Thursday, January 5, 2012

Album 2 食谱 二 - Simply Ala-Carte 轻松菜肴


Steam Prawn with Rice Wine 米酒蒸虾

Prawn 8-10pcs marinate with 1tsp salt, pinch of white pepper powder, "Hua Tiao Chew" 绍兴花彫酒
Ginger slice 6 thin slices and cut into strap
Egg white liquid 1egg white, add 2 tbs water & few pinch of salt and sugar

Way of making :-
1.  Clean and trim the prawn.  Marinate it in a bowl and line it up in a plate (as per picture).
2.  Spread ginger strap on top of the lined prawn.
3.  Slowly pour in egg white liquid from the side.
4.  Place into steamer (ensure the water is boiling) and steam for estimated 3 - 6 min.  Depends on each household gas stove and electric steamer.

Information sharing :
虾类食物属于高蛋白高钙食物,对身体有好处,但是过敏性体质患者和痛风患者不能进食。
虾可以供给淋巴细胞营养,提高人体免疫力。但吃过量,可导致痛风病,因为虾含的嘌呤较多。其实不只是虾,什么好东西都是,适量养人,过量伤人。虾含有的蛋白质很高,如果肠胃不好很容易不消化

source : 一品健康家

Yuan Chun Bean Paste Chicken 源珍豆酱鸡This is a complimentary service provided to Yuan Chun in conjunction with the advertising package by “讲饮讲食” magazine. The benefits being recipes creator for sauces company, for example Yuan Chun, is a great experience in a way where we actually open up our mind for ingredients selection choices.Ingredients :
1/2 chicken, chopped into pieces
1 tumb size Ginger, slice
3 cloves shallot, slice
1/4 red carrot, slice
2 tbsp oil
250ml water
Garnishing :
2 stalks spring onion, section approx 1 inch long
1 red chili, slice
Seasoning :
1 tbsp YC TauChu Whole Bean Paste
1 tbsp YC Football Gold Light Soya sauce
1/2 tbsp YC Oyster Sauce
1/2 tsp YC Badminton Gold Blended Thick Sauce
1 tsp sugar
Thickening (Optional) :
2 tbsp Tapioca Flour
4 tbsp water
Mix evenly till flour dissolve entirely.

Cooking Method :
1. Heat up oil in wok, insert Ginger & Shallot, fried till golden colour, add-in YC Bean Paste and continue stir fry with low fire till fragrant.
2. Add in chicken and cook till half-cooked.
3. Pour in water, and all remaining seasoning. Leave it to boil, add in carrot, turn to med-low fire and leave it continue boiling for approx 7-10 min.
4. Once chicken is cooked, place in spring onion and red chili and serve.

5.
Optional : stir-in thickening if you wish the gravy to be thick.

Salmon Fish Soup Base 三文鱼汤底You may get the salmon bone in supermarket and it is quite cheap. Once you've made this, you may keep it for multi dishes cooking purpose such as clear vegetable soup, dishes or noodle with gravy, or even simply add in during cooking to make the dishes be more moisture.
你可在超市买到蛮便宜的三文鱼骨。 这三文鱼汤底能多方面用途如煮菜汤,汁类佳肴或加入任何烹饪料理。
Ingredients 配料 :Salmon fish bone 三文鱼骨 - i package normally weight around 600g 普通包装大约600克.
Ginger 薑- 1 medium size
Shallot 葱头子- 6 cloves 瓣
Garlic 白蒜- 6 cloves 瓣


Seasoning 调味料 :
Oil 有 - 2tbs
Water 水 - 1.5litre
Salt 盐 - add in proportionately according to personal preference 以个人标准,部分的加入。

Sugar 糖 - same as salt 以上如此。

* do remember not to make it too salty or sweet as when you added in other ingredients during the cooking, it may affect the final taste 当加入其它菜肴时,汤底会变的更咸或甜,所以盐与糖不能下的太多.

Cooking method 烹饪方式:-
1. Deep fried the salmon fish bone till half cook, leave up and set aside for later use 炸一炸三文鱼骨,放一旁待用.
2. Clean the wok, insert oil and all ingredients, fry till fragrant. Add in salmon, seasonings and water, bring it to boil and turn to slow fire. Slow boil for 1 hour, then keep it in the freezer for all purpose cooking usage 将锅清洗,把油及其它配料炒至喷香. 加入三文鱼,调味料及水,用大火待滚,然后转小火慢熬大约一小时即可。 存入冰箱待用。


Oyster Sauce Silky TauFoo with Broccoli 芥兰花蚝油滑豆腐

Simple, quick and tasty taufoo just within a clip of your eyes!!
Ingredients :
1 Box White Tau-Foo

Olive oil / any preferred oil : 2 tbs
Garlic : 2 cloves

Shallot : 2 cloves
Broccoli : 1 small size broccoli

Seasoning :
Oyster sauce : 1 tbs*
Soya sauce : 1 tbs*
Sugar (a pinch)
White pepper powder (little)

Water : 75ml
* adjust the measurement whether you want it more/less salty.


Thickening :
Tapioca starch* (1 spoon Tapioca flour : 3 spoon water)

* ensure the gravy is boiling when pouring in the starch, and must non-stop stirring till the starch dissolve.
* stir in slowly the starch and stop at the level of thickness that you prefer.

Cooking tips :-
1.
Remove tau-foo from the box, cut into pieces and display on a plate.
2. Brunch broccoli, display around tau-foo as per picture.
Gravy
3. Stir-fry garlic and shallot in a wok with medium fire till golden colour.
4. Pour in water & all balance seasonings.

5. Once gravy is boiling, stir-in tapioca starch as per above tips.
6. Leave up the gravy and pour around the surface of tau-foo and broccoli.

Asparagus Pan-seared Chicken Breast 芦笋干煎鸡胸
Just 10 min! Within 10 min cooking you'll be able to complete this dish. Not only simple and fast, but healthy too.
Ingredients & tips :-
Asparagus
~ quickly blanch the asparagus, and do a fast sauteed with olive oil and a pinch of salt in a non-stick pan.
Chicken breast
~ cut into strip and marinate with salt, sugar and white pepper. Let it rest for about 20min before cooking.
Olive oil
Water

Cooking tips :-
1. Blanch asparagus, leave up & set aside.
2. Fast sauteed of asparagus with olive oil & a pinch of salt. Add in some water if it is too dry.
3. Pan fried chicken. Add in some water if it is too dry.
* when chicken meat turn white, it shows that chicken is cooked.
* no seasoning is required during the cooking process as the chicken is already marinated with seasoning.

knowledge of the day :-
Asparagus - the fleshy green spears of asparagus are both succulent and tender and have been considered a delicacy since ancient times. This highly prized vegetable arrives with the coming of spring, when its shoots break through the soil and reach their 6-8 inch harvest length. In California the first crops are picked as early as February, however, their season generally is considered to run from April through May. The growing season in the Midwest and East extends through July. Source : www.whfoods.com


Nutrients in
Asparagus
1.00 cup, raw (134.00 grams)
Nutrient%Daily Value

vitamin K69.6%

vitamin A20.2%

folate17.4%

iron15.9%

vitamin B112.6%

tryptophan12.5%

copper12.5%

vitamin C12.5%

vitamin B211.1%

fiber10.9%

manganese10.5%

molybdenum8.9%

potassium7.7%

vitamin E7.5%

phosphorus6.9%

vitamin B36.5%

protein5.9%

choline5%

zinc4.8%

magnesium4.6%

selenium4.4%

vitamin B53.7%

calcium3.2%

Calories (26)1%


Hainanese Brinjal 海南茄子

This is a Hainanese authentic dish that must eat on the first day of Chinese New Year which will bring you a good year ahead continuously. 这是道传统海南菜而必须在农历新年的第一天吃并相信它能令我们一年好过一年。

Ingredients & tips :-
~ 150g Brinjal (茄子/矮瓜), diamond cut 切三角形
3 cloves shallot 葱头子, slice 切片
~ 10g dry prawn 虾米, soften & finely chop 浸软切碎
1 medium size red chili 红辣椒, slice 切丝
2 medium size stalks spring onion 青葱, section 切段

Seasoning
调味料 :-
2 1/2 tbs
(餐匙) oil
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp (茶匙) oyster sauce 蚝油1/2 tsp soya sauce 豆油
1/4 tsp sugar 糖
1/2 tbs cooking wine
绍兴花彫酒
some pepper powder 胡椒粉

Cooking steps :-
1. Do a quick deep fried of brinjal, leave up and rinse with water. Set aside to dry.
2. Pour aside the oil by leaving 2 1/2 tbs portion in the wok.
3. Stir fried shallot till golden colour, leave up. Set aside for later use.
4. Pour aside the oil. Insert dry prawn, stir fried till fragrant.
5. Add in all seasoning and brinjal (except cooking wine). Cover it up for a while.
6. Insert all balance ingredients and cooking wine, including fried shallot.
7. Stir evenly and ready to serve.

Cooking tips :-
1. Most common complain on cooking brinjal is too oily. Thus, it is advisable to rinse deep fried brinjal with water, and use minimum oil during cooking process.
2. Cooking wine is not advisable to cook for long as you may loose its wine taste.
Knowledge of the day :-
The eggplant, aubergine, melongene, brinjal or guinea squash (Solanum melongena) is a plant of the family Solanaceae (also known as the nightshades) and genus Solanum. It bears a fruit of the same name, commonly used in cooking. As a nightshade, it is closely related to the tomato and potato. It is native to India.[1][2]
[source : wikipedia]

