Broccoli and assorted mushroom with egg sauce (滑蛋双菇西兰花）

I saw this on 3-Plus-1, can't find crab meat at home, so just make do with egg sauce. We enjoyed it nonetheless.

Broccoli and assorted mushroom with egg sauce (滑蛋双菇西兰花）

Ingredient

broccoli

enoki mushroom

shitake mushroom (fresh)

1 egg

1 tbsp potato starch (生粉）add water to get an emulsion

1 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce

2 tsp vegetable and fruit seasoning 

Method

1. Boil broccoli and mushroom (separately, with just enough water to cover the broccoli) till cooked and lay on a plate. (covered till ready to serve)

2. Boil the water from (1) and add seasoning and oyster sauce.

3. Add the potato starch-water slowly, stirring while adding. Stop when you obtain the correct consistency. (You have to decide for yourself when is this, it should look like those you see at zi-char stall)

4. Add in the egg stir in a circle for 2 to 3 times and remove from flame.

5. Pour into the plate of broccoli and mushroom.

Two-dish dinner for 3. Enjoy!

steam pork ribs with black bean (黑豆鼓蒸排骨）

I followed the AVA recipe for cooking frozen meat to cook this dish, but I used fresh ribs from the market.

Ingredient
pork ribs (the type with soft bone) - about 300 g enough
Chinese style black bean (can be bought from the market for just $0.30, don't bother to buy the whole jar typed. It will last you till your next generation or into the bin!)
1 red chilli (finely chopped)
1 chilli padi (finely chopped)
3-4 garlic (finely chopped)
1 inch length of leek (finely chopped) - I found this to be the secret to the fragrance for steam dish, as there is no oil used to fry the garlic to provide the fragrance

Seasoning
1 tbsp potato starch (生粉）
1 tbsp fine sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
white pepper
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp veg oil

Method
1. Wash pork ribs and pat dry with kitchen towel.
2. Wash black bean with water to rinse off the salt.(very important, otherwise you will end up with salted ribs instead)
3. Add black beans, chilli, garlic, leek and all the seasoning except the sesame oil, potato starch and veg oil. Mix thoroughly. Finally, add the sesame oil followed by the potato starch.
4. Allow to marinate. (You can go to sleep, go exercise, etc. I went for teens fellowship and gave instruction for daughter to put it into the steamer at a specific time so dinner can be ready when I am home.)

5. Add the veg oil and mix well before putting in the steamer.
6. Steam for at least 30 minutes. (Longer will mean softer bones)

7. Enjoy!

Sweet potato and white fungus soup

Cook while you sleep! This must be the advertiser's slogan for a thermo pot!
The time is 11 pm.

And I have decided to cook sweet potato and white fungus soup for breakfast.
No worries, it can be done within 30 minutes.
Sweet potato and white fungus soup
Ingredient
2 to 3 Japanese sweet potato
white fungus (about a bowl, but then again, if you like you can always add more)
a small piece of ginger
rock sugar (to taste)
panda leaves (optional) - I was too lazy to get out of the house to cut at this wee hour!

Method
1.     Cut the sweet potato into smaller pieces or cubes. Put direct into the thermo inner pot.
2.     Pour boiling water into the pot to cover the sweet potato and about half more of  the amount of water added in.
3.     Add in the white fungus, ginger and rock sugar.

4.     Boil the pot for about 15 minutes.

5.     Put the inner pot into the thermo pot.

6.     Go to sleep.

Wake up to steaming hot and nice soup!

Steam White fungus and pear drink

According to the Chinese Sinseh, this is very good for the lung and for cough. Was asked by the Chinese Sinseh to boil everyday for my daughter who is coughing and have a lot of phlegm. According to record, white fungus contains a large amount of collagen and is very good for woman. (白木耳富有天然植物性胶质，加上它的滋阴作用，长期服用是良好的润肤佳品。) It is sometimes called the poor man's bird's nest.
Apparently the white fungus must be cooked till it becomes sticky to be effective, from my experience, it will not become sticky even after 30 minutes of steaming. So I come up with a lazy method of getting the sticky stuff out.
First, soak the white fungus (about 30 minutes, you can just leave it there anyway.), then boil some water, enough to more or less cover the fungus. Place the white fungus in the inner pot of a thermo pot and pour in the boiled water. Heat the pot till the water just boil. Place the inner pot into the thermo pot and leave it overnight. The next morning, you will find the white fungus becomes very sticky. Keep in a container and store in the fridge.
Now you are ready to cook the white fungus and pear drink.


White fungus and pear drink

Ingredients 

white fungus (enough to fill half a medium sized corning ware pot)

a pear (ya li 鸭梨　or gong li　贡梨)

rock sugar (to taste)
Method 

1. Place the white fungus in the corning ware pot. (or your own utensil for steaming)
2. Add boiling water to cover the white fungus. If you like to drink more water, then you can add more water. 

3. Add the rock sugar.

4. Place in the steamer, steam for 30 minutes.
5. Cut the pear into cubes (This will increase the surface area and hence increase rate of reaction!)

6. Put the pear into the pot after the 30 minutes, steam for another 20 minutes.

Lazy mum must have number 2 - Thermo pot

I bought my first Thermo pot some nine years ago and have not looked back. My first thermo pot is still serving me faithfully, almost every day!

This is supposedly the mother of all thermo pot. Before all the taiwan brands come out, this is it - Thermos shuttle chef - from Japan.

This is how it works: There is an inner pot where cooking is done, cook the food in the inner pot for a period of time (depending on the type of food, the time can range from 5-8 minutes for rice to 30 minutes for peanut soup), then place the inner pot  back to the thermo pot and the food will be cooked by its own heat inside the double insulated container while you do your chore, run your errand, go to work or SLEEP!　A really amazing invention. How can I survive without it!

Lazy mum must have number 1 - Steamer

Can't remember what prompted me to buy a steamer some years ago.
It was to me the trademark of the pasar malam sweet corn seller, but now it is the indispensable item in my kitchen.

I have yet to try steaming vegetable successfully, but most simple (yet delicious!) chicken and fish dishes can be done inside within half an hour while you go round the house doing chore or out of the house running errand.

There are many brands in the market, but from my survey, they all serve the same purpose - STEAM!

Deng xiaoping said "黑猫白猫，只要能抓老鼠的就是好猫。“ The Lazy Mum says: "Tecno (cheapo!) or Tefal  (the rich cousin), 只要能steam, 就是好steamer."

There is no guarantee that a 'branded' one can steam better. They all do one thing - provide heat to convert liquid water to steam so the steam can cook the food. (This is the science teacher's interpretation of how the steamer work. Expect more of this to come because the Lazy Mum is also a science teacher.)

Lazy mum's recipe for keep seek

My daughter has been asking me to record down my list of "idiot-proof" dishes so she can be a lazy cook next time. Instead of writing (which I have kind of lost patient to do any more :( sad!), I have decided to start a blog. A bit apprehensive though - if I can keep this going. But at least I try.

Will slowly add on to the Lazy mum must have and the recipes, so be patient!