Beancurd Rolls

My, it wasn't easy to deep fry the beancurd rolls with pork filling inside. The beancurd skin kept coming off.

I managed to come up with this, which tasted not too bad! *phew*

Kway Chup

Without the kway. :P

We had congee with this.

I must say it really tasted like the *real* thing in hawker centres. :)

Beancurd stuffings

Sweet Sauce Tofu

I was in one of those 'chin-chye' mood and decided to whip up a meal totally based on my guts feeling.

Surprise, surprise. It was yummy!

Sweet Sauce Tofu



Ingredients

• 1 piece of tofu
• Sprinkles of salt

Seasonings

• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 tbsp sweet sauce
• 1/2 tbsp tomato sauce

Method

1) Fry the tofu until slightly browned
2) Sprinkle some salt
3) Add seasonings

Voila! A simple and tasty dish is done. Very ideal for lazy people like me. :P

Salted Vegetables Soup

I am not a big fan of salted vegetables, but my hubby is. As much as I would like to cook Caixin soup, I knew I had to cook the following instead. :P

It turned out that my hub kinda like it. :)

Ingredients

- 1 packet Salted Vegetables
- 1/2 tofu (cut into cubes)
- 1/2 carrot (cut into pieces)
- 100g pork (minced)
- 3 chestnuts (minced)

Seasonings

- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp potato starch

Method

1) Boil 6 cups of water in a pot
2) Add chicken bone (left over from the other dish) and carrot
3) Remove chicken bone
4) Mix pork, chestnut and potato starch
5) Mold into balls and add to the soup mixture
6) Add salt to taste

Deep Fried Beancurd

Tofu Soup with Bean Sprouts and Meatballs

This is supposed to be a Tofu Soup with minced pork balls and salted vegetables. I couldn't get salted vegetables, somehow. My meatballs are expiring this week, so I had to make adjustments to the soup. My hub is one fussy pot especially when it comes to soup, so when he said that the soup is not bad, I just had to document it down! :D



Ingredients

• 300g tofu
• 6 meatballs
• 1/2 carrot sliced (all sank to the bottom of the bowl :P)
• 1/2 cup beans sprouts
• 5 cups of chicken stock*

Seasonings

• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt to taste
• a dash of pepper

Method

1) Boil the chicken stock
2) Add carrot and meatbals
3) Add tofu and beans sprouts
4) Once ingredients are cooked, add the seasonings

* I used the unwanted skin and bones from the chicken breast of another dish to prepare the stock. No food wastage and you get a more flavourful soup. I kept in the fridge overnight and when I took it out, the fats from the soup solidifies, making it very easy for me to remove it. Health prevails! :)

Steamed Tofu with Egg and Minced Pork 2

Remember this post? Yeah, this dish is long overdue. I have been really busy, trying to catch up with the household chores and work after my 2 weeks holiday overseas.

Anyways, I have mustered up enough courage to try this for a second time and I am glad it worked. :)

I guess sometimes you really can't follow what you see on recipe books too closely. That explains for my previous failed attempt.

My hub actually likes it!



But when he scooped up the liquid at the bottom of the bowl to drink, I was like, 'Eh, 什么态度?' The main dish is the solid food, not the liquid. >_<" But then again, I did that with Chawanmushi too... so I can understand the tempation to do so. :P



Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 150g of tofu
• 100g of minced pork
• 50 ml of chicken stock (not 400ml! as stated in the recipe book. *slaps forehead*)

Seasonings

• 1/2 tbsp of light soy sauce
• A dash of pepper

Method

1) Beat the eggs
2) Add the minced pork into the egg mixture and mix well
3) Add the stock and the seasonings
4) Add the tofu
5) Steam in Healsio for 20 minutes

My Cooking

I invited my mother over for dinner.

What's for dinner?

- Mapo Tofu
- Spicy Kang Kong
- Pork Cutlet
- Bittergourd Soup

All repeated dishes. I personally feel that I have improved... because...

Now you see them...



... Now you don't! :D



It was a complete wipe-out! It has been more than a month since I cooked. Glad that my skills has not gone rusty. :)

Fried Meat Balls

This is the second time I am trying it and it still doesn't work. Anyone care to enlighten me with some recipes?

