Chinese Style Stir Fried Spaghetti

All these while I have always thought that pasta tastes best when cooked the western way, but I am so wrong! I tried stir frying it the Chinese style for lunch one afternoon and was instantly won over. Tasted like the chinese char mee. Yummy indeed!

Chinese Style Stir Fried Spaghetti
Serves 1

80g of Spaghetti - cook till al dente
2-3 garlic, minced
Half onion, sliced thinly
1 quarter capsicum, thinly sliced
3 button mushrooms, thinly sliced
3 prawns, shelled, devein and cut into 3 pcs
1 tbsp oil

1/2 tbsp oyster sauce/ abalone sauce
1/2 to 1 tbsp light soy sauce (adjust accordingly to preferred taste)
1/2 tbsp chinese cooking oil (Hua Diao Chiew)
1 tsp sesame oil
2 to 4 tbsp water
dash of pepper
spring onion, cubed - for garnishing

1. Bring a pot of water to boil, put in spaghetti and cook for 8min till al dente (or according to packaging instruction).
2. While spaghetti is cooking, heat oil in a pan and fry garlic and onion till fragrant (do not allow it to brown). Add in capsicum and fry for awhile then add in prawn cubes and button mushrooms. Cook till prawn cubes are almost done.
3. Drain spaghetti water and add in cooked spaghetti into main pan and mix well.
4. Add in all sauce (except water and pepper) and stir fry well.

5. Add in water and stir well to mix, allow to cook for about 30seconds.
6. Add pepper and mix well.
7. Dish out and top with spring onion. Serve immediately.

Stir Fry Black Pepper Beef

Almost anything, or everything taste yummy when cooked in black pepper sauce.  With a bottle of Singlong black pepper sauce in the fridge, and a tupperware of beef slices in my freezer, let's do a quick stir-fry black pepper beef dish!

In no time, dinner was served, plain rice with stir fry black pepper beef and a simple stir fry vege with minced garlic. This is how simple our meals are, sometimes a soup and a vege with rice and that's it. No need for 3 dishes and 1 soup all day long :)

Stir Fry Black Pepper Beef

230g stir fry beef (sliced)
2 stalks of spring onions, sliced to 2 inches in length
1 medium onion, wedged
1/2 yellow/red/ green capsicum sliced into thin strips
1 inch ginger, peeled and sliced

2 tbsp Canola oil
3tbsp Black pepper sauce
1/2tbsp sugar
2 to 3 tbsp water

Marinate
1.5 tsp cornflour
1 tsp light soy sauce
2 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp Chinese cooking wine
1/2 tsp black pepper powder


1. Dry sliced beef with kitchen towel and place sliced beef in a bowl.
2. Add in all marinate ingredients and mix well with beef. Cover with clingwrap and let sliced beef be marinated in fridge for at least 30min. I let it be marinated for 3 hours.
3. Heat oil in frying pan (high heat).
4. Add ginger and onion and stir fry till fragrant. Add in spring onion and capsicum and stir fry till capsicum strips turn half cooked.
5. Add in marinated beef and loosen beef slices up before adding in black pepper sauce and sugar. Mix well to coat beef slices with sauce. Add in water and stir well. Beef slices should be cooked in 3 to 4min. Dish out and serve immediately with plain rice.

Stir-fry Lotus Roots with Sambal Chilli

Back to work for 2 weeks already. New job, new workplace, new people. Everything has been good thus far.

Finally found some time to put up a post and keep my blog alive. This dish is one that I adore alot. Whether it is being cooked in soup or stir-fries, I love eating lotus roots.

This round, I aren't cooking lotus roots in soup but doing a stir-fry with it. If your Mummy gives me a little tub of sambal chilli, put it to good use!

My Mum makes mean sambal chilli sauce!

Love the spicy sweet taste this dish has. Pairing the minced garlic and dried shrimps with the lotus makes this dish very appetising. I could down a bowl of rice with it!

