Tried & Tested Easy Recipes

Braised Pork Belly

2011-06-05T01:38:00.000-07:00

1.3kg pork belly
450g superior dark soy sauce
450ml water
200g sugar
320g garlic

Roughly chop garlic. Transfer garlic into a pot. Add in superior dark soy sauce followed by the sugar and add water. Marinate pork belly for 1 hour.
Cover the pot. Slow cook for 1 hour. After the 1st hour, turn the meat on its side face down and slow cook for 1 hour.
After the second hour, turn the meat with its skin facing up and slowly cook for 1 hour.
After the 3rd hour, turn the meat on its other side and cook for another 1 hour. Leave to cool.

Source: Some magazine. Not tested.

Khang Ju (Minced porkball soup)

2010-04-21T16:52:00.000-07:00

1. Beat two eggs and fry. Set aside.
2. Boil water. Add all-in-one seasoning to taste.
3. Use spoon to form minced pork into pork balls. Place in boiling water.
4. Add sliced egg tofu.
5. Add a bit of fish sauce.
6. Add cabbage, spring onion and chinese celery (the one with larger leaves). Boil till pork ball rises.
7. Garnish soup with celery and cut up fried eggs.

Note: Fried eggs are optional. The boys didn't like the soup with fried eggs, so I had to remove them from the soup. This is an easy soup to cook, done in 20 min or so. Perfect for a rushed dinner. Pork can be replaced with other meat.

Pad Ka Pao (Fried Spicy Pork)

2010-04-21T16:45:00.000-07:00

(all measurements agak-ration)

1. Heat 2 tbs of oil.
2. Fry minced garlic (about 5 cloves or to taste). Add sliced red cili padi (about 5 or more if you like it very spicy). Fry till fragrant.
3. Add minced pork, stir-fry.
4. Add oyster sauce (I used Thai oyster sauce, not quite sure if it's that much different from LKK oyster sauce).
5. Add soybean sauce (I didn't have this, so I used light soy sauce instead).
6. Add some sugar and fish sauce and MSG.
7. Add holy basil leaves.
8. Continue to fry till pork is cooked.
9. Garnish with basil leaves.
10. Serve with rice, yummmm.

Roasted Charsiew

2008-11-08T01:38:00.000-08:00

1. Marinate pork loin with charsiew sauce, chinese cooking wine, sugar, fish sauce and leave in fridge overnight.

2. Place pork and marinade in foil, and bake covered at 220deg for 20 min. Place a bowl of water at the bottom of the oven (said to result in more tender meat).

3. Open up foil and bake uncovered till slightly charred, turning often.

4. Remove pork and separate from remaining marinade, if any. Brush all over with glaze (mixture of 1tbs dark soy sauce, 1 tbs oil, 1 tbs honey and a drop of red food colouring).

5. Bake for another 10 min or so, depending on how chao tar you like your charsiew.

Verdict: Eddie's favourite dish and he said this was excellent. Sean ate up even though he wasn't happy about it, while Brian loved it. Can cook this in larger batches and freeze for future use.

Malaysian turmeric and honey wings

2008-06-07T23:20:00.000-07:00

Source: Rasa Malaysia

1. Marinate 500g chicken wings (mid joints) with ginger juice (from pounded 2" ginger), 1 tbs honey, 1 tbs light soy sauce, 1/8 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp turmeric powder, 1/8 tsp chilli powder, for 1-2 hours.
2. Bake at 375 deg F for 20-25 minutes.

Tip: Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Hold wing with tong and grill over stove at medium heat. I did it over my glass-top stove and the wings were grilled beautifully.

Verdict: Everyone loved this. I didn't taste this but reckon it probably tastes like ayam percik, my favourite style of barbecued chicken. Gotta try cooking ayam percik one day.

Easy-peasy Kaya

2008-06-02T10:38:00.000-07:00

Source: Various

Easiest kaya recipe ever. As long as you get the proportions equal, ie 1 cup sugar, 1 cup egg, 1 cup coconut cream, you're on your way to kaya success. My slow cooker was a small one, so I only used 2/3 cup of each.

1. Mix beaten egg with sugar (I used Demerara brown sugar).
2. Pour into slow cooker. Pour coconut cream in. Stir.
3. Start slow cooker on low, my slow cooker did not have any dial, so it was probably on medium all the way.
4. Stir constantly. Mixture will thicken in about 2 hours or so.
5. If you do not like your kaya curd-like, blend it (discard any sugar water left i the slow cooker). Kaya will be smooth like those sold in shops.

Yummy. Many recipes use lots more sugar, this one is pretty all right as far as kaya goes. If you have pandan leaves (screwpine leaves), you may cook with them. I did not have any, and the kaya turned out fine. Best way to eat this is to spread them on toast, add a slice of butter, ooooh, great way to start the day! I spread it with butter on bread (not toast) and the mummies in school (from Thailand, Japan and US) loved the kaya sandwich.

