Chawanmushi w/ salted duck egg

Chawanmushi w/ salted duck egg
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

Today mother-earth decided to host a mahjong game for a good friend of ours visiting from Hawaii. So since I had to man the kitchen I decided that chawanmushi or steamed egg would be the perfect dish to serve for dinner, the rest of the dishes (pork barbeque, spinach soup) I would just buy at a favorite restaurant near our store. For this chawanmushi, I got the recipe only recently from my cousin B who took the Beginner's cooking course at CCAC, she was totally raving about how easy & delicious it was, so I really had to try it out. Having made steamed egg before I changed my method a bit when I was advised by our Hawaiian friend to lower the flame when steaming this dish, he said it will result in a more smoother texture & he was right! Although cooking time was extended for 10 more mins. It was sooo smooth & silky. Plus I added some chopped salted duck egg on top for added flavor. The entire dish was devoured by one & all.

Shrimp Foo Yong

Shrimp Foo Yong
Originally uploaded by cutejoos


Shrimp Foo Yong 2
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

What happens when a crab-lover like me has to cook Crab Foo Yong for a crab-hater like father-earth? Simple. Just replace the crab with shrimps, which is exactly what I did for our dinner tonight. Saw the recipe in Yummy magazines Jan '08 issue and just couldn't resist trying it out since crab/shrimp foo yong has been one of my all time favorite dishes to order whenever we go out for chinese. I was tempted to try out this particular version because of the fact that tau miao (pea sprouts) was used instead of the usual bean sprouts and it really gave this dish a whole new dimension in terms of flavor. After peeling the shrimp (250g), I deveined it and washed it in some rock salt & water, after draining the shrimp I marinated them in a generous amount of ginger juice, (a staple in our kitchen) for a few mins. While waiting, I combined the sauce ingredients which consisted of oyster sauce, rice wine, stock, sesame oil, sugar, pepper & salt in a saucepan and let it cook till it came to a boil. I then set aside the sauce & returned my attention back to the marinated shrimp which I then strained of the ginger juice. The shrimps were now ready to be added to my 5 beaten eggs. For this dish I felt that a non-stick pan was the best thing to use especially since I was dealing with eggs, I wouldn't want to deal with eggs getting stuck to the wok scraper-rama!! So first I sauteed the garlic, onions & leeks till tender then added the tau miao & carrots, at this point it's best to turn down the heat of the pan to low before pouring in the shrimp/egg mixture. Continuously move the eggs & shrimp all over pan and cook till just set & not dry. Now you can add some cornstarch water into the sauce mixture then cook till thick. Pour this on top of the omelet. This dish is best served while piping hot.