Nyonya Chap Chai

Nyonya Chap Chai - Braised or Stewed Mixed Vegetables (serves 4-6)
Ingredients:
- 75g/3oz bean vermicelli (glass or mung bean noodles, tung hoon in hokkien)
- 1 head cabbage; washed and cut into chunky slices
- 8 caps fresh shitake mushrooms caps; cleaned with damp towel, cut into slices
- 5oz black fungus, cut to bite slices
- 1/2 cup dried lily buds (Note: read above for preparation instructions-soaking and knotting)
- 3oz fried beancurd sticks (soaked in water, then cut into finger-lengths)
- 1 tbsp salted soy beans (豆 酱, dou jiang in Chinese)
- 1tsp oyster sauce, to taste
- 1-2 pieces rock sugar (1 piece ~ half size of thumb)
- chicken broth/water

Method:
1. Heat up oil in wok, add in salted soy beans, smashing them while frying till fragrant
2. Add in cabbage and mix well for 5mins
3. Add in the rest of the vegetables (mushrooms, black fungus, lily buds, beancurd sticks) and mix well before adding enough water to cover them up. Add oyster sauce to taste and flavor.
4. Simmer on low heat, covered, for 10-15mins till all the vegetables soften
5. Next stir in bean vermicelli (glass or mung bean noodles), simmer for another 5-8mins (Note: vermicelli absorbs a lot of moisture, so you would not want to add this too early or the gravy/sauce would be reduced by too much)
6. Once the ingredients are cooked, dish up and serve. Good with rice or on its own!

Credit: Teczcape

Crab soup recipe

Ingredients

* crab meat (shredded)
* 4 pcs scallop ( cube)
* 2 can chicken stock
* 2 tbsp rice wine
* 1 egg (beat)
* 4 pcs dry mushroom (chopped)
* white pepper
* 2 tbsp sesame oil
* corn starch ( for thicken)
* scallion ( fine chopped)
* Black vinegar (optional)

Method

• In a pot, bring chicken stock to boil
• Add mushroom,crab meat, scallop, rice wine, pepper and let it simmer
• Add beaten egg while stiring the soup
• Mix corn starch with a little bit water and pour into soup and stir continuously
• Last add sesame oil, stir
• Serve with chopped scallion on top and black vinegar

* since the chicken stock contain ginger and salt, no need to add any spice.

Chicken With Ginger & Wine Recipe

This Cantonese-inspired post-natal dish can be consumed starting from first week of confinement period. It protects stomach, promotes blood circulation, helps to ward off coldness and dispels "wind" in the body.

Kampong chicken is leaner and the flesh is firmer, choose only the female chicken as this helps to dispel postpartum "wind" more effectively from abdomen and nourishes the body after childbirth.

Ingredients :

• 1 whole kampong chicken (cut into small pieces)

• 300g ginger (juliennes)

• 4 tbsp sesame oil

• 20g black fungus (soaked and shredded)
  
  Seasoning :

• 1 bowl rice wine

• 1 bowl ginger wine

• 2 tbsp soy sauce

Method :

1. Blanch the chicken pieces with boiling water, rinse under running tap water.

2. Pre-fry the shredded black fungus and set aside.

3. Heat sesame oil in a wok and sauté the ginger until golden brown, then add in black fungus and chicken. Stir-fry briskly, pour in ¾ cup of water and simmer with lid on for 10 minutes.

4. Add seasoning and bring to boil, then serve hot.

Credit: http://www.101healthyeasyfoodrecipes.com/healthy-easy-traditional-chinese-confinement-food-recipes/cantonese-chicken-with-ginger-and-wine-recipe.php

Pork Trotters Soup

Confinement Recipe Ingredients

• 300g pork trotters
• 200g peanuts
• 600g papaya
• 100g ginger

Confinement Food Cooking Method

1. Rinse and scaled the pork trotters. Cut them into pieces.
2. Put all ingredients into a pot. Add water and cook for 2 hours. Season with salt.
3. Serve hot.

