Jigae cottage pie

What do you do when you feel like eating cottage pie and jigae? Make jigae cottage pie!

Ingredients
300g minced beef
1tbsp gochugaru
1tbsp doenjang
1tbsp fish sauce
½ white onion, chopped
1 tsp chopped ginger
1tsp chopped garlic
1tsp sugar
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
2 carrots, cubed into small 0.5 cm cubes
1 potato, thinly sliced using a mandolin
½ cup cheese
¼ cup water


Method
1) Marinade the beef with all the ingredients. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and mix well.
2) Place the carrots at the bottom of a casserole.
3) Add the water, just enough to cover the carrots.
4) Spoon the minced beef on top. Using a spoon, press down and flatten the beef like u would a meat loaf.
5) Arrange the  potato slices on top of the beef, then sprinkle the cheese on top. Cover.
6) Bake at 200 deg C for 30 mins, then uncover the casserole and grill for 10 mins until the cheese is bubbling and slightly charred.

Pasta Alfredo

I adapted my recipe from OnePotChefShow called easy pasta alfredo. Mine's probably not very authentic but since I didn't want to use cream, I had to improvise by using a white sauce and cheese to thicken.

Ingredients
2 l milk, at room temperature
50g butter
4 tbsp plain flour
1 cup grated cheese (use any type you like)
1 cup chopped parsley
250g proscutito, chopped
1 tsp garlic, minced
500g dry pasta (again, use whatever type you like)
Salt
Pepper

Method
1) Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Drain and set aside.
2) In a pot, fry the proscuitto in a little butter. Once the fat on the proscruitto has melted, fry the garlic for a few seconds until fragrant, then melt the rest of the butter. Add in the chopped stalks of the parsley.
3) Add the flour and stir quickly until well incorporated. Pour in about a cup of the milk and stir in quickly to ensure that there are no lumps. When the mixture has thickened, add in more milk, a cup at a time whenever the sauce thickens, until you have finished all the milk.
4) Add in the grated cheese. Stir till well combined and till all the cheese has melted.
5) Toss in most of the parsley, leaving a bit behind for garnishing.
6) Pour in the drained pasta and quickly stir through the sauce through till well incorporated.
7) Garnish with the reserved parsley and serve immediately.

Jamie's crumbliest scones

http://rasamalaysia.com/crumbliest-scones-recipe/2/

Another scone recipe.

Ingredients (makes 6):

75 g dried fruit, such as sour cherries, raisins, sultanas, chopped sour apricots, blueberries, or a mixture
Orange juice, for soaking
75 g cold unsalted butter
250 g self-raising flour, plus a little extra for dusting
1 level teaspoon baking powder
1 heaped teaspoon golden caster sugar
Pinch of salt
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk, plus a little extra for brushing

Roll to 2-3 cm thick, 6cm rounds, bake at 200 deg C for 15-18 minutes.

Place upside down (bakes better?)

Sago gula melaka

From my cousin's email

I don't really have a proper recipe but gathered bits and pieces of tips on how to make pudding. I had made few failed attempts before. 
Here's what I did this time. 

1) use large pot. 270gm (1 packet) of sago.
2) fill the entire pot with water to cover sago (important to ensure the pot is full and you can barely see the sago underneath or the washing stage later will be laborious)
3) over medium fire, boil sago stirring constantly. 
4) change over to other hand if started with right hand. 
5) keep on stirring till mixture thickens and you don't see white spots in the middle of each bead. Don't stress it will look like glue but this is normal!!
6) pour thick starchy mixture into colander and run COLD tap water over starchy mixture to wash excess glue-yness from sago. 
7) you feel guilty for using so much water. But keep going. 
8) you are flushing starch away. 
9) Lo and behold, you see little individual pearls appear. 
10) Drain off water and scoop pearls into mould. Leave to set in fridge.
11) when ready to serve, drown set sago in coconut milk. Drizzle with Gula Melaka according to sweetness you want. 
12) Yay! 

Nutella mini croissants

I have some left over puff pastry in the freezer from the last time I made sausage rolls for a picnic. I didn't relish doing sausage rolls again, so thought I'd look for some quick and fast recipe. Since I have 1.5 bottles of Nutella in the pantry, et voila, this is perfect!

I can't stand the way the chef pronounces "Nutella" as "Neu-tella" but hey, whatever floats her boat, right, especially if she's trying very hard to be faithful to her Italian (Brooklyn?) heritage.

She uses 425 deg F (220 deg C) for 10 to 12 minutes.

