Erynggi Mushroom And Eggplant Tempura

First time making mushroom and eggplant tempura . Not easy to make tempura.  It really needs a lot of skills and practice but I am not discouraged. I will make better ones the next time.  The moisture from the eggplant and mushroom makes it soggy fast so have to eat it fast :p  Love the crumbs ..it remained crispy all through...those that I took out from the oil.  YUmmy!  If  you have not tried tempura..you must...it is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.  Love the erynggi mushroom slices especially. Dip it in the tempura sauce and gosh...it was finger licking good :)  Practice makes perfect ! Like what Nami shared on her blog...the key for perfect tempura is the batter and the temperature of oil.  You can go read for more tips on her blog :)

Note:  Excuse the poor photography...my arm is still not completely functionable

still shaky :(

Erynggi Mushroom And Eggplant Tempura - adapted from justonecookbook Vegetable Tempura

Ingredients:-

4 Erynggi Mushrooms- cleaned and cut into 1/8 in slices 
2 eggplant- cleaned and cut into 1/8 in slices

Tempura batter - rule is egg water: flour = 1:1 ratio

1 cup (250ml)  egg water ( 1 cold egg (40g) + 210ml cold water )
1 cup (250 ml ) cold all purpose flour

Tempura Sauce

3/4  ( 200ml)  cup of dashi stock/ konbu dashi for vegetarian )
3 tbsp of soy sauce
2 tbsp of mirin
2 tsp of sugar
2" daikon  radish

Make the tempura sauce:

1.  First, make Tempura sauce. Combine dashi stock, mirin sugar, and soy sauce in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil.  Then lower the heat and let it simmer ntil sugar is completely dissolved.  Remove from heat and set aside.

2. Now clean and wash the erynggi mushrooms and eggplant and cut into 1/8 " thick slices. Dry dry them using paper towels.

3. Heat the 1 1/2 inch of oil in a pot.  When the oil temperature is  (160C-180C ), start making the batter.

4.  Crack the cold egg into 210ml cold water . Whisk vigorously and remove foam on the surface. As you slowly pour the  egg mixture into the cold flour, mix the batter with chopsticks in a figure of 8 motion. ( mix about at the most 1 minute ) Do not over mix the batter and leave some lumps in batter. Keep the batter cold at all time.  It is best to place the bowl of batter over a basin of ice cold water.

5.  For root vegetable deep fry around 160C, for mushroom around 175-180C. Do not over crowd the pot with ingredients. Remember you only put ingredients taking up 1/2 of oil surface. Transfer tempura to a wire rack or paper towel to remove excess oil.

6.  Between batches, remember to remove the crumbs in the oil, which will burn and and turn oil darker if you don't take it out.

Serve with the tempura sauce.....or wasabi with soy sauce

YUmmy!

Have a nice day!

Stir Fry Meat Slices With Sesame Oil And Ginger - Reminisce Confinement Days

I had a sudden crave for stir fry meat slices with lots of sesame oil and ginger. I made WB cooked this dish for me :)   After all the bland food this dish was appetizing , for it reminded me of my confinement days. My grandma cooked this dish for me almost everyday during my confinement days .  I taught WB how to cook and hmmm I would say he is good at following instructions.  Instead of stir fry the baby spinach , he made a soup with it and added his favorite veggie in...yea, he loves tomato.  I still see the spinach roots in the soup :p Anyway, I am thankful for my meals without having to prepare them myself :)  Praise be to God for He sees to my daily needs.  Amen.

Happy Deepavali to all my Hindu Friends And Readers

*          *          *

WB's Signature Steamed Fish :) And Flavorful Stir Fry Baby Spinach :)

True , True...enjoy while it lasts LOL!  I am enjoying WB's cooking by the days. I have another month of medical leave  and during this painful and yet blissful period , why blissful ?  I get to taste WB's cooking ! He will whip out nice dishesto surprise me..like this steamed fish...hahaha....do you see how he arranged the tofu and tomato around the fish ( wanna beat me when it comes to presentation - fine I let him win this time :p  ) and man ...look at the amount of gravy but just the same it is flavorful.  He added Domino's chilli flakes and sauteed garlic...err ...I don't know what else he added to make it so tasty.  He won't tell me....told me to enjoy for this is his signature dish ! LOL! well...alright since he is so secretive....let's not ask him :)  I suspected he just added soy sauce to the gravy  * wink  And the best thing was that he knew that I will surely want to showcase his cooking, thus he used my nice bowl and plate to serve his signature dishes LOL!