Mutton Soup with Dang Gui

Confinement Recipe Ingredients

• 20g Dang Gui
• 20g Dried Longans
• 15g Ginger
• 250g Mutton
• 3 cups boiling water

Confinement Food Cooking Method

1. Rinse and scald the mutton, dried longans and Dang Gui.
2. Put all ingredients into a stewing pot.
3. Stew for 3 hours.
4. Season with salt
5. Serve hot.

credit: http://www.todaysmotherhood.com/2009/10/confinement-recipe-mutton-soup-dang-gu/

Pork Ribs in Ginger Soup

Ingredients:

4-5 strips ribs bone (chop 2-3 inch each)

2 carrot ( peel and cut 2 inch )

3-4 inch fresh old ginger (peel and sliced)

1 tbsp ground white pepper

salt to taste

3 liter water for soup

For Garnishing:

1 stalk scallion ( wash and cut small)

Method:

1:Boil some water in medium stock pot, bring to a boil ,add in cut ribs and cook for 1 minutes. Skim and discard the scum from the surface ,or strain the ribs under running water to remove the fats,set aside.

2:Prepare a medium stock pot with 3 liter water at high heat,bring to boil,add in sliced ginger and cut ribs.Reduce the heat to medium,cover the pot with lid,cook for 30 minutes,then add in carrot.Cook for another 15 minutes or longer,add in ground pepper and salt to taste.

3:Remove from heat .Dish out in a bowl,sprinkle with cut scallion and serve warm.

Note:

You can replace pork with Beef or Chicken for this soup.

Wonton Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

Wontons:
wonton skins
ground pork
chopped prawn
minced garlic
chopped scallion
sesame oil
chili flakes
salt & pepper

Soup:
chicken stock
piece of ginger
onion, quartered
peppercorns
soy sauce
fish sauce
yu choy, blanched
rings of scallion

Method:

1. For the broth, put all ingredients in soup pot except for yu choy and scallion. Simmer for an hour and strain.
2. Once you've wrapped up your wontons, bring a pot of water to a boil. Drop wontons in. When they float to the surface and the prawn looks really pink, drain them and set aside.
3. To serve your soup, place some wontons in a bowl along with some blanched yu choy and scallion. Ladle in the boiling broth and serve.

Teriyaki chicken fillet with sesame Recipe

Ingredients:
~Boneless chicken thigh (thinly sliced)
~Teriyaki sauce
~Sesame oil
~Sesame seed
~Corn flour

Method:

1. Marinated chicken fillet with teriyaki sauce & sesame oil, keep in chiller for 1 hour.
2. Heat up the pan with slow fire, fried the sesame seed till golden brown, set aside
3. Mixed corn flour with chicken fillet with teriyaki sauce
4. Heat up the pan with sesame oil, stir fried the chicken fillet till cooked, add on 2 spoons teriyaki sauce & 1 spoon of water.
5. Sprinkle the sesame seed on chicken fillet, ready to serve

Sauteed Dou Miao with Garlic

Servings: 6

Preparation Time: 0.25 hours

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (peanut oil is good; canola is healthier)
• 6-8 large garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
• 1 pound dou miao, preferably large
• 1 teaspoon salt

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat the wok to a good, hot wok temperature; the highest setting on your stovetop, or like I do, over the grill outside. (The burner from a turkey fryer is great for this).
2. Put the vegetable oil in the wok and get it hot. You can use about half the oil here if you want. Add the garlic and toss until fragrant. This will take less than 30 seconds, probably.
3. Add dou miao and salt in batches; let dou miao wilt slightly before adding more.
4. As moisture from the leaves evaporates, add water if necessary. (I haven't found it necessary to do so yet).

Cabbage with pork Recipe

Ingredients

* 3 slices cabbage ( diced)
* 1/2 lbs ground pork
* 1 carrot (thin slices)
* oyster sauce
* sriracha chili sauce
* sugar
* water
* garlic
* oil

Method

• Boil cabbage and carrot till soft,drain
• heat pan with oil, add garlic stir till smell, add pork
• stir till cooked, add cabbage and carrot
• add oyster sauce,sugar,water and chili sauce
• toss and ready to be serve

Credit: http://www.nibbledish.com/people/marykal77/recipes/cabbage-with-pork

Pork with winter melon soup

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. pork rib
• 1 medium winter melon (dung qua)
• 15g ginger
• salt & chicken flavor broth (or HON-DASHI by AJINOMOTO CO., INC.)

Steps:

1. cut pork rib into little pieces, cut winter melon into 4x4cm cubes, sliced ginger.

