Stir Fry Minced Beef with Pointed Sweet Red Pepper and Black Bean Sauce

How time flies. It's been quite awhile since I last updated my blog. I've been busy, first I've family members over visiting in month of June, followed by lots of travelling during the weekend, workload, friend visiting from the north and finally on my mission to study life in the UK test. Not only have I negelected my blog, my garden has been slightly neglected too. It's all about priority :-) .
I promised myself to bake cake, one of those few favorite things that I love to do during summer, went and bought all the ingredients and yet they sat in the pantry untouch for the last 3 weeks. Perhaps procrastination perceeded priority in my case.
Well no cake recipes this time around but I still have simple stir fry recipes to try out.




Minced Beef Stir Fry with Sweet Pointed Red Pepper and Black Bean Sauce
Ingredients (serves 2)

• 250gm minced beef



• 1 large pointed red sweet pepper



• 1 thumb size ginger-finely chopped



• 1 clove garlic-finely chopped



• 1 tbsp sesame oil



• 1 tsp sugar



• 1 tbsp black bean sauce



• 1/2 tbsp vegetable cooking oil



• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
  2-3 tbsp water
  

1. Heat 1 tbsp of sesame oil in a wok/pan on medium heat. Once hot, add the minced ginger and browned slightly. Then add in the minced beef and give a good stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Add shaoxing wine and stir fry another minute. Remove from wok and set aside.




2. Using the same wok, heat 1/2 tbsp of vegetable cooking oil, add in minced garlic and slightly browned. Add in the sweet pepper and give a good stir fry for a minute. Add black bean sauce, sugar and water and bring to simmering point.




3. Pour back the minced beef and give a good stir and coat. Off the heat. Serve it hot over piping hot steam rice.

Garden a bit unkempt-on the wild side

My first harvest of runner bean-easy to grow, and taste great when stir fry

Last year I only have 5 fruits, this year my green gage is doing extremely well

My harvest of greengage from the garden

Jerry will only pose for the camera if I'm doing string trick

Lush in July, sit back and relax

Braised pork serve with rice

It's been quite cold this past few days, there were frosty mornings and cold evenings. But was pleasantly cool during day time. These were the transitional period between late winter into early spring. Last chance of making those comfort food for the cold evenings before warmer days set in, and put my Le Cruset cast iron pot to good use.

Braised Pork serve with rice
Ingredients

• 600 gm pork belly-cut into 1 inch thick
• 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 5 cloves of garlic-crushed
• 1 inch of ginger-thinly sliced
• 5 tbsp of light soya sauce
• 2 tbsp of dark soya sauce
• 3 tbsp of shaoxing wine
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 8 dry mushroom -soaked till soft, discard stem

1. Heat oil in the pot. Once hot, sweat garlic and ginger for a minute. Then throw in the pork belly and let it browned for 5minutes. Throw in the mushroom. Continue stirring.


2. Then add in soya sauce, dark sauce, shaoxing wine, water and sugar. Bring to boil.


3. Then lower the heat to minimum and close the heavy lid of the cast iron pot. Let it braised for 2hours. Stir once every hour.


4. The meat should be tender and falvorful after 2 hours. I find that this dish taste better the next day when all the flavor is fully absorbed by the meat.
   
5. Serve over rice.

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to attend Japan Day at Kaetsu Centre in Cambridge. There were Japanese arts of display, calligraphy, chado session, martial art session, flower arrangement, origami, manga and of course Japanese food.

Roast Duck with cranberry and sloe gin sauce

I made this dish over the Christmas period and forgotten to post the recipes here. I enjoy roast meat, be it chicken, pork, goose or duck. I chose duck as it's one of the more flavorful meat

A good roast duck should have that elusive, crispy skin while maintaining the moist and tenderness of the meat beneath. Total enjoyment to serve with slightly sweet sour fruity sauce, a perfect match made in heaven. Not forgetting a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.

In order to create crispy skin remember the skin got to be dry(I mean really dry) and the need to prick the skin. Therefore, I normally prepare the duck a day before so that It has ample time to allow the skin to dry out.

