A Snack for a Celebration

Its been ages since I last posted a new dish, thanks to my beloved architecture course, I did however manage to squeeze some time out of my busy schedule to make a little snack for Yee Herng in celebrating her birthday. Partly as I was still under my vegan curfew, I opted to make something vegetarian, not totally vegan, but suitable for those who only choose not to take meat.

Ingredients
1 dozen eggs
3 pc khaffir lime leafs (finely chopped)
10g black woody fungus (rinsed and finely chopped)
10g roasted peanuts (coarsely crushed or chopped)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
salt, sugar and pepper to taste
4 tbsp lime juice

Sauce
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp hot paprika/ chili powder
pinch of lemon grass
lime juice (to add body)

Method
1. Boil the eggs in hot water for about 5-8 minutes or until they are thoroughly cooked. Leave to cool and peel off egg shells.
2.While waiting for the eggs to cook, heat oil in a small pot or pan, saute the woody fungus, add salt and sugar to brown. Remove from heat.
3. Halve the de-shelled eggs, remove the yolks and place in the woody fungus pot earlier, mash the yolks, add salt and pepper to taste, followed by lime juice, khaffir lime leafs and roasted peanut at the end. Mash and mix everything well.
4. Shape the mixture into a small-ball-size and fit back into the cooked egg whites, like they've never been touched.
5. To make the sauce, roast the curry powder, turmeric powder, hot paprika powder and lemon grass in a dry sauce pan, add oil to the mixture, saute for 2 minutes, add extra lime juice to give dilute everything and add body. Done, spoon over the stuffed-eggs.

Tags: Egg, Khaffir lime leaf, Curry, Turmeric, Paprika

Spiced Sweet and Sour Cauliflower

Ingredients
1 cauliflower (about 500g), 1 carrot (sliced), 2 tomatoes (thinly sliced), 1 onion (coarsely sliced), 8 tbsp tomato ketchup (you can opt for a can of tomato puree), salt and pepper to taste, 1 tbsp thyme, 1tbsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 4 tbsp butter.

Method
1. Clean the cauliflower thoroughly, cut off the stem, remove the thick skin and slice to thin pieces. Steam the cauliflower using steamer until it is soft, literally 'melts in the mouth'. (you can use a pot of water to braise if you really cannot find a steamer big enough.
2. Remove the cauliflower from heat, brush 3tbsp worth of butter all over the cauliflower while it is still warm, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Melt the remaining butter in a pan or work, saute the onion until golden brown, stir in the carrots and the cauliflower stem, saute over high heat, add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Stir in tomato ketchup at this point, add 1/4 cup of water, mix well and bring to boil, turn to low heat, stir in thyme, sugar and lemon juice, braise until the sauce thickens. Done.
5. Place most of the ingredients on a plate, top with the cauliflower, pour remaining sauce on top of cauliflower. Garnish with tomatoes and coriander.

Tags: Cauliflower, tomato, tomato ketchup, tomato puree, thyme, lemon juice, butter

Chick Pea Salad with Buttered Five Spice Dressing

It's week 11! All the assignments are coming in and at times it just feels like my brain is going to blow off! Nevertheless, I chose to procrastinate tonight by updating my blog with a couple of dishes that I tried last few days, or maybe last week...

The idea of cooking chickpea the Malaysian way would easily revoke the idea of those chickpea stalls run by Indian hawkers at night markets, found throughout Malaysia. The strong smell of fresh chick pea, Yum! Yum! With this dish however, I decided to let the taste of chick pea to sit secondary to the taste of the five spice sauce and fresh coriander, I think the taste was not bad, but could be better if the sauce was thicker, hence the improvised recipe provided here...

Ingredients
800g chick pea (preferably fresh ones, otherwise canned ones will do), 500g fresh bean sprouts, a generous bunch of fresh coriander, 2-3 tbsp butter, 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped), 3 tbsp five spice powder, 8 tbsp water, 1 tbsp hot paprika, fresh salt and pepper to taste.

