Category Archives: Vegetables

Pork & Vegetable Pot

My husband had dinner with a friend. Somehow they talked about Spanish Iberico Pork. His friend said this kind of pork is very delicious. And my husband told me immediately after that dinner. Then when we shopping for groceries the other day, he found that Spanish pork in the frozen counter. What a coincidence. So we bought it and I didn’t even know how to cook it. And yes, we just bought it.

Usually this thin pork slice is ideal for shabu shabu or hot pot. But my husband strongly recommended to cook it in simple way without any strong spices or condiments. He wanted to keep the original flavor of the pork. He may not know much about cooking, but he’s very good at giving me instructions. I decided to make pork & vegetable pot.

skillet is a good choice for the port.

Here are the main ingredients I used: Spanish Iberico pork, 1/4 head cabbage, Slices of 1 onion, slices of 1 medium carrot, several shiitake mushroom, brown mushroom, tofu (cut), french beans and chopped spring onion. Oh, and vermicelli in the bowl (already boiled in hot water).

  1. Heat the skillet. Brush skillet with oil. Put  2 or 3 pork slices in to sear them.

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

2. Put the rest pork in, and arrange all the vegetables in the pot.

https://flic.kr/p/2dfwdx5

3. In a bowl, add in 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 1/2 tbsp sweet cooking wine, 1 tbsp sugar and 1/2 tbsp water. Mix well.

4. Spread sauce (maybe 1 tbsp ) over all ingredients. Slightly stir them in order not to be sticky to the pot.

The pork looks so great.

5. Put the lid on for 2-3 mins. Stir gently to flip all the ingredients. Add in more sauce if needed.

https://flic.kr/p/QAgLqn

6. Lid on for another 3 mins or till pork and vegetables are fully cooked.

My husband  loved the pork so so much.

Celery & Bacon Stir-fry

I seldom buy local celery, which is the thin type. But I think this stir-fry is a good way to cook local celery.

  1. Cut celery and bacon into small bits.
  2. Heat a little oil in the pan. Sear bacon bits first.
  3. When bacon turns a little brownish, add in celery. Stir fry for 1 minute.
  4. Drizzle in 1/2 tsp light soy sauce and also add in 1/2 tsp sugar to taste.
  5. If you want it to be a little spicy, you can add in chopped chili.
  6. Quickly stir fry for another 2 minutes.
  7. Season with salt.

Minced Pork & Eggplant

To me, the best way to cook eggplant is to fry them. And another secret is never add in any water while cook eggplant. My mom cooks eggplant well. My sister told me how to cook eggplant in my mom’s way: fry eggplant with low heat, add in salt or soy sauce and put lid on. Let the low heat to evaporate water inside eggplant slowly. If water remains, eggplant will taste soggy. I likes the way how my mom deals with eggplant. And I found another way to do eggplant well, which is high height and short time while frying them. That’s how I cook eggplant in this dish.

  1. Cut eggplant into medium strips.
  2. Heat some oil in the pan. When oil is hot, Add eggplant in. Keep the medium high heat while frying. Fry them till color is bright and the skin wrinkled. Set eggplant aside for later use.
  3. Heat pan again. Add in 1 tsp oil.
  4. Add in chopped garlic and red chili. saute till aromatic.
  5. Add in minced pork. Stir fry till color turns white.
  6. Add eggplant back to the pan. Also add in 1 tsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp spicy bean paste and 1 tsp sugar. Stir fry evenly.
  7. Season with salt and garnish with chopped spring onion.

https://flic.kr/p/T8mF5m

Yum!

Long Bean Stir-fry

I love green and crunchy long beans. And it’s a very simple dish to cook.

  1. Wash long beans clean. Cut into medium strips.
  2. Boil a pot of hot water. Add in 1 pinch salt and several drops of oil. Add long beans in and boil for 4 mins to make sure they are completely cooked. Then soak them in cold water and drain them.
  3. Heat a pan. Add in 1 tsp oil. When oil is hot, saute chopped 2 or 3 cloves of garlic and 1 red chili till aromatic.
  4. Add long beans in. Stir fry for 1 min.
  5. Add in 1/2 tsp light soy sauce and 1/2 tsp oyster sauce. Quickly stir fry evenly.
  6. Season with salt.

https://flic.kr/p/RCNKpH

You can choose not to add chili if you don’t want it to be spicy at all.

This cooking method can also be used to stir fry lady fingers.

Radish Kimchi

Don’t know why I am so obsessed with spicy kimchi recently. There happens to be a radish in the fridge, so I decide to make radish kimchi by myself.

1. Prepare a radish. Mine is about 250g. Peel it and chop it into small cubes. Place them in a big bowl and sprinkle 1 tablespoon salt. Leave it there for 1 hour. Drain them, because a lot of water will come out from the radish.

