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.

Chilli Crab

This is the last bank holiday weekend for 2010, therefore no more holidays till Christmas period. One have to make full use of the long weekend to get outdoor especially now we're approaching the late summer. I joined an outing to Great Yarmouth, a typical British seaside town with my friends and colleagues. Even though it's just an hour and a half away, I have yet to explore this seaside town by myself. So it's a good opportunity to join in the fun and if courage took hold of me, I might try to swim in the North Sea ( brrrr...... even the thought of it, send chill into my bone ... hehehehe).
We're given good weather to start with (sunny blue sky and slightly on the chilly side-but hey I can't complain....it's typical of North Sea climate this time of the year). This seaside town is quite quaint, dotted with lots of fish and chip shops, restaurants, shops, market etc etc. Too bad I didn't bring my DSLR with me, as I don't want to risk my camera when I have a friend who wanted to push me into North Sea :-) .
I ventured to the town market to see what they've over here especially the fresh seafood. I saw plenty of Cromer crabs on sale, an usual treat during summer months. Of course I prefer the mud crabs, but here they do Cromer crab at a fraction of price compared to supermarket and it's pretty fresh (over here they normally sell crabs which has been pre-cooked, you hardly ever find live crab in the market over here). So I decided to buy 4 whole crabs. Singapore Chilli crab or black pepper crab? ........ scratching my head..... :-)
I decided it shall be the famed Singapore chilli crab .....


Singapore Chilli Crab
Ingredients (serves 2)

• 2 whole crabs - washed, cleaned and chopped to different segments
• 2 tbsp of chopped ginger
• 3 cloves of chopped garlic
• 1 shallot finely chopped
• 5 red chillis- finely chopped
• 1 tbsp of sambal (optional)
  
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• Sauce-4 tbsp of tomato ketchup, 2 tbsp chilli sauce, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp lemon juice, salt to taste, mixed well
  
• 1 egg lightly beaten
  
• Spring onion or corriander for garnishing
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  

1. If you're using fresh crab, wipe dry, coat it with some corn flour and quickly deep fry for 30 seconds on high heat. Removed. For me my crab has been pre-cooked therefore I skipped this step.
2. In a wok, heat the vegetable oil. Once it's hot, fry the shallots, garlic and ginger until fragant-take care not to burnt them. Add the chopped chilli and sambal to sizzle.
3. Add the crab and stir fry for around 2-3 minutes on high heat. Then add in the sauce and continue to stir fry. Add the stock too. close the lid and let it simmer for 2 minutes. Then add in the eggs and continue to stir until the egg set. Off the heat. Garnish with spring onion/corriander.
   
4. Dish out onto plate, served with rice or Chinese bun.

Enjoy.....

Stir fry french bean with scallops

Having eaten out for 2 nites in a week, decided to put on my apron and do a quick meal [quote: I miss my own cooking...hahaha] .
Well, I need to clear my stock in the fridge before I need to replenish with new batch of fresh ingredients. There goes :

1. French bean
2. Fresh Scallop

Decided! Got to be stir fry.......


Stir fry french bean and fresh scallop
Ingredients (serve 2)

• 150 gm french bean
• 10 medium size fresh scallops
• 4 cloves garlic-minced
• 1 shallot - minced
• 1 tsp shaoxing wine
• 2 tsp of light soya sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp of olive oil/veg oil
• Toasted black sesame seed (optional)

1. Remove the thread of the bean. Sliced diagonally the bean.
2. Heat up a wok on high heat. Add in the olive oil and let it heat till hot (when it start to smoke). Add in the french bean to shallow fry in the oil. Keep tossing for about 2minutes or so.
3. Then add in the garlic and shallot and fry till fragant.
4. Add in the scallop and continue to stir fry for a minute.
   
5. Add the shaoxing wine, soya sauce and sugar and fry for another minute till scallop just nicely cook. Don't overcook scallop.
6. Served in a plate. Garnish with toasted black sesame seed. Served with rice.
   

