epularum

Home made bak kwa

2012-01-20T11:26:00.001+08:00

http://sg.entertainment.yahoo.com/news/bak-kwa-kitchen-110056570.html

Ingredients (results in 10 rectangular pieces, each 5cmx7cm)

3tbsp of fish sauce

Half a tbsp of light soy sauce

Half a tbsp of oyster sauce

230g of minced pork 70g of sugar

1 drop of red food colouring

Mix all the sauces and sugar into a bowl and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the minced pork into the bowl and marinate the meat well. Add the red food colouring. Leave the marinated meat for at least two hours. You can choose to leave it overnight in the fridge. Preheat the oven to 120C for 20 minutes. Grease the baking tray or wrap it with aluminum foil.

Use a tablespoon to spread the marinated minced pork thinly (no thicker than 0.5cm) over the tray. Place the tray into the oven set at 150C for one hour. Use the grilling function in your oven. After half an hour has passed, the meat would be semi-cooked. Take out the tray from the oven and using a tablespoon spoon, cut the meat into rectangles. Then flip the meat over to the other side and pop the tray back into the oven. Once the full hour passes, the bak kwa is done. You can eat it immediately, but we suggest, for extra crunch, put it into the toaster oven for 3 minutes before consumption.

Result

Not bad for a first attempt. I found that it was a bit on the salty side and surprisingly despite all that sugar, didn't seem sweet enough. Next time, I would

1) cut the salt

2) use brown sugar to bring out the taste

3) Add 1/2 tbsp of 5 spice powder

4) cut the cooking time by 5 minutes so that it's less dried out and burnt

5) Omit the red food colouring. It isn't necessary!

Nigella Kitchen's Choc Chip Bread Pudding

2012-01-01T14:18:00.001+08:00

Can't find the recipe but a blogger posted this http://sistabrownie.blogspot.com/2011/06/chocolate-chip-bread-pudding.html

Frankly I don't dig B&B puddings either but it does sound so easy! Maybe next time.

And here's the corresponding You-tube video

Pickled cucumber

2011-12-24T16:05:00.000+08:00

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)

2011-12-24T15:59:00.001+08:00

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

Photo of my attempt

Ga Ban Kho Gung (Chicken in ginger)

2011-12-03T10:16:00.001+08:00

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.

Jjajiangmyun

2011-11-22T20:09:00.001+08:00

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!

Ellice Handy's Light Chicken Stew

2011-09-27T08:18:00.002+08:00

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

Myulchibokkeum

2011-09-14T17:47:00.002+08:00

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

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

Thai beef salad

2011-09-03T13:20:00.001+08:00

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

2011-09-03T13:10:00.002+08:00

Never tried cooking a roast beef dinner before, but it is actually quite easy. Just have to have the right ingredients handy.

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.

Fast and easy beef stew

2011-08-28T20:17:00.000+08:00

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

2011-08-28T20:08:00.001+08:00

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!

Winter salad

2011-08-06T08:42:00.000+08:00

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!

Jamie Oliver's Bloomin Brilliant Brownies

2011-06-27T10:20:00.001+08:00

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'.

Chicken and prawn Laksa

2011-06-26T19:15:00.003+08:00

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.

Orh Nee (yam paste)

2011-06-25T17:08:00.000+08:00

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.

Lamb cassarole

2011-04-24T17:17:00.002+08:00

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.

Beef casserole

2011-04-11T17:07:00.000+08:00

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!

Cheat's chicken rice

2011-04-09T09:53:00.001+08:00

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!

Autumn chicken soup

2011-04-07T15:42:00.003+08:00

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!

Beef and bean stew

2010-12-20T23:39:00.003+08:00

Inspired by Brazalian Fejioda, this is certainly a lot healthier than the real version. There are many possible variations including changing the beef marinade, type of beans used and vegetables used.

Ingredients
800g stewing beef, cubed
1/2 cup flour
1 can of cannelloni beans, drained
2 carrots, cubed
2 leeks, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 rashes streaky bacon, chopped

Marinade for beef
1 tsp mustard
1 tbsp Worcester sauce
herbs (I used rosemary, sage and parsley, you can also add a bay leaf to the stew)
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp sherry

Method
1) Brown the beef cubes. Set aside.
2) Pour away the excess oil, and brown the bacon. Add the onions and leeks and sweat them until soft.
3) Add the carrots, beef and beans. Top up with enough water to just cover the beef.
4) Bring to a boil, then down to a simmer for a hour, or less if you're using a pressure cooker. I had a pressure cooker failure
5) Serve immediately with crusty bread, or let the stew flavours develop overnight.

Steamed milk egg pudding

2010-11-14T12:34:00.001+08:00

Tried this recipe from Cotter Kathy154. Works quite well but I didn't have a chinese rice bowl so used 2 coffee cups, which eventually became 3 in order to accommodate all the liquid. The pudding wasn't very sweet, not as sweet as we get in HK and because of the egg yolk, it was a lot more creamy than the usual egg white "dan lai" that I'm used to, but nice too.

Ingredients

2 eggs

160ml*2 milk (ie 160ml of milk for each egg). You can use skimmed or full cream, full cream would make it creamier although I used skimmed and it was still very creamy.

1 tsp sugar (didn't make it very sweet, might add another tsp next time for every 2 eggs)

Method

1) Beat the eggs and add to the milk and sugar. Whisk well.

2) Strain the mixture into the cup. Use a teaspoon and skim off the bubbles. This is important to ensure that the surface is smooth and not 'pock-marked'.

3) Get ready a pot with boiling water, and a steamer.

4) Steam for 13 to 15 minutes at low heat until set. Test for done-ness, if it's still not set, steam for a bit longer.

Fried Vietnamese rice noodles

2010-10-23T22:53:00.000+08:00

I found these miracle rice noodles, which is like bee hoon except its flat noodles. What's so miraculous about it is that you don't need to boil the noodles. All that's needed is to either soak the noodles in boiling water for 2 mins, or in normal water for 8 minutes. Just like bee hoon, but the difference is that it doesn't turn to mush so easily.

I initially wanted to do this as a vegetarian dish, but my family isn't very vegetarian. So in went a few frozen prawns, although you can just as easily add some char siew or minced pork.

Ingredients
1 packet of Vietnamese flat rice noodles
1 packet of baby asparagus (about 200g)
1 packet of bean sprous (about 100g)
1 carrot, sliced thinly like little matchsticks
1 cup of frozen prawns
2 eggs
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic, minced
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp Maggi chicken stock
a sprinkle of sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp chinese cooking wine
1 tsp sesame seed oil
1 tbsp rice flour
1/4 cup water

Method
1) Soak the noodles as stated on the packet.
2) This recipe requires slightly more oil that normal to fry the noodles, so don't be overly alarmed. Fry the onions and when browned, stir fry the carrots and asparagus.
3) Fry the eggs and scramble them. Add the marinade, including the water and rice flour.
4) Add the frozen prawns and half the water and and cover.
5) Once cooked (approximately 3 to 5 minutes), add the noodles and carefully toss with 2 spatulas. Try not to break up the noodles if possible. Add the remaining water. Try not to over-mix the noodles but the noodles should still be al dente and moist enough.
6) Add the sprouts, incorporate well and serve immediately. Sprouts don't need much cooking even 10 seconds is enough. It will continue to cook in the heat.

Sausage cassarole

2010-09-28T21:25:00.003+08:00

Inspired by bread and butter pudding. The easiest and probably not the healthiest thing to make but its sure fast and instant on a week day night. And highly satisfying too!

Ingredients
1 can of Campbells soup (the only canned soup I'll ever drink)
6 slices of bread
1 can of sausages, drained
1/4 cup milk
A lot of butter
4 slices of cheese (alternatively, use 1 cup of shredded cheese)

Method
1) Mix the canned soup concentrate with the milk. You might want to add more liquid depending on how thin the liquid is. Too thick and its too salty. Too thin and its too runny.
2) This is mostly an assembly piece. Lay half the bread at the bottom. Dot on some butter. Pour on enough soup to cover the bread.
3) Slice the sausages lenghtwise and lay them on top of the break. Top up with more soup and dot with more butter.
4) Cover with the top layer with remaining bread.
5) Finish off with the remaining bread and finally the cheese. Dot on with more butter if you like. Pour over the remaining soup.
6) Leave to stand for 10 minutes for the soup to absorb into the bread. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200 deg C.
7) Bake at 200 deg C for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese has melted and is bubbling. Serve immediately with a side of salad.

Note: Its extremely sloppy and hard to wash up, so you might want to line the baking dish or just use a buttered casserole dish.

Banana leaf cream corn or banana jelly

2010-09-15T16:57:00.001+08:00

I remember helping my mom to make this whenever my granny had her church group over for song and praise in the evenings. It is a very easy to make dessert, and goes down very well with the crowd.

Recently, my col took up a cooking class and posted pictures of her experiment on FB. Credits to Yeo Li Li (the instructor). I am just happy to have found this long lost recipe!

Ingredients
Slices of banana OR cream corn
pkt (13g) agar agar powder
300g sugar
1500ml water
5 pcs pandan leaves
300ml thick coconut milk
Pinch of salt
100g hoon kueh powder

Method

1. Mix coconut milk with the hoon kueh powder, salt and leave aside for later use.

2. To prepare the banana leaves, cut 5.5 inch by 4 inch, or 6 inch by 4 inch rectangles. Rinse twice. Boil water with the salt. When the water has boiled put in the leaves. Turn off the heat. Remove the leaves and put immediately in cold water. Alternatively, you can ‘seal’ the leaves over a naked flame on the stove.

3. Boil agar agar, sugar, milk and pandan leaves together. When boiled, sieve in the thick coconut milk mixture and mix well. Boil till thickened.

4. If you are using the cream corn, turn off the fire and stir in the corn.

5. Cool mixture slightly and place a tablespoon or two of mixture on a piece of banana leaf. Place a piece of banana on top and wrap up the jelly. Continue the process till the mixture is used up. Let it set thoroughly in the fridge before serving.

Milk poached fish

2010-09-11T14:01:00.003+08:00

I found this new item at the supermarket. (I know its new because the sign said so ) So far we've only got cod, so this is a welcome new addition. It brought back memories of my UK days with other favourite British favourites such as cod, sole, or plaice.

I remembered a common recipe called milk poached fish, which basically uses milk to keep the flesh moist. However, most recipes use haddock (either the smoked or the fresh variety), which we (still) don't have here. Ironically, I never tried cooking fish in the UK whilst I was there, simply because I don't know how to prepare it. Thankfully, we now have ready-prepared fillets.

I adapted from a recipe I found online for milk poached haddock, and adjusted with cooking times which I found for halibut. I used the poaching liquid for a bechamel sauce. The result? The fish was indeed easily forked through and flaked and really quite moist without being mushy.

Ingredients
300g fillet of halibut
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tsp basil (fresh or dried is fine)
1 tsp dill (fresh or fried is fine)
pinch of salt
dash of white pepper
1 cup of warm milk

For the bechamel sauce: 1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp flour

Method
1) Place the fish in a baking dish deep enough to hold the poaching liquid. Arrange the onion and garlic in the dish, and sprinkle on the herbs, salt and pepper. Pour on the milk. It should mostly submerge the fish. If not, top up with more milk.

2) Bake in the oven for 30 to 45 mins at 160 deg C. The cooking time will depend on the thickness of the fish (my fillet was about an inch thick) but you will know its ready when the fish is easily flaked with a fork. Remove the skin, flake the fish and set aside. Don't worry about lumps at this point. Slowly add the milk, vigorously stirring throughout to avoid the sauce catching on the bottom. It will burn quite easily. Add as much milk as is necessary to produce the 'saucy' consistency you need - neither too gluey nor too runny.

3) To make the sauce, first strain the poaching liquid. You can reserve the onions and garlic if you wish to serve it up. Top up the liquid to 1 cup with more milk.

4) In a saucepot on the stove, melt the butter. Add the flour and stir until incorporated. Don't worry about lumps at this point. Slowly add the milk, vigorously stirring throughout to avoid the sauce catching on the bottom. It will burn quite easily. Add as much milk as is necessary to produce the 'saucy' consistency you need - neither too gluey nor too runny.

5) Serve immediate, drizzling the sauce on top of the fish. Remember, bechamel sauce doesn't keep well. It forms a skin when cool and needs to be reheated over a bain marie, so only make as much sauce as you require.

Sweet, sour and sticky ribs

2010-07-06T22:28:00.001+08:00

British chefs always use black current jelly to thicken their sauces. This gives it a velvety sheen and rich flavour. This gave me the inspiration for this recipe, which has heavy influences of Nigella Lawson and Delia Smith.

Ingredients
500g of prime ribs
1 tsp mustard (English, of course)
2 tbsp soya sauce
2 tbsp blueberry or black current jam
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp garlic chilli sauce
1 tbsp corn flour
1 tbsp worchester sauce
Juice of half a lemon lemon juice

Method
1) Marinate the prime ribs with everything. I toss everything in a freezer ziploc bag and mush everything together well. You can also throw in the squeezed lemon for extra flavour. Leave it to marinate overnight.
2) On a lined baking tray (only so that it's easier to wash up), dab the ribs with kitchen towels as dry as you can and place them on the tray, fat side up.
3) Bake at 200 deg C deg C for a further 15 mins, turning halfway through the entire cooking time.
4) Strain the sauce from the bag into a saucepan. Create a sauce by the reduction method. Add more water if its too thick. After the ribs are done and removed to the place, add in the drippings (sans oil).
5) Serve the ribs after they've had 10 mins to rest and for the juices to sink back into the meat.

Mapo Toufu Pasta

2010-05-16T14:35:00.002+08:00

This is mapo toufu pasta, or simply put, zhajiang mian with toufu and pasta. I prefer the al dente-ness of pasta compared to the soft ban mian type of noodle.