Next day update: The boys had kaya sandwich for tea and loved it. They said it was even better straight out from the fridge. Sean had 3 slices and wanted more.

Ayam Masak Merah (Red chilli chicken)

2008-06-01T05:53:00.000-07:00

Inspired by CookingismyPassion

1. Season chicken with turmeric powder, salt and corn flour for at least 30 minutes.
2. Fry and set aside.
3. Use part of remaining oil to fry lemongrass, 3 cloves, half a cinnamon stick and 1 large tomato (or more if desired). Add oil if required as tomato turns to puree.
4. Add chilli paste (I used the chilli paste from this recipe). Stir.
5. Add fried chicken and simmer. Add water if required.
6. Add ketchup, salt and sugar to taste.

Verdict: Even though I didn't use the recipe given, cos I already had my own prepared chilli paste, this dish turned out great. A change from the usual chicken dishes I cook, which I'm really tired of now.

Chicken Teriyaki

2007-11-25T08:28:00.000-08:00

Adapted from Wokking Mum

1. Marinate breast meat or drums (deboned) with 1 tbs sugar, 1 tbs mirin, 1 tbs cooking wine, 2 tbs light soy sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil for at least half an hour.
2. Dust chicken with corn flour and saute till lightly burnt (Use little oil, or no oil if drums still have skin on them; I used some sesame oil).
3. Pour remaining marinade over chicken and cook till sauce thickens.
4. Cut into pieces (optional) and serve hot with steamed rice.

Kung Po Chicken

2007-11-23T08:54:00.000-08:00

Adapted from Wokking Mum

1. Marinate diced chicken meat (breast or drums) with 1 tbs cooking wine (I use hua tiow chiew), 1 tbs light soy sauce and 2 tbs corn flour for an hour or more.
2. Stir fry chicken till golden brown. Set aside.
3. Fry 1 big onion (quartered) or some shallots, and garlic and ginger till fragrant. Add 20 dried chillies (soaked for a few hours and cut in halves) and fry for another minute or so.
4. Add 2 tbs black vinegar, 2 tbs sugar, 2 tbs water.
5. When mixture boils, stir in chicken and ensure it's well-coated. Then add, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and cooking wine, bit of salt, to taste.
6. Add corn flour mixture (from the marinade) if you like your sauce thick.
7. Boil, add water if you like more sauce and black vinegar if not sour enough.
8. Serve with steamed rice.

optional: Cashew nuts can be added.

Devil's Chocolate Cake & Ganache

2007-11-10T02:31:00.000-08:00

Cake

1 and 1/2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
11 tbs unsalted softened butter (2/3 cup = 10 and 2/3 tbs)
1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cups cocoa
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 and 1/3 cups warm water

1. Preheat oven 150 deg C for fan-assisted. I prefer to use non-fan-assisted at 170 deg C.
2. Grease and line two 9" cake pans.
3. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt. Mix well.
4. Beat butter @ medium till creamy.
5. Add sugar and beat high speed 3 min.
6. Add cocoa and beat 1 min, scrape.
7. Beat in eggs one at a time.
8. Beat in vanilla.
9. Fold in flour etc in 3 additions, alternating with warm water in 2 additions. Scrape.
10. Mix @ low 30 seconds. Pour into pans.
11. Bake 40-45 min. Cool 20 min. Transfer to wire.

When cake is cooled, spread cream between cakes and at the top if you like. Pour cooled ganache all over. Allow cake to set in fridge for an hour or so. Remove 10 minutes before serving. Cake can be stored for a few days in the fridge, just microwave it for tens of seconds and it will be moist and soft again. Enjoy!

Cream for between cakes (and on top of cake)

1 cup unsalted softened butter, 1 cup icing sugar, some double cream, 1 tsp vanilla, some salt if required. Beat. (I prefer this cream to the next one)

OR

Beat 150 g unsalted softened butter and 250 g sugar. Add 1 tsp vanilla, beat till smooth and creamy.

Ganache

6 oz chocolate (I like a mix of dark and milk chocolate)
2/3 cup double/whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla.

