Sushi Balls

As usual, ran out of ideas what to have for dinner, so made this sushi balls in under an hour .. hehe. This is a lazy method where I chopped all the ingredients and mix it with the rice and shaped them into balls and they are ready to be eaten !!

Here, I use the short cut method for the sushi rice.

Ingredients
2 cups calrose rice, soaked for 30 mins
5 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Japanese cucumber, chopped
Egg omelette, chopped
Some sushi rice toppings
Toasted black sesame

Method
1. Add vinegar, sugar and salt into the soaked rice with the water and cooked
2. Once cook, use a plastic or wooden spatula and fluff the rice with the fan blowing (this is to make it shiny)
3. Add the chopped ingredients and mix them till well incorporated
4. Wet your hands and take a handful of the mixed rice and roll them into balls
5. Sprinkle with toasted black sesame
6. Serve with wasabi, sushi soya sauce and pickled ginger

Rosti

I made this a few weeks ago for lunch. I had a couple of potatoes that I need to get rid off fast. Finally came out with this and the kids and hubby like it alot. There wasn't enough for everyone ..hehe

This is generally a versatile dish. You can eat it with grilled fish or top it up with sour cream. Great to eat it hot.

For this recipe, I used egg and flour for binding. But you can omit them if you like.

Ingredients
4 medium potatoes, peeled and shredded (Use the grater with the largest holes)
salt & pepper
1 egg, slightly beaten
1-2 tbsp flour
some olive oil

Method
1. Squeeze the water from the shredded potatoes
2. Sprinkle salt & pepper to your taste onto the potatoes and mix till well incorporated
3. Pour egg mixture and mix it till well blended
4. Sprinkle flour and mix it well
5. Heat pan and pour a little bit of oil
6. Take a handful of potatoes and flatten it on the pan
7. Flip over once the bottom turned brown
8. Once the rosti turns crispy and brown, dish it out on a plate and put your favourite toppings

Beef & Celery Stir Fry

I love celery be it cooked or raw. With some beef left, made this simple yet refreshing dish to go along with my multi-grain rice.

Ingredients
100-150g beef, sliced
4 stalks celery, cut slanted
1 medium garlic, chopped
1 cm ginger, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp light soya sauce
a few splashes of worchestershire sauce
salt to taste
2 tbsp olive oil
a few splashes of sesame oil

Method
1. Marinate beef slices with worchestershire sauce for about 30 mins (this is to make it tender)
2. Heat oil in a pan
3. Throw in onion, garlic and ginger and stir fry till onion is translucent
4. Add beef slices and fry till it is half cooked
5. Add a bit of water and let it simmer till beef is tender
6. Add soya sauce and sesame oil and stir till well blend
7. Throw in celery and mix till well combined and simmer till celery is cooked but not too soft
8. Add salt or a bit more soya sauce to taste
9. Dish out on plate and serve with steamed rice

Easy Spicy Beef Stew

This is an easy dish. I had some beef left in my freezer and after much thought, decide to whip this up over the weekend. This is great eaten with bread or steamed rice.

I used my thermal pot to cook this because I don't like the idea of cooking it over the stove for too long. The best plus point is that using it gives me freedom to do my other chores. But of course, you can use the normal pot and simmer it till the meat is tender.

This is a basic recipe. You can add curry powder or coriander for more fragrance and taste

Ingredients
400-500g beef, cut into cubes
1 large yellow onion, cut into rings
3 medium potatoes, cut into wedges
3 tbsp garlic paste
3 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp chilli paste
1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
1 small can (100g) tomato puree
1.5-2 tbsp kicap manis
1 cup water
3-4 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Method
1. Marinate beef with worchestershire sauce, garlic paste, ginger paste, chilli paste for about 30min - 1hr
2. Fry the potatoes wedges till half cooked and put it aside
3. Heat oil in a pot
4. Stir fry beef till browned
5. Add a bit of water and pour in tomato puree
6. Stir till well blended and then add kicap manis and salt
7. Continue stirring at the same time pour water till it covers the beef
8. Let simmer for about 20 mins then add onion rings and potato wedges
9. Continue simmer till meat is tender. Add more water if gravy gets too dry
11.Serve hot with steamed rice or bread

Bergedil (Potato Patties)

This is a sort of healthier version of the bergedil. I steamed the potatoes instead of frying them. Some people may still prefer the fried version but as usual, i abhor doing too much deep frying .. hehe

I use dried shrimps and black pepper for this patty. Good for those who doesn't like meat in their potato patty. You can add chopped parsley if you like. I didn't have any in the fridge, so omitted it.

