Chinese Herbal Imperial Chicken/药材鸡

Serves 4

Ingredients:
- 1 fresh whole chicken or 800-1000g of chicken pieces or chicken fillets (The Chinese prefer to cook with a whole chicken as it is tastier)
- 3 dried or fresh shitake mushrooms sliced (optional)
- 1 cup or 250ml water
- 1 large aluminium foil sheet (to wrap the chicken)

Chinese herbs - clockwise from left starting with the flat white sticks:
- 5 sticks of dried Chinese yam (Flat white sticks on picture) (淮山)
- 1 handful of Goji berries (also called wolfberries)   (杞子)
- 4 Dang Gui (当归)
- 2 Dang Sheng (当参)
- 1 Huai Shan (淮山)
- 3 Bei Qi (北芪)
- 4 Yu Zhu (玉竹)
- 5 dried longans
- 8 dried red dates (红枣)
- 1 honey date

Marinade:
- 1 TBS light soya sauce
- 1 TBS sesame oil
- 1 TBS Chinese rice wine
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- sprinkle of pepper
- 1 pinch salt

Directions:
1. Mix sauce ingredients in a bowl and marinade chicken.

2. On a large aluminium foil, place 1/3 of the herbs in the chicken, 1/3 of the herbs at the bottom and place the chicken on the top.

3. Pour the remaining marinade over the chicken and the rest of the herbs over the chicken.

4. Half wrap the chicken with aluminum foil and put it on the steaming rack in a wok.

5. Pour in the 1 cup water and then fully wrap up the chicken with the foil.

6. Add some water in the wok, cover and steam on medium high heat for 2 hours. Check occasionally to make sure that the water for steaming does not dry up. Add more water if necessary.

7. Open the foil and serve with white or brown rice.

Additional Information:
As the name of this Chinese dish suggest, it is fit for Emperor. It is also a very healthy dish. I like it with a little bit of soup after it is cooked, and thus I added 1 cup water.

We had this dish during our recent home visit Singapore and decided that I will try to make it myself when we are back with Denmark. I made it today. We had Yang Li and Amy over for dinner after daycare. Amy remarked that it tasted really good (though she did not finished her portion). Joshua (2Y10M9D) did not really say if he liked it, but he ate up all his portion and asked for more. We were just laughing that Amy expressed that she liked the dish in words, and Joshua expressed it in action.

Do not fret if you could not gather the number of Chinese herbs listed above. It is a full list, but it is not necessary to have every one of them. Just do in the herbs that you have at home or could find and it will still taste good. You also do not really need to follow the quantity of each herbs to be put in. Just an estimate would be fine.

Some people wrap the chicken with an inner plastic sheet as well, but it is not necessary.

References:
http://themeatmen.sg/emperor-herbal-chicken/

http://www.noobcook.com/foil-wrapped-herbal-chicken/

Chinese Double-Boiled Carrots and Potato Soup with Pressure Cooker

Serves 1-2

Preparation and Cooking Time: 30 mintues

Ingredients:
1. 1 chicken thigh or 2 drum sticks
2. 1/2 medium carrot or 1 small carrot sliced
3. 1 small potato sliced thin
4. 750 - 1000ml of water
5. 5 goji berries (optional)
6. 1/2 stalk spring onion chopped (optional for garnishing)

Materials:
1. 1 large heat-proof bowl
2. 1 metal stand
3. 1 plate or 1 piece of alumimun foil to cover the bowl
4. 1 large pressure cooker

Directions:
1. Put all ingredients a large bowl and prevent moisture loss by covering it with a plate.

2. Place a metal stand into the bottom of the pressure cooker fill it with 2 - 3 inches of water (at least 250ml of water to create steam). Turn on high heat for the water to boil.

3. When the water boils, place the large bowl in the pressure cooker. Then place all the ingredients in the bowl, fill the bowl up with water or soup base. Cover the bowl with a plate or alumimun foil to prevent moisture loss (optional). The bowl should sit on the metal stand.

