Saturday, December 24, 2011

Pickled cucumber

Adapted from Maangchi's Sukjanamul which is actually beansprouts and cucumber but alas, I don't have beanspourts! :(

Photo of my attempt:

Chamchijeon (Tuna pancakes)

Recipe from Maangchi
http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/tuna-pancakes


Updated with CNY 2013 picture to represent 年年有余

Saturday, December 03, 2011

Ga Ban Kho Gung (Chicken in ginger)

I guess sino-asian cooking like Viet and Thai cooking all have roots in Chinese cooking, or it could also because with a climate similar to China, most of the basic ingredients are the same. In fact, if we were really to visit China, there are probably lots of dishes that we haven't tried, even if you broadly classify this as 'Chinese food', there are thousands if not millions of variations!

Saw this from Luke Nguyen's Vietnam season 2, and the ingredients aren't too unusual for our palate.

Here's the link: http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/lukenguyen/recipes/detail/recipe/11056

Looks like a great recipe! Will update with photo once I have cooked it!

Edit: here's the photo!


Reproduced here in case the link goes dead:

Ingredients

3 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sugar
500g chicken, chopped into bite sized pieces
2 tbsp finely sliced ginger
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp finely diced garlic
250ml chicken stock
4 spring onions (scallions), sliced into 4cm lengths
Pinch of cracked black pepper
1 long chilli, julienned, to garnish
Jasmine rice, to serve

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, combine fish sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar. Mix well, then add the chicken and ginger, massaging the marinade into the flesh.

Cover and place in the fridge to marinate for 20 minutes.

Bring a wok or saucepan to medium heat, then add oil and garlic, and cook until fragrant.

Turn the heat to high, then add the chicken, sealing all sides. Cover the chicken with the stock, pour in the remaining marinade and bring to the boil.

Skim off all impurities until clear and cover the pan. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add spring onions and cracked black pepper, stir and cook for a further minute.

Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with chilli. Serve with jasmine rice.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Jjajiangmyun

Been watching an unprecedented amount of K-drama. Has given me a hankering for all things Korean, including food and drink. And do you wonder, given that food and drink describe the major passions of my life. 

From my favourite Korean cooking site - jjajiangmyun recipe

And from another site, it confirms my suspicions that confirms that it's similar to the chinese jia jiang mian but the taste is different http://www.sunnysideuprecipes.com/2010/02/ja-jang-myun.html

So it looks like I can't use the soya bean paste but would have to get real Korean black bean paste. Yes, one day I'll go to the Asian grocer and get the ingredients including the special jiajiangmyun!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Ellice Handy's Light Chicken Stew


The wonders of the modern internet! My brother found this old recipe that both my brother and I have been trying to recreate (separately, without even knowing) never since Mom passed on. And he post the link in FB which I picked up on.

And it was actually located in one of her old favourite recipe books. I must say that that holds a lot of significance for me, given that both mom and I were old girls of the same school, that very school that Ellice Handy oversaw as principal post-war.

Here's the link to the receipe:

http://cherryonacake.blogspot.com/2008/10/ellice-handys-light-chicken-stew.html

Edited: Here's my attempt

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Myulchibokkeum

Found this great video of fried korean banchan - stir fried anchovy

http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/myulchibokkeum

Saturday, September 03, 2011

Thai beef salad

What do you do when you have a lot of leftover roast beef? It's very hard to reheat leftover roast beef because it goes all rubbery. Much better to have it cold. Thanks to a suggestion from a good friend, here's my take on the Thai beef salad.



Ingredients
300g of roast beef, cubed
3 tbsp of Thai fish sauce
2 tbsp of lemon juice
2 tbsp of red wine vinegar
1 tsp English mustard
2 tbsp olive oil (optional)
Leftover sauce (for the roast beef, if still available)
8 baby cos lettuce leaves, washed and roughly shredded
2 carrots, sliced
1 tomato, sliced
3 rounds of vermicelli, soaked to rehydrate according to instructions on packet

Method
1) At the bottom of the salad bowl, prepare the dressing with the fish sauce, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard and olive oil, if using. Pour in the leftover roast gravy, if you still have it. Blend well.

