Buzz in the kitchen - Mummy B in action

Blueberry Smoothie

2011-01-16T22:37:00.001+11:00

These small round purple-blue berries are packed with so much goodness. They are rich in antioxidants, vitamin C, B2 and an excellent source of flavonoids. Blueberry smoothie is the perfect snack beverage on a hot summer day, or serve it as a meal replacement drink if you want to lose the few pounds you have put on from Christmas and New Year feasting.

Ingredients (2 small servings)
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 cup fresh milk

Method
Combine all the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.

Sweet delight - Banana Milkshake 濃香誘人的香蕉奶昔

2011-01-08T22:03:00.003+11:00

Finally, a new post after MIA for more than four months!!! ;) My job is my new best friend (to keep up with the ever-increasing childcare expenses! It's $92/day this year, damn!) and I devote remaining spare time to the loves of my life - B&B. My camera has been sitting idle in the cupboard for months so I decided to check the battery life this morning. It's running low but I managed to capture some shots. Hence, this post... I am unofficially back to blogging.

If you are craving for something sweet, cool and refreshing this summer, here's a healthy nutritious drink to kick start your morning - Banana milkshake. It's super duper easy and quick to make. There are just three ingredients - 2 ripe bananas, 2 cups milk (about 500ml) and 1-2 scoops of vanilla ice-cream. Blend them all in a blender to your desired consistency. This makes 3 small servings.

Seafood Congee 海鮮粥

2010-08-31T21:54:00.006+10:00

Hello folks, I know I have not been very diligent in updating the blog. :( Have been sick for more than a month and I'm still not fully recovered. My little kitchen is still in operation, just not as efficient as before. I'm hoping things will change with the help of the few kitchen gadgets that I recently acquired. ;) I'm really excited about my latest purchase - Buffalo Smart Cooker and can't wait to test ~~drive~~ cook with it. :)

Today I'm going to share the recipe of seafood congee, Mummy B's style. It's not the traditional Cantonese "jook" you will be expecting, but it tastes pretty good. I hope you will like it.

Ingredients
500 seafood marinara
1 medium sized carrot, diced
1 cup rice
1 bunch coriander, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small piece ginger, julienne
Salt and pepper to taste
About 1.5l water/stock

Method
Put rice, diced carrot and water (or stock) in a large pot and bring to boil. As soon as it boils, lower heat, partially cover with lid and simmer for 40 minutes. Stir it every now and then to prevent the rice from clumping and sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Heat oil in a shallow frying pan, sauté ginger and garlic till fragrant. Add the seafood and gently stir fry them till just cooked (Do not overcook them). Remove the seafood and transfer to the pot of congee that is ready. Top with coriander leaves. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve immediately.

Pumpkin and mince stew 南瓜焖肉

2010-06-08T21:15:00.005+10:00

I'm so far behind on blogging... Was sick for 3 weeks and only beginning to feel better this week. this extremely cold and wet winter really hit me hard... low motivation, carbo cravings, mental sluggishness just to name a few. >__<

I've a few recipes lining up, just no time to blog yet. Will play catch-up soon... ^__^

Up next is pumpkin and mince stew!

Updated recipe

Ingredients
1 quarter pumpkin, cut into pieces
200g minced pork, marinated with soy sauce and corn flour
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small piece ginger, grated
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 tbsp oyster sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooking oil
Water

Method
Heat oil in pan, sauté ginger and garlic till fragrant. Add minced pork and stir fry till brown. Gently break the mince up with spatula. Add soy sauce, wine and oyster sauce, mix them well.

Add the pumpkin pieces and some water, stir fry for a minute. Cover pan with lid and gently simmer for 10 minutes. Add more water if it gets too dry. Season with salt and pepper.

Dish and serve with steam rice.

White Radish (Daikon) Soup 白蘿蔔湯

2010-05-19T21:43:00.003+10:00

The soup season has began! It's almost the end of fall and there's no better way to warm yourself up with a steaming bowl of soup. This is an easy recipe with four basic ingredients - white radish (also known as daikon), carrot, pork ribs and water. I would love to add some dried cuttlefish and dried oysters if I have some in the pantry but since I don't, I just have to make do with what I have.

Daikon is very low in calories and rich in enzymes to help in digesting fatty oils and starchy foods. It has anti-inflammatory and sedative properties, an excellent source of vitamin C, phosphorus and potassium. The health benefit of daikon is endless but you may want to add some dried red dates, geiji (wolfberries) or ginger into the soup to balance the "cooling" nature of daikon.

Ingredients
600g pork ribs
1 large sized white radish, cut into pieces
2 medium sized carrots, cut into pieces
1.2l water

Method
Blanch pork ribs in a pot of boiling water, about 5 minutes, to remove excess fats and scums. (Blanching the pork ribs/chicken gives you a clear soup).

Put all ingredients in a clean pot and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 2 hours. Add salt to taste (I did not put any salt and seasoning as I like my soup to retain its original flavour).

Chinese Cabbage and Mushrooms Soup 冬菇白菜湯

2010-05-14T22:23:00.003+10:00

This is a simplified version of my previous posting - Vegetables and Mushrooms Soup. I was craving for something light and refreshing after a few consecutive days of strong flavoured food.

I used Campbell's Salt Reduced Chicken Stock to save time (ahem, remember I am a busy working mum now?), soaked some Chinese mushrooms and coarsely sliced some Chinese cabbage. Bring everything to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve hot.

How simple can this get?! ;) Have a good weekend folks and a great time cooking in your kitchen!

Coq Au Vin 紅酒燴雞

2010-05-10T22:52:00.001+10:00

This was dinner on Mother's Day, the result of spending hours in the kitchen on "my" day trying to cook a special dish for the family. I'm not complaining for having to cook on Mother's Day... but it's stressful when you still can't have dinner served by 7pm and have a child roaming in the kitchen trying to open every drawer and cabinet, pressing the buttons on the dish washer and washing machine, and give you a cheeky grin when you tell him off.

On a side note, I received a small gift from my one-year old when I picked him up from the childcare centre on Friday - a painted photo frame (painted by Bryan with the carer's help). Sweet! :D

Recipe to follow soon... time to hit the sack! Night.

Recipe - Updated

Ingredients
1.2kg whole chicken, chopped into pieces
200g button mushrooms
4 rashers middle bacon, cut into strips
1 carrot, cut lengthwise
2 stalks celery, cut lengthwise
5 shallots, peeled and left whole
5 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
White and black pepper
1/2 cup Plan flour
1 cup red wine
1 cup chicken stock
Cooking oil

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Cook bacon slices in a cooled pan to render some fats. Add shallots and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until browned. Add the carrots, celery sticks and mushrooms and cook, stirring for about 8 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Pour flour on a plate, season with salt and pepper. Coat the chicken pieces thoroughly in the seasoned flour. Brown the chicken pieces on both sides in a large frying pan heated with oil. Brown the chicken in batches to prevent overcrowding the pan. Transfer the bacon and vegetables back. Stir in red wine and chicken stock. Bring to boil and lower heat to simmer for 10 minutes.

Transfer everything to an ovenproof casserole (with lid) and cook in oven, covered, for about 45 minutes to an hour. Serve with rice or potatoes if desired.

Mushrooms & Pork Ribs Claypot Rice 冬菇排骨煲仔飯

2010-05-05T22:40:00.003+10:00

It's been 2 months since I last updated the blog, am I lazy or what? :)

I have always wanted to cook chicken claypot rice but I don't have a claypot. Last weekend I finally went ahead to get one and cooked the mushroom pork ribs claypot rice. I didn't use chicken because I wanted to clear the packets of pork ribs in the freezer.

Traditionally the marinated meat is placed on top of the near-cooked rice and the steam will cook the meat. I have decided to cook the pork ribs separately before adding to the rice, for fear that the pork ribs will not be tender enough while my rice burned at the bottom. It's alright for the rice to form a crusty layer at the base but not too charred or you will have a hard time cleaning the claypot later on.

Alright, recipe to come later on. Bed time now...

Update - Recipe

Ingredients
2 cups rice, soaked for 15 minutes (i used the rice cooker’s cup)
3 cups water - cooking rice
400g pork ribs
5 Chinese mushrooms, soaked
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Cooking oil
200ml water

Marinade
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing cooking wine
1 small piece ginger, grated
1 tsp sesame oil
Dash of white pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp corn flour

Method
Marinate pork ribs and mushrooms with seasoning. Set aside in a container and refrigerate for at least an hour. In a pan, heat oil and saute garlic till fragrant. Add pork ribs and brown them to seal in the juice. Stir in water and allow to simmer over a gentle low heat until ribs turn tender, about half an hour.

Put rice, a little oil and water into a clay pot, cover and bring to boil. Stir to mix every now and then so it will not stick to the bottom. Turn down the fire and cook with low heat until bubbles start to form on the surface.

Spread the pork ribs and mushrooms on top of rice, cover and cook with low heat till rice is dry. Turn off the heat and let rice sit for further 10 minutes. Garnish with spring onion. Serve hot.

Leave my blog alone spammers!

2010-03-10T22:24:00.006+11:00

Apologies to my dear friends who have been receiving the spam comments from my blog of late. I have since removed the comments and changed the setting to have all comments reviewed before publishing.

This blog is created to share my passion for food with all other food lovers out there as well as to document the recipes of our dinner meals so that I could occasionally refer when I run out of dinner ideas. I don't need blog traffic and don't care about ad money, so please stop leaving spam comments on my blog. Well, you can't anyway now that it has been moderated.

It's been a long day at work and it will be another tomorrow. I will be back with more cooking and food updates soon. Night!

Mee Siam - Singapore style

2010-02-27T22:54:00.002+11:00

It's been a long week and I am so glad that the weekend has finally arrived. My ADSL connection has been a total let down! The crawling speed was worse than a dial-up! It appeared that there were some problems with the Dlink wireless modem, which was pronounced dead this afternoon when B tried to upgrade the software in an attempt to resolve the internet issue. T__T We bought a new router-modem today and the internet connection seemed to have improved but still not very stable.

A lot of things have happened over the week but that will be story for another time. Let's move on to more interesting stuff shall me? Food always excites me and I hope you share my sentiments.

Today I am going to share with you one of my Singapore hawker favorites - mee siam. Don't confuse this with the mee siam we have in Malaysia that is stir-fried and dried. This is the "wet" version of rice vermicelli in a sweet and sour tangy gravy with a hint of spiciness. It is a very appetizing dish, just writing this post is enough to make my salivary glands kick into overdrive.

Thanks to Prima Taste (again!), I could have this whipped up in 15 minutes time. Click here for the cooking instructions of mee siam from Prima Taste.

Besides mee siam, I have also tried Prima Taste's Hainanese Chicken Rice and Curry Chicken, both of which I highly recommend. I am going to stock up more Prima Taste "ready-to-cook sauce kits" next weekend, will probably try out their mee rebus and prawn mee. I'll be back with reviews!

Hainanese Chicken Rice 海南雞飯

2010-02-17T22:14:00.001+11:00

This was my first attempt in cooking Hainanese chicken rice and the soft poached chicken turned out better than expected. The skin was silky and meat moist and juicy. But I need more skill and practice in carving the chicken, perhaps getting a Chinese chopper will make the job easier.

I used Prima Taste ready-to-cook sauce kit, which saved me the trouble of chopping and blending the ingredients like ginger, garlic, shallots and such. The kit even came complete with the dipping sauces - chilli, ginger and dark soy sauces.

Click here for full ingredients and cooking instruction from Prima Taste.

I did not exactly follow the cooking instruction on the packet, which suggests to cook the chicken in the stock by simmering in low heat for 30 minutes. Instead, I immersed the chicken in the boiling stock, turned off the heat and let the chicken stand in covered pot for 20 minutes. I repeat the process and bring the water back to a boil, turned off the heat and let chicken cool for another 20 minutes. (This process is done 3 times in an hour to make sure the chicken cooks inside as well as outside.) The chicken is then removed and immersed in ice water for 15 minutes to stop the cooking process. The final step involved pouring PT's sesame soy sauce oil over the chopped chicken pieces.

For chicken rice, I mixed 3 cups of rice with PT's premixed fragrant oil and chicken stock (for boiling the chicken) and cook in an electric rice cooker.

Serve the chicken with rice, soup (from the chicken stock) and the condiments. Bon Appétit!

Fried Noodles with Prawns 大蝦炒麵

2010-02-04T20:32:00.002+11:00

Up next is stir fried noodles with prawns. This is a long overdue post as it was dinner many months back. Yeah last year, how long ago was that eh? :)

Will share the recipe soon. Good night, yawn...

* Updated - recipe *

Ingredients
1 packet yellow noodles (Hokkien Mee), 400g
6 large Banana prawns, peeled shell, retained head and deveined
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small quarter cabbage, julienne
1 egg, beaten (optional)

Seasoning
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1.5 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
Dash of white pepper

Method
Heat some oil in a wok or large frying pan over a medium heat. Saute some garlic till fragrant. Add prawns and stir fry them till cooked, remove and set aside.

Heat oil in wok again and saute remaining garlic. Add cabbage and a little splash of water. Stir fry cabbage for about  2-3 minutes until just wilted.

Meanwhile, mix oyster sauce, pepper, light and dark soy sauce in a small bowl.

Add noodles to the wok/pan and stir-fry for a minute, then pour over the sauce. Toss the noodles and mix all ingredients well. If you are cooking with egg, make a well in the centre of the wok/pan and stir in the beaten egg. Lightly scramble it.

Finally, add the prawns and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes until everything is heated through.

Dish and serve.

Stir-fried mixed vegetables with glass noodles 雜菜粉絲

2010-02-03T22:10:00.002+11:00

I love anything with glass noodles, like the springy texture and that they readily pick up and absorb the flavours. This dish is versatile as you can choose from a wide array of vegetables like cabbage, mushrooms, snap peas, carrots, zucchini to go with the glass noodles, mix and match them to your liking.

You can have it an all vegetarian dish if you like, or add some mince or sliced pork for the meat lovers at home. Cooking is fun as you mix and match ingredients, combine seasonings to achieve a harmonious flavour and taste.

Will update the recipe soon. Good night everyone.

* Updated - recipe *

Ingredients
1 cup cabbage, coarsely shredded
1 small carrot, julienned
2 small packets glass noodles, soaked in water till soft (I prefer Thai brands than Chinese)
200g pork mince
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked in water and retained liquid
Handful of black fungus, soaked in water till soft
Corn starch water (optional)

Seasonings
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

Method
Heat oil in wok and saute garlic till fragrant. Add pork minced and stir fry till brown. Push mince aside, stir fry carrots and cabbages for 5 minutes till wilted. Add sliced mushrooms, black fungus and water used to soak the mushrooms, followed by the seasonings. Mix to combine and cook for another 3 minutes.

