Chinese Tomato and Pork Rib Broth

This you-won't-believe-it's-so-simple soup was the default summer soup when I grew up. The clear broth is so light yet tomatoey...just the perfect soup for summer! You can also put in potatoes which makes a filling soup. Most of the time, when I am playing lazy and do not want to spend time in the kitchen, I make this soup and put in a scoop of rice (straight from the rice cooker) and this is our light dinner! Luckily Y doesn't see this as under-catering on my side, as he seems to like all kinds of 'soup rice'...

Serves 3

Ingredients:

1. 600g pork ribs, chopped into cubes
2. 2 teaspoons salt
3. 5-6 tomatoes
4. 1.5 litre water
5. 2 potatoes (optional)

Method:

• Wash the pork ribs and use kitchen paper to pat dry. Put the ribs into a bowl and add 2 teaspoons of salt. Combine well and leave to marinate for at least 2 hours (better if overnight).
• In a big pot, on high heat, add ribs and water and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium. Use a ladle or a sieve to remove all the scum and froth that surface every 15 minutes or so. Boil for an hour. (Normally in Chinese soup making, people would par boil the ribs for a few minutes to remove the scum, but in this particular soup, if you do it, this parboiling process would dilute the flavour.)
• Chop the tomatoes (and potatoes, if using) into quarters, and add to the soup. Boil for a further 30 minutes and turn down the heat to low and boil for a further 30 minutes. Taste if you need any more salt. Serve.

Lettuce Wrap with crumbled beef, pine nuts and fried cellophane noodles

This is a cross-over dish masterminded by me: my granny's version of Ants on the Tree (minced beef with fried cellophane noodles) and San Choi Bao (Thai lettuce wrap). The crispy fried noodles soak up the beef juices, the pine nuts add to the crunch and the lettuce leaves bring freshness to the dish. This is so popular with Y that it has become the default dish for using up beef mince...

Serves 3

Ingredients:

1. 400g beef mince (you can also use mince pork or a combination of both)
2. 3 teaspoons light soy
3. 2 teaspoons dark soy
4. 3 teaspoons Worcesterhsire sauce
5. 6 tablespoons water
6. 1 teaspoon cornflour
7. 2 teaspoons + 2 teaspoons oil
8. 50g pine nuts
9. 100g celloaphane noodles
10. 1 iceberg/romaine lettuce

Method:

• Marinate the beef with light soy, dark soy, Worcestershire sauce. Stir in 6 tablespoons of water until the mince has absored the water. Then add it cornflour and mix well. Finally add 2 teaspoons of oil. Marinate for at least about 3 hours.
• Toast the pine nuts on a pan on low heat/in a baking tray in the oven for about 3 minutes. Watch closely as pine nuts burn easily. Let cool.
• Wash the lettuce leaves in cold water and drain them well. Trim if necessary.
• Deep fry the cellophane noodles by heating a deep pot/pan and fill with about 1.5 inch of oil. Test whether the temperature is ready by dropping a strand of cellophane noodle into the oil. If it puffs up instantly, the oil is ready. Add the cellophane noodles into the oil, they should puff up in seconds. Take out the fried noodles immediately and drain on kitchen paper.
• In a shallow pan/wok, put 2 teaspoons of oil when the pan/wok is hot. Tip in the marinated beef mince. Use a wok scoop/spatula to loosen the mince while you go. When the mince is cooked, adjust the seasoning if necessary. If there is not enough juice left, add in 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce with 3 tablespoons of cold water. If the juice isn't thick enough, add in 1 teaspoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of cold water. Cook for a further minute.
• Place the beef mince on top of the fried noodles and sprinkle with pine nuts. Serve with lettuce leaves.
  
  

Braised Pork Belly with Dried Squid

Looking at this picture is enough to make me drool. When I was young, my granny would often make this, as this showcased the lovely big dried squids given by relatives who visited Hong Kong from her seaside hometown in Zhejiang. In those days, I was merely an eater happily munching piece after piece of pork belly. How much I now regret not learning this dish from my granny! To make up for my past misgivings and to satisfy my greedy appetite, I recreate this dish with the help of my mom over the phone.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1. 900g pork belly
2. 2 dried squid
3. 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
4. a knob of ginger, about 40g, cut into thick slices
5. 2 spring onion, sliced
6. 3 tablespoons light soy
7. 2 tablespoons dark soy
8. 3 tablespoons rock sugar pieces
9. 80ml shaoxing wine
10. 1 star anise

