咸菜鸭汤

好久好久没有煮咸菜汤了。我记得妈妈曾近告诉我煮汤的咸菜和拿来炒的咸菜是不一样的。煮汤的一般是用头的部分，用来炒的就买一棵棵有菜叶的咸菜。我就根据妈妈的话去找煮汤的咸菜。在这里很难买到好吃的咸菜。在新加坡的湿巴刹买的咸菜煮这个汤一点问题都没有，但是在这里几次买的咸菜不是太咸（已经浸泡水中）就是没有什么味道。整锅汤都不好喝。很气馁，所以决定不煮了。

  

煮汤用的咸菜

炒用的咸菜

一般上咸菜汤应该是用鸭子煮汤。但是我都是用排骨因为鸭子煮汤比较油。加上这里卖的都是整只鸭子，在家里要处理很麻烦。直到最近我的邻居告诉我超市有卖鸭腿（但是是冷藏的啦），我才决定再次煮这个汤，但是这次用鸭腿煮！

我把鸭皮剥掉，这样汤就不会有这么多油。用鸭煮咸菜汤味道的确很鲜甜！可惜啊，这次买的咸菜又不及格！我在煮汤前，还尝了尝咸菜，觉得有点咸但不酸，所以还泡了一下水。结果，煮出来的汤一点咸菜的味道都没有。唉，又是失败！

虽然如此，如果你想煮这道汤，不要因为我的失败而不要尝试哦。可能，你能买到味道刚好的咸菜，煮出一锅好汤！

食材：

1）咸菜一颗

2）鸭腿3个

3）番茄3个，切块

4）马铃薯两个，切块

酸梅

5）酸梅 1颗 （不是零食的酸梅。是用来蒸鱼和煮汤用的酸梅）

6）姜片，3－4片

步骤：

1）将咸菜的叶子一片片剥开，用水冲洗一下。如果你觉得咸菜很咸，可以用水浸泡一下。

2）将鸭腿的皮剥掉，然后用滚水川烫一下。

3）将水煮开，把所有材料放入锅中。等水再次煮开后，用小火煮2个小时，就可以了！

Rojak---My style

This craving for Rojak suddenly strike me one day. Since my bottle of Har Gou (black prawn paste) still sitting in my cabinet, I might as well make good use of it. Searched the net for a Rojak recipe and 2 caught my attention. I will combine what I see in this 2 recipes and come up with a sauce I like. I prefer a sweeter version of the sauce. I will add more Har Gou for that sweet and rich taste.


I remember the hawkers selling rojak, just splash a thick spoonful of har gou than add some chilli sauce if you prefer spicy version, sugar and some water (which now I think it is assam water) and stir the sauce hard to mix well. Than he add in the ingredients : pineapple, bung kuang, bean sprouts, cucumber, you tiao, tou pok, banana flower. For some stalls will add jellyfish which i like. Last but not least he will sprinkle a generous amount of peanut. Woo thinking of it my mouth starts to water. Miss the famous Toa Payoh rojak. I remember I will go with my colleagues to that stall just to eat that rojak for late lunch.


For my version, my boss aka my hubby says he only like the you tiao and tou pok in rojak. Therefore got to cater to his taste. I remember there are also stalls selling tou pok stuff with bean sprouts and cucumber and they will add the cuttlefish and kang kong. Can't remember the name of the dish. I shall follow that but without cuttlefish (don't have at home) and kang kong (my boss also don't like kang kong)


This time, I have toasted my own peanuts and pound it with my mortar. I think the peanut will taste nicer. Those bought in supermarket doesn't have that strong toasted peanut flavour. If you have the time should try it. Those that you can't finish can store it in a bottle and use it for other dishes.