Ingredients (feeds 2)
300g of minced meat
1 packet of silken toufu (the variety that is suitable for frying)
1 cucumber
1.5 handfuls of pasta (I like angle hair because it cooks in 2 mins but you can use spaghetti or even tagliatelle)
2 tbsp bean paste
1 tbsp chinese cooking wine
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp corn flour
1 tsp garlic
1/4 cup water

Method
1) Marinade the meat with the bean paste, wine, sesame seed oil, sugar and corn flour. Blend well.
2) Heat up a wok and some oil. When the wok is hot enough, stir fry the garlic briefly. Do not let it brown. Next, brown the minced pork until well separated. Add 1/4 cup of water, bring to a boil. Cover and let it simmer.
3) Meanwhile, prepare the cucumber by skinning it, then scouping out the seeds with a spoon. You can then use a mandolin to grate long thin strips, but since I don't have a mandolin, I used my peeler to peel out long half inch strips.
4) Add the toufu (cubed) into the work and gently stir to incorporate but be careful not to break up the toufu.
5) In another pot, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Drain on a sieve and set aside.
5) Serve by assembling - pasta at the bottom of the bowl, mapo on top, topped off by grated cucumber.

Bean Paste Bitter Gourd with Pork Bones

2010-05-09T15:09:00.000+08:00

This is my first time cooking 苦瓜Read online that I have to prepare it by first cutting it in half (skin intact), scouping out all the seeds and white pith, then slicing thinly. Salt and leave for 5 to 10 mins. Finally, squeeze out the juice to extract the bitterness.

I didn't have black beans, the original ingredient for this dish, so I used tau cheow instead.

Ingredients

1 packet of pork bones (about 250 to 300g). You can also use spare ribs

1 bitter gourd, prepared as above

2 tbsp tau cheow (you can use slightly less as this is rather salty)

1 tbsp chinese rice wine

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp sesame seed oil

1 red onion or 2 small shallots

1 clove garlic, crushed and roughly chopped

Method

1) Marinate the pork bones with the tau cheow, rice wine, sugar, and sesame seed oil. Prepare the bitter gourd. After squeezing out the juice, pat the gourd dry with a kitchen towel.

2) In a saucepan, fry the onion and garlic. Brown the pork bones until 1/3 cooked, which will take about 5 minutes.

3) Add the bitter gourd and stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1 to 1.5 cups of water to nearly cover the pork bones.

4) Bring it up to a boil before leaving it to simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until cooked.

5) Serve with freshly steamed white rice.

Unagi Temaki

2010-04-26T21:02:00.002+08:00

Got this idea from Sakae Sushi. Not difficult.

Ingredients

1 packet of ready roasted teriyaki unagi which has 2 halves of an unagi

1 cup of cooked rice, cooled

1/2 Japanese cucumber, sliced up. You can also use a mandolin into thin shreds

4 sheets of sea weed (nori)

Wasabe (optional)

Method

1) Cook the rice and let it cool. Warm up a packet of ready roasted unagi and slice it once in half length-wise, and another time down the spin. You will get basically quarters of 1 unagi.

2) Cut up the sheet of nori into roughly a palm-size square. Roll it up like a kachang puteh wrapper. Fill it up with rice to fill the bottom, then slide in 1 quarter of the unagi.

3) Slice up the cucumber or shred it with a mandolin. I just got lazy, after all, its a late weekday dinner. Slide it in as well.

4) Take the sauce from the unagi packet and sancho and serve as dipping sauce. Wasabe is optional.

5) Serve and eat immediately, otherwise the seaweed gets soggy and chewy.

Wanton

2010-02-27T14:13:00.000+08:00

Felt very much like having dumplings, so went to get some wanton skin. Its still the most traditional kind of dumpling that I've eaten since childhood, unlike all the 'shanghai' dumpling skins and 'gyoza' dumpling skins that we see in the supermarket nowadays.

Ingredients
1 packet of wanton skins (about 22 inside, don't ask me why there's such an odd number)
300g minced pork
200g prawns, shelled and chopped into small bits. You can also mince it, but I prefer a bit of bite
1 tbsp cooking wine
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
a bit of water (to seal the edges of the wanton), with 1/2 tsp corn flour added (optional, since the wanton has already been dusted with flour, its actually 'sticky' enough to seal the dumpling)
1 tbsp corn flour

Sauce for the noodles
1/2 tsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp chilli sauce
1/2 tsp tomato ketchup
Dash of sesame seed oil

Soup
1 tbsp chicken stock concentrate
1l of water

Method
1) Marinate the pork and prawn with the wine, soya sauce and fish sauce. I didn't bother to let it marinate very long as I knew I would take some time to wrap the dumplings, so that would be more than sufficient time for the mixture to marinate before it goes into the pot.

2) Using a teaspoon, spoon 1 tsp of the mixture into the centre of the wanton skin.

3) Fold in half to make a triangular shape and use the water or corn flour paste mixture to line the sides. Press down to seal the edges, gently easing the air bubbles outwards. I then press the 2 edges together, as I was taught but you can leave it as a triangle if you prefer. The triangle method works very well if you intend to deep fry the wantons.

4) Gently throw the dumplings into a pot of water which is at a rolling boil. The dumplings are ready to dish up and drain once they float to the top, about 2 to 3 minutes. Don't throw in too many dumplings at 1 shot and crowd the pot, bringing down the overall cooking temperature.

5) To serve, I never deep fry anything in my house, and I prefer soupy stuff, so I made 2 variations.

a) Dry: Cook the noodles in the same pot of water according to instructions, and serve with noodles and a sauce (1/2 tsp oyster, 1/2 tsp chilli sauce, 1/2 tsp tomato ketchup, dash of sesame seed oil) and toss the noodles to coat thoroughly. Dish the dumplings on top. You can also add vegetables of your choice, eg bean sprouts or cai xin

b) Soup: Pour away the water used to cook the dumplings and noodles. Using water from a freshly boiled water from a kettle, add the chicken stock. Once the stock has come to a boil, ladle it over the dumplings. I served mine with meatbals, which were actually the leftover filling.

Old cucumber and peanut soup

2010-02-23T22:14:00.001+08:00

This started off as peanut soup, but I really wanted the 'cooling' effects of the old cucumber that I was harboring in the fridge. Thus, I decided to do something like ABC soup (ang mo kio, bawang and candang), which is essentially a vegetable soup with pork stock.

Ingredients
1/2 cup peanuts
5 to 6 big dried scallops
1 big old cucumber, cubed and seeds removed
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 carrot
1.5l boiled water
500g pork bones for stock

Method
1) Boil the water in a kettle. Put the bones in a pot and pour the hot water over it. If you're very 'cantonese', you would at this point let the bones sit for about 2 minutes before pouring out the water, then you would repeat the process. This is essential for removing the 'porky' taste and making sure that the soup stays clear. I was making a weekday dinner so didn't bother.

2) Throw everything else in the pot and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a rolling boil, skim the surface of the soup to remove the scum. This is also essential in ensuring that the soup stays clear.

3) Turn down to a simmer and let it slowly bubble away for 1.5 to 2 hours. Better still if you have a pressure cooker, then you can reduce the time down to 40 to 60 mins. Again, being a weekday evening, I only had an hour to spare, but the peanuts weren't soft enough, and the pork and peanuts still had a lot of taste in them. Again, being really cantonese, we don't usually eat the soup ingredients, so all the taste has to be eked out of them.

4) Serve with steamed rice.

Five spice pork chops

2010-01-17T13:34:00.001+08:00

The age old question of - what to cook? It struck me that perhaps its time for another 5 spice recipe, haven't done something 5-spice related for a long time. Inspiration came to me - if you can stud a christmas honey baked ham with cloves, you can certainly stud a pork chop with cloves. I added the brown sugar to replace honey, which tends to burn in the oven. Instead of doing the usual bake or grill, I decided to do a covered casserole so that it will retain its moistness, rather than having it all evaporate in the oven heat. The result was that generated a lot of juice which was retained which makes a nice sauce together with the marinade.

Ingredients

2 pork chops

1 tsp 5 spice powder

1 tsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp mixed spice

Cloves

1 tbsp light soya sauce

1 tbsp shao shing wine

Method

1) Marinate the pork chops for 15 mins. Stud the pork chop with the cloves. Pat dry and place into the casserole and cover.

2) Preheat the oven and bake at 200 deg C for 12 to 15 mins until cooked.

3) To make the sauce, pour out the juices and mix with the marinade. Thicken the sauce either the corn flour mixture of by reduction.

Pear and white fungus soup

2010-01-12T15:37:00.000+08:00

Wanted to make this for a long time but never had the chance. Surfed and found a few recipes, and these were the easiest which I adapted. Benefits of Honey link and Soup Queen link. I was too lazy to double boil, and so I just used my special AMC pot's heat retaining properties, but this recipe is for normal pots. The result went down well, even with a year old toddler.

Ingredients (feeds 10 - yes there are a lot of people to feed in my extended family!)

5 pears, Chinese Ya pear or fragrant pears are both ok

10 - 15 red dates

2 bundles of white fungus

1 packet (about 150g) winter melon strips

Approx 2 - 3l of water

Method

1) Soak the white fungus in hot water for 20 minutes. Once softened, remove the hard yellow core and cut up into bite-sized pieces.

2) Pare and core the pears and slice them 1/8 inch thick. I soak them briefly in some salt water to prevent them from turning brown.

3) Pour dates and pears into a pot, and add enough water to cover all the ingredients.

4) Bring to a boil and boil at medium heat for 20 minutes. Turn down the heat to a simmer for 10 minutes. Add the winter melon strips and white fungus and simmer for another 20 minutes. If you prefer less crunchy fungus, you can add it earlier, around the time u turn it down to a simmer.

5) Serve either warm or ice cold.

Casserole chicken

2010-01-09T23:14:00.000+08:00

This is my mom's recipe, which we ate our way through our childhood. After she passed, I spent quite a bit of time experimenting and trying to recall from my childhood the possible things she might have put into the pot. And then I remembered that my mom is like a Jamie Oliver - bare basics. And so that's what I did - bare basics.

So here it is, but altered to my own taste buds, but the basic taste is the same.

Ingredients

4 drumsticks (Mom used to use 1 whole chicken for the family)

1 tbsp light soya sauce

2 tbsp chinese wine

1/2 tsp sugar (I used brown since this is going into the oven so there will be a nicer caramelized taste but you can use ordinary white sugar)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups water

1 medium carrot and 2 small potatoes (optional - my mom always added them but I don't)

1/2 thumb sized ginger, sliced thinly

2 star anise

Method

1) Marinate the chicken with the soya sauce and chinese wine. Just 10 minutes should suffice.

2) Put everything into a casserole and pour the water in. It should just cover the chicken, but if you need you can top up with more water.

3) Bake at 180 dec C for 1/2 hour and serve with freshly steamed rice.

The first taste transported me back to my childhood!

Best Roast Potatoes

2010-01-02T18:05:00.002+08:00

Taken from Jamie's Family Christmas ep 3 on Channel 4

Serves 6

Ingredients

1.5kg Maris Piper potatoes, peeled
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
1 bulb of garlic, broken into cloves
Red wine vinegar

Flavour combo 1:

A good couple of lugs of olive oil
A bunch of fresh rosemary, leaves picked

Flavour combo 2:

50g butter, cut into little cubes
A bunch of fresh sage, roughly torn
1 clementine

Flavour combo 3:

2 tablespoons goose fat
A bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked
A couple of fresh bay leaves

Method: How to make perfect roast potatoes

1. Preheat your oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5. Peel your potatoes with a knife or speed peeler and cut any larger ones so they’re all an even-size - twice the size of a squash ball is about right. Wash your potatoes in cold water to get rid of any extra starch then tip into a large pot, cover with cold water and season well. Bring to the boil and cook for about 6 to 7 minutes, so that they’re parboiled, then drain in a colander and leave to steam dry for 3 minutes. Give the colander a bit of a shake to help chuff up the potatoes – this will help to make them super crisp later on.

2. At this point, you need to decide which flavour combo to go with. Tip your potatoes into a tray or pan in one layer, and add your fat – olive oil, butter or goose fat – then season really well with salt and pepper. At this stage, I’m not going to add any more flavour. Toss your potatoes in the fat, or use a spoon or fish slice to mix it all up. You could get the potatoes up to this stage the day before, simply cover them with cling film or tin foil and pop in the bottom of your fridge or in a cool place until you need them. Put your potatoes in the hot oven to cook for 30 minutes until lightly golden and three quarters cooked.

3. Now’s the time for my new trick. Gently squash each potato with a potato masher to increase the surface area – the more of your potato that’s in contact with the pan, the crispier it will be. Whichever fat you’re using, you now want to prepare the rest of the flavourings. Add a good lug of olive oil to a small bowl and add the herbs, garlic and a splash of red wine vinegar, then scrunch and mix it up a bit. If you’re using butter, peel in a good few strips of clementine zest with a speed peeler – you won’t eat these but they’ll add amazing flavour. Add the flavour to your potatoes and give the pan a good shake, then pop back in the hot oven for 40 to 45 minutes until perfect for your liking. You’re looking for gnarly, crispy, bubbly and delicious.

4. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain off some of the excess fat, then tuck in! I’d be happy with any of these flavour combos, but this year I’ll be going for butter, but maybe with the rosemary and garlic. So you really can mix it up however you like.

Breakfast Pear Pancakes

2010-01-02T18:00:00.002+08:00

From Jamie's Family Christmas, ep 2 from Channel 4

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 cup of self-raising flour
1 cup of milk
1 large egg, preferably free-range or organic
A pinch of sea salt
1 pear
A few knobs of butter
Natural yoghurt, to serve
Runny honey, to serve

Method: How to make Poppy and Daisy’s pancakes

1. Put the flour, milk, egg and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. Once combined, grate in the pear, core and all, then stir it through with a spoon.

2. Put a large pan on a medium heat and add a knob of butter. Once that melts, add the batter, a spoonful at a time. You’ll need to cook the pancakes in batches, cooking them for a few minutes until golden on the bottom then flipping them over and cooking for a few minutes more until they’re done.

3. When they’re golden and fluffy, serve them right away with a dollop of natural yoghurt and some runny honey drizzled all over the top.

TIP: If you sweeten the batter, thicken it with just a little more flour then pour them into a Yorkshire pudding or muffin tin they also make the most delicious muffins.

