OMG! It's been ages since I have been here. Could not even remember how to log on and use this space ;p

Anyways, lots of things have been happening and the one that suits this sphere the most, gardening and cooking! And maybe some tips of doggy care for anyone who cares to read this. Most of all, I am using this space just as a sounding board for my thoughts.

Cooked some Joo Hoo Char today for dinner and the days to come. I read online that the dish matures and starts to taste better with constant reheating and re-storing. As I am the 'mother of left over food that has been left in the fridge for eons', it's right up my alley : )

The recipe is basically very simple but I think I added too much water and sugar.

The recipe below is courtesy of http://www.justasdelish.com/ and http://nyonyafood.rasamalaysia.com. I mashed them both together but they are very similar.

Ingredients

• 5 cloves Garlic – minced
• 3 Shallots – sliced
• 50gm Pork – sliced (I omit for my dish)
• 200gm Jicama / Sengkuang – shred finely
• 1 Carrot – shredded finely
• 3 leaves of Cabbage – shred finely
• 8gm Dried Cuttlefish – shred finely and soaked for 5 minutes
• 5 small Dried Shittake Mushrooms – soaked in hot water for 10 minutes and thinly sliced
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. In a wok, heat oil. Saute garlic and shallot until lightly brown and fragrant.
2. Add pork, cuttlefish, and mushrooms. Cook until they soften.
3. Add jicama, carrot and cabbage and fry until cooked. Add 100ml water and switch fire to low, cover wok to slow cook for about 20 minutes until water has been almost absorbed and jicama is soft. (the longer you braise it, the more flavourful the dish will be).
4. Season with salt to taste.
5. Serve wrapped in fresh lettuce leaves with a side of sambal for a bit of zing.

http://nyonyafood.rasamalaysia.com 

Jiu Hu Char (Fried Jicama/Yambean with Shredded Cuttlefish)

Ingredients:

3 tbsp cooking oil
200g pork belly
3 cloves garlic (chopped)
60g shredded dried cuttlefish (rinsed)
400g jicama/yambean
80g carrot
150g cabbage
1 onion
3 dried shitake mushrooms (soaked in warm water)
1-1/2tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
A dash of pepper

Method:

1. Peel the skin of jicama/yambean and carrot. Slice and cut yambean, carrot, cabbage, mushrooms and onion finely into thin strips/threads.
2. Boil the pork belly until it’s cooked. Cut the meat into fine strips and set aside.
3. Heat up wok, pour in cooking oil and add in garlic. Stir-fry the garlic until aromatic, add in the dried cuttlefish and continue to stir.
4. Add in the vegetables and meat. Stir-fry until the vegetables are soft.
5. Add salt, sugar and pepper to taste.
6. Dish out and serve immediately with fresh lettuce leaves, tee cheo (sweet sauce) and chili sauce.

The end result? A tad too soggy and seems to be missing something. I hope it's not Ajinomoto. Maybe some belacan sambal would do the trick but that takes too much time to make. My last attempt had me standing beside the stove for hrs trying to save the sambal as I used too much belancan. My word of advice, not all belacan taste the same and same turns out to be saltier than the rest. So use only a little and add on if needed.