Stir-Fried French Beans with Egg (蛋抄四季豆)

Posted by Vivian in Egg, Vegetable

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妹妹爱吃的蛋抄四季豆。
妈妈的家常菜。
也是和我童年紧紧挂钩的一道“家”肴。

十岁的我就已在妈妈的厨房打转。

洗菜，切肉。。。葱，蒜，油，米的日子是幼年的回忆。

既是只是厨房里的小角， 没有做大厨的份，也算得上是一种学习经验。

经过了岁月的磨练，换来了讯速熟练的刀法。

细细长长 的“乌龟豆”不在需要恼人的耐心。

“咚”“咚”“咚” 锋利的刀子敲打着砧版的节奏， 钩起了那份记忆。

简单不起眼的一道菜却能带来许多的回味。

 

 

Ingredients:

• 200gm French beans (ends removed and thinly sliced diagonally)
• 1 egg (beaten and seasoned slightly with light soy sauce)
• 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 150 ml of water
• Salt and light soy sauce for seasoning

Preparation:

• Heat wok with some oil and add in garlic.
• Stir-fry French beans in wok and add in water when the beans are half-cooked.
• Season with some salt and stir to mix well.
• Let the beans continue to simmer in the water.
• Once the beans are cooked to the desired tenderness, pour in the egg and stir to combine.
• Turn off the heat when the egg sets and serve with rice.

Number of Servings: 3 to 4

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.

Italian Omelette

Posted by Vivian in Egg, Italian

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Not too happy with 2 things today... one, the cheddar cheese which I bought last week had gone moldy even though the expiry date stated on the packet says "14 June 2009".  As a result I had to live without the topping for this dish.

Second thing that upset me was the photo selection which took me less than 10 minutes - simply because none of the photos turned out well enough to do justice to this savoury dish.  They all look like a blob of mess!!  For now, I will have to make do with this photo until the next time I cook this again.

Ingredients:

• 1 onion (finely chopped) 
• 125 gm ham (sliced) 
• 6 eggs 
• 3 tablespoon of milk 
• 2 cups of cooked fusilli (yielded from 150 gm of uncooked dried fusilli) 
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley 
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil 
• 1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese 

Preparation:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan. 
• Add onion and stir over low heat until tender. 
• Add ham and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate. 
• Whisk egg together with milk, salt and pepper. Stir in pasta, Parmesan, herbs and onion mixture. 
• Preheat grill to hot. 
• Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the same pan. 
• Pour mixture into pan. Sprinkle with Cheddar and cook over medium heat until the omelette begins to set around the edges. 
• Then place pan under grill until lightly browned on top. 
• Cut into wedges and serve hot. 

(If pan is not oven-proof, transfer the mixture from the pan to an oven-proof dish then sprinkle with Cheddar before putting under grill.)

Number of Servings: 3 to 4