Char Kuay Teow, two-ways

 

Char Kuay Teow with sweet soy



If you know and love Malaysian food, then Char Kuay Teow needs no introduction. In terms of popularity, I would think that Laksa ranks number one, followed by Hainanese chicken rice, and then Char Kuay Teow. These three dishes are commonly found in most menus of restaurants serving Malaysian-style food in Sydney, but more often than not, the authenticity of the Char Kuay Teow is questionable. Char Kuay Teow (CKT) literally means fried rice noodles, but a plate of greasy fried rice noodles with black soy sauce does not qualify as CKT. I find that the CKT sold here usually omits the eggs, which is a must in every CKT. It coats the rice noodles and gives it flavour and texture. Cockles are another must-have in CKT, but I have omitted them in my dish as I was unable to find any at the shops here.

Asparagus and Prawn Stir-fry

 

 

Asparagus and Prawn Stir-fry

 

Ingredients

 

1 tbsp vegetable/peanut oil

2 cloves garlic, sliced/chopped

200g prawns, peeled, deveined and tails intact

2 bundles asparagus, woody ends snapped off, halved crossways

2-3 bird's eye chillies, sliced

 

Sauce:

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp palm sugar (or to taste)

1 tbsp Thai sweet chilli sauce

3 tbsp water

 

Method

 

Heat oil in a wok on high heat. Add the garlic, followed by the prawns. Let the prawns cook on one side, then flip them over to cook the other side. When the prawns are almost cooked, remove and transfer them to a plate and leave the oil in the wok. Next, add the asparagus to the wok and fry for 30 seconds, then push them aside. Add the chillies and pour the sauce ingredients down the side of the wok into the centre and bring to a boil. Toss the prawns in with the asparagus and sauce, and stir-fry briefly until everything is well coated, and sauce is slightly reduced. Turn off the heat and transfer to a serving plate. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Snow Peas and Asparagus in Oyster Sauce

In my previous post (Grilled Beef with Charred Tomato and Chilli Sauce), I wrote about my visit to Sailors Thai where I had the luxury of savouring an array of creative and exotic Thai dishes and was simply enamoured by the overall gastronomic experience. I attempted to make a mental note of how each dish tasted so that I could recreate the same at home if I ever had a craving for it. And so, this post features a very simple recipe for delicious stir-fried vegetables in oyster sauce. In the menu, it was actually stated as "stir fried broccolini and sugar snap peas with oyster sauce", but they looked more like asparagus than broccolini, and so I've used asparagus in my recipe here. How timely it was that Ms AC received a bag of snow peas from her neighbour who just harvested them from the backyard, and she brought some to the office for me!

Spicy Pork and Kimchi Fried Rice

Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish of spicy fermented vegetables (usually napa cabbage or radish) and is commonly eaten as an appetizer or used in cooking. I was never really a fan of kimchi. Whenever I dined at Korean restaurants and was presented with banchan (the many little dishes that are served at the start of the meal), I would just sample a few slivers of the cabbage kimchi and perhaps a piece of the radish kimchi (I havan't acquired a taste for that yet). My favourites were usually the cubed potatoes (potato jorim) and the soy bean sprouts. Over time, I actually grew to like the taste of kimchi, and I guess it also depends on how "powerful" the flavour is. Everytime we shop at the Korean supermarket and browse through the shelves of kimchi, G would remind me jokingly "Are you sure you want to try it? It's made with rotten fish/squid." We watched that episode of Bizarre Foods where Andrew Zimmern visited a traditional kimchi factory in Korea where they showed how tonnes and tonnes of cabbage were seasoned and fermented in huge vats with rotten fish or squid (or something like that). And for months too.

Kung Pao Chicken with Cashews and Szechuan Pepper

I would like to share with you my favourite tried-and-tested recipe for Kung Pao Chicken (gōng bǎo jī dīng) that is absolutely delicious. This classic Szechuan dish typically comprises marinated chicken cubes tossed in dried red chillies and szechuan peppercorns, along with some cashews or peanuts. Many versions exist for this highly popular dish, and after various attempts, I have finally come up with the perfect recipe that I am quite happy with. It has a nice balance of flavours from the soy, vinegar and brown sugar, and the aromatic szechuan peppers that is characterisic of kung pao chicken really bring out the true and authentic flavours of this dish.