Here's another recipe that uses chocolate buttons (which I also have lurking around in my pantry) instead of Nutella, and bakes it at much lower, only 350 deg F (180 deg C) but for 20 to 25 minutes. I guess it takes longer to melt the buttons than the Nutella, which is already kinda liquid.

http://www.inspiredtaste.net/20300/sinfully-easy-chocolate-croissant-recipe/

http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/3-ingredient-nutella-croissants-recipe/

Basic recipe is as follows:

1) 1 sheet of pastry, rolled out another another inch on all sides. Cut into 8 rectangles, then cut each rectangle diagonally to make 16 triangles.

2) Try to make the triangle equilateral by stretching out the dough. Then starting from the longest side, put 1 tsp of Nutella or 1 tsp of buttons. Brush egg wash on the sides and then roll towards the other end (watch the video), making sure to tuck in the filling so it doesn't spill out. Then like a croissant, turn in the ends towards the centre.

3) Place on baking sheet with parchment or baking paper, then brush the tops of each croissant with egg wash (1 beaten egg with dash of milk).

4) Bake away and serve dusted with powered sugar if using.

Sausage rolls

Jaime Oliver did a simple sausage roll recipe in his 30 minute meals series, and received rave reviews from cooking blogs so I thought for my upcoming picnic, I'd be able to whip this out on the morning of the picnic in under 30 minutes (plus baking time!) I was so wrong - it took me 1.5 hours, because I made an error and had to undo the first batch, and also because I was going really slowly so as not to spill stuff here and there and then have do a huge clean up afterwards! He's got a clean up crew - I don't!

I found the best pictoral preparation blog entry was this one: Dine at Mine http://dineatmine.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/sausage-rolls.html

I didn't exactly follow the blog so here's my interpretation.

Ingredients (I made 24 out of this but the recipe says you can make 20)
1 packet of chipolata sausages (12 inside)
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 egg and splash of milk
2 sheets of store bought puff pastry, thawed
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 tbsp sesame seeds

Method (best to refer to the Dine at Mine's photos)
1) Unroll the puff pastry sheet and place on a lightly floured surface. Cut 1 sheet of puff pastry in two.
2) Near the edge of 1 sheet, place 4 sausages diagonally (I only used 4 because I found it too full to close up if I followed the recipe and put 6).
3) In a pestle and mortar, pound up the coriander and fennel. Sprinkle over the sausages.
4) Sprinkle the cheese over the sausages.
3) Fold over the pastry and seal the edges with a bit of egg wash and use the twines of the fork to crimp them down.
4) Brush with egg wash and scatter the sesame seeds on top.
5) Cut each roll into about 5 or 6  x 10 cm pieces.
6) Transfer each sausage roll onto a parchment paper and bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 220 deg C or until golden brown.

Five spiced orange pork chops with sweet potato

Suddenly inspired to come up with this recipe based on the sheer number of fortnight old oranges we have lying in the fridge!

Ingredients

500g pork chops or pork rashers

1 tbsp ginger, minced

1 tbsp five spice powder

1 tbsp garlic, minced

1 white onion, chopped

2 oranges, zest and juice

1 tsp rock salt or more to taste

Cracked black pepper to taste

3 sweet potatoes

Method

1) Marinade pork in all the ingredients except the sweet potatoes and oranges for at least half an hour, best overnight.

2) Peel and cube the sweet potato.

3) In a roasting dish, assemble as follows: 

Place sweet potatoes cubes at the bottom. On top, place the pork. Drizzle over the zest and juice of the oranges, I even stuff the used orange peels in between the sweet potatoes to provide fragrance as their oils are released in the heat.

4) Roast at 220 deg C for 15 mins if the pork has skin to form crackling before turning down to 150 deg C to slow cook for another 35 to 45 minutes or till cooked. If the pork has no skin, start at 200 deg C for 10 mins then turn down to 150 deg C for another 45 to 60 mins or till cooked.

5) Serve on a bed of cous cous.

Crab cakes

I saw a tin of crab meat in the supermarket and thought to myself - I had to have it! I've often seen Nigella and Jamie and other chefs using it in their cooking to make crab cakes, crab pasta, etc but was always dismayed that I didn't know where to find it in Australia or Singapore. In the UK, it's available in gourmet shops which our chefs undoubtedly would know the locations of. Me, I don't know any fancy smancy gourmet shops here, or even if I did, they usually stock the usual (boring) stuff like cheese, olives and other preserved vegs, and if lucky, more exotic things like Mediterranean sauces. After trawling the internet for ang mo and Thai versions, here's my version of an East-West crab cake.

Ingredients
1 tin (250g) crab meat, drained
1 potato, peeled and grated finely (squeeze out any juice that comes out)
1 egg, beaten
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tbsp mayo (I like the Japanese version)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

Method
1) Combine the crab meat, potato, egg, mayo, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt and pepper in a bowl. Mix well. Pour in the beaten egg and 1/2 cup of the panko bread crumbs and combine well. Set aside in the fridge for about 1/2 hour to harden up, otherwise it will break apart when handling.

