Thursday 7 December 2006

Prawn & Pork Mince Doufu

I love to eat this type of Pan-fry Doufu dish that is usually available in the coffee shop economical rice stall(Chup Chye Peng), it usually goes well with white rice because of it gravy.

You can purchase this doufu in the wet market from those selling bean sprout and bean curd stall. It cost about 60 cents for a piece which can transform into a wonderful and nutrition dish for the family.



Ingredients:
1 Piece Of Pan-fry Doufu
50g Of Frozen Mixed Vegetables
50g Minced Pork
6-8 Medium Prawns, shelled & devein
1 Stalk Of Spring Onion, chopped
1/2 Brown Onion, cut into wedges
1 Small Tomato, cut into cubes
1/2 Tablespoon Of Mince Garlic
2 Tablespoons Of Oil
Seasoning Sauce:
2 Tablespoons Abalone Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sugar
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
Some Pepper
3/4 Teaspoon Potato Starch
120ml Water

Methods:
1. Wash and cut the doufu into big cubes and pat dry on kitchen paper towel and set aside.
2. Preheat the pan with 1 tablespoon of oil and pan-fry the doufu until golden brown on all sides, removed.
3. Next add in the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and saute the onion wedges and minced garlic until fragrant then add in the mince meat and prawns.
4. When the meat is almost done, add in the mixed vegetables and diced tomato.
5. Stir till well combined then add in the fried doufu and seasoning sauce.
6. Bring it to boil and simmer for 1 minutes, remove from heat and stir through the spring onion.
7. Dish up and garnish with extra chopped spring onion and chilli. Serve with rice.

Notes:
a) If you don't like to used minced pork, you can replace it with diced roast pork.
b) You need to buy the doufu that is suitable for pan-fry not those used in soup.

Tuesday 5 December 2006

Stir-Fried Pork Fillet With Longans

This is an very interesting dish that used Fresh Longan as one of the main ingredients. Actually the original meat ingredient used is fatty beef but I replace it with Pork Fillet(mei rou,梅肉) which is more tender and juice. Since now is Longan season, for those who loves to eat this fruit maybe you can give a try to this dish.

Longan(龙眼) it is also called guiyuan (桂圆) in Chinese. They are round with a thin, brown-coloured inedible shell. The flesh of the fruit, which surrounds a big, black seed, is white, soft, and juicy. Dried longan are often used in Chinese food therapy and herbal medicine. In contrast with the fresh fruit, the flesh of dried longans is dark brown to almost black. It is Low in calories and a good source of Vitamin C and potassium.


Ingredients:
20 - 25 Fresh Longans, removed shell & seeds
300g Fatty Beef/Pork Fillet, thinly sliced
1 Stalk Of Spring Onion, cut into sections
3 Slices Of Ginger, shredded
Some carrot slices

Marinade:
1/2 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 Teaspoon Cooking Wine
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
1 Teaspoon Cornflour

Methods:
1. Marinate the meat with the above marinade for at least 30 minutes or more.
2. Shell and remove the seed from the longans, rinse and set aside.
3. Heat about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of Sesame Oil/Oil in a wok, saute the ginger, spring onion and carrot until fragrant then add in the meat and stir-fry until almost done.
4. Add in longans, stir-fry quickly for about 30 seconds or so then remove and serve.Posted by Picasa

Tuesday 28 November 2006

Chinese Pear & Honey Sweet Tonic

This is one of the sweet tonic soup that is good for coughing and smoothing of lungs. You can have it at least once a week or twice a month. If you don't like the taste or fragrant of white fungus you can also omit it in this recipe.

These ingredients used are very common and easily to be found in almost every household that usually made soup. But some of you might not have Sha Shen at home so you can just get 1 bundler from the medical shop which cost about a dollar or less and you can use it for a few times.


Sha Shen(沙参)
It's naturally sweet and slightly cold which aids lungs to stomach and blood vessels. It also moistness lungs, stops coughing, grows saliva and stops thirst, slow down fever and coughing and also increase appetite.

