Ho Ho Ho...Merry Christmas To All

Christmas is a time to reflect
On all that God has done
It's not a matter of what we get,
But the birth of the Holy one
It's not about gifts
With ribbons and bows,
Or Christmas trees,
Tinsel and mistletoe
The Christmas gift given to us,
Is Jesus Christ's

Gift of love.

- M.S.Lowndes

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

and

A HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Stir Fry Mini King Oyster Mushrooms With Preserved Radish

I have been buying these mini King Oyster Mushrooms from Jusco but of late I don't see them in Jusco anymore. The have the bigger specie on sale but I like the mini ones :)  I shall wait for the new stock to arrive from Korea.   I have used them in many dishes. If you have been visiting my blog, you would have read my previous posts on Linguine With Homecooked Ratatouille and Mini King Oyster Mushroom Fritters and Mini King Oyster Mushroom Omelette , all uses these delectable mushrooms. There are so many ways to cook these mushrooms and for today's post, I would like to share on a simple yet flavorful dish - Stir Fry Mini King Oyster Mushrooms With Preserved Radish.  It is easy to whip up and it takes less than 20 minutes to have it ready on the table :) The preserved radish gave this dish the oomph.  The three main ingredients for this dish is the mushrooms, preserved radish and garlic. 

Ingredients:

2 cups of mini King Oyster Mushrooms - cut into thick slices

2 tbsp of preserved radish

1 tbsp of garlic - chopped

1 tbsp of vegetable oil

1 tsp of oyster sauce

3 tbsp of water mix with 1/2 tsp of corn starch

Method:

Heat up oil in a wok in medium high heat , when the oil is smoking hot, add in the garlic and preserved radish, stir fry till fragrant, add in the mushrooms and continue to stir fry till well combined and cooked Add in cornstarch water and oyster sauce. Continue to stir fry till the gravy thickens.  Dish up and serve hot.

Enjoy  !

*             *             *

Linguine With Homecooked Ratatouille

Ratatouille is my favourite dish .  I simplified the method so that WB doesn't need to stand in front of the stove for an hour :p  I shortened the cooking time so he doesn't mind cooking this dish for me. During my recuperating period,  I ate pasta most of the time .  I try to make things easier for WB :) Some man are clumsy in the kitchen...ehh forget I said this :p

Besides eggplants, carrot, zuccchini and yellow onions , I added korean mini king oyster mushrooms to the basic ratatouille recipe ...knowing me!  A mushroom fan :)  A tin of tomato paste, olive oil and mixed herbs , black pepper and sea salt is all you need to cook this ratatouille dish.  And of course a bit of patience *wink    You can keep this for two weeks in the fridge .  Linguine with homecooked ratatouille makes life easy and keep us healthy :) 

Linguine With Homecooked Ratatouille - WB's Kitchen

Recipe for ratatouille

1/4 cup olive oil,
1 cup diced yellow onion
2 cups medium diced eggplant, skin on
1 1/2 cups diced carrot
1 1/2 cups diced zucchini
1 cup seeded tomato
1 1/2 cups korean mini King oyster mushrooms
1 1/2 tbsp of mixed herbs - you can use fresh herbs of thymes, basil, parsley leaves
2 tbsp of minced garlic
1 small can of tomato paste mixed with 1/2 can of water
sea salt and ground black pepper

Method:

Heat up a saute pan over medium heat and add the olive oil.  Once hot, add the onions and garlic to the pan.  Cook the onions, stirring occasionally until they are wilted and lightly caramelized. Add all the diced veggies and cooked till soften.  Add the tomato paste water mixture , mixed herbs, black pepper and simmer till the veggies are soft and cooked and the gravy has thicken up.  Add seasalt to taste.  Stir well to blend and serve on your cooked pasta.

