Stir-fried Japanese Cucumber

The cucumber is a fruit from the same gourd family as the pumpkin and zucchini. It is crisp, cool, and juicy and can be eaten raw, or cooked. When choosing cucumbers, select the firm, unblemished ones that are rounded at the tips and heavy for their size. Go for those that are relatively small and slender as these often have better flavor and fewer seeds.

The cucumber has many health benefits. Its diuretic, cooling and cleansing properties can help to reduce heat and inflammation and heal skin problems.

Today I'm using the Japanese cucumbers or kyûri for my recipe. This is a dark green cucumber with quite a bumpy skin. People normally used it for slicing, salads and pickling.

Stir-fried Japanese Cucumber



3 pieces Japanese cucumber, sliced angular
1 piece thin yellow tofu, sliced
100 gm prawns
1oo gm carrot, sliced
1 piece fish cake, sliced
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, shallots and garlic till fragrant.
4. Fry the prawns for a minute and dish out.
5. Fry the carrot and fish cake for a minute.
6. Add the cucumber and stir fry with some salt, sesame oil and oyster sauce for a minute, adding in 2 tablespoon water.
7. Mix in the prawn and tofu.
8. Sprinkle in some pepper and sugar for taste.
9. Serve hot with rice.

Fried Lou Shi Fun

Lou shi fun, literally translated as mouse noodles because it looks like the mouse tail, is one of my favorite noodles. It is a type of rice noodles that is best eaten fresh, either in soup or fried. It has a smooth and spongy texture though a bit oily. As such, I normally rinse and drain off the excess oil before cooking.
Many parents feed their young children with lou shi fun instead of the conventional long dry noodles as it is easier to eat and swallow. Recipe for 5 persons is as follows:-

Fried Lou Shi Fun


1 kg lou shi fun
600 gm bean sprouts
200 gm pork, sliced thin
100 gm prawns, shelled
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 shallots, sliced
1/2 tsp shredded ginger
2 sprig spring onions, cut to 1 inch length
2 tbsp 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 bean sprouts and stir fry a minute
7. Rinse lou shee fun in warm water to drain away excess oil.
8. Add in the noodles and spring onions.
9. Mix the oyster, black sauce and soya sauce with a tablespoon of water.
10. Pour in the sauce mixture.
11. Add back the prawns and mix everything together.
12. Sprinkle some pepper and mix well.
13. Serve hot with sambal.

Recycle your paper roll tubes

Again, another resource that we can recycle! The empty tubes from our kitchen or toilet paper rolls which most of us would use practically everyday.

Don't throw them away after you have used up the last piece of tissue.


Use them to store your appliance cords in the drawers. It keeps them tidy and you can write on the roll which appliance it belongs to.


Those excessively long wires that are attached to the electrical appliances such as the oven, blender, toaster, radio and hairdryer can also be kept neatly on the table top.

Sweet Corn Soup

Whenever I come across any fresh sweet corn cobs in the wet market, I will buy them to make a bright and colorful soup for dinner. The soup is very nutritious and appetizing and my family enjoys eating the cooked sweet corn with their fingers!

According to Cornell food scientists, eating cooked sweet corn, whether creamed, steamed or just on the cob, can substantially reduce the chance of heart disease and cancer as cooking increases the antioxidants in sweet corn.

Sweet Corn Soup


2 cobs of sweet corn
200 gm spareribs or lean meat
2 carrots
1 tomato, cut into wedges
1 thumb size ginger, smashed
3/4 tsp salt
2 liter water

1. Remove the husk and hair from the sweetcorn and cut into 2 inches length.
2. Peel carrot skin and cut to small sections.
3. Put all the ingredients into pressure cooker.
4. Boil over high flame till the second red indicator ring is visible.
5. Switch to very low heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Remove from fire.
7. Serve hot with rice.

Red Bean Soup

This sweet dessert soup is very easy to make - the main ingredient is adzuki beans or simply called red beans. It is also one of my favorite weekend dessert soup for lunch.

I normally use a slow cooker or crock pot as it's so convenient to cook it overnight. The sago is added only in the morning.

Once the soup is ready, the family can consume it anytime they like. The red bean soup goes well with either yau char kway or fried meehoon.

Red Bean Soup



300 gm red beans
10 tbsp sugar
50 gm sago, soaked for 20 min
1 piece dried tangerine peel, about 2 inches
20 pieces lotus seeds, stems discarded (optional)
3 liter water

1. Put red beans, tangerine peel, sugar and water in the slow cooker.
2. Switch to auto mode and boil overnight, for about 8 hours.
3. Turn to high to let the soup boil.
4. Stir in the sago.
5. Once sago turn transparent, the red bean soup is ready.
6. Serve hot or warm, depending on preference.