Nexpresso Pork Chops

This is quite an interesting recipe - using coffee to marinade pork chops! The coffee taste is not as strong as I had expected but quite a tasty recipe.


Ingredients


6 pieces boneless pork chop
2 tbs minced garlic and shallot
4 tbs Nexpresso coffee (or you can use instant coffee)
pinch of salt, pepper and sugar
Parsley (optional)


Sauce
6 tbs white vinegar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
5 tsp sugar
4 tbs ketchup
8 tbs water
1 tsp pepper


Method 


1.  Make coffee and let cool. Add minced garlic and shallot to coffee.
2.  Pound pork chops. Marinade pork chops in coffee mixture for at least 2 hours.
3.  Remove pork chops from marinade and mix with salt, sugar and pepper.
4.  Add little oil to pan and fry pork chops until golden brown on both sides. Add sauce and cook for 3 mins. Dish up and garnish with parsley. Serve

Chiu Chow Style Cold Crab

This is one my favourite crab dish because it's so easy to make and very tasty. The key is to use fresh 花蟹 and make sure you do not buy ones that has little meat but lots of water.  When you buy the crab, pick ones where the claws are pink and when you press the back of the crab, it should feel very hard. If the claw is very transparent, it means the crab has lots of water and not much meat.  


Ingredients


2 花蟹
1 big pot of water 
1 tbs Chinese tea leaves (can use any kind)
1 tbs rock sugar


Method


1. Wash the crabs and put them in the freezer for 30 mins (so that the crabs die).
2. Boil big pot of water. Add the tea leaves and rock sugar.
3. Remove crabs from freezer and put into boiling water. Boil for 25 mins.
4. Remove crabs and drain. Let the cooked crabs cool until room temperature. Refrigerate the crabs for at least 1 hour. Serve with vinegar (I usually add some minced ginger to the vinegar).

Skinny Mocha

Ingredients


1 part coffee 

2 parts skim milk
1.5 tbs good quality chocolate / cocoa powder (I used Amarni chocolate...very yummy and rich)


Method


1. Boil half of the milk and add hot chocolate. Add to chocolate  powder. Mix until chocolate has melted.  Use frother  ( I cheated by using my Nexpresso frother) to froth the remaining portion of the milk (if you do  not have the Nexpresso frother, you will need to boil the milk and use a frother).


2. Make 1/3 cup of coffee. Pour hot chocolate into coffee. Serve.

Fried Minced Pork with Mixed Vegetables

Ingredients

6 pieces of bak choy (cut into half)

1 cup of minced pork 

5 water chestnut (diced)

3 tbs mixed vegetable (diced)

1 tbs minced garlic

1 tbs minced shallot

Sauce

1/4 cup chicken broth

1 tsp light soya sauce

some pepper and sesame oil

Method

1. Marinade pork with light soya sauce, sugar, pepper, corn starch and little oil for 30 mins.

2. Blanch bak choy. Drain and place it around the plate in the shape of a flower.

3. Heat wok with oil, add shallots and garlic. Fry until fragrant. Add the minced pork. Fry until 1/2 cooked. Add the water chestnut and mixed vegetable. Fry for 30 seconds. Add sauce and fry until the pork is fully cooked. Dish up and place the pork in the centre of the bak choy (as indicated in the above photo).

Fry Spare Ribs in Citrous Sauce

Korean Citron tea is not just good for drinking...can also use it to for savory dishes. The sweetness in the tea adds a special and refreshing taste to meat. Hope you enjoy this recipe.

Ingredients


$30 spare ribs
1 red bell pepper (cut into triangles)
1 yellow bell pepper (cut into triangles)
1/2 onion (cut into pieces)
1 tbs minced garlic
1/3 cup of water


Sauce


1.5tbs Korean Citron tea
1.5tbs lime juice
1 tbs honey
2 tbs water


1. Marinade spare ribs with light soya sauce, sugar, cornstarch and oil for 30 mins.
2. Heat wok with little oil, fry spare ribs. Add water and cover lid. Cook for 7mins. Dish up and drain.
3. Heat wok with little oil, fry onion and garlic. Add 1/2 tsp salt. Add bell peppers. Fry for 3mins. Add spare ribs.

