Ma-Po Tofu

Ingredients:-
- 1/2 lb ground pork
- 1 box fresh tofu (regular or firm.) Cut in to 1/2 inch cube.
- 3 oz Hot Bean Sauce
- 1 tbs garlic, minced.
- 1 tbs ginger, minced.
- 3 green onion, chopped fine.
- Non-stick oil spray (i.e. Pam)

Preparation:
1) Spray non-stick oil spray in wok. Sauté garlic, ginger and ground pork.

2) Add tofu, stir well. Cook until tofu is hot.

3) Add hot bean sauce and water, mix well. Bring to boil.

4) Turn off heat, add green onion. Mix well.

5) Serve hot with steamed rice.

Taiwanese Stewed Ground Pork

Ingredients:
- 650 gm ground pork (preferably with lots of fat)
- 1/3 cup sliced shallot
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup chinese rice wine
- 6 cups water
- 1/4 cup cooking oil
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 star anise
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (or more to suit your taste)

Preparation:
1) Heat oil, saute chopped shallot and garlic until fragrant

2) Add star anise and ground cinnamon, stir well

3) Add in ground pork and stir quickly to break the meat into small bits.

5) Add soy sauce, sugar and rice wine, once the meat has changed color. Pour six cups of water and cover the pan, let it simmer for 2,5-3 hours.

Honey Dew and Sago Dessert

Ingredients:
- 1 bowl of cubed honey dew
- 1 tablespoon of sago
- 5 tablespoons of sugar
- 3 pieces pandan (screwpine) leaves tied to a knot
- Evaporated milk
- Water

Preparation:
1) Chill honey dew cubes in the fridge.


2) To prepare sugar syrup, bring to boil 3 bowls of water in a pot. Add pandan leaves and sugar. Stir until sugar has completely melted. Allow to cool to room temperature. Then remove pandan leaves and chill sugar syrup in the fridge.


3) To prepare sago, place sago in a strainer (like this). Bring water to boil in a pot. Get ready another big bowl with cold / iced water. Place strainer into pot and boil the sago whilst stirring the sago with chopsticks or fork. Once sago has turned semi-translucent, bring strainer over the bowl of cold water and stir the sago through the cold water so as to prevent clumping. Bring back sago into the boiling water and boil for another 2 to 3 minutes. By now, at least 50 to 70% of sago should be translucent. Some prefer fully translucent sago which requires longer boiling time. Some prefer semi-translucent sago. I shall leave it up to you on this. Remove sago from boiling water and place in cold water (with the sago still inside the strainer) until you need to serve them.


4) To serve, combine about equal amount of honey dew cubes and sago in a bowl. Add sugar syrup and evaporated milk to your liking.

Imitation Shark Fin Soup

According to Wikipedia in Chinese, many hawkers started selling this soup on street many years ago. Initially they sold genuine shark fin soup in early days as they could buy broken parts of shark fins from restaurants. Then they cooked shark fins with dried black fungus, egg and water chestnut flour. It’s widely accepted by Hong Kong people. The soup was sold in little bowls. So it’s called碗仔翅 in Chinese Cantonese (literally translated into English that is “Shark Fin Soup in Little Bowls”).
Nowadays, the hawkers use cellophane noodles instead of genuine shark fin simply because no restaurants would do so anymore as the price of shark fins has been growing up. Thus, Imitation Shark Fin Soup has come into place. People still love this imitated version, as it tastes delicious, not expensive and easy to prepare.

Ingredients:
- 50 gm skinless chicken breast
- 50 gm lean pork, shredded
- 20 gm Chinese black mushroom, soaked at least 4 hours until soften
- 30 gm cellophane noodles（粉絲or called “glass noodles”）
- 8-10 pieces of dried black fungus (黑木耳 or called "cloud ear" 雲耳or "wood ear" 木耳.)
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 2 cups unsalted chicken broth
- 2 cups water
Seasoning:
- 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
- a dash of sesame oil
- white pepper, to taste
- salt, to taste
Thickening:
- 2 Tbsp water chestnut flour
- 4 Tbsp water
Preparation:
1) Soak black mushrooms, dried black fungus and cellophane noodles separately until soften and drain well.

2) Remove the hard stems of black mushrooms (you can save the stems to cook other Chinese soups if you like), cut into small strips. Trim the dried black fungus. Section cellophane noodles. Set aside.
3) Shred chicken breast and pork into thin strips.
4) Bring chicken broth and water to the boil. Add chicken, pork, black mushroom, dried black fungus and cook for a while until all ingredients are cooked through and softened.

5) Add cellophane noodles and seasoning. Add salt to taste.

6) When it boils again, stir in thickening and beaten egg, mix well. Remove from heat. Use a small bowl to serve!

