Stir-Fry egg noodles with chicken and veggie

I just finished a relaxed and joyful vacation in Hong Kong during the Christmas holidays.  Since I love eating and enjoy cooking very much, I always spent time on walking around wet markets and shops which sell cutlery, tableware and cooking utensils in the trip.  I like wandering along Shanghai Street in Yau Ma Tei.  It is like a centre of kitchenware.  There are some traditional Chinese kitchenware shops which are selling everything from professional kitchenware for food and beverage industry to daily use kitchen utensils like Chinese knifes and chopping boards, bamboo steamers, etc.  I bought some items there, one of them is a pair of long wooden chopsticks for cooking noodles.  I will let you know what I had bought and write a post to introduce more about Shanghai Street in the coming days.

I like cooking and eating healthy food.  I use less oil to stir-fry the noodles in this recipe.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serve: 2

Ingredients:

l  480g chicken breast fillet (sliced)

l  2 dried egg noodles

l  1 onion (sliced)

l  1 carrot (sliced)                                          

l  40g lettuce (finely sliced)

l  4 baby sweetcorn (sliced)

l  15g bean sprouts

l  1 garlic clove (finely chopped)

l  3 tsp olive oil

l  ½ cup water

l  2 spring onion (sliced)

l  ¼ tsp salt

Seasoning:

l  1 tsp fish sauce

l  ½ tsp brown sugar

l  1/8 tsp ground black pepper

Sauce:

l  1 tbsp oyster sauce

l  ½ tsp sesame oil

l  1 tbsp dark soy sauce

l  3 tbsp water

Method:

1.	Season the chicken fillets with fish sauce, brown sugar and black pepper.
2.	Boil water in a saucepan and add salt.  Add dried egg noodles over medium heat and simmer for 3 minutes and use the chopsticks or a fork to stir occasionally.  Drain well.
3.	Heat a non-stick wok or pan over medium heat and add 1 tsp oil. Add garlic and chicken fillets, then stir-fry for 3 minutes.  Set aside.
4.	In the meantime, add 2 tsp oil into the wok over medium heat.  Add carrot, baby sweetcorn and 2 tbsp water, then stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add onion and chicken fillets into the wok and continue to stir fry for another 2 minutes.  Then add the lettuce  and bean sprouts, and pour in half cup of water.  Cover it for 3 minutes.
5.	Mix the sauce ingredients well in a small bowl.  Pour the sauce into the wok and stir well.
6.	Add the egg noodles into wok and stir fry with all the ingredients.  Mix well and garnish with spring onion.

Pear and Sea Coconut Dessert Soup

Happy New Year, everybody!  I just watched the amazing fireworks display at the Roof Garden lounge in the service apartment where I am staying in Hong Kong.  It is on 42th floor. The weather was good and the sky was very clear.  I arrived at the lounge at 11:30 p.m.  I was lucky I got the best position and stood in the second row.  Many hotel residents had gathered on the roof at around 11:45 p.m.  

As the magic moment approached, we shouted ‘Three, two, one!”  Then firework shot up over the harbor, lighting up the sky in bright colors as we cheered and took photos and videos.  The display, which lasted 10 minutes instead of the normal eight, featured patterns including six interlocking stars and butterflies.  We clapped hands and wished each other “Happy New Year” at the end of the show. The atmosphere was fantastic. 

I bought some local ingredients from a grocer in Sheung Wan.  I made this dessert soup on New Year Eve.  Dessert soup, which is called tong shu in Cantonese, is a traditional Chinese dessert.  It consists of sweet and hot soup. The Chinese always believe tong shu is good to health especially in dry and cold season.   Let's have a bowl of dessert soup in the beginning of Year 2017! It's so sweet throughout the year! All the best!

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Serve: 2

Ingredients:

n  40g dried longan (cleaned)

n  2 pears (peeled, unseeded and sliced)

n  3 sea coconuts (sliced)     

n  15-20g rock sugar

n  1000 ml water

Method:

1.	Boil water in a small pot over medium heat.
2.	Add longan, pear and sea coconuts in the pot and simmer for 30 minutes.
3.	Toss in the rock sugar and simmer for 10 minutes.  If you like more sweet, you add more rock sugar as necessary.
4.	Ready to serve.

Hong Kong Trip - A lovely day in Wanchai

Happy holidays, everybody! I am spending my vacation in Hong Kong now. I love this service apartment very much because it faces Victoria harbour and the sea view is amazing.  The location is good,  it is only 8-minute walk to the Wanchai MTR station.  There are over 20 restaurants and cafes nearby.  Also it is clean and has a kitchenette. I enjoy buying local ingredients and cooking even in a trip. 