Japchae (Korean Stir-fried Sweet Potato Noodles)

Christmas is coming soon and I forsee that we will be buying lots of goodies for the festive celebrations, which means that I have start clearing out my pantry (and fridge) to make space for these purchases. I bought these sweet potato starch noodles a while back with the intention of making Japchae, a rather popular dish served at Korean restaurants. Japchae is a dish of stir-fried glass noodles (called "dangmyeon"), containing vegetables like carrots, red peppers, onions and scallions, and is usually seasoned with soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil.

Broccoli Beef Deluxe

 

Whenever I ask G what I should cook for dinner, his answer is usually "Anything. I leave it to you". I guess I'm fortunate to have a husband who eats anything and everything, which leaves me free to cook whatever I'm in the mood for, even when it's the result of a cooking disaster, he will not waste food as long as it's edible. If he had to name a dish for me to cook, it's always the standard two dishes - "Sweet and sour pork" or "Broccoli Beef". I reckon he feels a little nostalgic when it comes to these two as they were his favourite chinese takeouts during his college days.

The Ubiquitous Sweet and Sour Pork



We just can't get enough of sweet and sour pork, can we? Those crispy golden balls of light and airy puffiness surrounding that delicious little pork nugget within, covered in thick and syrupy sweet and sour sauce. I am referring to the American-style battered sweet and sour pork, which are also available at some of the chinese-takeaway shops in Australia. Not so much in the higher end chinese restaurants though. Those usually serve the unbattered version of sweet and sour pork, where the pork is dusted with cornflour and deep-fried, forming a layer of golden crust around it. I like both versions, but this time, I decided to make the battered kind, which G used to love eating back in Berkeley. Yeah, sometimes I just turn to G and ask him what his stomach desires, especially when I've got too many ideas in my head and it's easier for someone to just tell me what to cook.

Seafood Yakisoba (Japanese Fried Noodles)

I love the simplicity of Japanese cuisine and how easy it is to replicate some of the dishes that are commonly served at Japanese restaurants. Many of the recipes are often simple enough with a relatively short list of ingredients, and the dishes can be prepared in a short amount of time. Yakisoba, which is a Japanese fried noodle dish, usually contains cabbage, meat and other vegetables, and is topped with aonori, which are green seaweed flakes. The noodles are flavoured with yakisoba sauce, which is a thick and tangy version of Worchestershire sauce. I used to think that soba (buckwheat) noodles were used for this, but in fact, it uses wheat noodles, similar to ramen or chinese egg noodles. You can buy yakisoba noodles that come packed in individual serving sizes. They don't need to be boiled, but can be added directly into the pan and sitr-fried with the other ingredients. That makes it such an easy and fuss-free dish to cook.

Fujian Fried Rice with Gravy

I know, I know. You 're thinking, fried rice? Even a six-year old can make fried rice, so why post a recipe for it? Well, there are many versions of fried rice if you think about it, not only the kind you get in chinese restaurants. There's Thai fried rice, pineapple fried rice, nasi goreng (Indonesian), Yangzhou fried rice, salted fish fried rice, Indian-style fried rice with anchovies, Japanese omu rice - the list goes on. Here, I am sharing with you a recipe for Fujian fried rice, which is essentially fried rice served with an oyster sauce gravy. The gravy is thick and gooey, which allows it to perfectly coat each grain of rice with a layer of tasty savoury goodness. You've got to love rice with gravy!

Bo Luc Lac (Vietnamese Shaking Beef)

We ordered takeaway from our local Vietnamese restaurant last weekend and I decided to try something different - Com Bo Luc Lac, which I later found out means Shaking Beef with Rice. It's called shaking beef because you shake the pan to toss the beef when cooking it. The dish was actually meant for the kids as both G and I decided to have Indian for dinner, and the kids have not developed their tastebuds for spicy food. The Com Bo Luc Lac looked delicious, even in its styrofoam container - cubes of charred beef covered with black pepper in a pool of syrupy black sauce, served with steamed white rice. It was so good, especially with that sauce, that I made up my mind to attempt making it this week.

Quick and Easy: Cashew Chicken Broccoli Stir-fry

Here's a simple stir-fry that will keep the kids happy!

