How to guide children in Mandarin homework if you don't even know one word in Mandarin

Guiding my child in his Mandarin homework is like…..

Luckily I have Pleco, the Chinese dictionary in my Android. I’m so much in love with this app. It is so easy to use. All Julian has to do if he wants to know the meaning of certain Mandarin character, is just to draw them on the screen.

I could say it is 99% accurate as it can identify the character you are drawing even if you the ugliest handwriting in the world (ok, that’s a bit too much). But still, I think it’s a great app, as you pick the correct character at the bottom of the app and out came the definition in English.

And, for some reason, the app can’t recognize your handwriting, you can use the OCR feature. Using your phone’s camera and a yellow box as your guide, point it at the character and the app will try to detect the strokes of the character and you’ll get the translation in pinyin (pinyin is roman spelling of the chinese phrase).

Type out the pinyin phrases and you'll get the definition.

But depending on the app alone is not enough. So, for non-mandarin speaker, it’s better to send children to a mandarin tuition class or on a one-to-one tuition.

Julian previous tuition teacher advice to;

* Expose children to a Mandarin-speaking environment

* If you let your children watch cartoon on television, let them watch once in a while, cartoon in Mandarin audio (at astro channel).

* As parent, I think it’s a good thing to learn with them. Try to learn a few easy Mandarin phrases; such as good morning or how‘s your day at school like; and try to communicate with them at home.

After all, we want the best for our children.

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Healthy Living - Secret to make Sabah's famous Ngiu Chap without MSG

Drool drool - The best Ngiu Chap of Sabah

I missed KK and the food. Whenever I’m back home, I will always look for this one particular dish that I will never get bored of and that is Ngiu Chap.

There’s so many version of making Ngiu Chap or Beef noodle you can find in the internet. I’ve tried to replicate so many recipes and ended with adding lots of MSG just because it doesn’t taste like the ngiu chap I had before.

Hunting recipes online, I found this this recipe from mama adib of dapurarazmunir.blogspot.com. Tried it and I’d swear flashback of my childhood flew across my thoughts.  With a few changes here and there, I’d believe I recreate the ultimate homemade ngiu chap (or so I thought).

NGIU CHAP / BEEF NOODLE

INGREDIENT

Vermicelli noodle or yellow noodle 

BROTH

300g beef bone

300g beef meat 

200g beef tendons (or tripe)

Beef balls

100g soya bean paste/tauchew

10g lump sugar

2 tsp white pepper

2 large onion
5 cm crushed ginger 

5L water

SPICES (Roast spices and place in a small square mesh bag)

½ tsp Szechuan pepper (you can either replace it with black pepper)

4 star anise

1 tsp cumin seed

4cm cinnamon stick

SEASONAL

Salt to taste

Sugar (I prefer to use lump sugar for its mild taste)

1 tbsp soy sauce

½ tbsp dark soy sauce

GARNISHING

Crispy fried onions

Scallion or parsley

CHILLI DIPPING SAUCE 

5 chilli pepper

10 bird’s eye chilli (more for intense spicy sauce!)

5 clove garlic

2 tbsp rice vinegar

4 tbsp lime juice

Salt & sugar to taste

¾ tsp shrimp paste (optional)

First thing first before I reveal the method of cooking, let me tell you the secret to make a good ngiu chap (note that this is fully my opinion).

Start with good beef bones: The broth base is very important. To make a good broth, you must have all the BEEF PIECES especially the beef bones. Knuckle and leg bones are the best.

Use lump sugar or yellow rock sugar: To avoid using MSG, balance the taste with LUMP SUGAR (or even yellow rock sugar) not coarse sugar. There’s a different in taste when using lump sugar or regular sugar in dishes. Lump sugar has  a mild taste to it than regular sugar. I used this brand of lump sugar;

     

                                                        

Simmering it long enough: Everyone knows this, the longer you cook the broth the tastier and intensely flavored it is. Heck, soup taste so good the day after you cook it. I boil the broth for a good 4 TO 5 HOUR. So, use large enough stockpot without you diluting or adding more water afterwards when you find that you don't have much liquid left in the broth after hours and hours of simmering. So find a large good quality stainless steel stockpot.

