Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Claypot Salmon Belly 【三文鱼腩煲】


When we first came to the States, we were amazed with the price of foods here, coming from European country makes everything in the USA look so economical. We will go to Costco and bought tonnes of fruits and vegetables and meats, I will then literally cooking up a spree!

Salmon was one of our favourite purchase, I was initially very happy with the cut, it is boneless and is very easy to clean and prepare. We stopped buying from Costco shortly after, the reason is not hard to figure. The size of everything from Costco are humongous for a family of two, it started feeling more like a burden and I hate having to throw away many unused rotten vegetables.

Coming back to the salmon, I got tired of the meaty tasteless fillet, I grew up eating whole fish and enjoyed sucking on fish bones and head, we stopped buying salmon for a long time, until one day I discovered fish belly and fish bones in Hmart. I brought a packet home and managed to turn a 7 dollar box into three different dishes! How economical is that. Not to mention I thoroughly enjoyed the bones and succulent belly!

刚从欧洲搬来美国的那会儿,觉得自己简直来到了美食天堂,超市里的物价和欧洲比起来直接就是白菜。当时很爱去Costco买肉和水果,我尤其喜欢买Costco的三文鱼,切块腌制烤鱼块,做咖喱,烤鱼都很方便也卫生。

后来渐渐地就不怎么去Costco了,两口之家买Costco的东西其实是一种压力,经常吃不完丢了也浪费。而且我也开始对口口是肉的三文鱼厌倦了,吃海鲜长大的我还是喜欢吃整鱼啊!带骨带头的鱼怎么吃起来就鲜很多呢?

后来被我在Hmart发现了三文鱼骨腩,一大盒才七美刀左右,买回来居然让我给弄出三道美食,这算不算很会持家呢?(笑)。

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Vietnamese Spicy Lemongrass Chicken【越式香茅鸡】



This Vietnamese Lemongrass is a mandatory order whenever we visit our favorite Vietnamese Restaurant here in NJ. We loved it so much that I decided to recreate the sauce at home. It turned out so good and it was a instant hit at home !

Note: The original recipe was created on 2/15/2011 and was liked and followed by many bloggers.

我们家附近有一家越南餐厅做的香茅鸡特别好吃,我一直很想要自己在家做一次,找了好些食谱都觉得跟我们喜欢的有点出入。今天趁着周末,我就自己研究了一番,做出比较满意的香茅酱。

今晚的晚饭就是香茅鸡啦!老公吃了两大盘呢!

注:原食谱创作于 2011年2月15日,受到许多网友的喜爱,非常谢谢大家的支持哦!

Saturday, March 26, 2016

【吉隆坡炒福建大碌面】KL Hokkien Mee/Stir Fried Thick Noodle


这款大碌面(就是粗面条的意思)在吉隆坡是很出名的一个大排档炒面,最有名的几家都是用炭火炒的,火候特别足,味道特别香,是我很喜欢的面食之一。

前阵子不晓得为什么一直想着要吃这款炒面,而这款炒面好吃不好吃很主要的就是一定要有猪油和猪油渣,所以为了要做这个炒面,我还特别买了五花肉,熬制了一小盘的猪油渣。所以这盘面可真是不容易啊!

注:原食谱与2012年9月10日创作,味道虽然不错但汤汁带有微微的酸味,而且当时用的乌冬面在口感上也太过有嚼劲,为了解决这两个问题,我后来又试了几次,发现问题出在用的乌冬面和市售鸡汤。乌冬面做好后会有微微的酸味,市售的鸡汤作为中式食谱的高汤稍微缺乏那么一点鲜味。

后来有一天我记起在吉隆坡一个大排档吃饭时看见过炒粉的摊子里摆着一罐左口鱼粉,左口鱼不就是大地鱼么?吉隆坡是当年下南洋的广东人聚居地,很多餐厅的大厨都是广东籍人士,所以吉隆坡有名的炒面用大地鱼粉调味是绝对有可能的哦!

后来我把面条换成上海粗面条,为了让面条更爽口和消除微微的酸气,我煮面条的时候加了1/4 勺的小苏打。炒面的时候把高汤换成清水加一小勺自制的大地鱼粉,制作的时候厨房里就有了大排档特有的香气,我马上就知道,我这次猜对了哦!做好一入口,我好想大喊一声, 告诉大家:“就是这个味道啦!”

This thick noodle is particularly famous in Kuala Lumpur, known to be cooked in super high heat charcoal, used to be my favorite choice for Dai Chao (Hawker stir-fried food).

