Fried Bee Hoon

I'm feeling lazy this weekend. I cooked Yong Tau Foo Macaroni yesterday. And this morning before I headed to the office, I was thinking what to cook for dinner. Sigh... I hate to work on Sunday...

Then an idea popped up. Why not fry up a wok of Bee Hoon and a pot of Chicken Curry! These can easily serve 5 to 6 person. At least I don't have to come up with 3 or 4 different dishes! Hahaha... Within an hour or so, a nice pot of pipping hot curry and Bee Hoon is ready for dinner.

Ingredients:

1 packet Bee Hoon (400g)
1 cabbage (sliced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
Salt (optional)
2 tbsp oil

Mixture:
300ml water
2 tbsp dark soya sauce
5 tbsp soy sauce
2 oyster sauce

Methods:

1. Soak the Bee Hoon with water until soften. Drain and set aside.

2. Sauté the garlic with 2 tbsp oil in a wok.

3. Add the cabbage and stir fry for few minutes.

4. Add the Bee Hoon into the wok.

5. Drizzle the mixture on the Bee Hoon. Stir and mix well until the mixture dries up.

6. Taste the bee hoon. Add a little salt if needed.

Macaroni In Yong Tau Foo Soup

Assorted Yong Tau Foo

Choy Sum, Macaroni, Ginger

I have been craving for this macaroni soup since last week. This is a simple one pot meal for a family. Apparently I spent less than $10 to get the ingredients and served 5 person! I got the Yong Tau Foo and fishballs at the wet market. Ginger, vegetables and macaroni from NTUC.

Assorted Yong Tau Foo - $4.00
10 fishballs - $1.00
Macaroni - $1.50
Ginger - $1.05
Vegetables (choy sum) - $1.45

Total cost: $9

We often cook macaroni soup this way at home. Sometime I will add hotdogs, crabmeat and meatballs for my family members. For me, I just prefer YTF, fishballs and lots of vegetables.

Serves 5

Ingredients:
6 tsp homemade ikan bilis powder
10 slices of ginger
Assorted Yong Tau Foo
10 fish balls
Salt
1 tablespoon oil
3 litres Water
400g Macaroni
1 packet of Leafy vegetables (choy sum)

Optional:
A dash of pepper
Spring onions
Cut chillies

1. Heat a big pot.

2. Add in a tablespoon of oil.

3. Sauté the ginger till fragrant.

4. Add water (3 litres)

5. Boil the soup and add the ikan bilis powder. Let it simmer for about 30 minutes. Add the salt as desired.

6. Using another small pot and the ikan bilis soup base to cook the macaroni for about 10-15 minutes.

7. Remove the macaroni. Remember to pour the soup that was used for macaroni back into the soup base (big pot). Definitely make the soup thicker and tastier!

8. Using a small pot. Add soup base (about 400ml) to boil. Add in the macaroni, Yong Tau Foo, and fishballs (to cook for individual).

9. After all ingredients are cooked, add in the vegetables. Cook for another 30 seconds and ready to serve.

10. You may serve with the optional ingredients. Or condiments (cut chili with soya sauce).

You may cook all the Yong Tau Foo, fishballs and vegetables in the soup base (big pot). Separate the macaroni into 5 bowls. After the ingredients and vegetables are cooked, divide and ladle into the 5 bowls. This is a easier method, however I think it's tasted better if cooked individually.

Doenjang Jjigae (Korean Bean Paste Soup)

I love Doenjang Jjigae the most in Korean cuisine. I think mainly it is because I love fermented bean paste. Chinese soy bean paste (taucheo), Miso and Doenjang! The soup is flavoursome though only requires minimum of cooking time. You can add prawns, clams or squid too!

Ingredients:

3 tbsp Doenjang (Korean soy bean paste)
1 box soft tofu
1 pack of enoki mushrooms
1/2 onions (cubed)
1 zucchini (cubed or cut into crescents)
1 or more tbsp chilli flakes
1 chilli padi (chopped)
2 tsp ikan bilis powder
500ml water

Garnish:
Green or red chilli (sliced)
Spring onion (sliced)

Methods:

1. Boil the water in a pot. Once the water starts to boil, add the ikan bilis powder.

2. Add the Doenjang paste into the boiling water. Mash the paste with a spoon.

3. Toss in the onions and zucchini. Simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Add the chilli flakes and chilli padi. Stir.

5. Add the tofu and enoki mushrooms. Continue to simmer for 5 minutes.

6. Garnish with chilli and spring onions. Serve with rice.

Steamed Whole Fish - Sea Bass (金目鲈)

I didn't manage to take a photo of the fish after steaming the fish because everyone started eating it as soon as it was placed on the dining table!!! Luckily I took a picture before the fish was sent into the hot steaming wok! It has been a long time since we ate 金目鲈. Mainly because my son prefers white pomfret than other fishes. Today the fish was really fresh and tender. I was surprised that my son ate most of the fish. Indeed, the freshness of the fish makes lot of differences.

I think from now on, we will start buying 金目鲈 instead. Cheaper and bigger than white pomfrets lah!! Lol!!!

