How to make Tomato Jam | 蕃茄果醬

The first time I tried tomato jam was in Dundurn castle, Hamilton.  The historians dressed in the traditional clothes, presenting this preserve that they had made on site for the guesses to try.  The jam contained chunks of candied tomatoes.  It tasted more like a marmalade than jam and it was perfect to pair with soda cracker.

I asked the historians for the recipe and here it is.  It is a very straightforward recipe and my jam turned out nicely.  I hope you will also give this recipe a try.

How to make Tomato Jam | 蕃茄果醬

Ingredients: (yield about 1 cup)

6 Tomatoes

1.5 cups Sugar

1/2 Lemon, juiced

1 teaspoon Chilli Flake (optional)

材料：(約1杯)

6 個   蕃茄

1.5 杯   糖

1/2 個   檸檬汁

1 茶匙   辣椒碎 (隨意)

DIRECTION:

Spicy and Sour Marinated Cabbage

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 Fermented Cabbage

SEASONING:

1 teaspoon Korean Red Chill Flakes

1 teaspoon Sesame Seed, toasted

1 teaspoon Sugar

1 tablespoon White Rice Vinegar

a few drop Sesame Oil

DIRECTION:

1. Cut the cabbage into bite size.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients.  Gently mix everything with hand until the cabbage is well coated with the seasoning.  Chill for 15 minutes before serving.

Pickled Daikon Side Dish 醃辣蘿蔔

INGREDIENTS：

1 Daikon

1 tablespoon White Sesame Seeds

1 tablespoon Chili Powder

3 tablespoons Soy Sauce

3 tablespoons White Vinegar

2 tablespoons Sugar

2 tablespoons Sesame Oil

Salt

DIRECTION:

1. Scrub clean the diakon. Cut it into cubes. Place them into a bowl.

2. Add about 2 tablespoons of salt. Rub to combine it. Leave it for about an hour. You will see there has a lot of water releases. Drain the water.

3. Wrap the diakon and store in the fridge over night. Drain the released water again. Repeat the process for another two days.

4. On the forth days, rinse the diakon; drain well. Add the rest of the ingredients in the bowl; mix well. and it is ready. Serve it with steamed rice.

Marinated Young Cabbage with Fermented Soybean Sauce 黃豆醬伴白菜

The look of soybean paste

INGREDIENTS:

2 Young Cabbage

1 heap spoon Chinese Fermented Bean Sauce

1 tablespoon White Sesame Seeds, toasted

1 teaspoon Sesame Oil

DIRECTION:

1. Cut off the end of the cabbage and loosen the leaves.  Soak and rinse the cabbage in water until clean; drain.

2. Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Add about 1.5 tablespoons salt.  Add cabbage.  Blanch until it is slightly soft; about 20-30 seconds.  Quickly remove cabbage from the hot water and plunge it into cold water to stop the cooking process.  Gently squeeze out the water from the cabbage and set it in a mixing bowl.

3. In the mixing bowl, add fermented bean sauce, sesame seeds and sesame oil.  Toss it gently with hand until well coated.  Serve it steamed rice.

Pickled Jalapeños

These pickled jalapeños can be used for side dish , addition for salad, condiments for burgers, or seasoning for stir-fried pork. Anything you can think of.

INGREDIENTS:

8-10 Jalapeños, rinsed and patted dry

2 Carrots, peeled and sliced

1 teaspoon Garam Masala

4 cups Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tablespoon Whole Black Peppercorns

4 Bay Leaves

1 teaspoon Sea Salt

1 head Garlic Cloves, peeled

DIRECTION:

1. In a pot, combine all ingredients.

2. Gently simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes, or until the jalapeños becomes very soft.  Turn off the heat and bottle them.  Leave them for 2 weeks to develop more flavour before serving.

Chinese Chive Kimchi

My husbands and I love Kimchi, adore the sour and slightly frizzy flavour. This is type of quick kimchi you can prepare in a short period of time, yet flavourful.  

INGREDIENTS:

1 bundle Chinese Chives, cut into 2 inch long

2 cups Water

10 Dried Anchovies

4 Garlic Cloves, peeled

1-inch Ginger, peeled

1/3 Onion, peeled and chunked

2 tablespoons Korean Chilli Flakes

1.5 tablespoons Salted Shrimp

2-3 tablespoons Fish Sauce

1 tablespoon Sugar

DIRECTION:

1. Combine dried anchovies with the water in a small pan.  Bring it to a boil over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, or until the fish tender.  Allow it cool to room temperature.

