Makanning

White Tea

2009-07-08T11:04:00.002+08:00

A summer treat - white tea brewed with cold water makes a refreshing drink to quench a thirst on a hot day. The flavor is subtle but it leaves a cool effect on your tongue. White tea is also a specialty product of Ningbo.

I asked for it one winter and it was not surprising to be told that it is only available in summer.

Kimchi Fried Rice

2009-06-24T13:21:00.006+08:00

It's been a while since I've felt like cooking something new.

We've come back to Ningbo for about a month now and in that time, I've cooked almost daily but nothing new. Just simple dishes and stir fries. We try to minimize eating out because it is quite difficult to enjoy our food and have to entertain Micah.

When we do eat out, I take some pictures but end up not being able to blog about it because of the Great Firewall. I've got a VPN service now - blogging has revived and so has cooking.

I've had kimchi in my fridge since our visit to the Korean restaurant. As much as I like it, I didn't find myself eating it often and looking at what's left, I doubt I'm going to finish it this year! And I've been wanting to try my hand at fried rice. Why not Kimchi Fried Rice.

It is no secret that to cook great fried rice, you should use overnight rice. The grains are less moist and remain nice and fluffy after frying. I cooked extra rice yesterday so that I could fry some today.

But sadly my rice was still soggy - just like all my previous attempts at fried rice. I figured that the heat for the wok is not hot enough. I was doing fine until I added beated eggs. I even had this method of frying up portions of rice so that I could make it fry evenly but it didn't matter because when I added the eggs, it didn't cook quick enough, instead got absorbed by the rice. Now I can't even tell that there are eggs in the rice!

I think I'd better fry the eggs separately next time and add it in. Or have more patience to wait for the eggs to set a bit in a well I made in the wok of rice before mixing it all up. Sigh!

Anyways the recipe is simple - garlic, onions (diced), fry until fragrant, add meat (I chose chicken), add kimchi cabbage which were chopped up together with the juice and finally, eggs. The method varies from one recipe to another but I think you get the picture.

I don't think David was impressed - it wasn't even spicy because Micah had a few mouthfuls of the rice :)

Bread

2009-06-20T22:52:00.002+08:00

It took my few failed attempts to spur David to try and bake bread himself. He was successful on his 2nd attempt after lots of googling and tips from friends on Facebook! He is sure is proud of his bread! It has become his weekend task now and he bakes 2 at a go. Micah is enjoying the bread too.

Blocked

2009-06-20T22:33:00.001+08:00

This is seriously not good. I can blog but I can't seem to get pictures posted. There are other ways but all seem to be limited somewhat. This is getting so frustrating.

I even tried purchasing a VPN but it didn't work so I am now waiting for my refund.

I gotta preservere and beat this!

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Jjajangmyeon

2009-06-19T11:09:00.002+08:00

Watching Korean drama series get me hungry for Korean food. I watched a series where the lead actress was eating Jjajangmyeon all the time. In the story, she suffered amnesia and the first meal she had after being discharged from the hospital was Jjajangmyun. After that she sure ate a lot of it. And got me interested to try it too!

I finally tried it. It wasn't as delish as it was made out to be in the TV series but it wasn't too bad. A tad bland after eating Kimchi but it can count as comfort food.

I doggie bagged a portion of kimchi and was given another portion free by the proprietress. I can't wait to try and cook fried kimchi rice.

Pipa Fruit

2009-06-02T12:09:00.001+08:00

IMG_0043
Originally uploaded by Tracy Tan

Loquat as it is more famously known, is in season. I first saw it a few days ago in the compound garden. (The garden is quite amazing - it has such variety of plants, bushes and trees. Some flowering, some fruiting. And there is something to observe almost every season). And so we were pushing Micah on his new trike and noticed this tree with lots of yellow/orange fruit. At first I thought it was kumquat but the shape of the fruit didn't correspond. With no one to ask, we just walked on. There was a sign on the tree but we can't read Chinese - in fact the management has labeled some of the plants around with its scientific names.

Yesterday, David's business partner gave us some fruits - it was a box of the yellow/orange fruit. I still didn't know what it was until David asked them today - they said it was pipa or peipa (Cantonese). The only peipa I know is my sore throat/cough medicine - King To Nin Jiom Pei Pa Kao! And now I am eating the actual fruit.

When I started writing this post, I hadn't tried it. David had and didn't have anything good to say - he mentioned that it was too troublesome to peel the skin, take out the seeds and remove a layer of translucent membrane inside. And it is a small fruit.

