Fettuccini carbonara

The Italian word carbonara means of a charcoal burner possibly describing its origins as a meal for coal workers. Another proposed origin of the name is a reference to a revolutionary group called Carbonari. Carbonara is a thick sauce usually made with eggs, cheese, cream and small pieces of bacon. It is then served with any type of pasta but apparently spaghetti and linguine are most suitable with this sauce. I find it quite difficult to make the sauce especially adding the egg so I always use commercially prepared sauces. I like to add other ingredients to the dish to make it more flavourful and as a one pot dish.

Ingredients

1 piece chicken breast

1 green bell pepper

1 small onion

2 packets button mushrooms

1 large bottle Prego carbonara sauce

First of all, put a small amount of water into a pot and cook the chicken breast.

When the chicken is cooked, remove and let it cool down.

Keep the water to add into the sauce later.

Slice the mushrooms.

I use a lot of mushrooms because they shrink after cooking.

Cut the green pepper into small cubes

Dice the onion

Put a little olive oil into the pot and add the mushrooms

The mushrooms will produce a lot of liquid so fry until it is dry.

In the meantime cut the cooked chicken into bite size cubes.

When all the liquid has evaporated, remove the mushrooms and set aside.

Put a little olive oil and a knob of butter into the pot

Put in the onion and 1 tsp chopped garlic and stir into the oil.

Once the onion is soft and translucent add the green pepper

Put the mushrooms back into the pot when the peppers are slightly soft.

Add the chicken cubes and mix well with the other ingredients.

Pour in all the carbonara sauce and the water used for cooking the chicken.

Put in some grated cheese if you like it a bit more cheesy.

Mix thoroughly.

Put in the cooked fettuccini.

See “fettuccini with tuna salad” recipe on how to cook the fettuccini.

Add salt and pepper if needed.

Mix thoroughly and it is ready to be served.

A little handy tip below

If the bottle cap is difficult to open, soak the metal cover in hot water for 1 minute.

The hot water will expand the metal cover making it easier to twist the cover. 

Ta rah!!!! No problems. 

Chinese steamed eggs (蒸水蛋) with pidan and salted egg

Everybody loves steamed eggs especially if it is soft and silky. It is not easy to get it perfect all the time especially me because I always forget the timing i.e. when I put the mixture into the steamer or when to take it out. I decided to use the electric steamer today because it has a timer. Unfortunately, I did not hear the timer so the egg was left in the steamer too long and I ended up with a lot of holes in the egg. Hopefully, better luck next time when I try the electric steamer again.

 Century or thousand year eggs called Pidan (皮蛋) are not really 1,000 years old but are somewhere between several weeks to several months old depending on the processing method. It is made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, quicklime, and rice hulls. Through the process, the yolk becomes a dark green to grey color, with a creamy consistency and strong flavour due to the hydrogen sulfide and ammonia present, while the white becomes a dark brown, translucent jelly with a salty flavour. In China, they are sometimes referred to as “pine-patterned eggs.” This is due to the intricate pine branch patterns that show up near the eggs’ surface. They are often served with pickled ginger or used in congee or stir fries. 

I like to buy pidan with the husks on because the yolks are firm and not runny compared to those without the husks.

Ingredients 

3 chicken eggs (room temperature)

1 pidan

1 hard boiled salted egg

This is how I peel the pidan.

Put the pidan into a small used plastic bag

Crack the pidan and peel off the shell in the bag.

This way there are no bits of husks or shell falling onto the counter top or floor.

Cut the pidan and salted egg into small pieces.

Make a hole in the bottom of one egg.

Put the egg into the bowl with the other eggs

Use the egg shell to measure the amount of water to add into the eggs.

The ratio is to use 1 ½ egg shell or 3 half egg shell of water per egg.

Using the egg shell to measure the water is ideal because no matter what size eggs you use the ratio will always be right.

Add a little salt and pepper into the egg mixture.

Lightly beat eggs.  

Strain the egg mixture to get rid of bubbles to ensure a smooth and silky texture.

Strain the egg mixture a second time into a shallow heatproof dish.

See the bubbles left in the strainer?

Add the pidan and salted egg into the mixture.

Place the dish onto the prepared steamer.

Cover and steam on low heat for 10 minutes.

Do not use high heat or the texture will be coarse.

Alternatively, you can use an electric steamer.

Cover and steam for 10 minutes or until egg is set.

If you're not sure if the egg has set, shake the dish a little and the egg should be jiggly but firm.

