Pork Ribs Salmon Belly Soup

Another one of my boys' favorite soup, because 1) they love celery, 2) they love salmon, 3) they love porky,... basically, 4) they love soup.

This soup is power-packed with all imaginable goodness. Read the ingredients and you will know what I mean.

Ingredients:

Pork Ribs
Salmon Belly
Celery (diced, 2 stalks)
1 Carrot (diced)
1 Tomato (diced)
1 Potato (diced)
Pepper corn (handful, crushed slightly, packed into soup stock bag)
Ginger (sliced)
Salt to taste
Tofu (optional)

Here's what I did:

1. Blanch the pork ribs, and cook a pork rib soup (I cooked this early in the morning in my thermal pot, and set aside till ready to prepare dinner).

2. Rinse salmon belly and descale them. Cut away sections of salmon belly with fins / bones. Do not discard these. Put them into a soup stock bag with sliced ginger (This is prevent the bones from going into the soup during boiling).

3. Add diced celery, carrot, tomato, potato into soup. Add in the pepper corn stock bag, and salmon belly bones' stock bag.

4. When the soup is boiling, add in the salmon belly. Add salt to taste.

5. Bring soup to a boil and simmer in low fire for 15mins. Ready to serve.

Sweet & Sour Pork

One of my favorite dish at Zi Char store, and now it has become a regular family dish at my table :)

I always wonder how did the store make the pork so sweet, so succulent, so yummy... whilst those that I have tried at home just couldn't make it! I tried with those from the Supermarket labelled "sweet & sour pork", but failed. It turned out... ermmm... just not there -- not as tender as I would like it. Then I decided to experiment with a different type of pork - Pork Fillet and diced them for this dish.

Viola! I got it right!!!! So proud of myself!

Pork Fillet (aka yao1 rou4)... according to my Mom, is the best part of the pig. It's the most tender of all; so far, she has been right (how could I ever doubt her?!). I love pork fillet fried with sliced ginger and garlic with sesame oil -- one of those regular confinement dish.

PF is so versatile! I simply love it *wink*


Ingredients:

Pork Fillet (cubed; about 2cm)
A>> Sesame oil
A>> Soya sauce
A>> Dash of pepper
A>> Corn starch
A>> Plain flour
A>> 1 egg
Onion (cut to chunks)
Garlic
Red, Yellow & Green peppers (cut to chunks)
1 soup spoon Tomato ketchup
Water
Sugar to taste


Here's what I did:

1. Season cubed pork fillet with A. The end mixture with the inclusion of the egg should be rather wet and starchy. When you lift up a piece of pork, the flour mixture should be nicely coated onto it.

2. Deep fry the pork till golden brown. Set aside.

3. In a wok, heat up oil, fry garlic and onion till fragrant.

4. Add in red, yellow and green peppers. Fry till fragrant.

5. In a separate bowl, add water to tomato ketchup (ratio 2 to 1) and add sugar to taste. Pour mixture into wok and stir.

6. Add in fried pork and mix them together till well coated with sauce. Add in water as required to reach the right consistency -- slightly thick sauce.

7. Serve.



psst psst...
* My friend asked if I can (kindly) include the proportion of my ingredient on the blog. For an amateur like herself, that will be most useful. I know I know... but the thing with me is, I cook and marinate my dish according to my 'gut feeling'. I don't have strict measurement to follow. Believe me or not, I never taste my dish before serving. They are based on judgement. But ok, ok... I will try to make notes next time.
* Zi char store surely did not use PF ok. Their trick is to use baking soda while marinating the meat to make them tender and soft. For my home cooking, I simply change the meat, else use baking soda.

......

Cinnamon Bread Roll

I never liked cinnamon. I find the smell... mmm... how should I describe... to say the least, repulsive. Its too sweet-smelling for my liking; I always walk away when I smell it in the store / bakery / cafe.

Yet, magic happened! It actually happened to me!

I saw some very enticing cinnamon bread bun in some blogs. HappyFlour, Happy Home Baking,... and I was tempted to try. No looking back since! I LOVE it! And I figured it was because, as with anything home baked, you are IN CONTROL - of the ingredient, the quantity, the proportion!

