Tuesday, November 3, 2020

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.  


Saturday, April 4, 2020

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.