Roast Duck with cranberry and sloe gin sauce

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 2 kgs Gressingham duck


• 1 lemon-cut into 1/4inch slices (*)


• 3 tbsp honey(*)


• 1 cup dry sherry/shaoxing wine(*)


• 4 tbsp of soy sauce(*)


• 800 ml of water (*)
  

1. Pour the water in a pot, add lemon, honey, wine and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Once boiling turn the heat down and let it simmer for 20minutes.


2. Hang your duck up on the neck with meat hook or string. Place a container below the duck before basting. Use the hot liquid from (1) and baste the duck all over. Once you've used up the liquid, pour back the collected liquid in the container and bring to boil again and repeat the basting process for another 2 time. Hang the duck and let it dry overnight. Keep the remaining liquid.


3. Before you roast, use a skewer to prick all over the duck, this will allow duck fat to come out and not just bubbling beneath the skin. As duck is very fatty, remember to sit the duck on a roasting rack, and fill the roasting tray with water, so that the dripping fat will not splatter in your oven.
   
4. Pre-heat the oven to 190C fan assisted. Once heated, place your duck breast up into the oven and roast for 40minutes. Then turn down to 180C, brush the duck with the liquid once and continue to roast for additional 20minutes. Then turn over the duck, baste and continue to roast for 25minutes. Turn over again and continue to roast for additional 15minutes. While duck is roasting you can prepare the sauce.

Sauce

• 200 ml sloe gin plus some soaked sloe


• 2-3 tbsp cranberry sauce


• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar


• 2 tbsp chicken/veg stock.


• 1 tbsp sugar (adjust depend on sweetness you desire)
  

1. Put everything in sauce pan, gently bring to a boil and let it simmer, stir occasionally, until the liquid is reduce by half. This will roughly takes about 45minutes.

Carve the roast duck and serve with the reduced sauce and side vegetables and humble roast spud (potatoes).



All that is remaining- duck carcass

Stir Fry Minced Meat with preserved turnip

I've been preparing quick meal for dinner lately. Not that I don't like to cook anymore but other things require more attention. Nevertheless, it's still yummy or probably I'm not a picky eater. :-)
Also did some photo shoot of rape seed oil field that coming to full bloom now, all over the farming field near where I lived, what a photo opportunity it is.

Stir Fry Minced Meat with Preserved Turnip
Ingredients (for 2 persons)

• 250gm minced meat (pork/chicken)
• 2 shallots-finely chopped
  
• 1/2 inch ginger-finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic-finely chopped
• 2 tbsp of light soy sauce (I use Kikkoman less salt soy sauce)
• 1 tbsp of sugar
• 1 tbsp of preserved turnip-finely chopped
  
• 1 tbsp of shaoxing wine
  
• 5 tbsp of water
  
• 1 tbsp of vegetable cooking oil+1/2 tsp of sesame oil
  
• 2 stalks of spring onion-finely chopped
• 1 red chilli for garnishing (optional)

1. Heat the oil in a pan/wok. Once it's hot, add in shallot, garlic and ginger, fry till frangant. Then add in the turnip and give it a good stir fry.
2. Add in the minced and fry for around 2 minutes on high heat until slightly cook. Then add in the soya sauce and wine and mixed well. Add the water and sugar as well.
3. Close over with a lid and turn the heat to low and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes.
4. Off the heat and throw in the spring onion.
5. Garnish with chopped red chillis. Served with rice.

Rape seed oil field

Having a quick meal over Guiness in my garden after cycling to the field

Tau Yu Bak (Braised pork in soya sauce)

For this authentic dish, I must insist one can't go wrong with pork belly. If you're health conscious, slot in extra time on treadmill to burn off that extra calories :-) . After all if you like braised meat like myself, it's well worth the extra day of cycling for 10miles.