2. Pour the boiled anchovies and the liquid in the blender.  Add ginger, garlic cloves, and onion.  Processor until everything becomes puree.

3. In a large mixing bowl, add the Chinese chives.  Pour in the anchovies puree.  Add chilli flakes, salted shrimp, fish sauce and sugar.  Gently toss everything with hand until the Chinese chives are evenly coated.

4. Transfer the Chinese chives in an air-tight glass container.  Store it at room temperature for 2 days, and then store it in the fridge for another 2 days before serving it with steamed rice.

Baby Bok Choy Kimchi

INGREDIENTS:

15 Baby Shanghai Bok Choy

1/2 White Onion

4 stalks Green Onion

1 tablespoon Salted Shrimp (can be found in Korean supermarket)

MARINADE:

2 tablespoons Korean Red Chili Flakes

4 Garlic Cloves, minced

2 teaspoons Ginger, grated

2 tablespoons Fish Sauce

1 tablespoon Sugar

2 teaspoons Sesame Oil

2 tablespoons White Sesame Seeds, roasted

DIRECTION:

1. Separate each leaf of the bok choy.  Soak them in water for about 15 minutes to remove the sand and dirt.  Rinse and drain well.

2. Place the bok choy in a large bowl.  Add about 2 tablespoons of sea salt.  Gently mix the salt with the bok choy with hands until each leaf is coated with salt.

3. Let the bok choy sit for about 45 minutes.  The leaves should be given in and the bok choy should releases some liquid.

4. Rinse the bok choy under running water to remove the excessive salt.  Gently squeeze out the liquid.  Set the bok choy in a mixing bowl.

5. Cut green onion diagonally and thinly slice the onion.

6. Finely chop the salted shrimp.

7. Combine all marinade, salted shrimp, onion and green onion with the bok choy.  Mix well.

8. Let it marinate for about 30 minutes to allow the flavour to develop before serving.

Naturally Fermented Purple Cabbage | 天然酵母醃酸椰菜

A couple weeks ago, I bought a purple cabbage to make a salad for a family event.  Although I already chose the smallest size of the purple cabbage, it was still as large as a basketball.  I tried my best to use the cabbage to make a salad with twenty servings, but there was no way for me to use the whole thing.  So I saved the rest for this recipe.

This recipe is almost identical to the the Fermented Cabbage I posted a long time ago.  You can skip the carrots in this recipe, but the taste will be different, because the carrots bring extra sweetness to the cabbage, which I found balances it very well.  This fermented cabbage can be served with grilled meat, on hot dogs, tacos, or even sushi.

I hope you will enjoy the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 head Purple Cabbage, small

4 Carrots, peeled and cut into large sticks

1/2 tablespoon All Purpose Flour

Water

Salt

材料：

1/2 頭  紫椰菜

4 條  甘筍，切粗條

1/2 湯匙  麵粉

水

鹽

METHODS 做法:

1. Cut the cabbage into thin strips.  Place the cabbage in a large bowl and add in 1 heap teaspoon of salt.   Rub until it is well combined; let it sit for 20 minutes.

2. While waiting for the cabbage, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil.  Then, let it cool to lukewarm temperature.  Stir in the flour; set it aside.

1. 椰菜切幼條；放到大碗中。加入1大菜匙鹽；揉至混合。讓其靜置20分鐘。

2. 等待期間，把大鍋水燒滾。待放暖後，加入麵粉；拌勻。

3. Drain out the released juice from the cabbage.  Rinse the cabbage two times under running water to remove the excess salt; drain well.

4. In a large glass container, toss the carrots and cabbage together.  Pour in the flour water.  The flour will be the natural food source for the bacteria during the fermenting process.

3. 倒掉椰菜洗出來的水，再用清水洗椰菜兩次，沖走多餘鹽份。

4. 在一大只玻璃器皿內，混合甘筍和椰菜。注入麵粉水。麵粉水會在發酵期間用作酵母的天然食糧。

5. Place a dish upside down on top of the cabbage mixture.  Make sure the vegetables are totally submerged in the water.  Otherwise, it will result in mold.

