115 Overlapped egg pancakes

Chinese egg pancakes

Yesterday, when I was browsing online, by a chance, I came across an article about Chinese food in the ‘Independent’, which, to be honest, was rather disappointing.

Well, I mean, Chinese cuisine is very difficult to describe in a few words, or even in a short article. There are huge regional and ethnic differences, not to mention that there are different kinds of food that are used for health and  medical purposes; there are also plenty of common/everyday recipes as well as rare ones, traditional ways of cooking and modern ways. Not all the dishes I would like to have myself, and sometimes I even find some of them can be too strange to eat, but to judge Chinese cuisine fairly, I think you have to look at the whole picture.

Hopefully, if I am not lazy and can be persistent enough on this blog, I will gather enough information on Chinese regional, and ethnic dishes, as well as more different kinds of cuisines within China. :))

Talking about modern Chinese dishes, there are lots of changes, or say new ‘inventions’ these days. Most of these ‘new’ dishes, I have never even seen or heard of before, until my friends and family introduced them to me when I went back to China on holidays.

These modern ways of cooking  normally involve using new ingredients ( new vegetables, herbs, or even Western ingredients) into the dishes, or ‘playing around’ with the usual ingredients, by using different combinations to create a new taste or a new way of eating, or just simply bringing the recipes from almost hundreds years ago, and adapt them to modern taste.

Read more »

114. Hot and sour soup -- Northeast Chinese style (V)

Chinese hot and sour soup

… Eventually the long Chinese new year celebration is finished. I bet everyone in China is taking a break from all the cooking, eating, visiting, shopping… And the ashes from fireworks are being cleaned up -- I always find it bit sad when I see this, just like I don’t really like gatherings, because I don’t like to see when it’s finishing, families and friends are leaving. In Chinese, there is a saying ‘all the feasts will have to come to an end’. :(( However, the good thing is that we still have a year to look forward, and the spring is coming…

Anyway, we still need to talk about eating. :) Probably after a long feast, we should go for something simple. :) This recipe is hot and sour soup -- with clear soup base. I guess that you are not unfamiliar with the hot and sour soup served in Chinese take-aways and restaurants (outside China). Most of them are Cantonese style. For some time, I really liked it, but eventually I got really bad homesick and I started making  hot and sour soup northeast style. :)

Read more »

111. Steamed dumplings with marrow, prawns, egg and Fensi filling

Happy new year!!

After three continuous ‘culture notes’ on Chinese new year, let’s come back to talk some ‘real’ stuff -- food! :)) As dumpling is the most popular ‘must-have’ food during the Chinese new year celebration, I would like to share more dumpling recipes. However, this recipe is slightly different to the previous ones, as these dumplings are steamed, and with a new filling -- marrow prawns, egg and Fensi. But the way of rolling the pastry sheet and wrap it up are still the same.

As you know, the ‘famous’ Chinese dumplings are normally boiled, but dumplings can also be lightly fried (like Japanese dumplings), and steamed -- with slightly different way of making the pastry sheet.

Steamed dumplings are probably not very common in many Chinese restaurants, but you might be familiar with all the steamed ‘dim sim’. Steamed dumpling is very similar to steamed ‘dim sim’ in that respect, but in much bigger size --- that is why we always say northeast people are generous in food -- serve more and eat more. Ha…

Read more »

107.The simplest and most basic: egg fried rice

Chinese egg fried rice

Some friends have already asked me a few times about rice recipes. Some Chinese rice recipes simply combine rice with other grains, like mung beans; but most of the times, rice is stir-fried (an example is the famous Yangzhou fried rice). And all these fried rice dishes originate from the most basic of them all -- egg fried rice.

Talking about egg fried rice -- you really just opened my appetite and memory, as I always loved it!!! And even now, it is still my ‘quick fix’ meal of choice. :))

When I was little, as I said, I never liked meaty food, my parents and grandparents had to be creative in order for me to take all the protein I needed as a child -- so I started having lots of egg dishes. Egg fried rice was one of my favorites --- to a degree, that for my breakfast, my grandma had to make egg fried rice for me every morning, before I went to school.

Read more »

103. A special egg recipe: cooking egg with beef soup

Chinese egg and beef soup

Happy new year!!!


