CNY facai veg

I had to make this dish for Chinese New Year because my mother in law gave me these huge dried shitake mushrooms which her son loves and also the facai (black moss) which was my special request.

To make this dish, I first braised the mushrooms which you can do for quite a few and reserve the leftovers for vegetable dishes later. If prepared carefully, these should be able to keep for a few days in the fridge.

Ingredients:
(List A)
- 15 dried mushrooms, rehydrated.
- 2 tablespoons of light soya
- half a tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soya sauce
- 2 tablespoons chinese wine
- salt and sugar to taste

(List B)
- 1 carrot
- Facai, 50g soaked
- straw mushrooms 80g, blanched
- baby chinese cabbage or bok choy, blanched

Combine ingredients in list A and simmer under low heat in the mushroom water (water from the soaked mushrooms), until mushrooms are tender and fragrant, just before serving, put in the facai. Arrange ingredients in list B on a plate and dish the brasied mushrooms with facai over it.

Braised mushroom is very versatile and can be served with blanched vegetables for a fancy vegetable dish.

How to make epic eggs

I call these eggs epic because they taste great just on their own, and they are so easy to do. For the longest time, I've been wondering how to make eggs that are just right, with the yolk not runny and yet yet not hard with an unsightly grey tinge.

While talking to one of the scientist in the hostel today, I learnt by reperformance how to make it. Here's what you do.

1) Take an egg out of the fridge. There's no need to wait till it reaches room temperature. Just straight out, it's that simple.

2) Put it in room temperature water. It does not matter if you're experiencing summer or winter as this would just mean you have to wait for a shorter or longer time respectively for the water to boil. (Note do not put egg in hot/boiling water as this would cause the egg shell to crack)

3) Bring the water with the egg in it to boil on medium heat.

4) When the water has come to a full boil (bubbling vigorously, but not so vigorously that it splashes out of the pot) time exactly 5 minutes. Use a timer to help you. Then remove from heat and cool. Eat immediately or put in the fridge for another day's use.

5) Enjoy.

Note that eggs that are cook this way might be slightly harder to peel than hard boil eggs as the whites tend to be softer, but they should be firm and coagulated.