Clear Fish Soup

Clear Fish Soup is definitely one of the most delicious soups that we can easily cook in our kitchen. I usually use red snapper (jenahak), grouper (kerapu) or threadfin (senangin) to make my Clear Fish Soup. My family and I usually eat this with rice although at times I do serve it with the Penang laksa noodles. We will slurp up every bit of the noodles and the ingredients in eat and pick clean the fish meat from the bones. I like my soup to be a bit spicy. So I usually add some cut chili padi when I am boiling the soup.

Ingredients:

• 400 g of fish (either fillets or whole with head and tail)
• 6 big napa cabbage leaves
• 1 1/2 inch carrot
• 4 pcs Shiitake mushrooms
• 1 box of white tofu
• 1 inch ginger
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 tbsp light soya sauce
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 4 cups water
• Cooking oil

Method:

• Frying the fish.
• Wash the fish fillets and use a kitchen towel to dry them.
• Rub them with salt.
• Heat cooking oil in a wok.
• When the oil is hot, add the fish to the oil and fry them till golden brown.
• Remove and set aside.

• Handling the ingredients.
• Wash the napa cabbage and cut them into 1 1/2-inch length. Transfer them to a colander to drain away any water.
• Peel, wash and cut the carrot into rings or any shapes that you desire.
• Soak the mushroom and when softened, slice them up as you wish.
• Remove the tofu from the box. To ensure that it is not broken up in the process, follow the following steps:
• Remove the plastic on top.
• Turn the tofu box onto a plate.
• Use a scissors to cut off the four corners of the box to let air into the box.
• Slowly tap on the box and remove the box.
• Cut the tofu into sizes that you wish.
• Remove skin of ginger and slice it thinly.
• Chop up the garlic.

• Heat up sesame oil in a wok.

• Saute the mushroom slices followed by the chopped garlic.

• When they are fragrant, add water to the wok.

• Let the water boil.

• Once it has boiled, add ginger and fish fillets to the wok. Cover the wok and let the fillets simmer for about 10 minutes.

• Remove the cover and add napa cabbage and carrot to the soup.

• Let the cabbage and carrot soften.

• Season the soup with salt, light soy sauce and pepper.

• Add tofu and let the soup boil to heat up the tofu.

• The soup is ready to be served.

Tofu in Pumpkin Puree

    

Tofu in Pumpkin Puree is a naturally sweet dish. As we know pumpkin is very sweet. We can just steam it and eat it as it is. We can also stir-fry it with dried prawns, make it into soup, bake pie/tart with it or steam it to make pumpkin kuih.  Besides the taste, more important are the benefits to be gain from eating pumpkin. It is very healthy as it is rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. 

Ingredients:

• 150 g pumpkin
• 50 g water

• 1 tube of egg tofu
• 15 g rice flour
• 7 g all-purpose flour
• 3 g salt
• 2 g white pepper powder
• 25 g water
• Cooking oil

• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 3 g salt
• 2 g white pepper powder
• 1 stalk of green onions, cut into 0.5 cm length

Method:

• Prepare the pumpkin:

• Remove skin of pumpkin and cut it into cubes.
• Place the cubes onto a metal plate and steam them till they are soft.
• Once they are soft, transfer them to the blender.
• Add water and blend till the pumpkin is mashed up (but not smooth).
• Set the mashed pumpkin aside.

• Prepare the tofu:

• Remove tofu from the plastic jacket and cut them into 1-cm thick cylinders.
• Mix rice and all-purpose flours, pepper and water into a smooth batter. If the batter is too thick, add water 1 tablespoon at a time till it is of a good consistency to coat the tofu.
• Heat a wok with cooking oil.
• Coat the tofu cylinders with the batter and drop them into the wok, one at a time.
• Fry them till they are golden brown.
• Remove and set them aside.

• Cooking pumpkin sauce and fried tofu:

• Remove oil from the wok leaving 2 tablespoons behind.
• Saute the garlic till they are fragrant.
• Add the mashed pumpkin to the wok.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Let it boil (and add some water if it is too thick).
• Once it has boiled, add the fried tofu and let the sauce boil further. Stir. The tofu will thicken the pumpkin sauce.
• Add the cut green onion and stir the pumpkin sauce and tofu gently.
• Ladle the tofu and pumpkin sauce onto a serving plate.

Pork Chop Coated with Sesame Seeds

 

    

        

           

Pork Chop again!!! (Please refer to https://al-luckylady.blogspot.com/2020/01/pork-chop-with-roasted-vegetables.html for the 1st recipe.) Making use of whatever spices and seasonings I have in my kitchen I came up with the 2nd recipe on Pork Chop. It is the easiest dish to make. But what is more important is that it is really flavourful according to my husband who gave me a rating of 90 per cent for it. 