I have been craving for this noodle for sometimes, so much so that I actually went to buy pork belly to make the crispy pork lard that, in my opinion, is essential for this noodle dish.

It is not easy when you can't just pick up the car key and head out for something you like on the street!

Note: The original recipe was created on 10/9/2012, I even took the trouble to make the lard and crispy pork lard. The taste of that particular attempt was good but still lack the Umami that this noodle is supposed to have, it also has a hint of sourish taste, which is not supposed to be. 

I tried a few more times making this dish and figured that the issues was probably with the Udon noodles and the shop bought chicken stock that I used. Udon noodle is a little too chewy for this dish and gave a funny, sourish aftertaste to the dish and the shop bought chicken stock is not helpful either, there is something in the chicken stock that does not belong to Asian dishes.  

I remembered seeing a bottle of plaice powder at a hawker stall that serves KL Hokkien Mee back in Malaysia, since I have homemade plaice powder , I used it to season the sauce and used fresh thick Shanghainese noodle to make this dish, I also add 1/4 tsp of baking soda while boiling the noodle to make the noodle a little more springy and to offset any potential sourish taste in my dish.

This time the noodle tasted exactly the way it should be! Full of layers of flavors and fragrance!
Maybe when I can finally set up a high BTU stove at my backyard, I can also incorporate more "charred" flavor to my noodle, as for now, this version will do!



Friday, March 25, 2016

Braised Pork Intestine 【卤肥肠】


Using my homemade master stock, which is already more than 7 years old. I made this braised Pork Intestine, I loved pork intestines a lot, but is absolutely worry about cleaning it, it could be quite gross.


I found very clean pork intestine in asian supermarket not long ago, all I need to do before cooking a little more cleaning and it is good to go!


我家的老卤已经有接近七年的历史了,经常取出卤各种卤料,越来越醇香好吃。前几天看见亚洲超市里收拾的的很干净的大肠,买来做了这款卤肥肠,下粥真好。

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Loh Mai Gai 【糯米鸡】


This steamed sticky rice is my absolute favourite in Dim Sum place back in Malaysia. It is also a family favorite with mom making it very often at home. 

Since I can't be possibly finding the same dish at the Dim Sum place in the USA, I have to get the recipe from mom and make it at home!

这款糯米鸡是在马来西亚时去点心楼必点的,和港式的荷叶糯米鸡不同,它是装到碗里蒸熟的,味道比港式的还要厚重一些。

因为全家都很喜欢它,所以我妈也经常在家做。妈妈的食谱非常好,我要了来做了两次,让在美国点心楼吃不到这款糯米鸡的遗憾就此结束。

Gluten Free Cream of Cauliflower Soup 【花菜浓汤】



My husband N has not been well in the past two weeks, I made this gluten free soup for him yesterday with the hope that he will gain some strength. My son A had it for dinner and he liked it too!

俊爹上周做了比较大的手术,我这两周也因为他入院和手术的事情四处奔波,几近心力交瘁。这几天他出院后我倒是松了口气,除了接送孩子外,可以安心在家照顾俊爹,自己也可以多点时间休息。
他因为手术,脸部肌肉受影响没办法咀嚼食物,医院叮嘱了只能吃流质或糊状的食物,冰箱里刚好有之前买的有机菜花,晚餐加上腰果和核桃做成了这款浓汤,他虽然没胃口却也喝了半碗。晚餐也给了俊宝这款浓汤,他居然说很牙米,一锅汤给病人和小孩都补充了营养,很是不错。

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Taiwanese Spring Onion Pancake/Scallion Pancake 【葱油饼】


This Spring onion pancake was my sister in law Wen Wen's favourite when she used to live in Taiwan.

She asked for a good recipe from me, with those spring onions growing like crazy in my garden, I immediately took the task at hand!

Note: This is a revisit and fine tuned version of the original recipe posted on 5/11/2011.

我弟媳妇以前在台湾留学的时候最喜欢吃的就是这个葱油饼,回国之后很想念它。我就答应写个食谱,刚巧院子里的葱也长得很好,这个季节吃葱油饼,最好不过啦!

原食谱写于2011年5月11日。


Saturday, March 12, 2016

ABC Soup 【罗宋汤】


My son A's eating pattern changes time after time, I normally go with the flow and focusing more on creating a positive dining experience than counting what really goes into his little mouth. Over time he has developed interests with different type of foods and is more willing to try new stuff.