Ingredients:

1 medium sea bass (金目鲈)
8 slices ginger (thumb size)
2 stalks spring onions (snapped into 5cm length)
2 chilli padi (chopped)
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp cooking oil
1/2 tsp salt

Optional:
Pepper

Methods

1. Clean the fish. Rub the fish with the salt. Rinse off the salt with water after 30 minutes.

2. Place 4 slices of ginger on the steaming plate. Put the fish on the top of the ginger.

3. Place the remaining ginger, chilli and spring onions on the fish.

4. Put the tomatoes beside the fish.

5. Drizzle the oil and soy sauce on the fish.

6. Once the water starts to boil in the wok, put the fish in and cover. Steam for 15 minutes depending the size of the fish.

7. After steaming, sprinkle some pepper before serving.

Steamed Fish Fillets

I didn't have the time to go to the wet market this morning as I need to go back to the office today. Finally I finished work and knocked off at 3pm. So I rushed to the NTUC Finest to grab some groceries for dinner tonight. Actually I wanted to buy red grouper fillets but sold out. So I got Toman fish instead. I don't really like to buy Toman fish fillets as there are lots of bones. Unless whole fish, otherwise we prefer boneless fillets. We had bad experiences... That my son was admitted to hospital because he swallowed a fish bone years ago. Luckily, few months after the awful incident, he started to consume fish again. For the first few months he refused to eat fish, including fishballs!

Ingredients:

2 fish fillets
1 tomato (quartered)
8 slices ginger
1 chilli padi (chopped)
1 tsp cooking oil
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp water
10 stalks (length about 5cm) of spring onions

Garnish:
Spring onions
Coriander

Methods:

1. Put 4 slices of ginger on a steam plate.

2. Place the fish fillets on top of the ginger. Put 2 slices of ginger on top of each fillet.

3. Place the tomatoes at the sides of the fillets.

4. Drizzle the oil, soy sauce and water on the fillets and top with the 10 stalks of spring onions and chilli.

5. Once the water starts to boil in the wok, place the fish in and cover. Steam for 10 minutes.

6. Remove the plate from the wok. Discard the spring onions. It should be limp after the steaming.

7. Garnish with fresh spring onions and coriander.

Stir Fried French Beans

Sorry if the picture is too dark. One of my kitchen lights suddenly became cranky when I was taking the pictures! French beans for dinner today...

Ingredients:

1 packet of French Beans (string pulled and snapped into half)
Shredded carrots
8 button mushrooms (sliced) I used canned mushroom
1 clove garlic (minced)
1 Chilli Padi (chopped)
Pinch of salt
3 tsp dried shrimp powder
50ml or more water / chicken stock
1 tbsp cooking oil

Methods:

1. Heat the oil in a wok. Sauté the garlic.

2. Toss in the French Beans and stir fry. Add a little chicken stock and let it cook for a minute.

3. Add the carrots, chilli and mushroom. Stir fry and add the rest of the chicken stock.

4. Sprinkle the dried shrimp powder and a little salt (dried shrimp powder is slightly saltish so no need to add too much salt). Stir and let it cook for about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Steamed Egg Custard

I have tried steaming eggs few times but always failed. The eggs usually turned out too watery! Even I followed the exactly recipes, the results was.... Sigh... I almost gave up until I saw a post from Kokken69! So today, I braved myself for another try! Hehehe... This time I made it! Yes!!! The custard was really smooth and soft. My sister and I couldn't stop eating it...

Recipe mainly adapted from Kokken69.

Ingredients:

3 eggs
400ml chicken stock
Pinch of salt

Methods:

1. Beat the eggs and add salt into the mixture.

2. Add the chicken stock and stir.

3. Using a filter, pour the mixture into a steam bowl.

4. Steam with boiling water for 20 minutes until it has set nicely.

I topped the egg custard with minced meat and spring onions.

Hairy Gourd Soup

Soup is a 'must have' in our dinner. I think mainly because we are Cantonese. My mom makes awesome soups such as Lotus Root Soup, Old Cucumber Soup, Winter Melon Soup, ABC Soup and goes on. I believe every families have their own versions of soups.

Actually, I made this soup long ago and found the picture in the archive. We make this soup whenever we are short of time to 炖汤 or could not get meats for the soup (especially on Mondays when wet market is closed). I remember my mom used to make this soup for lunch when we were in primary school. My mom is not a good cook but she makes excellent soups. She said she learnt from my late grandmother.

Ingredients:

8 slices ginger
100g dried shrimps (washed)
1.5 litres water
1 hairy gourd (peeled and cut into small pieces)
1 carrot (chopped into bite sizes)
1 tomato (quartered)
10 button mushrooms
Salt (as desired)
2 tbsp cooking oil

Optional:
Fishballs

Garnish:
Chopped spring onions
Coriander

Methods:

1. Heat the oil in the pot.

2. Sauté the ginger and dried shrimps till fragrance.

3. Add the hairy gourd, tomato and carrot. Stir.

4. Add the water to boil.

5. Once boil, turn the fire low and simmer for an hour.

6. Add the mushrooms and cook for another few minutes.

7. Turn the heat high and add salt according to your preference.

8. Turn off the fire.

Garnish with spring onions and coriander.

Bak Kut Teh (Using Seah's Bak Kut Teh Spices)

My son loves Bak Kut Teh. Hmmm... He only loves the soup but not the meat... :s I like to use Seah's BKT spices as it is light and not so strong taste of herbs. As my son loves peppery soup, I added some crushed white peppercorns. Comfort food for a rainy day like today...

