Simple Cooking Ideas

Sometimes vegetables such as lettuce, cucumber, carrot and cabbage, are better to eat raw to maintain their nutritional value. Some vegetabkes such as bean sprout used in salad, I prefer to blanch beansprouts in hot water for better taste. Discard the wilted parts. So eat your salads as often as you can. Here I use prawns to enhance the flavour. The dish is enough for 4 persons.

Ingedients:

8 medium prawns
1 teaspoon ginger
1 tablespoon light soya sauce
1 cucumber, cut into thin strips
1 carrot, cut into thin strips
1 mango, cut into thin strips
1 cup bean sprouts
purple cabbage, finely chopped

Dressing:

2 tablespoon Honey Apples Cider
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
juice of 2 limes
3 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

Season the prawns with light soya sauce and ginger. Steam the prawns in hot boiling water for 10 minutes and put aside. Meanwhile, combine all dressing ingredients and mix well. Place all vegetable strips on serving dish and place prawns on top of vegetables and spread dressing over the top. Mix well when serve.

Tasty anchovies available in cans bought in the grocery stores are a quick way to prepare this dish. The recipe serves 4 persons and you need four whole fried tofu puffs.

Ingredients:

50 gm marinated anchovy fillets
4 whole freid tofu puffs, toasted or grilled, quartered
200 gm lettuce leaves, soaked and rinsed clean
100 gm cheese, pepper or plain, cut finely
1 tablespoon olive oil
freshly ground pepper to taste
some chopped parsley to garnish

Dressing:
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
2 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

Prepare dressing by mixing lemon juice, mustard and olive oil and put aside. In a serving dish,spread lettuce leaves on the plate and arrange tofu puffs on bed of lettuce, spoon anchovies all over the tofu puffs and spread cheese over anchovies. Serve top with dressing, parsley, extra chopped lettuce leaves and black pepper.

Bean Curd puff is the fried taufu puff sold in the wet market. Taufu puff or taufu bok can be easily stuffed with mushroom strips, carrot strips and tranparent noodles. This is a vegetarian dish. I use vegetarian oyster sauce to enhance the flavour.

Ingredients:

8 pieces taufu puff
6 shitake mushrooms, soaked, and cut into strips
30 gm transparent noodles, softened in water, cut them short
50 gm shredded carrot
1 teaspoon vegetarian oyster sauce
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
2 slices ginger,cut into strips
50 ml water

For gravy:

200 ml water
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon chilli strips to garnish

Method:

Heat 1 tablespoon oil and and stir-fry the mushroom strips, carrot strips and transparent noodles (tang hoon) for 3 seconds. Stir in 1 teaspoon oyster sauce, sesame oil and 50 ml water. Turn to low heat and simmer mixture till dry. Slit an opening on taufu puff. Stuff mushrooms mixture into
them. In another wok, add 1 teaspoon oil and fry the ginger strips quickly for 1 second and add
another 200 ml water, add 1 tablespoon oyster sauce and bring to boil. Lower heat and thicken
gravy with 1 teaspoon cornflour mixed with a little water. Add the stuffed taufu puffs and simmer for further 5 minutes. Scoop taufu on the plate and garnish with slices of red chilli. Serve while is hot.

In this recipe, if you cannot get Tientsin cabbage, you can use “wong ngah pak” instead. The mushrooms are rinsed clean and soak in clean water because you can use it to add to the sauce to enhance the flavour.

Ingredients:

300 gm Tientsin cabbage, cut into 5 cm lengths
500 gm minced pork
5 dried mushrooms, soaked in 1 cup water to soften
20 gm vermicelli, soaked to soften
2 stalks spring onions, cut to 3 cm lengths
20 gm dried shrimps, soaked in water to soften
2 slices ginger
oil for frying

Seasoning:
2 tablespoon soya sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon ginger wine
1 tablespoon cornflour

For the gravy:
1 tablespoon soya sauce
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup liquid from soaked mushrooms

Method:

Mix minced pork with seasoning ingredients and make into six balls. Roll in cornflour and deep fry in hot oil until cooked and lightly brown. Drain and set aside. Squeeze the mushrooms dry and discard the stalks. Remove excess oil and leave 2 tablespoon in the wok. Fry the ginger, mushrooms, dried shrimp, and cabbage together. Add in the stock and mushroom liquid. Bring to the boil and lower heat. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add in the vermicelli and simmer for further 5 minutes. Add salt to taste. Garnish with spring onions and serve.

Bean sprouts are actually seeds which started to grow for more than an inch. Normally we buy
in the wet markets or you can even buy in the supermarkets. Beans sprouts are mung beans and
they really tasty when they are freshly bought from the wet market. You eat them raw or
blanch in hot water.

Ingredients:

300 gm cleaned bean sprouts
150 gm medium size prawns,
shelled and steamed for 5 minutes, sliced lengthwise
4 spring onions, cut into 1 cm pieces
2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
1 red or green capsicum, seeded and sliced thinly

Salad Dressing to mix:

1 lemon grass, chopped finely
2 red chillies, chopped coarsely
100 ml apple cider vinegar with honey
2 tablespoon sesame oil

Method:

Put salad ingredients into a salad bowl. Mix the salad dressing well and add to the
ingredients. Toss and serve immediately.

Choose green bell peppers that are fresh, firm and crisp and I prefer the medium size to be

stuffed with meat. Soak them in water to get rid of chemicals if any. Rub them with some salt

and rinse them. Put aside to use later.

Ingredients:

300 gm green peppers
100 gm lean pork or chicken meat
salt and pepper to taste
2 to 3 tablespoon cooking oil
100 gm yam (boiled till soften and mashed finely)
20 gm dried shrimps (chopped finely)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon cornflour

Method:

Chop the chicken or lean meat finely. Add salt, pepper, cornflour, eggs, dried shimps, boiled

yam and mixed evenly. Cut the green peppers into halves and remove the seeds. Stuff the meat

mixture into each half of the green peppers until finish. Heat oil in a pan and fry peppers with

meat mixture in oil till done. Serve with chill sauce.

Vegeatbles suitable for cutting into julienne are cabbage, carrots, green or red pepper and

celery are a good combination. It is easier to eat and crunchy to taste. Do not over cook

them. I use Maggie concentrated chicken stock which I bought from super market to enhance

the flavour.

Ingredients:

50 gm white cabbage
50 gm carrots
50 gm green pepper
50 gm celery
2 tablespoon peanut oil
1 tablespoon crushed garlic
1 sliced fresh ginger, cut finely
1/2 cup chicken stock (prepared from concentrated chicken stock)
salt, sugar and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon coronflour with a little water to mix

Method:

Carrots, green pepper and celery are cut julienne and put a side.

Heat wok until very hot, Add oil and fry the garlic and when golden, discard it. Add the

ginger, the stock and the vegetables. Stirrring and tossing them about for 2 minutes and

add the mixture of cornflour and soy sauce into the boiling mixture. Lower heat and add

salt, sugar and pepper to taste. Turn into a heated dish and serve hot.