Lamb Time

It is still chilly outside even though we had seen some signs of spring is coming.  I was craving for some lamb to keep the body warm.  There was a dish that I liked a lot from the Chinese restaurant I went to during the Chinese New Year.  I tried making the dish at home.  I believe I had succeed in making it as close as I possibly could.  It tasted like a spicy stir fry beef.  It was really tender and didn't even have that gamey smell from the lamb meat. 

Lamb chop with XO sauce（XO醬羊肉）

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. Lamb chop, sliced
3 cloves of garlic
3 slices of ginger
1 stalk green onion
1 pkg. Fresh Japanese organic mushroom
Marinate sauce: cooking wine, cornstarch, sugar, oysters sauce, 1 tbsp each.

Directions:

1.  Marinate sliced lamb chops with oysters sauce,sugar,cooking wine, cornstarch.
2.  Stir fry fresh mushroom on dry wok to dry up the liquid, scoop out and set aside.
3.  Heat oil, add garlics and gingers, then 1 tbsp XO sauce.
4.  Add in lamb chops on high heat, stir fry quickly.
5.  Return mushroom and stir fry together for 5 minutes.
6.  Stir in green onion, stir well and serve hot.

I also tried to make a stew lamb in clay pot which I really love to order at restaurant.  I was really happy it turned out well that the meat was tender and not too salty after stewed for two hours.



Claypot Stew Lamb（枝竹羊肉煲）

Ingredients:

4 pcs. Fermented tofu
3 cloves of garlic
3 slices of ginger
1 tbsp cooking wine
half piece of rock candy )or 1 tbsp sugar)
1 tbsp  black bean paste
a little soy sauce
1 lb. Lamb chop with bones
5 sticks dried bean curd sticks
Fresh gingko nuts 銀杏（白果）10顆 - optional
5 Water chestnuts 馬蹄 (optional)

Direction:

1. Break bean curd sticks into 2 inches long and soaked until soft.
2. Peel and cut across water chestnuts into slices.
3. Heat oil in a wok or regular pan, add garlics and gingers stir until fragrant.
4. Crush and add fermented tofu pieces and mix well.
5. Add lamb chop and brown with above for 5 minutes,add soy sauce and sugar.
6. Sprinkle the wine around, stir in water chestnuts,gingko nuts and mix well.
7.Cover and cook on high to bring to boil, then turn to low to simmer for one and a half hour.
8. Transfer the meat into a clay pot continue cook in low.
9. Drain the bean curd sticks and add into the clay pot. 
10. Cook with meat for another half hour.
11.  Serve with clay pot while it's still hot.

Ways To Eat Persimmons (2) - Stir Fry Persimmon Chicken

I wanted to see if I can use persimmons to make a sweet and sour sauce over chicken for dinner tonight.   I am happy to see that my husband and daughter love the dish.  This is also the same method I cooked the shrimp with tomatoes sauce.

Ingredients:

2 pieces chicken breasts
Flour
1 egg
1 onion, sliced
1 persimmon,sliced

Mixed sauce:
2 gloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp soysace
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch

Direction:

1.  Pound the chicken into thin slices.
2.  Sprinkle some salt over.
3.  Dip into beated egg, then into flour.
4.  Heat oil in the pan in high heat.
5.  Fry chicken until cooked.
6.  Take chickens out and add onion.
7.  Cook onion until transparent and fragrant.
8.  Add in the sliced persimmon and stir with onion.
9.  Put the cooked chicken back and stir in mixed sauce until thickening.
9.  Serve over rice.

Stir Fry Wintermelon

I always cooked wintermelon in the soup.  Since I have already made some soup tonight, I wanted to see if I can stir fry the wintermelon for a change.  I was surprised to find out the new recipe was well received by the kids and hubby.

Ingredients:

Wintermelon, thin sliced
Dried shrimp, soaked
1 oz. Chinese bacon, sliced
2 gloves of garlic
Green onion, chopped
Cilantro, chopped
1 can  chicken broth
White pepper
Salt

Directions:

1. Heat pan with oil
2. Stir fry garlic until fragrant.
3. Add wintermelon and stir fry for 2 minutes.
4. Add dried shrimp and stir.
5. Pour in chicken broth cook wintermelon until soft.
6. Mix some water with a tsp of cornstarch, stir in and cook until thicken.
7. Quickly stir in chopped green onion and cilantro.
8.  Sprinkle some white pepper and serve.

One Pot Sticky Rice

We mostly go out with friends during the holiday season.  I didn't stock up a lot of food in the refrigerator.  I was surprised to see that I only have one cup of rice left in the rice bin. That was definitely not enough to feed the four of us.  I was happy to find a bag of sticky rice and some dried food in the the kitchen as I was looking for food to cook.  I decided to make sticky rice since that's what the Chinese usually have during the cold winter season.  This is the first time I cooked everything in the rice cooker.  With some soy sauce on the side, this is one easy and tasty meal to make.

Ingredients:

5 Shiitake mushroom, soaked
3  pairs Chinese sausages
1 tbsp dried shrimp, soaked
1 cup long grain rice
2 cups sticky rice (or sweet rice)

Directions:

1.  Chop the soaked mushroom, save the soaking water.
2.  Rinse and chop the Chinese sausages.
3.  Chop the dried shrimp, save the soaking water.
4.  Rinse and pour both rice in the rice cooker.
5.  Pour in all the soaking water and juice, then add just enough water to make 3 cups of rice in the rice cooker.  This is to ensure you will not cause the rice to be too mushy.
6.  Add in all the ingredients and mix well with rice.
7.  Press cook on the rice cooker until cooked.
8.  Serve with sweet or dark soy sauce made for clay pot rice.

Laksa Noodle Soup

This is the dish I crave the most and is a must order dish from any Malaysian or Singaporian restuarant. I have eaten curry Laksa as long as I can remember.  I have never tried to make this dish myself because I was never able to find the Laksa sauce from the local Asian supermarket.  Until recently, I have developed an interest to mix sauces myself.  I went to my local Asian supermarket and literally went through every jar and sauce on the shelf.  I was determined to see what I can find to make my favorite dish.  I knew the Laksa soup is made from a shrimp base.  I remembered it was listed as Curry Laksa in the menu, so there must curry in it.  After couple of tries,  I finally created a recipe that I was content with.  I am happy that I can finally make this at home whenever I crave for it without paying a high price for a small bowl of Laksa. 

 

Serving for 4

Ingredients:

2 cans of chicken broth
1/2 package of curry powder
1/2 can of minced prawn in spicy paste
2 cans of coconut milk (5.6 oz each)
2 gloves of garlic
1 bag Fried tofu
1/2 bag bean sprout
4 oz. green beans or okra
1/2 bag of fried fish balls
1 bag of rice noodle

Direction:

1. Heat pan with oil, stir fry garlic, add prawn paste and curry powder until fragrant.
2. Add green bean and stir fry for 5 minutes.
3. Add in fish balls and fry for 2 minutes then add tofu.
4. Add some soysauce.
5. Pour in the chicken soups and coconut milks.
6. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
7. If it's not salty, add soysauce.
8. Cook noodle according to the package.
9. To serve, place noodles in the bowl, add cooked ingredients and soup, add in the bean sprouts.

Stir Fried Sticky Rice

It is common for Chinese to have clay pot rice during the winter when the weather is cold.  In traditional clay pot rice recipe, Chinese sausage and dried pork belly were used.  I bought both ingredients and decided to use sticky rice instead of traditional white rice.  The way to cook this dish is similar to but much simpler than the dish,Sweet Gluten Rice, I made back in February.  I did not use the clay pot to cook the rice but used it to serve to keep the dish warm.  The portion here is quite large and it is enough for about 6 people.

Ingredients:

2 cups of long grain rice (original called for 2 cups of sweet rice)
3 cups of sweet rice
3 pairs of Chinese sausage
1/2 Dried Pork Belly
4 slices of Ginger
2 gloves of Garlic, finely chopped
10 Small Dried shrimp (soak for 5 minutes and drain the water),finely chopped
3 tbsp Oyster Sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

Chinese Sausage

Dried Pork Belly

Directions:
1. Wash and pour both types of rice into the rice cooker.

