The Adventures of Giggle!!!

Quick and Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

2011-10-31T21:42:00.000-07:00

I didn't have to cook for a couple days as we have too many leftovers to clear out. Now its time to clear some raw ingredients out of the fridge. Quick and Easy Chicken Noodle Soup - clear out my celery, onion, carrot and potatoes and chicken breast. Marinate the chicken breast with some zesty herbs, pan fry then, shred and set aside. In a different pot, boil water, dump chopped celery, onion, carrots and potato, add some ground pepper, cook for 30mins or until carrots are tender, add shredded chicken, cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, add cooked spiral pasta, salt and chicken bouillon to taste. DONE!!! 这真是个消灭掉一堆中国芹菜的好方法啊！又快又容易，昨天办公室的pot luck, 红毛人很喜欢。

Nasi Kunyit with Chicken Curry

2011-10-01T17:35:00.000-07:00

I will just post the recipe for nasi kunyit (Turmeric Rice), the chicken curry is the same I made for my Nasi Lemak. Do you notice that my rice is not glutinous rice? Yes, I use sushi rice instead, because I am having indigestion problem with glutinous rice recently. It tasted not bad at all, but the texture is a bit different. May be it is healthier?

Here is the recipe for my turmeric rice (sushi rice version).

A)
1. 2 cup (approx. 300g) sushi rice - wash and rinse
2. 100g fresh turmeric
3. 3 shallot
4. Couple while peppercorns
4. water just enough to cover the rice

B)
1. 2~3 tbsp thick coconut milk
2. 80~100 ml water
2. 1/4 tsp salt
3. 1/2 tsp white peppercorn
4. 4~5 pandan leaves - knotted

Steps :
1. Pound the fresh turmeric, shallot and white peppercorn together, squeeze the juice, repeat few time with adding some water. Discharge the pulp.
2. Soak the rice with turmeric juice, add some water just enough to cover the rice.
3. Soak the rice for 60 mins.
4. Drain the rice, wash and rinse once.
5. Add in coconut milk, salt, white peppercorn, some water, pandan knotted.
6. Steam over high heat for 20~30 minutes, stir once for evenly cooked.

芋头糕 (Steamed taro cake) Or Kuih

2011-09-15T09:59:00.000-07:00

I have been craving for this kuih for long time. The one sold at Dim Sum restaurant here is different, I can't see any taro bites in it. So, I decided to make this for my friend's birthday and uploaded the photos to my FB, my friends asked for recipe. Here you go! Please note that my version has a lot of taro cubes it in, it makes the cake firmer, if you reduce the amount of the taro, you may have to reduce the amount of the salt too. Best to be eaten with some sweet chili sauce! Enjoy.

芋头糕当然要有瞒瞒的芋头块才叫芋头嘛！如果想减少芋头的份量，记得也要调整盐的用量哦！

Recipe & Steps :

Ingredient A
1. 2tbsp oil in a heated non-stick pot
2. 2 tbsp crispy onion (洋葱酥）
3. 700g taro (cubed)
4. 1 1/2 tsp 5 spices powder
5. 1/2 tsp white pepper powder

Ingredient B - mix the following ingredient in a big mixing bowl, stir to mix well and smooth.
1. 1.5 Liter water
2. 300g rice flour (水磨粘米粉）
3. 75g corn starch
4. 2 1/4 tsp salt
5. 1/3 tsp white pepper powder

Ingredient C - garnishing/topping - can adjust to your personal preference

1. 40~45g dried shrimp (stir fried with little oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat for 3~4 minutes)
2. 1/3 cup chopped green onion
3. 1 red chili - seeded and chopped.
4. 1/3 cup crispy onion

Steps :

1. Stir fry ingredient A in a non-stick pot until the seasoning is well combined. Turn to medium heat.
2. Pour in Ingredient B, cook and stir constantly until thicken.
3. Pour everything into a round pan (10" diameter, 2" depth)
4. Steam on high heat for 45~50 minutes.
5. Remove from steamer and let it cool for little while before topping your garnishing ingredients.
6. Serve with some sweet chili sauce.

Simple Grilled Lobster Tails

2011-09-05T21:02:00.001-07:00

Made this simple yet delicious dish over the long weekend. Yummy! The lobster flesh itself already tasty, you don't need to put too much seasoning on it. Here is my simple recipe.

Drizzling sauce (for 2~3 tails) :
1. Lime Juice (squeezed from 1 lime)
2. 3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
3. 2 red chili padi (chopped)

Seasoning :
1. Sea salt
2. Parsley flakes
3. Black pepper

Steps :

1. Preheat grill in high heat
2. Cut the lobster tails in half (length-wise, leave the end stay connected)
3. Drizzle the tails (both sides) with the lime sauce, sprinkle with some sea salt, parsley flakes and black pepper before grilling.
4. Oil the grate, places the tails flesh side down on the grill, turn to medium heat, with cover down, grill for 4~5 minutes each side.
5. Sprinkle with some lime juice (optional) when serve.

Homemade Assam Laksa

2011-08-30T21:33:00.000-07:00

This is special dedicated to my high school schoolmate whom came to visit me in AZ, I am really happy she kept her promise. She told me she would like to learn how to make assam laksa without the overwhelming “her kor” – prawn paste flavor, which is exactly the same as my preference. So, I decided to take this opportunity to record my making of assam laksa properly, as you may know, all the while, my cooking is always based on “agak-agak” – estimation. Gigi, 你的面子够大了吧？老娘为你从出江湖！ :-p

My version of assam laksa soup is clearer, taste more close to Malay version with a lot of chunky fish fleshes (again, my preference), if you like the typical Penang Chinese version of assam laksa, just add another 2~3 tbsp of her kor (prawn paste). I usually cook the soap one night ahead before serving.

Ingredient and steps for the soup:

4 lbs Indian Mackerel/Ikan Kembong
3.5~4 liter water
1 bunch kesom leaves (Vietnamese mint)
2 stalks lemon grass – smashed
5~7 tamarind skin
1 – 2” cube salted markerel fish – slightly roasted and mashed. (yes, salted fish, my secret recipe :-p).
Tamarind Juice – 1 pingpong ball size of tamarind paste mixed with 400~500ml of water, rub the paste until the flesh dissolve in the water.

Spices – grind/blend the following ingredients

400~450g shallot
18~20 dried chili (soaked)
5~6 fresh red chili (I couldn’t get this from the store, substituted it with 4 chili padi, thats why my soap is not that red in color)
1 large sweet onion (chop to cubes before grinding)
1 – 1” cube belacan (slightly roasted)

Seasoning

Salt to taste
Adjust your preference taste with the following solutions :
- spiciness – add more chili padi
- sourness – add more tamarind skin or tamarind juice
- sweetness – add more onion or prawn paste (if you like it)

Steps :

Bring the water to boil, add in fishes, cook for about 10~12 minutes.
Take out the cooked fishes to a big bowl and let it cool.
Add in kesom leaves, tamarind skin, lemon grass, salted fish and ground spices to the fish stock, bring it to boil again, turn to low heat.
When the fishes are cool, peel the fleshes and discharge the bones. Mash the fleshes with fork into chunky or tiny pieces.
Before adding the fish fleshes back into the stock, pick up the kesom leaves from stock first (you don’t want all the fish fleshes stick on the leaves later).
Add in the fish fleshes, tamarind juice (reserve some for later adjustment) bring to boil and turn to low heat, continue to cook for at least 3 hour before serving. Or you can let it sit overnight (with the heat off).

Season with salt. Adjust the taste to your personal liking with the following solutions :

spiciness – add more chili padi
sourness – add more tamarind juice
sweetness – add more ground onion or prawn paste (if you like it)

薄荷奶虾米粉 (Mint Prawn with rice noodle)

2011-07-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

Just wanna post something made from instant paste, fast and easy for a working mom. Wish I have time to post some new recipes soon....(I am day dreaming, my baby just stared to crawl, I can't even keep my eyes out of her...lol)
太久没po食谱了，朋友送来两包薄荷虾酱料，加水，淡奶，虾一起煮，上桌的时候加些薄荷，烫了一些米粉来拌多余的汤汁，又是美味可口的一餐了。对要上班，又要照顾宝宝的我来说，越简单，越快越好。希望很快又可以写食谱了吧。。（在幻想中) . 宝宝已经开始会爬了，要写食谱也不知道要等到什么时候了。。。

She is 6 month old..

2011-05-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

Time flies, my baby is 6 month old. Being a working mom, I wish I could have 48 hours a day. LOL! I still cook, have tried couple new recipes, but really have no time to take pictures and and record the recipes. I got to eat healthy and rest more whenever I can because I am still breastfeeding. My life is full of surprises everyday when watching how she is changing so fast. Here are some pictures to share with you guys. :-)

好快哦。。转眼北鼻已经六个月了，时间真的不够用，上班，照顾小孩，准备一日三餐，喂母奶真的很耗时。。真希望一天有48小时给我用，哈哈哈。。！虽然有尝试了几道新食谱，真的没时间拍照整理记录了，先分享宝宝这几个月的照片吧。:-)

大家好。。。北鼻我已经六个月了哦。。来看看我妈咪帮我拍的照片吧。。。

我的手开始很爱抓东西了。。

妈咪带我去慈济浴佛

妈咪说我是吱喳婆。。

kiss kiss

这是干妈帮我做的造型，好怕她们不知道在我头上搞什么。。

我这个POSE, sexy 吧？

4~5month

妈咪说这样比较可爱。。

我和爹地

姑姑买给我的衣服

2~3 month

妈咪帮我做造型，热死我了。。

我也有性感的长腿哦。。。

妈咪说这张是她的最爱。。

这是我开始会笑的时候。。

妈咪好奇怪。。我睡觉也要拍。。

My Baby...满月咯...

2010-12-23T14:50:00.000-08:00

My life is buried with a lot of diapers and feeding!! LOL!! Wish everyone Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
很快的...日子就在一堆尿片和喂奶中渡过....

Hello everyone...

its me again...

Merry Christmas!!!!

I like pacifier...

...and sleep!!! zzzzz.....

My Baby

2010-12-05T03:40:00.000-08:00

Please welcome my baby....
(No recipe post for a while, kitchen temporary run by mother in law and a friend from Tzi Chi. 厨房暂时由人代劳中...)

New born...

New born

6th day

7th day..

7th day..dreaming in a milk battle

7th day...play with daddy...

Confinement Food - Varity Nutrition Soup for Wk#1, 月子餐 - 第一周-各类补汤

2010-11-12T06:44:00.000-08:00

Forgive me for the inconsistency of my photo quality recently. The time is approaching - it is just around the corner - trying to post as many things as I can. But it doesn't work so well for a clumsy pregnant woman.

After getting advices from elderly women and reading some articles about confinement food, I have come up with a few choices of nutritional soup for my first week's confinement. It is not recommended to consume meals cooked with alcohol (even wine) and sesame oil in the first week post-partum because it will lead to unfavorably high vaginal blood discharge (恶露). The meals for the first week should be balanced, neutral and nourishing.

Here I came up with 3 types of nutritional soup first. I will update more whenever I have chance. It has been really exhausting recently, so I am trying to catch some rest. I would appreciate if some of you could share some tips with me about your confinement experience too.

大肚婆临盆在即, 动作迟钝, 没花什么心思拍照片了, 有拍到交货就好了啦! 照片品质不好, 请大家多多体谅哦...又要采购, 又要试煮, 又要记录食谱, 又要更新网志, 又要在生产之前赶工作进度....累啊!!!

今天先来几道温和的补汤, 还有一些要等以后有机会再整理了...目前争取时间休息最重要.

听了一些过来人的意见和参考了许多医疗书籍, 结合了老人家的传统和医学上的资料, 我整理了几道产后第一周所要喝的补汤. 根据书上说的, 产后第一周的重点在於排除恶露, 除了服用生化汤, 饮食方面以均衡清单为主, 由于酒精会使血管广张促进血液循环, 而使出血更多, 所以饮食不加酒禁麻油为宜, 中药补汤也需要等到第二或第三周开始. 老人家说的, 第一周要"温补". 以下几款补汤其实也适合在平时褒来補一補, 做法简单, 是属于比较温和的補汤, 不会燥热. 还有其它补汤等我有机会在UPDATE吧, 大肚婆超忙的!!!

月子餐尽量少盐, 要不然水肿消不掉哦! 自己也是在学习, 也恳请有坐月经验的读者们多多留言分享, 感激不尽哦!!!

Soup # 1. - Mushroom & black fungus chicken soup - 香菇木耳鸡汤

1. 1/2 free range chicken chunks (approx. 600g), 半只土鸡(切大块) - pre-washed with boiled water, 川烫备用
2. 4~5 pre-soaked mushrooms - cut to chunks
3. 1" of fresh ginger chunk (can use bigger chunk if you like it)
4. 4~5 pre-soaked black fungus
5. 1 fresh oyster mushroom (sliced) - optional, can omit if it is not available.
6. Some wolfberries
7. 1000~1200ml water.
8. Salt to taste

Steps :

1. Boil the water, add in chicken and mushroom.
2. Bring boil again, simmer over low heat for approx. 40~60 minutes.
3. Add in black fungus, oyster mushroom slices, wolfberries.
4. Bring to boil again, simmer another 20 minutes.
5. Remove from heat, season with salt.

Soup# 2 : Black Bean Pork Rib Soup (黑豆排骨汤)

1. 400g Pork ribs (can substitute with pork knuckles chunks), pre-washed with boiled water, 川烫备用.
2. 2/3~1 cup black beans (wash and sauteed over medium heat (without oil/grease) until the bean's skin begin to crack), remove from heat and set aside.
3. 1" ginger chunk
4. 1200 ml water.
5. Salt to taste.

Steps :
1. Boil the water, add in ingredients # 1~3.
2. Bring to boil again, simmer over low heat for 80~90 minutes.
3. Salt to taste.

Soup# 3 : Chicken in Brown Sweet Rice Soup - 糯糙米汤炖土鸡
(recipe from Sister Lisa)

1. 1 cup (use rice cup) of brown sweet rice
2. 1400~1500 ml water.
3. 1/2 free range chicken chunks (approx. 600g) (1/2 只土鸡块), 川烫备用.
4. 6~8 Black dates/red dates 黑枣/红枣 (optional)
5. Salt to taste (can be omitted)

Steps :
1. Cook the sweet rice until it is the consistency of congee.
2. Separate the rice from the liquid. (I keep some rice)
3. Add in chicken chunks and dates
4. Bring to boil, simmer over low heat for 45~60 minutes.

Confinement Food (月子餐) : Pork Knuckles in Ginger and Vinegar 猪脚姜醋

2010-10-24T13:29:00.001-07:00

Curious about whether I am in confinement period??? Not yet, but pretty soon! :-). This is why I said I couldn't move fast in my prior post. I think some of you may have already guessed I am pregnant. :-p. After the moving and un-packing, we are now busy with baby stuff shopping and buying my confinement food ingredients. One of my tasks before labor is to cook excessive food that is freezable for my honey - Tom. That way he doesn't have to eat too much of the high sodium frozen foods that are usually sold at supermarkets here.

I think I have got most of the confinement recipes ingredient stocked up in my pantry, but as most of them are not the same as what are available in Malaysia, I am going through some "rehearsals" on some of the common confinement meals in order to get the right amount to make it taste like what I usually cook. I am so lucky that I have some friends here who are volunteering to help me through out this critical post-natal period. I think it is also better for them to know ahead what kind food I can handle and write down proper recipes for them to follow.

Pork Knuckles in Ginger and Vinegar is one of the Chinese traditional confinement foods that help to increase milk supply for breastfeeding moms. I got different types of vinegars at Lee Lee. Since the one I used in Malaysia was special made to cook this, I didn't have to mix different types of vinegar to make up the right taste. The ratio of mixing the sweet and sour vinegars depends on personal taste, and you can adjust the ratio according to your liking. Recommended ratio is 60~70% sweetened vinegar, 30~40% black vinegar.

我在坐月子中吗???目前还不是, 不过也快了!!我想一些人已经猜到为什么我在之前的搬家文章里面谈到为什么我不能搬太快了吧?我觉得自己在2010年完成了很多事情咧..拖了两年的婚礼, 搬家, 生小孩...感觉到这一年过得特别快.

搬完家之后就是在忙BABY的必需品和月子餐材料的的采购, 还蛮多东西要买的咧. 列单中应该买的都已经七七八八了. 家里储藏室里的角落也堆满了月子餐所需要的材料, 之前也有从PENANG带一些中药回来. ARIZONA的华人不像CALIFORNIA那么多, 这里没有月子中心, 我听说还有人特别从CALIFORNIA聘请坐月婆过来, 费用不少哦...大大超出我们的预算了...很幸运的我在这边有一些肝胆相照的朋友, 义务帮我煮月子餐, 真的让我很感动. 因为材料的出产地不同, 我想我需要事先"彩排"一下, 写好材料的用量和做法, 让我的朋友跟着食谱来做, 这样她们就比较了解我可接受的口味, 那就比较节省时间了.

首先出场的这一道是猪脚姜醋, 很普遍的一道马来西亚华人的月子菜. 据说可以促进乳汁分泌, 对想喂母奶的妈妈们很有帮助哦. 以前在PENANG可以买到特制的乌醋, 酸度和甜度刚好. Lee Lee 这边卖的种类看得我眼花缭乱, 花了一番之间研究, 最后选了以下3种. 用量的比例可依照各人的口味调整, 建议比例是 60~70% 甜醋, 30~40% 乌醋/黑米醋.

Recipes & Steps :

1. 1 pork knuckle (have the butcher cut to desired size of chunks) - pre-washed with boiled water, 用滚水川烫备用.
2. 1 bottle (590ml) sweetened vinegar (添丁甜醋)
3. 280~300 ml black vinegar (Koon Chun -冠珍 brand or Kong Yen-工研 brand) - I prefer Kong Yen brand as it tastes better and much more smooth (less harsh) sourness. 我比较喜欢工研醋, 感觉酸度没有那么呛, 比较香和顺口.

4. 2~3 tbsp black sesame oil
5. 2 chunks ginger (approx. 3 inches - will add more during confinement period, add 2 to 3 chunks more. 目前不加太多, 会上火气, 真正做月子的时候要加多一两块)
6. Salt to taste (not recommended during confinement period - 普通日子可加盐调味, 做月子的时候可以不加就不加)

7. Some black beans - 黑豆 (optional - can help on back/lower back bones soreness, 可以随意加点黑豆, 对减轻腰骨酸痛有帮助哦).

8. Hard boiled eggs - optional

**Use clay/ceramic/glass ware to cook or serve this meal, don't use metal ware. 用瓦磁或玻璃锅/碗烹调或盛载为家, 忌用金属.**

Steps :

1. Grease the slightly heated pot with sesame oil, fragrant the ginger chunks.
2. Pour in desired ratio of vinegars.
3. Add in pork knuckles, black beans (optional), hard boil eggs (optional)
4. Bring to boil, simmer for 40~60 minutes or until desired tenderness.
5. Salt to taste (can be omitted during confinement period)
6. Skim the excessive oil before serve.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

2010-10-18T23:29:00.000-07:00

On of my colleagues, Janet, made this cake for our front desk lady's birthday. I was curious how would it taste. Surprisingly, I fell in love immediately right after I had the first bite. The cake was moist but not greasy, not too sweet. I thought Tom may like it too. I am so thankful that Janet was willing to share the recipe (from Mary) with me. I seized a short break to make this cake yesterday, it was quick and easy. Tom loves it. Both of us finished it in just 2 days.
I may try to use banana in my next attempt, I think it will taste great too. I used glass bakeware this time, I think it would be dry at the edges if using steel bakeware. So, you may have to adjust the heat and time if you are using different bakeware.

昨天忙里偷闲做了这蛋糕, 真的好好吃吔....不油腻, 吃了不会有太大的罪恶感. 做法简单又快速, 以后会常做来吃. 下次做的时候会尝试用香蕉来代替 Zucchini ,我想味道也一样棒吧?

A)
1. 1/2 C butter
2. 1 3/4 C sugar (I used 1 1/2 C brown sugar)
3. 1 tsp vanilla
4. 2 1/2 C flour
5. 4 Tbsp cocoa powder
6. 1 tsp soda
7. 1/2 tsp baking powder
8. 1/2 tsp cinnamon
9. 1/2 C vegetable oil
10. 2 eggs
11. 1/2 C sour milk (add 1/2 tsp vinegar to milk to sour)
12. 1/2 tsp salt
13. 1/4 tsp cloves (I omitted it because I don't have it in my pantry, still taste good though)

B)
1. 2 C grated zuchinni

C) Topping (adjustable to your personal liking, the cake itself is not that sweet, I like it better with the sweetness from the chocolate chips topping)

1. 1/2 C ~ 2/3 C semi-sweeten chocolate chips
2. 1/2 C chopped walnuts
3. 1/2 tsp cinnamon (omitted because I'm not a big fan of cinnamon)
4. 1/2 brown sugar (omitted, I like it with more chocolate chips)

Steps :

1. Preheat the oven at 350F.
2. Mix all the ingredients A together.
3. Fold in grated zucchini.
4. Pour into un-greased 9 X 13 glass bakeware.
5. Mix together ingredients C, sprinkle over top of the cake batter.
6. Bake at preheated oven for 40~45 minutes. (Adjust accordingly if you use steel bakeware)

Happy baking! :-)

Moving... 搬家咯!!!

2010-10-08T20:50:00.000-07:00

Wonder what am I doing lately? No updates, no recipes??

Actually Tom and I are moving into another house. We are moving out our stuffs slowly every night after we got back from work, it takes us about a month to pack, move, un-pack, and clean the new house. We had our official move-in last Saturday, there are still a lot of mess I need to clean up. There is also one thing going on that makes me can't move fast, I will talk about it later. The whole moving process is really exhausted, I need more rest and slowly clean up the mess. The above picture was taken on the first day we moved in, just something simple that I thought to bring some good fortune to our new house..hehehe..

我们搬家咯.....!! 工作忙加上搬家的事情, 真的有点喘不过气来. 差不多一个多月, 我们都是下班过后, 匆忙吃过简单晚餐, 然后就开始打包, 每天晚上搬一点东西过新家, 然后又从新放好东西, 打扫, 然后又是打包...,还要购买一些东西, 真是累死人啊!!! 加上老娘我最近体力都不好(原因以后再说), 我家老爷(TOM)就更辛苦了...

