麻油雞 Sesame Rice Wine Chicken

 

 

Ingredients:

2 pounds of chicken.

10 slices of ginger

1 bottle 600 ml rice wine

Sesame oil-3 table spoons

Optional-Chinese herbs (Go Ji)-2 tea spoons  

 

Method:

1.       Cook sesame oil with ginger at medium heat for 3 mins (The longer you cook the more ginger flavour you will get.)

2.       Boil chicken with a pot of hot water. Add chicken to the pot. Stir with sesame oil and ginger.

3.       Add rice wine. (Make sure they cover the chicken) and cook for 30 mins with medium heat.

Tip (If you don’t want, too much alcohol. You can add 300 ml water and 300ml rice wine)

Stewed pork feet with ginger and sweet vinegar. 豬腳薑醋

Benefits for this dish: Helps with the circulation, keeps you warm, lots of collagen, replenish your body.

Ingredients:
Pork feet 6
Egg 12
Sweet vinegar （八珍甜醋）-2 bottles 1.2 L
Ginger-500g
Black rice vinegar  - 50 ml黑糯米醋
Salt-1 pinch

Method:
Traditional way  people make this soup base 1 month ahead. But one week is good, too. I did mine for 1 week to let the ginger and sweet vinegar marinated.

1.     Peel the ginger skin. Wash and dry them with a paper towel or let it dry by itself for a few hours.
2.     Use a knife to flatten the ginger.
3.     Prepare a frying pan. Cook ginger until they are dry. Add 1 pinch of salt and olive oil. Continue to cook them until you can smell the ginger.

4.   Prepare a big stewing pot. (Make sure it’s not metal. It’s better to use a glass or ceramic container to prevent your pot from changing colour. )  Add the ginger and the 2 bottles of sweet vinegar into the pot. When they start to boil, turn to small heat and cook for 1 hr.
5.     Let it cool down.
6.     Rest them at least one week in a cool area where there is no sun exposure. (I put mine in the basement.) The cantonese traditional way to do is to prepare this dish 4 weeks before the mom gives birth. You repeat boiling the pot once a week.

7.     Boil a pot of hot water. When the water boils, cook the pork feet for 5 mins. Take them out and rinse with cold water.(Cleaning process)
8.     Prepare 6 eggs and cook them in a pot of water. When they start to boil, cook for another 10 mins. Take them out and put in a pot of cold water. It can help remove the shells easier.
9.     Add pork feet into the ginger sweet vinegar stew. Cook them for 1 hour and 30 mins, and add the eggs into the stew. When the stew starts to boil, let it sit with the lid closed for  a few hours until the eggs are colored.
10.  Serve. (If you find it's too fatty, you can refrigerate it first and scoop the fat out.)

(Reminder, the eggs will taste hard which is normal for this dish. Cantonese people usually cook the eggs first 3 days before serving. Let them sit in the stew and become hard outside. It’s kinda chewy. It’s supposed to be better for you, too. )

Satay stir fry beef and celery

Ingrdients

AAA Beef Flank- 200g

Onion - 1 small onion

Celery - 3

Chilli - 1

Seasoning

Satay sauce - 1 table spoon

Chicken stock powder - 1 teaspoon

Corn Starch - half tea spoon

Method

1.      Marinate beef with satay sauce and corn starch for 20 mins.

2.      Cut onion, celery and chilli

3.      Heat the pan. Add one teaspoon of Olive oil. Add beef and quickly stir fry them. When they are half cooked, take them out.

4.      Cook onion, celery and chili. When they are soft, add beef into the pan. Add chicken stock powder. (Don’t cook the beef for too long. As soon as it's not pink, take them out to prevent the meat from getting too tough)

5.      Serve

Ground Beef Curry

Ingredients:

Onion-1 big one
Tomato-1 big one
Ginger Powder-1 tsp
Garlic powder-1 tsp
Chilli powder-1 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Cumin powder-1 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/8 tea spoon
Ground Beef- 2 pounds
Potato-2
Salt

Method:
1. Cut potato, tomatoes and onion. Remember to dip potato into a bowl of cold water to keep them from changing colour.
2. Fry potato until they are soft. I stir fried them this time. Just add more olive oil than usual. (Use a fork or chopstick to poke and see if it goes through.)
3. Cook onion, when you can smell it, add the beef and continue to stir fry. When the beef is half done, add the tomatoes. Add all the powder ingredients. Then add fried potato.
4. Add salt to taste.
5. You can serve this dish with rice.

