Shrimp Tacos in 30 mins

Have you ever been in a situation where you buy something for 1 recipe and have lots of left overs you have to finish?
We brought a bag of avocado for something but only needed 1, so I had to think of a way to use the rest.
I had a package of frozen shrimp in the freezer so I decided to make tacos for dinner.
Shrimp is a great choice when you need a fast meal because it marinates in a very short period of time and it cooks very fast.

Shrimp Tacos

Makes 12 tacos Prep Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 5 mins

Ingredients

• 1 package of Shrimp (400g of shelled and deveined shrimp)
• 1/2 TBSP Mango Chipotle Seasoning
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 package of taco shells (12 hard or soft shells)
• 1.5 cups of shredded lettuce
• 2 avocado
• 1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 2 tbsp diced red onion
• salsa

Directions

1. The first thing to do is rinse the shrimp under cold water and marinate it with the Mango Chipotle seasoning.
2. While the shrimp is marinating, wash the lettuce and cut into strips.
3. Grate the Cheese
4. Dice 1/5 of a red onion
5. Cut an avocado in half and pull it apart. Remove the seed. I like to cut the avocado while it's still in the shell before I cut it out. It's easier to dice up that way. So while it's in the shell, I made 4 cuts vertically and 6-7 cuts horizontally. Then I take my knife and using the hole the seed left behind, I cut out the blocks of avocado from there. To remove avocado from shell, take either a spoon or your knife and slice along the edge.
6. 10-15 mins should have passed since you first started washing and cutting things. This is perfect time to cook your shrimp.
7. Heat up your pan to medium high heat.
8. Once the pan is hot, add oil and the garlic. Stir until you smell that garlic smell. Once you smell that nice cook garlic smell, add the shrimp.
9. Stir the shrimp around to ensure even cooking.Once all the shrimp changes color and shrinks a little it's cooked. Should be less then 5 mins.

Then the fun begins to assemble your taco :)

Fish and Corn Congee

This congee is one of the ones where you add the extra ingredients in last.
This is a very simple yet yummy tasting congee. Using Fish as the protein allows for a very lean and healthy meal.

I use frozen basa fish fillet because it's easy to use and I usually have a package or 2 on hand in my freezer. I defrost the fish in the fridge overnight. As always, because there's seafood, I add ginger to help get rid of the "fishy" smell/taste.

For Corn, you can use either frozen or canned corn. If you have corn on the cob you'll have to remove the kernel from the corn to use it. Since I live in Canada where I can only get fresh corn in the summer, I typically use frozen or canned corn for this congee.

This recipe will make 1 big pot of congee enough to feed a family of 5.

Fish and Corn Congee

Makes 1 big pot Prep Time: Overnight Cook Time: 30 Mins

Ingredients

• 3 to 3.5 L of water
• 1.5 rice cooker cups of frozen rice
• 2 packages of defrosted basa fillets
• 2 cups of frozen corn or 2 cans of corn kernel, drained
• 3 slices of ginger
• 1.5 tsp of salt
• 2 green onion chopped (optional)

Directions

1. Put the water and ginger into the pot on the stove top and turn the heat to max.
2. Once the water is boiling, add in the rice and stir until it's boiling again so nothing sticks to the bottom.
3. Once it's boiling, turn the heat town to simmer and cover. Let it simmer for 20 mins.
4. While the pot is simmering away, wash the basa fillets and then cut each piece into 4 like I show in the picture to the right. You don't want to cut it too small as it'll break apart some more when it's cooked.
5. Strain the fish in the fridge to get rid of the water.
6. Chop up the green onion on a clean surface. (if you're adding the green onion)
7. At the 20 minute mark, turn up the heat again to high.
8. Once it's at a roiling boil, add the salt and the corn and stir.
9. Once it's boiling again, add the fish and stir. Let it come to a boil and cook it for 5 minutes.

The congee is not ready to eat. You can top it off with the green onion or stir it in at this point.
I generally like my green onion raw so I just add it on top of my boil of congee

Enjoy!

Stuff Squid Tubes with Pork and Water Chestnuts(馬蹄)

Sorry it probably doesn't look the prettiest in the world but it's very tasty!!

Instead of just stuffing the tubes with only meat, I like to mix in Water Chestnuts.
It's a little bit more work but very worth while.
Water Chestnuts brings a nice sweetness to the dish as well as a nice crunch. The sweetness and the crunchy texture is what makes the dish so special.
Actually, the meat mixture I use can be cooked as a dish on it's own and this dish is actually a twist on that one. :)

If the meat is seasoned well, there's no need for a sauce. If you didn't have time to season the meat, then you can pour a little soy sauce or make a thicker sauce with soy or oyster cause and some corn starch.

The squid tubes I buy are already washed and cleaned but I always wash myself and double check to make sure the bone is not left behind. There's only 1 bone in the squid and it's quite easy to find and rip out if it is left behind.

Stuff Squid Tubes with Pork and Water Chestnuts

Makes 6 tubes Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 1 Package of squid tubes, about 6 tubes in the package.
• 200g of minced pork
• 4-5 water chestnuts
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper (optional)

Directions

1. Mix the soy sauce, sugar and white pepper into the minced pork and let it sit and marinate.
2. Peel the water chestnuts with a knife and then mince. The volume of the chestnut should be less then the volume of pork. So start off with 4 and see how much you have and add the 5th chestnut if required. All depends on the size of the water chestnut.
3. Add to the pork and mix well.
4. Wash the squid tubes and strain to dry.
5. Stuff the pork and water chestnut mixture into the tube. Stuff about 3/4 full. The squid will shrink!! NOTE: Left over pork mixture can be pan fried to look like hamburger meat!! Very tasty on it's own.
6. Place in a dish that can be used to steam.If you have time, leave the dish alone a little longer so it can sit and marinate.
7. Set up your steaming equipment and heat the water.
8. Once the water is boiling, place the plate in place for the dish to be steamed.
9. It should only take about 15 mins. After 10 mins, check on how the dish looks, you can even us a meat thermometer to poke the middle to check temperature of the meat.