The key lies in the amount of cinnamon you use. And ahem,... I use just enough to get the taste... far from overpowering. Man says I can afford to go a bit heavier on the cinnamon since he can't taste it. *roll eyeball*

For the sweet bread roll, I adapted from Table for 2  Sweet Bread & Bun, but less the Milk Powder, and made some fine adjustments.



Ingredients:

500gm Bread Flour
80gm Sugar

11gm Yeast
220ml of water
pinch of sugar
1 egg

85gm butter
1/2 tsp salt

Cinnamon Filling:
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp brown sugar
Butter (for spread)

Here's what I did:

1. Following the order of my breadmaker, I set the machine to Dough and let it knead and proof.

2. Take out the proofed dough from maker, on a lightly floured surface, punch down and knead for a further 1min.

3. Roll the dough into a rectangular piece as thin as possible (about 5mm thick, estimate only). With a butter knife, I spread butter on it.

4. In a clean bowl, mix cinnamon and brown sugar. Sprinkle cinnamon filling and brush them on the buttered dough. Roll it up swiss roll style.

5. Cut into 1 - 1.5inch long. Lay them swirl side up, close to each other on the bake tray.

6. Cover and let it proof for another hour till double (the rolls should be sticking to each other by now). When ready to bake, do an egg wash on the surface and sprinkle some cinnamon filling on top.

7. Bake in preheated oven at 180degC for 20 mins until golden brown.

psst psst...
* I have some leftover dough and can't squeeze them into the bake tray anymore, so, I use my muffin tray and have about 2-3 rolls in each pocket.
* I use disposable HomeProud aluminum bake tray.
* Since Man said I can afford to put more cinnamon, I will try 3tbsp cinnamon + 4tbsp brown sugar the next time. :)

The Power of a Praying Parent

What should I say about this book?

You know, I never fancy female authors. I find male authors more 'crisp' (aka crispier. LOL)... matter-of-fact... to the point... less words more impact... factual... less emotive...

The same can be said about all my other favorite authors... Tom Clancy, Jeffrey Archer, John Grisham,...

Somehow, Jodi Picoult of the world doesn't quite appeal to me. I have no idea why. Perhaps the only other female authors that I like are Tess Gerristen, Patricia Cornwell... And when it comes to Devotional Titles like these, almost no female authors appeal to me.




Take a look at the state of my book. LOL. Can you beat that?!

But I have to read this book. And I'm loving every minute of it. Not only does it lead me to pray more fervently for my boys, it opens my eyes to the Heart of my Creator -- the Originator of Life and Creator of Heaven and Earth.

I'm doing this as a weekly devotional prayer book with a group of 2 other ladies. And I'm so blessed by them. By their sharing, encouragements, support and prayers.

Weekly we gather together to go through chapter, sharing and praying for our broods.

One of my greatest reflections and awakenings from this book -- God my Creator, loves my boys more than anything else. And wants our partnership with Him to bring our children into His Fold. The author leads us into prayer for allllllllllll aspects of our children's life. From Praying Through a Child' Room (Chap18) to Growing in Faith (Chap 30), it releases power unto the child as we sojourn through this space. Nothing is trivial in God's sight -- no matter what we think otherwise.

My boys are young - 6y, 2y and 4m. Just the right time to start praying and committing them to a lifetime of holiness unto the Lord. Really, as we live in this world, are you not troubled by its standards, its decaying morals, the lies and deception? Where is our Hope? I put my Faith in the Infallible God.

And so, I urge Christian parents to get hold of this book and get hold of God for your children.They are too precious to be left on their own in this lost world.

"Behold! Children are a heritage from the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward." (Psalm 127:3)


........

Beef Lasagna

It's been a long time since I last baked this for lunch. It's my boys' favorite -- like I said, they like anything CHEESE. And I am very generous with my mozzarella. LOL

I did it slightly differently from all the other recipes that I read and find. I 'cheated' with Campbell's Creamy instant soup as its base. *wink* But hey! It tastes good okay!

