Stir Fried Hokkien Mee

This dish has been a favourite among most Singaporean. I have never try cooking at home as I can never ever get the "wok hei".

Nonetheless I will try cooking it at home cos it will be cheaper and well I can add as much "liao" (ingredients) as I like and most importantly I can control the oiliness of the dish.

At the hawker stall, its all about pork lard (猪油渣). I admit it does make any dish more fragrant and taste nicer. Mr W  never ever eats fatty meats. As for me, I wont mind a nice roasted pork belly "Siu Yok". Oops...but its once in a blue moon chance to eat such. And cos Mr W doesn't eat fatty meat, I can't cook "Siu Yok" at home.

Well I have strayed from the main topic - Hokkien Mee. It is easy to prepare except the step of making prawn & pork stock.

Ingredients 
Prawns 
Pork Belly
5 cups/1 litre water
5 to 7 cloves of Garlic
3 Eggs
Yellow noodle (approx 300g)
Thick bee hoon (approx 200g)
Chives (Koo Chye)
Bean Sprouts
Light Soy Sauce, to taste

Preparation

Prawn & Pork Stock
1. First use salt to rub over the pork belly especially the skin and wash off. Set aside. 
2. If it is shelled prawns, peel off the shells and heads. Give these heads and shells a rinse. Set aside.
*If you have prawn shells in the fridge which I do. I usually keep all the prawn shells and freeze them. So in time like this, I will just thaw them to make prawn stock. 
3. Parboil the pork belly.
*Some likes to add a few slices of ginger in to parboil but I didn't.
4. In a stock pot, place the prawn shells. Under low fire, dry stir fry the prawn till fragrant. Once fragrant, add the pork belly and the water. Bring it to a boil. 
5. Lower the fire to simmer the stock. This should take about an hour.
6. Discard the prawn head and shells.
7. Remove the pork belly and slice off the skin and fats at the top. Keep the fats portion (which is directly below the skin). Discard the skin and set aside the fats. 
8. Strain the stock and you should get around 2 cups of stock. 

Ingredients
1. Devein and clean the prawns.
2. Clean the squids and slice the squid.
3. Finely chopped/minced garlic. 
4. Beat the eggs. 
5. Clean the chives and cut them about 2.5inches.
6. Pluck the ends of the bean sprouts. *I keep the head on.
7. Blanch the yellow noodles and thick beehoon separately.

*In case you are interested to know which brand I use. its the above brand in the photo. Using 2/3 pkt of yellow noodle and 1/2 pkt of the white thick beehoon.
I soaked and rinsed the yellow noodles for a few times to remove the "kee" smell.
8. Bringing the stock to a simmer, cook the squids and deveined prawns. Once they turn opaque, remove from the stock. Set aside.
9. Slice the meaty part of the pork belly. Set aside.

Method
1. Using 2 tbsp cooking oil, add in the sliced fats from the pork belly. Allow it to fry till golden brown or a little charred. Remove and discard it. 
2. Add in another 2 tbsp cooking oil, heat it up, then add in the minced garlic. Stir fry till fragrant which should take abou1 to 2 minutes.
3. Add in the beaten eggs. Stir and allow the eggs to cook for a few minutes, stir and break the eggs into pieces. 
4. Add in the yellow noodles, give it a few stir. 
5. Add in the thick bee hoon, stir it in. 
6. Make sure to mix the yellow noodle and thick beehoon. Add in the bean sprouts. Give it a few stir. 
7. Add a cup of the stock that was prepared. Give the noodles a good stir, push and flip. Add more stock till you are left with 1 cup or less. Again, a few push and stir, cover it with the lid and allow it to simmer for a few mintues. 
8. Open the lid, add in the prawns and squid. A dew stir and push motion to get the prawn and squid into the noodle and stock.
9. Add in the remaining stock and the chives. Cover the lid to let it simmer. 
10. Do a taste test. If you find it not salty to your liking, you may add the light soy sauce. I added about 1.5 to 2 tbsp of soy sauce. 
12. Do check in as most of the ingredients are fully cooked. Once the stock is almost absord into the noodles. Turn off the heat and plate up.

Serve it with sambal chili and small lime. 

Its delicious! Trust me. Mr W approves.

Jumping into the bandwagon of making Char Siu

Good morning everyone. Never have I thought that I would take another 6 months to pen down another recipe in here. This recipe surfaced because of my little one, Little M. 

One day while I was watching Singapore Home Cooks (SHC) Live, Little M joined in. As any curious toddlers, he loves to press any emojis. But little did I know that this little monster (didnt realise M is also for monster) took my phone, and typed +1 during SHC Live. 

He was giggling when I told him to return me my phone. I panicked when I saw a +1 in the comments. OMG. "What have you done???" I told Little M. That was how I got a hold of pork jowl. 

SHC Live ships for free for purchases of $80 and above. Truth be told is it is so easy to exceeded $80. Haha. Now I have beef combo, pork jowl and iberico bellota from my first SHC Live buy. Most of which I am not sure how to cook it. My second purchase is almost $250! Yes addictive to watch and +1/+2 on SHC Live. 

