Home Cooked Food Diary

Glutinous Steamed Pork Balls (糯米珍珠丸子）

Ingredients: Minced pork, Chinese mushroom, black fungus, minced ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, glutinous rice.

Soak glutinous rice for a few hours in water.

To make pork balls, mix all the above ingredients (expect rice) together.

Roll the pork balls in drained wet glutinous rice.

Steam till the outer coating of rice are cooked.

Pan Fried Beef Dumpling (牛肉锅贴）

Dumpling fillings: minced beef, minced ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, cooking wine, chicken stock. Quantity are 500g of beef, 1 tablespoon of ginger, and a splash of everything else, to taste.

Ready made dumpling skins can be found in most Asian grocery stores in the fridge section.

To panfry dumpling, heat up a small amount of oil, about 2 tablespoons, line raw dumplings in the pan, wait till the bottom of dumplings are slightly browned, then add room temperature water till covering about 50% of the height of the dumpling, cover with lid. When the water is nearly dried up, open the lid and continue cooking. The dumpling is ready when the water has dried up. The dumpling might stick to the pan a bit. It would be easier to wait till the dumpling is slightly cooler to peel of the dumplings from the pan.

Dumpling sauce: 70% Chinese black vinegar, 30% soy sauce. Ginger (sliced or minced). Chilli oil (optional). Sesame oil (a splash). Sugar (tiny amount, optional).

Cherry Cake

Cherry cake, made with drained canned cherry. Egg white + granulated sugar need beating, but don't overdo it, harder egg white will end in denser cake. Good to have it with cherry sauce and Greek yoghurt. Pour in the cherry, top with cake batter, then into the oven. Took 15 minutes to prepare, and about 45 minutes in the oven.  

Banana Upside Down Cake

Made just like a normal banana cake, but first sprinkle red/brown sugar at the bottom of the tin, then lined sliced banana on top, followed by banana cake batter (with mashed banana in the batter). The most moist banana cake I have ever had, and took less than 15 minutes to prepare, and only about 45 minutes in the oven. I think I got the recipe online from bestrecipes.com.au, but can't seem to find it now.

Princess Pink Rissotto

Recipe is in old post:
http://yummymungbean.blogspot.com.au/2010/07/chicken-and-mushroom-risotto.html

To make it pink, mix in beetroot juice with chicken stock while cooking.

蛋包饭 Fried Rice

Got extra eggs? This is what you should do...

Walnut and Beetroot Salad with bbq chicken

Ingredients for salad: baby beetroot, walnut, mixed salad leaves, olive oil, vinegar

Malaysian style Dry Egg Noodle with Wonton

Ingredients: whole egg fine noodle, any green veggie, wonton

Wonton ingredients: minced pork, wonton skin, ginger, prawns (optional), Chinese cooking wine, chicken stock, soy sauce (a few drops)

Sauce for noodle: caramel sauce, soy sauce, cooking wine, chicken stock (in powder form ideally), sweet soy sauce, sesame oil

Steps:

1. Wrap the wonton.

2. Cook wonton in boiling water. They float when they are cooked.

3. Blanch the veggie and noodle in hot water.

4. Mix noodle with the sauce.

鲜竹卷 Minced Pork wrapped in Bean Curd skin

Ingredients: Minced Pork, bean curd sheets, bamboo shoot, water chestnut, soy sauce, chinese cooking wine, sesame oil, chicken stock, oyster sauce, corn flour, brown sugar

Steps:

1. Mix minced pork with fined diced bamboo shoot, water chestnut, soy sauce, wine, sesame oil, stock, corn flour.

2. Wrap with bean curd skin. Seal with water. [Some tofu skin needs wetting/soaking, read instructions for each brand]

3. Fry in oil till it turns golden

4. Either first steam, then drizzle sauce on. Or cook in sauce directly for short-cut. Sauce made up with oyster sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, chicken stock [cook till the skin wrinkle up, i.e. soaked up most of the sauce]

Vegie Soup with Gigantic Bread Dumpling

More info are in old post: http://yummymungbean.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/chicken-and-veggie-soup-with-bread.html

Bread dumpling recipe:

1. Mix 1 cup baking flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, some mixed herbs, and water/milk mixture

Note: Bread dumpling is fluffier and softer if you add more water/milk

Stirfry Cauliflower and Ants (juz kidding... cumin seeds)

Ingredients: Cauliflower, cumin seeds, soy sauce

Steps:

1. Fry cumin seeds in oil till fragrant

2. Add in cauliflower

3. Flavour with soy sauce if needed, add a little brown sugar if you like it sweeter

Stir Fry Chinese Cabbage

萝卜白菜保平安 ：）

Ingredients: Chinese cabbage, garlic, prawns, chicken stock, corn flour

Optional: Soy sauce, salt, sesame oil

Steps:

1. Fry the garlic

2. Add in the peeled prawns

3. Add in the chopped cabbage

4. Flavour with salt and soy sauce

5. Add in chicken stock (dry or wet)

6. Add in corn flour+water mixture to thicken the sauce

7. Add few drops of sesame oil

Mini Lion's Head (no lion involved...)

Recipe can be found in my old post:

http://yummymungbean.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/braised-meat-balls-braised-chicken.html

Speedy Curry Prawns

Speedy curry prawn. This dish can be done under 10 minutes.

Ingredients: Prawns, Onion, Shallot (optional), Vermicelli, curry powder, coconut milk (optional, can use normal milk plus water)

Steps:
1. Brown the onion, then chuck in the shallot
2. Soak the vermicelli (vermicelli usually comes dry)
3. Chuck in the prawns, fry till they turn red/pink
4. Add in coconut milk/normal milk/water, and curry powder.
5. Adjust to taste with anything you want, brown sugar, oyster sauce, soy sauce etc. Not very authentic, but speed up the cooking and add taste speedily.
6. Throw in the vermicelli.