Fried Bee Hoon with Stewed Pork Ribs

Beehoon can be cooked dry or in soup or even in light sauce. It is very commonly cooked in Malaysia and Singapore. The stewed pork ribs are sold in cans and purchased from supermarkets. Of course, you can just heat up the stewed pork ribs and eat it with rice but this is another method to cook it. Tastes good!

Serves 3 to 4 pax.

Ingredients:
- 300 gms of beehoon (pre-soaked for 1 hour and drained)
- 1 can of stewed pork ribs (do not throw the gravy away)
- 150 gms of cabbage (sliced) – you can have more if you like more vegetables
- 1 carrot (optional – sliced into strips)
- 2 eggs
- 3 bulbs garlic (minced)
- 5 bulbs shallots (sliced thinly)
- 3 tablespoons of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
- 1 cup of hot water
Flavouring
- 1 tablespoon dark soya sauce
- 2 teaspoons light soya sauce (more if you prefer the dish to be saltier)
- Dash of white pepper powder (to taste)

Preparation:
1) Heat oil in wok and fry shallots till golden brown. Remove fried shallots from oil.

2) With the same oil in the wok and at high heat, fry the garlic (till light yellow colour). Add eggs and fry till eggs are slightly brown. Then add cabbage and carrot and stir fry for 2 minutes till vegetables are slightly limp. Add in the stewed pork ribs and its gravy.

3) When the mix above starts to boil, add the beehoon (rice vermicelli) and stir fry for about 5 to 7 minutes.

4) Add flavouring to taste whilst stir frying.

5) Add the hot water gradually to keep the beehoon moist whilst stir frying. Beehoon is cooked when it is no more translucent and is soft.

Dried Beancurd and Ginkgo Nuts Dessert (白果腐竹雞蛋薏米糖水)

This is one of my favourite Chinese desserts of all time. This dessert tastes light, refreshing and nourishing. It is also really easy to make.

(Serves 6 to 8)

Ingredients:
- 50g holland barley (洋薏米), rinsed a few times
- 1800ml water
- 5 pandan leaves, tied to a knot
- 20 pitted red dates
- 100g soft beancurd skin sheets (三边腐竹)
- 100g canned (boiled and shelled) ginkgo nuts (白果) (I used half can)
- 130g rock sugar (冰糖) (adjust to taste)

Preparation:
1) Soak bean curd sheets in a large bowl of water till soft, around 5 minutes.

2) In a pot, add water, barley, pandan leaves and red dates. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20-30 minutes till barley is soft.

3) Add gingko nuts and soaked softened beancurd sheets (do not add the water used to soak the beancurd sheets. After adding beancurd, it easily spills over the stove. Be careful.) and continue simmering for another 10 minutes, or until the beancurd skin reached the consistency you like (big pieces or congee-like fine consistency; I like somewhere in between).

4) Add rock sugar to taste, turn off the flame when the sugar is fully dissolved. Discard pandan leaves. Serve warm or chilled.

5) When the dessert is almost done, you can add eggs and cook to your preferred texture. I just broke the eggs and added into the dessert, immediately turned off the heat. Let the heat in the pot continue to cook, about 5 minutes, then I got soft-boiled eggs in the dessert. Really enjoyed!

Cooking Tips:
1) Make sure you buy the soft type of beancurd skin to make this dessert. The other type, which is harder and oilier, is more suitable for making Chinese style meat stews (lor bah).

2) Get the finer type of barley, usually labelled as holland barley (洋薏米). They are easier to cook and softer to eat.

3) If using raw ginkgo nuts, you will need to increase the simmering time in step 2 (around 1 hour) till the nuts are soft. Add a bit more water too. Before using, gently crack open the shells with a mortar and pestle, insert a toothpick to flick out the dirt in the center of the nut which is bitter tasting.

4) Instead of canned ginkgo nuts, you can use those which are vacuum packed as well. Because of the way the nuts are compressed by the vacuum packaging which distorts their shape, I personally prefer the canned type.

5) You can substitute gingko nuts with lotus nuts, or use a combination of both.

Kolok Mee

(serves 3 portions)

Ingredients:
- 3 pieces of instant noodles
- 100 grammes of minced pork
- 1/2 bulb of garlic (finely chopped)
- spring onions for garnishing (chopped finely)
- 6 tablespoons of palm oil
Seasoning (for 3 servings):- 3 teaspoons of fish sauce
- 1/3 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce
- 1/3 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate
- a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
Marinade (for minced pork):- 2 teaspoons of fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce
- a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon of corn flour / potato flour

Preparation:
1) Marinade minced pork for at least 1 hour.

2) Bring a pot of water to boil. Add instant noodles and cook till almost done. Remove noodles from pot using a net or colander and run it through cold or tap water. Return noodles to boiling water to heat it up again and thereafter, drain the noodles after 30 seconds. Set aside.

