Ngor Hiang is also known as 5 spices in Hokkien. Ground into powder, you get the 5-spice powder. However, the funny thing is that Ngor Hiang also refers to this dish – which is essentially prawn and pork rolled in a soya skin. In Penang, they call it Lor Bak or Lobak whilst for us from Johor, we call it Heh Chor. There are many variants for the ingredients used but the main ingredients are prawns, pork and of course, the 5-spice powder. The 5 spice powder is popularly used for dishes like Chinese Stewed Duck and Kong Bak.

This Ngor Hiang recipe makes about 13 rolls using 1 piece of soya skin (fuchok). The soft soya skin is used rather than the usual hard-type which is commonly used for other dishes like Ginkgo Barley Dessert. It is not an easy dish to prepare as it can be a bit labourious preparing the ingredients, rolling them up and finally, frying them. However, this tasty Ngor Hiang is bound to make you eat non-stop. It is delicious on its own or a great accompaniment to steamed white rice. For added taste, give it a dip into chilli or tomato sauce.

This is my wife’s recipe for Ngor Hiang / Prawn and Pork Roll

Ingredients

• 1 kg medium prawns (shelled and deveined. Cut into small cubes)
• 600 grammes pork (choose pork with a bit of fat and mince it)
• 15 pieces water chestnut (diced finely – leave to drain on colander)
• 170 grammes of dried winter melon (diced finely)
• 1/2 piece carrot (diced finely)
• 1 large onion (diced finely)
• 4 teaspoons potato starch
• 1 egg (separate egg yolk from egg white)
• 1 piece soya skin (cut into 6 x 6 inches – about 12 to 13 pieces for rolling)
• Oil for deep frying

Seasoning

• 3 teaspoons 5 spice powder
• 1 teaspoon white pepper powder
• 4 to 6 teaspoons salt

Method

Mix prawns, pork, water chestnut, winter melon, carrots, onion, egg yolk and seasoning together in a large bowl. Using hands, combine the ingredients by mixing them in one direction (clockwise or anti-clockwise) whilst sprinkling potato starch. Allow mixture to stand for 30 minutes covered.

Lay a piece of soya skin on the table. Take about 2 tablespoons of mixture and place them like a log on one end of the skin, leaving about 2 cm from the edge of soya skin. Dab a little egg white on fingers and run the egg white along the soya skin edges.

While holding the edge of the soya skin, roll over the mixture and fold in the side edges. Repeat with other soya skin till all complete.

Heat oil in wok at medium heat. Gently place one or two pieces of Ngor Hiang roll at a time and allow to deep fry slowly till soya skin is golden brown. It takes approximately 5 to 8 minutes per roll to cook.

Dish up and drain on kitchen napkin to absorb excess oil.

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Ngor Hiang

I was cooking Long Bean Rice over the weekend when I had excessive belly pork (or is it pork belly?) to use. So, I fooled around by experimenting with it to see if I could churn out a simple snack with it. Tastes not too bad and my daughter loved it to bits (pun intended). What I did was to chop the belly pork into really small pieces and marinade them primarily with worcestershire sauce. Then, I fried them till golden brown. My next quest is to find a way to tenderise the pork. Any suggestions?

Meanwhile, this is my new recipe called Worcestershire Fried Belly Pork Snack

Ingredients

• Belly pork (chopped into small pieces – smaller than a clove of garlic)
• Oil for shallow frying

Seasoning

• Worcestershire sauce
• Salt
• Sugar
• Black pepper powder

Method

Marinade belly pork bits with a little worcestershire sauce for about 10 minutes.

Heat oil in wok or pan and fry the belly pork bits. When the bits have cooked (but not browned thoroughly yet), add seasoning to taste. Continue frying till golden brown.

Dish up and serve after allowing excess fat / oil to drip.

