Sour plum Chicken ~ 酸梅鸡

There are many sweet and sour dishes in Chinese cuisine and many of them calls for deep-frying of the meat, be it chicken, pork, pork ribs or fish. I do not encourage deep-frying in my kitchen and this dish only requires some sauteing and pan-frying and hence not much of oily mess to clean up. The sweet and sour sauce helps to 'open' up your appetite and pairs very well with white rice or bread.

Sour Plum Chicken ~ 酸梅鸡

Ingredients

700 gm free-range chicken, cut into bite size

1 tomato, cut in wedges

2 sour plums, lightly mashed

4 pips garlic, chopped

a small knob of ginger, chopped

2 red birdeye chillies, chopped

1 tsp taucheong, bean paste

1/2 tsp dark soya sauce

Seasalt to taste

Sugar to taste

2 tsp Cornflour + 1 Tbsp water to thicken

Method

Marinate the chicken with some seasalt

In a non-stick pan, heat up some oil and saute

the chopped garlic, ginger, chillies and bean paste till fragrant

Add in the chicken , pan fry and add in 1 cup of water, the sour plum and

let it simmer till chicken is cooked

Add in dark soya sauce, seasalt and sugar to taste

Toss in the tomato wedges

Add in cornflour mixture to thicken

Dish out and serve with rice

Hakka Mee aka Hakka Noodles

This is yet another one dish meal, Hakka Mee/Hakka Noodles. These noodles are quite similar to Won Ton Noodles, except that they have less lye water and the noodles are a bit flat and thicker. They're served with bean sprouts with a generous serving of minced meat sauce. the noodles, ........... need to loosen them up before cooking serve with chilli sauce topped with chopped garlic ..... that will do the trick ..... yummy! Recipe for Hakka Mee aka Hakka Noodles Ingredients 180 gm Minced Pork 60 gm Garlic - chopped 200 gm Bean Sprouts 4 dried Chinese mushrooms - soaked and diced 3/4 cup water 1 Tsp cornflour + 3 Tbsp of water 3 servings of Hakka noodles Oil for frying. Garnishing - Chopped spring onions Seasoning for minced pork 1/2 Tsp Salt 1 Tsp sugar 1 Tbsp Fish sauce 1 Tsp dark soya sauce A dash of pepper Preparation Saute the chopped garlic with 1 Tbsp oil, fry till fragrant Add in the seasoned minced pork, diced mushroo

Double Boiled Herbal Chicken Soup

Double boiling is slow cooking ........ means to put a soup pot or any covered ceramic or steel pot inside a bigger pot, immerse in boiling water, and let the soup cook at a lower temperature. Hence the soup is cooked from heat generated from the boiling water and not from direct heat source. Double boiling lets the soup ingredients slowly release their nutrients into the soup, thus making it tasty and wholesome. It's a long cooking process, roughly averaging 2 to 4 hours. The tip is not to open the cover to check on the soup as it'll bring down the temperature and affect the cooking process. The plus point is there's little evaporation and the soup will not boil over. The only thing is to monitor that there's enough water in the bigger pot and not let it run dry. Of course, nowadays, the slow cooker is another alternative to double boiling, saves the hassle of checking the water level.

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Herbal Jelly ~ Gui Ling Gao

H erbal Jelly ~ Gui Ling Ga o literally translated means 'Tortoise Jelly' is one of my family's favourite desserts. It's much more economical to prepare this at home for you'll need to fork out between Rm 9 to Rm 11 for a bowl of this cooling dessert in any of those herbal tea outlets. This soothing jelly, served chilled, is supposed to be able to help reduce our body heat, helps to get rid of toxins and is believed to be good for the skin thus culminating a healthier complexion.

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