Ingredients (serve 2):
200gm minced beef
Diced carrot
Diced french beans
Diced tomato
Campbell's Cream of Corn (soup powder, mixed in hot water per instructions)
1 tsp tomato ketchup
Water
Sugar to taste (optional)
Sheets of San Remo Instant Lasagna
Mozzarella cheese

Here's what I did:

1. Season minced beef with salt, pepper and some herbs (I use Masterfood Mixed Herbs), and a pinch of corn starch.


2. In a pan, fry minced beef with carrot, french beans and tomato. Add in Campbell's soup base and add more water to make the mixture slightly more watery.

3. Add in 1 tsp of tomato ketchup to achieve that 'red' base lasagna. Add sugar to taste (optional).

4. Let it cool. In the meantime, soak the lasagna sheets in warm water.

5. Prepare the baking tray and scoop the Beef mixture onto its base. Follow by cheese, then a sheet of lasagna. Next, the beef mixture, then cheese and another sheet of lasagna. So on and so forth, ending with a generous topping of cheese.

6. Tent the lasagna bake tray. Bake in a cold oven 200degC for 30mins.

7. Remove the cover and bake for another 20mins or until golden brown.

8. Remove from oven and let it cool for a further 10mins to set the pasta. Serve.

.....

Rose Bun (steamed mantou)

Recipe by Table for 2... or more

I fell in love with these when I saw them! They are soooooooooo pretty. So I had to make them. Which I did. And I'm deeply infatuated. I kept buying the Purple Sweet Potato to make these till the lady at the Supermarket asked me what do I use those Purple Sweet Potato for? I'm about the only customer who kept asking for them. LOL.

I was so happy because not only are these Purple Sweet Potatoes sweet for this bun, they are also perfect to steam and eat on its own, and for making sweet potato soup.

This is not the first time I made these Purple bun... about the 5th or 6th time. And I decided to halve the dough and substitute with Pumpkin! And viola!!!! Yellow bun!!!!

Pretty aren't they? *wink*

















Ingredients:

250gm purple sweet potato (skin removed, steamed)
200gm water
500gm plain flour
1tsp baking powder
10gm sugar
1/4 tsp salt
50gm unsalted butter (melted)
11gm instant yeast

Here's what I did:

1. Mash steamed sweet potato with 150gm water.

2. In a clean cup, dissolve the yeast in 50gm water.

3. Mix everything (except butter) in a bowl until combined to form a dough.

4. Knead in butter until dough is smooth.

5. Cover and let it proof until double for about an hour.

6. Punch down and knead for 1-2 mins.

7. Divide dough into group of 6 balls, each about 10-12gm (6 balls form one rose).

8. With a rolling pin, flatten each ball into flat round shape. Line them up, overlapping each other in a straight roll.

9. Starting from the bottom piece, roll the 6-overlapping-dough swiss roll style. As tight as you can.

10. With a slightly damped chopstick, saw the rolled dough into half. Place it on baking paper.

11. Steam on high heat for 10-15mins.

psst psst...
* To keep them overnight, let it cool completely and store in fridge.
* To make the yellow pumpkin bun, I replaced purple sweet potato with pumpkin and reduced water to 160mg total (pumpkin tend to have higher water content).
* The dough will continue to proof during shaping time, so unless you want FAT roses, you have to work fast. Otherwise, keep the dough in the fridge covered to slow down the proofing.

Glutinous Rice

Are you like me?
Do you like sticky rice?
Do you like dried shrimp?
Do you like diced mushrooms?
Do you like GLUTINOUS RICE?!

I love them. It reminds me of my childhood when my paternal grandmother used to make it. And my mom used to make that too! I love the smell, the taste, the texture! And I had to learn to make it, no matter what! So I asked my Mom to teach me... and never realised it's soooooooooooo easy! Wow man! Why did I ever bother to buy from outside?!

And to my surprise, even Man likes glutinous rice too! He never tell, so I never knew. Why didn't I ever asked? Hmmm... ...

So, this time, I had some leftover Black Soya Sauce Pork Belly... and wonder what else can I do with it other than to heat it up and serve at the table again. Till a great idea bings in my head!... Glutinous Rice! yummmm...