2. When rice is cooked, let it cool off.

3. Slice Chinese sausage and  dried pork belly into smaller pieces.

4. Heat the pan first. Then add only a little cooking oil, and stir fry gingers and garlic until fragrant but not burned.

5. Add in the Chinese sausage and dried pork belly and stir fry until cooked.

6. Add dried shrimp and stir until fragrant.

7. Add the cooled rice, mix well with oyster,soy sauce and sesame oil.

Stir fry and mix everything well until the rice is covered with sauce and turned to a brown color.

Serve while it's hot. Add some soy sauce if it's not salty enough.

Notes:

1 You can adjust the white rice to whatever ratio of the sweet rice. It's really your own preference as the original recipe should be sweet rice only.

2. It's important to let the rice cooled off before you mix in with other cooked ingredients so they will be easy to stir fry and do not look mushy when done. You can add more meat and adjust oyster or soy sauce to your preference.

3. Serve with any vegetable to help with digestion. I served this with a quick fix vegetable chicken soup.

Chinese Tomato Eggs 番茄炒蛋

This is a very popular Chinese homemade dish that everyone loves.  It's so addicting that any kid who's picky on food will not resist this dish.  Whenever I have tomatoes at home, I would make this quick and delicous dish  for dinner.  The sweet and sour sauce would make everyone in the family get a second bowl of rice when this dish is on the table.

Although it looks very easy but most people (including myself) did not cook the eggs the right way at the beginning.  After being shown by a friend (who's also a chef) how to do it the right way, this dish has been one of the most requested dishes at our house.  This is a recipe that my kids said I must write and save on my blog.  I made the point to take these step-by-step pictures while I was making this tonight.  You might want to double the portion since the dish will be gone in a blink of the eyes.

Chinese Tomato Eggs

Ingredients:

3 tomatoes, cut into big chuncks
4 eggs, whisked

2 to 3 tsp water

2 to 3 Tbsp tomato ketchup 

1/4 piece of brown packed sugar (or 2 to 3 tbsp of any type of sugar )
1 tsp soysauce (optional)

a dash of salt  (optional)

Directions:

1.  Use this method to make a quick and simple omelet first.  Whisk the eggs, then add 2 to 3 teaspoons of water.  This will make the eggs taste smoother after frying.

2. High heat to heat up the oil, pour in the eggs and swirl around in the pan until a thin layer is formed.

3.  Gently lift the formed layer of eggs onto the side of the pan with a spatula. Tilt the pan to let the unformed eggs drift down to the pan.  Keep drifting and fliiping the eggs until it forms like a loose omelet.  Don't fully cook the eggs and keep it as whole as possible so the mixture doesn't become mushy.

 

 4.  Scoop the omelet onto a plate and set aside.

5. Rinse and cut tomatoes into small wedges.  Remove some seeds if you don’t like them too sour.
Add some oil in the pan over medium heat.  Stir fry the tomatoes for about 2 minutes.  Add in the brown packed sugar, break it into smaller pieces so it will be easier to dissolve,  and sprinkle with salt to taste.



6.  When the sugar is dissolved, add in the ketchup, soy sauce and mix well.



7.  Pour the cooked eggs back in the pan and stir well with cooked tomatoes. 

 

8.  Serve with white rice.

 

Note:

1. It is important to let the eggs set in a form but not fully cooked in the beginning.  It will be cooked when adding back to cook with the tomatoes.  This way the eggs are not too mushy or over cooked.

2. It is best to use tomatoes that are barely ripe.  The tomatoes that are very ripe contain too much juice and will make the dish too watery.   I often leave out the soy sauce or salt and it still tastes fine to me, as I usually don't like my food too salty.  Adjust the ketchup and sugar to your taste.

Proud Moments

Summer vacation is the time for fun and no school activities at all in our home.  It's the only time my kids get to do things that no text books could teach them.  Besides letting them learn while we travel, this year I decided that my younger daughter is old enough to learn some real cooking.  In the past, she has been helping her sister here and there to bake or chop food but has never really learned how to cook by herself.

