Mung Kuan Char or Stir-fried Jicama

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Since a reader asked me to teach her how to stir-fry jicama, I'm sharing my recipe here.  Mine is called "mung kuan char" and not "ju hu char" because I don't add dried cutterfish/dried squid in mine.  This is my version and we really like it.

Ingredients:

1 jicama (if small, 1/2 if big), thinly sliced

1/2 cup of dried sliced woodear, soften in water and drain

1 carrot, julienned

1/8 cup of dried shrimps, soften in water and drain

2-3 gloves of garlic, minced

4-5 Chinese dried mushroom/ shitake, soften in water, drain and thinly sliced (if use, I didn't use it here)

Salt to taste

1 tsp. chicken powder

1 tsp. sugar

Method:

1.  In a heated wok, add some oil.  When hot, add in dried shrimps, fry until fragrant.  Add in garlic, fry until slightly golden, add in the jicama, mix well.

2.  Add in carrot and woodear (mushroom if use) and stir-fry well.  Add some salt.  Mix well.  Some water will come out from the jicama.  Add the sugar and chicken powder.  Mix well and let it simmer in the stock for a little while.

3.  Do a taste test to see whether you need to add more salt or not.  Serve!

Waxed Meat Rice

I wanted to try this dish ever since I saw it appeared on fellow blogger's blogs.  But I couldn't try it because I couldn't find waxed duck or waxed pork belly here.  So, most of the times I could only imagine the taste.  However, my chance came when our friend who's the restaurant owner served us a plate of mixed waxed meat that her head chef prepared in her own kitchen.  Wow, lucky us!  The head chef made a combination of waxed duck, waxed pork belly and waxed sausages.  I took some leftover of the waxed duck and sausage as I found the waxed pork belly too fattening.  Alright, alright, you can say I don't know how to appreciate the best part, I agreed, I agreed.  :-P

Traditionally to until these days, waxed meat delicacies is one of the must have items to welcome the Chinese Lunar New Year.  Usually served on CNY eve on the reunion table and throughout the CNY.  Lots of shops will be selling waxed meat products in their stores during this time.  Many buy them as gift for relatives and friends as well.

 I steamed the rice in my electric steamer and once it's almost cooked, I placed the waxed meat on top.  It was so fragrant and the juices from the waxed meat seep into the rice.  I loved it!  I also loved the waxed duck that the chef prepared, very flavorful.  My little Edda loved this rice a lot too, both of us finished the most part of it as my hubby doesn't like waxed meat at all.  Hehe...more for us.

Lettuce Wrap

~Old Post~

This is one dish that I must cook every Chinese New Year.  What I enjoyed when I was little visiting grandparents' houses and what was the favorite food that my mom cooked on reunion dinner that seem to be stuck in my memory is this dish.  My mom would roast a chicken or buy the roasted pork from the vendor and made her own chili to go with this lettuce wrap.  It was always so divine that I just had to cook it every year.  Of course the meat served in my house would be different as I often too lazy to roast a chicken and also too lazy to drive so far away to the Asian store to buy the roasted pork.  So, I made an easy stir-fried marinated chicken to go with mine.
 

A piece of romaine lettuce (you can use green leaf, red leaf or Boston lettuce too).  Spread the "mung kuang char" (stir-fried jicama) on top, top with chicken and a little of the chili, wrap and enjoy!

This is what I called yummilicious!!!

Now that I thought about it, I can even wrap some rice in and eat it together eh?  Did you eat this dish during CNY?

Stir Fried Mixed Veggies with Lotus Root

If you have noticed like me, lotus root have been appearing on most Chinese New Year meals, either served at home or in a restaurant.  When I did a search, I found that Chinese believed if you eat lotus root during the Chinese New Year, all the new ventures that you are planning for this year will take root and grow.  My friend served lotus root soup on reunion dinner so I served up stir-fried lotus root with mixed vegetable.  It would be nice with some broccoli as well but I just used what I had at home at that moment.  The lotus root and water chestnut gave this dish the crunch.

