Scramble Egg With Tomato

Are you one of those tomato lover who eats any kind of tomato that is on the shelf of the supermarket? Or you will just pick your choice of those that you love like cherry tomatoes or vineyard tomatoes or ?

Tomato fruit is classified as a berry. As a true fruit, it develops from the ovary of the plant after fertilization, its flesh comprising the pericarp walls. Tomato is also an excellent source of Vitamin C and a good source of Vitamin A. So if you are trying to get one of your kids or love one to incorporate some tomato into their dish. You can try one of this Scramble Egg With Tomato serve in tomato cup as party food breakfast side dish.

Ingredients: (serve 2)
2 Medium Size Red Tomato
1 Medium Egg, lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon Milk/Water
1/2 Tablespoon of Chopped Tomato
1 Tablespoon of Chopped Spring Onion
1/2 Tablespoon of Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

Method:
1. Cut the tomatoes, horizontal into halve and carefully scoop out the seeds in it. Pat the inside dry with kitchen paper towel and set them aside.
2. Take 1 of the tomato cup and chopped them into cubes.
3. Whisk the egg with either water or milk until well combined.
4. Drizzle some Olive oil onto a small preheat non-stick pan and add in the chopped tomatoes, give it a few stir until fragrant then scatter in the chopped spring onion.
5. Next pour in the egg mixture and cook the scramble egg accordingly, using a spoon to stir the mixture occasionally.
6. Lastly stir in the Thai chili sauce mixture and give it a quick stir until it combined, fill the egg mixture into the prepared tomato cups and serve as together with some cut fruits as side dish.

Note:
a) You can replace the Thai Sweet Chili Sauce with Tomato Sauce for kid's version.
b) You can also scatter some extra shredded cheese onto the egg tomato cups and put it into the toaster oven of about 3 minutes or so until the cheese started to melt.

Avocado ~ Egg ~ Tomato

This is my combination of appetiser meal, Avocado Vs Egg Vs Tomato. I simply just love the taste of Avocado, when this is in season I'll always have it in my fruit basket. I love to eat it with plain yogurt, or blend it with some fresh milk and honey and serve it as a health afternoon snack or after meal refreshment with a few ice cubes.

There are so many ways and ideas that you can eat your avocado with. And also high avocado intake has been shown to have an effect on blood serum cholesterol levels and it is also rich in B vitamins, as well as vitamin E.

In this appetiser, I used 1 avocado, 1 hard boiled egg and 2 ripe medium size tomato to come out with 3 different taste and texture of the combination.

Mashed Avocado & Egg Salad
~ Mashed half of the hard-boiled egg with about 2 to 3 slices of avocado and serve it in a tomato cup.

Avocado Slices With Plain Yogurt
~ Arrange some avocado slices on plate and top with a dollar of plain Greek yogurt(or you can choose yogurt of your favour).

This is great to serve as a an presentable appetiser when you have guest around the house. You can top with with other fresh fruits of your choice or you can use tomato or cucumber or any combination that you prefer.

~ Cut the avocado into half, carefully scoop out the fruit and leave the shell in shape.
~ Place half of the hard-boiled egg in the middle and filled the space of the shelf with avocado & tomato cubes.
~ Drizzle with some BBQ or Thai Chilli sauce before serving.

Homemade Banana & Passion Fruit Jam

This is definitely a simple and easy to attempt keeper recipe. I got to know this special Homemade Banana & Passion Fruit Jam from Happy Home Baking website(click here). You should take a look at her recipe if you are interested in making your own jam at home. It's very simple and straight forward. All you required is only 3 Ingredients which are:- Ripe Banana, Passion fruit Pulp and Sugar.

Put all these ingredients into a small heavy-duty saucepan and simmer on medium heat for about less than 10 minutes and you will have your very own Homemade jam in no time...... So do hope by to her blog shown on the above link for more detail :) I promise you will be in love with the texture and fragrant of this jam.

