Mapo Tofu

Mapo Tofu, an adventurous traditional Zichuan dish invented by an old Chinese lady. Basically, you saute everything, then add tofu. That is it. How simple yet delicious it is! You can also customize your Mapo dish, say, Mapo chicken, Mapo fish fillet!

In this recipe, however, I made a very basic vegetarian Mapo tofu, (Since I didn't have any leftover pork on hand). Even though there is just tofu, the sauce is still very flavourful.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 package Tofu
2 1/2 tbsp Chili bean sauce ( also known as toban djan)
1/2 tbsp Chinese styled chili sauce
1 tbsp Oyster sauce or abalone sauce
1/2 tbsp Sugar
1/2 tbsp Corn starch or flour
1/2 tbsp tap water
1/2 cup tap water
2 tbsp Chinese white wine
4 cloves Garlic
1 Chili
5-6 Chinese huajiao pepper corn (crushed) (optional)
2 tbsp light flavoured vegetable oil
Some cucumber dice for garnish (optional)

1. Mince the garlic and slice the chili.
2. Preheat the skillet in medium heat, add vegetable oil. Put in the garlic and chili. Saute for 1 minute until it is flavourful.
3. Add in the oyster sauce, chili bean sauce, and chinese styled  chili sauce. Saute for 1 minute until it is flavourful.
4. Splash in the white wine, put on the lid for 30 seconds.
5. Add 1/2 cup tap water. Add sugar. Add tofu. Put on the lid for 30 seconds.
6. In a small bowl, mix the 1/2 tbsp of tap water and corn starch.
7. Pour the corn starch mixture to the sauce, gently stir well.
8. Sprinkle on top a few diced cucumber, crushed Chinese Huajiao pepper corn, and some chili.
9. Serve with steamed rice! Enjoy:)

Tips:
1. The amount and proportion of chili bean sauce and chili sauce can be adjusted to taste. So remember to do regular taste tests throughout the cooking progress.
2. You saute the garlic to remove the raw garlic flavour and at the same time release the flavour of it. You do not want to burn the garlic. Keep an eye on it, keep stirring, and turn down the heat if necessary.

Vegetable stir-fry

Vegetable stir-fry is a very important dish on a traditional Chinese dining table. Especially in Hong Kong, it is a daily dish for every family.

However, it is not easy at all to master the skills of this dish. Some families add chicken powder (which the powder may consist of artificial flavourings) , some families marinate the veggies (which I have no idea how), some families add soy sauce or oyster sauce...

My tip is-- only add the veggies when your skillet  and oil is extremely hot.

So here is a recipe for you in case you would like to have a simple yet flavourful veggie stir-fry.

Preparation time: 10 mins

1 serving Choi Sum

1 Shallot

1 Chili pepper (optional)

2 tbsp Chinese white wine (if it is not accessible to you, use any white wine of your choice)

Light flavoured vegetable oil

Salt for seasoning

1. Wash and rinse your choi sum. Remove the flowers and rotten leaves if theres any.

2. Thinly sliced the shallots and chili. Set aside.

3. Preheat your wok/skillet in medium heat heat, add in 3 tbsps of oil. Wait until the oil is sizzling hot.

4. Saute the shallot and chili for about 45 seconds until they are flavourful.

5. Add in the veggies then quickly drizzle the wine around the edge of the skillet and quickly put on the lid for 15 seconds until the veggies are mostly downsized.

6. Season with salt and saute the veggies until its thoroughly cooked through.

7. Enjoy:)

Chicken pasta with cream sauce

I am a big fan of Italian cuisine. Recently, I was so tempted to make cream pasta. It is one of my comfort foods! However, ordering an authentic Italian pasta  may costs a fortune in Hong Kong. Since this dish only needs a few ingredients, why paying more than a hundred dollars for a dish when you can easily make one at home for only $40HKD! I can guarantee you will love it! So simple and easy to make!

Preparation time: 15 mins

Ingredients:
1 cup Frozen chicken breast (chopped into bite-sized pieces)
2 servings Pasta of your choice (I am using homemade fettuccine)
2 cloves Garlic
1 Tomato (optional)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup Grated Parmesan cheese
Olive oil
Salt and pepper for seasoning

1. Boil your pasta according to package instructions.
2. After started boiling the pasta, season the chicken breast pieces with generous amount of salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. Finely chop the garlic. Seed and peel the tomato. Then slice them into bite sized pieces.
4. Preheat skillet in medium heat, drizzle 2 tbsps of olive oil then add the chicken. Sautee each side for around 1 minute until lightly browned then remove it from the skillet.
5. Using the remaining oil in the skillet, add garlic. Saute for 30 seconds until flavourful.
6. Add tomatos and chicken.
7. Add cream. Season with salt and pepper. Add 3/4 cup of Permensan cheese.
8. Add in the pasta and add 1 tbsp of pasta water. Season the pasta if needed.
9. Serve on a plate and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of Permesan cheese.
10. Enjoy:)

Tips:
1. To remove the skin of the tomato, use a knife to gently cut across the tomato skin. Put it in boiling water for 30 seconds. You can also put it in the boiling pasta water.
2. Don't be afraid to season the chicken with generous amount of salt and pepper because when you over seasoned, the saltiness can be released and offset when combing other ingredients. However if the chicken is under seasoned, the chicken will become tasteless, especially when we are using frozen ones instead of fresh ones.

