Fried Bean Curd Spring Roll 春卷

Bean Curd Spring Rolls

The dishes is coming in HOT!! And this time around it is even hotter cause for the first time in my blog, I will be featuring a Video!! And its a video demonstrating on how to wrap the spring roll using the bean curd skin!! Are you ready to make some yummylicious and meaty spring rolls?!

The vege ingredients finely cubed and chopped

Unlike the normal spring roll which is mainly vegetables, my dad's spring roll or 春卷 where he normally calls it contains meats and vegetables and uses bean curd skin to wrap the ingredients around like a shape of a cylinder or a shape of a "popiah". Actually, I am not even sure if it is called as spring roll or meat loaf in English, but I know we call it 春卷 in my family. =)

The size of the bean curd skin

This spring roll is a favorite among my family especially me and my brothers partly because of the crispy and salty fried bead curd skin once you deep fry it. The preparation of this dish do require some effort but once everything is done, you can store it inside the freezer and bring it out to fry every time you wanna eat it!

Ingredients: (Around 12 rolls)
1.5kg minced meat (pork or chicken based on your preference)
300~500g of Prawns (Minced or chopped to small pieces)
8 to 10 Water chestnuts (cubed)
1 Spring Onions
1 Carrots (cubed)
1 stalk of Coriander Leaves
3 Bean curd skins (cut into 4 pieces each)

Put all seasoning and mix well

Oil for frying

Seasoning:
1 tsp of Five Spice Powder
3/4 tsp of Pepper
1/2 tsp of Salt
1 tsp of Sugar
2 tbsp of Soya Sauce
3~4 tbsp of Oyster Sauce

Directions:
1. Placed the minced meat in a big bowl and put all seasoning in it.

2. Mix the seasoning and the meat evenly and set overnight in the fridge.
3. Put in the prawns and mix well.
4. Pour in all finely chopped water chestnuts, carrots, spring onions and coriander leaves into the minced meat and mix well.
5. Prepare the bean curd skin by cutting it nicely into a rectangle shape. (around the size of a cutting board but smaller)

Placing the meat mixture onto the bean curd skin

6. Place a certain amount of the meat mixture onto the bean curd skin and roll it into a shape of a cylinder. (you can refer to the video below)
7. After using up all the meat mixture, place all the spring roll into a steamer and steam it for 15 minutes.

Steamed Spring Rolls

8. Let the spring roll cool down.
9. Bring a wok and pour in oil and fry it under high heat.
10. Once it turn golden brown, scoop up and make sure to drain off the excess oil.
11. Cut nicely and serve!

The cubed water chestnut makes it crunchy and tasty!

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Ginger

Alright.. why is there another sweet and sour chicken recipe?? Just because I added some ginger this time so I create another post?? Haha..! No no no.. Not that.. But this dish has always been my all time favorite sweet and sour dish by my beloved dad!! I've always love the gingerly taste that comes along with the sweet and yet sour taste, so I can't help it but to feature it inside my blog and for my future reference too!

This dish again I have to say is a pretty simple dish and the ingredients for it is also easily available in your kitchen!! So its an ideal dish for a quick meal with your loved ones or just for yourself.

Ingredients:
3 pieces of chicken thigh
3 gloves of garlic (finely chop)
Half or 3 quarter of a standard size ginger (sliced thinly)
Oil for frying (chicken)
A cup of Water

Seasoning (for the chicken):
Salt and sugar
Or you can use 1/2 cube of chicken granules/chicken stock

The main ingredients for the sauce

Sauce: (you can adjust based on your liking)
5 tbsp of chili sauce
5 tbsp of ketchup

Alternative for sweet and sour sauce:
Water 250ml
Sugar 350g
Salt a pinch
Brown sugar 120g
White Vinegar 150ml

Directions:
1. Cut the chicken thigh to small pieces and marinate it with sugar and salt. Set aside for 3 hours. (If you prefer stronger taste for your chicken bits, use chicken granules instead)
2. Heat up a wok under high heat and pour in oil
3. Make sure that the depth of the oil is sufficient to cover all the chicken
4. Fry the chicken till 70% cooked (around 10 to 15 minutes depending on the amount of chicken)
5. Scoop up the chicken leaving the oil in the wok

Simmer till the sauce thicken

6. Fry the sliced ginger (to bring out the full flavor of the ginger)
7. Drained the oil leaving ginger and a little bit of oil
8. Put in the garlic and sauteed till light brown
9. Pour in the chicken and stir fry for just a few minutes
10. Pour in water till it covers all the chicken
11. Add in chili and ketchup sauce
12. Taste the sauce and add additional chili or ketchup according to your liking
13. Cover the wok with a lid and let it simmer till the sauce thicken
14. Scoop up and serve!

You can try using other poultry as well and I am sure it will taste as good because for me, the main actor in this dish is the sauce. Sometimes you just can't believe how easy is to cook a good sweet and sour sauce. And besides that, adding some corn flour to the chicken before frying can make it crispier and I shall try that the next time around!