Steam Cod With Tangerine

Chinese New Year is just two weeks from today. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first lunar month (Chinese: 正月) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th day. So for this coming festival, let me share with you one of the dish that I have prepared for my Chinese New Year Menu :) It's called Steam Cod With Tangerine and "如鱼得水" in Mandarin.

This is a very eye catching colourful dish that is full of favour. As you can see from the ingredient pictures, I actually used the New Year Tangerine as one of the ingredients because of it's wonderful colour and fragrance. The tangerine is an orange or red coloured citrus fruit and it is a variety of the Mandarin orange. The fresh fruit is also used in salads, desserts and main dishes. Tangerines are a good source of vitamin C, folate and beta-carotene. They also contain some potassium, magnesium and vitamins B1, B2 & B3. The combination of Cod and use of some Chinese Herbs will eventually brings out the natural taste of the dish with any seasonings.

There are a few versions that you can come out with using the ingredients shown in this dish. It's just a matter on how you prepare it to suit your family taste-buds. Eg. If you or your family don't like the strong fragrance of the Dang Gui - 当归片, you can omit it and it be be just like an normal steam cod dish without herbs. But since I am serving this as an individual portion, the usage of Dang Gui is only a small slice per plate just in order to fragrance the cod and cover the fishy smell......This is a very simple, and easy to prepare dish which you can do it even if you don't have tangerine, just replace it with Orange.........

Ok I will leave you with this Chinese New Year dish and I would also like to take this Opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Lunar New Year earlier just in case I am too busy to post anything till then.........

Ingredients: (serves 2)
6 Slices of 2" x 4.5" Cod Fillet(雪鱼)
2 Medium Size Prawns
1/2 Tablespoons Wolfberries(枸杞)
2 Small Slices Of Dang Gui(当归片)
2 Tablespoons Rice Wine(黄酒) or Mirin
1 or 2 Tangerines(桔子)

Methods:
1. Remove the shell of the prawns and leave the tail part on, devein and cut a small opening slit at the middle of the back and push the tail through the hole bending on the belly side.
2. Slowly remove the peel of the tangerine, then cut it into thin strips and set aside. Next remove the white pits of the tangerine flesh and separate each wedges and set aside.
3. Place 3 slices of the cod fish one on top of each other but leave about 1/2 cm allowance between each slice then roll it up and place it on a small plate.
4. Next place the prepared prawn on top of the fish slices (refer to ingredient picture, 1st row - column 2).
5. Break a slice of the dang gui into half then place it on the both side of the fish pyramid, sprinkler with some wolfberries and arrange some tangerine wedges on the side of the plate.
6. Upon steaming, drizzle 1 tablespoon of rice wine on the fish, top with tangerine peel strips and steam over medium heat for about 5 minutes or till cooked through depend quantity used.
7. Serve hot with rice or as starter.


Notes:
a) If you don't like cod, you can replace it with other fish fillet that is suitable for steaming, eg. Grouper - 石斑.
b) You can also omit the prawn and just purely using fish slices.
c) If you don't have Rice Wine, you can replace it with 2 Teaspoons of Hua Diao Jiu (花雕酒) instead as the taste is much stronger than the sweet rice wine.
d) You can also replace it with 2 Tablespoons of Chicken Stock if you do not wish to serve liquor to kids.

Comments from my food taster :)
* You can actually taste a few favour and fragrance in this dish. When you drink the gravy, it's full of tonic and sweetness because of the rice wine, cod and wolfberries and it's also scented with some tangerine fragrance.

*When you give a bite to the fish, it's smooth, silky and it has a combination of dang gui and tangerine peel taste which make it light and refresh.