Method
1. Boil a pot of water, add a pinch of salt, add in the chick pea, cook until the water boils again. Remove chick pea from water, mix with 1 tbsp butter while hot, leave to cool.
2. Cook bean sprouts for no more than 3 minutes in the same pot of boiling water, rinse in ice cold water immediately, leave aside.
3. Melt 1tbsp butter in a saucepan, add five spice powder and hot paprika powder, saute over low heat while adding water bit by bit, make sure the sauce is considerably thick, melt the remaining butter in sauce after adding all water.
4. Mix chick pea, bean sprouts and chopped fresh coriander in a salad bowl, add in the buttered five spice sauce, toss well to dress, add salt and pepper to taste. Done.

Tags: salad, chickpea, five spice powder, dressing, bean sprouts, coriander

Poached Green Bean Salad

The green beans I used here refers to those medium length ones with smooth skin, and not its sibling which is fairly long with a rougher skin texture. Anyway, it seems like the season for it has arrived, or has it not? I picked up a large bag of it from Sunday market the other day for a mere 2 dollars, and I think it is an unbeatable price, unless they sell it for only 1 dollar...

It's a fairly simple dish, my housemate (who does not cook as well) and his girlfriend wanted to join the crowd for a good meal, hence I came up with the dish so that there would be enough things to feed everyone, and ofcourse, I cunningly asked my housemate to buy a couple of stuff for joining the dinner last minute. Wicked! *Laughs*

This time again I am not going to disclose the exact amount of ingredients used, there's no strict rule to it really, salads are meant to be hassle-free and done as according to own tastes.

Ingredients:
about 500g green beans (sliced diagonally)
2 carrots (finely chopped)
1 large onion (finely sliced)
black and white sesame (lightly toasted)
dried red chilli (soaked in hot water and coarsely chopped)
lime juice
3 garlic gloves (finely chopped)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
dijon mustard
brown sugar, salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Poach the sliced green beans in boiling hot water for about 3-5 minutes. Soak in ice-cold water immediately.
2. Mix green beans, sliced carrot and black and white sesame in a salad bowl.
3. Heat oil in a saucepan, sautee chilli and garlic until fragrant, stir in onions and add sugar to brown them. Turn off heat, stir in a generous amount of lime juice.
4. Pour sauce over mixed ingredients, add salt and pepper to taste, toss well and throw a generous amount of dijon mustard on top before serving. Done

Last note, feel free to add olive oil to taste for a last touch, that should give another olive-y dimension to the dish. Enjoy!

Tags: Green beans, black sesame, white sesame, dijon mustard, lime juice

Sweet Potato and Basil Curry

The lazy gets lazier! Here is another lazy cook's dish with the standards and taste at a guaranteed excellence! lol Thanks again to the stockpile of sweet potato earlier from the week, this is yet another example of innovation with whatever that is available. Hahaha Alright, done with the self-praising, let's get into making the dish.

Ingredients to start off with: heaps of sweet potatoes (cut into medium-large chunks), tandoori curry paste (or any curry paste that you like, and can be purchased from the Asian stores, feel free to pull together your own mix of herbs to make the curry, it is something I often do myself), 1 large Spanish red onion (finely chopped), 1 can tomato puree, about 400g (again you can dice your own tomatoes, but I am trying to make things easier for lazy cooks), 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped), 1/2 cup milk (can use coconut milk or yogurt, anything goes). 2 tbsp vegetable oil, 3 stems of basil leafs (take the leafs only, coarsely chopped), salt and pepper to taste.

Method: Start of by heating oil in a wok or pot, add in the chopped garlic and onions and stir fry until fragrant, add some sugar and salt to brown the onions. Add the curry paste and tomato puree, mix well and bring to boil. Stir in the milk, bring to boil again before adding the sweet potato chunks. Add water to cover the sweet potatoes, turn to medium-high heat and braise with closed lid for 10-20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft enough (to own preference). Remove lid, season to preferred taste, turn off heat, stir in basil leafs, leave to sit for a couple of minutes prior to serving. There's saying that curries taste better after sitting overnights, the same applies here if you plan to keep the dish for another day.

