Bud Chives With Beef

Bud chives with beef


Bud chives

There are western chives, which look like spring onions but are more delicate with a hollow center and there are Chinese chives, which are flat. Chinese chives are more pungent in flavor than western chives, especially the flat Chinese chives while the bud chives are less so. The flat chives flourish in our weather, and my patch of flat chives has been with me for about 10 years. These perennials can be cut down to the soil level and within 3 days they will put up an inch of new shoots. They never get eaten by snails or any insects and I suspect that they keep my veg plot free from pests. They do need a lot of fertilizers or they begin to look like weeds.


Flat Chinese chives in the middle.

Flat chives are usually cut finely for making omelettes. A special version of flat chives is the jiu hwang, light yellow chives, which are grown like white asparagus--under cover and deprived of sunlight so there is no color pigment in them. These are more delicate and sweet but not easily available because they deteriorate within hours of cutting. Bud chives are from China and are sweet with a nice bite. I suspect that bud chives are just the budding stems from the ordinary flat chives but Chinese farmers have a way of growing only stems with buds. My flat chives grow stems with buds too if I don't harvest them but those stems are too hard to eat. As a simple veg dish, you can fry up a plate of plain bud chives or better still, add some meat such as prawns, chicken or pork but they go best with beef. Like we all know, sometimes the simplest dishes are the most delicious, and this is one of them.




Bud Chives With Beef
120 g bud chives (about 2 bundles)
250 g beef tenderloin or sirloin

Prep: Snap the chive from the bottom. It will break at the point where the stem is too hard for eating. Throw that part away (into the compost!) and either cut or snap the younger stem into 4 cm ( 1 1/2 inches) lengths. Cut the beef into thin strips and marinade with: 2 t light soy sauce, 1 t oyster sauce, 2 heaped t corn flour, 2 T water, 1 T rice wine, 1/2 t fine sugar, some freshly ground pepper, 1/8 t salt and a splash of good (Korean is best) sesame oil. Leave for 5 minutes.

1. Heat 1 T veg oil into a wok, add the chives and a pinch of salt and stir-fry until chives are bright green or half-cooked, or fully cooked as preferred. Splash 1 T shao xin wine or rice wine over the chives, stir and remove onto a plate. All at medium high heat.



2. In the same wok, add 2 T veg oil, coat the surface of the wok up to halfway. Add the beef and use your frying ladle to spread the beef into a single layer. Let it fry at high heat without stirring for about 1/2 minute. Now use your ladle to turn the beef over and let it cook another 30-40 seconds without stirring. Too much stirring toughens the beef. Now the beef should have turned mostly pale instead of red. Use your ladle and stir the beef to mix well and add about 2 T water or stock, then either a) add the fried chives to mix & fry a couple more seconds (high heat) and remove onto a plate or b) arrange the beef on top of the fried chives.

Doll Noodles

I almost never have an egg in my instant noodles unlike most people. I love my instant noodles with lots of veg, and if in Australia, I make it luxurious with lots of beef strips and button mushrooms.

I always tell my kids that I think God's best food creation was the egg while men's greatest food invention is...instant noodles.

You are starving, climbing the mountain, in a camp, have the runs, lost your appetite, haven't got your pay check yet, your MIL bullied you, what do you eat?

Instant noodles are light, compact, easy to bring along, cost less than a can of Coke, can be cooked in an instant (ya, duh), are cheap and are delicious. I think my middle child grew up on instant noodles, especially when he was in mid-teens and always hungry. I wonder if there's a height link--Ming eats a lot of instant noodles and is 6 feet (like everyone, he claims himself taller) tall. Yi doesn't eat instant noodles and has remained at her Grade 9 height, which is, ahem. I know that's rubbish. I'm just adding fuel to all the myths about instant noodles, the no. 1 myth (or truth?) being instant noodles cause alopecia (because of the msg, which is the main ingredient that makes the noodles delicious) and cancer, because it has all those additives, including wax, which is supposedly used to coat the noodles. But I'm not one of those mothers who avoid instant noodles. I have two dear friends who scorn at my appreciation of instant noodles. They think instant noodles are never to be given to kids but strange enough, these dear friends let their kids eat those highly processed, highly additives-spiked frozen sausages which I avoid as vehemently as they do instant noodles.

We get a very limited choice of instant noodles here. I always check out the instant noodles aisle in supermarkets when I travel and I've been known to lug back a box of the stuff when my luggage limit is already busted. I've also been known to hide them from my boys. One of my fondest memory was what happened years ago when my MIL had her way ("Your kids should come first, travel can wait!"), I sulked in bed all day, genuinely feeling miserable, and little Ming brought me a bowl of instant noodles he had cooked. The next day I flew off to Hong Kong, with the blessings of my Hub much to MIL's indignation.

I have a list here of the instant noodles that I've eaten the last few weeks. I'll start with my least-liked ones. Why I bother to have them on my list is because there aren't that many brands of instant noodles to make a list of if I don't include them.

1. Maggi instant noodles, Malaysia's favorite. Surprise--I dislike Maggi instant noodles. The texture of the noodles is spongy instead of springy. Okay, if I under cook them, they give a slight springy bite, but that is only for a few seconds before the whole bowl of noodles becomes soft. Bleh. If anything, I do like Maggi's flavors. I wish they would get their noodles right.



Along with Maggi are substandard noodles like Cintan (I liked their assam laksa once upon a time), Mamee and all those forgettable names. I know most students like Maggi, and in Australia, Indomie. But I did say students, didn't I.

2. Korean instant noodles. I shall consider them all the same. Big, fat and hot. The problem with big, fat and hot (I'm talking noodles here) is that after a while, it gets boring. If it's not kimchi flavor, it's beef flavor and the texture of the noodles are too meaty. Btw, my Korean friend taught me to add an egg to the noodles to reduce the hotness. Adding an egg to instant noodles is like fish with chips, they belong together. But this is where I differ again. I don't like an egg in my instant noodles because if I'm not careful, the egg can break (some people stir their egg up on purpose) and make the soup cloudy. Horror. That would mess the taste of the soup. I like my instant noodles with greens, especially sayur manis, which I pluck screaming from my garden straight into the pot. Okay, on the way into the kitchen, I do wash the leaves quickly. Another thing you'd notice when I eat my instant noodles. I don't drink the soup. Maybe two spoonsful are all I drink. I know, what's the point, but I am terrified of the alopecia threat...



3. Ah, Nissin's instant noodles. I like this, especially the sesame oil flavor but the noodles are not as springy as I would like. See that drawing of a little boy on the packet? Regardless of brands, instant noodles are called "goong jai meen" in Chinese and it means 'doll's noodles'. I think it is because the first brand of instant noodles is the Doll brand from Hong Kong and their logo was a doll in the shape of the Chinese word for 'ren' or people. Read about instant noodles here.



4. Myojo's instant noodles are good. I've shown two of their best here. The noodles are springy and the flavors are good. I like.





5. This I had to get my friend Y to bring back from Hong Kong because they don't sell them here anymore. Tell me if you see any in our stores. Strangely, they seem to have only Creamy Shrimp flavor Yum Yum in Hong Kong because that's what I found too when I was in Hong Kong last year. I ate some other fantastic flavors in New Zealand, of all places, a thousand years ago. I have to say Yum Yum is by far my favorite instant noodles. The noodles are flat and thin and super springy, and because the noodles are coated with msg and flavor too, they blend with the fakeness of the msg soup, unlike noodles without a seasoning coating which can taste very 'unconnected' because the soup can be highly flavored while the noodles are bland, and you taste both in one mouthful. Know what I mean?


Yes, the mother of them all, for me, is Yum Yum! I do have a complain about Yum Yum. The taste is usually a bit on the sweet side.

When Y flew back to Hong Kong last week, I told her I wanted Yum Yum which is from Thailand but she wasn't sure so she bought me MaMa too, which is Thailand's top instant noodles brand (thanks, Y!). I haven't tasted it yet but I have a feeling it'll be good. Btw, I think American/Canadian instant noodles taste the worst of them all. They taste like what they are: American/Canadian instant noodles with funny flavors and texture. A totally different thing.

I also like Tung-I although now we only get its cousin Tung-e, I don't know why. So wonderfully full of onion oil and msg deliciousness.

What brands of instant noodles do you like? Tell me, I'll look out for them.

Frankincense Cafe

(Update: I was back for another plate of the mifun on 9/11, and it was very different in appearance and taste from the first plate. The mifun was too wet, the chives too old and the taste overall was not special. I think it wasn't cooked by the same person. Another thing they need to do is expand the menu for kids, period.)

Last Friday, I ate an ordinary-looking extraordinary plate of fried mifun. The simple white mifun without soy sauce or much meat was of the perfect texture, not too soft or hard, and not too oily too, and it was very tasty and fragrant with an unexpected ingredient--bunga kantan, cut so finely that I couldn't see it. The next day, 12 hours after I ate the mifun, I was at Frankincense Cafe to eat the same thing again.

It turned out that the restaurant owner, Casey, was an acquaintance from my previous church and he is from the Nyonya town of Melaka. Now Frankincense makes some sense. Some. Frankincense is a non air-con family restaurant. That means no frills, but it is very clean and pleasant. The food is very home-cooked too, and the prices are probably among the cheapest in town, with most items under RM5. I immediately knew that I've found a place I can go to whenever I don't feel like cooking. I wasn't the only person who thought like that, because a friend strolled in and said he eats there every day, and pointed to our plate of fried mifun as his favorite. Just writing this makes me hungry for the mifun again. I seriously suspect that bunga kantan is addictive. (Right after lunch, Hub and I took a drive to Lok Kawi and bought three lousy, wet, bland medium-sized durians for RM55--it's so unfair that West Malaysians can eat a ton of The King of Fruits for that amount of money--and we stopped by a nursery and bought a bunga kantan plant. I love bunga kantan.)