White Fungus(雪耳)
It tastes slightly sweet and of neutral nature. It benefits the spleen, strengthens the stomach and expel Dryness. It calms the spirit, treats insomnia and is good for the body type that resists beneficial food.

Sweet & Bitter Almonds(南北杏)
Sweet almond tastes sweet and is of neutral nature. It does not carry any toxic element, and heals coughing. Bitter almond tastes bitter and is of warm nature. It carries slight trace of toxic but heals coughing and expels sputum. Mixing the two together will make a soup that clears the Heat, moistness internal Dryness and avoid coughing.

Ingredients: (serves 2 - 3)
2 Medium Chinese Pears
4 Red Dates
1/2 Tablespoon Gou Qizi
10g Soaked White Fungus
1 Tablespoon Of Sweet & Bitter Almond
6 Strand Of Shan Shen
900ml Of Water
1 1/2 - 2 Tablespoons Of Honey

Methods:
1. Wash all the herbs and bring the 900ml of water to boil.
2. Peel and core pears then cut each into quarters and put into the double boiler pot.
3. When the water begins to boil, add in all the herbs and white fungus(except honey) and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
4. Next pour the herbs ingredients into the pot that contains the pears and let it double boiled in a slower cooker for about 2 hrs in Auto/High Heat.
5. Remove about two tablespoon of the soup and let it cool slightly before stirring in the honey and mix well.
6. Pour the honey mixture back into the soup mixture and continue to double boil for another 1 hour.
7. Switch off the heat, allow to cool slightly and serve either warm or cold.
8. Alternately, you can add in the honey before drinking the soup instead of adding it to double-boil.(because some people find that adding in the honey together with the soup to boil will cause the soup to be abit sour due to the honey, and it might also destroy the Vit in the honey.)Posted by Picasa

Notes: This is a very good soup for smoothing the lungs for those working late or feeling heaty. As it also help to stop thirst.

Tuesday 14 November 2006

Steam Drunken Prawns

This is a very simple and easy to prepare Steam Herbal Drunken Prawns dish. What you require is some very fresh or even live prawns that you can get hold of in the wet market, some Chinese herbs and cooking wine.


Ingredients: (Serves 2)
300g of Medium Fresh/Live Green Prawn
5 - 6 Slices Of Dang Gui(当归)
5 Red Dates(红枣), seeds removed
1/2 Tablespoon Of Gou Qi Zi(杞子)
50ml Of Hua Diao Jiu

Methods:
1. Pre-soaked the herbs in the hua diao jiu for at least 30 minutes to an hour for the wine to absorb the aroma of the herbs.
2. Trim and wash the prawns then pat dry and arrange them in a steam tray/plate in single layer.(do not overlay them as it will cause uneven cooking time during steaming)
3. Arrange the herbs on top of the prawns and pour over the remaining wine on it.
4. Steam over boiling water for about 4-5 minutes, remove and served immediately.

Note:
If your prawns are kept in the fridge before steaming, remember to remove it from the fridge at least 10 - 15 minutes before hand and to let it cool off and pour away any of the water in the tray or plate before arranging the herbs on top.

Tuesday 7 November 2006

Steam Hairy Crabs

This is my 1st time seeing and eating a live Hairy Crab. These are specially air-flown from Hong Kong by one of my hubby colleague. The most simple and delicious method to eat these crabs are by the most origin way which is - STEAM.

You can get fresh and live hairy crab in Singapore during this season from most Cold Storage seafood department or by visiting the distribute in Singapore know as HIGH FRESH(they have different kinds of seafood available for public to purchase)


How to Select A Hairy Crab:
1. It must be alert and have a flat, pentagon-shaped, greenish shell.
2. It's underside should be white and there should be no unpleasant smell.
3. It's claws should be well developed with brownish hair.

Cooking Methods:
1. Wash the crabs thoroughly and place them in a steamer by putting the back facing upwards.
2. Place a slice of ginger on top of each crabs and steam on hot boiling water for 15 minutes then continue to simmer on low heat for another 10 minutes.
3. Remove the top shell of the crab and clear away the black coloured sacs and intestines.
4. Next pulled off the crab legs and take a chopstick and push the meat out.
5. You can either eat the aromatic flesh of the hairy crabs on its own or dip the meat in minced ginger with black vinegar sauce.
6. Ends the meal with ginger tea will make you rebalance the body's yin and yang.