Yin and Yang foods

2009-12-05T13:46:00.002+08:00

This is an interesting link which classifies yin and yang foods.

From the link
Examples of cooling and heaty foods:
Cool (yin) Foods:
Bamboo shoot, banana, bitter gourd, clam, crab, grapefruit, lettuce, persimmon, salt, seaweed, star fruit, sugar cane, water chestnut, watermelon, lotus root, cucumber, barley, bean curd, chicken egg white, marjoram, oyster, pear, peppermint, radish, strawberry, tangerine, and yogurt, broccoli, cauliflower, zuccini, corn, tomatoes, pineapple, turmeric.
Neutral (balanced yin and yang) Foods:
Honey, corn, abalone, apricot, beef, beetroot, black fungus, carp, carrot, celery, chicken egg yolk, cuttlefish, duck, fig, kidney bean, lotus fruit and seed, milk, olive, oyster, papaya, pork, potato, pumpkin, radish leaf, red bean, plum, sunflower seed, sweet rice, sweet potato, white fungus, yellow soybean, brussels sprouts, snow peas, sweet potato, taro, dates, figs, raspberries, raisins, sage, rosemary, thyme, brown rice, apple.
Heaty (yang) Foods:
Pepper, cinnamon bark, ginger, soybean oil, red and green pepper, chicken, apricot seed, brown sugar, cherry, chestnut, chive, cinnamon twig, clove, coconut, coffee, coriander (Chinese parsley), date, dillseed, eel, garlic, grapefruit peel, green onion, guava, ham, leaf mustard, leek, longan, mutton, nutmeg, peach, raspberry, rosemary, shrimp, spearmint, sweet basil, tobacco, vinegar, walnut, jackfruit, durian, leek, shallots, spring onion, , apricots, blackberries, black currant, mangoes, peaches, cherry, mandarin orange, grape.
eaty/yang foods:
• grow under the hot sun;
• are sweet;
• have lots of fats;
• rich in sodium;
• are hard, dry or spicy.

Cold/yin foods:
• grow in little sunshine;
• are salty;
• are lean;
• rich in potassium;
• soft and wet;

Roast chicken with a tomato based pasta

2009-11-28T20:40:00.001+08:00

Its been quite some time since I've had to cook, with the heat and all. Thankfully the weather has turned cooler so this is the most complicated (yes, it's kinda sad - this is considered complicated) dish that I've done in a long long time. Been inspired by all my pseudo cooking in Cafe World and I must say it has inspired me.

Ingredients
1 cup pasta (I used shells because they can retain the sauce better)

tomato sauce
1 tin canned stewed tomato - I have been told to use whole tomatoes and break them up, its tastier than pre-chopped ones
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp parsley

roast chicken
10 chicken wings (mid portion, not drumlet)
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp worchester sauce
1 tbsp rosemary
1 tsp dill
1 tbsp thyme
1/2 tsp mixed spice

Method
1) Marinade the chicken, preferably overnight. Preheat the oven to 220 deg C.
2) In a pot, lightly saute the garlic, be careful not to burn it. Pour in the tinned tomato, herbs and spices
3) Prepare the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.
4) Roast the chicken at 220 deg C for 5 minutes, turning down to 200 deg C for another 13 to 15 minutes or until cooked.
5) Assemble by plating up the pasta, then pouring on the sauce and finally topping off with roast chicken. If there are any drippings from the roast chicken, you can pour it on top.

Shui gao 水餃

2009-09-12T16:29:00.000+08:00

I just had a hankering for dumplings, haven't had them in ages and somehow felt like doing all the wrapping. Saw the yellow skins which I bought, but saw a new product, white skins which they call 'shanghai 水餃 skins'. Might try that next time.

Ingredients (makes about 32 or serves 3 - 4 pax)
400 - 500g mince pork
50g prawns, devined and chopped into tiny bits (the bigger, the more prawn to bite into)
2 tbsp light soya sauce
2 tbsp Shaoxing cooking wine
2 tbsp corn flour
1 packet 水餃 skins
A little dish of water
3 - 4 bowls prepared broth (chicken or pork is fine)

1) Marinate the pork and prawn with the soya sauce, wine and corn flour. Set aside for 10 - 30 minutes for the taste to develop.
2) Carefully peeling off 1 skin, place it in the centre of your palm. Place about 1 ping pong ball sized pork ball in the centre (it depends on the size of your dumpling skin, but should be no more than 1/3 filled. Don't over pack it otherwise it may burst during cooking.
3) Dot the edges of the skin and carefully fold into a semi circle. By this time, you would see the magically, the dumpling becomes 2/3 full.
4) Dot the semi-circular edge with more water and gather the edges.

5) Carefully slide into a pot of water on a rolling boil. Once it floats up (about 1 - 2 minutes), its done! But I was a bit 'kiasu' and let it cook for a further 30 seconds to make sure it was fully cooked.
6) Carefully place in a bowl and pour over the broth. Serve with egg noodles if desired.

Optional: If I wanted to make Shanghainese dumplings, I would replace prawns with chopped chives.

5-spice Tea Braised Ribs

2009-08-16T13:51:00.000+08:00

My uni friend once told me that instead of cooking normal bak ku teh, you can substitute with tea for a change. That got me thinking - together with 5-spice like what they do with tea eggs, this is a tasty yet simple recipe. I actually used green tea (高山茶) but only because I didn't have any black or red tea at home but the tea taste wasn't strong enough. On the other hand, it had a nice 'gum gum' (sweetish tea) flavour. Black or red tea would also give it a slightly smokey flavour.

Ingredients (for 2)
750 ml freshly brewed red or black tea e.g. tie guan ying, oolong or pu er
500 g spare ribs
1 stick cinammon
1 star anise
1 tsp 5 spice power
2 tbsp black soya sauce
2 tbsp light soya sauce
1 handful gei zi (boxthorn) (optional)
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp crushed garlic
1 small onion, chopped
1 thumb-sized ginger, sliced

Method
1) Marinate the spare ribs with dark and light soya sauce.
2) Brew the tea and set aside. The tea leaves should not be added to the pot and boiled otherwise they become bitter.
3) With a little oil, fry the aromatics (garlic, ginger and onions) until fragrant. Add the spare ribs and brown them.
4) Add the tea, and all the other ingredients. Bring to a boil before turning down the flame to a simmer and simmer down for 20 mins.
5) Serve with freshly boiled white rice.

Stewed beancurd in a King Oyster Mushroom Chicken Broth

2009-07-26T10:32:00.001+08:00

I saw giant oyster mushrooms from Korea, considered a delicacy here. I was trying to recreate the toufu soup that I had in Korea and this is what I came up with.

The original stewed beancurd soup was vegetarian but my household are meat eaters, and would feel weird without meat, so I threw in chicken and chicken soup. In addition, being so huge, the mushroom slices had an almost abalone texture to them, very meaty and smooth. In addition, just because I'm too lazy too cook the rice separately, I put in brown rice to make it into a porridge. The result - a velvety creamy stock which reminds me of risotto texture.

In addition, I put in the beancurd whole at the beginning, and expected it to break up. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was still whole, and in fact, the taste of the stock had permeated into the beancurd, effectively 'marinating' it!

Ingredients
1 packet of king oyster mushrooms, sliced on the diagonal
1 tin of Swenson chicken stock
1 packet of silken toufu (suitable for soup)
1 cup brown rice
8 chicken wings
1 tbsp wine
1 tbsp light soya sauce
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 thumb sized ginger, thinly sliced
1 large red onion, diced
1 litre of water

Method
1) Marinate the wings with wine and soya sauce and set side to marinate for at least 1/2 hour.
2) Heat up a pot and fry the diced red onion and ginger.
3) Add the wings and briefly fry until the wings are lightly browned.
4) Briefly fry the mushroom slices.
5) Add the stock and water, and garlic.
6) Pour in the washed brown rice and stir.
7) Carefully place the toufu into the pot, making sure not to break it. Ensure its immersed in the stock.
8) Bring to a boil before turning it down to gently simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.
9) Serve immediately.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-07-12T15:03:00.003+08:00

Taken from http://magdalenestc.multiply.com/journal/item/68

Did some adaptation of my own - I doubled the proportions (makes 55 cookies) so I neatly used up a 28 oz jar (medium sized) of peanut butter, and used 1 cup of choc chips. As such, I used 3 eggs instead of 2, and also because my eggs are quite small.

Very fudgey rather than crispy.

Katherine Hepburn's Brownies

2009-07-11T17:26:00.000+08:00

Source: http://www.survivingoz.com

Ingredients
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
250g unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp ground instant coffee
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
18 squares milk chocolate

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160C

2. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line the bottom and sides with wax paper

3. In a bowl, whisk the flour, cinnamon and salt together

4. In a heavy bottom saucepan placed over very low heat, put the butter in. When butter starts to melt, sift cocoa over it and add the instant coffee. Stir until mixture is well blended. Remove from heat and cool for about 3 minutes

5. Using a whisk, beat the eggs into the saucepan. Next, stir in the sugar and vanilla (don't beat anything too vigorously - you don't want to add air to the batter), followed by the dry ingredients, nuts and chopped chocolate. Scrap the batter into the baking pan

6. Bake for 35 minutes, at which point the brownies will still be gooey but the top will have a dry papery crust. Transfer pan to cooling rack and let it cool for 30 minutes. Turn the brownies out onto a rack, peel away the paper and transfer onto a cutting board. Cool completely before cutting into 16 squares.

2009-06-21T15:33:00.001+08:00

Had a hankering for this nonya dessert, which also happens to my dad's favourite, just nice for Father's Day today. Given the exorbitant rates you pay for this commercially and how easy it is to make (edit: easy to make doesn't mean its not tedious, esp when you're doing the 20th ball or so! ) and how well shops don't make it, I thought if I'm going to eat this standard and pay for it, I might as well make it at home! The difference however is that I'm eating it hot and we all know what a huge difference that makes to any food. Anything tastes better hot.

I did a lot of research beforehand, and here are my sources which I've adapted the final recipe from: Basic recipe which I mostly followed and reproduced below: http://www.mytasteheaven.com/2009/04/ondeh-ondeh-nyonya-kuih.html
Basic recipe which I like the 'method' of making the balls: http://fatboyrecipes.blogspot.com/2005/12/my-green-ondeh-ondeh-balls.html
Another simple recipe: http://www.mycookinghut.com/2008/04/06/onde-onde-malaysian-dessert/
Version with sweet potato: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=313655

Ingredients (makes 48 to 50 ping pong sized balls, only because I wanted to use up all the flour and grated coconut!

Skin

500g of glutinous rice flour
240ml of water (in the end I used a lot more than this, can't say the exact amount because i keep adding teaspoons of hot water in to get it moist enough)
2 tsps of pandan leave essence (which is why my balls are white in colour. The original receipe called for 2 tbsp of pandan leaves juice, which I was too lazy to follow, but I will next time! Taste of essence is just not the same!)

2 tablespoons of castor sugar

Filling:-

2 pieces of gula melaka (cut into small pieces)

Coating:-

200g grated coconut (I bought the steamed version from the fridge section of the supermarket, keeps longer)

1/2 teaspoon of salt

Method1) Pour the hot water into the glutinous rice and mix.

2) Add in the other ingredients for its skin until it forms a dough.

3) Form small balls into size and fill them with a little piece of gula melaka and seal them up.

4) Boil some water in a pot.

5) Put the sealed balls into the boiling water.

6) When the balls float on the water, take them out put into a freezer bag which has the grated coconut inside. Toss around until the balls are well coated.

7) The ondeh-ondehs are ready to be served. Some recipes recommend serving them cold (not chilled, but cold)

End note: I made enough to feed an army! Not an experience I think I'd want to repeat any time soon, my kitchen was like the aftermath of a typhoon afterwards, and no matter how much I cleaned, I still never seemed to get rid of all the grated coconut from everywhere! Next time, I'm going to bring a friend!

Almond Longan Jelly

2009-06-13T13:39:00.000+08:00

Requested by my col because of today's BBQ and another (pregnant) colleague loves almond jelly and has a craving for it. This is my mom's receipe which uses fresh milk rather than the synthetic stuff you get in hawker centres.

Ingredients
1 to 1.5 tsp almond essence (depending on how much you like the almond taste)
2 cans of longan
1 packet of agar agar powder
(following instructions on agar agar packet)
250g of sugar (can cut down to 200g if you find it too sweet)
1 litre of liquid made up of 500ml of water, 500ml of fresh milk

Method
1) Bring out a jelly mould. Rinse it with water so that the agar agar will easily slide out. Do not to dry out the water.
2) Prepare the ingredients according to the agar agar packet:
a) Add the agar agar powder to the milk and water. Stir until partially dissolved.
b) Put on the stove and add the sugar. Bring to a boil.
c) Stir to ensure that the gelatine doesn't get caught on the bottom. Once it is boiling, turn off the flame.
d) Let it cool a minute or so and pour into the jelly mould.
e) Let cool 10 minutes before putting the mould in the fridge.
3) Let set and chill overnight. Next day, pour over the 2 cans of longan, longan water and all. Put in ice cubes. If its still too sweet, add a bit of cold water to taste.

Prawn mee

2009-05-31T13:45:00.000+08:00

This is my mom's recipe which I've altered slightly but the basics are still the same. It really brings me back to my childhood!

Ingredients (feeds 2)
1 packet of medium sized prawns (approx 300-400g, I counted about 10 prawns in the packet)
1.5 litres pork bone stock (I used leftover bak ku teh soup from last night )
5 - 6 dried chilli
2 tbsp dried shrimp
1 large onions, or 3 shallots, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 bunch cai xin
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 packet of fishballs
2 fishcake, sliced (optional)
200g lean pork, sliced thinly (optional)
2 portions of cooked noodles (yellow mee, kway teow, whatever u prefer)

Method
1) Peel the prawns and set aside the heads and shells. Devein the prawns and set aside.
2) Heat up a pot and oil, and fry the onions or shallots until slightly brown. Add the prawn heads and shells and stir fry until fragrant and the shells and heads are pink. Add the garlic and briefly stir fry.
3) Add the dried chilli and shrimp and briefly fry.
4) Pour in the stock and bring to a boil. Skim off the scum. Turn down the head to medium. Cover and simmer for 1/2 hour.
5) Prepare the noodles according to the packet's instructions and place the drained noodles into 2 bowls.
6) Strain the stock. Add the fishballs, followed by prawns and cai xin and cook for up to 5 minutes or until everything is cooked. Also cook the fishcake and lean pork if using.
7) Serve with soup poured on top of the of noodles.

