One of the best ways to enrich the taste of leafy greens is to add fresh prawns. Siew pak choy is one the favourite leafy greens consumed in Malaysia and Singapore and it is such an easy vegetable to cook. Whilst this vegetable is usually cooked with oyster sauce, cooking it with prawns actually give it a more natural sweet tasting sauce. I use the smaller sized siew pak choy (Hong Kong variety).

I used medium sized prawns and left the tails intact. Removing the tails during eating remained one of my favourite challenges. In a way, it also enhances the beauty of the dish. I used seawater prawns rather than freshwater prawns as the texture and taste is much better.

This is the recipe for Prawn Siew Pak Choy Read the rest of this entry »

At certain markets in Malaysia, you can get yellow-coloured tofu (firm type) which I believe has been given a boost with kunyit powder thus making it aromatic and flavourful. This type of tofu can be fried and eaten on its own but one great way of cooking it is to pair it with leek and minced pork. The combination of sweet tasting leek, slightly salted minced pork and aromatic tofu makes this dish a favourite for many.

Cooking is also pretty simple and does not require a lot of work. Prepare the 3 main ingredients and you are ready to cook. Give this dish a try if you can get yourself to the ingredients.

This is the recipe for Leek with Fragrant Tofu Read the rest of this entry »

Chinese people are fond of drinking soup and it is amazing the types of soup which they cook. Part from meat based soup, vegetable based soup is also highly popular, including the use of leafy greens. One of the vegetables which can be used for a simple and quick to cook soup is the Q-chai. I have tried hard to look for the exact name for this vegetable but to no avail. Q-chai is the hokkien name for this vegetable. It looks like lettuce but it has a stem not unlike pak choy. If anyone knows the exact name for this vegetable, do let me know. In the meantime, I can only show you what it looks like prior to cooking. The stem is thinner than pak choy.

You can stir fry this vegetable with garlic just like many of the leafy greens but this vegetable fares quite nicely as a simple soup. This is the recipe for Q chai soup. Read the rest of this entry »

Pumpkin is a versatile vegetable which can be cooked in many ways. You can fry it, make cakes out of it, steam it or even bake a cake with it. One way of savouring the delicious sweet-tasting pumpkin is to cook it with rice in a rice cooker or claypot over charcoal fire (if you have one). You can also cook it in a pot over a gas stove or electric burner but care is needed to prevent burning.

Pumpkin rice ensures that every taste of the pumpkin is fully absorbed by the rice and the use of other ingredients like dried prawns, mushrooms and belly pork makes this dish a truly satisfying dish to make and eat. You don’t really have to cook anything else as you get your share of carbohydrate, protein, fat and fibre all in one dish. If you like pumpkins, you should try this.

This is my recipe for Pumpkin Rice Read the rest of this entry »