2. in a medium pot with boiled water, put pork in about 20 seconds, just slightly cook, then take it out, set aside.

3. in a big pot with boiled water, put cooked pork and ginger in, turn the heat down to low, cook 60 to 90 minutes.

4. season the soup with salt and HON-DASHI.

5. add winter melon into the soup, cook another 20 minutes, then serve.

Egg drop soup recipe

Egg drop soup is a Chinese soup commonly consisting of chicken broth, beaten eggs and green onions. This is another recipe that a lot of you might have had at a Chinese buffet. I don’t really make a lot of soups but I have always wanted to try a couple from the buffets and this is one of them. This actually turned out quite well – I felt the flavors were all there and nothing was to overpowering. Plus, dropping the eggs in the boiling broth is always fun. What really amazed me was how easy this recipe was and how little time it took to make. The egg drop soup can be made within only 10-15 minutes, and would go great as a side dish with just about any Chinese inspired dinner. Another plus about this recipe is that it has very few ingredients and it is inexpensive. Let me know what you think – enjoy!

Ingredients:
4 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons green onions (chopped)
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
4 eggs
1 egg yolk

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Reserve ¾ cup of the chicken broth (it will later be mixed with the cornstarch). Pour the rest of the broth into a sauce pan.
Step 2: Stir in ginger, salt, and green onions. Bring to a boil. While bring to a boil combine the corn starch with the reserve chicken broth and mix well. Set aside.
Step 3: In a bowl whisk eggs and the egg yolk together with a fork.

Step 4: Slowly drizzle the egg a little at a time with a fork into the boiling broth. The egg will cook right away.
Step 5: Pour the cornstarch mixture into the broth and stir until its mixed well.

Credit: http://blogchef.net/egg-drop-soup-recipe/

Pork Congee (Porridge)

Serve 3 - 4
Ingredients
200 gram of lean shoulder butt pork meat, thinly sliced
100 gram minced pork meat
50 gram pig’s liver, thinly sliced
6 – 8 pork meat balls
2 pieces of 20 cents big dried scallops (or a few tiny ones), socked for 3 minutes
1 thin slice of ginger, about thumb size, cut into thick stripes
2 medium eggs

1½ cups of long grain rice
6 - 7 cups of water (about 1500 - 1800ml)
1 cups of thick chicken stock (or 2 chicken essence stock cubes)

Slabs of salt (1 teaspoon, more or less. Adjustable to your taste)
About ½ - ¾ teaspoon of ground white pepper (amount adjustable)
Sprinkle of sesame oil
Few drops of light soy sauce

Seasoning (each for pork meat slices and minced meat respectively):
1 teaspoons of light soy sauce x 2
½ teaspoon of rice wine x 2
Sprinkle of ground white pepper x 2
Pinch of sugar x 2
2 teaspoons of corn starch x 2
* x 2 refers to prepare two portions, one portion each for marinating pork meat slices and minced meat

Garnish:
½ teaspoon of fried shallots
Fresh lettuce, cut into stripes

Optional:
1 pair of fried fritters, cut into bite size crosswise

Method:
1) Marinate pork meat slices and minced pork meat (separately) with seasoning, for 15 minutes. Keep refrigerated while marinating. Then, blanch pig’s liver slices with boiling water for 30 seconds, or till it’s half done. Drain and reserve for later.

2) To make congee: Rinse rice, place rice and water in a large pot. Bring pot to a boil over high heat. Add chicken stock (or cube), dried scallops and ginger, bring it to another boil before lowering heat to small fire, and simmer for 20 minutes. While simmering, you have to stir it continuously till rice breaks down and liquid slightly thicken.

3) Add pork meat ball and meat slices, and continue to stir. Add some water occasionally if porridge is getting too thick before it’s formed (thicken and smoothed). Add in minced meat (make into balls or have it mixed loosely in the pot). Then, add sesame oil, salt and pepper. Adjust amount of seasoning to your taste. Stir and simmer for another 10 minutes.

4) Add in blanched pig’s liver, 1 minute of heat off. Immediately after heat off, add raw eggs and few drops of light soy sauce into the pot and stir vigorously to mix eggs with congee well. Cover pot with lid for 1 minuted before serving. Laddle into bolw(s), garnish and serve hot with fried fritters.

