Merdeka Open House 2013: Sambal Bawang Kampu

Out of the three dishes I've made for 8th Merdeka Open House 2013 Date & Theme: Treasures from Sabah & Sarawak, this Sambal Bawang Kampu came out unexpectedly delicious! Just that they're a tad salty so I've adjusted the recipe a little. This recipe also came from Her World CookBook Vol 78.

This sambal has no red chillies but aromatics like shallots, garlic and galangal. What's so unique is the sambal is stir fried with loads of spring onions (that's where the bawang name comes from) and green chillies! Kampu is actually Kampung!!!

I've used much less green chillies than I should but I really think the freshness of the green chillies add a whole lot more dimension to the dish. So essentially the spring onions and green chillies are the star of the dish together with the sambal. This is something that I will make again and again as Capt'n Hook seems to agree with me, other than too salty because of the sheer amount of dried shrimp, this dish is a winner.

Sambal Bawang Kampu
Serves 3 - 4

200 g spring onions, cut into 5 cm lengths
3 green chillies, slice thinly at an angle
50 g dried shrimp, wash and rinse until water is clear then soak for 30 mins
4 shallots (40 g), thinly sliced
1 cm galangal, minced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cm piece belacan (10 g), roasted
2 Tbsp tamarind water
1 tsp palm sugar
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Heat oil in a pan and fry dried shrimps will lightly golden brown. Stir in galangal, garlic and shallots. Fry until fragrant. Crumble in the belacan and stir. Add tamarind water and palm sugar.

Add in green chillies and spring onion, stir to mix well quickly. Dish up and serve with rice immediately.

Day 13: Stir-Fried Chicken With Zespri® Kiwifruit

I used to have irregular bowel movement many years back to the point that I've to check with my doctor if it's normal. According to her, a majority of women do not have daily bowel movements because their colons did not absorb enough water to produce soft stools. She said it's nothing serious unless one is constantly constipated. She was nice enough to tell me that she had the same issue too and gave me a bottle of Duphalac which is a lactulose syrup. This lactulose is broken down in the colon into products that pull water from the body into the colon to soften the stools. Just one tablespoon a day was the order of the day. I didn't need to take it for long, just a mere couple of weeks before my colon went on a proper working order.

You know, bowel movement is not a regular subject that could be easily brought up but when we did, I realised that I was not alone in my earlier predicament. Say out of 10 of my girl friends, at least 3 of them have similar problem of irregular movement. I introduced them to Duphalac and they were grateful of that.

A lot of people tend to eat banana when they have constipation but did you know that eating banana in bulk will cause further harm than good. You'll need to drink a whole lot more water with the banana in order to have a smooth bowel movement. As far as I know, the other 2 items that will help, papaya and prune (dried or juice).

It was not until last year when I was educated about Zespri® kiwifruits that it contains an enzyme and enough dietary fibres to keep a healthy digestive system. Just 2 kiwifruits a day could do the same job! So forget about synthetic lactulose and head on to some juicy kiwifruits.

Kiwifruits contains actinidin which is a unique protease enzyme known for its ability to break down proteins ie. dairy, meat and legume, which promote increased digestion and digestive comfort. Zespri® Green Kiwifruit contains active actinidin. By eating more kiwifruits you can rely on it for a better digestive comfort and improved laxation as a result which I can attest to that having eaten so much kiwifruits for the past 12 days in Zespri® 14-Day Daily Scoop of Amazing Challenge. If I only knew back then, I would have load myself with kiwifruits and advice my friends the same too!!!

So rather than waiting for disaster to happen (as in being constipated), it's best to keep our digestive system healthy by eating at least 2 kiwifruits a day, just that easy. You can find out more details backed by scientific researches at www.zespri.com.my.

Enough of bowel movement stories as some people might find this being TMI (too much info) :p

Let's see what other savoury dish I have came up with... since the kiwifruits profile are slightly on a sour note, including them in a sweet and sour dish or assam pedas would be nice. However, I did an experiment by just using them in my normal stir-fry chicken dish, who knew it ended up so delicious that my BoiBoi kept telling me "Hmmm this chicken dish is sooo nice" during lunch.

