Home Made Soya Bean Milk without the Soya Bean Milk machine

That day I was watching "冰冰好料理" and they are featuring how to make soya bean milk without using the soya bean milk machine! All you need is a blender! I was very delighted cos I have a blender which is sitting in my kitchen cabinet. I think I am pretty sua gu about this way of making soya bean milk. When I tell my neighbour and my friends, they seem to know it already haha! 

Recently, I am trying to eat everything natural as much as possible. This recipe just fit the bill. 1 bag of soya beans can make lot's of soya bean milk and it is definitely cheaper than buying soya bean milk in the supermarket. I have a packet of organics soya bean at home anyway, so I must give it a try. Since I can't take sugar and sweet stuff I did not add any sugar. But it taste equally good! I have made it twice. The first time I followed http://www.noobcook.com/soy-bean-milk/ 's recipe which has added panda leaves. Maybe because the panda leaves I had are frozen ones that's why I don't think it make much difference to whether I add or don't. It has a little bit of pandan fragrance. The second time I have decided not to add. And I prefer the soya bean milk this time because I can really taste the soya beans and the fragrance of it. Now I have a 2 litres of soya bean milk in my fridge, I can have it anytime I like. I have a lot of soya beans leftovers after squeezing out the juice. I have thrown them away the 1st time. I think it is wasting food.  Luckily I managed to find a recipe of using it to make 豆酥。豆酥is more commonly used in making 豆酥鳕鱼. 1 bottle of 豆酥is pretty expensive. Now I can make myself! I will post the recipe next time. 

My next target is making tou huay（豆花）without using 石膏粉. Hmm let me do some research and I will tell you my results in my later post after I have tried to make my tou huay. 

Ingredients:

1) 1 cup of soya beans (the cup here refers to the measuring cup for rice)

2) Approximate 1 litre of water 

Tools:

1) Blender

2) A cloth filter/muslin bag with fine holes 

3) A sieve

Directions:

1) Wash the soya beans and soak it overnight or around 6 to 8 hours.

2) Pour away the water and wash the beans a few times.

3) Scoop a tablespoon of beans into the blender. Add 300 ml of water and blend it together. (my ratio is 1 tablespoon to 300 ml of water)

4) Do it a few times until you finished blending the beans.

5) Pour the mixture into the cloth filter and squeeze out the water. I filter the soya bean milk with a sieve again after squeezing out the juices. I put the cloth over the sieve and place the sieve (with the cloth) over the pot 

6) Bring the soya bean milk to a gentle simmer (not boiling or the milk will curd) over medium low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring regularly. After simmering, add sugar to taste and stir until they dissolve. Off the flame.

PS : If you like almond flavour in your soya bean milk. You can add in some 南杏 when you are simmering the soya bean milk. Than you can make 杏仁豆腐with the soya bean milk too isn't it?! :)

Steam Cod Fish with Garlic

Cod fish is another of my favourite fish. It is pretty expensive but I will still buy this on alternate weeks. The fish oil from cod fish is better than salmon. My mum always cook this fish every week. Most of the time she steam it with soya sauce, ginger. I bought some sauce for steaming fish here when I first came to Houston. My sis sent me some more such sauce last year. During my last visit back to Singapore, my dearest colleague Mandy specially drove to buy 广祥泰's steam fish sauce for me. Thanks Mandy very touched!!  Therefore, I always steam cod fish cos it's the easiest way and fail proof haha!

Recently I came across this recipe which uses garlic to steam fish. The thought of garlic taste when I bite into the fish and the sauce also full of the garlic, I tell myself I must try this dish! I just love garlic! 

Ingredients:

1) Cod Fish

2) 8 garlic cloves minced but not too finely.

3) 1/2 packet of 广祥泰's steam fish sauce (or you can use soya sauce)

4) 2 tablespoon of water

5) Some olive oil

Steps:

1) Put aside half the portion of garlic. For the rest of the garlic, put them on the baking tray and toss them with olive oil. Spread them out in the tray and put them in a preheated oven (around 200 degree C) for around 10 to 15 minutes. You must keep a look out once it reached 10 minutes to see if they are turning brown and not burnt. Like mine it is a bit burnt this time so next time I must really keep a look out. You have to take out the tray to toss the garlic around half way through the cooking. Once it is done scoop them out and set aside. Baking the garlic makes it less oily and therefore more healthy. I learnt it in one of the food blog. You can also fry the garlic in a pan which is faster. Or you can also use the microwave to fry the garlic.

