No-Frills Recipes ... cooking, baking & excerpts on travel

This is a tasty, simple comfort dish that can be easily prepared at home.  The chicken is tender and the mushrooms meaty and juicy for they have been infused with the flavour of the sauce and the chicken. The same goes for the beancurd skin for by itself, they are somewhat bland in taste.   Braised Chicken with Mushrooms   ~     冬菇腐竹焖鸡       Ingredients 4 drumsticks, cut into bite size, about 400 gm 8 shitake mushrooms, soaked and stemmed 12 pieces of beancurd sticks 2 slices ginger 1 Tbsp oyster sauce 1 tsp light soya sauce 1/2 tsp dark soya sauce 1/8 tsp sugar 1 tsp cornflour + 1 Tbsp water to mix 1 tsp sesame oil 2 tsp Shaoxing wine Salt to taste Method Heat up a wok with some oil and saute the ginger till fragrant. Add in the mushrooms, followed by the chicken.  Stir-fry. Add in the oyster sauce, light and dark soya sauce and enough water to cover the chicken and mushrooms.  Let it simmer....

Loh Mai Kai is the transliteration of  糯米雞 in Cantonese, meaning glutinous rice steamed with chicken.  It is a common dish in any dim sum restaurant and you can't miss it. Some of them are served in  small steel bowls while some are steamed in alluminium foil cups.  The glutinous rice is steamed with chicken, mushroom and Chinese sausage, but in my recipe today, I had to omit Chinese sausage as I wasn't able to get it during this 'lock down' period.  Hence, I substituted with some dried shrimps and dried scallops.  The taste of the glutinous rice is just wonderful as it has been infused with these flavours.  It's best to use drumsticks, deboned or with bones, absolutely your personal preference.  You can enjoy Loh Mai Kai for breakfast or brunch or whenever you feel like it.                                Loh Mai Kai  ~  糯米雞  (Glutinous rice ste...

Not only is this Braised Pork ribs with mushroom  a homey dish, it's also very easy to prepare.  There are also three ways of cooking this delicious dish.  You can cook this in a pressure cooker if you're pressed for time, or in a slow-cooker or traditionally, simmering it in a good old fashioned, Wok! Braised pork ribs with mushroom in black pepper sauce ~ 黑胡椒排骨燉蘑菇 Ingredients 450 gm spare ribs 12 Shitake mushrooms, soaked and stemmed  6 slices of ginger 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed 1/4 teaspoon dark soya sauce 1/4 tsp  chicken granules (optional) 2.1/2 cups water, or more light soya sauce, sugar and salt to taste Method In a wok shallow fry the ginger with some oil, then add in the mushrooms and stir-fry. Add in the spare ribs, stir-fry on high heat for about 5 mins. then add in  and some water.  Add in the sauces, crushed black peppercorns, chicken granules, lower the heat and cook till the ribs are ten...

I'm not a great fan of Korean cuisine but lately after savouring some Korean food during my recent vacation, I've sort of developed a liking to their stir-fry noodles, pork bulgogi and Tteokbokki or rice cakes.  I've a vague idea of how this stir-fry Dangmeyon was prepared but after surfing the net, settled for this simple vegetarian stir-fry sweet potato noodles.  My family enjoyed this meal and look forward to more. Recipe for Korean JapChae   (adapted from 'here' with modification) Ingredients 350 gm Dangmyeon (sweet potato noodles) 1.1/2  Tbsp sugar 5  Tbsp light soya sauce 1.1/2  Tbsp sesame oil 1 carrot cut into strips 1 capsicum - cut into strips 1 onion - sliced 300 gm cabbage, sliced 5 Shitake mushrooms, soaked, stemmed and sliced 5 cloves garlic, chopped Lightly toasted sesame seeds Method Combine sugar, soya sauce, sesame oil, mix well, set aside. Boil a p...

Dried shitake mushrooms  are versatile, affordable and widely used in Asian cuisine.  Their meaty texture and smoky flavour is great paired with other varieties and in this case I've used them in a soy-based dish, braised with chicken and chestnuts.  This dish goes very well with plain white rice. Recipe for Braised Chicken with Mushroom and Chestnut Ingredients 500 gm free-range chicken, skin removed, cut into bite size 6 dried Shitake mushrooms, soaked, stemmed and cut 60 gm dried Chestnuts, soaked for about 5 hours or more till puffed up and remove the skin from the crevices of the nut.  (Best to do this a day before) 4 cloves garlic, crushed 1  Tbsp dark soya sauce 1  Tbsp light soya sauce 3 cups water Seasalt and  some Rock Sugar to taste 1.1/2  tsp cornflour + 3 tsp water to thicken Shaoxing cooking wine  Method Marinate the chicken with some seasalt, let rest. In a wok, saute the crus...

I like to bite into these chewy rice cakes and I never fail to order this whenever I dine in a Shanghai/Szechuan restaurant.  As I managed to get this from the Asian Grocers on my last trip I didn't hesitate to whip this simple yet delicious stir-fry!  Incidentally, these frozen rice cakes are also available in Aeon supermarkets.   Recipe for Stir-fry Shanghai Rice Cake   Ingredients                                                                            500 gm frozen rice cake, thawed         250 gm  cabbage,cut 200 gm pork fillet, cut into str...

This is my first attempt cooking this dish and I'm glad that it turned out well.  The dish is indeed very tasty and the briny oyster proves to be a perfect compliment to the mushroom.  It tasted much better the next day.  I'll definitely be making this dish for the Chinese New Year reunion dinner as it can be prepared a day or two ahead and kept in the freezer.   Moreover, oysters are called 'Hoe Si' in Cantonese which means 'good tidings' and it's most auspicious for the New Year! Recipe for Braised Spare Ribs with Mushroom and Oyster Ingredients 600 gm spare ribs                                                              8 Shitake mushro...

Had a crush on Pau after having had some dim sum brunch lately, so set out to DIY and bring forth this Chicken Mushroom Pau.  This time, the dough took a little bit longer to prove perhaps due to the gloomy, wet weather but nonetheless the end result was just as satisfactory. Recipe for Steamed Bun ~ Pau     (Please refer  ' Here '  for the recipe and method for the Pau skin) Ingredients for Chicken Mushroom filling 450 gm free range chicken, cut into bite size 10 Shitake mushrooms, washed, soaked and stemmed 250 gm turnip (sengkuang), diced 5 pips garlic, chopped 1 pc kwai far yoke in lieu of sausage, cut (optional) 1.1/2 cups water 1/2  tsp salt, light soya sauce to taste 2.1/2  Tbsp cornflour + 2 Tbsp water to thicken Seasoning 1/2  tsp each of  :  salt and dark soya sauce 1 tsp each of :  oyster sauce, sugar and light soya sauce a dash of pepper Preparation Season the chicken and mushr...

Hock Chew Mee Shua ~  also known as 'Mian Xian' in Chinese and 'Meen Seen' in Cantonese are thin salted noodles made from wheatflour .  Mee Shua which originated from Fujian, China can be prepared in many ways.  The most popular of all is the Ang Chiew Mee Shua which is mee shua cooked with Chinese red wine but I chose to prepare this differently ....... stir-fried.  Quick, easy and delicious.

'Steamed Loh Mai Kai'.  This 'loh mai kai', literally translated as " chicken glutinous rice" is different from the normal loh mai kai that is available at the dim sum restaurants.  This is not served in dainty bowls but it's a whole chicken stuffed with semi-cooked savoury glutinous rice and steamed ....... served as a meal on its own!   When I cooked this dish I was juggling with the idea of what, how to name it, but then since there's chicken, glutinous rice and the method is by steaming, so logically, it's just simple 'Steamed Loh Mai Kai'.

This is one simple recipe of  steamed chicken dish which I'm sure many bloggers have blogged before.  Tasty yet easy and quick to prepare, this dish pairs very well with steamy hot white rice.

This is a meatless veggie dish, healthy, nutritious yet delicious.  The crunchy vegetables make the dish light and refreshing too!

 It's customary for my family to observe a vegetarian diet on the first day of the lunar Chinese New Year.  This mixed veggie is not a stir-fry dish but sort of 'braised' till all the ingredients, especially the mushrooms have been infused with the flavourful 'nam yee' and oyster sauce.    Dried shitake mushrooms that have been soaked and cut up, and softened glass vermicelli. Bean curd puffs that have been halved, crushed ginger and 'nam yee' or preserved bean curd paste.    Washed and cut 'wong ngah bak', Chinese cabbage.   Bean curd sheets that have been deep fried. All the ingredients simmering in the wok.     My favourite is the deep fried bean curd sheets.  They still maintain a bit of crunchiness even though they've been cooked and the 'juicy' bean curd puffs that have absorbed all the flavours of the sauce...... Delicious!

Cooked this scrumptious dinner recently.  High cholesterol, artery clogging ...... doesn't matter, pamper yourself once in a while and indulge!   After that, just need to do more exercise to burn off the calories! Buna Shimeji mushrooms.  These mushrooms have a pleasant nutty flavour and slightly crunchy texture.  Also a good source of vitamin B1 and Lysine.  Lysine is an essential amino acid, while B1 helps with circulation, blood formation and metabolism of carbohydrates.  Also helps the nervous system and the brain. Juicy and yummy with every bite  ................... Enjoy!