Add the glass noodles and toss to blend well. The water will soon dried up as the noodles absorb the flavour. If you like to have a thicker sauce, add some corn starch water.

Dish and serve.

Char Kway Teow 炒粿條

2010-01-30T20:03:00.009+11:00

On some rare occasions when we have bouts of homesickness and cravings for hawker style cooking, this is one of the comfort foods we go for - char kway teow or stir-fried flat rice noodles.

Char kway teow is so widely available back home and you can find it in almost every hawker centre and food court for a mere SGD2.50 or RM3.50. In Sydney, there's no luxury of that. A plate of char kway teow costs at least AUD8.00/9.00 and you don't get the authentic taste you are familiar with back home.

I certainly can't cook like a Malaysian char kway teow hawker seller and generate the aromatic “wok hei” at home, but moi can cook a decent plate of fried kway teow with less carb and more ingredients at a far cheaper price than you could get from a Malaysian restaurant in Sydney. ^_^

My previous post on fried kway teow 2.5 years ago was amateured and home styled. I think (well, I hope) my cooking has improved and gradually progressed over the years. Ahem-hem... ^__^

The recipe will be added soon, and I am now off to enjoy dinner with my family. See ya later! Have a great weekend!

* Updated - recipe *

Ingredients - serve 2 to 3
300g fresh flat rice noodles
6 large prawns, deveined
200g pork, sliced and marinated with soy sauce and corn flour
4 stalks garlic, finely minced
2 stalks scallions, cut into 1.5 inch length (separate green from white parts)
200g beansprouts
2 eggs, beaten
Cooking oil

Seasoning
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
2.5 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
Dash of white pepper

Method
Gently separate the rice noodles so that they are not stuck together. Microwave noodles for a minute and a half and set aside. (I heat the noodles up as they were cold from the fridge)

In a small bowl, mix all seasoning together.

Heat pan/wok until quite hot. Pour in some soil and saute minced garlic and white parts of scallions until fragrant. Stir fry meat until browned, then add prawns. Remove prawns as soon as they are just cooked. Push all other ingredients aside.

Heat some oil and toss in rice noodles. Stir fry noodles for 2 minutes until fragrant. (Be gentle so that you don't break the noodles) Stir in seasonings and toss noodles on high heat for another 2-3 minutes until well coated.

Make a well in the centre of the pan/wok and heat some oil. Pour in the egg mixture and scramble it. Gently fold into noodles and mix all ingredients well.

Add beansprouts, green parts of scallions and cooked prawns. Toss to mix.

Serve immediately.

Chicken and corn soup 雞蓉粟米湯

2010-01-29T20:14:00.002+11:00

Chicken and corn soup is not a regular dish on our dinner table. As much as I love the soup (it's so easy to make and tasty!), B isn't a fan. I reckon it's a bit sweet for his liking, and it's not the traditional Chinese double-boiled or simmered soups that he's used to. It's one of my favorites anyway, so I want to share this recipe here.

This soup is full-bodied as you can see from the photo it is rather thick. No starch was used to thicken it, the whisked egg added near the end of cooking process did the trick. You can use left over roast chicken for convenience, or diced hams for some variations.

Here's my version of chicken and corn soup.

Ingredients
150g chicken meat
400g canned creamed corn
2 bowls water
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
Dash of sasame oil
Salt to taste

Method
Bring water to boil and simmer chicken until it is cooked, about 20 minutes. Remove chicken, let cool and shred meat. Keep the water and use as a stock.

Combine creamed corn, stock and wine. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add the shredded chicken and slowly stir in beaten egg. Reduce heat. Dash in salt and sesame oil.

Stir well and serve hot.

Baked Lamb Cutlets with Herbs and Balsamic Vinegar 迷迭香羊排

2010-01-28T18:33:00.000+11:00

Hello peeps!!! Apologies for the long absence! Been busy with work as I am now back to full time duty and don't have much time to try out new recipes and experiment in my kitchen.

This was dinner last Sunday - baked lamb cutlets. I marinated the lamb with herbs, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper overnight, so that the meat will absorb all the wonderful flavors of the marinade. I am a big fan of balsamic vinegar. It is a great all purpose marinade that helps to tenderize meats and works well on all kinds of poultry. Do buy a good high-end aged Italian balsamic vinegar if you could afford it, but a less expensive young balsamic works fine as a marinade.

Full recipe will be updated soon! :) I will be back.

* Updated - recipe *

Ingredients
6 lamb cutlets
2.5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp dried mixed herbs (rosemary, thyme, basil, marjoram, oregano and sage)
Salt and pepper
1 tsp sugar

Method
Marinate lamb with balsamic vinegar, herbs, sugar, salt and pepper overnight.

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan forced. Baked lamb for 20-25 minutes, brushing with marinade occasionally, or until the lamb cutlets is tender.

Taiwanese Style Stewed Pork Rice 台式滷肉飯

2010-01-04T22:04:00.005+11:00

Fatty pork rules!!! Slow-cooked and stewed to perfection, this Taiwanese style stewed pork rice is just sinfully delicious. I will add the recipe soon! I mean hopefully real soon... it's not easy to juggle between work and family now that I have gone back to work full time. Will definitely make time for blogging.

By the way, happy new year folks! :)

* Updated - recipe

Ingredients
500g pork belly
8 shallots, finely chopped
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup fried shallots
Cooking oil

Seasonings
1 tbsp peanut butter
1 tsp five spice powder
Dash of white pepper
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
Rock sugar to taste
Water

Method
Blanch the whole pork belly in boiling water for 4-5 minutes. Remove and cut pork into small bite-sized pieces.

Heat oil in a wok or frying pan. Saute the chopped shallots for 5 minutes till browned and slightly burned. Add the chopped garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Add pork pieces and stir fry for another 3 minutes. Add the seasoning, rock sugar, fried shallots and water that is enough to cover all ingredients. Mix well and transfer to a slow cooker.

Slow cook for 3-4 hours on high power till the pork is soft and the fats just literally melt in your mouth. Serve with steamed rice.

Note
- You may want to adjust the amount of soy sauce and rock sugar to suit your taste.

- I always pop in a few hard-boiled eggs in the process of cooking the meat.

- The original Taiwanese style stewed pork does not have dark soy sauce as part of the seasonings. It used caramelised sugar instead. I was lazy to make it so I used some dark soy sauce to add a bit of colour.

- Peanut butter is optional, but it gives a lot more texture and a nice aroma to the dish.

Homemade BBQ Pork (Char Siu) 叉燒

2009-12-16T10:44:00.004+11:00

This was dinner last week - homemade char siu using Lee Kum Kee 李錦記 ready made char siu sauce. It's easy to make as the marinade is ready to use and for a stronger flavour, I added a dash of five spice powder onto the pork.

Pork butts (the shoulder of the pig) or pork tenderloins are usually used for making char siu but I have used pork belly this time as B likes his meats a little fatty.

Ingredients

500g pork belly
4 tbsp of Lee Kum Kee char siu sauce
Dash of Chinese five spice powder

Method
Marinate pork with 4 tablespoons char siu sauce and dash of five spice powder for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.

Roast pork in pre-heated oven at 180°C (fan forced mode) for about 20 minutes, turn the pork over and baste with more sauce, roast for another 20 minutes.

Reserve remaining marinade and boil it in a saucepan. Pour sauce over sliced pork. Dish and serve.

Seafood Bonanza

2009-11-29T11:24:00.001+11:00

We had so much seafood in a day last weekend that I am convinced it's not a good idea to let B go shopping alone at the Sydney Fish Market. I was only thinking of cooking seafood soup with rice last Sunday, but B came back from the Fish Market with a kilogram of seafood marinara, a pack of vongole, 1 rainbow trout, a dozen fresh oysters, a pack of sliced salmon sashimi and a box of seaweed salad.

I cooked the rice and seafood soup as main for lunch (check out the recipe), and served the oysters, seaweed and sashimi as appetisers.

My salmon sashimi roses. I love sashimi but was refrained from eating during my pregnancy. I'm so glad I can eat all I want now! Wahahaa.... You can find my salmon sashimi don recipe here.

A dozen of fresh oysters for $10. My plate can only fit 10 oysters so there is no reason why I couldn't slurp a couple before serving. Ha...

Marinated thready seaweed salad with toasted sesame seeds and red pepper flakes for $3. I always enjoy a side dish of wakame, love its toothsome chewy texture and refreshing taste.

Scrambled Egg with Tomato 蕃茄炒蛋/西红柿炒蛋

2009-11-23T00:40:00.003+11:00

This is another simple and homely Chinese dish that takes little time to prepare and cook. Tomato and egg may sound like a strange combination but this is a common Pekinese dish and one of the first that children learn to make at an early age.

It's inexpensive yet nutritious, my comfort food during my postgraduate days when I was still a poor overseas student. I am not from China, but being brought up in a multi-cultural environment has exposed us to food from different regions. This was one of my favorite dishes growing up as a kid. I have always known that it's Chinese but I only came to know about its origin last year during the Beijing Olympics.

As a busy working mum having to balance the time between so many commitments, this dish is my dinner saviour when I come home late or at times when I get all stressed up with a cranky naughty boy.

So there you go, another simple dinner meal of the B's family. What's your dinner saviour? Do you have one? Please feel free to share any tips and cooking ideas... I would love to know. :)

Ingredients
2 riped tomatoes, sliced
3 eggs, beaten
2 stalks spring onion, chopped (separate white from green)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Pinch of salt
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sasame oil
Cooking oil

Method
Crack eggs in a bowl, add a tiny pinch of salt and sesame oil and beat eggs with a pair of chopsticks. Heat three tablespoons of oil in a wok or a deep frying pan till medium hot, pour in beaten egg and stir fry for 5 seconds. The egg will be a bit wobbly and runny. Remove egg and set aside.

Heat up another tablespoon of oil and saute garlic and the spring onion (the white parts) till fragrant. Add the tomato slices and stir fry for about 2 minutes and the tomato juice will start to flow. Stir in soy sauce and sugar. Reduce the heat and return the egg. Gently mix the egg with the tomatoes. Garnish with green onion before serving.

Garlic Fried Rice & Ginger Pork Chop 蒜茸炒飯 & 薑汁豬扒

2009-11-22T21:17:00.002+11:00

Bed time now.... Recipe will be added shortly.
zzZZzzzZ...

**Updated - Recipe added**

Ginger Pork Chop
Ingredients
6 pieces thinly sliced pork chop
2 tbsp grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1 tsp sesame oil
Cooking oil for frying pork

Method
Marinate pork slices with ginger, garlic, soy sauce, mirin and sesame oil for at least 2 hours.

Heat oil in pan and pan fry pork slices on medium heat until both sides are brown and cooked through.

Garlic Fried Rice
Ingredients
2 bowls of cooked rice
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste
2 stalks green onions, chopped

Method
Using the oil and fats remained from frying the pork, saute the minced garlic for about 30 seconds till fragrant. Toss in the rice and add salt, pepper, butter and soy sauce. Stir fry rice for a minute till well mixed.

Make a well in the center and pour in beaten egg. Scramble egg and stir egg into the rice until thoroughly blended. Add green onions, mix well and serve.

Cheesy Pumpkin Bake 芝士培根烤南瓜

2009-11-08T10:44:00.002+11:00

This is one of my favourite recipes and one of the best ways I like my pumpkin cooked. You can replace bacon crumbs with chicken dices as a healthy substitute.

Ingredients
1 quarter pumpkin, cut into small pieces
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
5 slices bacon
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Some olive oil

Method
Take the bacon slices cold from the refrigerator and start with a cold pan. (This will prevent bacon from burning and help to render out the fat). Fry bacon till crisp. Remove and crumble bacon. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pan over medium high heat and saute garlic. Add pumpkin and stir fry for about 8-10 minutes till slightly soft.

Arrange pumpkin on a casserole dish, sprinkle bacon all over it. Top with shredded cheese.

Bake in oven at 180°C for about 15-20 minutes till cheese melted and turn golden.

Seafood Soup 番茄海鮮湯

2009-10-05T16:34:00.001+11:00

Been super busy with work, baby, doctor visits, household chores and cooking. That pretty much sum up what I did the past few weeks. It's good to be back at work and learning new things in a new team. At home, I am starting to cook baby food as Bryan is now 6 months old and ready for some semi-solids.

Today I'm sharing a triple tested and tried recipe that started off as a fish soup and after a few experimentations, I added host of other ingredients and it became a one-pot soup meal. You will need some fresh ingredients to make a good seafood soup. I got my seafood from De Costi at Sydney Fish Market. The soup is slightly sour because of the tomatoes and makes it very appetizing, and if you don't eat prawns, just add more fish and vegetables of your choice (tofu, seaweed, enoki mushrooms, etc).

Ingredients (Serve 2-3)
400g fish fillet
6 big prawns, remove shells and deveined
1 squid/calamari, cut into rings
1 small piece ginger, cut into thin strips
5 cloves garlic, chopped
Lettuce leaves
2 tomatoes, quartered
1 piece silken tofu, cubed (optional)
1 small piece dried seaweed (optional)
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Cooking oil
3 bowls water
2 bunches coriander (for soup stock)
Coriander leaves for garnishing

Method
Add water into a saucepan and bring to boil. Add tomatoes, some ginger and coriander, and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain stock through a colander; retain stock and discard ingredients.

Heat oil in a deep pan, saute garlic and remaining ginger till fragrant. Add seafood and pan fry for 2-3 minutes. Add stock, lettuce leaves, tofu and seaweed into pan. Bring stock back to boil for 1-2 minutes, add salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish soup with coriander leaves. Serve with rice.

Butadon 豚丼

2009-08-23T20:42:00.000+10:00

It's hard to dine out these days with a baby, so I try to cook at home as much as possible and experiment with new recipes. It's going to be challenging next month when I go back to work part-time. I seriously don't know how Mummy B is going to juggle between work and family... I will tell you more in 2 weeks time.

Butadon, or "pork rice bowl", has thin slices of pork and onion simmered in a sweet broth and served on top of a bowl of rice. This is a quick and easy pork recipe, and the pork can be replaced with beef slices to make gyudon (beef rice bowl).

Ingredients
1 onion, thinly sliced
300g pork fillet, thinly sliced
1.5 tbsp mirin
1.5 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup dashi stock
1 tsp sugar
Cooking oil
2 stalks scallion, finely chopped

Method
Heat oil in pan and saute onion till soft. Add pork slices and stir-fry for a few minutes till brown. Combine mirin, sugar, soy sauce and dashi. Pour mixture into pan. Reduce the heat and simmer the pork, covered, for 5 minutes.

Serve over Japanese rice. Garnish with chopped scallion.

Steamed minced pork in egg custard 肉餅蒸蛋

2009-08-14T22:13:00.006+10:00

The key to a smooth and perfect steamed egg is to steam over very low fire, and I find that it helps to cover the steaming dish with a plastic wrap.

