Sichuan sugar and spice infused soy sauce ????

Fu zh� jiang you ???? loosely translated as replicated soy sauce. Another common name you may come across is red soy sauce ??? for tian sui mian ???. This is an aromatic sugar and spice infused/reduced soy sauce for many Sichuanese dishes especially for snack xiaochi ?? and salad ?? including noodles.



1 cup light soy ??
2 tbsp dark soy ??
1 piece rock sugar/ plain sugar (about 2 tbsp) ??/ ??
4

More about → Sichuan sugar and spice infused soy sauce ????

Toyomansi and Bistek

Toyomansi is my latest favourite sauce. It's a Filipino soy sauce with calamansi lime juice, a sourish soy with a citrus fragrance. I like it but having had fresh calamansi before, I have a suspicion some flavouring other than real calamansi is added but on the label flavouring is not listed. Toyomansi is available from most oriental supermarkets, quite cheap under �2 for a large bottle of 750ml.

More about → Toyomansi and Bistek

Crystal zhongzi ????

????
?? shui jing = water crystal
?? zhongzi = leaf wrapped dumpling

Here is another unusual zhongzi. The recipe is based on Thai tapioca dumplings, Sawku Sai Muu. The pastry dough is made with tapioca pearls. They are called crystal zhongzi because the pastry is translucent. The pastry is very soft, bouncy, rubbery and chewy. I really like the texture. The filling is delicious and spicy

More about → Crystal zhongzi ????

Hakka mochi zhongzi ????

Ker ja bun zong ????

Zhongzi can be written as ?? or ??

Today is Duan Wu Festival ??? or Dragon Boat Festival. The origin and story behind this festival see Wiki. Zhongzi or leaf wrapped dumplings are a must to be eaten during this festival.

There are few ways to wrap zhongzi. Most people use bamboo leaves, available dried in most countries and fresh is available in some S E Asian countries.

More about → Hakka mochi zhongzi ????

Back to basics - crispy fried garlic ???

? (zha) = deep fried
? (suan) = garlic
? (mee) = normally this word is rice, but in this context it means tiny pieces.

Crispy fried garlic like crispy fried shallot is very common in S E Asia. Chopped garlic is deep fried till golden it is not bitter but has slightly sweet, caramelised and strong garlicy flavour and deliciously crunchy.

Only two ingredients are needed, plenty of garlic and

More about → Back to basics - crispy fried garlic ???

Pearl barley, water chestnut and fu chook (beancurd stick) dessert soup ????????

Pearl barley = ?? yee mee (Mandarin) or yee mai (Cantonese)
Water chestnut = ?? ma tee (Mandarin) or ma tai (Cantonese)
Beancurd stick = ?? fu chook (Mandarin or Cantonese)
Sugar water (or more appropriately as sweet dessert soup) = ?? tang sui (Mandarin) or tong sui (Cantonese)

Sweet soup or tong sui is Cantonese speciality eaten as dessert. Tong sui is as common as savoury soup for

More about → Pearl barley, water chestnut and fu chook (beancurd stick) dessert soup ????????

Lap cheong rice ???

This simple rice is something I can indulge quite often since I know how to make my own lap cheong. DIY lap cheong is so much cheaper and I know there are no hidden ingredients or preservatives. The is a simple meal, steamed lap cheong with rice and some steamed/blanched green vegetable. To add more flavour I added a dollop of ginger spring onion sauce.

Cook rice using a rice cooker or on the

More about → Lap cheong rice ???