Tau Yu Bak (Braised pork in soya sauce)
Ingredients (serve 4)

• 500 gm pork belly marinade with
  1 tbsp light soy sauce
  1/4 tsp 5-spice powder
  1 tbs oyster sauce
  1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
  1/2 tsp pepper
  1/2 tsp salt
  2 tbs sugar or to taste
  
• Other ingredients:
  
  • 4 whole garlic pods with skin on
  • 1 star anise
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 4 cloves
  • 1 tbsp dark caramel sauce (I use Cheong Chan brand)
  • 2 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sugar or to taste
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tsp of cooking oil
    
• 
  
  1. Marinate pork for several hours or overnight.
  2. Heat a heavy based cast iron pot on medium heat, add in vegetable oil, I use Le Cruset pot to good use again.
  3. Put in marinated pork to brown.
  4. Add garlic pods, cinnamon stick, star anise and cloves.
  5. Pour in half cup of water and cook covered and bring to boil.
  6. Add in dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, sugar and salt to taste.
  7. Turn to low heat. Add half cup of water and simmer till gravy is thick and meat is tender. This roughly takes about 1.5hrs-2hrs.
  8. If gravy is drying out, just add more water. Likewise if meat is not tender enough, just add water and simmer for a longer time.
  9. To serve, cut pork into slices and add gravy to the dish. Garnish with spring onion. Served hot with rice.

Enjoy and remember to excercise thereafter.

Here's the cheery daffodils in my garden.

Braised Duck Legs/滷鸭腿

The thought of having braised dishes over a bowl of rice is just so tempting. And moreover I have stocked up several duck legs over the festive season. To make braised meat with my newly acquired volcano orange Le Creuset enamelled cast iron pot seems ideal. I really like Le Creuset cast iron pot ranges, if only I could be an unofficial spoke person for Le Creuset , maybe I will be given the pots for free....one can only dream......
Le Creuset had been around since 1925, started in France and the cast iron pot is still being handmade individually by skillful artisan. I totally agrees that this product is of high quality, many serious cooks will definitely have one or more of these lovely pots in their kitchen. I've bought a cheaper cast iron pot before at a fraction of price of Le Creuset but am totally disappointed after few uses, as the enamel chipped off and became rusty. So I decided to splash a bit more for good quality stuff and a brand like Le Creuset which stand the test of time. I know in particular back home in Singapore and Malaysia, not many people own Le Creuset pot, mainly because it's quite expensive. This pot is really versatile and could last you a lifetime, so in the long run it's a good investment considering many comforting food can be churned out from this pot. And its addition to your kitchen would definitely stands out with its cheerful colors. I've my eyes on more Le Creuset ultensils like the cast iron wok, tangine, grillet, etc etc....

Braised Duck Legs/滷鸭腿
Ingredients (good for 2 persons)

• 2 duck legs (approximately 400-500 gm)
• 5 tbsp light soya sauce (*)
  
• 3 tbsp of dark soya sauce (I use Cheong Chan dark caramel)-(*)
  
• 3 tbsp sugar (*)
  
• 2 tbsp Chin Kiang black vinegar (*)
  
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine (*)
  
• 200 ml water
• 6 big dry shitake mushroom-soaked and quartered
  
• 2 star anise
• pinchful of cloves
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 inch of ginger
• 3 hard boiled eggs or more
• 1/2 tbsp of vegetable oil
  

1. Put the duck legs into a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes to remove any blood scum and excess fat. Drained.
2. Marinate the duck leg with the (*) ingredients overnight.
3. Next day heat a pan with 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil. Once hot, add in the garlic, ginger, star anise and cloves to fry till fragant. Then add in mushroom to stir fry as well for a minute.
   
4. Then add in the marinated duck leg plus marinating juices, stir fry. Turn the heat to medium, then pour in the 200ml water and let it simmer for 5minutes. Add in the hard boiled eggs as well.
   
5. Pour everything into Le Creuset pot and on low heat cook for about 2-2.5 hrs until meat is tender and soft. Let the meat soaked up the sauces as it simmer. Remember to turn over the duck legs + eggs to coat up the sauces about every half an hour.
   
6. Granish with spring onion and served over a bowl of hot rice. The braised sauce can be kept for making braised duck noodle.

