Steamed Prawns in Chinese Wine

In my house, my husband is usually the one who does the marketing. He is price-savvy. He knows exactly what should costs how much and what is a rip-off. I only know to cook. Not a fantastic cook though. But at least you won't get diarrhea from eating my food.

The day he went marketing, he came home with a bag of very fresh medium large prawns. Would be a waste to deep fry the prawns. So I prepared this dish. This recipe highlights the sweetness and freshness of the prawns. Folks who managed to get hold of very fresh prawns or live prawns might want to try this recipe.

Suck on the prawn heads to get all that hidden goodness!!
*Not advisable for the health conscious and cholesterol watchers*

Ingredients
8 medium-large prawns (cleaned)
20g of ginger (sliced)
1 stalk of spring onion (cut into length of about 3" long)
1 tablespoon of wolfberries
3 caps of shaoxing wine

Preparation
Place the ginger slices on a serving plate.
Arrange the prawns and spring onions on top of the ginger. Do not stack the prawns together.
Pour shaoxing wine over the prawns and sprinkle wolfberries on top.
Steam for 5 minutes.
Serve immediately.

Stir-fry Clams in Spicy Bean Sauce

Ingredients

700g of clams

2 tablespoons of oil

1 tablespoon of minced garlic

2 tablespoons of spicy bean sauce

2 stalks of spring onions (cut into 3" long)

1 cap of shaoxing wine

20ml of water

Preparation

Soak clams in a bowl of water with a generous amount of salt added. This allows the clams to spit out the sand.

Remove the salt water after 30-45 minutes.

Repeat the procedure.

Scrub the clams with a brush to remove any sand or mud from the shells.

Set aside.

Heat up the oil in a pan.

Stir fry the minced garlic till fragrant before adding in the bean sauce.

Toss in the clams and stir to mix.

Add shaoxing wine, water and spring onions to the clams.

Toss well.

Bring everything to a boil, cover and cook using medium low heat for another 5 minutes or till the clams are cooked.

Discard any unopened clams.

Serve immediately.

Stir-fry Beef with Ginger & Spring Onion

This recipe is all about speed. Take too much time and the beef gets overcooked.

The first time I was trying out this recipe, I was very jittery at the stove. Nearly knocked the bowls and ingredients over. My first attempt resulted in rubbery beef. But after several practices, now it takes about 7 minutes to complete the dish with the beef just cooked.

Ingredients
200g of beef (thinly sliced)
25g of ginger (sliced)
1-2 stalks of spring onions (cut into length of about 3" long)
2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 cap of shaoxing wine

Preparation
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan.
Pan fry the ginger slices till edges start to brown or fragrant.
Add in the beef and stir fry till semi-cooked.
Toss in the spring onions.
Add in oyster sauce and sugar.
Using medium high heat, stir fry everything and add in shaoxing wine.
Turn heat off when beef is cooked.
Serve hot.

* Substitute beef with pig liver and you get - Stir-fry Pig Liver with Ginger & Spring Onion.

Steamed Chicken with Mushrooms & Black Fungus

Ingredients

8 pieces of chicken (I used drumlets and mid-joints)
2 large chinese mushrooms (soaked in water and cut into thin strips)
2 large black fungus (soaked in water and cut into thin strips)
1 small red chili (cut into strips or chopped)
1 slice of ginger (cut into thin strips)
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 capful of shaoxing wine

Preparation
Marinate the chicken with oyster sauce, sugar, sesame oil and shaoxing wine for about 2 hours.
Sprinkle mushrooms, fungus, ginger and red chili on top of the marinated chicken.
Steam for 30 minutes over medium high heat.
Serve hot.

Stir-fry Beef with Oyster Sauce

Ingredients

450g of beef (sliced thinly)
3 tablespoons of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of light soya sauce
1 tablespoon of shaoxing wine
2 teaspoons of sesame oil
2 teaspoons of cornflour
Spring onions (chopped)

Preparation
Marinate the beef with soya sauce, sesame oil, shaoxing wine and cornflour for 20 minutes or more.
Stir fry the beef slices till slightly browned.
Add in the oyster sauce and mix well.
Garnish with spring onions and serve hot.

Steamed Cod Fish with Preserved Olive Leaves

This mild flavored low-calorie white meat is a wonderful substitute for meat protein. It contains a variety of important nutrients and has been shown to be useful in a number of health conditions. Studies show that people who eat fish regularly have a much lower risk of heart disease and heart attack than people who don't consume fish. Cod, specifically, promotes cardiovascular health because it is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12 and vitamin B6.

In short, cod is considered one of the healthiest food in the world.

Ingredients
200g of cod fillet
1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic
2 teaspoons of preserved olive leaves
1 teaspoon of shaoxing wine
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
Pinch of sugar
50ml of stock
4 teaspoons of soya sauce
Small red chilies (chopped)

Preparation
Mix minced garlic, olive leaves, shaoxing wine, sesame oil and sugar together.
Place mixture onto the cod fillet.
Steam the fillet for 10 minutes or till cooked.
In a pan, bring stock and soya sauce to a boil.
Drizzle sauce over the cooked cod fillet.
Garnish with chopped chilies.
Serve immediately.

Stir-fry Enoki Mushrooms AKA 炒金针菇

Enoki Mushrooms are crunchy and mildly fruity, without the earthy flavor of other mushrooms.

