Braised Mushroom With Sea Cucumber

Morning everyone! Tomorrow will be the eve of Chinese New Year and I believe most of the housewives are busy getting all the ingredients ready to prepare big feasts for the family and friends during coming New Year. And for those who are having Reunion Dinner either today or tomorrow, what is your favourite dish that you are looking forward to? I remember when I was young I always look forward to my dad’s “Ngoh Hiang - 五香” and “Steamed Yam and Sweet Potato With Coconut”.

But past few years, during Chinese New Year I will always look forward to my 2nd aunt’s Cantonese style “Braised Sea Cucumber with Mushroom and Fish Maw”. So this year mum suggests that maybe we can replicate this dish for own consume. So after checking with 2nd aunt on the ingredients and preparation methods here are our own version of the "Braised Mushroom with Sea Cucumber".

Ingredients: (serves 4 - 6)

250g Roasted Pork(烧肉), cut into bite sizes pieces
200g Dried Shiitake Mushrooms(花菇), soaked till soft
80g Dried Fish Maw(鱼肚), blanched in hot water
150g Fresh Pig Tendons(猪脚筋)
600g Sea Cucumber(海参)
4 Big Dried Scallop (干贝)
15g Black Moss(发菜), soaked till expand
1 Bulb of Garlic
3 Slices of Ginger
3 - 4 Dried Chili(辣椒干), optional
4 Tablespoon of Oyster Sauce
600ml or More of Hot Water

Note:-

~ You can also add in a few Dried Oysters(蚝豉) to enhance the flavour as well as for it's auspicious meaning of "Good Wealth" during Chinese New Year.

~ Adding a few dried chili will brings up the flavour of this dish and leave it a bit of spicy taste.

Here is a photo to show the steps on how to prepare this dish.

Method:

1. Soak dried shiitake mushroom and black moss separately in warm water, when the mushroom soften squeeze them dry to remove excess water and set side.

2. Rinse and scrap away any dirt from the sea cucumber and pig tendons and set aside.

3. Bring a pot of water to boil, blanched fish maw for about 3 minutes till soften, remove and soak in water for later use.

4. Heat up a big frying pan or pot, sauté garlic, ginger and dried chili with 1 tablespoon of oil till fragrant, add in roasted pork and give it a stir for 1 minute before adding mushroom and stirring for another 1 minute or more.

5. Next add in the sea cucumber and pig tendons and stir till the mixture is well mixed.

6. At this stage you can transfer the mixture to a THERMAL POT or Slow Cooker for ease cooking process. (for this recipe I use the Thermal Pot which I bough from Giant at S$29.90 for 5 litres pot which is cheap and good)

7. Add in enough hot water to cover the mixture, stir the black moss, oyster sauce and dried scallop. Cover and let the mixture simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes.

8. Remove from stove and place the inner pot back to the thermal pot holder and let it stand for an hour before placing the inner pot back to the stove and simmer for another 10 minutes.

9. Repeat step 8 till the ingredients soften and flavour. 

10. If you are using slow cooker, just set it to AUTO and cook for at least 2 hours or till soften.


This dish can be prepared a few days ahead and store in small containers in the fridge till later consume. And if you like this dish but don't wish to take the hassle to prepare it due to the process, you can always cook in big quantity and freeze them in the freezer which can be kept for about 2 months. On the other hand if you don't like the idea of freezing your food perhaps a thermal pot will help to shorten the cooking time.

Lastly I would like to wish everyone a HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR and stay in good Health, Prosper and all the best for throughout the year.

Aspiring Bakers #4: Love In The Air (Feb 2011)

Hello Everyone,

Wish you an early Happy Chinese New Year (CNY) for those who are celebrating this festival. In the month of February this year most of us would be celebrating both CNY and Valentine's Day together as a double occasions. So let us get together and spread the LOVE in the air and share what we have made for our loved ones in this wonderful month.



I'm hosting the Aspiring Bakers #4 for February 2011.

But if you are interest to find out what's on the previous Aspiring Bakers #3 - My Favourite Chinese New Year Cookies enteries, you can refer to the link HERE which is host by Jess from Jess Kitchen.

