Home made bak kwa

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!

Updated recipe: http://simmetra.blogspot.com.au/2018/02/bak-kwa-take-2.html

Nigella Kitchen's Choc Chip Bread Pudding

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

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

Photo of my attempt:

Chamchijeon (Tuna pancakes)

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

Updated with CNY 2013 picture to represent 年年有余

Ga Ban Kho Gung (Chicken in ginger)

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

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

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

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

Edit: here's the photo!

Reproduced here in case the link goes dead:

Ingredients

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

Preparation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jjajiangmyun

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

From my favourite Korean cooking site - jjajiangmyun recipe

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

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

Ellice Handy's Light Chicken Stew

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

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

Here's the link to the receipe:

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

Edited: Here's my attempt

Myulchibokkeum

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

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

Thai beef salad

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

Ingredients

300g of roast beef, cubed

3 tbsp of Thai fish sauce

2 tbsp of lemon juice

2 tbsp of red wine vinegar

1 tsp English mustard

2 tbsp olive oil (optional)

Leftover sauce (for the roast beef, if still available)

8 baby cos lettuce leaves, washed and roughly shredded

2 carrots, sliced

1 tomato, sliced

3 rounds of vermicelli, soaked to rehydrate according to instructions on packet

Method

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

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

3) Give everything a good toss and serve!

Roast beef dinner

Ingredients

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

2 tsp of sage

2 tsp rosemary

2 tbsp soya sauce

For the sauce,

1 glass red wine

1 red onion, chopped

2 dollops of butter

1 tsp English mustard

Method

1) Marinate the beef. 

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

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

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

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

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

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