Wonton noodles / Wan Tan Mee (Kon Loh Mee)

 

On my rare non sloth day where I made wonton noodles, dry version. I made the pickled chillies and wontons on a different day.

Pickled chillies, seasoning sauce adapted from To Food with Love

Mushroom sauce adapted from A Kitchen Cat

Wontons adapted from RecipeTin Eats

Char siew adapted from My Mind Patch

Ingredients / Method:

Main

1 packet of fresh egg noodles (I think 400g?), cook according to instructions

1 bunch of choy sum, washed, cut, blanched

Pickled chillies

5-6 long green chillies, sliced thinly - used 2 long ones

Boiling water

2/3 cup Chinese white rice vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

2-3 tbsp sugar - used 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Combine vinegar, salt and sugar and mix well to dissolve
2. Add salt & sugar to taste
3. Pour boiling water over sliced chillies in another bowl, let stand for 30 seconds, then drained. 
4. Pour vinegar solution over chillies, covered, refrigerate for at least 2 hours till chillies turned into olive-green colour.  

Mushroom sauce

5-6 dried shiitake mushrooms - I used 6 small ones

1 cup hot water

1/2 tbsp oil - not used

2 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed with the back of a knife

1 1/2 cups water

1 tsp chicken stock powder - not used

1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp vegetarian mushroom sauce (optional) - not used

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 tbsp cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tbsp water

Method:

1. Soak mushrooms in 1 cup hot water until softened. 
2. Squeeze out excess water from mushrooms, slice and set aside. 
3. Reserve the soaking liquid for later.
4. Heat up ~1/2 tbsp vegetable oil in a small saucepan.
5. Fry the garlic and mushrooms for 1 minute.
6. Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the cornstarch solution. Bring to a boil.
7. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. 
8. Add cornstarch solution and stir until the sauce boils and thickens slightly.
9. Turn off the heat, cover the saucepan and set aside.

Seasoning sauce (per serve)

1 tbsp thick dark soy sauce (Cheong Chan brand thick caramel)

1/2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1/8 tsp salt (or to taste)

1/2 tsp sugar - I used dark brown sugar because I only have this and icing sugar at home

Dash of Golden Mountain sauce (optional) - not used

Method:

1. Combine all and set aside

Wontons

1 packet of wonton wrappers

200 g lean pork mince (ground pork)

200 g peeled prawns / shrimp , roughly chopped

1 tbsp ginger, finely grated (1.5" / 3cm piece)

2 shallots, chopped (5 tbsp)

1 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing wine)

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp sesame oil

Methods:

1. Mixed all ingredients except wonton wrappers together.
2. Wrap wontons
3. Boil or deep fry the ones you need, freeze the rest

Char siew

450-475g collar pork / pork scotch

Marinades

2 tbsp hoisin sauce

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tsp sesame oil 

1 tbsp rice wine - I used shaoxing wine

1 tsp rose wine, optional - not used

1/4 tsp dark soya sauce 

1 tbsp raw sugar - not used

1 tbsp dark brown sugar

1 tbsp honey - I used maple syrup

1 clove garlic, crushed with skin on - I forget and promptly removed skin

100ml water

Method:

1. Cut meat into smaller pieces, about 4x3cm, rinse and drain. 
2. Add marinades ingredients to pork, mix, cover and leave for at least an hour (I left it overnight).
3. Pour into rice cooker and cook. 
4. When cooked, transfer meat to oven.
5. Roast at 200°C, 3 minutes, fan forced.
6. Flip the meat after 1.5 minutes. 
7. Can add some water to the rice cooker to turn it into gravy. 

Assembling 

1. Add 2-3 tbsp of mushroom sauce to single portion seasoning sauce in a bowl.
2. Add noodles to the same bowl and mixed well. 
3. If not enough mushroom sauce, can add more.
4. Top up with wontons, sliced char siew and blanced choy sum. 
5. Serve with pickled chillies.  

Lo Mai Kai (糯米鸡)

Recipe from niece's friend's mum in Chinese, below is my version of translation.