Stir-fry Lotus Roots with Sambal Chilli

500g lotus roots (de-skinned, washed & thinly sliced)
2 Tsp sambal chilli
2 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp dried shrimps, soakedfor 30min and drained
4 garlics, minced
2 to 3 tbsp water
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Spring onion bits - Garnish

1. Heat oil in pan and fry garlic, sambal chilli and dried shrimps till fragrant.

2. Add in sliced lotus and stir fry till well mixed.
3. Add in sugar and salt and stir fry well. Stir in water and let it come to boil till gravy is formed. Garnish with spring onion bits and serve immediately with rice.

Stir-fry Potato in Black Sauce

I am a pure Teochew and was brought up having mostly plain porridge for lunch when young. It is well known that Teochews enjoy eating plain porridge (cooked with or without sweet potatoes) along with many veggie and meat dishes.

We weren't a well-to-do family and had simple and cheap dishes with plain porridge for our lunches.  Nothing fanciful but it was good enough and we grew up healthily (and HAPPY!!! anyway :) ) Dad was the sole breadwinner of our family and slogged his life to bring back the keeps for our family. Mum stopped work when she had me and ever since then dedicated her life to my Dad and us children. I have a wonderful Dad and Mum, and I am grateful for them. Without them, no us today!

Gone were the days that my family has to live hands to mouth but old habits die hard - Till today, plain porridge are still my preferred type of lunch, especially when it's paired with dishes that I like.

I am a Teochew Ah Nia afterall. :)

This, a dish that is so simple and well paired with a bowl of plain porridge or even a bowl of plain rice.  A dish that Mum still cook for us today and we'll be like "yeah I like this dish!" when we get to the dinner table.

Stir-fry Potato in Black Sauce

5 Brastagi potatoes (peeled, rinsed & sliced)
80g to 100g chicken fillet, sliced thinly
3 pcs of garlic, minced
2 tbsp dark soy sauce sauce
Half bowl of water
1/2 tbsp chinese cooking wine
2 tbsp canola oil

1. Heat up oil in frying pan.
2. Add in minced garlic and fry till fragrant.
3. Add in sliced meat and stir fry till almost cooked. Place in sliced potatoes and stir fry well.
4. Add in dark soy sauce and chinese cooking wine and stir well to coat potatoes and meat with sauce. Add in water, enough to cover potatoes and mix well. Put on pot lid and turn to medium heat to bring to simmer. Sauce will start to thicken.
5. Stir fry the dish well, turn off heat and dish out. Serve immediately with plain rice or porridge.

Stir Fried Luffa Gourd with Egg

Love this vege dish from young. Haven't eaten it for a long time so I bought 1 luffa gourd and cook it! Simple, yet heartwarming. I am glad I have a hubby that is not a fussy eater and let me cook whatever I want and eat with me.

The one thing I hate about this dish is the peeling!!! 

Weather is so hot and humid these days that all I want is whip a quick dish or 2 and dig in.  Do remember to drink more water ya?  Be back soon :)

Stir Fried Luffa Gourd with Egg
Serves 2

1 luffa gourd, skin peeled, rinsed and cut into smaller pcs
1 egg, beaten
2 to 3 garlic, minced
1 tbsp dried shrimps (I used minced dried shrimps but you can use them whole)
1/2 tbsp abalone or oyster sauce
1 tbsp oil

1. Heat oil in pan.
2. Add in garlic and dried shrimps and fry till fragrant garlic slightly brown.
3. Place in luffa gourd pcs and abalone sauce. Stir fry till well mixed. Cover and let luffa gourd soften and absorb gravy.
4. Add in beaten egg and stir fry to break up egg into scramble form. Dish out and serve with rice or porridge.

Beef Bulgogi

Another Korean meal for dinner, upon Hubby's request. Since I had a bottle of beef bulgogi sauce bought from Lotte Mart in Seoul from the last trip, I aceded to the Hubby's request.

Brought out the Makgeolli (Korean Rice Wine) and had it with the meat. Not quite a meat lover, but I thoroughly enjoyed that meal of meat and wraps, and drinks! Still can salivate at the thought of it. I wanna cook this soon again!

It would have been abit more work if I made the meat marinate from scratch for I would need pear puree, onion puree and many more ingredients for it. As usual, I took a short cut and used store bought beef bulgogi sauce! Easy peasy. No more lazy shortcuts when I finish up that little bottle.

