Napa Cabbage Rolls

10 - 11 napa cabbage leaves
10 - 11 chinese chives (to use for tying)
250g minced pork
1/2 tbsp grated ginger
30g shiitake mushroom, chopped finely
25g carrot, chopped finely
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp chinese cooking wine
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp fish sauce

• Place all the ingredients (except cabbage and chives) in a bowl and stir to combine.
• Blanch napa cabbage leaves in boiling water for 1 minute.  Refresh in cold water, then drain well and wipe with paper towel. Blanch the chives as well.  Set aside.
• To make the cabbage rolls, place about 2 tbsp of the minced meat onto the cabbage leaf and roll up tightly. Tie the roll with chives.  Repeat until all the minced meat are used up.
• Place all the cabbage rolls in a heat proof plate and steam under high fire for about 10 - 15 minutes.  Carefully pour out the liquid which will be added to the sauce.

Sauce:

1/4 cup water or chicken broth

liquid from the steamed cabbage rolls

2 - 3 dried scallops, steamed

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1/4 tsp sugar

salt & pepper, to taste

corn starch slurry

• Bring the sauce to a boil and add in corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce.  Pour over the cabbage rolls and serve hot.

Stir fry French Beans with Preserved Radish

This is one of my "must-have" dish to go with plain congee.  There's saltiness, sweetness, heat and crunch, all in one dish!  There is no exact measurement required and it is really simple. Remember, most of the cooking that happens in the kitchen doesn't involve recipes!

Ingredients:
French beans, diced
Preserved turnips (chai poh), diced
Carrot, diced
Firm tofu, diced
Dried shrimps, chopped
Chillies, chopped
Garlic, minced
Cooking oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

• Heat oil in a wok and fry preserved turnips until light brown.  Dish out and set aside.  
• Add more oil in the wok and lightly fry dried shrimps, dish out and set aside. Next fry tofu until light brown.  Dish out.
• Sauté minced garlic until aromatic, then toss in carrot, beans and chillies.  Fry until beans are cooked; add in preserved turnips, dried shrimps and tofu.  Season with salt and pepper and  stir fry to combine.
• Serve hot.  

Mak ("Easy") Kimchi

If you've never made kimchi before, the process seems to sound quite intimidating. However, making your own kimchi doesn't have to be a laborious task if you follow this Mak-Kimchi (meaning Easy Kimchi) recipe by Maangchi. It requires only one and a half hours of salting the cabbage. 

While the cabbage is salting, you can cook the porridge which serves as the base for the paste. Then prepare the paste by blending onion, garlic, ginger, pear or apple (optional), Korean red chilli pepper and fish sauce in a food processor. I cut down on the garlic since I don't like strong garlicky taste; and you can adjust the amount of chilli pepper to your liking. There are recipes which call for addition of some kind of salted seafood like shrimps, squids, oysters, etc but I prefer not to add these.

Finally, just mix the cabbage and other vegetables together with the paste and pack them into air-tight plastic containers and refrigerate them. I personally prefer to bottle my kimchi in glass jars as I find that glass jars with tight lids tend to keep the kimchi smell contained. The first few times I made kimchi I stored them in plastic containers and boy, every time when I opened the fridge, I was hit by the funky smell of the kimchi!

Usually kimchi is left in room temperature for a day or two to start the fermentation process before storing in the fridge.  However I skipped this step and put the jars straight into the fridge to let them ferment slowly.  I am not fond of eating sour kimchi which indicates that they are over-fermented unless I am cooking with it.

Do you know that kimchi is a probiotic food, like yogurt - it aids digestion and helps strengthen our immune system?  

Salting Cabbage:

2.7kg Napa cabbage
1/2 cup sea salt

• Cut the cabbage lengthwise into quarters, remove the cores and cut into bite-size pieces.
• Soak cabbage pieces in cold water, then transfer them into a large mixing bowl or basin.
• Sprinkle salt over the cabbage and mix well. Every half an hour so turn the cabbage over so that the salt are evenly distributed. (Total salting time: 1 hr 30 mins)
• Rinse the cabbage 3 times to wash the salt off thoroughly. Drain and set aside.

Porridge:

2 cups water

2 tbsp glutinous rice flour

2 tbsp sugar

• In a small saucepan, mix flour into the water and stir to combine.  
• Cook over medium heat until it starts bubbling.
• Add in sugar and stir for a few more minutes until it is translucent.
• Remove saucepan from the heat and set aside to cool.

Korean hot pepper flakes

Paste:
50g garlic
15g ginger

100g onion

1/2 cup fish sauce

2 cups hot pepper flakes

2 small nashi pears

• Blend all the ingredients together in the food processor and then mix in the porridge. Stir well to combine.

