Recipe: Stir-fry Pork Tenderloin with Mushrooms & Potatoes

Serves 4 as part of a multi course dinner

400 g pork tenderloin, sliced into wafer thin pieces

150 g button mushrooms, sliced

1 large potato, sliced thinly

1 brown onion, sliced thinly

3-4 slices young ginger

5 tbsp. minced garlic

1-2 spring onions, sliced into 2 inches length

Cooking oil

1/2-3/4 cup water

Marinade:

A couple of dashes Maggi seasoning

1 tsp Shao Xing wine

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp white pepper

1 tsp corn flour

Sauce:

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp white pepper

1 tsp Shao Xing wine

1/2 tsp white sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

Corn starch slurry (optional):

1 tsp corn flour

1 tbsp water

Marinade pork for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Pour cooking into skillet until it reaches about 1/4 up the height of the pan, and heat over medium-high heat. When hot, add potatoes in batches and fry until lightly brown and soft. Drain on paper towels and repeat as necessary. Drain oil, reserving about 2 tbsp. of oil in the pan. Over medium-high heat, add ginger and garlic and stir fry until fragrant. Lower heat and fry onions until wilted and soft. Turn heat up, add button mushrooms, and fry until they just release their liquid. Add pork, stir briskly until the meat begins to change colour. Add water and sauce ingredients, cover and lower heat. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Adjust seasoning and add cornstarch slurry if desired. Stir well and dish up.

For the Love of a Good Nyonya Woman - Recipe: Nyonya Chap Chye

My mother is an amazing woman on all counts. She knows how to run a tight ship. Despite the fact that she is a working professional, she has never failed to come home and make us all a delicious home cooked meal every day. When we come back from abroad, she has all our favourite food prepared.  I can only hope that someday I will be able to be even a fraction of what she is. From her, I learned the virtues of discipline, frugality and a deep and unshakable commitment to family. She has been the pillar of strength for all of us through the years. The picture above, I feel, really captures her beauty and the love she has for my father. Dressed in traditional nyonya kebaya (passed down from one generation to the next), she looks absolutely beautiful. Nyonya women are known to be particularly fussy about details.  I remember hearing about how my grandmother used to meticulously match her kebaya top with her sarong - ensuring the perfect contrast in colours - and how she would travel to Singapore just to make beaded shoes for special occasions. Likewise, I guess I've inherited the trait of wanting to make my curries from scratch, rather than to rely on ready made pastes from the supermarket. 

Though past Chinese New Year, I decided to make my grandmother's recipe for Nyonya Chap Chye tonight. My grandmother, like many women of her generation, did not get a chance to go to school, although she was incredibly bright. Her parents feared that an educated woman at the time would not be able to find a husband. A fortune teller had told them she would end up becoming a professor (!?) and thus, unmariable. Before she passed on, I undertook a project with my parents to transcribe as many of her wonderful recipes down as possible. This is one of them. Unlike many families, we generally keep to a vegetarian diet on the first day of the New Year, as a sign of respect for all that has been given to us and to not harm or kill other living beings. This dish is known as "Buddha's feast" in the US, but I've added additional traditional ingredients. The combination is meant to bring luck and prosperity to the family. 

Ingredients:

1/2 head of cabbage, cut into cubes

1 small carrot, cut into desired shapes

5 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked until soft, and cut into halves

1/2 head medium cauliflower, cut into florets

5-7 sweet snow peas, peeled (optional)

handful of wood ear fungus, soaked until soft and cut into chunks (Substitute cloud ear fungus if unavailable)

1 packet fatt choy or black sea moss, soaked until soft and drained

handful of lily buds, soaked until soft, knotted and remove hard ends

1 small handful transparent rice vermicelli, soaked until soft and drained (optional)

5-7 pieces of dried beancurd sticks, soaked until soft, drained and cut into thirds

3 slices young ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

Sauce:

2 cubes fermented bean paste/fu yee

1 tbsp Shao Xing wine

1 tbsp. vegetarian oyster sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

dash pepper

dash sesame oil

1/2 cup water

Heat wok with 2 tbsp oil. Add garlic and ginger and fry for a few seconds until fragrant. Add in fermented bean paste and fry until fragrant. Toss in cauliflower, carrot, and dried mushrooms. Add 1 tbsp Shao Xing wine and toss quickly. Sprinkle water and add cabbage. Stir fry briskly for a couple of minutes, sprinkle in sauce ingredients and water. Lower heat and cover, simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring ocassionally. When cabbage and cauliflower are fairly cooked, add sweat peas, wood ear fungus, dried lily bulbs and beancurd sticks. Cover and simmer over low heat for another 5 minutes. Remove lid, add fatt choy, toss around quickly. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve immediately.