6. Then, Cover the pot with a piece of plastic wrap to prevent air or other moisture to go in.

5. 用碟子蓋上椰菜面；麵粉水要完全浸過椰菜和甘筍，以防發霉。

6. 在玻璃器皿上再蓋上一層保鮮膜；以防水氣進入。

7. Let it sit in a corner without direct sunlight for 14 days, while waiting for the sour flavour to develop.

One thing to mind is that the liquid may smell unpleasant in the first couple days for some noses due to the sulphur contained in the cabbage.  It is kind of like rotten eggs if I have to say it; however, the smell should go away when it comes to the second week.  Check the pot (without opening the lid) to see if any mold developed.  If so, the batch is bad and should be discarded.  No messing with mold. 

7. 放到陽光不能直射的地方發酵14天。

頭一星期，椰菜的特殊氣味會明顯較大，似壞了的雞蛋。但進入第八天，氣味會大減。檢查 (不開封) 液體周邊是否有霉。如發現，便不能食用，要把椰菜倒掉。

Pickle Carrot | 醋醃紅蘿蔔

Pickle Carrot | 醋醃紅蘿蔔

Ingredients:

1 Carrot

1 tablespoon White Sesame, toasted

10 gram Ginger Juice

1 tablespoon Rice Vinegar

3/4 tablespoon Soy Sauce

1/2 tablespoon Fish Sauce

1/4 teaspoon Salt

材料：

1  紅蘿蔔

1 湯匙   白芝麻

10 克   薑汁

1 湯匙   米醋

3/4 湯匙   豉油

1/2 湯匙   魚露

1/4 茶匙   鹽

DIRECTION:

How to make our homemade Strawberry Wine in a jar | 如何釀造我們的草莓酒

INGREDIENTS A:

1 kg Strawberries, cubed (please do use good quality ones)

1.5 cups Sugar

2 litre Water

INGREDIENTS B: 

1 Sachet of Wine Yeast EC-1118 (about 5 gram)

3/4 teaspoon Sugar

1/2 cup Warm Water

材料 A：

1 公斤   新鮮草莓 (切粒後計算)

1.5 杯   糖

2 公升   水

材料B：

1 包   釀酒酵母 EC-1118 (約5克)

3/4 茶匙   糖

1/2 杯   暖水

DIRECTION 做法:

How to make Ramen Egg | 超易溏心蛋做法

INGREDIENTS:

2 Eggs

Marinade:

2 tablespoons Light Soy Sauce

1/2 teaspoon  Chinese Rice Wine

1/2 teaspoon Sugar

1/3 cup Water

材料：

2 隻   雞蛋

醃料:

2 湯匙   豉油

1/2 茶匙   米酒

1/2 茶匙   糖

1/3 杯   水

DIRECTION:

Homemade Strawberry Jam without Pectin ｜自製草莓果醬 (不含果膠)

Strawberry is almost the first fruit to welcome summer in Ontario; many of the local farms will open to the public for pick-your-own strawberries.  Every year my husband and I will bring our son to a strawberry farm to learn where the food comes from while picking some of the freshest fruit home.

Like many other children, my son always has fond memories of going to a strawberry farm, sampling those fresh fruit right on the field.  He will walk up and down the aisles, finding the biggest and the best looking strawberries between the leaves and shoving them into his mouth.  "It's so juicy! Mommy, look!" my son says happily.  His content face is usually covered with delicious juice.

The 30 pounds of strawberries we picked this summer.

This summer, we brought home thirty pounds of strawberries.  It was a little crazy.  I spent a full two and a half hours hulling them to prepare for the jam making.  It was a mind-over-matter job indeed.

There are two common ways to make strawberry jam.  One is using pectin and the other one without.

Pectin is extracted from high pectin fruit, like apple, through heat and acid.  It is a thickening agent that helps gelling jam or other preserves.  By adding pectin, the jam can solidify without too much reduction in the liquid.  So, it generally helps speed up the cooking process, also resulting in a larger portion of jam.  Though, pectin may cause stiff jam and may also leave some off flavour in the product.

