Yeung Chow Chao Fan 楊州炒飯 Fried Rice With Prawns, BBQ Pork And Peas A.K.A Special Fried Rice

As promised I am sharing with you a dish that many Chinese restaurant goers consider to be a must - have here in Australia.

Yong Chow fried rice is a Cantonese classic that is better known as "the special fried rice",  "number 21", "number 42", "number 66"... depending on which "palace", "inn", or "house" one frequents.

It is indeed a very special dish when it is done right, unfortunately it is often not the case when the dish turns up greasy or inferior ingredients are used.

Serve it on its own as we often do or you might want to have a "Chinese night" in by simply teaming it up with sweet and sour pork, beef in black bean sauce and lemon chicken.

serves 4 as a one dish meal or as part of a Chinese meal
you'll need;
3 tbs of cooking oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 spring onions (white parts only), chopped
300 g of banana prawns, peeled and roughly chopped
250 g of char siu, homemade or shop bought, diced
6 cups of cooked rice, cool if using freshly cooked rice
1 1/2 cups of frozen peas, thawed
4 tbs of light soy
a dash of sesame oil
a dash of white pepper
3 spring onions, chopped

Prepare the ingredients and set aside.

Heat up the wok, using 2 tbs of oil lightly scramble the the beaten eggs, remove and set aside.

Heat up the wok again, saute the minced garlic and spring onions using the remaining oil. Add the prawns and cook until prawns are just cooked.

Return the scrambled eggs to the wok, add rice and mix well, stir fry on hi heat for a minute.

Add char siu and peas and mix well, stir fry on high heat for another minute. Season with soy, sesame oil and white pepper, add chopped spring onions and continue to stir fry for a further minute. Check for seasonings before serving.

Serve it on its own or as part of a Chinese meal.

Pork And Chinese Broccoli With Silky Egg Sauce On Rice 滑蛋豬肉芥蘭飯

I had grand plan for a big fancy dinner on Sunday night but all I could managed was this simple one dish meal after a long lunch with perhaps a few drinks too many.

Though simple and far from fancy, this moorish dish is something I could eat everyday.... well anything that comes with the delicious egg sauce really! Feel free to replace the pork with beef, chicken or seafood of your choice. 

If you are also a wat dan sauce (silky egg sauce) fan, remember to check out the following dishes too;

1) wat dan hor (rice noodles with silky smooth egg sauce)

2) crispy egg noodles with fresh water prawns

3) rice topped with a quick braised sauce

3) egg tofu, prawns and peas in silky egg sauce

4) fried beef hor fun with gravy

5) prawns and peas in silky egg sauce on rice

serves 2 as a one dish meal

you'll need;

2 tbs of cooking oil

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

3 cm piece of ginger, finely chopped

1 small bunch of kailan (Chinese broccoli), cut into manageable pieces

300 g of pork neck, finely sliced and marinated 10 minutes

2 tbs of oyster sauce

2 tbs of light soy

1 tsp of white pepper

a dash of Chinese cooking wine

2.5 cups of stock

corn flour solution

2 eggs, lightly beaten

pork marinade;

1.5 tbs of light soy

1 tbs of oyster sauce

1 tsp of sesame oil

1 tsp of white pepper

a dash of Chinese cooking wine

2 tbs of corn flour

Prepare the aromatics and kailan and set aside.

Marinate pork for at least 10 minutes.

Brown marinated pork slices with a little in a very hot work, remove and set aside.

Add a little more oil to the wok and saute chopped garlic and ginger for 5 seconds before adding the kailan. Saute on high heat for about a minute, add seasonings and mix well.

Add stock and allow to come to a boil, thicken the sauce with a little corn flour solution.

Return the pork to the wok, slowly add in the beaten egg and stir gently to incorporate the egg to the sauce. Check for seasonings.

Divide the content of the wok between two waiting plates of steamed rice, serve with some chopped chillies in soy.

Panko Crumbed Mozzarella Filled Arancini

Sleeping in is a real luxury these days and since my body clock wakes me up at the same time everyday (5.30 am that is) it is non existence. However I am happy to have gained the few extra hours during the weekends that would have otherwise gone to waste, more importantly being able to compose new posts in bed with my breakfast means regular posting can now resume

Nothing ground breaking but these cheese filled arancini will bring joys to many at your next picnic or cocktail party, watch the surprise on your unsuspecting friends' faces when they bite into the otherwise ordinary looking arancini. If you have already tried making arancini before, it is a matter of stuffing a piece of cheese in the rice balls.... simple as that :)

Apart from being extremely easy to make, it is delicious and a great way to use up the leftover risotto and cheese in our fridge. For other equally quirky cheese filled snacks, remember to check out my   arancini with Meredith Dairy goat cheese filling and mozzarella filled meatballs.