2) Put your fish in a plate and sprinkle the roasted garlic and fresh garlic onto the fish. 

3) Mix the steam fish sauce with water and pour the mixture over the fish. You can omit the water if you want your sauce to be more salty. 

4) Put your fish in the steamer and steam for around 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size of your fish.

5) When it is done you can add in some cilantro or spring onion and you can serve this garlicy dish!

Salmon Belly Miso Soup

I remember whenever I go Sushi Tei, I would definitely order their Salmon Belly Soup. My husband also love this soup at first taste. It's been a long time since I go there. Wonder if they still serve that?   Anyway one day I suddenly have a craving for that soup. (probably because I crave for good Jap food, it's so difficult to find a good ramen here) I therefore decided to try to cook my version of this soup based on my memory of how the soup taste.

天助我也, I found my main ingredient, salmon belly being sold in the Chinatown supermarket! Actually I have cooked this soup for a few times, perfecting the taste each time I cook this. I would not say that this time round it taste as good as the one at Sushi Tei, but we are happy with the taste ;) I just love the taste of the salmon belly fat oozing in my mouth when I bite into it! And I don't have to feel guilty about eating it! Salmon belly has the most fat full of omega 3 which is good for the heart. This is really a healthy soup for the whole family.

Ingredients:

1) Salmon belly cut into chunks
2) Half a box of Tou Fu cut into small cubes
3) Seaweed
4) Half of a big onion cut into slices
5) Eniki Mushroom （金针菇）
6) Spring onion
7) 1 table spoon of red,white or yellow Miso
8) 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of Bonito powder
9) 1 table spoon of mirin
10) Sake (optional)

Directions:
1) Bring 5 to 6 bowls of water to boil.
2) Add in all the ingredients.
3) Scoop some of the soup to the miso paste and let the miso dissolve in it before adding it to the soup. This is a very important step. If you just add the miso paste directly into the soup. It will not dissolve so easily and may end up getting burnt in the pot.
4) Add in the other seasonings. You might want to taste the soup first before adding in the bonito powder. This is because some brand's miso might taste more saltish than others. Red miso is the most saltish and white ones are the least saltish. So it depends on how saltish your miso is than you adjust the amount of bonito powder and mirin accordingly.
5) When the salmon belly is cooked you can turn off the fire and serve. Before serving sprinkle some spring onion.

银鱼洋葱炒蛋 Fried Eggs with White Bait and Onion

又是一道寻找“妈妈的味道”的一道菜。妈妈常用洋葱和虾仁炒蛋。我记得她偶尔也会买银鱼来做香炸银鱼炒花生。然后她会留下一些银鱼用来炒蛋。每次她煮这道菜，我可以就只吃这个炒蛋。

银鱼的味道很鲜甜，用来炒蛋基本上我不会放任何调味料。炒出来的蛋很香，味道也很甜美。银鱼属一种高蛋白低脂肪食品，对高脂血症患者食之亦宜。我加入洋葱让炒蛋增加香气和甜味。

食材：

1）鸡蛋3粒

2）银鱼（一撮，大概手掌般大）

3）半颗洋葱

4）胡椒粉少许

步骤：

1）将鸡蛋打发，然后加入银鱼和胡椒粉搅拌均匀。

2）将油倒入锅中，等油烧热，加入洋葱炒至稍软。

3）倒入蛋液，煎至两面熟透。

我比较喜欢有点焦黄的蛋，这样会比较香。如果你喜欢比较软嫩的蛋，可以加些牛奶进入蛋液，然后炒至刚熟。

Stir fry ladies finger (Okra) with dried shrimps and chilli

Some people don't like to eat slimy vegetables. But I just love them! Brinjals, ladies finger are some of my favourite! When I saw the US supermarkets selling ladies finger, I was shocked! Never knew ang moh likes to eat that. Anyway they don't call it ladies finger they call it Okra. The people here usually cook ladies finger as a stew with other veggies and meat.

Well I know ladies fingers is best cooked with sambal chilli in Singapore. But I have cooked it several times so I am recalling how my mum cooked it other than sambal chilli. I think she has cooked it with dried shrimp. Therefore I will replicate it and add some chilli padi to add some kick. Actually adding chilli also a way of getting rid of so many chilli padi I have at home. As I have mentioned in my earlier post, my husband has been planting chilli padi since last year and we just can't seem to finish the chilli padi at home.

Surprisingly, my husband likes to eat this dish. He is those who don't really like to eat slimy vegetables. But after tasting the ladies finger he says,"hmm not bad!" He is pretty strict in his praise for food which is nice. So "not bad" in his dictionary for praising food means pretty good.  Woo I am so happy!

Ingredients:
1) 15 to 20 small ladies fingers (the supermarket here only sells small ones in a packet which has around 15 to 20 )
2) A handful of dried shrimps
3) 4 to 5 chilli padi cut into small slices.
4) 3 cloves of garlic minced

Steps:
1) Wash the dried shrimps. Than soak the shrimps with boiling water until they are softened. When they are softened, pour away the water. Add some Shaoxing Wine to the shrimps and let them soak for a while.
2) Cut the ladies finger into pieces at a slanted angle.
3) Heat some oil in the pan and when the oil is hot, add in the dried shrimps and stir fry until you can smell the aroma of the Shaoxing wine and the shrimps are dry.
4)  Add in the garlic and stir fry until you can smell the aroma of the garlic. Be careful not to burnt them.
5) Add in the chilli and stir fry for a while.
6) Add in the ladies finger and stir fry until they are soft. If it is too dry you can add some water.
7) Add in some salt to taste.

雪耳黑木耳玉竹汤

休斯顿的天气实在太热了！因此多喝汤水很重要。虽然夏天我每天都会煮一些比较偏凉的汤，如西洋菜、苦瓜汤但是太凉也不好。那天到药材店逛了逛，问了那里的职员夏天可以煮哪些适合夏天但却不会太凉的汤。店员建议我煮雪耳玉竹鸡汤。正好我家里有这些材料不需要特别再买，所以我那天马上回家就煮了这道汤。我还加入黑木耳，因为多吃黑木耳对防止心血管疾病颇有效。雪耳可说是穷人的燕窝。它也富有胶原蛋白对美白和抗老很有帮助。所以喝这道汤可说是一举多得：）上次我煮白果薏米腐竹糖水还剩下一些鹌鹑蛋，我也把他们加入汤里。我依稀记得小时候跟妈妈参加婚宴，总有一道白木耳鹌鹑蛋的汤，好好喝哦。所以我决定加入鹌鹑蛋，“重温旧梦”！不过鹌鹑蛋不可以吃太多因为胆固醇很高哦！

材料：

1）雪耳一朵

2）黑木耳 5 －6 朵

3）红枣8颗

4）枸杞子一把

5）鹌鹑蛋10粒

6）鸡胸肉一块 （鸡腿肉也可以）

步骤：

1）用热水泡软雪耳和黑木耳。雪耳泡软后，把后面黄色硬硬的部分剪掉。

2）鸡肉要用滚水川烫备用。

3）鹌鹑蛋煮熟把壳剥掉备用。

4）将6至8碗水煮开，然后把所有材料倒入锅中。等到水再次煮开，把火转至小火然后煮大概1个半到2个小时。

Baked Thai Style Salmon

This is another simple salmon recipe. Just a few ingredients and you can have a healthy and yummy dish. You can choose to steam this dish too. Or you can change the salmon to other fish like sea bass，red garoupa etc.

My husband like to grow some veggie at home. We have harvested a lot of of chilli padis so we are thinking of how to "get rid of them" in different dishes. So this is a dish perfect for using them ;) Now we are growing calamansi and the asian chillis which we can hardly find in Houston. So far my chillis are finally turning red (after a few months), but the calamansi is growing so so slowly! Can't wait for it to  grow tall and grow fruits so that I can use them for my belachan chilli.  I will post my results for my belachan chilli later.

Ingredients:
1) 1 big salmon fillet
2) 3 to 4 chilli padi (you can reduce or add according to your tolerance for spicyness)
3) 5 to 6 garlic chopped finely.
4) 1 onion chopped finely
5) 1 inch ginger chopped finely
6) some cilantro optional
7) 1 to 2 teaspoon of fish sauce (some brands are more salty so you can reduce accordingly)
8) 1 tablespoon of sugar
9) Juice of 1 medium size lime.
10) Rind of half of the lime


Steps:
1) Pat the fish dry and place it on the aluminum foil.
2) Sprinkle the chilli padi, garlic, onion and ginger over the fish
3) Mix all the seasonings in a bowl until the sugar dissolve than pour it over the fish.
4) Seal the foil and place it in the preheated oven ( around 200 degrees C) for 15 to 20 minutes.
5) Sprinkle the cilantro over the cooked fish than serve.