Crispy Fried Fish with Chilli sauce

 I have fish almost everyday, if not, at least 5 times in a week.  One thing I dreaded of cooking fish is frying the fish.  No matter how I pat dry the fish before putting in the frying pan, it still splatter at me!  There was a time I was watching a cooking TV show, Kylie Kwong, and you know what, when she was about to put the whole fish into the wok to deep fried it, she will have one big scarf wrapped around the whole hand till near her finger first and only she put the fish in!  Should I follow her step like that?  Or should I just head on to Ikea to get the oil splatter utensils which is more convenient?

This dish looks a lot spicy but it is not, it is the ginger that makes it hot.  The taste overall is hot, sweet and sour.  Quite appetising for a change. 

Ingredients
1 whole fish (Red snapper or black pomfret or fish fillets)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tbsp minced ginger
2 fresh red chillis, finely chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
1 tbsp rice wine
4 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/3 cup coriander leaves, roughly chopped (for garnishing)
1 small carrot, shredded (for garnishing)
Oil for deep frying

Method

1) Pat dry the fish with paper towels. Cut a few slits on both sides and season the fish with sea salt.
2) Heat a wok full of oil. Deep-fried the fish until it's crispy, golden browned and cooked. Remove the fish
    and drain on paper towel.
3) Heat a small saucepan with 1 tbsp of oil, fry the ginger, garlic, spring onions and chilli until fragrant.
4) Add soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, fish sauce, rice wine and white pepper. Bring to a boil and turn off the
    heat.
5) Place the fish on the serving plate. Scatter half of the coriander leaves and shredded carrot over the fish.
6) Pour over the hot sauce and scatter the remaining half of the coriander and carrot.
7) Serve with steamed rice.

 I run out of carrot and coriander leaves, so no garnishing on top.......... just shredded some green leaves vegetable on top.

Osmanthus Jelly 桂花糕

Ah....... dessert again!  Whenever I watch ancient Chinese series, this dessert seems to be served out to the emperor or shown and eaten by the high class people only.  So I thought what is so special about this Osmanthus Jelly 桂花糕 ?    And out of curiosity and the taste of it, I try it out.

The Osmanthus Flower does bring out the fragrant to this jelly.   But unfortunate, I think I didn't cook it till it thicken up and the overall still wobbly!  A little disappointment. 

Osmanthus Flower

115gm chestnut powder
250ml water
120gm sugar
500ml water
1 Tbsp osmanthus
2 waterchestnut (cut into fine small cubes)

1. Mix water chestnut powder with water until no lumps are seen.
2. Bring 500ml water and sugar to a boil. Turn off the heat and put in osmanthus flowers to infuse for 2
    minutes.
3. Pour osmanthus infusion into (1). Return flour mixture to saucepan/pot and cook until it thickens.
4. Pour into a lightly oiled 7 inch pan. Steam over high heat for 10 minutes and medium heat for another 10
    minutes.
5. Cool down totally before slicing.

Spongy Banana Cake

Thought of baking some light and easy cake to bring it over to my dad and sister.  When the cake is done baking, the whole house is smell of banana smell! The texture is so soft; like eating cotton!  Definitely will bake this again.  Really yummy!


Recipe adapted from here
3 Eggs (medium)
130g sugar
200g Banana (Ripe & cut into small pcs)
150g cake flour
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Baking soda
100g Corn oil (or any vegetable oil, canola or sunflower oil)
1/8 tsp vanilla Rum, optional

1. Preheat oven to 160 degree C.
2. Grease & line a 8" round tin pan or loaf pan with paper .
3. Sieve flour, baking powder & soda together. Sieve twice and set aside.
4. Whisk eggs, sugar , rum & banana at maximum speed in a mixer till stiff/ribbon stage.
5. Fold in flour and mix well.  (You may use a spatula to mix it).
6. Add in corn oil and mix well till batter is shiny and flowing.
7. Bake for about 40 - 45mins till the skewer comes out clean.

Rice Pudding

What to do with left over rice?  Feel like doing something else instead of the regular fried rice?  What about going for a change of Rice Pudding?

