Prawns and Veggie Tortilla Wrap

Tortilla wrap is my favorite bento lunch. This version of tortilla wrap takes longer time to prepare compared to the Chickenand Veggie Tortilla Wrap that I shared earlier. I get what I gave. I spend more time in the cooking and preparation, and I got the better taste tortilla wraps.

Prawns and Veggie Tortilla Wrap 
Yields for 2 to 3

Ingredients:
3 tortillas
3 eggs

1/2 tomato, sliced

1/2 Japanese cucumber, sliced

1 stalk of spring onion, chopped

1 small onion, diced thinly, soak in cold water and drained
prawns, shelled, steamed and sliced into 2
Mayonnaise

Cooking oil

Steps:
1. Crack an egg in a bowl. Add a tbsp of chopped spring onion. Beaten it with a fork.

2. Heat up a pan or wok with some cooking oil. Pan fry the egg. When it is almost cooked at the bottom side, top it with a Tortilla. Leave for a few seconds and flip to fry the other side. You’ll get the egg and tortilla stick together. Dish out.

3. Repeat step 1 and 2 to prepare the other 2 sheets of “egg-tortilla”.

4. Allocate a sheet of “egg-tortilla” on a chop board with egg facing up. Spread a layer of Mayonnaise on the egg surface. Top up all the ingredients – tomato and cucumber slices, prawns, onions at the bottom area of the tortilla sheet. Roll it up tightly and cut into two.

5. Repeat step 4 to get the rest of tortilla wraps done.

Steamed Minced Pork With Salted Egg 咸蛋蒸肉

There are a lot of version for steamed minced pork. I personally like the two versions among all. One is with secret ingredient - the salted fish, while the other one is with salted duck egg. Both are considered not so healthy though. The secret taste enhancer is the white pepper powder, so don’t forget about it.

This is a simple Chinese dish which looks bland but it tastes marvelous to me. What is your version then?

Steamed Minced Pork With Salted Egg 咸蛋蒸肉
Serves 5-6


Ingredients:
300gm minced pork
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 salted duck egg, egg yolk mashed
spring onion, chopped

Seasonings:
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
dashes of white pepper powder

Steps:
1. Mix up all the ingredients except the spring onion in a heave proved shallow bowl. Leave for 15 minutes.
2. Bring a pot of water to boil.
3. Sprinkle the chopped spring onion on top of the minced pork mixture. Steam for 20 minutes.
4. Best to serve hot with steamed rice.

Roasted Pork Fried Rice 烧肉炒饭

Another fried rice whipped up with whatever left-over ingredients from the fridge. This is my way of savoring simple home cooked meal.

Wishing everyone Happy 2012!

Roasted Pork Fried Rice 烧肉炒饭
Serves 2

Ingredients:
half cup of red rice
half cup of white rice
2 eggs
some roasted pork, cut into small pieces
bak choy (only the stalk), sliced into pieces
leek (only the white portion), sliced horizontally
half onion, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp of chopped garlic
Cooking oil

Steps:
1. Mix up the red rice and white rice. Rinse and cook in rice cooker. Once cooked, cool it down.
2. Heat up oil in the same wok, scramble the eggs. Set aside.
3. Add some oil, fry the roasted pork. Brown the onion and add garlic and leek. Sauté till fragrant.
4. Add cooled steamed rice, bak choy and scrambled egg. Stir fry to mix well. Season with light soy sauce and continue to fry till fragrant.

Fried Soy Bean Noodles With Chicken and Lettuce 鸡肉莴苣炒豆签

Last few days, as usual, I targeted to clear the fridge. Hence, I used up whatever ingredients in the fridge to come out with this fried noodle. Never expect under such circumstances, I could discover a new finding. I found out that Chrisphead Lettuce tastes very good in fried noodle. To proof the finding is right, I even tried it in fried rice. It didn't fail me. The fried rice turned out great too.

Another ingredient that contributed to this fried soy bean noodle is the fried chicken strips. I used it as Protein substitute to prawn. That's a new flavor that I love. It's never too late to know the ingredients, the cooking styles and the flavors that suit your taste buds. That's the fun I got from cooking. 