上星期六是我们正式入宅, 总算告别了一个多月两边跑的疲惫, 现在只剩下车库和仓库的东西都还没搬, 还好那不是我管辖的地区, 都是TOM的工具和机器, 要是我去搬, 一定会把东西丢掉一半, 所以TOM就不让我碰咯...呵呵呵呵..

以上照片是我在入宅时简单的摆设仪式, 哈哈哈...不要笑我太八卦哦...., 也不是什么风水阵啦, 只是想摆一些象征吉祥的东西. 幸运竹代表步步高升, 两个黄梨(旺来), 八个大吉加上一大封的大吉大利红包, 万年青(也是象征幸运的一种植物吧??), 我够厉害了吧??

目前是一边休息, 一边还在清理一堆的物品....有空再聊哦!

Asam (Tammarind) Steamed Fish

2010-08-10T20:00:00.000-07:00

It is nice to have something sour and spicy during summer season, more appetizing!! I would use fresh caught fish head to make this dish if I was in Malaysia, it will be tastier.

夏日炎炎, 在这热死人不偿命的天气, 没辣没酸真的吞不下饭啊!!来一道亚篸酸辣蒸鱼吧!!开胃又下饭. 最好是用鱼头, 但是这边要找新鲜鱼头是不可能的啦...唯有用鱼肉代替咯..

Recipe and Steps :

1. 350g sea bass steak - rub the steak with some salt, set aside. (can be any kind of fish as long as it is fresh, ocean caught fish head is the best)

2. Paste - blend or grind 2 red chilies and 15~18 purple shallot together.

3. Mix paste #2 with the following seasoning :
i) 1 tbsp asam (tamarind) juice
ii) 1/8 tsp salt (or to taste)
iii) 1/3 tsp oyster sauce

4. Pour over the mixture #3 on top of the fish steak.

5. Top with 5~6 stalks of kesum (Vietnamese cilantro) leaf

6. Boil the water in a steaming pot, steam the fish over high heat for 12~15 minutes.

7. Dish out, discharge the kesum leaf and sprinkle few drops of lime juice (optional)

8. Serve warm.

Spicy Sizzling Prawn (香辣铁板虾)

2010-07-24T11:51:00.000-07:00

Tom is leaving for China on a business trip again. I am trying to clear out some food from the freezer to cook something nice for him before the trip. After that, I think I will just have all kinds of noodle soup for 3 weeks while he is away.

Here is what I got for his meal the second day before his departure. The spicy sauce is really good to mix in rice. Keep in mind that this dish is served on a heated hot plate, so don't overcook the prawns.

Recipe for Spicy Sizzling Prawn :

1. 300g large prawn - trimmed, de-veined, peeled (optional)

2. Chili mixture - pound or blend the following ingredients:-
i) 3~4 red chillies - unseeded
ii) 1~2 cloves garlic
iii) 4 purple shallot

3. 4~5 ginger slices
4. Some onion slices (approx. 40~50g)
5. 1 tsp oyster sauce
6. 1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
7. 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
8. 3~4 tbsp water
9. A dash of sugar (optional)
10. 1~2 tsp Lime Juice (can substitute with tamarind juice)
11. Salt to taste
12. Some green onion for garnishing

Steps :

1. Heat up a hot plate to be used for serving in separate stove.
2. In another heated and greased pan, fragrance the ginger and onion slices
3. Add Chili mixture and cook for 30~60 seconds (watch out the heat)
4. Add in prawn, oyster sauce, sweet chili sauce, dark soy sauce, stir for evenly cooked.
5. Add some water, a little at a time and stir to mix well.
6. Season with a dash of sugar, lime juice and salt to taste.
7. Dish out and serve on a a heated hot plate.

Luo Han Guo & Winter Melon Tea (罗汉果冬瓜茶)

2010-07-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

HOT!!! HOT!!! HOT!!!!!45C !!!

Tom was working outdoor to fix the house during the weekend. Even though he drank a lot of water, I still worry about the heat. I made this tea to prevent him from getting heatstroke. I believe Luo Han Guo beverage is not strange to any Malaysian. You can easily get it from any coffee shop, food court or road side stall.

Luo Han Guo (Siraitia grosvenorii) is commonly used for medicinal purposes and as a sweetener. It is normally available in dried form. It's nature is cool and not toxic. The fruit can act as a remedy for heat stroke, wet the lungs, remove phlegm, stop cough and aid defecation. - source from wikipedia.

It is actually very cheap if you make this heat relief beverage by yourself.

Recipe and steps :

1. 1 Luo Han Guo (place in a cheese cloth, tie up, and crushed)
2. 500g winter melon, cut thin to 2" length strips
3. 1500ML water
4. 1tbsp brown sugar
5. 20g~25g rock sugar (can skip or add as desired because Luo Han Guo itself is sweet)
6. 20g dried longan (can skip it or try not to use much as it will bring up " internal heat" of your body)

Steps :
1. Boil the water, add in Luo Han Guo (wrapped in cheese cloth) and winter melon.
2. Bring to boil again then simmer over low heat for 20~30 minutes.
3. Scoop out the winter melon strip to a bowl with a small strainer, immediately add in brown sugar over winter melon, lightly stir to well absorb, let it marinate and set aside.
4. Add in dried longan, and cook for another 10~15minutes.
5. Add in rock sugar, stir until it is melted.
6. Switch off the heat.
7. Scoop a spoonful winter melon in your glass and pour the tea. Can be served warm or cold (fridge it when it is cooled).

Take care and stay cool my friends!!

Vegetarian- Cold Cucumber and Tofu (凉拌小黄瓜豆腐)

2010-07-15T16:13:00.000-07:00

It is 45C outside, and it will continue for another 3 days....I think I will be half cooked if letting me standing outside for 10 minutes. Lucky I can work from home today. Tired about meaty meal? Lets try some simple low carb vegetarian dish. It is very simple and refreshing.

1. 1 Persian cucumber (aaprox. 160g) - unseeded, cut to strips, marinate with a dash of salt and few drop of lime juice, chilled.

2. 220g Soft/Silken Tofu - cut to aprox. 1/2" thick slices, cook in a pot of boiled water for 2~3 minutes. Drained and cooled.

3. 1/3" inch of ginger - chopped
4. 1/2 red chili - chopped

5. Seasoning sauce - mix the following ingredients in a small mixing bowl.
i) 1~2 tsp soy sauce
ii) 2 tsp drinking water
iii) 1/2 tsp sesame oil

6. Garnish with some cilantro (optional)

Assembly
1. Arrange Tofu slices and cucumber strips on a plate.
2. Mix ginger and chili into sauce # 5, then pour on top of the cucumber strips!
3. Garnish with some cilantro (optional)

ENJOY!!! and STAY COOL!... :-)

Spicy Roasted Pork Fried Rice

2010-07-12T20:17:00.000-07:00

It is very common in Malaysian Taoist worship to offer roasted pork to the God for special occasions. Whenever there is an special occasion, there is always lot of leftover roasted pork, chicken or duck for my family. I love to use the leftover pork to make some fried rice with chili padi, the spiciness of the added chili really gives the taste a "kick".

I bought some roasted pork from Lee Lee yesterday, mainly just want to make this dish that I have been craving for so much!

You don't need to put so much effort for the seasoning, the taste of the roasted pork itself is already good enough to make you drool.

Recipe for 2 servings :

1. 2 eggs mix with a spoon of fresh milk - beaten.
2. 50g purple shallot - chopped or sliced
3. 3~4 chopped chili padi (or as desired)
4. 1.5 bowl cooked rice - cooled completely or overnight rice
5. 130g roasted pork chunks
6. some green bean or long bean cubed (optional)
7. Some green onion for garnishing

Seasoning :-
1. 1~2 tsp soy sauce
2. 1tsp oyster sauce
3. A dash of white pepper powder

Steps :

1. Make scrambled egg and set aside.
2. Fragrance the shallot in a greased heated pan.
3. Add in chili and rice, soy sauce and oyster sauce. Stir to mix well.
4. Add in roasted pork chunks, long bean cubes and scrambled egg. Continue to fry for approx. 3~4 minutes. Sprinkle some water if necessary
4. Shake in a dash of white pepper powder, garnish with some green onion, dish out and serve warm.

Nasi Lemak (Rice with Coconut Milk) and Curry Chicken

2010-07-05T14:43:00.001-07:00

OK, back to cooking posts now.

It is July 4th weekend, we have 3 days off. There is no more reason for me to be lazy and find all kind of excuses not to cook.. :-p

It is not fair to Tom too, he has been eating too much of my lazy meals recently, fried rice, noodle soup, koey teow soup, beehoon soup, mee suah soup, fried noodle, pizza...etc. I feel a bit guilty...lol

We have a small pot luck party on this weekend, they ordered curry chicken from me, I decided to cook some additional ingredients for nasi lemak (coconut rice)just for ourselves and some of my friends I recently met here - they are from Singapore and Malaysia.

Recipe for Curry Chicken

Please keep in mind that this recipe is for 5lbs of chicken, adjust the amount of the ingredients if you cook for smaller portion.
It is impossible for me to find the fresh ground spices over here in Arizona. Hence I have invented my own version of curry chicken, I don't really like the typical Chinese curry chicken that with a lot of coconut milk gravy. I like curry Kapitan but it is too dry for me, so, I mix with a pack of curry rendang paste in order to produce more gravy to mix with the rice. Here's my version of curry chicken.

1. 1.5 pack (110g) of Hup Long curry Kapitan powder (see picture at the end of the post), it is available at local oriental supermarket (Lee Lee), I normally buy it from Penang (Carrefour or Tesco).

2. 1 pack (200G) of Mak Nyonya Rendang paste (see picture at the end of the post)
I brought this from Penang too, you can substitute it with any brand that is available at your local oriental supermarket)

3. 5lbs chicken, marinade with 0.5pack(35g) of curry Kapitan powder with 1/2tsp of salt for 1 hour.

4. 500g purple shallot - ground or blended
5. 4 stalks lemon grass - crushed
6. 8~10 curry leaf
7. 1000~1200ml water
8. 3~4 tbsp thick coconut milk
9. 2~3 tsp lime juice
10. 2pcs of lime peel (about 2" size) - optional
11. Salt to taste
12. 2~3 potato, cook until soft, peel and cut to chunks.

Note :
*** If I cook 1 whole chicken - approx. 3.5lbs, I will just reduce the Kapitan curry powder to 1 pack usage, reduce the water and coconut milk, I will keep the same amount of ground shallot.***

Steps :

1. Heat the pot, add in sufficient oil.
2. Quick fry marinated chicken
- Not to well cooked. About 2 minutes for a whole drum stick, less than 1 minute for the rest of cuts. I know this step may not sound healthy, but it prevents the meat from becoming mushy. And it makes the meat coat better with the curry gravy too. Split to few fries if you want to save the oil.

3. After quick frying the chicken, discharge excessive oil. Leave about 3tbsp of oil in the pot.
4. Fragrance ground shallot for about 5 minutes (adjust the heat if necessary), add in lemon grass, curry Kapitan powder (pre-mixed with some water), rendang paste and curry leaf.
5. Stir and fragrance for another 5~8 minutes.
6. Add some water water (I added 800ml first, then followed by small portion until it reached my desired texture, if you like thicker gravy, reduce the amount of water)
7. Bring to boil, add in pre-fried chicken, pre-cooked potato chunks. Simmer about about 10~15 minutes or until the chicken is tender.
8. Add in coconut milk, lime juice, salt to taste.
9. Bring to boil again then remove from heat immediately.
10. Add in lime peel - optional (I like it this way as it brings some tangy aroma to my curry chicken, the lime peel shouldn't be cooked, or it will bring bitter flavor to your curry gravy ).
11. Skim excessive oil if necessary.

Sambal chili- I made this 1 day ahead and forgot to record the volume of my ingredients. I believe a lot of Malaysians have their own homemade recipe. I made it simple just a combination of fresh ground chili, roasted prawn paste (belacan) and key lime juice.

Sambal Ikan Bilis (Sambal Anchovies and Peanut)- only mix the sauce with anchovies and peanut when serving to avoid soggy texture.

I make this for small portion only just for ourselves and my friends from Malaysia and Singapore)

1. 100g anchovies - rinsed then dried with paper towel, bake in the oven for 25~30 minutes at 300f. Juggling the baking sheet every 10 minutes to prevent burning. I avoid to deep fry it for health reasons (try to avoid too much frying now..lol)

2. 150 peanuts - saute without oil until golden brown (again, avoid frying it)

Sauce for ikan bilis

1. 1tbsp oil
2. 100g onion slices
3. 2tbsp homemade sambal chili
4. 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
5. 1 tsp oyster sauce
6. 70ml water
7. 1~2 tbsp tamarind juice
8. 1/2~1 tsp dark soy sauce
9. 1/2 tsp sugar
10. Some corn starch liquid for thickening
****no need to season with salt because anchovies are salty enough****

Steps:
1. Fragrance onion slices with oil.
2. Add in sambal chili, stir and switch to medium heat.
3. Add sweet chili sauce, oyster sauce and dark soy sauce.
4. Stir for few second then add in water, tamarind juice and sugar.
5. Bring to boil then thicken the sauce with corn starch liquid.
6. Remove from heat immediately.

Lastly...coconut rice, just grab all the ingredients below into a rice cooker then press start. :-)

1. 3 cup jasmine rice - washed and rinsed.
2. 2.75~3 cup water (depends on which brand of the rice you use)
3. 5~6 tbsp thick coconut milk
4. 1/4 tsp salt
5. 1 inch of fresh ginger chunk
6. 6~8 pandan leaf (screw pine leaf) - I like it more-- :-)

************************************************************************

Curry Kapitan powder - it is also available at oriental supermarket here - Lee Lee Supermarket.

Brought it back from Penang, I found it tastes better. The one sold at Lee Lee is the brand from Singapore.

Pre-Wedding Photo - UNESCO Heritage Site - Chew Jetty

2010-07-03T21:08:00.000-07:00

OK, this will be the last post about our pre-wedding photo. This group of photos were taken at one of the Penang UNESCO Heritage sites - Chew Jetty, on our way to this place, it was so kind that our photographer allowed us to stop by the Little India and Ah Kooi (in Hokkien, not sure what is the official name of this street)Street for few shots, here come with our last group of photos. Overall, we were quite satisfied with the services provided by PAISANO. We had fun! :-)

好了, 最后一篇婚纱照文章. 这一组其实是在第二天拍的, 我们只拍半天而已, 太阳公公太猛烈, 真的很晒啊!!这天的景点是姓周桥, 摄影师很贴心的让我们经过小印度和阿贵街(不知道是不是这么写)的时候拍了几张...虽然很累, 但是还蛮好玩的! 拍完过后, 我的好朋友来电关心, 我跟她说"化装很满意, 造型也很满意, 景点很漂亮, 摄影师很专业...如果拍的照片效果出来不好, 那不是别人的问题了, 那是自己长得有问题了, 应该自我检讨了" 哈哈哈哈哈, 知道自己不是长得像林志玲, 就不要要求有她那样的效果嘛..., 只要不"难看"已经是阿弥陀佛咯!!!!...其实拍照片的时候最重要放松心情, 出什么状况都好, 尽量调试自己..别让不愉快的事情坏了整体效果哦...

Chew Jetty - 这张是我们的最爱..嘻嘻..朋友说有点像 Amber Chia,虽然没有她那么漂亮, 但是也让我爽了一真子!呵呵呵..

Chew Jetty - 也喜欢这张, 可是阳光照在脸上有点不均匀, 所以就不选这张来放大了..

Chew Jetty - 喜欢渔船的色彩

Little India Florist

Little India - Indian Snack Stall

Ah Kooi Street - 刚好有位阿伯骑脚踏车经过...

Ah Kooi Street - 妈妈问为什么选破旧的的门..我们就是喜欢越旧,越破也好呀!!

Pre-Wedding Photo - UNESCO Heritage Site - Penang Peranakan Mansion

2010-06-30T18:36:00.000-07:00

This is supposed my last post about pre-wedding photo, but too much stuff to post about, so, I will make it the second last..LOL!!! Mainly I want to share stories and pictures about the style and scenery we like the most. After the shooting section, it took us more than 6 hours to select our favorite for printing. Honestly, we didn't expect we would have so many photos came out in good shape...lol!!!

Tom and I like antiques very much, so, we had a special request to have 2 gowns/styles taken at Peranakan Mansion, Paisano agreed to send their stylist outdoor, and we had to pay extra RM 50 to Peranakan management for additional 1 hour of photo shooting.

补充一下...拍照的第一天,造型师问我有什么特别喜欢的发行或化装吗? 我只对她说"我不要"大饼脸"!!知道自己大头嘛..所以要特别交代一下..哈哈哈哈..说真的, 那位造型师真的很细心和专业, 绝对不会因为人多而匆匆忙忙乱画一通!

..继续看照片!!

Tom和我都很喜欢怀旧的东西, 所以我们特别要求在PERANAKAN MANSION 拍2个造型, 还好PAISANO答应了, 还让造型师跟我们一起出外景..
先出场的是唐装造型, 造型师特别在我头上左右两边放不同的发饰, 当拍不同的角度的时候, 感觉好想两个造型那样...很不错的主意哦..

左边的是小白花头饰

右边的是大红花饰

其实这件不是我的首选, 可是拍照当天早上摄影师要求我换掉我本来选好的, 因为那件前面有开叉, 而我太高, 要摆POSE很容易走光....虽然很失望, 但是最后还是听取他的意见, 毕竟人家是有经验嘛...

接下来要登场的是......"我爱西瓜头"!!!哈哈哈哈...这是我喜欢的造型...就是把后面的头发盘高...复古造型..地点还是一样--PERANAKAN MANSION

PAISANO送我们一个桌上型水晶像筐, 我们选了这张, 现在放在TOM的办公室, 我要他出差到外国的时候也要带着哦...嘻嘻嘻嘻

这张是选给给TOM妈妈的....

TOM特别喜欢这怀旧像机,特别要摄影师照下来.....

其实当天还蛮多游客的....不过我们还是当着看不见...要"目中无人"才比较自然吧???

Pre-Wedding Photo - Garden and Beach

2010-06-24T22:57:00.000-07:00

Allow me to continue the story in Mandarin, it is much faster to complete a post when I am in hurry! Anyway, it is all about "rushing" "rushing" "rushing" to have our pre-wedding photo taken, there were some limitations for my gown selection as I am toooooooo tall, wearing American/European size. Fortunately, we still managed to choose 6 gowns (my package should be 7 gowns) for photo shooting. :-)

来来来..继续讲故事.

就如前一篇文章所说的, 我回去槟城拍照片的时间真的很赶, 坐了差不多20小时飞机(不包括转机哦), 星期天一抵达槟城,朋友就马上载我们到婚纱店试礼服, 星期一,二休息做准备两天, 星期三拍照, 星期四选照片, 星期五朋友相聚, 星期六就离开了....! 虽然我很喜欢一个自由摄影师的作品, 但是我最后还是选择提供一站式服务的婚纱店.

在试礼服的时候已经出状况了.....就是老娘我长得太高啦(178cm咧..), 我喜欢的全都不够长...那时候心理好沮丧哦... 我喜爱的旗袍竟然都是娇小玲珑的尺寸...叫我这长得好像"山东马"的人情何以堪啊,也有点后悔为什么不争取时间减肥...我的配套是7件礼服(婚纱+晚装/旗袍), 可是我选了几个小时, 才勉强选到5件而已...因为太累了, 不得不回家休息.

还好星期三拍照的时候, PAISANO经理还挖出几件比较适合我的礼服来试,结果就当场就另外选了3件,最满意的一共6件而已..为了不影响拍照的心情, 我就尽量不去想礼服上的遗憾了..

接下来需要调整的就是拍摄地点了. 我本身不喜欢室内照片, 觉得很单调. 毕竟不是专业模特儿, 摆POSE一定很僵硬, 我们年纪也不"小"了, 要装可爱, 我自己都觉得很恶心...还有还有..市内灯光一打, 我们这些不是天生丽质的人, 脸上的坑坑洞洞就无所遁行啦...难为摄影大哥还要花时间去修饰. 所以我们一早就跟摄影师说好, 不要粉色背景, 少市内, 多室外, 不要有卡通脸, 不装可爱.., 照片尽量自然一点, 不必做太多修饰...嘻嘻嘻嘻...要求还蛮多的...问题是, 通常外景都很花时间, 一天最多去两个地点拍摄而已, 而我要去至少4个地方...怎么办呢?? 我也老实跟他们说, 既然我已经花了飞机票回来, 我希望都能拍到我喜欢的地方,槟城有那么多有代表性的地方, 没有拍我会很遗憾的...最后摄影师就答应说...好吧..如果一天拍不完, 就拍两天咯...哈哈哈..当然啦, 我还是有补一点费用啦!

好, 今天故事讲到这里为止, 改天再继续八一八! 送上在SPICE GARDEN 和对面海边的照片,这是热门地点, 很多新人都选这里为主要拍摄地点. 虽然没有什么新鲜感, 但是这也是最能代表槟城的, 有山, 有水, 有海啊!!

这张是我们选给娘家的照片, 老人家嘛..还是喜欢穿白纱, 正正经经的照片...

很多新人都不会错过这景点..

我很喜欢这张照片, 虽然笑容有点僵了, 可是TOM不喜欢, 他说他看起来笨笨的..会吗???

拍照当天阳光谱照, 可怜TOM汗流浃背, 摄影助理一直帮他擦汗..., 我们海边景点拍的不多, 热得受不了, 有拍到就算啦...

离开前刚好有只船靠岸...摄影师赶快把它照下来...

Pre-Wedding Photo - Indoor

2010-06-13T21:32:00.000-07:00

Hello there! I got back from Penang a week ago, still getting over the jet lag. It is much better than the first 3 days I just got back.