Method:

• Soak the dried squid in some cold water for about an hour or until soft. Remove the membrane and the hard bone of the squid and cut into thick strips.
• Put the whole piece of pork belly in a large pan of water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes so that the impurities will surface on the water. Lift out and rinse off the scum sticking to the pork belly in cold water. Cut the pork belly into 2cm dices.
• Heat a cast iron casserole or wok with 2 tablespoon of oil. Add spring onion and ginger and stir until you can smell the fragrance of the spring onion and ginger.
• Add the dried squid strips and pork belly pieces to the casserole/wok and stir-fry until the sides of pork belly pieces are slightly golden. Add in light soy, dark soy, rock sugar and star anise and toss until the rock sugar has melted. Add shaoxing wine into the pan and stir for a minute.
• Finally, add in about 200ml of water. Close the lid and let it simmer for about 1 1/2 hour. You may need to check from time to time and add more water if the cooking liquid evaporates. Taste to see if you need any salt.
  

Chao Zhou Style Oyster Omelette

Having dined out and, more often than not, get disappointed with the quality of food in Chinese restuarants, it comes as no surprise that I had started to replicate restaurant food at home. Traditionally, Chao Zhou Style Oyster Omelette uses small oysters, yam flour and duck eggs. I could easily get hold of duck eggs in Costco, but I couldn't find yam flour, so I make do with topioca starch, which I think has a similar texture. I could find frozen small oysters in Chinese supermarkets for £9 a pack but the fishmonger counter is selling big fat juicy live oysters at a mere 60p per piece... It's a no brainer and I happily bought 10 fresh oysters for this omelette.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1. 10 oysters
2. 2 tablespoons oyster juice
3. 2 duck eggs
4. 1 1/2 tablespoon tapioca starch
5. 2 tablespoons chopped spring onion
6. 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
7. 1 teaspoon fish sauce, plus more to serve as dipping sauce
8. 2 tablespoons chopped coriander, a handful more to garnish
9. 2 tablespoons oil

Method:

• Open the oysters with an oyster knife. Take out the oyster meat carefully and retain the juice in a bowl. Use a spoon to carefully measure out 2 tablespoons of the oyster juice, making sure any grit is left behind. Cut each oyster in half.
• In another bowl, use the oyster juice to dissolve the tapioca starch.
• Beat the duck eggs lightly, and add to the oyster juice starch mixture. Season with fish sauce and white pepper. Add spring onion, chopped coriander and oyster pieces and mix lightly.
• On a high heat, heat up 2 tablespoons of oil in a round frying pan. When the oil is hot, add the omelette mixture. If necessary, use a wooden spoon to scatter the oyster pieces evenly. Let it cook until the edges are brown, then carefully flip the omelette to cook the other side. (If you are afraid of flipping the omelette, slid the omelette to a plate first. Then use one hand to turn over the pan (which is now empty) to cover the plate, then quickly flip the plate using another hand, so that the uncooked side will face downwards in the pan).
• Remove the omelette from the pan carefully, then garnish the omelette with chopped coriander leaves. Serve with fish sauce for dipping.

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.

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.
  

Hong Kong Rice Hot Pot with Chinese Preserved Meats

I have been trying to make Hong Kong Rice Hot Pot ('Po Chai Fan') for so long. Y and I are fond lovers of Po Chai Fan: crispy rice crust at the bottom, sweet soy sauce, rice doused with the fragrant oil of preserved meat... Perfect for a substantial warming meal in winter. After doing some extensive online research, I realised the best utensil to make Po Chai Fan is in fact a cast iron pot. It makes sense to me because cast iron distributes heat fast and evenly, which is conducive to the forming of crispy rice crust at the bottom. So I took out my small Le Creuset 18cm casserole to make Po Chai Fan and the rest is history...

Oh...and from now on, I will have to ask Y 'what's your fourth favourite food?'...

