Steamed Scallops on Shell

This is Thu's most favourite dish. When I asked him what food he would like to have on his birthday, he answered "Scallops on shell, please". We specifically went to Hurstville to buy these scallops. They are reasonably cheap ($12.99/dozen) compared to the restaurant price ($3.50/shell). It is very easy to prepare as I used microwave to steam the scallops. Only took 2 minutes for 10 shells on a plate. 

My coriander plant is also ready to be used for garnishing. I planted the seeds early December and they grew pretty quickly on the kitchen windowsill. We had our first taste of home-grown coriander on this dish! Here is a picture of my coriander plant sitting next to the window.

Ingredients:

• shallots (cut into fine strips and put them in cold water to curl)
• ginger (cut into tiny strips)
• coriander leaves (chopped thinly)
  
• 12 scallops on shell (washed and arranged on a plate)
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 6 tbs Lee Kum Kee seasoned soy sauce for seafood
• 6 tbs water

Preparations:
Cut shallot into fine strips and soak in cold water for 10 minutes or until they curl.

Fry the ginger on a saucepan with olive and sesame oil until they turn slightly golden. Add seasoned soy sauce and water. Mix well.

Spoon the sauce over the scallops arranged on the plate (I used ginger for the aroma and left them behind). Add curled shallots over the scallops. Microwave with a lid for 2 minutes. Do not overcook scallops as they will turn hard. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Ready to serve!

Bakmie Goreng (Indonesian Fried Noodle)

This food reminds me of my childhood in Indonesia. Most birthday parties that I went always served bakmie goreng. Noodle is a sign of long life and hence, every birthday party must have noodles!

I cooked bakmie goreng to celebrate Thu's birthday. It was his first experience of my bakmie goreng as we usually order this dish in Indonesian restaurants. I was pleased with the result and will definitely make it again, especially for someone's birthday!


Ingredients:

• 1 bulb garlic (peeled and crushed)
• 2 eggs (scrambled)
• 10 beefballs (cut in half)
  
• 3 chicken thigh fillets (cut in strips)
• half bunch choy sum (cut to medium strips)
  
• 1 pack Hokkien Noodle
• salt & pepper
  
• 2 tbs sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
• 1 tsp garlic chilli sauce (sambal bawang)
• fried shallot (bawang goreng) to garnish
  

Preparations:

• Blanch hokkien noodles in boiling water until they are well-separated. Drain and run in cold water for 1 minute to avoid noodles get too soft.
  
• Scramble the egg and put them aside.
• Stir fry crushed garlic until they turn slightly golden. Add chicken thigh strips, a pinch of salt and pepper. Keep stir-frying until chicken is fully cooked.

• Add choy sum, beefball, and garlic chilli sauce. Keep mixing. When the veggies are cooked, add hokkien noodle and sweet soy sauce, a pinch of salt (based on your taste). Mix until the colour is uniform.

• Add scrambled egg. Mix and it is ready to serve. Garnish with fried shallots.

Friday Night Food Face

It's Friday night! I love the feeling of welcoming weekend. I thought of creating "Friday Night Food Face" while I was on the way home from work. 'Food Face' is simply a plate with a face and it is ready to be decorated with any food to entertain the eater.

Thu bought this from ebay as one of my Christmas presents. It is definitely so cute and I love imagining what food I will put on the plate to create a funny face. So, "Friday Night Food Face" is a fruit platter of grapefruit, lychees, white nectarine and sultanas (I don't normally eat sultanas, except in cereals). The idea of Friday night is the start of crazy hair (no hair-drying for me), big smiles and no beard shaving for Thu! Hahahaha....

Kumquat Marmalade

Yup, I am still in the mood of processing my kumquats! I made kumquat marmalade this weekend. It used simple ingredients but took a while to prepare. Its unique taste comes from the sweetness and fragrance of kumquat's rind. I am planning to use this marmalade for jam drop biscuits.

The recipe I used is from recipezaar. It was originally from 1947 American cookbook. It is reasonably easy and doesn't use gelatin/pectin.

Ingredients:

• 450 grams of kumquats (sliced and seeded)
• half lemon (sliced and seeded)
• 950 ml water
• 2 cups sugar (I used 1.75 cups sugar)

Preparations:
Wash and dry kumquats.

Slice kumquats thinly and remove seeds. Add lemon rind and its flesh (remove the white part).

Add water and let it stand overnight.

Heat in sauce pan to boiling point and cook until peel is tender and clear. Let it stand overnight.

Add sugar and cook very slowly (keep stirring) until the mixture thickens. Keep marmalade in sterilised jar.

Kumquat Refresher Drink

Happy new year, everyone! Let's hope for a great year ahead with lots of joy, happiness, and new cooking ideas. Thu and I spent last Christmas in Melbourne with his family. There were plenty of Vietnamese food, family gatherings, and kids running around.  I mostly enjoyed eating the apricots and purple plums from my in-laws' backyard. Mum and Dad also packed a full box of purple plums and a bag of kumquats for us to bring back to Sydney. Here is a photo of happy kumquat tree in the backyard.

I recently tried to make kumquat syrup for a refresher drink. It is easy and only requires sugar, water, and lemon juice. This drink is very refreshing but has a very subtle bitterness. It's very weird but gives you a 'little kick'. If you have a kumquat tree and don't know what to do with the fruits during harvest time, try to make this kumquat syrup!

Ingredients:

• 700 grams peeled kumquat fruits
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• juice from half lemon 

Preparations:
Peel the kumquat fruits (keep the kumquat rinds for baking purpose)

Add all ingredients in the sauce pan.

Set a low heat to boil for 30 mins or until the kumquat fruits are very soft and turned transparent.

Remove the seeds floating on surface. Keep the syrup in an airtight container. Add 3 tbs of kumquat syrup, ice cubes and water to dilute the sweetness in each cup.