Related Post:
1. Steam Cod Fish & Double Boil Frog Soup

2. Steam Cod Fish With Crispy Bean

Double-Boiled Apple With Gingko Nuts

I believed most of you have heard or even tried the Double-boiled Chinese Pear with either Almond or White Fungus or even both before. It is actually a very good and effect sweet tonic drink to smooth the lungs and ease the phlegm if you are having bad cough. Usually Chinese Physician believed that there are two different types of cough which is the dry and cold cough. As in dry is mainly due to heat in our body due to lack of sleep or consuming too much heaty food.
Dried Figs(无花果)
It is rich in vitamins A & C, proteins and fibers. It strengthens the Spleen, lubricates intestines and helps with dry cough and sore throat. There are two types of figs, fresh and dried. Dried figs are usually used to make soup.

As for myself, I am consider as a weak body build so I cannot take too much of the cooling stuffs, so rather than using Chinese Pear (which is suppose to be cooling) I replace it with Apple which is neutral. The overall effect of this soup will still be the same but the different is it will not be too cooling for those who are having weak body function.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
1 1/2 to 2 Big Apple, cut into wedges
10 Gingko Nut(白果), pre-packed type
1 Tablespoon of Sweet & Bitter Almond( 南北杏)
2 Red Date(红枣), cut into wedges
1 Teaspoon Gou Qi Ji (枸杞子)
3 Dried Fig(无花果), cut into halves
800ml Warm Water
Some Rock Sugar, to taste

Methods:
1. Wash and cored and cut the apples into thick wedges, rinse the rest of the ingredients and put everything(except rock sugar) into a double-boiler and double-boiled in the slow-cooker on auto for about 2 hrs.
2. Remove the cover and add in the Rock Sugar and contine to double-boiled for another 30 minutes.
3. You can served it warm or cool and this is very effective for dry cough.

Notes:a) I used those big pinky type of Apple (refer to the picture above)

Homemade Mango Jam

The name Mango is from the Malayalam word 'Manga' which was introduced to Europe from Calicut by the Portuguese in late fifteenth century during the spice trade. The ripe fruit is variable in size and color, and may be yellow, orange, red or green when ripe, depending on the cultivate. Mangoes are used in chutney; Western recipes are often sweet and so use ripe mangoes, but in the Indian subcontinent is usually made with sour, unripe mangoes and hot chilis or limes.

Mango is rich in a variety of phytochemicals and nutrients that qualify it as a model "superfruit", a term used to highlight potential health value of certain edible fruits. The fruit is high in prebiotic dietary fiber, vitamin C, polyphenols and carotenoids

After the Strawberry and Plum Jam, Tracy and I are kind of into jam making craze so on the 3rd batch of trial. We decided to test it on Mango which is commonly found in the local fruit stall. But I guess you won't be able to find mango jam or mango chutney in Singapore. So if you are a mango lover why not test out this lovely mango jam and you can use it for cakes or tarts filling too..... Like eg. I used this Mango Jam to make Mango Jam Cake.

Ingredients: (make about 250g jam)
3 Medium Size Ripe Mango, about 2 cups of cut fruits
1/4 Cup of Sugar
1 Tablespoon of Lime Juice
1 Lime Rind

Methods:
1. Peel and cut the mango into small cubes and combine all the ingredients in a heavy duty saucepan and cook on medium heat, stirring in between.
2. The sugar will melt and the fruit will break down within 5 - 7 minutes (refer to the picture above).
3. At first, the mixture will be soggy and watery but after another 5 minutes or so, it will bind together into solid and smooth texture.(the whole process takes about 15 - 20 minutes, remember to stir in between to prevent it getting burnt)
4. Turn off the heat and let it cool completely and store in a clean jar and store in the fridge.

Notes:
a) The taste and fragrant of this mango jam will varies from the type of mango that you use.

Homemade Plum Jam

Nothing beat the Freshly Homemade Jam using fresh fruits as you can control the amount of sugars as well as no preservative is added during the making process. After the Strawberry Jam making, Tracy and I continue to experience with different kind of fruits to make jam for our kids. Do you believed that I made these Plum Jam in just less than 30 minutes late in the night after hearing Tracy great comments on her Plum Jam :)

As you can see from the picture, the process of making Plum Jam is actually more or else the same as making Strawberry Jam. The Plum Jam actually thicken faster and the texture is more gel like compare to strawberry jam due to the pectin in it. If you like those a bit sweet and sour taste jam, do give this a try......