We had bought more beef than we intended to cook and I marinated it all anyway, just store it in 2 tupperwares. You can freeze 1 portion of the marinated meat, and just bring out to thaw before cooking it. The other portion I merely refrigerated it and let the marinate does its job for like 20 hours before cooking it the next day.  Yummy!

And so with the remaining portion of frozen marinated beef, I cooked them and had it with rice. It was good!

Wrap style or with rice? Your choice :)

Beef bulgogi with a sunny side up.

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I am hungry as I write.

:P

Beef Bulgogi
Serves 2 to 3

370g fresh chuck tender beef (you can use sirloin beef too)
6 to 7 tbsp store bought beef bulgogi marinade
2 garlic, minced
1 tsp sesame oil
1 yellow onion (or 2 if you like onions), de-skin, halved and cut into 4 pcs for each half
dashes of ground black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder (optional but I just wanted to add it hehe)

Garnishing
White sesame

1. Wash beef and dap dry with a kitchen towel. You may choose to slice it when frozen so that you get thin pcs from easier slicing, or be like me just slice it after drying and at room temp. If you are letting the meat be marinated in fridge overnight for more than 6 hours, not slicing it too thinly is okay. Longer hours of marinating tenderizes the meat.
2. Place sliced beef into a container. Add in all sauce, and ingredients and mix well to coat meat evenly. Cover and place in fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours, or better still, overnight.

3. When ready to cook meat, heat 2 tbsp of oil in frying pan, place in marinated meat, break up meat and stir fry till cooked, which takes less than 5 min. Beef slices get cooked fast.

4. Serve immediately with some white sesame sprinkled over. Eat with lettuce and ssamjang plus other sides that you like or enjoy it with plain rice.

Spicy Pork Bulgogi 韩式辣炒猪肉 돼지 불고기

As you can see, I am already back from Korea for quite some weeks, but am still (very!) much bitten by the Korean food bug. I have always enjoyed eating Korean food, and this trip brought my love for Korean food to a next level. I just had to cook it at home. Hubby gave compliments during the meal and commented that "I thought I am back in Korea leh!" 

My first time at preparing and cooking Korean style marinated meat. A wonderful experience and I am looking forward to cooking beef bulgogi, chicken bulgogi.... anything Korean food soon! 

With the few stuff I bought from our grocery shopping at Seoul Lotte Mart, Hubby can expect more Korean food. I have pre-empt him on that and he was game for it.

I love my wonderful and supportive hubby lor! :P

Thank you all for dropping by.

Kamsahamnida. 

Spicy Pork Bulgogi  돼지 불고기
Recipe and notes from Crazy Korean Cooking

9 oz Sliced Pork (Belly or Neck)  (thinly sliced) – I used about 250g of twee bak because I wanted leaner meat

3 tbsp Hot Pepper Paste (Gochujang) (spiciness and saltiness may vary depending on the brand)

2¼ tsp Sugar

1 tsp Soy Sauce for Soup (Gukganjang)   (or regular soy sauce)

½ Onion (Medium)

1½ Green Onion (Spring onion as we call it)

1 tsp Garlic (minced)

1 tsp Ginger (minced) – I did not have ginger on hand, hence I left it out

A pinch of Black pepper

1 tsp Sesame oil

1 tbsp Cheongju, Korean Rice Wine  (I used Japanese Sake cooking wine)

½ tsp Sesame Seeds  (optional)

2 Green Chili Pepper  (optional) – I did not use this

1½ tsp Vegetable Oil

1 tsp Gochugaru, Red Chili Flakes 고추가루(optional, add to make it super spicy) – I did not use this

Optional Ingredients and Substitutions 
Pork: You can use chicken or beef instead. Make sure to thinly slice the meat for the best result.
Sesame seeds: can be omitted.
Green chili peppers: Green chili peppers add a very nice spicy kick. Red chili peppers are ok too but they are usually less spicy. You can omit chili peppers if you want a mild version.
Sugar: can be replaced with honey.

