Congee or 'jook'

Ingredients

1 cup rice
veg ham
veg mutton
chopped corriander leaves
some xiang cui shi
mixed sauce
pepper

Preparation

Wash and rinse rice as usual. Soak with water overnight. Before cooking, crushed the rice grains using fingers into smaller bits. Bring the rice to cook into porridge. Stirring constantly prevent sticking. Off fire and leave it to simmer.

Method

1. In an another small pot, scoop enough porridge for a share. Add hot water and bring to the cook under slow fire. Tease veg ham and veg mutton, stirring well the congee constantly. Place lid on pan, leaving slightly open so the congee doesn't bubble up and spill over. In 15-20 minutes the congee should be ready.

2. Pour into a serving bowl, garnished with mixed sauce, xiang cui shi, corriander leaves and dash of pepper.

Making of mixed sauce

2 chinese spoonfuls of mushroom sauce }
4 chinese spoonfuls of light soya sauce } stirred well
1 chinese spoonful of sesame oil }

Preparation of xiang cui shi

Heat pan without oil, put in the xiang cui shi and stir fry. Making sure it doesn't get charred.
Put aside for garnished.


Recipe served 2 persons.

Fried Aubergine with egg

Ingredients

2 Aubergines
1 carrot
2 eggs beaten
seasoning
sesame oil

Method

1. Cut the aubergines into smaller pieces. Soaked with a pinch of salt, drain and set aside.

2. Skinned the carrot and cut into shred.

3. Saute the pan with ginger, add in the aubergines pieces and some water. Simmer till almost cooked. Put in the shredded carrot, and mixed well.

4. Pour in the beaten eggs, add seasoning and oil. Break the set egg and cook for 2 minutes. Dish up and serve hot.

Bánh Tôm Cổ Ngư (Co Ngu Shrimp Cakes)

A taste of Northern Vietnam... traditionally made with sweet potatoes or regular potatoes. I discovered the addition of taro gives the dish a more savory unique flavor. See what happens when you play with your food? You discover yummy things. ;D


Ingredients:
-6 tbs rice flour
-1 tbs tapioca starch
-1 egg
-1/3 tsp turmeric powder
-4 tbs water
-1/2 fresh prawns
-taro and sweet potato
-cooking oil
-1/2 tsp salt

What to Do:
Mix together rice flour, salt, tapioca starch and turmeric powder. Beat egg with water and add to flour mixture mix well. Peel and grate taro and sweet potato (you'll need approx. 1 cup taro and 1/2 cup sweet potatoes). Mix together grated taro and potatoes with batter. Heat oil over high heat to about 350'F. Dip a metal spatula into the oil and heat it for about 30 seconds. Remove heated spatula from oil and about a 2 tbs "batter"; top off with a shrimp in the center and dip the whole thing back in the hot oil. In about 30 seconds the cakes should float off of the spatula to the surface of the oil (if it doesn't give it a little "help" using a knife). Continue to fry until the cakes are golden, flipping them once to ensure both sides are nice and cooked. Serve with as a snack or make a meal out of it by serving with fresh herbs and rice "ribbon" cakes dipped in fish sauce.

Preparation of Artichaut/artichoke

Anterior view of the artichaut/artichoke vegetable
Cross section of the vegetable ~ removed the spikey stuff and purplish petals in the heart..
Pic showed how the stuff are being removed...
A clean and clear artichaut is ready...
These are the unwanted stuff removed from the heart of the artichaut/artichoke....
Soaked the vegetable in a basin with a some salt for 30 minutes to remove dirt in between the petals. Drain and put to steam for about 40 minutes or when is cooked. Serve hot or cold.

Note : no salt is added as the vegetable contained its original taste.

Banana Cake

Ingredients

150 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
100 g butter or margarine
100 g sugar
50 g walnuts (crushed)
2 ripe bananas
2 eggs


Method

1. Cream the fat and sugar in a mixing bowl, using a wooden spoon, till light and fluffy.

2. Beat the egg and add in gradually to the creaming mixture. Continue creaming.

3. Peel the bananas and mash them quickly, using a fork.

4. Add the bananas to the creaming mixture and mix well.

5. Sift the flour and baking powder together.

6. Add the flour to the creamed mixture, folding in with a metal spoon.

7. Put in the crushed walnuts, leaving some behind. Blend well.

8. Pour into a greased cake tin, topped with the balance of the crushed walnuts and bake in hot oven, 200 degrees or reg. 6 until golden brown.

9. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into pieces and serve on a plate.