The food symbolism of this dish are listed below:
Mixed Vegetable (什锦蔬菜) overall means Family Harmony.  Golden lily buds (金针) means wealth.  Water Chestnut (荸薺) means unity.  Shrimp (小虾) means happiness and good fortune.  Sweet corn (甜玉米) means increase growth.  Carrots ( 紅蘿蔔) red color means good luck.  Chinese Cabbage (白菜) means 100 types of prosperity luck.

Reference from Food Symbolism during Chinese New Year celebration.

Ingredients:

Lotus root, peel off the outer layer, cut into thin slices and soak in water until ready to use (to prevent it from turning black when cooked) {I didn't soak mine in water thus mine turned black, learned a lesson here}

1 carrot, cut into pretty flowers

1/4 of cabbage, washed and tear with hand into pieces

1 zucchini, cut into cubes

1 bowl of shrimps

1/4 cup of dried golden lily buds, soften, cut off the hard tip and tight into a knot

1 can of whole straw mushrooms, drain and rinse

1 can of whole baby corn, drain and rinse, I cut it into half

1 can of sliced water chestnuts, drain and rinse

3 gloves of garlic, mince

2 Tbsp. of wolfberries/Goji berries/kei chi

Seasonings:  rice wine, salt, sugar and chicken granules/powder

Thicken with cornstarch water (optional)

Method:

1.  Heat up a wok, when hot add in oil.  Then add in drained lotus root and stir-fry for a little while, dish out and set aside.

2.  Heat up wok again, add a little oil and stir-fry the zucchini and shrimps separately until cooked.  Dish out and set aside.

3.  Heat wok, add oil.  Add in garlic, stir-fry until slight brown, add in cabbage and carrot, stir-fry for a little while.  Add in straw mushrooms, baby corns, golden lily buds and water chestnuts.  Stir-fry well.  Add in the fried shrimps, lotus root and zucchini, mix well.  Add seasonings.

4.  Add a little water if wish to and thicken with cornstarch water.  Lastly add in the wolfberries/kei chi.  Mix well and dish out to serve!

Dried Mussels Recipe

I was searching for dried mussels recipe but I couldn't find many online, so I resorting to experiment it myself.  I had it in a friend's restaurant before and she used it to boil soup, so for one I know it will be great in soup.  My friend's suggested to add it in the lotus root and pork ribs soup which sounded yummy to me.  Going to try it soon but probably with chicken drumsticks as I don't have pork ribs.  Another suggested to braise it with chicken and mushroom which sounded good to me as well which I intent to try it out.  A few suggested to cook it in porridge but I probably going to pass this as my girls don't like porridge.  One suggested to cook it in sambal for example instead of sambal ikan bilis, make it into sambal dried mussels, sounds good to me too.  But I cannot cook this dish, read below for the reason.

This dish is very auspicious as bean curd sticks means blessing the house, Chinese cabbage means 100 types of prosperity luck, carrots means good luck, glass noodle means long life, wood ear means longevity, Shitake mushroom means longevity and sizing opportunity, shrimps means happiness and good fortune.  Mandarin orange means gold and wealth.


As for me, I experimented it in my Chap Chai recipe and also added some shrimps.  I added it in when stir-frying with the dried shrimps. It turned out great and we eat it with my chilies in oil.  My thought is you can use it in stir-frying vegetable or make a dish of it by cooking it in this spicy sauce.  My hubby doesn't like the smell of dried mussels so I couldn't make it a star of a dish, only as a side kick.  LOL!  But if you like mussels, why not make it a star of a dish! (like sambal mussels!)

 Dried mussels already soften in warm water.  You need to soak it in warm water until soften before use.  And then clean it and rinse it.  Available in Asian market and fairly cheap.

Koi Fish Jelly

Today marks the last day of Chinese New Year and also Chinese Valentine's Day.  The 15 long days of Chinese celebration is finally over.  Right now I can concentrate on losing some extra weight gain.  LOL!