There aren't that many items on the menu, which is not surprising since this is a mom and pop kind of restaurant, with only one helper. As Casey's wife Katherine is a Kadazan, the restaurant serves a mixture of Nyonya and Kadazan home dishes. One of the side dishes that goes well with the mifun was tuhau, which I've read about and seen in markets but never eaten before. I loved it immediately. Tuhau is the stem of a ginger (not the bunga kantan) which the Kadazans love to serve as a pickle side dish to fried fish and rice. I am going to post the recipe as soon I get some tuhau but you can jump ahead and get it from here.


Frankincense's fantastic bihun goreng special (special fried mifun) is simple but delicious and full of flavors, RM4.50. I was told later that it is best fried with dried shrimps. The tuhau is at the back along with a small dish of chili belacan.


Udang chili garam, salt and chili prawns. It was not as flavorful as it looks though. Only RM5 for 5 prawns!


Ayam pong teh, stewed chicken in soy sauce I think, RM4.50. This simple stew would be good with plain rice.


Fried Ranau veg is a mixed plate of native garlic chives, bunga kantan, chilies and dried prawns, RM4. I found this dish too oily but eating the garlic chives (lots of fibre) reminded me of my Dad who used to cook them with beef and dried radish.


I want to go back to Frankincense for the cincalok omelette, the nasi lemak, the ikan pari kuah lada...but most of all, for the bihun goreng special.




Frankincense Cafe is at the Kepayan Commercial Center. You can go there through Austral Park or by way of the Penampand By-Pass going to the Kepayan Commercial Center. The restaurant is opposite to Avena Cake Shop.

Steamed Fish Teochew-Style

I don't remember if I've told you before, but my helper has only three ways with fish--whole fish are either steamed Cantonese style or fried and doused with black soy sauce while fillets are breaded and deep-fried. She chooses the method of cooking based on the fish. Fine-textured fish are steamed and coarser ones are fried.

Sometimes I cook Teochew-styled steamed fish and regret it later because the tangy sauce makes me eat tons of rice with it. It can be a simple complete meal too because if you add enough 'toppings' you'll get the fibre and vitamins from them. You can see from the photo that I've overloaded the fish with a blanket of toppings. Under the fish is another layer of tomatoes, lily buds and so on. The cherry tomatoes are from Y's garden, and I always have spring onions and parsley in my garden. I think we are quite self-sufficient when it comes to greens. Take a look at what's growing in my back yard. If you've ever been to my house, you'd have heard me gush about how fresh my veg are--sometimes I think they are still alive when I cook them. Some people ask why I bother to grow my own veg and I realise that no matter what I tell them, these people will never know the thrill and joy of gardening. I just give easy answers like I don't need to wake up early to jostle in Lido market for organic veg. We compost everything that's biodegradable so there's no shortage of good soil. If you have a bit of yard, you must grow your own veg and reduce dependency on tasteless, stale supermarket produce.


We have bak choy, choy sum, rocket (too much of it), sweet basil, glutinous corn all the year through, almost.


There's also Lebanese cucumbers (love them), white-stemmed kangkong, sayur manis, sweet potato leaves, Thai basil, mint, chives, parsley, daun kesom, lemon grass, pandan, spring onions and even taro and a small rosemary plant that Ming brought in from Australia. That tall veg is an heirloom veg (to me) called mak choy that people used to feed ducks with, I'm told, but I love it in soups. It's a cleverly-designed veg that takes very little space because it grows upwards--you just pick the leaves around the stem and it continues to grow up. We also have dwarf papaya trees but unfortunately with so much rain recently, they are looking rather sad.



Steamed Fish Teochew-Style

1 kg fine-fleshed fish (grouper, perch, bass), scored at intervals to cook faster
--lightly rub a pinch of salt all over.

Toppings:
50 g salted mustard, sliced thinly (I used ja cai for convenience)
1 t assam jawa (can be replaced by sour plums), mixed lightly with 1 t warm water
2 sour/salted plums, mashed lightly (don't discard seeds)
1/2 cup fried cloud ears fungus, soaked & cleaned & cut into smaller pieces, or 3 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked & cut into thin strips
10 dried lily buds, soaked, trimmed & cut into 3 cm lengths
1 small piece of white tofu, cut into thin strips
1 large tomato, cut into thin wedges
1/2 red chili, in thin strips
1/2 T fresh ginger strips

seasoning for toppings: 1/4 t salt, 1/2 t fine sugar, 2 t light soy sauce, 1/2 t chicken stock powder (optional), a few shakes of white pepper

Garnish: spring onions & cilantro

Optional: veg oil for scalding fish when it's done

1. Put the first 5 topping items into a bowl and mix in the seasoning. Leave for 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Get ready a steaming wok. Put the fish on a heat-proof plate and push some of the seasoned toppings under and on top of the fish. Scatter the remaining toppings over the fish.

3. Steam the fish at high heat until it is just cooked, usually 10-12 minutes. Garnish & serve hot. You can drizzle 3 T heated oil over the fish for extra flavor.

3-Mushroom Clay Pot Rice

L to R: oyster mushrooms, tea tree mushrooms & Chinese black mushrooms.


3-mushroom rice

I should watch more TV. There are so many great travel and food programs and yet I never seem to sit long enough to watch any. In fact, I'm relieved that The Little Nyonya is over. It was fun grabbing an hour every night to watch the show but I got obsessed and started missing important appointments and dinners just to stay back for the show. And for all my effort, the ending was such a bummer too. She was so nice to everyone but so ruthless to him. I hate bad endings.

So yesterday I happened to catch a program on the food of southern China, and I immediately planned to visit China the minute the PMR exams are over. I used to be pompous about my holidays in western countries and avoided China but after the first visit, in 1999, I knew I had been prejudiced. China is so big, every place has something interesting to explore and the food is fit for emperors. What we think we know of Chinese food is just a small grain of sand compared to the food we can find in China.

One of the dishes I saw on the program was a mushroom clay pot rice. I happened to have 4 kinds of mushrooms in my fridge so mushroom clay pot was just what I cooked today. Although the recipe wasn't given, I think my version is good enough to share. Instead of a vegan dish, I added some beef strips to give extra flavor and to make it a one-pot meal that is quick and convenient to cook. I liked it so much I had 2 bowls, and I never eat so much rice for lunch so that's something.

You can use any combination of mushrooms that you like although to keep it authentic, don't use white button mushrooms. I had some enoki or golden mushrooms but I didn't use them just in case they overpower the other mushrooms. You can keep the pot of rice vegan, or you can add the meat of your choice for a complete meal. This dish took only 20 minutes to prepare and cook so I'm really pleased with it. If you don't have a clay pot, get one because it is an indispensable piece of cooking utensil for cooking rice and Oriental stews. I use a 'bioClaypot' my friend B gave me and it saves on electricity and, unless the clay is not as pure as the company claims, there's no non-stick material or aluminium to worry about. This pot has an extra inner lid to keep the heat in, which is why the heat can be switched off once the rice boils for about 2 minutes. Great pot.



3-Mushroom Claypot Rice (serves 4)
A handful each of 3 kinds of mushrooms
300g lean meat (beef or chicken or pork)
2 1/2 cups long grain rice, washed
1 T garlic, minced
3 T veg oil
water
splash of sesame oil (if like)
spring onions for garnishing

Prep: Trim & wash the mushrooms quickly. I know many chefs tell us not to wash mushrooms, but I can't not wash them--there's all those dirt and woody stuff. Tear or slice the larger mushrooms into strips (not too thin) and lightly squeeze out some of the water, if any.

Cut the meat into strips and season with: 1 T shao xin or rice wine, 1/4 t salt, 1/2 t fine sugar, 2 t light soy sauce. 1 T Lee Kum Kee premium brand oyster sauce, 1 T corn flour, 1 T water & a few twists of white or black pepper.

1. Put 1 1/2 T oil into a heated wok, add the meat and stir fry until half cooked (fully cooked for pork). Remove onto a plate.

2. Heat the remaining 1 t oil in the same wok and add the garlic, fry for two seconds, add a small pinch of salt and then add the mushrooms. Stir fry until mushrooms just begin to wilt. Add the meat, toss a couple of times and remove onto a plate. It will cook again in the pot so there's no need to fully cook it but don't make it too raw too.

3. Put the washed rice and enough water (you can use chicken stock if not using oyster sauce) for the water level to be 1 cm above the top of the rice into a large claypot set over high heat. When the rice boils, lower the heat to medium-low and let it cook about 5-7 minutes. Take off the lid of the claypot and quickly check if the rice is more than 90% done. The water should have been absorbed by the rice. If the rice is almost done, quickly tip the fried meat and mushrooms on top of the rice, level it and cover. If so, switch off the heat now. If not, let the rice cook a further 2-3 minutes, then add the meat and mushrooms and switch off the heat and let the rice sit with the lid on for 5 minutes.

4. Fluff the rice with a wooden paddle to mix the meat, mushrooms and rice. Serve hot, garnished with spring onions and a drizzle of sesame oil if like.