Have you ever questioned yourself the difference between shrimp and prawn? Do you say shrimp or prawn? For me, I have always been using the term prawn. I have this idea that shrimp is slightly smaller than prawn. They both apparently are quite similar looking, but, in reality, they are not that similar. Anyway, this has been in my head for quite a while and until recently, I decided to look up the differences between shrimp and prawn.

Based on the research that I have done on the internet, I have learnt that not only shrimp and prawn are not alike,  the term of shrimp or prawn is used because of difference in culture too. In the UK, prawn is used to refer to both prawn and shrimp, while shrimp is a common term use to refer to both shrimp and prawn in the US.  According to Wikipedia, both are decapod crustaceans, meaning they have exoskeletons and 10 legs. They are found in fresh and salt water. Appearance wise, they could look pretty similar. However, a number of the differences are: prawn is slightly larger than shrimp. Apart from that, it was found that prawn’s legs are longer than those of shrimp’s. Prawn has transparent shell compared to more pigmented/coloured shell of shrimp.

After all, I don’t really think that they are so different from each other. I guess, for me, it’s probably just a matter of term used that makes us thing both are different. Anyway, I guess, prawns are probably what I normally buy and I don’t really check if they are prawns or shrimps. For a seafood lover like me, prawns or shrimps, they are fine for me, I love both!

You probably recall the post about my visit to a fishing port in Kuala Perlis, Malaysia. There are 2 photos of prawns that were freshly caught. When I looked at them again, I really wish I could get those fresh salt water prawns here! I craved for the one of the dishes that my mom made when I was back home. Well, I could have bought some big fat prawns from the fish market but I didn’t as they cost a bomb! So, without much choices, I resorted to frozen ones and I think they were farmed. Anyway, that aside, I got my prawns and I was happy that at least, I could recreate the taste of home. (Yes, I still feel homesick!)

This simple dish, I call prawns in chili sauce and ketchup. To be honest, it is such a humble dish that you only need to have a few ingredients. But, taste wise, it is so delicious that I think I ended up eating more than 10 prawns!! So, that’s the revenge of not having prawns for quite a while (actually just a few weeks!). I am pretty sure for seafood lovers (or prawn/shrimp lovers), you will love this!

One thing about this recipe, I leave the heads and shells on for one reason – better taste! As I deep fried prawns before cooking them again in the sauce, I think all the flavours of the prawns were captured in the shells. I did trim away the legs, pincers, antennal scale, antenna, and rostrum of each prawn. And of course, deveined them! For those who are not comfortable to leave the heads and shells on, you can still make this, but, I think the taste will be slightly different.

Recipe: Easy Stir-Fry: Prawns in Chili Sauce & Ketchup

Black tiger prawns, 1kg

Ginger, 7-8 thin slices of about 2cm diameter

Spring onions, 3

Onion, 1 (cut into wedges)

Garlic, 2 cloves

Chili, 1 (sliced) optional

Vegetable oil, enough for shallow frying + 1 tbsp

Sauce:

Ketchup, 2 tbsp

Maggi Chili Sauce, 3 tbsp

Sugar, 1 tsp

Dark soya sauce, 1 tsp

Soya sauce, 1 tbsp

Water, 2-3 tbsp

Method:

1. In a wok and deep frying pan, heat up enough vegetable oil to cover prawns when frying. When it is warm, shallow fry prawns in batches for about 5-6 minutes or until pink. Repeat until the whole batch finishes, set aside.

2. In a new pan, pour over 1 tbsp spoon of the vegetable oil. Under medium heat, put in garlic, onion and ginger. Cook until soft. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce and add into the pan. Stir well.

3. Add in cooked prawns, spring onions and cut fresh chili (if using). Cook and stir for another 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Mong Kok, in Chinese means ‘prosperous corner’. It is situated in the heart of Kowloon and said to be the most densely populated area in the world. Over the years, food scenes in Mong Kok have evolved from a cheap street food to an upmarket culinary destination. Ming Court at Langham Place Hotel has risen from 1 Michelin starred restaurant to 2 star in 2010 Michelin Guide to Hong Kong & Macau. It is now the only 2-starred eatery in Mong Kok.

