Braised chicken wings with dried mushroom and black fungus

Our family loves chicken wings particularly just the mid joints! My regular chicken stall at the market does not sell the mid joints alone so I would usually buy it from NTUC. That day they happened to have promotion for 2 packs so I bought and braised it with mushrooms and black fungus.

Ingredients
12 mid joint wings
3 dried shiitake mushrooms
some black fungus
Ginger slices
Chopped garlic 
Spring onions (garnish)
Water

Marinate
Soy sauce
White pepper
Cornstarch
Grated ginger (optional)

Sauce
1 Tbsp Oyster sauce
1 Tbsp Dark soy sauce
Light soy sauce
Sugar 
White pepper
Sesame oil

Recipe
1. Soak the dried mushrooms and black fungus till soften. I leave it to soak about 2 hours. You may retain the water for soaking mushrooms if you want to use it for braising. Cut the mushrooms and black fungus into slices and set aside.
2. To the wings, add soy sauce, white pepper, cornstarch to marinate. You can add some grated ginger to it. Let it sit in the marinate for at least one hour. (I left it in the fridge for half a day)
3. Heat up oil in the wok, then add in the ginger slices when it is hot. Let it cook for a while then add in the chopped garlic. When it is fragrant, add in the chicken wings. Do not need to keep stirring it. Turn the wings occassionally from time to time and make sure all the wings are no longer pink. Add in the mushrooms and black fungus before giving it a stir.
4. Add in just enough water to cover the top of the wings. Add in the ingredients in the sauce. Adjust the taste with light soy sauce and sugar according to your taste. Cover the lid of the wok and cook under medium flame for 15 minutes. Check from time to time to ensure the water does not dry up too much.
5. Remove from flame and garnish with chopped spring onions before serving.

Note: You can use other chicken parts if you like.

Stir fry pork slices in honey garlic soy

I wanted to make a simple yet different sauce from our usual ginger spring onion combination. This sauce is really easy and you can always adjust the sweetness/saltiness to your liking. A dash of black pepper makes it extra yummy. I have steamed some broccoli to garnish the plate. A healthy combination of vegetables and meat for weekday dinner. :)

Ingredients

Pork tenderloin

Minced garlic 

Sesame seeds  

Black pepper

Marinate

Soy sauce 

Sesame oil 

Cornstarch 

Sauce

1 Tbsp honey 

2 Tbsp Soy sauce 

2 Tbsp Chinese cooking wine 

Recipe

1. Cut the pork tenderloin into thin slices and marinate using the seasonings stated.

2.  Heat oil in the wok and add in minced garlic. 

3. Stir fry till fragrant then add in the pork slices. 

4. Cook till the meat is no longer pink then add in the sauce. 

5. Stir fry for a while, add a dash of black pepper and it is done. 

Note: Make sure the meat is cooked before you pour in the sauce so that you do not undercook the meat. Also need to make sure you do not cook for too long else the meat might be dry.

Stir fry spinach with bunashimeiji mushrooms

My usual cooking routine at home consists of a soup and two dishes and I will make sure that we will have one vegetable dish. This is very important as I always feel that when we eat out, we do not take in enough vegetables. But I don't really like to eat fibrous vegetable or vegetable stems. Yup I am a picky eater when it comes to vegetables. So my usual vegetable choices are broccoli, baby spinach (hoi chai), shanghai green or japanese green. Recently I discovered spinach is not bad too! When I am feeling lazy, I would just blanch it. But on other days, doing stir fry is great. :) 

Ingredients
Spinach
Bunashimeiji mushrooms
Garlic slices
Chicken stock powder
Sugar
Soy sauce
Sesame oil 

Recipe
1. Heat the oil in the wok and add the garlic slices.
2. Stir fry till fragrant, then add in the spinach.
3. Stir fry at high heat till the spinach has wilted. Add in some water, chicken stock powder, sugar.
4. Let it cook for a while before seasoning with soy sauce and sesame oil. It is done!

Note: Usually I do not add sugar to vegetables but I find stir frying spinach sometimes has a bitter taste so adding sugar helps for me.

Steamed silken tofu with minced meat sauce

One of my usual dishes is steamed minced meat on egg tofu. Yesterday I tried to steam silken tofu instead of egg tofu and make a minced meat sauce to go with it. My son loves it a lot. I guess for children, you can never go wrong with minced meat and tofu. :) For below recipe, you need to do steaming and stir fry separately. If you prefer just stir fry alone, you can try this minced meat tofu with sauce.

Ingredients
Minced meat (approx 100~120g)
1 box of silken tofu
1 stalk of spring onion
1 clove garlic
Cornstarch solution 

Marinate
sesame oil
white pepper
soy sauce 

Sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
water (approx 1 small bowl) 
sugar

Recipe
1. Marinate the minced meat with the seasonings stated in marinate. Minced the garlic and set aside. Cut the spring onion and separate the white part from the green part. Chop the white parts finely and set aside. Chop the green parts finely and set aside for garnish later.
2. Cut the silken tofu and put it on a deep steaming plate. Steam it for 5 minutes then set aside. (I am using electrical steamer so I will go on to prepare the sauce at the stove)
3. Prepare the seasonings stated in sauce in a bowl except sugar.
4. Heat up oil in the wok and stir fry the minced garlic till fragrant. Add in the chopped white parts of spring onions. Let it cook for a while then add the minced meat. (Note: Do not need to keep stirring the meat with the spatula at this point. Allow some time for the meat to cook through and it will break easily when you stir then)
5. Add in the sauce and let it boil before turning to low fire. Adjust the taste with sugar. You can add a dash of white pepper if you like. Thicken the sauce with cornstarch solution.
6. Pour the meat sauce over the silken tofu and garnish with the chopped green spring onions. (Reason for using deep steaming plate is because I don't want to transfer the silken tofu to another plate for fear of breaking it.)

Steamed cod in garlic black bean sauce

I bought a bottle of garlic black bean sauce thinking how convenient it is to just put the sauce as it is without adding other seasoning. But it did not taste like how I would like it to be (just tasted very salty.. >_<) and so the bottle of garlic black bean sauce was quietly put aside in my fridge until I saw it again during my recent fridge clean-up. Decided to try and use the sauce again and this time it tasted so much better.

Ingredient
Cod fish (or other white fish)
Ginger slices
Chopped spring onions
Chopped garlic
Cornstarch solution 

Marinate
White pepper
Soy sauce
Chinese cooking wine

Sauce
1 tsp garlic black bean sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
Some water (approx half a small bowl)
Sugar (approx 1/2 tsp)

Recipe
1. Marinate the fish with the seasonings stated in marinate and let it sit for 5 minutes.
2. Put ginger slices on the fish and steam it together with the marinate until cooked. Mine took about 12 minutes on electrical steamer.
3. While steaming the fish, fry some garlic in the saucepan until fragrant. Add in the seasonings stated in sauce except sugar. Let it come to a boil and add sugar to adjust the taste.
4. Thicken the sauce with cornstarch solution. You may skip if you prefer it to be watery consistency.
5. Remove the steamed fish and place it on a deep serving dish. Pour away the steaming liquid. Now pour the sauce over the fish and garnish with chopped spring onions.

Stir fry cabbage with mushrooms and black fungus

Marketing can be challenging when cooking for a small family. Like when I buy a cabbage, I probably have to cook it twice in the same week. That day I bought one to make chicken soup on one day, the other half cabbage was sitting in the fridge so I wanted to make something like chap chye but a simpler version with all the possible ingredients I have at home. This is another time saving dish because it allows me to do some quick washing up when the vegetable is cooking.

Ingredients
Half a cabbage (cut into chunks)
5 small dried shiitake mushrooms
Some dried black fungus
Sliced carrot
Sliced ginger
Chopped garlic

Sauce
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp tau cheo
White pepper
Sugar to taste 
Some water

Recipe
1. Soak the mushrooms and black fungus till soft. Remove the stems from mushrooms and cut the mushrooms into strips. For the black fungus, remove the thick part and cut them into pieces. Retain the liquid for soaking mushrooms.
2. Heat the oil in the wok and stir fry the sliced ginger for a while before adding in the chopped garlic. Stir fry till fragrant then add in sliced carrot and mushroom strips. Let it cook for a while then add in the cabbage and black fungus. Pour in the liquid for soaking mushrooms.
3. Add the oyster sauce and tau cheo and stir fry it. Add a dash of white pepper and some water so that the cabbage is almost covered. Put on the lid and let it cook for at least 10 minutes till the cabbage has softened.
4. Do a taste test and adjust the taste accordingly with sugar. Transfer to serving plate and it is done.

