Seared Salmon with Ponzu Sauce (Citrus )Over Enoki Mushroom

Recently I was in NYC, Chinatown for food shopping.Unfortunately,I arrived very late in the evening due to several reason..Most of the perishable store was going to close for the day.Usually perishable store will offered their stocks 30 minutes before closing time at very low price.I managed to grab few type of vegetables.One of the vegetables is Enoki mushroom..I think the price is not bad :$3 packets for $1.00,right? Furthermore the Enoki mushroom on sales is still very fresh and white in color..I also bought some fresh salmon from the fish monger.We love salmon dearly...One of the best way to eat salmon is to seared and drizzle with ponzu sauce. (tangy soy sauce with citrus)

Ingredients:


1 piece of fresh salmon,skin and bones removed(sliced) about 300gm
1 pack Enoki mushroom,cut away the bottom brown roots before wash
3-4 tbsp ponzu sauce
roasted sesame seeds
handful cut scallion
1 tbsp oil

Method: 




1:Prepare non stick pan at medium heat.Rub pan with oil.Place each sliced of salmon on the hot pan for less than 10 seconds on both side.Or grill the whole piece of salmon under open fire for 1 minute each side.Use a very sharp knife to slice the salmon thin.
2:Microwave Enoki mushroom for 2 minutes high or steam for 10 minutes.Place Enoki mushroom on a plate before seared salmon.
3:Drizzle ponzu sauce on the salmon.Sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds and scallion on the top.
4:Serve as appetizer or main dish.

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Pineapple Shaped Tart

When the 1st time , I saw this pineapple shaped tart at  anncoojournal, I was very excited!! I keep saying this author /blogger is very creative and able to accomplished this extraordinary and delicious shape gem!! I promised myself I will make this pineapple tart for Lunar New Year!! On the eve of Chinese New Year,I managed to bake this Pineapple Shaped Tart!! Viola!! Mishu keep saying this tart taste very good!!I used to make 2 types of dough for Pineapple Tart but now I found this dough is really good..

Ingredients:
Adapted from here!! 

Ingredients:

 250g Cold butter
1 Egg 
75g Custard powder
140g Icing sugar or Powered Sugar
440g All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Honey
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/4 tsp yellow food coloring


1 egg yolk + 3 tbsp water for brushing
handful of low quality ginseng root for the stems

 Pineapple Filling:

2 pineapple,removed skin ,center hard stem and brown eyes,cut small before blended
2 cups sugar or more(depend on your taste bud)

Method:

For the Filling:

1:Remove pineapple skin,the hard center stem and brown eyes before cut small.Then use food process to blend until fine,about 1 min.
2:Pour the pineapple into a medium stock pot with sugar at medium heat.Keep stirring until the mixture become dry and gooey,about 45 minutes to 1 hour.Cool completely before used.

For the Dough:

1:In a mixing bowl put cold butter (cut cubes), honey, vanilla extract, egg yellow colouring, egg and icing sugar together and mix roughly till mixtures crumbly (30 seconds).
2:Then add in the plain flour and custard powder and mix the mixtures for another 30 seconds. Place mixtures on to dusted flour table and knead to a smooth dough. 
3:Divide dough into small portions (about 10g each) and wrap with pineapple jam. Roll the tart into an oval shape and use a small scissors to snip the surface to form a spiky look.
4:Then insert a ginseng root at the top. Brush with egg wash.Bake at 180C/350F for about 10 mins -15 min or until golden brown.
5:Remove the tart from oven and let it cool completely before store in containers.

Dry Filling

dough

cutting the shape

 ready to bake



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Homemade Bak Kwa/Long Yoke (Pork Jerky)

First of all,I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my beloved readers,friends and family "Gong Xi Fa Cai"!! May this Dragon year brings you and your family a Prosperous and Healthy year!!

I think to celebrate Chinese New Year without "bak kwa or long yoke" is not a complete celebration!! lol! who am I kidding?? Most of the time,we eat all the "bak kwa" before our guests can try it!! As I said before  getting"bak kwa Malaysia style" in New York  City is extremely  pricey like eating gold.No kidding!! Yes, we have few Malaysia store selling "bak kwa/pork jerky" at Chinatown  in New York City.I can leave bak kwa out when celebrating Chinese New York in States.Since last year I tried making my own "bak kwa" and the result is not bad at all..Of course, my skill is not as same as "Hock Seng Guan" or other brand names in Malaysia but acceptable,I think..(pat my own back)

Ingredients:
4 kg minced pork ( ready minced fatty mix pork at supermarket)
3-4 cups sugar(I like mine tangy sweet but free to adjust to your taste bud)
3 tsp five spices powder
4 tsp seasalt (adjust your to taste bud)
8 tbsp fish oil
8 tbsp Shaoxing wine or hua tiu or Chinese rice wine
8 tbsp soy sauce ( adjust to your saltiness)
2 tbsp thick soy sauce ( reminder to myself: need to reduce the tbsp to tsp in future bcos the after cooked meat was too dark)
1/2  or more tsp red food coloring paste ( I only have Wilton's paste,so have to mixed with 1 tsp water)*optional*

Method:

1:Combined all ingredients in a large mixing bowl,mix well(I wear hand gloves for easy and faster mixed)

2:Preheat oven to 220 F.Prepare 2 to 4 cookie sheets lining with aluminum foil.Scoop minced pork mixture onto the foil,spread it out with spatula evenly.Cover the whole cookies sheet with the meat mixture.Use a large plastic cling wrap to cover the meat.Then use a rolling pin to roll the meat mixture until surface flatten evenly.If you like your pork jerky meaty,scoop more meat to make it thicken.