OK, my friends are nagging me to update my blog ASAP. So, for a while I will post about my wedding ceremony and preparation. I was thinking to create a different blog to post about that, but it is just too much to do for me now. So, for those who are looking for more recipe updates, please be patient with me ya…… J

I am going to share some information about my wedding vendor, I hope it is helpful to some of you who are preparing for your wedding. I won’t publish the cost, to avoid any conflicts. But you can drop me a note if you really need it, and I can write to you in person for your reference/comparison.

Ok, lets start the journey, it was actually a marathon for me - took me 2 years to have everything done! Our civil marriage was done 2 years ago, pre-wedding photo taken 1.5 year later, tea ceremony another 0.5 year later… whew…., finally!!!!

OK..Ok… start with the pre-wedding photos first. We decided to have them taken in Penang because it is just way TOOoooooooo expensive here, plus, I really like to have it taken in my home country because it has so much scenery that is not too far apart.

I had my just married friend (special thanks to Esther) do some surveying about the bridal shops for me because it was pretty hard for me to do anything here from US. I had 2 finalists in my list, but one of them is not actually a bridal shop, they are a photographer major in magazines/commercial/model shooting, so they don’t have much choice of gowns and the package doesn’t include the stuff you need on your wedding day. Their package cost highest with just 1 or 2 gowns/style shooting. Honestly, I like his style very much, but I had to turn him down because it is really hard for me to arrange everything from long distance, what if I couldn’t find the right gown from his shop?

I had only one weeks time to show up in person to have the gown test, photo taken, and photo selection. I didn’t want a headache about what is missing at the last minute. So, I finally picked the one I feel more suitable for our style, they are :

Paisano Bridal Shop

217L Burma Road, (before Union Primary School)

10500 Georgetown, Penang.

Tel. # 604 – 22 66 887

I have a lot of stories to share, and there are going to be a few more posts. Here are some indoor photos. You will not see the pink, light blue or yellow background as we told them we prefer dark or purely white as our background for indoor photos.

Wedding in Penang

2010-05-11T23:05:00.000-07:00

I will be away for a while...

Why? I am busy getting ready for our Penang trip. Tom, Cici and my parents in law will be there too, so I am superbly busy arranging everything. It is actually for our wedding ceremony. Tom and I were married in US 2 years ago, but never got a chance to have the tea ceremony and wedding reception in Penang. Oh well... long story...there were a lot of issues going on...my VISA issue, green card issue, then work issues...and finally...got the date set!

I can't wait to go back to Penang and eat all the food I have been long craving for!! I already got a list full of the food that I am going to eat.. LOL!! Too bad is, I may not be able to eat all of them due to the length of the trip and also being occupied by the wedding preparation.

I have promised Nyonya to post my pre-wedding photo (taken on my last trip in Penang on Nov 2009), so, here is one of them. I have not received the actual file for the photos yet, so, the quality may not seemed so good as I cut it from the album review file sent by the bridal shop. I promise I will post more when I get back...be patient ya....

先PO一张朦胧一点吊吊瘾.....哈哈哈哈......等我拿到照片的CD的时候再给你们看照片说故事, OK?

KaiLan Char Chap

2010-05-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

A dish we like to order when we dine at the "Chu Char" restaurant. It is Simple and fast if we make it at home, less than 10 minutes of the cooking.

1. 200g kailan (peel the skin of the stems if needed), cut to approx. 2~3 inches strips, separate the stem and leaf.
2. 3~4 garlic - chopped
3. 4~5 slices ginger
4. some chicken breast slices and medium size shrimps - my preferences - a lot of shrimps again!! (sometime the chu char will mix with some sotong (squid), fish cake slices too)
6. 1/2 tsp oyster sauce
7. salt to taste
8. 4~5 tbsp of water
9. Corn starch liquid to thicken the gravy
10. few drops of Shao Xing wine
11. 1 tsp vegetable oil
12. 1 tsp sesame oil

Steps (stir fry over high heat, it should be done in approx. 3 minutes) :
1. Grease the heated pan with vegetable and sesame oil.
2. Fragrant the garlic and ginger slices
3. Add in chicken and shrimps, stir fry for approx. 10 seconds
4. Add in kailan stems first, stir fry for 10 seconds.
5. Add in kailan leaf, oyster sauce, salt. Continue to cook for another 45~60 seconds
6. Sprinkle some water
7. Thicken the gravy
8. Add few drops of Shao Xing wine before remove from heat

Penang Char Koey Teow

2010-04-29T18:16:00.000-07:00

I like to use extra large prawn for my Char Koey Teow (CKT). I should have named it Penang Lorong Selamat Char Koey Teow!!!- The famous stall in Penang with "sombong" Auntie and over priced CKT. Many years ago it was about RM4~RM5 a plate, I don't know how much is that right now, may be RM7~RM8?? Why pay so high? We can make it our own with extra prawn too!!

I came from a hawker family, I grew up from a famous hawker center/food court in my home town. I liked watching how those hawker prepare the food, like Hokkien Mee, Jawa Mee, Ikan Bakar, Char Hor Fun, Hokkien Char, Char Koey Teow...etc. I was there until I finished my high school - 15 years of watching...LOL!! I will never forget how they control the heat, the timing of cooking. It is just become my instinct now.

Tricks to make a good CKT :

1. Sauce (everyone has their own secret recipe/ratio in sauce mixing, it is all about soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar)
2. Heat
3. Timing ( a plate of CKT should be done in approx. 3 minutes with appropriate heat The best way to learn is watch closely every time when you order CKT outside, compare the differences of the texture when you eat it at different places)
4. Use pork lard
5. Fresh ingredients

The recipe I am going to share today is from my relative. She is not as famous as Lorong Selamat Auntie, but has a good reputation too. Trust me, I was seriously thinking of selling CKT if I have never met Tom. I was so frustrated and tired of my work, and had deeply considered to switch my carrier. I used to worked 16 hours a day. My relative who is selling CKT works only 4~5 hours a day, 5 day week, and her income is more than those Manager levels...LOL!! Never mind, I think I will still want to sell CKT one day when I retire and move back to Penang with Tom.. :-) . Use extra large prawn for my CKT and sell it cheaper than Lorong Selamat CKT, I really "beh siok" - not happy with the owner! LOL!!!

Here's the recipe for the CKT sauce, you can mix extra and refrigerate it :

Mix and stir to blend well.
1. 2/3 cup soy sauce
2. 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
3. 2 tbsp oyster sauce
4. 2 tbsp fish sauce
5. 1 tsp sugar

Ingredients for a plate of CKT :

1. 2~3 garlic - chopped
2. 3~4 extra large prawn (personal preference)
3. Bean sprout (soak in the water, when you add the bean sprout to your CKT, the water drip will keep your CKT moisture)
4. Fresh Koey Teow (keep in mind that if your koey teow have been kept in fridge, it will need longer time to cook through - probably extra 60~90 seconds)
5. Lap Cheong (Chinese Wax sausage) slices
6. Fresh cockles (I couldn't find it here, so I skip it)
7. Chinese chives
8. Pre-mixed CKT sauce
9. Chili Paste
10. An Egg
11. Some while pepper powder

Steps (I can not tell you exact timing when do you need to add the ingredients, it is all depending on the heat and experience, it should be done in approx 3 mins for a plate of CKT, like I said before - watch closely how those hawker prepare your CKT) :

1. Heat up the pan
2. Add a table spoon of oil/pork lard (those hawkers usually add more than that)
3. Add garlic, then prawn (stir for few seconds)
4. Add 1/2 of your bean sprout
5. Add koey teow, immediately follow with a 1~1.5 table spoon of the CKT sauce, chili paste, stir to coat well.
6. Stir the koey teow to the side of the pan, grease the middle of the pan with some oil, drop an egg, few drops of CKT sauce, some white pepper.
7. Cover the egg with the koey teow, immediately add in cockles, lap cheong, another half of bean sprout, chives.
8. Stir to mix well, remove from heat and serve warm.

Pumpkin Congee + Stir Fried Pickled Mustard (南瓜粥配素炒酸菜)

2010-04-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

The weather here is getting warmer. I am not feeling well, have no appetite to eat anything fancy. Since today is our vege day, I made something light and easy - pumpkin congee and kiam chai (pickled mustard). Simple delicious!

这几天气温比较高了...没什么胃口.., 既然今天是初一, 不吃肉, 就煮简单和清淡一点吧...

南瓜粥配素炒酸菜, 酸菜还蛮开胃的....我和TOM一天里面竟然把一大碗的酸菜给扫光了...呵呵..
我喜欢用南瓜来褒粥, 吃起来有点甜甜棉棉的...健康又美味!

Pumpkin congee
- 3/4 cup of rice - washed and rinsed
- 1500ml water (or as desired)
- few drops of vegetable oil
- 400 g pumpkin (with skin) - cut to approx. 2 inches cube.
- some Goji berry - optional

Steps - boil the water and rice with few drops of oil, switch to low heat and cook for 20 minutes. Add in pumpkin cubes, continue to cook for another 60~80 minutes. Add in Goji berry 10 minutes before remove from heat.

Stir fried pickled mustard.
1. 300g pickled mustard - pre-soaked in the warm water for at least 1 hour, rinsed once, cut to strips, wash again, rinse and squeeze out the excessive water.
2. Oyster mushroom - thinly sliced
3. 百页豆腐 (not sure how to call this in English) - thinly sliced
4. 3~4 chili padi or red chili - sliced
5. 1/2 inch of ginger - striped
6. 3 garlic - chopped
7. 1 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce
8. Some soy sauce to taste (omit if the pickled mustard is salty enough)
9. a dash of sugar
10. some green onion for garnishing
10. some water

Steps :
1. Heat and grease the pan, fragrant the ginger and garlic. Add in chili slices, quick stir for 20 seconds.
2. Add in the mushroom and tofu slices, vege. oyster sauce and some soy sauce, stir fry for 2 minutes.
3. Add in picked mustard, sprinkle some water. Stir fry for another 3~5 minutes.
4. Season with some vege. oyster sauce, dash of sugar, soy sauce (if needed).
5. Garnish with some green onion, remove from heat.

蟹肉粉丝豆腐汤(Crab meat tofu soup)

2010-04-11T13:14:00.000-07:00

有没有很像鱼翅汤啊??? 吃起来味道也很像哦....Shark fin soup???

This is the soup I like to make whenever I am craving for shark fin soup. Tom actually like it better than the real shark fin soup because of the cruelty how we treat the sharks just to get the fins. I added silken tofu just to enhance the smoothness texture, you can omit it if you want to make it more real like shark fin soup.

其实鱼翅吃起来真的没有什么味道, 为了减少那么一点罪恶感, 我还是用粉丝来代替好啦. TOM还蛮喜欢的. 你不妨一试? 我加了嫩豆腐是因为我喜欢滑顺的口感, 如果你想让它更像鱼翅汤, 你可不必加豆腐.

1. Chicken stock - 500~600ml
2. Dried scallop - 1 (optional)
3. Bean thread (粉丝) - 20g- pre-soaked and cut to about 3~4 inches strips.
4. Frozen crab meat - 300g (I like it more!!!) - thawed
5. Silken tofu (嫩豆腐) - 120g - cut to 1/3" cubes
7. Salt to taste
8. Corn starch water for thickening
9. Some Shao Xing wine
10. Black vinegar / Balsamic Vinegar

Steps :

1. Boil the chicken stock with dried scallop, add in bean thread, cook over low heat for 10~15 minutes.
2. Add in crab meat, cook for another 5 minutes.
3. Slowly stir in tofu cubes, bring to boil again.
4. Salt to taste, thicken the soup with corn starch.
5. Add some Shao Xing wine (1~2 tsp).
6. Serve hot with some black or balsamic vinegar

麻油鸡酒+猪腰

2010-03-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

While Tom is gone for the business trip, I usually settle myself with simple and quick meal. Don't bother to make anything special just for 1 serving.

But today I am going to do something fancy to pamper myself. Sesame ginger Chicken or pork kidney is a popular dish in the month of confinement for a Chinese woman after giving birth to a child, it is very nourishing. It is definitely not a dish for regular/ daily meal as the combination of sesame oil and ginger will bring heat to your body, this is not recommended for those people with high blood pressure.

Tom doesn't like the taste of pork kidney, can't stand the urine odor. But if you clean it completely, the smell will go away. I soaked in the hot water for an hour and rinse it few times before cook. Since I am home alone, I can cook something I have been long craving for and don't have to cook a separate meal for him. :-)

I didn't really measure my ingredients, they are adjustable according to your preference.

1. 1 tbsp thin ginger strips
2. 1 tbsp sesame oil
3. 3 chicken wings - cut to portions
4. 1 pork kidney - clean well, cut to approx. 1.5" chunks , soaked in hot water for an hours, rinse it thoroughly.
5. 500~600ml water
6. Salt to taste
7. Some Shao Xing Wine

Steps :
1. In a heated sauce pan, fragrant the ginger, add in chicken wings, stir fry for 2~3 minutes.
2. Add in water, bring to boil. Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.
3. Add in pork kidney and bring to boil again.
4. Salt to taste.
5. Add some Shao Xin wine before remove from heat

TOM 不在的时候, 我都是吃得很简单, 有时候一个荷包蛋加酱油配白饭就是一餐了. 没什么心情煮, 再说, 一个人的量真的不好煮.

话说我自己本身超爱吃麻油的, 又喜欢吃猪腰(虽然有些人会觉得很恶心), 但是如果是自己在家里弄, 彻底的清洗干净, 就不会有什么味道了. TOM 不吃....趁现在他不在, 我就煮一道自己喜欢吃的来奖赏自己吧!!!! 汤如果有剩, 还可以加点面线哦...

虽然很爱, 但是我不是时常都会煮这道菜, 热量高, 也会造成身体热气也高, 我在想哦.... 如果有一天我做月子的时候每天都吃..., 会不会从此以后就不敢吃了???

"You Tiao" in Thai Sauce (泰式油条沙拉)

2010-03-04T16:46:00.001-08:00

I am not sure if some of you have tried this before. I am not sure if you can really find it in Thailand. This is the dish I usually had when I ate at an economy rice stall in Penang, Prai industrial area, the place I used to work.

I have some leftover "you tiao" in my fridge. So, here I come with my "You Tiao" in Thai sauce. I couldn't find bunga kantan (ginger torch) here in Arizona, so I replaced it with kesom leaf (Vietnamese cilantro). Personally, I still like it better with the fragrance of bunga kantan.

It is a good snack or appetizer for a party. You may mix the sauce before serving to keep the best texture (crispyness) of the "you tiao" pieces. Don't put the sauce on the "you tiao" pieces until it is being served, or the bread will become soggy.

Recipe and steps :

1. 1 "You tiao" - split and cut to 1 inch piece.

- bake the "you tiao" pieces at 300F for 12~15 minutes, the longer the harder. It should be crispy outside, and soft inside. (The lady boss deep fries them, it is faster, but not so healthy).

2. Sauce
- 50ml tamarind juice
- 3 tbsp Thai chili sauce
- 1 tsp (or as desired) brown sugar

Cook ingredient # 2 over medium heat until boil. Stir to mix well. Set aside for cooling.

3. Garnishing
- 4~5 small purple onion - sliced or chopped
- 5~8 kesom leaf (bunga kantan is recommended) - chopped
- 1~2 chili padi - chopped (optional)
- few drops of lime juice

Before serving, mix cooked sauce # 2 and garnishing ingredients, pour over baked "you tiao" pieces. Toss to coat well. Enjoy!!!

_______________________________________________________________

Conversation between Tom and me about "You Tiao" when I made him kopi "o" with "you tiao" the other day.

Tom " What is this?"
Me " urr... Chinese bread stick" ( I referred the the packaging)
Tom " what is Chinese bread stick"
Me " It is ONE kind of bread" (...lazy to explain)
Tom " OOooo... um...let me try it....nom-nom-nom....arhhhh it is DONUT WITHOUT SUGAR IN STICK SHAPE"
Me " arhhhhhhh ya...ya..ya...ya " (gosh... I was going to tell him it is "DEEP FRIED GHOST" literally translated from Cantonese - "Yao Char Kuai"...hahahahaha!)

Kopi "O" and me

2010-02-28T11:06:00.000-08:00

It is Sunday morning, I made some kopi "O", dip with "you char kuih" (Chinese bread stick), I got a bag of them from MeiKong supermarket last night. The coffee beans were brought from Penang last November. This is my typical daily breakfast in my working life in Penang. I would have no energy to work at all if I missed them.

Have you guy noticed that I have less recipes posted recently? There are a lot of things going on. The major reason is Tom has been out and will be out of town again, he is not home for 2 months out of 3. I think for most of people who love cooking, the major motivation is their love one is there to share the food. When he back from business trip, he put 5 lbs on weight, there is my job again to help him on diet. So, there is really not a good timing for me to make any goodies recently. I think I will be putting off my cooking adventure for a while.

However, I still have a lot of thinking in my life to share. I am thinking if I should make a different blog in mandarin. I am Chinese educated, I gave up my languages study when I had to learn 3 languages in school, it was too confusing to me to learn 3 languages at the same time. So, I focused on everything related to number because it is more interesting. No doubt, I became a writing "idiot" - no matter in Malay, Chinese or English, I just hated to write. Of course, there is no doubt that I would choose "Accounting" as my major in college. In my mind, I just have to deal with the numbers.

When I first started my working life, I was happy enough the first 3 years in accounting position, didn't have to deal with too many people. However, there was a big change in my life in 1997. I met a "crazy" boss and was dedicated cross function position - finance, secretary, sales and marketing, purchasing and shipping....!! Started then, I had to travel to different countries and deal with a lot of people in different field. I started to feel the pain. I was really weak in writing skill or express myself in different language, even in Mandarin, because I used to speak "Hokkien" in school and home. You know, the first time I wrote a fax memo to my boss in Mandarin, he called and told me he didn't understand my memo....hahahaha.... what a shame. Okay.... from there, I started to learn slowly my speaking and writing skill in Mandarin as I had to deal a lot of issues with Taiwan and China. No matter what, writing is always a "nightmare" to me.

The reason I called my boss crazy is, because he is really "crazy"...! LOL! When he first started establish his international business to US and European countries, he put me as a pioneer window to deal with those sales reps, buyers and engineers. Back then, I was still a "little girl". I was just 23 years old the first time when he sent me to The Netherlands to solve the quality issues. What?? Quality problem? Not finance? Ya...., I was forced to learn some engineering knowledge which I felt was very tough for me. Most of the time, I traveled alone. Was I scared? Ya... very!!! The first time I travel to US, I had to arrange everything by my own, met a representative that I have never met. He hired a Chinese guy here as my translator, as my broken English was really poor and silly. Out of his 10 American accent sentences, I could barely understand one. hahahahaaha...!!

Back then, I spent 1 day to reply just 1 email from US, slowly, 20~50 emails a day were not a problem for me. But, those business English is pretty common. How about more expression in life and feeling? Oh well... I am still learning. Tom has been a good teacher for me (even sometime he is not very patient :-p).

A lot of time, I think from Mandarin, then write in English, it is not a good practice, I do hope I can do better.

I am in conflict, I don't want to give up in Mandarin too, if I have started my blog in Mandarin, of course, I will have more posting about my thoughts, but I would be slow to write in English better. But, I am living in English environment now, working, family, daily life are all English, sometime, it is kind of like "refreshing" if I could express myself freely in my own language....

As my friend, would you mind to give me your opinion?

这世界上是否真的很少有两全其美的事情? 当一个人在这边生活, 身边大多数都是充斥另外一种语言的环境的时候, 自己是否还可以同时维持母语和第二语言的学习程度呢? 这真是一件不容易的事啊? 只怪自己当年在学校不好好学习...

一直以来, 本身的写作和表达能力都是差强人意, 很欣赏那些人一拿起笔来, 就可以畅所欲言的人. 写作文一直以来就是我的恶梦. 要我写一篇作文, 不知刹死了多少细胞, 妈妈的鸡汤都没办法补回来!!!哈哈哈... 高中毕业以后最高兴的事情就是不必写作文了!!!觉得凡事用讲的就可以了, 干麻还要写的这么麻烦, 后来要念专科的时候要写论文, 才知道"歹志"大条, 文章写得不好, 要怎么把自己的想法和论点好好的表达呢? 可是那时候后悔已经来不及了!!

出来社会工作, 在会计部混的前3年还没感觉. 可是后来遇到了一位超级"头风"的老板, 就吃尽苦头了. 第一次用中文写传真给他, 他竟然打电话来说"我不明白你要讲什么, 你还是用电话给我联络好了" 哇咧......超丢脸的. 英文烂, 已经没话说了, 连中文也写得乱七八糟的, 我还有脸见我祖宗十八代吗???

从此以后, 自己就一边工作, 一边向台湾和大陆的同仁学习中文. 真的很后悔自己以前念书的时候没有好好学习掌握中文. 当然啦, 那时候自己很清楚, 以目前全球化的商业环境, 英文也是很重要的. 那时候也没有想到自己需要面对老外的一天.

我那"头风"老板(希望他永远都不会看到这篇文章, 嗯...或许考虑剔除我的照片, 这么一来他就不知道我说的是他啦....哈哈哈), OK, 话说回来, 我也不知道是犯着谁了, 他有事没事, 就会失踪, 有时候一个星期, 有时候 3 个月, 结果就是丢我一个人在撞墙壁, 工厂大大小小的事情要面对. 刚开发的出口业务要面对, 千吨重压力压得我快喘不过气来....可是换的角度来想, 那真的是很难得的学习机会, 工作挑战不断, 自己从中学到的经验, 是很多人都没有机会遇到的.

好啦...脑筋转弯, 解决了工作压力的问题, 可是自己的外语烂却是事实. "头风"老板时不时把我一个人丢在一个陌生的国家, 去面对从来没见过面的人..我那时候人家还叫我"小丫头"咧.....他那么对我, 是不是超狠心的啊???

说我不知天高地厚吗? 才不呢, 我那时候时时刻刻都是在精神紧张的状态, 要是我一个人在国外有什么三长两短, 他要怎么向我父母交代啊??

那时候时常安慰自己说"没关系的, 兵来将挡, 水来土淹(不知道是不是这样写, 多多包涵啦..), 又不是要了自己的命, 什么事情发生都好, 总有办法解决的!! 这样的道理, 让我渡过了大大小小的难关...也从中学习了宝贵的经验.