But erm... it looks pretty ok, eh? Love how the photo turned out. :D

Sweet and Sour Beancurd

Repeated dish. For my records.

Sweet and Sour Beancurd

"It taste like a dish that we usually find 'outside'!"

This comment made by my hubby swept me off my feet. For home-cooked-food to be rated as good as 'outside' (meaning those sold in Tze Char and hawker) is the utmost honour that any 'wokking' wives could receive, I tell ya! :D

It may sound a bit thick-skinned, but I have to agree with him that this is a dish that deserves compliments. The beancurd is crispy on the outside, soft and moist on the inside. The sauce is sweet and had just enough to coat the beancurd with a thin layer and not too overwhelming to sog the crispyness.

"What changes did you make this round?"

I was stumped for a while but rattled on with a long list.

1) I sprinkled some salt after cutting.

2) I used flour to coat the beancurd before deep frying.

3) I used the non-stick pan to deep fry the beancurd. I tried to give it one more chance by throwing one beancurd into my steel wok and it sticks! As usual! I transferred the beancurd into the teflon pan. It makes a whole lot of difference. No more sticking to the wok. No more burnt patches. No more frustration! However, due to health reasons, I promise myself to use the teflon pan less.

4) I used soya bean oil. I have previously used olive oil and almost instantly knew that was a wrong move. My suspicion was further affirmed when an author of a cookbook wrote that deep frying should never be done with olive oil. But there was no mention why. :(

5) I used a different brand of ketchup. His preferred.

6) I added green pepper.

7) I added vinegar.

"Wah, so many. How do you know which is the change that makes it nice then?" my husband asked.

That's a good point. It could be all of the above, but who really cares? As long as it comes out good, I am following this method for good. :P

Still remember that I wanted to improve on sweet and sour dishes? Now, THIS is what I wanna achieve. :)

Ingredients

• 2 small beancurds (sliced into four each and sprinkled with some salt)
• 1/3 green bell pepper (cut into triangles)
• 2 chillis (cut into triangles)
• 1/2 cup oil

Sauce Mixture

• 2 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp chili sauce
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp water

Method

1) Deep fry the beancurd under high heat
2) Remove beancurd from pan
3) Drain oil from pan until 1 tbsp of oil is left
4) Stir fry green pepper and chilli for 30 seconds
5) Add sauce mixture and stir until it bubbles
6) Add the beancurd to the pan, stirring to coat
7) Remove immediately after the beancurds are coated with the sauce

Steamboat

Today, I am not cooking alone. Joining me to prepare a feast are my hub and my mother. :)

Yeah, we had steamboat today. It's easy to prepare (just do some marinading and put all the ingredients together), fun to cook together, and most importantly, it IS a satisfying meal... :)

Ingredients

• Soup base
• Chinese Lettuce
• Corncobs
• Tofu
• Golden Mushroom
• Button Mushrooms
• Hot Dog
• Fishballs
• Meatballs
• Minced Pork
• Pork Slices
• Chill and Light soy sauce for dips

Oh yes, and my good ol' induction cooker. ;)

Method

Just throw all the food in and add water to the pot as and when required

Ma Po Tofu (Spicy Bean Curd)

This is my hub's favourite dish. And my mother's too, I recently discovered. My hub has been asking me to cook this since last year, but I kept procrastinating. Perhaps, I thought I wouldn't do a good job if I didn't like the dish to begin with.

However, my recent visit to Lao Beijing changed my perception of how Mapo Tofu could taste like. I developed my liking for Mapo Tofu and decided to give it a shot this time.

The end product was good. It wasn't bland nor too spicy like those I have tasted before (other than Lao Beijing's one, of course). I will definitely cook this again soon. :)





















Ingredients

• 1 firm Tofu
• 1/2 cup Minced Pork
• 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
• 3 slices of ginger

• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 2 tbsp chilli paste (I used Lee Kum Kee)
• 1 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp water

Seasoning

• 1/2 cup of stock
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp cooking wine

Method
1) Heat oil in high heat for 10 seconds
2) Stir-fry garlic and ginger for 15 seconds
3) Add minced pork and stir-fry, dividing the meat if it lumps together
4) Add chilli paste (Doban Tjan) and continue to stir-fry
5) Add seasoning, followed by bean curd.
6) Simmer for 2-3 minutes
7) Thicken the gravy with flour and water

This is easy eh? ;P

Preserved Vegetables soup

I am not good at cooking soup. At least not to my hub. But I love soup and to be honest, I find most of the soup I cooked okay ley... :P My hub said my soup is all about the same, which I had to agree lah. So this time round, I had to use his favourite preserved vegetable soup as a 'carrot' for him to allow me to cook soup again. LOL. He not only agreed, but seemed to look forward to taste the soup.





