Zhong zhi - Hokkien style

2009-05-31T13:42:00.001+08:00

Getting in the mood for this Thu. The thought did cross my mind to do it, but was reading the ingredients and how to made my eyes pop out. However, I did get to enjoy the fruit of other people's labour - thanks to Aunt-in-law and a good colleague!

(recipe taken from Cozycot, user Swissroll)

Rice
Ingredients A
Bamboo leaves : 250g (soaked overnight, washed)
Nylon strings : per required according to individual

Ingredients B
Glutinous rice : 2 kg (washed, Soak for 4 hrs and drained)

Ingredients C
Chopped shallot & Garlic : 1 tbsp

Ingredients D
Salt : 5 tsp
Ground pepper : 1 tsp
Five spice powder : 1 tsp
Dark soya sauce : 1 tbsp
Sesame Oil : 1 tbsp

Method:
1) Heat up 4 tbsp oil, sauté chopped shallot and garlic till fragrant
2) Pour in glutinuous rice and fry till aromatic
3) Mix in Ingredients D to season, dish up for use later

.................................................. ................................

Fillings

Ingredients A
Chopped shallot and garlic : 1 tbsp
Dried shrimp : 200g (washed, soak to soften, drain)

Ingredients B
Chopped shallot and garlic : 2 tbsp
Chinese mushroom : 40 pcs (washed, soak to soften, drain)
* Huiji Waist Tonic : 1 – 2 cup (Huiji measuring cup)

Ingredients C
Pork belly : 2 kg (washed, cut into 40 pcs, marinate for 1 hr with seasonings)
Oyster Sauce : 2 tbsp
Dark soya sauce : 1 tbsp
Sesame Oil : 1 tbsp
Hua tiao wine : 2 tbsp
Ground pepper : ½ tsp.
Five spice powder : ½ tsp
Salt : ½ tsp
Sugar : ½ tbsp
Corn flour : 1 tbsp

Ingredients D
Dried Chestnut : 250g (washed, soak overnight)

Method:

1) Heat up 3 tbsp oil over medium flame, stir fry Ingredients A till aromatic, dish up, reserve for use later
2) Heat up 3 tbsp oil over medium flame, sauté chopped shallot and garlic from Ingredients B, add mushroom to fry till aromatic
3) Add marinated pork belly and fry till fragrant
4) Mix fry chestnut till fragrant
5) Add suitable amount of water, simmer till water is soak up, dish up
6) Take 2 pieces of bamboo leaves, fold to form a pyramid shape
7) Put 2 tbsp of glutinuous rice into it, dig a hole in the centre, add in fillings, cover with another 2 tbsp of glutinuous rice, wrap up, tighten with nylon string
8) Boil a large pot of water. Add in dumplings, cover and cook with low heat for 2 hours till cooked and soft.

[Nigella Lawson] Sweet & sticky ribs

2009-05-09T14:29:00.002+08:00

Tried this with chicken wings, only because I love wings so much. I changed the cooking times to 180 deg C at 20 minutes covered, then 10 minutes at 200 deg C uncovered.

Ingredients

4 fluid ounces (125 ml) Thai or Chinese sweet chili sauce
2 fluid ounces (60 ml) cranberry sauce (from a jar)
2 fluid ounces (60 ml) dark sweet soy sauce
1 clementine, juice and sliced rind
1 lime, juice and sliced rind
15 to 20 pork spare ribs

Directions

Place all the ingredients into a large freezer bag and mix well. Seal the bag and place it on a dish so that it can lie flat. Transfer the bag to the fridge and leave overnight to marinate.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
Remove the ribs from the fridge and transfer them from the freezer bag to a roasting tin and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Transfer the roasting tin to the oven. Cook the ribs in the oven for 1 hour, turning them over after 30 minutes.
Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and remove the foil from the roasting tin. Cook for a further 15 to 30 minutes, or until the ribs are sticky and cooked through.
To serve, place the ribs onto a large serving plate.

Simple Brownies

2009-05-01T15:42:00.002+08:00

Source: Country Fair Cookbook
Makes 15.
Ingredients
3/4 cup butter (170g) (I used half-fat butter and it worked perfectly)
1 1/2 cup sugar (340g) (granulated is fine)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp chocolate extract (optional)
3/4 cup sifted flour (90g)
1/2 cup cocoa (55g)
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4. Grease a 9″ square tin.
Method
1) Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
2) Sift together flour, cocoa and salt. Add to creamed mixture, blending well. Stir in walnuts if using. Spread evenly in tin.
3) Bake for 35 minutes or until done–a wooden toothpick or skewer inserted in the middle should come out almost clean, with just a couple of crumbs clinging to it. Cool in tin on rack. Cut 2 3/4 x 1 3/4 inch bars when cold.

Kai Tung Gho (鸡蛋糕 )

2009-04-19T23:00:00.005+08:00

Got this from quizzine. Not bad for the 1st attempt, altho I was a bit impatient at the end because I needed to leave the house, so the bottom middle of the cake wasn't totally cooked through. Next time will need the full 1 hr.

This is her recipe.

Ingredients/ Method:

300g plain flour
300g sugar (I used 270g but will try 250g next round)
6 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder

1. Sift the flour, baking soda and baking powder, and set aside. Prepare wok for steaming.
2. Beat the eggs till pale white and slowly add in sugar. Continue to beat the egg mixture till ribbon-stage.
3. Fold in the flour to the egg mixture gently.
4. Pour batter into cake tin or basket lined with 'glass paper' 玻璃紙. Steam for 45 mins to 1 hour. Check for doneness when skewer inserted into centre of cake comes out clean.

I just saw her new altered recipe. It uses a lot less eggs but replaces the air with old fashioned carbonated water. Will try that next time to make the cake 'smile' at me as it is supposed to.

Old-style 鸡蛋糕

Ingredients/ Method
3 large eggs
300gm plain flour
300gm sugar (will reduce to 200gm the next time)
170ml F&N orange juice

1. Sift plain flour and set aside.
2. Beat eggs and sugar until mixture turns pale and thick, about 20-25 mins using the mixer.
3. Fold in flour into egg mixture gently, until well mixed.
4. Pour in orange juice into the mixture and stir in one direction gently, and until well mixed.
5. Pour mixture into prepared cane basket with plastic suitable for steaming. Steam on high heat for 1 hour.

*To have your cake smile at you, sprinkle sugar across the mixture before putting into the steamer.

Blueberry Muffins

2009-03-29T22:00:00.001+08:00

Finally, my first successful muffin, with the right dome! Actually I've done the more English muffin recipe before which is more bread like but it was never as nice as the American cake-like version. I got this recipe trawling through one of my favourite local food blogs, Noob Cook, and she in turn got it from Jordan Marsh.

Just for info, according to my Internet research, there are basically 2 ways of making muffins - the traditional muffin method, or the creaming method. The former is more British and yields a more bread-like texture. The latter is more American and yields a more cake-like texture.

Anyhow here's the Jordan Marsh recipe from Noob Cook, reproduced with my alterations (in red) based on some secret muffin tips I found off the Internet.
Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins
Credits: Recipe from ‘True Blueberry’ by Linda Dannenberg
This muffin recipe is that of the famous Jordan Marsh’s Framingham Store (which closed down in 1983).
Ingredients
(Makes 12 standard-size muffins) My recipe makes only 10 if you use the tall paper cups I did
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
110g lightly salted butter (or 1 stick), softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 cups fresh (or frozen) blueberries
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F). I preheated at 220 C as you;ll later see why 2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together into a medium bowl & set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar and cream at low speed until the mixture is smoothly blended. At low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, and blend.
4. Add the flour mixture and the milk a little at a time, alternating one with the other, and beat until blended, then remove the bowl from the mixer.
5. Add 1/2 cup of blueberries and gently fold them in with a wooden spoon or spatula. Add the rest of the berries and gently fold them in. I used half a jar or Dalfour blueberry jam as I didn't have any fresh blueberries. I like Dalfour because there is no added sugar and the fruit are almost whole.
6. Place paper muffin cups into the muffin tin, and fill each cup with slightly more than 3/4 of batter. (Note: if not using paper cups, grease the muffin tin).
7. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup sugar over the muffin tops, then bake in the center of the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown and puffy. I didn't sprinkle the sugar as I tasted the batter and it was sweet enough, probably because I used jam. If I did use the real fruit however, I probably would need this sugar. In addition, I found to my dismay that omitting the sprinkling of sugar meant no crispy top! I baked at 220 C for 6 minutes, before turning down to 180 C for 19 minutes. This is based on my oven and the number of muffins I had so may vary for a different or different muffin paper cups. I tested with a skewer to be sure.
8. Remove to a wire rack and cool in the tins for 1 hour before serving.

Sushi

2009-03-14T09:38:00.002+08:00

I state categorically upfront - this is not an authentic sushi-making recipe. It is just a easy DIY at home simply because I'm nostalgic - I first made this in the UK and this is the first time in 9 years that I've done the recipe again. At that time, it was just something that reminded me of home. And at that time, I didn't have access to a lot of really Japanese ingredients, like I didn't even have the　のり (seaweed) and the bamboo mat, so I improvised by using a sheet of paper in place of the mat. And it worked remarkably well too! I also use smoked salmon which to the non-discerning palate isn't very obviously different from fresh sashimi. Altho we are able to get freshly sliced sashimi at the supermarkets nowdays, I do wonder at the freshness of it.

I did find however that the mat really makes making the square shape of the sushi roll very much easier. I also improvise by using brown rice since that's all I use at home and I must say it makes it very much harder to clump the grains together. It started to spill out.

Ingredients
のり(1 packet of seaweed)
1 packet of smoked salmon
わさべ (wasabe) paste
sashimi soya sauce (apparently there are many kinds of soya!)
1 cup of rice, boiled and allowed to cool

Method
1) Lay the mat out on a flat surface and place 1 sheet of のり on top.
2) Fluff up the rice. Spread the rice along the bottom of the seaweed. Pat down to clump the rice grains together. Place 2 strips of salmon along the centre of the rice.
3) Lift up the lower edge of the mat and slowly flip it over, ensuring that the edge of the seaweed is tucked in. Roll and flatten to ensure the rice is well packed. Continuing rolling until the seaweed is all rolled up.
4) Cut into squares and present but turning upwards. A little trick - wet the knife blade and you'll find it much easier to slice through and the blade won't get stuck to the rice.

5 spice 三杯鳮

2009-02-21T08:20:00.000+08:00

This is a Taiwanese dish with my twist - adding the 5 spices. Traditional 三杯鳮 actually involves 3 things, chinese wine, soya sauce and sesame seed oil. You're not really expected to use 1 cup of each, but it does mean that you're supposed to include equal portions of each. In addition, it involves adding copious amounts of ginger and garlic. Since I wasn't in the mood to thaw and skin my ginger (yes, I freeze my garlic for easy storage) I substituted this with dried chilli. I learnt this tip from this stall we usually buy our zhu jiao chu - possibly because ginger is expensive, this uncle uses dried chilli. The taste is slightly different - it makes it slightly smokey taste. While this doesn't really work with zhu jiao chu, it may possibly work with 三杯鳮.

Again in the traditional method, the chicken is cooked in a claypot. For me, being the lazy person who wants minimal mess, I used my favourite casserole method.

Ingredients
9 chicken wings (including drumlets)
2 tbsp dark soya sauce
2 tbsp light soya sauce
2 tbsp chinese rice wine
2 tbsp sesame seed oil
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp garlic, minced (or you can use 10 cloves of garlic, smashed)
2 tbsp ginger (3 thumb sized ginger, sliced)
2 cinnamon sticks
5 dried chilli
2 star anise
3 cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds

Method
1) Marinate the chicken with everything.
2) Pop it into a casserole dish and into the oven and cover. I used 220 deg C for 10 minutes, and turned down to 200 deg C for 20 mins, giving the slightly scorched skin. You can also uncover for the last 10 mins to crisp the skin silghtly.
3) Serve with freshly steamed rice.

Honey mustard sausages

2009-02-15T07:52:00.000+08:00

Thanks to the honey chicken recipe from Auntie Helen, I decided to improvise, simply because I wasn't about to fry chicken and oily up my kitchen!

Just for the record, her recipe involves marinating chicken in light soya sauce, then deep frying the chicken till cooked, then taking it out and putting it in another pan, pouring over honey and stir frying till the honey has melted but just before it burns.

My recipe is similar - except I grill my sausages, and just as they're almost cooked, I pour on 1 tbsp of mustard, and stir fry to incorporate. Next, I pour on the honey (about 2 tbsp for 1 packet of 10 sausages) and quickly stir fry to incorporate. Just as the honey melts (sizzles and turns a nice brown), I remove them from the heat and serve them up. Simple and delicious!

Foochow Ang Chow Chicken

2009-01-27T12:49:00.000+08:00

Thanks to the 'goods' from my Aunt (kao mo), I finally got to make this beloved dish that my Gran used to make. Altho I can't remember exactly how it tasted when they made it (since she's left for almost 10 years now and wasn't able to make it for the last 8 years of her life), the smell of the frying chicken in ang chow was enough to invoke old memories and bring tears to my eyes (literally!) This recipe is taken off the Internet and I've added mushrooms and bamboo, because that's what Gran added, and further adapted to suit personal taste..one day I shall get the original recipe from my kao mo!

