Braised Buddha's hand gourd with mushroom

One afternoon, my son and I were having our tea break in the kitchen. I was busy reading a cookbook.
Son: “Mommy, what are you looking at?”
Me: “I am reading a recipe called “Braised Buddha’s hand gourd with mushroom”. I will cook it tonight for our dinner. Do you like it?”
I pointed out a photo of the gourd to my son.
Son: “What is this?”
Me: “This is Amitābha (Buddha)’s hand and we are going to eat it.”
My son stared at me for a second and smiled cheekly: “Don’t trick me!”

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Buddha’s hand gourd/ melon (佛手瓜) - (known as Chayote, Sechium edule)

There are many names given to this plant. One of the common names is Buddha’s hand because it resembles the hands of the Buddha.

Origin
“It is originated in the cool mountains of Central America where it was first domesticated by the Aztecs.”

Culinary uses
“Although most people are familiar only with the fruit, the root, stem, seeds, and leaves are all edible. The fruit does not need to be peeled and can be eaten raw in salads. It can also be boiled, stuffed, mashed, baked, fried, or pickled. Both the fruit and the seed are rich in amino acids and vitamin C. The tuberous part of the root is starchy and is both eaten by humans and used as cattle fodder."

Medical uses
The leaves and fruit have diuretic, cardiovascular and anti-inflammatory properties, and a tea made from the leaves has been used in the treatment of arteriosclerosis and hypertension, and to dissolve kidney stones.”

How to select
Select firm, smooth, unwrinkled chayote. Old chayote become very wrinkled and become dry and tough. Chayote will keep refrigerated for many days but it is best to use as quickly as possible.

Other references (Mandarin):
http://baike.baidu.com/view/84259.htm
http://meishi.88838.com/l/27

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Recipe adapted and modified from Special Quick & Delicious Vegetable Cookbook.

Ingredients:
300g Buddha's hand gourd (peeled, removed core and cut into thick strips)
50g mocked chicken slice (cut into thick strips)
3 dried shitake mushrooms (soaked and cut into thick strips)
50g carrot (cut into thick strips)
2-3 slices of gingers
1 tbsp oil

Seasonings:
1 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soya sauce
½ tsp salt
Dash of sesame oil and pepper
200ml water
1 tsp cornflour (diluted with water) - for thickening

Methods:
1) Heat up oil, saute ginger until fragrant.
2) Add in mocked chicken and stir-fry until fragrant.
3) Add in mushroom and stir-fry for a while.
4) Add in carrot and Buddha's hand gourd and stir-fry until well mixed.
5) Add in seasonings and bring to boil. Simmer until Buddha's hand gourds are soft and well-absorded with the gravy. Adjust seasonings if necessary.
6) Thicken with cornflour solution. Dish up and serve.

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Claypot chicken rice

My weekends are always tied up with the routine “once-a-week” groceries shopping. Last Sunday was even busier. After all the housework and cooking, we have to rush for an appointment. Due to time constraints, I just snapped some quick shots of my chicken rice directly from the claypot. Later on, I only realized that my cooked rice had been fully covered by the ingredients. As we had started eating, I had no choice but to take another shot solely focused on the rice. How silly I am!


By following the measurement from the original recipe, my rice turned out to be slightly hard (as you can see from the photo) because mine is basmathi rice and required more water during cooking.

This recipe is adapted and modified from here.

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients:
130g fragrant rice
170g water (Different type required different amount. Eg more water is required for long grain rice)
250g chicken thigh (removed skins, chopped into 5 – 6 pcs)
4-5 pcs shitake mushrooms (fresh or dried) – discarded stem and cut into halves
For fresh ones, blanch over boiling water
For dried ones, soaked to soften
1 Chinese sausage (soaked over hot water for 2-3 mins, removed the outer layer and sliced thinly)
Spring onions (for garnishing)

Seasonings for rice:
1 tsp garlic (chopped)
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
Dash of salt and pepper
1½ tbsp cooking oil

Seasonings for marinating chicken:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp sugar
½ tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp cornstarch
Dash of salt and pepper
1 tsp Chinese cooking rice wine (optional)

Seasonings for stir-frying:
2 pcs sliced ginger
½ tbsp garlic
1½ tbsp cooking oil

Methods:
1) Heat up wok with oil. Sautee garlic till fragrant. Add in rice and stir fry till rice turns to little stick and heavy. Add dark soya sauce, salt and pepper.
2) Pour into a claypot and add water. With medium high heat, cook the rice with closed lid for about 8-10 mins until the rice is almost cooked and water is almost dried up.
3) Heat up wok with oil. Lightly pan-fry sliced sausages till fragrant. Dish up and set aside.
4) With the remaining oil, stir-fry ginger until fragrant. Add in garlic and sautee garlic until it turns slightly brown.
5) Add in chicken and stir-fry until fragrant and let it simmer while cooking rice.
6) When the rice is cooked, spread chicken, mushrooms and sausages on top of the rice.
7) Close the lid and cook at medium fire for another 5-7 mins. (You are expected to have burnt bits for claypot rice)
8) Turn off the heat, sprinkle some spring onions and serve.

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Not my usual lunch

This afternoon, I had created a very “fusion” combo for my son and myself.
=> Cabbage omelettes + sesame seeds rice balls + stir-fried mushrooms.
(However, my son who is a fan of soup, after finishing his meals, said “Mummy, where is today’s soup?” :-[ )

This lunch combo is also great to use as a bento set. Recipes for cabbage omelette rolls and sesame seeds rice ball are adapted and modified from Mitong’s (小小米桶) website.

A) Cabbage omelette rolls (高丽菜/包菜蛋卷)
– For step-by-step illustrations, please refer to this link.

Ingredients:
100g cabbage (washed, drained and shredded finely) – discard the hard parts
1 clove garlic (pat it flat and minced)
1 tsp dried shrimp (washed, soaked, pat dry and chopped coarsely)
Dash of salt and white pepper

For omelette:
4 eggs (lightly beaten) – divide into 4 portions, 2 portions for 1 omelette
(Use fork/ chopsticks to slowly beat the eggs in a small circular direction to avoid creating bubbles)
Pinch of salt

Methods:
1) Heat up a non-stick pan with oil. Sautee minced garlic and dried shrimps until fragrant.
2) Add in cabbage and stir-fry until cooked. Add in seasonings. Dish up and set aside.
3) Heat up the pan again with a little bit of oil (Make sure the pan is clean). Use a piece of kitchen towel to wipe the pan so that it is well-coated with oil.
4) When the oil is heated, pour 1 portion of the egg mixture over the pan, swirl the mixture to form the omelette, cook under low heat.
5) When the omelette is 50% cooked, add in cabbage. Use a chopstick/ spatula to roll up the omelette.
6) Push it to the side of the pan. Pour another 1 portion and cook until 70% harden. Then under low fire, slowly fold/roll up the omelette.
7) When the folding is done, cook it with medium heat until the surface turns slightly to
golden brown.
8) Dish up and cut with a knife.

Note:
You can watch a video clip for ideas on how to roll up the omelette (tamagoyaki).

B) Sesame seeds rice ball
- For step-by-step illustrations, please refer to this link.
- I had omitted bacon and spinach from the original recipe (bacon spinach rice ball 培根菠菜饭团) because I didn’t have these 2 ingredients on hand.

Ingredients:
Cooked rice – 1 rice bowl
Black and white sesame seeds – ½ tsp each
Pinch of salt

Methods:
1) Put black and white sesame seeds in a frying pan. Dry fry over a low heat until fragrant.
2) Pour rice, both seeds and salt on a bowl, mixed well and divided into the required portions.
3) Scoop up 1 tablespoonful of rice mixture and put on top of a cling wrap/ plastic paper (cut into square shape). Shape it like a ball. Make sure the cling wrap is closed tightly.

Notes:
1) Prepare some water in case the rice sticks on your hand.
2) For a more tasty rice ball, cook rice with concentrated stocks.