话说回来, 对于中文, 本来就是自己的母语, 要从新学习也没有那么困难. 工作环境, 听电台, 看中文节目, 交朋友....,没多久, 很自然的, 很多想法都可以用中文来表达了. 可是英文呢? 说真的, 马来西亚的英文学习环境也不错, 可是就是因为自己懒, 加上本身的成长背景, 要自己的英文进步, 感觉就有点吃力咯...

记得第一次出差到美国, 还需要一位翻译言来帮我沟通呢...其中也闹了不少笑话. 后来自己也慢慢的学习, 可是那毕竟是商业来往, 很多都是公试化的...!!至于很多生活上的体验和想法, 那可是要永无止境的学习啊....

我开始写部落格的时候也是抱这学习英文写作能力的想法, 要写得像老外那样是不可能的事情.

有时候很想要另开一个中文的部落格, 让自己有一个抒发心情的小天地, 可是心理不免有一种罪恶感, 觉得自己脑袋不思长进, 不好好学习英文. 可是, 能够用自己的母语来表达并没有罪啊? 用一个自己熟悉的语言来抒发心情, 那不也是一个抒解压力的方法吗??

好矛盾哦...朋友们, 你们可以给我一点意见吗?

CNY and Valentines San Diego Trip part 2

2010-02-21T16:31:00.000-08:00

The second day of our San Diego trip was a little bit "manly". We had a tour at USS Midway Museum, which is just about 10 minutes walk from our hotel. USS Midway was an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. It is the only remaining US aircraft carrier of the world war 2 era. It was launched in 1945. You would be impressed how it was built back then when those advance technologies were still did not exist. Lets go for a photo tour..., we were really enjoyed the tour and forgot to take most of the facilities that built in the ship, it was just like a small town, could load up to 4500 soldiers.

The USS Midway as seen from our hotel room.

Alongside the dock.

Inside the hangar deck.

A US Marines fighter plane.

On one of the elevators used to bring airplanes up to the flight deck.

On the flight deck - many old and newer planes.

A fighter-bomber.

Several newer jet fighters.

Inside a large helicopter.

A newer fighter-bomber.

Machine guns and rocket launchers on an attack helicopter.

CNY and Valentines San Diego trip part I

2010-02-15T20:35:00.000-08:00

Tom surprised me with a trip to San Diego for CNY and Valentines celebration!!! San Diego is a nice place to visit. We spent the first day at Sea World, and second day at USS Midway Museum. Of course, a romantic valentines dinner at a famous seafood restaurant. Tom named it "ocean" theme for this year as he knows I miss being away from Penang which surrounded by the ocean and rich with seafood! We have had an enjoyable and eye opening trip and probably will plan another trip in summer.

Lets go for a photo tour. :-)

Sea World entrance Shamu (name of the whale) Volkswagen

Spring is approaching, love the flowers...

Killer whale...

Trained whales jumping during a show.

Lion Fish - the spines are poisoned!

Sea anemone.

Sea Lion performing at a show.

Flamingos! They are pink because they eat shrimp.

Up close with a shark!

Moray Eels.... they looks pretty scary for me....

Petting the bat rays

Sleepy Polar Bears.

Penguins!

My drink for the valentines dinner - valentines cocktail

Cheers.... Happy Valentines!

Pumpkin Toast

2010-01-29T20:46:00.001-08:00

Not having enough time to cook and write too much. Just wanted to share something quick I have made yesterday. :-) It is soft and fluffy... I love my bread machine!lol!!

Ingredients:
1. 173g water
2. 35g lightly beaten egg
3. 35g butter - cut to small cubes
4. 4g salt
5. 20g sugar
6. 345g bread flour
7. 3g instant yeast
8. 90g room temperature mashed pumpkin

Method
1. Put all the ingredients except mashed pumpkin into the bread pan in order listed above.
2. Select basic regular function and press start. Add in mashed pumpkin 1 minutes later after the machine started.

Turkey Porridge

2010-01-13T20:20:00.000-08:00

OK, this will be the last post for my marathon of turkey recipes.
I promised my blogger friend Traci Moo that I would post my porridge making process. I like Cantonese style porridge which is thick and smooth in texture. The trick to making it smooth is adding few drops of vegetable oil when you cook the porridge. I learned this from a friend of my whom came from Hong Kong. You may try this method in any kind of porridge cooking.

I cooked the porridge for 30 minutes first before adding other ingredients.

A) Porridge base

1. 1 cup rice - washed
2. 1.5 quart water (adjust according to personal preference)
3. few drops of vegetable oil

B)
- 1/2 inch ginger
- 800g turkey bones
- 2~3 cups shredded turkey meat

C) Seasoning
- salt and white pepper to taste
- serve with some garlic oil and sesame oil

D) Garnishing
- Green onion

Steps:
1. Bring ingredient A to boil and cook in slow heat for 30 minutes.
2. Add in turkey bones and ginger, cook for another 2 hours over slow heat.
3. Add in turkey meat 15 minutes before serving.
4. Season with.
5. When serving, add a dash of white pepper, some garlic oil and sesame oil. Garnish with some green onion.

Fried Bee Hoon (Rice Noodle) with Turkey

2009-12-30T16:15:00.000-08:00

My friend was wondering if a 10lbs of turkey for a small family like us would be too much. We didn't finish it all at once, there are many ways for us to consume a turkey, so, I don't have to worry too much about the left over. In fact, I can skip cooking for few days. :-)

I can make turkey sandwich, fried noodle or rice with turkey, and the turkey bones will be used for porridge or soup.

Fried Bee Hoon :
1. 200g rice noodle - presoaked
2. 1/2 sweet onion - sliced
3. 4 mushrooms - sliced
4. 1 ~ 2 cups cabbage slices
5. some snow peas or desired vegetable
6. 1 cup bowl of turkey meat & some dripping
7. Some water

Seasoning :
1. 2 tsp oyster sauce
2. 1 tbsp soy sauce or to taste

Steps :
1. Grease the heated frying pan, fragrance the onion slices over high heat.
2. Add in mushroom slices and 1/2 of cabbage, stir for 30 seconds.
3. Add in rice noodle and seasoning. Sprinkle some water and stir fry for 2~3 minutes.
4. Add in snow peas, turkey meat, sprinkle some water. Continue to cook for another 3~4 minutes.
5. Serve with warm with some sambal chili. :-)

My First Baked Turkey

2009-12-25T19:48:00.001-08:00

My very first attempt!!! Whew....finally..

I have had a terrible sore throat these few days, it was getting worst since yesterday. I didn't sleep at all. Tom took me to the urgent care the first thing in the morning....ya...my Merry Christmas day --- in urgent care! :-( . The doctor gave me some antibiotic (pretty strong one) and pain killer - it helps a little bit, but still very painful when I try to swallow even just liquid...

Tom told me to hold off my turkey adventure as he saw me so sick. I didn't want to because I already started the marination yesterday, and I wondered if it may not turn out right if I change my plan.

So, in this post, I have to give credit to 3 people. The first person is my honey - Tom. He helped me most of the baking process ( I was asleep after taking medicine), and also making the mashed potato. Yummy! Love ya!

Another 2 people are Joanne and Sherry. I got to know them from Tzu Chi. They are very good and experienced in culinary arts and are very kind to share a lot of recipes and tricks with me. I am glad to know them.

Here's the recipe and steps I would like to share. My first turkey turned out tender, juicy and delicious! Whew!!!! I would definitely cook this again in special occasion celebration.

A) 1 X 10lbs turkey

B) Marination :
1. 5tbsp salt (every 2 lbs = 1tbsp)
2. 1 tbsp fresh ground white pepper
3. 1/2tbsp corn pepper (crushed)
4. 1 inch ginger - crushed
5. 3 star anise
6. 6 greed onion - cut to approx. 3in strips
7. 5 quarts water (or enough to cover the whole turkey)

C) Vegetable base - any kind of vegetables you like. I used baby carrot, cabbage and sweet onion slices. You may add some celery strips too.

D) Some honey for glazing (optional)

E) Gravy - the gravy pack came with the turkey, I just added some dripping and bring to boil.

F) Serving with some boiled brocolli and baby carrot seasoned with some salt, garlic powder and parsley.

Steps :

1. Defrost the turkey according to the packing instruction.
2. In a non-stick pot, sauteed the salt, white pepper and corn pepper without oil over medium heat.
3. Pour in the water and the rest of the ingredients, bring to boil.
4. Remove the pot from heat and let it cool COMPLETELY. (I cooked the marination one day ahead before I start the marination process).
5. Slowly place the turkey into the marination water, make sure the turkey is completely soaked in the water.
6. Marinate in the fridge for 24 hours.
7. Remove the turkey from the fridge 2 hours before cooking. Discharge the water.
8. Preheat the oven at 350F.
9. Place your desired vegetable at the bottom of the pan.
10. Place the turkey, breast side up on the pan.
11. Cover with rather loose aluminum foil. Don't let it touch too much or it will stick. Or use a pan with a cover.
13. Bake at 350F for 2.5 hours, then 250 for 2.50 hours.
14. Scoop the dripping and pour over the turkey every 1 hour.
15. Glazing (optional) - remove the aluminum foil, brush with some honey, baked for another 30minues at 350F, un-covered. I think I will skip this steps in future, because it will dry out the turkey a bit. I did that just for better color for the photo presentation.

Merry Christmas!!!!

2009-12-22T18:16:00.000-08:00

We finally got our Christmas tree set up yesterday night, whew!!! Another busy month almost gone with full of parties and joys!! This year is a very different and challenging year for me. I am very grateful for everything that happened to me, no matter good or bad, I have learned something from it. Year 2009 seemed to be a tough year to a lot of people due to the economic crisis. I wish the tough situation will recovery soon and everyone is strengthen to overcome the problem. I wish every one Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May everyday in the new year glow with cheer and happiness.

My new challenge in Christmas holiday is --- fixing a turkey!!! This will be my first attempt. Never deal with turkey before. Wish me luck!!:-)

Fried Rice with Chinese Leek

2009-12-05T11:03:00.000-08:00

Slowly...everything is getting back on track. This month is going to be an extremely busy month with parties! LOL, we have at least 5 parties to go for the next 10 days. Not sure how many more will be held until the end of the month!

As such, I won't cook too many complicated meals - got to let our stomach take a break after being stuffed with a lot of goodies from Penang and get ready for the marathon party.

Here's one of my meatless but tasty meals for our 2 vegetarian day practice every month. It is not Buddhism vegetarian, so, you will still see garlic and onion in my ingredients. For those whom just want a meatless meal, this might be one of your choices.

Ingredients :

1. 3 eggs - beat with 1~2 tbsp fresh milk or water and a dash of white pepper

2. 1/2 medium sweet onion - sliced

3. 1 stalk Chinese leek - sliced (split the white and green portion)

4. 2.5~3 cups overnight cooked rice (cooled)

5. 1 tbsp oyster sauce

6. 1 tbsp soy sauce or to taste

7. some salt to taste

8. Some water

9. some green onion or cilantro, red chili for garnishing

Steps :

1. Heat up a greased frying pan, scramble fry the beaten eggs until just cooked, remove from heat and set a side.

2. Heat up the pan again with some vegetable oil, sautee the onion slices and white portion of the Chinese leeks until fragrance.

3. Add in rice, oyster sauce, soy sauce, salt and the green portion of Chinese leek.

4. Sprinkle some water and stir fry for 3~4 minutes

5. Add in scramble egg and stir fry for another 2~3 minutes.

6. Garnish with green onion and chili slices.

7. Serve warm.

3.30a.m Bread

2009-12-02T22:26:00.000-08:00

I'm back!!!!!!!Tired!!!Exhausted!!!

Many people are wondering why did I take such a short trip back to Penang. The main purpose for this trip was bridal photo shooting. We had to save some vacation time for next longer trip for the wedding ceremony. I know it sounds weird. We should have it done long time ago. But due to the visa, green card restrictions, working problems, vacation timing...etc, and also I didn't find the right bridal shop earlier, so......"sigh" long story!!
The second night we got home, I woke up at 3.30am and couldn't get back to sleep anymore. We had not got a chance for grocery shopping yet, so, I made an easy bread with my bread maker for Tom's breakfast. Both of us finished the whole loaf of bread in that morning.

The texture of this bread is similar to "Bengali Roti" in my home country, light, soft!! Best eaten with soft boiled egg.

I am still un-packing and cleaning, but will slowly catch up my blogging...! Stay tuned ya!!

Recipe for the bread (use basic regular function) :

1. 150g water
2. 25g egg
3. 25g salted butter - cut to small cubes
4. 13g sugar
5. 3g salt
6. 250g bread flour
7. 3g instant yeast.

Method :
Put all the ingredients into the bread pan in the order listed as above (DO NOT let yeast directly contact with salt and liquid). Select basic regular function, press start. The bread will be ready in 2 hours 40 minutes.

Party Season!!!

2009-11-18T12:59:00.000-08:00

I will be away from my computer for a while. Going back to my home country - food paradise - Penang. Meanwhile, my "ON DIET" plan will be on hold until next year. Hahahahahaa...because I have too many parties to go (family and friends gathering, food hunting, Thanksgiving, year end pot luck, Xmas, New Year..bla bla).

I think I will keep a record for the goodies that I am going to eat from now until new year. It will be a lot!!!!! I believe! :-p

Till then, HAPPY THANKSGIVING, feel free to eat and have fun!! :-)

Harmony Place

2009-11-07T22:46:00.000-08:00

I am taking a break for cooking. Too busy and also because of Tom was out 2 weeks to China for a business trip. I felt so down for being home alone and got no motivation to cook at all. Fortunately, Cici volunteered herself to keep me accompanied, she is really a sweet pretty girl. Anyway, I kept myself really busy to clean the house, re-arranging some furniture and getting some home decors to surprise Tom when he is back.

That wasn't cost me too much for this project. I searched over all the places that got the best deal and good quality stuff, browsing on the internet to get some extra discount coupons. Tom is quite satisfied with my arrangement. I made it a little bit like Balinese style as I like bamboo and natural wood a lot!!!

I forgot to take the photo before I do the decoration, but managed to find some old photos taken about 1 year ago for the comparison. It was fun and satisfied to make our home nicer.

I picked up a Chinese character 和 (means harmony) wall decor for our entrance. For me, have a harmonious family is very important. Old people said "家和万事兴" - means a harmonious family is a sign of prosperity (not sure if I translated it correctly, no matter what, it is a good sign.. lol).

I didn't want to spend too much money right now because eventually we will be tearing a lot of things for remodeling, our first project will be the master bathroom, I think we will do 95% of the work by ourselves (have to hire someone for the plumbing). I will try my best to post the progress pictures to share.

I moved the tea table that was sitting beside the couch to the entrance, hang up a piece of bamboo panel to hide the ugly window.

Moved a rack to this place and set it up with a pot of plant and some essence flowers.

I am so happy that I found these bamboo panels on sales (50% off) at JC Penney and got another 15% off with online coupon, it is supposed for window panel, but I used them as a divider of our living room and dining room, that really gives our room looks like a little bit Ballinese effect! LOL!! I re-arranged the table that was at the back of the love seat to side at the wall and put a pot of silk orchid on it. Just love it!

Got a new set of table cloth, place mat, bamboo runner and curtain from ROSS ( a place you could get a very good deal for some unique home decor and small furniture).

Do you like my decor?? Look at below photos that were taken before...

Tom and Cici were playing guitar hero....LOL!! You can see the plain entrance behind them.

Tom set up a welcome home banner when I got back to US last year. This photo was taken from living room, we just had a love seat and coffee table set up as a divider between living room and dining room, I didn't quite like it as you can look through all the rooms...

This is the dining area taken on Chinese new year, we had Hot Pot in new year eve..., curtain was plain white and everything not quite well arranged yet.

Lemon Grass Pork Skewers

2009-10-18T18:52:00.000-07:00

I have a big bunch of lemon grass growing perfectly in my back yard, besides just using it for curry and sambal prawn, I guess I could use it for something else. Like this lemon grass pork skewer, just something which came into my mind while I was looking at my lemon grass and wondering what else I could make.

The pork skewer is full of lemon grass aroma and delicious. I may use ground chicken or beef for the same recipe someday. I just used what ever seasoning I have and feel might be a good match with lemon grass - nothing complicated - just be creative and follow your taste buds.

1. 220g ground pork
2. 3~4 stalks lemon grass - pre-soaked for at least 1 hour, lightly crush the end of the stalk.

Marinate :
1. 1 tsp turmeric powder
2. 1 tsp curry powder
3. 1 tsp corn starch
4. 1 tsp oyster sauce
5. 1/8 tsp salt
6. 1.5 tsp soy sauce
7. 1/8 cup of finely chopped onion
8. 2 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
9. 1/8 cup chopped green onion
10. Some red chili flakes

1. Mix all the marinate ingredients and finely chop again with the ground pork until well combined.
2. Marinate for at least 1 hour or longer for better better taste.
3. Rub the marinated ground pork on the end of the lemon grass stalk.
4. Grill over the pre-heated grill at medium high heat for about 6~7 minutes for each side.

Steamed Scallop with Mung Bean Vermicelli (蒸鲜贝粉丝)

2009-10-13T21:37:00.001-07:00

Long story cut short, I am in a hurry, just wanted to share this recipe really quick! This is one of my favorite dishes whenever I dine in seafood restaurant. I couldn't get the small fresh scallop with shell here. So, made it with the giant scallops just to satisfy my crave. :-p

1. 280g scallop (about 6pcs)
2. 30g or as needed mung bean vermicelli
3. Sauce :
i. 2~3 cloves of garlic
ii. 2~3 ginger slice
iii.2~3 chili padi
(finely chop # i~iii)
iv) 1/2 tsp oyster sauce
v) 1/2~1tsp tsp soy sauce or to taste
vi) 2~3 tbsp water (add more if extra mung bean vermicelli is used)

4. Garnishing
i. 1 tsp shao xin wine (optional)
ii. 1 tsp garlic oil
iii. green onion and cilantro
iv. crispy garlic (蒜油酥)

Steps :
1. Boil the water in the steaming pot/pan.
2. Arrange the scallops on a bed of mung bean vermicelli in a steaming dish
3. Mix well all the ingredients # 3, and pour into the scallops.
4. Steam in high heat for 8~10 minutes.
5. Before remove from heat, add in garnishing ingredients # 4.
6. Serve warm.

My Messy Garden 2

2009-10-10T16:35:00.000-07:00

It is time to update how is my very first vegetable garden going on. Bad news and good news. The bad one is about 20 of my pumpkin were killed by a pile of bugs, we didn't know what kind of bug was that, but, there were too much of them just covered up the whole patch of pumpkin and killed it.

The good news is we have about 7~9 water melon growing now!!! And more winter melon too. Yay!!!! Tomatoes are growing out there, that was accidentally planted from the seeds in the compost made from vegetable scraps and egg shells.

More pictures here!!

Tomato

Rosemary

Jalapeno pepper

Water Melon

Winter Melon - harvest soon. The size is perfect for me to make 冬瓜盅

Grilled Chicken Calzone

2009-10-05T19:40:00.000-07:00

Tired of pizza? Lets try some calzones! It is an Italian turnover made from pizza dough stuffed with fillings like cheese, ham, vegetables or other varieties of ingredients. I had my first calzone many years ago, it was stuffed with baby spinach and cheese. I liked it so much but didn't know what was it called because back at that time, I was still very new to western meals.

I described what it looked like to Tom recently and he told me it is "calzone". I immediately checked it out from wikipedia and found that it is quite simple to make.
Since I had some leftover canjun style grilled chicken, I decided to make some grilled chicken calzone with my pizza dough recipe. It turned out great. :-)

Here are the ingredients and steps :

1. 1 Pizza dough cut to 4 portions (please click here for pizza dough recipe)

2. Filling (according to your preference)
a) Canjun grilled chicken - cubed
b) Grilled green pepper and onion - sliced or cubed
c) some shredded cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese
d) pizza sauce
e) some black pepper
f) some butter
g) some Parmesan cheese powder

Steps :

1. Pre-heat the oven at 450F
2. On the floured surface, roll each portion of the pizza dough to approx. 6" circle.
3. Spread about 1.5 tbsp pizza sauce on the half circle, leave about 1/3 edge.
4. Add in chicken, pepper,onion slices shredded cheeses, sprinkle some black pepper.
5. Fold dough over filling to form a half moon shape.
6. Seal the edge with a fork.
7. Baked in preheated oven for 30~35 minutes or until it turns golden brown.
8. Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese when serve (optional)

Dong Gui (Angelica sinensis) Chicken Soup

2009-09-29T22:40:00.000-07:00

I am being overloaded - feel really exhausted. I am working a few extra hours per day for the past 2 weeks(wanna save some flexible vacation hours for my days off to go back to Penang at the end of Nov.) I need some energy enhancement food - tadahhhhh -I need some energy enhancement food - tadahhhhh - Dong Gui (Angelica Sinensis) Chicken Soup. I didn't put too much Dong Gui as I wasn't sure Tom would like it or not, fortunately, that was not too hard for him to accept it.

Here's my very simple energy soup.

1. 12g Dong Gui slices (add more if you like it tasted stronger)

2. 1lbs chicken (I used drum sticks as they were available in my fridge)
3. 500ml water.
4. 3~4 dried dates - un-pitted
5. Some wolfberry
6. Few slice of Yok Chuk (Polygonatum odoratum) - optional
6. Salt to taste

1. Gather everything except salt into a double boil dish.

2. Cook for 3~4 hours.
3. When done cooking, skim the excessive oil if necessary.

3. Season with salt before serve.

Oriental Grilled Mushroom

2009-09-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

It looked ugly, but YUMMY! :-p

It seems like busy moment is never ending. Another week gone, and going to be end of month closing again....., I feel like time flies fast like rocket now!

Fast and easy meal is my priority now. I am still trying my best not to consume too much canned or frozen food. So, I still maintain cooking from fresh produce, but make it really simple. For example, I will marinate the meat or seafood at night, then I don't have to spend too much time on the food preparation when I'm tired from work.