2) Take tablespoons of the mixture and form into a ball. Transfer into a plate of panko breadcrumbs and press down the ball to form a patty. Coat each side of the patty carefully and transfer onto a non-stick baking sheet. At this point, if you want, you can put the whole baking sheet into a freezer and freeze the patties for later use. These can be baked or fried from frozen at a later date.

3) As soon as you have coated all the patties, heat up a pan with a little oil. The coated patties shouldn't be allowed to sit out too long, otherwise, the newly coated panko will absorb all the moisture from the mixture and get soggy. These crab cakes don't need a lot of oil (they're pan fried, not deep fried). When the oil is hot, fry each patty. Fry each side for approximately 2 minutes per side, till golden brown. Serve immediately with Thai sweet chilli sauce.

4) The patties can also be baked. Spray a little cooking oil spray onto each patty and baked them on the baking sheet in a pre-heated oven for approximately 10 minutes at 200 deg C. Remember to flip halfway and spray the top with cooking oil.

Bur bur pulut hitam

One of my favourite desserts but I've only made this twice in my life, because the rice is quite difficult to find, so was very pleasantly surprised to find it in Australia WMD showcased in Better Homes and Gardens! But of course, ang mo cooked it western style as a savoury rice when it really is meant as a dessert.

Ingredients:

1 packet of rice, approx 250g or 3 cups

18-20 cups of water: this rice is thirsty!

100g rock sugar (add more to taste)

Method

1) Wash the rice by rinsing at least 3 times. This rice seems more sandy than normal rice, or maybe it's my imagination.

2) Put the rice and water into the pot and bring up to a boil, then turn down to simmer. Keep pot uncovered or half covered as it will boil over. Skim off any scum.

3) When the rice has softened, approx 40 mins, add in the sugar. Continue simmering till sugar has dissolved. 

4) Turn off the flame and cover with the lid to allow the rice to rest. It never really breaks down to a gruel unlike normal rice, but it will break up the more it's simmered.

5) Serve with a dollop of coconut cream or some coconut milk.

ABC soup

A long time favourite, there are so many combinations on the web. What does abc stand for? The variations I've seen are:

A = ang mo kio

B = bawang

C = carrot or corn or (c)kandang, or sometimes, celery

Which one is correct? Answer: whatever you like! I chose whatever was in my fridge, so it turned out to be tomato, onion, carrots and potatoes. I even threw in giam chai for more sourness!

Ingredients

1.2 kg of chicken thighs or drumsticks

3 carrots

2 tomatoes

1 onion

1/2 sio bak choy of giam chai

2 potatoes

1 tsp ginger

Black pepper

1l water

Method

1) Peel and chop everything into roughly equal sized cubes.

2) Blanche the chicken in boiling water, drain.

3) Put everything into a stock pot or slow cooker and crack in some black pepper.

4) Bring to a boil, and skim off the scum and fat. Then turn down the flame and simmer for approximately 40 minutes to 1 hour. Periodically return to skim off the fat for a clearer soup.

5) Add salt if desired. Serve immediately with steamed rice.

Nutella brownies

From this link

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=584498794915766&set=a.577027822329530.1073741826.100000669513646&type=1&theater

Ingredients:

1 cup (280g) Nutella

2 eggs

10 tbsp (62g) flour

Directions:

Put it in a bowl. Mash it up. Pour into a pan or muffin tin. Top with hazelnuts if you're feeling extra fancy. Bake at 350F (180C) for around 30 minutes (less time for cupcake form, more time if the centers aren't baked through).

Double chocolate raisin ice cream

I've tried the basic chocolate ice cream recipe and could never get it right because the chocolate always splits. I've learnt that you should never use anything other than a melted spoon to stir the chocolate because if the chocolate touches water, it will split. I've also learnt that chocolate buttons, having a low chocolate content, can also split after heating. In both previous attempts, I created a happy accident because the chocolate became little flecks, not unlike chocolate chips!

This time I decided to use good quality 70% cocoa dark chocolate but it still split, albeit to a much lesser extent than using chocolate buttons. I think the reason is because the chocolate hardened again. If (and when) I decide to try this recipe again, I may introduce just a bit of cream into the melted chocolate (like a ganache), still using 70% cocoa chocolate. Hopefully this may finally give me a smooth chocolatey ice cream!

Gyeranjjim (steamed egg)

This is a really simple and easy dish to prepare, and actually a staple of Oriental cooking. I grew up eating a slightly different version which I assume is the Cantonese version and it has minced pork in it. The Japanese have a version which uses chicken stock and is similar to the Korean Ttukbaegi gyeranjjim although Maangchi does it over a stove and as far as I know, the Japanese steam it in a cup.

The version I'm trying today however is the Korean version which only uses water and egg and no minced pork or chicken broth. It's called gyeranjjim and this is Maangchi's recipe. My version has been tested on my microwave because everyone's microwave is different.

