Shimeji mushroom in miso soup

Ingredients :

1 pack Shimeji mushroom, roots trimmed
1/3 Chinese raddish ( lo pah), sliced, makes a cup
1 cup chopped tomato
1/2 white onion, chopped into moons
2 packets of ready-to-use miso paste ( the kind use to make a cup of breakfast miso soup)
3 cups of water
1 tbs of Philippine tamarind mix (sinigang mix)
1 tsp salt

In a medium size pot, combine water, miso paste and salt. Turn the heat on and add tomato, radish and onion.

Bring to the boil and cook until the radish is soft, about 10 minutes.

Add the tamarind mix. By this time, you should taste the soup if more salt is needed.

And finally, give the Shimeji mushroom a quick wash and add to the soup. Cook for about 2 minutes.

Serve hot.

Butternut squash and dried shrimp congee

Ingredients :

1/2 cup white rice
1/4 cup Thai sweet rice
a quarter of butternut squash, sliced about half inch thick, 1 inch (makes 2 cups)
a handful of dried shrimp
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 large white onion, chopped
small piece of ginger, chopped
1 tbs cooking oil
4 cups of water
2 tsp of salt
ground black pepper
fish sauce (optional)
green/spring onion
preserved Chinese olive leaves (lam choy)

Wash the dried shrimp several times and soak in water - just enough to cover the dried shrimp.

Mix the 2 kinds of rice and wash several times. Set aside.

In a large sauce pan or pot, saute onion until just about translucent.
Fish out the dried shrimp from the water. Set the water aside.
Add the garlic, ginger and dried shrimp and saute for about a minute.

Put the rice mix and keep stirring until just about all the water is gone. Pour the water from the dried shrimp. Add the 4 cups of water. Add the salt. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the rice breaks, making sure to stir from time to time. Add more water if necessary.

Add the butternut squash and cook for 5 minutes or until solf but not mushy.

Add the ground black pepper and taste. If you want to add more salt, use fish sauce instead, adding sparingly until you get the taste. Also remember that the preserve Chinese olive leaves, which you will add before serving, is a bit salty.

Serve topped with chopped green onion and the preserved Chinese olive leaves.

Chicken wrap (or what happens to left-over roasted chicken)

What do you do with left-over roasted chicken? You make roasted chicken wrap.



Ingredients:
1 cup shredded roasted chicken
1 medium size capsicum, julienned
1 big fresh tomato, diced with the seeds on
1 tbs diced shallots
1 tbs chopped coriander (cilantro)
1 tsp corn oil
juice of a lime
garlic salt
fresh-cracked black pepper

The above ingredients can make 4 wraps so you would naturally need 4 pcs of flour tortillas.

1. In a bowl, mix the tomato, shallots, coriander, lime juice, garlic salt and black pepper. Set aside.

2. Heat a pan and stir-fry the capsicum in corn oil for about 2 minutes.

3. Warm the tortillas ( just follow the instruction on the package!).

4. Spoon some capsicum over a tortilla, then top with the shredded chicken. (I didn't heat the chicken but you could stir-fry it with the capsicum just to warm it through or you could pop it into the microwave).



5. Top with the tomato mix.



6. Roll and eat.

I used garlic salt just because I have it in my kitchen but by all means, use fresh garlic, finely chopped and any salt. I also used yellow capsicum for a nice play of color, as you would see in the picture. But you could use red or green capsicum - whatever you can get easily.

A nice lunch prepared in less than 15 minutes.

After the chicken wrap, I now have 4 left-over tortillas.

A confused parsley?

Is that P-C? Or would this parsley prefer to be called "a mixed herb"?

"What would you like to go with that?"

We found this on the supermarket near our hotel in Yangshou.

Lunch at Dazhai Village

We have been travelling since 3 pm the previous day. When we arrived at Dazhai Village, it was just about time for lunch and we still have an hour of uphill climb before we reach our accommodation.

We were not only tired but very hungry as well. My travel companion knows how I get very cranky when I am hungry so we ordered the fastest and simplest lunch.

First to arrive was the bitter melon omelette which was not at all bitter. The owner of the restaurant claims the eggs are free-range, from chicken raised in the mountain.