This grilled mushroom was accidentally invented. I had some mushrooms sitting in the fridge needed to finish ASAP before they go bad. While I was going to grill some chicken kabob the other day, I was searching some vegetables in my fridge to put on my grill too, I found I had nothing left but just mushroom. So, I immediately marinated them with some soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil and garlic, they tasted so good that was beyond my expectation, Tom even demands more.

A)
1. 230g whole mushroom - remove the stem

B)
2 cloves garlic - sliced
1/8 cup soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
few drops of sesame oil and garlic oil
a pinch of sugar
a pinch of white pepper

some pre-soaked BBQ skewer
some green onion strips and garlic slices to skew together with mushroom

1. Rub and marinate the mushroom with sauce B for 30 minutes or longer for better flavor.
2. Skew 4~5 mushroom per stick with onion strip and garlic slice as a spacer in between.
3. Grill on medium heat for 4~5 minutes each side. Brush the remain marination sauce once each side.
4. Serve warm

2009 Summer Camping

2009-09-12T21:30:00.001-07:00

I like this picture very much. It was taken at Sunset Crater - where we camped in July. It is a pine tree after being hit by lighting.

Wonder where have I been recently? I am taking a break for my cooking adventures as I am stuck by too many errands and events since the middle of August. I volunteered for the fund raising program at the Asian supermarket here for the victims of Typhoon Marakot in Taiwan for 2 weekends, then helping in Tzu Chi Chinese classes with administration work, then camped at Greer in last weekend, followed by our best friends' wedding this weekend, then training class next weekend... Ooooh Gosh!! I wish I could have 48 hours a day.

We were exhausted from the 3 day camping trip at Greer last weekend. My legs are still sore from the hiking :-p. This hike took us up to the summit of Arizona's third highest mountain - Escudilla Mountain - 10,912ft - an inactive volcanic mountain. We really enjoyed the beauty of the nature, got the see how amazing the climate can change the environment. Along the way to the summit of Escudilla, we passed through 2 different forests - Aspen then Pine and also a lot of unknown wild plants and flowers.

Tom set up our tent.

I would like to share some pictures of our adventure in this post. Some of them are from our camping in Sunset Crater in July. Sunset Crater Volcano was born in a series of eruptions between the years 1040~1100. Although it has been almost 1000 years, the lava flows and cider fields still look fresh. We got the chance to walk through the lava flows and ciders fields. It is pretty amazing.

So, today will be no food pictures, all are the beauty of nature. I like those wild flowers the most.

Sunset Crater, endless volcano lava flow..

On the cinder and lava flow.

1

Lichens

Native American Ruins

Cowboys Roping Calves in competition.

Aspen leaf, Aspen trees.

Wild flowers

SUSHI : Dragon Roll (Unagi Roll) and Spicy Shrimp Roll

2009-09-01T19:08:00.000-07:00

Irashaimase!!! Konbanwa!!! Ogenki desu ka???? My first homemade sushi!!! Will post the recipe soon!! I am in the hurry and extremely hungry now!!!! Too many errands!!!! Busy! Busy! Busy!!!! Be patient with me ya!!! Sumimasen!!! Domo arigatoooooo!!!!

Dragon (Unagi) Roll!!

P/S : Don't be fooled by me, I dont speak Japanese, the above are the only Japanese words I know!! :-p

My Messy Vegetable Garden

2009-08-30T23:01:00.000-07:00

First of all, I must confess that I don't take proper care of my vegetable garden, but... but.., we can still grow something that doesn't need too much care of it. The heat here in summer is really killing us (110F/42C), not much work we can do for our garden (well, try to find an excuse :-p), secondly, we are busy from work, cooking and blogging... (more excuses..lol)

Anyway, we still got something to grow in our garden, you can tell how messy it is from the following photos that I am going to show you, a lot of weeds. We grow potato leaves, chilies, mint, oregano, pumpkin, winter melon, water melon, lemon grass and green onion. Most things we can grow in summer which grow wild and don't really need weeding anyway. I think we can harvest the pumpkin and winter melon early of October. I will take the photos again then.
In the fall we can start to grow some more orderly vegetables!

Here comes our vegetable garden tour! :-)

3 months ago.....

Oregano...

baby lemon grass

little mint....

Still empty....

3 months after......umm...messy started.... :-p

Pile of pumpkins...accidentally planted by Tom. (I didn't know they would grow THIS well! -Tom)

Big bunch of lemon grass, I save a lot of money to buy it from Asian supermarket!

The mints grew really big and killed my oregano.. :-(

Potato leaves.. I think this is the easiest vegetable to grow.. also got a big pile of them and have to give away to my friends.

Baby winter melon. I bought winter melon from the store and there were some seeds in it. Just tried to plant it and didn't expect they can grow... :-)

Pumpkin... harvest soon :-)

More baby pumpkins out there!!!

Of course, this one can't be missed!! Chili!!

I have more than 10 chili trees growing, I don't know which is which, might be chili padi from Malaysia, habanero (the most spicy chili in the states, no kidding), bell pepper or sweet chili!!

Onion!! Just have to cut it whenever I need it!

Sambal Petai and Prawn Again!!!

2009-08-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

I have posted this recipe before. I just wanted to update it with better photos as I was in a hurry while shooting the last photos.

While I was reading Petite Nyonya's post, it reminded me that I still have a pack of petai in my freezer. The frozen petai is from Thailand and doesn't taste as good as the wild and fresh petai in Malaysia. However, it is good enough to relieve my craving for it. I can't complain too much! :-p

Normally, I will cook some egg plant whenever I consume petai, it is a trick to get rid of the awkward smell of the urine after consuming petai. Trust me, it works!! :-)

Tom loves petai so much, surprise huh?? :-p

Recipe from my previous post :
1. 120g petai
2. 400g medium prawn (trim the spikes and de-vein)
3. 170g shallot
4. 125g red chili (unseeded)
5. 5g dried chili (unseeded)
6. 1/2 tbsp dried pre-fried belacan
7. 10g fresh turmaric
8. 1 tbsp dried shrimp
9. 2.5 tbsp vegetable oil
10. 160~80ml water
11. 10g tamarind fruit - mix with 1.5 tbsp water for juice
12. Salt to taste
13. A pinch of sugar to taste (optional)

Steps :

1. Blend well the ingredient #3~#8.
2. Heat up the frying pan and oil.
3. Pour in sambal mixture, stir in medium high heat for 7~8 minutes.
4. Add in the prawns, continue to cook (gradually add in water) until the prawns are almost done (about 3~4 minutes, depends on the prawn size),
5. Add in petai and tamarind juice cook for another 2~3 minutes.
6. Season to taste.

Homemade Fish & Chips

2009-08-24T20:17:00.001-07:00

After a very Chinese meal, here come with a western meal. :-)

I think Fish & Chips and Chicken Chop are the top 2 items listed on the menu in western restaurant/stall in Malaysia. About 10 or 15 years ago, when we talked about western food, many people would think that their choices would be only Chicken Chop or Fish & Chips. I am not a big fan of meat, I usually order fish & chips.

Sometimes, it is actually faster and easier to make western food compared to oriental food. But I don't know why they are selling it so expensive in the stall/restaurant.

Crispy and delicious!!

It took me less than 15 minutes to have this fish & chips done. You may make the salad/coleslaw ahead and refrigerate them until needed.

I use the same breadcrumbs (Old London brand) that I used to make my chicken cordon bleu and onion rings. I think it is also available in the supermarket in Malaysia, may be different brand. Just look for it in the western seasoning aisle.

Here's the recipe. You may make your own western candle light dinner at home. :-)

1. 2pcs (440g) cat fish fillet ( can any fish fillet you prefer) - rub some salt on both sides.
2. 2/3~1 cup all purpose flour
3. 1/2 tsp salt
4. 1/2 ~ 2/3 cup of milk
5. 2/3 cup of seasoned bread crumbs (or as needed)
6. Oil for deep frying

Side dishes :
1. French fries
2. Salad/coleslaw
3. Some tartar sauce and lemon/lime juice to serve with fish

Steps :
1. Heat up the oil in a deep frying pan.
2. Mix well the flour and salt.
3. Place the fish fillets on the flour mixture, dust/coat both sides well.
4. After all the coating is done, add milk into the flour and stir to form a smooth batter.
5. Dip the floured fish fillets the batter, then remove and place it on the cooling rack by a kabob skewer (or any thin stick), let the batter drip off a bit.
6. Get ready the seasoned bread crumbs in a plate. Move the fish from the rack with a skewer, coat it with the bread crumbs evenly.
7. Deep fry in the heated oil over medium heat for 3~4 minutes or until it turns golden brown.
8. Sprinkle some lemon/lime juice and serve with tartar sauce.

Floured fish fillets

Bread crumbs coated

"Old London" brand seasoned bread crumbs

Pak Cheng Soup - 八珍养颜汤, 八珍面线

2009-08-21T07:39:00.001-07:00

My friend in China is bugging me to post this recipe for her in Mandarin, as she doesn't speak English. I was thinking to take this as an excuse to skip my English lesson for one post. :-p. I thought that it might be easier for me to post this recipe in Mandarin too because it is related to Chinese medication. Anyway, I will still post bilingually.

I was suffering from the pain of PMS(Premenstrual syndrome) long time ago, my mom kept nagging me about consuming this traditional Chinese herbal medicine soup. It is to ease my pain and help to improve my blood circulation. The "Pak Cheng" prescription contains ligusticum wallici, Angelica Sinensis, Paeonia Lactielora, Glutinosa, Coponosis Tangshen....etc. You may cook this with some pork ribs or chicken. Or, you may substitute the meat with eggs too.

I bought few packs of "Yew Chian Haw" brand Pak Cheng soup ingredients from Penang. When I can't finish the whole pot of soup, I will do some creative cooking by adding the wheat flour vermicelli (mee sua), mushroom and vegetable in the soup, it becomes another yummy and healthy meal.

对许多女性来说, 经痛是个挥之不去的恶梦. 以前的我是其中之一. 比较普遍的解决方法就是吃止痛药, 可是我总是担心会有副作用.

终于, 在妈妈一再唠叨下, 好几年前开始, 每次月事一完, 我就会自己炖一锅的八珍汤来调养身体, 这配方不但可以改善经痛的问题(当然啦, 生冷食物尽量避免), 而且对血液循环也有帮助, 让我们脸上气色比较红润. 我都是买现成包好的配方 (成份有川弓, 当归, 熟地, 防党参, 大枣等等), 特别喜欢"游建好"这品牌, 就算不加骨头,不加肉,汤喝起来也很甘醇, 不会苦. 在马来西亚的超级市场都可以买到.

我每次煮一锅, 都要分好几次才能喝完. 所以就动脑筋想到不如加点面线, 香菇, 蔬菜, 搞搞新花样, 效果还不错哦, 喜欢吃素的人可以试试看. 如果想吃荤的, 就加点排骨或鸡肉.

我个人觉得不加肉类真的蛮好喝的, 甘醇而不腻. 我都加鸡蛋 (妈妈说可以补充钙质哦) 想滋补又怕肥的朋友,不妨试试看吧.

材料:

1. 一包(120gm) "游建好" 八珍养颜汤配方
2. 2~3 个鸡蛋 (如想吃荤就以排骨或鸡肉代替)
3. 枸杞 - 随意(我自己另外加的)
4. 1000ml 水 (包装上是2000ml), 我比较喜欢浓一点的味道, 可依个人口味调整, 如果是要加面线的汤就要浓一点.

如果想加面线,另外准备以下材料:
1. 面线
2. 香菇 (先泡软)
3. 枸杞 - 少许
4. 当季蔬菜
5. 香菜(芫荽) 或芹菜少许
6. 麻油或蒜油少许
7. 绍兴酒-随意(不喜欢可以不加)
8. 盐少许

步骤 :
1. 把水烧开, 加入配方和鸡蛋, 中小火炖15分钟.
2. 把鸡蛋捞起来, 拨掉壳, 再加入汤里, 再炖多45分钟就可息火.
3. 如果只想喝汤, 不加盐也可以.

4. 如想加面线的话中途可以把一半的材料分到另外一个锅, 再加香菇和枸杞一起煮.
5. 面线和蔬菜再另外烧水煮熟.
6. 汤煮好以后加点盐调味即可.
7. 把汤淋在面线, 撒点香菜, 滴几滴麻油或蒜油, 和绍兴酒, 又是一道美味可口的药膳面食啦!!!

Ingredients :

1. 1 pack (120gm) "Yew Chian Haw" Pak Cheng
2. 2~3 eggs (may use some pork ribs or chicken)
3. Wolfberry (lycium chinense) - optional
4. 1000ml water (instruction - 2000ml, I like stronger taste, so, you may adjust the volume to personal preference)

For adding noodle :

1. Noodle
2. Mushroom (pre-soaked)
3. Some wolfberries
4. Some vegetable
5. Some cilantro or chinese celery
6. some sesame oil or garlic oil
7. Salt to taste
8. Shao Xing wine (optional)

Steps :

1. Boil the water, add in "Yew Chian Haw" Pak Cheng ingredients and eggs.
2. Return to boil, simmer over low medium heat for 15 minutes.
3. Remove the eggs from the soup and peel the shell, then return to the soup.
4. Continue to simmer for 45 minutes.
5. Serve warm. Season with some salt if desire.

To add wheat flour vermicelli (mee sua)

1. Split the soup to 2 pots.
2. Add in mushroom and wolfberry.
3. At the meantime, cook the mee sua and vegetable in a separate pot.
4. Season the soup with some salt.
5. When serve, top few drops of sesame oil or garlic to taste.
5. Garnish with cilantro or Chinese celery

"游建好" 八珍养颜汤. 之前从PENANG带过来的, 最后一包咯....., 要空运过来咯....

Curry Potato with Paruppu and Roti Canai (short cut version)

2009-08-19T20:31:00.000-07:00

Isn't that nice to live in a food paradise? I didn't have to think about cooking prawn noodle, laksa, roti canai (Indian paratha) on my own in Penang - I could easily get it everywhere, and they simply tasted good!

Paruppu curry (Dhal) is usually served along with roti canai in Malaysia. I always asked the boss to give me more curry gravy, and I'd eat a spoonful of the curry with every bite of my roti canai. Yummeh!!!!

I found a frozen roti canai in Asian supermarket here, and guess what?? It is made in Malaysia - Penang, Gelutong (Yay!!!), it is "Memori" brand, I strongly recommend this brand to those living out of Malaysia. It tasted the best among from other brands. Crispy and not oily.

Crispy layers of "Memori" brand roti canai.

Now I got the roti canai, but it wouldn't taste right without paruppu. The instant dhal I got from the store is the thicken version, I like a bit runny one better. So, what did I do?? It is time consuming to tenderize the dhal (the yellow split peas). So I invented a short cut version! LOL!!!

Tahdaaaah..... I cook a pot of curry potato, then mix with a pack of dhal, the gravy tasted exactly the same like the one sold at mamak stall! yay me!! yay me!!! hahahah

Here's my recipe for the curry, I cook this to serve homeless people too while I was volunteering at Tzu Chi, it is meatless meal.

1. 1tbsp garam masala (optional) - I added it for spicier and stronger taste.
2. 4 tbsp curry powder
3. 1 tbsp turmeric powder
4. 2~3 tbsp corn/vegetable oil
5. 1 large onion - squared or sliced
6. 1 stalk lemon grass (editor's note: This stuff, along with pumpkins, yam leaf plants, and winter mellons, are taking over the back yard!)
7. 8~10 curry leaves or as needed
8. 2 medium size potato (approx. 350g) - chunked
9. 1 large carrot (approx. 120g) - chunked
10. 3~4 tomatoes (approx 200g) - chunked ** add some tomato puree/sauce if you like it sour**
11. 450~500ml water
12. 1 pack of instant Dhal (Dal)
13. 30 ml coconut milk
14. Some sugar to taste
15 Some salt to taste.

Steps.
1. Mix ingredient # 1~#3 with 1/2 cup of water.
2. Grease a heated non-stick pot with oil.
3. Fragrant the onion (about 2~3 minutes)
4. Add in curry mixture # 1, lemon grass and curry leaves, stir and fragrant for about 3~5 minutes.
5. Add tomato, carrot and potato chunks, stir fry for about 3 minutes, sprinkle water if necessary.
6. Pour in water just enough to cover 90% of the potato, carrot and tomato chunks.
7. Bring to boil, simmer at low medium heat for 20 minutes.
8. Add instant dhal, tomato puree/sauce (if you like it sour) stir to mix well, simmer for another 10 minutes.
9. Add coconut milk, sugar and salt to taste. Bring to boil and remove from heat.
10. Serve with rice, noodle or roti canai.

The instant dhal (dal)

"Memori" brand roti canai, made in Penang, Malaysia. Highly reconmended

Ravioli with Mushroom Red Sauce (Quik and Easy Meal)

2009-08-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

I always keep something for quick and easy meals in my fridge, so in case when I come home late from work we can have something in fast for our dinner. (Tom said: If I tried to cook, we'd have frozen burritos and canned peas.)

We bought a pack of grilled chicken with mozzarella cheese ravioli from Costco last week. Since I got home late today and was so tired from work, I decided to cook this lazy meal for our dinner tonight. It only took me 5 minutes of preparation, and 30 minutes for the cooking time.

I have also included a pasta/noodle machine in my wish list - so I will make my own version of ravioli from scratch one day! :-p (editor's note: Sounds like the kind of present we'd all enjoy! hehe!)

1. 1lb of grilled chicken with mozzarella cheese ravioli

2. Mushroom sauce
i) 1 tbsp olive oil
ii) 1 cup of chopped sweet onion
iii) 300g fresh whole white mushroom
iv) 1 can - 751g Hunt's Garlic and Herb spaghetti sauce
v) Some basil and parsley flakes (dried or fresh)
vi) some black pepper and salt to taste
vii) Some shredded mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese for topping

Steps :

1. Heat a sauce pan, add in olive oil.
2. Fragrant the chopped onion, stir in whole mushrooms. Cook for 2 minutes.
3. Pour in spaghetti sauce, bring to boil, add in basil and parsley flakes.
4. Simmer for 30 minutes, pepper and salt to taste.
5. Meanwhile, boil a quart of water, cook the ravioli for about 3~4 minutes or until it reach your desired tenderness. Drained and set aside.
6. When the sauce is done, top the mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese on the ravioli, scoop the mushroom sauce to the top of it.
7. Serve warm

Homemade White Bread (Pain de Mie)

2009-08-14T00:54:00.000-07:00

I really love the fresh baking aroma from the oven spreading in my house. Plus a cup of fresh brewed coffee, oh gosh!! Just like being in the heaven! lol!!

I am a bit picky about the shape of my bread. I don't like the shape of the bread pan that came with my bread machine. Tom helped me to get a new square bread pan with lid from Amazon (editor's note: This is called a "Pullman Loaf Pan." You buy a slide-on lid to make the square "sandwich bread" loaves). Its weird, we had to order it online, we couldn't find it from the major supermarket or retailer stores here.

There are so many bread recipes out there. I am still new to bread making, so for safety, I started with a very basic white bread recipe (editor's note: This is technically called "pain de mie"). It turned out great! Cottony soft inside. I am glad that I have everything for a fresh and healthy homemade bread now. I was really concerned about consuming too much bread improver - a common ingredient for those bakery shop to make nicer looking or texture bread/bun. I don't have worry too much about this now. yay!!!

Here's my recipe I would like to share, it is really simple for a new bread baker. Try it out! :-)
(editor's note: Best "white bread" ever! Can't wait for raisin bread!!!)

For a 4" X 4" X 13" Bread Pan

1. 350~360ml fresh warm milk (100~110F) - volume is to be adjusted according to the moisture of the dough.
2. 1tbsp sugar
3. 1 pack (7g or 21/4tsp) active dry yeast
4. 40g butter - melted (I will add up to 60g in my next attempt as I like the taste of butter a lot)
5. 1 .5 tsp salt
6. 510g all purpose flour

For bread machine baker
1. Pour the warm milk in the pan, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm milk. Let is rest for 5 minutes.
2. Add in flour and salt, select dough function and press start.
3. Add in butter after 4 minutes of mixing.
4. I shorten the mixing and kneading process, I just let the machine run for 25 minutes.
5. After 25 minutes, turn off the power. You may rise the dough in the machine or remove it to a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic film and rise for 1 hour in warm (85F) place or doubled in size.
6. Punch the dough down with your fist, divide to 3 or 4 portions. Let them rise for 10 minutes.
7. With a rolling pin, flatten the dough to approx. 4" wide, 12" long, roll it from short side like a swiss roll, place it in the bread pan. Repeat the same to the rest of doughs.
8. Cover with plastic film, let it rise for another 45~60 minutes, or until it is 90% up the way to the top of the pan.
8. Bake with lid on at preheated oven (350F) for 35~38 minutes.
9. Once its done baking, remove the bread from the pan immediately and cool it on a wire rack.

For hand kneading baker
1. Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm milk in a large mixing bowl, let it rest for 10 minutes.
2. Add butter and flour into yeast mixture, stir until well it form a dough. Turn dough out to a floured surface.
3. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10~15 minutes)
4. The rest of the steps will be same as machine baker #5~#9.

Ready to bake!

Fresh from the oven!

Pan Fried Asam (Tamarind) Prawn - (家常菜-干煎亚叁虾)

2009-08-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

I can easily finish a whole plate of asam prawn with sambal belacan condiment. No kidding, if I'm not worried about the high cholesterol, I will cook this meal a lot.

I like to eat at home, I like the feeling of our family having meals together even though it may be just a very simple home cooked meal. It is not about the food, it is all about the feeling of a family being able to gather together. Back when I was kid, my parents were so busy on their noodle stall, they operated the business in the morning and night in order to keep us well fed and educated. That was a hard time. Sometime, my mom would just cook a big pot of rice, then serve everyone with a piece of over easy egg, seasoned with few drops of soy sauce and sesame oil. Simple enough, but I love the taste. Even now, I will still make this for my lunch box for work sometimes.

Prawn meal was not always available back then as we couldn't afford it. So, when my mom cooked this asam prawn, we would count how many prawn were in the plate and split it equally between us. LOL!!! This is one of my childhood memories.

Here's the recipe for the pan fried asam prawn.

