Green Carrot & Prawn Soup 青萝卜鲜虾汤...

i prepare mostly steamed and soup dishes and lesser of deep fried stuffs for my family lately as the weather is really warm... This soup is delightfully refreshing - the green carrot and prawns make a beautiful blend in both color and taste. :p Hope you like try it!

The main ingredients are: fresh prawns, green carrot, Chinese mushrooms, garlic and a lovely broth from boiling dried scallops, dried oysters, ginger, garlic and peppercorns. Please see picture (a) below for the key ingredients.

Green carrots are as nutritious as the red and white ones. According to Chinese medical books, green carrots are rich in the nutrients that our body requires for healthy functions; in particular, they are a very rich source of amylase. They also contain lots of water and are sweet in taste. Its other medicinal benefits include improving water retention condition, promoting urination and easing diarrhea. More of its nutritional info can be found on this Chinese website 百度知道.

The preparations... peel carrot and cut into thin strips. Clean prawns keeping the shells intact and marinate with a little rice wine, sesame oil and pepper. Soak Chinese mushrooms in hot water till soften, drain and slice. Prepare a nice broth by boiling dried scallops, dried oysters, ginger slices, garlic and peppercorns in water, as given above in (b).

Let’s start... heat a little oil and stir fry garlic and Chinese mushrooms till fragrant, stir in green carrot and season with a little rice wine, sesame oil and soy sauce. Add the stir fry into the broth and simmer for about 10 minutes. Next, add in the fresh prawns, close the lid and let the soup cook for another one or two minutes or till the prawns change color and voilà, it’s done!

Hope you try this simple and refreshing Green Carrot & Prawn Soup 青萝卜鲜虾汤, enjoy... :p

Fried Yam Cakes in 2 Ways 油煎和蛋煎芋头糕...

The steamed yam cakes in Steamed Yam Cake Part (I) 芋头糕(上) & Steamed Yam Cake Part (II) 芋头糕(下) can be fried in oil... and they serve as an excellent breakfast dish and delightful afternoon snacks. Here’re 2 ways of preparing these lovely fried yam cakes:
1. Slice the yam cakes and fry them in a little oil till the surfaces turn golden and crispy; or
2. Coat the yam cakes with a thin layer of egg mixture and fry in a little oil.

Hope you like the savoury fried yam cakes... enjoy... :p

Steamed Yam Cake Part (II) 芋头糕(下)...

The preparations given in Steamed Yam Cake Part (I) 芋头糕(上) seems to suggest a lot of work… please do not be discouraged by it... I usually prepare all the ingredients (the washing, cutting, slicing, etc) the night before and leave them in the fridge overnight, and on the day itself, the cooking takes just an hour... :)

Let’s start... heat shallot oil in a wok, add chopped garlic, dried mushrooms and dried shrimps and stir fry till fragrant. Next, add the yam, Chinese sausage, a little bit of water, 4 tbsp of soy sauce, 4 tbsp of rice wine, a tbsp of pepper and fry for about 2 minutes (here, you will see the yam soften...). Stir in the flour-water mixture and fried shallots and mix thoroughly, the texture of the mixture at this stage should be viscous and sticky… and pour the mixture into the greased steaming trays (please see Picture a below). Steam the yam mixture over high heat for about 40 minutes (b) or when a toothpick comes out clean (c)… and voilà, it’s done! You may garnish the yam cakes with some fried shallots and chopped chili; I like mine plain, as I love the original taste 原味之香...

Hope you try out this savory Yam cake dish, picture (d) gives the final product, enjoy... :p

p.s. these yam cakes taste really heavenly... and you can see lots of yam strips in a good yam cake. Hope you try it!

Steamed Yam Cake Part (I) 芋头糕(上)...

Home made yam cakes are delicious and not oily... and you can have lots of yams and mushrooms in your cakes which are very flavorful and really yummy. I used to prepare these lovely yam cakes for my late Grandma who loved yam and all type of yam dishes... and it was always a pure joy to see her enjoy food that she loved. :)

Here’s my humble recipe... hope you try it! It is broken into 2 parts... this post gives the raw ingredients and preparations, and the next one, the cooking method and the final products.

The main ingredients used: yam 芋头 (1 medium size), dried mushrooms 香菇 (15 pieces), dried shrimps 虾米 (200g), Chinese sausage XO手工加瘦腊肠 (150g), rice flour 水磨占米粉 (600g), sago flour 茨粉 (50g), water (2 litres), shallots 葱头 and garlic 蒜头. For the key ingredients, please see Picture below:

The preparations... please refer to the pictures below for the steps:
(a) Peel yam, wash and cut into thin strips.
(b) Soak dried shrimps in hot water, rinse and drain.
(c) Soak dried mushrooms in hot water, drain and slice thinly.
(d) Remove the membrane of the sausages, wash and cut into thin strips.
(e) Peel garlic cloves and chop finely.
(f) Peel shallots and cut thinly.
(g) Sieve rice flour and sago flour, mix with water and ensure that all the flour “dissolves” and there are no lumps of flour in the mixture.
(h) Fry shallots in oil till golden brown. Separate the shallots from the oil. Grease the steaming trays with the shallot oil and keep the rest for cooking later on.

For the rest of the recipe, please move on to Steamed Yam Cake Part (II) 芋头糕(下)... :p