4. Add sauce and cook for a few minutes. Dish up and serve.

Weekend Getaway in Phuket

Phuket, a lovely island on the South of Thailand, is one of the most popular resort destinations for those of us in HK who wants a cheap but luxurious weekend getaway.  One of the great thing about Phuket is the lovely resorts and great services offered by the local Thais. We stayed at the Anantara this time and they upgraded us to their Laguna Pool Villa. The hotel is lovely and all rooms have private pools. Although the pool is a bit small, it was great to have a private pool where you can enjoy a dip any time of the day. Food at the Anantara is quite good but expensive. So we ate out at the local Thai restaurants on most nights. If you want night life and shopping, Anantara is not the place for you. It's situated at Mai Khao (15 mins from the airport) which is far from all the happening places like Patong (1.5 hours from Patong).

We truly enjoyed our stay at the Anantara so if you are looking for a romantic and relaxing getaway, I would highly recommend it. We also tried their in villa BBQ. Not cheap (around HK$600/person) but was quite fun and food was good.

We were blessed with great weather during our stay and look at the lovely sunset....the colour of the sky is amazing ....

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Ingredients (makes 2)


1 small carton of skim milk 
1/2 cup of strawberries
1 cup of frozen banana
2 tbs strawberry yogurt
1/2 tbs honey


Method


Blend all ingredients together and serve.

Salted Fish and Beancurd with Mixed Herbs

First time making this dish and turned out quite well. Easy to make. The combination of salted fish and tomato paste may seem strange but the taste is actually quite good.

Ingredients


2 pieces of hard beancurd (diced)
3 tbs salted fish (diced)
1 piece of chicken breast or 200 gm (around $15) of pork belly (diced)
1 tsp mixed herbs
1 tbs tomato paste
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp minced ginger
2 tsp minced shallot
1 tbs chopped spring onion


Sauce


1 cup water
1/4 tsp chicken powder
2 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tbs oyster sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
pepper


Method


1. Marinade the pork or chicken with some light soy sauce, pepper, cornstarch and oil.
2. Blanch the tofu and drain.
3. Heat wok with little oil and saute the chicken/pork. Dish up.
4. Heat wok with little oil. Saute ginger, shallot, garlic, tomato paste and mixed herb. Pour diced chicken/pork and tofu to wok. Stir fry for 1 minute. Add the sauce and cook until the sauce reduces to 1/4. Add spring onion. Dish up and serve.

Stir Fry Bitter Gourd with Minced Pork

Ingredients

1 bitter gourd (deseeded, sliced)
1/4 cup of minced pork
1 tbs minced garlic
1 tbs minced Chinese olives (lam choy)

Sauce

2 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 tbs water
1/2 tsp chicken powder.

1. Marinade pork with some light soy sauce, sugar, pepper, cornstarch, water and oil.
2. Coat the sliced bitter gourd with salt for 1 hour. Squeeze out juice from bitter gourd. Rinse the bitter gourd.
3. Heat wok with little oil and fry the bitter gourd. Add a pinch of salt. Dish up and set aside.
4. Heat wok with little oil. Add minced garlic and fry. Add the pork and minced Chinese olives. Fry. Add the bitter gourd and sauce. Fry for a few minutes. Dish up and serve.

Aloe Vera soaked in Osmanthus (桂花蜂蜜蘆薈)

We are all familiar with the benefits of using aloe vera on the skin - for rashes, cuts, bruises, sunburn and so on. But not so many people know about the health benefits of drinking and eating aloe vera. It is a great aid to detox as it helps to improve bowel regularity and decreases unfriendly bacteria and yeast in our gut. It is also full of anti-oxidants which can boost and enhance our immune system. Most important is that it adds a supply of raw material to our diet which can produce and maintain healthy skin. Together with osmanthus flower (which apparently gives you radiant skin), this easy recipe will do your skin some good. I usually make a jar and spoon out a few tablespoons a day as dessert. 




Ingredients

1 whole piece of aloe vera
1 tsp of osmanthus dried flowers
2 tbs honey
1/4 cup of water


Method


1. Boil water and add the osmanthus dried flowers. Boil for 1 minute. Turn off heat and let the flower soak in the hot water for 5 mins. Mix with honey.
2. Remove skin of aloe vera and dice. Put diced aloe vera in glass jar. Pour the osmanthus honey mixture into the jar of aloe vera. Cover and leave in fridge over night. Serve.

