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

Chye Sim

I got this recipe from a blog. I find the taste quite okay, but my hub begged to differ. And this means that I will only post the photo for my records... At least it looks pretty decent on photo, yes? :)

Sweet and Sour Chicken Strips

I gave up frying with my wok. It always stick. I wanted to buy a fryer, but I don't want to waste the money nor do I want my kitchen top to be cluttered with yet another electrical appliance.

I have decided to fry food in my small pot. Surprisingly and much to my delight, it works! No sticking of food to the wok. I get to cover the pot and prevent oil from splattering, without having to use a big cover (for the wok). This means less washing for my hub and less effort in mopping the floor for me. :)

Anyways, I was trying to 'replicate' the delicious Sweet and Sour Chicken balls we had at the kopitiam tze char. I didn't manage to get the exact taste but the product was just as tasty, especially when the chicken strips are still piping hot from the pot. :) Eh? Hot. Pot. It rhymes. Heh...



Ingredients

• Chicken Fillet (4 strips)
• Pineapple (5 cut pieces)

Seasonings

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

Marinades

• 1 tbsp Oyster sauce
• 1 tsp Light soy sauce
• Dash of Pepper
• 1 egg
• Flour

Method

1) Marinade the chicken with light soy sauce, oyster sauce and pepper
2) Coat with chicken strips with Egg and flour
3) Fry the chicken strips till golden brown
4) Combine the seasonings and pineapple and heat it over moderately low heat.
5) Mix the sweet and sour sauce with the chicken strip

My hub was pretty pleased with all the dishes I have cooked today. It really makes my day! :D

Pork Chop

Crispy Mock Meat

Braised Pork with Onions

Ingredients

• Loin Pork
• 1 Large Onion
• 5 button mushrooms
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 2 cups water

Mixture

• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp wine
• Salt to taste

Seasonings

• 1 tsp sesame oil
• Dash of pepper

Method

1. Heat 2 tbsp of oil
2. Fry ginger and garlic till fragrant
3. Stir in onion
4. Add and cook pork till it changes colour
5. Add mixture and stir well
6. Transfer the dish to the thermal pot and heat for 15 minutes
7. Add seasonings before serving

Sambal Kang Kong (Ma Lai Feng Guang)

I cook this with a ready-made-sauce. Just heat the sauce and throw in the kang kong and you have a really delicious dish to go along with steamy white rice... :)



Hey, don't go yet. Hee! Although this is not home-cooked-food from scratch, but it is not as unhealthy as other ready-made sauces.

Ta-da! Allow me to introduce, Ah Hai's Shrimp Sauce! No preservatives, No colourings and no MSG! It comes with that Healthy Pyramid sign too!

Stir Fry Lettuce

Sweet and Sour Mock Chicken

Ok... I am repeating my recipes. Just want to keep it as a record for looking different. :)

Crispy Mock Meat

Ingredients

• Mock Meat

Method

• Just leave the Mock Meat in Healsio to roast for 20 minutes and you've got yourself a crispy treat! Goes very well with congee (beh) :)

Stir-Fry Cabbage

Ingredients

• Ginger
• Cabbage
• 1/2 a carrot
• 1 tbsp cooking oil

Seasonings

• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 cup of stock (from the soaking of mushroom)
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt to taste

Method

1) Stir fry ginger in high heat
2) Cook carrot over moderate heat
3) Add cabbage after carrot is moderately soft
4) Add oyster sauce
5) Pour stock in and the remaining seasonings
6) Simmer

Sushi

Cook the rice, wrap it in the seaweed together with other ingredients and you've got yourself a sushi. Piece of cake.

That, was how I see sushi making before this evening. And you know what? I will never underestimate the work behind a piece of sushi again. :P

My mom used to say 'Kuar lin gorng ley jia kuay kean'. It means 'it's not as easy as what you think'. Sushi making is sheer hard work. I took a total of 2 hours in what I would think would be a 20-minute affair to prepare the dinner tonight.

Cook the rice and that's it? No way! You gotta mix it with rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt when it is COLD. Hmm... excuse me, how can I wait for it to cool when I need to whip up a meal within 45 minutes after I reach home from work? >_<

Just fill the beancurd with rice and that's an inari? Noo... You gotta boil dashi soup stock, sugar and dark soy sauce and simmer the beancurds in it for 15 minutes.

I wouldn't say that the dinner preparation is complete failure. Afterall,we managed to finish most of the sushi. In fact, I find that the Chawanmushi turned out pretty well! I would give a 80% resemblance to that of sakae's. :) Was so proud of myself on this. Hee!

However, there are still plenty room of improvement for the sushi, especially to my hub, who kept comparing it with the standard of sakae sushi. >_<'''. With the exception of chawanmushi, I will put up only photos to reward my efforts and for record purposes.

Tuna Roll



Crab Stick Sushi



Tamago Sushi



Inari

I couldn't find the beancurd skin used for Inari. So I used Tau Pok instead. This is so hilarious! LOL. But, but, it turned out quite nice too. No kidding. I had 3 Inaris in a row.

My hub's wasabi



Chawanmushi

Look! So smooooth.

Ingredients

• 250 ml cold dashi soup
• 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 mushroom (cut into strips)

Method

1) Blend dashi soup, light soy sauce, salt and eggs

2) Strain the mixture into two bowls

3) Add mushroom strips

4) Cover top of the bowl, leaving a small area exposed

5) Steam for 25-30 minutes in Healsio

Ok, I didn't cut it even and nice enough. But aw... just look at the soup residue. Always love that part when I have chawanmushi. Yums...



