When Taps Run Dry, Keep Calm and Cook Simple Meals

Of late we have been going on quite a number of one pot meals due to water rationing.   We have been seeing very little rain for months but it has been raining this past two days, hopefully it will continue this way and dams will get filled again.  For now, we are getting tap water on a 2 day rotational basis.  So, the lesser pots/bowls to wash the better :)

Donburi (Japanese all in one meal of a meat/vegetables dish served over rice in a bowl) inspired meals are always welcomed in my home.  Perhaps it's entwined in our culture,  the satisfaction of a even one simple dish over hot rice is just hard to describe.  The sight of each grain of rice getting coated with some heavenly looking gravy and with steam still coming out of is already a sight worth admiring for me :) 

Mapo Tofu is a dish which originated from the Szechuan province in China.   There are many interesting stories about this dish but essentially they centre around an old grandmother("Po") with pockmarked("Mazi") face, who created this dish. As in its name, Mapo Tofu is a tofu dish cooked with minced meat and chilli bean sauce.    The authentic version of this dish is fiery and some to the effect of tongue numbing with the amount of Szechuan peppercorns used in it.   The burst of flavors for this dish is quite amazing.

However, this is a Chuka (Japanese style Chinese dish) version that i am sharing here, it is not as spicy and with a tinge of sweetness coming from the use of Mirin.  Have hot steaming rice ready and just spoon the dish over when it is ready.  Throw in some steamed/blanched greens and you will have a complete meal to go in 15 minutes.

As much as we love our rice, i try not to serve rice everyday of the week.   If  pockmarked grandmother tofu earlier on was funny for you, i bet you will laugh at this one too, translated Claypot Loh Shu Fun means Claypot Rat Noodles! Worry not though, there are no rats in them!!!   It is just that the noodles look a little like a rat's wriggly tail :)

This is another fast to go dish, all you need is to have some minced meat and vegetables, the seasonings used are pretty common if you make Chinese cuisines frequently.  For some extra kick we love adding some sambal belacan (spicy prawn paste) into it.

It is not necessary to use a claypot for this but  it does seem to taste better. Heat is confined within the small little pot thus locking in all the wonderful flavors.

Recipe-Mapo Tofu
Source: Spotted on Her Frozen Wings with recipe from Just One Cookbook

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp ginger, minced
• 160 gms ground pork
• 1 package silken tofu
• 2 stalks spring onions, sliced

Sauce

• 2.5 tbsp chilli bean paste (1.5 tbsp)
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp miso
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil (omitted)

Thickening solution

• 1tsp corn flour
• 1/4 cup water

Method

1. In a large pan or skillet, heat up oil on medium high heat, saute garlic and ginger till fragrant.
2. Add the meat and break up with a wooden spoon.
3. When the meat is cooked, add the sauce mixture. Stir to combine and add the tofu. Cook until tofu is heated through. 
4. Mix gently and try not to mash the tofu too much or dish will become unsightly. 
5. Pour in the cornstarch solution for sauce to thicken.
6. Stir in the green onions just before taking it off the heat.
7. Spoon onto hot rice or serve separately as a side dish.

Recipe - Claypot Loh Shu Fun

Ingredients (Portion for 1 pax)

• 100-150g loh shu fun
• 100g minced meat (pork/chicken)
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp corn flour
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, sliced
• 3 meatballs
• 2 shitake mushrooms, soaked in some water to soften then drain and slice
• 2 baby corns, sliced
• A handful of choy sum/bok choy
• 2 stalks spring onions, sliced

Seasoning

• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp cooking caramel
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp chicken stock granules
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp sambal belacan (optional)

Method

1. Marinade minced meat with soy sauce, corn flour and a dash of pepper. Set aside.
2. Wash and drain loh shu fun.  Blanch with some hot water to remove oil then drain it.
3. Heat up 1 tbsp of oil in the claypot.  
4. Add in garlic and shallot.  Fry until fragrant.
5. Add in minced meat and break up the meat with a wooden spoon.
6. Add in mushroom slices.
7. Add in loh shu fun and seasonings.  Stir to mix well.
8. Add in meatballs and baby corns.
9. Add in water and let it come to a boil.  
10. Taste and add seasonings if required.
11. Add in choy sum and mix well.
12. Crack an egg on top.  At this point, some will turn off the heat, cover the pot and allow the egg to slow cook on its own.  It looks prettier this way, stir the egg in just before eating.  But to be on the safe side, i prefer to mix mine in and continue with the heat for another minute or so.
13. Garnish with spring onions before serving.

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Spring is in the Air - 8 Treasure Rice

Spring is in the air!  According to the lunar calendar that is...i know some of you are still bracing one of the harshest winter out there, my thoughts are with you.  The Chinese will be celebrating the beginning of a new lunar year aka the Spring festival on 31st January this year which is in 3 weeks time!

It is the time where family and friends gather and when we gather we feast! And feast in style we do, we give dishes auspicious names in hope that they will bring us luck, fortunes and happiness when eaten :)  May sound humorous to some but it's part of our culture and i find it pretty interesting to know how/why is a particular food considered  auspicious.  

This dish that i have tried out here is a all in one meal.  This recipe by Chris Wan caught my attention in the recent issue of Flavors magazine.  Upon doing a search, i was glad to find that she has included the recipe on her website.   It's auspicious enough to be included in the list for the reunion dinner (the dinner on new year's eve)  but it maybe too much since there will be many other dishes that will go better with white rice instead. Probably consider making it when you need to dish out something quick during one of the days during the festivity especially when all these ingredients are readily available since these are common CNY gifts.  

The name given to this dish is 8 treasure rice.  We Chinese love the number 8 primarily because its pronunciation sounds like 'to prosper'.  And treasures? I don't think it needs any explanation, anyone in the universe would love landing on some treasures.  So, here are the 8 treasures hidden in it and their auspiciousness (hope i am not wrong):-

• Shitake Mushroom - associated with longevity
• Dried Oysters - its chinese pronunciation 'hou si' sounds like good events ie symbolizing good events ahead
• Chinese Sausage - more of a culture to eat cured eat during CNY and perhaps symbolizing a sweet year ahead i guess since its sweet :)
• Pumpkin - its golden hue for prosperity 
• Sweet Peas - symbolizing unity  
• Dried Longan - associated to bringing forth many sons
• Wolfberries - to sweeten the year ahead
• Chestnuts - associated to bringing forth many sons (yes, again!)

It's a simple recipe, all you need to do is some simple stir frying then mix them into the rice cooked the way you usually do it be it in a rice cooker or over a stove.  I did mine in a rice cooker.

With such an array of ingredients in it, you can be assured it is going to be delicious.

Recipe
Source: Flavors Magazine Jan 2014, recipe by Chris Wan with some slight variations from me in blue

Ingredients

Condiments A

• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 100g sweet peas
• 50g wolfberries (wash, soaked for 5 minutes and drained)

Condiments B

• 100g gingko nuts, boiled for 20 minutes to soften (ready to eat chestnuts)
• 100g dried oysters, soaked 30 minutes to soften
• 50g dried mushroom, soaked for 1 hour to soften, then cut into strips
• 100g dried longans, washed, soaked for 10 minutes to soften and drained, cut into halves
• 100g bacon, cut into 1.5cm strips (replaced with wax sausage)
• 200g pumpkin, cut into diced
• 2 tbsp dried shrimps, washed, soaked for 10 minutes then chopped coarsely
• Some fried whitebait for garnishing (optional)

• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 20ml water

• 300g rice (2 cups)
• 200ml vegetable/chicken stock (enough stock as per instruction on rice cooker for 2 cups of rice)

Method

1. Heat up oil in a small frying pan then sauté sweet peas with wolfberries for 1 minute.
2. Remove and set aside.
3. Heat up another 1 tbsp oil in frying pan then sauté oysters, dried shrimps, mushroom, sausage and pumpkin.
4. Add in salt, light soy sauce and water.
5. Simmer for 5 minutes  or until pumpkin is cooked then set aside.
6. Cook rice in rice cooker.  (Taking a leaf out of the Japanese chestnut rice recipe, I added in chestnut to cook together with the rice).
7. When stock is fully absorbed, add in condiment A, spread out evenly on top of rice and cook for a further 10 minutes. (Left it for 5 minutes only)
8. Once rice is cooked, fluff up the rice and mix the ingredients.   (I added in condiments B before mixing up the rice and left everything in the rice cooker for another 5-10 minutes before serving)
9. Add in condiments B and mix well before serving. (Completed in step 8)
10. Serve garnish with some fried whitebait.

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Of Claypot and Mushrooms

I have always been fascinated by the burning charcoal stoves and the skills of the person manning them at claypot rice restaurants that continue making them the old fashion way.  Love the sight of  the glowing embers and the occasional outburst of sparks that sets them flying into the air.   The skills of those manning these stoves is just amazing.  They easily watch over 10-20 of these stoves.  Like a hawk, they keep a close eye on the rice making sure they are cooked just right while controlling the flames by fanning and adding/removing embers.

It is these stoves and the use of claypots that gives the rice a nice smokey flavor and a slightly charred crusty layer of rice at the bottom of the pot.   

Fascinations aside, I can't imagine myself sweating over a charcoal stove :)  I have always cooked a modernised version of claypot rice using the rice cooker although I do own a claypot.  I have no idea what struck me the other day and there was this nudge to try doing it with the claypot  (over a gas stove i mean, that's the furthest I can go).   It was like, come on, give it a try, why not?  Worst case scenario would be burning the entire pot of rice.  If the man at the restaurant can watch over so many pots, i should be able to cope with just one and that's over a stove that can be controlled by just a flick of  the knob.  Phew, glad my pot of rice made it and the cooking process was enjoyable.  It was happiness when I reached the little milestones along the way.  The finale had to be the moment I caught a whiff of the nice, smoky aroma, yeay :))

I had so much fun with my maiden attempt that I made another two variations after trying out the classic chicken one!  Since it is the Mushroom Galore month on Little Thumbs Up and today is the last day for me to catch this train, it will be this mushroom and beef variation for tonight :)

I spotted the recipe on Terri's of Hunger Hunger. She concocted the recipe based on what she saw on a  tv program on food of Southern China.   I thought it was interesting that mushroom was the star ingredient when most of time it played a side role in claypot dishes.  One can even make it vegan if preferred.

And the rice at the bottom...

And after everything is mixed up, not so pretty anymore (and too impatient to eat than to make it look prettier for pictures) but it was satisfactorily delicious especially if you are a mushroom lover.

Recipe

Source : Hunger Hunger

Ingredients

• A handful of 3 kinds of mushrooms (I used Bunashimeji, Bunapi and Eryngii)
• 300g beef
• 2 cups long grain rice
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 cups water with 1/2 cube chicken stock added into it
• Sesame oil
• Spring onions

Marinade

• 1 tbsp Shao Xing wine
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp fine sugar
• 2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp corn flour
• 1 tbsp water
• A few twist of freshly grounded black pepper

Steps

1. Trim and give mushrooms a quick wash.  Tear bigger mushrooms into strips.  
2. Cut meat into strips and season with marinade. Set aside for 15 minutes.
3. Put 1 1/2 tbsp oil into heated wok.  Put in beef and stir fry until half cooked. Remove and set aside.
4. Heat the remaining oil in wok.  Add in garlic, stir fry for 2 seconds then add a pinch of salt.  Add in mushroom and stir fry until mushrooms are just about to wilt.  Add in beef and toss for a few seconds.  Remove and set aside.  Don't overcook it as it will cook again in the claypot.
5. Put washed rice into claypot.  Add in water.  Let water come to a boil then set flame to low to allow it to simmer until rice is 90% cook.  Water would have been absorbed by rice.
6. Quickly add in the mushroom and beef on top of rice in one layer.  Cover and let it cook for another 2-3 minutes.
7. Leave rice to sit in pot with lid covered for another 5 minutes.
8. Fluff rice with wooden paddle to mix everything up.  Serve hot, garnished with spring onions and a drizzle of sesame oil.

I'm linking this post to Little Thumbs Up event, hosted by Joyce, kitchen flavours, organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen for my little favourite D.I.Y.

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Happy Halloween!

Relief! Relief! Little one's final exam for this year is now over! Try as much as I could not to be stressed by his exams, I found myself pushing him to the limits. Of course to make it easier for him, I made him nice treats along the way to bribe him :) and tried my best to help him.

Since Halloween is around the corner and now that he has all the time for fun plus he had always felt that it's a pity we don't celebrate Halloween where we are, I thought why not make it up by letting him have some virtual Halloween fun. I got him to put some Halloween effects on the photo of one of the bribe food that was prepared for him during the exam. Hence, creepy crawlies, eyeballs, skeletons and all on my rice. It's nothing compared to his idea of Halloween fun, he would really love to dressed up in some creepy costume, go trick- or-treat, play pranks and frightening others...boys being boys

It was seafood baked rice actually. Rice which was fried with choice of seafood (I used prawns, cuttlefish, mussels and fish paste), some mix vegetables and cream. Topped it with cheese and baked it. Simple one-dish meal that was fast and delicious but fattening. Good for little one but not for me :-(

Anyway, Happy Halloween!

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