Ingredients
1 kg chicken or chicken parts (I prefer using wings and drumlets as I hate chopping chicken)
1 generous knob of ginger, sliced thinly in shreds
2 tbsp sesame seed oil
1 ltr chicken broth (this makes a very soupy dish, if you want the 'dry' gravy version, halve the liquid)
5 tbsp red rice residue (ang chow)
1/2 cup Foochow red rice wine (no other cooking wine will do, this makes all the difference!)
12 dried mushrooms (soaked in water until soft, and reserve the water), sliced into halves
1 can of bamboo shoot (I used the fresh packet type)

Method
1) With a bit of cooking oil, fry the ginger strips until fragrant.
2) Add the sesame seed oil and fry the chicken until browned.
3) Add the mushrooms and bamboo and incorporate.
4) Add the red rice residue and stir well.

5) Add the chicken broth (I also pour in the water used to soak the mushrooms, just ensuring that total liquid makes up to 1 litre)
6) Leave to simmer on gentle fire until cooked (about 20 minutes).
7) Add in the red rice wine, and bring back to a boil. Turn off the flame once you get a rolling boil. (I like a less 'wine-y' taste so I add the wine earlier on, around the 15 minute mark so that some of the alcohol will burn off)
The soup will have a slightly sourish taste, that's normal and it comes from the ang chow so don't be alarmed. I added about 1 tsp of sugar to offset the taste a bit and also 1 tsp of oyster sauce (which I read on some websites) but its also fine without these 2 additions. I didn't add salt but a bit of pepper, but you can always add salt and pepper to taste.

Red rice wine chicken (红槽鸡)

2009-01-25T16:35:00.005+08:00

SIL just gave birth and somehow DIL got the idea to make red rice wine. This brings back so many memories of granny so I did some surfing and got these 2 links. Will try them out some time!

My gran's version includes fresh bamboo but this comes close.
红槽鸡
Here's how to make the wine:
红槽酒

In the western world, it is called red yeast rice and is being used as a TCM cure for cholesterol. Amazing what our forefathers knew!

I've never actually ever eaten this in my life before, and I think its actually Hakka:
红槽鸡面线

Wish me luck!

Andrea's Chicken Rice

2009-01-24T12:36:00.000+08:00

Got this chicken recipe from Andrea.

Ingredients
1 whole chicken, cleaned
2 slices of ginger (1 slice whole and 1 slice shredded)
2 cloves garlic
2 chopped shallots
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 cup rice
Pinch of salt

Method
1) Pop a cleaned chicken into boiling water which has a slice of ginger.
2) Remove scum and turn down flame to a simmer.
3) Simmer uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes. Check for doneness by piercing a chicken leg in the thickest part to see if blood still oozes out. Reserve the water for later.
4) Dunk into a ice bath for about 5 minutes.
5) Once cooled, pat dry with kitchen towels. Use a mix of light soya sauce and sesame seed oil and rub into the skin.
6) To make a serving sauce, take a bit of the leftover sesame seed oil and soya sauce (dripping from rubbing the skin), add a bit of the water used to make the chicken.
7) Fry the ginger shreds, shallots and garlic until fragrant. Add the garlic last because it tends to burn fastest. Add the washed rice and stir fry until the rice grains turn a bit translucent.
8) Pour the rice into a rice cooker and add enough of the reserved water (used to poach the chicken) to cook the rice. Add a pinch of salt.
9) Any leftover reserved water can be used as soup e.g. add veggies like cabbage and tomato, and a bit of salt.

Kuih Bangkit

2009-01-24T12:20:00.000+08:00

I used to make this with my Grandma on CNY eves after coming home from school. Till now, my deepest memories are of her frying flour in the wok, and then me cutting out shapes with the kueh bangkit cutters and crumping them. But what type of flour always escaped me...until now. (I always knew it was this particular small roll of flour and if you bring me to the supermarket I would be able to pick it out (if it is still in production that is) but I never knew what flour it was.

Thanks to my new ladies' forum, I finally got my answer - the humble tapioca flour!

Kuih Bangkit

Pineapple Tarts

2009-01-18T17:38:00.000+08:00

This recipe came from today's Sunday Plus. Looks dead easy to make esp if u get the ready made pineapple jam from places like Phoon Huat. A work auntie once told me that the jam from Phoon Huat tends to be very sweet, so she'll dilute with her own unsweetened pineapple jam.
The words are probably too small to read so I've reproduced it here, but the pictures are useful.

FILLINGIngredients2 medium sized pineapples, skin removed and cut into quarters
150g sugar

Method1) Grate the pineapple finely.
2) Place the grated pineapple in a cheese cloth and squeeze to remove any excess juice.
3) Cook the grated pineapple in a saucepan over low heat, stirring continously to prevent the pineapple from burning.
4) After 5 minutes, add sugar to the pineapple gradually, stirring to ensure that it is well incorporated. Taste the mixture to determine if more sugar is required.
5) Continue stirring the mixture over low heat for about 1 hour until all the moisture has evaporated.
6) Cool the pineapple filling on a table top for about 30 minutes before placing it in the refridgerator for another 30 minutes.
7) Remove the pineapple jam from the refridgerator, scoop a teaspoon of it and roll between your palms to form a ball with a 2 cm diameter. Set the pineapple ball aside and repeat for the rest of the filling.

TART (Makes about 40 tarts)
Ingredients250g butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg yolk
440g plain flour
1 tbs milk powder
pineapple filling (above)
1 egg, beaten

Method
1) Preheat the oven to 165 deg C.
2) Cream the butter and vanilla essence with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 10 minutes.
3) Add the egg yolk and continue mixing for about 2 minutes until well incorproate.
4) Sift the flour and then the milk powder into the mixture. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes before increasing it to medium speed for 3 minutes, until a coarse, crumbly texture forms. (photo A)
5) Place the mixture in a large bowl and knead it for about 5 minutes until a smooth ball of dough forms. (photo B)
6) Leave the dough in the bowl, seal it with clear plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.
7) Remove the dough from the refrigerator, pinch a small amount of it and roll between your palms to form a ball with a 2.5cm diameter.
8) Flatten the dough into a circle and wrap it around a ball of pineapple filling. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for the rest of the dough. (photo C)
9) Brush egg wash over the pineapple tarts and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until the tarts turn golden.

Herbal Chicken

2009-01-17T18:30:00.000+08:00

Found 2 recipes here...looks v easy. Will try it soon!

Foil wrapped herbal chicken
Foil wrapped ginseng chicken

Bak Zhum Kai (White cut chicken)

2009-01-10T20:24:00.001+08:00

Suddenly had a craving for bak chum kai. Did some research and found that its a Cantonese dish and in the old days, just like nonya women were judged for their cooking skills by how well they could turn out nonya dishes, similarly, Cantonese wives were tested on their cooking skills based on how well they could turn out a succulent and tender bak zhum kai where the breast is still moist but the thighs are cooked thru. There are apparently hundreds of methods for doing so, and every cook has their version. I found 3 that were most Singaporean/Malaysian and also easy enough to do without having to wait hours.

Here's my variation culled from these 2 sources: 1) Kitschow 2) Eating China

Method
1) Put a 1.5 to 2 kg chicken in a big pot, breast down first. Add a big piece of ginger.
2) Cover it with water. The water should cover the chicken by about an inch.
3) Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
4) Turn off the flame and skim off any scum. Cover and let chicken steep for 30 - 40 mins (depending on size). To tell if the chicken is cooked, stick a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, it should read 170 deg C, or usually I just prick it with a fork in the thickest part of the thigh and press down. The juices running out should run clear. If its bloody, return chicken to steep some more.
5) Pour chicken in a colander and drain off the poaching water. Reserve the water for later use (e.g. to cook rice and voila, chicken rice! Or make soup by adding veg). Place chicken in an ice bath for a few minutes to seal in the juices.
6) Once the meat is cool, pat dry with kitchen towels. Rub the skin with sesame seed oil. Set the chicken aside until ready to chop up.

There are various sauces that can be served with this - ginger and scallion sauce (equal parts ginger and scallion finely minced, pour boil oil over it), ginger sauce (minced ginger and sesame seed oil) or chicken rice chilli sauce. Check out the links for the recipes.

There's also a far more complicated recipe by Grace Young, younger sister of Amy Tan of Joy Luck Club fame.

Grilled Squid Salad

2008-12-25T15:13:00.000+08:00

I had a hankering for squid but seldom eat it because its a pain to clean and prepare. But when I saw these huge squid (is there a 's' for plural?) last week in the frozen section, I knew I just had to have it for Christmas week.

So here it is, served lightly in a fresh salad with a refreshing dressing.

Ingredients
4 large squid, cleaned. Separate the head and tentacles from the body. Slice open the pouch and score both sides so that it doesn't curl up upon cooking
Salad greens (whatever you like)

Dressing
1 tbsp special soya sauce (slightly sweet)
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp honey
1 to 2 bird's eye chilli or chilli padi, depending on how spicy you like it. Slice it up into slivers and remove the seeds.

Method
1) Grill the squid on a hot gridle. It'll take about 1 to 2 mins per side.
2) Assemble the salad ingredients and add the squid. You may want to slice it up.
3) Make the dressing and drizzle over the salad. Serve immediately.

[Anna Olson] Lemon Thyme Shortbread

2008-11-29T19:43:00.001+08:00

As mentioned, I don't do big cooking projects so this looks like a really easy cookie recipe to try. From the show "Sugar".

Ingredients

Shortbread
* 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
* 2 tsp baking powder
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped (or use 2.5 tsp dried thyme)
* 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 2 tbsp lemon zest
* 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
* 1 egg
* 2 tbsp lemon juice
* milk, for brushing

Infused Honey
* 1 cup honey
* 1 bunch fresh thyme, washed
* 1 cup old (white) cheddar cheese
* 1 pear, optional

Method

Shortbread

1. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in chopped thyme.
2. Cream butter, sugar, zest and ginger until fluffy. Stir in egg and lemon juice. Add dry ingredients and blend until dough comes together.
3. Divide dough in half and shape into logs. Wrap and chill for at least 2 hours (or freeze).
4. Preheat oven to 325 F.
5. Unwrap dough and slice into thin wafers and place on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush cookies with milk and bake for 12-15 minutes, just until edges turn golden.

Infused Honey

1. Heat honey with thyme over low heat for 20 minutes.
2. Let sit off the heat for an hour to allow flavours to infuse further. Strain honey.

To Assemble

1. Place nugget of cheddar cheese (about 2 oz) on a plate. Drizzle honey over cheese and place a couple shortbreads on the plate. Accent with a few slices of pear.

SEA Curry Chicken

2008-11-29T19:09:00.000+08:00

I don't quite know how to classify this curry. Is it Nonya? It's certainly not true blue Indian or Malay, and I put in a lot of Thai touches, inspired by watching an old episode of 'Chef at Home' last night. But who cares...it tastes good! Altho probably not very healthy since I emptied a whole packet of coconut cream in, rather than my usual half packet!

I'm under no illusions that this is a 'quick and simple' recipe, because it takes 30 mins to 1 hr to pound with a pastel and mortar (like Dad would say, what a good Nonya girl would do...except I'm not Nonya and neither is he ) and another 45 mins to 1 hour to simmer. Unlike my 'glory' days when I used to churn out yam cake, chocolate chip biscuits and other 'complicated' recipes, nowadays I'm more a 'quick and easy' kinda girl, so this is quite a mammoth cooking 'project' for me.

Ingredients
1 chicken, chopped into pieces
2 potatoes
Marinade
2 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp ground tumeric
2 tsp ground cumin
For pounding
1 medium red onion (or 3 shallots)
3 cloves of garlic
1 thumb-sized ginger, sliced
8 dried red chillies, rehydrated in hot water and deseeded
3 tbsp dried shrimp
1 tbsp belachan
Into the pot
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp fish sauce
4 lemon grass, crushed to release the oils but kept whole to facilitate easy removal before serving
2 tbsp curry leaves
2 tbsp kaffir lime leaves
1 tsp sugar
Dash of pepper
Salt to taste (if necessary)
2 cups water
1 packet coconut milk

Method
1) Marinate the chicken pieces in light soya, tumeric and 1 tsp cumin. Set aside to marinate for at least 1 hour.
2) In a pestle and mortar, grind up (in order) the rehydrated chill, dried shrimp, ginger, onion, garlic and lastly belachan. You can also use a food processor but its not the Nonya way and the oils aren't released so its not as fragrant.
3) Dry fry the curry powder and set aside.
4) Heat up 2 tbsp oil. It may seem like a lot by the rempah will "suck" it up. Stir fry until dry. Add 1 cup of water and fry again until it becomes a paste.
5) Add in the chicken pieces and stir fry until well coated. Add the 2nd cup of water.
6) Add the curry leaves, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, potatoes, sugar and curry powder. Bring to a boil, cover and bring down to a simmer. Let it simmer away for 1/2 hour.
7) Check on it periodically and stir. Around 35 mins, add in the fish sauce and coconut milk. Bring it back to a gentle boil. Switch off the heat after 45 mins. If you have the time to let it sit and reheat it, it will thicken further.
8) Serve with freshly steamed jasmine rice or chunky french loaf.

Egg Foo Yong

2008-11-26T03:16:00.001+08:00

I'm not entirely sure this is a Singapore or Chinese invention since I see it more in ang mo Chinese restaurants, but it's tasty, is a 2-minute stir fry, and goes with my 1/2 hour preparation required for a quick weekday meal.

Ingredients
1 packet of bean sprouts, washed (about 2 or 3 big handfuls)
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup frozen prawns, thawed
1 tsp garlic
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soya sauce
Dash of sesame seed oil
1/2 tsp sugar
Dash of pepper

Method
1) I use a non-stick pan so I don't even use oil. Toss in the garlic and fry briefly until fragrant but before it gets burnt.
2) Add in the eggs and swirl around the pan until you get a pancake. Immediately once the sides are dry, use the spatula to the scoop the sides inwards and keep doing so until its scrambled and mostly dry but still a bit on the runny side.
3) Toss in the tou gey and quickly add all the rest of the ingredients.
4) Briefly stir fry for 1 minute and serve immediately. It goes best with steamed rice.