Sharing with you a Koi fish Almond Konnyaku jelly that I made recently.  To get this pattern, all you need to do is to take a little bit of the jelly water out and mix it with a drop of red coloring, stir to blend well.  Use a spoon to spoon a little of the red jelly inside the fish molds.  You can wait for it to harden before scooping the white jelly in to have a white fish with red strips, or if you couldn't wait like me, before the red jelly harden completely, I scoop the white jelly in and thus it became pink fish.  Got the idea?  I used black sesame seeds as eyes on the big koi fishes.  I later added the black sesame seeds on the little fishes too.  Definitely nicer with the black sesame seeds.

By the way, Happy Chinese Valentine's Day to all who celebrate this day.  Wish you find your other half soon if this is what you are wishing for. :-)  And have a great "Chap Goh Meh"!!

Fried Nian Gao and Sweet Potatoes with Spring Roll Wrapper

An interesting new way to serve nian gao that I noticed this year.  I was eager to try it and I did.  I saw a friend did a deep-fried nian gao with spring roll and she said it was delicious.  But I bought a sweet potato to go with my nian gao already and thus I wanted to incorporate the sweet potato into this spring roll.  Then, I saw another similar post while blog hopping.  That blogger used smashed steamed taro mixed with coconut flakes to wrap the nian gao and rolled it in the spring roll wrapper before deep-frying.  So, that was my "aha" moment.  I can steam and then smash my sweet potato before wrapping it with the nian gao and spring roll wrapper.  The idea was set and I got to work and the resulted product was really crispy and delicious.

I used the steamed nian gao that I did earlier.   The verdict of this nian gao is not what I was hoping for.  I wanted one that would melt when deep fried but this one was not.  It is not as fragrant too maybe it was because I didn't use the palm sugar but the Chinese bar sugar instead.  Therefore the color of this nian gao is not as dark brown.  Overall, it was an okay recipe, definitely not the best.  But I would try it again with palm sugar just to see whether it will have any difference (just want to experiment :-P).

This rectangle one only has a piece of nian gao.  This will stay crispy as there is no water from the sweet potato to soften the fried spring roll.

Direction:

1.  Cut the sweet potatoes into smaller pieces and steam for 25 minutes or until soften when poke with a fork.  Take it out and smash it with a fork.  Set aside to let cool.

2.  Take out the nian gao and cut it into log shape pieces.

3.  Prepare a bowl of water.  Take a piece of spring roll wrapper and place some smashed sweet potato on top like the above picture.

4.  Place a piece of nian gao in the middle.  Brush the sides of the spring roll wrapper with water.  Fold and roll it into a roll.  Finish the rest.

5.  Deep-fry in batches in medium heat oil until golden brown.  Dish out and drain on paper towel to absorb the excess oil.  Serve!

Note:  You can keep the leftover in a container in the refrigerator.  Just toast it again in a toaster oven before serving (about 5-6 minutes).

Kuih Bahlu 2 (Chinese Egg Sponge Cake, 鸡蛋糕)

 

I did a Pandan Kuih Bahlu before in year 2008 and never try it since.  Because I found the recipe a bit dry.  This year I had no plan on making kuih bahlu but while I was browsing and jumping blogs, I decided to check out Sinner's blog.  And then I saw her kuih bahlu recipe posted last year.  I quickly compared her ingredients with the one I made before and found that hers uses less sugar and flour and she also stated that hers produces soft kuih bahlu.  So, I got interested and prompted me to try out her recipe.  I was glad I tried because it is indeed soft and slightly chewy.  Edda and myself couldn't stop popping a few of this once it was cooled.  :-P  However, after I kept it in the container, it turned sticky and moist unlike the dry kuih bahlu we used to.  Almost like the mini egg sponge cake I did in 2007.  So, I don't think this can be kept long.  Guess I will have to play with the old recipe again, like adding oil.

Guess you have noticed the ugly looking kuih bahlu I have right?  I don't have the pretty kuih bahlu mould so I used the mini muffin pan to make this instead.  If you too don't own the mould and wanted to make this, check out my instruction on the next page.  The method is about the same but slightly different.  You can still enjoy the kuih bahlu without the mould.  I guess the next time I go back to M'sia, I need to buy myself two kuih bahlu moulds.

Recipe adapted from Sinner, from Kitchen Redneck.  Thanks Sinner!