I know many of you wish for a Le Creuset pot now :-) .
And Happy New Year 2010 to all my readers ....... at least I'm not in freezing cold London to usher in 2010 :-) .

Build up a little winter fats

Especially in cold winter month, one can be forgiven to complaint a lot about weather and craving about having rich food ( the reason is to store up some ''healthy'' winter fat for heat insulation).
It has not cross my mind to make siu yuk (Chinese roast pork) before, until I discover this recipes which require no roasting at all ( as some of you already knew that my oven is already on it's last leg). This recipes produces crispy crackling/skin through frying the skin .
I have tried and tested this recipes and my verdict: Yes, I will try making them again if I've craving for siu yuk..... minus the oily mess.

Siu Yuk (Chinese Roast Pork)
Ingredients

• 1 pound of pork belly
• 1 tsp of ginger powder
• 1 tsp of Chinese five spice powder
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 2 1/2 tsp sea salt
• oil for frying

Siu Yuk Sauce

• 1 tsp of oil from pork frying
• 1/2 inch ginger-minced
  
• 1 tsp of black bean sauce
• 1 tsp of dark soya sauce
• 1 tsp light soya sauce
  
• 100 ml of chicken stock/water
• 1/4 tsp of sesame oil
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 1 tsp of corn starch+ 1 tbsp water
  

1. Wash the pork. Immersed in a pot of boiling water and turn to low heat and simmer for 30-40minutes. Drained.
2. Using a sharp knife, stab the meat. This is to ensure you the marinating ingredient could be absorbed deeper into the meat.
   
3. Rub first ginger powder then five spice and pepper, no need to rub the skin just the meat.
4. Scored the skin side with sharp knife. Rub the meat and skin with salt. Cover them with cling film and let them marinate overnight.
5. Next day, heat a cast iron pot with some vegetable cooking oil (sunflower oil). Make sure the oil is deep enough to fry the skin bit. Once hot, place the meat with skin down, you've got to be real careful as the frying process will have oil splash. Once in, quickly cover the pot with heavy lid to avoid oil splashing. Turn the heat to medium, fry for about 8-10minutes till the skin is golden brown. Then quickly turn onto the side and fry for 1 minute each on the side (close the lid).
6. Once done, removed and drained with paper towel.
7. Chopped the meat into slices.
8. Scoop 1 tsp of oil from pork frying onto a sauce pan, fry the ginger till fragant. Add all the other ingredient for sauce except corn starch. Bring to a boil. Add corn starch solution to thicken sauce.
9. Served with rice and drizzle with sauce and cucumber.
   

P/S: Need to be extra careful when frying because of oil splash. Therefore cast iron pan with heavy lid is recommended.

Sweet and Sour Pork with Wrapped Water Chestnut

One of the main signature dish of Chinese restaurant or takeaway has to be Sweet and Sour Pork. This dish meant to be very pleasing to the eyes, opens up one appetite and wanting to go back for second. A lot of the Chinese restaurants here serving this dish, I find it has too much of white vinegar taste to it or the sauce being too starchy. I decided to whip up a nice sweet and sour dish with a twist, don't be traumatized by a little effort for I know this recipes will be a keep for good authentic Chinese sweet and sour to please your guests.

Sweet and Sour Pork with Wrapped Water Chestnut
Ingredients ( for 2 persons)

• 150 gm lean pork fillet/chicken fillet
  
• 6 water chestnut-peeled and quartered
  
• some toothpick
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp rice flour + 1/2 tsp soda bicarbonate
• oil for deep frying
  

Marinating

• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 2 tsp of light soya sauce
• 1/2 tsp white pepper

Sauce

• 1/2 green/red/orange/yellow pepper bell-diced
• 1/2 big onion-diced
• 1 slice of pineapple (optional)-diced
• 1 big juicy tomato - diced
  
• 1 tsp white vinegar + 1 tsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp of sugar
• 3 tbsp of Thai sweet chilli sauce
• 1 tbsp of tomato sauce
• 2-3 tbsp of water
• 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
  

1. Sliced the pork thinly with a sharp knife to make 3x3 cm slice. You should be able to make about 20 slices.
2. Tenderized the meat with a meat mallet. Then marinate them with the marinating ingredients for an hour.
3. After marinating, take a slice of meat and a cube of water chestnut and wrapped into a small parcel. Secured with a toothpick. Repeat until done.



