Chinese Eats at Home (Part 2)

[Tepee]

Nah! You might feel rather unsatiated. Unlike most Msians, I cook only 2 dishes, at the most 3. Shh....don't let my mom know.

1) Hubby is in sales and entertains (outside) a lot, so he's overfed with rich food. Latest, he can't close his neck button...so he's requesting for light dinners.

2) my girls are 6, 9 and 13. The younger two eat very little.

3) We don't like wastage, and I don't like leftovers unless it's some stew which will improve overnight.

4) Emphasis is on eating healthful food, so I don't deep-fry at home, or have too oily food. I'm quite the food hypocrite, because, during the weekend I don't cook. We eat out scouring the neighbourhood and beyond for good eats; anything goes.

Here's tonight's:

Shallow-fried grouper steaks with lemon sauce, with lots of shallot crisps and cilantro (ai yah! not pictured).

Egg tofu with siew bok choy and gingko nuts. As you can see, the veg is quite oil-less...I just blanch them in boiling water without any oil.

Where's everybody's meals?

[helenjp]

Wow, I never thought of doing THAT to egg tofu! Looks good.

[Tepee]

Thanks, Helen. Half the time, my dinners are not planned. I look into the fridge to see what I've left. Tonight, I'm disappointed I didn't have any carrots or wolfberries left...would have been nice to add some colour. Eek..the shallots look burnt...actually, they aren't. Looks darker in the pix.

[peony]

welcome back tepee

it's nice to see your food pic again.

[Tepee]

Thanks, peony. Was tracing backthread looking for yours! Need ideas on what to cook.

[peony]

Thanks, peony. Was tracing backthread looking for yours! Need ideas on what to cook. 

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you are so humorous, teepee

your cooking is so much better and above mine.

anyway, have been baking cupcakes, cakes, bread and cooking Japanese, korean food - anything but Chinese. So not appropriate to post here

[Tepee]

You sound busy and adventurous with your cooking as ever, Peony.

I, on the other hand, need detox. Last night, I got lazy and made noodle soup with soup ingredients packed by the medicine hall, meant "to nourish the lungs, strengthen the stomach and digesting function".

Today, it's chicken pie (oops, not chinese), barley drink with dried bean curd strips and flavoured with pandan leaves. Dessert (barley drink is not the dessert, lol) is almond tuile with chocolate chantilly topped with fresh raspberries (which I paid an arm and leg for). Also going to make vinegared pig trotters tonight so that the flavour is mmmmmm...for tomorrow.

[milgwimper]

Nah! You might feel rather unsatiated. Unlike most Msians, I cook only 2 dishes, at the most 3. Shh....don't let my mom know.

1) Hubby is in sales and entertains (outside) a lot, so he's overfed with rich food. Latest, he can't close his neck button...so he's requesting for light dinners.

2) my girls are 6, 9 and 13. The younger two eat very little.

3) We don't like wastage, and I don't like leftovers unless it's some stew which will improve overnight. 

4) Emphasis is on eating healthful food, so I don't deep-fry at home, or have too oily food. I'm quite the food hypocrite, because, during the weekend I don't cook. We eat out scouring the neighbourhood and beyond for good eats; anything goes.

Here's tonight's:

Shallow-fried grouper steaks with lemon sauce, with lots of shallot crisps and cilantro (ai yah! not pictured).

Egg tofu with siew bok choy and gingko nuts. As you can see, the veg is quite oil-less...I just blanch them in boiling water without any oil.

Where's everybody's meals?

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This isn't fair I just woke up to reading this and my stomache is growling! Teepee the grouper looks really good but what made my stomache ache was the egg tofu. I wouldn't mind a recipe if you have it.

Also I was wondering what type of program are you using for your pics to get the border and the watermark/initials?

[Tepee]

Thanks for the kind words, milgwimper. No recipe...just cut the tofu roll, steam the pieces, blanch the veg, then make whatever sauce you like. In this case, I fried a lot of garlic (we are a family of garlic lovers), add the gingko nuts, add a bit of oyster sauce, salt, make a slurry, then crack an egg to make egg flower.

I use Adobe Photoshop CS2.

I'll post today's lunch, but this is going to be the last if I don't see any other contributions. Sniff...I feel so lonely.