I had to try it myself. I stopped writing and went to eat one so that I can describe it. It was like eating a cross between a peach and a mango in texture but honestly the fruit is almost tasteless! And I agree. It is quite troublesome.

I wondered if I could use it to cook since there was a whole boxful of it or else it will be given away to our friendly security guards at the basement carpark. I found loquat chutney recipe.

The only question now is whether I'd want to sit and peel, deseed and remove the membranes of like a thousand of these fruits to make that chutney! Maybe Micah can help!!!!!

Note: I have to say that our stay in China is very 'fruitful'. I've tasted many new things and learned more about Chinese foodstuff we get in Malaysia (usually dried or preserved) or in medicines. My blogging about it also forces me to do research and now I know more.

Pumpkin Talam

2009-05-21T21:26:00.004+08:00

The inaugural meeting of the Onde Onde Club started without me! But no matter - it is great to share from afar, especially since I've got other members who stepped up and took photos and did a write up!

Photos were taken by Rachel and the write up by Ling. All got to sample except Celia and me! And this is what Ling wrote:

What a better way to meet a fellow Malaysian than inviting her to make some kuih together! Pumpkin talam is an invention by our Onde Onde club consultant, Grace Chew (who is now in the heart of Africa while Sarah raids her garden!). Sarah, being the president of the club, did her share by providing all the ingredients! Rachel, our new member, took the responsibility of taking pictures when our official photographer had to keep up with her jet-set life style flying off to China! (Note: that would be referring to me!)

The pumpkin came from Grace's garden. I had to use my cleaver and a lot of muscle work to cut open the pumpkin. I used a quarter of the pumpkin to produce 2 cups of mashed pumpkin for the kuih. It was easily done, yes, you guessed it, just microwave it until pumpkin is soft and can be mashed easily. Then, we added water, sugar, tapioca flour and rice flour. Mix well and steam probably for about 15 minutes or until it's cooked. While we waited for the bottom layer to cook, Sarah started preparing the top layer. To make ourselves feel less guilty in terms of how fattening this kuih is, we used light santan! Mix santan, rice flour, tapioca flour and salt together.

When the bottom layer (pumpkin layer) is cooked, just pour the santan mixture on top and steam further until top layer is cooked. This is the agonizing part - patience!! We couldn't cut the kuih immediately as it had to be cooled down to set. So, Sarah and Rachel went home empty handed! But I promised to deliver the kuih to them the following day.

Recipe:

Bottom layer

2 cups of mashed pumpkin

1.5 cup of water

1 cup of sugar

1 1/3 cup tapioca flour

2/3 cup rice flour

Top layer

1 tin (400ml) santan

1/2 cup rice flour

2 tbsp tapioca flour

1 tsp salt to taste

Wonder what should we make for our next Onde Onde club meeting!! Any ideas?

Ling, Onde Onde Club VP

Organically grown pumpkin from Grace's garden.

When we visited their house early this year they were so tiny.

Pumpkin layer

Coconut milk layer on top of pumpkin layer

The finished dessert!

Restoran Siow Tiow

2009-05-21T14:50:00.008+08:00

Ah, Klang food! It was either BKT or Siow Tiow, this round. There are so many good food restaurants to choose from but my cravings were limited to these 2.

BKT stands for Bah Kut Teh and the Klang style is termed 'kau' referring to the dark colored soup - my favorite type. Why choose? - have both! Suggests Meng, my ex business partner. We were law firm partners and the office is in Klang where he still operates. So a visit to Klang would inevitably include him and the generous fella did a stealth maneuver and paid the bill at Siow Tiow.

The food at Siow Tiow is consistently good. Everything taste just the same - the only difference is that the elderly lady waitress is not there anymore - the one who would complain if you ordered too much! I kinda miss her - she was always nice to me.

There's no menu and they don't serve white rice or provide chili padi. And there are only a handful of dishes to order but they cook them well.

First things first - a full bowl of red chilies and chopped garlic are served together with a bottle of light soya sauce and another for dark/thick soya sauce. We were early and the bowls were still full. These get passed from table to table. Condiment for all the food.

The first dish was something new. Meng ordered Abalone Kerabu! It was an interesting addition. A generous serving of abalone on a bed of onions, cucumber, spring onions and tomatoes with a sweet garlic sauce. They don't go easy on the garlic here.

Next came the Oyster Omelette. The oysters seem to get smaller and smaller - my only grouse. Otherwise the eggs were done just right - not too well cooked and leek is added which makes the Siow Tiow style a little different from the rest I've eaten.