Ingredients:

1 pack Seah's Bak Kut Teh Spices
4 cloves garlic (unpeeled)
1 kg prime or pork ribs
1 tbsp crushed white peppercorns
2 litres water

Garnish:
Coriander

Methods:

1. Scald the ribs with boiling water. Drain and set aside.

2. Boil 2 litres of water in a big pot.

3. Once the water boils, put in the spice bag and ribs. Cook with high heat for 10 minutes.

4. Turn down the heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes.

5. Toss in the peppercorns and garlic. Simmer for another 30 minutes.

6. Garnish with coriander.

Serve with cut chilli padi in dark soy sauce.

Kiam Chye With Pork In Tomato Sauce

Whenever I'm cooking plain porridge, this dish will definitely comes across my mind. For plain porridge, it certainly goes well with salted vegetables, salted eggs, chai po eggs and etc. I first have this dish at my auntie's place. And I fell in love with it instantly!

Ingredients:

1/2 head of Kiam Chye (salted vegetables)
1 tomato (quartered)
100g of lean pork (sliced thinly)
1 clove garlic (minced finely)
100ml tomato sauce (about 7 tbsp)
50ml water
A pinch of sugar
2 tbsp cooking oil

Methods:

1. Slice the Kiam Chye into strips and soak with water for an hour. Change the water few times to remove the saltiness. Drain and set aside.

2. Sauté the pork strips with a tbsp of oil. Set aside.

3. Heat 1 tbsp cooking oil in a wok and sauté the garlic.

4. Toss in the tomatoes and stir fry.

5. Add the Kiam Chye and continue to stir fry for a minute.

6. Toss in the pork strips and continue to stir fry for few seconds.

7. Add the tomato sauce and water.

8. Let it cook for about 3 minutes until the tomatoes have soften. Sprinkle the sugar and stir well. Turn off the heat.

9. Serve with porridge.

You may add more tomato sauce as desired.

Stir Fried Celery With Beancurd (Tau Kua)

If you have realized, I have posted a number of celery dishes in this blog. Well, I love celery! For its distinctive taste and crunchiness... I bought a bag of celery 2 days ago to add in the instant noodles. Hahaha! So today I cooked the leftover celery in my fridge.
This is my first time to stir fry celery with tau kau. I find it this dish is good with porridge. Simple and light dish.

Ingredients:

1 bag of celery (sliced thinly)
1/2 carrot (sliced thinly)
1 Beancurd (cut into bite sizes)
1 clove garlic (sliced thinly)
1 chilli padi (deseeded and chopped finely)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
50ml water
1 tbsp cooking oil
Oil for deep frying

Methods:

1. Deep fry the beancurd until golden. Set aside.

2. Heat 1 tbsp of cooking oil in a wok. Sauté the garlic and chilli.

3. Toss in the carrots and celery. Stir fry quickly.

4. Drizzle the soy sauce and continue to stir fry for few seconds.

5. Add the oyster sauce and water. Continue to stir fry until the sauce becomes lesser (about a minute or 2).

6. Quickly toss in the beancurd and stir. Turn off the heat.

Easy Sautéed Shiitake Mushroom

Easy yet flavoursome dish. We often have mushrooms at home. Be it fresh shiitake mushroom, dried mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms or.... We love em!

Ingredients:

1 clove garlic (minced)
1 bag of fresh shiitake mushrooms (12)
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp cooking oil / butter
2 tbsp water
A dash of coarse black pepper

Methods:

1. Heat the oil / butter and sauté the garlic.

2. Add the mushroom and stir fry.

3. Add the oyster sauce and water.

4. Simmer for few minutes and add a dash of black pepper. Quick stir and serve.

Easy Macaroni Chicken Soup

Sometime during the weekends, I will prepare this kind of 1 dish meal for lunch. It's easy and quick, especially good for lazy people like myself. Hahaha!!!

Ingredients:

100g macaroni
1 Quartered tomato
1 stalk celery (sliced)
1/4 onions (chopped)
8 slices carrots
2 shiitake mushrooms (sliced)
1 handful of shimeji mushrooms
A dash of coarse black pepper
1 stalk Chili padi (optional) (chopped)
1 tbsp olive oil
Chicken soup
Salt (optional)

Methods:

1. Heat the olive oil in a pot.

2. Sauté the onions. Add the celery, tomato & carrots and stir fry.

3. Pour in the chicken soup.

4. Once boil, add the macaroni. Cook for 10 ~ 15 minutes.

5. Add the mushrooms and chili. Cook for few minutes. Add salt as desired.

6. Turn off the heat. Sprinkle the black pepper.

You may add shredded chicken or pork balls.

Pan Fried Prawns

This is one of the easiest way to cook prawns with little ingredients. So simple yet tasty! :)

Ingredients:

2 cloves of garlic (lightly bruised)
16 medium prawns (marinate with salt)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
Salt

Garnish:
Coriander (optional)
Spring onion (optional)

Methods:

1. Marinade the prawns with salt for at least 30 minutes.

2. Heat the pan with high fire. Add the cooking oil.

3. Sauté the garlic and add in the prawns. Do not stack the prawns!

4. Cook the prawns for 2 minutes and flip to another side.

5. Let the juice dry up and the pan will get really dry. Off the fire once the prawns start to turn brown and crisp.

6. Serve and garnish.

Fish Curry

This morning, I was thinking what dish of fish I can make today. Not the usual steamed or fried fish... I was browsing the shelves at NTUC, and I saw this pack of fish curry paste. An idea popped up! I never cook fish curry before! We always enjoy fish head curry from the Zi Char stalls, but never try cooking at home. So I bought 2 slices of Batang fish from NTUC and some vegetables to make this fish curry this evening. I like to use pre-packed curry pastes. It saves the time and hassles, especially working moms like us. I must say pre-packed pastes is one of the greatest inventions! Hahaha!!!

Ingredients:

1 pack A1 fish curry paste
2 Slices of Batang fish (or other fishes)
1 onion (chopped into big pieces)
1 tomato (quartered)
8 okra (chopped into halves)
1 eggplant (cut into pieces)
100ml coconut milk
500ml water
3 tbsp oil

Methods:

1. Marinate the fish with salt.

2. Heat 2 tbsp of cooking oil in a pan. Pan fried the fish. Remove and set aside.

3. Sauté the onions with 1 tbsp of cooking oil in a pot.

4. Add the tomatoes, eggplant and okra. Stir fry for 10 seconds.

5. Add the curry paste and continue to stir fry with the vegetables.

6. Add the water and let it boil.

7. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the vegetables start to soften a little.

8. Add the coconut into the curry. Stir well.

9. Lastly, put the fish into the curry and continue to simmer for 5 minutes.

Dried Shrimp Powder

This is my first time making dried shrimp powder. I got the idea from ikan bilis powder. Well, since ikan bilis can be made into powder form, then dried shrimp should be too! I bought 200g of dried shrimps from the wet market today, mainly just to give it a try... Hahaha... Indeed, the same method works for dried shrimps as well! I used the freshly made powder with stir fried cabbage and it tastes great! I only added garlic, dried shrimp powder and salt. The dish looked bland and my mom asked how come she can taste the dried shrimps but couldn't see them. Hahaha... Usually we do not eat the dried shrimps and my mom always says that it's a waste yet necessary to add into certain dishes. Now I have found a way to fully utilize the shrimps!

Ideal for soup and stir fry.

Ingredients:

200g small dried shrimps (washed and drained)

Methods:

1. Heat a non stick pan (no oil!).

2. Toss half of the shrimps into the pan.

3. Once the shrimps turn brown and crispy, remove and set aside to cool.

4. Toss in the remaining shrimps and bake with same method. Cook separately is mainly not to overcrowd the shrimps.

5. After the shrimps are slightly cool, grind them in the blender. If it doesn't turn out powdery, return them to the pan and cook with high heat for 5 minutes. Remember to stir to keep them from burning. Grind again and it should be powdery enough.

6. Let the shrimp powder cool completely before storage in fridge.

Fried Fish Bee Hoon Soup

I had Fried Fish Bee Hoon soup few days ago. The fish was badly fried. Too much of flour I guess... I used to love Fish Bee Hoon but my favorite stall is quite far from my place. Maxwell market. I used to patron the stall when I was working there few years ago.

Today, I have the craving for this piping hot Thick Bee Hoon Soup. So I decided to make this for dinner. Hehehe... As it was too late to go wet market to buy fresh fish, I bought all the ingredients from NTUC. And I added additional 'Liao'. Prawns and squids!!!
Serve 6

Ingredients:

2 Toman Fish fillets (sliced)
12 prawns (deveined and cooked)
1 small squid (cut into bite sizes)
2 packets of thick bee hoon (blanched)
Choy Sum
1/2 Bitter gourd (sliced thinly)
Ginger (sliced thinly)
2 tomatoes (quartered)
3 liters chicken stock
2 tsp ikan bilis powder
Sesame oil
Hua Diao wine
Pepper
Cooking oil

Garnish:
Spring onions
Fried shallots

Methods:

1. Rub 1 tbsp of salt with the bitter gourd for a minute and soak with water for 30 minutes. Rinse off the salt with water and set aside.

2. Cut the fish into thick slices and marinate with a little salt.

3. Boil the chicken stock in a big pot and add 2 tsp of ikan bilis powder. Let it boil for another 10 minutes and turn off the heat.

4. Deep fry the fish slices until golden. Set aside.

5. Divide the blanched bee boon into 6 bowls.

To cook individually:

1. Heat a small pot (for 1 pax). Add few drops of sesame oil and 1 tsp cooking oil. Sauté 5 slices of ginger.

2. Add the stock (about 400ml) into the pot and let it boil.

3. Toss in a quartered tomato, bitter gourd and squid rings. Cook for 2 minutes.

4. Toss in the fried fish and prawns.

5. Add 3 tbsp of evaporated milk and let it boil.

6. Toss in a handful of Choy Sum and add a dash of sesame oil, Hua Diao wine and salt to taste. Turn off the heat. Pour into the bowl of thick bee hoon. Sprinkle pepper.

7. Garnish with fried shallots and spring onions.

Steamed Toman Fish With Taucheo

The other day I was telling my colleague that I was sick with the usual way of steaming fish (ginger, spring onions, cut chilli, tomatoes and soy sauce). And she taught me to steam fish with taucheo instead!

We simply love it! Yummy!!!

Ingredients:

1 piece of Toman fish fillet (Snakehead)
3 cloves garlic (minced finely)
3 pieces ginger (stacked and sliced into matchstick sizes)
2 tbsp taucheo (minced finely)
50ml water
1 tbsp oil

Garnish:
Spring onions

Methods:

1. Wash the fish and pad dry. Set the fish on the steam plate.

2. Heat the oil in the hot wok. Sauté the ginger and garlic until nicely crisp. Drain and set aside.

3. With the remaining oil, sauté the taucheo and add the water. Cook for a minute. It should look like a thick paste. Remove and set aside.