*            *            *

Christmas Countdown - Christmas Menu And Wine

Christmas is just ten days away and the countdown has started :) I have planned our Christmas dinner menu far in advance so that I can trial run on a new recipe , Roasted Lemongrass Chicken ( Gai Ob Ta Khai ) which I wanted very much to have it as one of the meat dishes.   I have invited some close friends and relatives to join us for dinner on Christmas day and planning the perfect Christmas dinner is top on my list besides getting Christmas presents for each of them. 

I am glad that I can test out the recipe before hand.  It turned out perfect and WB agrees that we can have chicken wings instead of whole turkey.  This is more flavorful with the strong aroma of lemongrass compared to stuff turkey.  Anyway , for a change we will leave out the turkey this year.  Besides chicken wings, I have pork loin roulade with cranberries and pistachio and crusted with fresh italian parsley.  The salad , I will assigned Piggy Jo to take over the salad and dessert * I think she is making red velvet cupcakes for dessert and tiramisu...ahhhh..just thinking of the Christmas menu and knowing that everyone in the family is helping out has made this year Christmas dinner stress free for me.  And WB and Josh has been assigned to find cheap wine online from Jims Cellars and make sure that the wine they order matches my Christmas dishes.   With the wine being taken care of , I just have one last thing to do and that is to find all the serving dishes, plates, cutlery, glasses and table linen and to make sure that the table is set the day before.

Roasted Lemongrass Chicken ( Gai Ob Ta Khai )  - adapted from Honeybee Sweets


Ingredients for Roasted Lemongrass Chicken Wings (Serves 3-4)

8 chicken wings, trimmed of fat, wash and pat dry
3 lemongrass stalks
2 Tbsp olive oil

Marinate 
2 lemongrass stalks, ends trimmed and bruised
1 tbsp dark soy
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar
125 ml water 

Method:

Prepare the marinate 3-4 hours ahead. Chop the lemongrass finely. Heat the saucepan on medium fire and add in the lemongrass in. Then add in all the rest of the marinate ingredients and bring to a boil. Then remove from fire, cover and let cool completely.
Once the marinate is cooled, pour into a big mixing bowl. Then add in the chicken wings, coat the chicken wings well with the marinate sauce. Leave the chicken to absorb the marinate in the fridge for 3-4hrs.
Preheat the oven to 200C
Take chicken wings out from the fridge. Arrange chicken pieces on an aluminum foil lined baking tray. 
Using the bruised lemongrass stalk, dip in cooking oil and use it as a brush and brush the chicken wings well. This step will help crisp up the skin / surface and prevent burning.
Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or till the juice runs clear.
Remove from oven and place on serving plate and serve immediately. Garnish with lemongrass if desired. 

Enjoy !

*               *                *

Red Wine Marinated Pork Loin

Simple to prepare red wine marinated pork loin and yet flavorful and aromatic .  Every bite burst with red wine sauce...mmmmm lovely.  This was what I did with the balance of the cooking red wine in the fridge.  Marinate the pork loin over night in a zipper bag and pan seared it till cooked with a bit of burnt edges...ah, I love the slight burnt part..it add flavors to the meat :p  . With the balance of the marinade sauce....cook into a sauce and pour over the cooked pork loin...one word Yummy!

Red Wine Marinated Pork Loin - WB's Kitchen

1/2 kg Pork Loin - cut into 1/4 inch thick slices

1 tbsp of vegetable oil for searing the meat

marinade sauce - mix all the marinade ingredients together

1/2 cup red wine

2 tbsp of brown sugar

salt to taste

2 tsp black pepper

Method:

Marinate the pork loin slices with the marinade sauce . Keep them in a zipper bag and leave over night in the fridge.

Add veg oil in a non stick pan.  Under a medium high heat, pan seared the marinated meat till cooked on both sides.  Repeat until all the pork loin are pan seared.  Pour away excess oil from the non stick pan. do not wash the pan.

To make the red wine sauce , using the same non-stick pan , pour the balance of marinade sauce into the non-stick pan and cook the marinade sauce till it thicken.  If the marinade sauce is not enough to make the sauce, add in a tbsp of red wine and water . Once it thickens, pour over the cooked pork loin and serve hot . 

Enjoy !