O, I am so sorry for not posting often recently, it seems I have been enjoying too much the paellas that my mother-in-law makes, and in my head it is all about the delicious Spanish food right now, I totally forgot about cooking Chinese. But if you have ever tried my suegra’s food, I am sure you will forgive me. :))) Ha… My mother-in-law said this is a perfect time for me to rest my mind, no need to think what to cook next, and what to buy… So I have been just eating and sleeping… and sunbathing in the sunny Spain. :))

Ok, coming back to cooking Chinese food -- with new year festival’s spirit. This dish is an egg recipe, in Chinese it is called ‘Shao jidan’. Shao is a method of cooking, like ‘Shao’ beef, --- slowly cooking, and ‘jidan’ means eggs. But this dish is quite special, as it is one of the landmark dishes of my ethnic group -- Hui. Talking about this dish, I guess I have to start with cooking beef first. :)

Read more »

99. Chinese Steamed dumplings with egg pastry

Chinese egg dumplings

Here, in Italy, everywhere is showing Christmas atmosphere -- the Christmas lights, shops, people, Christmas markets… I am really enjoying seeing people crowed in the streets, preparing Christmas stocks, and enjoying the festival atmosphere -- while searching for my favorite Italian Christmas food for dinner. :))

Are you preparing Christmas gifts and dinner as well? I guess everyone is super busy now. Anyway, if you want to cook something else apart from the traditional Christmas dinner, here is a super presentable Chinese dish.

Well, actually, I don’t know anywhere else you could get this dish in China apart from my dad’s kitchen. It is not one of his inventions, but I have never been able to find it outside home. I guess that one of the reasons is that it is a kind of time-consuming dish, many people could not be bothered.

Read more »

95. Healthy recipe: bitter gourd omelette (V)

Chinese bitter gourd omelette

We are really starting tasting winter now -- it is getting cold. My parents told me that back in my hometown, they are getting heavy snow, the first heavy snow for this winter. On the way back from city centre this afternoon, I even wished if I had a pair of gloves on, but you know, I never really liked gloves, even in the deep cold winter, my fingers got too frozen to move -- I could bear with that, but never liked to put the gloves on.

Do you know in Chinese there is a funny saying of that if you have cold hands it means that there are not enough people caring for you? :)) My grandma did not like that, she always prepared some good thick winter gloves for me, and used a ‘string’ to make the two gloves attach together, then I could just ‘hang’ the gloves over my neck, so I couldn’t lose them. She always made sure that I was cared for… I began to miss northeast Chinese winter.

When I say how much I miss the winter in northeast China, everyone, who knows how cold it could get, think that I am crazy. But it is not the coldness I really miss, it is the beautiful white snow -- under the moon light, the whole world turns to pinkish / orangish, I could just watch outside through the window forever; under the sun light, the whole world then becomes shining white.

Read more »

79. Chinese stir fried egg and tomato

Tweet

Chinese stir fried egg and tomato

Stir frying egg together with other ingredients is very common all across China. As I mentioned in my previous post (common ingredient: eggs), (chicken) eggs can be stir fried on their own, with different vegetables, or with certain kinds of fish and meat.

I like the combination of egg and tomato, but you have to get reasonably good tomatoes though, otherwise, that ‘raw’ sourness can put me off.


I never knew that stir fried egg and tomato was such a ‘basic’ dish, until my husband told me about his conversation with one of his Chinese colleagues, J. He asked J. if he could cook Chinese food, J. replied, ‘only very basic things, like stir-fried egg and tomato’. I really laughed, I did not know stir fried egg and tomato was such a basic Chinese dish. :)))

Ok, it is not difficult to make at all, I mean if you can get the right tomatoes, and add in the right amount of salt, you can never get it too wrong. However, only in recent years, I realized that there are tons of different versions of stir-fried egg and tomato in different regions of China, and it can even be different from household to household.

Read more »

71. Noodle recipe: A simple traditional Chinese noodle recipe

Tweet

Traditional Chinese noodles

If you have been reading this blog, you certainly won't be too surprised by my ‘passion’ towards noodles. :)))) For example, last night, I was talking to my husband about our forthcoming traveling plans; if we are staying in an apartment or apartment hotel, where we can cook our own food, I will take some noodles with us to cook. … Ha… yes, that really shows how much I love noodles.


