Crispy Bacon

Maybe this post is redundant. But just in case people wonder how best to obtain crispy bacon, here it is.

I have tried pan frying the bacons, using water to fry the bacons. Yes water fry!!!! And oven baked the bacons. The crispiest of all is oven baked!

Remember to bake them at room temperature oven at 200°C for 20 minutes. They always turn out golden, simmering with the goodness (ah well the oil...hahah) & crispy!!!

I have leftover shabu shabu pork belly, so I decided to make bacon!!!

For shabu shabu pork belly, please sprinkle some oil, I used olive oil to coat the base. Lay the bacons on the pan like this. Add the seasoning to your taste.

Into the oven at 200°C for 18 minutes. Why 18 minutes, because shabu shabu pork belly are a lot thinner. 

And voila, it is so crispy that you can't get enough of them.

Spicy Chili Prawn

In one of entry, I cooked spicy chili prawns with egg tofu using Singlong Chili Crab sauce. But I didn't have that yesterday, so I whipped out my own chili crab sauce. 

Ingredients

Marinate for the shrimps

• 25 medium size shrimps

• 2 tbsp of shaoxing wine

• a pinch of salt 

• 2 to 3 dash of white pepper

• 1 tbsp of corn flour

For chili sauce

• 2 slice of a inch ginger

• 4 garlic cloves

• 2 white part of scallion

• 3 tsp of Spicy Chili Bean Paste

• 3 tbsp of tomato ketchup

• 2 tbsp of chili sauce

• 2 chili padi

• 1/2 cup of chicken broth

• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine

• 2 tsp of sugar

• 2 tsp of sesame oil

• 2 eggs

For thickening

• 1 tbsp of corn flour + 2 tbsp of water

For garnish

• scallions

Directions

1. Wash, deshell and devein the prawns.
2. Pat dry the prawns and marinate them with the above mentioned marinate ingredients for prawns. Set a side.
3. Mince the ginger, garlic and the scallion. Set aside.
4. Slice the chili padi and remove all the seeds. Set aside. 
5. Pan fry the prawns on each side. Remove once it turn orange. *Note: It is okay if the centre is grey. Set aside. 
6. In a pan, heat a tsp of sesame oil over medium heat, fry the mince ginger, garlic and scallion till fragrant. 
7. Lower the heat and add in the chili bean paste and tomato ketchup. Stir well. 
8. Pour in the chicken broth, shaoxing wine and sugar. Mix well.
9. Allow the sauce to simmer for a few minutes. Add in the half cooked prawns. Coat the prawns well. 
10. Add in the slice chili padi and 1 tsp of sesame oil. Thicken the sauce with the corn flour mixture. 
11. Beat 2 eggs and pour them onto the sauce. Over the pan with a lid for a few minutes and turn off the heat. 
12. Dish up. Garnish and serve it hot. 

Note: my family loves spicy food, that's why chili padi was added. 

Bak Kut Teh 肉骨茶

This is my second try on 肉骨茶. The first time, I used ready pack from A1 which didn't turn out to be favorable. Maybe it's personal preference. Mr W, being a pretty picky person when comes to food, blatantly told me my Bak Kut Teh failed. 

So months later which was also last week 的年初四, I decided to try again. Using a different brand of Bak Kut Teh spice - the orange white pack, from ILC Trading. Mr W loves it! So I'm so going to stick to this Bak Kut Teh spice & this recipe.

I added black fungus cos I love to eat them but it is odd having them in Bak Kut Teh. Nonetheless, it doesn't alter the taste. 

Ingredients (Serve 2)

500g of pork ribs

1/2 Nappa cabbage, coarsely chopped

4 shiitake mushrooms

A handful of black fungus

6 cloves of garlic 

3 cilantro roots

1 packet of Bak Kut Teh spice (ILC trading)

2 litre of water 
1 tsp of dark soy sauce
1 tsp of cinnamon powder *it enhances the tastes

Wolfberries depends on your liking
A dash of pepper

Directions 

1. Soak the mushroom and black fungus ahead of time. 

2. Wash and parboil the pork ribs. Set aside.

3. Bruise the garlics and remove the skins.

4. Wash the cilantro roots thoroughly.

5. Place the garlics, cilantro roots, pork ribs and the packet of Bak Kut Teh spice in a pot of water.
6. Add in the mushroom and black fungus. 

7. Once boiling, lower the heat and continue cooking for 2 hours.

8. Soak the wolfberries in a bowl of water. Drain and set aside.

9. Add the Nappa cabbage into the soup.
10. Add a teaspoon of dark soy sauce and a dash of pepper. 

11. Check the tenderness of the pork rib using chopsticks, if it is to your liking, turn off the heat. 

12. Add in the wolfberries. Garnish with cilantro & serve with a bowl of steam white rice and accompanied with dark soy sauce with chili.

