Steamed scallop with chilli garlic oil

I'm counting down days to spring time. Days are getting slightly longer, you'll hear robins singing from dawn to dusk, milder weather and finally you'll smell spring is in the air. Lovely days ahead. I even head down to The Backs in Cambridge today to view the carpet of crocus, a sign that spring is in sight. Yes, I'm yearning so much for spring now.

On the cookery front, I decided to post steamed scallop with chilli garlic oil. This is a simple enough dish and very very nice.

Steamed scallop with chilli garlic oil

Ingredients

• 8 scallops in shell
• 4 cloves of garlic-finely chopped
• 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 1 tsp chilli oil
• 1 tbsp light soya sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• dash of lemon juice (optional)
• 1 spring onion finely chopped

1. Prepare the garlic oil by heating 1tbsp of vegetable oil. Once hot, add in the garlic and let fry till light brown. Remove and set aside


2. Steam the scallop on high heat for around 6-7minutes. Do not overcook.
   
3. Prepare the sauce. Mix the chilli oil, garlic oil, soy sauce, sugar and lemon juice and mixed well.
4. Plate the scallop, drizzle over the sauce and garnish with spring onion.

Hereby enjoy some pics I took of the crocus.

Homemade mantou (Chinese steamed bun)

During Chinese New Year meal, I made mantou to serve with the roast duck. The mantou is easy to make and taste much fresher, soft and fluffy. After my 5km run this morning, I decided to make another batch of steamed bun to serve with braised pork belly. So I deserve the extra calories. :-)

Mantou

Ingredients (20 buns)

• 280 gm Hong Kong flour
• 100 gm wheat starch (Tung Mein Fen)
• 80 gm icing sugar
• 30 ml vegetable oil
• 8 gm fast action yeast/dry yeast
• 180 ml warm water

1. Sift flour, wheat starch, icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Then form a well in the middle and add in yeast, water and oil. Use a spatula to mix well.




2. Don't worry as the mixture is a little bit sticky. Dust the worktop with some Hong Kong flour and give a good 10 minutes of kneading to the dough.




3. Then set aside in a warm area to rise, cover with damp tea towel.




4. After the dough had triple in size, dust the worktop again and give a good 5 minutes of kneading.




5. Then roll into a long dough and cut into 20pieces. Take a piece and roll into ball, then roll out into a circle of 5mm thickness. Use an oil chopstick to glaze the top half of the circle and fold into half.
   
6. Let it rise for a further 30minutes before steaming.




7. Steam for 12-15minutes on high heat.

Enjoy with your favorite meat.....braised or roast.

Happy Year of Rabbit

Wishing all my family and friends a Happy Chinese New Year. This year is the year of Rabbit. I wish everyone will enjoy good health and prosperity. I haven't been back to Malaysia/Singapore for CNY over 3 years now, pretty much getting used to celebrating with close friends over here in UK. And moreover I still have to work during CNY, so I decided to host a lunch over at mine on Sunday.

It's a good time to get together to enjoy a nice meal with good friends and I also do enjoy cooking for my guests. At the end of the day, if you could make someone happy through sharing your food, it's a very satisfying thought.

My menu for the day consist of following:

1. Yusheng - Raw salmon salad


2. Starter of prawn toast, fried wonton, spring roll


3. Premium seafood broth


4. Roast ''Pek Ling'' duck with mantou[thanks to Algernond for naming that roast duck after me]


5. Mixed vegetables stir fry


6. Chow Mein


7. Steamed Scallop in black bean sauce


8. Pot sticker/Gyoza

My appointed photographer was pretty much distracted by the lovely food and forgot to take nice macro shot.

I hope all my guests had gone home with a great smile on their face.

I will eventually share with you some nice recipes here, be patience. At the moment let me share some pictures my photographer took before he got distracted by the food.... or more likely the boozy.

Enjoying gyoza

You might think it's shark fin soup, but hey it's not, I called it premium seafood broth

Roast duck with mantou drizzled with Hoisin sauce-Yum Yum

Crispy ''Pek Ling'' Roast Duck, thumbs up