Since he is now handling spoon and fork well, I have started introducing more of clear soup into his diet. This ABC soup is one of the soup that he really enjoys, he likes it with some rice in it or just as it is. This soup allows me to sneak in more veggies and liquid into his meal, not to mention that I enjoy the soup as much !

我养孩子心比较大,俊宝的饮食是跟着他的心情和喜好更动的,从来不紧张也不强求,这样反而造就了他面对饮食没有压力,吃东西会很享受的性格。最近他勺子和叉子都用得很稳了,也渐渐开始对中国式的老火汤有兴趣,我就开始了浓汤进入了老火汤喂养模式,这款ABC汤营养美味,做了好几次俊宝都很喜欢,泡饭净喝他都爱。

这款汤在马来西亚有两个名字,有的人叫它罗宋汤,有的人叫它ABC汤。是一道很家常的汤品,小孩子尤其喜欢,用它泡饭特别好吃哦!

至于它的来源,我个人感觉它可能原来是山寨西餐里的罗宋汤的,后来根据当地人的口味慢慢地就变成这样的做法了。至于为什么也叫做ABC汤呢?那是因为马来西亚有一个小吃刨冰叫做ABC(Air Batu Campur), 色彩缤纷,冰凉甜腻可口。据网友说,那是因为这款汤品富含维他命A,B,C所以才叫做ABC汤的。


Thursday, March 10, 2016

【马来乡村炒饭】Nasi Goreng Kampung (Malaysian Village Style Fried Rice)


Sometime the best food that brings us right back to our memories are the simplest of all. Just like this fried rice,it is easy to prepare, and tasty to eat. The only trick is to have the right ingredients.

Malaysian out there... do you all miss this simple Nasi Goreng Kampung?

有些食物用料朴质,做法简单,可味道却特别的难忘。这个炒饭就是那样的一个食物,它不华丽,做法也可以有更多的变化,可即使在最简单的时候,它也让人觉得滋味无穷。

那些在外的马来西亚游子。你们是否还记得这一道朴质的乡村炒饭?

Monday, March 7, 2016

【素食餐包】 Eggless Ladi Pav Buns/Dinner Rolls



Many of our friends are strict vegetarians and Mumbai Pav Bhaji is one of our favourite snacks during gets together. I used to prepare this snack using the shop bought Pav/dinner rolls, until one time a bag of those Pav were left in the refrigerator and forgotten for close to a month! Long after its supposed best consumption date. 

What shocked me the most was that the Pav were still as soft and fresh as it was first brought home, as an amateur baker, I know immediately that without additives and chemical ingredients, it is almost impossible to achieve such consistency! That was the last time I brought those Pavs home.  

We hosted a farewell party for a family yesterday and I wanted to make Pav Bhaji with home made Pav/dinner rolls. Since my friends are strict vegetarian, thus the Pav has to be eggless. I started scrolling the internet 3 days before the party in search for a good vegetarian Pav recipe, to my surprise, not only there are less than handful of recipes available, the few that made its way to fame are mediocre to say the least. 

I then decided to take things in my own hands. With a lot of calculation, a long thought process and 5 hands on attempts, I created a version of Pav that not only matches my taste, it has also passed the color, texture and softness tests!

A keeper for me and you should try it too!


我们有很多茹素的朋友,平时聚餐的时候经常会做一款孟买小吃Pav Bhaji 
吃。一般我们都会用买来的餐包请客,直到有一次我买来的餐包给忘了在冰箱里,一个月后清理冰箱时取出居然还是软软的,像新鲜出炉的一样。稍有点烘焙知识的人都知道这在没有任何添加剂的情况下是完全不可能的,后来我就不再买市售的餐包了。

昨天我们替好朋友一家践行,他们是非常严谨的素食者,我在三天前就开始研究制作这个素食餐包,翻看了好多网上的素食餐包食谱都没有一个让我满意的。后来我就决定自己研究一下,三天内我一共实验了五次才做出了最满意的这款餐包。它从色泽,口感,柔软度到味道都完全地达到了我对餐包的最高要求哦!

Saturday, March 5, 2016

【孟买小吃】 Pav Bhaji (Mumbai Pav Bhaji)



Pav Bhaji就字面上来翻译直接就是蔬菜和包子一起吃的意思,是印度中部孟买一带的小食。刚到印度的时候我一直以为pav (念pao)是中国包子翻译过去的,一直很好奇到底一个中国包子的名字是怎么传到印度去的呢?

