Bonito fish with chili bean paste and white wine
I picked up some cheap Bonito fish today. Cooking such a firm, meaty and bland fish is challenging for Chinese cooking. It does not the right texture for steaming, and it can be easily over-cooked.
So I pan fried it as cutlets with chili bean sauce. It was easy:
- Add oil in a non stick pan, add the fish cutlets, sear on both side.
- Brush some chili bean sauce on both side, add a little white wine, a little sugar, and close the lid to simmer the fish until just cooked.
- A squeeze of lemon or lime juice just before serving.
Quite a few fish bones, and requires good chopstick skills to pick out the bones. Otherwise it tasted great.
Meals for homeless – saute mushroom with bacon, onion, capsicum and green shallot
Mama K has been cooking for the feed, and frequently carries the burden of making sure enough food for all the patrons. Last week, we had one of those crisis and I was asked to help out by cooking extra food. Mama K collected some rescued vegetables for me, including some lovely button mushrooms, which I used for a simple meal that they all loved and devoured.
The meal was easy to prepare:
- Trim off the stalks of the mushrooms, dice the stalks
- Dice some bacon, capsicum, carrot and onion
- Pan fried the above briefly in a wok with some butter and olive oil, then add the mushrooms, pan fried until the mushrooms were just cooked
- Finally add some sliced green shallot (scallion) and black pepper
The meal was tasty.
‘Ramadan Nights’ market, Sydney
Sydney is diversified by culture with a meaningful Muslim population around the south west suburb of Bankstown. Every year during the Ramadan month, the local council organises a food market which has been warmly appreciated. Here are some photos to share, lovely food and beautiful people.
Meal for homeless – white cooked chicken with oyster sauce and green shallot (FODMAP friendly)
Simple and easy home-cooked meals are always appreciated at the homeless feed.
Here’s one of my simplest meal with whole chicken(s) with a few other ingredients – oyster sauce, sesame oil (or cooking oil), corn flour, ginger and green shallot. For a FODMAP friendly recipe, use only green part of the shallot.
To cook the chicken:
- In a large heavy pot, add hot water, salt, white pepper and a few slices of ginger
- Use a stick to poke a few holes in the thickest part of the chicken, lay the chicken in the water, breast down; bring to boil, and turn the heat off; leave it on the stove for the remaining heat to cook the chicken for at lease 1 hours.
- Turn the chicken over and bring to boil, turn the heat off for 30 minutes.
- Bring it to boil again for a few minutes.
- Take the chicken out of pot, cool slightly, then pull the meat off, making sure all the meat is cooked; if slightly under cooked, return the pieces to the pot of hot water for a few minutes.
To make the sauce:
- Thinly slice some green shallot. For a FODMAP friendly recipe, use only the green part of the shallot.
- In a small pot, bring some sesame oil and cooking oil (1/2 each) to high heat; remove the pot from heat, add the sliced green shallot and a little salt, saute for a few seconds with the residual heat; add the shallot to the chicken, toss well.
- In a cup, mix a little corn flour with water (1 tsp flour to 5 tbsp water).
- In a small pot, add some oyster sauce and the corn flour mix, stir and bring to slow boil and removed from heat immediately; pour the sauce over the chicken.
Steamed pork belly buns
While others made hot cross buns for Easter, I made hot pork belly buns.
Growing up as a Cantonese in the early 70s, a hot pork bun for breakfast was a special treat. From the street vendors’ carts, heavenly steam lingering in the cool morning air. I vividly remember that the pork buns were 13 cents each. My breakfast allowance was limited to a single pork bun. After a brief indulgence, I was hungry for the rest of the morning in school.
Today, I made 2 dozens of buns with juicy fatty pork belly and sweat leek. I am going to eat to my heart’s content.
Recipe is as follows:
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Bacon and cucumber stir fry (gluten free, FODMAP friendly)
I had a few cucumbers in the fridge and some bacon in the freezer. I sliced the cucumbers, defrosted the bacon and sliced them up. In a frying pan I drizzled a little oil and added the bacon pieces. I pan fried the bacon until nearly crispy, then added the cucumbers. A few stirs, added a little sugar and white pepper. There we have a big bowl of tasty veggie and yummy bacon for dinner.
Beef with Asian dipping sauce (FODMAP friendly, gluten free)
A few friends dropped by unexpectedly one weekend afternoon.
We opened a bottle of red wine and felt a bit peckish. Something quick and easy to share would be lovely.
A piece of Angus rump steak is the perfect snack:
1. Cook the steak 1-3 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness and how rare you would like it; rest the steak for 10 minutes
2. Prepare a simple Asian dipping sauce – fish sauce (1 tsp) + rice wine vinegar (1tsp) + sugar (1tsp) + boiling water (3 tsp), stir well to dissolve the sugar. added a little chopped chili if you prefer
3. Slice the steak
4. Drizzle some sesame oil over the beef (optional)
5. Chop some mint for garnish (optional)
6. Serve at room temperature
Great to share with friends.