4. Put the plate of fish in a steamer (water boiling) and steam for 7 minutes.

5. Put the taucheo on the fish. Top with ginger and garlic. Steam for another 3 minutes.

6. Turn off the heat and sprinkle with spring onions.

You may use whole fish or fish head to steam.

Sambal Prawn

There are many ways to cook prawns. As a Cantonese, we often eat prawns at home nowadays. I remember when I was small, we only got to eat prawns during festive seasons. My late grandmother used to whip up a plate of prawns on Chinese New Year Eve and Day 1. She only used simple ingredients to cook the prawns but yet until now, with the same ingredients, I still cannot make exactly same like hers...

Ingredients:

12 medium prawns
1 small onion (minced)
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
2 tablespoons of sambal chili paste (homemade or store bought)
A dash of salt
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
1/4 cup of water

Garnish (optional):
Coriander
Spring onion (chopped)
Cut red chili

Methods:

1. Add the oil into the hot wok.

2. Sauté the onions then the garlic till fragrance.

3. Toss in the prawns and fry for few minutes.

4. Add the sambal chili and coat evenly.

5. Add the water (as you prefer) and cook for another minute.

6. Serve with coriander and spring onion.

Braised Pork Belly (Tau Yew Bak)

Always use good quality of thick dark soya sauce so that it can bring out the flavorful of braised meat. I like to braise meat using claypot and let the meat simmer with low heat until it become tender. Well, this is a sinful yet comfort food for my family. Especially my son, he loves 卤肉 and 卤猪脚... By the way, I think 五花肉 is tender and less fatty than 三辰肉.

In this recipe, I used 三辰肉 because couldn't find 五花肉 in the supermarket.

Ingredients:

500g pork belly 五花肉 or 三辰肉 (no need to slice)
4 cloves garlic (slightly bruised)
4 hard boil eggs
1 firm tofu

4 tbsp of thick dark soya sauce
1 tsp of oyster sauce
1 bowl Water
2 tbsp cooking oil
Salt

Methods:

1. Heat the oil using a non stick pan.

2. Sauté 1 clove of garlic till fragrance and remove the garlic. Leave the oil on the pan.

3. Pan fry the pork belly. Add 1 tbsp of thick dark sauce on top of the meat. Cook for a minute.

4. Flip to another side and drizzle 1 tbsp of thick dark sauce. Pan fry the meat till slight browned (about 3 minutes). Remove the meat and set aside to cool.

5. Once the meat has cooled down, slice the meat into bite sizes.

6. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a clay pot. Sauté the remaining garlic.

7. Add the pork belly and stir fry.

8. Drizzle the remaining thick dark sauce and stir fry.

9. Add the water and oyster sauce. Let it simmer for 30 minutes. You can add more water as desired.

10. Add the tofu to simmer for 10 minutes. Flip to another side and simmer for another 10 minutes.

11. Add the eggs and continue to simmer. Turn the eggs after 10 minutes to ensure the eggs are evenly browned.

12. Before turning off the fire, add a pinch of salt (if the sauce is not salty).

Poppy's Breakfast

I always like English Breakfast. Sometime during the weekends, I will make myself this type of breakfast with a cup of coffee. Bacons, hams and eggs are my favorite! Yummy!!!

Serve 1

Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 picnic ham
1 bacon

For the salad:
4 butter head lettuce leaves
6 slices of tomatoes
6 slices of cucumber
2 tablespoons of kennel corns (cooked)

Methods:

1. Heat a non stick pan. I'm using Happycall pan.

2. Firstly, cook the bacon to your preference.

3. Place the lettuces on the plate. Next, place the tomatoes and cucumbers. Sprinkle the corn on top of the salad.

4. Remove the bacon and start to cook the ham for a minute. Flip the ham and cook for another minute.

5. Remove the ham. Place both bacon and ham on the plate.

6. Lastly, break two eggs into the pan. Sunny side up to your preference.

7. Serve with salt and pepper.

Poppy's Minestrone Soup

Occasionally I make this hearty soup for lunch. I love anything with tomatoes. This soup is so easy to make. Just chop all the vegetables and toss into the pot, and you will get a pot full of nutrients soup!

Serves 2 or 3

Ingredients:
4~6 cups (1 - 1.5litres) of chicken soup
1 onion (chopped)
4 stalks of celery (chopped)
1/2 carrot (cubed)
1 large potato (peeled and cubed)
1 tomato (quartered)
1 small bowl of kennel corns
1 cup of macaroni
4 tablespoons of tomato purée
1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
Salt (optional)
Coarse black pepper (optional)

Methods:

1. Heat the olive oil in the pot.

2. Fry the onions for a minute till fragrance.

3. Add the carrots, potatoes, celery and tomatoes and fry together with the onions for another minute.

4. Pour in the chicken soup.

5. After the soup starts to boil, turn down the heat. Put in the tomato puree and simmer for 20 minutes.

6. Add in the macaroni and cook for another 10~15 minutes.

7. Add the corn and cook for few minutes.

8. Season with salt and turn off the heat.

9. Sprinkle with black pepper and serve.

Stir Fried Snow Peas With Prawns

This is a regular dish on our dining table. My family (except my son) loves snow peas because of its crunchiness. Do not overcook the peas otherwise it will lost its crunchiness. I always cook snow peas with prawns. I don't know why, but when you cook prawns with some vegetables (celery, broccoli, string beans, etc), the dishes always taste better! :) My son will only eat the prawns from this dish. I can't make him eat any other vegetables except those leafy ones... Grrr...