4. Close the pressure cooker and bring it to pressure on high heat and cook at setting no. 2 (my stove fire at no. 5 - 5.5) for 5 minutes or under setting 1 (my stove fire at no. 4) for 15 minutes. (If you are not using pressure cooker, you can double-boil it for 1 hour under low heat).

5. Wait until the pressure cooker cool down on its own or cool under water and remove pressure cooker lid. Serve :-)

Chinese Double-boiled Carrot and Chicken Soup Using Pressure Cooker

Serves 1-2

Preparation and Cooking Time: 30 mintues

Ingredients:
1. 1 chicken thigh or 2 drum sticks
2. 1/2 medium carrot or 1 small carrot sliced
3. A handful of Chinese cabbage chopped
4. 750 - 1000ml of water
5. 5 goji berries (optional)
6. 1/2 stalk spring onion chopped  (optional for garnishing)

Materials:
1. 1 large heat-proof bowl
2. 1 metal stand
3. 1 plate or 1 piece of alumimun foil to cover the bowl
4. 1 large pressure cooker

Directions:
1. Put all ingredients a large bowl and prevent moisture loss by covering it with a plate.

2. Place a metal stand into the bottom of the pressure cooker fill it with 2 - 3 inches of water (at least 250ml of water to create steam). Turn on high heat for the water to boil.

3. When the water boils, place the large bowl in the pressure cooker. Then place all the ingredients in the bowl, fill the bowl up with water or soup base. Cover the bowl with a plate or alumimun foil to prevent moisture loss (optional). The bowl should sit on the metal stand.

4. Close the pressure cooker and bring it to pressure on high heat and cook at setting no. 2 (my stove fire at no. 5 - 5.5) for 5 minutes or under setting 1 (my stove fire at no. 4) for 15 minutes. (If you are not using pressure cooker, you can double-boil it for 1 hour under low heat).

5. Wait until the pressure cooker cool down on its own or cool under water and remove pressure cooker lid. Serve :-)

Additional Information:
Using the pressure cooker to double-boil Chinese tonic soup is a fantastic way to save time, and yet achieve the results of full flavoured soup with tender meat derived from Chinese double-boiling soup method :-)

Chinese Steamed Egg

 

Serves 4

Preparation & Cooking Time: 30 minutes

1 part egg + 2 parts water => 1 egg fills about 1/4 cup + 1/2 cup water

Ingredients:

- 4 Eggs which is approx. 250ml (1 cup)
- 2 cups (500 ml) water
- 150 g minced pork (optional)
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- Sprinkle of salt & pepper
- A handful of chives or spring onions chopped as garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. In a porcelain bowl, beat eggs, add water/stock, soya sauce, salt and pepper and mix well. (Use a shallow bowl for steaming eventually, as it will make it cook faster).

2. Add in minced pork and mix well (optional).

3. Cover bowl with aluminum foil (to prevent water from dropping into the mixture when steaming), place in boiling pot of water and cover with lid.

4. Steam on medium-low heat (no. 4.5 on my stove) for 30 minutes until cooked. To check if the eggs are cooked, stick a tooth-pick and it should come out clear. If you want a smoother surface, steam on low heat for a longer period.

Additional Information:

This dish brings back a lot of childhood memory for me. My granny (dad's side) and my mum used to make this dish, during my childhood. I have tried to learn from my mum, when she visited me in Copenhagen. But I kept getting the water amount wrong, after she returned to Singapore. My mum does not measure.

My friend, Yang Li, taught me that for every egg in a Chinese rice bowl, top the bowl with water. I have now measured it, and it is about 150ml to top up a Chinese rice bowl. Yang Li said that too little water, the end result would be too tough. However, too much water wouldn't taste good either.

J didn't want to try steamed egg, but he loves to drink the tasty soup created as a by-product of this dish. He finished all the soup and asked for more!

