NONYA ACAR HU OR PICKLED FISH

Acar Hu

Nonya dishes are known for the tedious preparation

of cutting, pounding & slow frying.

It is indeed time consuming

but the end result is satisfying in both, presentation and taste!

I love Nonya dishes.

This is the one that I tasted once, and asked for more.

It is not easy to come by so I decided to learn to cook it,

and now happily sharing the recipe with you. 

Hope you like it as much as I do. 

Ingredients:

A) 500g ki-ya fish-cleaned,

                            marinate with 1 Tbsp tumeric powder

                                                  1 tsp salt & left for 60min

     3 cup oil

B) 4 Tbsp oil

    100g fresh tumeric-shredded

    50g ginger-shredded



C) 300ml vinegar

    100ml water

     6 Tbsp sugar

D) 10 pips garlic-finely sliced 

     3 red chillies-finely sliced

     3 green chillies-finely sliced

    

E) 2 Tbsp sesame seed-roasted

Method:

1) heat oil in A & deep fry fish until crispy, drain

2) leave 4 Tbsp oil in wok and saute shredded tumeric & ginger

3) when fragrant, remove & leave to cool

4) Cook ingredients in C in a saucepan until boiling, let cool

5) blanch garlic & chillies in D, in boiling water for 1/2min & drain

6) mix A, B, C, D & leave overnight

7) to serve, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds

Tips: prepare B & C one day ahead so that they are totally cooled

        before adding in fish & D (The dish will keep longer this way!)

FOOCHOW KOMPIANG

福州光饼

Some like it plain

Some like it stuffed

But all like it fresh from the oven, crispy and nice!

A century old shop in Fuzhou,

still selling Kompiang strung together

Kompiang 

originates from Fuzhou,

 the capital city

 of Fujian Province 

of the People's Republic of China. 

It is a biscuit

 popular among the Chinese Community

 of Foochow (Fuzhou) ancestry.

It was invented for the soldiers
 to eat in the battle fields. 

So it is also called

征東餅

With the hole in the centre,

 the biscuits are strung together
 and easily carried along! 

Some grandmothers said
 that these biscuits were hung around the neck,

 so that they can have access to food
 anytime anywhere without much fuss. 

No cooking is required 

so will not attract the attention
 of the enemies of their whereabouts.

Kompiang is simply a ball of flour, water & salt. 

It is flattened
 & slapped onto the sides of a traditional home-made Chinese oven. 

Kompiang 
may be plain
 or stuffed with fillings of meat, or fats and onions.
Both taste good when fresh from the oven.

If you like kompiang, you may like to try making some for yourself. After much trial and error I have come out with this recipe:

Fuzhou Kompiang

also kown as Foochow Kompyang or Gongpiang 

Biga

177g High Protein Flour

227g water

1/8 tsp yeast

Dough

All of the above Biga

361g High Protein Flour

2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

1/8 tsp alkali water
1 Tbsp double action baking powder

120g water-adjust consistency

Method:

1) mix Biga and let rest at room temperature 12-15 hours.

2) put all ingredients in bread machine-dough cycle 15min kneading

3) leave dough to rise 30min

4) preheat to 250'C, put a heavy baking tray inside the oven.

5) divide dough into 20 pieces of 45g each

6) flatten the balls of dough into disks, punch a hole in the centre
7) when you have made enough for a tray, quickly take out the hot tray from the oven & arrange the biscuits on it.

8) spritz with warm water on the biscuits before putting back the tray into the oven @ lowest rack!

9) after 5 min baking, turn off the bottom heat.

10) continue baking for another 10min until brown.

Notes:

1) You can eat them plain-they are crispy when still warm.

    You may toast it the next day to get back the crunch. 

2) If you like it with filling, just lie the biscuit down & slice it across,

    fill it with pieces of roast pork or stew pork.

3) You can even bake them with fillings as below:

Filling:   

Stir fry with some cooking oil: minced pork, chopped big onions, roasted sesame seeds, salt, sugar & pepper to taste. Some dark soya sauce to add to the colour.

To wrap:

@6) before flatten, wrap one tablespoon of filling into the dough   

 7) flatten the ball into a disk
 8) prick some holes on the surface with a fork.
 9) Mist the biscuits & sprinkle some sesame seeds on top to decorate

Stuffed with meat

ETHAN LIM

Ethan Lim

Kung kung mama love you

Everything around me is beautiful

The sun shines brightly, I feel wonderful

Have you seen my favourite striped singlet of blue and purple?

And I tell you a secret, "I am a BIG boy now"

N "I am not afraid because God is with me."

FUZHOU CITY

This is my second visit to this city of banyan trees.

It is the capital of Fujian province in China.

A scenic city surrounded by 3 mountains: Yu San, Gu san & Qingyun San

 

and a beautiful Minjiang River

Right within the city is a well protected ancient district, 

the "Three-lane Seven-alley" which gives an insight into the architecture

& culture of ancient Fuzhou.

Here we can also find the authentic Fuzhou snacks like:



                                  

                                    

 Meat Yan

      

                                              Fuzhou Fishball

                                       

Nearby is the century old restaurant, Juchunyuan, offers a wide

variety of Fujian and Fuzhou cuisine, especially the world famous

Fotiaoqiang.



More Fuzhou Delicacies:

Modern urban developments include large complexes which provide for

commerce, finance and shopping.

We climbed this mountain:





Taimu San



Fuzhou is indeed a city blessed with abundance of fresh seafood

Not forgetting the natural hot springs the city is built on!









