Stir Fry Candied Roast Pork with Garlic

non-halal

I know this is not the best looking dish but oooh it tastes so good. My mom used to make this dish for us with leftover roast pork/siew yoke. She  stir fry it with loads of garlic, thick dark soy sauce and sugar until it is caramelized and sticky. The garlic and pork turns into crunchy sticky bits and it tasted so good with steamed rice or rice porridge

Ingredients:

400 gram roast pork – cut into small pieces
5-6 cloves garlic – roughly chopped
1 ½ tbsp sugar or according to your preference
1 tsp of dark soy sauce
Salt to taste

Creamy Butter Prawns/Nai Yau Har

My mom cooked a lot of traditional dishes for our Chinese New Year reunion dinner and one of them is this prawn dish. She once saw a chef on TV demonstrating a prawn dish using evaporated milk and she cook it for us. We like it a lot but I tweak recipe a bit by adding additional ingredients to it. Many Chinese families like to cook prawns/shrimps, as a prawn in Cantonese is ‘Ha’ which in English means ‘laughter’ and that associate with the idea of happiness and joy all year round. Being Chinese, all the dishes serve during the festive season need to have auspicious name or meaning to it. This is my version of mom’s dish. Finger licking good!!

 

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.

Hakka Braised Pork with Black Fungus (Char Yoke)

Non-halal

Even though we are not Hakka but my mom do cooked some of Hakka dishes for us like the Yong Tau Foo , Kau Yoke, Mui Choi Kau Yoke, Abacus Beads and this Char Yoke. She will make this particular dish only on special occasions like Chinese New Year or Mooncake Festival. This is quite a simple recipe with not too many ingredients other than the adding the red fermented beancurd and five spice powder to the dish.

I put off making this dish for something because I don’t like the splashing of the oil while deep frying the marinated meat. I did get splashed a bit by the oil while trying to turn the pork but it is all worth it as the dish turns out really well as the pork is tender and the black fungus (woodears) are soft yet slightly on the crunchy side. It goes really well with steamed rice. Since I don’t prepare dishes like this often I cook a bit more so I can freeze some of it. When I wanted to eat it, all I have to do is defrost and reheat it with a few tablespoon of water.

Steamed Chicken with Mushroom and Black Fungus

I wanted to recreate this dish that my mom used to cook for us. I am not sure what exactly she put into it but I remember there were chicken, mushrooms and ginger. I can’t call to ask her as it was very early morning there in Malaysia when I wanted to cook this. This dish is easy to make, just marinate everything together and steam it. Although it is not exactly taste like how she made it but nevertheless it taste delicious and it goes well with rice. I have to remember to ask my mom about this dish the next time I talk to her.

Fried Tofu and Meat Sui Kow/Fried Tofu and Meat Dumplings

I was thinking of making a tofu dish but when I cut open the tube of egg tofu it was all broken. I can’t really slice it into round rings. So I decided to mash them up and mix it into the meat filling for the dumplings or Sui Kow. If your kid is not a fan of tofu you can make this and hide the tofu in the filling without them knowing it. I don't think they will ever figure out there is tofu in it. Not my hubby :)

Ingredients:

1 packet of dumplings wrappers or wonton wrappers
1 tube of egg tofu – mashed
6 oz ground pork or chicken
6 oz shrimps – peel and deveined and roughly chopped
1 small carrot – grated
6 water chestnut – cut into tiny cubes
2 spring onions
1 egg
1 tbsp cornstarch

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.

Soy Sauce Chicken/See Yau Kai

I prepared this dish when Diana came home over the weekend. Beside soy sauce chicken I made roast pork/siew yoke too. This is a full- fledged Chinese meal for us. This is something we can easily get from the Chinese restaurant in Chinatown but I prefer to prepare this at home. If you are not a fan of whole chicken you can always use this same sauce for chicken thigh, drumsticks or chicken wings.

Ingredients:
Source: My Kitchen Snippets

1 whole chicken – about 2 – 2.5 pounds
4-6 hard boiled eggs - peeled

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.

Stir-fry Long Beans with Chicken

It is not easy to find long beans here at my small Asian grocery store and if I see any I will definitely buy some. Since it is around summer I do see them appearing on the vegetable shelves. I actually like the lighter green and fatter version beans like the one we find back home but I can’t seems to get that variety here. The one sold here are much greener, thinner, and harder and takes a bit longer to cook. I like to make omelet, long bean rice and curries with it and this is one of those dishes that my mom used to cook at home and you will see it on our dinner table at least once a week.

Ingredients:

1 pound long beans – cut into 1 ½” length
1 piece chicken breast – removed skin and slice thinly
2 cloves garlic - chopped
1 shallot – sliced thinly
2 tsp black bean paste/tau cheong
1 tsp sugar
A few dash of pepper
¼ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Braised Chicken with Potatoes

This dish reminds me of childhood as my mom used to cook this very often for us. The chicken and potatoes are braised in dark soy sauce until soft and tender. With the thick rich sauce after long braising this dish goes really well with rice. I am going to do a series of my mom’s cooking here. Since some of my nieces already left home to further their studies oversea, they can always refer here if they wanted to make some home cooked dishes.

