Pickled Ginger In Natural Pink

I love anything that is natural and I don't like food that uses food dyes .  I used to eat at Japanese Restaurant and I noticed that their pickled ginger are pinkish in color. And I thought they used food dye to make them pinkish.  I discovered that you don't need to use red food dye to make them pinkish recently.  A dear friend of mine taught me to use lemon juice on the young ginger slices before pickle them.  Wow...and true enough they turned a natural pink.  Woohoo..... dancing on my trotters now.  So , I am sharing here with you the secret of turning pickled ginger into natural pink :)   A very nice natural pink color...makes food interesting. You can add these pickled ginger to your salad or egg with century eggs appetizer or go with your sashimi...mmmm I know I am going to enjoy my pickled ginger for now :)  

soak the young ginger slices in lemon juice for

at least 30 mins...they will instantly turn pinkish

Pickled Ginger In Natural Pink  -adapted from  Tastehongkong  with a twist

600 gm baby ginger - scrap of skin, wash , pat dry and sliced thinly
1 tbsp coarse salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 lemon juice

Pickling solution
2 cups rice vinegar
1.5 cups sugar

Method:

Scrape off skin from baby ginger, wash and pat dry, slice thinly with a sharp knife or a mandoline. Mix the ginger slices with 1 tbsp of coarse salt and let them stand for an hour, after which some liquid will exude. Discard liquid and rinse with drinkable water, strain dry.  Add lemon juice and sugar, mix well . To ensure that the ginger slices are in good contact with the lemon juice, it is best to have them laid in a large flat container while they are being steeped. Stir and turn the ginger for several intervals. Leave it for 30 mins. The ginger will turn natural pink at this point. Pour away the lemon juice.  Place the pink ginger into a glass jar.

Meanwhile , cook the rice vinegar and sugar till the sugar has melted. Leave it to cool (10 mins ). When the vinegar solution has turned warm, pour over the ginger slices in the glass jar. Make sure the ginger slices are covered with the pickling solution.  Close the jar when the pickled ginger is completely cooled down.  Keep in the fridge and you can serve the ginger slices after 2 days.  This pickle can keep for months in the fridge.

Enjoy !

Spicy Dried Shrimp Sambal

WB has been craving for this Sambal Hae Bee/Dry Shrimp Sambal for almost a year....why I took so long to make some for him . Reason being, I had a surgery done and not fit to make for him. Now after recovery from the surgery, with his help of course , I was able to make a big tupper of it for him :)  He did the pounding of the sambal paste and I did the frying for him LOL!  Want to eat something nice, of course have to help...right?  That tupper of spicy drid shrimp sambal can last him weeks...a month at least :)  He has them in his sandwiches , rice and noodles sometimes.  Act as an appetizer too ...love love it myself too !

I love my traditional mortar and pestle ...a gift from my mom when I got married

one can drool while frying the sambal.....awww the aroma filled the whole house

and the flies are looking for my house :p

Spicy Dried Shrimp Sambal  - WB's Kitchen

300 gm dried shrimp - soaked,  washed and pounded coarsely

ground ingredients below together :
(A)
one handful dried chilli  - soaked and pounded into paste
a thumb size dried shrimp paste /belacan
1 cup of shallots slices

1/4 cup of garlic

2 stalks of lemongrass -slice the white part

2 pieces of turmeric

1/2 cup of vegetable oil
4 -5 tbsp of brown sugar
1/2 cup of thick tamarind water
2 tsp of salt or to taste


Using a mortar and pestle, ground all the ingredients (A) into a paste.  Pound the dried shrimps coarsely ( coarseness depends on individual ) I like it  coarse.

Heat up a wok under medium heat, add in the vegetable oil and sauteed the ground ingredients till fragrant. Once the oil surfaced, add in the pounded dried shrimps and keep stirring till the dried shrimps are well mixed with the aromatic paste.  Keep stirring, lower heat, add in the tamarind water, sugar and salt and continue to stir fry till the sambal shrimps has become drier and fragrant.  Leave it to cool in the wok.  Once it has cooled down, store in air tight tupper or glass jar .  Keep in the fridge.  It can keep up to 3 months.

