Category Archives: Chinese

Chinese, egg

Scrambled Eggs With Pea Seedlings

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1. Prepare all the ingredients:

3 beaten eggs

1 small pack of pea seedlings around 200g

2 chopped cloves of garlic

Oil

Salt

Light soy sauce

Cooking wine

2. Heat a little oil in the pan. When the oil is heated, pour in beaten egg. Once bottom egg solidifies, stir egg with chopsticks. Set them in plate when scrambled egg is done.

3. Heat oil in the pan again. Sauté garlic till aromatic. Add in all the pea seedlings. Stir fry for around 2 mins or till pea seedlings becomes dark green and soft.

4. Add in 1 tsp cooking wine to remove the grass smell. Also add in 1 tsp light soy sauce. Stir fry a bit.

5. Add in scrambled egg. Stir fry evenly. Season with salt and serve hot.

Chinese, Pancake

Improved Spring Onion Pancake Recipe

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I was born and grew up in Northern part of China, where the main food of every meal is almost all made from flour. My mom may not be a very great cook to deal with different dishes, but she really has something in cooking Chinese wheat flour food. She’s very good at making dumpling, buns, and my favorite all the time – spring onion pancake.

This summer when my husband and I went back to my hometown and spent some time there. My mom cooked spring onion pancake for us.

They are the best spring onion pancake I’ve ever had. Crispy outside but soft, juicy and tasty inside. I really wanted her to open a spring onion pancake store so that other people won’t miss such a delicious food. On the other hand, if she really opens one, I’m afraid I will have too much everyday and the shop will go broke. 🙂

Anyway, I asked my mom how come she can make such nice pancake while mine are hard and plain. She told me the secret is hot water. I used to mix flour with cold water. My mom used 1/3 hot water first then cold water for the rest.

Let dough rest for a while so that flour and water will combine perfectly. Divide dough into several smaller ones. Flatten each of them with rolling pin. Then spread a little oil, salt, black pepper (my mom actually used Sichuan pepper powder) and most importantly chopped spring onion evenly. Roll the thin layer from one end to the other to make it into a roll. Fold one end to the other end. Press with palm gently. Fry in pan till both sides turn golden brown.

Mine are not so nice as my mom’s. But they taste much better than the ones I made before.

Chicken, Chinese

Yellow Braised Chicken （黄焖鸡 Huang Men Ji）

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Huang Men Ji is a famous dish in Shandong cuisine. There are so many Huang Men Ji restaurants all over China. The full name is 黄焖鸡米饭, which means yellow braised chicken served with steamed rice.

1. Prepare chicken, cut chicken into small or medium chunks. In my hometown, chicken is usually chopped into small pieces, then got stir fried or braised.

2. Heat 1-2 tablespoon oil in a pot. (Authentic Huang Men Ji is cooked with clay pot.)

3. Add in 1 tablespoon sugar. Stir fry till sugar got melted and browned.

4. Put chicken into pot. Be careful of the hot oil. Stir fry to let chicken be coated with browned sugar.

5. Add in several ginger slices and dried chili rings. 1 tablespoon shaoxing wine, 1 tablespoon light soy sauce and 1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce. Blend evenly.

6. Pour in enough hot water covers all chicken. Also add in Shiitake mushroom slices . (You can add a lot, because shiitake will become very yummy after braised.)

7. In with 2 tsp white pepper powder, 1 tsp salt. Put on lid. Turn to low heat and simmer for 25 mins.

8. Remove the lid. Turn to high heat. Reduce the sauce a bit.

9. Add in celery. Simmer for 2 mins.

10. Add in pepper. Simmer for another 2 mins.

Serve with rice.

My husband said it’s very similar to the one he had when he’s in my hometown. And it goes perfect with steamed rice.

Chinese, egg, spinach

Gold & Silver Egg Spinach

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This dish requires two kinds of egg: salted duck egg （咸鸭蛋）and preserved duck egg （松花蛋/皮蛋）.

Preserved duck egg is very controversial, since many people just can’t accept the taste & texture of it. When I was very little, I didn’t understand why there would be such black egg on the table. They looked like poisonous and why adults liked them. I couldn’t remember when I first tried it and found it’s not as bad as I thought. And it’s not poisonous, of course. I gradually like it, especially the egg yolk. So yummy. Well, if you have never tried preserved duck egg, you may at least tried it like I did. If you still don’t like, that’s all right. There are so many kinds of eggs out there. You don’t have to like a particular type.

1. Prepare two salty duck eggs and two preserved duck eggs. Separate egg white and yolk for both of them. Then chop the egg white and yolk a bit.

2. Wash the spinach in water. Remove the roots. Can cut into smaller pieces.

3. Heat a pot. Pour in 250 ml stock. If you have your own chicken stock, that will be good. If you don’t have, Swanson is a good choice. Also add in 1/2 cup water and 2 ginger slices. Bring to boil. Then set aside.

4. Heat a pan. Add in 1 tablespoon oil. Fry 5-6 garlic cloves. It needs a bit patience cos you have to fry garlic till golden brown. And don’t burn them. Then take the garlic out.

5. Same pan, same oil. Add in drained spinach. Stir fry a bit. Pour in half of the stock. Cover the pan with lid. Simmer for 30 seconds. Then stir a bit. Lid on for another 30 mins. And take the spinach out into a plate.

6. Wash the pan. Heat on stove. Add in 1 tsp oil. Add in fried garlic, yolk of salty duck eggs and preserved duck egg’s white. Stir fry for 1 mins.

7. Pour in the rest stock. Bring to boil. Pour in salty duck egg’s white. Wait till egg white solidifies. At last add in preserved duck egg’s yolk. Simmer for 1 min.

8. Spinach at the bottom. Pour the egg stock on the top.

Yum!

Chicken, Chinese, Uncategorized

Soy Sauce Chicken

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Normally, a whole chicken is used in this dish. But I only cooked a half one.

1. Put chicken in a big bowl. Add in 1 tablespoon minced ginger, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, 1 tsp salt, 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce. Rub chicken a bit. And let it rest for a little while.

2. Heat a pan, add in 1 tablespoon oil. Sauté ginger slices. When aromatic, put the chicken in. Fry each side till golden brown.

3. Add in 2 tablespoon light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce, 2 cups water, 2 tablespoon sugar. Turn to high heat and bring to boil.

4. Turn to low-medium heat. Cover the lid, simmer for 5 mins. Flip over, and simmer for another 5 mins. Repeat for 5-6 times.

5. Dish the chicken out. Cool down and cut into smaller pieces. Garnish with chopped spring onion.

Chinese, tofu, Uncategorized

Guo Ta Tofu

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This dish belongs to Shandong cuisine.

1. Cut tofu into slices. Tofu should be firm one so it won’t fall apart during cooking. Silk tofu or egg tofu are too fragile.

2. Dust tofu with flour. Then dip tofu in beaten egg.

3. Heat oil in the pan. Fry tofu till golden color.

4. Add in 1 tsp sweet cooking wine, 1 tsp light soy sauce and 1/4 cup warm water or stock. Simmer for a while or till the water reduces.

5. Season with salt and drizzle a little sesame oil.

6. Garnish with chopped spring onion and serve hot.

https://flic.kr/p/24152cP

Chinese, Pork

Chili Pork

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Stir fried chili pork is a very common dish in China. It’s a good choice to improve appetite. I personally like spicy dishes, yet my husband doesn’t. So I changed this dish to a not-so-spicy one.

Ingredients:

Pork cut into slices. (Better choose pork with a bit fat on it, it won’t taste very dry).

Green chili and red chili

Onion

Light soy sauce 1 1/2 tsp

Oyster sauce 1 tsp

Sugar 2 tsp

Water 2 tsp

Salt

Oil

1. Heat a little oil in the pan. Turn to medium high heat.

2. When the pan is very hot, put all the pork slices in. Quickly separate them and sear them into curly and a bit brown.

3. Move pork to the side of the pan. Add in chopped onion and chili. Sauté till aromatic.

4. Mix pork with chili & onion together. Stir fry for 1-2 mins.

5. Add in light soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and 2 tsp water. Stir fry evenly for another 2-3 mins or till water dries up.

6. Sprinkle salt to season.

Serve hot.

Broccoli, Chinese, mushroom, Quick recipe, Uncategorized

Broccoli, Scallop & Shiitake Mushroom

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Prepare one head of broccoli, 4-6 Shiitake Mushrooms and 6-8 big scallops.

1. Cut broccoli into small flowers. Cut a cross on the Shiitake if you want.

2. Boil one pot of water. Add in 1 tsp salt. Blanch broccoli for 3 mins. Soak in cold water and drain them.

3. Heat a little oil in the pan. Sauté mince garlic and ginger till aromatic.

4. Add in mushrooms, stir fry a bit.

5. Add in 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, 2 tsp oyster sauce, 4 tablespoon water. Bring to boil and then turn to low heat and simmer for 5 mins.

6. Add in scallops. Bring to boil. Turn to low heat and simmer for 3 mins.

7. Make a circle with broccoli in the plate. Place mushroom and scallops on the top.

8. Keep heating the sauce till condensed. And pour sauce over the dish.

Serve hot.

Chinese, Uncategorized

Fried Stuffed Lotus Root

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It’s a very common dish during Chinese New Year. I still remember my mom used to make a lot of them before CNY, and they can be preserved for a long time and also can be cooked into many dishes. Its Chinese name is 藕盒 （ǒu hé）. 藕means lotus root. 盒means box. The name quite describes the appearance of this dish.

It’s my third CNY in Singapore. Staying away from hometown is really cruel especially during Chinese festivals. I decided to try this dish to help reduce my nostalgia.

1. Prepare the filling. Minced pork is a great choice. Mix minced pork with chopped ginger, and chopped spring onion. Then season with salt, black pepper, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil.

2. Prepare the lotus root. Peel and remove two ends. Cut into slices for about 3 mm. First cut should not be completed, second one is. Then the two slices will be connected and not fall apart.

3. Stuff lotus root with minced pork filling.

4. Prepare batter. 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup corn starch and 1 egg. Use chopsticks to stir them and pour into water at the same time. Stop when the batter can form a drop from chopsticks.

5. Deep fry them till golden brown. To make sure everything will be cooked. Turn to medium-low heat and fry longer.

Chinese, Ribs, Uncategorized

Braised Ribs with Potato & Long Beans

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1. Rinse ribs under water. Then put them in a pot, pour in enough water that covers all ribs. Turn to high heat and bring to boil. Turn off the heat when ribs turn white. Rinse ribs in cold water and drain.

2. Heat a little oil in the pan. Add in chopped garlic, ginger & dried red chili. Sauté till aromatic. Add drained ribs in. Fry ribs till a bit golden brown.

3. Add in 1 1/2 tsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp cooking wine, and 1 1/2 tsp sugar. Stir fry a bit. Pour in hot water covers ribs. Put on the lid and simmer with low heat for 20-30 mins or till water reduces half.

4. Add in potato cubes. Simmer for 10 mins. Then put in long beans. Simmer for another 8-10 mins.

5. Remove the lid. Turn to high heat and reduce the sauce.

Serve hot.