Blanched Bean Sprouts Recipes

Bean sprouts or in Malay and Hokkien we called it Taugeh are cheap but it is high in nutrients particular vitamins B complex and C, asparagines, folic acid and iron. I like using them in my fried noodles and beside that I like to blanch them lightly to retain the bean sprouts crunchiness. I usually served this with Hainanese Chicken Rice .

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh bean sprouts – removed tails
2 spring onions – cut small
Some fried garlic
dash of pepper

Sauce:

2 tsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp water
½ tsp sugar

1. Combined the sauce ingredients and bring it to a boil and set aside.
2. Bring a pot of water to boil and blanch the bean sprouts for 10 seconds. Remove, drain dry and put it on a serving plate.
3. Pour the sauce over. sprinkle on some pepper and garnish it with fried garlic and spring onions. Serve immediately.

Garlic Roasted Potatoes Recipes

When come to cooking potatoes I like to keep it simple. For me simple is often the best. To get it crispy on the outside and tender on the inside I will usually par-boiled the potatoes first. Then cut them into wedges and roast them over high heat. Normally I will toast in all the herbs before roasting but this time I did something different. I lightly brown the garlic, chili and green onions and toss it into the potatoes once it is done.

Ingredients:

4 large potatoes (I used red skin potatoes)
3 spring onions
3 cloves garlic – chopped
1 large red chili – finely sliced
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Wash and clean the potatoes. Put the potatoes in a large pot of water with some salt and bring it up to boil. Continue to boil for 6-7 minutes. Drain it and let it cool down a bit.
2. Cut into wedges and transfer it to mixing bowl. Drizzle in some olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss until well combined. Line a sheet pan with some aluminum foil,grease the base of the sheet pan with some olive oil.
3. Transfer the potatoes wedges to the roasting pan in a single layer. Roast it in pre-heated 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes until crispy and golden brown. Turn it once half way through the roasting.
4. In the meantime, heat up a tbsp of olive oil in a sauté pan. Add in the garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add in the chili and green onions. Lightly toss is around for a minute.
5. Remove the potatoes from the oven, pour in the garlic mixture and give it a few good toss and serve immediately.

Korean Pancakes/Pajeon Recipes

Diana gave me a big bag of Korean pancake mix and it had been sitting in my pantry for a while now. I finally decided to try my hand in making Korean pancakes/Pa jeon. This pancake is very simple to make. All you have to do is mix the flour with some water; add in your favorite veggies like carrots, green onions, cabbage, mushrooms and any kind of seafood of your choice. You can omit the seafood for a vegetarian version.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Korean pancake mix
1 cup water
12 shrimps - peeled, deveined, and roughly chopped
1 small carrot, grated
1 cup grated cabbage
3 green onions, thinly sliced
5 button mushrooms – thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Dipping sauce:

3 tbsp Sriracha chili sauce
2 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp sugar

1. In a large bowl add the pancake mix, salt and pepper. Whisk to combine. Add the water and whisk until smooth. If the batter is looking too thick, add a little more water. The consistency should be like heavy cream, not too watery. Add in the chopped seafood (if using), all the vegetables and mix well.
2. Heat a tbsp of vegetable oil in a nonstick pan over medium high heat. Ladle about 1/3 of the batter into the pan and spread it evenly in the pan. Cook until the bottom is crisp and golden brown. Flip and cook on the other side until golden brown. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
3. Cut the pancakes into wedges and serve with dipping sauce.
4. For the spicy dipping sauce, mix all the sauce ingredients together.

Note: Adjust the spiciness of the dipping sauce according to your own taste.

Blanch Okra with Spicy Sambal Recipes

When the weather gets cold I get lazy too. There are days I like something simple for my lunch. No elaborate preparation or cooking. I bought a huge bag of okra/lady fingers from the produce place for only $2.00 and beside stir-fry with eggs or put it in curries this is how I like it. Simple and delicious!!

Ingredients:

10 okras – cut the ends off

Sambal – blended into paste

4 red chilies
2 shallots
2 cloves garlic
1 ripe tomato – cut into chunks
2 tbsp dried shrimps – soak for 15 minutes
Sugar and salt to taste.