Serves 3

Ingredients:

For the rice

1. 300g Jasmine rice
2. 2 Chinese sausages ('lap cheong')
3. 1 Chinese preserved meat ('lap yuk')
4. A few drops of oil

For the soy sauce

1. 2 garlic cloves
2. 2 tablespoons oil
3. 100ml water
4. 60ml light soy sauce
5. 30ml dark soy sauce
6. 20g rock sugar

Method:

• Put the Chinese sausage and preserved meat into a pan of cold water and bring it to the boil. Drain the water and wash the Chinese sausage and preserved meat under cold water tap. Cut each Chinese sausage into 4 pieces and slice the preserved meat.
• Rinse the rice and put the rice and water into the casserole. The rice and water ratio should be about 1: 1 1/4 (use your normal rice to water ratio, as different rice has different absorption rate). Turn on medium heat, close the lid and let the water comes to a boil. Lift the lid to check in about 3-4 minutes' time. Once it comes to a boil, lower the heat immediately and cook for a further 2 minutes.
• Lift the lid, you shall see the 'holes' in the rice, and the rice should now be level with the water. Add Chinese sausage and preserved meat, taking care to insert the Chinese sausage pieces into the rice vertically, so that any juices oozing from the sausage can infuse the rice.
• Close the lid and turn up to medium heat and cook for 3 minutes. Open the lid and use a spoon to add a few drops of oil to the rims of the pot, which helps to create the crispy crust. Turn down the heat to the lowest setting immediately, close the lid and cook for a further 20-5 minutes.
• In the meantime, make the sweet soy sauce by finely chopping the garlic and frying the garlic in the oil until golden, then take out the garlic while reserving the oil in the pan. On low heat, add to the pan light soy, dark soy, water and rock sugar until the rock sugar is fully dissolved.
• When the rice is ready, turn off the heat, pour 2 tablespoons of the prepared soy sauce into the rice, close the lid and let it rest for 2 minutes. Serve with more soy sauce if you like.

Gold n Silver Eggs with Spinach

To Y

Once in a month, I will initiate a conversation like this:

I: Hey Y, out of the many dishes that I have cooked, which ones do you like most?

(As you can see, with Y being my only 'customer', it seems only natural to gauge his view regularly to ensure customer satisfaction)

Y (trying to look sincere): I like all of them.

(The safest answer but also the dullest answer.)

I: Ok... but if you can only choose one dish, what would you choose?

Y (thinking seriously): um... (pausing 5 seconds)... Golden prawns (i.e. prawns with salted egg yolks)

I: If you can choose a second dish, what would you choose?

Y (very quickly this time): Gold and silver eggs with spinach...

So there you go, no matter how many new things that you have cooked, and no matter how successful you thought you were in the new ventures, his most favourite dishes remain Golden Prawns and Gold n Silver Eggs with Spinach...

Next time, I think I would ask: 'What's your third favourite dish?'

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1. 250g spinach
2. 2 cloves of garlic
3. 100ml chicken stock/vegetable stock
4. 2 tablespoons groundnut oil
5. 2 salted eggs
6. 1 preserved egg (i.e. Thousand year egg)

Method:

• In a pot with some water, put in the salted eggs and boil for 10 minutes. Then turn off the heat and leave them for a further 10 minutes. Drain and shell the eggs.
• Shell the preserved egg. Cut both the salted eggs and the preserved eggs into dices.
• Wash the spinach thoroughly and drain to dry.
• Use a wok and turn on high heat. When it is hot, add the groundnut oil and put in the garlic. Turn the garlic cloves around until they are golden colour. Take the garlic cloves out for a moment.
• There should still some oil in the wok. Add the spinach. Stir fry them quickly until they have almost wilted.
• Add in stock, diced egg yolks and the golden garlic cloves. Taste to season: you may want to add some salt and sugar.
• When it comes to the boil, cook for a further 2 minutes. If you want a thicker sauce, add in a teaspoon of cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons of cold water, and the sauce will thicken as it boils. Serve.

Steamed Minced Prawns and Tofu

Tofu is my favourite fridge standby ingredients. In Britain, the best tofu we could get is this silk tofu which can be found at the chilled cabinet in Asian supermarkets. Because of its silky soft texture, steaming is the best way to retain its shape. Y's father has a killer recipe for steamed tofu, using garlic, dried prawns and dried scallops. He had taught me how to make it, but mine never turned out to be as good as his. I guess it takes lots of 'trial and error' and I will persist. But until I have cracked it, it would not do him justice to post it here. =p So in the interim, here is a simple steamed tofu, with different ingredients, which I hope you will enjoy...

