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

If you are a fan of Bittergourd  苦瓜 like me, you will relish this dish. This is a nutritious, easy to cook Chinese dish which you can easily prepare at home using 'sections of bittergourd stuffed with seasoned minced pork. The gourd will be soft after steaming but it is still firm in texture and there's the juicy broth for you to go with rice. Steamed Stuffed Bittergourd with Minced Pork  ~  酿苦瓜  Ingredients 160 gm minced pork 40 gm shitake mushrooms, hydrated, stemmed and diced 1 shallot, chopped 1 clove garlic, chopped 1 medium size bittergourd Seasoning for the minced pork 2 tsp oyster sauce 2 tsp Shaoxing wine 1 tsp sesame oil 1 tsp light soy sauce 1/4 tsp salt 3 tsp cornflour 1/4 tsp sugar and 1/4 tsp salt Dash of pepper Method Cut the bittergourd into 3/4 inch sections.  Scoop out the seeds, place the bittergourds in a bowl rub with some salt and set aside for about 20 mins.  (This is to extract some bitte...

Mui Choy is preserved mustard greens and there are two types, one is salty while the other is sweet.  There are many ways of cooking mui choy with pork belly.  Instead of braising, you can steam it with minced pork but here I am using only the sweet mui choy and I braised the pork belly with it.  This is a flavourful dish and you can serve it with plain rice or plain porridge. Braised Pork Belly with Mui Choy   ~    梅菜焖五花肉 Ingredients  400 gm pork belly cut into bite size 100 gm  preserved sweet mui choy 3 cloves of garlic 2 slices ginger Seasoning for the pork belly 1 Tbsp dark soya sauce 1/4 Tbsp sugar 1/4 Tbsp sesame oil 1/4 Tbsp oyster sauce 1/2 tsp pepper 1/8 tsp light soya sauce Method Season the pork belly for about an hour or more.  Set aside. Soak the mui choy for 45 mins., rinse and squeeze dry.  Cut into slices Heat some oil in the wok, fry the mui choy.  Add in the ginger slic...

This is  an easy recipe for the weekend especially during this lock down period when it's not advisable to go out unnecessarily.   My first encounter was a bittergourd fried kway teow (rice noodles) dish in a Chinese restaurant and since I like bittergourd, I tried to replicate it with rice vermicelli instead.  You can opt to use yellow noodles and for a vegetarian dish, substitute the meat and seafood with more greens and perhaps some mushrooms. Rice Vermicelli with Bittergourd and Black Beans ~   苦瓜黑豆炒米粉 Ingredients 100 gm rice vermicelli (for 2 servings) 2.1/2 tsp black beans 3 cloves of garlic, chopped 180 gm bittergourd, sliced thinly 150 gm boneless chicken leg, sliced 250 gm prawns 1/2 tsp dark soya sauce light soya sauce, bit of sugar to taste Method Season the chicken with 1/4 tsp cornflour, some pepper, salt and a bit of sugar. Wash and devein the prawns, season with salt, sugar and pepper. Slice up the bitte...

This is a very refreshing soup to serve during this 'lock down' period and when  the weather is so hot and humid.  It also helps to cool down one's  temperament when some people can be so frustrated and highly strung when the Government ordered us to 'Stay At Home'.  You can serve this at your meals or just enjoy it on its own.  Don't be intimidated by the word 'Bittergourd'... it only has a slight hint of bitter but cool taste. Bittergourd Pork Tail Bone Soup  ~    苦瓜猪尾骨汤 Ingredients 500 gm Pork tail bones 170 gm Bittergourd                              1 burnt garlic 3 dried oysters (soaked for a while) 50 gm seedless red dates 2 lt water Sea salt to taste Method Blanch the pork bones in hot water for a few minutes, take out and rinse in water, drain and set aside. Remove the seeds from the bittergourd, cut into quarters. Bring 2 l...

Poon Choy (盆菜) or 'Big Bowl feast'  is traditionally a Chinese New Year dish and it signifies an abundance of wealth and prosperity.  The choice of ingredients are your own preference and here I have prepared a seafood poon choi with nine ingredients.  The dish should be eaten layer by layer from the top to the bottom and not just dig up the whole pot from the bottom.. As this is my first attempt preparing this dish, I made a small portion on the 15th day or the last day of  CNY, which is Chap Goh Mey.  Having this dish in a Chinese restaurant is pretty expensive especially during the Chinese New Year period and preparing it youself is definitely more economical and moreover you get to eat what you like to eat.  For more information on Poon Choi, take a look at  'Wikipedia'. Layering the Poon Choi Seafood Poon Choy ~   海鲜盆菜 Ingredients 1 small Napa Cabbage 1 can of abalone 2 dried fish bladder 4 big shita...

This is a copycat dish from Old Kingdom Chinese restaurant in Surrey Hills, Melbourne.  When we saw 'Fantastic Chicken' dish on the menu, all of us were curious and yes, we agreed to give it a shot.  When the dish was served, there's nothing 'fantastic' about it, it's just chicken fillet fried with black bean sauce.  Nonetheless, it was a delicious and tasty dish to pair with a plate of steaming hot white rice. Fantastic Chicken/Chicken in black bean sauce ~   豆豉鸡 Ingredients 270 gm chicken leg, deboned 2 onions, sliced or cut into wedges 1 medium size capsicum, sliced 1.1/2 tsp black bean  Salt and a bit of sugar to taste 1 tsp cornflour + 3 tsp water Method Slice up the chicken and season with some pepper, pinch of salt and a bit of sugar.  Set aside. Heat up a wok or pan with some oil, add in the black bean , saute till fragrant, add in the seasoned chicken and stir-fry till cooked.  Add in some water if  it'...

This a quick stir-fry dish of broccoli with baby oyster mushrooms.  Light and refreshing with white rice.  To make it a vegetarian dish, just omit the garlic and fry with the chopped ginger. Stir-fry Broccoli with Baby Oyster Mushrooms ~  西兰花与牡蛎蘑菇 Ingredients 300 gm baby oyster mushrooms, cut into 2 300 gm Broccoli, cut into florets 1 tsp chopped garlic and ginger 1 tsp vegetarian oyster sauce Salt, sugar and light soya sauce  to taste Method Stir-fry the oyster mushrooms without any oil.  Water will be released, and after a few minutes, once the water has evaporated, dish out the mushrooms. With some oil in a wok, saute the garlic and ginger till fragrant. Add in the broccoli, stir-fry for a few minutes, add some salt followed by the mushrooms. Add in the oyster sauce, a bit of light soya sauce. Give it a few stirs.  Fine tune to taste. Dish out and serve 

This is a very appetising dish and goes very well with plain white rice or even on its own.   If you like mustard leaves cooked this way like I do, you can add more.   This dish tastes much better the next day when it has 'matured' and the meat and mustard leaves have been infused with the semi sweet, sour and salty sauce........ Dig in! Mustard greens braised pig trotters aka Kai choy chee sau ~    芥菜猪手  Ingredients 1.3 kg pig trotter, deboned and chopped 800 gm kai choy/mustard leaves 9 to 10 dried chillies, soaked in hot water, drained 3 to 4 pcs of tamarind peel or more dark soya sauce sugar and salt to taste Method Blanch the chopped pig trotter in a wok of boiling water for about 5 mins., dish out and rinse in running water.  Drain and set aside. Chop up the mustard leaves, and blanch them in a wok of boiling water.  Dish out, drain off water and set aside. Place the pig trotter in a wok, add ...

This is a very simple easy to cook dish and the slightly soupy gravy goes very well with plain white rice.  Other than spinach,  苋菜 Amaranth leaves which is 'yin choy' in Cantonese or even  枸杞 'gou qi' or Wolfberry leaves will also give equally good result. Spinach in Egg sauce  ~  蛋花菠菜 Ingredients 250 gm spinach 100 gm prawns, peeled and deveined (optional) 1 egg + 1/2 cup water or more 1/2 teaspoon cornflour + 3 tsp water 2 pips of garlic, chopped Shaoxing wine Sesame oil Salt to taste Method Season the prawns with some salt, sugar and pepper.  Set aside. Blanch the spinach in boiling water for about 3 mins.  Place in a colander and drain thoroughly.  Arrange the vegetables on a serving plate. In a wok, heat up some oil, saute the chopped garlic till fragrant, add in the seasoned prawns, stir-fry. Whisk an egg, add in some water and add into the prawns, followed by the cornflour mixture. Stir to mi...

This is a very simple clear soup, quick and easy to prepare with a few ingredients.   I like to serve clear soups at meals and it is most welcoming especially on a hot day.     Tomato, onion and celery soup ~   番茄洋葱和芹菜汤 Ingredients 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges 2 onions, cut into sections 3 stalks celery, cut into 2 inch lengths 2 stalks spring onions 350 gm pork ribs 3 lt water Seasalt to taste Method Scald the pork ribs in boiling water, remove and rinse in running water Bring the 3 lt of water to a light boil Add in all the ingredients Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 hours Add salt to desired taste Serve

I was introduced to this dish when we dined out recently and the waitress recommended that this would pair very well with white porridge.  I've never thought of a dried shrimp salad and naturally we were game to give it a go.  True to what she said, this dish did go very well with the porridge and I tried to replicate it at home.   This is indeed delicious and can double up as an appetiser as well.   Think it will be a good accompaniment with a glass of cold Beer too! Dried Shrimp Salad ~  虾米沙拉 Ingredients 150 gm tiny dried shrimps 1 onion, sliced 3 bird eye chillies, cut 6 limau kasturi/limes 6 tsps sugar or to taste Method With some oil, pan-fry the dried shrimps until they pop up and fragrant. Dish out into a mixing bowl. Squeeze out the juice from the limes and mix with the sugar till sugar is dissolved. Mix in the sliced onion and toss in the chillies. Pour the lime juice into the mixture and mix well.  Fine tune to des...