Drunken Abalone and Chicken Wings

* this dish is inspired by my photographer friend Ann Choi during the COVID19 home quarantine and home cooking peak season! You can substitute/add chicken wings, ducks tongue etc as you like  :)

Ingredients

Fresh abalones - 10-20pc 
Sliced Ginger and some spring onion
Chicken Wings and/or Ducks' Tongue - qty you like
Gooseberries 紀子- a bunch 
Dried Longan 龍眼- a bunch
Huadiao wine 花雕酒 or 太雕酒- 200-250ml
Zaolu 糟滷- 100-150ml (this is salty so beware not to add ,more than this)
hot water - 150ml
Rock Sugar or brown sugar  - 2-3tsp

How to Make:

1. Wash and rinse the gooseberries and longan and soak them in water for 10-15 min. Drain water.

2. Now the DRUNKEN MARINATE  - Melt the sugar with 150ml hot water. Then add the soften gooseberries and longan + Huadiao, Zaolu. Taste first and adjust accordingly. Put this marinate to an airtight box big enough to hold all the abalones, chicken wings and/or ducks tongue!

3. Remove abalones from shells and wash under tap. Use toothbrush to brush all the sides/skirt. Remove guts.

4. Wash and wipe clean chicken wings and marinate with Dark Soy Sauce for around 15 min.

5. Boil a pot of water with ginger slice and spring onion. Once boil, put the cleaned abalones to the pot and cook for 5-10 min.

6. Then remove all abalones and put them to a bowl of ice and ice water immediately to avoid it from further cooking and meat becomes tough. 

7. Once abalones cool down, put the abalones to the air tight box with the Drunken Marinate. Leave overnight in fridge.

8. For chicken wings, blanch them in boiling water for 8-10 min. Then remove them to a bowl of ice water with ice immediately to avoid them from further cooking and meat becomes tough. Add to the air tight box with the Drunken Marinate.

Enjoy it as a cold appertizer with a glass of sake or beer! In winter times, this dish can be served hot by steaming it for 5-10 minutes.

Veal Chop Milanese

Ingredients:

Veal Chop (with bone)
2.5 cups breadcrumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp rosemary leaves
2 tbsp thyme leaves
1 tsp lemon zest
2 eggs
flour
salt & pepper
lemon wedges to serve on table

How to Make:

1. Preheat oven to 200'C.

2. Clean veal chop and wipe dry. Lightly hammer it with the meat hammer on both sides.

3. Marinate with salt and black pepper.

4. Mix the grated cheese herbs and lemon zest with the breadcrumbs.

5. Heat up oil (deep enough to place veal chop underneath oil) in a frying pan.

6. Dip veal chop to flour on a plate. Shake off excess flour.

7. Dip veal chop to the egg mixture on another plate.

8. Then dip veal chop to the breadcrumb mixture. lightly pressed the breadcrumb mixture onto veal chop. Shake off excess. Then deep fry in the frying pan until lightly golden on both sides.

9. Remove veal chop from frying pan. Shake off excess oil. Place them into a oven proof tray with wire rack on top.

10. Bake in oven for another 15 min.

Ready to slice up if after tested with skewer no blood seeping out. Serve with freshly squeeze lemon juice on top.  Enjoy with your favourite white wine or burgundy red!

Plain cake 鷄蛋糕

Ingredients:

Eggs x 6 - separate egg whites and egg yolks to 2 bowls
Flour 100g - sifted
Unsalted butter 100G
Milk 200g
Vanilla essence - 2 tsp
1 square cake tin tray
1 bigger tin tray which can fit the square cake tin inside and with space to pour in some water

How to Make:

1. Preheat oven to 150'C.

2. Heat up butter with milk in a pot until mixed evenly  and around 50'C. Remove from heat.

3. Add butter mixture to the sifted flour and whisk until smooth.

4. Add eye yolk to the butter and flour mixture one by one and whisk until smooth. Then add 2 tsp vanilla essence and mix well.