Medicinal Benefits: These mushrooms can fight liver disease and gastroenteric ulcers. Plus, they're anti-tumor, antibiotic and good for the immune system. (courtesy of Sixwise.com)

Ingredients
1 packet of enoki mushrooms (roots trimmed off)
50g of chicken fillet (cut into thin strips, about 3" long and 1/2 cm wide)
1/3 of a carrot (cut into thin strips, about 3" long and 1/2 cm wide)
3 chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked and cut into thin strips, about 1/2 cm wide)
(I used 3 because mine are small in size. If yours are the larger ones, 1-2 should be sufficient)
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1/2 cap of shaoxing wine
Sesame oil to taste

Preparation
Stir fry the chicken over medium low heat in an oiled pan.
Add in the chinese mushrooms and carrots when the chicken is half-cooked.
Cook for a minute or so before adding in the enoki mushrooms.
Stir well.
Mix oyster sauce, sugar and around 1/3 cup of water together.
Pour into the pan and bring everything to a boil.
Add shaoxing wine and a few drops of sesame oil before turning off the heat.
Mix well and serve hot.

BBQ Chicken Wings

As I was cleaning out my fridge today, I found cubes of McDonald's BBQ sauce dip. Not wanting to waste the sauce dip, I made BBQ Chicken Wings out of it. Instead of using it as a sauce dip, I used it as a marinate. 

This recipe is extremely easy. Honey is not necessary in this recipe as the BBQ sauce will caramelize the wings giving it the slightly charred taste.

Ingredients
4 chicken wings (separated into drumlets and wings)
1 McDonald's BBQ sauce dip
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1/2 cap of shaoxing wine
A pinch of black pepper

Preparation
Marinate the chicken with oyster sauce, sugar, sesame oil, shaoxing wine, pepper and 1/2 of the BBQ sauce for at least 2 hours.
Place the marinated chicken wings into the toaster oven.
Brush the sides of the chicken wings that are facing up with BBQ sauce.
When the wings starts to brown, turn the the chicken wings to the other side and brush with BBQ sauce again.
Remove from oven when well-cooked and serve hot.

Spicy Hot & Sour Soup

Ingredients
1 chicken stock cube
100g of chicken (sliced into thin strips)
25g of chinese mushrooms (soaked in water, stem removed and cut into thin strips)
15g of black fungus (soaked in water and cut into thin strips)
1 firm beancurd aka tau kwa (cut into cubes)
1 egg (beaten)
1 tablespoon of light soya sauce
1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce
6 tablespoons of chinese rice vinegar
4 teaspoons of sesame oil
1 teaspoon of pepper
2 teaspoon of chili oil

Marinate sauce for the chicken
1 teaspoon of light soya sauce
1 teaspoon of shaoxing wine
1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon of cornflour
A pinch of salt
A pinch of sugar

Preparation
Add all the ingredients for the marinate sauce to the chicken.
Toss well and set aside for at least 30 minutes.
Fill a pot with 1 litre of water and bring to a boil.
Add in the marinated chicken and simmer for a few minutes.
Followed by the mushrooms, fungus and beancurd.
Leave to simmer for another 10-15 minutes.
Add 2 teaspoons of sesame oil to the beaten egg and pout the mixture into the stock in a thin steady stream.
Pull the egg into strands using a fork.
Remove the soup from the heat and add in the light and dark soya sauces, pepper and vinegar.
Stir well before adding the remaining 2 teaspoons of sesame oil and chili oil.
Stir again and serve hot.

Sweet & Sour Pork AKA 咕噜肉

You can simplified the preparation of this recipe a little by opting out the onion and capsicum. It may not turn out just as colorful. But if you find it too plain, just sprinkle some white sesame seeds over the dish before serving.

For those who are cooking with the vegetables, you just have to make sure not to overcook them.

Ingredients
250g of pork (pounded and cut into bite-size pieces)
1/2 a capsicum (cut into chunks)
1/2 a large onion (cut into chunks)
3 tablespoons of ketchup
2 teaspoons of sugar
Cornflour
Cornstarch

Marinade for the pork
2 tablespoons of soya sauce
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1/2 cap of shaoxing wine

Preparation
Mix all the ingredients for the marinade together.
Add in the pork and toss thoroughly.
Set aside in the fridge and leave it to marinate for at least an hour.
Coat the marinated pork with cornflour before deep frying it over medium heat.
Remove from oil and set aside to drain when the pork turns golden brown.
In another pan, add sugar and ketchup to 150ml of water.
Bring to a boil and add in the capsicum.
Cook for 5 minutes under medium high heat before adding in the onions.
Drizzle cornstarch to thicken the sauce.
Remove from heat and toss in the pork.
Make sure every piece is well coated with the sauce.
Serve hot.

Sweet & Sour Fish Fillet

I am desperately trying to clear my fridge. The fish fillets that my Father-in-law bought for my daughter is taking over my entire freezer compartment. Although I agree that it's good for babies to take more fish. But my fridge is simply overstocked with them. There's so much fish in there that I hardly have any space for my seafood and meat. Sounds exaggerated, but true.

Anyway, this recipe is very similar to Sweet & Sour Pork. Just replace the meat with fish. Veggies are optional. And the sauce remains the same.

Ingredients
200g of fish (cut into bite-size pieces)
3 tablespoons of ketchup
2 teaspoons of sugar
Cornflour
Cornstarch
Sesame seeds

Marinate sauce for the fish
Dash of salt
Dash of pepper
1/2 cap of shaoxing wine
1/2 tablespoon of thinly sliced ginger

Preparation
Mix all the ingredients for the marinate sauce together.
Add in the fish and toss thoroughly.
Set aside in the fridge and leave it to marinate for at least an hour.
Coat the marinated fish with cornflour before deep frying it over medium heat.
Remove from oil and set aside to drain when the fish turns golden brown.
In another pan, add sugar and ketchup to 120ml of water.
Bring to a boil.
Drizzle in the cornstarch to thicken the sauce.
Remove from heat and toss in the fish.
Make sure every piece is well coated with the sauce.
Garnish with sesame seeds and serve immediately.