Post Christmas Feasts

After some Christmas Feasting at my mother's house - a yearly tradition for Christmas Day Turkey lunch and Boxing Day Chinese Feast (lobster/crab in Spring Onion and Ginger, Chinese Roast Duck, Roast Crispy Pork are definite contenders), we were lucky enough to be invited to two other feasts over the weekend.

I recently learned that one of my cousins will be going away to work in February and it's been long talked of having a Steamboat Feast.  One of our other cousins hosted the meal at their place and as I like to bring a little something along, I baked a Green Tea Chiffon for dessert.  Post for that one is here.  I have discovered that I omitted to take photos of our feast :(   But I will tease you by telling you that we had three different kinds of noodles; 3 different greens (pak choi/cos lettuce/chrysanthemum greens); 3 different meat balls (fish/pork and beef); thinly sliced beef rolls; fresh prawns; fresh clams; mushrooms (brown chestnut and golden needle-enoki).  The Steamboat pot was split in two compartments and we had two types of broth, one was a herbal tonic, the other plain.  The herbal one was delicately flavoured with nutmeg, cardamon, and dong quai.  It was a delicious and filling feast indeed!

Sunday, we went to visit Mr Leaf's family.  We went out for lunch at a Vietnamese Restaurant, Loong Kee on Kingsland Road, Hackney.  It's one of the few places that serve Steamed Rice Rolls Bánh cuốn which is a favourite with Mr Leaf.  They are similar to Cheung Fun but the rice skins are thinner, more translucent and not as soft.  The filling was a scarce scattering of minced pork and minced black wood ear fungus.  Was not very flavourful on its own and needed the Nước chấm sauce to give it some life.

Mr Leaf's brother likes Frog's Legs so we ordered a starter of Fried Frog's Leg's with Salt and Chilli.  The frog meat tastes between fish and chicken.  

Mr Leaf and his brother always eat this noodle salad dish Bún Thịt Nướng which is topped with grilled pork.  It's rice vermicelli with shredded salad, herbs and whatever topping you select and sprinkled with roasted crushed peanuts (which they did not have in this place.) You moisten it with Nước chấm  mix it up and chomp away.  This is not where we usually go for our Vietnamese meals and Mr Leaf reported the pork not the same cut and taste as his usual choice of restaurant.

I opted for stir-fried rice noodles with mixed meat.  Expecting Ho Fun wide, flat rice noodles like I would in a Chinese Restaurant I was surprised to get very thin rehydrated noodles.  It had a pleasant chew to them and I had all manner of different vegetables stir fried with it (no bad thing in my book).  Son managed to eat a few mouthfuls too so that was a bonus as he is a very discernible diner.

Sister in Law (Mrs Leaf) had Beef Phở.  Noodle Soup in a beef broth with sliced onion, herbs, thinly sliced beef.  It's served with a plate of accompaniments, herbs, raw beansprouts and a lemon wedge.  

In the evening we went to my SiL cousin's house for a pre-New Year Dinner.  We had Coquille St Jacques to start (oops - no photo) which is a French dish of scallops in a white wine sauce served in the half shell topped with mashed potato and grilled. Mains were Steak or Thai Chicken Curry.

Here are a few photos I did remember to take!

Pan-Fried Steak with mixed salad and mashed potato.

 

I had the Thai Curry, there was Red and Green Curry and I had a little of both.  The Green Curry was particularly fiery hot but wonderfully fragranced with kaffir lime leaves, I couldn't tell you how the Red Curry tasted as my mouth was on fire after that!

We had Christmas Cake for dessert (which I had made and decorated) as well as Strawberry Gateau (I believe it was a shop-bought frozen dessert).


I hope you all had a lovely time celebrating the festivities with your nearest and dearest!  

The hostess pictured with my son and his cousin. 

(Apologies for poor photo quality - my camera phone does not perform well.)

Hi!

I've not disappeared!  Just enjoying time as a mum and watching little "leaf" develop into a funny little, cheeky, lovable chappie!  So I apologise for not keeping you all posted! 

Minh's first birthday has come and gone and I will have to load up some photos of his grand day.  We decided to get caterers for the food but I made all the desserts.  This was a mighty affair!  We had: Lemon Cheesecake; Blueberry Cheesecake; Fresh Fruit and Cream Gateaux; Tropical Fruit salad (ok, this one was bought in!) and Minh's crowning glory, a 3-tier birthday cake!  Tiers were: lemon with homemade lemon curd, vanilla with homemade jam and to top, a gluten-free carrot cake with lemon butter icing!  I also made iced biscuits for the children's party bags!  Yes!  It was hard work especially as cakes cannot be made too far in advance!  Can you understand why we had caterers in now? 


Just thought I'd share a Steamed Bun recipe - it's a favourite of mine as it uses baking powder as the raising agent - not yeast which I find can taint the taste of steamed buns.  (I'm sure I'd promised to share the recipe?)  Little Leaf and Daddy Leaf enjoyed the buns and its lovely to see them sat on the bottom step opposite the door to the kitchen sharing a bun.  (Little Leaf doesn't eat the filling - he's a bit funny like that!)

Still not quite as white and cloud-like as restaurant buns but tasty all the same :)

Steamed Barbecue Buns

Ingredients:

Bun Dough

250 g (2.5 cup) Special Bun Flour  (I use chinese bun flour as the UK supermarket flour makes an off white dough and doesn't result in a white fluffy bun)

18 g (3.5 tsp) baking powder

45 g (3 tblsp) caster sugar

30 g (2 tblsp) white vegetable fat (Trex) or vegetable oil (or lard)

120 ml (1/2 cup) water (approx)

1/2 teaspoon white vinegar

Method:

• Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl add sugar and mix, rub in the vegetable fat/lard with your fingertips until evenly distributed. (If using oil, just add oil with the vinegar and water.)
• Add water and vinegar together and knead until a fairly soft dough.
• Shape into a ball and let it rest, covered, for 30 minutes.

To make the buns

• Divide the dough into12 portions.
• Mould each into a smooth ball.
• Roll each out on a lightly floured surface to a circle about 4 inches across.
• Put a heaping teaspoon of filling in the centre and gather the edges inward, folding and pleating to make a neat join.
• Twist dough to seal.
• Put each bun, join upwards, on a flattened paper cake case, in a steamer.
• Cover and steam for 15 minutes.
• Serve warm.

The filling for today's buns was Barbecue Pork -  I'm fortunate enough to have a supplier for this - also known as my mum, "Mrs Plum".  Here's how I made my filling:

Barbecue Pork Filling:

160 g barbecue roast pork (thinly sliced into 1cm sized pieces)

1 shallot (very finely diced)

100 g water

1.5 tsp Lee Kum Kee “Char Siu Sauce”

1 tsp oyster sauce

15 ml water

1 tsp cornflour

Fry shallot in a little oil, add finely sliced barbecue pork and fry gently for 2 minutes. Add water, char siu sauce and oyster sauce. Simmer for 3 minutes. Thicken with cornflour/water mix. Taste sauce for seasoning. Allow to cool slightly before using as bun filling.

Recipe adapted from www.recipezaar.com/11087

I will upload some piccies of the steamed buns later - the buns have disappeared so quickly I'm off to make another batch!

Hot steamy action!

I hope you are enjoying the festive period and are enjoying time with friends family and some great food!

My two taste-testers!  If the son & hubbs approve it must be good! :D

Bun Bakery - Char Siu (BBQ Pork) Bun 叉燒餐包, Pineapple Bun 菠蘿包 & Custard Bun 奶黃包

PlumLeaf Bakery with four trays of buns ready for the baking!

Had a crazy bout of bun bakery this weekend!  I doubled the quantity in EEWIF's Sweet Bread Dough recipe as I intended to give some buns to my brother and his family who are visiting my mum whilst my niece is on half-term holiday.

Char Siu Piggy hiding next to the Pineapple buns!

