Seafood Congee 海鮮粥

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.

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

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.

Taiwanese Style Stewed Pork Rice 台式滷肉飯

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.

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

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

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.

Dried Oyster and Scallop Congee 蠔豉瑤柱粥

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

Miso Congee with Clams 味噌蜆肉粥

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.

Taiwanese Minced Pork Rice - Part I 台式肉燥飯

Ingredients
350g minced pork, marinated with soy sauce and corn flour
15g fried shallots
15g fried garlic
1 tbsp five spice powder
Dash of ground pepper
2 tsp sugar
5 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine
2 hardboiled eggs
Cooking oil


Heat oil and fry shallots in medium low heat till golden brown and crisp. Drain and set aside. Fry minced garlic the same way. Drain and set aside. It's hard to find shallots here so I have bought the pre-fried shallots and garlic from Taiwan. These are two important base ingredients that accentuate the flavour of the pork.


If you are frying the shallots and garlic, use the same pot and remaining oil to stir fry the minced pork till slightly cooked. Add soy sauce, sugar, five spice powder, rice wine, pepper and just enough water to cover the pork by about 1cm. Pour in crisp shallots and garlic, give a few stirs to mix all ingredients well. Add the hard-boiled eggs. Simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes.

Pour over rice and serve.

Rice and noodles 米.面.粉

Rice and noodles are staple fare in the Chinese diet. They are versatile; you can mix it with just about anything to make a wide variety of tasty nutritious dishes. Plain rice is most often served with dishes of meat, fish and vegetables. Pour curries over plain rice make a simple yet delicious meal, transform leftover ingredients and rice to a plate of fragrant fried rice, or simply make sushi rolls with nori seaweed and a layer of rice wrapped around a core of vegetables or other fillings.

Chinese noodles come in all sizes and shapes, from round to flat to wide and thin. Like the rice, you can virtually cook it any way you like. Stir fry or crisp fry them, make it a soup dish or tossed the noodle in a mixed sauce making it “dried noodle”. Noodles are the Chinese symbol of longevity and it is a tradition to serve long and uncut noodles on birthdays.

The noodles fall broadly into two categories. The most common are wheat flour noodles, called 面 (miàn) in Chinese, which can be made with or without eggs. Rice noodles, called 粉 (fěn) are made from rice flour and water. A thinner variety of rice noodle is rice vermicelli 米粉(mi fěn). There are also flat rice sticks, kway teow, lai fun, hor fun, loh shee fun, flat rice paper wrappers, all made from rice flour and come in different shapes and thickness.

On average, I cook noodles two to three times a week and the remaining days I'll cook rice or porridge with dishes. We are still very much rice eaters, even in a western country. I can't imagine eating sandwiches and breads everyday for lunch and dinner. Breads only appear at breakfast in the beehive.

Chicken Katsu Curry Rice 日式咖喱炸雞扒飯

I had a deep craving for Japanese curry last night, and remembered that I still have some curry roux left in the kitchen cupboard. And so chicken katsu curry it shall be, our dinner tonight. Check out my previous post and recipe on Japanese curry rice here.

Bon Appétit.

Fried Rice Galore 炒饭款款香

Fried rice is a regular dish served on our dinner table. I call it "fast food" because it can be cooked in a jiffy when you have the ingredients ready. There is no fixed list of ingredients if you ask me. I just make use of what I have in the fridge and kitchen cupboard. It's a great way to clear and use up the leftovers.

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Of course, you need to have some cooked rice ready and overnight cold plain rice is the best. The freshly cooked rice goes all sticky and lumpy. Next, you will need some leftovers of some sort, they could be some roast meat leftover from last night's dinner, or bacon and ham from morning's breakfast. You do have some eggs in the fridge, don't you? And not forgetting the frozen peas and carrots that come in handy when you run short of ingredients. Chopped up some garlic, scallion, ginger or onion, and you are ready to heat up your wok!

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Tuna Fried Rice

Ingredients
2 bowls cooked rice
100g frozen peas, corns and carrots
100g canned tuna in brine, drained
2 eggs, beaten
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 small piece ginger, finely minced
1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp chili paste
Salt to taste

Sesame oil
Oil for cooking

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Method
Heat oil in wok and saute garlic till fragrant. Stir-fry mixed vegetables and tuna for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Heat some sesame oil and saute ginger till brown and fragrant. Sprinkle some salt to taste. Increase the heat, add the cooked rice, soy sauce, chili paste and fry the rice for about 3 minutes. Make a well in the centre of wok and pour in beaten egg. Lightly scramble the egg. Return the mix vegetables and tuna back to wok. Mix everything and stir-fry till the rice has absorb most liquid and is dry.

