Henghua Noodles (Pha Mee)

Years back, Henghua Noodles are only cooked and served in the homes of the Henghuas. Today, this dish is being made commercialize and is available at some food-stalls in Kuching City. However, there are differences between the commercialize ones and the home-cooked in terms of the way they are cooked and not to mention the flavours and taste.  Those who have tasted both the commercialize and home-cooked Henghua noodles will sure agree with me.

Being married into the Henghua household most daughter-in-laws will learn to cook and master this dish.  I am thankful to my late mother-in-law for her personal guidance in imparting this yummylicious Henghua noddles techniques to me, thus, today me and my family are able to enjoy this delicious and unique noodles in the comfort of our sweet home.

This is what you need:
(A) Crispy fried ginger, shallots and garlic

• 1/2 cup chopped ginger
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots
• 1/2 cup chopped garlic

Fry the ginger, shallots and garlic in enough cooking oil till fragrant and golden.  Dish into a bowl including the oil and leave aside for later use.  (Garlic is to be put in last as it browns faster)

(B)  Chillies in dark soya sauce and small lime

• 1 cup of sliced red chillies (add some bird's eye chillies if you prefer more heat)
• 3 small limes (more can be used depending on your preference)
• enough dark soya sauce to cover the chillies

Put the sliced chillies in a bowl, squeeze the lime over it and add enough dark soya sauce, stir and leave aside to serve with the cooked noodles/mee.

(C)  Soup for cooking the noodles/mee

• Pork Ribs
• A pot of water

Wash the ribs, blanch with hot water, drain and put it into a pot of boiling water (amount depending on how much you are cooking) and boil till a good stock is obtain.  Pour the stock over a sift into another pot as small pieces of bones might break off while boiling. Set aside.

(D)  For cooking the noodles/mee

• 6 pcs. dried shiitake mushrooms (washed, soaked and sliced) 

• prawns (peeled and deveined)

Use the same wok after frying the ginger, shallots and garlic in (A), add 1 tbsp of the fragrant oil and fried ginger, shallots and garlic to fry the prawns using medium-low heat with a drizzle of light soy sauce, stir well and dish onto a plate for later use. The reason why I am frying the prawns separately is because prawns cooked faster and putting it together with all the other ingredients in the pot will cause the prawns to be over-cooked and hard.

• 1 slab pork belly (washed, boiled about 50% cook, drain and sprinkle some salt over it. When cooled, cut into bite-size pieces)

• Chye Sim/Sawi (washed, drain and cut)

• Fish ball (refer to my blog recipe 'Fish ball and fish cake dated 15th November 2014)

• Henghua noodles/mee (purchase from the wet market)

(E) Seasonings

• Salt (to taste)
• Light soy sauce
• Msg (to taste)

With all the ingredients ready at hand, it is time for us to start cooking.....

1. In a clean heated wok of medium heat, add 1 tbsp. cooking oil and swirl over the wok.  Add in the pork belly, spread them over the wok to ensure they are properly seared, stirring and turning often. When the pork belly has slightly browned sprinkle 2 tbsp. light soy sauce over it and stir till well combined. At this point turn the heat down a bit and continue to fry until the pork belly has properly browned.
2. Add the mushrooms and continue to stir until fragrant, off the heat and dish the ingredients into the pot of ready cooked soup in (C).
3. If you have a double stove, it is best to let the soup in slow simmer while cooking the ingredients in (1).  Turn the heat to medium-high.  
4. Boil the pork belly until almost soft, add in the seasonings in (E), taste for correct seasonings, then drop in the fish ball.  Once the fish ball starts to float add in the noodles, chye sim and 1 tbsp of the fried ingredients in (A) and stir to mix till well combined.  When the noodles have come to a few boils, use our fingers to taste if it is cooked.  
5. Finally, stir in the cooked prawns, off the heat and it's ready to serve!

How to serve?