• 
  

Ingredients

3 eggs

3 tsp fish sauce

dash of white pepper

1/2 cup water

Method

1) Beat up the eggs with the other ingredients.

2) Skim off the bubbles from the surface with a spoon. This step is optional, but just creates a smooth surface on the top.

3) Microwave on 30% power for exactly 8 minutes and 40 seconds. I actually watched this like a hawk, so the second all the liquid dried up, I stopped the power. I guess the timing would thus vary with the size of the eggs and amount of water used (since I used the Australian measuring cup rather than the standard US or UK measuring cup), so it might be good to watch it from minute 8 onwards.

4) I garnished with chives and parsley. To be served with rice.

Updated: I tried 1 min 45 seconds on high and got a lovely result! At least the egg (under the skin) was melt in the mouth and not hard like when it's done for 8 minutes plus at 30%.

Kai tung gho (Steamed egg cake or 鸡蛋糕)

I've previously tried this kai tung gho recipe in the past because I didn't want to use soda water or 7Up or Sprite. However, the cake always ended up being really heavy and worse, took 1 hour to steam. The cake becomes even harder the next day after it's been in the fridge overnight.

I've had to re-evaluate this idea and concluded from various recipes that the secret to success is:
1) wrapping the lid with a cloth so that the steam doesn't condense and drip onto the cake,
2) need to use old school soda water instead of baking power
3) hand whisking is better than machine whisking for a more consistent texture and
4) using cake flour rather than regular flour. Sifting is then optional.

I've since found alternative recipes:

1) Little Teochew: quoted by quite a few other food bloggers and uses an interesting method of folding in the cake flour, alternating with the soda water. Recipe uses cake flour.
2) Bits of taste: More ang mo-fied recipe. Uses cake flour and baking powder, and interestingly, adds milk. From the picture, I imagine the texture will end up being closer to that of a Japanese cheesecake?
3)  Empower network: Recipe uses normal flour but no baking powder. Uses lots of eggs and old school soda. However, the texture of the cake in the picture looks just as heavy as mine. Also takes 45 mins to 1 hour to steam, so outcome isn't going to be very different from the original recipe I used.

Would like to try them out some day! Watch this space!

Update: New comparison post in 2020

Fried bee hoon

I had a craving for this, which is the bee hoon version of fried rice, both essential parts of a Singaporean diet. It's not something I ever thought I'd miss, but here it is. In fact, it's not something we often find at even Malaysian restaurants because the zhi tsar version is never quite the same as the home made version.

Surfing around, I found a few versions but decided on to mix and match to produce my own version, and here it is.

Ingredients
1 packet bee hoon (I only had Vietnamese rice noodles in the cupboard so that will have to do)
2 tbsp dried shrimp, rehydrate in some warm water
15 dried mushrooms, rehydrated in enough warm water to cover (approx 5 Chinese rice bowls)
1/4 wombak, shredded
4 carrots, shredded into matchsticks
1 packet tau pok, sliced thinly
8 chillis, deseeded then sliced
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tbsp cooking oil
2 eggs, beaten (optional)

Sauces
2 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp Chinese wine
1 tsp chicken stock powder
Dash of white pepper

Method
1) Rehydrate noodles according to instructions on the packet. Drain and set aside.
2) After the prawns and mushrooms have rehydrated, drain and set aside. Remove the stalk of the mushroom and slice them up.
3) Heat up 2 tbsp of oil in a wok. If using egg, make the omlette now. remove.
4) Stir fry the dried shrimp until fragrant. Add the tau pok and stir fry for another minute. Add the garlic, then the mushrooms and carrots. Cover for 5 minutes.
5) Add the wombak and incorporate. Pour on the noodles and sauces and carefully stir till everything is well incorporated. Chopsticks might help so the noodles aren't broken up. Cover and simmer till the liquid has dried up.
6) Sprinkle on the chopped chilli on top and serve immediately.

Microwaved Mug Brownie

http://www.kidspot.com.au/best-recipes/Dessert+6/Microwave-brownie-recipe+4887.htm

2 minutes to prepare, 2 minutes to microwave!

Ingredients

1/4 cup (40g) self-raising flour

1/4 cup (60g) caster sugar

2 tbsp cocoa

2 tbsp vegetable oil

3 tbsp (60ml) water

1/2 tsp icing sugar (to sprinkle on top)

ice cream (optional)

Pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Add flour to the cup.

2. Add sugar to the cup.

3. Add cocoa to the cup.

4. Add oil to the cup.

5. Add water to the cup.

6. Mix all together until you have a smooth mixture.

7. Place into the microwave on high for 1 min 40 seconds.

8. Dust with a little icing sugar and EAT!

Review
I added 1 tsp of vanilla, pinch of salt, and used 1/4 cup flour with 1 tsp baking soda. The taste of the baking soda was quite obvious, so next time I really might have to use self-raising flour.