Cashew Chicken Broccoli Stir-fry

500g chicken thigh fillets, diced into cubes
1 1/2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
Salt
1/2 tbsp cornflour
1/2 inch ginger, grated
Unsalted cashew nuts, stir-fried in hot oil
1 cup broccoli, blanched in salted water

Sauce:
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp chinese black vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp water
Dash of black pepper
A few drops sesame oil

Method

Marinade chicken with wine, salt, ginger and cornflour for 1 hour. Heat up 1 tbsp oil in a wok/pan and fry the chicken until browned and cooked. Add in the sugar and mix well, followed by vinegar, soy, pepper and 2 tbsp water. When the sauce is slightly thickened, add broccoli, cashews, followed by sesame oil and toss briefly. Dish out and serve with steamed white rice.

Twice-cooked Pork Belly with Salted Fish

Salted fish is a common ingredient used in chinese cooking, usually to add depth of flavour and saltiness to a dish, pretty much like how anchovies work. It can be used with chicken, fried rice, pork, vegetables, soup or curries, and the one I've prepared here is typically cooked in a claypot, but since I don't have a claypot at home, it works just as well stir-fried in a hot wok. I first tried this dish when my mum cooked it a few years ago. Her preferred method of cooking it was to steam the pork first until tender before slicing it thinly and stir-frying it with the sauce ingredients. And so, I adopted the same method as I wanted the pork to be tender enough for the kids to chew on.

I suppose for somebody who has never tried salted fish, it may be an acquired taste, just like how I don't really fancy anchovies (unless it's been finely chopped and mashed up in my caesar salad, in small quantities of course). But combined with the pork belly and dried chillies, it has an almost smoky salty flavour that makes you want to finish up that whole bowl of rice, and go for seconds. The sweetness from the onions is nicely balanced with the saltiness of the sauce, and the moist and juicy fat from the pork adds some of that "lardy" flavour to the dish.

Here is the recipe. Try to use a good quality salted fish if you can as it is the key ingredient in this dish.

Twice-cooked Pork Belly with Salted Fish

Ingredients

400g pork belly

60g salted fish, sliced

1 tsp grated ginger

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 onion, cut into wedges

1/4 cup dried red chillies, cut in half

1 tsp thick caramel (thick black soy)

1 stalk spring onion, cut into 4cm lengths

1/2 tsp sesame oil

Sauce:

1/2 tsp chicken stock powder

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1/2 tsp thick caramel (thick black soy)

1 tbsp chinese cooking wine

1/2 tsp sugar (or more to taste)

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp cornflour

Method

1. Place 1 cup water in a medium-sized pot and bring to a boil. Place the pork skin-side down in the water, cover and simmer for 1 1/4 hours until tender. Remove the pork and let it cool on a plate. Cut into thin slices, about 5mm. You can choose to leave the rind on or remove it completely.
2. Heat up 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a wok. Fry the salted fish until fragrant, then add the sliced pork and sear on high heat. Push aside, leaving a little oil on the base of the wok, and add ginger, garlic, onion and chillies. Add more oil if necessary. Stir fry until onion starts to soften. Drizzle the thick caramel over the pork and toss to coat evenly.
3. Push everything aside and add sauce ingredients. Bring to a simmer and toss it through the meat. Add spring onion and sesame oil and toss briefly to mix. Dish out and serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Quick and Easy: Stir-fried Choko with Glass Noodles

Chokoes or chayote (not related to the coyote or the Road Runner show) are akin to green apples, although they more bland tasting than tart. When cooked, the texture is similar to that of turnip and reminds me of eating popiah (spring roll) filling. Here is a simple way to prepare chokoes with glass noodles, with simple flavours but delicious eaten with rice or even on its own.

Stir-fried Choko with Glass Noodles

Ingredients

1 large choko (chayote), peeled, deseeded and julienned
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 chinese black mushrooms, rehydrated in hot water, stalks removed and caps thinly sliced
50g bean thread noodles, soaked in water until softened
1 egg, lightly beaten with 1/2 tsp light soy sauce

Seasoning:
1/2 tsp chicken stock powder
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp sesame oil

Method

Heat up 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a pan/wok and fry the garlic for 20 seconds. Toss in the mushrooms, then add the chokoes and stir fry for 8-10 minutes until they are almost tender. Add 2 tbsp water halfway through frying.

