These savory pancakes made with summer zucchini are quick and easy to make and so delicious! They are perfect for a snack, an appetizer, breakfast or a light meal.

It doesn’t have to be zucchini though, it can be any vegetables such as carrots, bell peppers, even lightly blanched broccoli. And you can add some meat or seafood too if you want to make fancy pancakes.

 Serve 2-4

• 1 Zucchini (about 350g), washed and grated by using the coarse side of a box grater西葫芦
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 spring onions, minced
• ¼ teaspoon white peppercorn powder 白胡椒粉
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• ½ teaspoon, caster sugar
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• ½ tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds for sprinkling (optional)

Dipping sauce,

• Light soy sauce

Method

1. Wash the zucchini clean and dry it with a kitchen towel. Grate the zucchini using the coarse grate side of a box grater.
2. In a large bowl, mix the grated zucchini with ½ teaspoon of salt. Let sit for 15 minutes, and you’ll see visible zucchini juice at the bottom of the bowl, which we will keep. Now mix in 2 eggs, minced spring onions, ¼ teaspoon white peppercorn powder, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, ½ teaspoon sugar, and ½ cup plain flour. If you feel like you need more flour (this could depend on the size of the eggs, for example), add it 1 tablespoon at a time. The final batter should look like similar to regular breakfast pancake batter. Let the batter rest for another 15 minutes.
   

   
3. Now heat a pan over medium heat, lightly brush the bottom with some cooking oil, and pour some batter into the pan (make the pancakes whatever size you like). Sprinkle sesame seeds (optional) over the top and cook each side until lightly golden brown, about 3 minutes on each side. Repeat until you’ve used all the batter.
   

   

   
4. You can serve with a simple soy dipping sauce, chili oil, or whatever other condiments you like. With a bowl of hot sour soup or congee, they make a perfect, healthy light meal.

Think of kaffir lime leaves as the Asian equivalent to bay leaves. Kaffir lime leaf is a key ingredient in Thai cooking as well as other Southeast-Asian cuisines. It is probably one of the most aromatic of all herbs and a wonderful addition to many Thai and Southeast-Asian stir-fries, soups and curries. The thick leaves are dark green and shiny on one side, and pale colored and porous on the other.

Kaffir lime leaves can be purchased fresh, frozen or dried from Thai or Vietnamese food stores (some Chinese food stores carry them while others do not). In Asian food stores, you’ll find them either in the fresh produce section alongside the other herbs, or in the freezer section. A few of the larger regular supermarket chains in North America are also starting to sell lime leaves—look for them in the fresh herbs section.

Note that dried lime leaves are not as aromatic or flavorful as fresh or frozen. One package of fresh lime leaves will last you a year or longer, and they freeze well. Take one or two leaves out as you need them, then wrap up the package and return it to the freezer until next time.

Serving 3-4

• 450g   pork loin, cut into 5-cm-long strips
• 1.5  teaspoons       fish sauce
• 1.5 + 0.5 tablespoons Maggi Seasoning sauce (or simple use light soy sauce)美极鲜或者生抽
• 1+1 teaspoons            caster sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon             white peppercorn powder
• 2 cups cooking oil
• A handful of kaffir lime leaves
• 2 stalks of lemon grass, finely sliced 
  

  

Method

1. Clean the pork, cut into long strips and put int a mixing bowl. Add 1.5 teaspoon of fish sauce and 1.5 tablespoons of Maggi Seasoning or light soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of sugar and ½ teaspoon of white peppercorn powder. Toss well and marinate for 10 minutes. Arranged the marinated pork on a baking tray and leave to dry under the sun (or in a warm oven with a temperature of 40°C) until dry on the outside. This takes about 1 hour. Do not over dry the pork or it will be too dry and tough. 
   

   

   

   
2. Clean the lemongrass, remove some outer tough layers. Finely slice the lemongrass and put into a bowl. 
   

   
3. Place a wok or frying pan over medium heat and add 2 cups of oil. Leave until the oil is hot. Fry the pork by three batches until golden and cooked through. Stir regularly with a spatula. When done, remove the pork and place them in kitchen towel-lined plate to help remove excess oil. Separately fry the kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass slices in the same wok over medium heat until crispy. Remove and drain. Place cooked sun-dried pork on a serving dish. 
   

