Broccoli and carrot with fresh scallops

I love broccoli and I think it must have rubbed off on Alicia coz she loves broccoli too. In fact, she has been taking broccoli almost every day and sometimes even for both meals in a day! But she only loves broccoli cooked in the stock I make for her. So far we've tried giving her broccoli that's been cooked by others (i.e. outside food or food cooked by my mum or mil) but she just won't eat it. Anyway, yesterday we didn't leave any of our broccoli dish for her since she has her own share.

The fresh scallops were bought by my mil. She's always fond of buying some during the Chinese New Year festive season so we'll get one lot from her. Yummy they were! But too bad we only get to eat it during this period of time! It's just too expensive to eat it too often...


Broccoli and carrot with fresh scallops

Ingredients:

• 1 broccoli (I used only the florets)
• 1 carrot (skinned and sliced)
• 14 pieces of fresh scallops
• oyster sauce (to taste)
• abalone sauce (to taste)
• 1-2 cloves garlic (minced)
• cornflour
• water
• a pinch of salt

Method:

1. Prepare the two vegetables accordingly.
2. Soak the fresh scallops in salt water for awhile to remove the 'smell'.
3. In a small saucepan, boil some water and place scallops in when the water's boiling. Cook for a couple of minutes or till the scallops are cooked (but not overcooked - this is quite crucial! I hate to eat overcooked scallops). Remove and set aside.
4. Parboil the broccoli florets and carrot. Dish out the vegetables when they are cooked through and arrange them nicely on a plate. Pour the water that was used to parboil the veggies in a bowl.
5. Place the scallops in the centre of the plate - well, they do deserve to be the centre of attraction, don't they? :) (See picture below)

6. Saute the garlic in the wok.

7. Add in the oyster sauce and abalone sauce together with some of the water that was used to parboil the veggies.

8. Once it boils, stir in the cornflour mixture to thicken the gravy and pour the gravy over the veggies. Done!

For toddler's consumption:

• Cut broccoli into small florets and carrot into smaller pieces before serving.

Itek Tim (Duck and salted vegetable soup)

I wasn't too pleased with my attempt at cooking the nonya soup Itek Tim (Duck and salted vegetable soup). The soup turned out ok, but the duck was tough and honestly, I had trouble finding the duck meat coz the meat had fallen off the bones. I guess it was because of the part of the duck I used. The lady who sold me the duck told me that it would be more convenient for me to use duck wings since I was only cooking for hubby and myself. Taking her suggestion, I bought half a kg of it instead of half a duck. Bad choice I guess. But I'd never know if I didn't try it. At least that's a lesson learnt. :)

Modified the recipe from Nonya Favourites by Lee Geok Boi.

Itek Tim (serves 2)

Ingredients:

• half a duck, cut into half (please use half a duck instead of wings or isolated parts of the duck!)
• 300g pickled mustard (kiam chye)
• 3 preserved plums
• 2 pieces asam gelugor (rinsed)
• 3cm old ginger (peeled and smashed)
• 1.5-2L water
• 1-2 dashes of ground white pepper
• 2 small tomatoes (cut into quarters, seeds removed)
• 1 chilli (remove seeds)
• 2 tablespoons brandy (optional)

Method:

1. Clean the duck, removing any visible fat.
2. Blanch the duck.
3. Rinse kiam chye several times. If very salty, soak for 15min and taste again. Cut into chunks of 4cm squares.
4. Bring water to boil in a large claypot. Add the duck, ginger, plums, asam gelugor, pepper and 1 tablespoon brandy (optional). Simmer gently for 1 hour, skimming the surface to remove any fat.
5. Add kiam chye at the 1hour mark and simmer for another 45min, adding tomatoes and chilli 10min before the end. Adjust the seasoning, if necessary.
6. Leave the soup to stand for several hours to allow the flavours to develop.
7. If you wish, and have brandy on hand, you can add 1 tablespoon of brandy before serving.

Note: This soup is best consumed the next day (or a few days) after cooking, as the flavour will be even better then!

Baked Squid

I'm definitely not a lover of squid, but my hubby is. So I cook this every now and then for him, but to be honest, I've never tasted it, not even the sauce. He claims it's nice so I just take his word for it. :)

Baked Squid

Ingredients:

• 1 small squid (cost me $1.50 at the wet market)
• cornflour

Seasoning:

• 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce
• a dash of dried basil leaves
• a dash of ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Method:

1. Clean the squid and remove the inerts.
2. Marinate the squid with the seasoning (I usually do it overnight).
3. Preheat oven to 200degC.
4. Bake squid at 200degC for 10min. Reserve leftover marinade.
5. Turn squid over, pour the marinade over it and bake at 200degC for a further 10min.
6. Take the squid out. Place the squid on a plate and pour the sauce into a small saucepan.
7. Add cornflour solution to thicken the sauce then pour it over the squid.
8. Serve hot.