Ingredients
250g minced pork
2 stalks scallion, chopped
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp sesame oil
Dash of pepper

2 eggs, beaten
stock/water (2 eggs:2 stock)
1 tsp soy sauce

Method
Marinate minced pork with light soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper and corn starch. Mix all ingredients well and transfer to a shallow steaming dish.

Mix the beaten egg, stock and soy sauce in a bowl. Pour the egg mixture over meat and skim off bubbles on the surface. Cover steaming dish with a plastic wrap. Steam with lid covered over a low simmer for about 15-18 minutes.

Garnish with chopped scallion and serve.

Stir-fried chicken with ginger and scallion 姜蔥炒雞丁

2009-08-13T14:50:00.001+10:00

This is another dish with the ginger, garlic and scallion mixture. Click here and here for some other recipes with the 3 ingredients.

This is a simple foolproof recipe that cooks in minutes. It's as delicious as it is easy to make!

Finely chopped the 3 ingredients and sauté them with 2 tablespoons oil and sprinkle of salt for a few minutes till aromatic and slightly brown. Remove and set aside. Stir fry marinated chicken pieces (soy sauce, sesame oil and corn flour marinade) till cooked and return the ginger scallion mixture. Mix them well with chicken and voilà! We are in business. Easy eh? ^__^

Steamed Hot & Spicy Pork Ribs 香辣排骨

2009-08-05T11:44:00.003+10:00

It's been an extremely busy and taxing week, slapped with countless little things to do and a series of unpleasant encounters with some difficult people. There were so much packing, so much cleaning and washing, and I still have not finished unpacking stuff. I reckon when I finally settle down and have time to enjoy the new place, it's bout time to go back to work. -__-

While unpacking the books in my new home I found this recipe in the 47th issue of YUM YUM magazine. The original recipe has the coriander, onion, chillies and garlic blended into a sauce. I don't have a blender so I chopped up the ingredients as finely as possible. I have added more seasoning to the marinade to give it a bit more flavor. It was overall good but B thought it was a tad bland and not spicy enough. Will add more salt and chili padi next time!

Ingredients
400g pork ribs, cut into pieces
3 stalks coriander, finely chopped
3 red chilies, thinly cut
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste

Marinade
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp corn flour
1 tsp sesame oil
Dash of white pepper

Method
Mix pork ribs with marinade and keep refrigerated for at least 2 hours.

Heat oil in pan and saute garlic, chillies and coriander for 2 minutes till fragrant. Sprinkle some fine salt and stir well. Pour the mixture onto pork ribs.

Steam pork ribs over medium high heat for about 15 minutes till cooked. Serve with rice.

Chicken skewers 雞肉串燒

2009-08-05T10:09:00.000+10:00

What a month! B is down with a stubborn cold that just don't go away. I am busy taking care of the two men (one little man) at home and getting ready to move to a new place and a bigger kitchen! ^_^

Stay tuned as the recipe of chicken skewers to be added shortly.

Ingredients
600g chicken breast
1 red capsicum
1 zucchini
1 can peanut sauce

Marinade
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sugar
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Black and white pepper

Method
Cut chicken into 1.5 inch cubes. Marinate chicken and keep refrigerated for at least 3 hours.

Soak skewers in cold water for 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Thread chicken and vegetables onto skewers. Place on grill for 15 minutes or until cooked through, turning and brushing often with remaining marinade.

Serve with peanut sauce.

Steamed Red Snapper with Ginger and Soy 蒸红鲷

2009-07-09T12:52:00.000+10:00

This post is long overdue.*_* This was our dinner two weeks ago, wait, or was it three weeks? Haha I seriously can't remember. Don't have much time of my own these days. It's never easy being a full time mum, doing chores plus cooking and trying to keep up a social life, well, not that I have any now. I am not complaining, motherhood is beautiful and such a blessing. ^_^

Ingredients
1 red snapper or fish of your choice
1 small piece ginger, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks spring onion, cut into rings
Sprinkle of salt
2 tbsp cooking oil
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp rice wine
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1/3 cup water

Method
Clean and scale the fish. Make three diagonal cuts on each side of fish. Sprinkle with salt inside and out.

Steam fish on plate or a steamer basket, covered, for 8-10 minutes over medium-high heat. Steaming time could be longer for bigger fish.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan and sauté garlic and ginger for 2 minutes till fragrant. Add all seasoning and water. Mix all ingredients well. Pour in the spring onion and give it a good stir.

Remove fish from steamer, drain and discard the juice. Pour the sauce over fish.

Serve immediately.

Stewed Pork Ribs with Pumpkin 南瓜炆排骨

2009-06-29T12:32:00.002+10:00

Dinner last night was stewed pork ribs with pumpkin. We love pumpkins and I cook it at least once a week. Pumpkins are nutritious, firstly they are low in fat and calories, perfect for people on diet. They are also rich in antioxidants and beta-carotene, and good source of potassium.

Ingredients
350g pork ribs
Quarter pumpkin, cut into pieces
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tsbp cooking oil
Water

Marinade
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp corn flour
Dash of white pepper

Method
Combine pork ribs with marinade and mix well. Set aside and refrigerate for several hours.

Heat oil in pan and saute garlic for about 1 minute. Add pork ribs and stir fry for 3-4 minutes till brown. Stir in some water and allow to simmer covered over a gentle low heat until ribs turn tender, about 20 minutes.

Add pumpkin and continue to simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Dish and serve.

Steamed drunken prawns 紹興藥材醉蝦

2009-06-26T22:11:00.000+10:00

This drunken prawns recipe is steamed and not eaten cold, as the traditional Shanghainese dish has the live prawns doused in Chinese wine and eaten "alive". The combination of herbs and Shaoxing wine add a rich fragrance and bring out the sweetness of the prawns.

Ingredients
8 medium/large prawns
1 small ginger, sliced
4 slices dang gui (Angelica Sinensis)
1 tbsp wolfberries
Generous amount of Shaoxing Wine
4 tbsp water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp soy sauce

Method
Trim and devein the prawns, leaving the shells intact. Arrange prawns and ginger on a steaming plate. Splash in Shaoxing wine and soak prawns in wine for an hour.

Combine all remaining ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave the herbs on high heat for 1 minute to release the flavour of the herbs. Alternatively, you can steam the herbs for 20 minutes.

Pour herbs over prawns and steam on medium heat for 5 minutes. Drizzle more Shaoxing wine and serve immediately.

Taiwanese Style Fried Vermicelli 台式炒米粉

2009-06-11T20:44:00.002+10:00

Taiwanese style fried vermicell - another favourite of mine! It is absolutely necessary to use the rice vermicelli from Taiwan, specifically, the ones from Hsinchu region (新竹米粉). Hsinchu rice vermicelli has a springy texture and is different from those made in Thailand and Malaysia.

Not sure if you could find Hsinchu rice vermicelli in Singapore or Malaysia. I have found at least 3 brands of such vermicelli in Sydney. I simply love groceries shopping in the Chinatown! The Asian grocers here sell all sorts of Asian products and I like to buy food stuff from Taiwan, HK and Japan.

Here's the recipe:-

Ingredients (Serve 4)
1 packet 260g Hsinchu rice vermicelli (新竹米粉)
200g pork, sliced (retain some pork fats/lard)
1 small carrot, cut to thin stripes
Quarter cabbage, shredded
4 Chinese mushrooms, soaked and retained water, thinly sliced
Handful dried shrimps, soaked and retained water, finely chopped
2 shallot, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
Dash of white pepper
Cooking oil

Method
Soak the rice vermicelli in cold water till soften, around 15-20 minutes. Drain and set aside. Heat oil in wok/pan and sauté shallot, dried shrimps and lard, add rice vermicelli and stir fry till fragrant and slightly browned. Remove and set aside.

Heat some oil and sauté garlic till browned and fragrant. Add pork slices and stir fry with some oyster sauce. Push pork slices aside, stir fry mushrooms and carrots till they are just starting to soften, about 3 minutes. Add cabbage and salt, stir fry till vegetables are fully cooked.

Add the rice vermicelli, soaking liquid (from mushrooms and dried shrimps), pepper, light and dark soy sauces. Toss the vermicelli and cook till they have soaked up the liquid and all ingredients well mixed.

Dish and serve.

Coconut Red Bean Pudding 椰汁紅豆糕

2009-06-08T14:44:00.002+10:00

Before I start my entry on Taiwanese style fried bee hoon, I want to share with you a dessert that I made yesterday - Coconut Red Bean Pudding 椰汁紅豆糕.

If you are a red bean lover, you would love this! This traditional Cantonese dessert is easy to make and serves as a perfect after dinner snack. It is also great for a pot-luck or dinner party.

Ingredients
100g red beans
100g corn starch
400ml coconut milk
100ml evaporated milk
700ml red bean water/water
150g sugar

Method
Soak red beans for an hour and cook in water till the beans are soft (same method as cooking red bean soup). Strain red beans and keep both red beans and water for use later. You can use leftover red bean soup as well.

Mix coconut milk, evaporated milk and corn starch in a bowl and stir well.

Re-heat the red bean water. Switch to low heat, pour in cornstarch mixture and stir in one direction till thicken. Keep stirring to prevent lumps forming. Turn off fire and stir in the red beans.

Pour mixture into a mould/baking tray that has been rinsed with cold water. Let it cool and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. Invert pudding onto a plate, cut and serve.

Kitchen re-opening!

2009-06-06T21:59:00.001+10:00

The Bee's kitchen will re-open soon!

Up next will be Taiwanese style fried bee hoon 台式炒米粉, so stay tuned for more updates!

First outing

2009-05-10T11:35:00.003+10:00

Baby Bryan attending baby blessing ceremony at the Darling Harbour on Buddha's birthday (09 May 09)

First month

2009-04-29T11:50:00.001+10:00

Baby Bryan at one month old.

Skinny-dipping

2009-04-16T17:47:00.000+10:00

Enjoying bath time in my Tummy Tub - a unique bucket that replicates a womb-like environment to help babies relax and feel calm in the foetal position.

DJ-Bryan

2009-04-13T18:29:00.002+10:00

Baby Bryan DJ-ing...

Bee Junior

2009-04-07T12:59:00.000+10:00

I'll be away from the kitchen for a short period of time as I now have a little emperor to attend to.

I'll be back... soon! ^__^

Stewed spare ribs with BBQ sauce 燒汁茄醬燜排骨

2009-03-22T21:44:00.000+11:00

I recently bought a 3.5l slow cooker and it's been one of my best purchases ever! I have cooked congees, stews and soups with the slow cooker and they all turned out divine. Meats (even cheap cuts) became meltingly tender, yet retained its flavours and juicy textures. I no longer have to worry about congee getting burned or spilled over, and there is little evaporation involved and minimal risk of soup drying up.

This spare ribs with BBQ sauce recipe is fairly easy to prepare. The spare ribs were simmered to perfection and so tender and moist that they fall off the bone.

Ingredients
2 slabs spare ribs
1 cup BBQ sauce of your choice
2 tbsp tomato sauce
2 tbsp honey mustard
Dash of black pepper
10 button mushrooms, quartered
1 brown onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp cooking oil

Method
Marinate spare ribs with BBQ sauce, tomato sauce, honey mustard and black pepper for a few hours.

Place sliced onions in the bottom of the slow cooker. Arrange whole slab of spare ribs on top of the onion. Pour in the marinade. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-7 hours.

Heat oil in pan and sauté garlic and mushrooms. Pour sauce from spare ribs over mushrooms. Dish and serve.

Sunflower Café Again..

2009-03-19T22:04:00.004+11:00

Hello folks, I have not gone into labour yet. Very soon though... just a few more weeks to go. Mum is coming over this weekend and I'm looking forward to her visit and spending time with her before bub arrives.

Another post on Sunflower café! It is officially my favourite dinner spot now, it's very close to where we live (just downstairs) and we love their pearl milk tea and food. We go there about three times a week and I just found out that my OB (originally from Taiwan) is their regular customer as well.

Here are more photos of their yummy home-style dishes:-

My current favourite - Gigantic serving of Crispy chicken fillet with noodle 香酥雞排麵 $9.20

The crispy chicken that is served separately.

B's regular order - Taiwanese style pork mince with rice 台式肉燥飯 $6.30.

This is one of their popular dishes - Taiwanese style beef noodle soup 台灣牛肉麵 $9.20. You can choose to have their Special beef noodle soup (comes with beef slices instead) for $9.90.

Taiwanese sausage with rice 香腸飯 $8.50

Sunflower Café
147 Broadway
Ultimo NSW 2007
Phone: (02) 9211 5298

Open 7 days

Lamb Rogan Josh 咖喱羊肉

2009-03-11T20:54:00.002+11:00

This is my second attempt in cooking Lamb Rogan Josh at home, and I decided to use a slow cooker this time. The meat turned out to be really soft and tender after only two hours of slow-cooking on "high" setting.

Read more about Rogan Josh here.

Ingredients
600g boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 2-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 brown onion, roughly chopped
1 bottle Rogan Josh simmering sauce (Patak's brand from UK)
1 small can diced tomatoes
Cooking oil

Method
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and saute onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes till fragrant. Add lamb and cook for 4-5 minutes until meat is sealed and browned.

Add the simmering sauce, diced tomatoes and stir for 1-2 minutes till lamb is coated with sauce. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about an hour till lamb is tender. Alternatively, transfer the lamb and sauce into a slow cooker and cook on "high" for 2-3 hours.

Dish and serve with rice.

Pork and onion omelette 煎蛋餅

2009-03-10T08:44:00.000+11:00

My cooking is getting simpler these days as I approach the last month of pregnancy, which is also the least comfortable and the most emotional one so far. I am still working and my bosses have been so kind to allow me to work from home and go to office only once a week.

I am sharing today an easy recipe that has been my favourite since young. Every time I cook this omelette, it will draw B sniffing into the kitchen. It's one of his favourites as well. ^__^

Ingredients
2 eggs, beaten
100g minced pork
1 brown onion, coarsely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooking oil

Method
Heat oil in pan and saute onion for 2 minutes. Add minced pork and stir-fry with some salt and pepper till browned. Transfer onion and pork into the bowl of beaten egg. Gently mix the ingredients.

Heat oil in pan again. Pour the pork and egg mixture into pan and spread the ingredients evenly. Reduce heat and let it cook for about 4 minutes till the bottom is firm and browned. Use a spatula to lift the edge of the omelette and gently flip it over. Cook for another 3 minutes.

Transfer omelette to a plate and serve.

Sunflower Café - Update

2009-03-09T19:03:00.003+11:00

Last Friday I went to Sunflower Café again! Ordered chocolate milk shake and crispy chicken fillet with rice. The milk shake is nothing special but the crispy chicken fillet is yummy! Oh I had the beef brisket with rice the other day (no picture though) and it was good as well. I will only order beef dishes when B is not around because he doesn't eat beef.

