Simple Dinner on a Wednesday Night

It's hard to prepare dinner and do the house chores and look after a baby that crawls everywhere at the same time and it can be very tiring. So, the dishes that I usually make are pretty simple, takes very little preparation time and even less cooking time.
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And again, if someone like me that's so new in this 'kitchen stuff' can do it, I don't think it would be too hard for anyone else.
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Fried Pork with Sweet & Sour Sauce
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Ingredients
pork fillet cut into cubes
4 tsp cornflour
1 medium egg white
salt
black pepper
Chinese 5-spice powder
cucumber for garnishing
oil
sweet & sour sauce
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Method
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Whisk the egg white and cornflour until it becomes a smooth blend. Add in a pinch of salt, black pepper and 5-spice powder. Mix well.
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Add in the pork and mix until the pork is well covered. Reserved.
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Heat the wok and add in the oil. When the oil is very hot, put in the pork cubes piece by piece and stir-fry for 3 - 4 minutes until it turns a golden beige. Add in the sweet & sour sauce and stir-fry for another 3 minutes on low fire.
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Remove from wok, garnish with sliced cucumber and it's ready to serve.
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Tom Yum Styled Steam Fish
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Ingredients
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1 medium sized white pomphret
12 ladies fingers / okra
3 tomatoes
2 tsp of Tom Yum paste
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Method
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Using a round shallow steel plate, marinate the fish thoroughly in it with the tom yum paste. Set aside and reserve.
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Cut the ladies fingers/okra into halves and the tomatoes into fours. Distribute them evenly around the fish.
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Put 300ml of water in the wok and put to boil. Place the plate of fish on a stand inside the wok and cover. Turn the fire down to low and put to steam for 20 minutes.
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Ready to be served.

It's all about chicken

Since FattyHubby comes home later on Mondays, instead of cooking dishes, I decided to try a new recipe. I came across this in the Curries & Asian Food recipe book but improvised a little on the method of cooking and ingredients to make it taste more like something I would make.

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It's pretty easy. I started preparing (as in chopping the onions and garlic and boiling the rice as well) at 6pm and dinner was ready before 8pm.

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Sweet & Sour Rice with Chicken

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Ingredients
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp Chinese 5-spice powder
1 garlic clove chopped
1 onion chopped
4 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
3 boneless chicken thigh cut into cubes
1 carrot shredded
600ml water
steamed rice for 4pax
oil

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Method
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Mix together the sesame oil and Chinese 5-spice powder and marinate the chicken with it. Heat the wok, then add the oil and when hot, cook the garlic and onion.

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Add in the chicken and stir-fry over a medium fire until the chicken is cooked through. Remove from wok and keep warm.

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Stir the rice into the wok and add in the water, tomato ketchup, tomato puree, honey, vinegar and dark soya sauce. Stir well to mix. Bring to boil, then simmer until almost all the liquid is absorbed. Stir in the carrots and chicken and continue to cook for another 3 minutes or so.

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Done

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And then, I decided, why not make another dish, something that can be eaten as a snack (cold or hot) and it MIGHT go well with the rice, so here's my OWN recipe.

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Stir-fried Cucumber with Chicken Gizzard (can be served cold too)

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Ingredients

3 tbsp of chilli sauce

2 lime

1 tsp salt

1 medium sized cucumber

500gr chicken gizzard

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Method

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Peel the outer layer of the cucumber and cut it into half length-wise. Remove the seeds with a spoon and then cut into semi-circle slices. Reserve.

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Clean the chicken gizzard and cut each piece into halves. Marinate with salt. Reserve.

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Heat up the wok, then add the oil and when hot, add in the chicken gizzard. Stir-fry until the gizzard is cooked through.

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Add in the cucumber and stir for another 1-2 minutes, then add in the chilli sauce. Mix well and stir for another 3 minutes. Squeeze in lime.

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Done.