Ingredients:

A box of snow peas (string removed and trim the ends)
1/2 carrot (sliced thinly)
10 prawns (shells removed and deveined)
8 button mushrooms (sliced)
1 cloves of garlic (minced)
4 chili padi (deseeded and chopped)
1 tbsp of soya sauce
1 tbsp of oyster sauce
2 tbsp of cooking oil

Methods:

1. Heat the work until hot. Add 1 tbsp of oil.

2. Sauté the prawns until 90% cooked. Removed.

3. Add 1 tbsp of oil in the same wok. Sauté the garlic and chili padi.

4. Add the carrots and stir fry a while.

5. Add the snow peas and button mushrooms. Stir fry for another minute.

6. Drizzle the soya sauce. Then add in the oyster sauce and toss in the prawns. Cook for another 2 minutes.

7. Serve with rice.

Stir Fried Celery

This is the most basic way I cook celery. Celery, garlic, chilli padi and carrots. Quick stir fry for a simple meal. Sometime, I add mushrooms, prawns, or scallops.

Ingredients:

2 cloves of garlic (minced)
Celery (sliced)
1/2 carrot (sliced thinly)
1 tablespoon of soya sauce
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
4 chili padi (deseeded and chopped)

Methods:

1. Heat the wok until the wok is really hot.

2. Add a tablespoon of cooking oil. Sauté the garlic and chili padi.

3. Quickly throw in the carrots and fry for few seconds.

4. Add the celery and stir fried for 2 minutes.

5. Drizzle the soya sauce.

6. Add the oyster sauce and continue to cook for few minutes. Serve with rice.

Ikan Bilis Powder

What I like using this ikan bilis powder is to make soup, especially Yong Tau Foo soup. I know that most of the people boil the soup base with ikan bilis and yellow beans. I do not know why in my family (from my late grandmother), we use a different method to make Yong Tau Foo soup. We use a little oil to fry the ikan bilis and slices of ginger till fragrance then add water. We boil the soup for about 30 minutes and then add the ingredients. Until today, we still make this soup base for Yong Tau Foo or tofu. Recently I learnt to make the powder from Noobcook's blog. By using ikan bilis powder, the soup tastes the same or even better. Of course it also save a lot of hassles throwing the ikan bilis away.

Idea for soup, porridge and stir fry.

Mainly adapted from Noobcook.

Ingredient:
Ikan Bilis

Methods:

1. Wash the ikan bilis to remove the dirt and salt.

2. Pad them dry with kitchen towels.

3. Pan fried them evenly on the non stick pan (no oil!).

4. When the ikan bilis turn brown and crispy, turn off the heat and let it cool.

5. Grind the ikan bilis into powder.

6. Store in refrigerator.

Prima Taste Laksa Yong Tau Foo

I used Prima Taste Laksa before and we love it (I'm not advertising for Prima Taste)! It's so easy to whip up a nice bowl of laksa at home nowadays with pre-packed pastes. No more pounding, grinding and blending! Yes! I can't be happier! Hehehe... Lazy is a big word for me...

The first time I made the laksa with tau pok, fish cakes and hard boiled eggs. Today we wanted something different. Yong Tau Foo goes extremely well with laksa gravy. Slurp!

Serve 5

Ingredients:

2 packs of Prima Taste Laksa
2 packs of rice noodles (laksa bee hoon) (blanched)
Assorted Yong Tau Foo
10 fish balls (cooked)
10 quail eggs (cooked and peeled)
1.5 liters of water
Oil for deep frying

Optional:
Chopped finely laksa leaves

Methods:

1. Boil the water in a pot.

2. In the meanwhile, deep fried the Yong Tau Foo. Remove and put aside.

3. Put in the laksa premix and laksa paste into the boiling water. Boil with high heat for 5 minutes. Turn the heat down and let it simmer while prepare the rest.

4. Arrange the noodles, 2 quail eggs, 2 fish balls, and divide the assorted fried Yong Tau Foo into 5 bowls.

5. Turn off the heat and scoop the laksa gravy onto the noodles.

6. Sprinkle laksa leaves.

Happycall Pan Stir Fried Mix Vegetables

My first time using Happy Call Pan to stir fry vegetables. Hmmm... I think I still prefer to use wok for stir frying vegetables! Hehehe!!! Easier to control the crunchiness of vegetables. I tend to overcook the vegetables by using HCP.

Ingredients:

Broccoli (6)
Cauliflower (6)
Snow peas (1 handful)
1/4 carrot (sliced)
2 cloves garlic (lightly bruised)
3 slices ginger
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp soya sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
Drops of oil to blanch the vegetables
3 tbsp water

Methods:

1. Blanch the cauliflower and carrot in boiling water with few drops of oil in it. Blanch for 2 minutes.

2. Add the broccoli and blanch for 1 minute.

3. Add the snow peas and blanch for 20 seconds. Turn off the heat.

4. Drain the water and place the vegetable into cold water immediately. Drain and put aside.

5. Heat the oil with high fire. Sauté the ginger and garlic.

6. Add the vegetables and stir fry quickly.

7. Add the soya sauce and oyster sauce. Sprinkle the water and continue to stir fry quickly.

8. Turn off the heat. Serve with rice.

Pan Fried Tofu With Minced Meat And Vegetables

At first, I wanted to make something like the Zi Char stalls' hot plate tofu. Then I decided this is good enough. Hahaha... Yes, I am lazy lah! A piece of tofu topped with flavoursome minced meat and sauce! Yummy!!!