Here is a more elaborate recipe of the Japanese Steamed Egg dish (Chawanmushi):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3HzuEQpyX0

http://youtu.be/qboyzLSE2rI

References:

http://www.chinasichuanfood.com/chinese-steamed-egg/

Steaming the egg under medium-low heat for 15 minutes

Chinese Egg Dumplings/Kinesisk Æg Dumplings/蛋饺[dàn jiǎo]

From my mother May Loh's recipe

Ingredients:

Filling:

- 500g minced pork or minced chicken

- 3 stalks spring onions finely chopped

- 10 water chestnut finely chopped (optional, I leave this out as water chestnut is not readily available in Denmark)

- 1 TBS sesame oil

- 1 TBS soy sauce

- 1 TBS shaoxing wine (optional)

- 1 TBS corn starch

- Pinch of salt & pepper

Egg dumpling wrapper:

- approx. 6 beaten eggs (I normally just beat 2 eggs and add more if I still need them to make the dumpling wrappers)

- 1 small bowl of cooking oil used for frying.

Directions:

1. In a bowl, add minced pork, water chestnut, spring onions, soy sauce, shaoxing wine, corn starch, salt and pepper together and mix well. Let this marinade rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This will make the meat soft.

2. Divide the minced pork filling into smaller balls the size of half a teaspoon using a teaspoon.

3. Heat up a round bottom wok (best, but if not, a skillet will do) on medium heat (no. 6 on my stove) and spread a thin layer of cooking oil using a kitchen brush.

4. Pour one tablespoon of the egg mixture into the wok or skillet to make the egg wrapper.

5. Place one portion of the meat filling in the middle of egg dumpling wrapper.

6. Flip half of the egg dumpling wrapper over to seal the dumpling (no need to press it down).

7. Set aside on another plate (note: the meat filling is not completely cooked yet, so don't eat it yet!).

8. Repeat step 2-6 to make more egg dumplings.

9. Place all the egg dumplings back into the skillet. Add a little water to the skillet.

10. Cover and steam the egg dumplings under low fire (no. 5.5 on my stove) for 4 minutes to let the filling inside be fully cooked (you can also put them in the microwave to let the filling in the egg dumplings to finish cooking.)

Tips:

1. You can add 1 carrot shredded and a handful of frozen spinach to make it a more balance meal for children.

Storage:

Can keep for 8 weeks in the freezer.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Additional Information:

The Chinese Egg Dumplings are like the Western Omelette, just much smaller and cuter (and without adding cheese). Thus, it requires more skills and patience.

Egg dumplings is believed to originate from the Fujian province in China and are one of the Chinese New Year (CNY) food eaten by my family. It started with my grandmother from my father's side (the Fujian side of the family). She also prepared it during normal days. Then my mother prepared it for my dad and us. Now, it is my sister's favourite dish, and she used to help my mum to prepare it for CNY. When I was living in Singapore, I never had the patience and the skills to make egg dumplings, so I never tried it before.

Now that I am overseas, I am getting interested in all these comfort food, and this was actually the first time I made it. It took me a long time, and my egg dumplings are not as pretty as those my mum makes, as I don't have a round bottom wok, since we do not use gas stove here. But I don't really care, so long as they taste good and bring back some reminiscence from my CNY childhood.

This is the third CNY dish in my blog. The CNY lasts 15 days. Being overseas during this festive occasion, I find myself diligently making the food I ate as a child during CNY.

Incidentally, as I called my mum to get the recipe today (I am off from work), she told me that she also prepared it today at the request of my dad :-)

A friend of mine recommended to add a bit of water into the meat filling to make the meat more tender. 

Another tasty and healthy filling recipe with spinach:

- 500g minced pork or minced chicken

- 3 stalks spring onions finely chopped

- 200g baby spinach rinsed, boiled, drained and chopped.

- 1 egg

- 1 TBS sesame oil

- 1 TBS soy sauce

- 1 TBS shaoxing wine (optional)

- 1 TBS corn starch

- Pinch of salt & pepper

References:

https://whattocooktoday.com/chinese-egg-dumplings.html

https://thewoksoflife.com/egg-dumplings/

https://blog.themalamarket.com/danjiao-egg-dumplings/

https://www.huangkitchen.com/homestyle-chinese-egg-dumplings/

https://yummykitchentv.com/egg-dumplings/

https://redcook.net/2009/02/08/egg-dumplings/

1. In a bowl, add minced pork, water chestnut, spring onions, soy sauce, shaoxing wine, corn starch, salt and pepper together and mix well. Let this marinade rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This will make the meat soft.

Here is a filling with spinach and pork.

2. Divide the minced pork filling into smaller balls the size of half a teaspoon using a teaspoon.

2. Divide the minced pork filling into smaller balls the size of half a teaspoon using a teaspoon.

Heat up a skillet will do) on medium heat (no. 6 on my stove) and spread a thin layer of cooking oil using a kitchen brush. Take 1 tablespoon of beaten egg

Place the 1 tablespoon of egg mixture on the heated skillet.

4. Pour one tablespoon of the egg mixture into the wok or skillet to make the egg wrapper.

Add a portion of the filling.

5. Place one portion of the meat filling in the middle of egg dumpling wrapper.

6. Flip half of the egg dumpling wrapper over to seal the dumpling (no need to press it down).

7. Set aside on another plate (note: the meat filling is not completely cooked yet, so don't eat it yet!). 

Note: In the pictures, I have set the egg dumplings on the side of the skillet, but I have now preferred to set them aside on another plate, so that the egg wrapper remain tender.

8. Repeat step 2-6 to make more egg dumplings.

9. Place all the egg dumplings back into the skillet. Add a little water to the skillet.

10. Cover and steam the egg dumplings under low fire (no. 5.5 on my stove) for 4 minutes to let the filling inside be fully cooked (you can also put them in the microwave to let the filling in the egg dumplings to finish cooking.)

Remove cover and let the water evaporate under very low fire (no. 2 on my stove).

Ready to serve :-)

Here is a picture of me and my grandma on the ferry to Kushu Island in Singapore. It is one of the rare photos I had with her where it is just the two of us. I think I was about 6-7 years old perhaps.

10 August 2022: Teaching Baby FECS (6 years old) to make egg dumplings

Brussels Sprouts/Rosenkål/球芽甘蓝[qiú yá gān lán]

Preparation & Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
- 450g of frozen brussels sprouts
- Mediterranean Dressing (see next post)
- 1 TBS dijon mustard (optional)
- 1 TBS minced parsley (optional)

Directions:
1. Steam frozen brussels sprouts for 3-4 minutes or fresh brussels sprouts for 5 minutes.

2. Transfer to a bowl. Toss Brussels sprouts with the Mediterranean Dressing.

3. If you opt to include the mustard and parsley, add them to the Brussels sprouts when you add the dressing.

For babies:
From 10 months (without the dressing). The easiest way is to dish a portion out for baby and puree it in a blender after steaming.

Nuritional Value:
Brussels spouts is considered a super vegetable very beneficial to health.

Brussels spouts are an excellent source of vitamin C and vitamin K. They are a very good source of numerous nutrients including folate, vitamin A, manganese, dietary fiber, potassium, vitamin B6 and thiamin (vitamin B1) and a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, iron, phosphorus, protein, magnesium, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin E, copper and calcium. In addition to these nutrients, Brussels sprouts contain numerous disease-fighting phytochemicals including sulforaphane, indoles, glucosinolates, isothiocynates, coumarins, dithiolthiones, and phenols.

Consumption of Brussels sprouts, is known to reduce the risk of lung, colon, breast, ovarian and bladder cancer.

References:
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=10#descr

Asparagus/Asparges/芦笋[lúsǔn]

Preparation & Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
- Frozen asparagus
- Mediterranean dressing

Directions:
1. If you are using frozen asparagus, steam for 3 minutes. If you are using fresh asparagus, steam for 5 minutes.

2. Toss with Mediterranean dressing and serve

For babies:
From 8-10 months (without the dressing), but it doesn't come under my list of essential baby food

Before adding dressing, I dish a portion out for J as finger food for older babies. For younger babies, simply puree it in a blender.

Nutritional Value:
Asparagus is an excellent source of vitamin K, the B vitamin folate, vitamin C, vitamin A. Asparagus is a very good source of numerous B vitamins - including vitamin B1, B2, B3 and B6 - as well as dietary fiber, manganese, copper, phosphorus, potassium and protein.

References:
http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=12#descr

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/asparagusbabyfoodrecipes.htm

Broccoli/花椰菜[huā yē cài]/绿菜花[lǜ cài huā]

Preparation and cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
- Frozen broccoli
- The Classic Chinese Dipping Sauce

Directions:
1. If you use frozen broccoli, steam for 3-4 minutes, otherwise, steam for 15 minutes.

2. Toss with the Classic Chinese Dipping Sauce and serve

For babies:
From 4 months, but it doesn't come under my list of essential baby food

Before adding dressing, I dish a portion out for J as finger food for older babies. For younger babies, simply puree it in a blender.

Nutritional value:
Broccoli contains Vitamins B1 (Thiamin), B2 (Riboflavin), B3 (Niacin), B5 (Pantothenic acid), B6, B9 (Folate), Vitamin C, Vitamin A, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc.

These vitamins and minerals aren't just found in tiny trace amounts either. For example, ounce for ounce, broccoli actually contains more Vitamin C than many citrus fruits, more calcium than an entire glass of milk, and a richer source of fiber than whole wheat bread.

Broccoli also contains isothiocyanates, which are a class of very potent anti-carcinogens. i.e. they fight and help prevent cancer.

Chinese Steamed Salmon/Den Kinesiske Dampede Laks/蒸鲑鱼[zhēng guī yú]

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:
- 4 pieces of salmon fillet
- 1 TBS olive oil
- 1 handful of ginger cut into thin strips
- 1 TBS Chinese Shaoxing rice wine (optional, but not recommended for babies)

Ingredients for garlic oil:
- 2 TBS cooking oil
- 1 - 2 clove garlic, pressed or finely chopped

Ingredients for sauce:
- 2 TBS light soy sauce
- 2 TBS Chinese sesame oil<
- 2 TBS Chinese Shaoxing rice wine (optional)
- ½ tsp sugar (I prefer it without, but My Significant Other prefers it with, your choice)
- A few dashes of pepper powder

Garnish:
- 1 handful of ginger cut into thin strips
- 1 stalk of spring onions cut into strips
- 1 stalk of coriander loosely chopped (optional)

Directions:
1. Drizzle ginger, olive oil and Shaoxing wine (skip this if there is a baby) on fish and steam for 8 minutes.

2. During the last 2 minutes of steaming, heat oil and fry garlic on a separate sauce pan until golden brown.

3. Garnish spring onions and ginger over the fish and pour the sizzling hot garlic oil on top of the steamed fish. (Remember to remove a portion of the fish for baby before doing this!).

4. Meanwhile, heat the sauce mixture on the same sauce pan until bubbles and pour on top of the remaining steamed fish and off the fire.

If you are running short of time, just pour the sauce directly without heating it. It will still taste very good.

For babies:
From 6 months (just skip the sauces).

Nutritional value:
Salmon is high in protein, heme iron, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, niacin, phosphorous, potassium, copper and Omega-3s. There are three kinds of Omega-3s in salmon--docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and alpha-linoleic acid (ALA). Like most fish, there are no carbohydrates in salmon.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Information:
Salmon is cheaper than cod fish in Denmark, and thus more affordable. Thus, we eat salmon more often than cod fish. I use the recipe for making Chinese steam cod fish with salmon and to our pleasant surprise, it actually tasted very good. My Significant Other likes this very much, and I didn't even add the Chinese rice wine.

