kaisen don 海鲜丼 

wife brought back fresh sashimi from hokkaido last week. we finished the uni, ikura etc & had some salmon, amaebi, ika & tako left..

i made my usual tamago. also added a fried iberico shabu with onions & yakiniku sauce. 👍

seafood donburi dinner

seafood donburi dinner 

all the good stuff…

salmon sashimi 

salmon was like lightly cured..would have prefered sashimi..

hotate & my tamago 

my tamago pretty good standard not too sweet. 🙂

hotate 

hotate was like so sweet & fresh….shiok!

ika 

ika was excellent too….

amaebi

amaebi 

amaebi or sweet prawns the usual good…

tako 

tako was pretty ok…

tako calamari 

& the calamari fritters were excellent!

fried iberico pork & onions

many greedy mouths in this family, so add iberico pork, no problem la!

kaisen don 海鲜丼

can’t stop thinking of eating a good kaisen don 海鲜丼 now!

c.h.e.f andy

pumpkin salad

made a sumptuous, delightful chorizo lobster valentine dinner for wife this evening on 14.2.2018. ^^

last year in 2017, i did a fine chinese/fusion valentine dinner. lobster in superior stock & mini pencai 盆菜 etc… 🙂

4pax valentine dinner

our newly wed daughter asked if she & her hubby could join dinner. i told her to ask my wife. i knew what the answer would be.

Valentine Dinner Menu

we had 4-5 dishes this evening for 4pax-

1 pumpkin salad
2 pan-seared hokkaido
3 teriyaki cod
4 chorizo lobster
5 paella mixta

later after dinner, daughter & her hubby shared with us what they had for the last few valentine day dinners, like some edible tomato pasta, some other not so edible stuff, finally graduating to a nice instant noodles last year…ie hoping to get themselves invited next year…lol! ^^

pumpkin salad

i made a nice pumpkin salad, my wife’s recipe. australian butternut squash (20mins in oven), with rockets & cherry tomatoes in extra virgin olive oil, balsamic & some agave nectar. refreshing & tasty,  simply excellent!

roasted miso cod & pan seared hokkaido scallops

roasted miso cod very good this evening, and nice, plump hokkaido scallops pan-seared… 🙂

roasted miso cod

firm, flaky, oily & flavourful, bits nicely charred, a whole dining experience, an excellent rendition of nobu miso cod! ^^

pan seared hokkaido scallops

the scallops were nicely pan-charred in a bit of gourmet butter, sea salt & black pepper. sweet, plump, tasty.

chorizo lobster

the highlight of the dinner was chorizo lobster.

i made a very good chorizo prawns, so it was just making a delightful tasting stock, with 12 slices of chorizo, whole bulb of browned garlic cloves in olive oil, sweet basil, white wine, intense chicken stock, and reduced to a very very tasty stock.

chorizo lobster

then added red pepper to add to the colours & taste, and lightly braised, steamed the lobster for few minutes so the right, bouncy texture, and just cooked. & then garnished with sweet basil.

a beauty to behold & an excellent tasting dish. ^^

paella mixta

paella mixta was very tasty with the intense stock, prawns, squid & pan-grilled chicken all added to the flavours for a very tasty dish.

it was not as good as the superb paella mixta i made recently for the 10pax tapas + pasta dinner for my RI budddies….

paella mixta

paella mixta 

still, looked nice enough, very tasty because of the stock, sotong were good, prawns were ok…

roasted miso cod 

for the dinner preparation, basically just my nobu miso cod recipe.

pan seared hokkaido scallops 

pan-seared hokkaido scallops with butter, seasalt, black pepper on a non-stick pan.

2 lobsters from phoon huat

2 small 370g frozen boston lobsters from phoon huat, cut in halves & pincers & legs shelled.

2 lobsters from phoon huat 

small but enough for 4pax, 1/2 lobsters + pincers each…

cooking chorizo lobster

just braised (steamed in covered pan) lightly for few minutes will do.

paella mixta (80% done) 

paella was 80% done, about 9mins in a 210degC oven..

basically olive oil, whole bulb of garlic cloves browned & softened, chorizo, 1/2 onion, whatever veg available (i used brocoli steams), a bit of salt, then added carnaroli rice to fry, then added intense chicken stock, boiled & place in oven with the green, red, yellow peppers on top. a bit of tumeric, 1/4tsp…

paella mixta (80% done) 

nice to look at..

pan roasted chicken thigh 

& i had browned chicken thighs to add.

paella mixta

when serving, add chicken stock, boil & reduce to cook the rice & cover the pan to steam the prawns & sotong.

