Transferring to new blog

Hi everybody

I would like to inform you that I am in the process of transferring the content of this blog to my new blog which I hope will be more informative and helpful. The new blog is http://auntyceliafamilymeals.blogspot.com 

Thank you so much for visiting this blog

Cecilia

Beef with ginger and spring onion

This dish is added in response to requests for more beef dishes. I find that tenderloin is the best cut for this dish as it is more tender and also very tasty.












Ingredients

300 gm tenderloin beef
Young ginger
Spring onion

The marinate 
1/2 a beaten egg
1 tbsp oyster sauce
Sesame oil
Corn flour
A little sugar




Thinly slice the beef and add the marinate. Leave for an hour.









Deep fry the beef in hot oil. Remove from pan and keep aside. Leave 2 tbsp oil in the wok and fry the thinly sliced ginger until fragrant. Add the beef and spring onion. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine if desired and mix thoroughly. Dish up and serve.

Enjoy!!!

Christmas turkey

A belated MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

I know it is some time since I updated the blog but I am very busy with my book so have not had time to post new recipes. Still cooking but no time to put the photos together. Anyway I thought I'll share my turkey with you.





This is the turkey that we had for Christmas










Defrost and dry the turkey properly









Once you have put in the stuffing, sew up the hole so that the stuffing will not spill out during the cooking process







Cover the turkey with streaky bacon rashers. This will keep the breast meat moist and add flavour to the turkey. By the way, the little blue button is a timer which will pop up when the turkey is done.







Cover the turkey with kitchen foil to prevent the turkey becoming dry. Make sure that you do not cover the pop up timer otherwise you will not know that it is done.







If you cannot get a turkey with a pop up timer, you can use a meat timer instead. Just put it into the thickest part of the turkey.







Here you can see that the timer has popped up. Remove the bacon and put the turkey back in the oven for the skin to brown.

Chicken kacangma

I was in Kuching recently and my local friend introduced me to a special Sarawakian dish called chicken kacangma. Apparently, this is a must have dish during the confinement period although it can be eaten any time.



This is what the chicken kacangma looks like. It is available for lunch in almost any local eatery.









The first mouthful









It is slightly bitter and is actually quite delicious






So what is kacangma?

It is a hairy annual herb with a single 4-angled stem of about 1 m high. There are 2 varieties of the plant, the pink flowered and white flowered kacangma.









I found these images on sarawakiana.blogspot.com


The scientific name is Leonurus sibiricus L. and the common name is Chinese motherwort (Yi Mu Cao). The local name is Kacangma (Chinese) and Tebung aga, Seranting, Padang deman (Malay)

It apparently contains protein, carbohydrates and minerals like calcium, sodium, and potassium, vitamins A, B1, B2 and ascorbic acid. It is bitter, acrid and cool. It is said to improve blood circulation, regulate menses and has diuretic, anti-swelling, hypotensive, antimicrobial and anticancer properties. Eating this dish during the confinement period will help enhance the immune system and speed up post natal recovery.

The young leaves, shoots and stems are used to cook this dish. You can buy the herbs either in dried or paste form. I could not find the fried packages but managed to get a packet of the paste which I will try one of these days.

How to peel a potato without a potato peeler

Dawn Wells, aka Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island, demonstrates a unique way to peel an Idaho potato...without the use of a potato peeler!

Penne with chicken sausage and bacon

This is another children’s favourite dish. It is very easy and quick to fix and wonderful for parties and picnics. It makes a nice change if you are tired of eating rice during confinement.











Boil the penne according to the instructions on the packet. When the pasta is almost cooked, add some salt so that it will not be so bland.





Boil and cut the chicken sausage into bite size pieces







Heat a frying pan and put in the bacon pieces. When the bacon is slightly brown, add in some chopped garlic. Stir until the garlic is brownish and fragrant. Add the chicken sausage and mix thoroughly.





Once the pasta is cooked, strain and quickly rinse with warm water to remove the starchiness of the pasta. Add the sausage, bacon, mixed herbs, olive oil, salt and pepper. mix thoroughly and leave to stand for about half an hour before serving.

Pig stomach with dong kwai soup

Pig stomach is also called pig maw and we call it Too Tor in Hokkien. For the chinese this soup is a must  during confinement.

When I was a young girl, pig stomach soup was only served during the Chinese New Year reunion dinner usually cooked with sliced carrots and chinese cabbage. I guess the pig stomach was supposed to be a delicacy and therefore is reserved for special occasions. Those days I did not like eating internal organs of any kind and have refrained from eating them. It was only about 5 years ago that I tried the pig stomach and surprising it was not too bad. Nowadays, I will eat a few pieces as I am still not a big fan of internal organs.
















Ingredients



One medium sized pig stomach










Half chicken cut into big chunks









4-5 pieces of dong kwai and 2 handfuls of peppercorns






Cleaning the pig stomach
It is important to clean the pig stomach properly to remove the slime and smell and for it to be tender. Some people use assam paste to clean it but I find that this method makes the stomach tough and fibrous.

Put the pig stomach into a basin. Add 2 big spoonful of salt and rub thoroughly.
Turn it inside out and rub thoroughly


Rinse and put some flour and cooking oil on it


Rub thoroughly and rinse again.


Back to washing with salt again


Rinse and back to washing with the flour and oil.


Repeat the process until the stomach especially the inside is clean and the water is clear

Cooking the soup


Remove all the fat around the stomach and stuff it with 2 handfuls of peppercorns.
Blanch the chicken pieces and add to boiling water.
Put the whole pig stomach into the chicken stock.
Add 4-5 pieces of dong kwai and more peppercorns.
Simmer over low heat for 2-3 hours or until the stomach is tender.


Remove the stomach from the soup. Once it is cool cut it into 2 pieces


Remove the peppercorns and slice the stomach into bite size pieces. It tastes better if you slice it slantwise. Put the sliced stomach back into the soup.



Add 1 – 2 teaspoons Brandy or Dom to the soup just before serving. You can add mee suah to the soup if you do not feel like eating it with rice.





For information about dong kwai please go to label "herbs"