Ingredients:

500 g glutinous rice - I used 400 g
3 dried mushrooms (soaked to soft, then slice) - I used 5
1 Chinese sausage (lap cheong) - I used 2
200-250 g chicken thigh meat, sliced - I used 250 g of chicken breast

Glutinous rice seasoning:
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 bulb of garlic, crushed

Chicken meat marinate:
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp ginger juice - I used grated ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp corn flour
some pepper
1 tsp sugar

Sauce:
Oil, enough to cook
2 clove of garlic, sliced
2 shallots, sliced
200 ml water
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
Pepper to taste
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp shaoxing wine - I added this

Method:

1. Soak glutinous rice overnight.
2. Marinate chicken overnight.
3. For the sauce:
   Saute garlic and shallot till fragrant (in cooking terms), then add in all the ingredients and let boil till thicken. Set aside.
4. Glutinous rice seasoning:
   Saute garlic till fragrant, put in glutinous rice and glutinous rice sauce. Stir till fragrant. 
5. Arrange chicken, lap cheong and mushroom into a bowl. Then scoop in glutinous rice
6. Spoon in 2-3 tbsp of sauce into the bowl which contained chicken, lap cheong, mushroom and rice. 
7. Steam in high fire for approximately 1 hour. 

Side note: Looking forward to unlimited dim sum on Friday!

Mum's home cooked braised dried oyster

Mum used to only make this dish during Lunar New Year but because we are all living away from home, she makes this more often, as and when we request for it when go home.

Recipe makes about 23 little parcels.
Note: Mum used eating tablespoon, not the proper measuring tablespoon.

Not advertising or anything - just want to show how the bean curd skin looks like

Ingredients:

23 dried oysters - soak in hot water to soften it.
500g minced pork
100g dried mushroom (approximately 10 large size ones) - soak in water till soften, roughly chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce - reduced to taste depending on how salty the bean curd skin you buy
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
Dash of pepper
Bean curd skin

Method:

1. Wash dried oysters once with water and salt then rinse. Pour water into the bowl containing dried oysters and let the dried oysters soak in this second batch of water (no salt)
2. Add chopped dried mushroom to minced pork and add in soy sauce, fish sauce and pepper. 
3. Wipe bean curd skin with damp cloth or kitchen towel so it is not so salty and easier to wrap.
4. Divide minced pork into 23 portions so that the size is more of less the same and you have enough pork for all dried oyster prepared.
5. Cut bean curd skin into 15x15 cm per piece. 
6. Take one portion of minced pork and put on the cut bean curd skin. Place one dried oyster in the middle. 
7. Wrap like how you would wrap spring roll. 
8. Repeat till all dried oyster and minced pork is used up. 
9. Pan fry all little parcels till bean curd skin is cooked so that it would not burst when braised. 
10. Placed the already pan fried parcels into a pot and pour in the water used to soak dried oyster earlier. Top up the water till it just about to cover the parcels. 
11. Braised for about 1-1.5 hours till the dried oysters are soft. 

Then.. tuck in and enjoy! Here's another photo just to show you how it looks like if you cut it open. It freezes well and you can just steam it in rice cooker when you cook rice straight from the freezer.

Sorry - all the photos are taken with iPhone 4 except the one below.

Side note: I'm the only one I know who watch Criminal Minds. O_o

Begedil (Malay Potato Patties)

I got the recipe from Nasi Lemak Lover and made these as part of my 'peace offering' nasi lemak meal.

Ingredients:

4 potatoes (400 g), peel the skin, cut into small pieces
1 tbsp dried shrimps, soak in water till soften, chopped roughly
1 tbsp fried shallots
1 tbsp chopped parsley leaves
1/2 tsp fine salt or to taste
White pepper powder
1 egg, lightly beaten

Method:

1. Deep fry potatoes till golden brown and cooked. Drained. --> I boiled the potatoes
2. Using a food processor, to mash the potatoes. --> I mashed it with fork and spoon
3. Put the mashed potato in a mixing bowl, mixing in chopped dried shrimps, fried shallots, chopped parsley leaves, salt and pepper, mix well. Shape into patties.
4. Coat the patties with egg, deep fry over medium heat till golden brown on both sides.

Chicken Rendang

I got the chicken rendang recipe I used from here. I have made them twice and have got very good reviews from my friends.

I did use shallots, just pretend that onion is shallot ok? ;)

Ingredients:

(A) To be blended into paste
5 cloves garlic, skin removed and hard ends trimmed
10 shallots, skin peeled
3" ginger, skin removed and cut into chunks
1" galangal, skin removed
10 birds eye chilies (preferably those of red ones for a better paste color)
15 dried chilies, soaked to soften, halved and seeds partially removed
1" fresh turmeric, skin peeled
5 sticks lemongrass (4" from the base), tough outer layer removed
2 candlenuts

(B) Other spices
1 cinnamon stick
3 cardamom pods
5 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded --> I cut with scissors, the finer it is the less chance you will chew on them and don't have to remove after cooking

(C) Others 
1 young chicken (about 1.3 to 1.8 kg), skinned and trimmed then chopped into medium sized pieces --> I bought some lovely legs and a piece of breast meat added up to about 1 kg. 
1/2 cup grated coconut
200 ml thick coconut milk
100 ml water
1 tbsp sugar
salt to taste
4 tbsp cooking oil --> I used just enough to coat the base of the saucepan

Method:

1. Blend ingredients (A) into a rough paste, set aside.
2. Heat up some oil in a saucepan or wok at medium heat and stir fry blended paste till aromatic, takes maybe 10 minutes. 
3. Add ingredients (B) and continue stir fry for another 1-2 minutes.
4. Add chicken and water. Mix well. 
5. Cover and simmer under medium low heat for 30 minutes, stir occasionally.
6. Meanwhile toast grated coconut on a clean and dry non stick frying pan without oil till golden brown. Remove and pulse for a few seconds so that it is finer. 
7. 30 minutes later, add coconut milk into saucepan. Mix well. 
8. Bring heat back up to medium and simmer uncovered for another 30-60 minutes till your desired consistency. 
9. About 10 minutes before done, add toasted grated coconut and mix well. 
10. Add sugar and salt to taste, mix well. 
11. Ready to serve.

Best when serve with nasi lemak! ^^

Nasi Lemak

If I am still living in Malaysia, the thought of cooking nasi lemak will never cross my mind. After all nasi lemak is the national dish of Malaysia, maybe unofficially. Nevertheless, you can find it everywhere - mamak stalls, road side peddlers, coffee shops, pasar malam or even higher end restaurants serving Malaysian food.

Unfortunately I do not have the luxury of walking down to the nearest mamak stall and get my dose of nasi lemak now. Also somehow most of the sambal on offer in Melbourne are on the sweeter side. I decided that I will learn to cook nasi lemak and have tried many different sambal recipe. My most trusted food taster gave the highest review to this version of sambal, the recipe by Adam Liaw.

Usually I serve the nasi lemak with prawn sambal (and other usual condiments) but I wanted to make the chicken rendang this round. Serving it together with prawn sambal seems too much protein so I throw in begedil. To be honest, I much prefer serving it with prawn sambal but long story short I cooked this as a 'peace offering' and the person who is eating it likes rendang better I think.

Anyway, here goes...

(A) Coconut rice:
I used Adam Liaw's recipe as well for the coconut rice.

Ingredients:

450 g jasmine rice --> I cooked 300 g (approximately 2 1/2 rice cup)
180 ml coconut cream --> 120 ml coconut milk (I bought coconut milk for the chicken rendang)
1/2 tsp salt --> 1/4 tsp salt
3 pandan leaves, tied together into a knot --> 2 pandan leaves

Method:

1. Wash the rice as how you usually do. 
2. Add coconut milk, salt and pandan leaves.
3. Top up with water to the usual level for cooking rice in rice cooker
   **Adam Liaw's recipe steam the rice, of course I cheated and use the rice cooker. 