2. Put 1 pear (core removed), 8-10 cloves of garlic, 10g ginger into blend. Blend them till very smooth.

3. Add chili powder (according to your taste) to the pear paste and stir well.

4. Put all the radish in a big bowl, add add in chopped spring onion. Then pour the paste into the bowl. Toss a bit to mix them well.

https://flic.kr/p/2dQAt7p

5. Prepare a jar or a container. Boil in water first to be sterilized. Dry it. Put radish kimchi into it. Lid on but don’t close too tight. Leave it there for several hours to ferment. Then close tightly and store in the fridge.

https://flic.kr/p/T6j64S

Oyster Sauced Shiitake Mushroom & Broccoli

It’s a healthy-looking dish. 🙂

  1. Cut broccoli into small parts. Blanch in water for 3 mins. Then soak in cold water and drain.
  2. Heat a pan. Add in some oil. Fry shiitake mushrooms. 2 mins each side.
  3. Add in 2 tablespoon stock or water (stock is better). Simmer for 4 or 5 mins or till cooked.
  4. Set mushroom aside. Heat a pan. A little oil in. saute chopped garlic. Then add in 1 tsp light soy sauce,1 tsp oyster sauce and 1 tablespoon stock). Reduce the sauce a bit.
  5. Place broccoli and mushroom in a plate. pour the sauce over them.

https://flic.kr/p/2dsf45Z

So so easy.

Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts

This is the first time for me to cook brussel sprouts. They do look like baby cabbage. But the taste is different.

And this recipe is super easy and simple. I assume it’s healthy too.

  1. Wash brussel sprouts under water. And drain them.
  2. Trim off the bottom and cut into halves.
  3. Put them all in a bowl. Sprinkle olive oil, salt and black pepper. Toss a bit.
  4. Place them on baking pan with the cut side down.
  5. Into the oven. 180 Degree C, 30 mins.

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

Outside layer is super crunchy like seaweed with a bit bitter taste.

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

Inside part tastes a bit sweet.

Vegetable Soup

Before anything. Yeah! That’s a whole potato in the soup.

It’s a rally light and simple soup. And of course, it’s also healthy. Even my husband, a 100% meat lover, falls for this soup.

Ingredients (serving for 2)

potatoes 2 (peeled)

carrot 1  (cut into thick strips)

onion 1 (cut into quarters)

1/4 head of cabbage

celery 2 stalks

bacon 5 or 6 slices

salt

black pepper

stock 1 cup

water 2 cups

  1. Place peeled potatoes, carrot strips and onion quarters into a pot.
  2. Add in water and stock. (You can adjust water and stock according to your preference. You can even use all water or all stock). Also add in 1 pinch salt and 1 dash black pepper. Turn to high heat. Bring to boil. Turn to low heat. Lid on and simmer for 15-20 mins.
  3. Put celery strips, bacon slices and cabbage into the pot. Same procedure. Bring to boil with high heat and simmer with low heat for 25 mins.
  4. Season with salt and pepper.

https://flic.kr/p/SGV271

It can be served with baguette or any bread you like.

Even though no sugar is added to this soup, it still tastes a bit sweet. I cooked this soup on my husband’s birthday. And served it with garlic bread. He really loved it.

My Favorite Vegetable Stir-fry

How much do I love this Di San Xian? Hmmm……. If I have to choose one my favorite stir-fry dish, it must be the one. But I have to say it’s not very healthy, since it consumes too much oil.

The name Di San Xian (地三鲜)Means 3 fresh vegetables from the earth and which are potato, eggplant and green chili.

  1. Heat a pan, add in 1 tablespoon oil. Prepare 2 medium potatoes and chop into slices or small wedges. Fry potato till cooked or the edge turns brownish.
  2. Potatoes out. Add in some more oil, 2-3 tablespoon maybe. Eggplant can absorb a lot oil. Fry the eggplant ( chop 1 eggplant into medium chunks). Fry them till they get really softened and cooked.
  3. Add potatoes back into the pan. Also add in chopped green chili (You can use bell pepper, but I want to add a little spicy taste to the dish, so I chose green chili). Stir fry for a min or two.
  4. Add in 1/2 tsp light soy sauce and 1 tsp sugar. keep stirring and all vegetables will show shiny and brownish color.
  5. Chop 3 cloves of garlic and add in. Stir fry to release garlic’s flavor.
  6. Season with a little salt. and  glaze with a little starch water.

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

Even my husband fell in love with this dish and He is a MEAT LOVER!!!

Winged Beans

This is a completely new vegetable to me. I have never heard about it, never seen it before.

This is how they look like:

It also has the name: four-angled beans and dragon beans.

They look kind of strange to me at the first sight. I was very curious whether those small leaves are edible or not. And if it is hollow or there are seeds inside.

I bought them last night, and couldn’t wait to cook them today.

I trimmed the two ends and cut them into slices.

https://flic.kr/p/S9qePA

They are kind of in star shape. And yes! There are seeds inside. Their smell is not pungent and a bit like long beans.

I decided to cook it in a way similar to how I cook French beans.

  1. heat 1 tsp oil in the pan. Add in 1 clove of chopped garlic and a little ginger shreds. Saute till aromatic.
  2. Add all the winged bean slices in. Stir fry for 1 min.
  3. Add in 1 tsp sweet cooking wine, and 1 tsp light soy sauce. Toss a  bit.
  4. Add in 1 tablespoon water. Cover with lid and simmer for 2 mins.
  5. Toss a bit. Add in chopped red chili (mine is spicy type) and lid on for another minute.
  6. Season with salt and serve hot.

Beans are chewy and taste a bit sweet. I like them.

https://flic.kr/p/2dbv1hQ

I was really worried that could I get food poisoning. But so far so good. No vomiting, no  stomach ache, no diarrhea. 🙂

I’m so exiting that I knew new vegetable today and I cooked it!