But now, for the life of me, I can't find the picture that I took of it! And the rice is warmly tucked into my tummy now!... arggghhhhhh... Will post pictures the next time I make them again (just made over the weekend; and as my Mom says, cannot eat glut-rice too often!... don't know why, do you?). Just made them again yesterday and managed to post the pictures here... pics posted on 16 Nov '11.


Ingredients:

1 1/2 C of Glutinous Rice
Handful of Dried Shrimp (rinsed, and soaked)
2 pieces of Dried Scallop (rinsed, and soaked)
3 Dried Mushrooms (rinsed, and soaked, sliced / diced)
Pork Belly (leftover, sliced)
Pork Belly soya sauce (leftover)
Garlic (chopped to bits)

Here's what I did:

1. Rinsed and soak glutinous rice for at least 4 hrs (I soaked them overnight)

2. At the same time, soak dried shrimp, dried scallop and dried mushrooms -- in separate bowls.

3. In a hot wok, add oil and fry garlic till fragrant.

4. Add in dried shrimp, dried scallop and diced mushrooms. Fry till fragrant (do not throw away the bowls of 'soaking water').

5. Add in sliced pork belly.

6. Add in glutinous rice (discard water).

7. Mix and fry all ingredients until well combined. Add in the bowls of soaking water and soya sauce. Add in additional salt / seasoning if desired. (You may wish to go slightly heavier on the seasoning because the rice is tasteless and it does take away the taste a bit).

8. Add in more water to make the ingredients slightly wet. (It will be rather starchy at this stage because of the glutinous rice grains, and that is fine).

9. Transfer into aluminum foil dish and wrap to steam on high for 30mins.

10. Let it cool and serve (with diced spring onions and deep fried shallots - optional).


psst psst... Ever gone to restaurant and packed Kong Bah Bao home? Now, that is the best pork you can add into this glutinous rice! Just remember NOT TO discard the sauce. Dump it all in and fry ;)

.....

Featherlight Cheesecake

Recipe adapted from Alex Goh - Fantastic Cheesecake

My BOYS loooooove this cheesecake!... Gone in one seating. Pant pant... that means I have to bake them again :)

It's delightfully easy to make, no fuss really! And it tastes great!... Just the right Cheesey taste... not too sweet, and not at all heavy / dense -- quite unlike those New York Cheesecake. Afterall,  it is called "Featherlight" and it truly lives up to its name!

Ingredients:

250gm Milk
20gm Butter
125gm Cream Cheese
50gm Flour (I used plain flour)
3 Egg Yolks
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 Egg Whites
1/8 tsp Cream of Tartar
80gm Sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp Coffee Emulco


Here's what I did:

1. I used a 20cm springform round pan. Line base with baking paper, Wrap aluminium foil round the pan, and prepare a water-bath tray.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream cream cheese until smooth.

3. Bring Butter and Milk to a low boil, and combine with creamed cream cheese. Mix until well blended.

4. Add flour and mix until well combined. Add in egg yolks and vanilla essence. Mix until well blended.

5. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until foamy, add in pinch of salt and cream of tartar. Continue to beat till soft peak.

6. Add in sugar in 3 successions. Continue beating until stiff.

7. Pour in 1/3 of the egg white into the Cream Cheese mixture and fold in gently but quickly.

8. Pour all of the Cream Cheese mixture into the remaining egg white, fold in till well combined.

9. Reserve about 2tbs of the batter. Add in 1 tsp of coffee emulco into this. Stir and mix well.

10. Pour the Cheese batter into pan. Drip the coffee batter on top. Swirl with a butter knife to make marble pattern.

11. Bake in (hot) water bath at 160deg for 50-60mins. Or until centre is set and golden brown. Insert a toothpick to test. Toothpick should come out clean.

12. With a knife, slice the cake away from the side of the pan (else, it will shrink greatly). Remove pan from water bath tray, and return cake (still in pan) into oven with door ajar to cool. (This step should not take more than 30 sec; so work fast!)

13. Chill in fridge and serve.

.......

Baked Chicken with Vegetables

This is my best ever one-tray dish! But be warned that it does take a bit of time to prepare because of the hours required in seasoning the chicken thighs...

