Stir-fry Tofu with Shimeji Mushrooms and Dried Scallop

Ingredients
300g of silken tofu (cut into cubes)
100g of shimeiji mushrooms (cleaned)
30g of dried scallop (soaked, break into strands)
1 stalk of spring onion
2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
1/2 tablespoon of sugar
280ml of water
Cornstarch

Preparation
Stir fry the mushrooms and scallop in an oiled pan.
Add in oyster sauce, sugar and water.
Stir to mix well.
Add in the tofu.
Bring to a boil and leave to simmer for 5 minutes or so.
Thicken gravy with cornstarch.
Sprinkle with spring onions before serving.

Crispy Tofu with Sweet Chili Sauce (Thai-style) AKA 泰式豆腐

Ingredients
2 pieces of tau kwa (firm tofu)
1/2 an onion (sliced)
2 tablespoons of sweet chili sauce
40ml of water

Preparation
Pat tau kwa dry with paper towel.
Deep fry the tau kwa till golden brown.
Drain away excess oil and cut into bite-size pieces.
Add the sweet chili sauce to 40ml of water.
Toss in the onions.
Bring everything to a boil.
Pour onions and sauce over the tau kwa.
Ready to serve.

* Alternatively, you can cut the tau kwa into bite-size pieces before deep frying.

Steamed Tofu AKA 老少平安

Traditionally, this steamed dish is made up of mainly tofu and fish paste. And egg white is added to bind these two ingredients together. But over the time, many different versions have been adapted. Mushrooms, dried shrimps and minced meat are being added.

As a parent myself, I wish for the well-being of the elderly and the young in my family more than anything else. And the name of this dish - 老少平安 (loosely translated as: safe and well-being of both elderly and young) always bring a smile on my face as these 4 simple words carry an important and heartwarming message.

Both tofu and fish paste are soft so the elderly and the young can enjoy this dish without worrying not having strong teeth to chew on the food properly or choking on fish bones. Practically a safe dish for all ages. Thus the Chinese name.

Personally, I feel that this dish doesn't really break up into pieces that easily so I omitted the egg white in my recipe.

Ingredients
300g of tofu
200g of fish paste
Cooked oil
Soya sauce
Pepper

Preparation
Mash up the tofu and mix well with fish paste.
Set in a shallow dish.
Using medium heat, steam for 10-15 minutes.
Drizzle cooked oil, soya sauce and a dash of pepper before serving.
Garnish with spring onion or coriander. (optional)

Pickled Green Chilies

This a one of the spices that many cannot do without. Especially among Chinese. Quite a number of people I know, actually see pickled green chilies as an appetizer.

Most commonly found in Chinese restaurants, a saucer plate of pickled green chilies and braised peanuts are foremost served to their customers who snack on these whilst waiting for their food.

Although I love chili paste of all sorts, but I must admit that some dishes are not quite complete without pickled green chilies. Good examples are Hor Fun and Wanton Mee. If you share my views, then all the more you should try this recipe and keep a container of pickled green chilies inside your fridge. Trust me, it will come in handy. ;)

Ingredients
300g of green chilies
A small bottle of rice vinegar (about 240ml)
6 tablespoons of sugar (adjust according to personal preference)

Preparation
Clean the green chilies with cooked water and set aside to drain.
Chop up the green chilies when they are dry.
Sift away the seeds. (do not have to be very thorough)
Place the chopped green chilies into a container.
Empty the bottle of rice vinegar into a pot.
Using medium low heat, bring it to a boil before adding in the sugar.
Stir until all the sugar has been dissolved.
Set aside and allow it to cool.
Pour the cooled vinegar over the green chilies.
Keep refrigerated.

Vegetarian Dish AKA 斋菜

This unique dish shared by my Mom is fantastic. Or at least I think so. She is my inspiration. She is the reason why I love cooking so much.

In this dish, she uses only 2 types of fermented beancurds for flavoring - Nam Yu aka 南乳 (red in color) and Fu Yu aka 腐乳 (yellow in color) The beancurds help to enhance the taste of the vegetables while retaining their original flavors.

Unless you do not like the taste of the fermented beancurds, or I would highly recommend this recipe. ^^

Ingredients
250g of cabbage
100g of fried beancurd/ tau pok
100g of button mushrooms
50g of chinese mushrooms (soaked in water, cleaned with stem removed)
150g baby corn/ maize
15g of black fungus
50g of ginger (sliced)
1 piece of fermented beancurd and 2 tablespoons of the sauce
1 piece of fermented red beancurd and 2 tablespoons of the sauce

Preparation
In an oiled pan, stir fry the ginger till fragrant.
Add in the ferment beancurds and mix well.
Toss in the mushrooms and cabbage.
Add in 260ml of water and bring to a boil.
Lastly, add in the maize, black fungus and tau pok.
Stir well and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.
Turn off the heat and give it a final stir.
Serve hot.

