Braised Fish with Leeks

I learned this dish from my Mother-in-law, and in turn I think she learned it from her Mother too. I like recipes like these. But like most "Mama's recipe", nothing is written down. You learn by tasting the dish, asking questions and watching them cook. After that, good luck and try not to screw up.

I guess when it comes to cooking, there is no hard and fast rules. Most importantly is to:
1. BUY FRESH INGREDIENTS (especially FISH)
2. GET THE TIMING RIGHT

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of the freshness of the fish. I've learnt the lesson the hard way and the dish had came out tasting fishy and horrible. If you are cooking the dish today, buy the fish this morning. The wonderful taste of the fresh fish makes up to 60% of the dish!

The timing part, I don't know how to teach you except to use your eyes and experience. The bigger the fish, the longer it takes. I have cooked so many undercooked, overcooked fishes myself! Check every so often if you are new to this and as time goes by, your experience will guide you through.

So important notes aside, let's go to the recipe

Fish (mine was about 600-700g)
2 tbsp Cornflour
1 tsp salt
a dash of pepper

3 stalks Leeks
100g pork
1 tomato
1 slice of ginger

water or soup stock
1 tsp soya sauce
1 tsp sugar

Preparation:

• Cut pork into thin slices and marinate in a little soya sauce. 
• Peel away the outer layer of leek. Slice leeks diagonally and only use the lighter colour part of the stalk. Wash thoroughly. 
• Slice tomatoes and remove seeds. 
• Make cuts on the fish. 

1. Mix cornflour, salt and pepper together and rub all over the fish. 
2. Heat up oil and fry the fish for only 2-3 minutes on each side. (We don't want to cook the fish, just fry the outside) Set aside. 
3. Heat up wok with a tablespoon of oil and stir fry ginger, pork and leeks for a minute. (careful they burn easily, lower heat if the edges started to char) 
4. Add water or soup stock till the ingredients are covered. Add 1 teaspoon soya sauce, 1 teaspoon sugar and bring to boil. 
5. When sauce is boiling, add fish and tomato slices. Put on the lid and cook in low heat for 4 minutes. 
6. After 4 minutes, check if the fish is cooked all the way to the bone. If cooked, dish up. If not cooked yet, gently flip the fish over and cook for another 4 minutes. Done!

Long Bean Omelette 豆角煎蛋

When I was little I was a vege hater. I hate the fresh vegetable smell and it's crunchy texture. The only way to make me eat vegetable was if they were cooked down till it soft and mushy. So you can imagine my distaste for this dish. Beans omelette! Eww!

Thankfully I grew out of that phase and now I love most vegetables. And I grew to really like this dish! The firm texture of the beans is a nice contrast to the fluffy omelette. And I love it that it's so good for you! If you aren't familiar with long beans, this is what it looks like.

My kids eat them, (thank goodness) but they prefer the beans to be a little softer. So I cooked the beans a little before adding the eggs. Doing that also cuts down the raw vegetable "smell" of the beans. So it's more tasty.

If you want to add more vegetables to your diet but not a big fan of it, this dish is a good place to start!

2 eggs
2-3 string beans
1/2 tsp sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tsp chicken powder *
a few tablespoon of water

1. Beat the eggs till they are fluffy. 
2. Trim both ends off the beans and cut into small cubes. 
3. With a little oil, fry the beans in sugar, salt and chicken powder. Add in the water, cover and let it cook till it dries off. 
4. Spread out the beans and pour in the eggs slowly. 
5. Flip the eggs over and cook till slightly golden brown. 
6. Serve with rice.

*you can replace chicken powder and water with a little chicken stock. Or you can use soya sauce with a little water.*

Mother-in-law's Pa Mee version 2

My hubby's dialect is Heng Hwa (兴化), which is a little known sub group of the Hokkien clan. In order not to disrespect their tradition, I would say this is a modified version of their Pa-Mee (打面). They always sing praises of their grandmother's pa-mee, but since their grandmother is no longer around, I can only judge by my Mother-in-law's version of the noodles, which is pretty good. Too bad I can't taste the original version!

I previously did a post of this noodles and here it is. But as the time pass, I tweaked it a little here and there, adding ingredients to pump up the flavour in nutritional factor for my babies. Also, I watched the way my MIL cook this dish and copied accordingly.

Now here is the updated version. Hope you like it, cause I sure do!

Hassel Free rice cooker chicken rice 沙锅饭

As a stay home mum, I have to prepare 3 meals a day almost everyday. I love cooking, but sometimes you get sooo sick of it, but what to do? the kids still have to eat. Today was one of those days. I almost wanted to go to the nearby coffeshop to buy food until inspiration hit me at thye last minute. Rice cooker rice! It was so last minute, my chicken was barely defrosted when I put it into the rice cooker. But the outcome was still just as delicious. One pot meals, a stay at home mom's life saviour!

Ingredients
2 chicken drumsticks with thigh meat
4pcs of shitake mushroom
1/4 cup of pumpkin, skinned and cut into thin slices
1/2 pc Chinese waxed sausage (蜡肠) cut into small pieces
1.5 cups of rice

Seasoning
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 dash of sesame oil
1 tablespoon shaoxing wine
1 pc of garlic minced

1. Cut the chicken into 2 pcs and marinate with seasoning. 
2. Wash rice and add the appropriate amount of water. (just like how you usually cook rice)
3. Add everything else into the rice and mix well. Pop into rice cooker and cook. 
4. When rice cooker indicates that it's cooked, do not open lid. Let the food steam in residual heat for another 15mins before opening.

