Sunday, November 06, 2011

I love this smiley

Roast Chicken

Recipe (can go with chicken rice as well)
- 1 whole chicken
- 1 tbs salt
- As many unpeeled cloves of garlic as you like

1. Wash the chicken.

2. Dry the chicken.

3. Salt the chicken, including cavity. (or use five spice powder)

4. Throw in as many cloves of garlic/pandan leaf as you like, into the cavity. Then seal with a toothpick.

5. Place the chicken breast side up, in a baking tray. Surround with potatoes* if you wish to make this a one-dish meal.*For potatoes, it helps if you semi-cook them prior. Just cut into bite-sized chunks, drizzle very little oil and microwave them (covered) on high till they turn a little translucent around the edges. They will cook through during the roasting.

6. Roast for 50-60mins (200degrees) or until the juices run clear and the chicken has browned to a crisp.

7. Allow to cool upside down for at least 15mins so that juices can re-distribute.

8. Make gravy using the residual juices in the roasting pan by adding 1 rice bowl of chicken stock. Bring to a bowl and add a little diluted corn starch to thicken. Sieve through to remove charred bits. Serve chicken with gravy on the side.

Using the roast chicken carcass for stock:
http://www.noobcook.com/how-to-make-chicken-stock-from-roast-chicken/

Thursday, May 19, 2011

SESAME OIL CHICKEN麻油鸡

Ingredients
(Serves 2-3)

- 1/2 chicken (about 600g), cut to small pieces (you can also use mid-sized drumlettes or chicken thighs)
- 2 tbsp sesame oil and 1 tbsp olive oil
- 5 slices ginger, stacked together and sliced thinly
- Chinese cooking wine (optional) – Hua Diao Jiu (
花雕酒) or Shao Xing Jiu (绍兴酒)
water mixture
- 50ml water mixed with 1 tsp dark soy and 1/2 tsp light soy (stir well)

Directions
1. Heat sesame oil and olive oil, then add ginger strips. Stir fry till fragrant.
2. Add chicken pieces and stir fry for a few minutes.
3. Add water mixture and stir to make sure the chicken pieces are well coated with the sauce. Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes.
4. Open lid, add more water if the mixture is drying out, use kitchen tongs to flip chicken pieces to the other side, cover and simmer for another 5 minutes.
5. When the chicken is cooked, add a splash of Chinese wine and after a few seconds you can smell the wonderful aroma of the wine evaporating. Off the flame. Garnish with coriander and serve with warm steamed rice.

Cooking Notes
1. The simmering time will depend on the size of the chicken pieces – the smaller the pieces, the shorter the cooking time.
2.Instead of Chinese wine, you can also add hard liquor like D.O.M or X.O.
3. This is popular food for women on confinement (one month after childbirth). The confinement recipe usually contains more sesame oil, ginger and wine because it is believed that “heaty” foods are beneficial for women recuperating from childbirth.
4. My mum always add some canned button mushrooms though I don’t really like it. If you like them, you can add them during the last few minutes of simmering.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

V-Day Main Course: SALMON IN LEMON SAUCE

- 1/2 Lemon
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt (marinate and to taste)
- Salmon

Salmon:
Marinate salmon in salt before cooking. Sear salmon on all sides. Remove.

Sauce:
Squeeze lemon juice in pan directly. Add olive oil. Add salt (omit if low sodium desired). Drizzle on salmon.

V Day Side Dish : Brussel Sprout with bak kua

STIR-FRIED BRUSSELS SPROUT WITH DRIED SOLE
Ingredients:
10 Brussels sprouts (cut into halves)
2 pieces of dried sole fillet (cut into small pieces)
2 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)

1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon cooking oil
3 drops of sesame oil
A dash of pepper
A pinch of sugar

Method:
1.       Heat up a small pot of water and bring it to boil.
2.       Add a few drops of cooking oil into the water (to preserve the color of the Brussels sprouts) and boil the Brussels sprouts for two minutes. Drain and set aside.
3.       Heat up the wok and add the cooking oil.
4.       Add the sliced garlic and do a quick stir.
5.       Add in the dried sole fillet pieces and stir fry until they turn golden brown and crispy.
6.       Add in the Brussels sprouts, oyster sauce, water and stir fry for 1 minute.
7.       Add the sesame oil, a dash of white pepper powder and a pinch of sugar.
8.       Dish up and serve hot.