Ingredients:

2 large eggs

60gm sugar

1/2 tsp, pure vanilla extract

60gm all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

Method:

1.  Beat eggs with electric beater until light and frothy, about 2 minutes.

2.  Add in sugar and vanilla.  Beat until thick and yellow, about 2 minutes.

3.  Add in sifted flour and baking powder and use a spatula to blend well.

4.  Preheat oven to 375'F.  Grease the mini muffin tin with cooking spray.

5.  Scoop batter by tablespoon into mini muffin tin evenly until it reaches the top, not too much.

6.  Bake for 5 minutes or until golden brown.  Take it out with a toothpick and cool on wire rack.

7.  Store in air-tight container when cooled.

Makes about 22 pieces.  Recipe can be double.

Homemade Yee Sang for Chinese New Year (魚生)

Yee Sang, Yusheng, 魚生 or Prosperity Toss is enjoyed throughout the 15 days of Chinese New Year.  It is a symbol of abundance, vigor and prosperity as the fish tossing in this salad means 余升 and 年年有余.  The waiter would add each ingredient and says an auspicious phrase related to that ingredient and then everyone would stand up and toss the yusheng together while saying auspicious wishes.  It is believed that the higher you toss, it would bring you higher growth in wealth and fortunes. This dish is mainly enjoyed by the Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia.  I talked to Chinese from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan before and they have no clue what is 魚生.  Whereas if you mention this dish with people from Malaysia or Singapore, everyone knows what it is.  This dish is a must have and very popular during Chinese New Year, in fact, it only served during or around Chinese New Year.  You can order it in a restaurant or "to go" the ready made packet to bring it home.

We living in the U.S. or overseas have no such luck as in order it in a restaurant or buy it at a store.  But fear not, we can enjoy Yee Sang (魚生) too.  Frankly it is not difficult to make at all.  The only tedious part is the slicing of the vegetable thinly.  I made this easy version so it would be easy for all of us.  :-P  Everything can be bought in the Asian store such as ground toasted peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, wonton wrapper (or better yet the ready to eat fried wonton crackers), pickled ginger, ready to eat jelly fish etc.  I used jelly fish because we don't eat raw fish in the house.  Of course you can use any raw fish you like or smoke salmon, etc, etc.  You can even add pomelo or other ingredients you can think of.

 

I actually have thinly sliced romaine lettuce underneath the cilantro, scallion, pickled ginger and seaweed.  My plate was too small thus I had to pile everything up a level.  My carrot was actually got covered underneath too.  If you have sharp eyes, you will notice that my crunchy doesn't really look like fried wonton.  Well, you were right, because I was out of it and thus I used the spring roll wrapper.  It was crispy but turned soft quickly when mixed together as it was very thin you see, so the wonton skin is recommended.  I tried to make the nam yee cracker from scratch but failed as it turned soft when cold.  Later I did toast them in the toaster oven to crisp it again for the yee sang when the spring roll crunchy turned soft.  And it worked!

This simple yee sang is delicious, try it yourself and feedback to me ya!

Today is also the 7th day of CNY, which is everyone birthday, so Happy Birthday to all of us! 人日快乐!

Sauce recipe adapted from Lily's blog with slight modification.  Thanks Lily!

Ingredients for Yee Sang:

1/2 Korean radish (the round one) or jicama or both, finely shredded

1 large carrot, finely shredded

3 scallions, finely shredded

A bunch of cilantro, take just the leaves

4 pieces of romaine lettuce, thinly sliced

1 packet of jelly fish, ready to eat, seasoned per packet instruction, cut

Some red pickled ginger strips (store bought in bottle, Wel-Pac Kizami, you need to get this red one for the color even though it's more expensive)

Fried crunchy wonton skin, crushed before adding

Some seaweeds, torn into small pieces
 

Yee Sang sauce:

1/3 cup canola oil + 1 tsp. sesame oil.

1/2 cup ground toasted peanuts

2 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

Sauce, mix well together:

6 Tbsp. LKK plum sauce

1/2 Tbsp. LKK Hoisin sauce

1/4 tsp. white pepper

1/4 tsp. 5 spice powder

2 tsp. lime juice

Method:

1.  Take the wonton wrapper, cut into strips and deep-fried until golden brown.  Drain on paper towel.  Set aside to be use later.  Or skip this step if you buy the ready to eat fried wonton crackers.