Once it's cooked you're done and ready to eat :)
If you didn't have time to let it marinate or you didn't use pre-marinated mince pork, then you might want to add a bit of soy sauce or make that oyster sauce.
The flavour will come from the meat and the water chestnut!

Variation

Instead of using Water chestnut, use Lotus Root. It also has a sweetness like water chestnut but it's less crunchy. Volume wise, I like to use the same volume of minced Lotus Root as pork so it's 1:1 volume wise.

Steamed Tofu with Minced Shrimp and Pork

In this dish, the pork and shrimp mixture nicely contrasts the softness of the tofu creating a very nice feel in your mouth when you eat it.
It's not too complicated to make as long as you have minced pork on hand as the shrimp can be minced up quite fast.
Any pork and shrimp left over can be cooked on it's own in a "meat ball" which is quite tasty on it's own.
The shrimp is actually the star of the dish while the pork is used as a binding agent for the pork since it's not fully minced and needs help to stick together.

Steamed Tofu with Minced Shrimp and Pork

Makes 8 blocks Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 10-15mins

Ingredients

Main:

• ~50g  of Minced Pork
• 100g Shrimp (peeled and shelled)
• 1 package soft or silky Tofu (Other Tofu like all-purpose or firmer ones are fine too but in a steam dish, you can use more delicate tofu)
• 1 tsp Soy Sauce
• 1 tsp Sugar

Sauce - Optional:

• 1/2 Tbsp Oyster sauce
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp Corn Starch
• 1/3 cup water

Directions

1. On a cutting board, start chopping up the shrimp and mince the shrimp. It does not have to be finely minced, you can have some bigger pieces but you'll want to have at least 1/2 to 3/4 shrimp in a nice paste
2. Mix with the mince pork. Use just enough to help bind the shrimp together, you may not need to use all 100g. I personally like more shrimp then pork
3. Add soy sauce and sugar and mix
4. Open the package of tofu and very carefully rinse the tofu water off.
5. Cut the tofu into enough pieces to fit your steam dish. I'm able to fit 10 pieces before I run out of room.
6. Put all the tofu pieces onto the dish and lightly score the top with a hash pattern.
7. Put a spoon of the pork and shrimp mixture on top of each tofu piece. (picture to the right)
8. Cover the dish with saran wrap and steam for 10-15 mins.
9. Keep an eye on the meat, the pork will be the longest thing to cook so depending on how much pork you used, the cooking time can vary.
10. Once it's done steaming, you'll still find a considerable amount of water in the dish, try pouring as much out as possible.

The dish is basically ready but if you find it too bland because the tofu is bland, either make the sauce or just add fish soy sauce to the dish.

1. If you want to make the sauce, in a small bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the sauce.
2. Heat it up in a skillet until a boil.
3. Cook until the sauce is at the right thickness to your liking.
4. Remove from heat and pour on top of the tofu.

Homestyle Cream of Corn with Fish Maw Soup (魚肚)

This is a super fast soup that you can make in less then 30 mins.
It honestly only really needs the cream of corn, water and Fish Maw but at my house, we typically add a couple more items.

What is Fish Maw (魚肚)?
When I say the word in Chinese and translate it directly to English, it's "Fish Stomach". But it's not the stomach. It's actually part of the fish that allows it to float.
It has a spongy texture, sort of like tofu that you freeze and find it full of wholes after.
If I didn't tell you what Fish Maw is, you would probably think it's some sort of tofu product :)

Here's the package of Fish Maw that I usually get.

This will make enough soup for more than 10 bowls of soup.

Homestyle Cream of Corn with Fish Maw Soup (魚肚)

Makes 1 medium size pot Prep Time 10 mins cook time 15-20 mins

Ingredients

• 2 Cans of Cream of Corn
• 2 Cans of Water
• Half a package of defrosted Fish Maw (177g)
• Several Slices of Ginger
• 1/2 Tbsp of Salt
• 1 Egg (scrambled)
• 1 package of Firm or "Old" Tofu (Optional)

Direction

1. Open the 2 cans of Cream of Corn and pour it into a pot on top of the stove top.
2. Turn on the heat to high.
3. Use the Cans to measure out the 2 cans of water. Use a chopstick to stir the water in the can to get all remaining corn in the can loose. Pour it into the pot.
4. Rinse the Fish Maw under water and squeeze out all the water before cutting it to bite size pieces
5. If you are going to add Tofu, now is the time to open the package, rinse it and cut it into cubes.
6. Once the Corn mixture comes to a boil, add the Fish Maw and Tofu
7. Let the soup cook for ~5 mins or so once it comes to a boil.
8. Crack an egg and scramble it.
9. Add salt to the soup.
10. Use a ladle or chopsticks to stir the soup and pour in the egg.
11. By mixing the soup when you pour in the scramble egg, it will make 蛋花 ("Egg Flower"). The wisp of eggs add a nice look.
12. Make sure the soup is still at a boil and then turn off the heat because you're done!!

Super easy and super fast. :)
Enjoy!