Chocolate milk shake 巧克力奶昔 $3.50

Crispy chicken fillet with rice 香酥雞排飯 $8.50

Takeru 虎瑠

2009-03-02T08:44:00.005+11:00

Had lunch with Christine two weeks ago at Takeru and she recommended chicken namban, which I ordered and has since became my favourite.

B and I went there for dinner last Friday after work and a queue was already forming at the entrance. Luckily I have made reservation and we were ushered to our table right away.

Takeru has new menu! They now serve half-sized mains (at lower prices), so that you could order several dishes at one go. Good for sharing and trying out new dishes.

This was my 6th visit to Takeru and their service and food have not failed me. We skipped our all-time favourite, omu-soba this time and sampled some other food.

B's favourite iced UCC coffee, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. $4.20. He ordered this almost every time we dined at Takeru. Though I should not be drinking caffeinated drinks now and I'm not a coffee drinker to say the least, I was begging to have a few sips and ended up drinking more than I should. The coffee itself is not sweet and the ice-cream serves as a perfect complement.

My current favourite - Chicken namban. Succulent deep-fried battered chicken served with namban sauce (sweet and sour vinegary sauce) and tartar sauce. This dish originates from Miyazaki in Kyushu in the 1960s. I ordered a set meal for $12.90, which comes with a separate bowl of rice, miso soup and picked vegetable. You can choose to have just the chicken and salad for $9.90.

Mentai spaghetti (half-sized) $6.30. You can order a full sized dish for about $11.50.

Hotate ebi garlic cha-han. I like this garlic fried rice with scallops and gigantic prawns. The rice is a bit soggy though, but still a wonderful creation. $11.50

Takeru Japanese Casual Dining

10/11 330 Sussex Street
Sydney 2000
Tel: +61 (2) 9283-3522

Open 7 days

Sunflower Café

2009-03-01T09:55:00.000+11:00

B and I always scout around small eateries for food rather than going for big restaurants with classy settings. Not that we don't appreciate fine dining, but nothing beats a casual and cosy atmosphere where you could devour the feeling of home.

We have been to Sunflower Café a few times but I have always forgotten to bring along a camera. Hence, a delay in this posting. This small eatery located just in front my apartment serves simple home-style Taiwanese food and is popular among Asian students. They have a good mix of food, drinks and savoury, along with fast service and friendly staff.

Some food pics of what we had yesterday:-

Pearl milk tea 珍珠奶茶 - $2.00 if you also order a meal. Sunflower specialty iced milk tea with chewy gelatinous tapioca pearls.

Taiwanese style meat sauce noodles 炸酱乾麵 - $7.90. Big serving of noodles with minced pork, shredded cucumber and my favourite stewed egg.

Peach tea 蜜桃紅茶 - $1.50 if you also order a meal. I love this refreshing black tea that is not too sweet.

Pork schnitzel with rice 香酥豬排飯 - $8.50. The crispy pork slices marinated with five spiced powder and deep fried to perfection. The dish also came with some steamed choy sum, shredded cabbage, stewed carrots and radish.

I have set my eyes on the chocolate milk shake and crispy chicken fillet with rice, which will be my order next time.

Sunflower Café
147 Broadway
Ultimo NSW 2007
Phone: (02) 9211 5298

Open 7 days

Red Chinese Spinach (Amaranth) Soup 红莧菜湯

2009-02-27T21:14:00.000+11:00

I love red amaranth, partly because of its colour, but more of its nutritional value, which is higher than English spinach. The red/purple blotches in the center of the leaves produces a reddish juice when cooked. I usually stir-fry the vegetable or make a soup with it.

Have you tried a bashful pink soup like this? Trust me, it tastes wonderful and I really like the colour. Just lovely.

Ingredients
1 bunch amaranth
Ikan bilis stock (2 bowls water cooked with half bowl ikan bilis)
Salt to taste

Method
To make the soup stock, heat 1 tbsp oil in a pot and stir-fry half bowl of ikan bilis for about 30 seconds til brown and fragrant. Add two bowls of water, bring it to boil and simmer soup for 30 minutes. Discard ikan bilis and stock is ready for use.

Bring soup to boil, add vegetable and cook for about 3 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Serve hot.

Pan-fried Pomfret 香煎鯧魚

2009-02-20T22:52:00.002+11:00

I seldom do deep-frying as I live in an apartment with a small kitchen just next to my living room. Any heavy cooking will make my apartment "smell" for several hours after that. My most common method of cooking will be steaming, boiling, sautéing, stir-frying, stewing and baking. I do on occasion, pan-fry or shallow-fry fish and meat. This pan-fried pomfret recipe is another tried & tested easy recipe and a nice change from the usual steamed fish that we have.

Ingredients
1 pomfret
1 small ginger, julienned
2-3 tbsp corn flour
1 tbsp soy sauce
Dash of pepper
3-4 tbsp cooking oil

Method
Wash and clean the fish, score the flesh on both sides.

Heat oil in pan/wok and saute ginger until crisp and brown. Remove and set aside. Dust fish with corn flour and shake off excess. Fry the pomfret until golden brown on both sides.

Dish and put ginger on fish, pour 1 tbsp hot oil over fish and season with soy sauce and pepper.

Serve immediately.

Steamed Pomfret 清蒸鯧魚

2009-02-13T18:24:00.005+11:00

Another simple and healthy recipe that requires minimal preparation and cooking time. The Cantonese believe that the best way to savour the sweetness of fish is to steam it, and steaming is also one of the healthiest cooking methods. The fish tastes best when served right after steaming, so start cooking only when everyone in the family is ready for dinner.

Also check out the post on pan fried pomfret 香煎鯧魚 .

Ingredients
1 medium sized white promfret
1 piece ginger, julienned
1 tomato, cut into thin slices
2 stalks scallion
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinese wine
1 tsp sesame oil
Dash of pepper
Salt

Method
Clean fish and make two slits on both sides of the body. Rub fish lightly with salt. Arrange scallions on a plate and placed fish on top of scallions. Scatter tomato slices and ginger on the fish. Stir in soy sauce, Chinese wine and sesame oil.

Bring water to boil in a wok or steamer. Steam fish over high heat for 8 minutes. Season with a dash of pepper and garnish as desired. Serve immediately.

Cheesy Pumpkin Baked Rice with Alfredo Sauce 白汁芝士焗南瓜飯

2009-02-10T20:59:00.001+11:00

I am not done with pumpkin yet, not when I still have a quarter of pumpkin left over from Sunday's baked pumpkin pudding. I also have half a bottle of Alfredo pasta sauce sitting in the fridge from Sunday's BBQ chicken spaghetti. Hey why do I have so much leftover food? I don't like to keep food overnight, especially when I have to eat healthily for two now.

Anyway, this is what I whipped up for Monday's dinner - Cheesy Pumpkin Baked Rice with Alfredo Sauce. Quite a mouthful eh but it explains all. Well not exactly, if I were to have all the main ingredients on the title, it should be "Cheesy Mushroom Chicken & Pumpkin Baked Rice with Alfredo Sauce". -__- Pardon the preggie lady who has her hormones running wild these days... Here's the recipe.

Ingredients
Quarter pumpkin, diced
100g bacon, diced
150g chicken breast meat, diced
6 button mushrooms, sliced
2 bowls cooked rice
Half bottle Alfredo sauce (about 280g)
2 slices cheese/ shredded Cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste.

Method
Microwave diced pumpkin on high power for 5 minutes.

Stir-fry bacon and chicken for 3 minutes till brown. Add mushrooms and cook for another 2 minutes. Pour in cooked rice and pumpkin, season with salt and pepper. Cook and stir-fry all ingredients until heated through and well mixed.

Transfer rice onto an oven-proof dish or a dual-layered foil on baking tray. Pour Alfredo sauce over rice and topped with cheese.

Bake rice in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for about 12-15 minutes until cheese has melted.

Dish and serve immediately.

Baked Pumpkin Pudding 烘南瓜布甸

2009-02-08T23:14:00.000+11:00

I am still craving for sweet food but I try to cut down on my intakes of chocolates and ice-creams. Here's an easy and healthy recipe that satisfy my sweet tooth - Baked Pumpkin Pudding, and it's definitely healthier than the Magnum Ecuador, Dove chocolates or Tim Tams. ^__^

Ingredients
120g pumpkin, skin removed and diced
12 foiled cups
200ml evaporated milk
1 tsp custard powder
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp caster sugar

Method
Microwave diced pumpkin at high power for 5 minutes until soft. Alternatively, steam pumpkin at high heat for 10 minutes. Remove and arrange pumpkins in foiled cups.

Put all remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Pour mixture over pumpkin.

Preheat oven and bake at 160°C for 15 minutes.

Serve hot or chilled.

Dried Mee Sua with Ginger Pork 麻油薑酒麵線 (乾式)

2009-01-29T21:44:00.000+11:00

Wanted to cook mee sua soup last weekend but didn't have time to boil the soup stock. We were home late and starving, and didn't feel like eating take-away food. In the end I decided to whip up this quick dish which was ready to be served in 20 minutes (including preparation time).

I am constantly thinking of quick and easy dinner recipes, especially these days when prolonged standing in the kitchen is taking a toll on me. B suggested to add some pork liver or kidney the next time I cook this dish. I think we will both enjoy eating confinement food in the next few months to come. ^_^

Ingredients (Serve 2)
1 packet mee sua (thin vermicelli), about 4-5 pieces
300g pork fillet, thinly sliced
1 small piece ginger, shredded
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp Chinese wine
3/4 cup water

Method
Marinate pork fillet with 1 tsp soy sauce and corn flour.

Heat wok/pan with sasame oil and sauté ginger and garlic till fragrant. Add pork and stir fry till meat turned brown. Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, wine and water. Lower heat and simmer covered for 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil a pot of water and cook mee sua for about 1 minute to soften. Drain and place mee sua in a bowl/plate. Drizzle some sesame oil to prevent mee sua from sticking together.

Pour the pork and gravy over mee sua and serve immediately.

Braised Pork Belly with Mushrooms and Dried Oysters 冬菇蠔鼓炆五花腩

2009-01-26T18:20:00.001+11:00

Happy 牛 Year! Today's the first day of Chinese new year, the year of the Earth Ox. We started our day at the Buddhist Centre with prayers and Dharma talk, followed by a delicious vegetarian lunch. After lunch, we went shopping for baby stuff (again!), the shopping started a few weekends ago and never seems to end. There's always something to buy every time I walk into the babies section.

Rang my family and relatives back home last night and they were all curious as to what we had for CNY's eve dinner. This is what I cooked - Braised Pork Belly with Mushrooms and Dried Oysters 冬菇蠔鼓炆五花腩. B loves this dish and had 3 helpings of rice. ^_^

Ingredients
700g pork belly
6 pieces Chinese mushrooms, soaked to soften and stalks removed
5-6 big dried oysters, soaked to soften
1 small piece ginger, sliced
8-10 cloves garlic
1 tbsp cooking oil
Water

Seasoning
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 1/2 Chinese cooking wine
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp sesame oil

Method
Soak dried oysters and mushrooms separately for at least 4 hours in cold water. Retain soaking liquids.

Cut pork belly into 1.5 inch slices with the fats in between the lean meat intact. Blanch pork in a pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes. Remove pork slices.

Heat oil in a pot, stir fry ginger and garlic till fragrant and slightly brown. Add pork belly, oysters and mushrooms and stir fry for another 3 minutes. Stir in the seasoning and the liquids used for soaking mushrooms and oysters. Add more water to ensure ingredients are covered, and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour 15 minutes.

Serve on Chinese cabbage or lettuce leaves.

Not in picture:
1. I tossed in some hard-boiled eggs to braise the eggs (滷蛋) in the last 15 minutes of cooking the meat.
2. I also cut some iceberg lettuce separately for wrapping the pork slices.

Snow Fungus and Beancurd Skin Dessert 雪耳龙眼腐竹糖水

2009-01-10T21:40:00.002+11:00

This nourishing dessert helps to satisfy my sweet tooth and the sugary cravings that seem to heighten during pregnancy. Snow fungus, also known as the vegetarian bird nest, has anti-inflammatory properties, improves blood circulation and boosts the body immune system. It is also regarded as beneficial for the complexion during pregnancy.

Check out my previous posts on snow fungus desserts:-
Snow fungus dessert 冰糖银耳红枣汤
Luo Han Guo and Snow fungus Dessert 罗汉果银耳龙眼红枣汤

Ingredients
1 large piece snow fungus, soaked
Half bowl dried longan
1 small sheet dried beancurd skin
Rock sugar to taste
1.5l water

Method
Soak snow fungus in water for at least 30 minutes till soft. Change the water several times. Trim and discard the hard yellow ends, tear snow fungus into smaller pieces.

Break the bean curd skin into tiny pieces when it is dry and crispy. Rinse them before adding to the soup. Rinse dried longans.

Bring 1.5 litre water to boil and cook snow fungus covered, over low heat for about 30 minutes. Add the beancurd skin, longan and rock sugar to taste. Cook for additional 20 minutes.

Serve either hot or chilled.

Baked Balsamic Chicken Wings 香烤雞翅

2009-01-04T14:04:00.000+11:00

Baked chicken wings is one of our regular dinner dishes and I have been experimenting with the sauces and seasonings used for marinating the chicken. My favourite marinade so far has to be Balsamic vinegar. It helps to tenderize the chicken and gives a great flavour. I also dashed in some Chinese five-spice powder to give it more of an Asian flare.

The left-over sauce from the baked wings goes really well with the rice and I serve it as a side after skimming and de-greasing the top of the sauce.

Ingredients
6 chicken wings, separate mid-wings and drumlets, discard wing tips
1 tsp cooking oil

Marinade
1.5 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
Dash of black and white pepper
Dash of Chinese five-spice powder
1 tsp sesame oil

Method
Wash and clean the chicken. Marinate chicken overnight or for at least 4 hours in the fridge.

Pre-heat oven to 180 degree celcius on fan-forced mode. Lay 2 layers of aluminium foil on baking tray and lightly oil the foil. Place chicken on foil and pour the marinade over chicken. Bake for 15 minutes on one side, turn the chicken and bake for another 10 minutes till both sides turned brown.

Dish and serve.

Chicken and Mushroom Noodles 冬菇雞絲麵

2009-01-01T23:24:00.001+11:00

We are noodle lovers and I particularly like the egg noodles in Sydney cos' they don't get soggy when reheated. I can still pack them for lunch the next day. Just make sure the noodles are cooked in less than 2 minutes and rinse them in cold water to stop the cooking. This is an important step to get the wonderfully springy and chewy texture.

I have previously posted a recipe on wonton noodles using the same egg noodles. If you are a fan of dried (kon lou) noodles like me, you will like the chicken and mushroom noodles recipe that I am going to share today. Try it and let me know what you think?

