Fish paste Tofu with Vegetables 鱼胶蔬菜豆腐

In my last post, I mentioned that I will be sharing how I did the sushi-style Fish-paste Tofu.



This is one of my kids favourite. Its a good alternative to get the kids to eat their vegetables. I used to make this for them when they are younger and they love it because of the colours but had no idea the colours with make using vegetables.



Once they accepted the dish and were always requesting for it, I reveal to them the mystery ingredients. They began to realise then that some vegetables are really not that hard to swallow. ;)



You can also add in some other chopped ingredients for texture. However, do not overload the additional ingredients. As the fish paste may not be able to hold it together if there are too much of it.

Ingredients:

• 200g Fish Paste


• 1 tube Egg Tofu


• 1/3 Carrot or 1 handful Broccoli Florets


• Corn Flour for dusting


• Oil for pan-frying


• Optional chopped ingredients


• a stalk Spring Onion; green part only, if using to tie to rice ball

How to do it:

1. Mix or blend all ingredients, except spring onions, till smooth.


2. If adding chopped ingredients, add only after blending.


3. Oil a dish.


4. Spread paste in dish.


5. Steam for 15 - 20 mins, depending on thickness of paste.


6. Cut into smaller pieces and remove carefully from dish. You can flip it over to a bigger plate if the cooked tofu is not to deep. Otherwise the tofu will break into pieces from the drop.


7. Dust lightly with corn flour.


8. Pan fry on all sides till lightly brown.


9. Side aside.


10. Meanwhile, boil some water with half a teaspoon oil.


11. Turn off heat and place in the fish paste tofu on the rice ball and tie with soften spring onion.


12. Serve.

Note:

• I didnt not add any seasoning as fish paste is usually seasoned.


• You may wish to add 1/2 teaspoon light sauce and a dash of pepper when blending the mixture if you like.


• You can try using other vegetables if you like.

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Scallops with Assorted Vegetables

My husband commented that my food having more and more western influence in them. And he wondered if I still can cook anything Chinese. -_-"





So, heres one Chinese dish with his favourite, Ginkgo Nut, in it. Brain food for you, dear. And in case you didnt notice, if I use the oven to cook, the food are usually more westernized and if I uses the wok more, then more Chinese. ^_-





I was trying to spend lesser cooking and washing time mah. So lots of cooking done using the oven. Now that the electrical bill has increased so much, youll see me using gas more often.



Ingredients:

• 12 (Canned) Ginkgo Nuts


• 5 Fresh Shitake Mushroom, half,


• 1/2 Bell Pepper, sliced


• 6 Sweet Peas


• 12 Scallops


• 2 tablespoon Broth


• 1 teaspoon Cooking Wine


• Light Soy Sauce to taste


• Cornflour Mixture (Thickener)


• 2 tablespoon Oil

How to do it:

1. Heat wok with oil.


2. Add ginkgo nuts, bell pepper, sweet peas and mushroom.


3. Stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes.


4. Add scallops and stir fry for 1/2 minutes.


5. Add in the broth and cooking wine.


6. Stir to mix well and add light soy sauce to taste


7. When sauce begins to bubbles, stir in the thickener.


8. Stir to coat well.


9. Dish and serve.

Note:
You have to remove the stem in the ginkgo nut before cooking it otherwise it will be bitter. You can do so by inserting a toothpick in the middle.

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20 Budget Meal Five Nuts Soup and Steamed Dumplings with Assorted Vegetables

Quick and Easy meal that comes with good and healthy combination of meat and vegetables are always something that busy working adults or parents look for. Here we have a fusion of Asian Steamed Dumpling with array of colourful vegetables such as Pumpkin, Carrots, Peas and Broccoli that will definitely cheers up your Monday Blue evening. These two sets of Steamed Dumpling and Five Nuts Soup meal only cost about S$12.20 which can serves around 2 - 3 persons.

To make a complete meal, I have boiled some five Nuts Soup that consists of 5 different colours of ingredients such as Fresh Fox Nuts, Lotus Seeds, Chinese Barley, Wolfberries and etc. This is a great nutty flavour soup which helps to calm nerves, strengthen Qi and nourish the body. The fresh fox nut can also helps to heal indigestion, diarrhoea and poor bladder control too.

FIVE NUTS SOUP

Ingredients: (serves 2 - 4)
300g Pork Ribs (排骨)
1 Packet of Fresh Foxnuts(茨实)
20g Chinese Barley (中国薏米)
20g Lotus Seeds (莲子)
10g Wolfberries (枸杞子)
5 Big Red Dates (红枣)
1.8 Litres of Water

Method:-

1. Blanched Pork Ribs in boiling water for 2 - 3 minutes, remove and rinse with tap water. Set aside.

2. Soak lotus seeds (unwashed) in a bowl of warm water for about 5 minutes. Remove the green pith in it to avoid bitterness. Rinse and set aside.

3. Rinse Chinese barley 2 - 3 times in a big bowl, remove any decay seeds and dirt.

4. Bring 1.8 litres of water to boil in a soup pot. Add in all the ingredients except wolfberries and when the mixture comes to boil again, lower the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes till lotus seeds and barley are soften.

5. Add in wolfberries and season with salt to taste according to own preference.


Total cost for this dish is about S$6.00 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Pork Ribs = S$3.00
~ Fresh Foxnuts = S$1.50
~ Lotus Seeds, Red Dates, Wolfberries, Barley = S$1.50

Making of these dumplings can be hassle free by using the “Gyoza Mold(shown below)” which comes in handy by just placing a gyoza or wonton wrapper on top of the press (mold), add in fillings, close and press tight to form a perfect sealed gyoza or dumpling.

STEAMED DUMPLINGS WITH ASSORTED VEGETABLES

Ingredients: (serves 2, makes 12 dumplings)

125g Broccoli, cut into florets
70g Snow Peas, trimmed
120g Butternut Pumpkin, cut into 1" cubes
Half Medium Size Carrot, cut into 0.5" thick sticks
12 Round Wonton Wrappers
3 - 4 leaves of iceberg lettuce, optional

Dumplings:
150g Minced Pork
100g Medium Prawns, shelled, removed vein and cut into chunks
4 Water chestnuts, chopped
1/2 Teaspoon ginger juice
1/2 Teaspoon Cooking Wine
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 Teaspoon Cornflour
1/2 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
Dash of Ground Pepper
Some Chopped Spring Onion

*Note:-

~ You can replace Wonton Wrapper with Gyoza Wrapper too.

Method:-

1. Mix all the dumpling ingredients in a bowl, stir till well combine and set aside marinate in the refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

2. Place a piece of dumpling wrapper on the dumpling(gyoza) mold, scoop 1/2 tablespoon of the mince mixture on the wrapper and fold and press the edge of the mold to enclose the fillings. Repeat with the remaining mince mixture.

3. Line two bamboo steamers with iceberg lettuce/baking paper. Divide broccoli, carrot and pumpkin and wrapped dumplings equally into each steamer, drizzle with some sesame/olive oil.

4. Stack the steamers, covered and place it into a big steamer pot or over a pan of simmering water.

5. Steam for 3 minutes on medium high heat, swap the bottom layer of the steamer with the top and continue to steam for another 2 minutes before adding in the snow peas and steam for another 1 minute or till tender.

6. When done, remove from heat. Drizzle evenly with 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce mixture (50ml hot water, 1/2 teaspoon light soy sauce and dash of sesame oil) and serve immediately with steamed rice or on its own.


Total cost for this dish is about S$6.20 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Pork Minced = S$1.00
~ Prawn = S$1.50
~ Wonton Wrapper = S$0.50
~ Broccoli, Pumpkin and Water Chestnut = S$2.00
~ Carrot and Sweet Peas = S$1.20

GIVEAWAY plus more NEW DUMPLING RECIPES

For those who is interested in trying out some dumpling recipes, do stay tune on the next upcoming post on “3 Ways of Eating Wonton/Dumpling” and plus a chance to WIN a set of this "Gyoza Mold" shown above. Have fun!!!

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