A)
1. 350g prawn - trimmed and de-veined

B) Marinate sauce
1. 20~25g asam paste
2. 2~3 tbsp of water
3. 1/8tsp of sugar or to taste
4. 1 tsp soy sauce or to taste
5. 1 tsp oyster sauce

6. 1/2 dark soy sauce for cooking (optional)

Steps :
1. Mixed the marination ingredients #1~#5 in a container.
2. Rub in fresh prawns, marinate for at least 3 hours or longer for better flavor. Refrigerate.
3. Grease a heated frying pan, add in prawns. Keep the asam marination for later use.
4. Pan fry the prawn until they turn in pink color.
5. Add in dark soy sauce (optional)
6. Pour in the asam marination and continue to cook until its almost dry out.
7. Serve with sambal belacan condiment.

Summerberry Muffin

2009-08-08T23:05:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy week. Didn't get the chance to bake or cook. Its good though, our stomachs needed to take a break after so many heavy meals recently.

I was thinking to bake some mixed berry stuff as I have all kinds of berries sitting in my refrigerator - I use them for making my smoothies every day. My first thought was to bake a mixed berries sandwich cake, but the heat here makes me too lazy to move, so here I come with my simple summer berry muffin recipe. Its a fast and easy bake. Hope you like it.

Ingredients :

1. 180g all purpose flour
2. 50g sugar
3. 2 tsp baking powder
4. 1/4 tsp salt
5. 2 eggs
6. 55g butter - melted
7. 175ml fresh milk
8. 1 tsp vanilla extract
9. 1/2 tsp fresh grated lemon zest
10. 180g fresh or dried mix berries
( I mixed up with 1 ripe strawberry - cut to small cubes, some raspberries - cut to smaller cubes, some blueberries)

Steps :
1. Preheat the oven at 400F/200C
2. Sieve all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl.
3. In another bowl, whisk the eggs until blended.
4. Add the melted butter, milk, vanilla and lemon zest. Stir to well combined.
5. Make a well in the dry ingredients, and pour in the egg mixture.
6. Stir the batter with a spatula just until the flour is moistened, not until smooth.
7. Fold in mixed berries.
8. Scoop the batter into the muffin cups.
10. Bake for 20~25 minutes.

Mexico Bun - Water Roux (汤种) Starter Bun Dough

2009-08-02T00:33:00.001-07:00

Don't ask me why is this call Mexico Bun. I believe all the Mexican people here have no idea what is this. I have not seen this bun been sold in the bakery shops here, where the place closer to Mexico. Weird huh?? LOL!!

In order to get the best result of my bun making (softest and longer lasting freshness), I keep trying out different kind of dough recipes, I believe that by trial and error, I will improve the technique and knowledge of the dough handling.

I have learned about this water roux (汤种) long time ago. Today, I finally got the chance to try it out, I think I have found the best sweet bun dough so far, you may use the same dough for savory filling or topping, the texture and softness of the buns are exactly the same you could get from the bakery shop.

Besides Mexico Bun, I also made some BBQ pork bun with the left over filling from the char siu bao I made the other day. Of course, can't miss hot dog onion buns too, it's our favorite now. lol!! Please refer to my older posts for the filling/topping recipe of BBQ pork, Parmesan Oregano sticks and Hot Dog Onion. I will only post the dough making and Mexico bun topping recipe in this post.

Assorted bun again...

The making of the water roux is not as complicated as I thought. Following are the recipe and steps I would like to share, please try it out and see if this is the one you have been long looking for.

A) Water Roux Starter
i) 25g bread flour
ii) 1/2 cup water (approx. 150ml or 125g)
** The ratio (based on weight) of the flour and water should be 1 : 5 **

Steps of making water roux starter :

1. Mix the flour and water in a non-stick sauce pan until well blended (lump free).
2. Cook it over medium low heat (stir continuously) until the mixture reaches 65C (approx. 149F).
3. Remove the pan from heat immediately, cover with plastic film and let it cool to room temperature.

** If you don't have the thermometer to measure the mixture while cooking, the estimated cooking time is about 2~3 minutes, the mixture should be thicken by then (the texture is like the egg and flour mixture of sponge cake batter). **

Temperature and texture of the water roux.

B) The Bun Dough Ingredients :

i) 375g bread flour
ii) 150g all purpose flour
iii) 35g milk powder
iv) 75g sugar (I reduced it to 70g)
v) 1 tsp salt (I reduced it to 3/4 tsp)
vi) 1 envelop (7g) instant yeast.
vii) 1 egg - lightly beaten.
viii) 150ml lukewarm (86F/30C) water - as Arizona weather is too dry, I had to add another 10ml water. So, please adjust the amount of the water according to the weather condition in your country or area.
ix) 40g unsalted butter

Steps (I tried my best to describe the process with the bread machine method and hand kneading method) :

1. Sieve together all the dry ingredients except yeast.
2. For bread machine user, pour in ingredients in sequence - water, egg then flour mixture.
3. Form a small well (not too deep to the liquid ingredients), add in yeast.
4. Select the dough function and press start.
5. After 5~6 minutes of mixing (the mixture should be crumbly now), add in water roux starter.
6. About 15 minutes later, add in butter and let the machine continue to run.
7. The whole mixing and kneading process is 30 minutes.
8.This time, I let the dough rise in the machine for 1 hour after it stopped kneading. Due to the dry weather here, I placed a damp tower on top of the bread pan, and cover with lid.
9. Alternatively, you may remove the dough from the machine, and rise in a lightly greased mixing bowl, cover the bowl with plastic film, rise at temperature 78F/28C for 1 hour.
10. After one hour, test the dough by poke it down with your finger, if it does not bounce back, means that you are ready to go, otherwise, rise until it reaches the condition.
11. Punch down the dough with your fist to deflate the gas.
12. Divide it to your desired portions, roll each of them to a round ball.
13. Let them rest for another 10 minutes, then you can go ahead to shape what ever buns you like to make.
14. After shaping, let the buns rise for another hour at temperature 100F/38C. For most consistent results, I let them rise in an un-heated oven, put a bowl of boil water in the oven, close the door and let it rise until last 15 minutes, remove the buns and water when you preheat the oven.
15. Bake according to your recipe's instruction.
16. After its done baking, once you remove the baking sheet from the oven, transfer your buns to the cooling rack immediately, This is one of the IMPORTANT steps, as the heat of the baking sheet will make the bottom dry and hard.

For hand kneading baker :
1. Sieve together all the dry ingredients on your working surface.
2. Make a small well in the middle of the flour mixture, slowly add in water, egg and water roux starter.
3. Knead for about 15~20 minutes, add in butter and continue to knead for at least 30 minutes. (To test if the dough has been kneaded enough, stretch a little of it, it should not tear off easily and looks translucent).
4. Place the dough in a lightly greased mixing bowl, cover it with plastic film, rise at 78F/26C for 1 hour.
The rest of the steps are the same as machine method - steps # 10~13.

C) Mexico Bun

1. Filing - 10g butter cube for each bun.

2. Topping :
i) 70~75g all purpose flour 70g first, add extra if necessary - I like it thicker, as it will create crispier topping after baking)
ii) 60g salted butter - soften in room temperature.
iii) 65g sugar
iv) 1 tsp coffee paste
v) 1 tbsp (add extra if you wish to have stronger taste) instant coffee dissolved in 1 tbsp water

Steps :
1. Whisk the butter and sugar until well blended.
2. Stir in coffee paste and liquid, mix well.
3. Sieve the flour into the mixture (sieve 70g first, add extra if the mixture is too runny, I like it thicker as it will result crispier topping after baked).
4. Stir to well combined (lump free). Refrigerate until needed.
5. Scoop the mixture into a icing piping bag.

Steps to make the buns :
1. Flatten the ball (the small dough portions that have been rested for 10 minutes), place a cube of butter in the middle, pinch and seal the edge.
2. Let the the buns rest for 1 hour.
3. Pipe (squirt on with cake decorating tube) the coffee mixture on top of the bun in a swirl pattern.
4. Bake at 375F for 12 minutes. (Different oven will give different result, I adjust it by trial and error, this is the best temperature and timing for me).
5. Remove the buns from the oven and transfer them to the cooking rack.

Mexico Bun before baking.

Mixed Mushrooms with Tofu in Claypot (三菇豆腐煲)

2009-07-29T20:37:00.001-07:00

I need to get rid of my "spare tire" hanging there on my belly --> a side effect of baking and eating too much recently.

I decided to cook more vegetable and less meat (Tom can't live without meat (Editor's Note: Vegetarians are weird. Vegans doubly so.)), so I grabbed different kinds of vegetable and mushroom from the stores. Do you guys know that by consuming more fresh mushroom, your skin will be smoother? I am not sure if this works for you. I did have this experience while I was working in China few years ago. The cook in our hostel cooked at least 5~8 mushroom meals in a week.

Cute little beech mushroom!!

At that time, I was not a big fan of mushroom, but I did not have too much choices to eat. After several weeks of working there, I noticed that my skin of my arms and hands turned smoother (usually rough like sand paper.. lol), I started to cook and consume more fresh mushrooms afterward... hehehe... women --- beauty first!

You can cook this dish with any kind of fresh mushroom available. Amount of uses is adjustable to your personal liking. You don't have to serve it in a clay pot if you don't have one.

Ingredients :

1. 10 white mushroom - sliced

2. 1 stalk abalone mushroom - sliced

3. 1 small bunch of beech mushroom - separated

4. few pieces of fresh black fungus (can use pre-soaked dried black fungus too)

5. Some snow pea

6. 150g silken/soft tofu - cut to10cm thick slices

7. 3~5 cloves garlic - crushed or chopped

8. 1 tsp oyster sauce

9. Salt to taste

10. 2~3 tbsp water

11. Some Chinese celery for garnishing

1. Heat a lightly greased frying pan.

2. Brown the garlic, stir in ingredients # 1~4. cook for 2~3 minutes over high heat.

3. Add in snow pea, oyster sauce, continue to another 1~2 minutes.

4. Salt to taste, add some water if needed.

5. Transfer the mushroom to a clay pot, add in tofu, bring to boil.

6. Remove from heat, garnish with some Chinese celery when serve.

"Smiling" Char Siu Bao (开口笑 - 叉烧包)

2009-07-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share some pictures and findings for my char siu bao making recently, I have posted the skin recipe before, these are my findings and techniques for making the good "smile" of your buns --> cracking on the top. For full recipe, please read here.

1. While adding the baking powder liquid to the dough, make sure you knead it thoroughly to avoid uneven mixture, otherwise, there will be some little brown spots on the skin. To be safe, knead at least 10 minutes.

2. Rolling - leave the edge thicker than center for easier pleating.

3. While pleating, avoid any oil or gravy of the filing on the edge, try to pull more dough from the edge to the top, the thicker the dough on top, the bigger the smile. :-)

This time, I used the leftover char siu from the restaurant, more fat, but tasted better. I omitted the soy sauce and dark soy sauce, just used oyster sauce and hoisin sauce as gravy seasoning, I have added some green peas too.

Tuna Salad with Cracker

2009-07-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

I feel blessed to live in this peaceful and resourceful place. I have a very "bad" habit, people (especially my girl friends) hate to be around me, as I couldn't stop thinking about food. My schoolmates, colleagues, best friends blamed me for their weight gaining because I fed them too frequent, ..:-p, sorry ya..., I just wanted to share nice food with you all, I have not been selfish, right?

I am making this tuna salad for my afternoon snacks, it is too long for me to not have food during the gap between lunch and dinner, by taking this light afternoon snack, it actually helps you not to eat too much for dinner. See, I am caring about your figures too, friends! :-)

This recipe can be used for sandwich too. I hope you like it.

A) Any kind of crackers or sandwich bread you prefer.

B) Tuna Salad
i) 1 can light tuna in water (12oz) - drained
ii) 1/3 cup coarsely chopped onion
iii) 1/3 cup coarsely chopped celery
iv) some finely chopped chili padi/halapeno (if you like it spicy)
v) 3 tbsp of light whipped salad dressing or light mayonnaise
vi) some black pepper to taste (optional)
vii) Some lime juice (optional)

C) Topping
i) Some cherry tomato or persian cucumber slices
ii) Some mint leaves (optional)

Steps :

1. Mix well ingredients B
2. Serve with preferred crackers/bread and toppings.

Pan Seared Zesty Lime Cod Fish

2009-07-23T19:11:00.000-07:00

Wanna to make some nice dishes of your own for a candle light dinner with your loved one??

During this economic down turn, we have to watch out every single penny we spend, but, how do we maintain the quality of life? To avoid dining in a nice restaurant so frequent, Tom and I sometime will work together to set up a nice candle light dinner at home. Of course, I will be in-charge the cooking portion, what is Tom's responsibility?? He plays a very important role for the dinner --> Light up the candles! LOL..... (editor's note: Also the CLEAN UP!!! -TS)

So, what is tonight's special? -- Pan Seared Zesty Lime Cod fish. Don't panic, it is easy to prepare. You may use salmon fillets for this recipe too.

I added some Italian Balsamic salad dressing too, the fish actually tasted good without any sauce.

Ingredients and Steps :

1. 2pcs Cod Fish/Salmon (approx. 1lb)
2. 1 tsp olive oil
3. 1/2 tsp grated lime zest
4. Salt and garlic powder, black pepper
5. Zesty blend of basil, oregano, parsley, paprika
6. Some lime juice

Steps :
1. Marinate fish fillet with ingredient # 2~5 for at least 3 hours or longer for better taste.
2. Heat up a lightly greased frying pan.
3. Slowly place the fish fillet on the pan
4. Switch to medium high heat, pan fry for 3~4 minutes each side.
5. Remove from heat, sprinkle with some lime juice when served.

Hot Dog Onion Bun, Blueberry Bun

2009-07-20T08:17:00.000-07:00

I'm sooooooooooooooooooo happy!!! My first attempt to shape hot dog bun and it turned out so well, just like the one sold at the bakery shop!!

I just got a bread maker recently, it makes my life so much easier. I don't have to knead the hell out of the dough. You just have to get all the ingredients ready and let the machine do all the work.

Assorted Buns....

I have not tried the full function, just use the dough function to do the mixing and kneading process, then I remove the dough to a large mixing bowl. I will definitely make more bread with the full function of this machine in the near future, stay tuned ya!!!

Blueberry Bun.

For the dough base, it is a bit different from my bacon onion roll recipe as I was running out of all purpose flour, I substituted it with lesser amount of cake flour and increased amount the bread flour and milk powder. I increased the amount of sugar too as the last attempt was a bit too bland. Eventually, all turned out well, I will use this recipe as my bun making in future.

Fresh from the oven!

Bacon Onion Roll again!!! Our favorite, can't miss it! :-)

Inside texture, soft and moist...

Here are my recipes and steps, happy baking! :-)

A) Dough
1. 1 pkg instant yeast (7g)
2. 480g bread flour
3. 120 cake flour
4. 110g sugar
5. 10g salt
6. 25g milk powder
7. 300ml water
8. 1 egg
9. 60 unsalted butter - soften in room temperature

B) mix some egg yolk and milk to brush the surface before place in the oven

C) some butter to brush on the surface after remove the buns from the oven

Steps :
(If you don't have bread maker, please refer to my previous post - Bacon Onion Roll for the hand mixing and kneading steps).

1. Place all the liquid ingredients (water and egg) first to the bread pan of the machine.
2. Then add all the dry ingredients EXCEPT yeast.
3. Make a small well on the top of the dry ingredients (not too deep to keep yeast away from the wet ingredients, add the yeast to the well.
4. Select the DOUGH function and press start.
5. My bread maker takes - 6 minutes for first knead (mixing) and 24 minutes for kneading.
6. I added the butter after first knead.
7. When the kneading is completed, remove the dough into a large lightly greased mixing bowl (this is optional, I wondered my bread pan is not big enough for my rising).
8. Cover the mixing bow with plastic film, rise for 2 hours 30 minutes at warm (approx. 28C) and moist place (Arizona is too dry, I rose my dough in the oven-non heated, and put a bowl of boiled water in it).
9. The dough should be triple in size after 2.5 hours.
10. Punch the dough with your fist to deflate the gas.
12. Divide the dough to 60g balls (I didn't divide all, I kept some for my bacon roll making), round them with your hands.

D) For Hot Dog Onion Bun
i) 6 hot dog
ii) 1/2 cup of spring onion mix with 1/2 egg, pinch of salt and sugar, black pepper.

1.Flatten the dough A, roll up with a piece of hot dog.
2. Cut it (just cut through the dog)
3. Twist and shape it as picture shown, let it rise for another 50 minutes, cover with plastic film.
4. 15 minutes before rising time up, pre-heat the oven at 350F.
5. Brush the egg liquid #B
6. Top each bun with a spoon of onion mixtures.
7. Bake for 13 minutes
8. Remove the buns from the oven, lightly brush with butter for shinny effect.

Temperature and time are to be adjusted as different oven will bring different condition and result.

E) Blueberry Bun
i). 1/2 cup (or as needed) of homemade blueberry jam - recipe here.
If blueberry jam is not available, use blueberry pie filling and omit ingredient #ii below.

ii). Some fresh/frozen blueberries.
iii). Some icing sugar (optional)

1. Flatted the dough ball, roll it up.
2. Let it rise for 50 minutes.
3. Cut the middle of the dough with scissors
4. Brush with egg liquid B
5. Top with blueberry and jam.
6. Bake for 13 minutes.
7. Lightly brush with butter after remove from oven.
8. Sprinkle with some icing sugar on top of the buns. (optional)

Stretch to check the texture after kneading --> size of dough before rise

Size of dough after rose ---> punch to deflate the gas

Hot dog bun making

Kreativ Blogger Award

2009-07-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

My sincere thanks to Small Small Baker and Amy from Cooking Crave for awarding me Kreativ Blogger Award, this is a big encouragement for me to keep inventing and posting more recipes here.

The Kreativ Blogger Award comes with some rules:

1. You must thank the person who has given you the award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who has nominated you for the award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on which of the blogs to let them know they have been nominated

For those who have been known me for a long time, it is very easy to categorize me in "Hunger for Food", for those who just met me, here, I would like to talk something about myself:

1. My BIGGEST and LONG LASTING passion is everything about food.
2. Thanks to God that my figure is still under control, this is really a hard job for a food hunger like me. My close friends in Malaysia are always afraid to dine with me as I will order too much foods and eat non stop. Even while I was working in the office, I would have about 5 meals in a day. lol!!!
3. If I crave for something I really like, I don't care how much time it takes me to drive or to prepare in order to satisfy my stomach.
4. Cooking is one of my stress relief treatment, while I am cooking, I will forget everything because I enjoy and concentrate on the process of cooking.
5. I wish to keep a "home feel" for my honey and family, because for me, there is nothing worth more than to have a homemade meal together with my family.
6. One of the reason to keep up cooking is the foods sold out there are expensive with just little ingredients, that makes me always have to spend extra money if I order to add extra ingredients, in this case, why don't I cook it myself?? I can add as much as I can. LOL!!
7. The reason I start this blog because I am so far away from my family now, I want to share what I am eating and cooking here, and also to my friends, I don't have to repeat the recipes I have given, just tell them to read my blog and share our cooking adventures.

I would like to give this Kreativ Blogger Award to the following bloggers :

1. Agnes Sim - http://dreamlandstation.blogspot.com/ - I am so clumsy on handicraft, I admire her job on making so many lovely jeweleries.
2. CK Lam - http://www.what2seeonline.com/ - Her blog is so professional with detail s of information and beautiful photos about her food huntings, sometime, her post makes me so craving about Penang food and just grab the ingredients from the stores and cook it by my own. :-p
3. Gourmet Garden - http://gourmet-garden.blogspot.com/ - I got to know her because we post the same topic in a same month. We probably have a same dream - want to own a restaurant some day. :-)
4. Do what I Like - Florence - http://wlteef.blogspot.com - I got attracted by her chilled mango cheesecake, still no time to try out the recipe.
5. Mitong - http://www.wretch.cc/blog/mitong - you will find a lot of healthy recipe and pretty photos out there, but it is in Chinese. :-)
6. Penang Tua Pui - www.penangtuapui.com - my food buddy that we never met each other. lol, just love their food hunting adventures.
7. boo_licious - http://masak-masak.blogspot.com - you will find some interesting food hunting and recipes here.

Blueberry Jam

2009-07-19T00:16:00.000-07:00

Blueberries again!!! You can't blame me, its blueberry season!!!! You just have to pay 20% of the price that they are used to be, so I grabbed so much of it and freeze them. You may see few more blueberry recipes posted on my blog in the next couple of weeks :-p.

I promised my friend that I would post my blueberry jam recipe last time when I posted my blueberry scones recipe. I think this is the easiest jam to make, you don't have to add too much sugar in it as blueberry is not that sour like raspberry and blackberry.

Here's my simple blueberry jam making :

1. 1 kg blueberry
2. 1 tbsp brown sugar
3. 1 tbsp maltose (麦牙糖) - can be omitted if it is not available, but have to cook about 20mins longer to thicken the jam.
5. 1~2 tbsp honey or as needed to your preferred sweetness.

Steps :

1. In a non stick sauce pan, simmer the blueberries for 30~40 minutes, smash the raspberries with a wooden spatula or potato masher while cooking.
2. Add in ingredient # 2 and #3, stir until dissolved.
3. Simmer for another 20 minutes, stir occasionally.
4. Remove from heat, leave to cool for 2~3 minutes.
5. Stir in honey, mix well.
6. When the sauce is completely cool, storage in a clean jar, cover tight and refrigerate.

Clay Pot Chicken Rice (煲仔鸡饭)

2009-07-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

I have some chicken leftover from making sizzling noodles. It can be used for clay pot chicken rice too. The ingredients and steps of the chicken and gravy are the same. You may refer to my sizzling noodle post. I will just post the steps of cooking the rice with other ingredients here.

A) Chicken & Gravy
1) 2 pieces of chicken chunks and some gravy (please refer to sizzling chicken noodle post)

B) Rice
1. 1/2 cup of rice for a small clay pot - washed and pre-soaked in water for an hour
2. 1/2 cup of water, save some extra hot water.

