Mushroom Cabbage Mix Stir Fry

From the home kitchen is a simple plate of stir fry mix of shredded cabbage and mushrooms (just love these), along with red chilies and slices of cuttlefish balls and shrimps.

I didn't cook this; a rather fortunate and unfortunate thing at the same time (Fortunate is I don't think it will turn out this good if I were behind the wok, and unfortunate is, I don't have the recipe to share with the eager cooks out there).
However, being a mixed stir fry, it pretty much means you could mix and match with any vegetable that you like; or as it is done in our home, the vegetable of the day (whatever is fresh and purchased from the market that same morning).
You could mix the vegetables, or even add any accompanying ingredients to your liking; from fish to prawns or even crab meat, and if you're not a fan of seafood, meat would do (chicken, pork, beef, mutton, etc), you get the drift.
For just a plain vegetable dish, just mix and toss in all the vegetables that you like and that definitely constitutes as mixed stir fry.

The key is just to be spontaneous, and go with the flow to customize your own stir fry!





As for me, I am good to stay where I am, tasting the food and enjoying every bite of it! ;-)

Homecooked Food Diary: Steamed Prawns

Taking a break away from the Taiwan food diary, I simply had to post on this wonderful dish served for dinner at home last night.
Recently we are taking to more home cooked food, since I happened to be around (at home), and for various other reasons; such as the unbelievably bad traffic due to the school holidays and cars from other states are all crowding on the streets for their favorite local fixes from the hawkers, and those famous merchandise products from the shops. Also, did I mention that the costs of dining outside has shot up exponentially, with the increase in taxes and the prices of the raw goods?
Furthermore, for health reasons, it is not a bad idea to have more home cooked food, which can be healthy sans the preservatives, MSG, and the unnecessary additives that can be sometimes found out there, not to mention, going light on the purses too.

Besides, who can resist gorgeous dishes which are just so simple that it can throw you off your chair?
Steamed, or rather, boiled prawns was the simple dish we had last night; following a stroke of good luck when the prawns were in stock at the morning market, and they were fresh!
Prices were reasonable too, hence the purchase of the prawns on impulse.

Steamed/Boiled Prawns



Since they were so fresh, there was really no need for any additional sauce or anything, but to just simply put them in a wok/pot with some water, and leave it on to boil!

Prawns are relatively easy to cook, as I was told, as they cook really fast (remember our steamboat during those festive seasons where you just throw in a bunch of prawns, and they are cooked in a few seconds!)



It has been a really long time since I have had really good steamed/boiled prawns like these, and it felt like we were dining outside in a seafood restaurant which serves fresh prawns (especially if you go to those fishing villages), but I bet even they do not have such home cooked taste or prices like this!

When seafood, especially prawns or crabs, or fish...well, generally, all seafood are fresh, I think the best and most just way to have them is through the simple method of boiling or just plain steaming them to enjoy that natural sweetness from the freshness of the catch. Any other method would simply do the flavor an injustice, but then again, that is my take and may not be your personal preference.

Though it was almost end of the week (not the weekend yet), who says we can't spoil ourselves with a treat like this?
After all, at home is where you rule.

This is seriously, good, and fresh is the key here!

Homecooked Food Diary: Blackened Snapper Fillet with thick plum sauce

This is as good as it sounds; and fish is always my personal favorite dish to look forward to, at any meal. I am blessed to be surrounded by good cooks (as I am definitely not a talent in the kitchen), and those who take note of my special preferences in food as I am often presented with all the good food made with all the love and thoughts from these wonderful people around me.

Blackened fish was a creation from my mother-in-law's kitchen where she experiments with different styles of cooking and sauces; depending on her haul from the morning market each day. She is one lady who really enjoys cooking, and making simple dishes at home, nothing complicated as she just likes taking it easy, as she says.

Plum sauce and the right amount of pan frying was all it took to whip up this dish; with the snapper fillet (the catch, or the buy of the day, from the market) being marinated and then lightly pan fried to create a little grazed on the cheeks of the fillets, before being served with the thick plum sauce concoction poured over the fish and of course, the accompanying fish balls and cakes atop the romaine lettuce leaves.

Well, that's basically how it tasted like to me, and I am no recipe girl as this is just a simple dish which I enjoyed and would like to share, or, perhaps to tempt your appetites?



Really, nothing beats home cooked food....and especially fish...which can be just so costly to order from the restaurants out there these days, with the ever increasing trend of the prices of commodity items and food.
So, guess we will be spotting more home cooking from food blogs? *winks*

A Homecooked feast (and I heard there's noodles!)

Just before my brother-in-law and his family flew back for work after spending the Chinese New Year holidays here, we had a feast prepared at home by my mother-in-law which served as some sort of a family gathering to have everyone just stay at home. It was on the 8th day of the CNY.
My mother-in-law loves to cook, which is just a good thing and I just feel so blessed to have someone pampering us (yes, I am spoilt) with good food all the time, and she just enjoys doing it so much that she never finds it troublesome. Sometimes we would tell her not to cook but she will just tell us in turn about the disadvantages of dining out and then persuade us to stay at home instead where she will just whip up something simple.
When she says simple, she really means simple, but yet appetizing to our tastes.

