Vegetarian Stir Fried Egg Noodles

When cooking stir-fried style everything gets cooked so quickly, you must have all your ingredients to go so organise your mise en place before you are set to cook!

1 tin Peking vegeatarian roast duck …. made mainly from wheat protein and shaped into gluten steaks ….this hand-made delicacy possesses the juicy and tender texture and taste of the infamous Peking roast duck … look at the texture, don’t it resemble that of a duck skin and meat!

from top left clockwise … 50g sliced fresh button mushrooms; julienned 1 big carrot; diagonally sliced 1 big/2 small leeks; thinly sliced 1 onion; 1 Tbsp chopped garlic

100g mung bean sprouts … I normally use more as I love bean sprouts

I used 250g egg noodles here, which I’ve blanched in hot water to soften it, drain and set aside … you may use any choice of noodles you desire … e.g. few packets of instant noodles (minus the sachet of seasoning); rice noodles; udon noodles; spaghetti noodles; etc

these ingredients are optional … I used 2 fried eggs, sliced into thin strips + sliced red chillies + golden fried shallots to garnish my noodles … would have been lovelier with some green colour of diagonally sliced spring onions but I didn’t have any at hand hence none was used …

in every Asian kitchen, a big wok like this is a MUST …. here, I heat up my wok then add couple tablespoons Canola oil to heated wok …

… then add onions & leeks … stir fry for 5 minutes until edges of both are a little golden …

…. add the chopped garlic … stir fry until garlic is slightly golden & fragrant …

…. add in the sliced mushrooms and stir fry for a couple minutes …

…. add in the julinned carrots, stir fry a further couple minutes and mix well …

… pour in the seasoning ….. I used a mixture of 1 Tbsp oyster sauce + a dash of fish sauce + 1 tsp light soy sauce + 1 tsp dark soy sauce + 1 tsp sesame oil + 1 Tbsp Shaoxing wine + a dash of pepper … stir to mix everything well …

… now add in the noodles …. stir fry and mix well and ensure all the ingredients is well distributed in the noodles then continue stir frying for about 5 minutes … if you find it too dry, add some water as you continue to stir fry and if necessary, cover and let it cook on low flame for 5 minutes to allow noodles to soften further …

… last but not least, add in the bean sprouts … stir fry and mix the noodles well for a further 5 minutes …

My Vegetarian Stir Fried Egg Noodles is now ready to be dished out and served up … yummeh

Garnish accordingly … how I wished I had some spring onions … an added green colour would make this dish look even more delectable

from Mama Judie’s Pizzeria . . .

The pizza base … I made the dough using my bread-making machine … once dough is ready, remove from machine and shape into 2 x 10″ base (for thin crispy base) using base of palm and leave to proof for 20 mins in a warm place

The ingredients for one of the pizzas I was making … Margherita Pizza with loads of anchovies .. the way we love our pizza … sliced beef tomatoes, fresh basil, cubed mozzarella cheese, anchovies and chopped garlic

The ingredients for the 2nd pizza I was making … instead of Italian salami, I used Chinese liver & pork sausages (lap cheong) and loads of sliced mushrooms and sliced shallots

for the tomato sauce, I used a jar of Tomato and Basil tomato sauce … spread pizza base with the tomato sauce leaving 1/2″ border all around

Then sprinkle evenly with the cubed mozzarella cheese

Top with the fresh basil, sliced tomatoes and anchovies then drizzle with couple tablespoon olive oil … note I’ve not added any salt & pepper since I’m using a store-bought Tomato & Basil sauce which would have already been seasoned

The 2nd pizza I’ve made … with an Asian twist to it … topped with cubed mozzarella cheese, sliced mushrooms, Chinese sausages and then drizzled with shallot oil (together with the sliced shallots)

Pizza Margherita with Anchovies … ready to be served up … bake pizza in a pre-heated 220ºC oven for about 20 minutes or until base is golden browned and cheese melted and bubbly

Asian Twist Pizza … with Chinese sausages and loads of sliced mushrooms and shallots … hot outta oven and ready to be sliced

Yam/Sweet Potato ‘Nian Gao’ Sandwich Fritters

Niángāo, Year cake or Chinese New Year’s cake is a sweet cake prepared from glutinous rice flour and consumed traditionally during Chinese New Year.   It is considered good luck to eat nian gao during this time, because “nian gao” is a homonym for “higher year.” The Chinese word 粘 (nián), meaning “sticky”, is identical in sound to 年, meaning “year”, and the word 糕 (gāo), meaning “cake” is identical in sound to 高, meaning “high or tall”. As such, eating nian gao has the symbolism of raising oneself taller in each coming year (年年高升 niánnián gāoshēng).  This sticky sweet snack was believed to be an offering to the Kitchen God, with the aim that his mouth will be stuck with the sticky cake, so that he can’t badmouth the human’s family to the God of all Gods :-p