Note:
Do not consume the hairy crabs together with Persimmon, Cold Beer or Cold Water.

Because Hairy Crabs are "Cooling" to the body, it is recommend best to consume one at each meal. Posted by Picasa

Tuesday 10 October 2006

Grill Asparagus With Bacon & Cheese

Hello! All my blogger friends out there! I am back in action again....... After disappearing for about a month plus. I finally decided to start off my blogging hobby again.

Very soon, you will see new recipes coming up... so just give me a few days to sort things out, ok.... Cya.....Thanks for those who kept coming back to check for new recipes and etc. Hope my new coming up recipes will enhance your cooking life in a way.... :) Posted by Picasa

Thursday 7 September 2006

Okonomiyaki or Ajeon(Korean Pancake)

Okonomiyaki is a type of Japanese pan-fried batter cake with various ingredients. Okonomi means "what you like" or "what you want," and yaki means "grilled" or "cooked" thus, the name of this dish means "cook what you like, the way you like." The batter is made up of flour, grated yam, water or dashi, eggs and shredded cabbage, and usually contains other ingredients such as onion, meat (generally pork or bacon), octopus, squid, shrimp, vegetables, kimchi, mochi or cheese. Okonomiyaki is often compared to an omelette or japanese pizza.

Ajeon is a traditional Korean-style pancake which is a very popular appetizer or snack. It is made with flour batter, eggs, and green onions/scallions, served with a mixture of soy sauce & vinegar for dipping. In translation, “jeon” (pronounced “jun”) is the actual battered ingredients and “pa” means scallions in Korean. The basic type of this dish consists of just scallions along with flour and eggs but endless variation of this dish can exists by simply adding other ingredients such as seafood, kimchi, or vegetables.


Since I had already bought this Ottogi Flour Mixture for sometime, I decide to give it a try. It's pretty easy, just add in whatever vegetables, meat or seafood that you prefer and follow the instructions on the packet and pan-fry it till golden brown, drizzle it with some BBQ and Japanese Mayonnaise sauce and served.

Notes: You can get this Ottogi Pre-mix from most of the supermarket in Orchard Area or sometime in NTUC. Posted by Picasa

Wednesday 30 August 2006

Hakka Khau Yoke(Yam With Pork Belly)

I had heard a lot of good comments and feedbacks on this dish, so I thought just give it a try since my hubby is also a Hakka. To him, this is the 1st time trying out this special Hakka dish. Even though both my in-laws are Hakka, but they had never cooked this dish at home before.

Saw a few recipes in the net, but finally decided to try the recipe from Food Heaven(Lillian Chan). Since she did not mention some of the sauce measuring quantity, I also don't really know whether my version of the Khau Yoke is the correct taste. But overall, the red fermented beancurd taste is strong, maybe I had added too much of it... But for those who is interested, you can take a look at both the recipes. Another one is from Waitakere Redneck's Kitchen.Posted by Picasa

Meme - 5 Things To Eat Before You Die

I had being tag by one of my blog pal, Angie( who I consider to be a bread making expert who loves to explore and bake different kinds of bread). This Meme is rather interesting, as you see you can only choose to eat 5 things before you die so it's rather hard to sacrifice one another. But after struggler here and there, I managed to make up my mind on these:


1. Teochew Yam Paste With Gingko Nut
This is one of my favourite childhood dessert during Chinese New Year or Special Occasion. My late dad used to cook this for reunion dinner dessert and I really love it very much. Since now that he is not around I really miss his style of Yam Paste very much.

2. D24 Durian
Yup! It's Durian again... I guess most of the singaporean like me loves to eat durian. Especially those good grade durian which you just need a few seeds to stop your cravings. I love those with yellow flesh type...and it's really yummy to eat with steam white rice too....