Vinegared pig trotters (with Bentong ginger) made overnight to develop the flavours, my all-time fav dish. Yam beans/carrots fried and braised with fried dried prawns and dried cuttlefish cut into thin strips. Eat it wrapped with fresh lettuce.

Edited October 13, 2007 by Tepee (log)

[Dejah]

You are elected as our "butt-kicker", TP. I DID post a picture - on Oct. 7th!

The last few days. we've been "curried". I had mentioned before that the craving for curry can never be satisfied...calmed, but never satiated. So, I've been making beef rendang, daging masak merah, and quick stir-fry chicken curry. None of these are Chinese, so I haven't posted.

Last night I started to make something Chinese with shrimp/baby octopus/basa fillet, but again, veered away and used a commercial Thai red curry paste. What am I to do!?

I've got chicken out for tonight, maybe if I'm strong enough against "curry craze", I can do something Chinese!

Has anyone made curry baby octopus Chinese dim sum style? Last night I braised them in the curry paste and coconut milk. I found they were too tender. I like them still with a bit of spring. Any suggestions or recipe would be appreciated. I ask for this again now that we have some new members in this forum!

Those trotters look delicious - wonder why I never have them unless someone has a "baby shower"?! My Mom makes the best - at least in my eyes whenever I had a baby. That's NOT going to happen again, so I should learn how to make it for when I have grandchildren. Good excuse to indulge? I am drooling just thinking about the melt in your mouth bits of meat, fat, tendon, ginger, peanuts, daylily... What all do you put in yours, TP?

But, meanwhile, TP and everyone, keep those pictures acoming! I need help!

[Prawncrackers]

Okay here's something to keep you all going; from my mum's kitchen on Thursday - Stuffed Three Treasures:

[prasantrin]

I'll post today's lunch, but this is going to be the last if I don't see any other contributions. Sniff...I feel so lonely.

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Don't go! I've got a picture from last night, but I can't find my card downloader thing.

My dinner doesn't hold a candle to the stuff you've been posting, though!

[Dejah]

Ok, Tepee - my butt was hurting so here I am!

BBQ pork that I cooked last night for the grandson:

To have something other than curry, last night we had chicken stir-fried with babycorn, bamboo shoots, sweet bell peppers, Chinese mushrooms, celery, scallions, and cashews. This was served along with gai lan and jasmine rice.

Po-Po's coming for supper tonight, and she requested black bean garlic spareribs. I'll be braising them in lots of sauce in the oven so they will be very tender for her.

[Prawncrackers]

Fantastic looking char siu Dejah, i bet it tasted as good as it looked. Did you use a pre-prepared mix or from scratch? I would love a recipe as i've never made it at home.

Tonight, we had spare ribs too but steamed in plum sauce, stir fried mange tout and steamed egg with har mai:

[milgwimper]

Thanks for the kind words, milgwimper. No recipe...just cut the tofu roll, steam the pieces, blanch the veg, then make whatever sauce you like. In this case, I fried a lot of garlic (we are a family of garlic lovers), add the gingko nuts, add a bit of oyster sauce, salt, make a slurry, then crack an egg to make egg flower.

I use Adobe Photoshop CS2.

I'll post today's lunch, but this is going to be the last if I don't see any other contributions. Sniff...I feel so lonely.

Vinegared pig trotters (with Bentong ginger) made overnight to develop the flavours, my all-time fav dish. Yam beans/carrots fried and braised with fried dried prawns and dried cuttlefish cut into thin strips. Eat it wrapped with fresh lettuce.

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Thanks Tepee! We are a family of garlic lovers too. DH used to tease me about my use of garlic, and then he said I didn't use garlic in ice cream. Yeah well we ended up eating garlic vanilla, and chocolate ice creams, with garlic chips in garlic salsa that day. Man you have to love gilroy some days. It wasn't a pleasant ride hope but definitely something to write home about.

I will have to try your recipe soon. I think I am gaining pounds looking at all the wonderful pics!

[Tepee]

You're welcome, milgwimper. Hmm...come to think of it, we have been to Australia quite a number of times, but have never tried the chinese food there except for some excellent dim sum in Melbourne.

LOL, Dai Gah Cheh. Glad to hear you're cooking Msian dishes; they are quite suitable for your cold climate, aren't they?