Low Sugar Green Bean Paste Snowy Mooncakes

After failing the first time with my mango mooncakes, I learned that being creative can sometimes be a challenge. So I decided to go back to the traditional green bean paste snowy moon cakes. But this time, I reduced the sugar to 70 gm (instead of 95 gm) for the dough and I used sugar free green bean paste. The sweetness is just perfect for me but for those sugar lovers, you prob prefer the green bean paste with sugar.

I used the same reciepe as the snowy mooncake but reduced the sugar to 70gm.

An early Happy Mid Autumn Festival to you all!

Matcha Mango Mochi

Lately, I've become a mochi maniac because they are easy and fun to make. Plus everyone loves them. You can have fun experimenting different flavours of the mochi and filling. Tonite, I tried these matcha mochi with mango filling. I even tried putting vanilla ice cream in some. Not easy to handle ice cream filling but the taste is great. For mango and other fruit filling, as a tip, I would suggests you dice them and freeze them for a few hours before using. This can avoid the fruit getting all watery and making it messy to handle.


The recipe is basically the same as the one I used for mango coconut mochi and mango green tea mochi.


Ingredients (Makes approx. 15-18 mochi)

Glutinous rice flour 140gm
Rice flour 15 gm
Wheat starch 10 gm
Cooked glutinous rice flour 1/4 cup (you can either make it your self by toasting in a wok under low heat or buy it readily made from baking shop. I make my own because it's easy!)
Sugar 70 gm
Matcha green tea powder 1 tbs (I order my matcha online and use uji matcha)
Water 200 gm
Coconut milk 50 gm
Vegetable oil 1 tbs
Fresh mango 1/2 (diced and put in freezer for a few hours before use)

Method

1. Sift together the glutinous rice flour, wheat starch, rice flour and matcha tea powder.
2. In a small pot, boil water and add sugar. Cook until sugar has dissolved. Add the coconut milk. Boil.
3. When the liquid starts boiling, pour liquid into the flour mixture and mix with a spatula until it forms a dough.
4. Place dough in a dish and cover with cling wrap. Steam for 15 mins. Remove wrap and let it cool until room temperature.
5. Lightly grease work table. For easier handling of the dough, wear disposable plastic gloves. Put dougn on work table and roll into long sausage shape. Using a  plastic cutter divide dough into 15-18 pieces.
6. For each piece of small dough, flatten it and put 3-4 pieces of mango and wrap the dough into a ball. Roll into the cooked glutinous rice flour. Repeat for all the 18 pieces. Brush off any excess cooked glutinous rice flour from the mochi and place them in paper cups. Serve. Refrigerate any leftovers and can keep up to 3 days. Enjoy!!

p.s. For a demo of wrapping a mochi can check out this mochi blog

Mango Green Tea Mochi

Felt like doing some fun cooking tonite. Since I had some green tea filling left from my snowy mooncakes I decided to experiment with these green tea filled mango mochi. Turned out quite well and a bit like the Japanese kusamochi (草餅). Any volunteers to be my guinea pig for these mango green tea mochi? :)

Ingredients (makes 12)


140gm glutinous rice flour
15gm rice flour
10gm 澄麵
200 gm coconut milk
150 gm water
60 gm sugar
1 tsp mango flavouring
1/4 cup 熟粉 (i.e. fried glutinous rice flour. to make this, heat the glutinous rice flour in a wok over low heat without any oil and until flour turns slightly brown but not burnt)
180gm green tea paste (I used the ones for snowy moon cakes) 


Method


1. Sift together glutinous rice flour, flour and 澄麵
2. In a separate pot, boil water and add sugar until dissolved. Add coconut milk to mixture and boil.  When boiling, pour liquid into the dry ingredients. Add the mango flavouring. Mix until all ingredients are mixed well together. Pour into a slightly greased dish and steam for 20 mins. Let dough cool.
3. Divide the green tea paste into 12 portions and roll into a ball then flatten.
4. Divide the dough into 12 portions. 
5. For each portion, flatten the dough and place the green tea paste in the middle and wrap each mochi (similar to making dumplings) to form a ball. Roll each mochi in the 熟粉. 

Mango Kiwi Smoothie

Had some mango puree leftover from my mango mooncakes (which turned out a disaster!) so decided to make a nice cool smoothie.


Ingredients (serves 1 glass)


1/2 mango 
1 kiwi
1 tsp honey
1/2 cup of skim milk.


Method


Blend everything in a blender and serve!