Ming Court serves up exquisite Cantonese cuisine, which occasionally drifts into Canto-European fusion. The executive Chef, Tsang Chiu-King, says “The achievement of two Michelin stars is actually a bonus to me. Regardless of whether the Michelin star is awarded, we will continue to try our best to keep our standard and seek improvement.”

The menu covers from dim sum to set lunch. The tea list is extensive, from normal to deluxe Chinese tea up for your selection.

The atmosphere was calm and relaxing. Large families were enjoying their dim sum on a typical weekend afternoon. Everything was cleaned and polished. Waiters and waitresses were taking care of the patrons’ needs as best as they could; pouring tea and keeping an eye on what to be served next.

Deep-fried foie gras and beancurd wrapped with angel hair 鵝肝豆腐千絲酥 sounds like a fantastic twist to the dim sum. I never thought that this combo will make such great impact in the mouth – the crunchiness of the angel hair that wrapped around the rich and smooth foie gras in the middle, was absolutely a great lift to any classic dim sum I have tried.

Next was steamed rice pasta/rice rolls with barbecued pork in honey sauce 蜜汁叉燒腸粉. A simple dish like this just has to be kept to minimalist like what the chef has done – well marinated pork pieces rolled up in a soft-texture rice rolls, served in a rich and not too overpowering soy and honey sauce.

What about a tiny bit of taste from the sea?  Steamed dumplings with crabmeat, egg white 螃蟹餃. As simple as it sounds, it is big in flavours. The dumpling wrapper was silkily smooth, translucent and rolled at the right thickness. The jewel inside was nicely seasoned and juicy crabmeat that raptured into big flavours upon a tiny bite.

Deep-fried shrimp ball with grapefruit and honey 柚子蜜脆蝦丸 makes a good addition to the small dishes section. Beautifully glazed shrimp ball that has got its ‘bounce’ to the bite, was definitely a pleasure to eat. However, it was to my slight disappointed that the sauce was probably a bit too much and too sweet for my liking.

Baked spinach with crabmeat and black truffle in cheese 芝士蟹肉黑松露南瓜焗波菜 was probably the least Cantonese-looking dish amongst all other dishes. Having said that, spinach and crabmeat are two common ingredients used in Chinese cooking. This dish was really well executed. It has a very unusual combination – the saltiness of the cheese and sweetness of the crabmeat and pumpkin work!

I usually finish off dim sum with sweet bites of egg tarts or mango pudding. At Ming Court, I was stunned with the most beautiful and amazingly presented ever dessert – Sharks Fin Extravagance. By the name itself, it sounds pretty grand. Never would I thought that shark’s fin could be used in dessert.

Shark’s fin is a delicacy for the Chinese. I am not encouraging everyone to try shark’s fin. However, it is an ingredient where it is used for special occasions. Whether it is right or wrong to consume shark’s fin, I would leave it to the individuals. It is just like the question of consuming the almost endangered yellow fin tuna and whales.

Anyway, shark’s fin extravagance is mango pudding served in a shape of cube topped with a layer of shark’s fin jelly. Presented on a tray in an oblong box that stored with dry ice. When hot water poured, the mist was created. Never have I seen a dessert served in a way of such elegance! I like the idea – a totally reconstructed mango pudding!

As a foodie, I am always curious to know what makes a restaurant worth 2 Michelin star as a 2 Michelin starred restaurant means ‘‘excellent cooking, worth a detour’. Now, it comes to my realisation that Michelin has awarded an additional to Ming Court, simply because of the amazing, well-executed cooking skills and out of expectation of a Cantonese cuisine. Service is impeccably top-notch, there are no flaws in making the customers feel right at home.

What do I prefer? Meat or fish? My answer is fish. I have been a seafood lover since I was young. The moments that I will never forget were those when my parents brought us to seafood restaurants. That was something that got me really excited when my parents told us, ‘Hurry up, go and get changed, we are going out for dinner at a seafood restaurant.’

