Golden Pumpkin 雜錦黃金

I learned this chinese new year dish at Spastic Center, Petaling Jaya, on one of their Charity cooking demonstration. For those who are living within klang valley and interested to learn some cooking tips and participate on charity for the Spastic children are welcome to attend the cooking demo once every month on the last saturday of each month. I will post the date and time of the charity cooking demo on facebook from time to time. Dont  just pass by, do leave your foot  print before leaving.   hehe.....    Thank you in advance and God Bless You!

A big thank you to Chef Ricky Ng for this interesting cooking demo.
 

Hometown Tong Poh Rou (Stew Porkbelly) 家乡东坡肉

You  may refer here for a new photo on the dish to tempt you!


The dish is best serve with rice and moutou (steamed buns) to mop up the gravy!

Toasted garlic, cinnamon stick and star anise

Ingredients
(adapted from Y3K recipes Issue 42) 
1 kg pork belly (cut into square)
2 big bulbs of toasted garlic (dark brown color)
1 stick cinnamon bark or kayu manis
few star anise or bunga lawang
1 litre water

Seasoning:
4 tbsps dark soy sauce or to adjust (I used 2 tsp only)
2 tbsps rock sugar
1 tbsp chicken stock granules ( I omitted this)
salt to taste
2 tbsps soy sauce
2 tabsps chinese cooking wine

For thickening
Mix 1/2 tbsp tapioca flour with 1 tbsp water ( I used cornflour)

For garnishing
some mantou (plain steamed buns)

Method

1. Heat water, blanch pork for a while. Remove meat.
2. Place No. (1), garlic, cinnamon bark, star anise, water and seasoning into a big pot. Bring it to a boil over high heat. Turn to medium heat, simmer for another 45 minutes to 1 hour or till meat has softened.
3. Dish up meat onto a platter. Snip meat, thicken gravy of no. (2) and pour over meat. Garnish and spring onion or Chinese coriander leaves and serve with mantou to mop up the sauce.

Have a great meal!

Chinese Dumplings with Soba 日本面条与饺子

Many people including foreigners love chinese dumplings, it can be in soups, deep fired, pan fried or even steam. I will never get bored with dumpling which ever way is prepared. You may make your own dumpling skin or just buy from hypermarkets.

Follow the instruction of the package of the soba to cook the noodles, drain and put into serving bowls add in cooked veges of your choice. Pour in the anchovies soup.

Don't you agree this is real mouth watery and drooling?

Dipping sauce is very important in dumpling dishes.

Recipe for the filling

Choice on ingredients for the fillings are up to yr liking. The list can go on and on; minced chicken or pork meat, shrimp, chinese cabbages, leek, 'kuchai' celery, carrot, chinese mushroom, wood fugus, water chestnut and etc etc.
For this time around the ingredients I used are minced pork, chinese mushroom (soak and diced), chopped carrot, chopped 'kuchai, chopped celery and some minced ginger. Mix all together with pepper, 1 tsp of sesame oil, 1 tsp onion/garlic oil, salt and fish sauce to taste.
combine and mix till the fillings is sticking. Chilled in the fridge for 1/2 hr. Use the dumpbling skin and wrap the filling as shown the video.

You may boil the dumplings in soups with anchovies base or chicken broth or you may pan-fry the dumplings, all is up to your preference.

As for the dumplings skin I bought them at Tesco hypermarkets, save me work for preparing the skin. hehe....
Or you prefer to make your own, here is the recipe

1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup water
some cooking oil

Method

1. Combine and knead the ingredients into a dough. Put dough onto a floured surface and knead for few minutes.
   
2. Knead into nice consistency, wrap and rest with plastic loosely for at least 10 minutes or more.
3. Roll the dough into strips and cut the strips the size of 20 cents coin and roll and flatten into round shape. It's ready to use.

I never make my own dumplings skin, so i really don't know how is the texture, may be you can advice me, thank you in advice.