Recipe: Penne Carbonara with Chicken, Peas and Mushrooms

Pasta Carbonara was a favourite pasta dish among my friends in the US. It's essentially made out of a base sauce comprising eggs, cream and cheese. Although it sounds heavy, it need not necessarily be, if you get the ratio of the ingredients right and you ensure that the pasta is cooked al dente. You want to make sure here that your ingredients for the sauce are at room temperature. The heat from the pasta and the pan will be enough to cook the eggs in the sauce.

Here is my version of this Italian favourite.

Serves 2-3 (or one hungry boy)

Ingredients:
250 g chicken fillet
Chicken seasoning such as Mc Cormick, or Cajun seasoning
250 g good quality penne pasta
Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
100 g button mushrooms, sliced
1 small brown onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2-3 sprigs of thyme
3 eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup whipping cream, at room temperature
3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese, at room temperature
1 tsp chicken stock granules (optional)
sea salt and pepper to taste
Italian parsley, chopped, to garnish (optional)

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add a pinch of sea salt.

In a medium sized bowl, beat eggs with cream. Add chicken granules and season with pepper. Add cheese, stir well to incorporate.

Season chicken fillet with chicken seasoning or cajun seasoning. Heat non-stick skillet with about 2 tbsps of olive oil over medium-high heat. When pan is hot, add chicken fillet. Cook on both sides until nicely brown, about 3-5 minutes each side. Lower heat and cook for another 5 minutes, or until chicken is cooked. To test, you may poke a fork through the middle of each fillet. If juices run clear, the chicken is done. Remove to chopping board and leave to cool for a little. Slice into thirds.

When water is boiling, add your pasta and a lug of olive oil. Stir every now and again. Meanwhile, in the same pan used to cook chicken, brown your bacon until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon, and chop into large chunks. Lower heat slightly and add onions, garlic, thyme and mushroom. Season lightly with salt and pepper. When mushrooms have released their liquid, add your peas and stir well. Turn off heat.

When pasta is cooked, drain well. Working quickly, tip drained pasta into skillet containing your mushroom mixture. Return chicken and bacon to the pan and mix well. Add sauce ingredients, and stir well to coat pasta. Season with additional salt and pepper if required, and garnish with parseley. Serve immediately.

Recipe: Japanese Beef Curry/Kare

Curries are indispensable throughout much of Southeast Asia. Our history as part of the larger European spice trade introduced into local cultures a host of different aromatics and spices which are now used daily in most home kitchens. This recipe is for the Japanese version of meat curry, which is a rich, hearty dish with hints of apple and cinnamon. You can use beef, pork, chicken or even tofu. For this dish I used the store-bought curry roux which is pretty good.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp butter
500 g stewing beef, such as chuck (substitute chicken thighs, pork cubes, or tofu if desired)
2 medium brown onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
2 carrots, cubed
3 medium potatoes, cubed
About 1 cup beef stock or water
1 box Japanese kare roux (also known as Vermont Curry mix)
1 tsp honey (optional)
Black pepper to taste

Heat non-stick skillet and add vegetable oil. Brown beef in batches on all sides, about 5-7 minutes, and remove from pan, reserving juices. Lower heat slightly, add butter. When bubbles subside, add in chopped onions and garlic and fry till aromatic. Return beef to pan, add stock and bay leaf, and bring to boil. Cover, lower heat and simmer for about 1 -1 1/2 hours until beef is fork tender. Add kare roux, stirring constantly until dissolved. Add potatoes and carrots, cover with additional water or stock and boil over low heat for about 20 minutes. Add honey and black pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Hot Dogs

It's been extremely hot these past few weeks. G and I were at the Singapore Hot Dog festival recently and she caught this great picture of two buddies getting some much needed relief from the heat. Thanks, G!

Recipe: Black Pepper Beef

I absolutely love gravies. I think it's a Southeast Asian thing. In Malaysia, if you go to a roadside mamak stall, you can order your rice or roti "banjir" (translation: flooded) with gravy or sauce. I never learn. Just yesterday I took one spoon too many of the gravy from the claypot tofu dish we had at a restaurant in Petaling Street, which was essentially MSG with a couple of dashes of pepper. I spent the rest of the night drinking copious amounts of water just to neutralise the effect.


Black pepper beef is popular stir-fried dish in Malaysia. The trickiest thing about beef is in the slicing. You want to make sure that you slice the beef across the grain into wafer thin slices. Otherwise, it's pretty straightforward.


Ingredients:
250 g of beef fillet, sliced
1 small red onion, sliced into quarters
1/4 head cauliflower, separated into florets
1/2 carrot, cut into desired shapes
3 dried mushrooms, soaked until soft and sliced
1/4 red or green capsicum, cubed
2 stalks spring onions, cut into 3-4 cm pieces
2 slices young ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
2 tbsps. vegetable oil
About 2-3 tbsp of water


Marinade:

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

A few dashes Maggi seasoning

1 tsp Shao Xing or Chinese rice wine

2 tbsp water

1 tsp corn flour

Sesame oil

Sauce:

1 tsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp Premium oyster sauce

1/2 tsp thick soy sauce

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp pepper

100ml fresh chicken stock or water

1 tsp corn flour 

Marinade beef for about 1 hour. Just before stir-frying, add a couple of dashes of sesame oil and mix thoroughly. 

Heat oil in wok on high. When hot, add in beef, stir around for a few minutes until semi-cooked and dish up. Add ginger, garlic and stir fry until fragrant. Add in onion, cauliflower, mushrooms, carrot and capsicum, sprinkle in water. Lower heat, cover and simmer for a few minutes until vegetables are tender. Add in sauce ingredients, beef and spring onions and mix well.  Add freshly cracked black pepper to taste. When the mixture comes to boil, turn off heat and serve immediately.

Recipe: Homestyle Chicken Pie

I've been overwhelmed with work lately. I start off each week with a list of things to do, only to find at the end of the week the list has doubled, if not tripled. In a bid to stay sane, I decided to take a night off and spend five hours labouring over the stove. I've been working on this recipe for a few years, and the secret really is making in the chunky pieces of chicken and fresh vegetables and herbs. I know there are many short cut recipes out there, which use cream of mushroom or chicken soup as a base, and frozen vegetables, but if you can spare the time, this recipe really takes the cake.

Ingredients:

For the chicken base:
About 3 cups homemade chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1/2 carrot, sliced thickly
1 stick celery, sliced thickly
A couple of black peppercorns
500 g chicken fillet

Bring chicken stock to boil, add bay leaf, carrot, celery and peppercorns and simmer for about 20 minutes. Poach chicken fillet for about 7-10 minutes until just cooked. Drain, discard excess vegetables, and reserve stock. When cool enough to handle, slice fillet into thirds or halves, depending on the size.

For the pie filling:
3 tbsp butter
3-4 slices smoked streaky bacon
1 large brown onion, chopped (substitute leek if desired)
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped
1 -2 carrots, chopped into chunks
1/2 red capsicum, chopped
200 g white button mushrooms, sliced
1 bay leaf
2-3 sticks of fresh thyme, stocks removed, and chopped
1 tsp chicken stock granules or chicken seasoning (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup plain flour
1/2 -3/4 cup chicken stock (from above)
1 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup frozen petit pois peas, rinsed under cold water and drained

Heat large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add butter to the pan and wait till the bubbles subside. Brown bacon on both sides, about 3-5 minutes, until fat is rendered and just done. Crumble.  Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. In the same pan, add onion, garlic, celery, carrot and capsicum. Fry until soft over medium-low heat, about 7-10 minutes. Add mushrooms, season with chicken seasoning/salt and pepper, and let the mixture sweat for about 3-4 minutes. Add in bay leaf and thyme. When mushrooms have just released their liquid, add in flour, stir around for about 1-2 minutes until slightly brown. Add stock and whipping cream, and increase heat slightly. When simmering, add in crumbled bacon, chicken fillet and frozen peas. Stir frequently, adding extra stock if necessary until you reach the desired consistency. (The filling should have the consistency of a thick stew). Pour mixture into pie plate, cover with cling film and cool till at least room temperature. (Note: In tropical Asian countries, you cannot afford a hot pie filling as it will totally melt your pastry. I used to be a purist, making the pastry from scratch, but these days I've gotten lazy.)

To finish:
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed for about 5 minutes
1 egg yolk, beaten lightly

About 20 minutes before you are ready to bake your pie, heat oven to about 200 degrees Celcius. Working quickly, glaze the rim of your pie plate with the egg. Drape pastry over, ensuring that it covers the dish completely. Using a fork, make patterns along the side of the pie plate. If there is excess pastry, you can use a cookie cutter to make shapes to decorate the top of the pie. Cut a deep X in the middle of the pie and glaze with egg yolk.

Bake in the middle of the oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. The filling will be bubbling gently now, and the pastry nice and crisp.

Cool for 15 minutes before serving with a lovely green salad on the side.