“Recycled” pork ribs

Most of my friends tell me that nobody wants to eat the ribs used to cook soup and they end up throwing the ribs away. My solution is to ‘recycle’ the cooked ribs by making it into grilled ribs using char siew sauce, teriyaki sauce or any BBQ sauce. Thus, I have an extra dish to serve and the family loves it. This recipe is for char siew pork ribs. I am too lazy to make some sauces from scratch so I try out different brands of ready made sauces.

There are many brands of ready to use char siew sauce and I want to share the 3 brands I have tried

Kee's brand is a little watery and not sweet enough

Uncle James brand’s taste is just right for me. Unfortunately, cannot get in Taipei

Lee Kum Kee is quite salty so had to add more sugar. This is the only brand that is available in Taipei.

Put 2 – 3 tbsp. char siew sauce in a large mixing bowl

Add 1 – 2 tbsp. sugar
Add 1 tsp shaoxing wine (optional)

Mix thoroughly

Add the cooked ribs into the sauce

Make sure all the ribs are completely coated with the sauce.

Let it stand for an hour or more

Remove the ribs from the soup after it has been cooking for 2 – 3 hours

This pix should be before mixing the sauce. LOL

Set the timer on the air fryer for 15 min and let it warm up for 1 minute.
If the pan is hot, the food will not stick to it 

It is better to use the grill pan instead of the basket

Place the marinated ribs into the fryer
Brush with the marinade

Cook for 7 minutes.
Turn the ribs over and brush with the marinade again

The ribs are ready when it is lightly browned, and the edges are slightly charred

If you do not have an air fryer, put the ribs on a baking tray and grill (broil) in the oven until the ribs are a nice crusty brown.
Remember to turn the ribs over after 7 mins

Transfer to a serving platter when the ribs are nicely browned

Stir fried zucchini (夏南瓜) with bacon

As far as I know zucchini is not commonly used in Chinese cuisine. It is mainly used in western cuisine in sauces and stews. Since my family loves bacon I thought that I will try frying it with bacon. Surprising, it was a hit with the children probably because of the bacon.

 Also called courgette, zucchini is available in yellow, light green or green colors with soft white flesh. The shape of this small summer squash resembles that of a cucumber. Even though zucchini is a fruit, it is usually cooked as a vegetable because it tastes better when cooked. Do not remove the skin because this is where the important nutrient beta-carotene is found. Zucchini is well known to help reduce weight, promote eye health, and prevents all the diseases that occur from vitamin C deficiency like scurvy, sclerosis, and easy bruising and helps to cure asthma.

Ingredients

2 zucchini

3 bacon slices

Wash and slice the zucchini

Slice the bacon

Heat a little oil in the pan and fry the bacon

Add the chopped garlic when the bacon is slightly crispy

Put in the zucchini

Mix thoroughly in the oil

It is important to add water a little at a time otherwise the vegetable will become soggy

Cover and simmer. Add a little more water if necessary

It is ready when the zucchini is translucent

Dish up and serve

Chicken curry

There are so many types of chicken curry but I always love the one that my mother taught me which is what I am sharing here. When I was living alone in London I will cook a whole chicken then divide it into portions and freeze them. That way, I can have chicken curry with bread anytime. Nowadays I don’t make it very spicy so the children can eat it too.

Ingredients

½ chicken cut into small pieces

3 large potatoes

3 lime leaves (limau purut)

Coconut milk (liquid or powder) I like using powder because the balance can be kept in the fridge for some time

2 packs of chili paste. I normally make a whole batch, divide it into little bags and freeze them ready for whenever I want to cook a chili dish

Take the chili paste out of the bag whilst it is still frozen otherwise the paste will stick to the bag.

In case you are wondering what the number 4 means, it refers to the number of tsps paste in the bag.

Mix thoroughly

Heat some oil in the pan

Put in the chili paste and stir until it is fragrant.

If needed add a little water to prevent the chili being burnt

Put in the chicken pieces and mix well

Cover for a couple of minutes so that water in the chicken can be released

Add more water and stir well

Wash and cut the potatoes into fairly big pieces

Add the potatoes

Add the coconut milk, lime leaves and more water

Season with salt and a pinch of sugar

Cover again and simmer on low heat until chicken and potatoes are cooked

Dish up and serve with steamed rice or roti chanai or bread

My family loves to eat the curry with tau yew bah. What they do is mix the two gravies into the rice and they will always have second helping

My 2 year old curry king

This is how he says “best”

Sweet and sour fried fish ( 糖醋鱼)

Although eating steamed fish is healthy, sometimes it is nice to have a change. Children love tomato ketchup so this dish always goes down well with them. A well-balanced diet should include a variety of fish which can contribute to heart health and young children's proper growth and development. In addition, fish contains important B vitamins that help with cognitive ability and memory.

Unfortunately, the world’s oceans nowadays contain enormous quantities of methyl mercury as well as other contaminants. In all industrialized countries, industry releases several million pounds of mercury and mercury compounds to the atmosphere each year. When mercury is removed from the atmosphere by precipitation, it ends up in lakes, streams, rivers and oceans. The mercury then bonds with algae which are eaten by small fishes, which are then eaten by larger fishes. Thus, long-lived, larger fish that feed on smaller fish accumulate the highest levels of methyl mercury and pose the greatest risk to people who eat them regularly. Luckily, six fish varieties sold here - cod, halibut, threadfin, salmon, pink dory and mackerel - were well within Singapore’s Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) safety levels

Ingredients

1 threadfin fish

1 tomato for garnishing

½ a cucumber for garnishing

For the sauce

3 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tbsp plum sauce instead of vinegar

3 tsp sugar

½ cup water

Clean and make slits on the body of the fish

Season with a little salt

Place the fish on a chopping board and put it at an angle in the sink.

This will allow the water to drain from the fish

Here you can see the water dripping out of the head

It is important to get the fish as dry as possible so that the oil will not splatter when you fry it

Cover the fish to keep it clean

Slice the cucumber

Julienne the cucumber

Cut the tomato into half and slice it

Prepare the serving platter with the garnishing

Put aside a little cucumber to put on the fish

Heat up enough oil to fry the fish

The oil must be very hot when you put in the fish otherwise it will stick to the pan

Turn the fish over when it can be moved easily

Place the fried fish on the prepared platter and put the remaining cucumber on the fish

Put all the sauce ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly

Leave a little of the oil used for frying the fish in the pan

Fry some chopped garlic until slightly brown

Put the browned garlic on the fish

Pour the sauce mixture into the pan and stir

Add more water and seasoning if required

Pour the sauce onto the fish and serve immediately

Fish is best eaten while it is hot

As the children would say “all gone”