2) Chop up the vegetables and pour them on top of the dressing. Add the vermicelli noodles.

3) Give everything a good toss and serve!

Roast beef dinner



Ingredients
700g of beef (not too sure what this cut is called, but the packaging said that it came with its own roasting tray, so I assume its roast-suitable!)
2 tsp of sage
2 tsp rosemary
2 tbsp soya sauce

For the sauce,
1 glass red wine
1 red onion, chopped
2 dollops of butter
1 tsp English mustard

Method
1) Marinate the beef. 

2) Preheat oven to 250 deg C. Drain the marinate and pat dry the roasting joint with some kitchen towels. Pop it onto the tray and into the oven once it has reached the desired temperature. Roast for 10 minutes using convection+grill function.

3) After 10 minutes, turn down the heat to 200 deg C and turn off the grill function. Roast for another 30 minutes.

4) Once ready, take it out of the oven and cover with foil to keep warm. Let it rest for a total of 30 to 40 minutes.

5) Prepare the sauce. Saute the onions in butter until caramelised. 

6) Pour in the wine and reduce till syrupy consistency. Pour in any resting juices from the beef joint, and the tsp of mustard. Adjust seasoning of the sauce, with salt and pepper if required. Finish off the sauce with another dollop of butter for a shiny finish.

7) Carve the beef and drizzle over the sauce to serve.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Fast and easy beef stew

Thanks again to Better Home and Gardens which I adapted, and given that I'm a real sucker for stews, this is a real hoot! Dead easy and super tasty too!

Ingredients
700g steak, cubed
3 carrots, chopped into small cubes
3 sticks of celery, chopped into small cubes
1 big red onion
500ml beef stock
2 cups red wine (this is really the one that makes all the difference!)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp english mustard
1 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp rosemary
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp crushed ginger

Method
1) In a deep pot, quickly brown the steak and set aside.
2) Fry the onions. Once caramelised, add the crushed ginger and garlic and briefly fry. Add the carrots and celery and saute until soft.
3) Deglaze the pot with the cups of red wine. Let it reduce for about 10 minutes. 
4) Pour in the beef stock and bring to a boil.
5) Reintroduce the beef cubes and simmer for 10 minutes.
6) Serve with mashed potatoes or rice.


Thai Fish Soup

From a Better Homes and Garden's recipe, which I adapted slightly. This is a really simple recipe that is ready in 20 minutes. Knowing how much I love soups and Tom Yung Gung, this is a real hoot!

Ingredients
1 litre chicken stock
2 kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped
3 lemon grass, tied into a knot
700g of fresh white fish, cut into cubes
1/4 cup fish sauce
Juice of 2 fresh limes
4 cubes of palm sugar (I didn't have that so I used normal sugar)
1 thumb sized galangal or ginger, finely sliced
1 tbsp sambal
1 can of coconut milk
1 punnet of shitake mushrooms, stalks removed (I used button because I couldn't find any shitakes, which have a stronger taste that I don't like anyway)
2 tomatoes, cubed

Method
1) Pour the chicken stock into a pot. Add the fish sauce, lime juice, sambal, kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

2) Add the coconut milk, vegetables and fish and simmer for another 10 minutes.

3) Serve immediately with steamed rice!

Saturday, August 06, 2011

Winter salad

I really love assembly dishes - just assemble and go! Maybe that's why I like salads. However to make a really good salad, you need a lot of ingredients to assemble. Not quite so work-free after all! This salad celebrates the best of summer food as it is preserved at the height of their freshness for winter using very traditional methods. I admit my salt-baked roast chicken didn't go so well, which is why I'm not including a separate recipe for that, but this was the method I hit upon to disguise the chicken!


