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Thursday, July 20, 2006

Lam Yee Spareribs

Lam yee is the variety of preserved bean curd which is made with fermented red rice and its nickname is "Chinese cheese."as it has a pungent aroma similar to strong cheese. To me, cos i am chinese, finds this pungent aroma not offensive compared to strong cheese but the taste is very salty and has to be used for marinating or making sauces.



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Ingredients:

1 lb of pork spareribs
1 tbsp cooking wine
oil for frying

Marinate:

3 pieces of lam yee
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp 5 spice powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp shaoxing hua tiau
1 tsp tapioca starch




Method:

Parboil spareribs in boiling water with 1 tablespoon of wine for 10 minutes, remove and pat dry.

Mix the marinate and pour into the spareribs. Leave in fridge to marinade for at least 1 hour.

Heat enough oil for deep frying. Deep fry the spareribs in moderately hot oil until ribs are crispy and brown.

Drain spareribs on baking rack and then on kitchen towel then serve

Serves

Monday, July 17, 2006

Sweetened Bean Curd, Barley and Gingko Nuts Soup

This is one of the classic of sweetened soup. Pearl/Sweet Barley is supposed to be cooling and it has many good properties that do your body good. When you have bladder problem, drinking plain barley water will help bladder improvement fast. This sweetened soup is cooked when the summer is hot, hot like right now. Denver was 103 f yesterday. Gingko nuts are optional as they are readily available here. I use the canned gingko nuts which is very convenient as the raw nuts need thorough preparation.

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Ingredients:

1 sheet of dried bean curd (the folded variety)
1/2 can of gingko nuts(optional)
2 ozs of pearl barley
2 sheaths of pandan leaves(if available otherwise omit)
1.35 liters or 48 fl ozs water
4 ozs rock sugar or granulated sugar(adjust to your own taste)
1 egg or egg white only


Method:

Soak dried bean curd sheet in cold water for a while. It should be very soft and if the sheet is not soft, add a pinch(yes, a very tiny pinch of bicarbonate of soda to the cold water) and leave it to soften the bean curd. Drain.

Rinse pearl barley and put in pressure cooker together with bean curd sheet and 1 liter of water. Bring the pressure to high, lower the heat and pressurised for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and leave until pressure is done before opening lid.( If not using the pressure cooker, cook the barley and bean curd sheet with all the water, uncovered until high boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer until barley is soft.)

Bring back soup to the boil, add the rest of the water, gingko nuts and sugar. When sugar dissolves, turn off heat as soon as the soup comes to high boil. Stir in the egg/egg white and keep stirring until it is cooked.


Serves

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Wu Xi Spareribs

Thank you Jolibakery for sharing this recipe. This recipe is easy and very delicious. I used the pressure cooker which cuts the cooking time by a quarter and added more wine for the marinate.

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Ingredients:

1 slab spareribs about 1 1/2 lbs

(A) Marinate:

1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine


(B) Seasoning:

1 tbsp oil
5 slices of ginger
½ onion, sliced
2 stalks spring onion
6 cloves garlic
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp Shaoxing wine
2 whole star anise
2cm cinnamon stick
1-2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp tomato sauce
2 cups water
Salt & ground black pepper to taste



Method:

Marinate the spareribs with ingredients (A) for 2 hours.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Fry ginger, spring onion and garlic until fragrant. Add spareribs and the remaining seasoning. Close the lid of the pressure cooker and bring pressure to high.
Reduce heat and pressurise for about 15 minutes. Turn of heat and release the pressure before opening lid. The meat should be tender. Cook meat uncovered until gravy is thick, almost dries up..

Sprinkle chopped spring onions on spareribs and serve
Serves

Roast Chicken

The most dependable dish when i have unexpected guests for dinner. It is elegant and presentable and easily dished out especially when time is not with you. If the guests are asians, i would love to cook 'Hainanese Chicken Rice' to go with it otherwise baked/mashed potatoes delight other guests. Having the correct oven saved my repertoire for a perfect roast, just click AUTOROAST.


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting5 SPICE POWDER RUB Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting MONTREAL STEAK RUB

Ingredients:


5 - 6 LBS roasting chicken
3 tbsp margarine/butter - softened
1 clove garlic - minced
lemon juice for rubbing
5 spice powder/montreal steak/whatever rub you prefer
salt and pepper

Method:

Salt and pepper the inside of chicken and sprinkle with spice rub.

Cream together margarine/butter and garlic.

Turn chicken breast side up and work your fingers under the skin at the openings on each side of the breast. Continue into thigh and leg and make the skin as smooth as possible. Using fingers, spread margarine/butter mixture evenly under skin.

Rub the skin with lemon juice and sprinkle with more spice rub.

Place chicken, breast side up on rack and truss the legs.

Now comes the best part. Follow directions in AUTO ROAST and when oven beeps Chicken is ready.



Serves

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Barbie At the Beach

A six year old love for Barbie had me scratching my head for awhile as to how shall i make her birthday cake? Well, it is summer and I am sure Barbie would love to go surfing at the Beach. I hope you liked your birthday cake, Malia.

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Ingredients:
and
Method:

Refer to http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2006/03/renees-birthday-cakes.html

Substitute the frozen strawberries to melted chocolate.

The sea is made from Jello Blueberry flavor.

Crushed Chocolate Cookies, Crackers are used for the sand



Serves

Monday, July 03, 2006

Fourth of July Kuih Lapis

Time flies especially when you are occupied and kept so busy. Six leaves of the calender are gone and it is time for Fourth of July celebration. This is my contribution to honor the american flag.
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Ingredients:

Recipe is the same for http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2005/07/kuih-lapis.html only the colors are changed to the american flag colors.

Serves