Stir fried Lettuce Stem 快炒萵筍

Lettuce stem is crunchy and sweet. It taste wonderfully when it is stir fried. Since it has a mild flavour, I like to spice it up with star anise, bay leaves and chilli.

INGREDIENTS:

2 Lettuce Stems

1 Red Chili, cut into round

4 Star Anises

3 Bay Leaves

6 Ginger Slices

1 tablespoon Chinese Shaoxing Wine

4 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Sugar

DIRECTION:

1. Peel off the hard skin of lettuce stems; cut the lettuce stems into sticks.

2. Heat up vegetable oil over high heat. Add star anises, bay leaves, ginger, and red chilli. Fry until fragrant; about 2 minutes.

3. Add lettuce stems. Stir fry it until it is slightly soften; about 5 minutes.

4. Drizzle it with cooking wine. Add sugar and salt. Stir fry for another 5 minutes and it is ready.

Stir-fried Tomato Egg ｜蕃茄炒蛋

It was one of the very first dish I learned to cook when I was a child. Back then my parents both worked full time and many nights we needed to cook for ourselves. Leaving children alone at home was so common that people wouldn't even be wary about it. It was the time, I had a lot of opportunities to experiment in my childhood kitchen.

Although I am the middle child, I was always the person in charge of the kitchen. The simple reason was that my sister'd rather occupied with things more interested her than cooking; she was pretty happy when I offered to cook. And my brother was basically just too young to be in the kitchen.

Very soon, I discovered that I could use the rice cooker to make many things other than cooking steamed rice - scramble egg, fry luncheon meat, noodle soup. So I'd never bothered to pull out my mom's big, heavy wok onto the stove. That rice cooker lasted only for a summer. Many years later, I still remember my mom's angry face when she was pointing the scorched egg and the scraped bottom of the rice cooker at us. 

I don't use rice cooker to make tomato egg now. Just like my mom, I use a wok or a pan. However, this sweet memory always steeps into my head whenever I cook this dish. The story belongs to this dish, and I always believe that a lovely dish must have a lovely story.

Hope you enjoy this recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

3 Tomatoes, big

6 Eggs, large

1 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Rice Wine

1/3 teaspoon Salt

2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Scallion, thinly sliced (optional)

材料：

3 隻  蕃茄，大

6 隻  雞蛋，大

1 湯匙  米酒

1/3 茶匙  鹽

2 湯匙  菜油

蔥，切幼絲 (隨意)

DIRECTIONS 做法:

1. Cut the tomatoes into wedges.  In a bowl, whisk eggs, rice wine, and salt together.

2. Heat up vegetable oil over medium-high heat.  Add tomatoes and fry them until they are slightly softened; about 2 minutes.

1. 蕃茄切瓣。在一只碗內，加入蛋、米酒和鹽；攪打至均勻。

2. 用中大火燒熱菜油。下蕃茄並炒至微軟；若2分鐘。

3. Pour in the egg mixture.  Continue to fry until the egg curds.  Remove the pan from the heat immediately.

3. 倒入蛋汁，繼續炒至其凝結；迅速離火。

4. Sprinkle it with scallion if use.  Serve it with steamed rice.

4. 灑上蔥，配飯享用。

Pineapple Beef on rice 菠蘿炒牛肉

This is a very common dish in Hong Kong where you can easily find it in 'Cha Chaan Teng'.  Making it at home is also very simple and straightforward.  If you want to pull out a quick but healthy meal for the family during the week, it is a wonderful dish.  I'd say it's a children's favourite.

However, the enzyme in pineapple break down the protein in meat very quickly, so try to serve right after cooking.  Otherwise, the meat is going to be mushy.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Pineapple, ripened (you can use canned pineapple)

1 piece of Steak

2 tablespoons Chinese Cooking Rice Wine

1 tablespoon Sugar

2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Steamed Rice (for serving)

Check out here to see how to cook rice in a pot

MARINADE:

1 Egg

2 tablespoons Soy Sauce

2 tablespoons Chinese Cooking Rice Wine

1/3 teaspoon White Pepper Powder

1 tablespoon Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Cornstarch

1/3 teaspoon Salt

DIRECTION:

1. Slice the beef into about 1/2 cm thick pieces.  Add them in a mixing bowl.  Combine them with the marinade.  With hand, mix it gently until the liquid is absorbed by the meat.  Set aside and allow it to marinate for about 20 minutes.