Ingredients (for 1)
1 piece of roast chicken thigh, meat removed from the bone and cubed
2 - 3 pieces of sundried tomato
3 whole sweet spicy pickles, sliced
5 to 6 olives (chose your favourite! I like black ones), sliced
2 tbsp chutney (I used olive and tomato chutney to compliment the other flavours in this recipe)
5 to 6 cos letter leaves, washed and roughly chopped
(other salad leaves optional)

Vinaigrette
2 tbsp oil from the bottle of sundried tomato
1 tbsp vinegar (I like balsamic or red wine vinegar)
1 tsp whole grain mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
1) Mix up the vinaigrette.
2) Assemble ingredients, toss in the vinaigrette and voila!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Jamie Oliver's Bloomin Brilliant Brownies

This is a great recipe, which he rehashed for 30 minute meals, except he halved the time by halving the proportions; and added clementine zest to 'pimp it up'.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Chicken and prawn Laksa

Been longing for a good laksa, which would you believe it or not, is harder to find in Singapore than you would think. Often its either too oily, or not lemak enough. Given that mine was a 'what's in the fridge' laksa, I had to improvise (e.g I didn't have thick bee hoon, and there wasn't enough yellow noodle, so I just mixed yellow noodle with kway teow). I must say that my dad's fridge is pretty well stocked though, although I would have liked tau pok and fish cake as well. Never mind, after a trip to the supermarket, I added that to the leftovers!



Ingredients (feeds 5)
6 lemon grass, sliced thinly
4 to 5 shallots, skinned and roughly chopped
6 cloves of garlic, skinned
2 big red chillis
1 thumb sized ginger, sliced
4 chilli padi (add more chilli to your own spice tolerance)
150g dried shrimp, soaked in hot water to soften
5 to 6 candle nuts, soaked in hot water to soften
1 tbsp belachan paste
6 chicken thighs
10 prawns, shelled and deveined, sliced into 2
10 to 12 cups of water
200ml packet of coconut milk
200ml milk (full cream preferably. U can use another 200 ml of coconut milk for a better taste if cholesterol isn't an issue)
10 laksa leaves, chopped finely (as a garnish)
3 handfuls of bean sprouts
500g of noodles (thick bee hoon or yellow noodle or both)
5 tbsp oil
pinch of sugar
4 tbsp fish sauce

Optional elements: tau pok, sliced fish cake, hum (cockles)

Method
1) Deshell the prawns, set aside the head and shells. In a hot wok, pour in 1 tbsp of oil and stir fry the prawn heads and shells until fragrant.

2) Add the chicken and brown the chicken. Add the water. Bring to a boil, then down to a simmer.

3) Remove the chicken when cooked (approx 10 to 20 mins, depending on the thickness and size of the thighs). Peel the meat off the bone and shred it, and return the bones to the prawn stock. Simmer the stock for another 20 minutes, then switch off the heat. Remember to skim the stock along the way.

4) In a food processor or pestle and mortar, chop up the items in the following order to make sambal balachan, which serves as the base of your laksa : thinly sliced lemon grass, ginger, dried shrimp and candle nuts (pour the soaking water into the stock pot), chillies, onions, garlic, and lastly, balachan. Items always taste better pounded in the pestle and mortar as the oils esp for the lemon grass are released, but its a long tedious process to get everything into a smooth paste.

5) In a large pot, pour in 3-4 tbsp of oil. Carefully add the sambal balachan as it is very likely to 'spit' once it hits the hot oil. Stir fry everything until the mixture 'splits', aka isn't a smooth paste anymore. It may seem like a lot of oil, but everything gets quickly absorbed. Add 1 tsp of sugar and stir fry until combined.

6) Slowly add the stock ladle by ladle and continue stirring until well combined. Let this simmer for 10 minutes for the spices to infuse into the stock. Add the milk and coconut milk. Bring up to a boil, then down to a simmer for 10 minutes. Switch off the fire.

7) Prepare the noodles by scalding in boiling water for about 3 minutes, and draining. Similarly, prepare the bean sprouts using the same method, scalding them for about 30 seconds before draining.

8) Bring the gravy back to a boil. You will notice that the gravy starts to thicken. Add the shredded chicken, prawns (which only require about 30 seconds of cooking) and fish cake / tau pok if using.