Back to this pork jowl, after googling on "How to cook pork jowl" for a few days and read through many recipes of people who have prepared this dish before. I have decided to jump into the bandwagon of using pork jowl to make char siu. 

I sieved out the "essential" ingredients and added some of my own to make it more aromatic. Making sure I have all the ingredients on hand, I marinated this char siu. 

Outcome was surprisingly good. Mr W said it tasted just like those served in high end Chinese restaurants. His words not mine and this husband of mine is very picky when comes to food. So I guess this newly discovered recipe is a keeper.

Here is the recipe and step by step process. Do note that you may alter the amount towards your own liking as everyone has different taste. Cheers!

Ingredients (Serve 2 to 3)

1 pork jowl (around 300g to 400g)

Marinate 
Wet ingredients
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
2 tbsp charsiu sauce (I bought Lee Kum Kee 李锦记)
1/2 tbsp five spice powder 五香粉
1/2 cup honey 

Dry ingredients
1 knob of ginger
3 cloves of garlic
1 shallot


Method

1. Bring the pork jowl out and leave it in room temperature for about 5 to 10 minutes.
This is to allow the meat to sweat out the coldness or any excess water. 

2. While waiting for the pork, finely chopped or minced the dry ingredients. Set aside. 

3. Combine all the ingredients in the wet ingredients. Mixed it well. 

4. Add the chopped/minced ingredients into the wet ingredients mixture. Stir well and set the marinate aside. 
I use a huge bowl because I like to massage the meat in the sauce. 

5. Using a few pieces of kitchen towels, pat dry the piece of pork jowl. Use a fork and prick the piece of pork front and back. 
This will allow the pork to absorb the marinate and be more flavourful. 

6. Place the pork into the bowl of marinate and massage it. Thereafter, I place the marinated pork and the rest of the marinate into a Glad Food Storage bag. Squeeze out the air in the bag and seal it. Place the Glad bag in the fridge.
This is personal preference. To reduce messiness, you can pour the marinate in any food storage bag and place the meat inside. Seal it up and massage the pork all over. 

7. Marinate the pork for 8 to 12 hours. 
For pork jowl, a marinate for 6 to 8 hours is suffice as this piece of meat is thinner.
For pork shoulder butt, marinate for 12 hours or more as it is thicker.

8. Preheat the oven for 10 minutes at 175 degree celsius.

9. Take the marinated pork out from the fridge, leave it aside while waiting for the oven to pre heat. 

10. Using the broiled function, place the pork on the rack like this.

Remember to place a tray below to allow hold any excess sauce or oil that will drip down. This is for easy cleaning.

11. Broil the pork at 175 degree celsius for 10 minutes.

12. Pour out the rest of the marinate in a bowl and set aside. 

13. After 10 minutes, take out the tray and use brush to apply the marinate on the pork. Return the tray back to the oven and continue for another 5 minutes. 

14. Bring out the tray again, turn the pork and brush the marinate on the pork. Return the tray back to the oven and broil for 15 minutes. 

15. Once done, bring out the tray and allow it to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing it. 

16. While waiting to chomp down the char siu, using a saucepan to bring the remaining marinate to a boil. This can be a sauce on your sliced char siu and rice.
Bear in mind that in this marinate, there are minced/chopped garlic, shallots and ginger. You may want to sieve out the boiled sauce to have a smooth consistent texture instead of a lumpy one. 

17. Serve it while it's hot. 

I hope you will enjoy my humble Char Siu recipe. 

Steamed Chicken with Chicken Essence

Hi all,

Its been well...3 years since my last post. Woah time flies, my son is now 3 years old. Haha...now you know why I have not been updating this blog.

A life of a working mom isn't easy. I have to juggle between work and home. My boy, M is so sticky to me till I wish I can have some time out myself.

With such a hectic life, I was not able to cook proper meals for Mr W and my boy, M. So I am struggling to ensure both the men in the house have nutritious meal as and when I can cook.

Recently I learnt about this dish from a colleague of mine. Simple dish. Just steam away! Is it that easy? Yes.

For those who doesn't like chicken essence or too many bottles to spare. This is a recipe to the rescue. This dish will not taste anything like the chicken essence. So don't worry.

Ingredients (Serve 3-4)

2 boneless chicken thighs
6 to 8 red dates
Wolfberries or Goji berries
1 bottle of chicken essence

Optional
Black fungus
Shiitake Mushroom

Method

1. If you are using black fungus or shiitake mushroom. Soak them till they soften. Set aside.

2. Slice the red dates and remove the seeds if you wish. Set aside.

3. Remove the skin and excess fats off the chicken thighs. Slice them into portions.

4. Set the chicken pieces on the plate with the red dates, black fungus and mushrooms. Pour the chicken essence over the chicken. Add the wolfberries/goji berries on top.

5. Place the dish into the steamer and let it steam for 20 to 30 minutes.

You may add scallions or parsley as garnish and serve.

