Chinese Fried Tofu Shrimp Balls–Pipa Tofu (琵琶豆腐）

Posted on December 3, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

Please refer to the new blog for recipe: http://wp.me/p6ZBR0-8ud or click on the pictures below.

Miso Braised Saba (味增鲭鱼）

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

I have been cooking my fish using miso paste for at least a few years..

There is once when I am running out of Chinese fermented soya beans or tau cheo in my kitchen, it suddenly cropped out from my mind to substitute these tau cheo with miso paste.. Yes, the taste blends very well with what I am cooking. In fact, I found that it is an extremely good substitute for miso since miso is in a paste form whereas we need to break the fermented soya beans for the flavour to develop in our cooking.

Taste is slightly different from tau cheo but delicious. Out of my curiosity , I goggled “ Miso Saba” and apparently, Japan does have such a dish. After reading a few recipes, I have designed my own recipes which is much simpler but deliciousness will not be compromised.

Preparation is as easy as ABC with very simple ingredients and some can be omitted if desired. Since Miso is already a full flavour agent, there is not much seasonings you need to add.. What I have added is a small quantity of sugar to negate the slight saltiness.

This dish is great to go with rice and the sauce is especially tasty. Family members finished the dish in seconds.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings : 4-6 adult servings

2-3 Saba fillets
1-1.5 tablespoon of miso paste
1 tablespoon of Japanese rice wine , mirin (optional)
1/2 tablespoon of white sugar (optional)
3 cm of ginger, sliced
3 cloves of garlics
About 2 cups of water
2 stalks of spring onion

STEPS OF PREPARATION

This step is optional if you can eat fish with bones . Turn the fish fillet with the flesh facing you. Pluck out the bones at the middle of the fish fillets.

Put the miso paste with about 2 cups of water , stir until well combined. The volume will depends on the size of your frying pan. if your pan is big, you may need a bit more. The water should at least cover the fish .

In a pan, put one tablespoon of oil, pan fried the fish for 1-2 minutes until the fish meat has turned beige. Add in the ginger slices and garlic cloves, sauté for 1 more minute. Add the miso solution and bring to boil. Once it boils, turn the heat to medium and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes. Before off the heat, add the sugar and stir until the sugar dissolved. Off the heat and sprinkle with chopped spring onion before serving.

CONCLUSION

The last 2 posts on Assam Fish and Stew Halibut received quite a favourable response. Members of Facebook Group are trying out the recipes. I have therefore decided to share this recipe too. I will not insist to use Saba in this recipe, but I would recommend the use of a deep sea fish where there are more omega fatty acids and smoother meat texture. Salmon is definitely a good choice and of course good fish like threadfin fillets can always be used.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 13 March 2015) here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit the blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE to keep abreast of my future posts. Also follow me at INSTAGRAM or TSU, a new social network for some more personal sharing other than recipes.

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Hakka Savoury Tangyuan （客家咸汤圆）

Posted on November 18, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

There is no need to ask me when is Winter Solstice festival, it is always 3 days before Christmas , on 22nd December each year. I am sharing this post earlier because I just want to fulfil my blogging agenda of sharing one tang yuan recipe per year.

In the first year, I have shared the basic tangyuan recipe in this post: Time To Celebrate Winter Solstice–Chinese Tangyuan or Glutinous Rice Balls . In this post, i have also shared about the background of tangyuan.

Last year in 2015, i have shared the an alternative to normal tangyuan , sweet pumpkin tangyuan in this post: Pumpkin Glutinous Rice Balls aka Pumpkin Tangyuan (南瓜汤圆）

This year, I have decided to share a savoury tangyuan recipe which my late parents used to cook though the childhood version do not have any meat fillings.