*             *            *

Mini King Oyster Mushroom Fritters

I have been indulging in these little mini King Oyster Mushroom the past one  month. There are from Korean and the beautiful thing about these mushrooms is, they have a springy and crunchy texture after they are fried.  Besides having them in my pasta, I made them into fritters as snack .  Delicious and they are very very additive.  I have them deep fried as snack while watching the Korean drama on TV.  Best snack ever...so yummy!  Do try them deep fried...they sure are lip smacking good.

Mini King Oyster Mushroom Fritters - WB's Kitchen

1 packet of fresh Mini King Oyster Mushrooms -  those prewashed one would be appropriate for this recipe

( if you need to wash the mushrooms, make sure you dry the mushrooms with paper towel before you deep into the batter for deep frying )

Batter:

3 tbsp of plain flour

1 tbsp of rice flour

1 tbsp of corn flour

1/4 tsp of baking powder

1/4 tsp of  herbed sea salt

Chilli flakes - to taste

4 tbsp water

2 tbsp oil

Method:  

Combine all the dry ingredients and salt together in a bowl . Add in water and oil  and whisk the mixture into a batter.  Heat oil till right temperature.  Dip in a wooden chopstick into the hot oil , if you see bubbles at the end of the chopstick , then the oil is ready for deep frying.  Coat the mushrooms with the batter and drop into the hot oil.  Fry till the mushrooms are lightly browned.  Take out and drain on paper towel.   

Enjoy !

*            *            *

Poached Chicken Chinese Style

This is what I normally do with a whole chicken besides roasting them.  This is how the chicken is poached for chinese chicken rice . We called this dish ' Pak Cheet Gai ' in cantonese ( literally translated as white cut chicken  ) .  The soup after poaching the chicken can be used freezed up as chicken broth for later use or you can add in carrots and potato to make a carrot soup to serve with this ' Pak Cheet Gai '.  The wonderful dip sauce to go with this poached chicken is the ginger and onion sauce. Actually , this sauce is the main attraction for this dish :)

Poached Chicken Chinese Style  -recipe source: by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover)

Ingredient:

1.6kg free-range chicken
Few slices of ginger
2 sprig of spring onions
1tsp salt (i use fine sea salt)
1 and 1/2tsp sesame oil

Method

1. Stuff ginger and spring onion inside the cavity of chicken.

2. Boil a large pot of water over high heat ( use a pot that is large enough to fit a whole chicken)

3. Slowly place the chicken ( breast side down ) into boiling water, boiling water become simmer.

4. Once water boil again, reduce heat to the lowest.

5. Cover the lid and let chicken simmer in hot water. While cooking half way (abt 10 mins) flip the chicken breast side up, cover and continue simmer.

6. Cook for 16 mins (depend on the size of chicken or when you see chicken become light and float on top).

7. Switch off the fire, over the lid and let chicken continue to simmer in hot watr for another 10 mins, flip the chicken breast side up, cover and continue simmer.

8. Mix salt and sesame oil in a mixing bowl. Remove chicken from hot water, use a brush to evenly brush salt mixture on the whole body of chicken.

9. Let it cool in room temperature for several hours (5-6 hours) before cutting into small pieces.

Ginger and Onion Dip Sauce

Ingredients

ginger and shallots ratio of 1:1

a stalk of spring onion - cut finely

salt to taste

oil enough to cover the ground ginger and shallots

Method:

Blend together ginger and shallots in a food processor until fine texture.  Take out and mix in the cut spring onions in a bowl.  Add in enough sea salt and stir till well combined. Leave aside.

Heat oil till  smoking hot, add to the bowl of ginger mixture. It should sizzles. The sizzlings will bring out the aroma of ginger mixture.  This is what make the sauce good to go with the poached chicken.

Yummy !