Ingredients:

• 200 g pork chop
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp 5 spices
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp Shao Hsing Hua Tiao Chiew
• 1 1/2 tbsp potato starch
• Cooking oil

• 1 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds

• 2 hard boiled eggs

• 2 bowls of cooked rice

• 2 bundles of xiao bai cai
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp Shao Hsing Hua Tiao Chiew

Method:

• Use a meat mallet to slightly pound the pork chop.

• Marinate pork chop with salt, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, honey, 5 spices, pepper and Shao Hsing Hua Tiao Chiew preferably overnight or for at least 3 hours for the marinade to be absorbed by the meat.

• Heat up a pan (without oil) and fry the sesame seeds till they are golden brown. Set aside till they are needed.

• Stir-fry xiao bai cai
• Remove leaves of xiao bai cai from each bundle.
• Wash them but do not cut them up.
• Add oil to pan.
• Add garlic and saute them till they are fragrant.
• Add xiao bai cai to the pan and fry them.
• Add seasonings of salt and light soy sauce.
• When cooked, turn off the fire and add cooking wine.
• Give them a good stir and remove them onto a plate.
• Set them aside.

• Add potato starch to the marinated pork. Stir to coat the pork chop well.

• Add oil to a clean pan.

• Add the marinated pork once the oil has heated up.

• Pan-fry each side of the pork till they are cooked.

• Transfer the pork chop to a plate.

• Coat the pork chop with sesame seeds.

• Arrange pork chop, eggs and xiao bai cai on top of the 2 bowls of rice.

Soft and Fluffy Orange Buns or Loaf

                 

  

We have Orange Cakes and why not Orange Bread.  So I took one of my favourite Dinner Rolls recipes and modified it, removing the liquid from the original recipe and adding orange juice and orange zest to it. As a result I had the same softness and fluffiness as those Dinner Rolls. What deferred was that the buns smell of oranges with a slight tangy taste. I have reduced sugar so these buns would taste even better with a spread of marmalade.

Ingredients:

• 3 g instant yeast
• 65 g warm whole milk
• 10 g sugar

• Zest of 2 oranges - about 2 tbsp
• 100 g orange juice

• 325 g bread flour
• 20 g sugar
• 3 g salt
• 1 egg - about 60 g without shell
• 30 g butter

• Egg wash - 1 egg + 1 tbsp milk

Method:

• Activate the yeast. Dissolve sugar in warm milk. Add yeast to it. Stir. Let the mixture stand until the yeast begins to foam.

• Grate the orange skin. Be careful not to grate the inner white part (known as Albedo) of the skin as this will cause bitterness. Set aside the grated zest.

• Juice the orange. Take the orange and roll it against a hard surface to soften it slightly. This helps to break the membranes that contain the juice and makes squeezing easier. Squeeze as much juice as possible from the orange. Set it aside.

• Add bread flour, sugar, salt, and egg to a mixing bowl.

• Add yeast solution to the mixing bowl.

• Mix the ingredients till they become incorporated and a dough ball is formed. Let the dough ball rest for about 30 minutes for the gluten to form.

• Add butter to the dough and continue to knead to incorporate the butter into the dough. Knead till window pane is achieved.

• Add the orange zest to the dough. Knead to incorporate it. Do not over knead so as not to break up the zest too much. (We would like to see strips of zest in the buns.)

• Oil a clean bowl.

• Put the dough into the bowl and roll the dough so that it is covered with the oil.

• Let the dough proof for 30 minutes to1 hour (depending on the temperature of your kitchen) or till it has doubled in size.

• Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface.

• Flatten the dough to de-gas.

• Cut the ball into 12 pieces of about 60 g each.

• Roll each piece of dough into a ball and place it on a greased baking tray.

        Or

• Roll out the ball into a rectangle, the length of which will be the length of the loaf pan (8 inch x 4 inch x 4 inch).

• Roll it up, seal the edges by pinching them together and place it, seam-side down, into the loaf pan.

• Cover the dough and let it proof for about 30 minutes or till double in size.

• Egg wash the dough.

• Bake in pre-heated oven at 170 degree C for about 15 minutes .

• When done, remove the buns from the baking tray to a metal rack and let them cool down.

Steamed Pork with Egg and Tofu

         

         

A very common dish in most households is steamed minced pork on tofu. We just spread minced pork (which had been seasoned with salt and pepper) on top of a large piece of tofu, steam them and sprinkle fried shallots, green onions and cut chilies on them. Alternatively, if we were to use the cylindrical tofu, we will just slice the tofu cross-wise into many pieces, spread the minced pork on top of each of them, steam them and sprinkle fried shallots, green onions and cut chilies on them. However, using the same ingredients and adding an egg and rearranging the main ingredients, we can create a new dish. It also look more appetising than the normal minced pork on tofu.

Ingredients:

• 250 g minced pork
• 2 tubes of tofu (either egg or white tofu). You may also use the square tofu.
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp corn flour, to bind the pork
• Optional for decoration
• fried shallots
• fried garlic
• green onion
• cut chilies

Method:

• Boil water in a steamer.