Spaghetti with mussels in white wine sauce

Oh yes! Oh yes! Months ended with 'er' is in (i.e September, October, November and December) which indicate fresh, succulent and juicy mussels is bountiful. I bought some fresh Scottish mussels and decided to whip up a simple, quick and yet delicious pasta meal for dinner. The combination of mussels with white wine is just superb...... anyone disagree? :-)

Spaghetti with mussels in white wine sauce
Ingredients (for 2 persons)

• 400 gm fresh mussels
• 1 glass of white wine
• 1/4 cup of stock/water
  
• 200 gm spaghetti
• 1/2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• dash of sea salt
• 6 cloves of garlic-finely minced
  
• bunchful of chives- finely chopped
  
• dash of black pepper
  
• dash of red chilli flakes (optional)

1. Clean, de-beard the mussels and place them in a pot . Boil a kettle of water. Pour into the mussels in the pot. You'll notice that the shell of mussels will open slightly. Put on the gas stove and continue to boil for a minute or so and most of the mussels should open to reveal their orangy flesh. Drained into a colander. Discard any tightly clad shells as they're bad.
2. Cook the spaghetti as per the instruction on the package. Once al-dante, drained.
3. In a pan, seared the butter until fragant, add in half of the minced garlic and fry till aromatic. Add in the mussels and stir. Then pour in the wine, stock, turn to low heat, close the lid and let it simmer, this takes about 5minutes. Off the heat.
   
4. In another pan, pour in the olive oil and fry the garlic till fragant. Then add in the spaghetti and coat well. Pour the mussels and the white wine sauce into the spaghetti. Mix well. Add in the salt, black pepper and chives. Turn off the heat and mix well.
5. Scoop onto a plate and garnish with some red chilli flakes to give a kick to this meal. Served hot.

P/S: You can drizzle more olive oil onto your spaghetti if you like.

I'm looking forward to a trip to Wells next to Sea this Sunday in search for fresh mussels and oysters.

Foochow Sweet & Sour Fish Maw

Some of you might wonder what is fish maw? This is consider a delicacies in Chinese cuisine, known for it's spongy texture and beneficial for health. Typically you can buy fish maw in Chinese dry goods shop. Then you need to chop them into small pieces and deep fry to puff them up before using them in your cooking. I brought these fish maw back from my recent trip back to far east, my mum prepared the deep fried fish maw for me.

Deep fried fish maw

Sweet and sour fish maw
Ingredients (2 persons)

• 40 gm fish maw which already been deep fried
• 250 gm tomatoes - remove seed and puree (you can use tomato sauce instead), I find that using tomato puree gives a very nice color to the dish.
  
• 2 tbsp hot chilli garlic sauce- best to have Kampung Koh chilli sauce
• 2-3 tbsp white vinegar/lime juice
• 1/2 -1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
  
• 50 gm lean pork - sliced thinly
• 50 gm bamboo shoot-sliced thinly
  
• 1 celery stalk-sliced diagonally
• 1 shallot-sliced thinly
  
• 2 cloves garlic-minced
• 1 bird eye chilli
  
• some shredded ginger
• 2 tsp tapioca starch with 1 tbsp of water
• 600ml chicken stock/anchovy stock
• 1 tbsp of cooking oil
• 1 egg white
  
• coriander for garnishing
  

1. Soak the puffed fish maw in water till soft. Rinse and press the oil out. In a wok, boil some water and put in the fish maw to blanch for 5 minutes or so to remove excess oil. This step will ensure you don't have the deep fried oily taste to the fish maw. Drained and press dry.
2. In a wok on high heat, add in the cooking oil and fry the shallot, garlic, chilli and ginger till fragant. Then add in the pork and stir fry till slightly cook, add in fish maw and continue to stir fry.
3. Add in celery, bamboo shoot, tomato puree, chilli sauce and stir fry. Then add in the chicken/anchovy stock. Lower the heat, add in the sugar, salt and vinegar and close the lid let it simmer for 10-15 minutes or so. Then add in beaten egg white and stir. Add in tapioca starch thickening liquid and mix, the soup should thicken now. Add in sesame oil and stir, off the heat and transfer it to a serving bowl. Garnish with coriander/spring onion. Served hot with rice.

Isn't it a nice bowl of sweet and sour fish maw?

Stir Fry Prawn in XO sauce

This is one of my favorite no hassle quick stir fry recipes. I would say any seafood blend particularly well with XO sauce (this sauce originated from Cantonese cuisine in Hong Kong). Many of the Cantonese dishes in Hong Kong incorporated this sauce. The main ingredient of this sauce is dried scallops, chilli oil, dried shrimps and Chinese ham.
Having traveled to Hong Kong quite a few times, normally I will buy a few bottles from HK airport (note they only sell the premium hotellier XO sauce), although one can get Lee Kum Kee brand as well in HK city.
Try this quick stir fry and I'm sure you'll like it like I do. The prawn is succulent, the pepper crunchy, the dish is colorful and the taste is brilliant.

