Archive for February 12th, 2014
You see this every Chinese New Year. These cakes, made from glutinous rice flour, is used as an offering to the kitchen god on Chinese New Year’s eve. After all the festivities, most people don’t know what to do with it.
First, slice up the cake. It’s almost like soap, except that it’s sticky and not slippery.
Next, beat up an egg. This will act as the “batter”. Dip the cake slices in the beaten egg, then get the wok ready. Heat it up with some oil.
Fry the slices until the egg begins to brown.
And we’re ready to serve! Try it. Don’t waste your Chinese New Year cakes.
© Chan Joon Yee
I normally cook petai with ikan bilis, but this humble petai bean goes well with shrimp too. The cooking method is more or less the same. Heat up some oil (be generous), fry sliced onion until the latter starts to brown. Throw in the petai beans, turn up the heat, fry for half a minute, then throw in the shrimp. Once the shrimp turns red, put in one tea spoonful of sambal, one teaspoon of sugar and drizzle some light soya sauce over it.
The kids may not appreciate the sambal, but it’s another great accompaniment to white rice.
© Chan Joon Yee
This is standard Chinese New Year fare and it’s very easy to cook. All you need to do is to open a can of abalone, drain out the liquid (keep it to make a soup with ginger, asparagus and mushrooms) then slice the abalone thinly on a cutting board.
Heat up a wok, add a tiny bit of oil, then fry some minced garlic until the latter is brown and fragrant. Throw in the abalone slices, add a couple of tablespoons of oyster sauce and stir fry for 1 minute. Serve with rice.
© Chan Joon Yee