Ingredients:
5 - 6 Sweet Red Plum
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Tablespoon of Lime Juice

Methods:
1. Wash and stone the plum then cut it into small cubes and place together with the rest of the ingredients in a heavy based saucepan and cook over medium heat till it boil.
2. Place a saucer into the freezer to chill as you'll need this when you come to test the setting point of the jam.
3. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly and skimming foam as necessary.
4. Cook about 10 minutes, until mixture begins to look syrupy and thickens slightly. 7
5. Spoon ½ teaspoon of the hot mixture onto the cold saucer and let it rest for 30 seconds. Tip the saucer to one side; jam should be a soft gel that moves slightly.
6. If mixture is thin and runs down side of plate, the gel is too soft. Cook jam 1 to 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly and repeat the test again.
7. Once the mixture is stiff enough remove from the heat and start filling the jam bottle.

Notes:
a) Don't be panic if you happen to see some water or juice form when cooking the fruits. It will evaporate and thicken when continue to cook.

Homemade Strawberry Jam

Since Strawberries are in season now and the supermarkets are also having sale on it. I decided to grab a few boxes of fresh strawberries to try making some Strawberry Jam. To my surprised they really turn out well and it taste fruit and fragrant and you can also control the sweetness of the jam. The different between these two is Jam is made from chunk or slices of fruit pieces. Preserves are made from whole fruit, or at least larger pieces.

Pan-fry Chicken With Strawberry Jam Sauce

I didn't realised that actually making Strawberry Jam is so fun and easy until I gave it a try over the weekend break. These homemade jam is so fresh and tasty from the fresh strawberry that is in season. You can read more on my making process of the jam at this link.


Other than serving these freshly made jam on the usual toast or pancake, I decided to try using it to make a dish. I marinate the boneless chicken thigh with some strawberry jam and orange segment to with it.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
2 Boneless Chicken Thighs
2 Tablespoons Of Strawberry Jam
1/2 Tablespoon Orange Juice
Salt and Pepper

Methods:
1. Wash and trim the fat on the chicken thighs, pat dry and marinate it with all the ingredients and set aside in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or more.

2. Preheat a frying pan with some olive oil, drained the chicken thighs well then pan-fry it with skin side down for about 5 minutes(depend on the thickness and size) then turn over to cook the other side.

3. When both side are cooked through with slight brown in colour, remove and arranged on serving plate.

4. Prepare the sauce and drizzle it together with the fruits over at the side of the chicken.

5. Served with extra vegetables, salad or mashed potato.

Sauce Ingredients:
80ml Orange Juice
6 - 8 Orange Segments
2 Fresh Strawberries, cut into thick slices
1 Tablespoon Of Strawberry Jam

Methods:
1. Place all the ingredients except the orange in a small saucepan then simmer till almost boil then add in the orange segments and stir till it begin to boil again.

Salmon With Passionfruit Sauce

Cooking with Passion fruit is never to come across my thought as I don't really have passion with this fruit. But after hearing good comments from my friend Tracy on this fruit, I decided to give it a try and at one go I have whipped up a main course and a dessert to pair with it. So today's Menu will be Salmon With Passion fruit Sauce served with Passion fruit Salad and PassionMisu(recipe) here for dessert.

The passion fruit is round to oval, yellow or dark purple at maturity, with a soft to firm, juicy interior filled with numerous seeds. The fruit can be grown to eat or for its juice, which is often added to other fruit juices to enhance aroma. Fresh Passion Fruit is known to be high in vitamin A, Potassium and dietary fibre. Passion fruit juice is also a good source of ascorbic acid (vitamin C).