C) Stir-fry mushrooms
- Similar to recipe in mushroom rice

Ingredients:
100-150g enoki bunch mushrooms + button mushrooms (chopped) (any combination)
2 tbsp minced garlic

Seasonings :
1 tbsp Chinese cooking rice wine
1 tbsp mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine)
2 tbsp light soya sauce
Dash of sugar and pepper

Methods:
1) Heat up pan with oil. Sautee minced garlic until fragrant.
2) Add in mushroom. Add in dash of sugar. Stir fry for a while.
3) Add in mirin and light soya sauce and cooked until the sauce has thicken.

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Simple pizza bread

We love pizza and always want to bring our son to eat pizza. But the strange thing is whenever we dined out, we always ended up with something else. The reason is my "emperor" only prefers authentic pizza and we are still searching for one.

As I don’t have an oven now, it is impossible to make a homemade pizza. Recently I found an interesting posting at this blog about no-dough pizza bread! At least, my oven toaster can be fully utilised now. This recipe is indeed very simple and easy. Just right for a lazy person like me that can simply make a nice toast that looks like pizza! What I did is to toast the pizza bread after my son goes to bed. After toasting, let it cool off at the room temperature. Keep it in a container and put in the fridge. Tomorrow morning, I just need to slightly toast them to reheat the bread and serve them as our breakfast. As what the food blogger said, there are many ingredients you can use to make this pizza bread. Some of them are: chicken, capsicum, sausage etc.

Here is the one of the versions I had made (based on my own creativity) for my breakfast today:

Ingredients:
4 white toast breads
1 palm-size chicken breast meat (cut into chunks)
½ white onion (sliced thinly)
4 button mushrooms (sliced)
8 cubes canned pineapples (drained and sliced)
5+1 tbsp butter (I used a mixture of ready-made garlic spread and butter)
Fresh grated parmesan cheese or any type (2 cups) - I put plenty because we like cheese!
Dash of sugar and pepper

Methods:
1) Marinate chicken with light soya sauce, sugar and corn flour for at least ½ hour.
2) Heat up a pan with oil and 1 tbsp butter, sautee onion until translucent. Add in mushroom, dash of sugar and pepper. Mix well and stir fry for a while. Add in chicken meat. Stir-fry until it turns brown. Dish up and set aside.
3) Cover baking tray with aluminum foil. Put breads and toast for 3 mins.
4) Flip them over and spread butter and garlic herb spread (ready-made) on the untoasted side. 5) Arrange all the stir-fry ingredients, pineapples and cheese on the bread.
6) Toast for 15 mins or until the cheese melts and turns golden brown.

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Braised chestnut （栗子）with chicken

Ingredients:
200g Chinese chestnuts (fresh)
2 chicken thighs (de-boned & skinless) - marinated with 2 tbsp light soya sauce, dash of sugar and cornflour for at least ½ hour
5 fresh mushrooms
2-3 tbsp wolfberries (kei chi - 枸子）
4 cloves garlic (bruised)
Coriander leaves (for garnishing)
300ml water

Seasonings:
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp concentrated Maggi chicken stocks（上汤）
Dash of dark soya sauce
Dash of sesame oil and pepper
Cornflour (for thickening)

Methods:
1. Wash chestnuts and place in a small saucepan together with the water. Boil for 15 mins, remove and soak in cold water. Use knife to remove the skin. Cut into smaller pieces.
2. Heat up wok with 1 tbsp oil. Sautee garlic, then add chestnuts and stir-fry for a while.
3. Pour in 90% water and seasoning. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 45 mins or until the chestnuts are tender.
4. Then add in mushroom and chicken and simmer for another 10 mins
5. Add in cornflour solution and bring to boil. Then stir in wolfberries and simmer for 30 secs.
6. Dish up, garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Note:
You can use dried mushrooms but need to pre-soak it in advance. Add in during step 2.