Ingredients:

Half chicken
2 potatoes – peel and quartered
2 medium size carrots – peel and cut into chunks
1 small onion – quartered
4 slices of ginger
3 cloves garlic – chopped

Shrimp and Chive (Ku Chai) Pancakes

The chives in my containers are growing like weed and I can’t eat them fast enough. Some of it has become too tough to eat so I have to cut and throw it away. I will usually add it into my fried noodles , dumplings , prawn fritters and make omelets with it. I remember my mom used to make this pancakes for us during the weekends and we used to eat it with chili sauce. She will usually add some dried shrimps to it but I used fresh shrimps since I don’t have any of it in my pantry. It is simple and easy yet so comforting. You can check out the other type of pancake which I made some time ago. Chive Pancake Rolls

Soy Sauce Eggs

I remember years ago there was a myth that said eating too many eggs is bad for you as it will leads to high cholesterol. As for now they do encourage you to eat eggs as they were a great cheap source of protein. Eggs have such amazing versatility to it. You can do all kinds of bakes with it and cook it in many ways. I will throw in a few hard boiled eggs into my stew all the time. Another way I like to prepare them is boiled them in soy sauce. The savory umami of soy sauce, the simple flavor of the whites and the buttery richness of the yolks are fantastic together. I like eating this with rice porridge.

Ingredients:
Adapted from Kylie Kwong: Simply Magic

½ dozen hard boiled eggs – removed shells
3 tablespoon dark soy sauce
½ cup brown sugar
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine
7-8 slices fresh ginger
1 ½ cup of water

Steamed Salted Chicken with Chinese Wine

When the organic free range chicken goes on sale I will usually buy a few of it and freeze it up. Normally a 2.5 pound chicken will cost around $14.00 each but that day it went for $8.00 each. The best way to prepare this type of chicken is steam it. It retains its flavor and sweetness. The chicken came out tender and juice, definitely a great dish to serve for dinner with some Ginger Scallion dipping sauce.

Ingredients:

Half chicken – preferable free range chicken
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp of Chinese cooking wine
5 slices ginger
3 stalks spring onions/scallion

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.

Stir-fry French Beans with Szechuan Vegetables

Every two weeks I will check the vegetables compartment in the fridge and see what leftovers I have in there before buying new ones. Normally I will make a quick stir-fry with all the leftovers and this is one the dish that I came up with.

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.

Yong Tau Foo/Stuffed Vegetables

Yong tau foo (酿豆腐) is one of my favorite foods from back home. It is a popular dish in Singapore and Malaysia and literally translates as 'stuffed tofu’ with fish paste. Soy products like tofu, deep fried tofu puffs and bean curd sheets are often used and vegetables like okra, bitter melon, chilies, sweet peppers and eggplant are common choices too. These stuffed tofu and vegetable pieces are pan fried and usually serves in clear broth or simmers in bean paste sauce.

I don’t make this dish often because it is labor intensive. Whenever I make this, I will make a bit more so I can freezer some of it. . During our Malaysian ladies monthly gathering we decided to make some since there are a few of us to help out. We are able to buy ready made fish paste here so it makes life so much easier for us. All we have to do is add some ground meat, spring onions and some seasonings into it and the paste is done. Here are some of the pictures I took to share it with you.

Ingredients for fish paste:

1 pound fish paste
½ pound ground pork or chicken
3 spring onions – cut small
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp white pepper
Salt to taste

For Stuffing:

4 pieces of tofu
1 big piece of beancurd skin
1 packet of tofu puffs
10 ladies fingers
1 eggplant
1 bitter melon
10 sweet peppers
6 red or green chilies

Sauce:

2 tbsp of fermented bean paste
2 tbsp oyster sauce
3 cloves garlic – chopped
2 ½ - 3 cups of water or chicken stock
1 tsp of cornstarch + 3 tbsp of water
sugar to taste

1. In a mixing bowl, mix all the fish paste ingredients together and mix well and set it aside.
2. Prepare ingredients for stuffing. Wash all the vegetables. Trimmed okras and make a slit in the center. Slice eggplant, sliced the bitter melon into rings and discard the seeds. Stuff it with the paste.

3. For the chilies and sweet peppers, trimmed the steams, make a slit and try to discard as much seeds as possible. Stuff it with the paste.



4. Cut the tofu into triangles, make a slit in the center, wash and squeeze out all the water from the tofu puffs and cut into two, cut the bean curd skin into 4” x 5” pieces. Stuff it with the paste.



5. Heat up some oil in a frying pan, pan fried and sears all the stuff vegetables and tofu’s until lightly browned. Remove and set it aside. (at this stage you can freeze some of it for further use)
6. In the same frying pan, remove most of the oil and leave about 2 tbsp in it. Stir fry the chopped garlic until fragrant and lightly brown. Add in the black bean paste. Stir fry until fragrant and add in the chicken stock.
7. Add in the oyster sauce and bring it up to boil. Add in all the seared ingredients. Bring up to boil and simmer for a few minutes. Add in some sugar to taste. Taste it first as you might need to add some salt to it. Add in the cornstarch and cook until sauce thickens. Remove and serve warm.

Note: I didn't add any salt to this dish since the bead paste and oyster sauce give this dish enough of saltiness.