Ingredients
4 medium local potatoes, peeled
1 tbsp dried shrimps, washed
1/2 tsp dark peppercorns
1 small egg
handful of breadcrumbs
pinch of salt
1 egg + water for coating
Oil for deep frying


Method
1. Steamed potatoes, mashed them and put aside
2. Fry fried shrimps till crispy, drained and put aside
3. Roast black peppercorns and mix it with the fried dried shrimps
4. Blend the shrimps and black pepper till fine
5. Add the shrimp mixture and salt into the mashed potato and mix till well incorporated
6. Add egg and breadcrumbs slowly and mix. The texture must not be too soft.
7. Heat oil in wok
8. Shaped potatoes into balls and flatten them a little
9. Dip into egg mixture and deep fry till golden brown

Note: If mixture is too soft, keep it in the fridge for about 15 mins before shaping.

Nasi Putih Indonesia style

Dear hubby's request to have white rice Indonesia style for lunch yesterday 8-) I don't know what this is called, but it is a very typical meal for Indonesian's. It is really a dry meal, other than the rice and the side salad, most of the dishes are deep fried. But for my version, I baked the chicken instead. This is also quite incomplete because I didn't have any serunding .. heh

We had this with sambal belacan .. it was finger-licking good ...

Apam Pisang (Steamed Banana Cake)

I love bananas and I also love apam (steamed cake). Got hold of some overripe bananas and made this for tea. A simple cake and it tastes real good with grated coconut. My youngest daughter loves it.

Ingredients
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar (I find it a bit sweet, you can cut down a little or use brown sugar)
3 riped banana, mashed
1 cup plain flour, sifted
1/2 tsp soda bicarbonate
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

Method
1. Add soda into the mashed banana and mix till well blended
2. Sift flour with baking powder and set aside
3. Beat eggs and sugar till fluffly, add sifted flour mixture and mix till well combined
4. Add mashed banana and a bit of salt and stir slowly to incorporate them into the flour batter 5. Pour batter into a well greased baking pan and steam on high heat for about 45min or till cooked
6. Serve with steamed grated coconut

Chicken in Yogurt Curry

This is an extremely easy dish. I modified a recipe I found in a magazine and it turned out pretty well. The dish has a spicy and sourish tastes to it, great to be eaten with flavoured rice or flatbread.

Ingredients
4-5 chicken pieces (about half chicken)
1 medium onion
5 shallots
3 clove garlic
2 heapful tbsp dried chilli paste
7 large fresh red chilli, de-seeded
2.5 cm tumeric
2 heapful tbsp yogurt
1 1/2 heapful tbsp garam masala
1 sprig curry leave
water
salt to taste
3 tbsp oil

Method
1. Grind onion, garlic, shallots, tumeric and fresh chilli into paste
2. Heat oil in pot and fry dried chilli paste till oil separates
3. Add paste from 1 and stir fry till fragrant
4. Add curry leave and stir for 2 mins
5. Add yogurt, garam masala and chicken pieces and let chicken pieces cook for about 5mis
6. Add water and let it simmer till chicken are fully cooked and gravy thicken
7. Add salt to taste and serve hot with rice or bread

Banana Fritters (Pisang Goreng)

This is best eaten when it is hot. Must thank curryman from M4M for sharing this batter recipe. Best is to use pisang raja .. yums

The texture of this batter is light and crispy, very much like tempura.

Ingredients
100g bread flour
50g rice flour
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ammonia
1 - 1 1/2 cup water
bananas/sweet potato/tapioca
oil for frying

Method
1. Whisk all the above till batter is custardly consistency and set aside for 30mins
2. Dip bananas/sweet potato/tapioca into batter and deep fry in hot oil till golden brown
3. Serve warm with sambal belachan

Steamed Rice with Salmon Topping

I must thank jingle26 for introducing me to this dish. It is very easy to make but very satisfying especially for those who like one-dish meal without the fuss. I would say that this is a very versatile dish, you can put whatever toppings that you like. The best is to steam the rice in a steamer because the rice will be soft. A short cut way is to cook the rice using rice cooker or microwave, then put the rice in a claypot bowl, add the cooked topping and steam in a steamer for about 5-10 minutes.