Since they both are old enough to do chores, I asked both of my kids to pick one or two days to cook dinner for the family this summer.  When my older kid was young, she eagerly offered to learn to cook and bake, but I ended up spending more time to clean up and complete the job.  I knew it was part of learning process and I had to be patient to wait for the fruitful day.  Surely, my older kid is very helpful now.  Whenever I don't feel like cooking or want some cookies, she is willing and able to do it for me.  Now that I have to start with my younger daughter, I feel like history is repeating itself and I must be patient to do it all over again.  It 's time for me to plant another seed, so that I can enjoy the fruitful tree later on.

Tonight is the first night she's making dinner.  I have purposely saved some easy to cook ingredients for her for her first real cooking.  I was not in the kitchen with her while she prepared the ingredients but verbally guided her whenever she asked questions. The only time I went in there was to guide her on how to cook.  As I was waiting for her to heat up the oil, I noticed that she had a bowl sitting in the sink with all the trash ready to be thrown out (that was from a previous training while she learned how to chop food).  I was surprised that she was very organized and able to work on a limited counter space.  I complimented her being so clean and it was funny that she thought I was teasing her.  In the next scene you would see a mother trying to show the little girl not to be afraid of the splashing of the oil and how to cook with protection, and a girl cracking and beating eggs with the mother waiting by the stove.
 
A few minutes later, she's ready to dish out the food, and I was very impressed that she didn't even need my help to dish it out from the hot pan.  I am glad she has learned how to cook meat and vegetables.  That's very important to me because I do not want to have another sandwich for lunch or dinner.  She has been making salmon sandwiches these days when it's her turn to make food.  It was great that I was able to show her the proper way to make Chinese food.
 

I must say she's very efficient with her way of doing things.  From peeling the shrimp to finishing cooking, she made these two dishes within an hour.  These were the master pieces she made tonight and we were all proud of her.  They were so delicious and I am just glad that she has a good start.
 

Shrimp with Chives

Chinese Mustard Green With Oyster Sauce

I honestly was pleasantly surprised to see that she was able to go through most of the cooking process by herself and that the kitchen was not a mess.  Now I am sure I will have a great summer since I have two wonderful helpers at home.

Beef Chow Fun

This is a common Cantonese dish a lot of people love. It is not easy to master this dish!  It is common believed that you need to use a lot of oil to stir fry this. I had tried a few times to make chow fun without success.  Even though the taste was great, the noodles always tended to be too mushy or not fluffy enough (noodles were not separated enough, like some noodles were still in chunks) after a few stirs.   I have finally succeeded in making the chow fun very fluffy and tasty for the first time. 

Ingredients:

2 tbsp cooking oil
1 pkg Fresh chow fun

8 0z. Flank steak

1/2 Yellow Onion

1 pkg Bean Sprouts

1 tsp Dark Soysauce

1 tsp Oyster sauce

1 tsp Cornstarch

1/2 tsp Sugar

Green Onion 

Sauce: Some dark soy sauce and oyster sauce

Chili sauce (Optional)

Directions:

1. Rinse the noodles in cold water.
2. Separate the noodles into thin slices.
3. Drain the noodles well.
4. Slice beef and marinate beef with soy sauce, sugar, soy sauce, and cornstarch and set aside in refrigerator.
5. Rinse bean sprouts and slice yellow onion.
6. Heat oil, stir fry yellow onion until fragrant
7. Add in the beef and stir fry until cook
8. Add bean sprout and stir fry for few minutes.
9. Add noodles, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce and stir gently and until mix well.
10. Top with green onion to serve.

Note:

I learned that the oil is not the most important.  It is most important to separate the chow fun first before cooking.  The trick to separate it successfully is to make sure the noodle was already soft when rinsing. If it was previously refrigerated, microwaving it for 5 minutes until soft before rinsing helps separate the chow fun easier.

Sweet Gluten Rice (You Fan) 油飯

I have a request to write a sweet rice recipe.  Sweet rice is also known as glutinous rice.  We tend to eat sweet rice more often during the winter time as it's known to keep your body warm after consuming it. This recipe was given to me by my Taiwanese colleague 20 years ago.  I was told that the Taiwanese women usually eat this after they gave birth to a baby. It's called " You Fan油飯" in Mandarin, and it's translated to "Greasy Rice".  The one you usually eat at the dim sum restaurant is in Cantonese style, so it's not prepared in the same way.  I like the taste of the "You Fan" better and it's also our favorite to eat at home.  I have modified the recipe to better suit my taste.

 

Ingredients:

1 cup of long grain rice (original called for 2 cups of sweet rice)
1 cup of sweet rice
2 pairs of Chinese sausage
2 slices of Ginger
2 gloves of Garlic, finely chopped
4 to 5 Dried Shiitake mushrooms (Soaked  in warm water for 30 minutes), sliced when soft
10 Small Dried shrimp (soak for 5 minutes and drain the water), finely chopped
2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
8 oz. Pork sirloin, sliced (marinated with sauce first, see below)

Marinated meat sauce:
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp regular soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cornstarch

Directions:

1. Wash and pour both types of rice into the rice cooker.
2. When it's done, let it cool off.
3. Slice Chinese sausage and mushrooms
4. Heat the pan first. Then add cooking oil, and stir fry gingers and garlic until fragrant but not burned.
5. Add in the dried shrimp and marinated pork until cooked.
6. Add the cooled rice, mix well with oyster,soy sauce and sesame oil.
7. Stir fry and mix everything well until the rice is covered with sauce and turned to a brown color.
8. Serve while it's hot.  Add some soy sauce if it's not salty enough.

Notes:
1. I replaced 2 cups of sweet rice with 1 cup sweet rice and 1 cup long grain rice which I feel is easier to digest as we tend to eat a lot of it.  You can adjust the white rice to whatever ratio of the sweet rice. It's really your own preference as the original recipe should be sweet rice only.

2. It's important to let the rice cooled off before you mix in with other cooked ingredients so they will be easy to stir fry and do not look mushy when done. You can add more meat and adjust oyster or soy sauce to your preference.

3.  Serve with any vegetable to help with digestion. I served this with the winter melon soup.

Smoked Salmon Fried Rice

I like to use leftover white rice to make fried rice for my kids.  Last night, I ran out of ham and found some smoked salmon in the refrigerator.  I used it to make this fried rice.

Ingredients:

1 cup of white rice (day old rice is preferred)
1 Tbsp cooking oil
2 gloves of garlic, chopped
1/2  Yellow onion, chopped
10 String beans, chopped
4 oz. Smoked salmon
2 eggs
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
Some black peppers
1 stalk of green onion, chopped

Directions:

1. Heat up pan until hot, add some cooking oil.
2. Stir fry onion until fragrant.
3  Add in string beans and stir fry for 5 minutes.  Add a little water, cover and cook for couple of minutes or until cooked.
4. Add smoked salmon and cook for couple of minutes.
5. Make a well in the center of mixture, crack the eggs in and stir fry for 2 minutes then mix well with all the mixture.
6. Add in the rice, oyster sauce and soy sauce, stir and mix well with all the mixture.
7. Add some black pepper and green onion when they are done.

Note:

You can cook with any vegetable like carrots, peas, tomatoes.  I personally like to use fresh string beans, or green beans.  Marinated beef is also a good option in this recipe.

Shrimp with Sweet Walnuts

If you love eating the Shrimp with Sweet Walnuts from the Chinese restaurant, you will like this recipe. I don't usually fry food at home or use much oil in my daily cooking.  But my daughter loves this dish and it usually costs a lot but serve only with a small portion from the restaurant.  So I decided to try and make this for her.  She was so disappointed that I wasn't able to make it last night as promised.  But I made a point to devote my time to make this tonight.  It's a hit and was almost gone by the time I got to sit down for dinner. This recipe was verbally given to me by someone who used to own a couple of Chinese restaurants. I have separated the recipes into fried shrimp and sweet walnuts because they can be served individually.  But they should all serve together as one dish like this:

Fried Shrimp with Mayonnaise:

Ingredients:

1 lb. Large shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
4 egg whites
2/3 cup cornstarch
1 cup oil
1 tbsp condensed milk (or Honey)
1/4 cup mayonnaise

Directions:


1. Wash shrimp and pat dry with paper towels. Marinate shrimps with cornstarch, soy sauce and sesame oil, set aside.
2. Beat eggs well; Stir in the cornstarch until it has a consistency like Elmer's glue.
3. Heat the oil on medium high, until hot.
4. Dip the shrimp in the eggs mixture. Slowly add in the shrimp one by one into the hot oil.
5. Stir and separate the shrimp so the shrimp will not stick together when frying. Immediately flip the shrimp over. Remove the shrimp once they are turned and drain on paper towels to soak up the excess oil.
7.  In another bowl, mix the condensed milk with mayonnaise well.
8.  Toss in the shrimp to coat with the  mixed mayonnaise.
9.  Pour on top of shredded cabbage or lettuce.
10. Serve with sweet walnuts (see recipe below).

Note:
If the tail is cut too deep. the shrimp will not curl into a ball shape when fry in the oil.  The mayonnaise can be used as salad dressing for the shredded cabbage or lettuce.

Sweet Sesame Walnuts:

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 cup oil
2/3 cup white sugar

Directions:

1 .Add water in a pot and bring to a boil.
2. Add the walnuts and bring back up to a boil or about 2 minutes.
3. Drain the water, spread out the walnuts on a cookie sheet and wipe the walnuts dry.
4. Heat up oil until hot.
5. Add the walnuts and fry for 2 minutes. Make sure to stir the walnuts so they won't burn.
6. Scoop up the walnuts with slotted spoon and add them to sugar and coat them well.
7. Add some sesame to the coated walnuts.
8, The walnuts should taste sweet and crispy.

Note:
You can add this to any salad as a topping, or eat them as snacks, you might not be able to stop yourself once you start eating it.

Oriental Green Salad

My friend who collected the toothpicks containers told me how to make this delicious salad.

She also asked me to show the soy sauce I used everyday for cooking.  Both the soy sauce and Japanese salad vinegar have some sweet taste already, you do not need to add any sugar when cooking.

Ingredients:

1 part Salad Vinegar (see picture below)
2 Parts vegetable oil
2 Tbsp light soy sauce (see picture below)
1 tsp sesame oil
Sweet sesame walnuts (see recipe below), chopped
Green vegetables


Directions:

1. Mix all the liquid ingredients together.
2. Add shredded green vegetables, like lettuce and cucumbers.The premixed cabbage salad in the package will last longer without looking like they are wilted.
3. Add some sweet sesame walnuts (see recipe here).

Note:

If the salad tasted too sweet for you, add some soy sauce.  If it's too salty, then add some sugar. Always adjust any seasoning at your preferred taste.

Braised Pork Rice （ Lu Rou Fan ）

My friend Teresa is a great cook and she often look at recipes and cook something complicated.   I like to ask her for recipes since I don't like to go through recipe books nor do I have the patience to take the time to go through the long process of making a dish.  This is a dish that's fairly easy to prepare in huge quantities ahead of time and is well loved by all of us. It's just like spaghetti: the older it gets, the better it tastes.    She told me the most important ingredients to use in this dish are the 5 spices and the shallots.

Ingredients:

1 lb. Pork (Pork that has at least 50% fat is preferred)
6 Shiitake mushrooms (soak in cold water for few hours)
3 to 4 Shallots
2 gloves of garlic
1 and 1/2 Tbsp 5 spices (see Note below for description of spices)

1. Cut out the pork skin if any, cut the pork in tiny pieces.(marinate with some soy sauce and sugar)
2. Soak the shiitake mushrooms and dice into small pieces.
3. Chopped the garlic and  shallots
4. Heat pan on high,add the pork and keep stirring until all fat comes out.
5. Scoop out the pork and put aside.
6. Using the same pan (which still has some oil in it), add the shallots and stir fry until fragrant.
7. Add in the mushrooms and stir fry
8. Add in some soy sauce, rock sugar and 5 spices (1 tbsp)
9. Add a little water just enough to cover the pork.
10. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
11. To make boiled eggs, add eggs into cold water and cook for 12 to 15 minutes.
12. Remove the eggshell and add in to the pork while it's still simmeingr.
13. Turn the eggs in the pot occassionally so the eggs are covered by the sauce and will evenly brown.
14. The dish is done after 30 minutes.
15. Serve egg and some pork mixture over rice.

Note:
1. This dish tastes well with fatty pork, you can remove the excess fat when it's done stir frying.
2. The 5 spices consists of fennel,anise,cinnamon, gloves, and ginger. It's supposed to be added in before ready to be served.  You can find a bottle of this blend of spices in any Chinese grocery store.

Hot Pot Dinner Parties

During this holiday break, we were invited to friends' Christmas dinner parties.  Hot pot was served in both parties we attended.  Hot pot meals are often a popular choice during winter. When there is a big group of people, it's an easy way to entertain while not getting stressed out with all the cooking.  The hostess prepared all the raw meat, meatballs, tofu and vegetables, and while the hot pot is kept simmering, ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked at the table. All guests gather around the table to use their utensils to scoop up the food to eat in their own bowls. The cooked food is usually eaten with a dipping sauce. The most common sauce we use is a mixture of heated cooking oil with soy sauce, sesame oil, green onion and sometimes red pepper if a spicy flavor is desired.

At the first dinner party we went to,  we used both grills and hot pots at the same time. The traditional hot pot at home is above the table and fueled by portable propane gas.  Meat or vegetables are placed individually into the hot cooking broth by chopsticks, and the cooking time is usually short. Some people like to place items into the hot pot at a leisurely pace, enjoying the cooking process, but my family prefers to throw everything in at once and wait for the hotpot to return to a boil.  Besides the traditional way, there's a grill along the side of the pot in which you can grill the food and eat at the same time.

Last night we had this traditional hot pot, with soups on both sides of the pot. You have an option of  making a hot and spicy soup in one side, or both sides with plain soup and slices of ginger and onion to initially begin the cooking process.

We also usually have cold drinks on the side as eating in front of the hot pot can make you feel hot and thirsty most of the time. People have told me to not drink the soup that's been cooked in the hot pot because it has high content of salt and many calories after the meat and vegetables were cooked in it.

*Picture source: Wikipedia

Chinese Sausage Claypot Rice - 煲仔飯

The weather is getting colder as we enter the winter season.  It's usually the time to eat claypot food to keep us warm. On the day that we went to San Francisco, we stopped over at Chinatown to buy a Chinese claypot and a Chinese chopping knife. The place we bought them from is called Wok Shop on Grand street. I bought this mid-sized claypot：The owner told us to do the following steps before the initial use to help protect the claypot so that it won't crack so easily:
1. Soak the clay pot in cold water for at least one hour.
2. Put a coat of cooking oil  (just a little) outside the claypot.
3. Add some cold water and let it boil on top of the stove for approximate 15 minutes so that the oil can seal the claypot.

I immediately started using the claypot that evening.  I had never made rice from claypot before, and I was afraid the rice would either burn or get soggy. So, I used some common sense and cooked the food and rice in the claypot. As a result, I was successful in making a delicious Chinese sausage rice meal from the claypot. Here are the steps before I forget them:

Ingredients:
2 cups of long grain rice
2 slices of ginger
2 pairs of Chinese sausage (uncut)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. cooking oil
4 tbsp Dark soy sauce
1 oz. meat  (optional)


Cooking Steps:

1. 2 cups of rice, wash and pour into electric rice cooker first.
2. Pour enough cold water into the rice cooker until the reaching the water level for 2 cups. If you do not have an electric rice cooker, pour 1 and 3/4cupscold water into the washed rice.
3. Pour all the rice and water from the rice cooker into the claypot, that's the method to ensure we have the correct measurement of water for 2 cups.
4. Cover the claypot cook with high until boil, add in gingers,  Chinese sausages or any meat that you like to add.
5. Cover again and turn the heat to low and simmer for 25 minutes.
6. In another saucer pan, heat a tablespoon of oil in low heat,add 4 tablespoons of dark soysauce and a teaspoon of sugar and mix well, then pour into a small saucer bowl。
7. When the rice are cooked, pour the sauce from the saucer bowl into the claypot and mix well then it's ready to be served hot.

Tip:(1)：If you add meat, it should be marinated first with half teaspoon of each of soy sauce, sugar,sesame oil, and cornstarch. It's best not to add too much meat, for the meat juice will make the rice too soggy. The more meat you put in, the more time you need to cook the rice.

Tip:(2)  To get perfectly cooked rice, only use long grain rice and never open the lid when you are cooking the food.  Don't add too much water, for the rice should come out moist, but not soggy.

Remedy for coughing

Friends have been telling me that this coughing solution really works. A few weeks ago, my daughter started to cough a lot and she lost her voice. Amazingly, she got her voice back the very next day after eating this steamed orange. She said it worked and she's not coughing as much anymore. Here's what to do:

 1. Cut open the top of an orange, cut a "plus sign" with a knife in the flesh, pour 1/2 tsp of salt in it.

2. Put it on a steamer to steam it (water has to be boiled first), and steam for 20 minutes:

3. When the product is finished, eat the whole flesh of the orange for it to take effect.

Crab Season

Crab is my favorite type of seafood and I often serve them on special occasions, even when they are not in season.  When they are in season, I go to a Chinese supermarket practically every other week, just to buy crabs to indulge myself in. It is often cheaper to buy live crabs at a Chinese supermarket. They are $2.99 per pound when they are in season. Although there are many ways to cook them, I find that they taste best when cooked with curry. You can even make hot and spicy curry with them, or just some delicious soup. This is the simplest and easiest recipe I have:


Ingredients:

2 crabs
1tbsp cooking oil
1 glove of Garlic (chopped)
2 slices of Ginger
1 Green onion (chopped)
1 tbsp Cooking wine
1 egg

Steps:
1. Clean and cut the crabs to pieces.
2. Heat up the pan and add cooking oil.
3. Add chopped garlic, gingers and stir until you can smell the fragrance.
4. Add the crabs in and stir fry.
5. When the crabs turn color, add wine along the inside of  the pan and stir fry with crab a little, cover and cook for 8 minutes.
6. Uncover and push the crab aside, to make room to cook the eggs.
7. Crack the eggs in the center of the wok and stir quickly until it's cooked, then mix with the crabs.
8. Add onion on top and serve onto plate.
9. It's best to eat when it's still warm.

Note:

1. All seafood do not taste good when it's overcook,  make sure the crab is not cook too long.
2. Crab itself is salty, don't need to add anymore salt, unless you like a little more salty, add some light soy sauce when ready to serve.
3. Remember do not eat persimmon and crab together, you might get sick from it.

Tasty Vegetable Soup - 健康消脂湯 (Help indigestion and lose fat)

想必大家都在感恩节都吃了豐富的大餐，相信大家都想煮點帮助消減脂肪的湯來喝，这湯是我在看電視的時候學的，據說是可以帮助消減脂肪，降低胆固醇，降高血壓，最適合在過完節煮來喝.
(This soup is supposed to help indigestion after big meals, lower cholesterol and blood pressure).健康消脂湯 (Healthy Vegetable Soup)
Ingredients:

2 白囖蔔 (Daikon)
2 囖蔔葉 (Daikon leaves)
2 紅囖蔔 (Carrots)
2 牛蒡 (Burdock)
以上各一條，削皮切塊，( Peel and cut to pieces)
五，六個冬菇-( 5 to 6 Shitaki mushroom)

 Optional: ( it's more tasty when you add these)
半個蓮藕 ( half lotus root, sliced )
倆個合掌瓜  (2  Chayote - peel and cut to pieces)
三，四粒密棗 (3, 4 Dried prune)
一把生的花生 (Some raw peanuts)
倆片果皮 ( 2 dried orange peels)
一把核桃 ( some walnuts)

與一鍋水小火同煮一個半小時，加鹽即可上桌。
(Add all ingredients in full pot of water, turn heat on high until boiling, turn to simmer  for 1 hour and a half, Salt to taste when ready to serve.)

註： 這湯很清甜，但可能不適合寒底的人，如果喝了覺得不舒服就不要再喝了.
(If you do not feel well after drinking this soup, stop taking it. The vegetable soup might be too strong for you).