Mongolian Beef

Mongolian Beef

Adapted from The Essence of Shangri-La

Ingredients:

8 oz beef tenderloin (thinly sliced)
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 stalks leeks/scallion (sliced diagonally)
1 inch ginger (finely chopped)
3 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)

Marinade:

1 teaspoon corn starch
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon Chinese cooking wine (rice wine or Shaoxing wine)

Sauce:

2 teaspoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
3 dashes white pepper powder
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon Maggi seasoning
1 tablespoon sugar or to taste
Salt to taste

Method:

Marinate the beef slices with the seasonings for 30 minutes. Heat up a wok with 1 tablespoon of oil and stir-fry the marinated beef until they are half-done. Dish out and set aside.

Heat up another 1 tablespoon of oil and saute the garlic and ginger until aromatic. Add the beef back into the wok and then the sauce. Continue to stir-fry until the beef slices are almost done, then add the leeks/scallions into the wok. Do a few quick stirs, add salt to taste, dish out and serve hot.

Daging Masak Kicap (Soy Sauce Beef) Recipe

Daging Masak Kicap (Soy Sauce Beef) Recipe

Ingredients:

8 oz beef flap meat, cut into pieces
2 shallots, sliced thinly (or 1/4 onion, sliced)
2 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons kicap/kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
1 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce or to taste

Method:

Rinse the beef with water and cut it across the grain into pieces. Pat dry and set aside.

Heat up a wok with the oil. When the oil is heated, add the shallots and stir fry until aromatic or when the shallots turn light brown. Add the beef into the wok and stir for a few times. Add the sweet soy sauce and soy sauce and stir to blend well with the beef. Cook for a few minutes or until the beef is cooked through. Dish out and serve immediately.

Cook’s Notes:

1. You can add a few bird’s-eye chilies or some cut red chilies if you want it spicy.
2. You can also add a lemongrass (white-part only, pounded) to make it extra aromatic.

Crab Bee Hoon Recipe

Crab Bee Hoon Recipe
Serves 3

Ingredients:

6 oz Guilin rice noodles (dry)
4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
6 slices peeled ginger
1 cup canned chicken broth
2 cups water
1/2 cup evaporated milk
2 lb crab, cleaned and cut into pieces
5 baby bok choy, cut lengthwise into halves
1 tablespoon rice wine
1/2 tablespoon fish sauce or to taste (or salt to taste)
3 dashes white pepper
1 stalk scallion, cut into 1-inch lengths

Method:

Boil the dry Guilin rice noodles per the package instructions until al dente. Rinse the noodles with cold running water to remove the starch of the noodles (the noodles should be smooth and clean of starch after rinsing). Drain the noodles dry and set aside.

In a pot, add the butter and saute the ginger. Add the chicken broth and water and bring it to boil. Add the evaporated milk and follow by the crab. Cook for a few minutes until the crab turns red and cooked. Add the baby bok choy, rice wine, fish sauce, white pepper, scallion, and the noodles. Bring it to a quick boil and serve immediately.

Cook’s Note:

Add 2 more tablespoons of evaporated milk if you like your crab bee hoon creamier.

Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe

Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe
Serves 4 

For the rice

3 cups uncooked washed rice
5 tbsp vegetable oil
4 cloves finely chopped garlic
4 finely chopped shallots
2 + 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp chicken broth
4-6 blades of pandan leave (screwpine leaves)
1 small thumb of ginger, cleaned and bruised
1 tbsp of the garlic and shallot oil
70g chicken fats
1+ 1/2 tsp salt, to taste

For the chicken

1 whole chicken, preferably free range organic chicken
1 small thumb of ginger, cleaned and bruised
5-6 stalks of scallion, washed
10 bowls chicken stock, adjust accordingly
4 blades of pandan leaves (screwpine leaves)
1 carrot, roughly chopped
2 + 1 tsp of salt

10 bowls of cold water

1 cucumber, peeled, halved and sliced diagonally

For the sauce

2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp chicken broth
3 tsp sesame oil
3 tsp garlic and shallot oil

For chicken rice chilli sauce

90g red chilies (you may add in some bird’s eye chili)
15g garlic
50g ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
50ml chicken broth
60ml lime juice, to taste

To garnish

few sprigs of cilantro

Method:

For the chicken

1. Wash chicken, drain well, stuff ginger and scallion into the chicken’s cavity. Using 2 tsp of salt as scrub, rub the salt all over the chicken for smooth looking skin.

2. In a not too large stockpot which fits the chicken perfectly, boil the chicken stock (enough to cover the whole chicken) together with pandan leaves, carrot and salt.

3. Submerge the whole chicken, breast side down in the boiling water for 35-45 minutes depending on the size of the chicken. Lower the heat to gentle simmer immediately.

4. When chicken is cooked, remove chicken and plunge it into prepared cold water at once for 10 minutes. Keep the chicken broth** for later use.

5. Drain the chicken, discard ginger and scallion from the cavity and set it aside to cool before chopping it neatly into desired serving size.

For the rice

1. Heat oil in wok, fry chopped shallots and garlic till fragrant and golden in colour. Add rice and stir well. Transfer the rice mixture to rice cooker.
2. Once transferred, add chicken broth, pandan leaves, ginger, garlic and shallot oil, chicken fats and salt into rice mixture. Cook according to rice cooker’s manual instruction.

To prepare chicken rice

1. Line a serving plate with cucumber slices.
2. Arrange chicken pieces on top, pour in the prepared sauce before garnishing with cilantro.
3. Serve with chicken rice, side soup and chicken rice chili sauce.

**Any left over chicken broth can be served as side soup, garnish with cilantro or chopped scallions. I like my soup with fish balls. ;)

Cook’s Note:

Never let the Great-Wall-of-China-long list of ingredients and methods intimidate you. It’s really not as tough or scary as it seems + the ingredients can be easily attainable almost everywhere and importantly, your effort will be extremely well paid off after.