C) Other ingredients
1. Few slices of Chinese sausage (腊肠)
2. 1~2 chunks salty fish
3. 1 egg
4. Some sesame oil
5. Some green onion or Chinese celery for garnishing

Steps :

1. Boil the rice and water in a clay pot, simmer with cover on for 2~3 minutes over medium low heat.
2. Add in salty fish chunks, cook for another 1 minutes.
3. Scoop in chicken and gravy, continue to cook for 2~3.
4. Add in sausage slices and egg, cook for 2 minutes.
** Be careful to adjust the heat, sprinkle some extra hot water if needed**
5. Drop some sesame oil, garnish with some green onion or celery when serve.

Sizzling Chicken Noodle (铁板面)

2009-07-14T19:08:00.000-07:00

My friend in Penang complained that I should have posted more Asian recipes. Eerrr?? I think I have been posting more Asian recipes..dear :-P

Tom bought me a cast iron sizzling pan few months ago. I like to serve my food in a clay pot or a sizzling pan because they keep your food warm longer. I especially like pipping hot. :-p

I like to order sizzling noodle if I dine in at the food court inside the shopping mall. I can say it is available in every shopping mall? It is because I seldom find a good noodle stall operate in the food court. If the sizzling noodle served to me is not good, I could just simply add in soy sauce and chili to "cure" them and it won't tasted too bad since the noodle served warm with the sizzling plate.

It is not difficult to make sizzling noodles on your own, here's my recipe and direction. Hope you like it. :-)

A) Noodle for 3~4 people.
1. I use ramen noodle - cook to about 80% doneness, as it will be cooked again on the sizzling pan. You can substitute ramen with Yi Mee.
2. 3~4 eggs
3. Some green onion or cilantro for garnishing.

B) Chicken
1. 600g boneless chicken leg meat - marinate overnight with :
i) 1tbsp soy sauce
ii) 1 tbsp oyster sauce
iii) 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
iv) 1 tsp sesame oil
v) 1/4 tsp white pepper
vi) 2 cloves garlic - crushed
vii) few ginger slices

C) Gravy
1. 2~3 cloves of garlic - minced
2. Few ginger slices
3. 1 tsp soy paste (normal or spicy)
4. 3~4 dried chili - unseeded, pre-soaked
5. 2~3 dried mushroom - pre-soaked, sliced then rub with some sugar (a trick to make the mushroom more springy)
6. 250~280ml water.
7. 1 tsp oyster sauce
8. 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
9. A pinch of sugar or to taste
10. Salt to taste
11. 1 tbsp spoon corn starch mix with 2 tbsp water to thicken the gravy.

Steps :

1. Heat and grease a frying pan.
2. Fragrant garlic and ginger slices.
3. Add in soy paste, dried chili, mushroom slices, stir for about 20~30 seconds, watch out the heat, don't burn the ingredients.
4. Stir in marinated chicken, cook for about 4~5 minutes.
5. Slowly pour in water, bring to boil.
6. Add ingredients C7~C10, thicken the gravy with corn starch liquid.
10. Remove from heat and set aside.
11. Heat up the slightly greased sizzling pan (about 2~3 minutes).
12. Add in noodle, immediately, scoop the chicken and gravy to the sizzling plate, cook for about 1 minutes.
13. Slightly stir the noodle to coat well with the gravy.
14. Add in egg, for another 30~45 seconds or the egg reach your desired doneness.

Summer Apple Salad

2009-07-11T23:40:00.000-07:00

Hot!Hot!Hot!!!! The heat here drives me crazy!Couldn't just pack and run away from here.. lol!! It makes me just want to eat or drink something cold. Ice water, ice coffee, smoothies...! What about some chilled apple salad?? :-)

Another summer dish, chilled and refreshing. If you worry about it being fattening, use light mayonnaise (low fat), it tastes as good as normal mayo. And if you want to make your life easier, use canned or frozen corn instead of fresh corn and shuck with knife, I almost cut myself. :-p

If dried cranberries are not available, substitute it with raisins, or any dried berries or fruits you can get.

Simple and refreshing!

1. 1 Fuji red apple - cubed and soak in salt water for at least 10 minutes, drain well.
2. 1 Green apple - cubed and soak in salt water for at least 10 minutes, drain well.
3. 2/3 cup of cooled cooked sweet corn (or canned corn).
4. 1/2 finely chopped cabbage.
5. 1.5~2 tbsp light or normal mayonnaise
6. Some dried cranberries or raisins for topping.

Steps :
1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together ingredient #1~#5.
2. Chill for at least 6 hours before serve.
3. Serve cold, top with some dried cranberries.

Mini Pizzas

2009-07-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I last made my pizza. I don't like to just eat one kind of topping. This time, I split the dough into 4 portions, so I could make 4 different toppings - pepperoni, grilled chicken with onion, mushroom pepper and cheese.

Grilled Chicken Topping

I used the same recipe as last time but halved the volume. It yield 4 pieces of 4" size pizza. If you want to make more, just double the volume.

Pepperoni Topping

Pizza crust recipe :

1. 1/2 pack (3.5g)instant yeast
2. 1.5 cups all purpose flour (normal flour)- extra for dusting
3. 1/2 tbsp of sugar
4. 1/2 tsp salt
5. 1.5 tbsp olive oil/vegetable oil
6. 1/2 cup warm (110F/43C) fresh milk
7. 2 tbsp warm (110F/43C) water

Steps :

1. Sieve all the dry ingredients except salt in a large mixing bowl. Add in the salt in flour mixture after sieved.
2. Mix the milk, water and oil together, then pour into the flour mixture, stir until all the dry ingredients mixed well.
3. Dust your hands and working surface with some flour and slightly knead the dough for 3~5 minutes or until it forms a soft ball.
4. Put the dough in a slightly greased bowl, cover and let it rest for 30 minutes.
5. Remove the rested dough and place it on the working surface and knead about 4~6 times.
7. Split the dough into 4 balls, and roll to about 4" round piece.
8. Let the dough rest 5 minutes before you top with your favorite sauce and topping.
9. Bake in an oven preheated to 425F/218C for 12~15 minutes.

Steamed Tofu (bean curd) with Ground Pork

2009-07-07T21:23:00.000-07:00

Tofu (bean curd) is commonly used as a substitute for meat in Asian vegetarian meals, it contains large amounts of iron and protein. It is also very popular for people on diets. I am a tofu lover, I used to consume tofu (soft or hard) everyday - steamed, stir-fried, deep-fried, tofu soup, tofu dessert..., whatever dishes that made by tofu, I would surely love it, and never feel sick of it.

Tofu has very little flavor. In order to keep Tom eat healthy, most of the time, I cook tofu soup with sea weed. He always said that tofu tasted bland. To make him consume more tofu, I came up another recipe - steam tofu with some ground pork, mushroom and carrot topping. He is more happy to eat tofu now. :-)

The ingredients are adjustable to personal desire.

A)
1. 1 pc of soft tofu (approx. 1.5" thick, 2.5"W X 6"L)

B)Topping
1. 1.5 tbsp ground pork (if you want to make a meatless meal, you may substitute it with bamboo shoot or vegetarian meat)
2. 1 dried mushroom - pre-soaked - finely chopped
3. 1 clove garlic - minced.
4. Few slices of carrot

- again finely chop the ingredients # 2~5 until well combined, season with 1/2 tsp soy sauce, 1/4tsp oyster sauce, a few dashes of white pepper, a few drops of sesame oil and garlic oil.

C) Sauce
1. 1 tsp soy sauce
2. 1/2 tsp oyster sauce
3. A pinch of sugar
4. 1 tsp hot water
5. Some cilantro for garnishing (Unless you hate cilantro! -Tom)

- mix the sauce ingredients in a sauce bowl.

Cooking :
1. Boil the water.
2. Spread the topping evenly on top of the tofu.
3. Steam for 12~15 minutes.
4. Before remove from heat, add in the sauce C as needed. drop a little sesame oil and garlic oil. Garnish with cilantro
5. Serve warm

Grilled Italian Squash and Zucchini

2009-07-05T18:48:00.000-07:00

We have had too many heavy meals recently. I have to consume more vegetables to balance my diet, because my figure (weight) is growing!! LOL...umm, it is very hard to get the balance between good food and your body figures!

I previously didn't like Italian squash or zucchini, as I was not impressed by its taste and texture after being stir fried. I was wrong, ti shouldn't been stir fried - it tastes awesome for grilling. I learned this from our friend's gathering. Jim Wilson showed me how easy for the preparation and seasoning. I will definitely make
this again and again for our meatless meal.

Recipe & Steps :

1. 2 each Italian Squash and Zucchini - cut to about 3" strips.
2. Some Sweet Onion Slices.
3. Some red or orange pepper slices - optional, I used whole sweet peppers.
4. 1 tsp of olive oil.
5. Some parsley flakes.
6. Salt and garlic to taste.
7. Some black pepper.

Steps :

1. Preheat the grill, place a sheet of perforated heavy duty aluminum foil on the grate.
2. Rub the squash, zucchini, onion and peppers with olive oil.
3. Sprinkle some parsley, salt and garlic, toss to season evenly.
4. Grill for about 4~5 minutes with cover on, turn once or twice.
5. Sprinkle some black pepper, salt and garlic again (if needed) to taste before remove from heat.

Asam (Tamarind) Fish Soup

2009-06-30T22:37:00.000-07:00

The heat of the summer is really cruel, 45C yesterday!!!! Make me almost melt in the air. LOL!!

I was looking for something sour and spicy to open up my appetite. If I were still in Malaysia, I could simply get a bowl of Asam Laksa anywhere. Here, you've got to be hands on for everything. No choice, "tham chiak" - greedy for food - is my character, I would do everything possible I can just to stop my craving. :-p

My friend gave me 2 bags of fresh caught trout from her camping trip, and I immediately thought of making Asam Fish soup, because one of the major factors to make the sou taste good is the freshness of the fish, I couldn't get fresh "kembong" fish here, live Tilapia just cost too much!!

I can get almost every ingredient for Asam Fish here except the tamarind skin and bunga kantan (ginger flower), so, I substituted the tamarind skin with tamarind paste and omitted ginger flower, it tasted good too...yumyum!!!

Tom didn't like it the first time I made this soup for him few years ago, it was too fishy for him because he is from Ohio, middle part of the states, never had a chance to eat seafood until he was 34 years old. Now -- he loves it. Yay!!!

Here's my recipe and steps, the spiciness and sourness are adjustable according to personal desire.

1. 300g fresh trout (body about 5~6" long) - (use "kembong" fish it it is available)
2. 900~1000ml water.
3. 1 bunch (about 50g) "kesom" leaf (some people call it Vietnamese coriender or Vietnamese Cilantro) - can be easily found in Asian supermarket here.
4. 25~30 pearl onion (small onion) coarsely sliced.
5. 6~8 dried chili - unseeded.
6. 2~3 frese chili padi - smashed.
7. 1 tsp of tamarind paste - or as desired.
8. 1/2 tsp pre-fried belancan.
9. 1~2 tsp fish sauce - optional.
10. Salt to taste.

Steps :

1. Boil the water, add in ingredients #3~6.
2. Return to boil, simmer for about 30 minutes.
3. Add in tamarind paste and belacan, simmer for another 10 minutes.
4. Add in fishes, fish sauce. Return to boil and cook until the fishes are done. (Don't over cook the fishes for best texture.
5. Salt to taste.
6. Serve warm.

"Kesom" Leaf

Blueberry Scones Recipe

2009-06-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

Want something different for Sunday breakfast or high tea? Here's blueberry scones!!

Normally, I don't have to worry about what to eat for breakfast, Tom will fix it for us, bacon, omelet, over easy egg, muffins, orange.. etc. I have no complaint about that, he is our breakfast guy. LOL!!

Of course, I will make something different once a while, like Onion Bacon Quiche, banana muffins, bacon onion roll, and here they are - blueberry scones. They are best served with any fruit jam (I preferred mixed berry - I will post my home made mixed berry jam later), butter and honey!

It is a very simple and fast baking. Here's my recipe and steps, ENJOY!

Ingredients :

1. 1/2 stick frozen unsalted butter - coarsely grated (should be approx. 1/4cup) - keep in refrigerator until needed.
2. 1 cup all purpose flour
3. 1/2 tsp baking powder
4. 1/8 tsp baking soda
5. 1/4 cup brown sugar
6. 1/8 tsp salt
7. 1/4 cup sour cream (can substitute with 3 tbsp butter milk if sour cream is not available)
8. 1 egg
9. 2/3 cup fresh blueberry (or as needed) - if using frozen blueberry - DO NOT defrost.

Steps :

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Sieve the flour, baking powder and baking soda together.
3. Add sugar, salt and butter into the flour mixture, toss with folk to form fine crumbs or rub with your fingers.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and sour cream/butter milk.
5. Fold in egg mixture into the crumbs with a rubber spatula.
6. Turn the dough on a floured surface, knead it very lightly for 15 seconds until it is well combined - DO NOT over knead. (The dough should be soft and moist).
7. Add in blueberries, lightly rub into the dough to mix well.
8. Divide the dough to 8~10 portion. lightly flatten it with your fingers.
9. Place them on a un-greased baking sheet.
10. Bake on the middle rack in the preheated oven for 15~17 minutes.
11. Serve warm with any fruit jam or butter.

Bacon Onion Roll and Parmesan Oregano Bread Stick

2009-06-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

You really need to try this out, soft and yummy!!

I wanted to bake some bread a long time ago, but always gave up because afraid of the kneading process. It is really time consuming. I will get a bread maker one day!

Parmesan Oregano Bread Stick

It is summer time, which is good temperature to let the bread rise. Today I felt in a good mood to bake some bread, so I quickly gathered all the ingredients and started to work on it.

This time, I used a different recipe. I split the dough for bacon onion roll and Parmesan oregano bread sticks - both turned out great, soft and yummy. Just feel like eating Pizza Hut or Dominos bread stick, love it!!!

Dough recipe :

A)
1. 150g all purpose flour
2. 450g bread flour
3. 20g low fat powder milk
4. 70g sugar
5. 10g salt
6. 4 tsp yeast
7. 300ml water
8. 1 egg

B)
1. 60g unsalted butter

Method :
1. Mix all the ingredients in A in a large mixing bowl. Use your hand to form a lumpy dough.
2. Turn the lumpy dough to your work surface and start to knead.
3. Knead until the dough is smooth and not grainy nor rough. It should feel smooth in your hands. It takes about 15 minutes or longer, depending how you knead it.
4. When the dough is satin smooth, add in the butter. Knead it well to let the butter incorporate fully into the dough.
5. Knead until it is non sticky (30 mins).
6. Stretch a little of the dough, it should not tear off easily and it feels like stretching a thin layer and looks translucent against the light.
7. Once the texture is reached, form it into a ball, leave it in a large greased stainless steel bowl cover with plastic wrap.
8. Put it in a warm place and proof for about an hour or a little more. It should double or triple in size.
9. Remove the dough, punch down to deflate gas inside.
10. Divide it into 2 balls. Let it rest for a further 10 minutes in the bowl, covered.

For Onion Bacon Roll
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
- 4 slices cooked bacon - crumbed
- some oregano flakes
- some garlic powder
- some salt
- some black pepper
- some parmesan cheese
>> mix all ingredients except parmesan cheese<< - egg white mix with some fresh milk for brushing. 1. Roll the dough into a rectangle piece, sprinkle the onion bacon mixture in the center part. 2. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top of it. 3. Roll it up like a swiss roll and fold down the two ends below. 4. Rest for another 45 minutes, cover with plastic wrap. 5. Brush the egg white mixture on top of them. 6. Bake for 12 minutes at Preheated the oven at 325F. Then turn to 350F to brown the surface for 2 minutes
Texture of the roll

For Parmesan Oregano bread stick
- butter
- some oregano flakes
- garlic powder
- parmesan cheese
- salt

1. Roll the dough into a rectangle piece (about 1/3" thick,will rise thicker later).
2. Use the pizza cutter to cut 1.5" strips (widthwise)
3. Rest for another 45 minutes, cover with plastic wrap.
4. Brush some butter on the surface.
5. Sprinkle oregano flakes, garlic powder, pinch of salt, parmesan cheese on top of it.
6. Bake for 13 minutes in preheated oven at 325F, turn to 350F for 2 minutes to brown the surface.

Stir Fried Asparagus with Sambal Prawn

2009-06-19T19:01:00.000-07:00

Another common dish in the "chu char" and seafood restaurants in Malaysia. I was convinced that asparagus is only good when used in stir fry with sambal prawn.

The western restaurants here normally serve grilled asparagus. When I first came to US, I was hesitant to try it as I didn't know how asparagus tasted without chili. When I volunteered at Tzu Chi, I got the chance to know that it can be cooked together with egg too. They actually taste good off the grill or stir fried with scrambled egg.

However, I like is stir fry asparagus with sample prawn most. I never cooked this in US before I brought my bullet blender (US version in this link - we got the one in from Malaysia with the juice attachment you can't get in the US, but it is almost the same) from Malaysia, because I was too lazy to pound the chili and the blender I got from the shop here does not cater to smaller capacity.

Tom is now doing better to handle belacan now! LOL!

Here's my recipe :

1. 350g tender asparagus - cut to approx. 3~4" strips.
2. 200g prawn - peeled and de-veined.
3. 1/2 medium size onion - sliced or cubed.
4. 1 tbsp vegetable/corn oil.
5. 2~3 tbsp water
6. Pinch of salt (optional - may not need it as the saltiness of the dried shrimp might good enough for seasoning)
7. Sambal - pound or blend together the following ingredients :
a) 5~6 red finger chilies - unseeded
b) 1.5~2 tbsp dried shrimp - washed and rinsed.
c) 2 cloves of garlic
d) 1 tsp prefried belacan

Steps :
1. In high heat, grease the pan with vegetable oil.
2. Add in onion, stir for few second, add sambal # 6, stir and cook for about 1 minutes.
3. Add prawn, cook for 30 seconds.
4. Stir in asparagus strips, cook for 4~5 minutes. Sprinkle some water if it is too dry.
5. Salt to taste (optional)
6. Serve warm with white rice.

Stewed Pork Ribs in Bean Sauce (豆酱排骨)

2009-06-16T07:53:00.001-07:00

OK, take a break for seafood, too much cholesterol.

I don't have much time to spend on cooking on week days, hence, I will cook a pot of dish that can be frozen for a few meals. That will save me a lot of time to prepare the dinner when I get back from work.

This is one of the dishes that is available in my freezer. It is very appetizing when you mix the gravy with the rice. For those busy working mom, may be you can try it?

Recipe :

1. 2lbs of Pork Rib (hot water bathed)
2. 5 cloves garlic - sliced
3. 2~3 tbsp of bean sauce 豆酱 (can be spicy or non spicy - your choice)
4. 4~6 dried chilies - unseeded
5. 1 tsp dark soy sauce
6. 2 pickled plum
7. a pinch of sugar (optional)
8. 250~300ml water (or as needed)
9. 2 tsp of corn starch mix with 3 tsp water

Steps :

1. Grease a heated pot with some oil.
2. Fragrance the garlic sliced then add in bean sauce. Stir for 30 seconds.
3. Add in dried chili, pork ribs and dark soy sauce.
4. Stir and cook for 2~3 minutes.
5. Add water, bring to boil.
6. Simmer for 15 minutes.
7. Add pickled plum, pinch of sugar. Simmer for another 20~30 minutes or until the ribs reach your desired tenderness.
8. Taste the gravy, add some water if needed.
9. Before removing from heat, add some corn starch water to thicken the gravy.
10. Serve with white rice.

Banana Leaf Pan Fried Curry Tilapia with Mint Pepper Salsa

2009-06-11T22:08:00.000-07:00

After I finished the the Sweet and Sour Chili Crab, here comes the fish.

If I were in Penang, I would make this with Kembong fish or stingray. It is impossible to get kembong here, and stingray is frozen, so it wouldn't taste nice if you compare it with the fresh fish available in Malaysia.

I got 2 tilapia fillets from Albertson's, since they were on sale. I should have bought more - two were not enough for both of us.

I pan fried the fish with banana leaf in between the pan and fish, it helps to keep the juice of the fish. I served it with the refreshing mint pepper salsa, it was like having a ikan bakar in Penang. :-p

Ingredients & Steps :

A ) Fish
1. 2 tilapia fillets - rub with 2tsp of curry powder and 1/8tsp salt. Marinate at least 3 hours or overnight for better flavor.
2. 2 sheets of banana leaves (about 8" x8")
3. 1 tbsp cooking oil

B) Mint Pepper salsa
1. 10 mint leaves or as needed
2. 5~6 pearl onions - sliced
3. 3 chili padi (chopped) or 1 habanero
4. 1/2 tsp fresh lime juice or as needed
5. Pinch of sugar and salt to taste

- Mix all ingredients B and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serve.

To cook the fish :

1. Heat up a large skillet, grease with a table spoon of oil.
2. Place a sheet of banana leaf on the skillet, then lay the fish fillets on top of it.
3. Cook for 3~3.5 minutes for each side with the cover on.
4. Turn and change the banana once.
5. Serve with mint pepper salsa B as above.

Sweet and Sour Chili Crab

2009-06-09T07:59:00.000-07:00

Last week end was my seafood assignment. I made a couple of seafood meals. This would not happen always here in Arizona because the live and fresh seafood here is expensive. We couldn't afford to have seafood meal everyday.

When I decided to start my seafood adventure, we went to Lee Lee to grab some necessary ingredients. We bought a huge Canada (Dungeness) live crab from the tank, it was about 3lbs, cost us USD$25... ouch!! >_< !!!! But...., sometime, we have to pamper ourselves for a good meal after being working so hard, right???

When we got home, I felt so sorry had to fix the live crab. Of cause, you might query why didn't Tom help? Oh well, I think he would just pass out if I ask him to do so. He is a good man, would safe what ever animal he could from being hurt. (editors note: I was raised on a farm, silly! I've raised steers and lambs for slaughter. I'd have no problem dispatching this... sea monster! LOL! -Tom :-P )

OK, here's the recipe for what I normally cook for my family when I was in Penang.