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Worcestershire Fried Belly Pork Snack

Teochew or Chaozhou Dumplings are good exercise for the jaw. Packed with plenty of ingredients including peanuts, dried shrimps, mushrooms and bamboo shoots, each bite gives you a riot of taste and texture – from the smoky peanuts to the soft mushrooms right to the crunchy sweet taste of bamboo shoots. My mother-in-law made this for supper during my visit to Kuching recently and the recipe is based on a cookbook which she adapted and slightly modified.

I was intrigued with the tang flour and caltrop starch which were used to make the dumpling skin. The end result is a skin which is slightly translucent and almost had a slight rubbery texture to it (which ensured that the filling does not burst out after steaming). I understand that this combination is used quite often in making other types of dumplings. Anyway, if you have time and you want to impress your family or guests, give this recipe a try.

This is my mother-in-law’s recipe for Teochew Dumplings

Ingredients

• 113 grammes tang flour (fine wheat starch)
  
• 57 grammes caltrop starch
• 50 grammes peanuts
• 50 grammes bamboo shoots
• 50 grammes carrots
• 50 grammes dried shrimps
• 4 dried black mushrooms
• 2 sprigs Chinese parsley
• 150 grammes pork
• 1 teaspoon crushed garlic

Sauce

• ½ tablespoon caltrop starch
• ½ tablespoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Sesame oil
• White pepper powder
• 2 tablespoon water

Quantity : 10

Method

Deep fry peanuts till crisp. Soak and pat dry dried shrimps.

Scald bamboo shoots. Soak and trim mushrooms. Peel, wash and dice carrot. Dice parsley and pork.

To prepare filling, stir fry crushed garlic with 1 tbsp of oil until fragrant. Add pork. Stir fry until nearly cooked. Put in bamboo shoots, carrot, mushrooms and dried shrimps. Mix well. Stir in sauce. Add peanuts and parsley. Mix well and dish up.

Sieve tang flour and caltrop starch. Boil 1 ½ cups of water. Add sieved flour. Quickly stir and switch off heat. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Remove and knead into smooth and soft dough.

Divide dough into 10 small portions and roll into round this sheets. Place suitable amount of filling on each sheet. Place in a greased steamer and steam for 15 minutes over high heat. Serve hot.

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Teochew Dumplings

Before I got married, the only snack which I knew how to cook with Ikan Bilis (Dried Anchovies) was my so-called Ikan Bilis Snack recipe. After getting married, I cooked that dish for one of the meals and my wife remarked that her family version is slightly different. Sour and Spicy Ikan Bilis (a name I coined out) is slightly more elaborate but if you ask me, has a more complex but delicious taste compared to Ikan Bilis Snack.

If you compare the two recipes, you will realize that Sour and Spicy Ikan Bilis has more ingredients compared to Ikan Bilis Snack. The combined use of thinly sliced aromatic shallots, fresh chillis and garlic with ikan bilis with a twist of lime makes this dish truly appetizing and refreshing. You can eat it as a snack (provided you have a couple of glasses of drink to help you quench your thirst) or as an accompaniment to steamed white rice. Give it a try as it is really simple to prepare and cook.

This is my wife’s recipe for Sour and Spicy Ikan Bilis

Ingredients

• 1 rice bowl measure of ikan bilis (rinsed)
• 1 red chilli (sliced thinly)
• 3 shallots (sliced thinly)
• 3 cloves garlic (sliced thinly)
• 2 pieces lime (juiced)
• 1 ½ teaspoon dark soya sauce
• Sugar to taste
• 5 tablespoons cooking oil (palm oil preferred)

Method

Bring oil to high heat in wok and fry ikan bilis till golden brown. Remove and set aside ikan bilis. Discard used oil.

Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in wok and fry shallots till beginning to brown. Remove and set aside fried shallots. Add garlic and fry till golden brown. Remove and set aside fried garlic. Add chillis and fried ikan bilis and stir well. Return fried shallots and garlic to mixture, stir evenly and add dark soya sauce, lime juice and sugar.

Dish out and serve.

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Sour and Spicy Ikan Bilis

Well, this is another version of the medley recipe that I posted earlier, which many readers are more accustomed to. This recipe uses long beans, toasted peanuts, chai poh (preserved turnips) and sliced fishcakes (there were no prawns at home on that day). The peanuts that were used are loose peanuts sold in supermarkets or wet markets and it has to be toasted in a wok / pan (without oil) on low heat till it is slightly browned. Other than that, this is a pretty simple dish to cook and can be eaten as a snack, appetiser or accompaniment to plain porridge (which many Malaysian chinese used to have many many years ago) or steamed white rice.

This is my mother’s recipe for Long Bean and Peanuts Medley (which is also a named coined by me)

Ingredients

• 1/3 bowl of long beans (cut just like in the picture above)
• 1/4 bowl of preserved turnips / chai poh (use the sweet type and chopped)
• 1/3 bowl of sliced fishcake or shelled prawns (cut into small pieces)
• A handful of toasted peanuts
• 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
• Warm water
• 1 tablespoon of palm oil

Seasoning

• A sprinkle of salt
• A dash of white pepper powder

Method

Heat oil in wok and saute garlic together with fishcakes / prawns till they begin to turn colour / brownish. Add chai poh and continue to stir fry very quickly for about 15 seconds.

Add long beans and seasoning and continue to stir fry till long beans are cooked to your desired softness (minimum cooking time 1 minute). Sprinkle warm water during cooking to prevent burning.

Dish out and sprinkle peanuts over the dish prior to serving.

Technorati Tags: recipe, chinese, vegetable, long, beans, peanuts, nuts, turnip

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Long Beans and Peanuts Medley

Wo Tieh is also known as Shallow Fried Dumplings. Some call them Pot Stickers because they are fried on shallow pans. These are not the same as wantons because they use thicker skin and is a flatter, more oblate, double-saucer like shape (similar in shape to ravioli), and is usually eaten with a ginger-soy-vinegar dipping sauce (and/or hot chilli sauce); while a wonton has a thinner skin, is sphere-shaped, and is usually served in broth. In the picture above, the wo tiehs are arranged in the middle (simply arranged with no artistic intention) with sliced century eggs and cucumbers. They go well together.

My sister cooked this dish for Chinese New Year Eve’s Dinner and it was a great appetiser as well as accompaniment to the steamboat fare we had.

This is my sister’s recipe for Wo Tieh (Shallow Fried Dumplings)

Ingredients

• 200 grammes round cabbage (chopped finely)
• 400 grammes semi-lean pork (mince it)
• 50 grammes of chinese chives (chopped finely)
• 200 grammes of prawns (chopped)
• 3 cm ginger (chopped finely)
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
• 50 pieces of dumpling skin (choose the thicker ones, approximately 6 to 8 cm diameter and round shaped)
• 400 ml warm water or chicken stock
• Corn starch (mix 5 tablespoons water to 2 tablespoons corn flour to seal dumpling skin)
• Oil for frying (palm oil)

Seasoning

• 2 tablespoons chinese cooking wine
• 3 tablespoons light soya sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Dip

• Thinly julienned ginger
• Black vinegar
• a sprinkle of sugar

Method

In a large bowl, mix cabbage, pork, chives, prawns, ginger, garlic and seasoning. Stir and mix well forming one lump. Cover the mixture with cling film and set it aside for at least 1 hour.

To prepare dumplings, place one piece of dumpling skin on plate or table or hold spread out on one hand. Take one tablespoon of mixture and place it in center of skin. Using your finger, spread corn starch on edge of skin. Fold wrapper in half over the mixture and pinch centre of one edge. At the other end, make pleats to gather the mixture in the middle of the dumpling skin. Ensure that pleats at edges are tightly sealed and set the dumpling on a plate with sealed side up. Cover with moistened towel and work on the other dumpling skins till all mixture used up.

Heat a non-stick pan on high and lightly brush with oil. Fry the dumplings with the sealed side up by arranging as many dumplings together without touching each other. Fry till the bottoms start to brown and add a little water / chicken stock up to about 1 cm high. Cover with lid and allow water or stock to dry out. Continue to add same amount of water / stock and repeat process to cook till dumplings are firm (about 10 minutes). Finally, remove lid and brown the dumplings a little bit more (by now, you can brown the sides because the dumplings are firm enough and will not open up) for 1 minute.