*           *            *

Linguine With Mini King Oyster Mushroom And Salmon

This is my kind of preparation for pasta.  I prefer linguine to chinese noodles.  I like the soft chewy texture of linguine .  I have some balance of mini king oyster mushrooms , so I stir fry them with garlic and mixed herbs and then add to the cooked linguine with a dash of  salt. Pan seared salmon with black pepper .  Serve linguine with the pan seared salmon and mini King oyster mushrooms.....this is so yummy.  Garnish with spring onions for color and taste .  I am begining to like this mushroom.  It has a springy and chewy texture even after cooking it, unlike the other type of mushrooms which turned soft after cooking.

*               *              *

Red Wine Marinated Roast Wings

Christmas... Christmas......I love Christmas dinner...it is either roast wings or turkey.  But turkey is too large for me to handle, so we settled for wings instead.  Not even a whole chicken LOL!  I tried out this roast wings recipe and gosh I think it is really good . I think it would be great to add this dish for the coming festive dinner.  I am sure my Piggies would love these delicious finger licking good wings. The recipe is easy....just marinate the wings with red wine and over night in the fridge.  I saw this recipe from the Australian Women's Weekly and adapted it a bit.  Instead of using dry sherry , I used red cooking wine which I bought from BIG :)   

I have to think of a few more meat dishes for the meat eating Piggies :p  So, a lot of baking and roasting will be involved.  And now thinking of all the greasy pans and plates, I have to use the dishwasher instead of washing up at the sink.  WB will have to do a clean up the dishwasher first with dishwasher cleaner before the big day comes. Sometimes we may think that our dishwasher is clean because it looks clean but grease and limescale may build up in the vital parts of the dishwasher that are hard to see.  WB will just have to use a bit of detergent like Finish Intensive Clean and Care , it will eliminates all grease and limescale in the hidden vital parts of the dishwasher . To WB, a cleaner dishwasher means cleaner dishes :)  Sorry , I got distracted by the dishwasher, it is WB's job anyway not mine :p.  Okay , back to this finger licking good roast wings, I have to pair it with a good bottle of wine.  Ah, I will leave this to my Piggy Joanna.  She will know what to pair with these wings and I am thinking of roast ribs too. Noted. Meanwhile, I will share the recipe for this dish so that you can make this for your Christmas dinner.

Red Wine Marinated Roast Wings

Ingredients:

12 large chicken wings

1/4 cup of soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger

1 tsp of sugar

1/2 cup of red cooking wine

2 tbsp of olive oil

1 tbsp of honey

2 tsp of hot chilli sauce

Method:

Remove and discard tip from each wing; cut wings in half at joint. Mix chicken pieces with remaining ingredients in large bowl till well combined.  Put the chicken pieces and sauce  into a zipper bag . Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. 

Heat the oven to 200 deg C . Arrange the wings on a wire rack over oven tray and roast them in the preheated oven for 35 - 40 minutes till it is tender and cooked. Brushing often with the extra marinade often. 

Enjoy ! 

*             *            *

Mini King Oyster Mushroom Omelette

A simple dinner last night because WB was well the past few days.  Fever and cough but thank God , he is much better today :)  I cooked this simple mini king oyster mushroom omelette for our dinner -bought them from Jusco and these mini King Oyster mushroom are from Korea , it is crunchy in texture and taste good .  One functional arm and one handle non stick pan did the trick LOL!  

Thank God I am now 90% recovered and soon I will be able to go back to my mundane routine of baking and cooking again.  The physiotherapy is killing me though.  Imagine your arm being pushed to the limit each time you go for the exercise...gosh it is nightmare for me but it does do me good though. As the saying goes ...no pain no gain.  I am still not able to sleep through the night coz of the pain from the inside.  Well , as the doctor said...the pain will be there for 3-6 months.  Wow, I didn't know this is the side effect from the surgery and I hope that I will be able to endure the sleepless night and pain.  But food can smooth the pain for the time being :)

Mini King Oyster Mushroom Omelette 

Mix all  the ingredients together:

a handful of mini king oyster mushrooms - rinse and dab dry with kitchen paper towel
2 eggs - beaten
a pinch of herbed sea salt to taste
chilli flakes to taste
a tsp of chopped garlic
a tsp of olive oil
a tbsp of cut spring onions

Method:

Pour the mixture into hot non stick pan and cooked on med low heat till both sides are golden brown and edges are crispy.  Dish up and serve with hot rice.