5. Whisk the egg whites in another bowl until it looks like meuringe like, i.e. when holding the whisk, the egg white mixture can hold.

6. Pour the egg pour mixture to the whisked egg white bowl slowly and mix them well.

7. Pour into the square tin tray lined with baking paper. smooth up the top and bang against table top to ensure all air bubbles come out from the mixture.

8. Put the square tin tray to the bigger tin tray. Add water of around 80'C to the bigger tin tray until it is around 1-2cm high.

8. Carefully put inside oven and bake for 1 hour until top is golden.

Rest in room temperature and enjoy with your favourite cup of tea or coffee.

Cipriani Baked Tagliolini

* recipe adapted from Cipriani original recipe and photo credit to Cipriani

Ingredients:

Bechamel Sauce (makes 3 cups approx)
50g unsalted butter
50g flour
600ml milk
freshly ground white pepper

Pasta
3 tbsp unsalted butter
120g Prosciutto Cotto (or parma ham), cut into julienne strips
1 Box Cipriani Tagliolini (250g)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese, plus extra to pass at table


How to Make:

Bechamel Sauce:

1. Boil water in pot 1 until simmering.

2. Use pot 2 which is smaller than pot 1 and can be put on top of pot 1 to heat up the butter in low heat. Once butter almost melted, take it away from the heat and whisk in milk.

2. Once the milk and butter and are blended evenly, return pot 2 to medium heat, continue to whisk and stir until smooth and sticky.

3. Once butter and milk mixture turns thicker and sticky, place it on top of the simmering water at pot 1. Continue to whisk and stir, season with salt and pepper, for approx 10 min or until the consistency and thickness of the bechamel sauce meets your requirements. I will suggest keeping an eye on this to ensure it does get too thick Otherwise, difficult to coat the pasta later. If the sauce gets too thick, add more milk...

remove from heat and stand by.

Pasta:

1. Preheat your Grill.

2. Bring a pot of water to boil and add salt. Cook the pasta for 2 min until al dente. Drain water.

3. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a large skillet (bit enough to hold all pasta) over medium high heat. Add the ham and cook for a min or 2, stirring constantly. 

4. Put the pasta to this skillet, toss it with the ham. Add 1 tbsp of butter, sprinkle with half of the grated parmesan cheese and toss well.

5. I suggest to add half of the bechamel sauce to the pasta and coat them evenly though original recipe did not contain this step.

6. Spread pasta evenly in a shallow oven proof dish. Spoon bechamel sauce on top and sprinkle with remaining grated parmesan cheese Cut remaining 1 tbsp butter into bits and scatter over the top. *** utmost important is put be greedy and put too much pasta. A think layer is best to achieve restaurant's results! ***

7. Grill/Broil as close as possible to heat source until golden and bubbly, about 2-5 mins.

Serve immediately! Enjoy with a glass of your fav champagne or white wine! 

Vegetarian Soup - Soup for Humid Spring

* this soup meant to nourish your spleen and release your excess humid in your body （健脾祛濕）

Ingredients:

Hairy Mountain Fig (五指毛桃）x 2 pc (around 250g)
Fresh Yam (鮮淮山/ 山藥）x 1/2 stick (around 150g)
Dried Lotus seeds x 1 bunch (around 20g)
Dried Lily Bulbs x 1 bunch (around 20g)
Fox Nut (茨實) x 1 big bunch (around 50g)
Chestnut around 150g (shell removed)
Red dates x 10pc and remove the seed inside
Carrot x 1 pc
Corn x 1 pc

How to Make:

1. Hairy Mountain Fig and the lotus sees lily bulbs, fox nut, all rinse and soak in water for 15 mins.

2. Fresh Yam peel off skin (using gloves if you have sensitive skin) and cut into pieces.

3. Carrot and Corn rinse and cut into pieces.

4. Put all ingredients to pot and once boil, turn to medium to medium low heat and cook for 1.5 to 2 hours.

For non-vegetarian version, can add lean pork too. This soup has a coconut smell somehow and very appetizing to me.

Enjoy!

