Spicy Assam Fish

Recipe: Spicy Assam Fish亚参鱼

Serves: 3

Ingredients

350g pompano / sting ray / mackerel fish 2 tomatoes - 200g 90g long beans 1 eggplant (brinjal) - 100g 8 kaffir lime leaves 2 TBSP cooking oil 300ml water Tamarind Paste (view) 45g seedless tamarind 100ml hot water

Ingredients A 20 dried chilies (10g) 2 cloves garlic (10g) 4 shallots (45g) 2 lemongrass (use white part only) - need 2 TBSP 1 small knob ginger - need ½ tsp. Ingredients B ¼ tsp. turmeric powder 1¼ tsp. curry powder (Adabi chicken & fish curry powder preferable) 1 tsp. belacan powder (shrimp paste) 1 TBSP oil Seasoning ¼ tsp. salt or to taste 1½ tsp. sugar or to taste

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Deseed and rinse dried chilies. Put dried chilies in a pot of water and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for another 10 minutes with lid on. Turn off the heat. Allow to simmer for another 30 minutes. Drain and set aside chilies.	2. Clean fish. Wash, drain and cut vegetables.	3. Grate lemongrass and ginger. You will need 2 TBSP grated lemongrass and ½ tsp. grated ginger.
4. Ground chilies, garlic and shallots with a mortar and pestle or blend them in blender.	5. Mix all ground ingredients A and Ingredients B in a small bowl to form spice paste.	6. Get 45g seedless tamarind.
7. Soak tamarind in 100ml hot water for 20 minutes. Then, grab a handful of tamarind pods and keep squeezing and squashing to separate pods from seeds and veins; Repeat process with the remaining pods. Strain and set aside tamarind paste.	8. Heat 2 TBSP oil in a saucepan. Saute spice paste over medium heat until fragrant.	9. Stir in tamarind paste and water.
10. Add kaffir lime leaves. Cover with lid and bring to a boil.	11. Reduce heat to low. Season with seasoning.	12. Add vegetables. Cover pan with lid and allow to cook for 1 minutes over medium high heat.
13. Finally, add fish. Cover and cook for 4 minutes on each side over medium low heat or until fish turns opaque. Transfer fish to a serving bowl. Check to see if the vegetables are soft enough, cover and simmer for few more minutes if needed. Turn off the heat. Pour sauce and vegetables over the fish. Serve hot.

Notes

Beware not to overcook your fish and vegetables. Fish is cooked when it turns opaque throughout. If your fish need longer time to cook than vegetables, transfer the cooked vegetables to serving bowl and continue to cook the fish. You may use some other vegetables such as okra and cabbage.

Bitter Gourd Rice Vermicelli

Recipe: Bitter Gourd Rice Vermicelli(苦瓜米粉)
Serves: 2



Ingredients

• 1 bitter gourd
• 1 ¼ coils rice vermicelli (pre-soaked in water then drain)
• 150g minced meat

Meat Marinade

• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• ⅛ tsp salt
• ⅛ tsp sugar
• ⅛ tsp sesame oil
• ⅛ tsp pepper
• ¼ tapioca starch or corn starch

Anchovy Broth

• 130g anchovies (gently rinsed and drained twice)
• 1800ml water

Seasoning

• ¾ tsp salt or to taste
• ½ tsp sugar or to taste
• ⅛ tsp pepper
• ¼ tsp sesame oil
• ½ to 1 TBSP light soy sauce (* optional)
• 1 TBSP shallot oil