Ingredients
200g egg noodles
1 piece chicken breast
3 Chinese mushrooms, pre-soaked and retain liquid
Half bunch choy sum
4 cloves garlic
Corn starch mixture for thickening
1 tsp cooking oil

Seasonings
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
Dash of pepper
Dash of five spice powder
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp cane sugar
1.5-2 cups water/mushroom liquid

Method
Combine mushrooms, chicken, garlic and all seasonings in a pot and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Thicken sauce with corn starch solution. Remove chicken and shred into pieces. Set aside.

Blanch vegetable in a pot of boiling water with pinch of salt and oil. Remove and set aside. Add noodles into the same pot of water and cook for one and a half minute. Drain noodles in a colander and rinse in cold water. Dip noodles into a pot of boiling water for a few seconds. Drain well.

Divide noodles into 2 plates and drizzle some sesame oil over them. Top with chicken and vegetable. Pour the sauce and mushrooms all over noodles.

Garnish with spring onions and serve.

Glass noodles and egg drop soup 粉絲蛋花湯

2008-12-31T22:16:00.004+11:00

This is a delightful and simple soup that takes less than 5 minutes to cook if you have the soup stock ready or made in advance. I have some left-over ikan bilis stock and decided to whip up a quick soup for dinner. This soup is versatile and can be further enhanced by adding fish balls or meat to make a nutritious wholesome dish.

Ingredients
1 packet glass noodles, pre-soaked to soften
Ikan bilis stock (2 bowls water cooked with half bowl ikan bilis)
Choy sum, or vegetable of your choice
1 egg, beaten
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
To make the soup stock, heat 1 tbsp oil in a pot and stir-fry half bowl of ikan bilis for about 30 seconds til brown and fragrant. Add two bowls of water, bring it to boil and simmer soup for 30 minutes. Discard ikan bilis and stock is ready for use.

Bring soup to boil, add glass noodles and vegetable. Lower heat and slowly pour the beaten egg through a fork into the soup. Once the egg sets, stir gently. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Dish and serve immediately.

Stir-fried loofah squash 絲瓜木耳炒粉絲

2008-12-31T20:18:00.003+11:00

Loofah, also known as silk squash, chinese okra, angled luffa or loofa, is a delectable vegetable with a supple texture and mildly sweet taste. Like a sponge, it soaks up flavour easily and is commonly used in stir-fried and soup dishes.

I usually stir-fry loofah squash with scrambled eggs but decided to go for a change by adding glass noodles and black fungus strips. This dish is light and refreshing, and can be cooked as a vegetarian version without the dried shrimps and garlic.

Ingredients
1 loofah, peeled and cut into pieces
1 packet glass noodles (pre-soaked)
Handful shredded black fungus (pre-soaked)
Handful dried shrimps (pre-soaked)
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
Dash of pepper
Oil for cooking
Water

Method
Heat oil in wok and sauté dried shrimps and garlic till fragrant. Add the black fungus and loofah squashes, stir-fry for about 2-3 minutes till squashes are slightly cooked.

Add some water and seasonings, cover and simmer for about 2 minutes. Add glass noodles and let them soak up the gravy. Mix well with all ingredients.

Dish and serve.

Birthday Dinner @ Takeru 虎瑠

2008-12-26T16:34:00.004+11:00

Located on the edge of Chinatown, Takeru is a modern-age Japanese restaurant that serves a unique blend of Japanese-Western fusion cuisine, and has a perfect setting for a casual, relaxed yet affordable dining experience.

We have been to Takeru a few times and I heart their omu soba, along with other good dishes. It's been a while since we last had the fried noodles and when B asked if I want to go Takeru for my birthday dinner, I was ecstatic and was counting down to my big day (though I was not entirely looking forward to the big three-o).

It was a quiet dinner with B and our little-B. No fancy presents, flowers, cakes and such. Just good food and great company, that's all I need.

First came the crispy tasty treat - Renkon Chips. Thin slices of deep-fried lotus roots sprinkled with chili powder. Yum!

The highly recommended Omu Soba (omurestsu=omelette, soba=buckwheat noodles). Stir-fried yakisoba with chicken pieces and mushrooms wrapped in a thin omelette, served with mayonnaise and Tonkatsu sauce.

Tonkotsu Ramen. Generous bowl of noodles in a rich Tonkotsu (pork stock) broth with cha siu slices, egg, seaweed and such.

To round off the meal, we had a very interesting and delightful combination of black sesame and vanilla ice-cream. The black sesame ice-cream is divine, a little nutty and not too sweet! The perfect finish.

The bill came up to less than $35. We left with full bellies and happy hearts. :) Takeru, we will be back soon!

Takeru Japanese Casual Dining

10/11 330 Sussex Street
Sydney 2000
Tel: +61 (2) 9283-3522

Open 7 days

Kris Kringle and Xmas Food Feast

2008-12-22T20:21:00.006+11:00

Christmas is less than a week away, and the party season was already upon us as we celebrated the much look-forwarded-to end of year event. Kris Kringle, or the Secret Santa has been the office Christmas tradition and this year, to spice things up a little (amidst the financial turmoil and gloomy outlook), we decided to have an international food feast (potluck buffet)!

Can you guess what gift I have received this year? It's nicely packaged in a green wrapper (though I like red better), spot it!

Lotsa glorious food. They were all good but my stomach was so stuffed and I had to skip dinner on Friday night, even though I am eating for two now.

The food were as good as they looked. As you can see, there are plenty of good cooks (and some lucky ones who marry the good cooks) in the office.

Here are some of the yummy dishes we had:-

Chicken Briyani rice, baked cheesy potato, fried rice, honey marinated chicken, lamb curry, South African sausages, bread rolls, chicken pasta, Russian potato salad, rocket salad, coleslaw, grilled chicken, Shepherd's pie, chicken curry with roti and green bean omelette (made by yours truly).

Some desserts and savouries - Mango icebox cake, Sri Lankan curry puffs, chocolate puffs, almond pudding with longan, brownies, banana and coconut cake.

My favourite food of all is the chicken briyani rice and I had many servings of it, even after the lunch party was over. I guess I'll continue to have cravings for Indian food in the next few months. :)

Mee Hoon Kueh 面粉粿

2008-12-14T14:55:00.002+11:00

At last, I have created a post on my ultimate comfort food - Mee Hoon Kueh, a homey dish I have been eating since young (being a Hokkien) and never get bored with.

I have always preferred home-cooked mee hoon kueh over commercially sold ones as most are machine-made these days and cut into regular square pieces, which kind of lose the elasticity and chewy texture a good mee hoon kueh should have. Mee hoon kueh should be tore (not cut) into irregular shapes and sizes - the beauty of imperfection.

I don't have the exact measurements of the flour and water used to make the dough as it's purely based on estimation and judgment. The process of experimenting, mixing and matching the ingredients is what that makes all cooking experiences unique and fun.

This is a simple recipe without any deep fried anchovies and shallots garnishment. We did make a soy-vinaigrette sauce (mixing soy sauce with Balsamic vinegar) with some cut chillies to go with, a superb condiment for mee hoon kueh.

Ingredients
Dough:
Plain flour
1 tbsp corn flour
1 tsp salt
Water

Soup stock:
Half bowl ikan bilis (anchovies) with 4 bowls water
1 tbsp oil

1 bunch Choy Sum, or vege of your choice
Pork strips marinated with soy sauce and corn flour

Method
To make the dough, mix plain flour, corn starch and salt in large mixing bowl or on a big wooden chopping board. Slowly stir in water and start kneading into a smooth dough. Use your judgment and add more flour or water if need be so that the dough will not stick to the bowl or board. The whole process of kneading takes around 20-30 minutes. Separate the dough into portions and make into 2 balls (for 2 pax). Leave them to stand for 30-40 minutes.

To make the soup stock, heat 1 tbsp oil in a pot and stir-fry ikan bilis for about 30 seconds til brown and fragrant. Add four bowls of water, bring it to boil and simmer soup for 30-40 minutes. Discard ikan bilis and stock is ready for use.

This is how the doughs look like after 45 minutes, ready to be pulled and tore into pieces.

Give the doughs a few good pulls. Tear dough into thin bite size pieces and drop them into the soup. Stir occasionally. Add choy sum and pork slices and cook for about 2-3 minutes (do not overcook it). Season with salt to taste.

Dish and serve immediately.

Nazimi, Sydney なじみ

2008-12-10T22:01:00.006+11:00

Konbanwa こんばんわ。

We have stopped attending Japanese language course at Uni of Sydney but remained in contact with the classmates who are continuing the classes. Two weekends ago, we arranged to meet over lunch for a quick catch-up.

Jen-san has asked me to decide on the restaurant and I suggested Sakura or Nazimi, depending on how many people turned up that day. I would prefer Sakura if we have a smaller group but it is too small to accommodate the 10 of us. Well, it can definitely fit more than 10 but the small eatery would probably not welcome a group that hogs the tables for more than an hour.

It's been a while since we last dined at Nazimi and I am pleased that they have kept up with the standard of their food. Here are some pictures of the yummy food we ordered.

John-san's order - Chicken Katsu Curry Rice. It looks so yummy-licious with the colorful presentation and all. I am going to try this the next time I go to Nazimi.

I was craving for some greasy deep-fried food and ordered tori karaage bento box that came with sushi, deep fried dumpling and some tempura-like vegetables. The crispy yet succulent chicken pieces tasted jolly good and curbed my cravings for the day.

Sushi and Sashimi bento box has been the hot favourite, I reckon we ordered 3 to 4 of this bento set.

B ordered Unatama Don (unagi + tamago) - grilled marinated eel omelette served over rice. Interesting combination.

Salad bowl that came with the Unatama Don. B must be happy to see the avocado slices! He buys avocados almost every week for more than a year now, and he can just eat them with bread for breakfast.

Nazimi Japanese Restaurant
Opposite QVB
Lower Ground, 141 York St
Sydney 2000

Phone (02) 9283 2990

Open Mon-Sat
Lunch 11:30am-3:00pm
Dinner 5:00pm-10:00pm

Hong Kong Day @ The Peak 香港地 @ 山頂

2008-12-06T19:42:00.006+11:00

Located on level P1 of the newly renovated Peak Tower, Hong Kong Day is the first Hong Kong style café by M.A.X concepts. The menu items are limited when compared to conventional cha chan teng, but it is definitely a cheaper dining option at the Peak.

Let's check out what they have to offer. I will let the picturec do the talking.

Braised E-Fu Noodles with Mushrooms 乾燒伊麵

The classic Cantonese dish has always been my favourite. Also known as the longevity noodles, the E-fu noodles taste good with only simple ingredients like mushrooms and chives. I like the chewy texture of the noodles.

Chicken Chop with Ginger and Scallion Sauce on Rice 蔥油雞扒飯

This is B's favourite. Pan-fried chicken topped with savoury scallion-ginger mixture. Check out my previous post where I used a similar sauce on steamed chicken.

Shrimp Wanton E-Fu Noodles 鮮蝦雲吞湯伊麵

Unlike the Malaysian and Singaporean style wanton noodles which is served "dry" with small meat-filled dumplings and slices of char siu (BBQ pork), the wanton noodles in HK are served in hot broth with gigantic shrimp dumplings and leafy vegetables. Just the picture itself is enough to get my salivary glands going.

Pork Chop in Onion and Tomato Sauce with Rice 鮮茄洋葱豬扒飯

This tastes alright. Nothing really special though, just like any normal pork chop rice.

French Toast 西多士

Deep-fried stacked sliced bread in beaten egg and served with slab of butter and honey. Decided to order French toast as a side dish because we have not had this for a long time. We were not disappointed, it tasted exactly how we like it to be.

Hong Kong Day 香港地
The Peak Tower, Shop P102, Level P1, Hong Kong
香港山頂凌霄閣P1樓P102號

Tel: +852 2849 7855

Opening Hours: 11:30am-10pm Daily

Mummy's cooking - Part 2

2008-11-29T20:30:00.001+11:00

Here are more yummy dishes from mum's kitchen. B and I have gained a few kilos and at least an inch or two around the waists in just two weeks.

Stir-fried loofah squash with egg, dried shrimps and black fungus 丝瓜蝦米木耳炒蛋 - I am cooking this tomorrow!

Winter melon soup with cod fish, abalone and fried beancurd skin 冬瓜腐竹魚湯 - I don't think you can find this dish elsewhere, well, maybe in my aunt's kitchen. Mum used to cook it as a stew, and it later evolved to become a soup because B and I are always "drinking" the gravy. This dish brings back lots of fond childhood memories. Abalone is optional, main ingredient is the fish.

Vegetable and egg-drop soup (Mani choi/gau gei choi) in ikan bilis stock 枸杞菜湯 - B's favourite vegetable soup.

Roasted pork with crispy skin (siu yok) 燒肉 - this was not cooked at home, mum bought this from somewhere. The skin is crisp and there is just the right ratio of meat to fats. Makes me feel less sinful.

Yong tau foo 酿豆腐 again, back by popular demand. Lots of work involved in preparing the fish paste and stuffing them, but cooking the dish is relatively easy. One of mum's many specialties.

Stir-fried Chinese Broccoli (gai lan) with prawns 芥蘭炒蝦

Stewed fish head with yam, Chinese cabbage and tomatoes 香芋魚頭爐 - It's a Teochew dish and the deep-fried yam (taro) pieces go really well with the fish. They are soft inside and slightly crisp outside. Mum only cooks this dish when there are guests coming.

Mee hoon kueh 面粉糕 - This is my comfort food and I will try to make this dish next weekend.

Mummy's cooking - Part 1

2008-11-28T20:46:00.001+11:00

We had a good two-week break and I am back in Sydney feeling recharged. :)

Here are some snapshots of homecook goodness we had in Malaysia. Mum's cooking is always the best food on earth. I have requested mum to cook some of our favourite dishes and I have taken the recipes as well. Will share some of the recipes in my later posts.

Mum's homemade Yong Tau Foo 酿豆腐 - eggplant, tau pok, toufu, okra/ladies fingers stuffed with fish paste cooked in a bean-paste sauce.

Stir-fried Basella Alba (Emperor Vegetable - a type of spinach) 清炒帝王苗

Stir-fried thick mee-sua (vermicelli) 乾炒麵线 with sliced chicken, mushrooms and cabbage - the vermicelli look a bit like angel hair pasta.

Steamed fish 蒸鱼 with mushrooms, tomatoes, ginger and deep fried shallots. This is a regular dish on our dinner table.

Steamed kampung chicken 蒸雞 - B's favourite.

This is the special dipping sauce that goes with the steamed chicken. Mum's secret recipe. Can you guess what it is?

Indian Curries

2008-11-02T10:18:00.004+11:00

Indian food has never been my favorite, but funny enough, I've much craving for Indian curries these days, especially lamb Rogan Josh. It's the most delicious curries ever. Yummmm...

