Steamed Egg with Seafood Sauce

Steamed Egg with Seafood Sauce

steamed egg with seafood sauce

In Edinburgh I believe August must be every Edinburgh Chef’s worst nightmare. Edinburgh is an extremely busy city throughout the year but August brings the Fringe and Military tattoo festivals, which bring millions of tourists here every year. At the top of the Royal Mile, where both of the festivals take place is the entrance to the Witchery, the restaurant I work for. So, we are fully booked every night and there are always a million jobs that need to be done. (If you want to come to the Witchery, please make a reservation before you come to have meal, I beg you.)

After 3 days of really hard work in the kitchen, I just don’t have the motivation to cook a big meal so I I’ve recently been eating smaller and perhaps simpler dishes. I suddenly think about a dish that my mother usually cooked for my father and I after she came home from work. This dish is called Steamed eggs with Seafood . This seafood dish is really quick to cook and also really beautiful to look at. The most important thing is you can cook this dish within 30 minutes. Oh my!! It’s a great blessing for working mother and wife.

By the way, Do you still remember my last blog about our ceramic work?? Here is the final result photo of our ceramic works. We had great fun there and hope to go back to Doodle again soon. Personally made ceramic crafts could be a great souvenir to bring home if you visit Edinburgh.

Credits: Preparation photos were taken by myself but final photos were taken by Chris at Chris Radley Photography

picture frames

 

Steamed Egg with Seafood Sauce

Course Main Dish
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 2 people

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs
  • 6 prawns
  • 5 cooked mussels you can use any seafood you like including scallops or squids
  • 2 dried shiitake mushroms
  • 1/2 spring onion chop finely for garnish

Marinade for prawns

  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 pinch white pepper
  • 1/2 tsp potato starch
  • 1/4 tsp rice wine

Seasonings

  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp bonito powder (optional)
  • 1.5 cups water
  • 1/2 tsp oyster sauce
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 tsp potato starch
  • 1/4 tsp sesame oil
  • 1/2 tsp soy sauce

Instructions

  1. Soak dried shitake mushroom in the warm water for 5~10 minutes until it has softened and slice it.
  2. Wash prawns and dry. Mix with marinade for 5~10 minutes.
  3. Heat the 1 ½ cup water, salt, bonito powder in a pot until it’s hot but not boiling. Pour it into the beaten eggs and stir constantly when you’re pouring the seasoning into the eggs. Sieve the egg mixture into a bowl or deep plate and put half of seafood into the egg mixture. Cover the bowl with cling film and steam it for around 15 minutes to be done.
  4. Heat 1 teaspoon oil and stir fry the shitake mushroom, rest of the seafood and add oyster sauce, 1/2 cup water mixed with ¼ teaspoon potato starch, sesame oil, soy sauce. Bring it to boil and pour over steamed egg.

 

Deep Fried Prawn Rolls

Deep Fried Prawn Rolls

I went to a ceramic workshop call Doodles last week with Chris and where we both painted two items each. Doodles is a ceramics workshop where you can walk in, choose a pot, whether it’s a plate, bowl or whatever, and you paint it whatever colour(s) you want. I choose a cereal bowl and a small square plate and he choose a photo frame and a rectangle plate.

doodles marchmont

We both had a lot of fun and spent three hours in the workshop. Tomorrow is the day that we can bring our ceramic works back. We both can’t wait to see how’s our work turns out.

doodles marchmont
doodles marchmont

My job has been super tiring since the Fringe and Tattoo festivals started. We’re serving a much larger number of covers and everyone has been really stressed out. So, I decided to make this simple, quick but cheerful snack for one of our dinner dish tonight.

deep fried prawn rolls

This deep fried prawn/shrimp rolls dish is one of the famous street foods in Danshui. Danshui is a very popular tourism spot for Taiwanese people and foreigners so it’s always full of people. Danshui was the place that the Spanish arrived in Taiwan and they also built a castle called Santo Domingo in Danshui. The Spanish were however expelled from Taiwan by the Dutch in 1641 and the Dutch built a new fort on the same site as San Domingo, which is known today as Hongmao Cheng.

But the funny thing is when I told my Dutch and Spanish colleague about this part of history and they don’t know anything about it. And I’m the one who gave them a history lesson for them.  So here is this tasty and super easy Taiwanese deep fried prawn roll recipe for you.

