Stir Fry Meat with Black Fungus （木耳）

Black fungus which is called wood ear fungus. It resemble "ear" grown on trunks of trees. In fact in Chinese, it is has a pretty straight forward translation: 木 (wood) 耳(ear). These black fungus are widely cultivate in Asia especially in China. It is believed that the black fungus has lots of health properties especially in promoting youth & longevity.  However, I love the texture of the fungus. It is so crunchy. Black fungus is an important ingredient in Chinese vegetarian diet.

Today I have bought some fresh live black fungus. Therefore, I do not need to soak it before cooking. I can use it straight away. Normally black fungus in the Asia grocery shop are dried. You will need to re-hydrate it with water for at least 30 mins - 1 hours before you can use it. Cut the black fungus into bite size. Here is the simple & tasty recipes:

Ingrediants:
300g of poultry (chicken or pork)
50g of black fungus (soaked & cut)
1tsp of oyster sauce
1tsp of Chinese cooking wine
1tsp of soya sauces
3tbsp of water
Few slices of gingers
1 tbsp of cooking oil
pinch of salt
some spring onion

1) Heat oil with gingers slices, then in the poultry, stir fried for  2 mins, then in the black fungus.
2) Add in the premix - oyster sauce, wine, soya sauces , water & cook the black fungus through. If the water dry up too fast, you can add additional tablespoon of water.
3) Add in pinch of salt if needed. Lastly before you off the stove fire, add in the spring onion.

Serve hot with rice. Enjoy~

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Healthy Crackers

It has been quite a while, today I am going to share with all of you the healthy crackers that I had made for Christmas (which is suitable for dipping) or Chinese New Year ( eat as it is). It is very healthy because it use very little oil & no sugar at all. These are one type of savory crackers.You do not need to spend too much money buying these crackers. It is easy to make.

Ingrediants:
2 cup of all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp fine salt
1/4 tsp of ground pepper (optional)
1/2 cup of water
3 tbsp olive oil

** I had added 1tsp of korea chili flake to give these crackers some kicks. It is a little crazy but you can play around with different herbs. You can add some parley flakes, replace the garlic powder with onion powder.  You can even add the sesame to make the oriental style crackers.

Method:
1. Heat oven to 200'C
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together. Then stir in the water + olive oil. If you find that the dough is too dry to mix, add in another one or two tablespoon of water. You need to feel the dough because different flour has slightly different absorption.  You can do the mixing by hand or kneading machine that knead bread dough.
3. Divide the dough into 4-5 pcs, let it rest for at least 30 mins.
4. The next objective is to roll the dough as thin as possible. I had tried a few method but this is the most effective one.Use the pasta machine to roll it into flat strip of dough. Use setting no.4. You can also do it the usual way by using the regular rolling pin but it take more time & effort. Then, cut it into whatever shape you like.
5. Lay it on the baking tray & bake it for 10-15 mins or until it become golden. Remember to keep it in air tight container to ensure the crackers crispiness.

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