KimChi Stew

Since watching the korea drama 大长金，many people are curious about Korea cuisine. And I am one of them too! Love the different kim chi style side dishes they serve whenever you go to a Korean restaurant. Many years ago, I went for a guided tour in Korea and they serve mostly hot pot style and kim chi meals. Many of the tour mates were complaining about it, but I love it! 

I am pretty surprise to find a huge Korean supermarket call H Mart in downtown! Now I go there every weekend for my groceries shopping. The veggies, poultry, seafood are more fresh there. And during the weekend they have this corner selling different kinds of freshly made kimchi! Therefore, I always stock up some kimchi in my fridge. Another reason for shopping there is that there is a mini food court serving pretty authentic Korea food at a reasonable price. We will have our lunch there at times when we have a craving for Korea food. 

Since I always have Kimchi in my fridge, I am finding ways to make kimchi dishes. Kwan, a Singaporean friend whom I just met gave me Kimchi stew which she cooked. I love it at 1st taste! I immediately ask her for her recipe. She gave me this website http://aeriskitchen.com/2008/12/kimchi-soup-김치-찌개kimchi-jjigae/  for the recipe. It is a very simple dish and it taste very good! This website I have bookmarked it as there are plenty of Korean dishes recipes there too! Hehe I will experiment some soon! 

If you want to try this Kimchi stew, just check out this website. I follow closely to it except that I added some meat and prawns as well. I even recommend my neighbour to cook it as she loves the stew which I pass to her to try. And she did today! She used salmon instead of the tuna and she added chicken stock instead of plain water. It tasted yummy too! This is another addition of my favourite one pot meal!

寿喜烧盖饭 Sukiyaki Don

我超爱吃日本料理！寿司、生鱼片、日本拉面...... 。很可惜，这里很难找到很好吃的日本料理。我在这里如果吃日本餐，就一定点生鱼片或生鱼片寿司。其他的日本菜，我觉得只适合洋人的口味。我很喜欢吃日本的酱料和喝他们的汤。每次都很想吃寿喜烧，但是大部分都是用牛肉去煮。我本身不吃牛肉，所以都没办法尝试。只有一些新加坡的餐馆会为你改用猪肉。

想念日本拉面和寿喜烧，所以就得亲自动手准备。那天刚好又在“吃饭皇帝大”的节目看到他们介绍日本料理。有人介绍寿喜烧盖饭。有点创意喔！而且是一锅熟的煮法，正适合我！

材料：

1）白菜 1／5 切细条

2）猪肉片 10片

3）鸿喜菇 1包

4）日本鱼饼 10片

5）洋葱 半个切条

6）豆腐半盒切片（我用蛋豆腐，你也可以用一般豆腐）

7）鸡蛋2个

酱汁：

1）酱油5大匙

2）清酒3大匙

3）味醂3大匙

4）糖1大匙

5）七味粉少许

方法：

1）用少许油煎豆腐至金黃焦香，然后放在一旁备用。

2）同锅炒香猪肉片、洋蔥。加入酱油5大匙、清酒3大匙、味醂3大匙、糖1大匙，煮至略滾，將所有食材放入锅內，加上锅蓋煮至略收汁。

3）打开锅蓋下蛋液（蛋液淋边食材不易散），将所有食材倒在白飯上，撒上七味粉即完成。

蛋液刚淋在锅里

其实两碗盖饭应该分开来煮才盖在饭上才会美。但是我很懒惰用一个锅子煮一次，然后把料放在碗上才淋上汁，所以盖饭很丑。哈哈！

Char Siew 叉烧－－成功了！

Yippe finally succeeded! This is the 3rd time I am trying to cook Char Siew. The 1st and 2nd time it did not turn out that well not so flavourful and not that burnt. My husband loves his char siew to be more chao da (burnt) which will give the meat a nice BBQ flavour.  But we don't have a BBQ pit to make it a more burnt feel. I only use my oven and to get it more burnt, I use the broil function. But well not very successful. And my husband just say, "hmm, 就是不象，少了一些味道。" probe him further, he says,"不知道，就是少了一些味道". Very helpful indeed!  