3) Heat oil in wok using medium high heat. Fry garlic till golden brown. Remove fried garlic and set aside.

4) Scoop up oil into a bowl leaving about 2 tablespoons of oil remaining in the wok. Increase heat to high and stir fry minced pork till completely cooked (about 2 minutes). Sprinkle some water whilst stir frying to prevent burning. The minced pork should be just moist after cooking and not soaking in gravy. Remove cooked minced pork and set aside.

5) In a large bowl, add all the seasoning and stir well. Add cooked instant noodles and stir till evenly coated by the seasoning. Separate the noodles onto three serving plates. Add some cooked minced pork and garnish with fried garlic and spring onions.

Baked Beans with Minced Pork and Potatoes

Ingredients:
- 1 tin of baked beans
- 50 grammes pork mince
- 1-medium sized potato (diced)
- 1 medium sized onion (chopped)
- 1/2 tin of water (use baked beans tin to measure)
- 2 tablespoons Cooking oil (palm oil)
Seasoning:
- 2 teaspoons tomato ketchup
- a pinch of salt

Preparation:
1) Heat oil in wok and fry potatoes till golden brown. Remove fried potatoes and set aside. Remove oil and leave just about 1 teaspoon of oil in the wok.
2) Fry the onions till aromatic.
3) Add minced pork and stir fry till cooked.
4) Add baked beans and return the fried potatoes into the wok. Stir well.
5) Add water and seasoning and bring to boil prior to serving.

Chinese Hot and Sour Soup

Hot and sour soup is reputed to be good for colds. To increase the health benefits, feel free to add 2 or 3 teaspoons of finely chopped ginger. The "hot" part comes from white pepper, or in some cases, chili pepper, and the "sour" part comes from Chinese black vinegar. For a vegetarian version of Hot and Sour Soup, leave out the pork.
 
Serves about 4pax (Using a 2-quart pot)

Ingredients:
- 1 cake tofu (fresh, if possible)
- 2 ounces pork tenderloin / chicken / shrimp
Marinade:
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon tapioca starch (or cornstarch)
Other:
- 1/2 cup bamboo shoots
- 2 tablespoons black fungus (Wood Ear) or Cloud Ear fungus (or 3 - 4 Chinese dried black mushrooms or fresh mushrooms)
- 1 small handful dried lily buds
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 green onion, finely chopped
- 6 cups water (or 6 cups water and 1 cup Campbell's chicken broth)*
To Taste:
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons red rice vinegar, white rice vinegar, or red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- White pepper to taste (no more than 1 tablespoon)
- Hot chili oil, to taste, optional

Preparation:
1) Shred pork. Mix marinade ingredients and marinate pork for 20 minutes.

2) Cut tofu into small squares. Cut bamboo shoots into thin strips and then into fine slices.

3) Reconstitute the fungus / mushrooms, soak in warm water for 20 minutes. Rinse, and cut into thin pieces.

4) Reconstitute the dried lily buds, soak in hot water for 20 minutes or until softened. Cut off the hard ends and shred.

5) Fill your pot about halfway with water and set it to boil. Peel shrimp and toss the shells into the water to flavor the broth. If you're using chicken or pork, slice them first, and saute the meat in a small drizzle of sesame oil in the pot until almost cooked and then add water. You can omit meat entirely if you're vegetarian as the vinegar and soy sauce will give the soup plenty of flavoring.

6) When the water has boiled, scoop out the shrimp shells and add in tofu, tree ear fungus, bamboo shoots, shrimp, lily buds, and mushrooms. Add more water to the pot if the ingredients make the soup too dense.

7) Beat the eggs in a bowl and slowly pour eggs into the pot, stirring all the while to create rivulets of "egg drops." Do this before adding in the vinegar or the egg won't form rivulets and will just turn the broth murky.

8) Turn heat down to medium-low to let the soup simmer. Dissolve 1 tblsp of cornstarch to a bit of cold water and add that to the pot to thicken the soup.

9) Add just a drizzle of sesame oil. Then start adding in various amounts of soy sauce, vinegar, and pepper to your taste. Chinese black vinegar is milder than other varieties but doesn't have a harsh aftertaste. Allow the soup to simmer for about 10 minutes so the flavors can meld before you taste it again and decide to add in more seasoning. Test the broth and adjust the taste if desired. (If using chicken broth, you may want to add a bit more rice vinegar). As for the white pepper, you want to just be able to taste it, but don't actually want it to be spicy

10) Add the green onion and the white pepper to taste. Drizzle with chili oil if desired. Serve hot.

(Hot and Sour Soup can be prepared ahead of time and frozen. When making the soup, leave out the tofu. When ready to serve, thaw, add the tofu and bring to boiling. When the soup is boiling, add the egg.)
*Adjust the ratio of water to chicken stock as desired.