Then came my favorite - Hokkien Noodles. Yellow noodles fried with some pork slices and green leafy vege. The dark and thick soya sauce makes this dish all caramel like and a bit sweet.

Then the Pièce de résistance. Steamed pomfret fish! Steamed to perfection all the time and topped with so much garlic that unless everyone at the table eats, the odd person out might have a hard time being up close and personal with us! And it isn't enough. Most of us dab more dark soya sauce with garlic before savoring the nice plumb white meat of the fish.

We had only 4 dishes and it was surprisingly enough for the 5 of us - even without rice. We took leave of our other friends and headed to pack BKT before leaving Klang. Our dinner plans are made! And I have satisfied all my cravings.

Lastly a picture of the shopfront. My friend Doris commented that with a facade like this, it's hard to believe that the food is good! Or that they serve abalone :)

The Onde Onde Club

2009-05-19T15:44:00.005+08:00

What was said jokingly turned out to be a great name for our group. The Onde Onde Club is born. Forged together by a craving for Malaysian food, we have decided to put saliva into action (not literally speaking of course!). We need to recruit more members in Brisbane. We hope to get together to cook and eat. We are pooling our resources - experience, ingredients and knowledge - hoping to eat our way through life away from Malaysia.

Mandarin Cheesecake Slice

2009-05-12T07:37:00.007+08:00

The original plan was to make orange cake. I found the recipe on a website that specialized in Spanish food. Since I was attempting paella for our dinner guests tonight, I thought I might as well go Spanish all the way. And it was a simple recipe which calls for refrigeration instead of baking.

I started on the cake yesterday thinking that I could save some time today. When I opened the cream cheese packaging I found another recipe! A baked raspberry cheesecake sounded more like something I want to try. The only thing missing was raspberries! No matter. I had the preserved mandarin oranges for the other cake.

It was hard work because I don't have a cake mixer or a food processor. I did everything by hand and I've got a sore thumb now! Crumbing the biscuits took some time but that was the easy part - mixing the cream cheese with sugar to make it smooth was tough. In the end I put the slightly lumpy batter to bake. I figured that it will eventually melt in the heat. I wouldn't have been able to get away with it if it was to be refrigerated.

Ling came over just when the cake was done. We were both staring at the cake and taking big whiffs of it but since it was for my guests, we couldn't have any yet.

But I couldn't wait. I served her a slice and I ate one too. It was nice except that the biscuit base was still very loose - came apart when I sliced the cake. We were too eager. When the cake cooled down, the base was more firm.

Mandarin cheesecake slice.

I sent Ling off with half of the cake. David had some for dessert after dinner and I am having the last slice for breakfast. All gone.

I'd better start making a new one for my guests tonight!

Here's the recipe:-

Ingredients:-

250g cream cheese cubed and softened

200g biscuits (Digestives are perfect)

200g fresh or frozen raspberries or mandarin

60g butter, melted

1/2 cup caster sugar (I used brown)

1/2 cup cream

1 egg

finely grated rind of 1/2 lemon (I omitted this)

Method:-

Combine biscuit crumbs and butter then press into a 20x20cm removable base tin. Chill. Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add cream, egg and lemon rind and beat till smooth. Pour into prepared base and top with raspberries. Bake at 160C for 45mins or until set in the middle. Allow to cool, then remove from pan and cut into squares to serve.

Cheese Puffs

2009-05-08T17:56:00.009+08:00

Not the junk food but puff pastry.

I realized after baking my spring roll samosas that there might not be enough to go round for our guests coming for tea. I panicked. David was out playing golf and I had Micah with me and I still had to prepare the Sweetened Sweet Potato soup. I ran through all my options - run out to shops with Micah who was due for a nap or wait for David.

I decided to do my favorite thing - innovate. I had puff pastry in the freezer bought for the samosas (I ran out of filling so I didn't try with pastry!). Then rummaging through my fridge, I found some shaved parmesan cheese. I came up with a cheese puff pastry.

Cut puff pastry into squares, put some parmesan and a sprinkle some sugar (I prefer brown) wrap it however you want - I just folded 2 opposite corners to the middle and overlapped them. Then brush some beaten egg over to give the pastry a sheen. Bake in oven at about 180C for about 10 mins and they are done. The marriage of salty cheese with sugar always taste nice.

Come to think of it, I could have used up the frozen blueberries too....but that would require some custard. Next project then!

This cheese puff pastry recipe is going to be a keeper. Our guests cleaned up everything! Well, almost. Sweetened Sweet Potato soup was only popular with the ones who live in Australia :) Our Malaysian guests can get them anytime back home.

