Stir-fry Jicama with Shredded Dried Squid (Jui Hu Char)

Whenever I went back to visit Malaysia,my mom sure cooked "lui hu char" for me.I think this dish is popular among Nyonya or Penangite only.Well,since my mom is ex-Penangite ,she cooked this dish all the time especially when there is a festival.In Hokkien we called it "Lui Hu Char".Lu hu char literally translated to English as Fried Squid.Actually the main ingredients is not squid but jicama(sengkung) .Jicama is a crispy, sweet, edible root that resembles a turnip in physical appearance, although the plants are not related.Jícama is high in carbohydrates in the form of dietary fiber. It is composed of 86-90% water.Usually we wrapped lettuce over this dish ,then pairing with sambal belacan(spicy shrimp paste)...thinking about it now make me drooling...wish I can have some now!!








Ingredients:

1 large jicama(sengkung) peeled and shredded

1 large carrot(peeled,shredded and soaked in cold water)

300-500 gm pork,shredded

100 gm shredded squid(premium quality)washed

3-4 cloves garlic,peeled and minced

salt and ground white pepper to taste

2 tbsp fish sauce

2-3 tbsp cooking oil

1 head Boston lettuce or any kind lettuce,washed




Method:

1:Heat wok or skillet with oil at medium high heat.Add in garlic,use spatula to fry for 30 seconds before toss in shredded pork and shredded squid.Increase heat to high ,fry the pork and squid for 2-3 minutes.

2:Add in shredded jicama,carrot,fish sauce,ground white pepper and salt.Stir-fry all ingredients for 5-10 minutes.Check the seasoning .

3:Dish out and serve with sambal belacan or wrap with lettuce.

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My Mom's Spicy Char Kuey Teow(Flat Rice Noodle)

As I mentioned before,I still have plenty of my mom best home cooking post with me..I didn't managed to post all of it during my stay over there due to several reason:Busy enjoying my vacation,eating,shopping and lastly the Internet connection was sucked!! Enough said!!

One thing about my mom cooking skill that I admired is..she will goes to the length ,I mean extra route or extra work to make her dishes taste great!! I should said ...fantastic!! She said when you stir-fry Char Kuey Teow ,you should cook each portion individually if not the char kuey teow doesn't said good....that right!! I think by cooking CKT individually,you can really have the dish taste delicious that full with "wok hei"!!( high heat for fragrance)

Ingredients:

1 kg fresh kuey teow (make 4 portions)
1/2 kg bean sprout(mung bean)washed
4 eggs
2 Chinese sausage,remove casting and sliced
1 pack or 1/2 kg fish cake,sliced
20-30 medium shrimp,shell removed and clean
500 gm lean meat,sliced (pork or chicken)
1 head iceberg lettuce or any green vegetable,clean and cut small
2 bulbs garlic,peeled and minced
1 cup cooking oil
chili boh(chili paste)
ground white pepper


Seasoning Mixed:(mix well all ingredients in a bowl)

2 tbsp chicken bouillon powder
2 tbsp caramel sauce(thick soy sauce)
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce


cut fresh Thais chili or red chili in soy sauce on side (optional)



Method:(Divide char kuey teow into 4 plate for each portion)
Make 1 portion

1:Heat wok or skillet at high heat.Add in 2 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp garlic,fry for 30 second before add in few sliced meat,fish cake,Chinese sausage and shrimp.Use spatula to fry the ingredients for 1 minute before toss in kuey teow,lettuce,chili boh(paste) and 2 tbsp mixed seasoning,mix well with long chop stick.(Reason: fragile kuey teow won't mashed)

2:Remove all the ingredients to a side.Add 1 tbsp oil in the center,crack egg in the center ,fry for few second before cover with the rest of ingredients.Toss in bean sprout and ground white powder pepper.Check the seasoning.

3:Dish out and serve immediately with side cut chili.Repeat the following portion the same method.