Ingredients:

1 tube of silk / egg tofu (sliced)
1 clove garlic (minced)
3 shiitake mushrooms (chopped)
1 handful Assorted bell peppers (chopped)
1/3 carrots (chopped)
8 snow peas
50g minced meat (marinated with 1 tsp of sesame oil, 1 tsp oyster sauce, few drops of thick dark soya sauce)
Corn flour for dusting the tofu.
Oil for pan frying tofu
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp thick dark soya sauce
1/3 cup of water

Methods:

1. Dust the tofu lightly with corn flour.

2. Use a non stick pan, add about 4 tbsp of cooking oil using high fire.

3. Pan fry the coated tofu till golden. Remove and set aside.

4. Using a wok, heat 1 tbsp cooking oil with high heat.

5. Sauté the garlic and add the minced meat till cooked.

6. Add the mushrooms, carrots and bell peppers. Stir fry for a while.

7. Add the thick dark soya and oyster sauce. Then add the snow peas and stir fry.

8. Then add the water. Simmer for 1 or 2 minutes.

9. Drizzle on top of the tofu.

Minced Pork With Dried Mushrooms

I don't really like to eat pork because I find there is 'pork' smell. Or I should say I prefer vegetables than meats. Even for chicken, I eat rather less. Ever since I had Bak Kut Teh at Balestier few years ago, I started to eat pork. I never eat roasted pork before until then. And I realized I have missed out the good stuff! I love Siew Yuk now!!! Drooling!!!

I often make this Minced Pork with Dried Mushrooms at home because my son loves this dish. Because of the dried mushrooms, the minced meat is savory to go with rice.

Ingredients:

300g minced pork
6 small dried mushroom (diced finely)
1 clove garlic (chopped finely)
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
100ml water
1 tbsp oil

Marinade for minced pork:
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1/3 tsp sesame oil
A dash of pepper

Methods:

1. Heat the oil with high heat.

2. Stir fry the minced pork until cooked. Push the pork to one side of the wok or pan.

3. Toss in the garlic and let it cook for few seconds. Mix the minced pork and garlic together.

4. Toss in the dried mushrooms and continue to stir fry.

5. Drizzle the dark soy sauce and stir evenly.

6. Pour in the water and add the oyster sauce.

7. Turn the heat down when the sauce starts to boil. Let it simmer for 10 minutes while covered.

8. Serve with rice.

Curry Chicken

Mainly adapted from My Wok Life.

I have cooked Curry Chicken few times in my life but usually turned out just so so. Until I read a post from My Wok Life. I changed the recipe slightly and WOW!!! The Curry Chicken turned out to be very nice! And it was so easy to make a pot of curry... I wouldn't have make the paste myself unless I really have too much time... Hahaha... By using Pre packed pastes are so convenient nowadays...

Ingredients:

1 pack A1 curry chicken paste
6 tbsp Baba meat curry powder
8 shallots (minced finely)
8 garlic (minced finely)
1 kg mid joint wings
1 kg potatoes (peeled and cut)
2 liter hot water
1 tbsp oil
250ml coconut milk

Methods:

1. Marinate the wings with 2 tbsp of Baba curry powder for at least 30 minutes.

2. Heat the oil in a big pot.

3. Sauté the shallots and garlic.

4. Add the wings and cook for 5 minutes.

5. Add 2 tbsp of Baba curry powder and 1 pack of A1 curry paste. Stir and add some water. Cook for few minutes and add the remaining water.

6. When the curry starts to boil, add the potatoes and remaining curry powder.

7. Cook with high heat for 20 minutes until the wings are cooked and potatoes are soft.

8. Add the coconut milk and stir. Once boiling, turn off the heat.

Add more water if prefer watery.

Stir Fried Mix Vegetables

I always prefer vegetables than meat and I could easily polish off a plate of vegetables myself! Hahaha... I like to stir fry mix vegetables because I can mix with different types of leftover vegetables you have in fridge. And most importantly, it's healthy and delicious!

Ingredients:

6 asparagus (trimmed and sliced)
12 snow peas (ends trimmed)
Carrot (sliced thinly)
10 florets cauliflower
3 shiitake mushrooms (sliced)
10 bite sizes red bell pepper
4 cherry tomatoes (halved)
1 clove garlic (minced)
1 shallot (sliced)
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp water
Water for blanching
1 tbsp oil

Methods:

1. Blanch the cauliflower and carrots. Remove and toss into cold water to maintain its crunchiness. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a wok. Sauté the shallots and garlic.

3. Toss in the mushroom, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, asparagus and snow peas. Stir fry quickly.

4. Drizzle the soya sauce and oyster sauce.

5. Toss in the carrots and cauliflower. Stir fry quickly.

6. Add the water and cook for another minute. Turn off the heat!

Do not overcook vegetables!!

Braised Chicken Wings With Bitter Gourd

Either you love or hate bitter gourd! I used to hate bitter gourd when I was young. Only the recent years, I start to enjoy and actually love this bitter melon, especially cook with Tau Cheo or salted fermented black beans. I used claypot to braise and the whole dish was so flavorsome. I only use half of the bitter gourd for this dish and the other half, I made bitter gourd omelet.

