Left with the last 2 cups of homemade chicken stock in the freezer, I cooked a pot for the dinners to come.
Dinner tonight:
I thought 18 wolfberries would suffice (sounds a lot) but when the asparagus dish was ready for a camera shot, I realized I had been a little stingy. Diced the garlic instead of slicing it, an inspiration from dinner at my mom's place. It did smell more fragrant when I stir-fried the diced garlic, but the visual difference in the finished dish was more obvious.
Hmm... perhaps I should add julienned old ginger someday, which would really help spruce up a dish.
Here's the recipes!
Makes 2+1 toddler servings
About 200g of batang sliced fish, velveted
3 stalks of green onions, white part only, sliced
1 big clove of garlic, sliced
1/8 tsp of kosher salt
Honey pineapple, 10 small slices
12 cashew nuts, roasted
1 tsp canola oil
Sweet & sour sauce:
1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1+1/2 tsp sugar, dissolved in 1 tsp water
1/2 tsp black vinegar
1 tsp tomato sauce
1/8 cup of homemade chicken stock
1/2 tsp Shao Hsing rice wine
In a separate bowl:
1/2 tsp cornstarch, dissolved in 1+1/2 tsp water
1. Stir together the sweet & sour sauce mixture in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in water.
2. Heat the canola oil in a wok or skillet over medium-high heat for a minute, swirling wok to coat.
3. Add the garlic with salt and stir-fry for 30 secs.
4. Toss in the spring onions and stir-fry for 30 secs to a min, then add the pineapple slices and stir fry another 30 secs.
5. Add the velveted fish, the cashew nuts, then pour in the sauce mixture.
6. Reduce heat and stir around for another 2 mins to coat well.
7. Give the cornstarch mixture a quick stir and pour it in. Do a final stir.
8. Remove from heat and serve!
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Makes 2+1 toddler servings
120g asparagus, blanched and sliced diagonally
30 wolfberries, rinsed
1 clove of garlic, diced
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp canola oil
Broth mixture:
1/4 cup homemade chicken stock
1 tsp Shao Hsing rice wine
1+1/2 tsp oyster sauce
1. Heat the canola oil in a wok or skillet over medium-high heat for a minute, swirling wok to coat.
2. Add the garlic with salt and stir-fry for 30 secs.
3. Toss in the wolfberries and stir-fry for a min (taste one, it should soften).
4. Add the blanched asparagus and stir-fry for another min.
5. Add the broth mixture, reduce heat, stir around for 2 mins and serve!
Notes:
i. I tried with 30 wolfberries in a subsequent dish of broccoli & shiitake mushroom with wolfberries stir-fry and it was a good quantity.
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I wonder what was the secret ingredient in that plate of rice I had from the Thai cuisine stall at a food court the other day. I had never tasted rice so good that I couldn't resist but finish it even though I had no more side dishes to go along with. Yep that was why I had added lemon grass to my rice cooker recently.
Hmm... perhaps I could casually ask over the counter when I'm there for a meal again. Hahaa...
I didn't have much plan of the art to piece in my yoghurt tonight, and this was what came out with some honey pineapple slices. Looks like 3 small "yellow" carrots to me? Heee