Stir-Fried Chicken With Zespri® Kiwifruit
(Serves 4)

Marinade together:
250 g chicken fillet, cut into 2 cm chunks
1 tsp light soy sauce
A dash of sesame oil
1/2 tsp cornflour
1/8 tsp sugar

1 Zespri® Green Kiwifruit, sliced into chunks
1 Zespri® SunGold Kiwifruit, sliced into chunks
25 g yellow capsicum, sliced into chunks about size of kiwifruits
25 g red capsicum, sliced into chunks about size of kiwifruits
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Sauce (mix together):
4 Tbsp water
1/2 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp cornflour

In a pan or wok, heat up the oil and fry garlic in medium heat until fragrant or until become light brown in colour. Add in chicken fillet and stir. Cook fillet until light golden brown on both sides before adding both the capsicum chunks. Stir the sauce mixture before pouring into the chicken. Let sauce some to a boil before turning off the fire. Stir in the kiwifruit chunks while still hot. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Day 1: Zespri® 14-Day Daily Scoop of Amazing Challenge

Day 2: Sunshine Zespri® Green Kiwifruit Smoothie

Day 2.1: Zespri® SunGold Rockstar Breakfast Smoothie

Day 3: Win A Trip To Auckland & Rotorua, New Zealand

Day 4: Zespri® SunGold Kiwifruit Parfait

Day 5: Zesty Zespri® Sungold

Day 6: Sunrise Zespri® SunGold Ice Lolly

Day 7: Zespri® Green Kiwifruit Chutney With Grill Chicken

Day 8: Lovin' Zespri® SunGold Kiwifruit Steamed Prawns

Day 9: Frangipane Zespri® Golden Drops

Day 10: Zespri® Kiwifruit Sambal Lada with Prawn Lemongrass Skewers

Day 11: Pandan Zespri® Kiwifruits Cooler

Day 11.1: Zespri® Kiwifruits Platter

Day 11.2: Lemony Sponge with Zespri® Kiwifruits

Day 12: Prawn and Zespri® Green Kiwifruit Aglio Olio Pasta

Thai Stir-Fried Pumpkin With Egg (Fuk-Tong Pad Khai)

I discovered this dish, Fuk-Tong Pad Khai, at one of the food stall in Chatuchak Market, Bangkok. As it was a short working trip, I had to grab a quick bite and nothing is faster than a mixed rice stall. I have to say, the 3 dishes that I took were all yummy but this one, Stir-Fried Pumpkin With Egg, was especially memorable.

So when I came back, I checked out the recipes online and found many versions to it but they uses Japanese pumpkin (kabocha). I guess the reason must be kabocha is much tender and has a crunchy texture. I managed to get a kabocha and I think I've nailed it on my first try testing out the recipe. If you love stir fry pumpkin, you'll love this.

Thai Stir-Fried Pumpkin With Egg (Fuk-Tong Pad Khai)

(A)
150 g minced meat (can be chicken or pork)
1/2 tsp fish sauce
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cornstarch
A dash of ground white pepper

400 g Japanese pumkin (kabocha)
2 eggs
1 - 2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 - 2 Tbsp chopped spring onion

(B)
100 ml water
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 Tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
Dash of ground white pepper

Mix (A) evenly together to marinade the minced meat.

Mix (B) together and set aside as the sauce.

To prepare the pumpkin, remove the skin but you can keep some on as this variety of pumpkin is pretty young and tender. Should you use the local pumpkin, remove all the hardy skin. Cut into wedges and remove the seeds. Then slice diagonally into 1 - 1.5 cm thickness.

Heat oil and fry garlic till fragrant. Add in the minced meat and stir fry till cooked. Next, stir in the pumpkin slices.

Spread and leave a well in the centre of the pan. Crack in the eggs and break up the yolks. Leave it to cook, do not scramble the eggs. Once the eggs cooked up, stir in the pumpkin slices.

Stir mixture (B) before pouring into the pumpkin and egg. Cook until most of the liquid dries up. Scatter in some chopped spring onion and dish up. Serve with steamed white rice.

Stir-Fried Beansprouts With Tofu And Salted Fish

It's back to a Monday and how does one get some quick, simple and hot dishes on the dining table in the evening. My best strategy would get everything prep the day before and one can get things going quickly then. This Stir-Fried Beansprouts With Tofu And Salted Fish could be one of the dish but the only thing is one can't keep bean sprouts for long.