1. Blanch okra in boiling water for 1 minute, drain well and set it aside.
2. Heat up frying pan with 2 tbsp of oil. Stir fry blended ingredients until fragrant and dry. Add in sugar and salt to taste. Continue to stir-fry until you see oil started to appears. Dish out and serve with the blanch okras.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup Recipes

Weather is getting cold and the day is getting shorter. What is it that makes the fall such a beautiful season? Is it the cooler air or the shades of red, yellow, orange and pink coloring the world around you just come to life? And the pumpkins!! Who can miss that? With so many pumpkins all around me I just have to cook something with it. In the cold weather what can be better than a bowl of sweet hearty soup. The different with this soup is that I roasted the pumpkin first. Roasting the pumpkin for the soup encourages the natural sugars to caramelize and enriches its flavor creating a more complex soup.

Ingredients:

1 ½ pound of pumpkin – remove skin, seeds and cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic - whole
1 small onion – peels and cut into chunks
4 cups chicken stocks
Salt and pepper to taste

Garnish:

Some croutons
Pumpkin seeds or pine nuts
Some chives
Some fresh cream

1. Line a baking pan with some foil. Place the pumpkin chunks, garlic and onion into the pan. Sprinkle some salt and pepper and drizzle it with some olive oil.
2. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree F oven until soft and lightly brown. Put everything in the blender, add in one cup of chicken stock and blend it until smooth and creamy.
3. Pour everything into a heavy saucepan, add in the rest of the chicken stock and bring it up to a boil. Let it simmer for 5 minute. Taste for seasoning and adjust it to your liking.
4. Serve warm with some croutons, pine nuts, chives and drizzle on some heavy cream.

Note: You can make this soup into vegetarian. Just replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock.

Nyonya Vegetable Curry Recipes

It is the time to clean up the vegetable compartment of my fridge. I do this every two weeks before I buy more of it. As usual there will some leftover of vegetable in there. A little bit of carrot, long beans, red peppers, zucchini etc. I will normally make a quick stir-fry out of it but when I saw this delicious looking Nyonya Vegetable Curry at Kiersten blog I decided to give it a try. The curry turns out really good. There is nothing more comforting than indulging a big bowl of this homemade curry.

Ingredients:
Recipe adpated from here

1 zucchini
1/2 head of cabbage, cut
A bunch of long beans, cut into 2” lengths
1 carrot – cut into 1” lengths
2 red pepper, cut into wedges
½ packet bean curd pockets (tau foo pok), cut into halves
2 potatoes – peel and quarter
2 - 2 1/2 cups of coconut milk
2 tbsp curry power, mixed with 3 tbsp water
1 chicken stock cube or vegetable cube
Salt and sugar to taste

Blend into paste:

3 stalks of lemongrass
2 cm galangal
1" fresh turmeric
8 shallots
6 garlic
3 pieces candlenuts
3 tbsp chili paste ( I used sambal oelek)

1. Heat up about 3 tbsp of oil in the pan. Stir-fried the blended ingredients until fragrant.
2. Add in the curry powder. Continue to stir-fry so that it won’t burn. Add in a little bit of coconut milk. Continue to stir-fry until you see oil starts to appear.
3. Add in the rest of the coconut milk and chicken cube. Bring it up to boil. Add in the carrots and potatoes. Cover and let it cook for 5 minute. Add in the rest of the vegetables and continue to cook over medium low heat until vegetable are about done.
4. Add in the bean curd pockets. Let it simmer for another 5 minutes. Season with salt and sugar to taste. Serve warm.

Note: I replaced one cup of the coconut milk with evaporate milk.

Eggs in Purgatory/Poached Eggs in Tomato Sauce Recipes

This is something that I learned from an Italian chef a long time ago. He told me that his grandmother used to serve this as a quick, light lunch so that they can all get back to the farm to continue working. I am not sure why such a dramatic name for such a simple Southern Italian Dish. Basically it is just poached eggs in tomato sauce. For this dish I like using over-ripe tomatoes which are plenty during summer. With just a few ingredients you get a healthy robust flavor meal. Remember to get some fresh Italian bread before you make this as you’re going to need it to slop up all the sauce.