I might fit in another post tomorrow, if not I will see you on Monday for another delicious Malaysian treat that I have planned to cook on Sunday.

makes about 15

you'll need;

about 1.5 cups of leftover risotto of any kind 

1 egg, lightly beaten

some mozzarella cheese, cubed

ponko breadcrumbs

oil for frying

Add the beaten egg to the leftover risotto, you may also add some lemon zest or chopped parsley to add  freshness to arancini, mix well and form into rice balls the size of ping pong ball.

Coat with panko breadcrumbs.

Fried in batches until golden and crisp.

Drain well and serve immediately with a cold beer or two.

The mozzarella cheese oozes out after a bite. It is a snack worth making from scratch if you don't already have some leftover risotto in the fridge.

Miso Katsudon 味噌カツ丼 Panko Crumbed Chicken With Nagoya Miso Rice Bowl

If you are a fan of katsu (panko crumb cutlet) and a lover of miso then you are going to go crazy over this specialty from Nagoya. This is a refreshing change from the usual katsu don (pork cutlet rice bowl ) or katsu kare (cutlet rice bowl with Japanese curry sauce) that we adore but I must admit I am now a convert.

Apart from being extremely curious about how this particular sauce would go with my beloved fried cutlet, it was also an opportunity for me to road test Hiro's way of cutlet crumbing. Instead of the usual flour/egg/breadcrumbs method, a simple batter is made to consolidate the first two stages, making the whole process a lot less messy and the best thing is the leftover batter can be used to make the tastiest onion fritters like those she made when I was at her place last. I will show you how to do make those onion fritters next meanwhile you can read about that particular lunch at Hiro here.

P.S If you are unable to find Nagoya miso, Hatcho or a regular red miso will do the trick but do taste the sweetness and saltiness of the miso and adjust the taste accordingly to get the balance right.

serves 2 as a one dish meal
you'll need;
2 skinless chicken thighs or 1 chicken breast*, flatten with kitchen mallet
a handful of snow peas, topped and tailed, blanched
a handful of mix salad leaves
cooked Japanese rice to serve
pickled ginger to serve
*if using chicken breast, click here to see how it is handled.

for the batter;
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbs of water
5 tbs of self rising flour
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of sugar

for the miso sauce;
1 heaped tbs of Nagoya or red miso
1 heaped tbs of mirin
1 tbs of Japanese soy
1 tbs of instant dashi powder
1 tbs of sugar
1/2 cup of water
1/2 tbs of toasted sesame seeds (if using red miso)

To crumb the chicken - coat it with the batter, drain off excess then coat it with panko. Do not discharge the leftover batter, I will show you how to make the tastiest onion fritters using that.

Fry crumbed chicken until golden and crispy, drain well on absorbent paper. Slice just before serving.

To prepare the sauce - place all ingredients in a saucepan and bring it to a simmer and cook until syrupy, check for seasonings.

Place cutlet over a bed of steamed Japanese rice and spoon over some of the miso sauce. You will also need some greens to counter the very rich sauce.

Taiwanese Chicken Curry Rice 臺灣咖喱雞飯

All good times must come to an end and that must be what the British colonizers in Malaya were thinking exactly 55 years ago today - but that was after they took away a handsome chunk of the federation's wealth for over a century. On the other hand they must be credited for leaving behind a functioning system of governance, a (often) fair judiciary system and solid infrastructures that enable us to be a peaceful modern state that we are today. Selamat hari merdeka to all my fellow Malaysians and remember to join the virtual merdeka open house party at Babe in the city - KL  for some uniquely Malaysian dishes!

O.K ! Enough of history lesson and sentimentality and lets get to the more important business of food!

Before driving off to the bush, J asked for a curry meal knowing very well that we won't be eating anything except for instant noodles, instant porridge and hot chocolate for a few days. 

