Vegetable Curry- Hai's Instant Lontong Paste

Bought a packet of instant lontong paste and cook a nice big pot of vegetable curry. It was a great dish to go with rice as our dinner when we went vegetarian on Monday. Well, strictly speaking, it's not really vegetarian as dried shrimps were used in the production of the paste.

Anyway, I've added cabbage, long beans, turnip, tou pok, tou kee, eggs and used evaporated milk instead of coconut milk. We've enjoy the vegetable curry very much just that it could be a little more spicy. Next time, I'll add more chilli paste to it.

Prawn Noodles Soup

Was having a hard time trying to decide what to cook for lunch. Finally decided to get a packet of prawn noodles soup premix to try it out.

If you find that the egg looks a little strange... that's because I tried to 'mould' it into a star shape :P

Verdict:
Simple enough, just add water and the soup is ready. Just add whatever ingredients you may like in your prawn noodles soup. I used bee hoon. Opps, you can't see the bee hoon as it's all covered up by all the other ingredients.

Tastewise, it was a more spicy version of the prawn soup. It tastes better than the average prawn soup noodles you can find at the hawker centre and definitely much more ingredients!

Next time, I should try to make my prawn soup from scratch...

Prima Taste Laksa

I had laksa again :P, this time Singapore's style- Katong style... Unlike the Penang sour version, this is sweeter with coconut milk. Yap, it's a sinful lunch. 

A packet of Prima Taste Laksa Premix, some laksa noodles, prawns, 'tao pok', fishcakes, beansprouts and water...

Katong Prima Taste Laksa

Yummy! But we had to go jogging in the evening to make ourselves feel better...

Woh Hup Nonya Chicken Curry

Tried the Woh Hup's Nonya Chicken Curry Premix (1 for for $2.20 and there was a promotion- 2 for $3.50) last week for lunch. 

It's a drier version of chicken curry, not much of curry gravy. But it was just perfect to go with plain rice for lunch :) Jerome approves of it and I've just bought another 2 packets to stock up :)

Sunny Pancakes

Prepared pancakes for breakfast this morning.

Sunny, Soft & Fluffy Pancakes :)

Click for recipe here.

Phad Thai Again

Just prepared Phad Thai for lunch today. Think it looked and tasted better than the first time I tried them. This time round, I added a little more tamarind water to make the sauce a little more tangy.

But honestly, I've forgotten how the original Phad Thai should taste like. The last time I tried an authentic one was last Dec when we visited Bangkok. I loved it so much that I had it for almost every meal :P

Well, we'll be going to Phuket this Saturday so it's a great time to catch up on my Phad Thai again :P

Pineapple Fried Rice & Thai Green Curry

Just prepared pineapple fried rice & Thai Green Chicken Curry for dinner. Had wanted to take a few more better pictures of them but Jerome can't wait to start eating... It is not the first time I had cooked this combination for dinner but it was a long time ago. He said he missed my cooking...

Had wanted to sprinkle some pork floss over but Jerome likes the original flavour.

Opps! The sausages are a little charred...

Thai Green Chicken Curry. 

Should have added some green peas but realized that they have expired :P

The curry mix that I used... 

Just add evaporated milk, chicken and mushrooms...

Stir-fried Hor Fan

Just prepared Stir-fried Hor Fan (my version of 'San Lau Hor Fan') for lunch on this rainy afternoon. Really simple and most importantly, it was tasty :) And I've used my Chinese wok for the 2nd time! The first time was for Pad Thai...

Ingredients:
200g of Hor Fan/ Fresh Fat Rice Noodles ( I bought them for $1 at Cold Storage)
a handful of beansprouts
some chopped garlic
1 fishcake, sliced
1 few slices of fresh fish, seasoned with some light soy sauce and corn flour (optional)
2 eggs
some oil
1 stalk of spring onion, cut into short strips

Seasoning:
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp sugar

Method: (Takes about 10 minutes)
Add about 1 tbsp of oil to the wok. Fry and scramble the eggs and set aside.
Add another tbsp of oil and fry the fish. Set aside.
Add  some chopped garlic, then the beansprouts. Stir fry for a while before adding in the rice noodles.
Add the seasoning (add more according to taste) and stir fry well.
Add all the other ingredients and sir fry for about another 2 minutes.
Turn off the fire and stir in the spring onion.
Serve hot and enjoy :)

Baked Chicken MidWings in Hoisin & Char Siew Sauce

Marinade the chicken well (leave overnight if possible) and leave it to bake in the oven while you do other stuff. It was really simple and Jerome loves them. :)

Ingredients:

12 pieces of chicken's mid-wings

Marinade well in :

1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Char Siew Sauce

1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Hoisin Sauce

1 tbsp water 

Spread the chicken on a baking tray bake in preheat oven at 160 degrees celcius for 30 mins.