Spicy Chili Prawns with Egg Tofu

Having to organise a makan session for my family, I was a mess!

I wasn't focus as to what dish to prepare and what to buy in advance. I need something quick but delicious. I saw this bottle of chili sauce at Cold Storage with a tiny recipe tag on top of it. So I decide to try this.

Oh well...its like playing russian roulette. Either it is a hit or miss. Luckily for me, it was a hit!

It was well liked by all except those who doesn't take spicy food.

Be warned, Singlong Chili Crab sauce is indeed spicy. Not for children.

I made a few changes to this recipe such as adding egg tofu, chopped garlic and tomato ketchup. 

Ingredients

• 700g of prawns deshelled *I didn't manage to get any fresh big prawns, I decided to use frozen ones. 
• 2 tube of egg tofu
• 5 tbsp corn flour *for coating the egg tofus
• 3 gloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 bottle of Singlong Chili Crab sauce - weighing 380g
• 1 bottle of water - 380g *I used the singlong bottle
• 3 tbsp of tomato ketchup 
• 1/2 tbsp of corn flour 
• 1 egg
• Cilantro for garnish

Directions

1. Deshell and devein the prawns. Set aside
2. Cut the egg tofu in to a inch thick. Coat them with corn flour. 
3. Pan fried the egg tofu till golden brown. Set aside on a kitchen towel.
   
4. Using the same pan, fry the chopped garlic till fragrant. Add in the prawns. Fry each side fot he prawn. Once both sides turn orange but the centre is still grey, dish it up. 
5. In a pot, pour in the bottle of Singlong Chili Crab sauce, tomato ketchup and the bottle of water with the 1/2 tbsp of corn flour. Stir well.
6. Add in the prawns with the garlic in to the pot.
7. Add in the fried egg tofu and mix it with the sauce. 
8. Beat an egg and pour in. Once it is boiling, off the heat. 
9. Dish up and garnish with cilantro.

Snow Pear with Snow Fungus Soup (雪梨雪耳汤)

This is my first time brewing this soup and being a lazy me, I prepped everything and put them in a slow cooker to brew. I left it to cook in a slow cooker for almost 12 hours. 

Reason being it was my first time preparing a luncheon for 14 pax and I kinda freak out. So one dish down using the slow cooker. =p

Ingredients

• 4 chinese white pears
• 3 candied dates 
• a handful of snow fungus
• 3 tbsp of small chinese almonds (南北杏)
• 800g of pork big bones
• 3.6 litre of water
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Wash and parboil the pork big bones. Set aside.
2. Soak the white fungus in a bowl of water for 15 minutes. 
3. Place the big bones and the rest of the ingredients (except salt) into the slow cooker.
4. Fill it with 3 litre of water.
   
5. Use auto-shift mode to cook the soup. *I brew it for more than 12 hours. 
6. When ready, add salt to taste. 

Note: 

1. If you prefer a more savoury soup, reduce the chinese white pears & candied dates. 
2. If you want to have meat in this soup, you can either change the pork big bones to pork ribs or add pork ribs and reduce the big bones. 

Broiled/Grilled Salmon

My husband is not a fan of fish but I am!!! So I will find ways to prepare fish for myself. Well of course, for my guests too!

The sauce can be prepared in advance and freeze it for future use. All you need is a slice of fresh salmon, garlic, soy sauce and some other seasonings. 

Ingredients

• Salmon
• Salt 
• Lemon Pepper to taste
• Garlic Powder to taste
• 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/3 cup of soy sauce
• 1/3 cup of brown sugar
• 1/3 cup of water
• 1/4 cup of olive oil

Directions

1. Rub some salt on the salmon. Rinse well. Pat the salmon dry. Lay the the salmon on the chopping board.
   
2. Apply and rub the lemon pepper and garlic pepper on the both side of the salmon fillets. Slice the salmon if you got something like mine, one huge piece. 
   
3. In a bowl, stir together the chopped garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, water and olive oil till the sugar dissolve. 
4. Place the salmon fillets into a Ziploc bag. Pour in the soy sauce mixture, seal and coat the fillets with the sauce. Make sure the fillets are well coated. 
   
5. Refrigerate it for at least 2 hours.  
6. You may grill the salmon or wrap it in aluminium foil to oven baked it. 

• If you are going for the grill, 6 minutes per side for the fillet, depending on the thickness of the fish. Always flesh down first. 
• If you are going for the oven baked, make a foil packet to hold individual salmon and 2 to 3 tbsp of the sauce and close it up. Baked at 220 degrees celsius for around 15 minutes. 

If you are a sauce person, you can boil the leftover sauce into a pan and add a little cornflour to thicken it. Pour it over the salmon fillet and serve. 

This is a great recipe to use when preparing salmon. Especially in foil packets. This poaches gently in its sauce and juices. It always comes out tender and flavourful.