A Perfect Match -- Teochew Braised Duck + Yam Rice

Usually I don't like to eat braised duck from outside because they are not fragrant and black enough hahaha....I like my duck to be braised till very black!!!  Oops sorry...duck with no head because I can't stand to see the head with it!!!

Ingredients:
1/2 Duck (about 1.2 kg)
2 Cinnamon Bark
2 Star Anise
6 Slices of Galangal
2 tbsp of Castor Sugar
10 pieces Rock Sugar
1 tsp Fish Sauce
2.5 litre Water

Marinate:
1 tsp Five Spice Powder
1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Thick Premium Dark Soy Sauce
1 tsp Salt


Method:

• Marinate Duck for 2 hours
• Heat wok and add in 2 tbsp Sugar to caramelised then add in the duck and coat it well.  Pour in the seasoning used to marinate duck too.
• Pour in water and add in all other ingredients and bring it to boil.
• Lower heat to low-med fire and simmer duck for 90 minutes (cover lid of wok and to turn duck over every 15 minutes so that the cooking can be even).
• Chop and serve!

Cook's tip:
* If you sees water drying up before duck is done, add in more water will do.
* The thick duck gravy is best to go with rice or porridge so don't go to waste!

The best thing to go with braised duck will be Yam Rice!!

Here's the ingredients needed for cooking Yam Rice:
2 cups Rice (wash and soak 10 mins)
300g Yam (Cut cube)
2 tbsp Dried Shrimps (Soak)
6 Dried Mushroom (Soak and dice)
5 Garlic (minced)
10 Shallots (slice)
1 tsp Chicken Powder
1 tsp Fish Sauce
1 tsp Oyster Sauce
Dash of Pepper
2 cups Water





Method:

• Heat wok with 2 tbsp of oil and deep fried shallots till brown and remove to side aside.
• Add yam cube in wok and stir fry till light brown.
• Add in mushroom and dried shrimp and stir till fragrant
• Add in rice and all other seasoning and stir till well mixed.
• Transfer rice to cooker and add in 2 cups of water and set to cook.

All-In Fried Rice

You must be wondering why I name this dish as "All-In"?  Sounds more like "Show Hand" hahahaha...or I would call it "Zhap Ba Rang Fried Rice" which has the same meaning...

Well, I have some old rice that I wanted to clear from the bin before refilling the new ones so I decided to cook them all and then use it to fried rice.  Usually people will say overnight rice is better for use to fried rice but I don't think so!  I have weak stomach so I would prefer my food to be fresh!! 

However, in order to make sure that my fried rice is nice and chewy, I usually will cook my white rice with just 80% of water needed and with that, the rice will not be too soft and it will be very nice and chewy when fried!!

Looking through my fridge I found eggs, preserved raddish, crab stick, snow peas, mixed peas, baby corn, Lap Cheong (Preserved Sausages) so I decided to use all ingredients for my fried rice.  Surprisingly it taste wonderful and Austin ate one big bowl even he already have eaten his dinner before coming home!!



I think anything can be used to fried rice so it's up to your own creativity or maybe up to what you have in your fridge. 

Here's the ingredients needed:

2 Cups of White Rice (Cooked and leave aside)

2 Eggs

10 Baby Corn (cut 1 cm pieces)

1 tbsp Preserved Raddish

6 Crab Sticks (Cut into 1 cm pieces)

1 Lap Cheong (Cut into thin slices)

10 Snow Peas (cut into 2 cm pieces)

1 cup mixed peas (I like lots of peas so if you don't like, add 1/2 cup will do)

1 stalk Spring Onion (Dice)

2 tbsp Fish Sauce

1 tsp Sea Salt

1 tbsp Dark Soya Sauce

1 tsp Pepper

3 Garlic (Minced)

Method:

• Heat wok with 2 tbsp Oil and saute garlic till fragrant.
• Add in the Rice and mix well then add in all the vegetables (mix peas, snow peas and baby corn) and mix well.
• Add in Preserved Raddish and Lap Cheong and Crab Stick and stir well.
• Lastly add in Eggs and mix well and add in seasoning and mix well till rice and chewy and fragrant.
• Add in Spring Onion and serve!

This is a simple yet nice dish to cook and eat for dinner if you are too lazy to cook dishes!  I even save some for my next day lunch and it still taste wonderful after reheated with Microwave!!

Sweet Yummy Mango Glutinous Rice

I love MANGO but not easy to get nice one!  There's many types of mango nowadays but usually the long type is the one that I find more suitable to make Mango Sticky Rice!

This is the best dessert if you are hosting a party or event!  Trust me..nobody will say NO to nice Mango Sticky Rice!!

Ingredients:
500g Glutinous Rice
160g White Sugar
280ml Coconut Cream
1 tsp Salt
2 Pandan Leaves (Tie Knots)
2 Fresh Mangos (Thai or Taiwan Mango more suitable)
1 tbsp Toasted Sesame Seeds

* Extracting Coconut Cream:
- Use 1 lg White Shredded Coconut add in 250ml Warm Water and mix well.
- Squeeze out 280ml coconut cream for cooking rice and 250ml coconut cream as topping cream.

* Making Topping Cream:
- Use 250ml coconut Cream (extracted as above) and put in a small pot.  Add in 1 tsp Salt, 1 tsp Corn Starch and 2 tbsp sugar to pot and mix well then boil over low heat until mixture thicken and remove to cool. (keep stirring while boiling ok!)

Preparation:
- Soak Glutinous Rice for 8 hours (I use either Song Her or New Moon Brand).  If you buy glutinous rice near dumpling's festival..those are new rice...soak 3 hours will do.
- Need a clean white piece of cloth (for steaming)

Method:

• Cook Rice in Steamer (wrap with damp white cloth) for about 20 minutes till tender but not too soft (of old rice, steam about 30 minutes).
• While steaming the rice, use the time to cook Sugar, Coconut Cream, Salt and Pandan Leave in a pot till boil and leave aside.
• Once rice is cooked, transfer rice to a big pot that has a lid and pour in the hot coconut mixture you boiled while steaming the rice.  Mix well and cover lid and leave it for 30 minutes at room temperature.
• Scoop a portion of Glutinous Rice on a plate.  Slice mango into desired sizes and place beside the rice.  Pour some topping cream on top of rice and mango.
• Sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds on top and serve!

Cook's Tip:
- If cooking 1/2 recipe, rice steam time should be halved too ok!!

Hope you will find the time to try out!!