Note : The above information has been adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nian_gao

This is what we called ‘nian gao’ in Mandarin or ‘nin go’ in Cantonese which literally translated to be ‘Chinese New Year Cake’ … it is actually Steamed Sweet Glutinous Rice Cake … these are store-bought ones but can easily be made at home … made up of sugar & glutinous rice flour mixture and steamed in banana leaves lined tins … apparently the longer it is steamed, the caramel colour would be richer and the cake will last longer without going mouldy too quickly and when steaming, have to be careful that the condensed water from the steam do not drip onto surface of the cake otherwise bubbly patches would appear on the surface giving it a ugly ‘pimpled look’!

‘Nian Goa’ is a sweet/dessert/tea-time snack and may be deep fried in flour batter sandwiched with yam & sweet potatoes or may be steamed till soft & gooey and then rolled in fresh grated coconut or even just dip in egg and deep fried on its own or eaten on it’s own

From top anti-clockwise .. the ‘nian gao’ = Chinese New Year Cake = Steamed Sweet Glutinous Rice Cake; sliced Sweet Potatoes; sliced Taro Yam; sliced ‘nian gao’; flour batter

Sandwich the ‘nian gao’ with a slice of yam and a slice of sweet potato

Coat the sandwiched ‘nian gao’ in the flour batter ….. this is a simple self-raising flour mixed with just enough water to a ‘coating’ consistency + a pinch of salt

Heat enough oil for deep-frying in a pan/pot and deep-fry the batter coated ‘nian gao’ sandwich until golden and yam/sweet potato are cooked through (pierce with a bamboo skewer and if it pierce through easily then it is cooked)

Cantonese style Fried ‘Nian Gao’ dipped in egg

Stir-fried Leeks with Ice Honeycomb Bean Curd

A very simple but tasty dish either as a side for a grilled meat dish or Chinese-style dining with steamed rice

Clean leeks and slice diagonally into 1.5″ pieces

Slice ice honeycomb bean curd into 1.5″ cubes

RECIPE

Ingredients:

1 pc home-made ice honeycomb bean curd, cut into 1.5″ cubes

2 big pcs leeks, sliced diagonally into 1.5″ pieces

2 Tbsp black bean sauce

1 Tbsp chopped garlic

1 Tbsp canola oil

Methods:

• Heat wok, add oil and garlic then add black bean sauce
  
• Tip in the leeks, stir fried for 2 minutes then add in the ice honeycomb bean curd and add couple tablespoons water if  too dry and stir-fry for couple more minutes until bean curd had absorbed some of the gravy and leeks softened
• Dish up and serve hot with steamed rice

Yim Kuk Kai aka Salt Baked Chicken

It’s been too long since I last posted on my blog and this is a special request from my son …so I had to cook this, take photos step-by-step and flog it for him so that he can have a go at this dish

Course Salt is one of the main ingredients you will need … minimum 1 kg but it all depends on whether you bake half a chicken, just a whole leg or a whole chicken …. I baked a whole chicken (quartered into 4pcs) and I used up to 3 kg

I used 2 casseroles …2 pcs of chicken in each casserole to bake …so here, it shows I spread the 1.5kg salt in each casserole and put the casserole into a pre-heated moderately hot (200-210°C / Gas Mark 5) oven for the salt to be heated up

here, I boiled Dong Quai (Angelica Sinensis), red dates and Kei Chi (Wolfberries) with just enough water to cover herbs for 10 mins or until gravy is reduced until concentrated … set aside

The boiled herbs with very concentrated gravy

I used one whole chicken chopped into 4 quarters (2 whole legs + 2 breasts w wings attached) …if you prefer, use all whole legs to the quantity you prefer … rub the chicken pieces with some sesame oil, salt & light soy sauce

Spread out on your kitchen counter top a double -layered piece of greaseproof paper … make sure it is big enough to wrap each chicken piece into a parcel … with plenty to overlap at closures

Put some of the herbs in the middle of the greaseproof paper

Put a piece of the chicken atop the herbs mixture on the greaseproof paper then put some more o fhe herbs mixture atop the chicken, t/w a bit of the gravy

Gather the top and bottom of the double-layered greaseproof paper and fold it downwards towards chicken piece

fold ends of paper in to allow stapler to reach as close to chicken as possible and staple both ends

Both ends stapled, as close to chicken piece as possible … extend back out the folded ends of the paper