Vegetarian Soup - Five Elements Soup 五行湯

* recipe adopted from 溫暖人間 magazine
* meant to be 補氣火血 （Qi-Tonifying and Blood-Activating)
* for non-veg version, just add some lean pork. Blanche pork first of course before adding to this soup pot.

Ingredients:

1-2 Chayote
1-2 Carrot
1-2 Corn
100g barley seeds
8-10 dried mushrooms
100g black beans
10-15 cashew nuts

How to Make:

1. Rinse black beans and soak in water for 15 mins.

2. Rinse mushrooms and soak in hot water for 15 mins.

3. Rinse barley seeds and set aside.

4. Wash Vegetables, leave the peel on. Chop into pieces and set aside.

5. Bring a pot of water to boil and add in all ingredients Once boiled, turn to medium to medium low heat and cook for 2 hours. Adjust taste with sea salt.

Enjoy and nourish yourself!

Abalone Pasta

* Top bottom was 2nd attempt but bottom photo 1st attempt. Difference in black truffle quality affects the look and aroma of the dish. But the abalone itself won't go wrong. All in all, a great dish to try cooking if you are a fan of abalone.

Ingredients:

Fresh Black Abalone (those from Japan is amazing. But those from Australia also good) - around 600-800g per piece will be a good size.

Chicken and Chinese Ham stock (as the abalone will absorb all the flavour of this stock, make sure you cook this stock yourself instead of buying pre-made ones. see below how to do this) 

Black Truffle 

Black Truffle Oil

Italian parsley - minced

Chicken and Chinese ham stock:

blanch whole chicken, then blanch chinese ham with some puer leaves. Place them in a big pot fill with water, 1 pc of carrot, 1 pc of onion, bring to boil, then remove to medium heat and cook for 3-4 hours. Remove oil on top and filter out cooking ingredients.

Abalone Pasta Sauce:

Stock left in pressure cooker

Additional Chicken and Chinese Ham stock

salt and black pepper

cornflour solution

How to Make:

1. Better reserve fresh abalone from your fishmonger in advance.

2. Prepare your abalone in day in advance of your cooking day. After removing from shell and removing the guts, wash thoroughly under tap water. Can use a toothbrush to clean the side of the abalone to avoid dirt sticking inside.

2.  Pour chicken stock into a pressure cooker and bring it to a boil. Then add the abalone inside, make sure the abalone is under water level. Close the pressure securely, then lower heat to medium low heat and cook for 1.5 hour. If you are cooking 3 pc of more, can cook longer like 2 hours. Pressure cooker cooking time is 3 times of normal cooking. So if normal cooking requires 3 hours, then you only need 1 hour using pressure cooker, etc.

3. After cooking time is up, switch off fire. Turn the pressure cooker cool down itself until it shows you you are ready to release the lid. Don't rush removing the lid or else everything will blast!

4. Once lid is removed, use a skewer to poke inside of abalone to see if it's soft enough for your liking. If it's not tender enough, you will have to add some cooking time again, but make sure you have sufficient stock inside the cooker.

5. If it's tender enough, remove abalone from the stock which should be thickened a bit by now. After cooling down, put abalone in air tight box in fridge. So next day when you do  the dish, it will be much easier to slice it very thin.

6. Save the stock left inside the pressure cooker to make your abalone pasta sauce - the abalone sauce!

7. On the day you cook your dish, take out abalone from fridge and make thin slices.

8. Cook the abalone sauce in a pan, if qty is not enough for your pasta, then add some chicken and ham stock. Bring to boil, check taste and adjust accordingly with salt and pepper. Add cornflour solution to adjust thickness of sauce. Use tongs or a laddle to gentle heat up the thinly sliced abalone in the above abalone pasta sauce. Remove abalone to a plate. 

9. Cook pasta (I prefer using fresh pasta for this dish and cooking time should be 2-3 min only) as per packet's instructions) less 1 min. Put cooked pasta to the abalone sauce and coat the pasta.