The nearest coastal town from my hometown is about 30 minutes by car. Kuala Kedah and Kuala Perlis are both famous for seafood restaurants. Apart from that, both places are famous fishing ports in the Northwest of Malaysia and also the spots where you can take the ferry to go to Langkawi island. Every time we went to Kuala Perlis was not to take a ferry to go to Langkawi but to indulge in the freshest seafood we could get. It couldn’t have been better when my uncle got his own catch and brought it to the restaurant!

Fish, of course, you can cook in many ways. I have a few fish recipes posted on my blog. If you take a look again, I guess, you will notice that I like to steam fish as well as stir-fry. Steaming is the best way of tasting fish! This time around, I steamed my fish but in a slight different way. I used plaice fillets and rolled them with spinach. Pretty simple, but in this way, I have my portion of greens too, which is great!

Plaice wasn’t common to me when I came to the UK a few years ago. It’s a kind of flat fish, which is widely available here. There isn’t much flesh but its texture is really fine and almost melt in the mouth. Try plaice, it’s a great fish!

Recipe: Steamed Plaice & Spinach Rolls

Ingredients:

Place fillets (cut into halves to make smaller rolls), 2-3

Spinach (chopped), 60g – 80g

Oyster sauce, 1 tbsp

White pepper, to taste

Garlic (chopped), 1 clove

Vegetable oil, 1 tbsp

Coriander (to garnish), 1-2 sprig

Method:

1. Lay each fillet flat on a chopping board. Divide the spinach between each fillet. Portion the spinach in the middle of the fillet and roll it up. Secure with toothpick.

2. Arrange fillet rolls on a plate.

3. Mix oyster sauce, white pepper and sesame oil. Drizzle on each fillet roll.

4. Steam fillet rolls in the steamer for 10 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, heat up a pan. Put in oil and on low heat, slowly brown the chopped garlic.

6. Serve the rolls warm, drizzle with garlic and its oil and garnish with coriander.

Steamed Plaice & Spinach Rolls

Claypot cooking is one of my favourites. Years ago when I was still a student in KL, I often frequented hawkers stalls for lunch and dinner. One of the dishes like claypot chicken rice by never failed to catch my attention. I always like my food to be warm when served, and claypot is the best in keeping the heat. Claypot cooking is not only a famous method used in SE Asia, it is also commonly used in several cuisines in Europe.

I bought a claypot not too long ago and have been wanting to use it. I thought of one dish that I used to eat quite a lot when my family and I went to a famous Chinese Seafood restaurant near to my uncle’s place in Kuala Perlis. This uncle of mine was in fishery business. When the catch was good, he would ask us to join him and his family at this particular restaurant, which he knew the proprietor really well. He would bring the best and biggest fish to the restaurant and asked them to prepare the fresh catch! It couldn’t have been fresher than this!

I love fish. One of my favourites is Grouper. Grouper has got really firm meat and it is suitable for stir-frying or braising. I got 2 Groupers when I went to Billingsgate Market not long ago. First thing that came to my mind when I saw grouper was claypot fish.

Claypot fish may sound really simple, I added some shiitake mushrooms, tofu, snow peas, baby corn, chinese cabbage and carrots. A wholesome meal was ready in less than 20 minutes! I think best dishes are always those that have been kept in my memory since I was a kid that never failed to put a smile on my face. I reminisced a lot about all the food that I tasted since childhood! Do you?

Recipe: Claypot Fish (砂煲鱼)

Ingredients:

Grouper or red snapper (cut into squares), 400-500g

Tofu (cut into squares), 100g

Shiitake mushrooms (or Chinese mushrooms), 3-4

Snow peas, 10-12

Baby corn (halves), 8

Chinese cabbage (roughly cut into 4cm), 4-5 leaves

Carrots (thinly sliced), 1/4

Garlic (chopped), 1 cloves

Ginger (chopped), 1 cm

Oil, 1-2 tbsp

Chinese rice wine, 1 tbsp

Corn flour, 1 tbsp

Salt, a pinch

Water, 80ml

Seasoning

Oyster sauce, 1 tbsp

White pepper, 1/8 tsp

Thickening

Cornflour, 1 tsp

Water, 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Marinate the fish with a pinch of salt.