1. Boil cream. Remove from stove.
2. Add chopped chocolate and vanilla.
3. Stand. Stir. Cover with wrap. Cool for 5 min.

Sambal Prawns & Sambal Ikan Bilis

2007-10-06T22:35:00.000-07:00

1. Chilli Paste recipe. Soak 20 dried chillies in hot water for 30 min (or boil if you can't wait). Cut chillies in half and remove as much seeds as you want (the more seeds there are, the hotter your chilli paste will be). Drain and blend with 2 large fresh chillies and 1 cm thick or 1 level tbs of belacan (roast belacan in oven first).
2. Blend 14 shallots, 3 cloves garlic and a bit of ginger. Fry this paste in 100ml of heated oil. Stir constantly till this paste turns fragrant.
3. Add chilli paste from No1 and mix well. Reduce heat and slowly fry till the paste darkens to a deep-red brown and oil separates (20 min or so).
4. Add 3 tbs sugar, 1 tsp salt and water (amount of water depends on how thick you want your sambal to be).
5. Add sliced Bombay onion and boil.
6. Add prawns or Ikan Bilis (for ikan bilis, separately fry it first in hot oil till crispy).
7. Stir and add sugar, salt, and other seasoning (eg light soy sauce) to taste.

NOTE: The original recipe calls for assam (tamarind) pulp juice to be added instead of water. I only use water. Reduce the amount of sugar if it's too much for you. I love my sambals to be sweet, so I think I use even more sugar than this recipe calls for! Also, the amount of chilli paste in this recipe may not be enough if you want your sambal to be hot. So make your own estimation. Good luck!

Sweet and sour pork

2007-04-02T21:11:00.000-07:00

Follow recipe for Tonkatsu.

For the sauce:
1. Fry 4 cloves of garlic (sliced), quartered Bombay onion, few slices of ginger. Use the oil from frying the tenderloins for better flavour.
2. Add ketchup, dash of worcestershire sauce, some vinegar and brown sugar to taste. I also added some oyster sauce and light soy sauce. Oh, and water too.
3. Pineapple, green pepper, tomatos can be added if desired, I didn't.
4. Mix cut up fried Tonkatsu into the sauce. Serve hot with rice.

Background

I've never tried cooking this as I never had the confidence to do so. My mum cooks this really well and back in the good old days when Eddie used to cook for me (before kids...before marriage...it was the good old days remember?), he also made a mean dish of sweet and sour pork. He did not use bread crumbs to coat the meat, but used crushed Jacob's biscuits instead...yummm.

Back to reality now. After two plus years of cooking, I am now somewhat able to estimate the sauces/ingredients required in the simpler dishes I eat in restaurants. And this dish garnered praise from Mr Fussy himself. He's such a Chinaman, and had second helpings of rice because there were two pork dishes tonight, this and steamed minced pork, plus soup of course.

The boys, on the other hand, prefer plain Tonkatsu, without any sauce. I have a trio of hard-to-please palates in this house. Grrr....

Tonkatsu

2007-04-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

1. Cut small incisions on tenderloins to tenderise. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides.
2. Coat tenderloins with plain flour, shake off excess flour, next coat with egg, then bread crumbs
3. Submerge in hot oil for 2 minutes, turn and fry for another 2 minutes, turn and fry another 1 minute. Adjust heat as required.
4. Place on kitchen towel for oil to be absorbed. Cut into bite-sized pieces and add Tonkatsu Sauce (thick Japanese Worcestershire sauce).

Can be adapted to make:
Pork cutlet with chips, just do as above, then fry an egg and potatoes, kids won't know the difference :)

Economical Bee Hoon (Difficulty: 2.5)

2007-03-10T22:30:00.000-08:00

1. Soak 1/2 packet bee hoon in warm water. I don’t like chewy bee hoon, so I use slightly hotter water. Add 1 tbs each of dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil for bee hoon to absorb.
2. After half hour or more, drain bee hoon, but keep the liquid.
3. Fry 1 tbs garlic. Add vegetables/meat if you like. Do not stinge on the oil.
4. Add bee hoon. Mix well to let bee hoon absorb oil. If too dry, add some of the liquid that was used for soaking earlier.
5. Add 2 tbs dark soy sauce, 1 tbs light soy sauce, 1 tbs fish sauce, 1 tsp kicap manis (optional), salt and msg (optional) to taste. Please note these are all estimates, add according to your own taste.

Background

Ate this dish at Kat's place and have been scouring the net for the recipe since. It's called Economical Bee Hoon, because the original dish is really basic, just the noodles and garlic, maybe some cabbage/bean sprouts. But these days, they are sold with a whole variety of add-ons, such as Ngor Hiang, Fried Eggs, Luncheon Meat etc. I still buy mine 'kosong', ie plain. I like my food strip down to the basics, eg roti canai, best is kosong; nasi lemak, best is the 30sen a pack type with only rice, sambal and maybe a sliver of cucumber.

Back to Economical Bee Hoon, it looks benign enough, but I think it's a silent monster. You need to use quite a bit of oil for the beehoon to taste yummy. And it's entirely carbo, which transforms into...modern day poison...sugar!

I can already feel the effects of tucking into this dish for meals over 2 days, ie breakfast yesterday, lunch yesterday and dinner tonight. But it's so....darn shiok! Especially after I managed to make the garlic/ginger/chilli sauce that my aunt serves with her economical bee hoon during those Chinese Big Day (Tua Dit Chi). Will share that chilli recipe another time.

