Madeleines Recipe

Ever wondered why the shell-shaped cakes, madeleines, have been fascinating French people so badly, more than the palmiers (also known as elephant ears) like me? It could be the delicious taste or the hump of the sponge cakes, I guess. Eventually, I understand why the madeleine has gathered countless die-hard fans around the world until I made and tasted some fresh from oven the other day. To elevate and ensure the softest texture of the end products, I decided to use cake flour instead. The madeleines were extremely soft and fluffy inside and crispy around the edges, perfect for tea snacks. Best of all, you can make the batter in advance and entertain your family or guests within minutes. They will sure enjoy warm madeleines, fresh from oven.

Hong Kong ‘Zha Jiang’ Noodles (炸醬麵)

The Hong Kong style Zha Jiang Noodles is very different from the Shanghai one. My first encounter with this version was introduced by a friend to an old fashioned noodle specialty shop in Hong Kong many years ago. Both Shanghai Zha Jiang noodle versions are totally different tastewise. The only one thing in common is that they are “lo mein”, meaning “stirred noodles” (“撈麵” in Chinese).

As for this Hong Kong version, the sweet and spicy sauce goes pretty well with the springy egg noodles. Every bite of the noodles stirred with the sauce will entertain your taste buds. Best still, you can whip up this noodle dish as a light meal on a hectic day. All you need is to find the good quality noodles. For making the sauce, I used a secret ingredient to make the traditional sauce more delicious. Wonder what’s the secret ingredient? Are you curious enough to give this dish a try?

Scallion Pancakes

What’s your favourite for lunch? As a Chinese family, we’re a big fan of rice, interestingly enough, rice is the last thing we choose for lunch though. We’d love having a variety of good foods, from porridge to noodles, from Chinese to Western, as long as the dish could satisfy both our stomach and taste buds. How about scallion pancakes? These pancakes perfectly pair with a cup of homemade soy milk. To most Taiwanese people, it's a perfect traditional breakfast. As for myself, it’s a delicious no-meat meal with sufficient protein to keep my body going for the rest of the day.

Asparagus, Chicken and Walnuts Stir Fry

Asparagus is regarded as a classy vegetable and you have to pay more than other vegetables in restaurants. Lucky me, I’d find some fresh asparagus, available at a bargain price in supermarkets every now and then through out the year. When it comes to cooking asparagus, it is easy and quick. They taste great no matter they’re steamed, baked or boiled. The crisp stems with natural sweetness are most enjoyable. In Chinese cooking, we like to stir fry asparagus with garlic, sometimes with our favourite meat. Recently, I found asparagus goes really well with walnuts. Give it a try if you’d like to experiment with a variety of asparagus recipes.

Braised Honey Pork Ribs

The taste of this braised pork rib dish is quite like the baked one from Chinese BBQ shops. The recipe yields for a secret ingredient though. Does it sound good for those who crave for baked pork ribs but don’t have an oven available for whatever reason? This dish is very easy to make. Simply put all the ingredients in a deep pot or a slow cooker. Then you’ll enjoy succulent and juicy rib meat nearly fallen off the bones after a few hours of simmering. The meat is coated with wonderfully tasty sauce. It goes really well with steamed rice.