3. Chicken Rice
This is one of the favourite rice for both me and my son. We will eat it at least once or twice a week. I really loves the fragrant of the rice, I know one friend who eats chicken rice for at least 3 to 4 times a week.

4. Satay
I love this Malay BBQ dish which come with a special peanut dipping sauce that will make you wanted to have more and more serving. We love the mutton satay from Satay Club which is tender and juicy.

5. Japanese Tempura Set
I love Japanese cuisine and my most favourite dish is this crispy deep-fry prawns and mixed vegetable with either rice or noodle.

Ok.. Now I shall pass the line to Suyin(The journey of a girl who loves to cook), Jingle and Lilian.

Tuesday 29 August 2006

Corn Muffins

Corn Muffins!!! Yup.... This corn muffin include cornmeal and frozen fresh corns... so it's really CORN CRAZY!!!! For those who love Kenny Rogers's corn muffins.... You are indeed luck.... One of my blog friend Evan had share with us her recipe on Corn Muffins(click link for more details & recipe) which she did a searched over the net.


Monday 28 August 2006

Vietnamese-Style Fried Fish With Lemon Grass

This is a popular dish in South Vietnamese Seaside resorts. You can use either fillet fillets or whole fish for this dish and the seasoning goes well with Salmon Fillets too....


As from the name of this dish, you will know the main spice ingredient used will be Lemon grass. Lemon grass is widely used as an herb in Asian (particularly Thai, Lao, Sri Lankan, Khmer and Vietnamese) and Caribbean cooking. It has a lemon flavour and can be dried and powdered, or used fresh. The stalk itself is too hard to be eaten, except for the soft inner part. However, it can be finely sliced and added to recipes. It may also be bruised and added whole as this releases the aromatic oils from the juice sacs in the stalk.

For this dish, I bought a Yellow Croaker(黄花鱼) which is mainly used for steaming. But it do fixed well in this pan-fried dish and the meat is very tender and fine.

Ingredients:
1 Medium Size Fish or Fish Fillet, about 250g
2 Stalks Lemon Grass Thinly Sliced, white parts only
3 Cloves Garlic, lightly pound
4-5 Shallots, peeled and sliced
1 Large Red Chilli or 2 Small Thai Chillies, deseeded and sliced
1 Tablespoon Sugar
2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
3 Tablespoons Oil
1/4 Green Lime

Methods:
1. Clean, wash and pat dry the fish. Cut shallow, diagonal slits on both sides of the fish body and place on a large plate.
2. Using a mortar or food processor, pound or blend the lemon grass, garlic, shallots, chilli and sugar to a paste.
3. Add fish sauce and season to taste. Stuffed some of the paste into the stomach of the fish then rub the remaining on both side of the fish and let it marinate for about 1 hour or more.
4. Pour the oil in a large non-stick frying pan on medium heat. Place fish in the pan, cover fried for 1 minutes until skin slightly brown then remove cover and turn to the other side for another 1 minute.
5. Reduce heat to low and carefully turn fish over to cook for another 2 minutes on each other until the skin is golden and crisp and fish is cooked through.
6. Dish and place on plate. Drizzle the pan oil over the fish and square some lime juice over it and serve immediately with rice.Posted by Picasa

Notes: You can used any kind of fish to your preference, Cod Fish works well with this too.

Sunday 27 August 2006

Kong Ba Bao/Kou Rou Bao(扣肉包)

Kou Rou Bao(扣肉包) or Kong Bao Bao... that's what we usually called this Chinese snacks. I love this especially the stew pork belly which is so soft, tender and juicy when you bite it off from the bun. I had also tried a similar stew pork belly dish in the previous post on Dong Po Rou. But this taste and methods are abit different from this.


This stew Kong Ba is towards the dried type of meat where you don't really add water to stew but rather pan-fry it on very very low heat and simmer on it's very own natural juice from the meat. I got to learn this method from one of the mummy from my son's playgroup.

