All posts by chinesetuition88

mushroom, Soup

Creamy Mushroom Soup

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1. Prepare mushroom (cut into slices, about 250g), 1/2 chopped onion, 2 cloves of chopped garlic.

2. Heat a pan. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter, also add in 2 tsp olive oil. When butter melts, add in onion and garlic. Stir fry till onion turns transparent.

3. Add in mushroom, also sprinkle salt pepper and dried herbs. Stir fry till mushroom turn soft. Add in 1/2 cup flour. And stir fry evenly.

4. Pour in 1 cup stock. Bring to boil first, turn to low heat and simmer for 5 mins.

5. Pour everything into a blender. Blend till smooth.

6. Pour back to pot. Add in cream or milk. I only had milk in the fridge, so I have no choice.

7. Stir slowly to mix well. Season with salt and pepper.

Prawn

Sweet & Sour Prawn

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  1. Clean prawns by removing all the intestines and rinsing under water. Place all the prawns in a big bowl. Marinate with salt, pepper and cooking wine for a little while.
  2. Coat prawns with a thin layer of potato starch.
  3. Deep fry prawns till golden and crispy.
  4. In a small bowl, add in 2 tsp light soy sauce, 2 tsp tomato sauce, 1 tsp vinegar, 2 tsp honey. Mix them well.
  5. Heat a pan. Pour the sauce in and reduce a bit.
  6. Add prawns into the sauce. Stir fry evenly to let the prawns be coated with sauce.

Garnish with spring onion.

https://flic.kr/p/24S3Vcc

Pork, Uncategorized, wrap

็ฒฝๅญ (Zong Zi, Sticky Rice Dumpling)

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This year, Dragon Boat Festival is on June 7, which is  next Friday. I never tried to make sticky rice dumpling (Zong zi) by myself even though I like them very much. I saw there were bamboo leaves for zongzi on the supermarket’s shelf and thought maybe I can try making zongzi this year.

The preparation should be done on the night before.

From left to right: glutinous rice, red bean, preserved dates, pork & shiitake mushroom, bamboo leaves.

Bamboo leaves should be soaked in water overnight. Cut off the leaf stalk before wrapping.

 

Because my husband likes meat zongzi, which is salty, while I like sweet ones. So I have to prepare 2 fillings.

I wrapped a lot of zongzi, please feel free to deduct the ingredients.

 

For the savory ones:

pork belly 200 g (cut into slices)

Shiitake 4 (cut into slices).

Put pork and shiitake into a small bowl. Add in 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 pinch salt, 2 tsp dark soy sauce, 2 tsp oyster sauce and 1 tsp five spice powder. Mix them well. Put into fridge overnight.

glutinous rice 500g

red bean 1 cup

Wash them under water. Then soak them overnight. You can mix them before soaking or after.

Drain glutinous rice and red bean. Put them in a big bowl. Drizzle in 1 tbsp light soy sauce and 1 tbsp sesame oil. Mix well.

 

For the sweet ones:

glutinous rice 500g

red bean 1 cup

Soak overnight too.

Mix them before using. If you want Zong Zi to taste sweeter, you can also add in sugar.

 

Wrapping sticky rice dumplings is not as difficult as I expected, unless if you want to make them very neat and pretty. My rule is as long as I can wrap the filling , rice inside and I can tie them with twine, it will be a big success. ๐Ÿ™‚

 

For the savory ones with pork inside:

Use bamboo leaves (1 or 2 ) to make a funnel shape at one end. Add into 1 tbsp rice, then 1 or 2 slices of pork and shiitake. Top with another 1 tbsp rice. Cover it with the rest bamboo leaf and wrap with twine.

Please remember to use the light soy sauce and sesame oil marinated rice.

Same procedures are applied to the sweet ones.  Just replace the pork with preserved dates and use the normal rice.

Wrap them tightly with twine. You can use different colors of twine to different types.

Boil them for 3 hours. If yours are bigger then mine, please cook longer. Better boil them separately due to different flavor.

https://flic.kr/p/2g4MUyh

Well, my sticky rice dumplings are a bit….. ugly and diverse in shapes. ๐Ÿ™‚

Actually, I think zongzi is delicious even if there were only plain sticky rice inside.

So I can never say no to zongzi. ๐Ÿ™‚

 

Pasta, Uncategorized

Meat Sauce Pasta Recipe

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  1. Heat a pan with 1 tablespoon oil inside. Saute chopped 2 cloves of garlic and 1 small chopped onion till aromatic.
  2. Add in Minced beef. stir fry till beef is no more pinkish. Set beef aside.
  3. Because I didn’t have any tomato puree, so I used fresh tomato instead. I used medium tomatoes and 1 cup cherry tomatoes. Cut a cross at the bottom, soak them in hot water for a little while. Then peel them and dice them.
  4. Use the same pan. Add in a little extra oil. Put tomato dices in. Sprinkle in salt, pepper, mixed herbs, 2 tablespoon tomato sauce, 1 tablespoon sugar. Simmer a bit to let the tomatoes melt a little. Dissolve 1 tablespoon flour in 3-4 tablespoon water. Add into tomato. So the sauce will be creamy.
  5. Add beef into tomato. Stir to let them mix well. Season with a little more salt and pepper if you need to.
  6. Pour the sauce over cooked pasta. And ready to serve.

https://flic.kr/p/QoxupA

Fish, Soup

Yellow Croaker Fish (Huang Hua ้ป„่Šฑ้ฑผ) Soup

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My husband likes 100 seconds yellow croaker fish soup of Putien restaurant very much. The soup’s name ็™พ็ง’้ป„่Šฑ้ฑผ literally means cook yellow croaker fish for only 100 seconds. The soup is very nice and tasty.