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Cream of mushroom soup

Ingredients:
200g fresh button mushrooms (chopped)
1 large white onion (diced)
1 large stalk of celery (diced)
360ml stock (I diluted 1 tbsp concentrated chicken stock with water)
300ml fresh milk
30g butter
3 tbsp plain flour
Salt and black pepper to taste

Methods:
1. Melt butter in a cooking pot.
2. Bake onion until translucent.
3. Lightly brown the mushrooms, then followed by celery
4. Stir in flour and mix well with the ingredients, then add in stock
5. Simmer for approx 20 mins. Stir occasionally.
6. Puree into a blender. (If you prefer a chunky soup, do not blend it until too smooth)
7. Pour back into the pot.
8. Add in milk and simmer for another 4 mins under medium heat. (Be careful not overboil the milk)
9. Season with salt and black pepper. Serve with homemade garlic bread.

You can also watch a video on How To Make Cream of Mushroom Soup from Video Jug

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Pumpkin rice

Ingredients:
120g rice (2 persons) - (rinsed and soaked for 15 mins)
160g pumpkin (cut into cubes)
1 chicken thigh (de-boned, removed skin and cut into small cubes)
4-5 fresh medium size shiitake mushroom (washed with running water, cut into small chunks)
25g dried prawns (pre-soaked for 15 mins, retained water for cooking later)
5 shallots (sliced thinly)
3 tbsp oil
Water for cooking (depending on the type of rice used)
Spring onions (for garnishing)

Seasonings:
1 tbsp light soya sauce
2 tsp dark soya sauce
½ tsp salt
Dash of sesame oil & pepper

Methods:
1. Marinate the chicken with light soya sauce, sugar, sesame oil & conrflour for at least half an hour.
2. Fried shallots until golden brown, set aside.
3. Heat up 2 tbsp oil of shallot oil, add in dried prawns and stir fry under low heat until fragrant. Add in mushrooms and dash of sugar, stir-fry for a while.
4. Push the dried prawns and mushrooms to the side of the wok, add in chicken and stir-fry until the chicken cubes turn pale (half-cooked).
5. Add in pumpkin and continue to stir-fry for a while. Add in a little oil if the mixture looks dried.
6. Add in pre-soaked rice, fried shallots, then followed by seasoning and stir until all the ingredients are well-combined.
7. Transfer all the ingredients to a cooking pot, add water to cover ¾ of the rice mixture.
8. Cook under low heat and stir occasionally until the rice is cooked thoroughly.

Note:
I do not have a rice cooker at home. Most of the time, I am using a steamer. Therefore, it is considered my first attempt using a cooking pot to cook rice.

I had been referring to the recipes from Hockiak and Piggy's Journal for cooking my own pumpkin rice.

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Kiddy "mushroom rice"

This is another variation from the mushroom rice.

Ingredients:
Cooked rice
Chicken fillet (cube) - marinate with light soya sauce, sugar & corn flour
Frozen mixed vegetables
Assorted fresh mushroom
Garlic - diced
Butter

Seasonings:
Teriyaki sauce
Shaoxing cooking rice wine
Dash of sugar and pepper

Methods:
1. Use some butter to stir-fry the chicken until brown and set aside
2. Melt the remaining butter and fry the garlic until slightly golden brown and fragrant
3. Add in mushroom and sugar. Stir well
4. Add in seasonings and cook until the sauce is slightly thicken
5. Add in chicken and mix vegetables. Stir well.
6. Turn off the fire. Add in cooked rice and stir well. Serve.

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Mushroom rice

Ingredients:
Cooked rice for 2
350g assorted mushroom (enoki bunch, shittake, white button mushroom)
20g butter
1 tbsp sugar
4 cloves garlics, diced
Coriander leaves (for garnishing)

Seasonings:
4 tbsp terriyaki sauce
3 tbsp Chinese cooking rice wine
Dash of sugar and pepper

Methods:
1) Heat up butter in a wok. Put in chopped garlic when the butter is half melted. Stir-fry the garlic until fragrant.
2) Add in assorted mushrooms and sugar, saute until the mushrooms are fully coated with butter. Add in seasonings, cook until the gravy has thickened.
3) Stir in chopped coriander, turn off heat. Add in cooked rice, stir until combined with mushrooms, serve.

Recipe adapted and modified from Piggy's Journal

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