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Stir Fry Chinese Chives Flower With Fish Fillets

A simple yet delicious dish...love the aroma of stir fry chinese chives with lots of garlic.  I added slices of fish fillet instead of prawns.  My mom used to stir fry these chinese chives with chicken innards. Chicken gizzards and liver are our favourites but due to eating healthy , I have substitute them with fish fillets :) So freaking healthy...right? Surprisingly, WB loves it even though this was my first time introducing the dish to him.  It seemed his mom never cooked this for them...mmmm so I can conclude that my beloved mom in law doesn't like the smell of this chinese chives :) thus WB never get to eat this chinese chives.  

I sauteed the garlic slices till aromatic then lightly stir fry the fish fillets

till they are cooked... have to be gently with the fish or they will break into

pieces ;p  dish up the fillets and set aside before putting in the chives

once the chives are cooked, gently put in the cooked fish fillets

and gently blend the fish fillets into the chives.  

this dish is so yummy good that I will cook this again for sure !

Stir Fry Chinese Chives Flower With Fish Fillets  - WB's Kitchen

2 bundles of chinese chives - washed, cut into 1 inch lengths

1 piece of garoupa  fish- debone and cut into fillets marinate with

1 tbsp of chinese cooking wine

a dash of ground white pepper

a pinch of salt

2 cloves of garlic - sliced

1 tbsp of olive oil

thickening:

1 tsp of corn flour

3 tbsp of water

Preparation:

Heat up wok over high heat, add in olive oil and saute garlic slices till aromatic.  Add in marinated fish fillets and stir fry till cooked.  Dish up and set aside.  

Add in the chives and stir fry till it is cooked.  Add in a pinch of sea salt for taste. Add in the cooked fish fillets and gently stir fry till the fish fillets are well combine with the chives.  Add in the thickening . Once gravy thickens, dish up and serve with rice.

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Fried Rice With Fresh Oyster Mushrooms And Spring Onions

With so much of homegrown spring onions in the fridge, you can imagine fried rice with the spring onions as much as the rice LOL!  WB said my spring onions the amount is equivalent to the rice !  But it tasted awesome though the ratio is 1:1 :p  Anyway waste now as the saying goes.  It is almost drying in the air tight container and more over the new batch is almost ready for harvesting :)  I fried the rice with fresh oyster mushrooms and added red chillies to give color to the rice .  Serious, this fried rice was so delicious that I had second helpings even though I am suppose to lay off carbo :p

a tsp of dried mixed herbs gave extra flavor to the rice

love love the fresh oyster mushrooms and homegrown spring onions

and they make the fried rice not ordinary but very special indeed...

mmmmmm makes me hungry just looking at it now

Fried Rice With Fresh Oyster Mushrooms And Spring Onions  - WB's Kitchen

ingredients:

3 bowls of cooked rice

a handful of fresh oyster mushrooms - washed, squeeze dried and shred it

a handful of spring onions - sliced it fine

a slice of ginger - julienned 

2 cloves of garlic- chopped

chopped chillies - amount depends on individual taste

1 tsp of dried mixed herbs

2 eggs

1.5 tbsp of olive oil

1 tsp of sesame oil

Preparation:

Heat up wok, add in sesame oil, vegetable oil, throw in the garlic and sauteed till fragrant, add in the fresh oyster mushroom and stir fry till the mushrooms is cooked, add in cooked rice and continue to stir fry till the rice has a shine on them,  push rice aside, add in the eggs and when the eggs are about to set, push the rice down and stir fry till the rice are coated with the eggs.  Add in salt and mixed herbs and continue to stir fry the rice till it gives out a herb fragrant.  Add in the spring onions and sitr fry for a minute. Off heat and dish up and serve hot.

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Fried Rice With Pineapple And Pan Seared Fish Fillets

A simple and light meal for both of us.  Simple meal means simple work...not much washing to do ! LOL!  I look forward to simple meal :p  Adding fresh pineapples to the fried rice makes it more appetizing. For extra protein, I pan seared garoupa fillets as a side dish for the fried rice.  Spring onions from my herb garden :) so happy with this one dish meal.  A simple and well balanced meal for a busy person like me :p  I am now busy with the garden...my own and the community garden needs lots of attention, thus meal has to be simple yet delicious.  Keeping my fingers crossed that WB will not complain of simple meals.  No meat for this meal hahaha....