Good to Know 
The amount of gochujang (red chili paste) and sugar can vary depending on your preference. If you use less gochujang, you may want to increase the amount of soy sauce or use salt to season.

For medium spiciness, reduce the amount of red chili paste to 4 tablespoons (for default serving size - 4 servings).

To make it extra spicy, add 1 to 3 teaspoons of gochugaru (red chili flakes) (for default serving size - 4 servings)

1.        Cut pork
If the pork is not sliced, slice as thinly (⅛”) as possible. If pork is slightly frozen, it’s easier to cut into thin slices. If the slices are too big, cut into roughly 3” squares. They don’t have to be square shaped as long as the area is about that size.

2.        Prepare vegetables
Peel and slice a medium onion (or ½ large onion). Wash and cut 3 green onions into 2 inches. Mince garlic and ginger. Wash and Slice 4 green chili peppers (optional).

3.        Make marinade
Mix 6 tablespoons of gochujang (red chili paste), 1½ tablespoons of sugar, 2 teaspoons of minced garlic, 2 teaspoons of minced ginger, chopped green onions, ¼ teaspoon of black pepper, 2 teaspoons of sesame oil, sliced onions, chopped green chili peppers (optional), 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds (optional) and 2 tablespoons of cheongju (korean rice wine) (optional). *For medium spiciness, add 4 tablespoon of gochujang instead of 6. To make it extra spicy, add 1-3 teaspoons of gochugaru (red chili flakes) on top of gochujang (red chili paste).

4.        Marinate meat
Place the meat in a large bowl. Separate the meat slices so they are not stuck together. Add the marinade. Using your hand (use plastic gloves to protect your hand from hot paste), mix everything thoroughly and work in the marinade for 3-5 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour (6 hours is ideal). If your meat is thicker than ⅛”, marinate overnight.

5.        Cook meat
Coat a frying pan with vegetable oil. Cook the marinated meat on high heat for 10-15 min or until the meat is fully cooked and the surface is nicely browned. *If the meat is thick, you must cook on medium heat so the meat is cooked through. Then, cook on high heat to brown the surface.

6.        Serve
Serve on a plate and sprinkle sesame seeds to garnish (optional). You can enjoy it with a bowl of rice or make “ssam” (wrapping a piece of meat with a dab of ssamjang (lettuce wrap sauce) in leafy lettuce).

I made some ssamjang sauce by mixing 1 tsp gochujang with 2 tsp doenjang (fermented soy bean paste). 

I personally feel that spicy pork bulgogi does not go too well with ssamjang as ssamjang tends to cover the spicy bulgogi taste with its strong bean sauce smell and taste.

Ssamjang goes better with beef bulgogi wraps :)

Stir-fried Sambal Okra 叁巴辣椒炒羊角豆

I have been keeping myself away from too spicy food for awhile now, and had that sudden craving of sambal okra some days back. Had a small tub of homemade dried shrimp sambal chilli from dearest Mummy (Mummy is da best okie!!!), and I had that put to good use!

Yummy spicy dried shrimp sambal chilli from my mummy!!!

With the Japanese Okra I bought from the supermarket some days back, I whipped up a dish in no time. I took the back seat this time with just 1 dish. Hubby did the rest. He cooked stir-fried ginger spring onion beef and made a pot of daikon soup. A lazy wife he has got himself. :P

One Saturday dinner over just like that! It is always nice to have the other half whipping up meals for me once in awhile :)

Our dinner.

A joint effort.

Stir-fried Sambal Okra
Serves 2 to 3

250g Japanese Okra (Lady Fingers)
1 tbsp sambal chilli, washed, stalks cut and removed, sliced
4 pcs garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced dried shrimps
light soy sauce, to taste
1.5 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tbsp sugar
water

1. Heat oil in pan. Add in garlic, dried shrimps and sambal chilli. Fry till fragrant.
2. Add sliced okra and stir-fry till well mixed.
3. Add water, more if you want slightly wetter consistency. Stir well.
4. Add sugar and mix well.
5. Add some light soy sauce, do a taste test and add more if required. Stir well and turn off heat when okra is cooked. Serve inmediately with a bowl of rice!

Stir Fry Udon 干炒乌冬

Yet another dish whipped up with just a few simple ingredients. I am starting this Goat year on a slow and relaxing note. Nothing too fanciful for our tummies. I wanted to give my kitchen a longer break before it gets busy again this weekend.

and so... I stir fried some udon.

I love udon. Soupy ones. Stir fried ones. I love them all.  

Homecooked food are the best.

Stir fry Udon

Serves 2

2 individual packs of udon noodled

4 pcs of garlic, minced

2 tbsp canola oil

3 dried mushrooms, soaked and thinly sliced (keep aside mushroom water)

1 small carrot, julienned

4 black fungus, soaked and hard portion removed, thinly sliced

4 big tiger prawns, deshelled, deveined and cut into 4 or 5 pcs

1 onion, thinly sliced 

Seasonings

1 tbsp light soy sauce 

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp mirin

1 to 2 tbsp water (more if you prefer a wetter based udon)

*Mix all seasonings in a bowl and set aside. 

1. Heat oil in pan.

2. Stir fry garlic till fragrant. Add onions and saute for about a minute before adding prawns and stir fry till prawns turn half cooked.
3. Add in mushrooms, black fungus and carrot and stir fry all ingredients till well mixed and fragrant.
4. Add in udon noodles, stir noodles well to mix with the ingredients evenly.
5. Stir in seasonings and mix well till noodles are done. Serve.

Tteokbokki (Korean Spicy Stir-fried Rice Cake)

Have you tried tteobokki, Korean Spicy stir-fried rice cake before? I love this Korean dish which is commonly found along the streets of Korea. I love it for its spicy chewy tasting rice cake. I love the bite of the rice cake.  I like that it can fill me up easily, and that leftovers can be kept overnight, only to be reheated the next day and paired with instant ramen.

Authentic tteokbokki does not have the addition of chicken franks and chinese fishcakes but i added them anyway because this was gonna be our one-pot dish for a Saturday evening. I could not get Korean fishcakes, hence I used the chinese one. Oh... I miss tteokbokki now as I blog away! I love Korean food. Okay, Korean anything, anything Korean I all like :P

Tteokbokki (Korean Spicy Stir-fried Rice Cake)
(Serves 3 to 4)

1 packet of rice cake (I bought Singlong brand, 500g rice cake)
300g bokchoy or cabbage (wash and cut into 1 inch size)
1 sheet of Korean fishcake (I used 1 whole pc of the chinese kind)
5 pcs spring onion (3 to cut into 1-inch long, 2 to cut into small bits for garnishing)
1 chicken frank (sliced thinly) - optional
2 to 3 tbsp Gochujang, Korean red chilli pepper paste
About 1.2l anchovy stock (1 handful of dried anchovies + 1.3l water)
6 pc garlic, minced
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
2 to 3 tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp sesame oil

1. Remove head and guts of dried anchovies and rinse with water twice. Drain and put anchovies into stock bag or straight into small pot. Fill pot with 1.5l water and bring to a gentle boil, without lid on hight heat. Bring down heat to medium high and let boil for further 15 to 20min. Use a strainer to remove anchovies. Set aside.

2. This could be an extra step but I normally do this to remove excess oil and perhaps quicken the cooking of the rice cake at the later stage. In a separate pot of boiling water, blanch rice cakes for  about 1min, remove with sieve or strainer and leave in a pot of room temperature water.

3. Pour anchovy stock into a bigger cooking pan and turn on high heat and bring to a boil. Add in minced garlic and Korean red chilli pepper paste (gochujang) and stir well till  chilli paste dissolves. Add in sugar and light soy sauce and stir till sugar dissolves. You may taste the sauce to see if you would like to add in more chilli paste or add in more sugar to bring down the spiciness.

4. Add in blanched rice cakes, sliced chicken franks, fishcakes and spring onions, stir and mix well. Cover with lid and let boil for about 8min.

5. Stir in bokchoy or cabbage and stir well. Cover and let boil for further 5min or so till rice cakes have softened. Stir in sesame oil and sesame seeds. Serve!

An easy and simple to cook yummy Korean street food!