Ingredients

• 1 small packet of preserved vegetables
• 5 cups of water
• minced meat (enough to make into 5 medium-sized balls)

Mixture

• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp flour

Seasonings

• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar

Preparation
1) Marinade the minced meat in the mixture and leave it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes
2) Soak the preserved vegetables in water. Change the water after 30 minutes

Method
1) Boil water
2) Add preserved vegatables
3) After the preserved vegatables are slightly soften, add the minced pork balls
4) Add seasonings to taste
5) Serve

Kung Pao (Mock) Chicken

"Is this sauce ready made?'

This question from my hub lifted me up and away from my seat. I didn't know it tastes as good as those ready-made sauces off the shelf, especially when this is just an experiement. Still, I have to agree that this is my most successful attempt in cooking this dish. ;)




















Ingredients

• Mock Chicken
• Cashew Nuts
• 2 tbsp oil
• A few slices of ginger
• 3 Dried chilli (cut into 2 inches)
• 1 tsp flour
• 3 tbsp water

Mixture

• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp sweet soy sauce
• 1/4 cup of stock
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp sugar

Method

1) Roast Mock chicken in Healsio for 12 minutes or until crispy.
2) Heat oil in high heat
3) Fry Garlic 15 seconds
4) Turn to medium high heat and fry dried chillis
5) Stir mixture over medium heat until it bubbles
6) Coat mock chicken in mixutre
7) Thicken gravy with flour and water
8) Turn off the fire, add mix with cashew nuts
9) Serve

Tau Pok in Black Soy Sauce

This went very well with the congee (beh) we had. :) I like this dish because it is simple to prepare and cook. I just have to dump everything in and let it simmer. Not much monitoring is required... ;)




















Ingredients
12 Tau Poks (It was a mistake [shhh...] that I threw all 12 in, but we actually finished up all!)
5 pieces Mock Chicken
A few large slices of ginger
3 cups of water

Seasonings
1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp Sugar
Salt to taste (optional. I don't add that as I try to keep my meals as healthy as possible. Sometimes at the expense of taste. :P)

Method
1) Boil 3 cups of water in a claypot
2) Add ginger and mock chicken
3) Add seasonings
4) Add tau pok
5) Simmer

I love the succulent taste of the mock chicken. The feeling of biting onto the juicy tau pok as the hot gravy oozed out, is simply shiok. kekeke

French Beans with Beancurd

This is one of the dish I would choose in those Vegatable Rice Stalls. So I thought it would be good if I can cook it too.



















Ingredients
2 small beancurds (cut into 8 portions per piece)
A handful of French Beans (sorry, do not know what's the weight)
2 tsp garlic
Cooking Oil

Seasonings
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
1/4 small bowl of stock

Method
1) Blanch french beans for 3-5 minutes
2) Heat oil in medium high heat
3) Pan Fry the beancurd till they changed yellow and remove from wok.
4) Stir-fry Garlic in oil in medium low heat
5) Add French Beans
6) Stir-fry with seasonings
7) Mix Beancud with French Beans under heat for 30 seconds
7) Serve

Fried Beancurd

Frying Beancurd is actually nothing difficult to accomplish... until you are not frying it in a non-stick pan. However, I came to realise that coating it with flour not only helps to reduce (not eliminate) the 'stickiness' in a normal steel wok, it also enhances the taste by making the beancurd crispier. Definitely worth a try.

Ingredients

• 2 beancurds cut into four cubes each
• 5 tbsp corn flour
• Cooking oil

Seasonings

• Salt

Method

1) Heat oil in high heat
2) Coat the beancurds lightly with corn flour
3) Dip the beancurds into the heated oil
4) Remove from wok
5) Sprinkle lightly with salt while it is still hot
6) Serve