Fried Rice With Pineapple And Pan Seared Fish Fillets - WB's Kitchen

4 cups of cooked rice
1 slice of pineapple - cut into cubes
1 egg
1 tsp of sesame oil + 1 tsp of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic - chopped
1 tsp of ground  black pepper
1 tbsp of sliced spring onions
2 tsp of sea salt to taste
red chillies - sliced

pan seared fish fillets
1 tsp of olive oil
1 piece of garoupa fillet - sliced into 1/4 thick fillets
a pinch of sea salt and ground white pepper - marinate the fillets for 20 mins

Pan seared the fillets with olive oil  till light brown on both sides and cooked. Dish up and leave aside.

Preparation:

Heat up sesame /olive oil till hot, add in chopped garlic and saute till fragrant. Add in the cooked rice and stir fry for another 5 mins. Push rice aside and add the egg in the center. When the egg is about to set, push the rice over it and stir fry till the rice is coated with the egg.  Add in the pineapple, salt, ground black pepper and spring onions.  Stir fry till all the ingredients are well combined. Before dishing up, throw in the sliced chillies . Dish up and garnish at the side with the pan seared fish fillets.

Enjoy !

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Oven Fried Wings

Occasionally, I will give WB a treat to fried wings....definitely not KFC style !!! (KFC is his all time favorite though ) So to make him love my kind of fried wings, I will try to make the wings as crispy and tasty as possible and to make them crispy, the trick is to  use potato flour for coating.  I managed to get it crisp and taste was good.  The flour was mixed with mixed herbs, paprika , black pepper, sea salt and a dash of cajun...you tell me...good anot?  It was packed with flavors and each bite on the crunchy skin...mmm no guilt coz the fat from the skin had dripped onto the bottom of the foil  leaving the skin crispy and crunchy. This is so much healthier than deep fried wings . A keeper for sure .

a mixture of potato flour, paprika, cajun,  mixed herbs, sea salt, black pepper and sea salt

coat the wings with the above flour mixture and leave it to 

rest for 1-2 hours before oven frying them :)

lovely wings.....so much better than oil frying

this is a healthier version :)

simply love them.....1 for me and 3 for WB 

Oven Fried Wings  -  WB's Kitchen

4 chicken wings 

Coating ingredients - to combine together

1 cup of potato flour

1 tbsp of mixed herbs

1 tsp of paprika

1/2 tsp of cajun

1/2 tsp of black pepper

1 tsp of sea salt

Method:

Coat the wings with the above flour mixture. Place coated wings on raise up wire rack with a tray at the bottom lined with aluminium foil ( for drippings of oil ) Leave it to rest for 1 hour or till the flour is absorbed into the wings.  Oven fried the wings in preheated oven 200 deg C for 40 mins or till the wings are evenly browned and crunchy.  

Enjoy !

Roasted Cauliflower Soup With Cummin

Know why I am super happy these days ? Whoot hoot....my birthday wishes came true...good health and a Kenwood Immersion Blender !!! Dancing on my trotters...I have been enjoying good health now , a year after my surgery and now back to cooking and baking !  God answered my prayer and I am now back to the old days of cooking , cooking and cooking  :)

And guess what, God even make my wish come true.  A week ago, I received a Kenwood Tri Blade Hand Blender , a birthday gift  that comes early  :) so super duper happy!

I have been wanting to get a  Hand Blender for sometime now and finally it just came in the courier...truly a surprised gift :)  I can blend baby food , soups, sauces, milk shakes and mayonaise and lots more and it came with a chopper attachment for chopping meat , vegetables, herbs, nuts and biscuits ...wow, and I discovered it has 10 functions !!! My Jo was thrilled when I told her about how convenient it is to have this blender in the kitchen. She leads a more hectic life than me.  And she wants one in her kitchen too.  Kitchen Appliances  such as this immersion blender is a must have in our modern hectic lifestyle . Save time and energy!   