   

   

   

   
4. Get a small fresh sauce pan and scoop into 2 tablespoons of oil from the wok which was used to fry the pork and herbs. Turn up the heat. When oil is hot, combine 1/2 tablespoon of light soy sauce (or Maggi Seasoning sauce) and 1 teaspoon of sugar in a bowl and mix well. Pour the mixture into the wok, then quickly add into fried lime leaves and lemongrass. Toss to coat well. This whole process takes about 1 minute. Remove and arrange attractively over fried sun-dried pork on a serving dish. Ready to serve. 
   

   

   

This eggplant appetizer is absurdly easy to make yet surprisingly satisfying. Try to use straight thin purple skinned eggplants, known as Japanese or Asian eggplant – they have thin delicate skins and the flesh is sweeter.

Serves 2-4,

• 3-4         (500g)                                  Asian eggplant 紫皮长茄子
• 1/2 tablespoon                          Garlic cloves, minced蒜末
• 1 tablespoon         Ginger, minced姜末
• 1 tablespoon         Spring onion,葱末, green parts only
• 2 tablespoons                        Cooking oil

Seasonings

• 2 tablespoons      light soy sauce生抽
• 1 teaspoon          Chinkiang vinegar
• 1 teaspoon          caster sugar

 Method

1. Cut the eggplant into 8cm-long strips. Pile the eggplant strips in a bowl that would fit inside your steamer basket.
   

   
2. Place the bowl in your basket and steam over high heat for about 20 minutes after water in the pot is boiled. In the meantime, combine the soy sauce, vinegar and sugar in a small bowl.
   

   
3. Remove the eggplants from the steamer basket and file them in a serving dish and top them with ginger, garlic and half of the spring onions.
4. Heat the oil in a pan until it is very hot. Carefully pour the hot oil over the garlic, ginger and spring onions. Pour the soy sauce mixture over the eggplant. Gently stir in the seasonings. You may cover the dish with clingy film and let it cool off in the fridge for about 20 minutes before serve – this is optional.
   

   

   
5. For garnish, sprinkle the rest of the spring onions.

One of my favorite easy dinners has always been this easy baked pork loin – its hearty, rich and delicious, super easy to make, and so delicious. Since pork loin has little fat, it can become tough very quickly when overcooked. Marinating or brining pork loin before cooking will always help to soften the pork tenderloin and keep it from drying out. Searing the pork before baking not only helps to lock in the pork’s juices, but also makes it taste great and give you a perfect crunchy texture. And you can top it with any of your favorite sauces you like.

Serving 3-4

• 500g                             pork loin
• ¼ cup + 1 tablespoons                   olive oil
• 1/3 teaspoon                             sea salt
• 1/3 teaspoon                              ground pepper corn

Thai Inspired sauce

• 1 tablespoon                            olive oil
• 100g                                          French Beans or asparagus, minced
• A half of the Red Bell Pepper, minced
• 2 tablespoons                          light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons                            Lime juice
• 1 tablespoon                             palm sugar or brown sugar
• ½ tablespoon                            corn starch (optional, it helps thicken the sauce)

Method

1. Rinse the pork loin under running water, pat dry with kitchen towel. Mix 1 teaspoon of freshly ground sea salt and black peppercorn, ¼ cup of olive oil in a bowl. Mix well. Place the pork in and have it marinated it for 4 to 12 hours.
   

   
2. Now let’s sear the pork loin. Place one tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan over high heat. Once the oil is hot, place into the pork loin over medium heat. Fry till both sides golden. This takes about 6-8 minutes.
   

   

   
3. Pre-heat the oven to 175℃ .  Place the seared pork loin on a baking tray and bake for 25-30 minutes. Once done, remove the pork loin out and let it rest for 8-10 minutes before cutting. The resting part is important as it allows residual heat keeps cooking and helps lock the juice in the meat.  The perfect cooked meat looks a little bit pink in the middle, but that’s perfectly all right.
4. 
5. In the meantime, let’s make the sauce. Heat the oil in another frying pan, fry ¾ of the minced beans or asparagus and pepper for 2 minutes over low heat. Add light soy sauce, lime juice and palm sugar. Stir and cook for 1 minute. Pour the sauce into a bowl.

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6. Cut the pork loin into thick serving pieces and place them into a serving plate. Pour the sauce over the pork loin. Ready to serve.