(B) Sambal
Also from Adam Liaw's Two Asian Kitchen, said makes 300-350 ml (I never measure so I can't tell for sure)

Ingredients:

2 tbsp tamarind pulp
10 eschalots, roughly chopped
10 red chillies (any variety you like) --> I usually put more birds-eye but will include some large red chillies for colour. I once used habanero because I can't find birds-eye...
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
100 ml neutral-flavoured oil --> I usually only use a bit, just enough to coat the pan)
60 g palm sugar, roughly chopped --> on hardworking days I use palm sugar because it took me ages to chop them, else I just substitute with raw sugar or brown sugar. I don't put 60 g palm sugar at one go but a little by little and taste as I go because I prefer my sambal less sweet)
5 g sea salt flakes --> salt to taste because I don't weigh this either
1 tsp belacan (dried shrimp paste), optional --> depending on who I serve the sambal too, if they are Malaysians I do include toasted belacan (I usually wrap up the belacan in aluminium foil and toast them on a pan till fragrant)

Method:

1. Put tamarind pulp in heatproof bowl and add 250 ml boiling water. Stir occasionally and leave to cool for about 10 minutes or till it is cool enough to handle. Strain and press the solids with the back of the spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. 
2. Add eschalots, chillies and garlic in a food processor and process to a rough paste. 
3. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add the paste and reduce heat to low. 
4. Cook the paste for 10-15 minutes, stirring regularly until much of the moisture has evaporated and mixture is fragrant. 
5. Add tamarind liquid, sugar, salt and belacan (if using). Cook, stirring occasionally for 10-15 mixture until red oil separates from the mixture. Taste and adjust to your liking. 

(C) Crispy ikan bilis (anchovies)

Ingredients:

Ikan bilis (anchovies) ---> unlike the two cooks in the links below, I don't weigh my ikan bilis either. Just grab enough to serve. 

(i) Oven baked option - recipe from here and here. 
Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C
2. Wash and clean the ikan bilis (anchovies)
3. Pat dry on paper towel and lay flat on one layer on baking tray
4. Bake for 10-15 minutes, toss and spread them evenly halfway through baking
5. Increase oven to 200°C and bake for another 5-10 minutes or till ikan bilis are golden brown and crispy. 
6. Cool completely and store

(ii) Microwave option
Method:

1. Wash and clean the ikan bilis (anchovies)
2. Lay them on microwavable plate and zap them on 40-50 seconds rounds till they are dry and crispy.
   Note: My friend zap them on 1 minute round but I have just tried this option and didn't want to burn my ikan bilis. She does the whole process on microwave but I finished it in oven at 200°C for 5 minutes. 

(D) Peanuts
Ha - I just use whatever nuts I have at home. If I don't have any, I usually buy beer nuts.

(E) Eggs
If I eat it right after I eat, I usually do a sunny side up but I'm bringing this to work tomorrow so they are boiled. The egg in the photo above is actually a duck egg boiled in rolling boil for 8 1/2 minutes. (can you tell it is duck egg?)

(F) Cucumber
I use continental cucumber. Peeled and thinly sliced. If you want, you can scratch the side vertically a few times with a fork for some visual presentation.

(G) Chicken Rendang - I used recipe from here (will do another post for this, just because I am paranoid that the blogger will take down her blog as there have been no updates for awhile :|

(H) Begedil (Potato patties) - I used recipe from here with some variation (will blog up later)

Mum's home cooked crab

Yes - we served it on the frying pan itself! :P

Mum cooked this when she was visiting because I was missing some crab dish. In fact I have not eaten any crab since left Malaysia. Anyway, like all mums, she cooks with her scientific method of "agak-agak" (means guesstimate). Once I've re-try this I shall update this recipe but in the meantime, just so I don't forget. It taste great and home as mum has always cook crabs this way since I'm a kid.

Ingredients:

6 blue swimmers crabs (I stay in Melbourne and bought this from Queen Victoria Market)
6 shallots (or 1 big onion) - according to Mum, best to use shallots as it is more fragrant (in cooking term)
8-10 red chillies
1 1/2 heaped soup spoon of yellow bean paste (start with 1 heaped soup spoon and scoop another 1/2 spoon. Yes - the Chinese spoon used to drink soup)
Oil to fry

Method:

1. Clean the crabs.
2. Cut and blend the shallots, chillies and yellow bean paste into a course paste (alternatively use mortar and pestle).
3. Heat some oil and fry the paste till fragrant.
4. Put in the crabs, mix well and coat the crabs with the paste.
5. Cover the pan with lid and let it simmer till the crabs are cooked.
6. Serve with mantou (if you have made or have some at hand), else goes with white rice too!