9) To serve, simply assemble. Into a bowl goes the noodles and spouts, then topped off with the gravy. Garnish with chopped laksa leaves. You can also garnish with shredded deseeded cucumber to increase the vegetable content.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Orh Nee (yam paste)

My 2nd attempt at making Orh Nee. It's actually much simplier than it looks and quite customisable to individual tastes and preferences. The key is in the yam - you need to find a yam that isn't too powdery, otherwise it'll end up quite 'dry', which will require a lot of moisture like oil or water to lubricate. Too much water and it becomes watery; too much oil and it becomes oily. In the end, I used Malaysian or Thai yams, which seem the best. They steam very quickly (only took 10 minutes for 2 large yams!) and the finish was velvety smooth even before adding oil and water. (Unfortunately I accidently deleted the photo! )



Ingredients
2 Thai/Malaysian yams (approx 600g each before removing the stem and external skin)
3 cups of water
10 - 11 tsps of cooking oil (use a neutral flavoured vegetable oil, or lard if you are lucky enough to have it and don't mind the calories! There is no other substitute for flavour)
1 cup of ginko nuts (if using. You can use half a can of ginko nuts or about 150g of fresh ones)
Optional: Sweet potato
3 cups water (this really depends on how much yam there is)
9 to 10 tbsp sugar (again, depends on how much yam and how sweet you want the dessert to be. I made it only slightly sweet)

Method
1) Cut the yam up into big cubes (approx 4cm by 4cm) and steam for 10 to 15 minutes until a fork easily passes through.

2) In a food processor, process the steamed yam and drizzle the 1 to 2 tsp into the funnel everything everything is well combined, smooth and glossy. (I used about 1 tsp for every 10 cubes, as I was using a very small food processor) The consistency should be rather pastey and thick.

3) In a big non-stick pot, combine the sugar and water, and bring to a boil until all the sugar has dissolved. I took the extra step of reducing the water slightly into a slightly syrupy mixture, but you don't really need to.

4) Add the processed yam a bit at a time into the pot, making sure to stir continously to prevent burning. The non-stick is important here. Keep stirring until everything is well combined and smooth. If using ginko nuts and cubed steamed sweet potato, this is the time to combine it in. Only add these 2 elements after all the sugar and oil have been well incorporated into the paste, and don't over stir, otherwise you will end up breaking the ginko nuts and cubed sweet potato.

5) Serve warm.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Lamb cassarole

In case you haven't noticed, I'm an oven junkie - I love doing things in the oven simply because its minimal fuss. Just prepare, don't even have to leave it to marinate, and just chuck in the oven. Set the timer and off she goes. After about an hour, turn off the oven and let it slow cook in the remaining heat until dinner time.

I saw some lamb on sale and thought that it would be a great way to celebrate my Easter, by treating myself to a bit of lamb. I decided to dunk it with loads to ginger so that it doesn't taste gamey. Unfortunately, it came off tasting like beef, which isn't too bad a result I guess.


Ingredients
400g lamb chunks
1 tbsp rosemary
1 tbsp oregano
2 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp oyster sauce (I would usually use worchester but I don't have that)
1 cubed potato
1 cubed purple yam
Enough water to cover everything

Method
1) Put everything into the cassarole, except the yam. Preheat oven to 200 deg C. Bake at 200 deg C for 20 mins until it starts to boil. Add the yam. (with yam its really very hard to tell, mine 'melted' after the entire time but my spuds were still ok, so it depends on what kind of yam you use)

2) After the first 20 mins, turn down to 100 deg C for another 40 mins. Then turn off the oven and let it cook in the residual heat for another 2 to 3 hours.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Beef casserole

I have wanted to do a beef soup or cassarole for a very long time, but it's only after coming here, where my local supermarket does a pack of stewing beef. It's the cheapest beef I can find, and it's probably the leftover bits that the butcher cuts off (it sure looks that way) rather than cubed stewing beef which is specially cut that way. Other than how it looks, there is an upside. There is a lot of fat, so the beef, once it cooks down, is actually really tender and just falls apart. The fat can be quite easily skimmed off.