You can pre-fry the salted fish and store in an air-tight container. The tofu can be pre-fried too and keep in the fridge but if you're not, sprinkle some salt all over the firm tofu and place in an air-tight container to store in the fridge. You'll need to use the firm tofu up very quickly as they turn bad easily.



This is a classic homestyle dish in almost every Chinese household. Am sure many of you, your mother would have dish up this for your meals. Usually it will just comprises of bean sprouts and salted fish but at times tofu is added to make it more substantial. Sounded lame huh but so far I know there are people who need to have recipes to guide them to cook based on my experience working in a culinary school.

If you can find short, fat and juicy bean sprouts from Ipoh, it will be so much better but the ordinary ones are just as fine. I like to tailed mine and my aunt would even topped them!

Stir-Fried Beansprouts With Tofu And Salted Fish
300 g bean sprouts (taugeh), tailed
2 pieces firm tofu, slice halved crosswise then into four so you'll get 8 square pieces
1 small piece salted fish, cut into small pieces and fry lightly in oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 stalk spring onion, slice into 4 cm length
1 tsp Chinese rice wine
Salt & grounded white pepper to taste 

Lightly fry the tofu pieces with some oil on both sides till brown. Dish up and set aside. 

In the same pan/wok, heat up about 1 Tbsp oil before adding in the garlic. Fry till fragrant before tossing in the bean sprouts. Keep stirring, sprinkle in some water if the sprouts are very dry. Add the tofu and seasonings. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. 

Pour in the rice wine around the pan/wok and not directly on the sprouts so that the heat will let out the wine's aroma. Stir and add in the spring onion last. Dish up and sprinkle the salted fish pieces all over. Best serve with steamed rice.  

For vegetarian version, just omit the salted fish.

Stir-Fried Bitter Gourd with Eggs

If you love bitter gourd (fu kua in Cantonese) like me, you would definitely love this dish. This is actually a stir-fry and not an omelette since the amount of eggs are much lesser.

Halved a medium sized bitter gourd and remove the seeds with a spoon. Then slice them across into thin strips. Sprinkle some salt all over and rub them well to ensure they're coated evenly. I read somewhere that by doing this, it will remove some of the bitterness away, well  I can't really verify this. Let it sit for about 15-20 minutes before washing off the salt and drain away excess water in a colander.

Heat up a wok and pour in some oil. Chuck in some chopped garlic and put in the bitter gourd once garlic is fragrant. Fry the gourd till it changes to a slightly darker colour or soften (I prefer mine to be slightly firm). You may sprinkle some water but not much to help with the cooking process. Season with salt and some black pepper.

Next, pour in 2 eggs that have been beaten lightly. Let eggs set a bit before stir frying. Keep frying till the eggs are cooked through. Dish up and serve with rice.





I'm submitting this for Muhibbah Malaysian Monday blog event. This event is the brainchild of  Shaz (Test With A Skewer) and Suresh (3 Hungry Tummies). Read more here.

Stir-Fried Tofu, Zucchini and Mushroom

This dish has a rather unconventional ingredients for a Chinese style stir fry as it has zucchini in it LOL. I was trying to clear half of each of the green and yellow zucchini after making the Beef and Guinness Stew and so this was how this dish came about. Surprisingly this stir fry turned out very well with the zucchini oozing it's natural sweetness and I loved those charred bits on them plus the crunch on each bite of the zucchini slices.

Stir-Fried Tofu, Zucchini and Mushroom

1/2 of a medium sized green zucchini, cut lengthwise before slicing into about 1/2 to 1 cm thickness
1/2 of a medium sized yellow zucchini, sliced as above
1 piece firm tofu, cut into thin squares
2 stalks of eryngii mushrooms, sliced into rings
1 clove of chopped garlic
Salt and black pepper to taste

1. Pan fry the tofu pieces with a little oil until golden brown and set aside.

2. Add a little oil (you don't need a lot for this one) into the same pan/wok and fry the garlic until fragrant. Stir in the zucchini slices. If you wish to have some charred bits, just leave them untouched for a couple of minutes before stirring.

