Dried Bak Choy Soup

Bak Choy is not easy to find in Sweden and whenever they appear on the supermarket shelves, I would definitely buy them. This simple vegetable has lots of uses and one of the more unique one is the dried version of it. Vegetables were being dried in the past to preserve the abundance harvest but its more as a continuation to obtain the flavor of the past now. On the package, you will see that it says dehydrated cole, not very correct but it has become the De facto name for the dried version on the internet now.

This is supposedly a Cantonese kind of soup and I first tasted it while my Dad was still working at SATs Cargo, they have a staff canteen and one of the stall owner was manned by a lady who cooked these wonderful soup that my Dad would buy back to let us taste. This was the soup that I fell in love with because of the deep flavor of the dried bak choy and we attempted to cook it once and only once in Singapore because we failed to recreate it. I think it was because we didn't soak the dried vegetable before cooking it.

So, this time round I googled around for the right method of cooking and decided to soak it with boiling water for about 4 hours. The result is that while the vegetable was soft enough after 1.5  hours of simmering, it somehow lacks the taste. Next time I cook this, I will try soaking it overnight in cold water instead to preserve the taste of it.

Ingredients
300g pork ribs, blanched
7 stalks of dried bak choy
2 preserved dates (mi zao)
4 dried dates
salt to taste

Steps

1. Soak the dried bak choy in water overnight, wash thoroughly to remove any dirt, dry and cut into 1.5 inch pieces.
2. Blanched the pork ribs in hot water to remove the scum. Return the ribs to a pot of hot water to boil.
   
   
   
3. When the water is boiling, add the re-hydrated vegetable, both types of dates to the soup, turn down the heat to simmer for 1.5 hours.
4. Add salt to taste before serving, the bak choy should be nice and tender. You can drink it on its own or go with rice.

Steamed Pork with Salted Fish and Ginger

Hmm... this may not  be to everyone's liking but I got hooked on it when my friend, May Leong's mom cooked it for her whenever she comes back home. Auntie can really cooked and May, whose is currently working in Australia as a doctor is one of my good friend whom I know since I was 19 years old in my first vacation job. We were in Altron then, it was a computer school and I was in administration while she was at front desk sales. She was the one who introduced me to pubbing and mahjong but the only thing she would ever drink was coke while we danced the night away.

Anyway, this can be varied accordingly but I lightly fried the ginger and salted fish a little before adding to the pork, which I chopped up roughly.

Ingredients
Lean pork, about 100g
20g of fresh ginger, julienned
Salted fish about 1/3 to 1/2 of the amount of pork
2 tablespoons of soy sauce 
2 tablespoons of sesame seed oil
2 tablespoons of Shaoxing wine
White pepper to taste

Steps

1. Sliced the pork thinly and chop roughly, set aside in a metal plate for steaming
2. Lightly fry the ginger and salted fish but this step is optional if you prefer not to do it.
3. Assemble all the ingredients and seasoning, leaving the ginger and salted fish to be spread on top.
4. Steam it for about 15 minutes or until done, you can also put it on top of your rice while you are cooking it.
5. Serve hot.
   
   

Lemon Fettucini with Salmon and Broccoli

Hej allihop,

Den här är min första middagen som jag har lagade för min man när jag kommer tillbacka från Singapore. Det är en lätt rätt och smacka bra också!

Hey everyone,

Here's the first meal I cooked for my hubby when I came back from Singapore. It's an easy dish and taste good too!



Ingredients
Fresh lemon fettucini
1 salmon fillet
100ml cream
1 stalk of broccoli, cut into florets and bit-size pieces
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 handful of grated parmesean cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Steps

1. Pan fry the salmon fillet on both sides till slightly browned, set aside and flake into small bit-size pieces with a fork when cooled
2. Heat up some butter with a dash of oil and pour in the minced garlic in a large pan. Stir fry till slightly brown and fragrant and add in the broccoli and cook till they are al dente.
3. Cook the pasta in salted water according to instructions till al dente, then add them to the broccoli in the pan, mix them well and add in the salmon flakes.
4. Add in the cream and salt and pepper to taste, then turn off the heat before adding the cheese, mix well and serve hot.

From 35 degrees celsius to -7 degrees celsius

Yup! I'm back - to the cold but beautiful Sweden. Somehow the sunlight here is kinda of silvery, shiny, making everything seems just a bit magical.

Before I start posting recipes again, I thought I would share with you my culinary 'catch-ups' while I was in Singapore for the past month :)

 

Well...technically this was my burger at Macdonalds at Frankfurt airport - cost about 15SGD for a meal but this one has a beef patty, hashbrown and bacon in it. Not too bad, especially when I wasn't served anything during the flight from Copenhagen on SAS.

The famous (?)  Nasi Lemak at Adam Road. Actually I don't know which one is famous but I just Q where the Q is longest...Most Singaporeans would do that when in doubt?

 

My complete breakfast of Teh O and nasi lemak with anchovies, egg, and chicken wing - Sedap!

 
 

This was the taman fish caught, cleaned and fried by my Dad - BEST!!

 
 

Still one of my favourite Japanese restaurant in Singapore, its on the 8th floor I think, at Orchard Central. Its apparently a chain of restuarants in Japan, but I love the rice with white bait and you add the black sesame and salt to it.

 
 

Its called OOTOYA

 
 

And I love the combination of green tea ice cream with azuki beans and mochi, topped with a dark syrup (I suspect either gula melaka or dark caramelized sugar).

 

Johan's favourite Chay Kway Teow from Food Republic Vivo City. He say got the 'Big Fire' taste one.

 

Ok, this one is not food, but I thought it was quite funny that GIANT used the Singaporean craze on mahjong to carry out a promotion. You really are supposed to collect the scratch out cards of all the tiles of 13 wonders.

 
 

This is my younger brother and his girlfriend's dog Mocha, a mini poodle.

  

This was at East Coast Park Food Center, stall owners like to have these lucky lions dance and 'pluck green' (basically tear up pieces of green vegetables and peel a mandarin orange) to bring luck and prosperity to their business.

 
 

But this lion seems rather sleepy - O I was suppose to catch up on my wantan mee here, but it was closed, but the carrot cake stall didn't fail me :)

 
 

The new MacDonald's deluxe breakfast - which I like very much since it has all elements of what I like about the breakfast menu - hotcakes and muffins, however it is very filling - all the way to lunch.

 
 

My Dad's famous Char Hoon - its a Heng Hwa dish of rice vermicili, white claims, vegetables, beancurd, fish cake and pork strips. You top it up with fried seaweed and chinese vinegar - we like to add SinSin garlic chili sauce but its so good that everything he cooked one and a half big pot, none will be left.

 
 

Give you a closer look ok?

 
 

Our family dog Whisky...so cute right!

 
 

Again, a simply delicious meal prepared by my Dad to eat with porridge. O the anchovies he fried are to live for! He will first dry fry them over low heat, then add oil to shallow fry them, then splash with soy sauce once dish up. Its a snack by itself! I told him, everytime I walk past the dining table, I will pinch a bit up and eat haha

 
 

My phone camera is not good, but its really.....wah...

 
 

Minced pork fried with black beans, chili and spring onions

 
 

O this is my humble white bait omelette...nothing compared to my Dad's

 
 

Handsome Boy!

 
 

My last meal at Singapore's MacDonald's... If you are wondering, yes we do have MacDonalds in Sweden, but their chocolate sundae is just not the same and their nuggets do not have the curry sauce nor the garlic chili sauce and they don't serve green tea.

 
 

But here's where my lovely hubby pick me up, Malmö C, Svagertorp on a lovely sunny spring morning.

 

 

Away on Holiday in Singapore

Dear all,

My apologies for the silence but guess where I am?Home sweet home in Singapore!


Being a food paradise I am still carving my path through my favourite dishes and will update when I'm back:)

Have fun trying the recipes and leave me a comment if you have any questions:) I have been getting a few from friends who were inspired to try them out, so let me know how they go!

Dongting Stir Fried Duck Breast

This was my first time trying this dish since duck breast normally comes in the form of roast ducks or duck rice when I eat them in Singapore.We got this frozen duck breast in Sweden but I'm sure you can use other dark meat like beef to substitute. I like how simple this dish is and will definitely make this for my dad :)

Ingredients

1 boneless duck breasts, sliced thinly and marinated with 1/2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine, 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce and 1/4 teaspoon dark soy sauce

2 spring onions

2 red chili or 1 red bell pepper sliced thinly

1 garlic clove finely sliced

About same amount of ginger, peeled and finely sliced

salt and 1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 tablespoon oil for cooking

Steps

1. Marinade the sliced duck breast while you prepare the other ingredients.
2. Cut the white and green part of the spring onions into 1cm chunks and the green parts to 3cm sections. Cut the chili into 0.5 cm slices or the bell pepper into small squares about the size of the duck slices.
3. Heat the wok over high heat until smoke rises, then add the cooking oil and swirl it around. Add the duck slices and stir fry it until it is nearly cooked.
4. Add the garlic, ginger, white and green portions of the spring onions and chili/red pepper and stir fry until fragrant. 
5. Season with salt to taste and when everything is smelling good, stir in the spring onions greens, stir in the sesame oil and serve.

Sweet & Sour Pork - Söt och Sur Fläskött

Johan loves this dish and its not uncommon for it to be on the dinner menu when we are preparing a feast for the family. This version is quite different from the normal ones you might be used to which may use ketchup and chili sauces to make the final sweet and sour concoction as Chinese black vinegar and sugar are used instead. That's why you won't see the dish appearing orangey or with bits of pineapples or cucumber or paprika, but just purely the meat itself with some spring onions. This is taken from Fushia Dunlop's book 'Land of Plenty', do get a copy for yourself, it's really very good!

Ingredients

Boneless pork loin cut into 1/2 inch thick stripes/cubes, about 400-500g marinade with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
Batter - 2 eggs with enough potato flour (about 1/4 cup) to make a thick batter
Sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons black Chinese vinegar
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
2.5 teaspoons potato flour
3 spring onions, green parts only finely sliced
3 tablespoon cooking oil
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger
3/4 cup stock
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Steps

1. Marinade the pork for about 30 minutes. While waiting, combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Heat up the oil for deep frying about medium-high heat, beat up the eggs and combine with enough flour to make a thick batter so that when you dip one cube of pork in it and lift it up, the batter is still coating it thinly. Add the pork into the batter and mix it well. Add the pork individually into the oil to prevent it from sticking together, separating them with your chopsticks if necessary. Fry them for about 3 minutes or until they are just cooked through. Remove and drain. You may need to do this in batches.
3. Reheat the oil when you have deep fry all the pork once through, add them back again to the oil in batches and fry until they are crispy and golden. Remove and drain, keep warm in the serving dish while you prepare the sauce.
4. Heat about 3 tablespoon oil in a clean wok over medium flame, add the ginger and garlic and stir fry till its fragrant and add the stock, bringing it to a boil. 
5. Add the sauce ingredients which you have previously prepared into the boiling stock and stir briskly as it will thicken quickly, add in the spring onions and sesame oil and stir it once or twice and pour the sauce over the pork in the serving dish. Serve warm.