[Recipe] 椒鹽豆腐 / Salt and pepper tofu

This is not deep fried, so less oil is used.  My way of doing it is...

1. bash some sichuan peppercon and rock salts in a mortar and pestle.
2. Mix the seasonings with some flour, and dust it all over the tofu.
3. Use a non stick pan, put in ~2tbsp of oil, in a high - med heat, fry each side of the tofu for 2 mins or until golden brown.  Enjoy~~~

[recipe] Sultana scone

I have made scones many many times.  This is my simple way of doing it, by twisting around different recipes I found on the Internet.   Before staring, I strongly recommend people to read "Delia's website" of how to make scones.   It is a really good reference.

 

Makes 8

 

Ingredients:

• 225g self raising flour
• pinch of salt
• 75g butter
• 20g caster sugar
• 30g sultana
• 6 tbsp milk

Method:

1. measure flour then sieve it to a big bowl, add in a pinch of salt, set aside
2. measure sugar, set aside
3. measure sultana, (if they are dried, soak them in hot water), set aside
4. beat an egg, add in 6 tbsp of milk, set aside; 
5. grease the baking tray with butter, dust with flour
6. preheat oven to 200C
7. measure butter, cut into small cubes;  rub the butter into flour until they look like breadcrumbs
8. add sugar and mix in
9. add in the egg mixture a little bit at a time, mix in with a knife, until it starts to form a dough(you might not need to use all the egg mixture)
10. add in sultana, use your hand and work it into a dough
11. roll the dough to around 1" thick, cut into circle shapes
12. place the scones to the baking tray, brush with egg mixture and sprinkle over with a little flour
13. bake for 10 mins

[Recipe] 羗葱蒸石班 / Steamed garoupa with spring onions and ginger

响英國有時都買到又平又好味嘅餸, 好似呢條石班, 只係£6, 足夠二至三人吃, 如果係香港, 我一定買唔到, 一定被君.

Here is my way of how to steam fish:

1. Use a knife to remove the fish scales (coz the fishmonger always won't do it thoroughly)
2. Wash the fish and let it drain dry
3. Use a big wok, put in boiling water, lid on and wait till it boils again.
4. Meanwhile, prepare sliced ginger and spring onions.
5. Put a few spring onions to the dish, then the fish, and sprinkle the fish with a pinch of salt
6. When the water boils again, put in the fish and let it steams around 10 minutes (depends on the size of the fish).  And always check to see if the fish is thoroughly cook with a fork, stick it to the middle of the fish and to see if the fish meat falls off from the bones, if yes then it is cooked.  Never mind it will ruin the presentation because you can always cover it with the spring onions and ginger toppings :-)
7.  While u know there's still 2 or 3 minutes the fish will be cooked, use a small frying pan (or a milk pan would be perfect), put in 3 to 4 tbsp of oil, when the oil is hot enough, put in the ginger and spring onions, give it a bit of stir and cook for 1 minute, till u see they are sizzling.
8. When the fish is ready, you might notice there are lots of "juices" on the plate, so you might want to pour them away before topping the fish with the oil + spring onions + ginger dressing, finally add in 2 to 3 tbsp of soy sauce.  done !!!

[Recipe] Oatmeal bread

 

Here I m making bread again.
I m using a "carrot bread" recipe :-S  but replacing carrots with oatmeal becoz Mr Chen very strangely does not eat carrots!!!

I used a total of 5 tbsp of Oats and mixed seeds!!!  Very healthy!!!

Keeping in an air tight container and it can stay fresh for a couple of days.  Best to eat toasted with butter and jam!!!  I am using hand kneading.  May be it is time to consider to buy a bread machine, or a stand mixer??    hmmm....


Ingredients:

• Bread flour 300g
• Dried Yeast 1 + 1/2 tsp (the ones that do NOT need to dissolve in water)
• Sugar 2tbsp
• salt 1 tsp
• butter 25g
• milk 100ml
• warm water 50ml
• Oats 5 tbsp (or u can add in some mixed seeds too!!)