Piggies fighting in oven?!  Out of place ears and snouts!

Custard Filled Hedgehog

Tray of Custard Buns

We always loved Char Siu Buns as kids and sometimes Dad would buy buns from Chinese Bakery in Chinatown as treats.  I also tried some different toppings and fillings.  My bro' likes Bor Lor Bao ~ Pineapple Bun 菠蘿包 so I thought I'd try recreate that one.  There are several different recipes for pineapple topping floating around the internet but I like the sound of this one from Bao/Bread and as it was enough for 6 buns it gave me opportunity to whip up a batch of custard filling as my third bun flavour.

Char Siu buns had more room on tray at front - ugly ones at back of queue!

I must remember to space out my buns better as I had Char Siu Buns that had merged into one another (like my red bean ones did a few weeks back).  Instead of being beautiful burnished domes of porky bun goodness, it resembled burnt honeycomb.  Not a good look.  Had fun making a couple of Char Siu Pigs though!  Those two had slightly more filling than the rest (only 5 g extra) so I thought I'd make fat pigs out of them!  They did swell out - looked almost ready to burst!

Custard Buns

Have still yet to make my Hong Kong favourite - Tuna Bun 吞拿魚包.  Also got to dream up of some more tasty fillings! Yum Yum!  Am loving this recipe so much!  I have to thank Everybody Eats Well In Flanders again for sharing an excellent recipe!

Paella

The great thing about going on holiday is sampling the local fare.  No, haven't been on hols recently, neither likely to in near future  :0(  We like to recreate our favourite dishes at home - I guess it's to relive the fun had in sunnier climes when there was nothing more important than, "What shall I wear today?" or "Where shall we eat?"

Paella packed with squid, scallops, prawns and chorizo

Our first holiday together was almost six years ago when hubbs took me away to Spain for a week.  Neither of us had visited Spain so it was a first on many counts.  A popular dish is Paella.  It has several variants; true Valencian Paella (where dish originates) includes rabbit, chicken, beans, seafood or snails.  Seafood is just a mix of prawns, mussels, clams, langoustine and crab.  There is even one made with squid ink!  At home, I make a mixed paella which contains, chorizo (cured, smoked pork sausage which contains spices and paprika), chicken and seafood.

This is how I make mine at home - although I may change the seafood each time I make it the basis is the same.

Scallops halved and squid cut into rings.

Paella


1 onion, chopped
3 chicken wings, jointed then each joint cut in half, tips discarded
150 g chorizo, 1cm cubes, or 0.5cm slices cut in half
paella rice (I measure in a jug up to the 8fl oz mark)

Cooked Tiger Prawns that I used as garnish instead of mussels

1 pepper, red for colour but not essential, cut in small strips
handful of peas
few saffron threads
1 fish stock cube
raw seafood: scallops, prawns, squid, mussels - any mix of your choice,

Chorizo is richly flavoured with paprika which gives it wonderful colour and flavour

The bright sunny colour from just a few strands of saffron

Soak the saffron threads in a little hot water to infuse.  Leave aside for later.

Keep close eye on the chorizo - don't let it frazzle like I did!

Put the chicken pieces and chorizo in a deep frying pan (I use a non-stick pan so I don't even worry about heating it up first and make sure pan is large enough as everything is cooked in it).  I don't add oil as there will be oil from the chicken wings and the chorizo is fatty too.  Fry lightly so the chicken begins to go golden and the chorizo browns lightly.  Remove the chorizo and keep aside for later.  I take it out now because I don't like it to get too hard and crispy.


Add the chopped onion and continue to fry gently until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes.  Tip in the rice and stir to coat all the rice grains in the fragrant chorizo-infused oil.  Keep stirring and frying over a low heat for 1-2 minutes

Dissolve the fish stock cube in 1 pint of water and add to the pan.  Pour in the saffron threads and water.  Turn the flame up to bring the liquid to boil, then turn down to simmer. 
Return the chorizo to the pan and simmer gently for 5 minutes then scatter the pepper strips and peas over the top.  Continue to simmer for another 5 minutes or so until the water begins to fall below the level of the rice. 
If the rice grains are not plump enough,  add a little more water to the pan - they won't be fully cooked at this point as it will continue to absorb liquid and will steam through later.