Noodles in the Supermarkets

I know I have already posted a couple of homemade noodle recipes, but we cannot always really have hand-made noodles every time we want to have noodles, after all, it takes some effort. An alternative is to buy the noodles from the supermarket and cook them straight away.

These ‘ready-to-cook’ noodles are really not a bad idea if you just want a quick fix noodle dish. They are made from fresh flour, and turned into ‘dried’ form. I was talking to my mother-in-law once about making noodles at home; she told me that in the old days in Spain, women used to make similar ‘ready-to-cook’ ‘Spaghettis’ at home, her mother would make quite a bit, and ‘sun dry’ them in the yard, so every time she could just use these homemade ones. I would love to try those noodles, but I guess the weather here is not good for drying them up, ... and I am lazy. :)) So I just go to the supermarkets.

Read more »

69. Northeast Chinese soup with eggs, tomato and seaweed (V)

Tweet

Chinese tomato and egg soup

I woke up from a very weird dream this morning. In the dream, my memory only stopped in a ‘blur’ period around university time, I could not remember anything after that, what happened or even who I was.

In my dream, people sat around me, asked me what I did, where I lived, if I was married… I tried so hard to remember, but all I came up with was I worked hard to finish my PhD, but I had no idea why and where I did it or what subject I did it, and what I did after that; I remembered I could paint, but did not remember what I painted, why I painted; I was married, and I could see my husband sitting next to me, but nothing recalled how we met, and why he spoke Spanish…

I was panicking,

Read more »

45. Chinese stir fried scrambled eggs with asparagus

Tweet

43. Chinese tea eggs

Tweet

茶鸡蛋

Oh, after a sunny morning, clouds shadowed the sky, now the sun is back again. Love the summer feeling...

Are you going for a picnic? --- If so, I recommend tea eggs for your basket! :)

It is definitely a treat for me --- I love them. They are not difficult to make, only because I am too lazy. :))

Chinese tea eggs

Tea eggs, in Chinese are called 'Cha (ji) dan'. In simple words --- chicken eggs are boiled in the sauce pan with plenty of tea leaves and seasonings.

Since the taste of these eggs get a very strong influence from tea, they are called tea eggs or tea chicken eggs . Their taste is also influenced by other ingredients such as anise star, sichuan peppercorn and so on.

In order for all the seasonings to go into the eggs, the shell of boiled eggs normally needs to be cracked before further boiling. This also means when you peel the shell off, you can see the beautiful pattern printed on the white.

They are savory already, can be eaten as snack on their own, for breakfast, or with boiled rice , they are very convenient for taking for a road trip or picnic. Especially for me, as I have mentioned before that I could not eat a whole plain boiled egg without any salt or soy sauce, tea eggs became my favorite food, and also an easy solution for my parents. :)

Tea eggs are immensely popular, you can get them in many supermarkets, or just in the streets in Northern China . They are normally sold warm, sometimes, you can get them on a stick already peeled-- easy for you to eat while keep on walking.

My dad and my auntie made the best tea eggs I have ever tried, mine … can never match. Especially my auntie, she used to boil them for almost two hours, the entire apartment was filled in with aromatic smell -- mainly from the tea leaves -- you can imagine. :)

But me, I don’t have much patience like my much beloved auntie, so I normally do it in a quick way -- by using thermal cook pot. In the evening, after boiling with the seasonings, place them into the thermal cook pot, the next morning, all the taste has gone in the eggs, and they are still warm. :)

Making tea eggs

For making good tea eggs , needless to say, you need relatively good quality tea leaves. Normally, red tea leaves are the ideal ones for this recipe, the colour and taste is much stronger than green tea. I wouldn’t use black tea, because the taste is not very suitable.

However, you do not need "high end" quality tea leaves. Recently, I found on the shelves in Tesco, there are packs of oolong tea in leaves at very good price, which are perfect for making tea eggs . Oh, by the way, tea leaves are better than the tea bags in this case.

Apart from other seasonings, salt is also as one of the essential ingredients. Same as making soy sauce beef salad , flaked sea salt (for example) is the best for making this.

Normally it is a good idea to prepare quite a few, say, at least, 8 or more, since cooking tea eggs requires a fair amount of tea leaves and seasonings.

Tea eggs can be eaten cold, however, if you think it is too cold, (particular after storing them in the fridge), the best way to warm them up is to peel the eggs first, then, put them in a bowl filled with hot water, and leave it for a few minutes, you can get just like the freshly made ones. :)

Here you go how I did it.

