Scallop!

Fresh scallop is considered a delicacy here, and for Chinese.  But it doesn't have to be complicated.

Using fresh scallop, I wash and pat dry.  Sear in a pan with a little oil so it doesn't burn.

Remove from the pan.  Add minced garlic in the pan until brown.  Pour in gravy consists of:
* Oyster Sauce
* Soy Sauce
* Sugar
* Rice Wine
* Water

Stir the gravy until boil, and thicken the gravy with a bit of cornstarch melted in two teaspoons of water.

Sprinkle chop green onion if you like.  Pour the gravy onto the cooked fresh scallop.

This can be done in 15 minutes.

A Little More Time

Sometimes, I do have a little more time to whip up a dish that requires a few more steps.  So I make Lemon Chicken.

I use chicken fillet, marinate with a little salt and pepper. 

Then I coat it with egg (beaten up) and then flour.  I use sweet potato flour to give it a little cruchy texture, but all purpose flour would work just fine.  After coating, throw it into a wok of heated oil - about half inch would do.  Fry until cook and golden brown.

You can turn up the flame for about 20 seconds when the chicken is ready - this will "expel" the oil from the meat so it's not too oily.

While the chicken is being cooked, mince some garlic and prepare the lemon sauce - lemon juice, a little zest if you want, mix with a little sugar, salt, and pepper.  After the chicken is cooked, drain it on kitchen paper towel.  Throw the mince garlic into the work, stir until fragrant, add in the lemon sauce, cook until boil (which takes about 1 minute), and thicken with cornstarch (dissolve in water first) - this should be about one table spoon of water and half a tea spoon of cornstarch (depending on the amount of sauce you have).

And done!

One Pot Dish

So everyday I come home from work late in the evening, settle the two dogs, and have to prepare a full meal dinner in 30 minutes. 

To get my main dish and staple all settled, sometimes I do a "one-pot-cooking" using claypot.  So this is my claypot rice:

Wash the rice.
Marinade chicken pieces using dark soya sauce, a little bit of sugar, pepper, rice (cooking) wine, cornstarch (just a little).
Heat up the claypot with a bit of oil, put in some minced garlic and / or ginger (option), stir fry the chicken until it turns color, then put in the rice, add water (ratio: 1 cup rice to 1 cup water).  Stir the mixture.
Cover the claypot.  When the water boils, turn the heat down to minimum.  30 minutes later, you have a nice claypot rice.
Along the way, open the cover and stir the mixture to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
You can add other ingredients such as dried mushroom, Chinese sausages, carrots... really depends on what you have in your fridge.
Meanwhile, you can do other things!

One Dish 5 Minutes

There are only two seasons in Singapore, a tropical island: hot and hotter.  During the end of the year, say from November to December, we usually get a lot of rain from the Northeast monsoon from South China Sea.  Even then, the temperature hovers around 24 to 29 degree celcius.  Still hot.

So when it rains, you get lazy because it feels good to be snuggling under the blanket, or you don't want to move too fast.  This is when a 5-minute dish would come in handy.

I wrap button mushroom in bacon, secure with toothpicks, and pop it into my small oven toaster for 30 minutes and voila!!

By the way, the way Chinese have their meals - we share the dishes.  Usually we have a few main dishes, one soup, and share among those you are having meals with.  Dishes are usually placed in the centre of the table, and you take what you like to eat, and how much you like to eat.  We eat rice as staple - everyday.

One Dish, 10 Minutes

To make a quick dish, I blanch asparagus, strips of carrot, and enoki mushroom (if using) for 2 minutes, in boiling water with a pinch of salt.

Then I wrap the combination with bacon, using toothpicks to secure.  Pan fry till done. 

That's one dinner dish in 10 minutes!

Recycling Used Papers

Not Just Chop Sui

We Chinese love our food hot and fresh from the wok.  We call it the "energy of wok".  And good food must meet three criteria: vibrant in color, fragrant, and taste good.  And of course it's more than just Chop Sui and Sweet and Sour Pork.

And we must have rice for our meals - instead of potato.  Rice is the main source of carbo for us.

In Singapore, we work long hour.  We normally start at 8.30am, and if you can be done and leave the office by 6pm, you are lucky.

So by the time I come home after work, I have only 30 minutes to whip up a "full course" dinner with soup, rice and main course. 

So what do I do?

This first quick stir-fry dish I want to share is Stir-fry Beef with Mango.  Now, mango is easy to find here in the tropical country.  Here's what I do:

1. Marinade the beef with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, a little sugar, a little cooking wine, pepper, a little water, and finally a bit of cornstarch.  "Massage" the marinade into the beef.
2. Cut mango into strips (same size as the beef), carrot, zucchini.
3. Mince 2 cloves of garlic, and a thumb size of ginger.
4. Heat wok, add oil (I use olive oil as a healthy alternative).  You can use any type of cooking oil.  When the oil is heat up, add ginger.  Fry for about 1 minute, add garlic.  This is because garlic turn brown faster than ginger so you want to add it later. 
5. When the garlic is a little brown, throw in the beef.  Make sure the wok is hot, and that you hear the sizzle and you see the steam when you throw in the beef (be careful though).  You can throw in the carrot at this point because, again, carrot takes a longer time to cook.  You can add in a little water here.
6. Stir fry quickly the beef for about 1 minute or 2 or when it turns brown. 
7. Throw in mango and zucchini.  Continue stirring.
8. Mix cornstarch with a little water.  Pour into the wok from the side.
9. Stir until sauce thicken.  And you are done.

Make sure you don't over cook the beef.  You can substitute beef with chicken or pork, but it would require longer cooking time.

Notice I don't have exact measurement?  Because I don't.  If you have watched Martin Yen, that's how we cook - a little bit of this and that.  You can adjust according to your preference.

This takes about 5 minutes to prepare and another 3 to 5 minutes (max) to cook.

Here's the end product.  Have fun!

Stir-fry Beef with Mango: takes 8 minutes to prepare.