Rice Puddings
3 cups cooked white rice
3 cups milk
2/3 cups sugar
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 grated grated lemon zest
1 tsp cinnamon,  (divided to half)

1.  Combine cooked rice, milk, sugar and butter in a medium saucepan.  Add raisins and vanilla extract.
2.  Cook for 25 minutes till most of the liquid is absorbed.
3.  Mix in lemon zest and half of the cinnamon.
4.  Spoon pudding into a serving dessert bowl and dust with remaining cinnamon on top.
5.  May serve chilled or at room temperature.

 Yum! Yum!

Sago Pudding With Coconut Milk & Palm Sugar syrup

I started learning making this sago dessert back in 1996 when we have our family's Korean BBQ Restaurant business.  And so, being in the food business, I have to make this everyday and thus, this have become my specialty of making it.

I remember when I moved to NZ, my mum continue to make this almost every alternate days until we have to stop her from making it whenever we have family get together.  Well, it has been ages I have sago pudding and here it is....... Sago Pudding with Coconut milk and palm sugar syrup! 

Ingredients

2 liters Water
200g Pearl Sago
200g  Palm Sugar (Gula Melaka), roughly chopped
150 ml Water
250 ml Coconut Milk

Method

1.  Bring the water to a boil in a big pan. Pour in the sago into the hot water and keep stirring the sago
     to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
2.  Cook sago for 15 - 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover pan and set aside for 10 minutes. By then,
     the sago should be translucent, indicating that it is cooked.
3.  Pour the sago into a colander and run cold water to rinse off the starchiness.  At this point, you may add
     in any food colouring as you like.
4.  Pour the sago into jelly molds or small dessert bowl and chill well.
5.  Combine palm sugar and water in a small pan and simmer until sugar dissolves. Cool.
6.  To serve, turn the sago out and spoon on some coconut milk and palm sugar syrup.

Pink or white?  Which want you prefer?

Quail Egg Sambal

The look at this sambal dish seems to be very hot and spicy, isn't it?  I have opted out the dish bird's eye chillies which the original recipe called for.  And the verdict; just mild hot and the right to my taste!   

Ingredients
24 hard-boiled quail eggs
4 fresh red chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped
3 dried chilli, soaked till it turn soft, cut into pieces
8 shallots
3 garlic
1/2 tbsp shrimp paste, (belacan)
2 candlenuts or macadamia nuts
4 tbsp oil
1 tbsp tamarind paste + 1/2 cup water
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 small brown onion, thinly sliced

1.  Deep fry the quail eggs in hot oil until golden brown and crisp.
2.  Mix the tamarind paste with water. Set aside.
3.  Combine fresh red chilli, dried chilli, shallots, garlic, shrimp paste and candlenuts together in a
     food process and process until it forms a fine paste.
4.  Heat oil in a wok, add the paste and fry under low heat until it's aromatic, about 8-10 minutes.
5.  Add the tamarind juice to the paste together with sugar and salt. Stir and mix well.
6.  Add brown onion and continue to stir fry until the onion has soften a little but still have slight texture,
     around 2-3 minutes.
7.  Add the deep-fried quail eggs and give it a good stir.
8.  Serve hot with steamed rice.

Soya Sauce Fish

When I was preparing and cooking this dish, I wasn't prepared to post this dish up but after dishing up on a plate, I have always feel quite satisfied with this Soya Sauce Fish.  Why?  Because I loves the sweet and sour taste of it.  So I quickly get my camera and take a nice shot of it.  Luckily it turn out well as it was already late evening and I thought the quality shot would not be cleared.

I loves any dish with tomatoes in it.  I remember when I was staying in NZ few years back, I was so craving to have tomatoes, looking everywhere in the supermarkets and the Chinese grocery stores for it.  And as it was not in season at that time so when I found some selling it, it was $7.00 per kilo!!  My oh my.........

The ingredients goes for this dish are ........

1 medium size black pomfret  (marinated with some salt & pepper)
2 medium size onions (sliced in ring)
2 tomatoes (cut in wedges)
1 red chillies (sliced thinly)
1 green chillies
some oil for pan frying

Sauce
125ml water
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
juice from 2 kalamansi/lime juice
salt to taste
Spring onions & coriander leaves for garnishing

1.  Heat oil, pan fry fish turning over once.
2.  Remove fish from frying pan, leaving about 2 tbsp oil in the pan, saute the sliced onions for 30 seconds,
     add in tomatoes, red and green chillies stirring for about 1 minute.
3.  Add in the sauce ingredients and the fish.  Simmer until the fish is thoroughly cooked.
4.  Add in salt to taste.
5.  Dish up and garnish with spring onions and coriander leaves.