3. Stir in the mushroom and tofu next. Sprinkle some water all over, be careful with the amount as the zucchini would expel some liquid whilst cooking. Season with salt (about 1/2 to 1 tsp) and black pepper (amount depends on your taste). Stir to mix and taste. Quickly dish up and serve with rice.

Stir Fry Tofu and Mushrooms

Oppsie daisie... sorry for yet another stir fry dish with similar ingredients :p

The home PC decided to act up and we're now waiting for the spare part to arrive. Hopefully by end of this week it will get sorted out. In the meantime, I'm using Capt'n Hook's Macbook and the thing is all my photos are in the PC, my back up hard disk cannot be read by the Macbook grrrr... I only have some stir fry dishes uploaded in my flickr album, so bear with me ok.

This post is dedicated to "quick and easy" Celine (Life, Love and Me) since this is another easy peasy dish but can look great to even serve to guests. Super healthy cos I only have this dish with brown rice as it has protein and fibre altogether in one dish.

This dish comprises of firm tofu, assorted mushrooms (you can use all sorts of fresh mushrooms) and carrots for colour; served on a bed of blanched dou miao (pea shoots). Just need to shallow fry firm tofu that has been sliced into squares and set aside when golden brown. In the meantime, quickly blanch some pea shoots, drain and place them on the serving plate.

Using the same pan on medium heat, make sure the amount of oil is just enough for your serving size. First stir in some sliced garlic. When it's fragrant, add in the sliced carrots and stir. Next stir in mushrooms and fried tofu. Pour in a little water, a few dashes of oyster sauce and a tiny dash of dark soy sauce which you can omit. I've used it just for some colour. Season with some white pepper. Taste and adjust accordingly.

Simmer for a few minutes or till liquid is dried up (you can add cornstarch solution to thicken). Serve this over the blanched pea shoots.

Yummy or what?

Stir-Fried Ginger Kai Lan

Had enough of the festive dishes? Time to have loads of greens then...

Baby Kai Lan is one of my favourite vegetables. I usually blanch them but another way is to stir fry them. Most times I uses garlic and oyster sauce but this time I remembered how my mother does it. She uses ginger and Chinese cooking wine or DOM and sometimes brandy too.

My version is very simple, I just cut old ginger into thin strips and fry them in oil till brown and crispy before adding baby kai lan. Keep stirring and sprinkle a little water to help with the cooking process if necessary. Add some salt to taste. When it's cooked, I poured in a couple tablespoons of Stone's Ginger Wine. Give it a stir before dishing up. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Stir-Fried Flowering Chives with Roast Pork

**Non-Halal**




I've cooked this very simple dish but packed a punch in terms of nutrition, ermmm well except for the fatty bits of the roast pork (siew yuk) :p Flowering Chives can be found easily these days at the wet markets and supermarkets but I know quite a number of people dislike them cos they have a distinct pungent flavour. So it's either one likes it or hates it.

There are only 2 main ingredients ie. chopped roast pork and flowering chives cut into sections. Seasonings needed were chopped garlic, oyster sauce, salt (only when necessary), a few grains of sugar and white pepper powder. Easy peasy... first, fry chopped garlic in oil till fragrant before adding the roast pork. Stir and brown the pork a bit. Add in the flowering chives and stir. Next, pour in a wee bit of water and add in the seasonings. Cover with a lid for a few minutes so that the flowering chives can turn a little soft with the steam generated. If you prefer them to be crunchy, do not cover too long. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt if necessary or you can add more oyster sauce. Dish up and serve hot with rice.

Peppery Diced Meat, Potatoes and Peas

**Non-Halal**




This is a creation of my mother and she cooks this a lot when were younger since potatoes are our favourite on the dining table. It's still our favourite dish and now my BoiBoi likes it too.

We normally use lean pork but occasionally we uses chicken meat either breast or thigh. Just diced them evenly and marinade with some oyster sauce, white pepper powder, sesame oil, some cornstarch and a few grains of sugar. Deep fried them till light brown and set aside.

Diced the potatoes to about the size of the meat and deep fried in hot oil till cooked and lightly browned. Set aside.

