Chinese New Year Dish : Fatt Thieu Cheong/Monk Jumped Over The Wall 佛跳墙

Chinese New Year Dish : Fatt Thieu Cheong/Monk Jumped Over The Wall 佛跳墙

Recipe source :  Doris Choo of Sumptuous Flavours (after listening to narration of a shop proprietor's basic instructions)

Fables had it that this soup was so fragrant that a monk jumped over a wall to trace and followed the wonderful aroma of this soup. The fable became a reality today in my home! The aroma that wafted from the steam oven was truly delicious as the soup was stewing. We all knew it would be great without having to taste it!

Finally I get to taste my own home-styled version of this much fabled "fatt thieu cheong". Thanks to the shop proprietor who persuaded me to buy these mini abalone way before shops started stocking up Chinese New Year goodies. 

Anyway, one of my children was back early for Chinese New Year and has to work during the festive season. So, we decided to celebrate with him first before he goes back to work. My family finds this very delicious. The dried baby abalone which had been soaked for 5 days until soft and then steamed for 3 hours tasted succulent and juicy. In fact we preferred this dried variety to the canned ones. Each springy bite is filled with the rich aroma and wholesome goodness of authentic abalone. Good! Really good!

Truly awesome to the last drop!

Note : the instruction to soak the dried abalone for 5 days until soft was taught by the shop proprietor who sold these abalone.

Ingredients

5 mini dried abalone
1/2 old chicken, quartered
40g dried fish maw(optional)
3 big dried scallops
5 red dates, pitted
1 tbsp wolf berries
6 slices pau-sum
3 pieces wai-san
4 dried mushrooms, soaked until soft
800ml water
2 slices old ginger
1 tbsp rice wine
salt  (optional )

Dried mini abalone

Mini abalone - after soaking for 5 days in the fridge

Dried scallops

Dried mushrooms

From left to right : wolfberries, pau-sum, red dates, wai-san

Method

1.  Soak dried abalone for 5 days until soft. Leave them in the refrigerator. Clean them properly before use.
2.  Soak fish maw until soft. Add 1 tsp vinegar into about 500ml water. Bring to a boil and boil the soaked fish maw to remove the fishy smell and the oily odour. Repeat process if the fishy smell is not removed after the first boiling. Alternatively you can leave out the fish maw if you find preparing it too troublesome because fish maw by itself has little taste.
3.  Place chicken, Chinese herbs and all the ingredients into a ceramic pot. Add in water. 
4.  Steam over high heat for 3 to 4 hours until the old chicken is tender.

Simply irresistible!

The mini abalones were succulent and juicy !

This is absolutely delicious!

The taste is just out-of-this-world!

No wonder there is so much hype about the monk jumping over the wall !

I am linking this post to My Treasured Recipes #5 - Chinese New Year Goodies Jan/Feb 2015

Hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well In Flanders 

and co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House

I am also linking this post to Cook and Celebrate CNY : 2015

Orgainsed by Yen of Eat Your Heart Out , Zoe of Bake For happy Kids and 

Diana of Domestic Goddess Wannabe

  

Chinese New Year Dish : Hokkien Fish Maw Soup 福建鱼鰾汤

Chinese New Year Dish : Hokkien Fish Maw Soup 福建鱼鰾汤

Recipe source :  Adapted from Y3K magazine, Issue No. 40, 1/2 - 2008


Soup is a must for reunion dinners. But then sometimes it can be difficult to plan a suitable soup into the menu when there are already so many sumptuous dishes crowding the dining table during Chinese New Year.

But then again, we tend to lay out a spread of great dishes for our loved ones, some of whom are coming back from afar for this once a year reunion dinner with hopes of good luck, good health, prosperity and abundance for the coming year. 

This soup is light and clear and very simple to prepare. That would free some of your time so you can concentrate on more elaborate dishes. I love the spongy fish maw that has been soaked in the soup and infused with the wonderful flavour from the spare ribs and lily bulbs.  

Very light and nice!
 

Ingredients

50g pre-fried fish maw
300g spare ribs                                           (original recipe used 2 chicken drumsticks)
80g dried lily bulbs, knotted and soaked  ( kam chum in Cantonese )
100g tofu puff
2 tbsp flour
1200ml water
3 slices young ginger

Seasonings

2 tsp chicken stock granules (optional )
1 tsp salt, or to taste

 Pre-fried fish maw

 Dried lily bulbs

 Tofu puffs

Method

1.  Soak fish maw until soft. Pour off water. Knead the fish maw with 2 tbsp flour to get rid of the oil. Rinse with water and squeeze off the water. 
2. Use a pot, add in 1 litre of water and 1 tsp of vinegar and let it boil for about 20 minutes. This is to get rid of the strong odour of the fish maw. Make sure the fish maw does not retain the oily odour, otherwise repeat the step.
3. Drain, rinse, squeeze dry and cut into small pieces. Set aside.
4.  Scald tofu puff in hot boiling water. Remove, rinse and squeeze dry. Cut into halves.
5.  Place all the ingredients into a large soup tureen. Add in water and young ginger.
6.  Double boil for 2 hours.
7.  Add salt and chicken stock granules before serving. Stir well. 

I am linking this post to My Treasured Recipes #5 - Chinese New Year Goodies Jan/Feb 2015

Hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well In Flanders 

and co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House

I am linking this post to Cook-Your-Book #20

Hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

Chinese New Year Dish: Spicy Fish Maw 香辣鱼鰾

Chinese New Year Dish: Spicy Fish Maw 香辣鱼鰾

Recipe source :  Adapted from Y3K Magazine, Issue No. 58, 1/2 - 2011 ( Catherine Chia )


The mood for Chinese festivities has begun for me. I love the exhilaration. I love to walk and browse through the shops and market stalls while happy Chinese New Year songs fill the air! 

It's time to get busy with Chinese New Year preparations. Many shops and stalls at the market  have already started displaying goodies for Chinese New Year. A wide selection of cookies, nuts and all kinds of auspicious food associated with the Spring Festival abundantly filled up baskets and urns, fighting for available space to be seen. They seem to be beckoning to me and all customers and urging "buy me, buy me"! Ah, my imagination has run wild. It's because I am so happy! My favourite time of the year has arrived. 

I have a lot of fish maws at home which were gifts from friends and relatives. So, I shall start off with cooking a fish maw dish.  

Fish maws are delicacies commonly used to prepare Chinese New Year dishes. Not all people like to eat fish maws because they do not like the smell of fried oil nor the "fishy" smell. A shop proprietor once taught me how to get rid of the "fishy smell" and oily odour by using a little vinegar during the preparatory process. His tip works!

Being Malaysian, I love spicy dishes. This version is delicious and is a very delectable change from the conventional ways of cooking fish maws. 

Gong Xi, Gong Xi, Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Ingredients

80g fish maw
2 slices ginger
3 pips garlic, chopped
160g Chinese cabbage, cut into sections of 4 cm
5 pieces assam (tamarind) soaked and drained
4 dried chillies, cut into 2 sections
1/2 tbsp fermented soy bean
300g pork belly, sliced
1 stalk leek
600ml water
3 tbsp cooking oil

Seasoning

2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp chilli sauce
2 tbsp tomato sauce

For fish maw

1.  Soak in water until soft. Place into 1 litre of boiling water and add in 1/2 tsp of vinegar. Boil for about 10 minutes. Let is cool.
2.  Squeeze off excess water .
3.  Rinse again several times and squeeze off excess water from the fish maw. Do so gently to prevent breaking
4.  Cut into bite-sized pieces.
 

Method

1.  Heat wok with 3 tbsp cooking oil. 
2.  Saute ginger and garlic until fragrant.
3.  Add in fermented soy bean and fry well. Then add dried chillies, pork belly and Chinese cabbage. Stir-fry well.
4.  Add in water, assam pieces, seasoning and fish maw.
5.  When it comes to a boil, lower heat to medium flame and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
6.  Add in leek and stir-fry until almost dry.
7.  Switch off flame and dish up. 

I am linking this post to My Treasured Recipes #5 - Chinese New Year Goodies Jan/Feb 2015

Hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well In Flanders 

and co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House

I am linking this post to  Cook-Your-Book#20

Hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

Dim Sum : Stuffed Fish Maw 点心-鱼漂卷

Dim Sum : Stuffed Fish Maw 点心-鱼漂卷

Recipe source :  My own. Replicating from what I had eaten at a dim sum restaurant

My family and I had a very satisfying dim sum treat last weekend. Service was very fast and efficient because the owner employed many extra youngsters to help cater to the weekend crowd. The food was good and reasonably priced. We tucked into the usual dim sum fare of chee cheong fun, siew mai, har gow and many other deep-fried varieties which I don't even know the names. 

Then, I spotted this fish maw dim sum stuffed with fish paste. I like the taste. As I turned it around to have a better look, I realised that the ingredients used were very simple. I made a mental note and told myself that this is something I can replicate with ease!

We made Yong Tofu on Saturday and there was extra fish paste for me to experiment with. I only made a very small sample in case it did not turn out well.  However, lady luck was with me, it was better than expected!  We are happy with this little experiment. 

Ingredients

1 piece dried fish maw ( 35g )
120g fish paste
1/2 a piece of dried mushroom, soak until soft and cut into very fine dices
1/2 stalk of parsley, finely chopped

Note :  it is not necessary to add seasoning because the fish paste already contains salt.

 

  A piece of dried fish maw

 

Instructions

1.  Soak fish maw until soft. Rinse under running tap and squeeze gently to prevent breaking.
2.  Boil a small pot of water and boil the soaked piece of fish maw for 5 to 10 minutes.
3.  Rinse again under running water to remove the odour. Make sure the odour is removed.
4.  Squeeze dry.
5.  Mix the fish paste with the chopped parsley and diced mushroom.
6.  Stuff the fish mixture into the hollow of the fish maw.
7.  Slice into thin pieces about 3/4 cm thick and place into small saucers.
8.  Steam  the stuffed fish maw pieces over boiling water for 15 minutes.
9.  Serve hot with chilli sauce.