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My Mom's Stir-Fry Sambal Winged Bean (Kacang Botol)with Shrimp

One of my favorite exotic bean is Winged Bean or known as Four Angle Bean or in Malaya it's called as Kacang Botol..My mom's know I loves this bean alot.I remember when I was young we used to grown kacang botol plants at our backyard.While I was in Malaysia during summer vacation,my mom tried to cooked this bean for dinner as many time as she can..I think we had this bean once a week even though most of my family is not fond of this bean....too bad my mom tried to pleased me.That is why I miss my mom cooking.I can't believed myself that I didn't cook or bake for the whole 9 weeks!! maybe I did.. once or twice ,that it!! The reason why I like Kacang botol is because the texture of this bean is smooth and crunchy once you bite into it..If you didn't try this bean yet and have a chance to get some from your local market,why not?

Ingredients:

1 bundle kacang botol,about 1 lb or more washed and sliced

15 medium salt water shrimp,remove shell and washed

Spices:

3 shallot,remove skin

1 bulb garlic,remove skin

5-7 red chili,cut,remove some seeds and washed

4-5 birds chili*optional*

1/2 inch toasted belacan(shrimp paste)

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4-5 tbsp oil

salt to taste

2 tbsp tamarind mix with 2-3 tbsp water,remove pulps(used juice only)

1-2 tbsp sugar
Method:

1:Combined garlic,shallot ,belacan and chilies in grinder or food processor.Blend until fine.Prepare oil in wok or skillet at medium high heat.Remove the spices to a heated wok or skillet with hot oil. Sauteed spices until fragrant,about 1-2 minutes.

2:Toss in shrimp,sauteed for 1 minutes before add in cut four angle bean(kacang botol),salt,sugar and tamarind juice.Stir-fry all the ingredients for about 5 minutes.Check the seasoning.

3:Remove the beans from heat.Dish out and serve warm with steamed rice or noodle.

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Braised Pork Ribs,Fish Maw and Baby Clam with Shitake Mushroom in Claypot

It's been awhile since I last posted here..Been very busy since arrived home from Malaysia..I still have many un-post dishes from my mom cooking while we was vacation in Malaysia..I promise,I will try to post it here ASAP.. Today I'm going to post one of my mom delicious braised pork rib, fish maw and clam dishes...I forget what is the exact name of this clam in can but never mind.As long as you can get a good quality clam in can it's will do..The special ingredients of this dish is fish maw and the cooking method: stewing or braising in claypot.If you wonder what is fish maw and how it's look after cooked,don't worry.I will try to explain to you in simple English.Fish maw is also called as fish bladder or air bladder.It's look like fried pork skin after fried but you must soaked until soft (few hours) before fried.When it's cooked the texture is soft and slippery..if you want to find more info about fish maw,here is the link.

Once again if you can get few nice piece of fish maw(good quality) and some good quality baby clam,you can try out this recipe by cooking with any type of your desire meat in clay pot..This hearty flavor of this dish is really outstanding..Furthermore,by adding shitake mushroom ,it's ready infuse the woody aroma to this aromatic dish..

Ingredients:

6-8 pieces large fish maw(bladder),soaked until soft before deep fry in clean oil,cut and set aside

4-5 strip pork ribs,chop small, blanched in warm water to remove excess grease

10 shitake mushroom,soaked until soft and cut into 1/2,

1 can of baby clam,remove the liquid

4-5 cloves of garlic,peeled and chopped

Seasoning:

soy sauce to taste

cooking wine

sugar to taste

chicken boullion powder

cooking oil to fry fish maw

1 cup water or more

*above seasoning ingredients you can add accordingly to your preference or your taste bud.As usual mom cooking doesn't really use the proper measurement.They called is "agak agak" or it's mean estimate*

Method:

1:Wash fish maw,let it dry first.Heat up some oil in pan or wok,pan-fry until it's bloom..It's the same method as you fry fish/shrimp cracker.Do not fill up the all fish maw in the hot oil.Fry one by one,then set aside.

2:Heat large claypot at medium heat.Add in some oil and garlic,sauteed for few seconds before add in pork ribs and seasoning.Cover the claypot with lid and simmer for 30 minutes or longer until the pork ribs cooked.Add in shitake mushroom ,check the seasoning .

3:Lastly add in clam and fish maw into the claypot,mix well.Let it's simmer for another 5 minutes before remove from heat.

4:Serve hot with steamed white rice.

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