Strawberries contain high amounts of pectin naturally; therefore, it's not necessary to thicken the jam with extra store-bought pectin.   My strawberry jam recipe is the traditional way without pectin, which means that it requires longer cooking time to reduce the liquid to the right consistency.  The finished product is usually about half of the amount of the fruit.  However, the jam is much more fruity and has no off flavour from the pectin.

Thanks for dropping by.  I hope you will enjoy this recipe.

Homemade Strawberry Jam without Pectin

自製草莓果醬 (不含果膠)

INGREDIENTS

8 cups Strawberries

3 cups Sugar

1/2 Lemon of Juice

DIFRECTION:

1. Gently rinse the strawberries.

2. With a chopstick, hull the green leafy top of the strawberries.  Discard the tops.

3. Pour the strawberries in a big deep pot.  Mash them with a potato masher until lumpy.

4. Add sugar and lemon juice.  Mix together over high heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture starts to boil.  Reduce the heat to medium.

5. Continuously boil the mixture until it becomes thicker.  Reduce the heat to simmer.  Skim off the foam and stir the mixture occasionally.

6. When the mixture reduces to nearly half, test the jam by dipping a cold spoon in the jam.  If the jam coats the spoon without falling, the jam is ready.  Remove the pot from the heat immediately.

I tested my jam on a cold plate.

7. Bottle the jam in hot sterilized mason jars immediately.

8. Seal the jars in water bath for 10 minutes.  The jars need to be totally submerged.  Leave the jars to cool and check carefully to see if the lid is moving.  The lids should not be movable.  Once cool, store them in a dark cool place.

The best part of making jam for my son was that he got to lick the spoon after I finished the jam.  Another lovely memory!  He said it was a big strawberry lollipop. 

The batches I made this year.  They should be enough to last until next summer.

Yum!

Mama's Fermented Sweet Rice Wine ｜ 媽媽自家甜酒釀做法

This summer when my parents came to visit, I asked my mom to teach me how to make sweet rice wine.  The fermented sweet rice wine sold in stores can never be as good as the one mom makes at home.

There are so many different ways to make fermented sweet rice wine out there, but they all sounded so complicated or vague.  This time, when my mom came and we did two batches from start to finish.  Both batches were a success.  I saved one batch for drinking as it is and saved the other one to make tang yuan.

All the ingredients listed should be possible to find in old style Asian stores.

Mama's Fermented Sweet Rice Wine

媽媽自家甜酒釀做法

My mom was showing the first batch of our successful  rice wine.

Ingredients:

2 cups White Glutinous Rice

4 Wine Yeast Balls

How to make it:

1. Blend the yeast into powder; set it aside.

If you don't have a processor, using the back of the knife to smack the yeast balls until they become granulate.

2. Rinse the glutinous rice in two changes of water; drain well.  Pour the rice in a dish evenly and then sprinkle about 4 tablespoons of water over it.

3. Cook the rice in a pre-heated steamer over high heat for 30 minutes, or until the rice is totally soften and cooked.

4. Remove the rice from the steamer; allow it to cool until luke warm.  (yeast needs the warmness to ferment, but hot rice can kill the yeast).

5. Sprinkle the yeast over the rice a few times while stirring the rice.  Make sure they incorporate very well.

6. In a sterilized jar, add the rice to fill half of the container.  Cover the bottle with a kitchen paper towel and close the lid. 

(I used spaghetti container to ferment my wine and they came out just fine)

7. Leave the bottles in a dark place.

8. After about three days, you will see some wine starting to form on the bottom.

9. Stir the rice once, and continue to allow it ferment for at least three weeks before drinking it. 

Both the wine and rice residue are edible.  You can use the rice to make sweet soup or steamed chicken.

The wine after three weeks.

10. To store the wine, remove the paper towel and close the lid tight. Store it at room temperature for up to a year.

Marinated Seaweed | 醋香芝麻醃海藻

Marinated Seaweed

醋香芝麻醃海藻

Ingredients:

600 gram Seaweed

1.5 tablespoons White Sesame

2 tablespoons Sugar

3 tablespoons Soy Sauce

3 tablespoons Rice Vinegar

2 tablespoons Sesame Oil

1 tablespoon Fish Sauce

材料：

600 克   海藻

1.5 湯匙   白芝麻

2 湯匙   糖

3 湯匙   鼓油

3 湯匙   米醋

2 湯匙   芝麻油

1 湯匙   魚露

DIRECTION: