Fish is usually served whole in my hometown, esp. in parties, celebrations, and ceremonies. A headless, tailless fish is considered incomplete and unaesthetic. According to chef Sam (my favourite chef from HK), besides superstitious reason, a practical reason for leaving the fish intact is fewer juice escape during the cooking process.

1. Have fish cleaned, drained and cut into 2 segments. Rub fish segments with rice wine and salt. Heat oil in a heavy pan until 175C/350F. Gently lower in fish and pan-fry until golden on each side. Drain on a kitchen towel and set aside.
   
   
2. Leave a little oil in the same pan, add in star anise and pepper corns. Stir until fragrant. Take away the star anise and pepper corns. Add in ginger, garlic and onion, pouring in some stock or water. Then add in rice wine, soya sauce, salt, sugar and vinegar, returning the prepared fish into the pan. Bring to boil. Lower the heat and cook for about 5 minutes.
   
3. Arrange the fish on a serving plate. Thicken the sauce with the starchy solution and pour over the fish. Drizzle the sesame oil over and serve immediately.

A Japanese-inspired comforting and delicious dish made with pan-seared salmon, steamed rice and seaweed in hot Oolong tea. Use green tea or even Jasmine tea if you like. It's quick,easy and naturally gluten-free.

1. Rub the salt on the both sides of salmon steak. Let marinate for about 30 minutes. Tear the seaweed into small pieces or cut into shreds.
2. Heat up a skillet with oil and pan-fry the marinated salmon steak until golden on both sides. Slice it into the smaller chunks and set aside.
3. Place rice in a bowl, (if the rice is left from the last meal, then warm it up in a microwave for 1-2 minutes), then add in salmon. Pour in the freshly brewed hot Oolong tea and drizzle with Maggie sauce. Add in wasabi and spring onions. Stir gently and serve immediately.

The cultured yeast together with lactic bacteria create a distinctive, sour taste to the crumb. The recipe adapted from 'The Handmade Loaf by Dan Lepard'. I used rye and white leavens to make this bread while the original one used just white leaven.

1. In a large bowl, whisk the rye, white leavens with the water. Add the flour and salt, and stir together with your hands until you have a soft, sticky mass. The dough temperature should be about 20C/68F. Cover the bowl and leave for 10 minutes.
   
2. Knead the dough on a lightly oiled work-surface for 10-15 seconds. Shape the dough into a ball. Grease the bowl lightly with oil and place in the dough ball. Cover and leave for 10 minutes. Knead the dough again for 10-15 seconds, shape into a ball, and then place the dough back in the bowl. Cover and leave for 30 minutes.
   
3. Knead the dough one more time, shape into a ball and then place the dough back in the ball. Cover and leave for 1 hour. Repeat one more time. Knead the dough into a ball and leave for 2 hours covered in the bowl.
   
4. Divide the dough into two pieces, each roughly 500 grams. Shape each piece into a ball, cover and leave for 15 minutes. Dust two linen-lined baskets or two bowls lined with kitchen towels. Shape the dough once more into balls and the place each seam side up in the prepared baskets or bowls. Cover and leave at the room temperature until almost doubled in height, about 4 hours.
   
5. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F. Dust a baking tray with semolina. Upturn the loaves onto the tray and slash the top of the dough and bake for 50-70 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

The tea has a natural rosy taste and aroma, as I infuse the Earl-Grey with real dried rose buds, which makes the tea very refreshing and enjoyable. According to the TCM, rosebuds help aiding circulation and reducing tension.

1. Place tea bag and rose petals in a tea pot. Pour in some boiled water and let steep for 3-5 minutes. Sweeten the tea with some honey.

Those pencil-sized breadsticks, known as "Grissini" in Italy, are dried, crispy and easy to make!

1. Combine milk, chives, rosemary, salt, pepper and baking powder in large bowl. Mix well. Stir in flours, mix until blended. Turn onto floured surface and knead dough about 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if dough is sticky. Cover and let stand 30 minutes at room temperature.
   
2. Preheat oven to 190C/375F. Grease baking sheet. Divide dough into 12 balls, about 31 grams each. Roll each ball into long thin rope. place on prepared baking sheet. Lightly brush bread-sticks with salad oil. Bake about 12 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown. Turn bread-sticks over and bake about 10 minutes more or until golden brown.

A seafood version of traditional "Kung Pao" chicken. Instead of chicken, I used shelled prawns as the primary ingredient. The classic "kung Pao" dish is named after a late Qing Dynasty official(Ding Baozhen), whose title was "Kung Pao/宮保" (palatial guardian in English).

1. Rinse the shelled shrimps and wipe dry. Mix with marinade and set aside for 30 minutes. In a small bowl, place all the ingredients for the sauce and mix well.
   