Chicken Tikka Masala

2009-05-06T18:35:00.004+08:00

It's time I hosted dinner for the Lipscombes! After staying at their place and practically living off them in Brisbane, I made an extra effort to feed them right tonight. And it will be great to host at our new home.

Mike loves Indian curries. Chicken Jal Frezy in particular.

I didn't attempt to cook his favorite lest it didn't meet his standards so I chose Chicken Tikka Masala. You'll find interesting facts and the recipe from the link. I had a good read myself and am enlightened.

When I first traveled to UK with David, I told him that I wanted to eat Indian food. He looked at me weirdly. The moment he tasted it, he was sold. He is more used to the Southern Indian cuisine more commonly served in Malaysia and still prefers it over the Northern type. I am the opposite.

One of the first cook books I bought is on Indian curries and I've tried a few already to much success (if I may blow my own horn). You see, you can't go wrong - the spices and sometimes yoghurt added to marinade meat makes it flavorful and tender.

Of course if your palate is not quite used to the spices, you might not even like the smell of it cooking! I can imagine some of my China friends balking at the thought of eating Indian. They claim it stinks! I have seen a Chinese man with a bunch of, what sounded like British men, at the Indian restaurant in Ningbo. The foreigners must be his customers and they were clearly enjoying their dinner. This Chinese man was just smoking - never eating. On another occasion, we spotted a Middle Eastern man eating alone at this same Indian restaurant. Almost at the end of his meal, a Chinese man joined him, called for the bill and paid. They left together making me summarize that he must have brought his customer to eat, making an excuse that he couldn't eat spicy food or something to get out of eating Indian! David's Chinese business partner won't even step into the restaurant.

Then there are the adventurous type but they are few - unless they are like us, Malaysian Chinese who are so used to spices and spicy food that everything else without would taste bland.

Back to the recipe at hand. I marinated the meat yesterday night just before I cooked the Spring Roll Samosa filling (in my previous post). My whole fridge smelt nice and spiced!

I started grilling the chicken in the early afternoon. I didn't use skewers as instructed. I didn't have any! So I couldn't get it all nice and charred or smoky flavored. The grilled chicken were so tender and lightly spiced. I cut down on the chili powder wanting to make it palatable for Harry who is almost 6. The tender juicy chicken pieces were actually good to eat on its own. I set some aside for Harry because I was going to make the gravy spicy for the adults.

The gravy was pretty straightforward and I was done cooking by half 5. What's left to do would be to boil rice and open a bottle of red to breathe.

When Ling arrived, she brought naan bread. Store bought but nevertheless, necessary for an Indian meal. Mike would have preferred papadom as well but Ling couldn't find any.

No second helping of rice for anyone but I received a big burp from Harry - I'll take that as a compliment!

This Chicken Tikka Masala sure doesn't look as

nice as the one from Rasa Malaysia's blog!

Taste wise, I am satisfied and Mike said dinner was nice.

My improvised version of Aloo Gobi.

Cauliflower and potato stir fry with garlic, ginger and onions.

A dash of ground cumin, salt and pepper for taste.

I quite enjoy cooking for friends - it gives me a chance to try out new recipes. It's just too much trouble to cook for 2 so having a dinner party is an opportunity to share or have more guinea pigs!

Spring Roll Samosa

2009-05-06T18:21:00.006+08:00

We are slowly inviting friends over to our new home in small groups. We can only manage a few people at once since we have limited furniture and the house is quite small.

For tea on Friday, I want to make samosas. Our friends are from Malaysia hence something spicy is always welcomed!

For my filling, I found this recipe. I added diced chicken for more bite and instead of making the pastry for the samosa, I used ready made spring roll skin.

And I am baking them. Healthier, I suppose.

As I was preparing them in advance, I folded them spring roll style and David said, 'What? Not a triangle!". So it is apt to name this Spring Roll Samosa ;)

Brushed with some oil for baking

Light and crispy brown.

I baked a few to test them out and received a thumbs up from David. Let's hope our guests will enjoy them too. I am also serving sweetened sweet potato soup with the samosas, courtesy of Lily's Wai Sek Hong. My menu for tea can't get any more Malaysian than this.

Sushi

2009-05-04T04:56:00.006+08:00

Finally.

I made sushi.

For my first attempt, I had bought most of the ingredients but not quite enough - and in my eagerness decided to try making the rice first. I didn't have the bamboo mat. I didn't even have the seaweed sheets! I just cooked the rice and ate it plain.