3:Remove the plastic cling wrap,bake in oven for 30-40 minutes or until the pork dry out.Remove dry pork mixture from oven and cut with pizza cutter to your desire shape and size,set aside.Repeat the same procedure until all the meat mixture finish..If you have 4 cookie sheets,you might work  on the other 2  while the first 2 sheets in the oven to save time.

4:Turn oven to broiler setting to normal.Since the outdoor weather temperature  is about 30 F,I'm not going to stand freezing at my patio to BBQ this jerky on the pit.Use another cookies sheet or tray lined over a wired rack or aluminum foil for catching the dripping oil.

5:Be very careful when using broiling bcos the meat easily burn.Must keep an eyes on the meat all the time.Grill both side until slightly charred on the side..
Remove the meat and place aside until completely cool.Store in container or wrap with parchment paper or ready to eat.

minced meat with all the seasoning

Minced meat mixture,well mixed

spread out on a cookies sheet

cover with plastic cling wrap and roll with rolling pin for even surface

removed the cling wrap and ready to bake until dry

cut with pizza cutter and ready to grill until slightly charred on the side.
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Kuih Loyang,Kuih Rose or Beehive Cookies wt Pandan Flavor

Chinese Lunar New Year is coming in few days.Chinese in Asia countries are busy preparing gifts,cleaning and shopping for this coming Dragon Year..Well,to celebrate Chinese New Year without cookies,is not fun at all,right? Although we won't have any visitors during this festival but I like to make few type of Chinese New Year cookies for our snack and gifts.United States goverment doesn't recognize Lunar New year as a public holiday.The Chinese speaking community here do celebrate but the celebration don't have much merry ambiance unless we visit Chinatown  or else it's like another regular working day for us.This year I try to be different making kuih rose or honeycomb kuih.I added some pandan paste flavor and all purpose flour on top of rice flour and corn flour..The result is not bad at all..

Ingredients:
250 gm rice flour
200 gm all purpose flour
200 gm corn flour
7 large eggs
500 gm sugar
1 can of coconut milk (400 gm)
100 ml water
2 drops of pandan paste
2 liter or more oil for frying

METHOD: *Mistake I learned* Do not beat eggs and sugar until frothy like making cake.Just use hand whisker to beat the ingredients.Do not wash the moulds with dish washing detergent.Just dipped the moulds in oil and wipe it clean before or after cooking.

1.Combine eggs and sugar in a large bowl,beat with a hand whisker or use low speed if you're using mixer.
Sift corn flour,all purpose flour and rice flour,set aside in a bowl .Add in coconut milk and pandan paste.

2. Slowly pour in flour mixture into the eggs mixture by reduce the speed.Whisk all ingredients until well combined or to obtain a consistent batter. If there is some lump,use sieve. Scoop some batter in a small bowl for constant dipping the hot mould into the flour mixture.

3. Heat oil in a wok or deep fryer at 350 F.(Do not use non stick pot) Preheat moulds in the hot oil for 5-10 minutes. When the oil is hot enough, dip mould into batter,do not cover batter to the top. Make sure batter cover the bottom and sides of  the mould.

4. Hold coated mould in hot oil. (Do not let go the mould to sit on the bottom of fryer while the batter is still attached on the mould)Keep shaking the mould to release honeycomb cookies from mould. If needed, use chopsticks to help . Fry the cookies until lightly golden brown on both side.

5. Place the empty mould back into the hot oil.Use the next mould that been sitting in the hot oil to dip into the batter.(Do not use the just release mould to dip into the batter again.The batter won't stick onto the mould bcos it's not hot enough)

6:Each time before dipping the mould into the batter or pour the batter into the small bowl use a spatula to stir the batter first to get a consistency or well balance batter.Use a long sieve to remove the excess crumbs from oil .It's prevent the floating crumbs to stick to the cookies. Keep stirring the batter before dip the mould in the batter.

7:Prepare clean paper towel on 2 large tray.Place cookies on it to absorb the excess oil.Leave cookies to cool completely before store in air-tight container.

dip moulds in clean oil

eggs,coconut milk and all purpose flour

rice flour and corn flour

moulds in hot oil

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Stir-fry Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin is the most awesome cut of the pork.It's have the softness and tenderness texture. Whenever I look at cooked pork tenderloin I always think, it's look like beef but don't fool by it's appearance.Actually it's really taste awesome.I seldom use pork tenderloin for cooking unless the part is on sales because it's quite pricey compare with other parts.Of course,it's also delicious to eat!! This time I marinated the slices pork with teriyaki sauce before stir-fry..Yummy delicious!!