10. Place pasta nicely on a serving plate, then put the heated abalone slice on top of the pasta nicely. Drizzle with black truffle oil, then shaved black trufffle on top. Garnish with some minced parsley to add color and flavour.

Enjoy this dish with your fav champagne or white wine!

Shrimp Spring Roll

* recipe adopted from justonecook

Ingredients:

Fresh Shrimps - remove head and shell but keep tail intact. Remove intestines too.

Spring Roll Wrapper

Negi (long spring onion) - thin slices

Japanese cooking sake

Sea salt

Miso paste of your choice but choose one which is not salty (optional, can omit)

Thai sweet and spicy sauce (optional)

Glue:
1 tsp flour mix with 1 tsp water

How to Make:

1. After remove head and shell of prawns and cleaning up intestines, you now have to tend to the tail. Press tail flat down on chopping board and use tip of knife to cut some away. So the tail when pressed can become butterfly like. You can also remove some excess water during this process.

2. Make a couple of slits diagonally on the underside of the shrimp.

3. Hold the shrimp with both hands and straighten it as s much as possible in order to get the shape as straight as possible.

4.  Marinate shrimps with sake and salt.

5. Cut the spring roll wrapper from square shape into 2 triangles in the middle.

6. Spoon some miso paste right across the middle of the triangle wrapper, then place one straightened shrimp on top of the miso paste, with the tail of the shrimp being outside of the wrapper. Then place some sliced negi on top of shrimp.

7. Pull one side of the wrapper to the other side. Wrap roll up.

8. Upon the end, use finger tip to apply the self-made glue on the wrapper to "seal" it.

9. Heat up a pot with oil then deep fried until both sides are golden. Drain oil on a tray and use kitchen towel to remove excess oil before serving.

You can serve like this direct or with some Thai  sweet and spicy sauce. Enjoy together with your fav champagne or white wine!

Zosui 雑炊 (Japanese style rice in soup)

* adopted from recipe at justonecook

Ingredients:

For Broth:
3 cups dashi 
1 cup of chicken stock (optional - I think adding some chicken stock makes this dish even more tasty!)
2 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp sea salt

For Zosui:
6 pc of boneless skinless chicken thighs - clean and wipe dry and cut into squares
carrot and shitake mushrooms - cut into thin slices. Qty is up to yourself.
spring onion - minced
2-3 bowls of cooked rice - rinse a few times with filtered water
2 eggs - beat it in separate bowl
toasted white sesame seeds
white pepper

How to make:

1. Follow the dashi packet instructions and prepare your dashi stock - approximately 3 cups.

2. Once the dashi stock is boiled, add chicken pieces to the stock. Skim off the scum and foam on the surface.

3. When the stock is boiled again, add carrot and mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Once you think they are tender enough, add the soy sauce and salt. Please check taste and adjust accordingly.

4. Add the rinsed cooked rice. Then when the stock boils again, gently add the beaten eggs all around the surface of the pot.

5. Sprinkle with white pepper, minced spring onion and toasted sesame. Cover the pot with lid and bring to serve.

Once the lid is open at dinner table, you can immediately smell the fragrance of this dish. Enjoy this healthy dish!

Eggplant Agebitashi

* recipe adopted from justonecook

Ingredients:

2 Japanese/Chinese eggplant
Turnip - to grate into sailing radish
Spring onion - minced
Ginger - grated (optional)

Sauce:
3/4 cup (180ml) dashi
3 tbsp (45ml) mirin
3 tbsp (45ml) cooking sake
3 tbsp (45ml) soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar (prefer raw sugar)

How to Make:

1. Cook the sauce in a pot. Once sugar all dissolved, check taste. As different brands of soy sauce have different taste, you might need to adjust accordingly with a punch of salt or add more water etc. Cool down sauce.

2. After rinsing and wiping eggplant, cut into half lengthwise. Then make incisions on eggplant (skin side) diagonally (don't cut through, gentle does it!).