The other day, while I was watching 冰冰好料理，they were teaching how to make Char Siew. I was so excited and quickly noted down the recipe.  One of the chef was from Hong Kong and she uses BBQ sauce brought from stalls and other ingredients to mix with it to get the seasoning part. I still have some spare ribs sauce from Lee Kum Kee which well taste slightly like BBQ sauce so I did not go and buy another bottle of BBQ sauce. 

For my 3rd attempt, I will still use the recipe I got from Rasa Malaysia website and combine with the recipe I learnt from 冰冰好料理. The seasoning part I will follow mainly from Rasa Malaysia's recipe and the method of cooking I will follow 冰冰好料理. I still have some spare ribs sauce from Lee Kum Kee which well taste slightly like BBQ sauce so I did not go and buy another bottle of BBQ sauce. The only thing I specially bought is 沙姜粉. I bought this as I saw another recipe for cooking chicken which uses this as well. It has a nice aroma so I guess it will enhance the flavour of the char siew.

It takes some patience in making this. First of all got to find the right choice of meat. Than you have to marinate the meat for at least a day. And you have to keep taking out and brush on the seasoning and honey on the char siew in the process of cooking. But I must say it is all worth the effort! 

Regarding the choice of meat, I have to quote from Rasa Malaysia : "if you love your char siu (char siew) tender, juicy, moist, and a little fatty, use pork belly. If you prefer a meaty char siu (char siew), then go for pork loin. If you like it somewhere in between, then pork butt will be a great choice." For my char siew, the first 2 attempts I chose the pork butt but with less fat. For my recent attempt I heeded the advice of the chef in the show to get pork butt with more fats. The fats will make the meat be more juicy. And I prefer my char siew to have some fats (though I am not suppose to eat fatty meat but once in a while can still indulge lah ;p) 


Ok too long winded, let's look at how to cook char siew:


Ingredients:

1 lb pork butt (cut into 4 pieces)
3 clove garlic (finely chopped)
1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil

CHAR SIU (CHAR SIEW) SAUCE:

1 1/2 tablespoons maltose (I don't have this so I omitted it)
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rose wine (玫瑰露酒) (I don't have this and i replaced it with Shaoxing Wine)
3 dashes white pepper powder
1 1/2 tablespoon of BBQ sauce

1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder
1/2 teaspoon 沙姜粉 

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

METHOD:

1）Add all ingredients of the char siew sauce in a sauce pan, heat it up and stir-well until all blended and become slightly thickened and sticky.  Transfer out and let cool. You must be careful not to get it too thick, if not when it cools down it becomes hard. For this time round, I did not cook the sauce for marinating the meat. Instead I pour some of the un-cook sauce (for brushing the char siew later) into a bowl and use the microwave to heat it up for a while and the sauce will thicken. But you must be careful not to overheat. This cooked sauce is used for brushing the char siew later.

2) After cutting the pork butt into 4 pieces, use the other side of the knife blade to pound the meat. Be careful not to chop it apart. Than use a fork to poke the meat as well. Marinate the pork butt pieces with 2/3 of the char siew sauce and the chopped garlic overnight. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil into the remaining char siew sauce (if you are cooking the sauce for marinating).  Keep in the fridge.

 3) Place some water in a deep baking tray and put a BBQ mesh on top of the tray. Brush some oil on the mesh. Skew the char siews on satay sticks. Place the on the BBQ mesh. Heat the oven to 375 degree F (around 200 degree C) and roast the char siew for 20 minutes (shake off the excess char siu sauce before roasting). After 20 minutes, take them out and flip them over, brush some of the char siew on them.  Put them back into the oven and heat for another 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, take them out and coat it with honey and sauce and than broil it for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, take them out again, flip them over and brush honey and sauce. Broil it for another 3 minutes.   You must watch the char siew when broiling and be careful not to over burnt them.


4) You can cut them into small pieces and drizzle some more sauces if you still have any left on top of the char siew. 