Toppings

• shallot crisps
• shallot oil
• pepper

Dipping Sauce

• chopped bird's eye chilies + light soy sauce

Measurements: tsp = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Halve bitter gourd lengthwise. Remove the seeds. Scrap off the white layer with a metal spoon. Pre-soak rice vermicelli in hot water for 20 minutes then drain.	2. Slice bitter gourd thinly.	3. Put minced meat and meat marinade in a bowl. Stir in one direction to mix. Let marinate for about 10 minutes.
4. Put anchovies and 1800ml water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 more minutes. Strain the broth and return to boil. Discard the anchovies.	5. Reduce heat to low. Season soup with seasoning. Add rice vermicelli and cook over medium heat until soft. Fish out rice vermicelli. Divide rice vermicelli into serving bowls.	6. Spoon minced meat into the soup.
7. Add sliced bitter gourd. Turn heat to medium high. Allow to cook for 2 minutes or until meat is cook.	8. Divide meat and bitter gourd into serving bowls. Add soup to rice vermicelli. Add the toppings then serve hot with bird's eye chilies in soy sauce.

Notes

Scrapping off the white layer from bitter gourd can avoid the very bitter taste.

Char Kway Teow (Stir-Fried Ricecake Strips)

Recipe: Char Kway Teow (Stir-Fried Ricecake Strips)(炒粿条)
Serves: 3



Ingredients

• 1 packet kway teow (1kg)
• 150g meat / cockle meat
• 9 to 15 shrimps
• 4 TBSP oil
• 3 TBSP minced garlic
• ½ cup bean sprouts
• ¼ cup fresh chives
• 1 or 2 large eggs
• 3 pcs 16cm x 16cm sized banana leaves *optional

Meat Marinade

• 1½ tsp. water
• 2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. sugar
• ¼ tapioca starch or corn starch

Seasoning A

• 2 TBSP medium sweet dark soy sauce (kecap manis)
• 3 tsp. light soy sauce
• 1 TBSP Sriracha chili sauce / chili boh *optional
• ½ tsp. sugar
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Seasoning B

• 2 tsp. fish sauce or to taste
• pepper

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Devein shrimps, remove shells leaving tails on. Rinse shrimps. Cut chives into 1" size.	2. Marinate meat with the above meat marinade.	3. In a small bowl, mix all seasoning A ingredients into a sauce.
4. Carefully separate kway teow into individual strand if kway teow is sticking together. If it is hard to separate, bring it to room temperature ahead.	5. Heat 4 TBSP oil in a wok and stir-fry meat until 80% cook over high heat. Reduce heat to low. Transfer meat to a bowl and set aside.	6. Continue to saute garlic until golden brown over medium heat by using oil left in the wok.
7. Add shrimps. Use high heat from this point onwards. Stir-fry shrimps for 15 seconds.	8. Add kway teow. Stir-fry for 30 seconds.	9. Add sauce (seasoning A). Toss to combine.
10. Add chives and bean sprouts. Stir-fry for 15 seconds.	11. Push aside everything in the wok. Sprinkle some oil then crack an egg onto the empty corner. Break the egg with spatula and stir-fry for 10 seconds to combine. Repeat and crack another egg.	12. Season with seasoning B (fish sauce & pepper) and adjust taste with extra soy sauce, sugar or dark soy sauce if necessary. Return meat to wok. Stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes or until meat is cooked. Line each serving plate with a piece of banana leaf before adding the smoky hot char kway teow. Ready to serve.

Notes

If possible, use fresh cockle meat instead. Add cockle meat together with bean sprouts and chives. Sprinkle with some water if the stir-fry is too dry and start to burn.

Kam Heong Lala (Fragrant Stir-Fried Clams)

Recipe: Kam Heong Lala (Fragrant Stir-Fried Clams)甘香啦啦 / 炒鲜蛤

Serves: 3

Ingredients

1kg fresh clams (live) 5 TBSP oil 80ml water (about 5 TBSP) 1 lime 1 stalk spring onion (chopped into 1" sizes) Spice Paste 1½ to 2 TBSP black bean sauce（黑豆豉酱）(ground type preferable) 1 TBSP soy sauce 1 to 2 tsp. sugar 2 TBSP curry powder (rasam curry powder preferable)

