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Wednesday, March 31, 2004 Claypot Chicken Rice(but made in the rice-cooker)
The husband will be back pretty late today.With no extra pair of hands to help with the washing and prep work, i made another easy one dish meal  .I discovered how much i didn't enjoy eating alone:p
Cooked in the rice-cooker Placed in a bowl.You can sprinkle some spring onions if you like.(off topic: cute asian spoon eh?I bought it at a huge oriental supermarket downtown.They have a fairly good selection of asian tableware but most of them are rather expensive expecially the elegant korean ones.I'll greatly appreciate any suggestions on where to get reasonably-priced cutlery/tableware) I marinated the chicken (chopped to smaller pieces) with white pepper, salt, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce, chinese cooking wine and 5 spice powder.Leave aside for a good half hour or more then mix the chicken with washed rice.Stir well.Add sliced ginger and mixed vegetables.Stir.I guess the tricky part would be the amount of liquid.Add just enough chicken broth to cover the chicken & rice.Plug in the cooker and within minutes you'll have your claypot chicken rice:) Tom Yum Goong & BBQ
More previous cooking adventures yes? Tom Yum Goong aka Lemongrass Seafood Soup[thai restaurants are selling this close to US10 per pop (often presented in a hotpot) so i figure i better make this on my own.I added pre-made tom yum paste, crushed red chilli peppers and tomato wedges in there.Super easy.No biggie.] And what happens when the wife is feeling so darn lazy that even lifting the spatula is a chore?... Make the husband sweat it out at the BBQ of course!! BBQing at the patio(pork and chicken wings are marinated with salt,pepper,soy sauce,worcestershire sauce and oregano.) My cat enjoyed "daddy's" chicken wings as well 
Tuesday, March 30, 2004 Vegetarian Mee Goreng
Decided to go vegetarian today because i had been eating large amounts of meat for the past week and was starting to feel really queasy.Found some napa cabbage, red bell pepper, carrots, tomatoes, mushrooms, onion etc in the fridge and did a vegetable mee goreng.Preparation is the same as mee goreng.Any kind of vegetables like green beans for example will go very well in this dish. Vegetable Mee Goreng(I used egg noodles here) Fried Rice & Chow Mein
Transported from my previous journal.Another 2 one dish meals i made awhile back.Heh I'm all about convenience if you haven't notice it by now;) Fried Rice 5 cups of good cooked rice(try making rice the night before as drier-texture rice will yield a better tasting fried rice ) Sausages(I use Jimmy Dean's breakfast sausage but you can substitute with 3 to 4 sliced lap cheong) 5 eggs(beaten and seasoned with 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce and 1 teaspoon salt) half a large white onion(finely chopped) 3 cloves garlic(minced) 5 to 6 large dried mushrooms(soaked in water for 30mins and sliced) 1 cup and a half of mixed vegetables cooking oil(i use olive..but peanut is fine too) half cup oyster sauce 2 tablespoons sesame oil salt and pepper to taste Chow Mein about 375g dried egg noodles one and a half tablespoons of sesame oil(i use chee seng's) 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce( I use lee kum kee's) fat-free olive oil spray(I use this..but you can use any cooking oil) 3 cloves garlic(minced) half of a white onion(wedged) 2 average size chicken breasts(cubed) 1 medium size red bell pepper(sliced) 5 to 6 large dried mushrooms and a handful of black fungus(soak in water for half an hour till tender then slice only the mushrooms) half pound of shrimp/prawns(peeled) 9 stalks of kailan aka chinese broccoli with the leaves(chopped to small pieces) salt and pepper(black or white is fine) to taste sauce 2 teaspoons cornstarch half cup canned chicken broth(use the normal ones not low sodium types) 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce Monday, March 29, 2004 Katsu style of cooking chicken
Mirin. Rather important in japanese cooking.It is a kind of sweet cooking seasoning with corn syrup. Chicken Katsu with sauce. I cut chicken breasts into strips,coated them in bread crumbs, pan fried them then simmer in the sweet sauce. I ate too much today and am feeling sleepy.Recipe can be found at RecipeSource.com.Goodnight:) Dinner at my favourite vietnamese restaurant
Vietnamese cuisine is actually pretty similar to chinese.I tried one of their dry-toss noodles a couple of months back and was pleasantly surprised to find it tasted EXACTLY the same or better than asia's shui(2) jiao(3)[wontons wrapped with shrimps and chestnuts] noodles.The sauce was flavourful and full-bodied.I could tell a lot of work went into making it.If i have to guess, they probably added some pork broth in there.Not just simply mixing your typical soy sauce, chilli, vinegar and what-have-yous.Fairly pricey though at 6usd per bowl but it was a huge bowl filled with lotsa shui jiao, veggies, mushrooms etc i didn't mind parting with the money.The husband had pork legs noodle soup.He was happily slurping the food so i guess that should be great too.Thinking back, he didn't even make a squeak throughout that meal.  When the husband doesn't speak during eating means the food is darn shioks you see.Sorry, no pics of the noodles.Will try to take the next time.
I have other piccies from the restaurant... Important condiments that compliment asian food.Bottle with the green cap is viet's garlic chilli sauce other than that the rest of the dipping sauces are common to all chinese household. Hotpot(lousy resolution picture from last year).A seafood hotpot with seafood broth and maybe some lighter fuel thrown in as well.I ate this last night.So good! Must have during winter! Garlicy sweet sesame oil dip(for ingredients in the hotpot) Sunday, March 28, 2004 Mee Goreng
Weekends are reserve for running errands,browsing at book stores(recipe books:p) and maybe a smack of shopping with the husband.Since it is typically a whole-day event, i decide to make another easy one dish meal lunch today. Spicy Mee Goreng(why i say spicy?i could feel my blood circulating and nose running while i was eating it.If this isn't spicy, i don't know what is:p) I got the recipe from a Malaysian recipe website called Cyberkuali and tweaked the recipe a little bit.I increased the amount of sweet soy sauce, added 3 tablespoons(!) of sambal gandaria and used minced pork in my noodles.My family loves plenty of heat in our food but you can definitely reduce the amount of chilli to your liking. Saturday, March 27, 2004 Indian Curry Chicken
My last post for tonight will be indian curry chicken i tried to replicate a few nights back.Oh i can't describe how much i adore indian cuisine!Their fragrant spices, spicy creamy curries and masalas right down to the basmati rice...everything is so tasty.*drool* Indian curry chicken with potatoes/Collard greens stir fry in oyster sauce. Indian curry chicken recipe(simplied style) I find chicken curry tastes better if you allow the ingredients to simmer low to medium heat for about an hour. Ingredients Half cut-up chicken 5 russet potatoes or any starchy potatoes to make the gravy creamy(peeled and cut up... i hear yukon gold potatoes are good but not cost-effective for me) Low fat milk( you can substitute with 2 cups coconut cream and 1 cup canned chicken broth) 8 shallots or pearl onions Abt 5 to 6 large tablespoons of indian curry powder( middle-eastern or indian grocery stores) 1 tablespoonful red chilli powder( mine is Laxmi brand...middle-eastern or indian grocery stores) 2 flat tablespoons of salt Handful of coarsely chopped cilantro 1) 5 to 6 good sprays of fat free olive oil in a large stock pot.Fry chopped shallots in the heated oil till fragrant then add potatoes.Pour in milk till it just covers the potatoes, cover the pot with a lid. 2) When the potatoes are half( abt 15mins or so) done, add in the chicken,curry powder and red chilli powder.Stir.Cover with the lid.Let the ingredients slowly simmer on medium to low heat for a good 45 mins to an hour. 3) 1 minute b4 completion sprinkle 2 flat tablespoons of salt.Mix thoroughly.Add cilantro, mix and serve. East meets West?