We happened to see fresh yellow croaker sold in supermarket and we bough 2 of them. It’s very rare to see fresh yellow croacker here.

I tried to cook this soup, but I didn’t dare to cook fish for just 100 seconds since my fish looks much bigger. I worried 100 seconds is not long enough to cook fish thoroughly. So I decided to cook it for 3 mins.

  1. Cut fish open at the belly and make it look like a stingray. sprinkle a little salt all over the fish. Place fish in a big bowl, drizzle in cooking wine and several ginger slices. Marinate for about 20 mins.
  2. Prepare a big and deep pot or a wok. Add in 1 cup water, white part of 1 stalk spring onion, 2 ginger slices, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 pinch sugar. Bring to boil for 2 or 3 mins.
  3. Gently put the fish in. Cover the lid for 3 mins. To make sure fish is fully cooker, I let the lid on for another 30 seconds after 3 mins.
  4. Garnish with the rest spring onion green part.

https://flic.kr/p/2g2Y8Di

I have to say it’s definitely not as good as Putien restaurant.

Fish is cooked for sure.

My husband still thinks it’s very nice though.

 

egg, Pork

Braised Pork With Quail Eggs & Bamboo Shoot

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This dish is a combination of meat, egg, and vegetable. It’s actually an updated version of braised pork (็บข็ƒง่‚‰ Hong Shao Rou).

  1. Boil quail eggs in hot water for 5 mins. Soak them in ice cold water immediately. Then remove the egg shell.
  2. Heat a pan. Sear Pork chunks. Pork belly is the best choice. Fry pork till fat comes out and turns a bit brownish.
  3. Add bamboo shoot slices in and stir fry a bit with pork.
  4. Drizzle in 1 tsp cooking wine, 1 tsp light soy sauce, 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, ginger slices and bayleaf. Pour in enough hot water to cover all the ingredients.
  5. Also add in quail eggs. Lid on and simmer with low medium heat for 20-30 mins.
  6. turn up the heat and reduce the sauce.

https://flic.kr/p/2fbShsf

Serve hot.

https://flic.kr/p/2eaDhuS

Sauce is perfect to go with rice. My husband will always add sauce to his rice.

Quail eggs are also tasty.

Uncategorized, Vegetables

Pan-fried Brussel Sprouts

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My first try on Brussel sprouts was not bad, so I expected more from them.

This time, I tried to fry them with a pan and to make them side dish for steak.

  1. Boil Brussel Sprouts in water for 3 mins. Don’t forget to add in some salt in the water before boiling.
  2. Rinse them under water. Then trim off the bottom and cut into halves.
  3. Heat a pan. Drop in 1 tbsp butter. When butter melts, add in Brussel sprouts. Stir fry for 2 mins.
  4. Sprinkle 2 tsp sugar. Quickly stir and let the vegi get caramelized.
  5. Season with salt and black pepper. And serve with steak.

https://flic.kr/p/T6iZY1

Uncategorized, Vegetables

Chinese Style Pickled Cucmber

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This kind of pickled cucumber is really a perfect choice to go with porridge. And it’s very easy to make too.

Because I didn’t want to make too many, I just used 2 medium cucmbers.

  1. Cut cucumbers into strips or any shape you like. But better not to be very thin.
  2. Put them in a bowl. Sprinkle 1/2 Tablespoon salt. Toss a bit. Leave them there for 30 mins.
  3. Drain the water. and dry them.
  4. In a bowl, add in 2 tablespoon light soy sauce, 2 tbsp vinegar, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp honey, 3-5 crushed garlic cloves, and 2 spicy red chili. You can add more or less chili according to your preference.
  5. Put cucumber into a sterilized container. Then pour the sauce over them. Lid on. Put into the fridge. And you will have a crunchy sweet & spicy appetizer in several hours.

Uncategorized

Steamed Scallops & Vermicelli

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The other day, I saw frozen half scallop with shell sold in supermarket, so I bought 1 pack. One good thing about seafood is that you don’t need to cook them in sophisticated way, simple steaming will bring their flavor to utmost. I cooked prawn, abalone in this way before. Can’t wait to try with scallops.

I used 4 scallops and around 50 vermicelli.

  1. Thaw scallops. Gently remove the meat off the shell. Wash both meat and shell.
  2. Soak vermicelli in warm water for a while till they get completely soft.
  3. Chop 5 clovesย  garlic. Better chop them fine.
  4. Heat a pan. Add in 2 tsp oil. Saute garlic with low heat till aromatic. Don’t burn them. Once the flavor gets out, turn off the heat.
  5. In a bowl, add in the fried garlic, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce, 1/2 tsp salt and 2 tsp sugar. Mix well.
  6. Put some vermicelli and curl them on the shell. Then put the scallop meat over the vermicelli. Use a spoon to spread sauce over the vermicelli and scallop meat.
  7. Spread the rest vermicelli in a plate and drizzle the rest sauce over them. And last put scallop on the top.
  8. Steam for 10 mins.

Super easy. Vermicelli is juicy and full of flavor.

tofu, Vegetables

Lady Finger (Okra) & Tofu Salad

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This is a very simple appetizer.

Ingredients:

Okra 2 stalk

silk tofu 1 small pack 100g

sweet cooking wine 1 tsp

light soy sauce 1 tsp

salt

water

oil

  1. Boil some water. Drizzle in 2 drops oil and 1/2 tsp salt. Boil okra for 4 mins.
  2. Cut okra into slices.
  3. Place silk tofu in a plate. Okra over tofu.
  4. Mix light soy sauce, sweet cooking wine and 1/4 tsp salt in a small bowl.
  5. Pour sauce over okra and tofu.

Very easy to make and refreshing for hot weather.