Korean Potato Pancakes

When I saw this recipe in the "A Daily Obsession" blog, I quickly bookmark it because I have a packet of Korean pancake flour sitting in the pantry for quite awhile already and sure enough this pancake taste delicious with everything goes in it.

You can modify to put in any ingredients you like and I believe it will still be as delicious and tasty.

This pancake recipe adapted from  here.

Korean Potato Pancakes

3/4 cup meat (bacon/tuna/ham) ~ I used ham here.

1 cup mixture of finely-cut veg such as carrots/chives/spring onions/long beans/zucchini etc

2/3 cup onion, chopped finely

2 medium-sized potatoes (about 400 gm unpeeled), grated finely
1 red chili, thinly sliced

1/2 cup Korean pancake flour  (or plain four)

2 large eggs

1/8 t salt (or to taste but remember the dip is salty) 

pinch of white or black pepper

Korean Pancake Mix

1. Grate the potatoes finely but not so fine that they turn mushy.2. Mix and well combine all ingredients up.
3. Heat up a non-stick frying pan. Grease lightly (for crispy pancakes, use more oil) with veg oil.
    Drop a large spoonful of the batter and flatten it out into a circle about 5 cm/2" diameter. When the
    bottom side is golden brown, turn over.
4. Serve hot with your favourite soya sauce dip or chilli sauce.

Haiji White Bun

Haiji White Bun - a Japanese White Bun.  The blogger Cosy Bake doesn't even know why it was named Haiji too.  I think I would like to name it as Milk Bun.

It is good to bake your own bread as it is more healthier than buying at the supermarket which baked with preservatives.  I am sure you all will notice that those sandwich loaf bread sell at the supermarket even after storing in your kitchen table, it still look nice and whitish and not even a patch of molded fungus growing on it!  So it is good to bake your own bread and bun once in a while.

My oven was a little too hot even for 15 minutes baking for this bun.  The edges was brown.  Maybe next time to cut temperature to 130C.

Ingredients 

250g bread flour

3g instant yeast

200g milk

10g sugar

3g salt

10g butter

1. Pre-heat oven t 190'C. 

2. In a bowl, except butter, mix all the ingredients to get a rough dough. Add in butter and
    continue to knead till the dough is springy and smooth. This should takes about 10 minutes.

3. Let dough rise till double the volume. cover the dough and keep in warm place.

4. Portion into 7 equal size and roll up to form a ball. Let dough rest for 15 minutes.

5. Press each dough flat and re roll to form ball shape. Dust the dough with some flour, and
    use a rolling pin  give an impression across each dough. Place them on baking tray and let
    them rise for 40 minutes.

6. Bring the oven temperature down to 140'C, bake dough in the oven for 15 minutes.

Dong Po Rou

I have cooked this dish twice already though I don't find the taste to my liking.  The first time I didn't put in the lotus seed and the chicken stock.  I just put in plain water.  So I thought this time round, I make sure all ingredients are included in but I still can't find the taste of it.  Maybe I will try another method to cook this Dong Po Rou which require braising and steaming.

This recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients

500 gm Pork belly

5 slices of ginger

3 nutmeg (cracked)

3 star anise

20 gm lotus seeds, soaked overnight

2 medium white onion, sliced

30 gm rock sugar

1 tbsp thick black sauce

150ml Shao Xing Wing

350ml Chicken stock

Method:

1. Cut pork belly into cubes and use the broad side of knife to pat and smoothen skin. 

2. Blanch pork belly in boiling water. Drain and pat dry, set aside.  

3. Put all ingredients into a clay pot and fill with chicken stock.  Bring to boil over high 

    heat and let simmer for 3 hours until pork belly is soft and fragrant. 

4. Dish out the pork belly and place them on the serving plate.  Turn heat to medium and

    reduce sauce to half. Pour sauce over pork belly and serve.