c.h.e.f andy

OPS Bros + WW & WQ

made 6pax homecooked dinner with WM, WT, WW & WQ this evening on  9.2.2018. ^^

WW is living in shenzhen 8 yrs now, and the last time we visited HK & SZ on 10-14sep2017 he was the one who met us at shenzhen luohu & brought us around. WQ is WT’s second son studying in tokyo & returning singapore for CNY holidays.

we had-

1 claypot rice
2 spicy black bean sauce song fish head 豆豉松鱼头
3 hong steamed red garoupa 港蒸松鱼头
4 braised hock 香卤元蹄
5 tofu prawns 豆腐虾
6 fried brocoloi 炒芥蓝花

claypot rice

claypot rice was the usual great flavours…

braised hock 卤元蹄

braised hock 卤元蹄  was tender & flavourful.

braised hock 卤元蹄

i actually had trotters too, but when serving, the serving bowl tilted over, and i dropped the trotters. so threw them away. sayang!

usual HK steamed red garoupa 港蒸红斑

usual HK steamed red garoupa 港蒸红斑

HK steamed red garoupa 港蒸红斑 so easy to do & everyone always wonder at how fragrant in smell & taste the top quality light soy sauce delivers.

song fish head 松鱼头

song fish head 松鱼头

the spicy black bean sauce this evening was very good. all my friends commented. much better that what i made recently for 7pax OPS Bros dinner on 25.1.2018.

tofu prawns

tofu prawns was ok. tofu well infused. prawns texture perfect, bouncy, fresh & sweet.  very tasty stock.

garlic fried brocoli

WT did the brocoli while i took photos of the other dishes.

after dinner WM helped me with the dishes…

RI friends 10pax tapas + pasta home dinner

had a fun, delightful spanish tapas + pasta evening with my RI buddies on 5.2.2018. ^^ it was good to s OCH, now resident in california, who was visiting his parents over CNY.

i made 10 dishes.

Tapas
1 pumpkin salad
2 tortilla-spanish omelette
3 nobu miso cod
4 teriyaki salmon belly
5 miso belly pork
6 red wine pork ribs
7 chorizo prawns
8 grilled vegetables

Pasta
9 seafood “fiduea”
10 paella mixta
11 harold’s orange chocolate chip cake 🎂

HCK brought spanish red wine

HCK, a good friend during my sec1/2 days, now infrequent guest to my dinners, brought a nice spanish wine…

#1 – pumpkin salad

the first dish was a pumpkin salad. i prepared the aussie butternut squash the evning before, 20mins in 250degC oven, just the right texture, and marinated with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic & honey (didn’ have agave nectar)

i bought rockets from giant but they looked not fresh after spinning(to dry after wash), so aunty Bes got some rockets from my own pot. i added the cherry tomatoes & rockets when serving & added sea salt, oliv oil etc to taste..

#1 – pumpkin salad

a wonderful salad, great colours & a beauty to look at.

#1 – pumpkin salad

& great taste with the olive oil & honey.

#2 – tortilla (spanish omelette) + tamago (jap rolled egg omelette)

i did my usual tortilla or spanish omelette.

#2 – tortilla (spanish omelette)

simple & good, nice combination of potatoes, onions & egg.

#2 – tamago (jap rolled egg omelette)

i made a jap tamago rolled egg just as a counterpoint…always good..

tapas dishes

nobu miso cod & teriyaki salmon belly

nobu miso cod & teriyaki salmon belly

and nobu miso cod & teriyaki salmon belly ..

#3 – nobu miso cod

both are nice..some friends would like the cod better, some the salmon.

#4 – teriyaki salmon belly

& i served with dill, also form my garden…

#5 red wine pork ribs & #6 miso belly pork

for meats, i made red wine pork ribs & miso belly pork.

both were slow braised in 95degC oven for 6hrs. the red wine pork ribs ad a great marinade. the ribs were ok tender (can be better) and quite excellent with the marinade. TW thought the belly pork was more tender but he tasted the ribs again with the marinade & liked it too.

#6 – miso belly pork

the miso belly pork was flamed just before serving & very tender..& very nicely miso flavoured.

#7 – roasted vegetables 

& i had grilled vegetables – potatoes, brocoli, sweet corn, green & red peppers. a nice balance to the meat dishes.

#8 – chorizo prawns

TC was delayed as he had to be at the airport to see of some foreign worker who he had attended to. he arrived about 8.15pm.

we kept the tapas items on a plate for him, and went as plan with the hot tapas & pasta when he arrived.

chorizo prawns had really wonderful tasty chorizo flavours, and the prawns were done just right, fresh, bouncy, sweet.