Apple Crumble

2008-10-28T00:48:00.001+08:00

I had a hardened packet of light muscovado sugar and didn't know what to do with it. It was rock hard and I wasn't going to break my spoon chipping away at it. I remember reading a tip somewhere that if you put in a slice of apple, it will soften up the sugar. Well, no harm trying. I left the slice of apple there for about 6 hours and it really softened up the sugar! However, the downside is that part of the apple juice seeped out and made it soggy. I was afraid it would go mouldy so I transferred the dry bits into another container. But what was I supposed to do with the soggy melted sugar?

Just happened that I bought Granny Smiths. Brown sugar, apples and cinnamon = apple crumble!

So here's the recipe, also thanks to something learnt off the Internet, the proper proportions for crumble = 3 parts flour : 2 parts butter : 1 part sugar.

Ingredients
4 cooking apples (Bramleys or Granny Smiths), peeled. Quarter them, remove the core and then thinly slice each quarter, about 4 or 5 slices each.
60g muscovado sugar, packed tightly
180g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
120g butter, softened at room temperature and cut into cubes
60g caster sugar (or damerara for the crunch if you have it)
2 tsp cinnamon powder
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of 1/2 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup raisins

Method
1) In a mixer, add the flour, caster sugar and butter and blitz until a fine crumble. Set aside in the fridge to rest.

2) Add the muscovado sugar to the apple slices, together with the lemon juice, cinnamon powder, 2 tbsp flour, vanilla extract, zest and lemon juice. Mix well and add the raisins, before mixing well again. Be careful not to break up the apple slices.

3) Layer the apple slices in a pie dish.

4) Pour on the crumble and pinch it together so that it resembles biscuit crumbs rather than fine powder.

5) Preheat the oven. Bake at 180 deg C for 40 mins or until the top is golden and the filling is bubbling. Be careful because it can go from golden to burnt very fast! Serve with ice cream or whipping cream.

Make your own yoghurt

2008-10-19T17:30:00.001+08:00

Found this fantastic article from today's Sunday Times. Reproduced here.

Let the bacteria grow - Introduce some bacteria into warm milk and make yogurt. It's simple and satisfying

Sunday Times, The (Singapore) - October 19, 2008

Author: Cynthia Low

When someone suggested I try making my own yogurt, I was rather sceptical. Why do something that seemed so complicated when it is so easy and cheap to buy from a supermarket?

But then again, I thought, why not give it a try?

So I knuckled down to some research, scouring the many cookbooks I have. I soon discovered there are very few recipes for making it from scratch. Most food writers simply assume you will buy a carton to use in their recipes.

Next stop is the Internet, where I found a whole host of chat about making yogurt but also a second revelation - you don't really need a recipe, the process is so simple.

Basically, the idea is to introduce some bacteria into warm milk, which then ferments under controlled temperature and turns into yogurt.

Humans have been making cultured milk products for around 4,000 years - so long that it is not clear exactly where yogurt, as we know it, originated. I read that the discovery of how to make it may have been accidental, after wild bacteria living on animal skin bags fermented the milk being carried in them. But, somehow, I wish I had not found that out.

The basic ingredients needed are fresh milk and what is called a 'starter' (that is the bacteria), plus, for best results, a cooking thermometer.

Plain yogurt from the supermarket is ideal to use as a starter; just check the label to make sure that it says acidophilus or living culture .

Yes, it sounds strange to buy yogurt to make yogurt, but one small pot is all that is needed to make much more. After that, you simply save a little of your own homemade yogurt to 'start' the next batch.

Making it reminded me of school science classes, with saucepans, funnel, thermometer and sterilised jars, but it turned out to be quite fun. But I also discovered that although the process is simple, it takes time. Plus, some care is needed in terms of temperature control. But apart from those two trouble spots, it was not difficult.

One thing to bear in mind is that the milk turns into yogurt because bacteria from the starter is allowed to 'grow' during a few hours of constant warmth. This makes it imperative to keep hands, utensils and jars clean to avoid accidentally introducing any other bacteria into the finished product.

I found the quickest way to sterilise the jars is to fill them with boiling water and let them stand for about 10 minutes before putting the milk mixture inside to ferment.

After making several batches, I have found that there is no need to worry too much about exact proportions. The yogurt always turns out tasting good.

I also had fun experimenting with flavours, lightly poaching fruit such as strawberries or cranberries and putting a layer in the bottom of the sterilised jar before pouring the fresh yogurt mixture on top.

Another alternative is to serve plain yogurt swirled with cinnamon or fruit syrup, or, for a sweeter treat, have honey or maple syrup drizzled over the finished yogurt pots.

So what did I learn? First, it is very easy; all that is needed is a basic recipe. You can experiment from there. Second, it tastes great. I got the best results and a thicker yogurt by using whole milk. Low-fat milk can be used, although the result tastes slightly more sour.

There are various claims made about the curative properties of yogurt and for sure it is nutritionally rich in protein, calcium and B group vitamins.

But one thing is certain, it is good to eat by itself from breakfast to dinner or to enhance the flavour of many other dishes from curries to cakes.

Plus, there is something quite satisfying about making your own, minus the preservatives, thickeners, sugars and other additives that many store-bought yogurts have.

If you prefer a foolproof method, there are yogurt-making machines available in the shops. These make keeping the maturing yogurt at constant warmth much easier.

But doing it the long way gives you a real sense of achievement.

Make it yourself: Yogurt

Sunday Times, The (Singapore) - October 19, 2008

INGREDIENTS

2 litres of milk (increase or decrease amount as desired)

1 small pot of purchased yogurt (make sure it is labelled acidophilus or living culture )

EQUIPMENT

1 medium-sized pot with solid base that holds at least 2 litres

1 cooking thermometer

A glass or crockery container for the yogurt that holds at least the same quantity as the amount of milk you use (I prefer a number of individual pots, so that the finished product can be served and eaten straight from them)

Plastic wrap to cover the containers if they do not have lids

An insulated picnic cooler or a padded thermal container that will allow the maturing yogurt to retain its warmth

METHOD

1. Thoroughly clean all the equipment. Sterilise the containers by washing them well, then pouring in boiling water and leaving to stand for around 10 minutes.

2. Heat the milk in the pot, stirring all the time until it reaches a temperature of between 75 and 80 deg C. Do not allow it to go past 85 deg C or the milk may burn and the yogurt will have a scorched taste.

3. Turn off the heat and allow the milk to cool, stirring occasionally until it reaches 40 deg C.

4. Stir the purchased yogurt 'starter' well, then add about 4 tbsp of it to the pot of warm milk. Continue to stir for a couple of minutes until it is completely dissolved in the milk.

5. Tip out the boiling water from the containers and pour the warm yogurt mixture into them, using a funnel if you have one.

6. Stack the filled jars into the insulated container or bag.

7. The warmth inside the container needs to be maintained and stable throughout the process, so try to avoid opening it until the end of the process. One way to keep things warm inside is to place a jar of hot water among the yogurt pots. Avoid jostling or moving the container, as the yogurt needs to be still to firm up.

8. The fermentation takes around six hours

9. Cap or cover the pots and put them in the fridge. The yogurt will keep for about two weeks.

If you decide to use one of these yogurts as a starter for the next batch, do it within five days. For best results, buy another small pot of yogurt to replace the homemade starter after every four to five batches. If your yogurt ends up as lumpy curds and watery whey, you can turn failure into success by straining it. You will have made a passable sour cream.

Southern Comfort

2008-10-11T21:42:00.000+08:00

I finally opened my bottle of Southern Comfort. Interesting facts, thanks to Wiki

Southern Comfort is a fruit, spice, and whiskey flavored liqueur produced since 1874. It is made from a blend of whiskey, peach, orange, vanilla, sugar, and cinnamon flavors. The Brown-Forman Corporation owns the Southern Comfort brand.

Southern Comfort is available as 100 US proof (50% alcohol by volume), 76 US proof (38% alcohol by volume), 70 US proof (35% alcohol by volume) and 42 US proof (21% alcohol by volume). In Australia and New Zealand, it is only available as 60 proof. It is often erroneously thought to be bourbon whiskey based—it is actually neutral grain spirits-based,^[1] and the brown look comes from caramel coloring.^[2] Southern Comfort Reserve, however, is a blend of Southern Comfort and 6-year-old bourbon and is 80 proof.

And then I found an even more interesting link from http://www.southerncomfort.com/ (go to the Ready, Set, Go out, Drinks and not only can u find some interesting cocktail concoctions but u can even download the recipe book! Did u know for instance that you can have SC and coffee? I inadvertently added lime juice to mine and was surprised to see that it is actually one of the cocktails listed!

To the spirit of New Orleans!

Peach Bitters

2008-10-10T05:43:00.000+08:00

I have a bottle of Peach Schnapps in my fridge. I have a bottle of Angostura Bitters in my cupboard (which according to my SIL, the giver, is the *only* bitters worth having with lemon lime of the "lemon lime and bitters") Have never known what to do with either, esp the Schnapps which is awfully sweet. Well now I do. The addition of Bitters neutralises the Schnapps and vice versa, and the Bitters adds a slight fragrance and kick.

Method
Add 3 drops Angostura Bitters to 1 shot Peach Schnapps and mix well. If it comes out of a fridge, no need to add ice, otherwise use the plastic ice cubes in order not to dilute the taste when the ice melts.

Delish after dinner drink in place of a dessert wine!

Nigella Express: Chicken Mushroom & Bacon Pot Pie

2008-08-23T18:36:00.001+08:00

From episode "Instant Calmer" and Food Network

Even the word pie is comforting. But then, it would be hard to deny the very real lure of pastry, especially when - as here - you know you're going to dunk it in gravied juices till its gorgeous lightness is deliciously, soggily heavy. I concede, however, that making and rolling out your own pastry is not necessarily the speediest option, so I use bought, all-butter-, ready-rolled puff pastry and feel fine about it. I make the pie even easier, by browning the chicken and making the sauce all in one go. And a gold-crusted, welcoming pie for 2 in half an hour is not bad going.
3 rashers streaky bacon, cut or scissored into 1-inch strips
1 teaspoon garlic infused oil
2 cups chestnut mushrooms, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
8 ounces chicken thigh fillets cut into 1-inch pieces
2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/4 cups hot chicken stock
1 tablespoon Marsala
1 (13-ounce) 9 by 16-inch sheet all-butter ready-rolled puff pastry
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Fry the bacon strips in the oil until beginning to crisp, then add the sliced mushrooms and soften them in the pan with the bacon.
Turn the chicken strips in the flour and thyme (you could toss them about in a freezer bag), and then melt the butter in the pan before adding the floury chicken and all the flour left in the bag. Stir around with the bacon and mushrooms until the chicken begins to color.
Pour in the hot stock and Marsala, stirring to form a sauce and let this bubble away for about 5 minutes.
Make a pastry rim for each of your pots for the pies, by this I mean an approximately 1/2-inch strip curled around the top of the pots. Dampen the edges to make them stick.
Cut a circle bigger than the top of each pie-pot for the lid, and then divide the chicken filling between the two.
Dampen the edges again and then pop on the top of each pie sealing the edges with your fingers or the underneath of the prongs of a fork.
Cook the pies for about 20 minutes turning them around half way through cooking. Once cooked, they should puff up magnificently

Double pleasures pasta

2008-08-18T20:47:00.004+08:00

Inspired by a dish from the *the* HK Cafe (or was it Kim Gary?), I had the original but found it waaaaaaay too salty. Here is my rendition, made quite simply and quickly from leftovers and canned food! Not too salty! Talk about innovativeness eh? :P

Ingredients (feeds 2)
1 cup of cooked fusilli
1/2 cup standard white sauce
1/2 cup chicken curry (I use Amoy brand canned curry and 1 tiny tin makes about 1/2 a cup)
1/4 cup cheese, shaved

Method
1) Cook the cup of fusilli according to instructions. Drain and set aside.
2) In a casserole dish, pour the pasta into the bottom and pat down.
3) Pour the curry on one half, and the white sauce on the other half.
4) Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top and ensure that the top is covered with cheese.
5) Bake at 200 deg C for 12 minutes. Serve immediately.

Nigella Feasts: Chocolate Cheesecake

2008-08-12T22:18:00.002+08:00

Recorded from watching the episode

Ingredients

Base
1 1/3 cup (125g digestive biscuits) graham cracker crumbs
1 tbsp cocoa
1/2 stick butter (50-60 g)

Filling
2 packets of Philly (500g) which must be at room temperature in order to get the satiny smoothness
3/4 cup (150g) superfine or caster sugar
1 tbsp custard powder (this can be substituted with 1 tbsp cornstarch, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp vanilla)
3 eggs
3 yolks
2/3 cup (150ml) sour cream
1 tsp cocoa dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water from a kettle
175g (6 oz) melted bittersweet chocolate, let it stand so that it isn't too hot

Topping
3/4 bar bittersweet chocolate, melted

Method
1) Put the digestive biscuits into a freezer bag. Use a roller pin to bash up the biscuits into find crumbs.
2) Add the crumbs to a mixer and give it a quick whirl to ensure no larger crumbs remain.
3) Add the cocoa and whirl again to ensure its evenly distributed. Do the same with the butter. Whirl until the crumbs look like damp clumpy sand.
4) Pour it into the cake tin and use your knuckles to form the base. Press down with your hands because the heat from your hands helps the butter to melt and adhere. Stash in the freezer for a few minutes just to chill it.
5) In a fresh clean mixing bowl, add the cheese and whirl slightly.
6) Add the sugar and custard powder. Crack in the eggs and add the egg yolks. Pour in the sour cream. Add in the cocoa solution. Give everything a whirl. It should be quite runny which makes it smooth.
7) Fold the melted chocolate into the cheesecake mixture, slowly and patiently until evenly blended.
8) Retrieve the base from the freezer. Wrap the exterior of the cake tin with cling film, covered on top by aluminum foil. Pour the cheesecake filling on top of the base.
9) Place tin into a roasting tin. Pour a kettle of recently boiled water into the roasting tin so that the water level comes halfway up the cheesecake tin. The cake tin may wobble a bit due to the buoyancy of the flim.
10) Bake in a 350 deg F (180 deg C) oven for 45 mins to 1 hour. It is ready when it has just set. It should set properly at the sides and just wobble in the centre.
11) Once ready, remove carefully from cake tin. Drizzle the topping on top of the cheesecake.