Credit: Most of these photos were taken by Chris at: Chris Radley Photography

 

Deep Fried Prawn Rolls

Course Main Dish
Prep Time 30 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 24 prawn rolls

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 100 g pork loin including the fat, cut into dices
  • 12 raw prawns
  • 12 cooked prawns cut into small dice (I added the cooked prawns for a different texture)
  • 1 egg white
  • 2 thin slices ginger chop finely
  • 1 spring onion chop finely
  • 1 tbsp potato starch
  • 24 sheets spring roll pastry

Seasonings

  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1/2 tsp sugar

Instructions

  1. 1. Use a food processor to process raw prawn and pork loin until the texture turns quite finely without any big chunks.
  2. 2. Add all the ingredients and seasonings but not the cooked prawn into step 1 and use a spatula to mix it evenly.
  3. 3. Put half a tablespoon of prawn filling on the spring roll pastry and follow the procedure photos to roll it.
    how to make deep fried prawn rolls
  4. 4. Roll the pastry towards the opposite direction
    how to make deep fried prawn rolls
  5. 5. Use a little bit of egg wash to close the edge tightly
    how to make deep fried prawn rolls
  6. 6. Heat up some oil to deep fry the prawn. Oil temperature should be 160C. It’s ready to serve when the prawn roll turns into a pretty golden colour.

 

Singapore Noodle cooking class with politician

Singapore Noodle cooking class with politician

Today, I had an interesting cooking class. My student Robin Harper is a member of the Green Party and in turn a member of the Scottlsh Parliament (MSP) who is celebrating his 70th birthday (Happy Birthday, Robin!!!). How cool is that?! I never thought that one day I would have a chance to teach a British politician. I can’t believe a politician who has shook hands with the queen and has met the prime minister was in my kitchen this afternoon and listened to my directions for pouring in stock and adding soy sauce to the dish.

singapore noodle cooking class

It felt great when I saw him wolfing down both the Singapore noodles and steamed scallops he cooked in my kitchen. From the way he was eating them it looked like he really enjoyed both and has kindly offered to endorse us.

When he arrived I didn’t quite catch his job title but his wife explained who he was but I didn’t quite catch on. (How daft I am! 😀 What can I say? I’m not very good with English politics.) I’m really happy that I didn’t know he is a real politician before we start cooking or I probably will be too nervous or panic. 😀

singapore noodle cooking class

We cooked Singapore noodle and Steamed scallop today but I will only share this Singapore noodle recipe on my blog today with all of you. (Steamed scallop’s recipe will be on it’s way soon!!)

Singapore Noodle is another popular eastern dish in the UK and it has a rather strong flavour. The rice noodle has been marinated by turmeric powder and curry powder but you can choose a different kind of curry powder to marinade the rice noodle to your own personal preference.

The other interesting thing about this dish is this dish is actually not from Singapore. I have no idea where this dish originates from but it appears on many Chinese restaurants and take away menus. I kind of think Chinese people named this dish as “Singapore” noodle is because of the kind of spices used to marinade the noodles.

Credits: Photos were taken by Chris at Chris Radley Photography

singapore noodles

 

Singapore Noodle

Course Main Dish
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 2 people

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 3 bunches rice noodles
  • 1 piece chicken breast julienne it
  • 1 red pepper julienne it
  • 1 small carrot julienne it
  • 3 heads bok choi julienne it
  • 1 chili remove the seeds and chop finely
  • 2 cloves garlic chop finely
  • 2 thin slices ginger chop finely
  • 1 tsp dried shrimp

Marinade for chicken breast

  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp potato starch

Marinade for prawns

  • 1 tsp potato starch
  • 1 tsp rice wine
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Marinade for rice noodles

  • 1 tbsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder

Seasonings

  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 cup stock

Instructions

  1. Remove the skin from the chicken breast and julienne it. Marinade it with the seasonings for 15 minutes.
  2. Make a deep cut on the back of each prawn. Marinate with seasonings for 5 minutes. Stirfry it until the prawn turns to red colour and leave it to one side.
  3. Soak the rice noodles in warm water for 20 minutes to soften and then marinade the rice noodle with curry powder and turmeric powder for 20~30 minutes.
  4. Soak the dried shrimp in warm water 15 minutes to soften it and chop finely.
  5. Heat a wok with a couple tablespoons of oil and fry the garlic, ginger and chilli first then add chicken breast and carrot to stir-fry it until the chicken turn white colour.
  6. Add pepper and all the seasonings to the stir-fry then add the rice noodles.
  7. Using a spoon add small amounts of stock to the noodles and keep stir frying it at the same time until the rice noodles suck up all the stock.
  8. Add bak choi and prawn in the end and keep stir fry it until the bak choi is cooked.

 

Dragon Phoenix Leg

Dragon Phoenix Leg

dragon phoenix leg

My mother asked me yesterday “What are you going to cook for your blog this time?” I answered her “Dragon Phoenix Leg”. She immediately told me with a surprised voice “Ohh….That’s a great snack that I ate from childhood.

Dragon phoenix leg is a very important and unforgettable night market food for a lot of Taiwanese people.  It originates from those small fishing village around north coast of Taiwan. A long time ago, Taiwan was a very poor country but while one chicken only has two legs most families had more than two children, it’s never enough for children to eat. So, parents used a little bit of fish and pork with some vegetable to make this dragon phoenix leg snack for children. This dish looks a bit like a drumstick and so we entitled it Dragon Phoenix Leg.

