The Parents' Cookout

Last Saturday I had my first ever test as a 'proper wife' - cooking for both my parents and in-laws!

As interesting as it might sound, I was actually very stressed out as I wasn't too sure what should I cook for them! MIL did ask if I'm cooking my mother's dishes, I said no. Reason? I wanted to try out something on my own, and wouldn't want to be compared in any other way :)

So what exactly was the menu?

Watercress and red dates soup
Stir-fried mixed vegetables with clams
Steamed tofu with fried onions and dried prawns
Soft pork cubes with Soy Sauce and Potatoes

Hubby was my trolley bag in the morning as I did my marketing in the TTDI wet market. I started my preparations around 4pm and finished just on time at 7pm.

Here are pictures of my dishes :

Stir-fried mixed vegetables with clams

This is a straight forward recipe. I used broccoli, cauliflower, Chinese dried mushrooms, baby corn and carrots. For additional texture and taste, I included pacific clams as well. Firstly, blanch the broccoli and cauliflower in hot water, then dipped into a bowl of iced water to retain the 'colour' of the vegetable. I started the stir-fry with garlic, followed with carrot and mushroom. Next, add the broccoli, baby corn and cauliflower. Add water if necessary. Lastly, add in the clams and salt. Stir-fry for another 2 minutes. Serve hot.

Steamed tofu with fried onions and dried prawns

Firstly, grab some shallots and chop them finely. Soak a handful of dried prawns for 15 minutes. Drain and mince finely. Next, remove the tofu from the container. We bought the silken white tofu in a rectangular box. Steamed the tofu for about two minutes. While the tofu is steaming, lightly fry the dried prawns and chopped shallots in a pan on low fire till brown and fragrant. Remove shallots and dried prawns and dry them further with a paper towel. Remove tofu from steamer. Drizzle a mixture of oyster cause (2 tablespoons) and vegetable oil (1 teaspoon) onto the tofu. Sprinkle the dried prawn and shallots on top of the tofu. Garnish with spring onion.

Soft pork cubes with Soy Sauce and Potatoes

For this dish, I look to Delicious Asian Food website for inspiration. You can find the recipe here. Sorry how the colour turned out to be like, it wasn't like that in real life! Made a mental note to add some carrots and sauteed yellow onion in future!

Hubby bought roast duck from Damansara Uptown to complete the dinner presentation. He also helped to boil rice.

Behold the food presentation :


Good news is I got two thumbs up for my cooking! Perhaps now I can concentrate on slightly complicated dishes in future :)

Hubby made it up by cooking a sinfully yummy American Breakfast set, as well as fried meehoon for dinner on Sunday. Thanks dear!