Ingredients:

4 large ripe tomatoes (roughly chopped) or a can of 14 oz crushed tomatoes
2 cloves garlic - chopped
4 eggs
Some fresh basil – julienned
Salt and black pepper to taste

1. Put the olive oil in a skillet large enough to hold the number of eggs you’ll be making. Sauté the garlic until lightly browned over medium heat. Add the tomatoes and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until the sauce is thickened to your liking. Add in salt and pepper.
2. Once the sauce is ready, make little wells in the sauce and break in eggs one at a time. Turn down the heat, cover the skillet and let eggs cook until the yolks are to your desired runniness (is there such a word?).
3. Sprinkle in the basil and serve immediately with some crusty bread.

Zucchini Fritters Recipes

Summer is here and so is zucchini. You can see zucchini everywhere and they are really cheap too. There are so many different ways to eat a zucchini and I have had it stir-fried , cooked vegetable curry and make into zucchini pancakes . My neighbor Nancy gave me a few of it and I have been contemplating for a few days on what to make out of it. Carlos is not a fan of Zucchini and if I cook with it I will always end up eating it all by myself but this fritters totally changes his mind about zucchini. He absolutely loves it. The fritters were crispy on the edge with a delicate soft center. This is a very simple recipe that comes together relatively quickly.



Ingredients:

1 Ib of zucchini, grated
2 eggs
2 cloves garlic – finely chopped
2 shallots – finely sliced
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup flour
½ cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp chili flakes (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Place grated zucchini in a tea towel and squeeze to remove the liquid; discard liquid.
2. In a large mixing bowl whisk egg. Add zucchini, garlic, shallots, flour, and panko, chili flakes and parmesan cheese. Mix until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Heat a bit of vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan. Drop about 2 tbsp of batter into the frying pan; flatten it lightly with a spatula.
4. Pan fried fritters on each side for about 4-5 minutes, until browned. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to drain the oil. Serve warm or at room temperature with some marinara sauce.

Kale in Coconut Gravy/Kale Masak Lemak Recipes

Kale is a leafy vegetable that is usually grouped into the “Cooking Greens” category with collards, mustard and Swiss chard. The leaves can be curly and quite ornamental, but become too tough to eat fresh, as they mature. Kale is a member of the cabbage family and is considered to be a highly nutritious vegetable with powerful antioxidant properties; kale is considered to be anti-inflammatory. The beautiful leaves of the kale plant provide an earthy flavor and more nutritional value for fewer calories than almost any other food around. Although it can be found in markets throughout the year, it is in season from the middle of winter through the beginning of spring when it has a sweeter taste and is more widely available.

My friend Zue introduced me to cooked kale this way. Back in Malaysia they usually cook masak lemak with cassava leaves or pucuk paku (fiddleheads/fern shoot) but we can’t get this type of vegetables here so we replace it with kale which tasted pretty similar to pucuk paku.


Ingredients:

One big bunch of kale
10 shrimps – peel and deveined
1 sweet potato – peels and cut into chunks
2 cloves of garlic
3 bird eyes chili
1 tbsp of turmeric powder
1 stalk lemon grass
1” ginger - sliced
1 cup of coconut milk
1 cup of water
Salt and sugar to taste

1. Wash the kale and remove the hard steams.
2. Bring the water and coconut milk to boil. Add in  sweet potato, garlic, turmeric, lemongrass and ginger. Stir until combined and add in the kale. Continue to cook until the kale and potato are soft.
3. Add in the shrimps, salt and sugar to taste. Cook for another 2 minutes. Dish out serve warm with rice.

