Hainanese Chicken Rice / Eggplant Steak / Work Hard Bento

Heh heh ... this was yesterday night's dinner. I seem to be getting better at making the chicken tender and moist and just as delicious as the kind from back home! The rice was so fragrant and tender, so uh ... I kind of dug in before remembering to snap a photo. The untouched one is Sean's.

Complete with 2 sauces! XD Excelsior

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Last night's dinner was somewhat vegetarian. Simply because I was going to make dijon pork chops, but the pork tenderloins were not defrosted in time so I improvised ... eggplant chops with dijon mustard, it turned out really really delicious, so much so that Stewie finished his entire slab of eggplant, his rice and edamame.

Sean did not care for it too much, though.
I used the leftover rice (there is always a ton in each side serving package **sigh) heated up more edamame, threw in some hotdogs, and made this nice bento for Sean to take to work tomorrow.

Colorful! Now some kind people please send me cheap Bento boxes so this can be even more fun >_> LOL

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It is all about food today huh, hmm ... I have been suffering from PMS so been fatigued more than usual and sleeping more. I did, however, manage to miss Stewie's dental appointment and will have to reschedule. We have booked and paid for the hotel in Myrtle Beach for the second week of August (when Kirsty comes!!!) and I just planned our itineraries. With the help of Priceline, I was able to find a hotel room for only $60 a night!!! We are going to try to share the room, and that will make it cost around $35 per person for both nights total. That is an unbelievably good deal.
Hmm ... pretty ... my first self-manicured French nails.

It was a reward to myself after deleting Colleen from my life. Wow, I sure do go through friends like water. Maybe it is because I hate Augusta so much ... that I kind of reflect that hatred subconsciously, and everything to do with Augusta I detest, and people sense it in me. The other day I called U-Haul to rent a truck for this weekend so I can finally toss our couch out, and the girl on the other end had such an uneducated drawl/accent that I absolutely had to hang up, and then beg Sean for help. He somehow can understand the slang and hear through it (that is because he is awesome, and is great at his job tee hee) but almost always, I find myself crying for help when it comes to trying to talk to these people. It is not quite the Southern slang, because I understand Paula Deen perfectly well >_> it is that weird uneducated accent that people pick up that sounds like they are too lazy to even enunciate, I feel like taking a bat to their face screaming "SPEAK UP?! I CAN'T UNDERSTAND A WORD YOU'RE SAYING!!!" /end rant.

Gizzard Stir Fry

Serves 2
1 pack of chicken gizzards (hearts work too) cut up into bite sized pieces
6 whole baby bok choy
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
Sesame oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Sautee garlic on medium heat in butter or vegetable oil until fragrant, then add the gizzards and soy sauce. Cover with lid and cook on medium for 5 minutes, until red parts are gone. Add bok choy and cook for another 2 minutes, drizzle on sesame oil to taste. Season with salt and pepper, toss and serve with warm white rice.

Siu Mai

Actually, I used the same recipe for wonton to put into siumai, except the skin is different and there is actually more shrimp than pork which gives it a "bouncy" feel in the mouth. I also used har gau skins instead of the wonton skins.

Dough:
3/4 cup wheat starch
2 teaspoons tapioca starch
1/2 cup boiling water, or as needed

6 ounces raw shrimp
2 ounces ground pork
1 tablespoon oyster sauce (optional)
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped green onion (optional)
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

Blend the dough until it becomes a little stiff, then roll out thinly. For this I used the pinch method and took just a little ball then rolled that out with a plastic wrap covered rolling pin to avoid sticking. I used oil on the rolling surface rather than starch, but you can use either really.

Mince up the shrimp and pork together, add the green onions if you'd like. Then roll out circular pieces of the dough as thinly as possible, place a dollop of the meat mixture into the dough and form a "cup". Then place in the steamer until cooked.

Some people sprinkle bits of cooked preserve duck egg on the top. Yech. Hehe ... I served it with the SriRacha chili sauce.

Chinese Again!

Baby Bok Choy (Easy!)

8 bunches of baby bok choy
2 tbsp sesame oil
Oyster sauce (best is Lee Kum Kee)
2 tbsp chopped garlic

Pour some corn oil to coat a frying pan, omit if using non-stick ware.

Throw in chopped garlic and fry until aromatic. Toss in the bok choy and turn down heat to medium. Cover and cook for about 3 minutes or until "blanched". Mix in sesame oil, drain and arrange on plate. Then drizzle oyster sauce on top. Serve with steamed long-grain rice.

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The next dish is something my mom used to cook for us, and I enjoyed it thoroughly not only because of the taste and texture but the experience while making it. You see, it is scallions that make this dish so delicious, but scallions also attract flies due to its sharp pungent smell. Sean said it smelled like rotten stuff, but I disagree. Everytime my mum would chop up the scallions, big bulbous flies would come into the house and I would hone my skills in fly swatting with a wet rag. I did it again tonight when we had a huge one zooming about, and as usual, stunned it dead on. Then it was sent packing to the trash bin.

I must note that scallions are not spring onions, they are usually found in Asian grocers and mildly difficult to locate in a majority of nationwide grocery stores. I think you can substitute it with chives but it would not taste the same. The pancake might look like a Japanese pizza (okonomiyaki) but I can assure you, it is not.

Scallion Pancakes

3 eggs (one egg per person)
20 stalks of scallions (less if you prefer less, more if you like it stronger, the pancake is supposed to be covered in the stuff and thick)
6 pieces raw shrimp, deveined and shelled (optional)
Dash of salt and pepper to taste

Grind or mash up the raw shrimp until it becomes a rough paste.

In a large mixing bowl, break the eggs and mix in the shrimp paste. Add the scallions last and mix together until well blended. It should look somewhat like green batter, and be slightly thicker than just plain beaten eggs.

Put some oil in a pan and heat at high. At this point I debate if I want to make mini pancakes or just a huge one. I used a 20 inch skillet tonight and made a large sized omelette by pouring everything in, cooking it at medium heat on the underside and covering it with a lid to cook the top. Then after the top of the pancake is solidified, I flipped the pancake to brown the other side. When fully cooked through, remove from heat and serve with plain long-grain rice.

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These two dishes are very simple and delicious to eat. Hope some of you give it a try! :) I know when I bit into the first piece of the pancake, my eyes almost misted up from the memories. This is just good comfort Chinese food!