炒杂菜 - Fried mixed vegetables

主要材料/Main Ingredients:
乌龟豆
Dunno what's called, it's shorter than long bean. Cut into 2 inches long.
红萝卜
Carrot, cut into slices
包菜花
Cauliflower, cut into smaller inches pieces
猪肉
Slices pork

做法/Instructions：
1. 锅下油，热油。
Preheat oil.
2. 下猪肉，炒炒。
Fried pork slices with garlic for a while.
3. 下红萝卜片，炒炒。然后，下其他的菜，炒炒。下盐、酱油（青），炒炒。
Add in carrot slice, cauliflower, long bean, add salt, light soy sauce to fry.
4. 下水，然后焖至熟、软。即可上菜。
Add some water, cover the wok until fully cooked.

海参猪脚 - Stew sea-cucumber with pork leg

主要材料/Main Ingredients:
海参 要多少煮多少（外婆说...)
Sea cucumber (whatever amount you want, quoted grandma)
猪脚 一只
One pork front leg
香菇 随意
Soaked dried mushroom

做法/Instructions：
1. 姜片沸水，将海参、猪脚煮一煮。捞起，搁旁。
Simmered the sea cucumber and pork leg with ginger slices for a while, then dry it.
2. 锅下油，下老姜片，蒜，依序下猪脚，海参，香菇炒至金黄。
Pan fried ginger / garlic with pork leg, sea cucumber, mushroom.
3. 加黑酱油，蚝油，酒，糖，盐，酱清，炒至收干。
Add dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice-wine, sugar, salt, light soy sauce, fried until thick.
4. 加水没顶，煲煮1-2小时。
Add water until fully covered, stew for 1-2 hours.

This dish is similar to the 'Stew sea-cucumber with pork' earlier on, except using pork leg and mushroom. The seasoning differs a bit in the amount used. One trick is to choose pork front leg instead of pork hind leg because the pig exercised the front leg more often, and thus is tastier with more meat.

酿豆腐 - Yong TauFu

主要材料/Main Ingredients:

马鲛鱼(三条）六-八人份 - 大概马币十五元

3 Batang fish (Mackerel) for 6-8 people, about RM15.

做法/Instructions：

1. 准备马鲛鱼（如果用机器，大概20分钟可以绞烂），加盐，胡椒粉。
De-skin, remove bones, smash/pound/grind the fish meat for 20-30 minutes, or can use a grinder to perform this. Add some salt, pepper.
2. 准备茄子、豆干、羊角豆 （豆干对半切即可）
Prepare eggplant, dried bean curb (cut halves), lady finger.
3. 将马鲛鱼泥塞入茄子、豆干、羊角豆。
Stuff the grinded fishmeat into eggplant, dried bean curb, and lady finger. This process is called yong tau-fu (stuff the bean-curb), and that's the name of the dish.
4. 锅入油，大概煎一煎酿好的料，搁一边。
Pan-fried all these, especially on the side with stuffed-fishmeat, put aside.
5. 所谓干的酿豆腐，你可以选择酱料来炒之前煎、炸好的酿料。这里，我们用处理好的豆酱（豆酱炒过姜、蒜）。（也可以炒耗油）或者，可以酿汤。
To prepare dried yong taufu, fried salty beanpaste with garlic & ginger slices, add some water and cook until thick, then add in the yong tau-fu to fully cook. Another type of cooking can add the yong tau-fu to soup to fully cook it.

In 'Z' sequence from top-left to bottom-right:

1. Grinded fish meat;

2. Cut the eggplants into even pieces;

3. Stuff eggplants, dried bean curbs, lady fingers (yong taufu);

4. Pan fried the yong taufu;

5. Mixed with beanpaste;
6. Final product.

试味/Tasting notes:
1. To experience the feeling of QQ (the feeling of elasticity when biting), the fishmeat need to be repeatedly grinded, this is the way it was traditionally done. Some chef cut-corner by adding some special chemical ingredients.
2. If you don't like oily food, can squeeze some lemon, lime or citrus juice on the final product to make it more balanced.
3. The yong taufu fully absorbed the beanpaste flavour, and the fishmeat are QQ, yummy yummy. :)