Next time, I might try using milk instead of water too.

Microwaved 1 minute on 100% power
: This results in a good fudgey texture, although the result isn't a very elegantly risen top. Instead, it was uneven in areas.

Microwaved 1 min 10 seconds on 70% power
: The top is more evenly risen, and still fudgey, although I am a tiny bit concerned that the bottom may not be cooked through (using a skewer) so I thought I'd put it in for a bit longer.

Microwaved 1 min 25 seconds on 70% power
: The look didn't change much, but it became much drier inside but was cooked all the way though time time.
: Perhaps a good compromise with the previous would thus be 1 min 20 seconds on 70% power.
: Will try more power settings next time.

3 ingredient peanut butter cookies

I want to try this...
http://onepotchef.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/3-ingredient-peanut-butter-cookies.html

Chinese roasted five spice chicken

I finally tried the Chinese roast chicken recipe from here. Based on the recipe by Rasa Malaysia, I finally found the Chinese roast chicken of my childhood. I always thought it had to do with a certain rub that my maids used to use, but I found that this recipe recreates the taste equally faithfully. The only problem lies with my technique, which differs from Rasa Malaysia because I'm impatient and don't have the time to let the chicken skin dry. I also compensated by mopping up excess moisture with paper towels and using a higher temperature, but it doesn't seem to have worked. But I guess there are no shortcuts to success, and next time I'll try to follow it more faithfully. The following is my recipe, not hers but is certainly based on hers.

Chinese roast chicken, served with over roasted vegetables

Ingredients
Marinade
1 kg drumsticks, cleaned
2 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp Chinese wine
1 tsp five spice
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp crushed garlic
1 tbsp crushed ginger
1 1/2 tbsp honey
1 tsp sesame oil

Coating
1 tbsp white rice vinegar
1/2 tsp honey
1 tbsp rice wine

Method
1) Marinate the chicken thighs in the marinade, preferably overnight.
2) Scald the chicken thighs with boiling water. This washes the marinade off the skin. Drain and blot dry wtih paper towels. (next time, I'll also let it air dry for about an hour in the fridge, uncovered).
3) Coat the skin the the marinade. Leave it to dry for about 3 hours. (I only did 1/2 hour! Next time I'll leave it for the required 3 hours, in the fridge)
4) Roast at 220 deg C for 20 minutes, turning halfway. Turn down the temperature to 180 deg C and roast for another 25 minutes, or 200 deg C for another 20 minutes if you're impatient. Naturally, the longer and the lower the temperature, the more succulent your chicken will be.
5) Rest the chicken for about 10 to 15 minutes, covered under an aluminium foil before serving.

Updated: i tried the full recipe, with skin airing for half then the 3 hours and using the same 220 then 200 deg C roasting ... The skin was crispy but still not for long, and the meat was a bit too dry.

Tiramisu cheesecake

From Cooking with Karma

A no-bake cheesecake - just the way I like them!



Ingredients

500g of cream cheese
3/4 cup of caster (super fine) sugar
300ml of whipping cream
2 teaspoons of gelatin mixed in 2 tablespoons of warm water (you can use agar of lemon juice instead)
1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste (you can also use extract or essence)
2 tablespoons of baileys irish cream (optional)

For base and sides:
Sponge finger biscuits - about 25-30
2 tablespoons of coffee
1 tablespoon of sugar (I'll probably omit this since the sponge fingers already have sugar on them)

2 cups water, recently boiled

For chocolate topping:

Mix 1 tbsp cream with cupful of chocolate buttons. Use the microwave to melt in 5 to 10 second bursts and use a metal spoon to stir. Transfer into a ziplock bag and cut off one corner to use as an improvised piping bag.

Review: 
Perhaps because my cake tin was smaller but I only needed 17 to 18 biscuit fingers. However, after trying the cake, I found the cheese too overpowering. Next time, I'll put in an additional layer of biscuit in the middle to cut through the monotony and 'ger-lak-ness' of the cheese.

My attempt:

Coffee-infused raisins with chocolate chip ice creams

Bombastic though the name is, the recipe is very simple. It's all about using the basic ice cream recipe, then after beating the cream and adding the condensed milk, just add:

1) 1/2 cup of raisins infused in 1/2 up of coffee
2) 1 tbsp of coffee (soaking liquid reserved from raisins)
3) 1 tsp rum (to counter the coffee liquid becoming ice)

After the mixture has frozen for 3 hours, use a fork to break up the big chunks of ice. Repeat again 3 hours late. This is to mix up the raisins which would otherwise have sunk to the bottom of the container.