后来一位孟买的朋友解释说Pav在Marathi(印度中部语文)的意思是四分之一的意思,以前在印度面包店做的小餐包一般都是四个成一块的。因为Pav Bhaji不是正餐,是小点,所以一般卖的时候就是一个小餐包,一点蔬菜沾着吃,所以就有了四分之一餐包和蔬菜(Pav Bhaji)的叫法了。

Pav Bhaji literally means sweet bread and vegetable curry, it is a fast food dish native to Maharashtrians, it is also very famous in most of the cities in india.

A very good snack over hot tea in the afternoon!

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Cantonese Roast Pork(Siu Yuk) 【广式脆皮烧肉】


不久前好友Kit从香港来看我和宝宝,认识她这么多年,我们每次见面都在不同的国家,感谢网络,让我们这么多年来一直能保持联系。 

几天的促膝长谈之后,一天到亚洲超市买菜的时候我就说起想吃香港的脆皮烧肉。然后Kit就说,那就自己烤嘛!然后我们就开开心心的买了五花肉,第二天烤了脆皮烧肉。味道呢!

按Kit的说法,是 -- “好食到冇朋友!”

My good friend Kit came and visit us from Hong Kong last week, we spent the first few days catching up and chitchatting. It was funny that we came to realized that the last few times we met, were all in different countries -- Malaysia, Hong Kong, India and now USA. The only thing unchanged is the friendship and the way we feel for each other.

As we talked about my past visit to Hongkong, I started craving for some good roast pork, one of the day when we went for grocery shopping, we bought some pork belly and decided to make this roast pork at home!

It turned out so yummy that Kit said in Cantonese that it is "hou sek dou mou pang yao!" Taste too good to have any friends! LOL

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Green Tea Kaya Swiss Roll 【绿茶咖椰瑞士卷】


上个周末本来约了朋友们在纽约聚餐庆祝春节,我就做了几罐的焦糖咖椰 打算带给朋友们. 怎知聚餐前一晚俊爹突然头疼得厉害,第二天一早去了急诊室,所以聚餐就没去成。冰箱里倒是因此多了好几罐的咖椰,家里还有一盒俊爹给我买的有机绿茶粉,因为带糖,我喝了一次就搁在那里了。一直想着什么时候拿来做个绿茶口味的甜点。

周末无事我就做了这个绿茶咖椰卷,考虑到抹的咖椰比奶油要甜腻,口感也比奶油湿润,所以我就在瑞士卷的配方上做了点调整,做比较干爽的蛋糕体。又因为焦糖咖椰的颜色是深褐色的,我把瑞士卷的皮烤成褐色,用了皮外卷的方法,这样卷起来和咖椰的颜色内外呼应,搭配得几乎天衣无缝呢!

I made a big pot of Caramel Kaya last weekend to bring to our Chinese new year gathering in New York. My husband N started having severe headache few hours before we head out, we had to cancelled the plan and rush to the doctor, we later learnt that he was hit by sever sinus and had to take a course of antibiotic.

So that is the prelude to the many bottles of Kaya sitting in my fridge, I did though send out a few to some friends who live nearby. 

Since I also have a box of sweetened (Yucky!) organic green tea powder sitting in my pantry for a long time, I decided to make this Greentea Kaya Swiss Roll, it turned out really nice and my son A loves it!

Banana Alphabets【香蕉字母松饼 】



每次把俊宝和俊爹送出去买东西他爷儿俩铁定会给我带两梳香蕉回来,根本不顾及吃不吃得完的问题。说了好多次都没用,厨娘只好变着花样做香蕉美食了。

俊宝这阵子迷上拼字,天天拉着爸爸妈妈和老师练习拼字。我这次就给做了26个字母的松饼,他高兴得直拍手叫好,我一边煎他一边吃,吃到N的时候就饱了,一共吃了14只。平时做圆的松饼他顶多只能吃3-4只而已。下桌前还不忘了吩咐说:“妈咪,你要多做一些ABC哦!我下午还要吃!”
结果他还真的遵守承诺把剩下的字母下午茶点心的时候给吃完了。

One of the "advantages" of sending daddy and son for grocery shopping is that you ended up with too many of something and too little of others. It is quite clear that both father and son have the wrong notion of the amount of bananas we can eat in a week, they brought two bunches of bananas back and without fail are all ripen in less than a week, leaving me with tens of overripe bananas to work on!

My son A has been tirelessly playing with alphabets lately, he spent most of his time spelling and learning spelling of words. So I made this alphabets banana pancakes over the weekend to encourage A to eat more and to upkeep his learning spirit. He was thrilled and was eagerly waiting for the next alphabet even before it is done cooking!