Blanched Lettuce with Fried Garlic

I love cooking simple, non-messy dishes. Blanching vegetable and then dressing them with the right amount of oyster sauce, soya sauce, sugar & white pepper can create a simple, delicious and healthy dish. (At least, it is healthier than stir frying, that is what I think)

Other than lettuce, this recipe also works well for other green leafy vegetables like Chye Sim, Tong Ho (Garland Chrysanthemum) & etc). Normally, blanched vegetable is garnished with fried onion instead of fried garlic. However, I love both types of garnishing.


Ingredients
(yields 1 plate for 2-3 persons)

1 Head Iceberg Lettuce (washed & cut, 2 inch length)
5-6 Cloves Garlic (sliced thinly)
2-3 tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 tsp Soya Sauce
1/2 tsp Sugar
1-2 dash White Pepper Powder
Sufficient Oil (to fry the garlic)


Method

1. Heat up sufficient amount of oil in the wok.

2. Under medium heat, fry the garlic until golden.
(Note: To retain the crisp of the garlic, put a dash of sugar right at the end of frying before reserving the oil)

4. Reserve the garlic and oil and put aside until further use.

5. Pour 1-2 litre of water into the wok and boil. It is ok with some oil remained in the wok.

6. Once water is boiling, dump in the vegetable and blanch for about 3-5 minutes.

7. While blanching the vegetable, mix the remaining ingredients with 1 tbsp of the garlic oil in a clean plate.

8. Strain the vegetable, put into the plate with sauce and mix thoroughly.

9. Garnish top of the vegetable with fried garlic and serve.


Results:

Easy and delicious. :)

Sambal Lady Fingers

In Singapore, sambal lady fingers is a common dish at the Mixed Rice stalls. I, myself, like to order this dish but have never tried cooking this. I thought it is time for me to venture a new recipe other than the normal, non-spicy stir fried version.

As I have not much experience in sambal, I started looking for a recipe at the websites. What can be as fast and convenient as the Internet to get information? :)

I came across a few interesting websites and decided to copy a bit here and there and also made a few moderations in the ingredients' quantity as well as seasoning amount.


Ingredients
(yields a plateful for 2-3 persons)

10-12 stalks Okras/ Lady Fingers (diagonally sliced)

1 Red Chili (julienned)

3 tbsp Cooking Oil

Sambal/ Chili Paste ingredients

6 Red Chili (Deseeded)

3-4 Dried Chili (Soaked & Deseeded)

3-4 Bird's Eye Chili (Deseeded) - Optional

1 inch Belacan/ Dried Shrimp Paste (Toasted)

1 small grip Dried Shrimp (Soaked for about 15 min)

6 Shallots (Peeled)

3 cloves Garlic (Peeled)

2 tsp soya sauce

1/2 tsp sugar

Method:

1. Blend all Sambal ingredients and set aside.

2. Heat up wok and pour in oil.

3. Once wok is heated, add sambal/ chili paste and fry for about 5 minutes or until fragrant.

4. Add the lady fingers and fry for another 5-10 minutes.

5. Add some water if more sauce preferred. Add seasoning (salt, sugar, soya sauce) suiting to own preference.

Note: Taste the sauce & also the lady fingers!

6. Add julienned Chili last and stir fry a few more moments before dish up.

Results

Yummy! Satisfying and definitely a keeper for me!

Black Dace Tofu

Tofu is one of my favourite dishes. It is high in protein and nutritious. On its own, it tastes bland; but when cooked with the right sauce, it can be turned into something delicious.

Last year, I learnt a great tofu dish from my ex-housemate. It is simple to cook, with simple ingredients, yet yuuuuummmmy! It is my all time favourite and I introduced this to my family and they liked it too.

Ingredients

(yields 1 plate for 2-3 persons)

2 blocks Pressed Tofu (suitable for frying, cut in 1 inch/pc)

2-3 stalks Scalion (cut into 1 inch long)

1 Red Chili (Deseeded & Julienned)

2-3 Red Bird's Eyes Chili (Deseeded & Julienned) - Optional

3-4 cloves Garlic (chopped)

Sauce

1 tbsp Cooking Oil

2-3 tbsp "Organic Forest" Black Dace

1 tsp soya sauce

1 tsp sugar

some water

Method

1) Heat up sufficient oil and fry cut tofu until golden brown. Do not over fry or the tofu become too crispy.

2) Put fried tofu aside and reserve about 1 tbsp of oil in the wok.

3) Saute garlic and chili for about 1 minute when oil is heated.

4) Add the black dace and saute for about another 1 minute or until fragrant.

5) Pour water and the remaining sauce ingredients and continue cooking for another 1-2 minutes.

6) Add fried tofu and scallion and stir fry just to ensure all tofu covered with the sauce.

5) Dish up and serve.

Results

I've cooked this a couple of times and every time I get the thumbs up. I think the black dace from "Organic Forest" is the key to the success of this dish! If I am using other brands, I need to tweak on the amount of water, sugar and also a bit of "Hsao Shing Wine" right at the end to make it more flavourful. The other key is to always taste the food before dishing up. :)