Teriyaki Chicken patties

These Teriyaki chicken patties are so moist and tender. It can be served as a light meal, sided with some vegetables or snack.

I wouldn’t have known how nice the taste of tofu and chicken with teriyaki sauce going so well if I hadn’t run the experiment.

All of three components are blended nicely and tightly in this dish. The key ingredient to make these chicken patties tremendously moist and tender is the humble tofu, a healthy food that I often use in my cooking.

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Sweetened Red Beans (Instant Pot Recipe)

Homemade sweetened red beans are versatile to make Chinese desserts or fillings, such as this chewy and delicious Baked Red Bean Coconut Cake that is a crowd-pleaser in my family gathering.

The red beans are supposed to be just cooked and softened, still retaining the shape, without breaking the skins apart. They are perfect sweetened red beans that I like the most.

It sounds difficult to achieve this result, isn’t it? On the contrary, it's not that difficult as you thought. The key to successfully making perfect sweetened red bean is attention.

If using regular pot over electric stove, you can easily make sweetened red beans. You need to pay attention to the stove power. Don’t leave it unattended for too long. Stir the mixture occasionally to avoid from sticking to the pot bottom. (Recipe is coming on its way!)

I used to make sweetened red beans in my heavy-based pot over stove until I bought an Instant Pot. All I need to do is to put in all the ingredients, turn on the power, select the “high pressure” function and set the timer. The rest is left for the machine to get it done for me.

When the cooking finishes, the machine will alert you with a beep sound. You don’t need to hurry to do anything. Wait until the pressure inside releases.

Drain up the red beans. Handle with care though. They are really soft. Discard the water and put the beans back into the pot. Lightly stir in some sugar.

If you find some of the red bean skins are broken apart, and they are not too many, it’s normal. Let it cool completely. You can use them right away, or store in refrigerator for later use. Sounds simple?

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Red Dates and Egg Tea

Ever heard or tried this red date tea? This is a kind of Chinese traditional herbal soup. Chinese believes that red dates (紅棗) are very good for women’s health. Oh, well, pardon me. If you’re a male, skip this recipe, or pass it to your female friends.

Red dates contain much iron that can help women get speedy recovery from delivery and menstruation. Apart from the said medical effects, red dates also can help improve skin become tender and smooth.

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Steamed Tofu with Minced Prawn (蝦膠蒸釀豆腐)

Tofu is one of my favourite ingredients in Chinese cooking. Although it’s cheap and common, it could be served in an elegant way to impress my family and friends, just by adding a bit of prawn/shrimp meat paste.

Every time I have this dish, I love taking a close look at the springy prawn ball sitting on top of the silky smooth tofu before taking a big bite. It’s an incredible feeling that you can feel all the flavours bursting out in your mouth at the moment you bite them.

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Cantonese Sticky Rice Dumplings (Video 廣東鹹肉糭)

When I first learned to wrap sticky rice dumplings (鹹肉糭) for celebrating Dragon Boat festival, this was the easiest method I went for. It's so much fun. The dumplings tasted so great.

Sticky rice dumpling (Zongzi 糭子 in Chinese) is a classic Chinese food often eaten for celebrating Dragon Boat Festival. It’s mainly made of glutinous rice, stuffed with seasoned pork belly, salted duck egg yolks or many different fillings, then wrapped in bamboo leaves, cooked in boiling water.

My family especially loves the Cantonese sticky rice dumplings and would love to have them all the time through out the year, either for breakfast or lunch.

There are two camps of how to eat these dumplings, dipping with soy sauce or going with white sugar. So, guess which way my family loves to go for? Sugar. In fact, either way is fantastic and delicious.

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Glutinous Rice Dumplings with Red Bean Fillings

Dragon Boat festival is coming again. It's time to enjoy eating zongzi (aka glutinous rice dumpling/sticky rice dumpling). This traditional Chinese food can be eaten all year round though.

I made some with savoury fillings. They were nice and hot from my large pot. To better use the large pot of hot water, I made some more with sweet fillings —— red bean paste. Who doesn’t like snacks with red bean paste?

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Braised Shiitake Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce

One of the must-eat dishes for Chinese New Year celebration is this braised shiitake mushrooms in oyster sauce dish. The shiitake mushrooms are meaty, smooth and delicious. I often follow my mum's trick to make this dish even more appealing and shiny. Just a little bit of rock sugar will do the trick.

I easily associate this braised shiitake mushrooms with all traditional Chinese festivals, like Winter Solstice (冬至), Chinese New Year’s Eve, as my mum used to cook it on these occasions.

During my childhood, when I saw this dish served on our dinner table, I’d feel that we’re enjoying a luxury meal simply because mushrooms were quite pricey at that time. Although big and best quality shiitake mushrooms are still very expensive now, we can get smaller ones with good quality at much cheaper price for substitute. We are quite satisfied with their texture and taste.

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