Microwaved Ground Pork

While I was at a ladies gathering, I noticed that my girls loved this pork dish. Lily made this dish with a Chinese preserved vegetable and she told me it was very easy, just used the microwave or put it in the rice cooker 5 minutes before the rice is cooked. This is one familiar home cook dishes in Malaysian households as my mom used to make this dish too, along with the steamed eggs. You can also find it at the place where they sell porridge or economy rice. But for some reason, I just never make it, perhaps finding steaming takes too much time. Anyway, now I learned that it takes 4 minutes in a microwave, I have no reason not to make it anymore. Since I don't have the Chinese preserved vegetable, I substituted it with salted turnips/ "chai por" and used my seasonings since I couldn't remember what Lily told me already (she was busy cooking and spoke so fast that it just went in my right ear and came out my left ear, LOL!). Got to say, it turned out delicious and very flavorful. "Chai Por" is a very good substitute.



Ingredients:

Ground Pork, about 1/2 pound
"Chai Por" (Chinese chopped salted turnips), about 1/4 cup
Chopped garlic, 2 cloves

Seasonings:

Xiao Shin wine, 1 tsp.
Soy sauce, 1 tsp.
Garlic powder, few dashes
White pepper, few dashes
Sesame oil, 1/2 tsp.
Salt, 1/4 tsp.
Sugar, 1/2 tsp.

Method:

1. Mix everything together in a bowl. Let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least two hours, preferable.

2. Transfer it in a microwave safe bowl. Pour a little water on top. Microwave for three minutes. Take it out, cut a cross in the middle and microwave for another minute. Serve warm.

Spicy Stir Fried Shrimps

This dish is so simple yet delectable. Minimal seasonings required yet packed with flavors. I love to chew on the shell of these shrimps because that's the best part. Even my Evy who hardly eat shrimps asked for more. Edda who complaint too spicy finished her share after I told her to eat with white rice then it won't be too spicy anymore. :P If you have a bottle of Szechuan peppercorns at home, this will be a great way to use it. Can substitute the shrimps with chicken too.





Ingredients:

15 large shrimps
8 dried red chili, soften in hot water and drained
1/2 Tbsp. Szechuan peppercorns
Shredded gingers
1/2 small red onion, sliced (yellow onion/scallion can be substituted)

Seasonings: 1/2 tsp. chicken stock granules and some soy sauce.

Method:

1. Season shrimps with salt and black pepper, coat with cornstarch and pan-fry until cooked. Dish out and set aside.

2. In the wok, add a little oil. When hot, add in dried chili and Szechuan peppercorns, stir-fry until fragrant, add in gingers and red onion. Stir-fry until onion is soften. Add in a little water and the seasonings.

3. Stir-fry well and add in the shrimps. Stir to coat and dish out to serve. Simple yet delicious.

Nyonya Chap Chai (Nyonya Mixed Vegetable)

This is a Nyonya style mixed vegetable which uses preserved bean paste. This dish is normally served during Chinese New Year and is associated with festive dishes. Since I have all the ingredients, I gave this dish a go (first time trying). My glass noodle disintegrated and almost melted following the recipe in the cook book (not sure brand of glass noodle plays a part or not). The taste did not come out well too and something was missing. In the end, I had to add a few more seasonings to bring out the taste and had to change the method in the cook book for my own record, so that one can still see the glass noodle once this dish is cooked. Believe it or not, I always refer back to my blog for my own recipes because most of the recipes I created out of the blue and often time I forgot what I put into the dish. So, these recipes are not only for my girls but for myself as well.



Ingredients:

1/2 small Cabbage, shredded, or cubed
1 small Carrot, cut into flower shapes
1/4 cup Dried Lily Buds, soften in hot water, drained and cut off the hard tip and tie a knot
1/2 cup Wood Ear Fungus, soften in hot water
5-6 Dried Shiitake Mushrooms, soften in hot water, drained and sliced
4 Dried beancurd sticks (tau kee), soften in hot water, drained and cut
2 bundles Glass Noodle (tang hoon), soften in room-temp. water and drained
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/4 cup Dried Shrimps (you can use shrimps)

Seasonings:
3 Tbsp. Preserved Bean Paste (tau cheo)
1 tsp. Chicken stock granules
Salt to taste
1 tsp. Sugar
1 to 2 cups Water

Method:

1. In a pot, heat up some oil. when heated, add in dried shrimps, garlic and tau cheo. Stir-fry until fragrant. Add in cabbage and carrot, stir-fry until soften.