My chocolate still seized up to become chocolate 'chips'. This time I was careful to use a metal spoon rather than a wooden one, which could have moisture inside, one of the leading reasons of causing chocolate seize up. I was also careful to microwave the chocolate in short bursts to prevent burning. I learnt from surfing that I should not have used chocolate buttons, which has a very low chocolate percentage!

From left to right: black sesame ice cream, and coffee-infused rains with choc chips

Oven "fried" chicken

I think I've finally cracked it. After much experimentation and combinations of various recipes, this seems to work best. A thought stuck me when I was warming up frozen fish fingers (ok, they were more like cutlets) and noticed that there seemed to be oil oozing from under the bread crumb layer. There obviously is oil involved underneath! Fish isn't really that oil, so where did the oil come from?

I scoured the Internet and voila, came across a recipe where instead of using egg (the most usual thing used to 'stick' the breadcrumb mixture onto the chicken skin), the recipe called for butter. Amazing! So with a few tweaks to the my previous attempts, e.g. instead of using a baking sheet and a wax paper, I decided to use a wire rack (suggested by another recipe) so that the air gets underneath as well to ensure an all over crisp, with the added advantage of not needing to turn halfway!


Ingredients
1kg chicken wings, cleaned (remove stray feathers). I used the 3 jointed wings with tips attached.
1 tsp five spice (you can use any dried herbs you like)
1 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
4 tbsp corn flour
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
50g butter, melted

Method
1) Place wings in a bowl and pat dry with kitchen towels as much as you can. Add the salt, pepper and five spice and mix well. Leave in the fridge to dry and marinate, preferably overnight.
2) Add the corn flour and stir to ensure even coverage.
3) In a microwaveable bowl, melt the butter. This usually takes about 1 minute on low, but stop after 30 seconds and stir. Be careful not to burn the butter.
4) Coat each chicken wing with the melted butter.
5) In a bag, pour in the panko bread crumbs. Toss in the chicken wings and toss everything about to ensure even coating.
6) Remove each wing and it on top of the wire rack which has been placed it in a baking tray to catch all the oil.
7) Bake in a pre-heated oven at 220 deg C for 25 minutes, then turn down to 180 deg C for another 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Pickled green chilli

What do you do when a little bit of fertiliser causes your chilli plants to amply reward you with 75 green chillis? Make pickles!

Of course i could have waited too they ripened on the plant but then what do i do with 75 red chillis, when i still have 7 now dried red chillis sitting on my window sill?


Recipe from my favourite Malaysian food blogger.

http://rasamalaysia.com/pickled-chilies/2/

Saenggangcha

Why pay $10 or more per bottle of tea when you can make it yourself? My favourite winter tea is ginger tea, and I've been particularly partial to the korean ones that you can buy at Korean supermarkets. However, they cost an arm and a leg for a bottle, although it does last a long time. My one piece of ginger and some honey that I had in the cupboard cost me probably less than $2 in total.

I surfed the Internet and it's so easy to make your own! Or if you can find Korean citroen fruit, even better!

I used this recipe from my favourite Korean cook but there are tonnes of others.
http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/saenggangcha

Her recipe is easy because there is no cooking involved, and it's so fast. It took me less than 5 minutes with a grater, faster if you use the food processor (but I was feeling reluctant to fire up the food processor for just a couple of seconds' work!).

Add equal portion of honey (Maangchi put her grated ginger into a measuring cup but I just eyeballed), stir well and voila!

Can be served hot (add recently boiled water) or cold (she didn't even add boiling water, just cold water and ice).

Maangchi does advice us to keep the bottled mixture in the fridge though.

Soya sauce pork

Two recipes which I'll like to try:

Ginger vinegar trotters: http://ellenaguan.blogspot.sg/2010/06/ginger-vinegar-trotter.html
Soya sauce pork belly: http://ellenaguan.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/braised-pork-belly-with-rice.html
Another Tau Yew Bak: http://www.noobcook.com/tau-yu-bak-braised-pork-belly-in-soy/2/

Budae jigae

I have been curious about this stew for a long time. Deciding to follow this recipe http://aeriskitchen.com/2011/05/army-base-jjigae/, I adapted it slightly.

this is my second attempt because I didn't have spam the first time. However, I didn't use ramyeon this time because I overdosed on it during mark I. However, I like the idea of melted cheese on the ramyeon, so I might try that next time.

Ingredients
450g kimchi
8 large franks, chopped
1 can 250g spam, cubed
1 packet of silken tofu
1 tbsp dwenjiang
1 tbsp gochujiang
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp fish sauce (remember that the franks and spam will be salty)
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
3 cups water

Method
1) Assemble everything in a shallow stew pot.
2) On high heat, bring everything to a rolling boil for 10 minutes. Turn down flame to low, and cover. Simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes.
3) To serve with ramyeon, you can either put it in the pot, or I prefer to cook it separately.
4) To add the cheese on top, add it after you have turned off the flame, and cover the pot. The residual heat will melt the cheese after about 2 minutes.

Ching tng 清汤

This is a popular and very light dessert that is supposed to be cooling. As I make it during this CNY period (today being 初八), I remember my kao mo, my ee may and my fifth grandaunt, all who would make this during CNY for visitors. Ideally, I should have 八包 inside, but well, one has to do best with what one has! They sometimes add ginger to make it more heaty and nourishing, but I prefer it without. The correct preparation of the individual elements and timing to add them are probably the hardest part of this recipe. Otherwise, it's quite stress free, simply toss in the pot and go. Some recipe writers even use the slow cooker.

Ingredients (honestly, I'm just guessing. I go more by 'feel' and also which items I like more. One good source may be EllenaGuan or NoobCook)
2 knotted pandan leaves
3 l of water (i always make enough for leftovers for days)
100g cup barley
100g dried lotus seeds
100g canned gingko (I didn't add this as I don't like gingko)
100g red dates
100g longan
50g boxthorn
Sugar to taste (I find it takes about 10 to 14 tsps. You can also use rock sugar, which is actually preferred)
White fungus (I didn't add this either because I don't like it)
Pang da hai (I didn't have this because I have no idea what it is!)
Dried lilly buds (only some websites add this. I didn't have this either because I don't like it)
2 pieces dried parsimonne (didn't use this - didn't have it!)

Method
1) To prepare the white fungus, soak it in hot water for about 10 to 15 minutes until it softens up. It will swell quite considerably. Cut off the tough core using a scissors, and then you can separate each 'leaf' into bite site chunks.
2)  Lotus seeds are perhaps the most finicky. If prepared wrongly, they become very hard. Even with an inordinately long cooking time, they will just dissolve but then there won't be any lotus seed to bite into. Soak the dried lotus seeds in recently boiled water from a kettle for 10 to 15 minutes until they soften. Remove the bitter green spout inside each seed. It is very important that the lotus seeds do not touch room temperature or cold water as they will seize up. It's fine to rinse them with tap water when they come out of the packaging but they have to go straight into boiling water almost immediately. Thus, all the websites that say to soak them overnight, in hot water (which will become cold) or otherwise, are wrong! I followed the advice of KitchenTigress on preparing lotus seeds based on her experiments and she was spot on! My lotus seeds were still slightly crunchy yet soft and yielding inside. They didn't dissolve into a soggy mess, but neither were they hard on the outside.
3) There is no need to soak the dried lily bulbs, but you do have to wash them very carefully with water.
4) Add the water, barley, red dates and knotted pandan leaves and bring to a boil. Let it boil on high heat for 10 minutes, uncovered (or it will boil over).
5) Add everything else except the sugar. Boil on high heat for 10 minutes until all the scum surfaces. Remove the scum. Turn down to low heat and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes until the lotus seeds are cooked. The lotus seeds will take the longest to cook of if they're tender, everything else will be fine.
6) The sugar has to be added last, or it will also cause the lotus seeds to seize up too and remain hard. Add the sugar and simmer for about another 5 minutes.
7) Remove the pandan leaves and it is ready to serve! This can be served hot or cold. Naturally, I prefer cold in the hotter months.

Soya sauce chicken

I adapted the recipe from : http://rasamalaysia.com/chinese-soy-sauce-chicken-recipe/2/

Ingredients
9 chicken drumsticks (original recipe uses about 6 pieces)
3 cloves
3 star anise
1 tsp five spice powder
1 tbsp garlic
1 tbsp ginger
8 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked in 1 cup of water till soft then drained and sliced. Reserve the soaking water.
6 hard boiled eggs
1 cup dark soya sauce
1.5 cups light soya sauce
4 cups water

Method
1) Add all the ingredients, except the drained mushrooms, eggs and chicken. Add the water and water used to soak mushrooms. Bring to a boil for 15 minutes.
2) Add the drained mushrooms and chicken. Bring to a rolling boil for 10 minutes, uncovered. Turn down the flame, skim off impurities. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. It may be useful to give a taste to see whether the soya sauce is too salty and adjust accordingly. I found that the brand of light soya sauce I used to be particularly salty and had to top up with water.
3) Turn off the fire and add the eggs. Let everything steep for several hours. You may have to occasionally turn the chicken and eggs to ensure that all sides get a chance to steep and they don't get uneven 'tan marks'.
4) Serve with steamed rice, or in my case, I used noodles for 'longevity' during this CNY period. As an option, garnish with coriander or parsley and chilli.

Yu Sheng Lo hei

I really miss lo hei. Seeing my friends posting pictures of lo hei, and it's not even CNY yet! So for reunion dinner tonight, my first reunion dinner in AU, I decided to DIY. I found this recipe by Noob Cook and decided to try it out. Being in a foreign country, I had to improvise. I'm sure if I trawled Sunnybank (the Chinese suburb) hard enough, I would be able to locate more of the ingredients (altho I'm still pretty sure pomelo would be elusive), but I wasn't about to brave the Chinese crowds, or risk the shops closing on me. So here's my highly improvised recipe.

Ingredients (for 2)
1 Carrot
1 Cucumber
2 small pears (to replace daikon. I used a harder and less juicy pear - Wiliam Barnett- so it would't be too soggy)
2 tbsp plum sauce
1 tbsp chopped Japanese ginger (the pink one)
1 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pepper (white is preferred but I only had black)
2 tbsps olive oil
1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds
2 tbsp Captain Crunch (to replace crushed toasted peanuts and the crispy Pok Chu)
Optional: raw salmon. My version had no raw fish and hence can be considered vegetarian, but I would have used smoked salmon had I remembered to buy it!

Method
1) Use the peeler to peel slivers off the carrot, cucumber and pears. Arrange separately in a deep bowl.
2) Gather family (and/or friends). While adding each of the other components, say the necessary prosperous greetings (check original Noob Cook article)
3) Get family and/or friends to hold their chopsticks and as everyone mixes up the salad, tossing as high as they can and saying auspicious greetings like lo hei and fa da chai.

CNY Chicken recipes

Two CNY recipes by one of my favourite food bloggers, Rasa Malaysia. Recipes that I've always wanted to know how to do but could never find the right recipes, simply because I didn't know the correct name for them! Eg the roast chicken you find on ang mo sites are quite different from the roast chicken we get in Chinese restaurants.

Soya sauce chicken: http://rasamalaysia.com/chinese-soy-sauce-chicken-recipe/2/
Roast chicken: http://rasamalaysia.com/chinese-roast-chicken/2/

Sambal balachan

I'm beginning to realise that there are different versions of this potent mixture. The ones I see online are just toasted balachan, lime juice and chilli, pounded together in pestle and mortar are that's it. Some blogger even had the cheek to call it a relish. I'm starting to think that this version is the Malaysian version, because I see it at my local Malaysian restaurant and my Malaysian neighbour really laps it up.

This version I made is what I learnt from a cooking school, and forms the basis of many recipes: laksa, curry, and of course more obvious ones like sambal kang kong and sambal fish. I decided to make it because I just had too much lemon grass and chilli, homegrown.


Ingredients (makes about 400g)
10 chillis, deseeded (You can add leave the seeds in, but I found that despite removing most of the seeds, the final sambal was still quite spicy!)
3 tbsp crushed ginger
3 tbsp crushed garlic
3 tbsp chopped onion
1 heaped tbsp balachan
7 lemon grass stalks
3 tsp sugar

Method
1) Except for the sugar, pound up everything in a pestle and mortar, or use a food processor. I used abt 2 tbsp of oil to help the food processor along.
2) Heat up a wok and add about 2 tbsp of oil. I know it seems a lot but the sambal will suck it up. Pour the mixture into the wok and keep stir frying. When u start to smell the balachan and when it mixture starts to darken, add the sugar. Continue to stir fry and it gets drier. Be careful to keep stirring as it can burn.
3) Serve up when it has turned a nice caramel brown and is quite dry and glossy. It may exude a bit of oil.

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Griddle pan waffles

What do you do when you don't have a waffle iron like me, and you occasionally get waffle cravings? Get a recipe which doesn't require a waffle iron!

I found the perfect recipe thanks to Jamie's Christmas show. Here's the recipe:

http://www.celebritykitchen.co.uk/jamie-olivers-homemade-waffles

Ingredients
225g self raising flour
2.5 level tbsp baking powder (yes, you heard right)
100g melted butter
Pinch salt
2 eggs

Method
My method deviates from Jamie's. I basically mix the dry, then the wet. Then making a well in the centre of my dry ingredients, I pour in the wet and slowly mix it in, ensuring no lumps. It yields a pretty thick batter. Let rest for 30 mins.

Oil a griddle pan, wiping off the excess with a kitchen towel. Pour in the batter into the heated pan. Set it on high for a minute, then turn down to medium for 8 minutes.

To flip, place a chopping board or big plate on top. Then bravely and confidently turn over. Repeat, ie 1 min high, 8 to 10 minutes medium or until cooked.

Alternatively, you can do little mounds of batter instead of one big waffle.

Slide out onto the chopping board. Serve immediately with whatever toppings you like.

Comments: one blogger had some problems turning it over. It worked pretty well for me, but yes, the (over) use of the baking powder although producing a very soft cakey texture and made it very crumbly, also tasted very strongly of baking powder. I might reduce it next time and see what else is compromised.