Green Choy Sum with Mushroom & Cha Siew

Vegetable dishes can very interesting
& is actually a MUST for a typical dinner at home.

Choice of vegetable: Green Choy Sum
Mushroom
Cha Siew (chinese BBQ pork)
Oyster Sauce
Chinese Cooking Wine
Salt & Pepper
Garlic (plenty of them)
Cornstarch

I like this dish purely for its' simplicity & good taste.
The cha siew can be omitted to own likings.

The Way:
Heat up some oil, add garlic & fry till brown.
Add mushroom/cha siew & stir fry for another minute or two.
Add the veggies, oyster sauce/chinese cooking wine
then some water with constarch to thicken the sauce.
Let it simmer for a while.
When the veggies soften & the sauce thicken,
it's ready to be served.
(Never allow veggies to overcook for it'll lose its gloss & colour,
not to mention the taste!)

Serves the Health Well

Big Pheasant (Chicken) with Sweet Butter Sauce

I classify this dish European due to the ingredients
but still very much home cooking.

Chicken (5 parts) - Marinated with Lea Perin sauce
Olive Oil
Butter - 50g
Apple Cider
Lemon Zest
Lemon
Tomatoes
Garlic - Lots of them in pieces

Deep fry the chicken and put aside.
Heat up another pan (wok) with olive oil & add garlic,
then butter/lemon zest/apple cider/tomatoes (mashed).

Lastly add the chicken & let the sauce thickens
before dish is served.

Keep on rolling...

Serves The Hungry

Sliced Pork Belly with Cashew Nuts

Another all time favourite. Another chinese influenced dish.
(Like myself)

A twist of taste for every dishes. Chinese mix with yet another style/way but whatever you wanna call it, please by all means don't called it fusion - it's insulting the cooking fraternity. Haha - only joking! Normally for every half, there is always the other half. It doesn't really matter 'cos the other half is always CRAZY (not supposed to be understood).

The Stuff:
Pork Belly & Loin Pork - 300 g
Ginger
Cashew Nuts (roasted)
Dark Soy Sauce/Sesame Oil
Salt & Pepper

The Way:
Heat up the wok with some oil,
add ginger & the pork belly/loin
(marinated with dark soy sauce/sesame oil/salt & pepper).
Stir fry till it's really cooked.
Let it be a bit overcooked for better taste & to BURN the FATS!
Lastly, add cashew nuts & serve.

Serves A Plenty

Chicken Curry My Way

What would a Chicken Curry dish do on a cold rainy day for dinner?
The perfect dish!
Sometimes, the curry house (Mamak Corner) can't beat the
all time classic curry chicken from home.

The Stuff:
Chicken - 1 kg (drumstick & thighs)
Curry Powder - 3 to 4 tbsp
(you can mix a few brands together,
e.g. Babas, 888, Ayam Brands, etc.)
The best option of course would be to go to the spice shops.
Onions/Garlic
Coconut Milk
Tamarind
Salt & Pepper
Lemon Grass
Potatoes

The Way:
Heat up some oil in a Hot Pot (clay), add onions/garlic,
then the mixed curry powder.
Fry them till your whole kitchen smells of curry.
Add the chicken & ¼ cup of water (dilution of tamarind juice)
& allow it to simmer away.

Add the potatoes & coconut milk
(200ml for thick or 400ml for watery).
Next, add salt to taste.
Cook under medium heat up to 1 hour.
The slower you cook in a hot pot the tender the texture
of the chicken & the spices coagulate in harmony.

Serves 6

Corned Beef in Petula with Baby Corn

I really don't know where this one is coming from but I simply enjoy making the fillings for this green veggie called Petula (scientific name: Luffa Acutangula Roxb) with its almost rOunded centre.

From the can:
Corned Beef - get the one from Brazil or Argentina (more beefy)
Baby Corn

Petula (cut into rings)
Onions/Garlic
Oyster Sauce/Soy Sauce

Fry the corned beef with garlic & onions.
Add some pepper and put aside.
Stir fry the veggies plus the baby corn, then add oyster/soy sauce.
Make it simple.

When it's done, fill up the beef into the centre & serve.
Very Corny but hey, you might just see this in a menu
of an uptown restaurant one day.

Serves 5

Steamed Fish with Salted Lettuce

Fish is something I don't really fancy cooking to be honest! But whenever I've caught any good fish from my fishing trip with my brothers (can't remember when was the last time I caught one or went fishing for that matter), I will definitely serve up a dish.

This fish is called Belanak (locally or a.k.a. mugilidae).

The Stuff:
Fish
(must be fresh whenever steaming is concerned)
Salted Lettuce (preserved) - from your regular supermarket
Sliced Ginger
Fish Sauce
Light Soy Sauce
Salt & Pepper

Toss everything onto the plate and steam it
in a steamer for 8 minutes.

Simple & Delicious.

Therapeutical Cooking

Cooking makes me feel very relax, calm & collected. You can say it's a theraphy or could be an addiction! Well, that's what I call passion. When I do my little thing with the pots and pans, the rest of the world kinda stop until the occassional "I want to cook too!" from my boys. I'm sure they'll be cooking one day 'cos after all I got this cooking habit from my dad.

Been cooking plenty of dishes over the last few days. Shores of them on the next postings :)