Snowy Mooncakes

These are really easy to make and low fat.


Ingredients (9 mini snowy mooncakes)


Snowy mooncake flour (𣲙庋粉) - 75 gm
Sugar - 95 gm
Hot water - 170gm
Vegetable oil - 2 gm
Filling (餡料) - 180gm (TIPS: you can buy from baking shops e.g. Twinco)
太白粉 or cornstarch - 1/4 cup

Mooncake cutters 


Method


1. Mix mooncake flour with sugar.
2. Add the hot water to the flour mixture and beat until the flour is evenly blended (i.e. no lumps). Cover with cligwrap. Steam for 15 mins.
3. Divide the filling into 9 portions and roll into a ball shape (20gm each).
4. Remove the steamed dough from steamer. Add vegetable oil. Use an egg beater to beat the dough (using a left / right movement) until it turns white.
5. Flour working surface with cornstarch or 太白粉. Put the dough onto the floured working service. Roll the dough into a long sausage shape. Divide dough into 9 portions.
6. Flatten each portion, add the filling and wrap into a ball shape. Use the mooncake cutter to shape the mooncake. 
6. Brush away any excess flour. Place mooncake in fridge for an hour. Serve.


p.s. mooncakes can last up to a week.

Fried String Beans with Minced Pork

Ingredients
1 pack of string beans (washed and cut into strips of approx 2 inches)
$10 minced pork (around 1/3 cup)
1 tbs minced garlic
2 red chili (seeded and diced)


Marinade
2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
some white pepper
1 tsp oil
2 tsp water
1 tsp cornstarch


Sauce

2 tbs chinese olives (see photo) 


Method
1. Marinade pork with 'marinade' ingredients for 30 mins.
2. Boil a big pot of water. Add the string beans and let boil for a few mins. Remove beans and put in a big pot of ice water (this process is to preserve the green colour of the beans).  Drain and set aside.
3. Heat wok with little oil. Add the minced garlic and fry until fragrant. Add the Chinese olives and minced pork. Fry for 5 mins. Add the string beans to the minced pork. Fry for another few mins until the beans are soft. Add the red chili and a little salt to taste. Serve.

Steamed Tofu with Garlic and Dried Shrimp

This is a really easy and tasty menu.

Ingredients


1 box of silken tofu (sliced)
2 tbs of dried shrimp (soaked)
2 tbs of minced garlic


Marinade


1/2 tsp chicken powder
sesame oil


Sauce


2 tbs green onion (chopped)
2 tbs light soy sauce
2 tbs water
1 tsp cornstarch


Method


1. Mix the minced dried shrimp and garlic. Heat wok with little oil and fry the mixture for a few minutes. Dish out. Add chicken powder and  sesame oil. Mix and set aside.
2. Place tofu on dish. Sprinkle the minced dried shrimp and garlic mixture on top of tofu. Steam for 8 mins.
3. In a small pot heat the sauce ingredients until it thickens.
4. When tofu is steamed, pour away the excess water. Pour sauce over the tofu. Serve.

Tomato Soup

This is a really yummy tomato soup recommended by my friend Eden (a great cook!)


Ingredients


8 large tomatoes (use the good quality imported ones), peeled, seeded and diced
2 cans of Campbell tomato soup
2 cans of water
1 large carton of chicken broth
2 onions (diced)
6-8 cloves of garlic (minced)
Some basil and parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Some olive oil 
1 tbs mixed herbs


Method


1. Heat the pot with a little oil and fry the garlic and onion until fragrant.
2. Add tomatoes and cook until soft.
3. Add basil, parsley, pepper and salt to tomatoes and cook for another 2 mins.
4. In a separate pot, boil chicken stock, tomato soup and water. When boiled, add the cooked tomatoes to soup. Add some olive oil and mixed herbs. Cook for 30 mins. Serve

Congee Combo

It's so hard to find good congee that is MSG free so I prefer to have homemade congee together with this fried '粒粒' - a perfect combo.

