Wolfberry Tea 杞子茶

Wolfberry Tea 杞子茶

Of late I have not been blogging actively because I went for surgery to remove cataracts. I have been advised to take a break and rest my eyes. Well-meaning friends who have had their cataracts removed before me strongly advocated that I drink wolfberry tea. Thus, I googled to find out more about wolfberries. 

Wolfberries or "kei-chi" in Cantonese is said to contain iron, calcium and phosphorus. It is believed that these little fruits lower blood sugar and improve eyesight. My friend taught me to wash the wolfberries in warm water, then just add boiling water to it. The fruits can be eaten as well. 

I have been drinking this for more than two months and my eyes are healing well. I strongly believe that this wolfberry tea hasten the healing process and strengthen my aging eyes.

Here's how it is done :

Ingredients :

1 tsp wolfberries
250 ml boiling water

Instructions

1.  Wash the wolfberries in warm water and place them into a cup 
2.  Add boiling water.
3.  Let it steep and allow  to cool down slightly.
4.  Preferable to drink it warm

A Good Place For Teochew Porridge 旧巴生路潮州粥

A Good Place For Teochew Porridge 旧巴生路潮州粥

The other day while coming back from Taman Kinrara, Puchong, we were scouting for a new place to have lunch. A shop with a unique frontage caught our eyes and on closer examination we realised that it was selling Teochew porridge. Well, talking about Teochew porridge, you don't see too many such establishments anymore. So we parked our car, got down and were we surprised by the variety of genuine Teochew dishes available.We were spoilt for choice and we settled for the more traditional dishes that we like.

Top left: Stewed eggs and pork. Top right: Hot and sour mustard greens

Middle left: Stewed large intestines. Middle right: Stewed pork belly slices

Bottom left: Peanuts. Bottom right: Deep-fried salted fish

Just too many to name.

The vegetable section.

What we ordered. Top left is hot and sour mustard greens. Top right is pig blood cooked with chives. Pig blood is believed to cleanse the lungs. Bottom left is stewed egg and tofu. Bottom right is a plate of large intestines.

 

 The unique facade of the shop along Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur.

Father's Day Bash At The Coliseum Cafe 在歌丽城庆祝父亲日

Father's Day Bash At The Coliseum Cafe 在歌丽城庆祝父亲日

On Father's Day we settled for having western food for lunch but we were in two minds about which of the two famous western food restaurants to choose from. After thinking it over and having inputs from other members of the family we headed for Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur where the Coliseum Cafe is located. We went early just to make sure to be able to secure a table as we know it is usually crowded during lunch.

 

  Roast chicken with turkey ham

  Hainanese Chicken Chop

 

 Sizzling New Zealand lamb chop

 French onion soup

 

Margarita

Vodka & lime

Roast Pork Belly With Carrot & Bamboo Shoot 双笋烧肉煲

Roast Pork Belly With Carrot & Bamboo Shoot 双笋烧肉煲

Recipe source :  Chopsticks Recipes - Chinese Casseroles


This cookbook titled, 'Chopsticks Recipes - Chinese Casseroles' is a bi-lingual Hong Kong  publication which has been in my possession for a long time. This is one of my favourite cookbooks. I have already tried out many recipes from this cookbook. So far all the recipes which I tried turned out great. 

Today, I am sharing this great dish, preferably to be eaten with hot steaming rice. The carrots were sweet and still crunchy as were the bamboo shoots. Every bite into the piping hot roast pork belly tasted heavenly as they were well-coated with the fragrant sauce. In fact, all the flavours blended very well together.

Ingredients 

350g roast pork
150g bamboo shoot
150g carrot
2 pips garlic, minced
2 shallots, chopped
2 slices ginger

Seasonings

1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp wine
300ml chicken stock
1 tbsp oyster sauce
a pinch of pepper
a dash of sesame oil
1/4 tsp dark soy sauce

Cornflour Solution

1/2 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp water

Mix together to form cornflour solution

Instructions

1.  Cut roast pork into bite-size pieces.
2.  Cut bamboo shoots and carrots into wedges. Blanch and set aside.
3.  Heat wok with 2 tbsp cooking oil. saute shallot, garlic and ginger until fragrant.
4.  Add bamboo shoots and carrots.
5.  Sprinkle with salt and sugar and mix well.
6.  Add roast pork.
7.  Sizzle with wine, add in the stock and seasonings. Stir well to mix all ingredients.
8.  Transfer to casserole and cover with lid.
9.  Let simmer for 5 to 6 minutes.
10. Thicken with cornflour solution. 
11.  Give a final stir to mix evenly. 
12.  Switch off the flame.

Piping hot and fragrant!

I am linking this post to Cook-Your-Books #1 

 

hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

GL's Cooking : Stir-Fried Bitter Gourd With Bacon 苦瓜炒熏肉

GL's Cooking : Stir-Fried Bitter Gourd With Bacon 苦瓜炒熏肉

Looks very appetising !

My daughter, GL substituted the pork slices with 3 pieces of bacon. She cut the bacon into thin strips. She added 1 tsp of  taucheo and 1 tsp of oyster sauce to stir-fry.


My post :  Stir-Fried Bitter Gourd With Pork Slices

GL's cooking : Stir-fried bitter gourd with bacon slices

Mango Lassi 芒果酸奶

Mango Lassi 芒果酸奶

Perfect for a hot sunny day

Ingredients

500g mango, peel off the skin and cut into cubes
2 cups plain yoghurt
2 cups chilled water
2 tbsp honey

Mangoes

Yoghurt

 

Instructions

 

1.  Put all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth.
2.  Pour into glasses.
3.  Ready to serve.

Savoury Bamboo Leaf Dumpling 咸肉粽

Savoury Bamboo Leaf Dumpling 咸肉粽

After making bamboo leaf alkaline dumpling with red bean paste  and bamboo leaf dumpling with dried shrimps sambal,  I had originally  planned to make this savoury dumpling much earlier to share in my blog. However, due to unforeseen circumstances and work commitment, I am only able to make these dumplings today for the coming Dragon Boat Festival which falls on the12th of June 2013.  I hope it is not too late to share my savoury dumplings now. These savoury dumplings are popularly known among the Hokkien community as the "Bak Chang" or "Hum Yook Chung" in Cantonese. 


Happy Dragon Boat Festival to all of you !

 

Glutinous Rice

1 kg glutinous rice, wash, soak overnight and drain

Then add : 
4 tsp salt
2 Chinese soup spoon oil
1 tsp 5-spice powder
1 tsp sugar

Mix the above ingredients with the glutinous rice. Mix thoroughly.

Mushrooms

200g mushrooms. soak until soft and remove the stems

Then marinate the mushrooms with the following ingredients, overnight in the refrigerator :

6 tsp ( heaped ) sugar
2 1/2 big Chinese soup spoon soy sauce
2 big Chinese soup spoon shao shing wine
3 big Chinese soup spoon cooking oil

Pork Belly

1 kg pork belly, cut into slices

Then marinate the pork belly slices with the following ingredients overnight in the refrigerator :-

 2 1/4 tsp sugar
1 tsp pepper
1 1/4 tsp five-spice powder
1 tsp salt
3 tsp sesame oil
3 tsp oyster sauce
3 tsp dark soy sauce

Instructions

1.  Heat oil in wok until very hot. Fry the marinated mushrooms and pork belly together for 5 - 6 minutes.
2.  Dish up and set aside to cool. ( No need to fry until the pork slices are cooked ).

Other Ingredients

5 salted duck egg yolks, cut into halves
150g dried scallops, wash and rinse
150g black-eyed beans ( mei-tau in Cantonese ) - soak overnight, then boil with 1 tsp salt until soft
150g split mung beans ( look-tau peen in Cantonese ) - soak overnight, then boil with 1 tsp salt until soft
2 bundles of bamboo leaves, boil in water and wipe clean with towel
straws or strings for tying

 The stir-fried mushrooms and pork belly

 Black-eyed beans

 Split mung beans

 Glutinous rice mixed with the spices and seasonings

  Dried scallops

 Salted duck egg yolks

 

 All ready for wrapping

Wrapping the bamboo leaf dumpling step-by-step

 Scoop 1 1/2 tbsp of glutinous rice onto 3 pieces of bamboo leaves

  Add on the mung beans and black-eyed beans

 Then add on 5 pieces of dried scallops

 Top up with half a piece of salted duck egg yolk

 Add 2 pieces of pork belly and 2 pieces of mushrooms

 Scoop 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp glutinous rice on top

 Place a piece of bamboo leaf over the ingredients to be wrapped

 Fold the bamboo leaf over one side

 Fold the other side to form a packet or a parcel

 Turn the edges to the bottom of the parcel

The wrapped-up parcel. Makes 20 to 22 dumplings

Secure the parcel with strings.

You may refer to my previous posts on step-by-step guide on wrapping bamboo leaf dumpling

Boiling the Dumplings

1.  In a very large pot, bring 10 litres of water to the boil
2.  Add 3 tbsp of salt to the boiling water.

3.  Make sure the water is boiling before adding in the dumplings and make sure all the dumplings are submerged in the boiling water. 

4.  Boil for 2 1/2 hours. 

5.  If the water level is reduced below the dumplings, add more boiling water to the pot.   

N.B. Unless otherwise stated, a tsp or tbsp or big Chinese soup spoon means a flat spoonful.

Home-made Spicy Pork Burgers 咖哩汉堡包

Home-made Spicy Pork Burgers 咖哩汉堡包

Recipe source :  Adapted from Amy Beh's Culinary Conundrums ~ The Star Newspapers


We had these home-made spicy pork burgers for lunch. A nice change from our usual staple which is rice or porridge.  Add more curry powder to the seasonings if you prefer a hotter and spicier burger.


SK found these burgers "tolerable" as his food preference has always been Chinese, while YS and I gobbled up the burgers with gusto!

Ingredients 

350g minced pork
1 big potato, boiled and mashed
1 big onion, chopped
Mayonnaise ( optional )
Barbecue sauce ( optional )
Chili sauce ( optional )

Seasonings

2 heaped tsp curry powder
3/4 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/3 tsp pepper

Other ingredients

6 burger buns or hot dog buns
Slices of tomatoes
Lettuce leaves, shredded

Instructions

1.  Put minced pork, mashed potato and seasonings together in a large mixing bowl. Add chopped onions and mix to combine well.
2.  Shape the mixture into round or oval burgers ( depending ) on your choice of bread  to thickness of about 1 cm.
3.  Shallow fry the burgers in a flat based saucepan until both sides are cooked.
4.  Cut burger buns into halves. Place shredded lettuce on a cut burger bun.
5.  Add a piece of pan-fried home-made pork burger on top of the shredded lettuce.
6.  Top with slices of tomatoes.
7.  Add mayonnaise, barbecue sauce or chili sauce of your choice
8.  Place the other half of the burger bun on top.

I am submitting this post to Miss B of Everybody Eats Well In Flanders

The theme for June 2013 is curry powder

This event is linked to Little Thumbs Up

The event is organised by Zoe, of Bake For happy Kids and Doreen, of My Little Favourite DIY    

Hot Pot Pork Ribs 番茄咖哩排骨

Hot Pot Pork Ribs 番茄咖哩排骨

Recipe source :  Adapted from a booklet distributed by Lea & Perrins sauce

This is not the usual hot and spicy curry that we, Malaysians are familiar with. The recipe calls for curry powder and lots of Worcestershire sauce. Both ingredients blended beautifully with the tomatoes and big onions resulting in a piquant stew. The pork ribs were tender and full of flavour.

This dish certainly has my vote. Thumbs Up !!

Ingredients

500g pork ribs
1 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp cooking oil
3 big onions, quartered
3 big tomatoes. halved
1 carrot, cut into thick chunks

Seasonings

80ml Worcestershire sauce
1000 ml water
1 tsp salt

Instructions

1.  Heat oil in a pot. Saute the big onions until fragrant
2.  Add in the pork ribs and stir-fry until the colour turns whitish
3.  Pour in the water and add the remaining ingredients and seasonings
4.  Bring to the boil, then lower the flame and simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the meat is tender.
5.  Switch off flame and dish up.

I am submitting this post to Miss B of Everybody Eats Well In Flanders

The theme for June 2013 is curry powder

This event is linked to Little Thumbs Up

The event is organised by Zoe, of Bake For happy Kids and Doreen, of My Little Favourite DIY