Ingredients

Chicken eggs

Tea leaves, salt, dark soy sauce, anise star, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, sichuan peppercorn.

Cooking

(There are two ways of boiling the eggs -- to make the white and yolk solid. One is to boil the eggs in clear water and make the crackers on the shell; or boil the eggs in seasoned water, then take them out, make the crackers, and place them back. I used the latter method. )

1) In a deep sauce pan, filling water, and put in 2-3 tablespoons of salt, 2 tablespoons of tea leaves, 2 teaspoons of dark soy sauce, a few anise star, around 2 cinnamon stick, and 3 bay leaves, a small handful sichuan peppercorns.

2) Place the eggs in the water.

3) Turn on the fire to full, bring the water to boiling.

4) When the eggs are well boiled (the white and york are no longer in liquid form), take all the eggs out, and use, for example, a serving knife to knock on the shell of the eggs, to make crackers on the surface.

 

5) Put cracked eggs back to the sauce pan, at low fire, keep on boiling for further one hour or more. (After this, you can leave them in the sauce pan soaking for a bit longer.)

----- Ready to eat!! 

35. Chinese steamed eggs/ ji dan geng

Tweet

鸡蛋羹

Chinese steamed eggs

I am not sure if this is a common recipe across the whole China. What I am certain about is that almost everyone in the Northeast has eaten steamed eggs at some point, especially during childhood.

As I already mentioned in my previous posting about eggs in Chinese cuisine , steamed eggs are a popular choice for kids that are just starting to eat solid food, and are still unable to chew properly. They are very convenient, because they are both tasty and easy to swallow, and at the same time, they are very nutritious.

Steamed eggs , however, are not only a dish for small kids; they are also ideal for a quick, simple, and healthy Chinese breakfast , and they can also be part of lunch or dinner. Steamed eggs are particularly well-suited for people having upset stomach, or who lost appetite while having a cold. In fact, since I made it first time for my husband, he decided that it would be a perfect breakfast dish.

It is too homey a dish, and hence you won’t be able to find it in any restaurants (except for some food courts in China during lunchtime). Steamed eggs can be eaten with either Chinese steamed bread or with boiled rice (you can also eat them on their own if your stomach is upset).

It is just made from eggs, has very strong egg flavor. The texture is a bit like a "Flan" (a French dessert), but it is savory, rather than sweet. (So it has been difficult for me accept the sweet version of steamed eggs).

Saying that it is easy to make ... but you really need to get the proportions of eggs, water, and oil right, otherwise it can be… I failed so many times before. :))

It is normally steamed with small rice bowls to contain the egg mix. This is one of the few dishes in Chinese cuisine cooked in individual portion. But in these photos, since I only cooked for two of us, so I used a deep edged plate.

Here you go how I did it.

The recipe: Chinese steamed eggs

Ingredients

Eggs (I normally use 3-4 eggs for two - three people)

Oil, sesame oil (optional), salt.

Cooking

(If you are making it for more people, you can use a mix bowl, whisk the eggs mix the seasoning, then pour in small rice bowls to steam).

1) In deep edged plate, break three eggs, and whisk well.

 

2) Pour in double amount of water (compare to eggs), and add in 1 tablespoon of oil, 2 teaspoons of sesame oil, 2/3 teaspoon of salt, mix everything well together. (Some people say that it is salt helping the eggs firming together, so too little salt is not great. Mix well from the bottom, because salt could sink quickly.

3) Put enough water in a steamer, and place the plate or the small rice bowls in it.

4) Cover the lid, use strong fire steam for about 8 minutes or you can check if the egg mix is ‘firming’. I say it is firming, it is really comparing to the liquid form, it is supposed to be very soft, jelly like. Sometimes, I use a spoon to check if all the liquid is done.

 

----- Serve!! Be careful the plate or bowls can be extremely hot.

When the lid is removed, you will see a beautiful warm yellow coloured soft eggs in the steamer. If you like, you can put some dried shrimps on the top. If you made Shaobing (which was introduced in my another post), try the combination, I am sure you will like it.

Eggs in Chinese Cuisine

Tweet

What can I say... eggs are one of the ingredients that I am most familiar with. As I mentioned before, when I was little, I never liked red meat, nor chicken, duck… you name it.