4. Beat an egg in a bowl and seive rice flour+soda bicarbonate into another bowl. Then dip the meat into the egg and transfer to the rice flour to coat evenly.
   
5. Heat up the wok with oil for deep frying. Once it's hot and ready, drop in the meat parcel and fry for 1.5 minutes on each side. You should see it's slight turning golden brown, removed the parcel from the hot oil. In order to create a crisp pork, we need to deep fry again for second time. Drop in the meat parcel and continue to stir. Removed and drained after it has browned-about 1minute or so.
6. Removed the toothpick from the meat parcel.
7. For the sauce, heat up a pan. Pour in the vegetable oil, once it's sizzling hot, add in the onion and pepper and stir fry for 2 minutes. Then add in all the other sauce ingredients and stir fry for a minute. Once sizzling, off the heat, add in the meat parcel and coat evenly. Dish up and served with hot rice.
   

The main difference you'll notice is the freshness of the ingredients, a bite onto the crispy meat with added crunchiness of the water chestnut is totally right :-) .
I really like this dish as it's colourful, so much of taste to it and make me salivating again.....
Give it a try.

Clay Pot Chicken Rice

As weather getting cooler by the day, I always find it comforting to have warm food. Recently I brought a claypot over from Malaysia. Cooking with claypot can reserve the heat of your food, and stay warm for awhile after cooking. I used it quite a lot for cooking soup, curry and of course a piping hot clay pot rice. The thought of it, get me salivating and yearning for this one dish meal again....

Clay Pot Rice
Ingredients (good for 2 persons)

• 1 cup rice
• 1 1/4 cup of chicken stock/water
  
• 4-5 chicken wing drumlets
• 3 dry shitake mushrooms-soaked till soft
  
• some fried shallots
  
• 1 bird eye chillis
• 1/2 lap cheong-Chinese sausage-sliced thinly
  
• one small slice of salted fish (optional)
  
• spring onion for garnishing

Marinating for chicken

• 1 tbsp of ginger juice-extracted from pounded thumbsize ginger+1tbsp of water
• 1/2 tbsp of sesame oil
• 1/2 tbsp of shaoxing wine
• 1/2 tbsp of light soya sauce
• 1 tsp dark soya sauce
• dash of white pepper
  

Sauce for rice

• 1/2 tbsp dark soya sauce
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp of light soya sauce
• 1 tsp of garlic/shallot oil

1. Marinate the chicken and shitake mushroom with the marinating ingredients and leave aside for around 30minutes or so.
   
2. Cover rice with water/chicken stock in the clay pot and let it cook over medium heat until half the water has evaporated. This roughly takes about 10-15minutes. Then add in the lap cheong, marinated chicken and mushroom and continue to steam over the rice. Cover the lid and cook till rice is cook, this take about another 10-15minutes. Add additional cooking time of 5 more minutes on low heat to get a charred and crispy rice at the bottom of the pot. Remove from heat.
3. Drizzle the rice sauce onto it and garnish with fried shallots, bird eye chillis and spring onion.
4. Served piping hot with some sambal sauce too.

What a comforting food for autumn :-)

Stir fry black bean pork

I don't know whether any of you have this kind of feeling when daylight are getting shorter as one progressing through autumn and winter. I have a fake sense of time, i.e it gives me feeling that it's really late when I got back home from work. I tend to prepare simple one dish meal, eat it quickly and settle in front of my TV just to realise I've done all that in about 30minutes.... how can that be? Super efficient? Or was it really a super simple meal? :-)
Here it goes with my stir fry black bean pork recipes......

Stir fry black bean pork
Ingredients

• 150gm pork fillet-sliced thinly-marinate with 1/2 tbsp of sesame oil, 1tbsp of shaoxing wine, 1 tsp of white pepper, 1 tbsp of soya sauce, 1/2 tbsp of corn flour.
  