Fried Soy Bean Noodles With Chicken and Lettuce 鸡肉莴苣炒豆签
Serves 4


Ingredients:
250gm of dried soy bean noodle
lettuce, cut into strips
1 chicken breast, skinned, deboned and cut into strips
bean sprout
1 stalk of  spring onion
1 tbsp of chopped garlic
2 eggs
cooking oil

Seasonings:
2 tbsp of oyster sauce
2 tbsp of light soy sauce
1 tbsp of chili paste
1 tsp of dark soy sauce
1 tsp of sesame oil

Marinades for the chicken:
1 tbsp of light soy sauce
dashes of white pepper powder

Steps:
1. Marinate the chicken strips for 20 minutes.
2. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add a tbsp of oil in the water. Cook the soy bean noodles till soft. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a wok, scramble the eggs. Set aside.
4. Heat 3 tbsp of oil in the same wok. Fry the chicken till golden yellow. Add garlic to saute.
5. Pour in the noodles and the seasonings. Mix well till the noodles is coated with the sauce.
6. Add bean sprout to stir fry.
7. Toss in lettuce, scrambled egg and spring onion to mix well.
8. Dish out and serve hot.

Air-Fried Wanton

For my 3rd experiment of cooking fresh food with air-fryer, I made an attempt to fry wanton. This is not a satisfying result that I'm looking for. The wonton skin is not as crispy as the deep-fried version. It's little bit hard but turns soft very fast. The filling also turned dry after the air-frying.
I'll figure out the correct method of making crispy wanton in air-fryer. Stay tuned!

Century Egg and Chicken Porridge 皮蛋鸡丝粥

I'm not used to prepare breakfast at home. Our breakfast on weekdays are usually bread or cream cracker with oats or coffee. Breakfast during the weekend is usually fried koay kak or nasi lemak. Sounds boring? Last Sunday, I felt like want to have some simple home cooked breakfast. Hence, I cooked this century egg and chicken porridge. It's so fulfilling to have a bowl of home cooked porridge to kick start a day. I like smooth porridge, hence I get the rice blended up front. I'm glad the porridge texture turned out as per my expectation.

Century Egg and Chicken Porridge


Ingredients:
3/4 cup of rice, rinsed and slightly blended
1.2 liter water
250gm chicken ribs, skinned
salt to taste
sesame oil
dashes of white pepper powder

Garnishing
1 thumb-sized ginger, peeled and cut into thin strips
hand-pulled chicken (from the chicken ribs)
1 stalk of spring onion, chopped the green portion
1 century egg, peeled and chopped

Steps:
1. Bring water to boil in a pot or kettle.
2. Add chicken ribs to the slow cooker pot. Pour in the hot water. Cook under high for 1 and a half hour.
3. Remove chicken ribs from the chicken stock. Leave it cooled and keep it in the fridge.
4. Add rice and cook under low for 8 hours. (I cooked it over night)
5. Return the chicken ribs to the porridge to warm it up. Remove from the porridge. Off the power.
6. Add salt to the porridge.
7. Hand-pull the chicken into strips.
8. Serve the porridge with ginger strips, hand-pulled chicken, century egg, spring onion. Drizzle sesame oil on top and add few dashes of white pepper powder.

Vegetarian Curry Mutton One-Plate Meal

Some time ago, we were fancy over a local vegetarian restaurant's one-plate meal. However, their food quality have deteriorated over time. Hence, we no longer dine in the vegetarian restaurant. According to my previous dine in experience, I used to order their one-plate meal with rice, vegetarian curry mutton, and some veggies.

The one-plate meal concept interests me. So, I apply the similar way for my home cooking in preparing our meatless meal. I always have great appetite whenever I see this type of one-plate meal. Funny! :-)

For the vegetarian mutton curry recipe, please refer here.

Leek and Chicken Drumstick Fried Rice

I just got a good quality pro-metal non-stick pan from hubby as a reward to my home cooking. So, it’s more convenient for me to pan-fry meat and seafood from now on with little or without oil. Today, I tried to pan-fry chicken without oil. The natural oil released from chicken throughout the frying process was retained for the rice frying process. That’s our chicken fragrant fried rice for lunch.

