Bite On It!

I do not know about raw shan yào or huái shan until my mom showed it to me one day last year. In fact I’ve never even heard that there are raw ones being sold here. According to my mom, shan yao is quite popular among the Japanese.

We normally use the dried ones which we categorized it as herbs. I’ve used the dried ones to boil soup before. However, the raw ones taste even better as it is so much sweeter than the dried ones. The roots actually taste very yam like and it’s soft after the long hours under the fire. I was told to add in the shan yao last into the soup so the nutrient will not be lost over the intense heat… not sure how true but I still prefer to boil it for a longer period.

The one I bought was from China hence it is so much cheaper. If I were to get the one that imported from Japan it will cost me a bomb for a small stick. One thing to be aware of is to not touch the raw roots with your bare hands as the gluey and slimmy thing will cause your skin to itch. So, when you are handling these raw roots, remember to put on your gloves.

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Ingredients

• 300g Spare ribs
• 1 stick Shan Yao root
• 10pcs Red dates
• 2.5 L Water
• Salt to taste

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Raw Shan Yao roots

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Methods

1. Sliced off the skin and wash thoroughly before slicing diagonally around 8mm thick. Be sure not to hold with your bare hands as the sticky slimy stuff could cause itch.
2. Boil water in a pot till boil. Throw in the spare ribs and let it boil for 5 minutes.
3. Add in the sliced shan yao and red dates and boil on low heat for 2 hours . Add salt to taste before serving.

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Sometimes it is a hassle to prepare ingredients just to cook a small dish. When I need to grind or ground chillies or other condiments, I prefer to do a huge batch and keep them in the freezer for future use so I don’t have to wash my blender every time I want to cook or use the particular ingredient or mix.

This is when the small bottle container comes in handy. I used to give Darrius some bottled/jar food when we were traveling and I will keep these bottles as there are quite useful for keeping moist items. In this case, I stored the excess dried prawns sambal so I can use them when I need to and don’t have to go through the hassle to grind just a small portion.

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Ingredients

• 1 cup Dried prawns
• 7pcs Red chillies (cut into big chunks)
• 2pcs Chili padi (cut into small chunks)
• 4-5 cloves Garlic (cut into small chunks)
• 7-8 pcs Shallot (cut into small chunks)
• 1″ Belacan (cut to smaller pieces)

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Methods

1. Mix all the cut ingredients into a big bowl. Scoop 3-4 spoonful into grinder and grind till everything are really smashed up. Continue till all ingredients are done.
2. To store, put them into small bottles, around 2-3 portions in each bottle. Store them in the freezer.
3. When you need to use, bring one bottle down to defrost in the fridge. One small bottle can stored up to 3 portions (use 3 times for cooking a normal plate of vege).

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I used to use a lot of capsicums or bell peppers in my cooking before I was married as they can be eaten fresh or cooked. However, the price of capsicums had increased so much over the years (especially the red ones) so I don’t buy them as often now.

Capsicum is quite a flexible ingredient, just like tomatoes. It adds some flavors to cooking and it has lots of nutrients and fibers which is good for health.

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Ingredients

• 1/2 Green capsicum - cut into squares chunks
• 1/2 Red capsicum - cut into squares chunks
• 1 Onion
• 150g Chicken (sliced or cubed)
• Corn flour
• Black Pepper
• Light soy sauce
• 1/2pcs of Chicken or Anchovies stock cube
• Water

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Methods

1. Marinate the chicken with some light soy sauce, corn flour and black pepper and let it stand for about 10 minutes.
2. Heat up wok and saute the sliced onion till fragrant, dump in the capsicums and stir for a few minutes.
3. Add in the chicken and continue to stir, add about 1/4 cup of water and let it simmer for a while either covered or uncover. Then add in the stock cube and continue to stir.
4. When the chicken is cooked, mix a little corn flour with a little water and pour over the mix to thicken the sauce before serving.

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These days I have been experimenting various ingredients to prepare some nice meals for Darrius. I think he is quite bored with his usual porridge (though my mom insisted that he should have porridge for most meals) meals so I tried to come out with something that he might enjoy eating.

I have started feeding Darrius with eggs when he turns one end of last year. Though not very frequent as I can’t think the way to prepare it besides steamed eggs since he has no molars to help him chew. Now that he’s older, he is able to take in more varieties of ingredients which make it easier for me.

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Ingredients

(Prepared 2 omelettes)

• 3 Eggs (medium size)
• 1/3 cup of milk
• 1/4 of Red capsicum - diced
• 1/4 of Green capsicum - diced
• 1/2 cup Button mushroom (Fresh/canned - sliced)
• 2 bulb Shallots - sliced
• 1tsp Black sesame seed (grounded)
• Salt to taste
• 1 slice Cheddar cheese (cut into strips)
• 1 can Baked beans
• Sprinkles of mixed herbs

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Methods

1. Beat eggs with milk. Add in the grounded sesame seeds.
2. In a non-stick wok, heat up some peanut oil mixed with margerine saute the shallots, capsicums and button mushrooms till soft and fragrant. Lift up.
3. Clean the non-stick wok, heat up some peanut oil with margerine again (very little) to make the omelettes. Pour half the egg mix on low heat till 70% cooked, pour half the stir-fried items onto half of the egg, add 1/2 of the cheese and fold over the other half to make a pocket. Turn over and fry the other side till the egg is cooked.
4. When done with the the omelette pockets, cook the baked beans by simply stir-fry on the wok for a minute. Before serving, sprinkle some mixed herbs on the surface of the omelettes and bake beans.

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With Darrius having his molars appearing now, I will be dishing out more kids friendly dishes in the coming days. In fact, I’ve purchased a few books on kids’ menus which are really interesting! Will try them out and share with all of you who has small kids at home.

My little boy loves pasta in all shapes and sizes. He has been a huge fan of tomato ketchup/pasta sauce since the day I introduced pasta/spaghetti to him. He would ask for his pasta dish almost everyday!

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Ingredients

• 80-100g Fusilli (enough for 2 meals)
• 60g Minced meat (you can use pork/beef/chicken)
• 1/2 Onion (medium size) - sliced
• 2 sections Garlic - chopped
• 2″ Carrot - cubed
• 4tbsp Pasta sauce (I used mushroom with herbs)
• 1 slice Cheddar cheese (half for each meal)
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1/4 tsp Corn flour
• Salt for taste
• Olive oil (optional)

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Methods

1. In a medium saucepan, boil some water with 2 drops of oil. Add in fusilli and boil till very soft (takes about 15-20 minutes on low heat). When about to remove from stove, add in the diced carrot and boil for 3 minutes. Drained and leave aside.
2. Marinade the minced meat with corn flour and a sprinkle of salt for 5-10 minutes. Then roll them up and keep throwing it back to the bowl to make it compact before roll them into small meat balls. Fry them lightly till cooked, lift up.
3. Heat up wok with 1 tbsp oil, saute the onion slices, then the chopped garlic.
4. When onion and garlic soften, add in the drained fusilli and carrot. Stir, add in pasta sauce, water and continue to stir till it thicken a little. Add in the meat balls and stir till everything are well mixed.
5. Put one portion on a plate, add a drop or two of olive oil, cut cheddar cheese into tiny strips and placed it on top of the hot pasta to allow it to melt.
6. Keep the other portion in a bowl and cover to avoid it getting all dried up.

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