*             *             *

Avocado , Grapefruit And Pomegranate Salad

Stay healthy and eat healthy will be my motto for 2014 :)  hahaha motto not resolution ! Well for dinner, I made this simple and yet delicious salad to go with pan fried salmon...refreshing and healthy too .  It was a mistake to add in the pomegranate ,WB has no patient to take out the seeds even though it taste good in the salad :)  Pomegranate, beside preventing and reversing CAD, alaso prevents cancer, and promote healthy skin by its powerful abundant antioxidant punicalagins. 

It has these benefits:- adapted from here

• Pomegranate increases the synthesis of nitric oxide, required for healthy arterial endothelial function,
• protect nitric oxide from oxidative degradation,
• reduces coronary plaque buildup,
• reverses atherosclerosis,
• inhibits LDL oxidation,
• reduces blood pressure, and
• oxidative stress.

Avocado ,Grapefruit And Pomegranate Salad - WB's Kitchen

2 ripe  avocados
1 large red grapefruit
1 japanese cucumber
1 ripe pomegranate
mint leaves * optional

vinaigrette:
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup good olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
some chopped mint leaves * optional

Place all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl.  Slowly whisk in the olive oil until the vinaigrette is emulsified.  Leave aside.

Before serving, cut the avocados in 1/2, remove the seeds, and carefully peel off the skin. Diced into bite size cubes, toss the avocado in the vinaigrette to prevent them from turning brown. Use a sharp knife to slice the peel off the grapefruits ( be sure to remove all the white pith ), then cut between the membranes to release the grapefruit segments.  Diced the japanese into bite sized cubes.  Chopped the mint leaves ( optional ) .

Arrange all the salad ingredients in a bowl. Pour the vinaigrette on top and gently mix till the salad ingredients are covered in vinaigrette dressing. Serve chilled or room temperature.

*           *          *

Stir Fry Small Pieces aka 'Chau Lup Lup '

We tried to cook my mom's signature dish ' chau lup lup' which translated in Cantonese , it means fry all the small pieces , but it didn't taste like mom's cooking reason being we did not add in roasted peanuts. But just the same, it tasted delicious.  The dish comprises of  preserved radish, diced dry tofu - the firm and hard type , diced long beans and cut red chillies .  Simply stir fry all the diced ingredients with chopped garlic and let me tell you , this goes well with a bowl of teochew porridge.  Thanks to WB for helping out in cooking this delicious and appetizing dish.

Stir Fry Small Pieces aka 'Chau Lup Lup ' - from WB's Kitchen

ingredients:

diced long beans,
diced dry tofu,
preserved radish,
sliced red chillies
chopped garlic
a few dash of white pepper
1 tbsp of vegetable oil
salt to taste

Method:

In a non-stick wok , saute chopped garlic and preserved radish with a tbsp of vegetable oil till fragrant. Add in all the diced ingredients and chillies and continue to stir fry till well combined. Add a few tbsp of water and continue to stir fry till the long beans are properly cooked.  Add in a few dash of white pepper and salt to taste before dishing up.

*          *            *

Curry Pork Ribs

Ready made fresh curry paste from the wet market has made cooking curry much easier for busy people and for WB especially *wink  .  When I was back from the hospital a month ago, he cooked this for himself.  He went to our regular stall at the Kg.Simee market and bought this fragrant ready made curry paste and cooked his favorite pork ribs.  All he had to do was to saute lightly the paste in the claypot and add in the blanched pork ribs into the fragrant paste.  Add a cup of water and simmer over low heat till the ribs are soft and tender.  He added the potatoes in half way through the cooking so that the potatoes will not turned out to be mashed.  Mmmmm as he was cooking this , the aroma of the curry made me hungry and if not for my stitches then , I would have grabbed a bowl for myself.  He cooked enough for his three meals while I ate only steamed fish and spinach ! So unfair ! But I told him, I want a bowl for photography sake and thus , I stole some for blog photos :)