To assemble the whole dish, fry some diced onions till translucent before adding the meat. When done, put in the fried potatoes and stir well. Next add in some water (not too much as it's meant to be a dry dish) mixed with a dash of oyster sauce, a little dark soy sauce and a little sugar. You can season with some salt too if you wish. Stir and add in some green peas. Then add in lots of white pepper powder, well a lot more than usual but how much depends how hot you can take it. This is a rather peppery dish.

Dish up and serve with rice. Missing this already cos it's soooo yummy. Psssttt we tend to steal bites of this dish by shoving down by the spoonfuls :p without anyone looking before meal time kekeke and I still do this LOL.

Stir-Fried Celery With Squid and Prawn

This is a simple stir fried that one can almost always find in Chinese restaurants. The celery slices retains it crunch coupled with squid slices and fresh prawns making this a rather refreshing vegetable dish.

Just need to use a vegetable peeler to peel off the woody bits of about 3 sticks of celery before slicing them diagonally. Some slices of carrots to add some colour, also cut diagonally to match the celery. I've tailed the prawns, about a handful. As for the squid (I've used 2 medium sized ones), cleaned up all the slimy bits inside and remove the outer layer. Then lightly score the inside into diamond patterns before slicing them up.

Prepare about 4-5 tbsps of water (guesstimate ok). Into it add in about 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp cornflour, a pinch of salt, sugar and white pepper powder to taste.

Fry some chopped garlic in hot oil till fragrant. Add in the carrots and stir. Then stir in prawns. When prawns all turned pinkish, add in squid and celery. Keep stirring. Pour in the prepared sauce and stir about 3 mins or so, well depends how much crunch you prefer on your celery. Dish up and serve with rice.





I'm submitting this for Muhibbah Malaysian Monday blog event. This event is the brainchild of  Shaz (Test With A Skewer) and Suresh (3 Hungry Tummies). Read more here.

Chau Lup Lup (Stir-Fried Diced Vegetables)

**Non-Halal**


I've no idea what is the proper name for this dish that is very common in Chinese household here in Malaysia. I've known it as Chau Lup Lup (Stir-Fried Diced Vegetables?? :p). The ingredients are almost similar as Stir-Fried Preserved Radish with Tofu, just that the execution is slightly different. All ingredients are diced rather small or cut into an almost uniform size and then fried, hence chau lup lup.

Essentially, this dish consist of French beans or some uses long beans, deep fried peanuts, preserved radish and tofu. However for this time, I added some leftover diced rock hard char siu (bbq pork) that we have eaten at Good Friends Restaurant in Highland which I will reserve the review for another time.


* Apologies for the poor quality pics cos have to feed a few hungry tummies :p

This dish involved some work like chopping the ingredients to almost uniform in size. Deep fry peanuts with skin on for about 5 minutes or thereabout till golden brown, and set aside. Next, deep fry the diced dry type of tofu till golden brown, dish up and set aside.

Stir-fry some chopped garlic in oil till fragrant before chucking in the diced sweet preserved radish (wash and soak before cutting). Stir and add a little water. Simmer for a couple of minutes to soften the radish otherwise your jaw will ache from all the chewing :D

Next, stir in char siu, followed by French beans. Pour in a mixture of about 2 tbsp water + 1 tbsp oyster sauce + 1 tsp soy sauce + 1/4 tsp sugar. You can adjust the seasoning with some salt and white pepper powder. Then stir in tofu and peanuts. Keep stirring till the gravy vapourised and essentially this dish should be completely dry in nature. Once it's nice and dry, dish up and serve!

Best with plain rice or congee (rice porridge)!

I'm submitting this for Muhibbah Malaysian Monday blog event. This event is the brainchild of  Shaz (Test With A Skewer) and Suresh (3 Hungry Tummies). Read more here.

Stir-Fried Preserved Radish with Tofu and Vegetables

Another dish of my childhood memory is this simple stir-fried french beans with tofu and strips of preserved radish (sweet choy po)! For my version, I've added some leftover cabbage and coloured it with some carrots.

I've washed the sweet preserved radish and soak them in water for about 20 minutes before cutting them into strips. Then, I sliced up firm tofu into squares and pan fried both sides in a little oil until browned. Remove and set aside.