My first attempt using this hand blender and gosh, the soup turned out creamy and smooth !  Check out the recipe and I am sure you too will want to own this hand blender :)  Ok, ok... I forgot to mention the soup - it is  Roasted Cauliflower Soup With Cummin.  A soup that is packed with flavors...a combinations of spices and herbs make this soup super delicious...and with the use of this immersion blender, the texture of the soup is super creamy and smooth....AWESOME soup !

first , season the cauliflower florets with 

cummin seeds,  curry powder, red pepper flakes, 

seasalt, a dash of black peppera and olive oil

then roast for 25 mins

take out after it brown slightly and aromatic

add the roasted cauliflowers into the broth

and simmer for another 25 mins until the cauliflowers

are tender soft and ready for blending

when the soup has cooled down , saucepan blend the cauliflowers  until 

the soup turns creamy and smooth.

Reheat the soup under low heat....add in the plain yoghurt and stir

till well combined

serve hot and garnish with a sprinkle of paprika 

and a dribble of yoghurt

wow...this soup is delicious ! Slurrp !

I love this Kenwood immersion blender !

Roasted Cauliflower Soup With Cummin  - adapted from here  

Ingredients:

1 large head cauliflower (1 1/2 to 2 pounds), halved, cored, and cut into 1 1/2-inch florets

1 heaping teaspoon cumin seeds

1 heaping teaspoon curry powder

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

salt and crushed red pepper flakes

1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)

1 clove garlic, minced

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 bay leaf  * I used 1 tsp of mixed herbs instead of bay leaf

4 cups chicken broth, vegetable broth, or water

1/4 cup plain yogurt

Preparation:

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Spread cauliflower florets on a large rimmed baking sheet and sprinkle with cumin seeds and curry powder.  Drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil and toss to coat.  Season with a big pinch of salt and crushed red pepper flakes.  Place in the oven and roast until just tender, about 25 minutes.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, warm the last tablespoon of olive oil.  Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and browned, about 5 minutes.  Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute more.  Add the roasted cauliflower to the pot along with the butter, bay leaf, and broth (or water). Simmer over medium heat until liquid has reduced some and the cauliflower is very tender, about 15 minutes.  Pick out and discard the bay leaf.

In a blender, carefully puree the soup in two or three batches until very smooth.  Return the soup to the saucepan and stir in the yogurt.

Rewarm over medium heat, adding more water to create a thinner consistency if you’d like.  Season with olive oil, salt, and pepper for serving.

Soup can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Enjoy !

Simple Egg Omelette Chinese Style

A simple meal  can be a hearty meal...this is one example.... egg omelette chinese style..my WB's favorite. As I mentioned before...homegrown spring onions are in surplus these days, thus it is one the star ingredient for this omelette :) It adds color to the omelette besides its health value.

When I am busy at the community garden and after tedious weeding work  this is what I will whip for dinner :p  and WB is happy with just this , so my problem is solved hehehe but I do cook something nice the next day for him to make up for this simple delicious egg omelette :)

Simple Chinese Style Egg Omelette  - WB's Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 eggs - beaten
a dash of ground white pepper
a clove of garlic- chopped
chopped chillies
sliced spring onions
a sprig of coriander leaves
1 med sized red onions - sliced
a pinch of sea salt to taste
1 tsp of vegetable oil and a drop of sesame oil


Preparation:

Beat up two eggs in a bowl, add in pepper and sea salt. Whisk till well blended. Keep aside.

Add the vegetable oil and sesame oil onto a non stick pan, heat till oil is hot, saute, chopped garlic, chillies and onion slices and stir fry till fragrant, dish up and add to the egg mixture.  Add in the spring onions and whisk all the ingredients in the egg mixture till well mixed.  Pour into the non stick pan and lower heat. When the bottom side of the omelette is golden and crispy at the edge, flip over and when it is cooked, dish up and serve hot .

Enjoy!  

Stir Fry Pumpkin Slices With Homegrown Spring Onions

With surplus of homegrown spring onions, I tend to add  spring onions to the dishes I cooked :p  This is a hot and spicy pumpkin stir fry dish I cooked for dinner. Sometimes I do run out of ideas what to do with the pumpkin I bought from the supermart.  My bad habit of always "Stock up first and think later " hahaha Anyway, back to this delicious spicy hot dish...it is easy to whip up and darn delicious okay ,though it may look simple but the taste is marvelous...every mouthful is addictive !  Added some dried shrimp and curry powder for extra oomph to the dish.  A great combination of flavor....hot ( from the bird eye's chillies, spicy from the curry powder ), sweet ( from the pumpkin ) and a faint scent of fishy-ness from the dried shrimp....hahaha tell me , can you imagine the taste of this dish ?   Yea, it is a bomb!

my homegrown spring onions  will now graces most of the dishes 

I am going to cook

love the combination of flavors in this dish.....

the flavor burst and explode in the mouth !