2. Cut off both ends of the pineapple.  Stand it up.  Cut the skin off from top to bottom along the curve of the pineapple.  Cut off and discard the hard core.  Then, cut the pineapple into bite size.  (You don't want the pineapple to be too small because it will produce too much liquid during cooking).  Set the pineapple aside.

3. Heat up the oil in a large pan over high heat.  Add the beef.  Stir fry until the beef starts to turn colour; about 2-3 minutes.  Add rice wine and sugar.  Stir fry for another minute.

4. Add the pineapple.  Quickly stir fry until the beef is medium-rare and the pineapple is heated through.  Transfer the mixture to the serving plate and serve it with steamed rice.

   

Green Bean Tofu Mix

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups Green Beans, cut in half

1 block Firm Tofu, crumbled

1 tablespoon Mirin Syrup

1/2 teaspoon Curry Powder

Salt to season

2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

DIRECTION:

1. Heat up vegetable oil over high heat.  Add tofu.  Stir fry until they are fairly dry; about 10 minutes.

2. Add green bean and curry powder; continue to stir fry for another 10 minutes.  Season with salt to taste.  Remove it from the heat.  Serve immediately.

Braised Bitter Melon with Black Bean and Garlic 豉蒜炒涼瓜

I would say this is a staple dish I constantly have in the fridge.  I usually cook a large portion, enough to last for the week's lunch and dinner.  It is a dish I can eat everyday.  Whenever I reheat this at work, the fragrance of the black bean sauce makes my colleagues' and my mouth water.  So last week, I made some for them to share.  The bitter melon lovers loved them, but the others, who didn't like bitter food, didn't like these melons unfortunately.

The seeds are edible so you do not need to remove them.  Actually after the stir-fry process, the seeds feel rather crunchy and taste really good.  Sometimes I find the seeds taste even better than the melons themselves.

The preserved black beans can be found in most Asian stores.  They need to be rinsed a few times to get rid of the extra salt or grit before use.

INGREDIENTS:

2 Chinese Bitter Melon

3 tablespoons Chinese Preserved Black Bean, rinsed

1 head of Garlic, peeled and crushed

2 tablespoons Chinese Cooking Wine

2 tablespoons Sugar

1/4 teaspoon Salt

3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

DIRECTION:

1. Combine garlic and black beans on a cutting board. Chop them until fine.  Add the bean mixture and the oil in the pan; fry it over low heat until fragrant.  It is about 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cut the melons lengthwise and then cut it into about 1 cm slices.  Leave out the seeds if prefered.

3. Turn up the heat to the highest.  Add the melons in the pan and fry until they are bright green; about 10 minutes.  Add cooking wine and allow it to evaporate.

4. Add about 1/3 cup water, sugar and salt. Cover the lid, cook the melons on medium for about 10 minutes and the sauce has thickened.  Best served with steamed rice.

Stir fried Chinese Kale (Kai Lan) and Beef | 芥蘭炒牛肉

Stir fried Chinese Kale and Beef

芥蘭炒牛肉

Ingredients: (yields 4 servings)

14 ounces Chinese Kales

300 gram Beef

10 Garlic Cloves

10 gram Ginger Slices

2 tablespoons Chinese Rice Wine

1 teaspoon Corn Starch

2 tablespoons Water

1 tablespoon Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 cup Vegetable Oil (for cooking)

Marinade for Beef:

3 tablespoons Oyster Sauce

1 tablespoon Sesame Oil

1.5 tablespoons Sugar

1 Egg

材料：(4人份)

14 安士   芥蘭

300 克   牛肉

10 瓣   蒜頭

10 克   薑片

2 湯匙   米酒

1 茶匙   粟粉

2 湯匙   水

1 湯匙   糖

1/2 茶匙   鹽

1/4 杯   菜油 (炒菜用)

醃牛肉料：

3 湯匙   蠔油

1 湯匙   麻油

1.5 湯匙   糖

1 隻   雞蛋

DIRECTION: