Chicken Kung Pao

This is a very cinch dish ..chop chop chop!! but very delicious..Sometimes, instead of chicken I also use squid.

There are 3 parts of ingredients in making this dish

A: The Marinade

Marinade chicken in the following for about 20 min

1 1/2 chicken breast cut in bite size cubes

1 1/2dark soy sauce

pinch of salt (optional)

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp cooking wine (optional)

1 tbsp water

B The fragrant ingredients 

3 stalks green onions cut into 1 cm pieces

8 thin slices of young ginger

3 cloves of garlic -coarsely chopped

 4-6 dried red chillies cut into 1 cm length -remove the seed for mild taste

1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorn 

Optional : 1 stalk celery (cut 1/2 inch pieces)

C: :Kung Pao Sauce

1 tbsp chili bean sauce

1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce

4 tbsp light soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon vinegar

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tbsp corn starch

1/2 teaspoon sugar

ALTERNATIVELY ...  If you are on the go .. there is an easier option for C . Singlong brand Gong Bao sauce works pretty well..

D: 1/2 cup roated peanuts or cashewnuts

optional : some sweet peas

1. In a work, heat 2 cups of oil. When bubbles form around a wooden spoon immersed in the wok put in the marinated chicken meat and cook until it changes color. Remove and put aside.

2. remove all but 2 tablespoon oil. Put in Szechuan peppercorn and dried chili. Fry until the chili turns dark (not black though). At this point put in all the A ingredients and stir fry. Put the chicken meat back inside the wok. Stir quickly. Put in ingredient B. Stir evenly 1-2 minutes. At the end put in roasted peanuts and sweet peas. Serve with rice . 

Fresh Popiah with Marie Biscuit sauce

This recipe is specially for my friend Shirley Wong.Sorry took me so long to put it up.. been very lazy LOL!! I hope you will enjoy making these yummy popiah as much as I did and impress your loved ones :) This recipe by the way won me 1st prize in a cooking competition when I was in the States!..:)

There is just something else when eating fresh popiah.. Sure the fried ones are good but I just love the fresh ones.. Brought back memories of the Alor Star Court House popiah years ago when I was small. And the memories of helping my sister making the popiah wrappers by ourselves...amazingly interesting task! Off course now I just buy them from Tesco!.. 

Ok.. so, you will need:

a cup of bean sprout  ( blanch in boiling water water) 

5 strand long beans -(blanch in boiling water and cut into 1/2 cm pieces

1-2 cups ijama (sengkuamg) - julienne 

1 cup of grated cabbage

1 small can of crab meat

1-2  pc tofu -squashed (and mixed in  1 egg -optional )

1 teaspoon fennel seed (jintan manis) pounded together with:

2 shollots and

1 teaspoon tumeric

2 tablespoon vegetable oil for frying

fried shallots for garnish

Heat oil in wok. Fry the fennel and shallot mixture till frangrant. Add in the the squashed tofu and fry till most of the moisture is dried. Add in the crab meat and stir further. Then add in the cabbage, ijama (sengkuang) and long beans. When the vegetables are wilted. turn off the heat.

The Sauce

Its really is a very simple recipe. You'll notice I don't put in the measurement ..it all depends on how you like it..

10 pieces Marie biscuits ( grounded into powder)

2-3 pc dried chillies ( fried without oil and grounded into powder)

tamarind paste to taste

brown sugar and white to taste

salt to taste

1 teaspoon of dark soysauce

water

Put all the ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to boil over medium heat stirring always 

Assembly

Tear one piece of the popiah wrapper. With a brush or spoon brush some of the sauce in the middle. Arrange a little of the bean-sprout on it lengthwise. Spoon the filling on top of the sprout. Fold the left and right sides in first then rolled up from the bottom. Cut each roll into 3 bite size pieces and smoother some sauce over .Garnish with fried shallots

My Cakes Creations

Sweet Sixteen Fondant Cake

Publish Post

 Cascading Fresh Flowers Wedding Cake

Pirate Themed Birthday Cake and Cupcakes

Jumbo Circus Birthday Cake

Spring Teddy Bear in the Garden baby Shower Cake

My Cream Cheese Icing Cakes

Other Themed Cakes 

F1 Birthday Cake

Japanese Cawanmushi

One of my daughter's favorite Japanese dish. Very light and easy to make

6 pc peeled prawns

Few bite sized chicken - roasted in a pan until brown on both sides

2 pc shitake mushrooms - halved

4 thinly sliced carrots

a few slices spring onions greens

1 large egg (break and beat lightly with chopstick)

170  ml water mix with 1/2 teaspoon granulated bonito dashi (use part of the water to dissove the dashi in the microwave and add back to the rest of the water.)

1/2 teaspoon usukuchi soy sauce (saltier but lighter colored soy sauce)

1/4 teaspoon salt

Japanese parsley to garnish (or I just use spring onion when out of)

To the dashi mixture add the soy sauce and the salt. Add the dashi soup into the egg. Arrange the chicken, prawns and vegetables into a cup and pour the egg mixture in. Place in a steamer and steam on extreme heat for 1 minute. Cover the lid with towel for best stemming Place a chopstick under the lid to avoid overheating. Reduce heat to low and steam for 10 more minutes. When a skewer is stuck into the egg and the soup is clear, the cawanmushi is cooked. Remove and garnish with Japanese parsley..