What I would add to this casserole? Vegs like carrots, celery and potatoes, but being a single eater, I didn't want to put in that much food. But it would make this casserole more of a stew than the watery soup that my recipe produces.

This is a very simple fuss-free recipe, so I don't even bother doing things like flouring and browning the meat but if you had the time, you should of course do it.


Ingredients
300g stewing beef, cubed
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp wine (either chinese or red wine)
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp dark soya
1 tbsp light soya
Herbs (whatever you like, rosemary, sage, oregano, parsley, etc)
Black pepper to taste
1 to 2 cups of water (sufficient to cover the meat)

Method
1) Marinate the beef. This is not really essential, because the beef will be in the oven for a very long time.

2) Put the meat in a covered casserole, or a dutch oven if you have one. Preheat the oven to 200 deg C and pop in the pot when ready. After 20 to 30 mins, once it has come to a rolling boil, turn down the heat to 100 deg C. Let it simmer gently for 1 hour. Turn off the heat. It is ready to serve, but what I do (to save electricity) is to turn off my oven and let it continue cooking in the residual heat, where it will happily do so for up to 4 hours, and it is still warm enough (not boiling hot) to serve for dinner.

3) Serve with rice, garlic bread, or mashed potatoes - whatever you like!

Saturday, April 09, 2011

Cheat's chicken rice

I have been doing a lot of microwaved meals, mostly because it's quick and easy and least amount of fuss, and it's difficult cooking for 1 person. I discovered this chicken rice equivalent quite by accident. You will see why I say 'equivalent' later. Don't expect really premium quality bak zhum gai type of chicken, this is really more about taste than texture, because there's only so much the microwave can do! Whenever I cook this and my flat mate steps into the apt, she never fails to say "Wow, smells wonderful!" and she's a vegetarian!

Ingredients
3 chicken thighs
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp chopped ginger
1/2 tsp sugar
Black pepper to taste
1 tbsp water
Vegs (e.g. broccoli, cabbage) optional - if adding veg, you need to add more water
1 portion of rice, cooked



Method
1) Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients for at least 1/2 hour.

2) Put everything in a microwave casserole. Microwave at 30% for 20 mins, then turn up to 70% for 3-5 mins. The lower the heat, the more moist your chicken will be but it wil naturally take longer. Each microwave's voltage differs, so you really have to check whether the chicken is cooked, and adjust accordingly. To do this, pierce a fork into the thickest part of the thigh, usually next to the bone, and see if the juices run clear. You can also do it at 10 mins for 50% power if that's quicker. It's all about experimenting with your own microwave to get the best result that works for your microwave.

3) At this point, you're asking, so where is the rice? What happens is that the chicken juices will flow out. You add the rice to this (warmed up if necessary) and it will absorb the juices and it really tastes like chicken rice!!!! See why I said 'chicken rice equivalent'? Because if yo know how chicken rice is really cooked, you know that the rice is usually fried in chicken oil then cooked in chicken stock!

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Autumn chicken soup


I have always loved soups, but no where is this more appropriate than during my first autumn in Oz. Somehow its just very nice and earthy to drink warm soup during a cool evening - the feeling of being home once again as the warming nourishing soup fills my tummy. This isn't my usual clear soup, it has a lot more packed into it in terms of seasoning - makes up for the loneliness and emptiness and lack of ingredients!

Ingredients
1 tbsp light soya
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp garlic
1 tbsp ginger
2 cups water
3 pieces of chicken thigh, deskinned

Method
1) Marinate the chicken with the above. I don't have rice wine, so I used oyster and fish sauce to add a different type of flavour, but boy do I miss my chinese rice wine!
2) Transfer to oven cassarole covered dish and bake. It can either be a slow bake at low heat or a quick one at high heat - the outcome is very different! For this one, I used 200 deg C until it boiled, then turned off the heat and left it in the hot oven for the next 1 hr. It was still boiling when it came out of the oven!

Buchujeon (Garlic chives pancake)