Turn over the chicken after 15 minutes for an even bake.

Phad Thai

After the trip to Bangkok last Dec, I ate my first plate of Phai Thai and fell in love with it :)

A plate of delightful Pad Thai at a street stall in Bangkok

Another plate of Phad Thai from the food court at the Bangkok Paragon

Another plate of Phad Thai at the airport :P

Upon returning home, I went in search for a recipe to cook this Thai most popular hawker dish. My search on the net led me to Chez Pim's Pad Thai for beginners.   Her very detailed step-by-step instructions were almost over-whelming... I kept it at the back of my mind... thinking of trying it out one of these days...  Then, back to work, no time to experiment in the kitchen and I forgot about it... until...

It's the school hols and a start to a long break, I'm once again looking at food blogs, looking for experiments to conduct in the kitchen... Stumbled into The Little Teochew's blog and read her entry on Chez Pim's Pad Thai and salivated over the photographs of her sinfully good Pad Thai... I knew I had to try the recipe somehow to satisfy my craving!

After reading through Chez Pim's write-up, I've decided to keep my $200+ wok and bought a new $18 stainless steel chinese wok. I tried to season the wok as instructed. I poured in a full cup of oil into the wok and started to 'smoke' out the entire wok. There was so much smoke that Jerome had to come into the kitchen to check if I had set the kitchen on fire :P From a shiny stainless steel wok, I eventually ended up with a dirty/burnt-looking wok. I wonder if this was meant to be... Jerome said I've damaged the wok :P

According to Chez Pim, the Pad Thai will taste good in a seasoned chinese wok. If the wok is well-seasoned, the rice noodles will not stick to the wok. So I guessed my wok was seasoned alright. And the thing about using a seasoned chinese wok is this... you can't wash it with soap! Just a gentle scrub and a rinse of water before putting in back to the fire to dry it up before storing it away. I know I'll be looking for signs of mould the next time I use the wok again...

Anyway, after all the trouble, here's my Pad Thai... looking kinda pale...but fortunately, it tasted good!
 Sorry, but my efforts are really far from Chez Pim's and The Little Teochew's. Look at their pictures of Pad Thai to know what I mean... Will definitely try the recipe again and make some improvements.

My 1st Pad Thai... out from my kitchen...

Roti Prata

Just pan fried some prata for breakfast this morning & served them with just some sugar. Well, I didn't make the prata from scratch. I just used a ready-made prata & I just need to pan fry or bake it. I always panfry them in a pan over a gentle heat & flip the prata occasionally so that the prata will be crispy & fluffy, just the way we like them.

I just grease the pan first & I don't add anymore oil. So this is definitely a healtier choice. To keep the pratas warm & crispy, I would keep them spread out in the oven with a low heat. When they're all done, just serve with your favourite curry or just some sugar :) They're better than many pratas served  in the average prata stall in the neighbourhood.

Roti Prata, Crispy Pancake... Can't wait to eat it...

Crispy & Fluffy Roti Prata... Can't get enough of them...

A Family Pack of Frozen Roti Prata

 I always have a pack in the fridge...

A piece of frozen Roti Prata Dough

Thai Green Curry

I've cooked this Thai Green curry last week to acompany my pineapple fried rice. I used the Asian Home Gourmet Premix. I just added evaporated milk, fresh oyster mushrooms, chicken meat, baby corn & a handful of frozen mixed vegetables. You can actually add anything you like. Jerome love the green curry very much. A word of caution- it's a little spicy. Anyway, this means that I'll stock up on the premix :) It's about $1 for a pack (on special 1 for 1 offer now) & I don't have spend all the effort buying all the different ingredients & spices & processing them :P So it's just 20 mins for this bowl of spicy & delicious green curry :)

A spicy bowl of Thai Green Curry

Thai Green Curry Premix

Stir Fry Beansprouts with Oyster Sauce

Just cooked this last night when we had our own version of chicken rice. A quick stir fry, I spent more time plucking the tails of the beansprouts.

