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.  

Chinese bean curd meat roll (bak kien)

The photos I took of this dish always turn out looking non appetising somehow

Chinese bean curd meat roll but in Hokkien, called bak kien (bak = meat, kien = roll) is one of the regular dishes that mum cook for Lunar New Year reunion dinner. I made this once a year when I get a couple of friends to have lunch during Lunar New Year.


Ingredients:
Make about 16-17 rolls

300g minced pork
5-6 tbsp of jicama or water chestnut (when I can't find either, I use apple)
100g prawns
2 tbsp carrot
2 tbsp onion
1/2 tsp pepper
1tsp corn flour
2 tbsp soy sauce
Bean curd skin


Method:

1. Put all the ingredients (except bean curd skin) above in a big bowl and mix well.
2. Wipe bean curd skin with damp cloth or kitchen towel so that it is less salty and easier to wrap.
3. Wrap the mixed ingredients with bean curd skin till finished, into a roll.
4. Steam the rolls for about 10 minutes so that it doesn't take too long to fry (can pan fry or deep fry).

Side note: Freeze well after steamed and cool down. 

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!

Japanese Cheesecake

I used recipe from ieatishootipost and tried 3 times. The photo above was my third cake. All credits to ieatishootipost.

My first cake was a total failure because I only had duck eggs and picked up a phone call from a friend in the midst of beating egg whites. The cake didn't even bake after an hour in the oven.

The one above was my second cake. I completely scratched the top of the cake when I de-pan it. If you can see the cake was in 2 layers (it is a poor photo). It is likely that I didn't fold the whites into the batter properly. The top part of the cake was light and fluffy while the bottom part was heavy.

Ingredients:
Part A: Yolk
250 g Philadelphia cream cheese (1 block)
6 egg yolks
70 g castor sugar
60 g butter
100 ml full cream milk
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
60 g cake flour (I used the mixture of "1 cup plain flour" - "2 tbsp plain flour" + 2 tbsp cornflour" = 1 cup cake flour)
20g corn flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract (optional) - I added

Part B: White
6 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
70 g castor sugar

Part C: Glaze
1 tbsp apricot jam
1 tbsp water

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C, fan forced --> because my oven is lack of the non fan force option
2. Coat cake pan with non-stick spray or oil, line bottom with baking paper
3. Whisk cream cheese till smooth over a warm water bath 
4. Add yolks and whisk
5. Add 70 g sugar and whisk
6. Warm milk and butter in microwave or stove, whisk into batter
7. Add vanilla, salt, lemon, juice, lemon zest and whisk
8. Remove from water bath, sift flour and fold into mixture until relatively smooth, don't over mix
9. Whisk whites at low speed till foamy
10. Add cream of tartar and beat at high speed till bubbles become very small but still visible
11. Gradually add sugar and beat till just before soft peaks
12. Fold whites into batter 1/3 at a time (must mix properly to avoid separation of layer)
13. Pour into cake pan and tap the pan on the counter to release air bubbles
14. Line a bigger pan with a dish towel and pour water from the water bath. 
15. Place the cake pan onto the bigger pan and bake. 
16. Bake on the middle rack for
    180°C for 18 minutes
    150°C for 12 minutes
    Turn off over and leave in oven for 40 minutes --> I tried 30 minutes but the top of cake is not brown enough)
    Open oven door slightly at the end of the baking for 10 minutes for cake to cool.
17. De-pan when still warm and remember to wrap whatever you are using to de-pan with baking paper ---> my second cake was scratched because I didn't :(
18.  Glaze top of cake with apricot jam + same amount of water (ratio 1:1) and microwaved it. 

Side note: 揮別錯的才能和對的相逢

Prawn, Mango and Avocado Salad

My favourite salad! The recipe I used is from Woolworths but I don't really measure the ingredients. The link on Woolworths is the actual recipe but the one below is what I used.

Ingredients:

1 plate of cooked, peeled prawns (I am lazy, I just bought one plate off Coles, from their website 200g)
2 mangoes
2 avocados
1 red chilli
1 birds eye chilli (because the first time I made, the red chilli doesn't really give any taste)
A big handful of coriander
1 large lime

Method:

1. Place prawns in a large bowl.
2. Remove mango cheeks by slicing down each side of the stone. Scoop out flesh with a large spoon and dice.
3. Peel avocado, remove stone and slice.
4. Add mango, avocado, red chilli, coriander leaves and lime juice to bowl with prawns. 
5. Gently toss until well combined.
6. Squeeze lime over salad

Enjoy but don't overeat... that's for me :P

Side note: Long weekend coming to an end.. :(

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

The most evil chocolate chip cookies

These cookies were initially named Korova Cookies after the restaurant where pierre Herme created these chocolate cookies. However the name was changed by Dorie Greenspan after her friends think that daily dose of them is needed for planetary peace and happiness. Hence the name World Peace. I was first introduced by a friend who baked them and told me these are the world's most evil chocolate cookies.

So the first name I know of these cookies is World's Most Evil Chocolate Cookies and a very suitable name too because they are good, and all cookies after consumed by me will just go straight to the hips... and stay there, unfortunately. Whatever name you want to call them, they are good choc cookies ;)

The original recipe said it made 36 cookies but I only get about 30 though, probably my cookies are a little bigger?

Ingredients:

175 grams all-purpose flour
30 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
150 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
120 grams packed light brown sugar --> I cut down to 80 grams
50 grams granulated sugar --> cut down to 30 grams
1/2 teaspoon fleur del sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
150 grams bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips (no pieces larger than 1/3 inch), or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips --> I used Lindt's 80% dark chocolate

Method:

1. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together. --> I'm such a lazy baker, I usually skip the sifting.. opps..
2. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. 
3. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.
4. Turn off the mixer. Pour in the flour mixture (flour, cocoa and baking soda), drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. 
5. Take a peek — if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough — for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don’t be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. 
6. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.
7. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. 
8. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)

Getting ready to bake: 

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 160°C. 
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
3. Working with a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them — don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) 
4. Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about one inch between them.
5. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.