#9 – paella mixta

the paella mixta was wonderful this evening, and such a beauty to the eye too.

paella was 80% done. when ready to serve, i added more chicken/prawn stock to cover the rice, then high fire to boil & low fire to cook the rice. then i added the marinated prawns & covered, and next the sotong & covered. so the prawns & sotong were steamed as the paella cooked. lastly added the pan-grilled chicken thigh as topping & garnished with coriander.

then serve! voila!

#9 – paella mixta

very tasty, flavourful paella. everything is in the stock!

#9 – paella mixta

paella texture was just right, al dente not mushy…prawns & sotong texture also perfect. chicken thigh was tasty if ordinary..

#10 seafood ‘fiduea’

& my last dish, a seafood “fiduea”. again it was the stock that did wonders…

very very tasty, flavourful fiduea, though i used broken up angelhair as proxy.

it looked like beehoon, but of course pasta has that special al dente texture & bite, not the soft beehoon texture..

rojak

LCM brought nice rojak, 2 packets x $6, with sauce in separate packets. nice rojak.

HT’s orange chocolate chip cake

& HT made a nice orange chocolate chip cake..

Hs orange chocolate chip cake

liked the cake.

after dinner, TW gave a useful short talk on yield investing, as we enjoyed HT’s cake 7 the strawberries LCH brought.

it was a wonderful evening with good friends. HT was at my place first time, OCH was visiting from california & HCK was infrequent at my dinners, so a great time to catch up with them as well.

c.h.e.f andy

4pax OPS bros dobburi dinner

made 4pax donburi dinner for my OPS bros today on 1.2.2018. ^^

dinner was only decided 10am this morning…these dishes didn’t need much preparations la… 🙂

donburi

i made the sushi rice, 2 cups for 4pax, and added 3 tbsp sushi vinegar. wife told me just take out the rice onto a large bowl & mix…donburi sushi rice doesn’t need to be taken hot..

the rice came out nicely, just the right vinegar flavours.

we had –

1. pan seared hokkaido scallops
2. teriyaki cod
3. braised belly pork + flamed miso belly pork
4. USDA prime ribeye steak
5. tamago
6. sushi rice

donburi dishes

i planned scallops, cod, belly pork & beef & also tamago.

donburi dishes

a rather nice gourmet spread, i might add. ^^

jap donburi dinner ingredients

hokkaido scallops

i bought the IQF frozen hokkaido scallops S$23.88 for 1kg from giant.

pan seared hokkaido scallops

pan seared quite nicely over butter on a non-stick pan…scallops must be bone dry…drizzled a bit sea salt.

pan seared hokkaido scallops

scallops were excellent, nicely seared, succellent, plump, sweet..

tamago – japanese rolled egg

i did the usual tamago japanese rolled egg omelette – 3 eggs, 2 tbsp mirin, 1.5tbsp tsuyu, 2tbsp water.

tamago – japanese rolled egg

came up nicely too.

tamago – japanese rolled egg

tamago – japanese rolled egg

it’s a good complement to the meat items…

teriyaki cod

there was no time to do my usual miso cod which required 3days marination in the chiller…

so i just added  <1tbsp flat sugar, 2tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp mirin, 2 tsp chopped garlic, 2cm chopped ginger & marinated for about 6 hrs.

then grilled 15mins in 250degC oven.

over grilled teriyaki cod

very tasty cod, done nicely, less firm than a 3 day marinated miso cod..a great dish

braised belly + flamed miso pork belly

i did the braised belly, & also miso belly 6hrs in 95degC oven.

braised pork belly

braised belly was marinated with sugar, light soy sauce & mirin. & miso belly with miso.

flamed miso pork belly

for the miso belly, i flamed it also with a torch. it was more flavourful than the braised belly.

grain fed black angus ribeye

i had a USDA prime ribeye at S$67/kg from QBfoods. this piece should be about 300g+

grain fed black angus ribeye

the USDA prime steak was excellent!

grain fed black angus ribeye

very sweet, tasty, no residue.

grain fed black angus ribeye

all my friends loved the steak & the donburi dinner.

WT’s pineapple tarts & almond cookies

WT gave me a bottle of pineapple tarts & almond cookies.

i love both both of them, took too much last year also, & now.

we had a great evening. after dinner, wash-up and some chit chat, we decided to go out for some dessert – bingsu!

c.h.e.f andy

7pax 鸦片鱼头dinner

we had 7pax home dinner this evening with OPS bros, LH, & J on 25.1.2018. wife also joined dinner. missing M& CH2.

My OPS bro WT returned from shanghai 2 weeks ago.  he brought back 桂鱼&鸦片鱼头（not available in singapore) & gave me 1 large 桂鱼& 2 鸦片鱼头.

i went with sis & bil to hong kong 14-18jan2018, so when i got back, i arranged for dinner at home to enjoy the 桂鱼&鸦片鱼头 from shanghai.

