Potato, apple and egg salad (土豆沙拉)

Potato salad is a wonderful side dish to serve with roasted or barbecued meat. I replace some potatoes with apples to give it some crunch and tartness and make it a healthier dish. I don’t use herbs because the children don’t like them, but you can add chopped parsley to give it a nicer taste and colour.

 Ingredients

1 apple

5 small waxy potatoes (less if you use bigger ones)

2 eggs

Sweet mayonnaise.

Whole grain French mustard which gives it oomph

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and eggs.

Simmer until potatoes are tender but still firm (about 15 minutes)

In the meantime, wash and cut the apples into small bite size cubes

Put the cut apples in salted water to prevent them turning brown

Drain the water before mixing it with the potatoes

 Remove the potatoes and eggs from the pot and place into cold water to cool.

Peel the potato skin which will should come off quite easily

Cut into small cubes

Put into a bowl and keep aside

Peel the eggs and cut into medium size pieces

Put into a bowl and keep aside

Put the apples into a large mixing bowl

Add the potatoes and mix thoroughly

Add 2 tsp whole grain mustard and enough mayonnaise to completely coat all the vegetables.If you don’t have sweet mayonnaise, add 2 tsp sugar to sweeten it.Add black pepper (preferably freshly ground) and a little white pepper 

Mix thoroughly.

Add the eggs and mix again

The salad should look moist, add more mayonnaise if it is too dry.

Transfer to a sealable container and keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

Roasted pumpkin soup (南瓜湯)

Most of my dinner guests love this pumpkin soup probably because of the roasted flavour and taste. Just add a spoonful of fresh cream and chopped parsley on top before serving.

A pumpkin (南瓜) is sometimes called a squash or a gourd. It is usually round with smooth, slightly ribbed yellow or orange coloured skin and a concave top and bottom. In China the pumpkin skin is green in colour and they also have a long shape variety. The flesh is normally a deep yellow to orange coloration. It is rich in vitamins A, E, C and some B vitamins. Pumpkin is a great source of potassium, calcium and magnesium. It is low in calories so is suitable for dieters. In TCM, pumpkin is considered warm in nature, and a food that affects spleen and stomach. It is also used for the expulsion of tape worms

Ingredients

1 small pumpkin

3 potatoes

1 white onion

1 medium sized carrot

Cut all the vegetables into chunks

Put into a baking tray

Add

Ground salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp olive oil

A few sprigs of fresh rosemary

Mix thoroughly

Preheat the oven at 250 C

Place in the preheated oven and bake until the vegetables are soft

Remove from the oven and let it cool down

Transfer into the blender and blend until smooth

You may need to do it in batches if the blender cannot take all of it in one go

Transfer the pureed vegetables into a pot

Add 1 can of chicken broth and more water if the soup is too thick

Mix thoroughly

Simmer on low heat for about 5 mins and it is ready to serve

You can freeze any leftovers for future use

Spoon enough soup for 1 person into a plastic bag

Flatten the soup and fold the plastic over

Place the prepared bags of soup onto a tray and put into the freezer

Beef and long beans fried rice

I had a piece of left-over beef steak which is not enough for a family meal, so the best thing to do is use it to fry rice with left over long beans. It turned out to be a nice combination and the children loved it. I found that by adding soy sauce to the rice before frying makes it more flavourful and tasty. 

Ingredients

Long beans

Cooked piece of beef steak

Cooked rice

1 egg

Put the rice into a large bowl and add a little soy sauce and pepper

Mix the rice thoroughly and rub until there are no lumps in the rice

Slice the beef into bite size pieces

Cut the long beans into bite size pieces

Break the egg into a bowl.

Add salt and pepper and beat up the mixture

Heat a little oil in the wok

Pour in the egg mixture and let it set a little

Turn the egg over and break it into small pieces

Remove and set aside

Heat 1 tbs cooking oil with a little sesame oil

Add the garlic and fry till fragrant

Put in the rice and fry until it is thoroughly mixed

Remove and put aside

Put a little more oil in the wok.

Add the long beans and mix thoroughly

When the beans are cooked put in the beef slices and stir to mix everything together

Add the rice and mix thoroughly

Put the egg back into the rice and mix thoroughly

Dish up and serve

Transfer to the rice cooker to keep warm if not eating immediately

Clear fish soup with tofu

Fish soup is so healthy for the bones especially for small children and elderly folks at home. You can add any ingredients and I like tofu because it is full of proteins. 

Ingredients

1 large piece of fish fillet

Fish bones (you can buy this from the fish monger or collect it every time you fillet your fish)

1 packet tofu

Cut the fish bones into smaller pieces

Wash the fish bones

Blanch the fish bones to remove the scum and remove from the pot

Boil the required amount of water you need for the soup

Add a few slices of ginger to reduce the fishy smell

Put the clean fish bones into the pot and let it simmer for 2 hours or more

Clean and cut the fish fillet into bite size pieces

Mix together the marinate:

1 tsp light soy sauce

Dash of sesame oil

Dash of pepper

Put the marinate onto the fish and mix thoroughly

Set aside until ready to use

Remove the fish bones when the fish stock is ready

Cut the tofu into cubes and put into the soup

Add the marinated fish slices

Simmer on low fire until the fish is cooked

Dish out and serve

Garnish with some chopped spring onions if desired

Sambal prawns and sotong with petai

Most people cook either sambal prawn or sambal sotong. I decided to combine the prawns and sotong since it uses the same sambal paste and to give it that extra oomph, I threw in some petai. The chilli paste that I used turned out quite tasty so I will use it again.

Ingredients

10 large prawns (peeled and cleaned)

1 pre-soaked sotong cut into bite size pieces

1 big onion (sliced)

Petai beans (amount depends on how much each person likes to eat)

Today I am trying out the Prima Taste sambal chilli sauce which I got from Singapore

Boil the sotong until soft.

Drain and put aside.

Heat up some oil and pour the chilli paste into it

Fry the chilli paste until fragrant then add the onions

Stir until onions are slightly soft

Add the petai and some water and salt to taste

Add the prawns and sotong

Mix thoroughly and stir until prawns are cooked

Dish out and serve with white rice or nasi lemak