Dipping sauce

Put some thinly sliced young ginger with black vinegar, soya sauce and chilli oil.

Steamed Chicken with Red Wine Paste (Fuchew) 红糟蒸鸡

This Steamed Chicken with red wine paste had been posted on facebook since 28th March 2011.
Until now only start to prepare the recipe for my blog. My apology for the delay for those who are looking forward for the recipe. This a simple and easy to prepare dish and specially for those who just begin to learn how to cook. When I posted this photo, people thought that I am a Fuchow, but I am not, I am a typical Cantonese who love to eat red wine mee suah.

My brother from Singapore bought me 2 bottles of red wine paste. Thank you brother.

This recipe is my easy and lazy version, there are many fuchow expects which you can refer, I believe they can give you better recipe than mine.
But nevertheless, before I ca ask my daughter to comment on the dish, she just ' hmmm...hmm...hmmm while chewing the chicken, that said it all. Hehehe.....

This is the red wine paste (lees of rice wine)

Here is the simple and easy to follow recipe

Ingredients

1/2 chicken ( I used Kampung Chicken) - chopped into bite sizes
2 tbsp of red wine lees
6 slices ginger
1 tbsp of chopped garlic
1 tbsp of kei chi - I missed out this

Seasoning

1 tsp cornflour
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp of red wine
sugar and salt to taste

Method

1. Marinate the chicken pieces with the red wine lees, salt, sugar and soy sauce for at least 4 hours or best overnight.
2. Mix in and combine well the rest of the ingredients.
3. Heat up a steamer with boiling water
4. Place the red wine chicken into the steamer and steam on high heat for 20 minutes. ( I steamed for 18 mins, and found the meat texture just tender as I wanted it to be)

Steamed Spare Ribs with Fermented Black Beans 豉汁蒸排骨

Simple and easy to prepare main dish for dinner

Ingredients

600 spare ribs
1 whole bulb of garlic (minced)
1 tbsp fermented black beans or tow see
1 fresh red chili (Chopped)
1 tomato cut into wedges ( not in the original recipe)

Seasoning
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp sesame oil
some pepper
Drizzle of water

Method

1. Chop spare-ribs into small pieces. place them in a bowl. Add in seasoning, mix well and leave ribs for three hours.
2. heat up two tablespoons of oil. saute garlic and fermented black beans. Dish up and add to no. (1). Add in the chopped red chili, tomato wedges. Mix well and pour contents into a plate.
3. Add water into a steamer, bring it to a boil.
4. Steam no. (2) over medium heat for 34-40 minutes till meat has softened.
5. Serve hot

Recipe adapted from Y3K Recipes Issue 38 (9/10-2007) by Shirley Ho

Chinese Spinach With anchovies 莧菜銀鱼仔

Green is a must have dish on dinning table in most Asian homes.
It is quite a challenge to make sure children eat vegetables. But if the greens cook a bit longer, the veges become more tender, children will learn to enjoy the dish. When stir-fired other green, it must be a quick stir-fried with fire on high otherwise the veges will be over-cooked turn yellowish and lost all the vitamins and minerals, but not this chinese spinash.
The Chinese spinash 莧菜 has various species, green, maroon colors as well. You may refer here for details. These greens is easily obtain from all markets. You can either to boil soup with it or just stir-fry, either way are go best with anchovies ( ikan billies).

1 bundles of Chinese spinach ( I normally goes for the young spinach) - cut and cleaned
2 tablespoon of small anchovies 銀鱼仔 - Deep fried and set aside
1/2 tbsp of kei chi
some smashed garlic
salt to taste
Fish sauce to taste ( when I use fish sauce I omit the salt)
2 tbsp of cooking oil

Method

1. Heat oil in the wok, add in the garlic and fry till aromatic, add in the spinach.
2. Stir fried a while add in some water continue to fry till quite soft
3. add in the kei chi, salt to taste.
4. Dish out and garnish with fried anchovies. Serve hot.