I got this idea from one of walmart's recipe cards and added a touch of asian influence to it.The eventual dish tasted pretty good:)I frequently combine eastern/western ingredients because well..walmart is just right across the street and hence makes more sense combining than going all the way out just to have exclusively oriental ingredients yes? If my memory serves me right, i prepared this dish about a year ago on a sunday afternoon as i wanted to have something substantial for lunch yet didnt want to spend too much time in the kitchen. Catfish pan fry in broth and sambal olek with onions/Stir fry asparagus served on top of white fluffy rice Porridge Etc
Yes i do take many pictures of meals i prepare.Pardon my frequent posts for today..i am trying to shift all my food entries from my regular journal to this:) Chicken porridge is one of the first few dishes my mother taught me to make(Strangely, the aroma of chicken porridge does remind me a lot of my mother:) but i won't go into that today)Anyway, it is both mine and my husband's comfort food. I normally serve my chicken porridge with some kind of omelette,stir fry veggies or steamed fish.The resultant meal is an uncomplicated yet delicious one. Chicken porridge made with equal parts of water and chicken broth(appearance can be enhance by adding some chopped cilantro and fried shallots) Mixed veggie omelette(came up with this myself heh;)) Spicy tangy steamed tilapia fish made with hot bean paste(was fiddling with a couple of spices in the fridge and came up with this) Mom's Style Chicken porridge(referring to my mom heh) 3 cups raw rice washed thrice over running water 2 cans chicken broth(abt 4 cups) Equal parts water 2 medium size chicken breast(diced) black pepper salt 1 tablespoon sesame oil 2 tablespoons light soy sauce 1)Marinate chicken with light soy sauce,sesame oil and some black pepper in a bowl. 2)Add washed rice,chicken broth and water in a stock pot and cook over medium heat.When rice is half done, add marinated chicken. 3)Complete cooking then add salt and black pepper to taste.I always add salt and/or pepper as my last step to "sweeten" and flavour the dish(something i learnt from watching too much foodnetwork). Simple Dinner
A typical simple chinese dinner i would make.Dishes are eaten together with bowls of fluffy white jasmine rice. Herbs of my soup in the crockpot To simplify the making soup process, i normally dump all my ingredients in a crockpot and let it do its thing.Pictured here is Szechuan Mustard Chicken Soup. Herbal soup with tomato omelette Char Kway Teow!
Funny how being in a place with no access to delicious asian foods trains you to cook.Below is something i experimented awhile ago when i had a huge craving for char kway teow and the chinese restaurants here couldn't quite prepare the same way as the ones in asia. Fried Kway Teow Ingredients 3 quarters of 1 pound pack of dried kway teow noodles(same as the Vietnamese dried my-tho noodles) Half pound large prawns with shells Half pound jumbo squids( coarsely cut) one quarter pack of snail meat( ssssnails??Yes snails...it's normally in the frozen food section of oriental markets) 3 lap cheong( Sliced.Also in the frozen food section of oriental markets) Half pound Chai Xin( Dunno the english name sorry) 1 cup of bean sprouts 2 sprigs of green onion finely chopped A handful of springs of cilantro coarsely chopped( Don't miss this ingredient, it really makes a difference to the dish) 2 large eggs(beaten) 4 cloves minced garlic 4 tablespoons sweet soy sauce( kecap manis) 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce 2 large tablespoonsful red chilli paste( Normally comes in jar..choose the one with shrimp paste in it.The one i am using is Indonesian's Sambal Gandaria) 1 tablespoon oyster sauce 1 teaspoon salt Healthy dashes of white pepper 1)Add dried kway teow noodles to a pot of boiling water.When it's just done(not overally cooked or it'll break apart whilst stir frying).Drain the hot water out and "shock" the noodles in cold water to stop the cooking process. 2)6 good sprays of fat-free olive oil.A tasty alternative will be using peanut oil, frying healthy servings of cubed pork fat then using that oil to cook your ingredients[ I skipped that step, sliding metabolism does weird things to my decision making;)].Fry your lap cheong.When it's done, add garlic and green onions.Stir fry till fragrant, then toss in all your seafood.Add sweet soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, red chilli paste and pepper.When the seafood is 3 quarters cooked, mix in beaten egg.Complete cooking seafood. 3)Add the chai xin vegetables and stir fry till it's just wilted.Toss in bean sprouts then mix in the kway teow noodles and stir evenly.Add in cilantro and stir. 4)1 minute before completing the dish add the 1 teaspoons salt to flavour the food. |