焖海参猪肉 - Stew sea-cucumber with pork

主要材料/Main Ingredients:
海参三条 （大概1-2人份）（约三新元）
Three pieces of soaked sea-cucumber (about 3 dollars)
大黑木耳一包 （约1新元）
Dried black fungus (about 1 dollar for a pack)
猪肉（约三新元）
Pork (about 3 dollars)

做法/Instructions：
1. 黑木耳浸水一小时。海参捞沸水以去腥味。将猪肉、海参，洗干净及适当的处理，切片或斩块。准备姜片、蒜块。
Soaked the dried black fungus for 1 hour. Chop pork, sea cucumber and soaked black fungus into cubes, slices. Prepare ginger slices and garlics.
2. 准备沸水加姜片，煮一煮猪肉及海参以便去腥味。然后搁一边。
Boiled the sea cucumber with ginger slices for about 10 minutes to clear the smell, and throw away the water.
3. 热锅下油，下姜片，爆香。
Preheat oil, add ginger slices to fry for a while.
4. 依序下猪肉，海参，黑木耳, 调味料（五香，胡椒粉，糖）。炒炒。
In sequence, add pork, fry a while, sea cucumber, fry, black fungus, then seasoning (five spices, pepper, sugar). Fry.
5. 下黑酱油然后炒炒。最后下食酒，加水没顶，焖40至60分钟，即可食用。
Add dark soy sauce and mixed for a while. Then add rice-wine, and cover the ingredients with water. Stew for 40-60 minutes.

In sequence from top-left to bottom-right:
1. Ingredients (pork, sea cucumber, black fungus, garlic, ginger), all processed;
2. Heat wok with ginger;
3. Fried with pork, sea cucumber;
4. Add in black fungus and dark soy sauce;
5. Add rice-wine and cover with water;
6. Stew for 40-60 minutes till the the sauce is thick.

Note:
海参没有什么味道。但其营养价值特高及有美容作用。
Sea cucumber is plain naturally (of course with some bad smell). But it's nutritious and good for complexion. So it's best cooked by stew with various spices. No trick in this dish other than cooking with ginger and onion to clear the bad smell.

炒苋菜 - Fried chinese spinach

主要材料/Main Ingredients:
一包苋菜 （大概0.60新元）
1 packet of chinese spinach (cost 60 cents)

做法/Instructions：

1. 下少许油，待油热时，下蒜片，下少许盐爆香
Preheat some oil, add garlic slices, add some salt, fried garlic till golden-brown.
2. 下准备好的苋菜，炒炒及盖锅焖。
With high-heat, quickly fry the vege and cover the wok for a short-while.
3. 待差不多要起锅时，可以下食酒，炒炒即可食用。简单，容易煮及健康。
Add in some rice-wine just before it's done. Simple, easy, and healthy food.

Left: Chinese spinach.
Right: Final product.

This dish looks simple but there are many minor tricks involved, as follows:
1. The salt MUST be added to oil before the vegetables, this is to ensure the vegetables are green, if this is not followed, the vegetables will turn to yellowish after frying.
2. The vegetables are to be quickly fried at high-heat, this will ensure the vegetables are crispy. Using low-heat to slowly fry it will lose it's crispiness.
3. Rinse the vegetables in tap-water for at least 3 times to get-rid of the pesticide and dirt.
4. The same methods are applicable to frying almost any green vegetables.

宫保田鸡 - Gong Bao frog

主要材料/Main Ingredients:
三只田鸡 （大概六新元）
3 frogs (about 400-500 grams for 6 dollars)

做法/Instructions：
1. 将田鸡去皮，洗干净及适当的处理，斩块。
De-skin, clean, process the frogs, and cut into pieces.
2. 撒上少许面粉、盐、黑胡椒、白胡椒，白酒，腌5-10分钟。
Add flour, salt, black & white pepper, white-wine (we used Martini due to availability) to marinate for 5-10 minutes.
3. 锅下油大火热油，将腌好的田鸡下锅煎熟，取出搁一旁。
Frying oil to high heat, pan-fried frogs until golden-brown, and put aside.
4. 在剩下的油加入干辣椒，姜片爆香。然后加入大葱（切片），炒炒。
Fry the dry chilli, ginger until smelling then fragrance, then add-in onions.
5. 加入糖、蚝油，黑酱油，炒炒。
Add sugar, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, fry fry fry.
6. 加入之前煎好的田鸡，炒炒。
Add in the fried frogs and mix for a while.
7. 加入酒，炒炒及盖锅焖一下。既可食用。
Add in rice wine and cover the pan for 1/2 a minute to fully cooked the frog.