Stuffed Taufu 酿豆腐

Stuffed Taufu ( Yong TauFu) is a popular dish among the chinese in Malaysia. Especially in Klang Valley, Ampang is the place famous of this dish with quite a number of restaurant selling Yong Taufu. Most of the shops there serving the Yong Taufu over 20 years at least.
The price has increased tremendously over the years.

Yong Taufu is a dish with assorted vegetables and bean cured stuffed with fish paste. 'Ikan parang' is the most common fish to make the fish paste. When I was a kid, used to watch and help mom prepare the fish paste, its quite a tedious task, but of course, is a yummy and healthy dish. But nowadays ready fish paste is easily can buy from wet market (I bought it from Pudu market).

With the ready fish paste and other ingredients like red chili, Soft Taufu, Taufu Pok, ladyfinger, brinjal, bitter gourd, green pepper, bean curd sheets, Chinese mushroom; the lists can go on and on.........

To prepare

Just stuff the fish paste into the veges, either cook them using steam or boiling method. The bean curd soak in water till soft, put some fish paste on top of it, wrap it up and use cornflour to seal the edge. Pan-fry the bean cured till golden.

The most important of the dish is the gravy.

1 tbsp of minced garlic
2 tbsp of minced tau cheong
1 bowl of water
1 tbsp of cornflour mix with some water for thickening
Oil
1 tbsp of 'shao shing wine' (chinese wine)

1. Heat up some oil in the wok, add in garlic and tau cheong, fry till aromatic.
2. Add in the water, when boil mix in the stuffed taufu and veges.
3. Add in cornflour mixture to thicken the gravy
4. Lastly add a tablespoon of ' shao shing wine. Dish out and serve hot

Sweet and Sour Fish Fillet

The method is the same as the Sweet and Sour Meat, substitute the meat with fish fillet and the only difference is to shorten the time on deep frying of the fillet, as fish is cooked easily. The taste is as good as the sweet and sour pork. For further details refer to my previous recipe.

Sweet and Sour Meat 咕嚕肉

This dish seems to be all times favorite, either in the restaurant or at home. Here is my version of the recipe.

Ingredients
400 gm pork belly
some cornflour for coating
1 no big onion (wedged)
1 no. red chili (wedged)
1 no. tomato (wedged)
1 slice of pineapple (cut into bite size)
1/2 cucumber (cubed) - rub cucumber with a bit of salt, rinse off with water, add in 2 tsp of sugar and 2 tbsp white rice vinegar, set aside.

Optional ingredients
1/2 no. green capsicum (wedged) - I omitted
1/2 no. Green Capsicum (wedged) - I omitted

Marinade:
1 - 2  tsp of my premium aromatic spice
sugar to taste 
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 no. egg white
1 tbsp Shao Shing wine
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Sauce
1 tbsp plum sauce
3 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tbsp chili sauce
1 tbsp sugar
salt to taste
some cornflour for thickening
1/2 bowl of water

Method

1. Cut meat in 1/2 inch thick and marinade with marinate at least for 2 hours
2. Coat meat cubes with cornflour and deep-fry in hot oil till golden brown, dish out, drained and set aside.
3. Put in 1 tbsp oil in wok, stir-fry onion, red chili, capsicum, pineapple till fragrant. Pour in the sauce and the white vinegar mixture from the cucumber and cook till thick.
4. Add in the tomato and cucumber
5. Lastly add in the prefried meat and mix well-coated.
6. Serve hot with rice.

Paper Wrapped Chicken 纸包鸡

This is my mother, husband and Tammie's all time favorite; Tammie said this dish top the list of all style/ways of cooking chicken dishes. When frying the chicken, the aroma of the dish filled the whole kitchen, my daughter knows that her most favorite will be served on the dinner table soon. Hmmmm.......... so do try out the recipe and compare is it better than the famous Sri Kembangan Paper Wrapped Chicken? 

But I prefer to bake them in the oven for very obvious reason, less oil and less messy and most important is that is the easiest and simplest way to prepare.

Here is the recipe of my very own creation.

Ingredient

4 chicken whole thigh - Wash and cut into 4 pieces per chicken thigh ( I used Kampung chicken 菜園鸡 which is more tasty and meat are firmer)

Marinate the chicken with the following

3-4 tsp my special home made 'aromatic spice'
 2 tbsp Oyster sauce
1 tbsp honey
2 tablespoon of Chinese Shao Shin Wine


Wrapping paper as shown in the photos - cut into 10" X 10" square
Oil for deep frying

Method

Marinate the chicken for hours or preferable overnight.
Take a piece chicken and wrap with paper tucked in the paper nicely. Wrapped up all the chicken piecs.
Heat up oil for deep frying, lower the fire and put in the wrapped chicken pieces and deep fried on both side at about 5 mins each side. Make sure not to overcook it.
Unwrapped the paper and enjoy the yummy Paper wrapped Chicken 纸包鸡
Note: I have these secret recipe"aromatic spice" special prepared season salt passed down from my old antie for marinate meat. It comes very handy whenever I cooked Char Siew, Sweet and Sour Pork, Lamb Chop, beef, Chicken etc, either bake grille, deep fried, I just add some "aromatic spice", honey and chinese shao shin wine and be able to cook up delicious yummy dishes. I am intend to put on sale these very special "aromatic spice" RM8.00 per packet of 200gms excluding postage! The contents include salt, five spice powder, garlic, and herbs, no preservation.

Ginseng Roots Dry Abalone Chicken Soup

Ingredients :
2-3 pcs Dry sliced Abalone, (wash and soak in water for about an hour, retained the water to add in the soup later on)
50 gam Ginseng roots,
3 - 4 pcs white fungus,
10 gm yoke chuk,
1 tbsp kei zhi,
7-8 red dates,
1 - 2tbsp dry longan,
1 bird kampung chicken ( can used old chicken instead)(remove the skin and chopped in 4-6 pcs)

Method

1. Put boiling water and all the ingredients except white fungus and kei zhi in slow cooker and cook for 3-4 hrs.
2. Add in white fungus and kei zhi 1/2 an hr before the soup is ready to serve.

Note
I normally stored some chinese herbal in my refrigerator, and just hand picked the herbal at random whenever I want to prepare herbal soup. There is no exact measurement on the amount.

Nutritious Bitter Gourd Soup 苦瓜湯

 Bitter Gourd is said to be one of the best vegetable-fruit that helps improve diabetic and toxemia conditions.  Check out the nutrition information and facts about bitter gourd here and here.

Did anyone notice that there is no oil on the surface of the soup!  This is because I am using lean meat.   Hmmmm...... Best!

螞蟻上樹 Lettuce wrap

Lettuce Wrap again on Saturday 11th June 2011

Do you think it looks like (螞蟻上樹 ) ants climbing the tree? hehe...

This dish was inspired when Hubby and I with some friends dined at Purple Cane.
The name of the dish is 螞蟻上樹 (literally means ants climbing the tree) but cant remember what is the name in English; literally translation is 'ants climbing on to the tree. I should break the fried mee hoon into smaller pieces so that they looks like ants. To eat, just put the fillings and fried mee hoon on the lettuce, wrap it and dip with chille sauce n 'wallop'.

To prepare -

Deep fry some mee hoon and break into small pieces.

Put some oil in the wok, add minced garlic, add cubed prawns (seasoned with fish sauce, sugar and pepper, a bit of cornflour), cubed taufu, carrot, mushroom etc or any veg or ingredients of your liking, stir fry a while, add seasoning, oyster sauce, salt to taste.
Arrange the lettuce, fried mee hoon and mee hoon resemble 螞蟻上樹 and serve.