Posts

Showing posts from May, 2023

Homemade salted egg yolk sauce (咸蛋黄酱)

Image
You probably have seen quite a few of my recipes which were made with salted egg yolk sauce. Among those recipes, other than fresh salted egg yolk crumbs, I always added 1 or 2 tablespoons of homemade salted egg yolk sauce to make the dish looks even more creamy. Salted egg yolk sauce has become one of the most popular Asian condiments in recent years, loved for its rich, buttery texture and irresistible savoury-sweet flavour. While it is now commonly found throughout Southeast Asia, its roots can be traced back to the Cantonese seafood restaurants of Hong Kong and Southern China.  Originally, salted egg yolks were transformed into a luxurious sauce and used to coat fried crab, prawns, and other seafood dishes. The combination of fragrant butter, creamy salted egg yolks, and the smoky aroma from high-heat stir-frying perfectly reflects the Cantonese cooking philosophy known as "wok hei". Before that, I never known that salted egg yolk sauce in a jar was being sold in the ma...

Apple Frangipane Tart (杏仁苹果塔)

Image
This app le tart's flavorful components include a buttery crisp crust, a soft and creamy frangipane (almond cream), and thin slices of mildly sweetened apples that have been tossed with sugar and ground cinnamon. Excellent while still warm from the oven, at room temperature, or even cold. I love tarts with a buttery flavour and crunchy texture. It is simple to make, and making the dough doesn't require a food processor or hand mixer. It is important that your butter is COLD, and I find that cutting it into small cubes makes it much simpler to incorporate into the flour mixture. Frangipane sounds much fancier than it actually is and it is quite simple to prepare and only needs a few ingredients. It is a sweet paste with an almond flavour that is used in many European and French delicacies, including cakes and pastries. It is primarily an almond filling (paste) consisting of butter, eggs, ground almonds, sugar, and flour, and is sometimes referred to as frangipane cream. Spre...

Fried shrimps in the Typhoon Shelter with fried lotus sliced (避风塘炒虾)

Image
  Have you ever heard or ate fried shrimp in typhoon shelter? Typhoon shelters are designated areas in Hong Kong where small to medium-sized fishing boats can take refuge from typhoons. These areas are typically found in bays or harbours. Fishermen anchored their boats at typhoon shelters during the typhoon attack to avoid the storm and were unable to go fishing for a few days. And the fishermen simply used what they had on board and, using a unique cooking technique, produced an unexpectedly excellent dish that later became quite famous among both fishermen and tourists. I would say that the seafood from typhoon shelters is now a dish that is recognized worldwide and is offered in many Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong. There are numerous variations of typhoon shelter shrimps, as you can find when you search for the recipe online. Some advice, fry it with douchi (fermented salty black soybeans) to add flavour to the dish. Some without the douche.   The first time I made ...

Red Tortoise cake (Ang Ku Kueh)

Image
This red tortoise cake is something that I think everyone has heard of and has probably used in worship. The Hokkien dialect "Ang Ku Kueh" is where the name "red tortoise cake" or "Hong Gui Kueh" originates. The primary component is glutinous rice, which is coloured and wrapped with your preferred cooked fillings. Usually, either mung beans or peanuts are used as the filler. Banana leaves are always used to line the bottom. In the old days, folks would typically grind glutinous rice pulp in a stone mill. But now is very convenient to use store-bought glutinous rice flour to prepare it.   It is much easier, just pour boiling water into the flour. I am sharing three flavours of Ang Ku Kueh, which are pumpkin, sweet potatoes and pandan flavour. To make the cake's skin, I combined glutinous rice flour with mashed purple sweet potatoes and pumpkin respectively. In other words, rather than being red, the natural colour of my Ang Ku Kueh is purple and yel...

Boiled white meat with spicy chili oil

Image
  Every time a festival is celebrated, this dish of boiled white meat (pork belly) must be prepared for worship. After the worship, the boiled white meat will be sliced, and then dipped in soy sauce with chilli to serve with rice. I used to grab the white meat with my hands when I was little, dunk it in soy sauce with chilli, and then eat it. It is fascinating and nostalgic to reflect on childhood recollections. Eating in the same way all the time gets boring. Therefore, I'm sharing a special condiment today that I made with hot chilli oil. When preparing it, bring the cooking oil to a boil before adding it to the dried chilli powder. Add a bit to the food; it will taste hot but very satisfying. It has a lengthy shelf life. There is no seasoning that compares to this hot chilli oil always possesses. Just add a spoonful of it to the food, no matter how much there is, whether it is meat or vegetarian, steamed buns, or noodles. It becomes appetizing and satisfying, more enjoyable than...