Homemade Auspicious Yee Sang 鱼生 (Chinese Raw Fish Salad)

Yee Sang is a MUST have appetizer during Chinese New Year. It is considered as a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor. When the Yee Sang was served at the dining table, all the diners would stand up and toss the ingredients in the air while saying auspicious wishes.

I have always been wanting to make my own Yee Sang but I was afraid that the sauce will not turn out well. This year my sister asked me, "Why not make your own Yee Sang for our Reunion Dinner?" Her question has given me the courage to take the first step and hence I came out with my own homemade Yee Sang. Everyone complimented on how surprisingly refreshing it was.

My first homemade Yee Sang and the beginning of many many more homemade Yee Sang.
My hubby love it so much that he requested me to make it on his family's Reunion Dinner. The second time I make it, we've added korean pear, jelly fish and lots of salmon slices. I did not managed to plate the Yee Sang because I was still busy in the kitchen. The proportions for the rest of the ingredients were increased too. It should be yummy but it was a disaster. The Yee Sang got too watery, the oil got 'piggy' smell because the pot that I used to heat up the oil was used to made pork lard and there were not enough sauce, and worst we couldn't get coriander. So, lesson learnt! Never add too many ingredients in your Yee Sang. And if you did, scale your recipe nicely.

HOMEMADE AUSPICIOUS YEE SANG 鱼生 (CHINESE RAW FISH SALAD)

Prep Time  : 45 mins
Cook Time : N/A
Total Time : 45 mins
Serves       : 18 pax

Ingredients:
Fresh salmon slices
1 carrot (finely shredded)
1/2 daikon (finely shredded)
1/4 red cabbage (shredded)
1 green apples (julienne)
2/3 cup pomelo (separate the sacs)
18 sticks snow crab legs/ crabsticks
1/4 cup ginger pickled (finely shredded)
A handful of coriander leaves
2 pkts bok bok chui/ crispy crackers
1/3 cup toasted peanuts (grounded)
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

Dressing
7 Tbsp plum sauce
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup cooked vegetable oil/ olive oil

Seasoning
1/16 tsp five-spice powder
1/16 tsp white pepper

Directions:
1. Arrange all the ingredients nicely on a large plate. Just before serving, sprinkle the seasoning all around and pour the dressing on it.

Notes:
● The essential ingredients in Yee Sang are carrot, daikon, pickled ginger, coriander leaves, crispy crackers, toasted peanuts and sesame seeds. You may replace other ingredients or add any ingredients that you like.

#msyummyliciousrecipe
Make this recipe? Don't forget to snap a photo of it and tag #msyummyliciousrecipe on social media! I would love to see them! Enjoy my recipe!

I am linking this post to "Cook & Celebrate CNY 2016" organized by Yen from GoodyFoodies, Diana from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids.

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Kwai Fa Chi 桂花翅 (Stir-fry Eggs with Imitation Shark's Fin and Crab Meat)

...the stir-fried eggs look very much like 'osmanthus' flowers...

Kwai Fa Chi is a Cantonese dish mostly served in restaurants as one of the starter dish. Its name literally means Osmanthus Fin. This is because the stir-fried eggs look very much like the 'osmanthus' flowers and the usage of shark's fin contribute to the last name.

Ever since the first time I tried it when my mom (in law) cooked it, I've fallen in love with this dish. The ingredients are really simple, but the flavor is uniquely yummylicious. I love the fragrant of the fried prawns and spring onions with the fried eggs. It comes together really well.

At home, you can cook this to pair with your white rice or simply serve with fresh crisp lettuce or fried wantan wraps.

KWAI FA CHI 桂花翅 (STIR-FRY EGGS WITH IMITATION SHARK'S FIN AND CRAB MEAT)

Prep Time  : 20 mins
Cook Time : 5 mins
Total Time : 25 mins
Serves       : 10 pax

Ingredients:
6 eggs
1/3 cup crab meat
10 pcs prawn (deshelled and diced)
2 stalks spring onion (chopped to 6-7 cm length and then cut into very fine strips. Soaked in water to curl)
15g glass noodle/ cellophane noodle (*)

Seasoning
1/2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1/8 tsp sesame oil
1/8 tsp fish sauce
1/4 tsp chicken stock granules
1/16 tsp monosodium glutamate/ MSG
1/16 tsp white pepper
A pinch of salt or to taste
1/2 Tbsp Shaoxing wine

Directions:
1. Soak glass noodle in a bowl of water and leave aside to soften, approx. 15 - 20 minutes. Grab hold one side of the glass noodle and cut them into half using a kitchen scissors, so that they are approx. 5 - 6 cm long.

2. In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs until well beaten. Add in the rest of the ingredients and seasoning (except Shaoxing wine) and stir well.

3. In a wok on high heat, add 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Pour in the egg mixture and start frying using your spatula (preferably stainless steel spatula). The eggs will cooked once it touches the hot wok, so you need to continue scrapping the bottom and stirring like 'stir-fry'.

4. When the eggs are all cooked, pour Shaoxing wine onto the eggs in a circular motion and give it a few good 'stir-fry'.

5. Dish up and serve with lettuce or fried wantan wraps.

Notes:
● Do not use hot water to soften the glass noodle as it will cook them partially.

(*) You may use imitation shark's fin but I realized that glass noodles are better because they are more springy and has better bite texture.

#msyummyliciousrecipe
Make this recipe? Don't forget to snap a photo of it and tag #msyummyliciousrecipe on social media! I would love to see them! Enjoy my recipe!

I am linking this post to "Cook & Celebrate CNY 2016" organized by Yen from GoodyFoodies, Diana from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids.

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Shark's Fin Soup with Dried Scallops and Crab Meat (Imitation Shark's Fin)

Shark's fin soup is a Chinese traditional soup served in special occasions like weddings and banquets. It is considered as a 'luxury food', hence the selection in wedding and banquet menus. In order to catch up with the rocketing demand of shark's fin, peoples are practicing shark finning and this has raise international concern over the sustainability and welfare of sharks.

...some sharks starve to death, others are slowly eaten by other fish...

Shark finning is the practice of slicing off the shark’s fins while the shark is still alive and throwing the rest of its body back into the ocean where it can take days to die what must be an agonising death. Some sharks starve to death, others are slowly eaten by other fish, and some drown, because sharks need to keep moving to force water through their gills for oxygen. Shark fins are used as the principal ingredient of shark fin soup.

~ source: http://www.stopsharkfinning.net/what-is-shark-finning

Many peoples (myself included) enjoy this 'luxury food', unaware of the suffering that finning causes. But thanks to the respective organizations and social medias, awareness was spread to the public and restaurant owners. Nowadays, you will notice more peoples are choosing double-boiled dried seafood soup over this 'luxury food'.

Shark's fin itself is tasteless and its gelatinous character can easily be imitated. You can get imitation shark's fin in hypermarket (around CNY festive season) at a very low price, but still get the texture similar to the real shark's fin and it is more environmental friendly.

For me and my hubby, we love shark's fin soup because of the flavorful broth. I will cook this for our family's CNY Reunion Dinner every year (ever since I learn how to cook this 'luxury food' from my Kam Mo [Aunty]).

One of the key ingredient to get a super yummylicious shark's fin soup is good dried scallops. When you have good dried scallops, your broth will speak for itself. But if your dried scallops are not that good, you will need to put more effort to tell the story.

Today, I am going to share a recipe using good dried scallops. I bought mine at Shatin, Hong Kong. There are very small but packed with flavor and very sweet, sweet of seafood taste. If you are buying dried scallops locally, usually there are not as fragrance as HK's and you will need to use deep fried chicken instead of chicken carcass.

SHARK'S FIN SOUP WITH DRIED SCALLOPS AND CRAB MEAT (IMITATION SHARK'S FIN)

Prep Time  : 15 mins
Cook Time : 3 hours
Total Time : 3 hours 15 mins
Serves       : 25 pax

Ingredients:
7 liters water
2 pcs chicken carcass
1/2 cup dried scallops
2 pkts imitation shark's fin
2 pkts crab meats
3/4 cup oyster sauce with dried scallops
1 Tbsp chicken stock granules
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp Shaoxing wine
2 cooked salted egg yolk, mashed (optional)

Prepare the Imitation Shark's Fin
4cm ginger (sliced)
1 stalk spring onion
1 Tbsp Shaoxing wine

Thickening (Combined)
3/4 cup corn starch
Water

Directions:
1. In a stock pot, add chicken carcass, dried scallops and water. Bring it to boil under high heat. Reduce to medium high heat and continue to let it simmer for an hour and another an hour on medium low heat.

2. Take out the chicken carcasses. Add in oyster sauce with dried scallops, chicken stock granules and salt, follow by crab meats. Continue to let it simmer for another 45 mins. Taste the soup and adjust to your own liking.

3. To prepare the imitation shark's fin: In a small pot with approx. 3 cups water, add in slices of ginger and a stalk of spring onion. Bring it to a boil then add in Shaoxing wine. Let it simmer for approx. 30 seconds, off the flame. Stir in the imitation shark's fin and let it sit for approx. 30 - 40 seconds, depending on the fin (*). Drain well and set aside.

4. Just before serving, add in the mashed cooked salted egg yolk and thicken with corn starch mixture to your desired consistency.

5. Lastly, add in the Shaoxing wine and imitation shark's fin, and stir well. You may also add in the imitation shark's fin after serving on the bowl, as a garnish. Just scoop a big heaps of tablespoon on the soup.

Notes:
● If your dried scallops are not that fragrant, you may use '1pc deep fried aged/old chicken' instead of '2pcs chicken carcass'. You may also add chinese ham to enhance the flavor.

● The seasoning measurement above may vary, depending on the dried scallops. Do taste the soup and adjust to your own liking before serving.

(*) Do not let the fin sit too long in the hot bath. Some fin will melt very fast and you will ended up with tiny fin.

#msyummyliciousrecipe
Make this recipe? Don't forget to snap a photo of it and tag #msyummyliciousrecipe on social media! I would love to see them! Enjoy my recipe!

I am linking this post to "Cook & Celebrate CNY 2016" organized by Yen from GoodyFoodies, Diana from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids.

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Milton of It's Me! Bluedreamer!

Hup Tou Soh Cookies (Walnut Cookies)

Okay, don't be mislead by the word 'Walnut' here. It DOES NOT contain any walnut. Only flour, sugar, oil and a little of alkaline water and butter to make this crunchy~licious Hup Tou Soh. Don't believe, right?

I too, was skeptical about this recipe. "How can a Hup Tou Soh not containing any walnut? Then how come it tasted like walnut cookies? Where does the flavor comes from?" I have so many questions up in my head and I turned to Kimmy from Cooking Pleasure for answers.

Kimmy has just baked her Hup Tou Soh cookies recently and she has also baked Hup Tou Soh cookies WITH walnuts before, so she is the perfect person to ask. According to Kimmy, this version is better and she has no regret baking them. After hearing her, I was more confident to try this recipe.

Indeed, she was right! These cookies are superb in taste and texture wise. I love that I can have the saltiness in between the sweetness in each bite. And these cookies are really crunchy.

However, if I were to compared with the Hup Tou Soh I had before, these cookies are lacking of the walnut flavor (for the obvious reason). But definitely I have no regret baking these crunchy~licious Hup Tou Soh for it only took a few simple ingredients for these yummy cookies.

And by accident (because I needed to attend to my 6 months old crying son), I found out that if I let the dough rest longer, around an hour more, the cookies will expand even bigger after baking. Texture wise remained the same. Please refer to the photo above for comparison.