5. Stir well and serve with freshly cut spring onions. (optional)

Enjoy!

Cereal Butter Prawns 麦片虾

I have to say this is one of those dish that I'm very proud of. I guess cereal butter prawns is the kind of dish you would pay to enjoy at a restaurant and never imagine that you could do it in your very own kitchen.

I just happened to have a can of Nestum All Family Cereal at home. I add it to my hot drink sometimes during tea break, but I was taking so long to finish the can so I thought I use it for cooking too. Cereal Butter Prawn was the first (and only) dish I can think of! There are plenty of websites teaching this dish but I chose a YouTube video of the popular "auntie" day time talk show, 黄金年华, cooked by a popular tze char restaurant chef.

The recipe was surprisingly simple, and I'm sure anyone can do it at home.

(A)
8pcs of Prawns, trimmed and butterfly-ed
1 tbsp plain flour
1/2 a beaten egg

(B)
3 tbsp Butter
Curry leaves (a few pcs)
Chilli padi (2-3 pcs, cut) (I didn't add due to my child)

(C)
100g Cereal
2 tbsp Icing sugar
2 tbsp Milk powder
1 tsp MSG (I use chicken stock powder)

1. Mix (A) together and deep fry in hot oil until the prawns are cooked and golden. Drain and set aside.
2. Using low heat, (B) melt butter in wok and add in chilli and curry leaves.
3. Mix (C) together and stir fry in butter mixture. Stir frying constantly as cereal mix will burn easily.
4. When cereal mix has turned slightly brown, which only takes a minute or two, switch off the fire and reintroduce the prawn to the cereal. Toss the prawns to coat it with the crispy yummy cereal and serve immediately.

Steamed chicken wings with herbs 红枣枸杞子蒸鸡翅

I can't remember where I learnt this dish from, but it always reminded me of another Mom at my daughter's class. She commented that on rainy days, when all the laundry has to be hung indoors, she would opt for steamed dishes so that the laundry would not smell of her cooking! I thought that was a good idea. Besides, steamed dishes are always healthier.

Rain or shine, this dish has become my daughter's favourite dish! She may not be a meat lover, but she can easily polish off 3-4 pieces of this chicken wings! As a mom, it just makes my day. :)

300g chicken wings (8 pieces)
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 dash of sesame oil
1 tbsp hua tiao jiu (chinese cooking wine)
1/2 tsp sugar
6 pcs dried dates (红枣)
small handful of wolfberries (枸杞子)
5 tbsp warm water from rehydrating dates and wolfberries

1. Rehydrate red dates and wolfberries in warm water
2. Cut red dates into small pieces
3. Add all ingredients together and marinate in zip-lock bag for 30mins or more. (or skip marinate and cook immediately!)
4. Steam in medium-high heat for 10 mins

Steamed minced pork with mushrooms 香菇蒸猪肉

On a typical weekday I was cracking my head on what to cook for dinner, so I looked to the web, hoping I could get some inspirations. Unfortunately there seems to be plenty of western recipes but hardly any simple recipes for a home cook dinner, or what I like to call, 家常便饭. So I'm going to start one myself by cataloging my simple, daily home cooked dishes, recipes passed down from mother to daughter for generations. Hopefully, I could inspire another Mom when she ran out of ideas, or perhaps encourage a young wife to try cooking these simple dishes for dinner instead of eating out all the time? :)

As a kid I would mix the minced pork together with hot steaming rice and gobble down in huge spoonfuls. :) A simple, child friendly dish!

130g minced pork*
60g dried mushrooms - rehydrated and diced
1/2 tsp chicken powder
1 tsp soya sauce
1/2 tsp oyster sauce
1 pinch of sugar
4 tbsp water from rehydrating mushrooms

1. Dice rehydrated mushrooms according to liking
2. Mix mushrooms with meat and seasoning
3. Steam in low-medium heat for about 10mins, or until surrounding liquid turns clear

*pre-minced pork from the supermarket is more lean and fine, suitable for smaller children or the health concious. If you like more bite and flavour, you can buy same amount of shoulder butt (五花肉) and either chop it up yourself or ask the butcher to mince it for you.

Sticky Pork Ribs

This recipe is from my new favourite cooking show, Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course. I love how chef Gordon would teach not only simple, easy to follow recipes, but also give useful tips around the kitchen. This recipe is from episode 7, based on what I scribbled down while watching.

Like I said, this is based on what I scibbled down while watching, so it may not be 100% accurate. Besides, I didn't have some of the ingredients, so I substituted accordingly. But the end result was AWESOME! My hubby loved it, so this is definitely one of those dishes that I will make again. It's a little peppery, so my baby girl can't eat it, but adults will love it!

1. Salt and pepper prime ribs
2. Brown ribs in baking tray over stove top
3. Add:
• a few thinly sliced ginger and whole garlic cloves
• a few star anise, szechuan pepper corns and a sprinkle of chilli flakes
• about 3 tablespoons of honey, soya sauce, a splash of japanese vinegar (I used balsamic vinegar), and enough chicken stock to just cover the ribs
• diced spring onions, a good splash of rice wine
4. Roast in oven 180 celcius for 30mins, turn ribs and roast another 30mins
5. Reduce remaining sauce over stove top until sticky, flipping ribs occasionally