Steamed Pork with Black Beans and Garlic - Hong Kong Style, My Mom in Law's Recipe

I am so blessed with a MIL whose cooking I absolutely ADORE! She makes dishes that are tastier than those from the restaurants! Last weekend, she made us this absolutely delicious steamed pork dish and I was right by her side taking notes.

What's so special about the dish? She doesn't use pork ribs, because she raised 3 naughty boys who wouldn't eat anything with bone in them. She used "mui tao sao yuk" part, and we get juicy tender bits (daam daam yuk) with tasty sauce that could make us eat 10 bowls of rice.

Here's her recipe:
- Pork meat (about HK$15 worth from Park & Shop - sadly, sometimes cheaper than local wet markets). You can replace the pork with chicken, or tofu puffs as vegetarian option
- a handful of Chinese fermented black beans, rinsed
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- a dash of oil
- 2 tsp corn starch
- a dash of light soy sauce
- chopped fresh chillies and spring onion

Throw everything into a plate like this:


Mix well.


Add chopped chillies. She added on just half of the dish, to accommodate those who can't eat hot stuff.


Steam for 15 minutes.


Garnish with spring onion.

Serve with lotsssssssssssssssssssssssssssss of rice.

Hong Kong classic flavors at its best.

Super Simple Steamed Fish with Lemon and Garlic Recipe

After an exhausting session at the gym, I wanna be a good girl, but I don't wanna eat something (salad? fresh fruits?) that would make me hungry after an hour and end up eating a large bag of chips or a bowl of sinful instant noodles with more sinful frills. All of my hard work would be wasted!

I need to eat something savory, light yet satisfying, and easy to prepare.
This is perfect! I adore the classic soy sauce/ginger/chilli/garlic/fermented black beans/spring onion combo, but it's so tasty, it makes me end up eating a few bowls of rice with the sauce alone. This one is much lighter and brighter, but still flavorful.

Recipe
- your favorite fish (it can be with bone or fillet, I used pomfret)
- 1 lemon
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- white pepper, fish sauce
- hot water for steaming

Clean your fish, place in a dish you'll use to steam, squeeze juice of half a lemon, scatter the garlic around it or stuff some into the cavity if you're using whole fish. Pour some boiling water into wok, place a saucer or a small bowl with its bottom facing up, place your plate with the fish on top of it so that the water won't get into your fish dish (you can use a steamer if you have), cover the wok and steam the fish until it's just done (mine took about 8 minutes). Once done, drizzle a bit of fish sauce, and if you want, garnish with freshly chopped coriander (which I didn't use simply because I didn't have one in my kitchen).

I could just eat that for dinner, or with a bit of brown rice and vegetables.

I feel healthier already...
But I am sure I'll get back to the normal junk food programming soon.
I am weak like that.
T_T

Surprisingly Tasty - Garlic & Ginger Steamed Chicken Wings

When SC's mama shared this recipe, I wasn't convinced.
I'm not about subtle flavors. I love things grilled, fried, charred, dressed up in lots of bold flavored sauces.

Steamed? Plain? Subtle? Ngggg....sometimes...ok, but most of the time...thanks, but no thanks.
Especially when it's chicken, with skin.
Ew.
I like my chicken skin...if not crispy, at least golden brown. Pale chicken skin?
Ew. Ew. Ew.

Anyway, I gave this steamed chicken wings a try and I was shocked.
They were shockingly delightful!

Tender, juicy meat bursting with flavors, satiny smooth and flavorful skin...with a bonus of pinches of heat from the chopped chillies. Love! and so gonna do it again.

Recipe
- a plate of chicken wings
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced (haha! garlic breath!)
- 2 cm ginger, minced
- salt, pepper, sugar, Chinese rice wine, vegetable oil
- a couple of small chopped red chillies for garnish (optional)

Marinate chicken wings with minced garlic, ginger, Chinese rice wine, salt (generous amount), pepper, sugar, and a bit of vegetable oil, in the fridge for a couple of hours, or overnight. Before serving, steam chicken wings on high heat until the meat's done, this plate took 7 minutes.

Yes! Another potential candidate for my chicken wings party ^_^

Black Bean & Garlic Grilled Chicken Fillet

Weekdays. Brrffffftttt.
Mondays. Pffft.
Not in the mood for cooking.
But just in case you're tired of all the delicious fancy schmancy restaurant food you had on weekend, or simply went totally out of budget, overspent everything on food (I was really just talking about me), here's something quick, easy, won't-cost-an-arm-and-a-leg, and tasty.


"Recipe"
- Chicken leg fillet, with skin on (allow minimum 1 fillet per person)
- Black bean and garlic sauce (I used Lee Kum Kee)

Preheat oven to 200C, rub chicken with black bean and garlic sauce, place chicken in oven proof tray, grill skin up until the skin's golden brown and the meat's cooked through.

Consume with your choice of carb & veggie, I recommend the good ol' steamed rice...(err...did I have any veggie with this dish? Ahem!).

Happy almost-the-end-of-Monday, y'all!

Easy Side Dish- Mushroom, Garlic & Butter Rice

Just another easy peasy side dish I like to make when I'm not too lazy to make another one-pot-all-in-one dinner ;)

I normally serve this "fried rice" with a simple meat dish (that night, it was lamb chops grilled with garlic, butter and herbs), love the earthy, garlicky and buttery flavors.

Recipe
- a plate of rice (not too mushy, preferably overnight rice)
- a cup of mushroom of your choice (I used shimeji, because they're cute!)
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- butter, salt and pepper

Saute mushrooms and garlic in butter, add rice, season, mix well and serve.

Gosh I love one-liner recipes :D