Note: May want to mix the oyster sauce and water together before adding. I used bak kwa (from CNY) instead of sole.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Almond crisps

From Auntie Cindy, Peter’s Mom
3 egg white
30 gm castor sugar (~2 tbsp)
40 gm ground almond powder
100 gm almonds flake

Beat egg white till bubble is form add in sugar and beat till stiff than fold in the ground almond powder. Than put mixture in pipping bag and pipe cookie out onto tray lay with non stick baking papper (very important otherwise cookie will stick to the baking tray and cannot be removed. Sprinkle almonds flake on top of cookies and bake for 1/2 an hour or until the back of the cookies is brown all through @ 150 degree

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Spinach in superior broth

Ingredients (Serves 2)
- 250g Chinese spinach, ends trimmed, separate stems and leaves (see cooking note 1 below)
- 1 tbsp white bait, rinsed and patted dry
- 3 tbsp olive oil/vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled & sliced thinly
- 1/2 to 1 century egg, yolk portion cut to smaller pieces (see cooking variation note 1 and cooking note 2 below)
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Hua Diao or Shaoxing) (optional)
Sauce mixture (dissolve everything)
- 200ml
ikan bilis (anchovies) stock (1l water, 100gm ikanbilis, 6 red dates boil for 10 min) (or you can cheat by dissolving 200 ml hot water with 1/4 knorr ikan bilis cube)
- 1/2 tsp abalone sauce (I use fortune brand)
- pinch of sugar
Directions
1. Heat oil, deep fry white bait till crispy (about 3 minutes or more) and set aside.
2. Using remaining oil in wok, add garlic slices and stir fry till garlic is slightly browned.
3. Add spinach stems and stir fry about a minute or so. Then add spinach leaves and stir fry till all the leaves are wilted.
4. Add sauce mixture and century egg pieces. Bring to a quick boil and simmer for about a minute. If using Chinese wine, drizzle some along the side of the wok and you’ll smell the aroma of the wine in a few seconds. Off the flame.
5. Portion to a serving dish and top with the previously fried white bait you prepared in step 1.
1. If you do not like century eggs, you can substitute with wolfberries instead. Soak 1 tsp of wolfberries in water till they are puffy. Instead of adding century eggs in step 4, add the soaked wolfberries.
2. You can add all types of ingredients to jazz up the dish. For example, you can add fresh white scallops, dried scallops or mushrooms.

Chicken Curry

Main Ingredients:
Lemongrass – 2 piece (white part, smashed)
8 Dried chilli
Curry Chicken Paste - $1 or 1 pack
Curry Leaves
Oyster sauce and Sugar to taste
4 chicken thighs
Water
Shallots – 6 pieces (omit if in paste)
Potatoes – 3 (leave skin on but scrub well)
Carrots – 2
Onions – 1
Long Beans – 10 to 15 pieces (cut into long snips)
Coconut milk/cream - one packet or one canned.
Ginger – 2 to 3 cm knob (omit if in paste)
Garlic – 1 head (omit if in paste)

Method:

Boil potatoes and other root vegetables in 1/3 pot of water.
In a heated wok, add two - three tablespoons of oil. In high heat, add in the smashed lemon grass which is cut up in two pieces and fry till you can smell the fragrance.
Then add in dried chilli, curry leaves and the curry paste mixture and fry on low heat till you can see red colour oil floating on top of the paste. Stir constantly at this stage as they stick to the bottom of the pan easily. This will take about 4 to 5 minutes of frying. Add oyster sauce and sugar to taste.
Then, add in the chicken pieces. Stir them around till they are coated evenly with the paste. While maintaining high heat, ensure that the chicken is coated evenly with the paste.
Add a little bit of the water in the boiling root vegetables "soup". After 3 minutes, add potatoes and rest of the “soup”.
Turn into medium low heat and let it simmer for at least 45 minutes to one hour. This allows the curry flavour to permeate into the chicken meat and also allowed the potatoes to "melt" into the sauce.
After one hour is up, add in long beans. Let it boil for few minutes, then pour in the coconut milk. Bring it up to a boil and switch off the heat. You do not want to boil the coconut milk mixture for too long as it will start to curdle.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Steamed Egg with minced pork / muar otah

Ingredients
(Serves 2-4)

- 150g minced pork / otah (‘mashed’)
- 1/2 tsp vegetable/olive oil
- 1 carrot (but you’ll be only using some of it)


A) For the egg custard mixture
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup water or stock
- 1/2 tsp Chinese cooking wine
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp light soy sauce (for seasoning the egg mixture, exclude or use less soy sauce if using stock)


B) Marinade for the minced pork (omit for otah)
- 1/2 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp Chinese cooking wine
- a bit of Chinese white pepper
- 1/2 stalk spring onions, finely chopped (use the green upper part)


Directions
1) Using a vegetable peeler, shave some carrot slices, then stack the slices vertically, cut them to thin strips and then chop to smaller pieces to get finely chopped carrots.
2) Preparing the egg custard mixture
i) Break the eggs into the bowl. To minimize bubbles, do not beat the eggs but gently stir the eggs with a pair of chopsticks using a cutting action.
ii) Add the rest of the ingredients from (A) to the eggs mixture. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve.