Barbecue BBQ wings (Difficulty: 2)

2007-03-01T11:39:00.000-08:00

Source: Mrs Jones from M4M
1. Pound 4 cloves garlic and 2 slices ginger.
2. Marinate 1kg chicken wings with pounded garlic and ginger, 4 tbs oyster sauce, 4 tbs kicap manis, 3 tbs tomato ketchup, for at least 4 hours.
3. Bake at 190C for 20 min. Leave some marinade for basting. After 20 min, turn over, baste with marinade, bake 20 min on 180C, turn over, baste and bake another 10 min, longer if you like it drier or slightly burnt.

Dried Shrimps Soft Tofu (Difficulty: 2)

2007-02-28T00:34:00.000-08:00

1. Soak 50g dried shrimps for 10 min. Drain and mince. Toast/fry with no/little oil. Set aside. Fry 4 sliced shallots and set aside.
2. Place soft tofu gently in boiling water, boil for 1 min.
3. Drain tofu, place on plate. Drizzle 1.5 tbs oyster sauce and 1.5 tsp oil.
4. Add fried dried shrimps and fried shallots.
5. Garnish with chopped chilli and spring onions.

Mee Hoon Kueh (Difficulty: 3)

2007-02-27T00:38:00.000-08:00

1. Knead 400g flour, 1/2 tsp salt and water (add water bit by bit) into a dough. Knead bit by bit till the entire dough is smooth and not sticking to your hands. Takes more than 10 mins of kneading.
2. Knead a tbs of oil into dough.
3. Separate into portions.
4. Cover with damp cloth for 1/2 hour.
5. Boil anchovy soup (a fistful of anchovy boiled/simmered in water for at least an hour). Peel dough, add to anchovy soup. Add pork, prawns, chye sim and boil.
6. Add fried anchovies and fried shallots just before serving.

Background

Went over to Katherine's place for a lesson on making Mee Hoon Kueh. I have always, always, loved this Hokkien dish, more so if it's home-made, but never got round to learning how to make it. Kat's mee hoon kueh is just like how my mum makes it, authentic. Very yummy. Ate so much, with cilipadi and soy sauce of course. Best. (Best?! Best?!...Wilson must be cursing under his breath that I made his precious about-to-pop wife work so hard in the kitchen).

I'm not sure if it's a West Malaysian dish, but Ed who's from East Malaysia won't eat it. And when I first went to Singapore (back in 1989), not many people seem to have heard of Mee Hoon Kueh either. Only some years later did Meehoonkueh/Banmian shops start sprouting all over the island.

Oh, my eat-potato-peranakan Form 6 buddy and childhood friend Lily had us in stitches years ago when she refered to this dish as "pull-pull" mee. Needless to say, she married an angmoh.

Tau Yu Bak

2007-02-06T15:12:00.000-08:00

Source: Improvised from Kuali

Ingredients:

500 gms pork (with skin and some fat), keep pork whole without slicing

For Marinade
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/4 tsp 5-spice powder
1 tbs oyster sauce
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar or to taste

4 whole garlic pods with skin on
1 star anise
4cm cinnamon stick
4 cloves
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar or to taste
Salt to taste
1 cup water
Hard-boiled eggs (optional)

Instructions:

1. Marinate pork for several hours or overnight.
2. Heat claypot or heavy-based saucepan over medium low heat.
3. Put in marinated pork to brown.
4. Add garlic pods, cinnamon stick, star anise and cloves.
5. Pour in half cup of water and cook covered for 5-8 minutes.
6. Add in dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, sugar and salt to taste.
7. Add half cup of wter and simmer till gravy is thick and meat is tender.
8. If gravy is too thick, just add more water. Same if meat is not tender enough, just add water and simmer for a longer time.
9. Add peeled boiled eggs.
10. To serve, cut pork into slices and add gravy to the dish.

REVIEW:
When cooked: Tuesday 6 February 2007
Which meal: Dinner
Which try: I'm sure I've tried this before, but not sure how many times
Missing ingredients: Cinnamon sticks
Exchanged ingredients: Used 2 whole garlic pods instead of 4 (the garlic here is huge)
Difficulty Level: 2.5
Others: Recipe did not have hard-boiled eggs in it. Oh when I bought the pork it was already sliced.

Verdict: Very popular. Sean ate a big plate of rice by himself. What I like about it is there's nothing to chop or pound. Easy.