1. 1 Canada Crab (3lbs).
2. 3 Red chilies (unseeded), pound with 2 cloves of garlic.
3. 6~8 thin sliced fresh ginger.
4. 3 cloves of garlic - chopped.
5. 1 medium size tomato - cut to 4~6 chunks.
6. Some carrot slices (optional).
7. 1 tsp oyster sauce.
8. 2~3 tbsp sweet chili sauce or as needed.
9. 2 tbsp tomato ketchup.
10. 100~150ml water.
11. Pinch of Sugar or to taste.
11. Salt to taste.
12. 1 tbsp corn starch mix with 1 tbsp water.
13. 2 egg whites.
14. Some red chili slices and green onion for garnishing.

Steps :

1. In high heat, heat and grease a frying pan.
2. Fragrant the garlic and ginger slices. Stir in the pounded chili and garlic.
3. Add in tomato chunks and carrot slices, stir for few seconds.
4. Add in crab, and ingredient # 7~9.
5. Stir and cook for about 1 minute.
6. Add some water and cover with lid. Cook over medium high heat for 2~3 minutes.
7. Uncover, switch to high heat. Add some more water if more gravy is desired, cook for another 2~3 minutes.
8. Add Sugar and salt to taste.
9. Add some corn starch water to thicken the gravy.
10. Add in egg white, wait for 3 seconds, stir and remove from heat.
11. Serve warm, gravy is perfect to mix with the white rice.

ENJOY!

Blueberry, Cherry Cheese Cake Petites

2009-06-06T10:28:00.000-07:00

I have posted this recipe before, but the photo was not so presentable because I didn't know that I would start my own blog at the time the photo was taken.

I made these cheese cakes for a friends gathering dinner again yesterday, so I took some nicer pictures before they all got eaten.

I like to make this for parties because it is very simple, fast and presentable. Here's the recipe again.

A) Crust base
1. 40~45pcs of bite size (about 1 inch diameter) NILLA wafers (mini vanilla wafers) or any kind of mini digestive cookies (as long as it can fit into your baking cup/tray.)

B) Cream Mixture
1. 2 packs of 8oz Cream Cheese (room temperature)
2. 2/3 cup sugar (reduced)
3. 2 eggs
4. 1 tsp lime or lemon juice
5. 1 tsp vanilla extract
6. 1 tsp orange zest (outer orange peel, grated VERY fine - optional, I like it because with a little bit orange flavor in it, you won't feel too creamy to eat)

C) Topping
1. Blue Berry, Cherry Pie Filling.

Steps :

1. Preheat the oven at 325F.
2. Mix the cream cheese, sugar and egg with an electric mixer until well blended.
3. Add lemon juice, vanilla extract and orange zest into the cream mixture, mix well.
4. Place the mini paper baking cup in the mini muffin tray (24pcs per tray), lay each of them with a piece of wafer.
5. Spoon the cream mixture into each baking cup (not too full)
6. Bake for 15 minutes.
7. Remove the tray from the oven, cool at room temperature for an hour or two, refrigerate at least 6 hours, better if overnight.
8. Top with your preferred fruit topping and serve cool.

Salty Fish with Meat Patty Clay Pot Rice (咸鱼肉饼煲仔饭)

2009-05-30T21:22:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of Clay pot Chicken Rice recipes out there. I will post my version some day. I came up with the Salty Fish with Meat Patty flavor first.

I had this dish in a Hong Kong style express restaurant here few weeks ago. It tasted good, but it came with just few little pieces of salty fish. Hence, I decided to make my own version with a lot of salty fish in it. LOL!!! Like many Asian people, I couldn't resist the wonderful taste of salty fish. For western people, it may smells horrible for them. Once, I had Tom to help me pan frying the salty fish on the outdoor stove, he came back and asked me a very cute question " Honey, are you sure this can be eaten??" LOL... Anyway, he is doing better now, just not too much salty fish for him.

The rice after it's been mixed with the sauce!! See the big chunk of salty fish?? Yum yum!!

This recipe is for 1 small clay pot rice.

A)Rice
1. 1/2 cup of rice - wash and soak for 1 hour before cook.

B) Meat Patty
1. 75g lean ground pork
2. 1 clove garlic - mined
3. Some garlic oil and sesame oil
4. Few dashes of ground white pepper
5. 1/4 tsp soy sauce
6. 1/4 tsp oyster sauce
6. 1/4 tsp corn starch

C) Few chunks of pan fried salty fish

D) Sauce
Mix all the ingredients D below on the stove or microwave.
1) 1/2 tsp soy sauce
2)1/4 tsp oyster sauce
3) 1/4 tsp dark soy sauce
4) 3 tsp of water
5) A pinch of sugar
6) Some garlic oil and sesame oil

F)
Some cilantro, green onion and red chili slices for garnishing.

Steps :
1. Mix ingredient B together, use a fork to form a 1/3" thick patty.
2. In a small clay pot, cook the pre-soaked rice with 1/2 cup of water, bring to boil (about 3~4 minutes), simmer with cover on at medium low heat for about 3 minutes.
3. Place the meat patty on top of the rice
4. Cover and simmer for another 4~5 minutes or until the patty is done.
**Watch the heat and water, don't let the rice burn. Get some hot water ready, and add some water if necessary**
5. When it is done, remove the clay pot from the heat. Top with the pre-fried salty fish. Garnish some cilantro, green onion and chili slices.
6. Mix with some sauce from step "D" (above) in the rice.

Mango Yogurt Cake (芒果乳酪蛋糕)

2009-05-30T20:59:00.000-07:00

This was my third assignment of last week end!!! I was exhausted after completing Hokkien Mee, Bak Zhang (Glutinous Rice Dumpling) and this cake. It needed a lot of work and passion+ patience to get them done right. But the results were worth the effort for me to try. Hubby just said that he wants this cake for his birthday. :-)

It is mango season. The mangoes that are sold in Asian supermarkets here are from Philippines - Manila mango. It is the one best suitable for yogurt, pudding and smoothie making. I always have them available for my smoothies or just eat them fresh.

I use a lot of mangoes for this cake, like my mom always said, I would make "liao lui" (lost money) business if I sell my homemade foods because I would add generous amounts of ingredients to make it tastier. LOL!!!!

Here is the recipe and the steps :

1) Cake base
A)
i) 90g cake flour - shifted
ii) 1 tsp baking powder - shifted
iii) 3 egg yolks
iv) 30g sugar
v) 1/4 cup water
vi) 1/4 cup vegetable oil
vii) 1/4 tsp salt
viii) 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
viii) 1/2 tsp mango extract

B)
i) 3 egg whites
ii) 50g sugar

2) Filling
i) 3 ripe mangoes - 2.5 cubed, slice another half for decoration.
ii) 170g plain yogurt
iii) 30g yogurt
iv) 15g gelatine gel (dissolved in 1/8 cup water)
v) 250ml whipping cream

3) Decoration (can be done with ingredients/fruits as desired)
i) 200ml whipping cream - whip with 1 tbsp of icing sugar.
ii) some mango slices from # 2( i )
iii) Some raspberries, blueberries and strawberries
iv) Some blueberry digestive cookie (I used Pepperidge Farms)

Steps :

1. Cake
i) Line a 8" spring form cake pan, preheat the oven at 325F.
ii) In a mixing bowl, mix ingredients A until well combined.
iii) In a separate larger and clean mixing bowl, whisk ingredients B until stiff.
iv) Gently fold in step # iii, lightly stir with plastic spatula to mix well.
v) Pour the mixture into cake pan, bake for 40~45 minutes.
vi) Invert the cake for cooling.
vii) Slice to 3 layers horizontally.

2. Filling
i) Dissolve the gelatin in the water, add in sugar, double boil until clear - set aside for slightly cooling
ii) Mix the mango and yogurt together, pour in # i, stir to mix well.
iii) Whip the whipping cream, mix 1/2 into # 2, divide into 2 portion.

3. To assemble

i) Place a layer of cake into cake pan.
ii) Spread 1 portion of filling on top of it, repeat the same step for second layer, place the last layer of cake on the top.
iii) Wrap the cake pan with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for 2~3 hours.
iv) Whip the whipping cream for decoration.
v) Lift up the cake ring, spread whipped cream around the edge and on top of it.
vi) Decorate with the fruits.

Cake cooling on the rack.

Mango Yogurt mixture.

Glutinous Rice Dumpling (粽子 - Zong Zi)

2009-05-26T19:03:00.000-07:00

First of all, I wish for everyone to have a great Dumpling Festival (Duan Wu Jie), see more information here.

One of my cooking assignments over the weekend was dumpling wrapping. I had never done the wrapping. I just used to be a helper to prepare the ingredients when my Mom made them. I love dumplings so much, I can have dumplings all day long to substitute my normal meals, but the glutinous rice is a bit hard for digestion, so, I limit myself to have just 3 a day! hehehe..., and there is a MUST have ingredient for my dumplings --- salty egg yolk. My Mom wanted to omit it due to health issues, but I warned her that I wouldn't eat it if there are no salty egg yolk in it. So, she would make a separate bunch for me. LOL!!

This is my first attempt for dumpling wrapping, so don't laugh at me ya...! You will notice that shape is not so perfect (triangle), pentagon shape also got, sizes are not equal...LOL!! But as long as it tastes good, who cares?? Eventually, they all will go to our stomach, right?? :-p, umm...a very good excuse!

After I confirmed some of the ingredients with my Si Fu (my Mom), I started my adventure very carefully to make them taste right - I didn't want to ruin it after so much work. I was glad I was able to keep the right taste, I already ate 4 of them just after the photos taken, Tom and Cici had 3! Yummyyyyyyy!!!!

The steps to prepare all the ingredients are written just after each line, you may have to watch the steps carefully, because some of them will be overlapping.

This is for 18~20 dumplings (small size).

A) 50 bamboo leaves.

B) Rice - 700g glutinous rice - soak for at least 3 hours and rinse. While soaking the rice, proceed the filling ingredients below:

Use the same pan until the last step.

C) Filling :

1. 7 salty egg yolks - cut into thirds.

2. 2/3 cup peanut - dried pan fry (without oil) for about 8~10 minutes over medium heat, stir to prevent burnt. Remove the skin after cooled, pound it and add 1/2 tbsp of sugar then mix well. Set aside for wrapping.

3. 6~8 garlic cloves - thinly sliced, brown it with 4 tbsp of oil, saperate the garlic slices from oil with a strainer. Keep the oil to cook the rice and ingredients below.

4. 1/2 cup dried shrimp - wash and rinse

5. 7~8 dried mushroom - soak and cut to 2~3pieces chunks.

Step - In a same pan with garlic oil greased, saute the dried shrimp and mushroom chunks - add 1 tbsp of oyster sauce, cook for 4~5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

6. 400g pork rump meat - cut to approx. 1 inch chunks, marinate with the following ingredients for at least 2 hours :
i) 3 tbsp soy sauce
ii) 1 tbsp oyster sauce
iii) 1 tsp dark soy sauce
iv) 1/2 tsp five spices powder
v) 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
vi) 1/4 tsp sugar

- With the same pan, add in 1 tbsp of garlic oil, stir in the marinated meat, cook for 4~5 minutes, remove from heat. It should yield about 3~4 tbsp gravy for rice frying.

And last, for the rice frying :

1. 2 tbsp garlic oil
2. 2 tbsp sesame oil
4. 1/3 inch ginger - minced.
5. 1/3 cup crispy onion
6. 3~4 tbsp gravy C6 as above.
7. 2 tbsp oyster sauce
8. 1/4 tsp five spices powder or as needed.
9. 1/2 tsp ground white pepper or as needed.
10. Soy sauce to taste (about 1~2 tbsp or as needed)

- add in both garlic oil and sesame oil into the heated pan, saute ginger and onion until fragrant.
- add in the pre-soaked glutinous rices, and ingredients #6~10.
- stir to mix well, cook for about 5 minutes or until the water dry out.
- taste, and remove from heat.

I'm still clumpsy to wrap the dumpling, will write about it after I practice more. The most important is to make sure the cooking water wouldn't seep into the rice.

To cook the dumpling, boil the water, add some salt in it. Line 4~5 bamboo leaves at the bottom of the pot, put in the dumplings (the water should completely cover the dumplings), place another 3~4 bamboo leaves on top of it. Return to boil, simmer over medium heat for 2.5~3 hours.

Penang Hokkien Mee (Penang Prawn Noodle)

2009-05-24T21:16:00.000-07:00

It is long a weekend, don't have to work on Monday (Memorial Day). Hence, I gave myself 3 big cooking assignments to achieve:-p!! These need a lot of work and time to prepare. I don't want to ruin the taste by rushing it.

Here is one of my cooking assignment for this weekend - Penang Hokkien Mee!! I have been long craving for it. I grabbed all the ingredients from Lee Lee and started my adventure!! It has been about 7 years since last time I made it. Fortunately, it turned out good. Again, Cici was doing so much better than her dad, she loved it the first time she had it!

The ingredients and steps for the soup :

Soup :

1. 5 Liter water
2. 1.5 kgs prawn or as desired
3. 0.5kg prawn head
4. 1 kg pork bones (hot water bathed)
5. 1 Jicama (about 450g) peeled and cut to 4 big chunks.
6. 60g rock sugar
7. 1 tsp belacan (optional)
8. 5 dried red chili (or as needed, I didn't make it spicy because Cici could only handle mild level)
9. 1/4 cup crispy onion, prepare extra for topping.
10. Salt to taste.

Chili paste :
1. 250g red chili
2. 10 dried chilies
(blend # 1 and #2 together, don't add water)

3. 1/4 tsp salt
5. 4 tbsp oil

Steps :

1. Boil the water.
2. Add in the prawn and cook until they are 90% done, remove from the soup, set aside to cool.
3. Add in the prawn head and pork bones, return to boil. Switch to low medium low heat and continue to cook.
4. At the meantime, peel the prawns and save the heads and shells. Then return the prawn heads and shells back to the soup.
5. Add in jicama, belacan and dried chili, simmer for 1 hour.

For Chili paste
6. In another stove, heat up a sauce pan, add in the oil, stir in the blended chili, cook over medium heat for about 10~15 minutes, add in salt.
7. Scoop out the cooked chili paste to a bowl.
8. Scoop in some prawn soup to wash out the remaining chili and oil in the pan then pour them back to the soup pot.
8. Grease the pan with some oil.
9. Add in prawns (those already peeled), stir and cook for 5~8 minutes, sprinkle some salt to taste.
10. Remove from heat, set aside.
11. Again, scoop some prawn soup to wash the pan and pour them back to the soup pot.
12. After an hour, add the crispy onions to the soup. If you want the spicy soup base, add in the chili paste you just cooked, or add in separately when serve.
13. Simmer for another 2 hour or longer for better taste (I like it overnight).
14. Salt to taste.
15. Discharge the prawn heads and shells before serve.

For the noodle and other condiments, it is adjustable according to your personal liking.

1. 400g yellow noodles (can substitute with instant noodle or ramen)
2. 100g bean sprout.
3. 50g rice vermicelli - soaked(omit it if you use instant noodle or ramen)
4. Some water spinach (空心菜) (I used yam leaves as substitute)

Steps :

1. Boil the water.
2. Put the strainer in the broiling water.
3. In sequent, add in vermicelli, noodle, bean sprout and vegetable.
2. Shake the strainer and cook for about 15~20 seconds.(don't over cook it)
3. Rinse it from the broiling water, and serve in a bowl.
4. Scoop in prawn soup, top with the following :

Topping :
1. Cooked prawned at # 9.
2. Crispy Onion
3. Hard broiled egg slices
4. Pork mean slices (can precooked in the soup)
5. Chili paste

A lot of prawns!!! LOL!!

I love this pot so much (got it at Target.) The built-in strainer saved me a lot of work when I removed the prawn heads and shells.

Banana Walnut Muffins

2009-05-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

Banana again!! LOL! No doubt, they are easily loved by most of us. Bread, pudding, smoothie, cake and now muffins. yum! yum!

I don't have much time to bake recently, a simple and quick baking recipe is really what I need, so, here they are! :-)

Ingredients and steps :

1. 1 cup walnuts - baked at 350F for 4~5 minutes and coarsely chopped
2. 6 ripe bananas - mashed with fork
3. 2 cups all purpose flour
4. 1/2 cup sugar
5. 1/2 tsp baking soda
6. 1 tsp baking powder
7. 1/4 salt
8. 1 stick (113g) unsalted butter - melted
9. 2 eggs (lightly beaten)
10. 1 tsp vanilla extract

Steps :

1. Preheat the oven at 375F.
2. Line the muffin cups on the baking tray.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix together sugar, mashed banana, butter, eggs and vanilla extract, lightly stir until well combined.
4. Sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into banana mixture, gently fold it to mix well.
5. Scoop the batter into each muffin cup, top with some walnuts.
7. Bake for 30 minutes.

Bacon Wrapped Jumbo Scallops

2009-05-19T19:12:00.000-07:00

It is pretty hard for me to ignore the jumbo scallops that are commonly available in supermarkets here. In Malaysia, we usually use dried scallops (江瑶柱) for soup cooking - it enhances the flavor and sweetness of the soup. But it is not cheap! LOL!!

I bought a pack of Japanese jumbo frozen scallops last week, craving for bacon wrapped scallops badly! It is an expensive dish served in western restaurants here. I would rather buy as many as I want and cook it by myself. You don't have to panic about how to season it, scallops don't need too much seasoning on it as their original taste is good enough to make you drool for it. :-)

Here are the ingredients and steps :

1. 6 thawed jumbo scallops (about 0.5lbs) - pat dry with paper tower
2. 6 slices of thin half cooked bacon (don't cook too crispy)
3. Some dill and thyme flakes
4. 3 BBQ skewer - soak in water for at least 1 hour before use.
5. Some lime slices (if desired)

Steps :

1. Wrap each scallop with a piece of bacon, secure with BBQ skewer.
2. Sprinkle some thyme and dill flakes on both sides.
3. Grill over medium heat for 3~4 minutes each side.
4. Sprinkle some lime juice on top of it (if desired).
5. Serve warm.

Summer Smoothies

2009-05-17T11:50:00.001-07:00

It is getting warm here, having a glass of mixed fruit smoothie is really refreshing. Cici got me a cook book few months ago, and I saw a couple of smoothie recipes in it. I am making different kind of smoothie every day, purely made from available fresh fruits and natural yogurt, some of them are just mix and match, not really following a recipe. I don't add any sugar in my smoothies because the sweetness from the fruit itself is good enough for me. You may add some honey if needed.

Here are 2 of my smoothies, just gather all the ingredients and blend it until smooth or leave some fruit chunks if desired. I will post some more later. Enjoy!

A. Berrynana

1. 80g ripe banana - cubed
2. 120g strawberry - cubed
3. 1/2 cup low fat natural flavor yogurt
4. 1/4 cup low fat milk

B. Tropical Fling

1. 70g ripe Manila mango - cubed
2. 70g ripe Pineapple - cubed
3. 1 tsp fresh lime juice or as needed
4. 1/2 cup low fat natural flavor yogurt
5. 1/4 cup low fat milk

Chicken Fajita

2009-05-14T18:08:00.000-07:00

Fajita is one of the Tex-Mex cuisines, which also can be referred as Southwestern cuisine in America. Tex-Mex cuisine refers to the food prepared with the influences from Texan and Mexican cuisines.

There are a lot of Mexican restaurants in Arizona. The most popular Mexican dishes they serve are Taco, Burrito, Fajita, Chimichanga..etc. Most of these dishes have a common ingredient - they are served with tortilla wrapped or folded. The fillings normally consist of grilled meat, lettuce slices, re-fried beans (frijoles in Spanish), salsa, guacamole, sour cream..etc.

The name Fajita originally refers to grilled beef (skirt steak) served with tortilla. Different kinds of meat like Chicken, pork and shrimp are also available now. The grilled meat is usually served on a piping hot iron skillet/sizzling plate with some pepper and onion slices. The tortilla sheets and other condiments are served on a separate plate.

Tom bought me a sizzling plate a month ago. I was hopping to make my own version of fajitas. Here they are. :-)

1. 250g chicken breast

Marinate with :
1. 1/4 tsp ground cumin
2. 1 tbsp lime juice
3. 5~6 leaves of fresh oregano (minced) or 1/2 tsp dried oregano flakes
4. 1/2 paprika pepper powder
5. 3 cloves garlic - crushed
6. salt to taste.

- marinate overnight.

1. Some red and green pepper slices
2. 1 jalapeno pepper slices
3. 1 habanero pepper slices (only for those SUPER HOT lover)
4. Some Cilantro (optional)

Other ingredients/Condiments :
1. 4~6 tortilla sheets
2. Lettuce slices
3. Salsa (see recipe here)
4. Guacamole (see recipe here)
5. Re-fried and some shredded Mexican cheese

Cooking Steps :

1. Grill the chicken breast over medium heat (about 8~10 minutes each side). Remove from heat, and slice to strips.
2. In the meantime, warm the tortilla sheet and re-fried bean topped with Mexican cheese.
2. Heat the greased iron skillet/sizzling plate, saute the pepper and onion slices for about 3~5 minutes. Season with some salt and garlic if desired.
3. Add in chicken strips, stay in the heat for about 2 2~3 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, and serve warm.

Guacamole Salsa Dip

2009-05-12T17:02:00.001-07:00

I never liked avocado. Didn't know how to prepare it. I have seen it been served in salad bars, but never had much because I thought it tasted bland. But I got to change my mind now. I had some tortilla chips dipped with guacamole in a pot luck party, it was tasty and refreshing, I couldn't stop eating it! LOl!!

Guacamole is an avocado based dip/sauce. Other major ingredients are lime juice, onion or garlic, and salt. Sometime, tomato cubes, cilantro, chili pepper are added to. It is really nothing complicated, you can adjust the amount of the ingredients according to you desired taste.

Here's my version of guacamole.

1. 3 ripe avocados - cut to half, remove the seed, scoop out the flesh to a mixing bowl and mash with a fork.
2. 1/4 cup tomato cubes
3. 1~2 tbsp fresh lime juice to taste
4. 3~4 cloves garlic - finely chopped
5. 1/8 cup chopped onion
6. Some cilantro (optional)
7. Some salt to taste

Steps:

1. Mix all ingredients above and refrigerate for an hour before serving.
2. Can serve with tortilla chips, cracker...etc.

I serve this with chicken fajita too, stay tuned and check it out later! :-)