2. Cut the tofu into squares. Pan fry the tofu with a little bit of oil until golden brown and crispy. Set aside.

3. Coat the fish with cornflour, pan fry each piece until slightly golden brown. Set aside.

4. Heat up a pan with some oil. Put in garlic and ginger, fry until fragrance and but brown. Put in chinese rice wine. Add in carrots, chinese cabbage, snow peas, baby corn, and Shiitake mushroom. Stir-fry under low heat for about 4 minutes.

5. Add in water and slowly bring to a boil. Add in fish and tofu. Give it a good stir. Add in seasoning then thicken the sauce with conflour mixture.

6. Heat a claypot in the oven for about 4-5 minutes until hot.

7. Pour in the cook dish into the claypot, serve immediately.

It has been a busy week.. plus it was my birthday 3 days ago! Ahh.. getting another year older.. ops!!! Anyway, we should have gone out for dinner but the restaurant was fully booked even if we booked it a month before my birthday! However, we managed to reserve a table for 2 next Friday! I am so looking forward to dine in this restaurant, which I will tell you all about it next week!

It was also exactly 2 years ago on the 28th October that my food blog was named My Cooking Hut. So, indirectly, it was kind of like a 2 year anniversary for My Cooking Hut 3 days ago, how cool is that?

Just a day before my birthday, I baked a lot of Triple Chocolate Brownies and Madeleines to share them with my work colleagues. They absolutely loved the brownies and madeleines!! I came back with empty boxes which was a good sign and received good feedback from them, which made me feel really flattered!

Today, I am going to share a very easy dish. It’s stuffed tofu with pork. Tofu is of Chinese origin, but it’s widely used in other Asian countries too. It has very little flavour on its own, thus, to make an interesting tofu dish, the accompanied ingredients are really important. There are many types of tofu; silken tofu, firm tofu, and dried tofu, which are commonly used in Asian kitchen.

This time, I pair tofu with minced pork. Instead of using minced pork as an ingredient in the sauce, I have opted to stuff minced pork in the tofu. Then, dress stuffed tofu with some vegetables in a light sauce. It is extremely easy to get this done for a healthy dinner.

Recipe: Stuffed Tofu with Pork

Ingredients:

Firm tofu (each cut into 2 triangles), 4 square blocks

Minced pork, 200g

Sesame oil, 1 tbsp

Oyster sauce, 1 tbsp

Soya sauce, 1 tbsp

Ground white pepper, 0.5 tsp

Corn flour, 1 tsp

Carrots (cut into cubes), 1

Courgette/Zuchinni (cut into thin slices), half

Oil, enough for pan-frying

Garlic (chopped), 1

Sauce

Water, 4-5 tbsp

Oyster sauce, 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Cut tofu into equal triangles. Using a knife, carefully cut around the edges of the long side of triangle. Make the incision slightly more than half way through the tofu. Make sure you don’t cut through.

2. Use a teaspoon to remove the tofu from the middle of each triangle. Be very careful to keep the pouch intact. Set aside the tofu that is take out from the middle.

3. In small bowl, mix minced pork, tofu crumb, oyster sauce, soya sauce, white pepper, sesame oil, and corn flour.

4. With a teaspoon, scoop the filling and stuff in to the middle part of the tofu as much as you could fit in. Shape the stuffing with your hands. Repeat this to the rest of the tofu pieces.

5. Heat up a pan with oil enough to pan fry, pan fry each side of the tofu until golden brown. It takes about 15- 20 minutes to brown each piece of tofu and cook through the stuffing. Once all cooked, set tofu aside.

6. Use back the same pan, drizzle some oil, put in the chopped garlic and cook until fragrant and slightly brown. Then, put in carrots and courgette/zucchini.  Add in the sauce and cook until tender. Add in more water if necessary.