This is not my creative recipe, if you Google from the internet, this dish shall be classified under Hakka cuisines. Apparently, most hakka members in my Facebook Group do cook tangyuan in this manner. As per Chinese baike it was written clearly that:

“客家咸汤圆是一道美味可口的汉族小吃。将材料1揉成糯米团，并分为15等份。将材料2及调味1搅拌均匀作成馅，再一一将糯米团捏成圆薄形，包入肉馅并捏合即可。用少许油加热将材料4爆香再倒入调味2料煮沸後放入咸汤圆，煮至咸汤圆熟为止。接著再放小汤圆，煮熟至浮出汤面就算完成了。吃的时候可以另外加入茼莴叶或菠菜等青菜等，吃起来味道更好。” (Source: http://baike.baidu.com/view/244157.htm)

If you are unsure how it tastes like, just imagine that the tangyuan is a substitute of noodles in kway tiao or bee hoon or noodle soups. It is just like Fuzhou fish balls except that it is not as springy and fishy as the fish balls .

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: About 15 big tangyuan and some small tangyuan

Tangyuan

200 grams of glutinous rice flour
About 80-100 grams of plain water
100 grams of minced meat
1 teaspoon of dark or light soya sauce
1 teaspoon of Chinese cooking wine
pinches of salt
sugar to taste
2 teaspoons of sesame oil
2 sprigs of spring onion, chopped

Soup Ingredients

1 stalk of vegetable greens (lettuce, caixin, tangO, some napa cabbage)
1 teaspoon of dried shrimps
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
5-6 dried scallops
2 shitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced into small pieces
1 tomato, cut into wedges (optional)
Pinches of salt
Dashes of white pepper
Sugar to taste

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Put the minced meat, chopped spring onion and the seasonings (salt, white pepper, sugar, dark or light soya sauce, sesame oil, Chinese cooking wine) in a bowl, use a chopstick to stir in one direction until well mixed. If preferred, you can add in 1/2 tablespoon of corn starch to enhance the binding . Marinate the meat for at least 1/2 hour.

Take out about 2 tablespoons of glutinous rice flour, put 1 –1.5 tablespoons of water, stir and knead until it form a soft dough. Flatten the dough and put in a pot of hot boiling water. Once it floats up , drained.

While it is hot, transfer the cooked dough to the remaining flour in the mixing bowl. Gradually add in the remaining cold water and use hand to knead until it forms a pliable dough. Shape the dough into a long stripes and cut the dough into 1.5 cm cube size.

Take a dough, shape round, flatten it and put a teaspoon of minced meat in the centre, seal the edges, shape round and put in a tray lightly dusted with some glutinous rice flour. Perform the same for the other 14 portions.

This step is optional. If there are left over dough, you can add some red colouring, knead until the colour is consistent and shape into smaller round balls.

Note:

Please ensure that the tangyuans do not touch each other and if there is a lot, you may want to cover both the dough and the completed tangyuan with a piece of wet cloth .

In a pot, put 1 tablespoon of oil and sauté the garlic, dried shrimps and shitake mushroom until fragrant. Add about 1 litre of water or meat broth add the minced meat and scallops. Bring to boil and once it boils, lower the heat to medium and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add the tangyuan and once the tangyuan floats up, add the seasonings (salt, white pepper and sugar), tomato and your preferred greens. Simmer for o1-2 minutes and off the heat.

The tangyuan is best served hot immediately after it was prepared.

CONCLUSION

If you have never eaten this type of tangyuan before, do give it a try. It is tasty and there are many options in the soup. Feel free to add the ingredients that suits your taste buds.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

Stewed Halibut With Fermented Soya Beans (豆瓣酱半煎煮比目鱼）

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

I have to be frank when I was young, there are not many cooking methods for fishes in my house. Beside pan frying, braised fish with soya sauce, assam fish, fish steaming and another one is this old classic of braising fish with fermented soya beans.

Well, I do not know how to properly translate the term for this cooking and in Chawan dialect and Mandarin, it was called “半煎煮“ or “pua jian zhu”. Basically it means that the fish is pan fried first until the exterior is hardened. It is then braised in a gravy of ginger and fermented soya beans.

It is a comfort dish that goes well with rice or porridge and most Chinese granny should be able to prepare this dish.. The gravy is especially nice to eat with the rice and like my wife, she likes the shredded ginger very much ..