Serve with rice, noodle or pasta, just beware of the carbohydrate intake! lol

Pumpkin and Cumin Seeds Stew

This is a dish that I should have published by the end of last month, but as usual, laziness is king...lol At times, laziness takes over in cooking as well, so basically you can label this dish a 'lazy' dish as well. Simple steps with simple ingredients, at least from my point of view XD.

Ingredients
1/4 of Pumpkin, coarsely chopped into chunks
250g minced pork (other mince is fine as well)
about 5 stems of garlic sprouts (cut to desired lengths)
4 cloves garlic(finely chopped)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
about 4 tbsp of cumin seeds

Seasoning
light soy sauce
Thai sweet chili sauce
chili or paprika powder
salt and pepper to taste
oyster sauce
Brown sugar

Method
1. Heat oil in a wok or pot, stir fry the chopped garlic until fragrant, stir in 2tbsp of cumin seeds and 2 tbsp chili powder, sautee until the cumin seed's flavour is released, add minced pork at this point, followed by light soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste, continue to stir fry until the minced pork turns brown.

2. Stir in the pumpkin chunks, mix well, add water to cover the pumpkin, close with lid and bring to boil. Remove lid upon boiling, mix well and check if the pumpkin chunks have to started to soften, add 2 tbsp of oyster sauce, 1tbsp of sugar and another round of light soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Close lid, turn to medium heat and braise for about 10-15 minutes.

3. Remove lid, pumpkin should be soft by now, otherwise continue to braise. Turn to high heat, add chopped garlic sprouts and stir fry for another 3-5 minutes. Done.

4. Turn off heat, stir in 2-3tbsp That sweet chili sauce, toast the remaining cumin seeds prior to sprinkling on top of dish. Serve hot or warm.

Tags: Pumpkin, Cumin seeds, stew, pork, garlic sprouts

Crunchy Lettuce Seaweed Salad

A few days back I was trying to make something new out of one the most common vegetables available, the easiest way is obviously to stir-fry the Chinese way, but I think you'll just get sick of it when you have too much of it, or too much of anything for that matter. Anyway, this was what I came out with, an experiment with some corriander powder I found from the storage cabinet and sort of fusion of East and West, as always. lol

Ingredients:
1 whole iceberg lettuce (rinsed and cleaned thoroughly, roughly chop and leave aside to dry)
25g of finely sliced seaweed (rinse and clean thoroughly leave aside to dry)
3 tbsp white sesame (lightly toasted and set aside)
4 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
3 tbsp cooking oil
3 tbsp corriander powder
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp dark vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Heat oil in a wok, add in chopped garlic and stir fry till fragrant, stir in the sliced seaweed at this point, stir-fry for another 3 minutes.
2. Add all the seasoning, give the ingredients a good mix, add some water to dilute the gravy (around 1/2 to 1 cup of water), bring to boil and turn to lowest heat.
3. Stir in the chopped lettuce and mix the ingredients, adding water bit by bit if it turns out too dry. Turn off heat, stir in the toasted sesame as well, done, serve warm or cold.

Experimenting with Eggplants

Having seen some friends' dinner pictures at a Spanish restaurant, I was intrigued by one of the restaurant's which made use of eggplant. As the only referral I had was a picture, the cooking method and ingredients involved was largely up to my own imagination. Hence, with some spare time this afternoon, I decided to let my imaginations take off and try out something with a big eggplant left in the fridge.

The ingredients used are pretty simple, with the eggplant being the main character here. For a start, peel the skin of eggplant, cut into rectangular chunks, mix together with 2 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp black pepper powder, 1 tbsp sweet paprika and 2 tbsp five spice powder before leaving aside to marinate. Prepare another two bowls, one with beaten egg wash of 1 egg, and another with the mixture of 5tbsp bread crumbs, 1 tbsp dried chives, 1 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp plain flour, and 2 tbsp of curry and tumeric powder each.