葱焖鸦片鱼头scallions baked flatfish head – the best!

I did first time 葱焖鸦片鱼头..this the best!!👍, recreating shanghai old jessie’s signature dish..i like this best!

葱焖鸦片鱼头scallions baked flatfish head – the best!

there were a lot of food, so i cooked only 1 鸦片鱼头. the next day i did the same 葱焖鸦片鱼头scallions baked flatfish head for my family 5pax dinner. wife, son & JH all loved it…it was just so good!

葱焖鸦片鱼头scallions baked flatfish head – the best!

鸦片鱼头 has meat texture like flaky cod, and fish head bone texture like salmon head softbones. the scallions flavoured the fish & was itself very tasty with the best grade light soy sauce. the sauce marinade was similar to the usual hong kong steamed marinade, with 3 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp olive oil, squeezed some lime & baked at 250degC for 10mins.

baking gave a firmer, drier texture than steaming & more intense flavours with less liquid.

桂鱼 mandarin fish

also did first time a butterfly fan cut steamed 桂鱼.

& it was quite excellent..just that for me the 葱焖鸦片鱼头scallions baked flatfish head  was even better!

excellent 桂鱼 mandarin fish dish

i usually do hong kong steam in one go, lazy to steam the fish separately.

for this 桂鱼 mandarin fish i was uncertain if it was very fishy so i decided to steam separately as i did for the cheap 鲈鱼 ( 桂鱼 mandarin fish of course a much better fish).

as i butterflied & fan cut already, so i just steamed for 8mins. it was a large fish maybe 800g+ so would have done about 11mins otherwise.

i steamed with ginger & some shaoxing wine, and some chopped scallions, then removed the fish & disposed of the liquids.

then i fried ginger & cut chilli padi, and leek in 2 tbsp olive oil & added 3 tbsp light soy sauce. & poured the sauce over the fish. then rearrange the sliced ginger & leek etc & added the scallions.

it was really an excellent dish..

claypot rice 沙煲饭

claypot rice 沙煲饭

did my usual claypot rice 沙煲饭 . always good this, very flavourful, with tender chicken, nice pork & live sausage from hong kong & wonderful smokey flavours with salted fish.

song fish head 松鱼头

song fish head 松鱼头

did also the usual spicy black bean sauce song fish head 松鱼头.

WM said it was overwhelmed by the 桂鱼&鸦片鱼头, and the dish would go better with plain rice. anyhow i think this evening the sauce was not as good as my usual.

lar pok – crispy lard

lar pok – crispy lard went especially well with the song fish head 松鱼头 . 🙂

braised pig trotters korean jogbal style

braised pig trotters korean jogbal style

i did the braised pig trotters korean jogbal style. also similar to the 酱猪蹄 at七宝 in shanghai or at 老街in 深圳.

LH said it was very tasty. the texture was meant to be crunchy. i liked it but i like my usual softer tender 元蹄texture more.

light soy sauce steamed minced pork

light soy sauce steamed minced pork was the usual & quite a favourite dish too. light soy sauce is truly a god send, does wonders for every dish…

romaine lettuce油麦菜

WT did the romaine lettuce油麦菜, very nice indeed!

a really wonderful dinner with dear friends…i especially enjoyed the airflown 桂鱼&鸦片鱼头 from shanghai.

c.h.e.f andy

chirashi don 海鲜丼

wife made chirashi don 海鲜丼 again this evening on 4.1.2018. ^^

we had hotate, tako, amaebi, salmon & tamago…

chirashi don 海鲜丼

a very good chirashi don!

hokkaido scallops

hotate that wife brought back from hokkaido were delicious, very sweet, plump, frresh.

hokkaido scallops

so good with the sushi rice.

my own tamago

this evening i made 2 tamago rolls.

my own tamago

very simple – 3 eggs, 1 tbsp mirin, 1.5tbsp tsuyu2tsp sugar, 3 tbsp water.

soak kitchen towel in oil & wipe non-stick pan & cook layer by layer…

salmon mayo sushi

wife also bought some salmon may sushi.

very quick & simple meal at home with family…today we did not want to eat too heavy a meal, so it was light & simple.

c.h.e.f andy

kaisen don

wife & son back from skiing in hokkaido today on new year eve 31.12.2017. ^^

& brought back uni, ikura, hotate, ika, tako etc.

wife said “make tamago” so i made tamago… ^^

happy new year!

a happy new year eve family gathering…

we were 7pax…aunty bes not yet returned from philippines…son brought a friend..

kaisen don

the hotate were so good…..so sweet, tasty, succulent!