Don’t be intimidated by the way the ingredient list is organised. It is basically the same few ingredients, but organised in this way to show how the ingredients are used in the preparation.

Chinese Steamed Cod Fish/Den Kinesiske Dampede Torsk/蒸鳕鱼[zhēng xuě yú]

Recipe from Jannie Sze Silfverberg

Preparation and cooking time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:
- 750g cod fish fillet
- 1 TBS olive oil
- 1 handful of ginger cut into thin strips
- 1 TBS Chinese Shaoxing rice wine (optional, but not recommended for babies)

Ingredients for garlic oil:
- 2 TBS cooking oil
- 1 - 2 clove garlic, pressed or finely chopped

Ingredients for sauce:
- 2 TBS light soy sauce
- 2 TBS Chinese sesame oil
- 2 TBS Chinese Shaoxing rice wine (optinonal)
- ½ tsp sugar (I prefer it without, but My Superstar prefers it with, your choice)
- A few dashes of pepper powder

Garnish:
- 1 handful of ginger cut into thin strips
- 1 stalk of spring onions cut into strips
- 1 stalk of coriander loosely chopped (optional)

Directions:
1. Drizzle ginger, olive oil and Shaoxing wine (skip this if there is a baby) on fish and steam for 8 minutes.

2. During the last 2 minutes of steaming, heat oil and fry garlic on a separate sauce pan until golden brown.

3. Garnish spring onions and ginger over the fish and pour the sizzling hot garlic oil on top of the steamed fish. (Remember to remove a portion of the fish for baby before doing this!).

4. Meanwhile, heat the sauce mixture on the same sauce pan until bubbles and pour on top of the remaining steamed fish and off the fire.

If you are running short of time, just pour the sauce directly without heating it. It will still taste very good.

For babies:
From 6 months (without adding the salt).

Nutritional value:
Fish are high in protein, heme iron, vitamin D (an important vitamin for strong bones), low in "bad" fats and contain Essential Fatty Acid (EFA's) - Omega-3 fatty acids. The Omega 3 fatty acids from fish are EPA and DHA, which are not found in any other protein source, not even in meat or plants. EFA's found in fish and fish oil products help fight off both physical and mental diseases. Eating fish 2 times a week is recommended for both adults and children by the US FDA.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Information:
Using cod fish fillets instead of the whole fish help to reduce preparation time to 20 minutes, as you do not need to spend time to clean the fish and its internal organs, etc.

Don't be intimidated by the way the ingredient list is organised. It is basically the same few ingredients, but organised in this way to show the difference the ingredients is used in the preparation.

I tried this out a few years ago, and tried this out again this evening. I took 30 minutes, as I am not so experienced, but it should only take about 20 minutes with experience. I used to take more than an hour making any food when I just started cooking once in a blue moon a few years ago!

Steam some vegetables the cheapo Chinese way

How do you save time without resorting to complicated and expensive chunky modern steamers that take up space in the kitchen and are equally complicated to clean and wash?

Here is a simple and cheapo Chinese way. While cooking rice, steam some vegetables along with it by placing the vegetables in a steaming rack (that comes together with the rice cooker).

This rice cooker is my good old friend - it is cheap, reliable and does it work very well and efficiently. It helps me to save time and money too, as the same amount of electricity is used to cook the rice as well as to steam the vegetables.

In approximately half an hour, you will have 2 dishes ready - the rice and the vegetables, and even better automatically without doing any work! I use frozen vegetables, which saves me even more time! I only need to prepare a sauce for the steam vegetables and another meat dish in the mean time. Thus, in half an hour, 3 dishes + 1 sauce would be ready :-)

Today for dinner, all in 30 minutes I made:

1. Brown rice with quinoa
2. Steam mixed vegetables - broccoli, cauliflowers, carrots and green peas
3. Chinese steam salmon with ginger
4. Chinese oatmeal sauce (left-over from the other day)

I bought this from Tangs Departmental store in Singapore, but it is also sold in Denmark nowadays.