Ingredients A 2 TBSP dried shrimps (rinsed 3 times) 2 TBSP minced garlic 4 TBSP minced shallots 1 piece 2cm size sliced ginger 5 dried chilies (deseeded & rinsed) or ½ to 1 TBSP chili boh Ingredients B (leaves) 15 sprigs curry leaves 3 sprigs kaffir lime leaves or 5 more sprigs curry leaves Garnishing lime wedges spring onion (julienned) a few sprigs of fresh curry leaves

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Cleaning Live Clams
Soak live clams in a big pot of clean tap water for 30 minutes to clear out salt and sand store inside them. Lift clams one by one into a colander. Discard the soaking water. Clean the pot and refill with a clean pot of tap water. Return clams to the pot and roughly rub their shells with hands. Lift and scrub each clam to clean any particles or grit from the outside surface. Rinse clams. Discard water in the pot.
Preparation
1. Mince garlic and shallots. Pound dried shrimps with mortar and pestle or finely chop with a knife. Get 1½ TBSP lime juice from a lime. Deseed and rinse dried chilies. Rinse all the leaves. Set aside.	2. Mix all spice paste ingredients in a bowl and set aside.	3. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add a pinch of salt into the water.
4. Add clams and cook on medium high heat until clams ajar or slightly open. Turn off the heat. Transfer clams into a colander and discard water in the pot.	5. Heat 5 TBSP oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add all ingredients A and stir-fry until garlic and shallot turn golden brown.	6. Add ingredients B (curry leaves and kaffir lime leaves). Stir-fry leaves for 30 seconds.
7. Stir in the spice paste. Add water. Combine well.	8. Turn heat to high. Add clams and stir-fry for 3 minutes.	9. Add 1½ TBSP lime juice and chopped spring onion, toss to combine. Cover with lid and cook clams over high heat until fully open (open the lid to check and toss clams occasionally). Adjust the taste with extra lime juice, water or seasonings. Turn off the heat. Transfer kam heong lala into a serving platter. Garnish then serve hot.

Notes

How to choose clams: Healthy live clams are always unbroken and unopened. Ignore the soaking and parboil processes if you are using frozen cooked clams. Thaw frozen clams before use. Clams are cooked when fully opened. Black bean sauce can be replaced by oyster sauce and dark soy sauce to taste. You may remove sliced ginger, dried chilies and the leaves when you transfer kam heong lala to serving platter.

American Ginseng And Chicken Soup

Recipe: American Ginseng And Chicken Soup花旗参炖鸡汤

Serves: 2

Ingredients

Ingredients A 350g chicken (cornish game hen / silkie chicken) 600ml water Ingredients B 25g american ginseng（花旗参） 10g dried pilose asiabell root（党参） 20g radix astragali（北芪） 20g dried polygonthemum（玉竹） 5 red dates（红枣）

Ingredient C 20g goji berry（枸杞） Seasoning ¼ tsp. salt or to taste

Preparation
1. Cut chicken into serving size. Wash and rinse all the ingredients. Halve red dates or halve but do not cut through to the bottom.	2. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Scald chicken pieces and let simmer for 5 minutes over low heat. Drain. Rinse the chicken pieces with tap water and set aside.	3. Place a stoneware or claypot bowl (with lid) inside of a larger pot or wok by supporting the internal bowl with steammer rack if needed. Fill the internal bowl with 600ml boiling water. Fill the external one with boiling water touches about half level of internal bowl.
4. Add ingredients B into the internal bowl.	5. Add chicken pieces.	6. Cover the internal bowl with lid.
7. Cover the external pot with lid. Simmer over high heat for 30 minutes or until water in the external pot bubbles. Reduce heat to low and continue simmer for 1:30 to 4 hours.	8. Add ingredient C (goji berry).	9. Then season with salt. Let simmer over low heat for another 15 minutes. Turn off the heat. Serve hot.

Notes

For your convenience, you can put ingredients B and C to cook at the same time. I prefer to cook go ji berry for not longer than 20 minutes becuase I do not want them to turn discolour and torn after long hours cooking.