Peanuts after toasting on a pan

Ingredients:
1) 1 cumber shredded
2) Bean sprouts 1 packet
3) Raw peanuts 1 cup, dry toasted and coarsely grounded using blender or mortar
4) 2 You Tiao
5) 10 small tou pok (I can only get small ones here)
6) 6 tablespoons of Har Gou (Black prawn paste)
7) 1 tablespoon of tamarind pulp soaked in 2 tablespoons of water
8) 1 teaspoon of belachan, toasted
9) 1 tablespoon of shaved gula melaka (you can use sugar or brown sugar too)
10) 1 teaspoon of sambal chilli


Steps:
1) Blanch the bean sprouts for 10 seconds, remove and drain.
2) Pour the raw peanuts into a saucepan. Toast them using medium heat. Toss them around until they turn slightly brown. Must be careful not to burnt them. Than ground them in a blender. For me I use the mortar.
3) To prepare the Dressing, mash and strain the tamarind and discard any solids to obtain juice. Combine the tamarind juice and all other Dressing ingredients in a bowl and mix well. I will not add all the dressing ingredients in one go. I will add some of the dressing ingredients and mix and taste as I go along to suit my taste. 
4) Put the tou pok and you tiao in a baking tray and placed them in the preheated oven of 200 degress C and bake them until crispy (around 15 min).
5) When the tou pok and you tiao are done, cut the you tiao into chunks. Make a slit in the tou pok and stuff the bean sprouts and cucumber inside. 
6) Placed the stuff tou pok and you tiao on a large plate. Than pour the dressing on top of the tou pok and you tiao. Last but not least, sprinkle the peanuts on top generously!

Before adding peanuts

After adding peanuts

The verdict: The dressing is very yummy. But the tou pok's "meat" is too thick. They don't sell the tou pok which have less "meat" and more porous like in Singapore. Therefore, it gets pretty dry. I think next time I would dig out some of the "meat" inside the tou pok first than stuff my things inside. Oh and also I can't get calamansi juice here, something seems to be missing. But overall I am pretty satisfied ;p

想念妈妈的私房菜－－－云吞水饺汤

在新加坡，云吞的馅料只有肉，水饺的话就会有虾和肉馅。我比较喜欢吃水饺。但是， 妈妈做的云吞汤是我很想念的一道菜。其实，没有什么特别。只不过妈妈在肉馅里加了马蹄所以增加了口感和甜味。她的云吞也加了虾和黑木耳。所以她做的云吞是云吞和水饺合一。哈哈，正合我口味！妈妈的汤是用江鱼仔熬的，所以很甜。她也会在汤里加入油菜，这样我们就有均衡的饮食了！

我老公喜欢吃香港的云吞汤。他特别喜欢那个汤。在新加坡好像没有找到这样的港式云吞汤。在休斯顿就更不用说了。让我感到惊讶的是，我竟然在西雅图唐人街的一间餐馆找到了这样的云吞面！那家的云吞不是很好吃，但是它的汤正是我老公喜欢的那种港式的汤。真是让我们又惊又喜！

回到休斯顿，对那云吞汤念念不忘。所以决定用妈妈的方法做云吞。 那个汤嘛，由于临时决定做这道菜，没时间到华人超市买材料，我就得根据家里有什么材料，凭直觉“调配”了 ;p 

食材：

1）绞肉大概300－400克

2）马蹄6个，切成小丁

3）黑木耳7朵，切末

4）葱末，大概2汤匙

5）云吞皮

6）江鱼仔大概20－30只，去头

7）中虾大概10只，去壳，抹干水份，切块

8）油菜1－2棵

9）姜汁1汤匙

10）蚝油2汤匙

11）酱油1汤匙

12）绍兴酒1汤匙

13）麻油少许

14）胡椒粉少许

15）日式柴鱼昆布酱油（一般酱油也可以）大概2汤匙

16）柴鱼粉少许

步骤：

1）将虾、姜汁、蚝油、酱油、麻油、绍兴酒、胡椒粉及柴鱼粉加入绞肉，用筷子顺着同一个方向将调味料和绞肉搅拌均匀。等到绞肉呈现粘粘的状态就可以将葱末、黑木耳和马蹄加入，然后同样搅拌均匀。让绞肉放入冰箱腌制大概半小时。

2）馅料腌好后，就可以开始包云吞和水饺。水饺 ： 把云吞皮放在手掌，然后将馅料放在云吞皮中央。用点水沾湿云吞皮边边的周围，然后将云吞皮对折，用手把边边压紧。如果你买的云吞皮是圆形的，那样你的水饺应该是半圆形。我买到的皮是四方形，所以我的水饺成三角形。云吞：把云吞皮放在手掌，然后将馅料放在云吞皮中央。用点水沾湿云吞皮边边的周围，然后把云吞皮拉起来，集中在一起，捏紧。