For today’s illustration, i have used halibut fillet. i bought a piece from the supermarket and the first thing that come to my mind is to cook it this way. I am unsure if halibut is the same as the sole fish that I ate when I was young. i know that they both came from the same flatfish family but the one i knew is a whole fish and apparently is much smaller and unable to get such a big piece of fillet. This fish has a fishy smell, and one of the best ways of cooking the fish is braising in this strong aromatic soup to get rid of the fishy smell.

Unsure what are the reasons behind, we always used this type of cooking for fish fillets and not really whole fish. Better fishes such as threadfin can also be used but we never used in smaller fish with lots of bones like ikan selar or ikan kembong..

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings : 3-4 adult

One piece of fish fillet (about 500 grams)
1 tablespoon of fermented soya beans (tau cheo)
5 cm long ginger , shredded
2 cloves of garlic, small slices (optional)
1 teaspoon of sugar
Dashes of white pepper (optional)

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Shred the ginger and cut the garlic into small pieces.

Pat dry the fish and coat the fish with some corn flour . However, the coating is optional.

In a pan, put 1-2 tablespoons of oil, pan fried the fish until both sides are golden brown. Push the fish to one side of the pan, sauté the ginger and garlic using the cooking oil until aromatic, add the fermented soya beans. Stir fry for additional 1-2 minutes. Add adequate water to cover the fish and reduce the heat to medium. Let it simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Before off the heat, add the sugar and dashes of white pepper . If preferred, starches can be added by mixing 1 tablespoon of corn starch with 3 tablespoons of plain water.

Note:

When pan frying fishes, do not turn the fish for the first 3-4 minutes, otherwise, the skin will break.

No salt shall be added to dishes cooked with fermented soya beans as it is already very salty . In the event if it is too salty, add more sugar to neutralize the saltiness.

CONCLUSION

I have been sharing this type of simple home cooked dishes as I was rather shocked that a lot of new house chefs do not know how to cook this type of simple dishes. They knew the dish, they missed it, they did not have a chance to learn from their mother and I hope my sharing will benefit this group of readers. Having said that, if you still have people to refer to , I would encourage reader to learn from them these simple dishes from them as you know it definitely will suit your taste bud.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

Shredded Ginger Sesame Oil Chicken (姜丝麻油鸡）

Posted on November 15, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

My kids called this dish Zombie Chicken and I said her late grandmother surely will scold them if she had the chance to hear this .. This is because the Chinese words shredded ginger (姜丝） has the same pronunciation as zombie (僵尸）。

This is another dish that I need no reference to other recipes. it is such a common dish in our household. My late mum always cooked this dish when I was young, at times 2-3 days a week, be it chicken or pork.. So to me this dish is a dish that brought fond memories and I have never get tired of this dish until today ..

I blogged this recipe in honour of my late mum and as a record of my meat recipes. This is a common household dish that need no further elaboration and I believed every granny will have her very own recipe for the comfort dish. Of course what I am sharing is my mum’s version and it is a quick and fast recipe.

Cooking this dish is not difficult. The only point to highlight is there must be adequate ginger and the shredded ginger should be sautéed until aromatic. All the procedures that follow are as simple as ABC and nothing much to shout about.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: 4-5 adults

10 drumsticks ,de-skinned and cut into big chunks
5 cm long ginger, de-skinned
2 tablespoons of dark soya sauce
2 tablespoons of Chinese cooking wine
1 tablespoons of sesame oil
Sugar to taste
Pinches of salt

STEPS OF PREPARATION

De-skinned the chicken if preferred. Keep the skin.

In a hot pan, pan fry the skin until all the chicken fats are excreted, throw away the skin and use the chicken fats and the sesame oil to sauté the ginger under medium heat until aromatic. If you do not like to reuse the chicken skin or you do not have the habit of de-skinned the chicken , use a tablespoon of cooking oil and sesame oil to sauté the ginger.

Add the chicken chunks, pan fried until the chickens exterior turn beige. Add the dark soya sauce and stir fry until well combined. Add some water adequate to cover 1/2 the height of the chicken and bring to boil. Once it boils, lower the heat to medium and let it simmer until the chickens are soft. If the water dries up too fast, add more water. Once the chickens are soft, add the seasonings (sugar to taste and pinches of salt) and the cooking wine. Stir until well combined, off the heat and best served with some steaming white rice.

