Steamboat 火锅

Steamboat 火锅

Setting the table and getting the food ready for the steamboat dinner

Steamboat is my family's favourite choice for reunion dinner. We like our steamboat light and easy after a heavy lunch of steamed chicken and various meat dishes which were prepared for ancestral worship. Steamboat is pretty easy to prepare and there is literally no "slaving over the hot stove".  It  largely involves cleaning and washing vegetables and getting our favourite seafood items together on the dinner table. The "cooking" is done by dipping pieces of food into the hot boiling stock. If you are particular about sauces, then you have to make your own chili sauces or ginger sauces. As for my family and I, it is just cutting a couple of chili padi and squeezing the juice from one small lime into the chili padi and soya sauce. This chili padi and lime sauce is a great dipping sauce for seafood. 

Ingredients

2 litres of clear chicken stock
10 medium-sized prawns
2 cuttle fish ( the pre-soaked variety )
2 tins of canned abalone
30 pieces of sui-kow dumplings
1 kg jelly fish, soaked one day in advance. You need to change the water several times

1 can of sea asparagus

1 packet of bottle-shaped mushrooms ( or Hang Pau Koo in Cantonese ) 
2 packets of inoki mushrooms

1 handful of glass noodles, soak in water until soft

4 large leaves of Wong ngah pak, wash and cut into sections

1 small head of Chinese cabbage, wash and cut into bite-sized pieces

1 small head of lettuce, wash and cut into halves

2 stalks of Chinese celery, wash and cut into sections

Chili Sauce

8 chili padi, cut into small pieces
1 small lime, squeeze out the juice
2 tbsp soya sauce

Mix the ingredients together and you'll get a hot, and sour sauce

 Canned baby abalone

A plate of wrapped sui-kow dumplings. You can read up my previous post on how to make sui-kow dumplings

 2 pre-soaked cuttle fish, cut into small pieces

Canned sea asparagus

 A handful of glass noodles, soaked in water until soft

 Medium-sized prawns, trimmed and washed

 3 bottle-shaped mushrooms, cut into thin slices

Inoki mushrooms

Chinese cabbage on the left and lettuce on the right

Bottom : Chinese celery cut into sections

 

Jelly fish, soaked overnight and cut into small pieces

4 leaves of wong ngah pak, cut into sections

Place the steamboat over the gas stove

Instructions

 

1.  Prepare all the ingredients and place them around the steamboat.
2.  Fill the steamboat to two-thirds full of clear chicken stock
3.  Place the steamboat over the gas stove and bring the stock to the boil.
4.  Add pieces of the above ingredients into the stock and boil them until cooked.
5.  Dip the cooked food into the chili dipping sauce
6.  Enjoy !


Note :  You can use store-bought chili sauces of your choice, tomato sauce, hoi sin sauce or just plain soya sauce. 

Gong Xi Fa Cai 恭喜发财

WISHING EVERYONE A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS CHINESE NEW YEAR

GONG XI FA CAI

恭喜发财

I would like to take this opportunity to inform all readers that I will be away on holiday until 19th February 2013.

GONG XI FA CAI !!

恭喜发财

Eight Treasures Tea 八宝茶

Eight Treasures Tea 八宝茶

 

Tasty, healthy and nutritious

Recipe source :  My own, through trial and error. 

 
I read about the goodness and health benefits of this eight treasures tea in a newspaper article when a feature writer interviewed a visiting chef from Hong Kong. The chef had created a few  dishes for promotion in a local top-notch hotel. At the same time, he talked about drinking this tea to help digestion. The chef was expounding on this wonderful tea which contains the good health benefits of Chinese herbs and how the Chinese tea leaves help to prevent a feeling of being bloated after a heavy meal. He went on to describe how this tea was served during banquets. He also mentioned the eight ingredients used to brew the tea but he omitted to give the precise measurements and the recipe!

I was intrigued by the chef's description of this healthy tea concoction but I felt very disappointed that he did not provide the recipe in that article. I quickly noted down the eight key ingredients described by him. After many trials and errors I am now happy with this combination. It's very fragrant when drunk warm.

I think this is the perfect tea to serve during the reunion dinner. A wonderfully smooth tea for the palate and the tummy. My family likes it and I hope you like it too!

