Food Minia

炸 (zha) = deep fried 蒜 (suan) = garlic 米 (mee) = normally this word is rice, but in this context it means tiny pieces. Crispy fried garlic like crispy fried shallot is very common in S E Asia. Chopped garlic is deep fried till golden it is not bitter but has slightly sweet, caramelised and strong garlicy flavour and deliciously crunchy. Only two ingredients are needed, plenty of garlic and

Pearl barley = 薏米 yee mee (Mandarin) or yee mai (Cantonese) Water chestnut = 馬蹄 ma tee (Mandarin) or ma tai (Cantonese) Beancurd stick = 腐竹 fu chook (Mandarin or Cantonese) Sugar water (or more appropriately as sweet dessert soup) =  糖水 tang sui (Mandarin) or tong sui (Cantonese) Sweet soup or tong sui is Cantonese speciality eaten as dessert.  Tong sui is as common as savoury soup for

This simple rice is something I can indulge quite often since I know how to make my own lap cheong. DIY lap cheong is so much cheaper and I know there are no hidden ingredients or preservatives. The is a simple meal, steamed lap cheong with rice and some steamed/blanched green vegetable. To add more flavour I added a dollop of ginger spring onion sauce. Cook rice using a rice cooker or on the

Chuan wei ma la xiang chang (in Mandarin) 川味麻辣香腸 川 = Sichuan    味 = flavoured    麻 = numbing 辣 = hot   香 = fragrant    腸 = sausage Lap cheong (Cantonese)/ la chang (Mandarin) 臘腸 lap / la  臘,  in Chinese this normally means wax but in this context it means cured.cheong is Cantonese for sausage, in Mandarin it sounded as chang. I have been making my own lap cheong many times now I no longer buy

Ever since I made tea smoked chicken I am hooked. The meat has such deep rich flavour and texture of  meat is so tender and juicy. I now tried tea smoked belly. As expected the flavour and texture is excellent. This is probably the best piece of porky I have made. The meat is cured with soy sauce and spices, the curing salt makes the meat a lovely pink colour. 1. Curing Ingredients  1.5 kg

Su shao luo bo 素燒蘿蔔 Luo bo 蘿蔔 (萝卜) this can mean either daikon (mooli or oriental radish) or carrot. Su 素 is vegetarian Shao 燒 in cooking terms can mean boil, bake, roast, braise or stew. It's confusing I know! This braised mixed root vegetable is rather tasty. I can eat this happily and don't miss any meat at all. Ingredients: 400 - 500g daikon or mooli 350 - 400g carrot 2 clove of garlic,

Hu pe jian jiao 虎皮尖椒 I was pleased to find some large green chillies from the market. I asked the store keeper if they are spicy he just shrugged his shoulders how helpful! In the end I bought a handful (just over 1/2 lb) to try in case they are not as nice as I thought. These chillies were quite long about 12 - 15cm long. I love Sichuan Hu pe jian jiao 虎皮尖椒 or stir fried blistered green

I often find similarities between western and oriental food like this stir fried potato which is similar to rustic English bubble and squeak (not the cake shaped type). Here to introduce to you a classic home cooking from Yunnan called lao nai yang yu 老奶洋芋 or old granny's potato. The reason why old granny or lao nai 老奶 is named after this is because this potato dish is soft suitable for grannies

Simple lunch today, tomato and egg fried rice. Tomato and egg are such good combination, universal favourite. I am sure there is at least one dish made with tomato and egg in every country. Just Chinese dishes I can count at least half a dozen classics with just two simple ingredients like: Stir fried egg and tomato 西紅柿炒雞蛋/ 番茄炒蛋 Omelette crepe and tomato soup 番茄煎蛋湯/ 西紅柿煎蛋湯 Tomato and egg geda