Ingredients

1. 300g silk tofu/silken tofu/soft tofu (I got it from See Woo, 'Unicurd' brand silken tofu)
2. 100g raw prawns
3. 1/4 teaspoon salt
4. 1/2 teaspoon cornflour, plus extra as glue for the minced prawn
5. a pinch of white pepper
6. 2 tablespoons oil
7. 2 tabelspoons soy sauce
8. a few sprigs of coriander (or spring onion), as garnish

Method

• Shell and devein the raw prawns. Take out a large knife (a Chinese cleaver is ideal), use the sides of the blade to mash the prawns on the chopping board. If the prawns are large, cut it to pieces first.
• Now you have the prawn pieces all mushed up. Gather the mushed prawn pieces together and use the knife to chop the mushed prawns for about 1 minute.
• Then, put the minced prawns into a large bowl and add white pepper, cornflour and salt and use a pair of chopsticks to stir thoroughly. It is important to stir in only one direction. As you stir, you will notice the mince is becoming sticky.
• Then comes the fun part. Use one of your hands to hold the bowl while the other hand grab all the mince away from the bowl. Then release your fingers to throw the mince back to the bowl. Grab and throw for 15 times. This helps to bring out the elasticity of the mince. But don't 'grab and throw' for too many times, otherwise the mince will become too elastic, making it rubbery.
• Put the minced prawns into the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour.
• Depending on how you want to serve the tofu, you may want to cut up the tofu into thick slices. But silken tofu is very fragile and you are very likely to end up with broken tofu pieces, so I just serve it whole.
• Sprinkle some cornflour on the tofu and gently put the prawn mince on top. Cornflour will glue the minced prawns to the tofu. Use a spoon to level the mince so that it cooks evenly.
• Steam for 8-12 minutes (depending on the thickness of your prawn mince). In the meantime, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a small pan until smoking.
• When the tofu is ready, pour the smoking hot oil on the tofu. Add soy sauce and garnish with coriander/spring onion. Serve.

Golden Prawns

To Y who dubbed this as his no.1 favourite dish

The person who invented this dish is a genius - there is no higher cholesterol food than this (LOL!) But yet, the tastiness of this far surpasses any fear for the cholesterol level, and let's be frank, we are not having this every week or even every month, so I don't think it's gonna harm our health as such.

Ingredients:

1. 4 very big king prawns
2. 3 salted duck egg yolks
3. 1 tablespoon xiaoshing wine
4. 1 teaspoon salt plus more for washing the prawns
5. 2 + 2 tablespoons oil
6. Chopped coriander/spring onion, to garnish

Method:

• Separate 3 salted duck eggs into whites and yolks. Place the yolks on a shallow dish and steam for about 15 minutes or until fully cooked. Mash the yolks with a fork and leave to cool. The whites can be used in other dishes or add to Chinese soups to enhance flavour.
• Devein and trim the prawns while keeping the shells intact. Put the prawns under running tap while take some salt in your hand to 'wash' the prawns. Drain and put in a dish. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt to marinate the prawns for 10 minutes.
• In a hot wok/frying pan, use 2 tablespoons of oil to fry the prawns until they are 80% cooked. Take out the prawns and clean the wok/frying pan.
• Again, heat up the wok/frying pan and put in 2 tablespoons of oil. Add in the mashed yolks and use a spatula to stir diligently. When the mashed yolks are foaming, add in the prawns and stir for about 1 minute. Then, add wine (pour it around the rim of the wok/frying pan) and stir for another 1 minute. Plate up and garnish with coriander/spring onion.
  

Drunken Chicken

As I have said before, my granny made good food and one of her specialties was Drunken Chicken. This was one of the very few recipes that had been passed on to her daughter-in-law, i.e. my mother. I love the Drunken Chicken they made, but it was probably too alcoholic for others liking (the chicken is fully submerged in shaoxing wine for a few days). Therefore, I resorted to Annie Leong’s book again and this is allegedly Mrs. Tsang’s (the wife of Donald Tsang, HK’s Chief Executive) recipe. I mostly followed her recipe except that I didn’t use chicken stock; I used the water coming out from steaming the chicken instead (this to me is fresh chicken stock). The most challenging part of this dish is that you have to chop up the whole chicken into tidy pieces when serving!

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1. 1 Chicken (about 1.5kg, preferably free range or organic)
2. 2 ginger slices
3. 2 spring onion
4. 2 tablespoons salt
5. 1 tablespoon shaoxing wine
6. 600ml shaoxing wine
7. 700ml iced water
8. 3 tablespoons fish sauce
9. 1 tablespoon sugar
10. 1 tablespoon salt
11. 2 disposable ice cube bags (or ice cube trays)

Method:

• Clean the chicken and use kitchen towels to wipe dry inside out.
• Place the ginger and spring onion into the carcass (items 2-3).
• Pat the chicken with salt and shaoxing wine (items 4-5). Place in a deep dish and cover with clingfilm. Place in the fridge for 1 day.
• Fill 2 disposable ice cube bags/ ice cube trays with tap water and put them in the freezer overnight.
• The next day, make the soaking wine by placing shaoxing wine, iced water, fish sauce, sugar and salt in a large bowl (items 6-10). Place the soaking wine in the freezer for at least 3 hours until they are half frozen.
• Place the chicken (with the deep dish) in a steamer and steam for 45 minutes using high heat.
• When the chicken is cooked, take out the chicken quickly and put it in the bowl of half-frozen soaking wine sauce.
• In the meantime, pour out the water coming out from the chicken in the deep dish into a clean bowl. Quicky dip into the bowl the 2 ice-cube bags (There is no need to break open the bags. If using ice-cube trays, place the ice cubes in a plastic bag and tie). This is to immediately cool down the chicken water.
• When the chicken water is cool, pour them to join the chicken and the soaking wine.
• By this time, the chicken should have already cooled down. Gently take it out and cut them into half.
• Put the chicken back to the soaking wine for at least 1 day in the fridge.
• Chop them into pieces. Serve with some soaking wine.

Chinese Style Steak

To the beefeaters

In Chinese cooking, beef is often treated with bicarbonate of soda as tenderiser. This, according to many food critics, is a bad practice and should be banned because it alters the texture of the meat. Strangely as it sounds, I actually quite like the texture of tenderised beef in Chinese cooking! Put it in another way, no one would love rough textured beef slices that are barely chewable, right? You may then ask, why don't you use wagu beef or angus beef then? it will be tender and juicy without needing any tenderiser. Well yes, but if I have a piece of wagu beef or angus beef, I would simply sear it on the sides, season with salt and pepper (perhaps a dash of brandy while frying) and eat. I would not have it the Chinese way and put it in a stir fry coz I feel this isn't well use of the excellent quality beef.

I was over the moon when I read the Rice with Silky Egg and Beef recipe in Annie Leong's book. She includes a secret method of marinating beef from a well known chef. Ever since, I have adapted this method for all my Chinese beef dishes...

Serves 3

Ingredients:

1. 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
2. 1/2 teaspoon sugar
3. 1 teaspoon shaoxing wine
4. 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
5. 120ml water
6. 1 egg
7. 2 teaspoons cornstarch
8. 2 tablespoons oil
9. 300g rib eye beef
10. 1 medium sized white onion
11. 2 tablespoons oil
12. 1 tablespoon Worcester Sauce
13. 3 tablespoons ketchup
14. 1 tablespoon white vinegar
15. 2 tablespons sugar
16. 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
17. 2 tablespoons water

Method:

• Slice the beef thinly. The beef will absorb the marinade better if the beef is frozen and then half-thawed.
• Place the beef into a bowl and add soy sauce, sugar, shaoxing wine and bicarb of soda (item 1-4). Use a pair of chopsticks to stir the beef briskly in one direction for 3 minutes. You can see the beef slices start sticking to each other.
• Add in the water (item 5), little by little, and continue to stir until the beef slices absorbs all the water.
• Add in the egg and stir again for 3 minutes.
• Add in the cornstarch (item 7) and stir. Then also add in the oil (item 8) to coat the beef slices.
• Cover the bowl in clingfilm and put it back to the fridge to marinate for at least 24 hours.
• When ready to cook, cut the onion (item 10) into big slices.
• Prepare the sauce in a small bowl by mixing Worcester sauce, ketchup, vinegar and sugar (items 12-15) together.
• Turn on high heat to heat the wok until it is smoking.
• Pour in the oil (item 11) and toss the onion until slightly golden in colour.
• Take out the onion.
• In the same wok, put in the beef slices and toss until the beef slices are 70% done. Take out the beef slices.
• Then put in the sauce and the onion back to the wok and toss for about 1 minute. Taste and adjust the sauce accordingly.
• Put the beef slices back to the wok and toss until the beef is fully cooked.
• If you feel that the sauce isn't thick enough, dissolve the cornstarch (item 16) with cold water (item 17) and put into the wok to thicken the sauce.

Grandma's Pork Chop

To my Granny in heaven

Last Wednesday was my granny's birthday. Although she has been in heaven for more than 4 years now, I still have vivid memories of her. People often say 'the responsibility of parents is to teach; the responsibility of grannies is to spoil'. How true. My granny had spoilt me in numerous ways, many of which were to do with her food. She was a superb cook and her specialities were too many to name... drunken chicken, smoked fish, Shanghai style wonton and black sesame sweet dumplings... If only I had picked up some cooking skills from her...

My father especially like my granny's pork chop, which was a regular on our dinner table. This recipe may not appeal to some, as it is so simply cooked with soy sauce. But the smell of it is so comforting and reminds me of nothing but home.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1. 2 pork chop
2. 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
3. 2 tablespoon light soy sauce
4. 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
5. 1 teaspoon shaoxing wine
6. 1 tablespoon egg white
7. 2 teaspoon cornstarch
8. 100 ml water
9. 1 tablespoon oil
10. 2 garlic cloves
11. 1 spring onion, chopped roughly

Method:

• Use the back of the Chinese cleaver/meat hammer to pound the pork chop for at least 1 minute each side.
• Then in a bowl, place the pork chops with dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, sugar and shaoxing wine. Flip the sides of the pork chop to absorb the sauce. Next, add in water. Use a chopstick to stir the pork chops in the bowl so that they start absorbing water.
• Add in the egg white, again stir well with pork chops.
• Then, add the cornflour to coat the meat.
• Lastly, add oil and cover the pork chop in the fridge to marinate for at least 3 hours. Better still, leave them overnight.
• When ready to cook, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok in high heat and toss garlic and spring onion for 1 minute.
• Put in the pork chops to the wok, retain the marinades.
• Cook each side for about 5 minutes. When each side is browned, add in some water to ensure the meat is cooked through.
• When the pork chops are cooked, add in the marinade to the wok and bring to a boil. Serve.

Honey Lemon Chicken Wings

To Jie Jie

The 3 years living under the same roof with Jie Jie was definitely one of the highlights of my uni life at HKU. We hit it off with each other since day 1 when we both rented rooms in the same flat in an old and dilapidated 'tong lau' in Barbington Path. After 1 year, the two of us moved out and rented a 2 room flat in Pokfulam Road, just opposite to the Main Building in HKU... We hardly cooked in those days, but Jie Jie loved chicken wings so she always had a pack of frozen chicken wings to standby. She cooked it simply by adding soy sauce and microwaving them for 10 minutes. Simple but delicious...

This recipe is finger-lickingly good and I hope Jie Jie would love this as much as I do. It was Auntie 9's recipe; the first time I ate it, I wolfed down 6 pieces before dinner. Since it was one of the dishes for dinner and I had emptied half of the plate, Aunty 9 had to make another batch for dinner!

Serves 4

Ingredients

Marinades

1. 1 teaspoon sugar
2. 1 teaspoon salt
3. 2 teaspoon soy sauce
4. 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
5. 2 teaspoon shaoxing wine
6. 1 teaspoon sesame oil
7. 2 teaspoon cornflour
8. 1 tablespoon oil

1. 10 whole chicken wings, jointed
2. vegetable oil
3. self-raising flour
4. 1 clove of garlic, sliced
5. 1 spring onion, chopped
6. Sesame oil
7. 2 teaspoons lemon juice
8. 1 tablespoon soy sauce
9. 3 tablespoons honey
10. lemon slices for garnish

Method:

• Marinade chicken wings for at least 1 hour.
• Heat wok and fill the wok with oil until half full. Test the oil with a chopstick: stick it into the oil, the oil is ready when bubbles come up from the chopstick.
• Coat chicken wings with self-raising flour. Place them carefully in the oil and fry until golden brown. Use a cocktail stick to test if the wings are cooked.
• Take out the chicken wings to drain on a kitchen towel.
• Drain the oil and reserve only 1 tablespoon of oil in the wok. Turn on high heat and toss garlic and spring onion for 1 minute. Then add lemon juice, honey, soy sauce and sesame oil. Taste and adjust the sauce if necessary.
• Pour the sauce on the chicken wings and garnish with lemon pieces and serve.

Steamed scallops with garlic and cellophane noodles

To Rita

Yesterday was Rita’s birthday. We have known each other since Form 1 (no I am not going to give away the number of years I have come to know her =p) and we have a tradition of giving each other a bottle of perfume for birthday (though we did deviate from this tradition a number of times). This year, I am keeping our tradition and have sent her a bottle of perfume, again from Penhaligon’s. When I called her yesterday, she was rushing home to have her ‘birthday fish’ (she rejected her mom’s offer to buy her a birthday cake)! Haha great minds think alike – our birthday cravings are seafood and more seafood! So without further ado, this is my recipe for simple steamed scallops with garlic and cellophane noodles. Rita, come to London and claim your birthday scallops! =)

Serves 3 as a starter

Ingredients

1. 6 Scallops (with shell)
2. 1 bulb of garlic
3. 3 tablespoon of oil
4. 1 teaspoon of sugar
5. 1 teaspoon of salt
6. 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
7. 1 small handful of cellophane noodles
8. Spring onions to garnish

Method

• To prepare the scallops, run a blunt knife to twist and open the shell a little; then cut across the flat side of the shell to release the flesh. Remove the flat side of the shell; the scallop should still be sticking to the other side of the shell. Remove the skirt and all the black bits and retain the coral and the scallop meat.
• Chop garlic finely (or use a food processor to whiz).
• In a small pan, turn on medium heat and cook 2/3 of the chopped garlic with 3 tablespoons of oil. Let it cook until the garlic pieces turn golden brown. Add sugar and salt to taste.
• Remove from the heat and add in 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. Add in the remaining 1/3 of the garlic and mix well. (In Chinese, we call it ‘gold and silver garlic pieces’, i.e. a mixture of cooked and raw garlic.)
• Use boiling water to run through the cellophane noodles to make it softer.
• Spoon some garlic mixture on each scallop and put on some cellophane noodles.
• Steam for 6 minutes, or longer until cooked.
• Add finely chopped spring onions to garnish. Serve.
  

Stir Fry Crab with Ginger and Spring Onion

To Dad

A long long time ago, when my granny was in charge of the domestic kitchen, crabs were reserved for special occasions such as birthdays. I could still remember my anxious anticipation on my birthday, not for birthday pressies, not for birthday cake, but for crabs on the dinner table! I am sure my father would understand my sense of anticipation because he is a keen crab eater too!

Here in the UK, crabs are relatively cheap but they are often sold dressed. We can get hold of live ones in Chinese supermarkets, but they won't prepare the crab for you. So we are left with live crabs (sometimes excessively active with their claws moving around)...you can imagine the difficulty I had in 'humanely' dismantling the crab.

This dish was taught by Uncle 9, Y's father and is a great example to demonstrate his talents in cooking and his generosity in sharing his cooking tips with me.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1. 2 big crabs
2. 3 spring onions
3. 10 slices of ginger
4. 1/2 onion
5. potato starch
6. 2 cloves of garlic
7. 3 tablespoons brandy
8. 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
9. salt
10. sugar
11. soy sauce
12. oil
13. water

Method

• Carefully send the crabs to eternity and chop them into big pieces. Use kitchen towel to pat dry.
• Slice the onion and ginger and chop the spring onions roughly.
• Then, fill the wok with oil halfway up and heat up the oil. Dip a chopstick in the oil. Air bubbles will surround the chopstick when the oil is hot enough.
• In the meantime, use potato starch to coat all crab pieces.
• Gently put the crab pieces into the wok and fry until golden brown.
• Take out the crab pieces and put on kitchen towel to absorb off excess oil.
• Drain the oil from the wok very carefully and clean it thoroughly.
• Heat the wok over a high heat.
• Add 2 tablespoons of oil and then add in onion, garlic, ginger and spring onion. Toss well.
• When you can smell the aromatics, put in the crab pieces. Toss well for 2 minutes (mind you, this requires lots of elbow grease.)
• Add salt, sugar and soy sauce to taste.
• Put in about 100ml of water into the wok. Put on the lid and cook for 2 minutes.
• Finally, pour in the brandy and oyster sauce and let them evaporate a bit. If there is little sauce, you may want to add some more water. Toss for 1 minute.
• Finally add potato starch water (2 tablespoons of cold water with 1 teaspoon of potato starch) to thicken the sauce and let the sauce come to the boil. Serve immediately.