Dish out and serve hot with dip.

Technorati Tags: recipe, chinese, dumpling, prawns, pork, chicken, potstickers, appetiser

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Wo Tieh (Shallow Fried Dumplings)

Actually, to be honest, I’ve no name for this recipe. The recent Chinese New Year was the first time I’ve tasted this dish when my mother-in-law cooked it and I fell in love with it. It is a stir fry involving the use of long beans, chai poh (preserved turnip), prawns and cashew nuts. When I came back to Kuala Lumpur and told my mum about it, she recalled eating this (albeit, with slight change in the ingredients) when she was young. Mum thought that we would not like to eat this and therefore, has never cooked this for us to eat. She used to eat this with plain porridge but it tastes good with rice as well. It can also be a snack on its own. So, suddenly, a long forgotten home-cooked recipe has resurfaced. And mum cooked her version within a week! But I will share mum’s version later.

This is my mother-in-law’s recipe for Stir Fried Long Bean Medley (which is a named coined by me)

Ingredients

• 1/3 bowl of long beans (cut just like in the picture above)
• 1/4 bowl of preserved turnips / chai poh (use the sweet type and chopped)
• 1/3 bowl of prawns (shelled and cut into small pieces)
• A handful of toasted cashewnuts
• 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
• Warm water
• 1 tablespoon of palm oil

Seasoning

• A sprinkle of salt
• A dash of white pepper powder

Method

Heat oil in wok and saute garlic together with prawns till prawns begin to turn colour. Add chai poh and continue to stir fry very quickly for about 15 seconds.

Add long beans and seasoning and continue to stir fry till long beans are cooked to your desired softness (minimum cooking time 1 minute). Sprinkle warm water during cooking to prevent burning.

Dish out and sprinkle cashew nuts over the dish prior to serving. (I took the picture above before cashew nuts were sprinkled. By the time my mother-in-law realised she had forgotten to sprinkle the cashew nuts, I’d walloped half the plate and rendered it not as nice for photography. LOL!)

Technorati Tags: recipe, chinese, vegetable, long, beans, cashew, nuts, turnip

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Stir Fried Long Bean Medley

Lilian gave me a very difficult task just before Chinese New Year. I was supposed to do something with the skin of Mandarin Oranges. Just see what she skilfully did with the skin of Mandarin Oranges. The thing is, the “trick” I am supposed to do with the skin is so difficult that I have to find a way out of it. Finding a loophole is what lawyers are supposed to be good at and I think I may be lucky enough this time. So, here comes my task handed out to Lilian

Anyway, Red Bean Soup with Mandarin Orange Peel is not really a soup which is taken in a main meal. Rather, it is well known to be a dessert and is usually taken warm or hot. The Mandarin Orange Peel is added to give this dessert a citrus tang to it and if you can’t find Mandarin Oranges, oranges like Sunkist or Jaffa will do. Just remember to dry it in a fridge or left outside to dry on its own. Frankly, I don’t know why it should be dried but this recipe has been handed down from generations to generations and it tastes good. Give it a try.

This is my recipe for Red Bean Soup with Mandarin Orange Peel

Ingredients

• 3/4 rice bowl of red beans (pre-soaked for 30 minutes)
• Skin / Peel from 1 mandarin orange (dried before hand)
• 6 rice bowls of water
• Sugar to taste

Method

Bring water to boil and add red beans. Reduce to simmer. Add mandarin orange peel after 30 minutes and continue to simmer for at least another 30 minutes. (alternatively, you can put the water, red beans and orange peel in a slow-cooker and cook it for 3 hours or more / overnight)

Add sugar to taste before serving.

Technorati Tags: Dessert, Chinese, Red Bean, Orange, Soup

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Red Bean Soup with Mandarin Orange Peel