CONCLUSION

This recipe will be captured under simple household dishes series. If you do not have a chance to learn from your family elders , you may want to give this recipe a try.. Lastly, if you are looking for those mixed vegetable style of ginger chicken, they have added starches to thicken the sauce. You can easily preparing that by mixing 1 tablespoon of corn starch mixed with 3 tablespoon of water.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

Assam Fish (阿叁鱼）

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

This is a recipe that I need no reference from other website. It is a common household dish that was cooked by my late mum since we are very young.

When I started blogging, I have rejected sharing this type of simple home cooked dishes for fear that readers will not accept such recipes. Apparently, lots of blogger are blogging the dish and since i am cooking today, I will also share this recipe too.

This is a recipe that can be as elaborate as you want in terms of herbs used. It can also be as simple liked what is cooked by my late mum. Being hailed from Sarawak where practically there are very few Peranakan community, most Chinese households also knew how to cook this dish . What is different from the West Malaysian version is the use of herbs that are not common in Sarawak such as Bunga kentan or daun kesom etc.. Whether these herbs add to the deliciousness of the dish in my humble opinion is a personal reference. I have a hard time to get use to these two herbs when I stayed in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore but are able to accept it now.

Another reasons that I have excluded these herbs in today’s recipe because I found that a recipe that is overloaded with ingredients will deter readers from trying. Buying a pack of bunga kentan or laksa leaves and using only 10% of it obviously is wasting money .. But if readers insist that this is compulsory in the recipe, you can always add it to suit your taste buds.

The picture in this post may not be as attractive as it should be . The main reasons is the fish used. In this illustration, ikan selar was used and that is what my mum used to cook ..Usually fish selection will based on fish that are fishy in nature after cooking and the concoction of herbs were used to musk such fishiness. Another common fish that we used to cook is ikan bawal hitam or black pomfret.

Better fish such as threadfin, garoupa, batang or tenggiri all can be used but to me it is a waste to use these type of fishes to cook this dish. These better fishes can be steamed or grilled or pan fried to enjoy its freshness and sweetness without the need to use lots of herbs. Well, in my opinion, any fishes can be used and I will leave it for readers to decide.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: About 3-4 adult servings

4 ikan kembong or ikan selar
2 tablespoons of tamarind paste or assam mixed with 6 tablespoons of water and extract juices
2 tablespoons of sugar
Pinches of salt

Rempah or spice mix ingredients

2 small onions
5 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of chilli powder (or 3-4 fresh chilli)
1 tablespoon of belachan or shrimp paste
1 stalk of lemon grass
2 small turmeric roots (or 1 tablespoon of turmeric powder)
2 small tomatoes (optional)

Optional ingredients – blended to rempah above

1/2 bunga ketan or laksa flower
Some laksa leaves or daum kesom

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Put all the rempah or spice mix ingredients in a blender (except powder form), add adequate water just to cover 1/2 the height of the ingredients, blend until as fine as possible. Alternatively, you can pound these ingredients using traditional mortal and pastel.

In a wok, put about 2-3 tablespoons of cooking oil, sauté the rempah or spice mix under medium heat until fragrant and until oil starts to separate out from the ingredients. In this process, you will witness the colour of the rempah darkens and getting drier and drier. It took me about 15 minutes to get what I wanted.

Mix 2 tablespoons of tamarind paste with 6 tablespoons of water and extract juices. Pour the assam juices into the rempah, stir until well combined. Add the fish and follow by the sugar, bring to boil and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Off the heat and let the fish rest in the assam gravy for at least 1/2 hour before serving. Timing will depend on type and size of fish, in general 5-10 minutes of simmering should be adequate. It is advisable to prepare this dish in the early afternoon and served for dinner to let the flavour develops for a few hours.