Add the seafood to the pan.  I nestle the halved scallops into the rice and mussels if I'm using them.  The squid and prawns cook easily so these are just sprinkled on top.

Cover the pan with a lid and continue to cook for a further 5 minutes on a low heat.  It doesn't matter if you get a little golden brown toasty rice on the bottom as it's made like that (bit like clay-pot rice you get in Hong Kong Dai-Pai Dong.).  The steaming should make the rice lift off the bottom of the pan.

If you don't have a large enough lid, cover with square of foil and twist corners - it makes the foil tighten and form to shape of pan

Turn off fire and leave covered to steam through for 5-10 minutes and serve.  It's usually served with lemon wedges but we don't find that necessary.

Taa-Daa!  Looks good with mussels too!

This is a polite sized serving - I ate more than this! :0)

This amount makes enough for three hungry people sized portions (that's me, hubby and his lunchbox) or four polite appetites.

1 Box of Tofu Two Ways ~ Tofu with Mixed Vegetables

I've mentioned before that hubbs likes to eat tofu.  I like it too.  Did I mention that hubbs has been promising my mum to make her some tofu since...hmm.....about 6 years now.  After finding out that his mother would make tofu when he was younger, mum said she'd love to try some.  "OK, it's easy my husband says."  Well, since that day, we got married, bought a house and have even started our family.  Tofu?  Well, it's still in its raw state!  I bought him the soy beans, I even got gypsum powder to coagulate the tofu.  He says he needs a food processor to grind the beans.  I keep telling him you can use a blender but it's falling on deaf ears.  My brother laughed and said the only chance mum will get to eat fresh home-made tofu is from her grandson!  Ermm....the boy is 2 months old.  Lets not too much pressure on him!

Anyway, I bought a box of fresh tofu from the market and some green pak choi - or Shanghai pak choi my mum calls it.  We ate this Sunday evening for our dinner, I had some marinated pork steaks in the freezer and the tofu vegetable dish I created accompanied it.

I fried the tofu slices in some oil in a hot wok.  I hadn't realised how incredibly smoky it gets!  I scooped out the tofu and drained them on paper towels.  Next went in the carrot slices and soaked, chopped shiitake mushrooms.  I added some bamboo shoot slices (from a jar) - I just love that crunchy texture!  In went some of the mushroom soaking liquid to cook the vegetables before adding the green pak choi and the Chinese leaves.  For seasoning, I added a splash of fish sauce (keeps the Vietnamese part of my hubby happy), a splash of soy sauce (that's a nod to my Chinese roots), a blob of oyster sauce and a sprinkling of white pepper.  After making sure the seasoning was as I liked it, I slipped the tofu slices back in to mingle with the flavours before thickening with cornflour paste.

The pork steaks are flavoured with char siu seasoning from a packet (Red Roast Pork, Lobo brand) and were grilled for around 6-8 minutes each side until beginning to char.  I drizzled with honey and turned off the heat.  I served with plain rice and the pork juices dribbled over.

Best bit?  Hubby loving his dinner!  I even made enough for a rice-box lunch for him too!  I am much too good to him!

Quick & Easy Chinese Dinner - Dishes from my Childhood

Growing up in my mother's kitchen she has always been a great source of inspiration and when we were younger, we were lucky to have a WAHM.  It meant that she was always there for us when we finished school and would cook us all kind of goodies.  We are older now and have our own homes and families and I can't wait for the day she retires so she can spend more time again in the kitchen trying out new recipes and snacks and all sorts of good things to eat!