Bean Paste Fish Fillet 豆酱鱼片
This is my favourite dish, and this particular dish will give you a good appetite due to its spiciness, saltiness and savory taste. Further to this, it goes very well with plain rice. Thus, for small family like 2 - 3 members, you can always add in one more dish like stir-fried vegetable or omelette, then you go the family dinner at home.
Ingredients :- Fish Fillet (about 150gm. Any fish fillet that you prefer, such as dolly, seabass & etc) * marinate fish fillet with little bit of salt & white pepper powder & tapioca flour for about 15min) Bean Pasate (1 soup spoon. Adjust along the way base one personal preference) Old Ginger slices (about 4 slices. Too many may cause the dish become much spicy) Shallot slices (about 3 cloves)
Garlic (about 3 cloves, smash) Red Chili (Just 1. Section into 5) Spring Onion (2 stalk and section into approximately 2 inches per section)

Seasoning :-

Sugar (to balance the saltiness of the bean paste)
White Pepper Powder (spray on at last before serving)
Black Soya Sauce (mainly for colouring. Base on personal preference)

Start Cooking :-

1. Deep fried fish fillet till golden colour. Set aside for later use.
2. Heat up oil in a kuali, place in ginger, shallot and garlic, use low fire to stir fried till light golden colour. Add in bean paste and continue stir fried till bean paste turn darker brown colour and fragrant smell.

3. Add in water (approximately 150ml), turn to medium fire to make it boil. Add in sugar and black soya sauce to taste (adjust accordingly). Turn to low fire and continue boiling for about 3 min.

4. Inside all balance ingredients, white pepper powder and deep fried fish fillet, turn to high fire, flip the wok a number of time so every part of the fish fillet is cover by the bean paste sauce. Once done, the dish can be serve.
* If you prefer the bean paste sauce not to be too watery, you may add in some tapioca starch. Remember, whenever you add in tapioca starch or corn flour starch, it always have to be at high fire and boiling status. Otherwise, starch may not dissolve easily.

Knowledge of the Day

Fermented bean paste
is a category of fermented foods typically made from ground soybeans, which are indigenous to the cuisines of East and Southeast Asia. In some cases, such as in the production of miso, other varieties of beans such as broad beans, may also be used.

The pastes are usually salty and savory, but may also be spicy, and are used as a condiment to flavor foods such as stir-fries, stews, and soups. The colours of such pastes range from light tan to reddish brown and dark brown. The differences in colour are due to different production methods, such as the conditions of fermentation, the addition of wheat flour, pulverized mantou, rice, or sugar and the presence of different microflora, such as bacteria or molds used in their production, as well as whether the soybeans are roasted (as in chunjang) or aged (as in tauchu) before being ground.

Fermented bean pastes are sometimes the starting material used in producing soy sauces, such as tamari, or an additional product created from the same fermented mass.

Due to the protein content of the beans, the fermentation process releases a large amount of free amino acids, which when combined with the large amounts of salt used in its production, produces a highly umami product. This is particularly true with miso, which can be used as the primary ingredient in certain dishes, such as miso soup. [source : wikipedia]

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

01.01.2012 Lunch @ Watami, 1U Shopping

Every time I passed by this restaurant, there always a que, and I don't really que for food. But today, 01.01.2012, surprisingly there isn't any que @ 12.30pm, without further a do, I walked in. I was lucky as the que start about 1.00pm.

As the restaurant name suggested "japanese casual restaurant", the menu is simple with a number of categories and selected choices within each category. The food photos looks tempting, but there is only 4 of us, and we tried the below.

We start our meal with "Salmon Harumaki" - fresh salmon, fresh vegetable & cheese wrap with vietnamese paper and serve with in-house dipping sauce. If you eat without dipping the sauce, it give you a very freshy feeling. If you dip it with the sauce, it taste great. Then it follow with "Hotate Yaki" - pan-seared Bunashimeji (type of Japanese mushroom) and scallop with butter and serve with fresh lemon. This is my favorite and they simply do it just right for me.
I didn't got a chance to try this ramen - Shio Ramen. Judging from the picture, I suppose all of you can roughly make judgement on your own. My friends are actually finished the whole thing without a single drip of soup left.
Come to sushi, we tried "Tokujo Irodori" - consist of 2 pieces Salmon, Eel, & Tuna each. While "Anago Maki" is tempura eel sushi roll. I would say the sushi rice is kind of too soft and you can tell the different compare to proper Japanese restaurant, but it is value for money with the freshness, good taste and size of the sushi.

"Okonomi Satsuma" - type of Japanese savoury pancake containing of variety of ingredients. This is quite a common dish that you may find it in selected Japanese restaurant, and most of them are doing comparatively good.
Last but not least, Gyuniku Sukiyaki. I suppose most of us tried this before, and the important of this pot is basically the soup. Unfortunately again, I didn't tried this and you may try it on your own one of this day.
Lastly, "Motcha Parfait" dessert. I'm not so satisfied as the motcha ice-cream is too little, and the bottom is all the cereal. So I ended up, order separately another scoop of motcha ice cream.In conclusion, I would say I don't mind to dine again in this restaurant.