Steamed savoury eggs with glass noodles

To me


If I have to name a favourite ingredient, it would definitely be eggs. I like it cooked in all forms: fried, scrambled, hard-boiled, soft-boiled, poached, steamed...and even raw (I am salivating at the thought of dunking hotpot food in a bowl of raw eggs and seasoning)! I remember when I was very young, my granny gave me an egg just laid by the hens we kept at home (those were the days when we lived in a house with a big backyard, an even bigger front garden, fruit trees and a dog). I remember peeling a piece of tiny shell away and sucked the egg raw. I forgot the taste of it but I still remember the egg was warm...

This is my idea of a dream lunch: the silky smooth steamed eggs vs the slightly crunchy glass noodles vs the crispy fried dried prawns vs the fresh-tasting spring onion... A plate of complexity and depth; yet so simple and good...

Serve 1

Ingredients:

1. 2 eggs (preferably free range; organic even better; for pure indulgence, try Clarence Court eggs)
2. About 200ml chicken stock
3. 1 tablespoon chopped spring onion
4. 2 tablespoons of chopped dried prawns
5. 1 tablespoon oil
6. 30g of glass noodles
7. 1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

Method:

• In a measuring jug, break the two eggs in. Use a fork or better, a pair of chopsticks to mix the whites and yolks. Stir until the egg is mixed thoroughly; but try to be light-handed as we don't want too many air bubbles.
• Check the reading at the measuring jug to see how much eggs are there. Pour twice the amount of chicken stock into the jug (the chicken stock should not be hot, otherwise it will cook the eggs). Usually, two medium sized eggs are about 100ml, so use 200ml of chicken stock. Again use chopsticks to mix well.
• Pour the egg mixture, through a sieve (to remove the bubbles), to a thin shallow bowl/dish. Cover the bowl/dish with clingfilm. Put in a steamer to steam for 8 minutes. It may take longer to set, depending on the thickness of the bowl/dish you are using. Check every minute or so, and turn off the steamer when the sides are cooked and the centre is still a little wobbly.
• In the meantime, soak the glass noodles in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain.
• In a small pan, use a tablespoon of oil to fry the chopped dried prawns until crispy and fragrant.
• Take out the cooked custard egg carefully, remove the clingfilm and add the glass noodles and sprinkle spring onions on top. Then, pour the oil and the crunchy dried prawns on top. Add soy sauce. Serve immediately.

Note: if you are after a traditional steamed savoury egg, just omit the glass noodles and dried prawns. Cook the eggs as above. Sprinkle the spring onions on top. Heat the tablespoon of oil until very hot, then pour the oil over the eggs and spring onions. Add the soy sauce.

Steak with Bearnaise Sauce

We have always loved steak; in fact we are so obsessed with steak that we tracked down a famous (I must add, deservedly famous) online butcher to deliver us the best augus beef ribeye from Scotland. But when it comes to cooking it, we are less adventurous: we feel very contented with just frying it and deglaze the pan with brandy to make the sauce. It was good enough for us; but now we are not quite as sure...

The sauce is a revelation to me: the slighty acidic sauce fragranced by French tarragon and shallots pairs perfectly with the meaty steak. I now understand why my favourite cookery writer, Nigella Lawson, loves steak bearnaise so much...

Serves 2

1. 2 ribeye steaks (about 250g each)
2. 2 tablespoons white wine
3. salt
4. pepper
5. 1+1 tablespoons tarragon, chopped
6. 1 chopped shallots
7. 2 teaspoons cold water
8. 1 egg yolk
9. 80g salted butter, cubed

Method:

• Heat the grill pan. Season the steak with salt and pepper and brush the steak with oil. Fry on a high heat for about 3 minutes per side (for medium), only turn it when one side is cooked. When both sides are cooked, turn it to a plate to rest for about 10 minutes.
• While the steak is resting, make the bearnaise sauce. In a pan, put chopped tarragon, chopped shallots, white wine vinegar,white wine and a twist of black pepper and let it boil until there is only one scant teaspoon of liquid left. Remove the pan from the heat and add 2 teaspoons of cold water. Then turn on a low heat again, stir in the egg yolk. Keep stirring and add butter cube by cube, wait until each cube is melted before adding a new one. Be careful not to over-heat the sauce or the sauce will scramble. When the sauce has thickened, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of chopped tarragon. Serve the steak with bearnaise sauce.
  

Cola Ham

When a mere 6 slices of honey glazed ham costs £3 in the supermarkets, you have no choice but to make your own. But once you had taken the trouble to DIY (and I can assure you, it is not much trouble afterall), you would never want to buy supermarket sliced ham again. There are two ways to boil ham: you can either boil it with water (together with some peppercorns and bay leaves), which at the end you not only get a cooked ham, but also wonderful ham stock (for pea and ham soup); or you can boil it in coca cola, which you get a deliciously sweet ham but you will have to discard the cola liquid afterwards (I think you can freeze the cola liquid for a second time, but I am not sure you can use them indefinitely...).

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1. 650g smoked/unsmoked gammon joint (check the packaging it's mild cure, or you will need to soak it in cold water overnight)
2. 2 cans coca cola
3. 3 peppercorns
4. 1 star anise
5. Cloves, for studding
6. 1 tablespoon apple cider
7. 1/2 tablespoon black treacle/golden syrup
8. 2 tablespoon demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Method:

• Put the gammon (skin side down), coca cola, peppercorn and star anise in a big pan and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and put the lid on to cook for 40 minutes. Turn around the ham half way through cooking. When the ham is cooked, take out the ham to cool slightly.
• Preheat oven to 220c.
• Put the ham in a roasting tine, and cut away the skin while reserving a thin layer of fat on the ham. Score the fat in a diamond pattern and push a clove into each intersection of diamonds.
• In a small bowl, combine apple cider and black treacle/golden syrup together. Brush this glaze all over the ham and sprinkle the demera sugar liberally on the top. Bake for 10 minutes.

Chinese leaf with dried scallop

We are very lucky being able to buy various Chinese greens in local supermarkets. Ok, Pok Choi here is not exactly Pok Choi (we call it 'Siu Tong Choi' in Hong Kong), and it costs £2 for 3 bulbs. But Chinese Leaf, what we call 'Siu Choi' in Chinese, is very affordable and is actually grown here in the UK. This is our favourite way of eating it...

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1. 1 Chinese Leaf
2. 300g dried scallops
3. 2 pieces of ginger
4. 1 teaspoon sugar
5. 2 cloves garlic
6. 3 tablespoon oyster sauce
7. 1 teaspoon cornstarch

Method:

• In a bowl, soak dried scallops in about 200ml cold water for an hour. Add ginger and sugar into the bowl and put the whole bowl to steam for an hour. Take it out to cool slightly. Reserve the water and finely shred the dried scallops.
• In a pot, boil washed Chinese Leaf for about 2 to 3 minutes. Drain.
• In a shallow pan, use a little oil to fry the garlic until fragrant, then add the dried scallop shreds and scallop water to the pan. Cook for about 2 minutes and then add the oyster sauce. Finally, dissolve cornstarch in 3 tablespoons of cold water and add it to the scallop sauce to thicken. Pour the scallop sauce on the Chinese Leaf. Serve immediately.