Stir-fry Beansprouts with Salted Fish

A simple and easy stir-fry dish. Not to mention delicious too! Definitely worth the hassle of plucking the tails of the beansprouts. If you don't mind paying more, you can always get a bag of beansprouts with the tails already removed from the supermarkets.

Ingredients
250g of beansprouts (tails removed)
50g of dried salted fish
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
3-5 small chilies (chopped/shredded)
A small stalk of spring onion (cut into 3" long)

Preparation
Cut salted fish into pieces.
Pan fry them in an oiled pan.
Remove from pan and set aside when they turn golden brown.
Stir fry the garlic till fragrant before adding in the beansprouts and chilies.
Return the salted fish to the pan and stir well.
Add in the spring onions together with 30ml of water.
Remove from heat when the beansprouts are cooked.
Serve hot.

Stir-fry Hairy Gourd with Chinese Vermicelli AKA 大姨妈嫁女

This is another dish with a funny name after 乱棍打死猪八戒, - 大姨妈嫁女 (loosely translated as: Elder Aunt marrying her daughter off) Funny but totally irrelevant. Can anyone enlighten me on the meaning? (Chinese Vermicelli are better known as Cellophane noodles or 粉絲 or 冬粉.)

Ingredients
400g of hairy gourd (skin removed, cut into strips about 2" long)
50g of chinese vermicelli (2 bundles)
30g of dried shrimps
3 tablespoons of soya sauce
1 tablespoon of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of white pepper

Preparation
Stir fry the dried shrimps in an oiled pan till fragrant.
Toss in the hairy gourd.
Add soya sauce, sugar, pepper and 150ml of water to the pan.
Mix well before adding in the chinese vermicelli.
Simmer for 8-10 minutes or until the hairy gourd softens.
Serve hot.

Corokke AKA Croquette

My husband and I used to buy our croquettes from the Japanese croquette shop - Corochan's Corokke

Love their original corokke best of all. If I didn't remember wrongly, it consists mainly of potatoes and mushrooms. Best eaten when pipping hot!

I used to frequent the outlet at Bugis Junction. But to my dismay, ever since the renovation, I've never seen Corochan's Corokke again. I always thought that the outlet at Bugis shifted elsewhere. And I was too lazy to find out where the other branches are. Until recently, I did a online search, was shocked to learn that they went bankrupt in 2007... It seems like even the franchise outlets in Japan have ceased operations.

Noooooo....!!!!!

Was forced to make my own croquette...

Ingredients
300g of potatoes
100g of button mushrooms (finely diced)
1 tablespoon of butter
1 egg yolk
Salt
Pepper
1 egg (beaten)
Plain flour
Breadcrumbs

Preparation
Peel and cut potatoes into large cubes.
Boil in water(with salt added) until tender. Drain well and mash.
Combine potatoes with butter, egg yolk and mushrooms.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Mix well and spread mixture onto a greased baking sheet.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold.
Shape mixture into small logs or patties.
Coat with cornflour and shake off the excess.
Dip into beaten egg.
Coat well with breadcrumbs.
Deep fry till it turns golden brown.
Serve on shredded cabbage (optional)

Ma Po Tofu AKA 麻婆豆腐

Ma Po Tofu is a well-known dish from the Sichuan province of China.It is a combination of tofu (bean curd) and minced meat(usually pork or beef) in a spicy bean-based sauce.

There's also a story behind the name of this dish (story may be purely mythic/anecdota) - Ma stands for "Ma Zi" (麻子) which means a person disfigured by pockmarks. Po (婆) translates as "old woman". Hence, Ma Po is an old woman whose face was pockmarked. Legend says that the pock-marked old woman (Pinyin: má pó) was a widow who lived in the Chinese city of Chengdu. Due to her condition, her home was placed on the outskirts of the city. By coincidence, it was near a road where traders often passed. Although the rich merchants could afford to stay within the numerous inns of the prosperous city while waiting for their goods to sell, poor farmers would stay in cheaper inns scattered along the sides of roads on the outskirts of the ancient city.

It is said that the first people who tasted the old woman's cooking were a farmer and his son who arrived late to the city during a terrible rainstorm. They were forced to find shelter in the old woman's home having found that all of the inns were full.

