Quail Eggs in Soy Dressing, and a misconception

There are many food/ingredient misconceptions I have had which I have come to realize quite recently. Ghee (is evil) is one such example. Look at what people are sharing with me about ghee in this Q n A board. Then, the permanent imprint in my head of VERY HIGH cholesterol in quail egg is another (avoid, avoid, high cholesterol!)

Due to ignorance and lack of the urge to seek it out in the past, I have tried to shun quail eggs (this is not about moderation but making better choices at times). More often, we take chicken eggs.

BUT, IN FACT, quail eggs have similar cholesterol level as chicken eggs and their nutritional value (proteins, vitamin B1, iron, potassium) is 3-4 X higher than that of chicken eggs. The proteins in quail eggs are also more digestible, thus kids and the elderly will be in much better shape to take quail eggs if they do want to eat eggs. Yay, now I can moderate among eggs, chicken eggs, quail eggs...


Hard-boiled eggs are also considered more digestible. The following is one easy side-dish that can be prepared.

Quail Eggs in Soy Sauce Dressing
Ingredients: A few hard-boiled quail eggs; [Dressing] 1/2 tsp of soy sauce (I use 1/2 tsp of dark soy sauce); 1/2 tsp or less of brown sugar; drizzle of sesame oil; 2-3 tbsp water to dilute the dressing.
Directions: Prepare the dressing by mixing in a bowl, then immerse the eggs in the dressing.


I love this with plain warm congee.

Egg recipes:
Sambal Chili Eggs
French Bean Omelette
Steamed Egg Custard
Egg Masala

Egg Cooking Tips and Tricks:
Egg Cooking Tips
Fuss-Free Half Boiled Eggs
Egg Traceability

Tag: quail eggs, chicken eggs

Stir-Fry Chayote with Fresh Black Fungus

There are many ways to cook Chayote. Other than making Chayote Salad with Five-Spice Marinated Tofu (佛手瓜拌香干), we can do a stir-fry with fresh black fungus.

Recipe for Chayote Salad with Five-Spice Marinated Tofu

Black fungus is very high in iron. Those who do not enjoy offals such as chicken liver or pork liver should try to incorporate black fungus in the diet as a source of iron - to help nourish the blood, and especially when you are on a vegetarian diet.


Stir-Fry Chayote with Fresh Black Fungus
Ingredients: Chayote, peeled and thinly sliced; fresh black fungus, rinsed and sliced; salt and white pepper to taste, drizzle of sesame oil, 2-3 slices of ginger

Directions: Heat some oil in a pan. Add ginger and fry till fragrant. Add the chayote slices and fry briskly. Then add the black fungus, fry and mix well with the chayote. Add 1-2 tbsp of water and allow to simmer at low-medium heat till chayote slightly softens. Salt and white pepper to taste and drizzle of sesame oil before serving.



There are many ways what you can do with chayote. I have done one salad previously and two stir-fries including this one which is going to Dhanggits Kitchen who is hosting Weekend Herb Blogging this week. What else?

Tag: chayote, black fungus

Pineapple cookies, tarts and rolls

28 Feb marks the end of Chinese New Year celebrations. There are many cookies, tarts and rolls that are left which are mostly "gifts" from my parents (they received these gifts from friends and pass them on to me) - and...so... I decided it was still tartelicious!


Pineapple tarts and rolls must be one of the most popular and widely variate "cookies" during Chinese New Year. It comes in opened rolls like this and this; opened tarts like this and closed tarts like this. I am amazed!

I prefer the open tart because visually, it seems to have more filling than pastry crust and I love more filling, filling, filling! Is that just a visual illusion or you bakers out there can tell me, if the ratio of pineaple filling to the pastry crust is really different in the bake process for a open vs closed tart/roll?

What's your favorite? Opened, closed, tart, roll? ^0^

Tag: pineapple, pineapple tarts, pineapple rolls

Japanese Cucumber Kyuri in Creamy Peanut Butter

A "no-cook" creation for "No-Cook" Event at Seduce Your Tastebuds. What a wonderful refreshing snack. Nutty, fresh flavors! You can use also celery sticks which is actually more common with peanut butter dip. I just happen to have cucumber and not celery and thought the crisp and crunch texture of both cucumber and celery are similar. Taste-wise: celery is more "pungent" and stronger in taste than cucumber.


Japanese Cucumber (Kyuri) in Creamy Peanut Butter
Ingredients: Japaneses cucumber, thinly sliced; peanut butter (I use creamy version)
Directions: Drizzle the peanut butter over the cucumber or prepare cucumber dip sticks to dip into peanut butter.