2.  Wash and prepare the vegetable by thinly slicing them.  Set aside.

3.  Prepare the combined sauce for the yee sang.

4.  Arrange the jelly fish and all the rest of the veggies on a round plate.  Prepare the sauce, oil, peanuts, sesame seeds and crunchy on the side.

5.  When ready to "lao sang", add in the peanuts, sesame seeds, and then the sauce and oil.  Lastly, crush the crunchy and place it on top and then "lao sang" or mix it well together with chopsticks.  Enjoy!

Reunion Dinner 2011 with Friends

I wanted to share the reunion dinner we had at our friend's restaurant this year.  These were the common dishes that she would prepared every time we were invited for dinner.  She would alternate between lobsters or crabs and each time it would be at least 8-10 dishes.  She said this was Cantonese Cuisine and I definitely got introduced to lots of new ingredients that I didn't know before (not this meal but throughout the years that I had known her).

Steamed Whole Tilapia Fish (very fresh) 

Braised Lamb, really soft. (but we didn't know how to appreciate)  They said it's good to eat lamb during winter.

Stir-fried Huge Prawns (simply divine!)

Click next page to read and see more....

White Chicken with Ginger Scallion Sauce

Slow Steamed Pork Belly with Taro, simply melt in the mouth (this was delicious, my favorite of the night)

Easy Nai Pak (easy and yummy)

Roasted Duck with Sauce (I preferred it without sauce, the sauce spoiled the presentation)

Stir-fried Lobsters, very fresh. (Delectable!)

We also had Lotus Root Soup and Deep-Fried Flower Steamed Buns which I didn't take picture.  Lastly we had Mandarin Oranges as dessert.  Not sure if other diners found my action weird as I only took picture of the dishes.  :D  She and her chefs prepared everything x4, a fulled house in her restaurant that night.

Steamed Nian Gao (年糕)

This is again something new for me this year.  I always did the baked Nian Gao like all the previous years.  The baked nian gao is delicious too but this year I stumbled upon a Vietnamese steamed nian gao recipe from a blogger friend.  I tried a few of his recipes before and liked it, so it encouraged me to give this recipe a try.  Truthfully, what got me interested was the steaming time in his was only 20 minutes for a rice bowl size.  Hey, you know me, always seek out the easiest recipe to try.

I used my porcelain ramekin to steam my nian gao as I believed this shape resembled the one that I was familiar with the most.  Looks good right?  I won't be eating this until after the Chinese New Year as I wanted to use this to bring good luck to my house.  I heard that since this is sticky, it means family reunion and togetherness.  Also of the Chinese word 年糕, the last word sounded like high (高), so it's like each year is higher or better than the previous. (年年高升)

Since I am not eating this yet so I have no comment regarding the taste.  Probably will do a post later when I slice it and pan-fry it.

This is how it looks like when I took it out of the ramekin to cool on wire rack.

Happy Chinese Lunar New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai everyone!!  May this new year brings you much joy, good health and abundance wealth.  祝您 兔年快乐, 健康良好,  万事如意，恭喜发财!!!

 
Recipe adapted from TT, Playing with My Food.  Thanks TT!

~Yields 3 porcelain ramekins.

Ingredients:

400gm glutinous rice flour

300gm Chinese brown slab sugar

220gm Coconut cream

155gm water

Method:

1.  In a saucepan, boil water and brown slab sugar until the sugar melted.  Take it off heat and stir in the coconut cream.  Leave to cool.

2.  While waiting for it to cool.  Cut the parchment paper to fit in the steaming cup that you prepared.  I used porcelain ramekins.

3.  When cooled, add in the glutinous rice flour and mix into a thick batter.  Scoop batter into each ramekin evenly.

4.  Steam in high heat for 60 minutes or until cooked.

5.  Let it cool on wire rack.  Stamp with a good luck symbol if you have one.  If not, just do it like me, take a red packet with good luck symbol, cut it out and place it on the nian gao when it is still warm.