3. Make sure to wipe off any moisture with paper towel.

4. Cut each halves into 3-4pc.

5. Heat up vegetable oil to around 160'c, then deep fried the eggplant. Don't crowd the pot. Remove from oil, drain oil in a wire rack, then gently wipe off excess oil with kitchen towel.

6. Pour sauce to eggplant. If u want to serve this dish chilled, keep them in fridge.

7. When ready to serve, add grated daikon, ginger and minced spring onion on top.

Enjoy!

Thai Style Roast Pork Shoulder

Ingredients:

Pork Shoulder x 2 pc
Honey

Marinate:
Lemongrass x 1 - use kitchen to smash and flatten it and cut into 1-2 inches
Garlic x 4 cloves - smash and flatten
Lime Leaves x 4pc - shredded
Shallots x 3pc - thin sliced
Dark Soy Sauce x 2 tbsp
Fish Sauce x 2 tbsp
Rice wine x 2 tbsp
Palm Sugar x 2 tbsp
Lime Juice x 1 tsp
Parsley - minced (can omit if you do not like parsley)


Dipping Sauce:

Fish Sauce x 2 tbsp
Lime Juice x 2 tbsp
Rec Chilli x 1pc - sliced and de-seeded (if you cannot take too spicy)
Water x 1 ml
palm sugar x 1 tsp
-> after mixing, please check taste and adjust accordingly.

How to Make:

1. Clean pork and wipe dry. Marinate with above ingredients overnight in fridge or at least 2 hours before cooking.

2. On the day of cooking, preheat oven to 200'C.

3. Use kitchen towel to remove marinate from pork.

4. Line a baking tray with foil. Place pork on top of top and put to oven for 8 mins.

5. Flip the pork and cook for another 8 minutes.

6. Brush honey on top of pork and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

7. Remove from oven carefully and sliced.

Ready to serve with either the above self-made dipping sauce or with the ready made Thai Sweet and Chilli sauce.

Enjoy!

Thai Papaya Salad

Ingredients:

Green papaya x 1 - peeled and shredded
Mini dried shrimp (get from Thai grocery store) x 1/4 cup - grounded
Dried chilli x 1 - soaked in water and drain
Garlic x 6 cloves
Lime rind x 1/4 cup finely shredded
Palm sugar x 3 tbsp
Fish sauce x 3 tbsp
Lime juice x 1 tbsp
Tamarind juice x 1 tbsp
Peppercorns x a few
Peanuts - toss in a hot pan


How to make:
1. Pound the shredded papaya lightly in a mortar, remove and set aside.

2. Pound the garlic, dried chilli and peppercorns thoroughly , transfer to a mixing bowl.

3. Mix tamarind juice, fish sauce and palm sugar together, bring to a boil over medium heat. Please taste and adjust the seasonings as per your liking.

4. Once the taste of the dressing is to your liking, remove from heat and cool on top of a bowl of ice. Add lime juice, pour into the chilli mixture, stir well. Check taste again. Put aside as dressing.

5. Add papaya, dried shrimp and lime rind in mixing bowl and toss well with above dressing.  Sprinkle with peanuts and ready to serve!

Enjoy!

Tamarind Prawns

Ingredients:

Fresh giant tiger prawns x 500g
Onion x 1/2 -minced
Garlic x 2-3pc - pressed
Red chilli x 1 - shredded removing seeds
Shallot x 2 to 3pc - thinly sliced
Dried hot chillies x 6-7pc, crisp fried
Palm sugar (buy fresh one if possible) x 2 tbsp
Fish sauce x 1 tbsp
Tamarind juice x 1/3 cup
Chicken stock x 2 tbsp
Crispy fried garlic and shallots for garnish

How to cook:

1. Wash prawns, remove shell and head and keep tail intact and remove intestines.

2. Marinate prawn with sea salt, then pan fried with pressed garlic until outside of prawn turned white color. Remove from pan.

3. Cook onion until fragrant and soft. Add palm sugar, chicken stock, tamarind juice and fish sauce, stir well until sauce thickens. Add the prawns back and mix well until done.