Leek and Chicken Drumstick Fried Rice
Serves 3


Ingredients:
1 stalk of leek, chopped (separate the green portion and the white portion)
1 chicken drumstick, deboned
2 eggs, beaten
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3 bowls of cool rice

Marinades:
1 tbsp of light soy sauce
Dashes of white pepper powder

Seasonings:
light soy sauce to taste
oyster sauce to taste
1 tsp of sesame oil

Steps:
1.Marinate the chicken drumstick and leave for 15 minutes.
2.Heat up a non-stick pan. Pan-fry the chicken drumstick with skin facing down. Brown the chicken skin side and follow by the other side. Set aside the chicken and leave it cool before cutting it into cubes.
3.Mix the rice with beaten eggs.
4.With the chicken oil in the pan, stir-fry the leek (the white portion). Add chicken and garlic to mix. Pour in the rice and fry till golden yellow.
5.Add light soy sauce to taste. Drizzle sesame oil over the rice before dish out.

Baked Mashed Potato

Hubby loves mashed potato, and I love pasta sauce, so I paired them up to make our favorite baked mashed potato. This is a good choice when you are bored with rice or noodle for main course. Furthermore potato contains lower carbohydrates compared to rice.

Baked Mashed Potato
Serves 3 to 4
Ingredients
570gm US potato, peeled and sliced
150gm White button mushroom
150gm minced pork
2 hard-boiled egg shelled and sliced
1 onion, peeled and chopped
6 long beans, chopped
200gm of pasta sauce
cooking oil

Marinades:
1 tbsp of light so sauce
dashes of white pepper powder

Steps:
1. Marinate the minced pork with dashes of pepper and a tbsp of light soy sauce.
2. Steam potato for 20 minutes or until soft. Mash it and put in a big ramekin. Press to form a layer of base to the ramekin.
3. Heat up enough oil in a wok. Sauté onion for 2 minutes. Add minced pork to fry. Ensure the minced pork separated and not stick together.
4. Add mushrooms to stir fry for 2 minutes. Pour the ingredients on top of the mashed potato. Sprinkle chopped long bean on top of it.
5. Pour the pasta sauce over the top. Cover the ramekin with Aluminum sheet, and bake for 12 minutes under 180 deg C preheated oven.
6. When it's done, garnish it with hard-boiled egg slices.

Poached Egg In Mint Leaves Soup

This recipe is modified from my mom's "egg drop mint leaves soup". With a small spice garden at home, mint leaves come in handy these days. Hence, I got the idea to cook this soup when I attempted to make poached egg the other day. The soup is so refreshing. :)

Poached Egg In Mint Leaves Soup
Serves 2

Ingredients
2 poached eggs
600ml of chicken stock
a handful of mint leaves
salt to taste
half tsp of garlic oil

Steps:
1. Bring the chicken stock to a boil.
2. Add salt to taste and garlic oil.
3. Add a poached egg in each bowl.
4. Pour the chicken stock to each bowl.
5. Garnish each serving with mint leaves. Serve hot.

Poached Egg

Poached egg is in my "to-do" list since long ago. I've been seeing a lot of successful stories in making nice poached egg. Last week, I hands on to make 2 poached eggs. The first one didn't turn out beautiful, but the result of second trial seems acceptable. The moment I saw the egg yolk oozing out, I couldn't describe how happy I was. That's why I said cooking is kind of therapeutic to me.

Poached Egg

Ingredients:
2 eggs
800ml of water
1 tbsp of white vinegar
a bowl of ice water

Method:
1. Bring water to a boil in a sauce pan. Add a tbsp of white vinegar.
2. Crack an egg into a bowl. Stir the boiling water with a spoon in clockwise. Gently pour the egg into the center of simmering water.
3. Let the egg cook for 2 to 3 minutes depending on how runny you prefer your egg yolk to be.
4. Remove the egg with strainer and transfer the egg to the ice water. This is to stop the cooking.
5. Return the egg to boiling water and serve hot with toast. Continue the steps for the remaining egg.

Vegetarian Steamed Tofu

It's been a month since my colleagues and I ordered our vegetarian set lunch. The catered vegetarian meal is solely based on vegetables and tofu, no MSG and with very less processed food. Throughout the catering, I got some inspiration to cook more vegetarian dish at home. This is one of them.