Japanese Cucumber In Peanut Butter



Tag: peanut butter, cucumber

Ghee and Indian cooking

I almost decided not to post this as the photos just don't make the mark. Well, I "QC" (Quality Control) myself...

But I wanted to know what you think of this ingredient as it remains controversial if this is "good" or "evil". While the article in SFGate is not the first one that says GHEE is not that bad after all, some of us do have a negative picture of it. It was the first time just six months ago when I have used GHEE. First time in my entire life, I have used ghee in my cooking (I am Asian and Ghee is seriously NOT something we find in a Chinese pantry)! And it was in my friend's kitchen where my Indian culinary skills improved by another baby step :D

The Making of Indian-Inspired Mashed Potatoes..

If butter was evil, then ghee's gotta be good. Do you agree?


Can ghee be our momentary glee?

More Indian-inspired recipes:
Indian Green Beans
Cabbage and Carrot Indian Curry
Spiced Okra with Tomatoes


Tag: ghee, butter

The Everything Rice Cooker Cookbook - Fall 2010

Hooray! I have received my cookbook's mock-up/draft cover from my publisher. Remember I told you about my cookbook sometime ago? My cookbook with Adams Media (the same publisher who does The Everything Series) will be out in Fall 2010 (just about six months away...which is pretty soon), AND...it is never too early to start pre-ordering via Amazon. If you are already thinking of birthday and holiday gifts for family and friends, this will make a great meaningful one - for those who are into cooking AND for those who just enjoy looking at an entire shelf of cookbooks (or as a matter of fact - any book related to food).

It is The Everything Rice Cooker Cookbook...

This cookbook is more than to teach you perfect recipes. Rather, it hopes to empower you with an extensive coverage of recipes by understanding the basics of rice cooker cooking which includes techniques and sequence. The possibilities are endless if you are willing to explore, try and sometimes...be a little crazy. Whether you already own a rice cooker and are looking for more ideas, variety and challenge -OR- you are just planning to get started on a rice cooker, this book does it all. Pre-order from Amazon now! Come Fall 2010, this book will also be available in bookstores such as Barnes and Noble, and Borders.

I will also be doing preview every now and then, right here at my site. So stay tuned!

Tag: rice cooker, cookbook

Kueh Lapis - Chinese New Year sweet cake

Happy Lunar New Year everyone! Welcome to the Year of the Tiger :)

Associating food with tradition and festivity signifies how essential food is to people, society, culture and to the extent of basic survival. This time of the year, I can see bloggers busily baking Chinese New Year goodies and happily cooking up Chinese New Year dishes. Most of you know that I don't do the former but the latter, yes...sure.


The Kueh Lapis (Cake Layers) is not my favorite sweet treat during Chinese New Year. I prefer melt-in-the-mouth SWEET cookies and definitely, can't escape savory Bak Kwa. As festive dishes and goodies of Chinese New Year, they are all supposed to symbolize something, right? What is the Chinese New Year symbolism of Kueh Lapis then? The only aspect I know of Kueh Lapis ...is how difficult it is to bake.

These thin mulitple layers (building the layers up) of the cake are known to symbolize longevity.

As a variant, there is also prune Kueh Lapis but what is the significance of prune in this cake? Maybe it means SWEETNESS...and relates to a sweet happy long life? You tell me.


Enjoy all the goodies, my friends. Share the food and love.

Read about other symbolism of Chinese New Year food:
Abalone
Scallops
Corn and Sweet Peas - 金玉满堂

Tag: cake, Chinese New Year

Pine Nuts with Corn and Sweet Peas (金玉满堂) - guest post at Rasa Malaysia

I always enjoy Rasa Malaysia and it has been almost four years stalking her beautiful and tasty site. Each time I read her blog, I learn more about authentic Asian cuisine, especially Malaysian, Chinese and Nyonya. She really does it well, executes it perfect and shows it with class. It is indeed my privilege to do a guest post at her blog - as part of the Chinese/Lunar New Year Series going on right now. I have also tried a few of her Chinese recipes such as the Steamed Garlic Shrimps and it really an easy classic. Love it!

Stir-Fry Pine Nuts with Corn and Sweet Peas (金玉满堂) - get the recipe here.

Alas...I met her in person when I did a road trip back in 2007, from Northern California (where I stay) to SoCal (where she stays). Bee Yinn, as her site projects, is classy yet not intimidating. She and another friend, brought me and my husband to some very delicious Vietnamese food in SoCal followed by more scrumptious appetizers and snacks in an Japanese izakaya (居酒屋). Friends. Food. I am happy.