Add the chicken stock powder, soy sauce and salt, followed by the noodles. Add 2 tbsp water and fry for a minute until noodles are cooked. Push the mixture aside and pour in the beaten egg. Scramble lightly and fold the mixture through the egg until well combined. Add pepper and sesame oil. Dish out, garnish with fried shallots and serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Stir-fried Beef in Black Bean Sauce

This is a dish commonly seen on the menus of chinese take-away restaurants and at the food court. I never order it because it's just something that can be easily prepared at home. Anyway, I find that they throw in too much onions and shallots, which will usually be left behind on my plate at the end of the meal. The version I made here uses black vinegar which gives it a slight tang and sweetness, and the sesame oil added at the end brings the whole dish together.

Stir-fried Beef in Black Bean Sauce

Ingredients

400g beef sirloin steak, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 inch ginger, grated
2 stalks spring onion, cut into 2 inch lengths
1 small onion, cut into wedges
1 cup broccoli/capsicum/sugar snap peas/string beans etc

Marinade:
1 tbsp light soy sauce
Dash of pepper
1/2 tbsp cornflour
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp water

Sauce (combine in a bowl):
1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp chinese black vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp sugar (or to taste)
1/2 tsp chicken stock powder
1/2 cup water

3 tbsp black beans (from a jar)
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp sesame oil

Thickening:
1 tsp cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp water

Method

Combine beef with marinade ingredients and leave for 1/2 hour. Pour 1 tbsp vegetable oil into a pan/wok on high heat and fry the beef until browned. Drain off excess oil, remove and put aside.

With the remaining oil in the pan (~1 tbsp), add the ginger, then onions and garlic. Fry for a minute, then add vegetables (broccoli and string beans should be blanched first) and fry until almost cooked. Add black beans, then combined sauce ingredients and simmer briefly. Stir in the cornflour mixture and bring to a boil. Add the beef to the pan and toss in the sauce on high heat. Add more water if the sauce dries up. Sprinkle with black pepper and sesame oil, and toss through the spring onions. Remove from heat and transfer onto a serving plate. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Note: You can substitute the beef with sliced pork belly. Cook the whole pork belly in boiling salted water and let it simmer for 2 hours until tender. Remove and cool before cutting into thin slices. Then fry using the recipe above.

Char Siu Fried Rice with Lettuce

Here's another one of my favourite ways to cook fried rice with leftovers in the fridge. I used last night's leftover char siu (chinese roast pork), chopped spring onions and some finely shredded lettuce tossed in towards the end of frying, and then garnished it with more lettuce for that fresh and juicy crunch.

Japanese Tofu with Pork Mince and Omelette

It would have been better if I had a hot plate to serve this dish in, especially now that winter is almost here, food tends to get cold pretty quickly. Come to think about it, I should have at least heated up the plate I planned to serve it in, so that at least it helps the food to retain some heat. Then I would have more reason to call this "Hot Plate Tofu". Next time perhaps.

I love tofu of all sorts (except for the stinky ones), and egg (or Japanese) tofu is one of my favourites. Silky smooth and custard-like, it has more flavour compared to regular white beancurd. I still don't understand why some people find eating tofu revolting, unless it's been disguised as a Vegan [Tofu] Cheesecake, which in my opinion sounds more bizarre than plain tofu itself.

Anyway, I cooked this dish for last night's dinner and it was simple and quick to prepare, with just 2 core ingredients, tofu and minced pork (I had initially wanted to use prawns instead, but they didn't have small prawns at the market).

How to prepare Japanese Tofu with Pork Mince and Omelette

1) Marinate 200g minced pork with soy, pepper, sugar, sesame oil and cornflour along with 1 tbsp water.

2) Cut tofu (2 tubes) into 1.5cm slices and deep-fry till golden in colour. You can dust them in tapioca starch/cornflour before frying if you like. Drain on absorbent paper.