2. Heat some oil in wok to 205C/400F. Add marinated shrimps and cook until the colour has turned to pink. Pour off all but one tablespoon of the oil and reheat the wok.
   
   
3. Stir in chillies, peppercorns and spring onion chunks until fragrant. Return the shrimps to the wok. Stir briefly and add in sauce mixture. Cook until the sauce has thickened. Sprinkle the nuts over and toss briefly. Transfer them to a serving dish.

1. Place all other ingredients, except butter, in the mixing bowl with a dough hook and stir over the low speed until the ingredients incorporate. Adjust speed to medium and continue to beat. When a dough ball starts to form, cut in the butter. Low down the speed to knead until the butter has blended into the dough. Increase the speed to medium again and knead until the dough has become very smooth and elastic.
   
   
2. Shape the dough into a ball and transfer into a large greased mixing bowl. Roll it around so the dough gets coated with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or damp cloth. Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch down the dough to release the gas produced during the proof and divide it into 3 even portions, each about 240 grams. Round up and let rest for 15 minutes.
   
3. Press out the gas of each dough and roll out into an oval shape. Fold it into thirds, overlapping them in the center, press the dough down firmly. Turn over and roll out into a 30-cm long strip. Turn over and roll up each to a column shape. Or you can divide the dough into 12 portions and shape each into a ball. Place them in a 30x11x8-cm loaf pan. Let the dough rise up to 2/3 full. Lightly brush with egg wash and bake in a preheated 170C/340F oven for 30-35 minutes.

1. Preheat the oven to 175C/350F. Mix the flour, baking soda, icing sugar and salt together in a mixing bowl. Rub shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like loose crumbs. Add in egg white and combine briefly. Add in the dried seaweed and blend all the ingredients together with your hand.
   
   
2. Place the dough between two sheets of plastic film, and roll it out into a rectangle, about 2mm thick. Divide it into 24 equal rectangles and prick the tops with a fork. Then use the back of a knife to make two vertical marks on the surface. Lightly brush them with egg white and then bake in the center of hot oven for 25 minutes.

This is a wonderful mix of herbs, garlic and grating cheese formed into a ball (and pressed down with a fork if desired). You can't go wrong with this recipe.

1. Line a baking tray with paper. Preheat the oven to 175C/350F. Sift the flour into a medium bowl. Cut in the chilled butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
   
   
2. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Shape dough into balls using 1 teaspoonful for each. Makes approximately 27 balls. Alternatively use a fork to press the cheese balls create a pretty cross-hatching pattern on the cookies. Place them in the lined baking tray and bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes until lightly golden. Remove and cool on a rack.

1. Preheat the oven to 175C/350F. Line the baking tray with parchment paper. Stir the egg and egg yolk together in a bowl. Soften the butter at the room temperature. Beat butter, sugar and honey in the mixing bowl on medium speed, scraping bowl constantly, until smooth. Add in egg mixture in 2 additions, beating well after each addition.
   
2. Sift in the flour and baking soda. Mix until just combined. Spoon the mixture into the piping bag fitted with a plain round nozzle and pipe 3cm onto lined tray. Bake on the upper shelf of the hot oven for 18 minutes, until golden. Transfer the cookies on a rack to cool. Store in an airtight container for a week or so.

© 2024 | http://angiesrecipes.blogspot.com

© 2024 | http://angiesrecipes.blogspot.com

We call these balls tangyuan or yuanxiao, which made of glutinous rice flour and can be either filled or unfilled with sweet, or savoury stuffing. Sweet fillings are basically made of sugar, nuts, seeds, or beans while minced meat and vegetables are often used the savoury filling. As a symbol of family unity and harmony in Chinese culture, tang yuan is traditionally served around Dong Zhi /winter solstice, about the time when families get together for the holidays.
The way to make tangyuan varies between northern and southern China. The usual method followed in the south is to shape the dough first into small portions, fill each with the preferred filling, and then roll into rounds. In North China, the fillings are pressed into rounds, and roll in a bowl of dry glutinous rice flour.

A very healthy, popular Chinese soup. Easy to prepare and tastes fantastic!

1. Rinse the chicken breast well with cold water and pat it dry with paper towel. Finely chop chicken breast and place them in a bowl. Add in the marinade and mix well. Roughly chop the sweetcorns and lightly beat the egg.
2. Place 3 cups of water and chicken bouillon in a deep pot. Bring it to a boil. Add in minced ginger root and chopped sweetcorns. Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add in the marinated chicken and stir until cooked, about 2 minutes. Season the soup with salt and pepper. Blend the cornstarch and water until smooth. Slowly pour into the soup, stirring constantly until thickened。 Add in the beaten egg and stir until egg swirl through the soup. Remove from heat.