The theme for this month is "Love In The Air"!

Who can join?

Everyone!(if you do not have a blog, just send me a photo and recipe of your bake)

How to join?

Step 1:
You can either cook a dish, prepare a bento or bake anything that has a "HEART SHAPE" design theme for your Valentine(s) in the month of February 2011.

Step 2:
Post it on your blog between 01 February 2011 to 28 February 2011.
Your post must include the recipe or link to the original recipe. If you are using a recipe from a book, please include the title of the book too.
Any entries that are posted outside the date range will not be accepted.
Any entries that do not include a recipe or link to the original recipe will not be accepted too.

Step 3:
Please mention that you are submitting your post to Aspiring Bakers and provide a link to the announcement of the theme by the host of the month HERE.
Entries will not be accepted if the above is not included.

Step 4:
Email to ellenaguan@hotmail.com in the following format:

Your name or nickname:
Your blog name: (omit this if you do not have a blog)
Name of your bake:
URL of your post:
Attachment of your photo in your email (one photo for each entry, preferably less than 500kb).

Please email for each and every entry. Put "Aspiring Bakers" as your email subject. You can submit more than 1 post.

NOTE:

* In conjunction for my hosting for February "Aspiring Bakers" Valentine's Day theme there is  a small giveaway of lovely "Heartshape" tools which you might be able to use it for our event. Details at HERE

Five Treasure Soup

This is the 4th random recipes that I have picked up from Philips, MyKitchen (www.philips.com.sg/kitchen) recipes site. Since this Thursday is Chinese New Year, I am sure most of you would like to prepare one or two simple Chinese New Year Auspicious soup to impress your guests during mealtimes. For example: The Lotus Root symbolise abundance and unity while Dried Scallop on the other hand means gold and wealth.

This is a very simple and delicious soup which requires minimum effort in preparation. As you can see from the photo there are about 4 main ingredients such as "Chicken", "Lotus Roots", "Dried Scallop" and "Shiitake Mushroom" and I make use of some ingredients that has natural sweetness and fragrant like Sweetcorn, Water Chestnut and Red Dates to flavour the soup instead of stock cubes.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

2000ml Hot Water
2 Skinless Chicken Drumstick with Thigh, washed and trim
300gm Fresh Lotus Root, cut into thick slices
6 Fresh Water Chestnuts, skin removed lightly smashed
2 Corn Cobs, washed and cut into sections
3 Dried Shiitake Mushrooms
3 Medium Dried Scallop
4 Red Dates
1/2 Tablespoon Wolfberries


To prepare this soup without running to and from the stove to check the heat and etc, it would be great if you have a Philips brand or any other suitable rice cooker that has "SOUP" cooking function. As what you need to do is just put everything in and press COOK which you can refer to a similar cooking instruction by MyKitchen below.

But don't worry if all you have is only stove or slow-cooker, you can still cook this soup by following the method shown.

Method:
1. Wash the lotus roots thoroughly, making sure there is no soil in the holes. Cut the lotus roots into 1cm thick slices. Discard the ends.
2. Wash and clean all ingredients thoroughly with tap water.
3. Blanch chicken pieces briefly into boiling water before cooking.
4. Bring 2 litres of hot water to boil in a large soup pot, add in all the ingredients except wolfberries and let it simmer on low heat over the stove for about 1 hour or so. OR
5. For slow-cooker, cook it on AUTO for about 2 hours, stirring the mixture at least twice during cooking time to make sure the ingredients are evenly cooked through.


