Long Bean Rice

My friend Roselind from PA mail me some organic home grown long beans not too long ago with some bitter gourd and it was just perfect to cook this meal. I remember growing up eating this long bean rice. My mom used to cook this so often. She was a seamstress back then and she teaches sewing at my grandfather shop lot 6 days a week so by the time she gets home it will be late evening. She will usually cook something quick like this one pot meal with bitter gourd soup and a sambal dish to go with the meal for us. She will stir-fry all the ingredients first and then cook it in the rice cooker. Once she pops it into the rice cooker she can cook the sambal. Once a while she will substitute the long beans with yam/taro, ‘kai choy’/mustard green, cabbage or pumpkin as it depends on what we have at home. I like this type of meal as I can cook a bit more and have it again for the next day.

Steamed Savory Glutinous Rice/Loh Mai Fun/Chu Bee P’ng - Day 29

Actually I have no plan to make this dish but quite a few of my readers suggested that I make loh mai kai it so after giving it some thoughts I decided to make something similar. I really appreciate all your suggestions. I am not sure if this is a typical Hokkien dish but my mom always serves this dish on special occasion especially during our family get together. We practically grew up eating this. Each time I cook this dish it makes me think of home. Being so far away from home this is sort of like a comfort food for me. I made this before and the original recipe is here but I am going to re-post it again with some minor change as I find the one I made before had too much dark soy sauce in it. So the dish does not look so appealing.

Hokkien Lor Mee/Stew Noodles

There two types of Hokkein mee. One is braised in dark soy sauce and the other one is not which we called Lor Mee. My mom used to cook this for us during the weekend as we can help her to roll out the noodles dough. Yeah she made her own noodles. After all the rolling she will used a knife to cut the noodles. No pasta maker during that time and all were done by hand.

Lor Mee is a simple soup noodle with very thick eggy broth. It is a staple fare in our traditional Hokkien family. It is less well known than the dark Hokkien mee that Kuala Lumpur is famous for. Some of the Hokkien Mee stall still serves this lor mee. Lor Mee is usually eaten with Chinese black vinegar but I like having it with pickle green chilies.

Fried Radish Cake/Char Chai Tau Kueh

I have so many backlogs in my files. I have to really sit down one day and clear up everything. I’ve been so busy for the past weeks with cooking, baking, cleaning the house, etc. Now everything is back to normal again. Even the weather is getting better. So far no sign of any snow so no shoveling for this week. Thank God for that.

I cooked this dish many months ago and I just found the pictures in one of the many files. It is known as Char Chai Tau Kueh or Fried Radish Cake. This famous hawker food is made from steamed radish cake and then stir fried with pickle radish, bean sprout, chilies, chives and eggs. This dish is popular during Chinese New Year too and since it is still CNY I might as well post it here ;).

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of diced radish cake – you can get the recipe here
2 cloves garlic – chopped
2 tbsp chopped preserved turnip (chai poh)
1 red chili – cut small
A handful of bean sprout
Small bunch of Chinese chives – cut into 1” lengths
1 egg

Savory Glutinous Rice/Chu Bee P'ng

Is the time of the year again. Malaysia will be celebrating her 53rd birthday end of this month. As usual Babe In City - KL is hosting a Virtual Merdeka Open House 2010 and team for this year is Food From Our Hearts . We were to cook a dish close to our hearts.

Being so far away from home makes me appreciates home cooked food even more. I used to take it for granted that I can easily eat the food at home or buy it outside. But since living here in the US I don’t have the luxury to do so. If I want something from home I have to cook it myself. In a way it is a good thing as I learned how to cook them myself.

Today I wanted to share with you my mom’s simple Savory Glutinous Rice. I remember on every festive season she will cook a big pot of her savory glutinous rice. She will wakes up as early as 5.00am to cook this dish besides other dishes. She likes doing that as this way nobody gets in her way in the kitchen and she can cook in peace. We used to get upset with her as we will smell the fried garlic and shallots all the way to our upstairs rooms where else we still wanted to continue our beauty sleep. But now I wish I can have that smell to wakes me up in the morning here. This dish has both a sentimental and comfort  to it that will always reminds me of home and my mom.

