Today's special

After so many weeks cooking the fast and usual dishes, last Saturday planned to pamper my family to the not so usual dishes (one that takes time and good mood to prepare). The morning was spent to the market to get the necessary ingredients and also to shop for the whole week’s stock (my usual routine week in and week out). Today specials are:

1) Salad – the appetizer
2) Stewed pork ribs with broccoli – main dish
3) Soft tofu with dried shrimps – side dish
4) Mixed fruit jelly – dessert



My ingredients for salad:
a) 2 kiwi fruits
b) 2 green apples
c) Some spiral pasta
d) Medium size prawns
e) Lettuce
f) Cherry tomatoes
g) Onion
h) Thousand island sauce.

Pretty simple, just dice the kiwis and apples, cut cherry tomatoes into half, slice onion, boil pasta until soft and the prawns (don’t overcook it), lettuce to your favorable size. Put in thousand island sauce and mix well, place in fridge.

Stew pork ribs with broccoli
a) 2 big cloves of garlic, wash (do not remove skin)
b) A packet of “ting siang, pa jiau, kayu manis…, (refer to picture)
c) 4-5 mushrooms, soaked in hot water to soften them
d) Pork rib, RM 7 – 8, marinate with corn flour (as softener agent), leave for ½ hour
e) 2 omega eggs
f) Broccoli



Sauce:
g) 2 tablespoon of oyster sauce
h) 1 tablespoon of sugar
i) 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce
j) Corn flour for thickening, mixed with 2 tablespoon of water
k) Mix (g to j)


Take 1 liter or 1.5 liter of water (if you desired more gravy), place in (a) and (b) and let it boil for 10 minutes, once boiled place in (d) and ½ tablespoon of dark soya sauce, lower down the fire and cook for 45 minutes, place in (c) and cook for another 10 minutes, test and see if the pork ribs are tender, pour in (k), stir well, the pork ribs are done!

While waiting for the pork ribs to get tender just now, you can prepare the broccoli and eggs by boiling them, dish out when cooked (don’t overcook the broccoli!)

Now arrange the broccoli in a plate, dish out the pork ribs and garnished with the eggs, serve hot.





Note: Best if you have a clay pot, use it to cook the pork ribs, mine one is too small for above cooking activity.


Soft tofu with dried shrimps

a) 2 pieces of white tofu
b) Some dried shrimps and garlic (chopped finely)
c) Spring onion, cut into 1.5 inch long


Sauce:
d) 1 table spoon of oyster sauce
e) 1 teaspoon of sugar
f) 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce
g) 1 teaspoon of corn flour
h) 2 tablespoon of water
i) Mixed (d) – (h)

Place 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok, fry (b) until fragrant, place (a) and stir well, pour in (i), stir well and lastly put in (c), off the fire and dish out, serve hot.



Mixed fruit jelly – my mom in-law made this, quite simple, I bought the traditional agar-agar strips, just follow the instruction and dilute it under boiling water and sugar, pour in a can of mixed fruit/peach and pour the whole mixture in a metal tray, let it cool before putting in the fridge.