豆豉青椒炒雞塊 Stir Fry Chicken with Fermented Black Soybean and Capsicum

After a long break, I guess it’s time to pick up blogging or writing some recipes that I recently developed.

Probably this recipe has been developed by others, but it will never be the same when you add something extra on it.

 

All these while I never like the smell of Tochi or Douchi that you called it… as far as I know it’s actually a fermented black soybean. And recently I fell in love with it and tried all sorts of ways of cooking it.

 

This time I am trying it with chicken and coupled with Capsicum.

 

Ingredients

2 Chicken Thigh (debone, chop into cubes)

1 Capsicum

1 tbsp of chopped garlic

1 tbsp of chopped chili padi. If you like it more spicy you can add more

1 tbsp of fermented black soybean

 

Marinate
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp Chinese Cooking Wine
2 tsp light soy sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce
Pepper

Marinate chicken for 20 minutes

 

Step-by-Step
Heat the wok with 2 tbsp of oil
Stir fry the chopped garlic, fermented black soybean and chili padi till fragrant.

After that, add in the marinated chicken thigh and stir fry. Cook until it’s 90% cooked, you may add in 2 tbsp of water to make the sauce of this dish. Alternative if you want a dry version, you may keep stir frying it.

 

The tips of this, you would have to cover it with the wok lid and cook it. The chicken by itself may produce some water. That will make the dry version of this dish has more kick if you added more chili on it.

 

Once done, serve with steam rice. 

Home Cooked Sambal Fried Winged Beans 馬來棧辣椒炒四扁豆

The Heat Is On… a song sung by Glenn Frey. If you born in the 70s you will surely know who he is. This is also a famous soundtrack for the movie named Beverly Hills Cop in 1984 if am not mistaken. The lyrics was like this …

The heat is on, on the street
Inside your head, on every beat
And the beat's so loud, deep inside
The pressure's high, just to stay alive
'Cause the heat is on

…. Blah blah blah blah… and followed by

The shadows high on the darker side
Behind those doors, it's a wilder ride
You can make a break, you can win or lose
That's a chance you take, when the heat's on you
When the heat is on
This song not only reminds me of the movie but also the campaign of these 15 days. Blue flags every where, free food every where, great news every now and then.

Despite this is our day-to-day topic during lunch, and it also give me an idea what to cook for dinner, just like the song – The Heat Is On!

So, this dish is really reflecting the current situation where we are right now.

Since small, we called this 四扁豆 instead of what others called it 四棱豆 or even 四角豆, 翼豆, 龍鬚豆, 楊桃豆. Whatever it is, this is definitely many peoples’ favourite.

Some will cook with Sambal Dried Shrimp (Hokkien called it Sambal Heh Bee), some will just eat it raw.

To make the Sambal, many people would prefer to use the mortar to bound it, however some will op for food processor, however the texture will not be as nice as using mortar. For those working wife or working mother, you can now go to the market and purchase 1 small container that is about RM2, where it’s very convenient.

Basically you just need to get those winged beans and a container of those sambal belachan. To have a luxury meal, you can even add big prawns too.  

 

Ingredients

• 2 to 3 Tablespoon of sambal belachan馬來盏辣椒 (蝦膏), depending how spicy you prefer
• 2 Cloves of garlic

• Winged Beans about 10 pieces cut into diagonal slices

• 10 to 15 prawns, de-shell
• 2 Tablespoon of Oil

Method

1. Heat up the wok with 2 tablespoon of oil
2. Add in garlic, stir fry till it’s fragrant
3. Add in the prawns lightly cook it and scoop out and set aside
4. Briefly stir in the sambal belachan
5. Add back the prawns, and
6. Add in the beans stir fry it in high heat then scoop
7. Serve it hot with steam rice

蒜爆雞塊 Garlic Fried Chicken

When hubby sent me home the other day and left for office again, I only have a few garlic and 2 pieces of chicken at home. When you’re leaving nothing to cook, I guess we got to think of an alternative way to cook something different.

But come to think of it, it wasn’t that bad, and it was a pleasant taste and it was full of wok aroma. Method of cooking this dish wasn’t that difficult too. I was just simply took whatever I have in the fridge and marinate it.

Oyster sauce is a sauce that is comfort those cook that is lack of confident in their cooking. Well, am one of them and some how it turn out to be something that hubby loves it.