YUMMMMMMMM! Great food, people!

prawncrackers, that's the first time I hear stuffed veg called 'treasures'. I love them, whether cantonese-style or hakka-style. Believe it or not, when I went low-carb to lose all my postnatal fats, I survived on stuffed-this-and-that every day for one whole month. And, it worked wonders!

Yay, Rona is going to join in the pix porn!

[Dejah]

Prawncracker: Fantastic looking char siu Dejah, i bet it tasted as good as it looked. Did you use a pre-prepared mix or from scratch? I would love a recipe as i've never made it at home.

I don't use a packaged mix. I just mix together a big glob of hoisin sauce, wine, sugar, red food colouring, salt and MSG (optional). Cut the pork butt into longish pieces acouple of inches thick, poke holes in 'em with a fork, and let the pieces marinate for at least a day.

Pre-heat the oven to 375F. Hook the meat onto pre-fabricated S-hooks from poultry skewers. I hang the pieces from the boiler coils with a pan of water underneath to catch the drips and keep the meat moist.

Roast until edges are "black" - about 35 - 40 minutes, take them from the oven, then I brush them with some liquidfied honey for that glaze and bit of sweetness.

[Dejah]

Prawncrackers,Oct 13 2007, 10:57 AM]

Okay here's something to keep you all going; from my mum's kitchen on Thursday - Stuffed Three Treasures

What did your mom stuff the "treasure" with? Pork? Shrimp? a combination of both?

She used red and green peppers and eggplant or Chinese mushrooms, or?

Looks like a good dish for a party!

With a mother like yours, no wonder you are such an excellent cook

[Tepee]

(prawncrackers) With a mother like yours, no wonder you are such an excellent cook

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I agree!

Today's still an aidil fitri holiday...hubby, being home, did the cooking while I did the mis en place. Teochew congee. The accompaniments are not typically teochew, though. We had shallow-fried fish steaks, quick-fry lettuce (uhm...not quick enough ), salted threadfin fish, omelettes done 2 styles, one with tiny cubes of sea cucumber and the other one tomatoes/onions.

[Tepee]

Those trotters look delicious - wonder why I never have them unless someone has a "baby shower"?! My Mom makes the best - at least in my eyes whenever I had a baby. That's NOT going to happen again, so I should learn how to make it for when I have grandchildren.  Good excuse to indulge?  I am drooling just thinking about the melt in your mouth bits of meat, fat, tendon, ginger, peanuts, daylily... What all do you put in yours, TP?

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Make that vinegared trotters, Dai Gah Cheh...it makes for such an appetizing meal. My dish is simply trotters plus some shoulder, and bentong ginger, 2 types of black vinegar and peen tong. This is the best ginger around, very crunchy and light, yet not fibrous. Some people are happy to eat this dish with the ginger alone. The best thing about this dish is you can top it up with fresh meat on the next day and the next, till the last drop of vinegared soup is gone.

[junehl]

Your vinegared trotters look beautiful. The last time I had it, it was when my aunt was pregnant, unfortunately...the last time that happend was 15 years ago!!!!!

The other favorite food that I my family always cook for the woman after labor is Ginger Stir fried chicken. Tons of Ginger stir fried until it's slightly dry, add the chicken, add some salt, sugar, soy sauce...Every bite is spicy, gingery, and sooo good on a bowl of hot rice.

We'd make a ton of it, and whatever ginger is left at the bottom, my mom would stir fry that with egg. Oh soo good.

Those are the only two things I remember that my family cooks for a pregnant woman after labor. What are the other types of food you would cook for a woman after labor to help them recover? Or just a pregnant woman?

[Prawncrackers]

What did your mom stuff the "treasure" with? Pork? Shrimp? a combination of both?

She used red and green peppers and eggplant or Chinese mushrooms, or?

Yup she usually stuffs all those and sometimes fresh and fried tofu too. The funny thing is she used to do the regular pork and prawn stuffing but of late she has been experimenting. Pork and cod, prawn and cod, this time it was chicken and cod!! I have to admit that it was surprisingly good. Very different from pork/prawn in texture and taste and in a good way. The chicken breast and cod was hand minced using the flat of the cleaver and had a lovely smooth texture. I think she's hit upon a winner here, it's just a shame that cod is getting more and more expensive and is of course an endangered species. I have a feeling that she tried that combination because she reckons it's healthier than pork. Maybe I'll try it myself next time i cook this dish.