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tbsp Ching Kiang black vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp black bean sauce
• 5 tbsp of water/stock
  
• 1/2 big onion-sliced thinly
• 2 cloves of garlic
• few slices of ginger
• 1 bird eye chillis-deseeded
  
• spring onion for garnishing

1. In a wok, heat the cooking oil till slightly smoky, add in garlic, ginger and chilli and let it fry till aromatic. Add in the onion an stir fry for awhile, then add in the marinated pork, black bean sauce, vinegar and continue to stir fry till lightly cook.
2. Add in the water and turn the heat to medium to low. Add in the sugar and let it simmer for 5 minutes or so till cook. If the gravy is too thick you can add in another 2 tbsp of water.
   
3. Served on top of fragant Jasmine rice. Simple yet nice.
   

Braised Pork in Rice Wine

This is as close as it gets to the famed Hangzhou Dongpo pork. I love the tenderness of the meat after simmering for about 2 hours in cast iron pot & the fat bit just melt nicely under your bite. Goes nicely with rice. :-)


Braised Pork in Rice Wine
Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1kg pork belly
• 50gm ginger, sliced
• 2 spring onions
• 6 cup cold water
• 1 Cup shaoxing wine
• 3 tbsp dark soya sauce
• 3 tbsp light soya sauce
• 4 tbsp caster sugar

1. Cut the pork into 1.5 inches thick. In a pot boil some hot water enough to cover the pork, throw the pork in and boil on high heat to remove the blood foam. Off the heat and drained the pork through a colander under cold water.
   
2. In cast iron pot, add the wine, water, ginger and spring onion. Once boiling, add in the pork and let it boil on high heat for 5minutes, then turn to low heat and let it simmer for 1 hour. Check the pork by using a fork, at this time the lean part of the pork should be quite tender.
3. Add in light soya sauce and let it simmer for another half an hour on low heat.
4. After that stir in dark soya sauce and sugar. Simmer for another 10minutes or so. Off heat.
5. Serve with rice.

I would say nice winter dish to keep one warm.....plus the winter fats :-)

Authentic Steam "Kampung" Chicken

Been feeling under the weather for the past week. Some of my friends thought I am superwoman whom will not fall sick. Well, well I'm just a human being subjected to harsh elements just like everyone else during this cold winter snap. I've been down with cold and on top of that my neck ache/migraine has been bothering me for the past few weeks. All I had for the last few days were oat porridge with dried fruits for breakfast, light sandwiches and salad for lunch and rice porridge or soup for dinner. At least I still had my balanced 3 meals a day.

I started to crave for some substance/solid food. Just went grocery shopping to fill up my empty fridge and saw free range corn fed chicken on the meat shelf. Oh nostalgic.....reminded me of my growing up years in Malaysian villages ("kampung" in Malay) . My mom used to rear free range chicken in our back yard, and frankly speaking the chicken tasted so sweet compared to the caged chicken. Mom typically used Chinese herbs to cook them as these chicken deemed to be more nutritious/healthy than their caged counterparts. She also steamed the chicken for yet a simple and delicious dish during Chinese festivities. Steaming the chicken retained the tenderness and sweetness. Yum yum to my steam "kampung" chicken.



Steam Kampung Chicken
Ingredients (serves 2)

• 4 free range chicken thigh (remove bone)
• 1/2 tbsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tbsp ginger oil/garlic oil
• 1 tbsp light soya sauce
  
• 1/2 cucumber for garnishing
• spring onion for garnishing
• garlic chilli sauce to serve

1. Clean the chicken and pat dry. Rub salt and sesame oil onto chicken.
2. In a wok/sauce pan, boil some water for steaming the chicken.
3. Place the chicken in a ceramic plate/dish and steam in the covered wok/saucepan for 12-15minutes till just cook. Off the heat and let it cool in the wok/saucepan for about 10minutes.
   
4. Removed and sliced with a sharp knife and placed in a plate. Drizzle with the juice from steaming, garnish with light soya sauce, garlic/ginger oil, cucumber and spring onion.
5. Served with rice.

