Steamed Tangy Lady's Fingers

When I was preggy with Darrius, I had the worst morning sickness that made me lose almost 10kg during the first 4 months. I can hardly eat anything as I will purge after 30 minutes. It was a terrible feeling!

I have to stay with my mom most of the time as PiggyBeng was unable to take care of me while he is way for work so we agreed that it is best for me to stay with my parents so my mom can see to my needs. It was the best decision as my mom pampered me with all the healthy and yummy food she prepared for me.

From that time I learned this very simple dish that she used to cook for me when she saw nice and fresh lady's fingers in the market. Some people referred it as okra but we  normally call it lady's fingers. What my mom will do is just put them in a dish and let them steam inside the rice cooker with a little soy sauce and I can swear it tasted so good!

As I am getting one little fussy eater soon, I decided to make some modifications. I know Darrius loves sourish food (he told me he loves Asam Laksa!) so instead of just soy sauce, I chopped some garlic and saute it with chopped chilli and add some lemon sauce to the soy sauce and it turned out great! Ended up, Darrius wanted to drink the sauce but spitted out the lady's fingers complaining that they have too many seeds! 8)

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Ingredients

• 200-300g Lady's fingers or Okra (cut away the head and tail)


• 1tbsp Chopped garlic


• 1tsp Chopped red chili


• Light soy sauce


• Lemon juice

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Methods

1. Steam the lady's fingers for 5-7 minutes or till soft.


2. In a wok, heat up a little oil and saute the garlic and chili.


3. In a small bowl, add light soy sauce with lemon juice (add some water if you want to have more sauce) and pour over the sauteed garlic and chili, stir for a while till it boils and gently pour onto the steamed lady's fingers.

Braised Chicken Wings with Sweet Potatoes

I have not been doing a lot of creative cooking of late as Darrius is eating the same food as we are so I only cook dishes that are suitable for him to consume... less spicy and fried stuff on the table. The other thing to consider when cooking with toddlers in mind is, to have lot of sauces if there is no soup accompanying that particular meal. Sauce will helps to soften the rice so it is easier on the kids to chew and swallow.

Here is another very easy to cook dish that suits the kids since sweet potatoes are full of vitamins and nutrients. What I like about this dish is, the sweetness from the sweet potatoes penetrate into the chicken as well as the sauce making it so appetizing! :)

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Ingredients

• 1 Sweet potato (medium to large size - chunk)


• 6 Chicken wings (cut the drumplets and wings into 2 parts)


• 3 cloves Garlic (minced)


• Snowpeas/Snap peas (a few pieces - optional)


• 2 tbsp Light soy sauce (or according to preferred taste)


• 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce (or according to preferred tone)


• 1.5 cups Water


• Dash of pepper


• Corn flour solution (to thicken sauce)

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Method

1. Heat up wok with a little oil and gently pan fried the sweet potato chunks. Lift them up.


2. Add some more oil and pan fried the chicken wings till they turned brownish. Lift them up.


3. In the same wok, saute the minced garlic till fragrant and toss in the chicken wings, stir, add dark soy sauce and light soy sauce, stir and add in water. Covered and turn on low fire for and simmer for10 minutes stirring occasionally.


4. Toss in the sweet potato chunks, stir and continue to simmer on low fire for another 10 minutes.


5. When you are about to turn off the fire, toss in the sweetpeas/snap peas, stir, add in corn flour solution and stir till well mix. Cover and switched off the fire.