TLC Kitchen

DIRECTIONS

PREPARE (20 minutes)

1. 10 wolfberries soaked in water until puffy; drained. 
2. Spring onion sliced thinly; Carrot sliced into thin and fine pieces. (Optional)
3. Cut tofu to 1 cm slices and place them on a deep steaming plate.
4. Marinade minced pork with the following and sit for 10 minutes or more.
• 1/2 teaspoon of Chinese wine
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp cornflour
• dash of white pepper powder
• finely chopped spring onion (optional)
• a few thin and fine carrot shreds (optional)
5. Mould the meat mixture into a small ball of about 1 tsp size or less. Place the meat balls on top of the tofu. 
6. Top each meat ball with a wolfberry. Drizzle 1/2 tbsp light soy over the tofu slices.

COOK (5 minutes)

1. Steam over high heat for ~5 minutes (from the time the water is boiling), or until the meat is cooked.
2. Before serving, drizzle the liquid in the cooking plate over the tofu slices. Garnish with spring onions.

DIRECTIONS

PREPARE (1 hour, Optional)

1. Soak the rice in water for 1 hour. But if you don't have the time, just cook it straightaway.
2. Wash the dates. OR wash the scallops, soak it for about 10-15mins and keep the water.

COOK (30 minutes)

1. Blanch pork ribs in a pot of boiling water for 3 minutes. Rinse the blanched pork ribs to remove scum. 
2. In a pot , add in the rice, 3 bowls of water, ginger, and dates (or dried scallops and the water). 
3. Cook at medium low heat about 15-20 minutes and keep an eye on it, especially towards the end. Stir it occasionally and don't let it be burnt.
4. When the porridge is cooked, season it with salt, pepper & sesame oil to taste.
5. Sprinkle some spring onions and serve

  Recipe Inspired by annieliciousfood.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/pork-bones-porridge

DIRECTIONS

PREPARE (2 hours)

1. Prepare Marinade: Mix the lemon juice, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. 
2. Prepare Chicken: With the tip of a sharp knife, cut about 1/2" into the underside (skinless) of each chicken piece once or twice. (This will help the marinade penetrate.). 
3. Marinate Chicken: Marinate and coat the chicken parts evenly with the prepared marinate. Place the chicken in the refrigerator and marinate for 1 to 2 hours.

COOK (1 hour)

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Remove chicken from marinade and place in a single layer in a baking dish, skin side up. Reserve the marinade.
2. Melt the butter and use a pastry brush to brush melted butter on each piece of chicken. When done, put the baking dish into the oven. 
3. Half-way through the baking, at about the 20 minute mark, baste* the chicken pieces generously with the reserved marinade.
4. Bake for a total of 35 to 45 minutes, until the skins are crispy brown, and the chicken is cooked through, juices running clear. Depending on the breasts' sizes, they may be ready before the thighs, so if you are cooking a mix of chicken parts, you may have to take the breasts out first.
5. Let rest, covered in foil, for 10 minutes before serving. Save meat juices to serve with chicken on the side or a little poured over the top.
6. Serve alone, or with steamed rice, buttered noodles, angel hair pasta, or mashed potatoes.

*baste: pour fat or juices over (meat) during cooking in order to keep it moist.

  Recipe Inspired by www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/lemon_chicken

DIRECTIONS

PREPARE (Overnight; 10 mins)

COOK (15 mins)

1. Bring water in steamer to a boil. Steam fish over high heat for ~approx 6 minutes, depending on your fish size (See Note 2).
2. While the fish is steaming, heat sauce in a pot (bring to a boil). Fry chopped garlic while steaming too. Fry until golden brown, don’t burn them.
3. For best results, cook fish until it is almost done, then remove the steamer from the stove. The meat still has a tinge of red but the meat comes off the bone easily with chopsticks or a fork. (See Note 2)
4. Remove fish from steamer and placed it on a plate without the steaming liquid.
5. Add a dash of pepper and drizzle sauce over the fish.
6. Garnish: Pour the garlic oil, fried garlic pieces and spring onions over the fish.
7. Let it rest for about 1-2 minutes before serving.

Note 1: Purpose of ginger (sometimes spring onions) under the plate is to provide ventilation to the underside of the fish and/or avoid the skin sticking on the plate. Definitely, gives a better flavour to the dish in whole.

Note 2: Principle of residual heat – a pan will continue to cook the food for several minutes when it is removed from the heat source. So be sure not to overcook your fish!

Undercooked – If the meat sticks to the bone.
Overcooked – the texture will be harder and not as tender as expected. Different fish size requires different steaming time. Fish must be in room temperature. An approximate:

400g Fish = 6 to 7 minutes
450g Fish = 7 to 8 minutes
500g Fish = 8 to 9 minutes
600g Fish = 9 to 10 minutes

If you are steaming a whole fish that has thicker body, you probably would want to steam it slightly longer, e.g. another minute or so.

  Recipe Inspired by annieliciousfood.blogspot.sg/2012/07/hong-kong-style-steamed-cod-fish.html

DIRECTIONS

PREPARE (Overnight; 10 mins)

COOK (15 mins)

Fried Egg / Sunny Side Up: Heat and grease a cooking pan. Crack the egg(s) into the pan, careful not to break the yolk. Cook until the yolk is just set, about 1-2 minutes. Set aside.

Kimchi Fried Rice:

1. Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in wok. 
2. Stir fry garlic for 30 seconds.
3. Add kimchi, cover with lid and simmer for 1 minute.
4. Add rice and pour sauce over the rice.
5. Stir fry on high heat until the rice is dry and absorbs the sauce evenly.
6. Serve on plates/bowls. Drizzle 1/2 tbsp sesame oil over the rice. 
7. Garnish with fried egg, and spring onions.

Recipe Inspired by noobcook.com/kimchi-fried-rice/2

DIRECTIONS

PREPARE (10 mins)

COOK (10 mins)

• Pour 1 cm thickness of egg mixture to steaming dish. 
• Bottom Layer: Steam at high heat for about 2 minutes, until the egg is just set. Turn off the fire. 
• Scatter diced salted egg and century egg evenly over the dish. Pour the remaining egg mixture so that it is on the same level as the toppings. 
• (If you don’t mind the salted and century egg sinking to the bottom, you don’t have to cook the bottom layer first. Just scatter the diced eggs and pour the egg mixture over.)
• Seal the steaming dish with aluminium foil. Steam at high heat for 5 minutes. 
• Garnish with chopped spring onions.

Note: Timing may differ slightly according to the thickness of your egg custard and temperature. If undercooked, just put back the foil and continue steaming for a minute or two.

Recipe Inspired by Noobcook.com