Add caption

I use my char siew to cook my 云吞叉烧面！绝配！

三色萝卜汤 Trio Carrot Soup

我第一次喝白萝卜汤是在我家婆家。我妈妈从来没有煮过萝卜汤。基本上我们家不吃白萝卜因为我们家经常有人吃中药而白萝卜是解药的。我在家婆家喝到这个汤时，就爱上它！汤不仅有萝卜的甜味，那萝卜也很好吃哦！我找到一个食谱是用三种萝卜煮的汤，我想汤一定很甜！结果，我一点也没有猜错。

为了让汤更鲜甜， 我加了干贝，让这个汤成了升级版 ；p 

材料：

1）白萝卜

2）青萝卜

3）红萝卜

4）干蚝 5 只

5)  干贝6－7颗

6）排骨或瘦肉

7）姜片4片

步骤：

1） 用热水川烫瘦肉。

2）干贝及干蚝用水冲洗一下。

3）将锅中的热水煮开，然后将所有材料倒进锅里。用大火让水再次煮沸。

4）然后转小火，让汤煮2个小时。

酸甜玉子豆腐虾 Sweet and Sour Egg Tou Fu Prawns

玉子豆腐就是蛋豆腐。这里好难才找到玉子豆腐！差不多走遍唐人街的超市，就只有黄金超市卖这种豆腐。很奇怪，难道难道这里的华人都不喜欢吃吗？所以，每次想吃蛋豆腐就得专程到那个超市买，而且一买就买好几条。

我超爱吃蛋豆腐，因为它的口感和一般豆腐不一样，而且豆的味道没有那么浓。我妈妈喜欢把蛋豆腐切片，然后在每一片上面放上绞肉，然后拿去蒸。这就成为一道简单健康的菜色了！我下次再把这道蒸豆腐的食谱放上网。其实很简单的，可能不需要我的食谱你就能煮出这道菜。

比较喜欢重一点口味的人，可能就会比较喜欢我那天煮的酸甜玉子豆腐虾。有谁不喜欢酸酸甜甜的味道啊！我觉得好开胃啊。我先生不太喜欢吃蒸豆腐，可是只要我煮这道菜，他就会吃好多。你也可以用一般豆腐煮，味道也应该会很好吃！

食材：

1）蛋豆腐一条，切厚片

2）虾仁 大概10只

3）芹菜末 （你也可以用那种冷冻的豆仁、玉米粒、红萝卜粒）

4）番茄一个，切块

5）番茄酱2汤匙

6）蚝油1汤匙

7）糖少许

8）水少许

9）蒜末少许

步骤：

1）在锅中热少许油，将豆腐煎至两面有点焦黄。豆腐一定要抹干，不然煎的时候就会喷油。煎好后，放在碟子备用。

2）在锅中热少许油，将虾仁放入锅中稍微煎一下，然后加入蒜末和芹菜末炒一下。

3）加入番茄酱，蚝油和糖。酱汁要炒一炒才会香。如果你觉得酱汁不够就加入水少许。

4）加入煎好的豆腐，让豆腐在酱汁里面焖大概3分钟。

5）3分钟后就可以盛盘。

Ang Ku Kuih without the Ang Ku 没有红龟的红龟粿 ；p

Ang Ku Kuih is usually used for 拜拜or during babies 1st month celebration, according to the Hokkien tradition(I think it is Hokkien) , they will give ang ku kuih. It is call ang ku (红龟) because it is made using red colouring and they are put into a mould with a tortoise shape in it. The filling is usually made of green beans or peanuts. I prefer the green beans filling. Actually it is the green beans filling which makes me crave for ang ku kuih haha. Since I can't find any ang ku kuih here in Houston, I will have to make it myself. 

As usual I have searched the net and combine 2 recipes.  One is from Rasa Malaysia and the other is Asian Kitchen. I learnt the way to make the filling from Rasa Malaysia's blog and the skin recipe from My Asian Kitchen.  I like the way the Asian Kitchen make the skin cos it uses Purple sweet potato which gives the kuih the natural purple colour (though it is not red, but I am ok with it). As I don't have the mould, I will just make it into a ball hehe. 

I think the filling is a bit difficult to make. I have melted the sugar with the heated oil.But when I add in the green beans, the mixture starts to become lumpy and I can see the sugar becomes like gluey. Had a difficult time trying to melt the sugar again. In the end I added more oil and patiently stir and mix the mixture well. Don't know what went wrong or maybe there is a secret formula to do this. Anyone can tell me how to do it?? 

