EZCR#99 - CHINESE PEAR, LONGAN & RED DATES DESSERT

This is an awesome ’tong sui’ for dessert  lovers who love desserts but  afraid of the sugar content in ‘tong sui’.  The main reason is that this sweet dessert is without sugar added.  The sweetness comes from the ingredients itself [Chinese pear, dried longans and red dates].  Unbelievable when I saw that there is no sugar in the recipe and was thinking it could be a typo error.  There is no error, really no sugar is needed for this dessert.  It is sweet enough without the sugar.

Moreover, I was told that this dessert is very suitable for women folks, blood circulation and anti-aging. It is good to be taken during  Autumn and Winter seasons.  Why this is good, I have no idea but if you like to confirm the facts, do check up the Wikipedia for the health benefits of the 3 main ingredients, hahaha!.

Anyway, I don’t mind having this dessert throughout  the year because of its so called benefits and it is so easy to prepare, too.  Just dump everything into the slow cooker, wait for 2-3 hours and the lovely dessert is ready to be enjoyed.

Ingredients

1 Chinese Pear – peeled, deseeded and cut big cubes

10 red dates – halve if using big ones

50 gm dried longan – rinsed and drained

600-700 ml water

1. Place  Chinese pear and red dates in a slow cooker.  Pour in hot water, turn to high, cover and leave to cook for  over an hour before adding the dried longans.
2. Continue to cook until longans are plump up.  Taste to adjust the sweetness [add sugar if necessary].
3. Serve hot, warm or chilled.
   
   
   
   

STEAMED PORK WITH MEI CAI

I prepared this dish to serve with porridge.  Quick and easy steamed meat/vegetable dish that is tasty and delicious, though dull looking.  The savoury taste of the meat cake is appetisingly good with rice too.

The minced meat is tasty while the preserved vegetable [sweet mei cai] is sweet on its on with a savoury taste from the seasoning.  A fragrant dish that smells great with the addition of ginger, garlic, sesame oil and wine.  Using the minced meat with a little fat will make this dish perfect.

Ingredients

200 gm minced meat

100 gm preserved sweet vegetable [mei cai] – rinsed several times, soaked for 5 minutes and chopped

Some chopped spring onions

1 tsp each chopped ginger and garlic

Seasoning

¼ tsp each salt, sugar and pepper

1 tsp each light soy sauce, cooking wine, sesame oil and cooking oil

2 tsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp water

1. In a mixing bowl, mix seasoning with meat, stir well to combine.
2. Add in chopped ginger , garlic and mei cai.  Stir to combine well.Transfer to a steam tray, lightly packed to ensure even cooking.
3. Steam over high heat for 15 minutes.
4. Remove, sprinkle chopped spring onions and serve.
   

EGG DROP BITTERGOURD SOUP

Actually, I bought the bittergourd with the intention to prepare a Braised Bittergourd with Pork Ribs with Black Beans. Looking at the recipe, changed my mind because there are too many ingredients needed.

I remembered coming across this recipe shared by Cheah of No Frills Recipes quite long ago.  I prepared this soup right away as I have all the ingredients in hand except for the fish balls which I omitted.

This is a lovely soup as commented by my hubby.  We enjoyed it very much. The bittergourd slices are not bitter as expected.  Thanks to Cheah for sharing this homey recipe.  

I have slightly modified the recipe.

Ingredients

250 gm bittergourd - sliced

100 gm pork fillet - sliced

750 ml water

1 egg - lightly beaten

Salt to taste

Sesame oil

Dash of pepper

1. Wash and remove the seeds from the bittergourd, slice it up and mix in some salt. Set aside for 5 minutes, rinse and drain.
2. Marinate pork slices with some salt, pepper, sesame oil and cornflour.
3. Bring water to the boil in a soup pot.  Add in marinated pork, cook for a minute or two.  When the soup boils, add in bittergourd slices and seasoning to taste.
4. Drizzle in lightly beaten egg.  Bring to boil and serve hot.
   
   
   
   
   

MASALA CHICKEN FRENCH BEANS

This recipe is similar to the earlier post on Masala Fried Cauliflower.  As I loved the masala flavour fried cauliflower, I just substituted the cauliflower rice with French beans and it turned out as good.

It is fragrant, tasty and delicious with rice.  This is a nice variation from the usual way of frying French beans with preserved radish and eggs or with fried firm beancurd.  For this recipe, you can substitute the chicken with pork, prawns or even add in eggs.  It should be as good.

Ingredients

250 gm French beans - diced

50 gm carrot - diced
1 onion - peeled and diced

1 tbsp chopped ginger

1 tsp chopped garlic

50 gm diced chicken breast 

1 tsp garam masala

1-2 tbsp curry powder

Seasoning

1/2 tsp salt, dash of msg 

1/4 tsp pepper

1. Heat up a non stick wok with 1 tbsp oil, saute chopped ginger, garlic until aromatic.  Add in diced chicken, garam masala and curry powder.  Stir fry until fragrant, add in carrots.
2. Continue to fry, add 2-3 tablespoons of water, then add in french beans, onions and seasoning.
3. Toss well and dish up when French beans turned a lovely green colour.
4. Serve immediately.
   
   
   
   
   
   

EZCR#98 - MEAT AND CARROTS STEW

These days, I have been preparing simple and easy dishes for the family.  There is really nothing great to shout about  these dishes but these recipes do come in useful  especially when  prices of  food ingredients are increasing beyond our control and during our busy days.

For an average family, one cannot be serving food fit for fine dining all the time.  This is when homey and comfort food are most welcome and much easier for the cook at home who often has to face these problems.

This dish has only a few main ingredients and easy to prepare yet the end result is awesome.  The meat pieces and carrots are very tasty and the sweet, savoury sauce is appetizing with plain white rice.

It can also be prepared earlier and just needs to be warmed up before serving.

Ingredients

200 gm pork meat [shoulder neck meat] -  cut big cubes

1 small red carrot – peeled and cut wedges

1 small white carrot  - peeled and cut wedges

1 yellow onion – peeled and cut into squares

2 star anise

Some blanched broccoli florets [optional]

½ tbsp cooking oil

Seasoning

2 tbsp tomato sauce

1 tbsp wine and light soy sauce

½ tbsp chilli sauce

200 ml water

1. Heat oil in a non stick wok, sauté onions until aromatic and add in meat pieces and fry until brown.
2. Add in carrots and stir anise.  Stir to mix well, then add in seasoning.
3. Stir to mix well before adding water gradually in between cooking.
4. Bring to boil, then simmer until meat is tender and sauce is reduced. 
5. If adding broccoli, cover to cook for 1 minute then dish up to serve.
6. Garnish with some spring onions.
   
   
   
   
   
   

SWEET AND SOUR FRESH TOFU SKIN [TAUPAU]

If soya products are your favourite cooking ingredient, then do take a look at the list of recipes in my blog which I have labelled 'Soya'.   As I have mentioned repeatedly, I love soya products from dry to fresh and frozen ones [soft and firm beancurd, tofu puffs, beancurd skin, frozen tofu skin etc].

Fresh tofu skin [taupau] is one of them.  It can be cooked with various sauces and the end result is never disappointing so long as they are fried until golden brown and firm.  They can be braised with other ingredients and sauces.  They are 'Awesome'.

This is is basically the same as some of my previous recipes on fresh soya skin but I have added other ingredients like capsicum, onions and tomatoes into the sauce. It's tasty and nice.  A healthy dish suitable for the old and young.

Ingredients

[serves 3]

6 pieces of fresh soya skin - pan fried until golden brown [keep whole or cut into halve]

1 tomato - diced

1 small green capsicum - diced

1 onion - peeled and diced

1 red chilli - seeded and diced

some toasted white sesame seeds for garnish

Seasoning Sauce

2 tbsp tomato sauce

1 tbsp each light soya sauce, plum sauce, black vinegar and wine

¼ tsp sugar
2 tbsp water

1 tbsp cornstarch + 1 tbsp water

1. In a non stick wok, pan fry tofu skin until golden brown and crispy at the edges.  Dish up.
2. Remove excess oil, using the same wok, put in all the diced ingredients.  Stir fry to mix well.
3. Pour in the sauce, add in water and fried tofu skin.
4. Bring to boil, taste to adjust seasoning.  Sprinkle some toasted white sesame seeds.
5. Dish up to serve immediately.