To be Fair

C.F.O - Cooking for One

One great gift from the months living in Hong Kong is that I master the art of cooking for one. Hong Kong food always come in large portions and far too much salt and oil than I am used to. Since I am paranoid of middle-aged spread and was recovering from my operation then, I was forced to take time to cook. I soon discovered cooking has another unexpected benefit. It helped me unwind from the work stress. A quick thirty minutes of washing, cutting and cooking was like a mental "ctrl+alt+delete" to snap me out of my working mind. The best workout for the day!

Here are two dishes that I reproduce today at my KL kitchen.

Tofu and Corn soup
Ingredients
1. Half can of corn soup
2. Half box of soft tofu and diced into small cubes
3. A quarter onions sliced in rings (According to Sister P, too much onions will fart all the way to the moon. Hence if are cooking for your hot date, don't try this recipe)
4. Half a tea spoon of fish sauce
5. A few drops of soy sauce
6. A pinch of pepper
7. A few drops of sesame oil

Instructions
1. Saute onion rings till slightly golden brown
2. Heat the corn soup until it boils
3. Add the fried onions rings into the boiling soup
4. Drizzle the fish sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil into the soup
5. Stir until you can smell the fragrance of the sesame oil
6. Add the diced tofu
7. Sprinkle a pinch of pepper
8. As the soup boils, turn off the flame .Leave it on the stove to settle.

Total preparation time including cutting and cooking
8 minutes

"Tua Bak" (Big Eye)'s Kai Lan
Ingredients
1. Three or four small kai lan
2. A tablespoon of Dried diced mushroom soaked lightly in water
3. Half fresh red chili - cut into small bits
4. A fistful of dried Chinese gooseberries
5. Chopped garlic and onions

Instructions
1. Use the oil left from frying the onion, heat up the wok
2. Add the chopped garlic and onions and saute till the garlic turns slightly golden brown
3. Throw into the wok the chinese gooseberries and chopped red chili
4. Sautee for a minute or two
5. Add the dried mushroom and continue to stir fry
6. Now it is time for the kai lan.
7. As the kai lan begins to cook, add a few squarts of soy sauce. You may add some rice wine for extra flavour

Total preparation time including cutting + cooking
15 minutes

P/s. Just in case you are wondering why I name this dish Tua Bak's Kai Lan. Chinese gooseberries are good for the eyes and "Tua Bak" means big eyes in Hokkien. It was also my Grandma's nickname growing up. Chinese gooseberries have a light sweetness in them. The combination with the fresh chili and onions, mushrooms and crunchy kai-lan gave a very interesting flavour

posted by Vegie @ 8:57 PM