Black beans soup

In our healthy promoting diet, black bean is an exceptionally great legume with its unique and solid nutritional profile. They are an excellent source of molybdenum, fat-free high quality protein, dietary fiber, flavonoid anti-oxidants (anthocyanins), vitamins (B1) and minerals (folate, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus and iron). It also contains a small amount of omega-3 fatty acids which is about 3 times more than other beans.

A list of health benefits derived from black beans is as follows:
- detoxifying sulfites (note: sulfites are a type of preservative commonly added to prepared foods)
- lowering cholesterol
- good choice for individual with diabetics, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia
- preventing constipation and digestive disorders.
- rich in antioxidants
- acts as a protection against cancer
- stabilizing blood sugar levels
- increasing your energy

(Source: WHFoods)

Now, the question is how to incorporate black beans in your meal plan? If you do a search online, you may find a variety of cooking methods for black beans. But today, I share with you a very simple and easy black beans soup which I used to drink as a child.

The recipe is adapted and modified from here. Ingredients: 150g black beans 300g pork ribs 15 nos red dates (removed seeds) 2 slices of ginger 1200 ml water Methods: 1) Put black beans in a frying pan and dry fry over a medium-low heat until the beans' coat starts to crack slightly. Dish up and rinse. (Note: this method is to remove the smoky smell from the beans.) 2) Blanch pork ribs over boiling water. Rinse, drain and set aside. 3) Bring water to a boil and add in all ingredients.When the water re-boils, reduce the heat and simmer for another 2 hours. 4) After 2 hours, turn off the heat and serve.

My Legume Love Affair is created by Susan of the Well Seasoned Cook. This phenomenal event draws a large volume of entries each month. This month, MMLA 10th helping is hosted by Courtney of Coco Cooks. You can participate by submitting an entry which must be either a starter or dessert before 30 April 2009. Click here for the host line-up.

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Sui kow (水饺) - Featured recipe for Rasa Malaysia

Two year ago, when I was just starting to cook for my family, a friend of mine made a strong recommendation that I visit Rasa Malaysia's food blog for its recipes and cooking ideas. When I browsed thru her blog, I was very amazed by her stunning shots and high level of professionalism in food presentation, not to mention her cooking and baking skills. Since then, I had been following her blog closely and even referred it as my “online cookbook”.

I have to say that her featured recipes are getting more and more interesting and impressive now. There are many cooking tips and methods I learnt thru reading her posting. Each time I visited her blog, I will be drooling and leaving with a hungry stomach. Her Penang-style cooking also makes me very homesick and I just feel like flying home the next day to satisfy my cravings.

Today, I like to thank Bee of Rasa Malaysia for featuring me as her guest writer. I had chosen sui kow (水饺) as my featured recipe because she loves dumplings. Co-incidentally, it is also my childhood favourite. I had never got bored eating it even until now. Hopefully by sharing my hubby's “self-proclaimed” authentic sui kow recipe, you will love sui kow as much as we do. You can find my write-up and more photos of sui kow at Rasa Malaysia's blog now. So hop over and see you there!

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Stuffed gluten balls (酿面筋卜)

It has been a while since I featured the step-by-step instructions on “how to make a smooth & springy fish paste”, and only recently have I found the time to make them again. With a few batches of fish paste stored in my freezer, I started browsing thru my collection of cookbooks to look for new fish paste recipes. Amongst them is a recipe I had tried that ended up with the most satifying results.

It was adapted from the Quick and Easy Hawkers’ Fair (简易上手大牌档菜) cookbook. The gluten balls are very tasty and goes well with chilly sauce. They are also a good choice for finger foods. The methods used are simple and easy-to-follow and the dish itself is healthy as the gluten balls are to be simmered instead of deep-frying.

If you want to have nice looking stuffed glutten balls, I would recommend you to follow a few more important steps that are not stated in the original recipe. These steps are highlighted in red for easy referencing.

Ingredients:
12 gluten balls – soaked, blanched over hot water and rinsed (Note: Be careful not to break the balls)
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp chopped garlic
Some vegetables (broccoli or choy sum, blanched)

Filling ingredients:
200g minced meat
100g fish paste (I used my homemade fish paste) – it can be substituted with minced prawn paste
2 tbsp dried Chinese shitake mushrooms – soaked & chopped
2 tbsp carrots - chopped
2 tbsp water chestnuts – chopped
2 tbsp spring onions (green part only) – chopped
½ tsp salt
Dash of sesame oil and pepper

Seasonings:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
Dash of sugar, sesame oil and pepper
300ml water

Methods:
1) Put all filling ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir in one direction until very sticky. Keep in the fridge and marinate for at least 1 hour.
2) Stuff the prepared filling into the gluten balls. Heat up wok and pan-fry the balls under medium heat till the skin sticks tightly to the ball. Dish up and set aside.
3) Heat up 1 tbsp oil and sauté chopped garlic until fragrant. Add in stuffed gluten balls and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the gravy has thickened. Turn the stuffed gluten balls occasionally so that they are cooked thoroughly. For better presentation, pan-fry slightly the balls again.
4) Dish up and serve with blanched vegetables.

