On the Menu Last Night!

Clockwise from left:- stir fried soy bean sprouts with mustard greens and shrimp, onion omlette and pan fried salmon with tumeric.

 This was what we had for dinner last night served with rice. Thought it was time to do another food blog. This is a typical meal for us, not very exciting but nonetheless delicious and easy to put together, in less than 20 minutes. Of course, I have a rice cooker, so, cooking rice is easy peasy, I measure the rice, wash it and put the pan in the cooker, press the cook button and hey presto, fluffy white rice in 20 minutes.

Stir fried soy bean sprouts, mustard greens and shrimp

Soy bean sprouts are like bean sprouts but with a bigger bean, bean sprouts are sprouted from mung beans. The mustard greens are what we call choy sum, or chai sim. I used the young shoots variety, which seems to be all the rage here, eating tender young shoots of various leafy veg. To complete this dish, you need a few prawns / shrimp and about 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped, salt and pepper to taste or you could substitute the salt with soy sauce.

The amount of veg needed will depend on how many you are feeding. I have used about 3 handfuls of each veg to feed the 4 of us, maybe slightly more, as the veg will wilt with cooking.

sizzling garlic

First heat about 1-2 tbs of cooking oil in a wok, or large fry pan. For stir frying, high heat is needed. Add garlic and fry till slightly brown and fragrant.A note about garlic here,  be careful not to burn the garlic as it will be bitter. If your pan is too hot, this is more likely to happen. Garlic does not caramelise, it just gets very bitter, so if you happen to burn it, start again, of the whole dish will be ruined.

shrimp turning pink

Next, add the prawns/shrimp and fry stir in pan till they turn pink.Add the soy bean sprouts next and stir fry for about 1 minute, then add the mustard greens that have been cut into 4cm lengths. Stir fry again for about 2-4 minutes, depending on how crunchy you want you the vegetables, I usually fry for less time, because I like them crunchy. They should remain a bright green colour. There should be enough water in the leaves so that the dish is not dry. However, if it looks to be dry, you could add some water to the wok, about 2tbs. It will make a dramatic sizzling sound!

soy bean sprouts

choy sum

all mixed up 

Finally, season to taste, with salt/ soy sauce and some freshly ground pepper. Voila, it's done.

Soy bean sprouts and choy sum with shrimp

I tend to cook several dishes all at once, so while I heated up the wok, I also heated up 2 other pans; one, to fry the salmon in and the other the omlette.
The tail fillet of about 8 oz was seasoned with tumeric and salt, once the pan was hot enough, I added about 1tbs olive oil and added the fish. I test the heat of the pan by hovering my hand over the pan, and if it feels hot, it's ready! I tend to fry fish on medium heat.

Fish should sizzle when you add to pan

Frying the second side of fillet

Depending on how thick the fillet is,I tend to cook the first side for about 3-4 minute, or until it is golden brown. If the skin is still on the fillet, fry skin side down first, and you'll need less oil, as the skin will release the oil as it cooks.  Flip the fish over carefully once the first side is done and fry the second side, usually this takes less time.  Chefs say salmon should still be slightly pink for perfection, but this is personal taste, I like it slightly pink, but some like it pinker, or some well done, the cooking times given are for the fillet to be slightly pink in the middle. Adjust according to personal taste.

Whilst the fish is frying, an onion is chopped, 3 eggs beaten with about 2tbs water. Season eggs with salt and pepper. I used a spice and salt mill. Add about 2tbp olive oil to heated pan, add the sliced onions.

fry till soft and slightly caramelised

add beaten eggs

Cook eggs till nearly set, check seasoning

Flip omlette over, and cook until done

So, all 3 dishes are ready to be plated and garnished. All that is left is to get everyone to the table and eat with some perfectly cooked rice from my rice cooker.
All done in 20 minutes, which is just the right timing for the rice. Bon Appetit !