For this dish I used the passion fruit to make the serving sauce for the salmon and sweet potato as well as the passion fruit salad. I made use of the empty shell of the passion fruit as a serving plate for the salad to the overall dish more presentable. You can make use of any kind of vegetables or fruits that you can find in your fridge compartment. For my Passion fruit Salad the ingredients used are as follow:-

Salad Ingredients : (serves 2)
2 Tablespoons of Cucumber Cubes
2 Tablespoons of Apple Cubes
1 Tablespoons of Tomato Cubes
1 Tablespoon of Passion fruit Pulps
1 Tablespoon of Pomegranate

Methods:
1. Cut all the items into similar shape and sizes then mixed them together and set aside in the fridge.
2. Scoop the salad into the reserved passion fruit shell.

Note:
a) You can use whatever fruits and vegetables that is in your fridge but try to choose those with mild favour to compromise with the passion fruit taste.

As for the main course, I used salmon fillet to accompany the fragrant of the passion fruit sauce and it really blend well with this combination. This salmon dish consists of 3 portion of preparing method for the fish, sauce and side dish. You can use any side dish you prefer, eg. fresh salad greens, mash potato, potato wedges or etc. For my case, I served it with pan-fry sweet potato slices.

Sauce Ingredients:
2 Medium Passion fruits
1/2 Teaspoon Butter
3 Shallots, sliced & roughly chopped
1/2 Teaspoon Honey
1 Tablespoon Cooking Wine

Methods:
1. Halves the passion fruit, scrape flesh into strainer and push it through the stainer and get about 80 - 100ml of juice. Set aside.
2. After frying the salmon, use the kitchen paper towel to wipe the pan then add in the butter and saute the shallot till fragrant, about 1 minutes or less.
3. Add in cooking wine, passion fruit juice and honey then simmer on medium low heat till thickened, about 30 seconds then remove and set aside.

Note:
a) The use of honey is for seasoning purpose as in sweeten and enhance the favour of the passionfruit and it also act as a caramelised agent to thicken the sauce.

Main Ingredients: (serves 2)
2 Pieces of Salmon Fillet, about 200g each
Salt & Pepper
1/2 Tablespoon passion fruit juice
1/2 Tablespoon Cornflour
1 Teaspoon Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon Butter

Methods:
1. Season the salmon with salt, pepper and passion fruit juice then coat it with some cornflour on both side then set aside for about 1 minute.
2. Heat up the pan with olive oil and butter then pan-fry the salmon, skin-side down for about 4 minutes on each side until cooked through. the timing will depending on the thickness of the fillet.
3. Removed the fillet and arranged on serving plate together with the side dish, salad and drizzle some passion fruit sauce on the fillet and served extra sauce on the side.

Baked Chicken With Plum Chutney & Cheese

Today's Special from Cuisine Paradise Kitchen is this Baked Chicken With Plum Chutney & Cheese. All thanks to Tracy (my best pal and sister-in-Christ) who gave me her Homemade Plum & Apple Chutney which you can find the original recipe at here. But according to Tracy, since she don't have crystallized ginger, she replace it with fresh ginger slice and it really makes nice fragrant of her version of chutney. At first when she made this Chutney, both of us still cracking our head on how to use those bottles of homemade chutney. But after experience it with different food and spread both our family members and us actually find it as a new way to bring about the taste of plum.


As you can see from the 2nd pictures, the colour of her homemade chutney is so gorgeous and it's really like red ruby sparkling in the light. The taste and aroma of the chutney is sort of like sweet, sour and spicy. It is full of flavour and texture which I think it will make a great Marinade ingredients. So without hesitate, I go ahead to experience it. I used it to marinate with chicken Maryland over night in the fridge and baked it with some extra fresh plum to give it more texture on the fruits.