Sliced bread with strawberry and spread

Ever since I left my full time work last June, I suddenly took on the additional task of preparing breakfast at home. My boy used to go childcare for breakfast and my husband will buy his own breakfast but now I am the one preparing for them. So I thought it will be a good idea to share some of the breakfast that I made.

 Cream cheese spread with strawberries 

Peanut butter spread with strawberries 

Personally I love the bread with cream cheese spread. I like to add cut strawberries in the bread. Sometimes strawberries are sour and nobody at home likes to eat as a whole. But when it is cut and put in bread, the sour tangy taste goes well with the bread and spread. :) Yeah, for the little boy, he loves to eat peanut butter with bread. Putting fruits in breakfast makes it healthy!

Steamed cod in soy sauce

It has been a long while since I last cooked cod. Bought some frozen cod before the Chinese new year but I didn't have much chance to cook until recently. This is a very simple and easy recipe yet my family loves it. To me, as long as I have fried ginger strips, everything is nice. :)

Ingredients
Cod fish
Ginger
Spring onions

Marinate
Soy sauce
White pepper
Chinese cooking wine

Sauce
~1 tbsp Soy sauce
~ 1 tsp Sugar
A few tbsp of water

Recipe
1. Marinate the cod fish with some soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine and dash of white pepper for at least 5 minutes. Layer the steam dish with some sliced ginger, put the fish on top and cover with some more sliced ginger.
2. Steam the cod until it is fully cooked. I am using an electrical steamer and it takes me approximately 12-15 minutes depending on the cut. (I do not preheat the steamer)
3. While the fish is steaming, cut some ginger into long thin strips and fry them in a saucepan till it turns golden brown. Set the fried ginger strips aside.
4. Using the same saucepan, add in the sauce and let it come to a boil. Do a taste test and adjust the taste to your liking. Turn off the fire.
5. Remove the cod from steamer and discard the steaming liquid. Arrange the cod on your serving plate. Pour the sauce over the cod then arrange the fried ginger strips on it. Garnish with some cut spring onions.

Stir fry chicken with ginger and spring onions

Ginger and spring onion make the best combination when it comes to stir fry. Last night I was still thinking what to cook and this came to my mind since I happened to have some spring onions to clear. Just prepare more sauce to drizzle with rice and your yummy dinner is ready!

Ingredients
2 boneless chicken legs
1 knob of ginger
1 stalk of spring onion

Marinate
Soy sauce
White pepper
Sesame oil 
Cornstarch

Sauce
1 Tbsp Oyster sauce
1 Tbsp Dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp Chinese cooking wine 
1 tsp Light soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar 
Dash of white pepper
Some water

Recipe
1. Cut the chicken legs into smaller pieces and marinate them before setting them aside. Prepare the sauce in a bowl.
2. Slice the ginger into thin round pieces. Cut the spring onions into 3 inch lengths. Smash the white bottom part and set aside from the green top part. 
3. Heat some oil in the frying pan and put in the white spring onion part. Then add in the ginger slices. Let it cook till you can smell the aroma.
4. Put in the chicken pieces (without the marinate) and cook till the meat surface turns from pink to white. You do not need to keep stirring it, just from time to time flipping the meat.
5. Drizzle the sauce onto the meat and lightly stir it to evenly distribute. Make sure you have enough water to almost cover the chicken. Put on the cover and let it cook for 9 minutes (depending on size of the pieces). I cut rather big chunks so that I can use this time to do some washing up.
6. Open the cover and check the taste. Adjust with seasoning accordingly. Put in the green spring onion parts. Stir it and off the fire. Serve on a deep plate.

**note: When I was a newbie, I didn't prepare sauce beforehand and always add them when I was stir frying. This is terrible as I will always end up overcooking or overseasoning. It's good to prepare beforehand the ingredients and sauce so that you can have a relaxing time to cook. :)