Curry Pork Ribs - from WB's Kitchen

1 cup of ready made fresh curry paste from the wet market
1 sprig of curry leaves
1/2 kg of pork ribs - meaty part
a few potatoes - peeled and halved
sea salt to taste if needed

Method:

Blanch the pork ribs , drain and leave it aside.   Saute the curry paste in a claypot under medium low heat for a few minutes, add in the curry leaves and blanched ribs.  Stir till the ribs are coated with the paste.  Add in a cup of water and simmer under low heat.  Cover the lid and simmer for half an hour , stirring occasionally so as not to allow burning the ribs and paste at the bottom of the pot.  Add in the cut potatoes and continue to simmer till the curry thickens and the potatoes are soft but hold its shape. Season to taste with sea salt.  

Note: no oil needed as the paste has enough oil and this curry does not need coconut milk, but you can add coconut milk if you desire.

Enjoy !

Stir Fry Mixed Veggies

These veggies when stir fried together looks wonderfully deliciious. When I asked WB to use all the veggies available in the fridge, this is what he whipped up for our dinner.  I have to be careful when I tell him that or I will end up with all the veggies in my dish. He took everything out of the veggie drawer in the fridge and stir fry them together.  No gravy and it was an assortment of veggies put together ! LOL ..trust my man to do the cooking !  Anyway, when this dish was served, I almost uttered 'what is this '... but the vibrancy of the colors whets my appetite :) 

Stir Fry Mixed Veggies - from WB's Kitchen :)

1 stalk of chinese leeks - cut into 1/2 in length

1 carrot - sliced

1 small slice of pumpkin - cut into cubes

2 tomatoes - cut into slices

some deep fried ' tao pau '/ beancurd skins

1/4 cup of chicken broth  

1 tbsp of vegetable oil

a drop of sesame oil

1 tbsp of chopped garlic

1 tsp of chilli flakes 

seasoning

mixed herbs salt

a dash of white pepper

Method:

Heat up vegetable oil, sesame oil in a wok, add in garlic and saute till fragrant.  Add in all the cut vegetables and stir fry till well mixed.  Add in chicken broth and simmer the veggies till soft and cooked.  Add in chilli flakes and seasoning.  Off heat and dish up and serve hot with rice.

*            *            *

Linguine Pasta With Rosemary Infused Olive Oil

Have you tried making your own infused oil...it can be garlic infused or herbs infused.  For me, I prefer fresh herbs...especially rosemary and thyme.   I used  heat the oil method .You can check it out here if you are keen to make your own fancy flavors infused oil :) . With this infused oil, you can drizzle on your pasta, as a salad dressing or as an appetizer with chunks of artisan bread.  I not only used them for pasta but mixed it with balsamic vinegar...gosh...drooling just thinking of balsamic vinegar with rosemary infused oil as a dip for my artisan bread :)  When Iam fully recovered, I will be baking bread again and you can guess , I will surely make balsamic vinegar dip with the rosemary infused olive oil . 

For today, I drizzle the rosemary infused oil on my linguine and gosh ,it does make a difference to usually bland linguine.  I added cherry tomato and pan grilled salmon and some  chinese mushrooms to it.  The perfect pasta for a light lunch :) 

To make the infused oil....click here

Linguine Pasta With Rosemary Infused Olive Oil

Linguine for two person  - cooked in salt water till al dente - drain and leave aside

2 tbsp of warm rosemary infused olive oil

pan grilled salmon - flaked it

10 cherry tomato - cut into halves

3 chinese mushroom- soaked and cut into slices - saute with chopped garlic till fragrant and cooked

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together and serve hot.

Enjoy !