Original Hainanese Chicken Rice

2008-08-12T22:03:00.003+08:00

This is a recipe from Straits Times Sunday Plus, and its supposed to be more authentically Hainanese.

Ingredients
1 whole chicken, about 1kg, cleaned with skin removed from neck and rear end
2 tbs chinese cooking wine
3/4 tsp salt
4 cups rice, 750g, rinsed and drained well
1 tbs sesame seed oil
8 slices ginger
3 cloves garlic, peeled and whole
12 fresh red chillis
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cucumber, washed and sliced

Method
1) Steam the chicken in a steamer for about 20 minutes till cooked. Retain the chicken stock which is formed when the meat juices seep into the water used for steaming.
2) When the chicken has cooled slightly, rub chinese cooking wine and 1/4 tsp of salt on both the outside and inside.
3) Allow the chicken to cool completely before cutting it up into serving slices. Set aside.
4) Add the sesame seed oil, four slices of ginger to a heated wok.
5) Stir fry the rice for around 12 minutes, until it turns translucent and the moisture has evaporated from it.
6) Transfer the rice to a rice cooker. Add 5 cups of the reserved chicken stock, 1/4 tsp of salt and 2 cloves of garlic, and cook the rice.
7) Blend the chillies with 4 slices of ginger and a clove of garlic.
8) To the chilli paste, stir in sugar and 1/4 tsp of salt.
9) To serve the chicken slices with the cucumber and chilli sauce on the side.

Nigella Feasts: Garlic Roast Potatoes

2008-07-20T00:46:00.001+08:00

3 pounds maincrop potatoes
1/3 cup regular olive oil
1 head garlic
Kosher salt
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Wash and dry the potatoes, but don't bother to peel them, and cut them into about 3/4-inch dice. Toss in a large oven tray and pour over the oil, smulching around with your hands to mix well. Separate the head of garlic into cloves adding them to the tray, and roast for about 1 hour, turning once or twice during that time, until crispy and golden but still soft on the inside. When they're done, remove to a large plate and sprinkle with salt.

Nigella Feasts: One Pan Sage & Onion & Sausage

2008-07-20T00:44:00.003+08:00

1 large onion or 2 small onions
1/2 cup olive oil (not extra-virgin)
2 teaspoons English mustard
1 tablespoon dried sage
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 lemon
1 (4-pound) chicken, jointed into 10 pieces
12 sausages
2 tablespoons fresh sage leaves, chopped
Peel and cut the onion into eighths, and put into a freezer bag with the oil, mustard, dried sage, a good grinding of pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Cut lemon in half, squeeze juice into bag, and then cut the halves into eighths and add them. Squidge everything around to mix (the mustard needs help to combine) and then add the chicken pieces. Leave to marinade in the refrigerator overnight, or for up to 2 days.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Allow the chicken to come to room temperature in its marinade.
Arrange the chicken pieces in a roasting tin skin side up with the marinade, including all the bits and pieces, and tuck the sausages around them. Sprinkle the fresh sage leaves over the chicken and sausages and then put the tin into the oven to cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn the sausages over half way through to color them evenly.
Arrange the chicken and sausages on a large platter.

Nigella Express: Buttermilk Roast Chicken

2008-07-20T00:42:00.002+08:00

12 chicken drumsticks (approximately 3 pounds total weight)
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, bruised and skins removed
1 tablespoon crushed peppercorns
1 tablespoon Maldon salt, sea salt or 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon maple syrup
Place the chicken drumsticks in a large freezer bag, and add the buttermilk and 1/4 cup of oil.
Add the bruised garlic cloves to the bag with the crushed peppercorns and salt.
Sprinkle in the ground cumin and finally add the maple syrup, and then squish everything in the freezer bag around to mix the marinade and coat the chicken.
Leave the buttermilk marinated chicken in the fridge ideally overnight or out of the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Take the chicken pieces out of the bag shaking off the excess marinade, and then arrange them in a roasting tin lined with foil.
Drizzle over the 2 remaining tablespoons of oil, and then roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until brown, even scorched in parts, and juicily cooked through.

Roast chicken

2008-07-19T21:00:00.000+08:00

I'm suddenly very into roast chicken, but can't figure out the 'trick' behind them. I used to think 200 deg C for 20 mins has been a rather fullproof cooking temp for most things, even for chicken, but somehow it hasn't been working so well recently.

Came across 2 recipes,

Sage & Onion Roast Chicken and Buttermilk Roast Chickenand although recipes call for 220 deg C, and the portion sizes are more or less similar (1 whole chicken or 10 pieces) yet the timing varies greatly. In fact, the 1st recipe is for 10 pieces and takes 1.25 hours, but the 2nd recipe is for 12 pieces yet takes only 1/2 hour.

Well hopefully with more experimentation, I'll get the hang of things. I'm always on the look out for fast and rapid roast chicken recipes cos hey, who's really got the time to sit and wait for a chicken to roast, eh?

Bread and butter pudding

2008-07-06T00:02:00.000+08:00

This is a good ole' British dish with a Canadian twist, thanks to Michael Smith, altho he calls it something else. The idea is the same, a custard mixture with buttered bread and baked. Here's my slightly altered recipe, which works out to be a simple Saturday breakfast, simply because I'm too lazy to do more work!

Ingredients
6 slices of bread (he uses crusty bread)
Butter
2 tsp cinnamon sugar
4 eggs
Approx 1/2 cup of milk

Method
1) Lightly toast the bread and cut it up into cubes. Lay half it at the bottom of a baking dish and dollop bits of butter on top. Dust on a thin layer on cinnamon sugar. (At this point if you like, you can add dried fruit e.g. chopped apricots, raisins or even chopped nuts. U can also spread jam on)
2) Beat the 4 eggs and add approximately an equal amount of milk. I eyeball-ed it, so I can't honestly say how much, but I'm mindful not to add too much milk otherwise the eggs won't set. Sprinkle on the cinnamon sugar and whisk in well.
3) Pour half of the milk and egg mixture, and leave it to stand, approx 5 to 10 mins.
4) Lay on the next layer of bread and pour on the remainder of the milk and egg mixture. Sprinkle on cinnamon sugar.
5) Let it sit for another 5 minutes, and then use your palms and press down the bread so that it absorbs the mixture.
6) Bake at 200 deg C for 20 mins, until the top is nicely golden brown. The pudding would have magically souffled.
7) Serve with honey or maple syrup.

Wine appreciation demystified

2008-06-18T18:49:00.000+08:00

More tips from my favourite chef, Michael Smith. Its interesting how he always demystifies stuff and make them seem to assessible and simple. Wine appreciation has always been a very stiff upper lip thing with an elitist vocab of its own. Even though I've taken an introductory appreciation course, however, its still scary for me. However Michael Smith makes it so simple.

1) Whites
Lighter - Sauvignon Blanc (dry)
- Riesling (fruity)
Bigger flavours - Chardonnay (full bodied)

2) Reds
Lighter - Merlot
Medium body - Zinfandel
Big red powerful flavours - Shiraz
- Pinot noir
- Cabernet Sauvignon

Makes me want to go out and grab a bottle or 2!

Apples

2008-06-04T18:14:00.000+08:00

Learnt another interesting tip from my favourite Chef at Home. There are different varieties of apples, about 50 to be exact and yet we always stick to the tried and true. But just like potatoes, different "breeds" do well for different ways of cooking them.

Eating - crisp and good balance of sweet and sour e.g. Bramley, Fuji
Pureed - soft, sweet and sour, e.g. Macintosh
Baking - holds shape well e.g Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Gala

And the best accompliments?

All time favourite cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, brown sugar and butter.

Nigella's Chocolate Caramel Crispy Cakes

2008-06-04T18:01:00.002+08:00

I currently have some mars bars sitting around and I don't fancy eating them neat. I've convinced myself that if I make them into some other confectionary, that it will be less fattening. Anyhow, this is from an old episode of Nigella Feasts which I dug up and hope to try soon!

Ingredients (makes 40)
4 smallish (total 50 g or 2 oz) chocolate candy bars (recommended: Mars Bars or Milky Way)
1/2 stick (50g or 2 oz) unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups (70g) crunchy sweetened corn cereal (recommended: Cornflakes)
Special equipment: approximately 40 mini muffin papers

Method
1) Break the candy bars into bits and drop them into a saucepan. Add the butter and melt, over lowish heat, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula. When everything is melted (the nougat-like layer takes the longest to go), tip in the cereal and turn them, with your rubber spatula, in the chocolate mixture until they are all pretty well coated. 2) Line mini muffin tin with the mini muffin papers. Fill the mini muffin papers with the mixture and put in the refrigerator, on a small sheet pan or tray, for at least 1 hour.

Nigella Express: Chocolate Pistachio Fudge

2008-06-01T17:59:00.001+08:00

Taken off telly: (photo is my own)

Ingredients (Makes 64 squares)
350g good dark chocoloate
400g condensed milk (1 can)
2 tbsp butter
150g pistaschio

Method
1) Break the dark chocolate into a pan and pour the condensed milk on top.
2) Add the butter and turn on the stove.
3) Pour the pistaschio into a freezer bag and bash away into tiny chunks.
4) Stir to combine the fudge and then add the nuts, then stir again.
5) Pour into a tin foil tray, and spread out the mixture evenly.
6) When cool, put on the lid and place in the fridge to set.
7) Once it has set, remove from the tin foil tray and cut into cubes, approx an inch by an inch because it is quite rich.

Liquid spices

2008-05-25T18:47:00.000+08:00

Been doing a mass Chef at Home marathon (they show it every night at 12am so I tape it and watch it all on the weekend). I've always been intrigued by alcohol, because I don't have much experience in terms of tasting them and thus mixing and matching flavours and so far, there have been some liquid disasters

Chef Michael Smith however calls them 'liquid spices' which aside from being used to mix cocktails, can also be used to complement food flavours. Here is his classification:

Sweet
Usually for desserts: rum, liquers like coffee, mint, cream, fruit, liquorice etc

Savoury
whisky - goes well with ribs
vodka - goes well with tomatoes and tomato-based sauces
scotch - goes well with the earthy flavours of beans

Spicy
Tequila

And on another note, I got my cocktail shaker, the professional kind! Its pretty cool, with plastic ice cubes, and even comes with markings on the side as a guide for making 6 different cocktails! Hazy days ahead! Salut!

Nigella Express: Cherry Cheesecake

2008-05-17T14:02:00.002+08:00

From Nigella Express
Ingredients

125g digestive biscuits
75g soft butter
300g cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
60g icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250ml double cream
1 x 284g jar St Dalfour Rhapsodie de Fruit Black Cherry Spread

Preparation

1. Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until beginning to turn to crumbs, then add the butter and whiz again to make the mixture clump.
2. Press this mixture into a 20cm springform tin; press a little up the sides to form a slight ridge.
3. Beat together the cream cheese, icing sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth.
4. Lightly whip the double cream, and then fold it into the cream cheese mixture.
5. Spoon the cheesecake filling on top of the biscuit base and smooth with a spatula. Put it in the fridge for 3 hours or overnight.
6. When you are ready to serve the cheesecake, unmould it and spread the black cherry over the top.

Jamie at Home 2: Butternut Squash Cupcakes

2008-05-13T17:40:00.000+08:00

Just completed watching the new Jamie at Home season 2 on squashes and pumpkins. I've always wondered what to do with squashes and pumpkins. Here's a recipe that seems really easy, and I like it mostly because it's all done in a food processor. Here's literally my copying off the episode as Jamie does performs it on screen.

Ingredients (makes 24)
400g butternut squash, skin and all (yay! don't even had to remove it, which gave me a big headache last time!), smallish cubed
400g brown sugar
300g plain flour
4 eggs
pinch of salt
2 heaped tbsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
Handful of walnuts
175ml virgin olive oil or sunflower oil

Method
1) Chop up the squash into smallish cubes, the skin can be kept on. Put it into the processor and blitz it up as fine as possible.
2) Add the rest of the ingredients into the processsor and blitz up until everything is well combined.
3) Pour into cupcake paper lined muffin tins. Fill it 3/4 full.
4) Bake at180 deg C for 20 mins.

Get a knife, insert it in and if it comes out clean, it's ready.

I didn't bother with the 2nd part of this receipe which is frosted topping, which I've never been too keen on.

Nigella Express: Potato Cakes with Smoked Salmon

2008-05-03T09:21:00.001+08:00

(Picture is my own, sans the smoked salmon)

INGREDIENTS

3 Free Range Eggs
125ml Whole Milk
2 Spring Onions (Finely Sliced)
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
60g Instant Mashed Potatoes (Mix)
40g Plain Flour
½ teaspoon Baking Powder
½ teaspoon Lemon Juice

METHOD

In a jug, whisk the eggs, milk, finely sliced spring onions and olive oil together.
Stir in the instant mashed potato mix, plain flour, baking powder and the lemon juice.
Heat a flat griddle and drop tablespoon-sized dollops of the mixture onto the hot griddle.
Cook for about 30 seconds a side, or until golden-brown and firm enough at the sides to flip.

For The Topping

INGREDIENTS

300g Smoked Salmon
Small Bunch Fresh Dill

METHOD

Once you have made the pancakes, and they've cooled a little, tear off strips of smoked salmon and arrange the small slices on each pancake.
Decorate each salmon-topped pancake with a tiny feather of dill.

Nigella Express: Rocky Road Crunch Bars

2008-05-02T23:06:00.004+08:00

INGREDIENTS

125 Soft Unsalted Butter
300g Best Quality Dark Chocolate (Broken Into Pieces)
3 tablespoons Golden Syrup
200g Rich Tea Biscuits
100g Mini Marshmallows
2 teaspoons Icing Sugar (To Dust)

METHOD

Heat the butter, chocolate and golden syrup in a heavy-based saucepan over a gentle heat. Remove from the heat, scoop out about 125ml/4½fl oz of the melted mixture and set aside in a bowl.
Place the biscuits into a plastic freezer bag and crush them with a rolling pin until some have turned to crumbs but there are still pieces of biscuit remaining.
Fold the biscuit pieces and crumbs into the melted chocolate mixture in the saucepan, then add the marshmallows.
Tip the mixture into a 24cm/9in square baking tin and smooth the top with a wet spatula.
Pour over the reserved 125ml/4½fl oz of the melted chocolate mixture and smooth the top with a wet spatula.
Refrigerate for about two hours or overnight.
To serve, cut into 24 fingers and dust with icing sugar.