& wife made nice vinegared sushi rice…

kaisen don

kaisen don

& uni…so good, so fresh & sweet!

my tamago too, good stuff!

ika

& there’s ika…very nice with the scallion vinegar sauce provided.

tako

& tako…

i always like ika better than tako though..

tamago

tamago was easy to make..3eggs, 1tbsp mirin, 1.5tbsp tsuyu, 2/3tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp water or stock.

then soaked kitchen towel in oil, wipe the non-stick pan, and layer…one layer…next layer..

chorizo prawns linguine

kaisen don not enuf for greedy bunch.

so i made 2 pasta.

first, chorizo prawn linguine…browned garlic, fried chorizo in olive oil with chilli padi & sweet basil, added white wine & tasty stock, then tossed linguine…

chorizo prawns linguine

very tasty pasta, and chilli padi gave the kick.

but chorizo flavours did not stand out, maybe need to add more sliced chorizo, maybe should add prawn stock to chicken stock…

chorizo prawns linguine

still, a very tasty pasta by any other reference…

seafood fiduea

they all liked the seafood fiduea..

eldest daughter tried this dish for the first time…of course i did not have fiduea, just using cut angelhair as proxy…

seafood fiduea

it’s a bigger portion for 8pax, so harder to manage the amount of stock vs pasta to maintain the infused flavours & keep the pasta cooked & al dente…so not as tasty as my previous smaller servings…

the angel hair took quite a bit longer to cook than when it was small serving…prawns were precooked 70% & added at the end so pretty well managed…still managed to get the al dente & cooked, stock infused angel hair.

son flamed usda prime steak

son tested out the sous vide machine…2 hrs at 54.5degC, then flamed.

somehow it was more than medium rare? maybe needed to have a thicker cut…

not as good as the same usda prime steak i made recently just simply pan-grilled.

son flamed usda prime steak

still a good tagliata di manzo presentation…we had a second steak w/o the salad base..

my flamed lamb chop

my flamed lamb chop

& to complete the sous vide experimentation, i threw in a lamb chop, same 54.5degC for 2hrs & flamed…

turned out to be a very nice lamb, with no gamey taste…

a very fun & memorable new year eve family dinner.

c.h.e.f andy

5pax dinner dishes

we have a friend couple KH & LL who helped us a lot when we were younger, long time friend since 1990.

recently we connected up again, and they came by for a quiet dinner, just 4 of us & my son joined in dinner so 5pax.

claypot chicken rice 

i made the simple & nice dishes – claypot rice, tofu prawns, steamed minced pork, wine chicken & HK steamed red garoupa & a fried vegetable.

claypot chicken rice

claypot chicken rice was the usual very flavourful, well smoked, very tender chicken, flavourful pork & liver sausages from hong kong…a very delicious claypot rice dish.

claypot chicken rice

my friends really enjoyed this claypot rice.

steamed minced pork with light soy sauce

i made my usual steamed minced pork with light soy sauce.

this evening though, my light soy sauce was not the best grade. it was darker, and flavour made a difference.

anyway still a smooth, very tasty dish. just that a top grade light soy sauce would have made quite a big difference in flavour.

tofu prawns 

my tofu prawns had very tasty stock, nicely infused tofu & succulent prawns.

i stirred in the egg a bit early. so the look was less attractive w/o the drawn out egg after reheating when friends arrived for dinner. have to do this when just about to serve the dish…

tofu prawns

otherwise, it was still a very tasty dish.

wine chicken 

i made the usual wine chicken – recipe here – which everyone liked.

chicken very tender & tasty & stock was marvellous.

i also had a hk steamed red garoupa. didn’t take phot as it was served later during the dinner.

had really great evening with our friends, sharing & memories. will do this again soon. ^^

c.h.e.f andy

4pax RI bro lunch

JLKY, LKH, TCH came by for lunch..

We had-

1 HK styled claypot rice 
2 steamed minced pork with lifgt soy sauce
3 white braised belly pork
4 scallions baked salmon fish head 葱焖三文鱼头
5 fried romaine lettuce 油麦菜

HK claypot rice 香港沙煲饭

i cooked the HK claypot rice 香港沙煲饭 as it is easier than claypot chicken rice – no chicken to prepare, just add pork & hong kong liver sausage..