HUP TOU SOH (WALNUT COOKIES)
(Recipe source from Cooking Pleasure)

Prep Time  : 45 mins
Cook Time : 25 mins
Total Time : 1 hour 10 mins
Makes       : approx. 35 pcs

Ingredients:
250 g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
125 g castor sugar
1/2 tsp alkaline water 碱水
1/2 tsp fine salt
20 g butter (salted)
150 ml peanut oil

Glazing
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, mix in flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add in alkaline water and stir well.

2. Using a spatula, press the butter against the flour mixture (repeatedly), till crumbly. In a slow stream, add in the oil whilst stirring to combine. You will have a slightly wet crumbly dough. Using your hand, knead it together and leave aside, covered with tea towel to rest at least 30 mins.

3. Preheat oven at 170°C.

4. Roughly shape the dough into small balls and slightly flatten with your palm to form a thick disc. Place them on a baking tray.

5. Using a suitable bottle cap (I used an empty thread spool), press to form a circle in the center of each cookie.

6. Glaze with egg wash and bake for 25 mins or until golden brown.

7. Leave to cool completely on wire rack before transferring to airtight container.

Notes:
● The longer you let the cookie dough rest, the more it will expand during baking.

#msyummyliciousrecipe
Make this recipe? Don't forget to snap a photo of it and tag #msyummyliciousrecipe on social media! I would love to see them! Enjoy my recipe!

I am linking this post to "Cook & Celebrate CNY 2016" organized by Yen from GoodyFoodies, Diana from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids.

First Commenter...(+/-)

Salted Egg Yolk Cookies

While I was blog hopping last week, I stumbled across Zoe's Melt-in-your-mouth Salted Egg Yolk Cookies. Her cookies looks really cute and what makes me wanting to bake this too are her words ~ "Sweet, buttery, a little salty and melty... Every mouthful of these salted egg yolk custard-like cookies are so yum". Ah.. so yummy just at these words right!

Well, I did not wait too long to bake these yummy~licious cookies. Had it baked two days ago with my almost 3 years old daughter. We both had so much fun. We did the whisking together, I did the mixing and rolling, and then I let her do the rest - cutting, glazing and sprinkling of black sesame seeds. She's a quick learner, I only needed to show her how to do it once.

These cookies are really light. It has a mild flavor of salted egg yolk, buttery taste and mildly sweet. All the flavors are equally balanced without overpowering one another.

SALTED EGG YOLK COOKIES
(Recipe source from Bake for Happy Kids)

Prep Time  : 75 mins
Cook Time : 15 mins
Total Time : 1 hour 30 mins
Makes       : approx. 36 pcs

Ingredients:
85g butter, softened at room temperature
40g caster sugar
2 cooked salted egg yolks, mashed
125g all purpose flour
10g corn flour
1/8 tsp baking powder
Black sesame seeds to sprinkle

Glazing
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

Directions:
1. Using a hand whisk (or electric mixer), cream butter and sugar until pale. Sift flour, corn flour and baking powder into the butter mixture and mix well using a spatula until all ingredients are well incorporated.

2. Then sprinkle in the mashed salted egg yolks and mix thoroughly, making sure the salted egg yolks are evenly distributed. Wrap dough with cling wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 mins.

3. Preheat oven at 170°C. Line your tray with a baking paper.

4. Using 2 sheets of grease-proof paper, sandwich the dough in between and roll out until about 3mm thick. Cut out shapes using your desired cookie cutter and arrange them on the prepared baking tray. Glaze cookies with egg yolk and sprinkle some sesame seeds on it.

5. Bake for 15 mins or until golden brown. Leave cookies to cool on baking tray for at least 10 mins before transferring them on wire rack to cool completely.

Notes:
● To cook the salted egg yolks, steam them over hot bubbling water for a few minutes, approx 5 mins.

● In Step 2, if there are chunks of salted egg yolk, break them using your spatula as you mix.

#msyummyliciousrecipe
Make this recipe? Don't forget to snap a photo of it and tag #msyummyliciousrecipe on social media! I would love to see them! Enjoy my recipe!

I am linking this post to "Cook & Celebrate CNY 2016" organized by Yen from GoodyFoodies, Diana from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids.

First Commenter...(+/-)