Ingredients:
1 Piece Of Pork Belly(三层肉 ), about 200g
1 Small Cinnamon Stick(桂皮 ), about 5cm long
1 Star Anise,八角
6-8 Cloves,丁香
4 Cloves Garlics,蒜头
4 Shallots,小葱头
1 Small Pieces Rock Sugar(冰糖), 10g
Seasoning:
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Dark Soy Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Cooking Wine

Methods:
1. Wash, clean and trim the pork belly then marinate it with the seasoning, cinnamon stick, star anise, cloves, garlic and shallot for at least 2 hours or overnight.
2. Preheat a small claypot with some 1 tablespoon of oil and saute 3 cloves of garlic and rock sugar to fragrant then add in pork belly and the marinade juice and saute on medium heat for 1 minute then turn it over.
3. Add in 1 - 2 tablespoons of water and let it simmer on very low heat for 30 - 45 minutes, check occasionally to see with if the sauce dried out before the meat is tender, add in extra tablespoons of water and continue to simmer.
4. When done, dish up and cut into serving size and serve together with steam plain bun and lettuce.Posted by Picasa

Friday 25 August 2006

Fresh Peanut Roots & Mushroom Pork Ribs Soup

There is this saying that "Chinese made soup from roots of peanut to help youngsters to grow taller" especially when given to them during their teen years. Some also believed that boiling fresh peanut leaves in water and drinking the before bedtime can ensure a good night sleep. But all other than these believed, you still can whip out some nice and fragrant soup using this Peanut Roots which can be found is most vegetables stall in the local wet market.

To me, I found it very time consuming to wash these peanut roots. Because they are filled with dirts that you need to wash, scrap and soak it in water until clean before you can proceed in making the soup.


For this soup, I also add in some extra dried soup peanuts and Dried Brazil Mushrooms(click on link for more info) to enhance the flavour. I boiled all the ingredients with some pork ribs and chicken bone to hope that it will make the soup morenutritionn and sweet. This is my first time using Brazil Mushrooms which is introduce by Edith from Precious Moments.

Ingredients:
1 Bunch of Peanut Roots(花生根), about 200g
300g Pork Ribs(排骨)
1 Chicken Bone(鸡骨)
50-80g Soup Peanuts(花生), soaked in hot water
6 Red Dates(红枣)
1 Tablespoon Gou Qizi(枸杞子)
8-10 Stalks Of Dried Brazil Mushrooms,姬松茸(巴西蘑菇)

Methods:
1. Trim, wash, scrap and soak the peanut roots in water until the water is clear without dirts.(you need to soak in water for at least 2 hrs)
2. Soaked the peanuts andBrazill mushrooms in hot water for a while, rinse, drained then set aside.
3. Blanched the pork ribs and chicken bone in boiling water, rinse, drained and set aside.
4. Bring a pot of 1.5 litres of water to boil, add in all the ingredients and bring to boil again.
5. Transfer all to a slow cooker and simmer on Auto-Heat for 3 - 4 hrs, season with salt and served.Posted by Picasa

Thursday 24 August 2006

Mix Vegetables & Chicken On Deep-fried Yam

Actually this dish is not suppose to look as what it is shown here. From the site that tracy show me, it supposed to call Savoury Bird Nests. She used grated yam to deep-fry into individual nest then top with some stir-fry ingredients.

I did not get it successful in making the "Yam Nests" as mine grated yam kept sticking on to the metal sieves while frying. But the "Nests" filling, I used the following vegetables and seasonings:


Ingredients:
1/2 Portion Of Chicken Breast, 150g
4 Medium Dried Shitake Mushroom, soaked till soften
6-8 Canned Button Mushroom
6 Water Chestnuts, peeled and cut into quarters
1 Small Carrots, peeled and cut into small cubes
100g Pumpkin/Potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
6 Small Dried Chilli, soaked till soften, cut into thick slices
1/2 Green Capsicum, cut into small cubes
Some Spring Onion, sliced thinly in diagonal shapes
1 - 2 Small Fried Chilli, sliced thinly
3 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
50g Roasted Cashew Nuts
1 Teaspoon Cornstarch mix with 30ml water
Marinade:
1 Teaspoon Cooking Wine
1 Teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
2 Teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 Teaspoon Cornstarch
Dash Of Pepper