Lou Mai Kai 糯米鸡

Lou Mai Kai is a popular Dim Sum dish and it is actually steamed glutinous rice topped with marinated chicken and mushrooms.

Lou Mai Kai is one of my favorite Dim Sum dish and I always complaint that the ones found in Singapore is not as nice as those in Malaysia because it seems that those in Singapore are factory made whereas Malaysia are home made. Singapore ones are lighter in color, light brown while Malaysia ones are dark brown. Heavier in oyster and dark sauce flavor which suits my taste more.

Marinating all the seasoning to the chicken

Ingredients:
2 Chicken Thigh

300g of Glutinous Rice
3 Pieces of Chinese Dried Mushroom (soaked and sliced)
3 Gloves of Garlic (cut into small pieces)
2 Pieces of Chinese Sausages (optional)

Seasoning: (chicken)
1 tsp Five Spiced Powder
2 tsp Dark Sauce

2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
2 tsp Dark Sweet Sauce
Pinch of Salt

Seasoning: (Glutinous Rice)
1/2 cube of chicken stock
Dark Sauce

Directions:

Preparations:
Marinate the chicken with all the seasons and leave it for at least 2 hours
Soak the glutinous rice in water for 4 hours
Soak the mushroom in a bowl of water till soft (approx 1 hour)

Slicing of the mushroom

Simmer the chicken for approx. 15~20 mins

1. Heat up wok with oil under medium heat
2. Sauteed the garlic till light brown
3. Place the marinated chicken in the wok and stir fried under high heat
4. Add in the mushroom
5. Add in water to simmer the chicken for approximately 15 to 20 minutes
6. Get a large flat bowl and placed the cooked chicken in it. (Spread it across the bowl evenly)

7. Add in the glutinous rice into the wok and stir around with the remnants sauce around the wok
8. Add in chicken stock and black sauce and stir evenly
9. After 3 mins, scoop up the rice and place it on top of the chicken inside the flat bowl
10. Add some water till it forms a thin layer of water above the rice

Steam the bowl for 30 mins

Fill a big wok with water and place the bowl inside to steam it for 30 mins.
Scoop up and serve! For photo shot purpose, I scoop it in a small bowl                                                    

Hope you will enjoy this dish as much as I do~!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

I've never really tried cooking chicken before and being one of the more common poultry eaten, I decided that I should give it a try! I've always been a fan of sweet and sour and I think it is only right that I should start my first try chicken dish with it!!
I will be using Korean miso paste which my sister in law got it from a Korean Supermarket for my sweet and sour sauce. If you don't plan to use this miso paste often, you can try getting one of those individual mini sized packaging miso paste from NTUC supermarket at the Japanese food section. Miso is actually a term use by the Japanese and Korean for fermented soyabean paste. So, if you have those traditional chinese bean paste, you can use those as well!

Ingredients: (serves 2)
2 chicken thighs (cut into small pieces
2 tomatoes
A few slices of ginger (preferably older ginger, tastier)
2 gloves of garlic (chopped into tiny pieces)
Coriander Leaves
1 tbsp of oyster sauce
1/4 cube of chicken stock / salt & pepper
1 tbsp of corn flour

Korean Miso Paste

Oil for frying

Seasoning for sauce:

4 tbsp of ketchup
11/2 tbsp of chili sauce
1 tbsp of sugar
1 tbsp of lime juice
1 tsp of Korean Miso paste
Half bowl of water (approx 300ml)
1 chili padi (cut into small pieces) optional

Directions:
Wash the chicken thigh
Marinate the chicken with oyster sauce and corn flour
Add in chicken stock or salt and pepper
Mix well and set aside for 15 minutes

Put all seasoning in a bowl
Mix well and set aside

Heat up wok with oil over medium fire
Once oil is hot, put in garlic and fry till golden brown (beware not to over fry the garlic, as it will taste bitter)
Add in ginger and continue to stir fry
Pour in the chicken and fry chicken till it turn golden brown (probably a good 8~10 minutes)
Add the combined seasoning, tomatoes and let it simmer for another 8~10 minutes (add water if gravy starts to thicken)
Increase the heat and stir well for one last time
Dish out and garnish with coriander leaves (if you don't like the smell of coriander, you can leave it out)
Serve with rice!!

The end product!!

Hmm... It turn out that my first try on cooking chicken was not successful and I was pretty disappointed with the dish. The sauce was good but the taste of the chicken was disappointing. I didn't do a good job is making sure the chicken was well cooked cause the meat was still too soft and there was still traces of blood when I bit off the meat from the bone. I should have use more oil to fry the chicken until it is really golden brown and then drain off the oil before adding in the seasoning. 

Besides that, I would not use chicken stock to marinate the chicken next time because the taste of the chicken stock didn't go well with the sweet and sour sauce. Salt and pepper would be good enough. And lastly, put more GINGER!! It will taste better! 

I hope my sharing on the outcome of my recipe will stop you from doing the same mistake as me. Aaron still can cook, just that he had a bad day... Will do better next time!! =)