Chinese Mushrooms with Prawn Paste and Abalone

Ingredients:
Dried Chinese Mushrooms - L size x 10pc
Fresh Prawns x 20pc
Abalones in cans
egg white
seasonings

How to Make:

Day before dinner:
1. First prepare the can abalone by boiling the whole can for approx 6-8 hours. Take out abalone and sauce from can and pour them to a saucepan, adjust taste and sauce consistency by adding some more oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar and cornflour solution to your liking. Cool down and keep in fridge.

2. Rinse and then soak the dried chinese mushrooms overnight - covering all mushrooms under water.

On the day of dinner:
3. Drain water from the Chinese Mushrooms - wipe them dry. Mix wine and sugar with the chinese mushrooms and steam for approx 40-60 minutes until they are completely soft.

4. Wash the prawns with cornflour solution, then rinse, cut in into half lengthwise - remove intestines.  Cut 4-5 prawns into small dices. Keep in fridge until later use. For the rest of the prawns. Use the back of the chinese knife, mash the prawn into paste like. Never cut it!! You can also bang the paste from time to time to make it glue together more. Add seasonings like salt, white pepper and sesame oil. Then keep in fridge for at least 30 min.

5. Boil water in the steamer.

6. Take out prawn paste and diced prawns from fridge. Mix together with 1 egg white. Divide into 10 portions and spoon into each chinese mushrooms. Steam them for approx 20-30 min.

7. Sliced the abalone and re-heat them together with the abalone sauce in another saucepan.

8. Once the steamed mushrooms are ready, drain water from the dish, then spoon sliced abalones on top and top with abalone sauce and serve.

Enjoy!!

Taro Cake

Ingredients:
Taro x 250g
Fish Paste x 150g **
Chinese Sausage x 2pc **
Dried Shrimp x 2 tbsp
Spring onion - diced
Cornflour solution
seasonings

** For Vegetarian, skip fish paste, and replace chinese sausage with Omni Pork or skip altogether.

How to Make:
1. Wash the dried shrimps then soak them in water until soft, then diced them into s all pieces.

2. Steam the Chinese Sausages and diced them into small pieces.

3. Steam the Taro for approx 30 min until they are soft, then mash it with either the back of a chinese knife or with a potato masher.

4. Mix the mashed taro with the fish paste, diced chinese sausages, dried shrimps and the spring onion, add seasonings like salt, sugar, sesame oil, then the cornflour solution.

5. Divide them into round patties, then pan fried in a wok until golden brown in both sides.

Serve with Worchester sauce and enjoy with a bowl of steam rice!!

Omelette with preserved vegetables 菜莆蛋

Ingredients:
Eggs x 6 - roughly mixed with a fork 
Preserved Vegetables 菜莆 x 1 cup 
Spring onion x 1/2 cup diced
Light Soy Sauce & Sesame Oil

How to Make:

1. Clean 菜莆 under tap water and squeeze them a bit to release the saltiness.

2. Soak the 菜莆 in a bowl of water for another 30 min, then drain and wipe dry.

3. Diced the 菜莆. Add some light soy sauce and sesame oil to the eggs mixture.

4. Pan fried the diced spring onions in a wok with little oil. Once fragrant, add the diced 菜莆 and stir fried until fragrant.

5. Remove from pan and keep aside until cool down.

6. Add the cooled down 菜莆 and spring onion to the eggs mixture.

7. Heat up a flat pan and add some oil. Once hot, pour the egg mixture to the frying pan, gently stirring to keep raw egg mixture touching the base of the pan. Let it cook itself a bit until the egg mixture moves when you shake the pan. Then slide it down to a big round plate. Use another round plate to cover it, then turn upside down and slide the omelette to the pan again - so that both sides are cooked.

8 Sprinkle with more diced spring onion on top before serving.

Enjoy!!  

Fresh Tomato Essence

* original recipe from Raymond Blanc.

* serves 4 - makes 700-800ml tomato essence

Planning Ahead:
This tomato essence is best prepared a day in advance of cooking day.

Ingredients:
2-3kg cherry tomatoes, washed and cut into halves
1/2 celery stick, washed and finely chopped
1/2 fennel bulb, washed and finely chopped
1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
a handful of thymes springs, leaves stripped and chopped
5g/ a box of basil leaves, chopped
10g sea salt
10g caster sugar (optional if tomatoes sweet enough)


How to make:
1. Combine ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

2. Blitz the mixture in food processor for a few times. Blitz each batch using the pulse button for 2-5 seconds only.

3. Return to a big bowl, cover and leave to macerate at room temperature for 3 hrs.

4. Pour the above to a cloth bag (eg. muslin bag) over a big bowl and hung/suspend the bag above the bowl, which will collect the golden liquid as it drips through. It is best to hung overnight to collect these golden drops. Otherwise, it will need 2-3 hrs.

5. After you collect the golden liquid, if it is not "golden" enough OR if you are greedy like me and don't want to waste any tomatoes inside the bag which might still contain some juice and would like to squeeze them all out via the bag, you can pour the liquid in glass container and chill in refrigerator overnight.

6. Next day, the "red" stuff will sink to the bottom of your glass container, and you can just pour out the "golden" liquid - which is the TOMATO ESSENCE and which is this essence which makes your dishes SPECIAL and FRESH like  no one else!

Enjoy~