A bowl of my pork congee counts about 250kcal. With some fried fritters, count added another 50- 80kcal.

Tips: Right consistency of successful congee should be fairly smooth, light gluey with enough moisture. To achieve smooth consistency, rice has to be softened till completely emerged with the liquid by stirring it continuously (and mashing the softened rice grain to break it down with ladle occasionally) when simmering. Add water to lighten the texture, if you find some resistance to your stirring.
* It's ok if you don't like pig's liver. Opt it out.

Credit: http://www.mywoklife.com/2009/05/cantonese-style-pork-congee-recipe.html

Stir-fry fish fillet with ginger

Ingredients
200g fish fillet ( cut into thick slices )
1 stalk spring onions ( cut into 2cm lengths)
5 slices ginger ( cut into thin strips )
1 shallot ( cut into slices )
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp black vinegar
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp light soya sauce
dash of pepper





Preparation
1. Season fillet with 1 tbsp cornflour and 1 tbsp light soya sauce.
2. Heat up 2 tbsp oil in saucepan and stir- fry shallot and ginger.











2. Add in the fish fillet, osyter sauce, black vinegar pepper and 50 ml water and stir fry for 5 minutes.











3. Add in the spring onions and stir-fry to mix well.
4. Dish out to serve .

White Sauce

White sauce, also known as Béchamel, is used in a variety of dishes and is the base for many sauces. Here are the steps for a basic medium white sauce, with adjustments for other thicknesses.

Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 15 minutes

What You Need:

* Heavy saucepan
* 2 tbsp butter
* 2 tbsp flour
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1 cup milk

Here's How:

1. In a small, heavy saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over low heat.
2. Blend 2 tablespoons of flour into the melted butter.
3. Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
4. Cook over low heat, stirring, for 4 to 5 minutes. Cooking for this length of time will minimize 'flour' taste.
5. Slowly add 1 cup of milk, stirring constantly.
6. Continue cooking slowly until smooth and thickened.
7. For thin white sauce, follow the instructions above, but use 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of flour. Thin white sauce is used in cream soups.
8. For thick white sauce, follow the instructions above, but use 3 tablespoons of butter and 3 tablespoons of flour. Thick white sauce is used in soufflés.
9. For heavy white sauce, follow the instructions above, but use 4 tablespoons of butter and 4 tablespoons of flour. Heavy white sauce is used as a binder for croquettes.

Tips:

1. To make the standard Béchamel, after adding the milk to the medium white sauce recipe add 1 small onion studded with 3 cloves, a bay leaf, and a grating of nutmeg.
2. Light stock, cream, or a combination may be used in place of the milk.
3. Add more flavor by seasoning with celery salt, nutmeg, a teaspoon of lemon juice, onion juice, or sherry, or a few tablespoons of chopped chives or parsley .

Stir-fry mixed vegetables with chicken

Ingredients
1/3 cup(s) teriyaki sauce
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 medium garlic clove(s), minced
1 1/2 pound(s) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, tenders (about 12 tenders)*
2 tsp canola oil
1 cup(s) bamboo shoots
1 cup(s) canned water chestnuts, sliced
1 1/2 cup(s) carrot(s), sliced
1 1/2 cup(s) Chinese cabbage, shredded
2 cup(s) snow peas

Instructions

1. Place teriyaki sauce, ginger and garlic in a large re-sealable plastic bag. Add chicken, seal bag and shake until well combined; marinate at least 20 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a wok (or a large skillet) over high heat until shimmering (very hot). Add vegetables and stir-fry 5 minutes. Remove vegetables from wok, cover to keep warm and set aside.
3. Add chicken and marinade to wok; stir-fry until chicken is no longer pink in center, about 8 minutes.
4. Add vegetables back to wok and stir until well combined; serve hot. Yields about 3 chicken tenders and 1 1/2 cups of vegetables per serving.