3）包好后，可以将一锅水煮开。水要多，让云吞和水饺有空间在里面浮动。一定要等到水煮开才把云吞和水饺放进去煮，不然它们会粘在锅底。如果你煮的云吞很多，可以分几次煮。把云吞下完后，等水再次煮开。云吞浮上水面就应该熟了。你可以先把一个捞上来，看看熟了没有。把煮好的云吞和水饺放在碗里配用。

4）江鱼仔去头然后用水清洗一下。将水煮开后，加入姜片和江鱼仔用小火煮大概15分钟。你如果不介意吃江鱼仔，可以不把它们捞出来。然后，加入油菜烫熟。将柴鱼酱油和柴鱼粉加入调味。

5）汤煮好后就可以倒入已放置云吞的碗里。你喜欢的话可以加少许胡椒粉和葱末。

吃云吞水饺必备的重要东西就是－－－－青辣椒！！我上次回新加坡特别买了一罐回来。现在差不多要吃光光了，是时候明年回去“补货”哈哈！我们也特别煮了面加了蚝油，麻油，酱油，还有很重要的sambal chili。虽然没有办法煮的和外面小贩卖的云吞面一样，不过我已经很满意。老公这次“开金口”说：“hm不错”。我看他是真的饿了！

哦，对了如果你知道如何煮港式的云吞汤，特别是那个汤的食谱，是否可以告诉我呢？先谢了！：）

Corn soup with pork ribs and celery

This is another one of the soups I will often cook as corn helps to lower cholesterol. The corn here is very sweet especially when they are in season. And it is pretty cheap. Like one big corn for 25cents. There are even corns with purple kennels.  I have added celery as it helps to lower cholesterol too. So hope to "double power up" my soup in lowering my cholesterol level. If you don't like the taste of celery you can omit it. I have also added carrot as it adds sweetness to the soup. My mum will add some 芡实to the soup so I have added some too. Let me ask her why she add that to the soup and I will add that to this blog. I have used loin meat instead of pork ribs as you have guessed it, it is less oily. 

Usually we don't eat the ingredients of the soup, but for this one, I will cut out the corn kennels and use them for my salad the next day. So 一物二用, don't waste food. 

Ingredients:

1) 2 corns

2) 1 medium size carrot

3) 2 stalks of celery

4) Loin meat or pork ribs

5) A handful of 芡实

Steps:

1) Blanch the meat with boiling water. 

2) Boil water in the pot. When the water starts to boil add in all the ingredients. 

3) When the water starts to boil again turn down the flame to lower heat and boil for 2 hours.

Pasta salad with roast chicken, asparagus and mushrooms

Thought that someone will be coming over for dinner, so bought extra things to cook a meal. In the end he can't make it and my hubby won't be home for dinner for the next few days and I am left with too much ingredients. Therefore I decided to come up with a simple one dish meal for 3 (for 3 : so that i can use up some of the things in the fridge) and the leftovers can be my lunch and my hubby's too the next day.

Salad should be a simple and healthy choice. Have been eating too much for the past few weeks during my vacations so would love something more healthy. But if I add only veggies, I don't think it is filling enough for my hubby as his lunch. Search my pantry for ideas and this new box of whole wheat pasta caught my attention. Ok shall come up with a pasta salad! So I will have my portion of veggie and my hubby will have his carbo.

The only veggie in my fridge which I think 勉强 can be used for salad is asparagus (initially wanted to cook sambal asparagus for my guest). And I shall grab my extra packet of mini portobello mushrooms to 加料. I think better finish my chicken breast in my freezer so I shall roast it. This is another attempt of me to come up with a salad with whatever ingredients I want to clear in my fridge ;p

Ingredients:

1) 2 small chicken breast with skin and bones intact
2) 1 box of mini portobello mushrooms cut into slices
3) 1 bunch of asparagus cut into chuncks
4) 3 tablespoon chopped cilantro (optional)
5) Some Red onion slices
6) Mayo 3 tablespoon
7) Olive oil 2 tablespoon
8) Lemon juice of half a lemon
9) Black pepper
10)Salt to taste

Steps
1) Marinate it with olive oil, salt, black pepper, and roast chicken seasoning in a bottle(optional).  Than bake it in the preheated oven of around 200 degree C for around 30 to 40 minutes. Take the chicken out from the oven and cover it with aluminum foil until it is cool enough for you to cut it into chunks. I took off the skin for a healthier meal.
2) Add some olive oil, salt and black pepper to the asparagus. Mix well and spread the veggie evenly onto the baking tray. Than bake it in the preheated oven of around 200 degree C for around 10 to 15 minutes.
3) Melt some butter in a pan. Add in some garlic to stir fry a while. Than add in the mushrooms. Stir fry  it till the mushrooms starts to sweat. Add in some white wine and stir fry for another minute and you can scoop them into a plate.
4) Cook the pasta in boiling water with some salt and oil added into it. Refer to the instructions on the package on how long you need to cook the pasta. After the pasta is cooked, drain well.
5) Mix the mayo, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper well. If you prefer to have a thicker dressing can add more mayo. 
6)Add the chicken, asparagus, mushrooms, onion, cilantro and pasta into a big bowl. Add in the dressing, mix well and you can enjoy your meal!!!

Back from holidays!

Been away for almost 16 days to Alaska and Seattle and another week to 恢复元气 ;p,  that's why I have not been updating my blog. 

Beautiful Scenery

The trip was fantastic! Beautiful scenery

Watching Wildlife

adrenalin pumping excursions chasing after wildlife,

Eat Eat Eat

eating and drinking non stop and...

The Ho Family

and lot's of fun with a Singaporean family whom we went together with.

I put on 3kg during the trip so you can imagine how much I ate. Basically the word "diet" is out of my dictionary for the last 16 days ;p . Since we are at Alaska, we must eat the fresh salmon, halibut, Alaska crab legs, salmon chowder and lot's of other seafood. And what's best to go with those food?? Wine and beer! We had tried the Alaskan beer. They taste pretty light and fragrant not as bitter like Tiger beer. I think ladies will love it.

When we reached Seattle, we went to Pikes Place. We were so eager to try the fresh seafood and fruits there! Yes we already ate a lot for the past 10 days, but when you see how fresh the seafood and fruits are it's simply irresistible!

顾不了仪态，吃最重要！

big juicy peaches and avocados

Really miss the fresh seafood! Though had great seafood, but we actually miss chinese food. The moment we reached Seattle we go and check out the Chinatown there. Luckily the first restaurant we tried, the food is delicious! We actually went back there for dinner for the next 2 days haha! Now back to reality, time to stick back to my diet! Will go and search for inspiration to cook some new dishes soon. Just planned my dinner for the next week. Planning to make rojak and a new dish I saw on 吃饭黄帝大next week  敬请期待 ;p

Home made fish paste

The Paste

Hands itchy when I see the recipe for home made fish paste (http://food-4tots.com/2008/10/29/how-to-make-smooth-springy-fish-paste/) The supermarkets in Chinatown do sell fish paste but still not as tasty as those in Singapore. I still remember when I was young my mum and grandmother used to make fish paste using 西刀鱼 （that's the cantonese name of the fish）. This fish has a lot of small tiny bones. My mum will use a spoon to scrap off the meat carefully cos there are too many little bones. 

I managed to find a recipe with the fish I can find here in Houston. This type of fish is spanish mackerel fish (鲛鱼). When I went to the supermarket, my gosh there are so many types of mackerel! I only remember mackerel but the specific type I didn't managed to get it. So I just try my luck and bought the King mackerel. Deh! Wrong one! But since I have bought it I might as well experiment it with this King Mackerel. Should not be too far out since they belong to the mackerel family ;p 

Cooked Fish Balls using the home made paste

Well, as you can see from the picture above the results is not as perfect. It is not as smooth and springy as I would love it to be. Maybe due to the fish or  my skills still needs sharpening ;p Making this fish paste needs pretty lot of work but I think it is worth it. And it is also a good exercise for your hand muscle haha! You will know why when you see the recipe. You can check out this website http://food-4tots.com/2008/10/29/how-to-make-smooth-springy-fish-paste/ for the recipe. I think it is a very good website as it has step by step pictures to show you how to make it. 

By the way I have just changed the settings for comments. I guess if you have problems leaving a comment in my blog you should be able to do it now. Thanks JY for telling me this problem. No wonder I feel lonely posting without any comments. Please feel free to teach me more ways or secrets to improve any dish!