In a very good morning, the first thing to do is to have local breakfast in a congee store on Hennessy Road.  It is called “Chung Kee” which provides a variety of traditional Cantonese congee, rice-sheet rolls and deep fried Chinese crisps.  I order a bowl of minced beef congee and a plate of Zhaliang.  The prices are good and they are tasty. 

My journey starts in Wanchai.  I take tram to Tai Yuen Street.  The best way to explore Hong Kong Island is to take tram which is called Ding Ding by the locals.  It is the oldest and cheapest transport system and has been run about 112 years.  When I take Ding Ding, I feel peaceful and have time to take the views in since it travels at a relatively low speed.  It is a must-see attraction in Hong Kong.

                         

If you have kids or are ‘kidults’, you love Tai Yuen Street.  You will find a treasure trove of toys, kids’ collectibles and festive decorations. There are some toys shops selling a wide variety of toys along the street, you can find the latest to the classics.  There are some hawkers around the streets, they sell some daily stuffs, like underwear, towels, flowers, clothes, cooking ingredients at low prices.  Then I spend a half day there and wander through the street to Queen’s Road East. 

There is a tiny temple which is called Hung Shing Temple on Queen’s Road East.  It was estimated to be built between 1847-1852.  Traditionally, people believed that Hung Shing is the deity who could provide protection at sea, it was worshipped by fishermen, farmers and traders in the old days.  When I go there, I find a few worshippers there.  If you are very interested in ancient Chinese folk religion, you must go to see it.

‘Happy Cake Shop’ is located just opposite to Hung Shing Temple. It is a classic Hong Kong cake shop which sells pineapple buns, egg tarts and less-often-seen cream buns and palmiers.  I always ate them when I was small.  I missed them a lot.  The shop has been established in the 1970s. Its layout, with the kitchen and ovens at the back, and shop at the front, remains unchanged to this day.  Everything is baked daily on site. The price is cheap and the bakery items are very fresh.  I bought two pineapple buns for lunch.  They are mouth-watering and so tasty!!

Then I keep on walking towards Wanchai Market. It is very crowded since people are buying food and vegetables to celebrate Winter Solstice Festival.  Traditionally, Chinese people would buy a lot of good food and prepare a lavish dinner for the whole family.  This is an important reunion family activity. In addition, ‘Dong Yuen’ is generally included on the menu because its name sound like ‘reunion’ in Cantonese.

I feel very exhausted after walking around for the whole day. ‘Chuen Kee’ is my last stop.  I have never been there for nearly 20 years. I order a bowl of fish ball noodle in this local small restaurant on Steward Road.  Both fish balls and fish cakes are chewy. The flavour of soup base is relatively light.  Nothing has been changed.  It is still very yummy!!   

Stir-fry Chicken in DIY Black Bean Sauce

When you are reading this post, I go on a vacation in Hong Kong.  I will stay there in the coming two weeks and keep posting photos and updates about my visit.  

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serve: 2

Ingredients:

-      150g chicken fillets (sliced)   

-      60g green pepper (chopped)

-      60g red pepper (chopped)

-      100g onion (chopped)

-      ½ tbsp black bean (minced)

-      2 garlic clove (minced)

-      4g ginger (finely sliced)

-      1 tsp rice wine/white wine

-      ½ tsp soy sauce

-      ¼ tsp brown sugar

-      1 tbsp olive oil  

-      5 tbsp water

-      1 spring onion (finely chopped)

Seasoning:   

-      1 tsp light soy sauce

-      1 tsp rice wine/white wine

-      ¼ tsp corn flour

-      ¼ tsp sesame oil

-      ½ tsp sugar

Thickening sauce:

-      1 tsp corn flour

-      1½ tsp water

Method:

1.	Season the chicken with soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, corn flour and sesame oil for 10 minutes.
2.	Heat ½ tbsp oil in a non-stick pan over low-medium heat.  Add the chicken pieces and pan-fry both sides for 1-2 minutes till a bit golden brown.  Remove from heat and set aside.
3.	In the meantime, heat ½ tbsp oil in a non-stick wok over medium heat.  Add ginger and stir-fry for 1 minute.  Toss in garlic and soya bean and then stir-fry for another 1 minute.
4.	Add the onion, green pepper, red pepper, chicken and wine; then keep stir-frying for 1 minute.  Pour in water, season with soy sauce and sugar and cover for 2-3 minutes.
5.	In a small mixing bowl, mix the corn flour and water well in order to prepare the thickening sauce.  Stir in the thickening sauce and stir-fry for a further 1-2 minutes until the sauce is thickened.
6.	Garnish with spring onion and ready to serve with rice.