Posted by Bel.C
Chinese dumpling or Jiaozi (餃子) is one of the traditional yet popular Chinese dishes prepared during the festive season of Chinese New Year. Maybe not for the Malaysians, but for Chinese (especially from Northern part of China) or Taiwanese, this dish is usually served during the Chinese New Year Eve or some other family get together occasions. This is because the dumpling is shaped like a yuan bao (元寶), a traditional money used during the Ming Dynasty, that means good luck, wealth and prosperity.
Being born and raised in Malaysia, I never have dumplings really. Until I attended university in the United States, my Chinese and Taiwanese friends would make these delicate dumplings for me. And I must say once you’ve tried it you will love it. This Chinese Lunar New Year falls on the 14th of February which is also the Valentine’s Day. You can learn to make this recipe ahead and prepare for your family or loved ones just in time.
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Posted by Patrick.C
Sadly, I can’t consume too much of bean stuffs nowadays because my bean allergy is getting serious when getting aging. Although I love all kind of bean foodies especially dishes prepared with green beans and baked beans, I have tried very hard to prevent myself from eating them. Not even soy milk I can drink.
After a tedious and weary day at work, I craved badly for the pork ribs with bean sauce. I know the bean sauce will give me deleterious effects but I should be fine if not over eating. It was like six months ago when I had pork ribs stew with bean sauce. This time I have slightly customized the recipe to make it little spicy for extra flavor. It ended up tasting a bit salty because I put too much of bean sauce.
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Posted by Bel.C
One of the desserts I love is the Black Glutinous Rice Dessert or Pulut Hitam in Malay which means “black rice”. This is a dessert that you can find it anywhere in Asia. In Malaysia, this dessert is prepared specially using the pandan leaves (screwpine leaves) that give you an aromatic smell, and also palm sugar that makes it an unique sweetness. Essentially, the black rice is cooked until it becomes thick and creamy in consistency, somewhat similar to the texture of rice porridge. That’s why the Chinese actually calls it black glutinous porridge (黑糯米粥). Besides, it is also topped with coconut cream which is a perfect combination to make it even delicious.
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Posted by Bel.C
When we talk about the good food in Malaysia, you don’t want to miss the famous Claypot Chicken Rice (瓦煲雞飯). I remember when I lived in Malaysia with my family, we loved to go to the hawker stall near my house in Klang for the claypot chicken rice. Essentially, the claypot is filled with rice, topped with chicken and other ingredients such as chinese sausages, mushroom and especially salted fish pieces that gave an extra taste. Then the claypot chicken rice is cooked using the most traditional way on top of charcoal fire which makes it so fragrant and delicious.
To cook a perfect claypot chicken rice, the most important thing is to know how to control the charcoal fire. You practically have to stand there to fan the charcoal in order to control for high or low heat, and not to burn the rice. One of the best parts of the claypot chicken rice is the crispy rice bits (not burnt rice) that are stuck on the side and the bottom of the claypot that makes it so unique tasty.
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Posted by Patrick.C
It has been raining cats and dogs since Monday until today and it will be raining tomorrow as well. Thank God for bringing us the rains due to the water crisis in California but sadly, the rain is way too much than what we long for and it flooded some areas in SoCal.
The indolent weather caused me so lazy and inconvenient to drop by the grocery store to pick up some meats after work. Thus my only meat choice to cook for tonight dinner was a pack of shrimps in the fridge. When I thought of peeling and deveining the shrimp, I felt so headache! Anyway, I had no choice but just dealt with the process. I’ve prepared the shrimps with scallion and ginger this time. Easy and delicious!
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