Ingredients:

8 mid joint wings
1/2 bitter gourd (cut into chunks)
1 clove of garlic (finely minced)
6 slices ginger
1 tbsp Taucheo (chopped finely)
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp cooking oil
Salt
Water

Optional:

1 tsp fermented black beans

Marinate the wings:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
A dash of pepper

Methods:

1. Soak the cut bitter gourd with salt and water for at least 30 minutes. Or rub the bitter gourd with 1 tsp of salt for 30 seconds and rinse off the salt. Drain and set aside.

2. Marinate the wings for at least 30 minutes.

3. Heat the oil in the claypot. Sauté the ginger and garlic.

4. Toss the wings and pan fry the wings for 2 minutes.

5. Add the bean paste and toss in the bitter gourd.

6. Add some water and let it boil. Add the oyster sauce.

7. Turn the heat down and let it simmer until the bitter gourd soften and wings are cooked.

8. Taste the sauce. If not salty enough, add either bean paste or oyster sauce. If the sauce is too salty, add more water.

Bitter Gourd With Eggs

My first time making bitter gourd omelet and it was successful! Well, I used the remaining half of bitter gourd for Braised chicken wings with bitter gourd the day before.

Ingredients:

1/2 bitter gourd (sliced thinly)
1 red chili (sliced thinly)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 pinch of salt
2 eggs (beaten)
1 tsp soya sauce
Dash of pepper
2 tbsp cooking oil

Methods:

1. Rub 1 tsp of salt on the bitter gourd to remove the bitterness for 1 minute. Rinse off the salt and set aside.

2. Add 1 tsp soya sauce into the egg mixture and beat well.

3. Heat the oil in the pan. Toss in the bitter gourd and stir fry.

4. Sprinkle the garlic powder.

5. Toss in the sliced chili and continue to stir fry. Sprinkle a pinch of salt.

6. When the bitter gourd turns slightly limp, pour in the egg mixture.

7. When the egg starts to set, toss evenly.

Deep Fried Yong Tau Foo

I don't know why... But I just love Yong Tau Foo! Give me Yong Tau Foo anytime and I will be glad to have it. My late father used to cook Macaroni with Yong Tau Foo Soup which I love it very much and cook quite often. Someday, I will put the recipe here ;)
Deep fried Yong Tau Foo is my brother's favorite dish. He always requests for this dish and he can wipe out bowls of rice just with this dish!

Ingredients:

Assorted Yong Tau Foo
1 clove garlic (minced)
1 tbsp Taucheo (minced)
200ml water
1 tbsp oil
Oil for frying
Pinch of sugar

Methods:

1. Deep fry the Yong Tau Foo until golden. Remove and set aside. Remove the oil.

2. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wok. Sauté the garlic, and toss in the yellow bean paste till fragrant.

3. Pour in the water and let it boil. Add a pinch of sugar.

4. Toss in the Yong Tau Foo and coat the sauce evenly.

5. Simmer for 1 minute. If you want lesser sauce, cook longer.

Black Pepper Prawns

My son loves prawns! Be it Sambal Prawns, Cereal Prawns, or whatever, he loves them. If possible, I guess he could eat them everyday! But of course too much of prawns cause high cholesterol. It is quite often we cook prawns at home. I think it's a weekly affair. It's no surprise that we cook 50 prawns for dinner. And of course, definitely no leftovers! Black peppered prawns is our all time favorite. Well, I'm using store bought black pepper sauce. Of course, you can make your own black pepper sauce. Hmmm, store bought is more convenient for me! Hahaha!!!

In this recipe I'm using frozen prawns.

Serve 7-10

Ingredients:

1 pack of frozen prawns (50)
1 small onion (cubed)
1 chili (deseeded and cubed)
1 clove garlic (minced finely)
5 tbsp black pepper sauce
100ml water
1 tbsp oil
Pinch of salt

Garnish:
Coriander

Methods:

1. Heat the oil with high heat.

2. Sauté the onions.

3. Toss in the garlic and sauté.

4. Add the prawns and stir fry until the prawns starts turn pink.

5. Add the black pepper sauce, red chilli and water. Stir fry for a minute.

6. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and turn off the heat.

7. Garnish with coriander.

Napa Cabbage With Snow Peas And Mushrooms

My family and I love vegetables. Usually we cook two dishes of vegetables for dinner. Especially my 13th year old son who is extremely a fussy eater, only prefer leafy vegetables such as spinach, cai xin, little bak choy, etc. I just whipped up this dish of vegetables. A mix of our favorite! Sweetness of Napa Cabbage, crunchiness of snow peas and flavorful of dried mushrooms. Napa Cabbage considers cooling so it's better to add ginger. Always cook the white stems then the leaves so that the stems are soften at the same time with the leaves. Soak the dried mushrooms in advance. After that use the water (for soaking the mushroom) for cooking.

Ingredients:
1/2 small Napa cabbage (sliced)
1 box of snow peas (ends trimmed)
5 dried mushrooms (sliced thinly)
3 pcs ginger (sliced into matchstick size)
1 clove garlic (minced finely)
Carrot (sliced thinly)
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
50ml water
1 tbsp cooking oil

Optional:
Chilli padi

Methods:

1. Heat the oil in the wok.

2. Toss in the ginger and garlic. Sauté.

3. Toss in the white stems of cabbage, carrots and mushrooms first. Add the water. Stir fry until the stems are soften.

4. Add the leaves of the cabbage and stir fry for a minute.

5. Add the snow peas and toss evenly.

6. Drizzle the soya sauce and oyster sauce. Cook for another minute and off the heat.