Vegs for Adults:

Steam Chinese Marrow with Clawfish

Ingredients:

• 2 Crayfish, meat removed from shells
• 1 Chinese Marrow or Hairy Gourd (节瓜）
• 20 Wolfberries (枸杞子), soaked to soften
• 150g Stock
• Salt to taste
• Sugar to taste
• Cornflour mixture (thickener)
• Cooking Oil

Marinade:

• 1 tablespoon Cooking Wine
• 1 teaspoon Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1/2 Egg White
• 1 teaspoon Corn Flour

How to do it:

1. Cut crayfish into smaller pieces.
2. Marinate the crayfish meat for 20 minutes.
3. Skin the Chinese Marrow and cut into equal thickness.
4. Remove the center seeds by using a circle cookie cutter or just a spoon.
5. Blanch Chinese Marrow rings in hot oil for 1 minute. It helps keep the rings in shape and seal in the sweetness. Skip this step is you like.
6. Add in the wolfberries to the stock.
7. Add salt to taste.
8. Drain the rings and add into the stock
9. Simmer for 3 minutes or till soft, depending on your taste.
10. Retain the stock.
11. Drain crayfish meat from marinade and stuff in the rings in a deep dish.
12. Steam for 12 minutes or till crayfish is thoroughly cooked.
13. When steaming the rings, prepare the sauce.
14. Add sugar to taste to the previously used stock for simmering the rings.
15. When the sauce starts to bubbles, gradually stir in the thickener to thicken the sauce.
16. Pour sauce over the steam rings with crayfish and serve.

Note:

• You can replace the crayfish with prawns.
• Remove heads and shells of prawns. Slit the back of prawns, devien and clean them before use.
• You can curl your prawns like what I did for this dish or simply use it as it is.
• Just place the back in the ring, that is, tail pointing up.
• DO NOT add egg white and corn flour in the marinade if using whole prawn.
• If using smaller prawns, you might want to consider either getting smaller/thinner Chinese Marrow so there the prawn can fill up the hole or shell the prawns and cut into smaller pieces like what I did with the crayfish.
• Adjust the steaming time accordingly as prawns takes a shorten time to cook. Over cooking will make the prawn tough.

Broccoli and Pasta with Cheese Sauce

Ingredients:

• Pasta, cooked according to package
• Broccoli, cut into florets and blanched with 1/2 tablespoon cooking oil

Cheese Sauce:
(about 3 servings)

• 50g Butter
• 80g Cheese, shredded (I used Kraft (block) Cheddar)
• 150ml Milk (I used fresh milk)
• 2 tablespoon Flour

How to do it:

• Set cooked pasta and blanched broccoli aside.
• In a pot, melt the butter on low heat.
• Gradually add in the flour while whisking.
• Once the flour is while blended into the butter, whisk in the milk gradually.
• Bring to a boil.
• Whisk in the cheese till it melts.
• Add the desirable amount of cheese sauce to the pasta and broccoli.
• Toss and serve with additional Parmesan Cheese.

Note:
If you find the sauce too thick to your liking, add in more milk.

Grilled Butter Corn on Cob

You just need to spread butter on the corn, and grill it for about 12 minutes on medium heat. I used a grill pan but you can use a regular pan but remember to turn it often so as not to burn it. Towards the end of the grilling, add a pinch of salt and it's done!

Pan Grilled Terikayi Shitake Mushroom

Here, I had use the sauce left from making the Teriyaki Chicken

Shitake Mushroom with the sauce before setting them on the grilling pan. I sprayed the pan with butter first. You could use normal butter or just cooking oil.

Grill each side for 1 to 2 minutes depending on the size of the mushroom. Baste the mushroom with more sauce if you like before turning them over for grilling.

As the sauce contains sugar, be careful not to turn the heat to high and burn the mushroom. Medium heat should be enough.

Baked Portabello Mushroom with Ham and Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1 Portabello Mushroom (I'm using medium sized here)
• 2 teaspoon Butter
• 1/2 slice Ham, cut into 3 or able to fit mushroom
• 1/2 slice Cheese
• Parsley Flakes (optional)

How to do it:

1. Remove stalk from mushroom and clean it with a damp cloth.
2. Spread some butter on the cap of the mushroom abd put the rest on the underside. If you have butter spray, use that instead.
3. Put the mushroom with underside up.
4. Bake in preheated oven at 180C for 2 minutes.
5. Turn the mushroom around and continue bake for another 1 minutes.
6. Turn the mushroom underside up again and place ham on it and spread a little butter on the top ham. If the mushroom is to dry add more butter.
7. Bake for a 1 minute.
8. Top with cheese and continue baking till cheese melts.
9. Remove and top with parsley flakes if you like.
10. Serve immediately.