I will let the pictures do the talking...it's just a really simple post, no fancy stories, and just the photos to just relate to our family feast :-)

A Seafood tom yam pot (tom yam was made with a paste we bought from the supermarket, but she threw in the coriander leaves, lemongrass and tamarind to make it more flavorful)
Prawns, squid balls, fish balls, onions, Fish Sui Kow (another version of dumplings in Chinese)







Charcoal grilled BBQ Pork (known as Char Siew in Chinese) - apparently everyone in the family loves this dish which was bought from the market


A plateful of Fish balls and Fish Mai (some sort of fish dumplings in the usual Siew Mai style)




Stir-fried Spinach leaves with garlic 
Popeye's favorite vegetable, and mine too!


Steamed fish with Chinese wine, lime and soy sauce then garnished with ginger, garlic and spring onions.






Another dish of Stir-fried vegetables; just plain stir fry version of the vegetables.
It is good to always increase the intake of vegetables, anytime.




I heard there were noodles, and oh yes, we decided to just ditch the usual rice for a little adventure with noodles for our feast that night.
Of course, the kids could still have rice if they wanted to (the kids just loved their rice!)



A simple family affair, rather than a feast she says...what say you?
I'd say it was a simple feast then! :-)

Steamed Fish-y Dish

I say prayers of thanks for the little blessings in my life each day, be it for those that I can see and even for those that I cannot see, or have yet to see the real meaning of them.
One of such blessing is that I have a mother-in-law who enjoys cooking and preparing dishes every day, and on those days when I can be home to have dinner, I am pampered with dishes like this.
Perhaps I should start a mother-in-law's home cooked food diary, or log with all the food that she has prepared for us.

Yesterday we had this steamed fish; with ginger and Chinese wine and soy sauce, accompanied with steamed fish balls and rolls and also fish paste dumplings.



Yes, everything in the dish is made of fish; and is to me, a very fish-y dish indeed!
I am not complaining, as I am pampered with this fish dish and it feels like dishes from my own mum who always prepares a fish dish for me for she knows how much I love fish.



I know, I am getting rather nostalgic these days in my blog posts, and perhaps I am, as I am touched with the many things around me, and I feel that it is not a bad thing, to be able to find something to be thankful for each day and to cherish the things and people around us.

Fish is like this must-have dish for me ever since I was a little girl; and my grandmother who used to stay with us when I was a baby, cooked and prepared fish specially for me at every meal.
According to my mum, she would never fail to buy fish from the market every day, and steam or prepare in any other way and then place that dish in front of me. I was just a little girl at that time, and that was a royal princess treatment.
I was perhaps spoilt in a way, by my beloved grandmother, but my mother continued the tradition and almost every one who knows me knows my love for fish. It is like this endless relationship I have with fish, and I could never tire of its appearance at my dining table. In fact, if I was picky, it would be the only dish which could revive my appetite.

Even then, this picky eater, annoyingly does have her own pick of favorite fish (of course that is normal), but I don't specify the types of fish that I must have especially when I am away from my own family. As long as there is fish, I never liked to be of much trouble to anyone.
Obviously my loved ones are all aware of my love for fish, and it has also passed on to my mother-in-law who prepares fish for me to ensure that I enjoy my meal each day.
That, makes me feel special and loved. (Nobody would not enjoy being spoilt, lol!)

The fish paste dumpling, was indeed a unique one as it is rare to come by a dumpling made of fish paste compared to the usual minced meat with prawns version.
Everyone enjoyed the light taste of the fish paste which was rather dense in its texture and along with green peas, black fungus and mushrooms, it was quite fragrant as well.




Now, with specialty dishes and specially prepared, who wouldn't look forward to having dinner at home?

Lunar New Year Food Diary: Day 5

Day 5 continues with more home cooked food; with a few additional dishes added to the menu prepared before we return to work.
Mothers always try to make the best of the meals prepared for their children; no matter how we plead with them to make things simple or just dine out. No, it is not a good idea to most of them as they feel that we ought to enjoy the homemade dishes since we are often working late and when we are out working, we have already fed our systems with too much outside food which, in their minds, are less healthy and probably MSG-laden (even if we tell them we are eating healthy). That is how a mother always thinks; but it is with much love and care that they want for their children and to provide them with the best nourishment.

My mummy is no exception, and from the past posts, we have enjoyed many dishes from her, and she continues to whip up another few dishes.

Mengkuang Char (Stir-fried jicama with carrot strips and dried shrimps)
This is a dish typically found in most Hokkien households during the festive season; as part of the huge feast of the reunion dinner too. My mum tells me that her grandmother and mother used to make this for every lunar new year celebration as part of their reunion dinner as it was a colorful and auspicious dish for the vegetable portion. The golden colors, obviously was part of the auspicious symbol, and traditionally, meat, shrimps and even cuttlefish would be included in the dish.