Taro Tapioca Dessert 香芋西米露

Ingredients:

Taro- 1 medium size

Tapioca-1 cup

Brown Sugar-1 cup

Coconut milk-1 cup

Method:

1. Peel the skin of the taro and wash it. Dry it with a paper towel.
2. Prepare a big pot and add 8 cups of water. Chop taro into small 2cm chunks and add them into the pot. Boil them with high heat. When they start to bubble, turn them to low heat. Cook until they are soft. Approximately, it will take about 30 mins to cook.
3.  While you cook taro, prepare another pot of boiled water. Soak tapioca in cold water for 30seconds and cook them in the boiled water for 20 mins. Or until they become clear with no white dots inside. When they are done, use a net to drain the tapioca.
4. Add sugar and mix evenly.
5. Add coconut milk.
6. Mix them and then turn off the stove so it won't overcook the milk.
7. Serve. You can serve them cold or hot.

Reminder:

1. Make sure you chop the taros into the same size, so they will all be cooked at the same time. Use a chopstick to poke the taro. When you can poke through, it means it's done.
2. Remember to constantly stir tapioca as you cook. Suggest stirring every 5 mins.
3. When you want to reheat them and serve, remember to warm up with low heat and stir them constantly. Otherwise the bottom will get burned.
4. How to choose a good taro? The heavier the taro the better. A good way to test is to choose two that are the same size and choose the heavier one. The lighter it is, it means it has been sitting there for a while. Second thing to look out is to choose one that has less holes on the surface.
5. If you bought a taro that is too big and can’t finish them in one time, you can chop them into chunks and store them with a Ziploc bag in the freezer. The next time when you want to cook, you can just take them out and cook.
6. The texture of the taro will make our skin itchy if you touch your face or arm. So I’d suggest washing your hands immediately after chopping them.

Honey BBQ Chicken Drumsticks.

Ingredients: 

2 lbs. chicken drumsticks 

soy sauce-3 tbsp.
honey-2 tbsp.  

Olive oil-1 tbsp.  

Chili sauce-1 tbsp.  

salt-1/2 tsp.  

Ground ginger-1/4 tsp.  

Garlic powder-1/8 tsp. 

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients together. Marinate them for over night. If you are in a rush, you can marinate for 1 hr. Cover the lid and refrigerate them. 

2. Place drumsticks on the baking tray. Brush drumsticks with remaining sauce. 

3. Preheat the oven to 375F and bake for 50-60 mins. 

4. Serve.

Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup (Samgyetang) 韓式人蔘雞湯

Ingredients:
Whole Chicken-1 medium small size
Dates-10
American Fresh Ginseng- 4 small ones or two big ones. (Cut off the ginseng roots at the bottom. Korean's believed that if it's not removed, it will give you a fever. You can also use the dried ones. Be careful what type of ginseng you use. American ginseng can be eaten in all seasons. Whereas Korean ginseng in traditional herbal medicine, is considered as "hot". It's suggested to be only used in the Winter.)
Green Onion-1 (Chopped them into small thin slices.)
Garlic-20
Sweet Rice-1/4 cup of sweet rice (Soak in water for 1 hr first.)

Method:
1. Boil a pot of hot water and put the chicken in. When the chicken changes color outside, take it out.
(This is the cleaning process.)
2. Put all the dates, ginseng, garlic and sweet rice inside of the chicken.
3. Prepare another pot of boiled water. Put the chicken in and add the rest of the ingredients, except green onion.
4. When it starts to boil, turn it to medium low heat and cook for 1 hr.

(When it's done, use a pair of chopsticks to break the chicken from the middle. Spray green onions on top and start eating!)

5. Serve (or you can let it cool down and refrigerate it first. The next day you will see the fat on top. Just scoop them out. It will become a healthy low fat chicken ginseng soup.)

*Benefit of this soup:
American Ginseng
The taste of gingseng is a bit bitter. If you don't like it, drinking the soup can get same benefits. Ginseng helps to boost the immune system, lower blood sugar levels, inhibit cancerous tumor growth and neurological benefits. Details please check http://www.livestrong.com/article/118223-benefits-wild-american-ginseng/

Red Dates:
Help to strengthen the functions of heart and lung, as well as nourish the stomach and spleen.