At first, I still wonder how will it taste but my doubt was clearly after the aroma of the chicken flow out from the oven. The kitchen was filled with the fragrant of the spice from the chutney and the adding of the extra Mozzarella cheese also give a great enhancement to this dish. I have served this dish with baked herbal vegetables & some extra chutney. And the dessert for the night is Orange Caramalized Banana.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
2 Chicken Maryland, trim the fat
8 Tablespoons of the Plum Chutney
2 Fresh Plum, stoned and cut into wedges
2 - 3 Tablespoons Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
2 Medium Size Potato, cut into chunks/cubes
1 Small Carrot, cut into chunks/cubes
1/2 Teaspoon of Dried Mixed Herbs
1 Teaspoon Olive Oil

Methods:
1. Trim and wash the chicken the cut a few slits on the meat of the chicken, pat dry and stuffs some plum chutney into the slits then top with the remaining chutney.
2. Marinate it for at least 2 hours or over night in the fridge.
3. An hour or two before baking the chicken, you can marinate the mixed vegetables with the mixed herbs and olive oil.
4. Remove the chicken from the fridge 5 - 10 minutes before cooking.
5. Heat up a saucepan with 1 teaspoon olive oil then pan-fry the vegetables until slightly brown and almost cooked through.
6. Remove and place it on foil paper and put it in the oven toaster and toast for about 5 minutes, turning once or twice. (this will make it totally cooked through or soften and at the same time, force out the extra oil when frying)
7. Next, place the chicken, skin side down in the saucepan that is used for frying the vegetables and saute the chicken till the skin is slightly brown.
8. Turn it over and saute it for another 3 minutes, then add in the fresh plum wedges and remaining marindae sauce, cover and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
9. You can add it a 1 - 2 tablespoons extra of the plum chutney if you find that it's too dry to simmer.
10. Remove chicken, plum and etc from the saucepan and place it in a baking dish and put it in the toaster oven and baked for another 10 minutes or so until the chicken is cooked through. (or to save the trouble, you can put everything in the baking tray and baked at 200 degree for about 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through)
11. Next sprinkle the shredded Mozzarella Cheese on top of the chicken and let it baked for another 1 - 2 minutes until the cheese is golden brown.
12. Remove and serve it with the baked herbal vegetables, extra chutney and fresh plum.

Pan-fry Salmon & Apple Slices With Butter Sauce

Salmon is the common name for several species of Fish of the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the family are called trout. Salmon is a popular food. Consuming salmon is considered to be reasonably healthy due to the fish's high protein, high Omega-3 fatty acids, and high vitamin D content.

Like many fruits, Apples contain Vitamin C as well as a host of other antioxidant compounds, which may reduce the risk of cancer by preventing DNA damage. The fiber content, while less than in most other fruits, helps regulate bowel movements and may thus reduce the risk of colon cancer. They may also help with heart disease, weight loss and controlling cholesterol, as they do not have any cholesterol, have fiber, which reduces cholesterol by preventing re-absorption, and are bulky for their caloric content like most fruits and vegetables. So "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."

This was a very interesting dish that my lady boss was telling us during one of the chit chat session. So base on what she had describe, I came out my own version of Pan-fry Salmon & Apples Slices With Butter Sauce. Other than the main course, I also added some side dish like stir-fry honey peas & carrot with garlic serve with rice.

This is indeed a very nice and easy to prepare hearty food for the whole family to have fish, fruit, vegetables and rice in a dish. If you are interested on how does the apples taste wise with salmon and butter, you must try this dish and you will sure to love it just like what we do. Reyon loves this dish especially the butter apples and juicy salmon..........