Stir-fried brinjal mince meat

Ingredients:
125g minced meat – marinated with light soya sauce, sugar and cornflour
125g mixed vegetable
1 large brinjal (about 360g) – diced and soaked in salt water (to discard the bitter taste)
1 red onion (about 70g) – chopped

Seasonings:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soya sauce
½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
Dash of pepper
¾ rice bowl of water
1 tsp cornflour (mixed with 1 tbsp water)

Methods:
1. Heat up wok with 1 tbsp oil. Sautee onion.
2. Add in minced meat and stir-fry. (add some water into the marinated minced meat if it is a bit dry)
3. Add in brinjal and seasoning, stir well and simmer for about 5 mins.
4. Add in mixed vegetable. Stir fry with high heat until the sauce is thicken and brinjal is cooked.
5. Add in cornflour solution. Stir well. Dish up and serve.

Scramble egg with anchovies

Ingredients:
~ 1 egg
~ 15ml milk
~ black pepper powder to taste
~ anchovies
~ olive oil

Steps:

1. beat the egg with milk till fluffy
2. heat up pan with olive oil
3. pour the egg mixture onto the pan and whisk slowly with spoon till moist get almost dry and set aside
4. heat up pan with olive oil and fried the anchovies till golden brown
5. sprinkle the black pepper powder and crispy anchovies on top of the scramble egg

Anchovies with soy sauce

Ingredients:
2 handful dried anchovies
1/2 french onion-sliced
1 red chilly-sliced
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
dash of black pepper

Steps:
1. Heat 3 tbsp oil and fry anchovies till crispy. Then add onion and chilly, fry till soft.
2. Season; serve with plain porridge or fried rice

Oyster sauce chicken

Ingredients:
• 1 whole chicken (about 3 pounds), cut into pieces
• 5 tablespoons oyster sauce (oyster flavored sauce)
• 4 tablespoons thick soy sauce or dark soy sauce (or a combination of the two)
• 4 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preparation:

1. In a small bowl, combine the oyster sauce, soy sauces, and sugar.
2. Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl and combine with the marinade. Let the chicken stand for 10 - 15 minutes if desired.
3. Heat the oil on medium-high heat in a skillet or preheated wok. Brown the ginger in the oil (this takes about 2 minutes).
4. Turn the heat down to medium. Add the chicken (remove the chicken from the bowl with a slotted spoon, discarding any excess marinade). Cook the chicken on medium heat for 10 minutes, turning over halfway between cooking.
5. Turn the heat down to medium low. Cook the chicken for 6 to 8 more minutes, turning occasionally, until it is cooked through. Serve hot.

Vietnamese Stir Fried Mixed Vegetables

Ingredients:
• 1 cup broccoli
• 1 cup red peppers/capsicums
• 1 cup baby corn
• 1 cup carrots
• 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic
• 2 Tbsp fish sauce
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1 Tbsp rice wine
• ½ tsp white ground pepper
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

Vegetables

Cut all the vegetables so that they are bite size. Cut the carrots and baby corn so that they are about 1½ inch by ½ inch. Do the same for the broccoli. Cut the red peppers into 1 inch squares.

The trick is to try and ensure that the vegetables are proportionate to each other in size, so that they will all get cooked at roughly the same time.

1. In a pot or wok, bring 10 cups of water to a boil and add 1 tsp of salt.
2. Blanch the carrot, broccoli and baby corn for 30 seconds. Remove and soak these vegetables for 10 seconds in cold water so that they do not get overcooked. Drain the vegetables.
3. Heat the oil in a wok or sauce pan over low heat. Fry the garlic until golden brown.
4. Turn up the heat to high and add the blanched vegetables with the red peppers. Fry for 20 seconds and mix the vegetables well.
5. Add the rice wine, fish sauce, white pepper and salt. Stir well and serve the stir fried mixed vegetables with plain boiled rice and any other Southeast Asian meat or seafood dish.

Fried sauce noodle

1. Dice scallions and garlic.
2. Stir-fry the ground pork until it is slightly brown. Remove the meat from the wok.
3. Stir-fry the green onions and garlic until they are slightly brown. (One could also add shredded tofu or soybeans to this step).
4. Place the meat back into the wok/frying pan.
5. Add the yellow soybean paste, sweet bean sauce, broad bean paste, or hoisin sauce to the mixture with some water and simmer.
6. Serve this meat sauce over noodles. If desired, add condiments like shredded carrots, shredded cucumbers, bean sprouts, scrambled eggs, fresh soybeans/edamame, vinegar and hot sauce.

Mixed vegetables

Sauce options: fish oil / oyster sauce