Shredded pork with Salted Vegetables Rice Noodle Soup

If you have traveled to or lived in Hong Kong for a while, you must have known this popular Shredded Pork with Salted Vegetables Rice Noodle Soup (雪菜肉絲湯米粉). The salted vegetables used in this noodle soup is called “雪菜/雪裡紅” (xue cai in Chinese), a kind of pickled greens made from mustard. It goes fantastic well with pork, usually cooked in soup, sometimes stir-fried. This time I also added some shredded chicken to increase more proteins and textures, as well as cleared away the leftovers in my fridge. This dish is my family’s favourite, quick lunch throughout the year.

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Banana Chiffon Cake

As many of my friends do, I like to bake banana cakes as a good way of getting rid of ripe bananas, and treating my family with some good desserts without wasting anything. Amongst all kinds of cakes, I like the light, fluffy chiffon cakes the most. The texture of this banana chiffon cake is a bit like the kind of Japanese cake, different from this one. Even though I eat half of this cake, my stomach still can have room for a big meal afterwards. The Chinese translation of “chiffon” is “戚風” that says it all. The cake is really light as “wind” literally. Not only is this banana chiffon cake so easy, and quick to bake, but also do I love the banana fragrance coming out from the hot oven while baking it in this cool weather.

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Stir-fried Broccoli with Fish Fillet

My kids like eating broccoli stir fry with any meats,for example beef or fish fillet. They used to called broccoli as “little trees” when they were small. Not only do they like the flavour of broccoli, but also love the shape of this beautiful vegetable. What a satisfactory feeling I have when seeing my own kids eat some greens. The broccoli absorbs all the goodies and flavours of fish and sauce. They often ask why there are not enough “little trees” on the plate. This dish, Stir-fried Broccoli with Fish Fillet goes really well with steamed Jasmine rice.

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Dried Beancurd and Ginkgo Nuts Dessert (白果腐竹雞蛋薏米糖水)

Ginkgo Nuts are very popular ingredients for Chinese cooking, whether it be added into congee or dessert. Here’s a traditional Chinese dessert, Dried Beancurd and Ginkgo Nuts Dessert, requested by my reader to translate it from my Chinese food blog for her. This dessert is very easy to make, very popular in Chinese home cooking. The outer hard shells of ginkgo nuts that I bought from an Asian grocery were already removed, which were packed in a plastic bag placed in a fridge. The cooking time of the dried beancurd depends on how you like it. Some people like it cooked until completely dissolved, that looks like soy milk, others like them reserving some bits and pieces. This dessert can be served hot or cold, suitable for all seasons.

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Spicy Pork Mince and Noodles in Crisp Lettuce Cups

Cellophane noodles are also known as Chinese vermicelli, bean threads, bean thread noodles and glass noodles. I wonder why it has so many different names. Amongst these names, I like the name of “cellophane noodles” the most because it represents their translucent appearance after being cooked, with a very appealing effect to my eyes when mixed with other salads or meats.

Noodles are often on our family’s menu, whether they are cooked in soup or stir-fried with beef, chicken or pork. For this month’s international incident is to cook noodles, I’d like to create a deviant one for this special occasion. an unusual dish with some usual ingredients.

I made noodles in crisp lettuce cups, alike San Choi Bao that I posted before, yet adding lots of spices into it. Also by tossing in some water chestnuts, celery and baby sweet corns, the smooth cellophane noodles were mixed into a bed of crunchy vegetables. As I expected, this dish was refreshing, full of spices with many flavours.

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How to Fold-in Egg Whites (with video)

By using the fold-in method, you can incorporate the beaten, stiffed egg whites into other ingredients, like batter, without loosing the air in the egg whites. The air is what we love to have, that makes a soufflé or chiffon cake, Swiss roll, soft and fluffy. Some readers asked me what “fold-in” is, and how exactly it should be taken into action. Yes, it's different from stirring. As I baked a banana chiffon the other day,  I took a video clip of how I went about folding-in the egg whites into the batter. Hope it helps.

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Green Tea (Matcha) Swiss Roll

Swiss roll is one of many popular cakes in our family. I baked this green tea swiss roll last week and it’s gone within a half day. On weekend, I, again, baked this green tea swiss roll and brought it to a social gathering. Some of my friend asked where I bought it from. They thought it’s bought from a bakery shop. The swiss roll was gone very quickly. I have tried many recipes of making swiss roll, but many of them were very disappointing, either broken in the middle when I rolled it, too sweet or too hard. I was very glad that my dear friend, Josephine gave this recipe to me. I’ve tried her Swiss rolls many times and felt they were heavenly tasty. It’s a big success in the first attempt when I tried her recipe.

Rolling the cake is also a challenge. Many people find that baking this swiss roll is not difficult, but rolling a beautiful Swiss roll is quite challenging. Very often, the smooth and nice surface of the cake would be peeled off after rolling. Here I’d also share some simple tips on how to roll a beautiful Swiss roll at the end of the recipe. Hope all of you enjoy.

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Chicken, Leek & Tomato Soup

This chicken, leek & tomato soup is so comforting, satisfying and tasty, suitable for enjoying on a cold day or a hectic day. It's best served with French bread.

After working for a long day, how wonderful it would be if a hot, delicious soup was placed in front of you in a short while to re-boost your energy?

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Baked Cauliflower Curry

I went for lunch at a Chinese restaurant the other day. There’s a big screen showing a tv documentary programme. Unfortunately, I didn’t know the title of the programme. Never mind anyway. It talked about some antioxidant foods, including turmeric powder. According to Wikipedia, “Turmeric is currently being investigated for possible benefits in Alzheimer's disease, cancer, arthritis, and other clinical disorders.” It’s a good news for those who love eating curry too, as turmeric is one of the main species in cooking curry, especially the Indian curry.

I used turmeric to cook a dish of cauliflower curry, or called Cauliflower in Portuguese sauce. Amazingly, I found my daughter ate a lot of them. I thought it’s the magic of the thick curry sauce. I’m glad to find another way to get my kid eat more greens. Apart from hiding vegetables, I can cook the vegetables in a thick and delicious sauce to intrigue my daughter.

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Spicy Thai Drumsticks

These spicy Thai drumsticks are so addictively delicious. The meat is very tender, moist and juicy. Best of all, it's very easy to make.

After cooking the Thai fish cakes with spicy Thai eggplants, I still didn’t feel have enough of Thai foods. How glad was I when I found some organic drumsticks in the nearby supermarket as they don’t have them available all the time. I love baked sticky, yummy, delicious drumsticks. Why not bake some spicy Thai drumsticks to cure the craving for Thai foods?

I’ve experimented many different ways to bake drumsticks and found that using the ceramic or Pyrex baking dish is the most effective and best way to keep those meaty drumstick moist, with most juice left on dish after baking. The metal baking trays can’t beat in this aspect.

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Stir-fried Rice Noodles with Beef (Classic Cantonese Noodles)

If you have a chance of going for Yum Cha in any Chinese restaurants, you might notice this traditional dish on their menu. The Stir-fried Rice Noodles with Beef (Beef chow fun, 乾炒牛河) is a classic Cantonese noodles. My father used to order it for us whenever we went to a Chinese restaurant, our all time favourite. I love eating it from childhood and it’s got lots of beautiful memories associated with this dish. Even after moving to Australia, I’d like to cook this dish every now and then, enjoying a cup of Chinese tea.

This dish looks simple, yet involves lots of cooking skills and experiences, as the Wikipedia says, “it’s a major test for chefs in Cantonese cooking”. But I don't want to intimate you to try and cook this dish at home, it can be done nicely with some measures taken into account.

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