Steamed Egg with minced pork / muar otah

Ingredients
(Serves 2-4)
- 150g minced pork / otah (‘mashed’)
- 1/2 tsp vegetable/olive oil
- 1 carrot (but you’ll be only using some of it)

A) For the egg custard mixture
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup water or stock
- 1/2 tsp Chinese cooking wine
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp light soy sauce (for seasoning the egg mixture, exclude or use less soy sauce if using stock)

B) Marinade for the minced pork (omit for otah)
- 1/2 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp Chinese cooking wine
- a bit of Chinese white pepper
- 1/2 stalk spring onions, finely chopped (use the green upper part)

Directions
1) Using a vegetable peeler, shave some carrot slices, then stack the slices vertically, cut them to thin strips and then chop to smaller pieces to get finely chopped carrots.
2) Preparing the egg custard mixture
i) Break the eggs into the bowl. To minimize bubbles, do not beat the eggs but gently stir the eggs with a pair of chopsticks using a cutting action.
ii) Add the rest of the ingredients from (A) to the eggs mixture. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve.
3) Preparing the minced pork
i) Combine marinade (B) with minced pork and mix well. Leave for at least 10 minutes.
ii) Heat wok with a bit of oil, then stir fry the minced pork till they are no longer pink, breaking them to smaller bits using your spatula. Do not overcook.
iii) Arrange the stir-fried minced pork in a thin layer on a shallow dish. Then pour the stained egg mixture over gently. Top with some chopped carrots prepared in step 1. If you see any bubbles, “flatten” the surface gently with the back of a spoon.
4) Cover the dish with transparent food wrap or aluminum foil. (optional)
5) Steam the egg custard for about 15 mins. To test if the egg mixture is cooked, insert a stick into the mixture: if a little clear liquid comes out, it is cooked. Serve with warm rice.

Steamed tofu with prawn and vermincelli

Recipe
(Serves 2 to 3)
- 1 tube silken egg tofu, cut into 6 equal pieces
- 6 medium size fresh prawns, peeled keeping the tails intact

- 10g to 15g tang hoon/mung bean noodles, soaked and drained
- 1 spring onion, julienned
- crispy garlic and garlic oil (fry this first and set aside)

For the sauce
- 3 tbsp of light soy

- 1 tbsp of Hua Tiao cooking wine
- 1/2 tbps sugar
- dash of sesame oil
- dash of white pepper
- a little grated ginger

1. Soak glass noodles in hot water for 5 minutes and drain. Set aside. During this time, start heating up your steamer.

2. Peel prawns, make a slit on each prawn and pierce the tail through, making a little "prawn ball".

3. Drape small mounds of glass noodles over tofu, then top with a prawn ball.

4. By this time, your steamer should be bubbling hot and ready for action. Spoon some sauce over the prawns (no need to use up all the sauce if it appears too much) and place the dish in the steamer. Steam on medium heat for 5  minutes.

5. Top with julienned spring onions and crispy garlic, and drizzle with garlic oil liberally.

6. Ready to be served! Eat hot.
*Variation: Top tofu with Yifon golden mushroom

Ginseng black chicken soup

Ingredients
Serves 3-4

1 black chicken, chopped to small pieces

40g American Ginseng “Beards” 洋参须** (can replace with astragalus and dangshen)
1.6 litres of water
25g Huai Shan 淮山
8 red dates
1/2 tbsp wolfberries

* You can also substitute with 1/2 chicken or 250g lean pork, sliced thickly. Skip the blanching part (step 1 below) if using lean pork..

Directions

1. Blanch chicken pieces in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Place the blanched chicken and the rest of the ingredients (except wolfberries) into a pot with the water. Bring to a boil, continue boiling over high heat for 10 minutes.
3. Reduce heat to a lower flame and simmer for at least another 40 minutes (and longer if you can). Add wolfberries at the last 15 minutes of cooking. You can also slow cook, or use a thermal pot (or whatever you have) to prolong the cooking (at a gentle pace) to bring out the tastes. Add salt to taste.