Fried Bean Sprouts & Celery

A light and crunchy vegetable dish that goes well with fried rice or meat.

Ingredients:
One carrot juliened
3 - 4 stalks celery with fibers removed and sliced thinly
1 bag bean sprouts, rinsed
3 stalks scallions, sliced into 2 inch lengths.
3 slices ginger
fish sauce

Heat oil and fry ginger for 30 seconds.  Add carrots and celery and fry 1-2 min, add scallions and fry another rminute.  Add bean sprouts and some fish sauce and fry 1-2 min. Plate and serve.

Sticky Rice 糯米饭

 These dried Chinese sausage and bacon come individually wrapped now.

 Scallions, mushrooms, sliced Chinese sausage and bacon.

 Soaked dried scallop and small dried shrimp.

 Fry uncooked rice few minutes till just starting to turn very very  light brown.

There are different methods of making this dish. Some people soak and steam the glutinous rice, fry the meat, and then mix the two together.  My method is different but it works well for me.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon small dried shimp
1 Chinese sausage (lap cheung), sliced thinly
1 Chinese bacon, sliced thinly
2 stalks green onion, sliced
4 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked, then diced
2 dried scallops, soaked overnight and shredded (optional)
2 oz diced pork, seasoned with soy sauce & Chinese wine (optional)

2 cups glutinous rice, uncooked
1 cup Thai jasmine rice, uncooked
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons dark soy
3 3/4 cups cold water, plus liquid from soaked scallops to make 4 rice cups liquid
(note: if using all glutinous rice, reduce liquid to 3 cups only)

Method:
If using pork, fry pork and remove. Fry all other ingredients and remove.  Add more oil if nec, fry uncooked rice for a few minutes. Put everything in a rice cooker, add seasoning and water and cook rice. 
Serve with vegetables for a complete meal.

Smurf Egg??

Sorry, I can't tell you how to create this Smurf looking egg, because it just turned out like that!  All I did was crack an egg and fried it and then realized that it looked like a Smurf.  Strange....but cute.  Do you see the two eyes, and mouth, and the tuft of hair on top?

Shepherd's Pie

This is my own version of Shepherd's Pie, which my kids love.  Use 90/10 or above lean ground beef for better flavor and better health.  Beef fat tastes nasty, so the leaner ground beef actually tastes better and there's no fat to drain off.

 For better health, I add shredded carrots to the beef - the kids can't even tell.
Potatoes are diced to cook faster.

 To spread mashed potatoes easily on the corn, drop large spoonfuls on the corn before pressing it down and spreading.

 

Top with some cheddar cheese for added calcium for the kids.  Omit if you're calorie conscious.

Recipe:

1 package lean ground beef (usually sold in 1 1/4 lb packages in supermarkets)

1 can Manwich Sauce

2-3 tablespoons of ketchup or tomato paste

1 onion, finely diced

1 clove garlic

2 carrots finely shredded

2 cans of whole kernal corn, drained

Your favorite mashed potatoes

Method:

Fry onions and garlic for 1 min, add ground beef and fry till no longer red. Add rest of ingredients and simmer for 30 min.

Pour into 9X13 glass pan, top with drained corn, spread mashed potatoes on top.

Ready to serve, or if using cheddar cheese, spread cheese on top and broil till melted.

Cheddar & Chives Scones

Great for breakfast or an afternoon high tea. Simple to make.

 Chives and cheddar.

 Handle dough as little as possible and preferably, add the liquid all at once.

 Just form dough quickly with palms of your hands, don't press too hard. Scones look better when rustic and unevenly shaped.

Recipe:
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp garlic powder
20g chives, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
1 cup packed shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 stick (4oz) salted butter, chilled & diced
1 egg
1/2 cup heavy cream (or whole milk)

Mix dry ingredients, cut in butter till crumbly (or pulse in food processor).
Stir in chives and cheddar.
Beat egg with cream. Add to flour mixture (add more cream if nec. until dough can just stick together)
Handle as little and as lightly as possible.
Take half of dough and press lightly into round shape on flour-dusted surface.
Cut into triangles, brush top with either melted butter, beaten egg, or heavy cream.
Bake at 400 deg, 20 - 25 min.

Tip: Best to bake only what you can eat that day and refrigerate the rest of the dough until needed. Tastes best freshly baked as scones tend to dry out very quickly.

Tri-Color Steamed Eggs 三色蛋

The mosaic-effect in this steamed dish comes from using three types of eggs - chicken eggs, salted eggs and century eggs.

Recipe:
4 chicken eggs, beaten
Twice the amount of water as eggs.
1 hard boiled salted duck egg, chopped
1 century egg, chopped
dash of white pepper
few drops of sesame oil
One "yaw zha guai" or "yu tiao"- fried Chinese cruller sliced into rings (optional)
Small pinch of salt (may even omit according to taste)
Directions:
Beat chicken eggs, beat in water and seasonings, stir in chopped eggs.
Pour into glass bowl, cover with plastic wrap and steam medium-high heat for about 5-7 min till cooked.

If using Yu Tiao:
Place sliced yu-tiao on top.
Cover with plastic wrap and steam medium-high heat for about 5 min, till 90% cooked.
Put in oven and broil on low heat till top is lightly browned.

When sliced, eggs will have pretty mosaic pattern due to the black century eggs.