3) Preparing the minced pork
i) Combine marinade (B) with minced pork and mix well. Leave for at least 10 minutes.
ii) Heat wok with a bit of oil, then stir fry the minced pork till they are no longer pink, breaking them to smaller bits using your spatula. Do not overcook.
iii) Arrange the stir-fried minced pork in a thin layer on a shallow dish. Then pour the stained egg mixture over gently. Top with some chopped carrots prepared in step 1. If you see any bubbles, “flatten” the surface gently with the back of a spoon.

4) Cover the dish with transparent food wrap or aluminum foil. (optional)
5) Steam the egg custard for about 15 mins. To test if the egg mixture is cooked, insert a stick into the mixture: if a little clear liquid comes out, it is cooked. Serve with warm rice.

Steamed tofu with prawn and vermincelli

Recipe
(
Serves 2 to 3)
- 1 tube silken egg tofu, cut into 6 equal pieces
- 6 medium size fresh prawns, peeled keeping the tails intact
- 10g to 15g tang hoon/mung bean noodles, soaked and drained
- 1 spring onion, julienned
- crispy garlic and garlic oil (fry this first and set aside)

For the sauce
- 3 tbsp of light soy
- 1 tbsp of Hua Tiao cooking wine
- 1/2 tbps sugar
- dash of sesame oil
- dash of white pepper
- a little grated ginger

1. Soak glass noodles in hot water for 5 minutes and drain. Set aside. During this time, start heating up your steamer.

2. Peel prawns, make a slit on each prawn and pierce the tail through, making a little "prawn ball".

3. Drape small mounds of glass noodles over tofu, then top with a prawn ball.

4. By this time, your steamer should be bubbling hot and ready for action. Spoon some sauce over the prawns (no need to use up all the sauce if it appears too much) and place the dish in the steamer. Steam on medium heat for 5  minutes.

5. Top with julienned spring onions and crispy garlic, and drizzle with garlic oil liberally.

6. Ready to be served! Eat hot.
*Variation: Top tofu with Yifon golden mushroom

Ginseng black chicken soup

Ingredients
Serves 3-4
1 black chicken, chopped to small pieces
40g American Ginseng “Beards” 洋参须** (can replace with astragalus and dangshen)
1.6 litres of water
25g Huai Shan
淮山
8 red dates
1/2 tbsp wolfberries
* You can also substitute with 1/2 chicken or 250g lean pork, sliced thickly. Skip the blanching part (step 1 below) if using lean pork..

Directions
1. Blanch chicken pieces in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Place the blanched chicken and the rest of the ingredients (except wolfberries) into a pot with the water. Bring to a boil, continue boiling over high heat for 10 minutes.
3. Reduce heat to a lower flame and simmer for at least another 40 minutes (and longer if you can). Add wolfberries at the last 15 minutes of cooking. You can also slow cook, or use a thermal pot (or whatever you have) to prolong the cooking (at a gentle pace) to bring out the tastes. Add salt to taste.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Zha Jiang Mien

Ingredients (Serving 2 - 3)
: 150g ground meat
: Thin yellow noodle / Angel hair spaghetti (cooked and drained)
: Negi (This strips and chopped from1 green onion)
: Cucumber (strips)
: Shiitake mushroom (diced)
: Garlic & Ginger (diced)

Ingredients for seasoning sauce
: 2 or 3 tbspTenmenjan (Chinese sweet paste)
: 1 tspToubanjan (Chinese spicy paste)
: 2 tbsp soy sauce
: 2 tbsp sugar
: 1 tbsp chicken stock powder
: 3 tbsp sake
: 1 tbsp corn starch (dissolved in water)

1. Make sauce.
2. Add oil and stir fry ginger and garlic.
3. Add minced meat.
4. Add chopped Negi and shitake mushroom.
5. Add sauce. Mix well and make thickener.
6. Reduce heat and simmer the sauce.
7. Add sesame oil to the noodle.
8. Add meat sauce and garnish.