Vegetables:

265g radish, julienned

110g carrot, julienned

4 stalks spring onion, cut diagonally

To put together the kimchi:

• Put the paste into a large mixing bowl and add in radish, carrot, spring onion and cabbage.  Mix well.
• Pack kimchi into jars, leaving about an inch of space below the lid.
• Keep kimchi in the fridge to ferment.  

Braised Yam With Mushroom

This dish actually tastes better than it looks.  It is usually cooked with dried shrimps but for a vegetarian dish, I substituted dried shrimps with mushroom.  You don't have to follow the recipe exactly, just follow your instincts. 

Ingredients:
about 400-500g yam, diced
60g golden mushroom meat (processed Monkey Head Mushroom)
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 shallots, minced
1 stalk spring onion, finely cut, for garnishing
salt, sugar & pepper - to taste
cooking oil
enough water for braising

• Blanched the processed mushroom and drained.  Cut into smaller pieces.  
• Heat about 2 tbsp oil and lightly fry the taro cubes.  Remove and set aside.
• In the same frying pan, saute the shallots and garlic until fragrant.  Then add in the mushroom. Toss in the yam and fry.  
• Pour in enough water to cover the yam.  Bring to the boil and season with salt, sugar and pepper.  Lower the fire and simmer until yam is soft and gravy thickens.
• Season with more ground pepper if you wish.  Garnish with chopped spring onion and serve hot.

processed monkey head mushroom

Vegetarian Sambal Petai

Petai or stinky beans - you either love it or loathe it.  Despite the pungent odour that lingered in your breath and toilet after consuming these, this is one dish that you wouldn't want to miss if you are a fan of petai.  It is commonly cooked with sambal prawns or ikan bilis with brinjal, okra, long beans or winged beans (aka four angled beans) in the mix.  

One word of caution, before you cook, make sure you split the petai into halves to make sure there are no worms hidden inside.

sambal mushroom stems

Ingredients:

petai
brinjal
long beans
winged beans
your favourite sambal (I used the sambal mushroom stems I cooked the other day)
oil
salt & sugar, to taste
3 - 4 tbsp water
lime juice (optional), to taste

• Heat a little oil in the frying pan and add in sambal and water.
• Toss in brinjal, long beans and winged beans.  Stir until all vegetables are coated with sambal. Add in more water if too dry. 
• Lastly add in petai and toss well.  Season with salt and sugar and lime juice.

Sticky Pork on Broccolini

 Ingredients:

2 bunches of broccolini, cut into half, crossway
100g minced pork (marinade with 1/2 tsp cornflour, pinch of pepper and dash of light soy sauce)
1 slice of ham, diced finely
2 cloves garlic, minced finely
3 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
20g walnuts, toasted and chopped coarsely
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp grated palm sugar
1 chilli, sliced
1 tbsp cooking oil

• Heat oil in a wok and saute garlic until fragrant.  Then add in marinated minced pork and stir-fry until lightly browned.  
• Add sugar, fish sauce, lime leaves, lemon juice and chilli.  Cook for about 2 minutes.  
• Meanwhile, steam broccolini until just tender.  Transfer broccolini onto a plate and top with the pork mixture and chopped walnuts.  

Spicy Minced Pork with Thai Basil

This flavoursome Thai-inspired dish is amazingly easy to put together with a few simple ingredients. You can either use minced chicken or pork. The authentic Grapow Moo uses Holy Basil which I replaced with the normal Thai basil.  

Ingredients:

(A)

250g pork mince

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp cornflour

dash of pepper

(B)

3 cloves garlic, chopped finely

2 shallots, sliced finenly

3 bird's eye chillies (chopped)

3 kaffir lime leaves, remove the thick mid-rib and slice the leaves thinly

(C)

300g french beans (or snake beans), cut finely

1/2 bunch Thai basil, leaves only

1 tsp sugar (or palm sugar)

1/2 tsp dark soy sauce

fish sauce, to taste

dash of pepper

1 1/2 tbsp oil

• Marinade minced pork with cornflour and light soy sauce with a dash of pepper.  Set aside.
• Heat oil in a wok and put in chopped garlic, shallots, chillies and kaffir lime leaves slivers and stir-fry until fragrant.
• Add in marinated minced pork and break apart clumps with the spatula.  Cook for about 1 - 2 minutes or until the pork changes colour.
• Toss in french beans and stir to combine.  
• Stir in dark soy sauce, sugar,  fish sauce  and pepper (adjust seasonings according to your taste).
• Add in basil leaves and toss until basil is wilted.  
• Transfer to a serving plate and serve hot with plain rice.