Fry up some chopped garlic (can be omitted if you're strict vegetarian) in some oil till fragrant before tossing in the preserved radish and stir. Add in some water, cover wok with a lid and simmer for about 10 mins on low heat or until water almost dry up. This will soften the radish a little but yet retain a little crunch, otherwise your jaw is going get tired from the amount of chewing needed :p

Add in french beans, carrots and cabbage. Stir and add in some oyster sauce and pepper to taste plus a teeny pinch of sugar to bring out the flavour. Only add salt if necessary as the oyster sauce is salty already. Put in the tofu and gently stir till well mixed. Dish up and serve with rice.

Stir-Fried Picked Mustard Cabbage with Minced Meat

**Non-Halal**


Growing up in a Chinese household, I supposed most of us would have somehow eaten their grandmother or mother's version of harm choy chau chu yuk (Stir-Fried Pickled Mustard Cabbage with Minced Meat). I loved the simplicity of this dish that goes very well with rice congee (rice porridge) or rice. I remember ladling on spoonfuls of the gravy on my rice and I'm happy as a lark!



So here's my version. What I did was marinade minced pork meat with some soy sauce, pepper, cornstarch and tiny bit of sesame oil plus a little water. I bought the local pickled mustard cabbage, the stir-frying type. Wash and clean up the grits on the leaves. Soak them in water to get rid some of the saltiness. Once done, squeeze out the water and chopped them up.

In some heated oil, fry up some chopped garlic followed by some grounded preserved soy bean (tau chu). Fry till fragrant before chucking in the minced pork. Stir till the pork is cooked through before adding the harm choy. Give them a good stir before adding just enough water to cover about half of them. Season with a teeny bit of sugar and salt only if necessary. Cover and simmer for about 15 mins on low heat or until the liquid thickens. The time depends on how you want the texture of the harm choy. Longer if you wish to have them softer.

Dish up and serve! Yums yums...

If you like harm choy, how about trying some harm choy tong (pickled mustard cabbage soup) or Steamed Chicken with Pickled Mustard Cabbage and Mushroom?

Stir-fried Leeks, Arrow Heads and Minced Meat

**Non-Halal**




Made this on the 2nd day of CNY. I usually cook leek and arrowheads (ngar ku) with siew yuk (roasted pork) but I did not have any roasted pork so made do with minced pork instead, I supposed minced chicken meat can be used as well.

Sliced and clean leeks into 2" in length. Peel, clean and sliced arrowheads, rinse and drain the water away. Marinaded minced meat with some soy sauce, pepper, a wee bit of sesame oil and some cornflour. Do add a bit of water inside so that the meat is not too tough.

Heat a little oil in a wok and put in the leeks. Fry till they started to turn brown at the edges. Dish up and set aside. Add some oil to the wok again and fry the minced meat till cooked. Add in leek and arrowhead. Pour in some water and let it come to a boil. Pour in oyster sauce to taste and add in a little dark soy sauce for some colour. Add a little sugar to bring out the taste. Cover wok and simmer till arrowhead slices are soften or to the texture you prefered. By then the gravy would have dried up, or you may thicken with some cornstarch solution.

Dish up and serve.

Check out these too:
Stir Fry Roast Pork With Lotus Root And Arrowhead
Stir-Fried Roast Pork With Leek

Fried Soy Sauce Prawns

This is a delicious fried prawns dish that is quite similar to restaurant's si yau wong har (soy sauce king prawns), just that mine does not use King of soy sauce doesn't mean it's not a winner :p



My version is as usual short and simple. First, clean and snip the prawns off all sharp edges. Use paper towels to absorb as much water as possible. Sprinkle cornflour, salt and pepper all over and mix it a bit to make sure they're evenly distributed. In shallow oil, fry the prawns in batches and remove the prawns from the wok once cooked. Set them on top of paper towels to absorb the oil.

Chop loads of garlic and ginger. If you have spring onions, chop them into 1.5" in length but I don't have any in my fridge that day as this was an unplanned dish.

In the same wok, add more oil if there isn't enough to lightly brown the chopped ginger. Add in the garlic when ginger begins to brown as they brown faster than ginger. Once all lightly browned, return the prawns into the wok. Stir and sprinkle in some worchestershire sauce and soy sauce. Add in some dark soy sauce, the amount according to how dark you want your prawns, as for mine, this time I made it rather light so I've used very little only. Sprinkle in a wee bit of sugar for the caramalised taste. At this point, stir in spring onions if you're using them.

