Macau Series (3) - Fresh Produce

Today, I finally picked up my a$$ and went to the Red Market (紅街市).  Red Market is one of the fresh produce markets in Macau.  When I say fresh, I mean live fish, seafood, chicken (?), etc.  Thank God there is no pigs and cows...  I was going to post some pictures of my adventure today... but it was too crowded (it's Sunday PM >.<).  Maybe I will take some pictures when I go to the market again tomorrow with my dad (it's more fun anyway since we are going to buy fish...)

Originally I was just going to pick up some vegetables (since my dad says he is going to cook tomorrow...) but since I am there already, I ended up picking up stuff for tonight's dinner as well.  One of the reasons why I love grocery shopping is that I can decide my dinner menu on spot and it never breaks the bank!  (Shopping in the mall, on the other hand, will.)

So tonight, I decided on a quick soup and steamed minced pork with water chestnuts and salty duck egg (not to be confused with thousand-year egg).  It's so fast and easy it literally took less than an hour start to finish.  (Although you can pickle your own egg, duck eggs are hard to find in the states and these are made by the pros!)

Quick Soup

1.  Boil water (or broth), add 2 slices of ginger, 1 small hairy gourd (節瓜) (peeled and sliced) and 15 straw mushrooms (草菇) (washed and trimmed) when water is boiling.  Boil for 5 to 10 minutes.
2.  Add 1 salty duck egg (just the yoke).  Season with salt.  Boil another 5 to 10 minutes.
3.  Since I used water and didn't add meat, it didn't have enough flavor.  So I added 5 small won-tons and boiled for another 5 minutes.  If you want to add meat, you will want to add meat first and boil for 15 to 20 minutes before you start adding the vegetables.  You won't have to use broth if you do that.

Steamed Minced Pork

1.  Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of sugar & salt, 1/4 tsp MSG, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, and 1 tbsp cooking wine to the minced pork and stir.  Add the salty duck egg white to the pork as well and stir.
2.  Peeled and diced 4 water chestnuts (sometimes the market sells them peeled).  Add to #1.
3.  Put it on a small place (as long as it fits your rice cooker or the pot you are going to steam your dish in).  Add sliced ginger on top and if desired, put another salty duck egg yoke in the middle (just don't eat them all the same meal - high cholesterol).
4.  Cook your rice as usual.  When you hear your rice bubbling, place the steam rack and the dish inside the rice cooker.  The dish will be done when your rice is done.  Otherwise, steam your dish for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the fork comes out clean when poked in the yoke / meat.