Then I thought I'd improvise. I used my ice cube tray to compact the rice. For the filling, I added my favorite vegetarian mushroom. I had to refrigerate the ice cube tray of sushi rice so that it would settle and dry just a bit and pop out whole.

These were made for a picnic @ Woody Point, Redcliffe

Not quite satisfied with that attempt, I decided to drop by the shops on the way home from the picnic we had on Sunday. Bamboo mat and seaweed sheets completed the items I would need to make real sushi. For the filling I bought avocado and cucumber, intending to make 2 different kinds.

I had good reason to make some for another picnic today. I know! In the short time I've lived here in Brisbane, I've gone for more picnics than I've had in my lifetime and that is a story for another post!

I had such enthusiasm but David was like a wet blanket. He knew my cooking up a storm means he has to put in overtime in the babysitting department. I insisted and got my way! In the end, he was the one who came to the rescue when it was time to roll the sushi - I really had no idea. With lots of complains about this and that, he rolled and cut up all the sushi for our picnic. I spread the rice and placed the cucumber.

Oh! By the way - the avocados were not ripe! So cucumber sushi was the only flavor for the day.

David complained that I didn't spread enough rice

on the seaweed sheet so he had to add some.

All the while rolling the sushi, he kept making remarks

about my unpreparedness. He actually found me a video but

I thought it would be faster if he would roll it, as he knows how.

Some for this photo shoot.

At this angle you can't spot the imperfections.

It was satisfying to have made sushi and even more when shared with friends. Our drive to Springbrook National Park and Mount Tamborine was really fun and scenic. We worked up an appetite walking on trails to see a waterfall, a natural bridge and a the best of all lookout and enjoyed our picnic spread of sushi, mee siam, smoked salmon sandwiches, chicken mushroom wrap and carrot cake. Thank you, Peter, for driving us today!

Chocolate Idiot Cake

2009-04-29T09:42:00.008+08:00

David Lebovitz's Chocolate Idiot Cake - even idiots should get it right but this idiot....managed to botch up the instructions at the word, 'Go!'

Instead of melting butter and chocolate, I creamed butter and sugar. It was supposed to be, whisk egg and sugar then mix the melted butter & chocolate in. Thankfully Ling was there to help salvage - the butter mixture was lumpy but after pouring the hot melted chocolate and giving it a nice stir, all was well again.

We didn't use a springform pan but lined a pan with baking paper. Since the pan was covered with foil, we couldn't see what was going on. Don't you like to see your cake rise?

When the cake was baked, it looked quite miserable! It was very thin. David's first comment, 'Is that all?'

Well, don't be fooled by the flatness of the cake. It is a rich dessert - almost fudge like. The kids didn't quite like the dark chocolatey offering. Most of them just ate up the ice cream we served it with.

The cake was very plain to see. I didn't try icing it a cake - really didn't want to make any mistakes since the cake is for Micah's 1st birthday tea. Sarah was quite quick with a solution - she saw that I had jelly beans for the kids and she innovated! Check out the picture.

We could only manage a simple tea with a few friends to celebrate Micah's 1st birthday but it was meaningful that we celebrated at our new home. Double significance.

One!

Rice Cooker Risotto

2009-04-19T08:31:00.004+08:00

We moved into our house on a Thursday. Dinner on that first night was takeaway - fish and chips eaten straight from the wrapper because we hadn't washed our new crockery and cutlery.

We could have had dinner at Ling's on the 2nd night but because we needed to put Micah to bed so we decided to cook at home. I had to get some garlic from Ling because I didn't buy any. I cooked us egg omelette with onions and ham and steamed spinach leaves with some garlic to be eaten with rice. It was a simple meal but quite satisfying.

Yesterday night I cooked us something proper. A chicken and basil risotto cooked in the rice cooker. I spotted some recipes in the manual and decided to give it a try. I like risotto a lot. Some might call it soggy rice but I find it delicious especially since the way it is cooked allows all the flavors to be soaked up by the rice.

Ingredients:-

(serves 4-6)

2 tbs olive oil

2 tbs butter

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 Spanish onion, finely chopped

2 Rice Master cups Arborio rice (cup provided with rice cooker)

3 cups chicken stock

2x 150g chicken breasts, steamed then thinly sliced

2 tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tbs finely sliced fresh basil leaves

Freshly ground black pepper

*I added some button mushrooms

Method:-

Place oil and butter into removable cooking bowl. Press control to 'Cook'. Heat for 1 minute, add garlic and onion. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add rice, stir to coat with oil. Add stock, cover with lid and cook until control turns to 'Warm' Stir once during cooking. Stir rice and fold through chicken, tomatoes, cheese, basil and pepper. Replace lid and stand for 10 minutes on 'Warm' before serving.