Vegetarian Steamed Tofu
Serves 2


Ingredients:
1 block of tofu
1 tomato, diced
1 dried mushroom, soaked and thinly sliced
a thumb-sized Sze Chuan preserved vegetable, soaked, drained and cut into strips

Seasoning:
1 tbsp of plum sauce
1 tbsp of light soy sauce

Garnishing:
1 red and 1 green bird's eye chili, chopped

Steps:
1. Cut the tofu into pieces, and arrange on a heat-proof plate.
2. Arrange tomato, preserved vegetable and mushroom surrounding the plates.
3. Pour the seasonings over the ingredients.
4. Steam it over boiling water for 5 minutes.
5. Garnish the tofu with bird's eye chili, and serve hot with rice.

Spring Onion Omelette

The first batch of home grown spring onion was harvested. It was used to make spring onion omelette which was prepared just like the mint leaves omelette. Here comes a dish that is high in dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. Most importantly, the spring onion is pesticide-free home grown vegetable. Though, this is just a simple dish, but it makes me so proud of it. It's kind of encouragement for me to grow more vegetables at home.

Spring Onion Omelette
Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 Omega-3 eggs
2 stalk of spring onion, chopped
1 tbsp of cooking oil

Seasoning:
1 tbsp of light soy sauce
dashes of white pepper powder

Steps:
1. Crack the eggs into a bowl. Add seasoning and get the egg beaten.

2. Heat oil in a wok. Pour the egg mixture to fry. When it's almost cook at the bottom, toss the spring onion on top of egg. Turn the egg to fry the other side for about 30 seconds. Fold the omelet into half and dish out.

Fried Macaroni - The Fusion style

When I was a kid, I hate to have macaroni. I just don't like the taste when cooked in chicken stock. It's too bland to my liking. However, ever since I discovered this fusion style fried macaroni, it has become my favorite meal at home. Through simple cooking, the macaroni has transformed into a flavorful one-pot-dish. Well, I do change the ingredients from time to time to get a different flavor. Overall, I would say macaroni cooked in this way tastes so good! yummz!

Fried Macaroni - The Fusion style
Serves 3


Ingredients:
Macaroni, portion for 3, cooked per the packaging instruction (I cooked it longer to get softer texture)
3 Brussel sprouts, sliced horizontally
1 onion, peel and diced
a half palm-sized portion of char siew, chopped
2 caps of dried shiitake mushroom, dehydrated and chopped
2 eggs, beaten lightly
cooking oil

Seasonings:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp chili paste
2 tbsp water

Steps:
1. Heat up 1 tbsp oil in a wok. Fry the egg in 2 batches into 2 egg sheets. Set aside for cooling. Roll up a piece of egg sheet and sliced it thinly. Do the same for the 2nd piece. Set aside for the garnishing later.
2. Heat up 2 tbsp of oil in the same wok. Fry onion till transparent. Add char siew and mushroom to stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add Brussel sprouts and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Toss in the boiled macaroni and seasonings. Fry for 3 minutes.
3. Dish out and garnish with egg strips. Serve hot.

Home Made Makizushi 寿司巻

Hubby and I have been dining out for sushi quite frequent. We will have sushi for dinner almost every Saturday evening. We opt for something light when dining out, and eventually sushi become our favorite food. Also a packet of sushi making set was bought to DIY at home. 

After watching some video clips to pick up the basic skills, we hands on to make our own sushi. Hubby helped to cook sushi rice and mix it up with some vinegar. Also, he cling-wrapped the makisu (bamboo roll), as per my instruction, hehe... Then I prepared some other simple ingredients like Japanese cucumber, steamed crab stick filamen, fried egg and steamed sausage. I cut up all the ingredients into strips. Then, I followed the steps like what I learned from the video clips. See my first piece of work? Although it doesn't look perfect, but I'm satisfied with the first trial. That was our simple and yet fulfilling dinner.

To polish up my sushi making skill, I'll practice more to make different variety of sushi and to use other type of fillings. Stay tuned!

