My neighbourhood

It has been sometime I didn't update my blog due to some personal reasons. Today I have something to say about my neighbourhood.

Every evening, I will mingle around my kitchen to prepare a sumptuous dinner for me and my hubby. I do it everyday except on certain days when we have outings with friends or family. Two weeks ago, I did the same thing in one evening. While I was preparing my meals patiently, I was aware of the busy sounds of preparing meals, smells of food from my neighbourhood. I started to guess what type of food are they preparing. Frying egg? Frying fish? Stewing chicken with soy sauce? It was fun and I enjoyed it. I believe my neighbourhood will feel the same when I'm doing the same thing.

Suddenly, I feel so lucky that I'm living in this peaceful place.

Some sweet stuffs!!

I have to admit that I'm a 'sweetie' person. I like sweet things very much but due to the health reason, I managed to control my 'sweet' consumption.

Today I would like to introduce you a traditional Chinese dessert called 'Steamed Egg'. It's very easy to made and is nutritious too! Hope you enjoy it.

The Ingredients:

• fresh eggs
• water
• Chinese crystal sugar
  

The Steps:

1. Cook the Chinese crystal sugar with water till melt. Set aside the sugar water till it cool. Ready to use.
   Note: Sweetness of the sugar water depends on individual.
   
   
2. Boil some water using the wok/steamer, get ready a steam based/stand.
   
   
3. Beat the fresh eggs evenly using a bowl.
   
   
4. Measure the 'cooled' sugar water using another bowl, the portion of the fresh eggs and sugar water should be 1:1.
   
   
5. Mix well the beaten eggs and sugar water together.
   
   
6. Pour the mixture into several smaller bowls. (can use rice bowl)
   
   
7. Put the small bowls into the wok/steamer once the water is boiled.
   
   
8. Steam the mixture for about 5 minutes.
   Note: The timing for the steaming process may varied due to the utensils used may varied. You need to do some experiments on it to get the perfect results.
   
   
9. Ready to serve.
   Note: A well done steamed egg surface should be smooth and the textures should be tender and milky.

This picture was not a good example as I over steamed it for 2 minutes causing the surface not so smooth.

Let's steam some fish!

I have been eating a lot of fishes lately and it had became the main source of protein for me and hubby. I would like to share with you this simple Chinese style steamed fish. You can choose any fish in the market that you like. We preferred Pomfrets and Garoupas. For fish weighing less than a kilo are suitable for steaming. However, larger fish are best stir fried or deep fried .

The Ingredients:

• A fish
• Some ginger slices
• Some chopped green onions and Chinese parsley
  
• A pinch of salt
  
• 2 portions of soy sauce (*)
• Some sugar (*)
  
• 1 portion of rice wine (*)
• 1/2 portion of water (*)
  
• Some oil

The Steps:

1. Clean the fish thoroughly.
   
   
2. Use your wok or steamer to boil some water, while waiting for the water to boil continue with step 3.
   
   
3. Wipe some salt onto the entire surface of the fish.
   
   
4. Pour some oil (to avoid the fish stick on the plate when cooked) onto a plate (which fit the fish) and place the fish into the plate.
   
   
5. Add half of the ginger slices on the surface and also in the fish.
   Note: The purpose of this action is to get rid of the fishy smell/taste of the fish.
   
   
6. Put the fish into the wok or steamer when it is boiled.
   
   
7. Prepare the sauce by mixing all the * ingredients and the left over ginger slices. Set aside and ready to use.
   
   
8. Open the wok cover and pour out the water and the ginger slices from the plate when the fish is half cooked.
   
   
9. Pour the mixture from the step 7 onto the fish.
   
   
10. Put back the half cooked fish into your wok/steamer.
    
    
11. Sprinkle some chopped green onion and parsley on the fish when is cooked.
    Note: The time for a fish to cook is varied as it highly depended on the size of the fish. You may need to perform some trial and error to get an accurate figure.
    
    
12. Ready to serve.

p/s: Sorry no picture for this post as the picture taken was spoilt due to some reasons.