Methods:
1. Wash, trim and cut the chicken into small cubes then marinate it with the marinade for at least 30 minutes or more.
2. Cut the soften shitake mushroom into quarter then blanched in hot oil for a few seconds, drained and set aside.
3. Deep-fry both the carrots and pumpkin in hot oil for 1 minute, drained and set aside.
4. Preheat the pan with 1 tablespoon of oil, saute the dried chilli until fragrant(about 30 sec), then add in minced garlic and continue to saute until slightly golden.
5. Next add in the marinated chicken and stir-fry for 1 minute, then add in the water chestnut, capsicum, pumpkin, carrot, shitake and button mushroom and some of the spring onion.
6. Continue to fry until chicken is cooked through then add in some cornstarch water and stir till sauce almost thicken then add in the cashew nut.
7. Dish up the mixture and place it in the "Yam Nests"(refer to the link for making it) and serve with extra garnish of the spring onion and chilli slices.

Notes: You can replace the chicken by either pork slices or prawns. Posted by Picasa

Creamy Avocado Dessert

Do you know what is this green mixture with the chocolate sauce? Hahaha... For your info, is not Green Tea Ice-cream nor Mint Ice-cream. Is blended Avocado dessert.... This is another way to consume your avocado if you don't like to eat it as what it is.... For more information on Avocado, you can click on this link "All about Avocado".

The original recipe come from Suyin's "A yucky Shade of Green" post. She used sugar, palm sugar and mocha powder for the sauce. But Tracy taught me another methods is to used dark chocolate melted with palm sugar and drizzle on top and it taste great as well. Posted by Picasa

Notes:
To ripen avocado, place it in a brown paper bag and store at room temperature with an apple or banana for 2 to 4 days or until ripe.

Store cut avocado halves with the seed left intact. Drizzle with lemon or lime juice and wrap tightly in plastic, ensuring plastic is pressed on surface.


Wednesday 23 August 2006

Yam & Cabbage Pork Belly Rice

There are a few version and methods in making this homemade "Yam & Cabbage Pork Belly Rice". Different dialect group tends to cook it in different kind of ingredients. For my case, this was what my late dad used to cook for us when he was around. Sometime he will omit the yam and just cooked it with cabbage and pork belly.

This is a very simple one dish meal which consists of vegetables like cabbage, yam and mushroom. If you don't like pork belly then you can replace it with lean pork or chicken fillet. It will taste just as good, the secrete of making this dish fragrant and tasty is by adding pound dried shrimp and fried shallot. The aroma of the shallot oil will make the rice taste great.


I also used the water for soaking the mushroom to cook the rice, so that the mushroom fragrant really goes into the rice grains itself. But if you do not like the fragrant of the mushroom then you can just used normal water instead.

Ingredients:
100 - 120g Yam, peel and cut into 2" Cubes
150g Pork Belly, removed excess fat and cut into thin strips
150g Cabbage, shredded
3 Medium Shittaka Mushrooms, soaked till soft
1 Tablespoon Of Dried Shrimps, soaked till soft
1 Tablespoon Of Minced Garlic
4 Shallots, thinly sliced
Seasoning:
2 Teaspoon Soy Sauce
Dash Of Dark Soy Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
Dash Of Pepper
1 Teaspoon Cooking Wine
Garnish:
1 Medium Chilli, thinly sliced
1 Small Stalk Of Spring Onion, thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon Dried Shallots
Some Dark Soy Sauce

Methods:
1. Wash, trim and cut the pork into thin strips then marinate it with seasoning for at least 30 minutes.
2. Cut the soaked soften mushroom into thin strips, set aside. Then lightly pound the soften dried shimp.
3. Preheat the pan with 2 Tablespoons of oil then saute the shallot slices until slightly golden brown, remove and set aside.
4. Add some oil to the pan, saute the dried shrimps and half of the garlic until fragrant then add in the shredded mushroom and cabbage.
5. Stir-fry for about 1 minutes, then add in 1/2 Tablespoon oyster sauce and 50ml water, cover and simmer on low heat until the water almost dried up. Dish up and set aside.
6. Wash the pan, and add 1 tablespoon of the reserve shallot oil, saute the remaining half garlic until fragrant then add in the marinated pork and yam, stir over medium high heat until almost done.
7. Next add in 1/2 tablespoon of oyster sauce and 100ml of water then simmer over low heat until the yam is soften. Dish up and set aside.
8. Cook the white rice accordingly when the water is almost dry up, add in the vegetables and pork mixture into it and stir well.
9. Continue to cook over low heat for another 5 minutes if using stove or until the cooked in the rice-cooker.
10. Serve the cooked yam rice with garnish. Posted by Picasa

