A Fiery CNY Eve Lunch!

A very Happy Fiery Monkey Chinese New Year to all my Chinese fellow bloggers and readers.

Here was what we had for our reunion meal.

Steamed fish.

Thermomix stir-fried choy sum with carrots and prawns.

Steamed beancurd with minced pork (Yong Tau Foo).

Curry potato and pork.

Steamed okra with minced pork (Yong Tau Foo).

Steamed bittergourd with minced pork (Yong Tau Foo).

Double boiled bone broth with lotus root.

Steamed chicken.

And brownies for dessert! 

Thermomix Stir-Fried Bitter Gourd Chicken

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 garlic clove
2. 2 chicken breasts (cut into strips and seasoned with sea-salt)
3. 1/2 bitter gourd (cut into thin slices)
4. Sunflower oil
5. Sea-salt

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1. Place garlic into TMX jug.

2. Set to 5seconds/Reverse/Speed 5. Remove all the garlic skin.

3. Scrape the wall with the spatula.

4. Add some oil.

5. Set 5minutes/Varoma/Reverse/Spoon. Remove MC.

6. Add the chicken and bitter gourd.

7. Set 10minutes/Varoma/Reverse/Spoon. Replace MC. (Add a dash of sea-salt to the dish halfway through the hole in the lid. Remember to replace the MC.)

8. Serve hot with steaming rice.

Bon appétit!

Claypot Bittergourd Chicken

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium-sized bitter gourd (washed thoroughly and cut into small chunks)
2. 1 antibiotic-free/free-range chicken (cut into 10 parts)
3. Sea-salt
4. Sunflower oil
5. 1/2 clove of garlic (outer layer removed)
6. 2 tablespoons of Tamari sauce
7. 1 1/2 cup of chicken broth

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1. Heat a clay pot on medium high.

2. Drizzle some sunflower oil once the clay pot is heated up.

3. Add the garlic and stir-fry until slightly browned and a wonderful garlic aroma wafts through the air.

4. Add the bitter gourd, chicken, chicken broth, Tamari sauce and sea-salt and bring the dish to a boil.

5. Change the heat to low-heat.

6. Simmer for about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes.

7. Serve hot with rice.

Bon appétit!

Bitter Gourd & Mushroom Egg

Ingredients:

1. 8 large free-range chicken eggs (beaten)
2. 1/4 of a bitter gourd (washed and sliced thinly)
3. 6 fresh shitake mushrooms (sliced thinly)
4. Sea-salt
5. Sunflower oil

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1. Mix all ingredients above in a large mixing bowl.

2. Heat up a wok on high heat.

3. Turn to medium heat and pour the wet mixture into the wok.

4. Stir fry until eggs are browned and fragrant.

5. Scoop up onto serving dish.

6. Serve with hot rice.

Bon appétit!

Christmas 2014 (Part Five): The Feast!

From top (clockwise):

Salted, butter giant prawns, The Feast, baked butter corn, stir fried broccoli with carrots and baby corn, fu chok and bitter gourd chicken soup, the prawns, baked potatoes, char siew pork, Empress chicken & turkey (which was bought).

I didn't have any turkey.

Bitter Gourd & Bean Curd Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

1. 1 packet of bean curd skin (fu chok) (There are two types of fu chok. One is for chicken soup/stew. The other is for sweet desserts.) (Washed and broke into smaller pieces)
2. 2 packets of square tofus (cut into 6 equal parts)

3. 1 whole free-range antibiotic-free chicken (skin removed and cut into 4 parts)
4. 1 large bitter gourd (filling/seeds removed and cut into 8 parts)
5. Sea-salt
6. Filtered water (approximately 10 litres)

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1. In a large pot, add the chicken, cut bitter gourd, bean curd pieces, fu chok pieces, water and sea-salt to taste.

2. Boil on high heat until it bubbles.

3. Then simmer on low heat for 2 hours.

4. You can boil some spaghetti noodles and stir-fry some bean sprouts to serve together with the soup. Break some of the softened chicken meat to add to the noodle soup. You can also boil some hard boiled eggs to serve with this soup dish.

Bon appétit!

Bitter Gourd Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium-sized whole free-range chicken (antibiotic-free) (cut into 4 parts, skin removed)
2. 1 large bitter gourd (filling and seeds removed and cut into 8 parts)
3. A handful of barley
4. Filtered water (approximately 10litres)
5. Sea-salt
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1. In a large pot, add the chicken, cut bitter gourds, water and sea-salt to taste.

2. Boil on high heat until it bubbles.

3. Then simmer on low heat for 2 hours.

4. You can boil some spaghetti noodles and stir-fry some lettuce iceberg to serve together with the soup. Break some of the softened chicken meat to add to the noodle soup.

Bon appétit!

Yong Tau Foo

The Yong Tau Foo dish is a very popular Hakka Chinese soup dish found in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Basically it is a clear consommé soup served with a variety of food items such as fish balls, crab sticks, cuttlefish, vegetables and tofu which are stuffed with fish paste (also known as surimi). The usual vegetables that are used are bitter gourd, brinjal, lady fingers, and chillies.

These are cooked briefly in boiling broth and is served in the boiled broth.

Some people eat this dish with a bowl of steamed rice or with noodles. Some people serve this in a bowl of curry sauce!

This dish is usually served with a dipping sauce. It can be a spicy, vinegary chili sauce which is made from red, fermented bean curd or hoisin sauce.

Ingredients:

1. 20 okras (large in size if possible)
2. 1 bitter gourd (cut into medallion size)
3. 2 packets of firm square tofu.

This is how the tofu looks like. Just cut it into half. 

4. 600gm of fish paste (click on LINK)

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1. Slit open the okras. Slit the half-ed tofu. (Don't slice it into half.)

2. Scoop about 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of fish paste and stuff it into the slits. It should look something like this:

3. For the remaining fish paste, I made them into fish balls.

4. For the okras, bitter gourd and tofu stuffing, I steamed them for about 20 minutes. For the fish balls I baked them at 200C for about 20 minutes.

5. Serve warm with soup and rice or noodles.

Bon appétit!

Fried Bitter Gourd, Eggs & Minced Chicken Dish

Ingredients:

1. 1 bitter gourd (de-seed and sliced into thin slices)
2. 500gm of minced chicken (marinate with sea-salt)
3. 4 large eggs (beaten)
4. Sea-salt
5. Sunflower oil

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1. Heat a wok/frying pan on high heat.

2. Pour about 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil onto the wok/frying pan.

3. On medium heat, stir fry the chicken until 90% cooked.

4. With the back of the spatula, break the minced chicken into fine pieces.

5. Add the bitter gourd and beaten eggs.

6. Season with sea-salt.

7. Keep frying and stirring until the eggs are cooked and the bitter gourds have softened.

8. Once done, scoop up on serving dish.

9. Serve warm with rice.

Bon appétit!