Thus far I have cooked 2 dishes. – Salted fish steamed with pork belly

Salted fish braised with toufo.

Fry toufo after coating with a mixture of rice and corn flours before frying garlic and shallots. Add the carrots and a whole head of Chinese leaf cabbage. Including the soaked mushrooms and the soaking liquid. Seasoned with a touch of oyster sauce, salt and pepper and light soy sauce. Hubby loves it.

Slicing, frying and packing.

Signed Sealed Delivered – All mine

Zeepers – Keepers

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There is a Farmfoods supermarket near my house. They recently had an offer on their raw prawns. I am a fan! Needless to say today I went to town on them. I made 3 different types of pastes

1 – Ratio of 50/50 chicken mince to prawns

2 – Mince half prawns to fine paste and the other half mince to about 70%. The paste helps to stick and the rest for that nice bite.

3 – Mince half the prawns to fine paste, half to about 70% and then add more whole prawns. I put 2 whole prawns into each wraps.

The first tub of paste 50/50 was used to make yong liew – here

From the young liew we have 2 meals for 2 days.

The second tub of paste was used to make prawn toasties – here

And the third tub was use to make beancurd wraps – here . I have actually make 3 different types of wraps for 3 different usage. Note – I fried these wraps just lightly. This is because I want to air fry them before serving. This ensures that they are more crispy and also help to get rid of some oil. It will brown more then. As for the ones for freezing I fried them literally just a minute on each side. Next, I have to wait a few hours. Let them lose their crispness before storing them into zip-lock bags. Then freeze them. TIP – for the freezer ones I used a longer beancurd sheets because I air fry them for noodles. With curry noodles they would be a great ‘soaking’ vessels for curry broth.

All these I got from 2.5 kg of prawns because they are on offer now 3kg for £30! I hope you enjoy trying!

p/s will update my braise dish when it is cooked.

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This is an update post to my old post HERE with TIPs I have learned with age. I like to think with age come wisdom? I much preferred to make it this way nowadays. It is easier and for me a lot more convenient. My recipe remains the same but cooking method differ. I do not do everything in a day.

One day to wash, portion my chicken and marinate. Another day to cook and lastly to assemble and steam. I usually make quite a few to gift to friends and feed my freezer.

I don’t like my rice mushy but al dante. I actually give my chicken a spa treatment, chopped and marinate them beforehand, 2 days ago. I stored them in vacuum sealed containers. I also cooked the chicken and mushrooms yesterday and soaked my rice last night. Today it is only a matter of slicing the Chinese sausages, assembling and steaming them. I made 2kg of glutinous rice and a whole big fat chicken it takes two rounds of steaming. Tasting and packing takes time.

TIP – Save some of the chicken oil to oil your stainless steel tin ramekins.

TIP – I have discovered it is better to use water chestnut flour. Corn starch turns your stock watery but water chestnut flour would not.

TIP – When you fill your stainless steel ramekins, tap it on a chopping board but do NOT press hard. If you press hard you will have uncooked rice in the middle! Tapping is done at a slight angle so your rice don’t jump out.

TIP – Arrange your filled ramekins on your steamer. Then add the soaking rice water to just barely noticeable on top. That would be enough if you have soaked overnight.

TIP – I prefer a 40 minutes steaming on medium heat after water boiled. If you plan to freeze and steam again before eating adjust your time accordingly.

With all my love – enjoy making. They freeze extremely well. To eat just defrost in fridge overnight and them steam for like 10 minutes. Double the time if steam from frozen but common sense prevails – aka depending on the size of you LMK

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I cooked a simple one pot braised dish tonight but thought I will blog it for my son. He bought his own place and moved out for a few years now and he has picked up some cooking skills along the years. In fact in the last year he has been cooking his own food a lot and so his skills is much improved, The wonderful thing is he is actually enjoying it. He said cooking his own food saves him a lot of monies. I attribute that to his frugal mum and her Chinese teaching! On the other hand my gal is not that interested in cooking except learning the few dishes she loves! Alamak!

Many a times I get a text or a call, “mum how do I cook this or that” or even “mum, I remember that sauce you cooked for…., how do I cook it?” I have to admit, it gladdens my heart. One gained a bit of knowledge here and there and a lot of peoples’ post a recipe for others to follow but I noticed they never give out the “important” tips! I like to think I am not like that at all. I share everything I know because to me there is actually no point in keeping the knowledge I have gained as secrets, for each individual cook will ultimately turn out to be different. No one can replicate another cook exactly even if the recipe is followed to the letter.

Tip – Rinse the bought fried toufo with hot water and drain before using. This will remove the “factory oil” taste.

Sauce – Water from the soaked mushrooms, sieved to remove impurities. Oyster sauce (1 tbsp), salt & Pepper, pinch of sugar and I used water chestnut flour instead of cornflour to thicken. It might be an age thing but I have moved away from using a lot of soy sauces or cooking anything with thick, sweet, sticky sauces. Not sure why but I have gone off those for the moment. I have been using water-chestnut flour more instead of corn-starch for sauces. It is lower in carbohydrates too. It cannot be a substitute for all food but for sauces it is fine.

TIP – It is important to freeze your beef beforehand to harden it a bit and use a very sharp knife to slice to 1mm thickness or in the case thinness! Actually if you learn to handle beef well, there is no such thing as tough beef, well not in my book anyway!

TIP – Just before you add your beef to your pot, you can marinate with anything you like, salt & pepper, soy sauce, cornflour if you want velveting but I did nothing today. I tend to stay away from using ‘tenderiser’ powder like bicarbonate soda etc. If you slice thinly you just do not need it. However the most important thing to remember is to add a couple tablespoon of oil and mix well just before adding to your pot as this will separate them nicely and they won’t clump together. I used shallots and garlic oil. Of course you may use sesame oil.

All my TIPs are based on my experiences of cooking almost daily for nearly 3 decades. Enjoy.

Topped with some forages from my garden. Wash and soak in cold water with a touch of vinegar before using.

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Salted chicken is so easy to make at home. This is the simplest no fuss recipe. You buy the chicken and unlike the British people, we Chinese like to clean our chicken with salt and rinse before eating. In the winter this is a good dish and easy to prepare and steam on lazy days when you are a bit cold and lazy. My chicken was marinated for 3 days. Adjust your salt to suit. If marinate longer, less salt and so forth. Not actually rocket science but cooking experiences is useful.

You can actually vacuum sealed your chicken and cook it in a Sousvide machine if you like. A simple way as I don’t like to use a lot of other ‘brown’ sauces. I like the clean look, not muddy brown look so no soy sauce, oyster sauce etc. A nice chicken won’t need all those. Eat clean and simple better. Of course you can add ginseng, mushrooms, red dates etc but today I am just lazy and I just want to show off the near perfect cornfed chicken skin.

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Today I treated my family to a special noodle dish from Sarawak. It’s been awhile since I made this and although it is called Red Kolok Mee, no colouring was used. Well at least not me. As for the steps of cooking please have a read here –

https://www.julieolive.co.uk/2019/08/22/kampua-mee-kolok-mee-pok/

Nowadays you can make char sui anytime in the air fryer and it’s quite fast and no frills like I did today. However if you did not marinate your pork overnight feel free to liberally poke it with a sturdy fork before marinating. I did it as soon as I went down to the kitchen this morning. Some days you just do not know what to cook and I just decided this was going to be today’s dish, right before I fell asleep last night!

The char sui was roasted in my air fryer for 30 minutes at 190C, from room temperature. 20 minutes on one side and I flipped over for another 10 minutes. I set my temperature and time according to the thickness of my pork belly. Give it a go as practise makes perfect. I actually wanted to light the BBQ to char them but was too lazy and the family were starving. So I just took the char sui to my garden on a tin plate and torched them a bit to get the char with an industrial blow torch.

Print

Sarawak Red Kolo (Kolok) Mee 哥罗面

Notes

TIP – Noodles need to be drenched in boiling water and then immediately into cold water to give them that ‘bouncy’ or QQ texture.

TIP – Invest in a blow torch and use them to torch your char sui and other meat. It brings out a better taste and looks better. Do not buy the expensive silly cooking blow torch. Get one from the DIY shops. They are the best! 

TIP – make your mince with added pork lard for the little ‘crackling’ for a much better taste. Add in garlic and shallots.

For my char sui recipe —–> https://www.julieolive.co.uk/2020/07/22/char-siu-chinese-bbq-pork-ala-julies-recipe/

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Today I dismembered a cornfed chicken and used half of it to stir fry blackbeans. The hubby and daughter are big fans of blackbeans. I, myself can either take it or leave it. However we all love leeks and carrots. As such this dish was born. Just a simple stir fry but very satisfying to see them both enjoying it.

As I amble towards the twilight years of my life, I noticed a slight change of style in my cooking. I find myself using less sauces be it dark or light soy sauce, oyster and all manners of prepared bottled or jarred paste or sauces. I noticed this as I do not need to replace my cupboard staples often. I am also not sure why myself. I am an avid follower of cooking reels and the amount of oil, sauces, sugars etc they used really puts me off. I don’t use much ready made paste because it is just as easy for me to make a batch and freeze myself. Then I know there’s no E numbers in what I eat, the bad stuffs you know.

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Just recently I noticed this recipe is missing from my ‘new’ blog. As I am making it today I decided to take some photos and blog it. I really have to invest in a camera stand. My hands are getting more and more shakier by the years and sadly I can see a difference in my photos. However my motto is still – Growing old is not a privilege given to everyone, so we should and must embrace it.

This is what I usually make for my daughter at her ‘that time of the month’. We, Chinese believe in the power of pork liver to replenish blood lose and this soup was made for me and taught to me when I was quite young, Primary 5, I believed. I have been making this soup on and off ever since.

If you do a Google on liver benefits you would be met with incredible lists of benefits for both male and females. Of course like all things we must not over indulge. I love livers myself and am very partial to the British calf liver and bacon dish. (Another recipe missing from this blog, I would rectify soon) I would say I have livers once a month, including pâté of all sorts with red wine as an appetizer sometimes or end of meal or sometime even a meal itself if not too hungry.

This is from Google –

Pork liver is packed with nutrients that can offer several health benefits, especially for men. Here are some key advantages:

1. Rich in Protein: Pork liver is a great source of protein, which is essential for muscle growth and repair. It contains all nine essential amino acids, making it a complete protein
2. High in Vitamins: It is particularly rich in B vitamins, including B12, which is crucial for energy production and brain health. It also contains high levels of vitamin A, which supports vision and immune function
3. Mineral Boost: Pork liver provides a good amount of iron, which is important for preventing anemia and maintaining healthy blood cells. It also contains zinc and selenium, which are vital for immune function and antioxidant protection
4. Supports Detoxification: The combination of selenium, B vitamins, and vitamin A in pork liver can enhance the liver’s detoxification abilities, helping to cleanse the body of toxins
5. Heart Health: The nutrients in pork liver, such as vitamin B12 and folate, can help reduce homocysteine levels, which is beneficial for heart health

While pork liver is highly nutritious, it’s important to consume it in moderation due to its high vitamin A content, which can be toxic in large amounts. So have a go at this old recipe for your sons and daughters. p/s husbands too!

TIP – If you have read till here, you deserves a TIP. After bringing your broth to the boil with the meatballs, turn the heat off THEN add in your prepared livers. Nothing is worse than over cooked hard livers.

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It has been a very long time since I last made spring rolls. I had a gathering the other day and a friend made some and brought over. Ever since then I had spring rolls in my brain. No choice then, I had to make my own today. Luckily I have got a packet of spring rolls wrapper in my freezer. This is also one of the recipe that was lost with my old blog so I might as well make them and blog it, least I forget with old age. As today is hubby’s office day, he will be so surprised when he come home for his hour lunch break.

Decades ago I had an idea to wrap my spring rolls like so. The family and my close friends are always making fun and laughing WITH me about my ideas. Some ideas of course needs a lot of experimenting and not all are good but for my spring rolls I give myself a ‘pat on my shoulder’ – job well done and thought of.

The filling of course all depends on yourself but I will give you a few of my TIPs (personal opinions)

TIP 1 – When you are frying your fillings, do not use ‘dark’ stuff, like soy sauce, oyster sauce etc. It’s make the spring rolls unattractively black.

TIP 2 – Do not put hoisin sauce, honey or any sweet stuff. A pinch of sugar is fine for balance or you will find your spring rolls with dark unsightly spots

TIP 3 – Use vermicelli or glass noodles as they soak up the sauce and your spring rolls stays crispy for longer time.

TIP 4 – If you are intending to freeze your spring rolls, DO NOT use vegetables, especially beansprouts unless you completely have no teeth! Nothing taste as bloody awful as mushy spring rolls fillings! If you want to freeze and fry them up for a party, use Carrots and daikon (mooli) or yam bean if you are lucky enough to find some in my part of the world, UK. (No I do not like the Thailand ones, sorry but yes I am that fussy)

TIP 5 – By all means use beansprouts and vegetables if you are eating straight away. However be aware NOT to overcook your vegetables are you are going to fry your rolls after.

Hope my TIPs are helpful. I am a Virgo, so my food has to be pretty, symmetrical and spring rolls in my opinion MUST be round, not flat! Else they would be called FLAT wraps right?

These pics below will be self explanatory. You can use any protein you like. Today I used chicken, mushrooms, dried shrimps …..

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I normally like to use bread flour but I don’t have any on hand so I used 250g plain flour, 1 egg and 2 egg yolks, pinch of salt, a scant half cup of water and a tbsp garlic oil. I also prefer to roll out my dough then pull them thinner before boiling them. I do not like thick dough. It is entirely up to you. You can adjust using 2 whole eggs and less water etc. Just need to be a soft dough and not stick to your hand. p/s you can use plain oil or any flavoured oil. There is not hard and fast rule. I have tried using lard too! Really nice.

Note – If you have read till here you deserve a big TIP! I just realised this too after making this for so many years!

Do not use rolling boil hot water! Don’t use rolling boil because you don’t have a big tank like a hawker stall! This is because when your dough hit the very hot water, it will shrink very fast and hence the dough will be thicker. Use a gentler boil and you will have nice thin dough. It’s a little learning curve but practise makes perfect! Actually if you stand and look at the hawker, you will notice they often add cold water to stop the rolling boil.

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