7. Add back the cooked tofu to warm up. Coat tofu with the sauce. Sprinkle some chili flakes if you wish. Serve warm.

As well as fishing sustainably, we should also be using every part of the fish that’s edible. Monkfish liver, for example, is a delicacy. Monkfish cheeks and even the bones and heads can all be put to use in the kitchen! Not too long ago, I found out a cheaper way to eat monkfish! Previously blogged recipe – Monkfish in salted soya bean and black bean sauce, is one of the best ways to prepare monkfish. I used monkfish loin last time. It didn’t cost me a fortune, but it’s still rather expensive!

Not long ago, I went to my usual fishmonger that sells diver scallops. I got some scallops and then he asked me if I wanted some monkfish cheeks. I repeated in my head “Monkfish cheeks?” He replied “Yeah! They are  really good and full of flesh!” I paused for a few seconds. He continued “Give it a try! All you need to do is to slightly coat them in flour, season with salt and pepper. Then, fry them!” Even before I had the chance to make up my mind, he scooped up a handful of monkfish cheeks and weighed them. He then turned to me and said “It’s going to be £2.50.” I paused again. Ok, about 300g of monkfish cheeks costs only £2.50? I then decided to bargain (always do!). I got it down to £2.00!!

Monkfish cheeks are of course the flesh from the cheeks of monkfish. In the past, monkfish cheeks are discarded but now, they are even served on the menu at the best restaurants! There is no difference in the texture, it is exactly the same to the loin or fillet. Before cooking, remove the membrane enclosing them or this will contract in cooking making the flesh tough.

I got pretty excited when I got home as I wanted to try out monkfish cheeks, I couldn’t wait any longer! Without wasting much time, I thought a quick stir-fry would be the best. It came across my mind a recipe that I made previously, garlic and coriander chicken. I decided to adopt the same ingredients, plus a bit of chili, perhaps? Coriander turns out to be a fantastic pairing with monkfish too!

Recipe: Coriander & Chili Monkfish Cheeks Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

Monkfish cheeks, 300g

Corn flour, 1 tbsp

Red chili (chopped) or dried chili flakes, 1-2 tsp

Soya sauce, 1 tbsp

Sugar, 1 tsp

Coriander (chopped), 1 stalk

Chicken stock, 10ml

Garlic, 3 cloves

Oil, enough for shallow-frying and reserve some for stir-frying

Method:

1. Lightly coat monkfish cheeks with corn flour.

2. Then, shallow-fry the monkfish cheeks in hot oil until slightly brown. Drain and set aside.

3. Chop the garlic and coriander together.

4. Stir-fry the chopped garlic and coriander until slightly brown, and add together the chopped chili or chili flakes and all remaining ingredients.

5. Lastly, put in monkfish cheeks and mix well. Garnish with some coriander and  serve warm.

It was weekend and I was glad that I had the whole day to do whatever I wanted. I cherish this kind of moment when I have got the whole morning and afternoon to do things that I enjoy. I opened the freezer and I saw the leftover pâte feuilletée (puff pastry) that I used to make Cherry Tomato & Zucchini Tart. (OK! I know I still owe you guys the step-by-step post on making pâte feuilletée! It’s on my long to do list! So, please bear with me)

I wanted to do something different – something tastes Asian with pâte feuilletée! I like the idea of baked Dim Sum. I think, my numerous visits to Chinese restaurants for Dim Sum have inspired me in making this recipe.

I checked the fridge and saw the daikon that I bought which I had no idea what I wanted to do with it. Daikon is the Japanese name for white and mild-flavoured Asian radish. It is very commonly known as daikon but also has a cool name called mooli in Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, and Bihari. Which do you prefer? I like the sound of mooli.  Anyway, I love radishes, weither Asian or Western ones.

Apart from mooli/daikon, I had some green beans, carrots and lardons/pancetta. Hmmmm.. sounds like great combo to me. All these will make a good filling for the pastry! So, I thought I would cut both daikon/mooli and carrots into thin long strips. Then, thinly chop up the green beans. To give a crunch to the filling, the lardons/pancetta would do the magic! Well, not quite ‘Asian’ but that was one of the items in the fridge.

This is the first time I tried making this. So, the amount used for each ingredient is purely based on my estimation! You may need to adjust according to your own taste.