ORIGINAL RECIPE FROM PHILIPS (MyKitchen):

Five Treasure Soup

Preparation Time: 15 Minutes                         Cooking Time: 1.5 hours

Ingredients: (Serves 5)

2200ml Hot Water
3 Cubes Chicken Seasoning
2 Skinless Chicken Breasts, washed and cut into quarters
300gm Fresh Lotus Root, cut into thick slices
1 Peeled Carrot, cut into wedges
2 Corn Cobs, washed and cut into sections
4 Seeded Red Dates
3 Dried Shitake Mushrooms

Method:
1. Wash the lotus roots thoroughly, making sure there is no soil in the holes. Cut the lotus roots into 1cm thick slices. Discard the ends.
2. Wash and clean all ingredients thoroughly with tap water.
3. Blanch chicken pieces briefly into boiling water before cooking.
4. Put the hot water, the chicken cubes, the blanched chicken pieces and the last 5 ingredients into the inner pot of the rice cooker. Close the lid.
5. Press the MENU button to select the SOUP cooking mode. Press TIMER and set for 1.5 hours.
6. Press COOK/REHEAT button to start the soup cooking process. At the end of the cooking process, you will hear a beep.
7. The COOK/REHEAT light will switch off and the KEEP WARM light will switch on to indicate that the rice cooker has automatically switched to the KEEP WARM mode.
8. The KEEP WARM mode ensures that the soup is kept piping hot till you serve it.


With such a quick and easy recipe above I am sure you would like to explore more recipes from Philips MyKitchen at www.philips.com.sg/kitchen for coming Chinese New Year too. If you are interested to find out more about Philips Rice Cookers series, you can refer to the website link HERE. Lastly you can also share with us any of your quick and easy recipes using rice cooker by leaving your tips and message at the comments post column.

Pan-fried White Spotted Rabbitfish With Leeks

Chinese New Year is just a few days away and I believe every household is busying with preparing the food, beverage, clothing and etc before the coming New Year. Or perhaps some of you are having reunion dinner this weekend while everyone is off work and available at home. For Teochew family like us, our Chinese New Year reunion dinner can never go without this “Pan-fried White Spotted Rabbitfish With Leeks” when my dad was still around.

If you often frequent those Teochew Porridge stalls in food centre or coffee shop, I am sure you will be familiar with their signature Steam White Spotted Rabbitfish(清蒸白肚鱼) which goes well with their traditional dipping sauce make with "salted bean paste(豆豉), minced garlic and cut chilies".

As you know Leeks belong to the same category as onion family where you will link to those thick stalked European leeks that are commonly found in supermarkets which have a mild sweet flavor that is suitable for making soup or pie. But as for Chinese leeks on the other hand they are smaller and thinner which resemble thick scallion that has strong flavor, which makes them a staple ingredient in most Chinese cooking. Also most of the Chinese believe that by storing more LEEKS(蒜)at home it means you will have more money to COUNT(算)as both have the same pronunciation in Mandarin.

  Every year during Chinese New Year these “White Spotted Rabbitfish(白肚鱼)” will be highly in demand at both the wet and local supermarkets. And for your information the price of these fish can go as high as up to S$35.00 – S$40.00 per kilogram. These fish also has another name known as “Pei Tor” and by eating it most of the Chinese believe it brings good luck and prosper during the year. Also during this breeding period of the year, these fish are big in size and they do comes with roes that are particularly relished too.

Here is a photo of  the steps on preparing this dish.

Ingredients: (serves 2)

3 - 4 Medium Size (350g) White Spotted Rabbitfish
3 Stalks of Chinese Leeks, cut into diagonal sections
2 Slices of Ginger
1 Teaspoon of Minced Garlic
1 Teaspoon Chicken Stock Powder
80ml Hot Water

Method:

1. Clean and rinse the fish, pat dry with kitchen paper towel and set side.
2. Preheat a frying pan with 1 tablespoon of oil, pan-fry the fish on both side for about 3 minutes under medium heat or till slightly golden brown. Dish up.
3. Using the same pan add in ginger and minced garlic, sauté till fragrant before adding the sliced leeks.
4. Continue to stir-fry the leeks for another 2 – 3 minutes until soften add in 80ml of hot water and chicken stock powder to taste.
5. Place the cooked fish on top of the leeks and simmer for another 1 minute on medium low heat, carefully give it a quick stir in between to let the fish absorb the flavour from the leeks mixture.
6. When done dish up and serve with hot steamed rice.


If you do cooked this white spotted rabbitfish at home, it would be great if you would like to share with us how you prepared them. Because for us, we only cooked it with leeks or steam and eat it fresh with light soy sauce.