White Radish (Daikon) with Chicken Soup

White radish or daikon is an excellent source of potassium, folate, vitamin C and also magnesium.  Besides it is believed to stimulate appetite, treat liver and gallbladder problems, and improves bowel movement.  It is also good for sore throat, digestion and expel phlegm . However, a word of caution. Chinese believe that you are not supposed to take white radish if you are on medication or herbal tonic as white radish neutralises the efficacy of any medicine or health tonics.  So whatever health supplement you take would go down the drain!

Here is a common and simple white radish soup that we used to cook. It is common to add dried cuttlefish to the soup. However, I prefer a simple and healthier soup minus the dried cuttlefish.

Ingredients :

- 2 white radish (washed, peeled and cut into chunks)

- Carrots (optional; sometimes I add carrots)

- 1/2 chicken (cleaned, cut and blanched)

- some dried mushrooms (washed, soaked and cut into halves.  This time I used the stems only which I used to collect and store in the freezer)

- 8 to 10 red dates

- 1 tbsp Chinese wolfberries (kei qi)

- salt (to taste)

Method :

1)  Fill pot with enough water for the soup.  Add white radish, mushrooms and red dates.  Boil at high heat.

2)  When the water started to boil, add chicken and boil at high heat for about 15 minutes.  Then, lower the heat and continue to boil for 1 hour.

3)  Add kei qi and boil at low heat for another 1/2 or 1 hour.

4)  Season with salt and serve hot.

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Stir Fried Tofu with Chinese Mustard (Gai Choy) - Meatless Recipe

Mustard greens are most often stir-fried or pickled and there's where our salted veggies (ham choy/kiam chai) come from! Our asam gai choy or kiam chai boey is often made with leftovers from a large meal especially during Chinese New Year. It involves stewing mustard greens with tamarind, dried chilies and leftover meals. Sometimes we would do it with fresh meats instead of the leftover meals. It is very yummy.....

I love gai choy and so do my family members. Besides kiam chai boey, I would boil soup with it or just a simple stir fry. We also love gai choy rice or porridge! Here is a simple stir-fry gai choy with fried tofu. Hope you like it.

Ingredients :- 
- 2 leaves of mustard greens (washed and sliced)
- 6 pcs of hard tofu (cut and deep fried. Set aside)
- some shredded carrot
- 1 thumbsized ginger (washed and crushed)
- garlic (washed and finely chopped)

Seasonings : (to taste)
- soy sauce
- salt

cooking oil

Method :
1) Heat oil in a wok. Saute garlic and ginger until aromatic.

2) Stir fry gai choy and shredded carrots.

3) Add fried tofu and stir for a while.

4) Add seasonings. Stir fry and mix well. If too dry, add some water.

5) Dish out and serve.

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Stir Fried Bitter Gourd with Meat

Bitter gourd (melon) might turn some people away from it due to its bitterness. However, it can really sweeten your health because of its disease preventing and health promoting phyto chemical compounds.

Bitter gourd is very low in calories but rich in nutrients. It is an excellent source of vitamins B1, B2, and B3, C, magnesium, folic acid, zinc, phosphorus and manganese. Besides, it is high in fiber too. Bitter melon is recommended as insulin replacement in some diabetic patients.

My children did not like bitter gourd when they were kids but I insisted that they gave it a try whenever I cooked it. Now they like it very much! :)

The other day I was quite busy and didn't have time to cook. So, my hubby packed 2 meat dishes from the restaurant nearby and I just fried a simple veggie dish. One of the dishes he packed was sweet sour pork. My goodness, we didn't finish this dish as it was too salty for us. So, the next day I cooked it with bitter gourd and well, not bad leh.... We love it so much.
Ingredients :

- 1 bitter gourd (washed, de-seeded and sliced)

- 1/2 bowl of deep fried pork belly

- ginger (washed and crushed)

- garlic (washed and finely chopped)

- 1/2 tbsp of taucu (bean paste)

- soy sauce (to taste)

- salt (to taste)

- 1 cup water

cooking oil

Method :

1)  Heat oil in a wok. Saute garlic and ginger until aromatic.

2)  Add bitter gourd and stir fry for 1 or 2 minutes

3)  Add deep fried meat and the remaining ingredients.  

4)  Stir and mix well and add water.

5)  Cover and let it simmer until bitter gourd is soft and cooked.

6)  Dish out and serve.

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Stir Fried Cauliflower with Minced Meat

This is a simple dish and easy to prepare too.  You can mix any ingredients you like such as minced meat, prawns or even both.  

Ingredients : (no exact measurement)

- Cauliflower (washed, cut and blanched)

- Green peas (washed  and cut)

- Baby corns (washed and cut) I did not have baby corns for this time cos' I cooked whatever is available in the fridge.

- Carrot (washed and sliced)

- Minced meat

-Small shrimps 

- garlic and small onions (washed and chopped)

Seasonings :

- abalone sauce (or oyster sauce, optional)

- soy sauce

- salt

cooking oil

Method :

1)  Heat some oil in a wok and saute garlic and onion until aromatic.

2)  Add minced meat and shrimps.  Stir.

3)  Stir in the remaining ingredients and keep stirring. 

4)  Season with seasonings.

5)  Dish out and serve.

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Braised Pork Belly with Taucu (Bean Paste)

This dish is my family's favourite, especially my eldest daughter!  I like to cook this dish too as it is very easy.  Just mix everything together and braise it!  No strict rules or procedures.  Cook it whichever way you like it. It's that simple... :)

Ingredients : 
- 300gm pork belly (washed and sliced)

- 1 /12 tbsp taucu

- 1/2 tbsp five spice powder

- 2 whole garlic (washed but do not peel)

- 3 big thumbsized ginger (cleaned and smashed)

- 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce

- 1 tbsp sweet caramel sauce 

- 2 tbsp soy sauce

- salt (to taste)

- water

Method :

1)  Place cut pork belly into a wok or pan together with all the spices and seasonings.