Ingredients

1 tbsp chrysanthemum buds
1 tbsp American ginseng slices, or you can use 'yong sum soe'
5 red dates, remove the seeds
10 pieces of dried longan flesh
1 tbsp wolf berries, kei chi in Cantonese
10 lotus seeds
1 tbsp good grade Chinese tea leaves
40g cane rock sugar
1.5 litres water

Top row from left : chrysanthemum buds, 'yong sum soe' and lotus seeds

Middle row from left :  red dates, dried longan flesh and wolf berries

Bottom row from left :  rock cane sugar and Chinese tea leaves

Instructions

 

1.  Soak lotus seeds in hot boiling water for 20 minutes.
2.  Rinse the rest of the Chinese herbs in warm water. 
3.  Remove the germs (the green and bitter buds) from the lotus seeds. Drain and set aside.
4.  In a medium-sized pot, bring 1.5 litres of water to the boil.
5.  Add the lotus seeds and red dates. Boil for about 40 minutes until the lotus seeds are soft.
6.  Add in the chrysanthemum buds, dried longan flesh, wolf berries, yong sum soe and rock sugar. Boil for 5 minutes.
7.  Lastly, add in the Chinese tea leaves. Switch off the flame and cover the pot for 3 minutes.
8.  Pour out the drink through a sieve into a large jug. 
9.  Serve warm in individual tea cups.

I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013

hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover

Paper-Wrapped Chicken 纸包鸡

  Paper-Wrapped Chicken 纸包鸡

An unwrapped upper thigh of chicken bursting with flavours!

Extreme left : drumstick, next to it : upper thigh, middle : drumstick, next to it : drumstick, extreme right : upper thigh

Recipe source : adapted from B & P Butterfly Cornflour

The fusion of flavours combined beautifully inside the wrapped-up parcel to produce a great tasting piece of chicken that after tasting one piece you will be clamouring for more! The process of making this dish may be tedious and time consuming. However, it is well worth the effort when you see your loved ones sinking their teeth into the chicken with gusto and appreciation. A wonderful dish that truly fills your tummy and warms your heart! 

Ingredients

1 kg of chicken (preferably a mixture of wings and drumsticks)

2 pieces of grease-proof paper measuring 30 inches x 40 inches

2 tbsp cooking oil for oiling the grease-proof paper

2 Chinese rice bowls of cooking oil for deep-frying

How to prepare the wings

 

 Remove the sharp bone from the joint

Cut the joints so that it becomes easier to wrap the wings but make sure they are not severed. This is to facilitate cooking and the marinade will seep into the flesh more easily

 

   Marinade Ingredients

   1 1/2 tbsp cornflour
   1 1/2 tsp salt
   1 tsp five-spice powder
   3 tbsp oil
   50g sugar
   50g dark soy sauce
   50g oyster sauce
   2 tbsp Hsao Hsing wine

 

   Grease-proof Paper

1. A piece of grease-proof paper measuring 30inches by 40 inches yields only 8 equal pieces.
2. Just fold the grease-proof paper into half and cut it.
3. Then fold it into half again and cut.
4. Repeat the process until you get 8 pieces

   Marinating The Chicken

1. Use a fork to prick the chicken pieces to enable the marinade to seep into the flesh easily
2. Mix the marinade ingredients in a large bowl
3. Add in the chicken pieces and mix thoroughly
4. Place it in the refrigerator and keep turning the chicken pieces every half an hour
5. Marinate time is about 2 hours

A Step-by-Step Instructions On How to Wrap the Chicken Pieces

 

Left: Marinated drumstick; Centre: Wing; Right: Upper thigh (the part that is connected to the drumstick)

  Rub oil onto a piece of grease-proof paper to prevent the chicken skin from sticking to the grease-proof paper

 Put a piece of marinated chicken on the grease-proof paper which has been rubbed with oil

  Fold up the grease-proof paper to cover chicken

  Fold in the end of paper from the right-hand side as shown

 Bring the end of paper from the left-hand side to fold over as shown

Fold up the paper and tuck the edges to secure a wrap as shown

    Cooking Instructions

1. In a wok, heat 2 rice bowls of oil for deep-frying
2. Reduce to LOW fire. ( Note : The deep-frying of food with a high sugar content using HIGH fire will cause it to be burnt easily )
3. Cooking time is about 15 minutes

I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013
hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover

Marie Prawn Fritters 发财笑哈哈

Marie Prawn Fritters  发财笑哈哈

 

Recipe source :  Family recipe


The Cantonese loves having a prawn dish for their reunion dinner as the word for prawn  虾 or "ha" in Cantonese,  rhymes with "laughter" or "merriment".

