Stir-fried Mexican King Topshell with Napa Cabbage

King Topshell is an abalone like shellfish with fractional of the cost. Since the major producer of canned king topshell situated in Mexico, thus the name Mexican King Topshell. This is my first time buying this product, frankly I actually mistook it for abalone, no wonder it was cheap. Taste wise, it is really delicious. I really like the texture of this shellfish. Normally you slice it thinly and stir-fry it or braise it.


How it looks like before slicing, straight from the canned. The shape does look like abalone right?



I was fooled by the big letter of "bao" or abalone in English. I didn't bother to read the English words and just grabbed one to try since it was fairly cheap compared to abalone ($7). But I bought this with no regret because this king topshell turned out to be really divine. And I discovered another delicacy to add into my menu. Normally I see this selling during Chinese New Year, not sure whether they have it on other time.

Crispy Pizzelle

I developed this crispy pizzelle by accident. I wanted to make kuih rose but the new batter that I tried didn't work for me. So, I had to improvise and use my pizzelle press in an attempt to save the batter. Hey, it works! It turned out very crispy, way better than the kuih kapit recipe I tried earlier. The kuih kapit recipe I tried earlier turned soft and I had to bake it in the oven again to make it crisp. But this batter is a keeper for me, it's crispy and stay that way. So, this is not the original pizzelle recipe (different flavor too), but a recipe I discovered by accident. A new recipe to try for people who own a pizzelle maker! Feedback would be appreciated. :-)

 

Asian Mustard Green (Gai Choy) Soup

The Asian mustard greens sold in the Asian market here came in a big bag. I still left with half bag of mustard greens from the "chai bui" I made earlier. So, what was I going to do with so much mustard greens? I never tried stir-fry it before so I was not sure about the taste. I did an online search but I couldn't find any recipe neither. So, I made this recipe up because I know it was good in soup. My recipe didn't fail me as this soup was so delicious even both my girls loved it, they loved the soft sweet carrots and the mustard greens. My hubby loved the peanuts and I simply loved everything. By the way, how do you normally cook the fresh Asian mustard greens? Is it good in stir-fry?

Gong Xi Fa Cai 2009

I want to wish all my readers a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous Lunar New Year!! May this Ox year brings us great happiness, better economy, full tummy and wealth.

Too lazy to make pineapple tart this year, so I only pick easy cookies to make. For easy access of my recipes, click the links below:

Cornflakes cookies
Crispy Pizzelle
Peanut cookies
Kuih bangkit
Almond flavored sugee cookies

Stir-fried Chicken with Dried Beancurd Sheet

This dish was created because I didn't have much time to soften the dried beancurd sticks. So, instead of beancurd sticks, I used the dried beancurd sheet. As you can see, it is doable as well. The stir-fry beancurd sheet actually gave a more chewy texture. Not bad at all, give it a try if you have limited time to cook up a dish.

I like the sauce I created with this dish so I had to pen it down quick before I forget. I whipped up new recipe all the times and if I didn't write it down I would forget. So, normally for a sauce that I liked, I will pen it down and post it on my blog for my future reference.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Awesomely delicious!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 pkg. (4 oz) Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup flour (all purpose, unbleached)
1/2 Tbp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Beat butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 1 min. Gradually add sugar, beating well after each addition, until very light and fluffy. Add cream cheese; beat 1 min. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract, beat to mix.

2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture. Beat 1 min or until well blended. Pour batter into greased and floured 8 1/2 x 3 1/2 loaf pan and bake for 40 minutes. Stick with toothpick to check for doneness.

Check out my Green Tea Pound Cake.