3) In a wok, fry some garlic, add some sliced shitake/chinese black mushrooms and the pork until cooked. You can also add some carrots, peas, sweet corn kernels etc. Add 1 tbsp oyster sauce, a little light soy, some dark soy (for colour), shaoxing wine, dash of chicken stock powder, sugar and pepper with 1/2 cup water and bring to boil. Thicken with a little cornstarch/tapioca starch solution, making sure there is sufficient gravy. Add a few drops of sesame oil. Dish out into a bowl.

4) Lightly beat 2 eggs with 1 tbsp water, season with soy and pepper. Fry in a wok/pan on high heat to make a large round omelette. When the egg is almost set, add the tofu and minced pork over the centre of the egg, let it cook for a minute (so that you get nice crisp edges and bottom for the omelette), then carefully slide the omelette, tofu and all onto a plate. Of course, if you have a hot plate, then just pour the beaten eggs onto the plate and let it sizzle before topping with the tofu and pork. Garnish with spring onions and sliced red chillies if desired. Serve hot with steamed jasmine rice.

Fried Rice with Salted Fish and Beansprouts

This dish reminds me of the time when I was in Singapore and used to get take-away salted fish fried rice from the local coffee shop. I always peeked inside the box to make sure that they packed some pickled green chillies to go along with it. That's just the one thing missing from last night's dinner! But still, I love the saltiness and "floury" texture of the salted fish that melts in your mouth with each mouthful of rice. And the juicy beansprouts add a lovely crunch and freshness to the whole dish. To make it more substantial, I also tossed in some diced chicken thigh fillets, along with garlic, chopped spring onions, peas, and of course, shredded omelette. As the fish is already salty, not much seasoning is required, but just a little light soy sauce and a dash of pepper to bring out the flavours. Hmm....I really should start making some pickled green chillies soon!

Fried Carrot Cake

Fried carrot cake (chai tau kuih) with bean sprouts

I couldn't resist the temptation, so I made carrot cake a few days ago. Making the cake itself is not difficult. It's made from grated daikon/radish, rice flour, water, tapioca starch and seasoned with salt, soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil. I also added a little alkaline water to improve the texture. This is steamed for about 40 minutes, and then cooled before cutting into cubes for frying.

I fried the carrot cake two ways: the white version and the black one. The black version has dark caramel soy sauce added to it, plus extra sugar for sweetness. I also used a little kecap manis as it has a sweeter flavour compared to regular dark soy sauce. No salt or soy/fish sauce is added to the dish when frying as the preserved radish (chai poh) is already salty. However, I did add a little fish sauce to the beaten egg mixture before pouring them over the carrot cake in the pan, just for a touch of seasoning.

I like my carrot cake cut up into tiny cubic pieces, covered with moist bits of egg. I don't particularly fancy chunks of egg in it, so I make sure that I mix the carrot cake around in the egg before it sets so that it coats all the pieces evenly. At this point, I also add a little of the dark soy sauce over the eggs so that they are slightly sweet and moist, before adding more sauce over everything else. To make the dish more substantial, I also tossed in a few seasoned prawns. The beansprouts are added towards the end along with the chopped spring onions. Yum yum....carrot cake is served!

Fried carrot cake with bean sprouts, shrimp and sweet black sauce

Broccoli Beef with Holy Basil

Here's a quick and simple beef and vegetable stir-fry that has all the protein, iron and vitamins that your kids need for a well-balanced meal (served with steamed rice of course).

Broccoli Beef with Holy Basil

Ingredients

400g beef scotch fillet, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 handful Thai / Holy basil

Broccoli florets, boiled in salted boiling water until almost tender, and refreshed with cold water

1 stalk green spring onions, cut into 4 cm lengths

Marinade:

1/2 tbsp fish sauce

1/2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp sugar

Dash of pepper

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp cornflour

Sauce:

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp palm sugar (or substitute with brown sugar)

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup water

A few drops of sesame oil

Method

1. Combine marinade with beef and leave aside for an hour.
2. Heat up some oil in a wok and fry the beef until browned all over. Dish out and leave aside.
3. Fry the garlic in a little oil in the wok, then add sauce ingredients and bring to boil. Add in the beef, spring onions and broccoli and toss until well combined and beef is cooked. Taste for seasoning. Stir through the basil, then dish out onto a plate and serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Tip: Pop the beef in the freezer for about an hour until firm before slicing. This will give you thinly shaved slices of beef that makes it easy for the little ones to chew.