicy seafood medley

Tag: prawns, shrimps, assam, tamarind, assam prawns,tamarind prawns, pineapple prawns

Pork and Cilantro Omelette

Cilantro and Pork Omelette (serves 2-3)
Ingredients:
-~150g(1/3lbs) ground pork
-1cup chopped cilantro
-2 medium size eggs, whisked in a bowl
-salt and pepper, to taste

Method:
1. Heat oil in frying pan on low-medium heat
2. Fry the ground pork for few minutes till cooked, salt and pepper to taste
3. Slightly cool the ground pork before adding to the whisked egg in a bowl; and to the same egg mixture, add the cilantro. Stir in (gently) the pork and cilantro to the egg mixture
4. Add a little more oil to the frying pan, and add in the egg mixture
5. Allow the underside of the egg omelette to cook at low heat for 2-3mins


6. Once the underside is cooked(just turned light golden brown), flip the egg over with a large surface turnover spatula and cook the other side (Note: just do what you normally would do when you fry an omelette since the pork is already cooked, so no worries about getting a overdone egg omelette with some uncooked fillings)



The result is a yummy pork and cilantro omelette! Porko-Omo, and that cilantro!

Related egg-cellent posts:
HumptyDumpty - Sambal Chilli Eggs
Wat Dan Hor-Fried Rice Noodle with Egg Gravy


Tag: cilantro, pork omelette,weekend herb blogging

Curry pie

Curry pie (makes ~5 mini pies)
In your grocer's basket or preparation bowl: Get ready ~100g (1/4 lb) ground beef (can be ground turkey, chicken, pork) , a small-medium yellow russet potato (boiled), and 1/4cup finely diced onions. It's a pie, so don't forget to stock up on pastry making ingredients; and for me, it's got to be time saver Betty Crocker Pie Crust Mix (half of the standard 11oz pack), 1tbsp butter, and some cold water (The pie crust mix pack would have ready instructions for you to make the dough, don't worry).

In a saute pan: ...lightly oiled, fry the ground beef for a 2-3 mins; then add in cubed potatoes(already boiled as whole then cubed) and fry for few more mins, till meat is cooked.


Then, add 2 tsp curry powder, and pinches(eyeball quantity, to taste) of five spice powder (allspice will do as well) to the mixture and continue saute on low heat. If you are using ground turkey or chicken, the mixture may be dry (so add some chicken broth or water). To thicken mixture and enhance the "creamy" texture, add cornflour-water mixture(of about 1tsp cornflour mixed with 2tbsp water). Turn off heat when mixture is ready. Allow cool.


On a flat board/floured surface: Roll the dough flat and cut into ~8 round sections (~5 rounds for the base crust, and 2-3 rounds-to be "flatten" further using the rolling pin, and cut into 5 rounds for the top crust)

In the muffin pan: Line the dough-crust base on buttered muffin pan surface, add the filling(of meat+potatoes+onions), then top with top dough-crust.



In the preheated oven: Bake the pies @400F for about 20 minutes.


In the easter basket:...finally...these finger-friendly baked pies.




Related posts:
Chicken strudel
Mini chicken pie
Curry puffs/pasties

Coffee Haupia

Coffee Haupia (2 small servings)
Ingredients:
-2tsp instant coffee (I used Nescafe Tasters Choice)
-1-2tbsp cornstarch/cornflour, to thicken
-2-3tbsp brown sugar, to taste
-leftover coconut milk (about 1-2cups will do)

Method:
1.Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and continuously stir over low heat till thick. Do not let the mixture boil.
2.Adjust coffee and sugar ratio, to taste
3.Pour into individual serving cups or for me, the muffin pan. Chill.


Took the picture before chilling in the fridge, but I forgot to take the pictures after chilling :(

Otak otak- fish cake in banana leaves

Otak B (makes ~3-4 otak)
Ingredients:
-1/4lb fish paste(1/8lb dace fish paste-imported from China+ 1/8lb fish paste-San Jose, local)
-1/4 cup thick coconut milk
-1 egg white
-2tbsp belachan paste (that's where the "heat" came from)
-1/2 small shallot
-1/2 of one small ginger
-1/3tsp cane sugar
-banana leaves,and bamboo skewers
(Note: No tom yum paste and no galangal used here in Otak B, but much more belachan paste)

Method:
1.Blend shallot and ginger in food processor
2.Add all the ingredients to the fish paste. Mix evenly until it becomes smooth
3.Place fish paste mixture in the center of a banana leaf, adjusted according to size of banana leaf


4.Fold and secure both ends with short bamboo skewers


5.Preheat oven to 450F and bake the otak for 20-25mins.
6 Ready !





Of course, I set aside some "play time" in this serious experiment. Played around with shapes...using . HA!




More notes:
1. Mixing two types of fish paste improves the texture since dace fish paste is more "lumpy" and the other fish paste is smoother.
2. Using more sambal belachan paste improves the color of the otak, and increases the "spice" level as well. I like the spicy version. The use of more sambal belachan paste does not overpower the otak (as in, the otak otak still taste like otak otak)
3.Not using galangal in Otak B works as well. This short-cut works in case you still want to make your otak but does not have this ingredient (Don't worry, PROVEN, by me the "guinea pig")

Penne mushroom and beef bolognese

Penne mushroom and beef bolognese (serves 2-3)
Ingredients:
-1/2lb penne pasta
-1/2lb ground beef(substitute: ground turkey)
-4oz white mushrooms, sliced
-3tbsp chopped onions
- Classico Triple Mushroom sauce (with portobello & crimini mushroom chucks...yum yum)
-olive oil

Method:
1. Boil pasta in boiling water, with some salt. Takes about 7-9mins.
2.Heat oil in frying pan, add mushrooms, and onions and cook till soften
3.Add in ground beef, and cook till beef changes color
4.Add in sauce and stir well


5. By this time, the penne pasta is cooked in the boiling water. Drain pasta and add to the sauce mixture, stir and mix well


6.Dish up and serve


Pasta shapes are designed not to only look attractive but to "pick up" and convey" sauce to your mouth. A simple key to pasta shape and sauce matching :
-Long thin pasta go with sauces that are thin or have finely-cut ingredients(eg. spaghettini or angel hair with lemon and cream suace);
-Long flat pasta suit slightly heavier sauces;
-Short pasta with indentations and cavities are tailored for thick chucky sauces (eg. penne-quills or fusilli - twists, with chucky mushroom bolognese sauce)

Stir fry long beans and celery

Stir fry long beans and celery (ingredients quantity depends on servings required)
Simply:
Have the long beans and celery cleaned, and cut into bite-size lengths respectively. Rinse the the dried anchovies and dried shrimps in water to soften.


More simply: Heat up some oil in the fry pan; add in dried anchovies and dried shrimps and fry till fragrant. Add in long beans and celery and fry (5-7mins) till cooked (crunchy and tender is the way to go here). Serve over rice.


Tag: vegetables, stir fry