Chicken with mushroom gravy

I love gravy, especially roasted chicken with homemade gravy. However, roasting chicken takes you almost 1-2 hours of roasting, another 10 minutes to prepare the gravy... This is why I like using my skillet to cook chicken.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
4 Chicken thighs
2 Shallots
1 Zucchini
1 cup of fresh mushrooms (any kind of your choice) or 1/2 cup of canned mushrooms
1 tbsp  Thyme (fresh or dried)
1 tbsp Butter
1 tsp Flour
Pepper and salt for seasoning
1 tbsp Paprika
1 tbsp White wine

1. Cut the chicken thighs into smaller chunks. Marinate with paprika, and generous amount of salt and pepper.

2. Slice the shallots and zucchini.

3. Preheat a skillet in medium-high heat, drizzle with a little bit of light vegetable oil. Saute the chicken for 4-5 minutes until they are thoroughly cooked through. Put them on a plate.

4. Saute the shallots until slightly golden brown and flavourful. Add zucchini and white wine. Then add mushrooms and thyme. Let it saute for 1 minute, then add butter and chicken. Let it come to a boil.

5. Spoon 1 tbsp of the sauce from the skillet to a small bowl/cup. Add in the flour and mix well. Pour the mixture back into the skillet to thicken the sauce.

6. Serve on a plate and enjoy:)

Greek Yogurt Mascarpone Trifle

Hot weather is slipping in. For those who have sweet tooth, do you feel resistant to bake even you are craving for a fruity creamy sponge cake? First, you do not want to turn on the "heater" in your kitchen; Second, summer is the season of bikinis! And short shorts! And crop tops! Which means NO HEAVY CREAM..:(

No worries ladies! This recipe substitute heavy cream with mostly Greek yogurt. Together with the natural sweetness of the berries, it definitely can satisfy your sweet cravings! An even better news is that it is a non-bake recipe! Let's make one and share with your bffs at your next party!

Preparation time: 30 minutes

In the fridge to set: 3 hours minimum

Ingredients:

1 package Lady fingers

1 cup Diced strawberries

1 cup Blueberries/ blackberries

2 tsp Icing Sugar

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1/2 cup Mascarpone cheese

1/2 tsp Lemon juice

1/2 tsp Lemon zest

1. Remove the stock of the strawberries. In a bowl, slightly mash the strawberries to release the juice. Add 1 tbsp icing sugar and lemon juice. Set it aside.

2. In another bowl, loosen the Mascarpone cheese with a whisk, add 1 tbsp of icing sugar. Then add in Greek yogurt. Mix well. 

3. Use aluminium foil to wrap the base of the pan in case the liquid leakage. Assemble the lady fingers in a 12-cm spring form pan. Gently press in the lady fingers to fit the pan. 

4. Drizzle half of the strawberry mixture on top. Spread half of the cheese mixture. Add half the blueberries/blackberries.

5. Layer lady fingers n top of the berries. Drizzle the remaining half of the strawberry mixture. Spread the remaining cheese mixture. Garnish by placing the rest of the blueberries/blackberries on top. Sprinkle the lemon zest.

6. Wrap the cake with plastic wrap then pop it in the fridge and let it set for at least 3 hours.

7. Transfer the cake to a plate. Enjoy:)

Tips:

1. You can adjust the amount of icing sugar according to taste since the berries itself might be sweet enough.

2. You can adjust the proportion of the yogurt/cheese mixture. I am using 1:1 to perform the best texture. However, try different proportions to create your favourite consistency or to match your health concern!

3. Try to serve at the earliest after it comes out from the fridge to avoid it from melting.

One Pot Coconut Chicken

Coconut chicken is one of my childhood favourites. The silkiness of the coconut milk with the tender chicken breast, and the natural sweetness from the veggies...just DIVINE.

 It was a common dish in old-styled Hong Kong "Cha Chen Teng"s. They usually present it with a puff pastry on top, and a bowl of steaming rice next to it. Sadly the taste is no longer original probably because they are using not-as-good ingredients to cut cost.

So why not make my own! It is so easy to make! Even make a large portion and save some in the freezer for quick dinner after a busy day!

Preparation time: 20 mins

Ingredients:
2 cups Chicken breast chunks (about 2 inches thick)
1 Medium sized carrot
1 Potato
1 Onion
1 Large can of coconut milk

1. In a large plate, marinate the chicken breast with generous amount of coarse salt (roughly 2 tbsp) and freshly ground black pepper.Add a 3 tbsp of coconut milk and mix well. Make sure the milk is evenly coated on each piece of chicken. Set it aside.

2. Prep the veggies. Slice the carrots into 3mm slices. Dice the potato into larger cubes of approx. 1.5 itches. Chop 3/4 onions into large pieces and finely dice the remaining 1/4 onions.

3. In a preheating pan (with depth since there will be sauce) at medium-high heat, add in 1 tbsp of light-flavoured vegetable oil, slightly saute the chicken for 1 minute on each side. Spoon out and set it aside.

4. In the pan, add 1/2 tbsp of oil and add the finely diced onions. Saute them for approx. 2 minutes until they turned light brown in colour. Add in the remaining onion pieces, carrots, and potatos. Saute the veggies for 1 to 2 minutes.

5. In the pan, add in the sauteed chicken and its released juice (if any), and the coconut milk. Put on the lid and let it simmer for 4 minutes or until the veggies and chicken are cooked thoroughly.

6. Taste the sauce and season well. Serve and enjoy!

Tips:

1. Season the chicken chunks generously and leave it for ideally 30 mins before cooking to make sure the marinate is fully absorbed by the chicken.
2. Do not overcook the chicken or it will become tough.
3. Try to use a non-stick pan to avoid burnt ingredients.
4. Since the flavourful sauce is the glorious highlight of this dish, bed it with good amount of rice or bread!