Falafel Recipes

Falafel is a fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas/garbanzo beans. The Egyptians variety uses fava beans while chickpeas are commonly used in other Middles Eastern countries. Falafel is usually served in a pita which acts as a pocket or wrapped in flat bread known as lafa. It is topped with salads, pickle vegetables and hot sauce, and drizzle with tahini based sauce. Falafel balls may also be eaten alone as snacks. It has great source of protein, complex carbohydrates and fiber. It is hearty enough to replace hamburger patties and meatballs in vegetarian dishes. Besides frying you can also baked it but by doing so it will alter the texture and flavor of the falafel. We just eat this with some spicy chili sauce as I am too lazy to make some tahini dipping sauce.

Ingredients:

6 oz dried chickpeas
1 small onion, roughly chopped
3 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
4 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp dried hot pepper flakes
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp baking powder
Salt to taste
5-6 tbsp of flour

1. Wash and soak chickpeas overnight. Place the drained, uncooked chickpeas and the onions in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the parsley, cilantro, salt, hot pepper, garlic, and cumin. Process until blended but not pureed.
2. Sprinkle in the baking powder and 4 tablespoons of the flour, and pulse. You want to add enough flour so that the dough will forms a small ball and no longer sticks to your hands. Turn into a bowl and refrigerate, covered for an hour.
4. Form the chickpea mixture into small. Heat 3 inches of oil to 375 degrees F in a deep pot or wok and fry 1 ball to test. If it falls apart, add a little bit more flour.
5. Then fry the balls for a few minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with a bit of salt on the balls and serve warm or at room temperature with some chili sauce.

Note: You can serve the falafel with Pita bread. Just stuff half a pita with falafel balls, add some chopped tomatoes, onion, green pepper, and pickled turnips. Drizzle with some tahini sauce.

Stir-fry French Beans with Szechuan Vegetables Recipes

Every two weeks I will check the vegetables compartment in the fridge and see what leftovers I have in there before buying new ones. Normally I will make a quick stir-fry with all the leftovers and this is one the dish that I came up with.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound of French beans – cut into ½” length
1 small packet of pickle Szechuan vegetable – soak in water for half an hour
1 chicken breast – minced
1 carrot – cut into small cubes
2 shallots – sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic - chopped
2 red chilies – cut small
1 tbsp of oyster sauce
2 tbsp of soy sauce
Some pepper to taste
Sugar to taste

1. Heat up the wok with a bit of olive oil, add in the shallots and garlic. Stir fry until fragrant and lightly brown. Add in the meat and stir-fry until it changes color and lightly brown.
2. Add in carrot, French beans and chilies. Continue to stir fry for a minute. Add in Szechuan vegetable and the seasonings. Add in a few tbsp of water and continue to cook until vegetables are cooked and the water evaporates. Check sesoning as your might need to add a bit of salt to this dish.
3. Dish out and serve with warm rice

Note: You can replace the french beans with long beans and the meat with any type of protein of your choice.

Yong Tau Foo/Stuffed Vegetables Recipes

Yong tau foo (酿豆腐) is one of my favorite foods from back home. It is a popular dish in Singapore and Malaysia and literally translates as 'stuffed tofu’ with fish paste. Soy products like tofu, deep fried tofu puffs and bean curd sheets are often used and vegetables like okra, bitter melon, chilies, sweet peppers and eggplant are common choices too. These stuffed tofu and vegetable pieces are pan fried and usually serves in clear broth or simmers in bean paste sauce.

I don’t make this dish often because it is labor intensive. Whenever I make this, I will make a bit more so I can freezer some of it. . During our Malaysian ladies monthly gathering we decided to make some since there are a few of us to help out. We are able to buy ready made fish paste here so it makes life so much easier for us. All we have to do is add some ground meat, spring onions and some seasonings into it and the paste is done. Here are some of the pictures I took to share it with you.

Ingredients for fish paste:

1 pound fish paste
½ pound ground pork or chicken
3 spring onions – cut small
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp white pepper
Salt to taste

For Stuffing:

4 pieces of tofu
1 big piece of beancurd skin
1 packet of tofu puffs
10 ladies fingers
1 eggplant
1 bitter melon
10 sweet peppers
6 red or green chilies

Sauce:

2 tbsp of fermented bean paste
2 tbsp oyster sauce
3 cloves garlic – chopped
2 ½ - 3 cups of water or chicken stock
1 tsp of cornstarch + 3 tbsp of water
sugar to taste

1. In a mixing bowl, mix all the fish paste ingredients together and mix well and set it aside.
2. Prepare ingredients for stuffing. Wash all the vegetables. Trimmed okras and make a slit in the center. Slice eggplant, sliced the bitter melon into rings and discard the seeds. Stuff it with the paste.