And can you see some of the roots of the baby spinach still attached to the spinach  hahaha...trust WB to do the washing and cleaning of the baby spinach..   I am forced to take in the roots together with the spinach LOL!  Oh , I must not complain or next time I have to cook myself.  He really did a good job with this dish.  It looks simple but it really flavorful.  He added some chopped perserved radish and sauteed together with the garlic and this make the veggie tasty.   Love it and truly , only WB can stir fry it to perfection. I lost to him when it comes to stir frying spinach.  I tend to overcook but his turned out green and fresh :)   Thank you WB for doing all the cooking the past few weeks :)  

*              *              *

Stir Fry Pumpkin With Preserved Turnip

When I was discharged from the hospital, I was on anti-biotics and painkillers for two weeks and you can imagine my appetite was zero.  WB is such a dear!  He thinks of food that will whet my appetite and he cooked pumpkin with perserved turnip or cai poh .  And topped with deep fried anchovies. Gosh, I would never have thought of cooking pumpkin with cai poh...LOL...I gave him full marks for this dish.  It really did whet up my appetite :)  Love the crunchy and flavorful cai poh and not to forget the crispy and crunchy anchovies.  Delish!  He cooks better than me :)  And I am going to enjoy all my meals from now....I kind like this phrase now...enjoy while it last! LOL! I asked him how he whipped this up and this is how how prepared it...easy and yet delish!

Stir Fry Pumpkin With Preserved Turnip

ingredients:

2 cups of pumpkin cubes

2 heaped tbsp of preserved turnips/cai poh

2 bird eyes chillies- chopped

2 pips of garlic - chopped

1 tbsp of canola oil/vegetable oil

1/2 cup of water

a pinch of salt for taste

2 tbsp of fried anchovies for garnishing

method:

in a wok ,heat up oil, saute the garlic and preserved turnips till fragrant. Add in the pumpkin cubes and continue to stir fry for a few minutes, add in water and salt to taste,  simmer over low heat till the pumpkin is tender.  Add in chillies and stir fry till well mixed. dish up and sprinkle the fried anchovies as garnishing before serving.

note: this dish serves well with teochew porridge  besides plain rice

*          *           *

Kampar Jau Yun

We made this as soon as I saw this recipe on Wendy's blog during the MFF event for Perak and true to what she posted....this is a must try fishball.  Love the crispy and chewy texture.  I have never tried the real thing so I can't compare but we loved it especially WB can't stop eating them. So that it what matters coz he helped me in making these yummy Kampar Fishballs :) Easy to prepare and you cant stop eating at one...very addictive especially if you eat this with cold beer...nice finger food...healthier than eating the keropok :P  

Pan Fried Tao Pau....Healthy Finger Food

This is my favourite snack.....pan fried tao pau/layers of fresh beancurd skin compressed into a square block. You can add them to your vegetarian dish as I sometimes do. Click here to see how you can add them to your other dishes.  I like to eat them as snacks while watching my tv dramas or as light supper.  I asked WB to get me a few blocks of tao pau skin when he goes marketing in Kg.Simee :p, so that I can enjoy snacking on these finger licking good slices of tao pau when the appetite is not good. Too much anti-biotics and painkillers the past one week has taken away my appetite ;( . thank God for these tao pau skin, I was able to feed my stomach and not leaving the gastric juice to accumulate!

This is how WB prepared the tao pau ...he cut them into 1/4 inch thick slices, sprinkled some mixed herbs salt and Dominoes chilli flakes on both surfaces . He pan fried them till it is crispy on the outside and yet soft and tender on the inside. Love the mixed herbs salt that Jo bought for me from BIG :)

Have a great day!