* this is really easy to make and the effect is like "restaurant-standard" red prawn pasta! so must try!
Ingredients: (good enough for 8 persons)
Spanish Red Prawns x 18pc- chilled or frozen one both are ok. But for frozen one, prepare defrost time in fridge
Onion x 1 - minced
Garlic - sliced x 1/2 bowl
Cherry tomatoes in cans x 2 cans - blended in a mixer to become a tomato sauce
Fresh Basil leaves - washed and wipe dry
Pasta of your choice - around 400g
How to Make:
1. First and foremost is to make the sauce. Wash the prawns, remove all legs with scissors. Cut heads and put aside. For the body, remove all shells and carefully removed intestine from the front. Put prawn bodies back to fridge.
2. Heat up a pot big enough to hold all prawns heads, shells and sauce. Use olive oil, heat the minced onion and sliced garlic till fragrant.
3. Then add the prawns heads and shells and stirred fried with the minced onion and garlic till fragrant. Press the prawns heads until all juices come out from the prawns heads. Add the blended cherry tomato sauce, mix well, season it with some salt and sugar, once boiled, turn to medium to low heat, and braised for around 30 min. Check from time to time. Remove prawns heads and shells from this sauce to a sieve. Press hard the prawn heads against the sieve so that all sauces from prawn heads go back to the sauce pot!
4. Prepare your pasta as per the box's instructions. I will suggest for al dente pasta, cook 1 min to 30 seconds less from the instructed cooking time.
5. Once pasta is almost ready, use a new pan to pan fry to prawns bodies using olive oil. Once prawns are cooked, remove prawns from pan. The pan should be filled with orange-oil, place the cooked and drained pasta to this pan and ensure pasta absorbs all such orange-oil. Then pour the pasta to the braising sauce and mix well together with the basil (leaving a few basil leaves to top the dish).
6. Transfer all pasta to a serving bowl, then top with the the pan fried prawns and a few fresh basil leaves on top. Drizzle some olive oil on top too.
Serve the pasta and don't forget to take out the bowl of prawns heads as there might be someone who like to suck up the prawns heads!
* this recipe came from my friend Jenny's auntie - Auntie Lesley Chu and demonstrated to me via her maid Daisy!
Ingredients:
* prepare the day before your dinner party.
Pork Balls
Pork - 梅頭 - approx 1 kg (choose the part which is more red in colour)
Pork Fat - approx 700g of the pork quantity (but if you prefer really soft and tender pork balls, meat:fat proportion can be can be up to 60:40)
egg white x 10
spring onion - 6 - minced x 1 bowl (green + white part)
shallots x 5 - minced
black pepper - pound in mortar
corn starch x 2.5 tsp
flour x 2.5 tsp
salt x 3 tsp
chicken powder x 3 tsp
sugar 1 tsp
When cooking with soup:
Spare Ribs (cut into 1 inch each) - blanched
Ginger x 2 slices
Spring Onion
Star ainses
Before serving:
Japanese Chinese cabbage
How to Make:
Pork Balls:
1. Slice the pork first, then further cut it into mince. Then use 2 Chinese knives to further mince it.
2. Slice the pork fat first, then further cut it into mince. Then use 2 Chinese knives to further mince it.
3. Mix the minced pork and the minced pork fat and further minced it using 2 Chinese knives.
4. Put the minced pork and pork fat into a mixing bowl. Add the above seasonings first (ie the cornflour, flour, salt, chicken powder, sugar, black pepper, white pepper), then the shallots, spring onions, then add the egg whites, then mix them all using chopsticks stirring in 1 direction only until evenly mixed.
5. Chill at fridge for around 1-2 hrs. Once you feel the mixture is quite solid, then take out from fridge.
6. Shape them into golf ball size and "pat" it gently to make the "ball" shape firmer.
7. Heat up a wok, add oil, then add the pork balls - the pork balls must submerge underneath the oil - deep fry until golden colour. Can do it in batches. can drip a few drops of dark soy sauce on top of pork balls to darken color. Once golden, remove from wok and drain oil.