Stir Fry Beansprouts in Vegetarian Oyster Sauce

Ingredients:

about 250g of beansprouts (optional: remove the tails & heads)

1 tbsp oil

a clove of garlic, chopped

1 tbsp oyster sauce (I used the vegetarian Shitake mushroom type)

some water

spring onion, chopped

deep fried shallots (gives extra flavour)

(I'll usually have a small glass bottle ready. Shallots cut into rings & deep fried- give extra flavour, especially if it's home-fried)

Method:

Heat up 1 tbsp of oil in the wok. Saute the garlic till fragrant.

Add the beansprouts & some water. Stir fry & when the colour changes, add the oyster sauce.

Dish up and garnish with fried shallots & chopped spring onions.

Stir fry Baby Spinach with Ikan Bilis

Here's another stir fry vegetable dish that Jerome like, especially with the topping of deep fried anchovies/ ikan bilis. The baby spinach is cooked till soft while the deep fried ikan bilis gives the dish extra flavour & crunch.

There are generally a  few kinds of spinach available in Singapore:

Po Cai - sometimes used in steamboat, or served in restuarant cooked with abalone & chinese mushrooms (I think this is the one that Popeye eats that made him strong)

Xian Cai - light green round leaves spinach, softer, used more in soups & for porridge for toddlers.

Xian Cai- dark green pointed leaves spinach. I prefer the darker green types for stir frys.

Baby Spinach with Ikan Bilis

Ingredients:

spinach, plucked into sections (discard the thicker/older stems as they can be tough)

1 tbsp of ikan bilis (choose the smaller type)

1 clove of garlic, chopped

a pinch of salt

100 ml of water

2 tbsp of oil.

Method:

Heat up the oil in the wok. Fry the ikan bilis till they're golden brown. Dish up & set aside.

Saute the garlic in the wok till fragrant. Add the baby spinach & water.

Stir fry till the spinach is cooked (only a couple of minutes).

Add a pinch of salt to season (taste & add more if necessary).

Dish up and add the fried ikan bilis on top. Serve immediately.

Stir Fry Cauliflower

Just to show that we're not just meat-eaters, I've decided to take some pictures & post them up just to show that we do get our fair servings of vegetables daily.

A colourful plate of Stir fry Cauliflower & mixed vegetables

Ingredients:

Vegetables: Cauliflower, snow peas, capsicum, celery, carrot & chopped garlic

Others: some water (100ml), a pinch of salt, 1 tbsp Hua Tiao Jiu

Method:

Heat up 1 tbsp of oil in the wok & saute chopped garlic till fragrant.

Add the cauliflower & water. Cover the wok for a couple of minutes (the cauliflower takes a longer time to cook).

Add snow peas, carrots & fry for a while & add capsicum & celery.

(I like the vegetables to be crunchy here, so I don't overcook them. My mother will usually boil the cauliflower to cook them till soft first before she stir frys.)

Add salt & Hua Tiao Jiu for taste.

Dish up & serve immediately.

Japanese Curry with Pork Cubes

After a lunch of Katsu Chicken, I followed up with a Japanese Pork Curry for dinner :P Today is Japanese food day! Personally, I would have preferred to use chicken meat. Since we had chicken for lunch already, I chose pork instead. Next time, I'll try using beef.  This is a super quick meal, ready in less than half an hour. And the best part, it's tasty!

Japanese Curry Bento

Japanese Curry with Pork & Vegetables

(I added a big onion, a potato, carrot & capsicum)

Japanese Curry Sauce Mix

Easy... Just add water.... & all the ingredients you like...

A recipe is provided at the back of the box. Just get the ingredients that you want ready and your Japanese Curry is just 20 minutes away...

Fried Rice 2

Fried rice, just add whatever you like...
This time I added french beans, char siew, luncheon meat, chinese sausage & chinese dried mushroom.
Jerome liked the taste of the mushroom in the fried rice & he said it's the best fried rice I've cooked so far :)

I took this close-up photo using my Sony digital camera. Will take future photos using a proper digital camera instead of using my I-phone.

2 Reasons to use digital camera:
1) Obviously, the pictures are clearer & shows the details.
2) Or else when? The camera has been sitting in the drawer since June when we last had a holiday in Perth...

A Plate of Simple Fried Rice

Hainanese Chicken Rice (Prima Taste)

Hainanese Chinese Rice is one of the most popular hawker food in Singapore. You can almost find a stall selling Chicken Rice in every Coffee Shop. The fragrant rice cooked in chicken stock & spices really make it such a easy favourite for so many people. Have tried looking for a recipe to prepare it at home but when you're cooking for 2, you wonder if it's worth all the trouble (just an excuse for being lazy :P). Anyway, there's a lot of ready mixes around at the supermarket, so I decided to try one from Prima Taste. I've tried using Prima Taste's Chicken Curry Mix & Laksa Mix and they're great.