Bak Kua (Chinese Pork Jerky)

Bak Kua, my all time favorite when I was a kid and now too.  Love to sandwich it in bread and have it as breakfast.  This is also one favorite for Chinese New Year, people give this as gift in Malaysia.  They also served this for people who visits their houses.  When I moved here, bak kua was non-existence.  All I found that was similar to this is American beef jerky which I couldn't stomach.  Then, four years ago, I found a very easy bak kua recipe shared by a fellow blogging friend.  I tried it and loved it and have been making it all these years.

 

This recipe is so easy to make and trust me it is really good.  The above has about 1lb. of ground pork, I thought I might be able to share with my friends until my hubby spotted it.  He never dared to try the bak kua I made all these years (he thinks it was yucky so more for us) and suddenly he came and grabbed a piece to try and kept coming back for more and more.  Needless to say, any food that he set his eyes on, will be gone in no time.  He only left few pieces for my girls and I.

Gong Xi Fa Cai & Xin Nian Kuai Le!!!

I want to wish all my readers a Happy Chinese New Year and may this new year brings you prosperity, health, happiness and things that you wished for.  I am off to celebrate Chinese New Year eve reunion dinner at auntie Lily's house.  Yeah I know I am lucky because I get to eat her Yu Sang and all the cookies she made for Chinese New Year. 


Go home and have a reunion dinner with your parents, family and relatives.  Nothing spread joy more than having your loved and closed ones close by and have a feast together.  Sharing food, laughter, stories and fun together.  Have a good one you all and enjoy all the 15 days of Lunar New Year.

Gong Xi Fa Cai 2009

I want to wish all my readers a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous Lunar New Year!! May this Ox year brings us great happiness, better economy, full tummy and wealth.

Too lazy to make pineapple tart this year, so I only pick easy cookies to make. For easy access of my recipes, click the links below:

Cornflakes cookies
Crispy Pizzelle
Peanut cookies
Kuih bangkit
Almond flavored sugee cookies

CNY Gift from a Friend :o)

Less Sweet Teh Tarik 3 in 1 and Pandan Kaya.


Assortment of Delicious Looking ChanHong Brand Products. BTW, I loved this brand!


OK, this is my favorite group because I'm a cookies & snack junkie!! Can't wait to try the Beloved Biscuit because it looks so different. But first of all, need to open the Chicken Biscuit now!


Hmmm...first time seeing this type of Chicken Biscuit! Had a bad experience with the previous chicken biscuit that I ordered from myTOA.


So fat fat one!


WOW! I Loved it! I loved this type too, very fragrant and even my hubby gave a thumb up. Ok, only got six in a packet, so order more if you like this biscuit. Hubby said, "3 for me and 3 for you". I said, " Then what about the kids?" LOL!




Thank you so much for your generous gift. You got the heart, we got the tummies! :P

For my readers, you can always order it online at myTOA.com. Just a click away to sample all these M'sian goodies yourself at home! ;o)

Chap Goh Meh, 2008 Dinner

My last day of CNY dinner spread. I told my hubby I'm going to cook something special tonight to celebrate the last day of CNY. I added one more dish into my usual two dishes.


Steam fish fillets, nothing special, I cooked this all the time, but this is one of my hubby's favorites.


Stir-fry Sweet Snap Peas with Chinese Mushroom, Baby Bamboo Shoots and Carrots. Hmm... I cooked this all the times too but not in this combination.


Butter Cereal Shrimps. Ha! this is something special as I normally don't cook so much shrimps for ourselves (I always sanction 3-4 for me and 4-5 for him, just want to be in moderation). But since this is the last day of CNY and it was my first time cooking butter cereal shrimps from scratch, what the heck right? Better enjoyed it! My hubby was actually shocked and asked me how many shrimps did you cook? HAHAHA.... So, I had to explain to him and also tell him don't expect any shrimps from me next week. So, we indulged! I will share my version of Butter Cereal Shrimps recipe in another post, if you want my recipe, stay tuned! :P If cannot wait, just do a search on Google lah, so many recipes on the net wat. :D