• Add salt, pepper, light soy sauce, sesame oil and corn flour to the minced pork. Combine them well.

• Pack the minced pork into a bowl.

• Turn the bowl over onto a heat proof serving plate to release the minced pork onto the plate.

• Using your fingers, gently create a hole in the centre of the pork.

• Break an egg into the hole.

• Cut the tofu and arrange them around the minced pork.

• Steam at high heat for 20 minutes or until the pork is cooked.

• Remove the plate from the steamer when the pork is cooked.

• There will be some water on the plate. Gently tilt the plate to throw away the water.

• You may serve it as it is, or, sprinkle some green onions and cut chilies on the minced pork, or, saute some shallots or garlic and sprinkle them on the minced pork.

Ma Lai Koh

I met many great chefs and bakers online. Some were very generous in sharing their recipes whiles others guarded theirs like gold. However, to those generous one, we should always give them credit when and where credit is due. I have seen many recipes on Ma Lai Koh, some of which were tedious to follow while a few were easy and yield very delicious Ma Lai Koh. One such recipe is by Ms May Gan. I have used her recipe many times however it yielded only eight pieces. I have modified the recipe to yield at least 10 pieces.

Ingredients:

• 200 g Gula Melaka
• 130 g hot water
• 200 g self-raising flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 eggs
• 85 g corn oil

Method:

• Chop Gula Melaka into smaller pieces and add them to a pot.

• Add hot water to the pot and melt the Gula Melaka over medium heat, stirring all the time so that the Gula Melaka do not stick to the bottom of the pot.

• Once they have melted, turn off the fire and let it cool down completely. Sieve the syrup to remove any impurities.

• Meanwhile, sieve self-raising flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add salt to the flour and stir to mix up the ingredients. Set aside.

• Add eggs to a mixing bowl. Beat them till bubbles are formed.

• Add corn oil to it. Stir to mix the eggs and oil.

• Add the Gula Melaka syrup to the egg-oil mixture.

• Add the flour.

• Stir the batter using a whisk till it is smooth.

• Sieve the batter to ensure there is no lump of flour at all. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and rest the batter for 30 minutes.

• When the batter is almost ready start boiling water in a steamer.

• Grease the muffin tins or line the muffin tins with cupcake liners.

• Scoop the batter into the muffin tins or cake liners.

• Steam the batter over medium heat for 30 minutes. (Wrap the cover of your steamer with a towel to prevent water from dripping onto the batter.)

• Remove the Ma Lai Koh from the steamer when they are done and let them cool down on a metal rack.

• They are good for breakfast or as snack.

Soft and Fluffy Pull Apart Orange Sweet Potato Bread

 

Sweet potatoes are grown worldwide. They are sweet and starchy underground tubers. They come in many colours - orange, white, yellow, purple and even red, pink and violet. They are very nutritious, high in fiber and delicious. They can be eaten fried, boiled, steamed or baked.

I like to add sweet potatoes in my bread. Besides giving my bread a beautiful colour, they also make my bread very soft.

Ingredients:

• 425 g bread flour
• 105 g orange sweet potato puree
• 7 g yeast
• 45 g sugar
• 7 g salt
• 180 g whole milk
• 60 g egg (without shell)
• 35 g butter

• Egg wash: 1 egg + 1 tbsp milk 

Method:

• Add bread flour, yeast, sugar and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer.

• Start the mixer on low speed to mix up the ingredients.

• Add the sweet potato puree to the flour.

• Add the milk and egg to the mixing bowl.

• Knead all the ingredients till a dough ball is formed.

• Add butter to the dough and continue to knead till you achieve window pane.

• Oil a clean bowl.

• Transfer the dough to the bowl. Turn the dough till it is covered in oil. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and let the dough proof till it doubles in size.

• Lightly flour the counter top.

• Transfer the dough to the counter top.

• Roll the dough out into a long rectangular shape (horizontally).

• Fold the dough into 3 by bringing the right part onto the centre part followed by the left.

• Then roll the dough out again into a long rectangular shape (vertically) and fold into 3 again.

• Do this process at least 6 times (alternating between vertical and horizontal roll-outs) to get the "peeling" effect in the bread.

• Knead the dough into a ball.

• Roll the dough into a rectangle, the length according to the length of the loaf pan.

• Swiss roll up the dough tightly.

• Pinch the edge to seal it.

• Using the plastic scrapper, cut the roll into pieces of half an inch wide.

• Transfer the whole cut roll to the loaf pan.

• Let the dough rise till it reaches about 80% of the height of the pan.

• Egg wash the surface of the dough.

• Bake the dough at 175 degrees Centigrade for 25 minutes.

• Once done, remove the pan from the oven and remove the bread from the pan.

• Let the bread cool down on a metal rack.

• Slice the bread only after it has cooled down completely.