Stir Fry Prawn in XO sauce
Ingredients

• 300 gm fresh king prawn ( shelled, de-veined and butterfly)
  
• 1/2 tbsp XO sauce
• 1/2 tsp chilli oil (optional)
  
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine/sherry
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tbsp corn flour
• 1/2 green, 1/2 red, 1/2 yellow pepper
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 2 cloves garlic - minced
  

1. Marinate the prawn with salt, wine and corn flour for 15minutes. Keep the juice.
   
2. Heat the wok over high heat and add the oil. Add in the pepper and stir fry for a minute and remove from the wok. Then add in the garlic and prawns and stir fry till prawns turn pinkish. This takes about 2-3minutes. Return the peppers into the wok and continue stir fry. Add in the XO sauce and stir fry. Pour in the juice+1 tbsp water so that the sauce will thicken and coat the prawns.
   
3. Remove from heat. Served with rice.

DELICIOUS and COLORFUL :-)

Sweet and Sour Prawn

I remembered vividly the 10 courses Chinese wedding banquet back in my hometown. Belonging to the Foochow clan, guessed a lot of our dishes compromised of sweet and sour cuisines. Even if I didn't get to go for this banquet as a child, my mom diligently brought back some doggy bag of sweet and sour king prawn for me without fail. It's a treat back then.

Sweet and Sour Prawn
Ingredients (2 persons)

• 300g of fresh king prawn with shell/with head/headless (I can only find headless here)
  
• 2 tbsp of tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp of lime juice/white vinegar
• 1 tbsp of sugar
• 1 tbsp of soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp of shaoxing/dry sherry
  
• 1 big red onion diced into cube
• half of pepperbell
  
• 2 ring of pineapple
• 1/4 of cucumber peeled and diced
• 1/2 red chillis
• 6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 tbsp of cooking oil
  
• oil for deep frying
  

1. In a pan/fryer, heat oil for deep frying. Once heated, add in the prawn and deep fry for about 2 minutes. Removed from wok and drained.
2. In a wok, add a tbsp of cooking oil. Add in red onion, chilli, pepperbell and stir fry for 2 mins.
3. Then add in the prawn and stir fry for a minute.
4. Pour in the sauce-tomato sauce, soya sauce, sugar, limejuice, shaoxing wine. Stir well to coat the prawn.
5. Add in the cherry tomatoes, pineapple and cucumber. Stir to mix well.
6. Turn off the heat and served on a plate.

Served with rice. What a feast :-)

Guessing Game

We went out during lunch time to Science Park for our usual walk to unwind. It was a perfect blue sky and weather was nicely cool at 15C. This time of the year the walk is pleasant as the autumn color display in it's hue of golden brown, amber red and hinge of yellow everywhere. Well get the picture. One of the tree with it's fruit caught our attention, we were debating it's some kind of fruit, yes some kind of fruit. Mind giving a shot at guessing what it is? No prize for the winner though. It definitely look lovely for my photography prop I think:-) .


Tonite, I'm not going to make any specific dish using that yellow fruit. But feeling rather nostalgic about a dish my mom used to make for us. It's simple to prepare and handy to eat apart from being a deep fried dish. Well, well ...... I do eat healthily most of the time, right? Yes I am going to make Malaysian prawn fritter.


Malaysian Prawn Fritter

Ingredients(good for 2 persons)

• 1/2 cup corn flour
  
• 1/4 cup rice flour
• 1/2 tsp tumeric powder for color
  
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 250gm king prawn, peeled & deveined
• 3 tbsp of water
• oil for deep frying
  

1. Mix the flour, salt, tumeric powder, egg, water to make batter.
2. Dip the prawn into the batter.
3. Heat a wok, or fryer , pour in cooking oil and heat it.
4. Once hot, drop a little batter, it should be frying, elseit's not ready Once it ready, put the batter coated prawn into the oil and fry till golden brown.
5. Dish out and served with ketchup or sweet chilli sauce.
   

My Rice Bowl

Rice is considered the staple food for most Asians. When one speaks about rice bowl, it signifies the basic element required to live, which is related to ones employment. I must have rice at least twice a week, else I would think something amiss. Well called it psycology :-) .
So this evening am introducing my staple food.....RICE. The recipes I'm gonna show you is:

Premium King Prawn Fried Rice.