I was very pleased it turned out well :)

Onde Onde

2009-04-18T19:01:00.007+08:00

Cooking was really far from my mind when Ling told me that she had invited some friends to her house to make onde onde. I was tired from running around trying to sort stuff out, cleaning and preparing our new house so that we could move in but I couldn't resist an opportunity to fellowship with friends, old and new!

Ling introduced me to Celia and her 2 sweet girls. Her youngest is 6 mths older than Micah and at the age when they are learning to speak - she is an absolute cherub! The older girl is the same age as Harry and Ben and they were playing nicely together - not quite interested in the babies.

When Sarah came, our party was complete. First off, lunch. Ling whippped up a simple fried rice vermicelli for our midday meal. When the kids were all fed and the bowls were cleared, we started on the recipe which Celia provided - it was handwritten by her mom in a small notebook which we call 'Buku Tiga Lima' and sent to her from Batu Gajah. There were other Malaysian recipes in there which we'll attempt soon.

Buku Tiga Lima which translates to mean

Triple 5 Book

We came to a little roadblock when the recipe called for glutinous rice flour - Ling thought she had some but upon checking her pantry, there was none. So Sarah had to drive Celia out to the shops while we babysat the kids. Ling prepared the other ingredients first - one of them is screwpine essence. She sacrificed a few leaves from her plant - pounded it using a mortar and pestle to make a paste and squeezed to obtain the juice.

When the flour supply came Ling got her hands dirty while we watched her mix the flour with the essence, roll some sticky dough into balls, press the centre to put some palm sugar and then seal it. Sarah helped.

While Ling and Sarah prepared the green onde onde balls to boil in water, Celia 'pushed up her sleeves' and got out the cleaver to cut the coconut into pieces so that it was easier to remove the outer husk. I collected the bits and had to slice off the skin which remained. I took too long - Sarah was better and faster so I stuck with taking pictures!

Celia had to use a huge cleaver

to break the coconut into pieces.

The coconut was then grated so that we could coat the onde onde balls.

Sarah had the honors.

The onde onde was a success!

It would have been too much trouble to make if we were making it alone. Making it with a few food crazy Malaysians (which is a redundant description since all Malaysians are food crazy!) who live away from our home country is definitely fun. We need to do it more often.

Unofficially we've made Sarah, President of the our cooking club and Ling should be the VP. Who else wants to join? I shall stick to taking photos and keeping an account on this blog - and of course, eating!

Steamed Minced Pork, Hakka Style

2009-03-13T10:56:00.001+08:00

I am half Hakka from Mom's side. The other half is Hokkien. It is more common to speak the language of our fathers but somehow Dad never taught us to speak the Min Nan (Hokkien) language. Instead, I understand Hakka perfectly and speak a smattering of it.

Ok! This is not about language but more about the influence of Mom's heritage to our daily cuisine. We are closer to her side of the family and thus are exposed to the Hakka style of cooking.

One staple dish Mom makes is a steamed pork dish. So simple and yet, appetizing. Not something you'd whip up for a reunion dinner or when you have guests over but a well received dish where we, as kids, were concerned.

Simply mince pork in a blender together with a choice of salted duck's egg, pickled lettuce, mui choy (preserved vegetables) or char choy (Sichuan preserved vegetables) - it all depends whether you prefer it salty or slighty sweet.

Yesterday morning, I made it with pickled lettuce. It is a bit of a guessing game as to the quantity of ingredients. If you put too much, it could very well be too salty - it's happened many times when Mom makes it. You can't very well taste to test! Just go by feel.

My sister has my Mom make batches of it to freeze - that's how much her family likes this dish. I can attest to this dish being a Hakka specialty because my sister in law cooked this for dinner when we were in Sydney and she's from Hong Kong. Her Mom is Hakka! It was a surprise to find something my Mom cooks at home cooked by someone who is a world apart from us. It is a small world after all :)

Pickled lettuce. We usually have this with rice porridge.

The end result after being steamed for about 40mins

There was something not quite right with it's taste compared to Mom's version. I think mine was less salty and the meat had less fat. David added chili when he ate it! I suppose I could try a spicy version next time.

Papa's Bierstube, Shanghai

2009-03-11T12:28:00.005+08:00

I am not really a fan of German food in general but I kinda like the sausages! We've had some authentic German fare when we were driving around the Dresden area in 2006 but nothing really memorable.