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients for Filling:

300g Split Green Bean (Washed and soaked for 6 hours)
200g Fine Sugar (I reduce it to 150g as I try not to eat too sweet)
4Tbsp Oil

Method:

1  Steam green bean over boiling water for 30-40 minutes till soft.

2  Blend or mashed green bean till become a paste.

3  In a wok, combine green bean paste, sugar and oil. Stir on low medium heat till thick and do not stick to your hands. (This part I can't get the thicker consistency don't know what went wrong)

4  Cool it and shaped into balls. 

Ang Ku Skin

Ingredients:

150 gm cooked purple sweet potato,peeled and mashed

375 gm glutinous rice flour(sifted)

200 ml water

50 gm sugar

3 tbsp oil

15 x banana leave (8x8 cm)

Method:

1  Steam sweet potato till cooked.Mash well while it's still hot,set aside in a large bowl.

2 Combine 40 gm of glutinous rice flour with 30 ml of water, knead into dough.Add the dough into rolling boil water and cook until it's floats, dish out and set aside. 

3  Mix the remaining portion of flour with sugar and water, mashed sweet potato, oil and the cooked dough. Knead all ingredients well till all smooth and combine. Divided the dough into 15 equal portion into ball shape. (I did not add all the water in one shot. And I add the oil last, 1 tbsp at a time)

4 Flatten each ball shape dough in round shape on your palm, place the green bean fillings on the center of the dough.Wrap the filling and roll into a ball.

5 Place the ang ku kueh on a pieces of cut banana leaf brushed with oil

Uncook version

6 Prepared water in steamer at high heat and bring it to boil.Placed ang ku kueh in the steamer rack about 2 inch each apart.(if not it will stick together when it bloom when steaming) Steam over medium heat for 10 minutes.

7 Remove and brush with some oil.(I didn't brush with oil for a healthier version).

I find my green bean filling a bit dry and the skin is too thin. I guess I might have added too much water or my filling is too big ;p. I think next time I will add less water and oil at a time to get a better ang ku kuih skin. But overall, I have satisfied my craving for ang ku kuih !! Yummy. I am eating one when finishing this post ;)

Steam Egg with mushrooms and prawns

I love eggs! Anyway you cook it, I will still love it. When I am lazy I will cook steam eggs. For steam eggs, my mum usually add scallops or minced meat or salted eggs with thousand century eggs. All these I have tried, therefore would love to explore into something different. That day I was watching my favourite 吃饭皇帝大 and they are teaching how to use can food to cook a good meal. This 小粉红used can five spice meat to come up with a sauce which he pour it on top of the steam eggs. Pretty interesting! But the can five spiced meat here is pretty expensive, and we try not to eat too much can food. Therefore, I copied the idea but uses mushrooms and prawns to come up with a gravy instead.  You can use your creativity with the ingredients you want to add to the sauce.  Maybe you can use chicken or you can come up with a sweet and spicy sauce too!

I love my new version of steam eggs. I can just eat my favourite steam eggs and the gravy to go with my rice for my dinner! 

Ingredients:

1) 3 eggs

2) 1 packet of mushrooms (i used 鸿喜菇,you can use any type you like) 

3) 6-8 medium size prawns, dried completely and cut into chunks

4) Chicken stock or you can use water
5) Oyster sauce
6) Some corn starch water (around 3/4 rice bowl)
7) Salt and pepper to taste

Steps:
1) Beat 3 eggs well. Add in the chicken stock or water , salt and pepper. Mix them well. The ratio of water to eggs is 1:1. I beat the eggs in a measuring cup. The 3 eggs adds up to 175ml. Than I add 175ml of water and mix them well.
2) Pour the mixture into a deep dish to steam. Use plastic wrap （保鲜纸）to cover the dish but leave a small hole.
3) When the eggs are done. In a pan, add some oil and stir fry the mushrooms and prawns. The prawns must be properly dried so that the prawns will be crunchy (that is what the cooking show taught me). When the prawns are almost done, add in the oyster sauce. Stir fry for a while. Dissolve some corn starch in water or chicken stock. Than add in the mixture and stir with the ingredients to mix well. When the sauce thickens, you can turn off the fire and pour it on top of the eggs.