It will be quite a while before I make sushi again. But it will definitely be so much better than this round. Please say you have the confidence in me. heh! ;)

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

Stir Fried Snow Peas with Mock Meat

We get lazy at times. Especially we found out a trusted and easy way of doing things... :P

Does the following looks familiar to you? LOL!

Yeah... this is almost the same dish as the Stir Fried French Beans I cooked successfully a few weeks back. I merely substitute the French Beans for snow peas. :P

Ingredients

Method

Sweet and Sour (Mock) Chicken

My hubby wanted me to cook exactly the same dishes as last week because he loved every single dish. Aw... so sweet of him. ;)

I never had such a request from him before, so I agreed to go along with his suggestion. On second thoughts, I thought I would change one dish. For variety's sake and so that I can do a blog. :P

Instead of the Gong Bao Ji Ding, I decided to use the tomato (from last week) to do a sweet and sour dish instead. Wala, it turned out not bad! My hub likes it and commented that it is quite an improvement from my last sweet and sour dish. Still, I feel that I can be better. :P



















Ingredients

• Mock Chicken
• 1 Chilli (cut into triangles)
• 1/2 Tomato (sliced)
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp garlic

Sauce Mixture

• 3 tbsp tomato sauce
• 2 tbsp chilli sauce
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 3/4 cup water

Method

1) Roast the Mock Chicken in Healsio (as always) for 15 minutes
2) Heat Oil and stir fry garlic and chilli slices until fragrant
3) Add Sauce mixture and simmer till it bubbles
4) Pour in the roasted mock chicken so that it will absorb the sweetness of the sauce.
5) Add tomato slices about 10 seconds before turning the fire off and serve.

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

Chye Sim with Carrots

I cooked this dish with the goal of achieving something similar to the taste of the sauteed mini vege I had at Xiao Xuan Feng.

I thought I am nearly there, but my hub wasn't too impressed. His grouse is as usual. Too watery. He is one who likes his vegetables more 'glue-y', the type whereby it's thicken with flour and water. But I am so tired of having vegetables cooked in this style. There had to be times I get my way, no? :P



















Ingredients

• 1 packet of Chye Sim
• 10 (agar-agar) sliced carrots
• 1 tbsp minced garlic

Seasonings

• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp cooking wine
• 1 tsp chicken concetentrated stock*
• 2 cups soya bean stock

*this is something out of the norm. I speculated this is what was included in the sauteed mini vege I had at Xiao Xuan Feng, so thought of giving it a try. The gravy turned out to be good!

Method
1) Heat oil in high heat for 10 seconds
2) Add garilc (careful of splattering! The oil splattered onto my leg. *sniff)
3) Add the carrot and stem of the chye sim and stir till moderately soft
4) Stir-fry the leaves portion of the chye sim
5) Add the seasonings
6) Do not overcook. Serve

Pork in Gravy

I cooked this dish with reference to aromacookery, a website I chanced upon quite some time back, when I was looking for recipes. I was a fan of this website and the blogger. It's a pity that she has stopped blogging. I guess she must has really been very busy.

In any case, I didn't follow closely the recipe that she has placed on her website. The following is just my own variation.

My hub likes this dish and kept pinching food from this dish when I was still cooking. Heh! I find it ok too, but I don't really like the hoisin sauce taste.

The photo below is not well taken. I shouldn't have kept so close to the food while taking the shoot. The real thing looks much better.



















Ingredients

• 1 Packet of Pork Loin
• 2 Onions
• 1 tbsp garlic
• 1 chilli (shredded)

Seasonings

3/4 cup of stock/water
1 tbsp Hoisin Sauce

1 tbsp flour
3 tbsp water

Mixture

1 tbsp Oyster sauce
2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tsp Pepper
1/2 tbsp Cooking Wine
1 tsp Sesame Oil

Method

1) Marinate meat in Mixture and keep in fridge for at least 30 minutes
2) Heat oil in high heat
3) Stir-fry garlic and onion in medium high heat*
4) Stir-fry pork until it changes colour
5) Add seasonings and chilli simmer for 1 minute
6) Thicken with flour and water
7) Serve

Garlic fried in high heat makes the dish taste better because it brings out the fragrance, but Caution! my hand was scalded by splattering garlics. This is the photo taken after 2 days. The mark is still there. *sobs* :(

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

Lemon Chicken

I chanced upon a Philsbury cook book (with recipes filed in a folder) when my hub and I were at the Funan IT mall. I spent so much time browsing the cook book that my hub came over.

"Can I buy this cookbook?" I whispered. "But it's quite expensive - $20"
He immediately said, "of course! $20 is not expensive for such a thick cookbook"

My hub is always very generous with his wallet when it comes to buying things related to my cooking. He would buy almost anything (Oh wells, except for baking products) that I asked for and I always feel very much loved each time he does that. :)

When I went home to scan through the folder, I realised that the recipes were mostly western ones. I felt very upset that I have wasted my hub's money on the book as I doubt I will use it often for cooking dinner.

Nevertheless, I decided to try one of the recipes out so that I would have deemed to use the cookbook, somehow. Lemon chicken seems good so I decided to try that out.




















Although we finished up all the lemon chicken on the plate, I wouldn't consider the cooking a successful attempt. My hub doesn't find it crispy enough. >_<>