Tomato Prawns AKA 蕃茄虾

Sharing with you my Nana's recipe.

Ingredients

4 tomatoes (cut into quarters)
6-8 prawns (cleaned and deveined)
1/2 tablespoon of minced garlic
4 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
1 tablespoon of sugar

Preparation
Stir fry the garlic in 1 tablespoon of oil till fragrant.
Add in the tomatoes followed by the prawns when the tomatoes start to soften.
Dissolve ketchup and sugar in 200ml of water and pour onto the prawns and tomatoes.
Bring to a boil under medium low heat.
Add pepper before serving.

ABC Soup

This is my all-time favorite. My Mom used to cook this soup for me very often. I was told that this soup helps to detoxify our body system. And I love the name - ABC Soup. So cute! The reason behind this adorable name is simply because the soup contains vitamins A, B and C. 

Tomato contains natural antioxidants. And it's rich in vitamin C, vitamin A, iron and potassium. 
Potato contains vitamins and minerals vital to human nutrition. It supplies A and D but also contains vitamin C, potassium, vitamin B6, iron and zinc etc.
Carrot is rich in vitamin A, contains dietary fiber, antioxidants and minerals.
Onion contains protein, calcium, provitamin A, B, C and E.

My Mom enjoys playing around with this soup. Sometimes, she'll add corn to it, other times, celery or tomatoes. I prefer the tomatoes version myself. Find it rather refreshing, thus sharing this recipe.

Ingredients
1 carrot (abt 100g, remove skin, cut into small chunks)
1 potato (abt 100g, remove skin, cut into small chunks)
1 tomato (abt 100g, cut into small chunks)
1 large yellow onion (abt 150g, remove skin, cut into small chunks)
1/2 - 1 dried octopus
250g of spare ribs

Preparation
Parboil the ribs, set aside and drain.
Fill a pot with 800ml of water.
Toss all the remaining ingredients inside.
Return the parboiled ribs into the pot when the water starts to boil.
Simmer for an hour.
Add salt to taste.

Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes AKA 蕃茄炒蛋

I have tried several versions of this dish. From my Mom's recipe to the various recipes found online and the ones in cookshows. There are also various ways to cook this dish. Some states to cook the eggs first whereas some states to cook tomatoes first. And the others, cook both eggs and tomatoes together. In the Taiwan celebrities' cookshow - 型男大主廚, the chef said different methods of cooking this dish have different textures in taste. And it's true!

Anyway, I added ketchup in my recipe as I find the dish a tad too bland for my liking.

Ingredients

2 tomatoes
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon of soya sauce
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of tomato sauce
Spring onions (finely chopped)

Preparation
Boil the tomatoes for a minute or so.
Remove tomatoes from boiling water and place them in iced water.
Remove and discard skin from tomatoes.
Cut tomatoes into small chunks and set aside.
Add soya sauce to the eggs and beat well.
Pour beaten eggs into a heated oiled pan and stir well.
When the eggs begin to set, dish up and set aside.
Toss the tomatoes into the pan.
Add in salt, sugar, tomato sauce and stir well.
Return the eggs to the pan.
Stir fry everything and remove from heat when the tomatoes soften or when the gravy is bubbling.
Sprinkle spring onions before serving.

Hainanese Pork Chop AKA 海南猪肉扒

Hainanese, one of the Chinese dialect groups, they are rather well-known for being in the food trade. The early Hainanese immigrants in Singapore mostly work as waiters and servants in the local hotels, restaurants, bakeries and bars. Many of them also became coffee shop owners, stall holders and chefs.

Today, Hainanese cuisine is one of the most sought after cuisines in Singapore. Hainanese Chicken Rice, Hainanese Curry Rice and Hainanese Pork Chop are just some of the popular and classic dishes. (I was told that the traditional Hainanese Pork Chop is not served with tomato sauce.)

Ingredients (Adapted from a magazine cutting - by Chef Zhang Tian)
200g of pork loin
1 egg
1 tomato (diced)
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
50g of sliced onion
20g of frozen green peas
120ml
3 tablespoons of ketchup
1/2 teaspoon of dark caramel soya sauce (optional)
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
Cornstarch

Preparation
Pound pork loins with meat tenderizer. Flatten to about 1/2 inch in thickness.
Rub meat with salt and pepper.
Coat the meat with cornflour and shake off the excess.
Dip into beaten egg.
Coat well with breadcrumbs.
Deep fry till it turns golden brown.
Set aside.
Stir fry garlic and onion till slightly brown.
Add caramel soya sauce, water and ketchup.
Bring to a boil before tossing in the tomatoes and green peas.
Leave to simmer.
Thicken sauce with cornflour if necessary.
Add salt/pepper to taste.
Pour sauce over the pork chops.
Serve immediately.

Seafood Baked Rice

One dish meal is usually what I come up with whenever I am racing against time. As rice is a staple on our dining table, one dish meal like Seafood Baked Rice is one of my quick-fix solutions.

Ingredients
Rice (2 servings)
150g of prawns (shells removed and devined)
100g of squids (cut into bite-size pieces)
50g of scallops
3 crab sticks (cut into chunks)
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
4 tablespoons of pasta sauce
1 tablespoon of tomato sauce
Dash of black pepper
Mozzarella cheese

Preparation
Pre-cook rice with chicken broth.
Melt butter in a pan and stir fry garlic till slightly browned.
Add in the prawns, squids, scallops and crab sticks.
Stir fry everything till half-cooked.
Mix pasta sauce and tomato sauce with 40ml of water.
Pour into the pan of the cooking seafood.
Stir well and remove from heat when ingredients are cooked.
Add in the cooked rice and mix well.
Place the combined ingredients in an oven dish.
Preheat oven at 220° C (425° F)
Sprinkle a generous amount of mozzarella cheese on top of the rice.
Bake for 10 minutes or until the top begins to brown.
Serve immediately.