4. Arrange on a serving dish and garnish with fried garlic and fried shallots. 

Enjoy!

Potato, Eggs and Garlic Shakshuka

* recipe adopted from FT recipe

Ingredients:
Potato - peeled and medium sliced - blanched for approx 10 minutes until slightly soft
Onion - sliced
Garlic - 2-3 bulbs, keep skin and cut horizontal at the top 1/3
Thymes - 2-3 sprigs
Eggs
Milk or whipping cream

How to Make:
1. Heat up olive oil in a frying pan and place garlic flat-side down. Place on low hear and dont move or touch them for about 10 minutes. When time is up, check if the flat side of the garlic is golden, if not, cook for a bit more. If already golden, then remove from pan.

2. Add the thyme to the pan and fizz for a little while. Then add the sliced onion (still on low hear).

3. Remove the garlic cloves from the garlic you removed from the pan and add the cloves to the pan. Add the potato, then season with sea salt flakes and black pepper. Mix well, cover and cook for approximately 10 minutes or until all potato slices are soft enough.

4. Remove the thyme, add a little bit of water say 2 tbsp and 2 rounds of milk or whipping cream for a creamy finish, increase the heat to medium high, when the water/cream boils, add the eggs all over the surface. Cover and cook for 5 minutes (until egg whites have set but yolks are still runny).

Sprinkle surface with black pepper and some shredded thymes and ready to serve hot!

Pair this with your meat dish or eat alone!

Enjoy! 

Sous Vide Belly Pork

Ingredients:

Belly Pork of your choice
Spring onion
salt, pepper, five spices, soy sauce, honey
BBQ sauce (optional)

How to Make:

1. Prepare water bath to 68.5'C.

2. Clean and wipe dry belly pork. Cut into 1'5" thick slices.

2. Marinate pork with salt and pepper gives spices, some soy sauce and honey, add a sprig or two spring onion or even herbs of your choice. Vacuum seal the bag with the pork and marinate.

3. Drop the bag to the water bath when it reaches 68.5C and cook for 14 hours.

4. Take out bag after cooking is finished. Pour liquid inside and save it to cook with BBQ sauce later. Wipe clean the pork. If time allows, let it sit in fridge without wrapping overnight to dry out skin.

5. On the day of cooking, then out pork to room temperature to warm up. Preheat Grill (at oven).

6. Heat up a steak pan until it is very hot. Seared the belly side (meat) of the pork, then remove from pan. Use a puncher and poke holes onto skin. Soak belly pork (skin side down) on a flat tray filled with say around 1cm high of white vinegar, so only the skin is touching the vinegar - for 5-10 mins.

6. Remove pork from vinegar and wipe dry. Place to Grill for 10-15 min until skin looks golden and crispy. Take out, carve and serve.

7. For the gravy,  reduce the liquid from the vaccum bag when slow cooked the pork which you have strained. Adjust consistency by boiling more or add corn starch solution to make it more thick. Check tasting and adjust accordingly. Otherwise, just serve with BBQ sauce.

Enjoy!

Chorizo and Prawn Pasta

Ingredients:

Fresh Sea Prawns, with heads and shells removed (can keep for other use)
Sliced Garlic 
Chorizo, blizz in food processor 
Parsley, minced
Pasta of your choice
Parmesan Cheese - grated
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

How to Make:

1. Clean prawns and remove intestines. Wipe dry and marinate with sea salt and black pepper. Remember to save the heads and shells for other use by keeping them in freezer.

2. Heat up a pan with olive oil, then pan fry the sliced garlic until golden. Remove the garlic to a dish lined with kitchen napkin to drain some oil.

3. Using the same pan with garlic oil remaining, pan fried the prawns on both sides, then add the blizzed chorizo until all cooked and fragrant. 