8. Add the pork balls into a deep pot, then the blanched spare ribs and bring to boil together with the ginger, star aines, spring onion. Season with light soy sauce, chicken powder, wine and sugar. Once boiled, reduce heat to medium and cook for approx 75 to 90min. Check taste and adjust seasoning accordingly.
9. After cool down, put in fridge.
10. Next day before dinner, take out the pot with soup and pork balls, bring to boil, remove spare ribs and some soup and place at another pot. Cook japanese chinese cabbage in that other pot with the spare ribs and soup. Once the cabbage is done, transfer cooked cabbage to the pork balls pot and ready to serve!
Enjoy with a bowl of white rice!
Notes:
* after pork balls are cooked in the spare rib soup, avoid re-cooking them for a long time. Once re-heat, they are ready to serve, as the longer you cook them, the less tender they will be.
* the more fat content you use, the more tender the pork balls will be.
Ingredients:
choose 8 different types of vegetables of your choice! for myself, i like the followings:
Dried Chinese Mushrooms 冬菇
Black Fungus 黑木耳*
Yellow Fungus 黃耳*
Beancurd Stick 素雞
Sweet Beancurd Sheet 甜付竹
Beancurd Sheet 付皮
Japanese Cabbage
Baby Corn
Ginger - 4-6 slices
Garlic - 6 to 8 pc pressed
南乳酱- 2-4 pc
seasoning - oyster sauce ***, sugar, sesame oil
*** For Vegetarian version, replace with vegetarian oyster sauce
How to Make:
1. 2 nights before making this dish, wash the chinese mushrooms, then soak them in water overnight.
2. Next day, drain the soaking water, use corn flour to wash the soaked chinese mushrooms, rinse clean.
3. Marinate the chinese mushrooms with sesame oil, sugar and a little bit of soy sauce, then steam for 1 to 2 hours until soft. Once cooled down, cut the chinese mushrooms into your desired size.
4. Keep the mushrooms water in the dish after steaming for use later.
5. Other ingredients with the *, just wash and rinse clean and soak in water until soft (around half a day). Japanese cabbage wash and drain and cut to your desired size. No need to be too small as it will shrink during cooking.
6. Heat up a wok which is big enough to hold up all your ingredients, add oil, then the ginger and garlic until fragrant. Then add the 南乳酱 until fragrant. Be careful of not burning the 南乳酱 . Better turn heat to medium at this stage.
7. Add all the above vegetables ingredients except the Japanese Cabbage and baby corn, add the chinese mushrooms water and braised for 1 hour or until all soft and taste good! Feel free to season with oyster sauce and sugar and sesame oil. If not all ingredients are submerged under the braising sauce, add more water to the wok or pot until all ingredients are submerged underneath. Check braising from time to time to avoid anything sticking at the bottom.
8. Once the above braising is quite ready, then Japanese cabbage and baby corn for braised for another 20-30 min. Finally, check taste and seasoning by adding sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil as required.
Enjoy!
* this is a seriously easy to make and pleasing dish. So pls try!
Ingredients:
Cod Fillet - boneless - cut into your desired size
plain flour x 2 cups - sifted
beer of your choice x 1 can
additional flour for coating
salt & pepper
cream corn of your choice x 1 can
chicken stock x 1/2 can
egg 1-2 - beaten
How to Make:
1. Wash and wipe dry fish fillets. Marinate with some salt and pepper.
2. Use a whisk to mix together the sifted flour and the beer. If you find the batter too light, feel free to add a few spoonfuls of sifted flour to make it stronger. If batter too strong, add some more beer! Personal taste really.
3. Heat a wok of oil - make sure the fish can submerge underneath the oil.
4. Once oil is hot enough, lightly coat fish fillet with flour, sprinkle off excess flour, then dip into batter, then deep fry until it's golden. Remove from wok, drain out excess oil then place on serving dish.
5. For the corn sauce, mix roughly 1 can of cream corn with 1/4 can of chicken stock, heat until boil, then turn down to medium heat, add the beaten eggs and use a whisk to mix inside the sauce. Check seasoning and adjust according to your personal taste.
Enjoy!
