steam fish

+ cod fish for its fat content(or grouper or fish of similar texture)
+ red dates
+ "gei-chi"- the red small thingy that is good for your eyes
+ mushrooms of any kind, fresh or dried
+ lotsa ginger
+ oyster sauce
+ a bit of soy sauce, sesame oil and salt

1. sprinkle salt on the fish
2. in a deep plate, arrange the rest of the ingredients nicely around/on top/under(ginger)the fish
3. boil water in a pot big enough to contain the plate, steam fish over boiling waterfor abt 15-20 mins

charsiu options

option 1: bbq charsiu






+ pork
+ honey
+ 5 spice powder
+ sugar, lots
+ soy sauce, both light and dark
+ oyster sauce
+ sesame oil
+ ketchup [ weird i know ]
+ a stick of cinnamon
+ a few peppercorns
+ a few smashed up cloves of garlic
+ a few smashed up bits of ginger


1) mix marinate and throw the pork into the mixture and leave it alone for a day in the fridge or at least 4 hours.
2) get a baking tray and cover with aluminum foil [ this is so that you dun spend rest of the day scrubbing your tray when the sugary mixture starts to cake and bond itself to the tray. ]
3) place a rack over the aluminum foil covered tray and pour a good amount of water into it.
4) place marinated pork over the rack [ the pork is not supposed to be swimming in the water ok...just suspended above it,] then proceed to pop it into the oven. the pork gets kindof steamed roasted.
5) CAUTION: when opening the oven door, allow the steam to disperse before you attempt to touch the charsiu. flip it occasionally. and pour some of the marinate over the charsiu when you flip it.
6) when charsiu looks done... which can be easily half an hour or more.. remove and drain the baking tray of the water and wad nots that it contains now.. and glaze the roasted charsiu with some honey mixed with marinate. pop it back into the oven and then allow for it to char slightly so that the edges become crisp.
7) when done. be careful not to set the smoke alarm off as there will be ALOT of smoke.
8) slice and serve over veg and rice / noodles with remaining marinate sans cloves, ginger, cinnamon stick..which should be heated up / boiled somehow cooked since it contained raw pork before.

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option 2 : stewed charsiu






+ pork
+ honey
+ sugar, lots
+ soy sauce, both light and dark
+ oyster sauce
+ sesame oil
+ a few peppercorns
+ a few smashed up cloves of garlic
+ a few smashed up bits of ginger
+ i guess if you have mirin, sake, kelp,the usual japanese condiments .. no harm in throwing some in..


1) again mix the marinate and throw in the pork and leave to marinate in your fridge for a day
2) sear the meat first so that juices does not eh leak out of the meat? when you stew it.
2) get a saucepan and dilute the marinate, pop the sear meat in it and cook over hob for 30-45 mins. depending on the size and thickness of your slab of pig.
3) remove from saucepan and slice.
4) serve with ramen! add hard boiled egg, vegetables and some sliced spring onions to noodles with broth made from daishi and miso. [btw, i swear it's pork although it looks a bit like duck in the pics. should use a chunkier cut of meat ]

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well, there is always the 3rd option of just buying the charsiu from a shao la shop. which makes life alot easier. i have no idea why we were making char siu when i dun even like charsiu and housemate m who doesn't like pork that much. and! the pork in UK is super strong smelling. super porky. we went a bit mad doing grocery shopping over the weekend. cheapness got the better of us when we saw a whole slab of pork belly for less than 2 pounds.

anyway, option 2 served with ramen was carried out by housemate m who refuses to be named. but of course everyone knows who she is. she doesn't think cooking is all that cool' oh well. as long as i get my dinner. wahahha.

Vietnamese Rolls

Healthy, Simple and most of all, fun to make!
Summer food to have with nice light beer.





You'll need:

+Rice Paper
+Vermicelli
+Chicken
+Prawn (optional)
+Carrot (shredded)
+Tauge
+Coriander & Mint & Basil (LOADS)

Sauce:
+Fresh Garlic (smashed/pressed/chopped)
+Fresh Chilli (or just substitute with sweet chilli sauce)
+2 lemons at least
+fish sauce
+spoon of sugar
+white vinegar

................................................................................

1)Boil chicken, shred and keep aside.
2)Prawns to be deveined, boiled and kept aside to cool down.
3)Use the same water you boiled the meat in, add some stock, then boil the tauge, the vermicelli seperately.
4)Keep stock, don't throw...can use to soften the rice paper when you are about to eat.

5)Arrange everything on the table...think interactive hands only eating.

6)For the sauce, mix all ingredients together then add sugar to taste, feel free to dilute it. You will need to distribute the sauce to each person in their own bowl for dipping of the rolls.

To eat:
7)Soak each rice roll paper individually in the warm stock you have left over.
8)Gently (it breaks when you breathe...) lay the roll on a flat plate.
9)Start with some vermicelli, carrot shreds, tauge, then the meat (whatever you like), then top with LOADS of fresh herbs.
10)Attempt to fold into a nice tight roll as shown.



To serve:
11)Everyone gets a bowl of sauce and a flat plate to attempt this.
12)Make fun of those who end up with mutant rolls....key is to do a little at a time, not stuff a lot at once.
ENJOY!
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Chicken Lice

Made according to Boh's recipe...

You need:

+ chicken- in whatever form u like

+ damn a lot of garlic- about 1 clove to 1 drumstick + 1 clove for rice

+ damn a lot of ginger- 1 inch to 1 clove of garlic+ 2 more inches for rice

+ damn a lot of sesame oil

+ soy sauce

+ rice

+ scallion, cucumber (optional)

+ watercrest for soup (optional)

...........................................

1. boil water for chicken

2. add garlic cloves, smashed-up ginger

3. marinate chicken with a bit of salt and sesame oil- DON"T REMOVE THE SKIN!

4. throw chicken into boiling water and add more sesame

5. while chicken is cooking, wash rice, drain all water, throw in 1 clove of garlic and ginger, add sesame oil

5a. chop cucumber and scallions to make pretty pretty the chicken later

6. take out cooked chicken from boiling water, run it through ICE COLD water, put in nicely decorated plate

7. use the soup to cook rice, get all the OIL!!

and wait..... till the rice is almost cooked.....

8. dilute the clear soup left behind, add watercrest---- tralalla soup is ready

9. heat up some soy sauce + sesame oil, shower on chicken---- tralalala chicken is ready

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PS: if u start burping after meal, add more ginger next time.....