And of course, rice...there has to be rice. Lots of it. The rice was served on a nice little wooden bucket. Rustic but very nice.



Next came the tofu wedges which were filled with meat and herbs.


And as always in a Chinese table, there's hot tea. Here's my tiny bowl crammed with food.


I do not have pictures of the aftermath but I practically cleared everything! A few more cups of tea and we're happy to go.

Pang-inggit!

Look what I found in the market! These tamarinds are from the Philippines.

Look at these! Aren't they gorgeous? And they are really sweet!

Pork Nilaga (or what happens when I clear the fridge)

I’m going on a trip to China for a long Easter weekend so on Sunday I thought about clearing the fridge of left-over vegetables. There‘s half a radish ( the radish in Hong Kong is really huge!), a carrot, a medium-sized potato and a small head of wong nga bak (Chinese cabbage). But I could not make anything of those veggies unless I add something. I decided I will make pork nilaga because it’s really easy.

I know radish is for sinigang, not nilaga, but I don’t think the nilaga will complain anyway! You might ask – then why not simply cook sinigang? Well, I do think the carrot and the potato would not feel comfortable in sinigang, don’t you? Of course a proper nilaga should have more than just those veggies (green beans, leeks, perhaps a plantain or two) but remember I was just clearing my fridge!

So I went to the meat shop to get a pound of fresh pork (the neck part). Then I picked up a piece of chayote from the store just to make it more colorful. I boiled the meat with salt, an onion and a few black peppercorns for an hour. I didn't even have to keep an eye on it. Then I threw in the chunks of veggies, cooking it for another 30 minutes. I added the cabbage just before I turned the heat off.

Here's the nilaga after an hour and a half.



I grew up in a household where you have to watch your nilaga – at least until it boils - to skim off the scum and to prevent the scum from froathing…or it’s going to be messy, and the broth is not too appealing. But I find that if I boil the water first before adding the pork ( or any meat for that matter), and then turning the heat to the minimum as soon as the meat is added, I don’t get scum. Also, if you wash the meat properly before you add it into the boiling water, it’s the kind of scum that you wouldn’t care about. Try.

Cannellini Beans (White Kidney Beans)

I have been experimenting with beans ever since I saw this post.




I couldn’t easily find cannellini beans the first try so I used butter beans instead. The result was pretty good. Really good in fact that I decided I had to do it using cannellini beans.

I was once in the Happy Valley neighbourhood and went to the branch of an Italian Deli popular in Hong Kong. As it would turn out, they have cannellini beans! I was so excited I grabbed 2 cans but realized that between my already heavy backpack and the commute to Lamma Island, it would be wiser to just get a can and hoped that I could be back in the neighbourhood anytime soon. But the beans are not as good as I was dreaming it to be. Unlike the butter beans which stay whole even after 40 minutes of cooking, these cannellini beans break apart so easily. In fact, I couldn’t find a whole bean when I opened the can!

On another try, I found from a local supermarket an English brand but the beans are hard - I had to boil it for a good hour using fresh water before I could actually use it. Now before I bring out the knife and the chopping board, I would first open the can and check the quality of the beans. Though it’s easy enough to buy dry beans and boil it away for 2-3 hours, I prefer to just head out to the nearest supermarket and hope before I open the can that it’s good beans inside.

Cannellini Beans

Ingredients :
1 can Cannellini Beans ( about 400 grams), drained, set the liquid aside
1/4 cup chopped carrots
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper (red or green)
2 tbs chopped Italian parsley

2 tbs olive oil
a clove of garlic, sliver
1/4 cup chopped white onion
1 tbs tomato paste

1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp paprika
a pinch of dried chilli flakes
1/4 cup of water
salt


Here's how I cook it –

1. On a medium heated pot, saute garlic and onion in olive oil for 2 minutes. Add carrot, celery and bell pepper and continue sweating for about 3 minutes.

2. Add the salt, tomato paste, chilli flakes, cumin, coriander and paprika . Stir thru for about a minute.

3. Add the cannellini beans, half of the drained liquid and water. Stir and put the lid on.

4. Let on a gentle simmer for about 15-20 minutes, stirring once in a while to prevent from sticking at the bottom of the pan. Add a little more water as necessary - the idea is to make a stew.

