Pumpkin and Pork Rib Rice

The Ingredients:

1. Pumpkin (with skin)
2. Pork ribs
3. Chopped garlic
4. Chopped ginger
5. Chopped spring onion
6. Soy sauce
7. Rice wine

The Steps:

1. Make sure the ribs and pumpkin are cut into cubes.
2. Boil a pot of water and when the water is boiled, dip in the pork ribs for a while to get rid of the pungent smell and to clean them.
3. Then, drain the pork ribs and put them into a non-stick frying pan. No oil is needed here as the pork ribs are already oily.
4. Cook them until they are fragrant.
5. Add in chopped garlic and ginger.
6. Put in the cut pumpkin into the pan and stir.
7. Add in chopped spring onion, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce (or more if needed) and a little rice wine.
8. Prepare the uncooked rice and water in the rice cooker. 
9. Pour in the cooked pumpkin and pork rib into the rice cooker and let them cooked again together with the rice.

(Source: Feng Shu's Cooking Class TV programme)

Pumpkin and pork rib rice

Here, brown rice is used.

Three-Cup Broccoli and Cauliflower

Heard of three-cup chicken? Yes, it is a Taiwanese cuisine with rice wine, sesame oil and soy sauce.

For this recipe, broccoli and cauliflower are used instead of chicken. So, it is suitable for vegetarians.

The ingredients:

1. Broccoli 
2. Caulifower
3. Sesame oil
4. Thin slices of ginger
5. Chopped spring onions (about an inch size)
6. Chopped red chilli (about an inch size)
7. Chopped red onions
8. Rice wine
9. Sugar
10. Salt
11. Soy sauce
12. Black sesame oil
13. Chopped basil

The steps:

1. Oil the non-stick frying pan with two table spoons of sesame oil.
2. Place the thin slices of ginger in the pan and fry the ginger until the sesame oil has dried up and the ginger is fragrant.
3. Add in the chopped spring onions, red chilli and red onions.
4. Then, add in about two to three table spoons of rice wine and a table spoon of sugar.
5. Next, add in soy sauce and a little water.
6. Keep them boiling until the sauce thickens. If it does not, add more sugar. (Beware! It can be too sweet.)
7. In a different frying pan / pot, boil water. When the water is boiled, add in a little salt, broccoli and cauliflower. Close the lid for 30 seconds and quickly drain them.
8. Transfer the broccoli and cauliflower into the first frying pan to soak them with the sauce.
9. Lastly, transfer the broccoli and cauliflower into a claypot. Add in black sesame oil and chopped basil into the claypot and cook for about 5 minutes.

(Source: Feng Shu's Cooking Class TV programme)

Three-cup broccoli

My version:

I used only broccoli. I skipped the claypot as I did not have one. Instead, I cooked them longer with a small fire with the lid on. Overall, everything was okay except it was a little too sweet for our liking (as I have cautioned in Step 6). 

Stir-fried Glass Noodles

Fancy something simple yet filling for your dinner? Okay, try stir-frying glass noodles.

The ingredients:

1. Glass noodles
2. Minced pork
3. Dried shrimps
4. Tong cai (salted vegetables)
5. Minced garlic
6. A bowl of soup (chicken/pork) (can be the leftover soup from the previous day)
7. Soy sauce
8. Sesame oil
9. Chopped spring onions

The steps:

1. Boil a pot of water and when it is boiled, switch off the gas stove. Put in the uncooked glass noodles into the pot, close its lid and leave it aside for less than 5 minutes.
2. Put in a small bowl of minced pork into the frying pan (no cooking oil is needed here as the pork is oily but you need a non-stick frying pan). Stir it until it is cooked and fragrant.
3. Put in a small portion of dried shrimp into the pan and stir it well.
4. Next, put in a small bowl of tong cai and mix them well.
5. Add in chopped garlic and a small bowl of soup (chicken or pork).
6. Then, add in two table spoons of soy sauce (may add in more if prefer saltier).
7. Drain the glass noodles and scoop them into the frying pan.
8. Close the lid of the pan for 40 seconds.
9. Open up the lid and sprinkle some chopped spring onions and sesame oil (optional).

(Source: Feng Shu's Cooking Class TV programme)

Fried glass noodles

My version of the recipe:

I have replaced the salted vegetables with fresh leafy mustard. Therefore, I have added a teaspoon of salt. To add colour to the transparent glass noodles, I have used dark soy sauce in addition to the soy sauce.

Note:

• Glass noodles which are also known as cellophane noodles or tang hoon (in Hokkien dialect) are common in Chinese cooking. They can be stir-fried or cooked in soup. They are tasteless on their own but they can absorb the flavour of the sauce that they are cooked with.
• This recipe uses soup to cook the glass noodles. So, if you have leftover soup from the previous day, this is where you can use the soup. Therefore, you do not need to add sugar to the glass noodles.
• If you follow step 1, the glass noodles will have more elasticity as it is not overcooked.
• This is a healthier meal as cooking oil is not used at all.

The Simplest Recipe: Coke Chicken

For the past weeks, I have been watching a Taiwanese cooking show: 'Feng Shu's Cooking Class'. Somehow, I am stuck to this cooking show for its simple recipe yet delicious meal.

This is the one that I have tried recently, 'Coke Chicken with Soy Sauce'. This sounds strange, right? However, it tastes alright. The reasons behind using Coke for this dish are when Coke has been cooked, it becomes like caramel and therefore, it makes the chicken sweet and it also makes chicken wings' shiny black. The taste of the 'Coke Chicken with Soy Sauce' is sweet and salty.

The ingredients:

1. A small bottle of Coca-Cola / Coke
2. Chicken wings (I have tried with drumsticks) (advisable not to use breast meat as it will be hard)
3. Soy sauce of any brand (mine is Rose brand)
4. White sesame
5. Shichimi powder

The steps:

1. Pour about half bottle of Coke into the cooking pan and boil it.
2. Boil the chicken wings in another pot of hot water for 3 minutes (as a way to clean it)
3. Place the chicken wings into the pan of Coke and cover up the pan with a lid.
4. Check from the time to time to see whether the Coke has dried up.
5. When it has dried up, pour in some soy sauce (about three table spoons).
6. Stir the chicken wings until all the sauce has dried up.
7. Place them on a dry plate.
8. Sprinkle some white sesame and Shichimi powder (if you want them to be spicy) on them.

(Source: Feng Shu's Cooking Class TV programme)

The sweet and salty Coke Chicken

Plus it is a bit spicy too with Shichimi powder