Serve it with a bowl of rice. There...easy as A B C.
Remember to eat it when its hot.

It is nutritious and it tastes nothing like the chicken essence in the bottle.
Best of all...for those who dislike drinking chicken essence, you have a way to consume and not waste those bottles and bottles of chicken essence.

Cheers!

Stir fried Mee Sua aka Longevity Noodles

I have always love mee sua. Be it be soup or stir fried.

Most of the time, my granny or mom will cook mee sua soup, which is a very simple dish. Because with any soup, just add in mee sua, it will become a filling meal. I can take mee sua day in day out without complaints.

Lately I have been having headache what to cook so I decided to try stir fried mee sua. To my surprise, it tastes good.

Ingredients wise, you can choose whichever you prefer. There is no restriction. Just remember to basic - Fry the mee sua then boil the mee sua. It's one more step but worthwhile.

Ingredients (Serve 4)

4 bundles of mee sua
6 kailan/caixin
8 fresh scallops
8 prawns, deveined
1 cod fillet
Pork tenderloin/Chicken thigh
Half a carrot, shredded

Braising sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 rice bowl of water
1 tsp shaoxing/huatiao wine
1 dash of fish sauce
1 dash of pepper

Method

1. Pour some oil in a frying pan. Amount of oil to use will be determine by the mee sua. Please ensure that it is enough to cover half of the mee sua. after 3 minutes or so, use a chopsticks or tongs to gently turn the mee sua to the other side. The mee sua must be golden brown. Don't worry if you over fried it and it becomes darker brown. As long as it is not char.

2. Once the mee sua becomes a nice brown inside out, remove and set aside to allow excess oil to drip off. I placed them on kitchen towel.

3. Boil a pot of water, place the mee sua inside to allow them to soften. Use a chopstick to loosen mee sua. Once cooked, remove the mee sua and set aside.

4. Season the fish and pork tenderloin for 10 minutes. Set aside.
a. Slice the pork tenderloin thinly. Season with soy sauce and sesame oil.
b. Cut the cod fillet into 1 inch length. Season with pepper, sesame oil and soy sauce.

5. In a bowl, add the ingredients in the braising sauce and mix well. Set aside.

Now you are ready to use a wok to stir fry the rest of the ingredients.

6. In a heated wok, add a tsp of cooking oil. Add pork and stir fry for a 2 to 3 minutes.

7. Add in the prawns and scallops. Stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes.

8. At this time, use a tongs or chopstick, add the mee sua bit by bit and stir fry. This is to avoid breaking the mee sua.

9. Add in the cod and kailan and carrot. Give it a few stir.

Note: I like my kailan crunchy so I added it late. Fish tends to cook pretty quickly, so it is added in last.

10. Pour in the braising sauce. Give it a few stir again. You can choose to cover the wok with a lid til the water reduce or just gently stir fried till the sauce is reduced.

Note: Those who doesn't like fish sauce, like Mr W. You can choose to omit it.

After cooking this stir fried mee sua, I don't think I will order this from any restaurant or zi char anymore.

My Colourful Aglio Olio

Nowadays I tried to wake up early in the morning to prepare lunch for work. So being a working wife, I need to ensure we get all the nutrients from what we eat. Most of the time, we eat out and I do not know what seasoning they add and the food - are they fresh??? So I decided to prepare lunch at least twice a week on weekdays.

Last evening, I saw my friend prepared aglio olio for her family, so I was hmm...I have pasta at home and I have some seafood as well. So I might as well cook this for lunch tomorrow.

Easy to prepare and well all the ingredients use are packed with their respective nutrients.

Ingredients
Pasta
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 chili padi, finely sliced and deseeded
Olive oil
3 - 4 anchovies
Cod fish fillet, skin removed
Prawns, deveined & deshelled
Scallops
Cherry Tomatoes
Broccoli Florets

Method
1. Boil water for pasta. Cook the pasta til al dente. Drain and set aside.
*Note: I cooked my pasta the night before. Make sure it is undercooked & do not rinse the pasta. Drain the water and allow it to dry. Keep it in a air tight container and put it in the fridge. The next morning, I boil a pot of water with salt and place the pasta in for it to warm up and cook to the doneness you prefer.
2. Remove the pasta from the pot of water. Using the same pot of water (heat off), add in the broccoli florets.
3. Heat a pan with olive oil, sautee the garlic till fragrant.
4. Add in chili padi and anchovies. Saute the anchovies till somehow they melt.
5. Using low heat, add in the prawns and scallops. Allow it to cook.
6. Once the prawn and scallops are almost cooked, add in the al dente pasta, cherry tomatoes and broccoli florets into the pan. Add olive oil, as desired. Combine well.
8. Plate it up and set aside.
9. Season the cod with pepper and salt. Pan fry it for about 6 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet.
10. Flake the cod and combine with the rest of the ingredients.

There you have it, a sumptuous meal that is easy to prep. Garnish with parmesan cheese and chili flakes and even chopped Italian parsley, which apparently I don't have any of the three.