Mint Leaves Omelet

I'm not good in gardening. You can find there are only few pots of plant at my house. However, I have a dream...... I wish to have a small spice garden at home. :)

I started my plan about a month ago. The first herb that I grow in a small pot is the easy growing herb, the mint leaves. At first it didn't grow well. But day after day I observe new leaves started to grow. Then after some time, I noticed that it looks like it's dying, but miraculously the next day it is back to healthy looking again. So, I think I better do something before it's too late. I'm harvesting the first batch of home grown mint leaves. The first batch of leaves just enough for 2.

I used it for mint leaves omelet. My late grandma in law (MIL's mum) used to cook this when we went back to hubby's home town. She told me that it was my hubby's favorite. My mom never cook omelet in this way. So, I learned from late grandma. Late grandma was the chef at home. Although she faced some inflexibility in mobile, she insisted to cook until a year before she left us on 19th August 2009.

I'm sharing this dish with Baby in the City - KL's Merdeka Open Day 2010. The theme of this year is Food From Our Hearts. Happy Merdeka Day to all Malaysian!

Mint Leaves Omelet

Serves 2 to 3

Ingredients:

3 eggs
a handful of mint leaves
1 tbsp of cooking oil

Seasoning:

1 1/2 tbsp of light soy sauce

Steps:

1. Crack the eggs into a bowl. Add soy sauce and get the egg beaten.

2. Heat oil in a wok. Pour the egg mixture to fry. When it's almost cook at the bottom, toss the mint leaves on top of egg. Turn the egg to fry the other side for about 30 seconds. Fold the omelet into half and dish out.

Bak Kut Teh （Pork Ribs Tea Soup) 肉骨茶

Bak Kut Teh (Pork Ribs in Tea Soup) is  my dad's favorite. My dad is a pork lover. He likes almost every part of a pig from pork ear, pork belly, pork tail, pork trotter to pork intestines. Although mom seldom cook Bak Kut Teh at home, but cooking it once in a blue moon does cheer him up.

I don't like Bak Kut Teh until the recent years. This is my second time of cooking bak kut teh over the past few years. The savory soup is heavenly infused with Chinese herbs, but not overpowering. It'll be so blissful to have a bowl of hot soup on rainy day to warm up my stomach.

A bowl of home cooked bak kut teh...hmm...can you smell the aroma? I don't add pork intestines, but I have pork belly, pork ribs, meatballs, enoki mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, green veggies, and fried-beancurd. With the dipping sauce, that's enough to boost my appetite.

I'm sharing this non-halal dish in Merdeka Open House 2010 organized by Babe in the City - KL

Bak Kut Teh （Pork Ribs Tea Soup)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

450gm of pork ribs, chopped into pieces
250gm of pork belly, cut into bite size
20 meatballs
3 pieces of hard beancurd, cut into bite-sized and fried till golden brown
6 caps of dried shiitake mushroom, dehydrated
200gm of enoki mushroom, cut-off the bottom part and cleaned
1 bulb of garlic, cleaned
40gm of bak kut teh spices mix (I use a packet of "Claypot" brand Bakuteh Kau)
yau mak or lettuce 
2 liter water or more

Seasonings:

1tbsp of oyster sauce
1/2 tsp of dark soy sauce (for coloring)
light soy sauce to taste

Dipping Sauce (Mix-up all):

chopped garlic
bird's eye chili, chopped
dark soy sauce
light soy sauce

Steps:

1. Bring water to boil in a pot. Add a bulb of garlic and the 2 filter bags of bak kut teh spices. Leave it simmers for 15 minutes.

2. Blanch the pork ribs and pork belly in hot boiling water to remove scum.

3. Add the pork ribs and pork belly into the soup and leave it simmer for 1 hour. Top up water from time to time. Add seasonings.

4. Add the shiitake mushroom and fried beancurd. Leave it simmers for another 1 hour.

5. Add meatballs, enoki mushroom and veggies. Dish out and serve hot with white rice or yam rice.

Braised Pork Belly In Soy Sauce (Tau Eu Bak)

Although my mum has been cooking this dish for us since my childhood days, I still have no idea how my mum did it. That was until last week, when I finally asked my mum on the cooking steps and seasonings.  Today I cook the dish for the first time and tada......it tastes as good as my mum's version. Yummy :)

I love all the ingredients added to the dish, like pork belly, hard-boiled egg, pork skin, fried beancurd, mushroom and dried cuttle fish (I omit this). Serve it with rice or porridge, and I'm more than happy.