Soon Kueh/Steamed Vegetable Dumplings

Soon Kueh or bangkwan kueh is my childhood favorite. Making this kueh brought back lots memories of my childhood. I remember helping my grandmother and mom made these during the weekend. Years ago all of us lived together in one big old house and there are many mouths to feed. We don’t have to luxury to go out and eat at the coffee shops so my family will make kuehs like this every weekend for breakfast.

Fried Glass Noodles/Fried Tang Hoon

One noodle that I haven’t had in a long time is ‘glass noodle or Tang Hoon’. I never thought of cooking this until I saw it at Belachan's blog. I remember when I was young I had problem chewing and swallowing this type of noodles. I guess it is the chewy and slippery texture of it. You can either make soup or stir-fry this type of noodles. There is no right or wrong to this recipe and basically you can add whatever ingredients you have in hand for this stir-fry noodles.

Ingredients:

3 small bunch of glass noodles – soak in warm water until soft. Drain dry
1 piece of chicken breast – cut into thin slices and season with some salt and pepper
1 carrot – peel and julienned
1 small onion – slice thinly
3 cloves of garlic - chopped
1 cup of bean sprout
2 eggs
10 shrimps – peel and deveined
Some spring onions for garnish

Sauce:

2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp of soy sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup of chicken stock

1. Mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set it aside. Heat up about 3 tbsp of oil in a wok. Add in the garlic and onion and stir-fry until fragrant and lightly brown.
2. Add in chicken and stir fry until it changes color. Add in carrot and stir-fry for a minute. Add in the shrimps and continue to stir-fry until the shrimps turn pink.
3. Add in the soft noodles and the sauce. Continue to toss and stir-fry until the sauce evaporate. Move all the noodles to the side of the wok add a bit of oil to the bottom of the wok and crack in the eggs. Scramble the eggs until half cook.
4. Toss back the noodles on top of the eggs. Add in the bean sprouts and continue to toss until well combined. Check seasonings. Dish out the noodles and garnish with some spring onions.

Chinese Mustard Vegetable Stew/Chai Buey

I have no plan to post this but my good friend in NZ request for it. So this is for you, sis. I know this is not the best looking dish but they taste really good. So is this dish a vegetable soup or a stew?? I have no clue but when Carlos asked what was I cooking I told him it's a vegetable stew. My mom used to make this from our leftovers roasted meat especially during the 2nd day of CNY. I believe this is a Hokkien dish and it is commonly made when leftover roast meat That's why it's called Chai Buey which means 'leftover dish" in Hokkien. The recipe is simple. You only need 4 key ingredients, which is dried chilies (to give the spiciness), tamarind paste (to give the sourness), Chinese mustard vegetable (kai choy) and some leftover roast meat. Of course, you may always add some garlic, ginger and tomatoes to spice it up a little and salt and sugar to taste.

Some people like using pickle mustard but I prefer using the fresh ones. This is how mustard vegetable looks like. You can get it at any Asian supermarket.

How to cook this dish? There is no exact recipe for it. Just have a big pot ready, add in some oil and heat it up. Add in some sliced ginger and garlic, sauté them. Then, add in some tamarind paste (amount depend on how sour you like) and dried chilies, stir fry them for a few seconds. Once it is fragrant, you may add the meat you have and some water. Once boiled just add in the tomatoes, Chinese mustard and let it stew until the vegetables are soft and tender. Add salt and sugar to taste.

This was how the pot looks like after I put in the vegetables.

After simmering for 2 hours this was what left in the pot.


The end product, spicy, sour and slight sweetness. A great comfort food for me.

Braised Pork Ribs with Dry Bean Curd

This is very popular home-style Hokkien dish which we called ‘Hong Bak’ or 'Tau Yew Bak'. I learned making this dish from my mother but she normally uses pork rather than ribs. Since I am not a fan of fatty pork I used ribs for this dish. This dish goes really well with rice and it taste even better the next day.

