Chye Buey - Hokkien Leftover Stew

Chye Buey is the ideal dish to clean out all the food in the fridge left behind from the Lunar New Year celebrations. Roasted duck, roasted meat, roasted chicken, pig trotters, prawns, shellfish, you name it. This is a classic Hokkien stew and is made using three main ingredients: mustard vegetables, tamarind (assam) and dried chilli. The rest is up to your culinary imagination.

Serves 4
Ingredients:

2 cloves           garlic, minced
2 slices             old ginger
1 tablespoon    vegetable oil
4 slices             tamarind
8 pieces           dried chilli (more if you prefer it spicier)
3 bunch            mustard vegetable, washed and cut into smaller pieces
1 litre               water
500g                combination or variation of roasted duck, roasted meat, chicken, pig trotters, prawns

Method:

Heat a pot with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add in the minced garlic and sliced ginger and fry till fragrant. Add in the leftover ingredients and fry for a minute.

Add in 1 litre of water, 8 pieces of dried chilli, 4 tamarind slices and bring to boil. Add in the mustard vegetables and lower heat to simmer for 2 to 3hours. Serve with steamed rice or porridge.

Pig Stomach Vermicelli

The Lunar New Year is a time for family gatherings, red packets and most importantly plenty of sumptuous food. Many Chinese families will be familiar with a common dish served up on the dining table during the festival - Pig Stomach Soup. The key ingredient to this dish is the usage of white peppercorn to give the dish an extra oomph. Often served as a soup by itself, I added vermicelli to make it a complete meal. You may also wish to include some of the abalone slices or sea cucumber that are left over from the reunion dinner.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

300g               pork ribs

1                     pig stomach, whole

1 tablespoon   white peppercorn, crushed (not grind please)

1 teaspoon      salt

1.5 litres          water

1 packet          rice vermicelli

Method:

Blanch the pork ribs and pig stomach in boiling water and set aside. Bring 1.5 litres of water to boil. Add in the pork ribs, pig stomach and 1 tablespoon of crushed white pepper corns. Simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours until the pig stomach is soft.

Remove the pig stomach and slice them into thin slices. Return them to the soup and season with salt.

Bring a pot of water to boil, add in the vermicelli and cook for 30 seconds. Drain and serve with the pig stomach soup.

Thai Green Curry

Curry doesn't necessarily needs tons of time or pounding of spices. One method I realise that simplifies the entire process is the usage of a ready made curry paste. I know some of you may argue the authenticity or the lack of taste for it but I promise you that it is worth a try especially if you have a craving for it but with very little time to spare. Having said that, I still chose to cook chicken curry the traditional way though. This green curry, is really just an exception.

Serves 2
Ingredients:

2                      chicken thigh, skinless and cut into smaller pieces
1 tablespoon     Thai green curry paste
200ml               coconut milk
2 stalks             scallion, chopped
1 tablespoon     vegetable oil
400ml               chicken stock or 1 piece of chicken boullion cube with water
1/2 cup             frozen green peas
1 bunch            french beans, cut into 2 inches long
2 stalk              chilli (chilli padi if you prefer it spicier)

Method:

Heat a pot with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add in the chopped scallions and stir fry for a minute. Add in 1 tablespoon of Thai green curry paste and fry for another minute, taking note not to burn them.

Stir in the chicken thigh pieces and cook for another 2 minutes. Pour in the coconut milk, chicken stock and bring to boil.

Mix in all the prepared vegetables including the chilli and cook for another 5 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked. Serve with a bowl of steamed rice.

Marmite Pasta

Marmite is one of my favourite ingredients and I have no idea how else to finish up that bottle other than with toast, marmite chicken or pork ribs. All thanks to Nigella Lawson, I've found another quick and easy recipe that is ideal for brunch. I am using 2 teaspoons of Marmite for this recipe but you can add on more to taste according to your preference.

Serves 4
Ingredients:

1 packet                pasta
2 tablespoons        butter, unsalted
2 teaspoons           marmite
4 tablespoons        parmesan cheese, grated
                             salt


Method:

Cook pasta according to its packet instruction with salted boiling water. When it is cooked, reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water for later use.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan with 2 teaspoons of marmite. Add in the cooked pasta and mix evenly. Loosen the pasta with the reserved pasta water if required. Sprinkle on the grated parmesan cheese and serve.

Tea Smoked Egg 茶燻蛋

I can never resist those cold, appetite whetting 唐心蛋 commonly found in Shanghainese restaurants and often wondered how they managed to make the egg yolk so addictively gooey and sticky. This I realised was from soaking the egg in ice water the moment you remove the eggs from the heat. The ice water cools the egg in a much faster rate and hence creating that much desired texture. I used Oolong tea from Taiwan in this recipe but you are welcome to replace it with any other strong flavoured tea such as Tie Guan Ying.

Ingredients:

5                    fresh eggs
1                    star anise
1                    cinnamon
2 tablespoon  soy sauce
1 tablespoon  dark soy sauce
2 tablespoon  dried tea leaves
2 tablespoon  sugar
1/4 cup          rice, uncooked

Method:

Soak the eggs in a pot of cold water and bring to boil. Let the water boil for an additional 5 minutes. Remove eggs immediately and cool them in a pot of ice water. Let it soak for about 10 minutes.

Peel eggs and soak them in a pot with 1 stick of cinnamon, 1 piece of star anise, 2 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce and 1 cup of water. Ensure that the marinade covers the eggs completely. Leave the egg to soak in the marinade for at least 1 hour or overnight in the fridge.

Line a wok with aluminium foil and top it with 2 tablespoons of dried tea leaves, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/4 cup of uncooked rice. Cover with lid and heat it up. When smoke starts to form, place eggs on a rack into the wok and smoke for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve cold!