Hop over to Stir-Fry Pine Nuts with Corn and Peas (金玉满堂) now, to continue and share our friendship. A dish created with enormous array of flavors though the ingredients are all “small” in size, literally. Another "lucky" food" ^o^

Bee Yinn, thanks for having me.

Tag: pine nuts, corn, peas, Chinese New Year


Pine Nuts With Corn and Sweet Peas

"Lucky" food - bread, bun, wonton, dumpling - the shape of ingot

It seems that each day of the 15-day of Chinese New Year celebrations, is supposed to symbolize something. And now I know that the 2nd day is dedicated to eating ingot-shaped wontons. Ingots - money used in ancient China must be such a lucky object that some of our food take after them in shape. Here, an ingot-shaped bun...

stuffed with char siew filling; and

my ingot-shaped wontons with a video on how to wrap them.


Let's hope by eating some of these "lucky" food, we all turn lucky this year. ^0^

Tag: wonton, chinese new year

What's most expensive in your grocery bill

While many Chinese families in Asian societies around the world are busy spending money on market-ing and supermarket-ing in preparation for reunion dinners and get-together meals, I must be a damper to be complaining about my grocery bill. HA! Sorry. Taking a break from Chinese New Year postings....

Looking at my grocery bill (below) in Singapore - a pack of good quality breakfast muesli (SGD11.50 - USD8.00) and milk (SGD15.60 - USD11.00 for half gallon) are more expensive than a piece of salmon steak? Something is going on right here. Wrong. Weird.

Good quality breakfast cereals and muesli does not necessarily mean expensive brands but something more natural: no high fructose corn syrup and in fact, no artificial syrup of any kind. A good nutritious cheaper alternative will be (cooking) oats. Organic milk, oh my god! It's more than 10 bucks for organic milk! So ex. Of course I hear one of my readers saying "Tastes in food are going to be different anywhere you go"...I know. Likewise for prices of groceries as that just depends on geographic, economics and resources.

Do you think that is expensive?

What is most expensive in your grocery bill ?

I am not a totally organic person because of the same argument that it is always more expensive than the standard fare. When barely making the ends meet, we would not care about the kind of food we eat as long as there is something to eat? I still try to go in the direction of choosing wisely, for example, organic processed food does not tempt me as much as organic fresh produce since processed food has been processed anyway.

Anyway, sensitive topic and I will steer away from it at this time. For now, I will just look forward to returning home while my visit to Singapore will end soon.

Tag: grocery, singapore

Chayote Mushrooms King Trumpet - auspicious vegetarian

While most dinner tables will be laid with fish, shrimps (prawns), many other seafood and meat dishes (all "lucky foods") for Chinese New Year - vegetables should not be forgotten. This recipe is suitable if you want to whip up more vegetarian dishes this Chinese New Year. Chayote is also 寿瓜 (Shou Gua), literally meaning Longevity Gourd. Good symbolics for the Lunar New Year. Checked. And, that huge variety of mushrooms you can find in the market these days - vegetarians are in for a treat. A variety such as King Trumpet Mushrooms in which you can thinly slice the stems of the trumpet mushrooms and easily pass them off as baby abalone (鲍贝, Bao Bei) are great in stir-frys.

鲍贝 sound alike to 宝贝 meaning Precious. And Abalone is 鲍鱼 (Bao Yu in Mandarin) and translates to "Sure Surplus" or "A Guaranteed Abundance".  Good symbolics for the Lunar New Year. Checked. Checked. Checked. This Stir-Fry Chayote with King Trumpet Mushrooms, albeit simple, can be made into such an auspicious dish for vegetarians out there. I can call it 万寿包余 - "Longevity in Sure Abundance"! and hope everyone keeps their good health.

Stir-Fry Chayote with King Trumpet Mushrooms
Ingredients: Chayote, peeled and sliced into thin strips; trumpet mushrooms, cleaned and sliced stems and caps; 2 cloves garlic, minced; salt and white pepper to taste; drizzle of sesame oil.

Directions: Heat some sesame oil in a wok. Add garlic, then chayote and mushrooms and fry briskly. Add some water to allow mixture to simmer till chayote turns slightly tender. Add salt and white pepper to taste. Pairs well with steamed rice or a bowl of plain congee.

This dish featuring Chayote is good to go to Simona of Briciole, the host for Weekend Herb Blogging this week.

Another vegetarian keeper if you want a sexy and luxurious-looking dish is this Braised Spinach Tofu with Mushrooms Medley - restaurant inspiration yet homemade!



Tag: chayote, mushrooms