To reheat, add in a little water and bring to boil on low heat. Sprinkle with some sesame seeds and serve.

Stir fry Sichuan Vegetable

Mum gave me 2 small packs of preserved sichuan vegetables which she bought from the market. I always order these vegetables when I patronise mixed vegetable rice stall.  So naturally I was happy when Mum passed me these.  There are no needs for expensive gifts by anyone. Simple things given by loved one warms the heart more than costly gifts :)

Even though these preserved vegetables could be consumed right away on its own, I prefer it warm.  I like it with garlic and minced meat!

One of my easy way out for simple lunch. I could have this with a bowl of porridge, anytime!

Stir fry Sichuan Vegetable

2 small packs of preserved sichuan vegetables (rinse 1 time under running water and drain)
4 garlics, minced
2 to 3 tbsp minced meat (I did not specifically weigh it, just scooped out as I like hehe!)
1 tbsp olive oil

1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add in the minced garlic and stir fry till slightly brown.
3. Add in minced meat and stir fry till cooked then stir in preserved sichuan vegetables till well mixed. Serve.

Stir fry Marrow Green & Vermicelli

I am a vege person, if you get what I mean hehe. I can do with no meat and just munch on vegetable dishes, so, give me a vegetable dish with chinese mushrooms and I can eat it anyway.

I normally like to load my stir-fries dishes with loads of other ingredients so that I can cut down cooking more dishes.  Okay, this is how I cheat on having to do tedious cooking and having lesser dishes to wash :P

Now who says cooking is difficult?

This is a simple stir fry dish which I personally like alot.

Stir fry Marrow Green with Vermicelli

1 marrow green (deskin and cut into slices)
1 handful of Vermicelli (soaked in water till softened)
1.5 tbsp minced dried shrimps (wash and soak dried shrimps, rinsed, drained and pulse till fine)
3 pcs of garlic, minced
3 pcs of dried chinese mushrooms (rinsed and soak till softened, remove steam and cut strips) -OPTIONAL
4 pcs of black fungus (rinse, wash and soak till softened, remove the hard centre portion and tear into smaller pcs) -OPTIONAL
100ml water (use the water which was used to soak the mushrooms)
Enough cooking oil
1.5 tbsp of abalone sauce /oyster sauce (more if desired)

1. Heat up cooking oil in a frying pan.
2. Add in minced garlic and dried shrimp. Stir fry till fragrant.
3. Add in chinese mushrooms and black fungus and toss till well mixed.
4. Add in marrow green and abalone / oyster sauce, stir fry to mix well.  Add in mushroom water and stir well.
5. Lower heat, cover and let it simmer till almost cooked.
6. Stir in softened and drained vermicelli and mix well for 2min. Serve.

Stir-fried Long Beans with Sambal Dried Shrimps

Sometime back, Mum made some sambal belacan and gave me a small tub of it.  Happy was I! Yeah, my mum does mean sambal belacan!

With our busy lifestyle, I stashed the tub in a corner of my freezer and kinda "overlooked" it a little till Mummy asked me if I still want more of it when we were back at my parents' place last weekend. She then told me I could cook a simple and nice dish out of it and I made this dish the following weekend.

That evening, I cooked slightly more rice than usual yet Hubby and I wiped it all dishes clean. A simple and sinful indulgence at the comfort of our home ;)

Stir-fried Long Beans with Sambal Dried Shrimps
(Serves 2 to 3)

1 tbsp cooking oil
200g long beans (wash & cut to 1.5 inch)
2 tbsp sambal belachan
3 to 4 tbsp water
1 tbsp cooking wine
1/2 tbsp sugar
salt, to taste
2 tbsp dried shrimps (soaked till soften, drained and finely chopped)
5 pcs of garlic (finely chopped)
3 pcs of shallots (finely chopped)

1. Heat cooking oil till hot, add in chopped dried shrimps, garlic and shallots and stir fry to mix well.
2. Add in sambal belachan and stir fry till fragrant.
3. Add long beans, sugar, cooking wine, followed by water and stir well. Cover for 5 minute and let cook on high heat.
4. Stir well to coat long beans with sambal sauce.  Add salt to taste and serve.