A happy family

Do you see the silver lining clouds standing vividly in the blue Sky?

The Sun gladly shinning forth..

Birds in the air, flying freely and enjoying the soothing breeze

On this vast plain, the abundance is clearly portrayed

Fruit trees bearing fruits bountifully

Shrubs, plants and flowers are well scattered around

Not forgetting the lovely butterflies...

"We love outing...

Daddy, mummy, titi and I.

Titi wears his favourite blue t-shirt

We are a happy family."

DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE?

I know who I am
I am a child of God
He loves me very much
He is with me all the times
He is for me.

Do you know who you are?
You are God's creation, created in His own image
He loves you and He wants you to live life abundantly
He promise to be with you and will never leave you
He is always for you so no one can successfully stand against you.

Do you want to know your God?

The Little Ones

Expression Of Love

These are my 2 lovely grandchildren
Hayley and Ethan
As they are nurtured in love
They grow in appreciation of those around them
and loving each other

KNOWING HIM

Knowing Him, is to THANK HIM

Looking at "the sacrifice He has done for us,
giving up His one and only son, Jesus Christ,
bearing all our sins, suffered pain & rejection
and finally died a cruel death on the cross"

This is done so that we the sinners
can be reconciled back to Him.
His abundant love for us is immeasurable
His tender mercies have made us righteous before Him
How can we not be grateful and thank Him?

Knowing Him, is to ACCEPT HIM
His grace has made us righteous before Him again
It is finished, nothing more we can do or add but
to accept Him as our Lord and Saviour.

There will be rejoicing in heaven when we
believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God,
and we accept Him as our Lord & Saviour
who rose again on the 3rd day.
How can we not accept Him when
everything was done for us?

Knowing Him, is to FOLLOW HIM
When Jesus rose to Heaven
and seated at the right hand of God
He continue to interceed for us
The Holy Spirit dwells in us
to lead and guide us as we journey on earth
The Word of God will nourish our spiritual life
and remind us of the promises of God
He will never leave us nor forsake us
He will pick us up when we fall, ever so forgiving

We can put our whole trust in Him
God knows what we need before we even ask Him!
He call us His own and He cares for us
He wants to pour out His blessings on us
He gives us a hope and a future
Come follow Him, the God of Love

Knowing Him, is to MAKE HIM KNOWN
This is the Great Commision
We have tasted the goodness of God
Let us share with others who are yet to know Him
God's kingdom is without bound
He welcomes all who readily come to Him in simple faith
He loves all, including those who do not know Him
Help to bring them to the knowledge of God
Let us pray.

SWEET BUN

For it is written, "Man does not live by bread alone,

but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

God loves us so much that He has given us all good things to enjoy.
Yes, all good things come down to us from Heaven.



If you are looking for a very soft bun, 
you have found it.

Young or old, I am sure they like it

Soft and sweet aroma that none can resist

How about baking some to see if they insist for more?

Water-roux
25g bread flour  
125g water

Dough
40g butter
150ml water
1 egg
3/4 tsp salt
375g bread flour
100g plain flour
35g milk powder
75g sugar
2 &1/2 tsp yeast

Method
1) cook water-roux at low heat, stirring all the time, until you see bottom of the pot.
2) remove from heat and cover with plastic, leave to cool to room temperature
3) put all ingredients in dough & cooled water-roux into bread machine
4) bread dough cycle, and leave to rise for 60min
5) divide into portions of 40 or 50g, roll into balls
6) place balls close together in trays, either round or square or loaf pan
7) let rise 60min
8) bake in preheated oven of 190'C for 15-20min

Recipe adapted from Cornercafe.wordpress.com

WHO IS GOD?

God is the Creator of heaven and earth. He created man in His own image to enjoy His creation, and to have dominion over the fowls in the air, the fish in the sea and the animals on the earth. His love for mankind is genuine. Even when Adam & Eve (the first man and women created by Him) sinned against Him, He gave His one and only son to pay the penalty of sin to die a cruel death on the cross in order to reconcile us back to him! He readily remove our transgressions, and gladly take us back as His son when we believe in Him accepted Him as our Lord and Saviour. This is our God.

God is love. He love mankind before we even know Him. He is great and powerful and yet He come down from Heaven to live among us. His intention is none other than to redeem us, and teach us the way to live in this world. While on earth, He went through trials just as we do, but He still went about doing good, just as He tell us to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, and do good to those who hate us! Not easy, but He promise to be with us at all times! We may plan our ways, but it is God who guide our path if we trust Him and have faith in Him.

God is our Father in Heaven. When those who are sinful and evil can give good things to their children, how much more our Father in Heaven will give good things to us if we ask of Him. He looks down from heaven, and his watchful eyes are on us every day, ever ready to pour out his blessings on us. All good things come down to us from Him. He is a lover of our soul. As high as the heavens is above the earth, so great is His love for us. As far as east is to the west, He is both faithful and just to remove our transgressions. A thousand may fall on our side, and ten thousand on our right hand, none will come near us for He is with us. God, the one who is inside us is greater than those beside us, so what have us to fear? Our Almighty God is strong. He will protect us and pick us up if we should trip. Come to our father. He welcome you with open arms, he forgive all your sins and He will remember your sins no more if you will accept Him and call out to Him. He is ever so forgiving. He never give up on us though we may be on a detour, wondering everywhere. Quietly, He beckens us, and patiently awaits our return. He is such a good God.