However, you will be greatly rewarded with a deeply flavoursome dish at your dining table! The chicken thigh is juicy, succulent and tender! Probably due to the slow bake. The gravy is superbly tasty.

With this dish, there's NO need to prepare any soup to accompany your meal. Serve with rice or pasta as you so fancy ;)

Ingredients:

Chicken legs/thighs (whole)
1 whole onion (sliced)
1 Potato (sliced; I used Russet Potato)
Broccoli (sliced - flat-wise)
Cauliflower (sliced - flat-wise)
Capsicum (3 types, sliced)
1 Carrot (sliced)
Celery (couple of stalks)
1 Tomato (sliced)


Here's what I did:

1. Marinate chicken thighs generously with pepper, sesame oil, and soya sauce. Sprinkle some herbs (optional; I used Masterfoods Mixed Herbs). Cover and chill in fridge for at least 4 hrs (Turning thighs over mid-way).


2. Pre-heat oven to 200degC. Take marinated chicken out of fridge.

3. With a pot of water just enough to cover these vegetables, bring the Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrot, Celery, and Potato to a low boil -- enough to soften the vegetables slightly. Add in a pinch of salt.

4. In the baking tray, lay onions.

5. Drain the boiled vegetables and lay them over onions (do not discard water). Followed by capsicums and lastly, tomato.

 6. Scoop in some boiled water -- just enough to cover the layers of vegetables.

7. Place chicken thighs on top. Skin side up. Drizzle the marinate-juice onto chicken. Sprinkle some more herbs as desired.

8. Bake at 200 degC for 30mins.

9. Flip chicken over and return to oven for another 20-25mins.

10. Lastly, turn chicken over (skin side up again) and bake for 5-10mins or till skin is golden brown. Serve.

Steamed Tofu with Black Bean Paste

Now, this is something really healthy, oil-free and super nutritious!

Steamed Tofu with Minced Pork in Black Bean Paste. Preparation time: 15mins, Cook time: 15-20mins


Ingredients:

One pack of rectangular Tofu (for soup / steaming)
Minced pork (2/3 portion; season with pinch of salt, pepper, corn starch)
Fish paste (1/3 portion; optional)
Spring onion (diced)
Dried mushroom (soaked, soften & diced)
Black bean mixture (1 tsp black bean paste, 2-3 spoon soup of water, sugar to taste)





 Here's what I did:

1. Mix seasoned minced pork, fish paste, spring onion, and mushroom in a clean bowl.

2. Slice tofu (as seen on picture).

3. Starting with a first layer of tofu, follow by spreading some pork mixture, then another layer of tofu, so on and so forth, ending with a layer of pork mixture.

4. Steam on high for 15-20mins.













5. In a wok, heat up oil, pan fry leftover pork mixture (if any).

6. Pour in black bean mixture and stir till hot. Mixture should be rather watery. Add more water if desired. Taste and add more sugar if needed (to counter the saltiness of the black bean paste)

7. When steamed tofu is ready, pour hot black bean mixture over. Sprinkle with some chinese parsley and serve.

Baked Roti Prata

Now!... This is something new!... and already, I'm IN LOVE!

The crust when baked is amazingly crispy! Somewhat like those filo-puff pastry with its thousand layers of crusty crumby sheets!... yummmmmm...

Okay, yesterday, I experimented with sausage and cheese fillings, and today, I'm trying it with Char Siew and lotus seed paste.

They are now browning nicely in the oven... can't wait!

Ingredients:
Packet of instant roti prata dough
Fillings (of your choice; preferably dry sort)
Egg (egg wash)
Sesame seeds (optional)

Here's what I did:
1. Work with slightly thawed roti prata dough sheet

2. Cut round roti prata dough sheet into half

3. Place fillings on quarter circle, and fold semi circle in. Pinch edge to seal / use fork to press down to seal (making it look like curry puff edges)

4.  Egg wash. Sprinkle with sesame seeds on surface (optional).

5. Place in pre-heated oven and bake for 30 min at 200deg or until golden brown. Turn puff over and bake for a slight 3-5min.