Brocolli with Egg Tofu

Heat Wok on medium heat and add 1/3 cup water. 
Add 1 heads broccoli florets and a pinch of salt. Stirring constantly, let cook until water is almost evaporated and cover on low heat. Remove cover after approximately 1 minute or until broccoli is cooked.
Remove broccoli from Wok and arrange on the sides of a large serving dish. Clean the Wok to remove any broccoli traces.
Heat Wok on medium heat. 2 Tbsp of cooking oil. Gently add in egg tofu slices and pan-fry for about 1 minute or until golden brown on both sides. Remove from Wok and gently place on the same platter as the broccoli, stacking them in the middle of the serving plate.

Clean the Wok again and add the rest of the cooking oil. Turn heat to low and sauté the garlic, ginger and tomatoes. Once aromatic, Stir and add shimeji mushrooms. Add some water, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, wine. Turn heat up again and cook until mushrooms are soft. Pour the shimeji mushrooms sauce on top of tofu slices.

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Braised Pork Belly

Blend 1 whole garlic. Fry with 3 tbs sugar till brown. Fry 2 slabs of 3-layer pork till caramelised. Add dss, lss and water. Cover and cook on slow fire for a couple of hours.

Karen (Frankfurt)'s recipe

Khang Ju (Minced porkball soup)

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)

(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

1. Marinate 1kg pork shoulder/butt (fei ji rou) with charsiew sauce, chinese cooking wine, sugar, fish sauce. Poke with fork, place in a ziplock bag and keep 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.

Note: Don't bother with Instant Pot or Air Fryer. Stick to oven.

Malaysian turmeric and honey wings

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

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)

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

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

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 (or balsamic 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

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

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

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

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

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

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.