It's Been a Year

Time flies eh? Seems like it was only yesterday but it's been a year since my first post. First off I would like to thank my visitors for stopping by and leaving a comment or two. You're the reason why I keep the recipes coming. When I started this blog I came up with the name "Playing with My Food" because that is what I do and would like to encourage my readers to do the same. Believe me...experimenting and not being afraid of messing up is the best way to learn. However, I've notice through the comments posted that about 95% of everyone is afraid to tackle a recipe simply because there is something unclear. Practice makes perfect; don't ever be afraid to practice. I believe besides being a form of art, cooking and baking is also a science experiment. For that reason, there is a lot of logic and common sense involve. There is a reason why things happen; cakes come out flat and dry for a reason. If you would just experiment and try new things you will discover why the cake turned out flat and dry and thus, be able to fix that problem via the knowledge you learned from the failures. On that note, please play with your food before asking me any questions. Just do it! Believe me you'll learn a lot more from your mistakes than from me explaining. My recipes are only meant to encourage not to teach. I'm on the same page you are, I'm learning too... Also, If you have a recipe request please post the request at one of the food forums I visit (http://diendan.datviet.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=29 , http://jodeli.proboards22.com/index.cgi , http://nurkochen.cheeli.de/ , http://homecookingclub.aceboard.com/), not here. Everyone in those forums is extremely friendly and helpful, and because there are so many knowledgeable members in those forums you'll get more answers to your request... so don't be afraid to jump in and ask... ;)

So what's in the future of PWMF? Honestly, I don't know. Let me know what I should change, add, toss away and keep. Cheers and remember to Play with Your Food!

Artichaut/artichoke Soup

Ingredients

1 big artichaut
some wolfberries
2 chinese mushrooms
water enough for 2
seasonings

Method

1. Prepare the artichaut - cut away the stalk leaving about 2 cm. Cut open the 'flower' into 8 parts. Remove the spikey stuff and the purple petals in the heart of the artichaut. Soak all the 8 portions into the basin of some saline water, to remove any debris within the petals. Drain and set aside.

2. Soak the chinese mushroom with hot water till soft. Discard the stalks and slice thinly the mushroom.

3. Preheat the pot with some oil, sante with slices of ginger. Put in the chinese mushroom and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.

4. Pour in water enough for 2 person. Put in the artichaut pieces and wolfberries. Seasonings with salt and pepper. Bring to boil and simmer till the artichaut is well cooked.

5. Serve hot with dash of pepper.

Aubergine (Eggplant) With Mushroom

Ingredients

450 g aubergines (eggplants)
5-6 fresh mushroom
1 carrot
1 beaten egg (optional)
oil for deep frying
some ginger slices
seasonings
1 tsp sesame oil

Preparation

1. Cut the aubergines into stalks.

2. Wash and slice the fresh mushroom. Set aside.

3. Skinned the carrot, and cut into thin strips.

Method

1. Heat the oil in a wok and deep-fry the aubergines for 3-4 minutes or until soft. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain.

2. Pour the oil, leaving some a spoonful behind. Saute the ginger slices, put in the slice mushroom and carrot. Mixed well and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

3. Returned the deep fry aubergines into the wok and blend together. Put in the beaten egg, and add seasonings, 2 tbsp of water. Dash with pepper and sesame oil. Off fire and serve hot.

It's official!

It's been a while since i've post a recipe or anything at all. Those of you wondering what happened... don't worry nothing happened at all I've just been very busy with the floral competition, mooncake orders, and school. Anyways, what's official? My major....I officially declared Drama as my major as of yesterday. Those of you closest to me know I've be seriously lost when it comes to pinpointing where I want to go in life. I've decided to pick Drama to be my major. Why? It's fun! You get to design costumes, lights, act and read lots of juicy plays. My passion for cooking is still there and I plan to continue onto culinary school after I get my BA from UW. However, at this point I'm also considering staying at UW a bit longer to get a master's degree so I could teach. *thinking* *thinking* Should I? I'm just going to take life one step at a time.... hehheeh

p.s. if you're waiting for a new recipes...hang tight they're ready to go I just have to post them...soon

Radish Cake

Ingredients :

200g white radish
200g white rice flour
700ml water

Method

1. Skin and shred the radish. Mix white rice flour with water and blend well.

2. Heat the pan with oil, fry the radish till dry. Slow down the fire and pour in the rice flour mixture and cook till thickens.

3. Grease the baking tray and pour the thicken mixture onto the tray and steam for 30 mins.

4. Set to cool. For best result, refrigerate overnight.

(note: you can fry the radish cake as in the local market, either plain or in dark sweet sauce as shown above)