Dish and serve.

Pork Fried Rice

Ingredients

2 bowls cooked rice

100g frozen peas, corns and carrots

Pork, sliced and marinated with soy sauce and cornflour

2 eggs, beaten

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tbsp Teriyaki sauce

Salt to taste

Oil for cooking

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Method

Heat oil in wok and saute garlic till fragrant. Add pork slices and stir-fry till brown and slightly cooked. Pour in mixed vegetables, sprinkle some salt and continue to stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes.

Increase the heat, add the cooked rice and mix all ingredients thoroughly. Use spatula to loosen the rice grains. Add Teriyaki sauce. Make a well in the centre and pour in beaten egg. Scramble the eggs till they are set. Stir-fry all ingredients for another 2-3 minutes. Dish and serve.

Vegetarian fried rice

Ingredients
2 bowls cooked rice
Long green beans, finely chopped

100g tau pok, cut into halves
1 small piece ginger, thinly sliced
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
Salt to taste
Sesame oil

Method
Heat sesame oil in wok and saute ginger till fragrant. Add green beans, tau pok and some salt to taste, stir-fry for 2 minutes. Increase the heat, add the cooked rice and seasoning sauces. Break up clumps of rice and mix all ingredients well.

Dish and serve.

Pumpkin Rice 南瓜飯

Ingredients
4 bowls cooked rice
300g pumpkin, cut into 1-inch cubes
200g minced pork, marinated with soy sauce and corn flour
4 large dried mushrooms, pre-soaked and cut into strips (retain water)
20g dried shrimps, pre-soaked and coarsely chopped

5 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 tbsp soy sauce

Water

Salt to taste

3 tbsp oil

Method

Heat oil in a pan and saute garlic till fragrant. Add mushrooms and minced pork, stir-fry for 3 minutes till the pork is slightly cooked. Remove and set aside.

Heat oil in the pan again, saute dried shrimps and garlic till fragrant. Add and stir-fry the pumpkin cubes for about 3 minutes before adding water (used to soak mushrooms). The water should slightly cover the pumpkin. Cover with lid and simmer the pumpkin over low heat for 10-15 minutes. The pumpkin should be a little soft now but not mushy. Add salt to taste.

Stir in rice, mushrooms, pork and soy sauce, gently mix them. Cover with lid and let the rice braised for 3-5 minutes, allowing the rice to absorb the liquid and flavour.

Dish and serve hot.

Minced pork porridge with carrot and potato 红萝卜马铃薯粥

Ingredients

Serves 2

1 cup of rice
150g minced pork
1 potato, diced
1 carrot, diced
5 button mushrooms, sliced (optional)
1 tbsp say sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Marinate minced pork with soy sauce, set aside. Peeled potato and carrot, diced into 1cm cubes. Cut button mushrooms into slices. (Omit if you do not have mushrooms.)

Add rice, potato and carrot to a pot of water. Once boiled, turn on low heat and let it bubble for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent rice from sticking to the pot.

Add mushrooms and minced pork to porridge, stir and cook for 3 minutes. Add salt to taste. Turn off the fire. Leave it simmer for 5-10 minutes with the lid covered. Serve hot with dash of pepper and chopped coriander leaves, if any.

Seafood Fried Rice with XO Sauce XO酱海鲜炒饭

Fried rice is an extremely versatile dish where you could just add any ingredients you have on hand and a great way to use leftover rice. Mix any types of meat, vegetables or seafood you could find in the fridge, stir fry with leftover rice over medium high heat and wahla, a steamy bowl of fried rice is ready in minutes!

Ingredients
3 bowls of cooked rice
200g mixed seafood
A handful of long beans, cut into 0.5cm long
5 button mushrooms, sliced
2 eggs, beaten
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small ginger, sliced
3 tbsp XO sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
Oil for cooking

Method
Bring a pot of water to boil. Parboil the seafood mix for 3 minutes, drain and set aside.

Heat oil in wok with medium heat. Fry ginger till fragrant, add garlic and sauté for a while before adding the seafood mix. Pour in XO sauce and soy sauce. Stir fry seafood for about 2 minutes. Remove seafood and set aside, or, if your wok is big enough, just park the seafood at one side and stir fry the beans and mushroom.

Add beaten eggs to wok and scramble them. Add rice and loosen rice grains with wooden spatula. Mix seafood, beans, mushroom, egg and rice well. Dish and serve.