HK claypot rice 香港沙煲饭

an important addition for this is the drizzling sauce. this the sauce they used at dimsum places to add to steamed rice like 凤爪排骨饭 or 粉肠. i did not have recipe but i gazak something similar which i had used many times.

just 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 6 tbsp water… 

while claypot chicken rice would be much tastier by comparison, the pork & especially liver sausage flavours stood out in this simple HK claypot rice 香港沙煲饭 , very “pang” ie fragrant…

white belly pork 白腩肉

i got the texture right, but flavours so so, as i did not braise in the sauce & only added the sauce afterwards..limited taste..

minced pork

steamed minced pork with light soy sauce

steamed minced pork with light soy sauce a very simple, and really tasty dish, the fragrance of top quality light soy sauce…

salmon fish head

i got the salmon fish head for just S$3 at sheng shiong.

it was a good opportunity to test the scallion baked fish head, like the very good 葱焖鸦片鱼头 at老吉士in shanghai.

scallions baked salmon fish head

i added light soy sauce, olive oil & mirin (the last i shouldn’t have), then added the scallions & pinned them down with bamboo skewers, and baked in the 250degC oven for 15mins.

scallions baked salmon fish head

scallions baked salmon fish head

the result was ok. it’s like any good tasting fish head, nothing special, not quite the result i was looking for.

i think my recent scallion baked seabass experiment was better!

looking at the photos, perhaps today’s was too wet, so did not achieve the baked but instead more like steamed fish head…so maybe no mirin & drier if i would experiment again.

after lunch we set off for amk again. i bought the bosch vaccum hose this time. after went for coffee at teck huat amk.

c.h.e.f andy

#1 白斩鸡 chicken rice chicken 

had 10pax homecooked dinner with RI makan kakis…i made 8 dishes –

#1 白斩鸡 chicken rice chicken 

#2 lor arh -braised duck

#3 braised hock 元蹄

#4 족발酱猪蹄chilled trotters

#5 (sio bak – JLKY brought)

#6 (big & small intestines – doc brought)

#7 steamed minced pork with light soy sauce

#8 chinese herbal mutton soup

#9 spicy black bean sauce steamed song fish head 松鱼头, topped with crispy lard

#10 fried cuttlefish & kang kong in gimson nonya sauce

==========================

this the second time i cooked for this group of RI makan kakis.

the last eat together we had was 8.9.2017 when WCM was visiting from london…

it was a very enjoyable evening & camaraderie

DP returned to bangkok & GCG could not attend..

#1 白斩鸡 chicken rice chicken 

i made 白斩鸡poached chicken with chicken rice & chilli etc…

#1 白斩鸡 chicken rice chicken 

very smooth & tasty & chilli was good.

rice was very fragrant, fried with chicken fat, ginger, shallots & cooked with intense chicken stock.

braised duck & 白斩鸡

this time i made a braised duck also.

#2 lor arh -braised duck

this was easy to make using tai hua braising sauce, adding cinnamon bark, star anise, cloves, and whole bulb of garlic cloves.

duck was braised & steamed for 1hr 10mins, to get the flavourful braise infused in the duck & a moist, tender texture.

#2 lor arh -braised duck 

#2 lor arh -braised duck 

a flavourful, tender duck.

kept a drumstick quarter for wife

wife not joining dinner this evening, so i kept a drumstick quarter for her.

#3 braised hock 元蹄 & trotters

i made braised hock 元蹄 (upper part) and trotters (lower part).

#3 braised hock 元蹄

actually i just used the braise for the duck. lol!^^

it was very tasty. just the right gelatinous skin texture & the lean meat was tender, moist and not old. that is important as if over-braised the lean parts become old & not tender or moist.

#4 족발酱猪蹄chilled trotters

i experimented with jogbal 족발, the korean chilled trotters which is sold all over shenzhen & shanghai also.

#4 족발酱猪蹄chilled trotters

i thought it was quite the correct texture. it was a more crunchy bite c/w with gelatinous braised hock 元蹄 texture… so by comparison not as laku as the latter. 🙂

#5 JLKY brought sio bak

JLKY brought the sio bak he made himself, so deserving highlight.

he brought twice before to my makans. those were made by the helper.

anyway CCG attested to the good taste, as we were left with a much shrunken portion at the dinner table after his food tasting.

#6 doc brought big & small intestines

doc brought very good big &small intestines. did not get the name of the shop. ask him next time. quite perfect both texture & taste, and no smell…

#7 steamed minced pork with light soy sauce 

the steamed minced pork with light soy sauce was a dish i recreate after a daipaidong meal during my previous hong kong trip, at minsheng daipaidong 民声冰室 on 23.2.2017.

with top quality light soy sauce, this simple dish was quite delicious, smooth minced pork (with cornflour  & olive oil added), and superb light soy sauce fragrance.

#8 chinese herbal mutton soup 

this the second time i made chinese herbal mutton soup , and it was as good as my first time.

only that this time i did not have the longer 2.5″ ribs, only 1.5″ ribs. made a difference for me. i like the longer ribs.