Method:Dip one piece of eggplant in the egg wash before coating with the breadcrumb mixture, repeat with all eggplant cutlets. Lightly saute the breadcrumb -coated eggplants in a hot pan with some oil, do not overcook the eggplants, and beware not to overburn the breadcrumb coating. Leave aside on a kitchen towel after browning the eggplants for a few minutes. Next, bake the eggplants in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celcius for 40 minutes, changing sides every 10 minutes or so. Serve hot from the oven immediately for best taste. I think it is possible to grill the breadcrumb-coated eggplants as well, but I will have to try that next time before I can be sure, maybe someone else can try it out and tell me?

Sweet Cucumber and Aubergine Salad

This is another simple salad that I figured out within minutes when my mom asked me how to cook this two leftover ingredients in the refrigerator. I think it is not too bad considering I had to come out with it within minutes, Hah!

Ingredients: 1kg baby cucumbers, 600g small aubergines, 3 tbsp malt, 2 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp toasted black sesame, 1 tbsp toated chili flakes, salt and pepper to taste.

Method: First of all, coarsely chop the baby cucumbers and aubergines. Coat the aubergines with sesame oil and roast in an oven for 15 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Melt the malt in a steamer. Remove the aubergine from oven and well with the chopped babay cucumbers. Toss well with malt, black sesame and chili flakes. Seson with pepper and salt to taste, try some lime juice as well if desired. Serve hot or warm when the sesame oil-roasted-aubergine are still fragrant after being roasted in the oven.

Thai Stir Fried Tofu with Basil and Soy Sauce

Having return to Malaysia for more than a week, I had been eating here and there and almost in a non-stop pace. However so, I have been thinking of, or should I say I really missed the Thai cuisine back in Sydney. One of the most common and easy dish that one will find in Thai cuisine would be no other than stir-frys with basil. This would be even evident in thoe vegetarian Thai cuisines, those in Sydney that is. Hence, I did not hesitate to make this dish to satisfy my tastebuds and ofcourse, my stomach. I have to say that it has much to improve to compete with those from those Thai restaurants that I have tasted before in Sydney. Nevertheless, the aromatic smell of Basil is just astonishing, not sure about other people, but if you asked me, I would say anything (or most of the food) goes well with Basil, so sorry to those who dislike this herb, you are just missing out, BIG time!

Ingredients: (serves 3-4)
4pc Dry Tofu (thickly sliced, about 9 to 10pc per tofu)
2 Fresh Tomato (sliced into 8pc each)
4 bunches Fresh Basil Leafs
1 Large Red Onion (coarsely sliced)
2 tbsp Soy Bean Paste
1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
Pinch of Salt, Sugar and Pepper to taste
2 slices Ginger (finely chopped)
3pc Thai Small Chili (seeds removed and finely chopped)
3 tbsp Vegetable Oil

Method: Rub a pinch of salt thoroughly over sliced tofu and lightly fry in hot vegetable oil (you can seperately parboil the tofu in hot oil seperately for a more crunchy texture later). Stir in ginger and onion and continue to stir fry gently, so as not to spoil the tofu accidently. Add in the basil leafs at this point, stir fry until the leafs have all absorbed some oil and start to turn dark green. Add all the seasonings and the chili. Stir fry for another 5 minutes over high heat. Stir in sliced tomato at last and stir fry for another 2 minutes. Done, serve hot.

Sweet Chili Pumpkin and Spinach Salad

Ingredients: (serves 3)
450g Pumpkin (Skinned and roughly chopped)
1 bundle English Spinach (about 6 bunch, rinsed and finely chopped)
15g Anchovy (fried pre-use)
3 tbsp Sweet Chili
2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Black Pepper Powder
1 tbsp Salt
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
2 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)
2 slice Ginger (finely chopped)
2 cup water

Method:
1. Heat oil in a wok, stir fry ginger and garlic until aromatic. Add in pumpkin cutlets, stir fry for 2 minutes, add 1 cup water to cover pumpkin pieces, close lid and leave to braise for about 5 minutes.
2. Remove lid, add salt, pepper and 2tbsp sweet chili sauce, mix well, Stir in chopped spinach, stir well, add light soy sauce and another cup of water, cover with lid again and braise over low heat for 5 minutes.
3. Remove lid, turn to high heat, bring to boil. Done. Top with fried anchovies and remaining sweet chili sauce, mix well before eating.