Prima Taste Hainanese Chicken Rice Paste

Just wash the rice, mix in the paste & add enough water to cook the rice. Very easy.

When the rice was cooking in the rice-cooker, we can already smell the fragrance in the entire house. I'm sure the neighbours could smell it too :)

I've never like the 'white' chicken for Hainanese Chicken Rice with the white fatty skin. My hubby also didn't like them. So I prepared our favourite baked chicken for our Hainanese Chicken Rice instead.

Anyway, the rice itself was so good that I'm sure we can eat it simply on its own. My hubby & I decided that we've never eaten chicken rice so fragrant before. I've cooked it twice so far - last week & yesterday. And guess what! Hubby has requested for chicken rice again this Saturday! I wonder when we'll ever get sick of it...

Hainanese Chicken Rice with Panfried Teriyaki Chicken (last week)

Hainanese Chicken Rice with Baked Chicken Leg in Char Siew Sauce (yesterday)

Prima Taste Chicken Rice, so good you can eat it on its own...

So good it makes everything that accompanies it taste as great...

Bak Chor Mee (Mushroom & Minced Pork Noodles)

Hubby was having a craving for Bak Chor Mee ( a very common hawker dish in Singapore) & wanted me to try cooking it. I have never prepared any Bak Chor Mee before & this creation is based entirely on an experiment. I didn't refer to any recipe, just tried re-creating it based on how it's suppose to taste. And quite pleased with how it turned out & managed to satisfy my hubby's craving :)

Not too bad for a 1st attempt & think I'm going to keep it the way it is. A lot more ingredients in a bowl of noodles than when we can buy from the hawker :)

A bowl of Yummy Bak Chor Mee...

(Why am I feeling hungry again? )

Recipe for Bak Chor Mee ( Mushroom & Minced Pork Dry Noodles)

(Serves 2)

Ingredients:

(feel free to change, subjected to individual's taste preference)

(A)

200g Minced Pork (marinade with some light soy sauce, pepper & sesame oil)

5 pcs of chinese dried mushroom, soaked & cut into slices

1 tbps oil

some chopped garlic

200ml water

1 tbsp dark soya sauce

pepper

sesame oil

(B)

200g Mee Pok Noodles

10 pcs fishball

some green leafy green vegetables

Noodle Sauce: (Mix all together in a big bowl)
1 tbsp black vinegar

1 tbsp dark soya sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tbsp tomatoe sauce

1 tbsp chilli sauce

1 tbps sambal chilli

2 tbps water

dash of pepper

Method:

Mushroom & Minced Meat:

1) Heat up 1 tbsp oil in wok. Add mushroom & stir fry. Add water & seasoning. Bring to a boil & cover wok. Allow to simmer for 15mins or till mushrooms are soft. Add minced pork and stir fry till cooked. Add additional seasoning if necessary. Set aside.

Fishballs, Vegetables & noodles

2) Prepare all the sauces for noodles in a bowl. Set aside.

3) Bring a pot of water to boil. Cook vegetables & fishballs. Dish up & set aside.

Loosen up the noodles before dropping them into the water. Cook, dish up & mix noodles well in the prepared sauce.

4) Divide the noodles into 2 bowls & add all the other cooked ingredients. Garnish with some chopped spring onions & serve immediately.

Ban Mian

Prepared Mi Hoon Guei for lunch just so I could play with my cookie cutters :P


Roll dough as flat as possible & cut into desired shapes :)


A plate of cut dough to be cooked... Of course, there's more...


A hot bowl of Ban Mian/Mi Hoon Guei

Recipe for Mi Hoon Guei/ Ban Mian

Ingredients for Flour 'noodles':

(Serves 2)

150g all purpose flour

a pinch of salt

1 egg, beaten

some water

Method:

1. Pour flour into a mixing bowl. Add a pinch of salt.

2. Make a well in the centre of the flour & pour in the beaten egg. Mix well with hands.

3. Add a little water at a time and mix well until a dough is formed. If it's too sticky, u need to add more flour. If it's too dry, add more water.

4. Let rest for at least 15 mins in the fridge.

5. You can either pull the dough into small flat pieces & cook directly or roll it out and cut into desired shapes.