4. Cook the pasta as per packet's instructions or al dente. Add pasta to the frying pan and mix all together. 

5. Top the pasta with the golden garlic slices and minced parsley. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil and grated parmesan cheese and ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Kale, Spinach and Pea Soup

Ingredients:
Chicken Stock **
Kale
Spinach
Peas (frozen one will do)
Milk or Whipping Cream

** for Vegetarian version, replace chicken stock with vegetable stock or plain water.

Optional:
Pumpkin Cream - pumpkin and milk or cream.
Sour Cream with minced mint leaves

How to Make:

1. Make your chicken stock 1 day ahead of your dinner by using old chicken and chinese ham, carrot and onion. Once boiled, cook for approx 3 hours in medium fire. Drain the soup and once cool, store in fridge. You can remove oil on top once the soup is cool down.

2. On the day of dinner, wash and spin dry kale and spinach. Remove hard stems of kale and cut away bottom white stems of spinach. Cut them into small pieces. 

3. Bring chicken stock to boil, then turn to medium heat and add kale and peas for 5-8 minutes, then add spinach for another 3-5 minutes. Check taste and season accordingly.

4. Switch off fire and blend them in a food processor batch by batch. Best to put more veggies inside food processor first then the soup, then blend. In this way, you can control consistency of the soup, i..e how thick you want the soup to be. When the blend is a bit too thick, you can always add more soup.

5. Re-boil blended soup in a pot. You can finish it by adding a dash of milk or whipping cream. If you want to garnish it a bit, consider adding pumpkin cream (as shown below) or add a spoonful of sour cream on top of soup on bowl with some minced leaves on top.

Pumpkin Cream:

Cut pumpkin into chunks. Steam until soft. Add them to food processor and add a bit of milk or cream. Blend until it reaches the consistency you desire. re-heat in a pot. You can spoon this to the veggies soup bowl the way you like it. Make the otherwise green soup a bit more colorful and provide another taste in the same soup.

Enjoy.

Chilled tomatoes in Plum Sauce

* a very appetizing dish in the summer and very easy to make.

Ingredients:
Cherry Tomatoes or tomatoes of your choice
話梅 1 to 2 packs (you can buy from supermarket, qty depends how many tomatoes are you preparing)
Brown Sugar
梅粉 (optional)

How to Make:
1. Remove skin of tomatoes by: (1) light cut a cross at the bottom or top of the tomatoes. (2) put them in boiling water, then turn off heat, for 1-2 minutes. You should see the corner of the skin peeling off a bit. (3) remove the tomatoes to ice cold water. (4) peel off skin gently and keep shape of tomatoes.

2. Prepare plum marinate sauce by: boiling a pot of water with the plum side for 5-10 minutes, then add sourness and sweetness by adding 1-2 tbsp of brown sugar and the 梅粉. Let it cool down.

3. Place all tomatoes inside the cool down plum marinate sauce in a food container box and close the lid and place in fridge overnight.

4. When you are ready to serve, just remove tomatoes from the marinate and garnish with a piece of mint!

Enjoy, perhaps with a glass of plum wine!

Japanese Style Braised Beef Shin

Ingredients:

Beef Shin - cut into slightly bigger than bite size pieces
1 onion - quarter
a few pc of pressed garlic
1-2 carrots - cut into bite size pieces
1-2 turnips - cut into bite size pieces
1-2 potato - cut into bite size pieces
4 cups dashi stock (or water or beef stock)
4 tbsp Japanese soy sauce
3 tbsp cooking sake
3 tbsp mirin
rock sugar
minced spring onion to garnish

How to Make:

1. After washing and drying the beef, marinate them with rock salt and black pepper.

2. Heat up a pot which can hold all ingredients with olive oil.

3. Brown the beef and remove them to a side dish first.

4. In the same pot, add some more olive oil and then stir fry the garlic and onion until soft and fragrant. Then add the carrots, turnips and potato, then return the beef to the pot, then add the dashi and the seasoning.

4. Bring it to a boil and turn heat to medium low and stew for 90 to 120 minutes. Skim the scum from the surface. Check from time to time the taste then adjust seasoning as per your desired taste. After 90 minutes, if the beef is not soft enough, then braised a bit longer until the texture reaches your desired softness.

