Turnip Cake/Radish Cake (Chinese New Year)

Turnip Cake (aka radish cake) is a must-eat snack during Chinese New Year traditionally. You also easily find it at many dim sum restaurants through out the year though.

Normally we don’t have any holidays during Chinese New Year season in Australia. As for this year, Chinese New Year coincidentally falls on the same day as Australia Day – 26 January. Fantastic ! We’ll get one day off for celebration. In the meantime, I start to make some Chinese cakes for this special season. The first one is my most favorite, Turnip Cake (aka radish cake).

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Satay Beef with Vermicelli Noodles

Satay beef with vermicelli noodles are traditionally cooked in an earthen pot (clay pot), a very popular dish on many Chinese restaurants' menu.

This dish can be made in an earthen pot (clay pot), or any kind of deep pots, very simple and easy to make. The vermicelli noodles took up and absorbed all the flavours of the delicious satay sauce, beef and vegetables.

I’m particularly fond of consuming the noodles and don’t need any rice at all, yet it’s a dish perfectly going with a bowl of steamed rice. Making this dish is very flexible. You can add as many vegetables as you like.

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Cashew Chicken Stir-Fry (Video)

Ever tried adding some crunchy cashews in your stir-fried dishes? I grew up with this traditional stir-fried dish, cashew chicken stir-fry. It’s good for a daily meal or even family gatherings. 

Cashews will add an interesting texture and make a contrast of the tender chicken meat. You can use any vegetables for the stir-fry instead of using celery. It’s very easy to make and flexible for you to add any vegetables you like.

In traditional Chinese cooking, cashews are often deep-fried in oil in order to make them crunchy. If you have an oven, simply bake them in an oven. Or pan-fry them in a pan without any oil. The result will be equally crunchy, and you can consume less oil.

As for chicken meat, I like using chicken thigh as the texture is good for stir-frying and the price is cheaper. You can use chicken breast if you want. It won't make any difference in taste.

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5-Ingredient Baked Pork Ribs (Video)

Here comes my favourite baked pork rib dish. You only need 5 ingredients to make it. Best of all, you don’t even need to marinate the pork ribs in advance. Simply mix all the ingredients together and pop into an oven. 

The pork ribs will become very tasty and tender after a slow-baking process without any fuss. They are best served immediately with salad or rice. Sounds good, right?

One simple secret tip on making tasty and succulent baked ribs you want to know. Cut the pork ribs separately beforehand. It’ll do the magic.

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Garlic Butter Tiger Prawns (Tutorial Video)

The tiger prawns were so fresh that I didn’t need any more seasonings except garlic and butter, with salt and pepper of course. The prawns are so delicious.

Chinese New Year is just around the corner. Are you still searching for ideas of planning Chinese New Year menu?

Here comes a good one to put on your menu. Well, this dish is also suitable for any days throughout the year. It’s a no-brainer dish and quick to be done. Not only is this dish flavoursome, but also it’s full of nutrients.

These large tiger prawns I used were so big. From head to tail, it’s long as my palm. They were so fresh that I didn’t need any more seasonings except garlic and butter, with salt and pepper of course.

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Braised Chicken with Radish

The sweetness of both radish and carrot makes the meat taste even better. If you like packing lunch for work or school, this dish is a great choice.

Radish is in season here. Price is crazily good, under 1 dollar per kilogram. They are beautiful, sweet and juicy, not like those taste bitter and with woody hearts.

In Chinese cooking, we often like to balance radish with carrot as radish brings cooling effect on our body in Chinese medicine's perspective.

I like the white and red colour combination too. The sweetness of both radish and carrot makes the meat taste even better. If you like packing lunch for work or school, this dish is a great choice.

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Honey Balsamic Chicken Wings

Combining Chinese light soy sauce, Italian Balsamic vinegar, Thai Sriracha sauce and fragrant honey, this chicken wing dish is so flavoursome.

There are countless methods of cooking chicken wings. It could be Asian, Western or Asian-Western fusion ways.

No matter what way I use, I aim to get the best taste to feed my family. Combining Chinese light soy sauce, Italian Balsamic vinegar, Thai Sriracha sauce and fragrant honey, this chicken wing dish is so flavoursome.

Top left: Balsamic vinegar and honey.

The family didn’t want to waste a tiny drop of the honey-balsamic sauce on the plate.

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