Sweet and sour pork

Ingredients (Serving 3-4)
Marinade
150-200g pork
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper
1 tsp sake (optional)
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch


2 green bell pepper, sliced in wedges/squares
1 red bell pepper, sliced in wedges/squares
1 onion, sliced in wedges
Canned Pineapple (keep juice)

Ingredients for sweet n' sour sauce
3tbsp rice vinegar
3tbsp sugar
1tbsp soy sauce
1tbsp ketchup
50ml pineapple juice / water

1. Deepfry pork till golden brown. Remove and drain.
2. Add oil. Add garlic.
3. Stir fry onion and add peppers.
4. Add sauce and bring to boil. Reduce heat to a simmer.
5. Add 1tbsp cornflour to 1.5 tbsp water and add to pan. Switch off the fire.
6. Add pork and pineapple and mix.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Teochew steamed fish

TEOCHEW STEAMED FISH
Ingredients
(Serves 2-4)
1 medium whole fish (such as white pomfret)-
6 slices of ginger
1 slice of ginger, cut to thin strips, as thinly as you can
1 red chilli, sliced

1 medium tomato, cut to small wedges
2 shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
80g salted vegetables, sliced thinly (roughly 1 to 1.5cm lengthwise)
1 salted plums, lightly mashed 

1 tbsp rice wine or mirin – optional
1 tbsp light soy sauce
3 tbsp water (adjust according)

spring onions (scallions), sliced thinly to wispy strips (to garnish, optional)

Directions
1. Place 2 slices of ginger inside the fish cavity.
Place 4 ginger slices, half of the shiitake mushrooms and half of the salted vegetables to line the bottom of a deep plate.
2. Make two diagonal cuts along the body of the fish (the fleshy part) on both sides. Place fish in the plate, on top of the earlier ingredients you added.
3. Drizzle light soy sauce and mirin over the fish. Marinate for 30 minutes.

4. When you are ready to steam the fish, add water and scatter the rest of the ingredients (ginger strips, salted plums, tomatoes, remaining salted vegetables & mushrooms) over the fish and around the plate.
5. Steam on high heat for roughly 15 minutes – the water in the steamer should be boiling before the fish goes in, and the duration stated for steaming should start only from that moment

6. Garnish with spring onions strips and serve.

(adapted from noobcook's recipe)

Omurice

Ingredients for Omurice
(serves 2)

Rice:
130g Chicken (0.287 lb) diced
Salt & Pepper

1 Garlic Clove
1/4 Onion (70g / 2.47 oz) diced
4 Button Mushrooms (50g / 1.76 oz) sliced
1 tbsp White Wine (optional)
200g Tomato (0.441 lb) diced
1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
1/2 Bouillon Cube (2.8g / 0.1 oz) optional
1 Bay Leaf
30g Frozen Green Peas blanched and seasoned with salt (1.06 oz) optional
Olive Oil, Salt & Pepper

280g Steamed Rice Cooked with Less Water (0.617 lb)
Egg mixture:
4 Eggs
2 tsp Dairy Cream (I put 1.5 tbsp fresh milk)
Olive Oil, Salt & Pepper
Garnishing:
Baby Salad Greens
Parsley
Tomato Ketchup

Rice:
1. Stir fry onion and garlic in oil.
2. Add chicken meat.
3. Add wine.
4. Add tomato and tomato ketchup and bouillion cube.
5. Add bay leaf and water. Reduce the sauce.
6. Remove bay leaf. Add salt and pepper according to taste.
7. Add rice. Mix evenly.
8. Remove on a plate.

Omelette:
1. Coat pan with oil.
2. Add egg mixture and stir quickly for 5s.
3. Swirl egg around.
4. Switch off fire.
5. Put rice on omelette.
6. Fold in sides of egg.
7. Flip on plate and garnish.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Easy stir-fried beef with onions

What you need:

500g beef (sliced)
1 big white/yellow onion (sliced)

1 bell pepper (squared) (optional)
Garlic (minced)
soya sauce
Pepper
Corn starch
Sesame oil



Method:

Marinate beef with soya sauce, sesame oil, pepper and corn starch.

Heat wok till very hot. Add oil.

Sauté onion till soft and add on garlic. Fry till fragrant and add vegetable.

Push aside the onions/garlic/vegetable. Add beef.

Briefly stir fry it. DO NOT WAIT TILL THE BEEF IS COOKED (learnt the 'tough' way).

Remove and serve hot.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Steamed fish fillet on kailan

Ingredients
(serves 4)

2 pack kailan
ginger/garlic/onion/spring onion (as desired)
200g white fish fillet (eg. cod)
salt
oil

marinade/sauce:
ginger sliced thinly
2tbsp light soya sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1tbsp sesame oil
5 spice powder
1 tsp cooking wine (optional)


1. Make marinade. Marinade fish for 10min. Leave remaining sauce for later use.
2. Blanch kailan in boiling water. Add a dash of sugar (prevents bitterness) and salt. Run cold water. Drain and set aside for frying.
3. Add onion/ginger/garlic into wok with hot oil. Add kailan. Stir-fry for a few seconds and add a dash of water. Cover. After 10 seconds, stir-fry. Switch off gas for carry-on cooking for 20s. Arrange kailan on serving plate.
4. Steam fish for 6 min (depends on thickness of fish slices). Remove and arrange on kailan.
5. Scoop some remaining juices from steaming and combine with marinade. Drizzle over fish.
6. Garnish with spring onion. Fry cooking oil and drizzle over spring onion, observe a sizzle (cantonese style).

Steamed prawns in beer

10-15 king prawns                           ½ can beer
garlic                                                  butter
1. Split prawns lengthwise. Remove entrails. Trim feelers.
2. Boil beer. Simmer. Steam prawns for 5min. Remove excess liquid.
3. Fry garlic in butter and drizzle over prawns.

Sunday, October 03, 2010

Singapore Chilli Crab

Ingredients

2 Mud crab, well washed and chopped into sections
2 brown onions and 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped finely (optional, 2 slices chopped ginger)
6 tbsp oil
8 finely chopped red chillies (alternatively use chilli sauce and reduce/omit vinegar and sugar)
½ tbsp vinegar
4 tbsp sugar
Belacan, thumb size piece (optional; orange juice;optional)
1 tbsp tomato paste + 0.5 cup tomato sauce (to taste)
400ml tomato puree (or 2 small finely chopped tomatoes)
4 tbsp light soy sauce (or 1tbsp oyster sauce)
½ tsp salt (omit if using tomato sauce without puree)
Water
2 eggs
Coriander leaves, to garnish

Preparation

Heat oil in a wok and add onion, garlic and chilli.

Add belacan and continue to cook until most of the liquid from the onions evaporates.

Add vinegar, tomato puree, tomato paste, sugar and salt.

Add tomato sauce, and light soy sauce.

Add crab pieces and continue to cook over high heat until shell turns red.

Add egg and stir through gently.

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE (Serves 3)

[This recipe is for personal records only]
Ingredients:

• 2 chicken legs (deboned)

• 4 to 5 slices ginger

• 2 spring onion (shallot), sectioned

• 2&1/2 cups white rice, rinsed and drained well

• Half a bowl minced garlic

• Quarter bowl grated/minced ginger

• 2 bay leaves or pandan leaves tied in a knot

• Salt, to taste

• 2&1/2 cups chicken stock (double if soup is desired)

• Cucumber, few slices for garnish (alternatively, blanch baby pak choy and desired sauce topped with golden brown garlic)

Ingredients for chili sauce:

• 2 to 3 chilies (depends on how hot you like)

• 5 slices ginger

• 6 cloves garlic

• 3 Tbsp lime juice

• 4 Tbsp chicken stock

• sugar, to taste

• salt, to taste



Method:

1. Heat oil/chicken fat in wok, sauté minced garlic and grated ginger and salt until aromatic. Be cautious, don’t let them burn. Or else your rice would turn brown when cooked. Add drained rice and stir fry for 3 minutes. Toss in bay leaves and pour chicken stock into the rice. Bring to a boil. Transfer to electric cooker and cook rice as usual.

2. Rinse chicken and drain well. Stuff spring onion and ginger in/on chicken and steam over high heat, covered with a lid, for about 20 minutes, or until cooked through. Insert a chop stick or needle into the thickest part of chicken leg. If clear liquid runs out, it’s cooked. Immediately transfer chicken legs into iced water and soak for 15 to 20 minutes. This is an old traditional Chinese way of making the skin and meat of steamed chicken become smoother and tenderer.

3. To prepare chili sauce, just process all ingredients with a food processor for a minute. Add salt and/or sugar to taste.

4. When the chicken legs cool down, drain well. Chop into chunks and serve with cooked chicken rice. Garnish with cucumber slices if desired. Many Chinese people like eating steamed chicken with minced ginger and spring onion sauce. Just heat up a bit oil in wok or saucepan. When the oil becomes very hot, immediately pour the oil onto minced ginger and finely chopped shallot. Add salt or soy sauce to taste. That’s the popular ginger and shallot sauce for chicken. This Hainanese chicken tastes fantastic, accompanying with both chili sauce and minced ginger shallot sauce.

Used :

1 cup = 250ml

1 Tbsp (tablespoon) = 15ml

1 tsp (teaspoon) = 5ml

Temperature = Celsius


Deboning chicken: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKUoYoau8kE&feature=related