Udon Soup

I seriously do not know what to call this dish. It is actually a clear soup or rather a yong tau fu soup which was discussed at a parenting forum (M4M) which I frequent. I have never tried brewing soup using soya beans but probably have tasted it outside. Since I have some udon I bought last week and some leftover fishball and fishcake, I decided to try this for dinner.

I used a pressure cooker to hasten the softening of the soya beans. Otherwise I would have to boil it over the stove for an hour or more. I also cheated in one of the ingredients - using a chicken bouillon cube instead. The taste would definitely be richer with chicken bones.

Ingredients

1-1 1/2 tbsp soya beans, washed
1 tbsp ikan bilis, washed
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 litres of water
salt & pepper to taste
fishcake, julien
fishballs
chye sim, cut into bite sizes and blanched
udon

Method

1. Boil all the ingredients over the stove for about 1 hour. If you are using a pressure cooker, you can boil for about 20-30 minutes. By then the soya beans would have already soften.
2. Add salt and pepper to taste
3. Add fishcake slices and fishball and boil for another 30 minutes
4. Prepare the udon and blanched greens in a bowl
5. Pour the hot soup over and garnish with toasted shallots, spring onions and a few drops of sesame oil
6. Serve

Fish Fillet in Golden Plum Sauce

Just like the garlic fried rice, this dish was prepared using the left over fish fillets that I made yesterday for the girls. I thought of making sweet & sour dish but decided against it since my eldest doesn't like anything that is spicy.

The sauce used was a recipe by Gina (KitchenCapers) but I just made some modification by adding vegetables. I like my dish to be colourful but unfortunately, I had more green and missing the orange and red.

This is a non-spicy dish. But you can add some fresh chillies for some zing. I will omit the fish part but generally you can use fried fish or fillet.

Ingredients

200ml golden plum sauce
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup water
Green/Red capsicum/bell peppers, cut into bite size
1 small japanese cucumber, cut into bite size
3 ring slices of pineapple, cut into bite size
1 tsp cornstarch mix with a bit of water as thickening agent


Method

1. Heat pan/pot and mix golden plum sauce, sugar and water and stir till well combined
2. Pour mixed sauce into the hot pan/pot
3. Once it is bubbly, add the cut vegetables and let it simmer
4. Add cornstart mixture to thicken the sauce
5. Adjust the sauce by adding more plum sauce, sugar or water accordingly
6. Prepare the fish fillet on a plate
7. Once the vegetables are cooked and sauce thickened, turn heat off and pour sauce over the fish
8. Serve immediately

Garlic Fried Rice

Dinner today was prepared using yesterday's left over. I had some left over rice from yesterday and this afternoon while surfing, found an easy fried rice recipe that doesn't require lots of preparation. On top of that, the main ingredient used is something that I have in the fridge for quite a while, waiting to be used.

I made some slight modification from the original recipe based on the ingredients that I have.

Ingredients

2 cups cooked rice, (overnight)
1/4 - 1/2 cup mixed vegetables
2 tbsp chopped spring onions
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp butter/margarine
2 1/2 tbsp ready fried crispy garlic chips
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp chicken stock granules
Salt and sugar to taste
A dash of ground white/black pepper

Method

1. Heat oil and butter in a wok and fry mixed vegetables for 1–2 minutes
2. Push aside and add in beaten egg, scramble until cooked
3. Stir in rice and add salt, sugar and chicken stock to taste
4. Add spring onions and fry till all the ingredients are well combined
5. Add fried garlic crisps and a dash of ground white/black pepper to taste
6. Serve hot

Watercress with Fishball & Sweet Potato Soup

The weather has been pretty warm today and I decided to prepare a soup dish with my favourite green - watercress. This recipe originally uses spinach but I have decided to use watercress instead. I also added fishball and sweet potato to make it into a one dish soup. The result is one refreshing and cooling soup.

Ingredients

1 bunch watercress, washed and cut into half
1 medium onion
1 cm ginger
handful of ikan bilis, soaked
10-15 fishballs
1 medium sweet potatoes, cut into bit sizes
2 litre water
salt to taste

Method

1. Boil water over the stove
2. Grind onion, ginger and ikan bilis to a paste
3. Once the water starts to boil, pour the paste into the pot and stir
4. Add sweet potatoes and let it boil for 10 minutes
5. Add fishballs and let the soup continue to boil
6. Add salt to taste and lastly add the watercress, cover the pot and let it simmer for 5 minutes before turning the fire off
7. Leave the pot covered for 10-15 minutes to cook the greens
8. Serve hot

Sour & Spicy Fish

This simple chilli dish is supposed to be served over fried fish. Since I only have fish fillet in my freezer, I just made do with it.

Ingredients

Fish
1 large fish fillet
1 egg,lightly beaten
cornflour
Oil for frying

Sambal
5 fresh chillies, can mix with both green and red for colour
3 shallots
1 clove medium garlic
1 cm ginger
juice from 1 lime
1-2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1-2 tbsp oil


Method

Fish
1. Clean and pat dry fish fillet
2. Coat with cornflour, dip in egg mix and coat with cornflour again and deep fry till golden. Set aside.

Sambal
1. Heat oil and stir fry all the ingredients till soft and slightly brown
2. Drain the fried ingredients and place them in a food processor or use the pestle and mortar
3. Add sugar and salt and grind them if using the food processor or pound them if using pestle and mortar.
4. Add lime juice into the paste and mix throughly
5. Spoon paste onto the prepared fish
6. Serve hot

Sweet Soya Bean Curd Dessert (edited)

I have been wanting to make my own soya bean curd since the day I got my soya milk maker. However during that time I wasn't sure what I need to set the soya milk but finally found out that I can get the powder from Phoon Huat. Went to Phoon Huat yesterday and finally made my first homemade soya bean curd for breakfast this morning. The whole process took less than 30 minutes since my soya bean milk maker takes only 10 minutes to make the milk.

I have edited the recipe to add cornstarch to give the beancurd a smoother texture.

Ingredients:

Soya Bean Curd
3/4 cup soya bean, soaked overnight
1 litre water
1/2 tsp lactone
muslin cloth (if not using soya bean milk maker)
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup warm water

Syrup
5-6 tbsp sugar
3 pandan leaves
1 1/2 cup water

Method
Soya Bean Curd (without soya bean milk maker)
1. Place cleaned, soaked soya beans and water into a food processor
2. Grind till very smooth and place the ground bean in the middle of the muslin cloth
3. Squeeze the soya milk into a pot until all the ground beans have been squeezed dry
4. Boil the freshly squeezed soya milk on the stove
5. Mix lactone, cornstarch and warm water and stir till smooth
6. Have a clean pot ready and put lactone mixture into the pot
7. Pour boiled soya milk into the ready pot with the lactone and let it set for about 10 minutes. DO NOT STIR.

Note: For those using the soya bean milk maker, go straight to (5) with the ready soya bean milk.

Syrup
1. Mix all the ingredients and boil over the stove till sugar dissolves
2. Keep aside to cool

To serve, pour syrup over the bean curd and serve warm.

Thyme Chicken Spaghetti

This dish uses the left over thyme chicken and it requires no cooking except for the spaghetti. A versatile dish that you can use whatever leftover chicken that you have and you can add any kinds of greens that you like. For me I prefer something simple, no specific vege just basil - lots of them :)

Ingredients

100g spaghetti/angel hair
1 pc thyme chicken (or cooked chicken), shredded
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
4-6 tbsp olive oil/extra-virgin oil
chilli peppers/flakes
handful of basil

Method

1. Boil spaghetti with a tsp of salt till al-dente
2. In a mixing bowl, mix oil, chopped garlic, salt, pepper, chilli peppers/flakes well
3. Once spaghetti is cooked, drain and put it into the bowl with the seasoned oil
4. Add shredded chicken and basil and toss the spaghetti till well coated
5. Add more oil or seasonings if needed
6. Serve immediately

Thyme Chicken

This chicken has been playing in my mind after watching Jamie Oliver on Discovery's Travel & Living channel. I finally made this for dinner earlier and verdict - very refreshing. Very lemony with a tinge of thyme. Nice to be eaten with steamed rice.

Potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots or zucchini are added with the chicken during roasting so as to not to waste the chicken baste.

Original recipe has chopped bacon added to the herbed butter. I omitted this because I forgot to defrost my turkey bacon. This addition will give more flavour to the dish. You can use about 3-4 strips.

Ingredients

1 chicken
1 large garlic. chopped
zest from 1 lemon
lemon slices (from 1 lemon)
one bunch fresh thyme, chopped (abt 18gm)
70g butter, softened
salt & pepper
some potatoes/sweet potatoes/carrots/zucchini, cut into quarters
olive oil

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220C
2. Combine chopped garlic, thyme and zest from 1 lemon
3. Add salt and pepper and mix it well
4. Add softened butter into the herb mixed and mix till well blend
5. Stuff 3/4 of the herbed butter under the breast skin of the chicken
6. Use you hands to smoothen the skin so that the herbed butter is well distributed under the skin
7. Score the chicken thighs and smoothered the balance herbed butter on them and place chicken on the roasting tray
8. Cut the lemon into slices and put them into the chicken cavity
9. Sprinkle olive oil, salt and pepper onto the cut vegetables and place them with the chicken
10. Roast the chicken for about 45-60 mins or till the chicken is cooked

Chickpea Chapati

Dh is out on reservist and I was totally lost on what to have for lunch. Made this partly inspired by Jamie Oliver's flatbread. I didn't want to use a bread recipe, instead used the chapati recipe with some modification.

It is a very simple recipe, you can use your hand to knead and leave it for about 1-2hrs before rolling them out.

This recipe uses a bit of plain flour to make it soft. You can use 100% atta flour if you like.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups atta flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive/vegetable oil (I prefer olive oil)
1 cup warm water
1/2 can chickpea, mashed (I bought SW brand which has already been presoaked)
1/2 tbsp coriander seeds, coarsely grind
1/2 tsp cumin seeds, coursely grind

Method

1. Mix the flours and salt together
2. Add oil and water slowly into the flours and knead till it forms into a dough
3. Add mashed chickpea, coriander and cumin and mix well
4. Rest the dough covered with cling wrap for 1-2hrs
5. Shape the dough into size of a golf ball and roll it out thin
6. Place dough onto the hot girdle or non-stick pan till cook
7. Brush chapati with butter or ghee if you like
8. Serve hot with curry/kheema

Cocoa-Oreo Agar-Agar (Cocoa-Oreo jelly)

The weather has been pretty hot lately and I have been thinking of making a cold dessert. I had enough of ice-cream and after looking at my pantry, I realised that I still have some packets of agar-agar that are going to be expiring in a couple of months. I was inspired by one agar-agar recipe I found in the internet and end up making this cocoa jelly with oreos.

The end result wasn't what I wanted it to be but it tastes great. The final product supposed to have the oreos in the middle. I think I may have poured the second half mixture to fast that the oreos ended up floating. I will definitely put more oreos the next time round (I didn't have enough oreos left).

Ingredients

1 packet agar-agar powder (I use Rose brand)
1 litre water
250g sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
100ml whipping cream (dairy or non-dairy)
3 tbsp cocoa powder
3-4 tbsp hot water
crushed oreos (abt 10-12 pcs or more)

Method

1. Combine water, agar-agar powder and sugar into a pot and heat it over the stove
2. When agar-agar powder and sugar have dissolved, add evaporated milk and leave it to boil, stirring occassionally with a balloon whisk
3. Add hot water to cocoa powder 1 tbsp at a time, mix it till well blend and put the cocoa mixture aside
4. Whip whipping cream till soft peak and put it aside
5. Once agar-agar mixture boils, remove it from the heat and stir and let it cool slightly
6. Add whipped cream slowly at the same time stirring the mixture, then add cocoa mixture and stir till well blend
7. Pour half of the mixture into the agar-agar mould and let it set for about 5-10 minutes
8. Sprinkle generously the crushed oreos and slowly pour the other half of the mixture into the mould
9. Let the agar-agar cool before keeping it in the fridge
10.Serve chilled

Zebra Cake (Sponge Cake)

My hands were feeling itchy after reading the thread on the zebra cake at jodelibakery. Since dh is out on reservist and I have some free time plus feeling a little bored, I baked this earlier. I used optima flour (spongecake mix) for this one. Taste wise is just perfect for me but I still need to work a little bit more on the stripes (the cake was a little bit shallow).

Ingredients

4 large eggs at room temperature
250g optima flour (I use Ailin's optima flour. You can also use Bake King brand)
50 ml water
65g butter, melted
some almond flakes

Cocoa mixture
4 tsp cocoa powder
6 tsp hot water
2 tsp chocolate emulco


Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 C and grease cake pan
2. Mix cocoa powder and chocolate emulco with hot water, stir till dissolved and put the mixture aside
2. Beat eggs and water at high speed till creamy
3. Add flour slowly into the mixture and continue beating at high for about 10-15 mins or until the batter turns pale
4. Pour melted butter and mix it at slow speed till well combined
5. Divide the batter into 2 equal portion and fold in cocoa mixture into one of the portion
6. Using normal tablespoon, scoop 3 tbsp of plain batter into the centre of the cake pan. Then scoop 3 tbsp of chocolate batter onto the plain batter in the cake pan
7. Repeat until you have finished about half of the batter, reduce to 2 tbsp and subsequently to 1 tbsp. The circle will become smaller as you pour
8. Sprinkle almond flakes to the cake and bake at 180 C for about 30 mins or until the skewer comes out clean

Roasted Sesame Chicken

I had one chicken left in the freezer and decided to roast it. I used Gina's (KitchenCapers) recipe but modified it slightly. I drizzled the sesame oil just before putting the chicken into the oven.

Ingredients

1 chicken cut into 4
100 ml water
150 ml oyster sauce
50g brown sugar
2 tbsp 5-spiced powder
1 large garlic, smashed
1 inch ginger, smashed
salt
some sesame seed for sprinkling
some sesame oil for drizzling

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 C
2. Clean, pat dry chicken and rub some salt over chicken
3. Combine water, oyster sauce, brown sugar, 5-spiced powder, garlic and ginger into a pot and boil the mixture
4. Pour boiled mixture over chicken and leave it to marinate for about 10 minutes, turn chicken over and let it marinate for another 10 minutes
5. Arrange chicken on the roasting rack, sprinkle sesame seed on the chicken
6. Drizzle sesame oil on the chicken pieces and bake for about 30 - 40 minutes or till cooked
7. For dipping sauce, pour excess marinating sauce back to the pot and reheat, add a bit of water to dilute it a little
8. Serve chicken hot with dipping sauce

Easy Roasted Vege

This is a very easy dish which I make without fail at least once a week if I am too lazy to do any stir fry. It is a very versatile dish which you can add any spices and vege to your liking.

Ingredients

2 medium size russet/red potatoes with skin, washed and cut into wedges
1 zucchini, cut into bite size
2 small carrots
3-5 tbsp olive oil with garlic (can use plain olive oil)
1-2 tsp paprika
1-2 tsp parsley flakes
1-2 tsp dried dill weed
1-2 tsp mixed herb
salt and pepper


Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 C
2. Combine all the vege, oil and spices and make sure that all the veges are coated well
3. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or till potatoes and carrots are cooked

Mint Rice

I was getting a little bit tired eating white rice and decided to cook flavoured rice. With the weather that has been pretty scorching, I made mint rice instead.

The rice was served with roasted sesame chicken and roasted vegetable. The recipes will be added after this.

Ingredients

2 cups basmati rice, washed and drained
1 small yellow onion, chopped or mince
4 cups chicken stock
handful of chopped mint
2 tbsp olive oil (you can use butter/ghee if you want a more flavourful rice)

Method

1. Heat oil in a pot/pan
2. Add chopped/minced onion and stir fry till soft
3. Add rice and stir well. Make sure that the rice grains are well covered with oil and onion
4. Transfer rice to the rice cooker, add chicken stock and let rice cook
5. Once the rice is cook, add chopped mint and stir rice gently making sure that the mint are distributed nicely
6. Leave cooked rice for about 10-15 minutes before serving