Braised Pork In Soy Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients:

300g pork belly, cut into bite-size
10" x 2" pork skin, cut into bite-size, excess fat removed
2 hard beancurd, cut into 4 each and shallow-fried till golden brown
4 hard-boiled egg, shelled
3 dried shiitake mushrooms, hydrated, stalk removed and quartered
5 cloves of garlic, peeled
800ml water
2 tbsp of dark soy sauce
4 tbsp of light soy sauce

Steps:

1. Marinate pork belly with dark soy sauce and light soy sauce. Let it stand for 30 minutes.

2. Bring water to boil in a pot. Add the pork skin and garlic and leave it simmers for 20 minutes. Pour in the pork belly and marinade. Bring to a boil. Add fried beancurd and leave it simmering for 35 minutes. Stir from time to time.

3. Add hard-boiled eggs and mushrooms. Simmers for another 10-15 minutes. Best serve with rice or porridge.

Note:

This dish should have some soy sauce gravy. You can top up water from time to time and adjust the saltiness based on your preference.

Uncle Chow Kopitiam @ Cameron Highlands

Uncle Chow Kopitiam 
Address: C2-G-01 Block C2, Taman Royal Lily, 39000 Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia.
Tel: 6012-205 2778

There's no one eatery cafe in Cameron Highlands that you can find a typical Cameron Highland's food. The famous food there is either steamboat or strawberry desserts. We've tried most of them. So, for the recent trip, we went to hunt for some "homey" food instead.

Uncle Chow Kopitiam is one of the highly recommended eatery at Tanah Rata. The cafe is operated by a retired couple from KL. Here you can find a variety of home cooked food. Their concept is like the Old Town White Coffee style, but they have a wider range of better quality food. Aunt Chow is a good cook. All the food is home cooked by her. She makes yam cake, curry puffs, kaya, all types of Malaysia street food and desserts. I'm so amazed by the cleanliness of this place.

Hubby opted for the popular nasi lemak. He commented that this is a very satisfying breakfast. The serving is generous and most importantly, the rice cooked with fresh coconut milk is really tasty.

I tried the prawn noodle which suits my taste buds very much. The big bowl of prawn noodle consist of prawns, chicken strips, hard-boiled egg, fish cake, convulvulus and noodle in flavorful prawn soup.

We also ordered toast and half-boiled egg to share.

We'll definitely revisit this place.

Mugwort Omelette

This has been our family dish since I was a kid. We call it "Hia" in Hokkien. I've always wanted to learn more about this herb, but was unable to find additional info without knowing its English name. My googling research recently was fruitful indeed. The herb is revealed as Mugwort. Surprisingly, it's not only well known in Chinese society, but it's popular in Western countries as well.

Physically, the Mugwort leaves has a unique shape. The top of the leaf is dark green, and the bottom is more towards whitish-green. The surface is hairy, so it's rather rough to touch. It has a pleasant herbal scent. When the leaves are chopped or crushed, it emits a pungent and distinctive aroma. It has a very pleasant bitter taste. :)

Mugwort is rich in chlorophyll and enzyme. It is a natural source of minerals like Calcium and Magnesium. Chinese use it in post maternal treatment as it can dispel "wind" from the womb. Medical wise, Mugwort is also a proven herb to speed up healing for cancer and hepatitis C, and helps in hair growth. Besides, it is also used to treat stomach troubles, high blood pressure, and many more.

Mugwort Omelet

Serves 2

Ingredients:

a handful of mugwort leaves, chopped
3 organic eggs, beaten
100ml water
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp of light soy sauce

Steps:

1. Mix the chopped mugwort leaves with beaten egg. Season it with a tbsp of light soy sauce.

2. Heat up oil in a wok, fry the omelet till cooked. Over-turn to fry the other side.

3. When the omelet is cooked, divide it into portions. Add water and bring to a boil. Dish up and serve hot.