2. Add in shiitake mushrooms, wood ear, lily buds and beancurd sticks. Stir- well to mix. Add water and the rest of the seasonings. Let it simmer, covered for 10-15 minutes, check water level if need to. Open cover, add in glass noodle and mix well. Turn off the heat and serve.

P/S The cook book asked to add the glass noodle with the rest of the ingredients and simmer it for 20 minutes. Bad move as I learned later. I was trying to trust the cookbook and follow the instruction for once, but guess not. Seasoning was off too. Received a great tips, that is to soften the glass noodle in room-temp. water instead of hot water to prevent it from broken out when cooking.

Tofu with Ground/Minced Pork Asian Style

This is one of the common household dishes. Most Malaysian Chinese families should have their own version. I cooked this dish often for my family and I was surprised I haven't posted this recipe before. This is a good one dish meal too but often time I would serve it with another Asian green with or without a chicken herbal soup. I often cook a minimum of two dishes, one make up of protein/seafood and the other of fiber and about 2 soups in a week, one is herbal, and the other one can be of anything.





Ingredients:

1 box of regular Tofu, cut into cubed
Ground/minced pork, about 1/2 lb.
4-5 Chinese dried mushroom, soak in hot water to soften, drained and chopped.
1/2 Carrot, chopped
3 cloves of Garlic, chopped
1/4 cup Frozen green peas

Seasonings:
Oyster sauce
Cooking wine
Dark soy sauce
White pepper
Sesame oil

Method:

1. Heat up wok with oil. When heated, add in ground pork and garlic. Stir-fry until pork is no longer pink. Add in Chinese mushroom, carrot and green peas. Stir-fry for awhile.

2. Add in cubed tofu and seasonings to taste. Add a little water if need to (for sauce). Stir- fry well and dish out to serve hot.

Kai Chai Beng (Chicken Biscuits)

I love Kai Chai Beng or chicken biscuits, not sure why it is called that because no chicken is used in the recipe, but this cookie is crunchy and fulled of flavor. In Malaysia, we have two types of chicken biscuit, the fat variety (softer in texture) and the thin variety. Even though I like it but I never thought of making it myself because I don't buy Nam Yee. Then, on this recent trip to the Asian store, I spotted Nam Yee was on sales and it was placed in the front, so I just grabbed one, like it was calling me to pick it up. By the way, this chicken biscuit is different from the Western chicken biscuits that we see in the supermarkets.



Today, I am making the thin variety as I like it crunchy. I got the recipe from Lily's and I modified slightly to use what I have in the house. I cut down on the salt and added more dark soy sauce to compensate the honey that I substituted. The chicken biscuits turned out so crunchy and delicious, even my hubby could not stop snacking on it. Now I really have no reason to buy anymore since the homemade one is so good.


The finished dough.

Ingredients:

(A)
10.5 oz. self rising flour
4 oz. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1/2 tsp. five spice powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. chicken stock granules
1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic
80gm. white sesame seeds
4 oz. candied winter melon strips (tong tung kwah), finely chopped or cut and process it fine in a food processor


My lazy method that worked!

(B)
1 large egg
1 Tbsp. honey
2 pieces Nam Yee (red fermented beancurd), mashed
4 drops dark soy sauce
100ml. oil


Assorted shapes! I made four trays with this recipe.

Method:

1. Measure the ingredients (A) and put it in a food processor, pulse to mix well.

2. Add (B) in a bowl, whisk with a hand whisk until blended. Pour into the food processor and pulse until a dough is almost formed. Pour into a big bowl and knead with hand until a dough is formed. Let it rest for 10 minutes.