I am asking for my second helping :-) .

The older , the spicier

姜是老的辣 (Jiang1 shi4 lao3de la4.). Wonder whether some of you have come across this Chinese proverb, it means the older the ginger the spicier it gets. It symbolizes the older you get the more life experiences you acquired. I have much to learn from people with greater life experiences.

Tonite I am going to introduce to you a homely Chinese dish. Stir fry chicken/pork with ginger and spring onion. One of the key ingredient is old ginger, the older it is the spicier you'll get.

Stir fry chicken/pork with ginger and spring onion

Ingredients
[good for 2 persons]

• 200 gm pork loin/chicken breast (sliced into pieces)
  
• 120 gm spring onion (cut into 2-inch length, separate the white part from the green part)
• 50 gm old ginger (peeled off the skin with peeler and shred thinly)
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tbsp shaoxing wine
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp light soya sauce/ or salt to taste
  

Marinating ingredients

• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp light soya sauce
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
• 1/2 tbsp corn flour
  

1. Marinate the chicken/pork pieces with marinating ingredients. Set aside for 15-20 minutes.
2. Heat up your pan and pour the sesame oil and cooking oil. When the pan gets very hot and begins to smoke, add in the ginger and stir for a few seconds, then add in the chicken/pork pieces and continue to stir fry for one minute. Add in the white part of the spring onion and continue to stir fry for another minute. Just when the chicken/pork pieces start to cook, add in shaoxing wine, sugar and light soya sauce and stir fry, off the heat and throw in the remaining green part of the spring onion and stir for 30seconds, in this case you'll get crunchy green bit rather than soggy spring onion.
3. Remove and serve hot with steamed white rice.

Enjoy the wise saying of a young ginger trying to be an old ginger :-)

A taste of Japan

Two months ago, I went out with colleagues to a Japanese restaurant deemed to serve the best Japanese cuisine in Cambridge[according to some of my colleagues]. I have high expectation of this place. It's near the famed Cam river. As I entered the restaurant, the interior decor not even close to the contemporary setting I'm expecting[disapointment], to me it look more like any fast food chain. Secondly the menu, the minimum price of a main meal is about 9quid[that's equivalent to SGD27 or RM54] . I'm quite hungry actually, so I requested for chicken teriyaki bento set[teriyaki chicken, rice, cabbage salad, miso soup,radish pickles]. About 20mins wait, finally my bento set arrived. I hope it's worth the wait. To my disapointment again, the portion was a little mean, not that I'm a big eater, taste wise- needless to say another disapointment. Honestly, Sakae Sushi back in Singapore could beat it with a wide margin. Just having a bento set+a drink comes to about 12quid, however I have to forked out 22quid at the end of the day [being charitable here]. I decided , it's almost close to impossible to find ''value for money'' Japanese meal here in Cambridge. I decided to make my own Japanese meal in the future.
Tonite I make myself Teriyaki Chicken and it taste much much better than the one I had at that ''best Japanese restaurant in Cambridge''. What an achievement and on top of that, at a fraction of cost less than 2quid for the ingredients.

Teriyaki Chicken

Ingredients

• 4 chicken thigh(remove bone)
• 50ml of Japanese mirin(rice wine)
• 30gm miso paste
• 3 tbsp sugar
• A slice of ginger minced
  
• 30ml sake(optional)
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• sesame seed for decorating
  

1. Mix wine, miso paste, ginger and sugar in a plastic container. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
2. Add in chicken thigh and leave to marinate for at least 6 hours. I left it overnight again.
3. Heat a pan, on medium heat, pour in the oil, wait about 2mins.
4. Put in the chicken, skin side onto the pan and let it cook until brown. Then turn over to the meat side and let it cook for a minute, pour in the marinating leftover from the container, turn down the heat, close the lid and let it simmer for 5minutes until sauce thicken. You can remove chicken and sliced into pieces, garnish it with the thicken sauce.
5.Serve with rice.

Hope you'll enjoy making this simple and yet lovely dish.