Ingredients

2 chicken thigh, chopped

1 bulb of garlic, about 10 to 14 cloves

2 tablespoon of oil

Marinade

1 tablespoon of oyster sauce

2 tablespoon of light soya sauce

Method

1.   Wash and clean the chicken thigh
2.   Marinate the meat with the marinades for about 20minutes
3.   Removed the garlic’s skins and lightly press on each cloves
4.   Heat the wok with 2 table spoons of oil
5.   Throw in the garlic, lightly fried it till fragrant and lightly burn & brown too
6.   Then after add in the marinated chicken into the wok
7.   Without turning it, straight away I covered it with the lid for about 30 seconds
8.   Lid off and stir the chicken lightly and covered it again
9.   The mentioned process repeats for couple of times, this is to make sure the chicken is fully cooked
10.  Once done, dish out and serve with steamed rice

  

Enjoy!

I am submitting this dish to Aspiring Bakers #28: Chicken Feast (February 2013) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker.

Steam Chicken 私房菜蒸雞

I know some people steam chicken will add in Chinese Sausages, and some will add Chinese Cooking Wine. But my version is only chicken and dried mushroom.  I find that adding the sausages into it, that could make the chicken very sweet, and it’s like losing its original taste.

However, different family will have their different way of steaming. For me, I cut it short and real simple. As long as no one complains and no one having stomach upset, I guess that’s the final result of that.

I truly appreciate if some one out there can give some advices, I guess I can find ways to improve it. Meanwhile here’s my simple version of steaming chicken.

Ingredients

2 chicken thigh

5 to 6 dried mushroom, soak and cut into strips

Marinade

1 tablespoon of oyster sauce

½ tablespoon of dark soya sauce

½ tablespoon of light soya sauce

½ teaspoon of sugar (or less)

Method

1.      Marinate the chicken for about 20 to 30minutes
2.       Boil water till it’s boiling hot
3.       Line up the chicken on a flat plate and garnished the mushrooms on top of it
4.       Steam the chicken for about 10 to 15 minutes
5.       Then serve while it’s hot.

I am submitting this dish to Aspiring Bakers #28: Chicken Feast (February 2013) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker.

Fried Pork with Onion & Dried Chili 爆炒辣肉塊

I respect those housewives can cook all kinds of dishes for the family. Be it from chicken, fishes, meat, or Hokkien cuisine, Cantonese cuisine or Hainan cuisine. Some even spend time to grind the spices to curry, some even marinade the meat for a long hours.

For me, I rather have a quick one, even marinade for 15 minutes is just good enough for me. I believe most important is the flame and the wok.

Found this recipe from one of my recipe book which I bought for many years. This was found only decided to try it out when you’re running out of idea what to eat, and what to cook.  I guess this is an easy job for most expert cook.

Ingredients

500g pork tenderloin, cut into cubes

1 onion, peeled and cut into chucks

5 dried chilies, cut into small pieces (but I used chili padi instead)

Marinade

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp light soya sauce

Dash of pepper

2 tbsp water

1 tbsp corn starch

Seasoning

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp chili sauce

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsp water

2 stalks spring onion, cut into short lengths

Method

1. Mix pork with marinade and marinate for 30 minutes
2. Heat up oil, pan-fry pork cubes until 80% cooked
3. Add onion, dried chili and stir fry until fragrant. Add seasoning and stir fry until well mixed
4. Lastly add spring onion and stir well
5. Dish up and serve with steam rice

Note:

Do note that if you are the person can’t take any salty food, my advice to omit the salt from the marinade.

Noted add in 1 tbsp corn starch for marinade could make the meat a bit too starchy, I guess need to modify that.

Without dry chili and replaced by chili padi also make this dish special too.

 

Enjoy!

Fried Chicken Cubes with Honey Peas滑炒雞球

When you’re just tired of cooking the same old dish every day, I guess, you will tend to go to bookstore to look for recipe books. Well, I have to admit that I was one of them that cooking the same old dish again and again. No doubt, many people gave me the advice that practice make perfect, but, the person keep eating the same dish also feel bored about it.

I bought this book last year and let it lying on my book shelf for a long time, till recently I realized that I have this book. A brief glance I noticed some of the recipes are easy to cook and the ingredients are easy to get too. But, I guess, it takes some time to refine the process or modify the ingredients.  Well, I could be wrong, however, never try never know, right??

  

滑炒 is a method where marinated ingredients that stir fry in the hot wok to retain the moist of the meat. From the book, I’ve learned that adding the egg white into the marinate process would help restore the juicy and the moisture.

  

Source: Yum Yum Magazine (2012 Apr/May edition) 所謂滑炒, 是說這樣炒出來的菜肴有著特別嫩滑的口感, 除了炒時有技巧, 也要加入蛋白這個重要醃料, 在醃肉時加一粒雞蛋, 炒出來的雞球果然特別滑溜。

Ingredients

2 Chicken whole legs, deboned and cut into cubes

1 cup oil for deep-frying

5 slices ginger

1 tbsp slice garlic

5 honey peas, cut into half (if you like honey peas, you can add more)

10 slices carrot (I did not use carrot but honey peas only)

Marinade

½ tsp salt

½ tsp sesame oil

1 egg white

½ tbsp corn flour

Seasoning (Mixed)

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp light soya sauce

¼ tsp salt (if you can’t stand too salty food, you can omit this)

Dash of pepper

100ml water

2 tbsp water, mixed with 1 tsp corn starch, for thickening (I omit this as the chicken cube is well blend with the corn flour, that could help in thickening the sauces)

Method

1.  Mix chicken with marinade and marinate for 30 minutes
2.  Heat oil until medium hot, add chicken meat and deep fry until 90% cooked. Dish and drain
3.  Leave 2 tablespoon oil in wok, sauté sliced ginger and garlic until aromatic. Add in the remaining ingredients, seasoning and stir well
4.  Lastly thicken with corn starch water (if you did not add this, you can omit this step)
5. Then after, dish out and serve with steam rice

I am submitting this dish to Aspiring Bakers #28: Chicken Feast (February 2013) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker.

Home Cooked Honey Pork Belly

I came across this post while I was googling on other matters, and find it rather easy to cook and it’s originated from a Japanese.

Without second thought and much hesitation, I told myself, got to try it out. Even though I can cook, I find myself not a confident cook like others. Some how just lack of that in me… perhaps I am so afraid of failure. I know many chefs have gone thru many failures before they are successful. But, to me, though I know that’s the path that you ought to go thru, but I find it really a waste when the entire food just not eatable anymore.

I always like how the chef cut their meat, or the way they cut anything … for example this meat, I am not able to cut per what it said in the post. Thurs, my piece of pork belly looks a bit in odd shape. And also the food presentation, the way they presented their food on a plate or a bowl. It looks like an art to me, in fact, it’s a piece of valuable art.

Ingredients

350g pork belly

Oil

Blanched spinach (optional, the original post do add this and also some Japanese mayonnaise for beautifying)

Seasoning

2 Tbsp of honey

2 Tbsp of soy sauce

1 Tbsp of oyster sauce

2 garlic gloves

Step-by-Step

1.  Slice the pork belly into 6-7mm pieces
2.  Grate garlic cloves
3.  Heat oil in a large frying pan and start cooking pork belly on high heat
4.  When both side of the pork belly is nicely browned, turn off the heat
5.  Wipe off the excess oil completely
6.  Turn the heat back on the medium heat and add the seasonings
7.  Cook over medium heat until the meat start to have nice glaze. Try not to burn the sauce
8.  Once done, nice to serve with steamed rice
   
    

家常炒老鼠粉

許多朋友告訴我，兩人很難煮飯。但我從來不認為那是難題。不好又一餐，好又一餐。如果我們老是往外吃，基本上我們是吃了很多味精。儘管許多人聲稱，它的食物從來不加味精，如果常期下去也未必對我們的健康好。雖然我不是一個傳統的女人，但我深信一個完美的女人應該能做飯，管理家裡的一切瑣碎事物。同意我的看法嗎？

這一餐可以說是很容易也可以說很超值。我買老鼠粉RM2.00, 豆芽RM0.20, 辣椒醬RM0.50 和魚餅RM0.40。其餘的配料如肉末，大蒜，雞蛋家裡都有。所以我說很超值。

炒老鼠粉的食譜 (產量: 2人)

老鼠粉

蒜

肉末

豆芽

辣椒醬

魚餅切成細條

雞蛋

1.       燒熱鍋，放入蒜末。炒至香味。
2.       再加入魚餅。輕炒一會兒。
3.       再加入肉末。
4.       和老鼠粉。
5.       加入3湯匙醬油，同時再加入約2湯匙的老抽。
6.       輕輕翻炒所有的成分，再加入1湯匙辣椒醬。
7.       再翻炒，最後才加入豆芽和雞蛋。
8.       輕輕炒，再舀出後，趁熱吃。