#onthetable lately

HELLO!

Hehe, it has been a while since my last blog post! Not that i am busy, but I'm just a little laid back over the weekends, being myself and doing things i love like home cooking & baking, very into jam-making lately and also some gardening... and I am starting to really enjoy raggae songs recently, never knew that i would love raggae music, somehow it makes me feel like i'm in vacation!

My favorite fried fish (fourfinger threadfin), this fish is also known as 'Ma Yau'.

Finally, I know how to get perfectly crisp skin now.

We grew up with chinese soups at our dinner table, therefore we always have a crave for chinese soups and this herbal soup is so light & healthy!

Shredded chicken congee as a light weeknight dinner, it's delicious and easy to prepare,
simply throw everything together and letting it all cook! ^_^

 Stir fried broccoli with garlic & oyster sauce, love that the little broccoli florets can hold the

yummy sauce!

Braised trotters with black sweet vinegar & ginger (pork knuckles), this is actually a traditional confinement food. The meat was very succulent and so tender after several hours of slow cooking, really love the combination of ginger aroma, the sweet taste and sourness from vinegar.

#onthetable

Ola!

I like taking pictures of my home cooked dishes, simply because i wanted to record down what have already cooked, what i have been cooking everyday for my family and also my cooking experiments on certain dish. Picture will help me recall those precious cooking process or moments even it's just a simple dish like onion omelette :D

Here's what we had for dinner the last few days. Chinese stir fried vegetables is a must on our menu almost everyday!

Garlic & oyster sauce stir-fried brussels sprout, our favorite vegetable lately. It taste so sweet & so crunchy!

 Light stir fried french beans with shrimps, you might already know that i'm a shrimp lover! >_<

Stir-fried iceberg lettuce with fried fish maw.

Spicy napa cabbage kimchi stir-fried with pork slices.

Stir-fried bitter melon with pork slices in black bean sauce, fermented black beans has a pungent flavor and taste very salty ~ so we usually will soak the beans prior to cooking.

  Chinese poached chicken (white cut chicken), a very easy and healthy steamed chicken recipe paired with a savory dipping sauce or ginger scallion oil.

 

Gong bao style squid (stir-fried squid with dried hot red pepper)

Since i have a new bottle of fermented black beans, so i will have to make full use of it in the cooking! Hehe, and this is stir-fried stingray with fermented Black bean sauce!

easy weeknight dinners

 Hello,

It has been raining every evening the whole week, traffic was so bad last couple of days. I spent like almost 2 hours in the car every day back home, nothing beats a home cooked meal. Making a simple meals helps me to reduce stress after a long hours traffic jam, but I insisted on cooking most nights. so here's a quick post about what we're eating this week! What's your favorite midweek, quick dinner recipes? 

 Chicken & vegetable stew

{craving for a hearty stew in cold rainy day, it's so packed full of flavor}

Ingredients in the stewed are potatoes, carrot, dried shiitake mushrooms, sugar snap peas, firm tofu & chicken leg & thighs

Stir-fried water spinach with shrimp paste

{i basically love anything that cooked with shrimp paste}

Stir-fried milk cabbage (nai pak choy) with ginger & garlic

{my partner absolutely love this veggie, i pretty much cook once a week lately, hehe}

Sambal Okra (dried shrimp chilli paste lady fingers)

{okra is a very healthy & inexpensive vegetable, the salted & spicy sauce really help to increase our appetite}

 Dried noodle with minced meat sauce
{i made garlic infused oil and fried garlic and kept it in an airtight jar~ its really good in noodle, try it!}

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Reason why we love to stay at home, great movie and homecooked dinner! Dinner and a movie are the perfect pair, but parents might disagree! haha, not for kids ya.

I have watched a really nice movie last 2 days, and wanted to share with you. i love romantic, heart touching, funny movies that can lifts me up when i'm not in a good mood.
Blake lively is just too gorgeous in the movie, every scenes, all the clothing, makeup & hairstyling in the film are so stunning.

The Age of Adeline
Synopsis:
After miraculously remaining 29 years old for almost eight decades, Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively) has lived a solitary existence, never allowing herself to get close to anyone who might reveal her secret. But a chance encounter with charismatic philanthropist Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman) reignites her passion for life and romance. When a weekend with his parents (Harrison Ford and Kathy Baker) threatens to uncover the truth, Adaline makes a decision that will change her life forever. 

movie poster source from google
synopsis source from apple trailer

stir fried leeks with roasted pork belly

Hello mid week!
Let me share a simple & easy recipe of  'stir fried leeks with roasted pork' with you today. The recipe is perfect if you've got some roasted pork leftover, you can turn them to another super yummy dish. Actually there are so many different ways to prepare them (i mean the left over roasted pork or pork belly), we especially love the combination of leeks & roasted pork belly! 

I love cooking with leeks, they have a sweet, delicate oniony, garlicky flavor! (but some people may not like the smell). I brought back these roasted pork belly from hometown, it was meant for food offering for qing ming festival last weekend. Mom packed in a container and freeze them for me. Although its not as fresh as early day, but still taste good. 

So I went to the wet market and get some fresh leeks yesterday evening, and et voila! easily turn them into a delicious delicacy. Can you imagine the fragrant and taste of the stir-fry-until-very-tender-and-lightly-browned leeks & flavorful saltiness of the roasted pork slices?

Ingredients:
• Leeks 4 - 5 stalks (rinsed and sliced diagonal)
* remember to rinse carefully under running water as there may have a lot of dirt can hide in between the layers.
• 150 - 200g roasted pork belly (sliced into bite size)
• 5 cloves of garlic (chopped)
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce 
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce (to provide color & richer sauce)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp chinese cooking wine (optional)
• 50 ml water (add more gradually if you want more sauce)
• 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
*the seasonings are all approximately measured, please adjust according to your own taste.

Method:

1. Heat up oil in wok, dry-fry roasted pork belly, the oil will be released.

2. Top up a tablespoon of vegetable oil,  sauté the chopped garlic until fragrant.

3. Add the white portion of leeks first and stir fry for about a minute over high heat. (as the white part is harder root base and requires more time to cook)

4. Add seasoning followed by 50 ml water, stir well and bring the sauce to boil. Close lid and let it continue to cook, open and check to ensure the sauce does not dry out. Add more water gradually (not too much) and cook until the leeks are softened and tendered.

5. Drizzle cooking wine along the side of wok at the end, mix well again. Then turn off the stove and dish out.

Dinner is served, best paired with steamed rice.

I hope you will try it out soon, believe me it's really delicious. Hehe! have a lovely day.