*           *          *

Erynggi Mushroom And Eggplant Tempura

First time making mushroom and eggplant tempura . Not easy to make tempura.  It really needs a lot of skills and practice but I am not discouraged. I will make better ones the next time.  The moisture from the eggplant and mushroom makes it soggy fast so have to eat it fast :p  Love the crumbs ..it remained crispy all through...those that I took out from the oil.  YUmmy!  If  you have not tried tempura..you must...it is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.  Love the erynggi mushroom slices especially. Dip it in the tempura sauce and gosh...it was finger licking good :)  Practice makes perfect ! Like what Nami shared on her blog...the key for perfect tempura is the batter and the temperature of oil.  You can go read for more tips on her blog :)

Note:  Excuse the poor photography...my arm is still not completely functionable

still shaky :(

Erynggi Mushroom And Eggplant Tempura - adapted from justonecookbook Vegetable Tempura

Ingredients:-

4 Erynggi Mushrooms- cleaned and cut into 1/8 in slices 
2 eggplant- cleaned and cut into 1/8 in slices

Tempura batter - rule is egg water: flour = 1:1 ratio

1 cup (250ml)  egg water ( 1 cold egg (40g) + 210ml cold water )
1 cup (250 ml ) cold all purpose flour

Tempura Sauce

3/4  ( 200ml)  cup of dashi stock/ konbu dashi for vegetarian )
3 tbsp of soy sauce
2 tbsp of mirin
2 tsp of sugar
2" daikon  radish

Make the tempura sauce:

1.  First, make Tempura sauce. Combine dashi stock, mirin sugar, and soy sauce in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil.  Then lower the heat and let it simmer ntil sugar is completely dissolved.  Remove from heat and set aside.

2. Now clean and wash the erynggi mushrooms and eggplant and cut into 1/8 " thick slices. Dry dry them using paper towels.

3. Heat the 1 1/2 inch of oil in a pot.  When the oil temperature is  (160C-180C ), start making the batter.

4.  Crack the cold egg into 210ml cold water . Whisk vigorously and remove foam on the surface. As you slowly pour the  egg mixture into the cold flour, mix the batter with chopsticks in a figure of 8 motion. ( mix about at the most 1 minute ) Do not over mix the batter and leave some lumps in batter. Keep the batter cold at all time.  It is best to place the bowl of batter over a basin of ice cold water.

5.  For root vegetable deep fry around 160C, for mushroom around 175-180C. Do not over crowd the pot with ingredients. Remember you only put ingredients taking up 1/2 of oil surface. Transfer tempura to a wire rack or paper towel to remove excess oil.

6.  Between batches, remember to remove the crumbs in the oil, which will burn and and turn oil darker if you don't take it out.

Serve with the tempura sauce.....or wasabi with soy sauce

YUmmy!

Have a nice day!

Stir Fry Meat Slices With Sesame Oil And Ginger - Reminisce Confinement Days

I had a sudden crave for stir fry meat slices with lots of sesame oil and ginger. I made WB cooked this dish for me :)   After all the bland food this dish was appetizing , for it reminded me of my confinement days. My grandma cooked this dish for me almost everyday during my confinement days .  I taught WB how to cook and hmmm I would say he is good at following instructions.  Instead of stir fry the baby spinach , he made a soup with it and added his favorite veggie in...yea, he loves tomato.  I still see the spinach roots in the soup :p Anyway, I am thankful for my meals without having to prepare them myself :)  Praise be to God for He sees to my daily needs.  Amen.

Happy Deepavali to all my Hindu Friends And Readers

*          *          *

WB's Signature Steamed Fish :) And Flavorful Stir Fry Baby Spinach :)

True , True...enjoy while it lasts LOL!  I am enjoying WB's cooking by the days. I have another month of medical leave  and during this painful and yet blissful period , why blissful ?  I get to taste WB's cooking ! He will whip out nice dishesto surprise me..like this steamed fish...hahaha....do you see how he arranged the tofu and tomato around the fish ( wanna beat me when it comes to presentation - fine I let him win this time :p  ) and man ...look at the amount of gravy but just the same it is flavorful.  He added Domino's chilli flakes and sauteed garlic...err ...I don't know what else he added to make it so tasty.  He won't tell me....told me to enjoy for this is his signature dish ! LOL! well...alright since he is so secretive....let's not ask him :)  I suspected he just added soy sauce to the gravy  * wink  And the best thing was that he knew that I will surely want to showcase his cooking, thus he used my nice bowl and plate to serve his signature dishes LOL!