Make sure that water droplets on the lid do not drip onto the steamed eggs when removing from the steamer. 

Steamed spare ribs with fermented black beans

Steamed spare ribs with black beans is one of the best and well-known dim sum dishes. Normally, the black beans are placed on top of the ribs before steaming but I like to add the beans into the marinade. This will add more flavour to the meat. The children love adding the gravy to their rice.

Spare ribs (排骨) are a variety of pork ribs cut from the lower portion of the pig specifically the belly and breastbone and behind the shoulder. There are 11 to 13 long bones with a covering of meat on top of the bones and also between them. Spare ribs are flatter than the curved back ribs and contain more bone than meat. There is also quite a bit of fat which make the ribs more tender than baby back ribs. Spare ribs (pork) are distinguished from short ribs which are beef. Get the butcher to cut the ribs according to the size that you want.

Ingredients

Bite size pieces of spare ribs

1 spoonful fermented black beans

Marinade

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

½ tsp sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch powder

1 tbsp shaoxing wine

Dash of pepper

Wash and chop the black beans

Put the black beans into a bowl and add all the marinade ingredients.

Mix thoroughly

Wash the ribs in salt water to reduce the porky smell

Put into the prepared marinade and mix well.

Do not add water because the meat will produce liquid during the steaming process.

Cover and keep in the fridge for 2 – 3 hours.

Stir in some chopped garlic just before steaming.

Transfer the pork to a heat proof dish.

Garnish with cut red chilli on one side for the adults (optional)

Stir the chilli into the marinated pork if there are no children eating it.

Bring some water to a simmer in a wok with a steaming rack set in the bottom. 

Put the plate into the steamer

Cover and steam on low fire for 1 hour.

See how much liquid is in the plate now.

Pak chan herbal soup (八珍汤)

Pak chan soup is known as “ladies’ soup” because it helps balance the menstrual cycle and offers relief from PMS. Once a girl reaches puberty and begins the onset of her menses, she should have this soup on a monthly basis to ensure that as she grows up, her menstruation will be problem free. The soup can be very heaty and should only be taken a few days after menses has finished.

 Pak Chan (八珍) literally means 8 treasures which consist of 8 herbs for the benefit of ladies. These herbs are dong quai, bai shao, fu ling, bai zhu, zhi gan cao, dang shen, chuan xiong and dìhuáng. This combination of herbs is to nourish the blood and improve blood circulation. It will help reduce menstrual cramp, improve regularity or timing of menstruation and ease some premenopausal symptoms. Although it is primarily for ladies but certain herbs like Dang Shen are beneficial for man as it also provides comfort to the liver, alleviates pain, invigorates the blood and promotes production of body fluid.

Ingredients

1 packet pak chan herbs

1 black chicken

Wash and put the herbs into boiling water in the slow cooker.

Cook on low for 2 hours.

Remove the skin from the chicken so that the soup will not be oily.

Cut the chicken into 4 pieces.

Put the chicken into the soup, add salt to taste and continue cooking for another 4 hours.

The purpose of cooking the soup so long is to ensure that the taste and goodness of the herbs are totally infused into the soup.

Remove all the herbs just before serving. 

Stir fried green chilli with taucu (bean) paste

Last week, I suddenly had a craving for stir fried green chillies which I have not eaten for a very long time so I decided to pamper myself. It is so delicious eaten with plain white porridge (congee).

 Green chilli (青辣椒) is a rich source of vitamin C and eating it helps keep the skin healthy and glowing and help in proper digestion of food. It is good for weight watchers because it increases metabolism and helps burn the excess fats of the body. However eating too many chillies can cause ulcers in the mouth, pimples and constipation especially if the body has a yang constitution. According to TCM, environmental cold and dampness can easily affect the joints and circulation causing joint problems such as joint pain and arthritis. In fact some old people may even feel the cold or rain before it comes as their joints start to feel uncomfortable. This is why people living in cold places tend to eat more chillies.

Ingredients 

Green chillies

Taucu (bean) paste

Wash and deseed the chillies

Cut the chillies into bite size pieces

Heat up a little oil and fry some chopped garlic until slightly brown.

Put in about 2 tbsp taucu paste and mix well with the garlic.

Use low fire so that the taucu paste does not burn and stir for about 30 seconds

Put in the cut chillies and mix well.

Add a little water at a time and stir until the chillies are soft.

When the chillies are soft you can throw in some fried pork lard (optional).

Dish up and serve.