Chinese Style Vegetarian Chicken Salad

Ingredients: (serves 3)
325g Vegetarian Chicken (Thinly sliced, available at Asian stores)
250g Fresh Bean Sprouts
500g Chives (soaked and chopped into 1cm lengths)

1 tbsp Black and White Sesame (toasted, for garnishing)

2 tbsp Vegetable Oil

2 tbsp Sea Salt

1 tbsp Black Pepper Powder

Sauce:

2 tbsp Crunchy Peanut Butter

3 Small Spicy Chili (seeded and finely chopped)

2 tbsp Brown Sugar

1 tbsp Sea Salt

1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce

1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce

1 tsp Black Pepper Powder

1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

3 tbsp Water

Method:
1. Braise beansprouts in a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes, remove from hot water and soak in ice cold water. Repeat with chopped chives.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a wok, stir fry sliced vegetarian chicken for 5 minutes, adding sea salt and black pepper powder in the process. Remove from wok and leave aside to cool.
3. On a plate, set base of bean sprouts, top with chives and the top most with the vegetarian chicken.
4. As for the sauce, heat oil in a saucepan, saute chopped chili for 1 minute, stir in the rest of the ingredients, with the water added at the last, turn to low heat and bring to boil. Done. Pour over the vegetarian chicken, chives and beansprouts platter prepared earlier. Serve hot or cold.

Stir-Fry Asparagus and Gluten Mix

Ingredients: (serves 3-4)
3 bunch fresh Asparagus (roughly chopped into 1.5 inch pieces)
75g Fried Gluten (soaked until soft pre-use)
3 tbsp Woberry Fruit (soaked pre-use)
20g Salted Fish (toasted and crushed)
2 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)
2 slices Ginger (finely chopped)
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 tsp Black Pepper Powder
Pinch of Salt and Sugar

Method:
1. Heat oil in a wok, stir in chopped ginger and garlic, followed by asparagus, stir fry for 1 minute. Add pinch of salt and sugar. Continue to stir fry for 2 minutes.
2. Add soaked gluten, followed by wolberry fruit, continue to stir fry while adding oyster sauce and light soy sauce. Stir fry for another 3 to 5 minutes. Add water if necessary.
3. Give a good dash of black pepper powder and sesame oil before turning off heat, mix well. Top with toasted crush salted fish before serving. Mix well when serving.

Sesame Oil Grilled Aubergine

Ingredients: (serves 3-4)
500g Aubergine (pick those small and long ones)
4 tbsp Sesame Oil
25g Bean curd Skin (Fu Chok, rinsed pre-use)
1 bunch Coriander (finely chopped)
5 cloves Garlic (diced)
2 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp Salt
1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Sweet Chili
1 tbsp Black Pepper Powder
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil

Method:
1. Wash the aubergines thoroughly, half them lengthwise. On a plate, mix 3 tbsp sesame oil with 1 tbsp sugar and salt. Coat halved aubergines thoroughly with sesame oil. Put to grill for about 30-40 minutes.
2. Slice the bean curd skin finely. Heat the vegetable oil in saucepan, lightly fry the diced garlic until golden brown, remove garlic. Throw in sliced bean curd skin, stir-fry for 2 minutes before adding dark and light soy sauce, sweet chili, sugar and black pepper powder. Continue to stir-fry for another 2 minutes. Add some water if necessary.
3. Add the remaining sesame oil into the saucepan before turning off heat, mix well.
4. Remove aubergine from grill, top with bean curd skin sauce, chopped coriander and fried garlic earlier. Done. Serve hot or cold.

Stir Fried Yum Bean and Black Woody Fungus

The next dish is one of the favourites that my mom taught me, so this is kind of a traditional dish, hopefully everyone likes it.

Ingredients: (serves 3-4)

1kg Yum Bean (skinned and finely sliced, as thin as possible!)

80g Black Woody Fungus (pre-soaked until soft and sliced thinly)

2 tbsp Brown Sugar

1 tsp Salt

3 tbsp Black Pepper Powder (cut less to taste)

2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce (add more to taste)

10g Dried Shrimp (soaked in water before use)

3 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)

2 slices Ginger (finely chopped)

2 tbsp Vegetable oil

Water as required

Method:

1. In a heated wok, add dried shrimp, stir-fry for a minute until fragrant. Add in chopped garlic and ginger, stir fry for another couple of minutes before adding vegetable oil.

2. Stir in sliced black woody fungus, add sugar at this point. Continue to stir-fry all the time.

3. Add in sliced yum bean, mix the ingredients well, add all the seasoning at this point apart from the black pepper powder. That has to go in phase by phase.

4. Continue to stir fry and add pepper every now and then (remember only 3tbsp). Add water as required as well, to prevent the dish from going dead dry.

5. Check if the yum bean can be easily cut into two, the dish is basically done, serve hot.

Bamboo Shoots Wrap

Wanted to make something that literally 'wraps' that day, not sure why though, but I did make it at the end. The end product was not bad at all, but maybe just have to control the duration of steaming it, then it would be better! Check the recipe out...


Ingredients: (makes 9)
25g Bean curd Skin (Foo-Chok, approximate weigh, cut to make 9 pieces)
300g Bamboo Shoots Strips
2pc Chinese Sausage (skinned and finely chopped)
1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Black Pepper Powder
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
1 tsp Sweet Paprika Powder
1 tsp Cinnamon Powder
2 bunch Chives

Method:
1. Soak the bean curd skin in lukewarm water 1 hour beforehand. Leave aside.
2. Marinade the bamboo shoot strips with light soy sauce, black pepper powder, brown sugar, sweet paprika and Cinnamon powder. Leave aside.
3. Clean the chives thoroughly with water, steam in hot water pot for 5 minutes or so.



4. Pick a piece of bean curd skin, place 2 tbsp bamboo shoot strips on one end. Top with 1/2 tbsp finely chopped Chinese sausage. Pick one end of the bean curd skin (where the ingredients are near to), roll firmly while pressing out excess water and air, seal with corn starch at the other end of the roll.

5. Pick 2 strips of chives, cross tie around the wrap, turn the wrap around and tie another knot if desired. Repeat step 4 and 5 with remaining ingredients.
6. Place all wraps in a oiled bowl or plate, steam for 10 minutes. Done, serve hot.
7. Serve with sweet chili sauce or simply dip into some light soy sauce.

Cabbage Soup

Now I know that the name of the post does not sound interesting, but I had really tasted a few times these very simple cabbage soup that others just cannot seem to make them taste good! Please try this recipe, I think it will taste good for most people...



Ingredients: (serve 5-6)
1/2 Chinese Cabbage (about 375g)
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
8 Chinese Shitake Mushrooms(pre-soaked for 3 hours, diced)
1 Brown Onion (can use more if desired, diced)
1 Egg
5 large bowls of water
3 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
Salt, Sugar and Pepper to taste

Method:
1. In a pot, dry toast brown onion and mushroom, add sugar and salt to brown and bring out the flavour. Add oil and stir fry for 2 minutes.
2. Add in the stems of the Chinese cabbage first, followed by light soy sauce, fry for a minute or two, add water, cover with pot lid and bring to boil.
3. Add in the cabbage leafs upon boiling, cover and bring to boil again. Turn to low heat and braise for 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir and mix well.
4. Before serving, turn to high heat, bring to boil. In a bowl, break and egg, get pour in a ladle-full of soup, stir and mix well before adding back as soon as possible into the pot of soup. Done. Serve hot.

Finger Food Anyone?

Another dish I would like to introduce, also involves white raddish and tofu, it is easy to make, and meant to be served as finger food, or as entrees before starting on main dishes.

Ingredients: (makes 12)

1/3 White Raddish (about 100g) (finely sliced to form thin-circle slices)

100g Fried Tofu Puffs (Cut diagonally)

3 tbsp Soy Bean Paste

1 tbsp Chili Sauce

1 pc Dried Chili (seeds removed and finely chopped)

1/2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce

1/2 tbsp Sugar

Bunch of Parsley

Method:

1. Steam the sliced raddish and tofu puffs for about 10 minutes or more, or until the white raddish slices are soft and tender.

2. In a bowl, mix soy bean paste, chili sauce, dried chili, light soy sauce and sugar together, leave aside.

3. Lay the white raddish slices on a plate, preferably two slices each patch (beware of how hot the raddish is). Give each patch a teaspoon full of the mixed paste.

4. Top with parsley and a tofu puff each. Done.

Note: This is a complex taste dish, each bite of each serving should result in an intense flavour of the mixed paste, the sweetness of the raddish, and the strong scent of the parsley. The tofu is to compliment the intensity of the bean paste. You can use mint instead of Parsley.

A simple dish - Texture or Aroma?

I shared dinner over my mates place yesterday and I cooked this dish. It was a simple one, but they were wondering what was the main structure of the dish, I wanted to explain to them in detail, but wonder would they understand. But anyway, let's check out the dish first.

Ingredient: (serves 3-4)

1kg Garlic sprouts (soaked and chopped into 2cm pieces)

50g Fried Gluten (soaked until soft and tender)

50g Peanuts (skinned, toasted until crispy)

30g Salted Black Beans (rinsed, drained and set aside)

2 tbsp Vegetable Oil

1 tbsp Sesame Oil

1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce

1 tbsp Black Pepper Powder

2 pc Ginger (finely chopped)

2 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)

Water as needed

Method:

1. In a wok, heat vegetable oil, add in ginger and garlic and fry till aromatic. Stir in garlic sprouts, stir-fry for about 2 minutes.

2. Add in gluten, fry for another 2 minutes, add light soy sauce and continue to stir-fry.

3. Stir in salted black beans, continue to stir-fry, add water bit by bit if the wok is too dry. Stir in the black pepper powder by now, followed by the toasted peanuts, stir-fry for another minute or two.

4. Give the wok a good drizzle of sesame oil right before removing from heat and serving. This is the important part where every ingredient in the wok get a bit of the sesame oil taste, if you think 1tbsp is not enough, add more to get a stronger taste, do not add water after adding the sesame oil, add before if necessary. Serve hot.

Well, if you look at it, there's really nothing hard about the dish, and too simple that there is no main structure some people reckon? Well, the main structure, I say, would be the texture of biting the food. Imagine the crunchiness of the toasted peanuts and the tenderness of the other ingredients in your mouth, it pushes you to bite and crunch a but, but out of it, you get this rich texture of biting...

On the other hand, there is this subtle taste of sesame oil in the ingredients. As you bite, there should be a mouthful taste of sesame oil in it, not forgetting the taste of the ingredients themselves. The latter should be unleashed in a series of biting, after the sesame oil's taste is passed. So, a bit too hard to imagine? Try it yourself! Haha

Cucumber in Vinegar Sauce

Ingredients: (serves 3-4)
3 Cucumber (about 375g)
15g White Sesame (toasted)
15g Black Sesame (toasted)
5 tbsp Dark Vinegar
2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1 1/2 tbsp Sugar
2pc Small Red Chili (the very hot ones! Finely chopped)
1 clove Garlic (crushed and finely chopped)
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

Method:
1. Thinly slice the cucumbers, the thinner the better. Soak in ice cold water immediately.
2. In a heated wok, add oil, followed by garlic, chili, vinegar, light soy sauce and sugar. Turn to low heat and simmer slowly for a minute or two.
3. Remove cucumber from ice water and arrange on a plate. Pour over with the sauce. Sprinkle with toasted sesame. Done.