hua tiao jiu – 好心人

Stir Fry Watercress with Shredded Chicken

May 8, 2016 by Ho Lang

Stir Fry Watercress with Shredded Chicken

This is a recommendation from one of the home cooks from this cooking Facebook group that I am part of – a savoury version of watercress instead of the usual soup that I would always cook.

Watercress is my second favourite vegetable, second to bitter gourd of course. But I usually would cook it in a soup with fish balls. So this is my first time stir frying the watercress with shredded chicken and wolfberries. The final result is a nice confluence of flavours. The nuttiness of the watercress blends really well with the marinated chicken drum meat and the wolfberries adds a little sweetness to the dish.

Very easy to cook and tastes delicious. Even the wife loves it (and she hates watercress cooked in soup).

Recipe

Ingredients

1 bunch Watercress (the wet market usually sells fresh watercress although NTUC surprises me from time to time)
1 Chicken Drum (I usually get the chicken butcher to de-bone the chicken drum for me. The meat from the chicken drum is more tender and delicious when cooked)
Handful of Wolfberries (these are the dried reddish fruits that is usually available from any chinese medicine shop or NTUC)
4 tbsp Olive Oil (for frying)
1 tbsp Rice Wine (shao xing hua tiao jiu)
2 tsp Oyster Sauce
4 cloves Garlic (rough chop will do)
2 tbsp Kikkoman Soya Sauce
1/2 tsp White Pepper

Method

1. Soak the watercress in water to remove any dirt or debris. Clean out the discolored leaves. Chop the watercress into half after removing the end of the stems.

2. Chop the meat from the chicken drum into small slices. Marinate with white pepper and soya sauce for about 5 minutes.

3. Rough chop the garlic pieces. Then throw them into a heat wok with the oil. Stir fry the garlic pieces until they start to brown. Then add the marinated shredded chicken slices and wolfberries. Stir fry until the chicken starts to change colour.

4. Add the washed watercress into the wok and add a little water. Turn up the heat to high and then cover the lid to allow the vegetable to cook a little more. After about 3 minutes, they should be sufficiently whithered but still bright green (You generally don’t want to overcook the watercress because You want to retain the vitamins in the vegetable).

5. Add the oyster sauce and rice wine mix into the dish and continue to give it a stir fry. After that you may serve.

Bon Appetit!

Watercress and wolfberries

Shredded chicken drum slices

Stir fry the garlic pieces

Crab Bee Hoon

June 7, 2015 by Ho Lang

Crab Bee Hoon

If you have tasted Singapore Chilli Crab and like it, you will most probably love crab bee hoon like you love your mother-in-law. Okay, maybe not a good example, but think of crab bee hoon as a softer option compared to the spicy version.

Cooked in a milky buttery broth and served with bee hoon or white noodles, this masterpiece dish is very easy to cook. I say again, anyone can cook this dish. It’s a walk in the park. Add a little tang-orh vegetables and it is a perfect meal.

We usually go to this place at Ang Mo Kio named Melben for our craving for crab bee hoon, but honestly, they have become quite pricey and sometimes the journey there and the long waiting time just makes the whole experience much to be desired.

So I decided that I would make my own crab bee hoon but make it more fabulous with what my wife and I love to eat. Udon noodles instead of the bee hoon. LOL. In fact, I think it tasted better with Udon.

Recipe

Ingredients

2 “live” Mud Crabs (about 800 grams)
2 packets of Udon Noodles
20 thin slices of Ginger
1 tray of Fresh Clam Meat (NTUC got sell)
1 box Mini Toufu Puffs
60 grams of Unsalted Butter
Half a cup of Evaporated Milk
A pinch of Sea Salt (I use the Maldon Brand of Sea Salt Flakes)
2 tbsp Shao Xing Hua Tiao Jiu
2 tbsp Hakka Rice Wine
1 tsp Castor Sugar
1 tbsp Fish Sauce

Method

1. Boil 1 and a half kettle of water. (1 kettle is about 1.7 litres) Once the water is boiled, pour into a large pot. Turn on fire to a slow boil and add the clam meat and 10 slices of ginger. Boil for about 30 minutes. Then discard the clams and ginger.

2. In another pot, fry the rest of the ginger slices in butter and then add the mini Toufu puffs (sliced diagonally) and continue cooking. Once the Toufu has softened. Add them into the main pot.

3. Turn the heat up to medium. Add evaporated milk. Add that pinch of salt, the fish sauce, hua tiao jiu, hakka rice wine and sugar. Continue to stir. Do a taste test to make sure the it is not too salty, but creamy.

4. Kill the crabs. Using a cleaver, chop right down the belly of the crab. Then remove the pincers and then the body parts. Reserve the eggs (if any) and wash the crabs. After the crabs are cleaned, using the back of the cleaver, break the shells.

5. Once crabs are ready, throw them into the broth. Cook until the colour changes to a hue of red. Add the Udon noodles (or white noodles) and cook for a few minutes. After that serve hot.

6. Prepare and wash the tang-orh vegetables. This is to be dipped into the broth and eaten immediately.

Bon Appetit!

Boiling broth of Fresh Clam Meat & ginger slices

Fry the ginger slices in butter

Fry the mini Toufu puffs in butter

Substitute bee hoon with Udon noodles

“live” Mud crabs (about 800 grams)

Cooked the prepared crabs

Cooked till a bright hue of red

Add Udon noodles into broth