Stir-fry Potato Strips ( 炒土豆丝)

Ingredients:

4 (about 300g) potatoes, cut into thin strips
60g carrot, cut into thin strips
50g Sichuan preserved vegetable, cut into thin strips
65g red capsicum, cut into thin strips
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
2 shallots, chopped finely
2 dried chilli, cut into half and soaked to soften 
1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 sprig of coriander leaves,cut into 2 cm lengths

Seasoning:
1 tbsp black vinegar or to taste
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
salt & pepper to taste

• Soak potato strips in a bowl of cold water for about 5 - 10 minutes and rinse to wash away the starch.  Repeat three times.  Drain well.
• Heat oil in a wok until hot, toss in the Sichuan peppercorns.  Discard the peppercorns immediately once they smell aromatic.  Toss in the dried chillies and chopped garlic and shallots and fry under medium-low heat until fragrant. 
• Add in potato and  carrot strips together with Sichuan preserved vegetable and stir fry on high heat for about 5 minutes.  If they begin to stick to the wok, add a little water. Add in seasoning  and keep frying until the potato strips no longer taste raw but still a little crunchy.  Lastly toss in the red capsicum strips and drizzle in sesame oil.  
• Garnish with coriander leaves.
• Before serving, sprinkle some toasted sesame over the potato strips.

Stir-fried Angled Gourd/Luffa

Angled Gourd goes by several different names -  Ribbed Loofah or Luffa,  Sponge Gourd, Chinese Okra or Silk Squash ( 絲瓜) in Chinese.  It has a sweet and unique taste with a silky texture.  The hard skin and the ridges need to be removed with a potato peeler and you will be left with the pale and spongy flesh to cook.  I would normally cooked it with prawns but today I am making this into a vegetarian dish.  


Ingredients:

2 angled gourds, cut at an angle into 1" pieces

1/2 carrot, julienned

1 piece wood-ear fungus

1/2 tbsp goji berries, rinsed

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbsp vegetable oil

water

salt & pepper, to taste

• To prepare wood-ear fungus, soak in warm water until re-hydrated.  Blanch in boiling water.  Slice fungus finely.  Set aside.
• Heat oil.  Saute chopped garlic until aromatic.  Add in angled gourds, julienned carrot, wood-ear fungus and goji berries. Toss to combine under high heat.  If it is too dry, add a little water. Cover and cook under medium heat until tender.
• Season with salt and pepper.  
• Serve with rice.

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Zucchini Stir-fry

Ingredients:
1 large zucchini, cut into strips
1 small carrot, cut into fine strips
1-2 tbsp dried shrimps, washed and soaked
2 cloves garlic,minced
a handful of glass noodles, soaked to soften - cut into shorter lengths
1 tbsp chinese cooking wine
1 tbsp fish sauce
a few drops of sesame oil
salt, pepper and sugar, to taste
water

• Heat oil in a hot frying pan, saute minced garlic until aromatic; then add in dried shrimps and fry until aromatic.  
• Add in zucchini and carrot strips, stir well.  Add in glass noodles followed by cooking wine, sugar and salt.  Add in enough water to cook the noodles.  
• Once the glass noodles are cooked through, season with fish sauce, sesame oil and pepper.  
• Serve hot.

Braised Mixed Vegetables / Buddha's Delight (Lo Hon Chai - 罗汉斋)

This vegetarian dish which is usually served on the first day of Chinese New Year varies from family to family.  The main ingredient in this dish is the red fermented beancurd; due to its strong smell, it is an acquired taste. So, if you are not a fan of red fermented beancurd, you can just omit it and replace with another tablespoon of oyster sauce perhaps.   My family love this dish very much, so I cooked it quite often, not only on Chinese New Year.  

Ingredients:
250-300g Nappa cabbage, cut into 1" length
1 medium sized carrot, sliced
a handful of sugar snap peas, trim both ends
10 dried shiitake mushroom, soaked to soften
a handful of cloud ear fungus, soaked to soften
about 20g dried lily bulbs, tie in knots
1 piece bean curd sheet
40g glass noodles
10 pieces tofu puffs, cut into halves
100g Shimeji mushroom
100g enoki mushroom
4 cloves garlic, minced
a small knob of ginger, minced
3 shallots, minced
cooking oil

Seasoning:
3 cubes red fermented bean curd, mashed
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
salt, to taste
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
1 cup water

• Heat about half a cup of cooking oil in the wok and fry bean curd sheet until crispy.  Remove and using the spatula cut it into smaller pieces; set aside.  Then put glass noodles into the oil and fry until crispy.  Remove and set aside.
• Sauté minced ginger, shallots and garlic until aromatic.  Add in shiitake mushroom, tofu puffs, cloud ear fungus, lily bulbs and fry for about 2 minutes before adding in the seasoning.  Cover and let it stew for about 15 minutes or until the shiitake mushrooms are soft.
• Add in cabbage, carrot,  Shimeji and enoki mushrooms, fried beancurd sheet and fried glass noodles.  Braised until cabbage is soft.   Add more water if too dry.  Finally add in sugar snap peas and cook for a minute or two.