5. And just before taking it off the stove, add the parsley.

I prefer to top it on a bowl of steaming rice (white or a combination of red/brown) or on toast, preferably whole wheat or 5-grain bread as it gives a nicer crunch. Scrumptious!

ETT at TAG

The Amateur Gourment was at Elvie's Turo Turo in NYC. Read it here.

Dirty Noodles at Wing Kee

This noodle place is really small and cramped. But it is also very popular. There is always a long line of people waiting outside. The tables are so small it is impossible to imagine how it can seat 5 people, at times all strangers from each other. But people couldn't care less - everyone here comes for the noodles.

I had yau min (our very own miki) with ngau lam (beef brisket), loh pa (radish) and tung kuh (mushroom).







Z had yau min as well but with ngau lam, fan cheong (pork intestine) and yau yue sow (octopus tentacles) which she happily shared with me. The intestine and the tentacles are surprisingly tender - not at all rubbery.




See how bright the bowls are? Like most eating places of this kind in Hong Kong, the utensils are color-coded. In this case, the orange bowl tells the waiting staff we had noodles with 3 dishes on it. Say you order noodles with 2 dishes, they will serve it on a bowl of another color. So just by looking at the bowl, the waiting staff knows how much is your bill.

It may not look appetizing but this is by far the best lah tsah min I had in Hong Kong...and it’s cheap!

Wing Kee Noodles
27A Sugar St.
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong

Tomato juice

Ingredients:

Natural tomato juice

Salt

1. Open a box.

2. Pour into a glass

3. Drink

The doctor said it should make your colon happy!

Katong Chendol

The Malaysian version of halo-halo.

Japanese udon with bamboo shoots

Ingredients:
1 pack / 200 grams fresh Japanese udon
100 grams fresh prawn, shelled, sliced at the back (you know what I mean)
100 grams ready-to-eat Taiwanese bamboo shoots
100 grams baby bakchoy
1/2 cup sliced carrots

1 tbs corn oil
1 tbs sweet soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp XO sauce
1/4 cup of water
a clove of garlic
1/2 onion, sliced
a pinch of dried chilli flakes ( or fresh-cracked black pepper)

The way I cooked it -

1. Stir-fry shrimp on a medium heated wok for about a minute. Set aside.

2. Saute garlic, onion and carrots for about 3 minutes. Add the XO sauce and dried chilli.

3. Add the water, oyster sauce & sweet soy sauce. Cover and let boil for a minute.

4. Add the udon, shrimp and the bamboo shoots. Give it a quick stir and cook for about a minute.


5. Then add the baby bakchoy and cook for another 2 minutes.

6. Serve with a light miso soup.

This should serve 2 persons.

Here's the udon on the plate -




Here's half of the udon on my lunch box -



I can't wait for lunch!

Red and brown rice with bratwurst

Lunch box today was inspired by 80 Breakfasts' Barley and Sausage recipe. I used whatever ingredients I already have in my kitchen and then some.

I bought a pack of Nurnberger pork bratwurst from citi'super.

I already have -
red and brown rice ( which I used instead of barley)
dried rosemary
fennel seeds
fresh chives
fresh Italian parsley
carrot (instead of potato)
garlic
onion
salt and ground black pepper

(The chives, parsley and carrot were left-over of previous kitchen adventures).

The red and brown rice takes time to cook so I cooked it the night before and kept it in the fridge. Then in the morning, before I toss it into the sausage mixture, I heated it high for a minute in the microwave.

Pork Asado (Tagalog style)

Z requested this recipe when she smelled my lunch box today.

Ingredients :
300 grams lean pork (pref. one chunk)
2 pcs medium size potato, peeled, whole
1 pc medium size carrot, peeled and cut into 2 chunks
1 pc large red bellpepper, cut into bite size

1 tsp 5-spice powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp dried oregano and rosemary
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 pcs bay leaf (this is called laurel leaf in our household)
2 pcs star anise (optional as I already included 5-spice but I like the strong aroma of star anise. And since I already have it.)

