Beef congee (牛肉粥)

Congee is especially comforting and cleansing when I feel under the weather or when overindulge. There are so many kind of congee, chicken, fish, pork, beef or better still, plain ones. The congee recipe remain largely the same but mix in with different ingredient.

Serves 2

180g of rice

150g minced beef

1/2 cube of organic chicken stock cube

Dash of sesame oil

1.2L water
1 tbsp of mirin
Pinch of white pepper

1. Season the rice with a pinch of salt and a dash of sesame oil. Soak in cold water for at least a couple of hours before cooking (preferably overnight as this process helps to breakdown the rice).

2. Bring the water to boil, stir in the rice. Turn the heat up and keep staring for 5 minutes.

3. Bring the heat down, cover and let it simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, marinate minced beef with mirin, salt & white pepper.

5. Back to the congee base. Turn the heat up, break up the chicken stock cube and add, stir for 10 minutes. This is a very important step as it helps to break up the rice. If the consistency becomes too think, add some boiling water to dilute.

6. Take the congee base off the heat, stir in the minced beef, keep staring and break up the lumps.

7. Season with salt and white pepper to taste. 

Classic Carbonara

The typical carbonara that are available at high street eateries are usually laden with béchamel sauce. The cheesier it is, the better, and that's we define a 'good' carbonara. I am sure most Italian who come across these ghastly concortion of which we christianed carbonara would fell off their chair. 

An authentic carbonara is a very simple and light pasta dish, consist of pancetta, pasta and and egg to garnish. Here is my take on this classic. In this recipe I used macaroni pasta for no particular reason, apart from I have some left over from macaroni cheese. 

Serves 2

150g high welfare smoked pancetta

1 small red onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

150g closed cup mushrooms, sliced

1 small free range egg, whisked

160g macaroni, cooked in accordance to instructions on packet

1. In a deep frying pan, up some rapeseed oil in medium heat and cook the pancetta till they are starting to turn crispy.

2. Add the garlic and onion. Cook till soften.

3. Meanwhile, cook your pasta of choice in accordance to the instructions on the packet.

4. Add the mushroom and cook for a couple of minutes. Be careful not to overcook the mushrooms or they will go watery and grey.

5. Drain the cooked pasta and stir in with the pancetta mix.

6. Season with salt & pepper.

7. Take it off the heat and mix in with whisked egg. Be sure to keep folding the pasta mixture whilst adding the egg.

Enjoy!

Slow-braised beef tendon & beef shin in chu hou sauce (柱侯蘿蔔炆牛筋牛腱)

Early autumn is definitely in the atmosphere. There is a slight breeze when the wind blows and length of daylight is reducing for sure. It is again time for a change of our diet, and to opt for something more warming and comforting. 

I have decided to make one of my all-time favourite dishes this weekend: slow-braised beef tendon & beef shin in chu hou sauce. The combination of the tender beef shin, the nourishing texture of the tendons mixed with the flavoursome and versatile chu hou sauce is truly inviting. 

450g beef tendon

300g beef shin

300g mooli, thickly sliced 

200g chu hou sauce

4 tbsp of Shaoxing wine

500ml of boiling water

3 cloves of garlic, crushed 

1/2 tbsp of palm sugar

1 1/2 tbsp of dark soy sauce

1 1/2 tbsp of light soy sauce

2 piece of dried citric peel

1 star anise 

1. Boil a kettle full of water, blanch the beef tendon & shin and drained. 

2. Heat a tbsp of oil in casserole dish, add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the chu hou sauce, both soy sauce and cook until the aroma is released. 

3. Pour in the water, bring the mixture to boil and add the dried citric peel, palm sugar & star anise.

4. Add the tendon & shin, cover and bring to boil then reduce to low heat and cook for 1 hour.

5. Add the mooli and cook for further 30 minutes or until tender. 

6. Serve with steamed rice and vegetables.

Note: It tastes even better the next day!