This is one of my favorite dishes to have as well; and this was one of the simpler versions with just pure vegetables and dried shrimps which added to the aromatic taste of the combination.



Lean pork meat was an additional dish added to the menu.
Meat is always considered a luxury item since the older days, as they are scarce and expensive. Therefore, pork, especially is considered a festive item and its appearance is often associated with celebrations and major events.




Sweet and sour black pomfret makes its appearance again



A simple meal, but filled with lots of love just makes this more special and no price tag can be put on the thoughts which went into the meal preparation!~

Lunar New Year Food Diary: Day 4 (Mummy's Dishes)

The festive food galore continues on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year; well, festive seasons, especially the Lunar/Chinese New Year is always (yes, ALWAYS) about food.
Being home means that I get to enjoy the wonderful tastes of home cooked food, and the hot pot saga has officially ended on the third day.
On the fourth day, tantalizing dishes from mummy's kitchen filled the table.

Stir fried leeks with carrots, snow peas, onions and fish cakes


According to the Chinese tradition, leeks are a must-have during the New Year as the name in Chinese. 'Suan' sounds like counting/calculating and it literally brings the meaning of being able to have plenty to count throughout the year; be it fortune, blessings, money, and everything good. It was something which has been passed on for generations, and I believe most Chinese families observed this tradition as well.
This clearly explains the reason behind the price hike of this vegetable before and during the festive season.






Sweet and sour black pomfret, garnished with loads of onions and garlic

Fish, as explained in the earlier post, is one of the auspicious and symbolic food to have during the Lunar New Year as it signifies the meaning of having plenty left at home due to the sound of fish in Chinese, 'yu' which means leftover. Therefore, it is very important for many Chinese homes to have many to look forward to and more than enough to eat, clothe and spend on for the year for the entire family.
For my family, besides the auspicious reason, the other reason being that fish is always my favorite dish to have since I was a child and the black pomfret must always be prepared either sweet and sour, or spicy for it is a fish with a slightly thicker flesh compared to its white counterpart (white pomfret) and cooking it longer would end up in a coarse tasting flesh. Therefore, to truly enjoy the fish, there should be a stronger taste to accompany it; such as spicy chili or sour ketchup sauce.

Another tradition in the family, passed down from my late grandmother is this Sweet and Sour Cucumber slices with chilies.
It is a family recipe and we always have this dish during festive seasons; such as Christmas and the Lunar New Year, that I always associate this dish with celebration.
(That's why they say childhood memories dictate the perception of an individual which can be carried to their adulthood)



Steamed Lap Cheong (Chinese sausages)

It is not uncommon to see preserved food like these appearing on most dining tables in Chinese homes during this season, as this practice dates back to our early predecessors' time whereby they do not have the luxury of our modern technology such as refrigerator to store their food to maintain its optimum state. Back then, they will use salt and vinegar or other methods to preserve most of their food; particular the fresh catches/harvest. Due to the association of meat as the luxurious item and thus, a must-have for celebrations, the meat is preserved in forms such as the preserved sausages, preserved duck/pork, etc.
The steamed sausages is to go with the earlier cucumber dish; with the coldness of the sweet and sour cucumber slices to complement the salty taste of the sausages.

Pan fried Carrot and egg cakes is an experiment by Mummy who wanted to try at making it following a cooking show she watched.
It was an interesting dish, though she wasn't too pleased with the results.
However, it was positively a new dish she innovated from the original intended dish and that is one good way to look at it :-)



With the remaining tomyam left in the kitchen, we threw in the fishballs and mushrooms to make this Fishball tomyam soup.


Our homecooked feast on Day 4!



Tuck in with the rice to the wonderful spread!~
































Nothing beats home cooked food, do you agree? ヽ(•‿•)ノ

Lunar New Year Food Diary: Day 3 is (Hot, Spice and everything Nice!)

Day 3 started with noodles for breakfast; bought from the neighborhood market which surprised us with some of the stalls already back in operation for business. (Typically the stalls only return for business on the 6th day of the Lunar New Year in this district)




For those who are not familiar with these noodles; these are the Lou Shu Fun (also directly translated as Rat's tail noodles). The name does sound a little gross, to be frank, but the ingredients to make these noodles do not vary from the usual noodles; rice flour. Also, the texture of these noodles are a little smooth and slithery which makes it even possible to swallow the noodle by itself!


Cooked with soy sauce and a little garnishing, we had to make do with this and thank goodness, it was not disappointing to the taste buds at all.


There were also fried fishballs in the soup too!~




We continued with our Hot pot saga; only this time, the broth was different as mummy decided to take it to the spicy level with the Tomyam soup.
We are definitely not complaining....







Noodles to go with the spicy and aromatic soup



Eggs...ready for action!


The shiny and big egg yolk; glistening


Cooking the egg in the soup was an interesting task, and I was so fascinated that I couldn't resist whipping out the camera for continuous shots!








All boiling HOT and a symbol, perhaps?
Boiling its way and overflowing with prosperity!~