Has anyone ever heard of a chicken and cod mixture before, Chinese or otherwise? Sounds like something Iberians would do. Though i'm sure my mum would not have been influenced by them

[prasantrin]

Tepee, salted threadfin is my favourite! I have a couple of jars of it, and when I saw your picture, I took one out. I cooked some rice, but then got too lazy to fry the threadfin, so it will have to wait for another day. I will just admire your picture in the meantime...

The other day I finally got around to making char siu bao. I made the char siu using a recipe from Andrea Nguyen that C. Sapidus was kind enough to pm me. It's a great recipe, and I'll be using it again. But I cut my strips of pork too thinly, and roasted it for too long (30 minutes, but it was probably ready after 20), so it was a tad overdone. Then I stuck it in the fridge for several days, which I think might have dried it out even more. Oh well.

I used junehl's recipe for the bao dough. It calls for baking powder rather than yeast. I don't know what I did wrong, but as you'll be able to see from the pics, my dough is not smooth at all. And it has speckles of brown in it. It didn't have those speckles before I steamed them, so I don't know what they are. And the bao is a bit tough. Should I not be kneading baking powder bau dough? I kneaded mine for a bit to try to get it to look smoother. I really liked the flavour, though. Maybe I should try similar proportions but make it a yeast dough? I do prefer the convenience of a baking powder dough, though.

I also used the sauce from Tepee's chicken bao to make the filling. Mine is terribly dark. Tastes great, but I'd like it to be a bit lighter. Any ideas for that? I think next time I'll add some onions or something more to the filling. I feel like it's missing something. This filling was just char siu, hoisin sauce, dark soy, light soy, oyster sauce, sugar, and the cornstarch/water thickener.

And my pretty one.

[junehl]

prasantrin - I'm not sure why your bao has brown specks on them, could be the flour is my best guess. I normally use all purpose flour.

As for it being dense and not smooth, I have two guesses:

1) In my original recipe, I forgot to mention that after you mixed the dough together, I let it sit for about 20-30 minutes to relax the gluten. That could be one of the reasons why your baos are dense

The bao not being smooth, could be related to the same thing, because when I first mix up the dough, the dough isn't really smooth it's after they've been relaxed and when you start shaping your baos, it should be smooth then.

2) The heat of the steamer is crucial here. When I made my last batch, the first few that I had steamed, I didn't turn the heat up high enough, and they came out dense and kind of flat. I had to turn the fire on high, to get a lot of maximum heat, that was when my baos really got really fluffy and white.

And for the filling, I never use hoisin sauce, just oyster sauce, cornstarch slurry, soy sauce, and fresh green onions to finish it off. I love fresh green onions in it, it brings such a fresh flavor to the buns. MMM. Oh and I add some red food coloring to the sauce because I like the red color of the filling, it always makes it look so good.

[Dejah]

Rona: Did your dough have sugar in it? It may be scorched sugar if it is not incorporated well. This is only a wild guess tho'. Another possibility maybe the condensation that has dripped back onto the baos. My steamer is stainless steel, so I stretch a tea towel between the baos and the lid.

As for smoothness, I use my Kitchen-Aid mixer with the dough hook. My scratch recipe also uses baking powder. After mixing for 15 minutes, I let the dough rest for 15, then mix again for 10 minutes before forming baos and steaming. As June mentioned, that will relax the gluten for a smoother surface.

June is right in saying that the stove should be at the higest setting. The water needs to be at a vigorous boil and maintained for 20 minutes.

Not sure what you used as marinade for the char siu. I use hoisin, a bit wine, sugar and red food colouring. When I'm ready to make the filling, I chow the diced char siu in more hoisin sauce, water or light broth, then thickened with slurry. If I want more sweetness, I'd add some sugar or honey.

I think your filling is very dark because of the hoisin, oyster sauce, dark soy and light soy all together.

They look delicious tho! I have some filling already made and in the freezer, so I guess I'll have to make baos again.

Have you tried the chicken, Chinese mushrooms, onion and lapcheung in oyster sauce filling?

I also make baos with curry chicken.