Fried Vermicelli With Pumpkin 南瓜炒米粉

Fried Vermicelli With Pumpkin 南瓜炒米粉

Recipe source :  Adapted from Madame' Huang's Kitchen

Accordingly to Carolyn Phillips, this fried vermicelli with pumpkin is a Taiwanese Fall favourite. I was surprised that the pumpkin strips shown in the picture of her blog did not turn mushy after stir-frying. I wanted to test out whether the pumpkin strips will remain whole in my fried vermicelli! Well, the trick was not to overcook the pumpkin strips. 

The other thing I noticed was that Carolyn used lots of wine in her fried vermicelli. I love wine in cooking! So this recipe was definitely a "must-try"!

The result ? Well, the taste was equivalent to our local version of the Hokkien bee-hoon, albeit  with lots of pumpkin, meat and mushrooms and it was very nicely flavoured with wine!

Yummy! Try it for yourself!

Ingredients

300g pumpkin, cut into thin strips
20g dried scallops, soaked and shredded
5 black mushrooms, soaked and cut into thin slices
300g dried vermicelli, soaked until soft, then drain and set aside
2 green onions, cut into sections and separate the whites from greens
200g lean pork, cut into slices
5 tbsp cooking oil

Pumpkin

Dried mushrooms

Dried scallops

Pork

Vermicelli or bee-hoon

Marinade for pork

1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp tapioca flour
1 tsp Chinese cooking wine

Pork with marinade ingredients

Sliced mushrooms, shredded dried scallops and pumpkin strips

Seasonings

2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp dark soya sauce
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
200ml water
a dash of pepper

Method

1.  Marinate the sliced pork with the marinade ingredients and set aside for about 15 minutes.
2.. Heat wok until very hot and add 2 tbsp cooking oil. Saute the white parts of the spring onion.
3. Add in the marinated pork and stir-fry until the pork pieces turned whitish. Remove and set aside. 
4.  In the same wok, add in remaining cooking oil and stir-fry mushrooms, pumpkin and dried scallops.
5. Add in seasonings and water and allow to simmer for about 3 minutes. Then add in the fried pork slices and continue to simmer for further 2 minutes.
6. Add in vermicelli and using a pair of chopsticks,  mix the vermicelli to ensure it is evenly coated with gravy.
7. Continue stirring until almost dry. Switch off flame and dish-up. 
8. Garnish with spring onion. 

 

I am linking this post to Little Thumbs Up

The theme for October 2014 is Pumpkin

Hosted by Eileen's Diary

This event is organised by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids 
and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY

I am also linking this post to My Treasured Recipes # 3 - Taste of Autumn (Oct/Nov 2014)

Hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well In Flanders and 

co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House

Egg & Wine Chicken 蛋酒鸡

Egg & Wine Chicken 蛋酒鸡

Recipe source :  Y3K Magazine, Issue No. 54, 5/6 - 2010

I have been chilled to the bones due to the incessant rain which had cooled the temperatures considerably.  I need to cook some food to warm me up and to boost up my energy level. I flipped through my cookbooks and decided to cook egg and wine chicken which is warming and is good for blood circulation too. 

This dish is suitable for confinement ladies as well. However, for confinement ladies, I would suggest that you use mature ginger.

Ingredients

1 chicken whole leg, chopped into pieces
100g young ginger, shredded
175ml ginger wine
3 tbsp sesame oil
3 eggs, lighten beaten
100ml water
1 tsp salt

Method

1.  Dry-fry ginger shreds till dry. 
2.  Add in sesame oil to saute until fragrant and remove one third of the fried ginger shreds. Set aside.
3.  Pour in lightly beaten eggs. Cook until set. Dish up and set aside.
4.  Saute the remaining one third of ginger shreds with chicken pieces and fry until the colour changes.
5.  Pour in 100ml water. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
6.  Add in fried eggs, wine and salt. Continue to cook for 3 minutes or until almost dry.

Double-boiled Pear Soup 川贝蜜枣炖雪梨

Double-boiled Pear Soup 川贝蜜枣炖雪梨

Recipe source :  Adapted from Nourishing & Fine Soups

I was having a bout of recurring mild fever and uneasiness on the chest and a slight cough. My first thought and fear was that I may have blocked arteries or some other heart ailment. Thank God, all was well after a medical check-up. 

My friends advised that I might be afflicted by the heat. Heeding their advice, I looked-up my cookbook on herbal soups and decided to double-boil a pear with candy dates and some Chinese herbs. 

My friend reminded me that I must use a brown-skinned pear.

The Chinese believe that pears are cooling and clears heat from the body. 

Well, the stewed pear tasted more like a dessert than herbal medication! 
In fact, it was very delicious. But, the bottom line was that my cough and the uneasiness on my chest felt much better! 

This concoction may be beneficial for the following ailments:

~ clears cough and flu
~ clears heatiness of lungs and heart
~ clears phlegm

Ingredients (serves one )

12g tendrilled fritillarial ( Chuan bei in Chinese )
1 brown-skinned pear
5g bitter almonds
5g sweet almonds 
1 candy date  ( or 2 dates, depending on preference for sweetness )
200ml water

 Brown-skinned pear

 Chuan bei, in powder form

 Bitter almonds mixed with sweet almonds

 Candy dates

Method

1.  Remove the skin and core of pear. Cut into pieces.
2.  Place pear, Chinese herbs and candy dates into a porcelain container with cover.
3.  Double-boil for 4 hours. No cheating! It must be 4 hours. 

 

Sweet and tasty dessert which is good for clearing heat, cough and phlegm

I am linking this post to My Treasured Recipes # 3 - Taste of Autumn (Oct/Nov 2014)

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-Your-Book #17

Hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

Mixed Vegetables Curry 素咖哩

Mixed Vegetables Curry 素咖哩

Recipe :  Doris Choo @ Sumptuous Flavours


My sister's Indian friend taught her to use radish to cook curry. Since then, my personal preference has always been radish in my curries instead of using potatoes. However, because of my family's preference for potatoes, I have always refrained from using radish. Today I made an exception. I re-introduced the use of radish for cooking a mixed vegetables curry. 

I am not sure whether it was because I have not been cooking mixed vegetables curry for a long time or because the family has a change of preference, but the bottom line was that the two large bowls of curry were demolished. Nobody grumbled about not finding potatoes. Everybody ate happily and polished off the rice and the vegetables. The quantity I cooked could easily feed five to six people yet the three of us wolfed down everything. 

Ingredients

500g radish, cut into pieces
250g snake beans, cut into sections of  4 cm
15 pieces of tofu puff
400g cabbage, cut into sections of 4 cm
100g minced chilli
3 tbsp curry powder
300ml coconut milk (santan)
8 shallots, minced
6 pips garlic, minced
3 sprigs curry leaves
3 stalks lemon grass, bruised
6 tbsp oil
1250ml water

Seasoning

2 tsp salt
4 tsp sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce

Method

1.  Heat wok until hot. Add in oil. Saute minced garlic and shallots for 1 minute over medium flame. Keep stirring to prevent burning. Add in the bruised lemon grass and curry leaves. Continue to fry until fragrant. 
2.  Add in minced chilli paste and stir to mix well. Add in half a cup of coconut milk and stir-fry until oil oozes out. 
3.  Add in radish and snake beans and fry for 2 minutes. Add in water and the remaining coconut milk.
4.  Bring to a boil. Then add in tofu puff and cabbage. Let it boil for 15 minutes or until the radish is tender.
5.  Add in seasoning ingredients.
6.  Switch off flame and dish up.

I am linking this post to My Treasured Recipes # 3 - Taste of Autumn (Oct/Nov 2014)

Hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well In Flanders and 

co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House

Sweet Jelly Delight

Sweet Jelly Delight

Recipe source :  Doris Choo @ Sumptuous Flavours

Sweet memories from my childhood - cool and refreshing jellies. These are among the few simple treats that I learnt to make as a youngster. Unlike now, back in the old days there aren't desserts to be bought in small towns. Whatever you crave to eat, you've got to do-it-yourself. D-I-Y's the word!

I love to eat them as a child, and even now, the child in me continues relishing these wonderfully cool and refreshing jellies!

It is great to have these sweet jellies on hot sunny days or as desserts after a sumptuous meal. 

Ingredients for the red layer

10g agar-agar strips
60g sugar
700ml water
1 pandan (screw-pine) leaf, knotted
 A few drops of red food colouring

Ingredients for the white layer

10g agar-agar strips
60g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 coconut, grated
1 pandan (screw-pine) leaf, knotted
700ml water

Method

1.  Place water, pandan leaf and agar-agar strips into a small pot and boil until the agar-agar has dissolved.
2.  Add in sugar and red food colouring. Keep warm.
3.  Add water to the grated coconut and squeeze out the santan or coconut milk. Add in 1/2 tsp salt.
4.  Place santan, pandan leaf and agar-agar strips to boil until the agar-agar is dissolved. Add in sugar. keep warm.
5.  Spoon 1 ladle of red jelly into cups or moulds of your choice. Wait for it to be almost set. Then add in the white layer. Top up with another red layer.
6.  Repeat the process until the red and white jellies are used up. 
7.  Chill in refrigerator until cold. 
8.  Serve chilled.

Braised Pumpkin With Black Fungus 黑木耳焖南瓜

Braised Pumpkin With Black Fungus 黑木耳焖南瓜

Recipe source :  Y3K Magazine, Issue 59, 3/4-2011 

There is a lovely hue to pumpkin, bright and vibrant. The colour is so cheerful, I tend to think that it makes a dish look great. 

This is a simple stir-fry yet the taste was greatly enhanced with the addition of Chinese coriander and butter towards the end of cooking. 

Great dish!

Ingredients A

10g dried scallops, soaked and shredded       ( Original recipe used dried shrimps )
1 cup water ( water from soaking the dried scallops )
20g black fungus, soaked and cut into pieces
1 tbsp butter

Ingredients B

300g pumpkin, peeled and cut into chunks
2 pips garlic, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
2 stalks Chinese coriander, cut into sections of 3cm
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp cooking oil
  

Black fungus, pumpkin and dried and scallops

Method

1.  Heat 2 tbsp oil in wok. Stir-fry chopped garlic and shallots until slightly browned.
2.  Add in pumpkin and fry until the pumpkin has caramelised around the edges.
3.  Add in black fungus and fry for another minute.
4.  Add in the shredded dried scallops and water. Add more water if it is too dry.
5.  Cover with lid and let it simmer until liquid is absorbed.
6.  Uncover and add in butter, salt and sugar. Add coriander. Mix well.
7.  Dish up and serve.

I am linking this post to Little Thumbs Up

The theme for October 2014 is Pumpkin

Hosted by Eileen's Diary

This event is organised by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids 
and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY

I am also linking this post to Cook-Your-Book #17

Hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

I am also linking this post to My Treasured Recipes # 3 - Taste of Autumn (Oct/Nov 2014)

Hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well In Flanders and 

co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House

Nam Yue Bao ( Bacon Rolls ) 南乳包

Nam Yue Bao ( Bacon Rolls ) 南乳包

Recipe source for the Nam Yue rolls :  Adapted from The Hong Kong Cookbook
Recipe source for Bao skin :  Blue key Pau flour

These nam yue bao can be easily bought from the shops around the place I stay, but it is so satisfying to my sense of achievement to make them at home. It is even more satisfying when the bao turned out excellently. It is little wonder that we have such a large community of like-minded food bloggers who all love to cook and share!

Ingredients

350g pork belly, cut into 8 pieces about 1 cm thick
4 eggs, hard-boiled and with shells removed
30g shallots, sliced
2 tbsp cooking oil

Seasoning

1 1/2 cubes of nam yue
1/2 tbsp shao hsing wine
500ml water
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp black soya sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1/4 tsp five-spice powder

To cook the nam yue rolls

1.  Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok and saute the sliced shallots until fragrant.
2.  Add in the pork slices and fry until colour changes. Add in seasoning and hard-boiled eggs and bring to a boil. Once it boils, reduce to small flame and allow to simmer for 30 minutes or until the pork slices are tender.
3.  Dish up and set aside to cool.
4.  Cut the eggs into halves. 

 The pork belly and eggs ready for assembling

Ingredients for bao skin

330g bao flour
1 tsp yeast
180ml water
50g sugar
1 tsp double-action baking powder
25g shortening

To make the bao skin

1. Combine the bao flour, sugar, double-action baking powder and shortening in a mixing bowl. Mix in the yeast and water. Whisk until the the ingredients form into a smooth dough.
2.  Place into a big bowl and cover the bowl with cling film. Allow it to proof for about 30 minutes or until double in size.

To assemble the bao

1.  Punch down the bao dough and divide the dough into 8 equal portions.
2.. Roll out one portion into an oval shape. Place one piece of pork belly in the middle of the rolled-out dough. Add half an egg on top of the pork belly.
3.  Fold in the two sides of the dough and place the bao on a piece of baking paper. 
4.  Repeat the process with the rest of the ingredients.
5.  Place the bao onto a steaming tray and allow to further proof for about 20 minutes.
4.  Steam the conventional way over boiling water for 10 minutes or in a steam oven.

 The wrapped-up nam yue bao set aside to proof

Fresh from the oven!

Closed-up view of the nam yue bao

Ready to be washed down with Chinese tea

I am linking this post to Best recipes for everyone #3 Oct 14 ~ Bun In My Hot Steamer
Hosted by Fion of XuanHom's Mom Kitchen Diary
 

I am also linking this post to Cook-Your-Book #17

Hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

Pumpkin Mock Abacus Seeds 南瓜算盘子

Pumpkin Mock Abacus Seeds  南瓜算盘子

Recipe source :  Y3K Magazine - Catherine Chia's kitchen

These lovely "abacus seeds" look so pretty. They look like golden coins. This can be a meal on its own, very similar to a pasta or a noodle dish and it is truly filling. These pumpkin abacus seeds are imitations of yam abacus seeds which is a traditional dish of the Hakka community.   
This delicacy is not something easily available nor is it widely sold in restaurants, well, at least not around the vicinity where I stay.   

I like this pumpkin coins more than the yam version. On its own, the pumpkin coins are rather bland. Once you add in the other ingredients it becomes a great dish. The ingredients were well blended to complement each other. Every mouthful is bursting with the wonderfully combined flavours of fragrant and chewy cuttle fish, mixed with crunchy black fungus and bits of minced pork.

I am always very happy to share when I stumbled upon a great recipe.
This is one of the fabulous ones! 

Ingredients A

600g pumpkin
300g tapioca flour
1 tbsp cooking oil

Ingredients B

1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced shallot
1 tbsp dried shrimps ( soaked, drained and diced )              ( I used dried scallop )
100g minced chicken meat /pork
2 mushrooms ( soaked, drained and diced )
20g black fungus ( soaked and shredded )
50g dried cuttlefish shreds ( soaked )

Seasonings

2 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper

Garnishing

1 stalk Chinese parsley  )
1 stalk spring onion         )  all diced
1 fresh red chilli               )

Top left : diced mushrooms. Top right :  dried scallops

Bottom left :  shredded black fungus.Bottom right : Cuttlefish filaments

Minced pork

Method

1.  Peel pumpkin, cut into pieces. Steam tilled cooked and soft, drain off excess water. Add in tapioca flour and oil. Knead into a dough. Do it while the pumpkin is still hot.
2.  Pinch about 5g to 10g of dough and shape into rounds and use a finger to make a dented impression into the centre. ( To make them look like abacus seeds )
3.  Boil the pumpkin seeds in hot water till they float to the surface. Remove them with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a basin of cold water briefly. Drain away the water. Set aside. 
4.  Heat a wok with 2 tbsp oil. Saute the chopped garlic and shallots. Add in the diced mushrooms, black fungus, minced pork, dried scallops and the cuttlefish filaments. Stir-fry to mix everything together.
5.  Add in the seasoning ingredients and the par-boiled pumpkin seeds.
6.  Mix well, dish up and garnish. 

 Pumpkin seeds which has been par-boiled and drained in a colander

I am linking this post to Little Thumbs Up

The theme for October 2014 is Pumpkin

Hosted by Eileen's Diary

This event is organised by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids 
and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY

I am also linking this post to Cook-Your-Book #17

Hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours