Enoki Mushrooms Cabbage Rolls

Ingredients:

1 liter of chicken stock

300 g Chinese cabbage

50 g enoki mushroom

Half stick of carrot, Julien into strips

10 g wolfberry

1 tbsp of light soy sauce

1 tbsp of oyster sauce

Method:

1. Put the chicken stock to boil. Blanch the Chinese cabbage in the soup until it has softened. Remove and spread the Chinese cabbage out. Set aside the soup.
2. In a wok, heat cooking oil. Saute’ enoki mushrooms and carrot strips. Add oyster sauce, wolfberry, soy sauce and 400 ml of chicken stock. Saute’ for 10 minutes or until fragrant.
3. Thicken the sauce with some corn starch and turn off the flame. Remove the Enoki Mushroom & Carrot strips from the stock, set aside.
4. Take a piece of Chinese Cabbage, place few stripes of Enoki Mushrooms and Carrot stripes at the edge of the Chinese Cabbage and roll it up & place in the plate. Repeat for all remaining ingredients.

Pour the sauce on the rolled Cabbage rolls, garnish each of them with Wolfberry. Serve hot.

Steamed Garlic Prawns with Vermicelli

 Ingredients

50 g mung bean vermicelli noodles  

12 tiger prawns

1 tbsp cooking oil

2 tbsp minced garlic

2 tbsp pickled chili garlic sauce or minced fresh chili (optional)

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine

1 tbsp water

¼ tsp sugar

¼ tsp white pepper

1 pinch salt

chopped scallions for garnishing

 

Instructions

1.      Soak vermicelli noodles in cold water for 10 minutes until they are soft and pliable. Rinse and drain then place them onto a plate.

2.      Peel the body shell of the prawns but keep the head and the tail. Put them flat on a chopping board then cut sideways from the back (Do not cut through). Then place them on top of the noodles with the body part open flat.

3.      Fry garlic and chilli in oil over a medium heat until fragrant but be careful not to burn it. Transfer to a small bowl. Add soy sauce, rice wine, water, white pepper, sugar and salt, then mix well.

4.      Spoon the sauce onto the prawns.

5.      Place the plate into a steamer filled with water & bring the water to a boil. Then leave to steam over a low heat for 7 minutes.

6.      Garnish with spring onion and serve warm.

Chinese Sausage Fried Rice

 

Ingredients

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 stalk scallions, finely chopped

4 Chinese sausages/ Lap cheong

400 g cooked rice (leftover rice/ cooked a day before preferred)

2 dried Mushrooms, soaked & thinly sliced

50g dried Shrimps, soaked & chopped finely

1 can of sweet corn, drained

2 eggs, fried separately & thinly sliced

 

      For the Sauce

2 tsp light soy sauce

1 tsp oyster sauce

1 pinch white pepper

1 pinch salt

2 tsp water

Instructions

1.      Thinly slice Chinese sausage diagonally, fry them in frying pan with little oil under low fire, set aside.

2.      Mix all the ingredients for the sauce then set aside.

3.      In a frying pan or wok, add in cooking oil. Saute onion until tralucent. Add sliced mushrooms & chopped dried shrimps and saute till fragrant.

4.      Add cooked rice & stir occasionally to heat up the rice.

5.      Add Chinese Sausages, fried egg and sweet corn, mixed evenly.

6.      Pour in the sauce & stir to make sure the rice is evenly coated.

7.      Add in chopped Scallions, give everything a quick stir  before dishing out.

Spinach Pie

 

Ingredients

1 sheet puff pastry

500g frozen chopped spinach

1 yellow onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup cottage cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

3 large eggs, divided

Methods

1.      Thaw the puff pastry and spinach ahead of time.  

2.      Heat up olive oil in the frying pan. Add the onion and garlic, sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent. Set the onions and garlic aside to cool slightly.

3.      Add the cottage cheese, Parmesan, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and two of the eggs to a bowl, and stir to combine (save the third egg to brush on top of the pastry before baking).

4.      Squeeze out as much water as possible from the thawed spinach. Add the squeezed spinach and sautéed onion and garlic to the bowl with the cheese mixture. Stir to combine again.

5.      Place a sheet of parchment paper on the work surface dusted lightly with flour and roll the thawed puff pastry out until it's just slightly larger, about 10x10 inches.

6.      Drape the rolled pastry dough out over a pie plate. Spread the spinach and cheese mixture inside the pastry dough, then take the corners and fold them in toward the center. The pastry will not fully cover the top, but that's okay.

7.      Lightly whisk the remaining egg and brush it over the surface of the pastry dough.

8.      Bake the spinach pie for about 45 minutes, or until the pasty on top has puffed up significantly and turned golden brown.

9.      Remove the spinach pie from the oven, let sit for about five minutes, then slice into eight pieces and serve.

Mascarpone Pistachio White Cheesecake

 

 

Ingredients

Butter, for the tin

100g dark chocolate

200g digestive biscuits, crushed

500g mascarpone

200g full-fat yogurt (do not use low-fat yogurt or Greek yogurt)

3 eggs

100g caster sugar

1 lemon, zested, 1/2 juiced

½ tsp vanilla bean paste

50g shelled pistachios, roughly chopped

 

Method

1.     Line the base of a deep 20cm springform cake tin with baking parchment and butter the base and sides.

2.     Melt the dark chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over a pan of just simmering water (ensure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water).

3.     When the chocolate is completely smooth, stir in the biscuits and a small pinch of salt. Press into the base of the tin, all the way to the edges, ensuring the base is even. Put in the fridge to chill for at least 20 mins.

4.     Heat the oven to 140C.

5.     Beat the mascarpone, yogurt, eggs, caster sugar, lemon zest and juice and vanilla bean paste together with an electric whisk until smooth.

6.     Pour the mixture into the baking tin, bake for 45 mins until almost set, with just a slight wobble in the middle. Turn the oven off with the cheesecake inside, and leave the door ajar. Leave the cheesecake to cool completely.

7.     Once completely cool and set, loosen the sides and base of the tin with a knife, and carefully transfer the cheesecake to a serving plate. Scatter over the pistachios, slice & server the cake. 

Steamed Glutinous Rice with Chinese Sausage, Mushroom & Dried Shrimps

Steamed Glutinous Rice with Chinese Sausage, Mushroom & Dried Shrimps

 

INGREDIENTS 

500g glutinous rice  

100g dried shrimp, soaked & slightly chopped

2 Chinese sausages, thinly sliced 

4 dried mushrooms, soaked & thinly sliced 

4 cloves garlic, chopped 

1-2 tablespoons oil 

3 tablespoons water spring onions, chopped, for garnish 

 

SEASONING 

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp Shao Xing cooking wine 

1 tbsp sesame oil 

ground pepper to taste 

 

METHOD 

 

1.      Soak glutinous rice overnight, in between change the water several times to reduce the starchiness. 

2.      Heat cooking oil and fry the garlic, Chinese sausages, dried shrimp and mushrooms, for a couple of minutes until all is fragrant.

3.      Add glutinous rice, and seasoning. Fry for a few more minutes, until evenly coated. 

4.      Transfer to a shallow bowl for steaming, drizzle the 3 tbsp water on top of the rice and steam for 30-40 minutes. If you prefer softer and mushy rice, you can steam it for longer or add more water. 

5.      Sprinkle chopped spring onions onto rice and serve. 

Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks in Red Wine Sauce

Ingredient:

4 lamb shanks

Salt & pepper to taste

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 large carrot, cut into small cubes

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

4 sticks of celery, diced into small cubes

2 tomatoes, skin peeled, diced

100g tomato puree

1 bottle of red wine (750ml)

1 litre of beef broth

Few stalks of fresh thyme

1 teaspoon of rosemary

 

Directions:

1.   Season lamb shanks with salt & peppers for at least 1 hour.

2.   Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook shanks until brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer shanks into a plate, set aside.

3.   Into the same pot, add onions & garlic and saute over medium heat until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add carrots & celery and saute for 5 minutes. Add diced tomatoes.

4.   Stir in red wine, beef broth, rosemary and thyme.

5.   Return the shanks into the pot, press down to submerge. Bring to boil then reduce heat to medium low. Cover and simmer until meat is tender, about 3 hours.

6.  Remove lid & simmer the sauce to allow flavor to concentrate, about 20 minutes. Transfer shanks to platter. Continue boiling the sauce until thickened, about 15 minutes.

7.  Spoon sauce over shanks before serving.