Stir Fry Pork with Mushroom in Miso

Ingredients:

• 200g Lean meat, sliced
• 6 Fresh Shitake Mushroom, cut into quarters
• a handful of (Brown) Shimeiji mushroom, stems removed (optional)
• 1 teaspoon Minced Garlic
• 1 teaspoon Light Soya Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Corn Flour
• 1/2 tablespoon Oil

Seasoning to be mixed together:

• 1/2 tablespoon Miso Paste
• 1 tablespoon Water

How to do it:

1. Marinate pork with light soy sauce for 30 minutes.
2. Add in corn flour to pork prior cooking and mix well.
3. Heat wok with oil.
4. Saute garlic till fragrant.
5. Add in pork and stir fry for half a minute.
6. Add in the mushroom and continue stir frying for 20 seconds.
7. Stir in the seasoning.
8. Continue cooking till pork is completely cook and sauce has thicken.
9. Dish and serve.

Scallops with Assorted Vegetables

Ingredients:

• 12 (Canned) Ginkgo Nuts
• 5 Fresh Shitake Mushroom, half,
• 1/2 Bell Pepper, sliced
• 6 Sweet Peas
• 12 Scallops
• 2 tablespoon Broth
• 1 teaspoon Cooking Wine
• Light Soy Sauce to taste
• Cornflour Mixture (Thickener)
• 2 tablespoon Oil

How to do it:

1. Heat wok with oil.
2. Add ginkgo nuts, bell pepper, sweet peas and mushroom.
3. Stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Add scallops and stir fry for 1/2 minutes.
5. Add in the broth and cooking wine.
6. Stir to mix well and add light soy sauce to taste
7. When sauce begins to bubbles, stir in the thickener.
8. Stir to coat well.
9. Dish and serve.

Note:
You have to remove the stem in the ginkgo nut before cooking it otherwise it will be bitter. You can do so by inserting a toothpick in the middle.

Blanched Chinese Flowering Cabbage

Just add a teaspoon of salt and half a tablespoon of oil in a pot of water enough to cover the vegetable to boil. Once the water is boiling, put the stems of the Cai Xin 菜心 in first. If you, like me prefer not to cut your Cai Xin 菜心 in sections, let them 'stand' with the stems in hot water. You hold on to the leaves, with gloves lah. After 2 minutes, turn off the heat and submerge the whole vegetables in the hot water for another minute. If you like your Cai Xin 菜心 to be softer, then let it cook with the heat on.

Now, here's the trick. If you are adding the Cai Xin 菜心 to further stir-frying later, like adding some mushroom with sauce, when your family are all home for dinner, then plunge the Cai Xin 菜心 into ice water to stop further cooking. So later when you are ready to complete the dish, you just have to add them to the sauce, stir-fry a little and you are ready to serve it. It helps cut down lots of cooking time, especially if you are a couple more dishes to cook. The best part of this method is that the vegetables still looks very green!

For this particular dish, I just plunged the Cai Xin 菜心 in previously boiled cooled water as I was to serve it in 20 minutes time without further stir-frying. I don't want to serve cold veggies. I just drizzle some light soy sauce and top some dry-fried dried white bait on it for that extra flavour and crunch. And that's done.

Roasted Potatoes with Garlic and Rosemary

Ingredients:

• 4 fist-sized Potatoes, scrubbed cleaned and cut in chunks.
• 5 glove Garlic, lightly crushed
• 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 2 teaspoon Dried Rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder (optional)
• A pinch of Salt
• A dash of Ground Black Pepper

How to do it:

1. Mix everything well in a oven proof dish or alternatively, put everything in a ziploc bag and shake to mix well before pouring out to the dish.
2. Roast in 200C oven for 1 hour or till potatoes are tender.
3. Remove every15 minutes to give it a stir so potatoes at the bottom of the dish are roasted too.
4. Sprinkle additional salt and pepper to taste if you like.

Note:
You can peel of the skin if you like but I prefer the skin on.

Broccoli Fish Balls with Vegetables

Ingredients

• 150g Fish Paste
• 1-2 tablespoon chopped Broccoli (I didn't use the stem part)
• 16 stalk Shimeiji Mushroom
• 8 Baby Corn, sliced half length-wise
• 5 tablespoon Broth
• Cornflour Mixture (thickener)
• Salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon Minced Garlic
• Oil for cooking

How to do it:

1. Mix fish paste with broccoli.
2. Shape it into 8 balls and set in a bowl of water.
3. Drain and place in a dish to steamed till cooked.
4. Set aside.
5. Heat wok with oil.
6. Saute garlic till fragrant.
7. Add in the baby corn and stir fry for 15 seconds.
8. Add in mushroom and continue stir frying for another 10 seconds.
9. Add in the broccoli fish balls and the broth.
10. Simmer for 1 minute.
11. Add salt to taste.
12. Gradually stir in the thickener.
13. Dish and serve.

Note:
I'm trying to encourage the kids to eat the vegetables. Too much of it will put them off.
So instead of the above said amount, you can add more mushroom and babycorn and also shape more than 8 broccoli fish balls.

Stir Fried Prawns with Asparagus

Ingredients:

• 12 medium Prawns, shelled retaining tail and deveined
• 6 stalk Asparagus, skinned and cut into 3
• 1 glove Garlic, minced
• 2 Shallot, sliced thinly
• Oil for Cooking

Seasonings:

• 1 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Sesame Seed Oil
• 1 teaspoon Sugar

How to do it:

1. Heat 1/2 tablespoon oil in wok.
2. Add in garlic and shallot.
3. Stir fry till fragrant.
4. Add in asparagus.
5. Stir fry for 3 minutes of almost cooked.
6. Dish and set aside.
7. Heat another 1/2 tablespoon oil in the same wok.
8. Add prawns and stir fry till they change colours but not cooked through.
9. Return the asparagus in to wok.
10. Add the seasonings.
11. Stir fry till prawns are cooked thoroughly.
12. Dish and serve.

French Beans with Ham and Bacon Bits

Ingredients:

• 400g French Beans
• 2 slice Ham, chopped into bits
• 3 slice Streaky Bacon, chopped into bits
• 1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon Fermented Soybean Paste (try the spicy one if you like)
• 1/2 teaspoon Sugar

How to do it:

1. Snap of the ends of the french beans.
2. Deep fry french beans for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat up the wok and add in the bacon.
4. Stir fry the slightly brown. Do not drain the oil.
5. Add in the garlic and ham.
6. Stir fry till garlic is fragrant and the bacon and ham are brown.
7. Add in the French beans, fermented soybean paste and sugar.
8. Stir fry for another 30 seconds to a minute till french beans are thoroughly cooked and season.
9. Dish and serve.

Asparagus with Salted Fish

Ingredients:

• 8 Asparagus, skinned and half
• 5g Salted Fish, chopped into bits
• 2 Clove Garlic, sliced
• 2 teaspoon Oil

How to do it:

1. Heat oil in wok.
2. Stir fry garlic and salted fish til fragrant.
3. Remove and set aside.
4. Add in the asparagus.
5. Stir fry till cooked.
6. Dish and sprinkle the earlier cooked garlic and salted fish over.
7. Serve.

Note:

No seasoning required for this dish as the oil will be salty from the stir frying of the salted fish.

Braised Mushroom with Dried Oyster and Moss

Ingredients:

• 8 Dried Chinese Mushroom, soaked to soften and stalks removed (do not squeeze dry)
• 10g Dried Sea Moss, soaked to soften and drained
• 4 Dried Oysters, soaked for 5 minutes

Seasonings 1:

• 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 700ml water or broth for richer taste

Seasonings 2:

• 1/2 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• A pinch of salt and sugar to taste

How to do it:

1. Put mushroom with water in a deep pot. (Mushroom should be covered in water)
2. Add in seasoning 1 and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.
4. The water should have reduced by about half.
5. Add in the dried oyster and continue to simmer for another hour or till mushroom is tender.
6. Add in seasoning 2 and sea moss.
7. Bring to boil.
8. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
9. Dish and serve.

Stir Fried Pork with Lotus Roots and Veggies

Ingredients:

• 60g Pork Fillet (腰肉), sliced
• 8 Shitake Mushroom, cut into quarters
• 10 Asparagus, half
• 8 slice Lotus Root, skinned
• 2 tablespoon Oil

Marinade:

• 1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1 teaspoon Cornflour

Seasoning:

• 300ml Bone or Chicken Broth
• 1 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• Salt to taste

How to do it:

1. Marinade pork and set aside for half an hour.
2. Heat wok with oil.
3. Add pork and stir fry till half cooked.
4. Remove and set aside.
5. Using the same wok, add the mushroom and stir fry for a minute.
6. Add some more oil if oil has been absorbed by mushroom.
7. Add in the lotus roots and asparagus.
8. Stir fried briefly.
9. Return the pork into the wok.
10. Add in the seasonings and bring to a boil.
11. Reduce heat and let it simmer till sauce has been absorbed.
12. Dish and serve.