• Dish the noodles, ingredients and soup onto a serving bowl
• Sprinkle with grounded white pepper
• Topped with the fried ginger, shallots and garlic
• Chillies with dark soya sauce and lime at the side

Note:  If you prefer a real traditional method to serve this Henghua Noodles, topped with fried whole peanuts, seaweed and fried shredded eggs.

Creamy Yam-Pumpkin-Sago Dessert

Yam and pumpkin makes a good combination of a sweet Dessert.  The concentrated coconut milk makes the dessert creamy and the floury texture of the yam and pumpkin adds in to the deliciousness of it and not to mention the pearl sago makes it smooth and appetizing.  It can be consume either warm or cold.  As this is a creamy dessert, if you prefer it more soupy, add in some hot water for a warm dessert, or cold water and/or ice cubes and stir it until well combined and smooth to serve.

What you need:

300g yam (peeled and cut into cubes, about a 20 sen coin)

500g pumpkin (peeled and cut into cubes, about 50 sen coin)

4 pieces of pandan leaves (washed and knotted)

1500ml water

80ml concentrated coconut milk

Sugar to taste

80g pearl sago (soaked till softened and drain)

Methods:

1. In a heated pot of 1500ml water add in pandan leaves and yam, let it boil using medium heat for about 10 minutes, then add in pumpkin cubes. Stir to let the ingredients cook evenly until soft.
2. Off the heat, discard the pandan leaves and use a ladle to lightly mash the yam and pumpkin.
3. Switch onn the heat to medium, add in the coconut milk and sugar, stir well and taste for your preferred sweetness.  Once it comes to a light boil add in the pearl sago, give it a quick stir, turn off the heat and cover with the lid.
4. As soon as the sago turns translucent it is ready to serve.

Old-Time Beef Stew

Ingredients: (ingredient and amount slightly change to suit my cooking)
400g Beef (cut into chunks)
1 tbsp cooking oil
2 cups water (add more during cooking)
1/2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
6 cloves garlic (peeled and leave whole)
2 bay leaves
1/2 onion (sliced)
1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp sugar (to taste)
1/4 tsp grounded pepper
1/4 tsp chilli powder
A dash ground mix spice
1 red carrot (cut into chunk)
2 ribs celery (chopped)
Cornflour mixture (for thickening)

Beef seasoning:
Salt
Pepper

Methods:

1. Season beef with salt and pepper and mix to combine.
2. In a heated wok, add in cooking oil and brown the seasoned beef.
3. Add water, Worcestershire Sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, salt, sugar, pepper, mix spice and chilli powder.  Stir till well combined.
4. Cover and simmer for about one hour, stirring from time to time and adding more water when the sauce is reduced.
5. Remove bay leaves and garlic cloves.
6. Add carrot and celery, cover and continue to cook till all the ingredients are cooked.
7. Thicken gravy with cornflour mixture and stir well until bubbly.
8. Dish up and serve.

This dish is adapted from Diana Gale from Domestic Goddess Wannabe, to view the original post click here 

Kimchi Fried Rice

Fried Rice is the easiest and fastest way of whipping up a meal just for one person. There are different ways of frying rice and each cook have their own techniques.  The ingredients used varies from one person to another as well as its taste.  Today, I am trying a hand on this simple Kimchi Fried Rice.  Surprisingly, the outcome is YUMMYLICIOUS!

Ingredients:

• one bowl cooked rice (for one person)
• 1 1/2 tbsp kimchi (cut into smaller pieces)
• 2 slices bacon (cut into 1" sections)
• 1 egg (fried)
• 1/2 onion (thinly sliced)
• dash of chicken stock (to taste)
• 1 tbsp cooking oil

Few simple steps:

1. In a heated wok add in cooking oil.
2. Add in the onion, fry for briefly 1 minute.
3. Add the bacon slices, fry for another minute, then add in the kimchi and give it a quick stir.
4. Next, add in the rice and stir well to combine.  Add in some kimchi sauce over the rice if necessary.
5. Sprinkle a dash of chicken stock, stir to mix and taste for correct seasoning.
6. Off the heat, dish onto a plate, and serve topped with fried egg.