And can you see some of the roots of the baby spinach still attached to the spinach  hahaha...trust WB to do the washing and cleaning of the baby spinach..   I am forced to take in the roots together with the spinach LOL!  Oh , I must not complain or next time I have to cook myself.  He really did a good job with this dish.  It looks simple but it really flavorful.  He added some chopped perserved radish and sauteed together with the garlic and this make the veggie tasty.   Love it and truly , only WB can stir fry it to perfection. I lost to him when it comes to stir frying spinach.  I tend to overcook but his turned out green and fresh :)   Thank you WB for doing all the cooking the past few weeks :)  

*              *              *

Stir Fry Pumpkin With Preserved Turnip

When I was discharged from the hospital, I was on anti-biotics and painkillers for two weeks and you can imagine my appetite was zero.  WB is such a dear!  He thinks of food that will whet my appetite and he cooked pumpkin with perserved turnip or cai poh .  And topped with deep fried anchovies. Gosh, I would never have thought of cooking pumpkin with cai poh...LOL...I gave him full marks for this dish.  It really did whet up my appetite :)  Love the crunchy and flavorful cai poh and not to forget the crispy and crunchy anchovies.  Delish!  He cooks better than me :)  And I am going to enjoy all my meals from now....I kind like this phrase now...enjoy while it last! LOL! I asked him how he whipped this up and this is how how prepared it...easy and yet delish!

Stir Fry Pumpkin With Preserved Turnip

ingredients:

2 cups of pumpkin cubes

2 heaped tbsp of preserved turnips/cai poh

2 bird eyes chillies- chopped

2 pips of garlic - chopped

1 tbsp of canola oil/vegetable oil

1/2 cup of water

a pinch of salt for taste

2 tbsp of fried anchovies for garnishing

method:

in a wok ,heat up oil, saute the garlic and preserved turnips till fragrant. Add in the pumpkin cubes and continue to stir fry for a few minutes, add in water and salt to taste,  simmer over low heat till the pumpkin is tender.  Add in chillies and stir fry till well mixed. dish up and sprinkle the fried anchovies as garnishing before serving.

note: this dish serves well with teochew porridge  besides plain rice

*          *           *

Kampar Jau Yun

We made this as soon as I saw this recipe on Wendy's blog during the MFF event for Perak and true to what she posted....this is a must try fishball.  Love the crispy and chewy texture.  I have never tried the real thing so I can't compare but we loved it especially WB can't stop eating them. So that it what matters coz he helped me in making these yummy Kampar Fishballs :) Easy to prepare and you cant stop eating at one...very addictive especially if you eat this with cold beer...nice finger food...healthier than eating the keropok :P  

Pan Fried Tao Pau....Healthy Finger Food

This is my favourite snack.....pan fried tao pau/layers of fresh beancurd skin compressed into a square block. You can add them to your vegetarian dish as I sometimes do. Click here to see how you can add them to your other dishes.  I like to eat them as snacks while watching my tv dramas or as light supper.  I asked WB to get me a few blocks of tao pau skin when he goes marketing in Kg.Simee :p, so that I can enjoy snacking on these finger licking good slices of tao pau when the appetite is not good. Too much anti-biotics and painkillers the past one week has taken away my appetite ;( . thank God for these tao pau skin, I was able to feed my stomach and not leaving the gastric juice to accumulate!

This is how WB prepared the tao pau ...he cut them into 1/4 inch thick slices, sprinkled some mixed herbs salt and Dominoes chilli flakes on both surfaces . He pan fried them till it is crispy on the outside and yet soft and tender on the inside. Love the mixed herbs salt that Jo bought for me from BIG :)

Have a great day!