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Braised dried oysters with minced meat

During Chinese New Year, the most popular dish in Cantonese’s cooking is braised dried oyster/ ho si (蚝豉) with black moss/ fat choy (发菜). Both of these ingredients sound auspicious in Cantonese’s pronunciation. Ho si means good business（好事）whereas fat choy means prosperous (发财). Besides braising, dried oysters can also be used in porridge and soup.

Today, I will share with you my mother-in-law’s signature dish – braised dried oysters with minced meat (蚝豉松). This is my hubby’s most favourite dish among my mother-in-law’s cooking. It goes well with both rice and noodles. You can even eat it wrapped in lettuce.

Like my mother, there is no specific measurement in my mother-in-law’s cooking. This recipe is compiled based on her verbal description, cooking demo and what I had tasted before. For my first attempt, my “invigilator” (hubby) only gave me 7 out 10 and made the following comments:
- Both dried oysters and water chestnuts were chopped a bit too fine and the amount was insufficient
- Meat was too lean, giving rise to a coarse texture
- Not enough oyster sauce
- The dish was a bit watery (it was because I used steamer to re-heat the dish before serving it for dinner).

One week later, I cooked this dish again, giving attention to those mistakes. This time I scored a perfect 10! U Lala! Too good to be true! I was so thrilled with his generous review. Honestly speaking, I don’t think I can achieve my mother-in-law’s standard in just two attempts. But at least I learnt the right way to cook this dish and can reduce his nostalgia for his mother’s cooking. Hope this dish will bring bountiful of good luck, good business and good news to your doorsteps in the year of Ox.

Ingredients:
170g minced meat (with lean fat)
6 large dried oysters* (soaked in hot water, coarsely chopped as you want to be able to chew and taste the juiciness of its body)
6 water chestnuts – 马蹄 (again coarsely chopped to give the dish a bit of crunchiness)
4 shallots (chopped finely)
*Use Japanese dried oysters instead of Korean dried oysters. They are bigger, chunkier and tastier.

Seasonings:
1½ - 2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
7-8 tbsp water
Dash of light soy sauce & corn flour (for marinating)
2 tsp corn flour (mixed with 2 tbsp water) for thickening
Dash of white pepper
Spring onions and coriander leaves for garnishing

Methods:
1) Marinate minced meat with light soy sauce and corn flour for 15 mins.
2) Heat up wok with 1 tbsp oil. Sauté onions until fragrant.
3) Add in dried oysters and sauté until fragrant.
4) Add in minced meat. Spread it out. Do not stir fry immediately. Let it cook for a while until it is slightly caramelized. Flip it over and let it cook for a while until caramelized. This will increase the aroma of the minced meat. Reduce the heat to low and start breaking up the meat. (tip from here)
5) Add in water and chopped chestnuts. Stir-fry for 1 minute until it mixes well with the rest of the ingredients.
6) Add in oyster sauce, dark soy sauce & water. Stir well. Cover with lid and simmer for about 5 mins (make sure it is not too dry, add water if necessary).
7) Add in pepper and corn flour solution to thicken. Mix well.
8) Turn off the heat and add in spring onions and coriander leaves. Dish up and serve.

Other recommended dishes by my mother-in-law:
- how to make "smooth & springy" fish paste
- fen ge herbal soup

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Siew mai (steamed dumplings)

As compared to siu kao (boiled dumplings), making siew mai (steamed dumplings) is more challenging to me. I had failed several times until my hubby teased me that he needs to ta pao (take-away) some siew mai from the hawker stall for me to “review my mistakes”. After doing a lot of “researches” from the internet and cookbooks, I had finally found a GREAT recipe from “The Essence of Good Cooking” cookbook (a compilation of favourite recipes by parishioners and friends of Maranatha Retreat House). Why GREAT? Because it stated that the contributor paid to learn this recipe and its secrets to success.

By following closely this recipe and combined with some useful tips from other resources, I “passed” the test! I was granted the permission by my “Emperor” to share with you the following recipe. Although I didn’t manage to catch a good shot on that day (because of poor lightings), I felt so rewarding seeing both my hubby and son enjoy the siew mai so much. Usually my son only ate one siew mai when we dined at the Chinese Restaurant. But on that day, he could easily finish 4 homemade siew mai (that are equivalent to the size of 6 siew mai sold outside!) and even demonstrated some “Kungfu” actions to express his satisfaction. Hahaha…! This special moment is better than striking the lottery!

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Okay! Now let me present to you “my secret to a success homemade siew mai”.



Yields: 15-18

Ingredients:
120g prawns (net weight, around 10 medium sized prawns)
100g pork (semi-lean)
2 pcs water chestnuts
1 pc dried shitake mushroom (soaked and squeezed dry)
1 stalk spring onion
20 pcs square dumpling skins (trimmed into neat round circles)

Seasonings:
½ tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
2 tsp cornflour
½ - 1 tbsp fried garlic/ onion oil
Dash of sesame oil and white pepper

Toppings:
Fine carrots cubes or fine cubes of salted egg yolk

Methods:

(A) Stuffing
1) Chop water chestnuts, mushrooms, spring onion into fine cubes/ pieces.
2) For prawns, peel, de-vein and wash in running water, pat dry with kitchen towel. (Secret no. 1) Divide them into 2 portions. 1st portion – pat flat and chop with the back of a knife (chopper) till fine and sticky. Cut the other portion into fine cubes.
3) Knead minced prawns in a bowl till sticky.
4) Add in minced pork, cubed prawns, salt, sugar, pepper and stir well.
5) Add in water chestnuts and mushrooms and mix well.
6) Add in fried oil, sesame oil and cornflour and stir in 1 direction until well combined and sticky.
7) (Secret no. 2) Cover the bowl with cling wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

(B) Wrapping
1) Cover the wantan skin with a wet cloth (to prevent the skins from turning dry).
2) Prepare a piece of clean cloth to wipe your hands (make sure your hands are clean and dry)
3) Put a piece of wantan skin on your palm.
4) Add 1 full teaspoon of filling in the centre.
5) (Secret no. 3) Wet the edge of the skin with water (to help it stick tightly).
6) Bring the edges together with the back of the teaspoon. Close the edges using your thumb and index finger forming a circle like closing a full blossom rose.
7) Press down the filling and smoothen the surface (apply a bit of water and use your thumb).
8) (Secret no. 4) Flatten the bottom so that the siew mai can sit properly on a greased steaming bamboo basket.
9) Sprinkle with a little chopped carrots or salted egg yolk.
10) (Secret no. 5) Steam it over HIGH heat for about 10-12 minutes.
11) Remove and serve.

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Pan-fried patties

These patties are made using the following:
a) 50% of the remaining ingredients from this stuffed tofu poks
b) 1 egg (lightly beaten)
c) Dash of sugar and pepper

Methods:
a) Heat up a non-stick pan with 1 tbsp oil. Use a piece of kitchen to wipe the pan so that the oil will be spread evenly on the pan.
b) When hot, use a laddle to scoop up the mixture and make small batters on the frying pan. Make a few batches. Cook for 3 mins or until golden brown. Turn the patties over and cook for another 2 mins or until golden brown.
c) Dish up and place on a kitchen towel to absorb any excess oil. Serve hot.

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Stuffed tofu poks (beancurds puff)

This recipe is adapted and modified based on Stuffed Glutten Balls from Quick & Easy Hawkers’ Fair. Instead of using gluten balls, I use tofu poks. I had just bought 10 tofu poks and eventually only utilised 50% of the ingredients. Guess what did I do with the rest of the ingredients? The answer is here.

Ingredients:
25 tofu poks
100g minced meat
100g minced prawn paste
100g fish paste
2 water chessnut (chopped finely)
4 medium size fresh/ dried shitake mushrooms (chopped finely)
30g carrot (chopped finely)
2 tbsp spring onions (chopped)

Seasonings:
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cornflour
Dash of pepper and sesame oil

Gravy:
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp spring onion
Dash of sugar, sesame oil and pepper
300 ml water

Methods:
1) Put all the filling ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir in one direction until very stick.
2) Stuff the prepared filling into the tau poks. Put the stuffed tau poks on a plate and cover with cling wrap. Keep in the fridge for ½ hour.
3) Heat up 1 tbsp oil and sauté chopped garlic until fragrant. Add in stuffed tau poks and gravy seasonings.
4) Bring to boil. Lower the heat and cook until the gravy has thicken. Dish up stuffed tau poks and serve.

Note:
1) For fresh mushrooms, blanch over boiling water.
2) For tofu poks, wash and blanch over hot water. Squeeze away excess water.
3) For ready-made fish paste, do not add too much salt. I use more salt for my homemade fish paste.
4) For prawns, wash, devein and pat dry. Using a chopping knife to pat the prawns flat, then use the back of the knife to chop the prawns until it turns into paste form.
5) For minced meat, prawn and fish paste, can use different combinations.
Eg 200g minced meat + 100g minced prawn paste;
200g minced meat + 100g fish paste
6) Instead of using 25 tofu poks, it can be substituted with 12 gluten balls (生根/面筋卜)

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Stir-fried brinjal with minced meat

Ingredients:
125g minced meat - marinated with light soya sauce, sugar and cornflour
125g mixed vegetable
1 large brinjal (about 360g) - diced and soaked in salt water (to discard the bitter taste)
1 red onion (about 70g) - chopped

Seasonings:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soya sauce
½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
Dash of pepper
¾ rice bowl of water
1 tsp cornflour (mixed with 1 tbsp water)

Methods:
1. Heat up wok with 1 tbsp oil. Sautee onion.
2. Add in minced meat and stir-fry. (add some water into the marinated minced meat if it is a bit dry)
3. Add in brinjal and seasoning, stir well and simmer for about 5 mins.
4. Add in mixed vegetable. Stir fry with high heat until the sauce is thicken and brinjal is cooked.
5. Add in cornflour solution. Stir well. Dish up and serve.

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Pan-fried prawn and minced meat patties

These patties are made by using the remaing ingredients from the dumplings. It turned out to be slightly salty. Therefore, I had made some slight amendment to the original recipe.

Ingredients:
100g prawns (peeled, deveined, chopped into small chuncks)
120g minced meat
40g carrot(chopped)
80g waterchessnut (chopped)
2 eggs (lightly beaten)

Seasonings:
1½ tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp soya sauce
1½ tsp sugar
1 tbsp cooking oil
Dash of sesame oil & pepper
2 tsp cornflour
Handful of spring onions

Methods:
1. Combine all ingredients and seasonings (except for eggs) in a mixing bowl. Stir in 1 direction until well combined.
2. Cover the bowl with clip wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Remove from the fridge, add in beaten eggs and stir well.
3. Heat up oil in a frying pan under medium heat. When hot, use a laddle to scoop up the mixture and make small batters on the frying pan. Make a few batches. Cook for 3 mins or until golden brown. Turn the patties over and cook for another 2 mins or until golden brown.
4. Dish up and place on a kitchen towel to absorb any excess oil. Serve hot.

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Homemade dumplings (水饺)

These dumplings are the so-called "joint-venture" products made by both my hubby and myself. I prepared the ingredients and he wrapped and cooked the dumplings.

Ingredients:
100g prawns (peeled, deveined, chopped into small chuncks)
120g minced meat
40g carrot(chopped)
80g waterchessnut (chopped)
Round-shaped dumpling skins
Water for boiling

Seasonings:
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp salt
1½ tsp sugar
1 tbsp cooking oil
Dash of sesame oil & pepper
2 tsp cornflour
Spring onions for garnishings

Methods:
1. Combine all ingredients and seasonings in a mixing bowl. Stir in 1 direction until well combined.
2. Cover the bowl with clip wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Spoon out approx 1 tbsp of mixture, put on the dumpling skin.
4. Dip some water at the side of the dumpling and press firmly. Set aside.
5. Boil water in a large cooking pot. When the water is boiling, add in the dumplings.
6. Cook until the dumpling skin is transparent and the dumplings are floating on the boiling water.
7. Dish out and serve

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Pumpkin and cauliflower stew

Ingredients:
140g pumpkin
200g cauliflower
140g minced meat (marinated with 2 tbsp light soya sauce, 1tsp sugar and cornflour)
1 red onion

Seasonings:
1½ tbsp oyster sauce
½ tbsp concentrated chicken stocks
½ tbsp sesame oil
Dash of pepper
Cornflour

Methods:
1. Heat up wok with oil. Sautee onion until transparent.
2. Add in cauliflower and stir fry for a while. Add a bit of water and cover with lid to simmer for a while.
3. Add in pumpkin and seasonings. Continue to simmer until the pumpkin is cooked (before it becomes too soft)
4. Add in cornflour for thickening.

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Steamed minced meat with mix veg

Ingredients:
120g meat (minced)
3 waterchessnuts (chopped finely)
30g carrot (chopped finely)
2 medium sized fresh mushroom (chopped)
Small handful of frozen green peas

Seasonings:
1½ tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soya sauce
½ tsp sugar (optional)
Dash of sesame oil & pepper
Cornstarch

Methods:
1. Combine all ingredients with seasonings in a mixing bowl. Use a pair of chopstick to stir in 1 direction until well combined.
2. Add some cornstarch and bit of water to the mixture and mix well.
3. Put the mixture on a steaming tray and flatten it with a spoon. Arrange green peas on top.
4. Cover the tray with cling wrap and chill it in the fridge for at least half an hour.
5. After chilling, steam for about 20 mins or until cooked.
6. When cooked, removed from the steamer and put some fried garlic or onion oil on top.

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