I have Indian food about twice a week now. After our hair-cuts at the Korean salon yesterday, we decided to try the Indian curries at World Square. Ordered a super combo meal that costs $9.90 to share. You have a choice of three curries with rice and comes with a plain naan.

Needless to say, lamb Rogan Josh is my top pick, and the other two choices - mixed vegetables and mango chicken curries. Don't really fancy mango chicken curry though, it's a little too sweet for my liking. Nevertheless, I had a satisfying meal, and I know where to go for lunch next week. Can't believe I'm actually looking forward to go to work tomorrow!

Chat Thai

2008-10-26T10:21:00.007+11:00

I have not ventured into my little kitchen for a few months now and we have been dining out or ordering take-aways. I'll start cooking again when my condition improves, but for now I am happy eating out.

Thai food is the heart of Asian cuisine in Sydney and the restaurant that we went to yesterday is an extremely popular outlet, permanently packed with diners during peak lunch and dinner times.

Located opposite Capitol Theatre in Haymarket, Chat Thai offers authentic Thai food with good service and value. An open display front kitchen showcases the fresh produce and assorted desserts, while the cooking and flaming wok actions take place in the enclosed kitchen behind.

We reached the restaurant before noon and were lucky to get a table without much waiting. I was amazed by the extensive menu and took a while to decide my order. The food is satisfyingly good, and we will definitely be back again to try the desserts though I don't really have a sweet tooth.

The 3 dishes we ordered came up to a total bill of $20.90. Awesome value!

Khao Mu Daeng ข้าวหมูแดง $8.90

An assortment of barbequed pork, crisp pork belly and Chinese sausage accompanied with sweet and savoury sauce of pickled plum, lemongrass and five spices on rice.

Suki (with or without consomm) สุกี้แห้งหรือน้ำ $9.00

Glass noodles in thick chicken consomm seasoned with fermented tofu with braised Chinese cabbage, Chinese celery and water spinach. Choice of chicken, beef, pork or tofu.

Mu Bhing หมูปิ้ง $1.50 per stick

Skewered and char grilled lean pork marinated in galangal, lemongrass and garlic. Accompanied with nam jim jeaw- a mildly spicy relish of ground rice, roasted chilies, palm sugar, tamarind essence and a hint of tomatoes.

CHAT THAI
20 Campbell Street
Haymarket
Sydney 2000
Tel: 9211 1808

Opening Hours:-
Lunch 11:00am - 05:00pm
Dinner 05:00pm till late midnight

Hey hey!

2008-10-17T20:40:00.000+11:00

Hi folks, sorry for a lack of update on this blog. Click here and you will know why.

Dried Oyster and Scallop Congee 蠔豉瑤柱粥

2008-08-31T10:34:00.004+10:00

I love food and enjoy cooking. I have been asked several times by friends about my favourite food and restaurant. While I like dining out trying different food and cuisines, I most enjoy a simple family meal at home.

My favourite food has to be congee, it's my comfort food and I can eat it everyday! I guess this has a lot to do with the fond memories of coming home from school to my mum's warm, hearty congee. I was on a business trip to India a couple of years back when I fell sick for a week. I missed homecooked food terribly and had such craving for this minced pork congee that I rang the room service and requested a bowl of congee specially made for me. I gave the chef my congee recipe but it just didn't taste right with Indian Basmati rice. Haha...

Here's the recipe of my all-time favourite - Dried Oyster and Scallop Congee that transports me right back to my childhood.

Ingredients - serves 2
1 cup short or medium-grain rice, soaked for 30 mins
12 cups water
1 tsp oil
1 carrot, diced
4 large dried oysters (from Japan), pre-soaked
4 large dried scallops (from Japan), pre-soaked
2 stalks spring onion, chopped

Method
Soaked dried oysters and scallops in cold water separately for at least 2 hours to soften them. Retain the soaking liquid. Shred the scallops and cut oysters into small pieces. Peeled carrot and diced into 0.5cm cubes.

Wash and rinse the rice several times. Place rice in a pot, add water and liquid (used to soak the dried seafood) and bring to a boil. Add oysters, carrots and 1 tsp oil. Let the congee boil, then lower heat to let it bubble for 20 minutes. Add the shredded scallops and let congee simmer for 20-30 minutes. Do stir occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking the bottom of the pot.

Turn heat off and serve, garnished with spring onion if desired.

Some other congee recipes you might be interested:-
Miso Congee with Clams 味噌蜆肉粥
Minced pork porridge with carrot and potato 红萝卜马铃薯粥

Dralion - Cirque du Soleil

2008-08-23T22:24:00.003+10:00

Finally, we watched Dralion yesterday! I received a call from Cirque du Soleil last week informing that the show I have booked in September has been canceled, so we took a day-off to catch the show yesterday and go pak-toh-ing (dating).

Dralion was an amazing show; it's a truly entertaining and unforgettable experience! The captivating two-hour show combined the traditional circus acts with oriental acrobatic stunts, opera singing, theater and beautiful choreography. The mystical characters, colorful and dazzling costumes, live music and special lighting effects swept the audiences into a magical journey of the senses. The acts aside, we love the comedic antics to bits. The "clowns" were funny and delightfully hilarious, and they even put a plant in the audience, part of the Cirque Formula.

Here's the opening of Dralion taken from You Tube, similar to what we have seen yesterday. You can imagine how spectacular it will be to watch it live.

After the show, we decided to head back to Chinatown. Originally we wanted to dine at the Entertainment Quarter (where Dralion is staged) but there were not a lot of Asian choices. We ended up at Emperor Garden BBQ & Noodles in Haymarket, which serves one of the best traditional Cantonese BBQ/roasted meats in Chinatown.

Roast Duck Rice - $14.00

Fried Hor Fun with pork slices - $13.00

Emperor Garden BBQ & Noodles 皇冠燒臘粥麵家

213-215 Thomas St
Haymarket NSW 2000

Tel: 02-9281 9899

Chicken and Mushroom Stew 蘑菇焖鸡

2008-08-08T07:31:00.000+10:00

Ingredients
8 chicken wings
1 canned mushrooms
1 medium ginger, sliced
5 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp rice wine
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 bowls water
Corn flour mixture

Marinade
2 tbsp rice wine
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp corn flour
1 tbsp sesame oil

Method
Cut chicken wings to separate the wings and drumlets. Marinate chicken overnight with rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil and corn flour.

Heat sesame oil in wok and saute ginger and garlic till brown and fragrant. Add chicken pieces and pan fry each side till the skin turned brown. Stir in the seasoning (except rice wine) and water. First bring to boil, then lower fire to a simmer and cook till chicken is tender, about 30 minutes. Add mushrooms and rice wine, stir well and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Thicken the gravy by adding some cornflour mixture.

Dish and serve with steamed rice.

Din Tai Fung @ World Square 『鼎泰豐雪梨分店 - 世界廣場購物中心』

2008-08-06T22:51:00.011+10:00

Calling all dumpling aficionados in Sydney, rejoice, for Din Tai Fung is finally here! The world renowned award-winning dumpling house has spread its wing to Sydney, Australia. Treat your tastebuds to a delectable experience and into a paradise of delights.

We arrived at peak lunch hour on a Monday afternoon and the restaurant was house packed. Not a surprise, in fact I had kinda expected it. Since its opening in May, there's always a queue at about any hour of the day.

The interiors of Ding Tai Fung and catchy décor of bamboo steamers. The service was prompt and the waitresses were courteous even though it was busy.

Another décor - mounted soup spoons showcased with bright fluorescent lights.

Assorted buns ready to be steamed. Din Tai Fung serves a variety of buns, ranging from steamed vegetable and pork buns to savoury desserts like taro, black sesame and red bean buns.

Pork Dumpling - Xiao Long Bao (6 pcs) 小籠包 - $8.80

The house special. The world famous Ding Tai Fung xiao long bao has at least 18 exquisite pleats on each dumpling. The delicate bite-size dumplings have translucent silken skins and juicy pork filings. They were sensational, bursting in my mouth in a succulent explosion. I was in total bliss.

The pork dumplings were deliciously addictive. We ordered 2 baskets for sharing and they were gone in no time. Interestingly, Din Tai Fung even has a printed step-by step guide to eating the pork dumpling on each table. My way of enjoying xiao long bao - Dip the dumpling in ginger vinegar sauce and down it in one mouthful (that's to avoid squirting the juice all over your shirt, or worse, the person seated next to you).

Fried Rice with Fried Pork Chop 排骨蛋飯 - $12.80

This is another winner. The fluffy fried rice is so much better than the ones served in Ding Tai Fung Singapore. The pork chop is tender to bite and nicely fried, though I feel that they could have been more well marinated. Nevertheless, a delight to eat.

Steamed Beef Soup 元盅牛湯 - $8.80

Another well received dish. The soup has a subtle clean taste and and the beef is tender. Two thumbs up.

Cha Jiang Noodle with Pork Mince 炸醬麵 - $11.80

This is one of the chef's recommendations. I like the springy texture of the noodles, though a little disappointed with the sauce and the serving portion. It's good but not awesome, and I have tasted better noodles.

Wok Fried Water Spinach with Garlic 炒空心菜 - $10.80

The last dish served. I was wondering why the vegetable was late and upon checking, found that they have forgotten our order! The waitress, with her professional smile, gently apologised and asked if we still wanted the order. The simple stir-fried water spinach (or kangkung) topped with golden fried garlic has a pleasingly mild flavour. The leaves were tender and the hollow stems crisp to bite.

Total bill came up to $67.80, including a pot of tea ($2/pax). The 3 smiling ladies happily returned to work feeling all pleased and satiated.

Din Tai Fung 『鼎泰豐』
Shop 11.04, Level 1
World Square Shopping Centre
644 George St, Sydney 2000

Tel: +61 (02) 9264 6010

Open 7 days
11am-2.30pm, 5-10pm

Spicy Sambal Baked Tilapia 參巴辣椒魚

2008-08-01T21:14:00.005+10:00

This is an easy baked fish recipe and it's perfect for freshwater fish like Tilapia. I cheated and used ready-made sambal olek, which is so much easier. Heh, I am just plain lazy. B said it's somewhat like ikan panggang (grilled fish over charcoal fire) minus the banana leaves.

Ingredients
1 whole Tilapia
3 tbsp of sambal olek
1 tbsp oil
Sea salt
1 lime

Method
Clean, scale and gut the fish but leave whole. Score the broad side of fish diagonally across both sides and lightly rub fish with sea salt. Fill the openings with sambal olek. Set aside for 15 minutes, preferably keep it refrigerated to preserve freshness.

Pre-heat oven to 200°C. Place fish on an oiled aluminium foil and lightly cover/wrap it. Bake at 200°C for about 25 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the fish.

Squeeze one lime over fish and serve immediately.

Steamed Egg with Minced Pork

2008-07-30T21:45:00.005+10:00

Ingredients
150g minced pork
10g shredded black fungus, pre-soaked
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp sesame oil
Dash of pepper

3 eggs, beaten
400ml stock/water
1/2 tsp oil
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce

Method
Combine minced pork with black fungus, light soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper and corn starch. Mix all ingredients well and transfer to a shallow steaming dish.

Mix the beaten egg, stock, oil and soy sauce in a bowl. Pour the egg mixture over meat and skim off bubbles on the surface. Steam with lid covered over medium low heat for about 8 - 10 minutes.

Garnish with chopped scallion or fried shallots.

Home-cooked Goodness

2008-07-28T21:16:00.005+10:00

Today I'm going to share with you my journey to cooking, how I started it and my passion towards home-cooked food.

I'm lucky to be blessed with a wonderful mother, who is a full-time homemaker and a good chef. Even though she feels she's not as good a cook as her friends and relatives, I have always think she cooks really well.

Since my mum is a great cook, I never had the need to learn to cook. I spent time with her in the kitchen watching her cook and be the kitchen hand once in a while chopping up stuff and did the washing. But have never got around to really cook a proper meal for the family.

I left home at 16 for studies and missed my mum's cooking terribly. When I was still living at home, mum always had dinner ready when we came back from school and work. Nothing fancy though, just simple home-cooked dishes with the company of my family and the the news broadcasted on TV. The 20 to 30 minutes at the dinning table has a remedial effect and was enough to make me forget the tiredness and stress I had from school.

As I grow older, started working and eventually get married, I still didn't have my own kitchen and we dined out everyday. My dream then was to be able to cook a decent meal for my husband when he comes back from work, and it didn't happen until we moved to Sydney last year when I started serious cooking. Since then, there's no turning back. Cooking became a daily affair, an affair I am sure B doesn't mind me having.

Here are some home-cooked goodness we had last weekend.

Steamed cod fish (Teochew style) with tomatoes, mushrooms, ginger and fried shallots. 潮式蒸鳕鱼. Check out my previous post and recipe on steamed ocean perch.

Stir-fried garlic shoots. 清炒蒜芯

World Youth Day ends today!

2008-07-20T21:58:00.002+10:00

The 23rd World Youth Day (WYD) came to a close today, marking the end of the six-day celebration in Sydney being attended by Pope Benedict XVI and more than 400,000 pilgrims all over the world.

Most of the roads in the city were closed to make way for the event. We were out for lunch in Chinatown yesterday and found ourselves plunged into an ocean of singing, cheering and flag-waving youth from around the world. Here are some photos taken in the city yesterday.

This is the 9km Pilgramage Walk that started from North Sydney, across the Harbour Bridge and through the city to Randwick Racecourse, where The Pope participated in an evening vigil with the pilgrims. The Pilgramage Walk, which was about a three-and-a-half hour trek from North Sydney to Ranwick, is the tradition and highlight of WYD. The pic shows part of Chinatown leading to George Street.

Everywhere in the city you see pilgrims from around the world carrying their backpacks, national flags and sleeping bags. Yes, the young pilgrims actually brought along their sleeping bags and tents for the big sleepout under the stars at Randwick racecourse last night. That's one big outdoor slumber party in the middle of winter with temperature dipping to 8.7 degree at 5.30am this morning.

Pilgrims who registered with WYD received a orange and yellow WYD backpack that contained books, pens, bandanas, rosary beads, ponchos, water bottles, clip-on koalas, kinetic torches, thermal blankets and tattoos.

So there you go, I don't have a lot to share on the event as I am no longer a youth and I am not Catholic. The WYD has been a success but there were also a few controversies surrounding the event, as well as protests against the Pope. For me, I am just glad that the city and traffic will be back to normal tomorrow as I brace myself for another challenging working week ahead. BTW, the next WYD would be held in Madrid, Spain in 2011.

I will now leave you with pics of our lunch today - Spicy baked chicken wings and vegetable soup.

