Stir Fry Brocolli

Did you know that brocolli originated from Italy? No kidding, according to Wikipedia, brocolli had its roots in Italy some 2000 years ago! This beloved vege is high in Vitamins C and A. It is famous for its anti-cancer properties. Brocolli is good for the heart and men, listen up......research has found that brocolli is effective in preventing prostate cancer.

There are many ways to cook brocolli. I like it stir fried as opposed to steaming or boiling. That's cos I find that stir fried brocolli maintains its crunchy-ness best, which means that all its vitamins are intact. I don't enjoy eating veges which are soft......

Ingredients
1 small brocolli, cut into thin bite sizes
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 red onion, cut in thin slices
3 cooked fishball, cut in half
1 yellow capsicum, cut into small pieces
5 shoots of baby corn, cut in half
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
Soy sauce to taste

Instructions
Heat oil in non-stick fry pan. Put in garlic and onion. Fry till fragrant. Add fishball. Fry for 1 min. Pour in brocolli and baby corn. Add oyster sauce and soy sauce. Continue to fry for 1 min. Cover lid for 2 min.

Remove lid. Pour in capsicum whilst continuing to stir fry another 1 min.
Ready to serve.

Cooking time: 5 mins

Pork Cutlets

Now for a meat dish.....my all time favorite pork cutlet. You can use chicken too if you don't eat red meat. I like to dip the cutlets in tomato ketchup for that extra yummy flavor. I find it blends really well together. Try it and let me know what you think!

I like my dishes to be tasty and yet healthy. So I add onions and egg with the meat. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients
500gms minced pork, ask for lean meat
1 big onion (red), cut into small pieces
2 tablespoon of soya sauce
1 tablespoon of corn flour
Mix everything together until even.
1 egg, beaten

Instructions
After mixing the minced pork with above ingredients, set aside in refrigerator for half an hour to let the marinade settle.
Apportion cutlets in patty form to prepare for frying.
Heat oil in wok.
Coat cutlets in egg mixture and place them slowly into wok.
Pan fry till cutlets turn golden brown.
Serve and eat with sauce of your choice, or plain.

Healthy Foods

Hey ya? Just to share with you this pix I took a few days ago. The green leafy vege in the big bowl is one of my favourite veges. It is called "choy sum fah" or choy sum flower ("fah" literally means flower in Cantonese).

I'll post the cooked dish in my later posts. I like to just blanche it and serve with oyster sauce, soya sauce and a sprinkle of shallots. That way, it is healthy and preserves all the vitamins.

Stir Fry Garlic Turnip

Today i cooked a dish which is Hokkien in nature. Hokkien is a clan which originated from the Foochien province in China. The Hokkien people are known to be good cooks. There are many dishes that are carried down through generations till today.

Stir fry turnip is hardly found in restaurants these days but you can get this dish in Nyonya restaurants. It is commonly eaten with salad leaves. Stir fry turnip is also used as the basic ingredient for Pie Tee and Popiah, another 2 very popular Nyonya dishes.

Ingredients
1 medium-sized turnip
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
6 small onions, cut in fine slices
1 dried cuttlefish, cut in strips
1 tablespoon bean paste
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
Soy sauce to taste

Instructions
Heat oil in fry pan. Fry onions till brown and crispy. Remove and set aside.

Separately, heat oil and fry garlic till fragrant. Add in dried cuttlefish and fry for 30 seconds. Add in turnip and fry together for 5 minutes. Cover pan with lid. Lift lid occasionally and stir fry for 5 minutes. Add in bean paste and oyster sauce. Stir fry for another 5 minutes. Ready to serve.

Cooking time: 20 mins
Turnip is a good source of Vitamin C, folic acid, fiber, thiamine, potassium and magnesium.

Chicken Stew

I felt that I haven't cooked stew in a long time. This is one of the dishes with full packed goodness. What do I mean? Well, simply that I can put in meat, veges..., pretty much anything I want and the soup comes out full of flavor and goodness. Just don't put anything that clashes in taste!

Best of all, this dish is super easy and hassle-free to cook.

Instructions
Half a chicken, cut into small pieces (bones intact for the sweetness)
2 carrots, cut into cubes
1 big onion
1 cinnamon
4 cloves
Dark soya sauce, 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Optional: 2 potatoes, cut into cubes

Method
Bring to boil 1 medium pot of water. Put in chicken pieces, carrots, onion, cinnamon and cloves.
Cover lid and let it boil under low heat for 2hours. Ready to serve.

Stir Fried Bitter Gourd

I enjoy this dish and revel in all its bitterness. You may think it's unusual huh? Well, the thing is when I was growing up, Dad would bring us to drink this herbal cooling tea every week which was extremely bitter. I used to dread that drink but now I actually enjoy it! It must be true that taste has to be acquired. So, now I enjoy eating bitter gourd and don't find it bitter at all. My taste buds have changed from years of drinking that bitter tea!

Hubby on the hand, did not have the same experience of being exposed to bitter foods early on. But he has slowly acquired a liking to this dish too.

It's very simple to prepare. You can add chicken pieces or fishball or even fishcake slices, as accompaniments.

Instructions
1 bittergourd, cut in thin slices (tip: bitter gourd is green in color; the darker the color the more bitter it is - so choose according to your liking)
1 clove garlic, cut in small pieces
1 small onion, cut in medium slices
3 slices of young ginger
4 fried fishballs, cut in half
1 tablespoon bean paste
Soya sauce to taste
Vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon

Method
Heat oil in stir fry pan. Fry garlic, onion and ginger together. Add fishball pieces and fry till the fishy taste is removed. Add bitter gourd and keep frying for 2 mins. Pour in bean paste and soya sauce. Then close pan with lid and let it simmer for 8 mins. Serve.