Hakka Yam Abacus Seeds [客家算盘子]

 

For the abacus seed dough:

1 small yam - about 510g (yields 460g mashed yam)

100g tapioca flour

1 tsp oil

1/2 tsp salt

• Cut yam into cubes and steam until soft enough to be mashed.
• Add salt and oil into the hot yam and mash with a fork.  Gradually knead in tapioca flour using your hand until it forms a pliable dough and doesn't stick.
• Cut yam dough into 4 pieces.  Cover dough to prevent from drying out.  Gently roll each piece to form a log.  Cut each log into small pieces.  Take a small piece and roll into a ball.  Then press your thumb and index finger into the centre of the ball to form an indentation.  Place the 'abacus seeds' on a tray lined with baking paper (abacus seeds can be frozen at this stage)
• Bring a pot of water with 1/2 tsp salt to the boil.  Put in a batch of the abacus seeds.  As they cooked, the abacus seeds will rise to the surface.
• Remove with slotted spatula and drain well.  Toss the abacus seeds with a little oil to prevent them from sticking together.  Repeat with remaining abacus seeds.

For the frying:

oil

1 tsp sesame oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 shallot, minced

4 dried shiitake mushroom (soaked until softened, thinly sliced)

1/2 carrot, minced

1 piece firm tofu, cut into small cubes

2 tbsp dried shrimps (soaked and chopped finely)

salt & pepper, to taste

fish sauce, to taste

coriander leaves, for garnishing

• Heat oil in a wok, lightly brown the tofu.  Set aside.
• Saute shallot and garlic until fragrant.  Add in dried shrimps, shiitake mushroom and fry until aromatic.  Then add in carrot and a splash of water.  Cook for about 2 minutes.  
• Toss in the cooked yam abacus seeds and tofu. Add in sesame oil.
• Season with salt, pepper and fish sauce.  Continue frying for 2 minutes.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve immediately.

* Once frozen, the abacus seeds can be transferred into a plastic bag.  They can be frozen up to at least a month.  Cook frozen abacus seeds in boiling water before frying (no need to thaw).

Fried Green Beans with Minced Pork & XO Sauce [乾煸四季豆]

This is my all time favourite green beans dish and it is one of the dishes that graced our dinner table every time we eat out.  The hero of this dish is the green beans which is also known as string beans or French beans.  The beans are first shallow fried until blistered - this is to help seal in the natural sweetness and flavour, then toss together with minced meat and XO sauce.  You will need plenty of steamed rice to go with this dish.

A gift from a friend who returned from Taiwan

Ingredients:
250g green beans, trim both ends
100g minced pork (or minced chicken)
1 tbsp dried shrimps, washed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallots, sliced finely

Marinade for meat:
1 tsp light soy sauce
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp corn flour
1/2 tsp cooking wine
dash of pepper
dash of sesame oil

Seasoning:
2 tsp XO sauce
1 tsp chilli oil
salt & sugar to taste
pepper

a bowl of  iced water - to blanch the beans

• Marinate minced pork and set aside.
• Wash the green beans and dry thoroughly with kitchen towel before cutting into lengths of about 3 cm long.  
• Heat about 2 tbsp of oil in a wok (oil should barely cover the beans) and fry the beans in batches over medium-high heat, until they become wrinkly and slightly brown.  Quickly transfer beans into the bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process.  Drain beans in a colander and set aside.
• Using the same wok, sauté minced garlic, shallots and dried shrimps until fragrant.  Add in minced pork and XO sauce and chilli oil.  Stir well.
• Once the pork is cooked, turn up the heat.  Add in the green beans and season to taste.  Give a few quick toss and turn off the heat.  Do not over cook the beans. 

Hasselback Potatoes

 

 

Hasselback Potatoes are not a type of potato, but a Swedish potato dish which got its name from the restaurant, Hasselbacken in Stockholm where they were first served in the 1940s.  They are also known as Accordian Potato because of the way they are cut which resemble a fan or accordion with the bottom still attached when roasted.  Once roasted, the potato crisp up on the outside but tender and creamy on the inside.

