Tofu Patties

When I came across this recipe, it reminded me of the tofu patties a classmate from Indonesia taught me.   

These are the ingredients required to cook it.

This is how I cook this dish with marinated minced pork added:

Chopped srping onions or corriander can also be added to the tofu and meat mixture before frying.

About fats and oils

Do you know what the most healthy or the least healthy cooking oils are?  I used to think that vegetable cooking oils are healthy until I saw this cooking oil scorecard by Dr Steve.

I did a search online and came across a video by Dr Steve Ekberg.  I do not know if he is the same doctor mentioned on the scorecard.  This is his list of the worst cooking oils which I have extracted from his video.

I am glad to see that the worst cooking oils listed by him turned out to be the more expensive types of oil sold in Malaysia.

As the doctor said in his video, if you are extracting oil from vegetable, you would think that it should be edible throughout any part of the processes.  However, as hexane is used as a special-use solvent to extract edible oils from seeds and vegetables and also as a cleaning agent, the oil has to be refined before it is edible.  Hexane (C6H14) is a hydrocarbon extracted from crude oil.  I read that it has gasoline-like odor which is why it has to be deodorize so that its flavour will become mild.  Also, the oils may still contain trace amounts of hexane after the process.

He also shared the negative result of refined vegetable oils.

A cooking oil's smoke point refers to the temperature when the oil starts to smoke.  We tend to use high heat when we cook Chinese dishes. So, we should use oils with a high smoke point as they are ideal for frying, sautéing, stir-frying and searing.  So take note of the smoke point of cooking oils recommended by Dr Steve Ekberg because once an oil reaches its smoke point, it is an indication that the fat in the oil is breaking down. 

Overheating oils past their smoking point has been linked to the formation of carcinogens and can also create an off, burnt flavor.  So, if you need to cook a dish with high heat, the smoke point of 250 °C or 482 °F for ghee is a good choice. Palm oil is produced in Malaysia. It is noted on Wikipedia that its smoke point is 235 °C or 455 °F.  However, it has to be noted that it is expelled from the palm kernels via pressing or hexane extraction.

The doctor also suggested that we should not often deep fry our food with oil and to avoid repeatedly heating cooking oil which is often the case in restaurants where they reuse cooking oil over and over again.  I hope that by sharing his clips, you will take the time to watch his video and understand better how he came to his conclusion for all types of fats and oils.  You will also pick up some cooking tips from him.

Stir-fried Okra with Eggs

 I usually stir fry or steam okra with chilli paste.  This is an interesting way to cook it with eggs and onions.

Weird Scrambled Eggs Combination

Most children enjoy eating food with eggs added as ingredients.  I wonder if steamed eggs with okra served topped with meat sauce will encourage children to eat their vegetables.

These are the ingredients required to cook it.

Love eating corns?

 Other steaming your corns with salt and butter, you can also make fritters with them.

These are the ingredients required:

Broccoli

 There are two methods to prepare broccoli to cook.  This is the Western way.

I prefer the Chinese way to prepare it. Chef Lau, who used to run a Chinese restaurant, shared in this video how broccoli should be selected and cooked.

I read from Woks of Life that chefs in Chinese restaurants blanch the broccoli first because it cooks faster and speeds up the stir frying process.  This dish can be cooked with meat added.  

These are the ingredients you need to cook the dish:

This is a dish that I cook with pork on a weekly basis because my daughter loves it.  I do not blanch my broccoli to cook it. To wash it, I cut each florets out and soak them in water with coarse salt added.  As the florets will float up, I will place a plate over them so they stay beneath the salted water.

I do not use baking soda as I use a meat mallet to tenderise the pork.

Frozen in this size, I can use them to fry pork cutlets.  I usually cut one to two pieces into strips if I need them in vegetable dishes like this.  This is my simplified method to cook it.

I have been cooking broccoli this way for years.  Maybe it is time to change how I cook and serve it.

Ginger Soya Sauce Chicken

During my younger days, during Chinese New Year, my grandmother will boil a whole chicken.  The boiled chicken will be placed on the altar.  The broth will used to cook chicken rice.  After prayers, the chicken will be cut up to be eaten with the chicken rice.

The leftover chicken from lunch will be used to fry Ginger Soya Sauce Chicken to be served for dinner.   I discovered from this video that the Thais have the same tradition as we Chinese have.  This is a Thai version of Ginger Soy Chicken ไก่เค็ม (gai kem).

These are the ingredients required:

I do not boil a whole chicken for prayers during Chinese New Year too but I boil soup on a daily basis.  I usually steam additional dishes or heat them up over the pot of soup I boil for the day. If I need cooked chicken to make this dish, I will place my cut chicken in a bowl and steam it over my ABC Soup. The liquid in the bowl can be used instead of water to flavour the dish.  I can also pour it into the ABC soup to enhance its flavour even though I have already added pork soup bone to boil it.

This is my Malaysian version of Ginger Soya Chicken.