So, some of you must be thinking ‘Did I win the goodies from Dorset Cereals?’ Well, I am pleased to tell you that I’ve got the result! The lucky winners (that I have randomly drawn) are as follow. All you need to do is send me your postal address to leemei[at]gmail[dot]com so that I can post them to you! Congrats to the winners! Enjoy Dorset Cereals and let me know what you think!

Prize 1:  DORSET CEREALS – Berries & Cherries Muesli AND Super High Fibre Bars

WINNER: Mike

Prize 2:  DORSET CEREALS – Berries & Cherries Muesli AND Berries & Cherries Bars

WINNER: Marilyn

Prize 3: DORSET CEREALS – Organic Fruit, Nuts & Seeds Muesli

WINNER: Lauren

Prize 4: DORSET CEREALS – Organic Fruit, Nuts & Seeds Muesli

WINNER: Erin

Prize 5: DORSET CEREALS –  Delicious Pistachio & Pumpkin Seed Chunky Slices AND Berries & Cherries Bars

WINNER: Ann from Pigpigscorner

Prize 6: DORSET CEREALS – Super High Fibre Bars AND Delicious Cranberry & Almond Chunky Slices

WINNER: Lesley from Beachloverkitchen

Prize 7: DORSET CEREALS – Delicious Pistachio & Pumpkin Seed Chunky Slices

WINNER: Alibhe from Simply Spendiferous

Prize 8: DORSET CEREALS – Delicious Cranberry & Almond Chunky Slices

WINNER: Mixue

Recipe: Mooli Puff

Ingredients:

Plain flour, for dusting

All-butter puff pastry, 300g

Daikon, half

Carrots, 2-3

Green beans, 100g

Lardons/Pancetta, 150g

Oyster sauce, 1 tbsp

Soya sauce, to taste

White pepper, a good dash

Sesame seeds, enough to sprinkle on the pastry

Egg wash

Method:

1. Cut daikon and carrots into thin strips and set aside. Finely chop up the green beans.

2. Heat a frying pan and put in lardons/pancetta. Fry until brown and crispy. Then, put in a plate laid with kitchen towel to absorb the oil.

3. Use back the same pan, put in daikon, carrots and green beans. Mix well and cook on medium to low flame with lid on for about 20 – 25 minutes or until soft. Check and stir from time to time. Add some water if needed as we need to have a moist mixture.

4. Season with oyster sauce, soya sauce and white pepper.

5. Once the daikon, carrots and green beans are soft and cooked, put in crispy lardons/pancetta. Stir well.

6. Remove from frying pan and set aside to cool.

7.  Sprinkle some flour on a flat surface and lay puff pastry on it.

8. Cut into small rectangular size of 13cm(L) x 9cm(W).

9. Preheat the oven at 180°C degrees.

9. Scoop about a spoonful of filling and put in the middle of the pastry. Fold into half to form rectangular shape. Cut off excess pastry if necessary. Pinch all the edges to seal. If you feel creative, you can use the fork to form pattern.

10. Brush the top of the pastry with egg wash and sprinkle some sesame seeds. Repeat until all pastry and fillings are used up.

11. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 15 – 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

It has been a while since my last post on Peach Melba. I apologise for not being able to blog frequently for the past few weeks. Life was kind of busy and mad! Also, I was away for a wedding in France last weekend. Needless to say, I had a great time there! The only regret is that we should have spent more days in France! L

Anyway, I made a quick and simple dish – celery and carrots chicken stir-fry probably 2 weeks ago. This dish is something that mom makes at home. The ingredients couldn’t be simpler but the taste is great! A lot of times, when I do stir-fry, I like simple and straight forward ingredients that give huge impact in taste!

Celery has crunchy texture that I love. Besides, I love the smell and taste of it! Even though celery is available throughout the year, it was said that the best taste and quality of celery is during summer months! Apart from rich in Vitamin C, celery is said to have benefits to lowering cholesterol and high blood pressure. As for carrot, it contains excellent source of antioxidant and rich in pro-vitamin A carotenes. Besides, it can promote good vision, especially night vision! Well, with both of such great ingredients that are easy to source, it is credible this dish not only tastes good but is great for health!

