Cooking in HK

Lunch: (from top left)Snap-boiled prawns, Garlic snowpea sprouts, Pan-fried sweet soy fish, Oyster mushrooms and Choy-sum

As much as i dislike the pollution and the mass amount of people in HK, i do love the street grocery stores and the shopping! After eating out way too much (yum cha every meal of course) for several days, I was keen to have some home-cooked food. So, Mum took me on an adventure (for me, it's just everyday shopping for my grandma) to the hectic local street markets (ghai-see) and we got my favourite vegetable (dhow-miu, snowpea sprouts), oyster mushrooms, fresh squirming prawns, a small fish and made some lunch!

Minimal prep space in HK kitchens - the only solution is to keep things quick and basic!

Garlic Snowpea Sprouts

I must have eaten this almost every day for the last 3-4 days i was there - so delicious!

Ingredients:

1/2 pound Snowpea Sprouts

2-3 cloves garlic

salt

sugar

oil

Method:

1. Finely chop the garlic.

2. You need to pick off the long stem parts of the snowpea sprouts as they are too chewy. This was already done - sweet! Rinse the leaves through water and drain.

3. Heat the pan with 1 T oil (a bit more than usual).

4. Add the garlic and 1 tsp salt and cook for 10 sec.

5. Add the snowpea sprouts, stir through, then sprinkle 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and continue stirring until the sprouts soften. Taste and season with salt/sugar if needed.

Pan-fried Fish with Sweet Soy

Fond memories from childhood when Grandma used to make this :) Now mum has shown me how to make it! It's actually super easy but always seems better at Grandma's in HK.

Live fish: kind of creepy but fascinating at the same time

Ingredients:

1 fillet of fish, cleaned and skin descaled (apparently possible with the back of a spoon!)

3-4 slices of ginger

oil

Sauce:

3 tsp sugar

2 T soy sauce

2 T hot water

Method:

1. Heat the pan to a high heat, and line the pan with oil.

2. Add the ginger and cook for 10-15 sec.

3. Add the fish and sear on both sides for 1-2 minutes.

4. Pre-mix the sauce, then add to the saucepan and cook for 3-4 minutes.