                                   
  
                               
Roasting spices: Before adding to soup, ROAST SPICES (Szechuan pepper, star anise, cumin seed and cinnamon stick) and place it in a mesh bag. Otherwise you can use convenient packets of 'sup bunjut'. (But i prefer the latter).Roasting the spices gives you naturally sweet flavor.

Now let's get to the method of cooking.

Parboil the bones: Fill large pot with water. Boil water and add the bones while keeping heat on high. Boil for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse the bones. Clean stockpot and refill pot with bones and 5 litre of water.

Boil the broth: Bring water to a boil before adding the beef bones, meat and tendons. Add all the ingredients in the broth section (except the beef balls); soya bean paste, lump sugar, white pepper, onion and ginger. Add spices (roasted and in a mesh bag) to broth. Simmer for 1 1/2 hour before removing the beef meat. Put aside meat. Continue simmering until broth has reduced by half. Taste broth and add seasoning; salt, sugar, soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Add beef balls and simmer again for another 15 to 20 minutes. Taste broth again and adjust seasoning until tastes perfect.

Prepare noodles and meat: Cut beef meat and tendon and set aside. Blanch noodles in hot water. 

Prepare chilli dipping sauce: Blend all the ingredients.

Ladling and garnishing: Fill bowl with noodles, cooked meat, tendon and beef balls and pour boiling soup on it. Garnish with crispy fried onions and scallion/parsley. 

ENJOY YOUR HOMEMADE NGIU CHAP WITH THE CHILLI DIPPING SAUCE! 

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Handmade Accessories - Two-tone Flowery Hairpin

Create this gorgeous two-tone hair accessories using you choice of fabric flowers. It is easy to make and and you'll be able to pick your choice of color accordingly with your style.

You'll be needing;

• Two-tone color fabric flowers with large petals and smalls one
• Hairclip or large bobby pins
• Scissor
• Felt
• Hot glue gun

Make a circle using felt for the base for the flowers. Cut the dark colored flower from its stem and carefully pull of the plastic base. Separate and cut each petal and hot-glue on the circular felt. Make sure you don't stack petals on top of each other, rather arrange it just like a flower.

Cut the lighter colored, smaller flower from its stem. 

You can either use the stems and hot-glue them on. Arrange flower side by side. 

                                                           

Lastly, apply hot glue on felt base and attach hairpin or bobby pins.

Pretty, right?

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Diy Toy - Rocket Ship From Plastic Bottle

Diy toys are fairly easy and inexpensive to make. These are perfect to give children handmade gifts at Christmas, birthday or any day!

To make a rocket ship from a recycle bottle, you'll be needing;

• 1 recycle small bottle
• 1 children sock
• Glue gun
• Mod podge or water glue
• Scissor
• Silver masking tape
• Red, yellow and orange yarn
• Cardboard and felt (not in picture, you'll be needing this to make a circle, fins and for the bottom tube)
• Aluminum foil

Slip the sock over the bottle. Using glue gun, fold the bottom of the sock under the bottle and hot glue the sock. (For option, use mod podge or water glue and dab it on the surface of the bottle before slipping on the sock)

For this part, use cardboard, felt and aluminum foil. Cut two circles from the felt and glue to the front of the bottle as window. Cut two more circles smaller than the latter and cover it with aluminum foil. Adhere on top of the previously attached circles.

Using cardboard, make 3 pieces tube or otherwise you can use tissue tube. Cover tubes with aluminum foil, secure edges with silver masking tape and adhere to bottom of rocket with hot glue.

Cut three matching fin shape out of cardboard and hot glue them to the side of bottom edges of the rocket.

Wind orange yarn around your hand (around 5-6 times), repeat using the yellow and red yarn, slip it off your hand and tie in the middle. Glue inside one of the tubes. Repeat process with the other tube.

Make this with your children and let them enjoy making their own handmade toys!

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