Since I started the recipes for the summer series, this is now the 10^th recipe! I know that it’s still summer now but this will be the last of the series! Well, one of the reasons is because I have a few very interesting stuff that I want to share with you guys!! My posting will be back to normal, as frequently as I could!

I hope you guys have enjoyed those specially hand-picked summer recipes from me! At this point, I am not going to tell you what is so interesting about my next post, but, I promise, it will be a surprise to everyone!!

Recipe: Celery & Carrot Chicken Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

Chicken thighs/breast, 250g-300g

Celery, 2-3 sticks

Carrots, 1.5

Garlic (chopped), 1 clove

Oyster sauce, 1 tbsp

White pepper, a dash

Chinese rice wine, 1 tbsp

Cornflour, 1 tbsp

Oil, 1-2 tbsp

Water, some

Method:

1. Cut chicken into strips and slice carrots and celery.

2. Marinate chicken with chinese rice wine, oyster sauce, white pepper and cornflour.

3. Heat a pan/wok with some oil, put in the marinated chicken and fry for a few minutes until it’s half cooked. Set aside.

4. Heat up another pan/wok with some oil. Put in chopped garlic and cook until fragrant and not brown.

5. Add in carrots and stir-fry for about 2-3 minutes. Add in celery. Cook until both celery and carrots almost soft. Put in the chicken and give it a good stir.

6. Stir-fry for another few minutes until chicken is cooked through. Add in some water to make some sauce. Serve with rice.

First of all, I am honored to have been invited by Chris at SugarHead to write a review on his blog. You may still remember Engadiner Nut Tart that Chris made which was featured on my blog a while ago. Once again, thanks to Chris for the opportunity!

Just last weekend, I cooked so much that I had amazed myself! I cook almost everyday, but I prefer to cook during weekends as I get more time to take pictures of the dishes after that. I never like to rush during shooting, which is one of the most important tips in food photography!

One of the dishes that I made over the weekend was Broccoli Beef Stir Fry. In my family, we rarely eat beef (I should actually say, we never eat beef! It’s not due to religion though). Well, I was wondering and did ask my mom why. She told me that my grandma never made beef or lamb dishes when she was young, so she is not used to eating them. It’s true that my grandma cooked mostly chicken, pork, fish, seafood, and vegetables. 

Broccoli beef is probably one of the most popular dishes that you can find at any Chinese restaurants. I like the simplicity of this dish. I have chosen to use tenderstem broccoli. Tenderstem broccoli is so tender from floret to the stem! Unlike ordinary broccoli where the stem tends to be thicker and chewier.

Apart from tenderstem broccoli, purple sprouting broccoli may be a great substitute! (But, you may want to boil/steam purple broccoli first because of its colour!) I have bought purple sprouting broccoli a few times and I absolutely love it! It’s so much sweeter than the ordinary broccoli! Same goes to tenderstem broccoli!! Did you know that broccoli is actually cabbage that has gone wild and formed flowers that have started to bud?? (I didn’t know it until now!)

You may want to try out tenderstem broccoli in this recipe than the ordinary one and let me know your thoughts!

Recipe: Broccoli Beef Stir Fry 

Ingredients:

Sunflower oil, 1-2 tbsp

Beef stir-fry strips, 200g

Tenderstem broccoli, 200g

Garlic (chopped),  1-2 cloves

Oyster Sauce, 2 tbsp

White pepper, a dash

Shaoxing Wine, 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Marinate the beef with 1 tbsp of oyster sauce, white pepper and shaoxing wine for about 30 minutes.

2. Heat a wok until smoking, pour in the oil then add beef. Stir-fry for 2 mins, then tip onto a plate. Add broccoli with a splash of water then cook until broccoli turns bright green.

3. Add the garlic and cook for 1 min more. Pour in the rest of the oyster sauce and 125ml water. Bring to the boil and cook until reduced to a sticky sauce. Stir in the beef, along with any juices from the plate, then serve straight away.