5. Lastly, remove all ingredients and keeping only the stock at the pot. Skim the fat if any. Then bring to a boil to reduce it and add cornflour solution to thicken it.

Pour sauce back to the beef and ready to serve with a bowl of hot rice!

Enjoy

Braised Sea Cucumber, Fish Maw and Chinese/Japanese Mushrooms

Ingredients:

Dry Sea Cucumber
Dry Fish Maw
Dry Chinese/Japanese Mushrooms
Ginger, Spring Onion, Garlic
Chicken Stock, Oyster Sauce, dark and light soy sauce, raw sugar, sesame oil.


How to Braise Sea Cucumber:
1. Rinse the sea cucumber clean under the tap.

2. Soak them in a pot of clean water overnite (at least 12 hours)

3. Boil a pot of water, put the soaked sea cucumber inside and cook for 15 mins covered. Once time is up, just switch off heat and keep the pot covered until water inside becomes cool. In winter times, this maybe around 3-4 hours. In summer time, this may take 5-6 hours. Test with your finger! :)

4. Pour away water inside pot. Add new water. Reboil the water with the sea cucumber for 15 minutes covered. Once time is up, switch off heat and keep the pot covered until water becomes cool.

5. Drain all water, rinse the sea cucumber, then clean the intestines. Principle is the inside surface of the sea cucumber shall be free of any black stuff and 
smooth.

6. Last step: boil a pot of water with sliced ginger and spring onion, then add the cleaned sea cucumber and boil for 15 mins covered. Once time is up, switch off heat and keep covered until water becomes cool.

7. Remove sea cucumber for water, dry them with a clean cloth and pack them in zip-lock bag and store at fridge when you are cooking in the next day or so. Or keep them in freezer.

How to Braise Fish Maw:
-> this really depends on which type of fish maw you are buying. Assuming the regular ones for braising and soup, then here's my method:

1. Rinse the fish maw clean under the tap.

2. Soak the fish maw in a pot of water overnight.

3. Boil a pot of water with sliced ginger and spring onion, then add the fish maw and cook for 10 minutes. When time is up, switch off heat and keep covered under water becomes cool.

4. Drain all water and the ginger and spring onion. Add new clean water and soak the fish maw for another 5-6 hours.

5. Remove fish maw and dry them with a clean cloth and pack them in zip-lock bag and store at fridge when you are cooking in the next day or so. Or keep them in freezer.

How to Braise dry Chinese or Japanese Mushrooms:
1. Rinse them clean under tap.

2. Soak them in a pot of water and add a small dish on top, so as to press down the mushrooms under the water.

3. Change water for around 2-3 times until you can feel the mushrooms have became soft.

4. Then remove all water, wash the softened mushrooms with some corn flour under tap. Then wipe them dry with a clean cloth. Pack them in zip-lock bag an store at fridge if you are cooking in the next day or so. or keep them in freezer.

How to Cook:

1. Cut up the mushrooms and fish maw in a size which you desire. Sea cucumber can be cooked in whole piece or cut up to a size you like.

2. Heat up a wok, add oil an stir fried the slice ginger, pressed garlic and spring onion until wok is fragrant.

3. Add the mushrooms to the wok, mix them well with the ginger etc, then add sufficient chicken stock to keep the mushrooms underneath stock, add oyster sauce, soy sauce etc. Check tasting, once boiled, turn down to medium heat and cook for 30 minutes.

4. Add fish maw to the pot. If chicken stock and sauce not sufficient to keep the ingredients under sauce, add chicken stock and other seasonings. Cook for another 10-15 minutes under medium heat.

5. Add sea cucumber to the pot and cook for another 10-15 mins. Like above, you need to see if the stock/sauce is sufficient to keep all ingredients submerged. If not, adjust yourself. Check tasting from time to time. 

6. Lastly, add cornflour solution to the pot to thicken sauce. Add your favourite vegetables to the dish!

Enjoy!

P.S. in addition to using chicken stock, you can use abalone sauce, etc. Or add braised abalone to the dish.