Should be few years back, I found out that my calcium intake was too low after a health check-up. Slowly taking action one smaller step at a time, I've been taking calcium supplement daily, if I remember. Starting this year, I've also try to eat more fish instead of red meat for that extra calcium boost. That's why there're more fish-related recipes nowadays.
Dried anchovies and dried radish stir-fry 炒小魚蘿蔔乾 -
Ingredients?
- 120 grams small or medium sized dried anchovies
- 1 cup dried radish
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 red chilies
- 2 tablespoons dried shrimps (蝦米)
- 2 tablespoons salted black beans in oil (豆鼓)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rice cooking wine
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
How?
Soak the dried shrimps in water for about 10 minutes, then squeeze dry with a cloth or kitchen towel. Finely chop the shrimps.
Rinse the dried radish in order to wash away some of its salty taste. Once done, dry well with a cloth or kitchen towel, try to squeeze out all the liquid if possible. Give the dried radish a few chops if the size is bigger than a small pea. Just keep in mind that dried radish provides a chewy crunchy texture. Smaller the dried radish, easier the chew, but not too tiny and loss all that chewing fun.
Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves. Destem and finely chop the red chilies.
Use a wok or a big pan, drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and switch to medium heat. Add in dried shrimps and cook for about 30 seconds. Add in garlic and red chilies, continue to cook till aromatic and the shrimps turn slightly browned, but not burning the garlic pieces.
Add in dried radish and anchovies, give it a quick stir then add in 2 tablespoons salted black beans, 1 tablespoon Chinese rice cooking wine, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon sugar. Mix and cook till these ingredients turn soft enough to chew. The whole mixture should look fairly dry instead of oily or saucy towards the end.
Plate and serve. Highly recommend to serve this stir-fry as a side dish with steamed rice. It'll work great as condiments for dry noodles, just remember to add more seasonings such as sesame oil and soy sauce when blended together with noodles.
Other Asian stir-fry recipes:
Tomato eggs has been a common dish found in Taiwanese cuisine. Just like beef noodles or more so a western meatballs, every family has its own version of such comforting dish. This time, instead of a simple tomato eggs dish, I've added some ground pork and made the whole thing into a nostalgic topping served with steamed quinoa rice. Double that heart-warming touch!
Tomato eggs and ground pork rice 番茄蛋蓋飯 -
Ingredients (for 2 to 3 portions)?
- 2 to 3 portions steamed quinoa rice
- 4 medium ripe tomatoes
- 90 grams ground pork
- 4 eggs
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1 stalk scallion
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon drinkable water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
How?
Cook the rice first, mix in some quinoa for a nutritious boost. In that case, soak the quinoa with water for about 10 minutes, mix with white rice, then cook. Once done, fluff the grains and keep at warm for later use.
Remove the tomato stems and cut into smaller chunks. Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves. Destem the scallion, cut into shorter sections for the white part, then finely chop the green part.
Take a medium bowl, beat the eggs together with 1 tablespoon of drinkable water. This will help in reaching a softer texture scrambled eggs later on.
Prepare a wok, drizzle in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and turn to medium high heat. Add in ground pork, scallion sections, and garlic. Give it a quick stir and cook till the pork slightly colored.
Add in 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper, and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Mix and cook till darkened a bit.
Add in tomatoes along with 1 teaspoon of sugar. Use more sugar if a sweeter taste is preferred. Be careful when adding the tomatoes. Tomatoes got a lot of juice, so when in contact with hot wok, oil might start popping over. Use a wok lid for your protection if needed. However, a few dodges should be fine.
Keep cooking these tomatoes till soft enough and the skins start to fall off. You can lower the heat a little and start picking out the skin while continue to cook the tomatoes at the same time. But it's not required to remove the skin, just that it'll have a smoother mouth-feel once removed.
Use medium low heat, pour in beaten eggs and give it a simple stir. Cooked till the eggs about to reach desired texture. Should be quick here, less than a minute or so.
Scoop some rice to the serving dish and top with the tomato egg and group pork topping. Garnish with chopped scallion.
Don't omit the sugar, it's like an old school way, more so a Taiwanese way to make tomato eggs. In fact, I only used 1 teaspoon of sugar, that's not much compared to the majority. My mom just eyeball it and I'm sure she'll use at least twice the amount of sugar compared to mine.
Other Asian rice recipes:
