No-Frills Recipes ... cooking, baking & excerpts on travel

I've heard of salt and pepper crabs quite often but not salt and pepper chicken.   So, when I chanced upon the recipe from Christine's Recipes , I didn't hesitate to try as the recipe was fuss-free and easy to follow.  I used chicken drumsticks instead of chicken wings and the meat was tender and succulent, perfect to serve with rice or even on its own...... finger licking good! Recipe for Salt and Pepper ~   椒盐 鸡 Ingredients 800 gm chicken drumsticks 2 pips of garlic, sliced 1/4  tsp salt 3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper 3/4 tsp five spice powder 3/4 tsp sugar 1.1/4 tsp light soya sauce 2 tsp Shaoxing wine Method Marinate the chicken with the salt, black pepper, five spice powder, sugar and light soya sauce for about 30 mins, or more.  (I marinated them overnight, kept refrigerated). Saute the garlic in a non-stick pan till fragrant, toss in the drumsticks, cook for a while, then pour in the juice from th

My mum used to cook this dish but with a different part of the piggy.... the tail part, and it was a favourite among my siblings then.  But that part of the piggy wasn't my cup of tea and today I replicated this dish with pork ribs instead.   This is a comfort dish and it did pair well with a bowl of steaming hot rice.   I served a blanched veggie on the side and that's our dinner! Recipe for Braised Pork Ribs with Peanuts ~    花生闷排 骨 Ingredients 450 gm pork ribs 100 gm peanuts 5 cups of water 1 small carrot sliced (optional) 1 Tbsp light soya sauce 1 tsp dark soya sauce 3 pips garlic, smashed 2 tsp Shaoxing wine Cornflour to thicken Salt and sugar to taste Method In a wok, saute the garlic with some oil till fragrant, add in the pork ribs and peanuts. Stir-fry. Add water, salt, sugar and the light and dark sauces, simmer on low heat and cover with lid. Cook till

As the name implies, I've used  Chinese almonds to make this Chinese Almond Tea.  Chinese almonds are divided into two types, one is sweet  South almonds  (南杏)  and the other is bitter North (北杏) almonds.  The bitter almonds have a very distinctive scent which may be sweet smelling to some but ill-scented to others.  These almonds are not the same  kind of almonds that we use for baking, cooking and snacking.  They are in fact 'Apricot kernels' and are only available at the Chinese medicinal stores.  The bitter almonds  have a mild toxicity and cannot be eaten raw, only upon cooking or roasting can they be consumed.  These almonds help to relieve heatiness and soothes coughs.  The ratio to this recipe is 4 sweet almonds to 1 bitter almond.  Rice or glutinous rice was added to the recipe and I was thrilled to be rewarded with a silky smooth, sweet smelling creamy tea  and most important is that all my family members relish the sweet scent of these almonds!

A simple chicken recipe whereby the chicken is cooked in a non-stick pan till semi-dry and then topped with a mixture of store-bought sun-dried tomatoes or Pomodori Secchi and honey.  I used some of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes which not only enhanced the flavour but it also gave a pretty appearance to this chicken dish as well. Recipe for Sun-dried Tomato Chicken  ~   干番茄 鸡 Ingredients 3 chicken thighs 3 tsp mixed dried herbs 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 5 sun-dried tomatoes snipped into small pieces 1 tsp honey or more if desired Method Cut up the chicken thighs into 2 pieces. Marinate with mixed herbs, pepper and salt for a few hours or preferably overnight. Place the chicken thighs on a non-stick pan and cook on low flame till tender and semi-dry. Mix in the mixture of sun-dried tomatoes and honey.  Fine tune to taste. Dish out and serve.  I'm linking this post to the Little Thumbs Up, organised by   Bake for Happy Kids

I had some leftover hazelnut meal which I had to use up but it wasn't enough for this recipe and so I ground some nibbed almonds and came up with a mixed meal flourless cake!  This flourless cake had vinegar and salt added to the egg whites and I was curious to find out how the cake would turn out.  I was totally pleased with the end product as the cake was moist, light, not too sweet and it stayed fresh even after the fifth day.  I had to keep the balance of the cake in a covered container in the fridge because of our current extremely hot weather. This is another keeper's recipe and I will not hesitate to bake this again in the future. To me, this cake tastes much better, chilled! Recipe for Flourless Almond Hazelnut Cake ~   无 麸 杏仁榛子蛋 糕     (adapted from   'here'  with modifications) Ingredients                         4 eggs, separated 1 Tbsp orange /lemon zest  (I used orange) 1/4 tsp cinnamon/cardamon  (I used cinnamon) 100 gm cas

It was a privilege to be invited along with three other fellow bloggers to a dim sum review at Yuk Sou Hin non-halal Chinese restaurant, situated on the first floor of  the recently opened Weil Hotel in Ipoh.  We were treated to a sumptuous brunch of Hong Kong style dim sum prepared by their Master Chef Chung Ho Shi who has 38 years of culinary experience, hails from Hong Kong but has been residing in Singapore for many years. Before we left we managed to have a few words with him and squeezed in a picture as well.   We were ushered to a room and was attended to by Ms Rosa who introduced the food to us as and when they were served. A very  appetising condiment comprising of silver fish, dried shrimps, some dried chillies, garlic and shallots which paired well with the vermicelli roll that was served later.  And on the right is a healthy appetiser of guava, cherry and some finely julienned lemon skin. 'Har Gow' or prawn dumpling that boasts of a trans

This is a very simple stir-fry dish with canned golden mushrooms and assorted vegetables, topped with some roasted almond flakes.  Light and refreshing to go with a bowl of hot rice. Recipe for Mixed vegetables with golden mushrooms  ~   杂菜金针 菇 Ingredients 200 gm/1 can of golden mushrooms 100 gm sweet peas 10 gm of cloud ears, soaked, and stemmed 1 small carrot, sliced 1 stalk celery, sliced almond flakes, lightly roasted (optional) 1 Tbsp oyster sauce Light soya sauce and salt to taste Method Stir-fry the carrot, sweet peas, cloud ears, celery and lastly toss in the golden mushrooms. Sprinkle on some water if the dish is too dry. Add in the sauces and salt to taste. Dish out onto a serving plate and sprinkle some roasted almond flakes on top. Serve immediately. I am submitting this to  Best Recipes For Everyone, April 2015, event theme 'Fun with Almond' organised by   Fion of XuanHom's

I used both fresh Turmeric aka 'kunyit' and Galangal aka 'lengkuas' in this Turmeric Chicken recipe and together with crushed lemon grass and a sprinkling of kaffir leaves, this chicken dish was extremely delicious and fragrant.  It was indeed a good accompaniment with white rice, roti pratha or even plain bread.  Above all, this chick dish was very easy to whip up without much fuss. Recipe for Turmeric Chicken  ~   黄   姜   鸡 Ingredients 2 chicken legs, cut into two 10 shallots 10 gm fresh turmeric 3 to 4 cm galangal 3 stalks lemon grass, crushed 1 fresh chilli 5 pieces fresh kaffir leaves Salt and sugar to taste Method Blend or pound the shallots, turmeric, galangal and lemon grass.  Add in some salt, sugar, mix well. Marinate the chicken pieces with the above pounded ingredients, preferably overnight. In a pan, place the marinated chicken pieces, add in about 1/2 cup water, bring to the boil, low