Method:

1. In a big bowl, put in the flour, dried yeast, sugar, salt, mix together
2. Mix milk and water together, then add the liquid to the dried ingredients a little at a time, until a dough is formed.  (You might notice u don't need to use all the liquid or u may need more)
3. Knead the dough for ~5 minutes
4. Add in butter, knead for ~5 minutes
5. Add in Oats, knead for ~5 minutes
6. Put the dough back into the big bowl, cover with cling film, put it in a warm place (e.g. You can put it into an oven or microwave), let it raise to double its size.  It might take 1 to 2 hours.  
7. Get the dough out, knead it a few times to release the air.
8. Seperate the dough into two big portions, shape them as two big balls, place them into a lined loaf tin.
9. Cover the load tin with a towel, put it back to the oven/microwave, let it to raise to the size of a normal bread loaf, it might take half an hour to one hour.
10. Once the dough is ready, preheat oven to 180C, bake it for 18 minutes.  Done :-)

Tips:

• Suggest to check this blogger's website for bread kneading technique
• Always store the bread in air tight container ( e.g. the clip lock plastic boxes), then it can be kept for a longer time.

[Recipe] 椒鹽煎焗雞翼 / Salt and pepper chicken wings

I have cooked this dish many many times.  I guess I can say it is my signature dish now :-)
Salt & pepper chicken wings is always my fav but I will never deep fry food in my kitchen.  I just hate the oil!!!  So here is my way of cooking salt & peppers wings.  The key is to use a non stick pan with a lid, cook the chicken in med heat, then finally in high heat to create the golden crisp skin!!! 

Serves 2- 3

Tools:
1. a big bowl (for marinate the chicken)
2. a tsp
3. a non stick cooking pan with lid

Ingredients :

1. approx. 600g of chicken wings
2. 1 tsp salt
3. 1 tsp white pepper
4. 1 tsp shaoxing wine (optional)
5. 2 tsp oil (olive oil is preferred coz it is healthier)

Method:

1. cut the chicken wings in pieces
2. marinate the wings with salt and peppers, at least 4 hours or even longer
3. heat a non stick pan with high heat, add in 1 tsp of oil, add in the wings, stir it a bit, then cover with lid,  change to a mid heat, cook for 3 mins.  (DO NOT NEED TO ADD IN ANY WATER), then open the lid, give it a stir to make sure the other side of the wings can be cooked, close the lid again, and cook for 3 mins.
4. if u notice the wings are quite moist, turn to high heat, cook each side of the wings for 2 or 3 mins more, until u see they all turned a bit brown and crispy.

enjoy!!!

[Recipe] Homemade pizza - Ham and pineapple

Makes a 12 to 13 inches pizza -> 6 big slices

Pizza dough recipe from Delia's

Ingredients used are:

• homemade tomato sauce - saute 1 finely chopped onions and a few cloves of garlic with olive oil, add in 1 can of tinned tomatoes  + half can of water, cook for approx. half an hour in med heat until the sauce thickens.  add in a few basil leaves.  season with sugar, salt and black pepper
• some fresh pineapple pieces
• 3 large slices of good quality ham
• one mozzarella ball 

Bake at 230C for 10 mins

You might notice you only used half of the tomato sauce, so you can freeze the leftover for making another pizza or for making pasta later on.

Homemade is great when you have time.  You know the quality of the ingredients used and it tastes so much better because of the effort u have put in :-)

[Recipe] 鎮江骨 / Pork ribs in chinese vinegar sauce

開幕的第一道菜, 當然是我最喜欢吃,  而且是我妈弄得最好吃的 - 鎮江骨
其實，這是我第一次做这道菜.我妈说很容易做,不会骗人的.

ニ人份量

肉

4 條排骨 (手指長度, 必須又肥又多肉）

醬料
2 湯羹 老抽
2 湯羹 生抽
4 湯羹 鎮江醋
3 湯羹 糖

做法
1 将所有醬料攪匀
2 把排骨洗乾净， 不需沥乾, 放到醬料裹, 攪匀
3 醃 2個半小時， 一定不可以過三個小時
4 蓋上, 煮20分鐘, 要用大個康寧煲, 每條排骨要沾到醬料, 大火煮後, 轉小火, 每5分鐘, 翻一下排骨
5 開蓋, 轉大火, 收乾水， 煮到仅余少量汁, 上碟