Tuck both ends of the paper underneathe the parcel of chicken

Carefully flip the parcel over and staple the two ends of the paper … not necessary to staple if you don’t want to but it makes the parcel more secure for handling

The wrapped parcel of chicken ready to be buried into the course salt to be baked

With oven gloves, carefully take the casserole of course salt out of the hot oven, dish out 3/4 of the salt into another pot then spread the balance 1/4 evenly to cover base of casserole dish

Carefully place the chicken parcels atop the layer of salt in the casserole dish and then pour the salt that was dished out earlier atop the chicken parcels and cover the parcels completely

The chicken parcels completely buried in the course salt….bake in a moderately hot oven (200-210ºC / Gas Mark 5) for 45 – 60 mins …baking time will depend on the size of your chicken pieces … do not bake too long to avoid chicken being dry!

here it is … Yim Kuk Kai … Salt Baked Chicken revealed …. When done, carefully use  a wooden ladle to remove salt atop chicken parcels and lift parcel out onto serving plate with a thong (support base with wooden ladle if necessary) …. cut/tear open the paper at top of parcel to reveal the chicken and eat off the parcel as it is

I served up the chicken with this Stir Fried Mixed Vegetables of Broccoli, Mange-tout, Carrots, Fennel Bulb & Ginger ….yumz!!

Treasures Stuffed Roast Chicken

 

I had wanted to make this dish when I was away in Indy past couple months but couldn’t get the main ingredients which is Pacific Clams and dried scallops as the latter is what would give the gravy the wholesome flavour that this dish needs!  So now that I’m back home, I hastily made it as the mere thought of wanting to make it had me craving for it so bad ;-p

Our *filled-with-goodness* Roast Chicken dinner last night … simply yum-yum-yummeh

In my “jet-lagged” haste, totally slipped my mind to take pics of ingredients I used and managed to just take a pic of the can which the Pacific Clams come in!

I should have de-boned the main body of the chicken but I didn’t and merely filled the bone-in cavity with the stuffing and it still works out well ….no ‘wahala’ as the Nigerians would say

Perfectly stuffed with all the treasures ….now secure the opening …I did so with some toothpicks … and blanch the chick in Condiment B

The beautiful golden Bird straight out of the oven!

The Golden Bird slit opened to reveal all the treasures …. absolutely a *filled-with-goodness* birdie that is simply scrumptious and flavoursome

RECIPE

Ingredients:

A

1 whole chicken (debone main body) 

10 dried scallops, soaked

15 cloves deep fried garlic

B

1 can pacific clams, drained & reserve liquid

6 dried Shitake mushrooms, soaked, drained & sliced and reserve liquid

30g white fungus, soaked

30g black fungus, soaked

Condiments:

A

2 Tbsp oyster sauce

4 tsp chicken stock granules

½ tsp sugar

½ tsp salt 

dark soya sauce, as needed

B

8 cups water

6 Tbsp light soya sauce

4 Tbsp Shaoxing wine

1 Tbsp red rose wine

Methods:

• Pre-heat oven to 180ºC
• Marinade deboned chicken with some salt and Shaoxing wine
• Mix reserved liquid from pacific clams, mushrooms & dried scallops in a pot and braise dried scallops in it until soft
• Drain and set scallops aside and divide liquid into 2 separate portions
• Put a portion of the liquid in a small saucepan over medium flame, mix in condiment A and ingredients B, stir to mix and bring to a boil then add enough cornflour mixed with water to thicken the gravy .. this is the stuffing for the chicken … gravy & all
• Carefully scoop the stuffing into the cavity of the chicken
• Seal opening with a wooden skewer, toothpicks or needle …whichever is your preference
• Bring condiment B to a slow boil and blanch chicken, remove and drain
• Bake chicken in a heat-proof casserole dish in the pre-heated oven for 90 minutes
• While chicken is baking, add some condiment seasoning to the other portion of the liquid set aside earlier and thicken with some cornflour mixed with water to get a nice gravy
• Remove chicken from oven, slit the breast of the chicken down the middle of the bird to reveal all the  stuffed ‘treasures’ and pour prepared gravy all over the bird
• Serve up on a platter surrounded with some stir-fried spinach (latter is optional)

Yam Cake

I’m in Indianapolis at my God-daughter’s and decided to made her some ‘comfort food’ … Yam Cake aka Woo Tau Ko aka Or Koay …. I am very pleased with how successful it turned out even though a couple ingredients were missing

Couldn’t have turned out better … just the right firmness and sliced perfectly!

Didn’t have any proper tray to steam it in so made do with the only available spring-form cake tin …it was perfect as then the yam cake did not stick to the tin and could be easily lifted out of the tin after slicing  I didn’t garnish it with the fried dried shrimps + Chinese sausages (I added the latter) but instead added it all into the Yam Cake and steam … I simply garnish it with crispy fried shallots, diced spring onions (scallion) and chopped chillies

 

 

Stewed Chicken in Rose Wine Soy Sauce

Look at the awesome colour of the chicken legs … again, this is a Chinese stew and normally would be chopped up into bite sized pieces and served up as one of the dishes around the table with rice for dinner/lunch …but here, Hubby & I had it as our main course just the way it is …a tad saltier than I like it so I know better now to use less soy sauce if we are going to dine the Western style than the Chinese style with rice … would have been perfect if it was eaten with rice to soak up the sauce!

The amount of spices used in this dish is unbelievable and it all blended so well and the taste of the sauce and chicken is simply out of this world … definitely a MUST-TRY recipe if you hadn’t made this before

The spices …… top from left to right and clockwise … ‘luo han kuo’ (aka Buddha’s Fruit/Monk’s Fruit); red distilled grains; ‘dan gui’ (aka dong quai/angelica sinensis); ‘gan chao’ (Chinese liquorice roots); cinnamon, ‘chao guo’; cloves; star anise; dried tangerine peel (in the center)

RECIPE

Ingredients:

I whole chicken (I used 6 whole chicken legs instead)

4 Tbsp Chinese rose wine

1 Tbsp red distilled grains

1000 – 1500ml water

500 – 1000ml light soy sauce

Spices:

5 slices “gan chao” (Chinese liquorice)

1pc dried tangerine peel

5 start anise

½ “luo han guo”

1 “chao guo”

10 cloves

1″ cinnamon stick

3 slices “dang gui”

Seasoning:

200ml light soy sauce

200g rock sugar

 Method:

• Blanch chicken in boiling water, drain well and set aside
• Boil seasoning in a pot until sugar is completely dissolved or until the soy sauce is slightly thickened, remove from heat and set aside
• To make the stewing stock, boil the water and light soy sauce in a deep pot until boiling … add in all the spices and red distilled grains and continue to boil for 5 minutes …blend in the thickened seasoning and rose wine and bring stock back to the boil
• Place the chicken in the the stock ….bring to the boil and then continue to stew, covered, over a low heat for 10 minutes
• Remove from heat, leave the chicken to soak in the stock for further 20 minutes or until the flavour has been absorbed and the chicken is cooked through
• Dish up and drained … chop into bit-sized pieces and serve hot with rice

Chinese Herbal Chicken Soup

This is one soup hubby & I loved …sometimes I would add noodles but most times, we will just have it as it is as we did last night, with a plate of Stir-Fried Oyster Sauce Iceberg Lettuce

This is the combination of assortment of Chinese Herbs I had used for my Chicken Soup …. you can get various pre-packed combination of such herbs meant for Chicken or Pork Ribs soups from the Chinese Medical Hall and the label normally will tell you what medicinal value it may have … just simply give the herbs a quick rinse before use …

Normally such herbal soup is best “double-boiled” but I don’t have a big enough “double-boiler” pot so I cooked it in my Crockpot/Slow Cooker …some people prefer to use skinless chicken as it is healthier since herbal soup is supposed to be a health soup but I left the skin on the legs but stripped the skin off the breasts … I like my soup with a little oil in it still …tastier

RECIPE

Ingredients:

a pre-packed packet of Chinese Herbs 

1 whole chicken, chopped into 8 pieces or you may use 4 whole chicken legs

1.5 – 2 ltr water (use less water if you wish a more concentrated soup broth)

salt, to taste

Methods:

• Rinse the Chinese Herbs, set aside
• Clean and chop the chicken into 8 pieces if using whole chicken or if using whole legs just leave it as it is, skin the pieces if you wish to have a truly healthy soup
• Boil the chicken in water for 5 minutes and then lift the pieces of chicken into the Double-Boiler or  Crockpot/Slow Cooker
• Tip in the Chinese Herbs, add 1.5 – 2 litre hot water to the pot 
• If double-boiling, double boil for about 8 hours …keep watch that the boiling water in the double-boiler does not dry up
• If cooking in the Crockpot/Slow Cooker, set it on Auto and cook for 6 hours
• When done, add a dash of salt to taste …not too much as herbal soup shouldn’t be overly salty!
• Serve up with your other dishes for dinner with rice or you may, like us, enjoy the bowl of soup as your dinner, accompanied with a stir-fried green vegetable dish

Mini Bunny Buns w Sweet Lotus Paste

Happy Easter, everybunny!!
Mini Bunny Buns filled with Sweet Lotus Paste