(A) Congee with lean pork, salted egg and preserved egg


Ingredients 


1/2 cup uncooked rice                                                                                      
$20 lean pork

1 beancurd sheet (washed) - see photo of beancurd sheet 
1 salted egg (boiled and diced)
1 preserved egg (diced)
1 small piece of dried tangerine peel (soaked. Scrap away the white inner layer with a spoon)
3 litres of water
1 tbs oil
1 tsp salt
2 dried scallops (soaked and shredded)


Method


1. Wash the rice and mix it with oil and water. Put the rice in freezer overnight.
2. Boil some water and scald the lean pork.            
3. Boil water in big pot. When water boils, add the frozen rice, dried scallop (can also add the water used to soak the dried scallop), lean pork, beancurd sheet and eggs. Boil over medium to high heat for around 45 mins. 
4. Remove lean pork from the congee. When cool, shred the lean pork. Marinade with some sesame oil and Maggie sauce or light soya sauce. Place approximately 2 tbs of shredded lean pork in each serving bowl. Add the cooked congee to serving bowl. Can add some salt to taste. Serve.

(B) Fried 粒粒


Ingredients


1 cup of long green beans (washed and diced)
4 pieces of dried bean curd (diced)
1 cup of cooked fresh corn kernals
10 pieces of preserved vegetables (soaked and diced) - "CHOI PO"
2 tbs dried shrimp (soaked)


Sauce
1/2 tsp chicken powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbs hoisin sauce
sesame oil


Method


1. Heat wok with little oil and fry each ingredient (except green bean) separately. Dish up and set aside.
2. Heat wok with little oil. Fry the green bean. Add chicken powder. When almost cooked, add all other ingredients together with the hoisin sauce and salt. Fry. Add sesame oil and dish up. Serve.

Lotus Leaf Rice

Ingredients


Cooked rice - 3 bowls
Chinese mushroom (diced) - 5
Dried shrimps (soaked) 2 tbs
Dried scallops (soaked and shredded. keep the water used to soak the dried scallops) - 1
Mixed vegetables (scald) - 1/2 cup
Chinese bbq pork (diced) - 1/2 cup
Shrimps - 1/2 cup
Lotus leaf
Egg (beaten) - 1
Ginger (minced) - 2 tsp


Sauce


Light soy sauce - 3 tsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Oyster sauce - 2 tsp
Sesame oil - 1 tsp
Water used for soaking dried scallops - 2 tbs


1. Wash lotus leave and steam for 5 mins. Set aside for later use.
2. Stir fry mushroom, dried scallop, dried shrimp, bbq pork, shrimp and mixed vegetables. Set aside
3. Fry egg. Set aside
4. Heat wok with little oil. Add minced ginger and fry rice. Add all the fried ingredients to the rice and fry for a few minutes. Add sauce and continue frying for a minute. Dish up and put in centre of lotus leaf. Wrap the rice in lotus leaf and steam for 20 mins. Serve

Homemade 'Starbucks' matcha cappuccino

Ingredients


1. 2 tsp matcha powder
2. 1/3 cup of hot water
3. 1/2 cup of milk
4. 1 tsp honey
5. Pinch of cinnamon (optional)


Method


1. Make match tea (please refer to matcha for matcha brewing instructions).


2. Pour matcha into a cup. Add a little bit of honey (I used 1 tsp but you can add more depending on your preference). 


3. Warm and froth the milk (I used my Nespresso frother and highly recommend it because it's very easy to use). Pour into matcha. I added a pinch of cinnamon but if you do not like cinnamon, you can skip it. Serve


p.s. Also tried using soya milk but the taste was a bit strange. I still prefer my cappuccino with milk :)

Braised Beef in Tomato Sauce (Taiwan Style)

Ingredients


Beef shank - 2 lbs
Onion (diced)  - 2
Garlic (diced) - 3
Ginger (sliced) 5
Shallots (diced) - 3
Carrot (cut into bite size) - 2
Tomatoes (skinned and cut into bite size) - 4






Sauce


Marinade pack - 1 
Preserved beancurd (mashed) - 2
Red wine - 3 tbs
Oyster sauce - 2 tbs
Light and dark soy sauce - 1 tbs each
Chicken broth - 1 large box (1 litre)






Method


1. Boil beef shank for 30 mins in pot of hot water together with some ginger and green onion. Cut into slices (around 1/2 inch).
2. In a large pot, heat little oil. Add onion, shallots, ginger and fry to fragrant. Add garlic and continue to fry. Add beef, carrots and tomatoes and fry. Add chicken broth to cover the beef and if not enough to cover the beef, add water. Add preserved beancurd, wine, oyster sauce and soy sauce to beef. Put the marinade in a fish bag and add to the beef. Stew for 1.5 hours. Serve