Compared with the advanced and fanciful electric rice cookers my friends use in Asia, this is considered a dinosaur...haha... but it is the cheapest I found in Tangs and it serves its purpose.

Some rice cookers don't come with steamers. Do get those with a steamer and it helps you to multi-task when you are cooking your rice. Here are some rice cookers from amazon that come with steamers:

Steamed Chicken/Dampede Kylling/蒸鸡 [zhēng jī]

Recipe from Haiyan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sLi21HEYvI

Ingredients:
- 1 chicken
- 4 stalks spring onions
- 5-6 slices of ginger
- 1-2 cloves of garlic chopped
- 2 TBS cooking oil
- Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Stuff the chicken with 3 stalks of spring onions and 4 slices of ginger.

2. In a big pot with one inch of water, when the water boils, put the chicken in, turn down the fire (no. 4-7 on my stove) and steam the chicken (skinned or unskinned) in a big bowl for 40 minutes to 1 hour under low fire.

3. Remove the chicken (but save the chicken juice in the bowl) and place it into a serving dish.

4. Fry oil with garlic and ginger, then add in chicken juice from streaming chicken, salt and pepper. Lastly add schopped spring onions.

5. Pour the mixture over chicken and add some fresh spring onions.

6. Serve with rice.

Video Demonstration:

References:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sLi21HEYvI

This is how you steam a chicken:

Fill the big outer pot with 1-inch of water. Place the chicken in another bowl big enough to contain the chicken. When the big pot of water boils, place the bowl of chicken on top, cover, turn down the fire and steam for 40 mins to 1 hr. (If you wish, you can place a metal rack on the bigger pot of water to hold the bowl of chicken and steam the chicken.)

Chinese Steamed Tofu with Minced Pork/Kinesisk Dampede Tofu med Hakket Svinekød/蒸豆腐[zhēng dòu fǔ]

Recipe adapted from Rasa Malaysia

Serves 2-4

Preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
- 1 block of silken tofu (400g)
- 125g of minced pork
- ½ cup frozen shrimps
- 1-2 clove garlic chopped
- 2 stalks of spring onions (diagonal cuts)
- 1 tsp of oyster sauce
- 2 tsp of soy sauce
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1 TBS ground oatmeal (to thicken the sauce)
- A few drops of sesame oil
- White pepper powder to taste
- 1-2 TBS cooking oil
- ½ stalk leek chopped (white portion, optional)
- 1 red chili (diagonal cuts) or ½ red bell pepper (optional)

Directions:
1. Steam the tofu for 5 minutes and set aside.

2. Heat up pan with cooking oil and fry garlic and leek until golden.

3. Add in minced pork and stir fry until fragrant.

4. Mix water and oatmeal in a separate container.

5. Add in oatmeal mixture, oyster sauce, soy sauce and bring it to boil.

6. Add in spring onions, red chili or red bell pepper, sesame oil and white pepper powder.

7. Quick stir for 30 seconds and pour the toppings onto the steamed tofu. Serve hot with rice.

Tips:
1. To make it a complete meal and increase the nutritional value of this dish, I add in a super green vegetable such as some florets of blanch or steamed broccoli.

2. On egg day, I will also crack in an egg into the sauce at the end and stir until cooked before pouring it on the tofu.

Nutritional Value:
Tofu is a very good source of manganese, iron and protein. In addition, tofu is a good source of selenium, omega-3 fatty acids, phosphorus, copper, calcium and magnesium. When the curdling agent used to make tofu is calcium salt, the tofu is an excellent source of calcium. Tofu is known as a cholesterol-lowering food, along with other heart and health benefits.

Fish aren't the only good source of omega-3 fatty acids. Tofu provides 14.4% of the daily value for these especially beneficial fats in just 4 ounces.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Information:
This dish is very similar to the other tofu dish, thus, it is just a variation or another way of preparing tofu. I made steamed tofu for the first time today. J loves it and Daddy is ok with it, but it is not his favourite. I love it, as I love tofu.