The other story about dragon phoenix leg is back in the old times when Taiwanese parents tried to make their children eat carrot and cabbage they would entice them with chicken by making this dish.

No matter what’s the real story for this dragon phoenix leg. We can find out this dish is full of the love from parents who make or created this dish.

I changed the recipe a little so there’s no cabbage as Chris absolutely loathes cabbage so I used spring green in the filling. Spring green is also a kind of cabbage but tastes lest cabbage than normal cabbage of course.

These photos were taken by Chris at Chris Radley Photography

pig's caul

 

Dragon Phoenix Leg

Course Main Dish
Prep Time 50 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 10 dragon phoenix legs

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 220 g cod fillet or any kind of white meat fish
  • 25 g potato starch or corn flour
  • 70 g ice water
  • 1 tsp ginger chop finely
  • 60 g spring onion chop finely
  • 150 g pork belly mince it
  • 150 g pork loin mince it
  • 1/2 tsp garlic chop finely
  • 100 g carrots grate
  • 60 g spring greens shred finely
  • 1/2 onion chop finely
  • Some flour
  • Some pig's caul

Seasonings

  • 1.5 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1/4 tsp white pepper powder
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1/4 tsp Chinese five spice powder

Seasonings for Vegetables

  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil

Instructions

  1. Cut the cod fillet into small dices and use a food processor to process the fish until you can’t see any lumps in the fish.
  2. Add ice water, caster sugar and potato starch to a small bowl and mix them evenly with no lump. Mix it with fish from step 1.
  3. Wash your hands first and start to throw the fish mixture into a bowl around 20-30 times until the fish mixture gains some viscidity.
  4. Marinade vegetable with seasonings for vegetable for 30 minutes. After, use your hand to squeeze the water out of vegetable.
  5. Mix all the ingredients and seasonings together evenly.
  6. Use pig’s caul to wrap the mixture and place on a stick. Make the shape look like a drum stick.
  7. Coat the dragon phoenix leg with flour. Heat up 3 cups of oil with full gas power to deep fry it. Once you put 2 or 3 dragon phoenix legs into the oil turn off the gas immediately. Turn the gas back on to lowest temperature after 1 minute. (This ensures the inside of this dish is cooked but the outside remains a pretty colour.) Keep deep frying it at the lowest gas power for 3~5 minutes until it is cooked from inside to out.

 

Raspberry Snowflake Cake

Raspberry Snowflake Cake

There are couple things that have made me feel very happy recently. The first thing is my head chef asked me for the Peking duck recipe for the new dish on our restaurant menu. The second thing is Lisa from http://www.koreanamericanmommy.blogspot.com follow my recipe and made her first “three cup chicken” and it turned out really awesome. Here is her blog about this three cup chicken: http://koreanamericanmommy.blogspot.com/2010/07/chef-liv-wans-chinese-three-cup-chicken.html

I feel so proud and also super happy. I wish people who visit my blog can enjoy my recipe and have fun in the kitchen. That’s the greatest thing to me. I feel really honour that my head chef asked the recipe from me and I wish my recipe help him a bit with the new dish. This is the two thing make me feel really happy and I share my happiness with you who is reading this post at moment and wish you have a great day.

Now, It’s the time for the recipe of the day. I’m going to share this Chinese dessert recipe with you. My colleague asked me if there any popular Chinese or Taiwanese desserts? Yes, of course there are a lot of desserts in both China and Taiwan. But I have to say they are different from desserts that are popular in the UK. Here is an example dessert that I share with you today.

raspberry snowflake cake

When the first time I read about this dessert’s name I just fall in love with it. How cute is the name? I guess the name snowflake comes from the layer of coconut powder that actually looks a bit like a snowflake.

Raspberry snowflake cake tastes a little bit sweet and sour and the most important thing is this dessert has to be eaten in cold. You must eat it immediately after taking it out from fridge.

These photos were taken by Chris from Chris Radley Photography

 

Raspberry Snowflake Cake

Course Main Dish
Prep Time 30 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 2 people

Ingredients

A

  • 50 g rasberries
  • 450 g water
  • 180 g caster sugar
  • 200 ml milk
  • 50 ml double cream
  • 5 leafs gelatine

B

  • 120 g potato starch
  • 100 ml water
  • coconut powder

Instructions

  1. Cook raspberry, 450g water and caster sugar in a small sauce pan and bring it to boil. Keep whisk it while cooking to help sugar and raspberry dissolve.
  2. Soften gelatine in cold water. Add milk and double cream into step 1 and bring it to boil again.
  3. Turn off the gas and add gelatine into step 2 and keep whisk it to help to mix evenly.
  4. Mix potato starch and water evenly and add it into step 3.
  5. Pour the mixture from step 4. Into a long rectangle shape baking tray with baking paper in it. (Baking paper helps us to take out the snowflake cake easier later.) Put the snowflake cake into your fridge for 1 or 2 hours to help it form. Cover the snowflake cake with coconut powder and it’s ready to serve.