Pleased with the company, the old woman prepared them a meal from her paltry larder, including the dish now known as Ma Po Dou fu. The dish was so delicious that soon each time the father and son passed the old woman's home, they would stay for a meal. In this way, the old woman's renown spread as others joined the father and son in visiting and staying at her home. These visitors would often bring the ingredients for her dish so as not to burden her larder.

As time passed, the dish evolved. However, the staple ingredients have always been ground pork/beef, tofu, and ground Sichuan pepper. - Wikipedia

Ingredients
300g of silken tofu (diced)
150g of minced pork
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
3 tablespoon of chili bean sauce

Preparation
Stir fry garlic in 2 tablespoons of oil till fragrant.
Toss in minced pork and continue to cook till pork is slightly browned.
Stir in the chili bean sauce.
Pour in 150ml of water together with the tofu.

Stir very gently to mix well.
Bring everything to a boil and simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
Garnish with chopped spring onions before serving. (optional)

Deep Fried Egg Tofu II

Ingredients
1 roll of egg tofu (cut into about 1" in thickness)
50g of minced pork
2 large prawns (halved)
2 chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked and sliced)
Few slices of carrot
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 teaspoon of sugar
Cornstarch

Preparation
Deep fry egg tofu till golden brown.
Remove from heat and set aside to drain away excess oil.
Stir fry minced meat over low heat.
Toss in the carrots, chinese mushrooms and prawns when the minced meat is semi-cooked.
Stir fry everything for another minute or so before adding in oyster sauce, sugar and 100ml of water .
Bring to a boil.
Add in cornstarch slowly to thicken the gravy.
Arrange the tofu on a serving plate.
Pour gravy over tofu and serve hot.

Braised Dried Oysters with Chinese Mushrooms

Been procrastinating on the posting of this recipe. Well, not exactly the recipe itself but rather the photos. Can you tell the mushrooms and dried oysters apart? Everything is so dark in color! I didn't add black moss in because it was a last minute dish and I have ran out of them. But even if I did, I doubt the moss will be visible in the picture. T.T

Anyway, I think the photos are doing this dish a great disservice. It might not look appealing here but it's absolutely delicious. This dish is quite common among the Cantonese who usually cook this during the Chinese New Year as the ingredients sound auspicious in Cantonese’s pronunciation.

Ingredients
8 chinese mushrooms (stems removed)
6 dried oysters
2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
1/2 tablespoon of sugar
Sesame oil
Cornstarch

Preparation
Soak the dried oysters for 15 minutes and the dried chinese mushrooms till soften and squeeze out excess water.
Add oyster sauce and sugar to 400ml of water.
Bring everything to a boil and toss in the mushrooms and oysters.
Simmer for another 30-45 minutes.
Add in a few drops of sesame oil followed by cornstarch to thicken the sauce.
Ready to serve.

Grilled Oyster Mushrooms

Ingredients
1 packet of oyster mushrooms
1 tablespoon of salted butter
Dash of grounded black pepper

Preparation
Melt the butter in a pan. (preferably a grill pan)
Place the mushrooms in the pan. Try not to overlap so that each mushroom can be evenly cooked/grilled.
Sprinkle black pepper on both sides of the mushrooms.
Remove from heat when the mushrooms are cooked to a nice golden brown.

Stir-fry Long Beans with Pork

The name of this dish is the most hilarious I've came across so far. It's .... 乱棍打死猪八戒!! (loosely translated as: hit Pigsy dead with clubs) [Pigsy as in the character in the novel - Journey to the West]

I've came across quite a number of such interesting names of dishes. Chefs are indeed innovative with a great sense of humor too! I will try to cook, post and share those dishes with everyone soon!

Ingredients
A small bunch of long beans (cut into about 2.5" long)
120g of pork (thinly sliced)
1 tablespoon of spicy bean sauce

Preparation
Heat up 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan.
Using medium low heat, stir fry the bean sauce till fragrant before adding in the pork.
Toss in the long beans when the pork is cooked.
Add in 60ml of water.
Stir thoroughly and remove from heat when the long beans are cooked.
Serve hot.

Deep Fried Egg Tofu

Ingredients
2 rolls of egg tofu (cut into about 1" in thickness)
1.5 tablespoons of mixed veggies
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
Cornstarch

Preparation
Deep fry the tofu till they turn into a nice golden brown.
Remove from heat and set aside to drain away excess oil.
Dissolve oyster sauce and sugar in 1/2 cup of water.
Bring to a boil and add in the mixed veggies.
Add in cornstarch slowly to thicken the gravy.
Pour gravy over tofu and serve hot.