So when David said he wanted to eat at Papa's Bierstube last weekend I wasn't exactly ecstatic. We didn't drive to Shanghai just to eat there but it was in the area where we usually spend the day.

It was quiet at Papa's Bierstube but that's because it was already past 1pm. There was heavy traffic on the A4 due to roadworks so it took us a little longer to get to Hong Qiao area. We always eat Western when we do go to Shanghai unless we have guests/friends visiting.

David picked the roast beef with pan fried potatoes and I, of course chose sausages - Nuremberg to be exact, with mash and sauerkraut. The roast beef wasn't a roast - it was more like a steak. His review: everything is salty just like German food!

I liked the sausages which came with a huge serving of mash and sauerkraut. I fed Micah some mash and he liked it.

We finished lunch with a cup of their regular coffee and we liked the coffee there.

2-24 Hongmei Pedestrian Street, Lane 3338 Hongmei Lu, Gubei/Hongqiao near Yan'an Xi Lu 虹梅路3338弄, 虹梅休闲街22-24号近延安西路

6465-8880, 6465-8897

Electric Steamer

2009-03-10T09:28:00.004+08:00

I love my Tefal Steamer! I've been fascinated with this electrical item long before I started using it. The first I had was redeemed from a reward card scheme. I didn't get to use that at all - we packed up everything at home for our move to China and later when we decided to sell the house, we gave away a lot of things and the steamer was one of it.

My sister has one in her house and it is probably the most utilized of all electrical items in her house. We bought one in China and it was first used to sterilize Micah's milk bottles. I figured that it was more economical to use the steamer - when we no longer need to sterilize milk bottles, we can use it to steam food. I now use it to steam vegetables to soften them before I stir fry, to heat up leftovers and Micah's food and I've discovered that it is a great way to cook. It won't brown obviously but I can cook simple and healthy meals without oil.

I've also discovered that I can steam cook a curry! Meat, curry paste and steam! I tried chicken last night. Marinade chicken with black soy sauce, chopped ginger and onions for several hours then steam for about 45mins. I was a bit surprised that onions will soften nicely and taste great even when cooked with steam. The dishes end up with a lot more gravy than necessary and that's because I didn't cover the container - covering it will ensure that the moisture doesn't end up back in the food.

The great thing about the steamer is the convenience. While the food is steaming, I am free to do so many things. No oil, no mess and it even steams up the kitchen for a bit of warmth as it is still quite cold :)

Chicken Stew with Black Eye Peas

2009-02-24T19:45:00.005+08:00

I have been on this weird mission to try and cook something with black eye peas. Google it and first on the search list is the band! Fergie comes to mind but I was thinking more of the bean itself.

I discovered black eye peas in glutinous rice dumplings - ever since I started cooking, I pay more attention to what I eat and savor the tastes of different ingredients. The peas soak up the flavor of the stuffing and has a nice soft texture when well cooked. It isn't too powdery like with some beans.

I've also noticed that black eye peas are sold in the organic section and I have been wondering what sort of goodness it contains. A bit of research tells me that they are rich in protein and calcium; high in Vitamin A and folic acid. I should feed some to Micah too.

So while buying different grains for Micah's food, I grabbed a packet and brought them to China - you'd probably be able to find it in China but I'd rather trust some other source :)

I browsed through some recipes which contain the peas and find more Southern style recipes but the lack of ingredients caused me to abandon trying them out. I did have in mind some sorta stew so I came up with this...

Chicken stew with black eye peas!

First I had to soak a cup of peas in water the night before. Then I used a slow cooker to cook the peas in some water for about several hours until it was soft.

In a pan, fry some onions until soft, add carrots then chicken. Once cooked, add in the cooked peas and water retained from cooking the peas. Let it simmer for an hour and then season with black pepper and salt.

It turned out to be quite nice, if I can say so myself. I was expecting David not to like it but surprisingly, he gave it the thumbs up. Now I am quite satiated and waiting for the beans to react!

Sunday Roast

2009-02-09T08:00:00.000+08:00

It's nice to have a roast for dinner. The Lipscombes have it on Sundays.

Ling cooked me my first roast way back in 2002 when I visited them in Manchester. David was somewhere in London working and I took a train up to stay with Ling. Coincidentally it was Mike's birthday - which also falls on Valentine's Day!

I was privileged to celebrate with them but found it rather embarrassing since it was a romantic dinner with soft lights, candles and Marvin Gaye crooning softly in the background! I'll have to say that it was my most memorable Valentine's!

For our dinner last night, she did everything the way she usually does a roast except she had to leave out serving Yorkshire pudding. She can't seem to find any from the stores.