CONCLUSION

I am unsure if this assam fish of mine do appeal to you but I have to clarify that this type of thick gravy assam fish will not have any vegetables. There is another type of assam fish which is more soupy and with lots of vegetable. That is very sour but this recipe is supposed to be sour and sweet and it is an enjoyment to have white rice served with this delicious gravy.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

Sisig Chicken? Philippines Mayonnaise Chicken (菲律宾美乃滋鸡）

Posted on November 8, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

My neighbour gave us some capsicum and I am grumbling that I do not really know how to cook capsicum.. My wife immediately thought of this mayonnaise chicken that we have eaten in one of the Filipino restaurants in Singapore..

Well, I do not think the original recipe of this Filipino dish have capsicum but what we have tried did have these capsicums. The name of the dish is Sisig chicken but I do not called it as such as my recipe is not very authentic and I do not want to be bombarded by the Filipinos for providing wrong recipe of their well liked dish..Therefore, I have decided to call it mayonnaise chicken.

Both my wife and my kids all remembered this dish is because it is a sinful yet delicious dish… It is tasty and one looked at the ingredients will know that this dish will be delicious. It has mayonnaise and butter and eggs that smoothen the meat dish.. It is very addictive and once you start, it is hard for you to stop eating this dish and it goes well with hot steaming rice.

Traditional;y, Philippine’s Sisig dish is pork based. It was prepared using pig head meat, pig ear, pig liver and instead of mayonnaise, pig brain was used to smoothen the dish. Chicken sisig is a sub category and I was told that chicken liver is one of the most critical ingredients in the chicken version. However, due to current consumption style, all these exotic cuts were left out and what is used is just chicken meat and mayonnaise which is easier to be accepted by current foodies.

This dish was supposed to be served using a sizzling hot plate and as my home does not have one which I believed most family does not have, I have use a pan for the picture taking. If you have one, this is one of the dish that you can use your sizzling hot plate.

As per Wikipedia:

“Sisig also refers to Sizzling sisig, a Filipino dish made from parts of pig’s head and liver, usually seasoned with calamansi and chili peppers. Lucia Cunanan of Angeles City has been credited with inventing sisig The Philippine Department of Tourism has acknowledged that her “Aling Lucing’s” restaurant had established Angeles City as the “Sisig Capital of the Philippines” in 1974. Cunanan’s trademark sisig was developed in mid-1974 when she served a concoction of boiled and chopped pig ears and cheeks seasoned with vinegar,calamansi juice, chopped onions and chicken liver and served in hot plates. Today, varieties include sisig ala pizzailo, pork combination, green mussels or tahong, mixed seafood, ostrich sisig, crocodile sisig(URBAN CAFE), spicy python, frog sisig and tokwa’t baboy, among others” (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisig)

As mentioned above, this is not an authentic recipe but a recipe that is tailored to suit Singaporean and Malaysian taste buds. I have prepared twice, once is one week after my first try and the second time is for today’s dinner. The difference between the two is one I have cooked with raw meat using chicken cubes whereas for today, I have pre-cook the meat, use a blender to blend until fine before stir frying. Another difference is adding mayonnaise in the cooking whereas the first version is just served with mayonnaise. Both version uses capsicum and in my humble opinion is delicious.

WHAT IS REQURIED

Servings: 3-4 adults

2 chicken drumsticks or breast, deboned
1 green capsicum, diced
1 red capsicum, diced
1 onion , diced
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
Pinches of salt
1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce
Sugar to taste
1/2 teaspoon of white or black pepper
Some butter for greasing hot plate
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of cooking oil

STEPS OF PREPARATION

In a pot, put the diced onions, sauté until fragrant. Add the dice chicken cubes, stir fry until the chicken exterior turn beige. add the diced capsicums. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes, add about 1/4 cup of water to the chicken and simmer until the chicken is soft.

Add the seasons (black or white pepper, pinches of salt, sugar to taste, black soya sauce) and stir fry until well mixed. Push the chicken aside, crack the eggs and cook until the york is set. Transfer the dish to your serving plate and drizzle sparingly with mayonnaise. Best served hot with white rice and garnish with slice of calamansi plus green chilli .

Method 2

Boil or pan fry the meat until cooked. Use a blender to blend until fine.

