Back to basics - crispy fried garlic 炸蒜米

炸 (zha) = deep fried
蒜 (suan) = garlic
米 (mee) = normally this word is rice, but in this context it means tiny pieces.

Crispy fried garlic like crispy fried shallot is very common in S E Asia. Chopped garlic is deep fried till golden it is not bitter but has slightly sweet, caramelised and strong garlicy flavour and deliciously crunchy.

Only two ingredients are needed, plenty of garlic and

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Pearl barley, water chestnut and fu chook (beancurd stick) dessert soup 薏米馬蹄腐竹糖水

Pearl barley = 薏米 yee mee (Mandarin) or yee mai (Cantonese)
Water chestnut = 馬蹄 ma tee (Mandarin) or ma tai (Cantonese)
Beancurd stick = 腐竹 fu chook (Mandarin or Cantonese)
Sugar water (or more appropriately as sweet dessert soup) = 糖水 tang sui (Mandarin) or tong sui (Cantonese)

Sweet soup or tong sui is Cantonese speciality eaten as dessert. Tong sui is as common as savoury soup for

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Lap cheong rice 臘腸飯

This simple rice is something I can indulge quite often since I know how to make my own lap cheong. DIY lap cheong is so much cheaper and I know there are no hidden ingredients or preservatives. The is a simple meal, steamed lap cheong with rice and some steamed/blanched green vegetable. To add more flavour I added a dollop of ginger spring onion sauce.

Cook rice using a rice cooker or on the

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MOCHA PANNA COTTA

I love this Italian little delicate dessert. Perfect for warm days. To make this dessert I have used recipe from "Silver Spoon" and little change it.




Serves: 6 small panna cottas



Ingredients:



6 g powder gelatine

50 ml milk

250 ml double cream

50 g caster sugar

1 vanilla pod or 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

half teaspoon coffee (instant)











1. Fill a small bowl with

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VALENTINE'S HEART (MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE)

This chocolate cake is very moist and light. Perfect for chocoholics. Recipe is from "Baked and Delicious" magazine.
This is tiny cake - just for two people. Great for any special date :).


Ingredients for sponge:

100 g self-raising flour
3 tbs best quality cocoa powder
100 g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
100 g caster sugar
2 medium eggs (I gave 2 large)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2

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Sichuan style spicy lap cheong 川味麻辣香腸

Chuan wei ma la xiang chang (in Mandarin) 川味麻辣香腸

川 = Sichuan 味 = flavoured 麻 = numbing
辣 = hot 香 = fragrant 腸 = sausage
Lap cheong (Cantonese)/ la chang (Mandarin) 臘腸
lap / la 臘, in Chinese this normally means wax but in this context it means cured.cheong is Cantonese for sausage, in Mandarin it sounded as chang.

I have been making my own lap cheong many times now I no longer buy

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Tea smoked cured belly (bacon) 茶熏五花肉

Ever since I made tea smoked chicken I am hooked. The meat has such deep rich flavour and texture of meat is so tender and juicy. I now tried tea smoked belly. As expected the flavour and texture is excellent. This is probably the best piece of porky I have made. The meat is cured with soy sauce and spices, the curing salt makes the meat a lovely pink colour.



1. Curing

Ingredients
1.5 kg

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WARM MADEIRA CAKE WITH HOT RASPBERRY JAM

This cake is perfect for colder afternoons. Hot tea with warm cake is like heaven :). Recipe for maidera cake is from book "Cakes and Slices" (Murdoch Books).


Ingredients:

3 eggs
180 g unsalted butter
170 g caster sugar (I used 140 g)
165 g self-raising flour
2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Jar seedless raspberry jam (regular size)






1. Prepare 2 loaf tins (grease them)

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Braised daikon and carrot 素燒蘿蔔

Su shao luo bo 素燒蘿蔔

Luo bo 蘿蔔 (萝卜) this can mean either daikon (mooli or oriental radish) or carrot.
Su 素 is vegetarian
Shao 燒 in cooking terms can mean boil, bake, roast, braise or stew. It's confusing I know!

This braised mixed root vegetable is rather tasty. I can eat this happily and don't miss any meat at all.

Ingredients:

400 - 500g daikon or mooli
350 - 400g carrot
2 clove of garlic,

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Stir fried blistered green chilli 虎皮尖椒

Hu pe jian jiao 虎皮尖椒

I was pleased to find some large green chillies from the market. I asked the store keeper if they are spicy he just shrugged his shoulders how helpful! In the end I bought a handful (just over 1/2 lb) to try in case they are not as nice as I thought. These chillies were quite long about 12 - 15cm long.



I love Sichuan Hu pe jian jiao 虎皮尖椒 or stir fried blistered green

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Old granny's potato 老奶洋芋 - Yunnan style bubble and squeak

I often find similarities between western and oriental food like this stir fried potato which is similar to rustic English bubble and squeak (not the cake shaped type). Here to introduce to you a classic home cooking from Yunnan called lao nai yang yu 老奶洋芋 or old granny's potato. The reason why old granny or lao nai 老奶 is named after this is because this potato dish is soft suitable for grannies

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Tomato egg fried rice 西紅柿蛋炒飯/ 蕃茄蛋炒飯

Simple lunch today, tomato and egg fried rice. Tomato and egg are such good combination, universal favourite. I am sure there is at least one dish made with tomato and egg in every country. Just Chinese dishes I can count at least half a dozen classics with just two simple ingredients like:

Stir fried egg and tomato 西紅柿炒雞蛋/ 番茄炒蛋
Omelette crepe and tomato soup 番茄煎蛋湯/ 西紅柿煎蛋湯
Tomato and egg geda

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ASIA'S APPLE PIE

When I was young we had classes at school called ZPT. We learned how to cook, sew, repair stuff. At one of those lessons we had to bake cake. My friend Asia shared with us her family's Apple Pie recipe.
Since that time I am baking it quite often. The best is with vanilla ice-cream.


Ingredients:

3 cups plain flour
0,5 cup sugar (for cake)
200 g unsalted butter
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon

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Homemade chilli sauce with ginger

Yesterday I spotted a whooping bag (almost 1.3 kg) of red chillies for quick sale at the Chinese supermarket for a mere £3. The chillies were a little off their best, slightly wrinkly but still looking pretty good. I have to take the lot home, too good to leave it. What a bargain! I always buy chilli sauce because fresh red chillies are quite expensive over here around £10/kg normal price, it

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