Stir-fried ginger pork

2007-01-26T18:07:00.000-08:00

Source: www.aromacookery.com

Ingredients:

400 gms pork loin or tenderloin
1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
a few drops of sesame oil
a large knob of ginger, about 80 to 100 gms
2 tbsp vegetable oil
light soy sauce, about 2 tbsp or to taste*
water, about 150 ml or just enough to cover the pork

Instructions:

1. Cut pork against the grain into thin slices.
2. Marinate for at least half an hour with 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp cornstarch, and a few drops of sesame oil.
3. Peel the ginger, slice thinly, and cut into fine strips.
4. Heat the wok till very hot. Add the oil and saute the ginger for about one minute, turning constantly.
5. Over moderately high heat, add the pork and stir-fry with the ginger. When the pork starts to change color, add light soy sauce and stir-fry to mix evenly.
6. Quickly pour in the water. When the mixture bubbles, immediately turn the fire off to prevent overcooking the pork. Serve with plain rice.

REVIEW:
When cooked: Friday 26 January 2007
Which meal: Dinner
Which try: First
Missing ingredients: None, cooking wine was added
Exchanged ingredients: None
Difficulty Level: 2
Others: Nil

Verdict: Popular dish. I think I'd try to add dark soy sauce and make it drier next time.

Braised pork loin steak

2007-01-25T18:31:00.000-08:00

Source: www.aromacookery.com

Ingredients:

800g pork loin steak
1 tsp corn flour
1 small bowl chopped shallots
1 whole chopped garlic
5 bruised lemongrass
Some galangal, sliced or bruised
Light soy sauce and dark soy sauce to taste
Water

Instructions:

1. Fry shallots, garlice, galangal and lemongrass till fragrant.
2. Add pork (which has been tenderised with corn flour or with back of cleaver), sprinkle brown sugar generously.
3. When sugar has melted, add light and dark soy sauce.
4. Add just enough water to cover meat (not too much). When boiled, taste and add sugar and light soy sauce if necessary.
5. Cover and braise for 1 hour. Remove cover and if drier version is preferred, remove excess gravy and continue to fry pork on high heat, adding dark soy sauce to make pork darker.
6. Cut pork into bite-sized pieces before serving.

REVIEW:
When cooked: Thursday 25 January 2007
Which meal: Dinner
Which try: First
Missing ingredients: None
Exchanged ingredients: None
Difficulty Level: 3
Others: The original recipe calls for Pork Belly ie to make LorBak

Verdict: Everyone loved this dish. Same recipe can be used for braised duck as well.

Barbecue pork ribs

2007-01-03T14:19:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

600g prime ribs
2 tbs oyster sauce
2 tbs hoisin sauce
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs dark soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 tbs cooking wine
1/2 tsp salt
Pinch of freshly ground white pepper

Instructions:

1. Marinate pork ribs with all oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, honey, wine, salt and pepper and cornflour (optional) for half a day.
2. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
3. Brush honey over ribs before baking.
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

REVIEW:
When cooked: Tuesday 2 January 2006
Which meal: Dinner
Which try: First
Missing ingredients: None
Exchanged ingredients: None
Difficulty Level: 2
Others: Nil

Verdict: Easy and yummy.

Coca-cola charsiew pork ribs

2006-12-21T12:34:00.000-08:00

Source: M4M

Ingredients:

600g prime ribs
2 tbsp charsiew sauce
Corn flour
1 can coca-cola

Instructions:

1. Marinate pork ribs with charsiew sauce and corn flour for 2-3 hours. Fry.
2. Add a can of coca-cola.
3. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Remove cover, cook on higher heat till gravy almost dries up.

REVIEW:
When cooked: Thursday 21 December 2006
Which meal: Dinner
Which try: Have cooked this many times
Missing ingredients: None
Exchanged ingredients: None
Difficulty Level: 3
Others: Nil

Verdict: Very popular with Ed & the boys. Sticky, gooey, yummy.

Steamed Seabass Hongkong Style

2006-12-15T16:14:00.000-08:00

Source: Lai Eng

Ingredients:
1 seabass/pomfret
Ginger (thin shreds)
Fish sauce
Oil
Sugar
Spring onion (thin shreds)

Method:
1. Place fish on a heat-resistant dish. Place ginger on top of fish. I love ginger, hence the generous amount seen above. Steam for 15 minutes.
2. Remove liquid/sauce from dish. Set aside.
3. Boil oil (amount depends on your taste).
4. Pour oil over entire length of fish (be careful, oil may splatter).
5. Sprinkle some sugar. Add spring onion.
7. Add fish sauce.

REVIEW:
When cooked: Saturday 15 December 2006
Which meal: Dinner
Which try: Have cooked this many times
Missing ingredients: Fish Sauce
Exchanged ingredients: Light Soy Sauce
Difficulty Level: 2
Others: Nil

Verdict: Healthy choice. Brian says he prefers my Easy-Peasy Salmon to this but he likes this very much too. Sean prefers this. I love this dish, always have.