#8 chinese herbal mutton soup

CL was going to donate the ribs in his bowl. he generally avoided mutton becos of the smell.

this one though, he discovered no smell got flavour and quite perfect tenderness (6hrs in 95degC oven). the soup, which was just tai seng kong bkt soup sacket base added large red dates, lots of thin julienned ginger, whole bulb of garlic cloves & coriander, with wolfberries at the very last, was very smooth, tasty & flavourful.

#9 spicy black bean sauce steamed song fish head 松鱼头 

i prepared 2 fish dishes.

first was a spicy black bean sauce steamed song fish head 松鱼头.

lar pok – crispy lard for song fish head 松鱼头

this reproduced my favourite prepartion (by hk street chun kee clumpy black bean sauce song fish head 松鱼头) at commonwealth crescent food centre. & i topped the dish with lar pok – crispy lard.

LYF took apart the entire head.

as there were enough food, with the addition of JLKY’s sio bak & doc’s big & small intestines, the guys said no need to go ahead with the HK steamed garoupa, which was ready for the steamer.

#10 fried cuttlefish & kang kong in gimson nonya sauce

the final dish was  fried cuttlefish & kang kong in gimson nonya sauce.

everyone liked the nonya sauce special flavours, as with the last dinner where GCG commented. HK had the dish right in front of him & that was his first & last & favourite dish for the evening.

for myself it was my chinese herbal mutton soup.

grapes

champagne jelly

the friends brought the grapes, red wine & HK the veuve cliquot widow special brew….

must highlight tai kor LCM’s effort to make the champagne jelly for the first time…texture was a bit firm..LYF made an interesting comment & finished the jelly, so tai kor was mightily impressed. we all knew who didn’t finish…lol! ^^

great fun, even as i looked back & relished the memories as i blogged. one among us in hospital. just yesterday i received another bad news….we know what is important to us at this time in our life journey…having such great time together & treasuring our friendship & fond memories.

c.h.e.f andy

6pax RI bros home steamboat dinner

did a steamboat dinner for my RI bros on 27.11.2017. ^^

wanted to let them try the shenzhen style 沙茶酱捞阳春面 served with 猪杂汤…decided to just do it steamboat style..no seafood so more of 陆上捞田里捞haha!😂

For my OPS buddies maybe will do 海底捞with seafood..not everyone like pig organs la 😂😎

6pax RI bros home steamboat dinner 

i had a good spread of meat & vegetables.

steamboat items 

shitake mushrooms

there’s shitake, abalone mushrooms, shimeji & enoki mushrooms.

steamboat items 

also had couple cooked dishes. here i had saliva chicken 口水鸡.

iberico & normal pork collar 

there was iberico shabu shabu pork, and also a cheap thinly sliced pork collar (like 25% price).

iberico pork was excellent…surprisingly the pork collar was very good, considering the price.

pig kidney 

pig liver & spleen 

i had quite a bit of organs – kidney, liver, spleen, heart

minced pork balls 

& i made some meatballs myself…

cheese tofu & egg tofu 

both the egg tofu & cheese tofu were nice addition, in small amount. you don’t need too much of those.

lettuce

spinach 

i had lettuce & spinach.

阳春面 

the 阳春面 tossed in 沙茶酱 & taken with pig organ soup was what i wanted my RI bros to try out at first..it then became a steamboat.

making saliva chicken 口水鸡

saliva chicken 口水鸡 

& i made saliva chicken 口水鸡. first poached 1/2 chicken then added the mala sauce with fish sauce mix.

saliva chicken 口水鸡 

it was a nice dish, though i had done better recently & my friend CL also commented.

pig’s tongue

pig’s tongue tossed with 沙茶酱 

had some pig’s tongue also which i tossed with the  沙茶酱. nice!

pig organ soup 

i made 6 bowls individual soup portions.

needn’t have bothered. additional work & it was better in any case for each to do himself while taking the steamboat.

low temp braised belly pork

braised belly pork 阳春面with沙茶酱

& i braised the belly pork to recreate the braised belly pork 阳春面with沙茶酱 shenzhen style dish. c/w with the shenzhen dish below!

braised belly pork noodles with 沙茶酱 with pig organs soup @ 深圳东贝爱面科学馆

the braised belly pork noodles with 沙茶酱  with pig organs soup @ 深圳东贝爱面科学馆 was really good! 