Many of the chinese dishes I attempt now are influenced from my childhood and are things mum would cook for us to eat as our one plate meals.  We'd often have a one plate meal where we have our own bowl of rice and it'd be topped with a stir-fried dish of meat and veggies.  Simple cooking and often eaten in front of the TV!  We'd only sit around the table and share multiple dishes when dad was at home or if we had guests.  Now, as mum still works (not at home anymore), when she has her day off from work she still likes to cook various dishes that we sit at the table and share - even if it's only 2 or 3 of us.

My hubbs likes courgettes and I don't mind them but have had a few from the supermarket that are bitter to eat.  No idea why so I only buy them in the summer months (am growing them in garden at the moment too!).  I have found that my half vietnamese/half chinese hubby seems to enjoy the oriental style dishes that I cook.  Some of the dishes he suggests cooking (or what he used to cook for me before we were married) are very similar to what my mum cooked.  The only difference I find is that he tends to use fish sauce in cooking whereas my upbringing would be to use soy sauce.

Courgettes are bountiful in the supermarkets now and I cooked these dishes for our dinner on Wednesday:

Stir-Fried Courgette with Pork

150g sliced pork (I had spare rib chops again but chicken will work well or even beef)
2 medium sized courgettes, halved lengthwise then sliced
1 shallot, sliced
2 small garlic cloves, minced
dash of white pepper
few drops of sesame oil
splash of soy sauce (1tsp)
splash of chinese wine (1 tsp)
1/2 tsp cornflour
2 tsp squid sauce
2 tsp oyster sauce
1/2 cup water
cornflour and water mix

The pork was mixed with pepper, sesame oil, soy sauce, chinese wine and the cornflour and left to sit in a dish whilst I prepared the vegetables.
I heated 1 tbs of oil in a work and then slid the pork in.  Leave to fry for about 1-2 minutes before turningthe meat over to brown slightly.  Add the shallots and stir.
Add the sliced courgettes and garlic and fry for 2 minutes before adding the water, squid sauce and oyster sauce.  Leave to cook for 3 minutes.
Check the sauce for seasoning, thicken with cornflour and water mix.



Mum would often cook us tomato, egg and beef.  She says it's full of vitamins and nutritious.  I once cooked it for hubbs and he didn't like it.  Said it was neither beefy or tomatoey!  As I wanted another dish for dinner, (I usually cook enough so I can pack a ricebox lunch for hubbs.) I decided to try tomato and egg (minus beef this time).  It seemed to go down with no complaints this time! 

Tomato & Egg

3 medium sized eggs (my babies eggs are only around 55-60g with the shell)
3 medium sized ripe tomatoes (I only buy vine ripened ones as the flavour is more superior than regular salad toms) quartered, or cut into 1/6ths
1 shallot, sliced,
1 spring onion, white part sliced in thin rings and the green parts shredded
1/4 cup of water
2 tsp tomato puree (mum uses tom ketchup)
1/2 tsp sugar
cornflur and water mix

Heat 1 tbs oil in a wok and add the eggs (you can beat them up first or just scramble lightly in the wok).  Don't bash them up too much as you want large enough pieces of egg to eat later.  Put aside on a plate for later.

Add the tomatoes, shallot and the white part of the spring onion to the wok and let sizzle for 30 seconds or so.  Add the water and let the tomatoes cook a little.  If the water evaporates too quickly (my gas flame isn't particularly powerful) add a splash more water.  Add the tomato puree and sugar.

Tatse the sauce, it should be tomatoey and not too sharp - add more sugar if necessary.

Add the spring onion greens, add in the cooked egg and thicken sauce with the cornflour and water mix.

We loved this dish as kids and mum still cooks it occasionally now but she's not a beef fan so she sometimes cooks it with spam batons, fish cake slices or small minced pork patties.

Tofu Trial

My hubbs likes eating tofu - it's nutritious, low in fat, high in calcium and protein.  It's adaptable to various flavours and comes in a variety of different forms, fresh cubes sold in boxes with water to keep it fresh; in a sealed UHT box (usually the silky Japanese version - stored on supermarket shelf); deep fried tofu puffs - great in braises where the puffy sponge-like texture soaks up the tasty juices, or great for stuffing with meat pastes and fried; a soft silky version to be eaten as a dessert "豆腐花" (dou-fu fah); dried tofu; or preserved cubes in jars for cooking and then there are also variants with the beancurd skin that is produced when making tofu - but I'm not going there!  All from the humble little yellow soy bean!