2)  Marinate for about 1/2 hour or more.

3)  Cook on high heat until you can see oil (fats from the pork) in the wok or pan.

4)  Add enough water and cover. Boil at high heat.

5)  Then lower the heat and simmer until the pork is  soft.

6)  Serve with rice.

 Yummylicious........

The gravy is great to go with rice or plain steam buns!!

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Canned Sardine Curry

Yesterday, I was thinking of curry fish but too bad I didn't have any suitable fish in the freezer that could be used for curry.  Then, I remembered a friend gave me sardine curry sandwiches sometimes back and it struck on me to cook fish curry with canned sardines.  So, if you don't mind something weird, do give this a try.  It is yummy...

Ingredients :

- 1 canned sardine

- 1 small packet of fish curry powder (25gm)

- 1 sprig of curry leaves

- 2 tomatoes (washed and cut)

- 1 big bombay onion (washed and sliced)

- 1 big red onion (washed and sliced)

- 1 whole garlic (washed and finely chopped)

- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or tamarind juice - asam jawa)

Seasonings : ( no exact measurement as I only added a little of each spices)

- jintan putih (fennel seed)

- jintan manis (cumin seeds)

- halba (fenugreek) 

- soy sauce

-salt

- water

- cooking oil

Method :

1)  Heat oil in a wok or pot and fry jintan putih, jintan manis, halba, onions, garlic and curry leaves until aromatic.

2)  Then, add  canned sardines, tomatoes and enough water and stir.

3)  Add fish curry powder, soy sauce and salt.  Stir.

4)  Cover and lower the heat.  Allow to simmer for 5 minutes.

5)  Add vinegar or tamarind juice and mix well.

6)  Serve with rice or bread.

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Steamed Chinese Pomfret (Tau Tai) with Shiitake Mushroom

 

This is one of the dishes I cooked on the 6th day of Chinese New Year for my friends.  It is simple and delicious.

Ingredients :

-1 pomfret (cleaned and marinated with salt and pepper)

- shredded shiitake mushroom

- shredded carrot

- some Chinese Wolfberries (Kei Qi)

Seasonings : (mix all together)

- a dash of salt

- 1 tbsp soy sauce

- 1 tsp sugar

- 1 tbsp of rice wine

- 1 tsp sesame oil

- 1 tbsp chopped garlic

- shredded ginger

Garnishing :

- stalk spring onion (cut)

- 1 red chili (thinly sliced)

Method :

1)  Boil water in a steaming pot/wok for steaming.

1)  Place few shredded of ginger and spring onions on a steaming plate.  Then, place fish on top.

2)  Add shredded mushroom, carrot and Chinese wolfberries on top of the fish.

3)  Pour mixed seasoning on it.

4)  Once the water is boiled, steam at high heat for about 12 - 15 minutes until cooked.

5)  Garnish with the remaining spring onion and red chili and serve hot.

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Simple Steamed Chicken with Chinese Sausage (lap cheong)

This is a simple and delicious dish.  

Ingredients :

- 2 whole chicken thighs (washed and cut into bite sized and marinated)
-  2 Chinese sausages (removed the casing/peel and sliced)

Marinate : (to taste) There is no exact measurement in my recipe as I cooked according to our taste
- ginger juice
- garlic (finely chopped)
- soy sauce
- salt
- homemade red glutinous wine/rice wine
Method :
1)  Marinate the chicken for 30 minutes or more.
2)  Add Chinese sausage on top of the chicken.
3)  Steam at high heat until chicken is cooked.  As I used free ranged chicken, it took longer to cook,  about 25 minutes.
4)  Serve hot with steamed rice.  The gravy itself is so yummy with rice.

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Braised Ang Zhao Chicken with Arrowhead (慈菇/ngaku)

Ang Zhao in Hokkien is red glutinous wine lees (紅糟) and  is used in various Hokkien and Foo Chow cuisines.  Ang zhao  is the lees of the fermentation of  red glutinous wine .  I have few tubs of ang zhao which I really treasure and it can keep for years in the refrigerator.  I also blended some of the ang zhao to make it more fine and smooth.

Here is a simple dish using blended ang zhao which I cooked it on the 5th day of Chinese New Year.  Hope you all like it :)

Ingredients :

- 1 free ranged chicken (washed, cut into bite-sized, marinated with ang zhao and soy sauce)

- 3 big arrowheads (washed, peeled and sliced)

- 2 big thumbsized old ginger (washed but do not remove the skin, sliced)

- 1tbsp of ang zhao (to marinate the chicken)

- 1 cup (or more) of ang jiu (red glutinous wine)

- soy sauce (to taste)

- salt (to taste)

- sesame and cooking oil

- water (optional)

Method :

1)  Heat sesame and cooking oil in a wok.  Saute ginger until aromatic.

2)  Add marinated chicken and stir fry briefly.

3)  Then, add ang jiu and enough water (optional) to cover the chicken.  If you prefer stronger ang jiu flavour gravy, just omit the water but add enough ang jiu to cover the chicken). Bring to boil and lower the heat.  Simmer until the chicken is almost cooked.

4)  Seasoned with soy sauce and salt according to taste.

5)  Arrange sliced arrowhead on top of the chicken.  Let it cook for 5 minutes.

6)  Serve hot.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #28: Chicken Feast (February 2013) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker.

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