The snow has melted. But, the temperature stays. Perhaps, it is even colder than when it snowed. Keeping warm with enough clothing is essential so as eating the right food. Our appetite rises and tend to eat more during winter. This leads to more water requirement by the body to digest the food. Hence, we have to drink enough of water in order to help digestion and to avoid digestion related problems. Similarly, water is needed for keeping our skin soft and supple during the dry wintry conditions. 

I always make sure that I drink enough water on a daily basis. Also, I like soupy stuff to make sure I have enough fluid in my body. During harsh winter as such, I like soupy dish that can quickly warm me up. Instantly, it came to my mind that I have long missed pork ball noodle soup! This is definitely my kind of winter warmer!

Pork Ball Noodle Soup or Chu Yoke Yuen Fun ????  is very popular in Kuala Lumpur. Any hawker’s place you go, there must be one stall that sells pork ball noodle soup. When I stayed in KL and went out for dinner or lunch, it was always difficult to decide what to eat. Not that there’s limited choices, but far too many! I always like to have pork ball noodle soup with some freshly cut bird’s eye chili in soya sauce with a hint of lime juice. Yum!!

Pork ball is a Chinese kind of meatball made from finely minced pork and starch. I think it’s a very good idea to make large quantity of pork ball and freeze so that you can use whenever you want. I am definitely in favour of this especially when I want to have a quick and homely meal. Homemade pork ball is obviously better as you know what you ingredients you use, making it from scratch!

I got the homemade pork ball recipe from The Waitakere Redneck’s Kitchen. I really have to thank sinner for sharing this fantastic recipe! There’s video on her blog that shows the steps in making pork ball! This is superb! The end result – I absolutely love the bouncy  and springy pork balls that I made some extras for later. I have altered the recipe a bit to suit my own taste. To try pork ball noodle soup , recipe follows.

Recipe: Pork Ball Noodle Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For pork balls (makes about 30)

Minced pork or diced pork, 500g

Icy cold water, 125ml

Oyster sauce, 1 tbsp

Fish sauce, ½ tbsp

Salt, ½ tsp

Sugar, 1 tbsp

Sesame oil, ½ tbsp

Oil, ½ tbsp

Cornflour, 2 tbsp

Baking powder, 1¼ tsp 

White pepper, ¼ tsp 

For noodle soup

Fresh egg noodles, 250g

Rice noodles, 150g

Pak Choi or Choi Sum, 250g (trimmed)

Vegetable stock, 1.5 litres

White pepper, to taste

Goji Berry, enough to garnish

Method:

1. Mince the pork in a food processor until a paste is form. Add 5 tbsp water, one at a time, to get a smooth paste.

2. In a bowl, mix together the remaining water, fish sauce, salt, sugar, oil, cornflour and baking powder.

3. Remove the pork paste from the food processor and put in a big bowl. Pour in the liquid to the pork paste and stir well until the liquid is absorbed into the paste.

4. Cover bowl with cling film and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

5. Boil a pot of water. Once the water has boiled, remove the pot from the heat.

6. Add pepper to the paste and stir to combine.

7. Scoop the paste onto your wet hand. Push the paste through your thumb and 2nd finger by making a fist. Use a wet spoon to scoop and drop it into the hot water. To prevent the paste from sticking to your hand and spoon, wet the spoon and hand with water.

8. Continue until the pork balls form a layer in the water. Now turn on the heat but do not let it boil just simmer slowly without bubble. If not your pork ball will not have ‘bounce’.

9. Fill a big basin with icy cold water. When the pork balls starts to float, leave for a few more seconds. (Cut one in half to see if it is cook. The inside should not be pink). Scoop out and let it cool in the cold water.

10. To prepare the soup. You can make use vegetable cube or to make your own vegetable stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium. Cover. Simmer for 5 minutes.

11. Add pak choi or choi sum to the stock simmer for 1-2 minutes or until just wilted. Then, add in the cooked pork balls. Add dash of white pepper.

12. Meanwhile, place noodles in a large heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water. Stand for 5 minutes or until tender. Drain. Separate noodles. Divide noodles between serving bowls.

13. Ladle over pork balls, pak choi or choi sum and soup. Sprinkle some goji berry. Serve.