The top side hunk of beef was seasoned with salt and pepper and placed on a roasting dish. The baking time depends on the weight of the meat and there is a formula. Minimum baking time is 1 1/2 hours so we had to start dinner pretty early.

While the meat is roasting, Ling prepared the root vegetables for roasting. To make a great roast potato and parsnips, you first parboil them. Then score the potatoes with a fork. These are then placed in a baking tray which had oil already heated from the oven. Place the nice sizzling root vegetables in the oven and wait until they brown. To ensure that they brown evenly, make sure you douse well with oil. We added sweet potato last because they cook fast even without parboiling.

The meat is ready when the juice runs clear which means that when you poke it, no bloody liquid comes out! You can cover the roast with some foil halfway through roasting to prevent the meat from drying out.

Score the potatoes well

Carve the meat into thin slices if you are

afraid that the meat might be tough.

Crispy root vegetables with soft centers.

We added some steamed carrots, snap peas and broccoli.

Pour some gravy over and dinner is served.

Peanut Cookie

2009-02-08T11:04:00.008+08:00

I guess we are still in a Chinese New Year mood! 2 days more to go before we end the celebrations and we decided to bake and eat peanut cookies.

I got the recipe from Lily's Wai Sek Hong - Lily's got an amazing treasure trove of recipes I like. We tried her peanut cookie recipe and wasn't disappointed.

Modern appliances to the rescue.

Processed roasted peanuts were really smooth.

We used the knead function on the mixer

and kept our hands clean :)

We made one especially for Harry.

Peanuts on some

Melt in your mouth cookies.

Thanks to Lily!

We saved a container of it back in Kuala Lumpur so that we can take it to China with us but now that I've tried these homemade ones, I think we will be sorely disappointed with our store bought ones!

Pesto Sauce

2009-02-07T16:46:00.007+08:00

You should know that I get almost all my recipes from the internet :) This is no different. I found it on Epicurious which is why I won't bother giving you the ingredients and the method when it's not mine.

Pesto sauce is an acquired taste. The combination of basil, pine nuts and garlic makes it a very strong flavored sauce. I took the opportunity to cook it with the correct ingredients since they are available in Brisbane. I couldn't find basil in China when I cooked it once - I used flat leaf parsley. Pine nuts, when in season are available rather cheaply in China but it is expensive in Australia. Our one cup and a bit more of nuts costs us AUD8! Ouch!

I helped Ling bottle chopped up garlic this morning to store in olive oil which we need for cooking - it will save us time, peeling and chopping. So I used a bit more garlic than required in the recipe and now the sauce has oomph!

You won't believe how easy it is - and no cooking is required! Just blend or process the ingredients together. I think there are a few ways to serve this. I grilled some chicken breast meat to go with ours. I once had it served with avocado and grilled prawns.

Blitzing basil, garlic and pine nuts

After adding grated parmesan and

extra virgin olive oil

We had our pesto with spaghetti and grilled chicken

Funnily, David preferred pesto sauce made from flat leaf parsley and macadamia nuts! He is an odd man :) Ling liked it well enough. I've got quite a bit of sauce left over - it will keep in the fridge for a week according to the recipe.

Homemade Kaya

2009-02-07T10:51:00.004+08:00

When you live away from the comforts of home in Kuala Lumpur and the taste of all things Malaysian, you become very innovative in the kitchen. You realize some of the recipes are pretty easy. Back home, we take a lot of things for granted as these delicacy, as we call it here, are available everywhere.

Kaya or coconut jam is one of the many forbidden foods when you travel into Australia. Some people somehow get through quarantine with this contraband. My mother in law wasn't so fortunate on all her attempts but my sister in law was successful on her last trip.

Ling decided that it was easier to get the recipe and try it out herself. Today she made another batch - it's delicious! We are going to have some with cream crackers for tea :)

Ingredients:-

3 eggs

200gms fine sugar or palm sugar

150ml coconut milk

3 screwpine leaves

Method:-

Mix well eggs with sugar. Add coconut milk. Add screwpine leaves and double boil for 45 minutes stirring occasionally. To make it brown - add some caramelized sugar to the cooked mixture and you have kaya!

We can buy frozen screwpine leaves at the Asian grocer but Ling now has a live plant which she is going to pot when the roots are showing. We got it during our visit to a friend's acreage during the eve of Chinese New Year.

To achieve the smooth consistency some people like, we were told to sieve the cooked kaya. We used a hand blender - so much easier and it turns out very smooth. I personally prefer the lumpy type.

I can't wait to have tea!