Stir-fried beef with fried garlic

Ingredients:
200g beef fillet
4 cloves garlic (thinly sliced and fried till golden)
1 stalk spring onion (cut into sections)
1 1/2 tbsp cooking oil

Marinade:
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp beaten egg
1 tsp shao hsing wine
1/2 tsp cornflour (to be added later)

Seasonings:
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/3 tsp sugar
1 tsp oyster sauce
dash of shao hsing wine
dash of sesame oil
1 tbsp water

Methods:

1. Rinse the beef fillet, cut away the tendons and cut into small pieces.
2. Marinate the beef with the marinade ingredients, except cornflour and mix well. Add in the cornflour 30 minutes before cooking and give it a mix.
3. Heat 1 1/2 tbsp cooking oil in a pan and pan-fry the beef over low heat until fragrant.
4. Add the spring onion, followed by the seasonings and stir until all the beef are well coated and cooked through.
5. Serve on a plate topped with fried garlic.

Savory Pumpkin-Sago Kuih

Recently, we made a trip to my uncle's farm about 40 km from Kuching City.  We came home with a car booth full of fruits and varieties of vegetables and not to mention the humble PUMPKIN.  The pumpkins are heavy with smooth and firm skin which are said to be best!

Ingredients:

200g pumpkin (shredded)

200g sago (soaked for 15 mins. and strained)

30g caster sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Topping Ingredients:

1 1/2 tbsp cooking oil

1 tsp pepper

1 tbsp garlic (chopped)

30g minced pork

30g small dried prawns (washed and drained)

2 dried mushrooms (soaked and sliced thinly)

1/2 tbsp fish sauce

Garnish:

1 stalk spring onion, green part (chopped)

1/2 red chilli (seeded and diced finely)

Methods:

• In a large mixing bowl put all the ingredients in and mix till well combined.

• Pour the mixture into a greased 7" steaming tray.  Steam at high heat until cooked. Remove from steamer, leave it to cool then cut into pieces with the size of your choice.
• For the topping, heat oil and saute chopped garlic until fragrant.  Add in dried prawns, mushrooms, minced pork and stir-fry until aromatic.  Add in fish sauce, pepper and continue to fry until fragrant.  Dish onto a bowl.

• Sprinkle the topping ingredients over the sliced pumpkin, garnish with spring onion and chilli.

• Serve with a cup of coffee or tea.

Avocado Shake and Smoothie

During this season of the year the scorching heat is intolerable at times, thus I believe that many will yearn for something cool and refreshing.  In my state Sarawak we are indeed blessed with many types of local fruits which makes refreshing juices to quench our thirst.  

For my post today, I am sharing the one fruit which is high in healthy monounsaturated fats and is a good source of fiber, vitamins and minerals - AVOCADO!

Thanks to Lena for sharing this rich and creamy drink which is also best suited for dessert. I enjoyed it and would like to include in my blog here to further share with all my readers.

Vietnamese Avocado Shake

Ingredients: (recipe and quantity slightly adjusted)

1/2 medium size avocado (peeled, deseeded and sliced)

1/2 cup milk (add more to thin the shake)

1/2 cup crushed ice-cubes

Methods:

1. In a blender add avocado slices, milk and crushed ice-cubes.
2. Cover and blend on high until mixture is smooth.
3. Check the consistency, if too thick add more milk, cover and blend again.
4. Stir before pouring into a glass or dessert dish.
5. Serve.

The second drink comes to my mind when I saw few bottles of Vitagen (apple flavour) in my fridge.  As usual on a hot day my mind is always telling "I need something refreshing and cooling,"  Without any doubt I grab hold of the avocado, vitagen, some crushed ice-cubes and blender.  Blend all the ingredients together using high speed and here is a glass of "Fruity Avocado Smoothie."  Enjoy this thirst quencher - creamy, refreshing and nutritious.  If you prefer it less creamier or thinner, add more vitagen.