Nigella Express: Rapid Ragu

2008-05-02T19:12:00.001+08:00

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons Garlic Oil
125g Cubed Pancetta
500g Minced Lamb
75g Caramelised Onions (From A Jar)
80ml Marsala (Wine)
400g Can Chopped Tomatoes
75g Green Lentils
125ml Water
50g Grated Red Leicester Cheese (Or Cheddar, To Serve, Optional)

METHOD

Heat the oil in a wide saucepan and fry the pancetta until beginning to turn crisp and golden-brown.
Add the minced lamb, breaking it up with a fork, and stir until browned.
Add the caramelised onions, marsala, tomatoes, lentils and water and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
To serve, divide the ragù between four serving bowls and sprinkle with grated cheese, if using.

Nigella Express: Chicken Alla Cacciatora

2008-05-02T18:56:00.004+08:00

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon Garlic Oil
75g Pancetta (Cubes)
6 Spring Onions (Finely Sliced)
1 teaspoon Finely Chopped Rosemary
500g Boneless Chicken Thighs (Cut Into Bite-Sized Pieces)
½ teaspoon Celery Salt
125ml White Wine
400g Can Chopped Tomatoes
2 Bay Leaves
½ teaspoon Sugar
400g Can Cannellini Beans (Rinsed And Drained, Optional)

METHOD

Heat the garlic oil in a pan and fry the pancetta, spring onions and chopped rosemary for 2-3 minutes.
Add the chicken pieces, sprinkle in the celery salt and stir well.
Pour in the wine and bring to a simmer, then add the tomatoes, bay leaves and sugar. Cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the drained cannellini beans, if using, and simmer until the beans are warmed through and the chicken is completely cooked through.
To serve, divide among four serving dishes.

Nigella Express: Margarita Ice Cream

2008-05-02T18:54:00.002+08:00

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

125ml Lime Juice
2 tablespoons Tequila
3 tablespoons Orange Liqueur Or Triple Sec
150g Icing Sugar
500ml Double Cream

METHOD

Pour the lime juice, tequila and orange liqueur or triple sec into a bowl and stir in the icing sugar until it dissolves.
Add the cream and whisk until the mixture is thick and smooth, but not stiff.
Spoon into an airtight container and place into the freezer to freeze overnight. This ice cream doesn't need to be taken out to soften before serving, as it won't freeze too hard and melts quickly.

Steamed Dill and Garlic Salmon

2008-04-20T01:36:00.000+08:00

I've just stocked up on my dried herbs, and decided to try out a decidedly British herb - dill weed. It's good with fish and chicken, according to the description. I've only known it to be used with fish. This is a new variation of on an old favourite of mine.
Ingredients2 salmon steaks
1 tsp dill
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp vodka
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp mustard
1/2 cup of water
1 baby bok choy, chopped
Method1) Marinate fish.
2) In a cassarole dish, line with aluminum foil. Lay on a bed of chopped bok choy and lay the fish on top. Pour in the remainder of the marinade, and 1/2 cup of water.
3) Bake at 200 deg for 10-15 mins until fish is cooked.
4) Unwrap and serve.

Chicken Ratatouille

2008-04-05T21:29:00.005+08:00

Ratatouille is actually a French peasant dish, made famous by the animated feature of the same name. It is a stew of summer vegetables such as courgettes, tomatoes, peppers, aubergine, onion and garlic. This version is inspired by the show "Chef at Home", with chef Michael Smith, but of course with me, I liked my meat, so hence the addition of chicken. Obviously not traditional anymore, I decided to add a bit of other 'stew' favours to it to make an all-in-one dish. This is also the first time I bring out my pressure cooker, since I have a fear of it exploding in my face. However, I really did want the meat to fall off the bone, and for the vegs to be so meltingly soft, but obviously I don't want to spend a very long time stewing over a slow fire.

Ingredients (serves 2)
2 large chicken thighs
1 carrot
1 aubergine
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 red pepper
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 handfull barley
1 handfull soya beans
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp basil
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Method
1) Soak the soya beans overnight to soften, and throw away the soaking water the next day. Change to a fresh cup of water and soak for another hour.
2) Dice the carrot, aubergine, peppers and onion.
3) Throw everything into the pot - onion, garlic, chicken, vegs, herbs, can of tomatoes, barley, soyabeans, sugar, salt and pepper. Pour in the cup of water used to soak the soya beans
4) Snap on the lid and follow pressure cooker instructions - mine took only 1/2 hour and everything was done, meat falling off bone and vegs meltingly soft. I scraped off the meat and discarded the bones.
5) To serve, I tossed in crusty bread to soak up the juices. The bread puffed up wonderfully and was a delightful.

You could also cook the conventional method -
1) brown the chicken, remove
2) fry up the aromatics and vegs,
3) add back the chicken, pour in the can of tomatoes
4) add the herbs and soaking water
5) bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and low simmer for 2 hrs until everything is soft.

Garlic Chicken Fried Rice

2008-02-03T04:47:00.000+08:00

This has always been a nemesis of mine - I could never quite get it right. Either it comes out too soggy, or not eggy enough, or the rice comes out plain. But whatever it is, it comes out without 'wok hei'.
Thanks to the wonders of the Internet however, I got some ang mo tried-and-tested recipes and voila! We have a winner. This is what I did:
Ingredients (serves 2)1 cup rice
1 chicken breast, cubed
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup mixed vegetables
2 eggs
1 tsp sesame seed oil
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tbsp light soya sauce
Oil for frying

Method
1) Marinate chicken with 1 tbsp soya sauce and pepper. Leave to marinate for at least 15 mins.
2) Usually all fried rice recipes call for cold leftover rice, but I've never got any hanging around in my fridge, thanks to the wonders of the microwave. I wondered it if would make a difference - being cold or not. Anyway I had freshly cooked rice, but left it out until it cooled down a lot, so that when you stir it, it doesn't break up so easily and become mush. The whole point of fried rice is really to have dry, separated whole grains of rice.
3) Heat up the pan or wok and fry the chicken. Once 3/4 cooked, add the mixed veg and fry for a minute. Lastly, add the eggs and scramble. Dish everything out and set aside.
4) Either wash the pan, or wipe the pan clean because you don't want any burnt bits in your rice.
5) Add oil again, and heat it up until the pan is very hot. Add the garlic and fry for a minute. Add the rice and stir fry. Dash in the fish sauce, soya sauce and sesame seed oil. I find it helps to use 2 spatulas to ensure everything is stir fried evenly.
6) Once the rice is warmed thru, add back the scrambled ingredients. I find it's easy to add a bit of ingredients, mix well before adding more.
7) Serve immediately with la cheow yao, parsley or spring onion.
I still didn't achieve wok hei and its probably because I used a non-stick pan. However at least for once in my life, the rice grains were well-separated and not soggy!

Rosemary, mint and garlic Lamb Chops

2007-12-20T08:17:00.000+08:00

Tis' the season for green and red. We don't usually eat lamb, because it's impossible to find fresh lamb in supermarkets here, otherwise it's expensive. Not to mention we've been reminded time and time again about how it's more unhealthy compared to other meats. But last week, I saw frozen shoulder chops and thought it's the season to treat ourselves. Just once in a while, why not eh? In fact, we were pleasantly surprised that despite being frozen, we enjoyed it so much, I reckon it was better than the dried up tiny bitsy one I had at Botak Jones recently!
Ingredients
two 250g lamb chops
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp ground black pepper
3 tsp dried mint
1 tbsp cooking oil
3 tsp mustard

Method
1) Add the garlic, herbs, salt and pepper to the cooking oil and stir well. Rub well into the meat and leave to marinade for at least 1 hour.
2) Place in a foil covered baking tray. Grill on high heat for 20 - 25 minutes, turning over halfway.
3) Leave the cooked chop to rest for 10 minutes, wrapped up in the foil to keep warm. Use this time to make the sauce. To make the sauce, drain away some of the oil. Scrape all the stuff off the bottom of the pan and add the mustard. Whisk in well. Add more salt and pepper to taste if necessary. You can also drizzle in some olive oil if desired.
4) Serve on a bed of salad leaves and drizzle the sauce over the chop.

Black pepper and Herb crusted Pork Chops

2007-11-17T17:37:00.000+08:00

I am indeed beginning to realise that I have no other joy in life other than food. Oh dear. I have become one of 'those' Singaporeans. Perhaps middle age has truly hit.
Anyhow, thanks to Gordon Ramsey's inspiration, here is my rendition of what he did with his mint and herb crusted lamb chops. The roughly ground peppercorns in my recipe will give the porkchops a crusty and peppery exterior.
Ingredients2 pork chops, with bone in (always tastes better during the cooking process)
4 tbsp whole black peppercorns
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp sage
1 clove garlic, diced
1 tsp cooking oil
Method1) In a pestle and mortar, rougly grind up the black peppercorns. Add the herbs and garlic and incorporate. Don't overly grind the peppercorns. It's not meant to be a smooth paste.
2) Pat dry the pork chops. Pour out the peppercorn mixture on a flat plate. Coat both sides of the pork chops with the cooking oil, before 'breading' them with the peppercorn mixture. Leave to marinate for at least 1 hour, or overnight for best results.
3) Optional: Pan sear the porkchops to caramelize them.
4) Transfer onto a baking tray, lined with aluminum foil. Bake the pork chops in an oven, 200 deg C for 20 mins.
5) Serve with freshly garlic toasted bread.

Lettuce cup stirfry

2007-11-11T03:07:00.000+08:00

I was inspired by the Korean style of wrapping cold cold fresh lettuce around hot hot meat. This dish is quite common in chinese restaurants. I'm not too sure of the origins, but I believe its probably Northern Chinese in origin. Usually served as an appetiser, you can also use man tou instead of lettuce to wrap the meat in.
Ingredients350g minced pork
1 red onion, diced
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, sliced
8 dry shitake mushrooms, soaked in water to rehydrate and then finely diced. Reserve the water (approx 1/2 cup)
1 carrot, julienned
1 small iceberg lettuce
Oil for stir frying

Marinade
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
1 tbsp corn flour

Method1) Marinade the minced pork with the marinade ingredients. Leave to stand for a least 15 minutes.
2) To prepare the lettuce, cut into half, down the stem. Cut off the core and slowly try to open it up for the water to get in. Soak in ice water for 15 mins and then the leaves separate very easily and can be removed whole. Dry as best as possible and set aside.
3) Heat up the oil in the wok. Stir fry the onions and ginger until fragrant.
4) Pour in the minced pork and fry till 3/4 cooked.
5) Add the carrots and mushrooms and fry briefly.
6) Add the water from soaking the mushrooms. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes.
7) Serve immediately. Eat by wrapping the mince in the lettuce.

No knead bread

2007-09-24T22:22:00.000+08:00

From the original article on no knead bread,
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/08mini.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
came this website http://aresrocket.com/bread/ which better-ed the recipe.

Sambal Kangkong

2007-08-21T00:44:00.000+08:00

I actually did this with spinach but of course it's more well-known with kang kong. The pounding crushes the ingredients and releases fragrant oils that aren't released if they are 'cut' using a food processor or blender. This is the key to nonya cooking - the humble pestle and mortar. But of course, in this modern day and age, who has the time to pound pound pound? For me however, it is therapeutic - pounding away my anger and frustrations. But it took me a good half hour!

Ingredients

2 sticks of lemongrass, roughly chopped

Half a white onion (optimally, use 3 shallots), roughly chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, roughly chopped

2 tbsp dried shrimp (hay bee)

4 dried chillies, soaked in hot water until soft and deseeded (This gives only a slight spiciness, go up to 10 chillies if you think you can take it!)

2 tsp balachan

1 tsp sugar

3 tbsp cooking oil

1/4 cup water

1 big bunch of kang kong

Method

1) Pound all the ingredients, going in the order given in the ingredients above, omitting the sugar, cooking oil and water.

2) In a wok, heat up the cooking oil. This may seem like a lot but the sambal will soak it up. Fry the pounded ingredients using a medium heat until the it has a shiny and slightly oily texture. Watch the fire as it burns easily!

3) Add the water. Beware as this will splatter and produce a lot of steam! Turn down the fire. Stir until the water is incorporated and it is no longer watery. Add slightly more water if it becomes too dry.

4) Add the tsp of sugar. If necessary, add salt. (usally this is not necessary as the balachan is salty enough but everyone's taste differs). Add the bunch of kang kong and stir until the vegetable is cooked.

5) Serve immediately with freshly steamed rice.

Chicken and aubergine casserole in a bean paste sauce

2007-08-16T11:15:00.001+08:00

Feeling like an all-in-one casserole, and since I finally had my favourite veg, it was either cooking it separately and spending 1/2 pounding a sambal, or throwing it together with the chicken. Guess which option won? :)
Ingredients
1 aubergine, sliced
8 -10 chicken thighlets
1 handful wolfberries (optional)

1 thumb sized ginger, skinned and cut into small slices
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1/2 cup of water

Marinade
2 tbsp spicy bean sauce (I used Lee Kum Kee for mapo toufu)
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp light soya sauce
2 tsbp chinese rice wine
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar

Method
1) Marinate chicken with the marindate ingredients. Set aside for at least 1 hour. If you can do so overnight, all the better.
2) In a casserole dish, assemble by placing aubergine slices at the bottom and sides of the cassarole, before pouring in the chicken with the marinade. Pour in the water. The water level should not be too high, about 3/4 way up the cassarole otherwise it may bubble over in the oven. You may top up just a bit if necessary, as water helps the chicken and aubergine to cook.
3) Add the garlic and ginger and finish off by placing some aubergine slices on top of the chicken.
4) Bake at 180 deg C for 30 minutes.
5) Serve with steamed rice.