沙茶酱 with chopped scallions & celery 

for steamboat i added another sauce – goma sauce, which was a very good dip.

braised belly pork 阳春面with沙茶酱

the braised belly pork 阳春面with沙茶酱 shenzhen style was very good, especially the sauce.

i had practiced this on my OPS bro WM few days back. ^^

the steamboat – is like any steamboat a pretty nice communal dining. the organs were fresh & the meat were nice & sweet & very good complement of vegetables & mushroom, so a quite complete steamboat.

the singel bowl preparation of pig organ soup &  阳春面 was a bit of tedious work & not really necessary, so i did not do that when my OPS buddies came subsequently for seafood 海底捞hotpot dinner.

c.h.e.f andy

2 steamed 鲈鱼

sis & bil came for lunch & dinner today on 24.11.2017. ^^

沙茶酱阳春面

I made some 沙茶酱捞阳春面 for lunch, same as what i did for my OPS bro WM yesterday.

2 steamed 鲈鱼 + fried spinach

for dinner i made 清蒸鲈鱼..& the leftover pig organs soup. ^^

recently in shanghai, we were treated to 鲥鱼 quite a few times…it was like 1/2 fish for RMB360, like S$75…

& there it was like a must eat dish…i quite like it, though they added sugar & it was a bit sweet in my opinion…but to pay S$75 for 1/2  鲥鱼, not quite my cup of tea after a first must try…

2 鲈鱼 from sheng shiong for S$3.90

2 鲈鱼 from sheng shiong for S$3.90

i bought 2 鲈鱼from sheng shiong $3.90..

this of course is a cheap fish. i wanted to use this to experiment making the 鲥鱼 dish, also a river fish with many tiny bones, and sweet.

2 steamed 鲈鱼

i googled online recipe for  鲥鱼…

the only distinctive part of the preparation i think was steaming the fish separately & leaving out the broth…

this of course quite a common method just that normally i don’t do that for my other steam fish preparation.

this cheap 鲈鱼 being quite fishy…it makes sense to do that…

i steamed for 8mins (about 600g+ for 2 鲈鱼)

 

for the sauce, i used my usual 2-3tbsp light soy sauce, 2tbsp olive oil & 2tbsp mirin…i had sliced ginger & uncut chilli padi which i fried first in the olive oil. can also add chopped garlic. then added the other light soy sauce & mirin. off fire & added the celery for garnishing.

then poured the hot sauce over the steamed 鲈鱼 and arranged the ginger pieces & the celery garnishing.

2 steamed 鲈鱼

this preparation in my view very much approximates 鲥鱼…

sweet, tender, lots of bones like鲥鱼but no sugar added..quite excellent taste for very cheap fish👍

pig organs soup

pig organs soup

we had the usual fried spinach. and the leftover pig organ soup with kidney, liver, pork balls & sliced pork.

quite an excellent dinner for 3pax, haha!

c.h.e.f andy

沙茶酱捞阳春面with pig organ soup

after our very fun OPS bros HK/Shenzhen trip 10-14.9.2017, i had wanted to try out the wonderful 沙茶酱捞阳春面with pig organ soup WW (WT’s brother working/living in Shenzhen) brought us to eat at out first stop in SZ. ^^

this time i broiught back 3 bottles of 沙茶酱 from 田子坊 street stalls in shanghai, so my OPS bro WM dutifully came by to be the first guinea pig on 23.11.2017. 🙂

belly pork noodles

the braised belly pork noodles with 沙茶酱  with pig organs soup @ 深圳东贝爱面科学馆 was really good! 

沙茶酱捞阳春面shenzhen style

沙茶酱捞阳春面with pig organ soup

it shouldn’t be difficult to make. pig organ soup quite standard. i got kidney, liver, heart, spleen, sliced pork, and mined pork balls. i had tasty chicken stock this time but anchovies stock will also do.

braised belly pork 卤腩肉

i made some braised pork also.

excellent texture & very nice indeed with the 沙茶酱, nicer than it looks in the photo above la!

沙茶酱捞阳春面shenzhen style

& the 阳春面 went very well with 沙茶酱

沙茶酱捞阳春面shenzhen style

quite perfect really & almost same as the Shenzhen noodles we had.

WM said on FB later – Good standard. Very closed to the Shenzhen original i must say. I enjoyed again no doubt.

pig organ soup

my pig organ soup was just as sweet & tasty but a bit mirky, not 清。

subsequently i shabu ie blanched the organs separately & added the soup, to get a nice clear soup appearance.

沙茶酱with scallions & celery

& i made chopped scallions & celery to add to the 沙茶酱.

very nice lunch indeed, reminiscing our breakfast at Shenzhen.

MSW at ah seng durians

MSW at ah seng durians

after lunch, WM bought MSW at ah seng in ghim moh.

this time really creamy & sweet, one slightly bitter, much better than the early MSW we had couple weeks back.

MSW at ah seng durians

MSW at ah seng durians

MSW at ah seng durians

a wonderful durian moment after a good lunch.

ah seng durians

not much queue today. so WM went to packet some more MSW to bring back.

c.h.e.f andy