Chicken wings are cut to separate into the drumlets and wings. Marinated overnight with curry powder, chili powder, soy sauce and sesame oil. Bake at 180°C for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Tang Oh (Garland Chrysanthemum) is a favourite and common vegetable used for steamboat. It has a distinct flavour and is rich in vitamin A. I made the soup stock from scratch with half bowl of anchovies (ikan bilis) and 3 chicken bones, simmered for about an hour. Add the vegetables and cook for 3-4 minutes. I omitted the salt as the soup stock is actually sweet and flavourful. We simply love homemade soup!

TGIF!

2008-07-17T23:55:00.002+10:00

It's Friday!!! Can't describe how happy I am that the working days are over, and I can sleep in tomorrow because there's no Jap class this week! Yay! We have completed beginners level and level 1, level 2 commences next week with another 10 lessons.

Dralion - Cirque du Soleil premiered in Sydney's Entertainment Quarter at Moore Park on Wednesday and yes, I have just bought 2 tickets to the show in September. Managed to get the VIP seats (second row from stage) that start from a whopping $250 a ticket. But I have paid for less than this price for two tickets! Lalalaaa... :)))

Here's a little background of Dralion, Cirque du Soleil's east-meets-west spectacular directed by Guy Caron:-

Dralion is the fusion of ancient Chinese circus tradition and the avant-garde approach of Cirque du Soleil. The show's name is drawn from its two main symbols: the dragon, representing the East, and the lion, representing the West. Dralion derives much of its inspiration from Eastern philosophy with its perpetual quest for harmony between humankind and nature.
- Taken from Dralion's official website.

I am getting really excited and looking forward to the show, all ready to be dazzled and blown away!

Before I hit the sack (yawn yawm), I leave you with one of our dinner plates this week - Chili con carne, featuring minced pork, tomatoes, zucchini, red kidney beans and combination of herbs and spices.
Bon Appétit! And... goodie night.

MIA

2008-07-12T09:24:00.006+10:00

Whoo... I have been extremely busy with work, staff training, performance reviews, Jap classes, financial year-end the past few weeks and my energy level was running at its lows. And we were deeply saddened by the terrible news of my uncle's untimely passing last month. That's how unpredictable and fragile life can be sometimes. T__T

Sydney is gearing up for World Youth Day next week with thousands of pilgrims streaming into the city to celebrate the largest youth event in the world. It is expected to draw more international visitors to Sydney than the Olympic Games. I hope there won't be much disruptions to the traffic and public transports (strikes expected), or I may have to walk to work next week.

Here's leaving you with a pic of our breaky. I have to go shower and get ready for my dating+shopping+hair-cutting day.

Have a lovely weekend folks!

Chicken Herbal Soup 药材炖鸡汤

2008-07-01T20:54:00.001+10:00

I have been experimenting with Chinese herbs lately. In the past I used to buy pre-packed herbal mixes to brew the soups. I have since stocked up different types of herbs and mix and match the ingredients together. It's so much more economical but do be careful on excessive use of certain herbs as they may be too "warm" or "cooling" to some bodies.

This herbal chicken soup is sweet and nourishing but a bit towards the heaty nature because of the ingredient - dong guai, though I used it sparingly.

The amounts of herbs used in this soup are only my estimates, in fact most of my cooking are based on estimations and I don't follow recipes strictly.

Ingredients
1 whole chicken, cut into 4 pieces.
1.2 litre water
3 pieces dong guai
12-15 pieces yuk chok
5-7 pieces wai san
5-6 sticks dong sum
5-6 red dates, stoned
A handful kei chi/wolfberries
Salt to taste

Method
Blanch chicken pieces in a pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes to get rid of excess fats and scums.

Rinse all herbs to remove dirt. Set aside.

Place all ingredients except salt in a pot, herbs below and chicken on top. Add hot water and boil the soup for 10 minutes and simmer, covered for at least 1.5 hours. You may also slow cook or double boil the soup but the cooking time will differ.

Skim off oil on the surface of soup. Add salt to taste. Serve immediately.

Stir-fried French Beans with Sambal Dried Shrimps 參巴虾米炒四季豆

2008-06-29T15:29:00.002+10:00

Ingredients
150g French beans, ends trimmed
1 tbsp dried shrimps
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp Sambal Balado
1 tbsp cooking oil
1/2 tsp sugar
Salt to taste

Method
Bring a pot of water to boil, add some salt and oil into the water. Blanch French beans in boiling water for about a minute. Drain and set aside.

Heat oil in pan/wok and saute dried shrimps, garlic and Sambal Balado till fragrant. Put in the beans and stir-fry beans thoroughly for about 3 minutes or to your desired crunchiness. Add sugar and salt to taste.

Dish and serve.

Yum Cha at Fisherman's Wharf Seafood Restaurant

2008-06-15T13:51:00.003+10:00

We went to Fisherman's Wharf Seafood Restaurant again yesterday after an awesome yum cha experience with friends last weekend. To help save fuel and the environment, B and I decided to walk to the Fish Market despite the strong wind and occasional drizzles. We were two hungry souls after 15 minutes of walking from the uni back home afer the Japanese class, and another 20 minutes walking to the Fish Market. -__-

Set on the water above Sydney Fish Market, the restaurant overlooks the Anzac Bridge arching over Blackwattle Bay and it's probably one of the few yum cha restaurants in Sydney with great window views.

Good ambience and classy decor. Friendly service but the waitress has brought the wrong tea after refilling our teapot. It happened to the patrons at the next table as well, the waitress left their teapot on our table after refilling thinking it's ours.

We started off with a basket of pipping hot steamed dumplings or siew mai. I don't usually fancy siew mai but I like the siew mai here with prawn fillings. The wanton skins were thin and the meat juicy.

The pork and century egg congee there is good! We were raving about the congee the whole week and it tops our dim sum order list. The congee was thick and flavourful, and had lots of shredded pork in it.

The steamed BBQ pork buns (char siew paos) were nicely done, every mouthful was a satisfying bite. I dread buns with overcooked meat.

Another favourite - zha leong or deep fried fritters/crullers wrapped with thin sheets of rice noodle served with soy sauce. We first tried this in HK and fell in love with the crunchy dough and silky smooth rice noodles combinations. It's a must-have whenever we go yum cha. Just looking at the picture makes me drool.

Tender chicken feet (fung jao) in sweet chili and black bean sauce. The chicken feet were first deep fried to puff them up, then marinated and steamed in the rich sauce.

Deep-fried fritters/crullers (yau cha kuai) with prawn fillings coated with sesame seeds. Crispy and yummy!

Another deep-fried treat. It's not the conventional dish you will find at the teahouses. The deep-fried fish balls came with a special dipping sauce. No, not the chili sauce you see on the pic, it's a green clear watery sauce that tasted Thai to me.

I was so looking forward to the egg tarts because we didn't order them last week as we were too full. The first bite was wonderful, it's so tenderly soft but it turned out to be too sweet, way too sweet for my liking.

Ordered another dessert to make up for the disappointed egg tarts we had. Silky tofu (tou fu fa) served with a sweet ginger-flavored syrup. It's not too sweet and we both enjoyed it. Great one to wrap up the yum cha session.

There's only so much you can order for 2 person, both of us were very full towards the last few dishes.

We sampled a lot more dishes last week but we were too hungry to bother taking any pics then. I am particularly impressed with the ham sui gok (pork & vegetables in chewy rice pastry), po chai fan (claypot rice), har gau (shrimp dumplings) and gow choi gau (garlic chive dumplings). Also tried this durian pastry that's really unique.

Total damage came up to $47.50 ($23.75/pax), which is more expensive that our last yum cha for four at $66.80 ($16.70/pax). So always go in fours or more for better value and food choices.

Fisherman's Wharf Seafood Restaurant
Sydney Fish Market
Level 1, Bank St
Pyrmont NSW 2009

Phone (02) 9660 9888
Fax (02) 9660 8886

Lunch:
Mon-Fri 11am-3pm
Sat-Sun 10am-3:30pm

Dinner:
Daily 5-11pm

Caesar Salad 恺撒沙拉

2008-06-13T19:04:00.005+10:00

Love Caesar salad, absolutely love it. Made this for dinner last Sunday and we each had a big bowl of salad and shared some soup. I used Cardini's salad dressing, which is good but a tad too salty. My colleague Yvonne suggested to add some mayonnaise to the dressing to sweeten it.

B and I have always thought Caesar salad has something to do with Julius Caesar, the emperor of Rome. ~The silly bees~. It's actually named after Caesar Cardini, an Italian-born Mexican who first made the salad and dressing in his restaurant in 1924. Read more about Cardini here.

This is my bowl of Caesar salad.

Ingredients
1 cos lettuce, washed and coarsely cut
1/2 cup caesar salad dressing
BBQ turkey/chicken, shredded
2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
2 strips bacon
Croutons - 2 slices bread, cubed
Butter
Parmesen cheese

Method
Separate lettuce leaves and wash in cold water, gently dry them with kitchen towel. Refrigerate till serving time.

To make croutons, preheat oven to 200°C. Spread butter on bread cubes and bake in oven for 5-8 minutes or until golden.

Fry bacon in frying pan till crispy. Remove and drain on paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Arrange lettuce, chicken, bacon, croutons and eggs in individual serving bowls. Drizzle with dressing and sprinkle parmesen cheese on top.

Serve immediately.

Yakisoba 焼きそば

2008-06-09T21:01:00.000+10:00

This was our Sunday afternoon snack - Yakisoba, or Japanese fried noodles. It's a popular street savoury in Japan and easy to make at home. We were happily slurping this away while watching Japan Hour. ~Bliss~

You can get Yakisoba in the Japanese grocery amd most Chinese grocery stores. The Chinese grocery stores here are well-stocked with Jap stuff. This is how the noodles look.

Ingredients
2 packets Yakisoba
Few tbsp Yakisoba sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1/4 head small cabbage, cut into small pieces
1 small carrot, julienned
200g pork, sliced and marinated with soy sauce and corn flour
6 prawns, cleaned and de-veined
1 medium onion, sliced
Cooking oil
Ao-nori (seaweed flakes)
Pickled ginger

Method
This is a 3-part cooking.

Heat oil in frying pan and saute some onions. Add pork slices and stir-fry till brown. Move pork to one side and stir fry prawns. Dish and remove pork and prawns.

Heat oil in pan again and stir-fry onion, cabbage and carrot. Add a little water to soften the vegetables. Stir-fry for about 4-5 minutes till vegetables are soft yet crisp. Remove vegetables and set aside.

Stir fry noodles with some mirin and Yakisoba sauce. Return vegetables, pork and prawns. Add a little water and mix all ingredients well.

Dish and garnish/serve with some ao-nori and pickled ginger.

Sydney Fish Market

2008-06-08T20:31:00.001+10:00

Sydney Fish Market (SFM) is the largest seafood market in the Southern Hemisphere and the second largest in the world in terms of variety after Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish Market. Here are some snapshots taken at SFM, which is only about 20 minutes walk from my place.

SFM has a seafood school that conducts a wide range of cooking classes and workshops ranging from 2-hour to 4-hour lessons priced between $75 to $135.

Anzac Bridge that is next to SFM and the local fishing fleet.

Seafood galore.

Oysters, rock cod and snappers.

Blue Swimmer crabs, lobsters and tiger prawns.

Octopus, calamari and mixed seafood marinara

Assorted fish fillets and cutlets - angel fish, salmon, tuna, blue eye cod, gemfish, swordfish, snapper, Jewfish (what kind of fish is that?)

All sorts of seafood picnic platters.

Pelican in sea. Watch out for hungry birds lurking around your picnic table.

Salmon Sashimi Don サーモン丼

2008-06-07T23:53:00.002+10:00

We went yum cha with friends at Fisherman's Wharf Seafood Restaurant today. Who will expect to find a yum cha restaurant at Sydney Fish Market (SFM)? I certainly didn't but I am so glad I joined! The food and service at Fisherman's Wharf are comparable to Zilver, if not better.

I'll talk about my yum cha experience another day. I'm going to share with you our dinner tonight, which is also B's favourite - Salmon Sashimi Don.

You see after our yum cha session this afternoon, we decided to buy some fish and seafood before heading home. Trips to SFM are not complete without buying some seafood and sashimi home. My shopping today include half kg of seafood marinara mix for $10.90/kg which is so much cheaper than Coles, salmon sashimi for $6.30, a packet of marinated seaweed for $2.50. There is also a fruit and vegetable market there and guess what? They sell Japanese pumpkin for $0.99! Needless to say, I have gotten one and bought a head of cos lettuce ($1.99) for making Caesar salad tomorrow.

I am sounding like an old maid now, excited over cheap and fresh groceries. -__- Let's not deviate from the topic today.

Here's a picture of the sashimi we bought the other time because I have forgotten to take pictures of the salmon I bought today.

Maguro, salmon and toro sashimi - $16.00

Ingredients
1 cup short-grain/sushi rice
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1.5 tsp fine sugar
1 tsp salt
1 packet Japanese seaweed
Salmon sashimi
Kikkoman soy sauce
Wasabi

Method
Click here for a detailed recipe on making sushi rice.

Cook rice in a rice cooker. Prepare sushi vinegar by mixing rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Microwave the mixture for 10 seconds to dissolve the salt and sugar.

Once rice is cooked, scoop rice into a bowl and lightly fan rice while adding the vinegar mixture over it. Fold the rice gently and be careful not to break the grains.

Arrange sashimi and seaweed on rice. Serve with wasabi and shoyu (soy sauce).

Vegetables and Mushroom Soup 冬菇白菜汤

2008-06-06T23:22:00.002+10:00

It's the season for soup and stew again. I love winter, other than having to wear layers of clothes to work, but at any time I'll pick winter over summer. Sydney doesn't usually have showers during winter but it's been raining practically non-stop since Sunday. The sky cleared up this morning but remained gloomy and cold.

There's no better way to keep warm than to have some good old home-made soup. Forget about canned soups, cook soup from scratch with all the fresh ingrdients.

Here's sharing with you one of my favourite soups - vegetables and mushroom soup. This soup is healthy and great for ladies who want to keep in shape.

Ingredients
2-3 carrots
6 dried Chinese mushrooms
1/2 head Chinese cabbage
3 chicken bones
1.6 litre water
Salt to taste

Method
Soak mushrooms in cold water for about 45 minutes until soft. Remove hard stems. Retain the liquid used to soaked mushrooms. Separate leaves of cabbage. Wash and drain. Cut leaves into halves lengthwise, then cut into 2-inch long sections. Cut carrots into bite size pieces.

Bring water to boil. Add all ingredients, including the mushroom liquid and brew soup over medium heat for 15 minutes. Lower heat and simmer for another 45 minutes to an hour. Season with salt.

Dish and serve.

Luo Han Guo and Snow fungus Dessert 罗汉果银耳龙眼红枣汤

2008-06-02T20:19:00.001+10:00

Ingredients
2 Luo han guo, removed shell
Half bowl dried longan, soaked
1 large piece snow fungus, soaked
5-6 red dates, stoned
1.5l water

Method
Soak snow fungus in water for 30 minutes till soft. Change the water several times. Trim and discard the hard yellow ends, tear snow fungus into smaller pieces. Soak dried longan in water for 5 minutes to remove dirt and impurities. Rinse red dates.