Ingredients

250g large prawns, remove shells leaving the tails intact
500ml oil for deep frying

Marinade For Prawns

1 tsp salt
a dash of pepper
1 egg white

 Ingredients For the Batter

100g Marie biscuits, finely ground
175ml water
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1  tbsp plain flour
1  tbsp tapioca flour
1  tbsp rice flour

A packet of Marie biscuits 

 Marie biscuits

  

Instructions

1.  Mix the batter ingredients together and stir to blend well to form a batter.
2.  Marinate the prawns with the prawn marinate for about 30 minutes.
3.  Add the prawns and marinade into the batter and mix thoroughly.
4   Heat oil in a wok until hot then reduce to medium flame.
5.  Dip the batter coated prawns into the hot oil.
6.  Deep-fry on both sides until golden brown .
7.  Place on kitchen towels to absorb excess oil.
8.  Transfer to a plate and garnish with cucumber and tomatoes ( optional )

I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013

hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover

Vegetables In Spring 春菜

Vegetables In Spring 春菜

As fresh as spring

Recipe source :  Adapted from a booklet distributed by B & P Butterfly  Cornflour


In China, the Chinese New Year is commonly known as 春节 (chun jie) or Spring Festival because it is  the celebration of the coming of spring. This dish of vegetables in spring is an apt connotation with reference to the "Spring Festival" or "Chun Jie", which is a perfect vegetarian dish to welcome spring.  A healthy and colourful vegetable dish to usher in the year of the snake.

Ingredients

170g broccoli, cut into florets
170g cauliflower, cut into florets
100g fresh young corn
1 small carrot, sliced
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 shallots, sliced
2 tbsp cooking oil

Seasonings

3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp ginger juice
2 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce
a dash of pepper
a few drops of sesame oil

Dissolve all the seasoning ingredients in 1 Chinese rice bowl of water

Cornflour Solution

  2 tsp of cornflour dissolved in 2 tbsp of water

Instructions

1.  Add 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and 1/2 cup oil into 1 litre of boiling water.
2.  Blanch broccoli, cauliflower, young corn and sliced carrots in the boiling water. Drain away the water.
3.  Heat 2 tbsp cooking oil in a wok and saute garlic and shallots till fragrant.
4.  Stir-fry together cauliflower, broccoli and carrot for a few seconds.
5.  Add young corn and bell pepper. stir-fry for 1 minute.
6.  Add the seasoning ingredients and cook for another minute.
7.  Add cornflour solution to thicken.

I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013

hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover

Prosperous Fish 年年有余

Prosperous Fish 年年有余

 

The name of this dish in Chinese (nian nian you yu  年年有余) means there is remainder every year or there is fish every year. The play is on the word ‘yu’ which can mean fish 鱼 or remainder 余

Recipe source :  Adapted from a cookbook, "Regional Chinese Cooking"

 

Ingredients

 

1/2 kg fish
2 egg yolks ( lightly beaten )
cornflour to coat the fish
1 tbsp minced garlic
a carrot (remove the skin and grate it)
a cucumber (remove the skin and grate the outer layer only)
1 stalk spring onion - use the white part only (shred)
 cooking oil for deep-frying

Marinade Ingredients for the fish

 

1 tbsp rice wine
2 stalks spring onion, (crushed to pulp and squeeze out the juice)
1/2 inch ginger ( crushed to pulp and squeeze out the juice)
1 tsp salt

Sauce Ingredients

6 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp vinegar
6 tbsp tomato sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cornflour

Dissolve the above in 1/2 a bowl of water

If you want the fish to look like in the photo you need to slit it into nearly half on the underside, then spread it out and push the head down. Do it before you start frying in the oil. If you use insufficient oil then you need to use a ladle to scoop up oil from the wok to pour it over the fish otherwise the top part won't cook.

The grated carrot

The grated cucumber

The grater

Instructions

 

1.  Make diagonal cuts on the fish down to the bone
2.  Use marinade to rub over the fish and the insides of the cut fish. Set aside for 30 minutes
3.  Dip fish in egg yolk and coat with cornflour
4.  Heat oil in a wok and deep-fry the fish over medium fire for 5 to 6 minutes until the batter is crisp. Remove fish and place on a large plate
5.  In a clean wok, heat 2 tbsp oil and stir-fry garlic and spring onion till fragrant.
6.  Add sauce ingredients and bring to the boil. Add a little more water if the sauce becomes too thick.
7.  Pour sauce over the fish.


Note: The grated carrot and cucumber taste great when dipped into the sauce.

 

I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013

hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover