My Birthday Lunch (for Marky)

Don't ask me why I am cooking on my birthday for Marky when it should be the other way round. Haha...I just missed cooking, so he was in a treat when I made him grilled chicken on the IKEA grill pan (Marky bought it for me on my request =) ) I mentioned to him about the soba salad that I made the other day and he asked me to make that for him too, as he hasn't eaten my soba in a long time. (IN the end, I made udon salad for a change. It turned out great!)

So there I am, busy preparing everything on my birthday...

In my grill...

• 1 Yellow capsicum
• 1/2 Carrot
• 3 deboned chicken thighs (Marinated overnight in teriyaki sauce, chopped garlic and ginger, a sprinkle of sugar and a splash of sesame oil)

*Teriyaki sauce and black pepper are added to vegetables as they are being grilled*

What's in my udon salad...

• 2 bundles of dried udon sticks (duh..)
• Japanese cucumber, julienned
• A small bunch of edamame, remove peas from pods
• Salad dressing (Double the amount from my previous post + additional chopped parsley and toasted sesame seeds)

What can be easier than to just toss everything together!

The resultant plate of food...
















Let us zoom into...

The grilled chicken. Perfect combination of the sweetness of the teriyaki sauce and flavourful ginger & garlic.



Udon salad
Tinge of spiciness, sweetness & saltiness from the sauce to add an extra oomph on the originally tasteless udon & greens. The addition of sesame seeds & chopped parsley makes this version even better than the previous one.


Grilled vegetable
Brushing on teriyaki sauce on the vegetables brings out their natural sweetness. At first I thought that I'll just put the carrots as garnish, but I ended up eating up all my carrots. =)

Finally, I had a positive feedback from my dearest Marky! That makes all efforts worthwhile. (Yuppie!)

Seafood: Bo Hur Hei Ma Ho (But I have both.. hehe)

Bo Hur Hei Ma Ho (Loosely translated from Hokkien as: If there's no fish, prawns will do as well)

I've recently cook up this seafood dish with Pearl and it took us eons to just think of what to cook for dinner. It was such a headache and we just walked up and down the aisles of NTUC trying to find what to buy.

Finally, we settled for salmon and prawns. It was a good choice but the cleaning of the prawns was torturous. My dear friend who hates the small, wriggly legs of the prawns, left the important task of trimming to me. And poor me, not having lunch earlier, felt nauseous after being exposed to the smell of the uncooked prawns for a prolong period of time. (YUCKS) But all these were worth it. We had a wonderfully delicious and (overly) filling meal! (Death by the salad!!).

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Surf N Turf (Serves 2)

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Pan Fried Salmon
Ingredients:
1 portion of salmon fillet cut into half (We got it at around $7 at NTUC)
Salt
Black pepper and black pepper corns
Olive oil

Method:
1) Sprinkle salt, generous amount of black pepper and some black pepper corn over both sides of salmon. Spread evenly.
2) Leave in the fridge for 15 - 30 mins.
3) Heat a frying pan with olive oil. Place salmon pieces on the pan and fry each side for 2-3mins till brown. You may leave the middle part a little raw for better texture.
4) Squeeze a little lime for better taste when digging in.

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Oven Baked Mayo Prawns II

Ingredients:

12 prawns (Cut a slit at the top of the prawns and de-vein it)

Mayonnaise
Tomato ketchup
Chilli sauce
Chopped parsley (Good to have)
Black pepper

Lime

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Method (Done in an almost similar way as the mayo prawns in earlier posts):

1) Mix mayonnaise, tomato ketchup, chilli sauce, black pepper together. Add a squeeze of lime.
2) Preheat oven to 220°C.
3) Lightly oil the tray and line the prawns with the slits up on the tray.

4) Use a teaspoon to pour the sauce onto the slits of the prawns. Bake until cooked.

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Sauteed mushrooms

Ingredients:
1 packet of brown button mushrooms, sliced into thick pieces
1 tablespoon of butter

Salt
Pepper

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Method:

1) Melt butter in a frying pan.

2) Add mushrooms. Fry for a minute or two.
3) Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

What we think...

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The natural taste of salmon was enhanced by a touch of salt and black pepper. It had just the right amount of firmness on the outside and I left the inside slightly raw. I think that this is the best way to eat salmon as I hate overcooked salmon!

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The brown button mushrooms that were sauteed by Pearl were very tasty and goes well with everything, but it will be better if she can hold back on the salt a little. (I know you have a 'salty' tooth, Pearl)

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As for the prawns, they were slightly overdone but the taste was not affected -- Still yummy

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The most important side dish --- Salad! Lightly dressed with mayonnaise (Not the healthiest choice but there weren't any other dressings at Pearl's house), black pepper and lots of lime juice for the tangy effect.

We then topped with raisins for added sweetness and toasted sunflower seeds for extra crunch!

Seafood: Veggies: Breaded fish and mushroom potato

I've invited my dear friend recently for dinner at my house and as usual, she was my guinea pig. Haha...It wasn't exactly the best meal due to the saltiness of the fish. My dearest mummy told me to add more salt to the fish and in the end, the fish was really salty =Þ I shall adjust the salt next time.

I enjoyed eating the mushroom potato most as it was a combination of my favourite food. However, my dear friend commented that the mushroom taste was not very strong and I found out later that it was because of the mayonnaise that was added to make the consistency better.

Clockwise from bottom right: Salty breaded dory (A mishap), oven baked white button mushrooms with sauteed onions on a bed of carrots, broccoli, mushroom potato.

My favourite of the day --> Mushrooms, potatoes and onions

Things to do beforehand
- Sauté 1 yellow onion with olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Sauté a mixture of shiitake and white button mushrooms with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Method
1) Boil potato till semi-soft (If you do not have time to bake the potato for 45mins)

2) Brush some olive oil on the oven tray.

3) Cut off one end of the potato so that it can stand.

4) Then, sprinkle a little salt and a drizzle of olive oil on the potato's skin

5) Bake @ 175°C till soft and scoop out the insides of the potato and place into a bowl.

6) Mix in the mushrooms and add a small dollop of mayonnaise for better consistency. Sprinkle some salt and pepper. (Note that mayonnaise covers the taste of the mushrooms so refrain from using too much if u like a strong mushroom taste)

7) Scoop the mixture back into the potato skins.

8) Drizzle some olive oil on the top of the mixture and send it back into the oven for another 15mins or so.

9) Add the sauté onions on top of the potato for garnishing

Oven baked button mushrooms with just salt, pepper and a abit of butter on it.

Although this hasn't been the best meal but I shall try to improve on this the next time round.

Meat: Bacon wrapped asparagus & Bacon wrapped water chestnut

It has been a very long break of 10 weeks. Finally, I have the time to update my blog. And as noticed by Marky, I've gotten a complaint about not updating since my practicum has ended. (You know who u are...lol)

Anyway, I'm going to recommend a very simple yet delicious finger food that is great for parties or BBQs ---> Bacon wrapped asparagus & Bacon wrapped water chestnut.

There are actually a variety of ways that you can cook this for example, frying, baking and barbequing. I actually prefer baking but my mum commented that frying on a non-stick pan is better as it is more crisp. I've given you the choices, it's now up to you to choose your favourite cooking methods =)

The reason why this is a hit among my family, friends and I is because of the heavenly combination of the salty bacon and the crisp vegetables. My favourite is the water chestnut as it doesn't shrink or turns soft when cooking and its sweetness really complements the bacon very well.

Enough of saying.. Let's get on with the extremely easy recipe!


Bacon wrapped asparagus/water chestnut










Ingredients
Bacon strips
Baby asparagus, divide into 4 bunches. Ard 4-5cm each (You may opt to use large asparagus)
Water chestnuts, washed, skinned and cut into halves
Tomato sauce (Optional, but I find that the bacon taste nicer when you brush a little on top)
Chinese Parsley (Coriander), chopped (Optional, but I also prefer to have this)
Black pepper

Toothpicks to skewer the bacon and vegetables.

Method
1) Preheat your oven to 200ºC (May vary from oven to oven)

2) Place 3 or 4 pieces of asparagus on a slice of bacon and wrap the vegetable with the bacon. (If you find the bacon too long, you may want to cut the bacon into half.)

3) Skewer with a toothpick to secure it.

4) Do the same for the halved chestnuts.















5) Once you have all your skewered bacons, place them flat on the baking tray.

6) Brush some tomato sauce over the bacon then sprinkle black pepper and chopped chinese parsley over the top.

7) Bake for 10-12minutes or until bacon is crisp and asparagus bundle is tender.

Veggies :Oven baked onion rings

Having tried deep frying onion rings, I've also experimented with oven baked onion rings to create a healthier alternative to this sinful yet delicious finger food. Here's what I did...

Oven Baked Onion Rings

Ingredients:

1 large yellow onion, cut into rings (Only bigger rings are used)

1 tbsp milk
1 egg white

Crumb Mixture
Breadcrumbs
2-3 tbsp cornmeal (Optional)
1 tsp paprika (Optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Method:
1. Mix all ingredients under crumb mixture together.

2. Mix milk and egg white together.

3. Dip onion rings in milk and egg white mixture.

4. Next, dip into crumb mixture.

5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 for thicker crumbs coating

6. Lightly grease oven tray with olive oil and preheat at 200 degrees. Bake for around 30 minutes at 170 degrees, flipping onion rings after approx. 10 minutes (Baking time varies from oven to oven. Best gauge is when onion rings turn golden brown)

Veggies :Fried Kai Lan

I'm sure many people has eaten stir fried Kai Lan but what about Deep Fried Kai Lan? I came across this recipe in the same cookbook as mentioned in previous post and decided to give it a shot! The verdict? Me and mum felt that it tasted like "cai poh" (Chinese pickled radish).. So weird.. Haha.. But I think it taste goooood.. A good substitute to "cai poh". But the down side is that it also has to be eaten the moment it is cooked as it will lose the crispness pretty fast. But overall an interesting dish to try.

Fried Kai Lan

Ingredients A:
500g kai lan
A small portion of carrot, diced

oil for deep-frying

1/2 tbsp shredded ginger

1/2 tbsp chopped garlic

Ingredients B:
1 tsp caster sugar

1 tbsp shredded dried cuttlefish (I ommitted this)

1 tbsp small ikan bilis, fried until crispy

Seasoning:
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp light soya sauce
a little shaoxing wine
a little corn flour water for thickening

Method:

1. Separate kai lan into leaves and stems. Cut leaves into fine shreds and cut the stems into slices. (I diced my stems)
2. Heat up oil for deep frying, deep fry kai lan leaves until crispy. Dish and drain. (I suggest adding all the leaves to deep fry at the same time so that it doesn't burn that easily. Oil shouldn't be too hot and only fry the leaves for approx.1 min)

3. Leave 1 tbsp of oil in wok to saute ginger and garlic until fragrant.

4. Add in kai lan stems & carrots to stir fry for 1 minute.
5. Add seasoning and stir fry till cooked.
6. Thicken with corn flour water and dish up.











7. Put fried kai lan leaves on top of stems, sprinkle Ingredients B over it and serve.

*Fry your stems and carrots first and deep fry leaves last to ensure crispness*

Meat : Veggies :Deep fried onion chicken in special sauce

Found this recipe inside one of the cookbooks called Hawkers' Fair Simplified. The taste turned out pretty good except that the onions turned soft and not crispy after a while if not taken hot. The chicken wasn't very crispy after a while too. I think its the corn flour that was used.. I should experiment on what flour is best for frying one of these days when I'm more free...

Anyway, I made some changes to the recipe as you will see later.

Deep Fried Onion Chicken in Special Sauce (Best eaten hot!)

Ingredients:
2 chicken thighs, removed bones
1 onion, cut into think rings

Corn flour for coating chicken

Marinade:

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp curry powder (Couldn't find this at home, so I used the Curry instant noodles seasoning instead and cut back on the salt.)

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 egg

1 tbsp water

1 tbsp corn flour
1 tbsp sesame oil (Not in the recipe)

Coating for Onion Rings (Mixed):
1/2 egg
1/2 tsp salt

Sauce:
2 tbsp tomato sauce

1 tbsp chilli sauce
1tsp worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp curry powder

1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp light soya sauce
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp sesame oil (Not in the recipe)
A dash of Shaoxing wine (Not in the recipe)
A dash of pepper (Not in the recipe)

Method:
1. Combine chicken thighs with marinade and season for 30 minutes. (I left for around 3 hrs)
2. Then coat with corn flour and deep fry in hot oil until golden brown. Dish up and leave to cool before cutting into serving pieces.

3. Dip onion rings in egg and salt mixture, the coat with corn flour and deep fry in hot oil until golden brown. Dish up and arrange on top of chicken.

4. Leave 1 tbsp of oil in wok, pour in sauce ingredients and cook until thick. Pour over onion rings and chicken. Serve hot. (I feel that the sauce should be left aside as a dipping sauce)

Veggies : Noodles :Tofu Galoreeeee

Tofu aka 'Cheese of Asia' is really a wonderful invention and I can't live without it. It is full of benefits and we should all eat more of this insignificant but nutritious food. I've just cooked thes 1st recipe yesterday for my family and it was great! I also used the remaining marinated minced meat to cook the 2nd dish today.
Just to share with you 2 simple yet delicious tofu recipes that you can try at home...Cheers!

Steamed Prawns on Tofu with Minced Meat
(Adapted from FOOD & travel Volume II Issue 10)

Ingredients:
300g of fresh prawns, shelled and deveined
1 box of silky tofu
1 egg white, lightly beaten
Salt & pepper to taste
100g of pre-marinated minced meat (Salt, pepper, sugar, light soy sauce, sesame oil)
A splash of Shaoxing cooking wine

Oyster sauce to taste
1 bunch of spring onions, chopped
1 bunch of parsley, chopped
1 red chilli, chopped

Method:
1) Chop prawns into small pieces
2) Place tofu in a bowl with beaten egg white and seasoning. Mash into a rough paste
3) Add chopped prawns and lightly mix
4) Steam over high heat for 10mins

5) Add minced meat to the cooked tofu

6) Garnish with spring onions, parsley and red chilli

Minced Meat

1) Fry minced meat on high heat until almost cooked
2) Add Shaoxing cooking wine

3) Next, add oyster sauce to taste and a little water to make the sauce

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Golden Tofu with Minced Meat Sauce on Rice Noodles

Ingredients:

1 portion of rice noodles
A dash of sesame oil
1 tube of egg tofu, cut into thick slices
3 crab sticks (Optional), cut into small pieces

100g of pre-marinated minced meat (Salt, pepper, sugar, light soy sauce, sesame oil)
A splash of Shaoxing cooking wine

Oyster sauce to taste

Method:
1) Boil rice noodles until al dente

2) Put rice noodles under cold water and drain the water

3) Add a dash of sesame oil to rice noodles to prevent sticking together
1) Dry tofu properly with kitchen towel
2) Fry tofu until golden brown
1) Fry minced meat and pieces of crab sticks on high heat until almost cooked
2) Add Shaoxing cooking wine
3) Next, add oyster sauce to taste and a little water to make the sauce
1) Pour the minced meat sauce onto your rice noodles
2) Add tofu and garnishes if needed

Rice :Bibimbap

As I've said before that I love rice, I'm gonna post my fav food - Bibimbap. I think it literally means mixed rice in Korean.
Another reason why I love bibimbap is because I can put all my favourite ingredients in it and mixed them all up to eat. I kinda like mixing everything to eat and that's why Marky is always saying that I eat rubbish...lol
Anw, here's the recipe for bibimbap lovers.

Bibimbap

*This is my 2nd attempt while the below pics are my 1st. Pardon my pics below as they were taken with my hp*

Ingredients:
- 100g Chopped beef (I prefer to use chicken)
- 50g of bean sprouts
- 3 shitake mushrooms
- 1/3 carrot, julienned
- 1/2 bell pepper, julienned
- Corn bits (Amount depends on preference)
- 1 japanese cucumber, julienned
- Turnip (Amount depends on preference), julienned
- 1 egg
- Cooked rice (Amount depends on preference)

Sauce
- 4 tbsp Kochujang (I bought mine from *Shine Korean supermarket*)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds

Marinate for beef
- A pinch of salt
- 1/2 tbsp Sesame oil
- A sprinkle of pepper
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar

**Marinate beef beforehand for 2hr or overnight**

Method:
1. Stir fry beef until lightly cooked

2. Drain and squeeze out all excess water from all vegetables and sprinkle salt on them

3. Add 1 tsp of sesame oil and stir-fry all vegetables individually (Adding another tsp of sesame oil after each vegetable)

4. Place rice in a deep bowl and add the prepared ingredients on the top of the rice
**For stone bowls, place the bowl on your stove to heat it up, adding 2 tsp of sesame oil to coat the bowl
before adding rice to it**


5. Fry a sunny side up egg and place it on top of the dish
**For stone bowls, you may place the raw egg on the side of the bowl to cook it slightly**


6. To make the sauce, mix the kochujang, sugar, sesame seeds and sesame oil together

7. Lastly, add the sauce to taste and mix everything together before eating


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*Shine Korean supermarket* (This is where I bought my kochujang and my black bowl. )
Address: 175, Bencoolen Street, #01-10/11, Burlington Square, Telephone:62388897

You can also try the places below for Korean products:

- Koreana Trading Pte Ltd (Address: 163, Tras Street, #01-01, Lian Huat Building, Telephone: 63245016)

- Sin Korea Supermarket (511 Guillemard Road, #01-30, Telephone: 6844372)

Meat : Noodles : Veggies :What the baked chicken should have looked like...

In my 4th post, I mentioned about baked chicken and how disappointingly hard they were, here are some pics of what baked chicken should look like, although these are chicken drumsticks while the previous post's one is chicken breast.



Actually the marinate for both chicken is the same, but I have no idea why the outcome is so different.. Haha
Anyway, you may want to try this marinate next time when you are baking chicken.

Baked Chicken
Chinese Style (1 large drumstick ) **Amount is based on rough estimates**
+ Salt (A pinch)
+ Pepper (A pinch)
+ Sugar (1 teaspoon)
+ Honey ( I like to add more honey in my marinate, but it's up to personal preference)
+ Light soy sauce (2 teaspoon)
+ Dark soy sauce (1 teaspoon)
+ Sesame seed oil (2 teaspoons) *I like the taste of this, so I usually add quite abit*
+ ShaoXing Hua Diao Cooking Wine (绍兴花雕酒) (A dash of this if you like)

Easy Style (This is not in the picture)
+ Singlong Black Pepper sauce (Available in supermarkets)
~ This is our fav brand of black pepper sauce and is highly versatile. You can use it as marinate for meats & fish, fry spaghetti, crabs and button mushrooms with this.

Method:
Just preheat your oven before baking (Medium heat)
Make slits on chicken for faster cooking
Spread a little honey on chicken
Place chicken on a lightly greased tray
Bake for 10-20 mins for chicken breast meat and up to 30 minutes for a thick piece of chicken drumstick. (Always check your chicken every now & then as cooking time varies for different ovens)
When chicken is almost cooked, you may increase the temperature by a bit to achieve a nice golden brown colour.

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Crispy Baked Wedges

(Amount is based on rough estimate)
+ Salt
+ Black Pepper
+ Dried basil leaves
+ Paprika powder

Method:
Just preheat your oven before baking (Medium heat)
Place cut potato wedges onto a lightly greased tray
Sprinkle the above ingredients onto potato wedges
Bake until golden brown (Estimated timing: 30mins)