Ingredients: 


1 lb plus extra pork tenderloin,sliced
3 sleeves celery,washed and sliced
1 large onion,peeled and sliced
2-3 red long chili pepper,sliced
3-4 cloves garlic,peeled and minced
4-5 teriyaki sauce (ready made from store)
1-2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp chicken bouillon powder
3 tbsp oil

Method: 

1:Marinate sliced pork with teriyaki sauce,sugar and soy sauce over night.
2:Heat skillet or wok at medium high heat.Add in oil and garlic,fry until fragrant,then toss on marinated pork.Use spatula to stir-fry fro 3-5 minutes.
3:Toss in chicken bouillon powder,celery,onion and chili pepper into the meat.Stir-fry for another 2 minutes.Check the seasoning.
4:Dish out and serve warm with rice.

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Ipoh Sar Hor Fun Soup(Flat Rice Noodle in Clear Soup)

Winter is here now but this year the freezing cold temperature is not what we expected.So far no snow fall yet at my area.Lucky us!!I pray hard the weather stay like this for the whole entire winter but you never know what will happen tomorrow.

As usual, I cooked more soupy comfort warm food during this cold season.Last week ,I used all my saved shrimp shell which store in the freezer to make Ipoh Sar Hor Fun broth.I understand Ipoh Sar Hor Fun clear broth was make from prawn shell and pork ribs.That the reason the Ipoh Sar Hor Fun broth taste so outstanding delicious! Anyway ,mine is still far away from perfection compared to the hawker stalls in Malaysia.But beggar can't be choosy,right??

Ingredients:





2 sheets hor fun(flat rice noodle) slice about 1/2 inch each,blanched with water
1 lb or more white squid,clean and sliced
1 lb medium shrimp,clean and deviened
1-2 lbs boneless chicken breast,sliced or shredded
1-2 lbs bean sprout,clean and shell removed
1-2 lbs green mustard green,washed and cut

some cut Thai's chili pepper with soy sauce on side
some fried shallot or garlic for sprinkle
handful cut scallion for garnishing


For the Broth:

2 lbs or more shrimp shell,washed
4 liter water or more
2 whole chicken leg,skin removed
300 gm rock sugar
salt to taste
ground white pepper powder
3-4 tbsp oil

Method:

1:Prepare a medium large stock pot at high heat.Add in some oil and shrimp shells,fry until it fragrant.Then add in water.When broth rolling boil add in whole chicken legs and boneless chicken breast.Reduce heat to medium and simmer the broth for another 30 minutes or longer.Remove the shrimp shells and boneless chicken breast with a sieve.Trash the shrimp shell and shredded the chicken meat,set aside in a small bowl.Add in rock sugar,ground white pepper powder and salt to taste,cook for another 10 minutes before reduce heat to low.

 2:Prepare a small stock pot with some water at high heat.Toss in a handful of cut flat noodle(hor fun),some greens and handful of bean sprout into the rolling boil water for less than 1 minute.Sieve the hor fun and vege's into a medium large bowl immediately,set aside.

3:Toss in few pieces of shrimp and squid in the small pot for 30 seconds,sieve it up into the hor fun bowl.(cook or boil the noodle and seafood ingredients individual only when you needed)Add some shredded chicken before scoop the broth into the hor fun mixture bowl.

4:Sprinkle some fried shallot or garlic and scallion on the top.Serve warm immediately with some cut chili with soy sauce on the side.

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Stir-fry Sweet Shoots Pea and Tendrils

Snow pea tips, also called pea tendrils or pea shoots, are spring vegetable which have a wonderful, sweet flavor is also a very tender delicious vegetable.Last summer ,I do planted  some snow pea  and sweet pea in my garden but I didn't have the urge to pick the pea tips for cooking even though I heard from friends that the pea tips is great for cooking.Recently when I shop at Asian market in NYC , I saw pea tips on sale and suddenly I have the urge to try this vegetable.Maybe it's because I get bored eating the same kind of greens everyday..To my surprised, I found stir-fry snow pea tips is really tender crisp and delicious!! Trust me,all I need to stir fry is some oil,garlic and salt!! taaa-dah!!

Ingredients:

2 lbs Snow pea tips or pea tendrils or pea shoots,washed and drained
1 bulbs fresh garlic,peeled and sliced
4-5 tbsp olive oil or regular oil
handful shredded carrot *optional*
some ground black pepper
salt to taste

Method:

1:Heat large skillet or wok with oil at high heat.Add in garlic,fry until fragrant.Toss in snow pea tips, or pea tendrils or pea shoots and carrot,mix well.Stir-fry the vegetable for 2-3 minutes,then add in salt to taste and ground pepper.

2:Make sure the vegetable is crisp and tender not over cooked..Removed from heat.Serve immediately with warm rice.



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