Ingredients For Salmon & Apple (serves 2)
1 Piece of Salmon Fillet, about 300g
2 Medium Red Apples, cored and cut into wedges
1 Medium Onion, cut into thin slices
4 Slices of Ginger, thinly shredded
10g - 15g of Salted Butter
1/4 Wedge Of Lemon, optional

Methods:
1. Wash and pat dry the salmon fillet, sprinkle with some pepper(optional) then coat with some corn flour before pan-fry to get the crispy outer coating and seal the freshness and juicy texture of the fillet.
2. Heat up the pan with 10g of butter, you can add 1/2 teaspoon of cooking oil to prevent the butter from getting burn.
3. Saute the onion and ginger for about 30 seconds then add in the salmon fillet and pan-fry on low heat until it's cooked through to your preference. (I prefer it to be just done so that the meat will be juicy and outer layer is crispy and fragrant, when you see golden colour on the skin layer it should be done but then it also depend on the thickness of the fillet.)
4. When the salmon is done remove it from the pan, and if there is not much oil left, you can add in more butter then put in the apple wedges and stir-fry for about 3-5 minutes till it's tender.
5. Remove it and serve together with the fish fillet and lemon.

Notes:
a) You can replace the salmon with cod fish if you prefer.
b) When saute the onion and ginger with the salmon, when you see the onion and ginger is almost golden in colour, dish it up and set aside so that u can served it on top of the rice.
c) You can either peel off the skin of the apple or u can cook it with the skin on depend on your liking. For me, I used 1 with skin and the other one without.

Ingredients For The Side Dish
6 - 8 Honey Peas
1 Medium/Small Carrot, cut into 0.5cm thick slices
3 Cloves Of Garlic, remove the skin
1/2 Tablespoon Cooking Wine (hua tiao jiu)

Methods:
1. Prepare and wash the vegetables then heat up the pan with some oil and saute the garlic till fragrant.
2. Add in the carrot slices and fry for about 1 minute then add in the peas and continue to stir-fry for another 1 minutes.
3. Season it with some cooking wine and pinch of salt.

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.

Thai-style Basil Chicken Salad

The most common Basil Leaves that found and used in Singapore is the Thai Basil Leave which can be used in a wide range of Thai, Vietnamese and other ethnic cuisine. It's spicy, licorice flavored shoots and leaves are used in salads, soups and curries.


For this salad dish, we are using Fresh Thai Basil Leaves for one of the sauce ingredients. The taste of this dish is kind of local Thai-style where it is sort of sweet and spicy. You can add in any fruits or vegetables that you prefer to make the salad base to go with the crispy chicken strips.

Ingredients:
1/2 Chicken Breast Fillets (1/2 边鸡胸肉)
1 Teaspoon Light Soy Sauce (1 小匙酱油)
1/2 Tablespoon Cooking Wine (1/2 汤匙花雕酒)
1 Teaspoon Cornflour(1 小匙玉米粉)
Some Pepper(少许胡椒粉)
2 Tablespoon Sweet Potato Flour (2 汤匙地瓜粉)
1 Tablespoon Cornflour (1 汤匙玉米粉)

Methods:
1. Wash and cut chicken fillet into 2cm wide strips then marinate with Soy Sauce, Cooking Wine, Cornflour and Pepper for at least 30 minutes or more.
将鸡胸肉洗净, 切2cm 宽条状, 然后加入酱油, 花雕酒, 玉米粉和胡椒粉调味至少30 分钟以上.
2. Coat the marinated chicken with the flour mixture(sweet potato flour + cornflour) and set aside for 5 minutes before deep-frying.
将腌好的鸡肉条沾混合好的地瓜粉和玉米粉, 然后放在一边等5分钟后才炸.( 这能防止粉从鸡肉上滑落)
3. Heat up half pot of oil and deep-fry the chicken strips in two batches until golden brown, drain and set side.
热半锅油, 把鸡肉条分成俩次炸成金黄色后, 捞起放在吸油纸上吸干油分.

Chilli Sauce:
2 Cloves Garlic, grated (2 颗蒜, 切末)
2 Small chilli, finely chopped (2 颗小辣椒, 切末)
8 Thai Basil Leaves, finely chopped (8 叶九层塔, 切末)
1 Teaspoon Chopped Spring Onion(1 小匙葱花)
2 Tablespoons Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce (2 汤匙泰式甜辣椒酱)
1.5 Tablespoon Lemon Juice (1.5 汤匙柠檬汁)
1 Tablespoon Thai Fish Sauce (1 汤匙鱼露)
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar (1 /2 小匙糖)
1 Tablespoon Drinking Water (1 汤匙食水)

Methods:
1. Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside for later used. (If you don't prefer hot, then don't add any small chilli or you can reduce to only using 1)
把全部酱料的材料放在一个小碗里搅拌均匀, 待用.( 如果您不会吃太辣, 就不要放小辣椒或只放一颗)

Salad Base: (optional)
1 Red Apple, shredded (1 个萍果, 切丝)
1 Japanese Cucumber, shredded (1 条日本小黄瓜, 切丝)
1 Small Carrot, shredded (1条小胡萝卜, 切丝)
6 Cherry Tomato, halves (6颗小番茄, 切半)
6 Lychee, remove seeds (6颗荔枝, 拨壳, 去种子)

Methods:
1. Mix all the above ingredients in a mixing bowl then set aside in the fridge until serve.
把全部的沙拉材料放在一个碗里搅拌均匀, 放进冰箱待用.
2. You can used any other fruits or vegetables that you prefer or in season.
你也可以用其他的水果蔬菜来代替.

Assemble:
1. Place salad mixture on a serving plate, top with half of the fried chicken strips then drizzle some chilli sauce over the chicken and salad.
首先把拌均匀的冷沙拉扑在大盘上, 然后放一般的炸鸡肉条, 接着均匀的淋上些辣椒酱.
2. Continue topping the rest of the chicken and drizzle the rest of the sauce around it.
之后继续放上剩余的鸡肉条, 再淋上些辣椒酱.

Notes:
You might not need all the sauce, so add the amount that you prefer. Or you can serve it as dipping sauce for the chicken strips without the salad.
你可以随自己喜好放多或少的酱料, 又或者你也可以用来沾不要淋上去.

This sauce is enough for 1 chicken breast without the salad.
这个酱料成分足够用一个鸡胸肉.

Lemon Curd

Lemon curd is a delicious tart, soft, thick, spreadable cooked cream that contains eggs, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. It has more lemon juice and zest and a more buttery taste than lemon filling. Lemon curd can be served as a spread for scones or toast, and goes well with tea at any time of day. It is also wonderful as a filling in trifles, tarts, sponge and cakes.

In this recipe the lemon curd is cooked over a saucepan of simmering water to help prevent the eggs from curdling and curd getting burnt. Problems can arise (eg: curd not thickening) if the temperature of the 'simmering' water is too low. Unfortunately, on the stove we do not use exact temperatures like we do with ovens. In this recipe "simmer" is defined as the point just short of a boil which is when bubbles begin to appear.

The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Remember to cover immediately (so a skin doesn't form) and it can be kept refrigerate for up to 1 month. Thanks Tracy for introducing me this wonder and fragrant Lemon Curd.

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup(125ml) Lemon Juice
150g Caster Sugar
65g Butter, cubes
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 Grated Lemon Rinds

Methods:
1. Place lemon juice, lemon rinds and sugar into a small saucepan. Heat gently, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Add butter, stir until melted then remove from the stove.
3. Slowly whisk in the beaten egg and stir the mixture together at the same time until well combined.
4. Next pour the egg mixture through a fine strainer into a big glass/stainless steel mixing bowl to remove any lumps.
5. Place the bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water and simmer and stir often for about 25 minutes or more until the mixture thicken(like custard) and coats the back of a metal spoon.
6. Make sure that the mixture does not boil or it will curdle.
7. When the lemon curd is ready, pour it into prepared warm, sterilised jars. Seal tightly, allow it to cool then store in the refridgerator.

Notes: If you prefer a thicker curd, make a paste of 1 teaspoon cornflour and 2 teaspoons water. Blend into prepared hot curd. Transfer to a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute then pour into jars.