Stir-fry Potatoes with Pork

Just another humble home-cooked dish for my family. ;)

Ingredients
150g of pork (thinly sliced)
3 potatoes (sliced, about 1/2" wide)
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
2 tablespoon of soya sauce
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of dark soya sauce (optional)

Preparation

Using medium-low heat, stir fry the garlic till fragrant before adding in the meat.
Toss in the potatoes when the meat is half-cooked.
Mix the soya sauce, dark soya sauce and sugar with 1/2 cup of water and bring to a boil together with the potatoes and meat.
Leave the dish to cook for at least 15 minutes or till the desired softness of the potatoes over low heat.
Ready to serve.

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.

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.

Sambal Kangkong AKA 马来风光

Ingredients
1 packet of kangkong (washed and cut into 3.5" long)
2 tablespoons of dried shrimps (chopped)
1 tablespoon of sambal belacan chili
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of soya sauce

Preparation
Heat up 3 tablespoons of oil in a pan.
Stir fry the dried shrimps till fragrant before adding in the chili.
Toss in the kangkong.
Stir fry for another 3 minutes or so.
Add in the sugar and soya sauce.
Mix well before dishing out the vegetables.
Serve hot.

Nonya Achar AKA Pickled Vegetables

I found a wonderful and delicious nonya achar recipe here!!

The taste of this recipe is the closest to what I had in the past...
I used to buy the chicken rice near my parents' house all the time because the stall there serves a generous portion of nonya achar together with the rice. And their nonya achar is simply SEDAP! But sadly, the chicken rice stall has closed down a few years ago. And now that I have found this nonya achar recipe online which shares that familiar taste! Even my 10 years old nephew likes it!

*I have altered the ingredients and preparations of the original recipe a bit according to my personal preference.


Ingredients
2 cucumbers (with seeds removed and cut into thin strips, about 3" long)
2 carrots (cut into thin strips, about 3" long)
300g of chinese cabbage (shredded, about 2cm wide)
2 slices of pineapple (cut into small pieces)
3 tablespoons of fried sesame seeds OR 120g of fried and pounded peanuts
125g of sugar
A small bottle of vinegar
100g of small onions
100g of garlic
80g of dried chili
A small piece of ginger
A stalk of lemongrass

Preparation
Rub cucumbers, carrots and cabbage with ample salt.
Set aside for 2 hours.
Drain off excess water and pat dry the vegetables with paper towel.
Blend small onions, garlic, chili, ginger and lemongrass together to form a fine paste. (add oil instead of water to the mixture if a fine paste cannot be achieved)
Stir fry the paste over low heat till fragrant.
In another pot, bring the vinegar to a boil before adding in the sugar. (taste and make sure that its not too sour for your preference, you might want to add a little more sugar at this stage)
Add in the desired amount of the chili paste after sugar has dissolved. (the rest of the chili paste can be kept refrigerated for the next use)
Set aside to cool.
Mix in the vegetables and pineapples followed by the sesame seeds OR peanuts.
Keep achar refrigerated.
Best served chilled.

Ampang Yong Tau Foo AKA 安邦酿豆腐

Extracted from Wikipedia - Ampang, a district in Malaysia is famous for its Yong Tau Foo which is a Chinese soup dish with Hakka origins. Essentially the dish originated in the early 1960s in a restaurant called "Chew Kuan" as tofu stuffed with a meat paste of fish and pork, thereby earning the dish its name "Yong Tau Foo," which means "stuffed bean curd." Since then all variety of vegetables and even fried fritters have been similarly stuffed, and the name Yong Tau Foo has thus been used liberally to apply to foods prepared in this manner.

The foods are sliced into bite-size pieces, cooked briefly in boiling broth and then served either in the broth as soup or dry with sauces. 

Ingredients
Yong Tau Foo
1 tablespoon of soya sauce
1/2 tablespoon of sugar
1/2 tablespoon of dark soya sauce

Preparation
Pan fry all the Yong Tau Foo till cooked.
Place them on a dish.
Mix the soya sauce, sugar and dark soya sauce together with around 1/2 cup of water and bring to a boil.
Pour the sauce over the Yong Tau Foo or return the Yong Tau Foo to the pan to cook with the sauce for another minute or so if you prefer your Yong Tau Foo to be softer.

* Optional - You may want to serve the dish together with some blanched kangkong on the side.