Meal idea: Chinese dinner for two at home

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Since our friends have been asking whether I cook a lot at home, the answer is definitely ‘yes’. Unless my husband takes over the kitchen (for him, cooking is a relaxation session, while listening Chinese lesson), or we go out for dinner, I do try to make simple breakfast, lunch (if we both are at home), and a proper dinner. We joke that this is probably one of the most used kitchens in England. Ha…

We don’t like fast food, and we are not big fans of ordering deliveries from Takeaways. The thing is that sometimes you just want some simple ‘homey’ food, not necessarily fancy at all. So I like to ‘fix’ dinner -- if I am not too tired or lazy, and have enough time, I ‘fix’ a ‘rich’ dinner (taking a bit longer time), otherwise, I do ‘quick fix’, :))) as I mentioned at the very top of this blog -- it is like doing a quick sketch, I am not a very patient person when working on the very details on ta painting anyway. je je….

Is it too much work? and it
takes too long to prepare?… I don’t really know, I grew up with my grandma cooking everyday (back then, she was cooking for a big big family), my auntie and my parents cooked everyday, so for me, it is not. But I do agree after a day of work, you want something quick and healthy. Especially figuring out what to cook can give you headache. I remember my mum used to ask all the time -- well, taking care of big family is not easy.

So I will try to explain what I would normally prepare for a quick, healthy (at least according to Chinese tradition), Chinese meal --- just some ideas. :))

For example, this is an idea of Chinese dinner for two, especially for the summer, when you want something fresh and light --- three dishes for two with boiled rice.

How quick? --- I would think around 35 mins, but let’s see if we can save time, not overdue.

Three dishes:

Stir fry eggs with black fungus / Sweet and sour Chinese leaves / tofu and spinach salad
(Check the details of cooking each dish in the original posting linked above).

Why?

Black fungus, chinese leaves and tofu go along very well even in one dish. Tofu salad only takes no more than 5 minutes; finally, you will get rich Vitamin C and fiber from Chinese leaves, iron from black fungus and spinach, and protein from tofu, prawns and egg (and more, I don’t really know :)) -- So i think it is a healthy choice as well.

Preparing the meal:

The only things that takes time in this meal is that black fungus needs to be soaked, and of course, making the rice. So do those first.

You can then start with tofu salad, as there is no worries if it is ‘cold’.

Then if you have black fungus soaked in advance already, it is good to start with stir frying eggs and black fungus, because even it gets slightly cold, it doesn’t lose much of its taste. Otherwise, stir fry Chinese leaves and prawns while waiting for black fungus to be soaked.

I know it is going to be a bit busy in the kitchen, but soon after, you will have three very presentable dishes ready to eat, just enjoy, no?