A Treasured Terengganu dish - Kay Hong

When I first come across this dish, it was at Mr W(then my boyfriend)'s sister's place. This is one of Mr W 's favourite Terengganu Nyonya dish. The name of this dish when I first got to know was "Hong". After 5 years, I got to learn that the name of this dish is Kay Hong. This is a very popular dish for the Nyonya to serve for prayers or Chinese New Year. It keeps well and needs no refrigeration. The more you reheat it, the better the dish becomes.

I am not crazy over this dish but I won't mind eating it. As for Mr W, I can say he is crazy over this dish. He can go for round two when I cook this. He loves having the sauce over his rice and the hard boiled eggs. One thing I have to admit is that this savoury sweet sauce tends to be pretty addictive.

By the way, Mr W said no one except his mom cooks the best dishes, even his sister can't replicate them. My mom-in-law ever told me that she would love to teach me all the dishes she used to cook and all the kueh kueh she used to prepare. But at her age of 94, she doesn't enter the kitchen anymore. Despite her age, she is still very alert and healthy. She will tell me the ingredients for the dish but the rest is all dependent on me. *Stress*

Yesterday was my first trial to cook this dish and I was very pressurized. I need to cook this dish to suit the very picky Mr W's taste. Before I prepare all the ingredients, I gave my mom-in-law a call to confirm the ingredients.

Now let's start with the Ingredients
4 chicken thighs
200g of pork belly
4 hardboiled eggs, peeled
1 pieces of gula melaka, to taste
2-3 tbsp preserved bean paste aka tau cheo
70g shallots
30g garlic
2 cups of water
1 tbsp dark soy sauce, depends on your colour preference
3 tbsp of kicap manis

Method
1. Pound the shallots and garlic. Set aside.
2. Parboil the whole piece of pork belly and chicken thighs. Remove the meat pieces and discard the water.
3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in wok. Fry the pounded shallots and garlic until fragrant.
4. Add in the gula melaka and tau cheo and stir fry for a few minutes.

5. Add the pork belly and chicken pieces and stir fry.

6. Pour in 2 cups of water and allow it to simmer.

7. Add the dark soy sauce and kicap manis, give it a stir. Put the hardboiled eggs in and let it simmer until the pork and chicken are cooked.
8. Dish up the pork belly and slice them into 1 cm thick. Put them back into the wok or you can dish up the chicken and egg with the delicious sauce and serve with a plate of steam white rice. Enjoy!

Do note that the sweetness of this sauce tends to overpower the saltiness, hence there is a need to balance both. Can't be too sweet, can't be too salty. Adjust the proportion to your taste. 

Spinach in Superior Broth with 3 types eggs

Since I have century eggs left after making the steamed tofu with braised sauce, topped with century eggs, I decided to buy a bunch of spinach. While I remember the spinach, I forgot about the salted eggs. Never mind, I will make do with the spinach, century eggs and eggs. I love spinach, who doesn't. Well I know Popeye may prefer this cooking method for spinach. :) Who knows. Hehe. 

Ingredients
A bunch of spinach
1 egg
1 century egg
1 salted egg
1 cup of chicken broth
1 tbsp of wolfberries
2 to 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Method
1. Wash the spinach individually and remove the fibrous layer from the stalk. Bend to break the stalk at around 2 to 3 inches. You will be able to see the fibrous layer, pull it backwards to remove them.
2. Separate the stalks and the leaves. Set aside.
3. Peel and dice the century egg and set aside.
4. Remove the black husk of the salted egg and wash it clean before boiling it.  Once the salted egg is hard boiled, peel and dice it. Set aside.
5. Wash the wolfberries and set aside.
6. Heat at the wok with a tsp of oil. Stir fry the garlic to fragrant.
7. Add in the stalks and fry for a few minutes, add in the leaves. Toss it for a while and pour in the chicken broth. Stir the spinach in the broth and allow it to simmer.
8. Once it is almost boiling, add in the century egg, salted egg and wolfberries. Give it a stir.
9. Lightly beat the egg and pour it over the spinach. Allow it to simmer for a few minutes and turn of the heat. Dish up and serve.

This is a simple dish and its so tasty. Although I miss out the salted egg, it is still delicious and most of all healthy.

For those who has high cholesterol, you may wish to use half of a century egg and salted egg.

Cheers!!!

Hanjuku Eggs

Calling all egg lovers!!! Love those eggs that are served with Japanese ramen?
Love those eggs that have a firm white but a runny yolk? Here is the answer!!!

Ingredients

• 4 eggs at room temperature (you may prepare more in case some eggs are not nicely peeled)
• 1 tsp sea salt 

Step by Step Instructions

1. Bring water to boil & add in the salt.
2. Lower the heat & gently place the eggs into the pot.
3. Simmer the eggs for exactly 6 minutes.
4. While the eggs are simmering, prepare an icy cold bath.
5. Take the eggs out at exactly 6 minutes and put them into the cold bath you have prepared.
6. Let the eggs cool down in the cold bath for at least 5 minutes. This is to stop the cooking process.
7. Once the eggs are cool, peel them with care. 

For those who prefer slightly firmer egg yolk, simmer the eggs for 7 to 8 minutes. 

Okay and we are done!!!

Well...not quite. To have those Japanese Ramen eggs, you have to soak these eggs in a marinade. And I will be giving you the recipe in a second. 

Do note to prepare the marinade before cooking the eggs. Because we need the marinade to be cool. Here goes...

Marinade

• 50ml soy sauce
• 200ml water
• 25ml mirin
• 25ml sake
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped or minced)
• 3 slices of ginger

Step by Step Instructions

1. Combine the ingredients in a saucepan & bring it to a boil.
2. Allow it to take time to cool. (Remember it has to be cool!!!)
3. Put the peeled eggs with the marinade in a plastic container like what I did below.

4. Occasionally move them around to avoid uneven colouring. Let them sit in the marinade for 3 hours to overnight. It really depends on your preference!
5. Voila! There you have it! Delicious hanjuku eggs or lava eggs!

Enjoy!