Happy Birthday Lia... again! This time, I celebrated with my senior friends. I prepared a Chinese lunch for them. Another week long preparation and two days of cooking but all my hard work paid off. My guests enjoyed their food and some even went back for seconds. And.... they all had clean plates! Yay!!! I do not mind all the hard work as long as I can give pleasure to the people I am cooking for.
My own version of Peking Duck is the Tortilla wrapped roasted pork with hoisin sauce a.k.a. Pritchon http://liasfoodjourney.blogspot.com/2011/05/homemade-pritchon.html. My sister said the seniors will also enjoy if I add Crunchy Lechon Kawali http://liasfoodjourney.blogspot.com/2010/07/pritchon-lechon-atbp.html... which I did.
I prepared the Shrimp Balls the night before and deep fried it today. http://liasfoodjourney.blogspot.com/2010/04/good-friday-shrimp-balls.html
It was everybody's favorite. It is so easy to make simply because Yaya Hermie chopped all the ingredients. I made sweet and sour sauce to go with it.
Chinese Style Steamed Fish ....
800 g. Lapu-Lapu, butterflied and deboned
shredded leeks, white and green parts separated
shredded ginger
wansuy leaves
2 T. corn oil
2 T. light soy sauce
Place the fish on a heat proof plate. When the water of the steamer is at its full rolling boil, steam the fish for 10 minutes ONLY. Transfer to another dish or remove the liquid that has accumulated on the plate. Spread the ginger, shredded green and white parts of the leeks and wansuy leaves on top of the fish. Heat the oil until smoking and pour little by little on the vegetables. Drizzle the soy sauce over it.
They all commented that the fish was very fresh, I bought it in Poblacion Market. I learned from the cooking demo last week to debone the fish before steaming. I asked my fish vendor to butterfly the fish and remove the spine.
We used to order from Good Earth the Chicken Casserole with Mushroom and Sausage. I borrowed Tita Portia's Chinese cookbook for the recipe.
Steamed Chicken with Chinese Sausage and Black Mushrooms
340 g. boneless chicken
Chinese Sausage, sliced diagonally
black mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes then sliced thinly
1T. Kikkoman soy sauce
1 t. rice wine
1/2 t. salt
1 T. cornstarch
Combine all ingredients and steam for 20 minutes.
I got my Yang Chow recipe from my old Chinese cookbook. It looks so complicated but actually, it's not. Hahahaha I had to read the recipe about 20 times to be able to simplify it. Sometimes, I play in my mind how I am going to cook something, so when it is crunch time, I know what to do.
Yang Chow Fried Rice
225 g. fresh raw peeled shrimps
Marinade:
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. cornstarch
1/2 egg white
Devein the shrimps, pat dry and cut into 3/4 inch pieces. Mix together the salt, corn starch and egg white. Stir into the prawns, refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
2 T. oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 T. Chinese cooking wine
Heat the wok over high heat until smoke rises. Add oil and swirl around the pan. Add the garlic and when it changes color, tip in the shrimps. Separate the pieces and stir for 30-45 seconds. Splash in the wine. As soon as it stops sizzling, remove shrimps and set aside.
2 large eggs
2 T. oil
salt
few drops of yellow food coloring
Beat eggs with 1 T. oil, food coloring and salt. Heat a frying pan until hot, add 1 T. oil and swirl around to cover the surface. Pour in half of the egg and tip the pan to spread the egg. When firm, turn over and fry for a few minutes. Remove crepe to a plate and cut into strips. Set aside.
5-6 C day old rice
225 g. frozen peas
Separate rice grains and blanch frozen peas for 3 minutes, drain well.
1/4 C. oil
4 stalks of leeks, cut into thin rounds, white and green separated
225 g. ham, diced
1 1/2 T. thick soy sauce
2-3 T. clear stock or water
Heat the wok until smoke rises, add the oil. Stir in the leeks, white part. Pour in the remaining beaten egg. Tip in all the rice, turn and toss.
When thoroughly heated, add the ham, stir, add the peas, stir, then the prawns. Still stirring, add the soy sauce and stock. Remove to a serving platter, put in half of the egg strips and the green spring onions. Arrange the remaining egg strips on top for garnish.
Sauteed Vegetables
broccoli florets
sweet peas
carrots
red pepper
green pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 inch ginger, finely chopped
2 T. cooking oil
4 T. Mama Sita's Soy Stir
1/2 C. water
Heat the wok, add the oil. Saute garlic and ginger then tip in the broccoli and carrots. Add the Mama Sita soy stir sauce and water. When vegetables are crisp tender, add the rest of the ingredients and continue tossing for about a minute or two.
I researched for a nice beverage for the lunch. I did not want to serve soda or juice so I came up with something from the internet.
Sparkling Iced Jasmine Tea
1 C. Brown sugar
3/4 C. water
6 Jasmine tea bags
3 1/4 C. boiling water
1 1/4 C. Pellegrino Sparkling water
lemon slices
sprig of mint leaves
Boil sugar in 3/4 cup water. Set aside. Steep the tea bags in boiling water for 5 minutes. Cool, then add sparkling water, lemon slices and sprig of mint leaves before serving.
When my guests took their first sip, they immediately asked me what it was. I told them I made the iced tea from scratch. They said it was refreshing.
Our dessert was Mango Sago with Pomelo shreds. http://liasfoodjourney.blogspot.com/2011/05/top-10-lists-i-just-had-to-try-some-of.html
I forgot to take a picture of my give aways!!! I baked a batch of Gilly's brownies using the mini muffin pan.
I am very happy to have inherited my Mom's friends, Tita Butchie and Tita Mita. Then... our monthly lunch group became a bit bigger with the addition of Tita Josie, the friend of Tita Mita ... and now Tita Tess joins us every once in a while.
They all have one thing in common .... all of them have been students of Tita Portia.... well ... two things in common ... all of them are my senior friends!
Another very Happy Birthday Everyday Lia!!!
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