In a pot, sauté the onion with some cooking oil until fragrant. Add the capsicum and stir fry until the capsicum is soft. Add the minced meat followed by the seasonings (salt, black pepper, white sugar and black soya sauce).

Before off the heat, put two tablespoons of mayonnaise, Stir fry until well mix.

Heat up your hot seasoning plate, melt some butter and transfer to stir fry meat earlier to sizzling plate. Crack 2 eggs on top and let it simmer until the eggs are cooked to your desired consistency. Best served hot with white rice and garnish with slice of calamansi plus green chilli .

CONCLUSION

Whether this is Sisig chicken or not is not important. What I can tell readers is that this is a delicious dish that family members are looking forward. I hope my picture will be able to convince you that this is a yummy dish.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

Chinese Rolled Meat Appetizer (水晶扎蹄）

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

When I worked in the corporate world, i travelled and entertained a lot..I remembered this is such a common cold dish served in the restaurant but I really cannot recall in which region.. Possibly in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Malaysia or Singapore.

I have tried to trace the origin of this dish and apparently all major Chinese dishes category (Sichuan, Cantonese, Teochew, Shanghainese ) have this dish listed in their cuisines.

Well, whatever it is, i can assure reader that this is a nice dish a bit like ham. It was usually slice thinly and served with various type of sauces and what i am sharing today is a simple dipping sauce well liked by Teochew.

I hope readers can recognise this dish and give this recipe a try. I have nothing much to say about this except it suits my taste bud. Preparation is very easy but you will need to pay a much higher price if you ordered from the restaurant. When you are hosting dinner like Chinese New Year eve, you can always prepare this dish to impress your guest.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: 4-5 adult servings

1 medium size deboned pig trotter
2 slices of ginger
2-3 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1 liquorice
2 cloves
2 star anise
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of Chinese cooking wine
1/2 teaspoon of salt

For dipping sauce

1/2 red chilli, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
pinches of salt
sugar to taste
2 tablespoon of dark or white vinegar

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Clean the pork trotter, drained, add salt, sugar and Chinese cooking wine. Rub thoroughly and let it marinate for at least 15 minutes.

Wrap the pork trotter using a piece of clean cloth AS TIGHT AS POSSIBLE. You have to ensure that it is not loose, otherwise, the final meat slices will have lots of holes.

Put all other ingredients (ginger, star anise, cloves, liquorice, cinnamon and bay leaves) in a pressure cooker, place the meat and add water until the water cover the meat. Pressure cook the meat for about 30 minutes. If you do not have a pressure cooker, you can boil the pork trotter over the stoves for about 1 hour.

Drain the pork trotter, cut open the strings and the cloth and let it cool completely before cutting. For best result, chilled in the fridge overnight before cutting.

To prepare the dipping sauce, put all the dipping ingredients together and stir until well combined.

Best served chilled with the dipping sauce as an appetizer in a typical banquet setting.

Note:

When you buy the pork trotter in the wet market, you can request the store owner to debone for you. Otherwise, you will have to cook the whole pork trotter for a while until you can cut the meat and debone. From here you will proceed from the recipe here.

You can also have an additional step to smoke the rolled trotter and it will give you a smoky taste. You can refer to this post: Zhao An (Chawan) Smoked Chicken (诏安熏鸡). Another variants you can use the braising sauce from braising duck etc. so that you have a dark soya sauce rolled meat.

CONCLUSION

I am sorry I can’t tell you much about this dish.. My memory all mixed up throughout the year but I honestly believed it is very common in Teochew restaurant. Last, I am very surprise that Finnish does have a rather similar dish called RullaSyltty / Mausterulla and if you like you may want to Google the recipe though they are using pork belly meat instead.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

Chestnut Chicken (板栗烧鸡）

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

When I was in Shanghai, my helper in Shanghai used to cook this dish. That is how I get to know this ..

Over here, most chestnut was paired with pig trotters due to its long cooking hours. Pairing with chicken is something that I am surprised and it tastes so well. Well the challenge to cook the dish is to make sure that the chestnut maintain in whole yet is soft and melt in the mouth. The same is with the chicken. Chicken cooked rather fast, Therefore, certain treatment is need for the chestnut to shorten its cooking time..

While I was doing some marketing yesterday, I saw some vacuumed packed chestnuts. It was priced reasonably at about S$4.oo. Immediately that comes to my mind is this dish. If you can’t get hold of the fresh vacuumed packed chestnuts, you can always get the dried one and soak overnight, par boiled for 10 minutes on the next day to take off all the unwanted skins attached to the nut before cooking.

Preparation is not tough and family likes it. My boy who ate chestnut for the very first time feedback to me that the nuts are soft and sweet. Yes, in fact, chestnut is very sweet in its self.

“板栗烧鸡，是一道汉族名菜，属东北菜、川菜、湘菜等。主要材料为带骨鸡肉、板栗肉。这道菜的特点是补脾胃、强筋骨、止泄泻。一般人群均可食用，老人、病人、体弱者更宜食用。板栗烧鸡营养丰富，又有一定疗效。成品具有鸡肉鲜滑、板栗香甜、汁浓醇厚、色泽红亮、美观大方的特点。”（source：http://baike.baidu.com/view/118748.htm）　

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: 3-4 adult servings

500 grams of chicken drumsticks, cut into 1 inch cubes
250 grams of chestnuts
2 cm of ginger , sliced
3 cloves of garlics , sliced
3 tablespoons of Chinese cooking wine
1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce
1 tablespoon of sugar
Dashes of white pepper
Pinches of salt
1 tablespoon of corn flour mixed with 3 tablespoons of water.

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Put some water in a pan, bring to boil, add the chestnuts and let it boiled for at least 5 minutes under high heat. Drain and set aside.

In another frying pan, put some cooking oil and deep fry the chestnuts for at least 5 minutes under medium heat. Ensure that the chestnuts are properly drained before deep frying. Drain the chestnuts and keep the oil in the frying pan.

Deep fry the chicken cubes for 1-2 minutes. It is consider as done when the exterior turns beige. Drain and keep 1 tablespoon of oil in the frying pan.

Sauté the ginger and garlic until fragrant. Add the chicken and chestnuts, follow by the dark soya sauce and Chinese cooking wine, stir fry until well mixed. Add about 1 – 2 cups of water, use medium heat to simmer the chicken and chestnuts until the chicken are soft. If water dries up too quickly, add more water. Add starches, white pepper, pinches of salt and sugar, once the starches turn transparent, off the heat and let the dish to sit on the frying pan for at least another 15 minutes before serving. Best served with steaming white rice.

CONCLUSION

This Chinese household dish will be classified under simple home cooked food series. I hope via sharing more simple recipes, it will provide readers with more choices in the dinner table.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

Japanese Omurice (日式蛋包饭オムライス Omu-raisu）

Posted on October 22, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

My girl has been pestering me to prepare this egg omelette rice for a long time after she visited one of the stalls at food exhibitions. I have been delaying the preparation as the menu has been planned daily and i usually cooked based on what is available in the fridge. In addition, fried rice was only prepared when there are overnight leftover rice.

One day when we dined out, my girl want to order again and I rejected saying there is nothing fancy about rice wrapped with eggs… My wife then said why not I prepare some for them to satisfy their cravings…

On the next day, I asked them what type of omelette rice they will like to have? They can’t decide and what they could described was there was fried rice inside in the omelette.. I then gave them a choice of either Malaysian style’s Pattaya fried rice or Japanese style’s omurice They left the decision to me I have decided for them Omurice since Pattaya fried rice are more spicy and they may not be able to appreciate for the time being. On the contrary, omurice is commonly flavoured by tomato ketchup and I am sure there will like it..

In order to share recipe, I will have to do some researches for the fried rice. I have studied a few Japanese’s English blogs and come out with this recipe. Well as for the fried rice ingredients, I will leave it to all of you to choose.. There is no fixed and fast rules as what must be included except tomato ketchup. As a Chinese who are very well verse in our fried rice, I am sure most readers will be able to fry their rice using their favourite ingredients combinations.