I'm usually apprehensive with buying of tofu - although I've eaten it at home and also when in chinese restaurants, it's not something I really know how to prepare and cook with.  So, on our travels to Peterborough on Sunday, I saw a chinese supermarket in the High Street and of course I had to have a wander in!  I stocked up on a few essentials like soy sauce and dried noodles but also saw some fresh tofu.  Not sure if it's expensive but I paid £1.50 (GBP) for a box with three cubes in.  The cubes were probably 3"x3" square - enough for 2 and not too big a package for me to have to deal with.  I also bought a bag of choy sum - one of my favourite chinese vegetables - which I disappointedly, have failed to grow this year!

I had no idea how I should cook the tofu but fancied something like a tofu claypot where it's cooked alongside meat, vegetables and maybe prawns.  I resorted to phoning up my chinese culinary master - my mum!  She told me to cube it, blanch in some water, drain it and slip it into the wok once teh rest of teh ingredients were cooked.

This is what we ate on Sunday....

Dinner a deux!  Getting quite homely these days!

It couldn't have been too bad as my hubbs gobbled up his dinner fairly quickly.  He has a habit of taking a break halfway through his dinner and I think I can tell if dinner is to his liking as he doesn't stop for a 20-30 minute breather in between!  Bless!  No wonder he is the svelte shape he is!

Tofu with Pork and Courgette

150g sliced pork (I used pork spare rib chop - boneless but any meat will be fine)
1 medium sized courgette cubed
a few scallops sliced in half ( I would've like prawns but I didn't have any)
2 cubes of tofu, drained and cut however you like
1 shallot, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
dash of white pepper
dash of chinese wine (for marinating - optional)
dash of sesame oil
splash of soy sauce
1/2 tsp cornflour
blob of oyster sauce
1/2 cup water
cornflour & water mix

I mixed the pork with the pepper, sesame oil, chinese wine, soy and 1/2 tsp cornflour in a small bowl and let it sit whilst I prepared the rest of the ingredients.
I blanched the tofu in boiling water for about 1-2 mins before removing them from the wok and leaving them to one side.
I heated up the dried wok and added 1 tbs oil and let it get hot before I added the sliced pork.  I let it sizzle on one side for a bit before turning it over.  Then I added the shallots, and the courgette cubes and minced garlic and let them fry for 2 minutes.
I then added the water so the courgette could cook.  When it's simmering away I add the flavourings, a shake of squid sauce - about 2-3 tsps (my hubbs is half vietnamese and this is his essential cupboard item!), a blob of oyster sauce.  A shake of soy - about 1tsp.  I then add the scallops - I don't like tehm to overcook so add them towards the end. 
I taste the sauce and adjust where necessary before thickening with the cornflour & water mix.

5-Spice Tofu Fingers

1 cube of tofu cut into fingers and drained on kitchen towel
1 tsp 5-spice powder
2-3 tbs cornflour

I was inspired to make this dish after reading Elin's blog on tofu.
I kept this one simple and mixed the cornflour and 5-spice powder on a plate - I can't remember whether I seasoned with salt and pepper!
All I did was coat each tofu finger in the corn flour and let it shallow fry gently in some oil in a frying pan.  Cornflour doesn't brown that easily (which I didn't realise) and I just let it fry and fry and fry!  It certainly was crispy but I would just fry until the cornflour coating has gone crispy and turn it over to fry the other sides.  I think if you cook the tofu this way (perhaps with out the 5-spice) you could use it as a meat substitute for other dishes like sweet and sour or served with a creamed corn sauce, or even a lemon sauce.

The choy sum was simply blanched and dressed with oyster sauce.

All in all, my tofu trial was easier than I expected without any kitchen mishaps!