乱中有序。Skipping the meat on this version of chap chye. :)

• 
• Ingredients
•  8 large dried mushrooms
•  1 litre of water, or more if necessary
•  100g haebi or dried shrimp
•  10g dried black fungus or cloud ear fungus
•  10g dried golden lily buds
•  20g tung hoon or bean vermicelli
•  20g tau kee
•  2Tbs Cooking oil + 1 Tsp Sesame oil
•  2Tsp minced garlic
•  2 1/2Tbs tau cheo or fermented soyabean paste
•  1kg cabbage, washed and cut roughly into pieces
•  1Tbs concentrated chicken stock or 1 chicken cube
•  Salt to taste
•  Oyster sauce to taste

1. Wash the dried mushrooms and soak till reconstituted. Drain but keep the liquid (mushroom water) for use later. Cut the mushrooms into strips. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, soak the dried shrimp, black fungus, black moss, golden lily buds in separate bowls of water for about 10 minutes. Drain each item and set aside. Tie the lily buds into knots and trim the ends. Set aside.

3. Heat oil in a large wok on medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the minced garlic and dried shrimp and fry until fragrant.

4. Add the tau cheo and continue to fry.

5. Next, put in the cabbage. Add about 200ml of water. Cover and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring intermittently.

6. Add the mushroom water that you had set aside earlier, followed by the mushrooms, black fungus, tau kee and golden lily buds. Stir. Add just enough water to submerge most of the ingredients.

7. Add the concentrated chicken stock, salt and oyster sauce to taste.The vegetables should be cooked and soft, but not mushy. Bring this to a rolling boil then turn down to low heat before adding in the tung hoon. 

Happy cooking!

From my kitchen to yours,

Brenda x

This must be Confucius' Favourite dish. The eggplant that doesn't have any egg. 鱼香茄子但有没有🐠哦。

Ingredients

1 large brinjal, sliced into halves and then lengthwise
250g minced pork
Half a carrot, blanched.
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 sprig of spring onion, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon of (fermented beancurd) spicy bean paste
0.5 tsp of fish sauce
1 tbsp of oyster sauce
1 tsp of dark soya sauce
A squeeze of lemon
100 ml of water


Marinade for minced pork

1 tablespoon shaoxing wine
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp minced garlic

Cornstarch mixture

1 tablespoon cornflour
2 tablespoons water

Optional

Chopped spring onions
Sliced red chilli
1 tablespoon of chicken/ pork/fish floss

Method

Shallow fry brinjal slices. Heat three tablespoons of oil in the pan, place brinjal slices skin side down. After a few minutes, turn it on its side and repeat till all sides have been shallow fried. Set it aside on some kitchen towels to drain the oil.

Heat up the reserved oil and fry the remaining minced garlic with the white portions of the spring onion till fragrant.

Add in the minced pork and fry together with the spicy bean paste. Add the brinjal and blanched carrot slices. Stir fish sauce, oyster sauce, dark soya sauce and a squeeze of lemon into 100ml of water before pouring it over the ingredients in the pan. Give it a good mix to ensure that the sauce coats the ingredients evenly.

When it starts to bubble, turn the heat to low to let it simmer for 5 minutes. Then turn up the heat and thicken the gravy by stirring in cornstarch mixture to desired consistency.

Garnish as desired and serve hot with rice. Maybe two servings of rice. :)

From our kitchen to yours,

Brenda x

Edible Art : Garden of blooms x Osmanthus| Wolfberries| Waterchesnut Jelly

Ingredients

1 Pack Red Man Brand Konnyaku Premix Jelly Powder 
1200ml Water
4 tsp Osmanthus flower, remove petals from stems if any
1 heaped tablespoon of wolfberries, soaked 
8 waterchestnuts, peeled and diced

Method

Bring 1200ml of water in a pot to a rolling boil, and add in the osmanthus flower petals. Then simmer it on low heat for 2 minutes.

While on low heat, stir in the Konnyaku Jelly Premix till completely dissolved. Use a balloon whisk if you have one.

Then turn off heat and let it cool a little before transferring it to desired jelly mould. I used a regular square glass ceramic container. 

Give the solution a quick stir to spread out the osmanthus flower petals, wolfberries and diced chestnuts before chilling it in the fridge for at least 2 hours till firm before serving. 

From our kitchen to yours,

Brenda x