3. For the chilies and sweet peppers, trimmed the steams, make a slit and try to discard as much seeds as possible. Stuff it with the paste.



4. Cut the tofu into triangles, make a slit in the center, wash and squeeze out all the water from the tofu puffs and cut into two, cut the bean curd skin into 4” x 5” pieces. Stuff it with the paste.



5. Heat up some oil in a frying pan, pan fried and sears all the stuff vegetables and tofu’s until lightly browned. Remove and set it aside. (at this stage you can freeze some of it for further use)
6. In the same frying pan, remove most of the oil and leave about 2 tbsp in it. Stir fry the chopped garlic until fragrant and lightly brown. Add in the black bean paste. Stir fry until fragrant and add in the chicken stock.
7. Add in the oyster sauce and bring it up to boil. Add in all the seared ingredients. Bring up to boil and simmer for a few minutes. Add in some sugar to taste. Taste it first as you might need to add some salt to it. Add in the cornstarch and cook until sauce thickens. Remove and serve warm.

Note: I didn't add any salt to this dish since the bead paste and oyster sauce give this dish enough of saltiness.

Stir-fry Okra with Eggs Recipes

When Zue came the other day we went to the produce place together and we bought some Okras. The okras here are so much smaller than the one from Malaysia. One thing good about it is they are very tender and you don’t have to cook them for too long. This is something that I like to cook for my lunch. It is quick and simple and goes well with white rice.

Ingredients:

½ pound of fresh Okra
2 eggs
3 tbsp of Sambal
2 shallots – sliced thinly
2 cloves of garlic - chopped
Salt and sugar to taste

1. Wash and dry the Okra. Cut off both ends and cut into small bite size pieces. Put it into microwave safe dish, cover and cook it on high for 2 minutes. Remove and set it aside.
2. Heat up about 2 tbsp of olive oil in the wok. Stir fry shallots and garlic until fragrant and lightly brown. Break in the 2 eggs into the work. Scramble the eggs until half cook.
3. Push the eggs to the side of the wok, and then add in the sambal and okra. Stir them together for a few seconds and combined everything. Add in salt and sugar to taste. Continue to stir-fry until everything is well mix.
4. Dish out and serve with warm rice.

Stir-Fry Szechuan Preserved Vegetable with Meat Recipes

This is my sister Elizabeth favorite dish so my mom cooked this pretty often in our home. Zha Chai or Szechuan preserved vegetable is easily available at the Asian store here in the US. It either comes whole in a can or ready shredded in a vacuum packed. In Malaysia it’s sold whole and coated with chili paste. Zha chai is very salty so I will usually cut and soak in the water for a several hours before cooking it. This dish is spicy, salty and sweet and it goes well with rice or rice porridge.

Ingredients:
1 packet (8 oz) preserved vegetables
1 chicken breast/4 oz of pork – Slice thinly
3 cloves garlic – chopped
1 shallot – sliced thinly
1” ginger – julienned
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp sugar

1. In a frying pan, heat up about 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add in the garlic, shallot and ginger and stir-fry until fragrant and lightly brown.
2. Add in the meat; stir fry until the meat changes color. Add in the shredded Szechuan vegetables, soy sauce, dark soy sauce and sugar. Add in about ¼ cup of water and bring it up to boil.
3. Continue to stir-fry for a minute or two or until all liquid evaporate. Check seasoning. At this stage you can adjust the sweetness and saltiness to your liking.
4. Serve with either rice or rice porridge.

Note: If you use the whole preserved vegetable, julienned it thinly and soak it in water for a couple of hours. If you use the pre-shredded kind with chili, it is up to you if you want to rinse or soak it or not.