In 'Z' sequence from top-left to bottom-right:
1. Marinated frogs;
2. Onions, gingers, dried chilli (ignore the garlic in the picture);
3. Another view of frogs;
4. Pan fried frogs;
5. Pan fried dried chilli, onion and ginger;
6. Add in sugar, oyster sauce and dark soy sauce;
7. Add in frogs and rice wine, and fry fry fry;
8. Yummy yummy final product.

试味/Tasting notes:
1. The sauce is sweet & pungently spicy (ma-la in TzeChuan terms) and is good with rice.
2. The frog meats are much more tender and soft, yet very solid without breaking apart, comparing with chicken meat.
3. Yummy x 100, try it for yourself to find out.

Note: Commonly known as Kung Pao (although the proper translation is Gong Bao), the method is used to cook chicken cubes (Gong Bao chicken). Since frog taste similarly to chicken, if not better, that's why the same cooking method is used to create the Gong Bao frog. Actually, these kind of huge frogs are commonly known as 'tian ji', which means 'chicken in the paddy-field'. The trick to this dish is to fry the chilli until it's fragrant before adding other ingredients. The sauce need to be thick, some chef cut-corner by adding water, then flour to the sauce to make it *looks* thick.

The Kung Pao chicken in the United States are usually added with peanuts and some funny-funny vege-cubes, but most Asian would think that this is a real spoiler to the dish. On the contrary, the Gong Bao frog (or frog leg) are usually authentic since I believe no Westerners dare to take frog as delicacy. Actually, frog taste much better than chicken in some way that Westerners will never understand it, and yet healthier than chicken with much less cholesterol and fat. And there are various recipe to cook the Gong Bao, the above is just yet another possible methods.

麦片虾 - Oat Prawn

主要材料/Main Ingredients：
250 gram 海虾 （八只左右，大概七新元）/250g sea prawn
三大茶匙的麦片/3 big teaspoons of oatmeal
碎蒜头/minced garlic

做法/Instructions：
1. 将鲜虾洗干净及适当的处理（剪掉虾脚、须、菱角、去掉虾肠）
Clean, cut, process the prawns, left with partly head & shell. Clear the prawn innards as well.
2. 撒上少许面粉、盐、黑胡椒、白胡椒，腌5-10分钟
Add flour, salt, black & white pepper to marinate for 5-10 minutes.
3. 锅下油大火热油，将腌好的虾下锅煎熟，取出搁一旁
Frying oil to high heat, pan fried prawns until golden-brown, and put aside.
4. 在剩下的油加入碎蒜头，炒一下
Fry the minced garlic.
5. 加入三大茶匙的麦片，煎至金黄脆脆
Add three teaspoons of oatmeal, fry until golden-brown and crispy.
6. 最后加入之前煎好的虾，炒一炒就好了。
Add in prawns and mix for a while, cover the pan for 1/2 a minute to fully cooked the prawns.

In 'Z' sequence from top-left to bottom-right; 1. Processed prawns and marinated; 2. Fried prawns; 3. Fried oatmeal with garlic; 4. Final product.

试味/Tasting notes:
Just before consuming, can squeeze some lime/lemon juice onto the prawns, but we don't have these, so using grapefruit juice as substitute. Prawns are juicy (if you haven't overcooked it). The oatmeal has absorbed all the prawn, garlic, pepper's flavour and attached all the crispyness to the prawn shell. This creates an outer-crispy, inner-juicy taste for this dish, which is really suitable to go with a bowl of rice.