It can be a challenge trying to make most curries without coconut milk, yoghurt or a packet of Japanese curry block in the pantry, fortunately I remembered this recipe that I read just days before. The result is a surprisingly creamy and delicious curry that tastes remarkably similar to our beloved Japanese curry. If you have some coconut milk powder on hand, do add a tablespoon of that into the curry for the wonderful aroma of coconut milk without having to feel too guilty about it.

recipe adapted from 誰吃了老街好菜 (Who Has Eaten Good Food From The Old Street)

serves 3 as a one dish meal

you'll need;

2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 medium size brown onion, peeled and cut into large chunks

300 g of chicken thighs, cut into cubes and marinated with ingredients marked*

1 tsp of grated ginger*

1 tsp of grated garlic*

1 tsp of light soy*

2 tbs of vegetable oil

4 tbs of curry powder (see notes)

2 tbs of light soy

1.5 tbs of sugar

1.5 l of stock

corn flour solution for thickening

steamed rice to serve

blanched snow peas to serve

notes - I used Malaysian meat curry powder, otherwise use a generic Madras curry powder instead.

Cut and marinate chicken with soy and ginger, prepare the vegetables.

Heat wok until smoking then saute onion until lightly charred, add chicken and continue to cook on high heat for a minute.

Add curry powder and potato cubes and stir fry for a further minute, make sure everything is well coated with curry powder.

Transfer the content from the wok to a clay pot, add stock, sugar and soy and simmer until potato is tender.

Finally thicken the curry with a little corn flour solution, check for seasonings before serving.

Ladle chicken curry over a bed of steaming hot rice and some blanched snow peas on the side.

I am submitting this to The Soup Kitchen @ Deb's blog The Spanish Wok

Fried Rice With Prawns, Bacon And Roast Beef

Dear old J has recently (finally) moved out from home. Determined not to survive on takeaways and canned soup he decided to venture into the kitchen and I have been giving him regular cooking lesson since.

Fried rice was the very first dish I learnt so it is only fitting to give a kitchen novice and a fried rice lover his first lesson on how to make the perfect fried rice. I am proud to say he now makes very good fried rice after a few trials and errors on his own.

I won't go on about the technical side of fried rice making but just to show you the result of our first cooking lesson.

recipe from the tummies' kitchen
serves 2 as a one dish meal
you'll need;
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 rash of bacon, rind removed and chut into 1 x 3 cm pieces
6 prawns, shelled and roughly chopped
a small piece of smoked beef, cut into small pieces
a handful of snow peas, sliced
a small wedge of lettuce, sliced
2 spring onions, chopped
2 eggs lightly beaten
3 cups of cold cooked rice
2 tbs of oyster sauce
2 tbs of light soy
dash of white pepper
dash of sesame oil

Prepare the ingredients and have them next to the stove.

Heat a wok until smoking then saute garlic with a little oil, add bacon and prawns and cook on high heat for 30 seconds. Push the mixture to aside, add a little more oil and crack in the eggs, scramble the eggs lightly and mix everything together.

Add roast beef and rice, mix well and continue to cook on high heat for a minute.

Season with oyster sauce, soy, pepper and sesame oil and continue to cook for a further minute. Finally add in the snow peas, lettuce and spring onion and cook until vegetables are slightly wilted.

Serve with some sliced chili or some homemade chili sauce on the side.

Maze Gohan 混ぜご飯 Mixed Rice

I also made a selection of maze gohan to accompany the onigiri (rice balls) for our outing. As the name suggests plain Japanese rice is mixed with various seasonings. In her book Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking, the Japanese home cooking guru turned her maze gohan into little rice balls and here's my version. 

While the onigiri might look plain and serious, meza gohan on the other hand is colourful and fun. Again I have prepared 3 seasonings but please play around with what takes you fancy. 

These morsel size treats are equally at home in your lunch boxes or in a picnic basket.

makes 6 each

you'll need;

6 cups of warm cooked Japanese rice

toasted sesame seeds

seasoning 1;

10 g of dried bonito shavings

2 to 3 tbs of soy

1/2 tbs of toasted sesame seeds

seasoning 2;

1 karashi mentaiko, removed eggs from membrane

a little chopped chives

1/2 tbs of toasted sesame seeds

seasoning 3;

shiso fumi furikake (shiso flavoured rice seasoning) or furikake of your choice

To prepare the seasonings - mix ingredients for all 3 seasonings in separate bowls.

Loosen the freshly cooked rice and allow the rice to cool slightly before handling.

Mix mentaiko seasoning with 1/3 of the rice, reserving some as topping. This can be serve in a little bowl.

Or you may use a mould to make little rice balls as you would with onigiri.

Or form into rice ball using wet hands.

My trio of maze gohan.

Served alongside onigiri.