Ingredients:
1 pound of ribs
Half packet of dry bean curd stick - cut and soaks in water until soft
1 whole bulb of garlic
2 star anise
5 slices of ginger
2 tbsp of sugar or a few pieces of rock sugar
3 tbsp of oyster sauce
3 tbsp of soy sauce
2 tbsp of black soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Marinate the pork with oyster sauce, soy sauce and dark soy sauce. In a heavy pot heat up 3 tbsp of oil. Add in sugar, stir until sugar melted and caramelized. Add in the whole garlic, star anise and ginger. Stir fry until fragrant and lightly brown.
2. Add in ribs, stir-fry until the meat changes color and the liquid almost evaporate. Add enough water to cover the ribs and bring it up to a boil.
3. Lower down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the dry bean curd stick. Continue to simmer. Remember to stir occasionally to prevent burning at the bottom and even cooking
4. Continue to cook until the ribs is tender. Add in more water if needed.
5. Check seasoning and adjust the taste accordingly. You might need more salt or soy sauce. Serve with warm rice.

Note: You can add hard boiled eggs to this dish. Just boil the eggs, peel and put it into the dish 15 minutes before the dish is done. You can also use pork belly for this dish

Chive Pancake Rolls

Weather here is getting much warmer now so I like to create some simple and light for lunch. I have been craving for some fresh popiah (fresh spring rolls) since I came back from Malaysia but it was just too bad I can’t get any fresh spring roll wrappers here. Unlike in Malaysia where you can get it from the market. This is what I came up with and it's not too difficult to make. You can make this into vegetarian and all you have to do is just replace the shrimp with some tofu.

Ingredients for pancake

1 cup of flour
1 egg
1 tbsp of oil
1 ½ cup water
1 tsp of salt
A small bunch of chives – cut small

In a medium bowl, mix plain flour, egg, oil, water and salt then make into a smooth batter. Set aside for 30 minutes. When you are ready to make the pancake, add in the chives.

Filling:

3 cups of shredded jicama
1 carrot – julienned
10 shrimps – peeled, clean and roughly chopped
1 small chili – chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1 small onion – sliced thinly

Seasoning:

½ cup of water or chicken stock
1 tbsp of oyster sauce
1 tbsp of soy sauce
½ tsp of sugar
1 tsp of cornstarch
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix all the seasoning ingredients in a bowl and set it aside. In a pan, heat up 2 tbsp of oil, stir fry garlic and onion until soft and fragrant.
2. Add in shrimps, chili, carrot, shredded cabbage and stir-fry for a minute and then add in the seasoning. Continue to cook until the gravy thickens and reduced. Check the seasoning. Dish out and set it aside.
3. Heat up a non-stick pan over low heat; brush a little oil to the pan.
4. Pour some batter to the pan and swirl into a round thin pancake. Let it cook and then flip the pancake over and cook for another a few second.
5. To assemble the roll, put some filling on top of the pancake, and roll it up like a spring roll.


Note : You can replace the jicama with shredded cabbage or any kind of vegetables you like.

Hokkien Noodle

A simple and quick to make Hokkien Noodles is a great stand alone meal that the whole family will enjoy. It only takes around 15 minutes to cook and you have a great meal.

Ingredients :

400 grms of thick noodles
a handful of cabbage or mustard green
100 grm of meat (pork or chicken)- slice thinly
10 shrimps or some fish fillets
3 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
2 tbsp of oyster sauce
2 tsp of dark thick soy sauce
1/2 tsp of sugar
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups of water (more or less)

1. Heat up 2 tbsp of oil and stir fry garlic until fragrant. Add the meat and cabbage and stir for a minute .
2. Add noodles and water with the all seasonings. Cover and simmer until the noodles are tender. Some noodles can be rather stiff and hard so it might take a bit longer to cook.
3. Once the noodles tender add in the shrimp. Cook for another 2 minutes. Check seasoning. Dish out and serve warm with some sambal belachan.