Easy-Peasy Salmon

2006-11-26T10:46:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:
2 fillets of fresh boneless salmon
Olive oil
Tomato (optional)
Spring onion
Water

Seasoning
Dark soy sauce
Maggi Seasoning
Balsamic Vinegar
Lea & Perrins
Dry sherry cooking wine (Hua Tiow Chiew can be used as well)
Sugar to taste

Garnishing
Coriander (optional)

Method:
1. Heat up olive oil. Pan fry salmon.
2. Add dash of dark soy sauce, maggi seasoning, balsamic vinegar, lea & perrins and cooking wine.
3. Let the sauce seep into the salmon. Sprinkle sugar on salmon.
4. Wash and cut tomatoes (optional) and spring onion.
5. Turn salmon over to cook other side.
6. Add tomatoes and spring onion. Add a bit of water (more if you prefer more gravy). Simmer.
7. Garnish with coriander before serving.

REVIEW:
When cooked: Saturday 25 November 2006
Which meal: Dinner
Which try: Have cooked this many times
Missing ingredients: None
Exchanged ingredients: None
Difficulty Level: 2
Others: Nil

Verdict: Brian loves salmon cooked this way. It's really easy to cook. No garlic to chop or ginger to pound. Serve with rice and you won't need any other dishes. My kind of dish, easy-peasy.

Steamed eggs (with coriander and ham)

2006-11-25T00:57:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:
4 eggs (add or reduce as required)
Slightly less than 4 eggshells of hot water (water is proportionate to number of eggs)
Chopped coriander (optional)
Sliced ham (optional)
Salt to taste
Light soy sauce to taste
Pepper to taste

Method:
1. Place cloth inside a big pot of water. Cover pot and boil.
2. Chop coriander and cut a few pieces of ham (or sausage, I happened to have ham I wanted to use)
3. Break eggs into a big bowl. Swirl with a pair of chopsticks (try not to do this too hard, so as to minimise bubbles). Add water and continue to swirl till evenly mixed. Add salt to taste.
4. Add coriander and ham, swirl.
5. Cover bowl tightly with aluminium foil or a metal cover and place inside pot. Cover pot and boil for 25-30 minutes.
6. To serve, add light soy sauce, pepper if required.

REVIEW:

When cooked: Wednesday 22 November 2006
Which meal: Dinner
Which try: First (with coriander and ham)
Missing ingredients: None
Exchanged ingredients: None
Difficulty Level: 1
Others: Steamed egg is great by itself, there's no need to add other ingredients. I happened to have these in the fridge and was just experimenting.

Verdict: Everybody liked it. The coriander tasted nice and it was a good way of getting the boys (including Ed) better acquainted with this garnishing.

Waitrose's baked salmon with ginger

2006-11-24T15:44:00.000-08:00

Source: Waitrose

Ingredients:
2 fillets of fresh boneless salmon
1 tbsp ginger (chopped)
1 clove garlic (finely-chopped)
Half a lemon
Chopped coriander
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Water cress

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200°C, gas mark 6. Place salmon on a piece of foil.
2. Sprinkle evenly with chopped ginger and garlic. Squeeze juice of half a lemon over salmon and sprinkle with chopped coriander.
3. Wrap loosely in foil and bake for 13-15 minutes.
4. Serve with watercress, dressed with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

REVIEW:

When cooked: Friday 24 November 2006
Which meal: Dinner
Which try: First
Missing ingredients: Lemon juice
Exchanged ingredients: None
Difficulty Level: 2
Others: None.

Verdict: This was Brian's dinner as he loves salmon. I tried and didn't like it. Brian struggled to finish this and said my other salmon recipe was better. This was too sour and the thing is I didn't even use lemon! Just not to our taste, too angmoh. Not gonna try again.

Braised chicken with onion (Difficulty: 2)

2006-11-22T02:02:00.000-08:00

1. Heat 2 tbs oil, fry 1 tsp minced garlic and a few slices of ginger till fragrant. Stir in sliced large yellow onion and fry till slightly soft.
2. Add chicken and fry well.
3. Add 1 tbs oyster sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce, a big of rock sugar, 1 tsp hua tiow chiew and 1/2 cup water.
4. Braise over medium heat for 10 mins.
5. Lower heat and simmer for 20 mins (covered). Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Add spring onions as garnishing if desired. Add 1 tsp sesame oil before serving.

Adhe's oxtail soup

2006-11-19T05:31:00.000-08:00

Source: Adhe (Indonesian buddy I met in Frankfurt)

Ingredients:
6 pieces oxtails
5 slices garlic
5 shallots
Tomato
Carrot
Onion
Pepper

1. Boil oxtail with salt.
2. Fry garlic and shallots till fragrant.
3. Add too oxtail soup. Add tomato, carrot, and onion.
4. Pepper to taste.

REVIEW:

When cooked: Long time ago, in Frankfurt
Which meal: Lunch
Missing ingredients: Nil
Exchanged ingredients: Nil
Difficulty Level: 3
Others: It was lots nicer when I ate this at Adhe's place.

Verdict: I love oxtail soup but no one else in the family will drink it.

Wendy's fried ginger liver

2006-11-19T05:30:00.000-08:00

Source: Wendy Aw

Ingredients:
Ginger
Garlic
Spring onion
Dark soy sauce
Light soy sauce
Wine
Sesame oil
Pepper
Sugar

Method:

1. Fry ginger and garlic and spring onion.
2. Add liver (liver cut into small pieces).
3. Add wine, light ss, dark ss
4. Add sugar and water to taste.
5. Add sesame oil and pepper when done.

REVIEW:

When cooked: Long time ago, in Frankfurt
Which meal: Dinner
Missing ingredients: Nil
Exchanged ingredients: Nil
Difficulty Level: 2
Others: I'm the only one in the house who loves liver, so can't cook this often.

Verdict: Easy and yummy. Wendy, unlike me, is an instinctive cook. One look and she'll be able to cook the dish. Let's kill her.

Beef rendang

2006-11-19T05:27:00.000-08:00

Source: Various

Ingredients:
1 kg beef, cubed
2 serai, crushed
2 daun kunyit
3 daun jeruk
3 daun salam
1 tbsp asam jawa
1 to 1.5 l coconut milk
salt to taste

Blend (A)
10 fresh chillies (5 if from Toom)
2.5 cm ginger
2.5 cm kunyit or 1 tsp turmeric powder
2.5 cm lengkuas/galanggal
10 shallots
5 cloves garlic

Instructions:
1. Tumis A with crushed serai/lemongrass, daun kunyit/turmeric leaves, and other leaves (optional) till fragrant. I recently added a few kaffir lime leaves.
2. Add coconut milk. Recipe calls for 1.5l, but 1 l should be enough.
3. Add 1 tbs asam jawa and salt, boil.
4. Add beef.
5. Cook on very low fire till meat turns dark brown (5 hours) and there's very little gravy. If you don't find it sweet enough, add some palm sugar.

When cooked: Long time ago, in Frankfurt
Which meal: Lunch
Missing ingredients: Nil
Exchanged ingredients: Nil
Difficulty Level: 5
Others: Maybe it's the beef I use, but the rendang never gets as tender as I like it. Best rendang I've tasted is Karen's mum's and Peramakan's (restaurant in Joo Chiat).

Verdict: Well, it's rendang, and rendang is always a treat for Eddie and I. Brian hasn't learnt how to eat it yet.

2008 Update: I got round to cooking this dish again, after 3 years! This time in Moscow. And I had to omit daun kunyit, daun salam and daun jeruk as I didn't have these. Still turned out all right. And this time, Brian has learned to eat rendang and ate 2 plates of rice with it!

Note to self: This takes a long time, so start early, not at 5pm!

Sept 2008 Update: Cooked this again, and this time I started early about 1pm, so rendang was ready for dinner. I've found the right cut of beef in Moscow so am so pleased cos the meat turns out so tender and delicious. You've gotta look out for cuts which have lots of tendons and some fats. This time I boiled just 500ml of coconut milk first, and added the rest of the 500ml (about 100ml each time) as the liquid gets reduced. Not sure if this helped, but the rendang sure tasted good today.

Esther's fried chicken wings

2006-11-19T05:24:00.000-08:00

Source: Esther Heng

Ingredients:
Chicken wings
Oyster Sauce
Finely chopped garlic
Pepper
Bit of baking soda
Flour
Cold water

Instructions:

1. Marinade chicken wings with oyster sauce, garlic and pepper.
2. Before frying, add cold water, baking soda and flour.
3. Deep fry.

When cooked: Long time ago, in Frankfurt
Which meal: Lunch
Missing ingredients: Nil
Exchanged ingredients: Nil
Difficulty Level: 3
Others: Nil.

Verdict: Very popular in the Leong household. But too messy for me, the amount of oil needed for deep-frying always puts me off making this dish. It's really delicious though.

Dawn's baked chicken wings

2006-11-19T05:20:00.000-08:00

Source: Dawn Wu

Ingredients:

8 chicken wings
4 Tbsp light soy sauce
2 Tbsp wine
1 Tbsp honey
Spring Onion
1 tbsp sugar (optional)

Instructions:
1. Marinate wings with all ingredients, bake at 200 degrees.

Missing ingredients: Nil
Exchanged ingredients: Nil
Difficulty Level: 2
Others: Dawn cooked this for CNY eve dinner 2005 in Frankfurt, it was superb.

Verdict: I love this dish. Have forgotten how easy it was to cook this till I started looking back at my recipes. Everyone in the family likes it.

Karen's baked chicken wings

2006-11-19T05:01:00.001-08:00

Source: Karen Tan

Ingredients:
6 chicken wings
Pepper
Salt
2 Tbsp curry powder
1 tsp coriander powder
2 Tbsp tomato sauce
Oil

Instructions:
1. Marinade chicken with pepper, salt, curry powder, coriander powder, tomato sauce.
2. Rub oil on chicken before baking at 200 degrees.

REVIEW:

When cooked: Long time ago, in Frankfurt
Which meal: Dinner
Missing ingredients: Nil
Exchanged ingredients: Nil
Difficulty Level: 2
Others: Karen cooks this better than I do.

Verdict: I love this dish. Very spicy, got kick. Sean obviously can't eat this. Brian's okay with it. Eddie doesn't like it.

Mum's steamed chicken wings

2006-11-19T05:00:00.001-08:00

Source: Mum

Ingredients:

Sesame Oil
Ginger

Instructions:

1. Place chicken wings on top of ginger.
2. Add sesame oil
3. Steam for 30 minutes.

Note: Other parts of chicken can be used as well.

Mum's baked chicken

2006-11-19T04:58:00.000-08:00

Source: Mum

Ingredients:

Pepper
Chinese Wine
Sesame Oil
Light Soy sauce
Oyster sauce (optional)
Ginger
Black Soy sauce
Honey
Slice of big onion

Instructions:

1. Marinade chicken with pepper, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, Chinese wine, Sesame oil and ginger for 2 hours.
2. When ready to cook, rub black soy sauce and honey on chicken.
3. Place chicken on top of sliced big onion.
4. Over 200 degrees skin up, turn occasionally. 15 min each side.

Others: Can be fried too. Use either wings or thighs.

MIL's sam cham bak (3-layered pork)

2006-11-19T04:57:00.000-08:00

Source: MIL

Ingredients:

1 pack Sam Cham Bak
Pinch of salt
Corn Flour
Oyster sauce
Special light soy sauce
Ginger slices
7 slices garlic
7 slices shallots
1 cube rock sugar
Black soy sauce
Chinese wine

Instructions:

1. Marinate sam cham bak with salt, corn flour, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, and ginger for half a day.
2. Pound garlic and shallots. Fry till fragrant.
3. Add pork. Fry till slightly brown.
4. Add black soy sauce.
5. Add water, bring to boil.
6. Add rock sugar. Wine.

Others: Add oyster sauce and sugar to taste, if needed.

MIL's steamed pork ribs

2006-11-19T04:56:00.001-08:00

Source: MIL

Ingredients:

1 pack ribs
Pinch of salt
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp Chinese wine
Ginger
1/2 clove garlic
1/2 Tbsp Hoisin sauce
1/2 tsp sugar

Instructions:

1. Marinade pork ribs with salt, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, Chinese wine and ginger for half a day.
2. Pound or chop garlic. Fry.
3. Add hoisin sauce, sugar, turn off fire.
4. Stir pork ribs in.
5. Steam everything on big fire first, then small.
6. Add salt and sugar to taste.

Others: Add Chinese Wine when done (optional)

M4M's braised pork ribs with onions

2006-11-19T04:50:00.000-08:00

Source: Mandy from M4M

Ingredients:
500g prime ribs (cut into 3" sections)
1 large onion(yellow type)
5 button mushrooms (optional)
some ginger slices
1 tsp minced garlic
2 cups water

Seasonings:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce (I use kwong cheong thye Best grade)
a little sugar
1 tsp shaoxing wine
1 tsp sesame oil
a little salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Wash pork ribs and cut into long sections. Cut onions into shreds. Cut button mushrooms into 4 slices each.
2.Heat 2 tbsp of oil, fry ginger and garlic till fragrant then stir in onion. Add pork ribs and fry well then add oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, wine and some water. Stir well.
3. Transfer pork ribs and the rest of the ingredients into a pot. Braise over medium heat for 10mins. Lower the heat and simmer for 20mins.
4.Lastly, season with sesame oil, salt and pepper before serving.

REVIEW:

When cooked: Saturday 18 November 2006
Which meal: Dinner
Which try: First
Missing ingredients: Mushrooms
Exchanged ingredients: Hua Tiow Chiew instead of Shaoxing, Kwong Chong Thye Standard instead of Best Grade.
Difficulty Level: 3
Others: The ribs were still not tender after the required time, so I cooked it for at least 30 min more.

Verdict: Brian loved the dish, said it replaces Coca-Cola Pork Ribs as his favourite. Eddie finished all 4 ribs. Sean finished his dinner. I found the taste all right, a bit diluted.