Ingredients
1 cup rice, washed and drained
1 cup hot water
150g-200g salmon fillet, cut into bite size
1 bunch green vege, your choice of vege
1 salted egg, cooked and mashed
4 tbsp sambal oelek (I used woh hup brand)
2 tbsp olive oil

Method
1. Put washed rice and hot water in a stainless bowl and steam it for about 10-15mins
2. At the same time, heat oil in wok
3. Add fish pieces and stir fry it till cooked
4. Take fish pieces out and put aside
5. Add sambal oelek to the wok and stir
6. Add vege and stir fry till cooked, then add fish pieces
7. Mix till well blend
8. Put the fish and vege and mashed salted egg onto the cooked rice
9. Put back to the steamer and steam for further 5mins, turn fire off and leave the rice in the steamer for further 5mins before serving

Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice)

Missed the nasi goreng that my mom used to make for us when we were young. Fortunately, I have about a pack of leftover rice in the fridge waiting to be used *grin* This time round I went manual, used my pestle and mortar .. heh I simply love biting the small bits of onions, anchovies, chili together with the fried rice.

The freshly pounded ingredients

The final product

Ingredients
1 large onion
2 medium garlic
5 fresh red chilli, de-seeded
1 1/2 tbsp ikan bilis, soaked
1 1/2 cm belacan (prawn paste)
1 tsp salt to taste
3-4 cups cooked rice
1 egg beaten
3 tbsp oil


Method
1. Using pestle and mortar, pounded onion, garlic, chilli, salt, ikan bilis and belacan till fine
2. Heat wok with oil and stir fry pounded ingredients till fragrant
3. Add rice, stir till well combined
4. Push rice aside, pour beatened egg
5. Once egg slight cooked, scramble it and mix it with the rice
6. Continue stirring rice but without breaking it till well cooke
7. Serve hot with fish crackers and sunny side up egg

Gulai Nenas Ikan Pari (Pineapple Sour & Spicy Gravy with Stingray)

Pineapple is one of my favourite food, I use it to make salad, eat it on it's own, topping for pizza and add it to gravy. This is local malay dish and it is one of favourite. Simply delicious to be eaten with hot steamed rice. I used stingray fillet for this but you can use any of your favourite fish.

This is generally a basic recipe. There are many vesions of it. Some people like to add crushed blackpepper, salted vegetables and other local herbs.

Ingredients
Grind the following
2 tbsp oil
10 dried chillies, soaked
1 piece belacan, about 2x2 cm
1 medium onion or 8 shallots
2 cm fresh tumeric

1 lemon grass, bruised
1.5 cm galangal (lengkuas/blue ginger), bruised
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 almost ripe pineapple
handlful of laksa leaves (daun kesum)
2 cups water
1 heapful tsp tamarind, mixed with 1/2 tea cup water to extract juice
4 small pieces stingray(ikan pari) or spanish mackerel

Method
1. Heat oil in a pot ad fry found ingredients, lemongrass and galangal till fragrant
2. Add salt, sugar, pineapple and water
3. Cover pot and boil for about 3-5 minutes
4. Add tamarind juice, fish pieces and laksa leaves cover and boil for a few minutes over low heat 5. Remove from heat once fish is cooked
6. Serve with hot steamed rice

Asparagus & Shrimp in Oyster Sauce

Inspired by a dish I had at Sakura Thai-Chinese Cuisine, made a simple version using Thai asparagus. I prefer a slimmer asparagus and the ones from Thai is the best to me at least. You can get it easily at NTUC and for this recipe, I just need to use 1 pack 8-)

Ingredients
1 pack Thai asparagus, clean and cut into half
200g grey prawns, deveined and marinate with sugar
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 cm ginger, chopped (can replace with 1/2tsp ginger powder)
2 tbsp oyster sauce, dilute with 1 tbsp water
3 tbsp oil

Method
1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in wok and stir fry the prawns till they turned pink
2. Once the prawns are cooked, take it out and put aside
3. Add 1 tbsp oil, throw in garlic and ginger till fragrant
4. Add asparagus and oyster sauce, stir till well mixed
5. Add a bit of water if it gets too dry, then add the cooked prawns
6. Stir till asparagus is cooked
7. Serve hot with steamed rice

Beansprouts with Salted Fish

I love beansprouts and I can eat it either raw or cooked. I have been thinking about this dish for a while but didn't have the opportunity to cook it until recently. This dish is great with hot steaming rice *yums*

For this recipe, I used ikan bilis stock granules (No added MSG) since I was a little bit lazy .. heh

Ingredients
150-250g rootless beansprouts
1 stalk chives, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
1-2 tsp ikan bilis stock granules or you can use anchovies
thumbsize kurau salted fish, soaked and cut into small pieces
2 tbsp oil

Method
1. Heat oil in wok and throw in sliced onion
2. Add chopped garlic once onions turned translucent
3. Add ikan bilis stock and stir till it is well blended
4. Add salted fish, stir fry till fragrant
5. Add beansprouts and chives and stir fry till cooked
6. Best eaten hot with steamed rice

Bread Pizza Base (Extremely easy)

This is for those who are lazy to make pizza base from scratch (including myself). This one uses a few days old bread. There are so many things that you can make using left over bread, I usually use it to make fritters, french toast, bread pudding, croutons, toasts with toppings, garlic bread and many many more. The only thing I have not tried is to use it to make a pizza base, I mean shape it into a round pizza base. This is also partly inspired by an online friend's quest (jq) for an easy, shortcut pizza base 8-)

A slice of the pizza

Ingredients
6 or more slices of bread, sides removed (amount based on the size of the pizza pan)
water or milk (UHT or fresh)
pizza sauce
your favourite toppings
olive oil
* can throw in some dried herbs to make the base more flavourful

Method
1. Preheat oven to 190c
2. Tear bread into small pieces
3. Pour water/milk bit by bit just enough to soak the bread pieces
4. Using your hands, mash the bread pieces until you can form a ball. This is to ensure that the bread is moist enough, the mashed bread should not be too wet
5. Press the mashed bread into the pizza pan, make sure that you press hard so that the base will not break when you slice it later
6. Brush the base with olive oil and put your favourite pizza sauce and toppings
7. Bake for about 20-25 minutes till the sides are crispy and the toppings are golden brown. If you find the base a little wet, use the low grill and grill it for about 5-10mins

Egg-less Fruit Cake

I have never tried an eggless fruit cake before and last weekend I stumbled upon this recipe from an old magazine. I love fruit cake but I hate the idea of having to either steam it for hours or bake it for 2 hrs 8-<>

This cake uses quite alot of condensed milk so the top and sides tend to brown fast. Ensure that you check the doneness using a satay stick or skewer. This is a very moist cake, if you don't like it too moist, you may want to add a little bit more of the flour.

For the mixed fruit, you may want to add a little bit more as I don't find it enough for a rather big cake.

Ingredients
150g butter
200g mixed fruit
2 tbsps sugar
500ml condensed milk (original was 515ml)
250ml water (original was 1/2 can of 515ml)
230g self raising flour, sifted
(original uses 230g flour, 1 tsp baking powder,1 tsp sodium bicarbonate,sifted together)

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients except flour and cook for 10-15minutes or until the mixed fruits are plumped over low heat, stirring occasionally
2. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature then stir in sifted flour
3. Preheat oven to 160c
4. Pour mixture into a lined, greased 20cm baking tin and allow to stand for 15 minutes
5. Bake for 45 min to 1 hour or till skewer comes out clean

Easy Sweet & Sour Sauce

There are many ways to make sweet and sour sauce and most of the time, I use ketchup and chilli sauce as the sauce base. Occasionally I will use tomato paste or sauce if I ran out of my favourite ketchup. I had some left over tomato juice that I used for my chicky pops and decided to whip up an extremely simple sweet & sour sauce for my left over fish. Surprisingly, it tastes better than my other recipe. Looks like I will be sticking to this for my sweet and sour sauce.

Ingredients
1/2 can tomato juice
3-5 tbsp chilli sauce, more if you like it spicy
1 large onion, sliced thick
2 cloves garlic, chopped
half green pepper, cubed
2-3 slices pineapple rings, cut into small pieces
1-2 splashes of sesame oil
2 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Method
1. Mix tomato juice and chilli sauce and set aside
2. Heat oil in a pot or wok
3. Stir fry onions till translucent, then add chopped garlic
4. Continue frying till fragrant, add green peppers
5. Stir for 3 mins, add tomato & chilli mixture and pineapple pieces
6. Add sesame oil and salt to taste
7. Let the sauce simmer for another 5 min and pour over fried fish, prawns or chicken
8. Add a bit of the pineapple juice or water if it gets a bit dry
9. Serve hot with chinese parsley for garnishing

Tomato & Oregano Chicky Pops

This is a simple and very kids friendly dish which is adapted from The Occasional Cook. Pretty hassle free and you can add whatever herbs that you like. For this dish, you need to use the wing ends or the chicken drummettes. You can either make it into pops like what I did or just cook it as per normal.

The ingredients are just an estimate. You can add more or less of the ingredients to suit your taste. To make it slightly spicy, you can add chilli powder or paste.

Ingredients
10-15 pcs drummettes
1/2 - 3/4 can tomato juice
2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup honey
salt to taste

Method
1. Mix all the above and marinade the chicken for at least 1 hour or overnite
2. Preheat oven to about 200 degree celsius
3. Arrange drummettes on a lined baking tray
4. Bake it for about 20mins, turn over and bake for another 20mins
5. Serve hot

Sweet Bread (Pai Pau)

This bread is my all time favourite since young. You know the kind of bread you get from the shops or confectionary shops with sugar sprinkled on it and tastes great dipping it into hot coffee or tea .. yummy

I have to thank Giselle from KC for sharing this recipe. My first attempt was a total failure because I did not have enough time to proof the dough - result was a pretty dense bread :-( My second attempt was fantastic and we finished it that night itself *LOL* talking about greedy ..

If you want to get a soft and fluffy bread minus the preservatives, please don't rush it.

I modified the original recipe slightly by increasing the amount of butter used. I used my breadmachine to knead the dough.

Ingredients
2.5 tsp instant yeast
3-5 tbsp lukewarm water
375g bread flour
105g sugar
1 egg, room temp
1 egg yolk, room temp
3 tbps butter, melted
1/2 cup milk, room temp.

egg wash: 1 egg, lightly beaten
syrup (optional : to brush on the bread right after baked, but I haven't tried this)


Method
By Breadmachine
1. Put all the ingredients into the breadmachine pan according to the machine's instruction
2. Select dough cycle
3. Once cycle is completed, take dough out and punch it out to release some air and knead it for a few minutes
4. Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover with cling wrap and leave it to proof for another 45 mins or till double in size
5. Divide dough into sizes that you like and let it rest for 20mins
6. Shape the dough and put it in a greased tray
7. Cover dough and let it proof till double in size
8. Preheat the oven to 180C, brush the egg wash on top, bake for 20 - 25 mins. Brush syrup when it just comes right out from the oven.

By mixer/hand
1. Dissolve dry yeast in lukewarm water, wait 5 - 10 mins.
2. Mix the yeast liquid with the rest of the ingredients except egg wash and syrup
3. Knead until smooth and elastic - dough supposes to be wet but not sticky.
4. Let the dough sit in a geased large bowl and cover with plastic wrap proving it for about 45 mins
5. Punch the dough to release some air, knead a few times, put back in the bowl, covered and leave it to proof again for 45 mins or double the volume
6. Divide dough into sizes that you like and let it rest for 20mins
7. Shape the dough and put it in a greased tray
8. Cover dough and let it proof till double in size
9. Preheat the oven to 180C, brush the egg wash on top, bake for 20 - 25 mins.
10. Brush syrup when it just comes right out from the oven.

Note: You can also brush dough with melted butter and sprinkle sugar before baking

Raspberry & White Chocolate Muffin

This is Ainsley Harriott from Ainsley's Gourmet Express's recipe. I could not get my mind of this great tasting and smelling muffin after watching his program .. heh. I was very determined to get fresh raspberry and I was surprised that I could it get it easily at Cold Storage, United Square ... hehehe So with all the ingredients in hand, the result 8-D

Ingredients
300g plain flour
2tsp baking powder
150g caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
225ml milk
50g butter, melted
100g fresh raspberries
90g chopped white chocolate

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C
2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and stir in the sugar
3. Crack the egg into a separate bowl and whisk in the vanilla extract, milk and melted butter
4. Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients with the raspberries and chocolate, taking care not to over-mix.
5. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases or trays and bake for 30 minutes or so until well risen and just firm.