All these have to be done quickly as we would not want to have overcooked prawns. Dish up and serve hot with rice.

With this, wishing everyone a hee hee ha ha weekend!

Stir-Fried Beef With Brocolli

I made a simple stir-fry of beef and brocolli cos my boiboi likes brocolli. Not sure if this is conventional or not but it worked well. I cut the beef into strips and marinade them with a bit of soy sauce, pepper, cornflour and a dash of worcestershire sauce. Quickly blanch brocolli flowerettes in boiling water, drain and set aside. You may run cold water over them to retain a crunchier bite.

Heat oil in a wok and stir in chopped garlic and ginger. When they're fragrant, stir in the beef strips and loosen them up to prevent them from clumping together. When the beef is pink, put in the brocolli and stir quickly. Next pour in a concoction of water (not too much, perhaps around 3-4 tbsp or so according to how much sauce you would like to have in the end), oyster sauce, cornflour and a few dashes of worcestershire sauce. Stir and wait till the sauce is thicken. Dish up and serve hot with rice.


Technorati Tags: beef

Stir-Fried Asparagus, Celery and Fresh Button Mushroom

This was an easy peasy stir-fry with whatever I need to clear from my fridge last weekend. I had bought the fresh button mushroom for a Western dish in mind but since I was pressed for time, I didn't get to use them. So I put on my thinking cap after rummaging the fridge and came out with this dish inspired by this Mushroom and Garlic tapas that I've made before.

Prepare the bunch of asparagus by cutting of the bottom woody part and use a peeler to shred away the hard skin before cutting into1.5" in length.

For the celery, remove the stringy strands either using a knife or peeler. Cut them into sticks similar to the size of asparagus.

Clean the mushrooms with paper towel before slicing them. Chop up 2 cloves of garlic.

Heat up some extra virgin olive oil in a hot wok and add in chopped garlic. Fry till fragrant but not brown. Add in asparagus first and stir. Next add in celery and mushroom. Keep stirring and sprinkle a bit of water inside. Add sea salt to taste and a generous pinch of black pepper. Keep stirring and drizzle in some Chinese cooking wine (in replace of white wine). Since I've over "sprinkled" more water than needed, I added a bit of cornstarch solution to thicken up the sauce. Serve immediately with rice.

Surprising this stir-fry came out tasting good. I loved how the olive oil and black pepper have given the stir-fry a new lease of life, completely different from the usual Chinese stir-fries. Give it a try ;-)


Technorati Tags: vegetable

Stir-Fried Roast Pork With Leek

**Non-Halal**

The Actor...



The Supporting Actresses...



The Drama...

Heat some oil in hot wok and stir in the sliced leeks. Fry till the edges slightly browned and add in sliced carrots. Stir in the roast pork (siew yuk). Pour in some water (not too much, depends how much sauce you would like in this dish) followed by oyster sauce, dark soy sauce and a wee bit of sugar to taste. Cover and simmer on low heat till the leeks are soften. You can thicken the sauce with some cornflour solution but I like to keep mine as it is. Dish up and serve with rice.

The Award Winning Movie...




Note: This dish used to be a seasonal affair and mostly eaten during Chinese New Year but these days Chinese leeks can be found almost the whole year round. Something to rejoice indeed!


Technorati Tags: roast pork + pork + leek

Stir-fried Cabage with Dried Shrimps and Tofu Puffs

Been busy... something simple to tide things over but with a stupendous long name hahaha. In actual fact, it's just a simple stir-fried cabbage. All I did was slice the cabbage and tofu puffs (tofu pok or deep fried tofu) into strips. Wash and soak the dried shrimps for about 10-15 mins, otherwise they can be rather salty. Discard water and drain the shrimps. Heat oil in a wok and dump in loads of chopped garlic. Fry till fragrant then add the dried shrimps. When the shrimp turn golden brown, stir in tofu puffs. Next, stir in cabbage. Sprinkle in a little water whilst stirring. Pour in some oyster sauce to taste and stir to mix up. Dish up when the cabbage is cooked through and serve dish with rice. A great one dish that have fibre and protein for the day.


Technorati Tags: vegetable