Lava Egg (Ni Tamago)

Posted by Vivian in Egg, Japanese

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It is not an exaggeration if I say that making this egg is akin to precision engineering. From getting it to the right consistency to removing the shell off without nicking it is no mean feat. Ensuring the yolk stays runny and not overly cooked but yet getting the white hard enough such that it doesn’t get mangled when de-shelling is an intricate balance.

I have been trying to prefect it but there are obviously still much room for improvement. If I do get it right, then I believe it is because of some divine intervention. Ploughed through quite a few sites to look for some tips and tricks. Unfortunately, I have not uncovered any magic. Everyone seems to be working with the same recipe. Am I missing something or most people just don’t bother whether the egg white stays whole? Perhaps it is high time for me to come to terms that “it is the inside that counts” and nothing else matters.

Luck was on my side last weekend with one particular egg out of the seven I made. It was decent looking enough for me to have it featured in the photo above. And so after more than 50 eggs and a good one and a half year of attempting to perfect my skills for this recipe, I am finally writing down what I think might work. Probably will still need a few attempts to convince myself that this is it!

Ingredients:

• 7 to 8 medium size eggs (cold and just out from the fridge!)
• 8 tablespoons of  light soy sauce
• 6 tablespoons of water
• 6 tablespoons of Mirin
• 4 tablespoons of Sugar
• 2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce

Preparation:

• Bring to boil a pot of water enough to cover eggs.
• Reduce heat until the water is just bubbling. 
• Lower eggs gently into water using the help of a ladle.
• Allow the eggs to boil for 9 minutes (most recipes call for 6 to 8 minutes but I find that even for 8 minutes the egg white is too soft to allow the shell to be easily removed).
• Remove eggs and immediately place them into an ice bath.
• Transfer the eggs in the ice bath to a fridge and let it sit for 3 to 4 hours.
• In the meantime, combine all remaining ingredients in a pot and bring to a simmer.  Allow marinade to cool.
• Once the eggs are done with the "ice bath", make a small crack on one end of each egg and place the eggs back to the water for 1 to 2 minutes. I personally find that this allows the water to seep through between the shell and the egg, so that the shells remove much easier.
• Remove shells from egg.
• Marinate the eggs with the marinade overnight and turn the eggs at least once or twice during the process to ensure the eggs are evenly coated.
• Before serving, remove the eggs from the fridge and allow the eggs to warm up room temperature.
• Drain and halved the eggs.

Seafood Crispy Noodles (海鲜生面)

Posted by Vivian in Chinese, Noodles, Seafood

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One miserable post for the year thus far… that’s truly a record low!

Planning a meal has been quite a challenge this year. Being pressed for time on most days is only but one reason. Logistic arrangements, from transportation for grocery shopping to other activities taking priority on most weekends, complicate matters as well. So it has been “back to basics”, and nothing fancy has came out from the humble kitchen of mine for many moons now. I used to bookmark interesting recipes and will attempt to get to it when I find the opportunity to. Convinced myself to stop doing that because it will only make me more depress with an ever growing list, as if a promise made to own self that I couldn’t keep to.

Even the recipe below is nothing terribly exciting - same recipe for Hor Fun except for some very slight changes. At the very least, it satisfy myself that I won’t end the year with only one entry!

Ingredients:

• 5 pieces of crispy noodles 
• 200 gm of lean pork or chicken fillet (sliced)
• 1 medium size squid (sliced) 
• 2 fish cake (sliced) 
• 15 medium-sized prawn 
• 1 bunch of choy sum 
• 4 cloves of garlic (diced) 
• 5 cups of chicken stock 
• Oyster sauce 
• Light soy sauce
• Sesame oil 
• 2 eggs (lightly beaten) 
• Cornstarch (4 tablespoons of cornflour mixed with a small bowl of water)
• Cornflour

Preparation:

• Marinate both chicken/pork and prawns with corn flour, sesame oil and light soy sauce. 
• Heat up oil  and stir-fry garlic. 
• Add chicken to pan and stir-fry until it is almost done and add in prawns and squid.
• Remove ingredients from pan when cooked. 
• Add chicken stock, 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce and 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce to pan. Bring to boil. 
• Add in choy sum and fish cake.
• As soon as the choy sum is cooked, lower heat and add in cornstarch and bring to boil.
• Once the sauce thickens, return all ingredients back to pan. 
• Turn off heat and stir in beaten egg. 
• Dish gravy over noodles. 

Number of Servings: 5