YUMMY!

Stir Fry Pumpkin Slices With Homegrown Spring Onions - WB's Kitchen

Ingredients:-

1/2 a pumpkin - peeled and sliced

2 cloves of garlic- chopped

2 bird's eye chillies - sliced

3 stalks of spring onions - sliced

2 tsp of curry powder * I used Alagappa fish curry powder  - mix with 2 tbsp of water

1 tbsp of dried shrimp - soak and pound coarsely

salt to taste

1 tbsp of olive /vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

Preparation :

Heat up 1 tbsp of oil in non stick deep pan and saute garlic, pounded dried shrimps, chillies till fragrant. Add in curry powder paste and pumpkin slices and stir fry till well combine (3 mins ) add in 1/4 cup of water and close lid for a few minutes till the pumpkin is cooked but not overly soft and gravy has thicken.  Add in spring onions and salt to taste , stir fry till well combined.  Dish up and serve hot .

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Pickled Chillies Stuffed With Shredded Papaya

Lately I have been looking out for side dishes recipes from Korean  to Baba Nyonya cuisine.  It is hobby to surf the internet for new inspiration...life for me is just too short so I want to try out recipes which I have never tried.  Pickled chillies with shredded papaya as stuffing is one example of Baba Nyonya cuisine and I have tried this only once and this was many years ago.  My grandma's relative who is also my very distant relatives came visiting and brought this in a bottle for us.  I was twelve years old and my grandma allowed me to try it...haha she thought that I will stop at one bite but who knows I ended up walloping two stuffed chillies :p  yea I am a hot stuff ! * wink 

Why I suddenly wanted to make this appetizer...okay, my neighbor who lives opposite gave me two homegrown papayas from his garden.  One was ripe and the other was still very green. I kept it for two days , it was still green.  Thus, this made me decide to use the green papaya for this recipe. I googled for this Baba Nyonya cuisine and found the recipe from this blog  ' To Indulge Oneself.... "  and by the time , I was ready to start making this appetizer, I realised the papaya was a step nearer to be on the ripe stage though the flesh was still firm.  I shredded it and dry in the sun for a few hours, though the recipe called for sunning for a day :p  This involved a bit of work but the end result is a bottle of finger licking good pickled chilllies with shredded papaya stuffing !  Yumm!

for a start, I use only 15 pieces of green chillies

the shredded papaya looks more orangey because of the 

fresh turmeric I used while stir frying them :)

not easy to stuff them but it was fun okay....

arranging them in the bottles takes skill too...but I ended up

just throwing them in :p

pickled them for 3 days and they tasted good

almost like the one I ate when I was 12 yrs old

I want to make this again !

Pickled Chillies Stuffed With Shredded Papaya - adapted from To Indulge Oneself

2    medium sized green papaya
15  large green chillies
100 g shallots ,slice
100 g garlics, slice
20   g ginger, shredded
20   g turmeric, shredded
50 g dried prawns, soaked and pounded
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
seasoning
2 tbsp vinegar
15g sugar
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp salt
pickling solution
150g sugar
250 ml vinegar
250 ml water
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp salt or taste

Preparation

1. Peel and shred papaya.  Dry in the sun for 1 day.

2. Wash and drain the chillies.  Make a slit in the chillies and scrape away the seeds and set aside.

3. Heat up half of the oil and fry the dried prawns, ginger and turmeric until fragrant.  Add in papaya and stir in seasoning.  Stir fry for about 2 minutes. Remove and let cool.  

4. While waiting for the papaya to be cooled, prepare the pickle solution by heating up the remaining of the oil, add pickling solution and bring to just a simmering boil.

5. Stuff the papaya mixture into the slit chillies.  Arrange stuffed chillies, shallots and garlics in a suitable glass ware. Pour over with pickling solution.  Make sure that the chillies are completely covered by the solution.  Allow to pickle for 2 days before consuming.  It keeps well for about 3 days at room temperature and can be kept in the refrigerator for about 1 week.

Enjoy !