Egg Florentine Version 1.0

A chicken is hatched even from such a well-sealed thing as an egg.
~ Chinese Proverb

LOL! Believe it or not, but I have never seen Egg Florentine in real life before, let alone eat it or make it. But the name sounds fancy and I have seen some nice pictures of it. So, I gave it a try … trying to follow the recipe closely. This is how mine turns out!!

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Is this right? Honestly, tell me. It sure did not closely resemble some of the images I googled.

It looks terrible but does taste quite OK — trust me, the boys told me so. If you let me know where I went wrong, I’ll try again and post my Eggs Florentine version 2.0.

Ingredients

  • 9 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed
  • 4 eggs, soft-boiled
  • 1 oz. butter
  • 1 oz. plain flour (3 tablespoons)
  • 1 1/4 cups milk or cream
  • 6 oz. cheddar cheese, grated (1 cup)
  • Salt and pepper

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Sweet Soy Pudding (Tou Foo Fa)

Tou Foo Fa or Douhua (in Mandarin), is a soft and tofu dessert. Tou Foo Fa is made by coagulating soy milk into curds. Tou Foo Fa is usually served warm in sweet syrup but many people also like it chilled.

When I grew up in Malaysia, it was a very common hawker food where the vendors walk from house to house screaming “Tou — Fooo — Faaa — Tou — Jeong — Sui”. We look forward to this which they usual come around in the afternoon. These days no one sells it this way anymore. It was quite common that this pudding is made in a big wooden barrel.

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In Canada, you may find Tou Foo Fa only in specialty tofu stores. However, the more common soy milk can be found in many groceries stores like Safeway, the Superstore, and Save-On-Food. I learned how to make Tou Foo Fa from soymilk from a friend in a home bible study group and have since made Tou Foo Fa for the family. Arkensen is a great fan of Tou Foo Fa. He enjoys it cold.

The biggest challenge in making Tou Foo Fa is that almost all steps must be followed correctly or else it would turn out too watery. Tou Foo Fa is supposed to be soft and smooth like puddings.

Ingredients
  • 1 litre of sweetened soy milk
  • 1.5 teaspoons of gypsum powder (熟石膏粉)
  • 1.5 teaspoons of cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon of hot water

The above ingredients is sufficient to make servings for four.

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Beef Stroganoff

Nothing improves the taste of pasta more than a good appetite.
~ Italian Proverb

Ben went with me for grocery shopping two weeks ago and saw Stroganoff sauce in a bottle on the shelves. He asked that I try this out. The instruction on the bottle seems simple and does look like something that the boys would like.

Beef Stroganoff, in its simplest form, is simply tender beef with a mushroom and sour cream sauce served over noodles, or even rice. The current accepted history of this dish dates back to the 1890s when a chef working for Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov, a famous Russian general, invented the recipe for a cooking competition in St. Petersburg.

I used egg white pasta to go with the Beef Stroganoff.

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Ingredients
  • 1 bottle (400ml) of Stroganoff cooking sauce
  • 1 package (340g) of egg white pasta
  • 1 lb sirloin steak
  • 1 can of mushroom pieces
  • cilantro for garnishing

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For those who loves beef stroganoff, you will like this Hamburger Stroganoff from scratch too.

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Steam Jah Jan Ramen

I have money, you have money; so we are friends.
~ Chinese Proverb

Panos came over to play with Arkensen and Nanzaro the other day. Panos is Norm’s best friend. Since Panos wanted to stay over for dinner and I thought I make instant noodles for the boys.

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Unlike most other single serving packets of instant noodles, the Steam Jah Jan Ramen comes in a pack for servings of four. This is just the right size for a quick lunch for our whole family. Opening it up, it’s just like any other noodles with a twin packets of seasonings. The first packet was the oil and other other is the “jah jan”. Jah Jan is basically made of fried pork fats, lean pork and soy bean paste.

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We found the instructions on the wrapping funny. It’s common to see broken English used in Made in China products. The instructions reads “After 4 minutes scooped spice of oil to stir. Then you can enjoy the delicious ramen”.

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Beef Rendang

All is not butter that comes from the cow.
~ Italian Proverb

Rendang is a dish from Malaysia which in some ways resembles a purely meat curry. In Malaysia, it is prepared by the Malay community during festive occasions.

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Rendang is often served with a ketupat (a compressed rice cake) and lemang (glutinous rice barbecued in bamboo tubes). However, it goes equally as great with steamed rice, or even bread. It is not very spicy hot but is very heavily flavoured in spices.

Rendang is normally made from beef (or occasionally chicken or mutton) slowly cooked in coconut milk and spices for several hours until almost all the liquid is gone, leaving the meat coated in the spicy condiments. The spices may include ginger, galangal, turmeric, lemon grass and chillies. The slow cooking process allows the meat to absorb all the spices and to become tender. That sounds daunting, right?

Things are much more easier these days because we can just buy all the ingredients mixed in a box.

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We bought the Claypot brand Beef Rendang Mix (see box above). To prepare this dish, we only need 750g (1.5 lb) of cubed beef. The stuff you see in the two bowls and measuring cup are prepared out from the box. (more…)

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Bak Kut Teh Instant Noodles

Not the place where I was born but where I hang my hat is home.
~ African Proverb

We found Bah Kut Teh instant noodles in the shops not too long ago. Although BKT is a common dish in Malaysia served with steamed rice but we have never come across a BKT flavoured instant noodles.

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The instant noodles BKT costs 69 cents — not cheap as far as instant noodles goes. Unless you read Chinese, you will simply miss this on the store shelves. I mean, BKT should show a simmering pot on pork, shouldn’t it?

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Laksa

There is no love sincerer than the love of food
~ Geoffrey Neighor

Rachel gave us a box of Laksa paste and premixes which they brought for us all the way from Singapore. This was what is rightfully called Laksa Lemak because there are many varieties of Laksa. This version of Laksa is of Peranakan origin, that is, born of the intermarriage of Chinese and Malay cultures.

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Laksa lemak, also known as nonya laksa, is a type of laksa served in a rich coconut gravy. The presence of the coconut cream (the pressed “milk” of the grated flesh of a fresh coconut) which adds a distinctive richness to the dish. Laksa is traditionally garnished with laksa leaf, also known as Vietnamese coriander or Vietnamese mint.

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Here are the ingredients we use to prepare the Laksa for lunch.

Ingredient (3).0The Laksa box contained four pouches:(1) the Laksa Premix,
(2) the Laksa Paste,
(3) Sambal Chili and
(4) Dried Laksa Leaves.
Ingredient (2).0For noodles, we use the shanghai thin noodles.
Ingredient (1).0We also had some fried beancurd (tofu-pok).
Ingredient (4).0For meat, we use fishballs and prawns. Cilantro is used to garnish the dish.

The Laksa can be used to make two-three servings. (more…)

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