The only thing (along with vegetables) that helped me get the proteins I needed were eggs (as eggs contain lots of protein, as well as many nutritious, like folic acid, vitamins, calcium. etc.) My parents, auntie and grandma tried all different ways of cooking eggs for me, so that I wouldn’t get bored of it --- very spoiled. :))

Eggs in Northern Chinese Cooking

Anyway … chicken egg is one of the most popular ingredients in Northern Chinese cuisine, not to mention being used in the coating, or mixing into the fillings for helping holding things together.

Eggs in Northeast cuisine can be boiled, steamed, stir-fried, pickled or preserved, in soup, or even for drinking. They act as one of the main ingredient for home cooking, but not in fancy restaurants though.

Although the most commonly used are chicken eggs, duck eggs are often on the dinning table, but usually served pickled (salty); occasionally, goose eggs are used as well. Quail eggs are often used for medical purposes (I know a recipe that uses quail eggs to alleviate allergies). I used to have very bad allergies, even my own tears or strong winds could trigger them;  my parents got this ‘legendary recipe’ - eating quail eggs -- then I was cured. -- But I cannot explain the medical theory behind it, just eased my suffering. :))

Boiled eggs

  Eggs are normally boiled as in the West. But in Northeast China, eating boiled egg can go with different dips, for example, soy sauce dip, salt and pepper dip. I have never be able to have just a plain boiled egg since I was little, so whenever my mum packed me some boiled eggs for a school trip or something, she always had to prepare a sachet of salt, or a small container of soy sauce.

 There is another most common way of preparing boiled eggs: tea eggs, which are boiled along with red tea leaves and other seasoning. It has very strong tea influence, slightly salty. (Recipe is on the way -- I consider it is one of the best invention, then I did not have to carry salt or soy sauce with me). :)

Steamed eggs

I don’t really know if it is same in the other regions in China, but steamed eggs are super super popular in Northeast, especially for people with stomach problems, or for kids just off the milk, starting having ‘real food’. It is also a good idea for breakfast.

It is to beat eggs well, and steam it --- very easy.

Stir fried eggs

  Now I am talking… the real thing.:))))  Stir-frying egg can be prepared just by itself, or stir-fry with other ingredients. In fact, my first ever cooking lesson was my dad taught me how to stir fry eggs, Northeast stir-frying egg is slightly different to western scrambled eggs -- no milk added. It comes out as a bit ‘dryer’ then scrambled eggs.

‘Egg fried rice’ is popular way of stir fry eggs, it can be found almost in all Chinese restaurants and takeaways here. But if you are in the restaurants in Northeast of China, plain egg fried rice is normally not in the menu, you have to specify, then they can cook for you individually.

But eggs stir fried with different ingredients is very common ‘homey’ dish in Northeast. For example, stir fry eggs with tomato, stir fry eggs with green peppers, or with cucumbers, with onions, with garlic chives… are all the very simple and common dishes. (See the recipe for stir fry eggs with black fungus for example. All the other ‘recipes’ will be here, well, not really recipes I guess, more like suggested ideas.)

The only thing is when egg fired with these ingredients, it is given a ‘fancy’ name -- Mu Xu (as in the beard of wood-- you can imagine). For example, egg fried beef is called ‘Mu Xu Rou’, as ‘the wood’s beard with meat’. ha…

This way of combination is always a very simple dinner solution, especially when I run out of ideas of cooking. :)) But in Cantonese dishes, apart from eggs with tomato (or egg Fuyong), the rest of the combination is not their style. Once I cooked eggs with green peppers, all the other Cantonese friends (most of them were chefs) looked at me and the ‘wok’ strangely.

The thing that is almost ‘forbidden’ to combine is eggs with potatoes. The legend says that it could cause poison. I used to be very careful following this rule, since my grandma and my auntie mentioned all the time. But after I tried Spanish omelet, it all changed -- traditional Spanish tortilla became my favorite!! My caring in-laws always cook potato tortilla for me whenever I am there -- but they have to tell me not too eat too much --otherwise it will be too much calories intake… :)) -- I am trying to make up all those years (this combination) I missed. :)))

Fried eggs

Another common way of preparing eggs. Remember I mentioned that my dad used to make me lunch? One fried egg was always included. It is very similar to the Western way, but Chinese fried egg need to cook it longer time, until both sides of the surface of gets golden colour or in the soup until the white get firm, and completely wraps the york. It is a very traditional way, and has a very pretty name ‘Hebao dan’ to describe the egg looks like the lotus’ bud -- wrapping the york inside.

22. Chinese egg made flat bread (Ji Dan Bing)

Tweet

Chinese egg pancake

鸡蛋饼

Every time mentioning or cooking ‘Jidan bing’ always, always makes me think of my deeply be loved auntie. And that day a few years ago, when I was very sick and sad lying in bed, didn’t want to eat anything, after rejecting all the food she suggested, she went back to the kitchen, and a few minutes later, she brought this to me, that was the first thing I properly ate in days. Seeing my friends visit me, she then went back to prepare more --- it was the first time my friends got to know my auntie, they all said that I was very lucky to have a really kind and understanding auntie …. of course, a very good cook as well. She had lots of recipes that I never learned, and now I will never be able to learn from her…

Bing, or Chinese Flat Bread

If ‘bing’ is translated as ‘Chinese flat bread’, ‘Ji dan bing’ should be translated as ‘egg made flat bread’. It is one of the most popular foods in Northeast China. I say ‘food’, because I am really not sure how to categorize it, it is not normally served as ‘main’ for a meal.

My auntie used to prepare these for me when I got hungry in between two main meals, so I guess it is a kind of ‘snack’ or side dish on the table. It is a bit like 'pancake', but Chinese style. :)))

Once just by chance I made it at home, my husband really liked it, and suggested it would be a lovely breakfast. Ha… back home with my parents, this kind of simple Chinese breakfast can never be acceptable, but compare it to simple toast, it is really not bad ---- There you go, I shall introduce it as a simple ‘quick fix’ breakfast menu, takes about 10 minutes.

Before writing this down, I had a quick look on

Read more »

16. Chinese stir fried Black fungus and eggs

Tweet

木须木耳

Chinese black fungus and egg

Chinese black fungus

When I told my mum that I blog posted about a ‘Mu’er’ (Black fungus) dish, she immediately asked me “but, did you say how nutritious Mu’er is? you know, with all its beneficial properties for health….”. “Yes, mum, I did.” … Ha… but her concerns are justified: Mu’er is not only a healthy food, but also can be used for medical purposes, which have been well documented in the Chinese medicine ‘bible’ - ‘Bencao Gangmu’ in 16th Century. Black fungus has also been an essential ingredient of Chinese cuisine for over a thousand years.

Last time, I made Mu'er into a salad dish. This post is about how to stir fry it --- really simple, there are not many ingredients involved, and no complicated ‘steps’ -- a very light dish, and a good quick fix for a weekday’s dinner, even for treating friends -- it won’t make you ‘lose face’. :)

The recipe: Stir fried Chinese black fungus

It is a common thing to stir fry Mu’er at home. Traditionally this is done only with eggs, but I like to have different textures in the dish, so I also put onion in. Onion is only lightly cooked, it is still ‘juicy and crunchy’, taste well in the mouth with Mu’er and eggs. But if you don’t like this mixture, you can leave it out.

Ingredients

Mu’er (Black fungus), two eggs, onion (optional)
Oil, salt, light soy sauce, mushroom or vegetable essence (optional), five spice powder (optional)

Preparation

Soak a handful dry Mu’er in hot water for at least 30 minutes, (after soaking, Mu’er will extend to full, a handful will turn into a good full ‘plate), then wash well, and tear them into smaller pieces, beat two eggs, and slice one onion.

Cooking

(Fire is high for stir frying this dish)

1) In a heated wok, pour in 5-6 table spoons of oil.

2) When the oil is hot enough (you can see the little bubbles flowing up), put the eggs and stir it to prevent it from forming up a big piece (it is easy to do if the wok is hot enough).

Stir frying the egg

3) When the eggs are done, add prepared Mu’er and sliced onion into the wok, mix well with the eggs.

Adding the black fungus and onion

4) Put 1 teaspoon of salt, a few drops of light soy sauce, half teaspoon of mushroom or vegetable essence and ‘five spice powder’ (both optional).
5) Stir fry for further 2-3 minutes (if you think it is getting too dry inside the wok, put a little bit water in)

  ------ It is done!

With rice or beer all good! -- and healthy! :))