“Omurice or omu-rice (オムライス Omu-raisu^?) is an example of yōshoku (a Western-influenced style of Japanese cuisine^[1]) consisting of an omelette made with fried rice and usually topped with ketchup.^[2]^[3] With omu and raisu being contractions of the words omelette and rice,^[4] the name is an example of wasei-eigo. It is a popular dish both commonly cooked at home and often found at western style dinersin Japan. The dish was brought to Korea during Japanese rule, and today it is a fixture on gimbap restaurant menus throughout South Korea, where it is rendered as “오므라이스 (omeuraiseu)” in Hangul. Omurice is also popular in Taiwan, another territory formerly occupied by Japan. Children, in particular, enjoy omurice, and it is often featured in okosama-ranchi or kids’ meals.Omurice is said to have originated around the turn of the 20th century at a western style restaurant in Tokyo‘s Ginza district called Renga-tei, inspired by chakin-zushi. The dish typically consists of chikin raisu (chicken rice: rice pan-fried with ketchup and chicken) wrapped in a thin sheet of fried egg. The ingredients flavoring the rice vary. Often, the rice is fried with various meats (but typically chicken) and/or vegetables, and can be flavored with beef stock, ketchup, demi-glace, white sauce or simply salt and pepper. Sometimes, rice is replaced with fried noodles (yakisoba) to make omusoba. A variant in Okinawa is omutako, consisting of an omelet over taco rice. Fried hotdog and Spam are also two popular meats to include in the dish.” (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omurice)

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: 3-4 adults

Fried Rice

2-3 cups of overnight rice
2 chicken drumsticks , cut into cubes
1 onion , chopped
1/2 cup of prawns , cut in big pieces
4 shitake mushrooms , cut into cubes
1/2 cup of mixed fried rice vegetables (sweet corns, carrots, green peas )
3-4 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
Pinches of salt
Sugar or seasonings to taste
Dashes of white pepper
1 tablespoon of oil or butter

Omelette (Per person)

2 eggs
1 tablespoon of cooking cream or milk
Pinches of salt

STEPS OF PREPARATION

In a wok, heat up the butter or cooking oil, sauté the chopped onion until soft. Add the chicken cubes, stir fry for 1-2 minutes until the exterior has turned beige. Add the frozen vegetables, shitake mushrooms and prawn cubes, stir fry for 1 minute. Add the overnight rice, stir fry until the rice is well mixed with the ingredients . Add the tomato ketchup, salt, pepper, stir fry until well mixed. Off the heat and set aside for cooling.

Crack the eggs, add the cream or milk and beat well. In a lightly greased pan, put the eggs and let it pan fried under medium heat until the top part is slightly set. Put some rice on one side and quickly flip the other sides. Pan fry for another one minute before transfer to the plate for serving. Note that your egg omelette shall not be too dry, otherwise, it will have a difficulty to seal the edges. Seal before the egg sets.

For servings, best drizzle with mayonnaise or additional ketchup on top of the omelette. Best served hot immediately out from the kitchen.

CONCLUSION

Definitely not a difficult recipe. For the first omelette, you may need some practise but by the time you prepare the last omelette, you shall be the sealing the omelette.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 13 March 2015) here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit the blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE to keep abreast of my future posts. Also follow me at INSTAGRAM or TSU, a new social network for some more personal sharing other than recipes.

You can also join the FOOD BLOGGERS AND FOODIES UNITED FACEBOOK GROUP and FOOD PARADISE 美食天堂 to see more recipes. I am posting my daily home cooked food in the above Facebook Group daily. I would be more than happy if you can post in the Group for the recipes that you tried from my blog.

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Category Archives: Dish

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Stewed Halibut With Fermented Soya Beans (豆瓣酱半煎煮比目鱼）

Shredded Ginger Sesame Oil Chicken (姜丝麻油鸡）

Assam Fish (阿叁鱼）

Sisig Chicken? Philippines Mayonnaise Chicken (菲律宾美乃滋鸡）

Chinese Rolled Meat Appetizer (水晶扎蹄）

Chestnut Chicken (板栗烧鸡）

Japanese Omurice (日式蛋包饭オムライス Omu-raisu）

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