3. Pinch pieces of the dough and roll between a piece of wax paper with a roller, and then cut it with a pastry crimper (as picture shown above). Place on parchment lined baking tray with some space between them as the chicken biscuit will puff up during baking.

4. Bake in preheated 350'F oven for 10 minutes or less, remember to check the oven when you can smell it. Do keep an eye on it as it burn easily. I used convection oven and it was baked in 6 minutes or less. Baking time also depends on the thickness of your cookies. Cool on wire rack then store in air-tight container.

Chicken Sambal Balado

For some reason, Balado (an Indonesian sambal sauce) left an impression on me. I had some Chicken Bumbu Balado at a ladies gathering and I couldn't stop eating this dish. The sauce came in a bottle so it is on my next buying list. The next day, I saw Brinjal Balado at Gert's blog and she told me why buy when it is so easy to make at home. But you know me, I would still love to buy the sauce if I can but sadly I couldn't find it at my local Asian store. Frustrated, I IM Lily about it and she told it was like sambal tumis and asked me to make my own. I told her yeah it is like sambal tumis with added tomatoes but I don't buy tomatoes. But I know I can substitute it with ketchup, so here is my version of homemade chicken sambal balado with added red bell peppers, carrots and lemon grass. Next time I should add yellow onion or more shallots because it is so good with the sauce. Quite spicy too I might say!





Ingredients:

1 chicken breast, thinly sliced, marinate with salt and cornstarch
1 lemon grass, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1/4 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 carrot, thinly sliced

Seasonings:
1 Tbsp. Sambal Oelek
2 Tbsp. ketchup
1 tsp. salt
Brown sugar, to taste
Lime juice, to taste
1/4-1/2 cup water

Method:

1. Heat oil in wok. When heated, add in lemon grass and shallots, fry until fragrant. Add in garlic, fry for a while then add in marinated chicken slices. Stir-fry until chicken is no longer pink.

2. Add in red bell peppers and carrots and fry until soften. Lastly add in water and seasonings. Season to taste and dish out to serve. The sambal oelek I bought this time is quite spicy so I did not put much as my daughters want to eat too but still turned out quite spicy.

Stir Fried Thin Spaghetti with Spam

Do you loved luncheon meat? We do as we grew up eating pan-fried luncheon meat. My mom used to pan-fried slices of luncheon meat, some sunny side up eggs and toasted bread for us to have as lunch. It was really a treat then because instead of the usual rice and dishes, we got to eat western food and with ketchup. As a kid, I was really looking forward to it. Now that I am older, I only buy SPAM luncheon meat, no more luncheon meat made in China for me anymore. Better yet, SPAM Lite where there is 50% less fat, 33% fewer calories and 25% less sodium and still tasted great, how cool is that? I stock up when it was on sales for $2 each, just for a day when I feel like cooking SPAM.

Today was the day as I have half a packet of leftover thin spaghetti and mee rebus sauce and a Presto Pasta Night event to catch. So, I sliced some carrots, washed some Chai Hsin (a Chinese veggie) and chopped some garlic to whip this up.





Ingredients:

1/2 packet thin spaghetti, cooked as directed and drained
1 cup Mee rebus sauce (mine was a leftover from mee rebus dinner)
1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
A little soy Sauce
1/2 thinly sliced carrot
1 soup bowl of washed and cut chai hsin
1/2 canned SPAM Lite, cut into small pieces like above pictures
3 cloves of garlic, chopped

Method:

1. Heat up wok with oil. When heated, add in cut SPAM and stir-fry until slightly brown. Scoop to the side, add in garlic, chai hsin, and carrot. Stir-fry until chai hsin is soften. Add soy sauce, stir-well.

2. Add in drained noodle and stir fry well. Add in mee rebus sauce and dark soy sauce, stir to coat well. Serve hot!

Now, I would love to share this dish with Presto Pasta Night, an event created by Ruth from Once Upon a Feast. This week host is Daphne from More Than Words, do go and check out her round up on Friday!