STIR FRIED TOFU WITH SZECHUAN VEGETABLE [CAI CHOY]

This is a lovely vegetarian dish which is tasty, delicious to serve with rice and porridge.  I have prepared this twice, then only decided to share it here.  It is an easy and simple dish for the family, economical too.
Awesome dish, the mustard stems are crunchy and tasty, not salty, while the fried tofu absorbs the flavours well.  Enjoy it!

Fully agree with the chef Irene Yong the taste is surprisingly good!  Below is the description she generously shared about mustard stems [Szechuan Vegetables/Cai Choy]:

"Preserved Mustard Stem" has a crisp texture, delicious flavor, rich nutrition, a special flavor, special sour taste and savory taste, crisp and refreshing, rich in protein, carotene, dietary fiber, minerals, etc. and 17 kinds of free amino acids such as glutamic acid, aspartic acid and propionic acid."

Honestly, I am not aware of this.

Recipe adapted from Irene Yong's Recipe with modifications

Ingredients

1 piece tofu - cut into thick slices and fried

100 gm Szechuan vegetables [榨菜] - cut strips and soaked for 5 minutes, rinsed and drained

Some shredded ginger, red carrot and red chilli

Some shredded wood ear fungus [can omit]

Seasoning

oyster sauce, light soy sauce, pepper to taste

some sesame seed oil

some cornstarch water for thickening

1. Pan fry tofu slices in a non stick wok until crispy at the edges and golden brown. Dish up.
2. Using the same wok, saute ginger until aromatic before adding in the remaining ingredients.
3. Stir fry well for several seconds. Add in fried tofu, seasoning and some water. Bring to boil.
4. Thicken with cornstarch water, drizzle in some sesame oil and pepper.
5. Dish up to serve.
   

SPICY FRIED FRESH BEANCURD STICKS [FU CHOK]

Another lovely stir fried fresh fu chok dish which I learnt from  Irene Yong after trying some of her recipes using Fu Chok aka Yuba.  This dish is a spicy version but I like it, delicious and appetising.  It is a nice dish suitable for the young and old.

As shared by Irene: "Yuba" contains a large amount of protein, together with vitamins B, C and mineral elements such as calcium, iron, zinc and copper. These are believed to help in prevention of Alzheimer's disease, lowers cholesterol and blood lipids, prevents arteriosclerosis and promotes blood, cycle and delay aging".

Recipe adapted from Irene Yong's Recipes with modifications

Ingredients

250 gm fresh fu chok*

1 small green capsicum - seeded and cut thick strips

some shredded red carrot

some chopped ginger and garlic

1-2 small red chillies - cut small pieces

1 star anise

some cornstarch water for thickening

Seasoning

1 tbsp each vegetarian oyster sauce and light soy sauce

1/4 tsp mushroom stock granules

salt and pepper to taste

some sesame seed oil 

* can used dried fu chok, soaked till soft and cut into sections

1. Heat some oil in a non stick wok, saute chopped ginger, garlic and star anise until aromatic.  Add in red chillies [can use dried chillies].  Stir fry until ginger and garlic are golden.
2. Add in fuchok and red carrot.  Stir fry for a minute to mix  well before adding in the seasoning.   Stir ingredient well before adding capsicum and some dark soy sauce for colour.
3. Add in some water, bring to boil, stir in cornstarch water to thicken.  Drizzle in some sesame seed oil.
4. Dish up to serve.

RICE AND VEGE PANCAKE

Have leftover rice to clear off but not enough to make a plate of fried rice?   No worry, this recipe may be able to solve the problem. Mix a batter with it together with some shredded vegetables and eggs.  You get to enjoy some lovely rice/vege pancakes for breakfast or light lunch.  I believe kids would love it too with some mayonnaise.

Recipe inspired from this youtube video.  Slightly modified the recipe as I have added some French beans and seasoning.

Ingredients

[makes about 5-6 pieces]

2-3 eggs

about 1 small bowl cooked rice

1 tbsp plain flour

1/2 tsp salt 

1/4 - 1/2 tsp chicken granules

dash of pepper

50 gm shredded red carrot

6-8 French beans - thinly sliced

1 stalk spring onions - chopped

some sweet chilli sauce and mayonnaise

1. Break eggs in a big bowl, add in cooked rice.  Mix to coat with eggs.
2. Add in plain flour, salt, pepper and stock granules.  Mix well.
3. Add in carrots, French beans and spring onions.  Mix into a batter.
4. Heat a non stick pan or skillet over medium heat.  Add in some oil.  Scoop a small ladle of batter onto pan, spread out evenly into a round shape.  Cover and fry until the edges are a little brown and firm.  Flip over to fry the other side until edges are brown or crispy.
5. Dish up on serving plate.  Finish frying the remaining batter.
6. Serve pancakes with mayonnaise and chilli sauce. 
   
   

TASTY FRIED YELLOW NOODLES WITH TOMATOES

This is a Chinese grandmother style home-cooked fried yellow noodles.  Not my grandma or mum.  My family style fried yellow noodles is without tomatoes or mushrooms.  We used prawns, meat slices and a must have ingredient is crispy fried shallots popularly known for this noodle 'Hokkien Char'.   It is awesome.

This means that we can fry yellow noodles according to this recipe either with prawns, meat, tomatoes and mushrooms and serve it with sambal belacan or cut chillies.

Ingredients

[serves 2 ]

200 gm yellow noodles - rinsed with tap water in a colander

2 stalks of chai sim or bok choy - cut

1-2 tomatoes - cut wedges

2-3 dried mushrooms - soaked and cut

50 gm meat slices

1 big onion - peeled and sliced

some water

Seasoning

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1/2 tbsp light soy sauce to taste

dash of msg and pepper to taste

1. Marinate meat slices with some soy sauce, water and cornstarch.  Set aside.
2. Heat 1-2 tbsp oil in a non stick wok, fry mushrooms until aromatic.  Add in meat slices, continue to stir fry until meat turns white.
3. Add in onions and tomatoes.  Stir fry to mix all the ingredients before adding water and seasoning.  Bring to boil.
4. Place yellow noodles on top, cover with lid and leave to cook for 1-2 minutes or until water is reduced [most important step is to cover lid to braise noodles].
5. Remove lid, stir to mix noodles with ingredients, add in vegetables.
6. Fry until vegetables are cooked.
7. Dish up to serve.