Stir Fried Bitter Melons with Prawns

Occasionaly, I have craving for bitter melons or bitter gourds in English. I must admit, bitter melons are not for culinary cowards as not everyone will have a palate for it. Most people are put off by the name and those who have tried it probably find it to be quite unpleasant. If it is cooked right it is quite delicious as it is a matter of acquired taste. Speaking of tastes, bitterness is one of the five basic tastes (sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and salty). In fact, bitter melon is a fruit and not a vegetable, and is perhaps the most bitter of all Asian vegetables. It is an oblong shape, with a light to medium green in color. The surface has irregular ridges and bumps that looks like warts. It is commonly cooked with beef or chicken, with strongly flavored ingredients such as black bean sauce, and other spices to neutralize the bitterness. Surprisingly, the bitterness does not impart on other ingredients, but rather give it a savory after-taste. My mother used to make a soup with meat as she believed to cleanse the blood and help lower cholesterol. Go ahead, and try this unusual healthy food---you might just like it!

Ingredients:
1 medium sized bitter melon
¼ lb medium prawns
2 tsp. black bean sauce paste
2 tsp. oyster sauce
1 tsp. garlic, minced
1 tsp cornstarch mixed with a little water
1 tsp salt
pinch of sugar
Method:
1. Cut bitter melon in half and use a spoon to remove the seeds and white rind in the middle. Slice into ¼-inch thick. Put in a bowl and rub the bitter melons with the salt. Le it sit for about 5-8 minutes. Gently squeeze the salt out and rinse off with water. Drained well.
2. Heat about 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan over high heat. Add in the bitter melon and fry for about 8-10 minutes. Remove to a plate, return pan and heat 1 teaspoon of oil and fry the garlic, followed by the prawns.
3. When the prawns are almost cooked, stir in the sauces and bitter melons, continue to fry until the sauce has incorporate with the prawns and bitter melons. Season and adjust seasonings to your taste. Add in the cornstarch mixture to thicken. Cover and simmer on medium heat for 5-8 minutes (add some more liquid if you like more sauce).
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Minty Lemon-Lime Basil Sorbet

Ever since we bought an ice-cream maker, we've been making our own ice-cream and trying out new recipes. Whenever I passed by the ice-cream freezer in the grocery stores, John probably heard the same phrase, "Why don't they make ice-cream with less sugar". So, last week, he made a bitter sweet chocolate with just the right amount of sweetness and it was great!
The other day, a friend brought over a grocery bag of freshly picked lemons and some Key limes. Key lime is a smaller fruit and has a higher acidity. It has a distinctive aroma and flavor compared to other limes. The name comes from its association with the Florida Keys, where it is best known as a flavoring ingredient in Key lime pie. Today, being my day off work, I've decided to combine these two citrus fruits with basil and mint from the garden. I love the cool and refreshing taste of these two herbs! How wonderful to have the simple things in life!

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
2½ cup water
2 Tbsp. lemon zest
1½-2 cups packed fresh basil
1 bunch of fresh mint, rinsed
2½ cups lemon juice (3 cups if not using Key limes)
½ cup Key lime juice
a pinch of salt
Method:
1. Add water, sugar and half of the lemon zest to a saucepan and heat over medium fire until sugar has fully dissolved. Remove from heat.
2. Add in the herbs and salt. Cover and let mixture steep for half an hour. Add in the lemon juices, cover and refrigerated for at least 3 hours or overnight (the mixture has to be well-chilled)
3.Strain chilled mixture through a strainer. Turn on the ice-cream maker (per instructions), pour the mixture into the freezer bowl and let it mix until thickened, about 15-25 minutes. When the sorbet is almost done, add the leftover lemon zest and let it churn to combine. Transfer the sorbet into airtight container and freeze until firm, about 2 hours. Remove from freezer for about 15 minutes before serving.
Cook's Tip: Save the lemons halves and freezed them to make pretty containers for the sorbet.
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Mango Sorbet

Yesterday we have been driving to several stores looking for a decent ice-cream maker. We finally found one and it is an automatic frozen yogurt-ice cream & sorbet maker.  I remembered making ice cream the old-fashioned way with the bucket-style ice cream maker, where you had to keep adding ice cubes and rock salt to keep it well chilled. Adding salt to the water causes the temperature to drop and slows the melting process and therefore, increases the freezing rate. With this new gadget, I am inspired to make our own ice-cream! For starters, I’ll try this recipe using ripe Philippines. I prefer these mangoes over the ones imported from Mexican as they have a sweeter and smooth texture. I hope you enjoy this yummy treat.

Ingredients:
3-4 firm and ripe mangos
½ cup sugar (use ¾ if you like it sweeter)
½ cup water
2 Tbsp. lemon zest

Method:
1. In a small saucepan add lemon zest, sugar, and water and heat over medium to melt the sugar. Remove and set aside to cool.
2. Peel, remove seeds and cut mangoes into cubes. Puree the mangoes in a food processor, slowly adding the syrup water and puree until smooth. Pour mixture into a container and chill in the refrigerator.
3. Pour the ingredients into the pre-freeze ice-cream container (per instructions on the booklet). When ready, pour sorbet into an airtight container and freeze.
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Steamed Egg with Fish Paste