Bring 1.5 litre water to boil and add all ingredients . Cook covered, over low heat for about 45 minutes.

Serve either hot or chilled.

Note
Luo Han Guo is a natural sweetener so there is no need to add any rock sugar, unless you like it really sweet.

Mongolian Lamb Stir-fry 蒙古羊肉

2008-05-31T22:55:00.002+10:00

Ingredients
400g lean lamb fillet, cut into strips
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 chili, thinly sliced
1 tbsp grated ginger
3 tbsp BBQ sauce
1 tbsp sherry
1 head broccoli, cut
1 green capsicum, thinly sliced
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp corn flour
2 tbsp oil

Method
Marinate lamb strips with 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp BBQ sauce and corn flour for 30 minutes.

Heat oil in pan, saute onion, ginger and garlic till fragrant. Add lamb, sherry and remaining BBQ sauce. Stir-fry lamb for about 4 minutes till almost cooked. Add vegetables and stir fry for another 5 minutes. Splash in a little water if it gets too dry.

Dish and serve with steamed rice.

Grilled Sardines 烤沙丁鱼

2008-05-24T22:14:00.001+10:00

This is a really simple recipe, so simple that I am hesitant to post it. But B enjoyed the dinner tonight and was full of praise. He was even thinking of going to the market to buy the fresh sardines again tomorrow. *__*

I am not sure if fresh sardines are sold in Malaysia and Singapore, but I have only had canned sardines back home. My dad loves canned sardine in tomato sauce, and I'll cook this grilled sardine dish for him the next time he visits us in Sydney.

Ingredients
12 fresh sardines
Sea salt (optional)

Method
Wash and clean fresh sardines. Pat dry sardines and sprinkle with some sea salt if you like. I personally prefer to have it plain with the original taste.

Grill sardines over a grill pan or in an oven on grill mode for about 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the fish.

Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice over fish.

So there you go. I told you it's easy! Simplicity is always the best.

BTW, do you know that sardines are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, which is good for the heart? They also provide good source of vitamin D and calcium.

Vegetable Curry 咖哩鮮蔬

2008-05-15T22:41:00.002+10:00

Ingredients
1 medium onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small piece ginger, finely chopped
1 packet vegetable curry paste
1 bunch green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch length
Half head cabbage, cut into 3-inch slices
3 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges
4 small chili, cut and remove seeds
1 packet tofu puff
1 tbsp oil
600ml water
Coconut milk (optional)
Salt to taste.

Method
Heat oil in wok and saute garlic, ginger, chili and onion. Add curry paste and saute for 3 minutes or until fragrant.

Add cabbage, tomatoes and water. Stir until coated with curry mixture. Cook and lower heat to a simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add green beans and tofu puffs and cook for another 5 minutes until all vegetables are tender. Add salt to taste, and stir in coconut milk to thicken gravy if desired. I usually omit coconut milk.

Serve with steamed rice.

Miso Congee with Clams 味噌蜆肉粥

2008-05-10T21:04:00.002+10:00

This recipe was created by accident. I was cooking plain congee on Friday night to go with our favourite grilled rainbow trout and stir-fried vegetable. When the congee was almost done, I ransacked the fridge for some spring onion and saw packs of instant miso lying on the side-tray that are expiring in a month's time. I was thinking when I should use them and it struck me that I could add miso into the plain old congee like how I mix Marmite into my congee!

The instant miso pack contains seaweed and clams as well, how convenient is that? You may add more ingredients like seafood, chicken or pork, but the miso congee tastes just as good by itself.

Ingredients
1 cup short or medium-grain rice
12 cups water
2 tsp oil
3 packs instant miso
2 stalks spring onion, chopped

Method
Wash and rinse the rice several times. Place rice in a pot, add water and bring to a boil. Add 2 tsp oil and let congee boil for another 10 minutes. Lower heat and simmer partially covered for 1 hour, stirring often to prevent the rice from sticking the bottom of the pot. Cook till the congee reaches your preferred consistency.

When congee is done, add miso and stir well, cooking for further 3-5 minutes.

Turn heat off and serve, garnished with spring onion or coriander.

Note
Do not cook the congee with lid covered as it will overflow and cause a big mess to your stove. It happened to me several times even when I left the pot partially covered. So do keep an eye when cooking your congee.

Bitter Gourds 苦瓜

2008-05-05T21:49:00.007+10:00

Dinner last night was bitter gourd and pork ribs stew. While shopping for groceries at Hay market last Saturday, the Aussie next to me pointed at the bitter melons and asked what exactly they are. He looked kinda amused when I told him what it is. I have to admit bitter gourd is an acquired taste, you either love it or hate it. Needless to say, we are big fans of bitter gourds.

The best bitter gourd dish we had was in Taipei, it was plainly stir-fried with some salted-egg and the bitter gourd was not bitter at all! The natives grow their own bitter gourds on the highlands and they looked quite different from the ones we seen back home.

I have not cooked this dish for nearly a year and it's perfect for cold weather like this. Check out the recipe here. I have added some dark soy sauce this time, and no Shao Xing wine as the wine ran out.

Oh, remember to rub salt all over and inside the bitter gourds before cooking as it helps to reduce the bitterness. I usually repeat the process a few times and let it stand a while before rinsing off the salt.

Steamed Chicken Wings 蒸雞翼

2008-05-03T22:54:00.001+10:00

The secret ingredients lie in the ginger, garlic and scallion combination that heighten the flavour and taste of the chicken. B enjoys this so much that he has requested for this dish again next week.

Ingredients
10 chicken wings
1 small piece ginger, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks scallion, cut into rings
1 tbsp cooking oil
1/2 tsp salt

Marinade
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp rice wine
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp ground ginger

Method
Marinate chicken wings with seasonings for at least 2 hours in the fridge.

Steam chicken on plate or a steamer basket, covered, for about 12 minutes over medium-high heat.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan and sauté garlic and ginger for 3 minutes till fragrant. Add salt and turn off heat before adding scallion. Mix all ingredients well.

Remove chicken from steamer. Pour the garlic, ginger and scallion mixture over the chicken.

Serve with steamed rice.

Quick Chicken and Vegetable Stir-fry

2008-04-30T21:51:00.000+10:00

Cooking dinner on a weeknight can prove to be a challenge, especially when you are hungry and tired from a day's work. As I work longer hours these days and reach home much later than B, I have to think of dishes that need minimal preparation and cooking time.

Here's sharing with you one quick stir-fry that's table-ready in minutes.

Ingredients
400g boneless chicken breast meat, sliced, marinated with soy sauce and corn flour
1 head broccoli, cut into florets
1 green capsicum, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp Teriyaki sauce (or soy sauce)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp rice wine
Cooking oil

Method
Blanch broccoli in boiling water with a little oil for 3 minutes. Drain and remove.

Meanwhile, heat oil in pan and saute garlic till fragrant. Stir-fry chicken pieces for about 3 minutes. Add the seasoning, capsicum and brocolli and stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes.

Dish and serve.

Note
- Use red capsicum to add some colours to the dish.
- Cut some onion and ginger for extra flavour, I like using them when I have more preparation time.
- Spice up the dish with some chopped chili if you can handle the heat and spiciness.

Peanut and Chicken Feet Soup 花生鳳爪湯

2008-04-27T20:29:00.000+10:00

Most of my western friends will cringe just thinking about chicken feet, not to mention at the sight of it. I hope you would not be grossed out by this post.

Chicken feet is a delicacy in its own right, it is a palatable dish served at Chinese restaurants and yum cha is not complete without the steamed phoenix claws aka chicken feet.

Chicken feet contain high level of protein and collagen, which is good for the skin. I love the gelatinous tenderness that almost melts in the mouth. The soup has a delicate flavour and luxurious fullness as the collagen released gives the soup a silky body and richness.

May I present the soup of the day - Peanut and Chicken Feet Soup.

Ingredients
500g chicken feet, about 13 of them
100g raw peanuts
5 red dates, pitted
1 piece dried cuttlefish (optional)
2 litre water
Salt to taste

Method
Soak peanuts in warm water for about 30 minutes.

Clean the chicken feet by removing the outer skin layer and trimming the claw tips. Blanch the chicken feet in boiling water for about 3-5 minutes. Remove and discard water.

Place all ingredients except salt in a pot of water. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for two hours.

Add salt to taste. Dish and serve.

The F-Word - James May vs Gordon Ramsay

2008-04-26T21:22:00.005+10:00

Top Gear's James May takes on celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsay in a series of gastronomic challenges in the cooking show, The F-Word.

Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen will be screened on Channel 9 soon. More droppings of the c-bomb and f-words coming our way.

Are you ready, Australia?

Love Sakura さくら

2008-04-26T19:54:00.000+10:00

After our first visit to Sakura last year, it has became our regular weekend dining spot. We have been there numerous time and the food has never failed me.

The food and serving size have always been consistent, though the service is not always fantastic and the place is small. But we LOVE their food and they are excellent value for money considering the CBD location.

I swear the photos don't do justice to how good the food actually look and taste. These are taken with camera phone so the colours are not as vivid and vibrant.

Sakura Fish & Chips Set - A$10.90.

The fried king fish set is served with miso soup, salad and rice. I lurvve the Tartar sauce, it's the yummiest Tartar ever. The deep fried lotus root, also known as Renkon Chipusu, is light, savory and crisp. Far better than the normal potato chips we always have. Highly recommended.

Salmon Sahimi Don - AS$10.90

B is a big fan of salmon sashimi don. I reckon he orders this every single time we go to Sakura. Oh well, I don't blame him cos this will be my order too if I am not dining with him. We always order different dishes so that we could share our food.

Soft Shell Crab - A$8.90

This is by far the best soft shell crab I have eaten in my life. The slightly sweet and tangy Tartar sauce is superb and go really well with the soft shell crab.

Pork Katsu Set - A$9.90

Breaded and deep-fried pork cutlet drizzled with Katsu sauce, a Worcestershire-like sauce. Chicken katsu is available as well. All sets are served with miso soup, salad and rice.

There are several other dishes we have tried on some of the visits, but we were always too hungry to bother taking any pictures. The Teriyaki chicken set and katsu curry are pretty good as well, but the salmon sashimi don remains our favourite.

Sakura Japanese Dining
Shop 325 Pitt Street
Sydney NSW 2000

Tel. 02 9261 0711

Open 7 days
Lunch (11:00am - 5:00pm)
Dinner (5:00pm - Late)

Noodle Soup 麵湯

2008-04-22T10:24:00.003+10:00

I am in need of some comfort food. It's not winter yet but it's getting pretty cold these days. The gloomy sky and non-stop rain are making me depressed, and so more when coupled with a headache and cold.

A steaming hot bowl of noodle soup will make me very happy now. But, sigh.. there's no more noodles left, I can only make do with my leftover chicken curry rice from last night.

So here's sharing with you my version of noodle soup that makes it to my top 3 ultimate comfort food.

Ingredients
Noodles of your choice
Pork slices, marinated with soy sauce and corn flour
Prawns, deveined and cleaned
1 bunch choy sum or baby bok choy
Egg
Salt to taste

Soup stock
Half bowl ikan bilis (anchovies)
Half bowl soy beans
1 tsp oil
Water

Method
To make the soup, heat oil in a pot and stir-fry ikan bilis for about 30 seconds til brown and fragrant. Add soy beans and four bowls of hot water, bring it to boil and simmer soup for 30-40 minutes. Discard ikan bilis and soy beans. Keep stock for use later.

Meanwhile, set a pot of water to boil, cook noodles in boiling water till al-dente. Remember not to over-cook it.

Bring the stock to boil again, add pork slices, followed by egg and prawns. Add the noodles and choy sum last. All the ingredients cook fairly quickly so it should be ready in about 3-4 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Garnish with fried shallots and spring onions if desired. Serve with cut chili and minced garlic in soy sauce.

Note
- Some of my fav noodles are mee sua, mee huen kueh, and "you mian". I used Beijing noodles this time, which is somewhat similar to the "you mian" back home.

- I prefer to cook noodles separately to prevent the soup from getting cloudy and thick. I like my soup clear.

Nazimi Japanese Restaurant なじみ

2008-04-11T22:04:00.001+10:00

Note: New blog post on Nazimi.

We attend Japanese classes at University of Sydney every Saturday morning. During one of the lessons we were given a list of Japanese restaurants and we have to practice asking for the restaurants' telephone numbers in Jap.

We always have lunch in the city after Saturday's classes and last week, we decided to try out one of the restaurants on the list.

Conveniently located near the QVB, Nazimi offers a reasonably-priced modern and classic menu, great service, a classy interior design and warm welcoming ambience. We ordered an entrée and two set lunches, which come with miso soup, salad and rice.

Entrée - Deep-fried soft-shelled crabs with salad

Sashimi don with generous serving of fresh sashimi surrounded by shredded vegetables and egg. Uhhh... we love sashimi!

All bento-lunchboxes and don-bowls are served with miso soup and fresh salad. How healthy is that.

Katsudon, bowl of rice topped with a deep-fried pork cutlet, egg, and condiments.

Nazimi Japanese Restaurant
Opposite QVB
Lower Ground, 141 York St
Sydney 2000

Phone (02) 9283 2990

Open Mon-Sat
Lunch 11:30am-3:00pm
Dinner 5:00pm-10:00pm

Taiwanese Style Chicken Nuggets 台灣鹹酥雞

2008-04-07T20:52:00.000+10:00

We love Taiwanese food, and frequent a particular Taiwanese food outlet in Chinatown almost every weekend. I have been thinking of deep-frying the famous Taiwanese snack for a long time but have refrained from cooking this dish because it uses so much oil! But atlast, my cravings get the better of me and I succumbed to temptations... The consolation is that I know what I am eating and I used fresh oil to deep-fry the chicken. I bet the restaurants recycle the oil over and over again in their cooking.

I have used chicken thigh instead of the breast meat and they turned out really tender yet crispy. And I find that the chicken pieces go really well with Japanese mayonnaise. Yum... Go try it out yourself.

The ingredient that makes the chicken crispy - tapioca flour in rough bits 粗颗粒地瓜粉. I love this Taiwanese brand, it's the same brand as the dried shallots and garlic I bought the other time.

Ingredients
500g boneless chicken thigh
Tapioca powder
Oil for deep-frying

Marinade
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine
2 tsp five-spice powder
Few dashes of pepper
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Method
Cut chicken into 2-inch pieces. In a bowl, mix chicken with marinade sauces and spices, cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Dredge chicken pieces in tapioca flour.

Deep-fry the chicken, in batches, in hot oil until they are golden brown and crispy. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Add a few dashes of pepper and chili powder before serving.