1 tbs canola or corn oil
3 tbs light soy sauce
2 tbs dark soy sauce
1 tbs rice vinegar (or any type of vinegar. I actually used balsamic)
juice of half a lemon

2 medium size tomato, chopped
2 cloved garlic, peeled and crushed
1/4 cup chopped white onion ( or half an onion)
1 cup water (you may need to add more as you cook)

I know some of the ingredients are not Tagalog per se, but let's just say that's how I would do it if I have all the ingredients - and I happen to. Also, Z said the list of ingredients is intimidating (read : too many) but I told her save for the pork and veggies, I already have all those ingredients in my kitchen.

So here's how -

1. On medium heat, lightly brown the pork in a heated pot with oil (about 3 minutes each side). Set the pork aside on one side of the pot.

2. Saute garlic, onion and tomato for about a minute or two. Doesnt matter how you do it, really. In fact, you can toss the garlic, onion and tomato together. Just be careful not to burn the pork while you are doing this.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients (except potato, carrot and bell pepper).

4. Cover and let it on a gentle simmer for about an hour, stirring occassionally.

5. Then add the potato, carrot and red bellpepper and let is simmer for another half an hour.

6. While the pot is gently simmering, take out the potato and carrot and let is simmer for another half an hour.

7. Slice the potato and carrot half inch thick and put back into the pot.

8. Before serving, slice the pork half inch thick and top with the sauce.

Serve with white rice. Also good with fresh baguette or rolled inside a flour tortilla.

Serves 2 very hungry people (or 3 not-so-hungry).

Here's the picture of the left-over which I also had for dinner with a glass of red wine.

Bamboo rice in Ping An

2008 Christmas holidays

We have been travelling since 7 o'clock in the morning from Yangshou, with a short stop at Heping. We arrived at Ping An village before 1 o'clock in the afternoon tired and very hungry. When the tour guide suggested we stop for lunch before we head to the rice terraces, we could not have been more happy.

And this is our reward.

The most amazing rice cooked inside a fresh bamboo tube! The rice has bits of veggies, sweet potato and Chinese sausage ( lap cheong). It's very chewy.

We ate the rice with chives with egg...

..stir-fried celery with bits of pork..

..and braised pumpkin with green onions.

Perhaps I was just so hungry but these were the sweetest veggies I have had in a long time. The lunch alone was worth the trip! (OK, maybe not).

Adobong Pusit / Sotong

My friend Z, who's Malaysian -Chinese, tried to cook Adobong Pusit using a recipe she found on the internet. She said her mom is repulsed by the squid ink so she didnt use it. I told her without the ink, it becomes "un-authentic".

I mentioned that my own mother sometimes adds sotanghon / tanghon / fan see "to stretch" the budget, so Z also added some.

Z said her mother thinks it was a mess cooking it... but the taste? Ho ho mei ah! (She's hopeless with the camera, though!)

Rolled oats & dried figs

Breakfast - rolled oats mixed with cinnamon and honey and dried figs...

and bananas.

"Do you want some risotto?"

Even the homeless in the US can afford to eat mushroom risotto.

Egg tart

The real deal...from Margaret's Cafe e Nata in Macau. (I didn't have it today. This photo is from an old file)

Maxim's

I didn't prepare my lunch box today, had to see the doctor during lunch time for my physical exam result.

Had a Maxim's ma bo lunch box instead, which I like to think as the HK equivalent of bento box. 2 dishes ( beef brisket with turnips and stewed beancurd with mushroom) and a big heap of white rice. Quite filling.

Chicken and potatoes

This is one of the easiest and quickest meals I could make.

I marinated chicken fillets overnight with -
2 tbs light soy sauce
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp mixed dried French herbs
a glove of garlic, chopped
a pinch of ground black pepper
juice of half a lemon

Pan-fried, then cut into bite size. Back into the pan with the marinade, boiled potatoes and carrot which I cubed and some chopped fresh parsley. Cook for a couple of minutes or until all the marinade's almost gone.

On white rice.

Beef patties and shredded cabbage

Today it's beef patties with Indian spices (cumin and corriander) and shredded cabbage with bacon.

On brown rice.