Tuesday 22 August 2006

Wrapped Asparagus With Pork & Sesame Seeds

This was an easy and delicious finger food to make for all occasion. It consists of both meat and vegetable which make it a health snack even though it is a deep-fry food.

The original recipe used only white sesame while I use a mixture of white and black sesame seeds. For this dish, you need to purchase those thick and fat asparagus instead of the thin type so that it could be easily wrapped by the pork slices.


For this dish, I made two different version. 4 are coated with sesame seeds while 2 are coated with breadcrumbs.

Ingredients:
6 Slices Of Pork Fillet
6 Thick Asparagus
20g White Sesame Seeds
5g Black Sesame Seeds
3 Shallots, thinly slices
2" Ginger, finely grate
2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
1/2 Beaten Egg
Seasoning:
2 Teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sugar
1 Teaspoon Mirin/Rice Wine
Dash Of Pepper & Sesame Oil

Methods:
1. Pound the pork slices with the back of the knife to make it more tender and spread out.
2. Marinate it with shallot, ginger and seasoning for at least 30 minutes.
3. Cut all the asparagus into equal length then use a vegetable peeler and scrape off the skin around 2" from the bottom part of the stem.
4. Wrap each asparagus with 1 piece of the marinated pork slice tightly then dust with some cornstarch.
5. Deep in the beaten egg then coat with the white and black sesame mixture.
6. Set aside while repeating the rest of the ingredients.
7. Heat oil in a pot, then deep-fry in medium heat until crisp and golden brown, drained and set aside before serving. Posted by Picasa

Yam Balls & Crispy Prawn Salad

Try making this dish from one of the cookbook which is called the "Flaky Taro and Scallop Ring" but in the end I change the entire dish and end up something like this. Because instead of using scallop I replace it with prawn and I also deep-fried the remaining prawn with coated breadcrumbs and serve with some fruit salad.

The original recipe for this yam balls are supposed to be very flaky type but mine was not. I am also not sure which steps had I miss out or do wrongly, but overall these yam balls do taste good as well.


Ingredients: (make 5 portions)
150g Yam, peeled and cut into cubes
40g Vegetable Shortening
5 Teaspoons(25ml) Boiling Water
2 Tablespoons Wheat Starch Flour
1/4 Teaspoon Salt,
1/4 Teaspoon Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Five Spice Powder
5 Medium Prawn, shelled & devein

Methods:
1. Steam yam for about 15 - 20 minutes until tender, use a fork to mash up the yam then set aside.
2. Put the flour and boiling water in a small bowl and stir till combined.
3. Add the flour paste into the yam paste together with shortening, salt, sugar and five spice powder.
4. Knead into a smooth paste then divide the paste into 5 portion, wrap 1 prawn each and shape into round balls.
5. Heat oil and deep-fry until yam balls are crisp and golden brown, drain well.

Fruit Salad Ingredients:
1 Avocado, diced
1 Tomato, deseeds and diced
1 Apple, peeled, cored and dice
1 Tablespoon Salad Dressing

Methods:
1. Mix all the above ingredients together and stir till combined then served.

Breadcrumbs Prawns Ingredients:
6 - 8 Prawns, shelled & devein
3 Tablespoons Dried Breadcrumbs
1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
Some Beaten Egg

Methods:
1. Coat the prawn with some cornstarch then dip in beaten egg and coat with breadcrumb.
2. Deep-fry it in medium hot oil until crisp and golden brown, drain and serve. Posted by Picasa

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