Barley Fuchok Drink

I like to boil barley water once in a while especially when the weather is very hot as I believe it has a cooling effect on the body. After some research, I discovered that the grains are rich in protein, vitamins, minerals and amino acids essential for our health.

Barley is also very rich in both soluble and insoluble fiber. The soluble fiber helps to lower blood LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol), stabilize blood glucose levels and reduce high blood pressure whilst the insoluble fiber aids in proper excretion of waste products in the body.

My recipe on the barley drink is made more nutritious by adding gingko, fuchok and red bamboo leaf.

Barley Fuchok Drink

100 gm barley pearls
4 red bamboo leaves
1 piece fuchok (beancurd skin in Cantonese)
20 pieces gingko
300 gm rock sugar
3 litre boiling water

1. Remove the shell, skin and stem of the gingko.


2. Rinse barley, bamboo leaves and fuchok (break into smaller pieces).


3. Put them with rock sugar, gingko and water into pressure cooker.


4. Boil over high flame till you can see the second red indicator ring.


5. Switch to very low heat and simmer for 20 minutes.


6. Remove from fire.


7. Serve hot or cold depending on preference.

p/s. If using normal pot, bring all the ingredients except the fuchok to a boil before letting it simmer over medium heat for 45 minutes. Add the fuchok and continue to boil for another 10-15 minutes.

Keeping fruits and vegetables really fresh

Don't throw away those aluminium coated bags that food companies used for soft packaging of their products. They are fantastic for keeping your fruits and vegetables fresh for weeks.

Since I'm using a lot of foodstuff such as Quaker oats, Tesco Choco, Milo, Munchy's biscuits, Everday milk powder and a host of other products, I've accumulated quite a collection of these bags to store my fruits and vegetables in the fridge.

The bags can be sealed by using rubber bands and labelled for easy identification. The fruits and vegetables remain fresh as ever, retaining its moisture with no dehydration at all! Quality is also maintained.

With this little recycling endeavor at home, we are also helping the Save Mother Earth conservation efforts.

Steamed fish with Choy Po

400gm white pomfret or threadfin
1 tbsp. ginger, shredded
1 tbsp Choy Po, chopped (preserved radish in Cantonese)
2 shallots, sliced
1/2 tsp garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp dried shrimp, chopped
2 sprig spring onions (cut to 1/2 inch length)
1 tbsp oil
Sesame oil, pepper, salt

1. Rub fish lightly with salt.
2. Place fish on serving plate with the ginger on top.
3. Add a few drops of sesame oil, soya sauce and pepper on top.
4. Place plate onto steaming tray and cook with the rice in the rice cooker.
5. Heat oil in a wok.
6. Fry shallot, preserved radish, dried shrimp and garlic till fragrant.
7. Add the spring onions and stir fry for 30 seconds.
8. Scoop on to cooked fish just before serving.

If using wok, steam over rapidly boiling water for about 15 minutes.

Steaming made easy

Steaming is an ideal and healthy way to cook food. Minimal fat is used while the food retains its nutrients and natural flavours as well as appears fresh and moist.

I normally use a wok for steaming food. The wok is filled with about half boiling water and the food dish placed on a stainless steel rack in the middle of the wok and then covered with the wok lid. High heat is used to steam the food and the time to cook depends on the recipe.

I discovered an easy way to steam my fish when my old faithful Sanyo rice cooker gave up on me recently. After much scouting around, I found a Panasonic model that comes with dual functions of either cooking rice or porridge. I have yet to do porridge as my pressure cooker does wonders for that.

The one feature I like about this rice cooker is its steamer tray. Now, whenever I want to steam any food, especially fish, I just get all the ingredients prepared on my serving plate and place it on the steamer to cook with the rice together. When the rice is ready, so is my fish. It is very practical and time saving.

Chinese Flowering Cabbage or "choy sam" Soup

Chinese flowering cabbage is more popularly known as choy sam (in Cantonese). There are a few species of choy sam in the market but the most common one has small yellow flowers and medium green leaves. The choy sam has a sweet, mustardy flavour. Nutritionally, it is rich in calcium. Both the stems and leaves can be eaten. Sometimes I fry, or just blanch the choy sam if they are young but today I'm going to make soup. It is very easy and fast to make.

Choy sum soup

300 gm choy sam

100 gm pork, cut into strips

1 teaspoon toong choy (preserved Chinese cabbage)

1 teaspoon tapioca flour

1 thumb-size ginger, smashed

salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper
1 ½ litre water

1. Marinate the pork with salt, soya sauce, pepper and sesame oil.
2. Place toong choy, ginger and water into the pot and bring to boil.
3. Toss pork in tapioca flour.
4. Stir into stock and make sure the meat does not stick together.
5. Add in choy sam and some salt.
6. Bring to boil.
7. Serve hot with a dash of pepper.
   