Ingredients (good for 2 persons)

• 100gm fresh king prawns peeled
• 1 cup rice cooked and left overnight
• 1 red pepper bell
• 2 shallots
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 chilli sliced
  
• 60gm spring onion finey chopped
• 5 cabbage leaves thinly sliced into strip
• 1 1/2 tbsp premium XO sauce
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
  
• a dash of white/black pepper
• 1 tbsp of soy sauce
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil

1. Heat a wok, pour in the 1 tbsp vegetable oil, once heated, add in garlic, shallots light fry till brown, add in chilli, pepper bell , cabbage and prawn and stir fry till prawn turned pinkish red. Removed from wok.
2. Pour in 2 tbsp vegetable oil in the wok and let it heat. Once heated, add in XO sauce and stir fry till fragant. Pour in the rice and stir fry for 2 minutes, add in the beaten egg and continue to stir fry. Followed by spring onion and stir fry for a minute, then add in (1) , pepper, sesame oil, soya sauce and stir thoroughly for a minute or so.
3. Ready to dish out and serve.
   

Your guests will give you a thumbs up for this rice dish. Please do not take my rice bowl away from me :-)

Blur Like Sotong

Sotong in Malay means squid. As the Singlish (Singaporean English) term, "blur like sotong" used to denote someone who is inept or in a world of his own, in short muddle headed. I wonder has anyone of you had been in this situation before, as blur as the sotong. I tend to be "blur like sotong" when it concerns my bicycle key.
Tonight posting is about sotong recipes hence the title. Not to worry as one had this dish one will not be muddle headed rather will sing lyrical on this Blur Like Sotong recipes. I created this with a hint of Thai touch. I like Thai cooking as it calls for lot of fresh ingredients. Thai cuisines to me will always be rated second to none.

Hope you like it as well.

Grilled Squid stuffed with minced meat with Thai dressing

Ingredients
(Good for 2 persons)

• 6 medium squids-about 5 inches in body length (washed and cleaned)
• 3 toothpicks broken into 2.
• half cucumber(about 150gm)-shredded/ or green young mango /or young papaya
  
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
  

Marinating ingredients for squid

• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 1 tbsp olive oil
  
• a pinch of sea salt
• 1/2 tbsp ground black pepper/ground white pepper
  
• 1/2 tsp tumeric ( optional - to give nice color to squid)
• handful of coriander
• handful of parsley
• basil leaves (optional)

Fillings

• 100gm minced chicken/pork
• 1 tsp salt
• handful of corriander chopped
• 1 tbsp white pepper
• 1 tbsp cooking oil

Sauce

• 1 lemon grass stalk finely chopped.
  
• 1 shallot, corsely chopped
  
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 tsp nam phla (fish sauce)
• 1 pinch of sea salt
• 1 tsp olive oil
• handful corrander coarsely chopped
  
• handful parsley coarsely chopped
  
• few basil leaves coarsely chopped
  

1. Marinate squid with the marinating ingredients, let to rest for at least half an hour.
2. Prepare the fillings, mixed the ingredients for filling and let it rest for half and hour.
3. Prepare the Thai dressing. Mixed the ingredient for sauce and set it aside.
4. Scoop a tbsp of filling and stuffed the inner tube of the squid, stuff 3/4 full, and use a toothpick to sew up the top. Do the rest.
5. On a heated pan, lightly greased with 1/2 tbsp cooking oil, once is hot, put in the squid and let it seared 2 mins on each side.
   
6. Then baste it with the remaining marinating juice & transfer it to oven and grilled for further 8 minutes at 200C.
   
7. Don't over cooked squid as it will feel rubbery and tough. Removed when it's cooked.
   
8. Place the shredded cucumber on a plate, then the grilled squid and drizzle with the sauce. Served with fragant Thai rice.
   

Can I have second serving please!

Note: If you don't want the stuffing, just pan grilled it for around 3-4mins each side, and dress it with Thai sauce, really tasty.

The Ugly or The Beauty?

Am reporting to you how I go about analysing the farmed mussels vs the picked mussels. Please bear with my mussels obsession at the moment. :-)
One obvious differences, those farmed mussels has pretty looking shell while those picked ones are mainly covered with barnicles.

Again I didn't demean the picked ones, just because they look less appealing to their cultured cousins. From texture wise, both are as succulent, however the picked one tend to have sand and grit.
Therefore feeling a little bit pity of their not so good looking nature[even Gordon Ramsay may disapprove of their ugly looking shell as deco for his plate I am sure], I created a nice looking simple seafood starter for the picked mussels. All you need, a little effort to turn the ugly into a piece of beauty.

Mussels boat with tartare sauce.

Ingredients

• 50gm de-shelled mussels from yesterday leftover.
  
• half medium red pepperbell
• lime juice
• 1 tsp tartare sauce
• lemon for decoration

1. put the cooked mussels into the halved pepperbell.
   
2. drizzle the mussels with lime juice
3. put the sauce on a lemon ring for dipping.

Simple and enjoy.