Beside rice, egg is another practical ingredient in most Chinese household. Whenever we have an extra guest for dinner, we'd fried some eggs to add to the meal. This is another of my favorite dish that my mother used to make for us. She would prepare this quite often for us whenever a particular fish (ikan kurau) is in season to make fish paste. She would filet the fish and then minced the flesh on a wooden chopping board until the paste is smooth and bouncy to touch. This dish is easy enough to make nowadays, as fish paste is readily available in Asian supermarkets.
Ingredients:
2 eggs, beaten
½ lb fish paste
1 stalk spring onions, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying
Method:
1. Season eggs with salt and pepper. Heat a shallow pan with some oil, and make 2 thin omelettes and cooked on both sides. Remove and set aside to cool.
2. In a bowl, mix fish paste with spring onions, and season with salt and pepper. Spread paste evenly on cooked omelettes and roll up to form a log.
3. Bring a steamer with water to a boil and steam and cook fish rolls for about 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool before slicing. Serve with rice and chilli sauce.
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Seafood Noodle Soup with Pickled Sour Mustard

This is one of my favorite dish to make whenever I have the craving for something sour and appetizing.
Ingredients:
4-5 calamari, sliced
1 piece fish fillet, sliced
Rice vermicelli noodles, pre-soaked in water
1 piece 2-inch ginger, julliened
1 package pickled sour mustard
3-4 cups chicken broth
1 stalk spring onions, chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, sliced
1-2 Tbsp. tamarind powder (Sinigang)
Method:
1. Rinse the sour mustard greens well and squeezed off excess water. In a frying pan heat some oil and fry it with some ginger until fragrant for about 8-10 minutes. Remove and set aside.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook vermicelli according to package instruction. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat chicken broth with rest of ginger and bring to a boil. Add tomatoes, spring onions and tamarind powder. Season to according to your taste. Bring the soup to a fast boil again and add in the fish and cuttlefish to cook.
4. To serve, add noodles into individual bowls and scoop hot broth along with vegetables and seafood on top. Serve warm.
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Baked Apple Tarte Normande

Tarte Normande is unique of Normandy due to the prolific of apples in that area in the region in France. The tart is made with a sweet crust with thinly sliced applies on top. For an impressive and dramatic touch to the tart, you can flambé with brandy before serving.
Ingredients:
5-6 apples (golden delicous or any tart variety)
2 ozs sugar
4 ozs unsalted butter (softened)
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. brandy
½ tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. flour
4-5 small cubes of butter
3 oz brandy for flambé (optional)
Crust:
10½ oz all purpose flour
4½ oz sugar
4½ oz unsalted butter, softened
2 medium eggs
Method:
1. Make the pastry by mixing the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon. Add eggs and mix together with your fingertips, followed by flour and mix until the dough is a smooth dough. Wrap dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 45 minutes until dough is firm enough to handle.
2. In a bowl, mix the sugar with all the dry spices. Peel and cored the apples and sliced thinly. Add to a bowl with lemon juice to prevent it from turning brown.
3. Chop 1/3 of the apples into small cubes and cook them down into a compote in a heavy saucepan with softened butter, half of the spiced sugar, vanilla and brandy. Cook over medium heat and stir to mix with the apples. Reduce heat to simmer for about 30 minutes until apples have softened and fragrant. Remove from heat to cool. Add a tsp. of flour to apple mixture.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out dough and press to tart pan. Pour compote to the bottom of pan and arrange sliced apples in a rosette. Sprinkle the rest of the sugar evenly on top of apples. Dot top with butter.
5. Bake in oven for about 40 minutes until apples and crust are golden brown. Remove and set aside to cool.
6. Serve with whipped cream or ice-cream if you want it simple or flambé. Tips on how to flambé
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Pork Nuggets in Fragrant Sauce

I love to serve this appetizing dish with its spicy and piquant sauce. The pork are deep fried to a crispy brown golden color and serve with the sauce.
Ingredients:
½ lb pork tenderlion or pork shoulder
2 shallots, chopped
some cornstarch, mixed with water
¾ cup all-purpose flour
Oil for frying
Sauce:
¾ cup good quality black vinegar
2-3 Tbsp. brown sugar (3 if maltose sugar not available)
1 Tbsp. maltose sugar (optional)
¾ cup water
¼ cup Chinese hua diao wine
2 tsp. butter
1 tsp. Dijon or English mustard
Marinade:
2 tsp. light soy sauce
2 tsp. oyster sauce
1 egg
1 tsp. rice vinegar
some constarch, mixed with a little water

Method:
1. Wash meat and pat dry. Cut meat into bite-size cubes and put into a bowl. Mix the marinade ingredients and add to meat to season for at least half an hour.
2. Gently heat sauce ingredients, except the wine in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until sugar dissolve and add some constarch to thicken. Season to taste according to your taste. When the sauce has thicken slightly add wine and stir for another minute. Remove and set aside.
3. Heat enough oil in a deep pan for frying. Coat a few pieces of meat in the flour, shaking off excess flour. When oil is hot and sizzling, drop meat carefully into the hot oil. Fry until meat turns golden brown and crispy. Remove and drain on paper towels. Repeat the same with the rest of the meat.
4. In another clean pan, some oil and fry shallots until soft and fragrant. Add in the sauce, followed with fried pork. Thicken with cornstarch mixture if needed and stir-fry briefly.
5. Remove and transfer to plate, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve immediately.
Cook's Tip: When deep frying, the oil should cover ingredients and oil should be heat in high temperature (190°C/375°F). When adding ingredients to the oil, be sure to use a long chopstick or tong and gently add along the pan or wok side. Do not overcrowd when deep frying.
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