Fried Egg Noodles

I'm frying egg noodles to complement the mei tau tong sui for a light lunch on Sunday. Fried egg noodles is relatively easy to cook and my children just love to eat them. I usually use a variety of ingredients to make the noodles tasty and delicious. Recipe for 5 persons is as follows:-

Fried Egg Noodles

400gm egg noodles, blanched
300 gm bean sprouts
200 gm pork, sliced thin
2 pieces of round fish cake, sliced
100 gm prawns, shelled
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 shallots, sliced
1/2 teaspoon shredded ginger
2 sprig spring onions, cut to 1 inch length
2 tablespoon oil
Salt, pepper, light soya sauce, black sauce, oyster sauce and water

1. Heat 2 tablespoon oil in the wok.
2. Fry the ginger and shallots till golden brown.
3. Add in the chopped garlic and saute till fragrant.
4. Fry the prawns till just cooked and dish out.
5. Fry the pork with some salt.
6. Add the fish cake and bean sprouts.
7. Stir fry a minute, add in the noodles and spring onions.
8. Mix in the oyster, black sauce and soya sauce and a tablespoon of water.
9. Add back the prawns and mix everything together.
10. Check the flavour , sprinkle some pepper, if desirable.

I like to serve the noodles hot with either cut pickled green chillies or sambal.

Black Eye Bean Soup (mei tau tong sui)

For my first recipe here with the pressure cooker,
Recipe for 5 persons is as follows:-

Black Eye Bean Soup / mei tau tong sui

300 gm black eye beans, washed
8 tabsp sugar
1 thumb-size old ginger, smashed
4 screwpine leaves, knotted
1 thumb size dried orange peel
50 gm sago ,soaked for 30 min
2 litre boiling water
1 egg, beaten

1. Put black eye beans, sugar, ginger, screwpine leaves, orange peel and water into pressure cooker.
2. Boil over big fire till you can see the second red indicator ring.
3. Switch to very low heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Remove from fire.
5. Open the cover when indicator has receded, turn up the fire and stir in the sago.
6. Bring to boil and stir in the beaten egg.

I normally serve the mei tau tong sui hot.

The time-saver Pressure Cooker

Since I have to cook for the family everyday, my kitchen is equipped with a few basic and reliable cooking applicances, one of which is the pressure cooker.
I bought a pressure cooker a few years ago. This pot has become the backbone for boiling soups especially soups that require simmering for about three to four hours. It is a fantastic pot as it not only reduces cooking time by 70 percent but also cuts my gas bill tremendously as only a very small flame is required during cooking.
On top of that, since less liquid is used for cooking, the vegetables retain more flavour and colour. The cooked food is succulent, tender and tastes delicious as there is no steam or nutrients lost in the cooking process.
The pot is also easy to clean, hence using less water and detergent. It is also more hygienic as no steam or oil escape to the air, keeping my kitchen cleaner.

Fried Tofu with Mushroom

I am using the firm tofu for my recipe. Although drained and pressed, the tofu still retains a lot of moisture making the texture quite spongy, similar to that of a firm custard. Tofu is made from soybeans and is rich in proteins, a main ingredient of the vegetarian diet.


3 pieces white tofu,sliced
I packet enoki mushroom, cut off the roots
1 tablespoon carrot, shredded
1 teaspoon dried shrimp
2 spring onions, cut into 1 inch length
1 teaspoon ginger, shredded
2 shallots, sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoon oil
salt, pepper, sugar, water

1. Heat oil in the wok and toss fry the tofu till golden brown.
2. Drain and dish out.
3. Saute the ginger, dried shrimp and shallots first, then the chopped garlic till fragrant.
4. Fry the carrot for a minute.
5. Add the enoki mushroom and stir fry with some salt.
6. Stir in oyster sauce, pepper, water and a sprinkle of sugar.
7. Bring gravy to boil.
8. Mix in the fried tofu and spring onions.
9. Serve hot.

This dish seems to be quite a regular feature in my weekly menu as the hubby loves it.

Ventilating my kitchen with the cooker hood

Cooking is more enjoyable when you have less mess to clean up, especially the grease, steam and oily fumes that fly everywhere. I have installed a stainless steel cooker hood to extract unwanted greasy smoke and ventilate my kitchen whenever I cook. It comes with a ducting that connects to the exterior.

There is also a washable grease filter which is detachable for cleaning. Up till now, my hanging cabinets and walls still retain their lustre and my kitchen environment is well ventilated.

Another trick that I use is to place a large piece of paper on the floor before I start to cook. This will catch all those flying oil droplets during frying. I just fold up the paper for reuse after the cooking is done.

Planning my dinner menu....

Cooking a balanced meal for the family can be quite a challenging task, especially when the three growing children all have different preferences.

I have devised a way to plan my dinner menu daily since it is the one meal of the day that brings the family together. My weekend marketing is sorted into three categories in a record book. They are meat (fish, pork, prawn and chicken), soup (lotus root, corn, spinach, etc) and vegetable (cauliflower, long beans, tofu, etc). This provides the basis for my whole week’s menu. Each morning or the night before, I will review what is available to decide on the dishes for the evening meal.

Basically, dinner consists of a meat/fish, a soup and a vegetable dish. There again, this has to be balanced, tasty and nutritious, otherwise I will have a lot of leftovers. Generally, if I use leafy vegetables as a soup ingredient, my vegetable dish will not be leafy based. For example, dinner menu for today is spinach soup (leafy), fried tofu with mushroom and steamed white pomfret.