Ingredients:

6 medium-sized Desiree potatoes (about 130g each), scrub and leave skin intact
30g butter, melted
2 tbsp olive oil
1 sprig rosemary
2 cloves garlic, halved
4 cloves garlic, sliced
sage,
sea salt
pepper
1 tbsp melted butter
breadcrumbs

• Preheat oven to 220 deg C.  Line a baking tray with foil.
• Cut a thin slice off one long side of each potato to give a flat surface so that potatoes will not move around.
• Place a potato, cut-side down, on the chopping board with two chopsticks on either side.  Using a sharp knife, make thin, evenly-spaced cuts of about 5mm apart.  Repeat with the rest of the potatoes.
• In a small saucepan, combine butter, olive oil and garlic halves.  Cook under low heat for about 2 minutes.  Remove the garlic oil/butter mixture from heat.  
• Rub garlic oil over potatoes to coat evenly.  Insert sage and garlic alternately into the cuts. Arrange potatoes on the prepared tray and place into the preheated oven.  Bake for 15 minutes.
• Bake for about 1 hour (or until potatoes are soft), basting every 20 minutes with the oil/butter mixture.
• When the potatoes are almost done, brush melted butter all over the potatoes.  Sprinkle sea salt, pepper and breadcrumbs over the potatoes.
• Bake for another 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown and crisp.
• Serve immediately.

Note:   Choose potatoes with firm flesh that holds its shape well and choose those with oblong shape.

Vegetables Thai Green Curry

Recipe Adapted from  Australian Women's Weekly - Easy Thai-style Cookery  


Green Curry Paste:  Blend into fine paste

3 fresh green chillies
1 small red onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander (including roots)
2 stalks lemon grass
1 small knob galangal, peeled
1 piece shrimp paste, roasted until fragrant and dry
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp turmeric
3 kaffir lime leaves, spine removed
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp water


1 carrots, cut into chunks
1 egg plant, cut into chunks
200g french beans, cut into 2cm length
1/4 cabbage, cut into big pieces
half a pack of tofu puffs
10 button mushroom
1 can (400 ml) coconut milk
palm sugar, to taste
fish sauce, to taste

• In a wok, heat about 2 tbsp oil and stir fry green curry paste until aromatic.  
• Add in 3/4 of the coconut milk and bring to the boil.
• Put in tofu puffs and vegetables (thicker and harder vegetables should go in first since they take longer to cook). Cook until all vegetables are tender.
• Season with palm sugar and fish sauce.  Then tip in the remaining coconut milk.
• Serve immediately with steamed rice.

I am submitting this post to  Asian Food Fest  (Thailand) - November Month 

hosted by  Lena of  Frozen Wings

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Kimchi (Repost)

[Some changes I've made on my previous post Kim Chi]

Ingredients:

1kg napa cabbage, cut into big pieces

3 carrot, cut into sticks
1 daikon, cut into sticks

1/2 cup sea salt dissolved in 1 cup of warm water

enough cold water to cover all the vegetables

1 cup red chilli flakes/chilli powder

4 cloves garlic

1 knob ginger

1/2 small brown onion

1 ripe Packham pear (peeled and cut into chunks)
1 ripe apple (peeled and cut into chunks)

1/4 cup fish sauce (to taste)

5 tbsp sugar (to taste)
salt to taste

3 spring onions, sliced
glutinous rice paste (optional. This rice paste is to speed up the fermentation process)

To make the glutinous rice paste:   Cook 1 tbsp glutinous rice flour with 1/2 cup water  over low heat until the mixture has thickened and turned white and bubbly.

• Dissolve the sea salt in warm water and add in the cold water.  Stir well.
• Place cabbage, carrots and daikon in a big mixing bowl and pour salt water over it.  Toss gently.  Leave vegetables in the brine for  about 3 hours, making sure that they are all fully submerged in the salt water.
• Wash the vegetables  to rinse off excess salt.  Squeeze and drain well.  Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
• Place pear, apple, onion, ginger, garlic, sugar and glutinous rice paste into a blender and blend until fine.  Then add in chilli flakes, salt, sugar and fish sauce.  Combine well.
• Add sliced spring onions to the drained vegetables.  Pour in the blended paste and toss well.  
• Once all the vegetables  have been coated, transfer to an airtight glass container and press down the vegetables.  Pour in the liquid as well.    (Do not fill right up to the rim).
• Cover and store the Kim Chi  in a cool, dark place for 24 hours to stimulate the fermentation process.  Then refrigerate it.  Kim Chi keeps well in the refrigerator for 3 - 4 weeks.