Stir fried rice noodle intact

How to fry rice stick noodles (rice vermicelli) without breaking? Have there been occasions when your noodles became too soggy or broken that they look more like fried rice than noodles?

If you can't find a brand that promises tough noodles, then try this method.

Soak dried rice vermicelli in warm (not hot) water for 10 minutes. One piece is enough to feed two to four persons depending on their appetite. In winter, you may need to soak the noodle in lukewarm water but ensure that the noodle remains firm and retains its integrity. If they are already soften before you start frying, there is a good chance of it being broken into pieces as you fry.

The ingredients are entirely up to you. If you like, they could be purely vegetarian : sliced carrots, mushrooms, cabbage, onion, sliced firm tofu, sweet soy skin, mustard green (choy sum), bean sprouts, etc. You may need to add more seasoning such as soy sauce, salt, pepper to perk up the taste of vegetarian noodle.

If your diet preference or observation permit, add meat : sliced chicken, pork, duck, prawn or combination. Season with oyster sauce.
Braised meat is tastier.


Be Patient!


Fry in batches even if you have a large wok.

Start off with frying the garlic and onions in cooking oil till fragrant.
Then the harder to cook vegetables such as carrot, cabbage, mushrooms.
Dish up and set aside.

Add some cooking oil to fry the meat, seafood, egg omelette separately and remove from heat.

Drain the soaked rice noodle and fry in hot cooking oil under medium heat to reduce sticking. Stir the noodle using chopsticks instead of a spatula for greater flexibility and to prevent the noodles from breaking up. Toss all the previously fried meat and vegetables and mix into the noodles evenly. Fry for another 2 to 3 minutes. Add more seasoning sauces if necessary. Turn off the heat and ready to serve. Add fresh and fried shallot according to taste.


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Rojak - tropical fruit and crispy salad with spicy shrimp dressing

The ultimate rojak that has everything in it.

The fruits : green mango (substitute with granny smith green apple if unavailable), pineapple, guava, starfruit, jambu (rose apple).

The vegetables : yam bean (turnip), cucumber, bean sprouts (optional & ensure that water is properly drained after steaming).

The grilled stuff : you tiao (fried dough sticks), tau pok (fried tofu puff), dried flattened cuttlefish.

The secret dressing : the must-haves are tamarind, sesame seed, shrimp paste, sweet sauce, ground fresh chilli, ground cooked dried chilli, etc ...
the others are for you to experiment and figure out. Adjust according to taste and take it easy as the sauce is rich and salty.

Put a medley of vegetable and fruit slices onto a serving plate or bowl. Mix well with the dark dressing. Sprinkle dried ingredients and toss the salad again. Ready to serve.

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Oyster Egg Pancake Chaozhou style - crispy or luak

Or Luak (pronounced : oh luark) is what many overseas Chinese whose ancestors originate in the southern coastal cities pine for. You may be able to get pretty good char kway teow and Hokkien noodles in restaurants all over the world but oyster pancake / omelette that is cooked to perfection are usually disappointing if they do offer this dish on the menu.

The most important criteria of a great tasting or luak pancake must be crispy on the outside. The omelette should be slightly fluffy and chock full of fresh succulent oysters. Never use canned, bottled or dried oysters!

SECRETS

1. Crispy Batter : a mixture of flours with water and coat the oysters evenly.

2. Egg : beat 4 to 6 free range eggs and season with a little salt.

3. Seasoning : pepper, fish sauce, oyster sauce, shaoxing wine.

4. Heat control : Alternate between high, moderate heat when frying the oyster, batter and egg mixture. Flip over and turn on to high heat to scorch the other side of the omelette.

Garnish with cut spring onion and coriander leaves.
Dip into pounded chilli paste made from ground fresh chilli and garlic and mix with vinegar and sugar.

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Siew Mai - taste the difference of homemade dim sim

A basic siew mai recipe from a Chinese chef has these ingredients : 300 g of minced meat (pork or chicken); quarter of a cabbage; wanton skin (with egg). Season with oyster sauce, soy sauce and pepper to taste.

Cabbage gives the dim sum a subtle sweet taste and adds crunch to the delicacy. I would add chopped shitake mushroom and minced prawn to create a breadth of tastes and aroma.

The real test is the cook's skill in stuffing the minced meat mixture and shaping them into cylindrical parcels at the same time. You must ensure that the morsels are flattened at the bottom to enable you to stand them neatly in the steamer.

My friend was worried I wasn't too confident if I was able to "make" them as I did not attend his demonstration. Not to be discouraged, I wanted to give it a go. The first few attempts were quite disastrous, producing funny shaped siew mai. However, after a handful of trial and error, the siew mai turned out looking what they should be. One will have to be skilful and trained to be able to make larger siew mai without the filling spilling out or the morsels getting out of shape.

It is much cheaper to make your own dim sum. You would probably spend about $1 per tiny siew mai at the yum cha restaurant but the cost of producing three large siew mai with quality filling is a small fraction of that. The recipe given above yields about 40 large siew mai.

You'll get the hang of it after some practice. Cooking this delicacy is not as dim as it seems.